Interviews had: 2
Interviews to be had: 14

I'm already tired of it. But so that you may know that I am not completely without thanks...

I am thankful that I can get up, take my mat and go home.

Isn't that more difficult? Shouldn't I take heart?

It's just that home can be difficult. And sometimes my mom's fears and my sister's insecurities and my dad's helplessness can wear on me. Sometimes I don't wear it well.

I remember seeing youth group kids again over Labor Day - a one time thing, really - and they told me that I was getting old and needed to find a wife. "We have to find you a holy girl!" they said, because they think I'm holy. It took me a second to remember that that was a good thing. And no, I am not.

But when what's easier said than done is actually done, well, the thankfulness is there to be had.

A bit overdue, but some photographs from the end of my California stay:

I had known about ordering "Double-Double Animal Style" since my first visit, but it was during this stay that I learned that the french fries were also subject to being drowned in zoomorphic yum. They were drowned often.


The Crystal Cathedral parking lot was used by overflow employees of the UCI Medical Center. The Crystal Cathedral is a megachurch, broadcasting its services on television as The Hour of Power. From the outside, it is shiny and reflective, but from the inside, it is transparent, like most everything around Los Angeles.


The UCI Medical Center, one of two hospitals (along with Long Beach Memorial) where I spent my time. This was a typically gorgeous day as I waited for the shuttle.


In many hospitals, you can tell that you are in the pediatric unit simply by looking at the walls.


Baby Boy N was my first ex-lap as first assistant. He then developed an enterocutaneous fistula. He was doing much better the last I saw him in the PICU.


On my last full day in California, I decided to drive to the beach - any beach - and make my trip complete. Unfortunately, Long Beach was not a good choice for touristy things. However, I had a chance to take plenty of pictures unfettered by crowds.


I encountered mainly two groups: fishermen and birds. They were doing similar things, each in their own way.


I saw this gentleman cleaning his catch and asked him if I could take a picture. I felt like a real photographer for a moment.


There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins


And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind