Em is going to make Tyrone walk the plank 

With Tyrone Biggums 

Another crazy Friday night! 

The infamous Dr. Jeck (with me and Becky) 

Philly gang in NYC

Coley and Me in NYC

Hello everyone! My dear friend Nicole suggested I keep you all informed with my very own blog page, so here goes.

October has been a very exciting month out here in Philly. I started my psych rotation at Friends Hospital, working with a psychiatrist named Dr. Graff. He is 73 and has seen a lot over the years, and even though he likes to give me his CV on a regular basis, we are getting along OK. He is no Dr. Jeck, but it would definitely be worse. We see about 16-18 patients a day at an inpatient hospital, and rotate through several different units. He must like me, b/c he lets me do lots of interviewing and therapy, and he lets me help diagnosis and prescribe meds. He even told me that I have a knack for therapy. I have seen some very interesting stuff, from a woman with delusions that people are throwing brown powder on her to burn her, to text book schizophrenics to heroine withdraw. I work a lot on the substance abuse floor, which is interesting b/c they are both patients with substance abuse issues and mental health issues. The nice thing about these patients is that they tend to improve during their stay. The sad thing is, people end up here just b/c they haven't been able to find rehab on their own. It makes me sad that mental health is so undervalued in our society.

Emily and I have been doing a lot of fun stuff as well. Last weekend we drove out to Lancaster Co. to stalk the Amish. It was a beautiful drive, and such a joy to get out of the city. I could definitely see myself living in some of the quaint little towns (but they're no Iowa). It was so exciting to see the Amish with their buggies and pacers just riding down the road. I always pictured they lived out on farms in the middle of nowhere, but they live right next to people like you and me, only separated by the fact that powerlines don't go to their homes, and there are no cars in the driveways. I'm looking forward to going back and having some real Dutch-American home cooking.

Emily, Raj and I went to NYC this past weekend and stayed with my dear old friend Nicole and her beautiful apartment on the NYU campus. For those of you who don't know, I have seen every episode of "Sex and City" at least 4 times, and was so excited to see places in person that are on the show. Nicole was a most gracious hostess, and she and I took a long walk through the city on Sat. afternoon, and walked down to Battery Park and took the Statten Island Ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty. Hopefully on my next trip I'll be able to spend more time doing the touristy stuff, but this trip I just wanted to reconnect with my BFF.

Now it is back to the grind. I hope that this finds all of you well. The sun is finally shining again on the East Coast, so I know that I am in a much better mood. Blog you soon!