spiritedsherry's Xanga

Healthcare Reform

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:42:45 GMT

It bothers me that we Americans demand so much of our healthcare system without demanding anything of ourselves.

Yes, the healthcare system is in need of major reform and expenditures are unsustainable. But one of the biggest contributing factors to the problem is our own behavior. There has been a significant rise in chronic diseases - conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and others. In fact, 75% of our healthcare spending is attributed to the management of chronic diseases. What gets me is that many of these conditions are easily preventable by simply making better lifestyle choices.

Take smoking, for example. 1 in 5 US adults are smokers, even despite all the information out there explaining its hazards to our health. Or let's consider obesity. 2/3 of Americans are overweight and 1/3 of Americans are clinically obese. We spend $147 billion (that's billion with a B!) per year on obesity healthcare costs! And half of that comes from Medicare and our taxpayer dollars.

People are constantly complaining about their healthcare. And now that the national conversation has turned to healthcare reform, I'm constantly hearing about payment reform, tort reform, universal coverage, comparative effectiveness research, biosimilars legislation, healthcare IT initiatives, debt relief for primary care physicians... But where is the outcry for self-improvement and making better health choices?

It should be considered our patriotic duty to improve our personal health. Otherwise, if you live unhealthily and develop an illness as a result, you're basically forcing others to subsidize your poor decisions as well as contributing to the burden.

I'd like to encourage everyone to take steps to reform their own care of their personal health. To borrow the words of a brilliant leader:

Ask not what your healthcare system can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your healthcare system!

Can you quit smoking? Exercise more? Indulge less? Encourage a friend to join you for a run? Share healthy recipes? Eat more veggies?

... I sure can. And will!

Instead of feeling entitled to being taken care of by someone else, let's take proper care of ourselves first. Yes? Who's in?

DON'T do it

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:44:34 GMT

If you came up to me and asked whether or not you should get married... the best piece of advice I could give you is DON'T DO IT.

If you asked whether you should go into basic science... I'd say the same thing. DON'T DO IT. If you asked about getting a PhD? Don't do it. Becoming an actor? Don't do it. Having kids? Don't do it.

Starting your own business? Don't do it. Starting a biotech company? REALLY don't do it!

Why would I emphatically advise you to not do any of these things? Because if my words are enough to deter you from pursuing these paths, then you never would have made it anyway. Because my words are only one out of thousands of inevitable obstacles, hardships, mishaps, challenges, and failures that will stand in your way. And if you aren't eager enough, devoted enough, fervent enough, and borderline delusional enough to even make it past those three meager little words, then my advice has saved you from wasting years of your life.

You plus Me vs. We

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:20:42 GMT

In a relationship, the math's a little tricky.
You + Me ≠ We
The We is a different entity. It's not simply a combination of You and Me.
If you put Me and You together, it doesn't automatically add up to a We.
In fact, the only way to establish a We is by putting aside our You and Me egos.

Allow me to illustrate this with photos.

You might be wondering if we planned this photo essay. But no, we didn't. We're just dorks who have a tough time in front of the camera. It took us numerous takes before we could look like we actually love each other.

(Thanks Albert for these candids! They're a riot.)

Also, HAPPY 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY to the better half of my We. Go team!

A Long Ways

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:59:29 GMT

I am so very far from the me I want to be.

When I think about where I am in my personal development, I cringe. Character flaws and social blunders haunt me. I mentally replay mistakes I've made over and over and over. I should have said that differently. I could have handled that better. Things would have turned out better if only I did X instead of Y.

I am in awe of my remarkable friends and their impressive emotional intelligence (EI). How does he always say the right thing at the right time? How does she establish immediate rapport with the entire gamut of personalities? How do they do it all and do it so well? And why does it seem to come so easily to them? I am constantly taking notes and learning from them.

I know I was handicapped by a violently toxic household and the lack of any role models throughout my first 18 years. Looking back at high school, I honestly had one of the lowest EI's out of my peers. And that's amongst high-schoolers, folks! Truly cringe-worthy.

I had a lot of catching up to do in terms of maturity and interpersonal skills. Thanks to the extraordinary people in my life (including my lovely blogosphere buddies ), my personal development has grown immensely. Why these wonderful individuals decided to befriend me, mentor me, guide me, and even love me... I will never understand. When I think about the people in my life, I feel blessed. When I think about how far I've come, I feel encouraged.

I've come a long way. However, there is still so much further to go. It's a moving target, so I doubt that I'll ever be satisfied with my self-development. But I'm proud that I'm not letting my past hold me back or lower my standards. I *will* be the best me that I can be!

Pop Quiz: Male or Female?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:34:31 GMT

Guess whether friends A through E are male or female. And no peeking at my facebook profile!

Prosecuting Conversations

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:04:52 GMT

Sometimes I wish I could filter out lengthy conversations in much the same way that the patent system filters out ideas and inventions.

If you're going to talk at length about something, it better be:

appropriate subject matter
novel
useful
non-obvious
and reasonably enabled

To borrow and modify a quote from Winston Churchill...

"The best argument against freedom of speech is a 20-minute conversation with the average person."

IT'S RAINING GARTERS AND BOUQUETS!

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:12:13 GMT

Make love, not war. Or get married and do both!
Congratulations to our sickeningly lucky-in-love friends who tied the knot this summer.

Anyway, this image-intensive post is really for myself. My forgetful, ol' self. I just wanted to document these celebrations so that I could remember my favorite parts when I looked back.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

S & S had one of the greatest wedding ceremonies I've ever witnessed. The guests knew it was going to be a good one when the officiant opened with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference. And then there were the awesome "Why S (the bride)?" and "Why S (the groom)?" essay assignments that were read aloud. I giggled, I aww'ed, I laughed, I sniffled, I cried. Seriously, it was better than most romantic comedies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

M & P took out all the silly wedding fluff they didn't care for and kept just the best parts: great music, hors d'oeuvres, cake, a steady stream of alcohol, and ... neon glow sticks. I really think they're on to something!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

C & K's flawless wedding managed to accomplish something I never expected to experience. ...
They actually showed us that New Jersey could be really beautiful! And delicious. And, gasp, FUN!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

J & J's outdoor ceremony was held in a truly stunning locale (Nestldown in the Bay area). I gasped in awe when we reached the clearing surrounded by majestic Redwood trees and a pond. One of my favorite touches was when the bride and groom planted a sapling together using soil from their parents' actual homes. What a meaningful and symbolic gesture!

Derek and I had a lot of fun goofing off at the picturesque photo station. Can you tell these were taken during the cocktail hour? Hehe.

The menu for the chinese banquet included an interesting item: concubine chicken. Which made me scratch my head and ask, "How does a chicken become a concubine?" To which Derek replied, "By sucking up to a royal cock!" (Admit it. You laughed out loud, too!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

K & M actually got engaged during our wedding weekend in Negril back in 2006. They had so much fun at our destination wedding that they were inspired to have one of their own. *pats self on back* But sadly, I couldn't make it to their castle wedding in Portugal. *kicks self in back* Sigh... At least I was able to meet up with them when they visited the city to hear all the craaaazy stories from their wild celebration.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once again, congratulations to all the happy newlyweds!
As for marital advice, just keep in mind that

LOVE IS A VERB, NOT A NOUN
... especially during your honeymoon phase!

Oh, the things we say...

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:51:53 GMT

Friend who can't stop boasting about his start-up: We have an impressive 10% penetration of the X market!
S: Sorry to break it to you, man. But ask any woman and she'll tell you.. 10% "penetration" is hardly considered penetration at all.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

D: Ummm... [trying to understand S's sour mood] Does the P in PMS stand for "pre" or "post"?
S: In my case, it stands for PERPETUAL..Okay?! Gotta problem with that?!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

S: I wish you could look at me the same way you look at that curry beef brisket.
D: [turns to look at S with the same intense look of love and desire]
S: Aaawww.. I love when you look at me that way...
D: Actually, I'm imagining that you're the curry beef brisket!

Chemical Learning

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:51:44 GMT

Too awesome not to share.

If only they taught orgo this way. Then I would've paid attention!

Reason #310 to take better photos

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:07:01 GMT

That's right. I'm not ashamed to use mob-boss tactics on my friends.

And yes. It totally worked! I got the photos that very week.