James' World 2

Chances are, you’ve never heard of this movie.  Believe it or not, Netflix is actually earning the money they’re charging you for streaming and rentals.  Beasts of No Nation is a Netflix original and the buzz is that it may be the first non-Hollywood, non-theater released movie to be nominated for an Oscar in any category.  (Actually, this movie was briefly  released in a very small amount of theaters just so that it would comply with the rules for Oscar nominations).  Beasts of No Nation is so good, it will probably be a front runner in the Best Picture and Best Actor categories.  Before I viewed the movie, I went to IMDB to see what other viewers had to say about it.  Before I completed my initial search, a huge banner appeared advertising the must see movie with a rating of 8.2 out of 10.  I also read that…

It’s a busy week for raising mental health awareness.  Today is World Mental Health Day (October 10th), which is a day observed for discussing issues, garnering support, and mobilizing efforts to improve the treatment and public attitudes towards people living with mental illness worldwide (this year’s theme is “Dignity In Mental Health”).  Today is also the final day of Mental Illness Awareness Week (Oct. 4-10), which falls each year during the first week of October to recognize the efforts of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to fight stigma, provide support, and educate the public.  This year’s theme is #IAmStigmaFree.  As a psychiatrist, I wanted to utilize this opportunity to identify the steps that I regularly take to eliminate stigma in my practice.  My process has required a lot of personal work — learning, self-examination, self-reflection, patience; and I acknowledge that I am still a work in progress.  However, I want to emphasize that I am working on…

03:04
I saw the time when I woke up accidently..
I drank some water and went back to sleep but sleep for I couldn’t I woke up again in frustration and tip toed to the balcony..
I sat still.. still and silent
And for the first time it felt good..
To not think..
To simply be..
And it didnt bother at all..

I wondered who else would be up..at this time of the night day .. 3 am
Nobody I know is awake now..veryone too peacefully sleeping..
It is for the invisible those who are in love but their love isnt returned back..it is for those who live in this world dying each moment..and those dreamers who just cant think of anything that might let them sleep..
3am is for those who strive for somthing so big and so strongly that hours of the day that may be enough for…

One of the things I absolutely love about living in Minnesota, despite the cold weather approaching and frost encroaching, are the spectacular colors our trees’ leaves change to in the autumn. The blazing oranges, yellows, reds, and a few browns. The rustling noise the fallen ones make as they rush down streets and sidewalks in a breeze. And the lovely crunch noise they make underfoot, coupled with the smell; simply heavenly!

Today I had the pleasure of traversing through campus on this very warm day (in the upper 60s and lower 70s Fahrenheit!), and found myself at the Coffman building. One thing that is great about being a part of a large campus in a bustling city: almost every single day there is an event of sorts taking place. Today being no exception. There was an event today inside this building termed ‘Cirque de-Stress’, aimed at being a wonderfully fun…

There is so much buzz about Phillip Petit with minimal mention of Rudy Omankowsky, Jr. Ben Kingsley does an excellent job of portraying his character in the movie, The Walk.   However, there’s much more to “Papa Rudy”, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring you a little history about this legend and his family.

Rudolf Omankowsky, Sr. was born in Czechoslovakia. He learned the art of tightrope walking and owned his own circus. Rudy married Anna Tříska and together they had 3 children, Rudy Jr., Berty, and Lili.  All three became tightrope walkers and preformed under the name, Le Diables Blancs, “The White Devils”.  Omankowsky was the patriarch of a successful group of wire walkers who performed in France and throughout Europe.  The above historical picture was shot when Rudy’s daughter, Berty married Roger Decugis, in a ceremony conducted on high wires above the streets…

Plans are what keep us going. Spontaneity is wonderful and opens up bundles of opportunities you otherwise wouldn’t have, but spontaneity is irregular. You can’t constantly sustain spontaneity. If you can, then in essence it becomes your plan.

Planning trips is the best way to get through a monotonous Monday, or even just a regular I-woke-up-and-came-to-work kind of day. I have four big trips lined up in the next year, with a few other possibilities presenting themselves in between. When I think about the future, I am filled with so much joy that I will be out in the beautiful world experiencing new cultures and visiting ancient wonders of the world. These trips take the pain out of day to day life, the struggle with responsibility and the ever present how-much-money-do-I-have issue. Trips are typically expensive, so the last one doesn’t really make sense at face value. However, when you…

I had just walked into the ER for my shift. I went into our break room that we call “the bucket” for reasons unknown to me. My only guess was because it’s the place to go when all you want to say is “fu$&-it”. But ya know, we can’t call it “the fu$&-it”, so we call it “the bucket”. I sat my stuff down in the corner and asked somebody if it was a busy night. So far so good and I was optimistic to how the night would go. Then someone said to hurry up and get out there because something good was coming in.

“Something good” to me is a trauma alert, or a code, or a red medical patient. However I wasn’t seeing anything like that or hearing anything like that on the radio. I went to the trauma room and didn’t see anybody really busy so…

I kept wondering what kind of content could go into a movie about a walk between two buildings on a rope.  I realize it’s was between the tallest buildings in the world, however the movie was over two hours long.  I had no idea the preparation that went into an endeavor, a dream, an impossible, not to mention illegal feat, such as this.  The Walk captures your attention and engages your curiosity with the intensity of “The Donald” taking a midnight run alone through Spanish Harlem.  Joseph Gorden-Levitt plays Philippe Petit the actual French Tightrope Walker who made history when he walked between the World Trade Towers in 1974.  Philippe was much more than a tightrope walker, he was also a juggler, a magician and a street entertainer.  The Walk is a true story directed by Robert Zemeckis and in my opinion is sure to achieved an Oscar nod…