The Shroud

Today in didactics, we had a lecture by a man from the Spiritual Care department of the hospital. The minister man talked about how we should all make a conscious effort to exert nondenominational spiritual support (if we provide any at all) unless the family indicates a specific religion and you feel comfortable participating along those lines. Then he said he was at a family conference once, sitting around a table with the residents, attendings, fellows, RNs, social workers and family members to discuss the impending death of their child and the mom stood up in the middle of it and started speaking in tongues. Minister-man says that he's one of those kinds of Christians that does this kind of thing, so he put aside the nondenominational hat and stood up and starting speaking in tongues along with her. It was a good story. How do you just start speaking in tongues? Isn't there a lead-up to that?
Then we had a lecture on post-mortem care.
Then we went to the morgue, for a tour.
Then the CEO of the hospital talked to us about all the great things done at CHLA, and they were all things related to medicine, noble medicine, rich medicine, respected medicine. I became kind of angry on the inside.
Then at lunch I had a conversation with Daniel, who thinks I should be an MD or an OD and I tried not to think too hard about it.
Then I checked my email: nothing.
Then during break I almost finished O'Connor's Star of the Sea and when Yo La Tengo's Autumn Sweater was chosen at random from iPod it made me nearly teary.
Then I went and bought Return of the King Extended Edition. I really wanted that Minas Tirith stash-box. It would make an incredible stash-box. But it was 30 bucks more than the DVD alone, so I recanted. The insert on the back of the DVD says "50 minutes of new and extended scenes added by Director Peter Jackson". In case there was any confusion, you know - in case you thought the 50 minutes of new and extended scenes were added by Emperor Hirohito or Paul Reubens.

Then, here I am now.