a busy month

finally, after biking past it for the umpteenth time on the way to angie's apt, i finally went to white castle for the first time... i have to say, i wan't all that impressed, but it was fun anyway... :)

ryan cooked for us - yuuuuuuummmmy! hee hee... i couldn't believe how domestic he is - he's such a great host! :)

i took another trip out to nj. they definitely have the correct attitude when it comes to biking! :) this time, i made it a little further out towards the palisaides park. it closes at the end of october to bikers, though, so i won't get to make it out there this year. :(


oh yeah, and on the way there i ran into some funky spanish independence day parade - the costumes were super-cool! :)


check out that GW bridge - beeeeeeeeeauuuuutiful! :)


... and from the NJ side...


this is the name of the overlook that i made it to...

the water sparkles and shimmers... :)


my bike and me...


(yes, that's me trying to get my bike in the picture...)


last weekend's trip to upstate NY was the most fun i've had apple picking since i was a kid. even my mom and dad were climbing trees!!!!!!!!! ;) (see separate entry)















pictures can never quite capture the beauty of the scene... at least, not our cameras! ;)















that's manhattan (behind the trees)!

the GPS took us on a leetle detour...















the farm was really pretty...















hooray! God blessed us with a ladder - dad lugged it around the orchard with us. :) he wouldn't let me touch it because he said i had no sense of physics... oh well! ;)














yes, that's my dad, climbing a tree!















i know, even MORE amazing - it's my MOM climbing a tree!



















and yes, i climbed a gazillion trees, hee hee! it was soooooo fun! ;)
these are so-called "goose-neck gourds..." kissy-kissy! ;)

* * * * *

I faced more ethical issues & frustrations this month. without going into details, i can only say that my eyes are opened to the consequence of not having a victory over death. for the patient, this results in an unrealistic expectation of doctors. as a taiwanese doctor-writer eloquently wrote, "doctors are not gods" - at the end of the day, no human being can escape death. for the physician, death marks failure - or at least, that is the explanation i've been given for the reason that doctors - especially oncologists - avoid discussing the topic of Death with their patients. this patient i'm thinking of is lying in the hospital right now. he's been there for at least 2 weeks now - and he has no idea that everyone believes he is going to die really soon. beside him sits an aged father, who hears everything and says little - except the occasional, "well, we can only trust in God!" his mother's eyes are always filled with desparation - and she paces back and forth in front of the door, unsure what to do with herself. when i left the hospital on friday evening, i heard his sister screaming on the phone, "i can't do this over the phone. i need to see you in person!!! come here, or i'll make an appointment with you! ... ... WHY NOT!?"

* * * * *

Your grace is sufficient for me
Your strength is made perfect
When I am weak
All that I cling to I lay at Your feet
Your grace is sufficient for me.

I'm no longer striving to merity Your love
I rest in Your promise to me
That all of my sins have been
Washed in Your blood
Your mercy is all that I need...

You see me as righteous
Because of the blood
That made the atonement for me
Your mercy has triumphed
Where I should be judged
So now, by Your grace, I am free!!!!!!!

interesting stats & Quotes...

from the Journal of the American Medical Association, September 20, 2006

"Spiritual issues arise frequently in the care of dying patients, yet health care professionals may not recognize them, may not believe they have a DUTY to address these issues..."

"Spirituality is about one's relationship with the transcendent questions that confront one as a human being and how one relates to theses questions. A religion, by contrast, is a set of texts, practices, and beliefs about the transcendent, shared by a particular community."

"In one survey of outpatients:
52% believed that a physician had the right to inquire about a patient's religious beliefs, but
A MAJORITY could not recall any physician ever having inquired about religious beliefs
94% believed it appropriate for physicians to inquire about their spiritual beliefs were they to become gravely ill.
In a survey of inpatients:
77% believed physicians should consider their spiritual needs
68% said no physician had ever inquired about their spiritual or religious needs"

"IN a recent survey of US physicians:
- they are less likely than the general population to believe in GOd (79% vs. 83%)
- they are less likely to try to incorporate their religious beliefs into all aspects of their lives (58% vs. 73%)"


"Attending to these [spiritual] needs is integral to the job of being a good physician."


not all of the article was so intriguing... including the section entitled "elements of religious coping." AGGGG, agonizing to read!