Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Why Stan is the Man

Stan* is the hospital messenger who puts a smile on my face daily for the following reasons:

  • He drives a bright yellow heister without great speed or agility unfortunately.
  • He is very short and stout and reminds me of a teapot, an Indian teapot.
  • He has perfected the art of visiting our department at the exact second we sit down to have lunch or tea.
  • He is nearly as old as the hospital and has many historical tales to tell.
  • On hot days he wears a sombrero and I often find myself shouting 'Ola Speedy Gonzales!' across the parking lot.
  • He is petrified of a feisty elderly female patient in the ward and refuses to deliver to that ward if she is on the prowl.
  • He sneakily steals our tea and sugar and just as we begin to get suspicious he brings us a donation of tea bags or sugar (that he has most likely nicked from another ward).
  • He puts my aircon on in the morning so by the time I get into my office it is nice and cool.
  • On Friday afternoons when the Psych Department is deserted it is comforting to know that he is sitting outside my door drinking his tea.
  • When we praise him he helps us (or does his job).
  • He can cook amazing open fire veg biriyani in those big pots. 
  • He often gets hurt. I know this isn't a laughing matter but the situations he finds himself in often amuses me. He has: rolled down the uneven corridors leading to the wards one to many times, has gotten attacked by a swarm of bees and has rolled down a hill while trying to escape some unruly strikers.


*Name has been changed to protect confidentiality.

That's all.

Green Eggs & Ham

I rediscovered my love for Dr Seuss after recent visit home. My sister read and reread Green Eggs and Ham to my little nephew and each time he could not contain his delight. The magic of Dr Seuss is that not only does he ignite childrens' love for reading but he also
has a very valuable life lessons to share that only make make sense MUCH later. That is pure genius in my opinion.


Here are a couple of my favourite quotes:

  • You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose. You on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who will decide where to go. - Dr Seuss, Oh the Places You Will Go.


  • We are all alittle weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutual weirdness and call it love. - Dr Seuss.


  • Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened. - Dr Seuss


  • So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act. And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! (98 and 3/4 % guaranteed). - Dr Seuss.

  • Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. - Dr Seuss.


  • You know you in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr Seuss


  • I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, its a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. -Dr Seuss


  • Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. -Dr Seuss, The Lorax.


  • A person is a person no matter how small. - Dr Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!

  • From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere! - Dr Seuss, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

  • I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me! -Dr Seuss


  • Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. -Dr Seuss.

  • In my world, everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies. - Dr Seuss

  • Why fit in when you were born to stand out. - Dr Seuss.

My friend also mentions Dr Seuss in her super blog: http://wwwlienkiesblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/random-things.html



That's all.

Cold and Fuzzy

This is currently one of my favourite songs. It has a happy melody, that reminds me of a nursery rhyme, but listening to the words you actually realise it is dark and twisted. I find it cathartic.


Somebody That I Used To Know lyrics
Gotye



Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end
Always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad that it was over

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
You didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I'd done
And I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know... 

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
You didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

I used to know
That I used to know

Somebody...



That's all.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Are You With Me?

I have fallen off the proverbial blogging wagon so to speak, but after some persuasion and inspiration I am looking to get back on it.  I will start off by giving you something to think about.


After explaining the instructions of a rather complex board game to a psychiatric patient the following was overhead:


OT: Are you with me?


Patient: Are you with me?


OT: (is caught off guard and rendered speechless)


"If you could actually stand in someone else's shoes to hear what they hear, see what they see, and feel what they feel, you would honestly wonder what planet they live on, and be totally blown away by how different their 'reality' is from yours. You'd also never, in a million years, be quick to judge again." Author unknown.


That's all.