Institutional Review Board? More like Irrational Review Board!!

So, as you can probably guess, this post has to do with my research. So, i met this morning (really freaking early, i might add) with my PI for teh research, and we went over the issues the IRB had with the project. Yes, there were one or two things we needed to correct, but for the most part, the issues they raised were non-issues.. they simply proved that the reviewers had not bothered reading our proposal. So frustrating! Now I need to spend monday making 1000 pages worth of copies. Argh!

I spent a heck of a lot of time with Sammy today. Just the two of us (Shosh was sleeping). It was awesome! It really is amazing how much you can love something so small. Not that Sammy is so small anymore. He's getting pretty heavy. He is lifting his head up a lot, which is pretty neat, and is smiling a lot more (without a concurrent increase in poop, so I suppose it means something). That's our Sammy update. Oh! And we got his crib. He slept in it.. pretty neat! He likes it. We hung up a mobile and all (thanks Bust!).

Allrighty. Posting every day is harder now that I have things to do.

goodnight. hopefully i will get to those topics I have yet to cover (college firends an dmusic) soon.

My Friends (pt 1)

Yes, that is the name of a great RHCP song (music- i love music. That's another topic I will have to tackle in a future post.) but it is also the subject of my post. I will be listing and telling y'all a little about my closest friends. They will be listed in no specific order, yadda yadda yadda.

Steve - Steve is my oldest friend. We go way back to elementary school. He is currently back in school to get an electrical engineering degree (he already has a degree in computer science). He also just got married to another friend of mine from high school, Celia, about a month ago. They also (much to the delight of Shosh) moved to New Milford, which happens to be about a mile away from my in-laws house).

Steven - Notice the subtle name difference. I met Steven in high school and we became great friends almost immediately. Steven is also married- to yet another good friend of mine (isn't it convenient when your friends marry each other?), Laurie. Steven is currently a 3rd year medical student, who is most likely going into pediatrics (as is yours truly). Steven is a Rangers fan - and probably the only hockey fan I know, and a Colts fan (he used to be a Niners fan, but recently switched his alliance - but before the Colts were amazing, so hold off on calling him a front runner). Anyways, Steven and I are very close, we spend a tremendous time on the phone talking sports and arguing about fantasy trades (yes, he is part of my keeper fantasy league). I honestly think we could spend 3 hours on the phone arguing the minuta of an relatively unimportant deal. Actually, scratch that, i have. We go to football games together - already one this year, Jets-Raiders in December as well, and possibly more, and unfortunately, don't get to hang out enough.

David (aka Elson) - another great friend of mine from high school, and the guy who got me into fantasy football and just more interested in sports in general. David and I can spend twice as much time discussing minuta of one rule for our fantasy league (he is commish and creator of the unbelievably complex keeper league I am in) than I can discussing the game with Steven. David and I get together frequently to watch football on Sundays, and if not together we will often watch the entire game on the phone together (and with Krevat - see below). David is currently working in a lab at Cornell (the medical campus in the city), still working tutoring for Kaplan, (i think) and is applying to med school. I think one of the best highlights of the sports aspect of my relationship with David is when he was in the library at Cornell (the one up in the middle of nowhere, NY), "studying" for a test, and I was giving him play by play of game 7 ALCS, Yanks-Sox in 2003, when Aaron Boone hit the game winning home run. I bet a lot of people actually studying hated him that day. David (as you probably guessed) is a die hard Yankees fan, used to be a Dolphins fan, and should really be working for some professional sports organization.

Elie (aka Krevat), yet another close friend from high school - AND from MIT as well, since we both boldly went where no Frisch student had gone before (well at least in the 3-4 years that preceded us). Krevat currently lives in Seattle and is working for Microsoft, though hopefully, he will soon be coming back to the East coast. He just got back from his vacation to Thailand and Japan where he ate REALLY REALLY cheap kosher meat. I love Krevat. He used to spend almost every holiday at my parents house when we were in high school. He also won a porsche boxster playing on-line poker. What a lucky duck. He is also in our keeper FFL league (just got an expansion team) and is a die hard Niners fan (he is from San Fran).

Shari - Shari is a 4th year med student at Columbia - she's going into Orthopedics. She is definitely one of the smartest people I know. We first became good friends in the middle of high school and we managed to keep in touch throughout 4 years of college and med school. I guess that says a lot about our friendship right there. We don't get to hang out as often as we would like, BUT, since she is (conveniently) best friends with Celia, I have had the pleasure of spending a ton of time with Shari the past couple weeks since we were all actively involved in wedding stuff! So much fun! And she's coming to visit us on Friday! Awesome! It would be pretty neat if Shari and I ended up doing our residency at the same hospital even though we are in totally different fields. That would be cool.

that's all for now. I'll get to college/medschool people another day

Not much happened today. I did find out it will be OK for me to continue on with my research, despite the fact we don't have IRB approval. To quote the good JD - "you'll have something to write a paper about. You could write a paper about how the IRB fucked you." Gotta love the man.

Sammy is still really cute. He is holding his head up more at any given point in time. Its pretty neat watching him progress. He hiccups a lot. That bothers me , b/c there is absolutley nothing i can do to stop them. I tried scaring him. It didn't work (just kidding).

im on book 5 of the corps series and will likely finish that soon.

have to do a stupid review of myself at the Mrochand center ( a simulated patient experience) tomorrow. going to be dumb and a waste of time.

goodnight

It Just Rips My Heart Out

Fantasy football is a great hobby, but on nights like this it can just kill ya. All I needed to win (and be the only undefeated team in my league) was for Priset Holmes - arguably the best running back in the game over the past 4 years to get me 13.5 points. That's a touchdown and 75 yards or 135 yards. This year, in his first two games, Holmes has averahed 15.5 points. Over teh past 4 years he has averaged somewhere around 25 points a game. And he gets 9.3 only tonight.

So sad.

hopefully i'll have more time tomorrow to write a longer post and introduce you to my friends.

and Sammy's crib is finally arriving tomorrow!

Thoughts that keep me up late at night....

Did Martin Luther King Jr. actually wash his white clothing separately from his colored clothing?

When a lesbian couple adopts a baby, does one of them take prolactin pills so they can breastfeed, or do both? And how do they decide?

Why does the terrorist warning go (from most to least dangerous) - red, orange, yellow, blue, green? Shouldn't it be red-orange-yellow-green-blue?!

oh man....

Well, I just spent 2 minutes trying to come up with a creative title for this post, and none came to me, hence we are titleless. Today is my brother in law, Jakey's, 18th birthday! Happy Birthday Jake! I didn't turn 18 until I was a semester into college. That was 6 and 3/4 years ago. Holy crap, does that make me feel old.

Nevertheless, it has been a pretty uneventful time since my last post. David checked out my blog and realized that I refrenced the movie Top Secret! in that first post. What a great movie - Val Kilmer's FIRST EVER movie.

I went to Target to buy batteries and diapers, and forgot the diapers. Not only did I forget the diapers (don't worry, we still have plenty for Sammy), I didn't realize I had forgotten them until Shosh asked me 2 horus later. Talk about a senior moment!

This weekend's football games have some great lines. Jaxonville getting points on the Jets! I Love it!

Ah yes, my research... i believe i mentioned this earlier... I think (hope) the outcome will be known soon, so it seems possibel by the middle of next week I might know what my next 4 months are going to be like. Sammy is cute as always. I tried giving him a bottle last night - he drank it - and then proceeded to spit at least 2 ounces Sammy looking at me

of it all over himself and my arm and shirt. It was very gross. I used to think that children sort of needed the help of gravity to spit up - that's why they always turned their heads to the side to spit up. Now I know that is certainly NOT the case. I still want to feed him. I am very jealous of Shosh who gets to feed Sammy and bond with him all the time (though I do appreciate it when it is 4am and there is nothing I can do to help, so I get to sleep). But I would like a middle gorund - I would be more than willing to help take care of Sammy in the middle of the night if I could feed him.

Phyllis is on the phone with Shosh now, and Shosh is nursing Sammy. Phyllis wanted Shosh to put the phone by Sammy's ear so she coudl say hello. I told you my in laws were crazy (about Sammy).

Anyways, I think that will be all for now. I'm going to hopefully be playing football Sunday morning and then I am watching football by David (nothing beats Direct TV).

Adios!

The Amazing World of Sports

Well, I figured for now I would write about another big part of my life (aside from family, friends and school) - namely, Sports. Lets break it down, sport by sport. But before we do - let me go on the record saying that I will watch anything that is on ESPN - seriously - i've stayed up WAY too late watching comptetive eating, cheerleading competitions, the outdoor games or the spelling bee more times than I care to remember.

MLB - Over the past few years I have gained more of an appreciation for the game of baseball. There is a lot more strategy and planning that goes into it than I previously thought. The first team I ever liked as a kid was the Mets. That was back in the late 80's, where they would comstantly come in second place to the Pittsburg Pirates (whose outfield consisted of Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Barry Bonds at the time). I sort of lost interest early 90's, and when I regained interest in high school, it was as a Yankees fan. I still rooted for the Mets as well, since, unlike my father in law, I have no deep seeded hate of either team, but the Yanks were my team. Especially when I went to MIT - so much fun being a Yanks fan in Boston between 1998 to 2002. But Buzzy is a huge Mets fan, so I have found myself gravitating towards them as a fan once again. So, I find myself rooting hard for two teams.

NFL - I am a die-hard, over the top football fan, and more specifically, Oakland Raiders fan (I was born on Super Bowl XV in 1981 when my Raiders whooped Dick Vermil and his Eagles), So therefore, sicne I have been a football fan (early 90's) my life has pretty much been miserable. As far as I can remember, the Raiders have made the playoffs only 3 times in my life (granted, once was to the Superbowl where they were humiliated by the Bucs). And this season doesn't look any better. I HATE the Broncos; I only dislike the Chiefs (this might do with the fact I have Priest Holmes on my fantasy team for the past 4 years) and the Chargers are so pathetic (except for last year) that I simply don't care about them. I also have always had a soft spot in my heart or the loveable bunggling Bengals. Though they seem poised to break out of that slump this year!
I am also a HUGE fantasy football player. Last year, in my keeper league, I made the finals and lost to a phenomenal team. This year, I am 2-0 and blowing my opponents out of the water. Hopefully that keeps up. In my Einstein league, I am also 2-0.. wouldn't it be awesome to win 2 leagues in one year?! I owe my participation in fantasy sports to my friend Dave, who 9 years ago convinced me to start doing fanatsy football - thanks Dave! I'll get more into the beauty of Fantasy Football in another post.

NBA - Sadly, I am a Knicks fan, watching a once proud franchise being run into the ground. Well, finally at the end of last year, Isiah made some good moves, got back some draft picks he had given up for shit.. we'll see. I'll still never forget the daggers that Reggie Miller threw in my heart or how every 3 that John Starks missed in game 7 of the 1994 NBA finals was like a blow to the head. More recently the Knicks were the 8th seed and beat the 1st seed Miami Heat (1998) that was fun - (especially, since one of my college firends, Jon, is a HUGE Miami fan). I'll root for the Nets - Jason Kidd is phenomenal, and I LOVE Air Canada (Vince Carter) - will never forget him jumping OVER a 7 foot guy in some exhibition olympic game. Thankfully, the East is so bad, that every year the Knicks actually have a chance of making the playoffs.

NHL - do i really care that it is back? No. Will that stop me from watching - no. I suppose I am a Rangers fan (will never forget staying up to like 2 am watching that triple OT win vs the Devils in 1994), an I was a bit sad when Messier retired last week... but I don't really care too much about Hockey. My friend Steven does- he's a die hard Rangers fan since high school. So, I cheer with him. It's fun

So thsoe are the big sports. What else do I enjoy watching?

Tennis - I have started watching more and more tennis. When 2 good people are playing, it's a beautiful game to watch. I suppose I like Aggasi, just b/c he's been around for so long. I like Andy Roddick too. Women's tennis is even more fun to watch. I usually cheer for the underdog just for the hell of it.

Golf - I have actually started paying attention to golf. Some of those Masters have been very close lately (it is no longer Tiger just running away with it all), which makes it much more interesting. I have tired hitting golf balls at a driving range - i suck. My hand hurts afterwards. If I actually make contact with the ball I drive it pretty damn far... but that only happens about 5% of the time. Once, during high school I went to a pitch and putt with my friends David and Elie. David was standing behind me. I managed to hit the ball backwards and knock him in the chest. I told you... I suck at golf.

NASCAR - please. Only a hockey fan could like NASCAR - like, yes, you guessed it - Steven. Though watching the guy throw his helmet at the car on Sunday was pretty funny.

i think that about covers it for now.

Today's Little Addendum

So, as you can see I have decided to give my posts titles now. I am also playing around with the font. Additionally, I have a blog reader! very exciting! How on earth did you find my blog Esther?! Anyways, I have linked to Esther's blog in my new, handy-dandy "Friend's Blogs" section. You see, I have been futzing around with the template, trying to teach myself a little html in the process. I did go to MIT and I know nothing at all about computers. Sad.
Anyways, shopping for strollers was not so successful - the Jeep stroller we want is not currently in stock, since they will be coming out with the 06 model shortly. Alas, we might need to find something else. My heart is crushed.

Shosh took me on a 2 mile walk today with Sammy. Ah... the beautiful Bronx and it's wonderful smells.

The one problem with great books (like the Corps Series) is how late I stay up reading. Pretty crazy. I need more sleep - that is for sure.

Anyways.. lets see - lets introduce my family. I already mentioned myself (and since I am the general subject of these blogs, I won't blabber on about myself for now), my son Sammy (who is also the subjects of these posts .. yadda yadda yadda) and my wife Shosh. We were high school sweethearts (awwwwww.....) and now we have been married 3 and 1/4 years. She graduated last Decemebr from Columbia PT school with a DPT (that's Dr. Shoshana to you!) and (though currently on maternity leave) works for schools in the local county. She's beautiful, smart, funny (very funny), and an all around great person (I don't want to break out the heavy adjectives, so we'll just leave it at that).

My Dad is an OBGYN, and self described "TD" (top dog) of his practice. Pretty amazing what he has accomplished. I've delivered a few babies in my time (seriously - I'm a med student, remember) and it is a damn good feeling bringing life into this world. Lets see - my dad is Israeli, loves practical jokes, and is truly a great dad - always there for you whenever you need him.

My Mom used to be a teacher and now works in the business office of a Neurology practice (why yes, we are a medically oriented family). She's a great mom. She always takes interest in whatever I'm doing (never fails to surprise me when I mention that the Yanks won and she mentions some fact about the game), always there to talk to and still loves to entertain me, whenever we visit for Shabbos.

Brother one - Andrew - just graduated from Binghamton this past May (my God was that a long day), and is now working for a real estate company in Brooklyn. Quite the drive from Monsey to Brooklyn. We are only 3 years apart in age and while I wouldn't say we are rediculously close, we have been closer since AOL IM and cell phones (since I have not been living at my parent's house for the last 7 + years). He's a Jets fan (hahahahaha) and has a girlfriend - Shari - for about a year and a half now. And he also bears a striking resemblance to Bono.

Brother Two - Alex - is a senior in high school. He is currently trying to decide where to go for college. He is about to come to the realization (As I have) that life is an endless series of applications and standardized tests. I don't think he knows exactly what he wants to do yet.. But that's OK he has plenty of time. I think Alex (Al) and I are more alike then myself and Andrew - he's more into sports - both watching and playing - loves writing and likes the same authors and stories and music that I do. He plays the guitar (so does Andrew), and it is always a lot of fun to go to my parents house and play some songs together ( I play the piano). He's not feeling well now though, so AL.. feel better. Oh yeah Al is also a Raiders fan!)

Brother One/Brother Two reminds me of Thing 1 Thing 2 from The Cat in The Hat - great book; horrific movie.

Anyways....
My father-in-law, Buzzy, and my mother-in-law, Phyllis, are also both amazing people. (as i am writing this I realize that I describe everyone in my family as 'great' or 'amazing'... i am a very lucky person. So.. Buzzy sells professional photography equipment which is pretty neat since he always has the newest camera stuff at home - so we get free digital pics (not to mention camera etc.) and Phyllis is a speech therapist (she is already trying to get Sammy to talk). Like my parents, they are both absolutely GA-GA over Sammy. Buzzy is a HUGE Mets fan. Hates the Yankees and loves Kentucky college basketball (which might explain why he hasn't done to well in his brackets the past couple of years). My mother in law doesn't particularly love sports, and wonders why Buzzy hates the Yankees of they are also from NY.

Yael, my sister in law, who is finishing up college this semester and is truly an amazing habadasher got married six months ago to Elnatan. They have a house in Teaneck, a mile from my in-laws (which will explain why I sometimes refer to Elnatan as Ray). Elnatan is in politics an the printing business and is also a pretty great guy. Yaeli is a lot of fun, and very very kind, and i think she just wants to hold Sammy until her arms fall off. She is also has the best fashion sense of anyone I know (which, despite not sounding like it means much, she really does have a great fashion sense, and did I mention she makes beautiful hats?

Jake, my brother in law, is very unique. He loves music (plays the drums pretty damn well), as a matter of fact, he was the founder of a now defunct band - SWEJ, loves movies - and is always up to date on anything pop-culturish. Also a big Mets fan, Jake is probably the funniest guy I know. He is also a senior in high school (same school as Al) and seems to be king of the extra curricular activity. He also tolerates Shosh and I tossing him out of his room when we stay overnight (granted, the room still has purple wall paper and carpet since it was Shosh's room). He's like another younger brother to me, and since i didnt have his entire life to boss him around, beat him up and do all the other fun stuff older brothers do, I try to make up for lost time when we're around together.

so that's my family

And now, we are off to go look at more strollers, and to get Sammy something for his neck, since whenever he is in the car seat his head is perpendicular to the way it should be. IT just looks so uncomfortable.

Later!

You know what pisses me off? How much this site crashes. it's a pain in the @$$. I'd love to say that is why it has gone 4 or so days since i have last published in my on-line journal-ish type thing, but i'd be lying. since it is late.. a quick recap of the weekend and you'll see why I was busy.

Friday: erev shabbos, of course. Had to get up to Monsey, NY to be with my parents.

Saturday: Shabbos! you expect a post? well.. how about afterwards you say? i would have, but i was busy getting ready for Sammy's Pidyon HaBen!!!

Sunday: Ah, Sunday. So much going on! Sammy's Pidyon HaBen was amazing. Thankfully, the cohen, my brother-in-law, Elnatan Rudolph, let me redeem him. We got some silver dollars from Israel in a beautiful case (thanks Buzzy!!) Pidyon went off great. Sammy was very polite and cute, and the food, from Bubba's Bagels, was phenomenal. Thanks to all you guys who showed up for Shosh and I, we really appreciate it, and it meant a lot to us.
After the pidyon, I got to watch football.. week 2. GREAT fantasy week. Llamas and Emus both an unprecidented 2-0; however, not only did my Raiders lose to the hated Chiefs on national TV on Sunday night, no games went my way. None. GB can't beat Trent Dilfer in a home opener, DAL can't stave off Mark Brunell (ok, this happened Monday night, or really early Tuesday AM), and for some reason I put faith in Joey Harrington and the Detroit lions. Yikes. remind me never to do that.
And of course, Sammy was cute as ever. He was rooting for the Raiders too (ok, fine the picture is from opening week, but he's still damn cute).

Monday: Stayed in Teaneck at my in-laws. Sammy was cute (again!). Didn't do too much during the day... now on book #4 in W.E.B Griffin's the Corps series.. great rading. But the night.... Went with my brother Andrew (i know, I'll introduce my family members soon.. tomorrow hopefully), my friend Steven (friend intros will be soon as well) and his friend Stu, to the Saints "home opener" at the Meadowlands vs. the Giants. It was awesome. I have never been to a night football game --> was really amazing. Giants won as well, which is nice.. since it is the first football game I have been too where the team I am rooting for wins. Perhaps thisbodes well for when I go to Jets-Raiders on Dec 11th with Steven. Of course, leaving the parking lot is another story, but once we left there, it was smooth sailing home.

Today: Woke up late.. well, woke up with Sammy at 8:30 (by 'with', i mean 'by') and then he slept on my chest for an hour and then next to me for an hour. For the record - the absolute greatest feeling in the world is having your son sleep on your chest. Just to feel every breath and every heart beat - I wouldn't trade those times for ANYTHING.
Once I got up, Shosh, Sammy and I (from henceforth will be referred to SSD) went to visit my mom at her work - Neurology group at Bergen County... she works in the business office (again, introductions to family soon). I worked there one summer - right after getting married, b4 I started med school, which I guess was already 3 years ago.. amazing how time flies.... anyways, we visited my mom at work.. everyone just stared at Sammy for about 15 minutes. We then went to Babies R Us and test drove strollers. Found one I absolutley LOVE.. this stroller by Jeep.. it is amazing.. hoepfully we will get it... though it seems like it is out of stock right now.
We then came home, back to the beautiful Bronx, where I cooked flounder for dinner. I know you all care about details like that. We gave Sammy a bath, I absolutley destroyed Etan in a game of Madden, the Yanks won, Boston won and Cleveland lost (Mets won as well), and looks like my favorite NFL QB, Byron Leftwich, the toughest QB ever in my opinion, is hurt, bit not bad enough that he can't play. I'll get into why he is so tough at some point I suppose.

Tomorrow I have to deal with my research... like if it will actually happen. Going to be interesting.

Good night All,
Danny

Well, I have been meaning to do this for a while - sort of a on-line journal (available for anyone to read of course). So finally - here we go.
First off... a little introduction - I am Danny Fein, 24 year old 4th year med student at Einstein. I am married Shoshana Green, my high school sweetheart (awwwwww.....) and we recnetly (just a hair under one month ago) had a son - Sammy. That's us. My family.
I'd list all my friends, but - I don't have any. Just kidding. I am blessed to have a TON of friends and family - who will make guest appearances in future posts, I am sure.

So... since I need to pack, a quick update in my life. Sammy is 1 month old tomorrow. He is giving the greatest training an aspiring pediatritian can have, though he doesn't do too much. I feel like over the past couple days he has been awake and looking at Shosh and myself more, but that just could be my imagination. One thing for sure - he has pretty good neck control! Other family things - my cousin, Adina, an aspiring 1st year med student is currently with her FEMA diaster relief team, down in New Orleans. Pretty damn cool. Way to go Adina! My mom turned XX on the 13th (happy birthday mom!) I will introduce other members of my family next post.

School -- i am on "paternity leave". It's great. Trying to do some advance boards studying (not advanced b/c i know everything, but advance, b/c I don't take Step 2 until January). I got my 2nd interview request today - For UMDNJ (got Jacobi request yesterday). Very exciting.

Sports - Yanks 1/2 game out of wild card, 1.5 games back of the Sox. Mets faded down the stretch (hey - at least they made "the stretch" this year!) But of course.. more importantly - FOOTBALL is back... and with it, FFL. Raiders lost to NE last week and are home on a Sunday night game vs. KC -- should be fun. Meanwhile, I had my best fantasy week ever as I was highest scoring team in BOTH leagues. Go Llamas! Go Emus!
In my keeper league, Iplay my arch-rival, the Schizophrenic Crack Addicts, this week in what should be a tough game.
Made ~ 27% on football last week - not bad. Thsi weeks games are tougher to call. Go GB!! GO JAX!! Go MIA!!! Go DAL!! Go SD!!! Go NE!!!!

I wrote a book - Shattered Alliances and I am trying to find time t owork on the sequel - which is about half way through. I have written several short stories as well, and recently came up with an idea for another kick-ass story.

I am currently reading W.E.B. Griffin's The Corps series (I am on book #3) having already read his Brotherhood at War and Badge of Honor series. Amazing books. The absolute best character writer --> even better than my favorite author, Stephen King. This guy just comes up with characters that you feel are your own brothers and sisters. Phenomenal.

I think that is it for this initial post. Again, more friends and family will be listed in the future with their stories. Oh yeah --> I am going to the NYG game on Monday night. VERY exciting.

Anyways, it is Sammy's pidyon Haben this Sunday (SUNDAY! We can't bomb them on Sunday! It's Simchat Torah!), so I have to go write something.

Ciao