NEW BEACH HOUSE

  Beach House - White Moon (Itunes Session) by subpop

Inception

10 hot things (special edition)

I recently started my 4th and final year of medical school. At times it has seemed painfully long and at other times exquisitely short. Some days seem to last forever, while other moments are fleeting. My time has been  filled with many joys and pains that I could have never seen coming. The beauty of the fight is that at the end I know I have been made a better, stronger more caring and grounded individual. I'll be blogging from different places and experiences this year. I will have interviews all over the country and will hopefully see some great sights. I've been gone from the blog for a while, and will probably be gone for a little longer, since I have major exams coming my way.


 But in the mean time enjoy the 10 amazing things that have been bouncing in my head for the past few days...


-Music-
There is so much good music out, old and new. These are just three I really like at the moment


-The first song has no vid. its the POWER remix. I heard people talking about it and had to hear it for myself follow the link to hear the song and download it...
Power Remix


-The second song is just Great



-The final song is another old bolero song. These boys sing with everything they have



-Spot-
Bar Dupont

a trendy, nice place, that is far from U street lol

- Stuff-
I love these Head Phones, I've been thinking about investing in some classic head phones for a while.
These happen to be blue and have a microphone for use with a phone... SCORE

-TV-
The new season of MAD MEN. Looks like everyone is branching out and making it happen.


-Movie-
I recently re-watched I love you Man. I love that movie, man. Its the toats mcgoats!
I also wanna see Scott Pilgrim, first thing after my exam.


-Style-
The new issue of Complex features some giants in the world of fashion/photo blogs. All of their blogs are great.  I especially like JJJound. follow the link to the complex webside for pics and links.
Unique Views
JJJound pics:

  

New Dress a Day Blog is a blog about a girl who took 365 dollars and 365 old ugly dresses and makes new stuff from them, each and everyday. And the stuff looks pretty good too. I like how creative it is, its all girls stuff, but props go where they are deserved. This lady is pretty talented.
http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/  [warning, you may end up clicking for hours lol]


-Books-
I've been off on my recreational reading as of late. I do plan on finishing up on the reading I was doing before 3rd yr med school ish it the fan. I also think i want to start on the David Sedaris collection. Everyone swears he so freaking funny, so I gotta check it out for myself.


 I also want to read My Little Blue Dress a book by Bruno Maddox, he wrote of a pretty cool GQ piece from a few months back.

-Food-
Spanish/Latin food has always been my soul food. Now before you go and crucify me, Let me state that I also southern american soul food. Its a close second in terms of my favorite culinary style, and it will always have a special place in my heart (and arteries lol). I just like latin food a little more. The food tends to be lighter, not so gravy soaked and it has a large emphasis on fresh seafood. I also like the street food, those small tasty little fried or roasted snacks that are part of 3rd world culture.


That said, I had an amazing Spanish Bistek (steak) the other day for restaurant week at Bodega, in Georgetown. Definitely one of the best I've ever had, in short, It was like budda baby lol


-Tech-

The Seabreacher: available in a 155hp, dolphin-inspired J model, or the more badass, shark-boddied 266hpX model, these submersible watercraft can reach up to 50mph on the surface and up to 25 mph submerged. I found these on uncrate.com, I am  ENTHRALLED

http://www.seabreacher.com/

-Mantra-

Last week I posted a quote by Thoreau "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams...", this is going to be one of my mantras for this final year in school. Sometimes I find it very difficult to navigate this career path and I guess life in general. You grow up with dreams and ideas of how your life will end up. You have a vision for yourself and your family, how you will live, what you will do. But that little dream for yourself never included the steps it took to make it or any of the people you'd meet and lose along the way. 

As a christian I can easily see the parallel between my personal life and spiritual life easily. Its about belief and dedication and faith. A faith in the system and a faith in god that things will work out. Its so hard to move forward when you dont know exactly what is in front of you. I dont wanna get all deep and stuff [cause I have to go back to studying]. I just want to say that life is all about growth. Growing and changing. Becoming the person you've wanted to be and even surpassing that person. Its about forgetting all the doubts and negativity and focusing on what is here in front of you. Focusing on the NOW and the beauty that surrounds you. Yes, Im in a predicament but its a wonderful one to be in. 

I will not be scared anymore, I dont have time. I will not have doubt, I do not have the room and I will not worry, because I have other things to think about. 

Im going to live this wondrous life I have imagined for myself, and I hope you start live yours too.

My Theme For This School Year

I pray

Im worried... so I pray

I pray I find  what I'm to find

I pray I meet whom I should meet

I pray I love whom I should love

I pray for meaning

I pray for peace

I pray

I pray all this is not in vain

I pray You hear me, I pray you near me

I 

simply, 

honestly,

earnestly

 pray

I wanna fly away

LATE NITE THINKING

Final tests of Third year are coming up on monday and tuesday. I have so much crammed into my head, from every ailment known to man and its treatment [and yet I still find time for some existential thinking].

Thinking about life and how people age and how people change is something I frequently think about. I always wonder how old people were when they were younger. When I see older people walking around I try to imagine, what did they do for fun? What kind of people were they? Was that sweet old granny, always like that? Things of that nature always pop in my head. I wonder if these people look at their lives, once they near the end of their journey, and reflect on what was or what could have been.

Life is about the journey and its all about the people you meet. The lives you touch and those that touch your life. We always seem to be so busy, living in the moment or focusing on whats next. I find myself drawn to the past, always eager to learn the back story,the steps in between the present and the very beginning.

check out these great pics and follow the link for the rest...

The rest of the pics

All I want is you...

this ish is smooth. I am definitely feeling this.

Bailar = To dance

Love this friggin song. Its been on repeat all day.

ok... back to the books

How about that...

Forbes is good for their lists. They recently released their list of the World's Happiest Countries. The top 5 are all Scandinavian countries. I was happy to see that my little spot of paradise, Panama ranked extremely high on the list. It was number twelve, two spots higher than the United States. As far as countries in the Americas, Panama was only behind Costa Rica and Canada.

I can see why, I mean its great down there. And yes there is a lot of hardship and people may not be rich. I just think a lot of people have it right. They focus on family more and value the little things. I guess amazing weather and no natural disasters helps too lol.

follow the link to check out the whole list
World's Happiest Countries

Cool Dudes

This is a pic of John Coltrane and Miles Davis in 1956... Miles was always the coolest cat around, but this pic embodies his timeless style. From the lighting to his hair, shades and clothes, everything is superb.

Porfirio Rubirosa, was a Dominican polo player, race car driver and international playboy. He was famous for his jet-setting lifestyle and all of the famous heiresses, actresses and even dictators daughters that he bedded. Rumor has it he had some black in him too lol.

Steve Mcqueen... enough said

best coast

this is summer music

In love

I love Emanuela De Paula

All year long we wait for summer

For the rest of the Gorillaz Songs from AOL live follow the link
http://www.thefader.com/2010/07/12/video-gorillaz-live-on-sessions/#more-36464

5 HOT THINGS EARLY SUMMER

THIS SUMMER IS HOT....

Record setting, blisteringly unrelenting, heat stoke inducing HOT.
And so i find it pretty apropos to write down my list of cinco cosas calientes on my mind right now.

-Tech-

I  love the Range Rover Evoque which was just revealed last week. Its muscly and beautiful at the same time. Much like myself lol

-Read-

The July issue of GQ is great. I like the piece on the oil spill and the way the author personalized the story. It took the tragedy beyond news feeds and blurbs, and introduced the reader to the people present when all hell broke loose.  The workers who died that day have been over shadowed by the tragedy that resulted from the blast. In light of the GQ piece and my daily listenings to NPR, I also got some much needed perspective on the scope of this tragedy and others like it.  Kojo Nnamdi, who ranks pretty high on my list of radio personalities, recent dedicated his show to highlight the fact that this destruction that goes on much broader scale and more frequently in other parts of the world. In the Niger Delta, in Nigeria, there is a spill the size of the Exxon Valdez EVERY YEAR. The link is below if you want to hear the entire broadcast. This situation has reminded me that you always have to look deeper, and put things in perspective. Though it may be disheartening, its our responsibility to know and to tell others and to hear the cries of people whose voices are being dampened all over the world.

-Music-

Anybody who reads this blog should know by now that I love Bolero. Its an entire genre of music full of ballads overflowing with sappy romanticisms and tragic cries of love lost and never fulfilled. I like the harmonies and the guitar. I am especially partial to the Trio groups, those boys could sing and play those guitars like nobody's business. Everything about Bolero it is great. I have two Boleros that have been on heavy repeat in recent days.

Regalame esta noche= Give me tonight

This song is about a love thats over. The girl is trying to leave and he's beging for her to stay just this night.

Si tu me dices ven = If you tell me come

this is a song about a dude in love and how all the girl has to say is come, and he'll give up everything and he's that he's lost without her.

-I also have a little something new that I found earlier this week.

ceo - everything is gonna be alright 

-Fashion-

I love the look of a slim summer khaki suit and a blue shirt. Nothing else is quite as cool and sophisticated as a slim summer suit, dark tie and cool shades. 

-Food-
FRO YO!!!

I love that stuff. Ritas Who? lol I was recently put onto fro yo and have been a fiend ever since. The FROzenYO spot in down town DC on F street is great. I love their Cali tart, Mango and Pistacio.

Aight, its late. And I gotta hit the sack

Nite

Julian

LOVE IT

See the rest

Amistad = Friendship

There are people who you meet and instantly have a connection with. Its that deep connection where you connect on some other plane. You mesh with them and you get them, no matter who they are or where they come from. It crosses cultural and gender  lines. Its as if you were meant to meet these people. You were meant to be friends and you are meant to spend the rest of your life with them as a part.

I am grateful for my true friends. The ones who I have this connection with. The ones I can trust fully and can have those wordless conversations. I am a very open person and I like to meet new people and make new friends. But I am also stingy with who I let in. I have found that you cant give everyone all of you. Cause some have bad intentions or are too self involved to worry about you. Being a private person, I tend to keep my innermost thoughts to myself. I can be friendly with anyone, but when it comes to really opening up, it takes a very special person. 

I always say what I mean. And when I find those special souls on my journey through life, I keep them close and treat them like family. I was already blessed to be born into an amazing family, but there is also something to be said about the family you meet along the way...

ok back to studying

Music

This hat was made for me

Rag and Bone Liberty Fedora in Black Panama

Sweet

It's Blitz

by far the BEST CD of 2009 that i didn't listen to.

The YEAH YEAH YEAHS have always been a great band. This album was great because they kept their original sound but also used a softer touch than I am used to hearing from them. I love it and will be listening to it ALL week for sure.

follow the link to hear it 

http://www.myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs/music/albums/it-s-blitz-11081709

Dope Shirt

USA USA!!!

late nite

song of the night

Its official

Im a Fan of the Black keys and their newest album, Brothers

this one has to be one of the best tracks... it speaks to me lol

Correr = To run

Ran my first Half Marathon today in Annapolis.

It was an experience.  It feels good to push yourself to do something that not everyone has done.

I like a challenge. Now to try to perfect it


-NBA Finals and USMLE world for me tonite-

peace&love yall

For The Kids

Internal Medicine Society Career Day Visit

SUMMER MUSIC

CANT WAIT FOR LOVE KING by THE DREAM

and THANK ME LATER by DRAKE

IM SO FRIGGIN READY TO COP THOSE ALBUMS

chevere = cool

The life and times of Piri Thomas.
I'm almost done with his first book, which is the truth.

this is great too

Tighten Up

New Black Keys CD is out... Brothers


So far so good

Smile = sonreír

Love love love this song

good nite

Cinco Cosas

Its about that time. One of my favorite things to do on my blog is post my 5 hot things. They run the gamut of my favorite subjects. This weekend was a particularly interesting one, not for anything social, just for some things I've seen and opinions I've heard expressed. I've had a few existential weekends but this one has been one for the memory books. But I'll get to that later...

-TV-
I was late catching on to Modern Family, a pretty buzzworthy comedy that I have to say is my favorite thing on TV now. The characters are perfect and the dynamic the show captures is something TV exec dreams are made of. It has comedy and some of the most heart warming moments you could ask for but they never go into the realm of sappy or kitschy.

-Music-
another song from Christian Scott. This dudes music is transcendent




-Clothing-
For the longest I've liked bright colors and a little "street wear" when it came to casual dressing. I think I've pretty much totally moved away from "street wear" and now I get stuff that fits my active twenty-something lifestyle. As I get older I find myself drawn to clean grays, neutral tones and deep blues.  This dude has great style, he was on the backyardbill photo blog.

-Book-
Currently reading Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas.
Its a autobiography by Thomas, a Afro-Latino guy who grew up in NY in the middle of the 20th century. He faced many of the demons of street life. He also had to face many realities of the time, consequences of his own actions, addictions and his own identity formation. I like the book because it details the beautiful contradiction, of being both black and hispanic, not in a 50/50 kinda way; but that years of slavery and rape that has spawned a whole race of people with varying shades of skin, hair textures and race complexes kinda way. What I call the beautiful contradiction is the struggle to walk the line between self realization/identity, ethnicity and pride for country and kin. Its a struggle for self acceptance and the reality that in this country being both is almost viewed as an oxy moron. Its a coming to terms with the fact that the mere perception of claiming one group more than the other is considered by some as a total dismissal of other and an insult.

 Back to the book, which itself a good read. The dialog is superb. Its very in the moment, you are always aware of the period in time that this story is happening in and you can actually almost hear the characters voices. His seamless use of spanglish and his nuanced jive  really bring you into the story and their lives. This story has potential to be a movie, but I guess not many stories about poor black/spanish people get much attention, no matter how good.

- Food For Thought-
I just purchased another book by a young author called Losing My Cool by Thomas Chatterton Williams. Its about hip hop culture, its affects on black culture and the state of young black america.
I haven't read it so I cant talk much about its contents but Amazon has an interview with the author and I found a youtube vid of the author giving an interview while he was still a grad student at NYU.

Enjoy both and think about it
http://www.amazon.com/Losing-My-Cool-Fathers-Hip-hop/dp/159420263X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274075391&sr=8-1
[scroll down the amazon page for the interview]


there are two parts watch both lol

NEW JAZZ

Christian Scott, a young Trumpeter hailing from New Orleans is the truth. I've youtubed much of his ish this weekend and Im pretty impressed. This Thom Yorke cover is especially special

All the rage in Harlem

Zoe Saldana is great. She is one of the few black actresses to actually cross over into the main stream in a while. She is pretty awesome (the fact that she is afro-latino is also pretty dope too).

 The pics below are from a vanity fair shoot from last summer

enjoy

Looking Things Over

[I saw the movie and heard this earlier today, simply beautiful]

Why does it seem that the more you try to make sense of things the more convoluted they appear. I've had a lot of time to myself over the past few months; I've been doing a lot of introspection and going over all these things in my head. At times I find myself feeling hopeful and other times feeling overwhelmed. Its not that I feel scared or worried; its just that Im going into the unknown and facing realities and uncertainties and I feel lost.

Not that I've lost my way or that Im in the wrong place. But lost, as in not here.

Lost

I've asked myself all of those self doubting questions and I've already been reassured that I will be ok. This isn't about school or work. What this is, is something else. I know I have what it takes and I know everything will "be alright"; its just the other things in life that have me so shook.  My problems are real, yet I cant describe what they are.

Its like I'm missing a piece of me, but I dont know what it is. How can I look for it, when I dont know what I'm looking for.... Either way, when I find it I know I'll feel whole again.

 Its just the most odd feeling in the world, to not feel whole.

UNIS spring/summer 2010

Great stuff comin outta Unis this season.

Dope Ish