So Victoria’s Secret sent me a survey about one of their bras, which was wonderful. It’s not that I like filling out surveys, but sometimes, it’s the thought that counts, right? But then they gave me this question:

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like it should be a matter of choosing between the two. With all their talk of super high-tech fabrics, why can we just have both? Or maybe that’s the root cause of all our troubles. Maybe we should all stop thinking that we can have it all.

Oh, it’s been a long day, but there’s still time enough for a story. If you’ve ever read Jon Gruber’s Public Finance text, you might recognize it from the healthcare section. But I was reminded of the tale once again by a piece in my favorite news source.

About 125 years ago, US President James A. Garfield was shot twice by Charles J. Guiteau in an assassination attempt. The first bullet injured Garfield’s arm, while the second hit him in the back and was lodged deep inside the President, in his fat tissue. This bullet, although inconvenient, and undoubtedly uncomfortable, would not have killed the man.

Unfortunately for Garfield, this happened in the 1880s, before X-rays and sterile technique became popular American medical practices. As his doctors were not able to immediately determine the location of the bullet, they chose to explore the wound by probing it with unsterilized hands and instruments. Eventually, the President died 80 days later, probably due to a combination of sepsis caused by his doctors’ unsterile methods, and lack of adequate nutrition as his doctors limited his food intake, essentially starving him to death.

Now, all that is pretty tragic. As Gruber eloquently put it, this goes to show that “Healthcare in the 1800s really sucked. Hospitals were where you’d go to die.” But this next part I found to be absolutely hilarious. Taken from the New York Times article:

The assassin’s lawyers tried to argue that their client was not guilty by reason of insanity. The defense was unsuccessful, and he was hanged on June 30, 1882.

Guiteau himself repeatedly criticized Garfield’s doctors, suggesting that they were the ones who had killed the president.

“I just shot him,” Guiteau said.

Let’s see. What have I been up to recently? Taking care of family stuff, teaching, and looking at houses and condos. You know, now that we’ve almost started the 4 month process of finishing our house, maybe we should start looking for a new one. I suppose that’s a decent way of making sure we don’t accumulate too much stuff.

But I’ve also put up a couple pictures. The first thumbnail is an old photo that I put up earlier. But it shows my fluffy friends in front of my window back at MIT. The purple bear is named Xavier, as inspired by Mimi’s dream. Teehee! I also put up some more pictures from last summer in Chicago, courtesy of JC, for whom I shall name my first born son. I mean, how can anyone mind being called Juan Carlos?

My mother sent me the cutest pictures of Molly-like puppies yesterday. Just look!

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In other news, the kiddies have been doing well. I don’t have a class of delinquents anymore, so I’ve been able to move beyond “Hello, my name is…” And people have been amused by my quotes. It’s so great. Just look at this:

A: Passion is a double-edged sword. It motivates, but it can also hinder.
B: Hmm… I like that quote. Is it yours?
A: Of course! 100% original material, baby.
B: If I had a blog, I’d totally put that up.

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This afternoon, I had dim sum with Cynthia, my roommate from 9 years ago. (It makes me feel old just thinking about how long it’s been!) And as we were walking out of the restaurant, we both thought to take a picture. Just as I walked towards the hostess at the door, a random man volunteered to take photos for us. If that wasn’t strange enough, he then asked that I take a picture of him, and send it to him via email.

At first, I remarked on this supposedly clever way to pick up women, but then, when I came home, I realized that the two photos he took turned out quite nicely. And he seemed like a nice man, so I think I’ll just give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume that he volunteered to take those photos because he’s some sort of professional photographer who likes to be helpful.

Yup, that must be it.

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I found this little piece. I thought it was fun at least.

Amusing quotes re: Wimbeldon.

From a NYT article, Andy Roddick about his loss:

“I’m not happy,” Roddick said. “I’m mad, disappointed, whatever other adjectives you want to throw out there. I’m not that smart, so you think of them.”

From not the NYT, regarding the Baghdatis v Nadal semi-final match:

[Rafael] Nadal does look like he’d just as soon club someone as play tennis.

Also, tomorrow, my new bed arrives. Possibly without a mattress, but we take things one step at a time. Besides, the mattress deliveryman threatened to come by at 6am. That’s in about two hours. No thanks.

In other news, I thought New York was a great place for freedom, but my beautiful illusions were shattered with news of this. And the fact that I couldn’t choose my Columbia email address. Did I ever mention how much I hate those numbers following the name? You know what made it all the worse? They gave me a second account through the business school, that also had some random numbers attached to the end. Why would they do this to me?

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It was the first day teaching this new class of beginner English learners and what do they tell me? They’ve studied English for 4-8 years, but when I speak to them, I draw 70% blank looks. This concerns me. But, during the breaks when we were able to chat, they tell me that I remind them of the girls from Sex and the City. I really can’t think of a way to take that as a compliment….