Rural Doctoring

Dr. Wordsmith

The other day I heard one of our nurse's aides use the word "parsimonious" correctly in a sentence and I was stopped in my tracks.

What does it say about American culture that months go by in Rural County with nary a three-dollar word in use? Not that three-dollar words are better than the discount variety, but I miss the wonderful surprise of hearing an ordinary statement expressed in extraordinary words.

Maybe this is why I enjoy the works of Shakespeare. When Falstaff says "I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth," oh, how I know how he feels.

Milestone 5: A Preview of Great Things to Come

Now that Noo is solidly on the path to melanoma wellness, I find myself with more time for my annual midlife crisis. The past several years, around the time of my birthday, I find myself succumbing to a certain disillusionment and generalized ennui. I do a lot of ass-dragging and complaining, find fault with my colleagues, bemoan the decline and fall of human civilization, read too many books and articles about crime/financial collapse/political instability/ovarian failure, and generally take stock of the daily tedium of Real Life:

If Esme Were Extremely Interested in Depravity

This post is a bit all-over-the-place.  I know it already, only after writing the first few words.  Noo and I are in Ashland, OR, to see a few plays at the beginning of the season, before Interferon robs us of any opportunities for pleasure.  I drove us up here yesterday, after completing a truly awful week of hospitalist rounds, the kind of week that raises disparate literary allusions in my mind.  At one time, I wanted to be a writer and a scholar, so I'm afflicted with disparate literary allusions from time to time.  I think these allusions are the primary occupational hazard of literary scholars.  Believe me, I prefer to examine infected wounds and gangrenous feet than wrestle with renegade literary allusions.

"This Rough Magic, I Here Abjure"

My favorite Shakespeare play might be The Tempest.  Thought to be Shakespeare's final play, the play revolves around themes of revenge, redemption, and the longing for human connection (click here for a synopsis).  I have the complete works on my iPhone and, whenever I'm stuck waiting somewhere, I like to scroll around and memorize a few lines.

Here's what I committed to memory while I was walking my mother's Pekinese yesterday.  It is from Act Five, Scene One and occurs when Prospero, a magician, decides to abandon his powers and return to a common humanity.

Grand Rounds, Volume 4, #49: The Seven Ages of Man

Some of you may know I am an amateur Shakespeare scholar. I pursue the study of the Bard during my spare time, which means I don't pursue it very deeply. Medicine and blogging seem to be the great consumers of time lately, but this week's Grand Rounds gives me the chance to marry the three subjects together. I present to you a Shakespearean Grand Rounds, and I begin with a literary digression.