I can’t believe they actually…terminated…the Sarah Connor Chronicles yesterday for the big G’s State of the Union address. It was fun nevertheless watching Pelosi struggle to avoid rolling her eyes in front of the camera while he continued to insist on our success in Mid East campaigns. I was also afraid that he’d still say that we’re not in a recession, as he had claimed earlier this week. I can almost imagine him waving his fingers and saying “there is no recession,” like “these are not the droids we’re looking for.” Anyway, we celebrated my birthday today with the equivalent of a 3-day Chinese feast, followed by some couch-time with Super Mario Galaxy. Until the weather gets warmer, our lifestyle is becoming reminscent of a quiescent state in roundworms as reported in the newest issue of Nature called lethargus.

It was tough getting any rest from sleeping last night. I kept dreaming that I had matched to my top choice residency program, only to wake up to realize it was all an illusion. This actually happened several times, and I would pop out of bed each time with my heart thumping. That is, until approximately 9:05am this morning, when I got a real-live call from the program director at MEEI telling me that I have indeed matched with them. I almost had to pinch myself to realize that this was the real deal. Luckily, I had the day off from work, so after calling up some family and friends, I celebrated with 8-ball and noodles (my favorite combo!). Anyway, I guess this means that I’ll be staying in Boston until at least 2012! My capacity for inertia is truly boundless.

My new year started off smoothly as I slowly settled into my rotation in the emergency department. Besides learning many new things (like how to sustain an hour of doing chest compressions), I also had the fortune of laying my hands on a brand new toy. Looking back at the many cell phones I’ve owned (see here), the RAZR has been my favorite. Although it was tough letting it go, I really wanted a data phone, and the introduction of an irresistable plan helped sealed the deal. So far, the new phone has performed nicely. It’s not as flashy as the iPhone, but is certainly more utilitarian. Today, I used it to retrieve my confirmation for the rank list I submitted for the Ophthalmology match. Now that my fate is sealed, I can only cross my fingers as I anxiously await the results next week.

Happy 2008! Believe it or not, it has been exactly 5 years since I started Xephalon.net. Although the design scheme is basically unchanged, the website has undergone a few upgrades, including user comments and Recaptcha. But more importantly, this past year marked several major events in my life, like getting married, attaining my PhD, and deciding to specialize in ophthalmology. Beyond love and career, 2007 will also be remembered as the year that electronic gaming returned to my life in full force. It began with completing our epic journey through the world of Oblivion, then shifting to the white, witty, wonderful world of the Wii to defeat crazy raving rabbids, rescue Mario’s multi-dimensional world, and embark on a quest for the Twilight Princess. And with a line up of some of the most impressive FPS games I have ever seen – Gears of War, Call of Duty 4, Crysis, and Bioshock, all sitting on my computer, I fear that the gaming industry will finally squeeze that last drop of productivity from my existence.