Our department celebrated the end of the academic year with two intense days of back-to-back research presentations by residents and fellows, fortunately concluding with a celebratory dinner at the Marriott and a blast of an after-party. The resident skit was a polished production that impressed even seasoned video-skit producers like myself, featuring internet memes like Gangnam style and the Harlem Shake, combined with a witty script, sharp editing, green screen masking, and near-professional voice-overs. After the awesome show and the requisite roasts for the graduates, we headed to the Republic where our house DJs Master P and Special K laid down some funky beats as we danced the night away. Meanwhile, Duke’s decision to have the entire hospital system adopt a new EMR in one fell swoop was an Epic fail (pun intended). Despite the $400 million price tag and an army of blue-clad tech support minions, we still ended our first week seeing only half the patients in twice the time. At home, my recent tech upgrades have not fared better, with my new refurbished mouse and keyboard arriving DOA. Fortunately, my new D5100 more than met my expectations, replacing the D40 I had sold last year. Now I just need a vacation so I’ve got something to shoot!

I took Melody to Raleigh this past weekend to take advantage of the NC capital’s monthly First Friday event. From the airport, we drove directly to make our reservations at Second Empire. Located in an old brick house reminiscent of L’espalier’s original Boston location, the 4-diamond restaurant served up a delectable pan-roasted foie gras, spicy PEI mussels and polenta, overcooked black grouper, and a hearty cajun ribeye steak. With bellies full, we checked out synchronous swimming turtles at the Museum of Natural Sciences, then perused the maze of Artspace galleries, where Melody left happy with a flying pig canvas by Keith Norval. On Saturday, after sharing sandwiches from Toast, we returned to 18th-century America to liberate the patriots from the crown in Assassin’s Creed 3. Triumphant, we celebrated at home over homemade napa cabbage pork stew while watching deduction and intrigue unfold in BBC’s modern interpretation of the Sherlock Holmes adventures. The next morning, we awoke to wood-fired clam and crimini mushroom pizzas from Pizzeria Toro, followed by chocolate chess pie and donut muffins from Scratch Bakery. In the evening, we joined my co-fellows and residents for a year-end barbeque while demonstrating my lack of skill in giant chess. Putting my research Monday to good use, we went to Chapel Hill for curry at Raaga, then returned to Durham for dinner at Nana’s, where highlights of the regular and tasting menus include a crispy puffer fish with ginger slaw, a rich pork agnolotti with shimeji mushrooms, textbook risotto with shrimp and calamari, and a tender pan-roasted red grouper with spring veggies. With my hair cut, sheets cleaned, and freezer filled with homemade batches of cookie dough, I am well-prepared for the next two months.