I read Shael Holtz's blog post (and am reading the series) on hospitals and social media with interest. I really appreciated how he didn't champion social media, but rather, he clearly laid out the facts. The entire idea has left me with a million questions, and I would love to know if others feel the same way.

To start, what is the goal of getting hospitals to be more engaged online? Are we trying to make them more approachable? Are we hoping they help educate the public when doctors make decisions we don't fully understand? Is it purely for customer service and image?

When I think of social media, I think that it is a place where I can communicate directly with organizations and have my voice heard. A place where I can affect change. Should social media be able to change the way doctors and hospitals make decisions?

Doctors have four years of college, four years of medical school, seven years of residency (ok, the one I live with does, I don't know how long others do) and often go on to do a one or two year fellowship after that. I have one year of high school biology. Even though I consider myself a smart person, I am not in a position to know better about any medical situation.

Doctors have years of training to expose themselves to every medical situation, every option and every possible outcome. They weigh each option based on a laundry list of variables and the percent chance of a favorable outcome. They need to do all of this, without getting emotionally involved. Social media thrives on just that, emotion.

In the examples Shael gives, both seem to come down to two things: fear and money. Fear makes everyone do irrational things, I think that's clear. Money, however, seems to be a confusing topic when it comes to medicine.

Are hospitals to pay for every case that tugs at the heart strings of the Internet? Where does funding for this come from? Do people think hospitals have unlimited resources? What will then outcome be for the patient? Will their quality of life be such that they need expensive medical equipment to keep them alive? Full time care? Who will pay for that? Does that come from the hospital as well?

If hospitals went online to discuss some of these things, to teach us more about why and how decisions are made, I would be fascinated. However, if we encourage hospitals to go online solely for the purpose of pressuring them into making poor decisions based on emotion, I'll question my entire career choice.

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I look through transparent things and I feel okay
Litter bugs, singer songwriters

This line from Fujiya & Miyagi's Transparent Things makes my life. 

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Why do girls say they deserve to be treated like a princess? Sure, it's a great idea in theory, but would you really even want to be a princess? It seems rather high-stress. Desire aside, I argue that most girls who say they deserve to be treated like royalty, really don't. Here are my 5 reasons why:

5. You don't look like a princess. If you want to be treated like a princess, you should probably be dressing with the word 'demure' in mind. Yes, this argument doesn't seem very feminist, but neither does expecting a knight in shining armor to gallop in and take care of you. 

4. You aren't learning. Pretty sure there aren't too many princesses sitting around flipping through Cosmo or talking about what the Kardashians are up to. Aim higher. Can you greet people and make small talk in multiple languages? Are you up on current events and pressing social issues? Are you a patron of the arts? If not, better start. 

3. You don't give back.  Yes, you can volunteer even if you aren't just trying to make your community service hours. Spend you time in your community and be a model citizen. When you are, never look bored and don't complain! You want to be someone others can look up to. 

2. You don't believe in privacy. Stop being an attention whore. Royalty is way too good for that. 

1.  You have no manners. Do you treat everyone else in your life like a princess? Until you do, I doubt anyone else will consider treating you that way. 

...and that's my rant for the day. 

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I challenge anyone to share a more offensive auto-reply than this one. I'm not entirely sure what message this person is trying to convey, but the message I'm reading is, "I don't mind wasting your time by asking you to read this entirely superfluous email note to tell you that I don't want to waste my time reading what could potentially be an important email from you."

The best/worst part of the email? The sender suggests sending a text message an alternate method of communication in case what you orginally sent was important, but then doesn't include a phone number. 

Bonus challenge: Can you guess what the sender's profession is?

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5. If you could solve one (and only one) of the world's problems, which one would you choose?

4. I missed out on Burning Man. I'm still excited by the thought of going, but devotees talk about how much it's changed. What's going to be the next big shared experience life changing yearly event? I want in on the ground floor, please. I hope it's something involving good weather. 

3. I'm just as keen about exploring the next town over as I am traveling around the world. You don't have to sit in an ashram for three months or sail around the world to learn something new. 

2. What evokes pride in your town? In your community? I'm mostly thinking about this because I'm shocked at how little people seem to care about where they live (where I live, in Philly). What is the relationship between taking care of the community around you (be it taking part, or just not shitting all over it) and education? Arts? Access to basic necessities? What am I missing? How do you fix a problem like this?

1. Would you rather have incredible financial success and remain anonymous or become a big deal, but only make enough to get by? 

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What if we became sweethearts?
After we got back to America

Yeah, I'm totally in love with this song right now. Actually, the whole album from Butch Walker and the Black Widows is a good time, so go get it.

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There's a fire going out

But there's really nothing to the south

I loved hearing about this song on CBC's Q. Justin Vernon said, "When I wrote this song, I'd never been to Calgary, still haven't been. (...) It always seemed like a place that I felt connected to. I don't know if that should be true or not, but the song sort of became about an envisionment about a place. You know when you think there's someone out there that you could be in love with, but you haven't met yet? It sort of became a metaphor for places you haven't been, but you think that you know. You can sort of have that feeling for someone you haven't met, but you think that you're supposed to be with." A pretty nice thing to say, right? 

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Guest post alert! This is a song and a top 5 list all in one, so I couldn't resist posting it. Some fairly keen observations from someone who is currently supposed to be spending all day studying. 

My girl parties all the time...

An oldie but a goodie. I have several thoughts about this video

1. 1980's Eddie loves the over-the-head hand-clap, and 1980's Eddie could pull that shit off.

2. Why the hell are there so many guitars being played in this video when all I hear are synths and drum machines?

3. Was more time spent filming this video or doing enough blow to make this video seem like a good career move

4. Rick James kinda looked like a young Susan Sarandon

5. Further investigation into Eddie Murphy led me to Dickipedia.org, going over-and-above for sarcastic fauxcyclepedia entry with the following: "Eddie Murphy was married to Nicole Mitchell for 13 years, divorcing in April 2006. Very, very shortly after that, it was announced that Murphy’s girlfriend, former Spice Girl Melanie B., was pregnant with his child. Very, very shortly after that, Murphy publicly questioned his paternity. Very, very shortly after that, a DNA test confirmed what everyone knew all along: Eddie Murphy is the kind of dick who actually thinks he’s still cool enough to wear skin-tight leather suits. Also, the kid was his after all."

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Did you know there is more than one verse to Oh, Canada? The lyrics start to get a little uncomfortable somewhere between verse three and four...

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada! Where pines and maples grow.

Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow.

How dear to us thy broad domain,

From East to Western sea.

Thou land of hope for all who toil!

Thou True North, strong and free!

Refrain:

God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies

May stalwart sons, and gentle maidens rise,

To keep thee steadfast through the years

From East to Western sea.

Our own beloved native land!

Our True North, strong and free!

Refrain

Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,

Hold our Dominion in thy loving care;

Help us to find, O God, in thee

A lasting, rich reward,

As waiting for the better Day,

We ever stand on guard.

Refrain

My favorite line has always been, "The True North strong and free"

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How many people around the world are listening to the same song as you at the exact same time? Not including listening to the radio, of course. 

How obscure do you have to get before you are the only person in the world listening to a song?

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Say you mean it, seal it up
Say you wanna try
Say you haven’t had enough
Say you wanna

DC is studying right now, which means every day I get a nice email in my inbox with a lovely tune attached. Props to him for taking the time to brighten me day! Today, it is Bombay Bicycle Club's Shuffle. After you've heard it once, I really don't think you can do anything but listen to this song on repeat for a while. 

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We had a pretty heated debate around the dinner table the other evening, all centered around this question:

At what point is it acceptable to tell a stranger that their bad manners are disruptive?

I am THE WORST for judging people on their table manners. I notice everything and I think less and less of you the more you offend me. I honestly believe that there are reasons behind everything considered to be good manners (for example: if you place your cutlery together at the end of a meal, people will know that you are finished eating and they can clear your plate. It also make it easier to clear multiple dishes at once without cutlery flying all over).

Since I take manners so seriously, you'd think I'd be up for telling others when they are being disruptive. However, I believe a part of having really great manners is not making other people feel bad about their lack of the same. Maybe it's a cultural difference, maybe it is a lack of education - to be honest, I can't pretend to know why someone lacks manners. Whatever the reason is, it really isn't my place to point it out to them.

After talking about this, it got me thinking about the parallels between coffee shop behaviour and Internet behaviour. Do you go around in real life telling people how to behave? If not, why do you insist on doing it online? There isn't a day that goes by that I don't read something from some mildly-Internet-famous marketing person (usually in the middle of a book tour), pointing out what not to do and what you've done wrong. Why does it matter? Isn't the Internet just as public a space as the coffee shop? 

We often talk about not posting anything personal that you wouldn't yell aloud or tell your mother. That same rule applies for finger pointing. If you wouldn't go up to a stranger in person and tell them something, don't do it on the Internet. It doesn't matter if what they are doing is "wrong" in your opinion, if you tell them, you are the one being rude. Instead, just be the best example of how to do things correctly. 

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I pace the room every time you leave
I fall apart because you're all I need
You make me late for work, you make me late for church
So hard to leave

So bring it on, bring on the weekend

I can't get enough of this song, because I know this feeling. Ain't love grand? A truly enchanting tune. Check out Class Actress and buy her whole album kids. 

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