Year 2 and Wilco

Hello loyal readers,
Its been a while since I have posted. Year 2 of Im residency at OHSU is going by too fast. We're in February, which means I am over halfway through general residency. But time flies when you're having fun right? Which it has been, despite the long hours and rough days. In general the 2nd year has been a year of transition for me--- new responsibilities (managing a ward service, managing interns, medical students), higher expectations, and new questions from attendings about what I'm going to do with my life. Which is a good question that is yet unanswered for me. Lifewise, a couple co-workers have gotten married, my college roommates Ryan and Andy both got engaged (not to each other by the way, if you know them), and Jessica is back in Brasil for now. But I digress.

Currently in the VA ICU, after a brutal month on the wards where our team had the full complement of complex/interesting cases, social disposition nightmares, and a couple "rocks" (those patients that just can't leave the hospital-- including a guy on day 180 hospitalization). The VA ICU is a bit more turnover, at least. in anycase, nights in the ICU are about to start for me, which at least gave me a day off Thursday as I make the switch... My day off coincided with Wilco coming into Portland Wed night. Wilco and I go way back, but with medical school and residency, it had been a while since I had attended a show. Long gone are the times I could scour the web for 'via chicago' blogs and wait in line for tickets before the mass rush and inevitable SOLD OUT status. This was the cases initially when I initially looked into tickets several months ago. However, as I'm finding out in Portland, people either can't afford their tickets or have weird excuses about why they suddenly cannot go to the show; their loss is someone else's gain and I was able to find tickets to attend the show at "the Schnitz" in Portland. Other co-workers were also able to get last second tickets and we were treated to a great show.

I didn't really know what to expect-- I had the new album and listened a couple times but again, with work, its hard to find time to listen to stuff thoroughly anymore. One thing that was never in doubt is their showmanship and ability to put on a live show. From the simple but striking background set, the lighting, the typical Jeff Tweedy banter, it was the same as a show 10 years ago, even with all the different lineup changes. While we were waiting getting beers, they started out w/ "one sunday morning," off the new record which immediately led us back to our seats as the sound was so good. Other highlights off the top of my head included a Poor Places, Via Chicago, Impossible Germany (unlikely japan), War on War (still my personal fav). They even through in some AM (Box full of letters) and I think probably played 2 from each of the newer albums, including a cool version of Spiders that sounded like Dash 7. Perhaps the most interesting song was "Art of Almost," off their newest album which has this almost radiohead like hypnotic danceable synth beat that is unlike anything else they played, plus the lighting almost gave me a seizure. But thats the great part of this band, a lot of different sound. Aside the music, the venue has a great sound to it, though I'm not a fan of seated venues. All in all, a good way to kick off a break from work.
- stay tuned to this space.