May Memories, Part III

 Finally this May, we have been busy about town:

The third w.eekend of the month, I submitted some of my anatomical artworks for display at the Second Annual Humanism in Medicine Night, "Rock & Scroll." The music, spoken word, food, and community were all very good. Then I met up with a spirited group for dinner with the medical school commencement speaker

Another night I met a friend for Puerto Rican food and then went to the Glitterbox Theater's 40th Annual 10-Minute Playfest to watch a friend perform in a piece that involved racoons stacked in trench coats. I have a new medium-term goal to write up a sketch I've carrying in my head for a while and submit it.

The fourth weekend of May was a little wet, but Dear Husband let me drag him down to the Shore Thing, a seasonal floating lounge on the northern edge of the Allegheny River sponsored by River Life. We didn't go when it was new last year and alas, we needed lunch, but they're kitchen wasn't opening for another week. But hark! We ran into another organist-physician couple with whom DH has been promising for 5 years that we'd get together, so we decamped to dry land for the drippiest wrap I've ever eaten and a strawberry rhubarb cider that didn't live up to my expectations.

From View Pittsburgh: "New art installation in downtown Pittsburgh called “Ogua.” Ogua was inspired by legends first told by Pittsburgh's Indigenous peoples to frighten European settlers, and later adopted by immigrant laborers drawn to the valley's riverbanks in search of work. It’s made of heavy duty wool felt, by artist Isla Hansen, who was commissioned by Shiftworks Community + Public Arts in collaboration with Riverlife and the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's Tough Art Program. Funding for the project was provided by Let's Play, PGH!, a program of Remake Learning." 

Finally, DH and I rendezvoused in Squirrel Hill on a Thursday night for teriyaki and ice cream before attending the screening of a documentary whose Pittsburgh publicity I had helped coordinate, The Chaplain & the Doctor. Created by Jessica Zitter, a Jewish ICU physician turned Palliative Care doc turned filmmaker, the film tells the story of her relationship with Chaplain Betty, an older African-American pastor. While trying to ignore the problems with the microphones, I moderated a discussion with them afterwards, in which Betty talked about  being a clinician of the soul who has to find a balance between humor and prayer, and Jessica asserted that medical schools need to admit a different kind of applicant if we want to preserve the humanistic side of medicine.

In case you haven't noticed, the single most common kind of selfie we take involves ice cream.

It's now the fifth weekend of the month, and DH and I are resting, baking, blogging, enjoying the beautiful weather, and looking forward to the picnic after church tomorrow.

Click here for Part I and Part II.