April & Ehrin

Man Trip, Day #3

2008-05-13T17:54:00.000-04:00

It was finally time to face our worst fears -- were any of us actually up to biking Slickrock, the most famous of all mountain biking trails? As we remarked on the ride -- it's a nice hiking trail. And as another great philosopher once remarked, a man's got to know his limitations.

Man Trip, Day #2

2008-05-12T17:46:00.000-04:00

After an evening of some beer and hackysack (it turns out thay on't go together so well), we got up early for a day of canyoneering. Our guid, Scott, took us through two canyons. The first was a dry canyon that featured some scrambling, bits of climbing, hidden arches, and some nice rappels.

The second canyon necessitated wetsuits. Most of the holes were shallow enough for wading, but the last one was deep enough to require swimming, and the water was cold!

Man Trip, Day #1

2008-05-11T17:37:00.001-04:00

The inaugral man trip - a chance to relive high school, but with beer and cash for expensive adventure endeavors. As Jake said, "why did it take us thirteen years to organize this?"

We started the day off with some extensive driving from Denver to Moab. Actually, Jake drove while Ehrin and Nardo took turns sleeping. But onc we awoke, the power of Monster energy drink, a Nuclear concoction, and dill pickle chips fueled us all the way to Moab, aka the greatest place to mountain bike on earth.

But mountain biking had to wait until the last day - the inaugral activity was to rent a 4x4 Jepp Rubicon that was, thankfully, trail rated. And boy, we needed some serious trail rating. Jak swears he didn't pee his pants, but i'm not so sure.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

2008-05-04T23:18:00.000-04:00

We spent the ultimate cheesy Sunday on the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Activities included bumper cars, two haunted houses (on was MUCH scarier than the other), Dance Dance Revolution, and Crazy Taxi.

Tandem Biking in SF

2008-05-01T23:16:00.000-04:00

Who says San Francisco is foggy? We had perfect weather the whole time we were there. We'll see if it's still sunny when we move there in a few months...

Marshall Gold Discovery Park

2008-04-29T23:13:00.000-04:00

April had a day off in Sacramento, so we went eastwards to the Marshall Gold Discovery Park, where James Marshal discovered gold in 1847. April expertly re-entacted the scene at the exact site of discovery, and then held James Marshall in her hand as well. It was a beautiful day trip, and even included some real life prospectors.

Sacramento Bike Ride

2008-04-28T23:05:00.001-04:00

We visited Sacramento for three days, where April did serious job-related work, and Ehrin goofed off. On Monday, Ehrin rented a road bike in Folsom and then cycle the course of the California International Marathon -- and back. It was an exhausting 52 miles, but the chocolate shake at the end tasted really good. Note that this photo was a self-portrait.

Cliff House Brunch

2008-04-27T23:03:00.001-04:00

We met up with Ehrin's mom and Emma on Sunday morning for a spectacular brunch at the cliff house - the views were the most amazing of any restaurant we have been to, and the food was a work of highly edible art.

Belvedere House

2008-04-26T22:55:00.000-04:00

We started our trip to San Francisco by staying at Belvedere House, a bed and breakfast in Ashbury Heights. We were initially skeptical about staying in a B&B, but quickly warmed to this new home away from home. The rooms were cozy, the views spectacular (a direct view of Golden Gate bridge), and the kitchen was continuously stocked with yummy food. We highly recommend it to anyone interested in a B&B.

Boston Marathon Weekend

2008-04-20T00:25:00.000-04:00

After all those miles (over 4,000 at last count), it was time to run the Boston Marathon. It was an entire weekend of running, from the Saturday expo to Sunday's Women's Olympic Marathon trials, to the actual running. In the end, Ehrin finished in 2:41:45, a good ten minutes in front of his quite-distant relative (?), Lance.

Eastern States 20 miler

2008-03-30T00:04:00.000-04:00

The last training race before the big one: the eastern states 20 miler starts in Kittery, Maine and ends in Salisbury, MA. About 18 miles of the race is in NH. Most of the members of Norton Team Endurance showed up - Ehrin, Ramiro, Marcela, and Ted. It was a chilly day, but sunny enough that Ehrin actually got sunburned on his nose.

Amy's Birthday

2008-03-28T00:18:00.001-04:00

We went down to D.C. for Amy's birthday, and had a blast! On the night of our arrival, we had another fresh seafood feast, featuring raw clams and oysters. On Friday night, we went out to a hip lounge with a live band. The lead singer was named "Snake," and he happily sand an impassioned "Happy Birthday" to Amy. On Saturday, we went out to a Korean buffet, then toured the cherry blossoms of downtown D.C. and the annual kite flying festival. Quite a weekend!

Our Remodeled Home

2008-03-17T18:00:00.002-04:00

We remodeled our house almost a year ago, but we neglected to take any real photos of our house since then, mainly due to creeping clutter. Since we're moving soon, we thought we should document our home in Boston, and also take some nice photos for rental purposes. So, if you know anyone moving to Boston who would like to rent a spacious 2 bedroom in Cleveland Circle, let us know!

Boston Celtics

2008-03-14T18:13:00.001-04:00

Ehrin's dad and stepmother came down from Maine for the past weekend to watch a Celtics game. After years of disappointing play, the Celtics have suddenly become the number one team in the NBA -- the team to beat! And they were beat, unfortunately, on the one night we went to see them play the Utah Jazz, snapping a 10 game winning streak...just our luck. It was a fun time nonetheless.

Hyannis Half Marathon

2008-02-24T18:03:00.003-05:00

Ehrin ran the hyannis half marathon in mid-February, just one week after running the Martha's Vineyard 20-miler. Needless to say, his legs were less than well rested, but he still managed to chug away at 1:19:24. April took a great set of action shots at the end!

Frostbite 15KM

2008-01-20T12:13:00.000-05:00

Ehrin ran the Frostbite 15K this past Sunday. Nice course - 20 degrees, biting winds. He finished in 52:29, for a pace of 5:59/mile -- first race under 6:00/mile!

Dim Sum

2008-01-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

DC tourists

2008-01-04T12:09:00.000-05:00

Seafood Feast

2008-01-03T12:08:00.000-05:00

After a day of culture in Asheville, NC, we spent the day driving to DC to visit April's sister Amy. On the way, April developed a seafood urge, so we stopped at Red Lobster in Roanoke, VA. It was Ehrin's first visit to Red Lobster, and the food was surprisingly good.

On our arrival, Amy had a HUGE seafood feast prepared for us!

Emergency Evacuation

2008-01-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night was cold! Everything was okay with clothes on and burrowed into the sleeping bags, but as soon as our faces peeked out, skin started to freeze - it was definitely less than zero degrees. When we opened the tent, we were surprised to see snow covering our campsite -- so much for our warm hiking trip.

After packing up and driving out through miles of slippery roads, we returned to civilization in a big way -- to the Biltmore estate.

Living the Simple Life

2008-01-01T12:06:00.000-05:00

The wonderful thing about hiking and campng is that it makes you appreciate the simple things in life -- we spent a few hours of the day just collecting firewood, in an attempt to stay warm for the night. In between scrounding for wood and cooking food, we had a chance to enjoy another hike, but it was getting a lot colder out -- so cold that cut off our lunch early in order to keep on moving.

New Year's Eve in Pisgah National Forest

2007-12-31T12:05:00.000-05:00

We finally made it to Pisgah and set up camp. We enjoyed a nice hike with the doggies, who definitely enjoyed the chance to tromp around off-eash for a change.

For nw year's eve, we set up a feast of rissotto and champagne -- yummy! We fell asleep around 9 pm, I think.

Road Trip - Virigina roads

2007-12-30T12:03:00.000-05:00

We spent most of Sunday driving through Virginia -- it's a large state!

Road Trip!

2007-12-29T12:02:00.000-05:00

During the week of New Years, we decided to set out on a winter road trip in search of warm places to go hiking with the doggies. Our goal: Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina. We didn't get started until mid-day Saturday, but figured we'd try to get as far as possible the first day. In an attempt to limit doggie carsickness, we let the dogs sit in the back seat - they seemed to enjoy looking out.
At 8 pm, we realized the patiots were playing the giants. As loyal pats fans, we sought out the first bar we could find. Our gps system led us to the "end zone" bar, in Richland Pennsylvania. Long story short, there was one patrn in the bar, and he was watching a penn state football game. We watched the pats on a corner television with Spanish subtitles.

Seascoast Half Marathon

2007-11-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

We travelled to New Hampshire recently and Ehrin competed in the Seacoast Half marathon. It was a good sized race, with 1200 people shoing up on a frigid Sunday morning. Ehrin went out with the lead pack and way too fast for the first few miles, because he was excited to chase the pace car. It became clear by mile 10 that this pace was not sustainable, and he slowed down the last few miles. Still, it was a good showing and a 5 minute improvement on his previous 1/2 marathon best.

Olympic Trials

2007-11-03T19:52:00.000-04:00

We drove down to NYC this morning for the men's marathon olympic trials. About 130 people qualified, by running a marathon in less than 2:22 (a 5:20 min/mile pace).

These guys are fast! We couldn't even take pictures of them - they came out all blurry.
The winner, Ryan Hall, dominated the field and finished in 2:09, 2 minutes ahead of second place. Interestingly, he bears a striking resemblance to Adam, minus a few pounds perhaps. (You may have to zoom in to see this.)

Hartford Marathon

2007-10-14T18:28:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday, Ehrin ran the Hartford Marathon. We went down the night before and drove the course, then ate a huge pasta meal at the Marathon expo. Ehrin stuffed himself considerably, both to complete the carbo loading but also to make sure that he weighed over 200 pounds - the cutoff for the "Clydesdale" division (big guys who run fast). After weigh-in, we watched a few survivor shows on the Discovery Channel and then went to sleep.

Marathon morning was perfect weather - about 45 degreees at the start.

No, that's not Ehrin below - those are the top two racers at mile 21:

..and here's Ehrin at mile 21, a few minutes later

and Ehrin finished in 2:59:39! It qualifies for the Boston marathon, and won the Clydesdale division (the next fastest 200+ pound guy was 17 minutes behind).

Thinner

2007-10-10T23:25:00.000-04:00

Ehrin started running in January, with the initial goal to get into shape. The culmination of that training is this weekend, when Ehrin is going to run the Hartford marathon in an attempt to qualify for Boston. I don't have an earlier photo to prove that my green pants used to fit me well, but you'll have to take my word for it that I used to wear these pants without a belt. I guess 1,500 miles of running can make you lose a little weight.

Tri-Bike

2007-10-10T23:23:00.001-04:00

Now that the marathon is coming shortly, Ehrin had some free time to cross train. The new plan is to complete an ironman. As the first part of that quest, Ehrin needed a bike. He came across a good fit early on in the shopping process: an oversized Felt S25. if nothing else, it sure looks fast!

Recoleta

2007-10-05T09:39:00.000-04:00

It rained most of our time in B.A., which forced us to make good use of the numerous cafes. In between rainshowers, we made it to the Recoleta cemetery, where the rich and famous of B.A. are enshrined in tightly packed mausoleums. Interestingly, Evita has on of the smaller mausoleums, because when she was buried there the generals were still in power, and they wanted to downplay the cult of Evita.

Biking Tour of B.A.

2007-10-04T09:37:00.000-04:00

We went on a cycling tour that left from the northern part of B.A. and headed south through puerto madera, the ecological reserve, and La Boca (a rougher neighborhood, but the birthplace of tango).

The group in front of Puerto Madera:

La Boca street scenes:

World Congress of Dermatology

2007-10-03T09:32:00.000-04:00

We spent the last week in Buenos Aires, on a vacation/work-related trip. April won a travel scholarship to the World Congress of Dermatology in Buenos Aires, and Ehrin couldn't reisst the opportunity to tag along. It was an odd mix of a vacation, alternating between lavish dinners paid for by other people and our own style of travelling, including cheap accomdations and a biking tour of the city. It was a great opportunity to see a world-famous city, although we often joked that we should have hung up April's poster and then taken off to Patagonia for a week.

The World Congress:

Here is a photo of April with Alexa and Andreas:

Dinner at La Cabana (twice):
Dinner with Rox and other dermatology friends:

Swanzey Covered Bridges Half Marathon

2007-09-02T10:45:00.000-04:00

Labor Day weekend - what better time for a half marathon. We drove about 2 hours northwest to Swanzey, NH for a scenic 13.1 miles of rolling hills, four covered bridges, and some great support from Amy and Adam. Ehrin crushed his personal goal of 1:30 by finishing in 1:27:21, and April finsihed in an awesome 8:30 pace of 1:51:51. We are both quite sore today.

Boston Harbor Islands

2007-09-01T10:40:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, we rented a 17' Triumph motorboat for the afternoon and took it out on the Boston harbor. It wa s an entirely different experience from sailing on the harbor -- much faster, windier, and wild. We beached on Lovells Island and enjoyed a tasty lunch while trying to make sure that the boat didn't go out to sea.

We also had the opportunity to dock at Little Brewster Island and walk around the Boston Lighthouse, the oldest lightouse in America. The island is staffed by two members of ther Coast Guard Auxillary, who provide free guided tours.

Charlestown and the Freedom Trail

2007-08-31T10:36:00.000-04:00

Amy and her boyfriend Adam came to visit for the week. On Friday evening, we walked part of the freedom trail through Charlestown, including Bunker Hill and Old Ironsides. April also exhibited her fearless nature by looking into a cannon.
After our extended walk, Ehrin made a sun dried tomato fondue for eeryone. It was a big hit, especially the broiled asparagus and portabella mushrooms (thanks, Mom!)

Cape Cod

2007-08-28T10:33:00.000-04:00

After sleeping in the Hyannis Econo Lodge for the night and shaking off a mojito martini headache, we jetted up the cape to Provincetown, where we peered at some art galleries and generally felt dehydrated. I think Nardo was also deflated that the Wydah pirate excavation wasn't nearly as cool as he had imagined -- he had clearly been thinking about it for a few months.

Our spirits quickly lifted as we ate a big lunch at Moby Dick's seafood haven and then hit the beach on the national seashore. The waves were surprisingly large, and we had a lot of fun bodysurfing.

Martha's Vineyard

2007-08-27T10:27:00.000-04:00

On Monday and Tuesday, Ehrin went on a road trip with Nardo, Kristin, and Ellen (Kristin's friend from residency). We left early Monday morning and took a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. MV is a large island, approximately 20 miles long, so we tackled it town by town. In Vineyard haven, we strolled down roads lined with the colonial homes of old sea captains. We then enjoyed a tasty lunch that Black Dog Tavern. Interestingly, Vineyard Haven is a dry town - so the tavern doesn't serve alcohol.
After lunch, we utilized the vineyard transit authority (i.e., bus) to travel to the other end of the island. This area is alternately known as Gay Head or Aquinnah. It features beautiful sandstone cliffs and a scenic beach. Ehrin tried out the water, which was surprisingly warm.

After the beach, we traveled to Edgartown and then towards Oak Bluffs, but found out the ferry was no longer leaving from Oak Bluffs, so we had to skip the latter town in order to make it back to Vineyard Haven.

Dim Sum and Caribbean Festival

2007-08-26T10:20:00.000-04:00

An interesting combination -- dim sum followed by Salsa and sugar cane. At dim sum, we were joined by a number of Kristin's friends from college, medical school, and residency. We spent almost three hours eating multiple rounds of dim sum -- it was the most full I have ever been from dim sum.

After dim sum, Kristin went over to Sonia's for a few hours, while we took Nardo to a Caribbean festival in Cambridge, where we ate sugar cane, practiced salsa dancing, and played the steel drums.

Nardo and Kristin Come to Town

2007-08-25T10:17:00.000-04:00

Nardo and Kristin came to visit for an extended weekend prior to Kristin's brother's wedding in Maine. We all met up at Boston Beerworks on Saturday night, where it seemed like a reunion of all of Nardo's college friends - minus Metz. We had a rollicking good time of conversation, blueberry beer, and watching snippets of the world's strongest man competition.

Bridge of Flowers 10K

2007-08-11T17:57:00.000-04:00

We spent a beautiful Sunday morning in Shelburne Falls, home of the 29th annual Bridge of Flowers 10K, voted the best 10K in New England. We woke at 4:30 am for the 2 hour drive westward, into the far northwestern reaches of Massachusetts. Shelburne Falls is a bucolic town nestled in the mountains, and is famous for its bridge of flowers, an abandoned trolley bridge that was converted into a flowery walkway. (These photos are after the race, so please excuse the sheen of dried sweat.)

The morning started off with a 2 mile fun run. It was mostly kids, but there were some spedsters out to win the prize. And, a 93 year old woman decided to race as well.

The 10K, like the 2 mile race, started on an iron bridge that runs parallel to the bridge of flowers. There were two short but painful uphills in the first mile, but it was possible to get into the right stride by mile 2. Unfortunately, mile 2 is where Crittenden Hill starts. Any hill with a specific name is bad news (in Boston, we have the aptly named "Summit Ave" and "Heartbreak Hill"). But this hill was especially painful -- 3/4 of a mile UP UP UP, to the point where most people started walking. The downhills after the hill were nice, but never really made up for the painful ascent. We both finished with respectable times, and April finished so quickly that Ehrin barely had time to get the camera ready.

After the race, we cooled off, toured the town a bit, and ended the excursion in classice New England style -- with lobster.

Yankee Homecoming

2007-08-02T00:23:00.000-04:00

What better time to run a race than a Tuesday night on the last day of July? Ehrin and his friend Colin went up to Newburyport to run the Yankee Homecoming this week. A surprising;y large (and fast) crowd turned out, with over 1200 people running the 10 mile event. Local support was strong, with multiple sidewalk sprinklers, water every half mile or so, and a lot of yelling. We were mostly huffing and puffing, as we pulled through in 1:09:19, good enough for a sub-7:00 pace. Not bad for a sweltering July night. Ehrin initially thought he didn't run hard enough because he didn't feel like dying, but he paid for it the next day with borderline ability to walk up stairs. Gotta love the muscle breakdown.

Sunday in Carlisle

2007-07-17T21:49:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, April, Ehrin, Bigelow and Ellison went to go visit the relatives in nearby Carlisle, MA. We had a great time catching up with Laura and Rob. Ehrin had a lot of fun playing the wet noodle game with his cousins Ben and Emma (Nardo, I'm sure you too have fond memories of you and Jake playing with the wet noodle in high school. And no, this is not a thinly veiled metaphor :) ).

Wife Carrying Season!

2007-07-09T13:02:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again - the World Wife Carrying Championships! This year, on July 7, 44 couples competed at the World level: you can find the results at:
http://www.sonkajarvi.fi/?deptid=15136

Unfortunately, it looks like the Estonians maintianed thier impressive winning streak. There was a chance for an upset this year, as Margo Uusorg, the five times reigning champpion, retired at the end of the 2006 season. But, his younger (and smaller) brother Madis kept the family tradition alive (I'm not sure whether they carried the smae woman), and took home the crown.

ABC news contacted us for some information on the wifre carrying championships, and they even included a photo from the "family archive" in their article:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=3348042&page=1

Sons Of Italy 5K

2007-07-04T12:58:00.000-04:00

What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with a road race? We travelled up north to Lawrence, MA where Ehrin competed in his first 5K. The course was quite hilly, with 3 big hills in the first mile = anaerobic metabolism a bit too early in the race. Ehrin swore at least two tims during the race that he'd never do another 5K again. But the pain, as always, faded quickly with a finish in 19:49, 13th overall. Somehow, this time was also good enough for 2nd place in the age 30-39 division! The after race party was a lot of fun, with some good Italian cooking--April got to eat meatballs at 9AM. We also won a raffle prize: a $20 gift certificate to a local Italian restaurant. Guess we'll be going back to Lawrence soon.

Ellison Gets A Shave

2007-07-03T12:55:00.000-04:00

It is getting hotter here in Boston, and the dogs have been panting a lot. In an effort to make Ellison more comfortable, we decided to shave him Tuesday night. They must make animal-specific electric razors, because the one we used keptclogging up. Ellsion actually seemed to enjoy the whole event. We didn't exactly do a professional job, but the good news is that it will all grow back!

Pharmacology Celebration

2007-06-30T10:32:00.001-04:00

At long last, the second edition of our pharmacology textbook is a reality! After many late winter hours slogging away at edits, our 900 page behemoth has made it to the shelves. Our second edition is a great improvement over the first, with newly expanded drug dummary tables and a fully revised chemotherapy section. i won't bore you with the details, but feel free to write a serious, five star review on amazon.com:

Go to amazon.com and type in "Golan." Our book is the first link. And yes, it's about pharmacology, not the battle for the Golan Heights.

In celebration of our monumental achievement, we had a celebratory dinner at the Fireplace, in Brookline. It was great to have the whole group together, and we spent a wonderful evening reminiscing about our seven year long collaboration and making plans for the future.

A Royal Visitation

2007-06-28T21:37:00.000-04:00

On Thursday night, a prince came to town. Not just any prince, but Prince, the long-displaced medical school classmate who migrated south to Miami for his ophthalmology training. Prince had a few days off before starting his retina fellowship, so came to Boston for a quick visit. We all got together at Paul and Sophia's place and enjoyed catching up with prince, Marvin, and Christine Weeks after too many months/years apart. Inevitably, the conversation turned silly names for children (which I will not repeat here on this blog), bizzare cosmetic procedures, and other medically related topics. It was all good fun, and we should get together again soon.

Weekend in NYC

2007-06-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

We spent a fun-filled weekend in the Big Apple. As our favored means of transportation, we rolled in Friday night on the Fung Wah bus and then checked into the W midtown, on Lexington and 50th. The hotel was ultra New York - a big loby area with lots of people in their early thirties wearing black and drinking martinis, with hip hop remixes playing the background and images flashing up on the central pillar. The hotel was a bit of an afterthought, with a 150 square foot "deluxe" room.
On Saturday morning, April attended a professional meeting, while Ehrin slept in (he was recovering from the final three nights of residency). In the afternoon, we toured through Washington Park and Greenwich Village. By the time we made it halfway through the village, our stomachs told us it was time to eat. We happened upon a restaurant that was just opening its doors for the night -- Pearl Oyster Bar -- and jumped in before the wait became 1-2 hours. April enjoyed many oysters, while Ehrin opted for the signature lobster roll. After dinner, we met up with Ryan and Casper for drinks near Union Square, at a bar where Casper worked in the distant past and was the inspiration, I hear, for "Slutty Summer." We finished off the night with biblical study of Steve Carrell in "Evan Almighty."

On Sunday, we slept in and then enjoyed a sumptuous brunch at the Rockefeller Center Cafe, followed by a few hours of the Gay Pride Parade. It went on forever! We were hoping to see the Dikes on Bikes, but I think they passed by before we made it to the parade.
Much exhausted from our weekend, we napped away on a Fung Wah return ride.

A Four Letter Word and, of course, Meeting Jesse!

2007-06-18T19:50:00.000-04:00

Ehrin and I had wicked fun this weekend visiting P-town! Traveling with our two K-9 companions, we found home at a well-kept campsite at the edge of P-town Saturday night. Imagine fitting 2 adults and 2 dogs in one mini-tent. Bigelow, as usual, stole all the cover and left the humans shivering at night.

Sunday morning, we met with Ryan and Casper to fulfill the purpose of this weekend trip -- to see Casper's movie "A Four Letter Word". It was a deliciously fun film that Ehrin and I enjoyed thoroughly. I think I laughed so hard all the way that I now need botox to get rid of the laugh lines! Here is a hunky picture of Casper and Ryan at the deck of their hotel.

Okay, a definite highlight of the trip for me was meeting my All-Time-Favorite Blogger-- Jesse, whose witty way with words on his blog is only paralleled by his good looks! (www.jesseonthebrink.com/blog.html) I feel like I know Jesse even though we've never met before -- that's the beauty of blogging -- connecting people! And his boyfriend Bam Bam, whose adventures in the ER I somehow know intimately, was taller than I had imagined and a lot funnier than I imagined. Ryan got me Jesse's book, "You Can Run," which I can't wait to read about the exciting adventures of the sparking Jesse On the Brink.

Block Party!

2007-06-10T22:35:00.000-04:00

We had a rather eventful weekend. On Saturday, April went to the TD Banknorth Garden and tried out for the Boston Celtics Dance Team. Over 150 hopeful applicants showed up, including the entire Northeastern Unversity jazz dance team! Thanks to her amazing talent, April made it through the first 2 rounds, but was eventually cut after 5 hours of tryouts. She enjoyed the chance to dance so much on a Saturday morning. Plus, it didn't seem feasible to practice three nights a week and dance at all the Celtics home games...

Meanwhile, Ehrin ran a 5 mile race to benefit ALS research. It was a rainy, overcast day, perfect for a good run. He managed to outkick the 4th woman finisher, and finished wit ha time of 32:18.

After all the exercising, we met up with friends at the gay pride block party in the South End. Something like 10,000 people showed up, and the music was so loud you could feel it vibrate through your shirt, apparently leading a number of people to take their shirts off. As always, April enjoyed dancing up on the stage with her men. Ehrin was content taking photos.

Boston's run to remember

2007-05-27T15:20:00.000-04:00

Ehrin ran a half marathon today with a number of other MGH medicine residents (including our program director, Hasan Bazari). It was a beautiful day for the run, which started at the world trade center and went along the Charles River. Corey Hardin designed the MGH team shirts, dubbed the "Blossom Street Clinic Track Club."

Le Shan

2007-05-22T15:37:00.000-04:00

At 71 meters, the Buddha statue in Le Shan is by far the world's largest. It was originally built around 750 AD to bless the harbor, because a large whirlpool in the area kept sucking in fishermen. It seemed to have worked, if nothing else becase all the stones removed to sculpt the Buddha filled in the whirlpool. Some memorable details: the Buddha has a bald spot on his head, and his big toe is 9 feet long.

Emei Shan, Day 3

2007-05-20T15:29:00.000-04:00

After a refreshing sleep, we woke early to tackle the last 12 km. After a long uphil climb, we stopped at the Shen Shui (Holy Water) Temple, unique in that it is run by Buddhist nuns.The place was very clean - next time we go to Emei Shan, we're staying there.

Near the end of our hike, we reached the Crouching Tiger Monastery, which features the 500 Arhat (celestial being) House. Yes, there really are 500 statues.

After 52 km, leaving Emei Shan was a bittersweet (and sore) experience. But, there were larger things to see. Specifically, the world's largest Buddha.

Emei Shan, Day 2

2007-05-19T15:15:00.000-04:00

After a few hours of hiking down from the multifaceted Buddha (and our fateful run-in with angry monkeys), we spent the night at the Elephant Bathing Pool Monastery, a small Buddhist monastery on the edge of a clif at about 9,000 fet altitude. Legend has it that the Boddhisattva Puxian flew his elephant up to the elephant bathing pool for a wash, bt there was no pool to be found, other than the puddles formed from the incessant rain. Not be daunted, we set out down the 10,000 or so uneven slate steps that would take us to the bottom of Emei Shan.

The going was slow, with multiple stops at the handy trailside snack shops for shelter and some goodies. We passed by beautful waterfalls and numerous scenic vistas, and eventually reached Magic Peak monastery. The monks there have a cave that we explored -- it's about 0.5 km in length with, of course, a Buddha at the end. The cave was a lot of fun until we realized there were thousands of bats roosting above us. One bat flew right by Ehrin's face.

After stopping by at Venerable Trees Terrace for lunch, we walked through the "Ecological Area for Watching Monkeys" (see prior post), and then reaced the Pure Sound Monastery, a beautiful monastery surrounded by multiple streams, resulting in the sounds of water coursing by in multiple directions. The place was so beautiful that we decided to spend the night there. After approximately 20 cups of tea, we hit the sack, exhausted.

When Monkeys Attack!

2007-05-18T20:17:00.000-04:00

One of the draws of Emei Shan is the "close" interactions with the local macaque population. As Lonely Planet sagely points out, "a single monkey can stop an army of 10,000." Emei Shan abounds with monkey tollgates, where a band of monkeys will suddenly swoop down onto the trail and take hikers hostage. Most of these interactions are benign - the standard procedure is to show empty hands and walk onward.

Unfortunately, the monkeys at the top of the mountain are a little more aggressive. Our first monkey interaction was with a troop of 10 bandits who all took turns sticking their hands in our pockets. When this didn't yield any results, one of the truly fearless monkeys climbed onto Ehrin's back and started methodically destroying his backpack. Ehrin flung off his backpack and offered up the only bag of food we had. We then hightailed it out of there before the monkeys got any hungrier. All in all, we felt a bit violated.

On our second morning, monkeys figured out that there was only one exit from our sleeping area, and therefore decided to block the exit. We had a standoff for a few minutes, until a Buddhist monk came to the rescue with a rock attack that held the monkeys at bay for a few minutes.

Further down the mountain, the monkeys are a bit more tame, and are willing to eat morsels of food out of the hand. But the natives still carry large rocks in their hands in case things get out of control.

Emei Shan, day 1

2007-05-18T08:01:00.000-04:00

After spending a week in Shanghai visiting family and friends, we embarked on the adventure travel part of our vacation. We opted for a trip to Emei Shan, a 3,000 meter mountain in Sichuan (central China). Emei Shan is one of the four sacred Budhist mountains in China (the other ones are Putuo Shan, Wutai Shan, and JiuHua Shan). Emei Shan is the largest of the four mountains, with over 100 km of trails.

In order to reach Emei Shan, we flew to Chendu, the capital of Sichuan. We then took 4 hours of buses to Emei Shan -- altogether, it took approximately 24 hours to get there from Shanghai.

On the first day, we made it to the top, where we came face to face with the dizzying multifaceted Buddha -- a 41 meter statue on top of the mountain consisting of 4 elephants, two Buddha bodies, and then sequential tiers of four, three, and two heads atop the Buddha bodies. There was mist flowing around the statue the entire time, adding to the already mystical qualit of the experience.

The statue is so large that you can see it from miles away. (Look along the summit line).

Funny Signs in China

2007-05-12T07:52:00.000-04:00

Over the past few years, there has been a profusion of English language signs and brand name translations in China. Unfortunately, many of these translations lack cross-checking with a native speaker, and appear to have been translated by a computer. A brief cross-section from our trip included:

1. Three sequential reminders posted at urinals in Emei Shan:

2. An unfortunately translated brand name ice cream:
3. I'm not sure if this one was an accident or intentional, but it was funny:

Friends Visiting

2007-05-10T07:42:00.000-04:00

What's even better than travelling to anther country? Having friends come visit while you're there, of course. Mayu, Yuki, and Eryi flew from Japan to Shanghai for a three-day weekend. Mayu also brought along her son, Takuma. On Thursday night, we met up in central Shanghai, went out to dinner, and then walked along the Bund (that's the Pearl TV tower and the Jinmao tower in the background. On Friday, we shopped and toured through YuYuan gardens, then went to April's aunt and uncle's for a huge feast. April's aunt is truly an amazing chef -- much better than any food that could be found in any restaurant. Of course, you have to be willing to try the occasional eel or turtle -- but what's travel without a little culinary adventuring?

Home in Shanghai

2007-05-06T22:32:00.000-04:00

We went to Shanghai for a two week vacation this May, to take April's grandmther back to China and to see relatives -- April's aunt, uncle, and cousin.

We went out to together to the Shanghai Botanical Gardens:

Eastern States 20 Miler

2007-03-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

In Ehrin's quest to burn off the fat of residency (first the hair went, now the belly), he spent most of the winter training for ther Eastern States 20 miler, a road race that starts in Kittery, Maine and ends in Salisbury, Massachusetts (about 19.5 miles of the race is in New Hampshire). The going was tough, but April was there to cheer Ehrin on at the finish line, despite travel-relelated adversity in arriving back from a conference in Florida. What's next? We're contemplating a series of 6 mountain races...stay tuned.

April, master of the NEDS universe

2007-03-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

April spent most of the winter preparing for NEDS, the New England Dermatological Society Conference. She spent countless hours coordinating patient viewings, lectures, pathology, and also edited a large casebook provided to each attendee. In all, over 200 dermatologists attended the conference, and numerous people said it was "the best NEDS ever." I'm so proud of her!

Vegas, baby!

2007-01-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

After a hellish travel experience over Christmas (believe me, the Philly airport over the holidays is no fun), we were a bit hesitant to fly anywhere. But, the winter got to us, and I had a few JetBlue points to use up, so we took a long weekend in Vegas. We stayed at the Venetian, and the hotal room was approximately the size of our apartment. We again confirmed that neither of us is much of a gambler, but we did have some yummy food and watched Cirque du Soleil.

Death of the Afro

2007-01-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

After much deliberation, I decided to start the new year by ending my 9 month experiment with really long hair. Looking back on these events, I can't believe I didn't cut my hair sooner. Wow.

ABC medical internship

2006-12-29T22:11:00.000-05:00

In December, April spent a month at ABC medical as a news intern. She worked her booty off writing articles, including hot topics such as resident work hours, navigation using sense of smell, laser tattoo removal, cardiac surgery mortality rates, the health dangers of sword swallowing, and the dangers of sword swallowing

Check out this link for one of her many articles: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2744239&page=1

Carole and Emma's visit to Boston

2006-11-18T21:02:00.000-05:00

Carole and Emma came to visit Ehrin and April this past weekend. We had a fun time visiting Plymouth, MA, where the pilgrams had first landed some 390 years ago. We stopped by the plymouth rock, which was surprisingly much smaller than what April had expected-- did the rock got eroded through the years? We then visited the May Flower II, where we also witnessed a live demonstration of ocean-rescue by the U.S. coast guard. We then went over to the Plymouth Plantation, where we visited the Native American site as well as the Pilgrim's village site. Emma climbed onto a big cannon for a photo-op. The day was a lot of fun, ending with a satisfying meal at Woodman's of Essex, where we chowed down on clams and lobster. During Carole and Emma's trip, we had learned all about "American Girl" Dolls, where Emma showed us her very own "Yvonna", where the doll is dressed exactly like Emma, even down to the hair scrunchie! Amazing.... April also heard the Super Diaper Baby story, read by Emma, twice, and she still has images of Deputy Doo Doo turning into a turd.

Seven Year Anniversary!

2006-09-17T22:12:00.000-04:00

We celebrated our seven year anniversary today. Unfortunately, Ehrin is in the middle of seven night shifts in a row, and had only slept 2 hours the night before. So, Ehrin opted to sleep in the Subaru throughout the morning, while April attended a dermatology review course -- note that my body is not meant to be squeezed between the back seat and front seat of the car.

After waking up with some significant myalgias, we walked down Newbury street in search of the perfect brunch locale. We eventually settled on Stephanie's of Newbury. Delicious!

Out on the Town Again

2006-09-10T21:57:00.000-04:00

We had a rare weekend day off together this Sunday and decided to take advantage of it by walking through downtown Boston in high tourist style. We started on Charles street with a brief tour of the Beacon Hill are and a stop at Panificio for much needed coffee and a fruit tart. We continued our tour through the Boston Garden, as shown below (notice the swan boat in the back). We then gave in to materialistic impulses on Newbury Street, including a visit to Burberry's (so many facinating plaid purses, and a $300 dog leash -- more than it cost to adopt both Bigelow and Ellison!).

Our original intent was to end our trip at Trident cafe with dinner and reading (notice that I was dutifully carrying a satchel throughout our jaunt). However, we were sidetracked by a continued fruitless quest for a "man necklace," a John Hardy woven silver necklace. We have been searching for this particular necklace since May, but no store seems to keep it in stock. I guess I'm not meant to achieve full metrosexual status.

We finished the night with a tasty dinner at Luigi and Roscoe's, a restauarant on Newbury street that balance the Italian/Steak theme (i.e., Luigi is an Italian pasta chef, Roscoe is a man's man from middle Texas). We enjoyed outdoor patio dining during the waning days of summer, and then called it a night.

Pool Party!

2006-09-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

Today is Labor Day, and we travelled over to my aunt Laura's house in Carlsisle for a pool party. Bigelow has issues with carsickness, so we decided to keep him up front with April during the 45-minute drive there. Tight quarters, but it seemed to work well.

At Laura's place, we immediately gravitated toward the outdoor pool. This was a rare opportunity for the three Johnson boys to practice synchronized cannonballs. Truly an event to be seen, in order to be fully appreciated.

Out on the Town

2006-09-03T23:55:00.000-04:00

After dinner at Fugakyu, it was boys' night out. And April is one of the boys, even if she doesn't drink Jack Daniels. After a few drinks, we capped the night off with a screening of Marky Mark in "Invincible." Truly inspiring.

Dinner at Fugakyu

2006-09-03T18:48:00.000-04:00

We met up for a family dinner on Sunday night at Fugakyu, a Japanese restaurant in Brookline. We were joined by Alyssa, Nancy's neice. The food was excellent, with some tasty sushi.

Adam in Boston--Saturday

2006-09-02T18:09:00.000-04:00

After we reluctantly rolled out of the bed this morning, we had an all-Bostonian Dunkin Donut B-fast with egg n' cheese croissant, yum! We then headed out on our trip to Gloucester, a northshore fish town that gained its fame for being the inspiration for the movie "The Perfect Storm". We went on a four-mile hike through Ravenwood park with our hairy children Bigelow and Ellison. Above is a picture I took of the brothers--all grown up!

"Excuse me, boys!" Who's that cutie with the pink Redsox hat in the middle?

Thanks to Adam, we can actually hold down our two hairy children for a family portrait!

Is that a LOBSTER? I just can't hide my excitement for this creature. Yes, I LOVE lobster! You'd have to fight me to pry me away from this meal. That good lookin' lobster was completely devoured 10 minutes later!

My excitement for the lobster is only paralleled by Adam's uncontrollable glee for these crispy fried clam bellies! All this delicious fun at Woodman's of Essex!

Adam's Trip to Boston--Friday

2006-09-01T17:53:00.000-04:00

Adam, Ehrin's bro, is currently visiting us in Boston over the labor day weekend, how exciting! We haven't seen him since his wedding, and he looks pretty much the same as when we saw him several months ago-- dashing boyish looks with killer wit. We went to Summer Shack for dinner, a place near Prudential center where they serve good seafood in a lively, cozy atmosphere. Ehrin had planned for us to go bowling in the King Ping next door, and as it turned out, all three of us sucked at bowling-- rolled a 170, combined! I'm glad we all got our day-time jobs. We rented a movie called "without a paddle", a comedy about three old friends getting together to go on an adventure trip through the woods of Oregon. It was hilarious, but we were so exhausted from the day that we just passed out on the couch... zzzz.....

Peach Farm

2006-08-18T23:13:00.000-04:00

What better way to celebrate a week of hard work than to have a scrumptious Chinese feast? The best part? Chowing it with the proud BID derm team, led by our own Dr. Lio!

Peter, Ryan, Denise, Maria, Ehrin, and I went to Peach Farm, this treasure of a little Chinese restaurant in the smack middle of Chinatown. It's a hip, intimate HK-style seafooder that sports a locale clientele, with live fish and lobster freshly prepared to order. Peter, one of the best attendings I have ever worked with, generously treated all of us to this authentic, yumful Chinese dinner. Being a total seafooder, my favorites were the softshell crab and the lobsters, and all the yumful messiness necessary for getting the flesh out. Yummm..... they were finger-licking good. The flounder that Peter ordered was surprisingly large, with its meat tenderly steamed with mushroom and babycorns and its carcass fried to a delicious crisp. The dinner really hit the spot, and we were all reveling in its luxious aftertaste as we stroll through the semi-sketchy Chinatown at night, with the summer breeze caressing our cheeks.

Then, apparently I completely passed out on the couch when I got home, according to Ehrin.

Exhausted in Helsinki

2006-07-08T11:30:00.000-04:00

April and I flew back to Helsinki on Friday evening. By the time we got there, it was already 10 pm, and it seemed wasteful to rent a hotel room for only 8 hours (we had a 7 am flight). So, we did what we always do in that situation -- stay up all night! Unfortunately, we discovered that Helsinki is not the post-industrial telecoms boom town that it purports to be. There weren't any restaurants open after 10 pm, and very little in the way of clubs, either. We did go to Club Helsinki from 11pm - 4 am. With a name like that, you'd think it would be a rocking hot spot of activity. Not so -- we comprised 20% of the Club Helsinki population that Friday night. The picture below is us at 4 AM Saturday morning, after staying up all "night," a term to be used loosely, because it never got dark.

Grinda

2006-07-06T11:25:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, Fred was able to take the day off work, so we travelled together to Grinda, one of the innumerable islands that comprise Stockholm's archipelago. The weather was perfect, and there were many other sailboats out, including some impressive trimarans. As you can see, April and I were already becoming quite patriotic about Sweden.

Stockholm

2006-07-05T11:13:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, we flew to Stockholm to meet up with Fred, Ehrin's friend from Coleraine. After some delays, we arrived in Stockholm on Tuesday night and then watched the World Cup playoff match between Italy and Germany -- Italy scored two amazing goals in the last minute of the second overtime to make it to the finals.

On Wednesday, April and I traveled around the old city of Stockholm (Gamla Stan), and visited the palace and the Ridderholm Syrkan, where Swedish kings have been buried since the 13th century. In the evening, we met up with Fred and went out to the Soldermalm area to watch the Portugal vs. France world cup match. We were joined by Mons, a friend of Fred's who works in IT. He took us on a tour of Soldermalm, and we ended up in Gondolen, an expensive bar overlooking Stockholm, where we enjoyed delicious strawberry daquiris, and then stumbled back to Fred's flat.

Swimming with Russians

2006-07-03T20:02:00.000-04:00

After Savonlinna, April and I started the long drive towards Helsinki, with plans to sleep out in the car that night. Approximately 4 hours into the trip, we took a break at a roadside stop, which happened to be right next to a lake. There was a nice dock by the water, and we sat down to enjoy the view. After about 5 mniutes, two Russian truckers drove up in their 18 wheelers, stripped to their skivvies, and jumped in the water. Not to be outdone, Ehrin quickly put on his American Flag shorts (see previous wife carrying blog) and jumped in the water as well. Quite refreshing, really.

Savonlinna

2006-07-03T00:37:00.000-04:00

After napping a few hours in our car, we drove the next morning to Savonlinna, in the eastern lakes region of Finland. It's a beautiful town reminiscent of Camden, Maine, with gaggles of tourists clogging the streets throughout the summer. At other times of the year, it is truly deserted -- a local saying is that the definition of the phrase "paranoia" is walking down the street in January and thinking someone is following you. We walked through the market area, but April made the comment that everything is Finland is both unfashionable and expensive. Ah well, Finland is many things, but it is not Paris.

The main attraction in Savonlinna is the castle. It was built in the 1400's by the Swedish kingdom, because Savonlinna used to be a border town separating Sweden from Russia. It was taken by the Russians in the 1700's, but then was eventually given to Finland. Every July, an opera festival is held inside the castle keep. We looked into buing tckets, but the cost was exorbitant, even by opera standards -- $350! Instead, we took a tour of the castle, and found that a dress rehearsal was being conducted for the opening night of "The Magic Flute." We snuck into some balcony seats and sat entranced, for over an hour.

After our opera excursion, we had lunch at Huvila, a local restaurant that specializes in reindeer meat. April ordered a big bloody reindeer steak, and wolfed it right down. I even had a taste, to satisfy my interests (the little known "exotic foods" exception to the vegetarianism rule) -- I may not eat beef, but I eat reindeer.

Wolf Park

2006-07-02T23:27:00.000-04:00

After our massive tower experience, we drove along through the Finnish countryside toward Savonalinna, a famous opera town in eastern Finland where an opera festival is held every July. Near the start of the drive, we picked up a Czech hitchiker who was trying to get to Helsinki. His name was Peter, but that's about all we could get out of him. He didn't speak English, Chinese, or Japanese, and we didn't speak Czech or German (the potential areas of overlap in our respective linguistic vocabularies). We eventually dropped him off at a roadside stop, and trekked onward down a small road. We stopped in a local spot for some pizza,. At that pizzeria, we found a local tourist map that pointed out a wolf/dog hybrid farm. This was an exciting discovery -- not in the Lonely Planet guide, either! Despite it being after 11 PM (you never can tell the time in Finland in the summer, since it was never dark), we took some back roads to the wolf park. And there really were wolves there - lots of them, all howling at us behind approxpriately high fences.

You know what they say about the Size of a man's tower!

2006-07-02T13:29:00.000-04:00

After departing from the Olympic village of Sonkajarvi, we drove south to Kuopio, a lakeside town in central Finland. We had yummy fried herring at the edge of a lake (Finland has more than 180,000 lakes!) and then took a boat cruise through the small islands. The highlight of our time in Kuopio was visiting the Kuopio tower, which lies on one of Finland's largest mountains (all of 98 meters!). We climbed up to the top of the tower and went outside, where a storm was approaching. Ehrin pushed April in front of him to protect him from the large rain drops. At the end of all this monkey business, Ehrin showed everyone what it reallly means to be well hung (see picture)!

She ain't Heavy, She's my wife!

2006-07-01T23:07:00.000-04:00

We recently traveled to Finland for the World Wife Carrying Championships. The competition was held in Sonkajarvi, a small village of approximately 1,000 peope in the middle of Finland. Here we are representing the entire North American continent with our necessarily obnoxious regalia. There were about 45 couples present in the competition, many of them with far more ridiculous costumes than us (for example, the Finnish "pro wrestling" champion). The winner, for the last five years, is a former Olympic 800 meter sprinter at the Atlanta games -- not quite fair, if you ask us!

You can check out our North American wife-carrying competition in October 2005 at: http://www.sundayriver.com/summer/wifecarry.html

Our 15 Minutes of Fame

2005-10-08T22:40:00.000-04:00

Wife-carrying? Why not?! There are a lot of strange sports out there, but what other competitions allow couples to compete together for a chance at the woman's weight in beer, 5 times her weight in cash, and a stab at fame at the world level? And practice? That's overrated as well. Infact, Ehrin worked overnight at MGH, slept three hours in the car, while April drove to Sunday River, Maine. Twenty-one couples competed in carrying their wives through an uphill ski slope, over obstacles and through a muddy pool of water. Aside from exhaustion, the greatest challenge was the weather, with a continued down pour, ensuring that the water hazard at the end of a course was deep enough that April had to hold her breath and Ehrin had his nipples wet. In the end, the showdown was between the Boston underdogs and a burly couple from Rumford, Maine. It was the upset of the century, as we carried away the trophies and a berth at the world-wife carrying championships in Finland. For full details, check out
http://www.sundayriver.com/summer/wifecarry.html