Snazzified

Hey there, I'm Shana and I'm unsure of what I'm doing but I think I'll be alright.

If you'd like to contact me you can email me at:
shana dot aoyama @ gmail dot com
July 3

Dicking Around in Madison

Hey all, just got back from Cayman Brac last night and am now spending some time in Madison with Sam, a buddy from my semester abroad in Peru. Katherine is coming tonight and we’ll be meeting up with Kate at some point too. I’m so excited! Cayman Brac was amazing and totally different from how I imagined. But more on that later. For now I am focusing on enjoying Madison and all that it has to offer!
June 23
Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation, by Sandeep Jauhar, was something I picked up hoping it would be like Atul Gawande’s books about medicine. Though Jauhar takes a similar approach in trying to make medicine seem more “human,” he somehow failed in drawing me in completely. Unlike Gawande, I found Jauhar to be a bit irritating. I liked the funny anecdotes and all of that, but it just didn’t do it the way Gawande’s did for me. There is something lacking and I know it’s annoying but I just can’t put my finger on what it is.
Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation, by Sandeep Jauhar, was something I picked up hoping it would be like Atul Gawande’s books about medicine. Though Jauhar takes a similar approach in trying to make medicine seem more “human,” he somehow failed in drawing me in completely. Unlike Gawande, I found Jauhar to be a bit irritating. I liked the funny anecdotes and all of that, but it just didn’t do it the way Gawande’s did for me. There is something lacking and I know it’s annoying but I just can’t put my finger on what it is.
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Tales From the Town of Widows begins with the day where guerrillas invade a Colombian village and kill/kidnap all the men in sight. With the men gone, the women of the village suffer for a while until they slowly but surely start taking charge of their own lives and rebuilding the community. If you’re looking for a quick and easy read this summer that will make you laugh and cry, give this one a try.
Tales From the Town of Widows begins with the day where guerrillas invade a Colombian village and kill/kidnap all the men in sight. With the men gone, the women of the village suffer for a while until they slowly but surely start taking charge of their own lives and rebuilding the community. If you’re looking for a quick and easy read this summer that will make you laugh and cry, give this one a try.
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Finally got my hands on Persepolis by Marjana Satrapi after having it on hold at the library for weeks. I had already read the second one (since it became available first) so I looked forward to reading the first part even more. As I had figured, it didn’t disappoint. There’s something so satisfying about reading graphic novels about history and culture and all that good stuff. A fun, easy read and I’d recommend it for sure!
Finally got my hands on Persepolis by Marjana Satrapi after having it on hold at the library for weeks. I had already read the second one (since it became available first) so I looked forward to reading the first part even more. As I had figured, it didn’t disappoint. There’s something so satisfying about reading graphic novels about history and culture and all that good stuff. A fun, easy read and I’d recommend it for sure!
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I love Isabel Allende’s work, and The Sum of Our Days was no exception, though I think in generally I like her fiction better. In this memoir, I gained a better idea of what Allende is like as a person, which is always interesting if you like an author’s fiction. I see where she gets the inspiration for strong female characters now. She comes off like a crazy matriarch at times, but that’s what’s so endearing about this book. Just like your own mother, you’ll find her irritating at times and maybe even think she’s a nutcase, but in the end you realize she’s still lovably and kooky (but in a good way).
I love Isabel Allende’s work, and The Sum of Our Days was no exception, though I think in generally I like her fiction better. In this memoir, I gained a better idea of what Allende is like as a person, which is always interesting if you like an author’s fiction. I see where she gets the inspiration for strong female characters now. She comes off like a crazy matriarch at times, but that’s what’s so endearing about this book. Just like your own mother, you’ll find her irritating at times and maybe even think she’s a nutcase, but in the end you realize she’s still lovably and kooky (but in a good way).
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Sorry I’ve been horrible about updating in general, but especially in regards to the books I’ve been reading. I’ve returned some so I can’t remember all that I’ve read but I’ll post a few now. Let’s start with Richard Preston’s Panic in Level 4. When I was younger I LOVED The Hot Zone, which is about the Ebola virus. For some reason, even though I’m very squeamish, I really enjoy nonfiction about gross medical stuff. In any case, I was expecting this new one to be mostly the same but it was more like a bunch of different essays/articles about various subjects that interest him, including the gross medical stuff. My favorite chapter was about Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, which is a genetic condition that basically makes people self-cannibalize and be a danger to themselves. It’s horrifying, but I liked how Preston injected a bit of humor into an otherwise terrifying chapter. If you read it you’ll see what I mean.

Sorry I’ve been horrible about updating in general, but especially in regards to the books I’ve been reading. I’ve returned some so I can’t remember all that I’ve read but I’ll post a few now.

Let’s start with Richard Preston’s Panic in Level 4. When I was younger I LOVED The Hot Zone, which is about the Ebola virus. For some reason, even though I’m very squeamish, I really enjoy nonfiction about gross medical stuff. In any case, I was expecting this new one to be mostly the same but it was more like a bunch of different essays/articles about various subjects that interest him, including the gross medical stuff. My favorite chapter was about Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, which is a genetic condition that basically makes people self-cannibalize and be a danger to themselves. It’s horrifying, but I liked how Preston injected a bit of humor into an otherwise terrifying chapter. If you read it you’ll see what I mean.

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Where The Hell Is Matt? Kind of love this man. The videos are incredibly endearing, as are his dance moves…er dance move (singular). I wish I had thought to make weird dance videos wherever I traveled.
June 20
Trends in Japan » Celebrity design for sanitary napkins makes you hipper once a month OMG. I really want celebrity-designed pads. No, seriously. That’s too much.
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Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High - TIME I just typed a furious tirade about this article and decided to give it another try. This article is so incredibly brief and I’m sure there are many layers and complications to this event that we’re not hearing about. That said, it truly puzzles me that these girls think teenage angst and local economic struggles are a good reason to start a young mother’s club. Why couldn’t they have bonded over mutual interest in badmington, or if unconditional love is such a huge deal then maybe they should volunteer at animal shelters. This just strikes me as a very permanent way of dealing with a most likely temporary situation.
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There’s been a lot on the Internet about this award-winning French ad campaign and I just wanted to add yet another voice exclaiming over this piece of work. It is so visually engaging and once again, hats off to the French. Your HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns are awesome!
There’s been a lot on the Internet about this award-winning French ad campaign and I just wanted to add yet another voice exclaiming over this piece of work. It is so visually engaging and once again, hats off to the French. Your HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns are awesome!