when i find myself in the middle of a phase of much menial lab work, such as right now, i tend to also find myself in the middle of a phase of searching for new, brain-stimulating things to listen to while slicing brains, doing histology, tracing neurons, etc. so, last night i was poking around on iTunes looking for new podcasts, and came out with a very yummy david rakoff audiobook. suddenly brain slicing becomes not a torment, but hours of much-anticipated fun!
i should disclose that i feel a particular affinity for mr. rakoff because of his origins. it happens that his father, dr. vivian rakoff, is professor emeritus of psychiatry at u of t and was head of the clarke institute (former incarnation of the centre for addiction and mental health - camh) in toronto, which happens to be where i did my master's. because vivian rakoff was important around the camh, the lab where i worked for those years was NAMED after him. as in, The Vivian Rakoff Mood Disorders Laboratory. and, this one time, he happened to wander into our lab meeting, and i was like "you're THE vivian rakoff??" and did the celebrity jaw-drop thing.
needless to say, i think david rakoff is pretty cool by association. if you don't already listen to this american life, this is one of my favourites of his.
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