HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This is our little one's performance from her school's holiday show. Enjoy!

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Kathleen and I saw "The Social Network," the new movie about the origins of Facebook last night. While I have not seen many of the presumptive Oscar nominees, I can safely say that there will not be a more compelling and contemporary film shown this year.

The movie is fictionalized, but it is based largely on facts/interviews with the major players. We will never know for certain what motivated Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, on so many occasions in the film, which is part of the film's charm. Some see Zuckerberg as a social misfit merely seeking to best all those who have wronged him or made him to feel unwelcome, but this is a superficial analysis.

While Zuckerberg clearly appears to have some difficulty relating to people, it is clear that he understands the power of relationships and how to capitalize on our desire to "relate" to people. If he did not, there would not be half a billion Facebook users.

The film made me as a former Facebook user (I quit after one year), think about what that site means. For me, it is an invention of the electronic age that makes it acceptable to be boastful, malicious, audacious, and downright juvenile. While people have always demonstrated these traits, Facebook gives the ordinary person a voice onstage with a megaphone. Fundamentally, most humans crave this. They need to be heard, and they are heard loud and clear day in and day out on Facebook. In that way, they want exactly what Zuckerberg may have wanted when he made the site.

This brings me to my final point. If everyone is yelling what they want whenever they want, when does all of this cease to be music and become noise? I found that I liked the people with whom I was "friends" less and less with every status update, every comment, and every tagged photo. It was not so much over-exposure to these individuals as underexposure to anything resembling a real and deep connection that made me leave. In he end, I wanted my real friends back (most of whom were not members) rather than my "friends."

In many ways, I think Facebook makes its users forget what real friendship is and that "seeing" your friends everyday does not compare with being with your friends... even if your contacts are only through email, phone calls, or face-to-face connections once every decade. I, for one, will take friendships over social networks any day.

Consider this shared.

BLESSED

I have been attending on the inpatient service this weekend, which always makes me a little introspective. This weekend was particularly busy, and my fellow, who is quite good and who never complains, seemed a little put out. I reminded her that any of the 11 patients with incurable cancer on our service would trade their ills for hers in a heartbeat. This seemed to resonate with both of us.

Here are some of the many reasons why I feel blessed.

A BEACH IN SAN FRANCISCO WITH MY FAVORITE PEOPLE















THE BUDDY SYSTEM AT ARBOR (Nicholas and Alex, his Senior buddy whom he reveres, are pictured)



MR. CLAUS



THE KIDDOS AND THEIR SOCCER-LOVING DAD







Enough said.

VIVA BARCA!

This week, the two greatest football clubs in recent years faced off. It was a match between the much beloved Football Club Barcelona and their arch rivals, Real Madrid. Barca, as Barcelona is known, has the motto mes que un club, or more than a club. Indeed, they pay Unicef for the rights to place the Unicef name and logo on their jerseys, one of the most lucrative pieces of advertising space in the world. The Real jerseys on the other hand are emblazoned with the logo of an online betting site called bwin.com. Hopefully, you are appreciating the difference between these two clubs.



Leading up to the game, there was a lot of trash talk, particularly from the Madrid side. However, once the teams took the field, action spoke louder than words.

To say that the outcome was surprising would be an understatement as both teams came in with winning streaks and had dominated their recent opponents. However, this was a one-sided affair, and the Blaugrana (Catalan for blue and deep red, which are Barca's colors) were the dominant team. No one could have predicted a 5-0 victory, but that is exactly what we saw. All five goals are shown here.

The contrast in scoring was only overshadowed by the contrast in playing style. Madrid seemed listless and confused while Barcelona put on a show- yes, a show. Seeing them pass the ball, occupy space, and work as one unit was a wonder to watch.



While my favorite player Lionel Messi (shown above) did not score a goal, he set up three of his teammates and drew attention and fire from Real. He was the hero to the anti-hero of Real, Christiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese bad boy who at one point in the match shoved the Barcelona coach. Ronaldo, however, was held scoreless, and the best man did win out in this showdown.

I was reminded during this match, that soccer can be quite beautiful. Watching those eleven men work masterfully as a team was like watching an orchestra in action. These days, no one plays better than Barca, and I look forward to many more years of watching this team's sweet music.