RIP, LeRoi.

I want to get back into blogging more regularly. I've been inspired by some of the ridiculous and witty posts my siblings have made. Anyway, tonight I was kind of thinking about what I could write, and since I'm running a bit out of time, I decided to just a lil' "music video of the week," as I've done in the past.

Sidenote:

When I was on my general surgery rotation a couple of weeks ago (see also: six weeks of hell) I had a pretty cool cardiothoracic surgeon on my team. He was a quiet guy from Bangladesh. Despite appearances, he was a really nice dude. He still made me do scutmonkey work and stand for hours on end holding retractors or cameras like a slave, but he was a good dude. I bring this up because he was also the most music saavy doctor I've met to date. Two things were a must before this guy entered the operating room: 1) the patient needed to be sedated and a urinary catheter placed (my job), and 2) his iPod plugged in with his personalized playlist running (also my job). I didn't really mind either task. One of the things I greatly enjoyed was hearing the Dave Matthews Band come on his playlist while we were operating. I used to love the DMB. Every day, every hour I could, I was listening to them. I had all of their albums -- including the repetitive and drawn-out live ones -- and eagerly tried to play all the songs on guitar like Dave could. It was quite the musical obsession if you will, and I enjoyed this eclectic reminder of my youth while entrenched in the "guts and glory" of trying to pursue a career in medicine.

PS: What have a gotten myself into?!?!?!

Anyway . . . reflecting on this experience, I decided to put up a music video from the DMB on my blog this evening. While browsing the all-powerful internet, I came upon a news story from August of this year, reporting that the saxophonist from the band, Leroi Moore, had past away from complications of a motor vehicle accident. Very sad, he was only 46.

Is it strange that I feel sad that a tiny part of my adolescence is officially over now that the Dave Matthews Band will never be the same that I once knew?

Rest in peace, LeRoi. Your music with live on in the operating rooms of the University of Iowa. And my iPod.

Here's one of my favorite songs by the DMB (Leroi not included).