Feeling dull, ACLS, and Steven Universe

[hillarygayle]

To use a term I shamelessly lifted from pondhopper, I'm feeling a bit dull. I usually feel this way by the end of the summer here in Arkansas, but it's so much worse this time thanks to the enforced boredom of not being able to work. I don't do well with idleness anyway, but in this weird limbo of having a job but not yet being allowed by the hospital to do it, it's making me a thousand times more restless than it normally would. We REALLY need the income, as well. I have neither the student loan influx nor the ASU clinical instructor paycheck I've had at this time during the past, and Bryan's paycheck is feeling the strain.

I get quite a bit accomplished when I'm like this, though, especially if I go ahead and take my methylphenidate even though I don't technically NEED it. I've done 5 loads of laundry today, mopped the basement, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and finished the class & written exam portion of the Advanced Cardiac Life Support recertification. You must be ACLS certified in an emergency department, since people try to die on you more than normal there. I only had to re-cert, since I've been ACLS certified in the past and simply let it lapse. It was really difficult to find classes to join for recertification when I didn't have an employer setting them up. I passed the written exam with a 98% and the education coordinator at St. B is going to perform the in-person "check off" portion for me on Thursday.

Also, thanks to thejessone, I have a new memory aid in keeping two medications straight!There are two drugs involved in the ACLS algorithms that start with "a" (well, more than that, but just 2 that I have a problem with): adenosine and atropine. Adenosine is used in cases of tachycardia, or very fast heart rates; it literally stops the heart for a few seconds, and when it restarts, it's in a better rhythm. Usually. Hopefully. Keep those defibrillator pads on just in case. :) Atropine is used for symptomatic bradycardia, or very low heart rate. You can see that those two medications should NOT be confused for one another...and yet I have EXACTLY that problem when it comes to tests. I have never had that problem during the adrenaline-laced, intensely stressful code setting in real life, thankfully, but since codes are performed by an entire team, there are quite a few people there for redundant safety checks. If I say "atropine" when I mean "adenosine" in real life, someone is going to politely correct me. Or possibly yell "Are you CRAZY?!" but either way, same result. That doesn't help me on written tests, though, when I encounter a symptomatic bradycardia case and stare at the two answer options for a full 5 minutes before picking one at random because I CAN'T FREAKING REMEMBER. Jess, though, helped me out with a little memory prompt! Adenosine is pronounced "ah-DEN-oh-seen." You'll all be shocked to know that I have a pronounced southern accent. ;) On FB, Jess made a comment to the effect of "adenosine your heart stop for a few seconds, there." Phonetically, if I whip out my strongest accent and my most authentic Southern dialect (please remember, I grew up where everyone speaks like this!), that will sound a lot like "And then I seen your heart stop for a few seconds, there!" I should really make a video of myself saying this. I know for a fact that my friends mairesue and stripedsocks and my non-LJ friend Fiona would get the biggest kick out of hearing me say that. Either way, I now remember that adenosine makes your heart stop for a few seconds, and therefore atropine is the other one!

I haven't written much here about my latest favorite TV show, so I figured it was time I fixed that.

I started watching Steven Universe upon the recommendation of several friends who have preferences in media that are really similar to mine, most notably wintersweet. I didn't get the chance to really sit down with it for a while because of 2 things: 1) grad school, and 2) Ganon REALLY wanted us to watch it as a family after seeing the first 2 episodes. Since we currently weren't watching anything as a family (having finished both Avatar series that way), and seeing that the first few episodes looked funny, light-hearted with a somewhat serious undertone, and like they might teach valuable lessons, I was inclined to grant this request. But that meant our viewing time was limited to times when we were all home and in the mood to watch, and graduate school just really murdered that timing.

Then I graduated in May, and this summer we determined to watch through all the episodes. And oh my goodness. Part way through Season 1 it became clear the serious undertones weren't always going to stay "under." Thanks to Tumblr, I'd been spoiled through Season 1 & I knew the big reveal that happened regarding one of the characters.
The basic premise is that there are beings called Gems (all techically genderless, but they read as female) from another planet inhabiting Earth after having overthrown more beings of their own kind in a protracted, violent war. The ones currently on Earth call themselves the Crystal Gems, and were part of a rebellion who saw the value in the life that had already been on Earth when the Gems first invaded, and objected to the destruction of the planet for its resources. Steven Universe is the son of the rebellion's leader, Rose Quartz, who gave up her physical form to give birth to him. He's half-gem, half-human, and has his mother's Gem.

Throughout the series, Gems are known to be able to "fuse." They synchronise with each other through dance, and then merge into a being with attributes of both original Gems, but greater than the sum of her parts. At the end of the first season, we find that Garnet, the most capable of the Gems and the de facto leader, is herself a very stable fusion of two Gems (Ruby & Sapphire) who prefer to always remain fused because they love each other and they like it better that way. Later we find out that they were ostracized from Gem society because on the Homeworld, Gems only fuse with others of their type; to do otherwise is treated almost as a perversion. Another Gem calls Garnet "this disgusting display" at one point.

The most recent episode we watched was called "Mindful Education." Steven found out early on that he is able to fuse with his friend Connie, a human, becoming Stevonnie. :) During this episode, they're training for battle in fused form, and they keep unfusing because something is bothering Connie. Garnet walks them through how to maintain their stability despite doubts, and then the next day, Steven is the one with much darker, much deeper thoughts about the people he's failed and people he's hurt. They split, and they're falling from the sky. Connie is trying to walk Steven through the way he feels about his actions in the past, resulting in the most profound lines of dialogue I've ever heard in an animated show:

Steven: It feels BAD! I don't want to feel like this!
Connie: You HAVE TO. Admitting how bad it feels is the only way you can move on from it!

WOW. In a show aimed at pre-teens, that is DEPTH, y'all. You HAVE to feel the consequences of your actions, accept them, and move forward from there.

If you want to know why I recommend it without reading the spoilers, it all boils down to good characterization, lots of depth in the backstory revealed in tidbits, and an amazing soundtrack. Additionally, here are lessons I've noticed in this show:

# Relationships can be healthy & beneficial, even when others disapprove
# Good relationships make people better than the sum of their parts, but can fall apart if the team members aren't in sync
# You can't avoid consequences or feelings
# Some relationships are unhealthy, & some people feel compelled to continue them for the wrong reasons
# Sometimes you're gonna have to fix problems you didn't make
# Bad things may have happened to you in the past, but you need to communicate with others about them and accept them or they'll eat you up
# Sometimes good people do terrible things
# The world is complicated!