December 26, 2020

by drplasticpicker

It’s not too late to create your traditions. The holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) were always a painful time of year for Mr. Plastic Picker and myself. It may have been for you as well. When we lived in Boston and had our son, we were still immersed in the university life and still trainee physicians. We had the MDs but not the salary nor the marketable skills, nor the scheduling freedom. Little did we know that scheduling freedom is really a mythical unicorn and does not exist. But every holiday the grandparents would disappear from Boston to New York City, as Mr. Plastic Picker’s sisters were in New York with their chaotic lives and the chaotic cousins.

On the holidays if one of us was actually off, someone would stay home with our then one child. If either was working, we sent our son with his grandparents to be with the chaotic cousins. I remember distinctly this one Thanksgiving when he must have been about two, when we both had Thanksgiving off and the grandparents were gone. We lived in a very small apartment and of course we didn’t know how to cook yet. Free Thanksgiving Dinner was provided by Crimson University at a select number of dining halls and we went to Adams House. This was Mr. Plastic Picker’s old undergraduate House at Crimson University. Honestly the dinner , although well made and delicious, was always kind of sad. Crimson University for all it’s glory was still a faceless institution, and we sat there eating with our toddler son as graduate advisors with a roomful of other sentient beings living their lives and really wishing to be with others that were not us.

(more…)

December 25, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Winner winner, vegan dinner!!! Or it could be a lunch or as hearty side dish. In the midst of a non-ideal Christmas Eve when Mr. Plastic Picker and I both worked part of the day and our youngest daughter woke up with torticollis – we still were able to cook a surprisingly easy dish that was good for us and the planet.

I hope everyone had somewhat of a normal Christmas Eve and Christmas this year. I mean this is what upper management gave me.

And inside the bag was a KeySmart key chain with a fancy metal thingamajiggy that helps you open doors without touching the handles. I found one on the beach as well and had gifted it to my father-in-law. But the one I received was purchased for about $25. I gave it to my father-in-law and took back the one I found on the beach. The one I found on the beach is not as fancy but it has a beer can openener on it as well. Plus I found it.

(more…)

December 24, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I’m looking at yesterday’s trash art piece and I’m still blown away. This is going as a set to someone but as I look at it more there are layers and layers of meaning. When I make the trash art, I have to be in the right mindset and then it just comes. I honestly don’t know or understand what I’m making until it’s done. And then I relook at it and sometimes I get scared or awed at what my subconscious does.

This is the High Priestess and her two insectoid supplicants. They are bonded together by the wooden knitting needles which is my daughter’s which was broken and I carefully salvaged. The bodies are upcycled wine corks. I didn’t realize until I was discussing the pieces with several colleagues yesterday (I had randomly texted them the pictures of the pieces while we were discussing our institution’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout) is that I was really intriqued by each person’s eyes. Each eye is different and none of them are normal. The High Prietess has tunnel vision and is looking inward and her one eye socket is deep. The one eyed insectoid has an innocent wide eyed mouth, but sharp ends to protect the High Priestess. It also has a purple felt half heart and purple is the color of valor. Half a heart, is what we should bring to work. Then there is the insectoid supplicant with the disconjugate gaze. I now understand that this one is me. Looking looking everywhere. Scanning. Scanning with a visual field different than humans. Blunt arms ready to protect and defend the insect colony.

(more…)

December 23, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I absolutely cannot believe it’s Wednesday again, and I cannot believe Christmas is in two days. I had chatted with an old high school friend a few days ago, gathering donations for Toys 4 Tots, and she mentioned that someone told her that “it’s okay to be off.” Dr. Plastic Picker completely agrees. It is absolutely okay to be OFF, and this Christmas everyone is a bit OFF. Case in point, the kids have no desire to decorate our thrice-handed down artificial tree with their hand-made school ornaments that I’ve always cherished. It’s one of those moments that I love and always post some pictures on Facebook. They were into making the Gingerbread House which looked like someone vomited on it, but not the tree. Tells you something about being a tween/teen, and the state of their dystopian minds. I tell you, their generation is different – very dystopian and I think very much due to the state of the planetary ecologic collapse.

(more…)

December 22, 2020

by drplasticpicker

This is Blue Fluffy Bird. He is made from an upcycled car-wash mop that was pretty clean I found on a litter picking walk, but then also cleaned again several times by me. I could have just kept the now cleaned car-hand mop in my car, but the fluffy blue bits were speaking to me. It was just too interesting to pass up. I initially made a shirt for my daughter’s old Diego toy. But then magically by wrapping the blue fluffy polyester oil-based material around a wine-cork, and then using the safety scissor covers as the beak, I had the head of a new species of bird. It’s a plastic bird. I won’t go into the rest of the plastic bits that make up the bird, because I detailed it already on Instagram. But this bird inspired a lot of amazement and wonder, but also intense disgust in some people. It’s amazing because I cleaned it all – I know this bird is cleaner than most toys out there. But it still inspired a lot of intense emotion.

(more…)

December 21, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Mr. Plastic Picker’s mother turned 80 this weekend and we had a small family party. Our small family party included buying a pumpkin pie from Sprouts (we had all been wanting to eat one for a while and there was very little plastic), singing Happy Birthday while our tween daughter played on the piano, and shooting the requisite pictures to send to family members. We then ended by eating said pumpkin pie before dinner which is pure luxuriousness. It was a standard 9 inch pumpkin pie so just enough for everyone in our 6 person family (excluding pets who can’t eat pie) to have one piece and an extra bite.

(more…)

December 19, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Exercise is important. I haven’t blogged about exercise other than plogging much because I self-identified as a runnter for over 30 years in my life. Exercise like managing my finances has always been easy for me. I’ve trained for marathons, run more than my fair share of half-marathons – and my fastest mile time is not bad at 5 minutes 15 seconds (I think). My half marathon time was also very decent, but it’s not important anymore. I didn’t blog about exercise because I needed to learn more about the earth, mindfulness, stretching my body, centering mt body through yoga, slowing my mind enough to notice the birds (there is one perched on our hammock right now a Black Phoebe) and actually I really needed to figure out how to cook. Above was yesterday’s project which was a Vegan Omelette with Besan (chickpea flour) which was a success.

(more…)

December 18, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I wasn’t sure if I was going to log-in last night to the virtual reunion for our pediatric residency at Mans Greatest Hospital. I thought I needed to go for a run or pick up a bag of plastic pollution, but honestly the pull of seeing some old friends so easily without spewing carbon into the air was too tempting. So I logged in a few minutes late (not to seem too eager), and I was thrust back in time. Even without the glory of the marble facade of Mans Greatest Hospital, the tone of the meeting was the same as over a decade ago. A lot of older white men reliving their glory days and syncophantic individuals in their 50s nodding obsequiously. Politicing when so little is at stake. I sat and watched with a bemused Dr. Plastic Picker smile from Southern California as they huddled buried in snow. The older generation and the generation in their 50s all looked so cold in more ways than one. Messages of former remembered clinical glories peppered the chat box for all to see. Then finally, the breakout sessions which is the only reason I logged on.

(more…)

December 17, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I am a trash artist. I am a trash artivist. I just posted my items and almost opened an Etsy Shop LOL, but they wanted the last four digits of my social security number so I shut down Dr. Plastic Picker’s Toy Shop after 5 minutes. That was vaguely interesting! But Dr. Plastic Picker’s Toy Shop is actually open, and it’s open in my actual office. All items are FREE but only to invited guests into my office. When Etsy wanted the last 4 digits of my social security number and I know that Etsy shops are a bit of a scam, as the makers make very little, and Etsy makes a lot. I remember reading an article in the New York Times or CNN on some expose. I’m not surprised.

(more…)

December 17, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I’m never sure how the mornings are going to go. I was thinking when I woke up this morning, I may not write a blog because I felt overwhelmed last night. I had met with the amazing students at Sustainable Pharmacy Project at Virginia Communwealth University (I am the “spiritual volunary non-faculty advisor) and they are working on this supercool student initiated project on pharmaceutical waste. I really want to help them with this project that will help the earth, and also help our HMO get there as well. I had no idea that there were so many medications in the water supply. It makes a lot of sense to me to reduce overprescribing and ensuring safe disposal of medication waste. Then I have our two other premedical interns that were kind of floating out there. But I sent three emails to one, as we are going to organize a film screening of the movie “Gather” and that will be his project for now. And then I emailed our other intern who is more quiet, about setting up a time to catch up on the art’s exhibition.

(more…)