Who Are You On Doctor Who?

I was pleasantly surprised by my result after taking the "Which Doctor Who Character Are You?" quiz:

Which 'Doctor Who' Character Are You?

More on Doctor Who.Created by BuddyTV

Now if only I could get my hair to look like hers, my life would be pretty much perfect.

The Day of the Doctor

I know it's probably because my two favorite Doctors will be together in one fab episode, but I'm getting a little excited about the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who!

I would throw a party, but Whovians seem to be few and far between up here in central New York.  I'm pretty sure I was born on the wrong continent!

Doc Brown vs Doctor Who. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2.

Put on your Easter Bonnet!

I had some fun with my Easter Sunday wardrobe this year, so I thought I'd share.  I kind of have a thing for hats, and was so excited when I found this fascinator on eBay:

Normally I spread my crafty wings and make my own Easter bonnet out of various materials.  But after last year's Peeps in Easter Grass millinery confection, I thought maybe I would delve a little further into the world of hats and purchase a legit chapeau made by someone with experience.

Hats aren't really a popular accessory these days, at least in the United States.  It makes finding anything beyond a simple straw hat or fedora rather difficult.  And I wanted a real hat, like the Brits would wear. 

British women seem to have a hat for every occasion, and I'm always jealous of their style and flair.  I don't know why American women don't strive for a little more class, but I think it probably has something to do with Kim Kardashian and her "trampy hooker" style being featured on the cover of every magazine.

Anyhow, as with any item I can't find locally, I plugged my request into Google, and found my fabulous fascinator.  I feel like British royalty in it, which was exactly what I was looking for.  I wanted a look that said "Kate Middleton".

If I'm ever on Project Runway (unlikely, as I'm not the most skilled seamstress, but a girl can dream) I'm totally naming Kate Middleton as my style icon.  I just love her.  She dresses so elegantly and age-appropriate, but still looks adorable and young and fresh.  And I love that she wears clothing more than once.  I wish that more girls would try to emulate her style instead of the tacky, over-priced, disposable looks that are so trendy right now.

I decided to pair my gray hat with a frothy little dress that had some gray bits in the fabric.  Despite Tim Gunn's hatred of "matchy-matchy", I just can't help myself: my OCD requires that articles of clothing are color coordinated.  I probably would have chosen sheer stockings and sandals for my look, but Upstate New York is a bit nippy even at the end of March, and I have eczema that requires hiding, so I went with gray tights and found some cute flats that wouldn't make my twisted ankle any worse.  Finally, I dug around my jewelry armoire and found some cute enamel earrings and a pearly bracelet.

I think it's pretty cute.  I won't be winning any style awards for my look, but I felt comfortable and fabulous in it!  I'll never be considered "fashion-forward", and I've decided that I really don't care.  I am going to start making my own style and stop worrying about what other people think about it!

And I am totally embracing the hat movement.  Seriously.  I am not only going to wear a hat to every special occasion, I am going to ROCK it.

A Pharmiechick's Valentine Wish

I stumbled across this blurb of health news as I was eating my raisin bran this morning:

More women using morning-after pill, report finds

Considering the number of children I come across who are forced to bear the burden of being raised by completely incompetent parents, I appreciate the lowered restrictions on access to birth control and the morning-after pill.  I think it's great that women have a backup plan if their chosen method of birth control fails.  But I'm troubled by the National Center for Health Statistics study that indicates that 49% of women who have used the morning-after pill reported using after unprotected sex.  I would think that the fact that it is actually called PlanB would help clue in sexually active women that perhaps they should have a plan A in place before hooking up with guys that they would rather not procreate with.

With those thoughts still running through my mind, I moved on to my second bit of health news for the day:

 ’Ongoing, severe epidemic’ of STDs in US, report finds

Well, no kidding.  If you're hopping around looking for some action and don't already have an action plan in place to prevent pregnancy, obviously you don't have a plan A for STD prevention either.  And you know what plan B is for those?  An invigorating round of antibiotics.

No big deal, you say?  Then have a wander over here:

Untreatable gonorrhea threat rises in U.S., Canada

That's right, peeps.  In some cases, it appears that there is no plan B.  Yikes. 

I think it's alarming that, in a developed country like the US where casual sex has become so accepted since the advent of birth control, there is such a lack of knowledge of how safe sex actually works.  So let me put on my white coat so I can dole out some friendly pharmacist advice:

• If you're a chick and you're planning on hooking up with random guys, get yourself on some routine contraceptives beforehand.  Use PlanB as your backup, not your only method of birth control.
• Once you're on those contraceptives, unless you see a lab report saying they're absolutely disease free, you still need to use a condom with those random guys.  It's the only thing (besides abstinence) that is going to have a chance of stopping the spread of STDs.
• To the guys, sure, you're not going to get pregnant.  I guess if you do knock some chick up and don't mind being a dead-beat dad, you can pretend nothing ever happened.  But before you forget or "forget" to use a condom, just remember: the STD train goes both ways.
• In case I wasn't clear enough, condoms are cheaper than both babies and treatments for STDs.  They're also easier to obtain than the alcohol that is responsible for many of those babies and STDs.

I think it's a little strange that no one at NBCNews decided to have an original thought and combine the information from all three articles into something that could help educate a public that seems woefully uniformed.  I can't be the only person who recognized that the above topics are all related.  I know it is part of my job to educate my patients about contraception and STDs, but it seems that for a large number of women, the pharmacist can only counsel about birth control after the fact.  Because sex education seems to be neglected in some states, I think the media has an opportunity to help educate the public rather than just report.  I'm tired of reading articles like the one above concerning the STD epidemic, that explain studies but give no causes or solutions for the situation.  Would it have been so difficult for the journalist to mention that practicing safe sex would lower the risk of contracting an STD?  Even if he isn't capable of independent thought, there are tons of doctors that he could have approached for a quote.

Okay, the white coat is off and Doctor Sarah, advocate for the improvement of society through better education, has vanished.  As the off-duty Sarah Jane, I have to be honest and admit that, despite the seriousness of our country's ignorance of how diseases spread and what family planning requires to be effective, I find the combination of these articles showing up for me to enjoy on Valentine's Day kind of funny.  It's the little things that I appreciate the most.

Image courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hope you have a happy (and STD-free) Valentine's Day!!!