This seemed to be coming together just fine, but now that I'm taking a step back to look at it...

( Cut for image size )

Wasted work.

I think I'll take the rest of the day off.

[Community Post]

|[Video]|

[Nothing special to see here, just a slightly out-of-focus view of Rudy at work. He's fitting a metal armature into a cast plastic hand, alternately shaving paper-thin bits of flesh-colored rubber away and checking how the pieces measure up.

There's a sharp rap on the door, and he sets the work down, standing a little straighter as it opens. The nurse in the doorway has a folder in hand, and she starts to say something as she takes a step in.

Or, at least, she tries to. He watches her fruitlessly wave her hand up and down a moment, looking for a break in the invisible barrier.]

Just leave it on the floor. I'll get it later.

[Once she slides it in a few inches and shuts the office door, he goes back to his prosthetic, enjoying the peace and quiet.]

[Community Post]

I'd like to remind all my biology students that we'll be doing dissections tomorrow, so please arrive on time and ready to begin. Make sure you have your lab report forms with you, and wear something you wouldn't mind getting dirty, just in case.

If you don't want to participate due to ethical reasons, you should have contacted me already; but I'll take any last-minute requests I get now into consideration. Be advised that the research paper you'll have to do in lieu of the assignment is not an easy break. If all you're looking for is a shortcut, you're better off using a scalpel to get there.

Anatomy and Life Drawing, we'll be looking at the musculature of the head and neck in both classes. Don't forget your texts.


[ooc; AU bio here~ teaching bio, anatomy, and an art class at Cutler's.]

Pain is something I inflict, something I don't often experience. It doesn't matter so much, whether they suffer, just that they bleed the right way.

A number of people have discussed the basic function of pain, as (to oversimplify the matter) a reaction to unpleasant stimuli. I figured maybe I could save some repetition by talking about a different take on the topic.

Though of course a certain amount of discomfort is to be expected in my line of work-- manufacturing and fitting prosthetics-- due to the inherent difficulties of replacing a lost limb with artificial materials. Chafing, pinching; obvious physical sensations with obvious physical causes. But I hear a lot of reports of something a little stranger, too.

It's not the most well-known or well-understood phenomenon, but reports of phantom limb sensations and pains have been documented for hundreds of years. Any number of patients I've treated, usually soon after their amputations, have complained of being able to feel the part they've lost; invisible, intangible, but somehow not insensate. The cause is not entirely clear; it's not merely a matter of damaged nerves at the site of the amputation, though that plays a part. It's a deeper problem. Some part of our brain can't quite fathom the loss; it imagines the piece is still there, the puzzle intact. The ghosts stay with you. And because it isn't there, it's not a simple matter of waiting for the injury to heal.


|[ooc; lifted and adapted from wikipedia, because i am not my character :X if I got something wrong please attribute it to out of character error rather than in-character, and feel free to contact me to let me know but uh. he ought to know what he's talking about. ^^;; i did my best to make it correct and coherent. /disclaimerrr ALSO pardon slow tags since notifs are dead ><]|