Last week, Dr. Ekstrom and I had the pleasure of seeing one of the current hot shows in New York City, A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical.

This past week we were honored to spend time at the United Nations in New York City. We began our day with a visit to the Latvia’s Permanent Mission to the UN.

It was a great privilege and honor to be on the Senate floor, (in the capacity as Honorary Consul for the Republic of Latvia in Southern California) in Sacramento this past week for the unanimous passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution #22, introduced by Senator Josh Newman.

This was certainly a strange week for me, spending half of it on the East Coast, the other half in California……and today, I am at government meetings in Sacramento.

Presidents’ Day is a federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February; Presidents’ Day 2023 will occur today Monday, February 20. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, the holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers.

Valentine was a common name in Late Antiquity – there are 14 Roman Catholic Saint Valentines. Historians have narrowed down the tradition to one of two Saint Valentine martyrs who were preaching the good word in Rome in the third century. One of these two was martyred on February 14, 269, thus giving us the date for his eponymous day.

As a Doctor of Public Health and a Registered Dietitian weight loss is always a topic that is ever-changing. The simple diet and exercise to achieve weight loss seem too hard for most people due to their busy lifestyles.

I mentioned this event at the Latvian Center in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, but will bring it up again as the screening will occur this coming Saturday at 2 pm, and you still have time to RSVP if you are interested in attending. In my role as Consul for the Republic of Latvia in Southern California, I will be co-hosting this event together with the Latvian community in Los Angeles.

It is amazing how OCPS has changed in the past year! A year ago, I was the only physician working in the practice, but during this past year, we have added plastic surgeons Drs. John Compoginis and Deborah Ekstrom, and an extremely talented nutritionist, Dr. Staci Compoginis, to our fold. We were all very pleased with our Soirée Thursday evening. The audience especially enjoyed a presentation on weight control by Dr. Staci Compoginis, focusing on the HCG diet.

This past weekend was rainy; today, Martin Luther King Day, is rainy. What better way to spend a rainy day than to cuddle up in front of a fireplace and read, or watch some good movies. I had the opportunity to do both this weekend. I dug into an old book from the 60’s, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, who recounts her rather traumatic childhood in segregated America – an appropriate topic for us to revisit this Martin Luther King Day. I also saw the Latvian film, January, directed by Viesturs Kairišs, at the Scandinavian Baltic Film Festival at the Wilburn Theater in Beverly Hills.