Happy new year to all who have found their way to Soze Media.

As you may have noticed, I have been on a temporary hiatus and I have not posted to the site in nearly two months. During the month of November, one of my closest friends passed away in a very heinous and suspicious tragedy. This marked the second death of a friend this fall. I wrote about the first here – When Someone Great is Gone. Losing two friends at such a young age in a short span of time has taken a toll on my psyche. Consequently, I have not had the motivation to write since the second tragedy.

I know that I cannot write anything else (medical school, board studying, random musings, music, or movies) until I write about my friend. Personally, I write for fun, I write to give advice, I write to give my take on music & movies, but writing is also a therapeutic release for me. In times of anguish and despair, writing is my metaphorical way of punching a wall. While many not care about personal tribulations (understandably), I must write about him. And I have. The post has been sitting in my drafts since Thanksgiving break. It has been deleted and re-written no less than five times. I simply want to do justice to the situation and properly honor my departed friend.

However, it is the new year, and it’s time to move on. I will be posting the murky story behind my friends death later tonight or tomorrow.

After that post is behind me, I’ll be back to writing the stuff that you good people actually care about. Here are a few posts to look forward to from Soze Media in the following days/weeks:

• My personal picks for best movies, albums, and songs of the year
• My Step 1 study plan (lets hope this pans out)
• How to Fight the Loneliness – surving medical school when you feel alone

Because I will be taking Step 1 in June, expect many posts on my board-studying odyssey.

Let’s make 2018 a better year than 2017. See you soon.