Yup. Geek.

Music and neuroscience go well together. The host of this clip is a little... um... hmm what's the word... painfully nerdy...? But stay with it, it's kind of interesting. And amusing.



Synesthesia seems cool.

The things I have to study....

Fading out of reality while reading paper upon paper about what amounts to -nothing- made me wonder if I could make them any more interesting. Maybe if it all came in comic form. I could turn all the developmental mutants into characters.

Sonic Hedgehog's a given. But other proteins could make it too... I could totally see Forkhead and Fox. Maybe have Lunatic Fringe lurking crazily around the edges, coming up with devious plots. Fear Of Intimacy and Abstinence By Mutual Consent could be sort of awkward characters that pop up once in a while. And the background could be the alphabet soup of usual crappy names.... speaking of which...

I'm kind of jealous of the grad student or PI that decided to name a protein creating the acronym "CRAP". And then I realize that I'm only jealous because that would make a good conversation starter and poster title and realize that there are no limits to my geekiness.

Can't wait til this semester's over.

Eff.

demotivationals

Too lazy to write, here are some demotivationals












And my favorites:

Back in Calgary

things to do:

brush teeth
shave
shower
laundry
clean room
take out garbage
unpack
call tom lee music
call bartending school
go to storage (monitor and guitar)


things to buy:

shoes
milk
cereal
dates
pasta sauce and pasta
meat
bacon
beer
bread
pizza
amp?
underwear
socks

10,000 hours.

I am reading Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book “Outliers”. I was a big fan of “Blink” and “The Tipping Point” and I have to say his new book doesn’t disappoint. Although a lot of stuff he talks about follows various types of fallacies in their presentation, the main point itself paints a valid picture of what it takes to be successful. His main argument in the book is that successful people who are proclaimed “self made” owe a lot to their environment and people who helped them along the way. He argues that it takes more than brilliance and genius to become successful. How you were raised, the culture you grew up in and the people you interact with have a much underrated affect on your level of success.

What I found most interesting was what he called “the 10,000 hours” rule. Gladwell argues people like Michael Jordan, The Beatles, Bill Gates, Michael Phelps and Mozart, who are known to be brilliant, have put in at least 10,000 hours of work before they actually became what they are. He argues that no one has ever been able to reach that level of success in one skill without putting in at least 10,000 hours. How long is 10,000 hours? If you were to put in three hours of practice in to playing basketball every day, it would take you just over 9 years to clear 10,000 hours. If you were to start playing the guitar today and not stop until you’ve done 10,000 hours, it would take you almost one year and two months to clear that. That is if you were to practice 24 hours a day seven days a week, non-stop.

What I thought was interesting is how quickly we stamp people as genius and assume they’re gifted with a talent where in fact the difference is only 10,000 hours. I haven’t finished reading the book yet; it’s a fun piece of work and needs to be read with an open mind. Some of the stuff he says leaves a lot of room for argument. He tends to make scientific conclusion without being scientific in his premise. But the book flows nicely and keeps you interested throughout.

Zap Zap

Following suite to Reza's post, I too thought it would be appropriate to present some musings about this past year. Often my friends and I reflect upon the year in "best and worst" with a particular category but for the purpose of this post, I will do as Reza has:

2008:

Things I did:

Presented at an international conference.

Almost fell off the side of a mountain and subsequently saw my life flash before my eyes

Consumed more wine than I had in my entire life previously

Taught a class and loved every minute of it

Made loads of new friends and met tons of people

Found a bit more of myself

Saw a stab wound victim

Was a bridesmaid

High tea at the Empress

Put my toes in the pacific, twice.

Got my nose pierced, again.

Baked a lot.

Saw a Californian sunset.

Got loaded with supervisors, present and past.

Burned out and bounced back. Repeatedly.

Fulfilled a life long dream of seeing a Koala.

Filled each day with more and more laughter.

Things I learned:

Friends are the things I cherish most in life.

What bad wine tastes like

What bad wine violently ejecting out of my nose tastes like.

The richness of life

Dating/love hangovers suck

Hangovers suck.

To be assertive and myself

How much I love neon yellow

I am a hedonist and it's ok!

How to swallow my pride, when it's appropriate

To show kindness and express appreciation all the time.

How to do measurements on an ultrasound machine.

That endothelial function can be preserved with proper diet and exercise however the flow mediated dilation commonly used in clinical settings may not be appropriate for young and healthy trained individuals. 

How to make fortune cookies.

Hiking in waist deep snow is dangerous.

Karma does exist. 

Happy New Year!

2008 in review:

Things I did:

Read more books than watched movies.
Moved out of residence and lived off campus.
Infected my passport by going to Iran.
Got lost in Amsterdam.
Got a B.S in Computer Science (finally).
Took out my wisdom teeth.
Stayed up most nights and slept during the day.
Realised once again how amazing Mulder is.
Got a 3.0+ GPA.
Smoked dubious amount of sheesha.
Went to all my classes.
Fell in love with Crackberry.
Supported Ron Paul, then Obama.
Went to the last Montreal Grand Prix.
Started working out once again.
Unlike 2007, lost money in Vegas.

Things I learned:

Champagne makes me sick.
There is a magazine dedicated to hunting with bows, called Bow Hunter.
I can NOT ride a bike with no handle bar.
The Cranberries are a great band to listen to while smoking sheesha.
I have a soul mate and her name is Kylie Minogue.
Globe Fish is the best sushi joint in Calgary.
I have a lot to say in a Philosophy class.
Sociology classes are more fun than Poli Sci classes (too late now..)
A plant can die in 13 minutes if it is exposed to -40 degree weather.
I have a very bad short term memory.
Vitamin B makes me happy.
I have a very bad short term memory. (har har har).
I hate Linux.
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are not very funny now that the election is over.
Slow cooking bacon is the way to go.
Americans know how the have a good time.
South Park is the smartest show on TV right now. (I kinda already knew that).



-That's all that comes to mind for now.

Looking back at 2008