Your life in PhD (Part 1)

If you spent 5 years writhing the book this thick, you're out of luck becoming a earning writer.

Today I want to ink my PhD experience as I’ve already spent 5 years of my life doing lab works and what not, mundane jobs of cloning and sequencing plasmids. Since I still have my fond memory of PhD student life and vivid lab experience, I will share with you in details. 

I will break it down into 2 parts that I managed to achieve during my PhD years. 

(1) Mindset and thinking.

(2) Doing experiments. 

There is no doubt that there are more talented, more productive PhD graduates out there who can easily figure out how to succeed in research life. I'm just laying out my take on how to manage to survive and if luck and your efforts are in your favor, eventually succeed in your PhD years. This is neither to serve as a PhD bible nor an acid test to see if one could stay in academia. It's solely based on my opinions and I hope some of my opinions will be helpful when it comes to dealing with lab environment and politics.

Workout

I just finished doing my late night workout. I used to work out to gain weight, and lately I found my weight gain has stalled and I haven't really had much time to focus on my body. Just an occasional workout keeps me fit and stay ok for me.

I did
3 sets of push-up 14 reps
3 sets of bicep curl 12 reps (10kg)

2048

This is the best I can go so far without undoing the move.

So I started looking for an apps that allows me to undo a move that jeopardize my next move. After playing for about a week occasionally when I am in the mood, I managed to get the highest possible score for 2048, i.e., 131,072 (6 digits).

Attraction (Part 1)

I have developed a theory or reached an interpretation from several readings and observations that we are participating in the process of human evolution. No matter how much I have developed a sympathy, feelings, personality over the years, no matter where I look at, I perceive the traces of past evolutionary events. I recognize the ongoing modification as we live by. I can foresee that I will be absent in future evolutionary process. Mr. XXX as I go by my parents given name, Mr. XXX as an entire entity, as a unique personality accumulated over the years, as one of a kind identity developed over the years, will not be in the future. The least I can expect is I might as well be a tiny bit of element in future evolutionary process if I decide to procreate with another human being, i.e., providing my gene package into a gene pool.

Genuine openness or just a convoluted sense of sweet wordiness?

Lately I found myself struggling with my inner thoughts and my action in life.

People are crazy.

That means I’m also crazy.

If that is real, what am I doing here in this world?

Craziness breeds craziness. 

Here’s a short story I used to listen to when I was young. It’s called “Drink Bitter Rain”.

As usual, it started with “Once upon a time”.

Publish or Perish

Can I just publish my scientific findings on this blog? 

Wouldn't it be awesome? 

Restrained

Sometimes I wonder how much of one's fortitude has to endure in any forms of physical or mental constraint?

I had expected that this day will come. I somehow tricked myself into thinking that everything's gonna be fine. But in fact it is not.

Musings on the Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins

Today I finished reading the Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins.

I bought from iTune stores for iPad because it comes with an app to play around (Only available for iPad, not for iPhone). In addition, the app offers illustrations for each chapter, theory, and findings so that a reader can better conceptualize while they're reading. The book was intended for 12 years old and adults from non scientific background. It's so much clearer and easily understandable. But Dawkins answered that it's so much harder for him to write such a book because he has to maintain scientific facts and integrity while reducing the complexity of the scientific terms.

Youtube and its Evolution

Back in 2007 when I was with my friend, enjoying random chatting,

Friend: “Hey I saw the video clip the other day, it was so funny.”

Me: “Ok, what is it about?”

“It was a song they made it funny.”

“Where did you watch that clip?”

“You know it’s very popular website.”

“um…Friendster?”

“nope. I can’t remember the site. But it’s very well-known.”

“You said it’s very popular, and yet you can’t remember?”

“HAHAHA, yea… what is it? C’mon. It’s at the tip of my tongue.”

“Well, how would I know?”

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

For holidays, I was looking for a book that I can enjoy; not too sensitive, not too fictional, not too provocative. Finally I came upon a sci-fi genre that, I thought, could intrigue and entertain me for a couple of weeks. I picked Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice (1st book of her trilogy). The book won numerous awards: Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and Arthur C. Clarke Award. The recipient books of those awards at least exude excellence and best science works in novels. 

Last day of 2015

Consciousness

Last day of 2015, 

I've been swamped with an idea,

that relives my college freshman scenes.

Compassion Vs Fact

Analysis (Part I)

I’d like to process today how many layers of consideration do we have to put into when we consider a root of a problem/argument/debate/conflict/etc etc etc?

Then we use “compassion” when we consider someone else problem. How far we can sustain such a compassion when it comes to dealing with a problem? Do we outright demand an expected response what it’s supposed to be or do we have a personal compassion which is in turn dictated by many strata of consideration?

Here’s an example.

Year End Lunchbreak

Today is our year end lunch break at Weill Hall 2nd floor. It has been 4 years since I joined Weill Institute Cell and Molecular Biology. Since this is the only time when everyone from every lab in WICMB comes down and has lunch together, I began seeing new faces some of whom I don't even know if they're graduates or postdocs.

I'd like to end my post with this song, oldie but goodie; the song from 90s when I was in high school.

"When I look into your eyes" by Firehouse

Vegan Cheesecake

Today is my first day I ever tried eating vegan cheesecake after 30 years of carnivore life.

Unless I'm told it's made of vegan, I would have believed it's just a normal cheesecake with a bit difference in flavor. I also learned that cheesecake was made out of tofu. It's chocolate vegan cheesecake. Sweet.

Feedback

Today I received quite a number of feedbacks on my student seminar from last week.

Most of the comments I found common:
1. Lots of Data
2. Speak slowly

What stands out among those comments and I found it peculiar is one feedback that reads like this:

Positive comment(s):
So much data! You Rock!

Advice for improvement:
You are perfect.

This is my first ever feedback that makes me smile.

To Hold A Conversation When Words Are Not Enough

I've been listening to one of my favorite songs MLTR's A Complicated Heart a lot these days.

With their mellifluous song and a rather rhythmic flow of the piano music, I feel nostalgic and at the same time found myself passing time with ease, somehow knowing that this is the song I listened to when I was in 8th grade (1998). This is me after 17 years, listening to the same song again. 

~ ~ To hold a conversation when words are not enough. ~ ~  

A Wobbling Market

After a recent market crush in September, all began from where; some point finger at China slowing GDP growth, others point finger at the US potential interest rate hike, and these two big countries spooking each other market days and nights, SPY was pounded from all time high $213 to $187 within a week. This crush makes you realize a prior Greek bailout in June was just another pre hiccup before the market took a dive.

The FOMC is pondering these days whether or not to hike the rate. Last meeting in October, they mentioned the rate hike was still an option and will consider this again in coming December 15-16 week. The market was eventually up until last few days and reacted horribly last week.

Based upon that, I consider writing my findings on markets in future posts and what it really means for an average investor like me in the long run.

Personality Test

Today I took the Myers Briggs test. Basically the test is designed to reflect the personality of the taker, based upon four different psychological functions: Sensation, Intuition, Feeling and Thinking. Depending on how deep one's psychological trait influences in each category, you can be categorized as having one from 16 different personality outcomes.

My result shows that I am "INTJ". 

Introvert (31%), Intuitive (38%), Thinking (47%), Judging (16%). 

What's surprising is only 2% of the general population has INTJ personality, and they tend to cluster in Science, Technology, Business, Investment Banker, Executive and mostly in tech fields. 

"FAMOUS INTJS

Famous INTJs include Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates, Dwight Eisenhower, Alan Greenspan, Ulysses S. Grant, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, Ayn Rand, Isaac Asimov, Lewis Carroll, Cormac McCarthy, and Sir Isaac Newton."

What's even more surprising from the list is I recently watched the 1943 movie "The Fountainhead" based on one of the Ayn Rand best selling novels.  

I have read Asimov robot series too, where three laws of robotics were first introduced, I recall.

The State of feeling "Done" and "Incompleteness" at the same time

I am tired from going through all the meetings, and talk.

Journal Club at Friday (I presented Cdc42 paper published in PLos from Sophie Martin lab)
Journal Club at our group meeting (I presented modeling paper from P.Brennwald lab)
Membrane Signaling Group talk (25 min)
CSHL talk (12 min)
GGD Student seminar (45 min)

Those happened during two months, excluding my practice talk over and over again.

Pathetic

Looking at the last post, and found the date posted back to 2012. Now it's 2014 February!

How could I have passed more than a year without a post?

I do have a feeling, emotion, ups and downs. I don't know why I keep them for so long without ever trying to let them out. Some of them gone, but some of them stay with me like forever.

I cherish independence, but at the same time I enjoy company. This Jekyll and Hyde of my mind sometimes makes me strong, but makes me weak as well.