What's the Buzz?

Google Buzz looks pretty cool. More useful than Google Wave at least, since it’s connected directly to your Gmail, rather than being a separate website.

It feels like a mix of Twitter (quick short posts) and Facebook (links, videos, etc.).

My Gmail is only for class/work stuff, so the “automatic follow” list is professional contacts and groupmates. The people I know best I talk to in person, on the phone, or on Facebook. Kinda useless.

Try To Feel Again

Are pictures of suffering still effective in raising emotions in our society? Have we all become desensitized by the images of violence and death and victimization we see everyday, on TV, on the internet?

Yes and no. I think pictures can still affect us. A picture of a single starving child is still much better at encouraging people to be generous than figures on the debilitating reach of malnourishment throughout the world.

But I think our attention spans have shortened to the point that we no longer think about what the pictures mean (I mean, this is why I use short paragraphs). This is not to say that we think or feel nothing. We feel our initial reaction, our gut instinct of awe or sadness or pity as our mind processes the situation represented by the picture. Look at this photograph:

What was your reaction upon seeing this photo? Mine was initially, 'Oh, another starving child, how sad.' My attention was divided between this and the text and what the professor was saying, but it still seems to provide support for the "we are desensitized" theory, right? As the picture continued to stay up on the Powerpoint, however, I kept looking at it. And then I saw the vulture. 

I was transfixed by horror. All I could think was 'Oh my god.'


But if the professor had put the picture on the screen and flipped to the next slide with a few words, leaving it up only for a few seconds, I wouldn't have understood the context. Then again though, isn't that the kind of environment we usually see these pictures in? On TV, with the anchor or a narrator speaking, and some sort of text every now and then, a quick flash of a picture in between to highlight the subject? Or online in an article, surrounded by text and flashing click-me ads?

Maybe we don't really look at the world around us anymore, and the same applies to these photographs. We're too engrossed in ourselves and the people around us, and even the world around us - but all in the form of our mental construction of these things. You could argue that everything we see is a mental construction, that's true, but my point is that we see what we expect to in pictures, not what's actually going on.


So I have an assignment for you. It's probably easiest to do online, when you have some control over the pictures you see. Next time you see a photograph that invokes some kind of gut reaction in you, stop and look more closely at it. Notice the details, ask where this was taken, who it was taken by, what the situation was, who the people are. Find out not just what the photographer took a picture of, but what she meant to show.

Sorry!

I haven't forgotten about this blog, just so you know. But I've been sick and busy and our internet has been spotty of late (not because of the router this time!), so you see, conditions have not been conducive to my posting daily.

I will try to be back once the internet connection has been fixed.

Must Be Midterm Season

I'm sick.

I bought some Kleenex today (along with medicine). I came home, peeled off the plastic, tore off the perforated paper hole, and pulled out a tissue.

I put it to my nose and inhaled, ready to blow my nose, and was hit with the strong, pungent aroma of Vicks.

I mean, they make Vicks-scented Kleenex now? That's an amazing idea! I never knew.

Anyways, I'm gonna read and rest until Bollywood Berkeley. Later!

Lost - The Season Begins!

Naw, I don't watch Lost. I tried, when my roommate tried to get me hooked. I almost got through the entire first season, but it just didn't hold my attention. But this post isn't about the show, it's about the last couple days

Yesterday, my roommates and I systematically searched the fridge for some lost (new) Brie cheese that nobody had eaten. The search was fruitless (apples and pomegranates not included).

Today I lost my keys sometime as I was dashing to my classes between 9 am and 12 pm, and only realized it at 5 when I left the lab. I retraced all my steps, went to the lost and found in each of the buildings that was still open. No luck.

In the lab, before my epiphany of keylessness, I lost a pen to the microscope table. I knocked it toward myself and it disappeared into a crevice at the table’s edge. When I told one of the grad students, she said, “Oh, it’s gone then. You’re never going to get that back.”

But then I obtained a pen from the office supplies cabinet. I accidentally dropped it on the ground near the microscope table, and this time, as if to make up for the loss of one of my favorite pens, the table offered me the twin of the one I had just dropped. I looked down there again later when I scoured the area for my keys, and found their triplet sibling.

So I suppose there was some “found” in my day.

The last thing I lost today, though, was my temper. It was a long and frustrating day for multiple reasons, not the least of which was that I haven’t had quite enough sleep the past couple nights. I know my mom was just trying to help, so I’m sorry Amma.

I think I found my (still-fragile) composure again, though. Konstantine by Something Corporate is the song I always turn to when I need comforting. The lyrics aren’t really that happy, but I think it’s the heartbeat bass beat that does it.

Being Busy Can Be Relaxing

I always think I like being busy until midterms hit. And then I always wonder, 'Why do I do this to myself?'

But the truth is, the busier I am, the more productive I am and the happier I am. Counterintuitive, neh? Let me explain. When I'm busy and I know it (clap my hands! *clap* *clap*), I procrastinate less. I know that I have way too many things to do and can't try to finish everything at the last minute.

I usually make a schedule of activities and homework and whatnot lest my God-like (read: holey) memory lets something slip. The difference when I'm busy is that I actually look at it. And then I follow it! Well, mostly. I usually build in some extra time for when I suspect things will not quite get done. So I get work done without waiting too long.

Photo credit: Roger Smith

My memory is like this, but in my brain. Anyways, this is actually a fistulated cow. The hole allows scientists to study digestive and other gastrointestinal processes.

What about the happier part? Well, part of my busy-ness is due to extracurricular activities. This semester, I'm doing as much as I can of the two I most enjoy - dancing and martial arts. On a more academic note, I'm doing research in a lab that works on a fascinating topic and is full of nice, fun people. So I get some social interaction and fun and I don't have to feel guilty about taking time off from studying because it's planned into my schedule.

The same applies when I finish tasks on time. I no longer have to feel guilty about spending some time with friends because there's nothing else planned in my schedule for the day. Unfortunately, I haven't done that yet today, so off I go to read some neurobiology and practice some kanji.

じゃ、また明日!
(See you tomorrow!)

Owl City

Have you heard this guy? You’ve probably heard Fireflies, but listen to some of his other songs as well. Critics say they all have a similar sound, and I have to agree with that. But for me, it’s really the lyrics and imagery that make it worth it.

Owl City is simply awesome. As a scientist though, I should back that up with evidence.

Evidence:

• “I’ve been to the dentist a thousand times so I know the drill –“
  
• “We’ll take a long walk through the cornfield, and I’ll kiss you between the ears –”

Who can resist such clever punniness? And it just makes you feel happy – I don't need realistic (i.e., depressing) songs all the time.