Things to do...

Due to my cold, I've been feeling too sluggish to get things done. So here's a list of things that I would like to see get done.

1. Finish the short book What Happens When We Die by Sam Parnia

2. Go ski @ Brighton.

3. Go see the polaroid show.

4. Watch Slumdog Millionaire and He is just not that into you.

5. Troubleshoot problems @ work.

  Speaking of work, I came to realize that doing research means I always encounter disappointment and then joy, and often times the cycle repeats itself.  I've learn that I shouldn't be overly happy when I get some good results, nor should I be too disappointed if things didn't turn out as expected. 

From Amy's blog @ amymagazine

"誰的內心沒有一個隱藏的幽暗的空洞？我們都是孤獨的野狼，習慣了形單影隻流浪荒嶺，一天夜裡，抬首仰望天空，竟愛上了其中一顆星星。它照亮了我心中幽暗的部分，它溫柔了我冷酷的雙眼，使我放下長久以來的戒備，使我想到終結我孤單卻安全的旅程，使我突然很想對另一個人好，也使我猝然了悟，愛情就是想對一個人好。

愛一個男人，可以愛他的英俊，愛他的聰明，但請不要只愛這些。他的聰明，他的容貌，他的個性，他的錢，他的事業，都是屬於他的，只有他對你的好，才是他對你的情意。

是他對你的好，使他變得獨一無二，也使你變得獨一無二。

他對下一個人有多好，你不必去想像。當一個人活的日子夠長，也就會明白，這一生，我們愛的也許不只一個人，但我們對得最好的，卻只能夠是其中一個，從今以後，再也不可能對另一個人那麼無可救藥地好了。

為什麼？因為，愛是很累的。後來的後來，我只想別人對我好。"

To me, the passage is soothing. And for those who can't read Chinese, I wish I can translate this without losing some of the essence in the process. My favorite phase is in the last sentence, 愛是很累的 (Love is exhausting).

Nature's crystals

This is something cool that i have to share. While driving home tonight, I noticed the nice little snowflakes falling on the clear front windshield (I just got a new pair of wipers), and even with naked eyes, I could tell there were some differences. Some are round, some are more circular, others are more elongated (not really the shape of a flake).

After I got home and started browsing the internet, I came upon this on TIME! It's like some divine being was reading my mind and pointed me in the right direction.


just a few pics from snowcrystals.com

Funny gift

This is a gift from Holly. It's me in a bottle! According to the manufacturer, jenn consists of lemony flavor in vodka. Yumm... I am definitely keeping the bottle.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift, that is why it is called present".---Kung Fu Panda

Group meeting...going sidetrack

Conversation from my Friday sub-group meeting:

While we are discussing Swedish pronunciation of brand names

Me: So how do you say "Ikea" in Swedish?

Swedish colleague: It's EE-KEH-AH.

My boss: So tell me, how do you use those four-wheel shopping cart in Ikea?

Swedish colleague: uh, you can use either wheels to turn it...

Other colleague: It's actually better to have the four-wheels, you have more degrees of freedom, rotational and translational.

My boss: Yeah, but every time I try to turn the cart, one of the wheels goes the other way. So I have to work against that momentum to get it to turn. I mean, they just won't turn!

Me: Hahah, just go where the cart leads you. :)

The puppy in my lab

This is the new lab member to my group, a puppy named Sarang (?). It means 'love' in Korean. I didn't know until now how puppies love to chew on everything when they are teething.