Moonshine Muse

Dear Lord, I pray for...
      
Wisdom, to understand a man;
Love, to forgive him and;
Patience, for his moods.
                    
Because, Lord,
if I pray for Strength,
I'll just beat him to death.

Okay, I received a third invitation to Orkut. I realize that this may be the new thing but I will not give in to the trend. Sorry guys, not interested. I may not pass GO, I will not collect my $200 dollars, and I may very well go to jail. Others have threatened to sign me in as an Orkut member for me, but know this: If I appear in Orkut, it is not really me, it is someone else falsely posing as me. Does that make me unsociable? Perhaps, but I prefer to remain somewhat anonymous to the world wide web. I love meeting people when I meet them face-to-face, they are more tangible and more real to me. Meeting people online just doesn't do it for me. I prefer chatting on the phone where I can hear melodious nuances of people's voices and tone. Chatting online, while has definite advantages, doesn't do it for me. I know, I know. . .I am most likely still living in the Stone Age.

Eyeball Jewelry. I cannot believe research and money is going into "decorating the eyeball" instead of more important medical issues. True, it is no different than getting a lens implanted for vision correction or for cataract surgery but seriously, you may not want to mess with something as delicate as the eye. Vision is one of the most important senses to have. When I am old and gray, I think I'd value keeping my vision more than loss of hearing or decreasing motor ability. Why take the risk? They say there are no side effects so far and they do not expect any in the future. But looking at this picture, I'd say that the increase of blood vessels surrounding the jewel in this case is NOT a sign of good health.
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I know, I know. . .it's been awhile but my period of stress and hell is over. After I recovered from a severe cold, I had three tests to study for within a week and it was freaking me out. I have a month until my next and last round of testing. Yeah! 29 days. . .696 hours. . .41,760 minutes. . .of no school stress.

I can almost remember what it was like when I was in college. I see the trend where I start off the semester doing great and then, as the weeks go by, I get tired of the studying and become unmotivated and then my grades drop. Then I spend the latter part of the semester trying to make up for it. Yes, this sucks. I don't like classes because trying to get a good grade interferes with my initial enjoyment of the class. I love learning as long as grades aren't in the picture. I do not like how they are used to determine intelligence or how they are used to judge a person's level of education and understanding within a subject. For instance, biological science classes are usually based on learning a bunch of facts. A student who makes an A in these classes does not necessarily have to understand the concepts or know how to apply these concepts to the outside world; all the student needs is excellent memory. A kick-a** memory will get you an A on a test, only to be later forgotten and never applied as it should be. Now, this does not happen with every subject, but it is pretty common in the sciences.

I have a great admiration for those that take these concepts a step further in understanding and application. This most likely explains why I enjoy research and its environment. Why I have a great respect for research scientists that dedicate a huge portion of their life to question, explore, and educate while exhibiting patience and fortitude; and withstanding frustration and discouragement. As I am writing this, I am thinking of Tsukasa, a fellow co-worker at the CBI who came to the U.S. three years ago and has since, done some amazing work in cancer research for our group. He is reluctantly returning to Japan to resume clinical practice in oncology surgery but he hopes to return to research in the future. I hope he will be able to because it is what he wants more. Others and I will surely miss him.