It's been about a month since I blogged. I'd give some excuses like nothing fun happened to me, I haven't done anything exciting or worth writing about, etc. etc. etc. But that's just not true. A lot of fun things have happened! These top the list:
1. I sewed myself a suit skirt. That took a while. Don't look at it too closely! I'd put a picture up of it, but I took the picture of myself in my mirror (which is a fat mirror), so the photo isn't very flattering (but not because of the skirt! haha!)
2. I started a job. It's fantastic and I love the people I work with. I work now!
3. I baked a lemon meringue pie the other day and ate half of it in one sitting (don't get mad at me JS).
4. I've been watching the men's rugby world cup - there have been some great and shocking games! Down to the final four: Wales v. France, Australia v. New Zealand.
5. I got an iPhone! I still really really miss my flip phone though...
I'll try to be a more regular contributor again, for those loyal readers out there! :)
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
"Do our genes decide if we're kind or cruel?"
I was unpacking and found this newspaper page that I had saved for some reason. Initially I had no idea why, until I turned it over and read the bottom - an interesting little piece about how our genes might influence our demeanor. Read the whole article here.
Basically, there are specific genes linked to specific emotional characteristics like aggression, emotional expression, empathy. "In most cruel people, the 'empathy circuit', which runs through 10 different regions of the brain, goes down either temporarily or permanently, leaving the person with 'zero empathy'". The author uses Osama bin Laden as an example. The reasons for the cruel actions could be partly innate, partly a result of some early traumatic experience, or an interaction between nature and nurture.
I'm not sure how I feel about this article - it kind of says nothing at all while saying a whole lot at the same time - but it's kind of interesting to bring back the old nature vs nurture discussion and just how much of how we end up is governed by these principles! Food for thought!
Basically, there are specific genes linked to specific emotional characteristics like aggression, emotional expression, empathy. "In most cruel people, the 'empathy circuit', which runs through 10 different regions of the brain, goes down either temporarily or permanently, leaving the person with 'zero empathy'". The author uses Osama bin Laden as an example. The reasons for the cruel actions could be partly innate, partly a result of some early traumatic experience, or an interaction between nature and nurture.
I'm not sure how I feel about this article - it kind of says nothing at all while saying a whole lot at the same time - but it's kind of interesting to bring back the old nature vs nurture discussion and just how much of how we end up is governed by these principles! Food for thought!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
I must be a tropical storm magnet!!
I went down to the Florida panhandle over Labor Day weekend. What do you know? A tropical storm arrives just as I arrive! Despite an overcast first few days, and an extremely wet and rainy second few days, we had heaps of fun walking the beach, eating, fishing, sun bathing (yes, I did get some sun!), and boogie boarding in tornado watch weather!!
Sunday night rewarded us with a fantastic lightning storm over the ocean. While I missed some good shots (of course the sky lights up the minute I go back in the door), I got some good ones. Pretty impressive!! Isn't nature amazing?!?!?!
Sunday night rewarded us with a fantastic lightning storm over the ocean. While I missed some good shots (of course the sky lights up the minute I go back in the door), I got some good ones. Pretty impressive!! Isn't nature amazing?!?!?!
Monday, August 29, 2011
East Coast Natural Disaster Week
I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been busy getting my last days of vacation in before starting my job in September. The Year of Kim is coming to an end…
Anyway, my last few weeks have been quite eventful, thanks to a few natural disasters. Last Tuesday we had an earthquake; and this weekend we had a hurricane!
Now, I had been in a few earthquakes before. By “been in” I mean I’ve been there when rumblings happened. By “earthquakes” I mean generally minor shakes. Once in Michigan when I was little, once in Costa Rica, and most recently in New Jersey.
The earthquake in Costa Rica is an interested story. While I was working with leatherback turtles there, we patrolled the beaches all night. So after returning to our science station at 5am, we generally passed out exhausted until brunch at 11am.
Our station was about 50 meters from the Pacific Ocean. One morning I awakened to my bunk bed shaking (we shared a room with 10 roommates!). Thinking someone was deliberately messing with me, I turned over with a scowl on my face, only to find that nobody else was in the room! The shaking continued for a few more seconds and I realized it was an earthquake. A fleeting thought crossed my mind – “I hope there’s no tsunami” – and I rolled back over and fell asleep. Later that day, someone merely mentioned that we had an earthquake and nothing else was heard about it.
Tuesday in New Jersey was interesting as well. I was at our family friends' beach house and the house started swaying back and forth. For a second we thought it might be someone rumbling around upstairs for something, but it was a bit too violent for that. Looking out the window I saw the neighbors at their doors terrified by the shaking as well. “It was an earthquake,” I shouted. A quick glance at MSNBC confirmed it – 5.8 in/around Charlottesville, VA.
Of course the hurricane would come the weekend I move into my new apartment. My mom had been worrying about this thing for over a week, so we decided to move up the move in day from Saturday to Friday, and I’m glad we did because boy did it rain on Saturday!!!
Apart from the rain, I don't think Hurricane Irene lived up to the hurricane of the century moniker, at least not in Philadelphia. Nothing was down in my neighborhood and I only heard of some flooding in a few suburbs around here. Not sure how the NJ barrier islands fared though, since I currently only get one TV channel (Spanish TV Univision) and no internet.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the earthquake. But I do have pictures of the hurricane!! And the aftermath - blue skies!!!!
Anyway, my last few weeks have been quite eventful, thanks to a few natural disasters. Last Tuesday we had an earthquake; and this weekend we had a hurricane!
Now, I had been in a few earthquakes before. By “been in” I mean I’ve been there when rumblings happened. By “earthquakes” I mean generally minor shakes. Once in Michigan when I was little, once in Costa Rica, and most recently in New Jersey.
The earthquake in Costa Rica is an interested story. While I was working with leatherback turtles there, we patrolled the beaches all night. So after returning to our science station at 5am, we generally passed out exhausted until brunch at 11am.
Our station was about 50 meters from the Pacific Ocean. One morning I awakened to my bunk bed shaking (we shared a room with 10 roommates!). Thinking someone was deliberately messing with me, I turned over with a scowl on my face, only to find that nobody else was in the room! The shaking continued for a few more seconds and I realized it was an earthquake. A fleeting thought crossed my mind – “I hope there’s no tsunami” – and I rolled back over and fell asleep. Later that day, someone merely mentioned that we had an earthquake and nothing else was heard about it.
Tuesday in New Jersey was interesting as well. I was at our family friends' beach house and the house started swaying back and forth. For a second we thought it might be someone rumbling around upstairs for something, but it was a bit too violent for that. Looking out the window I saw the neighbors at their doors terrified by the shaking as well. “It was an earthquake,” I shouted. A quick glance at MSNBC confirmed it – 5.8 in/around Charlottesville, VA.
Of course the hurricane would come the weekend I move into my new apartment. My mom had been worrying about this thing for over a week, so we decided to move up the move in day from Saturday to Friday, and I’m glad we did because boy did it rain on Saturday!!!
Apart from the rain, I don't think Hurricane Irene lived up to the hurricane of the century moniker, at least not in Philadelphia. Nothing was down in my neighborhood and I only heard of some flooding in a few suburbs around here. Not sure how the NJ barrier islands fared though, since I currently only get one TV channel (Spanish TV Univision) and no internet.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the earthquake. But I do have pictures of the hurricane!! And the aftermath - blue skies!!!!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Niagara Falls, slowly I turned, step by step...
Well, it wasn't exactly a "true" visit of Niagara Falls, but it was pretty close! We drove by on our way from Buffalo to Toronto and here's what we saw! Haha!
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