Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Theme of the Day

I noticed long ago that my days have a theme to them.  It's hard to explain where the theme comes from, but I find that my thoughts all link to some central idea each day.  I thought it would be fun to record these, since usually I don't remember what the theme was a few days later.Today it is: Desire.  Mood can be influenced by internal factors (the way you think can lift your mood or sink it) or external (events, experiences, interactions with people, things that alter your internal chemistry all can have their effects on mood)  Where does desire come from?  It seems to be internal: I feel it like a strong pull originating somewhere in my gut and giving me tunnel vision in regards to anything that doesn't center around the object of my desire.  A significant portion of my metal faculties become preoccupied with building plans and fantasies.  And yet the object of desire is (almost) always external. It is an idea, person or thing that captures your attention and awakens desire. Once awoken, desire begs to be fulfilled it won't let your mind rest, even if you relegate it to a little corner, until the desire is fulfilled. Another interesting aspect of desire is that the outcome of fulfillment is not always the same as you imagined, but even so, you find yourself transformed in some way.

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Friday, August 1, 2008

Lessons I learned this week

1.  I have come to an incredibly liberating conclusion.  About 50% of all experiments are not going to work.  Maybe the technique is flawed, maybe there is something wrong with the reagents, maybe there is human error; for whatever reason, it just isn't going to work.  This is nothing to get depressed about.  There are plenty more experiments to do.  Most of the time these dead experiments don't even deserve trouble-shooting: just drop it and move on; try something else.  Hey, there's a 50% chance it'll work!


2.  The more work you do the more work there is to be done.  This can be good and bad.  Good because you always stay busy, keep momentum going, and increase your chances of success.  Bad because you work longer and longer hours, feel stressed that you will forget to do something, feel pressure to get/stay organized, feel overwhelmed.  Then again its good because you quit obsessing about small details and just get stuff done, actually start get organized, figure out ways to be more efficient.  All this is great until you realize that its 9:30pm on Friday evening and you are still at work...and are planning your day at work tomorrow.

3.  Is there a 3..?  Oh yes: I love writing!  I keep forgetting that... 

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