Motivation
When I get bored and lose motivation, I remind myself of how far I've come and where I'm determined to go. When I feel inadequate and jealous, I remind myself that envy is not the right emotion to feel and the right thing to do is strive to become something greater. I must not forget the importance of hard work. I mustn't give up now. I have very few role models in my life but through them, I keep fighting the good fight.
It's not about the shoes.
It's about knowing where you are going,
Not forgetting where you started.
It's about having the courage to fail,
Not breaking when you are broken,
Taking everything you have been given,
And making something better.
It's about work,
Before glory,
And what's inside of you.
It's doing what they say you can't.
It's not about the shoes.
It's what you do in them.
It's about being
Who you were born to be.
"Work before glory." I look forward to the day I can say loudly, "I'm on a boat."
Once Science Fiction
"Space, the final frontier." - Dubbed "Spaceport America", the world's first spaceport breaks ground and begins construction in New Mexico. The above is a rendering of what it will look like. Next thing we know, we see spacedocks building the USS Enterprise. 
This kind of technology where a screen is powered wirelessly (radio frequency) makes us that much closer to a world looking a lot like Minority Report. Driver's licences and passports with animated pictures of yourself! Newspapers that update their stories right before your eyes!
I just realized, is that a Gattaca reference? "Specimen card". Maybe I'm mixing up movies again. I would be very sad if J.K. Rowling attempts to sue and hold back technological progress. Haha.
From Gizmodo,
"It looks like a nondescript battery, but this is actually the world's smallest GPS, GSM and RF tracking device.
The recently released CATS.i measures just 45mm x 35mm x 12mm, and makers say it can be used to track cars, pets and even people. Given that they also claim this is the "most covert" tracking device of its type and is "almost undetectable when being worn", I'm not sure I want to know who their normal customers are.
The device uses a built-in GSM sim chip to report back its GPS data, either constantly or at set intervals, which can then be tracked online. It is battery powered but can also be hardwired to vehicles, or even solar power—though the makers don't specify how. Quad band GSM, GSP and RF ensures you should be able to monitor the people you are stalking—sorry, tracking—wherever they go."
So, basically, someone could reverse pickpocket one of these on me and track me wherever I go with a cell phone. Wow. I'm going to be super paranoid now especially with old tricks like casually bumping into me or the "hot girl" distraction. Nah, I'm not that important.
Drive
Indeed, I too feel the internal struggle beginning at this point in life. It is the question of whether to strive to aim high where one can make change in many people's lives or just settle down to a quiet life with friends and family.
I find both fulfilling and I wonder if this is really a "you can't have a cake and eat it too" scenario. But I worry sometimes that in chasing both, I will have neither.
My drive is coming back but there remains so many life's questions.
Urgency
Without a sense of urgency, I can't seem to be motivated to go "above and beyond" and just do the bare minimum. Though, my "bare minimum" is set pretty high based on what I achieve with so little effort, I can't help but feel guilty at the wasted potential. I know I got it in me but I fall prey too easily on matters that shouldn't matter in the now.
I'm taking a summer course and with my current plans, it's only required of me to just pass. Without the stress of having to attain a high mark, I just find no justification in slaving myself in cubicles and what not in the summer - and that is a good thing since I've been heading home almost every weekend to spend time with friends and family. However, anatomy is something that I will take with me later in life and I must do my best not to "binge and purge" this knowledge.
But I guess I'm just prioritizing because there's something coming up that I absolutely need to go "above and beyond" everyone else and give it my all. And my upcoming time away from Toronto will help minimize distractions. I've been half-assing this thing every time I'm in Toronto with no justifiable excuse and this time I'm taking charge.
On the research front, stem cell research intrigues me more and more each day. Reverse consent in organ donation (opting-OUT instead of the current opting-IN) is one thing but why not just bypass the whole thing and grow whole new organs that are perfect matches? This is far into the future and probably not out of reach for my lifetime with the way things are going now. Since I already did research in cell biology and biochemistry, this has become a likely area of research I'll pursue in my master's.
Cancer research is looking promising too. The best tool we have is not the drugs and medication, it's our immune system. The recent new research of reprogramming "white blood cells" (to keep things simple) to recognize and specifially attack cancer cells looks promising... I hope human trials show the same success and if so, more women can breathe a sigh of relief.
(Yes, it was about breast cancer. When I said I was "running for your mum" during CIBC's Run for the Cure, and when I made sure no one got lost and cheered them on, I wasn't kidding. It's good to see the fundraising from such events producing results.)
On a side note, Scutaro is a base-running genius. What an awesome heads-up play from today's afternoon game. See here:
Stealing second base on a WALK. That's just embarrasing indeed, Phillies defense. I'd put this on my Youtube channel but then the MLB would come and rip me a new one.
Drug Ads
I believe it's Canadian law that drug commercials can say either what's being treated or the name of the drug but not both. So while watching an American stream of a Blue Jays game ( @ Phillies) on ESPN, I see an ad that would be illegal in Canada. It mentions the disease/condition and urges the viewer to "ask your doctor" about specific drug X.
Indeed, patients will often insist on the new expensive drug they saw on TV while older cheaper drugs exist. I understand now why such a law exists in Canada. If more patients knew about expensive drug X for condition Y, and with the way the system works in Canada, cost of treatment goes up and taxpayers ultimately will bear the brunt of the increases as demand for cheaper and just as effective drugs decreases. By limiting the effectiveness of marketing, spending on marketing goes down and drugs are cheaper for all of us. Good thinking Canada.
America right now is looking into the influence drug ads. But as I watch this stream, EVERY commercial break has a specific drug for heart disease, erectile dysfunction, restless leg syndrome, and et cetera and a laundry list of side-effects are read out over images of happy people. Sigh. One area Obama can look at in healthcare reform I guess.
You Can’t Stop the Signal, Mal
I'm just amazed at the unity and the fight for what's right in Iran and Twitter right now. People all over the world are banding together to get the truth out while Iran's recently and questionably elected government tries to clamp down on information getting out of the country. Tweeters are changing their time zones to Iran's to confuse Iran's Intelligence agents and to hide those who continue to get the word out about the wrong that is being done to them in the country.
Today, we see an end of an era of modern day news reporting as news agencies such as CNN were prohibited or too slow reporting on the situation in Iran. This means that the latest up-to-date news on the situation is from Twitter and its Iranian users hiding and getting the word out. So much for freedom of the press and freedom of information. But hey, we can be our own broadcasters! Even the US State Department demanded that a scheduled maintenance on Twitter that would have brought it down for hours be postponed because Twitter has become such a crucial outlet for live information to them.
Looking through images posted under #iranelection, university dorms are being raided and destroyed (So much for safe higher education...). People are getting shot and human rights activists arrested. Reporters are getting kicked out of the country. Democracy itself has fallen as people were robbed of their votes by an oppressive regime. I just pray we do not see another Tiananmen.
"My death is irrelevant. What's important is that you not forget my words. We want freedom. I will die for that."
It's scary how that may have been someone's last words...
Some more notable tweets:
"I've learned something today. Americans DO care about the world outside America. Their media just doesn't."
"We are all Iranian now."
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -Gandhi
If you're a Twitterer, do NOT post the person's name when you retweet. And make sure your source is real and not counter-Tweeters spreading misinformation. There's a lot of 1984 going on.
What happens there matters because the climate for dialogue between Iran and the Western world (US and well, us) will never improve if the government in power does not represent the views of its citizens. And it's unknown if Iran will continue to seek nuclear weapons. If they do, it could spark an arms race in the Middle East.
Song of the Week #42: Lifehouse – Broken
NOTE: Since this is the last song of an 8-song update, the music player is activated by going to the above Flash slideshow header and clicking the yellow post-it note button labeled "Open Music Player" in the top left corner. If you have a pop-up blocker, it may or may not block the new window depending on how strict your pop-up blocking software is.
This is featured in the trailer for the upcoming film, The Time Traveler's Wife. I don't know if this will be a successful adaptation from the book but the trailer looks nice. This is a sad "break-up" song though - so it fits the movie, I guess?
Lyrics:
The broken clock is a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight
Maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time
I am here still waiting though i still have my doubts
I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out
I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart that's still beating
In the pain is there is healing
In your name I find meaning
So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
I'm barely holdin' on to you
The broken locks were a warning you got inside my head
I tried my best to be guarded, I'm an open book instead
I still see your reflection inside of my eyes
That are looking for a purpose, they're still looking for life
I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing
with a broken heart that's still beating
In the pain is there is healing
In your name I find meaning
So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
I'm barely holdin' on to you
I'm hangin' on another day
Just to see what you will throw my way
And I'm hanging on to the words you say
You said that I will, I'll be ok
The broken lights on the freeway left me here alone
I may have lost my way now, haven't forgotten my way home
I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing
with a broken heart that's still beating
In the pain there is healing
In your name I find meaning
So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
I'm barely holdin' on to you
Song of the Week #41: Chairlift – Bruises
I heard this song from the iPod 4G commercial but never really got into it until I saw this Youtube video. The music fits perfectly with the story of that video.
Lyrics:
I tried to do handstands for you
I tried to do headstands for you
Everytime I fell on you, yeah, everytime I fell
I tried to do handstands for you
But everytime I fell for you
I'm permanently black and blue, permanently blue for you.
I tried to do handstands for you
I tried to do handstands for you
Everytime I fell on you, yeah, everytime I fell
I tried to do handstands for you but everytime I fell for you
I'm permanently black and blue, permanently blue for you-ooh-ooh-ooh
For you-ooh-ooh-ooh
So black and blue-ooh-ooh-ooh
For you-ooh-ooh-ooh.
I grabbed some frozen strawberries so I could ice your bruising knees
But frozen things they all unfreeze and now I taste like....
All those frozen strawberries I used to chill your bruising knees,
Hot July ain't good to me
I'm pink and black and blue for you.
I got bruises on my knees for you
And grass stains on my knees for you
Got holes in my new jeans for you
Got pink and black and blue
Got bruises on my knees for you
And grass stains on my knees for you
Got holes in my new jeans for you
Got pink and black and blue for you-ooh-ooh-ooh
For you-ooh-ooh-ooh
So black and blue-ooh-ooh-ooh
For you-ooh-ooh-ooh
Do-doo-do-do-do-do-doo
Do-doo-do-do-do-do-doo
Do-doo-do-do-do-do-doo
Do-doo-do-do-do-do-doo
Do-doo-do-do-do-do-doo
Do-doo-do-do-do-do-doo
Do-doo-do-do-do-do-doo
Song of the Week #40: Shiny Toy Guns – Major Tom (Coming Home)
I watch a lot of Blue Jays games and knowing Canadian television networks, there's not a lot of variety when it comes to commercials. So, there's this Lincoln car commercial that comes up over and over with a song playing in the background. This is that song. I really like that "4-3-2-1 Earth below us...drifting falling..." part.
Lyrics:
Standing there alone
the ship is waiting
all systems are go
are you sure?
control is not convinced
but the computer
has the evidence
"no need to abort"
the countdown starts
watching in a trance
the crew is certain
nothing left to chance
all is working
trying to relax
up in the capsule
"send me up a drink"
jokes Major Tom
the count goes on
4 3 2 1
Earth below us
drifting falling
floating weightless
calling calling home...
second stage is cut
we're now in orbit
stabilizers up
running perfect
starting to collect
requested data
what will it effect
when all is done
thinks Major Tom
back at ground control
there is a problem
go to rockets full
not responding
"hello Major Tom
are you receiving
turn the thrusters on
we're standing by"
there's no reply
4 3 2 1
Earth below us
drifting falling
floating weightless
calling calling home...
across the stratosphere
a final message
"give my wife my love"
then nothing more
far beneath the ship
the world is mourning
they don't realize
he's alive
no one understands
but Major Tom sees
now the life commands
this is my home
I'm coming home
Earth below us
drifting falling
floating weightless
coming home...
Earth below us
drifting falling
floating weightless
coming home...
Earth below us
drifting falling
floating weightless
coming coming home...
home.....
Song of the Week #39: SCANDAL – Shoujo S
This song is the current opening for Bleach. A band of Japanese girl rockers from high school = awesome. The video for this song (Youtube) is interesting and they really know how to rock. This also goes for when they perform live. These girls got skills, they're young, and they're pretty, to boot.
Japanese song = no lyrics cause I can't display the characters on here without a language font.
