Stedmans.com Word of the Day for Thursday, September 28, 2006
zoanthropy
A delusion that one is an animal (e.g., a dog).
[G. zoon, animal, + antropos, man]
Hmm...am I zoantropic?
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Not sure...
I feel kinda sad at times...
but I'm not too sure why...
I think I have done something wrong...
but I'm not too sure what...
I think I shld talk to someone...
but I'm not too sure who...
Even if I think I know who...
I'm not too sure how...
What should I do?
I'm really not sure...
but I'm not too sure why...
I think I have done something wrong...
but I'm not too sure what...
I think I shld talk to someone...
but I'm not too sure who...
Even if I think I know who...
I'm not too sure how...
What should I do?
I'm really not sure...
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Busy life of a mad drug peddling chemist
Hmm...haven't really posted for super long...the last post that really count was when I was high on Atarax :P
Glad to say that my rash outbreak is now more or less gone...still feel itchy occasionally esp at night..and esp on the face and ears...so still taking Atarax at night...which seems to give me weird dreams that I can't seem to rem when I wake up!!! No mention of such side effect in my DIH (Drug Information Handbook) or Micromedex though...oh well it could be due to something else or I could be the first with such an effect :P
We are all guinea pigs when we take any drugs after all :P
Anyway, I haven't been posting much since it's that time of the year...or rather semester...that I get really really busy!!! So busy that I have been last team to arrive at home every night...either due to lecture, work or just out for dinner with frens like yest and today...
I also haven't really exercise since AHM!!!...until early this week...
It's nothing to do with the workload...I wanted to take a break from land sports due to the injury I had during AHM...then the rashes came along so I din wanna subject my skin to the harsh chlorine in the pool...
But I finally went for tennis training on Tue...then the next day went for a swim...nice relaxing swim :D
I think deadlines and the lack of exercise sure made me feel like a pressure cooker!!
I feel so much better after handing in my assignment on Tue...plus the exercise...phew...
Unfortunately I still have plenty of deadlines ahead of me...a couple of assignments I just got this week...due late next month...and maybe another which will come along next month...and 2 tests...or maybe it'll be 3 or 4 within the next 2 months!!
Well the good thing abt having so many tests/assignments is that the weightage each of them is not very high :D
...and this will be the last sem that all these tests/assignments will get into my way since I have cleared my module requirement...yippee...more time to do my personal work then ;)
Oh and did I mention abt marking lab reports...plenty to mark...since I'm taking 3 classes this sem...but it also means I would be able to fulfill my teach assistant duty requirement in 1 more sem :D
Anyway, hanging out with the students can be quite fun also...esp those who r eager to learn...hopefully they dun learn the wrong things from this drug peddler though :P
Of course there'll always be those who dun like to learn "how to fish"...they want me to "fish for them" instead :P
Hmm...those are my "sideline" work...my main work is research...so everyday I still have to do some work in my own lab...
Now I'm spending time in the not so clean "clean room"...growing cells and drugging them...hehe...that's wat mad drug peddling chemist do :P
Cell culture work seem to be not so flexible though...gotta grow them on Mon and Thur, feed them drugs on Tue and Fri...and check their viability and kill them on Fri and Mon...just so I dun have to go back during the weekends :D
In between still gotta check on the cells and make sure they r growing fast enough in the flask so that I can continuously carry out my assay...and not to mention all the autoclaving of the rubbish generated and some pipette tips etc...phew...
Hopefully I can finish all the cell culture work within the next 3 or 4 weeks...then after that clear some of the assignments and make more new drugs ;)
I feel so WA!!!
That said...next week is term break!! Yippee...I still have to do my lab work...but at least there r no lectures...did I mention my lectures are pretty late at night? 6-8pm on Mons and 8-10pm on Tues...siao hor?
...and no TA duty...just need to finish marking last week's lab report :P Yay :D
Ok...time to go iron my plenty un-ironed clothes :P
Glad to say that my rash outbreak is now more or less gone...still feel itchy occasionally esp at night..and esp on the face and ears...so still taking Atarax at night...which seems to give me weird dreams that I can't seem to rem when I wake up!!! No mention of such side effect in my DIH (Drug Information Handbook) or Micromedex though...oh well it could be due to something else or I could be the first with such an effect :P
We are all guinea pigs when we take any drugs after all :P
Anyway, I haven't been posting much since it's that time of the year...or rather semester...that I get really really busy!!! So busy that I have been last team to arrive at home every night...either due to lecture, work or just out for dinner with frens like yest and today...
I also haven't really exercise since AHM!!!...until early this week...
It's nothing to do with the workload...I wanted to take a break from land sports due to the injury I had during AHM...then the rashes came along so I din wanna subject my skin to the harsh chlorine in the pool...
But I finally went for tennis training on Tue...then the next day went for a swim...nice relaxing swim :D
I think deadlines and the lack of exercise sure made me feel like a pressure cooker!!
I feel so much better after handing in my assignment on Tue...plus the exercise...phew...
Unfortunately I still have plenty of deadlines ahead of me...a couple of assignments I just got this week...due late next month...and maybe another which will come along next month...and 2 tests...or maybe it'll be 3 or 4 within the next 2 months!!
Well the good thing abt having so many tests/assignments is that the weightage each of them is not very high :D
...and this will be the last sem that all these tests/assignments will get into my way since I have cleared my module requirement...yippee...more time to do my personal work then ;)
Oh and did I mention abt marking lab reports...plenty to mark...since I'm taking 3 classes this sem...but it also means I would be able to fulfill my teach assistant duty requirement in 1 more sem :D
Anyway, hanging out with the students can be quite fun also...esp those who r eager to learn...hopefully they dun learn the wrong things from this drug peddler though :P
Of course there'll always be those who dun like to learn "how to fish"...they want me to "fish for them" instead :P
Hmm...those are my "sideline" work...my main work is research...so everyday I still have to do some work in my own lab...
Now I'm spending time in the not so clean "clean room"...growing cells and drugging them...hehe...that's wat mad drug peddling chemist do :P
Cell culture work seem to be not so flexible though...gotta grow them on Mon and Thur, feed them drugs on Tue and Fri...and check their viability and kill them on Fri and Mon...just so I dun have to go back during the weekends :D
In between still gotta check on the cells and make sure they r growing fast enough in the flask so that I can continuously carry out my assay...and not to mention all the autoclaving of the rubbish generated and some pipette tips etc...phew...
Hopefully I can finish all the cell culture work within the next 3 or 4 weeks...then after that clear some of the assignments and make more new drugs ;)
I feel so WA!!!
That said...next week is term break!! Yippee...I still have to do my lab work...but at least there r no lectures...did I mention my lectures are pretty late at night? 6-8pm on Mons and 8-10pm on Tues...siao hor?
...and no TA duty...just need to finish marking last week's lab report :P Yay :D
Ok...time to go iron my plenty un-ironed clothes :P
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Something abt Penguins
Well this article is on the crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin's, death...but there's a mention abt Penguins...and since I haven't posted for a while...hehe...here's a post for u :P
The Straits Times
Sep 16, 2006
Irwin's 'final lesson' was his most valuable
By Ong Soh Chin, Senior Writer
Australian Steve Irwin, host of the popular documentary Crocodile Hunter, was only nine when he caught his first crocodile. He was killed by a stingray last week.
LAST week, a stingray stuck a fatal barb into conservationist Steve Irwin's heart.
Immediately after, his fellow Australian, feminist writer Germaine Greer, got a whole sling of verbal arrows when she wrote an article in The Guardian newspaper suggesting that Irwin had got what he deserved.
Enraged fans attacked her for being a 'bitter feminist' - as if that had anything to do with the price of fish - and even Queensland's Premier Peter Beattie got into the act, calling her argument 'extreme radical rubbish' and stating he wished he could triple the tax on her Queensland rainforest property.
He said: 'We should double the taxation. If I could do it, I would double it or triple the taxation on it.'
Okay, maybe Ms Greer was a little insensitive to Irwin's grieving picture-perfect family, but what she said - about Irwin disrespecting the space that animals need - is painfully valid, whether or not we want to listen. And more often than not, we don't.
Thankfully, on Monday, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) came out in support of her sentiments. Its spokesman, Mr Dan Mathews, said on salon.com of Irwin: 'He made a career out of antagonising frightened wild animals, which is a very dangerous message to send to kids.'
Irwin's tale reminds me a little of the tragic story of Mr Timothy Treadwell, an American conservationist who saw himself as a protector of bears.
Mr Treadwell spent a lot of time in the Alaskan wilderness filming bears and 'befriending' them. He would talk to them, give them names and even got up close to touch them.
In October 2003, he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were mauled to death by two bears. Parts of their remains were found in one of the animals, both of which were eventually killed by park rangers.
Last year, German filmmaker Werner Herzog released a highly acclaimed documentary on Mr Treadwell called Grizzly Man, using the reams of footage Mr Treadwell had shot of himself and his beloved creatures.
It never made it to Singapore, presumably because the distributors thought it had limited appeal. Documentaries don't normally do well here.
I caught the film - one of the most compelling documentaries I have ever seen - in New York where it did not draw much attention too, probably because it opened at around the same time as another documentary, March Of The Penguins.
Everybody and their grandmother went to see the penguins. In the United States, the movie went on to make US$77 million (S$121 million), becoming the second highest-grossing documentary there, after Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.
Elsewhere around the world, it was a big hit too. In its opening week in China, the film earned two million yuan (S$400,000), taking up a quarter of the total movie takings and making box office history, reported Xinhua.
Worldwide, the movie earned US$45 million and even enjoyed a short run in Singapore.
Its success was understandable. The penguins in the movie were cute and resembled nuclear families - in short, they seemed human.
This was reinforced by the movie's tagline, 'In the harshest place on earth, love finds a way', which implied that penguins were capable of a human emotion.
The American version had actor Morgan Freeman narrating, but the original French version unfolded like a bedtime story, with actors supplying the actual voices of Daddy, Mummy and Baby Penguins.
Many parents dragged their children to see March Of The Penguins, thinking it a delightful and educational movie.
But the lesson learnt - that animals think and behave like human beings - is a harmful and erroneous one.
It was precisely that kind of mistaken arrogant thinking that killed Mr Treadwell and, to a lesser extent, Irwin.
While Irwin never pretended that all the animals he encountered were cute and cuddly, he did, as Ms Greer pointed out, 'barge into' their space to 'manhandle' them.
Her ultimate fear, she concluded was that 'a whole generation of kids in shorts seven sizes too small has learnt to shout in the ears of animals with hearing 10 times more acute than theirs, determined to become millionaire animal-loving zoo owners in their turn'.
Children have always been fed a highly anthropomorphised diet in popular culture, thanks to cartoon characters like Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Big Bird, Speedy Gonzales, Nemo and all the creatures in Madagascar.
But one can easily distinguish between reality and fiction in cartoons. Clown fish do not talk in real life: That much is ascertained pretty quickly.
But when films like March Of The Penguins claim to be documentaries and conservationists like Irwin make it a point to poke and prod crocodiles, that line quickly becomes blurred.
It's one thing to dress your poodle up in baby clothes, it's totally another thing to assume that your poodle likes it.
Irwin's downfall was assuming he knew better than the animals and that he had the upper hand. A few years ago, he was lambasted by the public for dangling his infant son in one arm while feeding a dead chicken to a crocodile with the other. He then baby-walked his son in the compound.
In his defence at the time, he said he always had the situation under control. But he could not have been absolutely sure that the crocodile would not lunge unexpectedly - just like that stingray.
The irony now is that Irwin's death may teach the world a lot more about animals than his life ever did.
Human beings can sometimes be animals, but animals will never be human.
The Straits Times
Sep 16, 2006
Irwin's 'final lesson' was his most valuable
By Ong Soh Chin, Senior Writer
Australian Steve Irwin, host of the popular documentary Crocodile Hunter, was only nine when he caught his first crocodile. He was killed by a stingray last week.
LAST week, a stingray stuck a fatal barb into conservationist Steve Irwin's heart.
Immediately after, his fellow Australian, feminist writer Germaine Greer, got a whole sling of verbal arrows when she wrote an article in The Guardian newspaper suggesting that Irwin had got what he deserved.
Enraged fans attacked her for being a 'bitter feminist' - as if that had anything to do with the price of fish - and even Queensland's Premier Peter Beattie got into the act, calling her argument 'extreme radical rubbish' and stating he wished he could triple the tax on her Queensland rainforest property.
He said: 'We should double the taxation. If I could do it, I would double it or triple the taxation on it.'
Okay, maybe Ms Greer was a little insensitive to Irwin's grieving picture-perfect family, but what she said - about Irwin disrespecting the space that animals need - is painfully valid, whether or not we want to listen. And more often than not, we don't.
Thankfully, on Monday, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) came out in support of her sentiments. Its spokesman, Mr Dan Mathews, said on salon.com of Irwin: 'He made a career out of antagonising frightened wild animals, which is a very dangerous message to send to kids.'
Irwin's tale reminds me a little of the tragic story of Mr Timothy Treadwell, an American conservationist who saw himself as a protector of bears.
Mr Treadwell spent a lot of time in the Alaskan wilderness filming bears and 'befriending' them. He would talk to them, give them names and even got up close to touch them.
In October 2003, he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were mauled to death by two bears. Parts of their remains were found in one of the animals, both of which were eventually killed by park rangers.
Last year, German filmmaker Werner Herzog released a highly acclaimed documentary on Mr Treadwell called Grizzly Man, using the reams of footage Mr Treadwell had shot of himself and his beloved creatures.
It never made it to Singapore, presumably because the distributors thought it had limited appeal. Documentaries don't normally do well here.
I caught the film - one of the most compelling documentaries I have ever seen - in New York where it did not draw much attention too, probably because it opened at around the same time as another documentary, March Of The Penguins.
Everybody and their grandmother went to see the penguins. In the United States, the movie went on to make US$77 million (S$121 million), becoming the second highest-grossing documentary there, after Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.
Elsewhere around the world, it was a big hit too. In its opening week in China, the film earned two million yuan (S$400,000), taking up a quarter of the total movie takings and making box office history, reported Xinhua.
Worldwide, the movie earned US$45 million and even enjoyed a short run in Singapore.
Its success was understandable. The penguins in the movie were cute and resembled nuclear families - in short, they seemed human.
This was reinforced by the movie's tagline, 'In the harshest place on earth, love finds a way', which implied that penguins were capable of a human emotion.
The American version had actor Morgan Freeman narrating, but the original French version unfolded like a bedtime story, with actors supplying the actual voices of Daddy, Mummy and Baby Penguins.
Many parents dragged their children to see March Of The Penguins, thinking it a delightful and educational movie.
But the lesson learnt - that animals think and behave like human beings - is a harmful and erroneous one.
It was precisely that kind of mistaken arrogant thinking that killed Mr Treadwell and, to a lesser extent, Irwin.
While Irwin never pretended that all the animals he encountered were cute and cuddly, he did, as Ms Greer pointed out, 'barge into' their space to 'manhandle' them.
Her ultimate fear, she concluded was that 'a whole generation of kids in shorts seven sizes too small has learnt to shout in the ears of animals with hearing 10 times more acute than theirs, determined to become millionaire animal-loving zoo owners in their turn'.
Children have always been fed a highly anthropomorphised diet in popular culture, thanks to cartoon characters like Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Big Bird, Speedy Gonzales, Nemo and all the creatures in Madagascar.
But one can easily distinguish between reality and fiction in cartoons. Clown fish do not talk in real life: That much is ascertained pretty quickly.
But when films like March Of The Penguins claim to be documentaries and conservationists like Irwin make it a point to poke and prod crocodiles, that line quickly becomes blurred.
It's one thing to dress your poodle up in baby clothes, it's totally another thing to assume that your poodle likes it.
Irwin's downfall was assuming he knew better than the animals and that he had the upper hand. A few years ago, he was lambasted by the public for dangling his infant son in one arm while feeding a dead chicken to a crocodile with the other. He then baby-walked his son in the compound.
In his defence at the time, he said he always had the situation under control. But he could not have been absolutely sure that the crocodile would not lunge unexpectedly - just like that stingray.
The irony now is that Irwin's death may teach the world a lot more about animals than his life ever did.
Human beings can sometimes be animals, but animals will never be human.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
High on Atarax..
Forgot to post last week...wat happened to the weekly posting requirement for IWA??
Oh well...Vorlacks also dun have time to post regularly...and boss...ah...forget abt him...he hasn't been very WA since...u know when lah...hehe
He's now busy enjoying himself in Brazil...with his Pearl :P
Anyway, I haven't been very WA last week too...think i spent abt half the time in bed :P
Well I had a case of pretty bad rashes...so I took a lot of Atarax :P
It all started from the Fri b4...just a small patch on each arm...then it spread to the whole arm and neck on Sun...it was really itchy :P
Went to school as usual on Mon...decided to see the doc at the TPY polyclinic on Tue...wow...the waiting hour is really long...at least they let u know it's 2 hrs...after finding out from the lady at the registration counter that there r 17 (yes..17!!!) ppl in front of me...waiting to see the same doc in the same room...I decided I shall not sit there and fret...I went to get a hair cut at TPY central instead :D
Anyway, the doc thinks it looks like some allergic reaction...but gave me a referral to the Skin Center...in case it doesn't clear in a week...
But...the earliest appt to see a dermatologist in NSC is abt 2 months!! So the nice lady at the counter suggested getting an appt at CGH instead...guess wat...they have a slot for me the very next day!! Well...I would like to wait a while and see first b4 spending my time and money travelling all the way to CGH to see a specialist...so got an appt a week later...
On Thur...the rash seem to have spread to the thigh and face!!! Hmm...weird rash...seem to be on the exposed parts of my body only...
Anyway, decided to bring forward my appt to see the dermatologist...as advised by a caring fren :D
So I went to CGH on Fri...their dermatology clinic seems really free hor? can get appt next day one :P
Wasn't a great visit...with all the wait here and there...typical of a specialist outpatient clinic...generally u dun have to wait long at any pt...usually ard 15 mins or at most 30 mins...but they make u wait 15 mins many many many times!!! So irritating...
Not to mention the MO and consultant I saw wasn't really frenly...in fact u can consider one of them rude :P
Anyway, the consultant within minutes of seeing me...I hope he read the case notes the MO wrote...decided I have developed an allergic reaction due to an insect bite...
I really wonder how come he's so sure it's an insect bite...
Well...tat turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me...my insurance agent told me I'm covered for insect bites!!! wahaha...so I can actually make a claim for this kinda weird condition...not bad huh?
My arms and neck started getting better yesterday...I guess the thigh will be better soon too ;)
Oh well...Vorlacks also dun have time to post regularly...and boss...ah...forget abt him...he hasn't been very WA since...u know when lah...hehe
He's now busy enjoying himself in Brazil...with his Pearl :P
Anyway, I haven't been very WA last week too...think i spent abt half the time in bed :P
Well I had a case of pretty bad rashes...so I took a lot of Atarax :P
It all started from the Fri b4...just a small patch on each arm...then it spread to the whole arm and neck on Sun...it was really itchy :P
Went to school as usual on Mon...decided to see the doc at the TPY polyclinic on Tue...wow...the waiting hour is really long...at least they let u know it's 2 hrs...after finding out from the lady at the registration counter that there r 17 (yes..17!!!) ppl in front of me...waiting to see the same doc in the same room...I decided I shall not sit there and fret...I went to get a hair cut at TPY central instead :D
Anyway, the doc thinks it looks like some allergic reaction...but gave me a referral to the Skin Center...in case it doesn't clear in a week...
But...the earliest appt to see a dermatologist in NSC is abt 2 months!! So the nice lady at the counter suggested getting an appt at CGH instead...guess wat...they have a slot for me the very next day!! Well...I would like to wait a while and see first b4 spending my time and money travelling all the way to CGH to see a specialist...so got an appt a week later...
On Thur...the rash seem to have spread to the thigh and face!!! Hmm...weird rash...seem to be on the exposed parts of my body only...
Anyway, decided to bring forward my appt to see the dermatologist...as advised by a caring fren :D
So I went to CGH on Fri...their dermatology clinic seems really free hor? can get appt next day one :P
Wasn't a great visit...with all the wait here and there...typical of a specialist outpatient clinic...generally u dun have to wait long at any pt...usually ard 15 mins or at most 30 mins...but they make u wait 15 mins many many many times!!! So irritating...
Not to mention the MO and consultant I saw wasn't really frenly...in fact u can consider one of them rude :P
Anyway, the consultant within minutes of seeing me...I hope he read the case notes the MO wrote...decided I have developed an allergic reaction due to an insect bite...
I really wonder how come he's so sure it's an insect bite...
Well...tat turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me...my insurance agent told me I'm covered for insect bites!!! wahaha...so I can actually make a claim for this kinda weird condition...not bad huh?
My arms and neck started getting better yesterday...I guess the thigh will be better soon too ;)
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