The summer student will be leaving by the end of July, and we had her wrap-up presentation on Friday.
Her presentation was excellent. Since she showed up right around the time we were collecting samples from a one-year, transgenic mice-based colon cancer study, we assigned her to analyze the samples for histology and for molecular markers. Overall, she worked hard, generated a body of data that would be the backbone for upcoming publication. It seemed she enjoyed the process of the research as well.
There was an unexpected finding, and a part of her results even suggests the reason of the unexpected finding. We will follow it up.
A majority of time for science, at least for our kind of medical research, is spent for preparation. After a long time of preparation, we reach results. In a sense she was lucky for being assigned for tasks that can directly generate results. But the way she worked diligently and generated results is not luck. I appreciate her for doing that amount of analysis work in such a short time.
This type of outcome, a win-win, is ideal. Scientific training still retains an air of medieval guild-type training, and career building for science is a referral business to some extent. It is much easier for me (or for anyone in a supervising/mentoring position) to recommend someone who has tangible results, something to show.
"Show and tell" is a basic format for science. It is mandatory to get the job done and show the results.
Also on Friday, Cora and Jose were performing a Show Tango in a party. It was decent presentation, and I was happy about it as well.
July 28, 2013
July 21, 2013
Life: "Thought Loop" and "Instantly Happy"
What are "Thought Loop" and "Instantly Happy"?
They are mind tricks that help switch your mind status and make you feel happy.
When you are feeling unhappy, your thoughts are going in circles. I call it the "Thought Loop."
I thought about giving an example of the Thought Loop. But I found the task of coming up a negative thought loop quite depressing, so I'll skip it.
Recognizing the thought loop is the first step to getting out of the loop, just like a hiker lost on a trail and going in circles.
Once you find out you are in a loop, you can attempt to break the loop, so the resulting unhappy feeling can be resolved.
The "Instantly Happy" is another technique that helps to make you feel happy regardless of your situation.
We are conditioned to think we are happy when we meet certain requirements. Like getting a raise and more money, buying something, winning a contest, getting married, etc.
Sure, we do feel happy for these big events. They are external rewards and affirmations, and can trigger a sense of happiness for most. So we tend to chase the rewards to feel happy.
However, seeking happiness with external rewards and affirmations is tricky. You would feel like you have to get the reward to feel happy. It is like a conditional reflex, and you are Pavlov's dog. For the approach to work, you have to get external rewards to feel happy. But to get external reward, too much depends on something you cannot control.
Believe it or not, "Happiness" is actually just a state of your mind or an emotion. And, amazingly, you can be happy without external rewards. You can be happy if you know how to find the state. Many people use gratitude to find happiness without an external trigger. Gratitude certainly is a path, although you can use your own path to find your happiness. Some people just smile or laugh. Laughter can be a trigger to be happy without an external reward, too.
Like athletic skills, a trained mind functions with more skills and gracefulness. "Instantly Happy" is a mind skill some monks and priests have practiced, yet not many people know or use it.
Be happy. Being happy is a choice and mind skills can help you be happy.
Happy people have a much more pleasant atmosphere than unhappy people. I'd rather hang out with happy people. The more happy people, the merrier the world.
They are mind tricks that help switch your mind status and make you feel happy.
When you are feeling unhappy, your thoughts are going in circles. I call it the "Thought Loop."
I thought about giving an example of the Thought Loop. But I found the task of coming up a negative thought loop quite depressing, so I'll skip it.
Recognizing the thought loop is the first step to getting out of the loop, just like a hiker lost on a trail and going in circles.
Once you find out you are in a loop, you can attempt to break the loop, so the resulting unhappy feeling can be resolved.
The "Instantly Happy" is another technique that helps to make you feel happy regardless of your situation.
We are conditioned to think we are happy when we meet certain requirements. Like getting a raise and more money, buying something, winning a contest, getting married, etc.
Sure, we do feel happy for these big events. They are external rewards and affirmations, and can trigger a sense of happiness for most. So we tend to chase the rewards to feel happy.
However, seeking happiness with external rewards and affirmations is tricky. You would feel like you have to get the reward to feel happy. It is like a conditional reflex, and you are Pavlov's dog. For the approach to work, you have to get external rewards to feel happy. But to get external reward, too much depends on something you cannot control.
Believe it or not, "Happiness" is actually just a state of your mind or an emotion. And, amazingly, you can be happy without external rewards. You can be happy if you know how to find the state. Many people use gratitude to find happiness without an external trigger. Gratitude certainly is a path, although you can use your own path to find your happiness. Some people just smile or laugh. Laughter can be a trigger to be happy without an external reward, too.
Like athletic skills, a trained mind functions with more skills and gracefulness. "Instantly Happy" is a mind skill some monks and priests have practiced, yet not many people know or use it.
Be happy. Being happy is a choice and mind skills can help you be happy.
Happy people have a much more pleasant atmosphere than unhappy people. I'd rather hang out with happy people. The more happy people, the merrier the world.
July 14, 2013
Life: Graduation Party
Last night we attended the graduation party for Miss. A. I work with Dr. R, who runs a quite successful cancer chemoprevention program, and the party was for his daughter. She is going to a college with an up-and-coming medical and science program.
Dr. R. invited his friends and relatives from all over the nation. About 200 people were there. It was an Indian party, and in case you don't know, in their culture they celebrate many family events with parties. So they know how to throw a party.
On Dr. R's request, we offered a few swing dances for entertainment. My wife was also having fun showing some party line dances like the Wobble, the Cha-cha slide and the Chicken dance.
Life can just pass by. It is good to have some positive moments to remember, and a big party like this one can be such a moment.
Dr. R. invited his friends and relatives from all over the nation. About 200 people were there. It was an Indian party, and in case you don't know, in their culture they celebrate many family events with parties. So they know how to throw a party.
On Dr. R's request, we offered a few swing dances for entertainment. My wife was also having fun showing some party line dances like the Wobble, the Cha-cha slide and the Chicken dance.
Life can just pass by. It is good to have some positive moments to remember, and a big party like this one can be such a moment.
July 7, 2013
Event: "Mambo and Moore with Tito Puente Jr., July 6, 2013"
Our friend Juan Cabral is a dance instructor and event promoter. He worked for the 1988 motion picture "Salsa" as a feature dancer/assistant choreographer with the famous Latin musician Tito Puente Senior.
With this far-reaching connection, in conjunction with other people, he put up an event titled "Mambo and Moore with Tito Puente Jr.." It was a fundraising event for the Moore tornado.
(The event flyer)
The show had two parts; part one featured dancers and was a dance show, and part two was the musicians playing music (mainly Latin) and people danced.
My partner Cora was asked to be in the show with Jose (Argentine Tango) and with Jason (West Coast Swing). The show was assembled with about one week's notice, at least for Cora and Jose (other dancers got more time). So they choreographed a song and worked hard from Monday for the Saturday show.
The Tango was a show tango with some aerial moves (jumps and flips) and deep lunges.
The performance was a success. What the audience did not see was all these little bruises coming with the lunges and aerials.
Dance for Show including show tango is a very athletic business. Dance is a physical art, and discipline to act as an athlete is needed for a higher level performance.
With this far-reaching connection, in conjunction with other people, he put up an event titled "Mambo and Moore with Tito Puente Jr.." It was a fundraising event for the Moore tornado.
(The event flyer)
The show had two parts; part one featured dancers and was a dance show, and part two was the musicians playing music (mainly Latin) and people danced.
My partner Cora was asked to be in the show with Jose (Argentine Tango) and with Jason (West Coast Swing). The show was assembled with about one week's notice, at least for Cora and Jose (other dancers got more time). So they choreographed a song and worked hard from Monday for the Saturday show.
The Tango was a show tango with some aerial moves (jumps and flips) and deep lunges.
The performance was a success. What the audience did not see was all these little bruises coming with the lunges and aerials.
Dance for Show including show tango is a very athletic business. Dance is a physical art, and discipline to act as an athlete is needed for a higher level performance.
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