Although I'm involved now with science and pre-med, I still love the NY Times magazine, and all its politics and culture.

2 Sundays ago...a great article on Obama and Kennedy. This photo is from the article

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01fob-wwln-t.html?ref=magazine

Some worthwhile exceprts:

"But Obama has also demonstrated, not for the first time, two things about his emerging governing style that contrast sharply with that of his predecessor...The second is that he doesn’t seem especially bothered by the perception that he’s dithering. Bush often seemed to measure leadership by the number of seconds it took to make a decision. Obama displays a different kind of spine — the capacity to take his time, even when allies and critics are pounding at the door."

"...Obama is a leader who instinctively seeks the center lane of American politics. And in this way, more than any other, Obama is very much like the John Kennedy who emerges in historical accounts today, a self-confident president who governed at a time of heightened insecurity and proved himself insufficiently doctrinaire for both bellicose cold warriors and the new generation of liberals who considered him their own..."

I just happened to look up at a bookshelf at cabot science library last week, and saw a book called "imagined worlds," by Freeman Dyson, and for some reason it caught my eye. and i actually checked it out!

in the introduction, this strikes me as fascinating: "Two voices speak for the future, the voice of science and the voice of religion. Science and religion are two great human enterprises that endure through centuries and link us with our descendants...I do not claim that the voice of science speaks with unique authority. Religion has at least an equal claim to authority in defining human destiny. Religion lies closer to the heart of human nature and has a wider currency than science. Like the human nature it reflects, religion is often cruel and perverted. When science achieved the power of religion, science often became cruel and perverted, too." (page 7)

And here are some nice Fall photos--I'm a bit late and lots of leaves have already fallen off the trees!

Last week, in Biology, we started the half of the semester devoted to genetics! We're doing a lab tomorrow on plant cells in different stages of mitosis and meiosis.

The terminology is a bit confusing between chromosome, chromatin, chromatid, hapolid, diploid, etc! I was looking online for some clear definitions, and I like this image.

1-Chromatid, 2-Centromere, 3-short arm, 4-long arm.

In Chem we have a test this week on gas laws, thermochemistry, and the quantum nature of electrons (acting as both particles and waves). It's kind of cool because atoms required a new understanding of physics--neither classic Newtonian physics nor Einstein's relativity could work here: "Quantum physics deals with situations where the usual picture of reality breaks down. Photons (discrete units of light) and other very small things have some behaviors that resemble classical particles like billiard balls and other behaviors that resemble classical waves like water waves." (From Wikipedia)

And in Physics, still struggling but it's getting better. We just finished a chapter on angular momentum and torque. Don't ask!

I volunteer on a mobile health van

I started volunteering a few weeks ago on Harvard Medical School's Family Van. Since 1992, the van has provided health education, screening, and prevention services, as well as referrals to medical and social service agencies to an estimated 50,000 of Boston's most vulnerable and underserved residents.

http://www.familyvan.org/

It's a really amazing experience, and I get to do a lot of real medical stuff--take blood pressure, check blood sugar (with a lancet finger prick), glacuoma screenings, and more. It's a lot of hands on work, and interacting with real live patients.

Yesterday during my 3 hour shift, I discussed with various patients all the different medications they're on. Here's my list of what I managed to write down.

1. Simvastatin: used to treat high cholestorol. Used to be called Zocor.

2. Diovan: used to treat hypertension.

3. Hydrochlorothiazide (hctz): hypertension drug; one of the longest on the market.

4. Atenolol: to treat hypertension, a beta-blocker.

5. Lisinopril: another medication to treat hypertension.

6. Norvasc: another anti-hypertensive.

7. Lipitor: to lower cholesterol.

8. Crestor: to treat high cholesterol.

9. Metformin: to treat diabetes

10. Lavoxyl: treats thyroid problems.

And in other news: Mom is acquitted finally! Read about it in the Maui News.

Update

I'm starting my 4th week of class tomorrow. Things are going well, studying all the time. Physics is hard.

In bigger news: my mom's indictment on medical assistance fraud is now going to trial. It starts tomorrow. Here's a short article from the indictment 2 years ago.

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/34792.html

Let's hope and pray for her, and that justice will prevail.

Couch Surfing

We had out first (and last) couch-surfer about 1.5 months ago. Gustavo. He was great. From Brazil, animator, and currently lives in Barcelona.

He drew these awesome drawings of Oded and me.

Here I come

I've finally decided to do it. Medical School.

I will be moving to Boston in about 6 weeks to do the Health Careers Program at Harvard, to fulfill my pre-med requirements, and then apply to medical school!

I thought about it long and hard, and was confused for a long time, but now I feel purpose, direction, much excitement, and as if I'm perched on the edge of a big adventure.

One step at a time, one day at a time, and I will get there.

A friend just moved to Sydney, and started a blog, titled

"We go there where nothing is waiting

and find everything waiting there."

-Pablo Neruda

I like that.