reinventing the wheel

Today, I had my first meeting with the supervisor of my undergrad thesis. For the past...okay, ever since I was on holiday, I've been reviewing journals about my area of research (eyewitness memory), and I thought I had a pretty good idea of where I was and what I wanted to do.

Leaving his office, however, I felt like I had been asked to come up with a way to reinvent the wheel. Strangely enough, that is exactly what he said he wasn't asking me to do. He had a very valid point - research keeps going on, meaning there are always ways in which current research can be improved upon, or gaps can be filled.

But hello, these researches have been carried out by extremely learned professors. We have been trained to critique these journals, but reinventing them?

Delusions of grandeur!

Being third year students and all, I know there are certain expectations of us, like not relying completely on replications of what has already been done. But we're pretty much on our own. How many journals have you come across that were authored by one single person? I'd say it's a very small minority. And these people have been through years and years and YEARS of study and research. Pretending we're all at that level...how is this going to work??

I guess it's back to the drawing board.

a band-aid on a bullet wound?

Unless you've been living under a rock or in a cave, you've definitely heard of An Inconvenient Truth. It presents the harsh reality that is climate change and global warming, and where the planet is headed if we continue living the way we do. Al Gore is one impressive man, and I have to say, it really sucks that he didn't win. As Hannah put it, instead of fighting terrorism, the fight would've been against global warming.

There was a screening of this movie in HELP today, which me and Hannah went for. I think the part that stuck with me the most was that polar bears are drowning.

Yes, you read that right. They drown from sheer exhaustion, cuz they swim and swim and swim and there's no ice for them to get out of the water on. And the visuals were quite influential as well. When ice melts, so much of the world will be under water that in just China and India (if I remember correctly), 100 million people will become refugees. Remember the devastation that occurred after Hurricane Katrina? That happened in a supposedly developed nation, and that was only tens of thousands of people.

This is the real apocalypse, people.

There was this one scene of a picture of the earth taken from squillions of miles away, and it was nothing, nothing but a tiny blue speck. It reminded me of something I once wrote:

How little sense does it actually make? Think about it. Everything we know. Everything we are. All of it happens on this spherical mass of land and sea and ice, and this mass revolves around this bigger mass of pure heat. And you know how in books they draw orbits? Completely imaginary. And all of that happens in complete nothingness, except for other bits and other masses. Honestly, the idea of space seems like something from a really bad sci-fi movie. How ironic is that, that all of existence seems so farcical?

As a friend of mine would say, I'm having one of my moments. To think, that ALL of existence is on that little blue speck that is slowly and surely being destroyed by the very people who are utterly dependant on it.

This picture is from here.

Actually, not slowly. It really, really makes me wish that people in this country were more willing to do something to change their habits. I think we're getting there - I have seen separate bins so rubbish can by recycled in shopping malls. But more needs to be done to make it easier to do good. Do we even HAVE those Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs here? What about recycling household waste? I'd like to see it being made compulsory to separate our trash, like it is in Switzerland.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. To start with, carpool. It's not immensely difficult. And turn off your electronic devices when you're not using them. Even leaving your phone charger plugged in when you're not using it is BAD.

It's not like we have a real alternative. What happens when all of this catches up with us? It'll be too late to say, ooops! Maybe we should've done something to fix this before it became an attempt to put a band-aid on a bullet wound.

jewelry

A friend of mine from school recently spent a few weeks in Africa building houses and other equally noble-sounding things (except the bit where he observed and photographed bizarre anatomical details of animals on a safari). When the bunch of us met up, he had a little bag full of souvenirs, and I picked out a beaded leather bracelet. Very ethnic and very pretty.

Today was Free Hugs Day at college, organized by the Student Council. There are pictures so I'm thinking this should be another post when I have them, but anyway, I got a friend of mine who used to go to HELP to swing by. He had stuff for me (Gourmet Pringles) which he brought back from England ages ago and has been meaning to give me, but always forgets. But then, he also surprised me with a Venetian glass pendant which is absolutely stunning. It's sorta got this stained glass thing going on. I love.

pain

I woke up this morning in pain. Something happened while I was sleeping, which resulted in this sharp discomfort that has become progressively worse throughout the day despite a very warm bubble bath with Epsom salts and liberal blitzes of magic voodoo spray. I haven't succumbed to a muscle relaxant cuz that just knocks me out and I needed to be lucid to get through the five articles we have to read for tomorrow's Substance Abuse tutorial.

A wise friend of mine once insisted that no matter what the distance is, whether it's 5 or 5084792809742908320 kms, when you're away from someone you want to be with, it's all the same. You would think it would be easier, being closer...but distance is just that. Distance. No matter how you dice it.

three a.m. conversations

:: Lady Patreez :: says:
ok wait the liver gets affected by alcohol yes?

nameeta says:
yup

:: Lady Patreez :: says:
k cool

:: Lady Patreez :: says:
i always think kidneys sometimes

nameeta says:
lol

nameeta says:
maybe they are?

nameeta says:
but livers are pretty important

nameeta says:
i cant believe i just said that

nameeta says:
how random