Posts
I find myself being more adaptable to my surroundings. Examples: I had my birthday in a random bar in LES. OK granted not DIVE bar but still it's Lower East Side. Paid $27 for VH1's save the music foundation event (i don't usually pay for nightlife) and it had the strangest crowd ever. Old me would have complained and left in a second, yet I managed to take advantage of the fact hypnotic was sponsoring the event to just have a good time. A significant one is that I'm commuting from Queens to the city about an hour 1 way every day.
For me, 2010 will be a year where I will have to be adaptable to my surroundings. I have to be able to adapt to the west coast lifestyle, LA-prententiousness, and investment banking hours. Actually, I'm sure I'll be able to adapt, but I think the challenge is being able to enjoy it and take the most advantage of my setting (read prevous post). I have to make sure that I don't complaining about how NY is better than LA. Or don't complain about not being able to sleep. Not complain about being able to enjoy LA weather and beach. And try to not be sad about not seeing my friends who will be all back in NY.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Importance of every small thing
I am immensely jealous of people studying abroad right now as I see their pictures on facebook. Hypothetically, I could go abroad for a job, but it's not just the same being as being a student abroad. So, I'm kicking myself because I wished I had done more when I was abroad in London. i.e. made more friends, gone to more places, experienced more things.
Which led me to kind realize that I could say the same about my situation now. Sure, I'm home in NY and nothing is new, but still. Every decision or non-decision I make will effect me for the rest of my life; Granted, some things will effect more more and something things less. I could see myself 10 years down the line saying, why didn't I do this, or do that, when I was young and 22 in college.
I guess my point is that I would rather err on the side of doing more, rather than doing less. There's honestly very few things in my life that I actually REGRET doing (and the only one thing that I regret doing TRUST ME, is pretty bad). I find myself REGRET not doing something.
As cliche as it sounds, I'm going to try to live my day as if it were my last. It's also hard to put into practice. I just fall into set routines, and sometimes it's hard to break out of. I will try to push myself everyday, to do something out-of-the-box, no matter how small it is. Who knows, the small, but novel experience, may have a great impact on me for the rest of my life.
Which led me to kind realize that I could say the same about my situation now. Sure, I'm home in NY and nothing is new, but still. Every decision or non-decision I make will effect me for the rest of my life; Granted, some things will effect more more and something things less. I could see myself 10 years down the line saying, why didn't I do this, or do that, when I was young and 22 in college.
I guess my point is that I would rather err on the side of doing more, rather than doing less. There's honestly very few things in my life that I actually REGRET doing (and the only one thing that I regret doing TRUST ME, is pretty bad). I find myself REGRET not doing something.
As cliche as it sounds, I'm going to try to live my day as if it were my last. It's also hard to put into practice. I just fall into set routines, and sometimes it's hard to break out of. I will try to push myself everyday, to do something out-of-the-box, no matter how small it is. Who knows, the small, but novel experience, may have a great impact on me for the rest of my life.
Music I'm totally feelin' right now
- Stromae
, don't know what he's saying but Tony Parker made French rap cool. I love Alors on Danse and Up Saw Liz
- Yelle
, again not sure what she's saying, but I love the song Ce Jeu
- Mike Posner
, been bumpin' to him ever since hearing him live at Northwestern
- Akala
, British rap just sounds cool because of the accent (same goes for Plan B and Kano)
- Zaho
, I love this song C'est Chelou.. And best part is I think I kinda understand it
- Lady Gaga
, well obviously everyone loves her album the Fame Monster. I really like this one song Starstruck ft Cobra Starship
- Armin Van Buuren
, I just can't stop listening to him..
- Kings of Leon
, Sex on Fire on repeat. and different mixes too. One remix I heard @ The Bank in Vegas was amazing but I'm not sure who it's by.
- The Scripts
, I LOVE THEM. I want to listen to Breakeven for the rest of my life
- Selena Gomez & The Scene
, ok maybe just one song. I love the song Naturally
- Ke$ha
, I don't care if people give me shit for this but her album is really catchy
- DJ Earworm
, Blame it on the Pop is an amazing mash up, especially because of of the song is based on Jay Sean <3
- Jay Sean
, I've been listening to his older stuff (before signing with Cash Money records), the songs sound pretty generically pop but i don't really have a problem with that
- Cascada
, they love her over there in Europe, and therefore so do I. haha that sounds like a tool reason. I like it because bc she has the same range as me, so it's easy sining along to her song. All her songs sound the same but I really like Pyromania right now :)
- I am un chien, so they are an indie band that got some attention because they used chatroulette to promote it. I know, I don't do indie... but the chatroulettething makes them cool in my book.
- Wale
, the keep saying whale but my name Wale
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Umami
So 9am, just got to work and feeling kinda groggy, and I get a text from my sister saying:
So in 1968, Kwok wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Science coining the term "Chinese restaurant syndrome" where he basically said that after eating Chinese food, he experiences certain sensations. Symptoms attributed to this syndrom includes burning sensations, numbness, tingling, feelings of warmth, facial pressure or tightness, chest pain, headache, nausea, rapid heartbeat, bronchospasm in people with asthma, drowsiness, and weakness. That to me sounds like the 'itis as I know it.
Anyway, people have been lead to believe that this syndrome is due to the presence of MSG in Chinese food. This is only partially true. The syndromes one experiences is due to glutamic acid or glutamtes that are found in not only MSG but also found in soy sauce, parmesan cheese, meats, seafood, avocado, and ripe tomatoes. There's debate on whether intake of glutamate will cause excitotoxicity, where nerve cells in the brain are damaged by glutamate, leading to possible seizure. Of course there's also debate on whether glutamate is linked to obesity with studies showing links and no links.
The flavor associated with glutamates is called Umami, or the fifth basic taste. It's often describes as a taste of savoriness, comfort food, or anything that taste hearty. Umami tastes have been associated with the secretion of serotonin. The brain when responding to the Umami stimuli secrete ATP. It also interacts with the orbitofrontal cortex.
So what does this all mean?
Essentially anything delicious is associated with umami, or glutamtes. MSG is not all that bad for you and it's funny how people try to avoid it when it's found in so many other foods. There are glutames in foods from a cheese burger to pasta. I don't think glutames directly cause obesity, although it is pretty obvious and funny how scientists can't quite get it. If you eat delicious foods, you will eat more of it.
As for all the syndromes that comes with eating of a hearty meal, I supposed that's just all the neutrotranmitters at work. Just claiming that glutamate, as an excitatory neuron, makes me act all crazy and excited is too compassing and doesn't really make sense. I don't understand the complexities, and I don't think research out there does either. The release of serotonin I guess would be why food makes us happy. The drowsiness I believe is just that all the blood is going into digestion and not enough in your brain.
ugh. what a lame entry. haha
I know why you go crazy after eating. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter and it's in monosodium glutamate (MSG).She's talking about the fact that I get super hyper and crazy after dinner usually, and especially after a hearty meal. I always thought it was just my metabolism working, but what she said sounds interesting. I may not be a pre-med student, but I wanted to explore the validity of this statement.
So in 1968, Kwok wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Science coining the term "Chinese restaurant syndrome" where he basically said that after eating Chinese food, he experiences certain sensations. Symptoms attributed to this syndrom includes burning sensations, numbness, tingling, feelings of warmth, facial pressure or tightness, chest pain, headache, nausea, rapid heartbeat, bronchospasm in people with asthma, drowsiness, and weakness. That to me sounds like the 'itis as I know it.
Anyway, people have been lead to believe that this syndrome is due to the presence of MSG in Chinese food. This is only partially true. The syndromes one experiences is due to glutamic acid or glutamtes that are found in not only MSG but also found in soy sauce, parmesan cheese, meats, seafood, avocado, and ripe tomatoes. There's debate on whether intake of glutamate will cause excitotoxicity, where nerve cells in the brain are damaged by glutamate, leading to possible seizure. Of course there's also debate on whether glutamate is linked to obesity with studies showing links and no links.
The flavor associated with glutamates is called Umami, or the fifth basic taste. It's often describes as a taste of savoriness, comfort food, or anything that taste hearty. Umami tastes have been associated with the secretion of serotonin. The brain when responding to the Umami stimuli secrete ATP. It also interacts with the orbitofrontal cortex.
So what does this all mean?
Essentially anything delicious is associated with umami, or glutamtes. MSG is not all that bad for you and it's funny how people try to avoid it when it's found in so many other foods. There are glutames in foods from a cheese burger to pasta. I don't think glutames directly cause obesity, although it is pretty obvious and funny how scientists can't quite get it. If you eat delicious foods, you will eat more of it.
As for all the syndromes that comes with eating of a hearty meal, I supposed that's just all the neutrotranmitters at work. Just claiming that glutamate, as an excitatory neuron, makes me act all crazy and excited is too compassing and doesn't really make sense. I don't understand the complexities, and I don't think research out there does either. The release of serotonin I guess would be why food makes us happy. The drowsiness I believe is just that all the blood is going into digestion and not enough in your brain.
ugh. what a lame entry. haha
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Managing an online identity
So for this fashion and power class I'm talking, we're learning about how to manage one's online identity. The professor makes a claim that managing one's online identity is a full-time job, and people should be very careful what they post on facebook. She gave an example of someone who updated their status being very hungover and can't make work, and the person's boss seeing that. To me that's just lack of common sense. You know when you put something on facebook that all 1,000 of your friends will see it. I know I'm facebook friends with some people that I hardly talk to, my family members, and co workers. Her argument is that because facebook is so new, that we have not yet encountered situations where we are personally burned by this issue of privacy.
I mean, I of all people, should be worried about this privacy thing. I mean my name is the domain name of my blog. The way I see it is that I'm not ashamed about my beliefs and my point of views, which is what I post on here. And if someone is going to judge me for it, so be it. This is who I am.
With that said, the internet is a scary place. I literally use it to stalk people. (haha, ok maybe not stalk but to find out information about them). There is way too much information that can be found on it. A useful practice to do every so often is to google your own name and see what comes up and try to manage it, if possible. If not, at least you know what is floating out there about yourself. I feel a bit better that my name is pretty generic, and the name of my blog is actually not my gov't name.
It's also very scary to see how much information google keeps on everyone. Check out google.com/dashboard and I suggest you keep your gmail password VERY SAFE. Since they pretty much own or bought out everything I use (gmail, youtube, blogger, GOOGLE WEB SEARCH HISTORY) or things that I have used once and forgot about (google voice, google docs, picasa, google checkout with credit card and address), they have such a comprehensive database of different things about me. Let's just hope that google lives by its motto of "don't be evil."
I mean, I of all people, should be worried about this privacy thing. I mean my name is the domain name of my blog. The way I see it is that I'm not ashamed about my beliefs and my point of views, which is what I post on here. And if someone is going to judge me for it, so be it. This is who I am.
With that said, the internet is a scary place. I literally use it to stalk people. (haha, ok maybe not stalk but to find out information about them). There is way too much information that can be found on it. A useful practice to do every so often is to google your own name and see what comes up and try to manage it, if possible. If not, at least you know what is floating out there about yourself. I feel a bit better that my name is pretty generic, and the name of my blog is actually not my gov't name.
It's also very scary to see how much information google keeps on everyone. Check out google.com/dashboard and I suggest you keep your gmail password VERY SAFE. Since they pretty much own or bought out everything I use (gmail, youtube, blogger, GOOGLE WEB SEARCH HISTORY) or things that I have used once and forgot about (google voice, google docs, picasa, google checkout with credit card and address), they have such a comprehensive database of different things about me. Let's just hope that google lives by its motto of "don't be evil."
One year after ACL tear without surgery
So my friends have been asking about my ACL, if I got surgery or not and if it still hurts. No and no.
I'm been operating fine with a complete grade tear ACL in my left knee. The partial MCL and LCL tears are probably healed by now. Not sure about the ACL. Medical research and professionals say that there is no way for it to heal, but I beg to differ. I feel like many times, we underestimate the power of our bodies to heal or to compensate a lack of something. I also believe that doctors are all crooks and want people to have surgery so they can make money. Also explains one of the reasons as to why insurance premiums are so high in this country because we are more focused on surgery, as opposed to prevention and rehabilitation. (another reason for high premiums is due to litigous lawyers, who are also crooks)
It's been a year since I first tore my ACL and everything has been fine. I was running outside when the weather was warmer. Now, I run few times a week on a treadmill. I play basketball occasionally, although I know I really shouldn't. My knee hurts sometimes when it's super cold or super humid, but it's nothing that I can't live with.
For now, I think I will be fine. Don't see myself getting surgery in the near future because I just can't even bear to think that I need to stop my life and what I'm doing, to have the surgery and dedicate my life to recovery/physical therapy.
I'm been operating fine with a complete grade tear ACL in my left knee. The partial MCL and LCL tears are probably healed by now. Not sure about the ACL. Medical research and professionals say that there is no way for it to heal, but I beg to differ. I feel like many times, we underestimate the power of our bodies to heal or to compensate a lack of something. I also believe that doctors are all crooks and want people to have surgery so they can make money. Also explains one of the reasons as to why insurance premiums are so high in this country because we are more focused on surgery, as opposed to prevention and rehabilitation. (another reason for high premiums is due to litigous lawyers, who are also crooks)
It's been a year since I first tore my ACL and everything has been fine. I was running outside when the weather was warmer. Now, I run few times a week on a treadmill. I play basketball occasionally, although I know I really shouldn't. My knee hurts sometimes when it's super cold or super humid, but it's nothing that I can't live with.
For now, I think I will be fine. Don't see myself getting surgery in the near future because I just can't even bear to think that I need to stop my life and what I'm doing, to have the surgery and dedicate my life to recovery/physical therapy.
Pharmacy Oligopolies in NYC
I'm very angry (ummm I guess I'm always angry about something) about the oligopolies of pharmacies in NYC. Now a pharmacy in NYC is not just for medicine. As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I got medicine at a pharmacy. It's more like a convienence store. They sell everything from ramen noodles to light bulbs. There are a few more ubiquitous ones in the city... Duane Reade, CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens.
Now if it's 3am and you want to buy bottled water or something, there is no other place to buy it but these pharmacies. I'm sure they know this and therefore are most likely participating in collusion against NYC customers.
Case in point, January, I buy DUO Eyelash glue
at Duane Reade for $3.99. On my birthday, I was out and about and didn't have it with me so I bought another one at Duane Reade for $5.99. Just checked the price on it yesterday and it is $7.29 at Walgreens. I mean this is a bit too ridiculous. The price has gone up 83% in 3 months, which translate to an annual growth rate of 1022%. I could seriously make a fortune just from investing in Eyelash adhesive.
This is only going to get worse with Walgreen's acquisition of Duane Reade. And Duane Reade used to have a rewards program that essentially gives 5% back in coupons ($5 for every $100), but now they have changed their program to 2% back in coupons. Not to mention the $125mm Oak Hill (previous owner) invested for Duane Reade's stupid new marketing campaign. The stores are more pleasant to go to, but you just KNOW that the consumers end up having to pay for their stupid new catalog and their new logo.
Now if it's 3am and you want to buy bottled water or something, there is no other place to buy it but these pharmacies. I'm sure they know this and therefore are most likely participating in collusion against NYC customers.
Case in point, January, I buy DUO Eyelash glue
at Duane Reade for $3.99. On my birthday, I was out and about and didn't have it with me so I bought another one at Duane Reade for $5.99. Just checked the price on it yesterday and it is $7.29 at Walgreens. I mean this is a bit too ridiculous. The price has gone up 83% in 3 months, which translate to an annual growth rate of 1022%. I could seriously make a fortune just from investing in Eyelash adhesive. This is only going to get worse with Walgreen's acquisition of Duane Reade. And Duane Reade used to have a rewards program that essentially gives 5% back in coupons ($5 for every $100), but now they have changed their program to 2% back in coupons. Not to mention the $125mm Oak Hill (previous owner) invested for Duane Reade's stupid new marketing campaign. The stores are more pleasant to go to, but you just KNOW that the consumers end up having to pay for their stupid new catalog and their new logo.
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