This week's lessons learned

Ed Sheeran-Wake Me Up

(1) I might have to accept the fact that I want something that no one can ever give me and just compromise. 
(2) My mind is my biggest obstacle.
(3) Trust what You want to do--don't let others dictate what you should do or what is best for you. They have no f--ing clue.
(4) You Can Do It.
(5) I have extreme seperation anxiety.
(6) Every day is an opportunity to be tested and to learn. 
(7) Class cannot be learned, procured, or bartered, but it can be lost. 
(8) There are 27 bones in the adult human hand. 
(9) No single flaw defines me. 
(10) Putting a duvet cover on my duvet is up there on my least favorite tasks to-do (darn my short wingspan.)
(11) Quantum jumping is flipping awesome.

My First Periodic Table

Birdy-Skinny Love

I believe everyone in science should have a proper periodic table. When I was in 8th grade my teacher gave all of us a gorgeous periodic table. Because I am obsessive-compulsive about preserving everything in my life that's important to me I have managed to keep this periodic table for 13 years and it's in pretty nice condition too! I still use it all the time and it includes the full names and electron configurations of all the elements (something most tables don't have.) Feel free to take and use it (sorry it's blurry though)!

This week's lessons learned (thus far)

Brian Benham-Mess

Week is turning out to be crazy so here's some lessons thus far:

(1) Ack....I have to put this one again, but it is what it is:

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.
-Hemingway 

(2) Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor what they seem to be. They are what they are. -Epictetus
(3) I'm not the only one that believes philosophy has been unjustly detached from public/modern life: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/nov/08/what-can-you-really-know/?page=1
(4) The one thing you should never lose is yourself.
(5) My inability to let go, accept, and move forward is slowly breaking me.
(6) I am definitively On My Own.
(7) What is real? 
(8) Understanding people is extremely difficult (and it makes it harder when I'm already a complex individual.)
(9) I hate that I am so misunderstood.  

Some special lessons I got from my former engineering boss, Dave (special thanks Dave!):
(10) Have confidence that you know what to do, even if it means asking someone else
(11) You were very impressive in your time here, and that does not just go away.

Another mini Stoic lesson

Ellie Goulding-Explosions

I've put up the following quote before but I am posting this again especially as a reminder to me.

If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.

-Socrates

Without getting too detailed into where this coming from I will say this. I do think the above statement is true and yet I still I struggle with accepting change and have so for quite some time now. In fact, I have an intrinsic fear of change to the point where I essentially become riddled with anxiety as I seek to figure out what I can control. This is tough because my beliefs in fatalism run deep and it sometimes makes things difficult for to recognize what things I can control. The Stoics believed in fatalism, but also embedded into their ideology was the notion to only be concerned with  things we can control and things we can partially control. I would like to think that one-hundred percent of the time we always have control of how we react to things so maybe that's the place to start. More on this later...

Happy Veterans Day, this Week's Lessons Learned, and some fun stuff

Ed Sheeran-Give Me Love

First off, *Happy Veterans Day*

(1) I'm stuck.
(2) I am highly agreeable.
(3) Don't trust everyone.
(4) Every one degree difference in longitude is equivalent to 4 mins of time.
(5) Although circumstances or situations may be different, they may not necessarily be better.
(6) Those metal gloves in Porter Square T station are actually a public art exhibit each characterizing an emotion or movement of people in transit. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glove_Cycle) They're  actually part of a larger collection known as Arts on the Line which sought to introduce art work into the MBTA T stations in the past few decades (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_on_the_Line#Artwork) Fascinating! Except it doesn't include that picture I took a while back about artwork I saw at the Park St T station.
(7) I have catastrophic thinking.
(8) I'm grossly misunderstood sometimes.
(9) Invest in others as much as you expect them to invest in you. Otherwise, let go of your expectations of others.

Now for something fun. Although I hoped to keep this blog apolitical I must say thank god we have four more years. Here's another reason why I <3 Anderson Cooper http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/08/ridiculist-confusing-sweatshirts/?hpt=ac_mid
"You mess with MIT you get a little good will hunting up in your grill."

Lastly, how cute is this: a couple of 88 years (both over 100) finally take their wedding photos. I feel like this is going to be me if I can make it to that long and convince some unsuspecting soul to marry me: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/husband-and-wife-ages-101_n_2090119.html

Perhaps there's hope for me yet!

Lady Gaga-Dance In the Dark (I cannot believe I haven't posted a L. Gaga song on here yet considering I'm a huge fan.)

I recently read this article in SA Mind (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=when-nice-guys-finish-first) about how being nice can have it's benefits. While it is certainly true that I think I (almost desperately) seek social harmony, I don't necessarily view that as a bad thing. On occasion I challenge beliefs, and assert myself when something of moral principle comes into question. I took their quiz (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-nice-are-you-quiz) and (not surprisingly) scored as highly agreeable. Most of the description on there holds true except that I don't enjoy children unless the children are quiet and are acting like adults. The best compliment I received this week (heck this year and possibly ever) came from the concierge guy in my building-this guy is also a Reverend-and he said that the first time he met me he knew I had a pure heart. I find that very nice since I strive just be uncomplicated and nice (although having an uncomplicated life proves to be quite a challenge for me.) Take the short quiz above to find out how nice you are!

3 Cool Career Choices

Simon and Garfunkel-The Boxer

I've been thinking a lot about my career lately (insert panic attack.) While there's nothing in this world that can possibly deter me from wanting to be a doctor I was thinking about these 3 professions that would be cool if they existed (or still existed.)

(1) Philospher-It should come to no surprise that I long for this to be a profession since I've indicated my love for philosophical theory (esp. Stoicism which I try to actively practice) multiple times in other posts. I find it a little disheartening that the occupation of lifelong contemplation of our existence, reality, and our roles in society/the world, for all intents and purposes, is nonexistent. Back in Ancient Greece, large schools of philosophy were an integral part of the civic infrastructure and were professions that contemplative individuals joined to learn from previous scholars and either continue the education through formal rhetoric or diverge and establish new-found ideologies based on their studies. These were devoted individuals who loved knowledge/the art of thinking and even sacrificed their lives for their principles (ie :  Socrates, Seneca etc...) I understand that religion has partially served to fulfill this role in society, but what about for those of us who wish to pursue The Thought without being entrenched in theology? I try to comment and think about the world, society, and my role in society on this blog, but it's a little difficult since I consider myself just a disciple of Stoicism and I have no Stoic teacher to whom I can ask questions or learn from. 

(2) Tooth fairy-Basically my favourite book as a child was "No Tooth, No Quarter" and I really wanted to be a tooth fairy until I realized it wasn't a real profession. Actually, I wanted to be Queen Denteena-Queen of tooth fairy land.

(3) Explorer of the world/voyager--No one does this anymore. Or perhaps we are all considered explorers of the world these days. Either way, I'd be thrilled if the King and Queen of Spain gave me a bunch of money to go on a nautical voyage with large ships, but unfortunately I don't see that happening anytime soon.  

Live Free Today

Bruce Springsteen-Born To Run

I didn't sleep too well last night, so I'm a crankysaurus today. Anyways...
LIVE FREE TODAY.

5 more things to know about me!

Billie Idol "Dancing with myself"

(1) Aside from disliking things smaller than me, I have a serious fear of birds. Ever since I was 6 and saw the Hitchcock movie "The Birds" I am terrified of the avian species (why my parents allowed me to watch a horror film that young is beyond me.) This fear has only gotten worse living in a city filled with filthy pigeons and chickadees. Shoo shoo, go away!

(2) I have a weird obsession with/crush on Anderson Cooper. And Jon Stewart for that matter.

(3) I fight against my fear of escalators almost every day. How come no one else is concerned about the sharp edges? Especially the steep ones in porter square station that seem to go on forever.

**Remember remember the 5th of November. (Happy Guy Fawkes Day!)
(4) Voting is a very important right that I (and everyone else) ought to take seriously! GO VOTE TOMORROW!!!

(5) I would jump at the chance to be on SNL. Comedic timing is a gift and those actors are brilliant at what they do. I would love to be important enough to host SNL one day.

This week's lessons learned

Kaskade "Stars Troll"

(1) Take severe weather warnings seriously.
(2) We are lucky to live in America--I'll explain this one later.
(3) There is an important difference between fragrance-free and unscented.
(4) Some people (and things) are just noise.
(5) Only allow yourself to break from an activity after you have had the urge to quit 3 times (i.e. workouts, diets etc...)
(6) Getting started is the hardest part.
(7) Grit means I have to show up every day.
(8) I am not allergic to fin fish (although I was told this test has a 5% margin of error.)
(9) Everyday is a game; you have to play it if you want to win.