Swimming's Safari Adventures!

Simon & Garfunkel-At The Zoo

Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo....
What a peculiar day it was for Swimming this past Sunday. Easter Sunday coincided with Swimming's Birthday! To celebrate, she and some buddies decided to head out for a little safari at the zoo. Oh my ears and whiskers the things we saw! I must admit that I am very impressed with the high-profile animals that are staying at Cleveland Zoo. They don't give many facts about them so I decided to look up some facts and posted some below. Here are some pictures of the amazing creatures. Disclaimer: all pictures are zoomed, I was not actually that close to the animals.

Here are some lions. Did you know that Males with darker manes are more likely to attract female lions (lionesses)? Also, they only live to about 12 years old in the wild. I used to think that lions might be my spirit animal and like this woman they'd see me and want to give me a hug. From these ones, however, it does not seem like they want much to do with me other than to eat me.

How good-looking are these elephants? The African Elephant is the largest land mammal. Did you know that an elephant calf often sucks its trunk for comfort like a human baby sucks its thumb?

A Malayan Sun Bear and little baby bear. They have gorgeous long fur and really like honey! They are the smallest of all bear species. These folks are mainly living in Southeast Asia.

Here is Sir Tiger. Most tigers have yellow eyes except the White Tiger which has blue eyes. Also apparently their urine smells like popcorn!

Here is a Giraffe Family. Giraffes usually sleep for 1-12 minutes! They also have very pretty eyelashes. Surprisingly, I felt these creatures were very serene and could easily slide into first place as my new spirit animal.

I'll end with sleeping Koala. Koalas have two thumbs to help climb trees and eat eucalyptus. Along with the kangroos, their babies are also known as Joeys! Here's a great Koala survival story. Apparently they have the best insulating back fur among all other marsupials. This fur is highly resilient to wind and rain and their belly fur can reflect solar radiation. Amazing!

Lastly, as a Birthday present, I've adopted a panda from the WWF. Here is the photo I received--I like how my panda is posing, so chic! In keeping with ancient Chinese tradition I will be naming my panda after 100 days, but look how pretty it is!

All-in-all, Swimming had a very interesting birthday, filled with fun and a few mishaps and a wonderful video card from one of her best buddies playing one of my favorite tunes on the violin! After noticing that I've sprouted a few new gray hairs I've also come to embrace becoming older and transforming into a Golden Girl. 

5 more things!

(1) I'm a closeted sports fan. I'm crazy about basketball and hockey, and who doesn't love Baseball-America's favourite past-time? Football not so much (ironically seeing as I'm a wolverine.)
(2) The key to my heart is through cupcakes. I LOVE cake. Especially choco cake with rainbow chip frosting or red velvet. I'd join a cake eating contest in a hot second. Yum!
(3) I'm obsessed with flossing. Flossing decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease!
(4) My favorite book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (shout out to Cranbrook ladies back in 7th grade!)
(5) I've been an avid tennis player since I was 8!

Five things to know!

Katy Perry-DARK HORSE

Haven't done my 5 things to know about me in a while, so here are 5 more!

(1) I am a believer in people and even more so in ideas.
(2) I do not like smores. I do not understand why a graham cracker, chocolate, and a marshmallow must be combined in a sticky, hot mess. I guess any three alone are acceptable (although they are all crazy sugary items so I really don't approve of graham crackers and marshmallows but I love chocolate so dark choco should be good alone.)
(3) I am not bothered by gloomy weather at all. Some people, nay, many people, do not like rainy cloudy weather. For some odd reason, I prefer it!
(4) I cannot dance. For some reason, despite having some musical ability, I cannot combine music into a rhythmic body movements and dance.
(5) I was 5 years old when I lost my first tooth. I was also squeaky clean back then too and tried to scrub the tooth for the tooth fairy so she'd have a clean tooth when she took it that evening. Upon scrubbing the tooth, my very first tooth fell down the drain.

Five things

(1)  I'm extremely meticulous. Extremely.
(2) On the elliptical machine I almost always input that I am a year younger than I actually am. (Fear of aging? Yes.)
(3) I don't drink coffee. I also very rarely drink any soda. My beverages of choice are water, tea, Arnold Palmer, hot cocoa, and occasionally kombucha
(4) I have absolutely no clue what people in a Boston accent are actually saying. "Pahk tha cah at hahvahd yahd" huh?? come again????
(5) I am simply not built to tolerate this insane weather (seriously 93 degrees!?!?) I think this baby elephant is on to something. (This video reminds me of how much I like the zoo--although in this heat the aquarium is so much better.)

Five more things

Timeflies-I Choose You

Haven't posted any in a while here-goes:

(1) As a child I was obsessed with pandas. I still really really want a panda, but I'll settle for hanging out at a sanctuary.
(2) I wish I knew more about economic theory. Challenge accepted.
(3) I'm fascinated by the human mind. One of the many reasons I want to go into medicine is that I think the human brain is simply amazing and yet so little is known/understood.
(4) As a child I used to ride my tricycle indoors since we didn't want it to get dirty by riding it outside. Riding down my corridor was probably one of my most favorite pastimes.
(5) I really like tents and forts. Also as a kid I loved the idea of having an enclosed space within the house where only I could fit into (I was teeny back then too.) Thus I used to build forts out of boxes and umbrellas just to have my own space. As I write this I realize this might mean I'm territorial--but who isn't?

The toils of a faulty jaw

Greetings readers! Today I'm going to write about my TMJ problems (i.e. my gum chewing disorder.) While I allude to this in jest, I must say that my TMJ problems are actually the cause or a result of a number of the current health problems I endure (migraines, clenching, sleeping problems.) Hopefully anyone reading this that also has TMJ can relate/understand.

Basically TMJ is a blanket-term for issues of jaw opening/closing. Typically the problem is either caused my constriction/over-exertion/inflammation of the masseter muscle (in milder cases of TMJ) and/or issues of the actual jaw joint (hence the name temporo-mandibular joint located adjacent to the ear and serving as the junction between the jaw and skull.)

I was first diagnosed a few years back by an ENT when I went to have some ear pain checked out. It was found that my jaw clicks and is not aligned adequately and was probably the result of 1. clenching at night and 2. excessive gum chewing. I was instructed to not chew gum (prior to this diagnosis I was an avid gum chewer chewing probably close to 4-6 hours a day for years since I got my braces off in 8th grade.) Additionally I was told to avoid certain hard or chewy foods (bagels, peanut brittle etc...) and was also advised to get a bite guard (occlusal guard) to wear at night. While I've more-or-less kept close to abiding to those restrictions (the gum is where I slip and I'll try to keep the "chewing" to a minimum though) what happens at night while asleep is a different story. Depending on my fatigue level I'll still clench vigorously even with the guard (the guard is really there to prevent further damage of teeth but it does nothing to prevent clenching.) It'd be one thing if this issue was limited to my jaw, but excessive clenching will lead to sleep problems and eventually the onset of viscious migraines.

A word about migraines--anyone who has suffered through them knows that they are truly insufferable (basically a blow to the head where I'm particularly sensitive to light and also become unbelievably nauseous.) The best thing on earth is excedrin migraine and ultimately blacking out from the pain (which is why I freaked out during last year's excedrin recall.) Unfortunately the caffeine in excedrin is what helps the migraine (and the only thing that helps it---without it I'll continue to suffer basically non-functional for several hours to almost 1 day) but I'm also hypersensitive to caffeine and unable to sleep once I've consumed it...which leads to sleep problems (and the other string of problems that follow inadequate sleep.)

I'm still trying to find something that works with the clenching. This appears to be an area where, if targeted in TMJ therapy, could alleviate a good amount of the anguish that comes from having TMJ problems. I've read literature on how botox aids in paralyzing the masseter muscle so I'll look into that eventually, but long-term use of botox has it's own issues and it's still unclear if the issue will persist once botox treatments are stopped (one needs injections every few months.)  Also, botox will help target the muscle contraction issue but if one's TMJ is a result of a combination of muscle and joint problems then the joint problems will still persist. Hopefully I'll have some more insight into this as I'm trying to fix this in my life. I bring this up today because I've endured quite a bit of problems this week due to excessive clenching (most likely brought on by stress) and found out about the TMJ support group online which is very informative (http://www.tmj.org/site/)

Five more things!

Taylor Swift-I Knew You were trouble

I feel like I haven't put one of these up in a while:

(1) I've secretly always wanted a Chia pet. Ch-ch-ch-chia! I wonder what kind of plants these are anyway. Whatever they are, what a great invention.
(2) I don't really like flowers at all except roses and I like to grow orchids because they're non-fragrant. I really really want a Blue Orchid. The one time I ever took the Orange Line I saw some woman with a beautiful blue orchid and I asked her where she purchased it but I couldn't get what she was saying. (I'm sad to report that I think my current orchid has died...darned frosted windows, but I'm still optimistic that I might be able to revive her!)
(3) I love Interview With the Vampire...weirdly I hate horror films but there's something about this one that's dark and intriguing.
(4) The first time I saw The Godfather I was 6. My parents thought this was a classic...I'll never forget the horse head in the bed. Epic.
(5) As a kid I was deeply afraid of blowing my nose in public...I really don't know why, maybe I thought my brains would come out or I might have just had sinus anxiety. :/

Conquering pain and being limitless

Once again, Wiz Khalifa "Work Hard Play Hard"

(1) "Today we have conquered pain"

At lunch we took a nice walk through the Ether Dome exhibit (http://www.massgeneral.org/history/exhibits/etherdome/). I've been on this plan to become more tough (I'll explain later) but on one of the plaques I read the awesome quote above that exemplifies my major goal in life right now: to conquer pain (in essence, to conquer myself--read on.)

This week has proved to be extremely informative about how one small decision can have a significant impact on a number of different areas. I've joined a new gym and I've decided to go to bed earlier and I'm a much better person in a number of ways for both of those reasons. 

(2) Whilst settling into my new routine/toughness plan I feel indestructible. I really do feel like I can climb a mountain (well...work towards climbing a mountain and make it to med school and publish my book and finish my other writing projects and master the piano.) Perhaps it's because I can now climb 10 flights of stairs with relative ease or stand for 6-8 hours and not feel it. Excruciating effort feels amazing. I found this quote a while back from the abstract of the book Aquarium by Victor Suvorov about Soviet military intelligence. I feel it really captures my current attitude on life:

Man is capable of performing miracles. A man can swim
the English Channel three times, drink a hundred mugs of
beer, walk barefoot on burning coals; he can learn thirty
languages, become an Olympic champion at boxing, invent
the television or the bicycle, become a general in the GRU
or make himself a millionaire. It's all in our own hands. 

If you want it you can get it...

Success comes only when the training, of
whatever kind (memory, muscles, mind, willpower,
stamina), takes a man to the limit of his capacity. When
the end of the training becomes torture. When a man cries
out from pain and exhaustion. Training is effective only
when it takes a man to the very limit of his capacity and
he knows exactly where the limit is...

That's the road to glory. That's the path to
success. To work only at the very limit of your capacity.
To work at the brink of collapse. You can become a
champion only if you are the sort of person who, knowing
that the bar is about to fall and crush him, nevertheless
heaves it upwards. The only ones who have conquered
themselves, who have defeated their own fear, their own
laziness and their own lack of confidence

 I have a lot on my plate left to conquer. By no means have I conquered even a fraction of what I want to do, but that's what helps me stay on track. That's what helps me get up at 430 every morning. That's what helps fix what I need to fix in health and in my life.  That's what helps me eliminate things and people that are just toxic. That's what will help me eventually conquer pain. That's what will help me conquer myself.

5 more things

Calvin Harris/Nicky Romero-Iron

(1) I really do LOVE the tinsel during the holiday season. Festive decorations put me in a better mood. Here are some I took last night of the lights of the Commons/State House!  Stupid iphone camera is so blurry at night.

State House and Holiday Lights

Boston Common lighted Christmas Tree (as seen from a distance)

Boston Common Lights as seen from my roof!

(2) My week was filled with impulsive decisions which now make me excited about stuff again.

(3)  I read 4 books during thanksgiving. I'm quite proud of that :o)

(4) I really do love hot chocolate. Even if I don't make it right and it turns out in 3 different phases:

Mexican Hot Choco from the MGH gift shop...3 phases and yet still scrumptious

(5)  I have to force myself to go to bed everyday. Life is just so invigorating for me that I never seem to want to turn off the lights or the mind. gruff!

5 more things!

Ellie Goulding-In My City

(1) I love cookies and cake. If I could, I would join a cake-eating contest and I bet you I'd be a front-runner. Funfetti cake with rainbowchip frosting. YUM. Too bad for my diet...

(2) Style is my weakness.

(3) I haven't set foot into a movie theatre in 4 years. The last movie I saw at a theatre was Harold and Kumar 2 Escape from Guantanamo back in the summer of 2008. It's been 2 years since I've watched a full movie in general from start-to-finish in one sitting. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but this puts a lot of pressure on a movie selection for me...the next one better be pretty good.

(4) On that note, I was an extra in the third installment of the Harold and Kumar Movies (A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.) I got paid for just standing/walking around looking cute in winter gear while shopping in a mall--I was born for this. Thanks to my manager/former engineering boss (Tony!) for the opportunity. As my talent manager I did give him 10% of course. I never saw the movie though so I'm not sure if I made the final cut, but I don't think I did.

(5) I love sending holiday cards. Watch out for yours in the mail--yes, paper mail which I've already mentioned how much I love. Nothing cutesy though, I find that tacky.

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)!

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.  

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.

Five more things to know about me/wish me g'luck on my moving encore

James Blunt "Dangerous" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu4a1mCp44E

Tomorrow is my moving day encore for me. Wish me luck.

5 more things to know about me!

(1) I never want to stop being a nice person.
(2) I know how to weave. On a real loom. These are the looms I learned on at Cranbrook (fun fact: the weaving studio at Kingswood is the largest in the country):

(3) A part of me is a little incomplete now that I don't get to practice piano here.
(4) I really like painting and wish I had the time to further hone that skill. I've been painting as a child (acrylics on canvas) and I love it. 
(5) I'm a textbook histrionic. (http://www.health.am/psy/histrionic-personality-disorder/)

Five more things to know about me

Rihanna "We Found Love" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GchEVSx9XEA

Haven't posted 5 things in a while, so here goes:

(1) I love the feel of reading a book. I'll probably eventually invest in an ipad but it will be very reluctantly. I like the feel of turning pages and visualizing the volume of text I've devoured.

(2) I have to fight my instincts of being a night-owl.

(3) I love meeting new people and making friends in random places.

(4) When I was little I wanted to be the Tooth Fairy when I grew up. My favorite book was "No Tooth No Quarter" and I aspired to be Queen Denteena (Queen of all the tooth fairies.)

(5) On occasion, I bleed maize and blue.

Five more things to know about me

Listen to Modest Mouse "Float On" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWvh85Qd8us

(1) I love it when it rains.
(2) I have dark humor and sarcastic humor.
(3) I love getting paper mail. Even more so, I love the art of handwriting letters and sending them (something I don't get to do at all.) Because of this I work hard to have nice penmanship. (Cursive and print.)
(4) I do not like to get material presents. I've been lucky enough to basically get anything I ask for or want which makes getting anything material a lot less special for me. I do, however, love getting books that I would like to read. No one has been able to do this for me, but if you can know me well enough to anticipate what I'd like to read then you know me better than anyone.
(5) It's important for me to serve/give back.

Five more things to know about me

Listen to Kanye West ft. Coldplay "Homecoming" http://www.youtube.co/watch?v=Ho4kCABuEVI

(1) I absolutely love love love literature and art.
(2) I love philosophy and often substitute philosophical ideology for religion.
(3) I really really really want to be a doctor.
(4) I like things a certain way, but I crave novelty and am not resistant to frequent changes in life.
(5) I have moxie.

Five Things to know about me

From time to time I'll post some nice factoids about me. (I'd like to promise once a week, but I don't want to make that commitment in writing.) Most people who know me really well (which actually isn't very many people) already know this, but hopefully at some point some of you will find something surprising or interesting.

(1) I work very hard at maintaining relationships with other people in my life.
(2) I'm obsessed with music (every kind besides country), but I do not like live music (due to my sensitive hearing and past concert experiences.)
(3) I'm anxious but have a high energy/vitality for life.
(4) I don't like things smaller than me. (animals, insects, other creatures, etc...)
(5) By the same token, I am fascinated by things larger than me (large ships, large maps, giant marine mammals such as whales, the ocean, the universe.)


Listen to: Far East Movement "Change your life" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKw0P4XsDes

I made a prosperous voyage when I suffered a shipwreck -Zeno

The biggest misconception people have about me is that they think they have me figured out. In spite of my age, I have had a substantial amount of life experience that I don't get credit for or that people who meet me cannot conjecture. To list things now would only be out of hubris, so I will conclude this with a quote from a Stoic (very fitting for me.) Those who are familiar with the school of thought and can identify the major principles of Stoicism have a glimpse of some of my beliefs. True to the irony of the reputation of Stoicism, its ideology is also frequently misconceived by the masses.

I made a prosperous voyage when I suffered a shipwreck
-Zeno of Citium

Listen to: Skrillrex "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSeNSzJ2-Jw