TO LIVE IS TO KNOW?
I think of this in many ways. I learn things by experience. Hands on. You can tell me how to transplant a sappling, but until I do it on my own and feel its roots, feel the soil, understand the sunshines effect, etc, I really don't know. Some people can grasp things without having to do it with their hands and sometimes I can almost..... but when I get it in my hands, is when I say I know it.
But to ask is to live to know? There are so many directions of that. As I live I know. But as I know more, the only thing I really know is that I know so little. Many people think that since they have lived it, they know, but in truth they may only know for themselves. We are so complex. And maybe they don't really know. Perhaps I know how to transplant a baby tree, but I have really only done that in michigan and california, so do I know how to transplant trees in africa?
I think to live is to be open to understanding. To at least know that there is no one way. But if we don't at least try one way we are so much further from knowing anything in the first place. I guess I know that I can't really stand people that think they know everything.
MEMORY AND MAGIC
A touch of irony that we just read this article as my housemate and I just relaxed to a blockbuster movie about magic called the illusionist. It was not great, but it did prompt a conversation about how come people are so facinated by magic. It makes sense that the great magicians had such insight to peoples psyches as they seem to all factor in how the common brain would react to a situation and alter it. We talked about how we are creatures of habit, and when someone comes in front of us to show us such a divergence from this habit, it is full of so much awe. The irony of the article it that the magic is using our habit of memory to trick us. And then we are amazed. In short, we are so backwards.
Friday, August 10, 2007
week#13
CELL BIOLOGY AND TCM STUDIES
Alas, you asked the question just when I decided that this weeks material would suit me for my final paper. I guess I'll give away some hints to what I was thinking about. What is this energy medicine? Perhaps it is linked to what is happening in each one of our cells. They are focused on producing energy for the entire body. Like Qi, this energy is not visible through a microscope, but it is accepted that the cells are making ATP to provide a usable energy. TCM shows this energy to flow in a more direct pathway (the meridians) much like biology shows the blood to travel through certain pathways. I believe that our needles and our herbs work with the ATP, boost the production of ATP and help guide it to the place in most need of healing.
HOW CELLS DIVIDE: Mitosis vs. Meiosis
I suppose in a battle of mitosis vs. meiosis, mitosis would win as it is producing a fully formed new cell while meiosis is making a zygote which requires another sex cell to reproduce with it. But I know this is not what you were getting at. For some reason, I really liked biology in high school and remember many things from it. I think I mentioned this in other blogs, but it was in this class (in a religious high school no less) that I first started thinking about my spiritual path. I was so amazed by the tiny details that made up living things and started to believe that this was all too genius just by chance. But that is not what you were asking about as well. In short, I am amazed by cell division. I am amazed that with each level of meiosis we come closer to the chance to form something totally unique when that cell finds its match. I am thankful for mitosis as my cells replacing themselves with new, healthy ones..... what could be better?
Alas, you asked the question just when I decided that this weeks material would suit me for my final paper. I guess I'll give away some hints to what I was thinking about. What is this energy medicine? Perhaps it is linked to what is happening in each one of our cells. They are focused on producing energy for the entire body. Like Qi, this energy is not visible through a microscope, but it is accepted that the cells are making ATP to provide a usable energy. TCM shows this energy to flow in a more direct pathway (the meridians) much like biology shows the blood to travel through certain pathways. I believe that our needles and our herbs work with the ATP, boost the production of ATP and help guide it to the place in most need of healing.
HOW CELLS DIVIDE: Mitosis vs. Meiosis
I suppose in a battle of mitosis vs. meiosis, mitosis would win as it is producing a fully formed new cell while meiosis is making a zygote which requires another sex cell to reproduce with it. But I know this is not what you were getting at. For some reason, I really liked biology in high school and remember many things from it. I think I mentioned this in other blogs, but it was in this class (in a religious high school no less) that I first started thinking about my spiritual path. I was so amazed by the tiny details that made up living things and started to believe that this was all too genius just by chance. But that is not what you were asking about as well. In short, I am amazed by cell division. I am amazed that with each level of meiosis we come closer to the chance to form something totally unique when that cell finds its match. I am thankful for mitosis as my cells replacing themselves with new, healthy ones..... what could be better?
Monday, July 30, 2007
Week#12
DIVERSITY OF SPECIES
When I think about diversity of species I automatically go to plants in my environment as I am installing a native garden in my home. And as the bay area has such a specific ecosystem, there are native plants that thrive here.... and they are not too limited to their number of species. I am amazed by the selection of plants/trees that are available and present in our parks. Here if you go for a stroll in tilden, it is shocking how many different plant species there are and I would guess over half of them are native. In michigan (where I used to live) a walk in the park was a game of trying to name that invasive plant, which left less diversity of plant species. Still, there are grasses and blackberries, ie, that get in the way. I read that before the invasive grasses came to these parts, even though we are rain free for seven months, all the hills were always covered with green. Now we have our usual browning.
Still it is important to note that we live in a city, and as humans populate an area they may bring a diversity of culture and races, they strongly diminish the diversity of plant species, as our footsteps are so large. I know we took the homes of hundreds of animals, and try to be friendly to the deers that seem at home (Even though two ate my entire veggie garden over the weekend).
The real neat thing to me is that the fog plays are very interesting role in the diversity of plant species. Redwoods, for example, know how to slap the fog with their needles onto the ground and water their roots (which need tons of water). Our live oaks need small amounts of water and learned to ignore the fog, or just not grow where it is too heavy. This gives me hope that as long as we don't cut them down, they will survive here over other invasive species.
LINKS ON CELLS
Ahhh, good old biology. It is always great revist the cells in living organisms as it is flat out amazing. Every detail has such a important function, and there are so so so many cells of this detail that makes us living things. How did this come to be? LIke I said in a previous blog, science is what makes me visit my spiritual questions. It is so awe inspiring. And when you put a human cell next to a plant cell, it is so neat to see the comparisons as we are all in this to live.
SPIKES GALLERY
Wow! These are works of art. It makes me think about images that we are drawn to in art or design, often already exist in nature. Perhaps there is something subtle in our subconcious that finds comfort with images that we share life with. My favorite is the Opercularia articulata as it looks like a beautiful flower. Neat.
When I think about diversity of species I automatically go to plants in my environment as I am installing a native garden in my home. And as the bay area has such a specific ecosystem, there are native plants that thrive here.... and they are not too limited to their number of species. I am amazed by the selection of plants/trees that are available and present in our parks. Here if you go for a stroll in tilden, it is shocking how many different plant species there are and I would guess over half of them are native. In michigan (where I used to live) a walk in the park was a game of trying to name that invasive plant, which left less diversity of plant species. Still, there are grasses and blackberries, ie, that get in the way. I read that before the invasive grasses came to these parts, even though we are rain free for seven months, all the hills were always covered with green. Now we have our usual browning.
Still it is important to note that we live in a city, and as humans populate an area they may bring a diversity of culture and races, they strongly diminish the diversity of plant species, as our footsteps are so large. I know we took the homes of hundreds of animals, and try to be friendly to the deers that seem at home (Even though two ate my entire veggie garden over the weekend).
The real neat thing to me is that the fog plays are very interesting role in the diversity of plant species. Redwoods, for example, know how to slap the fog with their needles onto the ground and water their roots (which need tons of water). Our live oaks need small amounts of water and learned to ignore the fog, or just not grow where it is too heavy. This gives me hope that as long as we don't cut them down, they will survive here over other invasive species.
LINKS ON CELLS
Ahhh, good old biology. It is always great revist the cells in living organisms as it is flat out amazing. Every detail has such a important function, and there are so so so many cells of this detail that makes us living things. How did this come to be? LIke I said in a previous blog, science is what makes me visit my spiritual questions. It is so awe inspiring. And when you put a human cell next to a plant cell, it is so neat to see the comparisons as we are all in this to live.
SPIKES GALLERY
Wow! These are works of art. It makes me think about images that we are drawn to in art or design, often already exist in nature. Perhaps there is something subtle in our subconcious that finds comfort with images that we share life with. My favorite is the Opercularia articulata as it looks like a beautiful flower. Neat.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Week#11
GROWING BRAIN CELLS IN THE LABORATORY:
Ahhhh, sometimes I wish I could grow extra brain cells so I could process these complicated issues with more ease. When I was 20, it seemed that issues such as these were so much more black and white, and as I age, things increasingly have become grey. Perhaps part of it is having had more experience with life and even having to face some of these choices, and the other perhaps is the fact that all these issues that are under much debate, are in fact under debate because there are at least two valid sides.
In specifics to brain cell research, my initial reaction is to be awed, as our leaps in science flat out amaze me. My next reaction is to be scared, because how fast we are moving in the realm of science feels like a speeding train that might crash anywhere, anytime.... and there is no way to tell.
All I can say is now that I know I am motivated by love, if someone I loved dearly was blind, and had a chance to see again because of this research, I think I would be supporting its process. There is so much we take for granted, and as have being someone that was once quite ill, when you are sick you will do almost anything to find your health. I don't think it is my right to get up and say that this research is immoral at the stake of millions of people retaining their vision. I just hope that somewhere out there, some of the research is investigating possible future side effects.
And in the end, one of the cores of this research is to help people. Yes, perhaps many of the cores is to make money on a miracle drug to sure blindness. I have intentions in this world that have more than one core, and I think it is impossible to act in pure altruism. I think people lump technology with scienctists too often and forget that most of what is polluting the planet is in fact the huge businesses that decided it would be neat to design a new, bigger, faster, better something.....
One of the Definitions of the “Chemistry of Life”:
"Biochemistry is the study of the fundamental mechanisms of life at the molecular level"
Of all the definitions, this one helps me understand what biochemistry really is, as it combines how I understand biology and chemistry. Where biology is the study of life, and chemisty is the study matter at a molecular level. Together we get to study life at a molecular level. Ironically enough, when I studies this in high school, at a religious school no less, this was the first time in my personal path that I started to toy with the possiblity of a God. I love that a hard science provoked this.
One of the ANIMATIONS:
I tried to watch an animation of DNA cells replicating, but as usual, I could not get my computer to perform this function. But I could just picture all the spirals seperating and finding new pairs and new sprirals....... The lovely double helix.
Ahhhh, sometimes I wish I could grow extra brain cells so I could process these complicated issues with more ease. When I was 20, it seemed that issues such as these were so much more black and white, and as I age, things increasingly have become grey. Perhaps part of it is having had more experience with life and even having to face some of these choices, and the other perhaps is the fact that all these issues that are under much debate, are in fact under debate because there are at least two valid sides.
In specifics to brain cell research, my initial reaction is to be awed, as our leaps in science flat out amaze me. My next reaction is to be scared, because how fast we are moving in the realm of science feels like a speeding train that might crash anywhere, anytime.... and there is no way to tell.
All I can say is now that I know I am motivated by love, if someone I loved dearly was blind, and had a chance to see again because of this research, I think I would be supporting its process. There is so much we take for granted, and as have being someone that was once quite ill, when you are sick you will do almost anything to find your health. I don't think it is my right to get up and say that this research is immoral at the stake of millions of people retaining their vision. I just hope that somewhere out there, some of the research is investigating possible future side effects.
And in the end, one of the cores of this research is to help people. Yes, perhaps many of the cores is to make money on a miracle drug to sure blindness. I have intentions in this world that have more than one core, and I think it is impossible to act in pure altruism. I think people lump technology with scienctists too often and forget that most of what is polluting the planet is in fact the huge businesses that decided it would be neat to design a new, bigger, faster, better something.....
One of the Definitions of the “Chemistry of Life”:
"Biochemistry is the study of the fundamental mechanisms of life at the molecular level"
Of all the definitions, this one helps me understand what biochemistry really is, as it combines how I understand biology and chemistry. Where biology is the study of life, and chemisty is the study matter at a molecular level. Together we get to study life at a molecular level. Ironically enough, when I studies this in high school, at a religious school no less, this was the first time in my personal path that I started to toy with the possiblity of a God. I love that a hard science provoked this.
One of the ANIMATIONS:
I tried to watch an animation of DNA cells replicating, but as usual, I could not get my computer to perform this function. But I could just picture all the spirals seperating and finding new pairs and new sprirals....... The lovely double helix.
Week #10
MY SEMICONDUCTOR OF THE WEEK:
I choose Aluminum (Al), atomic number 13, atomic weight 26.981538, because I am interested to follow up on the theories that aluminum is linked to alzheimers disease, and my lucky number is 13..... so I could not resist. It says that aluminium is the second most commonly used element in this world (right behind iron), and if it is unhealthy for us living creatures.... this can be scary. Here are some examples of where aluminum is used to show a bit how dependent we are on it:
Transportation (automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railroad cars, marine vessels, bicycles etc.)
Packaging (cans, foil, etc.)
Water treatment
Treatment against fish parasites such as Gyrodactylus salaris.
Construction (windows, doors, siding, building wire, etc.)
Cooking utensils
Electrical transmission lines for power distribution
MKM steel and Alnico magnets
Super purity aluminium (SPA, 99.980% to 99.999% Al), used in electronics and CDs.
Heat sinks for electronic appliances such as transistors and CPUs.
Powdered aluminium is used in paint, and in pyrotechnics such as solid rocket fuels and thermite.
In the blades of prop swords and knives used in stage combat.
(from wiki).
As for its link to alzheimers, I thought this site described it well:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Facts_about_dementia/Risk_factors/info_aluminium.htm
In short, it is possible, but so hard to test as aluminnium is almost everywhere. Nonetheless, it is still important to know there is a possible link as it is not too hard to avoid at the very least injesting it or putting in on our boides.
LINK TO: Welcome to Chembalancer and Green Chemisty, balancing equations:
As usual, when you give me a game to play, especially with numbers, I will happily learn and digest the harder concepts of balancing equations and sorts. I don't know why we did not do it this way in high school. Maybe it is the libra in me, but i like finding balance in numbers.
I choose Aluminum (Al), atomic number 13, atomic weight 26.981538, because I am interested to follow up on the theories that aluminum is linked to alzheimers disease, and my lucky number is 13..... so I could not resist. It says that aluminium is the second most commonly used element in this world (right behind iron), and if it is unhealthy for us living creatures.... this can be scary. Here are some examples of where aluminum is used to show a bit how dependent we are on it:
Transportation (automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railroad cars, marine vessels, bicycles etc.)
Packaging (cans, foil, etc.)
Water treatment
Treatment against fish parasites such as Gyrodactylus salaris.
Construction (windows, doors, siding, building wire, etc.)
Cooking utensils
Electrical transmission lines for power distribution
MKM steel and Alnico magnets
Super purity aluminium (SPA, 99.980% to 99.999% Al), used in electronics and CDs.
Heat sinks for electronic appliances such as transistors and CPUs.
Powdered aluminium is used in paint, and in pyrotechnics such as solid rocket fuels and thermite.
In the blades of prop swords and knives used in stage combat.
(from wiki).
As for its link to alzheimers, I thought this site described it well:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Facts_about_dementia/Risk_factors/info_aluminium.htm
In short, it is possible, but so hard to test as aluminnium is almost everywhere. Nonetheless, it is still important to know there is a possible link as it is not too hard to avoid at the very least injesting it or putting in on our boides.
LINK TO: Welcome to Chembalancer and Green Chemisty, balancing equations:
As usual, when you give me a game to play, especially with numbers, I will happily learn and digest the harder concepts of balancing equations and sorts. I don't know why we did not do it this way in high school. Maybe it is the libra in me, but i like finding balance in numbers.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Week #8
An Inconvenient Truth......
In my second viewing of this film, I am still so shaken by what it has to teach. Kudos for anyone who can get through this stream of thoughts. My bike ride home from class is a hard 30 minute climb and I don't even remember it as I was stewing over some details. Now two weeks later, I feel it is not consuming all my thoughts.
I am struck with so many emotions in reaction to this film. Fear, anger, sadness, frustration, and a tiny bit of hope.
This issue is flat out scary. The reference he made to the ice age happening in only ten years horrified me. This issue is pressing and it seems that we are doomed. I am so happy that Gore made a movie about this and I think it was very wise to make it a moral issue over a political issue. As it is a moral issue, and if it were political perhaps many more people would not have seen it. I flat out can't believe that there are skeptics to global warming. The signs are everywhere around us, and the statistics that he provided were pretty irrefutable. So I am scared. I don't think unless major political policies are changed that we have much hope. I am so curious what would have happened if Gore became our president. If we would all be driving electric cars. So, thank you Mr. Gore for making a movie that explained the issues in a mature way, and trying to show how pressing this is.
The anger comes from my personal hopes. I have devoted my life to living green. It really is a lifestyle. It effects what I eat, how I travel, how I want to raise my children, etc. I am floored by how many people are not doing anything. Being single and "dating" a bit, even in the bay area, I am considered eccentric for living this way. That is crazy! This is not an issue of race, class, or gender, this is our future. And the hardest part for me is I feel I am doing all that I can. I have to live with waste of all the millions that don't know or don't care. It seems unfair. Not that I am a saint, but sometimes I wonder why I try so hard.
Perhaps on a personal note, all that I really wanted out of this life is to be a good mom. And now it seems that a huge footprint is to have a child. So with my lifelong dream to bare a child one day, I am leaning towards adopting instead. This seems so backwards. Why do all the people that don't do anything about the problem get to pop out as many kids as they want, and then the people that know the issue have to make this choice. Furthermore, what do I want for my child's future? I don't want them having to make boats to find the only land that is left from the icecaps melting. And what if that happens in the next ten years, perhaps I won't even get to live my dream. (Its not like I asked to be a rock star, wanting to raise a child seems like a fair dream). So I am pissed.
Nonetheless, I love nature. It nourishes me, and for that I am so deeply thankful that it seems only natural to try to live in harmony with it. I am so scared of who we have become. So thank you al gore for putting us in our place (even if every single shot of you in the film is of you using some sort of fossil fuel..oops). I wish you could more people what to do.
Thank you Michael Moore for putting us in our place. Sicko was another important movie.
Thank you Leonardo Decaprio, I have not seen his new movie, but big cheers for a "heart throb" making a movie about serious green urban designs. I guess change is in the air. What makes us so numb? I have to believe that it is that we don't know how to help.
yikes, I am going to break this blog site.
In my second viewing of this film, I am still so shaken by what it has to teach. Kudos for anyone who can get through this stream of thoughts. My bike ride home from class is a hard 30 minute climb and I don't even remember it as I was stewing over some details. Now two weeks later, I feel it is not consuming all my thoughts.
I am struck with so many emotions in reaction to this film. Fear, anger, sadness, frustration, and a tiny bit of hope.
This issue is flat out scary. The reference he made to the ice age happening in only ten years horrified me. This issue is pressing and it seems that we are doomed. I am so happy that Gore made a movie about this and I think it was very wise to make it a moral issue over a political issue. As it is a moral issue, and if it were political perhaps many more people would not have seen it. I flat out can't believe that there are skeptics to global warming. The signs are everywhere around us, and the statistics that he provided were pretty irrefutable. So I am scared. I don't think unless major political policies are changed that we have much hope. I am so curious what would have happened if Gore became our president. If we would all be driving electric cars. So, thank you Mr. Gore for making a movie that explained the issues in a mature way, and trying to show how pressing this is.
The anger comes from my personal hopes. I have devoted my life to living green. It really is a lifestyle. It effects what I eat, how I travel, how I want to raise my children, etc. I am floored by how many people are not doing anything. Being single and "dating" a bit, even in the bay area, I am considered eccentric for living this way. That is crazy! This is not an issue of race, class, or gender, this is our future. And the hardest part for me is I feel I am doing all that I can. I have to live with waste of all the millions that don't know or don't care. It seems unfair. Not that I am a saint, but sometimes I wonder why I try so hard.
Perhaps on a personal note, all that I really wanted out of this life is to be a good mom. And now it seems that a huge footprint is to have a child. So with my lifelong dream to bare a child one day, I am leaning towards adopting instead. This seems so backwards. Why do all the people that don't do anything about the problem get to pop out as many kids as they want, and then the people that know the issue have to make this choice. Furthermore, what do I want for my child's future? I don't want them having to make boats to find the only land that is left from the icecaps melting. And what if that happens in the next ten years, perhaps I won't even get to live my dream. (Its not like I asked to be a rock star, wanting to raise a child seems like a fair dream). So I am pissed.
Nonetheless, I love nature. It nourishes me, and for that I am so deeply thankful that it seems only natural to try to live in harmony with it. I am so scared of who we have become. So thank you al gore for putting us in our place (even if every single shot of you in the film is of you using some sort of fossil fuel..oops). I wish you could more people what to do.
Thank you Michael Moore for putting us in our place. Sicko was another important movie.
Thank you Leonardo Decaprio, I have not seen his new movie, but big cheers for a "heart throb" making a movie about serious green urban designs. I guess change is in the air. What makes us so numb? I have to believe that it is that we don't know how to help.
yikes, I am going to break this blog site.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
week#7
MY ALKALI EARTH METAL OF THE WEEK:
CALCIUM
Atomic number 20, atomic weight 40.078
I chose calcium as it has always been important in growing food. Adding calcium to the soil, in the form of dolomite, gave the plants more fibers in their vegetative states, and also helped balanced the ph of the soil.
When I was vegan, people always used to hound me with the question of how was I getting my protein, but the real question should have been how was I getting my calcium, as it often comes from dairy (and we all tend to eat too much protein). There were many foods that I was able to find that were high in calcium, which included: seaweed/ kelps, kale, broccoli, collards, almonds, dendelion greens and okra. When I grew these foods (other than the seaweed and almonds), I noticed upon soil testing that they absorbed more of the calcium from the soil than the other plants. Pretty neat.
THE FOODS IN OUR KITCHEN
This is a fun one, as we try to grow most of our own foods. Over the winter, we had a very green kitchen full of kale, collards, lettuce greens, broccoil. Our color variety came with the carrots and beets. But now we are moving into the season where the fruits of the veggies can grow and we are starting to have a more colorful kitchen. I love the summer colors in the garden. Our summer squash is blooming, adding some yellow. Soon we will have many different color tomatoes, and this year I planted three different color string beans. (While I ran the CSA I learned that giving out a colorful box of veggies was a treasure). I am addicted to eatting green food, but also enjoy a colorful plate. It is neat to think that there are certain cravings based on a chemisty basis..... I'll get back to you.
THE LINKS
Geez, I learned something new in just the first paragraph in the link about minerals. I love rocks and crystals, I am a novice on the subject, but find them healing to touch and view and always take time to examine them. I thought they were catagorized by their color and the article explained that the worst way to ID these minerals is by color, I guess when I think about it, it makes sense, but I am going to have to ask someone with more experience to ID the crystals on my alter.
CALCIUM
Atomic number 20, atomic weight 40.078
I chose calcium as it has always been important in growing food. Adding calcium to the soil, in the form of dolomite, gave the plants more fibers in their vegetative states, and also helped balanced the ph of the soil.
When I was vegan, people always used to hound me with the question of how was I getting my protein, but the real question should have been how was I getting my calcium, as it often comes from dairy (and we all tend to eat too much protein). There were many foods that I was able to find that were high in calcium, which included: seaweed/ kelps, kale, broccoli, collards, almonds, dendelion greens and okra. When I grew these foods (other than the seaweed and almonds), I noticed upon soil testing that they absorbed more of the calcium from the soil than the other plants. Pretty neat.
THE FOODS IN OUR KITCHEN
This is a fun one, as we try to grow most of our own foods. Over the winter, we had a very green kitchen full of kale, collards, lettuce greens, broccoil. Our color variety came with the carrots and beets. But now we are moving into the season where the fruits of the veggies can grow and we are starting to have a more colorful kitchen. I love the summer colors in the garden. Our summer squash is blooming, adding some yellow. Soon we will have many different color tomatoes, and this year I planted three different color string beans. (While I ran the CSA I learned that giving out a colorful box of veggies was a treasure). I am addicted to eatting green food, but also enjoy a colorful plate. It is neat to think that there are certain cravings based on a chemisty basis..... I'll get back to you.
THE LINKS
Geez, I learned something new in just the first paragraph in the link about minerals. I love rocks and crystals, I am a novice on the subject, but find them healing to touch and view and always take time to examine them. I thought they were catagorized by their color and the article explained that the worst way to ID these minerals is by color, I guess when I think about it, it makes sense, but I am going to have to ask someone with more experience to ID the crystals on my alter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)