Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
a re-reading of past posts
My goodness. I hadn't bothered to really re-read the older posts from this blog. Which, by the by, used to be called "sekai no omoshiroi koto" or, "interesting things in my life." I wanted to only post when something interesting was going on. I wrote sometimes while I was at work, about going to graduate school, and about adopting Rocky & Dylan, and about Lee.
Well, I'm in graduate school. It wasn't as hard as I thought to get back into the swing of things, although I do find it challenging. I'm constantly vigilant of what I need to be doing. (Which I'm sure does not include writing this blog). I need to read more. I need to work on filling in all of those gaps I worry over so much. I need to make sure I know what the hell I will be doing and where I will be going in the field this spring and summer. I need to be prepared to teach the genetics lab and make sure everything is in order. I need to get back in the genetics lab and analyze my sequences.
It's really an exciting time, and I know I need to make sure I'm not taking anything for granted. For example, this beautiful day. 75 F and sunny. And it's the middle of January. Butterflies are still out there flying. You know what they're doing in the Midwest now? Freezing their a**es off. No, thank you.
I'm just writing and thinking a bit before classes start again. I checked out a few books, downloaded a few more articles, went to half-price and purchased "The Green Phoenix: A History of Genetically Modified Plants" by Paul Lurquin of Washington State, and "Dancing Naked in the Mind Field" by Kary Mullis. Yup, inventor-of-the-PCR Mullis. Quite a fascinating read.
There is something that has been bothering me: I haven't been painting or drawing much. I would really like to pick that up again. I tinker now and then, but what I would really like to do, is embark on a new series of works. I wish I had about a dozen 4'x5' canvas-stretched-over-masonite panels to work on. Oh, and a bit of spare time. The trouble is (and I predicted this according to my older blog posts) when I have spare time, I feel like I should be reading or writing. I feel out of sorts if I'm doing anything else now, including having fun. That's a bummer, isn't it?!
Good thing I think research is fun...
Well, I'm in graduate school. It wasn't as hard as I thought to get back into the swing of things, although I do find it challenging. I'm constantly vigilant of what I need to be doing. (Which I'm sure does not include writing this blog). I need to read more. I need to work on filling in all of those gaps I worry over so much. I need to make sure I know what the hell I will be doing and where I will be going in the field this spring and summer. I need to be prepared to teach the genetics lab and make sure everything is in order. I need to get back in the genetics lab and analyze my sequences.
It's really an exciting time, and I know I need to make sure I'm not taking anything for granted. For example, this beautiful day. 75 F and sunny. And it's the middle of January. Butterflies are still out there flying. You know what they're doing in the Midwest now? Freezing their a**es off. No, thank you.
I'm just writing and thinking a bit before classes start again. I checked out a few books, downloaded a few more articles, went to half-price and purchased "The Green Phoenix: A History of Genetically Modified Plants" by Paul Lurquin of Washington State, and "Dancing Naked in the Mind Field" by Kary Mullis. Yup, inventor-of-the-PCR Mullis. Quite a fascinating read.
There is something that has been bothering me: I haven't been painting or drawing much. I would really like to pick that up again. I tinker now and then, but what I would really like to do, is embark on a new series of works. I wish I had about a dozen 4'x5' canvas-stretched-over-masonite panels to work on. Oh, and a bit of spare time. The trouble is (and I predicted this according to my older blog posts) when I have spare time, I feel like I should be reading or writing. I feel out of sorts if I'm doing anything else now, including having fun. That's a bummer, isn't it?!
Good thing I think research is fun...
Esther M. Klein Art Gallery
I'm still looking for what I mean when I want to combine art + science, and this is a very good find. However... something is still not quite there for me.
Friday, January 16, 2009
astrology on about.com
I'm a Gemini, mutable air sign, with Mercury in Gemini. I'm extra space-y and ADHD.
"Who the heck am I?:
Mutable signs experience the sense of multiple selves, and sometimes struggle to feel real and solid in themselves. Their sense of identity is loose, and like a kaleidoscope, always changing. But over time, a core sense of self emerges, based on this changeability, but transcending it, too."
-Molly Hall, about.com astrology guide
"Who the heck am I?:
Mutable signs experience the sense of multiple selves, and sometimes struggle to feel real and solid in themselves. Their sense of identity is loose, and like a kaleidoscope, always changing. But over time, a core sense of self emerges, based on this changeability, but transcending it, too."
-Molly Hall, about.com astrology guide
Thursday, January 15, 2009
art + science mash-up
A quick google search found the following*:
"The Future of Science... Is Art?" was the headline of an article today in SEED magazine. I read it and kept smiling to myself. What a call to arms! I need to tuck this article away... full of threads for me to explore. But I still feel... how? How can we do a mash up of art + science in a meaningful and productive way, that does not feel forced or contrived? There is a lot of science in artmaking, what about art in science...
Art & Science Collaborations, Inc.
I always feel conflicted when trying to combine art and science, and yet I am always drawn to ideas similar to those espoused by ASCI.
I do not know where I fit in this kind of group... I am both a scientist (in the making) and an artist (sometimes). I don't use science to inform my art though, and I don't make science-y art. I just happen to thoroughly enjoy and gain fulfillment from both practices. I suppose I enjoy drawing the human form, but even then, I prefer abstraction and the old-school use of the body as a metaphor for human existence in general, or an allegory, even. I don't particularly like the idea of taking an unmodified image of something in the natural world and presenting it as a kind of contemporary art. I just can't help seeing the bacteria or diatom only. Yup, that's a microorganism.
* The first site pulled up was a hair salon based out of Chicago.
"The Future of Science... Is Art?" was the headline of an article today in SEED magazine. I read it and kept smiling to myself. What a call to arms! I need to tuck this article away... full of threads for me to explore. But I still feel... how? How can we do a mash up of art + science in a meaningful and productive way, that does not feel forced or contrived? There is a lot of science in artmaking, what about art in science...
Art & Science Collaborations, Inc.
I always feel conflicted when trying to combine art and science, and yet I am always drawn to ideas similar to those espoused by ASCI.
I do not know where I fit in this kind of group... I am both a scientist (in the making) and an artist (sometimes). I don't use science to inform my art though, and I don't make science-y art. I just happen to thoroughly enjoy and gain fulfillment from both practices. I suppose I enjoy drawing the human form, but even then, I prefer abstraction and the old-school use of the body as a metaphor for human existence in general, or an allegory, even. I don't particularly like the idea of taking an unmodified image of something in the natural world and presenting it as a kind of contemporary art. I just can't help seeing the bacteria or diatom only. Yup, that's a microorganism.
* The first site pulled up was a hair salon based out of Chicago.
