a GREAT and interesting story that will probably not make the local news

14-year-old 'surgeon' to present findings today. The ninth-grader developed a new technique for sewing up hysterectomy patients

how to stay motivated

the tricky thing with trying to achieve our goals is the difficulty in overcoming adversity along the way. adverse conditions can add levels of difficulty that can seem unsurmountable at times, but we must continue the fight in pursuit of reaching our destinations. this thought was a huge inspiration to me this afternoon, and i hope you find it just as useful:

"want to achieve your goal more than you want things to be easy" - me

thoughts are POWERFUL + dr. gates + HORRIBLE education in georgia

didn't really expect to hear jd spit some real sh*t, but the lil' homie did his thing. in particular, start watching (WARNING: some explicit language) at 2:00 and STOP watching at 3:15 (UNLESS you want to really hear how we party in the south or step into the world of a strip club regular). i might have to start checking his blog regularly if this is the kind of thing i can expect. preciate the encouragement jd and keep doing you thing.

(don't know how you lost janet's fine/sexy a$$ but at least you had her to lose....lol)




SHOUT OUT to magic city mondays, 5 dolla wednesdays (pin-ups), onyx on fridays, and platinum 21 on saturdays (ain't been in the city in 4 damn years, but i know what nights still pop.....ya dig....lol)

switching gears.....

this whole dr. henry louis gates, jr. thing is really sad. whose to say the same thing couldn't happen to the president if the police could actually get to the white house door. it's almost as if you black, you automatically are wrong. that's really eff'd up, but it's hard not to get this impression from the things you see happening in the media. i mean hell, look at how the president is being scrutinized. i WILL say that i am PROUD that he said that the police officer acted 'stupidly.' way to call it like it is. now, let's see the racists in america try and rip obama for that.

it's very ironic that the whole mess happens just as cnn is in the middle of airing their 'black in america pt. 2.' i hear that ms. o'brien has been able to include an interview with dr. gates to include in tonight's program. i need to make sure i catch these online somewhere.

switching gears again....

ALL the news about georgia AIN'T been good news (in the steve harvey kings of comedy segment voice where he is talking about ray caruth and the carolina panthers). check this disheartening story out

nothing like walking to work in the rain to start your day off on the right foot

it takes more than that to ruin my day though. there's work to be done and loads to lift before i can graduate.

1. look at our gov't officials. bunch of underachievers. is anyone else scared that these types of actions ARE NOT surprising anymore!!!! i have been SCREAMING this (that the cellphone convo, not HOLDING the phone, is the distracting part of phone calls while driving) for YEARS. [nytimes article, free registration may be required]

2. you local sports media outlets better get on your damn job. espn ain't playin' NO GAMES!!! [nytimes article, free registration may be required]

president obama's speech to the naacp

i know there have been numerous obama posts lately, but he is just always doing amazing things!!! video is nearly 40 minutes long, but WELL worth it. very inspirational words from our president.

INTERESTING physics lectures from 1964 (made possible by bill gates)

from slashdot:

"...let's see how badly you want to see Feynman's Messenger Lectures on Physics. Bill Gates has the goods over at Microsoft Research's Project Tuva site. Also, CNET's Ina Fried has an interesting interview with Gates. He goes into why he spent his own money to make a series of classic physics lectures available free on the Web..."

http://research.microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva/

didn't realize until just now that my president was a southpaw

anyone that knows me knows that i am a HUGE baseball fan and LOVE watching and playing the game. last night, st. louis hosted this year's mid-summer classic (that's the all-star game if you are not a fan), and the president threw out the ceremonial first pitch to start the game. i did not realize that he was a lefty until this picture made it perfectly clear. and now that i think about it, i do remember seeing him sign certain documents with his left hand.

work, work, work

that's been the story for the last week and a half. nothing too exciting save knowing that i can see more clearly and end to graduate school. the pressure is on, and i am still learning to fight the need to rush things, thinking that i do not have enough time.

it's funny though; the closer i get to finishing, it seems that my plate continues to grow with additional things to do. i guess this is the price you pay.

ummmmm...........randomness i had to share

first......you can't be mad at obama for taking a detailed look (if that is what he was doing) at a nice-looking chick with a nice-looking....(insert politically correct compliment for a women's rear). however, french president nicolas sarkozy has got to be more DISCRETE about his though. at least you can't confirm undeniably that president obama was looking at her a$$.



second.......i always knew that sigmas were EXTRA wack. this just confirms it (honorary members......who does that!?!?!?!?!). wanting to be a sigma is like striving to be next to last. i say 'next to' because everybody knows that the mythical members of the mythical frat iota phi theta are last. at least with the nupes and the queues there is room for debate, although everyone knows that kappa alpha psi fraternity, incorporated is the greatest frat on the planet!!!

p.s. - when will people learn that once you create a platform online, LEAVE IT ALONE and let the USERS CONTROL IT. the days of forcing people to do things the way you want them to do it are OVER (read jeff jarvis' 'what would google do' if this topic is of interest). [nytimes article, free registration may be required]

the downhill

things are definitely downhill from here, and i am happy to say so. i am glad to say that my work moving froward is exclusive of taking anymore hardware measurements! if you have ever done hands-on measurements or experimentation, you understand why i say that i am glad to be done with them (at least for the rest of my phd). before i can completely take my foot off the break and coast as fast as gravity will pull, i must ensure that i am going in the right direction. this week's progress (if you can call it that) has been extremely slow and painful, but i am glad and thankful that i am fixing these bugs and errors in my software before i base conclusions on bad results.

p.s. - on a lighter note, i love baseball and look forward to seeing how this technology ranks players. [nytimes article, free registration may be required]

having purpose (short- and long-term)

i have not been at a loss for purpose and things to do for the past three months it seems, and i am very pleased to say so. my existence here in cambridge is pretty solitary (if not completely so). on the one hand, this is a great thing because there is no one to distract me from the job at hand. on the other is the fact (more like fear) that maybe i have forgotten how to balance intense work with play. this was just a thought i had today while walking to work this morning. seeing how intensely i have locked in over the past month, i really hope that subconsciously i know that it is acceptable to do that here (where i am alone and no one is depending on me), but once i get back around family and friends in the us, i need more balance.

that was the short-term part.

as for long-term, i also fear that my appetite to do and want more may be insatiable and happiness may be something i continuously chase rather although i have already caught and just don't know it. i guess this really plays out when you have people around you that care about you deeply, but you cannot truly enjoy then and be happy because you are too busy NOT being thankful and happy for all that you have accomplished and relationships achieved. i do not think this is the case, but it is one of those things of which you need to be aware.

as i have said for about 10 years now, my competitiveness is my gift and my curse.

ability to focus or simply passion?

the last few days, my focus has been extremely high as i have been debugging some errors in a piece of software i need to get going to continue to press forward. i have made significant strides each day due to the ability to focus and concentrate for hours at a time. while taking a short break, i thought to myself, "is the focus that i have exhibited the last few days been because i am totally in love with my work or simply an exercising of an uncanny ability to block things out and focus for long periods of time?"

this was an interesting (and scary) thought to me because i was not sure what the answer is. i love challenges and solving difficult problems. i am very motivated to FINISH my phd and go to the next stage in life. i have always seemed to be able to focus intently for extended periods of time with no problem (prime example it studying for finals in college). and somewhere in there, i am very interested (not sure if love is the right word here....could this be my answer....lol?). my perspective may be a bit jaded because i have been working in this same area for such a long time that my true love for it is blurred and i perceive it as 'very interested' instead. just a thought.

p.s. - i listened to (but watched the majority of) the entire MJ memorial service today. it was very moving and very well put together.

seeing the end!!!

i had a great meeting with my advisor today, but it was not great due to anything that he said to me. it was great because the dissertation outline that we have been using as meeting material for about a month and a half now is nearly complete!!! the last chapter in the outline is more of a broad, high-level look at things, and should require minimal work in terms of experiments. it should be completed through thought experiments and basic number crunching. needless to say, i can see the end. so much so that we even set a date for me to submit my dissertation: November 6, 2009!!! if that's not exciting then I don't know what is.

the only thing between me and this deadline is the work to be done!!!

getting while the getting is GREAT

i'm not sure if it is just me, but i seem to operate at a much higher level of focus, intensity, efficiency, and (subsequently) productivity when i am stressed, have deadlines, and/or am under pressure. however, sometimes i tend not to embrace hectic times by not seeing the complete picture of the circumstance (e.g. - the positive state of operation i experience when going through these times).

is this just another example of human tendency not to want to 'suffer' temporarily for much long-term gain? is this another example of saying you want one thing but not really meaning it? or is this simply not truly understanding what it takes to accomplish goals and achieve dreams?

i am sure there are multiple combinations of answers for this, and i am also sure that the answers vary depending on the person. however, one thing that i know for myself (that i owe to this phd journey) is that i would much rather the stress of having too much work to do rather than the self-imposed stress of wanting to have work to do but not being able to come up with anything worthwhile. the latter can damn near drive you insane at times.

ambition

ambition - an earnest¹ desire² for achievement³ and distinction⁴

(1) earnest - serious in intention

(2) desire - to long for something

(3) achievement - something accomplished, especially by superior ability, special effort, or great courage

(4) distinction - mark of honor

p.s. - definitions courtesy of dictionary.com

sorry for the delay, been hella busy.....

but, here is a quick rundown of the last few weeks:

1. bill gates was awesome and actually is a pretty funny dude.
2. i only met my first deadline, but i have 1 complete paper and another nearly complete one as a result. still a GREAT accomplishment for a 3-week time period. i am hoping this insanity has pushed my dissertation submission date up at least 2 months.
3. weather hear in cambridge is FINALLY nice. sun is out and it is blazing hot. too bad we dont have air conditioning in the crib.
4. wifey was here since the 14th of june, and we had an amazing time. scoped out st. john's college's may ball. hit paris for 2 days, saw cedric the entertainer in london, toured cambridge, etc. etc. GREAT time!!!
5. need to really start thinking about graduation and finalizing my dissertation.
6. need to get back to thinking about what my next move is after graduation and actively working on making those dreams happen.
7. i have finally spotted the next camera i want to buy. i need to get it before i go to rome in september. i told myself i have to earn 300 gbp before i buy it though! so, i have a challenge for the next 2 months.

that is all i can think of right now, but i will continue to catch up and elaborate as the stories come back to me.

p.s. - R.I.P. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop!!!