I might start working again. I know, it burns, it burns. But in fact it isn't that bad because the job will be part time, at a university, and tie into my current learning interests. Specifically the work will be in a lab conducting comparative genetic analysis on microbial organisms. The process is known as Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) ... It will at least give me something complicated sounding to WOW people with when they ask "What do you do?" ... as opposed to the answers I give now...
I have also started a website on the molecular causes of biological aging
Science of Aging
This includes outlining major discoveries in the Science of Aging timeline.
The website has been picked up and linked by major websites like:
The Methuselah Foundation
FightAging.org
The Ouroboros Blog (which has made two contributions to the timeline)
It seems like 10 years ago since I quit my job as a health care analyst and started a journey to travel the world, be an entrepreneur, and return to grad school. The time I was at work I had it in mind to study aging...one day... and when I have enough money. It was my deferred life plan. The dream I sacrificed for, but which I could have started at any time. It doesn't seem odd to think about it now, following your dreams is hard work. It is more work. It is fun and rewarding. But it is more work. I will also say that dreams are obscured. Or never what is expected, but have to be carved by life in a way, like a puzzle piece cut to fit.
I went to the mountains to see snow in April. I collected some video clips presented for your viewing below:
I think I will ride out the summer here, particularly if I start working and applying to grad schools, then it would be good to travel. And where to go? Good question, both Japan and France are on the list. Tokyo or Nice? Montepillier or Kyoto?
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Saturday Flohmarkt
Today marks a Saturday in Frankfurt and so I thought I would do a post about a typical day. I have made a trip to the zoo and to the botanical/greenhouse garden with some friends from the school, but those both seem too typical to blog about. You know?
So anyway, here is my room in Frankfurt:
The building I live in is over 100 years old, with tremendously high ceilings, and is located on Underlindau in the glamorous, Mercedes filled, West-End.
This Saturday morning was cloudy and set in with fog. In my 14 days here thus far, there have only been two mornings this foggy.
On Saturdays there is a large Flea Market (Flohmarkt) by the River Main where you can get a fresh made waffle with cherries, and a coffee for 3 Euro:
It is nice to know it was made by an outsized German lady into the pastries, but in all honestly, hardly anyone here in the city is outsized.
The fluhmarkt then has your typical kitschy imports like NYPD exercise wear, or Dolce and Gabana Underwear.
Then there are the more classic antiques like an old record player or brass embossed frame/cupid etc...
Other finds of note was an awesome ABBA book replete with some of the tackiest costumes and photos you can imagine. It was seriously difficult not to buy it. Someone also had some rather large photos on North Carolina beaches! Crazy. "How did you get these?" I asked. "Ve vent to North Carolina last yih-air, vould you like to bi-eee dem? 20 cents?"
No thanks.
The more I travel, the less differences I see. After all, this was a Saturday flea market not unlike the one I consistently don't go to in Raleigh. It still had old crap for sale on the cheap, or not-so-cheap-as-it-should-be. And it also had the fatty confections and concessions. The only differences were the prominence of German, Arabic, and Spanish languages, and the fact that beer was being sold at 9a.m. and most people were buying and drinking it. (Just like in Belize!)
I guess the other difference is that it was nearby, and in a more romantic atmosphere, but that could just be because I am new here. Really, the amount and kind of people one is with shapes a place more than anything in my opinion. Going around Frankfurt on my own is very different then going around with Japanese, Finnish, or Mexican people. Each one tends to impart their own reactions that actually changes the perception of the city. Even in my home town of Cary, there is a difference between shopping alone, and going shopping with someone. If you are with someone who has an empty mind and bad taste, every aspect of the place you are in will be annoying. At the same time, if you are with someone artistic, you might be led to see things you otherwise have overlooked again and again. The same is true with yourself. How much you know about the history, the geology, the future, etc...of a place, all the more you will appreciate it.
There is no end to how much you can appreciate a certain place, or the combinations of people you can be with in a particular place, and I get into debates as to the worth of spending time in appreciating the physical world against spending time studying and discovering the world of information and logic. Unraveling the mysteries as it were. The answer is to invest some time in both, but it will take some time to get the ratios right, I think I am just going to study as much as I can till I need a break, and then go out and try to see something new in the world.
So anyway, here is my room in Frankfurt:
The building I live in is over 100 years old, with tremendously high ceilings, and is located on Underlindau in the glamorous, Mercedes filled, West-End.
This Saturday morning was cloudy and set in with fog. In my 14 days here thus far, there have only been two mornings this foggy.
On Saturdays there is a large Flea Market (Flohmarkt) by the River Main where you can get a fresh made waffle with cherries, and a coffee for 3 Euro:
It is nice to know it was made by an outsized German lady into the pastries, but in all honestly, hardly anyone here in the city is outsized.
The fluhmarkt then has your typical kitschy imports like NYPD exercise wear, or Dolce and Gabana Underwear.
Then there are the more classic antiques like an old record player or brass embossed frame/cupid etc...
Other finds of note was an awesome ABBA book replete with some of the tackiest costumes and photos you can imagine. It was seriously difficult not to buy it. Someone also had some rather large photos on North Carolina beaches! Crazy. "How did you get these?" I asked. "Ve vent to North Carolina last yih-air, vould you like to bi-eee dem? 20 cents?"
No thanks.
The more I travel, the less differences I see. After all, this was a Saturday flea market not unlike the one I consistently don't go to in Raleigh. It still had old crap for sale on the cheap, or not-so-cheap-as-it-should-be. And it also had the fatty confections and concessions. The only differences were the prominence of German, Arabic, and Spanish languages, and the fact that beer was being sold at 9a.m. and most people were buying and drinking it. (Just like in Belize!)
I guess the other difference is that it was nearby, and in a more romantic atmosphere, but that could just be because I am new here. Really, the amount and kind of people one is with shapes a place more than anything in my opinion. Going around Frankfurt on my own is very different then going around with Japanese, Finnish, or Mexican people. Each one tends to impart their own reactions that actually changes the perception of the city. Even in my home town of Cary, there is a difference between shopping alone, and going shopping with someone. If you are with someone who has an empty mind and bad taste, every aspect of the place you are in will be annoying. At the same time, if you are with someone artistic, you might be led to see things you otherwise have overlooked again and again. The same is true with yourself. How much you know about the history, the geology, the future, etc...of a place, all the more you will appreciate it.
There is no end to how much you can appreciate a certain place, or the combinations of people you can be with in a particular place, and I get into debates as to the worth of spending time in appreciating the physical world against spending time studying and discovering the world of information and logic. Unraveling the mysteries as it were. The answer is to invest some time in both, but it will take some time to get the ratios right, I think I am just going to study as much as I can till I need a break, and then go out and try to see something new in the world.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Next trip: Maine
I will be flying off to Maine tomorrow to spend some time in Portland and then on to Bar Harbor. While I am there I will probably spend a lot of time blogging here on a website I have been working very hard to create. The website is a catalog of fruits and vegetables, nutrition facts, and health information. You can check it out if you want:
http://www.healthaliciousness.com
There is also a nutrition facts comparison tool, have a look if you like:
http://www.healthaliciousness.com/nutritionfacts/
Go the the "drinks" category, and compare beer, wine, and whiskey. I think you will be surprised....if you drink such stuff of course. :p
I find I have a real passion for produce, fruits, and vegetables. Usually when I travel I go in search of these things, to me, they are what define a place. I have been batting an idea in the back of my mind to drive down the east coast and work at different farms along the way till I get to Florida. After that my Mom mentioned that she might go to Lebanon at the end of September and I would love to start in at England and travel down to meet her there, and maybe push on to the Emirates, sail down to India, and push on to East Asia until December...
http://www.healthaliciousness.com
There is also a nutrition facts comparison tool, have a look if you like:
http://www.healthaliciousness.com/nutritionfacts/
Go the the "drinks" category, and compare beer, wine, and whiskey. I think you will be surprised....if you drink such stuff of course. :p
I find I have a real passion for produce, fruits, and vegetables. Usually when I travel I go in search of these things, to me, they are what define a place. I have been batting an idea in the back of my mind to drive down the east coast and work at different farms along the way till I get to Florida. After that my Mom mentioned that she might go to Lebanon at the end of September and I would love to start in at England and travel down to meet her there, and maybe push on to the Emirates, sail down to India, and push on to East Asia until December...
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