Do you hear what I hear?

I am always interested and amused by strange research. Having been a lowly PhD student for a *ahem* few years, I have run across all sorts of interesting (to put it mildly) research - things I have read in journals, seen at conferences, read in newsclippings, etc. And in seeing all the different things being researched, I have become convinced that ANYTHING will be funded as long as there is one person interested.

Genetics has always produced a great deal of interesting work, especially recently with the "completion" of the Human Genome Project. Completion is a relative term, because even though the genome is mapped, people are still trying to figure out what these genes do. (I personally don't believe the project is truly complete until they figure that portion of it out... but I digress.) Anyway, with a map of genes available, geneticists have been able to determine such important things such as the genes which, when mutated, could cause cancer.

So when I saw a news article entitled, "Scientists Find Gene That Controls Type of Earwax in People," my interest was a little more than peaked. Who researches this kind of thing? Why earwax? There are apparently two types of earwax - wet and dry (who knew?) - which are controlled by a specific gene. According to researchers, a single DNA change causes the inactivation of an export mechanism in cells, therefore resulting in dry earwax. Wet earwax is prevalent in the African and European populations, while dry earwax is dominant in East Asians. There is also apparently a correlation between the type of earwax, sweat and armpit odor, where those who have dry earwax tend to have sweat less and have little to no body odor. Eeeen-ter-est-ink

What does this mean for the rest of us? What can we do with this information? Who the heck knows. Maybe at some point there will be gene therapy for people with really bad BO. I think that would be a great step forward for humanity. It will at least make riding in a packed subway a little less gross.

Open that big mouth

There is something infinitely satisfying about saying exactly what is on your mind. I have been trying to do this lately - without being mean or snide, and only somewhat sarcastic, and let me say, it has made me a much happier person.

It's very difficult in general to be honest with yourself. I've had that problem and still occasionally do, but I'm getting better. The difficulty in being honest with yourself is that you have to be inherently self-reflective. I have recently come to the conclusion that one's level of maturity is coincident with the level of self-reflection one engages in. Why? Because in self-reflection, one learns not to point fingers, to honestly evaluate not only what one feels but also why, to expect the same from oneself as from others. It is easy to say, "I don't like it when YOU do that." How easy is it to say, "I don't like it when I do that?"

And in being honest with myself, it becomes much easier to be honest with others. I can get past ego and arrogance, learn to not take myself too seriously, learn to take criticism as something other than a personal attack. Because there is always more that I can learn from others - even the way not to do something. I have gained confidence and learned humility. I don't always need to have the last word. I can be wrong and say so without shame or anger or resentment. I try very hard not to say, "I told you so," because I know how much worse it can make things.

In trying to be more honest with myself, I have also noticed that I take much less bullshit from others. I no longer deal with petty behaviour. I will not allow someone else to accuse me of anything just because it eases his/her own mind. And I will call someone on his/her bullshit, just as I would expect to be called on mine. I am a friend and not a mindless cheerleader, which means I will express my opinion and not be afraid to disagree or be disagreed with. But even my friend disagrees with my opinion, I will give my 100% support because that is what friends do. And I am always trying to be a better friend.

Who was it who said that sometimes it's harder to make the right decisions? I guess it's the same person who said that it's impossible to be truly honest with others if you are not honest with yourself. I think those two thoughts go hand in hand... and that if I work to be more honest with myself, that the right decisions may become easier. Or at least that's the hope.

The New Year Cometh

It's the beginning of 2006. And as such, a time to reflect on the last year and look forward to the next...

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I don't because I believe that if you want to do something to improve yourself, you should just resolve to do it, whenever that may be. People make all sorts of resolutions at the New Year, only to have them fail before then end of January. Why is that? It just becomes expected and cliche. Losing weight, learning a new language, eating better, exercise, blah blah blah. It's trite.

There were a few things that I had decided to do this year long before New Year's Eve:

- I am going to run a half marathon with LS (who convinced me by saying, "come on, it's only 13 miles!" which I somehow thought was reasonable). As a prelude to this, we are going to run a marathon as part of a 4 person relay team (so 6.5 miles).

- I will re-learn to speak French (not that I was any good at it to begin with). I began this last year and will continue on this year.

- I am going to start climbing again and get as many people as possible to join me.

- I will become comfortable enough riding a motorcycle and try to save enough to purchase one.

These are things that I thought of as general things I want to do. It doesn't necessarily matter if they are accomplished within the timeframe of this year. As with everything, actions which promote self-improvement, whether successful or not, always further the mind and the spirit... boy, talk about cliche.