String of thoughts...

Where do I begin? A month has elapsed since I last wrote an account of any physical or mental escapades. To quote Squints, “I have a lot on my mind.” However, the content is not of a similar vein. True to my blog’s namesake, a kaleidoscope of thoughts from the relevant to irrelevant will be peppered throughout this post with my commentary on how I am a changed person because of it. Sometimes these thoughts are given the unjust act of simply being listed without further explanation. I hope that future posts will attempt to describe what is going on in this noggin of mine. I realize that the mess of words that follow are because of one person—me... So naturally, I will begin with a conversation I had with my dad a few weeks ago that helped me to see this.

The gist of the story goes like this... I had blogged an anecdotal story about my pops. I was reminding him of the laughs I gained from his expense and how he is one reason why I am so peculiar. We were talking about the cleverness behind the title of my blog (solving for x, where x represents me), when he contributed this to the conversation. “That is a good title for your blog. When I think of a mathematical equation, “x” is a big part of the problem.” Ha. What a cheeky fellow my dad can be. Alas, I am never short of laughs when I talk with him.

Nor am I ever in want of topics to mull over. I could create another blog devoted to how my dad and the rest of my family have influenced me. No doubt my dad is one of my heroes. This was established years ago while I was a Desert View Bobcat in the good old Page Unified School District. I recall I had to write and illustrate a book about a hero. My dad was the subject of mine. It is to this topic of heroes that I wish to segue my ramblings of more substance.

One of my favorite questions to ask others and myself is--who are the heroes of this modern age? I love to ponder this question, especially with the accessibility of information past and present. I don't know who else keeps track, but I have an on-going list of people that amaze and inspire me because of their gumption, relentless efforts, and courageous hearts. As an eleven-year-old girl, I wrote in my journal for future me to read of my admiration for Mother Theresa. Physically, she was small, but spiritually she was a giant among men and women. I loved Eleanor Roosevelt's sensible perspective. She inspired confidence and challenged every man and woman to build character. I loved reading about Native American leaders such as Cochise (Chiricahua), Geronimo (Chiricahua), and Barboncito (Navajo) who outwitted their enemies and envisioned great things for a people and land they loved. The athletic talents of Jesse Owens, Pele, Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig, and many others did not escape my notice. These guys stood for something far greater than what their superb athleticism would define them as. These real people were in every sense of the word, a hero. As the years have gone by, Bella Abzug, Jonas Salk, Victor Jara, and Stetson Kennedy have been added to my list of people to ruminate about. This past month Princess Amira al-Tawell who is at the forefront of women's rights in Saudi Arabia entered my list. As I study the history of the presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am equally impressed with the conviction of their individual beliefs. They are personal heroes.

As I write this I know why I have been away for more than a month--I have placed reading above writing! Some days my eyes may look glazed over because I am thinking about what I have been reading about during the day. My reading material comes in varied forms--online journals, online news sources, books, scholarly journals, etc... I've taken the liberty of listing a few--

• DNA nanostructures (whimsical reading)
• The power of metabolomics by using C13-labeling and mass spectrometry (pertinent to my research)
• Disproportion of basic research to translational research funding (something to be mad about)
• Entertainment/media pushing a liberal agenda (insightful reading)
• Freakonomics. I swiftly made my way through the popular book by Levitt & Dubner. Half-way through the book, I chuckled at the progressive nature of the questions that filled my mind from a small kid to an adult. I was reading the chapter titled "How is the KKK like a group of real-estate agents?" I contrasted this read to a childhood book titled "Do Penguins have Knees?" Laughter aside, the former book deserves a substantial discussion amongst friends of diverse backgrounds. I find myself conflicted with the rational of some fundamental ideas of economics. (It is the idealist and realist at war once more.)
• The Emperor of All Maladies. By Siddhartha Mukherjee. A beautifully written book that divulges the history of cancer from the perspective of an oncologist. I have not completed the book, but I am easily engaged in the reading of it.
• A Thousand Splendid Suns. By Khaled Hosseini. This book delivers a powerful story of the resilience and strength of two Afghani women. I cried more than once. The duration of my tears was longer than any other book I have read. My thoughts on this book are better spilled in a face-to-face dialogue.

Lastly, I could not help but record these on my post-it notes when I had the chance. I could not (and still cannot) stop laughing at some of the stuff I humor myself with either on TV (Monk seasons 1-3) or pop-cultural reads... the last bullet point was a gem of a find. I don't know what caused me to passionately write it down.

• Mr. Monk bailed a streaker out of jail (Season 1: Episode 12)... The streaker turned out to be Sharona's date.
• Gargamel has serious issues with everyone's favorite blue friends and must steal smurf-essence to strengthen his powers. However, his wrath is tempered by ineptitude. "He sees himself as Voldemort, but he's a mediocre wizard," says Hank Azaria, who plays Gargamel. "He's more of a Ron Weasley. But he's mean for sure." Especially when he straps Papa Smurf to a machine to extract his Smurf-essence. (The 12 most wanted movie villains of summer from USA Today 6/3/11)
• The baboon in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. He eats things that end with the letter-o, such as Dorito's, Cheeto's, Cheerio's, Oreo's. It's funny because I am prone to whittle away minutes thinking about foods that end with -o.
• Okay this is something of my own thinking... there is a rift between Twi-hards and the Pot-heads. I align myself with the latter group. Anyway, what if.. the movie attendance estimates for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II movie is lower than that of Twilight: Breaking Dawn. Oh the shame of humanity if that is to happen! I would boycott it on principle.