New Domain!
I finally have my own domain! You can continue to follow this blog on http://www.ericmajinglong.com/. I will cease to post on WordPress until I decide that maintaining my own domain just isn’t feasible……. I hope that day never comes!
Weekend Lab Work No More!
After a harrowingly frustrating weekend in the lab, I swear I will not go into the lab and do heavy-duty lab work anymore. At best it’ll be innoculations for overnights. That’s it.
Time to chill on the weekends buddy. Chill and wait. That’s probably better than actually doing lab work. Wait, just as the Israelites did for 3 days before crossing Jordan.
It Is Well With My Soul
It is in the quiet crucible of your personal, private sufferings, that your noblest dreams are born, and God’s greatest gifts are given, in compensation for what you’ve been through. – Whintley Phipps
Sunset
Sunsets at the Rose Garden provide the most picturesque view of the North Shore mountains. It also is the most tranquil time that one gets to enjoy within the 16 hours of awakeness that we experience. The calm wind blows a gentle breeze, the sound of a jet plane high above the sky, the occasional car that cruises by… The atmosphere is just amazing. Absolutely suited to silent reflection.
Josh Groban’s Music
His music is absolutely helpful. I solved the binary bacteria problem today – finally!
Intent, Actions, Purpose
If your intentions are purposeful, and you communicate your intentions truthfully, and your actions match your intentions, you will never have to be coy, shy or embarrassed of what you do. You will walk in the light, you will have righteousness on your side, and you will always have the clearest conscience ever. And that matters the most, over money, fame, intellect, and the most earthly things you can ever imagine.
It just takes one thing…
… to ruin what otherwise was a perfect day.
It just takes one blemish… to ruin the image of perfection.
Argh, the blemish always is there. It’s so hard to get away.
The Deception Of Appearances
Appearances are deceiving. Indeed.
Stop looking at your target and saying, “What a great thing/person it/he/she is.”
You do not understand the internal struggles, the defects, the imperfections that are present.
Stop revering earthly things.
You do not see beyond the polish.
Stop.
Let the thing be the thing that the thing is, and let him be himself who he is, and let her be herself who she is.
Does not the Maker have the power to mould and shape each individual into a glorious vessel and a cheap vessel, both at His own will?
Let the Maker do His own job, and let us stop tagging things and people with labels.
In AMBL Till 1:30 AM
Writing, writing, writing. I just love it. But writing with writer’s block just doesn’t pull it. I hate that.
Writing about myself is even harder. I’m okay with writing about other things, issues, objects, even other people (although I do try to follow the Biblical principles of being diplomatic, gentle but truthful in my assessment of others)… but myself? That felt like Moses writing “摩西为人极其谦和”… blowing my own trumpet about all of my achievements. Oh well, it’s a necessity.
So writing till 1:30AM in AMBL is quite the experience. MSL is quiet then, and nobody’s around save for a few PhD students still trying to complete their experiments. The custodians want to clean out AMBL, but they see me inside and hesitate – what if he’s doing some important things on his computer? (Really, I wasn’t, just writing my scholarship applications…) I let them in, telling them, “At this time, when you’ve got to do your job, you’re the boss.” Apurv comes by, and Qingning too, both of them from the Ellis Lab. Late-night workers. I call a few people, to relieve my mind, and pacing up and down in this large, expansive and clean lab keeps my mind clear.
I finish my writing at 1:30AM, realizing that my juices have dried up and that I need a rest. I am ostensibly tired, though my mind still has whizzes of brilliance flash-banging through it. I pack up, quietly, making sure that I have everything that I came with, before wheeling my bike out of AMBL. As I wheel out, a maintenance guy comes in, and I ask, “Late night call?” He replies, “Oh no, something broke.”
We exchange a “cheers”, and I bike off into the night, to my bed, to rest my tired head.
Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United
It was the first Man Utd game that I saw in which United lost. But credit goes to Barcelona – very disciplined in the midfield, good on the counter – for they played the way I expected Manchester United to play.
Romance conquers the conquistadors of England. But not for long – better luck lads, for I know the trophy will come back to Manchester!
