I can stop the CAR!!!! Isn't that wonderful! But I apparently accumulate more problems than what I solve. This involved 'shaving' the parked cars, a translation to the term 'shaving' is getting so close to the car you could hit their side mirrors if they were open. Which I very nearly did do. I also nearly hit/killed three teenage boys as they came out from school... that was because I had been driving too fast while steering left.
But I can stop the car! Of course it took me a while to do so without panicking. I only drive onto the curb and stalled once! Improvement eh? But I can stop the car!!! I hope by next lesson to get it all today togther. It seems that my brain, ability to co-ordinate and multi-tasking levels are what are stopping me from getting promoted onto the main roads and third gear. The idea of doing 70 miles an hour on the motor way seems such a far off dream... or nightmare, but I hope to get there sooner than later.
The views and happennings of a Manga-obsessed Neuroscience nerd with a strange interest in the medical genre.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Monday, 26 March 2012
TEDxImperialCollege
The only down side was that I had to wear a different name tag, a boy's name tag too, but thankfully he has a unisex name so I managed to pull off the identity fraud. I jest. I did tell the registry station the truth, 'legit' is my middle name after all.
It was a truly wonderful day with a fine tuned mixutre of former TED talk videos and actual live TED talks, there was also a performance of 150 year old sounds; played from magnificent genuine Gramaphones that didn't make much sense in the beginning but then you could finally make out the sounds of a steam engine. Unfortunately once the realisation was made the novelty died off and I think the audience (myself included unfortunately) were not able of appreciating the effort to play the sounds or the value of their preciousness due to a dividing phenomenon called MP3.
All the talks were interesting, some were relevent and some were truely inspiring. The first talk by Manel Tores was about Spray on Fabric that I heard of in the news a few years ago, yes it was interesting, but I felt Dr Tores' passion for the new fabric's capacity in the fashion world overtook the perhaps more sort of 'sensible' capacities in healthcare etc. I felt that the audience didn't share his passion for skin tight spray on fabric either. Perhaps the audience didn't share his enthusiasm because most of them were men, I know it's sexist to say that men are not interested in fashion, but most of the audience were imperial guys, and from my 4 years experience in Imperial, I haven't met one that was interested in catwalks.
The second talk by the ever inspiring Nick Sireau spoke of a rare disease that affects his two sons and how he and his companions strove to bring to light the diease's very existence and the importance in funding research into it. He named his talk 'Fundamental Diseases' as it was found that research in to rare diseases (which don't get much publicity, funding or notice) aids in discovering how more common diseases work, such as osteoarthritis. His story, starting from the birth of his son and ending in the national recognition of the disease, was truly inspiring. It made me realise that parental love is not simply a tear jerky moment in some sad film where a father carries his dying daughter in his arms (Anyone watch The Woman in Black?), it is a drive to protect one's child against all odds of success, and it can work if you are proactive about it.
The third talk was about music and the genome by a polymath, stand up comedian and anaethetist called Andrew Morley. Honestly, I really didn't understand it, I got the genetic side, just not the musical and I think that's due to my own severly limited musicality. Somewhere there was supposed to be a point that was meant to reach me, which didn't. However, I think it was that different topics and different subjects of study can overlap and collaborate. But I'm not sure if that was it.
We had a break (muffins and fruit) then back to the Great Hall (my last visit of this place was for the enviable task of performing an exam).
Fourth talk of the day was by an enthusiastic gentleman called Michael Korn who spoke of his pull out screen or wall divider. A product that originated as an undergraduate project and developed into a reality. His talk was mainly aimed at designers and engineers, which I am neither (I am an artist and scientist). I felt Korn's talk was vital, because at imperial the main career direction you get is to sell your soul to the Financial industry and work forever in the city's investment banks. The essence of Korn's talk was not about his pull out divider, but that there is actually another way to career development for Imperial Graduates other than The Banks. Imperial say their Careers Advice office is one of the best, but when I was an undergraduate I just remember being lost.
Fifth talk was by Alexander Schey who described his team's success in driving an electric racing car through both of the Americas. I knew of this from television when the treck was being televised. It was inspiring, but forgot to mention that electric cars are truly and undoubtedly expensive which is why they still haven't become the nation's favourite type of car despite many attempts to convert the people.
Sixth talk was by a truly wonderful woman called Sofie Scott, and coincidentally the only female talker of the day. Before I veer off into a feminist rant I'll explain what Professor Scott described in her talk. It was mainly about her work in laughter and how it is a globally recognised tool of communication despite language barriers. The talk was an opportunity to learn why we have laughter and how important it is. I'm not sure if it has a medical significance but I'd definitly like to learn more.
Before the break (a.k.a FOOD!) John Graham-Cumming gave the seventh talk, a highly enlightening mini lecture on the history of computing, or more specifically the work of Charles Babbage; a semi mad man who had a passion for numbers and half finshed projects. He designed the world's first computer or 'Analystical Machine' or simply, a calculator. It naturally never got built because the man's mind was too busy creating more ideas, but the London Science Museum (my second favourite place in the world) later created it in order to demonstrate Babbage's work (I keep thinking of cabbages everytime I type his name down), the Science museum must have liked him because they also hold possesion of his brain. Graham-Cumming also described the alliance of Babbage's ideas with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter (the only legitimate one), who could be considered the world's first computer programmer (my feminist level soared with pride at this moment) because despite having Byron genes, she had a numerate brain and wrote a book on Babbage's work.
The food came and went.
The 8th talk for the day was by an undeniably inspiring man calle THE Professor of Public art, the number of men of his species needs to increase in order for competition to drive them and formulate even more great works of public art as his talk inspired. From the title I had not expected much, but I did not know what to expect at all. What was described was a wonderful world never previously thought of before; simply works of art held in public; which are mostly statues with complex latin inscriptions. What Prof Shoben described was that it didn't have to be complex and historical but simple and straight to the point, inciting feelings like happiness warmth and splendour in the viewer. I honestly enjoyed it, I think his talk and field (though very different from my own background) has the ability to change the most difficult thing: human thinking.
The penultimate talk was by a young undergraduate student called Joanis Holzigel, who spoke of how he and his team managed to install an electrilisation promgramme (not sure about spelling) in a town in Rawanda. The talk may not have been as... interactive as the others but it still highlighted the remarkable achievments of Imperial undergraduate students. Pat on the back to them!!
The final and perhaps most stunningly shocking talk of the day was by an ex offender and former prison inmate, probably the first one to step into Imperial's Great Hall. Mr Junior Smart is now a founder of the St. Giles Trust's Southwark Offenders Support Program. He pointed out the limitations of the British disciplinary systems and how there is a shockingly high percentage of re-offenders. He spotted out the flaws in the system, what it costs the government (three times my annual salary per inmate per year) and how to help resolve it. I thought it was a rightfully powerful talk to end the day and hope there are many more sucess stories like his to happen.
The talks closed and then I left with Miss. Short-Fuse into Queensway and ate more food before going home rather late.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Driving Lesson 4
So I had my fourth driving lesson today, it was by far more mad than the others. I first started with just learning how to steer, which was basically turning left endlessly and never getting it right. Eventually my steering was good enough to start learing gears, this is where the real frsutration started. On my first lesson with gears I could lift my foot off of the clutch fine and no engine on earth could have stalled. But then on my next lesson everything went pear shaped and I must have stalled 4 times in a row in front of the give way line before the raod. If I had the strength to bash up a car I would have done it.
At the start of my lesson today I was getting much better with the clutch because I had developed a unique foot tchnique that will only work with my tiny feet. The rule is to keep your heel on the floor, I can't do that, I simply don't have enough foot to do it. So I lift my foot off as much as possible and lift my leg the rest of the way. My left leg is now very tired.
My seething cumulative impatience with the repetition of the roads was palpable, so Ron (my absolutely great instructor) took me onto a main road (you know, with other cars, street lights and all that jazz) to show me why we needed to stay on the smaller quieter roads with the annoying infinite humps. I was SO excited! I even moved onto third gear! My heart was racing the whole time, but I truly enjoyed it and can't wait till I'm good enough to do it again. The lesson was learned, even though I managed fine with Ron on the main road, I wasn't ready to do it without his instructions so more practice was required.
My main driving problems are remembering to steer while changing gears and stopping before the give way line. God help me I just can't do it. I have no idea when or how to push down on the brakes and I still panic everytime there is a car behind me.
God willing, I hope I learn it in the end!
At the start of my lesson today I was getting much better with the clutch because I had developed a unique foot tchnique that will only work with my tiny feet. The rule is to keep your heel on the floor, I can't do that, I simply don't have enough foot to do it. So I lift my foot off as much as possible and lift my leg the rest of the way. My left leg is now very tired.
My seething cumulative impatience with the repetition of the roads was palpable, so Ron (my absolutely great instructor) took me onto a main road (you know, with other cars, street lights and all that jazz) to show me why we needed to stay on the smaller quieter roads with the annoying infinite humps. I was SO excited! I even moved onto third gear! My heart was racing the whole time, but I truly enjoyed it and can't wait till I'm good enough to do it again. The lesson was learned, even though I managed fine with Ron on the main road, I wasn't ready to do it without his instructions so more practice was required.
My main driving problems are remembering to steer while changing gears and stopping before the give way line. God help me I just can't do it. I have no idea when or how to push down on the brakes and I still panic everytime there is a car behind me.
God willing, I hope I learn it in the end!
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Wild Swans, By Jung Chang
Part of my new and spontaneous interest in Chinese history was reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang. I guess I'm kind of late reviewing this considering it was originally buplished in 1992, but it was such a lip biting, zone out for 7 hours, earth shattering piece of biographical history... that I couldn't pass up a chance to write about what I thought of it.
The Book encospasses a historical account of the political and social climate of China from the early 1900s to the late 1970s all through the eyes of three woman; the author's grandmother who was made a concubine to a Warlord General, the author's mother who was a member of the newly formed Communist Party and the author herself and how she was swept into the brainwashing effects of Chairman Mao and his government.
The book hence went through the varying lives of three different generations that was tumbled, twisted and turned within a matter of 20 years between them. From the Famine of the Great Leap Forward to the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution. What I found most shocking was how Chang's grandmother had bound feet, a painful experience of breaking the toes of a young girl's foot to bend over the sole of her foot, a process that had to be repeated during the course of development to prevent them from healing. All because the sight of a hobbling woman had an erotic effect on men; supposedly inticing a protective instinct in them. A woman without bound feet was doomed to a life of spinsterhood and blamed her mother for not binding her feet when young.
I could go on an on about this wonderfully researched and compelling book that you can honestly trust coming from the prespective of a woman who had been in thick of the Moa mania of 1960s China. What I simply couldn't understand was how a nation could get swept away into treating Mao as a Deity, some revered sacred man who's word was gospel. Coming from an Islamic background myself, I was taught not to even bow my head to another being other than the One God. So how an entire nation with it's many millions of millions of people could be so tightly held in Mao's grip is very difficult for me to comprehend; I belive it was the reason for the misfortunes of the Cultural Revolution, with their book burning, teacher disrespecting and knowledge truncating beliefs. It was backward, an awaful time, at time which the Chinese still today accept was a horrible murdering cruel dark era of their history, but the same people still hold Mao in high esteem even though it was crystal clear that he only wanted to acquire personal power, that power like most powers corrupted him, and corrupted him absolutely.
Still, I think I have to grudgingly accept that Mao did raise China out of the Kuomintang's corrupt ways and help to get rid of Japan's infiltration. And perhaps his tight grip of the nation's politics allowed China to progress to what it is today; the world's second largest economy. But like all powerful leaders, I believe the power he held turned him a little crazy, just like Muammar Ghaddafi, Assad and Bush. I think Mubarek was a little more saner than the rest of them, but definitly as power hungry. I theorise that this type of madness could be called 'Presidential Power Syndrome', a state of mind that rejects logic in order to find foundations for one's own decisions, and rejects basic humane qualities like reason, emapthy and guilt. Thankfully I think the British political leaders are a bit distant from attaining this syndrome, but they may be just a little silly in their own way, which is probably, simply, an unavoidable a feature of British politics.
Lesson for the day: don't think you're God.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
A year of Me
Wow... it's been a while huh. Well, I have a lot to say... I had better get on with it then:
1. I have a JOB! I know... the impossible happened, I was so happy when I got the call... a year ago.. But I was very happy, and reading over how I used to stress so much about job hunting makes my current employment all the more special. I work in a Sleep centre and help diagnose people with sleep disorders. It's fun stuff, most of the time. Unfortunately I'm chained to colleagues I would do extra night shifts just to avoid. Yes I do night shifts and have experienced how it feels to attempt cognitive functioning with just 10 hours of sleep over one week. I have even experienced my very own parasomnias because of it. (Parasomnias = sleep disturbances or sleep disorders, it can be experienced by severe sleep deprivation in any healthy person).
2. I have severely truncated the amount of Manga I read, however I have been determined not to abandon it altogether and so I read the first 3 volumes of 'Vagabond' By Takehiko Inoue at the same time that I re-read 'Fruits Basket'.... two very different genres but both read with much enthusiasm! I still need to get up to date with the usual Naruto, Bleach and One Piece which I abandoned in the past 18 months as well.
3. I have gone back to reading books. Yes... Books, those things with words in them that can now be read on a kindle the thickness of a pencil. But I am not tempted by pish posh technology, I behave like a true human and read books from actual books with pages that can't be accidentally deleted.
4. My general outlook on life is, if possible, even more negative than what it used to be. I know from my own religious points of view, that it shouldn't be and that I should be optimistic and see beauty in the world bla bla bla... but when you read books of reality, describing events that have actually happened, not just impassive lines you hear on the news... You end up struggling to see what good there is in the world, especially in mankind. Mankind was probably the worst thing that happened to this planet, their ability to do bad is shockingly high, especially when there is some unspoken code of morality shared between cultures and countries, the simplest being 'Thou shalt not kill' killing happens quite a lot... especially under the guise of legality, such as wars. Syria's government seem to think it a sport.
5. So yeah, I dunno If I ever mentioned it before, but I am Egyptian by nationality and British by birth, so I got the write to vote for the Egyptian election (however I am never allowed to become an Egyptian president's wife.... phew). It was rather exciting ticking a few boxes with actual hope (rather than know all the parties are the same brew of politician), but you understood the sense of discord when I looked down the list of representative's for my family's Egyptian county district... there were 142 hopefuls, 142! For one district of one County! At least something is happening, it looks like Egypt will be in unrest for a long long time.
6. I turned 24. I know there are people drying up from cholera and baby girls being killed to make room for a first born son, and living baby girls being circumcised, and mosques being bombed in Syria, and children sold into slavery, and landslides destroying homes and Tsunamis wiping out cities. But I'm 24!!! In my own world this is horrendous news! It means I'm older than 23! which was quite a shock when I turned 23. Being 24 wouldn't mean much had I been married/engaged etc. And yes I know it sounds fickle... it bloody well is fickle, now that modern women are thinking about being married at 33 after they've become consultant/ top dogs in their career, but in my little world (which doesn't mean much in relation to the real world, I admit) It's serious because it means I'm just another year older and another year closer to the metaphorical sell-by-date... another year closer to being too old to have children (the physical expiry date). All very fickle because there's no guarantee that I'll have children once married... It just means that I have to be even more patient and play the growing child to my parents (yup, my mum is still surprised I can reach the tap on the kitchen sink). But... one thing I know, is that you can't mess with Naseeb (I'll explain that term some other time). If it's going to happen... it will, it just either me or the other party are not ready... gah!
7. I was on the brink of turning feminist. Crazy but I managed to pull myself back. Not that I think there is anything wrong with being a feminist, it's just that I think some of them want to prove themselves equal to men so much that they forgot that they already are. Like female weight lifters.... I don't get that, they ruin their natural femininity because of it, they end up looking rather grotesque. Yes some pay scales are different between men and women in the same job but there's normally reasons for that. No I do not think that a woman's time of the month will cause drastic changes in her attitude towards a groundbreaking decision, but yes I believe women can make decisions that are sometimes... erratic, especially when she's upset, and especially involving lovers/partners. It's happened and it still happens and it will always happens, it's a woman's nature. I might be a feminist had I lived in some gender unequal country, I definitely would. But in the UK, I trust in the system, its a good one, so I'm not going to go nit picking for gender inequalities that don't mean much. Not unless I don't get my state pension unless I'm married, then I'll make some noise.
1. I have a JOB! I know... the impossible happened, I was so happy when I got the call... a year ago.. But I was very happy, and reading over how I used to stress so much about job hunting makes my current employment all the more special. I work in a Sleep centre and help diagnose people with sleep disorders. It's fun stuff, most of the time. Unfortunately I'm chained to colleagues I would do extra night shifts just to avoid. Yes I do night shifts and have experienced how it feels to attempt cognitive functioning with just 10 hours of sleep over one week. I have even experienced my very own parasomnias because of it. (Parasomnias = sleep disturbances or sleep disorders, it can be experienced by severe sleep deprivation in any healthy person).
2. I have severely truncated the amount of Manga I read, however I have been determined not to abandon it altogether and so I read the first 3 volumes of 'Vagabond' By Takehiko Inoue at the same time that I re-read 'Fruits Basket'.... two very different genres but both read with much enthusiasm! I still need to get up to date with the usual Naruto, Bleach and One Piece which I abandoned in the past 18 months as well.
3. I have gone back to reading books. Yes... Books, those things with words in them that can now be read on a kindle the thickness of a pencil. But I am not tempted by pish posh technology, I behave like a true human and read books from actual books with pages that can't be accidentally deleted.
4. My general outlook on life is, if possible, even more negative than what it used to be. I know from my own religious points of view, that it shouldn't be and that I should be optimistic and see beauty in the world bla bla bla... but when you read books of reality, describing events that have actually happened, not just impassive lines you hear on the news... You end up struggling to see what good there is in the world, especially in mankind. Mankind was probably the worst thing that happened to this planet, their ability to do bad is shockingly high, especially when there is some unspoken code of morality shared between cultures and countries, the simplest being 'Thou shalt not kill' killing happens quite a lot... especially under the guise of legality, such as wars. Syria's government seem to think it a sport.
5. So yeah, I dunno If I ever mentioned it before, but I am Egyptian by nationality and British by birth, so I got the write to vote for the Egyptian election (however I am never allowed to become an Egyptian president's wife.... phew). It was rather exciting ticking a few boxes with actual hope (rather than know all the parties are the same brew of politician), but you understood the sense of discord when I looked down the list of representative's for my family's Egyptian county district... there were 142 hopefuls, 142! For one district of one County! At least something is happening, it looks like Egypt will be in unrest for a long long time.
6. I turned 24. I know there are people drying up from cholera and baby girls being killed to make room for a first born son, and living baby girls being circumcised, and mosques being bombed in Syria, and children sold into slavery, and landslides destroying homes and Tsunamis wiping out cities. But I'm 24!!! In my own world this is horrendous news! It means I'm older than 23! which was quite a shock when I turned 23. Being 24 wouldn't mean much had I been married/engaged etc. And yes I know it sounds fickle... it bloody well is fickle, now that modern women are thinking about being married at 33 after they've become consultant/ top dogs in their career, but in my little world (which doesn't mean much in relation to the real world, I admit) It's serious because it means I'm just another year older and another year closer to the metaphorical sell-by-date... another year closer to being too old to have children (the physical expiry date). All very fickle because there's no guarantee that I'll have children once married... It just means that I have to be even more patient and play the growing child to my parents (yup, my mum is still surprised I can reach the tap on the kitchen sink). But... one thing I know, is that you can't mess with Naseeb (I'll explain that term some other time). If it's going to happen... it will, it just either me or the other party are not ready... gah!
7. I was on the brink of turning feminist. Crazy but I managed to pull myself back. Not that I think there is anything wrong with being a feminist, it's just that I think some of them want to prove themselves equal to men so much that they forgot that they already are. Like female weight lifters.... I don't get that, they ruin their natural femininity because of it, they end up looking rather grotesque. Yes some pay scales are different between men and women in the same job but there's normally reasons for that. No I do not think that a woman's time of the month will cause drastic changes in her attitude towards a groundbreaking decision, but yes I believe women can make decisions that are sometimes... erratic, especially when she's upset, and especially involving lovers/partners. It's happened and it still happens and it will always happens, it's a woman's nature. I might be a feminist had I lived in some gender unequal country, I definitely would. But in the UK, I trust in the system, its a good one, so I'm not going to go nit picking for gender inequalities that don't mean much. Not unless I don't get my state pension unless I'm married, then I'll make some noise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)