Scientists and tattoos of their science

Over the weekend, I had a chat with some friends on the subject of tattoos. I was never really against it, but I wasn't sure if I like the idea of permanently inking myself on one spot. What if I grow old and my skin got saggy? What if the colour of the ink runs over a period of time? How will I explain to my kids? 

But those questions aside, I might get one which really means something to me. So I thought about what I love and won't mind having on one part of my body "forever": turtles. They helped me form my passion in marine biology when I was feeling a little lost in my first semester and started off everything for me - opening up many opportunities to learn, travel and meet people who played important roles in my life. Without turtles, I won't be who I am today! :)

And I found a nice turtle tattoo that I like. Kristen's gonna do some slight modifications to it and I'm gonna sit on that idea for at least six months, letting my inner conscience debate it out.

In the meantime, I found that lots of scientists do get tattoos related to the science they're doing! The Science Tattoo Emporium at The Loom has a collection of such tattoos contributed by scientists around the world. It was cool to see some marine-related ones! 

A career in the sea

Just follow the light

Honu the turtle

Would you ever consider getting a tattoo of your science? Or whatever you're working on in life?

Act of valor

Soldier movies... :-/

And that *points to above sentence* was my exact reaction when I got dragged into watching Act of Valor with a couple of friends after finishing lab last night. When I hear of soldier movies, I think of Black Hawk Down and the like - definitely not my cup of tea. But Darren insisted that it's awesome because 80% of it was filmed using Canon dSLRs (source). Okay, so I was a tad bit impressed. Then Alayne said it's not a soldier movie because they're not really soldiers - they're navy SEALs! Which I figured I was supposed to be impressed with.

What I was really impressed with though, wasn't the battle between the SEALs and the Islamo-terrorists/narco terrorists/arms smugglers/etc.. The scene with the SWCC boats (don't ask me what they mean, I have no idea) was really cool and I felt like I was playing Red Alert on crack. The action scenes failed to put me to sleep so I guess they're better than Transformers. There was even an eyeball popping out... What really made a big impact on me at the end of it all was a poem by Tecumseh, whom Wikipedia describes as "a Native American mystic, warrior, and military leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy that opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812" (Source: here).

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

 -  Tecumseh, Native American leader, Shawnee mystic and warrior (1768 - 1813)

Game changers/curve-balls

I watch Fringe and I freaking LOVE it. Getting a curve-ball last week made me bite my pillows (I watch the series in my room, on my bed) out of sheer geram-ness. But the preview for this week is making me jump around in annoyance because I can only download the episode tomorrow, AFTER it gets shown in the US. Streaming just sucks at home. >:(

And WHAT is with ALL the other series I watch (Glee, The Mentalist) hitting curve-balls this week? They're all giving me an unnecessary headache. :-/ 

Wanderlust

As I bid farewell to the last of my oldest friends as she leaves for Melbourne, I once again feel a strong desire to fly off to distant lands. The only problem is that whenever I feel like this, it is accompanied with a severe sense of frustration as I have no idea how I'll ever quench this lust.

Oh, and because I seem to be forever stuck here and everyone else seems pleased about it except me, so I have to put up a facade of eternal happiness.

Well. I suppose there is an element of joy in what I currently do, but honestly, I'm running out of friends (let's not even talk about "like-minded friends") and making new ones takes time and a lot of effort. Not that I mind, but as I have always observed, in small cities like Kuching, where everybody knows everybody, cliques have been formed and it's almost impossible to join one. Especially if you've been gone for five years and lost touch/switch interests with most friends.

Ah well. So help me, God.

Effing your brain with more anti-finning propaganda

If you don't know what shark finning is already, this infographic courtesy of WildAid should create some awareness in you. :)

Do help by signing their pledge and lend your voice to the 73 million sharks that are slaughtered every year for measly bowls of soup.

Kthxbai~

So you want to be a marine biologist?

...and it's quite true, for now. :)