Yesterday I attended a talk by one of my colleagues. He was giving an update on a project we are both heavily involved in. The key difference is that he works on animal models (in vivo), mainly asking "what" type of questions; whereas I work at the cellular level (in vitro) focusing on the "why"... Continue Reading →
Original work
We live in a modern world where everything has been said and done. There are so many great minds and creative people that it can often be tough to be original. I have written in my previous posts about how I have always found art to be my oasis. During my childhood and teenage years,... Continue Reading →
When you have a passion…
Work and chores get done because the world needs them to be done. Art gets done because there is an internal need for it to happen. Karen This comment was posted in response to one of my recent posts on"Facts and Data." My first internal response was: "Absolutely!" But then I paused for a second.... Continue Reading →
“Anatomy of a Breakthrough”
In my previous post I have referred to Laura Vanderkam's book "168 Hours". One of the chapters is called "Anatomy of a Breakthrough". It begins by telling a story about a woman, Leah Ingram, who wanted to publish a book, and succeeded by what appeared to be a string of lucky coincidences. Only that wasn't... Continue Reading →
Facts and Data
I am a scientist. I live for data. I love testing new hypotheses. In any conversation, work related or not, I look for hard facts rather than impressions. While this may serve me well in some instances, particularly in the lab, in other parts of my life it sometimes leads to some obsessive and neurotic tendencies.... Continue Reading →
The onion effect
The first time I went to San Francisco, I was probably about 17 years old. My parents and I decided to finally venture out to California for a family vacation. I was impatiently waiting to see the Fog City, after hearing so many great things about it. When we arrived, there was certainly no shortage... Continue Reading →
Mental peace amidst chaos
It has been more than three weeks since we've moved into the new apartment. The unpacking process is slow and tortured. A lot of things are still in boxes and difficult to find. One of the things that has been out in the open though, is my latest unfinished piece that I referred to in... Continue Reading →
Orange Pleasure
Yesterday I stopped by to see my graduate school advisor. When I arrived, he was in a meeting, so I spent some time sitting in the waiting area. The office has changed over the years since I've left. Some furniture was upgraded, and names on some office doors have changed. People are forging their way... Continue Reading →
The Art of Pixelation
A few years ago I took my daughter to "The Art of the Brick" expo in New York City. At first, my husband and I were pretty skeptical about how interesting it would be. What could you possibly do with Legos that hasn't been done before? We have been to the Legoland in Yonkers, where... Continue Reading →
Image background
In the majority of scientific techniques, the word "background" has a very negative connotation. It usually implies that your detection method picked up something else besides the specific signal you were looking for. People even go as far as calling their images "dirty". In microscopy, that non-specific "noise" usually appears in the form... Continue Reading →
