the four right chords can make me cry

Life as a Lab Rat

Today marked my first day at Functional Genomics Lab 3. 9am - 6pm, and I was the earliest to leave. Its one of those things that leaves an indelible expression, and yet it was so long drawn out that i got really tired and my thinking got fuzzy and i don't know how i feel anymore. But, hours aside, i have nothing to complain about, the people there seem friendly enough. Louis was really helpful and very nice, i do hope that i will be more of a help than a hindrance, i screwed up his SDS-PAGE gel today. I figure i wouldn't mind working in the lab. It's not like an office job, you'll always been walking around and doing something with your hands, and talking to your colleagues, asking them stuff. I like the fact that it's very independent, no one's so free as to breathe down you neck and watch your every move. you're left to do your own thing, at your own time, to your own standards. but you must produce results of course, which is the least they can expect what. i like it cos it's got its short moments of intense but mindless work too, like filling up boxes of pipette tips. i like doing stuff like that sometimes, just focusing on a simple mechanical task (put pipette tip into hole. repeat.) i might have mild obsessive complusive disorder maybe, who knows. but there are thinking bits too, real scientific inquiry, when you think out what you need to do (no more spoonfed protocols), and why, and if there's a better way to solve the problem. i wonder who really cares what i think though.

chelsea, i saw your friend colin at the bus stop today, and we both went: "you're chelsea's friend right?" We were talking about some maths thing he was doing (i only understood him because i still remember bits of complexity i took last sem), and somehow occassion arose for me to paraphrase this quote: "The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."

in the course of conversation, my mind wandered to half. here we are, halfway through the year, halfway through the month of june, halfway through the holidays, halfway through our 4 years at NUS. I didn't say so, but I feel half here and half there. 10 million things (ref serene) in between those two halves that i haven't told anyone about. there isn't anyone to tell. there are things to do for people, 10 million of those. there are places to be, out of obligation to people. there are other people's burdens to bear, and i can't talk to them about myself because it all seems so trivial in comparison to their struggles.

1/2 + 10000000 + 1/2 = ?

posted by beckyboo @ 8:45 PM