Graduate School, Here I Come!

Up until a week ago, I feel that I'm ready to go back to school as a graduate student. Hmm... Graduate student, I like the sound of that. It's been a nostalgic and exciting experience to be going back to school and undergoing the enrollment processes and all. I really can't begin to describe how amazing that felt.

So first day of school. I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea how it would be like to be in graduate school. It went fine, as far as I'm concerned. The usual getting to know the classmates and professor. I say a little bit something about myself and the others will do the same. So it's pretty much a conventional first day.

But nothing, and I mean nothing, prepared me for the second day of class. Well it's a different subject and a new professor. Only for me, the professor is not someone new. I've known this prof way back when I was still an undergraduate student, although I was never under his wing but I did know him. I've heard all sorts of things about him. Though, I'm not one to believe gossips and I don't really care about those at all. And in all fairness to him, I've always thought that he is one guy whose intelligence goes way beyond the ceilings or probably beyond the four floors of the grad school building. But the thing is, he knows. He's a genius badass and he knows it.

He's one of those who isn't afraid to say what he wants and thinks whenever, wherever. He mostly say different things about school, physics, and mostly about life in general.

On our first meeting with him he asked us why do we want to pursue a career in medical physics. Sure I can make up some reason why. I actually can think of a lot of reasons. But seriously now, why? For the life of me I still haven't made up my mind as for the exact personal reason why I am doing this.

Felt Flower Rings

Here's what I've been up to these days.

Crafting: Felt

I want to believe that I was born crafty. When I was a little girl, I used to cut paper dolls and design their clothes. There was a time when I asked my great grandmother to teach me how to do crochet. During my teens, I made a few crochet pieces for our house. I also used to "re-design" or "re-style" my clothes back then. Like those old jeans that I don't wear anymore; I used to cut them up and add embellishments to make them look a bit tattered and old. Don't judge me, those were the days when tattered jeans were the in fashion.

So I came from (as my mom used to say) ruining my clothes to re-styling them in order to make them look more updated, if that's even possible. But through it all I can't really say I've found that particular crafting style that I liked best. There was nothing that spiked my interest more than the rest. I liked crocheting but over the years I found that I only finish those small and quick projects. It kind of bored me to spend long hours making a particularly complicated piece. I tried working with beads and wires as well, but to no considerable success.

During the time when I've completely put all the crafting stuffs behind me, I accidentally came across a rather interesting craft material. And that is felt. I can't really describe what it did to me. It's like love at first sight. I've always had a thing for sewing (I used to watch my grandmother work with her old Singer sewing machine, which I love the sound of). Having done cross stitch and embroidery when I was young, I started to experiment with felt. I went online and searched for possible projects I can make with felt. And that's when my penchant for felting started.

I consider myself as a "seasoned" crafter. I do crafts usually only when I feel like it. I've done a couple felt projects and I wanted to share them here; hence, the label for felt crafts.

Blogging: Then and Now

Just now, I had this idea of going through all my former blogs and blog posts. Until this moment, I have not realized how fun and interesting it is to go back and read everything I have previously written on my blogs. It's very nostalgic, may I say.

My blog on Tabulas.

Anyway, I also came to realize how long it has been since I created my first blog and blog post. I will not start the count from the very first one because I have already lost the account. So I want to start with my first blog on blogger. I didn't know much about blogging yet. So it's basically a personal diary. The second blog, which I kept for the longest time, was not on Blogger but on Tabulas. This is my blog on Tabulas.

The point of this post is to show my humble beginnings as a blogger. My first blog was started during my sophomore year in college. And I'm proud to be blogging still after 6 years.

I created a label specifically for this "Blogging: Then and Now". I would like to go back through my posts and make new posts based on them. I'd like to know if I still believe in the same principles, if I still think the same way, or if I still like the same things.

Energy Reserve versus Energy Resource

There is something that's been bothering me for quite some time now—the difference between energy reserve and energy resource.

Based on my Internet (mostly Google) searches, an energy resource is energy source that is already discovered but has not been used. I figured that based on its name "reserve," it is exactly that—a reserve. Energy that is being saved for future use perhaps? Something that can be extracted and used at a later time. Whereas energy resource is energy source that is readily available and can be used immediately.

Basically, my interpretation on the above definitions is that an energy source is considered to be a reserve if it has been discovered to be existing but never been used. For example, the vast oil reserves in Middle East countries. But once extraction has been done on a reserve for the purpose of energy generation, it then becomes a resource.

 Update: As of 2:42 pm, same date as the original post, upon more online research, I arrived at this article "Reserves and Resources: A Primer for the Lay Investor." While I still find myself feeling a little confused, this clarifies some matters for me.

Disclaimer: This post about energy reserve and energy resource is based purely on the blogger's (that's me) personal opinion and interpretation. I do not claim any of the information to be an accurate fact.

Sources:
Energy Resources on IFPEC
A Guide to Oil Reserves and Resources

On Lady Gaga's Judas MV

I don’t really dig the biker stuff, but with Lady Gaga doing it, I guess it’s exactly what one should expect from her. So I think it’s okay. I’m also not big on guys who wear too much make-up, even though I understand that it’s part of working in front of the camera. I think that the guy Lady Gaga was riding with had too much make-up on.

For some reasons, the “Juda, Juda-ah” part of the song kind of annoys me.

Among the many outfits she wore on the music video, I liked her purple outfit most. And her eye make-up! It looks fantastic. Her finger nails as well. But I must say, Lady Gaga looked really scary on the close-ups where her eyeballs are like way up there!

Also, the choreography is really fun! I specifically enjoyed watching that part where they form a heart with their hands. It was simple but really fun to watch. And I have to give credit to her for dancing in such high heels.

Anyway, we all know who Judas is and what the name represents. But I don't wanna touch on the Religion part. It's a very complicated and diverse subject to tackle.

Over all, it's another fun Lady Gaga hit. But I don't think it'll stay stuck in my head for a very long time.

Watch Judas on YouTube.

Note to People Who Think They Know Everything About Nuclear Technology

People should stop talking about things they know nothing about, such as the nuclear technology. They should stop speculating among themselves and start trusting the people who really know.

I myself do not claim to understand everything about nuclear technology, and I’m a science major, Physics to be exact. As much as possible, I stray away from making statements and speculations regarding the “nuclear dangers” that might arise due to the nuclear power plant leak in Japan.

People should seriously stop taking to heart what they watch on television. For example, toxic waste will NOT give a person superpowers! That only happens in cartoons! Disaster movies are all works of fiction. They are products of the wild imagination of the creators. Not because a natural disaster took place, doesn’t mean it’s the start of the end of the world.

For the umpteenth time, there is so much more to nuclear technology than what sci-fi movies tell us. It’s a very broad subject to tackle. Experts, scientists, researchers, and nuclear technologists have spent more than half of their lives in continued pursuit of better understanding of this technology. Don’t think that you know better than them. They have spent every waking hours of every day for decades, some even gave their lives, to give us a better perspective of this technology. Please, don’t turn their hard work into mockery by thinking you know better than listen to what they have to say about this issue.

Defining What's Normal

A while ago I went to Mercury Drug Store along Rada St. As I was going through the things I need to buy, a tall, well-built, and attractive-looking guy suddenly came in. He was pleasantly greeted by the staff. All the women staff were "kinikilig" and even the men were greeting him and talking lightly with him. While waiting on the line to pay for the things I got, some of them were already taking pictures with him. All these happened while I was trying my very best to think who the hell is THAT GUY???

A few minutes later and a little walk along the block to my office building, I still have no idea who the guy is.

Because of what happened, I came up with a few thoughts:

1. Is it normal for people to be asking to take pictures with attractive-looking men? It's not like he's famous or anything. Not that I would know about it 'coz I still have no idea who he is, which brings me to my second thought,

2. Are famous people really that accommodating? And BTW, if he's famous how come I don't know him? But then again, it's not like I know every famous person in the country, which again brings me to my next thought,

3. Is the situation just a normal happening and I'm the one who's acting unusually or the whole situation is definitely unusual and I'm the one on the "normal" side. (It's confusing, I know!) In this case, I strongly doubt it's the second one so it must be because I'm such normally "un-normal." (Whatever that means.)

This really confuses me. And not because my thoughts are normally confusing but really, whatever goes on in situations like that one, I have no idea. Maybe I'm just being my un-normal self. I don't know. I keep saying "I don't know," and I really don't. I really think weird sometimes. Or most of the time. I wonder how I am able to live with myself. And I wonder more how I was able to do that for 24 years. I must be out of my mind to be even thinking this way about myself. Am I still making any sense? If you can understand me, I don't know about you, you must be a lot weirder than I am to be able to understand me. LOL!

Whatever.