outsights

Cancer Research and the media

2010-12-15T17:35:00.002-06:00

I'm really not trying to be cynical, but I find it very funny when the media reports on cancer research.

A single publication will not make that big a difference on treatment or outcomes Sure, if you find something interesting it might potentially open new questions. You have to corroborate, test, re-test, test in an in vivo model, go through hoops, finding funding, clinical trials (Phases I, II, III and IV: the far majority of new treatments won't make it through all the phases. In most cases treatments that succeed are usually a combination, re-dosing, new temporal treatment methods, blah blah blah of treatments that are already approved). I don't think this even cites an article, it just links to the faculty's research interest page and a short article about it.

I can only shake my head when stuff like this gets published by the media. Don't get peoples hopes up so early.

http://bit.ly/ew9rIB

Recent thoughts

2010-11-21T17:50:00.002-06:00

I think I've had an interesting history with blogging. For the most part, I've used it to post pictures/evidence of my childish (no regrets here) antics. Fun stuff. A lot has changed within the past days, weeks, months, years.

Today will be the end of my 99th day of marriage. Actually, I'm not writing because tomorrow will be the 100th day of marriage. I'm sitting in the lab and I've realized I have a lot of thoughts in my head about many things.

Recently, a lot of people have been asking me to write an article or give a talk about evolution and intelligent design. (I'm working on it, btw). I think the main hesitation in doing such a thing comes from my badly righting skillz. But I do plan to get to them. There are a few things I want to get down onto paper/harddisk before the end of 2010.

Marriage
My career and faith
Science and education
Faith and science
personal beliefs (a vetting maybe?)
thoughts on arts and hobbies
goals for 2011
how it feels to start to grow up (or plans on starting to grow up)

I think I'll consider myself successful if I get even one thing done.

A lot's been going through my mind these days. I've been thinking a lot about relationships, the future, etc etc.

Anyway, gotta go pamper my ovarian cancer cells. They hate to wait for me.

Dinner #1

2010-10-25T20:35:00.003-05:00

I decided that I want to put up pictures of dinner that we have at the chojun household. I have a few pictures, but I'll start with this one. I'll try to add pics as often as possible.

October 25, 2010:
Completely homemade pizza (by wifey) even the dough and sauce was homemade.
Her side (the better side): red peppers, hard-boiled eggs, ham, onions, muenster cheese
My side: garlic, onions, mushrooms, mozarella cheese (boring)

... amazing

The Four Levels of Happiness

2010-07-18T00:40:00.001-05:00

One of my most favoritest of favoritest things to listen to.

John Patrick and the 4 Levels of Happiness

Midwest Regional Conference 2010

2010-07-12T23:17:00.003-05:00

My view for the last 4 days (if I was a fish).

Food

2010-05-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

Note-to-self:

Eat more food

Apple addicts

2010-04-16T18:28:00.002-05:00

This is why I don't like apple. They make idiots.

Skip to 0:44 in the video. Very eloquent

3:22 am doing citations on oncogenes and tumor suppressors

2010-02-09T03:22:00.004-06:00

I need sleep. Diet Coke isn't working anymore. I have gone through 1/2 a question in 6 hours for my practice test.

Oh blog, how much I miss you.

May I'll post data up or something.

Tired... must... finish... reading.. about ATM, ATRm TRF2 and POT1

On, another note, after months of faithfulness to Google Chrome, I've returned to firefox. Chrome just can't handle opening up multiple tabs with journal articles/PDFs. so sad...

2010-01-18T09:22:00.001-06:00

I don't understand.... I must have done something wrong.

Context and Diagnosis

2009-10-21T00:16:00.003-05:00

I just got back from studying and I feel inspired.

I'm going to use diagnosis and the treatment of cancer as an analogy to emphasize the importance of context and studying the Scriptures. This should not in any way be confused with the analogy of sin and disease.

The contextual understanding of the Bible is absolutely necessary in being able to properly apply the Scriptures to our lives. I don't mean to use the word "properly" to necessarily imply a unilateral understanding of the Scriptures. The analogy of the diagnosis of cancer necessary for treatment does not fall apart at this level.

The female breast tissue is composed of epithelial and stromal tissue. The vast majority (99.9999%; I have no citation, but you get the point) of breast cancers arise from the uncontrolled proliferation of the epithelial tissue.

Malignant breast tumors can be categorized into three sub-types: DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), IDC (invasive ductal carcinoma) and ILC (invasive lobular carcinoma). DCIS can be categorized into two more sub-types: comedo and non-comedo depending on the necrosis of the growth within the ducts of the breast. All breast cancers also fall under sub-types based on their molecular markers Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR) and Her2/Neu (an epidermal growth factor receptor).

Fibrocystic changes in the breast tumor are sub-type of benign breast growths.

The hallmark symptoms of what may possibly be breast cancer are lumps or dense patches of tissue. These are discovered through self or clinical examination, including mammographies. The only problem is that lumps or changes in texture and architecture of the breast tissue does not imply breast cancer. Fibrocystic changes are extremely common in breast tissue and can also present themselves as lumps or changes in texture and architecture, despite being benign changes without any increased chance of developing malignant breast cancers. To makes it even more complicated, not all breast cancers will present with symptoms of lumps or dense patches of tissue on self-examination or mammography. In fact, lumpy bumpy cancers are usually present in tumors that have already grown larger than 0.5cm. Lumpy bumpy and a lit-up mammography is primarily seen in comedo DCIS and IDC. They are the result of calcification as a result of saponification of necrosis of fast growing ductal, but not lobular, carcinomas. It may very well be possible one may have carcinoma in the breast tissue and not experience the lumpy bumpy symptom.

When studying the Bible, we frequently pick up lessons that can be practically applied to our lives. Unfortunately, we come across situations in which we extrapolate an understanding of the Scriptures without giving thought to the context. And we develop a lesson that we force upon ourselves or others, and use the Scriptures as our proof or justification.

Now...Most people at this point are going to assume that I'm going to use the analogy of getting a mastectomy to treat fibrocystic changes. However, that is only half the analogy. Breast cancers can also be undertreated because of a poor or no diagnosis.

Paget's Disease is the result of IDC making its way through the ducts of the breast and creating a discharge from the nipple. A poor diagnosis would see this symptom and just assume that there was some infection in the ducts of the breast tissue and maybe prescribe an antibiotic. I don't actually know if that happens, let's say it does.

Prescribing a mere antibiotic to treat an invasive ductal carcinoma is undertreating a severe disease. This can also occur when with a poor contextual understanding or without having a contextual understanding of the Srciptures. The question that I'm getting at, "Are we effectively using the Scriptures for all its might?"

No one would treat a patient without making a diagnosis of symptoms. At the same time, studying the Bible with a poor or no understanding of the context is a misuse and ineffective use of God's words.

Going back to the idea of "properly" using God's words. We might also assume that every lesson in the Bible has only one application. But this is a poor assumption. Just as there are many treatments (and combinations of treatments) available to a properly diagnoses breast cancer, there are many ways to properly use God's words. And because it's already 1AM, I'll sum it up by saying the lessons are all grouped under repentance, thanksgiving and loving (or any combination, permutation, etc of the three).

Moral of the story:

Regular breast exams (men, you too. 1% of breast cancers occur in men especially if you're predisposed with BRCA2)
Study the Bible longer and more. Add the extra study of context.

Have my "jeans" finally caught up to me?

2009-10-19T18:32:00.003-05:00

I remember once having a conversation with my mom about the kinds of clothes my dad likes to wear and the kinds that just drive him crazy.

One thing my dad cannot stand is when his long sleeves or jackets cannot be rolled up. He's constantly rolling up his sleeves and complaining about how his new clothes just were not comfortable. I never understood this.

I was walking down the street today and noticed that i constantly roll up my sleeves because of how "uncomfortable" they felt. As a result, all my long sleeve shirts or sweaters have stretched out sleeves. I exclaimed I would only buy 3/4 length sweaters. And then the rooster crowed. And then I wept.

*sigh... it's really not that easy

2009-10-05T00:22:00.003-05:00

This graphic makes me sad because it gives the false impression that this can be done with all cancers and that it's just that easy to do. It's not; otherwise there would be no more cancer

Time: How a vaccine battles cancer

First lessons learned

2009-09-30T13:10:00.003-05:00

First lesson learned as a graduate student:

I think this pertains to all things, not just science.

The right assumption creates progression. The wrong assumption creates regression or digression (I guess that's still a form of progression). All assumptions are associated with a form of ...gression (progression). But it's the wrong assumption to say all progression requires an assumption. I think that's the right assumption...or wrong?

Hmm....

First set up pics

2009-08-29T11:57:00.003-05:00

I am inspired by my brother's new hobby so I decided to finally put up some pictures. I've been meaning to put these up. Maybe I'll put up some more later.

They are posted in my other blog (http://wesjun.blogspot.com/) I think I'm going to start to transition over to that blog, so check over there for newer stuff. Please post comments and criticisms, I need to learn more stuff.

Rich and Jenna
I might put some more later.

I've also noticed that I heavily favor vertical shots. Interesting

Cropping

2009-08-28T13:29:00.004-05:00

One of the things that I thought a photographer needed to do when framing pictures was to always crop tight.

Recently, I've been looking at a lot of Kenny Kim's stuff and noticed that he has this masterful way of cropping tight and then zooming out a little so that it's not as tight as one would initially want it to be. Then he plays with the angle to create an effect that makes the viewer feel like he/she is falling into the picture. Brilliant.

His feature in The Knot: Chicago

yes... really... thank you

2009-08-22T16:45:00.003-05:00

Is there anyone who actually likes Comcast?

Anyway, this letter was like a slap in the face. Thank you Comcast, for the GREAT NEWS!

a new crossroad

2009-08-13T14:48:00.002-05:00

So at the request of a few, I'm going to convert my blog into a semi-photoblog to at least advertise some stuff. I'll put up some samples of pics occasionally for the world to....enjoy. Although I'm a little hesitant since I don't take criticism so well when it comes to pictures/videos/media.

I'm a little sad, though. At this point, my DSLR is reaching the end of the manufacturer's suggested shutter-life. So it's possible that my camera shutter will die soon. Unfortunately, I can't afford a new camera at this time. Now it's a race against the clock....shutter. *shudder*

dreams sometimes never come true

2009-08-13T13:33:00.005-05:00

Engadget featured a video being produced using HD cameras on RC helicopters. They thought it was a RED ONE HD camera at first, but it turns out to be a Panasonic (still good stuff).

Things to get done:

acquire new SLR + lenses
acquire RED ONE HD camera
stay in/leave science for/with media
????
profit

On another note, they use a lot of Canon stuff in the video, but I'm glad at least someone is using a Nikon for once (1:38).

another rant

2009-08-03T15:31:00.003-05:00

not that I really care, but here is an interesting incident revealing why Apple is evil.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=15868

New goal

2009-07-25T19:34:00.002-05:00

I'm going to make my new goal to drop 25 pounds in a year. I'll shoot for the first "easy" 15 by the end of 2009 and the "difficult" 10 by the entire next year.

2009-07-16T23:43:00.001-05:00

Comic Sans MS MUST BE BANNED

According to wikipedia the creator of Comic Sans MS is also the creator of Trebuchet.

tsk tsk tsk

the time has come.

2009-07-13T16:13:00.001-05:00

I'm in dire need of a vacation/retreat/break/refreshing.

improvements

2009-07-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

Things I really need to improve:

playing at the net
service
eye on the ball

july 4th

2009-07-03T19:48:00.005-05:00

another successful july "4th" fellowship bbq

On another note, I love the smell of Off bugspray because it reminds me of Timberlee

Headline

2009-07-01T10:19:00.003-05:00

I didn't read this article.

But I felt witty so I decided to post.

Report: 1 in 5 Illinois kids is obese

Then I thought to myself, "1 in 5 is obese? I think you mean 5 in 1 is obese"
Ba-dum Chi

a true fool

2009-06-30T16:27:00.006-05:00

This story has been on the news for a while. As it continues to develop I continue to fill with rage at this sad excuse of a man.

How can anyone refer to someone one is having an affair with as a soul mate and then declare the affair as a true love story while at the same time revealing numerous "encounters" with other women. AT THE SAME TIME as saying that there is an attempt to reconcile with one's wife.

He hasn't resigned and still thinks he has some shot at having a credible political career. What a fool he is to think that he can take everything he pleases without caring about how he hurts people with the things he says and does.

He doesn't know what love is.

He is a fool.

What infuriates me even more is how he tries to talk with an air of confidence. His words indicate remorse, but his tone and body language absolutely do not.

"He has said he will reimburse the state an undetermined amount of the more-than $8,000 in taxpayer money spent on him on the trip, and he insists no public money was used for any other meetings with her." You don't "borrow" money to do your thing. Absolutely shameful.

Wimbledon: Del Potro

2009-06-25T14:31:00.002-05:00

I have to admit that Del Potro is kinda growing on me. He's a nice guy and is a lot humbler than I expected.

The interview transcript shows a little bit of him joking despite losing pretty badly.

Wimbledon - Del Potro (06/25)

anti-Apple part 2

2009-06-25T11:41:00.001-05:00

Money money money. That's all they want.

Apple addicts

2009-06-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

at LEAST this guy admits it

Apple creates drug addicts

walle is NOT UNDERRATED

2009-06-20T12:00:00.004-05:00

The Tribune had some stupid side thingies where they had a list of things that are overrated and underrated. They asked the question "WallE: Overrated or Underrated?" That immediately drew my attention.

I thought, "FINALLY, someone who thinks WallE is overrated." Not only does it claim the that iPod is UNDERRATED (BS), but is also claims that WallE is UNDERRATED.

"This one's for the academy: Just because a movie was created by animators working around the clock on computers doesn't mean it can't be one of the best pictures of the year. Few movies of the year possessed a sharper story, stronger message or bigger heart than this little guy, and he was more alive on-screen than some actors we know. Great films are great films, period."

Yeah. That's complete nonsense. A sharper story? It's about a robot who is ugly that falls in love with another robot that's not-so-ugly. There's the obligatory "amnesia" that is dispelled by the "ROMANTIC KISS"? Very sharp Mr...(let me check the name).."I-can't-find-your-name". Very sharp.

I have to admit that I think UP, the new Pixar movie, seems like a brilliant movie with some pretty good humor. WallE? NO HUMOR. I think a movie of R2D2 would have been far "sharper".

even WITH Comic Sans MS, it looks awesomer

BAH!

On another note, does someone want to get some harolds?

2009-06-19T17:48:00.001-05:00

I'm so burnt out. I really just need some rest.

2009-06-17T16:08:00.000-05:00

Are we educated beyond our intelligence?

old.. yet young

2009-06-11T10:21:00.004-05:00

Taken from ChicagoTribune.com (AFP/Getty photo by Mike Clarke / June 11, 2009)

I found this picture quite funny. They're so young, but they got the old-person sitting position going. Maybe it's not that funny.

work small talk

2009-06-10T16:42:00.002-05:00

co-worker waiting around to use an instrument while i cleaned it up,

"so it looks like your cells are growing."

fyi, my cells are always growing.

familiar face

2009-06-10T11:32:00.002-05:00

Click Here

Click on "Click to see slideshow"

Does the man in picture 4 look familiar?

Puahaha.

cyanide and happiness

2009-06-09T13:37:00.002-05:00

Gattaca in Cyanide and Happiness. It's sad that it's a possibility.

looking for: NEW laptop

2009-06-08T10:46:00.001-05:00

My XPS M1330 has officially died.

apple evil

2009-06-05T01:00:00.001-05:00

Why won't apple ever go down?

Because of psycho apple nuts.

petty crime

2009-06-04T22:36:00.002-05:00

I never understood the appeal of breaking into someone's car just to see if there's anything to steal.

Someone broke into my bro's car and rummaged through everything and didn't even take the car radio. They tried, but they tried unsuccessfully to pull the stereo out, where they could've just unscrewed it out.

Why do something so high risk for something with potentially no payoff?

(At least they could've tried not to hurt our pride by stealing the Special Edition Monopoly.)

left + left = !$!@^%

2009-06-04T15:08:00.004-05:00

I think I'm a little bit of a klutz. Probably a median-klutz. But one of the things that just make me want to scream at the top of my lungs is when stupid things happen that only waste my time. Let me clarify.

I drop a pen while I'm trying to change my grip and then I drop it. Then I pick it up again and the drop it again. One drop = ok. Two drops = I want to blow my brains out.

Or what about when your holding your keys and you try to find the right key and you drop it. Then drop it again. !@$#%

Or my favorite, when you try to reach at something you knock something over. Then try to set it back up and then knock something over.

I just hate when stupid things happen that only waste time.

(I just knocked over a couple things at work)

Honorable Mention:
Misspelling "the" as "teh" more than one time each time you try to correct it.

first triathlon

2009-06-03T13:13:00.002-05:00

Is anyone interested in doing a triathlon this fall? I'm gonna do the South Shore Triathlon. It's sometime in September and is supposedly a good intro to anyone who wants to start doing tris.

Let me know if you want to do it.

Swim: 406 yards
Bike: 6.2 miles
Run: 1.55 miles

Pretty easy.

i <3 tennis

2009-06-03T11:27:00.002-05:00

I think I like all tennis players.

Murray

2009-06-02T12:13:00.001-05:00

Murray, how could you fail me so?

Well, as long as Del Potro gets kicked out sometime I'll be happy.

Nadal

2009-05-31T18:32:00.003-05:00

Nadal is probably one of my favorite tennis players and it's kinda sad to see him fall so soon during the French open. The good thing is that he took the fall with much grace.

Read the interview here.

I'd say that the finals for French will be Murray vs Federer or Del Potro. I hate Del Potro with a passion because of his cockiness and his stupid Kermit the Frog voice (here).

I have a soft spot for Federer just because he deserves to win the French, but not unless it's against Nadal.

If it's Murray and Federer in the finals, I'd be happy with whoever winning. As long as Del Potro goes no further--that cursed man.

so tired

2009-05-12T00:56:00.000-05:00

It's 1AM on Tuesday morning, May 12. I am so tired but I just can't fall asleep.

2009-04-22T16:46:00.001-05:00

FOOD

CURE FOR CANCER

2009-04-22T11:44:00.003-05:00

Click to view entire comic

Thank you PHDcomics

.... you're kidding, right?

2009-04-21T18:01:00.002-05:00

I really don't know what to say. I don't know what the author intends to say with this, but this is REALLY far-fetched. I still don't see it.

Bulls logo

DOT COM

2009-04-17T15:51:00.005-05:00

I think that once the ".com" starts appearing on products is when advertising has failed. Nothing looks less appealing on a product/billboard/etc than to see the ".com" follow the company name. Honestly, do we really have to put ".com" on everything? How often do people say "Oh look! There's a '.com' at the end of the company name, I'll go visit the website now." You can always search on your friendly online search-engine (intentionally avoiding the phrase "google it") for whatever company/product you want and it'll pop up.

Just get rid of the DOT COM it looks better without it...or less unappealing without it.

Rostropovich

2009-04-16T23:30:00.001-05:00

Rostropovich is the greatest cellist to have walked this earth.

LTHforum clarification

2009-04-16T21:13:00.003-05:00

So recently two familiar people ("David Hammond" and "G Wiv") commented on a post I made a while ago about LTHforum.com suggested foods. They are admins and founders (co-founders?) of LTHforum.com, a well respected online-forum about Chicago-based foods/restaurants/etc. I'll attempt to be as civil as possible. I don't know whether or not they'll come back to my blog, since it's a pretty lame blog.

I will, however, begin with a single grievance, among a few but not many. I posted a while ago on the forum about my experience at a restaurant; I can't remember which restaurant it was. But I do remember my post being removed for "violating post rules" because apparently I had "hinted" towards food code violations, which I did not do. I have to admit that after my post being removed, the frequency at which I visited the forum had decreased signficantly as I was turned off by the unwillingness of a few people to allow me to speak of my own experience.

That being said, I wanted to clarify my position on LTHforum. I had heard from a friend that the forum was named after "the best restaurant in Chicago." And now having been told by a founding member of the forum that it isn't so, I apologize for that false information.

I do respect the people at LTH as I have found numerous places that I frequent through the forum (Hot Doug's, Kuma's Corner, Katy's Noodles, etc.) But I do hold to my opinions and I do understand that I have strong opinions towards food. I write with mixed feelings about the posting of two LTHforum admins on my post. In a way, I'm a little hurt because I feel I'm ever-so-slightly being attacked by them. But I do admit, that I feel more honored than hurt for their commenting on my blog, since they are celebrities in the Chicago food world. I am more honored that one admin also looked up my previous posts on the forum to at least get to know something about me and my taste in food.

Many people complain about the breaded steak at Ricobene's. Though it is not "gourmet" food, it does have an appeal of its own. It is also one of the few foods, along with Ricobene's fries, that I crave when I am not in Chicago. Secondly, I never said Buffalo Joe's wings were the best in Chicago. In fact, I think they are far from the best and I make a good effort in avoiding them at all costs (no offense to BJ's). I believe that of wings I've tasted in Chicago belongs to O'Donovon's. The sauce isn't spectacular, but their wings are always juicy and plump. I've never tried the wings at Great Seas, and now I will make an effort to try them in the near future. Fourthly, I think I'll start looking for good food and posting about them again.

Current Top Favs:
Harold's Chicken Shack (on 53rd)
Lem's BBQ (75th and MLK Dr)
Hot Doug's (California and Belmont)
Ghareeb Nawaz (Devon & Damen)
"Little" Three's Happiness (Cermak and Wentworth)

To those interested, here's the thread I followed frequently, and will probably return to. And to LTHforum.com admins (if you read this). I do applaud your work on the site and I do recommend it to people interested in Chicago foods. I do, however, wish that it was a little bit more welcoming to people who have differing opinions.

LTHforum.com

2009-04-14T09:10:00.001-05:00

Two things humans must rid themselves of are bitterness and materialism.

2009-04-10T11:07:00.001-05:00

Children Book Illustrations

2009-04-04T11:17:00.001-05:00

St. Thomas Aquinas (13th Century)

Almighty God,
Give me a deep curiosity about all your creation.
Move me to search and question.
Give me insight and understanding,
A retentive memory And the patience to ponder
and reflect. May I not stop short with knowledge,
But proceed with the understanding of the heart:
Wisdom to view the world with the eyes of faith:
Point out the beginning, Direct the progress,
Help the completion. Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

choices

2009-03-25T15:51:00.002-05:00

Oh man.

Well friends, the PhD application process has now come to a close. I must now accept admission, but where?

The University of Chicago: Committee on Cancer Biology
The University of Pennsylvania: Biochemistry and Biophysics
The University of Michigan: Program in Biomedical Sciences

numerical perfection

2009-03-21T14:31:00.004-05:00

Acheived a month ago, but finally got to putting up the picture.

Childhood tastes

2009-03-20T18:31:00.004-05:00

Sapporo Ichiban + Orange Juice = NASTY
Sapporo Ichiban + Kraft American Single = HEAVEN

2009-03-06T14:06:00.003-06:00

I'm going to find a cure for cancer.

generic blog post title

2009-02-25T16:57:00.002-06:00

I'm dying without a point-and-shoot camera.

life beyond the grave

2009-02-22T23:44:00.005-06:00

this graduate student's thesis defense is on Tuesday

those of you interested: i didn't set this picture up at all, i saw it and took a picture. also it was taken using my camera phone

Note to self

2009-02-17T23:53:00.004-06:00

Citing science articles.

Example:

Adams EJ, et al (July 2008). "An autonomous CDR3delta is sufficient for recognition of the nonclassical MHC class I molecules T10 and T22 by gammadelta T cells". Nature Immunology. 9(7):777-84.

2009-02-15T15:45:00.000-06:00

shame on you CNN, SHAME ON YOU

2009-02-09T18:12:00.003-06:00

I hadn't been to CNN.com in a while because I hated how it had headlines on stupid things. They had too many headlines on useless news stuff or something.

I went back to CNN.com today for the first time in months and I saw these two headlines and I remember why I never go to their website. I will probably never go to their website again, along with Digg.com. (Digg's community is so immature and stupid stupid. I hate them. Take that.)

phd-app update

2008-12-31T14:42:00.003-06:00

4 interviews coming up..... nervous as heck.

UPenn - Jan 29-31
UMich - Feb 12-14
UChicago - Feb 5-7
NU - Feb 26-28

My Utmost... (December 18)

2008-12-18T02:23:00.002-06:00

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, ESV)

"...Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers. The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us..." - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest (December 18)

puahahaha

2008-12-13T20:57:00.001-06:00

"earlier i had someone say that receptor tyrosine kinases self-phospholiferate"

am i the only one that finds that hilarious?

Tim Keller on repentance

2008-12-10T11:06:00.004-06:00

""The gospel, instead, does not create a legalistic kind of message or a permissive kind of message. The permissive kind of message is the person that says 'This is a great arrangement. God enjoys forgiving sin and I enjoy committing it.' The legalistic mindset goes more like this 'I know I'm in God's will because I'm miserable.' Instead the gospel says 'You need to repent, not in order to be saved. But you need to repent because you are saved.' The mark of the difference between a Christian and a permissive person is the Christian repents. As Martin Luther said, 'All of life is repentance.' The difference between a Christian and a legalist is, though, the legalist repents out of fear and anxiety and the Christian repents out of gratitude for what Christ has done for him/her and out of a desire to be like Christ. When you know that you're saved, when you know that you're accepted, when you know that you're loved you have a freedom to repent. You repent more often. When I feel my acceptance with God is based on my performance, I have to repress how bad I am. My conscience can't take it. If my performance shows something is wrong with me, I can't repent." -Tim Keller

staged stage

2008-12-08T16:51:00.003-06:00

I stumbled upon this while rifling through my google reader. And the first thing that caught my eye was the set up. It's so obviously set up, but why does that need to be there? It just looks so sad sitting there by itself. I wonder what it's even about. I think I could've made a better set.

ChangeDotGov video

I don't mean any disrespect. But I think the Beauty and the Beast library is quite glorious.

Should've borrowed Belle's library

i failed at being a kid

2008-12-04T17:16:00.004-06:00

nick got the kids (and me and kuper) an advent calendar with chocolates in them.

first off. i have to keep myself from actually eating the chocolate. so far i've gone through 4 days with eating the chocolate properly. i'm too tired to explain so i'll just hope you guys understand what im talking about.

anyway, there's a color in portion on the back and i decided to scan it in and use photoshop to color it in.

i got too tired, but you can see how far i got
(note: i didn't do the tree. it was done as an example to show kids how to color because we, i mean kids, dont know how to do it)

page 56 sentence 5

2008-12-04T00:34:00.006-06:00

i really dont have any books within my reach... my lights are off and im too tired to look for a book

so i'll grab the next closest thing

B&H photo magazine

line 5?? hmm... i dont think there are lines here.
but i'm gonna go with the JVC XL-FZ258BK 5-Disc Carousel CD changer

I'll try again tomorrow at work, when I can actually find a book.

Links: Fran, Richard

[edit]
I felt guilty about not using a book, so I found the closest book to me and here's page 56 sentence 5

"Unfortunately, many beginning researchers assume that if a high R^2 is good, then maximizing R^2 is the best way to maximize the quality of an equation." Using Econometrics by A.H. Studenmund (This is Charles' book that I stole because I wanted to learn something about econ.... This was the first time I opened the book.)
[end edit]

yes!!!

2008-12-02T12:40:00.000-06:00

i love it

major annoyance

2008-12-02T00:24:00.002-06:00

spelling the as teh and spelling any word that ends with -ing as ending with -ign (somethign, goign, annoyign, etc)

great man

2008-12-01T13:43:00.001-06:00

food

2008-11-26T13:00:00.003-06:00

i was eating lunch that i purchased from cobb.. i really liked the taste of it, so i looked at the ingredients... it contains bamboo shoots. is it ironic that i like the taste of bamboo shoots?

phlog

2008-11-19T12:49:00.002-06:00

per request of charlesvjun

circa good ol' days

This picture was taken in Korea in 2002 sometime between June 24 (or 14, I can't remember) and August 8. This particular picture was taken at the SNU campus. This was the first time I spent an extended period of time with people who were not related to me. I met Isaac for the first time (thumb up).

I don't remember what I was feeling in particular at that moment. I do remember that I was listening to some dance remix CD using Charles' red CD player. More than just what I was feeling at the moment or thought, I think this picture is a pretty good representation of a transient period between my highschool days and my current days.

During highschool, especially the latter half the 4 years, I excluded myself from the friends that I grew up with. I can't say that I regret that, because I did have amazing times with the fantastic four. But I did forget the friends that I grew up with and the times we had together. Going to Korea changed a lot of how I viewed friends. Before the trip, I didn't really trust people and so I confided with 3 people. Yet during the trip, I realized that my friends of the olden days are friends and that not only can I trust them, but I should trust them.

I call it a transient period because after Korea, it took me a long time to shake out of this "playful" mood to understand the importance of deeper friendships. A lot of friendships I've seen have been based primarily on commonalities, but I think as we reach the latter years of the first half of life, there's a need for a deeper understanding/serving/connecting in friendships, a need to seek out a stronger foundation. Not to say I don't appreciate everyone I've grown up with, but I'd like to see our relationships blossom into greater things than what was afforded in our less mature (or immature) days.

sequence homology?

2008-11-14T12:38:00.005-06:00

So we were having GBS last night and we were studying the crucifixion. We started to look at the different accounts of the crucifixion from the different gospels. I noticed that the gospel of Matthew was similar to that of Mark and then noticed that a few of the words started to match too.

Then a thought came into my mind, by instinct, and later I realized that I'm working a little too much. I instantly wanted to whip out my computer, turn on Vector NTI 10 and start doing a sequence homology on the gospels, until I realized that they'd only match the words thinking they were amino acids. Anyway, I think I'll try doing a gospel homology even though its been done a million times. But I guess it's a good exercise. I also plan on trying to do some negative/positive feedback loops and how they apply to life, etc etc.

aligning human and mouse TLR9, pretty good homology

This is just an example of how an alignment might be done
(not an actual alignment)

Conclusion: I work too much

interesting new light on punishment

2008-11-13T10:49:00.005-06:00

So I was listening to a sermon on the crucifixion by Mark Driscoll and he actually makes an interesting point that we don't realize.

"Jesus has propitiated the wrath of God. And here's what this means as well. When I suffer, I do not assume that God is punishing me, because that would be unjust. He already punished Jesus in my place. Now, Hebrews does say and Proverbs does say that the Father disciplines his kids."

I think a lot of us look at our troubles and pains, maybe even natural disasters and such, and think that God is punishing us to atone. But that thought is actually a sinful because we assume that something beyond Jesus sacrifice on the cross is needed to atone for our sins. He was punished so that we would not punished. Now discipline...that's different; it's love.

2008-11-09T21:34:00.002-06:00

per request of charred

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

everyone (including yourself) hating you

Where would you like to live?

in any nice house. but i do dream of having a log cabin/house somewhere in a forest in cold new england where i can have a fireplace

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

having earned the respect of everyone around you

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

constantly de-prioritizing my priorities

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

....... the animaniacs? i dont think i have one.. oooh superman

Who are your favorite characters in history?

the soldiers of easy company, especially major richard winters

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

my mom and all other moms

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

drugs are bad in fiction and non-fiction
(i thought about this question for 4 minutes and i couldnt think of one, i think i need to read more)

Your favorite painter?

anyone that creates something meaninful and not tacky or something that tries too hard to be profound for the sake of being profound

Your favorite musician?

rostropovich

The quality you most admire in a man?

leadership, being able to humbly stand against evil for the sake of those he cares about (seriously)

The quality you most admire in a woman?

independence, mirth, honesty, caring-ness?, heart

Your favorite virtue?

humility

Your favorite occupation?

anything that'll let me integrate all my passions into a single task

Who would you have liked to be?

major richard winters

last one

2008-11-06T22:30:00.001-06:00

ok. last one about the elections. i promise
(click to enlarge)

unbelievable

2008-11-06T14:12:00.001-06:00

what is this foolishness?

it really doesn't matter

2008-11-06T00:36:00.003-06:00

One of the things that's been brought up numerous times today is the dress that Michelle Obama chose to wear on election day. It really bothers me that the dress of the soon-to-be first lady of America undergoes such scrutiny. I think I can count 4 times I've heard on the radio that someone didn't like Michelle Obama's dress. I can't even count how many articles I've seen attempting to detail her motives in choosing that dress. This Tribune article tipped me over edge.

Who made Michelle Obama's dress?

What a complete waste of time and energy this article was. It's an extremely short piece that eventually speculates that maybe she just liked the dress. I think most down-to-earth people like Michelle Obama who spend their lives doing important things (she's a big part of the UC Medical Center) just wear certain clothes because they like them.

I feel like I've wasted precious time reading this pieace of garbage writing and then writing about it. What makes me even sadder is that this is the longest post I've written in the longest time, and it's purely dedicated to that garbage article...but then again, I actually read it.

Honestly, do we have to psychoanalyze her choice in clothing? I'm going to guess...no.

P.S. I liked her dress.

awesome

2008-11-05T17:38:00.001-06:00

(found on digg)

applications part 2

2008-11-03T23:11:00.002-06:00

So I have a total of 8 submitted applications. 4 more to go!!!!

My brain is dying.

Submitted:
The University of Chicago
Mayo Clinic
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
Northwestern University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tufts University

Waiting to be submitted:
Pennsylvania State University - Hershey Medical Center
Michigan State University
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Illinois at Chicago

Still debating:
Scripps Research Institute
Baylor University

That's it. No more schools. NO MORE

a little late, but...

2008-10-30T15:20:00.000-05:00

yay phillies

"hi. my name is wesley and i'm a recovering pre-med"

2008-10-29T15:44:00.001-05:00

first 5 PhD apps submitted!

uchicago
mayo
upenn
boston u
umich

an analogy

2008-10-27T14:14:00.001-05:00

what's better?

a.) 5 = 5
b.) 5 + (-5) = 0
c.) x + y = 10

Personally, I'd go with "c"

for shame

2008-10-24T10:41:00.002-05:00

for shame NU, for shame..

throwing stuff

fun fun fun

2008-10-06T11:57:00.001-05:00

cheap souvenirs + photography + landmarks

email... for life?

2008-10-06T10:52:00.002-05:00

Google loves to give email addresses, calendars, or any other service that requires them to give up space on their servers. What happens when the owner of an email address or google calendar dies? I assume they delete inactive accounts. But do they really get rid of everything that's in their account? It's a sad thought that all the memories would be just deleted.

held back?

2008-09-30T13:31:00.000-05:00

I think that one of the biggest things that is holding me back from being efficient in everything I have to do, is my love for sleep. I really can't wake up in the mornings like I used to be able to. Any advice?

Good Grades = Success?

2008-09-29T16:03:00.003-05:00

An interesting post I stumbled upon. I'm posting because it's interesting and as an excuse to beg PhD programs to let me in their schools despite my poor undergraduate performance.

Doesn't exactly reach any conclusion, but does provide for some interesting discussion. Anyone care to solve the problem?

Enjoy.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/do-good-grades-predict-success/

spilling the guts

2008-09-21T21:54:00.004-05:00

So, per request of Kei. Here is what is in my backpack.

So starting from my messenger bag. I hope you can follow along. (Not pictured are my cell phone, Sony Ericsson K790; Fossil front-pocket wallet; and keys. These are always in my bag, especially if I'm biking; my bluetooth handsfree set that i always have just in case I need it while driving/biking)

Bag: Crumpler "The Considerable Embarrassment" bag
Milquelrius journal (graph lining)
two pens (always 2 pens. 0.4mm Zebra Sarasa pen. my favorite pen and can only be bought in asia)
NIV Bible (blue premium bonded leather)
The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson
My folder: (Boston University Application, testimonies, 25x copies of praise music for Sunday I'm supposed to give to Kuper, a article on morphological changes of T-cells, a paper on functional stoichiometry of CRAC channels, abridged protocol of phagemid selection, detailed protocol of phagemid selection using BTtrisHis)
m1330 red XPS laptop + AC adapter
Sony DSC-W100 camera (which is dying)
Thermaltake custom harddrive 80gb PATA
Season 1 of "The Big Bang Theory" DVD (yes I carry it around, just in case I need entertainment or just in case I meet a nerd who enjoys comedy)
wireless optical mouse
red Moleskine Daily Planner journal
3G black iPod Nano
FM receiver/remote for nano

And yes, those are generally what I carry around in my bag all the time, except for the protocols. I needed to review those for tomorrow. And they do fit very snuggly into my Crumpler bag with room to spare. Nothing else to say. //End

digital woes

2008-09-19T11:41:00.004-05:00

I admit, I'm a very amateur DIGITAL photographer. I wouldn't even try to compare myself to the true breed of photographers. You know, the ones that don't take 500 pics of the same thing and choose the best. The ones who spend a long time planning one shot and having to wait in the dark room to see how it turns out. But one thing that really "grinds me gears" ($10 to anyone who can tell me where that's from) is when an amateur photographer spends an exorbitant amount of money on digital photography equipment (~$2700 for a camera body) and just posts every picture without filtering and/or editing. To the viewer it's a pain to look through 250+ pictures of all the same thing, with very little variation. Especially if they're "eh" pictures.

Scandinavian Defense

2008-09-11T16:55:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60wXkL-uA0

Come on, who can anyone forget the 1979 defeat of Karpov by Larsen?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQfXoGRv0f0

I definitely think the latter clip is better bang for buck.

simply beautiful

2008-08-30T10:31:00.001-05:00

"Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request." (1Chronicles 4:10)

the fear of the Lord

2008-08-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,

and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

(Proverbs 2:1-6, NIV)

obama's prayer

2008-07-28T18:23:00.001-05:00

I know, it's really not my place to continue to publish someone else's private prayer, but I was honestly moved by this short prayer.

"Lord, protect my family and me," Obama wrote. "Forgive me my sins and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will." (taken from Time magazine.)

Hero number 4

2008-07-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_problems_solved_by_MacGyver

"I'm just here for the food"

2008-06-25T14:04:00.002-05:00

Props for indicating the significance of that quote. Not really, it's really easy to figure out why it's significant.

I'm starting a blog that's solely dedicated to food, especially food that comes from "hole-in-the-wall" places. So check in every so often.

http://holefoods.blogspot.com

(Because "http://holeinthewall.blogspot.com" was taken.)

Not Just on TV

2008-06-24T11:03:00.002-05:00

8 year-old shot

"...he turned to the doctors and nurses and said, 'You guys have been so nice to me. When I die, I'm going to miss you.'

"Trauma unit surgeon John Houston responded: 'You're not going to die. We're going to save your life.'"

What happens next?