After months of waiting, I’m happy to announce that my first-ever book chapter has finally been published. And although I’ve yet to receive our complimentary copy of the book, the book is now available through Nova Science Publisher’s website. If you want a sneak preview, you can find the book here. The title of the book is YBCO Superconductor Research Progress.
Monthly Archives: July 2008
Way to Go
Someone I know shared to me how she wants to have her funeral done. According to her, she didn’t have much choice about the way she "entered" the world, but at least there’s something she can do about the way she "exits" it. She has already picked out which songs will be sung at her funeral, including persons who would give the eulogies (specifically, persons who have played a significant role in her spiritual growth and life), what dress she would wear, where she would be buried.
At first, I was incredulous. Honestly, would you really care about how other people would take care of your remains? Could you care less if they clothed you with red or white gown? Or if the people you have entrusted the tasks with would really carry them out exactly the way you specified? Even if you make threats like – "Mumultohin kita pag di mo ginawa ‘yan…" (I will haunt you if you don’t do that…), there’s really no guarantee that you would get what you wanted. Of course, it would be a different matter altogether if you got an executed will or some legally-binding document to forge your last request.
Choosing to Not Give Up
How many times do we hear the old adage, “Never give up”? We see a friend who has lost hope after so many attempts, and our instant reaction is to probably say, “Hey, don’t give up!” Or perhaps we would blurt out: “Just don’t give up, keep on trying!” This reminds me of a half-joke we used to tell in school:
Try and try, until you die
Just do it, or die trying.
It seems so simple – that of not giving up – and yet it is probably the most difficult thing to do in our lives. It’s much easier said than done.
Enlightenment
In the past couple of days I had the rare privilege of attending a kenshuu – the closest translation would be a seminar, I think, although they wouldn’t really call it that way (semina- refers to a different thing in Japanese).
It was a two-day “enkarejjing” (encouraging) kenshuu for women employees. I sat there, in rapt attention, listening to the brilliant resource person who handled the seminar, and tried my best in interacting with the women during our round-table discussions. I tried to absorb as much as my limited Japanese ability would allow.
In a word? Enlightening. I never realized until now that there are many women out there who are facing the same issues as I am, and who practically have the same concerns and anxieties as I do. I was like – wow, you’re a researcher too? And you have young children too? How do you manage to balance work and home? How supportive is your husband in all of these? I mean, these are issues that I never really get to talk about with my colleagues (for an obvious reason, mainly that I am the only woman there doing that kind of work).