nolēmu atkal apciemot morru

iebraucot pilsētā, uzreiz atmiņā iepriekšējie braucieni, šīs pazīstamās šaurās ielas, tramvaji, neizburtojamās iestādes, sophisticated vending machines everywhere. atcerējos kā toreiz nezināju, kā pie viņa tikt. šoreiz izglābj apple ar find friends - redzu kā morra zvērīgā ātrumā kustas pa šoseju, nolēmu, ka brauc vienā no tiem pārātrajiem vilcieniem. pietuvojos street view un skatos - nē, viņš patiesībā skrien, kustas ātrāk nekā jebkas cits uz tās ielas, kas patiesībā nemaz nav šoseja. atpazīstu viņa latvijas karoga krāsu tērpu no kaut kur iepriekš redzētajām bildēm

zinu, kur atrast, but i end up chasing him around the city, as there is no way i can run as fast as he does. beidzot panāku viņu no aizmugures kādā pāršaurā gājēju-velo ieliņā, šķiet, nomurminu kaut ko, viņš pagriežas, neatpazīst, tad apstājas un smaidā pasveicina mani. vienmēr forši būt morras klātbūtnē. satiekam megu, abi dodas uz mājām, i follow

ar megu runājam angliski, viņa ziņkārīgi man jautā par latviju, skotiju un maniem iespaidiem par japānu thus far. vienubrīd sarunas gaitā viņas seju pārklāj melna ēna, morra uzreiz piesteidz un paskaidro megu, ka latvieši tā nedara, tāpēc es varētu nobīties; pieņemu, ka uz to brīdi uz manas sejas bija šausmas. megu nokautrējas, šoreiz viņas sejā zila ēna, bet viņa momentā to pazudina, so that i don't freak out completely

morram šoreiz ir pusgari, tuvu melni mati, tumši brūnas acis -- jo ilgāk viņš tur dzīvo, jo grūtāk ir palikt gaišmatainam latvietim, nodomāju es. taču viņam šķiet, ka viņš aizvien gaišs eiropeisks puika ar latviešu-igauņu asinīm, so be it, nodomāju es, taču nākamajā brīdī es viņu tieši tā arī redzu, un tagad arī mati nešķiet tik gari

turpmākajās dienās pilns ar piedzīvojumiem - dzēsām ugunskuru ananāsu krūmā, braucām ar kalnu velo pāri lielceļiem ar tramplīniem, piedzīvojām divu ekshibicionistu priekšnesumu. mēģināju noskaidrot, kas īsti ir tās melnās un zilās ēnas, ko gan megu, gan morra prata pārvilkt pāri savām sejām, taču uzzināju tikai to nozīmi - melnā ēna nepārprotami rāda izbrīnu, zilā - kautrīgumu, something you can learn to do, apparently, but it's only really reserved for the japanese. nopūtos un pieņemu to kā ir. kas i', tas i'

atlikusas vien septinas nedelas, lai nolemtu turpmako studiju virzienu; cereju, ka busu jau nolemusi by now, bet ne

which one would you do?

had an update to one of my dreamlines

me and my brother decided to return to cambodia where we had bought some land four years ago while travelling with our father. we booked the same hotel, found the guys that were keeping an eye on it, and set off to find it. not much had changed in those four years; there were lots of unfinished buildings all around, it seemed like bits of spain during the recession. the landplot that we had bought actually had a free-standing concrete box in the middle of a meadow, with no windows or doors, or even floors, just gray walls. the two locals that we had bought it from seemed really eager to show us how everything is still the way it was when we bought it, so they were showing the premise with pride, they're really dedicated to being proud of their work, it seemed. after all, we didn't really have any papers to say this land belongs to us, so it was pretty much up to them to show us that no paperwork is necessary when you're dealing with someone as trustworthy as themselves.

so we went in, the two removed manhole covers in the main room and continued explaining how they check these on a daily basis to make sure everything's alright. once the covers were removed, we saw an infant in each manhole, calmly just floating on top of the liquid. they had clean clothes, looked healthy and overall really contempt with what is happening. the locals took them out, shook some dust off the infants' backs without stopping their streams of pride over their work. they almost seemed like guides showing off local landmarks, not pausing even to take a good breath. once the show was over and we were satisfied with the status quo, we wandered off to explore other newly built concrete boxes on our own.

once we returned to the hotel, i wondered whether the hotel had finally gained the three star status, as last time we stayed there the owner seemed a bit frustrated that these were so hard to get, even if you've essentially got the whole package. he wasn't really complaining though, because they were never short of business.

we went into a basement carpark, also abandoned during the bubble. the walls and ceilings were so wavy that it seemed like some bits of the ceiling are about to crack open and collapse on you, i managed to persuade my brother to leave quickly

as time went by and we were just wandering around the streets, i kept on thinking how persuasive and manipulative the locals can be. soon enough suspicion grew - what if the infants were actually not real? what if they're just well made realistic-looking dolls that you play with when you're little? what if all of this was another story of gullible tourists falling for the tales locals spit out left and right? i don't remember if i returned and had a second look down the manholes. i was probably too afraid to face the reality of having been f-ed over, again

atradu ģimenes video ar sevi (m), kad man bija kādi 6.5 g., un tēvu (a)

[..]

a: un kā viņu sauc?

m: es nezinu, kā viņu sauc, bet mēs tāpat draudzējamies

(pauze)

m: a tu?

a: es viņu nepazīstu

m: a tu nezini viņu, tāpēc

a: ko?

m: tu tāpēc viņu nezini, tāpēc tu..nezini, kā viņu sauc. a es zinu, tikai negribu teikt. a pa īstam nezinu. es uzvārdu tikai viņam zinu. viņam uzvārds ir..mārtiņš viņam ir uzvārds, viņš man teica

a: nē, tas ir vārds

m: uzvārds viņam tāds arī. ja man uzvārds marija, oi, mani sauc marija, un uzvārds ir arī marija. a tev kāds uzvārds? es zinu!

a: kāds?

m: a..saša vai krasiļņikovs. es nezinu

couldn't have not made this joke. konteksts -- metodika inducēto pluripotento cilmes šūnu ieguvei ir samērā labi izstrādāta, ar to parasti problēmas nerodas.

grūtības sagādā iegūt noteikta tipa šūnas no tām, jo parasti tu neiegūsti vien X, bet gan plašu spektru ar radniecīgām šūnām, un citreiz tevi interesējošās šūnas sastāda <1% no rezultāta

the colourful bits are cartoons of stained cells displaying pluripotency markers mentioned on the right hand side

šogad man beidzot ir atbilde uz jautājumiem par to, ko es daru ārpus mācībām un kas ir mani hobiji -- lasu vairāk vai mazāk svaigus zinātniskos rakstus par dažādām tēmām iekš life sciences, which makes me think how much we actually don't know yet and how recent is most of what we do know [in this field]

tas, ka daži cilvēki parasti mostas agri, saistīts ar to, ka viņu bio pulkstenis (aka circadian rhythm) ir < 24h, and vice versa. having to adjust their 'clocks' to nature's in the morning, they end up falling asleep earlier in the evening. without external stimuli (daylight) living beings switch to their own rhythms entirely

ну так вот, tāda sajūta, ka lately mana diena ir sarukusi vēl vairāk -- viss sākās ar to, ka es pirms pāris nedēļām nolēmu celties agrāk, pl. 6.00 (lai gan man pietiktu laika rīta aktivitātēm arī tad, ja mostos pl. 7.45), because, well, it's really easy, un tagad es mostos arvien agrāk, this time mana diena bija 5 am - 8.30 pm un nakts turpinājās tikai līdz 1.30 am. kaut kad drīz būtu jābūt jau pusdienām - at around about 5.30 am.

i remember reading this bit on gene regulation in terms of cancer -- as it turns out, the same cells (with the same dna) can cause cancerous cell proliferation in some cases and not cause it in others; it all has to do with what's going on around the cell. essentially, the environment surrounding the cell dictates whether it's going to express those cancerous genes or not. which i find very interesting.

nevaru nesalīdzināt to ar situāciju, kurā šobrīd esmu -- mainījusies mana vide, līdz ar to es arī citādi jūtos un uzvedos. mainījusies tik ļoti, tik neparedzami un tik īsā laikā periodā, that makes you wonder, hm, cik daudz cilvēkā ir to more or less nemainīgo lietu

agrāk, kad strādāju in an animal hospital, paziņas man allaž teica/jautāja, ka tas ir ļoti grūts darbs, jo man taču noteikti ir ļoti žēl slimo dzīvnieciņu. i found that isn't exactly the case; though i did have a powerful emotional response whenever we would encounter moronic pet owners. jo saimnieki parasti arī ir tie, kas izraisa saviem dzīvniekiem [mums redzamās] lielākās ciešanas, mostly apzināti, which is very very sad indeed. other than that - death and illness are a part of life, so it doesn't cause me too much distress

lai gan, ja tā padomā, ja cilvēks apņemas nolemt sava dzīvnieka dzīves apstākļus, tad viņš sort of arī ir lēmējs dzīvnieka nāvē/slimībā. which kind of shows why to some respect having pets is nonsense

monologā par aritmētisko vidējo 'mean':

- what i really mean by this is that --

monologā par µ, ko angliski izrunā kā mew [mjū]

- this is something we already knew [ņjū]--

un droši vien zemapziņā pasniedzējs liek uzsvaru tieši uz šiem vārdiem. viņš arī cenšas maksimāli precīzi izteikt savas domas, kas citreiz pārvēršas absurdi garā mēģinājumā. unnecessary garā, i'd say

lasu oliver sacks _ awakenings; bioloģijas mācību grāmatā paralēli dublējās info par major influenza outbreaks 20.gs., par ko es agrāk nebiju dzirdējusi, te pēkšņi man šī info parādās divās lasāmvielās. what are the odds, i'd say, and probability is actually another thing that's on my mind a great deal lately, jo mācos to statistikā

brīdī, kad attālinies no realitātes un skaties uz savu tagadni vai arī tagadni kopumā (i.e. pasauli) no attāla skatpunkta, prātā iespraucās doma, ka, oh, es taču tiešām esmu šeit. tā ir cita realitāte, un latviju es izjūtu tikai tad, kad ar mani kāds no turienes sazinās, jo citādi man tādas latvijas nemaz nav, tikai pagātnē. how far does this go

studying the basics of quantum mechanics in chemistry and probability in statistics at the moment. until now i never realised how counterintuitive the world may be, every lecture in statistics feels like a realization that you've been assuming many things completely wrong throughout your life simply because you weren't able to transfer numbers into reality. and it's soo fundamental, i feel like something's damaged beyond repair

some video examples from statistics - monty hall problem, the birthday problem etc., there's plenty where that came from, i'd say most examples really puzzle me