Artiscence

In the month of November, I read this book: This book describes (very briefly) women that have made great accomplishments and broken barriers to become the first woman to (....insert accomplishment here). It's a much needed book that goes to show that women are not found in many spaces that men leisurely find themselves. So when a woman finally becomes something men have always been, it's surprising, groundbreaking and gratifying at the same time. It shouldn't be so, yet it is. For that, this book is a welcome collation of women who have broken ground (broken ceiling?) to become the first women to achieve. But, it's a small read. It's a short read. There's something unsettling and unsatisfying about reading several years of Serena Williams professional life on one page, or Michele Phan meteoric rise into building her empire from Youtube videos into a makeup company and more, or the rise of the first woman General in the U.S. A serialized version of the ...

I have decided to start a "Book of the Month" blog feature. As someone who read voraciously in the past, I have only read about three books this year. So to ease myself back into reading more and to make myself accountable, I will pick a book every month, read it, then write an opinion piece on it.  The book I have selected for the month of November, was recommended to me by my mentor and titled, FIRST: Women Who Are Changing The World , by The Editors of TIME.  I am looking forward to reading it and writing my opinion on it.   How do you get yourself to pick up a book when time is short or life gets in the way? I'd love to know.  

I have decided to start writing again! My last post was in 2014. A few things happened and I lost interest in continuing my hobby. At the time, I was a 3rd year graduate student and had just begun working on my graduate thesis work when I suddenly found myself in a position where I needed to begin afresh in a new lab. Thankfully, the transition, academically was smooth. There were positive mentors around me who encouraged me and got me right on track. But, as I buried myself in this new found goal of completing my new thesis project, publishing manuscripts, defending my dissertation and graduating "on time", I found myself distant from the small joys of writing and posting a paragraph or two about my life.  Now, I have my Ph.D. I am a postdoctoral fellow and I am ready to begin a second fellowship in just under two months. Despite life and career being even more challenging than graduate school, I found time management is what allows me to shoulder multiple aspects of l...

I am naturally a "risk analytic". I do not take risk unless I know everything I could possibly know about the event and weigh the benefits to be much greater than the risk. Another reason I prefer CDs to stocks, but that's a different story. Any situation that takes me out of my comfort zone is always riddled with fear. My comfort zone consists of things I've come to expect everyday, i.e. grad school activities, work, church and home. Anything remotely distance to this becomes a risk, traveling is one. My common sense gets clouded with doubts and  in my mind, I quickly think of the zillion things that could go wrong. The what ifs, maybes and the assumptions. Interestingly, that is also one of the reasons I travel. Not only to learn about places and cultures, but also to understand that different does not mean wrong . Fear of traveling is like fear of the unknown. We are quick to judge, even hate what we don't know. Traveling has taught me to be patient, less judgm...

To infinity and beyond! I found myself in San Antonio, Texas several months ago for a conference, and afterwards I decided to take the 4hrs bus ride to Houston to visit my dear brother. It was fun! We don't see other often so it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up and visit places he enjoy. One of the places we went to was the Space Center Houston. We took pictures of ourselves in front of old space shuttles, I believe this particular one is called Explorer. Then, we took a ride that tours the different facilities within the grounds, including the one housing Saturn V,  and the Mission Control room (the old one). After the tour, my brother and I went down to the plaza for lunch and goofed around afterwards. (By the way, if you are going to put on a space helmet (like I did below), sanitize the inside first, everyones face goes inside that thing.) Despite the blazing heat in the middle of March, it was fun, and educational. Not a lot of things are. To infinity and beyond!

I have moved! My blog that is. I transferred the content of my blog from Blogger to WordPress a few days ago, after so many days of thinking, reading and deciding if this was indeed the best decision to make. Things will look a lot different, and the layout of my blog will continue to change (for a while) as I slowly get use to the new system. I am not tech savvy, so I have been going at it pretty slowly.  

Note: I wrote this blog post over a year ago (I know!), but never got around to posting it. So, here it is. "Pull yourself together, man." Who said this? Anyone? Anyone? No? Well, it was what Argus Filch told Hagrid before Hagrid led the kids into the forbidden forest (in Harry Potter). And it was what I told myself as I hesitated walking the Golden Gate Bridge. Ha ha, I see my "nerdiness" showing. After walking miles on the Shoreline Park in Mountain View the day before, I readied myself for another test of endurance (or lack thereof) the next day. I wanted to walk the Golden Gate Bridge. If you don't know, the bridge is close to 2 miles in length. You could walk all the length from the Presidio side to the Marina side and then choose to take a boat back (for a nominal fee, I suppose), or walk back if you are up to it, making a total of almost 4 miles forth and back the bridge. I chose to walk forth and back the bridge. There were people hanging...

    Cenotes are beautiful pits or sinkholes that expose groundwater. Close to the end of my trip in Mexico, I had the opportunity to visit a cenote. Coming out of Uxmal with the intention of heading back to Cancun, a tiny village lies outside of Uxmal with a small but beautiful cenote. Well out of the main road, the path to the village is not tarred and jagged, with curves and sharp bends and shrubs brushing the sides of the car, till at last we reached the cenote. Almost cavelike in appearance, the cenote was not visible until I descended down a slippery stair case into the cave below.  As I stepped down the stairs (that's me in polka dots), I heard flies whizzing past my ear, felt the hot, humid air getting stronger and the splash of water as people jumped into the cool cenote. Within the cave, there were virtually no instructions about diving into a cenote, just a bright yellow rope to hang onto after the dive. Same rope will provide an anchor to he...

Simple, Airbnb! Airbnb is a platform provided for individuals to rent unoccupied space for a short while. It's secure, safe and cheap. And for a student like me, with minimal funds to live on and even smaller funds to travel with, it's a god-send and an answer to my prayers. My very first Airbnb in Cancun, Mexico. I had a room and  private bathroom to myself. Roomy and sunny, the house is traditional and warm, just like its hosts. Having travelled around the world, my host were very knowledgeable and adventurous. I learned so much, not just about the vicinity I was staying in, but about Mexico and several other places around the world. They suggested a restaurant on my second day and I had amazing Mexican food there. I saw and chatted with locals in the park few blocks from the house. Airbnb in Merida, Mexico. Merida is old-new, modern, eclectic and charming in an appealing sorta way. And the place I stayed in reflected that quite well. Very ...

So happy, I met  (and exceeded) my travel goals for the year 2013. I set the goal for 2 international trips and 5 local (within the U.S) trips. I went on several small trips within the country:  New York New Jersey Miami, Florida San Antonio, Texas Houston, Texas And of course, awesome day trips in Rhode Island and Boston. Because, the best fun is always right where you live, the one where you never bother bringing a camera but end up having the most adventurous and fun time. My international trips consisted of Mexico, Jamaica and now....drum roll.... Nigeria. So glad I went on these trips, I met awesome friends in Mexico and went with friends to Jamaica and now hoping to meet with friends and family again in Nigeria. To celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year. Now that I know it is doable, to travel and work and do other things in between, I am planning my 2014 with traveling in mind. To help me with my travel inspiratio...

There are several reasons I haven't traveled or planned a trip in a while.  The first, my job is taken a turn for the better. This means, simply put, it also demands a lot more of my time. But I did make several smaller local trips that I haven't written about yet  (Yeah, I'm lazy). But the main reason I haven't traveled in a while is that I have been saving up for a car. And now I got it! My little baby, Arewa.  I've held out long enough and managed to get around without a car. But it's becomes increasingly difficult to do. In the past, I tell myself I needed a car but never actively looked for one. This time, the opportunity to get one fell in my laps (more like my email) when a graduating student posted her car up for sale.  The price is right, the car feels right and the timing is right. So ...why not?

Today, I realized that  it is quite possible to be nearly a type A-esque person and also very phlegmatic. Personalities are complex traits that characterize and define who we are. Owning a personality or multiple personalities is normal and 3-dimensional. Unlike the disorder in which all personalities become primary, the so-called "normal" person has one singular, primary personality and several secondary and dormant personalities. When a person knows and recognizes who he is, he is able to project, quite effectively, his primary personality. Hence, you will hear, in reference to someone, the phrase; "Oh, he's a quiet and agreeable person", or "he's an aggressive person". In both instances, the so-called primary personality is active, and rightly so.  On the other, when something happens to question ones' identity or sense of individuality, it is possible that dormant, recessive traits take the fore-front, resulting in a loss of prim...

I fell in love with Uxmal because I could climb the walls, the broken stairs, roam the arenas,  and the buildings. Although the big pyramid (Pyramid of the Magician) was restricted (partially), virtually everything else was climbable. This meant, I touched, climbed, sat and immersed myself in the structures around me. Uxmal had something that, Chichen Itza, grand as it may be or Tulum, enticing as it was, didn't have. I felt Umxal gave me more of itself than the other two and I believed I reciprocated. Does that make sense?  Have you ever been to a place that you felt appealed to you in an almost mystifying,  inexplicable way? Umxal is not as touristy as the other two pyramids, yet it was more appealing and its beauty was far extending than the others were. Chichen Itza, although grand, was well over crowed with both tourists and hawkers and other craft-ware sellers, yelling one dollar, in high-pitched tones,  these...