Association as a way to develop new habits

I've been trying to eat more fruit, but somehow I always found some excuse not to do it. Recently, I decided to make eating fruit part of my breakfast. And I'm proud to say that I've eaten a piece of fruit every day for the past two weeks! Another habit I've developed is doing a morning stretch. I write an entry in my worklog most mornings (just a short sentence about what work I plan to accomplish). I noticed that my body was getting cramped at the end of the day and I was developing a terrible backache so I started doing a stretch along with my worklog entry.

By associating a new habit with an older, more successful one, I have managed to greatly accelerate my personal development process. The next challenge is to go to the gym 5 days a week. Wish me luck.

Link of the day: Tesla Downunder

A crazy Australian in love with electricity builds gigantic Tesla coils and photographs his projects. There is even a recreation of the Soviet Tesla coil trooper from Command and Conquer: Red Alert. I remember when I went to the Boston Museum of Science and saw the electricity show. Mr. Tesla Downunder reminds me of that.

This is a fantastic website for any aspiring physicist.

Song of the day: "Moments in the Woods" by Stephen Sondheim

I'm amazed at the intellectual complexity of this song. This is one of the most thoughtful songs I've heard. Joanna Gleason performs it so well; it's no wonder she won a Tony Award.

From Into the Woods

What was that?

Was that me?
Was that him?
Did a Prince really kiss me?
And kiss me?
And kiss me?
And did I kiss him back?

Was it wrong?
Am I mad?
Is that all?
Does he miss me?
Was he suddenly
Getting bored with me?

Wake up! Stop dreaming.
Stop prancing about the woods.
It's not beseeming.
What is it about the woods?

Back to life, back to sense,
Back to child, back to husband,
You can't live in the woods.
There are vows, there are ties,
There are needs, there are standards,
There are shouldn'ts and shoulds.

Why not both instead?
There's the answer, if you're clever:
Have a child for warmth,
And a Baker for bread,
And a Prince for whatever-
Never!
It's these woods.

Face the facts, find the boy,
Join the group, stop the Giant-
Just get out of these woods.
Was that him? Yes it was.
Was that me? No it wasn't,
Just a trick of the woods.

Just a moment,
One peculiar passing moment...
Must it all be either less or more,
Either plain or grand?
Is it always "or"?
Is it never "and"?
That's what woods are for:
For those moments in the woods...

Oh. if life were made of moments,
Even now and then a bad one-!
But if life were only moments,
Then you'd never know you had one.

First a Witch, then a child,
Then a Prince, then a moment-
Who can live in the woods?
And to get what you wish,
Only just for a moment-
These are dangerous woods...

Let the moment go...
Don't forget it for a moment, though.
Just remembering you've had an "and",
When you're back to "or",
Makes the "or" mean more
Than it did before.
Now I understand-

And it's time to leave the woods.

Song of the day: "Giants in the Sky" by Stephen Sondheim

This is one of Sondheim's simpler songs, but I enjoy the fun, wondrous tone. It reminds me of when I was in college, discovering the beauty of science for the first time.

From Into the Woods

There are Giants in the sky!
There are big tall terrible Giants
in the sky!

When you're way up high
And you look below
At the world you left
And the things you know,
Little more than a glance
Is enough to show
You just how small you are.

When you're way up high
And you're own your own
In a world like none
That you've ever known,
Where the sky is lead
And the earth is stone,

You're free, to do
Whatever pleases you,
Exploring things you'd never dare
'Cause you don't care,
When suddenly there's

A big tall terrible Giant at the door,
A big tall terrible lady Giant
sweeping the floor.
And she gives you food
And she gives you rest
And she draws you close
To her Giant breast,
And you know things now
that you never knew before,
Not till the sky.

Only just when you've made
A friend and all,
And you know she's big
But you don't feel small,
Someone bigger than her
Comes along the hall
To swallow you for lunch.

And your heart is lead
And your stomach stone
And you're really scared
Being all alone...

And it's then that you miss
All the things you've known
And the world you've left
And the little you own-

The fun is done.
You steal what you can and run.
And you scramble down
And you look below,
And the world you know
Begins to grow:

The roof, the house, and your Mother at the door.
The roof, the house and the world you never thought to explore.
And you think of all of the things you've seen,
And you wish that you could live in between,
And you're back again,
Only different than before,
After the sky.

There are Giants in the sky!
There are big tall terrible awesome scary wonderful
Giants in the sky!

Enneagram

I read an interesting e-book about different personality types via this post. There are 9 different personality types described by a kind of star inscribed in a circle called the enneagram. The idea is that the different personality types complement each other. According to a short online test (there is a longer test for $10), I am a tie between Type 1 (the achiever) and Type 6 (the loyalist). The e-book by Mark McGuinness suggests that we become entrenched in our types and we should try to incorporate the strengths of other types into other lives. For example, a Type 1 achiever should stop to enjoy the moment. The enneagram seems like a nice way to methodically examine yourself and compensate for the weaknesses of your personalities.

Song of the day: "Children Will Listen" by Stephen Sondheim

This song is wise and beautiful (though it's not apparent if you just sing the melody, you really need the orchestra and ensemble to do the piece justice).

From Into the Woods

Careful the things you say,
Children will listen.
Careful the things you do,
Children will see.
And learn.

Children may not obey,
But children will listen.
Children will look to you
For which way to turn,
To learn what to be.

Careful before you say,
"Listen to me."
Children will listen.

Careful the wish you make,
Wishes are children.
Careful the path they take,
Wishes come true,
Not free.

Careful the spell you cast,
Not just on children.
Sometimes the spell may last
Past what you can see
And turn against you...

Careful the tale you tell.
That is the spell.
Children will listen...

Song of the day: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day

I really like the tone and mood of this song.

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's only me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah,
Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines
What's fucked up and everything's alright
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah
Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I walk alone
I walk a...

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone...

Work on a schedule

I read a recent post about how you should just write every day (or on some kind of schedule) and not expect inspiration to strike. That's pretty much true of anything in life and applies to common academic activities like research and teaching as well. This simple concept also reminds me of a quote from Dune by Frank Herbert:

Not in the mood? Moods are things for cattle or loveplay or playing the baliset, not for fighting.

Physical Review now allows Chinese character author names

I saw an editorial in Physical Review Letters today. There are too many Chinese characters that are phonetically identical, so for instance, you can end up with eight different names that would be written as Wei Wang. So now Physical Review will allow some authors (which some?) to put their name in script next to their English name. Hmm, I should try that.