MEMORABLE QUOTE FROM A FRIEND
“i do always find it creepy when people are wearing skin-colored things that are meant to look from a distance like actual skin, though, i’m not a fan of that maneuver at all. her jedi mind tricks do not work on me; i am aware that just cause i can pinpoint her navel doesn’t mean the dress is limited to those peacock feathers”
–- a dear friend who think blake lively is hot, except when she is wearing a semi-skin colored dress
This morning, at an ungodly hour, I woke up, took a shower, and biked off to a talk hosted by the Baker Institute of Public Policy titled, Through the Sallyport to China. Jo Ling Kent is an associate producer and web journalist at CNN, Beijing Bureau. I’ll admit I mostly decided to go because she has the same name as me, and she is half-Chinese, but I think I needed a pep talk during this time of the year when I am on the brink of starting summer and ending my third year at Rice.
She graduated from Rice in 2007 and received the US Fulbright Fellowship to China. You can probably read more at the link through the Baker Institute, but what I learned from her talk is that being a student is an incredible opportunity.
Sure, Rice is not that well-known in other countries, especially in China, but surprisingly, there are a lot of connections through Rice in China. There are alumni everywhere, you just need to find them. I think she was really inspiring because she did so much while she was at Rice. I really believe that she took full advantage of her education at Rice by talking with professors and participating in the best programs/opportunities that Rice provides.
Sure, she’s not an architect and doesn’t have anything to do with my current field, but even though she is really young, she already has a number of experiences in her life that were so meaningful and has lead to where she is today. I only hope to get to a respected place as she is today.
What she emphasized is: do what you really like because then you will do everything to succeed. Take a leap, use your connections, and GO JO!
P.S.: She learned traditional Chinese at a Taiwanese Chinese school in Minnesota. She also did Chinese traditional dancing when she was younger. AND she has a food blog through CNN. How much more similar can we get?
(Source: bakerinstitute.org)
Regarded as one of the most essential books on an architect’s bookshelf, I want to read about Rem Koolhaas’ fascination with New York. I love New York!
Too Impatient for Reading
With Twitter feeds, Google Reader, and text messages, my attention span for reading is short. I scroll through my RSS feeds, click on the most interesting articles, look at the picture, and click on the star to store the article for future reference (i.e. recipes). Now a days, I can’t get past more than a few sentences or a paragraph before clicking on another article or setting down a book. It’s a bad habit, and I thought it was just me. It most definitely not.
Conversations over tonight’s dinner with my suitemates (“suities”) confirmed the fact that I was not alone in this ADD behavior. Our discussion shifted to the topic of my worries, today’s methods of communication and the size of our brains. A few days ago, (while I was scrolling through my RSS feeds on Google Reader), I read an article on GOOD, “Why It’s Good That Your Brain Is Shrinking.” Our brains are shrinking to the size of tennis balls, making our brains “leaner and more efficient”. The interesting article that stimulated the GOOD feed said that:
They found that brain size decreased as population density increased.
“As complex societies emerged, the brain became smaller because people did not have to be as smart to stay alive,” Geary told AFP.
Population density struck me, especially after having a conversation in my studio about density and specifically the density of Mexico City. (When more and more people are moving into cities, what happens to those rural areas? Who will provide us with the crops that we need to survive?) Is this a connection to why human brains are getting smarter? The shift back to the dense living?
I personally enjoy living in dense environments after my experience in Hong Kong two years ago and last summer in Shanghai. Every moment in the city is filled with surprises and interactions, like getting on a subway, running into a friend, and visiting an art museum together. There are just so many more opportunities for social connectivity and interaction. I can see how these activities are exercising our brains, but is this instantaneous pleasure of doing things so quickly really making our brains more efficient. Does efficiency necessarily mean smarter?
If the density of cities is impacting the efficiency of our brains, then architects and urban planners deserve more credit than they get.
About Me
My life, adventures, and thoughts
