"Pain nourishes courage. You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you.'' -Mary Tyler Moore

Like most people, I am visually stimulated. (Groundbreaking, right?) I often find myself checking nationalgeographic.com for great photographs. Today, when I went to the famed yellow-bordered website, something else stopped my short attention span right in its metaphorical tracks: an article on bionics.

An obvious element of our society is an emphasis on technology. Every time you get your hands on the latest gizmo, Apple manages to launch something better. But what happens when people become technology, and vice versa?

The people featured in National Geographic's article were either born with their physical flaws, or endured some kind of trauma that stole their once-"normal" capability, like a car accident or diving mishap. To compensate, they sought medical attention in the form of robotics that ring true with the image of C3PO sans metallic exterior.

Amanda Kitts, a woman featured in the article, lost the majority of left arm in a car wreck several years ago. She now wears a bionic arm to act in place of the one she was born with. What is truly impressive though, are the links between the machinery and her own brain. When Kitts lost her arm, she did not surrender the transmissions in her brain that told her arm how to move. Scientists have managed to bridge the gap between man and machine to such an extent that when Kitts' brain tells her bionic arm to move, it obeys.

While the article is rather technical in parts, it strikes a chord in the imagination where we fathom such feats. Bionics are giving people back what they never should have lost. I have to wonder, however, how far is too far? At what point do robotics and bionics and other things ending in -ics reach their greatest height? Where do the wires halt, giving way to the most advanced piece of technology to date: the perfectly hideous human brain.

To read the article and see the pictures for yourself, visit:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/bionics/fischman-text

"Trying to make order out of my life was like trying to pick up a jellyfish." Gene Tierney

Today I found myself enraptured by a surprising topic: invasive jellyfish.

I've always viewed these mysterious bubbles of gelatin as fascinating creatures despite their bad reputation, spawned from the threat of a nasty sting. Many people have seen a jellyfish at an aquarium or maybe even on a beach. They appear gentle and non-threatening, completely absorbed by their own floating existence. So besides their predisposition for issuing the only reason why one human being should ever pee on another, what more harm could they do?

I give you the nomura jellyfish:


The nomura, a gentle giant in the most sincere form, has been accused of wreaking havoc on Japan's fishing industry in the past year. When caught in one of the comically expansive nets used by the fishermen, nomura is known to rip massive holes in it. For this, the planet-like creature is known as a menace of the worst kind. I find this accusation tragic, especially since the plan for any future nomura "invasions" is to monitor their populations and deal with them accordingly. Isn't the problem here the fishermen? Call me crazy and sentimental, but I'm pretty sure the jellyfish were here first.

It seems to me that the issue at hand is that the jellyfish are not too big for their world, but their world has become too small.

"Girls we love for what they are; men for what they promise to be." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

While perusing CNN.com this evening, I stumbled across an article that piqued my interest, as my mind is a magnet to controversy. The article explained that Indian officials recently apologized to the public for featuring a foreign persona in an important national ad campaign. The ad, which depicted a handful of significant public figures, included Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, a former air force chief from Pakistan. Ahmed's inclusion in the campaign rattled the palpable tension between India and Pakistan, a product of three wars and decades of hostility.

What was the ad campaign, you ask? Good question, because its message is completely buried by the public outcry of disapproval. The ad supports National Girl-Child Day, a day that celebrates female children and raises awareness about female feticide, "sex-selective abortions blamed for a skewed ratio of males to females in India." The ad depicts several prominent men, with a caption that reads, ""Where would you be if your mother was not allowed to be born?"

After reading the article, I found myself somewhat sad and slightly disgusted that such a message is now eclipsed. I have to wonder how many people actually took in the ad for what it was instead of whom. I've worked in PR and I know how important it is for the client to be satisfied with their image, but isn't the client female children here? Isn't it their promotion that needs to reach the citizens of India? If I had to guess, I would venture that many women in India, who have compassionate parents to thank for their mere existence, are not too thrilled that their day was ruined by an advertising faux pas.

To read the article for yourself, go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/25/india.pakistan/index.html

New semester, new start. I anticipate and adore winter break as much as the next student, but by the time January is in full force, I start itching to return to academia, land of plenty. I thrive on being surrounded by other people my age, whose minds, hopefully, are not yet penetrated by harshness and cynicism.

Recently, I found myself in a discussion about mental conditioning. Before you write me off as a total square, hear me out. If no one had ever told you that something was impossible, that you couldn't do it, how would your mind be different? If mom and dad hadn't told you that you couldn't fly, would you still think that if you tried hard enough, you might lift right off the ground and go float on a cloud? If no one ever said that there weren't monsters under the bed, would you still do a running leap onto the comforter every night? What does a mind unscathed by reality look like? Would you eventually figure everything out on your own? Probably, but it would be fun along the way!

We must not take the faults of our youth with us into old age, for age brings along its own defects. -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Friends, the year 2010 is no longer a promise or an anticipation, it has become a reality in all it's January-flavored goodness. For the last few days, I have found myself ruminating over the fact that 2003 still feels like yesterday, and 2007 was just a couple of hours ago... How quickly decades become things of the past, complete with their own kitschy names that future generations will refer to them as when they participate in decade dress-up days in middle school. Can you imagine an early 2000s-themed homecoming dance? I suppose you could go as the war in Iraq or an economic crisis. Regardless, I have to wonder what the past decade will mean to us after more time has passed. Personally, I have yet to wrap my mind around the fact that the last 10 years now exist an an entity, a commodity. My name is Kellie and I came of age during the _________ era... I have found something very charming in the idea that to my 10-year-old brother, the last decade is, essentially, his life.

Ten years ago, I was a diminutive little girl with my own misconstrued ideas about life and a smart mouth. Not much has changed, except now I can make a grilled cheese by myself and say words like "diminutive." I can't help but wonder where I will be in another ten years, and how I will consider my 20-year-old self. Will it be just as comedic as my fourth grade self? Instead of making a New Year's resolution, I opted to formulate a New Decade resolution, something I am willing to commit to for what will be a third of my life. In 2020, I aspire to feel no need whatsoever to say, "If I knew then what I know now." I want to live the next decade with anticipation and zeal. So I ask you, is there anything you are willing to commit to for the next ten years? Or is the memory of a decade-older self just too much to make promises to?

Oh, and my New YEAR's resolution, you query? More blog posts! :)