6.28.2020

Hard-earned couse certificate and gigantic eggplant

Finished taking Nutrition, Heart Disease and Diabetes course on EdX! I'm happily surprised with the quality of this course. The videos were well made with lots of visual aids, not just people talking. I'm glad I took it. With one more, Nutrition and Cancer, I will get a professional certificate!  It will be useful for my internship too hopefully.



Humongous eggplant.  Made into a chili-like dish with mushrooms, ground chicken, and cilantro.  They shrink so much after cooking!! 

6.26.2020

100% Whole wheat pita!

Whole grain pita bread! Tastes good and the texture is nice too due to added gluten. It's hard to find decent 100% whole grain rolls, but these ones are good alternative.  I don't feel like baking my own bread even though it would be the best. Especially whole grain bread seems to take a lot of time and effort.  I'll do it one day I have less things to do..


Going back to the lab for a few hours to do some small tasks.  It's been really a long time to go into my office as well. I hope it has not become a rats' paradise..

6.24.2020

Summer plants and skies



Rare plants.. don't know what they are called. Shows off a beautiful contrast of light and dark green.


Looks like a typical summer sky.  Thanks to the lakes, sudden thunderstorms and rains are common!

6.23.2020

Michigan's unpredictable weather


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Summer solstice

The longest day of the year!

But I read summer solstice is not quite the longest day, but I don't remember why or where I read it.

Anyways it's so bright from early in the morning till very late at night. It wasn't completely dark when I went out at 10 pm.  Love the sunshine. Better than cloudy, gloomy, short-day winter!  

6.20.2020

Summer tree highlights

So hot during the day reaching 85F+.
The sun is brighter at this high altitude.  No wonder.  Trees are showing off lush green and colorful flowers.  It's a beautiful season!   




Coffee machine broke and I didn't have my coffee this morning.

We were having a meeting where we talked about safety procedures and sanitizing protocols to safely come back to lab and resume our lab experiments.

With so many trainings, updates, new regulations, we are kind of tired of planning.

I felt that we were not feeling like sharing research results, so we just chatted for 15 min or so. It's nice to have a casual conversation that we normally have here and there if we are in our offices and in the same building.

We were all kind of sluggish this morning.. and our boss said that "My coffee machine broke, so I didn't have coffee this morning."  It was a well-timed, perfect explanation for our "Yeah let's just take it easy"- kind of attitude.

She is such a nice person. I didn't realize the value of having an understanding, courteous, and friendly boss until I actually had one. But now I think it's one of the top priorities when I look for a job.  You look for a job and a boss that you are comfortable with, not a company or organization, necessarily.

6.19.2020

These days....

So many things are happening at the same time!! 
There are actually two office furtniture showrooms.. might wanna visit on the weekend...  

6.18.2020

すごく鮮明に覚えている夢

知らないマンションのエレベーター。妹がいたので妹の家かもしれない(新居にまだ行ったことがないので)。6階建てくらいなのに、10階をとおりこして、どこにも止まらないので驚く。身障者用のボタンを押して、どこかの階につく。下りたところはマンションぽいところではなかった。

再びエレベーターにのる。今度はなぜか横移動して、床が透明なガラスで、足元の景色が見える。宙を移動するエレベーターらしい。そこから、日光江戸村的なところが見える。着物を着てる人がいたり、浮世絵に出てくるような松が生えてたり。なんじゃこりゃ?エレベーターの係員さんに聞くと、ここは両国ですよー、つながっているんです。とのこと。そ、そうなの???

ショッピングモールの出口付近のような場所に到着。トイレがあったり、ちょっとした待機スペースも。

でもそこから中にはいるとなぜかまた外で、屋台、出店風。お祭りみたい。
動物もたくさんいた。フラミンゴが遠目に。あひる(でかい、エミューサイズ)が、追いかけてくる!食べ物何も持ってないのに鞄に顔をつっこまれ、噛まれる。痛くなかったしなんかじゃれあってるみたいで楽しかったけど。

屋台で一口野菜のパックづめを見かけて買おうとする。160円ですって。安い。。 財布を出して小銭を数えていたら、となりにいた中学生くらいの男子グループが、なんかいろいろ言ってて40円くれた。紳士!優しい!ありがとう!!と今後の彼らの成長のために精一杯褒めた。

出口の場所に戻ったら、なぜか私は血球のウエスタンブロットをはじめる。赤血球がリアルに見えて、ゲルの中に流し込んでいた(ほんとのウエスタンブロットはそういう手順ではない)。心臓血管系の勉強を詰め込んでやっているからだろう。人がどよどよと出てきて、ウエスタンに夢中の私のトレンチコートの裾を指でさらさらとさわっている人がいるのには気づいていた。 後で見たら、なんと油性マジックで、「濃」という字と、四角形の図形で中が黒から白へカケアミでグラデになっているものが描かれていた。またもや、なんじゃこりゃ。指で何かをなぞっているだけかと思ったら、書いてたとは。しかもベージュのトレンチだったよ。濃くないよ。夜10時だったのでさすがにもう終わらないと思い、切り上げる。

帰ろうとして厚手のコートを中に忘れたことに気づいたが、ショッピングモールの中はもうしまっている。外は寒いのに! すると、違う団体があらわれて、忘れ物らしき分厚いコート(私のではない)を持っていた。明日返しに来るから私に貸して、と言って、貸してもらった。またエレベーターに乗るのも怖いので、秋葉原駅まで歩いてそこから電車で帰ろうと思った。秋葉原駅周辺は眠らない街で、びかびかにネオンがついた建物がたくさんあって、アイドルが踊っていて、きらびやかだなーーと横目に見ながら駅へ向かっていた・・・ 

トレンチコートのあたりから、これは夢だな、とわかったパターンだった。だからといって自由に動けるわけではなかったんだけど。この頃のいろいろを脳が整理したかったんだろう。両国から秋葉原の地理なんて全く知らないのに、今地図で確認したらけっこう近かったという驚き。妙だったけど、おもしろかった・・・。


6.17.2020

4 meetings, paca socks


It was full of meetings today!! It's rare that I get tired of talking while working from home. Anyways all are good..

I went out and sat on grass and worked there. It was hot, but felt cool in the shades.  Strange to write a Unix script on green grass, but it made me weiedly efficient.  Having some fresh air is perhaps the best way. 

Received alpaca socks all the way from Australia!  "Quirky but cute, perfect for you", it said.  There's no better compliment than that.  Want to go for a picnic with wine in a basket.

6.15.2020

Crego park

It took only 15 min to bike there! Next time I should bring my lunch.  It's great to go see a body of water after getting stuck at home staring at my computer all day.

It's been cool comfortable days with daytime highs around 68F. But it's getting hotter again. I need to exercise in the morning!

View from my outdoor office the other day.  There's no rainy season in Michigan, just like Hokkaido!

6.12.2020

Summer and campus life

Seems like summer has officially begun.  Already used to deserted campus, but people are working on buildings, roads, and grass.  Hopefully normal life is coming back soon. 

Missing interacting with people though. There's an announcement that there won't be no on masse come back to work in the foreseeable future, and that means I'll be probably stuck inside all summer.  Well.. it's really lucky to have a job. Can't really complain.

Morning bike rides are very refreshing and let me see the seasons beauty along the way.  The small white flowers are glowing under the soft, early morning sunshine.  I need to exercise outside in the morning because it gets very hot and humid in the evening, during which I usually work out.

It was a nice, restful day after weeks of intensive genetic analyses and writing! 


6.11.2020

Cashew yogurt sauce + vegetable dish


Cashew, coconut, and tomato simmer sauce with lots of spices, used for a couliflower, zuccini, and ground chicken stir-fly.  It had a little sourness to it probably because of yogurt and vinegar in it.  The instruction says "Add more yogurt if desired", and I almost did, but glad I didn't.  Very flavorful with the spice but not hot. Perfect to eat rice cake with!

Trying to eat 450 g of vegetables and fruits every day! 



Report, career talk, eye exam etc...


6.09.2020

Salmon + onion + tomatoes --> Yummy

Can eat lot of vegetables with this dish. 
1 fish meal per week provides protective effects on cardiovascular diseases and age-related cognitive loss of function.

I could also use dry fish or chicken meats in this because of the juicy tomatoes.

The more I study about nutrition and disease, the more healthier meals I want to make. That's a great motivator! 

6.08.2020

Data analysis

Analyzing data all day every day!!  I don't know what day it is today, and it doesn't really matter.. but my report deadline is tomorrow, so that's Monday!  I just realized that I should have done analysis in another way.. and am I going to do it all over again?  I'll think about it tomorrow.. 

They say "Work takes as much as you let it."

It's a very nice feeling to work outside under the sun.  No mosquitos. 


Summer Sky & Clouds


6.07.2020

Lavendar in summer

They look like lavendar but don't smell like lavendar???

Gotta do this weekend: finish writing report, homework, and study the website of an organization that I may be interning in!

I haven't talked with a lot of people for months and I'm getting wierd feelings. My speaking English has declined a little bit most likely while I read and write in English all the time, which is unfortunate.

But how can I have chances to talk with people while staying at home?  I could talk to my colleages and acquaintances, but that may take their precious time, and I don't know how busy they are at a particular time.  Hmm...   


6.04.2020

Nutrition Live Online 2020

I'm learning a lot by attending this meeting online. I'm so glad it's available live and recorded to everyone.  25,000 people registered from 150 countries!  It makes me think about quality in accessing research, science, and networking opportunities.

It would be great to have an online platform to share research findings and meet colleagues without having to pay for expensive registration fees, travel and accomodation cost.  It could co-exist with normal conferences on-site.


6.02.2020

ケミ・自己投資・大学の活動再開…に向けて



There are many people that I used to see every day but have not seen or talked for months now. .I want to talk with them, but I don't think we are close enough to set up a Zoom meeting to just have a small chat.  Exchanging hi's in the hallway or in the bathroom was the perfect way of keeping in touch.  I hope that time will come back soon... 

6.01.2020

Hawk Island Park on the last day of May

 Biked to Hawk Island Park for the first time! 30 min one way, and 30 min to bike around the lake. It was a sunny day with no clouds, but was kind of chilly with the temperature being 65F.  The trail in the woods were so beautiful with lush green leaves that just appeared the past month or so. The sunlight that comes through the leaves makes the trail such a pleasant place. There were many people on the trail jogging, walking, biking, rollarblading, segway-ing,  etc. enjoying the season's beauty.