where the heck did that come from?

kiel: too full for not having eaten lunch
kie: fab lab
kio: this is stuck in my head

so i officially axed my project. apparently the in vivo data was misleading and there really was no effect. am i sad about it? well, kinda. but honestly, if it was going nowhere it had to stop sometime. also, a personal mantra of mine can be phrased as "ok, it happened, so what do we do now?" i don't like to dwell on things too much, especially when life as we know it today is such a transient experience.

for example, nobody cares what grades you got in grade school. those grades might have gotten you into some accelerated high school program, but now they mean absolutely nothing. especially that "needs improvement" you got in penmanship in 5th grade. (not bitter at all.)

now, in college, nobody cares what grades you got in high school. they don't care whether you were first in your class or 101st. true, your grades in high school probably got you into the college where you ended up. but now that you're there, they're just letters.

again, though, even college grades mean little to anyone outside your undergrad world. grad schools will look at your grades and other things. employers might look at your grades (and only your first employers right after you graduate). but after about a year from graduation, no one will care that you got a D in gen bio or that you got an A+ in economics.

and even after that, post-grad programs will look at your thesis and your research. your second employers will look at what you actually did at your last job. even when official evaluation (grading) ceases, what you have done is still only a temporary badge of honor or dishonor.

so, all your life, you have to keep working, keep accomplishing bigger and better things. and once you're involved, there's no time to think back and wonder how things could have been different. there's no time for regrets and no time for self-praise. the present, not the past, will determine your future.

ed: and you can quote me on that. i'll be right up there with oscar wilde. -9/5/06