RSS Reader

Toll

drkmchow | Feb. 20, 2022, 5:10 a.m. | Original

The pandemic kills in many ways.

We know the virus kills when it messes up our lungs. We know the virus kills when our body's immune cells can't stop setting fire on the fighting cascade. One of the yet-to-be-told stories about the untold toll is the pandemic's effects on the uninfected persons.

More often, it's a difficult trade-off between tackling pandemic and keeping others healthy. A back-and-forth between the two. Back and forth

Present

drkmchow | Feb. 2, 2022, 1:06 p.m. | Original

If we choose to live our lives like a monk, it means we tell our monkey mind to be present to the moment. A seemingly simple mantra but easier said than done.

Jay Shetty - the oracle of mindfulness, the award-winning storyteller, the author of inspiring Think Like A Monk - once wrote that we're almost always somewhere else. Instead of thinking about what mattered in the past or what the future might hold, we are taught to " be here now ." After all, the past

Camping

drkmchow | Jan. 31, 2022, 6:36 a.m. | Original

After a full week of rebound in local coronavirus infections, I haven’t had time for running. All hours seemed to be taken up by the one objective of clearing the cases.

It’s not just a matter of keeping my head above water; I have to keep my head behind surgical respirator and, yes, face shield.

If I had a dollar for every time I don personal protective equipment, I could be dining at Four Seasons Hotel.

At long last, I have taken two days off for

Change

drkmchow | Jan. 21, 2022, 11:11 a.m. | Original

All of the ways we've been talking about the coronavirus involve changes: changing strain with new variants, changing reproduction number R-naught, changing rules of the game.

We'd all been shellshocked. We worry. We panic.

But then, I try to remind myself to get prepared for changes. Today, one has fun at school or on school bus. The next day, there is in-person school suspension. Pretty soon many parents - including me - hear about the news of a teacher

Monk

drkmchow | Jan. 15, 2022, 8:08 a.m. | Original

Omicron is anything but blameworthy. I suppose that's what most of us think.

Little did I expect silver lining on such cloudy days, when things turn dark earlier than usual. Actually, everything, cafeteria and restaurants included.

Besides the curfew on dine-in services, many venues are closed. No bars. No karaoke roooms. No gyms. No swimming pools. No cinemas. No libraries.

In my case, there was something quite magical about my clairvoyance to time my public library visit. I was

Hero

drkmchow | Jan. 2, 2022, 7:15 a.m. | Original

BioNTech is a wonderful vaccine developed from a brand-new technique. So much so that some of us remain skeptical of the new technology of messenger RNA platform. Consider how we compare with any earlier vaccine - the fastest one was mumps vaccine which took four years to develop - and we are amazed by the way Pfizer-BioNTech was developed within 12 months.

The fact is, we all forget how much longer the scientists have been solving the puzzle of mRNA vaccine. The answer, as it turns out, is

CRISPR

drkmchow | Dec. 26, 2021, 12:15 p.m. | Original

As a voracious reader, I would check out a stack of books from the local library and finish them before renewal limits. Getting close to the end of the year, I get even more suggestion from the best books of the year. Not surprisingly, those selected books have an unparalled level of popularity. So much so that I won't be allowed to renew the books, which have already been reserved by dozens of readers.

That means I have to finish The Code Breaker within two weeks of borrowing this Walter

Memory

drkmchow | Dec. 13, 2021, 7:41 a.m. | Original

If you believe our memory is like indelible ink, I'm with you. We thought we experience and remember anything - the way we celebrated our child's first birthday, the first "papa" she said, the first day of school. Who won't?

And then I brought with me a book by the neuroscientist Lisa Genova, Remember , during our family vacation this weekend. I come to appreciate how episodic memory about an autobiogrphical event can be warped. In the words of Lisa Genova, retrieval

Unknown

drkmchow | Dec. 11, 2021, 10:19 p.m. | Original

As 2021 draws to a close, no one knows the answers to the how and when for ending coronavirus pandemic, least of all the WHO and CDC. Now you dont't see it, now you do. It's an "unknown unknown."

All these questions whetted my curiosity. After delving into Mark Honigsbaum’s lively account of the epidemiological mysteries, I have learned a great deal from his book The Pandemic Century.

To his credit, we know no one can say for sure

Birthday Party

drkmchow | Dec. 5, 2021, 6:17 a.m. | Original

Long ago, when my daughter was toddler, clueless, and looking for us to think of things to do, we decided the way of celebrating her birthday. Now that she turns twelve today, she has her say.

One thing I discover on seeing my daughter enjoy her way of orchestrating a sleepover party is how much she has grown up. She reveled in seemingly infinite topics of talking with three classmates she has invited. The four of them just kept laughing till midnight; their enery was astonishing.

By now,

Menu