Resolution - Blog Posts

I want to be the person I need

Me to 2017

Exercising in Space

Are you hoping to get to the gym more often in 2016? While you work out on Earth, here are a few ways that astronauts stay fit on the International Space Station.

Exercise is an important part of the daily routine for astronauts aboard the International Space Station to prevent bone and muscle loss, and to maintain cardiovascular health. On average, astronauts exercise two hours per day. The equipment they use in space is different than what we use on Earth.

Lifting 200 pounds on Earth may be a lot of work, but in microgravity a 200 pound dumbbell would not weigh anything. Therefore, free weights do not serve as a good strength training tool for the astronauts in space.  That means exercise equipment needs to be specifically designed for use in space so astronauts will receive the workout needed.

What Equipment Do They Use in Space?

Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED)

The ARED hardware uses adjustable resistance piston-driven vacuum cylinders along with a flywheel system to simulate free-weight exercises in normal gravity. It’s primary goal is to maintain muscle strength and bone mass in astronauts during long periods in space.

Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System (CEVIS)

CEVIS is very similar to a mechanical bicycle. It’s bolted to the floor, and astronauts snap their shoes on to the pedals. A seat belt can be used to hold them in position, and they can change the resistance for varying levels of difficulty.

Russian Treadmill (BD-2)

BD-2 is the treadmill that is found in the Russian segment of the space station. It allows crew members to walk and run with a speed from 2.4 to 20 km/hr. 

Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT)

COLBERT is the second generation U.S. treadmill on the space station. It features data collection devices that will allow scientists and doctors to evaluate how effective the exercise is in reducing the amount of bone and muscle density loss due to microgravity exposure. It allows crew members to walk and run with a speed from 4.8 to 20 km/hr. 

Why is it called COLBERT? 

The treadmill’s name was selected after comedian Stephen Colbert took interest in our online naming poll for Node 3 of space station. He urged his viewers to submit the name “Colbert.” Although we ended up choosing the suggested name “Tranquillity” for the node, we designated its new treadmill “COLBERT” in honor of the name that received the most entries.

VELO Ergomoeter Bike (VB-3)

VB-3 is used for aerobic training, medical tests and pedaling regimes. It is located in the Russian segment of the space station. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Tip/reminder:

What I’ve learned in the past month is to cut toxic people out of your life and do what makes you happy!! If your friends want to do one thing but you know that its not going to benefit you but actually make your life more stressful and worrisome, then don’t do it!! Do what’s best for you! Deep down, you know what’s best for you. And yes it’s hard to do but I know you can do it. And once you do, you’ll realize how much of a positive impact it makes. Same goes for with “friends”. If you have one or a few that or toxic, deep down you’ll know it and let them go. It’s for the best. Self worth is always a #1 priority!! And once you understand that, you can start helping and inspiring others.

Big fan of doing lists....not such a fan of actually achieving the things on said list. New Years resolutions are no exception.

On Post-Holiday-Season Depression

I think many people are experiencing post-holiday-season depression now that we're past Christmas and are already in the new year. We've compressed most of our expectations, hopes and honest desires into a dream we thought would come true at this time of the year. I'm not saying that this week inevitably tumbled short on it because this typical sadness doesn't come from disappointment but from having gone through the whole thing without any of it contained--with only some material evidence, proving that it really happened.

With my girlfriend we have a little 4 years old tradition for Advent, where we make these heartwarming calendars for each other. One little surprise for each day. It's never really anything that amounts to a christmas present or something, just chocolate or tea or some small ornament (these from her and I wrote a novella broken up into pieces, one for each day). This tradition of ours isn't making this part of the year a huge, outstanding whirlpool of awesomeness. No doubt though, it certainly feels very nice and I'm always looking forward to it but it's not a big feat, really. However, when I run out of small packages I feel like crying. This routine of getting something nice for each day and giving something that I hope is encouraging, is missing terribly. For me its lack is so heartbraking that whenever I think about it I genuinly feel like crying.

The same applies for Christmas Eve, only on a bigger scale. That's the day, when my year reaches its climax. But it's gone. I still have my presents and memories but I couldn't hold on to the day itself.

New Year's Eve is also just a scar. It's a lot like sunrise or spring: a beautiful, romantic, shimmering start. Well, the promise of starting over again, which we humans can't help but believe in and to my greatest surprise it isn't completely baseless... New Year's Eve is a shiny, happy celebration most of the time but when it's past we're left with doubts about our convictions and hopes (ironically I've found this to be baseless).

When this part of the year is past and we're stripped from the air of sometimes loud, sometimes quiet ceremonialism, we can feel very low (surprisingly suddenly).

Often times I wonder if there's a cure for this sad state but I had the bitter revelation that there isn't.

When it's Christmas or New Year's Eve, or even when it's Advent, we may be gifted with something unearthly. I think these holidays allow us to see things we couldn't otherwise. And we're moving toward this transcendent greatness, only we don't always have the privilige of being lifted externally in addition to our futile efforts. These unutterable big things are what generally guide our imagination, when we're formulating definitions of everyday greatness and when we're trying to break out from the everydays.

I'm extremely sad by having all the celebrations brought to an end but I have my hopes intact and dreams unbroken--actually, I have them strengthened.

To remake, or to definitely not remake

Films that just remake the original (Red Dawn 2012), I don’t see the point of, why wouldn’t I just watch the original? Yes, sometimes we get confused because we’re stuck in our modern world (when first seeing a Walk to Remember—it never made sense why the doctors gave up so easily but I figured it was just what’s “in the script”, until I learned that the original story was set in the 1950s).  Remakes that take the older film (Dial M for Murder, Rear Window) and bring it into a new time with technological or societal, or political changes (A Perfect Murder, Disturbia) are not ripping off the ideas of the original but re-creating it.

I did not see Dial M for Murder and A Perfect Murder on the same night as usual with remakes but over the same weekend, giving time to reset my mind and put the movies as their own. In Dial M for murder, the husband’s plans are set in motion because he discovers his wife’s affair and doesn’t want to lose his lifestyle as he has just retired and feels betrayed. The resolution mostly happens because the husband messes up, not because of the watch or even that the wife lives, that he clears up pretty quickly—and even confuses leads the wife into giving confusing information so she looks guilty (whether intentional or not). But with ample opportunity, he doesn’t clean up the messes he could have changed, that would have let him get away. This is the same with A Perfect Murder, where with a little more patience, the husband would have gotten away with it.

In A Perfect Murder while the affair is still an issue, the main reason for the murder for the husband is his money issues at work, not really caring about his wife’s betrayal but as a way to come off clean about the murder. An added level that I didn’t care for (thou mostly out of pity for the wife—thou I guess she doesn’t deserve it) is in A Perfect Murder, her boyfriend gets involved while in Dial M for Murder he fights and fights to clear her name. What I do like, is that while in Dial M for Murder the police mainly figure out what happened, in A Perfect Murder the wife figures it out—saving herself twice.

Neither movie would be the same without the aspect of the key as the switcheroo, as both were simple and, I believe, brilliant stories. In the remake, there were the updates and changes of cellphones, characters’ intention and how the crime was solved—but the main thrill and suspense was kept, but this doesn’t always happen. I’ve seen both Red Dawns, 1984 and 2012 and I didn’t really understand the point of a remake. It’s not updated to a modern time and while the characters have more camaraderie, there is also less story, somehow. It’s just not worthy of a remake, and many agree.

PS-- I love how we know everything, but don’t know how it will all piece together or turn out

The Prince of Egypt

I love a good “Fuck you” in a film, and for children—this one delivers.

This story of Moses was my first musical and had a soundtrack I was obsessed with and portrayed the important teachings of the story without the harshness and lack of forgiveness I expect from the Catholic Church. Along with the soundtrack, I remember the story to be about freedom, peace and the complications of doing the right thing

Living a couple blocks away from a church is the closest I am to religious, and I haven’t been in a religious building in years, but I remember the story to be about freedom, peace and the complications of doing the right thing and how opinions of what is right, can differ. Two brothers, one who didn’t know he was adopted, would still be expected have the same understanding in life but as seen more common in today’s world—family doesn’t always think or believe the same thing. Separating the aspect of power and God, a majority of the conflict is still an ability of Moses and Rameses to speak to each other and creating an understanding with each other. 

For me the “Fuck you” of the film, as with many stories of racism and elitist beginnings, is how Moses comes to his success out of opposition to the actions of those in power both with how his birth mother sent him down the river and he became part of the King’s family, and in why he flees and returns to Egypt—trying to live a righteous life and have all people be equal.

This story is also a great portrayal of a mother’s love both with the mother who has to give their child up and with the mother who adopts another’s child as their own, both sacrificed so much for their son. Along with the soundtrack, also a shout out to the art department, I too remember the beauty of this whale shot.

Happy 2020 :)

My resolution: to get this account more active next year! In all seriousness, 2019 was a complete upheaval of everything I knew and wanted, full of salutations and goodbyes in equal measure. It brought me new friends and experiences but also new anxieties. I’m still working on feeling comfortable in this world and I have a long way to go but I’ve come so far. I am proud of myself - and I wish it didn’t sound so arrogant to be able to say so. So what if my A levels weren’t quite what I was gunning for? So what if the university I am attending isn’t the one that filled my childhood dreams? So what if the course I am pursuing isn’t the one I maybe should have chosen based on my personal talents? I’m happy and learning so much every day. I can’t wait for 2020 and I hope it brings you all good things as my super supportive followers.