Days 126-127: New York with family

So our great US family road trip has gotten off to a rocky start. We've learned many lessons. Such as:

• Be a traveller, not a tourist (i.e. don't buy a New York Pass, go on bus tours, or get around via the sightseeing bus). We ended up wasting a lot of time, and didn't make the most of our trip. Walking or subway is always faster!
• Take the weather into account before going up the Empire State Building! Here was the view yesterday:



From the 86th floor. A patch through the fog...






From the 102th floor. We bought the upgrade, not realising that it was zero visibility. Woops.

• Shit happens! The weather was just not on our side today either, and my parents didn't even get to see the Statue of Liberty which they were really looking forward to since it was actually stormy. And then, when they tried going to another museum, they got there 2 minutes after it closed. So unfortunate. (I ditched them after the failed attempt at seeing the Statue, and went to the Museum of Sex instead - which was actually pretty legit!). But hopefully this means that the rest of our trip might go a bit more smoothly?
• Try and see less, and see it better. I personally would prefer less photo-taking and more engagement.
• I don't think I could live in New York. Just wayyy too many people (aka tourists like me :P). But I haven't seen enough of it aside from Times Square, which is not really representative, so I should reserve judgement!
• US roads are so dark at night and pretty scary to drive on in the dark, especially with pouring rain. Even my dad, the expert driver, was finding it difficult to even stay in the lane!

But of course, there are always things that make me smile, like:

1. The moment we drove into the parking lot at Princeton even though a sign said "Do Not Enter' (you were supposed to drive to the next entry) and my mum was just like, "Well, I guess we have to enter". LOL.
2. Princeton is stunning.



Chapel. Someone was playing the organ beautifully inside. A moment of peace.









Dad and I under our Chinese zodiac animals.









Awesome fountain. Photo does not do it justice.

3. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum!!!! So much awesomeness. I was literally confusing real people for wax models and wax models for real people.







4. Getting a really helpful reply from an academic I reached out to regarding a book chapter he'd written. He generously sent it so I could read it since I won't have access to a university library till August.
5. We had dinner at Hangawi, a Korean vegan restaurant!!! The food and the ambience made for an excellent and very satisfying experience. It was probably the highlight of my visit to New York this time. I will definitely come back next time I'm back in New York (I'm sure I'll have another opportunity to return). I recommend the stuffed shiitake mushroom appetiser especially.

Day 125: Goodbye, Philly!

What went well? 

1. Managed to finish downloading journal articles for the literature review I'm part of, before my parents woke up in the morning.
2. Took my parents on a tour of Penn. Then they helped me move out. Which went really smoothly. And we were able to waive the fee for the parking garage because we had move-out vouchers! Yusss.
3. Bought a new bag and dress at Macy's. Wow. That place is HUGE.
4. Had dinner at Mi Lah again. It was fabulous as usual. My non-vegan parents were impressed!

What did I learn? 

• Macy's is huge. And the place to shop. Whereas The Gallery at Market East really isn't.

Day 121: Vedge

What went well? 

1. Checked out the community fair down in Clark Park this afternoon. It was a really wonderful sight to see so many people in the community there and enjoying themselves. Also, thought this jewellery was MASTERFUL:



It's made of REAL FRUIT!!!!! 

2. Had the most special dining experience ever, at Vedge Restaurant. It's an upscale vegan restaurant, and I highly recommend it!!








3. Went back to my friend's place where I finally watched Pitch Perfect!!! Great movie.
4. My parents landed safely in San Francisco!

What did I learn? 

• Vedge Restaurant is amazing!! Have a look at their pictures: http://vedgerestaurant.com/

Day 113: Let's go!

What went well? 

1. Saw my friend perform a duet at her singing recital. It was so lovely and beautiful and uplifting :)
2. Had a really productive lab meeting. We did a really comprehensive brainstorm of what we'll be including in our email tips to our study participants.
3. Looks like I wrote about 2000 words towards my sociology of education final. Nearly finished the first part of it.
4. Got dinner with a friend at a great vegan restaurant - Mi Lah Vegetarian. I've been twice and have been impressed with it both times. Will definitely take my parents here when they come!!! It is amazing. Highly recommend.

What did I learn? 

• I'm pretty good at driving stuff forward - the flipside of mild impatience with vagueness and meandering - let's go, get it done, woo!

Day 95: The World's Toughest Job

What went well? 

1. Admired cherry blossoms on the way to class. It's worth leaving early just to have those extra few minutes appreciating nature...

2. Was happy with what I got on my sociology of education mid-term.
3. Got another 1000 words down for my Buddhism paper. I've "written" about 18 pages already and still haven't finished my etymology section (which is only part A)...but I'm going to move onto the history (part B) tomorrow because I'm over etymology and definitions for now. I'm expecting to get to about 40 pages of word vomit before I start cleaning up the mess and making it a somewhat coherent, nuanced and refined 20-page paper :P
4. Made more progress on my literature search for the journal article. Over 600 hits for resilience + social-emotional learning search terms, narrowed down to about 179 potentially relevant articles.
5. Got really positive feedback from my mindfulness professor on my paper outline.
6. Watched a totally elevating video about the World's Toughest Job...

What did I learn?

• The amazing Magic Carpet food cart has been at Penn for 30 years!!!!! And they haven't changed the menu. I guess, if it works, then that makes sense! And it really does work, because they're always the most popular food cart with a huge line every lunchtime because they make high-quality, nutritious, healthy vegetarian food. I'm super grateful for them!
• When people get health insurance for physical health, they make more use of services for physical health, but when people get health insurance that includes coverage for mental health, the use of services spikes even more dramatically (overuse of services by people who may not "need" them - "need" is a relative term here). This is part of the reason why insurance companies are hesitant about providing parity of coverage for physical health & mental health issues.
• Read an op-ed by Adam Grant, Raising a Moral Child. It's basically a research summary of how to raise kind, compassionate, and helpful kids. Here are the key points:
1. Praise good character ("I guess you're the kind of person who likes to help others whenever you can"), rather the just the action ("that was a nice and helpful thing to do") 
2. Express disappointment (not anger) at bad behaviour (communicates disapproval of the bad behaviour, coupled with high expectations and the potential for improvement: "You're a good person, even if you did a bad thing, and I know you can do better.")
3. Generous actions speak far louder than words. Preaching without practice doesn't work in either the short- or the long-run.
• Oh my god, I have had a really unproductive past few days. Eek. I've just been a lot more distracted and procrastination-prone lately. It must be the lack of pressing deadlines or something. I just have to keep reminding myself, studying is homeostatic! It'll turn out ok because work always gets done when it needs to get done, and my mind sub-consciously seems to know when to self-regulate to do that.

Day 91: Flow

What went well? 

1. Made a lot of progress on my mindfulness/positive psychology paper. Built my conceptual model, analysed what social-emotional skills different positive psychology lessons cultivate, and wrote another 900 words. It's coming along! But I'll get back to it next Thursday and really immerse myself in my Buddhism paper over the next week. Hopefully, a first draft of the Buddhism paper will be done by next Wednesday, and a first draft of the mindfulness paper done by next Sunday. This is doable.
2. Went to a free dinner held by the Penn Vegan Society. It was amazing. The chefs (from Penn's catering company) were talking about what they prepared, and I was so impressed by their thoughtfulness. It was a really wonderful experience, and I really enjoyed the conversations I had over dinner too.
3. Singing practice went well today.

What did I learn? 

• How to make a really easy vegan snack - literally blending raisins & walnuts together, then making balls/bars.
• Ramsburg & Youmans (2013) found that "Meditation Training Improves Student Knowledge Retention during Lectures".

Day 87: Just research, only research

I had an objectively boring day! Just working on my Buddhism paper. But that's ok, since I had plenty of fun last night and Friday night.

What went well? 

1. There was brunch at Stouffer today and there was so much fruit. Pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries. I think I got enough vitamins for the week! Really appreciated the GA's effort in organising the brunch.
2. Watched a few videos of various stagings of Pur ti miro, the duet I'm performing for Opera Scenes. The great thing about having singing as a serious hobby is that it's a productive form of procrastination! That is, it's enjoyable and a good brain break, but still "productive".

What did I learn? 

• Not a whole lot - I was basically re-reading the notes I'd already made, since you really do forget stuff you read a month or two ago...and a good paper is all about the nuances and connections that you're able to make when you can hold and play with several ideas in your mind at once.
• The brain pill in Limitless actually exists. And the results ain't pretty...I'm really intrigued by where neuroenhancers will go in the future, and what the public acceptability of them will be. Dr Olivia Carter wrote a really interesting column on this issue back in 2011, "Drugs to enhance us will enchant us … especially if there are no side effects". I guess my main fear is of a psychopharmacological "arms race". But it does make me wonder about human potential. Very hypothetically, what if there actually was a magic pill that could make everyone reach their full potential (intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually) and improve society? A pill for peace? Lol. Random ramblings.

Day 85: All you need is love

Today was a joyous day. The cool thing about being on the other side of the world is that I get to celebrate my birthday for two whole days!

What went well? 

1. Got messages from my parents wishing me happy birthday. Was especially touched to hear that my dad woke up this morning and wanted to wish me happy birthday even though it's not my birthday yet in US time. Super cute. Feeling so much joy and love right now. <3
2. Went and saw the Phantom of the Opera with my friend!! He bought me my ticket for my birthday, and even though they were rush tickets, we had AMAZING seats with a perfect and close view. The production, set, special effects, acting and singing all made for a compelling and exciting show.
3. Before seeing the show, we got dinner at a vegan restaurant. It was unassuming, but the food was great and I had the most amazing vegan chocolate cake there.
4. I was really high in energy today, which makes everything easier.
5. We fine-tuned our survey for our study which we'll be launching soon!

What did I learn? 

• The post-doc that I'm working with is meeting with the Melbourne GSE Dean tomorrow for coffee...I am so excited for her!!!!! I remember that a couple months ago we were talking about how cool it would be if she came to Melbourne...and now it looks like it could actually be a happening thing...??? Everything happens for a reason, and it's so interesting to see how interconnected things are.

Day 79: Diana Damrau is Perfection

What went well? 

1. Went to New York again to see La Sonnambula at the Metropolitan Opera. It was definitely the highlight of my week (along with Frozen, of course!). I initially booked my ticket purely because I wanted to see Diana Damrau perform, not because I knew anything about this opera, and it was totally worth it. I also happen to be working on a song from this opera now, so it was extra useful to see Diana perform it, and also to see it in context. I was completely awestruck by her performance. She has such complete mastery and command of her voice, and can sing in any position, even while dancing, without compromising the quality of the singing. She also has such a charismatic and elegant stage presence, and is an extremely soulful performer. Plus, she cartwheeled across the stage during Ah! non giunge (it's a very happy song)....it was so funny. I am such a fan. Just wow.
2. Went to a vegan place for lunch, just 5 minutes away from the Met Opera House. It was great, and still feels like such a luxury to have so much choice.
3. Started creating a Prezi for my class presentation on my research paper progress for my mindfulness class, and it was actually pretty fun. I love Prezi. I feel like it's a way to really creatively express ideas and draw connections. Here's a sneak peek:

What did I learn? 

• I gained a much deeper understanding of the background behind Ah! non credea, Amina's aria in La Sonnambula. There's nothing like actually seeing the show and the relationships between the characters and how the plot plays out, to understand what the song represents and what needs to be communicated within it.
• A meta-analysis by Zoogman, Goldberg, Hoyt, & Miller (2014) suggests that in young people, mindfulness has larger effects on psychological symptoms (e.g. anxiety, depression) than other outcomes (e.g. attention, mindfulness, quality of life, social skills), and that mindfulness has bigger effects on clinical than non-clinical populations.

Day 64: Mindfulness in Education Network Conference - Courageous Schools Workshop

What went well?

1. Got a lot of interesting ideas out of the Courageous Schools workshop today, even though it was somewhat different than expected. More on this tomorrow. I felt very mindful today. Was also inspired by the day to write a blog post on mindful communication - watch this space! I do have more thoughts on the day, but will share them in tomorrow's post after the whole conference!







2. Another great vegan dinner. This is probably one of my favourite things about the US, tbh - the ability to find really nice vegan food really easily. Practiced mindful eating.



3. Got an email from my mentor in Melbourne inviting a few of us to coffee with her and to possibly work with her on a positive psychology paper. I'm obviously not in Melbourne at the moment but still find it heartwarming that she's making such an effort to engage keen students and to mentor us by providing this kind of opportunity, and hopefully I can still be involved via email etc.
4. The library at American University doesn't require student IDs for entry, so I managed to get a bit of work done there after the conference.

What did I learn?

• Expect transportation dramas. Leave way more cushion time than you think you need. After my taxi didn't show up, Uber saved me again and I got to the conference only 20 minutes late, but it was more expensive than it needed to be.
• Travelling is improving my confidence/risk tolerance. Walk 30 minutes alone in the dark? No problem! Jaywalk? Sure! Sleep in a room with a bunch of random travellers? Why not, it's cheaper! No need to plan transport ahead of time, Google Transit/Maps will get me there! I don't know if this is a good thing or a stupid thing. But I believe that with common sense and situational awareness, it's really ok.

Day 62: Richmond, Virginia

Today was a day of perfect timings for everything, plenty of nature, and good food! Although the main reason we came to Richmond was basically because it was on the East coast and we randomly picked it off the map, we found plenty of things to do here and had a pleasant day.

What went well? 

1. It was an early start. We got up at 5.50am to catch a 7.30am bus to Richmond. We got to the train station at about 6.30am and were wandering around looking lost because we couldn't find the actual station, but someone kindly asked what we were looking for and pointed us in the right direction, and we caught the train on time and therefore got to our bus on time.
2. Enjoyed sight-seeing in Richmond. We walked to Maymont estate, and walked around the sprawling, peaceful grounds and a tour of the mansion.










3. Also, went to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts! I can't believe this place was free too. Very extensive collection, and so interesting to see how much art varies according to time and place. Was also really impressed by the work they had on display from some high schoolers (the first three pictures):



The artist who drew this was 14!? Wut.



Clever.










...art?










4. Public transport in Richmond was super cheap. It was only $1.50 from Maymont to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and only $1.75 to our hotel (which was over an hour away by public transport - it would have been a 15 minute taxi ride, but we chose to save that money and put it towards good quality food since we didn't really have anything better to do in the evening).
5. The weather generally worked out really well. It didn't start raining until midday, when we'd walked around most of Maymont, so went and took shelter on the mansion tour. Then it rained while we were in the art museum and really pour when we were on the buses, but generally wasn't that bad when we were actually outside. Thanks, weather!
6. Found a great place for dinner (the HappyCow app has served us very well, showing us all the veg-friendly places close by). I got this miso tofu dish, and it was probably the best meal I've had since I've been in the US. I was inspired!

7. Satisfied my cupcake cravings induced by the sadness of Georgetown Cupcakes running out of vegan cupcakes yesterday. We walked down the street after dinner since we had some time to kill before the bus arrived, and found Carytown Cupcakes just down the street! And they had vegan cupcakes, woo!! So I got a lavender vanilla one and an apple cinnamon one. Totally savoured the lavender one, it was actually a perfect cupcake - perfectly moist, fluffy, and yummy. You would not be able to tell at all that it was vegan, and I can say that honestly since that statement does not apply to all vegan baking!!

8. Saw this on the street too and thought it was cute:

9. Our hotel was really, really good value! We stayed at Days Inn Richmond and it was only $45 for a double room. Yes, $22.50 each. Actually cheaper than an actual hostel. Including free wifi and free breakfast! Highly recommended!

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10. Proof-read the final study design for the new positive intervention we've been working on in our Positive Psychology lab!! It's actually super exciting to see it finally coming together and getting ready to be submitted for IRB approval and then unleashed onto the public!! Wheee!!

Woah that was a lot of WWW's. Hey, what can I say - it was a fab day!!

What did I learn? 

• You have to pay a $1 "exit fee" to get out of the metro system in DC. What!
• If you look sufficiently lost, people will help you :P
• Carytown cupcakes are awesome.
• Apparently, according to Victorian etiquette, it was not ok for two women to converse for more than 15-20 minutes. Bizarre!
• Just read that an Obesity gene has been identified, apparently. I find these genetic developments very interesting to follow, because it really creates questions about determinism, free will, and personal responsibility. What proportion of variance do genes account for? How much control do we really have? Hmmmmmm...

Day 49: Bracing myself for #focus days

What went well? 

1. Met with the post-doc I'm research assisting for, and while I was there at the positive psychology centre, a MAPP student invited me to get lunch with her at Han Dynasty next door (highly recommended!), so I did. It was such a pleasure to meet her and we had an awesome conversation. I really appreciated the chance to get to know her story and aspirations. Positive, passionate and interesting people are awesome.
2. Watched an interesting film in Contemplative Sciences today. It was about the Mindful Schools project, where they brought mindfulness to a really troubled middle school. It was fascinating and touching to see the transformation in the kids - they were literally CRAZY at the start, needing constant entertainment, distraction, and annoying each other, but eventually began to find mindfulness useful in their own lives. Really powerful stuff.

What did I learn? 

• Went to a Philo event, an informal conversation with a professor. Tbh, it was a bit toooo informal and dragged on for ages, but, I did come away with a few ideas. One of them was that he thinks that one of the biggest trends to come will be a push towards open data from research, which will improve both transparency and efficiency of scientific research as it allows anyone to check your work and reanalyse the data to create more knowledge.
• I'll be auditioning (well, technically it's more of a "casting call" because I don't think they'll actually reject anyone since it's a pretty self-selected group) for Opera Scenes Saturday 4.50pm! Wish me luck.
• The next few weeks are going to start heating up, I think, in terms of academic workload. I'm surprised how long it's taken to get to this point in the semester though! Normally I'd start feeling time pressure around week 4 at UniMelb, whereas it's already week 7 here and only now am I starting to actually have deadlines come up. Intro Buddhism mid-term on Wednesday, Sociology of Education mid-term starts Monday & ends Monday after Spring Break (but I'm away for most of spring break), and I really need to push forward with my two research papers for Intro Buddhism & Contemplative Sciences if I don't want to be completely screwed in a few weeks' time. So, the first weekend of Spring Break before I go away has been blocked out on my calendar as such: 



Obviously, I will not just be getting stuff done all day in a machine-like fashion. But the point is to psychologically prepare myself to focus!

Day 40: Taco Tuesday

What went well? 

1. The Stouffer GAs organised a taco night. I was really impressed by the effort they put into preparing the food.
2. Saw my Contemplative Sciences professor about ideas for my paper. I had in mind the topic of what role mindfulness should play in a positive education curriculum. And I am now more confused and less certain of where I'm going now, but it is a good thing because it means that my ideas have been radically challenged and that I am learning. In that way, it was actually really helpful, and I will let these ideas percolate.
3. This email from my Intro Buddhism professor made me smile. I was amused.
• "I trust you are well and enjoying the slightly warmer weather. I saw a worm today. I hadn't seen one in a long time. The worm, in my opinion, seemed to be enjoying her/himself. So that was good. But there is no good. That is an illusion. But I think the worm was really there. Did my mind create the worm and the very concept of good? Is weather a concept or a phenomenon? Well, maybe, hum?..."

What did I learn? 

• Libet conducted some studies where it was experimentally demonstrated that there were unconscious electrical processes in the brain that preceded conscious decisions to perform volitional, spontaneous acts. Disturbing implications for free will - are spontaneous acts the product of free will or subconsciously predetermined by electrical impulses in our brain? Are our conscious "decisions" merely post hoc rationalisations of the inevitable?
• The term "positive education" doesn't seem to be that popular in the US. My professor had never heard of it. Also, from our discussion, it seems like PosEd is perhaps not a new approach but just another term for social-emotional learning, which has been around for awhile. Hmmmmmmmm....what's in a name?
• This is happening on Sunday!! I'm definitely interested in learning more!

• 
  

Day 26: Monkey mind

Today was a bit of a mindless day, where I just wasn't entirely present. It happens to everyone from time to time though; some more than others, and I think in general, I've become a lot more present over the past couple of years. Despite this scattered-ness, a lot of good things still came out of the day.


What went well?

1. Got started on the next project for  positive psychology research, and managed to get some coherent thoughts down on the study design. While at the positive psychology center, I hung out with a couple of guys there on their lunch break and really enjoyed talking to them.
2. Finally got my bank card...3 weeks later.
3. Went and saw my Intro Buddhism professor for more guidance on my research paper, and now I actually have a solid direction, thanks to his helpful suggestions. Basically, I'm going to trace the history of the word "mindfulness" - how often it's been used in different years and how the meaning has changed across time, and therefore when it started being used in relation to Buddhist ideas. Apparently noone's actually done this before, so it'll actually be a unique scholarly contribution, hopefully. I also managed to write my research proposal straight afterwards, so feel like I actually got something done today and that I finally know where I'm going with this.
4. My phone fell out of my pocket in the library onto seat, but I realised 5 mins into my walk back and it was still there when I went back. Maybe there is a benefit to mindless email-checking after all??

What did I learn?

• Fresh Grocer does indeed sell tofu! I think I finally know my way around it now, so it shouldn't take as long to do a grocery shop in the future.
• Putting on gym clothes gets you in the gym mode. I changed into some gym clothes to do my laundry, and suddenly I felt like going to the gym (I had been planning to go tomorrow). So I did - even though I never go at night. Lesson: if you ever feel too tired or unmotivated to go, just put your gym clothes on. Seriously. You can decide to not go after you've gotten changed, but you probably will - what you wear is a powerful cue (unless you're one of those people who just wears gym clothes everywhere) and it'll feel silly to have to get changed back without going.
• The paper size is different here. I should have caught on when I noticed that the paper at the library was different when I was photocopying stuff, but I thought that it was a quirk of the photocopiers there. Nope! US Letter seems to be the standard here, and I realised when I printed something off and the top got cut off (US letter is shorter).

Miscellaneous thoughts

• There is so much free food around here. Where there are dorms or clubs and societies there are events, and where there are events there is food (seemingly a huge incentive for people to go!). So it's quite possible to spend negligible amounts of money on food if you are super skint and don't care about what you ingest :P Case in point:

The events board in my dorm. There are at least 5 events involving free food on here.

• Another difference that I don't think I mentioned is their approach to research papers over here. The reason that I was in such a kerfuffle about where I should go with my research is that they give you basically no restrictions (or guidelines, for that matter) on what topic to write on. Whereas in Australia it's normal to be given an entire 1-2 page assignment brief including a list of topics to choose from, here you just get told how many pages (not word count) the research paper should be...everything else is up to you! As long as it's related to the course somehow (and it doesn't even have to be closely related, unlike in Australia where in my experience, your assignments are often supposed to be grounded in the course material). The flip side is that professors are therefore much more accessible as advisors for your research paper, and it's normal to check in regularly with them for guidance during the process of researching and writing the paper.

Day 15: First Philomathean Society Meeting

What went well? 

1. Had some pretty deep & meaningful conversations with people at the Philo meeting. Also enjoyed the novelty of the experience as a whole.
2. Got a really nice lunch from the Magic Carpet food truck
3. The check-out guy at Fresh Grocer let me through even though I didn't see the sign that said 10 items or less :P
4. The pull-top came off my can, and my can opener failed, but a guy at my dorm helped me to stab a hole into the can with a knife.

What did I learn?

• The lifetime prevalence of mental illness in the US is close of 50%. i.e. almost half of people in the US will experience some kind of DMS diagnosis in their lifetime. This finding has led to criticisms of the validity of the DMS's diagnostic criteria.
• So, I can't apply to be a member of the Philomathean Society after all, since I'm only here for a semester. At least I can still attend most of their events though :)
• And the Philos are actually a thriving organisation. There were about 35 attendees at their meeting tonight, on a Friday night.
• The Philo meeting was a bit bizarre. That is the only word I can describe it with. Bizarre. It was simultaneously ceremonial and chaotic, intellectual and flamboyant. They are all very friendly, interesting and engaged people though.

The Philo library. Was in here for their weekly tea with a professor event.

The Philo meeting room. A bit like a courtroom? 

Ordaining people.

The lecture on "Violence is the Answer" happened at about 11pm, presented by a Senior at Penn. People were still engaged at that point! I was impressed.

Grocery shop. This stuff totalled about $48. Probably a bit expensive, but that's the price you pay for whole foods (aka real food) + convenience.

I know this looks highly unappetising, but it actually tasted pretty good :P Quinoa, beans, capsicum, mushroom, onion, garlic, cumin.

Day 14: Back to Class! (finally!!)

What went well? 

1. Started building up my research matrix*, going through books/references one-by-one to decide which ones are actually useful and for what topics. Managed to eliminate 6 books!
2. Read this heartwarming collection of random acts of kindness. It made my week.
3. More packages arrived from Amazon. It's just a good feeling getting mail :)
4. Signed up for the Penn Art Appreciation Society Listserv! I've always wanted to learn something about art so that I can better appreciate it, so I'm looking forward to getting involved with their excursions and other events :)

What did I learn? 

• These microwavable meals are actually pretty healthy and decent for instant food:
•  
  

  

  Some, but not toooo many dodgy ingredients.

• If I stay in my (very warm) room, I am 99% guaranteed to be unproductive. I pretty much wasted my evening away in here, doing god knows what! Oops.
• Watched a Mindful Schools In-Class Instruction. The future of education!
• Most of the rush activities were open. I should have gone to some just to experience what sororities are like! Haha. Also, there is a sorority that's basically for Asians.

Also, a couple more snow pictures:

Snow makes seat cushions...(+ spot the snowman in the corner!)

And bin lids!

*A research matrix is a way of organising your research. I learned this technique from this guide, shared by Katherine at Research Voodoo. This is what mine looks like at the moment (it's very incomplete and just has some references at the moment, will have content when I start actually reading and filling it in).

Themes	Buddhist Perspectives	Western Psychology Perspectives
Definition of meditation, mindfulness (operationalisation)		Kabat-Zinn 1990; 2003
Description of the technique - how is it taught? Early Buddhist guidance? Contemporary Buddhist guidance?	Suttas Anālayo (2006) [ch. 11 in Buddhist Thought & Applied Psychological Research] Bucknell & Kang (1997): Pali Sources pp. 14-30 Sobti (1992): Sutta translations: pp. 14-44.  Shankman (2008): Samādhi in the Pāli Suttas pp. 3-32; Jhāna in the Pāli Suttas pp. 32- 52; Samādhi in the Visuddhimagga pp. 53-76 Shaw (2009): Chapters 2-4 Kuan (2008): Chapter 2, 3, 4, 5 Bucknell & Kang (1997): Classical Masters pp. 43-65, 69-80 Bucknell & Kang (1997): Contemporary Masters pp. 85-158 Sobti pp. 59-92, 99-119, 138-147
What are the different approaches to Buddhist meditation? What traditions and techniques has Westernised mindfulness drawn from?	Suttas Shaw (2009): Chapters 5-12 Bucknell & Kang (1997): Pali Sources pp. 14-30	Mindfulness is a key tenet of the Theravada tradition. Tori (2006) [ch. 11 in Buddhist Thought & Applied Psychological Research]
The purpose of meditation and how it has been portrayed to the public	Suttas Bucknell & Kang (1997): Pali Sources pp. 14-30 Kuan (2008): Chapters 1, 5 “Vipassana should not be used merely for curing physical disease, otherwise it will lose its value. Everybody is sick at the mental level - the impurities of the mind should be removed, and Vipassana is for that purpose.” - S.N. Goenka, p. 97 in Vipassana: Its Relevance to the Present World. Also see pp. 99-103; 117-120 Shaw (2009): Chapter 1	Flanagan (2006) [ch. 8 in Buddhist Thought & Applied Psychological Research]
The advantages of secularised contemporary mindfulness practices
The disadvantages of secularised contemporary mindfulness practices
What has contemporary psychology & neuroscience contributed to mindfulness?		Validating its effects and effectiveness Encouraging patience Dow (2008) - chapter 6 of Brilliant Sanity
And what has it taken away?		Reductionism Dow (2008) - chapter 6 of Brilliant Sanity
Buddhism & Science	Wallace (2003): pp. 1-86, 261-284 Lopez (2008): 105-152	Wallace (2012): pp. 15-71, 158-193, 231-240 Lopez (2008): Introduction; The Meaning of Meditation pp. 198-210; Conclusion Wallace (2003): pp. 1-86, 261-284