Stumbled upon this article at Aerogramme Writer’s Studio. I found it refreshing and inspiring. Here are my favorite takes:

1. Remove every extraneous word
   If after writing one sentence, then you thought that you need to add more words to make sentence slightly longer, STOP! Just get to the point.
2. Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft
   This one resonates strongly with me. I was writing about something, then realized that my facts is not as solid as I expected. So I decided to stop and look for references. More than often, I did get the facts right, but at the cost of losing my train of thought. So Stephen recommends that we keep on writing until finish. Then we do the fact-checking later on as we revise the script.

   Only God gets things right the first time.

   – Stephen King

Read the rest of the article HERE.

View the complete article HERE.

1. Cultivate Lifelong Learning as a “Style of Thinking” That Concentrates on Fundamental Principles Rather Than on Facts
2. Structure Your Learning to Ride the Information Tsunami Rather Than Drown in It
3. Be Prepared to Compete and Interact with a Greater and More Rapidly Increasing Number of Scientists Than at Any Time in the Past
4. Focus on the Future but Don’t Ignore the Past
5. Look for the Personal Angle
6. Learn from the Successes of Others
7. Use Trial and Error to Find the Style of Learning That Suits You
8. No Matter How Much Advice You Get and How Much Talent You Possess, It Is Still You Who Must Do the Learning and Put in the Time
9. Have a Vision to Give You a General Direction
10. Make Your Life Count: Struggle for Excellence

Ganbatte!

Was having conversation with my colleagues about seafood, when I blurted,
“You should avoid Salmon because it contains the highest level of mercury. Hmm… wait. Maybe you should avoid Tuna instead”.

Since it was obvious that my memory has failed me, I sheepishly add,
“Hold on to that… let me google that for you”.

So I googled “Fish with the most mercury”.

The first result from Google was an article from EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) website. I think this should be a credible source, thus I quoted it here :

1. Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
2. Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
   • Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
   • Another commonly eaten fish, albacore (“white”) tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.
3. Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don’t consume any other fish during that week.

But why should we worry about Mercury? Short explanation would be, “Mercury will mess your brain, dementia ,etc, etc”. For long explanation, read the Wikipedia 😀

I guess this means no more Shark-Fin Soup 😀