Breathe

Human Jello

Jinchun Chen and his team of scientists have created a new kind of gelatin made from none other than you and yours truly. Using the genes that produce human collagen and then combining them with yeast they've concocted human gelatin!

Yum.

The cannibal in me is smacking her lips.

We can soon (hopefully) enjoy human jello, human s'mores, gummi humans and many other delightful confections.

I wonder if the vegetarians will go for it. Hey, it's not an animal product and nobody got hurt!

More info here or the full study in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry

Fast-Forward to Nowhere

We live our lives fast, but not always well. We are in a constant state of motion. We skim the surface of each others lives and excel at abbreviated relationships. We plug in, but are disconnected from what is truly important. What is real. We may think we are getting ahead, but we are only falling further behind.

We follow the lead of our 'leaders' and compete with each other for the better life: the sexiest body, the biggest house, the fastest car, the most money in the bank, the latest gadgets. We barely have time to enjoy it because we're working so hard to earn it. We are enthralled with the latest celebrity gossip and events, but hardly take notice when our children or siblings excel in school or sports or the arts.


We strive to be successful. But what is success? Do we even know our own definition of the word or do we, like most people, define it based on what everyone else is doing. We work harder not smarter, in our relentless pursuit. We want results. Quick-fixes. Instant gratification. We live an ASAP kind of life. We are motivated by deadlines... to do something, have something, be somewhere, be someone. We are pressured to get married, make babies, climb the corporate ladder, plan for retirement and then give up the things we love because "I can't do that at my age" or our bodies are too worn out from contamination and neglect. We spend countless hours in front of the TV and computer, but rarely pick up a book.


Our refrigerators are filled with 'heat-and-serve' meals and we eat on the go, in between calls, during commercials. Family dinners have become a thing of the past. Our iPods are stockpiled with music, but we seldom hear it live. We seldom hear. The music becomes filler. Background noise. We are so used to the constant hum and hustle, and no longer know what to do without it. We waste time by filling up our time. We are masters of multi-tasking our to-do lists. But the question remains, what exactly are we doing?

Our relationships are surface. We coexist but disengage. We text rather than talk. We wave at our neighbours but don't know their names. We chit-chat about the weather and everyone is "fine". We practice our scripts, "How are you?", "I'm well, how are you?" and the plot never thickens, never goes too deep. The sets never change and the story remains the same. We are afraid to get too close. To know too much. To have to deal with anything more than we already have to deal with. To risk. We want it easy. We want everything to be great. We want fair-weather friends. We are not willing to deal with the things that need our attention in our relationships. It's too hard. Too much work. We bottle things up for fear of hurting the other person and don't say the things that need to be said. We compromise too much, or too little. We find time for everything except each other and are often too exhausted by the end of the day to give any more of ourselves to the ones who need and deserve it the most.

It is madness.

Complete, and utter madness.

What is your purpose?

What is your passion?

Your vision?

What drives you?

Where is your heart?

Who are you?

What are you filling your days up with?

Now that yesterday is gone, what did you really do that was worth mentioning?

When was the last time you had a heart-to-heart with a friend, face-to-face?

Where are you going and why?

Will it all be worth it in the end?