Blood (血, 피)

I find blood to be a fascinating subject. I may be biased, and may have been influenced by recently reading the book "Nine Pints," by Rose George. It's a book recommended by Bill Gates on HIS blog. He has a great idea of posting videos with his blog posts, which really enhance the points he's making and make reading books seem cool, which in today's world is important to make sure people continue reading books. Bill suggests 1.) taking notes when reading books, which I've never thought of (usually I've read textbooks and library books, which you can't write in), and he also suggests 2.) making sure you budget enough time to finish a book, which is difficult given everyone's work schedule and my own fantasy baseball schedule. Finally, 3.) sit down for an hour and only read the book. No phones, no eating, no distractions. Doable, especially if sitting on a train for an hour and your commute's that long. My fligthts from LA to New York definitely allow for that. Thanks, Mr. Gates! Keep that MSFT stock running smoothly!

Blood is so fascinating for something that most people associate with dread, disease, Dracula, and death. I'm like everyone else, I get a little queasy seeing blood, especially blood splatters, or seeing my own blood, it's a sight that takes some getting used to, or tasting my own blood from like a trip to a dentist or flossing, for example. But blood is like water for the body, the body needs it to do so many things and to cure so many things.

What I learned from Nine Pints:

1.) There are an average of nine pints of blood in one's body. So if you donate a pint of blood (as is typical, you still have 8 pints left, and the body replenishes that blood pretty quickly.

2.) A and A+ blood type males have a higher chance of erectile dysfunction. Well, I'm A+.

3.) Leeches are a reptile. I'm not sure what I thought they were (mammals?) but that makes a lot of sense now. And leeches are still used in modern times to remove blood from diseased areas that doctors can't reach.

4.) blood is made from......which body part? Not the heart, not the lungs, not the brain, actually by the bones (inside the bone marrow).

5.) you can now change blood types of blood using an enzyme. Nice.

Human beings really need blood to survive, it's like one of the most irreplaceable resources.........and blood donations are actually really important, they're not just sending those blood donations to Dracula or some thirsty group of vampires..........the blood lasts for something like 60 days and can be sent to areas that need them, or natural disaster areas with a lot of injured people who need blood to replace the blood that they lost. And nowadays the younger generation donates less blood than previous generations (geez, c'mon pick it up millenials!) so that's why you consistently get Red Cross "emergency! Shortage of blood! Donors needed!) updates saying there's a constant need of blood. And most donors just want to be thanked and get that warm and fuzzy feeling of thinking they've helped.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan