Via Reddit.
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As Luck Would Have It… [Oh Cruel Fate]
Today was the day I had been eagerly awaiting for months. Because you see, today is the day that I am eligible for a cell phone upgrade!
No more restarting the phone twice a day just to get it to function! No more 30-second lags! And no more cell phone camera that takes blank pictures!
But as luck would have it…
The phone that I want — the Motorola Droid 3 (because I need a physical keyboard) — is on backorder everywhere. 😥
However, the day is not without good news. Because by sheer chance, my current cell phone camera has magically decided to start working again! The focus is a bit off, but it no longer takes blank pictures!
So here are three pictures of Claire I took in celebration:
Didn’t you guys miss seeing recent pictures of her on this blog? 😉
And don’t you love the headband? J and I have been getting sick of everyone mistaking her for a boy — yes, this happens even when she is dressed head to toe in pink, frilly outfits — that we went ahead and purchased a bunch of headbands. Not only does Claire Bear seem to love them (she actually leans her head forward whenever we show her one), she never gets mistaken for a boy when she wears them.
But back to the subject…
This month has been a hellish one for this geek, being without a computer and then having my cell phone crap out on me. As the Droid 3 is supposed to come back in stock in 8-10 days, and because I had been planning on ordering a replacement laptop next week anyway, I might just end up getting a brand new computer and a new phone within just days of each other.
(Just writing that sentence made me feel a bit guilty, like I’m a spoiled, bratty girl. But I figure that since my laptop is almost 3 years old and my cell phone is 2 years old — and because both of them are broken — we can justify the expense. Besides, we are half-considering these my “push presents” from J. :-P)
One more week to go. I can do it!
P.S. — A couple of hours ago I experienced my very first earthquake! (It is the biggest quake to hit the East Coast since 1897 — a 5.9 in VA — and the second biggest of all time after a 7.3 that hit South Carolina in 1886.) Although at the time, I thought it was just BebeDeux causing a ruckus in my belly again. Figures!
How did everyone else react to the earthquake? And did you catch my Tweet about the “DC Earthquake Devastation”? 😀
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Why Toilet Paper Should Hang OVER the Roll [A Compelling Argument]
I have discussed my stance on this issue before, and even shared with you an infographic on the Science of Toilet Paper Orientation.
Today, I bring you the most persuasive argument I have seen so far on why “Over is Right, Under is Wrong.”
Does anyone still maintain that toilet paper should hang under the roll? (And don’t tell me it’s to deter your baby or pet from unrolling the entire spool, because if your baby or pet is smart enough, they will get to it, no matter what. 😛 )
Via GraphJam.
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Before I Knew About Sex…
Lately I have been wondering how I will tackle the inevitable question that all parents get asked by their young children:
Where do babies come from?
My parents will be the first to admit that I was an unusual child. Always preferring books over other children, and never having to be reminded to go study, do my homework, practice the piano, etc, I am told that I hardly ever asked my parents or other adults questions about the curiosities of life. Rather, I chose to seek out the answers myself (usually in a book).
And when I could not discover the answer myself…
I went ahead and devised my own theories.
So before being instructed on the birds and the bees by fellow classmates during a traumatizing recess period in the third grade, I believed that pregnancy was a disease that only women can catch.
How did one “catch” this disease?
By eating infected watermelon seeds!
As such, I was very careful about never, ever swallowing watermelon seeds. 🙂
(image source)
I know that as parents, it is J and my job to instruct our children about sex, and that having a healthy and open conversation with them about it will be better for them in the long run.
(That being said, if J has his way our daughters will remain pure and virginal forever, never having to find out a thing about sex or boys. 😉 )
I want to be honest with my kids and not give them a B.S. response when they ask me difficult questions. At the same time, I do know that some truths are inappropriate for young children, i.e., telling them anything more graphic than “When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much…” may be traumatizing.
Luckily, we still have at least a few more years until we need to devise a plan of action.
Before you knew about sex, where did you think (or were told) babies came from?
What do you believe is the best way to tell a young child about sex and the origin of babies?
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Paper Dolls from Your Favorite Television Shows
Illustrator Kyle Hilton has been creating a new paper doll based on his favorite TV characters each week. Among the television shows are the likes of Parks and Recreation, Breaking Bad, and one of my all-time favs, Arrested Development!
Be sure to click on over to kylehilton.com to see the paper dolls from his other favorite shows. I know that I’ll be checking often, as The Office and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are in works!
Via Visual News.
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Tattletale
J loves our firstborn with all his heart. It is not unusual for him to spend an entire Saturday playing with her, then stare forlornly at the baby monitor after he has put her to bed and sigh, “I miss my baby.”
That being said, he is much better at saying “no” than I will ever be. He is constantly reminding me that it is better to enforce good habits now than to have to break bad habits long after they have formed.
Not surprisingly, Claire does not like this aspect of her father. 😛
Take tonight, for example. After J put his foot down for what seemed like the millionth time today, and she threw her millionth tantrum as a response, I gathered her sobbing little body into my arms and took her away in order to ready her for bedtime.
And as we sat there, just mother and daughter for the first time in hours today, she launched into a speech…
“BABA blah blah blah gibberish babytalk blah blah! More gibberish BABA blah blah blah! BABA gibberish gibberish gibberish!“
This went on for a few more minutes, with the word “baba” (the Chinese word for “daddy”) inserted every few seconds. I couldn’t help but start cracking up as I responded with the occasional “Oh really?”s and “You don’t say!”s — because it really seemed like she was telling me about all the bad things her baba had done today to make her upset!
In other words…TATTLETALE!
When J appeared as we neared the end of her bedtime routine, she shot him daggers from her eyes and even refused to let him give her her nighttime bottle.
Stubborn, grudge-holding tattletale!
My parents have been declaring Claire a little genius from day one (and I always shook them off because…well, they’re her grandparents), but lately I have been hearing more and more comments from friends, family members, and even strangers who have limited interactions with her that she is one smart baby.
And the downside to having an astute child? You are bound to run into problems with them later on, as they start to talk back, sneak things by you, and even eventually outwit you!
We’re in for one heck of a ride.
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True or False?
I once read in a book that all humans are born with three innate fears:
- The fear of darkness
- The fear of heights/falling
- The fear of reptiles
Now, this was a fiction title so I cannot verify the validity of the statement. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Because while we may grow out of these fears, but I have not yet come across one person who never feared these things as a young child.
Can any of my readers refute this statement? For instance, can anyone remember ever not being fearful of snakes?
Can anyone who has experience in psychology confirm or disprove this theory?
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Engagement Photos of the Year [Zombies]
It is no secret that J and I share a love for the zombie genre — books, movies, video games, and even reenactments. (Also, is it wrong that I totally want to get Pat the Zombie for Claire?)
As such, I couldn’t help but find the engagement photos of Juliana S. Park and Benjamin J. Lee to be hilarious, completely original, and utterly irresistible. And we thought we had a great idea to have our engagement photos taken at the Metropolitan Museum of Art…these are so much better!
Want more? Click on over to Juliana & Benjamin’s wedding website to see the rest!
Via The Daily What.
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Do With It What You Will
I checked my blog stats this morning to discover a plethora of traffic from an unfamiliar site. As I am always excited to encounter new readers and see how and why they chose to visit, I excitedly clicked on the source link…
…only to discover the blog of an extremely racist expat who is currently residing in Korea, using one of my various commentaries on Korean society and distorting it convey his belief that Koreans are fat, ugly, good-for-nothing beings whose “kimchi breath” makes him want to hurl.
After taking a deep breath, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Who knows? Maybe he had a bad day.
So I read on, and became disheartened to learn that the rest of his blog was filled with similar hate-filled speech, not only against Koreans but to women as well, consistently referring to the fairer sex as “b*tches” and “c*nts.”
My first instinct after browsing through the first few pages (don’t ask me why I got so far…it was like watching the horrible scene of an accident) was to contact the writer, or at least leave a comment asking him to remove the link to this blog.
But then I realized: what I write here is in plain sight of everyone who has access to the internet. In other words, it is free fodder for all. And just like there will always be readers who misinterpret my often-well-intentioned ramblings to take offense at my thoughts, there will always be those who will use it for malicious purposes as well.
(source)
Similarly, I know that while most people will look at pictures of Claire and see just a baby, a few will find them erotic and have perverted thoughts about my firstborn. :shudder:
As much as I would like to see a stop to actions and thought processes such as these, I can’t. I cannot control how others feel. I cannot control how others act or react. And I have found from experience that if anything, my fighting back usually results in riling anger and unwanted attention.
So I usually just ignore.
What would you do if your content were linked to from an unsavory site? Would you ask to have it removed, or would you just ignore it?
Is this yet another reason why so many bloggers choose not to get so personal on their public spaces on the web?
I like books, gadgets, spicy food, and art. I dislike shopping, hot weather, and the laws of entropy. Although I am a self-proclaimed computer nerd, I still have a love for handbags and makeup... and I am always teetering on high heels. To learn more about me, visit the 
