Posts (page 2)
This week (June 1st through June 7th) is National CPR and AED Awareness Week. I strongly urge anyone who is not CPR and AED certified to go out and get the training. It's a pretty simple 8 hour class (a lot of places offer both a two day class or the whole day class) and you can save a life!
American Heart Association Link
If you have questions about getting certified, send me an email or give me a call!
Today was the release of Dave Matthews Band "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King", their first studio album in about 5 years. It's such a fantastic album. It begins and ends with LeRoi Moore doing some awesome things on the sax. For those of you who don't know, LeRoi was a founding member (and plays amazing sax) who died last August. Apparently, GrooGrux King was the nickname that the band gave LeRoi.
The album has a new sound, but is still definitely very much a DMB sound. I wish they were coming a little closer to here this summer - I would love to see them tour this album!
Tracks I really like: "Shake Me Like a Monkey", "Alligator Pie" and "Spaceman". Definitely go buy this one!
This news story has been going on for a few days now. Maybe I'm missing the point, but I don't understand why people feel like going on a hunger strike is going to make any difference to world issues. I think there are so many other ways to bring attention to causes and that doing a hunger strike is sort of selfish in a way. It screams "look at me" rather than "pay attention to my cause".
It also blows me away that people are surprised that things like this don't end well. Like she's shocked that after twelve days her muscles are weak and she could barely stand. Good Lord... that happens to me if I eat lunch half an hour late!
Here's the story from People:
It was a 21-day fast that fell nine days short. But in the final hours, Mia Farrow knew, "I couldn't do it."
"I just got weaker and weaker," the 64-year-old actress and humanitarian tells PEOPLE of Friday's end to her hunger strike to draw attention to Darfur. "I lost about 13 lbs."
Though she was determined to continue, she was instructed by her doctor to immediately stop due to severe health risks. "My doctor visited on Wednesday and told me to have sugar immediately because my blood sugar count dropped," Farrow says. "He said I could go into seizures."
Struggling to maintain energy and strength, she found it too difficult to stand up. "I got up out of bed and went down to my knees. My muscles were aching," Farrow said.
Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, began her hunger strike on April 27 to protest the Sudanese president's expulsion of 16 aid agencies in Darfur, causing a million people at risk of starvation.
"I was very disappointed," she says. "I am a very stubborn person and very determined. I had modified my goal from 21 days and really hoped that I would reach my goal of fasting for 16 days, which is the number of aid agencies expelled."
During the past 12 days, Farrow stayed closed to her bed and passed the time watching films. "I watched Schindler's List all the way through. Then I cried and cried," she says. "I got very emotional at the drop of a hat. I would perk up when my granddaughter came over. I'd play with her a little and that was great."
Slowly back to eating food again, she has been eating oranges and drinking soup to regain her strength. "I feel so much better with the food in my system. I feel so much more peaceful," she says. "While a million people in Darfur are facing starvation, I have the ability to end my fast. These people do not have that option. If I have any use at all, it is to speak for them."
One of my favorite things about going to the gym is the people watching. I'm one of those people that could sit on a park bench and watch people go by all day long. I love seeing the crazy things people do or the things they do when people think no one else is looking.
I went to the gym this morning (I know, ambitious for a Friday morning) and decided to bike. I picked a spot where I could see CNN (gotta keep up with the Santa Barbara fires, you know) and started pedaling. There was a lady on the bike two bikes away from me. Before I go any further, let me explain how my gym is set up. They have a row of the normal bikes (the ones that have the seats that make your butt hurt) and in front of that a row of the "recumbent bikes" (the ones that I feel like don't count as a workout since you're practically laying down while you pedal). Needless to say, I was on the normal bikes. This lady was doing the same... for about the first 15 minutes of my ride. We both had our ipods on and I was pretty focused on my ride.
The then climbs off the bike and hobbles about 2 feet. I looked up because her sorta slow movement caught my eye - I was worried she was gonna drop. Instead, she moves to the recumbent bike, sets herself up and starts riding again. By now a guy has come and started riding the bike on the other side of me. I go back into my little zone for a little while. I happen to also be one of those people that looks at other people's stats while I'm working out. If you're next to me, I can't help but compare what I'm doing to what you're doing (call me competitive?). So I look over, and the lady is chugging along at a whopping 65 RPMs. Compare that to the 98-106 that I'm doing while hill climbing.
Here comes the best part. All of the sudden, I hear off key singing. Keep in mind that I have my ipod on and it's up pretty loud because I like to block out the music that the gym is playing and the grunting of the guy next to me. I start looking around (as does the grunter) and finally figure out that it's the lady in front of me. Seriously, who sings at the gym? No wonder she's biking so slow... I can't bike and sing either! The guy next to me and I look at each other and can't help but start laughing. She sang for a good 15 minutes while also stopping anyone who walked by to compliment them on their shoes.
So entertaining!
My friend Liz told me about this commercial and now every time it comes on TV, I laugh my head off. It's the commerical for the new Jack in the Box mini sirloin burgers. I think my favorite line is "Herding cows the size of schnauzers, but they're cattle".
I don't know if you've also heard the follow up radio commercial, but this lady calls into Jack's "show" and asks him to sing the song. He's reluctant, but relents. When he finishes, she tells him it sounded better on TV. Hilarious!
Wow, Britney Spears lipsynchs? No way.... And to think I paid $60 to see her "live"...
http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=f469d2d8-fd61-4dd5-bc03-a39d9ae233b9
I'm pretty much convinced that speaker phone is just about the worst invention ever. You see, it sounds like a really great idea. You can put the phone down, not have to hold it up to your head and do other things with your hands. Therein lies the problem. In our fast-paced, high tech world, we love to multitask. I'm as guilty as the next person. We talk on our phones while driving. We eat breakfast while we dry our hair. We watch TV while we play on the computer. That said, speaker phone takes it a little too far.
1. Sometimes people don't tell you you're on speaker phone. This is not generally an issue for me, but what if I wanted to talk about someone's birthday present? Or something personal? Maybe you just want to talk crap? It just sucks not knowing who's in the room.
2. People multitask... and you can hear every bit of it. Typing in the background. Doors opening. Bags crinkling. My favorite is when people set the phone down on the counter and make dinner. And do things like rattle cans around. It's just plain annoying and it is totally loud. If you don't have time to talk to me, don't answer the phone. Or tell me you don't have time. Or get an earpiece. So many options!
3. The phone cuts out. If one person is talking, it's almost impossible to interject. And the person talking has absolutely no idea.
4. Speaker phone + speaker phone = disaster. This combination takes all three items above to the extreme. It's virtually impossible to hear the other person and to hold a normal conversation.
In summary, my fellow Americans, I beg you not to use speaker phone unless absolutely necessary. Do it for your friends. Do it for your coworkers. Do it for your country.
I've been trying to find a delicate way to blog this...
I have been told for years by my singer friends that the neti pot is the way to go. What, you ask is a neti pot? Click HERE to see. Basically, it's this little genie lamp looking thing that you fill with warm salty water. They come in a few different sizes and materials (some are fancy clay... mine is cheapy plastic). You then take the little spout and stick it over one nostril. While leaning over a sink, you tip your head and let the water run into your nostril, through your sinuses and out the other side. You then gently blow your nose and repeat on the other side. As Eva put it "Isn't that like waterboarding?". It sure did sound like it to me, but when you have the burning sinuses from hell, you'll do just about anything to make them stop. It is a little awkward and kind of an uncomfortable feeling. My advice is to make sure you're breathing only through your mouth (Mom, don't try this...). I've been doing it twice a day and it defintely does make a difference!
In other news, Shadow got a bath today... which is always hilarious. For some reason, the instant he's done he has to run around the yard like a crazy dog for about half an hour and then roll in the grass. Apparently the whole ordeal was a lot for him because he's been taking a nice long nap for the last half hour. Oh to live the life of a dog!
Many of you have been taken with this whole Twitter thing, and I've heard from just about everyone on the planet that it's so much fun. Here's my deal. I signed up for like a day. And do you know what Twitter taught me? I'm a boring person. Well, maybe not boring, but I just don't DO enough to update that thing. It was hard to use. And if I'm updating anything, why wouldn't I update Facebook? I mean, isn't Twitter just a bunch of status updates? I guess they call it a "micro blog". Well, I have a big blog (?) and a Facebook page... do I need a micro blog? Is there anyone out there that really wants to know that much about me? If I tweeted every hour today, it would look something like this:
9am: Getting allergy shots.
10am: Read 20/15 at the eye doctor!
11am: Coughed.
12pm: Blew my nose, had some chicken noodle soup.
1pm: Coughed again.
2pm: Called into a meeting and had to mute so I could cough and Shadow could sneeze (is that one too long for Twitter?)
3pm: Fell asleep
4pm: Woke up
Riviting, isn't it? I just don't get it. I want to be hip, but all I feel is old. So I deleted my account. Sorry to the four of you who were following me. And by following me, I mean read my one posted that says "Trying to figure this Twitter thing out". You'll have to get the latest on me the good old fashioned way - Facebook! :)
That said, Eva sent me some pretty interesting material that led me to a bit of researching. Apparently, the whole concept behind Twitter is not that people really care about your every move, but that people actually are taking the media back. Celebrities are making announcements on Twitter before they hit places like CNN and People (every PR person's nightmare, right?). People are using it (Ashton Kutcher, for example) to promote causes. I really do like that aspect of it. Who knows, someday I may go back... after all, I was about five years late on the Facebook train...
I feel better today. I'm not sure that makes much of a difference, since I still sound (and probably look) terrible, but I'm just throwing it out there. I do have to say, this whole no makeup thing has been pretty fun. You see, after Lasik, you can't wear any makeup for a week - you don't want to go getting mascara stuck under your corneal flaps (seriously, how bad does that sound like it would hurt?). Now, those of you who know me know that I definitely don't wear a lot of makeup, and the makeup I wear is more natural looking ("enhancing" as my mom says) than anything. But, I feel naked without it. Toss in the "bloody eye factor" - I have some small bruises on the whites of my eyes - and I'm feeling like a goddess. My very first day back at work (Monday) I had a little bit of a sunburn, so of course my freckles were standing out. I had more people tell me how pretty I looked with bloody eyes, no makeup and a sunburn than I do on days I get all done up! I know it sounds funny, but I was really self-conscious over this whole thing (don't ask me why... I'm normally not about these sorts of things), but it's really made me take a look at how people percieve you. Apparently all the MAK makeup in the world doesn't make a difference - sometimes all you need is a little sunburn!
My eyes are doing really well... my vision is continuing to improve and I'm on my last day of antibiotic and steriod drops. Monday was the first day I didn't wear my stunner glasses 24/7, which was a little scary, but apparently I rub my eyes a lot less than I thought I would. The only real lasting effect I have (if you can call it "lasting" - it's only been 5 days!) is the halos at night and even those have started to get better. I'm totally happy with my surgery - I still reach for my glasses in the morning and think "I need to take my contacts out" at night, but I'm sure those are both habits I can get myself to break fairly soon!
