Geek in Heels - Page 107

Jan 22, 2011 • In Asian, Funny, Personal

The Aging Process of Asian Women

One of the biggest stereotypes about Asian women (aside from the notion that we are meek, timid creatures who are sexual slaves in the bedroom) is that we never seem to age, or age at a much slower rate than the rest of the population. And wouldn’t you know it — here is a funny cartoon to show just that:

(image source)

While I’m not so sure about other Asian women, I can attest that now, at the age of 30, I am starting to notice signs of aging. I am very lucky that I have not yet developed wrinkles; however, I am beginning to get plagued by dry patches of skin and age spots. My metabolism is nowhere near where it was when I was in my late teens and early twenties (and I thought I was FAT back then…what I wouldn’t give to have the body I had ten years ago!), I get tired much more easily, and the 30+ years of bad posture is catching up to me in the way of nightly backaches.

That being said, I must admit that I am often mistaken for being younger — people are always surprised when I tell them my actual age, and I guess I have my (Asian?) genes to thank for that, because God knows I’ve treated by body like crap.

I dug up this old photo from 2001 (friend’s face marked out in respect for her privacy):

It is undeniable that I look younger (and I can’t help noticing how much thinner I was back then…sigh), but I’m not sure that I look an entire decade younger than I do now.

What do you think? Do you agree with the stereotype that Asian women never seem to age (or at least until they hit menopause, as depicted in the cartoon above)?

America, America, This is You!

Remember America’s Funniest Home Videos? This comic, entitled The World Before the Internet, sure brought back some great memories. (America’s Funniest Home Videos was one of the few television shows that my family watched together, since fluency in English was not required in the comprehension of the majority of the videos.)

Milestones, Schmilestones

I have a love/hate relationship with weekly emails from BabyCenter.

If you are pregnant, or are a parent, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

By this week your baby is…

And you read on to feel smug if your baby has already reached that milestone/developmental stage, or you are ashamed and feel like the worst parent in the world if your baby shows no signs of doing what they are supposed to be doing.

While I like reading these emails to see where most average babies are at this point in Claire’s life, I also sometimes feel like crap because she shows no signs of rolling over (which should’ve happened two weeks ago) and refuses to reach out for toys or even grab them (which should’ve happened last week).

I try my best to assist her. When she is on her stomach during tummy time, grunting and flailing her arms and legs, I place her limbs where they should be and flip her over to show her how it is done. Then I’ll flip her back as if to say, “Now you try.”

I wave toys in front of her…well, anything that seems to grab her attention and pull her arm out to set her hand on the object of interest. I place toys in her hands and position her little fingers in a grasping hold. And what does she do? She will pull her arm back and give me a look that plainly states, “Why are you doing that? I liked my arms and hands where they were.”

I know that every child develops at different rates, and that I should not worry unless the doctor gets concerned. But everytime I get those emails from BabyCenter, I let out a sigh and begrudgingly read what my child “should” be doing this week. Because if I don’t inform myself, how can I be prepared for other mommies who will inevitably ask about (and judge) my baby’s milestones? And will I ever have bragging rights aside from the fact that she was able to hold her head up just one day after she was born?

Then I remind myself that I am better than that. I know my child best, and I know that she will do these things when she is ready, not when some website says so.

And the next time a mom brags to me about her child’s early milestones, I can just retort, “Will you be bragging about your kid getting pubes early too?”

Video Games vs. Real Life

What if old-school video game characters were to invade our world? Would you be able to spot them? What if they continued to exist in their 8-bit graphics glory?

Illustrator Aled Lewis shows us just that in his Flickr set titled Video Games vs Real Life. As the set shows photos from June 2007 to now, I certainly hope that he will continue this project because I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

Via Bit Rebels.

If the Steelers, Jets, Packers, and Bears Worked in an Office

Last Saturday, our beloved Ravens were booted out of the playoffs. It was an especially disappointing loss because not only did they lose to their #1 rivals after a first half that looked more than promising, it was Claire’s first NFL playoffs and we had ordered a baby cheerleader outfit just for the occasion.

This year’s NFL playoffs have been full of upsets and surprises. Now, with only four teams remaining (two of which no one had expected to go this far), I will be rooting for a Packers win for Super Bowl XLV. Anyone else with me? 😀

I happened upon a funny article titled Steelers, Jets, Packers, Bears And Their Office Equivalents earlier today. I knew that I had to share because it’s so hilariously true! Enjoy, and here’s to the impending end of a great NFL season!

P.S. — Did you know that the site of Super Bowl XLVIII (in 2014) is less than 3 miles from our place? I’m both dreading and looking forward to the day!

Conception Date

Last week I was talking to a friend about her efforts to get pregnant. When she mentioned that she might start taking her basal body temperature, I strongly urged her to sign up for a Fertility Friend account. After all, I myself had gotten pregnant with the help of Fertility Friend (and got to know my body much better in the process).

Fertility Friend popped into my head again last night as I was battling insomnia. I hadn’t logged on since my first trimester of pregnancy with Claire — and I have no reason to log in at the moment as trying to get pregnant is the last thing on my mind — but I felt a strong urge to go look at my last chart.

And wouldn’t you know it? Exactly one year ago today, my body released the egg that would eventually become Claire.

I know this is a bit TMI to some of my readers and I apologize for that. But it really is amazing how this —

(image source)

would become this —

in just 365 days!

New Year, New Look, New Platform

Raising my daughter without the help of my in-laws has (surprisingly) been a lot easier than I thought.

And while there are times when I am missing them sorely because I am dying for a nap or want to go run a quick errand without doing all the time-consuming things that involve going out with an infant, I have found that most of the time, taking care of the baby on my own is actually easier than having others help out…probably because I am such a controlling, obsessive-compulsive creature.

I will write more about my progress as a mother in the future. But in the meantime —

— because I didn’t have enough to do already — [sarcasm]

— because I didn’t have enough stress-inducers in my life already — [sarcasm, again]

— and because it’s a new year and I needed a change, and a means to tackle a difficult project, conquer it, and feel accomplished at obtaining some semblance of control in my life… [that was serious]

I have re-done my blog.

I have been contemplating a move from Squarespace to WordPress for some time now. While Squarespace is wonderful, I need more control and flexibility over my blog. In addition, I also couldn’t get over the fact that Squarespace does not offer threaded comments — and while I can always use a third-party app like Disqus or IntenseDebate to do so, I didn’t like how (1)there is no way to import my existing Squarespace comments to these services, and (2)all the new comments will be hosted on the application’s servers.

So I decided to take the plunge.

(I am continuing to keep my Squarespace account active because I still believe it to be a far more superior blogging platform than WordPress in many regards. And I may just switch back in the future!)

I will be completely honest here — it was a complete PITA to make the transfer from Squarespace to WordPress. I had to perform numerous “find and replace” functions, create 301 redirects, experiment with various URL structures and plugins, and scour countless message boards.

And while I am familiar with WordPress and have worked with it many times in the past, I was a bit rusty and PHP is not my strong suit. Finding a theme I liked and customizing it took a lot longer than expected.

But I’ve done it. Well, almost. There are still some posts whose URLs produce 404 errors. (Please be patient — I have over 1,100 posts! I am bound to miss a few… ) My LinkWithin links at the bottom of each post still point to the old URL structure (and while most of them are successfully redirecting to the new URLs, I am hoping to hear back from their support team soon). Large images need to be resized. And some elements will continue to look a bit off while I work out the kinks.

That said, take a look:

What do you think? Head on over and share your thoughts!

Additionally, please let me know if you:

find anything that needs to be fixed
would like to be included in my “Links” section
have any other suggestions

Lastly, I have decided to start using FeedBurner. Since I have directed my old feeds to my new one, you are not obligated to do anything. However, if you would like, you can update your news/RSS reader with the following feed address: http://feeds.feedburner.com/geekinheels/blog. You may also choose to subscribe via email at that link.

Thank you for your patience, and thanks in advance if you decide help me along in this transition. Here’s to a great new year and a newer and improved Geek in Heels!

Blogging Break

In addition to Claire’s extra fussiness during the past week, a series of circumstances have left me severely disappointed and disheartened with the world and its inhabitants.

Furthermore, J’s parents will be returning to Hong Kong tomorrow. Which means that it will be just me with the baby (and Comang) from now on while J is at work. While I am grateful for all the help that my in-laws have provided, I wish they had gradually given me more time alone with the baby so that I will not be scared so sh*tless for the upcoming days/weeks/months (however long it will take for me to adjust to my new living situation).

As such, I have decided to take a break from blogging.

I am not sure how long it will last, but hopefully it will not be for too long.

I hope everyone has a great start to the new year!

Happy New Year!

(image courtesy of Little Seouls Blog)

I remember when I was little, the best part about New Year’s Day was not the gathering of family or the delicious food. The best part of New Year’s Day for me — and for millions of other Korean kids — was getting dressed in our hanbok (traditional Korean dress) and doing the traditional bow to relatives while wishing them a happy and prosperous new year, who would in turn give us money. Cha-ching!

My sister and I would usually consider ourselves lucky if we received $20 from an elder. It wasn’t until years later that we discovered some of our friends would receive upwards of $500 from a single relative!

When Claire gets older, you can be sure that I will be dressing her in a hanbok and drive over to my parents’ so that she can partake in this tradition too. And come the Lunar New Year, we will take her to J’s family festivities where she will be bombarded with red pockets filled with money. What a lucky little girl!

But for this year, while she is still a baby and too young to understand these traditions, she will merely grace us with her presence, which is all we expect from her but appreciate all the same.

Happy 2011, and 새해 복 많이 받으세요!

Adieu, 2010

Things have been a bit hectic, tiring, and cranky in our household this week as Claire has entered another difficult phase. We’re not sure if it is another growth spurt or teething, but our now-3-month-old (as of yesterday!) has not been this fussy since she was 6 weeks old.

We will be ringing in the new year in typical new parents’ style: a quiet night at home — that is, if we’re not already passed out by the time the clock hits midnight. If we are still up, we may sneak downstairs for a few minutes to watch the ball drop (we have a decent view of Times Square from just outside our building) and steal a New Year’s kiss.

My resolution for 2011 is simple: to be more grateful and thankful. I am such a pessimist (and a drama queen) that I often overlook all the blessings in my life.

I hope that everyone has a great New Year’s Eve, and wish you all the best in 2011!

(And if you’re Korean, may your tummies be filled with tons of ddukgook tomorrow!)

The Aging Process of Asian Women

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America, America, This is You!

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Milestones, Schmilestones

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Video Games vs. Real Life

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If the Steelers, Jets, Packers, and Bears Worked in an Office

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Conception Date

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New Year, New Look, New Platform

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Blogging Break

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Happy New Year!

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Adieu, 2010

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