Geek in Heels - Page 140

Jun 30, 2010 • In Baby, Personal, Pregnancy

26 Weeks

Once again I am a few days late. The truth of the matter is, there aren’t many new exciting updates on the pregnancy front (aside from the gross ones — see below) and it’s almost becoming a drag writing these weekly updates. HOWEVER, I know that there are readers who look forward to these posts AND I know that I will treasure them later down the road so I will do my best to keep truckin’.

This week is the last of the second trimester. I am not looking forward to the third trimester for various reasons (becoming a whale in this horrible heat & humidity, general discomfort, etc) but at the same time, grateful for each day that brings us closer to meeting our daughter. It is bittersweet to say the least.

A couple of days ago, I saw that my armpit bulges (fellow ladies are probably aware of this delightful phenomenon that is caused by armpit fat) were uneven. I first chalked it up to uneven weight distribution…but then my morbidity took over and I proceeded to squeeze the bulge.

What I discovered was a lump — and quite a large one at that. I was all ready to panic, then remembered that milk ducts can be present in the armpit and what I was feeling is most likely an enlarged milk duct. There is, of course, the possibility that it can be a tumor or even breast cancer. But I’m not too worried about it. My next OB appointment will be next week so I’ll just bring it up to the doc then.

Fortunately my breasts have not started leaking (yet). However, I have noticed another wonderful byproduct of pregnancy: BO.

While I tend to sweat like a pig, I have never had problems in the body odor department until now. I’m pretty sure it is related to my growing milk ducts, because the scent is not unpleasant. Rather, it almost smells…sweet. Not “sugary” sweet, but more like a cross between Asian yogurt drinks and plain crackers. TMI, I know, but I imagine that this is what my breast milk will taste and smell like.

As for the baby herself, most experts estimate that she weighs about 2 lbs and is 14 inches long at this point. At 26 weeks, she now has an 80-90% chance of survival if I were to suddenly go into premature labor. She continues to grow stronger every day — she even wakes up mommy with her sudden movements! And when I put stuff on my belly (ie, remote control), she’ll sometimes kick it off.

J and I still haven’t bought anything for the baby yet, spare for some cute onesies here and there. I keep reading about all these women who already have the nursery prepared and ready to go at a moment’s notice…I think it’s time to at least order the crib, since I read that some cribs can take up to 8 weeks to be delivered!

Google’s “Graduation”: A Commercial Guaranteed to Bring Tears to Your Eyes

I may be pregnant and hormonal, but I TOTALLY CRIED watching this Google commercial and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

This video holds special significance to anyone like me whose parents sacrificed everything to immigrate to a foreign country — a land where they did not know the language, where they were (and continue to be) ostracized for being a minority, where they work 80-hour weeks in the service industry, where they do not take a single vacation in YEARS — in order to provide good education, more opportunities and a better life for their children.

I love you, umma and appa.

Via Angry Asian Man.

314 Fun Things to Do in NYC

Jake Bronstein of Zoomdoogle has published a free guide of 314 fun things to do in New York City. Because when was the last time you took a Laughter Yoga class (#16)? Or attended a Naked Painting Party (#243)?

Or just…looked up (#122)?

The Fun List NYC is available in PDF format for FREE at http://zoomdoggle.com/. I guarantee it’ll be a treat for tourists and natives alike.

Via Boing Boing.

Search Engines of the Past

Which search engine did you prefer pre-Google? I’m happy to report that I (almost) exclusively used AltaVista since I first learned to trawl the web.

(Click to view large)

Via Geekologie.

A Picture for a Terrible Tuesday

I’m having a really crappy day.

So here’s one for me, along with anyone else who might be down in the dumps…

Via The Daily What.

P.S. — Sadly, I doubt Comang will let our baby girl do this to him. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s scared of babies and kids, as he always deliberately avoids them when we’re out on walks. This is something we’ll need to carefully approach when the baby is born.

Mario Live Wallpaper for Android [zOMG!]

Here’s another one for my fellow Android fans: a Super Mario Live Wallpaper!

If your phone runs Android 2.1 or higher, this FREE download allows you to mimic a non-interactive game right in the background of your phone. The game isn’t pre-recorded, but it’s not playable either; it is created on-the-fly using random level generators and an artificial intelligence that controls Mario.

There are three visual themes for the levels — outside, underground and castle — all based on stuff that should be familiar to anyone who has played the old Mario games.

The only downside is that the live wallpaper would (unsurprisingly) drain your battery pretty quickly. As such, I imagine that many Android users will download it for the fun factor but not have it running at all times. If anything, it’s another way to one-up iPhone users, since the iPhone just got support for regular wallpapers through iOS 4.

If you are viewing this post from your Android phone, use this link for a direct download. Or, scan this QR code for immediate access:

Via Engadget.

The Circle of No Life, Blogger Edition

You’ve all seen The Circle of No Life. Now, check out its blogging counterpart:

I must admit that I only use three of the services in this circle: Google Analytics, Twitter, and an RSS Reader (I’m not sure why the RSS symbol is lumped in with the online bookmarking/sharing sites, so I’ll just assume that they mean Google Reader). However, I can definitely see how a professional blogger would prefer and utilize all of these free services to their fullest extent.

Via Geeks are Sexy.

Most Common Restaurants by Zip Code [NYC]

I have never heard of Very Small Array before, but after browsing through just a few pages I immediately added it to my Google Reader. Chock-full of interesting charts, graphs, maps, and illustrations, the blog is right up my alley.

Currently, it is running a series of NYC maps that display the most common type of restaurants by zip code based on The Village Voice Restaurant Guide.

As much as I love Manhattan, it is clearly evident that the outer boroughs have much more diversity, with the restaurants to prove it!

Via Laughing Squid.

P.S. — People are always asking me what the best Korean restaurants in Manhattan are. My answer to them: there aren’t any. All the Korean restaurants, including the ones in Korea Town (and perhaps especially the ones in Korea Town), are too “Americanized” for my tastes. To find the best, authentic Korean restaurants, you must venture out to Queens or even…gasp…New Jersey!

iPlunge

I love the simple, utilitarian, and comical idea behind this product! Available in August, the iPlunge costs $5.99 — a steal compared to some of the other iPod/iPhone stands I’ve seen.

Via Gizmodo.

Everyone’s a Winner

My high school had a weighted GPA system that took into account the level of different classes. For example, receiving an ‘A’ in a regular class would count as 4.00 while receiving the same grade in an honors class would earn you a 4.33. An AP class would raise the average even higher with a 4.67, so it was no surprise that the valedictorian of the class graduated with a GPA that was above a 4.5.

I always thought the system to be fair until I entered my junior and senior years, when the arts requirement was no longer necessary and “the smart kids” stopped taking them altogether. I continued taking music and art classes until I graduated because I loved these subjects; I also knew for a fact that many of the “smart kids” appreciated those classes as well and couldn’t understand why they would cease taking them.

Then one of them explained the cause: taking an arts class — which did not have honors or AP levels — would bring down their GPA.

I haven’t thought about my high school grading system in years. But I was forced to revisit it this morning as I read an article in The NYTimes talking about the growing trend in high schools to do away with the traditional valedictorian system and have as many as 30 top students up on the podium as co-valedictorians in order to reduce pressure and competition among students.

Co-valedictorians at Lyons High School in Colorado

My first thought after reading the article was, “Here we go again — this is just an extension of kids receiving medals and trophies just for ‘participating.’ Whatever happened to having clear-cut winners and losers? This is why the U.S. is so behind in education.”

While I agree that we should honor the top students in a graduating class, especially the ones who were just mere fractions of fractions away from the top GPA, I also believe that this is what honor societies, special cords and sashes, and the “summa cum laude” and “magna cum laude” designations are designed to do.

I have always believed that lessening the importance of achievements in order to avoid stepping on others’ toes, especially starting at a young age, does nothing but add to the entitlement generation and only paves the way for future disappointments.

However, with my own high school’s grading system in mind, I cannot help but wonder why some of my peers were discouraged — however indirectly — from pursuing their interests, hobbies, and/or dreams for the sole purpose of keeping their GPAs at elite levels. Were they smart to take advantage of the system? Or should they have taken the classes they wanted in order to learn what they wanted to learn?

Does a system that is both fair and beneficial to the students even exist?