Geek in Heels - Page 24

Aug 2, 2013 • In Asian, Gadgets, Giveaways, Parenting

Take the “It Can Wait” Pledge and Win a BlackBerry Q10!

Confession: I have texted while driving. Have you? (YES, texting at a red light counts!)

If you have, consider this sobering fact: more than 100,000 crashes a year involve drivers who are texting.

Wanna know something that’s even more alarming? Nearly half of all adult commuters and 43% of teens admit to texting while driving (TWD). And, as the highest consumers of smartphones, Asian-Americans are at an increased risk to the dangers of texting while driving. (But don’t think that just because you’re not Asian, you can get away with it!)

This needs to stop. NOW.

AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign seeks to do exactly that by asking drivers to take a pledge to never text and drive.

When AT&T contacted me about promoting the It Can Wait campaign on my blog, the timing couldn’t have been more uncanny. Because earlier this week, within walking distance from our home, an 8-month-old girl was killed by a falling lamppost. The reason for this terrible tragedy? A bus driver was using his cell phone while driving and crashed into the lamppost, causing it to fall onto the baby’s stroller. 😥

It’s scary to think that this could have been one of my girls (we go for walks on that promenade almost every day).

It’s even scarier to think that I could have caused an accident like that.

We need to remember the serious effects TWD can have on our families, friends, and even strangers on the road. We also need to set a good example for the children and teenagers in our lives. Like It Can Wait states, no text with worth the risk. It can wait.

To help get the word out about this life-saving campaign, AT&T has generously offered to give one of my readers an It Can Wait gift package, which includes a t-shirt, a magnet, a tote bag, and a BlackBerry® Q10!

It goes without saying that this phone should NOT be used while driving.

The Q10 is the latest offering from BlackBerry®, and it is considered by many to be the best QWERTY phone currently on the market. The phone retails for $584.99 without a contract — and the winner of this giveaway will get it for FREE! (The winner will, however, be responsible for activating the phone and paying for service.)

To enter this giveaway, you must first visit the It Can Wait website and take the pledge to never text and drive. Please share your pledge with your friends and spread the word about the dangers of texting while driving.

Once you have done so, please use the Rafflecopter widget below, leaving a comment confirming that you took the pledge.

Not sure how to use Rafflecopter? Watch this 52 second video for a tutorial on how to enter a giveaway using Rafflecopter. There are 4 methods of entry, with the first method (commenting on this blog post confirming that you took the “It Can Wait” pledge) being mandatory while the third method (Tweeting about the giveaway) can be used once per day:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway will end on Saturday, August 10th, 2013, at 12:01am EST, at which point a winner will be randomly chosen and announced here.

Sorry, this giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. who are over 13 years old.

Please use a valid email address and/or Twitter handle so that I can contact you if you win! If the winner fails to respond within 48 hours of my contacting them, another winner will be selected.

Good luck, and thank you for entering! And please remember…no text is worth the risk!

Disclaimer:
In compliance with FTC guidelines, please be aware that AT&T has provided me my own “It Can Wait” gift package for promoting this campaign.

What Could’ve Been, Movie Characters Edition

Last month I shared with you some concept sketches of Disney characters. And today, I give you the early character sketches of famous movies, compiled by the good folks over at Screen Crush.

Take a look — Yoda could have looked like a garden gnome, and the original Jabba looks even more turd-y than the version we all love to hate. Bane seems to be an S&M dungeon master, while the two versions of Ralph (of “Wreck-It” fame) looks nothing like. I do, however, prefer the earlier designs of the Kraken and the Mad Hatter to their final forms. What do you think? (Warning: many images up ahead!)

Shrek, ‘Shrek’

DreamWorks/Barry Jackson for DreamWorks

Yoda, ‘Star Wars’

LucasFilm Continue reading »

Aerin’s Developmental Assessment

Yesterday, two ladies from the state early intervention program stopped by our home.

NJ’s early intervention program assesses a child in the following areas of development:

Gross Motor Skills
Fine Motor Skills
Communication, Speech, & Language
Social/Emotional Development
Cognitive Skills
Adaptive/Self-help Skills

In order to be eligible for early intervention services, the child must have delays of at least:

2.0 standard deviations below the mean in one developmental area; or
1.5 standard deviations below the mean in two more more developmental areas

Aerin scored below the mean in every category, with the exception of fine motor skills. (She actually scored well above average in this area.) While her gross motor skills and social/emotional development were just below average, her cognitive skills and adaptive skills were about 1.5 standard deviations below the mean. Particularly alarming was her communication & speech, which was 2.2 standard deviations below the mean.

So it was confirmed: Aerin is developmentally delayed — enough so that she qualifies for our state’s early intervention program.

The woman who was in charge of the assessment observed the following things Aerin should or should not be doing at this age (currently 20 months old):

She should not be screaming when she is displeased
She should be able to feed herself an entire meal (in our defense, we usually end up feeding her because she won’t eat enough on her own)
She should be able to take off her shoes by herself
When asked, she should be able to do tasks and chores that are more complex than just pointing things out
She should be more social and wanting to play with other kids
She should be able to play with one toy for more than 15 minutes at a time (I’m not sure what the ideal period is, but the 15 minutes I told them was apparently not enough.)
She should be pointing at what she wants, not just handing things over to me or gesturing
She should be able to put together simple puzzles
She should not be using sippy cups (this is my fault — she knows how to drink from a regular cup and use straws, but it’s so much easier to just hand over a sippy cup and let her drink whenever and wherever she wants, instead of sitting there supervising her while she drinks)

She noted that Aerin’s attention seemed to wonder often, and that the way she acts around, and interacts with others (i.e., wanting to do things her way rather than follow others or the rules that are set out for her) is at a level that is low for her age.

She asked me how often we participate in “structured play” and group lessons. I told her how I take her to the park and playground almost every day, how we’ve been attending arts & crafts sessions organized by the community center, how we schedule playdates, and how I do my best to teach her at home.

She replied that’s not enough.

She said that kids like Aerin need more activities like Mommy & Me classes — and that daycare would be beneficial too.

She told me a bunch of things that we could do to help Aerin along the way, and we scheduled an appointment for August 19th. That is when they will make a shorter, second assessment to see if she has made any progress, set goals for her, and start scheduling therapy sessions.

I’m not going to lie. I cried quite a bit last night.

Everyone tells me that kids progress at different rates. They tell me that it’s not my fault, that Aerin will catch up soon and that I shouldn’t worry too much.

But when you’re in the thick of things — when it’s just been confirmed by experts that your child is delayed and needs therapy to catch up to her peers — it’s difficult not to question just how this could have happened.

It’s difficult not to blame yourself.

I know that it’s not fair to compare Claire to Aerin, but I feel like we lucked out with Claire because she is so bright and intuitive; she was able to learn so much and pick things up quickly and easily without too much involvement from me. And only now is my bad parenting manifesting itself by Aerin being delayed.

(For example, I tend to talk to my kids like they’re older than they are — not just with the words I use, but by also not talking all the time in hopes that they will learn the implied meaning between words. But the early intervention lady told me that I should constantly point out, explain, and narrate.)

Additionally, because our daughters are so close in age, I’m more paranoid than ever that neither of them are receiving the attention they deserve. My mother tells me that it’s not unusual in a family with kids that are just a year apart to have one child, or even both children, to present some difficulties as they mature. Is this true? No matter the answer, I’m now wondering if it would be more beneficial for both kids if I start working again while they attend a good daycare.

Then there’s the cost. I know money should always take second place to the well-being of our daughters, but Claire is starting a Montessori preschool in September so our budget is already tight as it is. (Northern NJ has some of the highest preschool rates in the country. The preschool I really want to send my kids is $3k a month!) The state will subsidize a good portion of Aerin’s therapy, but from looking at the paperwork I received, it looks like each session will be in the mid-$20 range. So it is likely that our out-of-pocket costs will be $200-$300 a month. We will definitely need to re-work our budget and cut back some.

I’m sure I’m probably over-thinking and over-stressing, as I tend to do in situations such as these. I’ll probably feel much better about it next week or even tomorrow. But for today, I’m letting myself be a worrywart, overanalyzing everything and be an paranoid, over-concerned mommy.

Then I will look forward. I will try my best to do everything the early intervention lady suggested, such as dividing toys into clear bins so that Aerin will be forced to point. To always guide her gaze to my mouth so that she can see what I’m saying. To constantly place my hands over hers and teach her to better interact with her world around her. To not to baby her so much.

(Gosh, now I’m getting worried that Claire will start to resent Aerin for all the extra attention she will be receiving!)

It won’t be easy, but I’m willing to help her however I can.

ETA:
I forgot to mention that when I asked about autism, they told me they’re not qualified to give a diagnosis. They said that I would need to get a referral from our doctor for a developmental pediatrician. Umm…where did the miscommunication occur? Nonetheless, they advised me to try to get an appointment right away if I was concerned, because the wait for a developmental pediatrician can be as long as 6 months in our area! 😯

Southwest Airlines Landing Gear Failure Prompts Fake American Pilot Names

You’ve probably heard of Bay Area news station KTVU’s fiasco involving their broadcast of obviously fake names for the pilots of the Asiana crash.

Am I in the minority for being an Asian-American who wasn’t offended by this? Perhaps I’ve been too desensitized over the years, but I found it worthy of a chuckle. Immature and ignorant, yes. A bit too early to be making jokes about an incident that cost innocents their lives? Probably. But — as with many other politically incorrect jokes — comical nonetheless.

Oh, and some eye-rolling for those who failed to catch such an obvious mistake. 🙄

I knew that it wouldn’t be long until jokes built upon the original prank, and the one I found today takes the cake. The folks over at Slothed published the following photo with the caption “Korean News Station Pokes Fun at KTVU with Fake American Pilot Names After Southwest Airlines Landing Gear Failure“

The text can be difficult to make out, but you can clearly read “Captain Kent Parker Wright” in big letters, and “Co-Captain Wyatt Wooden Workman” below.

They even go on to name fake interviewees: flight instructor “Heywood U. Flye-Moore” and skeptical passenger “Macy Lawyers”.

Obviously the Korean news channel seems to be having some fun at KTVU’s expense. Which begs the question, “Do two wrongs make a right?” (Or, to get into the spirit of the discussion: “Do two Wongs make a white?” 😛 Okay, now I’m really just typing without thinking.)

Except…

On the bottom right corner, where you would expect to see the station and/or program’s logo(s), it says “Haha News” in Korean.

Yep, it looks like no Korean station ever aired this, and the supposed screenshot nothing more than some photo editing.

Still, it’s fun to see how people are reacting to this new viral image — from pure outrage to simple “LOL”s, from arguments on race, politics, and morality to mere “Well played”s.

The Snip and Quit Method

Pacifiers are one of many subjects that are often raised in parenting circles and forums. Should you use one or not? When should a child be weaned from his or her pacifier?

I know that many of my friends are against the use of pacifiers, but we happily used them with both Claire and Aerin. Pacifiers — or “binkies,” as we referred to them to the girls — provided great comfort, especially at times when we couldn’t immediately be there for them (e.g., during car rides or while we were sleep-training). They helped tremendously when it came to the girls not putting random objects into their mouthes. And they were almost always guaranteed to quiet and calm my daughters when we were in public and I didn’t want to make a scene.

But they are not meant to last forever.

Many experts recommend that children be weaned from pacifiers between the ages of 12-18 months. Some say even earlier, between 9-12 months. And almost all agree that using pacifiers past the age of 2 can be more harmful than beneficial.

Can you tell who is who in these pictures? 😉

When we first began to give Claire her binkies, we thought that she would surely be weaned between the recommended age range of 12-18 months. But that all changed when Aerin came along. Because the girls are only 13 months apart, it was very difficult to get Claire to stop when Aerin was using them — she would just march on over and take it from her little sister’s mouth! Additionally, I just plain felt bad keeping Claire from her binkies when she was still adjusting to being a big sister.

So we let her keep using them. And when she turned 2, we began to only allow them for naps and bedtime. (And the occasional meltdowns.)

I told myself that we would wean both kids when Aerin turned 18 months old. But then she got sick and took a long time to recover. And I kept putting it off because I was scared that it would be tremendously difficult.

Luckily, in this case, I was wrong. 🙂

We decided to go the gradual route, by snipping off a small portion of the nipple every 2-3 days. The idea is that by the time the pacifier gets too short to use properly, the child will be used to having less in his or her mouth. Or, they will just not like the pacifier as much because it will feel different and be more difficult to use. 😉

Both kids were expectedly confused when we first presented them with the modified pacifiers. In fact, Aerin would have none of it. She immediately stopped using them!

Claire, on the other hand, was a different story. My mother says that she does not give up easily; we call it plain ol’ stubbornness. Her having had used pacifiers for so long also probably played a part. Each time we cut off a bit more, she would ask for a “large binky,” and we would just tell her that we had none. Thankfully, she always accepted this answer and just popped the “shorties” in her mouth in response.

It was a bit funny, especially since she didn’t protest the change. Towards the end, when the pacifiers were more than halfway cut and it became difficult for her to properly suck on them, she would fall asleep with one hand cupped over her mouth, knowing well that her binky would fall out otherwise. (As mentioned before, she was only using pacifiers during naps and bedtimes.)

You can see in the above picture, taken right before we threw out the pacifiers for good, that by this point, it was physically impossible to use these pacifiers. But she still tried! She tried to use these for a couple of days before finally giving up.

In the end, it took us 2 weeks to wean Claire from her beloved binkies, and Aerin just 1 day. There were no tears nor whining. It was, as a matter of fact, one of the easiest things I’ve done as a mother.

I honestly expected more drama. After all, it almost feels like the end of an era!

Taking Care of My Contacts and My Eyes, FOB-Style

Gather ’round, boys and girls! It’s time for show and tell: contact lens and eye care edition.

I’ve been wearing soft contact lenses for almost two(!) decades now, and I can’t believe I only just discovered the following contact lens care products. Yeah, yeah…a good portion of my readers are Asian and most likely have known about these for years. But I love them so much that I felt the need to ~~write~~ rave about them for those who might not be in the know.

First up is the iPool Contact Lens Auto Cleaner:

The iPool uses a combination of vibrations and silver nano-particle technology to thoroughly clean your contact lenses. It doesn’t matter if you wear hard or soft lenses, regular or disposables — just drop your lenses inside the cute animal case, fill it with contact lens solution, place it onto the AAA battery-powered base, press the button and wait for at least 3 minutes.

Save Nina

This is Nina.

She is a mother, wife, and daughter.

Last September, Nina was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

After 7 rounds of aggressive chemotherapy, the cancer went into remission…but it came back with a vengeance: this time, in her brain. 🙁 Nina is currently undergoing additional chemotherapy, but the aggressiveness of the disease requires an urgent stem cell transplant. And due to her Asian heritage (Thai and Chinese), finding a match has been very challenging. Doctors say that Nina has 1 in 20,000 chance of finding a match.

You may have already heard of the Save Nina campaign, as its supporters and volunteers have been doing one heckuva job in an effort to promote, and reach its goal of 20,000 bone marrow typings.

But if you passed it over without taking action, I urge you to check it out again, especially if you are of Asian heritage.

Even if you’re a non-Asian who’s never heard of Nina, I ask you to get yourself typed and become a member of the national bone marrow registry. You can save a life! Seriously!

The process of getting typed is so simple and painless. All you need to do is get your cheeks swabbed. You can do it in person at a recruitment center or a bone marrow drive, or order a home typing kit completely free of charge. I myself joined the registry with a home typing kit, and it took all of 5 minutes to swab my cheeks, stick the pre-printed labels on the swabs, place them in the pre-packaged envelope, and drop it in the mail.

I confess that I have an ulterior motive for posting this story. I have never met Nina, but we were in the same tight-knit sorority in college so I have many friends who know Nina in real life. And they have nothing but nice things to say about her.

There’s also the fact that her son Donovan and my daughter Claire were born just a couple of weeks apart. When I think of my children growing up without a mother, and imagine that Nina must be thinking the same thing whenever she looks at her precious son, my heart can’t help but break for her.

As you can see from the banner above, Nina currently only has ONE MONTH left to find a bone marrow donor. So please, please consider joining the national bone marrow registry, either by stopping by a local recruitment center or ordering a kit online. Or, you can visit SaveNina.com and see if there’s a Save Nina Drive near you.

Even if you decide not to get yourself typed, you can help by spreading the word:

Save Nina (official website)

“Fighting Cancer to See Son Grow Up” (LATimes article)

“Save Nina Campaign Goes Viral With Hollywood Help” (NBC article)

Thanks for reading! Let’s all keep Nina and her family in our thoughts and prayers!

Game of Thrones Costume Details

A Hollywood insider once told me that assistants are often a overlooked source of information, influence, and power.

Upon hearing that, I wondered to myself, ‘Well what about all the other “little” people involved in each movie and television show? Who knows? Even a grip can potentially hold significant insider scoop and leverage!’

Alright, so my overactive imagination probably got the better of me there. (And it’s likely that most people reading this wouldn’t know what a grip even does.) But can you imagine, in this day and age, the fangasms that would ensue if every talented member of a movie/TV production had an active Facebook page, a Twitter feed, or even…gasp…an updated, detailed blog?

And this is where Michelle Carragher comes in. She is an embroidery artist and illustrator for notable productions such as Elizabeth I, Prince of Persia, and Stardust.

Oh, and did I mention Game of Thrones?

AND that she has a kickass blog which features numerous photos of her creations?

If Superheroes Had Instagram

Of the following, Peter Parker seems to be most guilty of overusing hashtags. 😛

I’d love to see more, Comediva! Hoping a new batch is in works for the future…

Via Geeks Are Sexy.

Goofing Around with Cymera [Plasticizing Myself]

Over the weekend, my friend Carol posted “before” and “after” photos of herself using the smartphone photo app Cymera. Unlike most western photo editing apps, this Asian app (I’m pretty sure it originated in Korea, since its homepage is hosted by Cyworld) allows you to make numerous beauty edits, many of which are obviously catered for the Asian standards of beauty: large eyes, slim face, and clear, smooth skin, just to name a few.

Everyone — including myself — who commented on the photos said that she looks better in the “before” version. I added that apps like these must have contributed to the increase of ulzzang‘s (the second definition’s the most accurate) in the recent years.

Nonetheless, I was intrigued. I knew that apps like Cymera existed, and that they are quite popular in Asia. (Xiaxue openly admits to using apps like this to “photoshop” herself before posting them online.) However, I had never tried one out for myself. What’s more, Cymera has an English interface and is readily available in the Google Play Store and iTunes!

Here’s my first try at using Cymera. The effects I used were: Big Eyes, Slim (makes your face slimmer), Makeup (false lashes and blush), and Cover Spots (makes your face clearer and smoother).

Take the “It Can Wait” Pledge and Win a BlackBerry Q10!

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What Could’ve Been, Movie Characters Edition

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Aerin’s Developmental Assessment

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Southwest Airlines Landing Gear Failure Prompts Fake American Pilot Names

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Taking Care of My Contacts and My Eyes, FOB-Style

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Save Nina

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Game of Thrones Costume Details

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If Superheroes Had Instagram

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Goofing Around with Cymera [Plasticizing Myself]

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