Watch this inspirational tearjerker of a video.
Produced by TMB (Thai Military Bank), the video is a part of an ad campaign that challenges people to make a difference. It tells the true story of how a group of boys from a tiny floating village called Koh Panyee overcame the odds to bring soccer into their hometown.
Via The Daily What.
I may be a geek, but a math geek I am not. I’m actually pretty horrible at math — bad enough that J doesn’t trust me to teach our kids any math beyond basic arithmetic. 😳
I am, however, a big movie buff so I thought that I may be able to decipher at least some of the clues in this movie title math quiz. The result? A big FAIL. I could not get even one answer.
Hopefully my readers are better mathematicians. How many can you get?
Via Geeks are Sexy.
I have a friend who swears that if she has a daughter, she will limit the girl’s exposure to fairy tales starring princesses and damsels in distress. She firmly believes that stories such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty teach little girls to be submissive and weak, not be self-reliant and always be in wait for a prince charming.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of this friend when I saw this chart showing the evolution of Disney princesses over the years:
(via Miss Cellania)
There’s no question that Disney’s heroines have changed with the times. And while I believe classics such as Snow White will always remain classics, I can’t help but wonder how a story like that would be received if it were to be produced today.
I personally would allow Claire to be as pink and frilly as she desires. J and I are actually hoping that she grows up to be a tomboy, but I would not be opposed to her watching/reading these old stories. And if she ends up becoming a girly princess-type? I would not be upset or disappointed.
What do you think? If you have girls, would you be worried about their exposure to older Disney movies such as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty?
We’re all adults here…right?
Here’s something interesting I found yesterday: an interactive map of the world’s average penis sizes, categorized by country (click on map to view).
According to this map, Congo has the largest average penis size at a length of 17.93cm, or 7.1in.
And the smallest? South Korea, at 9.66cm (3.8in). Ouch. I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for my countrymen.
With that in mind…
Despite the popularity of the phrase “It’s not the size that matters; it’s how you use it that counts,” I am pretty certain that most men continue to associate larger penis sizes with greater pleasure for their partners.
And while I may never fully understand how the male mind works, I can only deduce that the 99% who take a ruler to their danglers do so in an effort to see how they “measure up” compared to their peers.
Most women I have spoken to about this topic — in addition to the articles, polls, and other studies I have read that have broached this subject — agree that the average U.S. penis length (12.9cm, or 5.1in) is perfectly fine when it comes to sexual pleasure. At the average length, it really is the performance that counts.
Besides, most women seem to prefer girth over length anyway. 😛
(And since we are adults, please try to stay adults in the comments!)
Via Geekologie.
I feel bad that I haven’t been blogging about this pregnancy. I guess I’ve fallen victim to the typical parent trap of documenting every step of the first kid and not doing much for the second. And for that, I apologize, BebeDeux.
There are three things I want to say with this update:
(1) I had my first OB appointment last week. Because I was only 5 weeks along at the time all we could see were a gestational sac. That being said, the doctor told me that the sac is measuring right on schedule, and that I should return in a couple of weeks. Due to scheduling conflicts, the next appointment isn’t until next Friday — when I will be 8 weeks along. We should definitely be able to see a heartbeat by then, and I hope that J can accompany me (he stayed home with Claire for the first appointment).
(2) I had horrible insomnia when I was pregnant with Claire, and this pregnancy is no different. When I asked the doctor if I could take anything to help me sleep, he asked me if I was feeling nauseous as well (YES!). He then told me to pick up some Unisom and vitamin B6 at the drugstore. Taking 25mg of Unisom 1x a day and 50mg of B6 2x a day has helped tremendously with both problems. I’ve done some further research on this “cocktail” and it turns out that Unisom was originally intended as an anti-nausea drug, but it made people so sleepy that the drug company began to market it as a sleep aid instead. Additionally, in Canada the Unisom+B6 combo is a pre-made cocktail prescription that is commonly given to pregnant women who are experiencing sleeplessness and/or nausea. I so wish I had known this when I was pregnant with Claire!
(3) We are pretty certain that Comang was the first to know about the pregnancy. A couple of weeks before I took the test, I noticed that he was being extra clingy and affectionate towards me. Because we were sleep-training Claire at the time, I had just figured that he must be reacting to my increased stress levels…but looking back it started just about the time I got pregnant! He continues to act extremely clingy and needy towards me (eg, he will sprint through his walks with J in order to get home to me, whereas whenever I walk him he will take his jolly time).
Despite my having Claire and being pregnant with another baby, Comang remains my first baby. We still “chillax” every night on the couch like this long after Claire is down for the night.
Lately my mother has been obsessed with my appearance. She is a firm believer that having a baby ages a woman like no other, and constantly harangues me to continue to have a beauty routine despite my being a SAHM with practically no social life.
A couple of weeks ago she gifted me a lotion and an eyelash lengthening serum. Both products, she explained, were being advertised everywhere in the Korean-American media as being tremendously effective (the former for moisturizing and anti-aging properties, and the latter as a RevitaLash-type product that is especially formulated for short and sparse East Asian eyelashes).
Along with these two products came a third box. My mother wasn’t sure what it was, but informed me that it came as a gift for purchasing the aforementioned items and thought that I might enjoy it as well.
Upon further examination of the gift product, I let out a loud laugh. It was a Korean V-Line product!
(If you recall, I have written about the Korean obsession with small faces and face shapes before. A V-Line is a highly-coveted feature that describes a pointed chin and sharp jaws that form the shape of a V…some Korean girls even resort to jaw-shaving cosmetic surgeries in order to achieve the effect!)
The caption on the bottom right of the box reads, “Keep your chin up. Visibly reduces the thick chin and reshapes the facial contours.”
One can deduce from examining the illustrations on the side that the product consists of two parts: a “V-Line sheet” and a neoprene strap that physically “lifts” the chin up.
The entire contents of the box:
According to the instructions, you are supposed to use the Beauty V-Line Face 3-4 times a week for 30-40 minutes at a time.
To be completely honest I was a bit intrigued by the product and thought about using it. But then I realized how ridiculous I would look (not that J, the baby, or the dog would mind) and reconsidered. Besides, the box only includes 7 “V-Line sheets” which means that I would only be able to use the product for two weeks — hardly enough time to see results, I would think.
What say you, readers? Should I give the Beauty V-Line Face a go, taking and posting on this blog “before” and “after” pictures?
Or should I give it to someone who in really interested in trying out the product?
(Speaking of which, would any of my readers be interested in taking this off my hands?)
Not surprisingly, this isn’t the only Korean product designed to create a V-Line. Take a look at the contraption I found on The Grand Narrative:
Looks a bit unpleasant, but I guess it would be a small sacrifice for anyone who believes in the old adage that beauty is pain.
P.S. — I actually really like the lotion that my mother got me. And the eyelash serum? Well, we’ll see if it works in a few weeks!
Happy St. Pattie’s Day! It’s been a while since I downed any green beer or got pinched for not wearing green on this holiday. Thinking back to my younger, partying days makes me a bit nostalgic (didn’t you know that Koreans are the “Irish of the Orient”? ;-)), but considering my current level of fatigue I am glad to be home, away from the drunken masses.
I’ve seen some awesomely creative salutes to St. Patrick’s Day on my Google Reader today, but the cake below was hands-down the best. The fragile pretzel bars underneath the gold that is meant to break under the weight of a leprechaun, the rainbow filling, the pretzel ladder…it’s an ingenious design of a cake that actually looks yummy too — a rare combination (I believe) in today’s designer cakes.
Click on through to not martha to see how Megan, the baker/designer of the cake, made this masterpiece.
If You Watch it Backwards is a submission-fueled Tumblr blog which tells you exactly what would happen if a movie or TV show’s plot or premise were reversed.
Some of my favorites from the first few pages include:
If you watch Pinnocchio backwards, it’s about a fairy that turns a boy into a puppet, who is then sucked into a whale, regurgitated, forced to be in a puppet show, and is eventually carved into a block of wood.
If you watch Toy Story 3 backwards, it’s a tragedy about a gang of toys who go through hell just so they can wind up in a home where they are neglected.
If you watch Pokemon backwards, it’s about rehabilitating victims of legalised animal fighting and releasing them into the wild.
If you watch Superman backwards, it is about a guy who flies around, putting people into precarious situations, then hiding.
And, because no proper internet meme is complete without a Chuck Norris reference:
You’re not watching Chuck Norris movies backwards, Chuck Norris is watching YOU go backwards.
Via Laughing Squid.
Last year when I was still pregnant with Claire I wrote a post about how J and I are aiming to teach our kids all the languages we collectively know: Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and English.
Well our goal has not swayed. And I like to think that we’re well on our way. How so, you ask?
Right before I gave birth to Claire we met a little girl who — being one month shy of turning two years old — knew three languages.
We asked her parents how they managed to teach her three languages simultaneously, and they told us exactly how…
The mother, who only knew American English, only spoke to her daughter in English from day one.
The father was born in France and was fluent in both French and English. He only spoke to his daughter in French.
Additionally, their full-time nanny is of Chinese descent and speaks Mandarin Chinese. She only speaks to the little girl in Mandarin.
The purpose of having the three main caregivers speak different languages to the baby is so that the baby will learn to differentiate between the three languages.
But how will the baby know that three different words actually mean the same thing?
By having a fourth language tie all three together: sign language.
The parents of this bright little girl told us that starting at the age of six months, all three caregivers started signing words as they said them. And while the girl did start speaking a few months later than average (this is typical of babies who grow up in multilingual households), soon, she was conversing — and signing — to her mother, father, and nanny in three different languages.
J and I took this lesson to heart and have been following their instructions since the day Claire was born. The only difference is that we do not have a nanny. As such, I only speak to her in Korean, J only speaks to her in Cantonese (Mandarin is easier to learn if you know Cantonese first, than vice versa), and we speak to each other in English.
And since Claire will be turning six months old very soon, I picked up the Baby Signs Starter Kit earlier this week.
As she grows older, we will add Mandarin Chinese (which will not be too difficult since she will know Cantonese Chinese) and Japanese (which is very similar to Korean in grammar and structure) to the mix.
The only minor setback we’ve noticed so far is that since only non-family members (who do not see her often) call her by her English name, she has yet to associate the word “Claire” with herself. Meanwhile, I’m pretty certain that she knows — as most babies do at this age — her Korean and Chinese names.
And as mentioned above, we’re also aware that she will most likely begin speaking at a much later age than other kids. Additionally, there is bound to be some language confusion later on. I know a little boy who — very cleverly, I might add — used to refer to apples as “ah-gwah” (the Korean word for apple is “sa-gwah,” so he just managed to merge “apple” and “sa-gwah” together in his mind).
I’m also pretty sure that she and her father will start to talk about me in Chinese, as I will probably talk to her about J in Korean. 😉
However, we believe these drawbacks to be very, very minor compared to the advantages she will have in both school and in the workforce as someone who is fluent in at least three — and hopefully five — different languages.
There’s also the fact that she would be able to freely converse with her grandparents in their native languages, which makes it all worthwhile in our eyes.
I can’t stop staring at this. Someone please help me tear my eyes away from the screen!
Via haha.nu.
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 "About" page.
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