Music, 300, and Web 2.0

Hi Folks,

It has been a while since I posted, I never really got into the habit and even was long out of the habit on my tech/geek blog, so it has been a while. But since I recently relaunched my tech/geek blog, I decided I would try to post more often over here too.

Music

Do you ever find a band that just grabs you, their sound is awesome, and their lyrics speak to you?

I recently discovered a band called Bayside that is all of that for me. As you can see from my Last.FM Profile, I have been listening to them a lot.

I encourage you to check them out and if you like them, pick up their latest album on iTunes

300

If you haven’t seen the movie 300, you should. If you don’t know what it is about go here and watch Trailer 2.

300 is a movie adaption of the graphic novel by Frank Miller, if you’ve seen Sin City, then you know how amazing Frank Miller’s work can be, when brought to the big screen. The movie chronicles the story of King Leonidis of Sparta and 300 Spartan soldiers who make a stand against the invading Persian Army, led by King Xerces I of Persia. As the movie is an adaption of the graphic novel, both have taken some liberties with the actual history, as the story is based on true historical events, but in my opinion as a history student, the liberties taken are no more than any play or opera would take.

I’ve seen the movie twice at the local IMAX theatre (if you have an IMAX available then DEFINANTLY see if there). The movie is graphically stunning and very moving, I think that it will be my favorite movie of 2007, by far, and in many ways, sets a new bar for movie adaptions of graphic novels and comic books. So I’ll leave this topic with two things.

1. GO SEE THE MOVIE!
2. “There’s no reason we can’t be civil” –King Leonidis

Web 2.0

I thought I’d take a minute to go over some of the fun Web 2.0 type sites and services that have caught my eye and suck up my time. I personally blame my friend Bwana McCall for any time wasted, as he draws my attention to most of these, and hops on every new Web 2.0 thing that comes out.

First is Last.FM, last.fm is a social networking site that focuses around Music. There is a plugin for iTunes on Windows called iScroggler (there is iScrobbler for the Mac) that will automatically report what you are listening to, to your last.fm profile and last.fm generates statistics of what you are listening to. It can also tell who has similar tastes in music to you, what they are listening to, and will try to recommend bands you may like. So it can be a fun way to find new music or people with similar musical tastes. Right now I mainly use it keep track of what I have been listening to and give people a passive way to view said information.

Second is Twitter, Twitter is a sort of “online presence” mashup. It let’s you constantly update your profile with whatever the hell you are doing, your “presence.” Some people call it an “away message on steriods.” Merlin Mann of 43 Folders and MacBreak Weekly (both of which are awesome) refers to this as part of the online phenomonon of “personality spamming.” I’d seen Bwana using it and had heard rumblings about it around the Internets and in podcasts and decided to start using it. It is pretty amusing, and a fun way to just throw up little blurbs about what you are doing, for those times when you want someone to know, but don’t have any who’s attention you can quickly grab. You can see my Twitter profile and get another little glimpse into my life.

Finally, there is Mugshot, this service is sponsored by Redhat and is open source, which is good! It is meant to be an aggregator of all your various online “identities.” I’ve only started playing with it today, and am not sure what I think of it yet, but I’ll post a more detailed review in a couple weeks when I’ve had a chance to get to know it better.

Talk, talk, talking

Aiden’s language has really taken off lately he says more than double the “normal” amount of words for his age. Of course it helps to have such a smart (and modest) mommy. He is pretty taken with his babysitter’s pets. She has a cat named bobby and a fish named bubble. So when Aiden comes home it’s bubble and bobby, it’s pretty cute. He sometimes says Bobby, and sometimes says kitty. However kitty doesn’t really sounds exactly like kitty, it comes out a little like titty. This is slightly amusing, in public (like today when Aiden and I went to target) Aiden was sitting like a big boy in the cart and saying “titty mommy, titty” (he saw a toy cat) well not everyone can understand what he is saying, Ok well maybe they were misinterpreting it. Aiden was breastfed, but when he was 13 months old (3 months ago) we both decided we had had enough. But when he’s asking for titty in target it doesn’t really seem that way to onlookers. Not that I have a problem with toddler breastfeeding, but the way he says it. I’ll admit that I used to call them boobies, but that was before he could talk. I guess it could be worse, huh?

I was reading some articles on “lactivists” these are people who advocate for public breastfeeding. I guess there have been some pretty heated debates. They never happen here in West LA, in fact if you have the “nerve” to give your baby formula you might as well be blowing smoke in their faces while beating them in your rat infested cardboard box. The hospital where I work has a very high status type of clientele, and according to studies on breastfeeding women with higher education and make more money are far more likely to breastfeed. Seems funny, you don’t have any money for your rent, but instead of breastfeeding you buy formula? Doesn’t make much sense to me. I understand sometimes it is impossible to breastfeed which is why formula should be readily available. It just seems so weird to me that a stay at home mom would chose otherwise. Ok so there was my shameless plug. Oh, and BTW I HATE teaching women who know everything to breastfeed. I have to act like it’s rocket science, it’s not. It’s work and it’ll take some time to learn, but it’s really not that difficult, women and babies have been doing it for thousands of years. However I hold strong to the belief that if your child has enough teeth to chew through a porterhouse, they no longer belong at the breast.

I’m a busy girl

Ok so maybe not so bad for the next few days, but I got this incredible opportunity handed to me. SM-UCLA has nursing students from several colleges throughout Los Angeles and they have their clinical rotations at our hospital. I know that I am still pretty green, but for some reason the clinical instructor loved me, and thought I was very knowledgeable and really good with the students. So she called my work and asked if I would be interested in being a clinical instructor (WooHoo!!!!) the money is phenomenal and it’s an 8 week rotation, 6 hours a day 2 days a week. So feb and march I am going to be BUSY, but I am really looking forward to it, I also got a freelance job doing laser hair removal and I will be doing that like 2 days a month maybe, it should be fun, the clients there seem pretty chill and laid back. So today is my last day of kicking back, as of tomorrow I am going to be busy busy busy. But it should be a good time.

Aiden discovered vegemite today. I happen to love it and eat it somewhat frequently. For those of you who do not know what it is, it’s an Australian thing, it’s this strong flavored, salty spread that you can put on toast, most Americans don’t like it. I was fortunate enough to find (and Marry) one who did;) Brandon and I both like it. This morning I made an egg sandwich, and while I was feed Aiden I was also feeding myself. Aiden finished his yogurt, looking longingly at my sandwich  and begged for “more” (one of his favorite words) so I handed the sandwich over, thinking he would take one bite and give it back. Oh No, it was like Where have YOU been all my life? Totally love at first site, pretty cute actually. I have tried to give Aiden scrambled eggs in the past, but he’s just not into it, but he wouldn’t let this vegemite sandwich out of his grubby little paws. Luckily I wasn’t too hungry.

Just another day in Labor and Delivery

Just like any other job we have busy days and slow days. Today was particularly slow, no one in labor, just 2 c-sections (scheduled) and a few pre-term patients. I am not writing this to tell you all about work, I am writing this for women, all women everywhere, who might possibly give birth sometime in their lives. This is a little graphic, so if you can handle that, GREAT, if not, STOP READING NOW. Ok so now that is said. I had this terrific patient that was very sweet, having her first baby today. Things were fine, until we actually got into the OR. This is about pubic hair, so if you don’t want to know, THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO CLOSE THIS WINDOW BEFORE GETTING GROSSED OUT!!!! Ok so basically she (and many other patients I have had in the past) had really long pubic hair, in my opinion this is totally disgusting. We groom ourselves everywhere  else, why not there? (some of you do I am sure, here is my applause, and OB nurses everywhere appreciate it, trust me) So basically I needed a machete and a native guide to try and put her foley catheter in. This does not make for a good time when you have a slow anesthesiologist and two impatient OB/GYNS that have to get to the office. I know there are plenty of women who don’t need a foley catheter when they deliver a baby, but about 95% will get one at some point. But it doesn’t end there, oh no. So when the baby comes out (either the old fashioned way, or by c-section) it’s messy. Very Messy. Always. You can’t escape, there is no such thing as a “clean” birth. For those of you who have not had children and want to, please warn your spouse, they will see and smell things they NEVER thought they would. Birth, although amazing is very messy. Some of the things involved are (and not limited to) Amniotic fluid, blood, poop, blood, vernix, blood, placenta, blood, other “tissue” and did I mention blood? Ok so you have all the stuff down in and on your Ho-Ha, the only hair does is help it make a nest, you know so it can hang out for a while. Now I am not advocating that every woman go out and shave her Lady bits, I understand that this makes some women uncomfortable. But I am asking, pleading and begging on the part of every Labor and Delivery nurse, every Postpartum nurse, Every OB/GYN and their staff nurses, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, do some grooming. It’s next to impossible to clean some of that stuff outta there with a huge pile of hair in the way. And whenever you read those Q&A sections in health magazines and women ask if their OB cares if they don’t shave. The real truth? Yes they care. It’s true they see it all day every day, but most OB docs don’t keep a machete and native guide handy in the breakroom, so make their job just a teensy bit easier, they get called after midnight on a daily basis because Sally Jo peed her pants and thinks her water broke. Being an OB is tough, being an L&D nurse is tough, so please take 2 minutes out of your morning and tidy things up, it won’t go unnoticed, or unappreciated. Thanks in advance

January, it’s not over yet

So we all survived the Holidays, infact they were really great, I had a wonderful time with my side, and Brandon’s side of the family. It was nice to be able to get Aiden together with his grandparents, and cousins. Traveling wasn’t fun, and Aiden and i both managed to get very sick, but all is better now. I don’t think I want to travel with a toddler much in the future, sitting still is not easy for them.

We have both been very busy the last couple of weeks, Brandon and I went back to work right after we got home. I learned how to scrub in the OR and now I am done with everything in my orientation except Labor, which is what I am doing now. It’s fun, crazy and throws you for loops, kind of like life.

Night Feedings

No no, Aiden has been sleeping through the night for nearly a year, but in the last few weeks I have been doing some night feedings for a new family with triplets. In fact I am there right now, all babies are sleeping with full tummies, for the time being. It’s fun actually, I never stay up past 10pm anymore, and with them I am usually here until 4am or so, so I get a healthy dose of darkness. They are very sweet triplets, 5 weeks old, 2 girls and a boy, and they are very easy to care for, so far. Hopefully tonight will prove uneventful. I am almost halfway done with my shift, kinda sucks because I worked all day at the hospital and then I am doing this at night, but at least I have tomorrow off, and Brandon promised to get Aiden up in the morning, and let me sleep in.

Brandon and I are getting so excited to move, a bigger place is what we so desperately need. We have such a small space that every other week we are trying to pare down our stuff, so we won’t feel so crammed (literally, we live in a shoebox, it’s horrible) I don’t know what we are going to do with all this space. I really feel like our lives in general are going to improve. Aiden will actually have a bedroom, with a door (he currently sleeps in the loft, and we can’t so much as breathe in the livingroom or kitchen without waking him) and Brandon and I will no longer have to share a bathroom. I will no longer have to deal with laundry room psychos (refer to previous post) and we even have a yard with an herb garden!!!! how cool is that?!?!?!? I honestly think that when Brandon and I are at each other’s throats it boils down to living in such a small space, it just makes us uptight!!! So we will be able to get more organized and have a nice routine once Jan 1st comes along. I am sure we will have our style cramped during the holidays, staying with family is going to be interesting for Aiden, I am not sure how he is going to sleep away from home. I guess I will find out soon. It is nearly 1am and I am so tired, if I have to work nights I don’t know how I will ever manage, I am a wuss!!!! Now that I am in L&D it is very likely that I will have to work nights sometime next year, I am not looking forward to that, we’ll see how it goes, I might even like it.

My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday, I am now 24, it sounds old!!! I had the best time though, Brandon and I got a baby sitter and headed off to Anaheim to go to Disneyland California Adventure Park. It’s basically at Disneyland, but it has bigger scarier rides. And since it was a Thursday in November we basically had the park to ourselves, it was FABULOUS!!!!! No waiting in line!!!! We rode on some many rides, we got exausted before the park closed. We ate Dinner at a Mexican place at downtown Disney, it was fun, I even got sung to by three Mariachi men, it was fun!!!

Brandon and I also got some really great news yesterday, as some of you know we have been looking for a bigger place to move into in Jan (when our current lease is up) I have been stressed out about it, because I have to do the work and I want to find a place before Brandon and I are in SD for two weeks the end of Dec. So needless to say it’s stressful. We can’t give a 30 notice until we have a place lined up and lots of places don’t advertise that far in advance, and we can’t really afford rent in two places at the same time. And the best time to look and pack? You guessed it, while we are on vacation in SD, and I could see myself browsing ad’s online, but it’s not the same as going and actually looking. So we looked at a place on Wednesday, it’s huge, three bedrooms plus and office and 2 and 1/2 bathrooms, a HUGE kitchen (our current kitchen is smaller than our walk-in closet) and it has a dining room, so we can finally get a table which is something we are both very excited about. No more eating dinner on the sofa!!!! Anyway our new lease starts Jan 1st so we have 4 days to get everything out and cleaned, which I feel is a good amount of time, especially since we are going to hire movers this time. We are also getting rid of the TV before we move, it’s huge and bulky and we hate it. Well maybe hate is a strong work, but it could double as a wrecking ball it’s so heavy, so whoever gets it from us is in for a surprise MUHAHAHAHA!!!!!! The other really cool thing about this place is we are renting it from someone who owns it, so it’s painted really fun, Aiden’s room has a blue (sky) ceiling so it will go really well with his jungle themed bedroom. So we are super excited about this place, which means more people have to come and visit us because we will have a guestroom!!!! Looking forward to seeing you all for the Holidays!!!

The Holidays

Thanksgiving….down, only Christmas and New Years to go. Don’t get me wrong I love the Holiday season, but I feel like there are all these expectations I should have. It’s just another day right? Why is it more special than the next? I would definitely like to establish some Holiday traditions for Aiden, but he’s too young to care now, so I volunteered to work on T-day and Black Friday. I got put on call on Thanksgiving and I was actually a bit disapointed, I would have made a lot of money!!! and I sure next year (or some other year coming up) when I actually want it off, I am going to be cursingall the way up to the building.  Brandon, Aiden and I are all going to be in SD for 2 weeks in December and I definitely have mixed feelings about that. First of all it’ll be cold, I am not sure how Aiden is going to deal with that, he hates wearing lots of clothes, and shoes, he hates shoes too, but I bet he’ll learn fast. Second Brandon and I are both creatures of habit, we like our schedules and routines, you know get up go to work, etc, vacations always cramp our style, sadly enough. I thought vacations were all about relaxation? Now don’t get me wrong I am very excited to see my family and friends, and I want Aiden to spend time will all his cousins (he has 5 now!!!!). And I know that people are looking forward to seeing us, and by saying us, I mean Aiden. He much cuter than Brandon or I, and much easier to buy gifts for. Ohhhh another thing since we are flying half-way across the country, with a baby we want to pack light, I am worried that we are going to need extra suitcases to haul everything home. We have so many gifts for people that I am fed-exing them today!!! it’s about 80 pounds or so, I am sending them unwrapped because I am really picky about how my bows look, and I don’t want them getting messed up!!! So we’ll see if my family has enough self-control to keep the tape sealed.

Brandon and I are such scrooges that we always try to move around the Holidays, just to avoid decorating. We got a tree (not last year, but the year before) and it was a disaster, first of all we carried it home because it wouldn’t fit in our cars, and then we brought it up three flights of stairs. Ok…. I don’t care what they say Christmas tree stands even the “easy” ones are a real pain in the a@&!!!!  Ok so I finally got it in (Brandon didn’t want any part of it, he believes in fake trees, but I grew up with the idea that if you don’t get a real tree it’s not Christmas, and I clung to that tightly at that moment). Watering trees can be tricky, trying to shove a pitcher into a space as big as a toothbrush is a bit tricky. (for those of you who are wondering, YES, it is more difficult than giving birth) Which brings us to the next part of the saga, so I didn’t water the tree, at all, for a month. If you think hydrated trees make a mess, try a dehydrated tree, they REALLY make a mess. So around Jan 2nd or 3rd our apt manager sent around a note about not making a mess when taking your trees down. My tree was so dry by this time if I jumped too hard in the other room it would have dropped all it’s needles. So in honor of the letter I decided to drop the tree off the balcony, I wasn’t sure if this was entirely Kosher, so Brandon went down to the outside and waited for me to drop it. The Best part? Him standing down there arms open wide screaming “I’m ready” for a split second I actually thought about throwing it right to him, maybe I’d just get 3-5 with parole….hmm…. j/k I just chalked it up to him being a guy. You know, all guys are invincible and they can all catch really heavy awkward things, because that’s what guys do best *wink wink* Let’s not ruin their fantasy. Ok so I drop it and Brandon runs and Grads it and takes it to the dumpster before anyone can catch us. Later that week the apt manager suggested that a fast and easy way to dispose of the trees was to throw them off the balcony, so much for sneaking around. So since that year I have decided that until my children are old enough to beg me for a tree, and they are willing to crawl under it and water it, no trees for us, maybe a fake one, but not until the kids beg.

Ok so for everyone, yes we want to make sure we can see you all, unless we don’t really like you, then we will avoid you at all costs, in fact YOU are the real reason we moved to LA. But for the rest of you we arrive the 15th and then go to Sioux Falls, and then back again after 2 days and we will be there until the 27th, so I want to make sure we can all see you, so don’t be shy, and Have a great Holiday Season.

Aiden’s Birthday

Aiden is officially 1 today, it was a rather uneventful day, and I don’t think that Aiden cared, it was funny though because everywhere we went (I ran LOTS of errands today) everyone kept commenting on how cute he was (like they always do) and asking how old he was, it was fun to tell strangers that it was his birthday. So, a lot has happened since my last post, it’s been over a month, my laptop has been in and out of repairs and I have been stuck usuing Brandon’s ibook and I am not a big fan, I just check my e-mail and get off. The touchpad and buttons are weird. Among other things. So, anyway I quit my second job, not because I couldn’t handle it, but because it was MESSED UP!!!!!!! Ok so they knew I had another job (my primary) but they would never give me a set schedule so I could plan accordingly, and then they kepy making me do regular dermatology stuff (mole removal, neck lifts, acne treatments etc) when I was hired for lasers and I was being trained for lasers, no one would show me how to do the other stuff they just expected me to figure it out, I guess I could have, but it’s nice to have training when your license is on the line. And Last but not least, they had no soap ANYWHERE, I was sooooo grossed out!!!!! So I got offered another job, and I really want to take it, it’s only 2 days a month, so not a big time committment, and it pays well, and I will be doing strictly lasers. Laser hair removal is fun, it makes this popping sound as it fries the follicle and then there is this burnt popcorn smell, it’s funky, but cool. I want to laser myself, which is part of the reason that I want this job.

Aiden’s b-day party is tomorrow, I am excited about it, it’s a curiou george theme, and we are having a few friends with their kids come, hopefully it won’t be too overwhelming, it’s at a park called Aidan’s Place which is fitting. Wish all of you guys could be there, it’s times like this when I am sad that I live so far away from my family and a lot of my friends. Brandon and I need to decide where our “real” home is ging to be before we get attached to Los Angeles, I don’t think that’ll happen, but you never know.

My New Job

Yeah, I know it’s crazy, I just moved here and have a new job, but I am starting another new job, I will be cutting my hours at the hospital and I will begin working for a dermatologist’s office, I will be doing IPL photo facials, laser hair removal and acne treatments (plus other stuff) I am pretty excited about it. Both the doctors seem like really great guys, and I will get a lot of autonomy, and I will be able to build up my own clientele. It’s exciting, and it will be something that is completely different than what I am used to. I like cosmetic stuff. I actually had 4 job interview last week and was offered all of them, it’s nice to know that I am very marketable. I will have more office type hours which means more time with my family, it’s hard leaving for work at 6:30am and getting home after 8pm (especially the night part) although I enjoy only working 3 days a week, I will switch to 4 days a week, but I will be making A LOT more money, and that’s exciting. Aiden had his modeling debut last week, it went really well, he is quite the little star, I am very happy and excited that he had an oppourtunity like this one, he is going to be in an Ad in Parenting Magazine. that’s a lot of exposure, I would love for him to be able to get more jobs but not too often, I don’t want to be a show mom, those women are crazy!!!! I have my own life I don’t have the time to take Aiden to a bunch of stuff all the time. Hey all brandon and I and Aiden are going to be in South dakota Dec 15th - 27th and I would like to hook up with as many of you as possible, so anyone who wants to get together let me know, and we’ll see you soon.