I've been battling a cold the last few days that has really hit me pretty hard. Fortunately, I've been able to push my way through my job interviews without too much difficulty.
Wednesday was pretty exhausting, with my interview at 1:30, then hanging out at a library for a few hours until meeting up with Lori at 5:15, shopping at Trader Joe's, eating some vegan pizza and browsing the farmer's market at Union Square, then the PolyNYC meeting at 8:00. Then I had a day to recover, and then my interview with a PR firm in Hackensack on Friday at 2 p.m. Friday was Ostara (Spring Equinox) so maybe that's a good sign that something will come of it.
Tonight my family is coming over the complete our Lord of the Rings cycle with a showing of Return of the King. I'm feeling a little woozy, but hopefully I'll be able to make it through.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, February 29, 2008
Give a massage today!
I'm feeling pretty lethargic from our monthly staff lunch today, in lieu of our weekly bagel Fridays. We had crispy tacos catered in, and I think I exceeded my limit slightly (I ate three). New York actually makes great guacamole, but you'll have a hard time finding a jalapeno pepper around here, outside of Bobby Flay's restaurants. Still, it was a nice reminder of the good Tex-Mex I miss from Houston.
I am massively disappointed that my neighbor has slapped a security code on their wi-fi, which means I can't mooch off them anymore and now I have to pay for the service to be installed. This happened to Agnieszka too recently. I suppose it's a sign of all the distrust and suspicion in the world today that you can't leave your Internet access free to the public anymore.
A couple months ago I was giving Bee a back massage using her favorite lavender oil I got for her at The Body Shop, and I noticed some moles on her back that I hadn't seen before. I told her she should see a dermotologist, so she made an appointment. The ones on her back were fine, but they checked out the rest of her and found one on her hip that just came back as potential trouble.
So here's what I want everyone to do - go to your loved ones and offer them a back massage. It doesn't have to be an erotic or sensual massage, just the experience of touch and a quick check for any suspicious looking moles. While you're checking their back, ask them to check themselves the next time they bathe. It's a nice way to express your love for someone - the instant gratification of a massage, plus the long-term health benefit of checking for skin cancer. And if your situation allows, go ahead and check them for breast cancer too :P
I've been thinking a lot about love, and the future, and my family situation. Tara and I had a long talk about it last night before watching The Thomas Crown Affair (which we discovered that they filmed most of the museum scenes in the New York Public Library where we saw the Jack Kerouac exhibit). While it is true that I try to live in the present as much as possible, I also want many things in this life that require some planning - to buy a house, to travel overseas, to build a polyamorous family - or they will never happen on their own.
Of course love cannot be planned, so part of this means figuring out what my family and I want to do with the love we have - how we are going to express it, what it means to each of us, what we're willing to do to nurture it, and what we want it to grow into. These are questions that are pretty simple for a conventional couple - fall in love, get married, live together, start a family, live happily ever after. For my family, there are a lot more options on what to do that we all have to figure out without the aid of fairy tales and archetypes to guide us. And while the path we take may not be the shortest or most well-trodden one, I'm hoping that we'll all still end up in the land of happily ever after.
I am massively disappointed that my neighbor has slapped a security code on their wi-fi, which means I can't mooch off them anymore and now I have to pay for the service to be installed. This happened to Agnieszka too recently. I suppose it's a sign of all the distrust and suspicion in the world today that you can't leave your Internet access free to the public anymore.
A couple months ago I was giving Bee a back massage using her favorite lavender oil I got for her at The Body Shop, and I noticed some moles on her back that I hadn't seen before. I told her she should see a dermotologist, so she made an appointment. The ones on her back were fine, but they checked out the rest of her and found one on her hip that just came back as potential trouble.
So here's what I want everyone to do - go to your loved ones and offer them a back massage. It doesn't have to be an erotic or sensual massage, just the experience of touch and a quick check for any suspicious looking moles. While you're checking their back, ask them to check themselves the next time they bathe. It's a nice way to express your love for someone - the instant gratification of a massage, plus the long-term health benefit of checking for skin cancer. And if your situation allows, go ahead and check them for breast cancer too :P
I've been thinking a lot about love, and the future, and my family situation. Tara and I had a long talk about it last night before watching The Thomas Crown Affair (which we discovered that they filmed most of the museum scenes in the New York Public Library where we saw the Jack Kerouac exhibit). While it is true that I try to live in the present as much as possible, I also want many things in this life that require some planning - to buy a house, to travel overseas, to build a polyamorous family - or they will never happen on their own.
Of course love cannot be planned, so part of this means figuring out what my family and I want to do with the love we have - how we are going to express it, what it means to each of us, what we're willing to do to nurture it, and what we want it to grow into. These are questions that are pretty simple for a conventional couple - fall in love, get married, live together, start a family, live happily ever after. For my family, there are a lot more options on what to do that we all have to figure out without the aid of fairy tales and archetypes to guide us. And while the path we take may not be the shortest or most well-trodden one, I'm hoping that we'll all still end up in the land of happily ever after.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Sick day
I can't remember the last time I took a sick day, but I'm taking one today. I started feeling like I was coming down with a cold yesterday at work, so I left early. The receptionist said a large number of people at work were doing the same thing, so there's a bug going around the office.
So I feel pretty miserable, but at least I'm getting a lot of rest. Plus today I made a pretty decent fried rice out of my leftover General Tso's chicken from New Year's Day. I sauteed some garlic and onions, then added scrambled eggs, soy sauce and some Indian garlic relish for a little curry spice flavor.
Okay, back to the couch for me, continuing to break in my new center channel speaker, a Definitive Technologies StudioMonitor 450 I received in the mail yesterday.
So I feel pretty miserable, but at least I'm getting a lot of rest. Plus today I made a pretty decent fried rice out of my leftover General Tso's chicken from New Year's Day. I sauteed some garlic and onions, then added scrambled eggs, soy sauce and some Indian garlic relish for a little curry spice flavor.
Okay, back to the couch for me, continuing to break in my new center channel speaker, a Definitive Technologies StudioMonitor 450 I received in the mail yesterday.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Blue notes
I've been feeling a bit melancholy of late, due to a number of coinciding factors. In no particular order, here are some of these factors that contribute to my current state of mind:
The onset of the holiday season - to tell the truth, I've never been a big fan of the holidays, except for the welcome break from school or work. And being Pagan, I generally don't get as whipped up into a frenzy as some Christians do about Christmas, perhaps because they only have that and Easter to show up with bells on. To me, Yule is just another celebration of the turning of the wheel, one of eight Sabbats I celebrate quietly, generally by myself.
And yet sometimes it's hard for me to ignore the fact that for the rest of the world, the holidays are about reconnecting with one's birth family as evidenced by the upcoming busiest travel day of the year tomorrow. And while my family here in New Jersey is wonderful and we have our own traditions, I am still apprehensive about the actual appointed days (Nov. 22 and Dec. 25) when I feel like I'm the only person in the world who spends these days alone (although of course that is an imagined feeling, because I know there are many, many people who are doing the same, and perhaps in less fortunate circumstances than me). But this is my pity party, so I don't have to be reasonable about it, especially since I really don't have any desire to connect with my birth family. I think I just miss the idea of having a birth family that accepts and loves me unconditionally. Given the choice, who wouldn't want that?
Missing AP - it's been a week since meeting my friend and I miss her. Nothing too complicated about that.
Work - things have been both dull and stressful at work. My productivity numbers are down because there hasn't been a lot of work to do, which isn't my fault, but reflects poorly on me nevertheless. I've actually been sending some feelers out in the job market looking for new opportunities, but probably won't make a move before the end of the year, unless the perfect fit comes up. It's also been a strain on me to not have any days off since I took them all in January and February when I was out for surgery. The last time I had significant time off was the July 4 holiday week, then one day on Labor Day, so I'm feeling pretty burned out. I can't wait until 2008 when I have a full slate of paid time off (three weeks plus sick time and holidays). Also, we're lucky to have Christmas week off until Jan. 2, so that will be a nice break.
Health - I've been dealing with allergies pretty much constantly for the last two months, and it has taken a lot of energy out of me, not to mention enough Kleenex to reconstitute a forest. With the season's first real snow arriving this week, I'm hopeful I will start to get over that soon. Also, I still haven't done any meaningful exercise this year, while the whole rest of my family has been diligently walking each day. Gotta get around to that.
Relationship issues - too private to talk about here, but this is a pretty minor quibble. I actually had a very nice time with Tara last night. We went to Fuddruckers for hamburgers and shakes, then I wiped the table with her in a game of air hockey. Then she bested me in a car racing game, and we ended up shooting basketballs together on a mini-hoop and both made the same number of shots. It's just some of the long-term issues that we have that are always going to be a source of dissatisfaction for me.
Anyway, the thing I am looking forward to is setting up my front video projector I ordered from ProjectorPeople.com yesterday. As some of you know, when I'm feeling down, I usually cure it by shopping. I ordered a Panasonic high-definition (720p) projector, a pull-down, 16x9 Draper screen that measures 82 inches diagonal and the necessary cables. I still need to add an HD-DVD player (which I'll probably get on Black Friday coming up) so I can install the whole setup on Saturday.
I've done several such installations in the past, but this will be the first one I've done for myself. I'm excited to finally work on my own setup, although since it's in an apartment, I can't do a lot of things like I've done in the past (like ceiling mounting, in-wall speakers and wiring, etc.) Still, with the rapid progress of digital video projection, this should be by far the best-looking theater in terms of picture quality I've ever done. I can't wait to get started on it over the long holiday weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures later.
The onset of the holiday season - to tell the truth, I've never been a big fan of the holidays, except for the welcome break from school or work. And being Pagan, I generally don't get as whipped up into a frenzy as some Christians do about Christmas, perhaps because they only have that and Easter to show up with bells on. To me, Yule is just another celebration of the turning of the wheel, one of eight Sabbats I celebrate quietly, generally by myself.
And yet sometimes it's hard for me to ignore the fact that for the rest of the world, the holidays are about reconnecting with one's birth family as evidenced by the upcoming busiest travel day of the year tomorrow. And while my family here in New Jersey is wonderful and we have our own traditions, I am still apprehensive about the actual appointed days (Nov. 22 and Dec. 25) when I feel like I'm the only person in the world who spends these days alone (although of course that is an imagined feeling, because I know there are many, many people who are doing the same, and perhaps in less fortunate circumstances than me). But this is my pity party, so I don't have to be reasonable about it, especially since I really don't have any desire to connect with my birth family. I think I just miss the idea of having a birth family that accepts and loves me unconditionally. Given the choice, who wouldn't want that?
Missing AP - it's been a week since meeting my friend and I miss her. Nothing too complicated about that.
Work - things have been both dull and stressful at work. My productivity numbers are down because there hasn't been a lot of work to do, which isn't my fault, but reflects poorly on me nevertheless. I've actually been sending some feelers out in the job market looking for new opportunities, but probably won't make a move before the end of the year, unless the perfect fit comes up. It's also been a strain on me to not have any days off since I took them all in January and February when I was out for surgery. The last time I had significant time off was the July 4 holiday week, then one day on Labor Day, so I'm feeling pretty burned out. I can't wait until 2008 when I have a full slate of paid time off (three weeks plus sick time and holidays). Also, we're lucky to have Christmas week off until Jan. 2, so that will be a nice break.
Health - I've been dealing with allergies pretty much constantly for the last two months, and it has taken a lot of energy out of me, not to mention enough Kleenex to reconstitute a forest. With the season's first real snow arriving this week, I'm hopeful I will start to get over that soon. Also, I still haven't done any meaningful exercise this year, while the whole rest of my family has been diligently walking each day. Gotta get around to that.
Relationship issues - too private to talk about here, but this is a pretty minor quibble. I actually had a very nice time with Tara last night. We went to Fuddruckers for hamburgers and shakes, then I wiped the table with her in a game of air hockey. Then she bested me in a car racing game, and we ended up shooting basketballs together on a mini-hoop and both made the same number of shots. It's just some of the long-term issues that we have that are always going to be a source of dissatisfaction for me.
Anyway, the thing I am looking forward to is setting up my front video projector I ordered from ProjectorPeople.com yesterday. As some of you know, when I'm feeling down, I usually cure it by shopping. I ordered a Panasonic high-definition (720p) projector, a pull-down, 16x9 Draper screen that measures 82 inches diagonal and the necessary cables. I still need to add an HD-DVD player (which I'll probably get on Black Friday coming up) so I can install the whole setup on Saturday.
I've done several such installations in the past, but this will be the first one I've done for myself. I'm excited to finally work on my own setup, although since it's in an apartment, I can't do a lot of things like I've done in the past (like ceiling mounting, in-wall speakers and wiring, etc.) Still, with the rapid progress of digital video projection, this should be by far the best-looking theater in terms of picture quality I've ever done. I can't wait to get started on it over the long holiday weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures later.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
I'm okay...
Those of you who follow the news know that there was an explosion caused by a ruptured steam pipe in Midtown Manhattan yesterday afternoon at about 6 p.m. That was right about the time I was leaving work, but I didn't hear anything. Considering it happened less than 15 blocks away, I'm rather surprised.
Today as I was getting my lunch from a nearby Chinese restaurant, the air was full of the sounds from news helicopters bouncing around the skyscrapers watching over the blast area. Curiously, there weren't that many people walking around - perhaps everyone is worried about the possibility of asbestos, or another eruption happening.
It is kind of scary to think about living in New York, where events such as this occur. But I suppose other cities have their own risks from crime, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials, etc. It's just a part of life - if you worry so much about that kind of stuff, you'd be a shut-in.
In other news, I went to see an allergist yesterday, and he ran some tests on me as to why I've been having allergy symptoms lately. It turns out I am allergic to dust mites, cat dander, ragweed and other fall weed pollens, and one type of mold. Since medications have been ineffective pretty much all my life, I'm thinking about going on allergy shots. This is a pretty big commitment, because it's weekly shots for the first seven months, then monthly shots for the next 3-5 years. First I have to check if my insurance is going to pay for this, and then I have to decide if it's worth all the trouble of going to the doctor so much. It seems like I have so little free time as it is already.
I've got my acting class tonight which I had to skip for the past two weeks because of work and the July 4 holiday. There's supposed to be big thunderstorms this afternoon though, so I hope I don't get soaked on the way there. I've also had several recruiters contact me the past couple of weeks, and one of them wants to line up a meeting for me next week for a VP position at another PR firm, so we'll see if that comes to anything.
Today as I was getting my lunch from a nearby Chinese restaurant, the air was full of the sounds from news helicopters bouncing around the skyscrapers watching over the blast area. Curiously, there weren't that many people walking around - perhaps everyone is worried about the possibility of asbestos, or another eruption happening.
It is kind of scary to think about living in New York, where events such as this occur. But I suppose other cities have their own risks from crime, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials, etc. It's just a part of life - if you worry so much about that kind of stuff, you'd be a shut-in.
In other news, I went to see an allergist yesterday, and he ran some tests on me as to why I've been having allergy symptoms lately. It turns out I am allergic to dust mites, cat dander, ragweed and other fall weed pollens, and one type of mold. Since medications have been ineffective pretty much all my life, I'm thinking about going on allergy shots. This is a pretty big commitment, because it's weekly shots for the first seven months, then monthly shots for the next 3-5 years. First I have to check if my insurance is going to pay for this, and then I have to decide if it's worth all the trouble of going to the doctor so much. It seems like I have so little free time as it is already.
I've got my acting class tonight which I had to skip for the past two weeks because of work and the July 4 holiday. There's supposed to be big thunderstorms this afternoon though, so I hope I don't get soaked on the way there. I've also had several recruiters contact me the past couple of weeks, and one of them wants to line up a meeting for me next week for a VP position at another PR firm, so we'll see if that comes to anything.
