Some points of interest
+] Yesterday, my boss told me she thought I was cheerful. Weird. I've never heard anyone use that word to describe me. Usually, people tell me I'm sensitive, or smart, or thoughtful, or headstrong. Its not often I'm complimented on my cheery disposition. Being cheerful isn't even really part of my self-concept. If I was asked to describe myself, I'd be more likely to use words like "brooding" or "introverted" rather than "gregarious" or "happy". But, apparently at work I'm cheerful. This makes me happy to know.
+] Neill and his band have been busy in the studio recording a new EP. Last night, Neill played me some of the rough recordings and they sound fucking awesome. Even without mixing and mastering, they sound totally sweet. I'm so excited for them to finally have some good recordings of their songs!
+] I get to go swimming with Gracie today. She is going to pick me up at 5:30 and then we will hit the pool together. Hopefully, the weather will hold so we can enjoy the sun while we are in the pool. Eventually, I hope to start jogging to the pool and then swimming laps. It would be exactly a 1 mile run from where I live. The only problem is that I'm not sure how I could do it and still have all the stuff I need for swimming. I could jog with my swim suit on under my workout clothes, but what about my towel, hairbrush, swim cap, goggles, and all the other stuff I would need? Is this why I sometimes see people running with back packs on? ick. That just sounds so uncomfortable.
+] Nish had his interview at NRS yesterday with my boss. He says it went well. I'm hopeful! It would be awesome if he started working at NRS. While it might suck for him to work overnights (12am-8am), I would be excited to see his face every morning when I arrived for work! And honestly, I could sort of see him enjoying the night shift. Its just creepy enough to make him happy :)
+] We acquired a new baby plant. Its a cute little succulent and its housed in the sweetest tiniest baby blue pot. We've got a nice collection going now--I will post pictures soon.
+] Neill picked me up from work and completely surprised me with a bouquet of flowers. So sweet and wonderful. ::swoon::
+] Tomorrow I'm going to go see the new batman movie with froilan and brian! Ive heard such good things about the movie. I'm totally psyched to see how Chicago looks as Gotham city. Plus, we are going in the afternoon so I only had to pay matinee price for my tickets. Saving money = me happy.
+] On Sunday and Monday I got to do fun arts and crafts projects at work. I LOVE that I get to be creative at work and make collages/draw/do fun stuff with art supplies!
+] I have NO obligations for today (besides swimming). That means I get to putter around the house till my hearts content! Yesssssss. I want to declutter our mantle place over our fire place and listen to music and waste time and snack on whatever food we have in the house and read in bed in the middle of the day and other luxurious things like that. I'm so easily pleased with free time :)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Movies
I found some great teen friendly informational videos on teenwire--a website sponsored by Planned Parenthood that aims to disseminate health related information to youth. Sometimes websites that are too kid friendly can be obnoxious because they come off as pandering, but I really appreciate how this website mixes a youthful dynamic design with important information. For example, I liked they way they answered a user's question about whether or not doctors can tell if women have had sex. Check out their response here.
Coincidentally, just yesterday we had a call from a young girl who wanted to know the exact same thing. In her case, she wasn't trying to hide anything from her doctor--she wanted a doctor to be able to tell her whether or not she had sex last night. She couldn't remember much about the night, but she knew she was hooking up with a guy and so she was worried that they had sex. While most of the information in the response provided by the teenwire editors might seem basic for some, there are lots of people out there who never had access to reliable sexual health information such as this. I don't know if our caller never had sex education in school or if the curriculum used by her school district just completely passed over the basics of the hymen, but it seems like websites like teenwire.com could be a great resource for teens seeking information that they can trust . (Although, I'm sure some would argue that Planned Parenthood is not a trustworthy organization, but whatever).
Anyways, I found a few videos on teenwire that I thought I'd share. I think both of them are creative ways to educate teens on issues that are important to them, but that adults might be hesitant or refuse to talk about.
Here is a video with instructions of how to put a condom on.
Enjoy!
Coincidentally, just yesterday we had a call from a young girl who wanted to know the exact same thing. In her case, she wasn't trying to hide anything from her doctor--she wanted a doctor to be able to tell her whether or not she had sex last night. She couldn't remember much about the night, but she knew she was hooking up with a guy and so she was worried that they had sex. While most of the information in the response provided by the teenwire editors might seem basic for some, there are lots of people out there who never had access to reliable sexual health information such as this. I don't know if our caller never had sex education in school or if the curriculum used by her school district just completely passed over the basics of the hymen, but it seems like websites like teenwire.com could be a great resource for teens seeking information that they can trust . (Although, I'm sure some would argue that Planned Parenthood is not a trustworthy organization, but whatever).
Anyways, I found a few videos on teenwire that I thought I'd share. I think both of them are creative ways to educate teens on issues that are important to them, but that adults might be hesitant or refuse to talk about.
Here is a video addressing the how the apperance of genitals can vary from person to person.
Here is a video with instructions of how to put a condom on.
Enjoy!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Fitness
I don't want to turn the focus of this blog to fitness, but getting healthy is a big part of my life right now and so it seems disingenuous to not address it to some extent. Fitness hasn't always been an important thing to me, but about a year ago (August 07) I joined a gym near our house with the overarching goal of becoming a healthy adult. I've been heavy on and off my whole life and I have always known that being overweight wasn't healthy. But, once I graduated college I started worrying about the health problems it would bring me later in life and the sort of example I want to set for my own future family. So since then, I have consistently tried to make working out a priority in my life. Even though it sometimes totally blows to carve out two hours of my evening to make sure I have time to get a work out in, overall it has been really rewarding. With my year mark coming up, I've been feeling the urge to evaluate my progress and set new goals. When I started out I didn't have many specific goals. I wanted to lose weight, but that was about it. Now, my attention has turned more towards fitness. I want to be able to do x number of push-ups or I want to be able to run x number of miles. I want to focus on building muscle. I don't just want to be not fat, I want to be fit.
As part of this, I've started adding new activities to my workouts. For example, a while ago started doing core work and push-ups after my usual cardio workout. More recently, I've started swimming too. A friend and I have a standing date to hit the pool twice a week. Its been awesome getting outside and a welcome break from the gym. Plus, I can really feel it in my arms, back, and shoulders :) Also, instead of doing the elliptical all the time, I try and break up my gym workouts with some treadmill work every once in a while too. That's been a real challenge for me. Running has always been something that seemed out of the question and to (somewhat) get over that mental road block of "I can't" has been awesome. For a while, I was on a pretty good roll with running. I was following a 5k training plan and running every other day. Unfortunately though, a pain in my left leg set me back and I haven't gotten back into the groove. Eventually, I do hope to start that up again. I definitely want to run a 5k race within the next year (mark that as one of my new fitness goals). I would love to add other sorts of fitness activities that don't necessarily include going to the gym, such as yoga, so that might be something in the works this year. I'm also interested in doing some personal training sessions. I couldn't afford to see one once a week, but I think it would be really helpful to even go a few times. I would want to learn new ways to build muscle and it would be nice to have some help in figuring out fitness goals that make sense for the results I want.
Anyways, yesterday my plans to go swimming were ruined by the rain so I had to hit the gym and it looks as though the same thing will happen today. Maybe I should take this as an opportunity to pick up running again?
As part of this, I've started adding new activities to my workouts. For example, a while ago started doing core work and push-ups after my usual cardio workout. More recently, I've started swimming too. A friend and I have a standing date to hit the pool twice a week. Its been awesome getting outside and a welcome break from the gym. Plus, I can really feel it in my arms, back, and shoulders :) Also, instead of doing the elliptical all the time, I try and break up my gym workouts with some treadmill work every once in a while too. That's been a real challenge for me. Running has always been something that seemed out of the question and to (somewhat) get over that mental road block of "I can't" has been awesome. For a while, I was on a pretty good roll with running. I was following a 5k training plan and running every other day. Unfortunately though, a pain in my left leg set me back and I haven't gotten back into the groove. Eventually, I do hope to start that up again. I definitely want to run a 5k race within the next year (mark that as one of my new fitness goals). I would love to add other sorts of fitness activities that don't necessarily include going to the gym, such as yoga, so that might be something in the works this year. I'm also interested in doing some personal training sessions. I couldn't afford to see one once a week, but I think it would be really helpful to even go a few times. I would want to learn new ways to build muscle and it would be nice to have some help in figuring out fitness goals that make sense for the results I want.
Anyways, yesterday my plans to go swimming were ruined by the rain so I had to hit the gym and it looks as though the same thing will happen today. Maybe I should take this as an opportunity to pick up running again?
Friday, July 18, 2008
little details make up the story
I got caught in the rain today on my way home from work. It started out as a slight drizzle as I was walking to the bus stop. It was so humid outside that the rain almost blended with the thick air. Seconds after taking my seat on the 9, big fat drops started falling fast and hard. It was still raining when I got off the bus so I quickly shuffled around the corner to wait for the number 72, which would take me all the way home. I tried to hold my pants up so the bottom of my jeans didn't get soaked by the puddles. It smelled awful. Chicago rain always smells a bit industrial, but today the smell was overwhelming. As the rain dried on my arms and face my skin began to feel tight and itchy. Wet in the front, my jeans stuck to my legs. When my bus arrived I squished on with all the other wet passengers. A nice man offered me a seat, which I declined. Just moments after I got on the bus, the rain stopped.
The worst thing about the trek home today was that neill wasn't around when I got here. I don't like coming home to an empty house. It feels lonely doing everything for one. Cooking for one is the worst. Who ever cooks with just half an onion or makes just one turkey burger? It doesn't feel right. I made enough for two out of habit. Although come to think of it, eating alone might be slightly worse than cooking for one. When neill is here, we can sit down together--have a real meal. Share. What do most people do if there is no one to share their food with? Multitask? I guess people could eat while checking their e-mail, watching television, paging through a magazine, or even talking to someone on the phone (although I have always found that theis leads to misplaced silences), but that doesn't really sound like having a meal.
I watched television while I ate. What Not To Wear was on, but I missed the first half so it wasn't that interesting. The first half of that show is much more entertaining than the latter. Who cares how some chubby chick looks in her dark denim pants that go straight down from the widest part of her (usually her hip/upper thigh region. saddle bags I think they are called. These seem to be an inevitable problem for women) and a flashy structured jacket? I want to see the before part. I want to see stacytron and clintontron rip a woman apart just for being normal. I want to see what fashion crimes they caught on the secret footage.
I did hear some good news today. [*After writing that last sentence, I realized that finding out good news when I'm alone is also not as satisfying as when I'm able to share said good news with neill. That being said, I'm not sure if this is more preferable than cooking or eating alone. I would have to say that eating alone is still the worst and then after that comes getting good news alone. I guess that means that in the grand scheme of things cooking for one isn't so bad.] A paper I worked on when I was with Dr. Kathy Grant's Stress and Coping Project ready to be submitted for publication. The paper is on the relationship between body image, race/ethnicity, and disordered eating among urban adolescent females. We examine how low body image relates differently to disordered eating symptoms among white, black, and latina urban adolescent females. In other words, we tested to what extent if at all race/ethnicity moderated the relationship between low body image and disordered eating. Also, we were able to explore some racial or ethnic factors that might account or explain the effects we found (such as different cultural standards of beauty). Interesting stuff. Of course, once it is submitted the paper will most likely get sent back to us with loads of suggested revisions. Its crazy how long it can take to get something published in a peer reviewed scientific journal. Anyways, I volunteered to run some additional literature searches before submission in an effort to address some of the paper's problem areas. My perfectionist side was the one who wrote is almost that e-mail. Sometimes I regret her behavior, but she always gets the job done. Besides, I need a project to work on now that neill is getting busier with the band.
There is not much else to say after that.
The worst thing about the trek home today was that neill wasn't around when I got here. I don't like coming home to an empty house. It feels lonely doing everything for one. Cooking for one is the worst. Who ever cooks with just half an onion or makes just one turkey burger? It doesn't feel right. I made enough for two out of habit. Although come to think of it, eating alone might be slightly worse than cooking for one. When neill is here, we can sit down together--have a real meal. Share. What do most people do if there is no one to share their food with? Multitask? I guess people could eat while checking their e-mail, watching television, paging through a magazine, or even talking to someone on the phone (although I have always found that theis leads to misplaced silences), but that doesn't really sound like having a meal.
I watched television while I ate. What Not To Wear was on, but I missed the first half so it wasn't that interesting. The first half of that show is much more entertaining than the latter. Who cares how some chubby chick looks in her dark denim pants that go straight down from the widest part of her (usually her hip/upper thigh region. saddle bags I think they are called. These seem to be an inevitable problem for women) and a flashy structured jacket? I want to see the before part. I want to see stacytron and clintontron rip a woman apart just for being normal. I want to see what fashion crimes they caught on the secret footage.
I did hear some good news today. [*After writing that last sentence, I realized that finding out good news when I'm alone is also not as satisfying as when I'm able to share said good news with neill. That being said, I'm not sure if this is more preferable than cooking or eating alone. I would have to say that eating alone is still the worst and then after that comes getting good news alone. I guess that means that in the grand scheme of things cooking for one isn't so bad.] A paper I worked on when I was with Dr. Kathy Grant's Stress and Coping Project ready to be submitted for publication. The paper is on the relationship between body image, race/ethnicity, and disordered eating among urban adolescent females. We examine how low body image relates differently to disordered eating symptoms among white, black, and latina urban adolescent females. In other words, we tested to what extent if at all race/ethnicity moderated the relationship between low body image and disordered eating. Also, we were able to explore some racial or ethnic factors that might account or explain the effects we found (such as different cultural standards of beauty). Interesting stuff. Of course, once it is submitted the paper will most likely get sent back to us with loads of suggested revisions. Its crazy how long it can take to get something published in a peer reviewed scientific journal. Anyways, I volunteered to run some additional literature searches before submission in an effort to address some of the paper's problem areas. My perfectionist side was the one who wrote is almost that e-mail. Sometimes I regret her behavior, but she always gets the job done. Besides, I need a project to work on now that neill is getting busier with the band.
There is not much else to say after that.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Catholics For Choice
I ran across this website today while researching sex education in Illinois. After yeseterday's post, it seems only fair to post this as a follow up. Jon O'Brien, president of the organization Catholics for Choice, has some interesting remarks about the role of conscience in abortion. Also, there are lots of interesting articles that you can access through the online archives of Conscience magazine. Check out:
Prochoice Catholicism 101
Abortion: Freedom and Responsability
I don't know how representative these articles are or how credible their analysis of catholic teachings and policies, but its great to know that there are people from all walks of life supporting women's access to health care and their right to choose.
Prochoice Catholicism 101
Abortion: Freedom and Responsability
I don't know how representative these articles are or how credible their analysis of catholic teachings and policies, but its great to know that there are people from all walks of life supporting women's access to health care and their right to choose.
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