Cleffairy's Blog, page 200

Serendipity

Title: Serendipity

Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Imprint: Berkley Sensation

Pub Date: 6 September 2011

ISBN: 9780425243831

Author: Carly Phillips

Serendipity by Carly Philips is an interesting contemporary fiction, however, I find that the storyline is rather slow and draggy at some point. The characters could be improvised, in my opinion. I feel that sometimes, they are rather shallow and lack depth. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable story and anyone who enjoys a good chic-lit would be able to enjoy this book.

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars. I received an ARC of this book from Penguin Group USA via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review for this book.

Book description

Faith Harrington is a classic girl of privilege-until her father is convicted for running a Ponzi scheme. Now she's back in her hometown, where she runs into her teenage crush-dark, brooding Ethan Barron, who's no stranger to scandal himself.

 

 

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Career Choice Test

Have you ever wondered if you've made the right choice in pursuing the career that you have right now? You may be satisfied with your day job and your career right now, but there's a lot of people out there who are not contented with their jobs, but they have no idea how to assess what sort of jobs/career that's suitable for them.

Are you one of those people who are still looking for a right thing to pursue in your life? Choosing a career that's suitable for you is very important as it will be a lifelong commitment and motivation in whatever you do. Take this career choice test to find out what career is suitable with your personality.

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Interesting Facts About The Human Body

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Graphic Via: this resource: www.RadiologyTechnician.com

Those who knows me very well will tell you that I'm a nocturnal creature. I only sleep when the sun goes up and works only during the night. You see, I'm a freelance writer. I only work during my 'best hours', which is usually at night, after 12 am. I feel as if my body is much more relaxed during that time of the day and I feel much more inspired than any other time of the day.

A lot of people thinks that it's just weird and abnormal. Night time, to them, is for sleeping and rejuvenating their bodies, not the other way around. And some people thinks that since I lurk around at night alot in the cyberspace… Facebook, Twitter and many more social media community websites during odd hours, they seems to have the impression that I don't sleep at all.

It is not true. I am human, I still need to sleep. The only difference between me and others is that I just don't sleep at night. I still sleep 8 hours per day, but only during the day.

A lot of people tries to talk me out of working at night and work during the regular hour like everyone else, but hey, I know my body better and I know what is best for myself. I do what my body tells me to do. I'll sleep when I feel sleepy. I know my limit. I will eat when I feel hungry. I won't deprived myself by dieting to loose weight and whatnot like everyone else. And I will definitely rest and take medication when I feel ill.

I know that my working hour is out of the ordinary, but hey, who are you to tell me what to do when such things works for me and and increases my productivity? There is no point working during regular hour if there's no inspiration or no concentration at all. Now, that would be just wasting time won't it?

Anyway, I used to think that I am weird too until I stumbled upon the graph above. Apparently the brain is much more active at night, and I'm glad to know that all these while, I'm making proper use of my brain instead of letting it goes to waste at night.

 

Cleffairy: The graphic above also lets us know that we can actually remove some large part of our internal organs and still survive. That means, we can donate our organs like kidney and liver and still survive the surgery. I have known this fact for quite some time and have pledge to be an organ donor, though I don't have the courage to donate my organs while I'm still alive. They can harvest whatever that can be used from my body when I'm dead, though. I don't mind. I won't be needing them anymore when I'm dead anyway. Donating organ saves lives. Are you an organ donor?

 

 

 

 

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What is dyslexia?

As most of you probably know, I have a son who is an ADHD child. I've been teaching and tutoring him on reading and writing, and it is getting on my nerves that he is rather slow at grasping it. As of late, his pace is worrying me… and his tendency to write from the back of a word makes me think if he's also a dyslexic. I'm not sure if he's doing that on purpose to get on my nerves or he really have difficulties spelling and writing in the correct order, cuz so far, his teacher has never complained about this tendency. I've asked the teacher, and she said she did not notice anything abnormal while he was writing.

It is worrying. I suspect that my son have dyslexia as well. Do you know what is dyslexia ? Dyslexia is a learning disorder that is language-based. If a person has this disorder then it likely that they have a difficult time with reading. They may also experience other problems with language skills: pronouncing words, spelling, and writing.

I don't really care if my son have dyslexia. After all, it is not that he's a retarded, it just means that he have a learning disability and I need a correct way to teach him. I can always send him to dyslexic learning centre and whatnot.

My only concern now is the society's acceptance and tendency to judge people who are different and have learning disabilities. They always condemn such people, and I find it rather demotivating and demoralizing.

I am worried on how he'd fare in school too, considering that this country does not exactly allow children to learn according to their own pace and put them in the same learning group. Instead, they put children with same age together and force them to compete with each other academically instead of allowing them to learn according to their own pace.

I don't know about you, but it is rather unfair towards such children with learning disabilities. How can they grow and benefit from the education if they cannot keep up or they are constantly forced to do things the normal ways?

Cleffairy: *sigh* I guess my son won't be going to mainstream schools. He won't survive and benefit from that sort of education. I'll be sending him to school where he can benefit more from the education by learning on his own pace and learn to discover certain things through experience and experiments instead of just memorizing facts.

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Pregnancy and Birth

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Check out www.SonogramTechnician.org for similar resources

Ever since I've been having those recurring nightmares on giving birth to a baby (as I mentioned in my previous blog entry),  I feel rather traumatized, and I can't help but look for information on babies and pregnancies.

You see, I always believe that the best way to overcome your nightmares is to research and understand the root of your trauma. I'm guessing that my body was somehow traumatized by the thoughts of having babies again and therefore, the brain manifest it into nightmares repeatedly.

And so, I decided to get more information on babies and pregnancies so that my brain could stop being afraid and comprehend that pregnancies and babies is just another from of reproduction, and there's nothing to be afraid of.

And look at what I found while I was looking for information about babies and pregnancies? A chart on pregnancies and birth in the US. When I looked at the chart, I feel as if my heart was wrenched.

So many babies were born to teenage mothers, and I wonder what happened to those babies and young mothers. Were the babies raised by the teenage mothers themselves? Or were they adopted into a foster family? Not many teenagers are responsible enough or have the capability to raise their newborns, so I'm guessing, most of the babies were given up for adoption.

Poor children. I don't mean to preach. After all, I made the same mistake but if only all these teenagers are smart enough to practice safe sex, then they won't end up getting pregnant and stuff. But then again, to be fair, there's no fault-free form of contraception. Condom breaks and sometimes, Pills failed you too.

The only 100% most effective way to prevent unwanted teenage pregnancies is abstinence, but then again, abstinence and celibacy is never appealing to teenagers with raging hormones.

How do we stop all these, then? I don't have an answer for that, I'm afraid. I think it would take a rocket scientist to answer that for me.

 

Cleffairy: If only the teenagers were put through a seriously harsh motherhood and a nasty labour along with recurring nightmares like me before they decided to get intimate with their partners, then perhaps abstinence and celibacy will be appealing to them and the birth rate of babies who were born out of wedlock and to teenage mothers would drop.

 

 

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My Girlfriend's Boyfriend

Title: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend

Publisher: Cedar Fort

Imprint: Bonneville

Pub Date: 1 August 2011

ISBN: 9781599559056

Author: Elodia Strain

I don't usually read chic-lit. They are not very appealing to me and they put me to sleep, but 'My Girlfriend's Boyfriend' is an okay read, I suppose. It tells the tale of a young woman who then accidentally gets involved with two guys and had to make a choice between the two.

While the story is not as complicated as some chic-lit that I've read, it is still rather predictable.

I suppose I can say that I enjoyed reading this even though I am not exactly a huge fan of these soft of stories.

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars, and I received an ARC of this book from Cedar Fort Publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review for this book. I was not compensated in any ways for reviewing this.

Book description:

Jesse is looking for the "right guy." When she bumps into Ethan, a despairing writer who she inspires, she thinks she's found him. But only moments later she meets Troy, a successful advertising executive who makes almost every moment romantic. Both seem perfect, but things are not always what they seem. My Girlfriend's Boyfriend is a fun romance that blends warm sincerity with fresh storytelling.

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Non-lucid dream

I had a dream… or rather a nightmare last night. I've posted about it on my Facebook status yesterday, and I promised myself if I still couldn't brush this particular dream off from my memory by the time the clock stroke 12 am the next day, I'll just talk about it here. Hey… I got to get it out of my system, some way, somehow, cuz it's affecting me when I'm awake.

I'm not gonna apologize for expressing myself or for posting nonsensical things over here in my blog. Hey, it's not as if most of you read word by word if an entry is wordy and picture-less anyway. Most of you merely skim thru and simply comment whatever crossed your mind without bothering to comprehend the articles anyway…. am I right?

Anyway, back to my 'problem'. My late paternal grandmother was a superstitious person. She's the kind of person who believes that certain dreams bring certain meaning. I tend to agree with her though I know that most dreams are a product of our subconscious mind.

While I believe that lucid dreams-dreams that we're concious with the fact it's just a dream when we had it or lucid dreams-dreams that we are fully in  control of what we're doing while we had it are just a product of our tired subconscious mind, I tend to get rather superstitious and irritated throughout the day when the dreams that I had are not lucid dreams.

You see… last night I had this extremely vivid dream about me being pregnant and giving birth. I could easily pass this as a product of over-active brain activity if this is the first or second time I had it, but this is the third time I had such dream this year, and it's affecting me when I'm awake. I simply can't shake it off.

At times like this, I wish that somehow, my late grandmother is still alive to intrepret my dreams for me. During moments like this, I wished my grandma is here for me to tell me that it's going to be okay. I wish that there's an explanation for this.

I don't know what it means, but this particular recurring dream always starts off with me rubbing a bulging tummy or me complaining how heavy I get with each passing seconds.

Then it will proceed into a scene that is more intense… which is the baby in the womb moving and kicking to the point I could see the outline of the tiny feet under the skin of my tummy. My hands would then cover my tummy and I would attempt to stop the baby from kicking me too hard. I would usually be breathless in these dreams and soon, contractions will follow and realizing that I'm in labour, I would start screaming for help. Usually, water won't break. It would be blood instead… just like when I gave birth to my son.

Most of the time, in these dreams, I would just be automatically transported away into the labour room and I would proceed to have the baby with the assistance of doctors and nurses. And, when I finally gave birth in these dreams, it would either be twins… a baby boy and a baby girl, or just a baby girl. And when I finally managed to wake up, the contraction pains would be so real that I could feel it for a couple of moments when I just woke up. Yes… I could feel the pain, even after waking up… it's as if I was giving birth for real, and it's as if I had those nasty contractions for real. It usually last at least 15-30 minutes, and I would feel extremely lethargic throughout the day, and no matter what I did to recover my energy, it would not work.

This time around, though, the dream is abit different from the previous two that I had earlier of the year. This time around, the birthing process did not happen anywhere near a hospital or a labour room. It happens in the privacy of my own home, my own bed. This time around, it started off with me reading on the bed, with the paperback novel resting on my tummy as I read. The baby inside the womb kicks me then. I was rather amused, but started to get panicky when I realized that I'm already in my final trimester and the baby is not exactly in the correct position. I come to realize that the outline of the baby's feet was at the bottom of my stomach instead near the diaphragm.

I was in extreme panic when I realized that the baby is actually a breech baby, and I started to call for help. My husband appeared with a midwife and her assistant then and the midwife insisted that I was wrong and the baby inside of my womb is not a breech baby. I was really aghast and I started to cry, because no one believes me and I was scared to death. I knew that I couldn't possibly give birth to the baby in my womb the normal way. I knew I had to have a C-section to deliver the baby.

The midwife attempts to calm me down. She then touches my stomach to assure me that my baby is not a breech baby before going out of the room to discuss something with her assistant. I did not believe her, though. I knew I was right. How can the baby's feet be at the bottom during the third trimester of the pregnancy be a normal baby? It simply does not make any sense to me, even in my dream.

While I was alone in the room again, my water broke. Yes, this time around, the water broke instead of having blood flowing in between my thighs. The texture of the water was slightly gooey and slimy, and it was all over my bed.

I did not know what it meant. I did not even realized that it was time for me to give birth, because this time around, there was no contraction… or rather, the contractions was barely noticeable and I thought it was just normal stomach-ache.

My husband, the midwife and her assistant made their re-appearance then. The midwife was completely horrified to discover that my water broke and she informed me that I was ready to give birth. I was really shocked, and in the midst of the panic, my husband was instructed to help me into a half sitting position. My husband was supporting me from the back throughout the entire episode while the midwife proceeds to help me deliver the baby. It seems to me during that time, the midwife was using the force of gravity to help me deliver the baby.The midwife's assistant on the other hand was busy preparing the water to bathe the baby and clean me up after the birth.

At some point during delivery, I felt like screaming to the midwife. It was completely a natural birth. She did not perform any episiotomy, which is a normal practice in labour room these days.

Episiotomy is a procedure in which the skin between the vagina and anus is cut. Episiotomy is done occasionally to enlarge the vaginal opening so that a baby can be more easily delivered. While this procedure is not necessarily recommended by most obstetrician, it is performed when there's complication in the delivery. It is also commonly done if baby is in a breech position.

I was right. The baby was a breech baby. The baby's feet came out first before the rest of the body slides through, and after awhile I heard the baby cry. Nobody talks to me after that, and I was rather surprised that the labour pain this time around was not as intense as the ones before. I was really curious about the sex of the baby, and so, I turned my head to the side and saw the midwife's assistant performing suction to suck fluid from the baby's mouth and cutting off the umbilical cord of the baby before cleaning her up in a blue tub that's filled with warm water.

She then showed me the baby, and it was a healthy baby girl of 3.2kg. She was crying on the top of her lungs, but her eyes was closed. Her nose was slightly yellowish with white dots, like most babies are when they're just born. Her hair was thick and soft. They then diapered my daughter and wrapped her up in a clean towel before handing over the baby to me.

My husband asked me if I'd like to breastfeed our daughter, but I said I couldn't breastfeed yet because my breasts felt empty and there was no milk. I told them to feed her with a bottle of S-26 formula milk instead, and they did. She stopped crying and I marveled at the fact that it was actually a fairly fast and easy labour despite the fact that she was a breech baby. The dream ended there, and I woke up feeling confused and looking for the baby daughter that I never had.

There was this dull pain in my stomach when I woke up… slightly similar to contractions, but the pain was manageable in comparison to the ones before.

I'm not quite sure if I can say this dream is a nightmare, because if I were to compare this dream and the previous two that I had this year, this was the easiest one that I had. It was not so painful and despite of the fear that I felt in the dream about the baby, she was born healthy and beautiful.

I told my husband about this dream when I woke up. I told him that I gave birth to a baby daughter in the dream, and it seems so real. He was flustered, but did not ask me anything about it further, which annoyed me, cuz I wanted to talk about it so that I can get it off my head.

Anyway, as I'm writing this, I come to realize that despite the fact that the dream that I had was not a lucid dream and I had no control over my limbs in the dream, I did made some reality checks at some point of the dream. Eg:e I knew that the baby was a breech baby as the feet are at the bottom of the stomach during near delivery even though everyone else in the dream antagonized me. In that dream, I knew that breech babies must be delivered via C-section too. I felt strange about episiotomy not being performed as well, and despite not being in control of the dream, some part of my brain are still functioning to wake me up and bring me back to reality. I also felt strange at the end of the dream, cuz it was too fast, too easy and the contractions was barely noticeable and I couldn't really feel the pain while giving birth.

I suppose, that is a small comfort for me to know that no matter how deep into a dream or nightmare I am, my brain will still work logically and tries to make reality checks so that I can escape and wake up? Well, thank God for small mercies.

 

Cleffairy: If I had this dream many years back and wrote it as an essay with the title 'The Dream That I Could Not Forget' for my English test, I daresay my teacher would be aghast when she read it.

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Vacation rentals in San Francisco

Need a room to rent while you're on a vacation in San Francisco? Well, look no further vacation rentals san francisco have all sort of rooms for your disposal. If you're ever in San Francisco and thinks that hotel rooms is way out of your holiday budget, look up vacation rentals san francisco. I bet you'll find something that suits your needs.

 

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My New Crush: Samsung Galaxy S II

Are you a fan of smart phones? You know… the sort of communication device that not only allow you to make calls and sms, but allows you to be connected to the world in a smart and convenient way no matter when and where you are?

I don't know about you, but ever since I was introduced to various range of Android phones, I've been totally in love with it. I never thought that I'm a smart phone kinda person… but well…love does not discriminate, I guess.

My current crush is Samsung Galaxy S II. It's really a wonderful, chic smart phone. I not only can stay connected all the time with my friends on Facebook and Twitter, but it also helps me in my freelancing and writing work very well cuz I get to check my emails from my clients, chat with my friends, read ebooks and update my blog on the go by using the apps that I get for free in the Android Market.

Yes, you're reading that right. Blog on the go. These days I use my smart phone to do live blogging. It's pretty convenient, I must say, especially when you have something really interesting to share with your readers.

Check this out… I thought I'm crazily in love with my smart phone but it seems that Samsung Galaxy S II has gone viral that these people are gathering to profess their love for their phone!

The people in the video looks abit crazy, no? But somehow… I get them, cuz I'm crazily in love with my smart phone too. I've become so dependent on it that I feel that I will never be able to survive my daily lives without it.

Knowing that there's a lot of people who are crazily in love with their phone, specifically Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung has launched this fun microsite for all die-hard Samsung Galaxy S II lovers.

Check it out HERE

The microsite is aimed to unite all Samsung Galaxy S II lover. You can now profess your undying love to your Samsung Galaxy S II in public and no one is going to laugh at you, no matter how crazy it is and how absurd it sounds. Isn't that great?

The microsite is pretty easy to use. Just log into the microsite, shoot your short, quirky video using your phone or digicam and upload it. Once it's screened and approved by Samsung, your vid will be good to go and your love will be shared with the world!

So, what are you waiting for, Samsung Galaxy S II fans?  Share your love for Samsung Galaxy S II and submit your video to this microsite now!

Cleffairy:  There's also a Action Request Board Section.You also can post action request on the microsite. Be sure to check this stuff out!

 

 

 

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I stopped…

I could still remember my first mobile phone. It was a second hand mobile phone handed down from my father to me. I started to use a mobile phone in 2002, when I was in college. Apparently, my parents saw it fit to let me have a mobile phone- you see, it'll be much more convenient for them to contact me during emergency and whatnot since I was no longer living with them.

It was a Nokia 3310. It's nothing like the new age iPhone and Blackberry phones. You can only use it to SMS and make phone calls. There was no fancy mp3 ringtones and taking photos with that phone is out of question cuz the phone does not have any camera in it.The phone memory was also limited, and one can only store certain amount of contacts in it.

I don't know how it's like for all of you out there, but ever since I started to use a mobile phone in 2002, I stopped memorizing people's phone numbers and addresses. And it got worst when I changed those normal phone into a smart phone. I even use the phone to remind me of appointments and whatnot.

You see, I got lazy because I find it much more convenient to store everything it in the phone and look it up when necessary. I no longer bothered to memorize my friends phone number like I used to when I was younger.

If you're to ask me before 2002 the phone number of all my family members and friends, I could recite it to you. But not anymore. These days… if you ask me anyone's phone numbers, I'll just look it up on my mobile phone. And if I lost my phone in any unfortunate accident, the only phone number that I would be able to remember is just my husband's, my father's and my grandfather's. =.=

Mobile technology is very convenient. It made our lives easier, but at times, I think mobile technology made us lazier too. Well, at least it made me lazy and careless. How about you guys out there? Did you stopped memorizing phone numbers and addresses when you started to use mobile phones? Or you're the kind who memorizes it and keeps a backup of everything on the good old notebook?

Cleffairy: Sometimes, you can't ask machine to do human's job.

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