Friday, February 20, 2015

What Category are you?

Hello everyone!

I was listening to Invisibilia Podcast, and they ran this 'interactive radio story' that I thought was very interesting.






Here is the story by Simon Rich, and see what kind of a reaction you get to this.


According to Aristophanes, there were originally three sexes - the children of the moon who were half-male and half-female, the children of the sun who were fully male, and the children of the earth, who were fully female. Everyone had four legs, four arms and two heads, and spent their days in blissful contentment. Zeus became jealous of the humans' joy so he decided to split them all in two. Aristophanes called this punishment the origin of love because ever since, the children of the earth, moon and sun have been searching the globe in a desperate bid to find their other halves. Aristophanes' story though is incomplete because there was also a fourth sex - the children of the dirt. Unlike the other three sexes, the children of the dirt consisted of just one half. Some were male and some were female and each had just two arms, two legs and one head. The children of the dirt found the children of the earth, moon and sun to be completely insufferable. Whenever they saw a two-headed creature walking by, talking to itself in baby-talk voices, it made them want to vomit. They hated going to parties and when there was no way to get out of one, they sat in the corner, too bitter and depressed to talk to anybody. The children of the dirt were so miserable that they invented wine and art to dull their pain. It helped a little, but not really. When Zeus went on his rampage he decided to leave the children of the dirt alone. They're already [bleep], he explained.


Happy gay couples descend from the children of the sun. Happy lesbian couples descend from the children of the earth. And happy straight couples descend from the children of the moon. But the vast majority of humans are descendants of the children of the dirt. And no matter how long they search the earth, they'll never find what they're looking for because there's nobody for them, not anybody in the world.



what was your reaction?


Mine was 'aww poor, sad children of the dirt..'


but if yours was anything different, this is how the radio show ended:


RICH: The vast majority of humans are descendants of the children of the dirt.

MILLER: With those two words, Simon Rich does a very kind thing. If you are someone who is alone and thinks yourself a little off in your aloneness, you are suddenly scooped into a box with a whole pile of other lonely people, and you feel better. And that is the strange power of categories because nothing about you is actually changing, but by simply getting a line drawn around you, you get some real relief.


Have you guys heard of Invisibilia? I've only heard a few episodes, but I am really loving the show so far =)

Also, if you identified with children of the dirt, and are unhappy about it, don't worry. even the author Simon Rich (who identified with children of the dirt) later found that he was, in fact, not a child of the dirt ;)


Happy weekend, and thanks for stopping by!
--Janny




Sunday, February 15, 2015

happy birthday baby bro!

Hello everyone!

Today, my baby bro turns 21!
I can't believe it.
this little bebe, who spent his childhood getting squished by yours truly...  is now an adult!

long gone are the days that I could boss him around physically like this, as he is now twice as big as I am...
but I'll always have the memories of this tiny babe who always let me convince him to go along with many different crazy ideas of mine throughout our childhood. the baby brother who always committed himself completely to everything he set his mind to, even the crazy ideas of his big (sometimes reckless) sister.  


so, have a great day, favorite brother of mine!  
though we are living in opposite sides of the country now, I hope that when we 'grow up', we'll get to live close by with our families  =)


and remember, no matter how many people think you are a hunk of a human male specimen now, you will always and forever remain this little cutie pie to me  ;)  =p


soo much love!  
--big sis


Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine's day!

Hello everyone!

Happy Valentine's day!
Satoko is visiting, and our apartment is currently full of attached ladies who are apart from their valentines today (Satoko, Shawn, and yours truly)  haha  It's my first Valentine's day away from David, and honestly, most of the day passed without me even realizing that it was Valentine's day.  I know... truly, the least romantic Valentine's day I have ever had.

To get into the spirit of the day a little more, and also to cheer up the attached, yet alone ladies of our apartment a bit, I went to Clear Flour to pick up some of their macarons!  These. were. incredible! Shawn, who visited the famed Laduree in Paris a few years ago, even said that these were better than the ones from Laduree!  That is a huge compliment for this little bakery in Brookline!



Those macarons definitely got me into the festive mood, and I can't wait to be reunited with this guy - the best Valentine I've had yet!  love him to the moon and back, as they say   ;)


I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day, and thanks for stopping by! 
--Janny

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Essential Oils Spotlight :: ClaryCalm

Hello everyone!

Yesterday, we had snowday #5!  in 3 weeks!  can you believe it?  and it's snowing this morning as well. ahhh! and we're supposed to be getting 2 more storms by the end of the week!  #snowpocalypsemarathon

Anyway, with all of this extra time I've been having, I decided that I want to start a new monthly series spotlighting my favorite Doterra essential oils here on the blog.  I've been using the essential oils for a year and a half or so, and have really fallen in love with them!  There are a few different posts I've done already on different oils and you can see them here, here, and here!




Today's star of the show is...
ClaryCalm!!




This is a blend for women, and is supposed to be there for you during that time of the month, if you catch my drift. So if you're a man reading this, you probably won't need this.. unless you have a significant other (or really any woman in your life) who struggles every. single. month. ooh the perks of being a woman. Now, what is to follow might be TMI for some of you, so if you aren't comfortable with the period talk, you may not want to continue.

So, not every woman struggles every month, but I have been known to basically die (from cramps) when that time of the month came around. It also makes me nauseated at times, faint some other times.. and generally just completely miserable.  The only way I could get through my cycle somewhat mobile used to be to pop Advil like candy. No other drugs ever worked for me, and I'm not sure why, but only Advil worked ever.  

Anyway, if any of the above mentioned symptoms sound familiar to you, then ClaryCalm blend might be something you may want to try.  Yvonne, the friend who introduced me to Doterra, gave this blend for me to try, and I have to say, I was extremely skeptical at first.  I mean, I had tried so many different drugs, and nothing had ever worked, so I was just planning on single handedly keeping Advil in business for the rest of my life.   BUT!  I was on a trip in Taiwan when my period completely surprised me out of the blue. I was dying, I didn't have Advil (oh the joys of irregular cycles), but I happened to have this one because it was in my little oils bag, so I decided to give this a try (I mean, I was pretty desperate).  Now, it didn't take the pain completely away, but it helped so much!  I was able to walk around Taiwan without doubling over from the pain, and that is a huge accomplishment for the little bottle!  

Since then, I've been using this religiously every time the cycle comes around, and during some months, I can get by without having to use Advil at all.  what?!  I still use Advil when the pain is unbearable, but on average, I take about 4-5 pills per cycle now compared to about 24 pills or more it used to be before ClaryCalm came into my life.  

Like any other oils/medicine/drug, it may work better for some people than others, so I can't say that this will work as well for you as it has for me.  However, I have given it to a couple of my friends during their time of the month, and they have all reported positive results!  The Doterra site says that this blend is made of 'clary sage, lavender, bergamot, Roman chamomile, cedarwood, ylang ylang, geranium, fennel, carrot seed, palmarosa, and vitex', and that this blend 'balances hormones, manages symptoms of PMS and the transitional phases of menopause'.  Now, can't say first hand that it does all of those things (obviously), but I have noticed that my cycle has become more regular.  It used to be completely unpredictable, but now, I can guess when they are coming, and that is so. nice! Ladies out there who have regular cycles, you are so. lucky!  

Anyway maybe my body and this blend just really like one another, and that's why I've seen such fantastic results, but I'm not complaining!  Also, the blend smells really nice, which is a plus, and my friends have said that the smell really soothes them during that time.  It's like chocolate, but not as fattening.  haha.  However, the downside is that David is starting to associate the scent as my 'period scent'...  calling it that suddenly makes it seem really,,, unsexy and just plain weird.. and I'm not really thrilled to have a 'period scent'.. but at least it smells nice and he likes the smell..?  yeah, no. it's still weird.  

So, if you are struggling every month, and decide to try ClaryCalm, I hope that it will alleviate some of your miserable symptoms!  Please let me know if you try it out, and if you have other tips and tricks that you employ to get through that time of the month!

Hopefully this wasn't too TMI for you  haha.  Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful rest of the week!
--Janny

Monday, February 9, 2015

Snow Day #4

Hello everyone!

By now you probably have guessed (since I am back on the blog) that we are having another massive snow storm here in Boston.  BU has cancelled classes for the 4th time in 3 weeks!  I have lived in many different parts of the world, including northern part of Michigan, and I have NEVER seen so much snow in such a short period of time.  I mean, it's like every week we get a 'historic' blizzard/winter storm like clockwork.  Incredible.

I tried to get a shot of the winter wonderland outside of my window for you guys, but this was all I could see!

The other side of our apartment doesn't have the best view, but I think it shows the effect of the snow a bit better than my frozen-over window, so...

and the swirling snow!


We have gotten enough snow quickly enough that within an hour, the foot tracks that Shawn left on the way to the gym had disappeared by the time she came back!

Before we got buried in snow, we tried to dig ourselves out from the previous 2 storms, and lead normal lives!  one of the highlights from last week was this concert I played with my teacher here at BU, Bayla Keyes, and 3 other BU faculty members, Robbie, Rhonda, and Michelle!  We played the Martin piano quintet, and I loved it!  He's not a very well-known composer, but he has very unique and interesting harmonic language, and some really beautiful melodies  =)

The few days before the storm was made even better because!!!   Abers (April) was in Boston!!!!  My soul sister, my sister from another mother!  we were attached at the hip throughout our undergrad years, and it was so good to be attached once more  =)



We had an incredible night during her visit when a whole bunch of our friends came over and we played board games. I did take some photos, but... I didn't have the SD card in the camera... epic fail.  le sigh...  ah well, it will just have to happen again some day!

We did, however, take a walk in our beautiful neighborhood in search of some lunch one of the days that she was here. I know, not as exciting as the board game night, but isn't our neighborhood so beautiful?  I love it here  =)


The walk was very cold and snowy, but the lunch we had at Buk Kyung was tottaallly worth it!


mmmmm  there's nothing more satisfying than a table full of awesome Korean food!


obviously, we were thrilled!



ahhh.  I 'm drooling just looking at the pictures and thinking about that meal right now...

April's flight was cancelled, and we were afraid that she would not be able to get out of Boston before this massive storm hit, but thankfully, she did get to fly out of the Beantown just in time!!

It was such a fun weekend, and I'm so glad she got to visit  =)  It was a nice warm fuzzy spot in this frigid snowpocalypsemarathon we've been having.

I hope you are all having a wonderful beginning of the week, and stay warm if you are around the New England area!
--Janny

Monday, February 2, 2015

Last day in Houston!

Hello everyone,

Last week, we had 2 snow days because of Juno.  This week, we have another snow day because of Linus.  Juno and Linus.  I'm not as thrilled and excited about Linus as I was about Juno, but this gives me some time to catch up on things!

Anyway, since I have some extra time, I thought I would wrap up the last of the blogposts from Houston.

On the last day I was in Houston, we headed over to visit our friends Angel, her husband Andriy, and their daughter Violetta.  Angel is the coach of the Rice Ballroom Dance team, so we have known them for a few years now, and it was really nice to meet up during my trip to Houston.  They have a beautiful house, and that took David and I a little bit of time to adjust to because we tend to forget that not everyone is a grad student...  haha    Anyway, with that adjustment began a very pleasant evening of a grownup dinner party  =)

Oh, and did I mention that they have a pet bird?  I had never seen a pet bird before, and while I knew people kept birds as pets, this was the first time I had ever met one, so...   Her (his?) name is Kesha, and she is beautiful. and chirpy.  haha




I was really fascinated by her, but I was also a bit afraid of holding her, so I never got to... perhaps next time..  They just seem so... fragile...  especially since I'm used to a giant, rambunctious, puppy named McKinley  =) 


After a wonderful meal, we spent some time just talking, eating some berries and having dessert. Violetta was especially fond of these berries  haha   what a cutie





Kesha got in on the action as well, and I was so fascinated by how she ate!  she grabbed the blackberry by her claws, and then took one kernel(?) at a time.  So well-mannered!


what was really surprising to me was just how much David and Kesha liked each other!  I was shocked, and so were Angel and Andriy.  Apparently, she's not so friendly to newcomers, but man, they really took to each other!






she even let him pull out new feathers!  I don't know what it's called but he pulled on something and puff!  a new feather puffed out!


look how much they like each other!  I don't know if I should be jealous or...  haha



After the wonderful dinner, dessert, and hours of good conversation, it was time for Violetta to go to bed, Andriy to get some rest before his half marathon (which he dominated, btw), and for me to go pack.




I've found that ballroom dance community to be one of the friendliest out there, and I'm so glad that we have had the opportunities to make dancer friends in all different parts of the country.

Thanks so much Angel, Andriy, and Violetta for inviting us over for delicious food and awesome company, and we hope you'll visit us in Boston as well!  Our abode will be graduate student sized, but we'll still have all of the other ingredients for a good dinner party!  ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!
--Janny