And You Thought U.S. Ads Had Too Much Sexuality In Them...

So I was floundering in my search for something to blog about when my email dinged at me.  Like an answer from God, my husband saves me again with something he found incredibly amusing.  Somehow he stumbled upon a blog talking about PSP advertisements in Japan.  I am guessing it had something to do with coming up with game ideas since he designs computer games for work.  Anyway, I will link the article at the end because I don't want you to read ahead.  Ha!  Here you will see the first picture is totally non-threatening:

If you have ever watched anime, this is nothing out of the ordinary.  Cartoon characters with big boobs and short skirts.  Big deal.  But wait...are those skirts...real?

The author, Brian Ashcraft assures us that yes, they are.  And the text actually invites us to look under the skirts?  Welcome to Japan marketing.  And you thought the ads in the U.S. were too sexy.  What's under the skirt, you ask?  Well, you will just have to visit Brian's blog to find out now, won't you.  ;)

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Too tired to come up with a witty blog title.

I'm tired.  I know it has been a while since I posted, so here I am.  The problem is that I am so tired that my poor little brain cannot come up with the sarcastic and witty remarks I would normally include in a post.  I have several things saved in emails and pictures that I want to blog about, but at this juncture, I know my words could not possibly do them justice.  And so they sit...and wait...for me to recover from whatever has drained all my energy.

And herein lies the question: Why on earth am I so exhausted??  I don't think it is depression because it feels different than normal.  I still want to do things, I just literally don't have the energy.  I feel like I could sleep all day and still not be rested.  Could it be pain induced?  I have had this same damn headache for 3 days straight now and my rheumatic hands aren't exactly thrilled with me (I blame that on the latest rain storm that came through).  Could it be stress?

Despite not working (I quit my part-time, 12-hour a week, minimum wage job LOL), there are still things in my life that have my mind racing.  I have a decision to make, and I just can't do it.  Maybe you can help me.  Help someone out by moving into a place with a roommate (I despise the thought of moving all our crap), or go with my level of comfort and figure out a way to tell a nice person, sorry, but no, we won't help you out?  Take a gamble on being miserable with a roommate, or make myself feel miserable for not helping someone in need?  See?  Sucks either way.  This causes me stress. 

So my solution for now?  Sit on the couch and nap while watching movies all day long.  It works similar to an ostrich poking its head into the ground.  If I ignore it, it's not there and will eventually go away on its own.

Well, back to the movie, and hopefully in a couple days I will be able to tell you an amazing story about The Trustworthiness of Beards or some other equally amusing thing I find.

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Psych Week on the Discovery Health Channel

One of the reasons that I established this blog was to help bring awareness to Bipolar Disorder.  It just so happens tonight that I can also help bring awareness to other mental health issues.

Any kind of mental health issue has a stigma attached to it.  In reality, most people have had to deal with some sort of mental health issue in their life whether they know it or not.  It could have been they went through a depression and didn't know it, didn't care, or denied it.  It could be they are friends with someone who has a disorder and have seen and experienced these symptoms, yet this friend hasn't confided in them because they are afraid of being rejected or they are still in denial themselves.

Too often, all we, the mental health patients, need, is just a friend to talk to us, yet many of us, especially the newly diagnosed, are so scared to talk to anyone that we don't get the help we need.  Our first choice is usually either denial or hatred of ourselves.  Both are destructive but it is really fear that fuels us.  Fear of rejection due to our condition.  Fear of treatment.  Fear of stereotypes.  Fear of being the thing that we already fear the most.

So what can you do when someone is having a hard time?  Don't accuse, don't ask if they have a mental health issue, as that will just make them defensive.  Instead, just ask if we want to talk.  Show us you intend to be in our lives despite our quirks, then one day we will confide in you, and you just might save our lives by just listening.

In a few weeks, the Discovery Health channel is going to be starting a week-long series on just this topic - psychological issues.  This week is going to be about awareness, understanding, and bring about change.  Please take the time to either watch the series or DVR it because I can almost guarantee that someone you love has a mental health issue, whether it is diagnosed or not.

http://health.discovery.com/tv/psych-week/

P.S. I will repost this the week of the series too as a friendly reminder.  ;)

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I had a miraculous egg to show you...and then my cat stole it.

So last night I decided to make a cake.  Isn't it pretty?

See, we are having company over tonight for dinner and I thought we should have something available for desert should someone so choose to have a sweet tooth.  As I am adding the eggs, an incredible thing happened.  The last egg cracked perfectly around the center line with no additional radiating cracks.  It. Was. Amazing.  I showed it to my husband who so gallantly pointed out to me that this is exactly the type of thing you blog about!  "If it is cool enough to show someone, then it is cool enough to blog about."  See, being new to blogging, I don't always catch these things so he helps me along. 

Anyway, so I put the two perfectly halved shells on a plate to the side so I could finish making the cake and then take a picture later.  One problem with that plan.  By the time I was ready to take the picture, half the shell was gone!!  Knowing the cat likes to steal cool stuff of mine (hair ties, paperclips, lids to bottles, my shoes), I determine she must be the culprit.  Upon questioning the suspect on the whereabouts of my stolen treasure, this is the reaction I got:

Just like her to try to play coy with me.  I figure if I find the evidence, then she can't deny the act because I could run DNA testing on the cat saliva I was bound to find on the stolen treasure.  So I enlisted the help of my gallant husband who them found the second part of my perfectly halved egg shell crushed...CRUSHED...under the shoe rack by the door.  My miracle...destroyed.  It was a dark time in my life.

Now I know what you might be thinking.  If my husband found the crushed shell, perhaps he planted it and crushed it himself.  I suppose if he was the malicious type that would be a rather fitting way of crushing my blogging dreams, but given the fact he is the one who suggested the blogging idea to begin with, I doubt he would do such a heinous act.  It is much more likely that the cat did this as part of her devious plan to rule the world.  Now to confront the accused with the evidence:

How Sad. 

And the other half is so perfect...so straight...like they both used to be. 

Not even a crack anywhere else.

How do you think the defense will plead?  My guess: Meow.

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Things I Learned Today At Work

As many of you know, I started a new part time job today.  At minimum wage for a mere 12 hours a week, I am gonna be stinking rich!  LOL.  Guess it is a good thing I am doing this more to keep myself busy until school starts than anything.  So, for today's edition, I thought I would make a list of some of the wonderful things I experienced and learned today.

Top Ten First Day At Work Events

10)  There are a lot of stairs to get to the "cave office"...well...really anywhere at this place.  It is built into a mountain ya'll.

9)  I have to do a LOT of driving in circles.

8)  A seasonal "wash" (aka. stream/river) that runs for only 3 weeks can wipe out an entire road.

7)  Minivans are really not built to travel dirt roads filled with pot holes.

6)  There are way too many freaking gate codes to remember.

5)  My "boss" reminds me a sweet, wonderful, little grandma.

4)  The "Bear Paw" office, aka. my boss's house, is freaking ginormous and gorgeous.

3)  The person who had this position before me thinks in ways I will never understand  (ie. shouldn't membership invoices and/or bills be in the folder labeled "invoices?"  No.  They are in "renewals").

2)  I get to have kitties sleep on my lap while I work.  :D :D :D :D

and finally...

1)  The Mac "Microsoft Office" programs are the bane of my existence and may lead me to stabbing people with rusty forks.  Grrrr.


Lesson Learned:  If you were raised on PCs, do not buy a Mac for office work, especially if you are already homicidal.


P.S.  Who the hell at Apple thought it would be a good idea to change the setup of the 10-key section of the keyboard?  The * is where the - should be and the / is where the * should be and the - is where the + should be and the + is moved further down.  What...the...hell....

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We are the Borg. You will be assimilated.

Last night, this very nice young man came to our house.  I already forget his name, but it was something like Brad or Brian.  So he shows up with this huge, hard plastic suitcase thing.

"Miss Chin?" he asks when I answer the door.

"That's me."

"I am here to get you all set up for the night."

Here is where my mind starts doing all kinds of wandering.  Exactly what does this man have in mind for me?  And then my memory returns.  I had scheduled an appointment with this young man's company for tonight.  I guess I had told my husband this guy was coming because he didn't blink an eye when I was asked to change into my pajamas.  After I was changed and was all "set up" for the night, this is what I looked like:

I posted the picture on Facebook before creating this blog entry because I wanted to see what kind of messed up things my friends would think I was doing.  Boy did they come up with some interesting things.

Well, here is what is going on.  Last night I got to undergo a wonderful thing called a sleep study.  I know, I know.  It isn't nearly as exciting as becoming a cyborg or building a machine to tweet every time you fart, but the doc wanted it to rule out any sleep issues before he breaks my nose.  No, I wasn't a bad patient.  I just have a severely deviated septum which impairs my breathing and leads to chronic sinus infections.

What a sleep study pretty much amounts to, is being hooked up to 15 bajillion wires and monitors, having a camera faced at your bed, and a microphone in your room so they can measure your movements, brain activity, and hear any talking you might do in your sleep.  Basically, it resulted in an absolutely horrible night's sleep.  The next morning, they tell you congratulations!  You have completed the sleep study!  Have fun trying to function on 3 hours of sleep...crappy sleep at that. 


Oh yea, here is what they did to my head. 

What is that white stuff in my hair holding the electrode sensors to my head?  Yea, that's a type of medical cement.  Cement ya'll!  Oh, but don't worry, it rinses right out with water so when you shower, it will be gone in no time!  That is, if you count 20 minutes of washing and rewashing your hair as "no time."  I think I still have some of that gunk attached to my scalp.  Made me feel like Batty from "Ferngully:"

Note the wires coming from his head.  If you haven't seen the movie, here is his "Batty Rap" for you.



Resistance is Futile.

The Small Stuff

It has been a few days since I posted, which I guess is nothing too unusual in the blogging world, but I feel disconnected now.  Things have just been a bit busy until today, yet last night and today serve as reminders to me that yes, sometimes the "small stuff" really does matter.

First, I was reminded last night to cherish the small stuff.  I have been feeling a bit stir-crazy the last couple days despite being "busy" running errands and attending various doctor and gym appointments.  The funny thing about those things is that I just don't feel fulfilled when those are completed.  Maybe it is because I don't have anything solid that I can hold in my hands afterwards except for a recommendation to have my nose broken to correct a deviated septum.  Maybe it is because it doesn't feel like any of it really affects the world as a whole like working did.  Either way, I was left feeling unaccomplished. 

My solution, informing my husband last minute that it was going to be date night.  hehe.  As you can imagine, his reaction was a tentative "um....ok?"  The impromptu date turned out fabulous and here we get back to how I was reminded to cherish the small stuff.  Dinner was great of course (greek food...so yummy), but it was the after dinner party that was so great.  We spent the next 3 hours playing ping pong and board/card games.  Cheap, yes, but so much more fulfilling then paying $20+ for a movie or something equally uninvolved.  I have not experienced anything in the last few weeks that was more fulfilling then running around a small room, running into walls, and collapsing on the floor in laughter with a paddle and ping pong ball, all in an attempt to look like I actually know what I am doing to my husband who has his own freaking custom ping pong paddle.  It was a blast.  It was a small thing in the scope of life, but it was so big to rejuvenating my spirit.

Second, I was reminded today how sweating the small stuff ahead of time leads to less stress later.  How, you ask?  Quite simple.  It was a bad arthritis day.  Stiff, painful joints + extreme fatigue = a day of sitting on the couch attempting not to move.  The never-ending question is always was triggered it this time?  I am used to cause and affect and still grasping the fact that sometimes, RA will flare with no cause at all.  Annoying.  Yet I had accomplished my "small stuff" earlier in the week so I didn't feel like the house was going to shambles because I spent a day on the couch.  There is a reason I sweat the small stuff when I am up and able-bodied -- so that I can relax when my body needs me to without worries. 

So while in some people's lives "Don't sweat the small stuff" is an excellent motto, sometimes, just the opposite is most effective.