Apple Wireless Keyboard

My brother gave me my wireless keyboard last night. It's small, sleek and AWESOME! It matches my iPad perfectly. It was very easy to set up. With help from my sis-in-law and a few clicks of buttons I was ready to go. (My dad in the background stressing me out telling me I broke it when I tried to open it up to see if there were batteries in it.) This is more like it. I can type up a storm with this. Typing using the touch screen was fine but I was missing a lot of features an actual keyboard has. Like the arrow buttons. Something as simple as the arrow up and down buttons makes a huge difference. I'm so much less frustrated now when I type. Thanks brother dear!

Poker Face

Ok. So, I'm trying to gather my thoughts. Someone the other day, who shall remain nameless, asked me how many letters there were in my language. If you haven't guessed already I'm Filipino from the Philippine Islands. I was born there and then came to the United States when I was just a wee little thing but I was there long enough to learn two dialects fluently but of course now can no longer speak them, unfortunately. I told him our alphabet is very similar to the English alphabet. As a child in the PI I remember learning my ABCs. (I just learned recently that the modern Philippine alphabet contains 28 letters which includes the basic 26 letters of the basic modern Latin alphabet, the Spanish ñ and the filipino ng) Drum roll please...so he continues to ask why does our language sound like we are saying "ping pong" all the time. I tried so hard to not burst out laughing. I was proud of myself I kept a poker face during the entire conversation. In answer to his question I gave him a quick rundown of our history. As far as I can tell listening to my family speak and other Filipinos speak I've never gotten the impression that our language sounded like "ping pong". Unless of course you count the times when my father would challenge me to a game of ping pong when I was a child. Another ignorant fool in our midst.

Coffee Date

I had coffee with a couple of my best buds tonight. It was good to see them. I really have to make a point of seeing them more often. It's hard when we all have such busy schedules. Good friends are few and far between.

Yesterday (Saturday)

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I spent the entire day at my brother's and sister-in-law's place. We were having a BBQ to wish our parents Bon voyage. My parents are retired so they spend part of their time here in the U.S. and the other in the Philippines. The weather was gorgeous and the pool was glistening. I met for the first time my parents senior citizen friends. Now that my parents have so much free time they hang out at the mall with their buddies, watch movies at the theater, go ballroom dancing and wait you won't believe this, they go clubbing. Yes, they go clubbing. My parents are more hip than I am. It's too cute. I told them "Hey what is this? Role reversal or something? When I was a teenager I would take every chance I could get to go and hang out at the mall with my friends. Now you guys are doing it while I'm slaving away at work." Funny how things work out that way. We all did shots of Don Julio, my dad's favorite drink. I think I did about about 3-4 shots with my dad. I can't remember. I was definitely feeling good. My nieces and nephew were having a blast swimming and hanging out in the hot tub. They were in heaven. I sold an iPad. One of my sister-in-laws parents were hanging out with me by the pool and they watched me playing with my iPad. I showed them all the nifty things they could do with it and after they left the BBQ they went straight to the store to buy one. Awesome! And I think my brother's friend's boyfriend is also a contender. He was definitely considering it by the time they left. One of my brother's gave me my magnetic cover for my iPad last week and he told me yesterday that it's my early birthday present. I was like "Hey, not fair." but considering the cost of the cover I'll accept it. So, hey brother dear, if you read this, you don't need to get me a birthday gift this year. So, you better read this or you're still on the hook. Hahaha... And my other brother is going to get me a wireless keyboard (right?) and if he does he's off the hook for a birthday gift too.  I feel like we have gotten so much closer as a family these last few years.  My daughter was there, as well.  I think all in all she had a good time.  We ended the day with a bonfire in their fire pit and sat around roasting marshmallows and just chillin'.  I love all of you guys that includes my whole familia! And that's not drunk talk!

What the...?

There is this young person I know, whom I feel really sorry for.  She must have really deep psychological issues of insecurity.  She confronted me today because of something someone else said to her.  Accusing me of talking about her behind her back and that we are all colluding to get her.  Please, like she is so important in my life that I would waste one second of my time to talk about her in the negative sense.  Whenever someone brought her up I would always respond in the positive.  It totally threw me for a loop.  I was like "What the...?"  What ever issues she has, it's with the person that she seems to have a problem with and NOT with me.  Well, she lost a supporter today because if she can turn so quickly to think that I would betray her then obviously she's not worth knowing.  I always thought highly of her and listened when she needed someone to talk to.  I thought of her like a daughter or younger sister because we've all been there.  We've all had to nagivigate the rough waters of reality.  Well, I'm no longer on her side that's all I have to say about that.  And now it's time for me to go.  I've got a party to get to.

Legend of The Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

Ok, so this morning when I woke up I turned on the TV to add some background noise while I got ready for work. I was on Netflix scrolling thru the movies trying to find one interesting enough to wake me up when low and behold I found one of Donnie Yen's movies. "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen". Can I just say AWESOME! If you like movies that are just plain entertaining and kick ass this is one you should definitely watch. The martial arts scenes are well, let's just say Donnie Yen does not disappoint. I watched half of the movie this morning and finished it off at lunch. Wow!

Of course you know that Bruce Lee played this character (Chen Zhen) first right? In Fist of Fury.

NARUTO!!!

Naruto!  Where are you?  You came into my life, stayed for two seasons and then disappeared as if you'd never been.  Netflix, bring me my Naruto back.  I miss him so!!!  Sigh...  I'll wait patiently until you come back to me.

Atomic Web

If you're new to the iPad experience like me and are trying to navigate thru all the different app choices out there I would recommend one of the apps you purchase is the Atomic Web. It's $0.99 of greatness. It's a web browser very similar to your desktop or laptop web browser. Lot's of features...like TABS! I was really missing that when I started surfing on my iPad.

25th Annual San Francisco AIDS Walk

I'm at the Aids Walk in San Francisco. It's a little overcast but a wonderful turnout in general. Tons of people with lots of positive energy. Families with little ones, coworkers and friends all gathering today for the 25th Annual AIDS Walk. My dog Talon is having a marvelous time barking endlessly at people, getting fed hotdogs and being petted by everyone around. Sadly it's the last time our company is going to actively participate in the charity. Every year the employee participation is dwindling so it's no longer cost effective for us to be here. I'm very sad about it because it's a wonderful event and we have a great time being here. Great music, good food and interesting people. Don't get me wrong we are still donating to the charity but we will no longer be physically here. C'est la vie as they say but if 100 people sign up and only half actually show the cost of food, time and effort goes to waste. As I said before, I'm disappointed but what can I do.

Look at my little buddy.  Isn't he adorable!  I just love him!

iPad2

My mom and dad bought me and my siblings iPad2's. Awesome!!! 64 GB, Wi-Fi & 3G of pure fun.  Can I get a Woop Woop! With the help of my siblings I got mine finally set up because I'm technologically challenged. Actually the truth of the matter is my apple laptop is just plain old and I couldn't download the most current version of iTunes. That's my reason and I'm sticking to it. Yups, uh huh. Well, now I'm just having a good ole time playing with it. How do you think I'm writing this blog...on my iPad of course. I tried out that FaceTime. Boy, I definitely need to wear make up while I'm on that thing because I looked downright awful. No one needs to see me look like that. I guess I don't need my laptop anymore. Thank goodness. It was running on it's last leg.

Finally - My Eczema Treatment

I’m sure all of the eczema sufferers out there have heard of phototherapy or light therapy from your doctor, research online, word of mouth, etc…  The doctor’s typically recommend UV phototherapy for extreme eczema conditions.  (I am UV phobic.  I equate the darkening of my skin to premature aging, age spots, wrinkles, skin cancer, etc…) Light therapy has been used to treat a number of skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, jaundice, acne as well as sleep disorders and some psychiatric disorders.  I wanted to find a natural, pain-free treatment that didn’t consist of taking pills or using some sort of steroid cream/ointment on my skin.  During my research I discovered light therapy but I’m talking about a specific wavelength of light.  The wavelength of light that I preferred and that I ended up doing a lot of research on was the Red LED light (660 nm).  There are several wavelengths of visible light (400 – 700 nm; colors ranging from violet to red) but the 660 nm (red light) seems to be the most promising due to its safety, healing and light penetrating benefits.  This particular wavelength of light contains no UV rays so it will not damage your skin.  It kills bacteria on the skin and penetrates it enough to heal damaged skin cells; it does nothing to the healthy cells.  After all the articles I’ve read about this particular wavelength I believed it would help me with my skin condition.

There are a lot of overpriced products out there that sell this particular wavelength or at least close to this wavelength for beauty enhancement or as an anti-aging product which I feel minimizes the credibility of this treatment.  After watching an infomercial of one of these overpriced units it puts doubts in your head as to whether or not this product is legitimate.  I do believe that because the Red LED light does heal damaged cells there is truth beneath the hype.

NASA initially discovered the benefits of the Red LED lights while doing research on plants and from there went on to discover that it helped patients suffering from cancer.  I’ve attached links from the NASA website for your perusal.

Nasa News Release 2003

Nasa Spinoff 2005

I did not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a product that may or may not work.  So, I found an alternative.  I made my own.  I bought a Red LED light bulb from Amazon.com (approx. $40).  They sell the 660 nm wavelength I was looking for; make sure to purchase the bulb that includes free eye goggles (you want to use the goggles every time you do a treatment).  (I would not recommend buying any light bulb with an infrared wavelength.  God only knows what that would do to your skin.)  What’s great about an LED light bulb is that it does not generate heat so there is no need for concern with burning your skin but you do not want to look at it directly because it may damage your eyes.  I then bought an adjustable gooseneck lamp with a clamp base at Target ($12).  The bulb screws right into the lamp perfectly.  You might also want to buy an egg timer if you don’t have one already.  It’s good to use the timer to time your treatment in case you fall asleep because I’ve done that on several occasions.  Like I said before, it’s very therapeutic.  (The instructions I’m about to give are instructions for using the treatment on my face because that is where I have eczema but you could use it for anywhere on your body as well.)

Before doing the therapy prep your skin:

1.  I typically wash my face with a non-soap facial cleanser using a soft wet washcloth in circular motions to remove any dead skin cells so that there are no barriers between the light and my skin.  That way the light can penetrate as deeply as it possibly can.

2.  While my face is damp I rub oil evenly all over my face.  I prefer either 100% Argan oil or coconut oil but some people like olive oil, vitamin E oil, etc…  Use whatever makes you comfortable if not oil use a preferred moisturizer.  I have tried the treatment without any oil on my skin; straight after washing and it was so uncomfortable that I had to stop mid-treatment to put oil on. I wait a few minutes for my skin to absorb the oil before continuing.

3.  Wrap a scarf or towel around your neck to protect your thyroids.  The light might cause issues with the thyroids although they have said that it doesn’t penetrate the skin deep enough to reach the thyroids but it’s better to be cautious.

Now there are several ways you can do the treatment once you are ready:

A.  One way to do it is to clamp the lamp on to your bed’s headboard, lay down underneath it pointing the lamp towards your face a few inches away.  Another way is to clamp it to a table and point the lamp towards your face a few inches away for a total of 15 minutes.  If the light doesn’t encompass your whole face you might have to do one side of your face at a time.  I prefer clamping it to my headboard and lying down with the light shining on my face.  It’s the most comfortable position.  (Don’t forget the goggles.)

B.  Make sure you set the egg timer just in case.  I’ve never gone beyond the 15 minutes.  Leave it on too long and you might cancel any benefits that you may have achieved.  You might also want to try to use it for 5 minutes the first few treatments if 15 minutes is too uncomfortable for the beginners.

Another way I like to use it is by laying the mouth of the lamp directly on my face and moving it to different areas every 5 minutes making sure I don’t use it in one area for too long.

You can use it every day or every other day or once a week, whatever works for you.  I used it every day for about a week and a half but after the eczema had receded from most of my face I started using it every couple of days.  I’m pretty much eczema free now.  Knock on wood.  Hopefully I can keep it at bay and will not relapse.  My skin feels soft, smooth and looks absolutely fabulous, in my opinion.

You can customize your treatment to your own preference just remember the importance of protecting your eyes and thyroids.  Below I’ve added a few more links to just some of the information I’ve read.  There are tons of websites for the Red LED Light but you have to separate the adds/gimmicks from the real information.  I really hope this helps you as much as it did me.  As far as I can tell there are no negative side effects to using the Red LED Light as long as you use it correctly.

Wikipedia - Light Therapy

Ehow - Blue & Red Light Therapy

Heelspurs - LED Light Therapy

MI-5

I've been watching MI-5, a British show based on the British Secret Service in the U.K.  I'm on episode 51.  I can't stop watching it, one episode after the other.  There are 80 episodes total on Netflix.  It is heartstoppingly good.  A lot of suspense, action, espionage, deals and double deals.  Not to mention the hot spies or spooks as they are sometimes called.  The show is very intelligently done with the right amount of high tech gadgets, sex appeal and interesting plots that make it so very believable that I wouldn't be surprised if the events were based on real life facts.  The acting is superb as well as the characters.  They give you enough insight into the characters personality and personal lives to give you a sense of knowing them and caring about what happens to them.  I highly recommend this show to all of you Netflix streamers out there if you haven't seen it already.

Have a Great 4th of July Everyone!