Stemming from Gala Darling's Friday feature of various links and articles she has found on the Internet that she found interesting, I decided to do a Geek Carousel of where every Friday I post various links of stories/news in the geek fandom world that might be relevant. Hope you enjoy!
CALLING ALL MY HUNGER GAMES PEEPS: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 has found a director
Aww RIP Nyan Cat
Amazing Spiderman 2 will have Electro as its villain. Do not know if I agree.
YES! Huntress and Manhunter on the CW's Arrow!
I guess I have to start reading this series now: Locke and Key to get a three movie deal
I am not a gamer but a Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 trailer featuring ROBERT DOWNEY JR? Okay...maybe I will play. Maybe.
Some information about the Captain America sequel including the villain.
Did you participate in All Hallows Read? The Mary Sue did!
New X-Men Movie slated for 2014 to be directed by Bryan Singer. Yay?
A JACK O LANTERN THAT PLAYS TETRIS? ITS PUMPKTRIS!
Finally here is the link for my friends podcast -- NerdHerders -- which has been #1 in the ratings for the past 6 weeks. Are you listening?
That is all for this week! Make sure to check in next Friday for more Le Geek Carousel!
Friday, November 2, 2012
I Survived Hurricane Sandy
In my 34 years of living in Jersey City, New Jersey we have seen our share of bad storms. From the blizzard of 1992 and 1996 and 2010 to really bad rainstorms but nothing as horrendous and full of disaster as Hurricane Sandy was.
On Monday night around 11pm, my entire neighbourhood lost power. Complete darkness. Complete stillness. I originally blamed Paul Heyman for waiting until the last minute to announce Team Punk therefore my power went out. I have never seen my city, my hometown, in so much turmoil. The stores up the block from me were closed. The school on my corner has a generator so their lights were on as custodians cleaned it up. School for me was cancelled for the entire week meaning I now have to work until the end of June as well as my spring break might be in jeopardy. I am very glad I did not start booking my trip to Montreal, Quebec, Canada for that week now. My city had a curfew of 7pm to 7am as there were no street lights, but I did break the curfew a couple of times by just standing outside my house. My cell phone remained charged throughout the entire time I did not have power as so my computer; well it lasted up to 10 percent as I was using it to charge my phone. I, unfornuately, lost cell phone service Tuesday morning so if you wanted to get in touch with me you could not unless you had my land line phone. My mom had to cook everything in our freezer as it would have gone bad as well as use the gas stove for heat as my heat thermostat runs on electricity. Luckily the pilot lights of the hot water heater did not go out so hot showers were to be had but to stay warm my entire family and Hudson practically camped out in the kitchen for three days. We played card games, ate by candlelight, listened to the radio, read a lot of books, slept until weird hours of the afternoon. We live on a street in Jersey City that is raised so we did not experience any flooding in my house but the winds knocked out the power grid. Or so we think. We are all fine and we managed. By Thursday we were all pretty much sick of not having power but we dealt with it. To be honest, not being connected to the outside world actually felt good. Yes I made sure to get in touch with loved ones to let them know I was okay but to not have the instant gratification of social connection brought me back to high school times. I was tempted to take a shower and shave in complete darkness but was afraid of slipping and cutting myself and not see what I was doing. I saw my local chinese food delivery man deliver food on his bike with a flashlight in his mouth. Whoa.
When my power came back on, after myself saying "If Sam and Dean Winchester were here this would be fixed by now. If Sheldon were here this would be fixed by now." my entire neighbourhood started screaming in joy. It was so surreal and amazing.
But other than that I hope all of my friends are fine.
For ongoing coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy go here: CNN Ongoing Coverage
For amazing and astounding photos of the storm, go here: Hurricane Sandy Photos
On Monday night around 11pm, my entire neighbourhood lost power. Complete darkness. Complete stillness. I originally blamed Paul Heyman for waiting until the last minute to announce Team Punk therefore my power went out. I have never seen my city, my hometown, in so much turmoil. The stores up the block from me were closed. The school on my corner has a generator so their lights were on as custodians cleaned it up. School for me was cancelled for the entire week meaning I now have to work until the end of June as well as my spring break might be in jeopardy. I am very glad I did not start booking my trip to Montreal, Quebec, Canada for that week now. My city had a curfew of 7pm to 7am as there were no street lights, but I did break the curfew a couple of times by just standing outside my house. My cell phone remained charged throughout the entire time I did not have power as so my computer; well it lasted up to 10 percent as I was using it to charge my phone. I, unfornuately, lost cell phone service Tuesday morning so if you wanted to get in touch with me you could not unless you had my land line phone. My mom had to cook everything in our freezer as it would have gone bad as well as use the gas stove for heat as my heat thermostat runs on electricity. Luckily the pilot lights of the hot water heater did not go out so hot showers were to be had but to stay warm my entire family and Hudson practically camped out in the kitchen for three days. We played card games, ate by candlelight, listened to the radio, read a lot of books, slept until weird hours of the afternoon. We live on a street in Jersey City that is raised so we did not experience any flooding in my house but the winds knocked out the power grid. Or so we think. We are all fine and we managed. By Thursday we were all pretty much sick of not having power but we dealt with it. To be honest, not being connected to the outside world actually felt good. Yes I made sure to get in touch with loved ones to let them know I was okay but to not have the instant gratification of social connection brought me back to high school times. I was tempted to take a shower and shave in complete darkness but was afraid of slipping and cutting myself and not see what I was doing. I saw my local chinese food delivery man deliver food on his bike with a flashlight in his mouth. Whoa.
When my power came back on, after myself saying "If Sam and Dean Winchester were here this would be fixed by now. If Sheldon were here this would be fixed by now." my entire neighbourhood started screaming in joy. It was so surreal and amazing.
But other than that I hope all of my friends are fine.
For ongoing coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy go here: CNN Ongoing Coverage
For amazing and astounding photos of the storm, go here: Hurricane Sandy Photos
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Things I Love Thursday -- 11/1 Edition
Happy Dia De Los Muertos everyone! Yes I have survived the Frankenstorm with copious shouting of IT'S RAINY......RAINY.....RAINY!!!! in my house as well as in text messages. Thanks to all who have checked in to see that I was okay. With that said, here is what I am in love with this week.
~~This great parody of Bohemian Rhapsody. Granted I am not a gamer but Nintendo was my gaming system of choice growing up so a lot of this I did identify with. Enjoy!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Things I Love Thursday -- October 11th Edition
Happy Hallow-month everyone! I am in the midst of my Hallow-month planning. I went to Killers: Nightmare NYC haunted house last Friday. This coming weekend I plan on viewing the movies Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, and V/H/S, followed by attending New York Comic Con and NYC Zombie Crawl. So while all of that excitement is coming up, here is what I am in love with for this week.
These two videos:
~~My new heated blanket. I have learned that if I sleep with heat on me it looses up my muscles and joints.
~~Sundays in Union Square Park.
~~Being a fan of Sticky's Finger Joint before its appearance on the Food Network
~~Conversations on NYC buses.
~~Lush Cosmetics products.
~~Being able to write with a lot of noise and it not break my concentration.
~~Being happy that I embraced my geekdom/fandom and not worrying about what people think.
~~The cream Penetrex for my aching joints.
~~Adopting a new attitude at work.
~~Reading three books at the same time.
~~Thinking about my next vacation.
~~Enjoying the fall weather.
~~Trying not to cry as much when I think about my dog Sweetums.
~~My friend Veronicas parody of "Call Me Maybe. If you have not seen it/heard it, well here you go:
What are you in love with this week?
Sunday, October 7, 2012
The Fun and Joy of Having Rheumatoid Arthritis
Back in March 2012 my right knee blew up to be the size of a melon. I had it drained, filled with cortisone and Euflexxa but something was just not right. It would constantly fill up with fluid; even to the point that my left knee started to get jealous and do the same thing, After about 5 knee drains and 5 cortisone shots later, I decided to completely change my diet/eating. I have eliminated all vegetable oils but olive oil, do not eat fried foods anymore, no more baked goods, nothing with any saturated fats in it, no red meat of any kind, and limit my intake of dairy. Now while that has helped in the long run, I was still waking up in the morning with a lot of stiffness in my joints and overall pain.
My doctor decided to run some blood tests on me to make sure my liver enzymes were okay after I had my gall bladder removed back in August. Luckily that was okay, but guess what was through the roof? My rheumatoid factor. Now I bet you are asking yourself -- what is a rheumatoid factor? Well here is the clinical definition: Rheumatoid factor (RF) is the autoantibody (antibody directed against an organism's own tissues) that is most relevant in rheumatoid arthritis. It is defined as an antibody against the Fc portion of IgG. RF and IgG join to form immune complexes that contribute to the disease process. Rheumatoid factor can also be a cryoglobulin (antibody that precipitates on cooling of a blood sample); it can be either type 2 (monoclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG) or type 3 (polyclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG) cryoglobulin.
Rheumatoid factor can be of either isotype of immunoglobulins, i.e. IgA, IgG, IgM,[2] IgE,[3] IgD.[4]
Okay I know that is a bunch of science right there. Believe me I do not understand it either so here is an interpretation that I found that might help you and I understand this a little bit better. Rheumatoid factor is an immunoglobulin (antibody) which can bind to other antibodies. Antibodies are normal proteins found in the blood which function within the immune system. Rheumatoid factor though is not normally found in the general population (only found in about 1-2% of healthy people). The incidence of rheumatoid factor increases with age and about 20% of people over 65 years old have an elevated rheumatoid factor.
A blood test is used to detect the presence of rheumatoid factor. The blood test is commonly ordered to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid factor is present in 80% of adults who have rheumatoid arthritis but there is a much lower prevalence in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The incidence of rheumatoid factor increases with duration of disease in rheumatoid arthritis: at 3 months the incidence is 33%, while at one year it is 75%. Up to 20% of rheumatoid arthritis patients remain negative for rheumatoid factor (also known as "seronegative rheumatoid arthritis") throughout the course of their disease.
So while I am healthy, certain antibodies are becoming buddy buddy with one another causing my joints to get stiff and sore. Believe me -- it is a true pain with no pun intended. I see a rheumatologist this coming Friday which will help me determine if I do have RA. Right now what I do for it is I switch up taking Aleve and Turmeric followed up by rubbing various pain relief creams into my joints as well as go to physical therapy at least twice a week. Also my RA is effecting my ankles and my shoulders. It tends to work itself out throughout the day but if it is too cold or damp outside, I do feel it. I will not let this get the best of me though. I will do what I have to do to make myself feel good and happy.
My doctor decided to run some blood tests on me to make sure my liver enzymes were okay after I had my gall bladder removed back in August. Luckily that was okay, but guess what was through the roof? My rheumatoid factor. Now I bet you are asking yourself -- what is a rheumatoid factor? Well here is the clinical definition: Rheumatoid factor (RF) is the autoantibody (antibody directed against an organism's own tissues) that is most relevant in rheumatoid arthritis. It is defined as an antibody against the Fc portion of IgG. RF and IgG join to form immune complexes that contribute to the disease process. Rheumatoid factor can also be a cryoglobulin (antibody that precipitates on cooling of a blood sample); it can be either type 2 (monoclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG) or type 3 (polyclonal IgM to polyclonal IgG) cryoglobulin.
Rheumatoid factor can be of either isotype of immunoglobulins, i.e. IgA, IgG, IgM,[2] IgE,[3] IgD.[4]
Okay I know that is a bunch of science right there. Believe me I do not understand it either so here is an interpretation that I found that might help you and I understand this a little bit better. Rheumatoid factor is an immunoglobulin (antibody) which can bind to other antibodies. Antibodies are normal proteins found in the blood which function within the immune system. Rheumatoid factor though is not normally found in the general population (only found in about 1-2% of healthy people). The incidence of rheumatoid factor increases with age and about 20% of people over 65 years old have an elevated rheumatoid factor.
A blood test is used to detect the presence of rheumatoid factor. The blood test is commonly ordered to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid factor is present in 80% of adults who have rheumatoid arthritis but there is a much lower prevalence in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The incidence of rheumatoid factor increases with duration of disease in rheumatoid arthritis: at 3 months the incidence is 33%, while at one year it is 75%. Up to 20% of rheumatoid arthritis patients remain negative for rheumatoid factor (also known as "seronegative rheumatoid arthritis") throughout the course of their disease.
So while I am healthy, certain antibodies are becoming buddy buddy with one another causing my joints to get stiff and sore. Believe me -- it is a true pain with no pun intended. I see a rheumatologist this coming Friday which will help me determine if I do have RA. Right now what I do for it is I switch up taking Aleve and Turmeric followed up by rubbing various pain relief creams into my joints as well as go to physical therapy at least twice a week. Also my RA is effecting my ankles and my shoulders. It tends to work itself out throughout the day but if it is too cold or damp outside, I do feel it. I will not let this get the best of me though. I will do what I have to do to make myself feel good and happy.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sorry for My Absence
The last post I wrote on here was on September 6th when I discussed the death of my beloved best friend Sweetums. Ever since then I have not had the feeling to really write much. I have also noticed that I have not posted a Things I Love Thursday since July 19th! That is unacceptable. I need to start that feature again as I always felt good after writing it. You must be grateful; even for the tiny things in life. So this Thursday while I am in my Advanced Beginner French class at the French Institute Alliance Francaise (www.fiaf.org) a new TiLT will be posted. I also found a bunch of my old creative writing pieces that I did while in college and I am thinking of posting those too for your amusement/reading pleasure. Furthermore, I purchased a book called One Good Deed a Day. I will chronicle those too. Writing seems to be what keeps me grounded and happy so I must get back into it!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Miss You Sweetums
Sweetums is the one on the right.
This week has been very troubling and sad as my dog Sweetums passed away Tuesday morning while I was at work.My mom and dad waited until after work to tell me. We had a wake in my house and I petted her for the last time. She was in a lot of pain and could not get up at all as well as walk. Her legs just went. My brother who has weight lifted in the past would pick her up to go outside to go to the bathroom. Sweetums was a Siberian Husky/German Shepard mix and weighed close to 100 pounds. When I came home on Monday I was the last person she greeted hello. She wagged her tail and tried her best to push herself to sit up. It was so sad to see her in so much pain. She is at peace now and I hope she is burying bones in couches up in Heaven and jumping around/pouncing on chew sticks as that was her favorite activity. I miss her walking into my room in the morning and licking my elbow to wake me up as well as lying right behind me while I was on my computer. I miss her burying bones in my shoes. I just miss her period. She gave me twelve good years of unconditional love which some humans out there should learn.
For the past couple of days I have watched videos to cheer me up. Here are some of them. I hope you enjoy them.
Now if you excuse me, I need to go look at my phone for a while....
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