talking tip?

had lunch with an old friend this week.  she's got a 1 year old kid who doesn't talk very much.  they think it's because the parents and caregivers anticipate his every need so he never has to express himself with words.  she also said that boys are typically slower to speak than girls.  what do you think?  do you think that if the parents weren't so attentive that the kid would talk more?  it sounds like a reasonable theory to me.

drain tip

guess who got a bunch of hairstoppers recently?!  they're great and so much better than the daiso copper sieves i was previously using.  the copper would freaking oxidize and the holes would clog up.  now the shower has a plastic hairstopper.  oh, i'm so excited about washing my hair today.

craft show tip

the harvest festival is this weekend in san mateo.  i might go tomorrow, or i might just do my laundry. 

warmth tip

sometimes wearing the sweater is too warm and not wearing it is too cold.  in those instances, just pull your arms out of the sweater and have your head through the neck hole.  you can tie the arms around your neck for a weird looking scarf.  ah, the perfect temperature.  hurrah!

lotion tip

oooo, jergens feels pretty nice.  it's smelly though.  the paper towels here suck the moisture right out of your hands!

blender tip

have you heard of the immersion blender?  i'd seen them before but never used them.  yesterday their awesomeness factor was pointed out to me.  with the traditional blender, you put stuff in the blender and pour it into a pot and cook it.  then you have to wash the blender which is a total pain in the ass.  with the immersion blender you just stick the thing in the pot and blend from there!  that immersion blender looks a ton easier to wash than the traditional blender. 

flu shot tip

you can get a seasonal flu shot at . . . pak n save/safeway.  it costs $30.  does anyone else think it's really weird they're offering SHOTS at a supermarket?

textbooks tip

rarely can you find textbooks at a public library.  typically they're just too specialized for the general public.  try going to an academic library.

tv tip

looking for a GREAT show to watch?  try mad men.  it's super interesting and funny.  my favorite scene so far is when the mom calls her kids over and her daughter is wearing a plastic laundry bag over her head.  of course the viewer expects the mom to pull the bag over the child's head for fear of suffocation.  but instead, you get, "if i find my dresses on the floor, you're going to be in big trouble missy!"  the main dude is an ad exec on madison avenue in the 60's and . . . everyone smokes.

surfing bart tip

i've been surfing bart--that's when you're standing but not holding onto anthing.  the last two days i've avoid touching any of the handholds on the train.  the trick is to have your legs slightly spread apart and at angles.  also, bend your knees so you don't just topple over. 

flu shot tip

don't know how accurate this is but people under 50 are the most susceptible to swine flu.  the over 50 crowd have probably been exposed to enough viruses to withstand the *gasp* epidemic.

free show tip

Hey, want to see a free show?  There's "Free Night of Theater 2009!"

 

http://www.tixbayarea.org/

 

Some of the tickets aren't available until later this month but others you can certainly book now.

mooncake tip

happy mid autumn moon festival!  get the mooncakes with yolks.  they've got single yolk, double yolks and sometimes even quadruple yolks.  best flavor is white lotus seed.

eyebrows tip

the reason you shouldn't shave your eyebrows is because the skin underneath hasn't been exposed to sun and is ass white.  plus, once your brows start growing in again, it's stubbly like a beard above your eye.

parental relationship tip

just read a very interesting article about how people who have good relationships with their parents tend to have good relationships with their partners as well.  we're programmed to have a fight or flight response.  when interacting with parents, if we don't get along, we usually fight about it or get pissed and leave the situation.  same thing tends to happen with our partners:  a disagreement occurs and we either yell or avoid the unpleasant issues.  either way, problem doesn't get solved.

mask tip

according to my travel nurse, face masks work for about 10 minutes for keep out germs.  after that, the moisture from you breathing in and out actually acts as a trap for germs/bacteria/viruses.  scary, right?

vietnamese food tip

tray of cold vietnamese spring rolls costs $3, but if you go later in the afternoon, it costs $2.50.

cantaloupe tip

ripe cantaloupe has a softer "belly button" and it smells really good.

fruit tip

buy fruit on monday and let it ripen to eat on wednesday or thursday.  then buy more fruit on saturday to eat on monday or tuesday.

don't be picky tip

went to farmer's market today and wanted a cookie.  i saw there were some broken cookies so i said that i'd take one of the broken cookies.  the lady gave me 2 free broken cookies along with my 1 paid one.