Under the Myrtle Tree

I'm thinking of converting to Wordpress

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:51:00 +0000

I haven't posted in over a year. I finally have the brilliant idea of searching for a blogger app. Of course there's an app for that. But guess what? It sucks. First time I used it, I thought I deleted a post. Nice.

ABCs and Garden Peas...my latest Internet blogger girl crush

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:56:00 +0000

She probably doesn't know it, but I really enjoy the blog ABCs and Garden Peas. She has similar interests as me regarding our babies (breastfeeding, babywearing, and cloth diapering to name a few), but one of the things I love is her posts about food.

I am no cook by any stretch of the imagination - I like to bake. My husband does the cooking and is fabulous at it, so why ruin a good thing? ;) But Wendy makes me wish I could cook. I love autumn and all her recipes about vegetables - vegetables! - sound delicious. (I'm no vegetarian either! I work to give my kid vegetables because it's not something I'm good at eating myself!)

I think I will just continue to admire, though, because I've tried 'cooking' and...well...I'll stick to baking.

(PS - Check out her contest! Click the button in the left sidebar)

RT @astartesstudent #whattheheckamIdoing huh?

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:17:00 +0000

I started a Twitter account last year and didn't do much with it because I didn't "get" it. Well - I got it - I just didn't have any interest.

Recently, however, I decided I wanted to start following Conan O'Brien's "tweets". I've discovered that my favorite tweets are from comedians. Twitter is the perfect outlet for those one-liners.

Still not sure I like it - the lingo and constant retweets can get old. I've had follow requests that I apparently FAILed because I see they are not listed as followers. Ah well. I guess I won't be King of Twitter.

Persons Unknown

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:48:00 +0000

This is going to be a fluff piece cuz this is my blog and that's how I roll.

Is anyone else watching the show Persons Unknown? I don't know how many times I've thought "why don't they..." or "well I would have..." yet I still can't get enough. I'm sucked in, wondering where it's all going.

Who knows, maybe I'm on the rebound from Lost. Maybe I need a bit of a quirky mystery to keep my mind spinning on something.

It appears that even the people that are running the charade are just pawns as well. And who the heck can have cameras on so many people and locations?? After seeing the fake Tori video, I have to wonder how real the Charlie video was. And the used-car-salesmen-who-isn't-really is a bit of a D-bag. Watching the jailbird attack him was fun.

Random side note: Daisy Betts, who plays Janet Cooper, appears to be Australian, judging by her work. Normally I can detect an Australian accent hidden in a fake American accent (even Anthony LaPaglia occasionally says a word or two with an Aussie accent even though he speaks with an American accent off camera), but her American accent is awesome! I had no clue.

Wait...an Australian...a child who shouldn't be raised by another...a young blonde party girl...a male lead with a buzz cut...a mysterious location in the middle of nowhere with Others....MLIL.

Attachment Parenting: Look! The Okinawans Are Doing It!

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:48:00 +0000

I'm sorry, I don't even know if Okinawan is a word. Do you ever notice that the people of Okinawa seem to have everything figured out? They always come up in news stories about how to be healthy, the best foods to eat, how to be happy, etc. Well, turns out they're baby experts too.

I recently (well, all right a while ago, but life gets busy!) read an article called Baby Wearing & Bed Sharing: The Scandal of Attachment Parenting from the blog The Fashionable Housewife. I enjoyed it because it gave a level-headed, historical discussion of Attachment Parenting, rather than the weak, over-indulgent reputation Attachment Parenting can have. I was fascinated by the section discussing the way babies and children were cared for in World War II Okinawa, where there were virtually no mental health issues. "Affection was liberally given to all children of all ages" - where did the idea of spoiling a baby come from? The Puritans? I saw a quote once somewhere in teh Internets that you can spoil a baby with THINGS - you CANNOT spoil a baby with LOVE. No, you're not going to hold the baby too much. No, the baby is not going to cry more if you respond when it cries (in fact, he or she will cry less). No, it does not mean that your child will not learn rules, morals, independence, or confidence (AP children tend to show more independence and confidence, and have a greater sense of boundaries). I wouldn't ignore a loved one who was crying - why would I ignore my own child?

I still wear my baby even though he is getting rather big! I have a Babyhawk mei tai and an ergo. We both enjoy when I carry him, and it has in no way impacted his independence. He still loves to explore, venture away from me (I could hardly keep up with him at the local library), and is quite good at being mobile, from walking to "running" to kicking or throwing a ball. We just like being close occasionally, just like we might enjoy hugging our friends or holding our partners. Nurturing touch is just human nature.

Attachment parents often seem to be portrayed as weak, indulgent, spoiling their children, "hippies", whatever, but I think it actually takes a certain amount of strength to parent in a way that seems to go against today's "hard" society. Attachment Parenting is not about giving in - it's about treating your children with the respect and attention they deserve as individuals in order to grow and thrive. My natural instinct has always been to try to understand my child's needs through his eyes and understand his instinct for survival from the beginning - it makes it pretty obvious that children are not being difficult or manipulative the way some adults claim. Learning about the ways human offspring react and develop, as well as discovering Attachment Parenting, has confirmed to me that my instincts are normally spot on where my son is concerned. I don't follow every principle of AP to a T, but I do strive to treat my son with dignity and make sure he knows he can count on me to be there at all times. I see this as simply building a strong foundation of trust that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

I hope this all made sense. I've been working on this post for a while when I have moments here and there. I was using principles of Attachment Parenting before I even knew it had a name, so it was nice to find a whole theory that was along the same lines as my own thinking. It just seems to make sense to treat my child with the same (or more!) love and respect that I would treat an adult in my life and hope to receive in return.

How did I get here?

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:07:00 +0000

Do you ever think about how you ended up where you are?

When I was in college, I started with an Environmental Science major. Like every other college students, I changed my mind and decided I didn't want to save the planet - I wanted to speak French. All the time. I was good at it and it seemed so intriguing to be able to speak a different language.

Then I got practical. I was pursuing French and Mathematics, two things I did well in and liked. But one semester I had to make a choice between a class that would lead to a French degree and one that would lead to a Math degree. Not wanting to become a high school French teacher, I chose the Math class.

But then I discovered Computer Programming! I took a Programming class as part of my Math degree and loved it. I aced every test (or close to it :P), loved every class, didn't excel in every lab, but who cares! Yet by now, changing majors again was just not an option. At least not if I wanted to finish on time. So I stuck with my trusty Math major.

Fast forward to my current job, which is not specifically in any of those disciplines but has brought me back to programming. I will be doing more programming soon and am eager to delve back into that methodical world. Funny how I can end up doing something I wanted to do in the first place, in a completely roundabout way.

And then it all gets me thinking about past relationships, without which I would not be where I am now - I love where I am now. So regardless of how I may feel about those past relationships, I will always be grateful that they led me here. But that's a whole other post....

you will have been all of these

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:00 +0000

Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and wrong. Some time in life, you will have been all of these.

- Robert H Goddard

I really like this quote because it is something I aspire to. I may not be religious, but I can guarantee that I try to be considerate of others and conscious of my choices and will raise my child to do the same.

I bring up religion because it seems to come up a lot lately, especially in politics. I will never understand why calling yourself religious or claiming to be a member of a particular faith equates to "being a good person" in the minds of some people. Religion doesn't make you a good person. Going to church doesn't make you a good person. Being tender, compassionate, sympathetic, and tolerant can make you a good person. Your actions determine the person you are.

Oh I'll touch him Ricky. I'll touch him wherever I want.

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:33:00 +0000

A commenter on my previous Macgruber post reminded me about the Macgruber movie being made, and I must say, it looks QUITE AWESOME. Powers Boothe, Val Kilmer, Ryan Phillipe...what an awesomely bizarre cast.

Click here to go to the YouTube page or watch below:

The Needs of Children

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:30:00 +0000

I need to update my blogroll a bit. One of the blogs I currently follow is PhD in Parenting. The author and I have quite a few beliefs in common, so I usually enjoy what she has to say.

The blog entry Child's Hierarchy of Needs was really interesting to me. I liked the hierarchy she came up with:

As she points out, our children are dependent on us to meet those needs. I have always felt that children are not as manipulative as some adults seem to think - that if you put yourself in their shoes and fully realize (or remember) how it feels to rely on someone else for everything, perhaps their actions would be a bit more understandable.

Macgruber for the 21st Century

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:08:00 +0000

The last SNL had Charles Barkley doing a few Macgruber sketches with Will Forte. Hilarious!

Macgruber!

Making lifesaving inventions out of household materials

Macgruber!

Gettin in and out of ultra sticky situations

Macgruber!

He has a black employee now!

MACGRUBER!

__________

Macgruber!

His harmless little joke really got him into trouble

Macgruber!

He had to take some #%*@ing class because of stupid corporate bs

Macgruber!

He makes his jokes in private now!

MACGRUBER!

__________

Macgruber!

He took a couple months off and he did lots of soul searching

Macgruber!

He spent some time in Africa and learned about their culture

Macgruber!

He's facebook friends with Spike Lee now!

MACGRUBER!

Mailing Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:29:00 +0000

Since I do so much on my BlackBerry these days, I'm really noticing how many mailing lists I'm on - especially for things I don't really care about. I've joined tons just to be notified of travel specials, get the introductory coupon or discount, or 'just in case something comes along I'll be interested in'. I no longer need to be notified of travel specials, find coupons and discounts easily when I need them, and, well, how often does something really come along that makes me think 'gosh that one email made the other 3 billion worth it!'? I've managed to clutter my phone, as well as my email inbox since I don't check it regularly, with junk mail after junk mail.

Time for a little clean up (read: unsubscribing).

NaNoWriMo

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:12:00 +0000

So I joined NaNoWriMo. Think I've written anything? NoNoNoNo.

I mean, really, have you seen my blog lately?!

I'm hoping to change all that.

www.nanowrimo.org/

maybe

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:25:00 +0000

Maybe one of these days I'll start posting again...

Click here to view email

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Now that I've had my BlackBerry permanently attached to my hand, I have a small issue. Not with the BB necessarily, but with some of the mailing lists I subscribe to.

I have the Gmail app on my phone. To save space, etc., it only prints the first ? number of characters in an email and no images. Links show up if they're an address, not text with a link attached. In Gmail on the computer, you see all the fancy graphics and text for the email, along with the "Click here to view on your PDA" where "here" is clickable.

On my BB, I see plain text saying "Click here to view on your PDA" and plain footer or header text.

I don't know, maybe there's a workaround that I'm too lazy to find. I just find it funny everytime I see the "Click here to view on your PDA" with no clickable link on my BB. If you want people to be able to view it from their PDA or smartphone, try actually making it possible to do so. :D

Fun with Venus, the Moon, and a Shower on April 22

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

On the morning of April 22, a few fun things will be happening in the heavens!

Earth will pass through the Lyrid meteor shower. It's the trail of Comet Thatcher.

At the same time, the crescent moon will be converging with Venus. In some areas, Venus will seem to disappear as it is blocked from view by the moon.

Read the NASA article here.

So Sad

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:46:00 +0000

I watch a lot of CNN and local news during middle-of-the-night and early morning feedings, and I saw a recent item that I thought was really sad.

There has been an increase in child abuse recently, and people are speculating that it's due to stress from the current economic situation.

Abuse of children and animals really gets to me because all it means is some coward is picking on a smaller and easier target. It sounds sort of dumb when I put it that way but oh well. I don't even think spanking is appropriate.

Anyway, I just had to mention this because I found it really sad. Kids aren't at fault for the economy. :/

Go Orange For the ASPCA

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:31:00 +0000

It's that time of year again! Wear orange on the ASPCA's 143rd birthday this Friday, April 10, to show your support for the ASPCA. April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month, so lots of events are going on to promote good treatment of animals, such as a photo contest, bake sales, and landmarks going orange.

You can get this Go Orange Kit to wear throughout the month to show your support as well.

Steven Wright's Baby Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Steven Wright recently did the opening opening monologue (that quick bit before the show starts) on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. My favorite bit was this line from what a baby's journal would say:

"Day 1: Still tired from the move."

Ahh...still makes me laugh.

Because I don't want to disappear

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:22:00 +0000

I never meant to stop blogging just because I had a baby. I've skipped over numerous interesting NASA items, quotes, seasonal items, and other topics that made me think "I should blog about that"...and yet my blog sits silent. Good grief.

So while I turn into a suburban-mother-with-no-time-on-my-hands, I'll just go through some things that I'd like to do now that it's spring. Spring is like a new year anyway - it makes more sense to start new when the rest of the natural world is starting new, rather than in the middle of death, stagnation, and hibernation. :P

I need to work on the yard. Now that I'm not feeling sick and/or carrying all that extra weight, maybe I can get something done and not pass it off to someone else. There's lots of cleanup to do, roses to prune (I missed Presidents Day :/), and planning for the garden.

I should get back into yoga. I'm sure it would help the constant aching from carrying around a hefty baby, as well as give me some time to myself. I have a hard time taking time for myself because I seriously want to spend every moment taking care of the baby...or sleeping! But I'm sure that's not good for me and it's running my body down anyway.

I have a few books to read. I got Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Audacity of Hope in the same shopping trip. Heh. There's another book I want to read upon recommendation of another new mother friend, Allie at Wardrobe Oxygen, but I have to go look it up again because my mommy brain does not remember what it was.

I suppose it doesn't help that I don't get on the computer much for anything other than work lately. And I used to live on that darn machine! But I'll exchange it for the little one anytime. I still manage to catch my favorite shows like Lost and Heroes, and I have plenty of opinions about them, so I could write about that too!

So I hope to get back to blogging from time to time. I need to stop putting it off when I see so many things about why I heart the internets or what I want to do in the yard or what I find so fascinating about motherhood. If I only had the time. :)

Square Root Day

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:49:00 +0000

As a math degree-holder, I feel obliged to share that it's Square Root Day!

Ha!

you may be the world

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:56:00 +0000

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

-Heather Cortez

Really nice quote, especially now that I am a parent. I got it from this Mutts comic strip.

A couple fun space items...a little too late

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:08:00 +0000

I meant to blog about these earlier because I think the peak time for both has passed but oh well. :/ Maybe there will be some cool images online.

Comet Lulin
Comet Lulin is green! It was supposed to be the brightest on the 24th (today), but maybe it's still visible. Or check out these links:
NASA article
Photo Gallery

Saturn's moons
Also on the 24th, 4 of Saturn's moons will cross in front so you can see their shadows on the planet.
NASA article

I'm back...with MACGRUBER!

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Ok, it's been a while. I've been off having babies and the like. What better way to come back than with Macgruber lyrics?? I finally recorded an SNL with Macgruber sketches so I could write down all the lyrics from the theme song. These are from the SNL with Josh Brolin.

Macgruber!

Making lifesaving inventions outta household materials

Macgruber!

He's been dabbling in the market and he doesn't use a broker

Macgruber!

He hasn't checked his stocks in months!
MACGRUBER!
______

Macgruber!

The market's in a free fall and he lost all his money

Macgruber!

They repossessed his houseboat and he had to pawn his saxophone

Macgruber!

Toilet paper is a luxury now!
MACGRUBER!
_______

He tried to sell his blood but it's tainted with heroin

Macgruber!

He's sleepin on the beach and stealin car stereos

Macgruber!

He's running out of options!
MACGRUBER!

Now I didn't record the most recent SNL with Steve Martin...but the Pepsuber sketches were hilarious! Even more so when I hear the last one actually turned out to be a Pepsi ad during the Superbowl. ;)

Man Guesses Exact Showcase Amount on The Price is Right

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:59:00 +0000

So I was watching The Price is Right this morning and saw the unexpected. The man guessed the exact amount of the showcase - $23,743. As a former math geek (I say former because I've forgotten most of the good stuff), I'd love to know what the odds are for someone to guess an unusual number like that and be right. In other words, I'm waiting to find out that he cheated in some way.

Then again, I haven't watched The Price is Right in a while, and yet I happen to watch the day that this occurs. But still....

I've seen a few places around the 'net talking about this, including this blog entry from Best Week Ever (with video).

What do you think?

Adopt a Wild Koala

noreply@blogger.com (Astarte's Student) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:53:00 +0000

The Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, Australia, allows people both in Australia and internationally to adopt a sick or injured wild koala. When the koalas are rehabilitated, they are returned to the wild when possible. When you adopt a koala, you'll get a picture of him or her and a story about him or her, among other things.

Kind of a nice idea for a gift!