These days, I wish I had the luxury of time to clean our house. It bothers me a lot to see things in disarray. But with all the important things to be done, prioritization is now the key.
Speaking of disarray, some garage storage cabinets would be really nice to put things in proper order. Maybe I'll include that in my wishlist for the coming holidays. :)
October is also National Physical Therapy Month, as declared by the American Physical Therapy Association. This year, they are focusing on the US’ obesity epidemic. The theme for National PT Month is “Physical Therapy: The Science of Healing. The Art of Caring.”
According to a recent study conducted by the Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention, obesity rates continued their climb in 31 states last year. Health officials say the latest state rankings provide evidence that the nation has a public health crisis on its hands. Last year, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited evidence that found that more than 22 percent of Americans did not engage in any physical activity in the previous month.
A lack of exercise is a major contributing factor to obesity rates. “People who are overweight or obese must follow an appropriate exercise program that includes aerobic conditioning and avoids exercise that can lead to injury,” notes Terry Michel, PT, DPT, DSc, CCS, a physical therapist at Boston’s Mass General Hospital. “Physical therapists will typically recommend a low-impact form of weight training, such as exercise bands that help avoid excessive joint stress, and modified yoga stretches and Tai Chi for promoting flexibility and relaxation,” she adds.
What is the Physical Therapist’s role in fighting obesity?
Physical therapists play dual roles in the fight against obesity. One is to help prevent obesity and maintain weight loss by developing fitness plans that promote the ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent disability for both adults and children. The other is for people who are already overweight or obese. The physical therapist can balance the progression of the exercise prescription with the need for joint protection and safety during exercise.
In addition, physical therapists are aware that overweight and obese individuals might have experienced past failures with exercise and can truly understand the difficulties these individuals might encounter.
I received this appeal in my inbox yesterday. Maybe you guys also have. This is clearly another case of discrimination against us Filipinos (especially those in the healthcare industry). Read on to find out more.
Dear Kababayan and Allies:
I heard through the grapevine about a remark made on an episode of "Desperate Housewives" last night. The scene entailed Teri Hatcher's character (Susan) at a hospital, being told by her gynecologist that she might be hitting menopause. Susan replied, "Can I just check those diplomas because I just want to make sure that they are not from some med school in the Philippines. " If you go to abc.com, you watch the full episode and witness the scene at about 18:50 minutes into the episode.
This type of derogatory remark is not only unnecessary and hurtful, but is also unfounded, considering the presence of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the health care industry. Filipinos are the second largest immigrant population in the United States, with many entering the U.S. and passing their U.S. licensing boards as doctors, nurses, and medical technicians. In fact, the Philippines produces more U.S. nurses than any other country in the world. So, to belittle the education, experience, or value of Filipino Americans in healthcare is disrespectful and plain and simply ignorant.
As Filipino Americans, we need to band together to ensure that this type of hateful message is not allowed to continue on our television and radio airwaves. Given the recent amounts of media attention that has been given to Michael Richards (against African Americans), Isaiah Washington (against gays), and Rosie O'Donnell (against Asian/Chinese Americans), it is ridiculous that this type of hateful speech made it through various screenwriters, the show's producers, the show's actors, and ABC itself. Yet, this isn't the first time that negative remarks have been made about the Philippines or Filipinos in the past. In recent years, we've heard one too many "dogeater" comments by "comedian" Joan Rivers on the red carpet or in her standup act, and I believe that it is about time that we stand up for ourselves, so that this type of hateful speech never happens again.
Please join me in expressing your concern, disappointment, and/or disgust to the producers of ABC.com. You can sign the petition here or you can reach them directly at abc7@abc.com.
And please feel free to forward this widely to other Filipinos/Filipino Americans/Asian Americans and other allies.
Sincerely, Kevin Nadal, Filipino Performance Artist/Activist knadal@gmail. com
And here's a clip of that infamous scene on YouTube...
Tsk, tsk! What were these scriptwriters thinking when they included such a comment in the said episode? And why pick on Filipinos? Some people are just so prejudiced and ignorant! Alright, enough said. Time for us to start signing that petition!
Ultimate Pros, a leading mobile marketing agency for the sports industry, and GoLive! Mobile, a provider of mobile content technology solutions in the U.S, recently announced the launch of a comprehensive mobile strategy for Ultimate Fighter Rich Franklin and the American Fighter brand. Fans of Rich Franklin will now be able to download exclusive Rich Franklin content to their cell phones, including ringtones, wallpapers and video, directly from the Rich Franklin Mobile Storefront located at http://franklin.golivemobile.com/.
While the Mobile Storefront is currently only available for subscribers of U.S wireless carriers, the companies plan to internationalize the project over the coming months.According to company officials at GoLive! Mobile, who provided the technology platform for the project,a wide array of future sms marketing initiatives are also being planned for Rich Franklin and Team American Fighter. These include a Mobile Fan Club and other initiatives.
Ultimate Pros is a multimedia sports marketing and digital rights management company that presents individual premier professional athlete branded offerings to the athletes’ fan base through a variety of Internet and cellular phone entertainment applications, including wireless gaming, ring tones, mobile fan clubs and other customized content.The Company also utilizes its relationships with premier professional athletes to offer consumers autographed and authenticated memorabilia, such as jerseys, balls, and photos.
Image sources: gandangpinay.com
She's got one of the prettiest faces among new stars today. Ehra Madrigal, who appears in GMA's shows has become one of my instant celebrity-crushes. It was only recently that I found out that my friend used to be her classmate. Hmm, lucky friend of mine!
MD: Susan, I know for a lot of women the word menopause has negative connotations. They hear aging, brittle bones, loss of sexual desire… Susan: Before you go any further, can I check those diplomas? I would just like to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines…
I am sure this episode of Desperate Housewives was alluding to the Nursing Boards brouhaha in the country, but to say it like the entire show (yes the entire show, meaning producers, writers, directors, actors, and whoever has anything to do with it) means to undermine the capabilities of Filipino and Philippine-trained medical professionals is more revolting than Susan/Teri’s harassment by the idea of menopause. For a show with an international following, including desperate housewives in the Philippines and such who feel like they can actually empathize with the show’s femme fatales, I believe they have an obligation to take into account the cultural sensitivities of their audience. I’m not being balat sibuyas (onion-skinned; overly sensitive). As much as I can, I try to comprehend nuances of American culture, too. Or any foreign culture, for that matter. If only to survive watching what they convey as true and universal, and modern.
I am offended, because I learned my profession in the Philippines, and I refuse to be told that all my hard work and sacrifice amounts to nothing more than mediocre, if not questionable. Specially if these impressions come from those who fail to see from my end, or at least check, and don’t know what they are talking about. My textbooks came from the US of A, if saying so is any help to Teri’s understanding.
I can’t even speak for the millions of Filipino medical workers in America and all over the world, whose professionalism and skill have made them prime catch. And what of the thousands of foreign students who come in droves to train in the Philippines?
So mind rephrasing what you have just said, Teri Hatcher?
Thalía during an autograph signing for her book in NY RETNA DIGITAL
At the autograph signing for her book Thalía: ¡Belleza!, the singer reveals that she’s due in only four weeks
By Jennifer Rosa-López / NY
Her first daughter will be born in four weeks, and this is perhaps her last public appearance before the big day.
Radiant, Thalía, 35, signed autographs for fans at a New York Borders bookstore, where we spoke with the mommy-to-be.
How you do feel about the fact that you and fellow Mexican Salma Hayek are both pregnant and will have girls? Both Mexicans, both businesswomen, both pregnant, both married to men, well, both with marvelous men, (I’m married), but that we’re both pregnant with girls seems incredible to me, and I wish the best to her.
How are you getting ready for the birth? Are you getting used to the idea of it? It’s been said you might do a Cesarean… There’s only four weeks left or something. God has his plans, and I sincerely want to do things naturally, but you never know, you might get there and have to do a Cesarean. I’m ready for all surprises, and if it can be done naturally, then I’ll do it naturally. There’s no established date; my mom’s birthday is Oct. 2, so I hope I can give her a great surprise…but she’s going to be a Libra, like my mom.
You’re working on your radio show and now the book, so it seems like you never rest…Are you thinking about taking a year off once your daughter is born? When she’s born, I’m not going to have time for anything. For now, I’m so hyperactive that I can’t take a break. I have the radio thing and I keep touch with my people, but in a much more relaxed manner, with a microphone. Thanks to God, the radio show has been a success, and we have the worldwide connection with thaliaradio.com, which has listeners and fans all over the world: Greece, Hungary, they listen to it everywhere. I have a studio in my house, so fortunately I can bring my co-host and producer to work.
What do you think you’ll teach your daughter about inner and exterior beauty? Overall, that she should be happy in life, that she does what makes her heart happy, that she follows her intuition, that she be daring, fantastic, glorious, loving and thankful to God, and I’ll teach her the rest; simple things like putting on eyelashes and lipstick, I’ll teach her that stuff.
Naturally, Thalía also talked about her new beauty book at the press conference, which started taking shape a year and half ago.
“We were interviewing the best doctors, surgeons and makeup artists that have worked with me. I tried to share this book with all readers because I want to tell them to have a positive and upbeat attitude, move forward and from there comes beauty,” she added.
Thalia in the Philippines Video Flashback continued!
Thalia sings "Gracias a Dios" at her concert in Manila, Philippines 1997
Thalia sings "Amandote" (Loving You) in Manila, Philippines 1996
Oh yeah, when you have got tons of work to do like me, there will come a point in time when you just run out if topics to blab about. And I can sense that moment anytime soon. I am grappling for words now and it's not looking pretty at all. Alright, time to get a break and refresh myself with new ideas.
Don't you just hate it when you have a million and one things to do and a migraine keeps getting in the way? I have been a sufferer of migraine headaches ever since I was in grade school so I know how it feels. By the way, I am not just talking about the tolerable ones. It is more of the I-want-to-bang-my-head-on-the-wall type. It can be that serious, as far as I am concerned.
Fortunately, in recent years, I have not had any serious headaches like the ones I've experienced before. I think the key to preventing a migraine attack is to avoid the situations that could trigger it. For me, it has always been not being able to eat my meals on time. If that happens, you can be assured that the rest of my day is considered ruined. Now, I've learned to manage that so those headaches seem to be a thing of the past already.
As I have mentioned in an earlier post, I am currently into buying books once again. And just last night, I purchased two novels to add to my ever-growing to-be-read pile. They were Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. There are a few more on my list that I’m on the look-out for. But I have not yet had the luck of finding them online. Do you have any favorite books that you’d like to suggest to me?
Yesterday, our family was invited to a party by friends. We saw this as another opportunity for Erin to play dress-up once again. :)
And since spring is in full swing now in our part of the world, we thought this cute flower-y outfit was just perfect. This was given to her by her Ninang A who is known to love the color yellow so much (hence the clothes).
The outfit was supposed to fit a one-year-old child but the top fit Erin well around the shoulders so we went along with it. It came with matching bloomers which revealed her chubby thighs for all the world to see. :)
I’ve long been tagged by bluep, to show my desktop to the rest of the blogosphere (or to the very few who patiently see this blog every once in a while). Would you believe, I got to learn (finally!) how to properly do a screen capture through it? I was aware of the Print Screen key and what it’s supposed to do, but I am used to the right-click and choose a function from the drop-down menu system, and I couldn’t find one telling me to copy and paste to a graphics program. I even tried on different keyboards, thinking mine wasn’t working, and hoping it will do the trick. Oh, I feel so old and tech challenged!
So here is…
Nothing much to see really, just a few icons of my most used programs and files (organized in folders), and a picture of Palawan’s pristine water. Who’d want to clutter up and spoil the view anyway? I change screensavers often, but I’m almost always drawn to water scenes such as this.
Back to the game. Here’s how it’s supposed to work:
A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun.
You can do a screen capture by:
[1] Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key).
[2] Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V).
[3] If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.
For MAC users: Press [ Apple] [ Ctrl ] [ Shift ] and [ 3 ]
B. Post the picture in your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.
C. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.
D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.
Add your link after mine. I’m taking a pass on tagging anybody right now. I hardly blog these days and have lost touch, I don’t feel easy about saying “tag” instead of “hi“. But if you’d like to participate, just do as the instructions say.
Did you know our personal computer almost crashed last weekend because a virus was found in our system? I think for the most part, it was due to our laziness of not keeping our anti-virus software up-to-date. In other words, it was plain old negligence on our part.
It really pays to equip your computer with the most recent anti-virus software like NOD32, especially if you are online most of the time (like I am). You never know when these viruses enter your system and wreak havoc on all your precious files. The cost of repairing such damage will always be more than the cost of keeping your anti-virus softwares current.
Gosh, shopping online can be oh-so addicting! I am beginning to feel a certain attachment now to eBay because of the variety of stuff you can purchase there. What's even cooler is now you can also demand for items that you want in their 'Want it now' section. The response(s) to your request can be very immediate, which makes shopping such a delight!
