then there are blackbirds

1. USians who celebrated, I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I've been enjoying mine! As always, I am grateful for all of you. ♥

2. Thanks to my dad, I have unexpectedly and fairly reluctantly achieved smartphonelandia at last. Any iPhone apps you guys find particularly handy?

3. On a completely random note/for my non-twitter folks, I would wear boring white button-downs EVERY DAY if they had cats embroidered on them.

4. I found this article on Productive Stretching for Dancers via one of my dance friends and thought it was worth passing on. Obviously, not everybody dances and ymmv on the utility of the specific exercises mentioned, but the concept of productive stretching is a useful one.

Seeing as my highly-elevated neighborhood came through unscathed, I'm planning on trekking to Chinatown/the Lower East Side with some friends to volunteer tomorrow! We're looking to join CAAAV's relief efforts, but I know there are tons of other hurricane response initiatives. A highly incomplete list of links:

+ NYC Service
+ NY1: ways to help relief efforts
+ NYCares disaster response

Plus, some (semi-belated) information via fb:
( Brooklyn )

( Queens )

( Manhattan )

( Bronx )

Feel free to drop more in the comments!

Y'all, I do not expect earthquakes here! But more to the point, the US East Coast is IN NO WAY earthquake-prepared, which is why the parents just freaked out (we're from Taiwan).

Recent quake info courtesy avendya, whom I was gchatting at the time; also, when looking for information on fault lines I found this, which fellow US East Coasters may be interested to know.

[in order of stumble-upon, not importance]

» synecdochic's IP logging, internet privacy, geolocation, and you: facts to consider is a scary useful post.

» boundbooks also has links re: a bill in Congress that would make streaming copyrighted material a felony.

» Proposed Law to Revoke Visas Without Court Oversight Threatens Americans and their Families. I can't even. Maybe someday I'll be able to compartmentalize enough, or control/deal with blank rage well enough, to read the news on a regular basis? I'm not sure I ought to look forward to that day though. :x

I've been having various conversations with people about home remedies/mom-advice recently, so I figured it would be nice to consolidate and share. :D This post is in no way meant to be a universal prescriptive, as different things work for different people, so please feel free to jump in as well!

for relieving headaches:
+ Massage/pressure points: temples, eye-sockets, the spot right under the center of the lower lip, and (sometimes, for me) also the upper curve of the ear. The juncture of neck and shoulder is good for tension relief as well, whether or not my muscles are actually tight (which, let's face it, they generally are). I press hard enough to get me to the borderline of pain and discomfort while my mom presses hard enough to hurt, but either way works just fine.

+ Using wanjingyou/Tiger Balm on these points is extra helpful, although I would suggest not doing so if you are sensitive to strong smells.

+ Coffee/tea/caffeinated substances have been a solution for my mom in the past, though coffee is not a go-to for me after noon (I go to sleep late enough as it is).

for relieving menstrual cramps:
+ Ginger soup! Slice fresh ginger into a pot of boiling water & leave for ~30 minutes (this is approximately the amount of time my mom leaves it on, but longer/shorter periods should be fine as well, I think). Add sugar to taste & drink hot. Note: this can be made in large quantities & kept in the fridge to be reheated when necessary.

+ Lower back massage, if you are like me and get a horrible band of tightness around your midsection. This mostly helps me not to tense up and make the pain worse, although if I get to a certain point of relaxation the cramps will actually recede for a while.

+ Also, avoiding cold drinks/foodstuffs (such as ice cream) for the duration generally helps.

+ Also also, no swimming for the duration, if at all possible. (I have never been tempted to do this anyway, but I had a couple of friends on the swim team back in high school, so.)

for coughs/colds:
+ Lemon tea (actual tea not necessary): hot water, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, and honey to taste. I mostly use green tea if I'm in the mood for actual tea.

+ Tea with honeyed kumquats: Soak fresh kumquats in a jar of honey for extended periods of time (as in 2-3 weeks or longer); make sure they are completely covered with the honey. Over time the kumquats should sink from the top of the jar; you can then take dollops of the kumquat/honey and put it in your tea (mostly green tea for me- my family is in the habit of drinking green, basically- but we've also been known to use oolong). My mom swears by it for allergy-relief as well, as it works for her where actual allergy medications such as Claritin have failed miserably; she no longer sneezes or suffers itchy, watery eyes in the springtime. It is true that she is always making and drinking the stuff these days, but hey, it's a tasty (and healthy) preventative measure!

+ Breathing steam. I prefer to stay in the bathroom for a few minutes after a hot shower when I'm feeling congested, but you can also just boil some water and sit with your face over it & a towel draped over your head, if you like.

... why yes, you may have noticed that we use tea for, um, everything? TEA IS THE SUBSTANCE OF LIFE, OKAY. xD

eta because I have fallen off the bandwagon re: poetry month! five poems by Purvi Shah; I particularly love the last one.

Happy open-beta phase, everyone! As I mentioned previously, I am still hanging out mostly on LJ, with very little cross-posting thus far. It's nice to see more familiar faces over here, though! :)

There will be more fic up here soon, when I get around to finishing/organizing the stuff from my drabble free-for-all on LJ. I realize I forgot to cross-post that, so, er, if any of you Dreamwidth-only folks would like a prompt, feel free to drop one here? *headdesk*

Also, a quick PSA for those of you who may be interested/haven't already heard the news from ciderpress or oyceter: oyceter is hosting the second edition of the Asian Women Blog Carnival, and she's taking submissions until June 1st! So, so excited for this. \o/

ETA: I made a post over at LJ about swine flu, and it occurs to me that it may bear repeating over here! setissma has some useful information over here. Also, some helpful tips:

- Coughing/sneezing into your sleeve- as opposed to into your hands- decreases the likelihood of spreading your germs everywhere, for the simple reason that shit sticks to your hands (which you will forget about once your cough/sneeze is over) and it is very easy to reinfect everything around you by touching stuff.
- Used tissues should be discarded ASAP, and giving convenient surfaces- i.e. computer desks, kitchen counters, dining room tables, etc.- a quick spray & wipe-down is always a good idea.
- Avoid touching your eyes/nose/mouth, as mucous membranes are disease-friendly areas.
- Wash your hands! Everyone is saying this; everyone is repeating it for a reason. Don't just rinse, either- soap & lather, don't forget to clean around your fingernails & between your fingers, etc., and use warm/hot water if it's available. Around twenty seconds should do it.
- It's also a good idea to pop one of those Purell hand sanitizer things in your bag, for use when sinks are not convenient to you. Very easy quick-fix, believe me.

Also, please remember that you are not in danger of catching swine flu from eating pork. That is all!