PRgal

Is the season over? I noticed there wasn’t an episode yesterday? I thought they were doing a non-celebrity episode?

We had lunch at a reasonably nice/higher end restaurant over the holidays and their skimpy kids’ menu’s pasta offering was just noodles with butter “sauce” and a skimpy sprinkle of Parmesan. My son picked it since he loves pasta but barely touched it. Both my husband and I tried a bit and it was awful. Tasteless and awful. They didn’t even bother to offer a choice of plain and marinara. We suggested that our son maybe pick grilled cheese next time. The salmon my son had was on the kids’ menu.

I’m not a fan of most kids’ menus since the haven’t changed much since I was one. But yesterday, we had our annual Spin of Prosperity dinner at the CN Tower’s revolving restaurant and was happy to see that they kept the same prix fixe kids’ menu they had last year (or at least more or less the same). My son had roast salmon with mashed potatoes this time (started with a tomato soup. Dessert was a gigantic cookie. All five of us (ie us parents and the grandparents) took some!!). Ate almost all of it.

She didn’t lose the baby, the baby was born with special needs and spent most of her life in an institution. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Tierney

Thanks for letting us know. The way he reacted to things made me worry about him a bit. He felt a bit "off."

That's not the view of pediatricians and pediatric dieticians these days. They feel that it's important to expose early to limit the risk. For many years, it was recommended to delay giving a child certain highly allergenic foods until after age 1 year. But new research shows that for babies at high risk of developing peanut allergy, giving them peanuts between 4 to 6 months can greatly lower the risk for peanut allergy. https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions---pediatrics/f/food-allergies-in-children.html Article from Mayo which says the same thing, research comparing Israeli kids and kids from the UK: https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/parenting/your-best-chance-of-preventing-food-allergies-in-your-kids-exposure/

I read my book to students at my alma mater today. I'm not sure if it's because they're all girls or if they're two years older (I read to Grade 2) or both, but unlike the Senior Kindergarten kids I read to when I read at my son's school, the kids mostly sat still and waited until the end to ask questions or make comments! And their questions were good, including how books are written and why I decided to write the book.

What are you best at? What do you have professional qualifications to do? Have you thought of freelancing?

Peeve: some people in these age cohort groups on social media seem to take pride at their marginalization growing up. It’s like they thought it was wonderful that their parents didn’t give them things that the “typical” middle class kid would have had. And that people like me weren’t “normal” because we had bikes and Christmas/other holiday presents (though here in Toronto, getting a bike at Christmas would mean it’ll end up being stored for the next few months anyway). They make it sound like we’re wimps. What’s the deal? My dad didn’t have much growing up (but they were never destitute. Always had food on the table), it he wouldn’t go around saying that it was better when things weren’t as good.

Can’t when you’re trying to promote your book and you can’t afford PR. Plus they would recommend that you have at least Instagram, anyway.

Did people know this? https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3hbkf2I26P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I think it depends on which colony, too. Hong Kong was colonized by the British, but relatively late, and in Chinese culture, kinship books have kept record for thousands of years. I'm not sure if a small fishing village would have kept GOOD records (compared to, say, a family with a long history of working for the imperial government - many people in Hong Kong are children and grandchildren and maybe even refugees themselves from the post WWII era), even before Britain, however. Of course, finding info about women, as I've said before, is DIFFICULT.

Sometimes it's cultural (especially when it comes to food or gifts). You're supposed to say no three times. But if they ask any more, then it's rude. Sometimes, however, family members will expect you to say yes. And they really upset when you ask about ingredients (which I have mentioned several times before). And these older "Auntie Karens" just don't get that you're technically from a different culture, even though your parents are immigrants (as if their kids didn't grow up here - most are parents of children who were either born here or spent a significant part of their childhood here)! Update on my cooktop situation: I need a brand new cooktop!!!!! They're ordering parts, so I'll be living with a single portable cooktop for the next few weeks, should I need to make things like, say, pasta. At least it was still under warranty so I don't have to pay a cent!

That's true. And I also notice the lack of diversity in US media for Black History Month. I get that the majority of the population are descendants of those enslaved in the US, but Black communities are diverse. Maybe it's just who has media power/voices. Many people I know who have immigrant parents from African countries are, like many kids of Asian heritage, kind of pressured into certain industries like medicine or finance. Because THAT kind of office job is "better" according to the parentals. *le sigh*

I love the induction! I have had no issues with using my Le Creuset dutch ovens on it - I thought it would be a problem at first, but since they're magnetic, it works. And the induction is A LOT easier to clean! :)

Speaking of appliance deaths, my cooktop died last week. It's less than a year old - we replaced our gas with an induction in March. Since then, I've been limiting my stovetop cooking and working on a portable induction cooktop when I need to.. Good thing I have two ovens plus an InstantPot and a multifunction toaster oven.

But almost EVERY African American with ancestors tracing back to when they were enslaved would have a similar story? Are there any Black celebrities who are descendants of recent immigrants (former President Obama doesn't count)? Them learning about their ancestors from whatever country their family's from would be different and fresh.

I kind of had a "kid sister" look, so many guys didn't see me as dating material. This was especially the case in my 20s when I was hanging out with a group of people about 5-10 years older. I wasn't "hot younger woman" material.

In cultures where multiple/sister wives were historically common, the child of the subsequent wife is seen to have lesser status - unless the child is male and the children of the first wife were all girls. Whoever has the first male child, well, wins. Even though it's 100% HIS fault.

Bullying for boys is more physical while we are more likely to pull the emotional thing. My son is on the smaller side and though he has tons of friends, I do worry (as do all moms) that he’d be picked on as he gets older. Or maybe girls won’t like him because he doesn’t have the “jock” look. He’s a very nice kid and very bright. I also worry that he could have body image issues. We try not to talk about weight and food portions in front of him, but I worry he picks things up anyway since my husband is on meds for diabetes.

Lots of countries being taken over by other countries as well. And that's pretty much global. Wars happen. Empires happen. Some of my ancestors are from an ethnic group that eventually settled in places like Myanmar and Laos. That's actually far from where most of my ancestors are from (southeast coastal regions of China). And my maiden name traces back to a duke from the central region of the country. And yeah, my Ancestry test does say I have roots in "central China."

Girls might gossip. Though once I've seen something along the lines of this in the bathroom: "What do you get when you put F and UCK? Firetruck!!!" This wasn't a middle school or high school bathroom - this was at a music school where I took piano lessons. Very young children could be seeing that - like kids just learning how to read. I'm not sure the age of the girl who wrote it - to me (I was 10 or so at the time), it seemed weird that a girl would do that. We're more like so-and-so is fat or something to that extent.

I didn’t think “like” was used by males all that much.

Are there any guys here who could tell us? I have a feeling it's mostly women here. And yeah, at my all girls' school, some mean things were indeed written.

I've seen some bra companies (for example) offer several shades of "nude" so I tend to use it interchangeably.