Tag: writing

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Samsung Galaxy S8 Review

I just recently upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy S8 & so far I absolutely love it! A few months ago my S7 Edge took a fateful fall from my hand & shattered right by the home button, effectively sending a spiderweb fracture throughout the bottom third of my screen.

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Everything was fine until the cracks kept spreading (and I may have dropped her a few more time), but once it started cutting my fingertips up, I decided it may be time for a new phone.

I have been stuck on Samsung since the S3 & had been considering a few other options for this upgrade. The first phone I really wanted to test out was the Google Pixel because of the camera & because I was curious how well Google’s first phone turned out. I was also considering the iPhone, but both the iPhone & the Pixel will have newer version coming out later this year – so that’s a little bit of a deterrent knowing that you’re basically purchasing an obsolete machine.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy S8!

Unbox Your Phone – This was a huge selling point for me. The S8 has a screen similar to the S7 Edge in that the screen is curved on the right & left sides which gives the appearance of a wider, more immersive screen. Samsung also decided to do away with a physical home button – it is now all screen, all the way down. There is about 1/8″ @ the top & bottom of the phone that isn’t screen, but it is unreal how much larger this makes the phone seem!

Screen & Feels – The S7 Edge was a great phone, but I feel that the S8 is the optimized version. First of all the S7 Edge has a more curved edge which led to some interference issues if you didn’t have a case adding a little buffer (may be touching edge while texting). The S8 is perfect so far & haven’t had any issues with the Edge being too sensitive.

The S8 also feels a lot better in your hand – really reminds me of the S5 which was a little less wide than the following models. The S7 Edge’s dimensions are 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7 mm & the S8 measures in @ 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm. This is a huge deal because that difference of 4.5mm means you can reach those apps that usually require you to use 2-handed operation.

 

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5 Different Color Options – COPYRIGHT © SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD

 

Camera

Samsung’s cameras are top-notch & the S8 is no different – other than it’s slightly improved. The front camera is 8mp & the rear camera is 12mp. Both feature a F1.7 lens and include a multitude of filters/editing options.

Features:

  • Auto
  • Pro
  • Panorama
  • Selective Focus
  • Slow Motion
  • Hyperlapse
  • Food
  • Virtual Shot
  • Filters
  • Selfie Enhancement
  • Drawing & other Snapchat-like Features
  • Bixby Vision – translates text & you can shop for products by taking pictures
Lettuce growing in the greenhouse
Twiggy trying to stay awake
Freshly planted basil in the garden

Bixby

In a few of the reviews I read on the S8, people were dogging on the Bixby assistant. Makes sense considering that it only supports Korean for voice, but will be adding English in the near future – you also have the Google assistant, so not sure about the need for Bixby in that capacity. There is a Bixby button underneath the volume buttons on the left side, or you can swipe left from the Home screen.

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Screenshot of Bixby interface

I think Bixby is awesome because it curates all of your highlights into a feed – which is the basis for every addictive social media site we scroll through everyday. Components of the feed include:

  • Facebook trends
  • Youtube
  • Photos
  • Reminders
  • Weather
  • S Health Activity
  • Flipboard – News, Sports, Business, Science, Entertainment, Technology, etc.

I’m only a couple days into using it, so I don’t have a lot of testimonial to it, but seems super convenient & I feel like it will help me keep things organized, and stay up-to-date on relevant news & stories.

Overall, loving this phone so far. Tons of awesome features, professional-grade camera, high quality display, Bixby, and the list goes on! Oh, and forgot to mention that it’s waterproof – so it really does do everything.

 

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Giving Your All

Raise your hand as high as you can.

Now raise it higher.

Were you able to raise your hand higher when I told you to do so? Why?

I remember the first time this stunt was pulled on me in school & it blew me away. Literally everyone was able to reach higher. They eventually stood on desks, chairs & tippy-toes with arms reaching skyward.

This leads us to 2 questions: why aren’t you giving it your all? What does it take for you to give it your all?

Why aren’t we giving it our all? Of course we can’t operate at 100% efficiency 100% of the time, but what are you saving all your energy for? Are you running a marathon later? Every day is just another day if you’re holding back, but if you just reach an inch higher – how would that affect you? You may just ask that question that you were afraid of asking and get an answer you wanted, but not the one you expected – just reach one extra inch when you think you’re @ the end of the ladder & see how high you can climb.

What does it take to give it your all? If asking for your best doesn’t actually bring out your best, what will? We can continue to ask to go higher & higher, but it’s an endless & maddening game. I feel that Growth is a natural thing, every thing in life is geared towards growth & self-improvement, but the call to go higher is inspired by outside forces, yet cultivated from within.

Next time you reach up, stretch just a little bit higher & you might get exactly what you want.

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Why Wait to Write?

Why write?

Why not?

After suffering for 4-6 months from on-again, off-again pain in my neck, shoulder, clavicle area I finally had to get it checked out. The doctor I saw looked concerned by the way my clavicle was noticeably popping out on the right side near my breast plate. Almost immediately I was referred to a surgeon.

Surgery on an injury in that area is extremely rare, but if it had to be done, it looked pretty nasty – basically like open-heart surgery (worst-case scenario).

But that wasn’t my worst case scenario.

What if this came back that I have cancer.

New worst case scenario.

I began thinking & acting much differently. I remember thinking that if I did have cancer that I would stop living so carefully. I would say what was on my mind, not let opportunities slip by, not think of my responses after-the-fact; I would take life by the horns, take a leap & maybe even start my own business – what would I have to lose if I was told that my life was in the grips of that!?

X-ray, CT scans & an MRI was taken – next I waited a week to meet with the surgeon for results.

My x-rays were fine as expected, but it was the CT & MRI that I was most worried about – they would reveal the truth. And Truth is that I was never worried that my shoulder was torn or that there was structural damage; I was worried that something else was growing inside me other than my anxiety.

Finally the surgeon broke the news to me – There was nothing wrong!

As he said, though, “That’s not to say you’re completely crazy!”

He was glad that I came in & told me a story about his sister-in-law that was complaining of the same thing. She came in, got the MRI and when the doctor analyzed, there were masses in her breasts. Her husband was on a hunting trip in Alaska with no cell service & this doctor had no other choice but to tell his brother’s wife the bad news.

I’m not exactly sure that this story comforted me, but it reaffirmed my reason for being there.

Prescriptions were given to me along with an okay to continue lifting – very slowly & meticulously. I didn’t fill the scripts, but with help from yoga, more mindful practices, and expert advice from my (natural) bodybuilding brother – I was sent on my way.

But what about my dreams? What about starting a business & taking life by the horns?

No, I didn’t take any giant leap; I didn’t start a business – I just began investing in myself. It took me a while to realize “Hey, just because you’re okay doesn’t mean you need to abandon your wildest dreams!” Writing & blogging has been on my list of things to do for the past year at least. I’ve published a few things on my WordPress site but was not consistent. With a jolt from things that have happened to me & inspiration from close friends, I’ve decided life is too short to not take chances, and besides – you’ll be judged either way!

Every case of life is terminal. Until you wake up & start to live – you’re just surviving. You have this one life & I have one question: what will it take for you to live it to the fullest?

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Mom gets a Day, but gave us a Lifetime

I have the best Mom in the world.

Correction: my Mom is the most dedicated, hardest-working, & most thoughtful person in the entire universe. My SuperMom worked full-time AND did the full-time Mom thing on level 9000 – keeping the house clean (like spotless clean, I would eat dinner off of the bathroom floor if she served it there), always had healthy snacks & fun activities lined up after school, and dinner was always home-cooked & healthy. Thank you for making me eat healthy, not letting me drink pop, and teaching me to love to exercise!

There’s also a big reason that I place such great value on waking up early & it all goes back to my Mom. Throughout our childhood she sacrificed for us by waking up in the wee hours of the morning- most times around 3am – so that we didn’t have to spend as much time at the babysitters & so that she could be home with us after school.

And speaking of school – thank you for making me love to learn! There was never a shortage of books to read, activity books to do, puzzles, logic games, coloring, the list goes on – thanks for filling my big head with curiosity & a love for knowledge!

My childhood was everything that one could hope it to be because of you, Mama. With everything from making homemade play dough & clay, helping you bake cookies & cake, painting rocks, playing with our Batmen toys in the tub, building Legos, and all of the picnics and walks through Tawawa Park – there truly are too many great memories to pen them all down; bottom line is that I love you for all of it!

A lot of times it goes unnoticed – we definitely don’t say “thank you” or “I love you so much” enough because you are always so on-top of things that we just don’t know any different than to be spoiled!

So all I can say is – I love you Mom, thanks for being the best; thanks for teaching me, nurturing me & helping me find Happiness 🙂

Adam & Danny
My brother Adam (5) on the left, I’m on the right (8) & rocking the bull cut.

 

 

 

#momskills #mothersday #writing #life #inspiration #thankyou #grateful #love

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On Love & Gardening for Gains

“You’re going to love your birthday gift, I think it’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten anyone. You’ll find out this weekend because you have to sign a waiver.”

I thought for sure this girl was trying to kill me, but was excited to find out that I was going to a ropes course for my 26th birthday. The pure excitement of going and doing something adventurous and extreme with a girl – with my girl – was enough to blind me to the imminent fear of being 30-60 feet up in the air.

Summit Vision

We get to the course, go through the safety training, and as we are walking up to the course we realize the shear height. Despite that, I stayed pretty positive because nobody seemed phased by it, they were all the adventurous type and Kyla seemed pretty chill too. After we get all our gear on and start walking to the point where you climb up to the first platform, she turns to me with eyes huge, watery with fear, and beautiful as could be, and she says, “I’m really scared of heights”. All I could do was laugh and say, “Are ya [freaking] kidding me?”

And in that moment I felt what true love is – I felt the sacrifice and the willingness to go beyond her own fears in order to make me happy. When I think she can’t get any better, I’m always proven wrong.

She took the more difficult route up to the first platform, climbing the staples. I followed after she got up to the top and felt good until I was realizing how high up we were going to be. We sat on the first platform for at least 15 minutes trying to get the courage to adventure out, but she just couldn’t do it, so I went out on my own – I was just happy Kyla was up there and faced her fear that I didn’t know she had until a few minutes before the climb up. Oh, and the head instructor said that this sort of thing happens all the time and 9 out of 10 relationships do just fine afterwards.

I’m not exactly sure that I can say I enjoyed myself, but glad that I at least gave it a shot. My thinking was that this was going to be a physical challenge, not such a psychological one. Everything is connected by wires – wires secure the poles to each other, to the ground, and the wires all pull on each other; the tension between them creates the balance that holds everything together. The problem with this is that everything sways a little and nothing is really stable. The platforms, the ropes, the elements you’re climbing on are all connected by wire and your weight causes them to sag slightly – basically it was just really nerve-wracking because nothing felt safe because of the slight wobble and play in the lines. I walked on wooden platforms that were on wires connecting platforms, then up the Stairway of Heaven, over 2 parallel telephone poles, through rope loops, then back through the loops and telephone poles, where I then walked the plank 60 feet above the Earth to the final platform where I met Kyla to zipline back to safety, security and sanity.

Poor Kyla had to climb up to that top platform and was even more terrified about zipping down. She looked so cute as we finally got her talked into going down. They say that couples usually look at each other as they’re going down and that helps – she looks at me with those big, beautiful brown eyes full of tears of fear, we count down and as she starts zipping she says, “I love you!” and I was in such shock that she zipped and I had my mouth hanging open and had to catch up to her to tell her I loved her too! I know she didn’t take it as me snubbing her, but she just opened up in such a way I was in pure shock.

After we pulled the lines back to the platform, we wrapped our arms around each other and kissed like we were on the brink of death, with thoughts that we would never see the ground or each other again. Neither one of would have done this ropes course if we realized what we were getting into, but we Gardened for Gains. We made gains in our lives by uprooting ourselves from our conventional ways and taking a leap of faith. When you lift your roots from the Earth it may be a shock to your system, but you may just find yourself planted in a much better place when you return.

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