Séverine Baron

Manu Kenzo Baron-Jerugim

2007-08-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

So our little Prince showed up on this planet a week ago, and we have the whole story on a new blog at the Manu Kenzo Experience
Everything is good, except that after a lot of work and preparation for an extreme natural birth we had the opposite experience and Manu was born through a C-section...
Nothing is ever perfect, but everybody is fine, healthy and the little one is especially beautiful!

VOILA!

Mike posting: Any day now....

2007-08-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hi All! I haven't posted here in a while, but seeing as my lovely wife is currently sleeping and fit to pop at any moment, I thought I would post a few shots for curious minds.

As of today we have officially hit the 40 week mark. Nesting, to the extent that not having moved into our own apartment will allow, has been taken care of. The bags are packed for the hospital, and we are simply waiting for the little monkey to let us know when the time is right.

Isn't she pretty?

We have also occasionally been watching Raphael dance tango in the park, as there are gazillions of tango in the parks here, and Raph is becoming quite the tanguero! Go Raph, go!

More to come soon.....

Moved to Montreal... yes we did!

2007-05-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

Ah yeah, we finally did it! We moved to Montreal!!! YEAHHHHH!
We're very happy to start something new, explore new things, make new friends and have our new baby!
Things have been going well, we're staying at my parents' house for now but have been visiting apartments and hopefully found one that's just right, we'll find out later this week or next.
Mike has been interviewing for jobs and had an offer he's still waiting to finalize, so no comment about that until it happens.

I'm almost 29 weeks at this point, so there is only about 80 days to go... It passes by way too fast!

26 weeks.... and growing... Time goes fast!

2007-05-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Moving boxes and new belly pictures

2007-04-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhhh, movingg..... backaches.... grrrrrrrr
There are boxes everywhere, it's a mess here... We're selling a bunch of stuff, pretty much every furniture we own actually. It'll be great to start everything fresh over there!
i'm getting fat though, so bending over to put stuff in boxes is becoming hard.
otherwise we've been seeing a bunch of our friends since they want to see us before we lieave, and that's been cool! We never see our friends here in Los Angeles, too much driving, too much stress in everybody's lives anyway, so it's hard to get out and drive for an hour to go out at night, everybody has become part of this mode it seems.
Luckily we have a few friends who live closer to where we do, and we have been able to see these guys...
nothing else is very new, the baby Monkey is kicking when there is music, especially loud music, he/she loves it... then sleeps for 2 days... hahahaha It's a hard life!

We took new pictures, and are religiously archiving the evolution of the belly... quite an impressive achievement we women go through, I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm patting myself on the back, but do you all ever think about the physical changes we manage to produce when we're expecting a child? I never thought about it of course before it happened to me, but oh man! I still wonder how much more my belly can grow out of the petite-ness that I am!
Nature sure has a very crazy interesting way of doing things!
Love it!

Baby monkey pictures (ultrasound)

2007-04-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from the ultrasound we had monday evening. He/She is a monkey! The legs are above the head like a contortionist trick!
Cute huh!?

20 going on 21... weeks...

2007-03-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

We heard the heartbeat.... Very cool!!!
Next monday will be the ultrasound where we'll finally see our little monkey!
Can't wait.

2007-03-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Week 20.... Meaning I'm 4 months pregnant!

I found that picture on the left on the internet, we're actually getting our own ultra sound very soon while in Montreal but there are some amazing actual photographs of other babies that are truly astonishing!!!

We're leaving tomorrow for two weeks to go for check ups and finding a place etc etc!

That's the update....
Oh, we also had a baby shower which went well, we saw a bunch of Mike's family members who we don't get to see very often, so it was nice. Of course they brought gifts which is always nice! haha Mostly though, everybody was happy for us, and it was exciting to have so many people as excited as us! :-)

We felt "flutters" or little bubbles a few days ago, and that was really fun, feeling the baby move really subtly is amazing and we really are looking forward to bigger movements that we can track. I remember my brother in my mother's belly who had different reactions to me playing the piano or to when my mom was in a bath.... sooooo much fun!

So there. We'll probably post some pictures on the travel blog if anybody wants to see and will try to have the ultra sound with us to put up on there.

Until then, bask in the glow of my new "front pack", it's becoming more and more apparent!
hahahaha

13 weeks and growing...

2007-02-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

Ok ok, I never write here.... Anymore... So in light of this, I'll write about what's going on now, which to many people will be oh so boring, but oh well!

Here is what a 13 week old fetus looks like (not mine):

I think it's alreay partying in there without me knowing. It's like a practice for everything he/she is going to be doing behind my back later on in life!
That's ok, I'll get you, little one!

So far I've had many people ask if my belly is bigger. Yes it's SLIGHTLY rounded, it's really just a bump. I look like I fell in the cookie jar more than anything else!
But it will change fast enough. For now, I'm still enjoying being able to fall asleep on my stomach.
I never had nausea, just about a week of aversions to certain smells and therefore foods. But nothing bad. I had bouts of tiredness that got me to my bones, but that also was rather mild. I feel irritated here and there, but nothing different from any old PMS. Which goes back to the eternal "don't mess with a pregnant lady!", and I would add "even if she doesn't look pregnant!"

So there, that's the scoop, nothing that interesting since I don't have any gory details of how I threw up there or there, nothing like "I have been beating my husband every night since I found out I was pregnant", and nothing like "my eyes are so puffy from crying I can't see through them"....
Sorry! ;-)

ooops...

2007-01-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

Another good green gift guide

2006-12-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

inhabitat offers a good selection of gifts in categories that make it easy to find something for that person who has everything!
I love the lumen stuff, I think you can find them at Design Within Reach also.

There are also things like mini solar keychain LED lights, or trees can be planted in the recipient's name (45$ for 450 trees), egglings are also very cool for cheap, a sort of garden in a bag but in an egg... Ecospheres are starting to be known by all, of course a photovoltaic bag is nice though on the expensive side, but nice!

Then there is Generate (or gnr8) which has very modern type of gifts.
The salt & pepper hug is so cute! Moi jewelry for the geeks and many more...

Last but not least is uncommon goods!
There you can find menu organizers, procedural dating organizers, pregnancy prep gift sets, door mats, and so many more fun gifts....

Really cool original gift guide

2006-12-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

Between a twist n spout, an inconvenient truth DVD, sign language bookmarks, and more, all under $77. I love it!
Find it at Core77.com

Then for the more ecological oriented, the treehugger gift guide is pretty resourceful with a nice "user friendly" navigation. Everything is featured including bamboo utensils, fuel cell car kit for kids, eco camp kit for the outdoorsy type person, organic wine and beers, green jewelry, organic chocolate and teas, clothing etc...

Affordable Solar panels

2006-12-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

It's getting hot in here has a quick interesting article on the affordability of photovoltaics. Seems like everyone should be getting on the train at this point!!!!

According to the U.S. Department of Energy itself, PVs are now “producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a more cost-competitive and integral part of our nation’s energy mix.”

Furoshiki, or how to origami your giftwraps

2006-12-09T11:37:00.000-08:00

The Japanese government publiched this in an effort to be "green"....
The idea is not to wrap in plastic but still be able to carry them, except this way is pretty!
cool, huh!?

2006-12-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

So you're telling me I can build my own house with my own little hands, make as sustainable as I wish, AND it would look like a hobbit's house?
Mike, when do we start?
heyheyhey
Link

Trash in our water

2006-12-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

I know sometimes Greenpeace can be a tad extremist, but they have some very good campaigns too, and information which can be very educational.
Today I stumbled upon a very easy to understand animation showing very simply where trash goes in the oceans....
Check it out... it's disturbing!

Link

Green Blog extravaganza

2006-11-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

Well, after my previous blablablabla I wanted to share a friend's blog that I have come to really enjoy:
Survive LA
There you will find really interesting posts on self-sufficiency and greener homes.

Also in the green web realm, I just found this site:
tip the planet which has a lot of articles from growing your own veggies, to energy saving bulbs.

And one last one: Downsizer which also has a lot on sustainability.

Quebec's independance

2006-11-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

Well... There is another subject that I get all excited about... Quebec's independance from Canada.
I mean, why would frenchies swear allegiance to the British Queen?
Frankly there is a lot involved that I will not get into right now, simply because there is way too much involved in this subject. One thing though, Quebec has loads of resources and can sustain itself without Canada without a question. In fact it brings so much to Canada you would think the general population would have a good median income, but noooo...
Anyway, instead of keeping my rants on, I'll let good writers explain the last "generous gesture" from federal Canada:

Reuters article:

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian Parliament recognized Quebecers as a nation within a united Canada on Monday
(...)
"They (the separatists) will argue that if the Quebecois are a nation within Canada, then they are certainly a nation without Canada."

Segolene Royal wins primaries in France

2006-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

So there, we had primaries in France (which are not that common there!)....

The left in France is sort of like the Democrats here in that they can't agree to be united against the overwhelming conservatism and police state compulsion of the right wing.

There were three people who wanted to be the candidates to the presidentials for the left wing party called the "Parti Socialiste" (there are other left wing parties, but this one is the biggest), but of course all three had the best program ideas and were the best candidates. Instead of seeing that Segolene Royal was the obvious choice of the people, the two other guys HAD to oppose her!
So we had primaries yesterday which showed that Segolene Royal was indeed that choice.

Now that it's done, I'm feeling sort of scared because the opponent, Sarkozy (who is the PM at the moment) is venomous and I also don't really know that the french people will in fact overwhelmingly be ready to elect a woman.
It seems it will come very close and I even can catch myself praying that the little lunatic dwarf won't become president as he's probably one of the most pestilent person I could see in power there (not counting the ever present extreme right wing racist jerk, Le Pen, who always manages to snake his way close in the presidentials!)!!!

Anyway, let's hope we elect the first woman president in France next year. Let's hope people realize that electing a malicious right wing gnome cannot be beneficial to this country by watching what happened to the US in the last 6 years!

No more seafood by 2050......

2006-11-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

There may be no more commercial fish stocks left in the sea by 2050, according to a new study cataloguing the global collapse of marine ecosystems.

WOW, I knew there would be a problem with that, but I had never read about it with a date in mind (kinda like no more oil by 2045).... And when I have fears of my children not having the same life style we have now, it seems it's getting more more comfirmed!
SCARY!!!! WHICH ARE THE LAWS AGAINST OVER FISHING? (even though it's not the main culprit it's quite a big one!)
Check out "whyfiles.org"

Article here

“Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working eco-systems, then this century is the last century of wild food,” says Steve Palumbi at Stanford University in California, US, who carried out the four-year investigation with colleagues.
(...)
The good news is that fish stocks can recover if ecosystems are protected and biodiversity revives. Boris Worm, a marine conservationist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, who led the study, says that inside the 44 protected areas studied, “species came back more quickly than people anticipated – in three or five or 10 years. And where this has been done we see immediate economic benefits.”

And for the french speaking people here is an AFP article in french:

Pêche: la quasi-totalité des poissons risque de disparaître des océans d'ici 2050
WASHINGTON (AFP) - La quasi-totalité des espèces de poissons et de crustacés pêchés pour la consommation auront disparu des océans avant 2050 si les tendances actuelles se poursuivent, ont mis en garde jeudi des scientifiques américains et canadiens.
(...)
A ce stade, "29% des espèces de poissons et de crustacés sont en passe de disparaître", précise Boris Worm ajoutant que "les prises de pêche de ces espèces ont diminué de 90%" ces dernières années. La morue de l'Atlantique nord a déjà atteint le point de non-retour et est considérée quasiment éteinte.
"Toutes ces données montrent aussi qu'il est possible d'inverser les tendances actuelles avant qu'il ne soit trop tard", estiment les auteurs de l'étude, déplorant toutefois "que seul 1% des océans soit protégé actuellement".
Au lendemain de la publication de cette étude l'organisation écologiste Greenpeace a réclamé vendredi l'inscription de près de la moitié des océans au titre de sanctuaires marins. "La surpêche et la pêche illégale détruisent nos océans à un rythme alarmant", a déploré Nilesh Goundar la porte-parole de Greenpeace pour l'Australie, qui appelle à la mise en place d'une vaste zone de protection sur 40% des mers

2006-10-28T23:12:00.000-07:00


	United States		European Union

Year	DST Begins at 2 a.m.	DST Ends at 2 a.m.	Summertime period begins at 1 a.m. UT	Summertime period ends at 1 a.m. UT
2002	April 7	October 27	March 31	October 27
2003	April 6	October 26	March 30	October 26
2004	April 4	October 31	March 28	October 31
2005	April 3	October 30	March 27	October 30
2006	April 2	October 29	March 26	October 29
2007	March 11	November 4	March 25	October 28
2008	March 9	November 2	March 30	October 26

Date change in 2007

On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.
(...)
For the U.S. and its territories, Daylight Saving Time is NOT observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona. The Navajo Nation participates in the Daylight Saving Time policy, even in Arizona, due to its large size and location in three states.

OH GREAT.... So before, in the US, things took a little while to get moving in the spring compared to the rest of the world, but at least fall seemed to bring unity about and we all changed time at the same moment.
Granted, as seen above, one whole country can't even agree to observe it...

AND NOW WE'RE ALL SCREWED! Spring change in the US is going to be much earlier than in the EU and it's not even going to be the same in the fall anymore.

WHY OH WHY MUST YOU TORTURE US DOWN TO THE DETAILS OF OUR EVERYDAY LIVES, Mr. BUSH!?????????

Some random pictures from Montreal

2006-10-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

In Montreal

2006-10-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Montreal time, back to Planetary Vagrant blog

WOOHOO!

Sickness and population growth article

2006-10-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in a while because I've been sooooo sick.... Feeling better now, but I have been breeding new sicknesses everytime I thought i was over one... So from a gastro intestinal problem that drained me of all energy to a sort of bronchitis that turned into a sort of laryngitis while in the middle dealing with women stuff, people, you do not want to see me right now!

There was this article in Treehugger this morning, shmish! Scary:

"Sometime this month, the U.S. population is projected to reach 300 million. In times past, reaching such a demographic milestone might have been a cause for celebration. In 2006, it is not.
(...)
More people require more of everything, including water. In our highly urbanized society, we fail to recognize how much water one person uses. While we drink close to a gallon of water each day, it takes some 500 gallons a day to produce the food we consume."

Informative read... *sigh*

Cool graph: where tax money goes

2006-09-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Can't upload the little picture of the graph, but the link goes straight there...
Interesting huh!?
Budgetgraph