My Fitness Pal

I definitely would recommend this site to anyone trying to shed some pounds before summer. I joined in February and have lost four pounds, which is more than I can say for just "watching what I eat" on my own. It's got a great food database, so you just enter what you're eating and it tracks all the nutritional information for you.

It can also track exercise, although I've opted to track it in notes vs. through their exercise (calorie burning) database: the reason for this is because say you go running for a couple hours and burned around 200 calories - the site then gives you a 200 calorie extra allowance in your daily food intake.

So by not officially reporting the exercise, I am eliminating the extra allowance and sticking to my set calorie goal on a daily basis. I'm tracking sugar and fiber much better, which is tremendously healthy awareness. I've made strides at weight loss that I haven't made in over a year, and it's been really great.

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Sketching: Healthcare

Last week, the animators of SpeakeasyFX started a sketchblog in their spare time, with weekly themes. Our first theme was Healthcare, in honor of the recent bills passing and political schtuffz. Here was my contribution.



A certain someone might realize this sketch is about him. A friend of mine in college went to the university health center, and, despite his masculinity, was asked if he might be pregnant. After seconds of silence, the doctor looked up from his chart and realized he was speaking with a man, and moved on to the next on his list of predetermined questions. My friend and I had a good laugh over this, after much commiserating over the lack of good health care in America. I haven't had a good doctor since my pediatrician, and if I ever go in for any symptoms whatsoever they are, these close-minded doctors always assume pregnancy if you're a girl - even if you've been celibate your whole life, which I found very frustrating at the time.

I actually haven't bothered with doctors since.

It's pretty cool that Healthcare was our first topic, considering I have a short I was "doctoring up" about a month ago involving this subject, and now I'm re-inspired to get going on it.

(White board silliness ensues..)

Blog Bio

Every once in a while I retire my blog bio.
Latest retired bio:

Laura is happily married and finally living together with her husband after spending 10 months apart, working her dream job as a 3d character animator (using XSI) at SpeakeasyFX in Westfield, New Jersey. The company created 13 eight-minute episodes that began to air November 10, 2009, during the 40th anniversary season of Sesame Street. Laura has since contributed to the direction, layout, and animation production of the interactive segments which will air online, alongside various broadcast episodes. She and her husband now live together in Central New Jersey.

On Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 10:18 AM, Laura (Skowronski) Nattam wrote:
Laura is happily married and finally living together with her husband after spending 10 months apart, working her dream job as a 3d character animator (using XSI) at Speakeasy FX in Westfield, New Jersey. Her company created 13 eight-minute episodes that began to air November 10, 2009, during the 40th anniversary season of Sesame Street. Laura has since contributed to the direction, layout, and animation production of the interactive segments which will air online, alongside various broadcast episodes. She and her husband now live together in Central New Jersey.

I'm retiring my former blog intro:
Laura is happily married but currently living away from home, working her dream job as a 3d character animator (using XSI) at Speakeasy FX in Westfield, New Jersey. Her company is creating 13 eight-minute episodes that will air in November 2009 during the 40th anniversary season of Sesame Street.

That's all the history I've got on my edited bios.. but I thought it might be interesting to keep tabs on it over time.



Retiring blog bio - 12/30/2010:

Laura is currently freelancing in NYC and from home. She always keeps her eyes out for new collaborative animation projects, especially since the successful completion of 13 eight-minute episodes and interactive webisodes of "Abby's Flying Fairy School" for Sesame Street, which she worked on with SpeakeasyFX. While anticipating production for a new season of AFFS in January 2011, she continues to develop IPs with fellow animators there, most notably the "Hot Dog & Hamburger" series of shorts. She is happily married and lives with her husband and kitty in New Jersey.

Laura knows life is good when she wakes up really early in the morning after a pleasant dream, only to realize that dream is her real life.

April Fools 2010

I think April Fool's could very well be my favorite holiday. It's not the most anticipated day of the year, like say Christmas or New Year's, or a landmark birthday, or a wedding, or a baby being born... it's just a subtle day, unlike most others on the calendar. But for me it brings great joy. :-)

It isn't utter chaos, but there are so many un-truths floating around, like my Prego My Eggo graphic indicating I might have a waffle in my toaster, or my latest post to the Kids Media Salon indicating the salon is a place for a child's first haircut in front of a television.

Of course the famous one is always Google (or shall I say, Topeka), which in itself makes me want to work for Google even though I have no idea what I would do there.

Starbucks, Kodak, and Hulu were my other favorites this year (so far).

If you're behind on all the April Fool's jokes, one great place to look is TechCrunch - they had a great list this year. Take a peek.

And, thanks to my brother in law, Raj, for pointing out this old clip.

Prego My Eggo

* Not actually pregnant. Happy Fool's Day.