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Unstuffed Every parent knows that helpless feeling of being unable to ease the misery of a baby with a stuffy nose. Nina Farzin of Potomac was no exception. Farzin recalls that her 11-year-old daughter had a lot of trouble sleeping when she was a baby because Farzin couldn’t clear her stuffy nose. “I tried an aspirator and saline solution,” Farzin says, “but it was difficult to loosen dry mucus. It was disheartening to see her so uncomfortable.” Farzin experienced the same frustration after her two younger kids were born. So the pharmacist decided to create her own solution. The result is “Oogiebear,” a tool
Farzin designed that is made of soft rubber, with a loop on one end for sticky mucus and a scoop on the other for dried. A small bear head at each end prevents the user from causing injury by digging too deep. The tool also can be used to clean a baby’s ears. “My bottom line was safety,” says Farzin, who worked on her invention at night and on weekends. Farzin sells the $9.50 tool on her website, myoogie.com, and in several local stores, including Dawn Price Baby in Georgetown, Chevy Chase CARE Pharmacy, and Daisy Baby & Kids and Bradley Drugs in Bethesda.
Chevy Chase teen Nicky DeParle displays some of the memorabilia that he’s collected from professional basketball players.
Fifteen-year-old Nicky DeParle of Chevy Chase, a ninth-grader at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., is a Washington Wizards fan who has “always loved basketball and sports in general.” But Nicky’s devotion to basketball goes beyond watching every game he can. He has met many players and built an extensive collection of basketball memorabilia that includes about 450 signed jerseys, basketballs, shoes and photos. A couple of years ago, Nicky began attending the Wizards’ pregame warm-ups as well as their games. “I’d watch the practice, and the players would come over and give me their shirts and shoes,” he says. Then he started going to the hotel where the opposing team was staying. “I’d show up a couple of hours before the game, and they’d come out and give me their autographs.” His favorite encounter with a star player occurred in the summer of 2013, thanks to social media. “I follow Kevin Durant [the Oklahoma City Thunder forward and 2013-14 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player] on Instagram, and I know he’s from D.C.,” Nicky says. “I saw a photo he posted of [himself] playing in a park near my school, so I went there. He signed some stuff I brought. I came back every day he was there— he’d sign everything.” Nicky says the players don’t seem to regard him as a nuisance. “They’re really nice,” he says. “I’m just a kid, I’m usually wearing a jersey of theirs or their team, [so] they know I’m a fan.”
Oogie bear courtesy photo; DeParle photo by Michael Ventura
The Collector
40 January/February 2015 | BethesdaMagazine.com
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