Speak for me.

Happy Sunday! I finally turned the air conditioning on last night for a while. It was uncomfortable in the apartment. I think it's really the mugginess that eventually gets to you.

I worked a photo conservation workshop yesterday. We had about 14 people attend and I think everyone was pretty pleased about it. It was the first workshop for our photo archivist, who started a year ago. She did a great job and went into a lot of detail about the history of photography, the chemistry of the processes, etc. I was in and out a lot, but I was learning plenty of things when I was in there. Good job! I was sort of the go-to person for taking money for registration, making sure lunch showed up, etc. But there were also some newspaper microfilm problems in the Research Center and I was called in there to help. One poor woman was having the worst luck finding an article. She finally found it, but it took three reels of film for her to locate it. I think we could do more workshops, actually. Maybe split the photo one into a couple of different shorter workshops. I think maybe a document mending and storing workshop would be good, too. I know plenty of people have tons of papers and letters and things just sitting in boxes and maybe they just don't know what to do with them? We can help! We're having a strategic planning meeting tomorrow at work and I might bring it up.

After work, I headed over to sell some of my clothes at a consignment store and all of the power was out on that side of town. It apparently had just happened. It's always nerve-wracking trying to go through busy intersections in those first few minutes of a power outage, when the stoplights are out, but not everybody realizes it yet. I was happy to see the stoplights working on my side of town, but it was a very careful drive home after I dropped my clothes off. The cashier called me last night to tell me that their computers had come back on and that I could get my money today, so I'm planning to head back out that way again. I don't know why the power was out; I didn't actually hear what had happened.

I think I might have an allergic reaction to the violet hair color I've got right now... I got my hair re-dyed last week and my scalp is so irritated since then. I remember that it was sort of itchy the first time I got it dyed violet. I don't remember it ever happening with any other color. It makes me wonder what exactly the violet is. Aveda uses natural dyes and non-petroleum agents for their hair colors, so it's always better for the hair to use their system, but I wonder what sort of flower extract they get the violet color from? Maybe I'm allergic to it. I wanted to go more intense violet next month, but maybe I'll just return to brown. Ho hum.

College Colors Day at Mizzou

Today was College Colors Day all across the US. Mizzou participated by having departments dress up in black and gold and take pictures of the staff. We did it. I was surprised at how many participated in our office! Our business manager is really into the event and was sharing pictures from her last few years in another department. She got everyone kind of excited about it and then made the picture all decorated and submitted it to the NCAA for some reason. Here are many of the staff, (plus, Charlie, our wooden ultimate frisbee dog) showing our black and gold pride:

Jeneva decided to title the photo "Historical Spirit".
She's very into this event and we were all happy to support her enthusiasm.

Maggie and Erika chilling out with Charlie, the ultimate frisbee dog. 

Mizzou spirit back at home.

(As an aside: I love that shirt I'm wearing! I found it on clearance and wasn't sure why it wasn't being bought? It was at the student center and maybe people on campus aren't that into the vintage vibe of the shirt or something. I think it's great and I got several compliments on it today! I'm still doing my $30.00 clothing challenge that I began last May. Most all of my 'new' clothes are just new-to-me, as I buy a lot of my clothing secondhand. But, this shirt is actually New! As in, no previous owner! Even on clearance, I think I paid too much for it, but I'm happy with it! And the $30.00 challenge is going swimmingly. Four months in and I've had zero problems and really no desire to even buy anything over $30.00. Shoes are the most difficult things to find under $30, but I've managed to find a pair of Fall boots and a pair of Summer sandals. I had to throw out my running shoes, and those are kind of an issue now that I don't have running shoes...but maybe some giant sale will happen and I'll find some fantastically cheap and well-made running shoes? Eh? A girl can dream.)

Momma's gotta eat and she can't eat her clothes.

I came across something the writer calls The $30 Project. This freelance writer gave herself the challenge to not spend more than $30 on any one piece of clothing for an entire year (2010). In 2011, she budgeted $100 per month for clothing. And for this year, she's giving herself a budget of $1200 to spend on clothing any time she wants (so same budget as previous year without the monthly strings attached). She recently wrote an article that got published in The Huffington Post about cutting all her hair off and going pixie after having long hair. I haven't read it yet, but I probably will. She did that last month and, from my cursory glimpse at her Pinterest pages, it looks like she's discovering how having super-short hair suddenly changes everything about the way your outfits look. (I remember that moment, too, when suddenly the outfits you used to wear all the time don't look right any longer and you start to go crazy trying to come up with new outfits that suit your hairstyle.) Plus the girl looks way more chic with the pixie cut than she did with her long hair + bangs...and if you're going to write on a topic like fashion on a budget, you should probably look as chic as possible to try to get your 'Look, you can look nice without spending a ton!' point across.

You can see her project blog here: http://thirtydollarproject.tumblr.com/

p.s. I'm a big fan of women chopping their hair off (if they want to) once in their lives. I think women should do it simply because it forces you to go outside your comfort zone a little. We can get stuck in hairstyles and keep them for no other reason than we're bored and don't know what else to do. It does take some courage to take the plunge and drastically alter your hairstyle, especially when you know that it's not an easy fix if you hate it. And I know a lot of people have a strangely deep-seated hatred of this sort of drastic chopping off of hair thing. People think it's unfeminine. Others think you're making some sort of statement. But, this is the real secret of it all: it's just hair. I think every woman should chop their hair off at some point. You can say you don't have the right face shape for it; you can say that you can't cut your hair off because your husband/boyfriend/significant other won't like it (although, don't say that to me because I'll probably say something snarky in response. I have a very low tolerance for doing/wearing only that which you think another person will approve...yuck.); you can say you're afraid people won't be able to tell if you're a guy or a girl (true fear, I know); you can come up with whatever excuse you find handy. But, from my own experience, I can tell you that it's not that big of a deal. When you go short, you don't have your hair to hide behind any longer, it's true. What that means is that you're forced to change the way you act and the way that you express yourself. You no longer can nervously twirl your hair or constantly brush it behind your ears when you're shy. You can't hide your face behind bangs or long layers. With short hair, you clearly show your face to the world and there's nothing to hide behind, but this doesn't mean that you're vulnerable. It means you have to [wo]man up and face your own insecurities. It can definitely make you more confident in yourself, which will change the way you're viewed by those around you--in a good way. Will everybody like it? No. Does everybody like the haircut you have now? No. Will people more freely give you their positive and negative opinions when you chop all your hair off? Probably so, yes. I never got more compliments from strangers on my hair than I did when I had it super short. The important thing to remember though, is that cutting your hair doesn't change who you are; it doesn't turn you into something you're not...it's just hair.

But, this isn't a post on hair. Or, at least, it didn't begin that way. I love the idea of the $30 project. It wouldn't be very hard to do at all. I tend to shop very low-cost stores like thrift stores and consignment stores as it is. Columbia's got some good ones. I might do this? I could begin it in June and go for the whole year buying no piece of clothing for more than thirty bucks. Hmm...mulling, mulling, mulling... Yes!

I would say I'd budget $100 a month, but that would actually break the bank for me. Gotta stay realistic, here. Momma (and Bea) gotta eat, and jeans don't make a meal.

Go Cards!

I'm using pinterest to try to find additions to my fall/winter wardrobe this year. Such cute things, and maybe I'll find something that I just haveta have, ya know? It's possible. I don't need anything at all, in reality. But who can really not buy a new sweater when winter's coming? I mean, come on. Most people buy something for each season. Something new. It's one of the traditions of the changing seasons, yes?

I told facebook I was a web developer in order to get their profile redesign because I don't like it as it is and I'm anxious to see what it is becoming. They're making a huge move from what they've always been. I'm not unhappy with the re-design because it's very scrapbook-ish and I tend to like that. If people accept it and try to make it like a little autobiographical scrapbook, it could be neat to use now and again, but think it will be used less often than it is now due to the new way that they're heading. It will be used to highlight major events, but less of the mundane everyday things that a lot of people use it for. I find this good, personally, but a lot of people enjoy it for the mundane, everyday things that people share. It's so different and I think it's actually diminished the amount of social interaction people will have with each other. Anyway, it should be a loud week on that website. Perhaps I could have just stayed on google plus. I think maybe there will be an influx of movement to that site in the coming weeks from people who are too unhappy with this new path of facebook. I'm just not sure if facebook is about to commit suicide or if it's really starting something new and fantastic? Either way, I'm glad it's such a drastic change. I've been so bored with it for so long that I welcome this completely different track they're on. I think it could become a lonely site, though.

I'm still pretty stoked about it being fall! Officially. AAAAAAND: The Cardinals are only 1 game behind the Atlanta Braves for the wild card in the division playoffs! This. is. amazing. I had written the Cardinals off earlier in the summer, just wishing for mercy and that they'd just get the season completed. But now? We're looking good(ish). We're finishing well and we're excited again! There's a decent chance, being only one game out, that we could actually end up in the post-season! Miracles do happen. In baseball, at least.