Spending friday night writing a paper for class is so lame. And really tough to do, actually. I'm having trouble focusing on coming up with 1500 words for library governance and how to get a president of a university to understand how I, as a fictional library director, measures the success of my library. Apparently just writing "I would say to the president: "Budget cuts shmudget cuts! Libraries rule and I won't cut anything!" would earn me a failing grade on the paper.
Boo. to. that.
I was thinking about making a little map about Michael Caine's various theatrical characters and how they connect to others last night after someone told me that when you say " my cocaine", you're staying his name in his voice. I'm not sure I can textually map this out the way my mind is thinking about it, but I'll give it a go:
Caine plays Batman's butler. He also plays an illegal abortion-performing doctor in Maine in Cider House Rules. Tobey McGuire is his pupil in CHR. Tobey plays Spiderman. So, we have Batman's butler teaching Spidey how to perform illegal abortions. Yes? You could probably do six degrees of Michael Caine. He's been in oodles of movies. He was the original Alfie. Miss Congeniality. A Muppet's Christmas Carol. Inception. I like him better than Kevin Bacon anyhow.
Ugh. I am making approximately zero progress on this paper. I have an intro. Sort of. I have movies to watch from the library. I was working out earlier at the gym and considering taking my book to read for class next week. I chose to read some classics that were on the book list for next week. So, I'm reading "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and "Charlotte's Web". I considered taking CW to the gym and reading it while I was cross-training, but I have a hard enough time staying focused on the machine as it is. But, when I went back to the locker room after I was done, there was a girl in there just sitting on the bench, texting on her phone with a yorkie dog on her lap. Just chillin'. I was like, 'Uh, cute dog.' But I was really thinking, 'What the hell are you doing with a yorkie in the women's locker room at the rec center? Nobody's gonna believe that's a seeing eye dog if they see you texting like this.' Frankly, I don't know of any seeing eye yorkies at all, but whatever. Maybe they're smarter than they appear. Maybe they could do the job. Far be it from me to cast aspersions on dogs, but those pocket dogs aren't usually service-oriented dogs. Unless the service is to make the chick carrying it around in her purse somehow feel cuter. I think people look worlds more awesome when they hang out with a great dane rather than a yorkie. But that's just me. It was a well behaved little yorkie, though. I do wonder exactly how the girl smuggled it in. And most of all: why did she smuggle it in? That's just weird.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Books as gifts and as art. (And kind, thoughtful teachers.)
Tonight is multi-tasking night, like whoa. Keeping an eye on the Cardinals game (already up 5-0 in the first inning! Hopefully this will bode well for the Cards and they won't fall apart. If they win tonight and the Braves lose, lo and behold, we're in the playoffs!), managed to check off some errands this evening to hopefully make this weekend less hectic, am chowing down on sour patch kids candy that I picked up while on an errand, and am trying to decide whether to listen to music or watch a Doris Day movie I have from the library. Chances are slim that I'll watch all the movies I have from the library right now, although I did finish "Miss Potter" today. Good movie. Made me like Beatrix even more. As fate would have it, her book is one that is an option to read for my children's lit class for next week. But, for some reason, my local library only has one copy of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", but one of the other smaller branches has three. What's up with that?
Sometimes you just have a moment where you are blown away by the thoughtfulness and kindness of someone else. Especially when it's a person that you haven't known for very long. I had a moment like that last night in my class. My teacher is cool and I would have liked her if she hadn't done what she did last night, but now she's probably my favorite teacher of all my grad school experiences. Last night, she GAVE me her copy of my favorite children's book, "The Jolly Postman". She had brought it in last week when we were discussing pop-up books and unusual children's books and she discussed it because it has letters that you pull out of it and read. Well, we had gone around the table discussing books that had an impact on our lives as children and I LOVED that book. I actually have the second Jolly Postman book still, I saved it from my shelves when I moved from home, but I don't know what happened to the original Jolly Postman. Anyway, I couldn't believe she had brought it in last week and I must have looked completely overjoyed or something because this week she brought it back and at the end of class last night she told me to keep it. I was all like, 'Whaaa?? You're giving me "The Jolly Postman"?! THANK YOU!!! You just became my favorite teacher EVER." I still find it hard to believe that she gave it to me. But she said that she can teach the class next year without it and that I had looked so happy to see it that she wanted me to have it. How nice is that? I can't believe how nice people are sometimes. And that she would have even remembered it and brought it back the next week to give to me. It's just amazing and sweet and I was really touched. As soon as I got home, I put the book on the shelf next to it's sequel. They look really happy to be together. I just love that book. Sigh.
Speaking of books that I love, a few months ago, I began tearing pages out of books that I love (and own, that's an important tidbit of information to include here) and doing redactions to try to create an interesting wall art piece. I think it would be nice to have a page from my favorite books hanging on the walls where I can see it more often instead of sitting and gathering dust on a shelf. I mean, they go back on the shelf after I tear out a page, but only I know (well, now you do too) that some of the books on my shelves aren't whole any longer. I've gotten about 5 or 6 redactions that I'm prepping for framing right now. Anyhow, I was considering doing this for other people as gifts? Framing them up and giving them to people? I can make the page say nearly anything, and it will probably always be unique seeing as how there are hundreds of words per page and you can probably make it say a hundred different things to fit a hundred different occasions. I would just attempt to find out a favorite book of the person and find a cheap copy of it somewhere. One tough thing that I've discovered while doing this is that it is important to find an edition that lists the title on the top of every page or every other page, so that when you do the redaction, you'll easily be able to tell what book it is from. This is more difficult than I thought since it seems that many publishers are moving away from that sort of printing template. But if you stick with classics, you're bound to find one edition that is printed this way. Anyway, I thought I'd share one that I'm in the process of framing and putting up in my own home. It's my favorite one that I've done for myself so far. It's from "Madonnas of Leningrad", which is a sad book, but one that I recommend if you enjoy museums or Russian history. Here it is:
Sometimes you just have a moment where you are blown away by the thoughtfulness and kindness of someone else. Especially when it's a person that you haven't known for very long. I had a moment like that last night in my class. My teacher is cool and I would have liked her if she hadn't done what she did last night, but now she's probably my favorite teacher of all my grad school experiences. Last night, she GAVE me her copy of my favorite children's book, "The Jolly Postman". She had brought it in last week when we were discussing pop-up books and unusual children's books and she discussed it because it has letters that you pull out of it and read. Well, we had gone around the table discussing books that had an impact on our lives as children and I LOVED that book. I actually have the second Jolly Postman book still, I saved it from my shelves when I moved from home, but I don't know what happened to the original Jolly Postman. Anyway, I couldn't believe she had brought it in last week and I must have looked completely overjoyed or something because this week she brought it back and at the end of class last night she told me to keep it. I was all like, 'Whaaa?? You're giving me "The Jolly Postman"?! THANK YOU!!! You just became my favorite teacher EVER." I still find it hard to believe that she gave it to me. But she said that she can teach the class next year without it and that I had looked so happy to see it that she wanted me to have it. How nice is that? I can't believe how nice people are sometimes. And that she would have even remembered it and brought it back the next week to give to me. It's just amazing and sweet and I was really touched. As soon as I got home, I put the book on the shelf next to it's sequel. They look really happy to be together. I just love that book. Sigh.Speaking of books that I love, a few months ago, I began tearing pages out of books that I love (and own, that's an important tidbit of information to include here) and doing redactions to try to create an interesting wall art piece. I think it would be nice to have a page from my favorite books hanging on the walls where I can see it more often instead of sitting and gathering dust on a shelf. I mean, they go back on the shelf after I tear out a page, but only I know (well, now you do too) that some of the books on my shelves aren't whole any longer. I've gotten about 5 or 6 redactions that I'm prepping for framing right now. Anyhow, I was considering doing this for other people as gifts? Framing them up and giving them to people? I can make the page say nearly anything, and it will probably always be unique seeing as how there are hundreds of words per page and you can probably make it say a hundred different things to fit a hundred different occasions. I would just attempt to find out a favorite book of the person and find a cheap copy of it somewhere. One tough thing that I've discovered while doing this is that it is important to find an edition that lists the title on the top of every page or every other page, so that when you do the redaction, you'll easily be able to tell what book it is from. This is more difficult than I thought since it seems that many publishers are moving away from that sort of printing template. But if you stick with classics, you're bound to find one edition that is printed this way. Anyway, I thought I'd share one that I'm in the process of framing and putting up in my own home. It's my favorite one that I've done for myself so far. It's from "Madonnas of Leningrad", which is a sad book, but one that I recommend if you enjoy museums or Russian history. Here it is:
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| "She was quietly defiant and unusual. That's better than popular if you have some courage." |
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
At last!
Currently listening to "Neighborhoods"! The brand new Blink-182 album that came out today (finally!) and it is FANTASTIC. I'm so proud of them! This is their first album in 8 years and they manage to sound just as good as they used to, just as catchy songs, good voices, awesome sound, etc. I think they've evolved into something even better than they were, actually. I love it! Unfortunately, they're not touring near me, but maybe next time! Yaaaaaaaaaaay!
[Go find it on your favorite music playing app/website and listen! You won't be disappointed!]
[Go find it on your favorite music playing app/website and listen! You won't be disappointed!]
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| Travis Barker ripping up songs on the drums. |
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Annual Fall happiness injection.
I've been so happy lately. Like, bursts of happiness for days and days now. I think it has a lot to do with the weather. When summer ends, I get ecstatic and become uber-happy. Even trying to translate a book title from Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet is not bringing me down. I'm all, "I will conquer this because it is only 65 degrees outside and I feel fabulous!"
Arkheologiia sssr svod arkheologcheskikh istochikov.
Yessss.
Other fun things:
I've been feeling so good, I even re-joined the social networking world of Facebook (again x 4? I forget how many times I've left and returned. You need breaks from that site, like whoa.). But, I think that perhaps you reach a point where you have deleted yourself enough times and have to re-request connections, people get annoyed. I think I've probably reached that point with many a folk on that site. I admit to being a little high-maintenance on that website. I've been [happily] surprised at the forgiving nature of most people on there where fickleness of their virtual friends comes in. Others? Not so much, but I can understand it. I think people are a) super sensitive about Facebook and when they get a friend re-request from someone that they thought they were already friends with, sometimes they get upset/confused at the thought that this person un-friended them at some point and b) some people just take it very personally when this happens and maybe they just feel like they don't want to re-friend that person again, either as a 'punishment' or just to make them feel better about having the power to deny that online connection? Sort of a 'You un-friended me? Hell no, I won't be friends again. Take that!' Facebook is rife with power trips and I have run head-long into a couple of them this time around, I'm afraid. I would like to mention though that I have never un-friended anyone out of malice. In general, all the times I have un-friended folks and/or left the site are because of decisions I made regarding things outside of the website (i.e. I decide to use it for family only; I decide to not have co-workers on it because I see co-workers 40 hours each week and reading their statuses on facebook is redundant; I want off the site because the website itself is out of control; I want to have actual in-person friendships/hangouts/conversations and think that virtual social networking take that away, etc.) I think that my issues with that site won't go away and I can't say with any certainty that I won't leave again someday. I probably will. I'm trying not to take things personally on my end, because I do understand the annoyance/confusion/hurt feelings factor of having a fickle person virtually connected to you on a popular website and possibly having to have respond to friend requests from them multiple times now, especially if you are of the sensitive sort and are easily offended by something like this or do tend to immediately assume they un-friended you out of anger/malice, etc. I get it and not being connected to me on a site like Facebook is obviously the easiest way to avoid that sort of confusion. Not a problem.
Arkheologiia sssr svod arkheologcheskikh istochikov.
Yessss.
Other fun things:
- Tonight is the season premiere of The Big Bang Theory. A full one hour! I'm wearing my 'Bazinga!' shirt in honor of the occasion. Plus, I've decided to go to Ingredient for lunch, which is not a new place around campus, but new to me. A co-worker and I went last week and I loved it. Yum.
- I got my hair done last night. This always perks me up. Something about having your hair done makes you feel nice, right? Or it does for me.
- I saw the movie "Practical Magic" over the weekend. It started to get me into the Halloween mood. I kind of want to do a Halloween/Fall movie night. I was discussing this last night and we could do "Practical Magic", "Hocus Pocus", "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!", etc.
- Corn mazes and pumpkin patches are opening all over the area!
I've been feeling so good, I even re-joined the social networking world of Facebook (again x 4? I forget how many times I've left and returned. You need breaks from that site, like whoa.). But, I think that perhaps you reach a point where you have deleted yourself enough times and have to re-request connections, people get annoyed. I think I've probably reached that point with many a folk on that site. I admit to being a little high-maintenance on that website. I've been [happily] surprised at the forgiving nature of most people on there where fickleness of their virtual friends comes in. Others? Not so much, but I can understand it. I think people are a) super sensitive about Facebook and when they get a friend re-request from someone that they thought they were already friends with, sometimes they get upset/confused at the thought that this person un-friended them at some point and b) some people just take it very personally when this happens and maybe they just feel like they don't want to re-friend that person again, either as a 'punishment' or just to make them feel better about having the power to deny that online connection? Sort of a 'You un-friended me? Hell no, I won't be friends again. Take that!' Facebook is rife with power trips and I have run head-long into a couple of them this time around, I'm afraid. I would like to mention though that I have never un-friended anyone out of malice. In general, all the times I have un-friended folks and/or left the site are because of decisions I made regarding things outside of the website (i.e. I decide to use it for family only; I decide to not have co-workers on it because I see co-workers 40 hours each week and reading their statuses on facebook is redundant; I want off the site because the website itself is out of control; I want to have actual in-person friendships/hangouts/conversations and think that virtual social networking take that away, etc.) I think that my issues with that site won't go away and I can't say with any certainty that I won't leave again someday. I probably will. I'm trying not to take things personally on my end, because I do understand the annoyance/confusion/hurt feelings factor of having a fickle person virtually connected to you on a popular website and possibly having to have respond to friend requests from them multiple times now, especially if you are of the sensitive sort and are easily offended by something like this or do tend to immediately assume they un-friended you out of anger/malice, etc. I get it and not being connected to me on a site like Facebook is obviously the easiest way to avoid that sort of confusion. Not a problem.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Australian Rules Football, anyone?
Monday night in my house has become "Austrailian Rules Football on PBS" night. Have you ever watched this craziness? It's total chaos. There are three goals on each end of this oval-shaped large field. There are 44 (yes, that's 4 and 4) players on the field. All running after the same little ovally-American football-ish looking ball. These 44 players can kick the ball, run with the ball, dribble the ball (although, honestly how you dribble an oblong ball is in itself a skill), but you can't throw the ball to anybody apparently, except I see them tossing it to each other all the time. So maybe you can't throw it really far, but if you are running and dribbling, you can toss it once you are in a close enough proximity of a teammate? This is one aspect I'm not sure of yet...among many others. But, I know that you have to get it through one of the three goals by kicking it in. But, you can kick it from anywhere. If you kick it in (or even, over) the main goal with the big endposts, you get 6 points. If you kick it in through the shorter goal posts on either side of the large one, you get 1 point. An the team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
I'm sure there are bunches of other rules that I'm fuzzy on, like fouls and tackles and if anybody can get in trouble for doing anything. Seems to me that there's a lot of rough tackles and people aren't getting carded like in soccer or flags or anything like in football. Seems like everything is kind of 'beat the other guy to a pulp, but do it with a smile' kind of thing. I guess you can elbow the other guy in the face, but if you keep smiling, it looks less malicious? I don't know. It looks pretty rough to me.
There are always loud, large crowds at the games. I don't know the teams yet, nor can I fully follow the commentators. All in all it's a bit of a craps shoot for me to figure out what I'm watching, but I don't get any other sort of sports shows. I mean, I get football on weekends, but this is really interesting. Or at least, different. Maybe someday I'll learn which team is which, but with 44 guys on the field, it's completely ridiculous. Kind of like if you've ever been to a little league baseball game when it's the kids' very first few games ever and someone might actually hit the ball out of the infield and the ENTIRE infield team who are supposed to be on defense rush to the outfield after the ball. It's like these grown Australian men are all like those little kids: I see no positions being played here, I just see panicked rushing after a ball.
I'm sure there are bunches of other rules that I'm fuzzy on, like fouls and tackles and if anybody can get in trouble for doing anything. Seems to me that there's a lot of rough tackles and people aren't getting carded like in soccer or flags or anything like in football. Seems like everything is kind of 'beat the other guy to a pulp, but do it with a smile' kind of thing. I guess you can elbow the other guy in the face, but if you keep smiling, it looks less malicious? I don't know. It looks pretty rough to me.
There are always loud, large crowds at the games. I don't know the teams yet, nor can I fully follow the commentators. All in all it's a bit of a craps shoot for me to figure out what I'm watching, but I don't get any other sort of sports shows. I mean, I get football on weekends, but this is really interesting. Or at least, different. Maybe someday I'll learn which team is which, but with 44 guys on the field, it's completely ridiculous. Kind of like if you've ever been to a little league baseball game when it's the kids' very first few games ever and someone might actually hit the ball out of the infield and the ENTIRE infield team who are supposed to be on defense rush to the outfield after the ball. It's like these grown Australian men are all like those little kids: I see no positions being played here, I just see panicked rushing after a ball.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
I smell like a pear. And it is good.
Last night I discovered two things while grocery shopping:
1) Saturday evening is a great time to shop. Very few people in the store.
2) The natural foods/organic section of a certain grocery store in town is waaaaaay cooler than I had anticipated.
Ty Pennington and the Extreme Makeover Home Edition team is going to Joplin! I wonder how many buildings he's going to build? I would hope that he would help more than one family (although helping one family is great in itself, don't get me wrong). That's something I would like to help with. I've heard of others helping out on that show and having a blast with it. The project starts on October 19th which is a Wednesday...and right before my Comps begin. I don't think I'll be able to physically go help build because of comps...but maybe I can donate something? I'll have to look more into it. All in all, this is fantastic news, though!
So, I told you that I was trying to stop drinking as much soda as I used to? I still am trying, but I've been failing a lot lately. The vacation was tough to keep that up with, but it's tougher to get back to it now that I'm home again. I'm trying to eat better as well and did buy a lot of fruit last night at the store and I've decided to begin to re-make these tortilla pizzas that I used to make in Italy. We didn't have a microwave in Italy, but we had a little oven that could bake things semi-quickly. I would make little pizzas with sauce and cheese on tortillas and then fold them over and they were so good. Italy's tortillas were thicker than what I could find here. I'm a little worried that the sauce will bleed right through the ones I have, but I could just do double-tortilla pizzas. I think it will work. I'm looking forward to trying it, anyway.
It's candle-burning weather. The other night I had just one lamp on in my living room and lit one of my autumn candles (smelled like pumpkin pie) and it was so lovely. The house still smelled like it yesterday when I got home from class/work. Yesterday was a long(ish) day. It was my first Saturday class. Three hours right over lunchtime. Luckily, it's a teacher who never fails to keep people amused. He's less of a teacher and more of a story-teller/joke teller, really. He tends to go on tangents. At any rate, the three hours went by pretty quickly. Then I headed off to practicum for a couple of hours and worked on a photo archival project. This is good. I wanted to work with photographs. I wouldn't mind being a photo archivist if I could land a job as one. I think I'd really enjoy it.
My hair is slowly growing out. Slowly but surely. I'm so impatient with it. I really just want to have longer hair again that I could put up in a ponytail when I want. I'm trying new (healthy?) things in haircare as well as in food. For months I've wanted sulfate-free shampoo, but I have so much regular shampoo that I felt like it was a waste to make the switch after shelling out money on other shampoo. I'm not a person that can use the same shampoo every day, so I have like, 5 shampoos that I switch around. I felt like I needed to get through most of those five bottles before attempting to switch to sulfate-free. Anyway, last night at the store I wandered around and found a couple of sulfate-free shampoos and looked over them and ended up buying one. I'm going to try to alternate it in while I finish the small amounts of regular shampoo I have and then buy a second sulfate-free to alternate with this one... I don't know if I'll ever try the full on shampoo-free thing that I've seen going around. I just don't know if I could handle the transitional period that they say it takes for your hair to adjust to that. But when you think about it: children often have really beautiful hair and they don't tend to wash their hair every day, nor do they have as many years of using regular shampoo on their hair and causing a chemical buildup. The scalp is still counter-balancing the chemicals in the shampoo. The hair just naturally takes care of itself and looks really pretty. I want the hair I had when I was little. Sigh. Does this make sense or just sound like a lot of just procrastination on making a decision? I want to get healthier hair, especially since it'll be long again. I don't want dried out, frizzy hair and sulfates in shampoo have a tendency to do that. They strip your hair of the natural oils that your scalp produces. They're also not necessary to get your hair clean, as sulfates are the 'lathering agent' in shampoos. It's just so you see that it lathers and then you think that you're getting a better clean. It's basically just to soothe your psyche, not clean your hair. Some places say that sulfates in regular shampoo = cancer risk. From what I can tell, the risk is eye cancer and that can happen if you get shampoo in your eyes. It seems to me that using regular shampoo is fine (as far as eye cancer goes) as long as you don't continuously put it in your eyes. And who does that? So, the cancer risk that some reports warn about, I'm skeptical of, but I still think that the fewer chemicals that I put on my hair, the healthier it will be. Especially since I color my hair...sulfates can strip the color (along with the natural oils). Since my head is already a chemical hot spot, so why not try to cut back a little where I can? I had heard of a couple of companies that made sulfate-free shampoo, but the prices were ridiculous for some of them and also, I couldn't find one that I really wanted to try at most stores. I found a couple of new brands/companies I'd not heard of before at the grocery store last night (in that really cool natural/organic area) and decided to try one called "Nature's Gate". I've found love, my friends. I wish the store carried more of their products. They have sun care and skin care products as well as hair care. I think I'll buy more of their products when I can. I hope they grow to having more of a presence in the store. So far, I think they are only in one grocery store in town. Which is okay, I guess. Better than nowhere. Last evening, I bought this shampoo and it smells really really fantastic, and I love that my hair smells like pears now too:
1) Saturday evening is a great time to shop. Very few people in the store.
2) The natural foods/organic section of a certain grocery store in town is waaaaaay cooler than I had anticipated.
Ty Pennington and the Extreme Makeover Home Edition team is going to Joplin! I wonder how many buildings he's going to build? I would hope that he would help more than one family (although helping one family is great in itself, don't get me wrong). That's something I would like to help with. I've heard of others helping out on that show and having a blast with it. The project starts on October 19th which is a Wednesday...and right before my Comps begin. I don't think I'll be able to physically go help build because of comps...but maybe I can donate something? I'll have to look more into it. All in all, this is fantastic news, though!
So, I told you that I was trying to stop drinking as much soda as I used to? I still am trying, but I've been failing a lot lately. The vacation was tough to keep that up with, but it's tougher to get back to it now that I'm home again. I'm trying to eat better as well and did buy a lot of fruit last night at the store and I've decided to begin to re-make these tortilla pizzas that I used to make in Italy. We didn't have a microwave in Italy, but we had a little oven that could bake things semi-quickly. I would make little pizzas with sauce and cheese on tortillas and then fold them over and they were so good. Italy's tortillas were thicker than what I could find here. I'm a little worried that the sauce will bleed right through the ones I have, but I could just do double-tortilla pizzas. I think it will work. I'm looking forward to trying it, anyway.
It's candle-burning weather. The other night I had just one lamp on in my living room and lit one of my autumn candles (smelled like pumpkin pie) and it was so lovely. The house still smelled like it yesterday when I got home from class/work. Yesterday was a long(ish) day. It was my first Saturday class. Three hours right over lunchtime. Luckily, it's a teacher who never fails to keep people amused. He's less of a teacher and more of a story-teller/joke teller, really. He tends to go on tangents. At any rate, the three hours went by pretty quickly. Then I headed off to practicum for a couple of hours and worked on a photo archival project. This is good. I wanted to work with photographs. I wouldn't mind being a photo archivist if I could land a job as one. I think I'd really enjoy it.
My hair is slowly growing out. Slowly but surely. I'm so impatient with it. I really just want to have longer hair again that I could put up in a ponytail when I want. I'm trying new (healthy?) things in haircare as well as in food. For months I've wanted sulfate-free shampoo, but I have so much regular shampoo that I felt like it was a waste to make the switch after shelling out money on other shampoo. I'm not a person that can use the same shampoo every day, so I have like, 5 shampoos that I switch around. I felt like I needed to get through most of those five bottles before attempting to switch to sulfate-free. Anyway, last night at the store I wandered around and found a couple of sulfate-free shampoos and looked over them and ended up buying one. I'm going to try to alternate it in while I finish the small amounts of regular shampoo I have and then buy a second sulfate-free to alternate with this one... I don't know if I'll ever try the full on shampoo-free thing that I've seen going around. I just don't know if I could handle the transitional period that they say it takes for your hair to adjust to that. But when you think about it: children often have really beautiful hair and they don't tend to wash their hair every day, nor do they have as many years of using regular shampoo on their hair and causing a chemical buildup. The scalp is still counter-balancing the chemicals in the shampoo. The hair just naturally takes care of itself and looks really pretty. I want the hair I had when I was little. Sigh. Does this make sense or just sound like a lot of just procrastination on making a decision? I want to get healthier hair, especially since it'll be long again. I don't want dried out, frizzy hair and sulfates in shampoo have a tendency to do that. They strip your hair of the natural oils that your scalp produces. They're also not necessary to get your hair clean, as sulfates are the 'lathering agent' in shampoos. It's just so you see that it lathers and then you think that you're getting a better clean. It's basically just to soothe your psyche, not clean your hair. Some places say that sulfates in regular shampoo = cancer risk. From what I can tell, the risk is eye cancer and that can happen if you get shampoo in your eyes. It seems to me that using regular shampoo is fine (as far as eye cancer goes) as long as you don't continuously put it in your eyes. And who does that? So, the cancer risk that some reports warn about, I'm skeptical of, but I still think that the fewer chemicals that I put on my hair, the healthier it will be. Especially since I color my hair...sulfates can strip the color (along with the natural oils). Since my head is already a chemical hot spot, so why not try to cut back a little where I can? I had heard of a couple of companies that made sulfate-free shampoo, but the prices were ridiculous for some of them and also, I couldn't find one that I really wanted to try at most stores. I found a couple of new brands/companies I'd not heard of before at the grocery store last night (in that really cool natural/organic area) and decided to try one called "Nature's Gate". I've found love, my friends. I wish the store carried more of their products. They have sun care and skin care products as well as hair care. I think I'll buy more of their products when I can. I hope they grow to having more of a presence in the store. So far, I think they are only in one grocery store in town. Which is okay, I guess. Better than nowhere. Last evening, I bought this shampoo and it smells really really fantastic, and I love that my hair smells like pears now too:
Friday, September 16, 2011
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