A Hell of a Girl

The Cutest shoes, ever!

I wear some things I know my friends would not. It's no insult to me when Anissa tells me she likes something I'm wearing, though she wouldn't choose it herself. That's cool. Another way of putting it is to quote my friend Nicole, truly one of THE most stylish and individual women I have the good luck to know, who once told me "When it comes to clothes, I don't question true love". Which is why I was so THRILLED to finally find a pair of the Isaac Mizrahi leopard print ballerina flats in my size! Whoot!

I am not a leopard print fan usually. If you count my new shoes and my skinny leopard print belt, that brings the number of animal print items I own up to two. I think animal prints are (as I told Stephanie) like marigolds and ultimatums: to be used sparingly.
But I love these shoes. They are the perfect combo of fashionable, affordable and comfy. They are a bit funky, but not so outrageous that I won't be able to wear them to work at the firm.

I even wore them on a "road test" to make sure they didn't rub, walking Brodie down the side walk for about a mile. They were comfy and great. I adore these cute shoes! Going to go buy some Scotchguard to keep them in good shape. Naturally, I'll be wearing them to work tomorrow. :)

Orchid Mania

While outside everything is wrapping up summer, dying down and preparing to hibernate for the winter, my kitchen is a very different story. That's where my orchids live. Currently, 4 of them are in spike, which is fancy-schmancy orchid terminology for "putting out stems to grow flowers". Most of my orchids are Phalaenopsis or Doritonopsis or hybrids of the two. However, one orchid I have in spike is my Oncidium. Quite frankly, I didn't even really expect this plant to live, much less thrive and flower. First off, Oncidium have slightly more specialized needs than Phals or Dors. Second, I did not plant my Oncidium in a pot of tree bark, but decided to experiment with growing it "naturally". In nature, Oncidiums (plus many Plals and Dors) grow on the sides of trees. They are not parasites and take nothing from the tree, except a nice place to sit. An orchid seed, very tiny and having no food supply, will land on the side of a tree and maybe get wedged in some bark. If conditions are right, maybe there's a little leaf litter there, it will grow and tiny hairs on the roots will anchor the plant to the tree. So I bought a big piece of tre bark, wired some moss to it and wired my Oncidium to the bark. Within 6 months the Oncidium was holding on by itself and I removed the wires. I was pretty sure it would die, especially as I would just hang it our on the porch for the summer to randomly get rained on. But the Oncidium is tough and it hung on and even grew. And now, it's out out a spike for flowers. When it flowers, it has small yellow and brown flowers called "Dancing Ladies" because it looks a bit like dresses:

The other orchids will be just as beautiful of course. One is an orchid Amy sent me that I haven't seen it's blooms before, so I'm excited to see. The other is a known performer, a beautiful purple orchid Justin chose when I was first starting my collection.

That's one nice thing about the kitchen in mid-winter. I will see snow outside, but inside it's warm and toasty and I will have tropical plants blooming. Orchid blooms can last for months, so it's a wonderful treat to wake up, check on the flowers and plants. I have a spider living in one (this one is not blooming this season it looks like) which I know would ook some folks out, but I welcome the spider. She's nature's guard dog for my orchid and is likely to eat any bugs that may decide to munch on my orchids. She's a welcome guest and will be treated as such.

Redefining the American Family

I just had the best time reading Mark Morford's new column about the American Family. It's also about tattoos, George Bush and very lots of delishiously liberal imagery, so there may be some readers who won't enjoy it (Mom, that means you, sorry.).

The article states that now the MAJORITY of American households are NOT the "traditional" man and wife, legally married with 2.4 children. Instead, it's mostly single folks. Like me and Justin. Like our cool-as-heck lesbian neighbors. Like the single father who lives in the next house with his son and the single woman in the next one over. Like the crazy neighbor down the street who is a single mom, or like the nice couple who have adopted multiple kids of any race, who need a home. In fact, on my block, I only know of ONE married couple, and they currently don't have kids. Maybe they will, but they are definately the minority. One could argue that I do live in a section of Columbus known to be full of liberal Old Hippies, artists and recyclers, so that is a factor. I live in an urban environment, not a suburb.

Regardless, apparently now my living-in-sin-for-9-years status is not as rebellious as it once was. I am now mainstream. SWEET! :P

Mr. Morford's funny and thought provoking column from the San francisco Gate can be found here: Unmarried Tattooed Heathens, Ho!

Heroes -teeny spoiler

Heroes has surprised me by being consistently good. Don't get me wrong, it's no Battlestar Galactica, but it's been solid in it's story telling and I'm really enjoying it. I liked it that even Peter, who is trying to piece things together and just barely suspecting that there is more to it than just him and his brother, even has a hard time with the rather ridiculous "Save the cheerleader; save the world" line. And Dr Saresh younger just scoffs. A cheerleader? It's coming together though. But the other characters are compelling and I am really enjoying watching them play out. At least now I have fodder to discuss and analyze with all the "cool kids" at work tomorrow. :)

It's a hard knock life

Yes, observe the poor Chug. The Papasan chair, by the way, is the natural and indigenous habitat of the modern domestic Chug apparently. I moved the chair from the bedroom to my office-type-area and, though a tight fit, it's quite comfy and useful. Especially for watching DVDs on my Macbook or surfing. I would read in it upstairs sometimes, but mostly it became a catch-all. Brodie wasn't scared of it but largely ignored it upstairs. Downstairs though is an entirely different story. He seems to believe we have finally found him a soft enough and large enough elevated dog bed worthy of a fine Chug like himself. Usually I get a highly offended look when I make him scootch over to make room for me. Except of course, now, when I sit with my computer on my lap as I sit on the floor next to the chair because Brodie looks so content and comfy that I don't want to disturb him.

Free Dog Pedometer (yes, really)

Ok, I was intrigued by this idea. A company (a drug company of course) is giving away free pedometers for dogs so you can track Sparky's movement and if he is getting enopugh exercise. Considering the epidemic of obesity facing Americans, both Human and Canine, I think this is a great idea. A lot of people who might not take themselves out to get exercise, will take their dog on a walk if an instrument is telling them their dog should be getting more activity.

So natually, I have ordered Brodie his own free Doggie Pedometer. We shall see how he ranks. Considering he has bulged in the middle a little, my guess is we need to get in a little bit more walking, but so do Justin and I, so it all works out nicely. Now if only the weather would cooperate...

You can get your pooch a free pedometer here: Pet Pedometer

Some Links today

Naturally, neurotic but wonderfully talented Isaac Mizrahi has started a magazine. Just a small publication, nothing airbrushed or flashy, but instead fun and informative. Even better, it's FREE. They will mail it to you, if you pay $3.95 shipping.  To check out Isaac's Style book long on to:

Isaac's Style Book

In addition, here is s surprisingly cool link that contains (I think) EVERYTHING you have ever wanted to know about the fascinating topic of shoelaces.

Shoelaces!

And lastly, just becaise I think it's cool and a great resource, here is a link to the bios of 700 Marvel characters:

Marvel Universe Bios

SciFi and the prettiest pink EVER.

Ok, first off, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Just been busy with other, non-blog things. My apologies for my poor posting habits to the 4 people who regularly read this (and yes, one of them is my Mom). :)
Anyway, when did the SciFi channel start getting really good again? I mean, yes, they have some so-so stuff, and I still groan over any movie that is advertised as "A SciFi Originals Picture", but Battlestar Galactica is so frakking GOOD, plus Threshold has promise, Dr Who is still goofy and British, but fun and they are showing Heroes. Oh, and I have started watching Eureka "casually" but I bet if I watch enough I'll get hooked.
That said, last night (yes, before Eureka), I ran to Target to buy some Revlon Colorstay Nail Enamel. This is the BEST nail polish. First off because it does not chip. The promise is that your nails are supposed to look manicure fresh for 10 days. 10? I would settle for five with the abuse my nails put up with. Typing, washing dishes by hand, laundry, my nails look nice for about a day and that's it. But this Colorstay stuff is different. i had tried a pale neutral in it and loved the results. it really diud stay shiny and pretty! I didn't get to the ten day mark, but even after 5 my nails at least looked like I took time to take care of them. The nail color did wear off the tips, but it wore off evenly with no chpping, so you would have to look close to tell it was worn off a little. I was very satisfied. So last night I went to target because they have some limited editions of the Colorstay nail colors. I found one in a new shade called Always Sunbury. It is the prettiest pink! Not pale like a ballerina tutu pink, but a intense, sexy pink. The best I can describe it is if you have ever held a piece of Indian Silk. It has a color sheen to it that appears when the fabric moves. This is the same; a beautiful mid-tone pink that has a gold sheen to it. In addition, it has a sparkly topcoat, to keep it fresh and shiny. I love it!
Ok, will try to post more in the coming days!

Let loose the moralists!

I was amazed that Laura Mallory even made the news. Pitiful. Do you know who she is? The woman in Altlana demanding Harry Potter books be removed from public schools because they obviously led to...you know it's coming...the recent spate of school shootings.
We were all horrified by the recent shootings in various schools, but the moralist recognizes it as prime media coverage opportunity to further their own moral agenda. Laura is trying desperately to get attention for her beliefs by warning us that if we had just listened to her and removed Harry Potter from the school library, those shootings would never have occurred. Of course, whenever there is a tragedy, the moralists climb out of the woodwork saying if we had just believed them and adhered to their morals, this would never have happened.
I doubt Mrs. Mallory has even READ the Harry Potter books, though she is quick to decry how they teach children witchcraft and "dark arts". Funnily enough, in the books, it's those same "dark arts" that Harry fights against. It's a classic heroes tale, repeated countless times. Joseph Campbell wrote Hero With A Thousand Faces, and the Harry Potter epic easily qualifies as a text book example of the iconic Hero's Journey.
So small minded Laura Mallory, like other moral pan-bangers, yells loudly enough to get media attention. Big whoop.

What price for beauty?

I have frequently joked, seconds before a bikini wax, that one must sometimes suffer for beauty. That said, I do not believe OTHERS should suffer for my beauty, especially when those others are fluffy bunnies and beagles and the like. So I am purging the make-up tackle box of a few items.
See, a week ago I was thinking I should get a new Covergirl mascara and out of nowhere realized that I assummed Covergirl was not tested on animals. But why assume? Well, because it's 2006 and all responsible companies should not be testing on animals when it is not neccessary of course. But this got my brain going and I had to know. Let me say straight away that I hate that any animal testing must be done at all, but at least I understand why animal testing is necessary for medical drugs and such. That said, I do not support animal testing for cosmetics. That's repulsive, that animals should suffer so I can have longer looking eyelashes. Diabetes drugs? Necessary. Longer looking eyelashes? Nice, but not worth the price if an animal suffers. Period.
So I got to researching. Unfortunately there are a lot of grey areas. For example, my much-loved Neutrogena skin products DO NOT test on animals but their parent company DOES. So if you want to use them, it's up to how comfortable you are with that. L'Oreal does not test it's cosmetics on animals in the United States, however they still do in Europe. Again, your comfort level can dictate what you choose to wear.
I was very glad, therefore, to learn that my favorite cosmetics company, Revlon, was one of the first 2 major cosmetics companies to go 100% to non-animal testing methods, years ago. The other company was Avon. Revlon even established and funded a foundation to find alternatives to animal testing. So I already knew (and blogged about) their products were of good quality and affordable. Now I discover I can also use their products with a cleaner conscience.

That in mind, I decided I did not want a few products I already had. While I had been pleased with the Johnson & Johnson "Purpose" moisturizer with 30 SPF, no thanks. I returned it. I can use plenty of cruelty-free moisturizers on the market, plus what I really bought it for was the high SPF and you can get that in foundation or alone. Also, the L'Oreal HIP Shimmer I blogged about? Back it went. I have a few L'Oreal products that I can't return and am reluctant to just throw away (lip gloss mostly) but I think I can just phase L'Oreal out of the make up box slowly. I also threw away my Covergirl mascara (it was time anyway) and replaced it with a Revlon Lash Fantasy mascara. I have not tried it yet, but hope it is good.
While looking for the mascara, I noticed Target still had some of the Star Style products left (promotion seems almost over though) and one was a "Nearly nude" shimmer powder, so I decided to try that. It's very different than the L'Oreal shimmer I had tried, but it's still a good product. First, obviously, it's a powder rather than a cream. It's also, on my skin, more along the lines of a shimmery blush. That's good though, because it meant I could toss away my L'Oreal mostly-used up peachy-toned blush without remorse.
I am migrating most of my cosmetics to Revlon, since they make so much I like. Other companies like MAC are also wonderful for their cruelty-free policies. Plus, their lip gloss totally rocks and no bunnies suffered for that. :)

Please check out the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics
http://www.leapingbunny.org/