The BustBlog
For the last several months I've been thinking about dropping my Bust subscription but I find a lot of cool stuff there that I don't see anywhere else so I guess I'm hanging on for another year. This month I learned about Hairpolice Salon for fabulous rock star hair. Another stylist at Hairpisalon gave advice on bangs. I'm sure mine are all wrong and very seventh grade. PanhandleGirl has soaps and body scrubs. This must be a super easy do-it-at-home start up meaning making soaps and stuff because every farmers market has at least 4 stalls with handmade soaps and Bust seems to tout one in every issue. I'm all for smelling good but how much soap does a girl need?

Then there's Kiki's Kitsch Corner -- in case you're looking for a styling toilet seat. Guava is a fun travel magazine for women. And now that I'm probably too old to ever get to go to another bachelorette party, here is the perfect source of fun party favors. There also is a hilarious review (scroll down to Glow Job) of this glow in the dark massage lotion that looks like a great gift idea.

Now I'm running late.

I feel like I'm always rushing around. I know some things could be cut out but I'm not cutting them out.

We went to Seattle last Tues to see the Man U v. Celtic soccer game with Kenman, Hannah and Andy. Super fun time. We took the train and I got a clue what we were getting into when they announced at 9:05a that the lounge car was open and a herd of jock-types in shorts and soccer themed t-shirts headed in that direction. We saw soccer people all over downtown Seattle. I think the game would have gotten a lot nuttier if Celtic had managed to get on the board. We had a whole section next to us in green and white striped t-shirts and drums and large quantities of high priced beer. We had a great time.

I used my time on the train to make progress on Empire Falls which I finally finished -- fantastic book. I immediately jumped into Ian McEwan Atonement which was also fantastic. I had trouble transitioning into McEwan though. Both writers have such strong distinct voices that I guess I needed some sort of palate cleanser before diving into the second book. Finished it this morning. Next is a book Sinead let me borrow and I still have Life of Pi to look forward to.

I am SO OVER Seabiscuit already. Enough Seabiscuit. Please, I'm begging you.

Another thing I've noticed a lot lately is the word: peripatetic. It seems like it should be about ulcers or digestive problems but Webster says: pedestrian, itinerant. It sounds wrong.

I haven't mentioned how fabulous The Whale Rider is -- or if I have, I forgot. But please go see it. And bring at least 3 boxes of tissues. I also saw Pirates of the Caribbean which for a movie based on a theme park ride -- is pretty damn good. But then you've got Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and pirates. It would be a crime if it was messed up. One story problem though: a lot of energy spent fighting the undead. Why would you fight to kill pirates who can't die?

Last night during the movie I had an idea. You know those airports where they have TVs everywhere? You can't escape the drone of the TV and it plays this CNN Airport news recycled endlessly -- I think it was in MINN where I had a 4 1/2 hour layover after an international flight -- we finally found a cluster of chairs in a corner to get away from the noise. Anyway, I think airport TVs should show Winged Migration on an endless loop. It would take years to get sick of it and it would add peace and beauty to an otherwise chaotic place. We could get TVs at the DMV and bank, too. It would be great.

We went to see Winged Migration tonight. Amazing. I can't begin to describe how amazing it is. Even if you think you could never sit and watch birds for 90 minutes, go anyway. You can.

On the way home Bob told me he cut an article out about an 8 1/2 hour movie called La Commune (Paris 1871) about this historical event (I don't know enough about it to explain properly). I said I didn't want to see anything for 8 1/2 hours unless it had Jedi or elves in it. (The article actually says it's 5 1/2 hours.)

Bob came back from High Sierra and got sick. On Friday we took him to the doctor and he had a 103.5 fever -- not a happy person. The doctor who saw him was a complete Doogie Howser -- he stuck his head in the door and then had to go back out to answer a question and I looked at Bob and went "Doogie" and we totally laughed. He was very through and competent, but I continue to wonder what happened to all the old doctors? When we were kids all the doctors were old and grey. Where are these doctors now? Yeah, I realize those actual doctors are long retired but in the meantime, shouldn't there be new old doctors to fill their places? But back to Bob's illness: he had to get a shot and he's not at 100% yet but he's feeling a lot better.

And my face rash update is that it is looking a ton better.

Last Friday I left for the spa at 2:30pm -- so the hottest part of the day and I passed one of my neighbors, looking mighty unhealthy I might add, standing outside watering his completely brown lawn. What was he thinking?

Cinderella pumpkin update -- last year I saved the seeds from my cinderella pumpkin and it ended up that most of them got moldy and I had to toss them but I managed to save a few and a week ago I took 5 out for planting. I think I should have started this project a couple of months ago but oh well, we'll see how I do. Meanwhile, I soaked the 5 seeds in a wet papertowel for a couple of days and then put them into a small container on the window sill thinking out of 5 I might get 1 to sprout. Well, all 5 sprouted and it happened fast -- one morning I looking in the container and saw the edge of 5 green stems and that evening I could see leaves in the dirt and one day I could practically watch the leaves emerge from the dirt. Erin said to replant them outside right away and she was right. I planted them yesterday and they already had a lot of roots all tangled together.

I went and saw The Whale Rider yesterday and I'd advise you to run, not walk to the nearest theater. Get in the car and drive a ways if you have to -- it's a fantastic movie.

My horrible face rash has not improved so I called Georgia and gratefully she recommended some products which I was HAPPY to buy and for the first time in days I feel actual relief. My face still looks like hell but at least it feels better. I'm going in for a regular appointment on Friday so hopefully she can do something with this.

So this guy just woke up after 19 years in a coma. He's the same age as me. I can't imagine missing all the years since I graduated from H.S. What a trauma. I mean, great, he woke up, but culture shock-o-rama.

Here, waste some time at work.

Oh -- and guilty pleasure: Big Brother 4. I'm generally a sporadic reality TV viewer -- but when I heard the twist -- introducing "ex's" into the house, I at least had to watch the first episode and I'm hooked for now ...

I have no idea why it's so hard to get here on a daily basis. I think about it.

I don't know what it is -- my current theory is that it's a violent reaction between some of my products but yet again I have a giant rash/pizza face all over my face. This time it seemed to be triggered by a sunscreen and some suntime -- but I used this sunscreen before without incident. My face looks really hideous -- we're talking nose, cheeks, chin and forehead (so the whole thing). It was just clearing up from the last time. Last time I thought it was from drinking herbal tea and thinking bad thoughts (seriously.) I don't know but it's kind of depressing feeling so supremely hag-like.

Fantastic relaxing weekend. I cleaned the shop, top to bottom, bought some shelving, defrosted the freezer, swept, organized, tossed. It's a whole new world out there. Bob claims the large stack of dead electronics is going away which will help even more. I also made major headway cleaning up the yard and planted a bunch of new stuff. The tomatoes, esp. the Roma are looking good.

I'm reading Empire Falls by Richard Russo and loving it. Plus I'm mostly caught up on the magazines and newspapers - oh, except that new Entertainment Weekly that came on Saturday -- I actually don't even know where it is right now.

Bob will be back tomorrow. I baked cookies and stocked the fridge with some of his favorite stuff and bought some flowers. Looking forward to having him hanging around here fulltime again. Rock on High Sierra!

Tonight Margaret taught our yoga class and again she enviously admired my Fred Flintstone feet. Lucky me.

How's your google paranoia lately? The backlash has begun.

So, you know what ads AdSense thinks would be good for my website? : John Naber: Olympian, Available for your meetings!; Quiet Gypsum Wallboard; Cats in Your Yard/Garden; Sound Blocking Materials; Truth About Your Neighbor Find out with [name omitted] software.

pamrentz.com apparently has issues with sound/quiet. I remember writing about cats in the garden at some point. But Jim Naber?