Remember a while back when I posted about the random assortment of foods I had never (or only recently) tried in my life? I feel I should update it, being that it's 2008 and all. And maybe find some new foods to try. Most of the foods I tried recently for the first time were mediocre at best. My taste buds weren't missing much.
Foods I Tried For The First Time In 2007 (from the 2006 "Haven't Tried" list)
figs, sea vegetables, pomegranate, white vinegar, tequila, sauerkraut, oreo cookies, green olives, kraft dinner
...and a few that weren't on that list, that I had forgotten about, also tried for the first time in 2007/2008:
coconut cream pie, corn chowder (first chowder of any kind!), Ben & Jerry's ice cream, carrot soup, beets, pumpernickel bread, barley, split peas, pinto beans, sour cream glazed donut, date square, couscous, crunchie chocolate bar, portobello mushrooms as a burger, eggs benedict, red grapes, chai tea latte, cranberries
I still haven't tried:
pistachios, seitan, heavenly hash ice cream, mole, dutchie, french kruller, boston cream donut, those greek vine leaves with stuff inside, tapenade (see also: olives), pork rinds, fun dip, sherry, ice wine, any salad dressing other than italian (ie: french, ranch, thousand islands), quiche, huevos rancheros, lobster, scallops, mussels, oysters, clams, caviar, relish, schwarma,
fruit cake, onion rings, jack daniels, gyros, sauerkraut,
bubble tea, wild rice,ibs, green olives, watercress,
herring, perrier/club soda/san pellegrino, wonton soup, matzoh balls,
creme brulee, tiramisu, street meat, puffed wheat/shredded wheat, brandy, chicken wings, wine gums
Four things happened today...trust me when I say I'm punching myself at the irony.
8am: As I listened to my iPod this morning, I thought, "wow, it's been almost a year to the day since all of my friends chipped in to buy this iPod for my 30th birthday! I can't believe I've had it so long, and now it's almost full." And then I checked to see how many songs I had accumulated on it (16,022 / 73gb).
1pm: As I charged my battery during lunch, I thought, "My battery is awesome and lasts forever. I hope I never have any sort of technical problems or hardware failure, since my AppleCare is about to expire. I can't imagine how upset I'd be if I lost everything."
6pm: At the gym tonight, I stopped to read the signage that I usually walk past/ignore that says "the gym is not responsible for lost or stolen items" and thought, "wow, that would be super, super shitty for someone if they lost something valuable!"
11pm: I lost my iPod. It's gone.
A thought occurred to me this morning (it's been known to happen from time to time, eh).
I own over a thousand legitimate CDs, yet I give pretty much 0% of my money to record labels. I wonder how they feel about that? In addition to try-before-you-buy downloading, I do buy a lot of CDs - it's just never at a new CD store...100% of my CDs are either given to me by other people to listen to or purchased at a used CD shop or on eBay from an individual seller or store (truly the best!).
These days "used" pretty much means "I opened the CD's plastic wrapping, immediately ripped it, put it on my iPod and am now selling it to you". That's about as used as most of the CDs in those stores get. Occasionally I buy CDs and other merch at shows...how much of that money goes to the label vs. directly to the artist? I'm guessing it's close to none.
Do used CD shops have to pay any sort of fees to record labels or artists? Essentially the store is making close to the CD's original price (most used CDs are $9-12). Do they keep all of that money? If I buy my music exclusively used, am I still "stealing" it because I'm not paying the artist or label?
in 2007 i...
turned 30
went to 92 shows
saw a naturopath
got another tattoo
tried e
tried a colonic
tried acupuncture
got an IUD
learned how to play poker
ran a half marathon
drove to new jersey
bought skinny jeans
started using retinoids
wore cashmere for the first time
I'm terrified of exactly four things:
1. Opening gifts in front of people
2. Horses
3. Thunder
4. The Dr. Who theme song
I covet long and full eyelashes, I really do. Mine are pretty full, but not long at all. And I rub my eyes constantly if I'm not wearing makeup, so I lose eyelashes by the fingerful. Most mascara seriously irritates my eyes and the amount I need to apply to actually generate a dramatic look makes it clump terribly.
Wearing falsies is a great way to ensure that I don't rub my eyes and have full, luscious lashes for a couple of days. This means I don't ENTIRELY wash off all my makeup at night - it's a bad practice, but wearing minimal mascara makes it less harsh. If you're careful removing your eye makeup you can avoid breaking down the lash glue and keep your lashes intact.
I find that a full set of fakes is impossible to apply with the hand dexterity of a neurosurgeon, and it's super messy. Plus they make your eyes water a lot and some of them make it hard to blink properly. I opt for individual lash clusters instead. They feel super natural, just like your own lashes.
Apply individual fakes is SUPER easy if you follow a few tips, which I'll share now. The secret to making it easy is to use a minimal amount of adhesive and NOT touch the lashes or fuss with them too much. And to do both eyes simultaneously - that is to say, don't do your whole left eye and then your right. Apply one lash on the left, one on the right, one on the left, and so on, to give the glue a chance to settle. Otherwise you disturb the adhesion process and that's when things start to get messy.
The lashes that I use are called Ardell Duralash - I buy them at Sally Beauty Supply and they run about $4.99 for 60 lash clusters. I went to Buffalo a while back and saw them at no name CVS or other beauty supply stores for even less so I stocked up.
If I wear them every day, they last me about six applications, so that's about a month's worth of lashes! Ardell's website says you can wear them for up to six weeks but I dunno about that. I like to give my entire face a solid scrub every few days so I don't think they can genuinely last that long.
They come in three lengths - short, medium and long, or you can buy a 'multi-pack' that has all three lengths. I've tried medium and long, and long is just TOO long, unless you're only applying them on the outer corners or want to look like a drag queen. I stick with medium brown or black (whichever is available, since I apply a bit of mascara over top anyway).
The packaging looks like this.
Steps:
- Apply eyeshadow and eyeliner as you normally would. You can curl your lashes if you want (I do it afterwards) but do not apply mascara yet. The lashes don't stick well to already mascara-ed lashes and if you press down with your fingers to help them adhere, you'll make a huge mess.
- Take your DUO surgical adhesive (I bought mine at MAC for $9, and really, no other lash glue will work as well) and put a small blob (about the diameter of a pencil eraser) on the back of your hand or wrist. There's no rush to get going because the glue works better if it has set a little bit.
- Remove a lash cluster with your fingers and dip it into the glue blob. Just do it once and use a light hand. You don't want too much glue or you'll make a huge mess. Now, still using your fingers (some people use tweezers but they're really not necessary here), place the lash cluster between your actual lashes, sort of just sitting on top (not on the eyelid). So among the lashes. And make sure you home in on the lashline properly so that the fakes will sit at a natural angle. Once you set them you can't move or adjust them too much so do it right the first time.
- Now here's the part that most people do that I don't: they fuss with the lashes, press down on them with tweezers, etc., because they think it will help the glue set, but it's not necessary. Let the glue do the work on its own!
- After you've done a lash on your left eye, move to the right eye. Continue in this pattern until you've applied as many lashes as you want. I usually put five or six from the middle to outer corner of each eye and call it a day.
- If there is any visible glue, retrace your lashline with eyeliner to fix it. I usually make a thicker than normal line for some added drama. Now, recurl (if you want) your lashes and apply a coat of mascara to blend the real and fake lashes together.
The entire lash application process shouldn't take more than a few minutes.
There you have it!
Why is it so difficult to find a watch that meets my five criteria?
- white (cuff style)
- band is adjustable to my small wrist size
- easy to put on
- relatively easy to tell time on
- <$250
bonus:
- shows the date
- water resistant (I'm not talking scuba diving depths here - more like, if I wash my hands and a droplet of water splashes on the watch, it's not going to warp or stop working).
Registration just opened for the 2008 Toronto Marathon (October 19, 2008).
And I just signed up!!! :S
