People ask! Here's the silicone FAQ and product choice guide.

A silicone is a hair-coating ingredient in conditioners, ending in -cone, -conol, or -siloxane. A silicone is a hair-coating ingredient in conditioners, ending in -cone, -conol, or -siloxane. They are commonly referred to as "cones". Its role is to make the hair slick and easy to detangle. Cone-loving hair types generally tend to be coarse and straight, while cone-hating hair types generally tend to be curly, wavy, or fine. Different hair types respond to cones differently depending on porosity and coarseness/fineness. Also, tangle-prone hair may have success with cones giving more "slip" to the hair.

(sili-)Cones are extremely controversial and are found in many product lines such as Pantene, L'Oreal, and Garnier Fructis. They coat the hair shaft in layer of polymer/plastic. The silicone layer remains on the hair after the conditioner is rinsed out. Many people swear that cones mask breakage by acting as a "glue" to keep breakage together. The layer also tends to flake off, taking with them the scales from the hair's outer shell. The underlayers of the hair shaft are then exposed.

Others cannot go without silicones because that entails tangles, matting, and an even more enormous amount of breakage. While silicones are from the same chemical family as saran wrap and PVC piping, a cone conditioner comprises other ingredients besides the coating. Humectants (moisture-attractors) and emollients (smoothing agents) are also included in a conditioner's formulation. For some hair types, the cone helps bind the moisturizing ingredients to the hair shaft. The use of cones is a personal choice coming out of personal experimentation.

Proper silicone use usually requires CLARIFYING, because silicone tends to build up on the hair. Silicone cannot be completely removed by a regular shampoo. Clarifying is best done with a weekly or biweekly vinegar rinse or a "clarifying shampoo" that is specifically marked for that purpose.

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is the most popular vinegar for homemade clarifying rinses. Dilute a small amount of ACV (usually between 2 tablespoons and 1/4 cup) in 2 cups of water. Pour this mixture through your hair after shampooing, then condition your hair as usual. While ACV will not remove all product residue, it will remove a large amount. It will also remove a large amount of mineral deposits that can make hair stiff.

Another thing you can do is LAYER your cones with a cone-free. Layer the cone OVER the cone-free by applying the cone-free first, DO rinse, then apply the cone. Comb through thoroughly and rinse.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR HAIR TYPE AGREES WITH CONE USE

(1) Try silicones for a week. Or if you're already using cones, go to #2.
Again, silicone conditioners include Garnier, L'Oreal, and Pantene. Observe the results. Does your hair feel plastic? Does your hair feel brittle? Does it feel dry or straw-like? Crunchy? If any of these are the case, clarify with a rinse or clarifying shampoo, and move on to coneless products.

Some coneless products include Biolage Conditioning Balm, the Giovanni line, Aubrey Organics, Avalon, Nature's Gate, Jessicurl, White Rain Extra Body Classic, V05 regulars, and Suave Naturals. Reducing cone usage can also help. The farther down the ingredient list, the less of that ingredient is in the product.  

(2) Or if you're already coning and want to find out if you are the cone type , get off of them for a week. switch to a silicone-free conditioner for a week.
Observe any breakage that may show. Snip off any damaged ends, etc.. with sharp scissors. If you find that your hair has suffered severe damage on cones, find a coneless product within your budget.

If your hair tangles significantly without cones, you'll probably want to get back on them. Silicone conditioners include Suave Professionals, Pantene, L'Oreal, Garnier Fructis, Finesse, Paul Mitchell The Leave-in.

WHAT DO I LOOK FOR IN A SHAMPOO?

Perfect products should be both effective on the scalp and gentle on the hair. This includes the cleanser in the shampoo as well as the conditioning agents in the conditioner.

The only problem is that effectiveness and gentleness are not often paired in the same product. An effective product, e.g. a product that cleanses squeaky clean, will not necessarily be gentle. Likewise, a gentle product will not necessarily clean the hair as thoroughly as a person would like. This is one big choice that a person should make when choosing a shampoo, and it depends largely on hair type and length.

People with long hair, fine hair, color-treated hair, oily scalp, dry scalp, psoriasis or dandruff will likely need to seek gentle products. Note the second and third ingredients listed on the label. Gentle shampoos often contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate :) or any ingredient beginning with T.E.A. (the T.E.A. often followed by cocamidopropyl betaine).

The more heavy-duty products contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate >:( (note the YL in Lauryl), Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate >:( and Ammonium Laureth Sulfate  >:((one or more of the three can be found in Suave, Pert Plus, Head and Shoulders, and other shampoos). The more heavy-duty shampoos are usually not suitable for fine hair, color-treated hair, oily scalp, dry scalp, or particularly long hair (can cause dryness on the ends of the hair, or overproduction of sebum (scalp oils) leading to oily hair). If you see any of these three above ingredients on a shampoo bottle label, exercise caution.  

All of these surfactants a.k.a. cleansers, when dissolved in water, become charged particles that "bind" to dirt/grease/other particulate matter, washing it away. Although not the most natural way possible, shampoo still seems to be the cheapest and most popular, most readily-available method to cleanse. Rotating your products will also help in the search for a "perfect" or at least "satisfactory" shampoo for your hair type.

Alternatives: CO (Conditioner-Only), CWC (Condition, wash, condition), COW-C or any variations, indian herbs, clay washing.

For more information on individual product ingredients:
http://www.cosmeticcop.com/learn/dictionary.asp?TYPE=MAIN

Brightest Blessings
Anais

Progress Photos

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March 2003
Late June 2004
Early september 2004
Late September 2004

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Early December 2004
Late March 2005
Beltaine 2005 when it started to feel like waist length
Late June at meeting with LisaJaney and Teacherbear

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While cherry picking in mid-July 2005
I love natural light! August 6 2005
Sometime in October 2005 on a day when dirty hair means straighter hair
Almost to tailbone! October 2 2005

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Looks almost tailbone when straight
Frozen hair day, November 18
December progress pic

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January 5 2006
February 3 2006
March 2006

Reflecting on changes in routine, March 20 2006

I'm going back to the usual CC-CC for awhile.
• Suave CS
• Kirkland Lemon Gingerroot
• Giovanni Direct Leave-In

(1) Stretching out wash time to 1x per week (or more)
(got this from hearing about DaveDecker's routine)
I gradually progressed as follows:
• every-other-day WC with undiluted shampoo
• every-three-days CWC with diluted shampoo
• every-five-days C-COW-C with undiluted shampoo
• weekly C-COW-C
• weekly CO, or more accurately, CC-CC
• 9 days with CC-CC
I hope to go 11 days between washes, excluding scalp rinses, because 11 is one of my luckiest numbers. :sillygrin:

(2) Ruled out clays and herbs (price obstacle).
(3) It surprises me that quitting shampoo and going to CO was so pain-free. The key was taking it through the gradual steps:
• WC or CWC undiluted
• WC or CWC diluted
• C-COW-C
• CO or some other variant.  

Finding a way to degunk and degrease the scalp:
• horn comb for exfoliation
• the regular ACV rinses through scalp and length
• scritching in the shower with fingernails or RS #42

THINGS I DON'T REMEMBER
Willow Lake Shampoo and Conditioner: used it for a few years, don't remember much about it besides that it smelled good.
Suave Coconut Shampoo and Conditioner: don't recall much.  

SHAMPOOS
Pert Plus 2-in-1: Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate or similar, harsh and caused lots of scalp overcompensating. Now used for cleaning the bathroom.
Paul Mitchell The Shampoo: gentle Sodium Laureth Sulfate formula, smells like Down To Earth bubble bath, beautiful pearlescent color.
Finesse shampoo before reformulation:[/b] contained Sodium Laureth Sulfate (until Finesse had a redesign to officially become a "drugstore product" instead of a "salon quality product"). The later formulation has ammonium lauryl and laureth. The old formula I have smells wonderful.
Kirkland Marine Algae Shampoo: gentle Sodium Laureth Sulfate formula from Costco, salon quality, smells like pineapple, clear white gel.

RINSE-OUT HEAVY FINAL CONDITIONERS
Suave BioBasics Conditioner: as a final conditioner that contains silicone. S-BB contains a water-soluble cone called dimethiconol, which is a very flexible and light silicone that builds up less than other varieties.
Suave Humectant Conditioner: more heavy duty, used it for summer camping or hardcore travels.
Kirkland Lemon Gingerroot: blue silicone conditioner that is a salon quality  knockoff of Paul Mitchell's Leave-in. Blue gel, rinse out or leave in, phenyltrimethicone. A little heavy and sticky for leave-ins.
Paul Mitchell Leave-in (blue stuff in a white bottle): Too sticky for leave-in, haven't tried as rinse-out, never will.

LEAVE-IN CONDITIONERS
Giovanni Direct Leave-in: Does not contain cones. I apply two drops after my regular CCC routine, when my hair is barely dry, right before sock curling for bedtime. The results for me are silkier hair.

LIGHT PRE-CONE CONE-FREE CONDITIONERS OR FOR CO ROUTINE
Suave Milk&Honey Conditioner: Has been working as a pre-cone layer for CCC. And lately, as a big pre-layer but currently am working on increasing SM&H and decreasing the cone. Somewhat appropriate as a final C.
Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner: decent, similar to SM&H
Pure-A-Teas Lotus or Pure-A-Teas Green Tea Conditioner: I bought all the PATGT because it smells like BPAL's Embalming Fluid, otherwise known as Bear's choice of deodorant. Yum! Not appropriate as a final C.
V05 Sunkissed Raspberry Conditioner: I CO'd with this one until it ran out, and I loved it very much. It's a simple, protein free, cone free conditioner that is great for "lifting" scalp gunk. Not appropriate as a final C.
V05 Tangerine Tickle Conditioner: Used it with WCC routine back in the day. Worked well. Haven't used it for other purposes. Not appropriate as a final C.


OILS, in order: worst..indifferent.. best
Jojoba oil: makes my hair feel like straw. I only get soft jojoba results when I do a prewash. Oftentimes I would use it anyway before braiding, just because it's a 'good' oil that absorbs well. For skin, it's a miracle liquid.
Extra Virgin olive oil(EVOO): very easy to buy, but it's too heavy an oil
Avocado oil: fresh smell, light enough for a prewash with shampoo. Stopped using.
Hempseed oil: needs refrigeration. Stopped using.
Grapeseed: light and similar to jojoba in feel. Might as well use jojoba.
Macadamia nut oil (Mac): a little heavy, I tried this in my shampoo washes but it wouldn't wash out completely unless I cut down. feels "greasy" but not "oily" when rubbed between palms. Not stickier per se, but more gel-like than jojoba. Doesn't absorb as easily.
Coconut oil: also turns my hair into straw when used dry, although the initial application turns it extremely soft (until it absorbs fully. Then I get strawness). Worked rather well as a prewash treatment. Solid and travels very well. Stopped using.
Flaxseed oil: Produced really good results to my utter surprise. I had to wait awhile though; it took lots of wooden-combing and waiting for the oil to absorb into actual soft hair. but... I really like it! The only downside is that it has to be refrigerated.
Broccoli seed oil: Produced really soft silky results at first, but I have only tried it on dry hair. I don't know what long term use will give me, haven't tried it long term. BSO is very bizarre.
Shea butter: prevents hairyness in braids, a bit sticky, makes hair clump unless worked thoroughly with a horn or wooden comb, but it doesn't have the straw effect. As a leave-in, it can make hair too greasy to wear loose, good motivation to wear contained hairdos. Travels very well. Wonderful for skin, moisturizing effects literally last more than 24 hours when using whipped shea 'cream' recipe (used as leave-in conditioner for braiding, hand salve, foot balm, general lotion, and of course, lip balm) It's shea white, shea yellow, and a small chunk (comparatively) of kokum butter for smoothness. I've also added mango butter into some mixes. NEW FAVORITE.

Hair update. Recently I came to realize that the C-COW-C method is becoming well known and useful. People use it! Wavelength, Morguebabe, Sapphire, Preciouslocks, and others at least have been using it. I use it about once a week, and any other washes are going to be CO. Other than that, I've seen some change in hair thickness. My buns are now lopsided because the hair from last year is much thicker than the year before. This morning I attempted a bun with a straight hairstick instead of a corkscrew. That stayed for a short while.

Corset under construction since February. Can't wait to get it ;)

Current reading list:
City of Secrets
The Red Queen
The Godfather

Got a little more comfortable back as a pagan. I came to realize how much I'd missed Tori Amos since I stopped having time to listen to real music. It was a weird ironic sick and twisted feeling of listening to her sing "Mary [Magdalene] .. can you hear me Mary...  .... don't be afraid, we're just waking up... even the wind cries your name" right after the death of Pope John Paul II. It was just a really strange clash of times. I'm not sure I felt right about listening to Tori's "God" either during a time when people are grieving for a great religious leader. ("Tell me you're crazy, maybe then I'll understand.... you've got your nine, nine-iron in the back seat just in case.. I hear you've gone South now babe you love your new four-wheel-- what do you know what do you know"). ::sigh::. Condolences and blessings to everyone.

CO'd last night with four different conditioners just for the heck of it. Chachachacha WOW, Doing four feels great. First I did Lotus and Raspberry in dilution, then the Suave Milk and Honey combed through, then the Lemon Gingerroot combed through. The really nice thing is not rinsing out the Suave as I'm applying the Lemon Gingerroot (cones) That way, there's a little less conage... in addition, I realize I've been layering my cones over a coneless. This decreases exposure of the cuticle to the cones, so hypothetically I'd get less cone damage that way.

I was thinking of changing my hair goal to suit the length of my sword. I wanted to have hair that is as long as my sword (not measured the GM method, but measured from the top of the head) But it's behind the piano, and I'd have to check tonight. It's probably about 36 inches though, which is only slightly past tailbone. Fingertip was the original goal... Ah, well, fingertip = Golden Ratio and I guess I'll stick with that.

April 2005 UPDATE

Shampoo(s) and conditioner(s): CO routine with three different conditioners and no shampoo.
Suave Milk and Honey (with no silicones)
CO c.ocktail: Pure-A-Teas Lotus + V05 SKR
Kirkland Lemon Complex Conditioner or Suave BioBasics (Both having silicones)
(Hairwash 1-2 times every two weeks)

Oils: Been forgetting to oil lately, but usually coconut oil gives the best results.

Tools: MP rake comb for shower use, Rachael Stephens comb is getting neglected, hardwood combs for everyday detangling e.g. in the morning and evening. I'm looking to increase their use. Stopped brushing with BBB. I do not use a poky brush, plastic or otherwise.

Misc: Been sleeping in orthodontic headgear and a Bubba sleep tail or socks for curling. Sock curling helps my headgear not slip off (headgear slips off when I turn and sleep on my side)

Hair toys that actually stay, given my slippery and springy hair:
- Mamacat corkscrew sticks (getting more next week)
- medium or large claw clip
- straight Earthsticks (stay for maybe an hour)
- scrunchies for braid

possible do's
- damp bun with corkscrew Mamacat sticks (10% of waking hours)
- dry bun with corkscrew Mamacat sticks (15% of waking hours)
- bun with medium claw clip (25% of waking hours)
- Chinese bun with straight stick (less than 1% of the time)
- the Bubba sleep tail. (night)
- French braid
- twin braids*NEW
- single braid*NEW used most often (50%) I finally am able to get all the crazy layers into a braid. And it's waist length, so this sounds nuts. Probably... I just didn't braid before because it was too much hassle. And now all of the sudden it's a binge.

[glb]NEXT MEASUREUP ON BELTAINE 2005!
MAY 1, HERE WE COME ;D[/glb]

We have a pope now, I could hardly believe it. :o That was too quick. It's Cardinal Ratzinger (Opus Dei?? not sure) and he has chosen the name of Benedict 16. After the guy who invented the Benedictine monks I guess... Today's history lecture was cancelled today on account of Popage. We discussed our predictions and theories on how this "new"(?) Vatican would handle issues like contraceptives and AIDS, whether scripture should be changed to suit the needs of the time, whether tradition takes precedence over cultural change, whether the definition of tradition in general has to evolve in order to survive, whether there is even a "threat" to the survival of the Catholic faith (which I am absolutely certain CANNOT be).

Writing an article on disposable alternatives to menstrual products. Need to call sewage treatment plant tomorrow.

M from History class #3.. the one who used to have the long wavy hip length hair.. she cut it this weekend. It's about shoulderblade length now. I was a bit saddened by this, but in a way, I'm gloating. Now I have longer hair than she does.

PM'd the Maker about corset. I keep anticipating its finish but delays usually happen. I feel bad. about stringing readers along with my corset acquisition or lack thereof. Whatever readers I may have left. I keep saying, "It'salmostdoneit'salmostdone... yay yay yay, squee squee squee, yada yada yada" but so far I've delivered no cheese. Currently waiting for an answer on an estimated finish time. PM'd Maker yesterday, I wonder if the supplies have been ordered yet. Is it too soon to squee? Squeeee! Hm..

Bear called today. ;) I ate lunch first because it was microwavable. Then we went to the art gallery and looked at the thesis exhibit. There was this amazing Inferno series we looked at for most of our time. Some really lovely ceramics- especially woodfired stoneware. Woodcut prints, oil paints, charcoal.... He loooooved the Inferno series. It was gas-fired sculpture in stoneware, of four little men "emerging" out of bricks, and being pulled down into the brick by a hand or two. Like that frozen lake in Divine Comedy.

Successfully did another figure 8, held with a claw, holds beautifully and with good weight distribution. I did figure 8's a couple months back but I didn't like how they pulled on the scalp. This time I also tried with hairscroos and they hold nicely... Might keep hairscroos, or might trade them to Evenstar. Right now it borders on a figure-P because my ends tend to sproing out. Wet, it stays a figure 8. Adding "figure 8 with large claw clip" onto the list of possible do's

Told mum about CO and vinegar. She was skeptical that it could actually clean my hair. CO has been working wonderfully as long as I keep clarifying every week or so, and comb the scalp thoroughly after the wash with a rake comb to remove all the scalp gunk.

Just finishing up second cycle on the Mooncup. I love my cup :D

The Nature Valley peanut granola bars are just so yummy. They have a coating of peanut butter cream on the bottom, like the feel of chocolate coating. The bar itself is made with roasted peanuts and rolled oats with marshmallow binding.

CO'd on Wednesday, and Alias was on. I ran a bit late.

Wrote article on reusable menstrual products. I went on a outing, to ask many guys what they thought the Mooncup diagram actually represented. They said things like small toilet plunger, reception device, slingshot, stethoscope, penile implant, prophylactic.

Things I will do when I finally finish the semester:

• finish the rest of the translation project
  
• read Kushiel's Dart, The Elegant Universe
  
• organize my clip file so I don't have to do it in the fall
  
• launder all my socks
  
• make more money
  
• stop buying stuff I don't need
  
• sew the inside of my coat sleeve from winter
  
• call people more
  
• get out of the house more
  
• wear my long skirts

Call them "Summer's Resolutions"

Maker pm'd me about the corset yesterday. The supplies are on the way to her. Unless the supplies are from AlterYears, which she posted about not patronizing again, whose warehouse people are away on a costuming convention out of state until mid May. Anyway I'm just glad she's at least semi-up and running. This commission has taken a long time, but I have always felt that I was too hard on her during this time because of her recent loss. The supplies should arrive at her place within the week, then things should fall together nicely. I should probably have the corset by the time finals are over.

This will be totally worth it. Duke reminds me it will be totally worth it. I will be wearing it with my long and lovely skirt. And no, this is not counting my eggs before they hatch! They will definitely hatch. I have been waiting the past six months to get this corset. I'll be home to take UPS shipments for the summer. Yummmmm

My best friend called the day before yesterday (Saturday). Things are going really well for her. She is going to let me paint her car (it's not officially "hers" yet) but she got a Volkswagen Beetle in the old version. I get to paint it in wild hippie colors. Or maybe a Van Gogh painting like Starry Night! Then the other side can have the Irises, or maybe even a Vermeer. This will be a fun long term project.

Warrior and I talked about the meaning of life. We've boiled it down to a few paragraphs. This is original in the sense of the wording, but the masters have known it for centuries.

Jesuits had it really close. They said to serve others. However, it is the presupposition that matters. In serving others, it involves the assumption or presupposition that "I am enough". That "I am excellence", and "I don't need anything else to be happy", "therefore this is why I serve others". It's unbelievably difficult for people to accept they are excellence, but also that they are one very small fraction of something great. People of all religions have this difficulty because it's been labeled as pride or egoism.

The meaning of life, presented as the Three Clashing Ideas in Metaphysics:

(1) "I am excellence"
(2) "I am 0.00000001% of the cosmos"
and I must add the third,
(3) Everything is an act of meditation

(1) "I am excellence" enables the person to live life as if they weren't going to die. It's not "I will strive for" excellence. It's "I am". The happiest people do not live life as if they were going to die tomorrow. The happiest people live life as if they were going to live forever. "I am excellence" involves being everything at once, and a life force that permeates everything. No more admiration. No more jealousy. No more hate.  

(2) Here, humility exists on the same plane as ego. Both (1) and (2) can coexist in the same time and space. This is Schrodinger's Cat

(3) When everything is an act of meditation, everything becomes pleasure. All value systems are lost. Value systems become nonexistent, mainly because of (3) (Value systems exist because they are the only way we get anything done. If there were no value systems, we would have no priorities, no time, no placement, no social structure, no parenthood, no formal education.)

All three concepts (1), (2), (3) cannot exist for everyone, as long as human nature remains what it is. The moment these three things are combined, we have a paradigm shift.

My new hairsticks (the ONLY ones that stay, EVER, because they're corkscrew shaped)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/mamacat_collection.jpg

This is a thingytail. don't know how this happened.

photo removed

Ohhhhh I love your two reddish pairs! :D ;D

I love your figure 8 bun
some day....
:D :D

Cool!  I'm awaiting the day I can do a figure 8 bun, I think they're so beautiful.

I've never seen hairsticks like those before.  I particularly like the cream w/red.  Very pretty!

oh my ... do i envy your SHINE!!!  :-*

WOW!  Your hair looks so thick and healthy!  Congratulations.

now that's why i turned back to coing!! i even discovered not doing anything to the length at all is even greater. whenever your hair feels great, just co the scalp, rinse, i wet my lengths cuze i don't find it easy to get rid of all conditioner if i tie up my hair. it's great, who needs conditioner!??  8)

Thanks BB and Styg :D


BELTAINE MEASUREMENT: 30 1/8"

I have not CO'd since Friday the 29th. and today is Thursday. Who knows, I might be doing CO once a week as I always wanted. So far so good, and my scalp is actually rather happy. I've got a horn comb coming soon, so it will help in exfoliating the scalp. My coarse toothed seamless is working just as well for dry scritching on the scalp. The MP rake is working great for shower exfoliation.

Hairdos I've been using lately during waking hours:
Figure 8 bun (25%)
single braid (50%) <---- LOVE THIS
scrunchie low pony (25%)

My other best friend (Warrior) is getting married! The wedding will be on June 17th to her beau of 4-5 years, and I get to go to her wedding and wear my corset :D (Bear has volunteered to go as my "date" as he called it. It was the first time Bear has referred to any of our outings a "date". We're undefined. Neither of us will admit to this weird casual dating thing.) Warrior and I went to the jewelry store to make decisions on the groom's wedding ring, and she did poke me about me and Bear, and if we were going to tie the knot after I graduate, but... .... ... too early to know.

I also convinced Warrior to try CO and vinegar rinses. (And! She's also really interested in trying a menstrual cup. Gave her one of the homemade brochures) She is a natural curly, straightens her hair, and smokes, but she's going to quit TOMORROW :D So proud of her. The hair looks fine at this point but I just don't want her to wake up one morning and think "Eeek!". We've got an S&D session and dust trim on our to-do list, to be done before the wedding.

W was also very interested in hairsticks, and a "pick" as she called it... but we all know that's code word for seamless comb. I know exactly what to include with the acrylic painting for wedding presents, bwhahwahahah

Tomorrow is the last final of the semester. My reward tomorrow for finishing the last final? Lunch with DE (Dear Editor) ;D

Had lunch with DE (Dear Editor) :-* Well he's not my editor anymore, so we're fair game to each other ::)

I just canNOT get over how sweet he is.

Anyway, he's a middle child, possibly lacto-ovo vegetarian, drinks his coffee straight and black (unsure, need to verify) and he ordered me coffee. ... awwwwwww.. On the geeky-sweet scale of 10, he is a 12. Or maybe I just happened to notice because Bear doesn't do these weird little geeky sweet things. but DE is definitely a geek and definitely sweet. We went to a very small diner with a cotton-candy pink-elephant poodle-skirt pink exterior, and flowers on the windows. It's so feminine it's cute.

Never before have I had a conversation with anyone about Japanese gore movies like Shogun, Cookie Monster, the Unbearable Lightness of Being, assigning appropriate onomatopoeia to hairstyles, writing styles! DE and I talked about the specifics of our writing styles...

more later ;)

I'm SO impressed!

ETA May 13
I haven't figured out whether Dear Editor is a vegetarian. A lot of signs point to it. He's a very kind-hearted human-rights-activist courtesy and compassion kind of guy. (Or at least that's what he'd have me think) That, and he ordered a vegetarian omelette. However, he has mentioned (in a 2002 issue of his mag) that he would rather be "eating a Reuben". which happens to be a non-vegetarian hot sandwich with corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and rye bread. You know you're obsessed when you start scrutinizing your editor's eating habits.

I made a whipped shea butter cream, which serves as leave-in conditioner for braiding, hand salve, foot balm, general lotion, and of course, lip balm. It's made with shea white, shea yellow, and a small chunk (comparatively) of kokum butter for smoothness. The result was amazing, because I stirred, no, WHIPPED the nuked mixture in the glass melt-container until it turned into "cake batter" or "vanilla frosting", spooning and spreading it into the small tins like peanut butter.

The result was a miraculous shea lotion. I can't believe I never thought of using JUST butters and no oils in my witchery. The shea is so thick that it doesn't turn into a full-fledged oil when it melts. Silly me to experiment with numerous known oils and yet downplay the greatness of butters. I blame the paranoia of comedogenicity. It looks like thick buttercream, dense and thick on the skin, and absorbs to produce a nice softness. My braid stayed pretty clean too and got less hairy than usual.
Best of all, my previously-chafed toes feel great

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/2oztin.gif

Still reeling from my shea butter experience today. My skin is still very visibly moisturized. Even my elbows and knees aren't dry. and the whole while, I was wondering why I hadn't thought of using shea butter before. The biggest explanation being this:
the original form was too sticky (both unrefined and refined, and ESPECIALLY the unrefined. It was gooey and smelled like crap) But because I literally whipped both to a creamy texture and added a bit of kokum, it's truly amazing.

I'm on a semi-vegetarian kick. Maybe it's the Dear Editor thing. I am going to do one vegetarian meal per day from now on, or at least until this kick ends. Vegetarianism just feels good. It also ends in "ism" which makes it closely related to religion and philosophy. Makes me somehow feel more connected to the earth if I eat more vegetables, mindlessly masticating them into very small pieces and using unexplained throat muscle to ingest it into my system and forget about it. ;D

Maybe I just need to plaster a picture of a mad cow on the wall.

I've crossposted this elsewhere.

The horn comb arrived and I'm in love
It looks kind of like a black bear. I'm calling it my bear comb. It came from Louise Marie Longhairs (a.k.a. Hairgasm in Toronto Canada) They call it their "sunfish" comb. It even came with a cute-as-a-button leather zipper pouch. The only thing that freaked me out was the stickiness upon arrival. It had been treated with lanolin before they packed it, so a bit of lanolin got onto the leather pouch. It was also hell to scrub off and remove from the comb (with a cotton cloth).

Specifications: Extra-thick (the top edge of the spine is 3/8" thick, the base of the teeth are 1/8" thick. There are about 8 tines per inch.

The teeth taper to the tips, the endermost ends "sliced off" so there's a flat tip. The tips can be easily sanded round if it bugs anyone. However I think the slightly-flat end has a slight edge for a reason. It helps with the exfoliation.

In between the teeth, it looks machined. There are some mild ridges from the machine-cutting, but nothing to be scared of. Those can also be sanded.

Both sides of the comb are buffed shiny and the whole comb looks like black plastic from a distance. However, under flash photography with the correct angle, you can see the grain of the oxhorn. I have a weakness for black shiny things because it matches my reduction-fired burnished pottery.  

The comb is amazing at removing gunk. I have never removed so much gunk with a comb, ever. I would compare it to using multiple fingernails to remove scalp gunk, as opposed to a seamless comb, which is why many people scratch the scalp with the fingernails. It feels darn good. The tines are a little scratchy on the scalp when combing too hard, but a little sandpaper can dull those edges. Exfoliation feels wonderful. I have a feeling this will stretch my washing routines to maybe MAYBE 1.5 week in between washes. I've been going 9 days, why not 10 or 11?

Price: As for the price, it's 28 Canadian dollars. A little steep for me, but I traded a Ficcare I absolutely could not use. It was like... currency out of nowhere. That makes me a little biased when it comes to pricing. It's also a lot smaller than I would have expected for a 28.00-CAD comb, but the dimensions were listed on the site, I already knew how big to expect. I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT my precioussssss Bear.

Horn combs are definitely worth it, but I wouldn't spend more than 15.00 for one. I fell for the pretty Bear shape. Horn might even be a good sub for wooden combs. They serve the same function after all. But wooden combs (especially Ric Carpenter) can be wide-toothed. Oh, and Ric always does the personalized engraving. Nothing beats the personalized engraving now, does it.

This afternoon I spent an hour to just degunk my scalp. It feels so amazing, like a bunch of fingernails.

The comb is about 4.5" long.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/bearcombficcare.gif

i've got a wide-toothed horn comb, and it was deffo more than $15!

... except I need to cut down my hair spending :-/ after working my arse off for the corset (which I'm still waiting for; Maker's father died)

Hair mini-update: I still love my horn comb. So far I'm not itching. My roots and hair may be greasy, but I'm not complaining because I just applied too much shea. (Speaking of shea, I had a dream about "Shea It Ain't So" leave-in, by CurlyBrunette.) I'm not complaining. Shea keeps my braids from turning hairy.

I have no more gunk to remove. At least until it builds up again, which would take a week or so. I've also successfully spread the scalp grease down the length, the way it should be, and the way a wooden comb doesn't do as well. At this point I can't compare a wooden comb and a horn comb because mine aren't the same #teeth-per-inch.

Corset got delayed because the company sent Maker the wrong size boning. Maker had to order more boning, so this puts more delay. I hope this gets taken care of by June to wear for Warrior's wedding.

May 16 2005

Last night I used both a seamless comb (Rachael Stephens) and the horn comb, to compare their exfoliation abilities. It has the same tines-per-inch that the horn comb does (about 8.5 tines per inch) RS worked just as nicely for removing gunk. I think the seamless would work just as nicely as long as a person doesn't need to distribute the gunk down the length. If it's just gunk removal e.g. before washing the gunk OUT, then a coarse seamless does just as well. This means being able to exfoliate in the shower also.

Hey fellow long-hair-addicts,

I'm going to take a break from messageboards because of a looming deadline for some important work. Deadline is the end of this month. Medusa's Lair will be updated one last time today before I go cold turkey from boards for two weeks. Take care.

Blessings and hugs :-*

Anais

edited to remove exclamation point

Good luck with your project.  We'll be here when you get back!

wrote on May 17^th, 2005 at 12:35am:

Hey fellow long-hair-addicts, I'm going to take a break from messageboards because of a looming deadline for some important work. Deadline is the end of this month. Medusa's Lair will be updated one last time today before I go cold turkey from boards for two weeks. Take care. Blessings and hugs :-* Anais edited to remove exclamation point

oh deadlines!! how i dreaded those back in uni. i feel for you! take enough breaks!

I thought my book commission was almost done, but it blossomed in the past two weeks. It wouldn't be very fun to quit the boards for another month :( so I return with my work unfinished. I don't even care about the money anymore, I just want more motivation to actually get it done.

Stuff that happened in the past couple weeks:

I thought it was Mr. Snowblower doing lines outside my door. Turns out Mr. Snowblower isn't doing regular blowing this season. I've been putting lines for whoever to snuff up. It disappeared within an hour or two, as if there was a cocaine addict on the loose doing lines by stealth. I think there are 5-6 "head honchos", or at least they've been coming in aggressive troops of up to five. Once there were six. For the most part, I think they're all male. Maybe some are a bit younger. Some peck and feed the others by mouth. Some of them look obviously male, but some of them are rather androgenous. They all look the same. I need to buy more birdseed.

Loaded Medusa v2.0 Spring Edition. It's blue and earthy, much better than the purpley thing I had before. More classic. Tracked all my visitors and logged their IP numbers and locations just to see some demographic info. It was really flattering to see so much diversity in my visitors.

Why not everyone loves to shop. I don't like to shop because because I'm too happy. There's nothing to want, nothing to covet, nothing to shop for. There's no point in going shopping for actual stuff. I go to the store to walk around and admire things. The other day I went to the local mall and walked two laps. Walked to the local grocer's on May 26th to admire things. They must have followed me on camera because I walked down a bunch of random aisles without actually picking anything up to purchase. Looked through clothes, hardware, batteries, purses, hair accessories, art supplies, book and magazines, greeting cards, containers, home furnishing, pots and pans, candles and air fresheners, laundry detergent, frozen food, organic stuff, candy, DVDs, conditioner, travel toiletries, and floss.

Hair update Half of hairwash-extending is biology. The other half is all in your head. I tell myself that I need to wash, that I need to touch my scalp, and that my hair is dirty. And of course, there's the placebo effect. Whether or not horn combs really exfoliate, they do a hell of a job convincing me that I don't need to hairwash.
I wetcombed that night, tied off a Bubba tail, so the next morning it was still straight (stick straight, flat iron straight) but after dry bunning for awhile, the straightness simply wouldn't stay put. Maybe that's a good thing. I'll be watching my waves grow, just like the curly haired people who are effectively "watching their braids grow". I used to tell myself that hair looks longer when it's straight, but it actually isn't that much longer. More like it looks longer when I have it against my back, as opposed to "sticking out" in the coarsehair style after braiding especially. Reminds me of my hair idol Arwen Evenstar.

Planted roots for strawberries on May 26th. Hopefully they'll grow well. The empty Aloe juice container went missing, and it was the most industrious wonderful compact way to transport a gallon of water. I put it in the planter box that used to be for gotu kola or "pennywort", so who knows, we might get both in the same planter when things start growing in. Gotu Kola has been randomly growing back for us. Bear had to come by last June and water our gotu kola, but the following week I steamed them to death by accident in a recycling bag. So much for my brilliant "greenhouse idea".

Took gypsy trips. I go into Janis Joplin mode when I travel. The long road ahead, good music, and beautiful sunsets. Plane trips really take the fun out of it. The drive was long but filled with elves and hobbits along the way. I got my little Hobbit to watch the ROTK. We got through to the siege of Gondor, then he fell asleep.

Dreamt about Meghan. It was Spring and we were preparing an all-natural vegetarian lunch. It was a small but brightly (naturally) lit home, hers I believe it was. The sun shone sideways past the back door, through a wooden "overhang" that covered the back area. There were fresh vegetables planted out back, under a similar overhang. It was a gorgeous Spring afternoon, and there were only one or two other people besides Meg and me. We were dressed like faeries, with flowing skirts and leather sandals. I watched her go out to pick veggies. Then we were walking down the hall, she looked over and whispered something. I don't remember what she said. Her eyes sparkled emerald green. We walked on down the hall. The dream ended there.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/2005May_birdies02.jpg

Birdseed theft: the culprits

The strawberry roots are sprouting leaves. It actually feels like Spring, now that they've come in. So far they look like Venus flytraps, little clamshell leaves coming through the soft earth. I've found the empty Aloe juice container. At this point it still hurts my conscience to water the strawberry sprouts, to attack them with this sudden deluge without any prior warning. And at that point, I miss my Grandpa terribly.

Sounds like you need a hug.  Here's a bit cyberhug for you!

  ((((((((((Anais))))))))))

Awww Thank you BB :-* I really needed that. The strawberries/pennywort are growing out of a wooden planter box that Grandpa left before going into the monastic community. He was really big on gardening, and continues to do gardenlike things at the monastery such as landscaping to suit Zen tastes, with statues of the Enlightened everywhere. Grandpa's supposed to cut off all his ties to family and officially be a monk. That means living very far away, having a full-time vegetarian diet, no visiting family, no familial references (i.e. "wife" "daughter" "son" "nephew," etc..) Everyone calls him "Master" and not Dad or Grandpa. It's kind of like death in the family, but more like an easy and peaceful entrance/introduction into death in the family. And death itself.

on a lighter note,
Qdoba Mexican Grill review. Had one of their grilled steak quesadillas today. It's a true meal, not a dinky wimpy snack. It was about $6 for a 12" diameter x 0.75" thickness, with steak, cheese, big chunky salsa, and scoops of guacamole and sour cream on the side. There might have been rice, but I wasn't paying attention. It was very filling and worth every penny. There was a Subway-style setup, where you go to the beginning and place your order, they make it as you walk along the sneeze-guard. (pay for the food at the end like any custom food)
The tortillas were put onto a (sterile) thingybob, covered with steak chunks/cheese/salsa/etc and put on a round clamp griddle. It was taken out and cut up pizza-style as I watched intently. One scoop each of guac and sour cream were snugly nested into one corner of the paper-covered metal serving dish. And the server guy even walked over to our table and asked if it was good! The moment called for a movie, but we were a long walk from home.

Visual sock curling instructions are live in the Lair. I took photos and loaded an html file today, linking to the page from Main. So many people have asked about sock curling :D

I honestly don't remember the last time I washed my hair. The time-between has gotten so long (8, 9, sometimes 10 days between washes) that I end up forgetting. ETA: just checked. I washed on Saturday afternoon (before gypsy trip) and today is Thursday. Scalp has been very happy lately

More butters and oils arrived today. :D It was shea butter white, mango butter, jojoba oil, flaxseed oil, and lanolin (for the horn comb). Mango and shea butter looked and felt very similar, to my amazement. The only differences were the color, and SLIGHT difference in the butters' softness. Not very noticeable. I think both might have been whipped.
I ordered and tried flaxseed oil because of KBF's rave reviews. but lo and behold, my hair doesn't like flaxseed either (strawness). I need to do prewashes with flaxseed and see if that changes anything. Flaxseed is powdery soft on the skin, and different in "feel" from other oils.

The last few batches of shea butter (ordered) were very different from each other. This is unlike jojoba and macadamia, which are relatively consistent from batch to batch. Currently I have three batches of shea butter. Shea butter comes in all textures and colors, but I never dreamed I'd see such drastic difference in only three sheas.
(1) unrefined yellow shea butter: marketed as "light yellow" from Emporium Naturals. The last time I checked, this variety was out of stock. It's much softer than cake frosting. I would describe it as gooey, and not buttery. It is almost nothing close to the consistency of a butter, nor its refined counterparts. It's bright Play Doh/dentist's keychain yellow. I love the resulting color of the finished lotions, light Post-it note yellow.
(2) refined white shea butter batch #1: like dry cottage cheese, only the pellets are slightly squashable. They are harder than regular dairy butter and the pellets don't stick together very well. I have to melt it in the microwave in order to do anything with it. It does not apply like a lotion (until I melt and whip it)
(3) refined white shea butter batch #2: The texture of cookie dough. Squashable and moldable, and would do wonderfully as a lotion by itself. This is my first experience with a shea butter that feels PERFECT. It just gets better and better. :)

If I were to receive lethal injection, I'd request a pint of Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream as my last meal. Sure, people probably think about this all the time. But sadly, that's probably the only occasion I'd have to eat an entire pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream! Serious ice cream craving right now.

America Online now offers 1175 free hours for the first 50 days. This brings it to 23.5 hours per day of internet surfing, which leaves 0.5 hours for breakfastlunchdinnersleepbathroombusiness. For a short while, I thought, Okay, what if TWO people use the internet? It still doesn't double the number of hours in a day, or the hours of internet use. ::sigh:: 1175 hours. That's just weird.

if you don't find a "hair use" for flaxseed oil, you could always eat it for it's omega 3 fatty acids. i am curently out and our local shop keeps telling me to come back later grr. flaxseed oil is supposed to be still forbidden on french market for oral use, so i use the kind made for skin with a nice pump system.

:) or I could just pack it up and send it to France.
Naw, it's still in the experimental stage right now. And I could just as well eat it. Now all I have to do is get over the "ick factor" of consuming a cosmetic grade oil as opposed to a food grade oil.

I love you, Hair. Last night I took monthly progress photos and my hair looked HIP LENGTH. I can't believe this. I'm only supposed to have hair slightly past waist. Apparently the very back layers (the longest!) have been growing without supervision or permission, not that either is necessary. Did I mention that I love my hair? Tailbone is quickly approaching.

Some pictures from my childhood fairy tale book. These are the visiting faeries from Sleeping Beauty's "christening". The illustrations are by Beverlie Manson and the book was originally published 1978.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/faeries01300.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/faeries02300.jpg

How's your corset coming?  Are you having it made by a local woman?  I'm beginning to shop for one to wear under my period costumes (and then maybe I'll get one to wear w/modern clothes) and am feeling a bit lost in the options.  Do you have any recommendations?
Thanks for anything you can share  ;D - Sakina

Dear Sakina,

(I hear we share the same birthday, Aquarius.)

WOW, a corset is quite an awesome investment. I've worn a real one as a mockup, and I miss it terribly. :P The real version of the corset is ALMOST done. The edging (bias binding) needs to be put on, and the supplies company forgot to send the 4 most important bones) There have been delays of all kinds, mostly a bad corset supplies business that didn't checklist the order before shipping it to my Maker, and of course, the recent death of the Maker's father (hugs and blessings). So things were missing and had to be sought elsewhere.

My Maker is 1000 miles from me, but she and I are the same corset size :D However coincidences like this don't happen to everyone. If you are looking for a corset that will last for years, I HIGHLY recommend having a corset custom-made to your sizing. It will be pricier than one off the rack, but it will be worth the trouble. An improperly sized corset can bruise your ribs or pelvic bones, etc.. not to mention, may not lace up evenly at the back.

The BEST thing is to find a local corsetiere. The next best thing is to find someone who sends out a muslin mockup version for you to try on. Email around and ask for a quote. If you're wearing a corset under clothing, best make it an underbust. A proper long-lasting corset should be interlined in at least one layer of coutil or similar. There should be twill tape at the waist. Grommets should be more closely spaced at the waistline. And if you're going to wear it under period costume, request a no-busk version.  

Here are some good online makers:
http://www.meschantes.com/

Astrid has been given LOTS of kudos and VERY rave reviews. She is a very interesting lady. And she's on the BPAL forum! Here's her merchant site
http://www.andale.com/stores/sf_home.jsp?mode=1&sfUrl=blooddrop

Blackrayne also does custom sizing. She specializes in gothic batwing stuff but I'm certain she could make you a simple one. http://www.blackrayne.com

Many good corsetieres online. There are some on Livejournal who do custom work as well. You could also contact one through LJ. Here's the "I'm looking for a corsetiere page" http://www.livejournal.com/community/corset_shoppe/ Sometimes the corsetiere is a couple hours drive away.

Hope this helps!
Anais

ETA
for an underbust to wear under clothing, expect to spend between $150-$250. There's also a long wait, as in weeks or months. Mine's a 6-month special case, but I think most makers go 6 weeks? somebody correct me if I'm wrong here.

Please also scroll down a few posts. There is more corset info.

Hair is supposed to be washed by now, but I haven't gotten around to it. The best thing of all is to do a shower and hairwash in the early evening before sunset, when the back door has become an agent of the Sun itself. Since it is 8 something, it's the time between sunset and twilight. We don’t get sunsets here, at least not with the kind of buildings in the neighborhood.

Today I watered the strawberry sprouts. They are growing in, and I swear it's two by two. Not two by two leaves, but two by two sprouts. Never have I planted strawberries so this is a new experience.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/strawberrysprouts300.jpg

I also swept the patio. The upstairs neighbors keep feeding Jack 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 the birdseed mix that has sunflower seeds. My dear sparrows don't like sunflower seeds so the seeds get knocked all over the place. Namely, through the planks and onto my patio below. Every day I sweep the patio and plot, plot about how I'm going to send them a letter from the Sparrows to describe small-bird eating habits.

Dear Kind Humans,

To get straight to the point, we eat millet seeds. The red kind and the yellow kind. Anais kindly feeds us only the millet. You leave all sorts of impurities in the food. Granted, it's still all natural and organic, but unless you shell each one individually with your ginormous fingers, these sunflower seeds will never be eaten.

Love,
The Sparrows.
Jack, Jack 2, Jack 3, Jack 4, Jack 5, Jack 6

Yes. I just might do this.

edited to add formatting.

photos removed

Swept the patio again this morning. Millet seeds also have shells that the Sparrows tend to discard. A list of things I tend to sweep off the patio, in order of abundance:

millet seed shells

sunflower seed shells

dust or dried grass

bird poop

CC-CC'd night of June 5th:

V05 SKR (the last of it, I am going to slowly switch to C-CC with the remaining conditioners) and I sock curled. Love my hair to death.

Pure-A-Teas lotus

Suave Milk&Honey

Kirkland Lemon Gingerroot

edited because I got the date wrong.

another question about sized corsets: most sites who do custom made ones will typically ask measurements around breasts, wasit, hips ... can you really expect a good sized one on these measurements only, since i already find it difficult to find a silly bra that fits (different brands, although the same size: painfull or more or less good fit)?

Hi Styg :)

[Just so it's clear to other readers:]

"off the rack" = pre-made corsets that are 22", 24", etc. etc. but the ribs and hips are a "standard" proportion based on the waist size. The length of the corset is also preset, so off-the-rack does not take into account your height (nor the location of your pubic bone for that matter)
For example: say you get a 22" corset (which is usually 4" less than your natural waist). Perhaps their standard calculation for hip area is 150% x the waist size. Not everyone's hip measurements are 150% of their waist measurement.

custom work = for an underbust corset for example: they take measurements of underbust, natural waist, hips, distance from sternum to where you want the "bottom" of the corset to be, distance from armpit to pelvic bone, and they consider your height.

The answer is muslin!! well, at least that's what the experienced custom corsetiers do. Pre-sized corset dealers do NOT send out muslin mockups to customers.

Anyhoo, custom work is MUCH more accurate because the corsetier is supposed to make a "mockup version" of your corset in muslin fabric. Then when you receive it in the mail, you can draw all over the muslin fabric with a marker so they know where your body parts are, and you can tell them "it's too loose in this area" or "too tight where I drew that line", etc.. It's pretty good.
They do this because custom work cannot be refunded/ exchanged/ returned/etc. so the smart corsetier covers their bee-hind and makes sure all the dimensions are right. Properly sized corsets also last longer, perform proper waist reduction (if that's the purpose of the corset, and given proper # of boning channels), and can be worn comfortably for longer periods of time.

The philosophy behind custom work- a garment as personal as a corset should be taken care of personally. A lot of the time, when a person gets a corset made, it's a case of "I've been dreaming of one forever". And custom work ensures that the dream comes true  :-*

ETA: More considerations for the serious corset shopper:

Are you looking to do waist reduction? If so, this will require very sturdy construction with on average more than 20 boning channels, with spring steel boning (flat strips of steel sealed with protective coating) or a combination of spiral steel and spring steel.

Is the corset for back support? perhaps make it a high backed corset. It will likely have to be fully-boned.  

Is it decorative wear? Less boning (therefore less labor) will be necessary.

Will it be an undergarment? The front busk closure will show through thin layers of clothing.

Will you be putting it on yourself, or will you have help? A front busk closure helps greatly, unless you plan on "stepping into" your corset and pulling it up like pants.

What's the climate like in your area? plan for a breathable fabric no matter the local climate. However, the number of layers (esp. the interlining) will make a big difference in your comfort while wearing. Some corsetier(e)s offer a "summer corset" or a summer version of their corset for nice lovely warm weather.

Hope this helps.

and on to the regular stuff.

Corset update. Maker emailed me, the corset is ready to ship and will be in transit by tomorrow or Wednesday. I am SO HAPPY. After long months of waiting (and it's months because of some unexpected delays through no fault of Maker - see previous corset-related posts) I will have purdy pictures available by the middle of next week.

Music venue. Discovered how much I love Bjork.
She is a cross between Tori Amos and Natalie Imbruglia. I've also tinkered with VNV Nation and Covenant, both of which are "gothic techno". It's exactly what I've been looking for. *lust*

Hair. Hair is so swirly today, in big swirly spirals. Very lovely. Scalp is not itching, hair is bouncy, it's as if I had used shampoo.

A long-delayed update, June 2005

Wash routine: CO routine, or more accurately a CCC.
Pure-A-Teas Lotus
ACV rinse and scalp scritch with comb
Suave Milk and Honey (with no silicones)
Kirkland Lemon Complex Conditioner
Hairwash every 8 days
Oils: shea butter, occasional flaxseed. Recently I discovered that Flaxseed isn't so bad after all.
Tools: MP rake comb for shower use, Rachael Stephens comb before sock curling, hardwood combs for everyday detangling. Horn comb arrived, used for scalp.  
Misc: Been sleeping in orthodontic headgear
sleep hair includes: single braid, sock curls, or Bubba tail
Hair toys I actually use: corkscrew sticks (3.5 pairs) and velvet scrunchies for braid
possible do's
- damp bun with corkscrew Mamacat sticks
- dry bun with corkscrew Mamacat sticks (50% of waking hours)
- Chinese bun with Mamacat curtain rod (10%)
- the Bubba sleep tail. (night, occasionally)  
- French braid - not used often
- twin braids - not used often
- single braid - used often (40%)  

[glb]NEXT MEASUREUP ON LUGHNASSADH 2005.[/glb]
I plan to measure 4 times a year.
Beltaine, Lughnassadh, Samhain, Imbolc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/crosschoker200.jpg

Made this choker today. If all goes well, I'll be wearing this to Warrior's wedding next Friday. Between now and then, I will need to change the ribbon and/or find a metal bead with a jump ring fused to it, if that makes sense. That will eliminate the sandwiching of a jump ring between two ribbons, which is what happened here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/2strawberrysprouts300.jpg

Pictures of my baby strawberry sprouts. They are growing, and the last picture (June 4) showed them considerably smaller than in this shot. I have a long and terrible history with plants. As one can clearly see, I will have horrible plant Karma in the next life.

Asparagus fern: The one with fine pricklies. Died of natural causes after no more than 3 months

Alfalfa: eaten and not replanted

mini palm #1: turned yellow due to lack of sunshine and died of natural causes after no more than 3 months.

mini palm #2: died of natural causes after no more than 3 months

miniature roses: died of dehydration and neglect, lack of nutrition in soil because it was never transplanted to a better pot.

Coffee bean plant: died of unknown causes after no more than 3 months

Wildflowers: died of unknown causes after no more than one month

Sugar snap peas: died of unknown causes after no more than a few weeks

Lemon Meringue and Fruitcake: different species of the same genus, I named them, put them both in the same flowerpot, and they survived for almost a year. Lemon Meringue died first, and Fruitcake didn't survive very long without his lover. I did talk to these plants very often.

one "lucky bamboo" stalk: died of dehydration due to extended out-of-town vacation

two "lucky bamboo" stalks: The upper half of the taller one is alive right now and the other stalk is dried and dead. Desperate as I am to save the poor creatures, I added water at the last minute (in hopes that maybe, MAYBE, they'll come back to life) Were not talked-to very much.

Do plants grow faster when talked to? Perhaps this will be the next experiment.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/avocado.jpg

Avocado Pistacio salad

1 avocado for every 4 cups of lettuce (or a variety lettuce mix), in very small slices.

lettuce, amount dependent on how much avocado you have

pistacio nuts, shelled, crushed, perhaps 1/4 cup.

Italian dressing to taste

Mix.

I can't believe how well this crossposting thing has been going. If nobody can tell, I've been posting small snippets of my personal Word journal on here, as opposed to journaling directly into Longlocks. It allows me to cut only the hair-related and plant-related, beauty-related stuff.

News from the gardening front.
This is Larry Flynt... because... he's a HUSTLER IVY! I think another one of my summer's resolutions is to keep him alive and well. I will not commit another herbicide. Anyway, I just finished all the transpotting (trainspotting? camel-spotting?) Took them out to the yard and lugged them around into other containers.

moved the asparagus fern into a deeper reused Monrovia pot, LOL. The lemon plant (previously in the Monrovia) died. RIP.  

moved big spiky plant into giant pot

moved new pineapple plant into a giant pot of the same size

moved Larry Flynt into his terra cotta casa nueva!

added dirt to the "Prosperity Plant", it's called Asian New Year's marketing.

moved Dr. Suess into a bigger better (plastic) home

installed an ivy faery ring for the Big Leafy Plant

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/larryflynt300.jpg
This is Larry Flynt.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/pineappleplant_spikyplant300.jpg
Haven't named these fellas yet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/drsuess300.jpg
This is Dr. Suess.

Wish I had a real garden. :) I'd be out there every day. Living in an apartment swells your desire for a real outdoor garden, as opposed to Potted Plant City and a ginormous wooden box on the patio. Nevertheless, life with plants... so far so good. Larry is sitting on the windowsill, with a fresh new nametag that says, "Larry Flynt, the hustler ivy". The original tag said "medium light" so he's relatively happy on the northeast windowsill. He'll be having his fill of sunlight during the day, and I'll be moving him back to the far end of the room for bedtime.
This summer I plan to rearrange the room, both to accommodate feng shui and to free the windowsill from a futon-bunk. If all goes well, it will serve the horticultural feng shui well by opening up the sunny area for plants (as opposed to furniture).

Paid a visit to the ortho. Got a new wire on the top and bottom, the bottom being a VERY strong wire with lots of powerchain. The top has a new wire running all the way through plus tooth-colored lacing. Lateral incisor (upper right) has moved outwards just like it was supposed to. So far so good :-* With one big wire going all the way through the top teeth, it actually looks braces-like. Brought home rubber bands to connect the uppers and lowers (lower molar on the band to upper canine with sapph bracket). Elastics are to be renewed at lunchtime and before bed, and to be worn in combination with headgear.

I met a lovely neighbor today. She's such a lovely silver lady with a gingerbread voice.

Hair. It's the 5th day after a wash, so it's 6th day hair in my book. So far so good. The scalp itched today from walking to the ortho in sunshine without a hat. Recently I've decided to assign a name to my hair: June, as in Henry's wife June. I've been braiding her lately, and did a perfectly symmetrical and even braid today without looking in the mirror. She's so pretty today. I love my June.

Corsetmaker darling shipped the corset by an overnight method. I loves her so so much : ) Corset will arrive tomorrow. so stoked! No more of me leading myself on. The only thing I haven't figured out (forgot to ask) is which method (UPS or Postal Service) Oh, the suspense of not knowing ; )

Repotted the Cymbidium orchid today. There was major root rot, because the plant had been potted more than four years ago. It also hasn't flowered since then. The soil had been extremely compacted through years of watering and transport. The initial potting was not well-researched. The soil was not suitable for orchids, but more for.. say.. grass. I dumped the plant out sideways, flushed all the dirt out of the roots (photograph of process) and removed the greyed and rotted root portions one by one. There wasn't much root left then, but they'll grow back with lots of proper care. Mixed up new homemade improvised orchid soil with lots of porous rock and gravel. Repotted with... Miracle Gro potting soil with Moisture Control (which probably isn't good for an orchid, but it's all we had) Ideal watering is once every 10 days, with medium sunlight (with indicator being leaf color)

purdy Cymbidium parishii (If I have the ID correct? It's been 4 years and the breeding info is lost):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/cymbidium2400.jpg

We had a trip planned for the weekend, but it turns out our trip is coming home to us instead. This will be really nice, being host instead of our usual guestness. It also means being home to receive my corset shipment. Lust!

Hair. It's 7th day hair (6th day after a wash) and today there were no itchies. I feel weird to journal about everything EXCEPT my hair these days, but what else can I say? There is nothing to say. My hair is tres happy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/birdielinesmooth400.jpg
Caught another one red-handed (red-feathered? winged?)

Red-beaked!

I'm so happy for your anticipation!  What color is you corset?
What style??

I'm working w/Romantasy corsets on figuring out what I need.  Thanks for all your great advice!  I hope you'll post lots of pics!
How are you wearing your hair?? What accessories??

Glad your hair is happy.

Sakina, I'm glad you are working out the details with a custom corsetiere :) Romantasy does fine work.

This is a pointed underbust Victorian with underbust contour. It's a beautiful piece of work. The bias binding is lovingly handstitched and the entire garment is very well-made. Everything looks wonderful. It's heavyweight, heavily boned (I'll count tonight and edit this post), and sturdily constructed with outer/interlining/lining. Very warm and cozy, soft black fabric on the inside as lining, the exact microfiber that I requested. And the corset is reversible as a bonus.

This will be even better when winter comes back in October.

My reason for purchase was back support. I give this corset five smiley faces. :D :D :D :D :D I loves my Meghan!

My camera never photographs red very well. The corset actually a deep rich crimson brocade with black cherry blossoms.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/layout400.jpg
laid out. Please excuse the whale.

[glb]Ohhhh Ohhhh Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh [/glb]:o  :o  ::) ::) ;) ;)
Awesome Anais, just awesome!
Me want too!   ;D ;D

Isn't Maker talented?? ;)

Hair. I haven't hairwashed since June 4th. This makes it 9th day hair. This is the best 9th day I've ever had. The scalp is very happy, and I didn't even have to scritch in the past few days. I really want to drag this out until Thursday night. My hair is so low-maintenance and I love it dearly. Maybe this is what Hair Nirvana is like.

ETA 1:30 am: and I am not coherent! I just did an aloe vera milk thistle tea rinse earlier tonight. And that would be aloe vera tea plus milk thistle tea, not aloe vera and milk thistle tea. I have a buttload of milk thistle, and it's sitting in a garbage bag in the kitchen. Grandpa shipped it to us because... perhaps it's a weed where he lives. It's gotta have some sort of hairy benefit. I did an equally large buttload of research but cosmetic uses of milk thistle haven't been well tested. Everything is liver, liver, liver. I let it steep, strained it through cotton in a funnel, and let it cool. Mixed it with aloe vera tea. Then I poured it through dry detangled hair in the shower and massaged the scalp with it. Then finished off the latter half of the length with L'Oreal Curl Vive.

It was a rinse. I don't know if it even counts as a wash. I'm still on 9th day hair, 10th day hair tomorrow morning.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/milkthistle300.jpg

Corset was wonderful for today's housecleaning. Tomorrow, vacation arrives at my own home. We were originally supposed to be gone, but this is so nice! Massive housecleaning until then. So far, all the stacks of laundry have been sorted and put away. I resheeted the futon and folded/sorted/loaded the massive comforters and bedding into the other room. Watered the plants. Dishes need doing. Bathroom needs cleaning. Hey, I'm not complaining as long as I have my back support.

ETA: Stacks Of Laundry Anonymous! ;D

Hair is happy. Last night I did the aforementioned milk thistle aloe tea rinse. It went really really well. Today I've had no itchies, and my hair looks terrific. I can't wait to see how it looks when I take the braid out. I slept in a damp braid with a sock curl on the end. This is the first time I've ever tried doing my hair this way for bed. Here's a braid segment.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/2005.jpg

It worked really nicely. I knew of this idea for a long time because BB mentioned it as part of a sock curling - braiding combo... but never thought to actually try it until now. The results are so nice. They are uneven, but nice. I took out the braid and socked-up end (SUE) this afternoon to see how dry it was, then took it out again at around 10 pm. It was still very damp the first time, but the waves were defined and terrific. The second time I unraveled, it was completely dry and well-defined. Kind of wet-shiny and overconditioned but with combing, that should go away.

All I need to do is hold out, without washing, until At least Saturday. That will make it 2 weeks between washes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/potato300.jpg
"Children, this is what happens if you don't eat your vegetables!"

Congrats on the braided sock curl!  I love how the ends curl so nicely and blend in with the braid waves.  This is my favorite sleeping "do".

Thanks BB :D

Caved in last night and did a complete hairwash (on 12th day hair). When I read about Uzi saying she was on day 12, I never thought I could do it. but I did. I realize that I shouldn't have used the L'Oreal Curl Vive when doing the milk thistle rinse. The MTA rinse was perfectly fine by itself.
For the hairwash I did put in one cubic centimeter of SLES shampoo just for good measure. Then added a usual dose of Lotus and COW'd, then did the ACV/S-M&H/KLG sequence as usual. Hair and scalp are feeling pretty good right now. The RS#42 comb was great for scritching off scalp gunk.  

photo and meet review removed

I have a love-hate relationship with my cable modem. It's not really a modem, and it's not like DSL. It's cable modem, whatever the Hades that means. I had to edit and upload some files to a remote server because.. well.. that's my job.. and the deadline hour was coming up, everybody else needed the files, and Mr. Modem was being such a mild expletive. Here's the argument I had with Mr. Cable Modem, whose personality I would expect to be like Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

me: I love you Modem. You know that's genuine.
Mr. Modem: You always say that when you need a good solid uplink.
me: Well, this time I mean it.
Mr. Modem: You tend to take me for granted.
me: I know. but this time I need you to do me a small favor.
Mr. Modem: Hah. I work harder than you do. I need a smoke break. Take five! [flashing lights] [signal dies]
me: Arrghh. Suurrrre you do. You get to sit down. I've been working all day and it's 2 am.
Mr. Modem: Well, you put me near the back door. I'm cold. Clothe me. Hug me. Remember that story from your childhood that taught wizards and witches to keep their spellbooks warm?
me: You're dusty and you're sitting in a moldy bookcase. And you're a moody [mild expletive].  
Mr. Modem: Ooooh, now we're gettin' dirty.
me: Come on, sweetie, give me 10 minutes.
Mr. Modem: I can't hear you! I can't hear you! Dananananananana!

Anyway, it finally went through. Now that I'm done loading those files I needed to load, internet has been working smoothly SINCE I finished the work I had to do.

That figures ::)

What fun that you got to meet TB and LJ!  (Those are two crazy ladies!)  What a great picture of the 3 of you.  I love the greenery backdrop.  :D

(agreed... they are very crazy ::))

It is Summer Solstice. Blessings be upon you and your garden.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/treeseries3002.jpg

An 8-day gypsy journey begins today. I hope to visit between now and the end.

Anais

This morning I felt like a cartoon bear, floating from the fourth floor to the first, following the fresh waffle smell that had infiltrated the entire building like an impending sneeze. Complimentary continental breakfast was in progress. A double line had formed behind the two self-serve waffle makers. One walks up to the machine, sprays the griddle, pours in the batter, and waits 2:50 minutes. Some people walked away in those 2:50 minute.

I immediately saw the seeds for a Seinfeld episode about waffle thievery (just as there has probably been an episode about cutting in line at the supermarket) The waffle line worked (and remained civil) as long as no one had the nerve to steal someone else's waffle before the original maker returned. With that in mind, some people hovered over their chosen waffle machine. The minute anyone tried to steal someone else's waffle, I expect that everyone else's sense of justice would kick in. No waffle thievery took place.

So at the soundtrack of Frank Sinatra (the real king) and some second-rate wannabes, everyone in the lobby was pleasant to each other despite their personal issues or life's shortcomings.

Good vacation begins with a communal breaking of fast.

Hair update
I've successfully eliminated the need for a V05 conditioner in the CO (CCC) martini. So now it's just Pure-A-Teas Lotus, Suave Milk&Honey, and Kirkland. I also need to remember not to wet bun, because it results in plastic hair that doesn't dry. My options are to wet comb until slightly-damp or barely-dry, then (1) let it be (2) sock curl (3) braid with a SUE (4) do a single bun

The Rachael Stephens #42 is still one of my favorite combs. It serves as a shower comb, wet-comb comb, a dry scritcher, and now a wet scritcher. I've started using it more often than I use the MP Rake... it works wonderfully for wet scritching. I've even been itching a lot less. The dead skin and scalp gunk will expand to 2-3x the original size when the scalp is wet, and suddenly gunk appears out of nowhwere. In addition to taking the MP rake into the shower with me, I'll be taking the RS#42. The RS teeth are tapered and chiseled, so they work like little sideways plows. (And if that fails, or when I forget, then long nails come in real handy) Dry scritching is still going very well with the horn comb, although wet scritching gets me degunked faster.

hairdos in order of use- There's a tie among the three-

single braid with velvet scrunchie

long and loose

simple bun with single corkscrew

everything else - less than 10%

Adding a page to Medusa soon, about scalp gunk removal. I had a really good idea last night for the page title, but completely forgot. It was another bad pun.

It was a really nice vacation.
We left in the evening on Tuesday June 21, then came back on Wednesday night June 29. I mostly slept, worked via www, sewed, and read Laurell K Hamilton. It was the vacation I had always dreamed of, being able to sleep in until 2 pm, or wake up at 6 am, whichever I was in the mood for.
Meanwhile, unfortunately, the strawberry sprouts died. I was going to ask Bear to water them for me but we decided last-minute to transplant them indoors. They didn't take to the transplant well. The rest of Plant City was positioned on a metal grate over the bathtub, with the light on for a week.... with the exception of Larry Flynt, who had the luxury of being watered and put in a large plastic bag.

and fresh DIY breakfast waffles were free at the inn.  

Upper molar bands came loose. They don't come off, but they're very wiggly. Drat >:( I hope this doesn't happen often because repairs are pricey. I called Kathy and she booked me a Wednesday slot. Between now and then, no headgear.

Almost done with corduroy messenger minibag. will load pictures of it soon. So far it's 2" depth and 8" x 12" dimensions, which isn't much smaller than the leather bag, but it will be oodles lighter with a wider sturdier strap. All I need are ginormous two-inch D rings, which weren't available at Hanc-ocks Fabric. Hopefully JoAnn's will have some.

Medusa's Lair has a new secret portal that leads to a "meditation room". Shhhh don't tell if you find it.

[glb]Never cover your mouth with your hair when you sneeze.[/glb]

YAY!  I love Laurell K Hamilton.  Sometimes, I dedicate myself and read all the books back to back.  I love to get lost in her world.  I haven't bought the most recent one.
I'm glad you had a nice vacation.
Sorry to hear about your strawberries.

((((Sakina))))
I just love her Meredith Gentry :) I hear the next book in the Meredith series isn't coming out for another two years....?

Did the binding for corduroy messenger bag lining. Binding is such a pain in the arse. So far I've done the bottom two seams. When I'm done with the lining, I can work on the edges of the flap, and the back of the flap itself, as well as the straps. It will be a reversible bag, and the inside will match my corset (complete with the black contrast binding). The exterior is burgundy cord.
Had a dream last night that I went to Michael's and they didn't have D rings.

Aunt Flo. Lost count of Aunt Flo visits with the Mooncup. Last one was Sunday June 26 through Tuesday June 28.

Hair. Hairwashed yesterday around 4 pm, and didn't ACV rinse. "June" (did I tell? My hair's name is June during the day and Henry at night) got rubbery again and didn't dry. It's been like that for the past couple days. Lately this has been happening every time I don't do an ACV rinse. It's also been happening every time I don't ACV rinse but DO wet-bun. My wet buns won't dry anymore because the volume has changed so much. Wet braids have the same effect.

So it's between the skipping-ACV and the wet-bunning. One of these techniques/lack-of is making for very rubbery sticky tangly hair, the biggest reason July progress pictures haven't come out right.

Thank Gods for shea butter.

I hennaed another hairblob the other night. This one had lemon juice to aid in release of the dye. I mixed it around 11-ish and added the hairblob at midnight. Rinsed it out the next morning at 10am. It turned out such a pretty red. I am thinking of hennaing just PART of my hair, like my ex-bangs. This would require me to part my hair on the same side for months, but that's okay. Henna will also require me to get gloves, heehee, unless I want orange hands. Anyway this means ordering henna, which I'll have to postpone because of other more necessary expenses. Unless a tablespoon of henna is enough to coat BSL ex-bangs...?

Went to JoAnn's. I bought a scrap of black cotton that turned out to be cotton-spandex combo (The merchantses, they lied to us! Sneeeak!) So I'm just not going to preshrink it because part of the bag is dry-clean-only brocade anyway. Got some more fusible webbing to make life easier, although.. discovering the spandex... it means I can't use fusible webbing on it ::bashes head against wall:: and two 2" brass rings for the strap adjustment. Total purchase amount - less than $6
Yesterday I busted out half of the lining-side's binding to redo it in longer strips of black. Scraps are nice, but not for binding. I've pinned the hems of the bag opening to prepare for sewing on the zipper panel. I'll probably hem it before adding the zipper panel.

my list of Qualities that can be found in an official "feelgood movie"

ideals of being a human being, i.e. what separates humans from animals (forgiveness, committed love, loyalty for a valued cause, self-sacrifice for another, rescue of human dignity, or an example of overcoming your own desire)

hope and optimism in the face of severe circumstances

unity with the universe, friendship, companionship i.e. you're not alone wherever you are (most feelgood movies)

making your way as a small person in a big world, that despite everything you still matter.

Hair. Washed last night with C-COW-C and the usual ACV rinse. It feels a lot better than when I didn't use ACV

I put lots of pictures in the Meditation Room in Medusa's Lair. These are two of my favorites.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/semicircsteps400.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/sunset400.jpg

I can't find the friggin' link  :-/

Hah, can you tell I need a meditation room?  ::) Seriously, you hid that link pretty darn well!

Anais,

       I hope you dont mind me posting my question here, but I wanted to direct it at you because it seems you've tried a lot of oils and butters. I was going to buy some shea butter and noticed there were different kinds or colors. Refined, white, yellow? Have you tried them all? Which kind would you reccommed and are there any other butters you particularly loved? My hair is color treated and a bit dry. I hope I am not bothering you..Thanks in advance.  :)

((((Cairn))))

Atlantis, all shea butters are difficult to use unless you blend or whip them. I like to take a measure each of 2+ varieties (for example, refined white and unrefined yellow), melt the butters together, then add one measure of jojoba oil. Wait until the mixture begins to gel, then stir-and-smush every so often to avoid clumping.

When the mixture has the consistency of cookie dough, it should be ready to put into a small container. It will continue to harden. The final consistency should be creamy, buttery, and VASTLY different from the original sticky sheas.

Hope this helps ;)
Anais

ETA]: I've also liked mango butter, but I'm not sure of its comedogenic qualities. Be wary of a butter that isn't traditionally "butter", e.g. hemp butter, jojoba butter, etc.. Because they had to process it (hydrogenate) to make it into a butter, I think this makes a difference in how cloggable it could be. I've tried three different varieties of shea, mango, and kokum butter (kokum is VERY hard and 1/2 tsp can be added to smooth your mix.)

Not much to report on the hair front, but here are some photos of a purse I've been working on. Completely hand sewn, it's corduroy exterior, brocade interior, and reversible so far (as long as I don't screw anything up).

This is the true cord color
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/pursecord.gif

This one's too red
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/pursecord2.gif

The brocade is the same as corset fabric. With the black binding, it'll be a good match.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/pursebrocade.gif

Okay, I'm not a purse person, BUT considering you've sewn this by hand, I have to say, that's really C@@L!

:) Thanks NaturalRogue! :) by the way I really enjoy reading your journal entries.

In the words of NR,
::and now, back to regular programming::

Purse update. It's almost done ;D I plan to finish by the time we go cherry picking again (for Royal Annes, speaking of which I need to CALL THE CHERRY ORCHARD TODAY) Anyway it turns out I have to make the straps detachable OR make them two pieces that are attached by two O rings as an adjuster (so it's not one continuous strap) Reversibility is also dependent on the zipper panel being open on one long side. Night before last, I finished all the binding, including the flap.

and I bought socks for a Sock Exchange :)

Wow, Anais...I love your purse. Its very pretty...If I saw that in a store, I would definitely buy it. I have a large purse collection and that is wayyy nicer than things I have paid lots for. Such nice work. :)

wrote on Jul 12^th, 2005 at 2:47pm:

:) Thanks NaturalRogue! :) by the way I really enjoy reading your journal entries. In the words of NR, ::and now, back to regular programming::

Ahhh, Anais, you are far, far too kind. Humblest thanks.

Reading your journal gave me the inspiration to start my own. So, I owe you a debt of gratitude.

Wow Anais! I love the purse! I was finally able to see it (am in a net cafe now, all I get is red x's back home) and I think you are one accomplished lady!  ;D :D :D

Thank you AtlantisAllure, NaturalRogue, and Greeklady :) Sewing is such a great way to meditate!

((((LONGLOCKS GROUP HUG)))))

Five more hours until cherry-picking.... five more hours until cherry-picking... Today we're going to head out and see Henry Miller for hopefully some Royal Annes / Rainiers / Lamberts / what have you. A chance to climb trees and get in touch with the inner child ;D

Degunker comb for wet-scritching. It has tapered "chisel" teeth and lifts gunk really well. This is a Rachael Stephens #42, the one I've been using for regular wet-combing (natural straightening). Wet exfoliation is my new love.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/gunkcomb.jpg

Today, in the orchard.

photo removed

Great picture! Your hair is really growing!

Wow, your hair looks absolutely splendid! Keep up the good growing!  :)

Wonderful picture! :) With every new pic you post, your hair looks even more awesome than the last.

Wow!! Absolutely beautiful...I love your hair! Such a nice shape...Soooo pretty.

Awwwwww thank you BikerBraid, Cairn, NaturalRogue, and AtlantisAllure :-*

AtlantisAllure, Your comment about my "shape" means a lot :) I've been so obsessive about my ends thinning because of natural tapering (I haven't cut for ages) (dust-trimmed several months ago, maybe)... so I really have been obsessive. Thanks so much ((Hug))

Washed hair on July 12th, using C-COW-C because we're out of ACV for rinses. I kinda like shampoo. It's not that bad as long as it's cut with conditioner. Granted my scalp isn't as happy as with regular ACV washes, but as long as I do ACV clarifying often, and most importantly as long as I still WET-SCRITCH, then shampoo shouldn't be an issue.

Yesterday went to work (for my fave PT and client), went to a pizza parlor, headed on out to the orchard, and picked for a few hours. Picked Rainiers and Cavaliers (the Lamberts weren't in season yet, and they could have been mistaken for a Rainier variant. They were so rosy.) Cavaliers are kinda like Lamberts, only softer/juicier and slightly darker with a different ripening season. Lamberts ripen in Augustish.  The Cavaliers look almost exactly like Bing (except plumper). T came to visit and he'd never gone cherry picking before (I don't think) and he really enjoyed himself. We picked about 20 pounds of cherries and paid $25 for them. They're all in a big cardboard box in the fridge.

I took advantage of the pretty cherry trees to take ... hair pictures, of all things. The easy thing was to find a ladder and place the camera on it, setting it for automatic. My July shot is much much longer than I would have expected to grow in a year. Last year's July shot wasn't much past shoulder length.

:: officially addicted to outdoor hair picture taking::

edited to fix smiley

Sixth Day. Discovered something that works really nicely. I've used rainwater rinses before, but not after application of shea. I combed in some shea butter, then used a rainwater rinse from the rainstorm (no hairwash, just the rinse), then did a single braid for the movie (saw "The Interpreter"). The result was sectioned but not greasy, fairly wavy in the way of Arwen Evenstar, and very very soft. I will do this more often. There's more rainwater sitting in a bottle under my bed. Yesterday and today was just a rainwater rinse, not combined with a regular hairwash.
June has also been on very minimal cones, or otherwise it's whatever cone is remaining from the previous wash.

The Interpreter (Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn) Interpreter (with an Matobo rebel group past, lost her family to land mine) overhears about assassination of said  country's leader. They try to kill her, Sean Penn is assigned as her guardian, a bus blows up killing Matobo leader's political rival, other political rival Xola was already dead (killed same day as Simon her brother). She seeks revenge by seeking into Matobo leader's room, after attempt is made on Matobo leader's life, .. ... more investigative stuff, ... etc. etc.

BUT!

shining Rene Girard moments:

Silvie tells of a ritual in Africa, when a man kills another. The killer is thrown into the river, while villagers crowd the riverbank. The dead man's family makes a decision, to either jump in and save the killer, heal, and move on with closure and minimal grief; or they can let the killer drown and then mourn for the rest of their lives.

Silvie holds a gun to Matobo leader's head. She makes him read the intro to his own book, what he believed in when he first took over the country. He used to be a good man. She let him live  Another feelgood movie re: mercy and overcoming of desire, overcoming of vengeance.

My guest is very funny. Today at the park he said it was hard to climb a particular tree because it was a "weird tree". "I can only climb normal trees", he said. He's also started saying my trademark onomatopoeia such as Meep, Yahhhhm!, et al.
We were eating at a buffet and he was fielding questions re: language translation. He said, "So out of all the entire vocabulary, I have to find the right 6 words? This is hard!" He insists on wanting to be strictly an English interpreter. When we told him it wasn't possible, his response was, "Awwwww man!" (I was chopping onions last week. When he asked why I cried, I explained that I was chopping onions. Then the next time he heard me chopping, he asked "Are you chopping onions?"
  "No, why?" and that's when I heard,
  "Awwwwwwwww MAN!" He wanted to stick his face in the onion fumes to 'get the experience'.)

Hair update. I've been damp braiding every day because it's been so hot. They result in rather big waves, since my braid is relatively thick.
On the hairtoy front, not much has changed. I still use Mamacat Wood Creations corkscrews (commissioned, although you can find them on eBay because she doesn't take commissions anymore, until further notice) scrunchies from LisaJaney/TBear/Morticia, and ... that's it. Oh, and a curtain rod hairstick, made by .. guess who.. Mamacat. I have no other non-scrunchie toys that actually hold my hair. Nothing else works. Hairsticks need to be relatively tight coils. I hate claw clips, with the exception of my stainless steel "Legolas" clip for half-ups but it's almost purely decorative.

Mamacat. I can't say enough about her hair toys. At first I was really afraid to mention her around here in previous posts, since she is not currently taking commissions and it would just be like dangling a carrot with no cigar. I didn't want to be mean! Enabling such gorgeous work that few people can get right now! but now that I remember Mamacat Wood Creations does have work on eBay sometimes, I will state it boldly: Mamacat is a goddess. If you happen to be lucky enough to find Mamacat work on eBay, check if the latest bid is a hair forumite and if not, go for it. It's well-crafted and made with real love.

Typical first day of Aunt Flo, nausea and cramps, back pain, etc. I took some IB and drank some raspberry leaf in the form of "PMS Tea" by Alvita. Shoulda tried the raspberry leaf first before taking the IB though, I hear it's wonderful by itself as anti-cramp. I'm such a wuss for menstrual cramps! Need to update on MyCycle.

Saw Napoleon Dynamite with Guest and Hobbit. Oh. My. Gosh. It was like, my 4th grade dork friend V, and Duke, and me mixed together. My favorite FAVORITE scene was when the redneck farmer guy shoots the mad cow, and the kids on the bus screamed in perfect unison.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/rainiers2400.jpg
Cherries before their death and consumption

Oh those are pretty and delicious! Let's not say death, let's say "willing sacrifice to give nourishment".

wrote on Jul 19^th, 2005 at 3:53am:

I'm such a wuss for menstrual cramps! Need to update on MyCycle.

you should try a magnesium supplement  :)

Thanks NRogue and Styg,

I've been taking regular vitamins that have magnesium, but they don't seem to make much difference for me. Ah well.

Hairwash on evening of Tuesday July 19. Used shampoo yesterday, a mildly conditioning C-COW-C. I did this to remove all the shea butter that had accumulated from shea-and-rinse. It was hard to detangle wet hair while the shea was in, especially as I wash and shower with mostly cold water (even in the wintertime). After wet scritching, and a mostly-shampoo COW, I applied lots and lots of Suave M&H but very little Kirkland cone.
I understand the following is kind of an extreme comparison... C-COW-C still worked nicely in the past, and gave CO-like results. Still, the results of C-COW-C are close enough to CO for me that I might as well compare my two extremes between CO and shampoo.

(1) Shampoo routine: My shampoo'd hair is frizzy and weird today. It's fluffy and the strands move separate from each other, and it feels like somebody else's hair. The whispies stick out. I don't want to say it reminds me of Hagrid's beard :o , but for some reason that's the image that is conjured. There are some nice things, namely, that it looks really nice when loose and straight. Wavy shampoo'd hair tends to go frizzy and whispy. I'm not sure I could handle that. Then again it might also be the Suave M&H. I do reasonably okay without cones, as long as I wet comb. My last attempt without cones was terrible, mainly because (I think) I didn't wet comb. There hasn't been any noticeable damage.  

(2) CO routine: CO tends to make my hair look great while wavy (without wet-combing) and it's well-defined and bouncy. Then again CO tends to make my wet-combed hair look overconditioned and terrible. I'd have to choose between CO and shea butter. I can't seem to have shea butter without a routine that involves shampoo. I think it comes down to what texture I choose, or whether I need to choose at all.

Guess Who? It's Totally Hair Barbie! Did anyone else have one of these?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/totallybrunette150.jpg

OMG!! I have this barbie, but she is blonde...Pretty much the same thing, except her dress is more pink than blue. I absolutely loved barbie dolls as a child...My Mother was a complete nut though and I only got to play with a small fraction of what I owned. To this day, if I happen to see a cute barbie... I buy it.   8)

Hee cute!  I don't have that one, but when I was little I used to collect Barbies.  I had one with super long blond hair that came with this twister tool.  You put her in a salon chair (also comes with the doll) and put two sections of her hair into the twister.  Put the twister on setting 1 and repeatedly press the handle.  this twisted each section individually.  THen, you put it on setting 2, repeatedly press the handle, and it twisted the two sections together into a rope.  You could even use the tool on your own hair.  Loved it!

Cynde

Heehee, Barbie, the essence of the good old early nineties :P

Morticia started a wonderful thread on another board, and I have to crosspost this:

1. Love your hair, it's not a pet, it's not something you talk about in third person. Well. Um. except for that last part.
2. Good haircare isn't complicated.
3. Hair is also not my entire existence, nor my entire online existence, just most of it. Very interesting things happen in between, and a happy life involves incorporating the existence of very happy hair. (MOTHRA the cat, et al. Mothra is the perfect longhair because she's completely oblivious to her beautiful natural long-hairedness)
4. There is always someone out there who respects your hair, and respects you as a person. Keep that in mind and make your votes count; and while you're at it, make someone's day. I feel so honored to be mentioned by Morticia. We're hair twins, and she has such healthy lovely hair that I wish I could have started with.
5. If you're on hair boards at weird hours, then long hair is your passion. (Likewise if you're doing anything at weird hours, then it's your passion.)
6. Don't forget your reasons and philosophies for growing your long hair, nor your reasons and philosophies for spending time with long hair boards.

Shampoo'd hair feels really bizarre after months of going without. It's lacking that weight, that swing, but at the same time, I'm getting strands that are separate from each other. Strands move by themselves, instead of in wavy or curly sections. Verdict: I like how CO'd hair LOOKS, and I like how shampoo'd hair FEELS.

Tried again, in vain, to swat the fly - and initially thought it was gone. It's still flying around somewhere. I'll see him every now and then. If it takes that long to swat the darned creature, I might have to give it a name eventually. (How about Fred?) There is also no fly swatter in the house. Fly swatters are much better than any magazine because it allows for air flow, so as to not disturb the air immediately before the surface hits the fly, and that buys you a split second.

This apartment does not meet Ideal Fly Swatting Conditions (IFSC). IFSC involves the following:

(1) Lots of blank wall space, to give good contrast between the fly and everything that is not the fly. Ideal fly swatting rooms include the bathroom, the bathroom, and well, the other bathroom. Do not use a vacuum cleaner under any circumstance.

(2) minimal floor clutter, for ease of movement while swatting said fly. Eliminates most rooms in the house.

(3) no bookcases, because flies are amazingly hard to swat on a bookcase, especially when the books are not lined up properly

(4) minimal plants, which rules out most rooms in the house that have not been ruled out already

(5) A window, or two, which at least provides a flat surface with light for contrast.

(6) A screen door with a glass door. (*optional, for freeing the fly when it lands on the screen)

Fred the Fly is still exploring my apartment and memorizing its features. I wonder if flies ever get tired of flying. It seems to be all they do. They can't stay in one place long enough before someone or something begins to notice (that applies to civilized flies only of course). Did I mention how much I hate these critters?

blarg. Flies! Bah humbug! :P

Shouldn't that be bah, buzzbug?

*/runs away laughing and hides from the bad pun/*  8)

still choking over fred the fly ... LOL

my my you must adore david cronenberg  ;D

I got Fred!!!! (in the most humane way possible, too) He landed on the screen door, so I took the opportunity to shut the glass one. Then I opened it a crack and stuck my arm in to open the screen. Fly away free now ;D My my, if Cronenberg were here,....

Bah buzzbug :P That's a new one, heehee ;D

Hair and henna. My hair takes color really well. I hennaed a hairblob the other week with Prabda henna and it's turned out wonderfully. There's no post-henna color bleeding, even when washed half of the blob with Pert Plus (yes, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate) and scrubbed like hades. I love the color. My hair is dark enough that henna would be subtle. I'm just afraid that I'd get roots, because of my porous hair, this color is certainly going to be stubborn with a capital S.

Pictures are required, now, you know that. I shall be on pins and needles to see your hair. You are my hair icon, afterall!  :)

As for Fred, all I can say is, "Help meeee, Help meeeee!' << seeing Anais with a big screen door in her hand!!!>>

Thanks NaturalRogue :) The henna pictures will have to wait though... ;) I need to place a real order of henna sometime in the far future. According to my Hair Auntie's usage, I'll need 200 grams. What's left of  my henna sample isnt enough for more than a small whisp of bangs. I'm probably going to start by hennaing a portion of my bangs (side part), then henna my whole head when I finally reach the target length of tailbone. That's a slight change from the original plan (originally hip length) as a reward for my hard-to-find patience. And considering how the sample hairblob turned out, I know it will look gorgeous when it's finally done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/hair_diameter300.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/hair_cuticle300.jpg

Hair. Rheo emailled me two pictures of my hair under a sort of micrometer scope device. She's so terrific! *hugs* She also mentioned that my hair strand is big and round.
I can't believe the hair sample looks so undamaged with the cuticle lying flat. The cuticle also looks like it has some iridescent stuff, as if one of my products shines weirdly. It's probably the cone. However the last hairwash was July 19th, and it was a COW-CC with very little conditioner in the COW. Then there was VERY little conage. It makes me wonder if I removed a hair (for Rheo) before or after the wash, or if that was just leftover cone residue.

Added personal product reviews to page 1 of journal.

Hair. Washed today at 5:00 pm with a COW-CC again, but more CC than usual, and back to more cones. We are out of ACV so shampoo is my only route at this time. However this time my hair feels truly CO'd even though it actually is not. It's in a braid & SUE, no scrunchie.  

I finally finished the book commission! FINALLY! After so long. Just a few Chinese pinyin spellings to doublecheck and get translations for, and it's off to the publisher. I'm so happy ;D From now on I'm only translating birth certificates and brochures.
Oh, and as a reward for my finishing the commission I am totally getting another corset with the hard-earned payment to ... MOI... and this time from Meschantes because it's much more affordable than independent corset commissions. Oh to give my back a good long rest! The back pain has certainly gotten worse, mainly from sitting on a high barstool at this computer every day, and leaning forward to use the keyboard.

YESSSSSSS! *boing!*

I'm listening to Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles, thinking of my loving Bear because he loves Georgia, and thinking that we'll be able to see each other again soon because I won't be working on Mondays anymore. We've been wanting desperately to spend more quality time together but it just hasn't been working well with the commission still alive. Now I've effectively killed it, by finishing it to death. And work kills my relationships.

Oh!  My ! Yes ! WOWIE ZOWIE!  8) ;D 8) ;D

Congrats on finishing your work on the book.  You deserve to treat yourself!

Grats on the book (and the upcoming corset) :-D  I think corsets are so pretty.  I didn't know they are functional for back problems - that's neat.  Do you have to wear one all the time, or just when doing a lot of moving around?

Cynde

PS - your hair strand is fascinating!  Looks like it's doing well.  What part of the hair was that - the top or the end?

Thanks BB and Cynde :)

Cynde, I don't know what end it is, but I'm happy to see it regardless. As for the corset, I wear it when I have to sit up for long periods of time (especially computer time) or housework. Although.. my pain is very mild compared to other cases, and it's basically due to improper positioning and strain (especially during sleep or long periods of sitting improperly). A corset is SOOO amazing for posture. However it would probably only be appropriate for these milder cases and not *serious* back pain that has to do with misalignment of discs, etc. In a case like that, it would be better to consult with a chiro or your usual MD.  

(((hugs)))
Anais

Most exhuberant congratulations on the book *YAY*

and regarding Fred, Boooooooorn Freeeeeeeeeee  ;D...g

[glb]Hoooraaaaayyyy![/glb] on completing your book.

Thanks Gabi and NRogue! :D

and as for the henna...

Last night I decided to henna my bangs with what remained from the swap sample. The only thing is, my aunt and grandma are coming this weekend so ORANGE scalp was out of the question. This led to lots of oiling, some fabric scraps, etc.. but all in all it was the cleanest hennaing experience I have ever even heard of. So anyway... bangs.

(1) Mixed about a tsp of henna with 1/2 tsp of water and 1/2 tsp of lemon juice, mixed in a small 2.5" diameter china bowl.  Stirred well, using a spare wooden hairstick blank. The mixture turned lumpy because I added the water/lemon to the henna and not vice versa. I ended up squishing henna lumps for about 10 minutes, using a plastic-wrapped middle finger. I let the henna bowl sit on top of a half-filled mug of hot water, put on some plastic wrap, and let it sit for about an hour.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/hennamug.jpg

(2) Braided hair, pulled out some bang hair for application. and oiled the hairline and forehead of course. I applied the henna using the hairstick blank but then resorted to using my fingers. I went too slowly though and the paste thickened so I had to keep adding water to the bowl.

(3) Didn't wear gloves the whole time, heehee. ;D Applied the henna using my left fingers. The tips of the first three fingers of my left hand are pretty orange, but I can deal with that. Kinda like the henna users' salute. Show those orange fingertips, baby! woohoo

(4) Coiled the hennabangs into a piece of plastic wrap, rolled it up above my forehead. Placed a cut piece of terry cloth on my forehead, all the way against the hairline. On top of that, I lay the henna hair roll. and on top of THAT was a piece of thick corduroy fabric scrap. Over THAT I tied a bandana, then over THAT was orthodontic headgear. Everything was secure. I went to bed and set an alarm for 8 am.

(5) Next morning: removed all the layers and rinsed out the henna. It worked out really really well. Nothing stained except the terry cloth and the corduroy scrap. The color hasn't fully developed yet so I'm giving it a few days. But so far so red!

I'll load pictures in the next day or two.

First day color
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/hennaafter200.jpg

very subtle reddish tint to the bangs. It shows better in sunlight, and it shows when looking THROUGH the strands.

Oh!  That purdy  :D ...g

Ooooooooh! Ahhhhhhhh! Appropriate fireworks sounds.
Seriously, the redish tint in your hair looks really gorgeous. And you say it's not fully developed, yet? Wowee!

Good job!  /applause I love the color.  

Cynde

Thank you Gabi, NRogue, and Cynde :D

A better shot of the color, 19 hours after application. I was surprised with the drastic color difference.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/hennastrands2300.jpg

Me wanna see too!!! All I get is the red x
>:(

Congratulations about your book, too! That must have been a relief, huh? So you speak Chinese? What dialect?

Hi GreekLady,

The book wasn't originally in Chinese, but there were a few Mandarin Chinese words in it that I have to convert from a "my language's rendition" of the Mandarin, to a Mandarin that people can understand. Anyway that was loopy! I hope it made sense.

On to Mars!

photo removed

WOW!  I hope my bun grows up to look so pretty!

I second that, Sakina! Your bun is gorgeous! I can never get my buns to look that, they're always coiled. Maybe I am doing something wrong.  :-/

Oooooo - third it

and that difference in the color *wow* who'da guessed...g

Wow that's an impressive bun!

Cynde

wrote on Jul 30^th, 2005 at 12:46am:

A better shot of the color, 19 hours after application. I was surprised with the drastic color difference.

Whoa, what a color difference; some serious highlight going on there when the sunlight hits it. And your bun is gorgeous.

My, how lovely!  I like that hairstick, too.  It compliments your hair's highlights.

Thank you Sakina, Atlantis, Gabi, Khrome, NRogue, Panpeus ;D Golly, everybody else is posting in here more than I am!
Atlantis, everybody's buns are different so I'm sure you're not doing anything wrong. There are a bazillion ways to coil a bun. Well, maybe not a bazillion, but there certainly are many.

Henna.It looks like my henna color has fully developed. It's not noticeably red, but it's red. It's red enough for someone to say, "Hey, did you color?" as opposed to "Nice new hair color!". Prabda henna is so wonderful and it "takes" so well. It's body art quality henna from Everyday Mehndi (unfortunately nobody else carries the Prabda variety of henna). I haven't had any washout, color bleeding, or rub-offs on clothing or bedding. Probably the high porosity.

Hair. My last hairwash was on the 26th, so that means yesterday was 6th-day hair (5th day after a wash day) Did a CO wash last night with Pure-A-Teas Green Tea (smells like Bear's deodorant, also smells like BPAL Embalming Fluid. I love it so much. It smells like fresh floral lime) and clarified with ACV. It turns out the ACV was decanted into a smaller bottle, and we weren't out of it after all. Finished off with SM&H and Kirkland. Then squeezed damp with a dog towel, wet-combed, and braided with a SUE.  

Lughnassadh update

Wash goods:  
CO routine with Pure-A-Teas Green Tea
ACV rinse most of the time
wet scritching routine
Suave Milk and Honey (with no silicones)
Kirkland Lemon Complex Conditioner (phenyltrimethicone). Hairwash once a week
Oils: Shea butter
Tools: Rachael Stephens comb for wet scritching and wet-combing, hardwood combs for everyday detangling e.g. morning and evening. horn comb for purse.
Misc: Been sleeping in orthodontic headgear and a braid. Post shower do is a braid with a SUE (socked up end)
Hair toys that stay: Mamacat Wood Creations corkscrews and curtain rod, velvet scrunchies.
Hair toys that don't stay: straight sticks, wavy sticks, et al.
Hairstyles: damp bun with single corkscrew, dry bun with single corkscrew, Chinese bun with curtain rod, Bubba sleep tail, twin braids, single braid

I need to take the Lughnassadh measurement!  

wrote on Aug 1^st, 2005 at 8:00pm:

Thank you Sakina, Atlantis, Gabi, Khrome, NRogue, Panpeus ;D Golly, everybody else is posting in here more than I am!

Hope you don't mind, but that is the price of being a hair goddess. ;) Besides, we all likes you!  :D

I know I am reading this too litterally...But...A curtain rod? Wow! That's one helluva hair stick! lol

Also, I definitely agree with NR...Anais, you are a hair goddess!  ;D

Awww thanks NRogue and Atlantis ;) but I can't call myself a hair goddess without calling everybody else a hair god/goddess/deity/etc. too. I admire so many people's textures and lengths.

Here is a picture of the curtain rod. It's 6 inches long and used for a Chinese bun.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/curtainrod300.jpg

Hair length. I'm not too eager to measure this time... Away with the August and February measurements. I'll be taking official measurements on Beltaine and Samhain when there's more noticeable growth. "Noticeable growth", to me, can be defined as three or more inches difference. Ms. June is getting longer for sure, but at this point I'm also losing lots of length to the waviness. Someone also mentioned measuring in the shower. For some reason I always thought that would be inaccurate because wet hair does stretch, but at least it would be a lot more accurate than having to stretch out the waves while dry. The best case scenario is to wet-comb it straight after a shower. Second day wet-combed hair is my most reliable length to measure.

Rearranging the bedroom for feng shui purposes. The office furniture is all going to the Northeast corner. It's so much work moving all this JUNK around! I have to move all the junk before actually moving the furniture. First it was clearing the "don't even try to walk over here" corner to make room for the bed, then moving the d.e.t.t.w.o.h. stuff to another end of the room, so that I can undo more junk from over/under desk and hutch, to move the office furniture to another corner, then move the stuff that goes with it. Then.. the d.e.t.t.w.o.h. to somehow fit in the closet. Maybe. The "stuff" is mostly books and newspapers, paperwork, financial stuff, correspondence, and lots of decorative antique pretties or artsy things. And I'm also moving the altar to the South corner, not the traditional place to put an altar, but the room arrangement doesn't want to accommodate an altar in the North end. The problem now is the very large closet door that is made entirely of mirror. So it's like having two full French doors of mirror, directly facing 1/3 of the foot of the bed. Since you're absolutely positively NOT supposed to have a mirror at the foot of the bed, this means getting some sort of sheer curtain or 2 yards of sheer fabric to drape over one of the two mirror closet doors. It's definitely going to look silly, but I'm not going to risk my relationship with Bear. We've had a tough past couple years, as it is.

Bear called today. We're going to plan an "Us" day next Monday. He called after going wine tasting with mom, joined a wine lovers club, one that requires him to buy a certain number of bottles per year, given a 20% discount and payment of shipping. A wine club! I told him, "It's a sign you're getting old, man" Heehee, when he's old and wrinkly I'll love him twice as much.  

Went to the ortho today and got a new wire on uppers, powerchain on uppers, some lacing added. It's only been a few hours and the powerchain has closed two of my 1mm-wide gaps, between one midline upper incisor and one lateral upper incisor. The really cool thing was the overjut measurement. I started with a 9mm overjut. The doc measured today. He originally (based on his experiences with patients) expected me to reach 5 with lots and lots of elastic usage and headgear-wearing, and an even greater amount of good luck, given my age and the fact that my teeth shouldn't be able to move this much. Today's measurement was 4mm, and I hope to keep going. He said it's pure luck, prayer, naturally high bone metabolism, and consistent headgear/elastics that I was able to get this. The ideal gap would be 2mm. Zoinks! Doc issued me an "Ice Cream Prescription", written on Rx paper. It was really cute and made my day. ;D You don't have to be a kid to get an Ice Cream Prescription, you just have to have done something special ... and boy do I feel special :)

Moved desk and all its contents. (I also found a solution for the mirror-at-the-foot-of-the-bed thing, to hang windchimes from the curve of the high bedpost - (moonshaped bedpost that curves upward) Since the desk is a heavy dark stained hardwood, I had to remove as much junk as humanly possible. The room looks bigger than it used to. The bed is now the center of the room, in the sense that it's in the far corner, while the empty room space  is formed *around* it like an L. It's also surprised me how much I have been willing to throw away. Some things I found but didn't throw away:

A bag bag. Yes, a bag bag, meaning a bag for the storage of bags. This particular bag was a cloth tote, used for the storage of fabric handbags and purses of all sorts that I never never use.

Another bag bag, this time plastic, used for the storage of plastic bags of all sorts, namely shopping bags e.g. from Barnes and Noble and New York and Co., or Victoria's Secret, all of them stores that have really PRETTY bags.

A box box. Just kidding. Actually there is a box shelf, but that really doesn’t count. ::)

Magical creatures such as pincher bugs and other nasty things. >:(

My four leaf clover, er, a brass bookmark with an enameled pearlized four leaf clover. Very lurvely.

Hair. It's 5th day hair right now and everything is as usual. Since there's a little more ACV decanted and stashed away, I'm back to CO washes. Shampoo was nice, but it didn't give the soft hair with defined waves. With the furniture rearranging, I've been consistently keeping Ms. June in a cinnabun with single stick (like recent photo) or a single braid (the more comfy one of the two). As I braid for bedtime headgear, and I braid for daytime activity, there's not much time for wearing loose hair, except when winding down for bed or taking walks.

Ahhhh... time to move the chest of drawers.

Room rearrangement is officially done. The previous arrangement would ::elbow elbow:: constipate my flow of ch'i. Bwhaahahah...
I went to bed last night after moving the dresser drawer, taking out one drawer at a time and then moving the empty dresser. The fruits of the rearrangement:

oodles of clothes for Goodwill

a massive buttload of unopened tampons to donate to the local chapter of YWCA

Besides "the bag bag", and the "bag bag for plastics", and "the box shelf", there's been many more bags and boxes of non-bag stuff:

"fabric scrap bag"

"fabric non-scraps bag"

junk food that isn't supposed to be eaten during detox phases

things that would have belonged on the dresser had it not run out of room

the box of things NEVER EVER to look at ever again but not to throw away either. And yes, I looked.

oh, and.. found... double stuff Oreos from last Halloween. Aged trans fats, yum mee yumm!

Hair. This would make it 6th day hair. Lately things haven't changed much. The entire routine has gone back to the usual weekly CO with ACV rinse, because there's still ACV left. I wore it loose to work today. Also took some hair pictures by the window after coming home. The only problem is the bunk in the background with two mattresses- hopefully I'll find something to drape over it next time. Golly, the more pictures I take, the more my hair looks hip length. The sarong is covering my hipbones, but the hair is longer than the top of the sarong. Hm..

photos removed

Oh!  That is very pretty.  I too have been browsing around your site btw and it's terrific ...g

Oh my goodness, Anais! I swear your hair is more beautiful everytime I see a new pic! Its absolutely lovely, right down to the ends!  ;)

I think the lines on the bed along with the colors in the pic make for a very artsy, Middle Eastern-ish / Asian look.

AND beautiful hair as always!

Cynde

Your hair is so beautiful. And it looks hip length to me.  :D

Once again, great picture. :D

Thank you Gabi, (Gabi, I'm so glad you liked Medusa!) Atlantis, Khrome, Galadriel, NRogue

:)  :-* If it weren't for super sweet comments like these, I think many of us would have cut off our hair a long time ago. LL is such a supportive community  :-*

Hugs and blessings
Anais

Hair. Today is 8th day hair. I think I need to wash today, not because the hair is icky, but because my scalp is due for some wetting down. Of course, wetting the scalp would be fine by itself, but from the looks of what dry fingernail scritching removed, the scalp is in need of some serious exfoliation. And intense exfoliation session tends to call for a hair wash. I've been braiding or bunning all day for the past couple days, excluding the time I went to work. Yesterday I sat down to do a search and destroy, but nothing turned up. I couldn't find a single split. .... and then I find splits when there are no scissors within arm's reach! e.g. when out and about, or at work. Murphy's Law :P

11:55 pm
Washed hair with Pure-A-Teas Green Tea, ACV rinse, Suave M&H, and KLG cone. wet combed until damp, then took a picture when the hair was ALMOST dry. Voila! I really am at hip length at the longest layers. The cropped bottom edge of the photo is right above the crack of my bum.
Hip length was my original goal when I joined Longlocks. So... this means...I've met a goal that I set a long time ago that I changed after long months of consideration that I'll go back to calling a goal because I met it! Okay, okay, a M-I-L-E-S-T-O-N-E. ::)

photo removed

Hee...I told you!  ;D Congratulations on reaching your milestone!

Wow that picture came out really good!  I thought it was a painting.

Cynde

Yes, it really does look like a painting. Anais, is there anything you dont do? Beautiful hair, beautiful pictures, translating books and did I read you paint as well? I think I am beginning to hate you! lol Only kidding, of course. Once again, beautiful hair!  ;D

Thank you ladies :)

Hair. I've been scratching the scalp today, not because it itched, but because of habit. The scalp gunk smelled like Pure-A-Teas Green Tea. The scent lingers for such a long time (other conditioners haven't done that for me, not even the Lotus). I really like the switch to the Green Tea. I have a whole stash of both varieties in the closet. I don't know what I'll do when it's out. It's the only LIGHT cheap conditioner with cetearyl alcohol that I can find. Well, that's not entirely true. White Rain has a few that are worth my exploring. Maybe.. buying some White Rain to use in the meanwhile, and alternating it with the Lotus and Green Tea, to make the lovely Pure-A-Teas last longer.

White Rain Conditioner, Energizing Citrus flavor: Water , Cetearyl Alcohol , Cetrimonium Bromide , Dicetyldimonium Chloride , Polysorbate-60 , Panthenol Provitamin B5 , Niacinamide Vitamin B3 , Pantothenic Acid Vitamin B5 , Retinyl Palmitate Vitamin A , Saccharomyces , Potassium Ferment Hydrolysate , Adenosine Triphosphate , Vaccinium Myrtillus Extract Bilberry , Saccharum Officinarium Extract Sugar Cane , Acer Saccharinum Extract Sugar Maple , Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Fruit Extract Orange , Citrus Medica Limonum Extract Lemon , Oleth-20 , Glycerin , Propylene Glycol , Fragrance , Benzophenone-4 , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone , Red 40

White Rain Naturals "Restoring" Conditioner, Violet flavor: Water; Cetearyl Alcohol; Cetrimonium Bromide; Dicetyldimonium Chloride; Polysorbate-60; Glycerine; Propylene Glycol; Fragrance; Polysorbate-80; Soy Amino Acids; Wheat Amino Acids; Corn Amino Acids; Anthemis Noblis (Chamomile) Extract; Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel) Fruit Extract; Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract; Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice; Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E); Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5); Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5); Benzophenone-4; Methylchloroisothiazolinone; Methylisothiazolinone; Red 33; Green 3

White Rain Sheer Clarifying Conditioner: Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Fragrance, Polysorbate-60, Cetrimonium Bromide, Cocamidopropylbetaine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Propylene Glycol, Glycerine, Citric Acid, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.

Bedtime. Ahhhh. :)
The day actually starts around 11 something, for me. Curling up with the fourth Harry Potter book, some Laurell K Hamilton, a Korean "mink" blanket, and hot Scottish breakfast tea with milk and honey. The Scottish breakfast tea steeps very darkly in a short period of time. Even without honey, it smells like a little bit of honey is already added. The taste is smooth, but with just enough bitterness to remind you that you're drinking tea (and not fictional coffee).

Happiness comes in very big mugs.

Sweet dreams to all. :-*

Went to the craft store today to restock my paints, and to get more brushes. I was wearing my usual long African skirt and decided long hair would look good with it as well. It felt really nice to let it loose while in the store, especially as there was plenty of air conditioning. I also went commando in public for the first time, which felt really cool. I came home with oodles of supplies and finished the dioxins cartoon.

Cookbooks were on sale for $2.99, each one about six inches long and an inch thick (such titles as Italian, Mexican, Vegetarian, Healthy Cooking, Baking, and oh yeah, Chocolate. Of course ;D Chocolate has its own separate cookbook) They'll make great gifts at our upcoming picnic-a-thon, especially during the peak of barbecue season. (Speaking of barbeque, it seems that "barbeque" with a Q is more often used to refer to the sauce, while "barbecue" with a C is more often used as a verb) Said massive picnic-a-thon will be followed by a walking day of exploration in the islands.

We have a serious gnat problem. I quite haven't figured out how it got started, but gnats are everywhere these days. Our moth problem has been much much improved (since I began swatting them. They're easier to swat than flies) but the gnat thing. Oy! Another item to add to the to-do list. Find a natural solution to all of these gnats.

Mango Chipotle macaroni and cheese
with meatballs and broccoli. (Hobbits love this)

what you'll need
1 tablespoon of oil
3 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped into microscopic pieces
1 cup of ground beef
cajun spices
black pepper
onion powder*optional
about a 1 tsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp of brown sugar
Mango Chipotle marinade from Costco, or Taco Bell's mild taco sauce
6-8 cups of cooked macaroni
steamed broccoli (take number of cups of cooked macaroni, divide that number by 4. That's how much steamed broccoli to use) done by microwave
nonfat milk powder
mozzarella cheese or swiss slices
chopped green onions*optional
salt to taste

(1) Cook macaroni and broccoli[/u] (separately of course) and set aside.
(2) Mix the cup of ground beef (or ground turkey) with annihilated microscopic chopped garlic, pepper, cajun spices, onion powder*optional, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Mix well. Add some garlic to the frying pan separately if you like. Spoon the ground beef into the pan to make meatballs. Make sure they're cooked!Set beef aside.
(3) Put the macaroni into a deep skillet, must be nonstick. Add about a cup of water. Add the nonfat milk powder (dissolved in some water if that helps make it not so lumpy; I learned the hard way), then the Marinade or Taco sauce. Mix well and add the cheeses when you've got enough heat going.
(4) Keep mixing the macaroni constantly until the cheese melts into the water as a sauce. Add salt to taste. It will take awhile for the sauce to thicken. (5) Add cooked broccoli (microwaved is fine) and the browned beef meatballs when the cheese sauce is finally thick enough to somewhat coat a spoon.

Larry Flynt, my hustler ivy, has been growing. He's also been enjoying the windowsill, finally, because the room rearrangement has freed up the window from being blocked by the bed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/larryflynt300.jpg
previous picture, taken June 8 or 9.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/larryflynt_lateJuly300.jpg
Larry in late July, adjusted to true leaf color


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/larry_closeup300.jpg
The shamrocks have been growing. Larry's got a cluster of lucky shamrocks in the smack dab middle of the pot.

I think Esme said, if sock buying is boring then you're buying the wrong socks.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/rainbowsocks2.jpg
There's a dollar store at our mall now. They stock all kinds of silly socks... I bought three pairs of these rainbow ones.

It's too late to write.
::subconscious garble ::

but not too late to get a start on my day - of books, of hot tea, of comfort, and joy in a good day's work.

Lord and Lady smile upon you all.

Anais

LOL - nutty socks are a hobby of mine  ;D...g

Anais, your hair is so beautiful!!! I can only hope mine looks as good as yours when I finally loose all the bleached parts.

I can relate to the ortho experiences, although I never got an ice cream RX. >:( Just kidding! I had my braces for six years instead of the original two year projection I got from the orthodontist. During those 6 years I had headgear, a weird spacer on the roof of my mouth, pulled four teeth because my mouth was "too small", and goodness knows what else. I hope you don't have to wear your braces for much longer.

Heehee, Gabi you should take pictures of your silly socks too, then we can start a share-pictures-of-your-silly-socks thread. ;D

Juri, Thank you so much! Sounds like you had a mouthful too, eh? I've also had 4 teeth pulled (4 bicuspids) and I heard that the spacer/expander is a royal pain in the butt. Oy! But boy, are braces worth the trouble!! :)

Faery wishes to you both. :-*

* * *

Mailed out an order for Heavenly Harvest Inc. horn combs. Two of them, to be precise. The total was $24.40 including the shipping. Debra Hampton is one of the nicest business owners I've had the pleasure of working with (among the ranks of LisaJaney, Many Horses, and Hairboutique) Heavenly Harvest doesn't say on the website, but I guess they accept personal checks from people who will come out and ask nicely. And Debra was just so sweet about it! click HERE for their website.

These combs are six inches long, wide tooth, sheephorn-colored oxhorn, 4 to 5 teeth per inch. If all goes well, I will keep one and offer it to Warrior for her switch to natural hair care. (actually I'll offer her a choice between the Mason Pearson (which I very rarely use) and one of these horn combs).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/esmecomb400.jpg

Hair. I just did a dust trim this late afternoon. It wasn't by any means a "thorough" trim. I trimmed all the already-cut ends of my bangs, by 1/16". Then I used the Feye tie-off to trim another 1/16" off the very ends. With all the extreme tapering, it was impossible to get 1/16" off more than 5-10% of the total hair, or even off most of my ends only. The dust trim leaves me significantly less tangling and friction in general. And then finally I went through and did S&D. By Murphy's Law, I can't find any visible splits when I try to find them, so I went and cut off all the "stressed hairs" instead. This also had a feelable difference when fingercombing. My tangling results from the following in order of prevalance- stressed hairs, worn out ends, loose hairs.

Anyhoo it's fast approaching midnight. Almost teatime.
To all a good night.

Anais

Looks good - enjoy that comb.

My socks include goofy stuff like batteries and weird animals - maybe you are onto something for a crazy sock thread  ;D...g

Hair. Lately I've been using all my natural combs more often than my cellulose acetate combs. The Mason Pearson rake is officially neglected. My only concern is that I'll need it someday when my hair is longer. Then again, I can simply order a Rachael Stephens at 1/3 of the price, when the time comes to need one. The Mason Pearson goes to my friend Warrior, who has seen a seamless rake comb only once, and a flat iron many more times.

I just had to go back into my journal entries and check what hair day it is. Today is 7th day hair. I've been kinda itchy, but nothing that a little scritching can't fix. Yesterday I did a really heavy shea butter application and braided before going to vegge at the bookstore. It turned out really nicely, and then I realized it has been so long since the last wash. The smell of Pure-A-Teas Green Tea is gone now - and it is indeeedy a very long-lasting scent. Ms. June is due for a shea and rinse tomorrow, at the very least, or probably some sort of tea rinse experiment if I can find a tea that I can part with (and not drink between brew time and wash time!). Blarg, it's another one of those, "my hair doesn't need anything" days. It really doesn't need anything. It's detangled, it's relatively shiny and moisturized, and the scalp isn't too itchy. Well. That's not entirely true, but it's not itchy enough for a wash. Ms. June is happy. She swings about with her free-spirited self and feels wonderful. And that seems to be enough for now.

past teatime by 7 minutes - must. go. now.

to all a good night

Went shopping with Mom today. She bought this, but in the wrong size (7.5). It fit while in the store, but then miraculously didn't fit after we paid for them. I think Mom was wearing socks when she tried them on. So anyway we made the purchase (we bought both shoes of course) and now they're mine. We're going back today to get her a pair to match. We haven't done a mother-daughter matching purchase in a long time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/newshoes.jpg

Hair. Scalp's a little sore from scritching too hard last night - I need to remember to "lift" gunk, not scratch it off. Or better yet, to scritch in the shower. In other news, I found a huge split end while in the grocery store today. and I mean HUGE. It was almost an inch long, which is really long by my standards because I rarely get any splits to begin with. Just my luck! All the scissors in the store are sealed in cardstock and molded plastic. The only cutting tool available was the nailclipper, hidden in one of the closed checkstands, where I stood and ::stealthily:: snipped off my split.

A big WELCOME HOME to our Biker-Momma!
All right, all right, just an excuse to put up a picture of this niiiiice motorcycle that I saw the other day.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/motorcycle2005.jpg

Hair. Did a usual CO wash yesterday with an ACV rinse. This time I messed up the CO cocktail, switched conditioners during another step, and didn't use a lot of final cone. Instead of Suave M&H, I used Suave Citrus Smoothie. It smelled good, but the smell wasn't as strong as the SM&H. The other thing is, the Citrus Smoothie has little light-colored flecks in it. Wonder if this is normal. Anyway I messed up the CO cocktail by squirting the PAT-GreenTea, and then it stuck to the side of the ketchup bottle. I didn't shake vertically nor did I pay attention to fully dissolving ALL of the PAT-GreenTea in the water. So there was some conditioner left in the bottle after the shower, I found out. Finally I cut down on the final cone conditioner, just out of curiosity. Ms. June was wet-combed and air dried. Everything feels nice and thick. I sock curled last night - it's been quite awhile since my last sock-curling. It keeps me in the right sleeping position (on my back). The last time I did a hairwash was last Sunday, so this made it 10th day hair? I keep counting and it doesn't seem right.

In other news! A milestone. I can tuck the tippies of my front layers into my bellybutton.

Ms. June is in big bouncy sock curls. She's in a bun right now with curly ends - just the way I like it. It's relatively frizz free right now. I'm having a really good hair day. Even better, we're having another pounding rain/thunder storm over here.

wrote on Aug 17^th, 2005 at 10:49pm:

In other news! A milestone. I can tuck the tippies of my front layers into my bellybutton.

I was gonna ask, but I won't. Glad that your lovely, or lurvely, hair is doing so well.  :) Can't wait until the next pix!

wrote on Aug 12^th, 2005 at 5:09am:

Juri, Thank you so much! Sounds like you had a mouthful too, eh? I've also had 4 teeth pulled (4 bicuspids) and I heard that the spacer/expander is a royal pain in the butt. Oy! But boy, are braces worth the trouble!! :)

You're welcome! But by now I think you're well aware that many people aspire to have locks like yours.  

I think I had my bicuspids pulled, but that was about 8 or 10 years ago so I don't really remember. The spacer was annoying. Drinking cold or hot liquids were *interesting* experiences, but at least there was a hole in the middle of the spacer so liquids could drain out. That's a weird mental image. Man, I'm so happy I don't have to deal with that contraption anymore.

wrote on Aug 17^th, 2005 at 10:49pm:

In other news! A milestone. I can tuck the tippies of my front layers into my bellybutton.

Hahah that must be the cutest thing I've ever read!  ;D

I'm another brace "survivor".  I think I wore them for 6 years and had a headgear.  After that I wore a retainer.  Oh yeah, I also had to get a few teeth removed because my jaws are too small.  Braces were such a pain (no pun intended) but in the end they were worth it.  

Cynde

*hugs* to NRogue, Juri, and Khrome :)

Through time, I've grown accustomed to having braces (and accustomed to the occasional pain too) so when it's finally over, I hope to look back and say, "wow, that wasn't so bad!"

Faery blessings
Anais

Hair is on its fourth day. I've just made a really big groundbreaking discovery RE: my routine. It's strange how this was never obvious before.
(1) The first C in my CCC is to "clean" the scalp, ease in wet exfoliation, or at least make everything smell nice. and I just lurrrve the smell of it.
(2) and here's the discovery, The second C determines my VOLUME. :D For the past couple days or so, I've been enjoying much more volume than usual, and much more uniform throughout to the ends. :o It's different than when I usually sock curl after using the Suave M&H. There's more fluff, yet less frizz. I'm going to wear my hair down often this weekend during our four-day excursion.
(3) The third C is for shine and manageability. I've been thinking about broccoli seed oil to replace the cone- and trying to get ahold of a sample amount (1/2 ounce maybe) to try before I buy the big merchant size. BTW if anyone can spare a sample of BS oil please send a PM.

wrote on Aug 18^th, 2005 at 11:58pm:

*hugs* to NRogue, Juri, and Khrome :) Through time, I've grown accustomed to having braces (and accustomed to the occasional pain too) so when it's finally over, I hope to look back and say, "wow, that wasn't so bad!" Faery blessings Anais

Anais, you WILL look back and say, "It was well worth it." Can't guarantee you will say, "It wasn't so bad", but you will enjoy the results. We're all pullin' for you...oh my! I hope that wasn't a bad thing to say!  :-/

I did mean to ask, how do you like your heavenly harvest comb? I have the exact one you posted and I love it.

Hello NRogue, thanks for popping in :) I just got home from out of town today and it was nice to have diary visitor. As for the HH comb, I got two and they are fabulous. For the price of a Ric comb I could have gotten two of these puppies, and I wish I had. Reviews coming soon.

Having not had a normal schedule today, and knowing full well I have to work tomorrow, this is all the posting I'll do for now.

Anais
tired and sleepy and itching for some Scottish Tea but we are OUT.

but that's not to say the night isn't good.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/balzac.jpg

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, novel by Dai Sijie. It's powerful storytelling, and it speaks of human shortcomings, and weird little ironies of life. Two young men, Luo at 18 and the narrator at 17, are put into a Chinese re-education camp (a rather luxurious, humane one at that. I wonder if it's really a re-education camp). They end up doing their own re-educating - making a young mountain seamstress more "civilized" by reading Western literature to her every day. The 18-year-old boy Luo doesn't even like her, while she genuinely cares about his happinesses in return. She's like a trophy girlfriend. The seamstress eventually gets pregnant, the narrator considers pulling an Edmond Dantes (another irony, since they'd been reading the Count), she gets an abortion, cuts off her long hair, and becomes Westernized. She leaves, too civilized to be with Luo anymore.

Heavenly Harvest horn comb. These puppies are very well made. I bought two of them, and they arrived on the 19th. It says "oxhorn" but I think it's actually sheephorn, and the material sands well with automotive sandpaper if anyone needs theirs to be smoother. They already come smooth, as smooth as sanded wood, smoother than any Ric comb, and I wish I'd bought only one Ric comb instead of two because that would have allowed for the purchase of another two HH combs. There aren't "ridges" between the teeth like on the LML, but sort of "matte". After sanding down the edges of the tips (just because I needed something for my hands to do while movie-watching) they are now THE smoothest natural-material combs I own.  
HH also has marvelous customer service (Debra Hampton handled my order personally).
I can't recommend these combs enough. They are now my favorite combs for detangling and I carry one around in my purse. my hobbit looked over my shoulder again and said, "I want one too". And further, they are a beautiful translucent color.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/horncomb300.jpg

So the strawberries are all dead. Let's give a big welcome to the random sunflower that appeared on the patio! ::applause:: Hokay, I don't know how it happened, besides maybe the Jack Sparrow porch-sweeping issue several pages back, where the upstairs neighbors had a bird feeder with sunflower seeds (which Jack 1,2,3,4,5 don't like) These sunflower seeds get knocked down through the slats to our 1st floor patio, and of course, one of them happened to fall into the planter box. And it grew, grew without anyone noticing (because I didn't go outside to water anything anymore). Then just last week, I went outside and stood staring at it for awhile. It hadn't bloomed yet so it hadn't occurred to me it might be a sunflower. A few days later a little sunflower-like bud developed, and lo and behold, something YELLOW appeared.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/sunflower300.jpg

It's too bad about the strawberries, but the tale of the sunflower is too cute!  :)

ETA: I was reading the older posts and I wasn't aware you know Mandarin. I wish I had known you when I was in my Mandarin classes! *sob*  Rather after the fact, but congratulations on the book!

Darn those pesky birdfeeders!  Oh well, at least you have something colorful in your planter.  Maybe it will make up itself up to you and give you seeds.  :)

Cynde

That sunflower is AWESOME. I really like the idea it decided to grow all by itself; it must be good karma on your part.

I'm happy to hear you like the HH combs. I use mine every day. Poor Ric's comb, I take out once a week so it doesn't get lonely in the box, but I prefer my HH comb.

Thank you ladies and gent :)

Carpal tunnel acting up BADLY for the first time in quite awhile. Real bad. So this will be short. The broccoli seed oil application turned out well. I will probably experiment with going cone-free next week. Took length pictures for September, a few days early. Tomorrow I will probably retake them because I like a direct back shot rather than a diagonal one. It's so long now, I finally see hip length rather than waist length! Off to make tea and read a good book.

Sorry about your carpal tunnel  :(

That hurts. Have you ever tried sea weed wraps? I hear they help some people very well. Myself, I go for acupuncture.......have been painfree for quiet a while.

Get better soon  :)

Thank you Moonchild :) (Like my favorite Cibo Matto song) Acupuncture sounds like a good thing to try.

One wrist still hurts a lot. but I don't want to miss the diamond parties either.

Moseying on over!

September length pic, after sock curling/braiding/bunning/whathaveyou, and a windy day. Been really happy with the ends lately as they've been nicely curled.

photo removed


ripples on the lake
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/ripples300.jpg

I've "got my ducks in a row"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/ducks300.jpg

Your hair is soooo pretty!  Love those sock curls!  I was looking at some Disney pics today, and your hair reminds me of Jasmine from Aladdin.  

Ripples - so calming and serene.  Ducks - cute!

Cynde

Great pics.

I have to admit you hair always makes me *sigh* - lovely... but the geese are really cute too  ;D...g

Your hair is gorgeous!

Beautiful picture of your hair, it looks alot longer than your avatar, maybe it should replace it? :)  

I love the ducks in a row picture. lol

Beautiful!  The hair, the shine, the hair waves, the water ripples, the ducks!  I love it all!

Thank you ladies :)

Carpal tunnel. better, much better than a few days ago.

Hair. I washed on the night of the 25th, then I washed again last night on the 31st. Both washes were identical. The only thing I need to start doing is twisting both halves of the hair in the SAME direction when sock curling. Otherwise I can't twist the halves together and coil it into a bun (without twisting the curls the wrong way). That was the lesson for the day- I basically twisted the wrong way because I coil my bun counterclockwise, and the twisting was opposite to what the sock curls had.
For the past couple days, I've been wearing my hair loose at all times except for sleep and meals, with wavy length and curly ends.

Today Ms. June is actually staying up with a pair of Earthsticks. They are actually pretty secure, now that I have enough length for straight sticks. They used to be a major struggle because they snagged too little scalp hair, causing headaches, pressure spots, or just plain snagged. I still don't like straight sticks as much as curly ones, but these are DANGLY!! It's been almost three hours since I put them in. It's got a cat charm on the end.

photos removed

Your hair is just so incredible.  That braid is twice as big as mine! :)

OMG- you need to go to town with the neck wrap - put some jewelry on it - a flower.  Work IT!!!   Gorgeous...g

What a pretty choker!  :D  You can probably get away with wearing it out and about like that too.  Lovely mega-bun and kitty sticks.

Cynde

That's a great bun and omagawd what a thick braid! *sigh* You've gorgeous hair, Anais.

You have gorgeous hair Anais!  Great bun and such a thick braid....looks great as a choker. lol...I agree with gabi, dress it up and go out. ;)

Thank you ladies, and one gentleman :)

Lately I've been busy, but I still love journaling through pictures. It's easy on me, easy on my schedule, and of course, the carpal tunnel.
The only thing that's changing about my hair is how it looks. The routine has remained relatively the same throughout the entire past few months.

new acquisitions

a new gallon of ACV

worsted weight cotton yarn for off-white bun cover

chicken for Food of the Week (Thai)

Crochet, croquet, or coquette? I've also been working on another crocheted bun cover, this time a "natural" color. It's very even so far, and I've been taking care to keep it flawless - taking it apart whenever I mess up. It's going well, and I"ll load pictures of the finished piece. Crocheting by the lake will be a wonderful thing to do.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/crochetedbuncover01300.jpg

Farther along
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/crochetedbuncover02300.jpg

My first update at hip length
Wash routine: CO routine with Pure-A-Teas Green Tea, ACV rinse and scalp scritch with comb, Suave Citrus Smoothie, Kirkland Lemon Complex Conditioner
Hairwash every 8 days on average
Oils: shea butter, occasional broccoli seed.
Tools: HeavenlyHarvest horn comb for dry detangling, Rachael Stephens comb for wet combing and wet scritching, neglected ones: MP (will go to longhaired friend) and Ric combs only used occasionally
Misc: sleep hair includes: single braid, sock curls, or occasional Bubba tail
Hair toys I actually use: Mamacat corkscrew sticks and velvet scrunchies
possible do's  
- damp bun with corkscrew Mamacat sticks  
- dry bun with corkscrew Mamacat sticks
- Chinese bun with Mamacat curtain rod
- the Bubba sleep tail. (night, occasionally)  
- half-up with clover bun
- French braid - not used often
- twin braids - not used often
- single braid - used most often

:) Pretty, pretty, pretty, love your hair  :)

I know I am late on the other pics - soooo cute. Love the ducks too.....  :)

wrote on Sep 5^th, 2005 at 5:38pm:

Crochet, croquet, or coquette? I've also been working on another crocheted bun cover, this time a "natural" color. It's very even so far, and I've been taking care to keep it flawless - taking it apart whenever I mess up. It's going well, and I"ll load pictures of the finished piece. Crocheting by the lake will be a wonderful thing to do.

Your cover is so nice and even!  I'm working on one right now too, and have had to take it apart several times.  Even so, it's still too "pointy" ::)

Cynde

Thank you Moonchild, Cynde :)

I think the trick with bun covers is to have a good tightness in the center, and then loosen it as you move outwards. It's hard to do ETA: but what I love about crochet is how it allows you to undo your mistakes and have a do-over!

And then there were three
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Plants/sunflowersthree300.jpg

Hair. I haven't hairwashed since the night of the 31st so that made it seventh day hair, eighth day hair on Wednesday. It's wavy right now and much like Kleis' or Veil's hair, with the perfect waviness and perfect for wearing loose. I was supposed to do a hairwash yesterday but the length is still looking decent. I'm slightly itchy on the scalp, but nothing a little wet-down didn't help. Sometimes I wonder whether my hair smells weird to other people. Mum smelled my hair once and she said it smelled good. Yesterday I went down to the lake and finished the crocheted bun cover, along with the tie cord. Tomorrow shall be a bun cover day, and today I'm in one long damp braid.

Length concerns. I wondered why I'm growing so long. Fingertip length, it seems really ridiculous right now. My bun is already pretty big. Let's say I have about two feet of bunnable hair, which is counting from the back of my head, to the tip of my ponytail. I have about 10 inches until fingertip length. That means my bun should be about 30% bigger by the time I've reached the goal. And that. is. truly. huge. I've concluded that I love wearing buns, especially the cinnabun. Having super long hair will allow me to make the clover bun, and have a really long braid, but now I'm reconsidering my hair goal. I'm thinking of stopping at tailbone (at least for awhile until I adjust to having hair that frankly, I don't know what to do with). It would also give me the opportunity for a long-overdue trim (at least 1/2 inch).

Adapting to new lengths can be a challenge, but don't let it limit you.  Figure 8 buns, and other fancier buns are much easier with more length - who knows you may prefer those styles to your current favorites!

I would concur on getting a trim to even things up, if you feel the need.  I had planned on "holding" at waist length to allow for trimming some of the damaged length off, but never quite got that done.  Now I will probably have to cut/trim more due to additional damage.  

and by the way,....... your bun covers are great!

Length and trims Thanks so much BikerBraid :) I think it's just a hair slump that I'm going through. Lately I've been unhappy with the tapering of my ends (And without a hair therapist, this is frustrating. insert exaggerated sigh ;D ) When I go home tonight, I'm taking off at least 1/4 inch. That will make things a little more even down there, thicken up the ends, and take out some worn-out hair that I should have cut off a long time ago. Come to think of it, I've trimmed maybe three times in the past two years. One trim was at my grandmother's house while still at mid-back length, the second time was in December 2004, and the very last time was at home (recently, during the warm season of this year).  Otherwise there were still a few S&D's but few and far between, some random Eureeka moments where I ran to find scissors for a found split, and not much else. So a trim is in order. Forward march!

Hair. It's been in a damp braid all day, and I don't get the "bump" when damp braiding. I think it's because when crossing one braid strand over another, the hair will not tighten as much while damp (the slickness of dry hair will allow the crossover loop to loosen a bit) I don't know if that makes sense. So with damp hair, there's a little more friction and all the crossovers will stay nice and tight.

Hair is the least of my concerns right now though. I AM enjoying my hair for what it is, there's no doubt about that. But there's so much IRL to be done and so little time. I limit my hair time to about 1 hour per day and that includes board time... By limiting my activities to 1 hour, 2 hours, whatever, it's really helped with productivity and concentration. I can tell myself, "I've got this hair/cleaning/[subject] stuff out of the way, now I can apply my full self to other needful things"

Now...... .... ...... who moved my cheese?! ;D

wrote on Sep 7^th, 2005 at 10:07pm:

Now...... .... ...... who moved my cheese?! ;D

nibble nibble nibble  ::)  uhmmmmm, over here??  :-X

Now...... .... ...... who moved my cheese?!

I love that book!  I read it over again at least once a year.

Oh no - who moved my cheese -   :o our new boss talked about nothing else but this book and how it relates to his principals of leadership in our work environment......... 8)

Oh no! Nothing like lost cheese, or an overly enthusiastic boss. ;)


I did a survey on June 1 about hair. Now I'm going to do it again.

June 1

Goal hair length: Golden Ratio, or about mid thigh, or about 44(?).
When did you start growing your hair? A couple summers ago
What is your average monthly growth rate? 0.75"
Do you trim your hair, if so how often? very seldom (about every 6 months) and it's a microtrim
What supplements do you take? N/A
Do you eat any special foods for hair growth/nutrition etc? No
Do you do scalp massages? No
What is your favourite shampoo? N/A
What is your favourite conditioner? Suave BioBasics
Favourite leave-in conditioner? stuff I make myself: shea butter, jojoba, Lemon EO, BPAL Eggnog. (Jehovah's Sheajoba).
Favourite deep conditioner or treatment? N/A
What are your favourite basic oils? shea butter
What are your favourite essential oils? BPAL, hehee
What is your favourite product of all time? shea butter!!!!
What is your least favourite product of all time? straight jojoba oil
Is there anything you would never put on your hair? (-cones/quats etc) sea salt, ETA after Snowy's fiasco.
What do you like most about your hair? its color!
What do you like least about your hair? its color!
Do you colour your hair? Strangely, no, but I threaten to.
Do you clarify? Yes, ACV every other wash
How often do you wash your hair? every 9 days
How long does it take to dry? 6+ hours
Do you prefer you hair up or down? down
What is your favourite updo? figure 8 bun or single braid
Bangs or no bangs? no bangs
Whose hair do you aspire to? Elle, Hairstorm, KBF minus the color, not that I don't love the color anyway
Do you keep a hair journal? Yes  
How many hairtoys do you own? 3 pairs of Mamacat sticks, 1 Mamacat curtain rod, and velvet scrunchies. I donated or sold the rest.
What is your favourite hairtoy? Anything Mamacat, I am a Mamacat Cult Member to the very death and can't wait until she takes commissions again.
Brush or comb? Comb (Magic 5: Ric Vest Pocket, Ric LH comb, MP Rake, Rachael Stephens #42, LML horn comb)
Do you use hot styling aids on your hair irons/blowdryer etc? None
Do you make/sell any hair care products? Earthsticks
What is the last hair-related thing that you bought? I seriously can't remember. Probably conditioner.
Share a funny/inspiring/shocking hair story if you have one: I started growing my hair out because of a bet. So far I'm winning this bet.


September 8

Goal hair length: Short term: Tailbone, Long Term: Golden Ratio, or about mid thigh
When did you start growing your hair? A couple summers ago, maybe, I'm not even sure anymore.
What is your average monthly growth rate? maybe about 1/2"
Do you trim your hair, if so how often? very seldom (about every 6 months) and it's a microtrim
What supplements do you take? N/A
Do you eat any special foods for hair growth/nutrition etc? Come to think of it, yes. I eat my homecooked meals from scratch, that include lots of rice and fish.
Do you do scalp massages? No
What is your favourite shampoo? N/A
What is your favourite conditioner? Suave BioBasics
Favourite leave-in conditioner? stuff I make myself: 3 kinds of shea butters, mango butter, jojoba, Lemon EO, BPAL Eggnog. (in total, "Jehovah's Sheajoba").
Favourite deep conditioner or treatment? N/A
What are your favourite basic oils? shea butter
What are your favourite essential oils? BPAL, hehee
What is your favourite product of all time? shea butter!
What is your least favourite product of all time? straight jojoba oil, except for skin.
Is there anything you would never put on your hair? (-cones/quats etc) sea salt, ETA after Snowy's fiasco, and lanolin which feels like pine tar.
What do you like most about your hair? its color
What do you like least about your hair? its color
Do you colour your hair? I tried henna on my bangs, loved it.
Do you clarify? Yes, ACV every other wash
How often do you wash your hair? about every week or so nowadays because I only have time for it on weekends, rarely a weekday
How long does it take to dry? 6+ hours if I let it be, less than 4 hours if I use a microfiber towel
Do you prefer you hair up or down? down
What is your favourite updo? cinnabun or single braid
Bangs or no bangs? really really long bangs
Whose hair do you aspire to? NicoleZoie, Kleis, Elle, Hairstorm
Do you keep a hair journal? Yes
How many hairtoys do you own? 3 pairs of Mamacat sticks, 1 Mamacat curtain rod, and velvet scrunchies. I've donated/sold the rest, except for the Argus stick which I use for a stir rod.  
What is your favourite hairtoy? Anything Mamacat
Brush or comb? Comb (Magic 5: Ric Vest Pocket, Ric LH comb, HeavenlyHarvest horn comb, Rachael Stephens #42, LML horn comb)
Do you use hot styling aids on your hair irons/blowdryer etc? None
Do you make/sell any hair care products? Earthsticks
What is the last hair-related thing that you bought? I haven't officially bought them because they haven't arrived yet, not paid for yet: more hair sticks.
Share a funny/inspiring/shocking hair story if you have one: I started growing my hair out because of a bet. So far I'm winning this bet... but my bettee (bettor?) hasn't actually mentioned it for the past couple years. ;)

Yesterday I trimmed "too much". No, it wasn't really too much, it just didn't feel good to trim more than a dusting. It was my first non-dust trim since I started growing my hair. I haven't had this much taken off since summer of 2003. I trimmed about 1 centimeter off the ends, using Feye's method. In the end I took off a lot more than 1 centimeter off the ends because the 1cm applies to MOST of the hairs. I snipped more than 1cm off all the extremist hairs. June feels a lot shorter to me than she should. The ends feel better, tangle a little less, but it feels like a lot more than 1 cm. I also need to do a dust trim soon because a real trim forced me to cut a lot of hairs at a time, which compromises the snipping motion. The best thing to do is snip quickly and few hairs at a time. That way you don't "crush" the ends off, but to actually CUT them off cleanly.

All in all, though, I will keep in mind that:
(1) This trim was completely necessary because of the worn out ends, and it's all for the best
(2) I didn't take off THAT much, and
(3) My ends look fuller

Hair. did a regular CCC wash last night using the usual suspects. Then I coiled it up into socks and went to bed. Then this morning I rolled it up into a bun and that completely messed up the curl pattern. Instead of having sock curls, I have hair that flips one way or another, and straight ends. So tonight I'm going to try again and keep note of exactly what (Exactlywatt?) makes sock curls perfect.

What was Snowy's fiasco?  I must have joined too late to hear about that one.  How do you like and dislike your hair color?  :)

I tried sock curls a couple weeks ago.  For the life of me, I couldn't get them to stay.  I'm still going to try again sometime.

Cynde

Thank you Cynde :) Really I have a love-hate relationship with my color. :) Sometimes I love how the sun shines through it, but other times it seems so monochrome and dull. Texture experiments really help with those phases.
Snowy had a horrible experience with sea salt which I don't know the details of.. but I just know I won't risk trying it (nor lanolin). Yikes! :o And sock curling does take a bit of practice. I hope it ends up working for you. Sometimes layers make it tricky.

Anais
-------

More recommended reading
http://tinypic.com/dm2vra.jpg http://tinypic.com/dm2vt2.jpg http://tinypic.com/dm2w5x.jpg http://tinypic.com/dm2xib.jpg
High Risk by Ken Majid, Emotional Vampires by Albert Bernstein Ph.D
Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Hair. Corrected the uneven wave issue. I've also been more accepting of the recent big trim. My hair isn't sufficiently oiled so it hasn't been sectioning into defined braid waves lately, but that will soon change. Lately I've been doing a single braid and haven't had time to test out the bun cover yet.

Planting more sunflowers. Because..one of my three sunflowers (on the same stalk) got picked! The culprit even left all the petals on our patio. It's an open patio, with no railing or wall so anyone can step onto it as they please. It looked like my sunflower was the victim of a "he loves me, he loves me not" kind of thing. Otherwise I would have suspected a hate crime!!! Of course I love my flowers and in the style of Napoleon Dynamite, "Whaddya THINK?!"

I can't believe someone plucked all the petals off of one of the flowers. Some people.  >:( Sheesh.

On a lighter note, that's a nice bun cover you're making.  :)

Thanks Juri :) Saaay, you're fast-approaching your goal of waist length! :D

Prayers, blessings, and memories to all who were touched by the events of September 11th 2001, and to everyone who was not.

Went to the public library again and checked out oodles of books from my list in a killing spree. It was kind of like going through a shopping list. I haven't devoured fiction so greedily for years, because I've read strictly nonfiction for as long as I can remember. Here is a list of my current reading, asterisks by those I highly and severely recommend:

A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway)

short stories by Virginia Woolf

The Well of Lost Plots (Jasper Fforde)*

The Eyre Affair (Jasper Fforde)*

Spilling Clarence (Anne Ursu) *

The Boy on the Bus : a novel (Deborah Schupack) (haven't started yet but it's supposed to be really really good)*

The Soul of Capitalism : opening paths to a moral economy (William Greider)

The Secret Life of Dust

The Joy of Pi

The Book Lover's Cookbook : recipes inspired by celebrated works of literature and the passages that feature them *

Hair. Last hair wash was on the evening of September 7th, which makes today fifth-day hair. I've been ignoring my hair for the most part, although wearing it loose more often, especially on a computer with a fast-approaching deadline, when talking to strange men, when in line at the post office, or when going down to sit by the lake. Otherwise my usual do's have not changed much. The usual cinnabun with Mamacat sticks (I've recently become accustomed to using only one stick, even though it's been possible to do for the past few months. One stick gives me a sense of security. With two sticks, one could lose a single stick and not be able to tell that it was missing. With a single stick, one would definitely be able to tell)

In other hair news. Swapping some BPAL for Giovanni Direct Leave-in, which according to reviews is a really good leave-in conditioner. It's also one of those "a little goes a long way" types. I've never really believed in leave-ins because of two terrible past leave-in experiences. However this one looks very promising (if anything because it's a lot of natural extracts). The only downside is the expense, I've seen the 8.5 oz bottle to be upwards of 6.00 a pop. And to me, that is a lot to spend on a product that runs out. As opposed to things like hair sticks (which last decades with proper care), corsets (which last up to a decade with proper care, and given I don't gain or lose weight) and combs which last until further notice. And BPAL, which lasts more than a year. I have been proudly BPAL free since May. Very proud, touting that thought around as if I'd quit smoking or something. Unfortunately, by the word "BPAL-free", it actually means "BPAL expense free", or, that I've quit buying more but not necessarily decreasing my stash by any amount. Sheesh.

When are you reading all these books, girl???

I need to make you my personal time-manager and I think you need to post book reviews 8)

You're welcome, Anais.  :) Yep, I'm only a couple of inches away from waist (yay!), and after that I need to get a new ticker for when I reach tailbone. I noticed that the ticker on your site says that it's not too long before you hit your short-term hair goal, too.   :D

"The Eyre Affair" sounds extremely familiar. I wonder if I read it before. Unless I'm thinking of another book, is that the one where Jane gets kidnapped by a literary extremist or a similar group?

Juri, I think that's the one. The one where Thursday bookjumps into Jane Eyre and.. I think it also involves some sort of alternate ending to Jane Eyre.

Moonchild, expect book reviews in a few weeks, heehee ;D

Mamacat sticks arrived! But it's nighttime, so I have to wait until sunrise to take natural-light pics. Mamacat's ready-to-ship shots were better.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/Mamacatcollection0908.jpg

Nice Mamacat sticks!!  :D

Cynde

ohhh, most enviousezss of the preciousssezs  ;D

Beautiful sticks from Mamacat..... mine arrived yesterday as well - 2 pair of ribbon spirals.  A lovely addition to my growing collection.  You selected some very pretty woods - I know you will enjoy them.

Thanks folks ;D

The complete set
Hazelnut 7.5" new collection
Royal Jacaranda 6.5" new collection
Agatewood 6.5" new collection
Indigo Royal 6" new collection
Ribbons in Agatewood 6.5" new collection
Rosewood Burgundy 6.5", old collection
Applewood Chinese bun stick, old collection
Crimson Ironwood 6.5", old collection
Cocobolo Macassar 6", old collection

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/MCcomplete400.jpg
and I am deeply, deeply grateful. ::sigh:: They're my babies. I love them.

OMG those sticks are soooooo pretty  :)

I am so full of envy right about now........my hair MUST grow fast, faster

My favorites are the Agatewood Ribbon and the Indigo CS - I am speechless  :)
*which, according to my hubby, don't happen to often*
::)

Beautiful, beautiful sticks! Your collection is absolutely gorgeous! I'm regretting that I didn't order Agatewood. But I did order Indigo!  :D

Can't wait to hear from Mamacat... *bounces*

Wow!  What lovley sticks!!

Hey ladies, isn't Mamacat a darling? ? ? ?

Hi Gabi :) My theory is that people tend to order blues and greens more often (when it's included as a choice) because it complements the vast majority of human hair colors. Redheads look best with greenish tones, blues tend to look good with auburns or browns, etc. The trick, I think, is to choose a color that will be good contrast with your hair while generally looking good with the wardrobe. Although.. I have to admit I have not been following any of those guidelines because my hair is almost-black. As long as there is contrast with my hair (except with the Jacaranda).
The biggest consideration I've had is the mixability of the colors - whether or not I can mismatch pairs and make them look good (Indigo can be paired with Agatewood, Crimson Ironwood with Cocobolo or Rosewood Burgundy, Rosewood Burgundy, etc. There are probably others but that's the gist)
I've also seen some women choose metal hair toys by the tone of the metal, e.g. people with golden tones tend to stay away from silver tone hair jewelry.

Hair. I did another CCC with ACV rinse yesterday, which felt wonderful. Washing routine hasn't changed much. I think I'm going to fall into a routine of washing my hair once a week, so that the wash would land on the same day every week. Lately my hair has felt long, although it seems to have stopped growing for the moment. I've resisted measuring for quite awhile now, and I haven't combed much either. The next measuring date should be October 31. At this point the length is a total mystery, but I suspect it hasn't crept much past the 31" from the most recent measurement. I'm hoping to eyeball it and play "The Minute Game" with my hair such that it's "The Yard Game", trying to estimate the EXACT moment it reaches 36" and not measuring until exactly then (The Minute Game: the game where children cross the room in exactly one minute, without looking at a timepiece. The child closest to exactly 60 seconds is the winner.)

35mm camera stuff. Last night I loaded the film into the camera without resetting the release button (the one that allows you to rewind safely without ripping your film in two). So I rewound the film without realizing that I could have opened the camera anyway because no shots had been taken, the film was still in the cartridge. I over-wound and the tapered film end was rolled into the cartridge. So... I turned off the lights and burrowed under a down comforter and "furry" blanket, and in complete darkness took apart the cartridge to fumble with it... It was definitely comfortable, but there were the worries that (a) someone would wake up, come in, and turn on the light or (b) that I'd run out of air and pass out, leaving the film unsealed until morning :P. I fumbled in hopes that I might be able to insert the tab back into the slot, before sticking the roll back in the cartridge. LUCKILY! and I mean LUCKILY, the slot (stupid stupid stupid) was open on one end so it was possible to slide the film in sideways (however giving myself a little slack because it was dark. Very dark.)

If you encounter a scissor-happy stylist... (from RapunzelDelight
edited to add: which is a long hair website )

Pick up small children immediately. Stop, stand tall and don't run.  Running and rapid movements may trigger an attack.

Face the stylist, talk to him/her firmly and slowly back away.  Always leave the stylist an escape route.

Try to appear larger than the stylist by getting above him/her (e.g., stepping up onto a chair).  If wearing a jacket, hold it open to further increase your size.

Do not take your eyes off the stylist or turn your back.  Do not crouch down or try to hide.

If the stylist does not flee and shows signs of aggression, be more assertive.  Shout, wave your arms and throw rocks.

If the stylist attacks, fight back aggressively and try to stay on your feet.  Scissor-happy stylists have been driven away by people who have fought back using sticks, rocks, shovels, clothing and their bare hands.  Generally, a stylist will flee, realizing he/she made a BIG mistake.

:P Yikes! I know we have some very sensitive and considerate stylists visiting our board, but I just wanted to crosspost this since it is, after all, slightly funny.

Heheheh!!  Now I know how to fend off hairdressers.  
And your battle with the camera film was funny too.  :D  

Cynde

Ooo, those are all beautiful sticks Anais!  How do you insert the bun holder exactly?  I have never seen one of those before.

I love your tips on how to avoid hairstylists (only the bad ones of course).  ;)

;D Hilarious  ;D
I really enjoy your sense of humor

wrote on Sep 15^th, 2005 at 9:41pm:

If you encounter a scissor-happy stylist... (from RapunzelDelight) Pick up small children immediately. Stop, stand tall and don't run.  Running and rapid movements may trigger an attack. Face the stylist, talk to him/her firmly and slowly back away.  Always leave the stylist an escape route. Try to appear larger than the stylist by getting above him/her (e.g., stepping up onto a chair).  If wearing a jacket, hold it open to further increase your size. Do not take your eyes off the stylist or turn your back.  Do not crouch down or try to hide. If the stylist does not flee and shows signs of aggression, be more assertive.  Shout, wave your arms and throw rocks. If the stylist attacks, fight back aggressively and try to stay on your feet.  Scissor-happy stylists have been driven away by people who have fought back using sticks, rocks, shovels, clothing and their bare hands.  Generally, a stylist will flee, realizing he/she made a BIG mistake.

http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/783.gif

Thanks everybody :) However I can't take credit for that humor because it is drawn from RapunzelDelight, a website with lots of old vintage pictures of longhaired ladies.

WonderlyWroughte's Giovanni and chunk of cocoa butter arrived. I can't express nearly HOW MUCH I love the Giovanni Direct Leave-in. I applied some just now and my hair is much much softer than it's been in a long time, (Thanks to TBear and Daneille for their innocent positive reviews on this product, aka enabling)

Hair. doing well. My last wash was on the 13th. I did a quick rinse yesterday afternoon. We had a thread on another board about "weekly routines", i.e. what we do with our hair through the wash week. This is something I had down to a formula a few months ago, but now I've become really spontaneous about it.
Wash day usually on a Sunday: (meaning I'll do a full wash today evening) CCC with PAT-GT, ACV rinse, Suave CS, KLG. Wet comb, let dry (almost), then sock curl for bed.
Second day hair: remove socks and unruffle for the day, wear hair down, or in a bun for meals or work.
Third day hair: fingercomb only. Depending on the resulting wave pattern and whether it looks good, braid or wear loose.
Fourth day hair: comb, scritch, etc., wear braided for the day, occasionally switching to a bun. Occasionally apply shea cream or BSO
Fifth day hair: same as above
Sixth day hair: same as above
Seventh day hair: get urge to do a hairwash, usually end up doing a hairwash.

Bear called himself my "nemesis and soulmate in one". We recently had a groundbreaking (? for lack of a better word) conversation about metaphysics/religion/literature/art/sex... and it's made us so much more intimate.

I've been doing a lot of pondering lately because my guy has expressed an interest in us becoming more committed. SO much has happened in the past week.  

Which led me to brainstorm, what is my definition of a successful life? What are my principles and personal values?
(1)  I want a normal, non-political life
(2)  I want a life partner who is committed, supportive, stimulating, loving and compassionate, creative, democratic/feminist, and forgiving.
(3)  I want a life partner whose personality will stay relatively the same, and yet I want him to be open to new experiences (a good travel companion)
(4)  I want an emotionally-fulfilling love life and sex life.
(5)  I want to settle down in only one city, and have a somewhat-consistent lifestyle. I want a cozy Victorian home, a garden, and an excuse to bake cookies. (This doesn't mean a consistent schedule, just 'constants' that will keep me sane)
(6)  I want a partner with similar values, so that we can raise compassionate, considerate, grateful children if we choose to do so.

edited to make a numbered list rather than a bulleted list.

Anais, they are some very sane values that you have, I admire that.  Do you think he meets them?

Wow !  Big issues to consider (and congrats on your guy thinking along the line of more committment).  

I applaud you for thinking about what your needs are.  I hope your guy will fit into them and the two of you can live in your Victorian house that has homemade cookies in the oven, a garden out back and you have lovely journey's to exciting places.

We've been having pretty in-depth conversations about our relationship in the past few days. K's work has taken him away until late on Sunday, so it's like the calm at the eye of the storm. Not that I don't enjoy talking things through with him :), but there wasn't a better analogy. We're really comfortable about such things.

Here's an abbreviated form of 'review' on whether we line up.
We're both committed and supportive personality types, we have been enjoying meaningful conversations for close to 4 years, we have the same level of need when it comes to love/affection/emotional closeness, very similar personalities, and we have good argument style. I don't recall any resolved or unresolved conflict that has left emotional scarring. I was reminded of our compatibility and openness the other night when he called me and said, "You're the perfect woman for me", "The way we communicate is phenomenal" and yet we were comfortable enough to admit that we were scared to move on, we have a lot to work out (the biggest of which is acceptance issues pertaining to a interracial relationship). At this point, we've only had minor disagreement on values.

:-* In the end, we really really love each other so this will be worth it. All in all, we probably have a 80-90% chance survival rate. The 10-20% includes whether we spend enough time together as we'd like, intercultural pressures, and family approval (the toughest of all things).

I almost set my hair on fire this morning. This morning I was deep frying some "country breakfast" potatoes (the chunky square kind). The oil-filled pan was heating up so I took the time to take care of packing a lunch for today's excursion. I waited too long, so the oil reached its smoke point. It wasn't until the oil developed a smell that I noticed. It was much too hot now. I added the potatoes anyway, and WHOOOOOOSH it began to sizzle, sizzle and fizz so hard that it splashed oil onto the range. That's when I heard a ginormous WHOMP while (cross my heart) a three-foot fireball shot up out of the pan. It was just shy of three feet long, and about six inches wide. "Yaaahhhhh!" I exclaimed in panic. (I'm so glad I had my hair in a scrunchie!) Family members looked over and wondered what's going on, but everything was back to normal by that second, and it wasn't worth the panic. Besides, "never let them see you sweat", right? I nodded and said something like, "Oh, um, the oil was really hot when I added the potatoes." That's when the smoke detector went off and I had to run over to fan it.

HOLY COW!  How scarry!  I get nervous when I flambe something on purpose, I'm glad you and your hair are fine!!

My husband is Indonesian, and I'm obviously (from my pictures) caucasian.  I'm very fortunate that my parents were not concerned that he's from another culture (I don't consider him from another "race" he is human same as me) just as long as he treats me right and is a good human being which he does and is.  I had a bit of trouble when first meeting his parents-they're Chinese Indonesian (which means that his family is originally from China, moved to Indonesia long ago but he thinks one of his grandma's (not sure of order-great or not) was at least part native Indonesian.)  Culturally they're more Chinese and his dad and I had very different ideas about behaviour.  Now we're all getting on fine (they're in Indonesia, we're in Arizona) but it was a transition as all new relationships are.

Being in a commited relationship is stressful no matter how good of a relationship it is.  I think it would be an added stress to have the parental units not be welcoming to a
spouse.  Truthfully, its their problem and hopefully you will not take it on as yours.  Not everyone gets along even if they're from the same culture.  For example I can hardly stand my B-I-L but I don't think he respects women (including my sister) and he doesn't seem to tolerate stong women (me).  Anywho, I wish you lots of happiness in your friendship, whether it becomes more or not.

:o OMG Glad to hear that nothing happened to you! This is very scary!

As far as a inter-racial or inter-culture relationship goes: I agree whole-heartedly with Sakina. We are all human and if he / she treats you right and you love each other.... that would be your best bet right there. Hubby and I have culture-clashes from time to time. Both "white", but with me from Germany and him from Georgia, USA - we faced big-time differences. (Raising children was one of our biggest challenges) And as far as inlaws go - they are in the states, we are here. Which is a good thing. They never accepted me. Joe's mother made him choose between the family and me. Bad, very bad and sad. Joe is talking to his mother again now after all these years. The kids and myself are still a nothing and nobody. (I don't even want to mention all the nice little names I were called) It would be great to have a mother in law who cares just a tiny bit, especially since my mom died 8 years ago.

With this said, I hope you find happiness in your  relationship. Maybe it goes deeper, maybe not. Time will show. ... :)

wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2005 at 6:04am:

:o OMG Glad to hear that nothing happened to you! This is very scary! As far as a inter-racial or inter-culture relationship goes: I agree whole-heartedly with Sakina. We are all human and if he / she treats you right and you love each other.... that would be your best bet right there. Hubby and I have culture-clashes from time to time. Both "white", but with me from Germany and him from Georgia, USA - we faced big-time differences. (Raising children was one of our biggest challenges) And as far as inlaws go - they are in the states, we are here. Which is a good thing. They never accepted me. Joe's mother made him choose between the family and me. Bad, very bad and sad. Joe is talking to his mother again now after all these years. The kids and myself are still a nothing and nobody. (I don't even want to mention all the nice little names I were called) It would be great to have a mother in law who cares just a tiny bit, especially since my mom died 8 years ago. With this said, I hope you find happiness in your  relationship. Maybe it goes deeper, maybe not. Time will show. ... :)

I'm saddened to hear, Moonchild, that your MIL is closed hearted.  Don't we all want to be loved and accepted?  Isn't that IT!?  Well, regardless of her incorrect ideas you and your children are deserving of love and respect as fellow human beings if not for your association w/her son.  I'm glad he's in contact w/his mom.  She is his mom and parents aren't perfect.  I'm not, however saying its ok for her to treat you and your kids that way.  We love you, here at LL!! OXO  ;D

Thank you Sakina and Moonchild for sharing your personal stories. If the circumstances of relationships were any less complex, then there would be nothing to test such bonds. ;)
The unique thing about my relationship is that it involves not only race/culture but also social class, social circle, differences in religious preferences between K vs. my family (K and I agree on religious issues though). I agree it will be a struggle no matter what, but the question for us now is whether that's worth it. And at this point we don't really know.

random picture - I'm having the best hair week, hands down. (Edited to add: I've never had such good hair days EVER) This is the usual CCC, sock curled after adding the step of Giovanni Direct Leave-in (2 drops).

photo removed

WOW!  I agree, best hair *nodding emphatically*  :o  ;D

Yep.  ::: nods head:: You win the best hair award for this week.  Congrats!   [Serious hair envy here!  ;D]

Ever think about becoming a hair model? :)

Edit:  I just saw your earlier posts about parents with cultural differences.  I have the same problem with my boyfriend's family.  He's Czech, and his parents really don't like me.  It's always, "Are you still dating the tall blonde?"

It really hurts that they don't accept me completely, but I get the last laugh.  I'm dating their son! :P

Awww thanks ladies but I didn't mean it that way! :o I just meant that I was having a really good week when it comes to hair, and I've never had a hair texture that felt this good before.

::::FUZZIES:::::  :-*

Very nice hair picture! Congrats on a good day.
Good luck on the relationship. I know how hard and complacated (sp?) they can be. I just hope everyone involved makes good decisions. My thoughts are with you.
Meg

WOW!  Your hair is gorgeous!  If mine is ever half as beautiful as yours I"ll die happy.  

Oooooh my! I see a new avatar in the works!  ;)

As I'm working backwards... My goodness and thank the gods you didn't catch yourself on fire! Not only would I have been horrified to discover that you'd been hurt, but if that gorgeous hair had been harmed, that stove would need a good can o' whoop a$$ opened upon it. I'm happy you and the stove came to terms. :) Whew!

On more serious notes, Anais, relationships are difficult with or without extraneous societal, familial, religious or class distinctions. You are and your beau have grown together over four years (if i recall correctly) and that's a triumph by itself! From your journal, you and he have a very comfortable relationship. I perceive that you two are friends first and foremost, and then BF and GF. That for me spells an excellent start for a continuing long term commitment. Call me sappy or whatever, but when I entertained the idea of a life partner, I wanted her to first and foremost my best friend and my partner. This to me is the key to a long lasting commitment, no matter what struggles come. Besides (and here is where I should take my own medicine), if you don't try how do you know?

Your hair is beautiful!  I am also glad you managed to avoid the fireball!

As far as interracial relationships, I can relate with the family dilema because I'm Philippino and my boyfriend is Caucasian.  I know my parents would be more comfortable if my boyfriend were Philippino, but after years of dating Caucasians, they've gotten used to the idea.  

It was a hard decision to "rebel" against them (I don't see it as rebelling but I'm sure they did.)  But at the same time, I felt my family should meet me halfway.  They eventually have to accept that they can't raise children in America and expect them not to have American values and culture.  Whether you bring the issue up now or later, it will be hard, but I believe it can be overcome.  It might have taken my family 10 years but I think it helped everyone evolve in the end.  :)

It sounds like you and your boyfriend communicate really well.  I'm sure you guys will make the best decision for your relationship.

Cynde

wrote on Sep 13^th, 2005 at 4:34am:

Juri, I think that's the one. The one where Thursday bookjumps into Jane Eyre and.. I think it also involves some sort of alternate ending to Jane Eyre.

Okay, that's the one I read. ^_^

Wow, your hair looks so nice in the latest picture! :o

And I'm very glad you weren't hurt when you had that, er, incident in the kitchen. YIKES!

Wow, your hair looks gorgeous in that picture Anais!  Big, soft wavey curls, so pretty. :)

Thank you Maroula, Juri, Khrome, NaturalRogue, 13bodies, Wishing4longhair. :-*

Lately I've been so busy, and this is what happens when anyone leaves their journal unattended!! ;D It feels so good to have interactive journals. That way journalers know they're being read, and being cared about.

Hair. I'm going to do a full wash today as usual, and then tomorrow is another half-day date with K. (I'm going to call him "K" now instead of "Bear" because it turns out he didn't like being called "Bear") I love wash days because I get real time, to relax and get away from the world, to pamper myself and pamper my hair. Last week, Giovanni changed my life. It still makes me wonder though if that was just a lucky week, that I might not get the same exact results and bouncy wavy curls that I did the first time.

This routine, however, prevents me from wearing braids because that would mess up the bouncy curl pattern. I also end up with relatively straight hair compared to all the 1c braid waves that I'd get with shea cream and the usual single-braids.

Then again, it gives me two different possibilities for wearing my hair now.

Some fabulous works by French painter Cali Rezo who has an appreciation for long hair.

http://tinypic.com/dzz776.jpg
"Volutes"

http://tinypic.com/dzz7ur.jpg
"Psycho"

Nice art - thanks for sharing!

ORANGE CREME CHEESECAKE (did I post this yet?)

Crust:
1/3 lb graham crackers (I don't know! my original typed-up recipe is missing the number here)
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ cup butter
2 tsp cinnamon

Filling:
16 oz. cream cheese, generic is fine
3 eggs with the white stringy yolk-tails removed
cup orange juice, no pulp
½ to ¾ can of sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand is good)

Topping:
peeled slices of oranges OR sliced strawberries are good,
or
1 x 8.25-oz. can of mandarin oranges (1 can is good for entire cake)

Crush graham crackers; mix with brown sugar and cinnamon. Add to softened butter (soft but still thicker than sour cream). Mix with spoon until even. Press into bottom of 8-inch round nonstick pan, or 8x12 inch is probably okay too. Set aside.

In a blender, put in all ingredients IN THE ORDER THEY'RE LISTED. Blend until completely smooth.
Pour into crust, bake for 40-50 minutes at 350° F until it springs up when gently pressed. Leave to cool (takes a few hours) then decorate. Refrigerate for a few hours.

http://tinypic.com/e7dpbt.jpg

Hair. I messed up the curl pattern again by going back to the usual single-braiding. I caved in today and added oodles of broccoli seed oil, Giovanni Leave-in. I use the words "caved in" because when I do leave-ins, there is no turning back. I end up wearing my hair contained for the rest of the week if I do. Wash day is tomorrow, then possibly another date with K on Monday as usual, if he has the day off, and hopefully we can cook lunch together at his place. ::sigh!:: ::LOVE::: By the way... <non-hair-related> we have agreed that we are soul mates. He says we're the same person. He had my spirit-name tattooed on his arm, long before he knew I existed, and likewise I had my spirit-name long before he and I had ever met. (Coincidence?) We decided a few weeks ago that we'd march forward with our relationship, and we will with great passion. ::another sigh!::

Anais your recipe sounds delicious. The photo looks yummie too! I wish I could see the photos of your hair you post, too. Why am I able to see only the food photos?? :D Is there a divine message in that perhaps?  ;D ;D ::)

Oh and I am so glad to read such good tidings about your relationship! Yeahhhhhhhhh :D ;D :-*

*Pokepoke*, hey Greek Lady ... I think I've got it figured out. The pictures I load onto Tinypic you can see, but Photobucket apparently not. Can you see me now?

[center]
October progress pictures, and a few extra
This one I cut off exactly where "everybody wants tailbone to be", but I understand it's not really tailbone until about mid-butt.


photos removed

Great pictures!

Mmm, thanks for sharing the recipe!  Nice pics, and congrats on the relationship happenings!

Cynde

That cheesecake looks so good!

The story about your BF is too cool, and so are the pictures of your hair.  :)

Cheesecake pictures and recipe sounds and looks great. Thanks  :)

Your hair pictures are enough for me to turn green with envy  ;D You have wonderful hair!

And your relationship.....it really sounds like you 2 were meant for each other.....I bet you will discover more simularities.  :)  :)  :)   Very happy for you

Anais, you take the best pictures!  ;) I wish I had your eye and your hair.  ;D

Thanks BB, Khrome, Juri, Moonchild, and NRogue :)

Something I wrote in the past hour. A lot of these overlap but I've been getting snippet ideas for this theory in the past couple days and they don't all go together. I think sane living involves a combination of most if not all eight points.  

How do people function in a world where the media and society continually churn out bad news, when sane living requires these people to genuinely believe that the world is good?

0. The media and society are not as influential as we make it out to be, and it cannot and does not control our daily lives.

1. Through tasks. We live sane ordinary lives because we keep ourselves occupied with everyday tasks such as work, household management, finances, hobbies and interests, and social connections. These tasks occupy most of our conscious thinking and so by the end of the day we have little time to think about the world.

2. Through selective memory. The only way we go on living normal sane lives is thanks to our complex memory mechanisms, that we have filters of sorts, and that it eventually compartmentalizes everything that is too shocking or tragic, and likewise sorts and compartmentalizes all of the most tragic past moments in our personal lives.

3. Through the process of grieving. First initial shock and denial, then a gradual evolving into acceptance, and finally release.

4. Through selfish rationalization or lack of knowledge. Yes there are bad things happening in the world but it has nothing to do with us on a personal level, so subconsciously we don't possess the ability to care until we've experienced negative outcomes firsthand.

5. Through skepticism or an objective analytical view towards the media and social influences, through human reason and understanding that the media only reports anything newsworthy, and that most "good news" are actually default positions of everyday life.

6. Through donation, charity work, social work, activism, missions, or other kinds of service. We accept the fact that bad things happen every day but at the same time we are doing something to combat the negative issues, to make a difference in the world, or at least feel good doing it.

7. Through the belief that the goodness in the world is not outweighed by disaster, crime, tragedy, and as long as long-term progress and good works are achieved, any negative outcomes are merely side effects of natural social evolution.

8. Through optimism, moral virtue, good will, or religious faith. By genuinely believing any of the following
"We are humans who possess reason and so long as we exercise reason, in the long run we can do no harm"
"Humans are guided by God's good will, and so long as God is with us there will be no permanent social harm"
"There is joy in little things"
"There is good in the human heart"
"Everything is an act of meditation"
"Everything is an act of human will and goodness"

::sigh::

so...

back to writing this research paper :-/

Last night I dreamt that I was shot in the spinal cord. They'd caught a suspect, and he wrestled himself away from being held captive and he grabbed someone's handgun. A plainclothes agent/officer was shielding me because I was a bystander, and he was getting me to a safe location. Then all of the sudden I felt this numbing pain in my lower back. Everything went dark. It felt like paralysis.

Hair. This is another great hair week. I have straight hair, with bouncy spiral curls at the ends. What happened was, I sock curled dry hair before bed two nights ago. The curls are still there. My hair feels so silky and foreign, like I had F/M hair instead of M/C hair. Giovanni is my favorite product of all time and I never once thought I'd be using organic conditioner on my hair.  ::sigh:: I'm in hair heaven and it has nothing to do with George Michael salons.

Corset. I've been wearing my new black twill corset for a couple weeks now. This one is very heavily boned, very heavy duty, and I wear it over my clothing for posture and support. There is a 3 inch gap in the back when worn snugly around normal clothing. One of my friends looked at me and said, "*gasp* Is that a corset? They are so sexy!" While one guy said, "Why are you WEARING that?.. oh. support." Guess corsets aren't really in fashion yet. As soon as this weekend comes around and I actually get to relax, I'll take pictures of the corset over a blouse and paired with a long skirt.

What a freaky dream!  I'm looking forward to seeing your corset pics.  

I think your analysis on media hits the nail right on the head. I can think of examples in my life where I have felt at least one of those things in response to world events.  I think at most times, number 7 describes me most.

Cynde

Interesting. I find myself mostly in # 5, 6 and 7.

Beauuuuutiful pictures Anais! So fun and playful and of course your hair IS gorgeous!
Congrats! ;D ;D

(P.S. I know the topic has moved on, but I just had the chance to see and respond :) )

photos removed

Wow!  Nice corset!  

Very pretty  :)

That's a nice corset!  :)

Thanks ladies :)

UncommonScents is having a sale, 50% off all Rachael Stephens combs, which is a STEAL!
I ordered 2 glycerin soaps for $0.93 each, 1 Rachael Stephens wide tooth rake comb to compare with the Mason Pearson rake, another 2 Rachael Stephens #42 combs for wet-combing (to set aside for when my RS is beyond use), and some mild Priority shipping. U.Scents is such a friendly Oregon business and they have very responsive customer service. They've revamped their website since the last time I ordered. UncommonScents takes checks, MOs, credit cards, that kind of good stuff.

Hair is bizarre today. I sock curled after the usual CCC and Giovanni, but I guess the hair wasn't dry enough. Note to self- wait until hair is JUST DRY before putting socks in, otherwise end up with extremely gummy hair. I think today's hair is a result of last night's low temperatures. My hair was too wet to sock curl, and the hair ended up feeling permanently wet. It was unusually cold last night, and I guess the non-absorptiveness of the satin pillowcase didn't help any either. Ah well.  

Hair. I'm on an Arwen Evenstar trip right now with my hair. It feels just like her hair would, especially when I comb it out and smooth it to line up the wave patterns. Strangely enough, a wide tooth horn comb doesn't break up my wave pattern. I'm due for another wash this Sunday but I'm not sure whether to put it off for Monday or Tuesday. Lately I've been braiding and bunning as usual, but there's more bunning now to avoid the wool coat collar.

oh, and I've totally fallen for Villainess Soaps- especially the descriptions of Death by Chocolate, Ginger Snapped, Mudslide  :-*

I still need to load autumn pictures (VERY pretty colors) :) and post an update on some relationship stuff.

K stuff- snippets from my private journal. It took us 4 years to get to this level of trust, knowledge, general friendship, and emotional intimacy. We are literally best friends. ... I looked back as some of the "criteria" I had for finding someone special, several years back when I first started looking, and all the criteria involved things like personality traits, interests, and qualities that are not necessarily related to the actual relationship but more to a friendship. A few years will put more understanding on you. Today I know that's not the only thing to look for, that compatibility has nothing to do with traits, interests and qualities but more to do with how two people relate to each other as a whole, and how we relate to the world.

similar personalities

unconditional love for each other, supportiveness

good communication, resolve conflict well

similarity in values

tolerance and capacity for forgiveness

long term goals that line up

respective definitions of a perfect life being relatively similar

open-mindedness and capacity for understanding

make each other better people

bear witness to each other's life in a positive way.

And that is how I see K. This is going to sound sappy, but he and I agree on being "the same person". I can't imagine having anyone else witness my complete self, including the kind of emotional intimacy and passion that I've never shared with anyone else, and vice versa I can't imagine understanding and being witness to anyone's life but his.  :-*

That's so sweet, Anais. I don't think that sounds sappy at all. I'm so glad that you're in such a good relationship.  :)

You have obviously put a lot of thought into your relationship and what it takes to have and maintain a relationship.  This is a good sign that it will last.

Being friends with your "lover" is very important to the longevity of a relationship.  Just from my own experience, my hubby and I were best friends in college and still are best friends (OMG - its been 34 years!).  This friendship and respect for each other's individualism has helped us survive some pretty rough times.

I wish the two of you much happiness together.

Thank you ladies ;) I'm really looking forward to our journey together.

Autumn pictures as promised Check out all that vibrant color! Eat your heart out Massachusetts :)
http://tinypic.com/ek1e04.jpg

http://tinypic.com/ek1e0y.jpg

http://tinypic.com/ek1e2f.jpg

http://tinypic.com/ek1e37.jpg
 

Beautiful fall colors.  Don't ya just love fall??!!

OHHH!!! So pretty! I wish the leaves here turned color like that; they just turn brown before falling off the tree. Thank you for sharing those pics, Anais!  :)

What pretty fall pictures!  I wish we "had fall" where I live.  :)

I don't know how I missed those pics of your corset.  It's very nice!!

Cynde

Isn't autumn wonderfulllll :-* Everyone around here is going to hate seeing autumn go away, but I promise to load lots of snow pictures once that's possible.

Got a new wire back barrette (Argus Designs) from a friend who needed a new home for it. It's fabulous and not-so-hard to use.  
removed

I love seeing pictures of your hair.  It always reminds me of what a fairy princess' hair would look like :)

Simple elegance. :)

You hair looks lovely in your new clip.  :)  

That clip is so nice!  I've always loved you hair, it's a great inspiration for me!  8)

Simple, yet classy and elegant :)

I loooooooooove your hair   :)
i need to print a pic of your hair and hang it up around the house, as an inspiration ;) :-*

You DO have gorgeous hair  :) I wished mine would be just half as long and pretty *sigh*

Thanks ladies :)

Yesterday I went out on the river in a motorboat to do a photoshoot with the local rowing team. I'll crop/resize the results this afternoon and post them. They turned out so lovely :)

Something I almost let slip yesterday:
"I see you're drinking Diet Coke... is that because you think you're fat? 'cause you're not. you could drink regular Coke if you wanted to"

Thank-you, Anais. That one made laugh out loud. "...you could drink regular Coke, if you wanted to." LOL!

I loved Napoleon Dynamite!

...I recognized that quote immediately...GOSH!

That was a classic movie, it's kind of become a staple around our household, I could spend all day talkking about my favorite parts...yeah probably like my favorite movie ever...

PS- Anais, you've got great hair-growing skills!

HECK YES that was a good movie :P

Hair, soap, etc. Washed on Monday, it's Arwenlike and wavy right now. This entire week I've been braiding for (a) lack of time and (b) protection from cold, wind, the fact that winter is coming quickly. I had the length straight and sleek earlier this week from sock curling, then doing a bubbatail to secure the length and leave the ends curly. The result was natural straightening that gave really lovely hair, almost as good as that recent "good hair week" after using Giovanni for the first time.  
Uncommonscents stuff arrived, which included the three Rachael Stephens combs (the big rake for my friend and two #42's for storage) the 4 oz Orange and Plumeria hard glycerin soap bars were all nicely wrapped. All glycerin soaps are NOT the same! Lush gives more frictiony residue than Villainess. I have not tried the Uncommonscents stuff yet.

Awesome sunset from Tuesday evening
http://tinypic.com/eskcgm.jpg

That picture is beautiful! The sunset must have looked amazing in RL!

BTW, I saw your pics in the Then and Now thread on LHC. My goodness your hair grows fast! You got some good hair genes.  :)

whatsa bubbatail?  ???

wrote on Oct 24^th, 2005 at 6:55pm:

whatsa bubbatail?  ???

Hi Maggie,

A bubba tail is a way to put hair to bed.  Now, if I remember right:  hair is put on a low pony and covered elastics are placed down the lenght to the end. It is call a Bubba tail cause to comes from Purple Bubba, a man on a different hair forum. :)

Yup! Lisabelle's got it nailed. I love the Bubbatail. I've been using it all day today.

And now... a happy dance..

[glb]YESS! internet is back! ;) ;) [/glb] The internet hasn't been working all morning.

Hair. Last night I did a CCC+C, and finally put in the Giovanni at around 11 pm before sock curling for bed. The hair finally dried overnight. It just took awhile, so at least next time I don't have to worry about my hair not drying properly with a CCC+C Today promises to be a great hair day because there's no gummy, sticky, perpetually wet hair. In fact it's dry and bouncy, shiny despite low conage (I've decreased amount of cone to one cubic centimeter), and supremely soft.

I've been debating a trim of another 1cm, to make everything more of a U shape or a blunted V rather than tapered, because of post-summer shedding. If my shedding is going to be anything like last year, it will be a winter of mostly contained hairstyles until spring arrives. Next measure-up will be on Samhain, which is coming fast.

Other random stuff:

a gal accosted me for my (momentary) dream job

the internet is up and running again! :)

Our first foggy morning this morning

digital camera is doing weird things and I think it's going to stop working soon

black and white 35mm river negatives turned out great

red brocade corset now fits with a 4" gap in the back

I think this time the internet is working FOR GOOD.

::CROSSES FINGERS::

It's been down for the past 2.5 days except for an hour yesterday afternoon.

Hair. Today is pretty simple, single braid, looks a lot thicker than usual though! :) Which makes me optimistic about this winter. I've got some photos to post soon, looking forward to taking more hair progress pictures to take on Samhain.

crosspost from another thread.
I was definitely less obsessed with hair before finding Longlocks and LHC. Life was actually simpler, and I had other ways to de-stress. My hair wasn't "a big deal" until I started growing it out, but along with hair-growing came other side effects of long hair.

I DEFINITELY wasn't very feminine until the period of time I was growing out my hair. Both changes coincided. I don't know if one caused the other, or whether a third thing caused both. I never used to wear skirts or fitted pants, always bought underwear in packs from JCPenney's instead of shopping for bras and undies one-by-one, I didn't have much female confidence, wore sneakers all the time instead of the boots nowadays, didn't spend enough time on skin, didn't love my body much nor did I devote special time to its needs. Overall, hair boards not only got me interested in proper hair care but it also opened me up to natural body care in general. I definitely eat better nowadays, use natural butters and oils on my skin, and all-in-all, love my body a lot more than I used to.

I miss K so much! Things have been so busy lately.

Hair. I've ignored my hair for the most part this week. There's been some itching, especially last night when I was poking around on my scalp throughout the entire evening while reading. I still get a lot of ivory beads on the scalp where the sebum formed hardened "clogs".
Despite scratching around in there, I still find that my hair is just as thick today (if not thicker) than it was in the spring. Normally at this time of year, I should be shedding like crazy. Hopefully it won't happen at all this year, or not happen much.  
I wonder what would happen if I sock-curled dry, the way it works when braiding with a SUE.

All is well in the hair world.

Hair. I am determined to learn the swirly bun, and I didn't consider it before because I never thought I had enough length to do it, or that it would be unbalanced because I don't have a blunt cut. Now I realize that I need to learn more comfortable buns because I am approaching those lengths that will be uncomfortable for the scalp. From what I can tell, that stage is coming soon because my buns are getting increasingly heavier. Whacked myself with a single braid yesterday too, which made a very loud noise!

Happy Samhain :)

A painting by J.E. Knauf. For more information on J.E. Knauf and his paintings, click here. He does an amazing job of capturing JUST enough detail without losing the sense of movement and wind.
http://tinypic.com/f4plaq.jpg

I was going to dress up today but I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, and it's very cold outside besides. I'm still wearing a black corset over a light blue top, with brown corduroys.
Hair.  Attempted and succeeded at doing Leia's Swirly Bun this morning, held with a Mamacat stick. I still need to figure out the 'perfect position' for a hairstick to hold the style. I took a measurement yesterday and I'm at 33".

wrote on Oct 31^st, 2005 at 3:32pm:

Happy Samhain :) I'm still wearing a black corset over a light blue top, with brown corduroys.

Hmmm, I'm wearing brown corduroys today, black top, and my shoe of choice - Vans......so this means............................................................

absolutely nothing!  Just thought I'd throw that out there...

Bwahahahah! ;D

And now...

for something..

completely different.

Happy Samhain again. Photos taken this evening, trees under orange floodlight. Aren't they just creepy?

http://tinypic.com/f5865i.jpg

http://tinypic.com/f58678.jpg

http://tinypic.com/f5866v.jpg

and one hair progress photo
photo removed

Those are some creepy, yet awesome, pics! Your hair is looking great, as usual!  :)

Coool creeeepy trees!  And lovely hair, as always!  Happy Samhain!

Cynde

Great pictures!  Wow!!  Did you use a lens filter to get the color?

Thanks ladies!! :)

ETA:
Nope! Strangely enough. I just used a digicam setting that had a really slow shutter speed, and the light just turned out that way. It was an orange floodlight and it tends to turn reddish with my camera.

Love the tree pictures; how perfect for Samhain! Those would make great desktop backgrounds.

I think with every picture, your hair is becoming even more gorgeous. soo envious

Thanks NR :)

Stuff. I've been resizing pictures today. I don't see any sense in posting full-sized pictures of hair when a 120pixel width will do ;)

Recent hair journey in photos.
The original photos have been removed from the rest of the thread for various reasons. It's also gotten me to reorganize all my photos. I think I also need to do some journal revising because it's too overgrown for my overcontrolling tastes ;D.

http://tinypic.com/fbiy9u.jpg June 2005

http://tinypic.com/fbiy5e.jpg August 2005
http://tinypic.com/fbicy1.jpg September 2005

http://tinypic.com/fbid13.jpg October 2005 pictures
http://tinypic.com/fbixae.jpg
http://tinypic.com/fbixb4.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fbicue.jpgNovember 2005

http://tinypic.com/fbict0.jpg Corset photos
http://tinypic.com/fbictt.jpg

120 pixel-sized photos are a good idea, Anais. I hope you don't mind if I do that to my pics.

It is very interesting to see your photo journey -- because it made me remember what I was doing every time I saw one of your photos.

Does your hair grow faster than the normal 1/2 inch?  It sure looks like it! =)

Thanks ladies - feel free to take the 120 pixel idea. It's also "safer" for various reasons. :)

Hair. Did a usual wash, CC-CC, with a lighter vinegar rinse than usual. I also accidentally got some Villainess Mudslide soap on my hair so it will be interesting to see how that changes the final product. I used some Villainess Mudslide to wash my non-hair, instead of using body wash.

New favorite spaghetti sauce: Classico's Vodka Sauce. I find it hard to write down recipes because I cook everything by habit. I'll have a handful of this, a smidge of that, and obviously the measurements are subject to change because of how much I'm making. Here's the particular way I did it this past weekend.

3 cups dried pasta, preferably fusilli, bowties, or shells.
1/4 tsp salt
Classico's "Vodka Sauce" in the normal sized jar
smashed garlic 6-10 cloves
1/2 pound ground beef
dashes of salt to taste
pepper to taste
2-3 dashes spicy spaghetti seasoning (Presti's)
dried sweet basil
dried oregano.
cajun spices optional (I put it in everything)

---

Boil pasta with salt until al dente and drain. Set aside.

Fry the smashed garlic in oil until golden brown
Add ground beef and stir fry well
Add all necessary spices
Add a few tablespoons of sauce for color (I used Prego for this)
Set meat aside

Serve with heated Classico's Vodka Sauce (sauce contains tomatoes, cheese, and vodka all blended together into a thick orange substance, perfect for seafood) It is okay to use a microwave.

Sounds good, Anais.  My husband & I have actually been trying something new.  We're trying to avoid eating anything out of a box, can or jar.  Impossible to totally avoid on the large scale, but we have signifigantly cut back.  My guy is such an awesome cook, he can whip up anything from a sauce to a single serve of fresh berry jelly, it's nuts!  His specialty is his own hot sauces.  We grow our own habanero peppers in the summer and freeze the remainder of the crop for the winter.  His sauces are out of this world!  He ranges them from super ass-kicking hot (there the one's we like!) to pleasantly edibly hot (for the wimpier hot-saucers), we can go through an entire bottle in just a few days.  It's like a hot sauce addiction.  Okay, I've gotten way off subject here...what was my point here?   Oh, yeah...trying to eat fresher...working great...blah, blah, blah...yadda, yadda, yadda...healthier lifestyle...less preservatives...blee, blee, blee...guess that's it!  :P

Crossposting from Maggie's fabulous thread :)
I'm going to elaborate and use complete sentences later.

Before LL: daily shower with daily Pert Plus, no conditioner. later I moved on to Suave Coconut shampoo + Suave Coconut conditioner (coneless). Dry with towel the normal way, possibly rubbing, or usually going outside with wet hair. Wore it in a bobpixie with no frills, no hair toys, nothing.
Washing post-LL: weekly CO with PAT Green Tea, Suave CS, Kirkand (cone), Giovanni Direct Leave-in, clarifying for each wash. Dry by squeezing in microfiber towel, detangle and wet-comb until dry, apply Giovanni and sock curl for bed. Today I wear buns, braids, loose hair, the occasional half-up. More confidence and femininity in general, more attentiveness to natural body care.

Sex trafficking is WRONG WRONG WRONG.  :'( >:(

TMI, disturbing material.

Here is a wiki article with a good overview of human trafficking issues. This past weekend I coordinated a charity event to benefit victims. This is a snippet of a journal entry and an email.

...We had some really really graphic slideshows and guest speakers about victims of human trafficking, what untreated injuries they've had, how their illegal immigrant status prevents them from getting hospital care, and how they are forced to work DAYS after they lose fingers or hands. The member of the board of directors of [one of the charities listed on the Wikipedia article] She walked us through a very graphic slideshow and told of her own experiences in helping these victims during her visits overseas.

And oh, the "sex" trafficking. I say "sex" trafficking because this isn't sex. It's rape. Sex trafficking was the bigger half of the presentation, where not only are women (and very young girls) shipped by export agreements. The justice department does raids and they once found a case study of a 14-year-old girl confined in a house where she had sex with around 30 men per day. On her bedside table was a teddy bear she said reminded her of her childhood, and next to it was a roll of paper towels. These girls will be scarred for life. This is the kind of thing where if you see the victims and their conditions, you can't sleep well at night and you think of sex in a totally different way. And I find that to be very true.

MORE LINKS to articles

Asia's sex trade is 'slavery' -BBC
'Sex trade's reliance on forced labour -BBC
from the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

What you can do to help
How you can report suspected human trafficking, how to tell if a person has been trafficked
Organizations and departments in the U.S. that can help

Anais I think it's great that you had the charity event :)  This is a subject that boils my blood! >:(  Thank you for the links, expeially the one one how to detect humantraifficking. In my area I know there are brothels in people houses and young girls are at risk.  I live next to a highschool and men always drive around leering at the girls.  I go out there and give them a peice of my mind! Most girls are good and get on there cells phones and call the police if there harrassed.  Again thanks for the info!

I'm with Lisabelle and think it's fantastic that you coordinated the event and became involved in trying to stop the problem. Thank you for the links. When I would watch news stories about human trafficking I always wondered what I could do to help, so the links will be really helpful.

Not to make light of the situation, but you rock. I think the world could use more people like you.

It's so sad that things like this go on.  I'm glad you are bringing awareness about it.

On a similar note, I read this article a couple days ago - that might be of interest:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/5302937/detail.html

Cynde

wrote on Nov 15^th, 2005 at 4:31pm:

I think the world could use more people like you.

I would have to second that opinion.

Thank you ladies :-* Human trafficking is so horrible.

Hair. My wash schedule is all caddywompus. Ever since event week, it's been thrown off by a few days. The last time I washed my hair was on Thursday of this past week. I was able to take some hair pictures the other day without freezing the digicam. (Lately, it's been so cold here that technology malfunctions when you go outdoors. I talk on the phone less lately when outdoors, and keep my 35mm wrapped up between my coat and chest. Locals with iPods tend to get covers for them, and put them in a pocket that benefits from body heat. (B and L have these really cute knitted iPod covers)) These photos had to be taken quickly because I could feel my hair getting stiff from its natural moisture freezing. It got stiff and tangly pretty quick. Or it could also be stiffened cold sebum. Either way, I took the photos quickly in the morning when nobody saw me, pretending I was inspecting the stones on the wall for defects.

The official length photo turned out better than those indoor shots with flash. I make it a point to take "official length photos" in natural light only, and the early November pics never officially turned out. So here we go.

http://tinypic.com/fxcbk7.gif

So.. I'm going to borrow Khrome's fabulous idea of making a "skinny" avatar with right and left colorblocks.

Went to the fabric store yesterday. I bought an "aged-linen" style cotton, a black cotton twill (both for my new tribal fish purse), and then a 1/2 yard black anti-pill fleece, 1 yard aqua anti-pill fleece. Last night I spent time hatmaking and came up with a hat for my hobbit. Today I'll be making one for myself that has the colors inverted.

Secret Santa buddy clues: I bought something non-hair related for a my Secret Santa buddy. Though not hair-related, it is very very useful and it matches one of the colors specified by my SSB. This gift is actually a "set" and not a single object. My SSB has hair that is not curly, hair that is at least medium thick, and not completely virgin (if I recall correctly), and she is under the age of 40.

*lol* I like the story behind your newest hair photo. It's never cold enough here for hair to freeze so I never thought that could actually happen.

Your hair looks great, Anais! :D

I really like your new hair picture(s). It looks great.
Are you serious about this hair-freezing thing? OMG
I would have never thought this would be possible  ::)

hello :),

you have such pretty hair. i cant wait until my hair gets that  long and all one length ::).

Thanks ladies :-*

Moonchild, hair does freeze if it is damp or wet and you go out into super cold weather. In my area, it gets well below the freezing point... even at this "too early to be winter" phase. I've had icicles form in my hair before. This was the winter before last. Theoretically, microscopic ice crystals can form inside your hair shaft and make the hair shaft "burst" in multiple spots.

Not to be an alarmist or anything!!!

The best thing to do is get thick fleece hats (which can be made at home). If you buy anti-pill fleece from any fabric store (JoAnn, Hancock) and I didn't use it but this pattern is awesome you can make 2-3 double or triple-layer hats with a yard's worth of fleece. And if you measure carefully beforehand, you can spare yourself a 6 feet x 8 inch scarf. :P

More Secret Santa clues. I have my SSB gift all wrapped up and ready to ship. My SSB lives in the continental U.S., has good work ethic, and is a really sweet lady. She does not post enough hair pictures. She is obsessed with hair. She is a member of Longlocks. Bwhahaha I'm not giving many good clues am I?

My Secret Santa recipient's gift has been...
SHIPPED!  ;D ;D ;D

Sorry to ship so early and sorry it isn't properly gift-wrapped, but the problem was.... if I gift-wrapped it, it would not fit into the shipping envelope.

So..

Yeah. :P

Anais

It's actually a good idea to ship early. This is the time of the year when the whole world is sending gifts, and the rush might cause longer shipping times than usual.

Sounds like you would just love to post what you bought for whom........ ;D sooooo funny!

I am still looking and trying to decide what I am goiing to buy  ::)

I've been trying to get a hold of K but he hasn't been picking up the phone or returning his calls. It turns out he is sleeping with someone else. All that devotion from him and now it turns out to be a poor excuse for utilitarian self-benefit. Yikes! >:( We were best friends. We were intimate in so many ways. This is a really bizarre feeling. I gave myself the day-before-yesterday to mope around and cry, and talk to a friend. Now I'm doing much better than I expected. However he still has my favorite book in the entire universe and if it hasn't been torn to shreds by now by his new girlfriend's toddler, I want it back. Naturally I could buy a new one, but I have notes all over it and inside it. There are about 50 post-its in the pages. There are underlines and notes on each page.

Things I need to keep in mind:

• It's not my fault he cheated!
  
• It's going to be ok.
  
• Life is beautiful.
  
• I WILL get that book back
  

It's just been a really bizarre contradictory week. I'm getting the job of my dreams, ran into my best friend whom I haven't seen in ages, and yet find out that my (apparently-not-my) Love has been cheating. Truly bizarre. I haven't even gotten a hold of him about it yet. He hasn't called back at all.

Went to the optometrist. It was an interesting experience. First, the glaucoma test failed three or four times on me because my reflexes are too sensitive. They did the air-puff thing over and over again to make sure I didn't have glaucoma. Apparently I don't have glaucoma, nor do I have anything else, but it was after three or more zffft's of air into each eye. Then the Doc called me in for the "One or Two" examination. but first he turned out the light and got really really close to my eye with a flashlight. His face was about an inch away from mine and he was a total stranger. I couldn't help this, but... I burst out laughing! Really really loudly! Twice! ::shakes head:: Embarrassing  ::)

{skip if you have a very weak stomach}
And I read this article (yesterday) today from the New York Times. It's about the business of cleaning up after dead people, which is never discussed or thought of... because it is indeed very messy. Imagine stomach acid burning holes through furniture after the deaths of the elderly, remaining parts of brain after a gunshot suicide, or organ residue at a murder scene. (Criminals and suicide victims just don't think about the messes they make)But this business of cleaning up, run by Ronald Gospodarski, is very underappreciated. They clean and sanitize murder, suicide scenes and places where people are otherwise found dead. It's stinky and germy there. It's unsuitable for living. But someone's gotta clean up all that leftover crap. Gospodarski's crew uses hardcore chemicals, bleach, whatever it takes, sometimes sanitizing furniture and objects and then flooding the area with 200+ degrees of heat to essentially autoclave the house. Kudos to death scene cleanup crews.

And this is something I photographed on a gal's door the other day:
http://tinypic.com/hrmy6e.jpg

((((((((((hugs)))))))))) :'( :'( I'm so sorry, you deserve much better Anais. Ohhhhh...that...that >:(, well it's not really my business to say anything about that :-X

I'm so sorry your relationship has taken this bad turn.  I hope you can get things worked out and you move on with your life quickly.

Oh, I'm so sorry about what happened! I agree with Beesan 100%, you deserve a lot better than that.

(((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))

(((hugs)))  Anais!!  I'm very sorry to hear this news.  You are absolutely right, it is NOT your fault his behavior totally sucks!!
I hope you will take however much time to grieve this loss.

Congratulations on your good news!!!  

Enjoy your thanksgiving!!

Thanks everyone for your hugs and support.

Weird thing is... I'm not much in the "grieving stage" at this point for some reason. Or maybe because I haven't gotten over the initial shock. I've actually been quite happy and that scares me, since if I'm happy, then does that mean my relationship didn't have much to begin with? Then again, I'm really unusually optimistic. Lately I've been telling myself, "Better now than later!" and "If he doesn't recognize a good person when he sees one, then he can date all the trash he wants!"

Go figure. :P

Anais

Nice new avatar, and interesting hair-freezing story!  I never thought of that because it doesn't get that cold where I live, but it makes complete sense.  

I'm so sorry to hear what K did.  :(  *hug*  

Cynde  

wrote on Nov 25^th, 2005 at 1:09am:

Thanks everyone for your hugs and support. Weird thing is... I'm not much in the "grieving stage" at this point for some reason. Or maybe because I haven't gotten over the initial shock. I've actually been quite happy and that scares me, since if I'm happy, then does that mean my relationship didn't have much to begin with? Then again, I'm really unusually optimistic. Lately I've been telling myself, "Better now than later!" and "If he doesn't recognize a good person when he sees one, then he can date all the trash he wants!" Go figure. :P Anais

Oh wow. Umm...Hmmm...You're handling things much better than I would have in your situation. I think I would still be in a p*ssed off, cursing-the-ground-he-walks-on phase.

If you have by passed the grieving stage, that's great and we'll always be here when you need us! If not and it doesn't hit you until later, we're still here for you, Anais.  :)  :)

((((hug))))

I'm so sorry to hear of your situation and hope that things will work out for you.              

((((((hugs)))))) I've been through a few bad realtionships too and I feel for you.  I hope things get better.

sorry to hear that anais! :-/  goodluck in future relationships.   i already warned my husband if he ever even thinks about cheating he can say goodbye to his manhood forever, if you know what i mean!    look on the bright side at least you have gorgeous hair!

Poor Anais. That is a total bummer, but your intuition about it is quite keen.

Infidelity comes in many different forms, and most of us (whether we're aware or not) have been victims of it before. It was quite a weighty factor in my own divorce.

You're right to think that it isn't your fault that he cheated.

You're also not "wrong" to feel better about not being with him anymore. I can assure you, strangely enough, that I never felt so free and alive as after splitting up with my former husband.
   You've freed yourself from a bad situation, even if it had to come at a hefty price. What matters is that you did the right thing and you know it.

Also, you're not "wrong" to think that this newfound feeling of optimism is a sign that things weren't going so well in your relationship in the first place.

Infidelity happens because there are problems in the relationship, no matter how deep-rooted or superficial they may be.

Whatever his reasons were, you can't do anything about it now.
   What you can do, however, is march over there and ask to have your book back. Just be sure to do it in a mature, polite fashion. You don't need any more drama at this point.

Also, while you are now free to enjoy the single life once again, do be wary of other potential mates. Try not to rush into a new relationship just yet. You will no doubt have lingering "issues" from the last one to work out in your head. You definitely don't want to bring those into a new relationship & force them onto your new lover.
   Don't settle for less than you ultimately want/deserve either. No matter how cute & wonderful a person seems, if they have serious problems (like dishonesty, financial ruin or substance abuse), don't go after them anyway, hoping they will change. Chances are, they won't.

You've got the right attitude already. Just stay strong & stick to your guns. Besides...think of all the extra time & TLC you'll be able to devote to your hair now!  :)

If you ever need advice from someone who's been there & done that, or just want to get something out of your system, feel free to e-mail me: midnightrose@hauntedmansion.com

Remember: You Are Excellence!  ;)

Thank you everyone for your hugs and comfort.

Angel Spun - great advice from a strong woman :-* Thank you for reinforcing the stuff that needed to be said, not just for me but for EVERYONE who is even remotely close to a relationship.

Thanksgiving dinner was a hit. Everyone on this side of the state was able to make it to Thanksgiving. :D It was an amazing excuse to sit around and talk about recent foreign trips and catch up on family news. I'm also glad to have been able to enjoy Thanksgiving despite what happened earlier in the week. The food was amazing of course - though we did have too much available. There was about 12 servings EACH of eggrolls, green bean casserole, broccoli and cheddar casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, turkey, prime rib roast, stuffing, red potatoes, peas, carrots, corn, yams, carrot cake, and apple pie. Some of the food went untouched, going home with us for leftovers, effectively being added to our breakfast menu for now until the following month. WOW :o

New eyeglasses should be available by Wednesday of this coming week. They're the same frames that I have currently, a bronze/brass finish on the edges with tortoiseshell rim. They're really antique-looking and classic. I'm glad they haven't discontinued this design. They've had it for at least a couple years now.

Hair. I think the last time I washed my hair was Thursday November 17. At least that was the last time I remember doing any kind of full vinegar washing. It's weird how quickly time flew this week, hairwise. It doesn't feel like.. what.. 8th, 9th day hair? It really doesn't. I wet my scalp down a couple times this week because of itch, but other than that, there hasn't been any washing. Bleh. I'm just having a don't-care-about-hair phase. Even though... When wet-combed straight, it's long enough to get caught in that crack of my butt!!!! ;D

Work. I've revised a resume and prepared a cover letter, personal statement, and examples of past work to submit on Monday with my application package. Target: a management position. The job is already mine because I'm the only qualified applicant, but what the hey ::)

and now..

I'm just sleepy.

Hair. I just washed it for the first time since Thursday November 17 (I think). It was a usual treatment of CCCC although I haven't put on the Giovanni yet. I took a little extra time in the shower today to scritch with my nails and use a bit of warm water on my scalp (for the first time in a long while). So far the shampoo-free thing has gone so well. I've been mostly shampoo-free since Beltaine. There were some "relapses" when I tried shampoo just to see how different it would feel. Otherwise I haven't missed it much, except that Paul Mitchell shampoo smells like Down To Earth bubble bath. Paul Mitchell shampoo doubles as a good body wash, as probably most shampoos do.

I can't find Down To Earth bubble bath. I am almost completely certain that it is called Down To Earth. But I can't find it. If anyone sees it please PLEASE let me know.

Saw an old friend from high school .... she knew me when I had a pixie and she had tailbone length hair. Now we're both the same length at hippish. Wowzers :D

And to my SSB, have you received your package yet? It's been a week and I hope it hasn't gotten lost in the holiday mail. The package was only going within the continental U.S.

oohh tired. I always seem to log on when I'm too tired to read normal threads and respond to them.

Sweet dreams all.

Anais

It snowed last night. I was so excited to take snow pictures today. The first snow is always the best, and then it just gets muddy and nasty. Eventually it gets below-zero. everything is just nasty, and everyone gets extremely irritable. So far we have a good five or six inches of fresh snow (slightly compacted by gravity). The novelty hasn't worn off yet, but it will.

TMI:
(There is also a giant 8-foot penis sculpture in the neighborhood. It was huuuge. At first I thought it was a caterpillar, but... :o)

a indecisive defiant deciduous that is still green for some reason
http://tinypic.com/i2ixxi.jpg


the neighborhood
http://tinypic.com/i2iy3l.jpg

Foliage or herd of lemmings?
http://tinypic.com/i2j15k.jpg

Bushes or mushrooms?
http://tinypic.com/i2ixyq.jpg

Hair, shortened by 2" from high collared sweater.
Snow is too white to brighten the photo. Ansel Adams had it tough!
http://tinypic.com/i2j3ep.jpg

On another note,

Secret Santa Buddy, have you received my package yet? I hope it hasn't gotten lost in the snowy postal season.

Anais

Athingy sculpture? I hope it's not what I think it is.

Moving on, the photos of your neighborhood are really pretty! Oh, to have snow in my area...sometimes. ^^

About the secret santa giftie, the mail has been acting rather strange lately (at least in my experiences). It took two weeks for a package sent by priority mail to arrive from Georgia. Yet I sent something to Washington, DC and it only took one day (also using priority mail). Weird. I wouldn't worry yet; your person should be getting her gift soon.   :)

Great pictures!  I love pic's of the snow! An eight foot thingy eh?  Cool! They must be followers of Min! ;D

Yesterday I checked my mailbox...and I got a special delivery from Anais!  I got a CUUUTE pair of gloves as my secret santa gift!  They have pink, purple, and blue stripes.  I am glad I opened them when they arrived.  I have very long fingers, and the gloves are long enough.

I really like them.  They will see tons of use!  I'm so sentimental -- I'll keep them forever.

Your hint about work ethic was a great present, too.  Sometimes I feel like work ethic is overlooked in my major.  Thank you for your kind words, hun!

Yesssss they got there safely :D Glad you like them, Pan!

my new hair resolutions for 2006
(1) Reach a length that "looks tailbone" not IS tailbone... so about almost-classic.  And some of it should probably be trimmed off for all that inevitable combing damage. (I find that combing causes damage too, causing "stressed" hairs that have been stretched too hard but not snapped)
(2) Drink more green tea - my green tea habit has gone downhill lately
(3) Be happier with my length and not get hair anorexia, be happy with my thickness, especially as my hair gets longer and more difficult to work with.
(4) Figure out a better way to position a figure 8 bun because this current method hurts, dammit.
(5) Learn how to do Leia's Swirly Bun, dammit.
(6) Eat more cheese for that much-needed calcium.

Other resolutions
(1) Manage time more effectively
(2) Become less dependent on technology
(3) Do meal planning on weekends instead of weekdays
(4) Manage finances well, open and fund a retirement account
(5) Devote more time to sewing
and the hard one...
(6) Learn to live without K as my best friend and soul mate.

Hair. Yesterday I wore my hair in a cinnabun with a single indigo royal Mamacat corkscrew stick to the job interview at the board meeting. Then I took it down and put it in a single braid after I was through. It was a relatively long day and I worked yesterday evening, so it's REALLY NICE that my scalp isn't acting crazy or getting itchy. Hair loss should be expected soon but I don't notice much of it. I should be losing a lot of hair from this stress from the situation involving K., but.. what can ya do. Last night was crazy. I stayed up until 2am writing.

and of course.. REVELING in the fact that I was hired to a management position. ;D ;D

If this helps anyone, here are some of the interview questions in simplified form. I tried to make them applicable to anyone:

What do your responsibilities entail right now and how will they help you fulfill your new responsibilities?

There could be questions about your current work, to see how well you know your stuff, and how well you can explain it to others. They can ask you stuff that is already in your personal statement or resume to see if everything matches.

What changes to the program/design/current setup will you make, if any?

What ethical considerations will govern your decisonmaking in such-and-such matters? What are your concerns?

They might ask you a question that you don't know how to answer. How answer them.. matters! ("seek advice, ask an advisor, etc.")

What is your comfort level in your current work environment with the current people

[glb]CONGRATS ANAIS! :D[/glb]This calls for a celebration ;)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Beesan19/kik.gif

Best wishes, and I hope everything goes well :-*

wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2005 at 5:00pm:

[ and of course.. REVELING in the fact that I was hired to a management position. ;D ;D

Woohoo!!  Congratulations, Anais!!! http://e4u.deltait.com.au/dressed/bek099.gif

http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/crazy/071.gif http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/crazy/071.gif

Congratulations, Anais!!!  :D :D

I know you're going to do a fantastic job!

wrote on Dec 1^st, 2005 at 9:52pm:

my new hair resolutions for 2006 (1) Reach a length that "looks tailbone" not IS tailbone... so about almost-classic.  And some of it should probably be trimmed off for all that inevitable combing damage. (I find that combing causes damage too, causing "stressed" hairs that have been stretched too hard but not snapped)

ha! i replied about the same in galadriel's thread  :D
i also want at the same time to remove around 4"  ::) wonder if that goal will be reachable (although, i think i cut  almost 4" this year too and am - i think - 4" longer than last year. who knows  8)

CONGRATULATIONS on getting the management position!  :D

Cynde

Way to go, Anais!!  :D

You are going to rock this management position!  ;)

Also, you'll probably find that working a lot will really help you to deal with your recent heartbreak. Not just because it provides a needed distraction, but it helps you to keep everything in perspective.
   I worked my tail off for over a year after my divorce (mostly to pay off the settlement & rebuild my life), balancing 3 night jobs. It seems crazy now, but at the time it was actually kind of fun. I made a lot of $$$ (which is never bad!) and bolstered my professional & social lives, so it was quite helpful with what I was going through. I wish you that same success at the very least.  :-*

BTW, thanx for all of the info about cones. I'm still debating whether or not they work for me.

Best of luck in your new position!  :)

Congratulations, Anais!  Thanks for posting the interview questions. :)

CONGRATULATIONS! http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/950/ole.gif

Thank you ladies :-* and I'm glad posting the questions was helpful.

Hair. In the past few days, I"ve been experimenting with the infinity bun. I stopped liking the figure-8 bun after awhile because there was so much tension at the hairline when I "peeled" the top coil off. So I stopped doing the figure-8 bun eventually. In the past few days, the infinity bun has been extremely comfortable. I have a 7-inch hazelnut dymondwood Mamacat stick that works quite well for this purpose. So far it's been holding quite well, without scalp ache, without tension, and overall it's a very light bun. I think I've found a new "regular favorite" updo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/Hairstuff/20051204infinity200.gif

In other hair news:
(1) I haven't seen a massive amount of shedding. My hair thickness hasn't changed very much, or if it has then I haven't noticed. It's been quite cold lately so I've been wearing updos, stuffing my hair into fleece hats, and other such business. There isn't much opportunity to obsess over any loss of length or thickness, which leads me to...
(2) The recent "tangle dust trim".. which means trimming off entire (but minor) tangles that occur near the ends when I am combing. Tangles are an indicator that I need to trim anyway, so in that case it was better to be selective about it and trim only the tangles. Even so, there's a slight loss in hanging length of about 1 cm. My biggest length concern is just an annoyance: the fact that my hair isn't long enough to be HEAVY enough to travel over my shoulder without leaving a shoulder wave

I haven't done an official update in ages. I haven't had any wet or dry routine change for a long time, but now there's cause for one... next post

DECEMBER 2005 HAIR UPDATE

Wash routine: CO routine, or more accurately a CCC.
Pure-A-Teas Lotus
ACV rinse and scalp scritch with comb
Suave Citrus Smoothie (with no silicones)  
Kirkland Lemon Complex Conditioner
wet comb, apply Giovanni Direct Leave-in, sock curl.
Make a Bubbatail the next morning to straighten the length but leave the ends curly.
Hairwash every Sunday
Oils: shea butter, broccoli seed oil.  
Tools: RS#42 for shower use, RS#42 for wet combing, socks for culing, hardwood combs for everyday detangling, HH horn combs for detangling away from home, and LML oxhorn comb for scritching.
Misc: did a tangle dust trim last week
Hair toys I actually use: Dymondwood collection, now I only use one hairstick at a time to hold up my hair. Rosewood Burgundy, Cocobolo, Crimson Ironwood, Applewood, Agatewood ribbons, Agatewood corkscrews, Indigo Royal, Jacaranda, Hazelnut
velvet scrunchies for braid  
hairdos used (all are dry): infinity bun, single braid, Bubba sleep tail (a lot), cinnabun low ponytail

Wow  :o That bun looks awesome, Anais  :o

Seems like everything is falling into place for you! This is wonderful  :) I am very happy for you  :)

Hey Anais, I ahve seen you on the hairboutique board before, and just wanted to say you have beautiful hair! You put so much time and care into it, really a inspiration! :D

Thank you ladies :)

and..

drumroll please...

my Secret Santa is... PANPEUS! :D :D

Panpeus sent me a 7-foot glitter scarflet. It's knee-length! ;D It's one of those cute skinny scarves so I call it a scarflet ;D It has bits of tinsel holding the fibers together. It's just so cute and bold and fabulous. I tried it on today by braiding it into my single braid, and not only did it look quite cool, but it also made my hair feel like tailbone length (instantly). I have photos of it but can't load them yet, so that will be (hopefully) on tomorrow's to-do list. Thank you Pan!

Medusa's Lairhas been redesigned with a lot of graphics! :D

Love the new look of your site!! http://smilies.sofrayt.com/1/u/butter.gif

Love your figure 8 bun and the new web site layout! :)

(But I think the sock curling link on the main page needs to be fixed. Instead of anaissatin...../sockcurling/howtosockcurl.html, it reads anaissatin..../sockcurling\howtosockcurl.html so the link leads to an error page)

The lake has partially frozen Don't be fooled though, the reflective portion is frozen too! There are rocks sitting out on the surface. I threw them out there because it made a hollow bamboo pipe sound. It sounded like a Polynesian instrument.
http://tinypic.com/ibcprb.jpg


And this is what it looks like an inch below the first layer of lake ice They look kind of like chromosomes, but it's kind of hard to tell in this shot.
http://tinypic.com/ibcns6.jpg

I met a guy today who had never seen snow before in his entire life. He came over from the Middle East, and of course they don't have snow there because it reaches up to 50*C. The one time in my life I wish I knew how to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit ON THE SPOT! Gosh ::)

And here's the scarf from Pan:
http://tinypic.com/ibct1f.jpg http://tinypic.com/ibcqr9.jpg

Thanks so much, hon! :D

Thank you Juri and Lisabelle!

Edited to add:
I clicked and everything works fine. Is anyone else having problems with the Sock Curling page?

Edited to add again:
I see what happened. It's probably the browser not automatically converting backslashes to slashes. I'll fix the backslash.

Thanks Juri!

You're welcome! I checked in IE and Firefox; everything is working A-OK. I don't know if the error page would show up on IE, but I use Firefox and would always get it (although the link to the sock curling page in your sig would work).

Anyhoo, thank you for fixing the link, and the latest pics in your journal are lovely!  :)

I'm so glad you like the scarflet! :D  I thought the colors would bring out the colors in your hair.

The new site looks very nice!  What typeface did you use for your little gems?  It gives the site a whimsical look.

Definately cool.  Glad you like the present! =)

Nice scarflet! :D

Do you know where that guy is exactly from?

Dig the improvements to the site, Anais! Keep up the good work!

Peace.  ;)

I'm not sure what part of Saudi Arabia, but he's from a non-mountainous region.

The font used in the icons is Freehand 591. It should be available through Microsoft Office, or it is also available as freeware through an Italian site that I cannot find right now.  Sendmefile.com is hosting this font for me for the next 14 days if anyone is interested. It  is in .zip extension, but it's a safe download and there is also no encryption.

Thanks everyone :) I'm glad the link works now.  

Nice redesign, and pics of the lake!  Wow I love how the water looks like it's not frozen.  

Cynde

Thanks Cynde! :D By the way, I love your new avatar.

Hair. Took photos this afternoon and they turned out better than I thought. I braid so often that I've really stopped liking having straight hair. With so much wave, I get away with a lot more grease. I also notice that my braid tassel has hit lower waist length. These days it's been so cold that I've been consistently stuffing my hair into hats before going outdoors. Other than that, there's not much else on the hair front, except that I love this length and it's still so manageable. I have so little to say about my hair except that I LOVE it right now. The best Yule and Christmas present ever.

Someone's going to ask. my avatar says Ubuntu. The new Medusa design says Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is the spirit of community in South African social philosophy. This philosophy's equivalents can be "I am because we are", "We are One", "All is One", "universal human bond". It is the union of "I am excellence" and the fact that we are part of ONE excellence. From Archbishop Desmond Tutu (I believe this is from his book No Future Without Forgiveness)

"A person with ubuntu is open and available to others,
affirming of others,
does not feel threatened that others are able and good,
for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing
that he or she belongs in a greater whole
and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished,
when others are tortured or oppressed."

Ubuntu was the philosophy behind the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after Apartheid in South Africa, which held hearings where victims could sit down with the perpetrators. Anyone having committed a human rights violation could apply for amnesty. The conditions for amnesty were (1) full disclosure and acceptance of all crimes committed and (2) proof that the crimes were politically motivated.

For more information on ubuntu, please visit here

wrote on Dec 7^th, 2005 at 1:08am:

[b] ...I met a guy today who had never seen snow before in his entire life. He came over from the Middle East, and of course they don't have snow there because it reaches up to 50*C. The one time in my life I wish I knew how to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit ON THE SPOT! Gosh ::)

Here you go Anais: +49.9 C = +121.8 F

Little to much for me  :)

Heehee :)

Godot is toast!

I've got this fabulous recipe for scalloped potatoes that I need to share.

and other than that,

Hair. Last night I opted out of sock curling and decided to braid with a SUE instead. This morning it's so incredibly thick and I have curly ends. I've been getting hair compliments from RL friends. Other than that, June is doing well. Last night was a wash day, and I did a COW-CC instead of a CO. I didn't feel like using vinegar because it was really late, really cold, and today's a busy day. The shampoo upped the shower shedding but lessened the drying time by about half. Recent hairdos: single braid, infinity bun, low ponytail.

Naked men! I've joined a group order for little silver men that are meant to be "ear bands", to attach to my corkscrew hairsticks. They look like the little men from the Kamagong sticks at ArgusDesigns, except Argus is closed for the season. I ordered four little guys, which means deciding whether to "man" both singles in a pair of hairsticks, or to "man" only one from each pair... bwhahahah . This is what they look like (work safe photo of Argus hair stick)

Those hairsticks are neat!  Say, I have one of those "Naked Men" as a ear cuff....hmmm. Now I have a great idea! ;D

wrote on Dec 11^th, 2005 at 5:45am:

Thanks Cynde! :D By the way, I love your new avatar.

Thanks!  I was experimenting with the setting sun.  :D

Those little men are so cool!  They remind me of Cirque du Soleil.

Cynde

Those little guys are really cool!  Thanks for linking that typeface, I try to collect them for school.

Hair. I've been doing nothing besides single-braid it and infinity-bun it. I braid it for bed, bun it when I'm eating, and braid it for the daytime when working, etc. I feel like I have no need for embellishment or further complication in my hairdos. Sometimes I do feel like I need variety in my hair, but it often relates to texture rather than the do. When I change something, I change the amount of wave. At this point there are four different ways I could potentially do my texture:
- sock curl, then straighten length with a bubbatail
- sock curl then leave curly
- leave loose for bed
- braid with a socked up end (SUE)
If anything, I think varying my hairstyles will balance my hair's shedding pattern and put stress on other parts of the head, and not the same ones all the time. When it comes to practicality, I tend to boil it down to one bun and one braid for practical reasons.

I miss K. but like h*ll I'm going to tell him that :-X Luckily he doesn't know I keep this journal ::) I miss cuddling and talking about old films. I miss discussions about applied ethics. I miss his warm hugs, vacuum kisses, and scratchy voice in my ear. This is like quitting smoking, and I thought it was going to be easier than quitting smoking, but apparently it comes pretty darned close.

sCara shipped my perfumes. FeMaleDictions has great customer service :) I can't wait to get the scents. I kind of regret not getting Nightcap, which is something like vanilla liquor and aged oak. I ordered a sample pack (five 3mL vials for $10):
Fulsome: rich buttery vanilla
Pewter: blackberries, vanilla, musk, white roses
Tac: blackberries, Black Tea & Vanilla
Merry Hallowe'en: spiced oranges, clove, tangerine, cinnamon, vanilla
Pumpkinhead: pumpkin, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, etc.

http://tinypic.com/imnnrm.jpg
Gingerbread Spice holiday tea from Celestial Seasonings: spicy, mostly cinnamon and chicory, with some "bite" as I reached the bottom of the mug. I think it works better when paired with some sort of flavorless or mildly-sweet baked good. Croissants, sweet rolls, and other similar foods might go well with this tea, instead of cookies or muffins that are blatantly sweet.

wrote on Dec 14^th, 2005 at 10:31pm:

I miss K. but like h*ll I'm going to tell him that :-X Luckily he doesn't know I keep this journal ::) I miss cuddling and talking about old films. I miss discussions about applied ethics. I miss his warm hugs, vacuum kisses, and scratchy voice in my ear. This is like quitting smoking, and I thought it was going to be easier than quitting smoking, but apparently it comes pretty darned close.

I really don't know what to say, but i can give you a (((((((((big hug))))))))) and a kiss

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Beesan19/kiss.gif
Just a little nosy question, did you get your book back? (no answer required)

Hi Beesan

Thanks for the hug. ((((Here's one back))))!  :-*

Unfortunately I haven't gotten the book back yet. To heck with it, I'm just going to buy a new one and put all 50 post-it notes and hundreds of notations in there, all over again.

I've been doing some housecleaning. :) There are a lot of posts that I will archive in my Livejournal memories and I'll post when everything is done. My Longlocks journal will still be active but I need a place to keep stuff in categories. I'll organize all the material into the Keyword categories under this Memories page. It's still under construction, but the key idea is to have structural organization and easy access to "like" information. All monthly updates will be under "Updates", measurement logs, records of possible do's evolution, product reviews will be under "Product Reviews", etc.. and best of all, there will be a hair routine evolution page with a long bulleted list of what I tried during what season. Basically, everything will be very organized.

The Memories page is viewable by all public surfers just like on Longlocks. It'll be more real-life related than here. If it says Error, just refresh until it works. Sometimes it takes a couple tries.

All the text from this thread's deleted posts have been noted or saved. I'll be working on this Livejournal archive entry-by-entry this week. This Longlocks journal will remain with everyday crosspostings from my Word journal as usual, and as a conversation thread.

Blessings
Anais

Hello Lady  :) I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year  :)

Thanks Moonchild :)

Today is the Winter Solstice - I hope everyone has had a blessed day. (It's time to start fresh. This next year will mark the beginning of my healing...) For all of us, I hope the following year will be one of fast hair growth, good friends, good food, and more successes than you all can count.

Hair. Took a very long leisurely shower with CCC, complete with ACV rinse (I skipped it last week). Right now I have a bubbtail with socked up end.

[BEWARE: very fattening recipe ahead]

Recipe for my special Prime Rib Roast You will need the following:

marinade
1 tsp ground thyme
2 tsp black pepper
4 tsp salt
5 tablespoons of soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 tsp cajun spices

other
1 Prime Rib roast 7-10 pounds (I can't estimate meat weight)
peeled whole garlic cloves, about three bulbs worth.
4 Russet Idaho potatoes, de-knotted and chunked
4 carrots, peeled and chunked
1/4 cup olive oil (could use less...)
1 roasting pan, at least 9 x 13 inches size

Marinate roast with everything except "other"
Add garlic inserts (make long slits with knife and insert garlic cloves). The garlic inserts are crucial to this recipe's success.
Marinade for 2 hours in fridge, covered in plastic wrap.
Baste every 1/2 hour or so.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Add vegetable chunks around the roast
Drizzle the olive oil onto the roast. (and the veggies)
Cover roasting pan with foil and put into preheated oven in the middle rack

Roast at 400 degrees for one full hour.

Then remove foil, decrease heat to 325 degrees F,  and roast for 45 minutes.
Wait 30 minutes before slicing.

http://tinypic.com/iy2byd.jpg

Serve with the veggies that are in the roast. You can also include corn, a salad, French bread, all of the above, etc.

Mmmmmmmm....that roast looks yummy

Just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Beesan19/stock.gif Have fun! :D

edited to fix a typo :P

drool........

Can I come over for dinner? ;D

Wow... that roast looks AMAZING!!!

The past week has been a mishmash of stuff that happened on days I can't remember... things like sushi, cheesecake, particular movies, Christmas, antique shoppes, and Harry Potter. It's gotten to the point where I remember what happened but not the exact order.  

Blondiesturn's fork arrived. I am so in love! It's smooth, grained, and is differently colored at different angles. This is a fabulous fork and it is very lightweight, yet strong enough to hold up my infinity without any difficulty. The only hard part is making sure the updo doesn't end up too tight, because the fork makes very VERY secure updos. This is the first hardwood fork to ever hold up an updo for me.  


This is a low infinity bun.
http://tinypic.com/jhvb55.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/AnaisSatin/blondiesturnfork2.jpg

Hair. My last CCC-C was on the Solstice. The 28th, I took a long bath and did a nice soak in warm water, wet-combed, then damp-bunned for the evening. The results were well-defined waves. Hair has been relatively decent lately, but the scalp is beginning to itch. I need to do a full wash now that I'm home, possibly with a very low-shampoo COW mix.

Iron Chef! Hwah! We're having a mini dinner party in a bit. The menu includes inside-out baked potatoes with cheddar, sour cream, chives, cajun spices, and beef; grilled beef steak, and possibly a bowtie pasta salad.

Hopefully more recipes to come...

I hope everyone had a good Holiday and Happy New Year