Things I've been loving lately

1. "Freaks and Geeks" makes me so happy. I'm trying not to watch them all too fast, but I'm already over halfway through the 18 episodes. THIS is the one of the best tv show moments ever. I sweat from awkwardness and laugh until my eyes are brimming with tears. "You're my lady" is still echoing through my head as I type this, as it has been ever since I watched this episode. Thank you, Jason Segel.

2. Born This Way Blog - LGBT adults submit photos of themselves as kids along with their stories about finding their identity. Super adorable, but I often find myself tearing up as I look at these sweet little faces and read about how lonely and unhappy many of their childhoods were.

3. I guess I don't really have anything for #3, except to say, have a very happy President's Day.

This afternoon at Trader Joe's it was face painting day! I knew the girls doing the face painting and they insisted I be their guinea pig. I looked over their choices, "How about that lightning bolt on my forehead, Harry Potter style?"

Results:

When I interned at Chronicle, I worked on a "green beauty" book that spoke at length about the toxins contained in everyday cosmetics. At the time, I did a lot of research about the products I was using, then forgot about it until recently.

I have very very sensitive skin, and it's rare to find something that doesn't make my face look like a strawberry or the skin peel off my armpits (sorry, gross but true). So when I find a product I can live with, I don't want to find out that they test on animals or that it contains something that will give me cancer. Nevertheless, I've been glued to Skin Deep (a great site that ranks ingredients from 0-10 based on the level of toxicity), my eyes widening in horror at all the sick things I put on my skin every day.

I'm pretty low maintenance. I only really use moisturizer, deodorant, and some concealer, but let's see how they shape up:

The biggest disappointment, the lotion that I put on my face in the morning and at night, Eucerin Everyday Protection Face Lotion For Sensitive Skin, gets a rating of 5 from Skin Deep --"Moderately Hazardous" -- but contains DMDM Hydantoin (a 7, "highly hazardous." It's a "known human immune system toxicant" that's restricted in Japan.)

Let's see what they say about it: "DMDM hydantoin is an antimicrobial formaldehyde releaser preservative. People exposed to such formaldehyde-releasing ingredients may develop a formaldehyde allergy or an allergy to the ingredient itself and its decomposition products. In the U.S., approximately 20% of cosmetics and personal care products contain a formaldehyde-releaser and the frequency of contact allergy to these ingredients is much higher among Americans compared to studies in Europe." ICK!

Guess what else contains DMDM Hydantoin? My "clinically proven" moisturizer from Suave. It "delivers age-defying moisture." Maybe it's the fromaldehyde?

I have no less than six deodorants in my cupboard. One would work for a bit, then I'd start to develop an allergy to it, then I'd buy something natural like Tom's of Maine, which wouldn't work or the smell would start bothering me. I want to smell like clean laundry, not patchouli or lavender or sage. Finally I discovered Arm & Hammer Essentials, that calls itself a "natural" deodorant" with "natural protection." They make it sound like something you could stumble upon out on a walk in the woods. Mother nature's bounty!

The ingredients aren't horrible, but getting down to the bottom of the list is Triclosan (rated 7 - "highly hazardous"). This one's prohibited in Japan and Canada and is known to cause endocrine disruption even in small doses. Oh yeah, and it's also a known irritant and has been shown to cause cancer. Just that.

To end this post on a happy note, I have discovered the wonders of cocoa butter! It's not the perfect face moisturizer, but I can't complain when I smell like chocolate!

Ghost of an Earthworm

Today I applied to be in a music video for these guys:



I LOVE Loch Lomond, but I had forgotten all about them since my KCPR days. Today I saw an ad on Craigslist that they were looking for an actress for a music video. I was excited for about two seconds, until I saw it was also advertised on the Theatre Puget Sound site where all the real actresses, models, and pretty girls can see it. That would have been fun.

At least I have rekindled my Loch Lomand love. I remember listening to the two songs of theirs I had -- this one and this one -- on my mp3 player as I rode the 31 bus to George's after my internship...past Alamo Square Park and over the hills so steep that riders practically slid into each others' laps and swayed from the metal bars keeping them on their feet.

Snowpocalypse

...is the term I heard someone on the radio use to refer to one day of actual snowing.

Geez...and I'm from Southern California.

I found this month-old post in my drafts and thought this might be as good a time as any to finally post it -- especially considering that it's 66 and sunny here in San Diego. Here it is:

Though it only snowed a little last Sunday and all Monday, it was in the low 20s on Tuesday and Wednesday. The snow had all disappeared by the end of Thanksgiving.

I was in heaven. I had only seen it snowing for a couple minutes when I was ten and we were driving to Julian. By the time I got out of the car, it had stopped. So this was a new and wonderful experience for me. What surprised me most was how gently it comes down. I was expecting snow to fall closer to the speed of rain. Another concept I can only describe as "depth of field" amazed me about snow -- it was so...3D. I tried to capture it in this video in vain:

Snow in Occidental Square

And in Ballard

I'd always wanted to make some maple candy like they did in Little House in the Big Woods, but the snow was so powdery that the maple syrup sank right through.

It was still delicious, though.

I showed up to work the next day to find that, even though it was sunny, it was a "snow day." It was so beautiful out that I didn't want to turn around and get back on a bus for an hour, so I walked through downtown in the sparkling, 22-degree weather, wishing I had a camera with me. A man under the viaduct who was working for a historical society did, though -- a 1920 camera, one of those accordion-shaped boxes on a tripod with a hood for the photographer. He was documenting life around the viaduct (in the midst of a current debate about its future). The photographer asked if he could take my picture just walking along under the road.

In Belltown, some people with a death wish were sledding down the hill right across a busy street.

The sculpture park by the water looked beautiful covered by a blanket of pristine snow.

I just kept walking and walking and eventually I had walked the eight miles home.

I love snow.

The end.

Last of the Fall Leaves

I looked back at my old Xanga blog for the first time in five years...

9/27/05:
(Our neighbors in San Luis Obispo)
There's the "artist" who gave us a housewarming gift of an old sink on a stand filled with dirty water and flowers with the roots on them, saying "here are some crap flowers. If you don't want it, just throw it back in my yard." On the other side we have a duplex with two college student chainsmokers. One I call "baldy," and the other hits on Lana. They take very good care of their lawn, unlike us. The other half of the duplex is occupied by newlyweds. He's sitting with the front door open in his boxers playing computer games most of the time I walk by. Across the street there's either a lesbian or a gay guy (I'm still trying to figure out which) who comes and goes constantly and has two yellow mini coopers. Directly across from us is an ancient woman, "Margaret," who does gardening all day in a sweatsuit, but her yard never changes.

We later found out the "artist" may or may not have been running a meth lab in a shed in his backyard.

I hated living in that house. It's not like my life was so great back then, but why does it make me so sad to read all these old memories?