The Nuances of Life

You ever have those moments when the full symbolism of something in your everyday life hits you? I have a few such examples.

1) I had a beloved little Quaker parrot named Truffaldino. My mom had found him. At the same time, my beloved was getting ready to leave for Iraq. He came back, we went through all the crazy Army bureaucracy bullshit, all the consequences of being out in the front lines etc. Then we break up and that same day my mom calls me and tells me that Truffaldino flew away. It was like Truffaldino was the symbol of our love that escaped from us. I had that bird for the bulk of the relationship and then he flew away when it ended.

2) Last night, I got dumped and the song I wanted to hear was Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova". One of the lyrics say "A snake with blue eyes". This guy has blue eyes and he saw himself as a snake. I realized the connection as I was listening to the song. All I could say was "Fuck."

I could sit here and talk about how art gives our lives order and points out all the subtleties in our lives we miss because we are too busy occupied with the bulk of the problem. But I'm not. Maybe it is the artist in me that sees all these nuances while everyone else would simply see coincidence, an over-active imagination and point out that the subconscious affects our choices including my choice of songs. I'm sure there are more examples, I just don't feel like digging through the recesses of memory for them.

Goodbye Love soundtrack

For the past few months I have slowly picked songs as a kind of goodbye soundtrack to my ex. I never pick the same songs for different guys, and I try and match the lyrics and mood to the circumstances. The songs range in styles from pop to musicals to country and ballads. They are in no particular order. Usually I include a little information about the songs, why I chose them etc. but I'm not going to do that this time. I can't really bring myself to open up here. Perhaps at a later time, I'll post the poems I wrote in the course of our 3 1/2 year relationship. No promises however.

Already Gone- Kelly Clarkson
Already Gone- Sugarland
Breathe- Taylor Swift ft Colbie Caillat
Big Girls Don't Cry- Fergie
How To Save A Life- The Fray
Forgive Me- Evanescence
Goodbye My Lover- James Blunt
More Than A Feeling- Boston
What I Did For Love- A Chorus Line
Unfaithful- Rhianna
I Told You So- Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis

A couple of these songs I actually didn't like when they came out, or quickly got tired of them soon after they came out due to excessive radio play. But now they have such meaning to me that I had to include them on the list.

Fire and Ice

I took this picture at Mammoth in Yellowstone. The only editing I've done was to add a little mark to protect the picture. Please do not take this picture and claim it as your own. Click on the picture to see a larger version of it.

Koran burning on 9/11

In the small, usually quiet, town of Gainesville, an event that has not yet happened is already capturing the attention of the nation. Terry Jones and his small congregation of 50 people is planning on having a Quran burning bonfire to 'commemorate' September 11. Many people have voiced their opinions including Hillary Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Joe Liberman, Eric Holder, and Gen. David Petraeus. Here's my opinion: I think it's very sad, very closed minded, and quite frankly against God therefore hypocritical. This man, this group has no idea what he's talking about. It's not the religion that should be condemned, but the radicals that manipulate the religion and use it for political purposes that are extreme and not at all reflective of the true values of the society. Oh gee, kind of like him! He's exhibiting the same exact hatred that he's protesting against. The irony is, he doesn't realize it. One of my dear friends actually fought in Afghanistan and he separated religion from the issue of who the enemy was. The enemy was not the religion, or even the majority of people who followed this religion; the enemy was, and continues to be, those extremists who always mess it up for the rest of the group. All it takes is that one bad apple, doesn't it? Another really sad fact is that the world is letting this man control us. How could 50 people control the world like this? Many of my fellow classmates are saying that we are giving them the attention they want. I have to agree with them. Yes they are radicals, yes they are offending a lot of people, and yes they plan to have this event even though the fire department denied their requests but this should not have become the world's focus to the extent that is has become because the problem is now compounded.

Thought of the Day

How much knowledge did the human race lose at the onset of the dark ages? We've lost thousands of plays from the Greeks. This can be inferred from the fact that Dionysus festivals were held every year? Plus there are fragments of plays left. The Egyptians definitely knew something about math and science. There is also all the medicinal herbs that every culture had. The Cubans still retain some of this knowledge as evidenced by "los cosimientos" of chamomile tea- the tea that cures everything. The people of Columbia have mate (pronounced mah-teh with an emphasis on the second syllable), another cure-all. It is believed there are a couple lost Shakespeare plays. It makes me wonder how much more 'advanced' our civilizations would be if we didn't lose, burn, and just generally destroy everything. Only thing is, this is always happening, not just simply during the Middle Ages. Think of Soviet Russia, they changed all the textbooks not simply to brainwash people into living and breathing the party, but because they knew that knowledge was dangerous. We may have had to’re-invent the wheel'. It's sad how ignorance and fear possess people to make decisions that affect not only themselves, but the world, a society. How much do we really know? Can we ever regain what has been lost?

*Note- the title links to a picture that is NOT mine. I just thought it went nicely with the post. Hope the owner's not too mad. <3

Cheap and Lazy Beauty Advice part 2

Ok, so I thought of a couple more tips and tricks.

1) If you've just finished blow drying your hair and ironing it, chances are, it's still a little frizzy. Get a dryer sheet and run it through your hair. This doesn't work if your hair is extremely frizzy. If your hair is that frizzy, chances are it's dry and needs heavy duty conditioning. See my previous beauty post for curly hair care because you need that product.

2) Severely chapped lips.
Winter's coming up. If you live in cold climates (I don't know why you would willingly) you know how dry and chapped your lips get. Put petroleum jelly on your lips before you go to sleep and the next morning you will notice an improvement. If they are not too bad, by the next day you will have totally soft, kissable lips. Of course, if your lips aren't dry, you can still use it as a moisturizer. Your lips get wrinkled too by the way. This is especially true if you are a smoker.

3) Another acne cure
Dab toothpaste (any kind) on your pimples. This treatment isn't as effective for me, but if it works for you, awesome! Everybody's skin is different so one form of treatment doesn't work for everybody.

Cheap and Lazy Person's Beauty Advice

Hey girls,
I usually don't read fashion magazines but every once in a while I have one on hand and I look at it. After reading the sex advice sections, I flip over to the "385 new looks" section. One thing I've noticed about all of these looks is they are time consuming, hard, and expensive! (Or at least, for me they are because I'm cheap and lazy.) So, I've decided to share some tips with you, things that I've tried. I'm not getting paid for any of this by the way.

1) For acne/blackhead removal
Yeast. I swear it works. I know it sounds gross, and honestly it kind of is, but it works quite well. Buy dry yeast that you can find in a supermarket. They usually come in 6 little packages or so and they are not frightfully expensive. I don't recommend the rapid rise yeast though. It doesn't work as well and when I explain what you have to do, you'll understand. When you're brushing your teeth to get ready for bed, get a small bowl and empty only about 1/2 of one package of the yeast into the bowl. Add a couple drops of water and mix it until it's a thin paste. Not too watery though. Spread the yeast onto your face like you would a cream. The rapid rise yeast will dry too quickly and will render your face immovable. When you do move your face, it'll crack and leave you looking like some kind of warrior with war paint on. You want the yeast to be moist enough to soak into your skin I guess. It shouldn't feel like dried up face paint. You leave it on all night. Yes, you actually have to sleep with this gunk on. The next morning, simply wash it off with soap and water. I have noticeable blackheads on my nose and after I do this yeast treatment, they didn't reappear for a week or so. It also left my skin clear and even. The nice thing about the yeast treatment is that it's all natural and you don't have to do it for a long time to see results. You see results after the first time and you don't have to do it every night, or every week.

2) Curly hair care
I have curly hair. Natually. It really bothers me that those "75 new hair-dos" are for girls with straight hair. I can't cut my hair in layers, my hair has enough volume as it is! And I refuse to straighten my hair because that takes over 2 hours, it doesn't look good, and I'm lazy. So, thanks to my roommates last year I have discovered an amazing product! Really, it's like God's gift to my hair. Only problem is, I've only ever been able to find it at Wal-Mart. It's called Cantu, it sells for about $6 for 16 fl. oz. and it's in the ethnic section of the hair care aisle. It's a shea butter leave-in condition. It's now the only product I use. I wash and condition my hair and then when I get out of the shower and have squeezed all the water out of my hair, I separate my hair into sections and put the Cantu in starting at the roots and go all the way down to the tips. That's it. Because I have a lot of hair, it takes a while, but now that I have the hang of it, I can do it much faster. It takes about 20 minutes or so. The beauty of Cantu is that I can put it on, and go out with my hair still wet and it won't get frizzy. I used to use mousse. When I'd put it on and go out with my hair still wet, my hair would pouf up and shrink. Cantu also brings definition to my hair and holds it like a gel. I decided to change my curl pattern by twisting them with my fingers to get those doll curls and they I still have them a few days later. I told you, I swear by this product. Nothing has ever worked for my hair, so it's really nice to find something that works that won't break the bank.

3) Dark circles
Sometimes they are caused by allergies, other times genetics, or lack of sleep is to blame. I don't really have dark circles under my eyes, but at the inner corner of my eyes it's a little dark and it makes me look tired all the time. My 4th semester of college I took a theater make-up class; each session we learned a new technique. Old age, changing our features, wounds, etc. One of the first days was beauty. It wasn't pretty, going out to the club make-up- it was how to change our faces to achieve ideal beauty. Oval face, symmetry of the features, smooth skin. So to cover up darkness under the eyes they gave us this yellow concealer. I loved it so much I asked where I could get some. They told me Sally's sells it and I ran out to get some. It cost about $6. It comes in lipstick form so it's easy to handle. I know I should use a sponge or a brush or something, but I don't. I just apply it under my eye, spread it out with my finger and then apply my powder foundation on top of it. Besides making my eyes brighter, I also use it as a primer for my lids.

4) Red spots
Another thing I learned in the aforementioned class was the magic of green concealer. This one I also bought at Sally's for the same price as the yellow concealer. Do not use it over a large area, it's only meant for spots. After you apply it, dab at it to blend it and remove the excess. A couple taps of your finger ought to do it. Apply your foundation/powder as usual.
The reason yellow and green concealers work is because of the color wheel. Dark circles are purplish and yellow is the color opposite purple on the color wheel. When combined, the colors cancel out. The same is true of red and green.

5) Cleaning braces/appliances
I went through treatment for a long time. I almost feel like an expert in orthodontics because, I swear, I went through just about everything. You name it, I probably had it. At one point, I had a retainer that I couldn't remove because it was glued to the roof of my mouth. So, to keep my mouth clean, I would rinse with one part hydrogen peroxide and one part water. When I finally finished with my entire treatment, I didn't have the stain of the braces on my teeth. The hydrogen peroxide mixture is a good way to whiten teeth.

6) Getting rid of bug bites
A few years ago I went to Mexico and got stung by fire coral. OUCH! When I went and asked what I should do about it, I was told to put vinegar on it. It took a while to heal, and I smelled like a salad, but it worked. The acid that's in the vinegar neutralizes the baseness of the bite. Vinegar also works on bug bites. It takes away the itch and bump in about a day. The area might still be a little red, but it won't itch and it'll be completely healed the day after. Ok, I know this isn't really a 'beauty tip' but who likes itchy, bumpy, red legs or arms?

7) My personal beauty advice
Lucky seven because I can't think of anything else right now. Your best way to look and feel beautiful on the cheap is to smile. Smile from your face, your mind, and your liver as Ketut from the movie "Eat Pray Love" said. Seriously, a smile is the most dangerous weapon in your arsenal ladies. Guys, you too. I never leave home without my smile.