Issue #10 Nice boys don't kiss like that
Dearest -- I hope all is well with you this fine Saturday. There is some big news going on in my little world that once I feel more comfortable, in due time, I'll start sharing.
Have I whetted your appetite? I hope so
[A good representation of me working out.]
Current Obsessions
Skin care. I had a conversation recently with a friend of mine who is also in her early 40s and part of the discussion lead to why we don't look our age. We easily could pass for 10 years younger (side note: TheExHusband is 37 and his mother thought I was much younger than he when I first met her). My friend and I discussed WHY we could easily pass for our early thirties and our mutual delight? Moisturizer. Despite the hard drinking, smoking, and wanton life we were looking pretty good. I've been moisturizing daily since my late teens and she the same. Genetics also helps -- mother does not have any wrinkles. Yay genetics.
Here is my daily regime:
Morning Yes To Carrots Daily Cream Facial Cleanser, Simple Soothing Facial Toner, Ciinque Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+, Clinque Surge, Yes To Cucumber Soothing Eye Gel, La Roche-Posay CC Cream, EOS lip balm in Pomegranate Raspberry. If I'm doing makeup: L'Oreal Paris True Match Super-Blendable Crayon Concealer, Maybelline New York Instant Age Rewind Eraser Brightener, Benefit's They're Real Mascara, Kat Von D Tattoo Liner, Glossier or ColourPop lipsticks, Maybelline Clear Mascara (for brows), Benefit High Beam highlighter, and Sephora Face Powder. I also have a collection of shadows and liners and other lipsticks. For makeup, I may use all the above, some of the above, or add something else in. My goal is to even out my skintone, cut the redness down, and look like I was born with that skin complexion. Routine including washing face and etc? 10 minutes tops. The idea of spending two hours everyday purely on make-up and hair makes me want to stab someone.
Night Yes To Tomatoes Activated Charcoal Bar Soap, Simple Soothing Facial Toner, Yes To Cucumber Soothing Eye Gel, and Eucerin Sensitive Skin Redness Relief Soothing Night Creme. And oh! Brush teeth morning and night.
For body moisturizer, I use solid coconut oil and since I sweat under the boobs, I use Lady Anti Monkey Butt Powder. I also wash my hair a few times a week and wax my brows every couple of weeks.
Being a girl is hard.
[You're probably thinking, "Jesus Lisa, who cares!" but a few years ago I wrote a post on how I take care of my hair and it went viral across my social network.]
I'm continue to outline and getting scraps of things down. I'm trying to not be scattered all over the place with my life, which also includes writing. Theodora Goss, in her piece "Sabotaging Yourself," writes I tell myself that I’m allowed to be jealous of another writer if I’m willing to be jealous of everything, the good and the bad. I've been mulling over this quote for the last few weeks and found it to be comforting to be okay with my jealously of other writers when I reframe their failures and successes in this context instead of just thinking they sprang from the womb successful authors.
Since I haven't been able to get to a talking therapist, I've been writing in my paper journal more which has been helping immensely.
Books / Movies / TV
I am still staggering through Dollface, which I am more than likely not going to finish. Long ago I made a pact with myself to give a book 50 - 100 pages and if it's not keeping my interest, then sod it. I've started listening to The Secret of Chanel No. 5, but having read biographies of Coco Chanel this one wasn't offering anything new so I've stopped listening to that. The other day I started listening to The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer and while I have a complicated relationship with Palmer (I alternately love and hate her), I'm finding the book to be inspiring and thought provoking BUT having read her blog on and off for years, there is not really that much new material here. My mini-me and I are co-reading A Discovery of Witches which I read bit and pieces of years ago and I'm hoping that it's better than I recall AND to get me over my Outlander funk.
My new ritual on Sundays is to check out first showing of a movie while gorging on popcorn. Last week I saw Florence Foster Jenkins and was by far the youngest person, by at least 20 years, in the theater and found the movie to be "eh." While there seems to be a few movies in the queue I want to see (Bad Moms, Suicide Squad, and a few others), nothing is really grabbing my interest, however, I am v. excited for Bridget Jones' Baby which opens in a few weeks. To freshen up my knowledge, I'm plowing through the first two movies. (I've seen these movies a zillion times and they still fill me with joy.)
Curated Link Love
If you've ever stepped in a library, you'll know of card catalogs - a system that categories everything down to the smallest bit. Now we use electronic catalogs that gives the same information but did you know that classification of things has been happening since the 1600s? [Atlas Obscura]
A comedian shoots down a trolls question as to why she's fat [Medium]
Correcting "imperfections, coloring, and subject matter, "photoshoping" images has been happening long before there were computers. [Mental Floss]
Interesting study which posits that most homophobes are a teeny bit gay [Mic]
In my early 20s, I resolved to never take getting married seriously and wanted to save for a right hand ring. My mother ended up buying me but the ring wasn't quite my style and I never got around to finding one that fit me. I never thought about being single and wearing a left hand ring and now it's giving me food for thought. [Refinery29]
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a link to an article where the author argues that you're not meant to do what you're love but what you're good at. I was enraged and if you read the comments on her piece, others were to. As a companion piece, I found this next article to be more germane for those of us who struggle between the doing what you love vs doing what you're good at argument and surprise, surprise. He wants you to do what you love. [LifeHacker]
The breakthrough science on the female orgasm [Mic]
A 3000 year old ball of yarn. Our forefathers were teh shit. [Atlas Obscura]
I've been staying off of public social media like Twitter in the last few months for a variety of reasons but mainly for self-preservation (I get my news from places like The Guardian and BBC via email). It seems that I'm not the only one. [New York Times]
Samuel Beckett's SAT questions [The Point]
In addition to yarn, our forebearers were also on fleek with leather [The Cut]
A chilling look comparing current climes to the political climate, racism, and xenophobia of the 1930s [The Guardian]
A question I never thought to ask: Why do books have blank pages? [Mental Floss]
Yes, I really do need this replica vulva earrings [SheBop]
How currencies got their name (dollar, rupee, pound sterling) [Mental Floss]
What it's really like a celebrity boot camp and wellness center [The Cut]
A 500 year old English pub on consecrated ground [Atlas Obscura]
Old tymey words to replace "heinous" and "villainous" [Mental Floss]
An interview with a bookstore [LitHub]
10 writing tips from Stephen King [Mental Floss]
Until next week!
xxx You can find me across the internet as @byshieldmaiden or
you can like my facebook page, A Most Unreliable Narrator.
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