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Random Wednesday – a bit of everything

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

It’s been a while since I wrote a random update, so it’s about time to let you know about random randomness that goes on in my life.

Let’s start with RAM. I upgraded to 8GB all by myself. Impressed? My mother was! Cleaned all the dust bunnies from inside of my lappy, and had a sneeze fest while at it! Mental note: clean computer more often than once every three years. Thanks to the new RAM, we’re running more smoothly now.

Since I’m a health conscious freakazoid, I bought all natural Cilantro Mint toothpaste. No triclosan or fluoride! Seriously, what IS wrong with me? Cilantro Mint?  It’s… interesting, but good interesting. Also found a healthier mascara since my MAC one ran out and was causing all sorts of reactions anyway. It’s from Mineral Fusion and the only ‘iffy’ ingredients are phenoxyenthanol  (mild irritant) and iron oxide (irritant, but it’s a black colour for mascara). So far it works wonderfully, not a puffy eye in sight. Also, I owe you an update on Chinese Herbs that I’ve tried for my sinuses. They work! However, as I suspected they didn’t eliminate the problem completely. I also discovered that black tea and caffeine make sinuses a lot worse, same goes for citrus fruit.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim! Need I say more? I’m very excited about this one. It’s been 5 years since the release of Oblivion and this new game is coming out on Friday. Many things have changed in the past five years. I don’t even own a PC anymore, but I might just have to get one in order to play this. I mean… nooo, I don’t waste time on video games *shifty eyes*. Ok, but I swear this is the only one that I love. I’ve been with it since Morrowind days and yesterday I tried playing Oblivion on my Mac (MAC!!! Desperate much?)… I forgot all the keys and moved like a complete gaming noob.

I finally got back to my reading list. The number of books that piled up over the summer whispering “READ ME” every time I’d pass by the shelf is incredible. I started with Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his “Love in the Time of Cholera“. Oh wow, I LOVE his writing style, attention to detail, and multidimensional characters. Not a huge fan of never ending chapters, but it’s a very enjoyable read. If you have any recommendations for ‘must read‘ books leave a comment, and I’ll add them to my list.

Health Conscious

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

One of the more practical things that a science major taught me is to pay attention to all the chemicals that are being added to food and everyday products. I like reading labels on absolutely everything from clothes to shampoo bottles. Over the past ten years I’ve become increasingly sensitive to all the ‘smelly’ things like Bounce sheets, perfumes, and don’t even mention Glade plug-ins! During that same time frame companies started to add all kinds of things to their products that weren’t there before. With me being a chemical conscious ‘freak’ and all, I usually pay close attention to new literature that comes out, and when I heard about this “Slow Death by Rubber Duck” book, I knew I had to get it. Whaaa, was it ever an eye opening read: some things I knew, and others I didn’t. Like brominated flame-retardants in children’s pajamas and practically all of the furniture and carpets. Things that we use daily, many of which are known carcinogens and have many adverse health effects.  Good thing I switched to all natural, health friendly products due to my ‘allergies’. Still need to step up my game and pay even closer attention. Get the book, read it, I’m sure you’ll like it, and you don’t need a BSc to understand it. David Suzuki also wrote a number of great books on everyday chemicals in households, cosmetics etc. Here is quick link to some common gross chemicals in personal products.

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A good reference book on Food additives.

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There are a number of iPhone apps that also list all the food additives for a quick reference.

Random Wednesday – is really random!

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

How fun is it to type a blog post while on hold with Fido’s tech support? Just exuberant! Especially thankful for the absence of the ‘elevator’ music or I’d be humming ‘Girl from Ipanema’ all day long. Surprisingly Fido customer service greatly improved in the past few month. Think it has something to do with cheaper better companies coming into the market? Wind Mobile, Mobilicity (Dave Wireless), and just yesterday I saw posters for Public Mobile. Fido, your good customer service is making you move up on my list of horrible companies! Doggies in green hats look cute as well.

Lately I’ve been listening to a number of audio books while working. Turns out that I’m a horrible listener. The book blends into background noise, which my brain successfully ignores. My whole attention has to go to listening and absorbing of the information otherwise it’s just useless. I will stick with reading, it’s more productive. Ability to multitask = FAIL

On a completely girly note, for the first time ever I went and got my nails done. It just had to happen, they looked horrible after the trip! What can I say about the experience? Did not like it at all. Three of my fingers were bleeding and this silly nail polish is already pealing off!  Girly experiment to be never repeated again.

Figs! I’ve got fresh figs. Which is another first that I’m way more excited about. Why does food always make me hyper? Slowly I’ve been consuming them and they are delicious! I’d like to cook something with them, but can’t think of anything other than wrapping bacon around figs and baking that. Anyone has any tasty suggestions, family recipes? Share! I’ll cook, take photos, and will post the results.

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Random Wednesday – TV and Books

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
  • Who knew that past Monday was the most depressing day of the year?! Weird, my Monday was pretty awesome! It didn’t feel any different, until I watched the news and they announced that it’s a horrible day. I don’t have time for that, or to be depressed just cause the news says that I should be. Maybe it’s time to unhook the cable, there is nothing good on TV as it is.
  • I have a little leaning tower of Pisa piled up in my room, made out of books that need to be read. It’s time to cut down on the hours spent behind this silver machine of mine and do something more valuable. It always happens, books collect, no time or desire to read them, once the threshold is reached, I go on the “don’t distract me, I’m reading, and MIA to the world” swing. But don’t worry, the super valuable fast reading skills will be applied and you won’t even notice that I was gone.
  • As mentioned yesterday, here is a photo of me being frozen in my Yeti wanna be outfit. In comparison to the Pretty Lady, I think I win in the “over layering” department!

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Random Wednesday – Snow Day

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
  • Snow days always spell pretty fluffy stuff on the ground, amazing light, and festive mood, you know… just how they show it in the movies. Today, it’s more of the dark gloomy day, with snow blasting against the window, snowplow getting stuck on the next street and beeping for good 5 minutes while trying to reverse, and nice fluffy snow being replaced by miserable drizzle… Eh, winter is finally in Toronto…
  • Have I told you that I’m deeply, madly in love with books? Well, I am. And not any kind of books, but geeky – nerdy ones that make me proud for wearing glasses and making comments like “did you know that isoamyl alcohol is a depressant of a central nervous system?” while stirring my drink with a dainty straw. Don’t get me wrong, I love literature and novels, but those are more of the ‘light reading, makes you feel good, time for bed’ kind of books. So I ordered my geeky tomes from amazon, and they are here! Yaaay! Now I can bore everyone with info on toxic food additives and eating cardboard for breakfast.
  • Digging in dirt is therapeutic! Well, only when it’s one bag of potting soil, few plants that need a new ‘home’, and nice warm kitchen!  I thoroughly enjoyed it until I knocked down a glass of water on the floor and made a dirt+water goodness of a mess. Clean up wasn’t much fun… But plants look good! Can we say ‘uneventful week’?

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Today I [heart] – Whimsical Alice

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Modern day Alice won’t be disappointed with all the adorable stuff that is out there! Today was all about cute, odd, and whimsical… you got your magical world in a acorn jar, leafy accessories, companion doll, and designer heels to go with it all!

Alice

  1. Bunny Rabbit – GirlSavage
  2. Goldfish Trash Bags – Perpetual Kid
  3. Cup Cozy – Byrd and Belle
  4. Decomposition Book – Amazon
  5. Cherry Leaf Bracelet Cuff – JewelsCurnow
  6. Initial Rings – TinahDee
  7. Woodland Acorn Terrarium – DoodleBirdie
  8. Shy Tree Spirits – AlmaPottery
  9. DSquares2 shoes – Zappos
  10. Uomi doll – CaraCarmina

Projects

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Key in the ignition, music through the speakers, reverse, GO. Scavenger hunt! Well not really, but it sure seems like one, when driving around looking for all the parts to my next project. Explaining what I’m looking for to the store clerks is even more entertaining. They all, without a fail, have this surprised/absent expression when I reply to their “what is it for?” question. “Sure, it’s in aisle nine” they say, while thinking “ Craaaaaazy lady, it’ll never work”. They smile politely, “Good luck with your project” they say. Gotta love customer service!!! I get that a lot, but I’m not the type who really cares about being weird. So here are a few components: black, white, superhero silver fabrics, metal scraps, some plastic will go in there too. I’m not telling what it is yet, ‘cause what if it won’t work, and I have to admit defeat? Not cool! Here is the deal, if it won’t turn out, I’ll call it a piece of art, come up with some story about how it relates to human nature, and will present it next year at Nuit Blanche!

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As for the next project, I’m in the early stages of making coffee table books from archives of photos for Trains to Mars… It will be amazing! I’m getting all giddy and excited just thinking about it. Sorting and organizing photos is as boring as it sounds, but I love neat piles that I can work with easily. Keep an eye on that!

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