Jump to content
Post-Update: Forum Issues Read more... ×
BPAL Madness!

Blogs

Featured Entries

  • Silvertree

    Mod post: No wishlist posts in blogs

    By Silvertree

    Please be aware that we do not permit swap-related content on profiles or in blogs. Please post this content only in the For Sale, Swaps, and Wanted forums, or in the Wishlists topic. ~from Swapping 101  Thanks!
    • 5 comments
    • 7,708 views
 

Tempest

At first it's rather sharp, but as it dries it starts to soften, but the sharpness lingers just enough to add something interesting to the scent. Reminds me of when I lived near the beach and there was approaching storm in the distance and the air was charged and salty and a bit sweet.   It's very nice, though I think it might actually smell better on hubby. I'll have to try it on him and then decide about a bottle. I'm also worried that it will end up turning to soap on me, we'll see.....

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

Lightning

Wet, a sweet aquatic with a hint of florals Not sharp like Tempest, this reminds me more of growing up in Fla. when we would get sun showers and the sweetness of the flowers would emerge. The air is fresh and moist and everything is damp and clean and all you want is to close your eyes and feel the light rain on your face. I was actually expected something a bit darker or sharper, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to try it on myself as I think it would be better suited on me and the Tempest I tried is more for dh.

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

Exhausting day yesterday...

Exciting day yesterday.   I would've posted earlier, but I was completely exhausted. Cleo had to go to the vet and get a c-section. Ack, brb... tell you the story after I give her her meds.   There, done. So Cleo had Baxter on Saturday, but she was still lumpy. Still, she wasn't acting too funny, so we figured she was just taking a while to get the other(s) out. Well, she was, but the problem was that one of the kittens was too big. Woke up yesterday to bloody discharge from her, so we ran her to the vet, where they x-rayed her and found the large kitten. She needed a c-section, obviously, so they did it (and spayed her at the same time). But wait! There were TWO kittens still in there! And they managed to save one!   Unfortunately, the little boy was the one that couldn't be saved. I've named him George, since for the little bit of time he was fighting for life I loved him. Stupid as it may sound, I've cried for him.   The others are, um, both girls. Yes, even Baxter, who has been renamed Beatrix, but still Bax for short. The other is Berenice, Berry for short. Bax looks like Cleo, same markings and everything, and Berry looks like Keon. Sounds like him, too... they both got major lung power!   Pictures? Why, yes, I do have pictures! http://pics.livejournal.com/stabbitydeath/gallery/0000cse8   Today I got my first ultrasound done. I'm 8 weeks, 5 months according to the measurements... and according to the due date calculator. How odd.   Here's the ultrasound. http://pics.livejournal.com/stabbitydeath/pic/000122wd   Oh, I also turned in my application for the pool locker room attendant. Easy job, decent pay (really good pay for what I'll do, actually), and it's while Alex is in school. I put I want about 25 hours a week, which I think is acceptable... I don't want to work when Mar's off if I can avoid it. So I hope I get it. Yay, BPAL money!   And now I have a kitten in my cleavage. Berry gets cold... I think she's more fragile than Bax, understandably, and every time Cleo leaves, despite the fact that they're by the heater, Berry cries.

Kitrona

Kitrona

 

Eek!

I hope my review of Pan's Labyrinth wasn't offensive to anybody! I still had a fantastic time, and I'm incredibly glad to have seen it on the big screen. I was just pointing out things I didn't enjoy about it, s'all.   I'm kind of pissed right now. I got my LotR essay back today, and the grade was considerably lower than I was expecting. I didn't fail, but I got a 4.0 out of english 101, and this is a LIT class (sort of), so I have a certain amount of expectations for my grades when it comes to writing, and I was pretty confident with what I had written.   Also, I love you guys. That's all for now! Must do homework, so I can then play Baldur's Gate 2! And then.... American Idol!

smallvoice

smallvoice

 

Bayou

Oh, wow, this stuff is potent! Caught be by surprise how strong it is.   Bayou is a very interesting aquatic. It's not a fresh clean aquatic nor is it a deep dark one. This one is definately murkier like a swamp. It reminds me summertime in Fla, canoeing under a canpoy of trees, hot and humid, somewhat dank, with a touch of swamp flowers and moss and wet vegetation. I think I really like this, though it does make me feel a bit homesick. Doubt I would buy a bottle, but I'm glad I got the imp.   ETA: Sadly, it ended up smelling like old, stale, really rank cheap drugstore perfume. Off to swap pile!

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

Anaconda V. Sugar Skull '04

I sampled Anaconda, posted my review and then went back and read the other reviews that had been posted as well as the comments in "Anyone Tried It?"   I realize that noses and skin chemistry can be vastly different but I was surprised to see so many comparisons to Sugar Skull, but I didn't find the two scents to be similar beyond their both being sweet scents.   I decided to do a side by side to see if my nose was playing tricks on me. I applied the Anaconda to my left wrist and the same amount of SS'04 to my right.   Wet on skin~ Anaconda is a rich, smoky brown sugar bruleé scent.   SS'04 is screamingly sweet but a very bright sweetness like sticking one's nose into a newly opened bag of white granulated sugar. Dry down~ Anaconda begins to sweeten up even more, brown sugar bubbling away in a hot sauté pan and then adding Snake Oil to the molten sweet mixture. This scent stays close to the body and the longer it's on my skin, some musky earthiness starts to develop.   SS'04 also intensifies in sweetness but on a bright, white scale. Also I can start to smell the candied fruits lending a lovely purple hue to this stunner. This baby has tons of throw and seems to be gaining power the longer it dries on my skin. This scent doesn't morph much from the wet stage as it dries down. A few hours later~ Anaconda morphed into a sweet tobacco scent mingling with hints of the original Snake Oil. Much of the sweetness has gone leaving a soft smoky, almost musky scent. Still deep, still sexy.   SS'04 is still throwing tons of white sweetness and candied fruits but now there is the slightest burnt edge peeking out. But this is white sugar bruleé. This morning~ I can still smell the Sugar Skull's faint fruity sweetness with a touch of the burnt sugar edge. Anaconda was just a lovely memory even by bedtime. Analysis of experiment~ Even though I got a touch of the burnt sugar edge in Sugar Skull after the long dry down, these scents are still completely different to my nose. The tobacco, brown sugar and Snake Oil components vs. the white sugar and fruits make these scents on the opposite ends of the scent-spectrum. One being bright white and then turning into an almost glowing purple scent, the other being rich golden brown with burnt black edges.   I would say that the brown sugar aspect of Anaconda is much more similar to the brown sugar goodness in Monster Bait: Underpants.   I enjoyed this experiment. If you have both scents available to you, try it out, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  

Ina Garten Davita

Ina Garten Davita

 

To believe, or not to believe.

So, after freaking out the other day I remember why I always ought to pay attention to my feelings. My friend was in a car wreck. She's going to be fine, thankfully, but the timing was just odd.   My timing seems to be consistently odd. I don't know if I truly believe in ESP and other psychic things, but I do know that I have a lifelong pattern of knowing when something bad is going to or has happened. There are almost daily moments of knowing little things, but these are the main ones:   1) right before my mom got phone calls telling her of my grandfather and uncle's deaths, i told her not to pick up the phone because it was going to be bad. we were living in Japan and neither of them had been sick before they died. 2) i dreamed of my grandfather's death the night before he died. not just of him dying, but the exact manner of his death. 3) i did the pre-phone call thing when my grandmother had the final stroke that put her in hospice care. i answered my phone and said "it's grandma, isn't it?" before my mother said a word. i'd actually been anxious and worried for a few days before, starting the day that she had her first stroke. 4) the morning of 9/11, i had a feeling that i needed to take the train into penn station instead of the WTC. i'd never gone into school that way before.   I think I need to stop dismissing these feelings.

mermaidrage

mermaidrage

 

Life go 'splodey...

This weekend (and I'm including Friday for the sake of clarity) has not been the most fun.   Getting locked out of the Cafe's WiFi security wall on Friday, for nearly the entire day, was annoying enough. Since then: my middle sister, the MD and Navy officer, found out that she might be deployed
a friend of my chosen sister took it upon himself to inform her abusive ex-fiance that she has moved back to that town
the Grad Student and I have been on the telephone with one another three times, hand-holding one another through assorted emotional crises
I tried to smash a bone in my finger to kindling while trying to hammer a ring shank into shape
and some information has left me a little worried about my future ability to do my Friday shows at the Cafe.
I can't do anything about the possibility that Alex might be deployed, and the idea has haunted my nightmares ever since Shrubya declared Son of the Sandbox ("My daddy got a war, an' I want one too!"). I can't do anything about (possible) new ownership at the Cafe, even though the official owner has reassured me that nothing is changing. I can't bolt to Minneapolis -- I already have an airline reservation that's only 11 days away -- and I can't drop everything and camp out on Sioux's doorstep with a broadsword, much as I want to.   I have decided that I need to have the income of a Lady of Leisure, only without the attitude that usually accompanies it. I want to be able to throw money at the problems of family and friends until they go away; I want to be able to drop everything and fly to wherever I'm needed on a moment's notice. I want to provide boltholes and margaritas, storage and critter-sitting, tea and sympathy, and not have to worry about who is going to have to pay for all of it. I want to be a punk-rock, ElderGoth Auntie Mame to friends and family, and direct emotional and logistical support to D. I want it all, and right this second; but it's not happening on my current budget.   Mostly, I just want to make a difference that amounts to more than "I'm here, and thinking of you."

goth_hobbit

goth_hobbit

 

Bullet point mania!

I organize thoughts with bullet points. I'm sorry. I spent 12 years writing technical manuals, and this is a habit I cannot break. Again, my apologies. On with the blog!   - This is bordering on TMI, but: One of my dogs (or maybe both, I'm not sure) has been tooting all night. We had to evacuate the room twice. It's driving me crazy. As far as I know they've eaten nothing except kibble and their usual treats today, so I'm worried about what they've gotten into that I don't know about yet.   - When we got our tax forms back I looked at my income from last year and started to wonder how much I'd be getting back. My husband said, "You mean WE'll be getting back." He reminded me that we split my income 50/50. I sputtered, "But, but... that was MY money, that I made, and I'm broke..." (I haven't worked since April.) He was right though, we did agree two years ago that my income was used as our discretionary money and it was split 50/50. I haven't worked in so long that I forgot. I was mad and stomped around and behaved like a jerk. I finally said I was REALLY looking forward to that extra $20 I'd be getting in the tax refund, in the most sarcastic voice I could muster. He said he expected my half of the refund would be much larger than that, considering that we split HIS income tax refund 50/50 as well. Whoops! I forgot about that agreement too. Here I was being all pissy that he was taking half of my paltry refund when he was also giving me half of his much larger one. I slinked off silently feeling like a toad.   - I've been watching Father Ted on DVD for the past couple of days, and today I found this: www.doogle.org. This will make no sense to you unless you've seen Father Ted, but I think it's hilarious.

filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

 

Your going to be fine one day

my emotions are hard to make sense of. I'm hurt but wanting to heal and forgive and just alot of things. I want to be happy. And I keep listening to this song over and over. So I'm posting the lyrics. It is a song by KT Tunstall.   It isn't very difficult to see why You are the way you are Doesn't take a genius to realise That sometimes life is hard It's gonna take time But you'll just have to wait You're gonna be fine But in the meantime   Come over here lady Let me wipe your tears away Come a little nearer baby Coz you'll heal over Heal over Heal over someday   And I don't wanna hear you tell yourself That these feelings are in the past You know it doesn't mean they're off the shelf Because pain's built to last Everybody sails alone But we can travel side by side Even if you fail You know that no one really minds Come over here lady   Don't hold on but don't let go I know it's so hard You've got to try to trust yourself I know it's so hard, so hard   Come over here lady Let me wipe your tears away Come a little nearer baby Coz you'll heal over, heal over, heal over someday

RogueFeenix

RogueFeenix

 

Open Letter to the People Who Applied for My Job

Dear Applicant,   Thank you for submitting your resume for the Gender Officer position in Afghanistan. There were several moderately qualified candidates and therefore, the selection was slightly difficult. I regret to inform you that you were not selected for the position due to one, or a combination of, the following:   1. You mentioned your “mental state” on your CV as “rural, urban, cosmopolitan”; 2. You sent me a long email after the phone interview explaining what you really meant to say during the interview, but just couldn’t; 3. Your writing sample included the phrase: “poverty has a women face” and/or “empowering the powerless through concretization”; 4. Your references told me how you “did not dress appropriately” when you worked in Kabul two years ago; 5. Your writing sample was 32 pages long, written in 2002, had eight annexes (including an ORGANOGRAM) and was over 1.5 MB; 6. Your writing sample had several misspellings and grammatical mistakes; 7. During the interview, you described your management style as “authoritative”.   Due to some, or all, of these reasons, we cannot extend an offer of employment to you at this time. Thank you for your interest.   Sincerely,   Confection

Confection

Confection

 

I blog, therefore I am

I am a word etymology geek, and of course, any sort of "where did that world come from?" question sends me off in search of its origins. In this case:   Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English- Main Entry: blog Part of Speech: n Definition: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called [Weblog], [Web log] Example: Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author. Etymology: shortened form of Weblog Usage: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger n   ______________________________   I admit, I was really down on blogging a couple of years ago, if only because the few blogs I'd run across were the most self-aggrandizing, nauseating pieces of crap I'd ever read. I realize now that the source I'd used to come across them led me to some very unsatisfying blogs. (A much different forum, I won't get into that right now, that's another entry in itself!)   Then I started reading political blogs, especially after watching a discussion on C-SPAN where a number of print media journalists were lamenting the demise of the newspaper as a source of true investigative journalism. The reason they most often cited for that demise was the proliferation of chain newspapers that functioned to reflect the views of the corporate ownership. One of the panelists was the woman who started the political humor-commentary blog Wonkette. Some of the more traditional print journalism panelists were dissing blogers because they lack the editorial control of journalistic ethics, and she retorted that when traditional journalism simply wouldn't look at the hard topics, investigate issues or print the controversial stories, blogs were stepping in to fill that void. And indeed, more and more serious journalists are running their own blogs these days, to the point that they're e-zines. I appreciate that a lot.   Since Wonkette is essentially a political humor blog, I started reading a few more general humor and commentary blogs, just because some of those people make me laugh like crazy. And my local newspaper makes me laugh, but only inadvertantly, and only because they are so hick and pathetic. Good blogs takes things to a higher denominator, and I feel like I'm actually a part of the world again.   So this brings me to writing in my own blog space, which I started mainly for the jollies of it. I saw it as writing practice, if nothing else -- I had no idea what I'd write about. But really, I tend to have a lot of stories. I see my life as an endless series of odd stories and observations, and I share the better ones. (Well, not all of them, but at least some of them.) Sometimes I get a little Zen or a little angsty, but that's human nature. And often, issues and problems take on a greater shape and clarity when one writes about them; the mere act of writing can help end the spinning-in-the-head that too often occurs if we just mull over things without setting them to print.   I think reading each other's stories gives perspective to our own stories. I have friends who know me well, who see me a lot, who have certain expectations of me, and who sometimes do not look at me with fresh eyes. (Not in that "fresh" way, for any of you perverts out there! Oh, oops, hold it...I'm the pervert! ) So many of you give me a fresh perspective, either from your own entries, or through comments on my blogs. Sometimes you are a realilty check that I just can't get from my friends. Hopefully now and then (when I'm not carrying on about underwear, high heels, BPAL or dreams of George Clooney), I give you a different perspective that might also serve as a reality check.   I think our reasons for blogging are as varied and nuanced as we are, and it only adds to the tapestry of our lives. All of you make my life so much more interesting, and for that I am most thankful.

valentina

valentina

 

Lady Macbeth

I was really looking forward to trying this, but unfortunately it *really* didn't work on me. Nice sweet berries but mixed with something really sharp smelling. I ended up with a bad headache and had to wash it off. I'm thinking maybe currants don't like me?

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

What's in a blog?

Andrabell's recent blog entry made me think about why I like to write blogs -- I started replying to her blog and then I realized that was WAY too much for a comment so I'm transferring it over here.   ----------------------------------------------------   Here's why I write personal stuff in blogs and LJ: I'm extremely indecisive and I like to talk through things with other people, in case they have ideas or points that I just haven't thought of. Or maybe they can see possible outcomes of decisions that I haven't considered. Or maybe sometimes I just want to hear "Yeah, you're on the right track."   The thing is, I just don't have very many real friends. Except for my three sisters and my husband, I have a total of three friends. One of them is a male drinking-buddy type that I see once every few months, one of them is a super-busy role model type (also male) that I talk to about my plans and ambitions, and the other one is so wrapped up in her own self and her own problems that mainly our friendship consists of her calling me and me listening to her. As far as "girlfriends" go, I am extremely lacking. I haven't chatted on the phone or in person with anyone about my own problems/issues in months. Literally.   In real life it's hard for me to make friends. I don't seem to have much in common with most women I meet, and men usually have wives or girlfriends who disapprove of them hanging out with me. I'm extremely introverted, and I'm a housewife who leaves the house twice a week to go to class (plus running errands and stuff like that). Even if I did make friends easily, I don't have much opportunity to meet anyone. The women I've met through the forums and LJ have pretty much become my "real life" friends.   I was watching the movie Tombstone yesterday, and in it a guy asks Doc Holliday why he puts his life on the line for Wyatt Earp. Doc says it's because Wyatt is his friend. The guy says "Hell, I've got lots of friends." Doc says: "I don't."   I guess most people have a network of friends they can call up and talk to whenever they want. I don't.

filigree_shadow

filigree_shadow

 

Chewy School Goodness

If I'm ever going to attend a four year school, I'm going to have to take a whole lot more math than just statistics. Do I try and get some of it done next year? Or do I try and keep the focus on the sciences I need for the radiology thing and not spread myself too thin?   I don't know. I'm back in obsessive mode regarding my classes. Obviously.   More:   Ooh! I just went through the new course catalog, and the genetics class I want to take has basic math and science prerequisites, which means I should be able to take it sometime in the next school year. But there's where I run into the problem I was chewing on up above- where do I fit it in?   They've also got several spanish classes that I'm now interested in looking at. (I was essentially forced into taking 3 years of it in high school because it was practical, so I never developed a love for the language, but I think I might be able to do that now.)   More:   How is it that I can obsess so much over future classes and yet be dreading tomorrow so much? There's no reason for it, either. I like all of them. In fact, this is probably my best quarter of instructors, and certainly one of my favourite classes, as far as people in it go. I'm going to fall apart when things start getting really difficult.

smallvoice

smallvoice

 

Spring Switch Witchery Alert!

Sign-ups are tentatively set for the 17th of this month, so if you want to play, be sure and start getting your questionaire ready! Just thought I'd give a head's up for those of you who don't stalk the swap forum like I do. I'll update with a reminder when the sign-ups are officially set.

smallvoice

smallvoice

 

Xiuhtecuhtli

Wet: mmmm....a lovely blend of refreshing citrus and warm florals Drying: yum, the smoke and incense appears. The further it dries the smoke fades and a beautiful musk appears. Dry: It reminds me so much of Pele, which I love, but a bit sexier.   I must get a bottle!   ETA: After a while it just went generic incense on me. But I'm thinking it would smell wonderful paired with Pele.

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

Isles of Demons

I think I really like this. It starts out a bit cologney at first, but as it dries it's a beautiful blend of warm musk and tropical flowers and greens. Not the soft tropical scent like in Pele, but something much richer and darker and deeper, like a jungle as opposed to island breeze. I think this would work well for both a man or woman. I'm going to try this a couple more times, but I think it might end up on my bottle list.   ETA: I think layering it w/Pele would work really nicely.

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

My thoughts on Pan's Labyrinth

I will be generous with the spoiler tags, for those who plan on seeing it. First, I'll do generalizations:   It is visually stunning. There's no denying that.   The cast is amazing. I need to watch more foreign films, because it cemented my belief that I just don't have an understanding of interpersonal relationships anywhere but where I've lived. In other words, not all the interactions translate into my sphere of understanding, if that makes any sense. It's like anger in anime always seems way, way overdramatic and over-done to me. . . which is a bit of a simplistic way of putting it, but that's all I can really say about it right now.   It isn't what I was expecting from the trailer I saw- but I read enough reviews to know it wasn't exactly what I was expecting anyway, but it still wasn't what I was expecting.   It seemed a little... scattered? Thematically, I mean. That could be my lack of understanding (as mentioned above) in part, but not wholly. And here is where I get into spoiler tags. Note: A lot of this is critical because I think a lot of the good has been advocated already, but I did really enjoy the experience.   Spoiler   I am probably in the minority here, and I realize that.   I was originally under the impression that it was a fantasy movie, sort of in the vein of Labyrinth, Willow or Legend. Then I was under the impression that it was a movie about blurring those lines between fantasy and reality. I'm left feeling like it wasn't a faerie tale, and it wasn't religious and it wasn't historical, and it sort of needed to define itself.   If it was a fable, it wasn't a good one, because the "moral of the story" kept changing- it could've been about faith, but the last test was to not have faith, so that's not it.   There were too many stories crammed into the movie, and they didn't feel cohesive to me. It sort of felt like they were all neglected; like they didn't have enough time to get to any of them completely.   I would've preferred more focus on the fantasy aspect, obviously. I would have been happy, though, if any one aspect had been central, rather than all of them seeming peripheral.   Also, looking at it from a historical standpoint- from what I understand, there were no good guys in that war, so I felt a little uncomfortable with how sympathetic the "outlaws" were made to be. (Isn't that essentially Stalin's camp?) I appreciate how unflinching and stark the film was about it, but it seemed like it was mis-represented a little bit, perhaps.   Finally, since I'm not in a place where I can coherently express myself, I have a teensy bone to pick.   That awesome, awesome scene for her second task? The guy with his eyes in his hands? That pissed me off. This chick crawls into the belly of a tree, with bugs crawling all over her, to look for some toad and feed some rocks to, just because the faun told her to. But when he makes it really clear that the one thing she can't do while she's in the second task is eat, she falters? It's not like she's starving. Her family is well taken care of on that front. And it's not like she's never read a faerie tale! She's obsessed with them! So she should freaking know better! But she still eats! That was so infuriating to me. At least there could have been some clever trap for her to walk into, but it was just straightforward. "Ho-hum. I think I'll pluck some dinner off this table where this freaky guy is sitting with his eyeballs on the plate... mmm." No. Not believable. That girl knows better. Anyway, I'm going to end this here. Heh.  

smallvoice

smallvoice

 

Pele

To be honest, my hopes weren't very high for this one. I've been finding that many florals do not like me.   Thankfully, I was wrong! I love ths one! It's such a beautiful, soft, refreshing floral. I wish it was stronger though, but it's kinda nice to just catch the scent now and then. It's almost flirty. I'm also thinking that this might layer nicely with some othr scents that need to be softened.   I have to get a bottle.

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

Le Fee Verte

hmmmm.....smells like a nice upscale perfume. Something like my mother used to wear, only a bit sweeter. I was a bit disappointed because in the bottle I got lots of lime-y??? goodness, but absolutely none on my skin. The vanilla musk comes out very nicely as it dries, along with the honey and something herbal. Also, a little powdery, but something there is keeping it from turning to complete powder on me. I'm glad I got to try it and most likely I'll keep the imp that was generously gifted to me, but I haven't yet decided on a bottle. I'll have to try it a couple more times. I'm also very interested to see how it will work in a locket.

femmefatale

femmefatale

 

Tavern of Hell

Hubby just tried this since I was assuming it would be a very masculine scent. Happliy, I was wrong. I starts out very woodsy w/a hint of florals underneath. As it dries, the gardenia and orange blossom comes out. Luckily, not much of the ylang ylang since it tend to give me a headache. Underneath it all lurks a faint whiskey and a bit of tobacco.   I really love this and can't wait to see how it smells on me.

femmefatale

femmefatale

×