Renewal July 28, 2009

I have the worst excuse in the world for not writing: I forgot my WordPress.com password and was too lazy to reset it.  Through the course of my laziness, though, many things have changed.

I am approaching the end of my weight-loss journey and the beginning of a new way of living.  I have lost 35 pounds so far with not many more to go.  The losing is nearly over; the time to make this new me into ME is fast approaching.

I applied for, and was offered, a new job.  I’ve been here for nearly two months.  It’s a change, going from the second-in-command of a department to the know-nothing wanna-be admin flunkie.  The know-nothing part is starting to diminish.  The admin part is sometimes hard to swallow.  The company is good, and the perks are *really* good, or at least they are if you like beer.

It’s a silly thing, but I’m making a concerted effort to take better care of my teeth.  I’ve been lucky so far, but my first filling (at age 34) was enough to get my rear in gear and start flossing regularly and brushing more frequently.  The fact that my teeth are yellowing and one front tooth is dead is only adding to that; I have an appointment for whitening and a veneer to make me feel better about my smile.

I’m leaving for my medieval camping trip soon, prefaced by an unusually horrible pre-trip sewing extravaganza.  Hopefully I’ll have pictures soon.

My attempt to maintain my own domain has flopped after 3 posts.  I’m debating about dropping it altogether and just being happy with WP.com – after all, it’s been nice to me so far.

Henna Superstar March 11, 2009

Since I decided to grow my hair long for bellydance, coloring it has become more and more of a chore. My hair is very fine to begin with; the length makes it prone to breaking and monthly chemical coloring treatments only weakened it.  Since I’d been coloring my hair red anyway, the obvious alternative was henna.  This way I end up with stronger, shinier, healthier hair, and most people have no idea my hair isn’t naturally rusty.

I have been way overdue for a henna application, and since I had some free time last night I decided bite the bullet and get this thing done.   I usually do my whole head, but my roots were about 4 inches long and I wanted to try to blend the brown with the existing red, so I tried a root touch-up.  It worked surprisingly well for such a risky endeavor; I could have ended up with a striped Easter egg head, but the shades blended beautifully.  If I’m feeling sassy in a few weeks I’ll do a whole-head application just to bump up the color and intensity a bit.

One of the down sides of henna is the time it takes.  Last night saw me cooking dinner with my head wrapped in plastic wrap, which was then topped with a fleece winter hat (to keep all the heat in and keep that dye releasing).   The whole process from the mixing of the henna paste, the initial hair wash, through the application and the wrap, the waiting, and the final rinse and dry took about 7 hours.  Not counting the wait, total attention time was nearly 2 hours.  Total cost, not counting the raiding of the pantry items, was about $5.

The fun part, aside from knowing I’m not destroying my hair with chemicals, is how creative I can get with the paste mix.  I vary my paste ingredients by using different liquids as a base (herbal tea, black tea, coffee, etc.), using different ratios of spices for extra color (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc.), adding molasses or honey to help keep the paste moist, and changing up the essential oils.  The result is a bowl of goo smelling–not unpleasantly–of dried vegetation, earth, patchouli, oranges, and spices.

It’s like a Turkish coffeehouse for my skull, and who doesn’t like that?

Prosaica February 19, 2009

I’m incredibly bored. I should be working. Instead I’m trying to figure out how to make things pretty and cohesive in the ether. It isn’t going well. What’s new with you?

Why I’m Tired January 8, 2009

This is what most of my nights are like:

I’ve learned to not mind sleeping on the couch, so long as I have a pile o’ blankets.