I’ve been blonde most of my life. I was what is known as a tow head as a child, meaning I had that really light blonde hair, which got darker and darker over the years, until I was about 19 and started coloring it. I liked my blonde, as wasn’t ready to give it up. When Ted lost his job in June, I started thinking of ways to pinch a few pennies, and one expensive indulgence I have is the hair salon. I won’t even tell you how much it costs to go into a good salon and get your hair weaved with two or three shades of blonde. It’s…

(Galileo and the Pope, found here) Today is the birthday of Galileo Galilei, born in Pisa, Italy, in 1564.  He is considered by many to be the father of modern science, and caused quite a rukus in the Catholic church with his claims that the Earth travels around the sun, contradicting the accepted belief that the Earth was stationary, and the heavens traveled around it. From wikipedia: In 1610 Galileo published an account of his telescopic observations of the moons of Jupiter, using this observation to argue in favor of the sun-centered, Copernican theory of the universe against the dominant earth-centered Ptolemaic and Aristotelian theories. The next year Galileo visited…

(album cover art found here) I know it’s soon to say, and I know I’ll change my mind in a few minutes, but right now?  I don’t mind being unemployed in the least.  I mean, I haven’t even started receiving Unemployment benefits yet. I don’t want it to go on too long, and with most of the people I know saying their companies have hiring freezes, it’s worrying.  But still.  Not a bit of urgency in me yet.  I’m going to give myself a few days, in which I only work connections, email people I know, that sort of thing.  I’ll start the grunt work later this week, the searching…

(pretty image found here) Day 1 of being unemployed.  I don’t mind not working so much, it’s the not getting paid that sucks. 😉   I’m going to return my new bike to REI in the next day or two.  I called today, and they’ll give me a full refund.  That’s good news.  I like the bike, but I can’t see spending the money on it when I am going to need interview clothes and clothes for a job that doesn’t occur in my bedroom.  Sigh.  I like shopping for clothes, though, so it’s not all bad. Spent today packing up my work computers and sending them to the company headquarters. …

(image found here) Carp…that’s a joke, because Cherry typo’d ‘crap’ in an IM once, and it came out CARP, and I’ve always liked that better. Anyway, CARP.  Just got laid off from my job.  I was only there for just under 8 years. Thankfully, Ted is starting his new job on the 18th, and there’s unemployment insurance, right?  But man, this economy sucks, and being out of work sucks, and looking for work sucks. A rainy Friday morning.  Think I’m going to go read my book and watch some 90210 on Soap Net. CARP.

Is Facebook destined to be the death of blogging? So easy to go there and post a quick snippet, without the commitment and time that it takes to write a blog post.  So easy to go there and read your friend’s updates, without the commitment of clicking around or using a reader.  I’ll admit, I like it a lot more than I thought I would.  That I have reconnected there with people I didn’t expect to ever see or hear from again is a bonus indeed. Is it wrong to come home from yoga class and be thrilled to find KFC for dinner?  (If you are a facebook friend, you…

(image found here) Yesterday started innocently enough with my regular routine…exercise, breakfast, shower, work…but soon after starting work, I started experiencing what is called a migraine aura, which for me is blurry vision, which seems like maybe there’s some lotion on my contact lens or something.  If I ignore the aura, I then suffer nausea and vomiting, and of course, a headache (which feels mostly like a bad sinus headache).  If I nip it in the bud by taking some migraine meds, get off of the computer/tv/book, lay down with a sleep mask over my eyes, it rarely gets worse than slight nausea and slight headache.  I think I’ve had…

We went to REI yesterday to see if they had any bikes like the ones I wanted, and if they might be any cheaper there than at the bike store.  They don’t have as big of a selection of cruisers, but they did have this very pretty purple bike, the ‘Karma’, by the same company, Electra.  And guess what?  It’s a lot cheaper than the others.  Partially because this particular model is a bit cheaper, and partly because there was an air bubble in the paint, so there’s a spot that looks a bit funny, so it’s not perfect.  Well, who is?  These bikes aren’t cheap, and the Gypsy I…

OK, not really.  I mean, it was 34 degrees when I went for a walk this morning, which was enough to make me wish I had worn my hat, but not enough to make me turn around and go get it.  And it’s supposed to heat up again over the next few days, so we’ll again be in the mid 60s for highs by the end of the week.  Those of you in Wisconsin, Toronto, and New Hampshire, please, don’t kill me.  I know, 34 is NOT cold, and for mid 60s right about now, you’d probably sacrifice a calf or something. When I go out in weather like this,…

(Leafy Sea Dragon photo found here) We went to see the new California Academy of Science on my birthday, and perhaps because my birthday is during Christmas vacation, it was crowded. Really, really crowded.  Far too crowded for enjoyment. We waited about 40 minutes to even get in, and once we did, we could barely get near any of the exhibits. We were there for about an hour before the claustrophobia of the situation took us over, and we had to leave.  It’s not cheap, either, so that was an expensive hour.  I mentioned this on my blog, and my San Francisco bloggy friend patois mentioned that she might wait…

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns O my luve’s like a red, red rose. That’s newly sprung in June; O my luve’s like a melodie That’s sweetly play’d in tune. As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will love thee still, my Dear, Till a’the seas gang dry. Till a’ the seas gang dry, my Dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun: I will luve thee still, my Dear, While the sands o’life shall run. And fare thee weel my only Luve! And fare thee weel a while! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho’ it were ten thousand…

savage chickens comic found here I’m glad it’s Friday today.  It’s a rainy day, for which I am thankful, because we NEED the rain.  This has been our driest January since 1920 or something stupid like that.  I hope we get lots more in the weeks to come.  Even more importantly, snow, because California’s main water source is snow melt.  Hmmm. Today is the last day of the quarter for Maya, so they get out at noon.  I’m working 1/2 day, and then we’re going to pick her up and go into San Francisco, and try again at the Academy of Sciences.  We went on my birthday, but it was…

I’d like to ask some advice, PRODUCT advice, from my female readers with curly or wavy hair.  Maya is interested in getting a flat iron, and we’re considering it as a possible birthday gift.  My hair is so stick straight and flat, I have zero experience in the flat iron world, so I thought I might ask you guys.  I mean, I can read reviews online any day, but advice from real live people that I know and trust is even better.  So, here are my questions. Does price matter?  I’ve seen them from $20 to $200.  I know that sometimes, spending more is worth it, because you get what…

Today is my Grandma’s birthday. She’s 86 years old. I’m not sure anymore that I want to live to be 86, but if I do, I hope I can do it with the grace and spunk that my Grandma has. She’s a wonderful, caring woman, who hasn’t had the easiest life, but still finds something good to say about most people, and never lets you doubt that she’s on your side 110%, as long as you don’t get between her and the dark chocolate in the box of See’s. I remember my mom wrote a wonderful birthday tribute to Grandma a couple of years ago, and I decided to repost…