Blogs

Rain

We had thunder and lightning last night and it's been all gray and drizzly outside today. Now it's raining- I love the rain. There's just something about it that is soothing and refreshing to me. I'm happy for it. It's going to be a good day.

August 8, 2006

Art

I signed up for the design class. It's my first class of the day! And then I have math! And then a break! And only then do I have my favourite instructor! This feels scary. Not to mention that I don't actually have any financial aid at the moment. All my classes are way far away from each other, too! Okay, the math to psych doesn't matter much, since I have my break then, but dude! They are really far apart. Winter I'll be taking math, english 201 and. . . Dunno. Maybe another art class, if this one works out. Spring. . . Biology and speech for sure. Maybe archaeology, too. Maybe art. I'm obsessing, and that's never a good thing. My emoticon favourites don't show up here. That's sad! Ooh! I got my checks in the mail today! And I've got my license and social security card (I think I already mentioned those) and my new debit card! So friggin' exciting!

August 8, 2006

Flashbacks

It was a geography class of some sort. Everything about it was unfamiliar. Faces, carpet, desk, rules. . . Everything. It was painful. I wanted to cry all the time. It was so very hot during the day; unrelenting heat, and so early in the year. Everything was wrong. I dreamed about home everytime I closed my eyes. A scrap of paper was delivered, and it was a small note; pre-typed and a single word scribbled out: home. I was going to be excused from the rest of my classes because I was going home. Home didn't mean the drab little tent in the RV park where we lived. I was certain to the core that home meant leaving this cruel desert and returning to my beloved desert. As it turns out, I was right. I wish I knew what happened to the little girl who lived next "door" to us. She was a sweet kid. Over the course of one or two months, I lost about 40lbs. There was just no money for food. I had lunch at school. That is a diet I would fall back on several times in my life. It didn't help. I left that place, but it never left me.

August 8, 2006

More death, less angst

I am thankful that I'm related to my father for one reason: His mother. I love my grandmother. She passed away in October of 1998 in Vancouver, Washington while I was in Provo, Utah. I didn't cry when I got the news. I wish I could've spent a little more time with her, and it wasn't expected, but I was surprisingly at peace with it. She was a sweet, willowy, classy lady. Her hair was always done. She loved cheerful colors, her grandchildren, and petunias. She was tiny and smelled like powder and cigarettes, and she always wore lipstick. I think I would look a lot like she did when she was young if I lost, like, more than half of my total body weight. She really was an amazing lady, and I really, really miss her. I wish she could've been at my wedding. She would like my husband. He would adore her. Everyone did. She never lost her wits, mobility, or sense of humor. I am glad I didn't have to go through watching her health decline, like so many other people have done and seem to be in the process of doing right now. A lot of people are talking about their grandparents on the forums right now, and that's what made me think of her. She was one of a kind. I'm certainly not eager for death or anything, but I sure can't wait to see her again.

August 7, 2006

Filters

I wish we had filters here. I had a post all written out about something really personal- probably TMI. I just don't feel like sharing it with anybody who happens to stumble across this blog. I'm not even sure I feel comfortable divulging it to you guys. Ze regulars. But. . . I don't know. I don't want to deal with livejournal, but I'd love a friends only filter right now.

August 7, 2006

Forum Updates and News

Ya hoo!

The swaps feedback, links, and gallery are finally live! I hope y'all find the swaps feedback useful, and if there are things you want to see changed, please mention it here, Forum Ideas, or shoot me a PM. There's a great deal of things I can't change (the core of the program is encrypted), but there's a great deal that I can. I've already modified a HUGE amount of the code to get it to work with the forum and to look nice -- it originally looked something between this and this. And you know us, we don't like those ugly, bland default layouts! In other news, the "original poster can view invisible threads" modification works again -- and I'm sure those who have been dinged for price cap violations will be much relieved to have direct access to their topics once more, as well as those who start decant circles (so they can report 'em to be checked). In unrelated news, I've been working on my new pet project: moving my foodie ramblings from LJ over to a proper food blog. I've got about 12 of 62(ish) entries over, and then I have a ton of recipes here and already on my site that I want to move over... I think I should be done in about two weeks. My friend Mike is supposedly making a layout for the blog (not because I can't, but because he got inspired by the name), but until then, I'm just using a public template.

ipb

August 6, 2006

Working

I want to get a job to support my BPAL habit. . . and that's probably the worst reason for wanting to get a job. I know I've mentioned anxiety in the past, but it's really, really bad. Paired with depression, it caused me to have several years that are mostly a blur of misery to me. I sort of crawled into myself and gave up. It's a whole big long sad story that I'm not up to rehashing at the moment, but it resulted in me applying and receiving disability from social security. I really just didn't have it in me to hold down a job. At that point, I was lucky to care enough to brush my teeth. I haven't worked in seven years. Getting a job would be spreading myself too thin, combined with school. I know most people can do both, but I'm just not that strong. It's frustrating, but I'm getting my feet under me. I'm sorely tempted to look for a job right now. Sorely. And I know I'm not ready. But I'm tired of having to budget every penny and I'm tired of feeling guilty for buying perfume, and I'm generally grouchy right now. I'm excited that I'm getting Katharina, though! (My husband's still unhappy about it, which makes me tense.) I am tired, tired, tired. And I'm in need of brushing of teeth and snuggling with the boy. 'Night, chickies.

How difficult could it be?

August 6, 2006

Phew! my first impressions of all new CD and GC!

Having had time to peruse the update, i'm having a stab at guessing what i will and won't like: CARNAVAL DIABOLIQUE: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower......this has some notes that have worked really well in other blends so i will need to try it. MIDNIGHT ON THE MIDWAY: sugared incense and night-blooming flowers.... was ready to ignore this (it was the incense. most incensy blends really don't work with me unless it's a tiny proportion) and then someone said it might be the snake oil of the series....well thank you....5ml on it's way to me! THE PHANTOM CALLIOPE: black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena...i'm thinking this might be like blood countess or lady macbeth. fruity but with darker depths.... might wait to see what the reviews are like before i take the plunge THE CANDY BUTCHER: Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone.... 13 and gluttony really do not work with me so i'm not going to bother with this one. MME. MORIARTY, MISFORTUNE TELLER: Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum....pomegranate and vanilla, you say? cannot wait for this one. it sounds fab! THE ORGAN GRINDER: Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark....i really don't think i'm going to like this...it's the tobacco and the pine. again, i'll wait for reviews. PULCINELLA & TERESINA: Labdanum, cedar, teak and red rose.....not sure i'll like this. i'm not too into rose and woods often don't work well with me. i'll pass. MELISANDE, THE PUPPET MISTRESS: Jasmine sambac, dark musk, violet water, vanilla bean and mimosa....apart from mimosa which i don't think i've ever tried, there isn't one note here that doesn't work with me....a possible favourite blend as well as a favourite portrait. DOC CONSTANTINE: Sheer musk, cedar smoke, fir needle, black amber and leather...not sure about the leather (hated dead mans hand) and fir needle sounds too close to pine for my liking. i'm not fond of smoke smells either....another pass. XANTHE, THE WEEPING CLOWN: Guava, orange peel, white pepper, spun sugar and apple blossom...i'm thinking this might be remeniscent of eve, sugar skull or eden. sweet sugary fruits. i'll have to get some to test ;-) GENNIVRE, L'ARTISTE du DIABLE: Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey...although i love mint (esp peppermint) bpal mints don't often work with me, but i think there might be enough to tip the balance. i'll get a bottle. THEODOSIUS, THE LEGERDEMAIN: Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean....how many people out there are thinking dorian?! i'll be getting some to try on himself! ANTONINO, THE CARNY TALKER: White musk, wild plum, vetiver, black coconut, verbena, fig, and lavender....for some reason i'm thinking oneroi...might be very, very wrong though. i'll wait for reviews, i think. and the GC scents: I DIED FOR BEAUTY:The Venusian splendor of ylang ylang and violet stirred by hyssop, frankincense, and grave loam...love ylang and violet. not so sure about grave loam (hated zombi and burial). i'll wait for reviews. THE JERSEY DEVIL: Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf....NO, NO, NO! pine and tomato leaf? yuk! THE TAVERN OF HELL: White gardenia, ambergris bouquet, lavender fougere, orange blossom, melissa, tobacco flower, coriander, ebony wood, ylang ylang, absinthe and aged whiskey...love bpal boozy scents. i'll try this without a sniff first, i think. LES BIJOUX: Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, red apple, frankincense and myrrh...no idea about skin musk, but i love bpal fruity blends. gotta get this one! CALIBAN: The scent of the salty seas, bittersweet wine, palm and tropical ferns...don't often like the aquatics and ozone blends, but this sounds intriguing. i'll try this. LADON: dragon’s blood resin, golden apple, apple blossom, white musk and hyacinth....i love dragon's blood. love fruits/blossom. gotta try this one! TANIN'IVER: dragon’s blood resin, patchouli, pomegranate, myrrh, mimosa, cassia, blood musk and smoke...dragon's blood again and now with pomegranate, another favourite. not sure about smoke. will wait for a review. MAG MELL: The warmth of amber, the puissance of white ginger and the clarity of verbena, with fresh green grass, lush sage and cleansing droplets of summer rain...sounds gorgeous! MANHATTAN: sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid...not sure about leather, but the rest sounds great. PONTARLIER: Swiss ferns, lilac, blackcurrant, Gallic rose and lavender with a dollop of sugar and absinthe...not sure about the rose and ferns but the rest sounds good. i'll try this. PORT ROYAL: Spiced rum and ship’s wood mixed with the body-warmed trace of a prostitute’s perfume and a hint of salty sea air on the dry-down...i'd get it just on the description alone! URUK:Thick bitter almond and heady night-blooming jasmine with saffron, cinnamon leaf, red patchouli, river lilies, bergamot, fig leaf and the sacred incense of Inanna...almond tends to overwhelm blends so not sure. it can also give me the huge red marks that cinnamon does...will need to test an imp before committing myself. COCKAIGNE: milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine....not sure about the cakes but the rest sounds good. i'll get this. THE ISLES OF DEMONS: The scent is of wet, dark greenery, carnivorous flowers, volcanic gas, and the hot black musk of the demons and wild beasts that populated the islands...not sure. it's not grabbing me. might swap for an imp. JEZIRAT Al TENNYN: smoke and fire, earth and wind. The rage of the elements blasting over a primordial paradise...no idea lol....will try an imp! KUMARI KANDAM: Thick incense, clay, stone, and hothouse blooms with a spike of frost, a hint of decay, and heavy, dolorous aquatic notes...incense, aquatics...not looking good. LYONESSE: Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss...vanilla and amber, 5ml coming up! ELIXIR VIII: BITCH: i neeeeeed this! ELIXIR IX: TKO: ditto! CLOISTER GRAVEYARD IN THE SNOW: Three white musks, ozone, frankincense, mint...love the snow/winter blends. i'm thinknig nuclear winter. DEATH OF THE GRAVE DIGGER: Snow, soil, opoponax and myrrh..not sure about soil, but i need to try the snow part! THE FOX-WOMAN KUZUNOHA LEAVING HER CHILD: White tea, cherry blossom, wisteria, star jasmine, and teak...could be one of those that i either love or hate. i'll give it the benefit of the doubt! THE PENITENT MAGDALEN: Immortelle, lily of the valley, gaiac, amber, honey, white sandalwood, almond flower, blonde musk, and hyssop....ditto above SILENCE -- White sandalwood, iris, blue musk, lotus root, moonflower, plum blossom, green tea, white mint and white peach....tea, fruits and mint. could be a favourite for summer. THREE BRIDES -- Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower. benzoin, tonka and vanilla.....cannot wait to try this!

Nemesister

August 5, 2006

Entire GC Swap - M. Tera Package #5 Replacement

I honestly have no idea how to use the chakra oils, so I'm just commenting on the scent. Ajna: The Third Eye. In the imp, it smells chemical. Kind of like that cleaning solution that you use to clean off whiteboards. On, it smells kind of like menthol, anise, and coffee. It's the kind of scent that will clear your sinuses and open your eyes up. It doesn't seem to last very long though, which was unexpected. Anahata: The Heart. In the imp, it smells a bit herby, a little golden. On, at first it smells almost exactly the same as it did in the imp. But as it dries I think I can detect something floral in it. It smells yellow to me. There's something about it that reminds me of that yellow Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo. Manipura: The Solar Plexus. In the imp, it smells spicy and unusual. On, at first it smells interesting and spicy. It has kind of a gingerbread scent to it a little bit. Not quite though, it's not that foody. Definitely spicy. I like this scent. Muladhara: The Root. Smells rooty. Like a dark woodsy scent, kind of pungent. Sort of reminds me of a basement. Yeah, something like a root cellar. Dark and deep. Sahasrara: The Crown. In the imp, it smells bright, maybe citrusy. On, it definitely smells bright. Light, sweet, and kind of glowing. There's a slight cleaning products feel to it, but not overly so. Swadhisthana: Sacral. In the imp, it smells sweet and a little spicy. This oil has my favorite scent of all the chakra oils -- this one and Manipura are the only ones that I'd wear as perfume. The oil itself is orange, and it smells red to me. I can't tell what's in it, but it's really a lovely scent. Vishuddha: The Throat. In the imp, it smells a little like cleaning products. On, the oil smells lemony and kind of sugary. Not totally like candy, more like lemonade. It definitely seems clean and fresh. This scent actually reminds me of a drink I'd want to drink if my throat hurt. Kind of like a lemony herbal tea with a little bit of honey. The Vortex. Kind of bright and lemony. I didn't find the scent objectionable, but it also wasn't my fave. Sort of clean and crisp.

Fishnets and Frankincense

August 5, 2006

circe_blue's Blog

Carnaval Diabloque, etc.

Eeee! The Carnaval is here! What a pleasant surprise that it went up early too, even if a small part of me wanted to stay up with everyone on the Update thread and have a BPAL slumber party. (If someone teaches me how to French-braid my hair, I'll weave them a friendship bracelet! And shhh! be quiet or my mom will hear us and make us all go to bed!) I waited a couple days to make my order so that my endorphins would die down and I wouldn't say ....buy the entire CD set (which would be lovely except for that part about my bank account spontaneously combusting). Here's what I recently ordered: Mme. Moriarty: Misfortune Teller-5mL-$20 Antique Lace-5mL-$15 Imp Pack-$19.50 Les Bijoux Cockaigne Sherezade Carnal Eat Me Vecheryaya Total +shipping = $63.00 USD Which isn't bad, no? I've found out thanks to BPAL, that I'm able to prune down all of my online orders so I only get "essentials", hooray! I also made an order today because today was my very last day at work and it was a pick me up/reward. Despite my occasional posts in the Jobs Rant thread, I really did love my job. I liked 99% of the people there, including my awesome supervisor. Another reason I'm feeling sad about leaving is that the job market is pretty icky right now. I have friends who are still working their "transition job" not a job in their chosen profession. I was lucky enough to find a good job, with a decent pay and great people and I'm leaving it Also, I'm kind of scared of going to school hours and hours away from my hometown and my friends. I don't make friends easily (I'm painfully shy) and I can't imagine spending 2+ years doing stressful course/research work without some friends around. At least my apartment situation seems to be sorting itself out. They've changed property owners/managers to the company that managed my suites in undergrad. Now, my quad suite in undergrad was pretty damn awesome. They were clean, well constructed, heat/AC problemless, and included washer/dryers in the unit. My apartment complex, the way it was before new management (and according to reviews on apartment.com was "sketchy", "gross", "loud" and included some visitors that went by names of "roaches", "mice", "spiders" and "silverfish". Hopefully, with new people they'll clean the f-ing place up. I've been stressing out about the supposedly sketchy environment since forever. The only reason I signed the lease was because it was literally right across the street from school. I'm going up tomorrow to get my keys and move some stuff in. I reeeally hate bugs and if I do see roaches, spiders or silverfish I will be very very angry. ------- On a lighter note, my boy is coming over tonight to watch our new addiction: Numb3rs on DVD . Also, I will secretly swipe him with Bluebeard to see if it will smell yummy on a boy. Drive-by BPAL swiping! Whee! I already know he absolutely loves Antique Lace on me. He says it smells "happy and yummy". If I layer anything else with it, he will have none of it. The one time I tried layering it with Peony Moon he picked up on it right away "Mmmm, it's Antique Lace!....and something else that's not Antique Lace...::sad face::"

circe_blue

August 4, 2006

Train wrecks

I am not making this one up, kids. When I was at the hair salon on Wednesday, I was looking down at the floor while my stylist had me tip my head forward and down just a bit. The stylist at the next chair over was wearing jeans, a tank top and thong sandals with little kitten heels. The fact that I even noticed what kind of sandals that she was wearing is a bit of a miracle, for I was very busy looking at her toenails. She had the French pedicure toenails, only where the little strip of white polish would be at the end of each toenail (which were rather long), she had a strip of dark blue polish. I sat there, looking at them, trying to decide if I liked them better than the traditional French pedicure, of if I found them more horrifying. It was a bit of a flip-off at the traditional style, which I can appreciate, but it also appeared as if each toenail was growing a nice, even strip of blue nail fungus. I still haven't decided. Her pedicure is rather like this man who shows up at the outdoor pool at the health club. He's probably in his mid-late 50's, and looks a bit like a puffy, going into corpulent Rutger Hauer. He shows up to swim laps, and he's really a very strong swimmer. But he wears a Speedo. It is most unappealing, but I've noticed that everyone's eyes drift over to this man. It is like a train wreck. It's impossible not to look.

valentina

August 4, 2006

His birthday

I hope my next birthday is loads better than this one. But now it's his birthday! For the record: Birthday BPAL of '06: Lotus Moon. Mmmm!

August 4, 2006

Squash Soup

Projected Order List-just for my info :)

Ima gonna be a baaaaad girl! [2] Chaos Theory 30.00 [1] AL-A-GA-ZAM 250.00 (!!!!!!!!!!!) by August 15 Total: 280.00 [1] Salon Imp Pack 82.00 [1] Panacea Imp Pack 42.00 Imps of: Lyonesse, Kumari Kandam, Cockaigne, Yerevan, Uruk, Tenochtitlan, Pontarlier, Manhattan, The Hanging Gardens, Gomorrah, The Jersey Devil, Leanan Sidhe, Tavern of Hell, Bathsheba, Les Bijoux, Queen of Sheba, Salome, Caliban [3] Imp Packs 58.50 [1] 5ml Eden 14.50 [1] 5ml Loviatar 14.50

jessiesquash

August 4, 2006

Forum Updates and News

I love you, but I cannot mother your fears

Roar, one of the mods that I've been wanting to install for ages (a mod that basically takes images more than 480px wide and resizes them to be 200px wide) isn't working with the changes with the latest update. This makes me sad, very sad. Another mod that's making me sad? The trash can mod. Boo, hiss! Another thing making me sad? AFAIK, the chat is still broken. And this is something I absolutely cannot fix because we don't host it! What's making me happy? Our links engine works. Our gallery works. Our feedback works. I fully expect that we should be announcing them as "live" this week, as soon as we get our ducks in a row. Entry title: April Showers / April Tears.

ipb

August 4, 2006

Whiskers and Whispers

Update, whoo!

Ok, so I admit I didn't splurge as much as I thought, which is a good thing because student loans don't arrive until late September. I'm making another order on Saturday because my dad gave me some money and I'm going to put it in my bank account tomorrow...ok, so what do I think? Update musings... The ones I got-bottles: F5 Aloe, white musk, lime peel, fresh mint, seaspray, verbena and green tea. I love it. F5...what a cool, minimalist, modern name for a scent. Almost mainstream, and fitting with it's notes. I wonder if it will smell like a fresher, more gender neutral Berenice with a little bit of Embalming Fluid? The only note that could turn odd is verbena which can be gorgeous or soapy. MME. MORIARTY, MISFORTUNE TELLER Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum. This has such a stellar cast of notes. It also brings to mind Snake Charmer. How could I refuse a scent named after Beth herself? THREE BRIDES -- Moroccan rose, king mandarin, red sandalwood, Egyptian amber, orchid, carnation, benzoin, tonka, calla lily, vanilla flower. This reminds me of the Haunted Palace with hints of Moscow or LitA. I adore Egyptian amber, rose, red sandalwood, carnation, vanilla (vanilla flower sounds especially nice-it seems like it will be softer than the bean) so I think this will be fantastic on me. The ones I got: imps LES BIJOUX Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, red apple, frankincense and myrrh. Reads like a who's who of favourite notes and notes I like and won't ruin the scent. I should have got a 5ml straight away. TANIN'IVER Lilith’s monstrous dragon steed: dragon’s blood resin, patchouli, pomegranate, myrrh, mimosa, cassia, blood musk and smoke. What an amazing cast of notes. I adore cassia, blood musk and myrrh. Like pom, patch and mimosa. The smoke and DB could be either nice or not so good. But the surefire winner notes outnumber the questionable ones, so this one's destined to work on me. MANHATTAN sheer amber, black leather, white mint, lemon peel, white tea, grapefruit, kush, teakwood and orchid. Could this be my new favourite of the leather scents? I am reminded of that other fantastic leather scent, Bow and Crown, only this looks more slick and sophisticated, and more complex, maybe sharper. I'm interested to see what kush is like-is it really cannabis? URUK Thick bitter almond and heady night-blooming jasmine with saffron, cinnamon leaf, red patchouli, river lilies, bergamot, fig leaf and the sacred incense of Inanna. This looks like it will be stupendously beautiful. I do like jasmine-night blooming ones work nicely on me. Saffron, patchouli, fig and almond are all good. Cinnamon, water lily and incense are favourites. if this doesn't work, I will cry...the Sumerian civilisation is my second favourite ancient civilisation... COCKAIGNE milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine. Hoping the milk and honey are more Dana, less Milk Moon. And CAKE! Gimme cake! cake! I want cake! I vant ze cake!! LYONESSE Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. This looks absolutely spectacular. I love vanilla, musk, stargazer, and sandalwood. I'm a bit iffy about grey amber, if that's the note that turned sour in Ides of March. Elemi I'm not familiar with. But this looks very, very promising. Will get: THE PENITENT MAGDALEN -- Immortelle, lily of the valley, gaiac, amber, honey, white sandalwood, almond flower, blonde musk, and hyssop. The gaiac, immortelle and almond flower are unknown to me so I can't wait to see what they smell like. Honey (the sweeter, the better), amber, sandalwood and musk are favourites. This is set to be another stunner. CARNAVAL DIABOLIQUE opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower. The opium smoke worries me, but the other ingredients either intrigue me (lemon flowers-the flowers of the lemon tree, I know for a fact, smell gorgeous) or delight me. Heliotrope, black musk, vanilla, coconut, are all favs, and apricot flower intrigues-will it smell like the fruit? MIDNIGHT ON THE MIDWAY sugared incense and night-blooming flowers. Mmm, looks interesting. Vague, but promising. I'm just a little worried that the nasty variety of gardenia could be among those night bloomers. But it could be like Midnight with added candy floss and incense... MELISANDE, THE PUPPET MISTRESS Jasmine sambac, dark musk, violet water, vanilla bean and mimosa. I wonder if 'jasmine sambac' is a rich, deep, heady jasmine? Violet water looks interesting. And it has vanilla! GENNIVRE, L'ARTISTE du DIABLE Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey. Once Macha said this was inspired by Moroccan tea, it made me even more eager to try it. But lemongrass could overwhelm it all. But this looks so promising, so fresh and sweet. THEODOSIUS, THE LEGERDEMAIN Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean. First thing that pops into my mind is Dorian. I loooove Dorian. So if this is Earl Grey Dorian, I will probably adore this (if it smells like Tetley's Earl Grey Vanilla tea, I will do a glee-squee). I wonder if jasmine leaf is floral, or leafy? I DIED FOR BEAUTY The Venusian splendor of ylang ylang and violet stirred by hyssop, frankincense, and grave loam. Love the loamy scents (apart from Zombi) so this could be lovely. Like ylang, hyssop and I love frankincense. THE JERSEY DEVIL Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf. What an interesting note list. Good to see cranberry and tomato leaf here. I've never smelt tomato leaf and I've seen it's praises sung on this board so much it's aroused my curiosity. This could be a gorgeous nature/garden sort of scent for autumn. Imp. CALIBAN The scent of the salty seas, bittersweet wine, palm and tropical ferns. This looks like a good summer scent-I like the marine notes so far. Fern and palm and wine looks like a very unique mix. LADON The hundred-headed dragon that guards the garden of the Hesperides: dragon’s blood resin, golden apple, apple blossom, white musk and hyacinth. DB and apple? Interesting. And there's hyacinth! Apple blossom can be dry on me, but I'm hoping the apple note is sweet. MAG MELL The warmth of amber, the puissance of white ginger and the clarity of verbena, with fresh green grass, lush sage and cleansing droplets of summer rain. This looks intriguing, indeed-fresh and clean and green. The rain may turn odd on me, but this looks amazing. I would love to see how the amber works with the fresh, bright notes. PONTARLIER Swiss ferns, lilac, blackcurrant, Gallic rose and lavender with a dollop of sugar and absinthe. All the ingredients apart from absinthe look gorgeous so I'll get this soon. PORT ROYAL Spiced rum and ship’s wood mixed with the body-warmed trace of a prostitute’s perfume and a hint of salty sea air on the dry-down. Arrr! I need to get this for it's piratical associations. I'm a bit intrigued and slightly concerned about the 'prostitute's perfume' though. To my modern-day mind it brings to mind cheap, sleazy scents, but back in the old days, such perfume must have smelt a lot better (and this is Beth, mind, and she doesn't do cheap, tacky stuff!) so I have high hopes for that. DEATH OF THE GRAVE DIGGER -- Snow, soil, opoponax and myrrh. I wonder if this snow note is that lovely pine-citrus scent from Skadi and Snow Moon etc? This one looks intriguing-snow and soil and resins? Wow. ELIXIR VIII: BITCH -- Snappy-quick PMS relief YES I NEED THIS. (is currently going into the dreaded monthly mood.) ELIXIR IX: TKO -- Sleep, sleep, and more sleep. Ditto. I hope this will be the mother of all soporific scents. My insomnia is so bad that I need something equivalent to chloroform-hopefully this will have that effect but with a nicer smell. Ones I'm interested but unsure of: THE PHANTOM CALLIOPE black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena. Love cardamom. Not so sure about cherry and verbena but this is worth a decant too.This seems like it will be sharply fruity but...cardamom! THE CANDY BUTCHER Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone. Oh dear. If this does a Bliss on me (ie turns fake and bland smelling) I will cry. My dream is that it smells like that delicious, thick, indulgent, rich hot chocolate I drank all the time when I was in Paris. Both in the bottle and the skin. THE ORGAN GRINDER Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark. This sounds a bit masculine but I'm intrigued by almond milk and salsaparilla... PULCINELLA & TERESINA Labdanum, cedar, teak and red rose. Seems like a nice, uncomplicated mix of notes-and I love some rose. DOC CONSTANTINE Sheer musk, cedar smoke, fir needle, black amber and leather. Aagin, seems masculine but definitely worth a try. I need a boyfriend now to test these on. XANTHE, THE WEEPING CLOWN Guava, orange peel, white pepper, spun sugar and apple blossom. Guava...mmm. I've not smelt a guava perfume before. Apple blossom is hit or miss. Spun sugar looks yummy. ANTONINO, THE CARNY TALKER White musk, wild plum, vetiver, black coconut, verbena, fig, and lavender. The notes here are making me drool but I'll get a decant for now, especially if the vetiver is too strong. But plum, white musk, coconut? mmm. King of Spades, anyone? THE TAVERN OF HELL White gardenia, ambergris bouquet, lavender fougere, orange blossom, melissa, tobacco flower, coriander, ebony wood, ylang ylang, absinthe and aged whiskey. The ingredients that give me pause are gardenia (can be the Note of Doooooom on me), absinthe (can turn to soap) and whiskey (may be too boozy). Other notes sound a bit masculine. I wonder if melissa is lemon balm though. THE ISLES OF DEMONS The scent is of wet, dark greenery, carnivorous flowers, volcanic gas, and the hot black musk of the demons and wild beasts that populated the islands. Hmm. This sounds very feral, very wild. And the 'volcanic gas' is kinda offputting (sulphur??) But I might give it a try. I want to see what it's like to smell like prehistoric times. JEZIRAT Al TENNYN The Dragon’s Isle: smoke and fire, earth and wind. The rage of the elements blasting over a primordial paradise. Oooh, a vague description. Will wait for reviews. KUMARI KANDAM Thick incense, clay, stone, and hothouse blooms with a spike of frost, a hint of decay, and heavy, dolorous aquatic notes. This also looks very intriguing, with it's notes of clay, stone, decay and frost. Now those are things you don't see much in perfume. Will wait for reviews. CLOISTER GRAVEYARD IN THE SNOW -- Three white musks, ozone, frankincense, mint. Decant. The ozone could spoil it but I'm a sucker for musk and frank. This might be wonderful for hot summer days. THE FOX-WOMAN KUZUNOHA LEAVING HER CHILD -- White tea, cherry blossom, wisteria, star jasmine, and teak. I'll get a decant but this seems like another one of those lovely, zen-like Asian scents which Beth does really well. SILENCE -- White sandalwood, iris, blue musk, lotus root, moonflower, plum blossom, green tea, white mint and white peach. THAT PICTURE IS AMAZING. I love the musk in Nuit, so this blue musk looks good. A lot of the other notes look good too but this may go all 'Budding Moon' on me, and I wasn't so keen on that moon. Decant. So yeah, that's the update rundown. Wow, what an incredible one that was. Luckily a lot of scents will be up either indefinitely or for a year so there was nothing too urgent here. All I can say now is...roll on Chrysanthemum Moon!

yeahbutnobut

August 3, 2006

My initial thoughts about the new GC oils

The Salon Cloister Graveyard in the Snow: Ozone tends to be too stinging on me, frankincense becomes too sweet, and I don't usually like mint. I didn't get this and I doubt I will. Death of the Grave Digger: I love opoponax and myrrh, and I even like snow. But soil is a bad note for me. It has worked out okay in a couple of blends, but most frequently not at all. I would try an imp just to be sure, but I'm definitely not getting a bottle unsniffed. The Fox-woman Kuzunoha Leaving Her Child: I thought this might be too floral to me. I'm not totally opposed to it, though, and I'll be happy to try to find an imp of it to try. The Penitent Magdalen: I have seen other people being really excited over this scent, so I bet it will be popular. I'm afraid it might be too floral for me, but it sounds like it could be very pretty. I will definitely want to find an imp at some point. Silence: The only Salon bottle I bought from this round. I'm not sure about the white mint, but I thought the rest of it sounded good. It sounds like it'll be slightly dry but bright at the same time, so I'm intrigued. Three Brides: This one tempted me, but I didn't end up getting it. I'm sort of regretting not getting it, though -- maybe I'll get one with my next order. It has the kind of flowers in it that I like, and I pretty much always like sandalwood, benzoin, tonka, and ambers. This sounds like it'll be rich, sweet, and a little bit spicy. I got imps of all the new GC blends, even though I'm almost positive a few of them are not going to work on me at all. Bewitching Brews I Died for Beauty: Pretty sure the grave loam is going to kill this one for me. And even if it doesn't, the violet and frankincense are problematic. Don't have high hopes for this one. The Jersey Devil: I'm afraid this one will be too resiny/woodsy for me. That tomato leaf worries me too, as it tends to smell a little too sharp to my nose. Worth a shot, but I doubt it'll work. Tavern of Hell: Hmmmm. This one might be good. Unless gardenia is prominent, I think I'll like this one. Love Potions Les Bijoux: I'm not expecting to like this due to the apple, rose, and frankincense, but if ends up being mostly peach, musk, and myrrh, that could be a good thing. Illyria Caliban: I have no idea what this is going to smell like. I expect it will be a little too masculine for me, but that's okay -- the hubby needs new scents to get excited about too. Wanderlust Mag Mell: I think this will smell too green and herby for me. Manhattan: This one interests me a great deal. I can't guess what it's going to smell like yet, but it sounds complex. I sort of expect that I'll like it, but I may love it. Pontarlier: Hmmm, rose and lavender. Probably not. But you never know. Port Royal: Salty sea scents aren't usually my fave, but I do like rum. This will probably be one of the first ones I try when I get my imp packs. Uruk: Red patchouli sometimes smells a bit foul on me, so I'm a little wary of this blend. I like saffron and fig leaf, but I'm not so sure about the rest of it. Cockaigne: I seriously hope this doesn't smell like sour milk or play-doh on me, but unfortunately that's what milk and honey notes tend to do on my skin. I can see this blend becoming quite popular with other people but not working on me at all. The Isles of Demons: Really looking forward to this. Can't imagine what it's going to smell like and was too afraid to buy a bottle unsniffed, but sounds like it could be really good for me. Here's hoping! Jezirat al Tennyn: I have no idea what this will smell like. Kumari Kandam: I also have no idea what this one will smell like. Lyonesse: I think this one could be really pretty. Looking forward to trying it. Ars Draconis Ladon: Not sure about that apple note. Didn't care for it in The Hesperides. So we'll see. Tanin'iver: My very first unsniffed GC 5ml order. I think this one is going to be really good for me. I love dragon's blood, patchouli, myrrh, blood musk, and smoke. All of them. The pomegranate note that was in Swank smelled artificial on my skin so I dearly hope it is not prominent in this blend. Panacea Elixir VIII: Bitch. Don't know what this is going to smell like, but so far none of these Panacea oils have been anything I wanted to keep. So my hopes aren't very high for this one. Elixir IX: TKO. Ditto the above.

August 3, 2006

My initial thoughts about the new CD oils

Carnaval Diabolique: Although I don't know what lemon flower is (is that like verbena?), the rest of this sounds marvelous. Heliotrope and tuberose are two of my favorite floral notes, and two of the few I can actually wear. Can't wait to see how they'll combine with the black musk and opium smoke in this. Midnight on Midway: I probably should have gotten a bottle of this but I didn't. I saw "flowers" and moved on. But often night-blooming flowers are good for me -- I really like the GC Midnight. And sugared incense sounds great. I waffled and then didn't get it. But this is one of the first ones I'd like to try after my current order comes in. The Phantom Calliope: The cassis (is that the same thing as cassia?) and cardamom scared me off of this one. I'm afraid it might be too spicy for me. The Candy Butcher: Yes, please! Chocolate and cream sounds great! Mme Moriarty, Misfortune Teller: Red musk is my favorite musk, plum is my favorite fruit, and I love vanilla and patchouli. (I'm not sure what patchouli leaf is, though.) I fully expect to love this oil. The Organ Grinder: I debated about this one and then passed on it. The tobacco smoke and black patchouli sounded excellent, but sasparilla and white pine bark and normally not so great for me. I'll have to wait for reviews. Pulcinella & Teresina: Cedar, teak, and rose are three notes that normally don't work on me, so I didn't get this one. Melisande, The Puppet Mistress: The mention of jasmine and violet scared me off (although I don't know what sambac is, and I'm also not sure how violet water is different from violet). Jasmine is a heady cloying floral on me -- the kind of floral I don't like. And although I like the scent of violet, every BPAL blend that contains violet winds up smelling virtually identical on me because my skin amps the violet note so strongly. Doc Constantine: I wavered about this one too, but I decided to pick just one of the ones I was iffy about and take a chance. This was the one I gambled on. The cedar smoke and fir needle sounded iffy, but the rest sounds fantastic. So I'm hopeful. Xanthe, the Weeping Clown: I got a very discordant strange feel from Tweedledee, which also has white pepper and an exotic fruit. I didn't think it was all that pleasant, so I passed on Xanthe. I'll be interested to read reviews of it through. Gennivre, l'Artiste du Diable: This blend has too many notes that don't work on me. Mint and lemongrass are very rarely good on my skin, and honey is often questionable. So I didn't get this one. Theodosius, the Legerdemain: This is the one I should have gotten but didn't. Rats. I saw "jasmine" in there and immediately moved on, and then for some reason I didn't come back to this one and read it again. Well, I'll get a bottle with the lunacy update. It sounds like possibly something between Dorian and Wilde, and I think it would be an excellent birthday gift for my hubby. Antonino, The Carny Talker: Another must-have. The verbena and lavender might have killed it on my skin, but this one will be a gift for my husband and lavender smells good on him. Plum, vetiver, and fig are three of my favorite notes, and I'm hoping this one will be a little reminiscent of King of Spades...

Fishnets and Frankincense

August 3, 2006

Non sequiturs

Today's non sequiturs begin with the fact that the Reverend Jim guy that I mentioned in my prior entry is, in fact, employed. I went into Meadowlark Coffee yesterday and he was sitting outside, wearing a shirt normally worn by U-Stop convenience store employees. I asked Debbie, the morning barrista, if he was actually a U-Stop employee and she said yes, she was rather certain that he was. I commented that I'd always thought that he was a client at the county mental health center. And Debbie said yes, she was rather sure he was. I was watching "Austin City Limits" on PBS last Saturday, and I know it was a rerun, but I was deeply amused at the contrasts presented by the two featured performers. I like both of them, but who decided to put Lyle Lovett and Jamie Cullum on the same show? Lyle is tall, skinny, taciturn Texan who smiles only on one side of his face, is so rigid when he performs that one suspects he might break in half if he made a sudden move, and is entrancingly weird-looking. I figured out that part of what makes him so very odd-looking is that his eyebrows are almost nonexistent. He has all that hair on the top of his head (which styling products have really tamed in recent years) and absolutely no eyebrows. But don't get me wrong, I like his voice and a lot of his music, although I don't listen to him that often. Did he burn his eyebrows off as a kid and they never grew back? Jamie Cullum is a hyperanimated little sparkplug from England who runs and jumps all over as he is singing and playing the piano. He's so little that I kind of want to call him "Frodo," but he's also quite adorable. Maybe the Austin City Limits crowd for his show was the same group who showed up to see Lyle perform, and they just didn't get what Jamie was all about. They were as lifeless as the day is long, and I've never seen a group of such unrhymtic-looking people in my life. What was the matter with those white people? Get up and move! At least sway a bit! Granted, I love Jamie's music and his style, but I felt sorry for him, having to perform on TV before an alleged "live" audience. Just. Plain. Cute. I bought three bottles from the update -- two from Wanderlust and one from Carnaval Diabolique. Specifically, Cockaige and Lyonesse from Wanderlust and Midnight on the Midway. What is life without at least one or two pending BPAL orders? About as boring as a Lyle Lovett crowd at a Jamie Cullum concert!

valentina

August 3, 2006

Filling the Periodic Table

It amuses me to be seen as a monster

My boyfriend is very involved in politics right now, so we seem to be going to multiple events every week. Last night, we went to a meet-and-greet for two candidates, a woman running for the state Senate, and a man running for the Federal House. (My boyfriend is working quite actively on the guy's campaign) My sweetie is *extremely* progressive. We don't always see eye-to-eye, but we are always respectful of each other's views, and we take the time to understand each other's positions. As for my own beliefs, I'm a little disillusioned, kinda cynical, and am a strong believer in financial accountability, personal privacy, plain dealing, and giving everyone an equal opportunity - though what they do with it is their own business. 40 years ago, I may have been called a republican, but now, I just don't believe there is a place on the political spectrum for me, though I stick with the democrats, since the current republicans don't share my stance on *anything* (*grumble*grumble*fiscal mismanagement*grumble*insane war*grumble*intruding on my personal life*grumble*lying SOBs*grumble*grumble*) Let me preface my story by saying that the event was early in the evening, so I didn't change after work. I was wearing an ankle-length black velvet skirt, a button down shirt, and high heels. There was another lady there, who was wering a hat covered in progressive pins, and who was putting off a very activist vibe. (Which is fine, it's her right... But personally, I find wearing advertising, whether commercial or political, a little tacky. I am not a billboard.) I didn't think any less of her, after all I'm living in sin with a guy who is hanging out way to the Left of me politically. But anyway, she didn't seem to like the look of me. Anyway, in the course of conversation she lets loose with the statement that we should never have electronic voting machines because she doesn't want the democratic process to be ar the mercy of energy companies. I'm thinking, fat lot of good paper ballots do you if the lights are out! So I respond with mentioning that that could easily be adressed by requiring polling places only be set up in buildings that have generators (since the polling places are usually schools, community centers, and government buildings, it's fair to say a lot of them already have generators anyway) She looked at me like I had sprouted tentacles for even accepting the idea of electronic voting machines. I am of the opinion that the current electronic voting machine technology is a travesty. But this is America, and people like things that are shiny, new, and space-age. So we have to accept that they will continue to exist, and push legislation that requires a paper trail, verifiable security measures, and publicly auditable code. Honestly, if we took the requirements Nevada sets on slot machines and made the same requirements on voting machines, we'd be 90% of the way there. Well, that only made it worse! I was clearly mocking democracy by comparing voting machines to slot machines! She then railed on about how the requirements that I was talking about were never going to happen, and I was living in a dream world of woulda-coulda-shoulda. But *she* was only concerned with reality. And reality to her, was that because the voting machines available now were criminal, and paper works just fine, that the correct answer is to ban electronic voting machines, and go back to paper. Now who is in a dream world of woulda-coulda-shoulda? You can't put the shaving cream back in the can. Electronic voting is out there, people have bought into it, and I don't see any chance of it being abandoned wholesale across the country. Maybe we didn't need it, but we've got it, so as Tim Gunn says, we have to make it work. So, in the course of this discussion, she is squirming in her seat like she wants to scoot as far away from me as possible, throwing up her hands and exclaiming over and over again how she just can't talk to someone like me, and that I'm just impossible, and that introducing electronic voting machies was just like starting the Iraq war, and whatever. By the end of the conversation, I might as well have been Richard Nixon and Cthuhlu's love child. This has caused me no end of amusement. The whole drive home I was asking Rusty how he likes dating an evil republican baby-eater.

antimony

August 3, 2006

This Old Snark

Whirled Peas

Snarky owns several statementy T-shirts that she used to employ to keep her sense of self at the gym. One had a giant, glaring Big Brother (from "1984"), another declared "RACIAL STEREOTYPES DEHUMANIZE" (a gift from her activist brother), and yet another one implored the reader to "Visualize Whirled Peas". Which really has nothing to do with this post, except that Snarky finally managed to download some photos and was thinking along the lines of helping y'all to visualize her life out here in the Pacific Northwest. More to come, eventually. First, some more house pics! A bad photo of our finished floor upstairs. Also an inkling of our whacky PeeWee color choices. The cats spend most of their day up in the hutch. Meant to give you an idea of the amazing candy-apple-green of the living room. Also our slovenly ways. And love for Kubrick. ... and some travel pics... One of our recent bike excursions on the Spring Water Corridor Trail. The red speck is The Mister. A mural by the Devil's Punchbowl on the coast. The poppies are real. Closeup of the strange sand formations on Hobbit Beach. This is why the Snarks love the coast. The Snarky's on the coast! The Mister has sworn to learn how to use the camera. Someday you might actually see more than just Reflected!Snarky. OK... that's it for now. Coming soon: more coastal pics, the IKEA run, and 'maters!

darkitysnark

August 3, 2006

How difficult could it be?

The update!

i never bother with updates as soon as they happen. never. so tell me why i am hurriedly making a huuuuge list of all the new things i want? huh? i wouldn't mind if it was just CD that i was after but oh no. it's GC as well......the 2 new elixirs and the other new GC stuff is calling me.....i can't afford this! i really need to get those 30 5mls that don't agree with me on ebay to pay for it all. that's how i managed to get pumpkin patch last year i can't be the only one suffering in 'can't afford all the bpal i neeeed' hell

Nemesister

August 3, 2006

Post-update blues.

The Carnaval is awesome, the Salon updates look wonderful, and I can't wait to try the new Wanderlust scents. Everyone involved has been working so much to get this accomplished, and they must be so excited for it to actually be live. And I'm really irritated that I've been watching that hijack thread about the people complaining about the price changes going into effect early. I shouldn't have done that. Now instead of feeling happy I feel pissed. I'm thankful we got any warning about the price increases at all -- I can't think of any other business owner who has warned me a few days in advance of increasing her prices. It appears that the only reason Beth did that is that she cares about her customers and wanted to give people one last chance at the prices that were sending her business into insolvency. For people to be complaining about that kind of generosity, mainly because their own personal circumstances prevented them from being able to take advantage of it, seems undeservedly harsh. And the nit-picking about the hours is very strange. I didn't hear one single person complain that the CD banner on the BPAL site said it would be coming in JULY of this year and it didn't. No one said "That's untruthful and bad business practices and when I tell my clients something will happen on such-and-such day it happens." (Which, let's be real, can't possibly be true. I worked in the business world for 12 years and precious little happened exactly when it was supposed to.) And yet when it comes to a $2.50 price increase, suddenly people want to quibble over a few hours. In fact they want to quibble about it SO BADLY they write multiple insulting posts about it and in general bring down the whole squeefest excitement of update night and try to make Beth feel like crap on what should be one of the best nights of her whole year. I call Bad Form.