I mention in my About Me that we have a house with a bad attitude. I opine this because since we've bought the house we've needed foundation work, a new heating/AC system, plumbing work, and now gutters. We were hoping to put this off, but a few weeks ago we had quite a bit of rain: 10 inches in one day. Yes, 10 inches of rain in one day. The gutters were literally falling off the house with the weight of the water.
So we hire someone to replace the gutters, who of course reveals rotting wood called "fascias." So this weekend has been another guy to replace the rotting wood. They bring down these pieces which aren't really wood, they're pressboard! Like a bunch of pieces of wood molded together. This has been on our house, rotting and falling away, for 35 years. Ugh.
In general, I like our house. It was built in 1968, and the neighborhood we're in everyone still has the "original" house -- no one's done the tear-down-and-put-up-McMansion yet. We have a funky ranch layout which we love. These repairs aren't fun though -- it's not a fun new bathroom or great kitchen; it's gutters. No one gets excited about gutters. Gutters are boring and not fun.
My super-favorite purchase of the moment: Blondie greatest hits with videos! I had a couple CDs already but couldn't resist getting a DVD of old videos. They're so much fun -- it looks like they woke up and said, "Let's make a video!" And Blondie dresses up in a Hefty trash bag and a bathing suit and some electrical tape and tube socks and Candies and they make a video. So great! Can I be Blondie? No? Damn.
What a surprise to get the update today instead of Thursday! This morning as I'm hopping in the shower I'm thinking, "3 more days until the update, then I'll place my next order. What'll it be?" Pretty exciting thoughts for the shower, hmm?
I'm so pleased to see the grapefruit scents back! Thanks to the lovely MichelleM at the last Meet-n-Sniff I got to test Baobhan Sith, which was very peppy and went on my Big Bottle list, but since it was DC I wasn't expecting to ever find it. I barely got to test Cheshire Cat last year, as I took a new imp to work and then dropped and broke it, but what I tried smelled nice. And all those Mad Tea Party additions! That's one of my favorite sections; King of Hearts, Mouse's Tale, Tweedledee and Tweedledum all sound great and I'll be keeping an eye out for reviews.
On top of that, the planets aligned and I received last month's order today. I love seeing that little red, white & blue box on the porch. I received Monster Bait: Closet (a creamy yummy blackberry), The Masque and Montresor (which I had sniffed before, thanks to the lovely jj_j at our last Meet-n-Sniff, and knew I wanted bottles before they disappeared). Plus frimps, all from the A's and B's, 4 of which I've never tried. I love that aspect too, to be able to receive random scents that you wouldn't pick out on your own.
What is it about these little glass bottles of smellies that is so fascinating? Sure, I place orders with lots of companies online, but nothing compares to the excitement of seeing an update, deciding on orders, and anticipating these oils.
I placed my monthly order, but it was for the Seamus statue with Hellion. The LEs on this update weren't tempting enough; Dragon Moon sounded OK, but dragon's blood goes quite floral and strong on me and tends to overwhelm. I haven't gotten into the Celestials. And I tried everything I wanted to in the Carnaval Noir series and have bottles of my favorites: Midway, Snake Charmer and Gypsy Queen. So what better time to invite an imp into my home, holding a 10ml no less?
I've had a spate of aggressive sales-type people call for all manner of things: pitching a payroll service, hiring them as a salesperson or a Director, etc. I try to be pleasant but firm, and it's in one ear and out the other. I especially like when they try to get people's phone numbers and I guess I'm supposed to be all, "Oh, here's everyone's personal numbers, just because you asked for it."
I'm especially impressed with the lady today who seemed to be eating during the entire call. I don't know how she managed to interrogate me, write everything I say down and eat what sounded like a burrito. Really endearing.
My biggest fear is that I'll lose my temper and they'll end up being hired, and forevermore see me as that rude girl in HR who's nasty on the phone. Heh.
Oh crap. Just when I'm contented with my BPAL purchase, and we've gotten the gutters replaced ($2000 total), other favorite sites are updating too! Son of an Ass! (tm Samir in Office Space)
--Villainess has a huge update with a bunch more soaps. Crushed is back! It came and went so quickly I didn't have a chance to order the first time -- I'm a sucker for raspberries and chocolate. Plus I want the new Villainess signature scent (florals and leather), and Byzantium (resins and Egyptian musks), and Canaan (honey, berries and florals), and Krakatoa (tropical fruits! I coconut) and Vintage ("antique oak and yesterday's vanilla," what a great description!) and and and *falls over*
--feMaledictions is in the process of updating too, with a Sugar Butter Scrub! Oh jeez that sounds nice. I love her incense and she's added 4 new scents including The Golden Proportion (black vanilla beans! Where's my perfume to match? ) and New Rose (I love rose incense and can't find it very often, other than the bulk Indian incense packs at Cost Plus). Plus hemp soaps? And soy tarts? And a hint at 50+ new blends? *gets up off the floor, then falls over again*
BPAL is the priority, and every month I make orders there. But I like supporting these other small Internet businesses. If someone's making a good product and putting thought and heart into it, and bucking the bullcrap old-and-busted "retail" model, that's cool too.
I thought I'd be heading down to my boss' house, but she emailed me last night and said she had a haircolor appointment that will suck up the morning so don't bother. So I caught up on a few little things, but then the afternoon became eerily quiet. I went for a walk and came back to no emails or messages. I watched Dr. Phil (while cleaning up in the kitchen & den), and no one called or emailed.
I think people are unofficially planning tomorrow off -- Boss Lady will be going until noon and her kids get up, then she's off too. Tomorrow's going to be dead dead dead. You know what that means: shopping! I'll probably place an order for the Villainess update. I should decide what to get Mom for her birthday next week. I need a small clothes and shoes update, so I'll poke around.
I should also do practical things, like vacuum and hang up a couple pictures that we bought frames at Michaels for and I've put the pictures in. If I'm really motivated, I should lug out the sewing machine (it must weigh 50 pounds, my grandma's old one) and finally finish my sleepshirt -- with cute bacon-and-eggs fabric! I have a pile of fabric that I've bought to make shirts and pillows and I should finally do something. Or take the embroidery silk I bought at an estate sale (a big bag, probably 50 spools, for $3) and add a design to a shirt or sweater.
Or, knowing me, I'll do none of the above
I have a few stop-down TV shows: Sopranos, Intervention on A&E, original CSI, and Most Haunted on Travel Channel. It's a British show that up until a couple of weeks ago runs around England (with occasional jaunts to Ireland and Scotland) to spend the night in a haunted house, pub or wherever. The first half is the best part, they go into the history of a place and grab a psychic or two to find hot spots. The second half are the vigils, where people will split up and sit in different places with night-vision cameras and freak out over every little bump. The second half is kind of a drag, unless you like hearing people stare bug-eyed into darkness asking, "Did you hear that?"
BUT!! The past couple of weeks they've been in America! Southern California to be exact, my old stomping grounds. I'm mad that I missed the first episode on the Queen Mary, but the next episode was at the Whaley House in San Diego and I really liked seeing the house and hearing the stories.
I'm so excited, because tonight they are at the American Legion Hall in Hollywood, where my sister got married a few years ago! What a crazy place. The ceremony was on the ground floor, where they have a two-story atrium with a balcony all the way around. Next to that is a theater that was way spooky. Upstairs was a crazy-ass library that I'm sure will be referenced in the show -- that's where we were dressing and doing our hair. Then the basement was a ballroom and a separate bar area and that's where the reception was. It really was a great place to have a wedding, because you didn't have to drive from the wedding to the reception afterwards.
I don't remember anything weird happening, other than before the wedding Dad and I were hanging lights from the balcony in the atrium -- they were red and white Christmas-type lights wrapped in white tulle. Of course everything worked great as we were hanging them up, then just before the wedding one rope went out. Then afterwards I remember going upstairs from the ballroom and they were on again. Probably nothing, right?
OK, last night's episode was awesome. Lots of stuff happened: a ton of ouija-type glass movement, the TV turning off and back on, and pool balls being thrown. It was great! Plus it was so cool to hear all about the building. I was a bit disappointed they didn't do more in the rooms upstairs, but they spent a lot of time in the cool bar in the basement which was rad.
I left a pretty giddy message yesterday for my sister to watch the show -- Mom and I are into haunted stuff more than she is, so she was probably like, "Whatever, it's Friday night and since we have a social life we're not sitting at home watching TV." I haven't heard back from her.
I wish I had a stronger psychic sense about things, but nothing weird has happened to me. DH, on the other hand, has had a ton of stuff happen to him and he said he didn't feel anything weird in the building. But since there were 150-200 people there, there was probably too much going on for anything to hang around. I'll put his experiences in another post -- he has some great stories to tell.
Normal Sunday for us is running errands, then going out for a late lunch + beer and watching Sopranos. I kinda feel bad as we were invited to the big Easter bash at uncle & aunt's house and we blew it off. Yes, since we were invited we probably should've gone.
On the other hand, we weren't invited by the uncle and/or aunt, but the sister of the aunt, so it's not as important, right? Plus it was going to be a huge gathering, and did they really miss us when we didn't show up? No way.
I feel like, since it's our day off, we should do what we want. We went to Home Depot and bought stuff for the house like A/C filters and aerators for the faucets. We also went to The Labyrinth, a witchy herb store that I've been wanting to go to for a while. Lots of incense and oils and books and stones, and it was great.
It seemed like we went on the perfect day, as Easter came from the spring renewal rituals, so why not go to a pagan store on that day? The owner was talking to me about rituals and what would be best to use. I've always been interested in different religions, not just growing up Catholic and Christian but learning about Buddhist and Pagan too. I really felt comfortable there -- I felt like things were going well for us and I wanted to give thanks, and she was open to that. It's more than financial, just a peaceful feeling in life, and it seemed that to "ask" for more meant being greedy; I just wanted to give thanks for what we had. That's all.
I'm not on LJ, but I like how you can post what you're currently listening to. It's a nice snapshot into someone, plus I'm a voyeur in that I like seeing what people are reading and watching and listening to and putting up on their walls. To me the ultimate superpower would be invisibility, because I would love to go through houses, especially with no one home, to see how others live (as long as they're not slobby). What do people collect? What do they have sitting on a shelf?
Location: Dallas, Texas, where it hit frickin' 100 today! Ugh. It's too early to be this hot.
Currently reading: Jazz from the Ken Burns PBS series. It's very interesting, as I know very little about jazz. My biggest beef is that I wish there were accompanying CDs so when they talk about how revolutionary so-and-so's recording was, I can listen to it. But that just means I need to see the PBS series.
Currently listening to: Lindsey Buckingham compilation in my car. I called it "Conducive to Creativity" because in one interview he was going on about how he left Fleetwood Mac when it was no longer conducive to creativity, and that cracked my ass up. He's a very interesting musician but seems like a beating to hang around with and talk to. But that's probably how a lot of musicians are in real life.
The last hour of work, from 4:30 to 5:30, ran the gamut of emotion.
Low: this huge project I've been working on for over 6 months has blown up in my face. The vendor that we selected and that I've been emailing and sending stuff and basically being on-call and totally available to them, called and said due to a backlog of projects they're very behind and guess what? Since we're obviously not as important as other clients, we were selected to be put on the back-burner and instead of completing in May it'll be November. Oh, and they technically haven't "started" anything -- they've asked me for everything under the sun, but that's been it on their end.
I've rarely heard my boss curse like that -- not at me, at them, but I feel like crawling into a hole. I'm so frustrated and embarrassed, I could burst into screaming tears right now thinking about it. I'm trying to console myself, that we haven't paid them anything yet and if Boss Lady says "screw them" we will go to the second vendor and start all over with them, not a huge deal. This is how business works. But I really felt like things were going OK and to be blindsided like this means I don't know shit.
ANYWAY.
High: my forum raffle prize arrived today! I won a decant set of Single Notes: Blue Lilac, Carnation, Coffee Bean, Freesia, Light Myrrh, Sweet Pea, Tomato Leaf and White Rose. According to the Reviews section, Tomato Leaf and White Rose were unreleased. I've never sniffed a SN -- they were discontinued in October 2004, about a week after I placed my first order. I don't think I have a sophisticated nose at all, so it's been interesting to sniff these "pure" notes and see how they translate into the blends.
Unfortunately I've had crazy skin allergies and haven't been able to wear anything in a week. The Masque gave me an ugly rash on the top of my hands & wrists -- I apply there because I've had breakouts in the past and the skin is thicker on the top than the bottom. So it's been boring and stinky Benadryl cream instead of my nice smellies. Last night, since the rash was disappating (not itchy, but still lots of red bumps) I put on Black Phoenix on the bottoms of my wrists, and this morning woke up to a rash there! Not itchy, but definite red bumps. Grrr.
So eventually I want to test and post reviews. They smell amazing in the imps, and I can see how they have such a rabid following. It would be great if LE bottles could be released of some of these.
I started a huge work rant, then deleted it all. Work today went fine, a lot better than I feared -- I'm not blamed for the vendor flake-out, I'm already making arrangements with the runner-up, they seem pleased that we're back, and I'm glad I didn't burn any bridges.
Beth posted a whole bunch of new TAL oils, and I'm really intrigued. I should read the forum section, but I'm under the impression that people wear TALs as oil, or anoint a candle. I'm very interested in Milk & Honey, as it seems to speak to my goals -- I'm not looking for a financial windfall, but I like enjoying what we have and hope it continues. The description is, "A subtle love and money combination blend. Tends to invoke the luxurious, pleasurable aspects of romance and prosperity." I really like the image that creates.
How would you use some of the Temple blends? I'm guessing that if you have certain favorite deities, like Egyptian, you would use that oil. I need to do some more research.
I realize I'm unsophisticated. To some people I'm probably pretty tacky. I'd rather hang out in a bar eating something fried out of a basket and drinking a beer than somewhere fancy and expensive and all dressed up. Our home furnishings range from "comfy" to "odd." Some pictures on the wall are posters in cheap frames. I don't travel to exotic places, and really don't want to. We got married in Vegas, and my dress cost $100 online.
But I work full time. Everything we have we've paid for -- we didn't get help with the house, or the cars, or have a bunch of money placed in our bank account. I have a college degree, but went to an inexpensive school and got a 4-year scholarship.
I have extended family members who have a lot of money, and they live nearby. They probably feel obligated to invite us to family functions. They like talking about their vacations and how much their house is worth. Their kids go to the privatest of schools and are thought to be perfect in every way.
I'm tired of pretending I like them. And I'm not going to do it anymore.
Currently listening to: "This Side" by Nickel Creek -- I this CD
Currently smelling like: Port-au-Prince, then Montresor
My unofficial goal with this blog was to go 1 full month of entries, and I couldn't even accomplish that -- I created an entry yesterday, but deleted it as so craptacular I couldn't post it, lots of familial complaining. So what's happened since then?
Yesterday: my Mom turned 60! I can't believe it. That sounded so old when I was growing up. DH even said, "Your mom is 60? She doesn't look it." She doesn't act it either. That's my goal: to not act my age. My mom has so many hobbies and interests, plus she and dad own their own business, they're busy and interesting. I admire their lives and want to be more like them in that aspect.
Today: we probably spent too much at Home Depot, but I told DH as we got in the car, "I like going into those stores, I just wish we had the money to do what we wanted." It was outside stuff, topsoil and grass seed and stain and waterproofing for a little wooden bridge. Then we went to a pub and drank beer and I had the best baja spicy shrimp tacos EVER and then came home and watched Sopranos. Oh, and both the Suns and Mavericks won their playoff games, so DH is happy.
I actually "cast a spell" today, but it wasn't anything serious. I was reading the TAL threads thinking there may be some rules with oils that I wasn't aware of, but from what I gleaned there weren't -- it's respecting the spirit in which oils are created, and belief in thought, and how there isn't good or evil power, it's simply perspective.
So I got a round votive candleholder in blue glass, one of my favorites. I filled it with coarse salt, because I wanted to anchor a thin candle and it felt natural. I coated a green candle with patchouly oil (that's how it's spelled on the vial) and thought about how grateful I am that finances are going well -- we both have full-time jobs, the house isn't falling apart, our cars aren't asploding -- and put the candle in the salt. After it was lit, I put it on top of the checkbook and stood for a minute, just listening to the house hum around me. There's so much I want to do with the house, but I need patience to have the money to do it.
That was it! The rest of the day was OK; I'm still breaking out in rashes from my BPAL applications, which is pissing me off, but I feel good about us and our personal situation. We'll see!
Ugh, these allergies are driving me crazy. I never had them growing up in Southern California, but when we moved to Ohio after college, to a place that actually had "seasons," I started getting them. Most of the time it's nothing more than sneezing and nose issues, but this spring has been irritating, literally.
I have "dry head," where it feels my sinuses are dry and crackly. I wake up in the middle of the night with my sinuses hurting, they're so dry. My eyes are red and dry and itchy, and I have that weird empty-head feeling like after you've cried and you're done and feel better -- "airy head," maybe?
But the worst is I haven't been able to wear any nice BPAL smellies for 2 weeks. I'm breaking out in red itchy rashes wherever I apply, and it doesn't matter what I wear. I love the fruity winey scents the most, and just received bottles of Masque and Montresor, and while both smell great when I apply I end up with rashes that last for days.
I'm debating buying a locket, but will probably try a cheaper one first before shelling out the $70 for a BPTP one. Plus my very favorite Triple Dagger is sold out. They have some cute ones at www.necropolis.biz -- I like the celtic cross and knot, and they're cheap enough for me to try and not feel guilty about more jewelry.
We recently spent some money fixing a couple of broken components -- we debated about whether it was worth it, and decided the repairs were cheap enough compared to buying something new. We have to laugh, though, at how we ended up with the latest in 1990s technology, among other decades:
--one repair was the minidisc recorder. Minidiscs were a Sony-only product when CD recorders were still prohibitively expensive. Sony did release albums on minidisc (Simon & Garfunkel, etc.) but these weren't in the US very long, they were more popular in Japan, and it was only Sony/Columbia artists. The best part was recording whatever onto blank minidiscs, like concerts off TV
--the other repair was our combo CD/DVD/Laserdisc player. Laserdiscs started in the early 1980s, the precursor to DVDs except record-size instead of CD-size. We have about 100 laserdiscs and it's nice to have one player hooked up to our big TV that plays laserdiscs and DVDs
--of course we have a couple of record players, with a couple of boxes of records. We have a Victrola from probably the 1940s, it's a record player in a nice wooden case with an AM radio with tubes. It needs a needle though, and I have no idea where to get one
--we have a couple big boxes of cassettes, boxes of videotapes, a wall of CDs (600? I haven't counted recently), the DVDs are overtaking another set of shelves, and don't get me started on the books
What are we supposed to do with all this stuff? It seems passe now to have "hard copies" of things -- you're supposed to buy your iPod and download everything. So are we just dinosaurs for keeping all this?
I think my allergies finally cleared up, as I've been able to wear my nice BPAL smellies without breaking out in rashes for the past couple days!
How I missed Hellion and Masque and The Star and ...
A mini-update, ain’t that great? I'm a poet; you bet I know it.
13 (new version) -- A base of cocoa absolute and white chocolate with thirteen baneful and beneficial bits: cardamom, fig meat, grains of paradise, rice flower, chamomile, sandalwood, catnip, clove, and a bundle of five blessed blossoms and herbs. -- by my count, this is the third version of 13. I bought the first one (May 2005) and liked it but didn’t love it. Off it went to swaps. It was revised in October 2006 and I still have a bottle of that; it’s more sophisticated and “perfumey” than the original 13. This latest revision sounds nice (with catnip! Hee!) but the cardamom is scary -- that’s what made Enraged Groundhog go totally cinnamon on me. I’ll pass.
Bad Luck Woman Blues -- Spanish moss, black pepper, mullein, sweet sage, vandal root, cypress, cigar tobacco, and a puff of goofer dust cloaked by a swarthy cologne of vetiver, lime, dark musk, caramel accord, and lilac. -- While I am intrigued by “goofer dust” (la cocaina, maybe? ) the rest sounds too masculine.
Lady Luck Blues -- Honeyed Bulgarian rose, vanilla flower, benzoin, tonka, black plum, peony, and iris. -- this one sounds great! Honey and roses, yum.
In conclusion: while I was hoping to save funds for the next update (Rose Moon! More Snakes!) I’m getting a bottle of Lady Luck Blues
OK, so we got a new DSL modem. It's working great, except it poops out every half-hour or so. It'll just die, then come back I'm seriously tempted by darkity's reminder about cable, but other than the burps things are working fine.
Back to BPAL: I've been so impressed with the last couple of orders I've received. The Maelstrom scents I tried were great -- I have bottles of Berenice, Masque and Montresor, and Montresor is an all-time favorite on the level of Perversion, Morocco and Hellion, my favorite dark blends. I was tempted with Tell-Tale Heart too, and will maybe sniff eventually.
Monster Bait: Closet is great too, really nice sweet & fruity.
On Monday I got my teeny April Fool's order of Underpants, which is wonderful While it sounded extremely foody, it's a beautiful sweet vanilla scent. As if to reiterate the vanilla, the Lab sent a frimp of Antique Lace with it, which I previously tried and liked so much I already have a bottle, purchased when it came back in stock.
--We were testing our DSL on a streaming radio station and I wanted some '80s music. I picked a random station and it came up "ew Wave and Alternative" on iTunes radio -- HAHAHAHA! I listen to ew wave!
--sophia_helix had a general rant/complaint/statement a couple of days ago regarding people begging for LEs, like "OMG I NEED THIS LOL!!!" I can see where she's coming from. Everyone right now wants Monster Panties or the C12 blends, like those are the best things Beth has ever created. The fact is that Beth has many many blends that are great and are GC and wholly available.
I completely understand the lure of the LE: there has been many a blend that I bought simply because it was only available for a limited time and what if I love it and I'll never sniff anything like it again and and and *falls over dead* But then when you get them, they're not better than a GC blend just because they're LE. I can name a bunch of GC blends that I love and a bunch of LE blends that were meh.
In conclusion: don't fret over not getting a 5ml of Storyville. There are many other blends that are great.
A big one with Salon III:
Rose Moon -- Bulgarian rose, tea rose, violet leaf, opium poppy, Bois de Jasmin, patchouli leaf, honey, blue lilac, balsam, woodruff, and lemon peel. -- I knew I would most likely want Rose Moon, as I love the BPAL rose blends. This does sound nice, I’m just hoping the Bois de Jasmine does not mean JAZZZMIN!! that will amp and overpower. I’m pleased to see blue lilac too, that’s one of the few single notes I have tried and it’s really lovely.
Blue Moon -- Mugwort and bay, for psychic sensitivity…Juniper, for divination through dreams…Orchid and galbanum, for complexity, wisdom and noscere…with a potent lunar-charged blend of exquisite Asian woods, moonflower, Madagascan ylang ylang, Florentine iris, Greek cypress, davana, green tea absolute, palmarosa, cucumber, Clary sage, melilot trefoils, wood aloes, and pale creeping buttercup. -- I knew I would most likely want Blue Moon too. I have a sniffie of the previous Blue Moon and while the initial ingredients are the same the “base” differs slightly. I still see cucumber and wrote down that it smelled like a “perfumed cucumber, clean and refreshing.” It looks like this will go away, then be here for the next Lunacy update too.
Tamamo-no-Mae -- soft skin musk, brushed by white tea leaf, rice flower, black locust flower, white sandalwood kodo smoke, dry ginger, benzoin gum, and Amacha. This one sounds nice too, hopefully light and pleasant for the summer.
Gemini -- Lavender, benzoin, orchid, and frankincense. Unfortunately lavender goes very antiseptic-herbal on me a lot of the time. No thanks.
And a quick run-through of Salon III:
Bat -- Dusty amber, grey musk, red orchid, moonflower, night-blooming phlox, stock, honeysuckle, English ivy, toadflax, and purple salvia. Amber usually means “smells nice but disappears,” and dusty amber seems even more vague.
Cleopatra -- Accords of peach kernel, hemlock, aconite, and belladonna, with bitter almond, saffron, honey, myrrh, hyssop, frankincense, and palm. I like the BPAL Hemlock, but really disliked the BPAL Belladonna, plus almond is not a favorite and peach = plastic.
Death and Life Completed -- Grey amber, carnation, lemon balm, hydrangea, Chinese peony, white sandalwood, cypress, juniper, cedar, hibiscus, and African daisy. Carnation, nooooo! Too spicy on me.
Fox Fires -- Weeping cherry, watery bamboo pulp, nettle tree bark, green tea incense, soft musk, rice wine, and Japanese tree lilac. Another Asian-themed that sounds nice.
Kiyohime -- Salty ocean spray, red kelp, black plum, lychee, sea moss, green musk, hachiya, plum blossom, and matcha. Salty ocean spray = box o’ laundry detergent.
Love and Pain -- Lavender, Balkan tobacco, black musk, dark vanilla, and golden copaifera. Everything sounds good except for that darned lavender.
Macbeth -- Lightning-charged ozone, steel, myrrh, mugwort, colophony, ajowan, and leather. Lightning-charged ozone = “mountain spring” scented box o’ dryer sheets.
Mad Meg -- Fire-scorched earth, black mandarin, cinnamon bark, bitter almond, sage, vetiver, and balsam of peru. Cinnamon bark AND bitter almond? Ugh.
Madonna -- Hyssop, pomegranate, Angel’s Trumpet, Indonesian patchouli, iris, white orchid, and frankincense. This sounds interesting, I love dark fruit blends.
Monna Vanna -- Russian rose, mimosa, gardenia, bois du rose, parma violet, calla lily, red currant, ambergris, and bourbon vanilla. Roses are usually good, plus a dark fruit bonus.
Philosopher in Meditation -- Smoldering woodfire embers, Galen’s Kyphi, and Abramelin incense. I love incense blends, but I’m afraid the woodfire embers will be eye-wateringly strong.
Schlafende Baigneuse -- Skin musk, white cream, honeycomb, yellow rose, King mandarin, chrysanthemum, golden amber, honeysuckle, and wide-throated yellow monkey-flower accord. This sounds beautiful, except I’m nervous about the white cream curdling on me.
Smiling Spider -- Bitter clove, black musk, mahogany wood, and patchouli. I like the sweet clove of Madrid, but this sounds too dark and masculine.
Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree -- Cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear. Yay for honey and blue lilac! Sounds very pretty.
Sunflower -- Sunflower bouquet, black amber, creeping black moss, wilted greenery, and scorched, dry stems. Sunflower sounds unique and this blend sounds interesting.
Sunrise with Sea-Monsters -- Ocean mist, kelp, ambergris, amber, white pear, osmanthus, freesia, and seafoam accord. Is it laundry day again?
In conclusion: since I ordered Lady Luck Blues on the 13th, and since Blue Moon will be around for the next Lunacy, I’m ordering Rose Moon and Tamamo-no-Mae!
This weekend we went to DH's old workplace one last time. We moved to Dallas 5 years ago because the music retail company he worked for in Ohio was begging him to take over a store -- he was offered places in Vegas, Denver and Southern California before he accepted here. He was excited because he would be involved from the ground up, as the outdoor, urban retail complex wasn't even finished yet, and he would be involved in construction and inventory and fixtures and hiring and everything.
Unfortunately for him, 2 weeks after he opened was 9/11. Retail across the country tanked, and his brand-spanking new store was no exception. Add in management changes, and suddenly the golden boy was a problem child. Without going into detail, things ended on a bad note, but it was a company-wide problem. They've since closed a bunch of prominent retail stores, and they're closing the one DH worked so hard to open.
So we go there on Sunday, a couple of weeks before their closing, and it's like a mausoleum. Empty, cavernous and depressing. But DH wasn't depressed, because he actually got a better job afterwards with lots more security. And he can Scoreboard!
The sports radio station we like here has a term: "Scoreboard!" Like if someone is bitching about how much greater a coach is over Phil Jackson, you just say "Scoreboard" and realize Phil Jackson has won 9 NBA championships. Not that I like Phil Jackson, he's a pompous ass , but he has scoreboard over Larry Brown or Pat Riley or whoever.
I'm babbling, but my point is to appreciate when you can Scoreboard over something -- not in a mean, malicious way, but more self-affirming.
I splurged and bought a Photoplay from November 1926 that I found in a soon-to-be-closed antique and collectibles store. I love reading the articles and ads, and there was a perfume ad for a company called "Cheramy New York: Perfumes of Youth." They must have spent a pretty penny on the ad, as almost the whole magazine is in black-and-white except for the occasional ad pages in color (the other side of the color page is Palmolive soap). The best part is the breathless prose:
The Last Ecstatic Moment with Lovely April Showers
When you have on a good-looking new frock. when you know that coiffure, make-up, and every detail is just right; when instinct tells you that admiring glances will follow as you pass; then approve the finishing touches before a long mirror and add assurance with springlike April Showers!
For April Showers, the perfume of youth, will lift imagination to heights of ecstacy -- give you joyful thrill of life and youth and conscious power .... It is a breezy fragrance; friendly -- eager -- young! You will love the rare, capricious charm of April Showers in perfumes, powders, rouges, jewel-like little compacts, and other necessary toiletries.
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Holy crap, where has this been all my life? I want heights of ecstasy! I need a joyful thrill of life AND youth AND conscious power. I don't even know what exactly that means, but I need it! I too want to be friendly, eager and young -- not surly, tired and old like I am now.
That does it -- I'm going to spray assurance on me and everyone else around, whether they want it sprayed on them or not. Oh, and I'm going to start saying "rouge" too.
It's update time! Oh how I love updates, although this one was only for the Lunacy. I did order Harvest Moon -- when I saw the will-call notice and they mentioned Harvest Moon, I first thought I wouldn't want it because I previously had a bottle of HM04 and while it started out nice and autumnal, it ended up a bit too strongly floral for me and I gave the bottle to my mom. So when HM05 came out I didn't order, but the reviews sounded more fruity and I wish I would have tried it. Now this blend sounds totally new and different, so I'm in!
I also ordered bottles of Hellcat and Morocco, another couple of catalog blends that were giving me dirty looks from my "wanted" list. Hellcat is so creamy sweet, some people think it's too foody but I just love it in the imp, it's a perfect fall scent. At a previous Meet-n-Sniff I got an imp of Old Morocco and fell in love -- it's a perfect dark brooding incensey blend. From what I've read it may have to be aged, so we'll see.
I am a bit disappointed that my order from 5/13 is still outstanding -- I know the Lab is catching up, but it would be personally exciting for me to receive an order early (ahead of the pack) instead of late. Hopefully this means I'll get all 3 outstanding orders in July!
ETA: Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! I came home and there was my 5/13 order with no click-n-ship. Aw yeah
