November 19, 2004

• FRIDAY FIVE
  (feeling shallow)

  1. Starting with your head down to your toes, what health/beauty products have you used/applied to your body so far today? [For example, shampoo, toothpaste, makeup, cologne/perfume, nail polish, etc.]
  Well, I washed my hair with New Garnier Fructis Fortifying Shampoo and New! Suave Naturals Conditioner Tropical Kiwi. Every product now has to have the word New in front of the title to get your attention I guess. I’ve never mastered the art of finding the perfect shampoo and conditioner and often resort to whatever’s cheapest. Otherwise, I’ve only gotten as far as face lotion, which is at the moment Olay Age Defying Daily Renewal Cream. I’ve been slathering on lotion since I was in my 20′s and it may be why people occasionally mention my good skin. Once I get through with my morning xanga ritual, I’ll do a little makeup, a little mascara, some toothpaste and mouthwash, a little lipstick and I’ll be done for the day. Oh yes, a little spritz of Emeraude cologne, my favorite for pretty much my whole life. Never have fussed with my fingernails and probably never will at this point. Oops, and oh yes, vitamins – I’m a serious vitamin freak. (And you think the male of the species is the most colorful…)
  2. Do you have a ritual when you take a shower, such as washing your hair first or maybe even brushing your teeth in the shower? If so, what? Do you prefer baths or showers?
  I admit to being a filthy bath person. Well, that’s what the shower people say anyway. I love to read in the tub. I keep a book (or the current Vanity Fair) and my reading glasses in a little chair from my childhood right by the tub. Most of the year, it’s just the morning bath, but sometimes in the winter when I get home and it’s freezing outside and inside at first, I just jump in and soak with some kind of lovely bath gel thing – currently, Breathe Bath Salts by erbaviva which I ordered online. Smells like eucalyptus, cedar and spruce. Mmmmm…
  3. How do you get yourself up and going in the mornings? Coffee? A hot shower? Breakfast? Would you consider yourself a morning person at all? When do you usually get up?
  I grew up on a farm so early morning rising comes with the genes (well, except for my drug and alcohol years when you could find me in bed any time of night or day). I have cats, so if the morning light change doesn’t wake me, they do, and I can see the digital clock on the TV in my room for the time. I’m almost always out of bed by 5:00 am at the latest, even on weekends. The older you get, the less sleep you seem to need, though I’ve heard you should still try for 8 hours. I’ve not been successful at that. I jump in the tub, get dressed, and then eat my breakfast cereal concoction while doing Xanga and checking email, then finish ablutions – brush teeth, etc., then cursory house straigtening, then off to work or on with my day. I do have a cup of coffee if I’m not going to work and one at work if I am.
  4. Do you normally eat breakfast? What do you usually have? Do you usually make it at home or go out for breakfast, or do you prefer not to eat breakfast?
  I remember from early Adele Davis days that you should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like the bourgeousie, and dinner like a pauper. She was a nutrition guru and she did talk like that. My breakfast is almost always the same – a bowl of whole grain dry cereal with cut up berries or bananas on top and a handful of wheat germ plus organic lowfat milk. I love to eat breakfast out, but rarely do. When I do I’m always tempted to scarf down omelets and sausage and bacon and other poisonous stuff. I think people who don’t eat breakfast at all are setting themselves up for temper tantrums and fainting fits and those who just have coffee and sugar can expect hypoglycemic crashes by mid-day.
  5. What does your alarm clock sound like? A buzzer, music, or something else? Do you ever set your clock fast so that you push yourself to get ready sooner? Are you usually on time, late, or somewhere in-between?
  No alarm clock. Cats jump on me and I check digital clock that glows in the dark. Always early. It’s practically a character defect. Sometimes I enjoy acting out my anger at the unfairness of late arrivers by being one myself but it’s too hard on my nervous system. I think consistent lateness is an act of hostility. “You fools can get here on time if you want to, but I’ll show up any damn time I please.”
  

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  Deep Thought: “If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let ‘em go, because, man, they’re gone.”
  Today I am grateful for: Flashlights
  Guess the Movie: “Getting thrown out of baseball was like having part of me amputated. I’ve heard that old men wake up and scratch itchy legs that been dust for over fifty years. That was me. I’d wake up at night with the smell of the ball park in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet… The thrill of the grass.” Answer: Field of Dreams, 1989. Winner: thenarrator.
  As U.S. Forces Raided a Mosque
  by Dahr Jamail
  BAGHDAD – An eyewitness commentary to IPS through a U.S. raid on a Baghdad mosque Friday gives a vivid picture of what a ‘successful raid’ can be like. (Rest of article here.)
  End of Day: 10:03 pm
  + = Sunny cold fall day with lots of birds and squirrels clambering all over my back yard.
  - = So many things still undone, including my mind.

  • 11:14 am
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