1. Settling. I don’t mean “I’m thinking of settling”. I mean, I’m thinking about this concept. It’s something we say a lot. “She’s settling”. “I won’t settle for less”. It’s turning into that word I say so many times it doesn’t sound real anymore. Settle, settle, settle. I’m thinking a lot about what is right and wrong to settle for these days. For example: my job. Dallas. There are so many things about them I don’t like, right? I mean – I don’t dislike my job. In fact, there is a lot of it I find incredibly rewarding. I meet so many nice people. It’s a nice industry to be in, most of the time. I work alone, and can make my own hours a lot of the time. Right now it’s less fun, since we’re in the last two months of crunch time, sure. There is a lot of pressure. Some days I feel like I’m not getting enough done. Some days I don’t want to do it. Some days I want to quit. But hell, isn’t that the same with MOST jobs? When we talk about “settling”, are we saying the alternative is for everything to be perfect? Because I’m sure that’s never the case. Even the jobs I admire most – I KNOW they have their shitty days too. So what are the right and wrong things to settle for? Don’t we all settle for some things every day?
2. Fear. I recently had a conversation with a friend (and if she reads this, she knows who she is) about guns. She feels that by not having a gun in the home to protect yourself, you are a part of the firearms cycle anyway, but by putting yourself in the role of a victim-in-waiting. Which I definitely don’t agree with, as if I have to say – I don’t think by not owning a gun you are somehow resigned to being a victim of someone who HAS one. But it made me think of my mom and sister, who have irrational fears of something happening to them. And I just can’t help but think – WHERE does this fear COME from? I’ll be honest – I just don’t have it. I don’t think it is likely someone is going to break into my home and kill me. I think it is statistically improbable I am going to be carjacked (and I don’t say that lightly – it happened to a good friend of David’s). I just do not live in fear of terrible things happening to me, though I act with due diligence constantly. The fearful politics and news cycle HAS TO STOP. This is not a way for people to live. And we’ve got to change it from childhood. Devery pointed me to Free Range Kids, and I clicked through to this article, and it illustrates how we are DOING EVERYTHING WRONG.
3. Motivation. I’ve lost my motivation for anything personal. It’s like work sucks it all up. Someone help. Where do I find it? I have knitting projects, cooking projects, cleaning, running, parties, a gym schedule – everything laid out. And yet, I’m just being a big old lazy sod. Why am I so demotivated to do things I enjoy and will make me a better and happier person?
4. Bugs. Why are there so many of them? Why do they bite me, or want to come in my house? You make me itchy, vile creatures!
This weekend was full of visits, relaxing, renewing energy, watching movies, lot of fireworks (see above), and way too much mac and cheese. I only had to take a couple work calls, so I really felt like I got some time off, which was an imperative at this stage.
I got everything switched over to WordPress now, as you can see, and cancelled Typepad. Turns out one has to pay to redirect a domain name, but I’m willing to pay that $10 a year to make it easy for now. I might ditch ashbloemstraat.com eventually but I’ll take it a step at a time. I am also still struggling with getting my original Blogware blog into some sort of form that I can import. Blogware exported everything as an XML file, and WordPress does not import XML. Then I thought I would sort of launder it through Blogger, because Blogger will import XML – but apparently only Blogger generated XML? Anyway, I’ve still got it all and I’d love everything in one place, so I’ll continue to see what I can figure out.
It’s 1:45 in the afternoon and I am the only one in the house awake. David and these cats are champion sleepers, I tell you what. We didn’t drink much yesterday because we were terrified of police and drunk drivers, so David’s sleep is purely the sleep of someone who loves to sleep. I wonder if there is a contest or something I can enter him in and make some money off this talent.
Well, I didn´t hope for much progress this month and it turns out I was right. I did, however, have one thing on my list, and I accomplished it: Write in the blog every day for the month of June. Did you notice how I did that? Huh? I had tried it before and failed. However, this time it seemed effortless, mostly because I didn't put any pressure on myself. If I didn't feel chatty, I put up a photo I liked. And in the process, I connected with it again. I've really enjoyed writing/playing with it again.
When I started blogging in 2004, it was so different – I was different, mainly, but also the blogging world felt different. There was no Facebook and no Twitter. I guess there was MySpace, but I never fully got on board with that. It felt like there was real conversation. Flirtation. Exuberance. And creative writing. Dooce was pregnant with her first baby. It felt close.
And then it was.. different. People started getting FAMOUS for blogging. It felt like a path to.. something. I don't even know! As my hits grew, I outgrew my blog and maybe in hopes of becoming, at least, infamous, I upgraded to Typepad. And Typepad has been great the past 4+ years, but… well, let's face it. Not many people are getting famous because of blogs anymore, and I'm certainly not going to be one of them. And any momentum I had at any time was derailed by how the web changed with the advent of Facebook in late 2006.
In the end, I've always just done this for me anyway, and whomever felt like checking in and sharing a bit was more than welcome. I've never had much of a direction with it. I just flowed.
Since the blog is now quieter, more introspective, and, frankly, less read, I do not think it continues to make sense to pay for the Typepad service, no matter how user-friendly it is. And while my old blog still exists in what seems to be an unimportable state, this one is easily exported and imported into a new free platform.
I've enjoyed writing every day and would like to keep it up. However, I'll be taking a few days off to change everything over. If you come here via my URL ashbloemstraat.com, you won't notice anything except a bit of a new look. If, however, you come via ashbloem.typepad.com/ashbloemstraat, you will will need to use the URL – but there don't seem to be that many of you.
So, with that said: BRB.
June is kicking my butt, and I want the summer to be over. Thankfully, I'm a third the way there.
Alamo Plaza Courts – Dallas Tx OPEN! Photo #2, originally uploaded by SouthEast Dallas Photographer.
I also really enjoy this Flickr stream. This fellow is great about going around Dallas and taking shots of endangered, disused, or demolished structures. It's really interesting – he's got some shots in there of buildings I had forgotten about.
Sadly, this motel is now closed. It's sitting empty, I'm sure to be torn down. It's a shame, because it's a pretty neat structure.
Horse bike, in Amsterdam. I want one!
So recently I haven't been hungry. I'm sure it is stress. I don't really feel like discussing it, but I put it out there because yesterday I ate… pretty much nothing. Then I sat and had some beers on the porch with friends. So at least I got some caloric intake, but it also meant that the alcohol hit me pretty hard and I've been somewhat miserable and brain-dead today. Which was crap, since I had to work
This long intro is simply to say I want to write about something superficial and easy. Can it get more superficial than beauty products? Or more easy than a meme? How about a meme about beauty products?
Some of you probably know I am crazy about makeup. It's kind of funny that I don't wear much of it these days. It's turned into special occasion-wear stuff for me. I tend to go more all-out now with it since I don't wear it that often. For work appointments I wear a bare minimum, but most days I go without completely. However, I still love the stuff. It's magical. I love playing with different looks. I love putting it on other people. I love sparkle and glamour. It's just really really fun.
So. I'll answer the meme now.
My Foundation: I've never been much of a foundation wearer, though I keep it around. I have used MAC's Studio Fix line for forever. Literally, I can't remember a time I didn't use it. High school, maybe? I'm a pretty big fan of their foundations and primers generally. But for every day, I just use a tinted moisturizer by Laura Mercier. Love it.
My Mascara: Maybelline Great Lash has been a longtime favorite, but in the past year I have switched to Blinc mascara and that shit is awesome. It does NOT come off. It's pricey, but I think it might be worth it. If I ever have reservations about spending money on it though, I really have always been happy with Great Lash. For some fun, I have some Benefit Lash Lovies in a couple crazy colors – teal, magenta – but I don't wear them nearly often enough.
My Blush: Ooo. I don't have a regular favorite for cheeks. Depending on my look and the temperature outside, I wear MAC Blushcreme in Blossoming, Bobbie Brown Shimmer Brick, Benefit Bene-tint, Benefit 10, Benefit Dandelion… oh, any of the Benefit cheek powders, really, if I'm in a powder mood. And I love Benefit's High Beam and Moon Shine for an extra glow.
My Eye Shadow: MAC or Shu Uemura. I do not own any other brand of eye shadow. By the way, I will never have to buy another eye shadow ever. I literally have every color I should ever need. You name it, I have it. With the exception of canary yellow. I might need that. But I have everything else. In addition to their shadows, I love MAC's Fluidline and Liquidlast liners. I love eyeliners generally.
My Lipstick: Another that I never need to buy again. Though these days I wonder why I buy anything new at all, because they all seem to be the same sheer colors. Favorites: Chanel Scintillantes lip glosses, MAC lip glasses, Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited glosses. Lip Medex.
My Skincare: I drink a lot of water. And I have good genes. Past that…it will sound really complicated but it is just because I have a day and night regimen. In the morning, Lush Angels on Bare Skin scrub, Origins A Perfect World Skin Guardian, and Aveda Botanical Kinetics moisturizer (I also love Lush's Imperialis, but it's wicked expensive for a very small amount and I only buy it once or twice a year as a spa treat for myself). At night, Shu Uemura High Performance cleansing oil, Skin-ceuticals CE Ferulic, and then the same moisturizer. Oh, and sometimes Origins perfect world eye cream, but I can't seem to keep it out of my eyes so sometimes I'm just not in the mood for the pain and tears. When my skin is really dry, pure vitamin E oil. And for the rare times I get a spot, I use Origins Spot Remover. That shit knocks zits out like Tyson! Or something. None of this stuff is cheap, but it lasts a long long time (with the exception of Imperialis).
My Essential Beauty Product: Vaseline. Eye makeup remover, lip balm, moisturizer. I never let myself run out of it.
My Favorite Makeup Product: I can't. You can't make me. But probably lip gloss. My friend Kelly, who I met at my first Real Job in 1997, likes to tell the story about how she used to sit in front of me in our team room at the office. When she first started, she would turn around to ask me a question, and pretty much every time she turned around I was reapplying lip balm or gloss. With my ring finger. And wouldn't stop during my answer.
My Perfume: I like lots. I have lots. Mostly perfume oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Lush's Karma. Adore Jo Malone fragrances. Kiehls Musk. And some traditional ones too – Calvin Klein fragrances, Thierry Mugler, Marc Jacobs, etc. If you'd like a sample, come on over. I'm a fragrance counter, especially if that fragrance counter is in Istanbul.
My Nails: Nothing. I'm too messy and make too many things to have nice nails.
My Feet: Bright colors and moisturizer.
My Hands: Neutrogena hand cream, when I remember.
Three Products to bring on a deserted island: Vaseline, sunscreen
and vitamin E oil.
Woman I admire for their beauty: More of my friends than I can count, but for a few: Nora, Dabney, Kristie H., Anita, Angie, Danielle, Devery, Hollis, Kat, Courtney, my sister. Really too many friends to name, that's just a smattering. As for well-known personas, there are lots of pretty ladies. Angelina Jolie. Drew Barrymore. Zooey Deschanel. Melanie Laurent. Blythe Danner. Gwenyth Paltrow. I don't know. Lots of beautiful celebrities i guess since they have to be, but my friends are most beautiful of all.
Woman with the Best Sense of Style: Allison B, here in Dallas. DJ Bad Holly in Dallas. Frankie in London. Devery. As for famous people, not sure. Jane Aldridge, usually. Tavi at Style Rookie just cause she is fearless. Gala at amlul.com. Carolina at Fashion Squad. Apparently I love teen fashion bloggers. Who knew? More my age… Drew Barrymore. Zooey Deschanel.
What does beauty mean?: Being comfortable in your own skin.
My Favorite Fashion Publication: Said teen fashion bloggers. I hate fashion magazines with a passion. I always walk away from them feeling stupider and hating my boobs. The internet kids make it fun, though.
This Flickr stream is one of my favorites. It is the photo archives of Nick DeWolf, photographer and a founder of Teradyne (more info here). I'm totally dressing up for Halloween like the dude above, by the way.
Amazing 1970s stuff, including Dallas shots. The archivist adds 20-50 photos a day. It's seemingly never-ending and it is all wonderful. Here is another, from the State Fair of Texas, 1977:
David wasn't quite born yet when these shots were taken.
