time-consuming

also occupying my time. life is time-consuming.

If I actually find the time to read, or browse, through these books I’ll let you know if they’re worthwhile. And, yes, I had to get something from the library for pure entertainment. Yay Wright Memorial Library!

:: UPDATE ::

The Case For Books | it’s a collection of the author’s essays and there is some very interesting information on book and publishing history, but it was a bit of a slow read, and a tad bit outdated…it’d be interesting to read an update chapter from the author on all the developments with e-books and digital reading devices—some of what he wrote was from the beginning of the possibility of digitizing books.

Mediapedia | wasn’t so impressed—definitely more of a resource for a beginner or inexperienced computer user in relation to design.

Click and Becoming a Digital Designer | need to check them out again as I got busy and didn’t have a chance to read them, despite many renewals.

By the way, if you live in Dayton, Ohio and you have never been to the Wright Memorial Public Library you really need to go. It is the best library. Not the biggest, fanciest, or newest, but definitely my favorite.

Low tech living

So far, so good. I’m in my new place and making do without a number of things. I guess you could say I’ve unintentionally simplified my life. In some respects I’ve temporarily reverting to the good old fashioned days of low-tech living.

No microwave. No toaster. No pots (except a tiny sauce pan, a stir fry pan, and my new IKEA fry pan). No water filter. No dishwasher. No washing machine…I do have a dryer though it doesn’t do me much good yet. No bookshelves. No clothes dresser. No desk. And pretty much a big huge hole in the useful storage spaces department (even though there’s plenty of room).

I don’t mind simplifying. I mean, I’ve never been one to use something like a meat pounder, a grill pan, a popcorn popper, a G.F. grill, a stove top tea kettle. I’ve even been planning on getting a toaster oven and forgoing the toaster and microwave.

But a few weeks without a microwave has reminded me of a few good reasons to own one. Things that come up in my daily life where there is no microwave substitute.

• Rice packs (like a heating pad, but natural and non-electric) can’t be heated up in anything but a microwave.
• Adams Peanut butter—best. peanut. butter. ever. I grew up on this stuff and can’t stand the other stuff (like Jiff or Skippy). Natural is the way to go. It’s healthier—no added sugar. And here’s a little tidbit I learned (don’t remember when or where): remove the metal lid of the jar carefully so you don’t spill all the peanut oil on top and microwave the jar for 8-15 seconds. Makes it unbelievably easy to stir in the oil.
• Better Oats oatmeal (new MN brand)—found this brand at the grocery a few months ago. Ingenious packaging! The only downside is you can’t make it if you don’t have a microwave.
• Leftovers—although I have done just fine with reheating on the stove…so far. People did live quite well before microwaves were invented. I figure I can do it, too. My college roommate’s family didn’t own a microwave and I spent Thanksgiving with them. Talk about leftovers to reheat! That’s the only time I can remember using the stove-top to reheat leftovers, but I’m sure that’s what my mom did before we got a microwave.

I may stick it out a while longer, but I’ll probably give in and get one cuz it’s all so much easier with a microwave! As for the other stuff…I’m shopping around on craigslist and planning on scoping out any good estate sales and vintage/antique/thrift shops and garage sales that I can find. And may have to make another trip or two (or more) to IKEA.

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second cut

About that haircut. I brought in multiple pictures of the new short hairdo I really liked to show the Rats Nest hairstylist what I wanted. And by the time I left the salon I was happy with the cut. But then, the more I looked at my new ‘do that evening and the following day, the more I realized it wasn’t very close to the style I’d gone in for. In some major ways. Like it was pretty much a plain old bob and that’s not what I wanted at all.

I called the salon, after consulting a few friends about my new hair and the pics of the style I wanted, and the stylist said to come back in and she’d fix it. Soooo nice of her. Here are a few pics I found on the web of the style (and various ‘dos with the style).

yes, I did get a little obsessed with this lovely lady’s (Kim C.) hair while watching American Idol Season 8 (the only season I’ve watched)—she hosted Idol Chat or Idol Wrap or something like that. Anywho, I fell in like with the way the style could be transformed into so many different looks, even putting it up in a short short ponytail! I am so not a fan of doing the exact same thing with my hair every single day.

I did go back in for a second cut about a week later and came home much happier, especially since I didn’t have to pay another penny. I wanted something that would be cute, messy, funky, and edgy, but that could also be styled for a sophisticated professional look.

Although…I left the salon with much shorter hair than I’d planned on originally. But, that ended up being a good thing. Cuz I have this tendency to not get my hair cut for forever. Many many months. And it turns out that I waited twice as long as I planned on waiting til my next haircut (and that was already a long time). So the short shortness was a good thing.

Here are a few pics of the second new ‘do. I think it turned out quite nice. Still not quite the style from the pictures I brought in (more of a wedge style). Somehow the front ended up getting shorter in the second round. Oh well. Guess I need to learn hairstylist lingo in order to get what I want.

oh, and excuse the poor color/lighting of the middle row of pics…that was right before I got my digital camera so I was using Photobooth on my MacBook (and juggling getting the right angle while holding my computer in the bathroom)

one year ago

So, exactly one year ago today I got my hair cut. Chopped. Off. All of it. Well . . . I guess I didn’t get my head shaved, so it wasn’t quite all of it. Close enough.

Last summer I decided I needed a haircut before a big trip to a friend’s wedding. A nice haircut. At a nice salon. And I figured if I was going to fork over a good chunk of money for a nice haircut I wanted to donate my hair. Cuz it was pretty long and should help make a nice wig for somebody if it’s not going to be attached to my head anymore.

A little background on me and hair: I grew up with haircuts from Mom, occasional visits to the local community college’s beauty school, or cuts from a hairstylist whose kids I babysat. In college, and since then, I usually got a trim from Mom or a friend I could convince to cut it (I kept my hair long and straight since my sophomore year in college). So, I was at a loss for where to go to get a nice haircut, and definitely not looking forward to paying.

I searched, in hopes of finding a salon in or near my neighborhood that would provide a complimentary cut for someone donating their hair. Donated hair, as long as it meets certain requirements (generally length and health), can be made into wigs. I didn’t have any luck finding a salon with complimentary cuts. At least, not anywhere in my neighborhood. Some salons I called said they could give me a discount, some said that all they could do is mail the hair to the organization, some said it depends on the hairstylist, and others didn’t offer any incentive to make an appointment at the salon to get a cut to donate hair.

During my salon search, I learned about three organizations that take hair donations. Locks of Love is the most well-known and the only organization I had previously heard anything about. They make wigs for children and donated hair must be at least 10 inches long. Wigs for Kids is another organization making wigs for children and donated hair has to be 12+ inches long. Pantene Beautiful Lengths is the third organization I learned about. They makes wigs for women from the donated hair and the plus with them is that you only have to cut off 8 inches. Check out the websites for these organizations if you’re thinking about chopping off your hair and want to learn more about donating.

The salon I made an appointment with, The Rats Nest, came up in a web search for salons and the Pantene organization (a client’s post on the salon’s Facebook page mentioned the organization). The name of the salon, and my conversation with the owner/hairstylist, made me pretty excited to go get a real salon cut. I mean, really, that name is genius.

So I ended up sending my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths after two cuts at The Rats Nest. But, I’ll tell you about that part later. Here are some before & after pics. And, no, I don’t know how many inches I donated, but it was definitely more than the required eight. Might’ve been twelve.

Someday is now

I heard a message, quite a few years ago, where the concept of “someday” was discussed. That one simple word ends up being a huge excuse (procrastination anyone?) without really seeming like it. I guess it encompasses the idea of good intentions as well. You know, when you say I’m going to read that book ‘someday’ or I have this great idea for a craft project that I want to make ‘someday’ or ‘someday’ we are going to take a trip to… or lets hang out (or go to lunch) ‘someday’ or even ‘someday’ when I have more time…. I am guilty of all of those and so many more someday claims. When there’s no action or implementation following someday it is meaningless. So it’d probably be best if I just try to eliminate that word from my vocabulary. Although, I do want to say that I really mean it when I say those things—I do plan on doing all the things I say someday about.

This month I’m happy to say that many, many, many of my somedays are coming into play. The first someday is resigning from my full-time job which I think will have a domino effect. I hope. My expectations are realistic. I know it won’t happen all at once. I know I can’t do everything at once. I know most of my somedays aren’t instantaneous, they’re things that will take time, saving pennies, planning, and research. It’s a process and I’m going to move forward rather than staying stuck in someday land. I’m kicking off a new chapter of my life where I will start doing all my someday projects and implementing my someday plans. I have so many of them! One of which is this blog—the lovin’ spoon. So welcome to my doing journey. No more somedays.

PS: enjoy this lovely shot up my nose, I like the image despite that.  :)