27.3.09

What the hell am I doing here?/I don't belong here

So the Black Phoenix Lab perfume samples showed up, and I have to admit, at first I was very disappointed. I didn't like the way most of them smelled in the bottles, the exception being Two, Five, Seven. Everything else smelled--unappealing, at best. But I sucked it up and have been trying one per day, so I've tried three as of today: Two, Five, Seven; Cheshire Cat; and Dirty.

Once on me, they all smell pretty good. So far I like Cheshire Cat the best; but is that really surprising? It doesn't hurt that it smells like a berry-chocolate tart of some kind. Two... smells like roses, but not just tea roses and let's face it--not all roses smell lovely. But it's also very nice. Dirty smells, somehow, like spring. If I had unlimited funds, I'd buy bottles (full-sized ones) of all three, but I don't, so I'll probably just buy one of Cheshire Cat. But then, I've still got the other two that I ordered, plus the two free samply bits that I was sent, to try as well. So we'll see how this turns out.

24.3.09

Blackbird, fly...

So a few days ago I was driving home from Andrew's and I saw a dead black pigeon in the road. Knowing me and my extremely morbid sensibilities, you shouldn't be surprised when I tell you I spontaneously burst into song and made up some new lyrics to the Beatles' song, "Blackbird."

Blackbird laying in the middle of the road
Use your broken wings and try to fly
All your life
You were only praying that that car would pass you by.

Blackbird laying in the middle of the street
Use your sightless eyes and try to see
But your life
Was stolen by that monster SUV.

Blackbird died.
Blackbird died.


What? I'm morbid. Also, forever and a day ago I got hold of the Black Symphony, by WT, and I watched it...and, of course, loved it. Well, not all of it. There are some parts, like the ridiculous jacket Sharon wears in the beginning, and a couple of duets that could have been better, but still...overall, A+.

16.3.09

Raven's lad upon her hair/Clouds adrift on her skin

About 3 weeks ago I went to the doctor to get checked for a couple of things, one of them a UTI because my lower back was hurting. Turns out, I didn't have a UTI but a mild case of pyelonephritis, which is scary--even more scary is the fact that my back wasn't hurting because of it. I had a symptomless kidney infection.
What was making my back hurt, you ask? Well, this morning I went to the chiropractor, and it turns out that my tailbone was out of place. As well as another bone 2/3 up my spine and two bones in my neck. Woo-hoo. So now my back still hurts, but it hurts in a "been jerked around and the muscles are sore" type of way as opposed to a "there is something seriously wrong with my back" kind of way.
And so the saga of Winter and The Medical Problems That Won't Quit continues...

12.3.09

I'm going home/Gonna load my shotgun

I'm a bit ashamed of myself. I suppose that requires some explanation, doesn't it?
I've caved. I've never thought much of the idea of buying perfume online when you've never smelled it before, because, I mean, come on, people, just because something is described as "a light floral scent with slight citrus undertones" doesn't mean it actually smells good. And even if it does smell good on Cindy Lou Who, everybody's body chemistry is different and just because it smells fantastic on Cindy Lou doesn't mean it will be even remotely tolerable on me.
And yet fifteen minutes ago I went online to this (admittedly very, very cool website) and bought six "imp's ears," also known as "imps" (they're 0.5 mL samples) of perfumes. *headdesk* Granted, if even one of them smells good on me I'll probably buy a full-size bottle of it, but still...
I've been wearing the same perfume for...oh, gosh, five years now, I think. Maybe a little less. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the scent ("Rich floral fragrance captivates the senses with a heart of water hyacinth, brightened with mandarin and blond woods.") but it would be nice to have a little bit of variety once in a while. And it will only be once in a while, because by my calculations, I'd be paying three times as much for the new perfume as I do for the old one, were I to buy a same-sized bottle.
Oh, I suppose I should probably plug the site a bit; it's the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and it has literally hundreds of different scents to choose from. The site itself is rather nifty, and you can buy samples of almost anything; you can't, however, buy samples of the Neil Gaiman- or Terry Pratchett-themed scents, which sucks because they sound interesting and I'd like to try a couple of them, just to say I have "Agness Nutter" scented perfume, but...I'm not willing to pay full price for something that could very well smell horrible on me. For example, this one perfume I've tried sounds quite nice ("Our fragrance interplays fresh, vibrant notes--ruby red grapefruit, bergamot--with soft, sensual ones--Hawaiian wedding flower, spring mimose") and it just so happens to smell like puke on me. No, I'm not kidding.
So, anyway, these are the ones I ordered, and I will let you know how they turn out, when I receive them in two to three weeks.

Cheshire Cat (can't imagine why I picked this one!)--Grapefruit, red currant, dark musk, Roman chamomile, delphinium, and lavender.
Ok, ok, confession. This doesn't actually sound appealing to me, but it's the Cheshire Cat; I mean, come on, people!

Two, Five, & Seven- A huge bouquet of squished rose petals: Bulgarian rose, Somalian rose, Turkish rose, Damascus rose, red and white rose, tea rose, wine rose, shrub roses, rose, rose, rose... and just an itty bitty bit of green grass.

Queen of Hearts- Lily of the valley, Calla lily, stephanotis and a drop of red cherry.

Tiger Lily- A feisty bouquet of golden, warm, gently honeyed lilies.

Epitaph- Roses and funeral lilies perceived, faintly, though an indistinct, ghostly mist.

Dirty- A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy.


So, we'll see how they turn out. I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

10.3.09

But I can see/You're unimpressed

Sorry it's been so long. I feel a little ashamed, actually, that it's been well past the acceptable mark, at least in my opinion. But I am remedying that now, at least for now.
Work has been work, nothing great or special going on except that they ripped out the kitchen floor and therefore we don't have a kitchen downstairs and whoever brought out all the "necessary supplies" and put them in the (much smaller) upstairs kitchen did a really crummy job and most of what we need isn't available. *grump*
The latest Kim Harrison book has been out for over a week and it finally showed up at my door. Unfortunately, I can't read it right away because I've still got one-and-a-half library books to get through in the next few days and Margaret Atwood doesn't read terribly quickly. Hm. I might actually just finish that one (Blind Assassin, which is so far very good--but then, everything I've read by Atwood is phenomenal. But then [don't you love "but then's?] I've only read 3--this is the fourth--novels and a small handful of poems, so I don't know if I have a reliable foundation for saying she's great) and renew the other one for another three weeks, so I can read my Hollows book in peace. Actually, Thellie, you should read this series--you'd enjoy it. Dark urban fantasy, where a big chunk of the human population was killed off by a mutant virus that spread via a biogenetically engineered tomato.
Things are going very well with The Boy. I should point out that when I say "very well" I don't mean that we've never had an argument (actually, we haven't--the most we've ever had is a conversation that got a bit heated, but you get the idea) or never disagreed. We have, and it's been good, because we have been consistently working our way through that stuff, and each time it brings us a little closer (not that we can really get much closer, but you understand what I mean).
I may actually have the chance to introduce said Boy to "The Group" (if you're not sure it's you, it's not) this summer, as they're having a bit of a reunion and Headache #1 (I am Headache #2, btw, and the third party of this particular name-thing, Confusion, has dropped off the face of the earth. I used to feel quite upset about that, but over the past several years it has been downgraded to mild-to-moderate chagrin) sent out the letters and stated in said letters that significant others are invited as well.
Which brings me to another interesting bit. It's been years since I've seen these people. I've changed significantly, I know everyone who knows me from college would say so, except for maybe Austin because I was mostly like this around him anyway, but anyway the point I'm getting at is that I am almost a completely different person than I used to be and I'm not sure what (or who) they're expecting.
Some examples of changes in myself:
1. I actually have confidence now. I used to fake it, but now it's real.
2. I think well of myself.
3. I no longer dress in black. I mean, I wear some things that are black, but not that many and not all that often.
4. I smile a lot more.

Granted, I'm still the same person in the whole sarcasm, not willing to suffer fools, speak my mind sort of thing. But I'm finally comfortable with who I am and it shows, and I like it.