Reasons to check out the new show "Eli Stone"

1. There's sure as hell nothing else on TV these days.
2. The name holds a special place in my heart.
3. The lead actor is Angelina Jolie's first husband.
4. He's a Brit playing an American which is working out pretty darn well for Hugh Laurie.
5. There's a whole deeper science-versus-faith subplot if you're into that sort of thing.
6. Who doesn't love Loretta Devine?
7. LIVE. GEORGE MICHAEL. PERFORMANCES.

40 is the New Drop-Dead Freaking Gorgeous

When I called Diane Lane "easily one of the most beautiful women in the world," I wasn't kidding. I want to look like her when I grow up. Next year. When I'm her age.

She's 42 and her skin looks great. Her make up always makes her glow. Now I realize that she doesn't do it herself, but just the fact that 1) she managed to hire a really, really good make-up artist and 2) that she had the presence of mind to look at herself in a mirror and think, "I look good," and then went out of the house looking this great makes me love her all the more. I know those two things should be a no-brainer to a woman in the position of Ms. Lane's, but just consider for a moment all the celebs who step out having done neither.

She has possibly the greatest hair color ever. (How did I forget that I wanted to go red this winter?) I love the shape of her lips, and that she doesn't appear to have succumbed to injecting them with anything.

I even love her with short hair, although I would never let Ann Curry cut my hair. I wouldn't let Ann Curry cut my meat.

I'm not saying that she hasn't had any work done. I have no idea whether she has or not. So what if she has? She doesn't look plastic, it appears she can still move her forehead and she's not trying to compete with 25-year-olds. So I say You Go Girl. More power to ya.

Did you know there was an awards show last night?

Let's get right to it.

Bright-colored dresses were all the rage last night. Kyra Sedgwick, Jenna Fischer, Vanessa Williams, January Jones and Marcia Cross were among those sporting jewel tones. But unfortunately, I didn't care much for the style of most of them. While Sara Ramirez's dress is a little plain in the front, it had a nice parting shot and the color was completely fabulous on her. (This was the only photo of her I could find.)

Diane Lane, easily one of the most beautiful women in the world, did herself no favors with this. When the space between your chin and your breasts is greater than two feet, you may want to rethink your undergarments.

Kate Beckinsale just looks a mess all the way around to me. The dress looks more like party decorations than a red-carpet gown, and her hair makes her face look abnormally long.

This is not a bad dress, but this fabric is so challenging. It makes Jenna Fischer look wide across the middle in a way that I doubt she actually is.

I feel like I've seen this dress on Kate Hudson about 14 times already.

This hair and dress combination make Becki Newton from Ugly Betty look like a bobblehead. Is she really that thin? Yikes. She should have gone for a dress that created some curves.

Her make up was lovely though.

As was Eva Parker's, although I can't say I'm crazy about her hair. Eva has beautiful, glossy hair and I just prefer when she wears it straight and shiny.

While we're on make up...pregnancy must agree with Ms. Blanchett because OMG! FLAWLESS!

As was this lovely girl. Whoever she is. (Sophia Bush?) (Wait...is this the same girl who used to be a model who's related to the former governor of Florida who is by chance related to the current guy in the White House?) (Well she looks very pretty anyway so it's unfortunate that she has to be related to such a nutjob.)

I wish Debra Messing would find some dresses that are more flattering to her flat-as-a-board figure. I mean, thank god she hasn't opted for big fake Hollywood boobs, but it seems like every time I see her on the red carpet, she's wearing something strapless or that otherwise calls unnecessary attention to the fact that she has the figure of a 12-year-old boy. Maybe she likes it that way but I just think she could look better.

Ellen Pompeo, do you even HAVE a stylist? Because every time I see you at an event you just look CRAZY. Is this wrinkly mess made out of aluminum foil or what? Girl, you need help. Don't be afraid to reach out.

Juno's Ellen Page looked very pretty and age-appropriate but I wonder if she didn't feel a little underdressed in this? Also, someone needs to maybe teach her how to stand.

Christina Applegate looked stunning, as ever. I LOVE this dress so much and it just looks so perfect on her. She's another woman that's just looking better & better with age, so I'm glad her career is going so well for her.

America Ferrara, you are a knock-out honey, and I'm sorry that Lady Jay from ANTM called you Jennifer. Whatever. This color is a little drab for a special event, but the style is so classic that you're really making it work.

My personal favorite, Marion Cotillard:

who I'm glad to see doesn't have those crazy googly eyes in real life that she did as Edith Piaf.

Also, Javier Bardem

HOT

Three unrelated (but very, very interesting) observations

Why do filmmakers insist on telling stories all out of order? I rented La Vie en Rose because I've heard such great things about the actress's performance (she's supposedly a front-runner for the Oscar). And while her performance was indeed impressive, I had a terrible time trying to follow the story. I almost feel like you have to know the woman's life story in advance if you want to understand the film. And speaking of which, can we go ahead and call a moratorium on all these bio pics? It's gotten to where you're practically guaranteed an Oscar if you play a tortured artist.

In other, completely unrelated news, the authors of this study on the use of the word "pop" versus "soda" reached the conclusion that "People who say 'Pop' are much, much cooler." (I say "soda," even though I live in a part of the country where most people use "coke" for all soft drinks.)

Also unrelated, but worth talking about just the same, is an article I read recently about the germiest places in the home. Number one on the list? Your kitchen sink. Yes, even germier than the bathroom. How's that suit ya? But the one that really got me was the laundry room. They said that the term "clean clothes" is actually a misnomer. Turns out that all underwear has a certain amount of feces in it (the article actually quoted the amount), that continues to live on your clothes and in your washer. Gross, right? It said that you should wash your underwear separately in hot water (and with bleach, if it's white) after which you should run an empty cycle with hot water and bleach to kill the germs in the washer. Like I have time to add ANOTHER load of laundry to my schedule. I figure if I'm wearing clothes with microscopic feces on them, I've been doing so for more than 40 years so I'm not gonna start worrying about it now. But that's just me. You do with this information as you like.

Rockin the Vote

Hillary will be here tomorrow and the campaign office called and asked me to help out at the event! I'm so excited. Tonight, I will go and help shuttle members of her staff and the press corps to their hotel. In the morning, I'll be at the church that she's visiting. (I'm just waiting for the advance guy to call and say that I passed the security test. Since I'm not a terrorist, or a convict, and I pay my taxes, I'm not anticipating any issues there.) Hopefully, I'll get a photo with her to go on my desk next to my photo with Bill!

In all seriousness, I think our country is on the brink of disaster. I think the tax rebate package was a desperate measure by people who have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH THE MESS THEY'VE CREATED. I honestly believe - whether you like her or not, if you think she's a bitch or that the Clintons are a "machine" or for whatever reason - that Hillary is the ONLY ONE who can get us out of this mess and who knows how to work the political landscape in DC to actually get something done. I have nothing against Obama, but I just don't have the faith that he can get anything done. I don't think he knows enough yet about how the game is played. You can talk all day long about wanting a "change" and needing someone who's not part of the Beltway insiders but guess what? Those insiders will know how to make things happen and make them happen FAST.

Otherwise, we're all just fucked.

Freshman

Here's My Kid's school picture, that he hid under the clock in his room so that I didn't find it until it was too late to order and now I'm probably going to be arrested for scanning it and putting it on the internet:

"Plagued By Injuries"

I'm like that athlete with superstar potential whose career never really takes off because they're "plagued by injuries." I'm the Brian Bosworth of running.

This morning, less than half-way through my run, my left ankle gave me a sharp pain. I tried to keep going for a little while, but it eventually became so bad that I had to cut my run short. And by "cut short" I mean that I had less running time, not that I was out any less, because it took me damn near an hour to hobble the mile or so I was from home, thus disrupting my entire morning schedule and making me late for work.

And to all my compassionate neighbors who were driving off to work and school at 6:30 this morning? Thanks so much for offering a limping lady a ride home. As a reward, you will all find Hillary Clinton campaign signs in your Republican yards in the morning.

So as of now, my joints? YOU ARE ON NOTICE

Phone Conversation

Scene: cold, rainy, early
(driving to work)

Phone: Ring! Ring!

Caller ID: Home

Me: Hello?

Big Daddy: Hey, did we take the trash bin down to the street?

Me: No.

BD: (thinking he's got to go out in the cold rain to do it) ...

Me: But they're not going to come until tomorrow, honey. They're going to be a day behind. I realize not everyone gets the day off, but don't you think SANITATION WORKERS in MEMPHIS were off on MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY?

An update on the Running

ON THE KNEE
I have decided that the knee trouble is tendinitis or "runners knee." This is brought on by over-pronation which is, in fact, what the guy at the shoe store diagnosed. My shoes are combating this of course, but due to my cockeyed back I need to pay special attention to the way I am landing my steps and really concentrate on keeping my feet flat and my weight distributed evenly.

I have bought one of those knee bands that give support below the knee cap (which has made me able to go up & down the stairs in my house without pain, so I'm predicting some success with that apparatus) and I'm doing some exercises to strengthen the thigh muscle above my knee cap to help take some of the pressure off the knee.

I missed two work outs last week which is bumming me out so bad but I'm going to get back on my schedule today. Just as soon as the temparature warms up some and it's no longer a wind chill of 15 degrees, which may work for you people in Green Bay, but is fucking COLD here.


ON SEEING CHANGES
I've been weighing myself only once a week since I started my exercise program. I don't really believe in daily weigh-ins because I feel like if a healthy amount of weight to lose is 2 pounds per week, then daily weighings may only bring discouragement as you won't be seeing a drop in the needle. Plus, I've not really changed my eating habits because my ultimate goal is not to lose weight but to get fit. I figure though, that going from a sedentary lifestyle to one of 30-minute work outs three times a week is bound to result in some weight loss.

Only it hasn't. Two weeks of exercise and one week of interrupted exercise and I'm still at 135. Some people have said to me, "Well, muscle weighs more than fat..." to which my response is: WTF dude? I'm not pumping iron.

But yesterday I noticed something: my stomach has gotten flatter. Not FLAT. But definitely flat-TER. Which is so, SO freaking encouraging. And I actually had to tighten my bra to the tightest hook. And last week, when I put on my boots, I noticed that they're much tighter around my calves. At first I thought it was something knee-related, like...swelling. So I showed it to Big Daddy and he examined it with his I-used-to-play-football-in-high-school expert eyes and hands and announced that what I had was MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT.

So yeah, apparently I am burning fat, as evidenced by my incredible shrinking torso, only it's not showing up on the scale because I'm also building superhero-sized muscles! So the hell with the scale. I don't even care about that anymore. Because now I realize I might get back down to a size 6 yet still weigh 135, and that will be A-OK with me.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE, 7:25 PM
I went for my run early this afternoon and it went really well. I had a little pain in the walking segments and next to none when I was running. Concentrating so hard on my form really helped with my endurance, too. It gave me something to focus on while running and instead of feeling like I would barely complete the 90-second runs, I found myself feeling like I could go longer.

A rose by any other name would smell

I have another confession to make: I sometimes do my son's English Lit homework. Well, not exactly do it for him...more like help him with it. He knows how much I love reading and good literature. He knows, if he has a list of authors and his homework is to look up what they wrote, he can ask me, "What did Pearl S. Buck write?" and I'm going to say, "The Good Earth." It's kind of like a game for me to see how many of them I can answer without going to Google.

Now he's reading - or supposed to be reading - Romeo and Juliet. Which I admit to hating when I was a Freshman. (OMG, Daisey- remember that horrid test of definitions that hateful old Mrs. Cannon gave us? And our moms went up to the school to complain?) But I have since come to appreciate the classics and, after reading a couple of Jane Austen novels, can even understand most of the writing.

I find it quite odd that they're not reading the play in class, though. I thought that's how all Freshmen everywhere read Romeo and Juliet. Instead, My Kid is supposed to read a couple pages at home every night and answer questions about it. And I can't really blame him for not doing it; I totally would not have read my first Shakespeare alone, at the age of 14.

They will eventually show them the movie though - both of them, from what I understand, the Franco Zeffirelli AND the Baz Luhrman versions. (Which, BTW, did you know Jamie Kennedy is in the Baz Luhrman one? He, of Malibu's Most Wanted. Also? That cross-dressing Mercutio? Michael, from Lost.)

So The Kid totally has my number. And every night he comes down and sits next to me on the sofa where I'm reading blogs or trying to do some writing, and he'll say, "What does Romeo say when he sees Juliet on the balcony?" and I say, "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks..."

(I told my co-worker this, b/c she went to the same high school and frankly it wasn't all that long ago that she graduated. And she said, "How do you KNOW that?" and I'm all, "How do you NOT?")

I've actually been lacking for something to read lately so I've taken up the big blue Elements of Literature (Third Course) book with some god splashing out of the ocean and a quote from Ithaca on the cover. The hardest part of reading Shakespeare from a high school text book (besides lying in bed, trying to balance a 14-pound book on your stomach) is not being able to take a highlighter and mark up the parts I like.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a DVD to go buy.

24/7 in January

For those of you not familiar with skirt! magazine, it's a publication for women that doesn't "tell you how to lose weight, find a better man or compare yourself to every other woman on the planet." It's published out of South Carolina with various customized editions in cities across the southeast. (Go here to see where you can pick up a copy in Memphis.) From what I can tell, several of the pages are produced in South Carolina with a few pages produced locally. They feature essays from freelancers, a photo of a local man modeling a skirt and a Q&A called "24/7" with a local woman. Here's my 24/7 for January:

I'm thinking about
when I can start running again













Always...
say 'thank you'

Never...
tempt fate














If I could be totally wild, I would
quit working altogether and make a living as a writer














The best thing I ever won:
a college scholarship in journalism (and maybe the only thing?)

I am guilty of:
contempt prior to investigation

Something most people don't know about me:
I sometimes drive with the heat on and the windows open.

What keeps me awake at night:
Worrying about how the faltering economy is going to affect my family














My passion:
finding joy in life

My best friend says I am:
crazy to wear high heels














I still can't get the hang of:
parallel parking Big Daddy's car

The one item that has changed my life:
my college degree

I can't live without:
Starbucks (was that my answer last month?)














Whose diary would you most like to read?
Hillary's. (I admit - I'm obsessed)













I wish I had known:
marriage would take so much work

If I could do it all over again:
I'd do it sober

The worst idea I've ever had:
writing my blog as if no one I knew was reading

The smartest woman I know:
My sister. So freaking Mensa-like smart. Plus she's a librarian. So she pretty much KNOWS. EVERYTHING.

Better shop now while you still can

Liz Claiborne hires Isaac Mizrahi as creative director

Good news for Liz, bad news for those of us who want to buy cheap chic.

Consider this your complimentary makeover

You know how some people go out to eat at a nice restaurant, savor the flavors of each dish, and then can go home and re-create it? Yeah, I never could do that.


What I can do, though, is save pictures of faces and re-create the make-up looks. You do that, too, right? It's TOTALLY NORMAL.

First, I want to tell you a secret: I have been on photo shoots and spent many a hour hanging around with the hair & make-up people and I've learned a secret or two in that capacity. And this is what I want to tell you about make-up advertising photography: Yes, there is a law that says if you're advertising Maybelline make up, then the model has to be wearing Maybelline make up. But if the Maybelline doesn't do so good under the lights, or doesn't photograph too well, the make-up artist will totally apply a full face of a reliable make-up brand (say, MAC) first, followed by a little Maybelline on top and say "Ta-daah! Maybelline face!"

So. If you go to a site like Sephora and browse through various brand pages and click on the photo that says, "Get the look," just know that that photo may not be telling you the whole truth and nothing but the truth.


Now, on with the taste-testing.


I really like this photo from the Sephora homepage. If you want this look, you'll need to invest in some sort of highlighting liquid or luminizer, like Benefit's High Beam and apply it to the apples of your cheeks, in a strip down your nose (this makes the nose appear thinner) and on the chin. Voila! You're all glowy and shit. To complete this look, they've used a very thin line of liquid eyeliner around the whole eye; white pencil in the inner corner and accross the lower lid; very natural mushroom-colored shadow around the crease; very pale, pinkish-toned highlighter under the brow; fake lashes; darkened brows; clear lip gloss. It's a look that works especially well with your hair slicked back.

This is some line's idea of a smokey eye. They've lined the entire eye in a liquid liner, then applied a shimmery violet-grey color to the upper lid and all the way across the lower lid. It looks like they're using a little white pencil at the inside corner as well. (This is a trick that a lot of artists use to "brighten" the eye. I guess when you're doing smokey people consider that especially important.) It looks like the eye shadow has been blended up and back into a very slight point from the lid. (You can accomplish this with a foundation sponge.) She also probably has a natural mushroom-colored shadow in the crease and a pinkish-toned highligher shadow under the brows (which look like they could use a little shaping, BTW). The model's wearing fake lashes, but I don't think it's necessary for the look. A lash curler and a good mascara will do. Finish with peachy-colored, natural blush and lipstick.

They call this look "sunkissed." I call it "shake-n-baked." I don't think it's bronzer, unless they put it all the way down her neck and onto her shoulders. Maybe it's tinted moisturizer. She's got luminizer on her nose and chin (where the sun kissed her, I guess), a very soft pink blush which, oddly enough, is not applied to the apples of her cheeks (where, you would think, the sun would smack you). Her eyes are heavy on the white in the inside corners and a silvery color on the lid. (Is it blue? Oh lord, I hope it's not blue.) Nude lip gloss.

This looks like the plain-jane girl in an 80s John Hughes film who's been made over by her friend for the big reveal to hot guy who's way out of her league. But I imagine it might work in person. This is another take on "smokey eyes" that's probably supposed to be "softer" because they're using browns instead of black. Her eyes are lined all the way around in black pencil. A rich chocolate brown has been applied (rather heavily) to her lid and it's either been blended all the way up past the crease, or they've used in the crease a brownish-lavendar shadow that's just one shade lighter than what's on the lid. She's got just a touch of rosy blush on the apples of her cheeks (go very lightly here), lipliner and a silky lipstick also in a rosy color.



OK, this one's fun. Our Goth friend here has a no-blush look, although technically she has a little contouring underneath her cheekbones, to keep her from looking like a corpse. For the no-lipstick look, it appears they've covered her lips with foundation and powder in order to take it one step further to the "no-lips" look. She's got on black eyeliner AND black eyeshadow all the way around her eye and extended up the inside corner all the way to the brow. The black shadow extends from where the arch begins in her brow, in a straight line down to the outer corner of her eye. Along that line, a deep violet has been brushed on, and highlighter shadow is applied under the brow. You're going to need fake lashes with this, because no matter how much mascara you layer on, no one will ever see your lashes hidden in all that black shadow.


This is pretty. This would actually have made a nice holiday look. But maybe Valentines Day. It's kind of hard to see her eyes in this shot, but I'm guessing she's got kind of a pinky-gold color on her lids and a darker golden color in the crease. Black liquid eyeliner and mascara (a couple layers) on the upper lid only. White pencil on the inside of her lower lids. Rosy pink blush on the cheekbones and a gorgeous rosy-red lip gloss or (more likely) lipstick with gloss on top. Very romantic. Don't expect it to look exactly like this on you, though, unless you too get your face airbrushed.

Now here's one for you. This is actually an ad for a skin care line, so we're supposed to believe that she has no make up on. But we know better, don't we? Besides the fact that she's probably wearing foundation and coverup, she also has peachy-colored eyeshadow on her lid, a darker burnt-orange in her crease, a little highlighter under her brow and mascara on her upper lashes (no liner). And I can PROMISE YOU that is not her natural lip color. That is lip liner and matte lipstick in a nude pink. See how naked your face can look just from not wearing any blush?

While this photo is rather dramatic, this eye shadow technique is actually fairly common. You'll see it a lot on TV actresses. This is your basic 3-color design: mid-color on the inside lid, dark in the crease and outer lid, light under the brow.

Here's a good example of how to wear color on your eyes, and that is softly. She's wearing a soft lavender on her lids, a mushroom color above the crease, and a highlighter under her brow. She's got luminizer on her cheekbones, along with a very nude blush and a pinkish-nude (not clear) lip gloss. This is also an example of a model who is NOT wearing false eye lashes.

This is a pretty look for nearly anyone. She's got a taupey-brown shadow on her lid, which you can either blend up to disappear above the crease, or use the lighter shade of mushroom above the crease. Very thin line of eye liner on the upper lid only (and probably only on the outer half, although I can't be sure at this angle); mascara on upper and lower lashes (no liner underneath). She also has luminizer on her cheekbones, soft pink blush under her cheekbone just in front of her ear, and soft pink lip gloss (no liner). Please note that although she has very dark hair and eyes (and brows), she is able to wear this soft, natural look. You do not need to wear dark colors just because your coloring is dark.

Now, I want to know which look you're going to try out and how it works for you.

Well this is not at all the result I'd intended

Last week, my training program went like this: 5 minute brisk walk; 60 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, repeated for 20 minutes; 5 minute cool-down walk.

This week, the middle section bumped up to 90 seconds running, 2 minutes walking (repeated for 20 minutes). And man, it was fucking hard! Every week the program increases the running time until, theoretically, I'm supposed to be able to run for 20 minutes straight at the end of nine weeks. And I'm wondering if each increase is going to be this difficult or maybe it's just this second-week jump that's going to be especially challenging. Only next week I'm supposed to run for 3 minutes so I can't believe that's going to be any picnic either.

Every day that I work out I'm a little stiff and achy and have a few pangs to get over. Mostly in my legs and ass, which is a good thing because certainly that must mean I'm burning off some excess baggage back there. But also in my knees a bit, too. Nothing debilitating, just little pangs. I somehow sense that maybe if I were able to wear my great-fitting running shoes all day instead of putting on heels, a lot of these issues would be avoided.

Today, understandably, I was a bit more stiff and achy than usual. And I couple of times my right knee gave me some pretty sharp pains. About 30 minutes ago I got out of the shower and noticed the fucking thing is swollen! Not bad, just a bit on the inside of my knee cap. But I am not happy because I haven't missed a day yet for over two weeks and I certainly don't want to miss one now.

I'm icing it now - although I'm not even sure that's the right thing to do, because aren't you supposed to do that immediately and not 14 hours later? Still, I think the rule of thumb for swelling is ice and elevate, no? Then maybe alternate with heat after an hour or so. Anyway, that's my plan of action. We'll see how it looks come Wednesday morning.

Not-so-Golden Globes

No one cares. NO. ONE. CARES. If there's no celebs, no red carpet and no gowns , then no one's watching. We don't care who wins. Hell, we can read that in the paper tomorrow. So go ahead and hold your little "news conference" but just know that no one's watching.

I'm so sad. The Globes are usually my favorite awards show. (Although I don't really put a lot of stock into the awards themselves. They gave a Globe to Madonna after all. I loved Evita but come on, an acting award?) I love having stars of television and film together. You just get so much more for your money that way. And it's especially fun when a TV actor sees a movie star and gets all starstruck. Everyone seems to have fun at the Globes. They have wine on the tables and people get all happy and then go up and do things like adjust their bra onstage. So, so sad tonight.

Anyway, if you want to read the winners, go here. There actually were some surprises.

Sports-related Questions

#1 - When did My Teenager decide that a good place to keep his 89 basketballs is on my sofa?

#2 - Can we PLEASE see some coverage of the Dallas Cowboys that doesn't include Jessica Simpson? I mean seriously, when did she join the team?

Trying a new skin Philosophy

So I went out to Sephora today

(which, I should really get a job there. I am so much better with make up than many of the people working in there. And I would - for the discount I assume you get, if nothing else - except that they always have 96 people working in there and I don't believe I would like it very much with all those other people)

and I totally planned on buying some of the mineral make up that everyone recommended, to see if maybe that would help my skin clear up

(FYI, I called my GYN office to see if going off the pill could cause my face to break out and the nurse told me that it probably wouldn't cause my face to break out, but that the Rx I'd been on all these years does in fact help prevent breakouts so it's entirely possible that I do have adult-onset acne and the pill was just keeping it in check.)

but once I got there and tried it on I just couldn't do it. Now I admit, I didn't try it on my face because I already had make up on. But I buffed it onto the back of my hand and I didn't care for the finish at all. It actually looked kind of sparkly. Is it sparkly? As a rule, I really don't put sparkly on my face. Except maybe a little on my eyes should the occasion call for it.

Anyway, the foundation I'm using (Sue Devitt) is water-based and full of all kinds of natural ingredients and it's not supposed to clog your pores or break out your skin. So I'm going to stick with it for now and try a new cleanser routine that's geared toward breakouts.

I bought some Philosophy cleaner (purity made simple) and something called an "exfoliating moisturizer" (hope in a bottle), both of which are supposed to treat what they demurely call "congested skin."

However, if you are going to use that term, I highly recommend that you be sipping sweet tea on the veranda.

Many thanks are due

First, to everyone who left a comment on Delurking Day I want to say THANK YOU! By the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there weren't many lurkers really; most of you have left comments here before. Which either means that you have, at some point, been moved to speak to me before, or that I don't really have any lurking readers. But now! I'm still getting some comments and turns out there ARE some lurkers out there! Which is kind of thrilling in a secret surprise kind of way.

If you are an occasional reader and you're just now getting here this week, please continue to leave your footprint on the Delurking Day post!

Second, to everyone who left skincare recommendations, I say THANK YOU and I am going to Sephora today.

Third, to everyone who left work-out song recommendations - especially Carrie, who delurked to leave me a great, long playlist, so she gets double-whammy thanks today - I say THANK YOU and they are helping!

Here is what my workout playlist looks like now:

Beautiful Day - U2 (Warm up)
Teenagers - My Chemical Romance
This Ain't a Scene... - Fall Out Boy
No Way Back - Foo Fighters
Holiday - Green Day
I Bet You Look Good... - Arctic Monkeys
Lose Yourself - Emenim
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy
Head On - Pixies
Stronger - Kanye West
Paralyzer - Finger Eleven
Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
I Don't Wanna Be... - Good Charlotte
American Idiot - Green Day
I'm Not OK - My Chemical Romance
Better Already - Northern State
Old South - Neighborhood Texture Jam
Rollover DJ - JET
Song 2 - Blur
No One - Alicia Keys/ Walk On - U2 (Cool down)

Fall from Grace

Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison today for lying to federal officials about using performance-enhancing drugs as well as something about some kind of check fraud scandal or some such thing. Her attorney had asked the judge to give her probation and not any jail time, saying that her fall from America's sweetheart to national disgrace was punishment enough. To which I say, that is not punishment, that's called CONSEQUENCES.

Accountability

MONDAY
Got up at 5:30 and ran/walked for 30 minutes.

WEDNESDAY
Got up at 5:30 and ran/walked for 30 minutes.

FRIDAY
Realized at 5:30 that if I postponed my third workout until tomorrow, I could do it at a more reasonable time of morning. Rolled over and went back to sleep for an hour.

Back by popular demand...

It's Delurking Day!

You may not have gotten the news release. That's because whoever was orchestrating this thing in the past opted out this year.

But I got a nice email from Chris Cactus yesterday, saying that he was going to declare today Delurking Day all on his own, and would we be willing to join him? I actually owe Chris big, because he recommended Bruce's "Magic" album and it ended up being my favorite new album of the year. So I was all, hell yeah, I'll go where you lead.

I haven't participated in Delurking Day the last few years because, honestly, I didn't really think I had more than the six or seven readers who commented regularly. But then this guy left me a comment on my New Year's Eve post telling me that I had more readers than I thought and to keep doing what I was doing. Which was a surprising yet very gratifying comment. So thank you, daffyshirts, whoever you are. This Delurking Day is dedicated to you.

If there are in fact more of you out there, prove it to me! Leave a comment! It's very easy, here's how you do it if you're new to this:

1. Just click down there where it says "Comments: 0" (only hopefully by the time you read this it will actually say "Comments: 587")
2. A new window will pop up with everyone else's interesting insights about my blog.
3. Type your message in the box that says "Leave Your Comment" (See? Easy peasey)
4. Then where it says "Choose an Identity," select the "Nickname" option and type in your name.
5. (Please don't select the Anonymous option unless you leave me some info about yourself in the comment. I want to know who you are dammit.)

Personally, I've never understood lurking in the first place. I don't really get people who can read something without adding their two cents. I'm very generous that way with my opinions.

Now go on - leave a comment! I mean it! Friends, family, acquaintances. Look, I know my blog's not a secret any more. I KNOW you're all reading, so go ahead and fess up.

xoxo

PS to other bloggers: Feel free to grab the icon and participate in Delurking Day yourself. If I don't know you & you have a blog, leave me the link in the comments so I can return the favor at your place.

Maybe he could diagnosis my skin problem

The Metaphorical Medicine of House

"You look at his face and he might be saying the meanest thing ever, and you know that inside there is a deeply caring person. Even if he's not caring about you as an individual, he cares about an idea that happens to be important to you too, which is figuring out what's going on. I think the genius of Hugh Laurie is that he's able to get that duality across."

This is a great interview with the medical advisor from House that hits on why the show - and Hugh Laurie - are so popular. Love.

Connecting the Dots

I've always been lucky when it comes to my skin. I say "lucky." What I really mean is that my parents wouldn't let me wear make up until I was 14 and then only blush and lip gloss. I don't think I wore base make up until I was probably a junior in high school. Even then, it wasn't because I needed it so much as that it was 1983 and I needed to look like this:




I've never worn "drugstore" base make up. I'm a make-up snob that way. I think I started with Clinique base for a couple of years, which I guess wasn't too bad on my skin (theoretically). Then when I was 19 I moved to a city with a department store that carried Lancome, which I thought was spun from pure gold and was probably the actual make up worn by Jesus Christ for his photo shoots. I wore the Dual Finish make up that was heavy with a very powdery finish, which made it perfect for the time.


People used to say to me, "Oh! You have such great skin!" and I would say, "No, I have great make up." But I was never someone that wore just tons and tons of make up. Yes, what we wore in the 80s was a lot compared to now, but just like today, there were people who gobbed it on and people who used a lighter hand. I fell somewhere in the middle. OK, middle-to-heavy. But I remember watching my friend put on make up one time and I actually said to her, "You use as much make up on your forehead as I use on my whole face." I was full of tact in the 80s.

I was awful about washing my face and removing my make up. I used to go to bed with all of it on. I got to be friends in high school with this girl who used Vaseline to take off her eye make up at night, so I did that for a while. We'd smear it over all that bright eye liner and layers and layers of mascara and eye shadow in at least four different shades of brown and purple, then wipe it off with a tissue and go to bed. The rest of the face was totally ignored until it got washed in the shower the next morning. Still, my face treated me right. I had great skin. Nary a blemish.

Somewhere around the age of 20 my face started having some patchy dryness issues and I was introduced to the blissful delight of exfoliation. Masks, scrubs, buff-puffs. I was almost certainly too harsh on my skin back then, but what with all the make up I was piling on I probably needed an SOS pad to remove it all.

I don't think I started washing my face at night on a regular basis until I was about 25. I've been pretty good about it since then. I still like my St. Ives face scrub, too, I don't care what the facial lady says.

Now that I'm 41, I should legitimately be worried about wrinkles and crows feet and laugh lines and frown lines and What Can Botox Do For Me? Instead? I'M DEALING WITH BREAK OUTS.

*Sigh* My skin has no freakin' idea how old it is.

I've been searching for every possible cause because I just can't bear to have a doctor tell me that I've got adult-onset acne, or that as I age my pores are getting smaller so it's harder for the oil to wash out, or they're getting larger so more bacteria gets in or, god forbid, that it's hormonal.

• I always wash my foundation brush with soap after I use it and let it air dry, but I bought some anti-bacterial hand soap to wash it in just in case that might have something to do with it.
• I've cleaned all my phones at work and at home with Clorax wipes to make sure it's not from that.
• Although I have changed some of my make up products, I can't really tie it in with that because the blemishes seem to have preceded any make up alterations I've made.

Meanwhile, I'm using My Teenager's Stridex pads and hoping my skin will even itself out soon. If not, I guess I'll get myself to the dermatologist so he can clear up my breakouts in time for the wrinkles to set in.

My skirt! 24/7*

I'm thinking about:
The possibility of having a woman President











If I could be totally wild, I would:
Get a tattoo






One thing I never want to do again:
Re-live my 20s








The world would be a better place, if only:
We were more accepting of each other






What keeps me awake at night:
What doesn't? I suffer terribly from insomnia.


If I could do it all over again:
I would do it with more CONFIDENCE.


The most important thing I ever lost:
My dad. I was only in my early 20s and wish I could have gotten to know him as an adult.








What are you most vain about?
Oh god, my clothes, my looks, my talents, my sense of style...I maybe need to work on that a bit.


Right now I'm reading:
Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir










My family:
I love 'em more than my luggage!











My passion:
Music, writing and the New York Times crossword puzzle













My hometown:
Was washed away by Hurricane Katrina









(click to embiggen.)


I can't live without:
Starbucks









I am most proud of:
Obtaining my college degree at the age of 30


Whose diary would you most like to read?
Tina Turner's - what an inspiring combination of beauty, talent and strength.











*skirt!