wisteria

1. A few thoughts on Doctor Who 5.05. ( Collapse )

2. Every year I see the results of the Kentucky Derby and think, "I should've watched that!" Well, this year I remembered. The race itself wasn't as exciting as I'd expected, perhaps because I know nothing about anyone involved. Still, the tradition is fun, along with this photo of Johnny Weir in a hat.

3. Monsters of Men, the third book in Patrick Ness's trilogy, is coming out in the UK on Monday, though it won't be available stateside until September. I just ordered it from Book Depository, which has free worldwide shipping. Good deal! While I didn't *love* the first two books, I found them fascinating enough to want to read the third. Damn, they are SO dark and fucked-up. I got the second book from my school's library after a former student returned it, and although she's such a smart, thoughtful girl, I wanted to tell her, "No! Don't read this! Preserve your innocence for a little while longer!"

4. I hate going to the post office, so I was pleased to find that I can now go to the USPS website and type in my packaging info to purchase the mailing label without having to step foot in a queue. I selected priority shipping and put my Mother's Day present in the mail on Tuesday morning. Mom didn't receive it until today, which was two days later than it should've arrived, but at least she got it. I was a bit worried when the tracking number kept showing as "Awaiting pickup by postal carrier".

5. "Lather, rinse, repeat" on shampoo bottles always struck me as a scam to get us to buy shampoo more often. When I got my hair cut last week, my stylist told me that it's actually a good move. The first time you shampoo, it just breaks up the oils in your hair. Rinse it out and shampoo again, and shampoo lathers like crazy. Turns out she was right. My hair feels so much cleaner now!

1. Delight of the week: my sister (hi, sis!) called so that my almost-three-years-old nephew could sing his new favorite song, "Orange Crush" by R.E.M. There's nothing like hearing a tiny voice yell "Follow me doan follow me got my spine got my orange juice!" Well, except for maybe when he calls and shouts "I love you Auntie!" over and over. :)

2. I finally finished the ugly Malabrigo socks. ( Collapse )

3. I love buckets of maple syrup on waffles, which isn't exactly good for my attempts to cut back on my sugar intake. I've discovered that I use a lot less syrup if I pour a small amount in a tiny ramekin and use it for dipping.

4. Any suggestions for shampoos to use on an extremely itchy scalp? (I remember asking about this a while ago, but I can't find the post.) I'm scratching constantly, especially the part right above my neck. When it's not itching, my scalp isn't sensitive to the touch and doesn't appear to be reddened or infected. My next dermatologist appointment isn't until the end of the month, and Head & Shoulders isn't currently doing the trick. I just bought some Neutrogena T/Gel, but I'd love some other tips!

5. Looks like the barrage of Lost hype has begun. Ugh. Every year, all my RSS feeds are slammed with posts about it. I like the show, but the media overkill is already driving me crazy -- and the season premiere isn't even until Wednesday. Ugh.

6. Another annoyance: Eric Clapton (and T-Mobile), I really don't give a damn whether you get off on '57 Chevys. My tivo-finger is never fast enough to skip that commercial.

7. Jon Hamm on SNL! "Jon Hamm's John Ham" still makes me crack up like one of my sixth graders.

1. callmeonetrack and I got into a discussion about switching POVs in fic. By that, I mean writing one scene from Character A's POV, then the next from Character B's, and so on. This tends to be prevalent in 'ship fic, and I've done it quite often in the past. Tara prefers this because of how it shows both sides of a story. I usually prefer to keep longer stories in one character's POV, because it's more challenging for *me* to try and show B's actions and attitudes through A's eyes. Switching POVs also presents other good challenges! Writers and readers: where do y'all stand?

2. Speaking of fandom... Tara has also posted photos from Jamie Bamber's guest-starring role in the Dollhouse season premiere. If you've ever wanted to see Jamie in a tuxedo, here's your chance! The pics are fairly spoilery for the episode's premise. While I'm usually a bit annoyed by The Joss Whedon Repertory Company -- how he tends to cast the same actors over and over -- because the meta yanks me out of the episode, I'll make an exception in this case. ;)

3. Two weeks ago I tried henna on my hair for the first time. I used two blocks of Lush's Caca Rouge and kept it on my hair for about an hour and a half. It was fairly bright for the first few days, but now it has almost entirely faded. Any tips for how to make it last longer? I'm curious if there are any shampoos that would work specifically for henna. And next time I'll definitely keep the goop on my hair for several more hours.

4. Linkspam:
-- The NYT has an article on The Moth as a storyteller launching pad. I love those podcasts. Plus, a piece on some bizarre men's hairstyles in NY.
-- Even if you've never seen Mad Men, check out this hilarious "spoiler report" video. Trust me on this one. :)
-- AdWeek talks about those creepy PalmPre commercials.
-- DaemonsTV has a cool interview with Michaela Conlin from Bones.
-- Check out a fascinating 360-degree view from the summit of Everest.
-- Supertremendos has a behind-the-scenes video of Sesame Street!
-- And here's a handy guide for how to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you.