Heated Eyelash Curler

Now I know the world has a screw loose.  Were any of you aware there was even such a product as an electric eyelash curler available on the market? Does not the general concept lend itself to a "Hmmm.  Maybe we should think about this..." approach?

In my writer's critique group this evening, we were discussing a scene in my middle grade novel where a bunch of 11 and 12 year old girls are in a cabin at camp. I was trying to convey that my main character, in comparison to the girls around her, is something of a tomboy with no interest in boys or curling irons or the perfect tan.  I missed on my description and someone suggested showing how the other girls acted by having them pull out their curling irons or eyelash curlers.

At the mention of eyelash curlers, one woman in our group volunteered that her mom had bought her an electric eyelash curler when she was a teen.

 None of us had ever heard of such a thing and burst out laughing. I told her I wasn't sure such an item existed and I was going to Google it when I arrived home. Sure enough, it's a real product.  Check out a sample by clicking here.

I don't know why I'm surprised.  Even the standard eyelash curlers look like some kind of medieval torture devices. Blair can't stand to watch me use one. Freaks him out.  I'm so glad I go that extra step to look pretty for him.

And, it turns out the joke is on me.  As I was searching sites to find links to post for this blog entry, I came across several descriptions on how to use a standard eyelash curler. The instructions state to hold a blow dryer on the curler for "no more than 5 seconds." Then you need to "test it with your hand to make sure it's not too hot" because you don't want to "burn your eye."

Who comes UP with these ideas???

Dinner with Writer Friends

I had such the lovely evening last night. I went to dinner at the house of a writer friend of mine. The reason for the dinner is that a writer friend of his was in town, a woman I had worked with a bit via e-mail but hadn't had the chance to meet. We clicked immediately and the three of us spent 4 hours discussing life, writing, travel, research, and a plethora of other topics. It was one of the those wonderful evenings where the conversation never wavered as we jumped from discussing the male/female ratio aspects of the brain to Myers-Briggs testing to how we'd all like to participate in an archeological dig. 

This woman writer is co-writing a novel that spans 7 million years.  It's historical fiction but her aim is to be so well-researched that even historians have a hard time telling where truth leaves off and fiction begins. She's travelled to Italy four times on research trips, examined 1,000 year old books, stood in 500,000 year old caves, and had astronomers realign the stars for her so she could see what the constellations in the heavens looked like  2million years ago.  I told her if she's ever in the market for a research assistant, I'm her gal....

Today is another one of those non-stop days.  I just got out of my 7:15 meeting and now have a 9-11:30, 12-1, 1:30-3, 3:30-4:30, dinner with friends at 5:30, then 7-10pm meetings.  I enjoy it though.  I like all my meetings and the people in them and the day really does fly by. 

Right now I'm sitting in The Green Bean, a local fair trade coffee house, getting ready to put in a few hours of work on Millicent, my middle-grade novel.  I have coffee (decaf!) and a muffin and I'm good to go.  Happy Wednesday.

What's Your Sign?

This afternoon I spent some time online researching the zodiac signs for the  "Petascopes" humor column I may be writing for a veterinarian magazine. I know the zodiac signs and their symbols, but was unfamiliar with the particular traits associated with each and thought I'd do a little homework before I started writing.

As I did my research, I of course had to read the "Gemini" entry on every site, as that's my sign. There was one site I found that was outright eerie in how it nailed my personality. I didn't bookmark it and have been combing the Web for it to post a link, but I can't find it.  But I did find a few other sites that listed Gemini traits.  Tell me these don't fit me perfectly:

•  "Gemini is an air sign, and as such puts great value on the mind and its thinking function, to the extent that emotional experiences may be regarded as complications that are best avoided." (Hel-lo!)
• "Gemini often takes an interest in many different things, in all sorts of information, so much so that it can fail to get an in depth knowledge of anything"
• "You have a wonderful love of the written word, as well as the spoken, and will often find yourself putting pen to paper and doodling your thoughts, if only to give you an insight into your own thinking processes. Many journalists, writers, and other advisers are born under the sign of Gemini; their forte with words makes a lasting impression. "
• "You thirst for new experiences."
• "You can’t handle close-mindedness of any sort. With your inquisitive and restless mind you have an eclectic taste, having dabbled in many different viewpoints and topics. You’re aware of the different types of personalities in life and are, therefore, liberal and free-thinking in your approach. "

Of course, these are all good things. (Notice how I consider the lack of emotional experiences a good thing.  Drama -- bad. Vulcan-like logic--good). The site entry I wanted to copy here was interesting b/c it listed negative traits as well, all of which were also a dead on match for my personality. A lot of "lack of patience," and "mood swings" and needing to be the center of attention. (Again--Hello, hello, and Hellooooew!) Also interesting was how it talked about how quickly bored Gemini's become. Once they've mastered something to an extent they're satisfied with, they want something new. They have a constant need to enjoy life and have fun and can turn resentful and ill-tempered if they perceived their lack of freedom or fun-pursuing in any way threatened. Fun-pursuing also being the career path they chose.

That ties in nicely with the drama of last month about "Whatever shall I do? Where-evah shall ah go??"  I've been doing this magazine writing thing for a few years now, I'm pretty good at it, soooo....BING!  Time to move on. Well, we'll see. Haven't made my mind up on that one. And I've got more potential new projects coming in. I love when people find me versus the early years of me scrambling (read: begging) for work. And a new project I received an e-mail on intrigues me.  New things...good for the Gemini.

I didn't find any web sites that talked about a Gemini's love of cats, but I'm pretty sure that's in there too.  Otherwise the whole thing is a crock.

Dena

p.s.  Let's have a sound off. List your sign and how you think you do/don't fit the mold here in replies.

Weekend Reivew

My morning's a little screwy today. We rented a movie on Saturday (The Brothers Grimm -- I'm not a huge fan) and it's due back today at noon.  So in a few minutes I'm going to hop in my car and drive the 23 minutes to the store to return it, then back home to officially start my day.  Such is life in the sticks.

We primed the bathroom yesterday.  Now I'm debating on color.  The decorator who did our bathroom had suggested a red, but now that I see the beige tile and off-white cabinets, I'm wondering if perhaps I don't just want a nice, serene, beige bathroom.  I've left a message for the decorator and I hope she calls me back today.  If we do go with red, I'm using the color she suggested. I've learned from experience there are a lot of "red" tones out there and if you pick the wrong one--yuck!   

Busy day today.  I did no work this weekend and it was lovely.  Took a nap both days, as a matter of fact.  And yesterday we spent almost 2 hours out on our "mountain" property.  The creek was much higher than we thought it would be given the lack of rain here, and we sat on huge rocks and watched the mini-waterfalls and listened to the birds and the wind and had a marvelous time. We're contemplating starting to build a cabin out there as early as next spring.  Yes, it's a year off, but a whole bunch of work must come before that.  The "biggee" is simply picking a house design.  (Let's clarify that--a house design that's affordable).  Then there's debate over solar power, where to put the house, etc.  Once the bathroom is done, I'll need something new to obsess about. 

Many projects to work on this week.  And I need to get that movie returned so off I go.