8 Random Things

I've been tagged, and since I can't seem to think of anything else coherent to write about lately, I'll submit. I can't ever say no Beth anyway, because I adore her and she is helping me hang onto the few strands of sanity I have left. (Note: This meme should not be confused with Mad Snippets from a Deranged Optimist, of which there were only five anyway.)

1. I was a voracious reader as a child, and when I wasn't reading, I'd narrate my own life to myself in my head in the third person. "She trudged up the concrete steps and heaved open the heavy wooden door..." Yeah, pretty weird. Now I compose blog posts to you guys in my head. Not that I've been writing them down or anything. But it means I think about you a lot. (I wonder if this indicates I should be going back to therapy in the near future?)

2. My new favorite band is The Weakerthans. If you go here you can listen to a few of their songs. Plea from a Cat Named Virtue is the reason I fell in love with them. Aside is also a really great song, and their new single, Night Windows, is pure poetry. (You have to go to their myspace page to hear that last one, but it's worth it, because there Virtue the Cat Explains Her Departure as well. In song, of course.)

3. I'm nine. I've noticed that when most people lie about their age it ends in a 9, so I'm just going with plain old nine. It's a nice number, and if you turn it upside-down it's six. Which is also a cool number.

4. I love crossword puzzles. They seem like the most enormous waste of time to me, but they obsess me to the point that my brain stops its incessant rattling and that is very refreshing. Mostly I like the New York Times (Independent Lens featured the NYT Crossword on PBS recently, and that was fascinating) but by Friday-Saturday they get frustrating and far less enjoyable. Also the Wall Street Journal has a good weekend one, and the NY Daily News Sunday.

5. Another band I've developed a fondness for is Motion City Soundtrack, but this is mostly because of the song Everything is Alright. This song cheers me up. But more apropos at the moment might be Gary Jules' Mad World. Turns out it's a Tears for Fears song from 1982--no wonder I knew all the words to it. If I were smart enough to embed audio links here, I would...but oh well. It would just depress you anyway. (It's also weird how much this Gary Jules guy sounds like Michael Stipe. And there's an eerie Tori Amos-esque piano thing going on. It works, though.)

6. You really should go watch that Tears for Fears video because a) I love that song; b) you may have forgotten how utterly gorgeous (and sorrowfully sadly mealancholily gorgeous) Curt Smith was; and c) I think I still dance like that. Except it was cool to dance like that in 1982. (It's probably good I don't get out more often.)

7. Yes, I had big 80s hair, but now it's off to the barber for a crew cut or I want to stick pins in my eyes. I can't bear dealing with hair. If I have to do more than towel it dry, I'm freaking out. Why does it have to keep growing? It's so annoying. Like cleaning and a lot of other things that you should only ever have to do once--dust, vacuum, do laundry, put gas in the car...you no sooner do it than you're going to have to do it again. This seems to me the very definition of pointlessness.

8. However, along these lines: I have discovered the solution to break-outs if, like me, you have oily skin. (Those of you with lovely normal/normal-to-dry skin, you can stop reading here.) Okay, now that only those of us with an abundance of natural oils remain, we can congratulate ourselves that when we're 60+ we won't have wrinkles like all those poor normal-skinned folks. (Honest, you should see my mom. Over 60 and virtually wrinkle-free.)

I have terrible--okay, I'll re-phrase and call it challenging--skin and tried everything, even that expensive Proactiv stuff--I mean everything, both prescription and non-prescription. (It's amazing what they can sell you when you're self-conscious, isn't it?) So now I'll tell you the thing that my years of diligent research revealed and that no cosmetic/soap/cream/acne solution company will tell you. Stop washing your face. Really. It's that simple.

I confirmed this with an Aveda-trained friend and it's true. Stop washing all those natural oils away. (And for goodness sakes don't put anything oily or greasy or "age-defying" or "replenishing" or anything that contains oils, grease, petroleum, butter, bacon, Crisco, or lotions on even near your skin. EVER. You have plenty of that stuff naturally. So--yay! Make sure you choose oil-free make-up and sunscreen ONLY.)

I use a hand-knit cotton washcloth (a washcloth being a professional make-up artist friend's recommended "exfoliant") and a mild hand-made soap about once a week on my face. Yes, I know it sounds gross, but honestly my face isn't greasy like all the commercials and ads would lead you to believe and break-outs are almost non-existent now. I think the trick is that cutting out all the washing (and scrubbing and masks and toners) allows your skin to re-balance itself. And it's cheaper. And far less work.

And you know me--I heartily believe that Less Work is More. Waaaaay more.