though thy breath be rude

Feeling better physically, but still in a bit of a mental fog; felt very sensitive & distracted today. It's getting better. I've ordered some natural-spectrum light bulbs that should be here by the middle of next week. I might also do, as suggested by easilyirritable, a very short session in a tanning bed sometime in the next week. I'll wear good sunblock; I'm just in it for the light. I don't know how much this costs, but if you're only showing up once and for less than half an hour, it can't be THAT much. I'd happily plunk down $20 to feel better.

Today was a powdery winterwonderland snowstorm; 15 degrees, fluff and glitter everywhere. Ate at a restaurant, went to Target to pick up some dull necessities, picked up a few cool unnecessaries there. The best is either the paper fasteners that come in different colors and shapes (stars, hearts, diamonds), or the small SCRABBLE LETTER STICKERS - they are thin wood and everything, probably balsa. They also have some fantastic socks - fishnet knee-highs in fluorescent colors (I got day-glo pink & electric blue), and black socks with fluorescent polkadots or vice-versa (I got black/w/white and black/w/blue). I went in looking for wool socks because my feet are cold, and came out with four pairs of socks I can't wear until spring! Though the 'nets can be worn over tights or something. I meandered through the store, mistrusting my own judgment greatly. Among the boring things: a curtain rod (that looks like a gilded branch and will set off my birdie curtains), an ionic hairdryer, an electric kettle to replace the one that just broke. Electric kettles are wonderful to have, especially in the winter, because they boil water in under one minute, and the better ones also shut off automatically. They cost less, for the most part, than a decent kettle for the stove.

Then I went and bought a book to study for the GRE, which no, I don't have to take for at least a year or two, but I figured that it can't hurt to start working on it now. I've been OUT of practice so long that I need to get back in: I did very well on the SAT & in AP Brit Lit, but that was after years and years of in-school coaching.

Nowhere I went was very far from my house, but it took ages to get anywhere because everyone was going 20mph! The lane lines on the road were snowed-over and traction was pretty bad. I'm so so so happy that the first thing the momster did upon selling the FL house was to trade in our cars and get good used cars with traction control and anti-lock brakes. My old Saturn was purple and pretty and I miss it, and my newer one is white and kind of bland (albeit supposedly more "luxurious"), but the white one wins simply by being so much safer and giving me a great deal of peace of mind. It's not really mine, of course, but it is the car I drive when I have to drive somewhere, & nobody else uses it.

it's almost like woodstock '94.

Someone, presumably put up to it by the landlord who was presumably put up to it by another tenant, has come along and plowed our driveway and parking area. Whoever they are, we like them. Today is supposed to be pretty slow for snow, but there will be another storm tomorrow, dumping around 5" or so. The roof of the garage, which I can see from my bedroom window, looks like it has been flocked in white.

My face is currently covered with grayish goo - "Clear Improvement" active charcoal mask by Origins, which is meant to suck icky stuff out of pores. The jury is out on how well it works or does not work, because this is only the second Saturday that I've used it. (I will use it every Saturday or Sunday afternoon until it runs out, which will probably be a couple of months). My skin has gone crazy in this climate, but I think I'm starting to figure it out. I saw something on TV in the last week or so where someone was wearing one of these facial masks, and it looked so fake because the edges and coverage were perfect and stood at an absolute distance from the hairline and jawline. Nobody does that for real. When the grayish goo dries, I will hop back into the shower, wash it off, and use some scrub... I can never remember whether the scrub is supposed to come before the mask or after.

I'm thinking of taking out my labret stud. First of all, I may have to anyway, to acquire gainful employment. Second of all, the jewelry doesn't fit; it's too long, and I've been waiting for the smaller 5/16" stud to go with my interchangeable SteelSkin beads for like 18 months now, and the overlong stud is really bothering me. But if I spend the $40ish on the stud, I may still have to take out the piercing within a matter of weeks. Third, I have looked carefully at pictures of myself, and I think it makes itself the focus of my face, and I'm ambivalent about that. But on the flip side, it's fun to play with (maybe too much fun), and I get a lot of compliments on it, and it's really the only "alternative" identifier I have anymore, what with my hair being pretty normal and my clothes being maybe 60% normal most of the time and the fact that I have pierced ears but don't really wear (or like to wear) earrings. & I don't really want a tattoo right now, though I'm not sure why it matters to me. Probably just another sign of my penchant for being terminally noncommittal.

After postponing all week long, am finally going to the movies tonight; T. and I have decided to forego ...Polly for Big Fish. I have a yearning to go shopping over at Easton, but you know what? I have absolutely no reason to do it, and other plans for the night, and the "yearning to go shopping at Easton" is usually pretty expensive, and I don't want to buy stuff I don't need, for the time being. Shelving yes, shoes no.