SUPPORTING THE PHILIPPINES THROUGH HUMAN NATURE (LIP BALM)

Over the summer, I was at a wedding for a friend's friend of a friend where I knew one person for certain, and had a passing acquaintance with one of the groomsmen. This took place at a posh winery that had an "inspirational talk" prior to the dinner. I was not impressed. The term"Inspirational Talk" carries a dubious sheen.  It covers a potentially vast and probably boring territory of possibilities, and I wanted to walk around the winery, whereas now to be polite, I had to sit in a dim room and watch videos on socially responsible entrepreneurs in the Philippines. 

When the videos ended, the lights went up and a man appeared. He was British entrepreneur Dylan Wilk. He was lively and mischievous, and had a penchant for driving over the speed limit. He had been so successful at his prior career that he had retired early, and Human Nature was a company he was managing as a retiree. The goal of Human Nature, at least one of them, was to raise the poor out of poverty. Along the way, this company he and his wife Anna Meloto-Wilk, the founder, have put all their savings into this company and possibly set in motion a minor tidal wave of change. 

At the back of the room were lip balms Wilk had brought with him that he was giving away for free. He asked for nothing, he expected nothing, he was just there to provide an inspirational talk. 

Wilk himself is the perfect salesman. He creates a little itch somewhere in that part of your brain that you can only scratch by googling. Then comes: How can I help? What can I do? 

Here is the site where you can buy Human Nature products.

And the Lip Balm? I'm not a fan of the bright green packaging, but it's high quality stuff.  

OLIVIA MUNN AS PSYLOCKE: YAY OR NAY?

I discovered comic books way back when I discovered Jim Lee, the artist for X-men at the time. There have been other artists since, they shuffle in and out but the characters remain the same. This seems to be standard practice in the comic world. Lee has moved on - to what, I don't know - I had a short attention span and un underdeveloped sense of loyalty. However, I would probably not have been drawn* in if it weren't for Lee. And once you've been hooked, you stick around. At least for a little while. While I was in this mutant world, I developed loyalties - this character but not that one. This villain, but not the other. 

One of my favorite characters was Psylocke, I loved her psychic knife, her ass-kicking skills, and the fact that she was born a blond and then sometime "turned" Asian through Ninja magic (I'm not kidding). She has featured in exactly 0 of all X-Men films. I consoled myself that this was better than being cast badly by an actress I loathed, which would have been a slap in the face.

Now, the day has come. Olivia Munn has benn cast as Psylocke. I don't know if this is good. I just know her as someone who's been on the cover of Maxim and has a rabid male following as an object of lust. She also appeared briefly as a correspondent on the Daily Show, and I thought she and the writers were on a different comic wavelength (She wasn't funny.) But who knows? I honestly have no idea who should have been cast. They would have to be able to project both "altheticism" and "sexy female ninja warrior." Maybe she'll be amazing. I want her to be amazing. Correction: I want Psylocke to be amazing.

Source of photo above.

Psylocke, drawn by Jim Lee

*Pun intended

WARREN LAKE

It has been awhile since I've out with a pack, carrying at least 30 pounds (I don't weigh. Don't see the point.), and I could feel my body complaining for days afterward. Warren Lake, near Truckee is a beautiful trail, and like all beauties, it's difficult. About 14 miles roundtrip with a mad scramble towards the end. You could do it in a day hike, but then it would all be a rush both ways. Get in, get out. Move move move. 

I do this to relax, you know. It clears the head, and I've needed that badly as of late. It always feels like I need it badly. I was listening to a podcast the other day that said you need to treat sleep like food, as an essential bodily need. I've disregarded that little gem for years and it catches up. I think it catches up in the way you think, in the places your mind wanders towards - dark places. Your body longs for sleep, and it will get it from you or make wakefulness unbearable. 

All pictures were taken while it was sunny. In reality, temperatures ranged from hot to cold to hail. I don't show those parts. I would highly suggest just getting a GPS tracker and parking at the very beginning of the entrance. It's easy to lose your way, and technology can help.

MAGUSS WAND - YOU ENTRY INTO WIZARDING

ON EMITTING YOUR OWN FREQUENCY

 ‘Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies around you, when you start imprinting your intent on the universe rather than receiving an imprint from existence.’ 

- Barbara Marciniak

ON BEING FAT

FUN LINKS

How To Travel The World And Never Get Food Poisoning

This comes from the This American Girl blog. Her decision to run away and travel scares me. In a good way.

Clever Ikea Hacks Anyone Can Do

Every once in a blue moon, I will attempt a DIY, but only if it's really easy, like these.

6 Unusual Habits Of Exceptionally Creative People

I usually try something different, a new habit maybe, to break out of my routine. Routines are inevitable, we tend to fall into patterns, so try one of these just to change things up. 

Write!

A writing app that promises to save you from distraction.

Send Anywhere

An easier way to send files. I personally don't like dropbox.

A Self Drive Safari Through Lake Manyara, Ngorongo, and The Serengetti

On the bucket list! The pictures alone make this post worth looking at. And then if you can find the concentration, it's worth reading as well.

Node

Fair trade rugs that go to help people in Nepal. As a bonus, they're not ugly. Sometimes, I'd rather just give money than buy something I didn't want to begin with.

THE UNIFORM AND THE CREATIVE WALL

Outfit Ideas

Maybe it's because I used to wear a school uniform. Maybe it's an upgrade from jeans and a tee. Whatever the reason, skinny jeans and a button down shirt has become my go to. Silk shirts have the best drape, better than cotton (although there's nothing wrong with cotton), it just depends on how you want the shirt to hang.  

I was on Pinterest the other day looking at my Style board when I realized I was not in fact on my own board. I had been looking at someone else's board. She (I assume) had pinned almost the exact same images I had. It was a sad and sadly horrifying discovery. The realization that you are in your heart a style cylon. Then I came to terms. This simplicity is what I sincerely enjoy. It helps me meet my daily pleasure quota. I no longer have to check myself out in random store windows to appear as if I am browsing when in fact I'm just making sure I still look the same as I did in front of my closet that morning, or if something has gone terribly wrong in the interim.

I have found my peace. 

The Fashion Cuisine

ON BEARING SORROW

"All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them."

- Karen Blixen

ALAMERE FALLS AND MARCUS AURELIUS

Two things that have been on my mind lately, catching waterfalls and cleaning my mental thought processes. To help move this along, I've been reading/attempting to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (it's akin to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - but for the brain). And I thought I would share some excerpts.

"Spend not the remnant of thy days in thoughts and fancies concerning other men, when it is not in relation to some common good, when by it thou art hindered from some other better work. That is, spend not thy time in thinking, what such a man doth, and to what end; what he saith, and what he thinks, and what he is about, and such other things or curiosities which make a man to rove and wander from the care and observation of that part of himself, which is rational, and overruling. See therefore in the whole series and connection of they thoughts, that thou be careful to prevent what is idle and impertinent: but especially, whatsoever is curious and malicious: that thou must use thyself to think only of such things, of which if a man upon a sudden should ask thee what it is that thou art now thinking, thou mayest answer This, and That, freely and boldly, that so by thy thoughts it may presently appear that in all thee is sincere, and peaceable; as becometh one that is made for society, and regards not pleasures, nor gives way to any voluptuous imaginations at all: free from all contentiousness, envy, suspicion, and from whatsoever else thou wouldest blush to confess thy thoughts were set upon."

That is a very high bar, I think, to cleanse your thoughts so perfectly that you can allow yourself to be entirely transparent. You see the pattern: he lays out the common traps human pitfalls: envy, petty thoughts, malice and then lays out the standard: freedom from these hidden thoughts, thought which would otherwise make you blush in the light of day.