Quote from "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg

"An international report at Hewlett-Packard revealed that women only apply for open jobs if they think they meet 100 percent of the criteria listed. Men apply if they think they meet 60 percent of the requirements. This difference has a huge ripple effect. Women need to shift from thinking 'I'm not ready to do that' to thinking 'I want to do that—and I'll learn by doing it.’” (p.62)

Urban Sprawl

This is the Dulles Airport area in 1985.

This is the Dulles Airport area in 2012.

What I learned in High School

Source: dumpaday.com via Jillian on Pinterest

I guess y'all were drugged out during high school or something.

How to do taxes: you save all the financial paperwork that you receive; you buy a program like TurboTax; you follow their guided interview and fill in the boxes by copying from your paperwork; you click send.  How damn hard is that?

What taxes are: Did you not take U.S. Government for an ENTIRE YEAR in 11th grade?  I did.

How to vote: First, you register. We did that in the above-mentioned U.S. Government class in school.  Second, you pay attention to when elections are.  On the day of an election, you look at your voter registration card and you go to your polling place.  While you stand in line, you read over the free sample ballot you were handed.  You check in.  You follow the directions given you by the people who are there to tell you what to do.  You vote.  How damn hard is that?

How to write a resume/cover letter.  Did your high school not a have guidance counselor? Or did you simply fail to make an appointment to get their help? 

Anything to do with banking: Um, we did banking in fifth grade.  Every morning we had to write out a few pretend checks for thinks like utilities and groceries (so we learned how to fill out the check, we practiced how to write out numbers long-hand).  We entered them in our checkbook, we kept the balance up to date (practicing our math).

How to apply for loans for college:  Did your high school not have a guidance counselor?  Or did you simply fail to make an appointment to get their help?

How to buy a car or house:  For a car, you research what kind of car you might want. Go to the website of a few car dealers.  Look at the price of your car... most even have an entry that shows you the monthly payment.  Compare the monthly payment to your income.  If you can afford the car, you either go get a loan from a bank or you get a loan from the car dealer.  A car salesman greets you the instant you turn off your car engine. You tell them what car you want.  You fill out a ton of paperwork that they guide you through.  How damn hard is that?

For a house, you research neighborhoods you might want to live in and you make a list of features you would like if possible.  You pick a realtor and tell them this stuff.  You fill out paperwork that they guide you through (including getting a loan from your bank). You tour a bunch of houses.  When you see one you want and can afford, you tell the realtor.  They help you negotiate.  When you are selected to buy the house, your realtor helps you fill out more paperwork.  How damn hard is that?

If you really paid enough attention to understand pythagorean theorem, then you can do all of the above just fine. 

Fire your photographer

If this is the head shot you choose to go with (implying, in my mind, that this is the BEST photo of the photo shoot), then please fire your photographer and also your makeup artist.

A GOOD photographer should have been able to come up with 3/4 profile or even full profile poses, like these, which minimize the paralyzed side of her face and emphasize the other side:

• http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-73682080/stock-photo-woman-face-with-beautiful-makeup.html?src=p-8034115-2 
•  http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-8034115/stock-photo-beautiful-woman-face-side-view.html
• http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=woman+side+view&search_group=#id=88260271&src=QNWFm18-hNN4rrxZ_ROkQQ-4-49
• http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=woman+side+view&search_group=#id=50664190&src=QNWFm18-hNN4rrxZ_ROkQQ-5-72

Books read in 2012

1. The Bible
2. Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
3. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
4. Mocking Jay, by Suzanne Collins
5. Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer
6. Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer
7. New Moon, by Stephanie Meyer
8. Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyer 
9. Zero Day, by Mark Russinovich 
10. Pandora's Grave, by Stephen England 
11. Heat Wave, by Richard Castle 
12. Naked Heat, by Richard Castle
13. Heat Rises, by Richard Castle 
14. No Turning Back, by Tiffany Snow 
15. If You Can't Stand The Heat, by Robin Allen
16. Handgun Stopping Power: The Definitive Study, by Evan Marshall and Edwin J. Sanow 
17. Chill Run, by Russell Brooks
18. Cherry On Top, by Kathleen Long
19. The Edge of Trust, by KT Bryan
20. Knox's Irregulars, by J. Wesley Bush 
21. Death of the Couch Potato's Wife, by Christy Barrettt
22. Chili con Corpses, by JB Stanley
23. GOTU, by Mike McNeff
24. In Her Name: First Contact, by Michael Hicks 
25. Inflammatory Diseases of Blood Vessels, 2nd Edition, edited by Hoffman, Weyand, Langford and Goronzy 
26. Strangers in the Land (Zombie Bible book 3), by Stant Litore 
27. Wool Omnibus, by Hugh Howey 
28. Wisdom to Know, by Elizabeth Maddrey
29. Not Guilty, by Teresa Pollard and Candi Pullen
30. Courage to Change, by Elizabeth Maddrey
31. Fiery Secrets, by Stephanie McCall
32. Tokens of Promise, by Teresa Pollard

Reusable produce bags

I was just this week telling my sister that there needed to be an alternative to the plastic baggies that you get on the spool to put your lettuce and tomatoes into at the grocery store.

Then the Gardeners.com catalog arrives in my mailbox.  And they have reusable mesh produce bags that let the veggies breathe in the fridge. 

Source: gardeners.com via Lynellen on Pinterest

Snark

Source: gsnvip.com via Lynellen on Pinterest

Stair rails

I used Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations Dark Base Satin Cabinet Paint (tinted "Rustic") to change my builder grade Oak stair rails. Here's the "before".

Here's how they looked after the base paint was on.

Here's how they looked after the glaze and protective coat were finished: 

 The project took me about 30 hours or so. First you have to clean dirt/grease/whatever off the rails, spindles and base plate. Then you scrub the deglosser on, then wipe it off twice. Then you paint on the base color, two coats. Dont get discouraged at the appearance until after you've put on the glaze! The paint color itself was kinda cheesy, but once the dark glaze had been applied and wiped off, they looked amazing. Then you apply the protective coat. Lots of awkward work and very tedious to get in all the round crevices, but it is absolutely gorgeous and matches my cherry floors wonderfully. Totally worth it.

Dressing in the dark

Poor Emma Watson!  For the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, she dressed in the dark and did her hair in the dark!

Check out her tragic look in the fourth picture of this slideshow, as she poses with equally tragic Ezra Miller.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/06/showbiz/gallery/mtv-video-music-awards-2012/index.html?hpt=en_t1

Water conservation

With this year's drought causing the midwest farmers so much pain, here are some interesting facts about the amount of water needed to make the food we eat.  Source: Heifer.org magazine and the Water Footprint Network (I guess that's like your carbon footprint).

• Growing a gallon of coffee requires 880 gallons of water.  Growing a gallon of tea: just 128 gallons.
• Growing and producing a gallon of wine requires 1,088 gallons of water; beer: 689.
• It takes 713 gallons of water to produce a single cotton tshirt.
• Half a pound of leather for shoes requires 1,096 gallons of water.
• Paper for a magazine takes about 76 gallons of water.
• A pound of beef requires 1,799 gallons of water to produce.  So a 1/3 pound burger costs 660 gallons of water.
• A pound of chicken takes 468 gallons of water to produce, and each egg takes 53 gallons.
• A pound of goat meat takes only 127 gallons of water to produce.
• A pound of cheese requires 600 gallons of water; a pound of soybeans takes 216 gallons.
• One pound of Chocolate needs 3,170 gallons of water to make.
• Apples and oranges take less than 20 gallons of water each.

Smith and Wesson 1911

The Smith and Wesson 1911 is an amazing gun.  Wow, I love it.

That is all.

Carry on.

Fresh Air in Five Counties

This is the 170 mile trip we took today.  Dumfries -> Annandale -> Clifton -> Culpeper -> Sperryville -> Warrenton -> Dumfries.

Lots of green trees, blue sky, and rural roads. Five counties: Prince William, Fairfax, Fauqier, Culpeper, and Rappahannock.

Top Spots I should live

According to the quiz at findyourspot.com, I should live in one of these places:

1. Salisbury, NC
2. Hickory, NC
3. Murray, KY
4. Maryville, TN
5. Berea, KY
6. Winterville, NC
7. Guthrie, OK
8. Hendersonville, NC
9. Gainesville, GA
10. Edenton, NC
11. Aiken, SC
12. Charlottesville, VA
13. Woodbury, TN
14. Oxford, MS
15. Clayton, GA
16. Paris, TN
17. Morganton, NC
18. Hopkinsville, KY
19. Atlantic City, NJ
20. Mount Airy, NC
21. Myrtle Beach, SC
22. Rocky Mount - Stony Creek, NC
23. Hampton, VA
24. Lawrenceburg, KY

I would never ever live at Atlantic City, but Hampton VA or Myrtle Beach SC seem like they may be worth looking at.  I've lived in MS before, and I don't think I would move back there, so Oxford is out.   Western North Carolina was very pretty when I was there recently, so those are possibilities too, but let's rule out any town smaller than 10,000 people.

Gas and flowers

We sent roses to Mike's mom.  The path they took is scary:
Clovis, CA
Fresno, CA
Oakland, CA
Memphis, TN
Tucson, AZ

The amount of gas involved in delivering these is terrible!  They traveled at least 3,660 miles!  Ugh!

PGM 24

My paternal grandfather, C.H. Perry, was a cook (Ships Cook First Class - SC1) on Navy ships during World War 2.  According to my father, one of these ships was PGM 24.  NavSource says PGM 24 was a Motor Gunboat / Patrol Gunboat.
Click the image to go to the larger version on the NavSource website.

Anglerfish

The Oatmeal has a great cartoon about anglerfish, titled "How the male anglerfish gets completely screwed!"

It's fantastic, and Wikipedia supports the facts laid out.

Young London : Let me go

Dance / pop band I discovered while at Foot Locker the other day.

Do you live in the Panem Capitol?

I read the three "Hunger Games" books this week.  Partly b/c the movie is coming out.  I read the first book a long time ago and disliked it.  But I wanted to be able to tell people WHY I was not going to go see the movie: I don't like the books.  Now that I've read all three, I can still say "I don't like the books".  And I will not be seeing the movie.

But let me ask you a philosophical question...

Premises:
1) The barbarity of having children murder each other in the arena was considered prime entertainment for the citizens living in the dystopian Panem Capitol.
2) The Hunger Games books are quite violent.  The movie is also quite violent.  Violent and bloody and gory enough that the "British censors agreed to give the film a "12A" rating only after some footage was cut."  In America, "The Hunger Games has been rated PG-13 "for intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens.""

Intense, violent, disturbing images.

So here's my philosophical question:

If you judge the citizens of the Panem Capitol to be idiots (or whatever word you choose) because they view the Hunger Games as entertainment...

Why the HECK are YOU viewing the intensely violent and disturbing movie as entertainment???

Shouldn't you be applying the same measure of judgment to yourself?  If it's horrible for the fictional characters to find murder entertaining, why are you excited about the film?  You'll be viewing that same murder as a form of entertainment.  So...  what the heck??

Ok, let the flame wars begin, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Backyard Bug of the Day

Uhler's Waterbug was on our back doorstep last night.  2-3 inches long and kinda scary looking.

"Individuals are capable of inflicting a painful bite with their strong beak, and may also pinch with their front legs. Individuals prey on aquatic insects, small fish, frogs, tadpoles, small birds, and other organisms they are able to capture. Powerful enzymes are injected into prey to kill them. Adults of Lethocerus are considered a delicacy in Asia, and are eaten both fresh and cooked."

Yeah, I didn't harvest him for a snack.  In the zombie apocalypse when bugs are the only food out there, I will probably starve before I can choke one down.  Ewwww!

"Top Shot" fashion discrimination

This is a screen capture from this week's "Top Shot" episode.  The shirt styles are really irking me.  Why does the female have to wear a shirt that doesn't protect her as much as the man's shirt style?

Notice the man can choose how many buttons he wants to button or unbutton at the neck.  The woman doesn't even HAVE buttons.  So if she wants more sun protection or protection from flying bullet fragments, she has no way of closing up her shirt.

Second, notice the man's shirt sleeves go all the way to his elbows and protect all of his upper arm from sun and bullet fragments.  The woman's shirt only goes half way down her arm.  He can push his sleeves up to adjust the amount of arm to show, but she has no way to bring her sleeves down to protect her skin.

Finally, notice that the man's shirt is a nice square shape, but the woman is forced to wear a "Tailored" fitted style that fits close to her curves.  Even though these are probably somewhat-stretchy knits, the close-fit shirt will be more binding and restrictive of movement than the loose-fit shirt.

ARGH!

2011 Reading List

This is what I read in 2011:

1. Vampire Crush, by A.M. Robinson
2. Mr. Darcy's Diary, by Amanda Grange
3. Building a Parenting Agreement that Works: Child custody agreements step-by-step; by Mimi Lyster
4. Shattered Dreams, by Dr Larry Crabb
5. Stargate SG1: Four Dragons (SG1-16), by Diana Dru Botsford
6. Absolute Risk, by Steven Gore
7. Stargate Atlantis: Hunt and Run, by Aaron Rosenberg
8. Watchlist, by Jeffrey Deaver
9. Night of the Vampires, by Heather Graham
10. The Blood that Bonds, by Christopher Buecheler
11. Against All Odds, by Irene Hannon
12. Deadly Sanctuary, by Sylvia Nobel and Christy Moeller
13. Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1-7 (short stories) by John Jackson Miller
14. The Crossroads Cafe, by Deborah Smith
15. Reaper (Novella), by Rachel Vincent
16. Face of Betrayal, by Lis Wiehl and April Henry
17. Stargate Atlantis 16: Homecoming, by Jo Graham and Melissa Scott
18. Troublesome Creek, by Jan Watson
19. Lioness Arising, by Lisa Bevere
20. House of Dark Shadows (Dreamhouse Kings Series, Book 1) by Robert Liparulo
21. Stuck in the Middle, by Virginia Smith
22. Crossing Oceans, by Gina Holmes
23. Invisible, Lorena McCourtney
24. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
25. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
26. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer
27. Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer
28. Always the Baker, Never the Bride, by Sandra Bricker
29. After the Leaves Fall, by Nicole Baart
30. The Legal Answer Book for Families, by Emily Doskow and Marcia Stewart
31. Alice at Heart, by Deborah Smith
32. Almost Heaven, by Chris Fabry
33. Almost Perfect, by Julie Ortolon
34. The Apothecary's Daughter, by Julie Klassen
35. Antiques Roadkill, by Barbara Allan
36. Stargate SG1 (SG1-17): Sunrise, by J. Frances Crane
37. Where will you go from here? by Valorie Burton
38. Back on Murder, by J. Mark Bertrand
39. Stargate Atlantis (SGA-17): The Lost, by Jo Graham and Amy Griswold
40. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
41. The Pawn, by Steven James
42. The Rook, by Steven James
43. The Scroll, by Grant Jeffrey and Alton Gansky
44. All the Pretty Hearses: A Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery (Bed-And-Breakfast Mysteries) by Mary Daheim
45. The Knight, by Steven James 
46. The Brotherhood (Precinct 11), by Jerry Jenkins
47. The Big 5-Oh!, by Sandra Bricker
48. Boyfriends, Burritos, and an Ocean of Trouble, by Nancy Rue
49. Beautiful Lies, by Lisa Unger
50. Reamde, by Neal Stephenson
51. The Bishop, by Steven James
52. The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy
53. Tahn, by L.A. Kelly 
54. Getting Smart, by Tom Vander Ark
55. The Promised One: Seeing Jesus in Genesis, by Nancy Guthrie

Moonlight - Steven Sharp Nelson

Carol of the Bells (for 12 cellos) - Steven Sharp Nelson

10 minute evening look

Apostrophe clouds

Aren't these clouds wild?  They remind me of apostrophes or mini-tornados.

As the Jedi mind tricks at the end say, I must now learn cello.

Kidd Video - Where Did Our Love Go?

Classic Smoky Eye

For a classic smoky eye look:

1. Highlight just the brow bone using a soft, shimmery beige such as Spun Silk.
2. Apply midtone (a shade slightly darker than your skin tone) starting from the base of the lashline, across the lid, and up to the brow bone.  So pick a neutral that is a bit darker than your skin.  Put on two layers of midtone if you want a deeper/darker look.
3. Blend the two colors together well.
4. Apply your dark shade (your contour shade.  Pick one: Black Pearl, Coal, Copper Glow, Ivy Garden, Midnight Star, or  Sweet Plum.) Start at the base of the lash line and work your way up to the crease of the eye...and then blend it out.
5. Use black eye liner across top lashes.
6. Apply a black shadow (Coal) directly over the top of the pencil liner you just put on and start to pull up with the color to smudge it out.  Add a little more Coal into the outside corners of the eyes. Blend, blend, blend.
7. Apply midtone shade again, right against the base of the bottom lash line.
8. Apply contour shade over the top of the midtone shade that you just applied at the base of the bottom lash line.
9. Use two coats of black mascara.

5-minute face

Poetic Eyes

Makeup Artist Robert Jones calls this look the Poetic Eye.  By having a very soft eye, you can have a bold red lip.

How to get this look:

Step-by Step Poetic Eyes

1. Conceal your eyelid with concealer and set it with powder.

2. Using an Eye Definer Brush, place a creme shimmer shadow (Mary Kay Beach Blonde) on your eyelid from lashline to where the crease of the eye begins. This will make the eye shadow much more intense and it will stay on much longer. Now with the same brush, apply a shimmering champagne powder shadow like Mary Kay Moonstone. Remember people...it's all about layering!

3. Apply a subtle brow color to create a soft statement with the brows.

4. Using your Eye Crease Brush, apply a matte taupe shadow like Mary Kay Hazelnut in the crease, from the outside corner toward the inside corner. Using your Eye Definer Brush, apply a layer of midtone like Mary Kay Cinnabar to the outer outer third of your eyelid. Leave the lower lid completely void of color.The contrast between the shimmer and the matte is what makes the poetic eye POP. 

5. To give the look an editorial flair, skip the eyeliner and limit mascara to the top lashes only. 

6. Finish off the look with a super soft cheek using only a bronzer like Mary Kay Sandstone Bronzing Powder and then apply a matte red lipstick.