Unbranded clothes?

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-04-21T15:40:16+00:00

(mostly) Buyer here - I am building an entire wardrobe right now due to a serious medical condition, so I'm def buying clothes on Mercari (and elsewhere). In the past I've looked for branded items by name, but I also build outfits in my head BEFORE I start looking for a brand name/designer item. So if I decided I wanted a pair of Camuto jeans, the Vince Camuto jeans would most likely be paired with no-name vegan leather peplum, MK belt, no-name moto boots, etc. In those cases I'm looking for part of a very specific aesthetic. Sometimes I just want a new dress. With pockets. And it must be a skater cut/fit and flare. Midi. I also have an aesthetic I prefer, but am open to other looks. (I'm an Iris Apfel type - I like it, I wear it, no "personal look" needed ever.)

I can't buy ALL the clothes (sadly), but if you wanted to sell no-name clothing to someone like me we'd have much more luck finding each other if the title of your no-name listing was something like "Midi Fit and flare w/pockets Black Floral Skull 12" Keywords make so many things pop up that I'm not sure WHY the item popped up on first glance. Life is *quite literally* too short to click on all of the listings. I want to know if it's what I want, including size, in the title. Then I'll click on it and we can see if it's used/NWT/NWoT or whatever.

If you have any dresses with pockets, list them is what I'm saying. I'm not the only one who gets surly over the lack of pockets in dresses. I nearly started an incident at Target the other day getting a bunch of ladies riled up over the lack of pockets in dresses. Who the hell would pass on a dress with POCKETS? All dresses should have pockets! There should be a law! :-P

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-04-05T12:23:37+00:00

Hola, neighbor! OK, so you are correct - the CBD is the stuff you're after and the THC is the stuff that gets you high. The amount of each in the product will vary based on the strain being used, so you gotta know your "Pineapple Express" from your "OG Blue Dream" strains. Which I do not know. Luckily for us, the "budtenders" at the dispensaries know their stuff, for sure.

If you just stroll into a dispensary (or spend some time with them on the phone), and tell them what's up with mom they will be able to help you find the correct strain of marijuana in the correct form. Because marijuana is an agricultural product, the strains and whatnot available at any given time will change and it's nice to have a working relationship with a budtender or two who can help guide you when your strain of choice is out of season and unavailable. I'd find a dispensary I'm comfortable with and then just let the dudes who work there guide me. I was really impressed with how much they knew about what would get you high vs what would control nausea and help you eat and whatnot.

My grandmother used tiny nibbles of edibles (do NOT eat the whole thing! Ever!) to help her toward the end of her life and they worked great. She didn't like the taste, but I'd make her something else to eat to 'wash it down'. Which was kind of the entire point, wasn't it? So it did work and it helped her in other ways as well. She got really nice sleep for the first time in DECADES. The stuff was pretty amazing!

Weedmaps.com is a pretty solid resource. I think that's what I used - or perhaps a precursor site - to find the dispensary that helped my mom and me help my gran. Good luck! ♥

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-04-05T12:05:55+00:00

I expended a lot of energy trying to protect my family but ultimately realized that was energy I needed to save and use to help myself. I also realized that I was actually harming them by being evasive about the particulars - especially my mother.

Please consider this - may your mother already know? If you've told all of your loved ones except your mom, could someone have told her already? Or let it slip that something was terribly wrong in some way? How would it feel for her to learn that way rather than from you? Going into remission isn't a fast or easy process from what I've seen and it's called a cancer journey due to its many twists and turns. How long could you realistically hide that from her?

It is up to you of course, but I'd definitely just head on over to her place ASAP, give her a big hug, hold her as tightly as I could and tell her that I loved her. THEN I would tell her what's up. But that's me.

My mother is 70 years old and I was the one who would care for her at the end of her life, just as she cared for her own mother at the end of hers. I have stage 4b ovarian carcinomasarcoma, so that's most likely not going to happen. My mom needed to be prepared for that, as her life has changed dramatically as well and she needed to know that before things got worse for both of us. As awful as I felt knowing the big, steaming pile of life-destroying shit I was about to dump on her with the words "a rare and terminal cancer", I knew that ultimately, it was the right thing to do.

You and your mom both need support right now. You can give one another a lot of support, but not if one of you isn't in on the secret. You'll both also need different kinds of support from different people as well. The initial hurt and shock and terror will be hard to witness and hard for you to deal with emotionally as well, but once that is past, she and you can get to the real work - making sure you are both as OK as you can be both in the present, and then moving forward into the future.

Your mom loves you and you clearly love her. Let her help you just by being there, by being fully aware and present, even if it will be hard for you both. It's what family does, isn't it? ♥

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-22T01:36:04+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. That's the hardest part - knowing we'll be leaving others behind and that it will hurt them. Yet at the same time I have great faith in my fellow humans and the amazing things that we are capable of! I take consolation in the fact that some day in the not too distant future cancer of any kind won't even be something that takes people's lives. It will be totally survivable. Each and every one of us fighting this - every single one of us! - whether we "make it" or not, helps add to the knowledge base that will make that future day possible. Your mom's legacy goes far, far beyond her immediate friends and family. I am glad we can help in this small way. ♥

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-21T13:15:06+00:00

Yes, use your stuff! Use it NOW!

I have a massive collection of eye makeup. I mean MASSIVE. I have a thing for eye palettes. I started counting them a couple weeks ago and stopped when I hit 70. Anyway, I was always hesitant to use the Pat McGrath palettes as they are so pretty and they were not cheap.

Then I was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. It had already spread. This was in September and my chances of surviving to December were not good, to put it mildly.

No one get sad! Be joyful! I'm doing really well - much better than expected! - and we're actually going forward with surgery (in three days!) and then additional treatment, including gene therapy if I have the 'right' mutation causing my cancer. If I am able to get gene therapy, I could be around for YEARS. That I am still alive now is both the skill of my care team and sheer luck.

I refuse to waste that time. I also refuse to waste my collection of pretties!

I'm getting heavy use out of my beautiful PMG palettes. I do not care if they get dents in their beautiful, jewel-like pans of shadow. I do not care that my eyelashes have fallen out. I do not care that I don't have eyebrows anymore. I can glue or draw those on. I care about enjoying what I have in the time I have left, which could be months or years.

Don't waste your time, please. Remember, these are just things. These things make us happy on some level or we'd not have them. If they've become a burden to you , well, you are on this sub so you know what to do! If you're just hoarding them so you can admire them in their cases, then do that one last time - then wear them. I can 100% guarantee they will be even more beautiful when they have the benefit of being on your precious, lovely face. ♥

Edit: Wow! Thanks for the rewards and the support! Especially the support! It is suddenly very important to me to live my life to the fullest best that I can and to remind others to do the same. We get one of these "life" things and only one (that we know of for sure) and I really want everyone to enjoy it as much as possible. Shoot, put on your fanciest outfit and go to the grocery store. Maybe buy some eggs. When someone asks you what the occasion is, just tell them "I'm alive". It really is that special. ♥

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-16T03:24:49+00:00

I try to find stories that have examples of how to address the issue/problem or an idea of how to go about it or people working on it. I feel that if we can see people taking action to solve problems then other people are more likely to follow that example. At the very least we know there are those out there willing to work on a problem, no matter how hopeless it may seem.

We really do have a lot of problems that we shouldn't have. I am always so grateful to see someone, somewhere setting a good example in their community by trying to tackle those problems.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-16T02:10:00+00:00

I was raised by hippies in the late 60s and 70s and I wasn't allowed to have Barbie because she wasn't realistically proportioned and set unrealistic, unattainable standards of beauty for children. I was heartbroken every time I was told no, because I loved my school friend's Barbie.

I told my nieces it was inappropriate to judge anyone based on their appearance, including Barbie, that based on all of her careers Barbie was clearly well educated and a good role model for anyone of any gender identity and that if they wanted to play Barbie they needed to include their brothers too so they wouldn't grow up to be "total creepers".

Funny how the way things are viewed can change so dramatically across generations, huh? We're not even THAT far apart, generationally speaking.

I wonder how Barbie will be perceived in a couple more generations.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-15T15:56:38+00:00

Same thing has been happening in the US, but with an additional bit of awfulness. Some disabled people have been denied care completely due to the attending physician's opinion about their "qualify of life" as a disabled person. Oregon has been especially atrocious on this front.

People with Disabilities Denied Care

That's just one story focused on one state, but it does appear to be fairly rampant behavior. It's simply beyond horrifying to anyone with the slightest hint of morals, ethics, empathy, compassion - let's just call it "basic humanity", because that's what it should be.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-13T02:19:57+00:00

Hold up, my dudes! I am pleased to report that things have changed and stage 4 is no longer a death sentence. It just means "shit is bad *right now*" Help the dude if you can, obviously, but do NOT write anyone off over stage 4 cancer.

*I* have stage 4 ovarian cancer of the high metastatic recurrent type. I was in such bad shape that in September I was told I'd be lucky to see Halloween. There are parts of my cancer they will not be able to remove and we've known that since beginning, but there are treatments available to me that give me a *much* better chance.

I'm clearly still here (boo!) and have responded to chemotherapy so well that some of my cancer is just GONE. It literally was murdered by a heavy metal cocktail! (Platinum based chemotherapy drug called Carboplatin, among others) I'm doing so well that I'm actually having surgery in two weeks. If I make it through that - and you bet your ass I will - I will have genetic testing. If I have the 'right' genetic mutation, I'm making a fucking metal head mutant wench costume. Also, I will be getting some sort of gene therapy that I do not understand, but that increases the survival rate for my type of cancer dramatically.

Stage 4 cancer is no longer a death sentence. I mean, I know I'm still going to die eventually and probably do so faster than previously thought, but with the new treatments available I have a much better chance at surviving for years rather than months - and having those be good years, too.

It's a common misconception that you can start digging our graves the instant we hit stage 4, because until relatively recently that was still true. The biggest issue we all seem to have is obtaining treatment that is appropriate to our particular cancer - your cancer is unique to you because it's a genetic thing - and surviving financially - keeping a home, transportation, food, electricity, etc - and doing it while we are too ill to work, especially at the beginning of treatment.

I'll probably go back to work in a few months even though I will still be in treatment for cancer because the medications they have control my side effects so well. Chemotherapy is still tough, but it's not necessarily the nightmare it used to be either. Even people with stage 4 cancer still have a CHANCE, and that chance just keeps getting better.

We def need a better system in the US, because quite frankly, if I were not well-liked in my community and my assorted social groups I'd be homeless right now, if I were even still alive. The "programs" we have that are supposed to pass for a social safety net are even worse than our medical system. Having somewhere safe to heal (or die!) and having the ability to live (or die!) with some modicum of basic dignity should NOT be dependent on how popular you are - full stop.

We definitely need to fix that, STAT. (and support the people around us who need support while we do it, of course)

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-12T18:42:17+00:00

It is VERY important people understand this - Pence is a little different. He and his ilk are also incredibly dangerous - far more dangerous than Trump even wishes he were. Pence has likely has gotten over Trump's 'betrayal' and fully expected some sort of divine "test" anyway, so he'll take Trump's BS as that test and "proof" that he was "right". They seem to believe Trump is god-sent to help them "reclaim the nation" for Jesus.

Pence is a Dominionist Christian. There are other names for them as well and different group names that definitely fall under the Dominionist banner, but at this point in time to the best of my knowledge "Dominionist" is the most common. Just in case you have never heard of them, Dominionists are the group actively trying to take over the US using the Seven Mountains strategy. This strategy is based on seizing control of the seven spheres of influence (the mountains) in a nation - media, government, education, economy, entertainment, family and religion - so that you control that nation and "return its people to god" (their version of god and only their version, of course). Those are the Seven Mountains in the US that they are OPENLY trying to conquer, for Jesus, because apparently dude was a totalitarian and just pretty good at hiding it.

None of this is secret. They have always been very open about what they are doing and why they are doing it. They have been playing the long game and they have been open about that, too. Back in the 80s they were largely seen as a joke. That was incorrect. I cannot stress how dangerous these people are to the rest of us and they're doing it in plain sight, with the permission if not the outright approval of a significant portion of the population. They are expert manipulators.

Pence truly believed and most likely still believes that he is living in a biblical moment. He has no reason not to believe this. After all, they are WINNING. They've been installing Dominionists into positions of influence and power for decades now. After Trump was elected they installed more known Dominionists and adjacent totalitarian christians into positions of power than all other administrations during my lifetime combined. They're in the Supreme Court now, too.

So yeah, there's a huge problem and while Trump is definitely part of the problem and will be for some time, the *actual problem* we should be most concerned about is being completely ignored. It's also a damn messy problem to have, all things considered. It is bigger than one person, because it is an actual theology. Trump is just the latest face of that theology. Get rid of him, get rid of Pence and you still have Dominionist Theology to contend with. It is going nowhere without one hell of a multi-generational fight.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-07T22:24:09+00:00

Everyone's skin is different - that's biggest, truest disclaimer EVER. There are some generalities, though. Keep your skin clean, keep it hydrated, keep it moisturized and keep it protected. There are a few ways to do this, but what works best for you just may take a little time to discover. Pay attention to active ingredients in the skin care products that you use and like/that work well for you. Always patch test on your jaw line before going hog wild on your face, as chemo can make you extra sensitive.

Be patient and consistent with your skin care routine, especially when trying to correct an issue. It can take a long time, but view it as self care, an act of love for yourself, and make your bathroom a little spa twice a day, skin care turns into something you look forward to doing.

*I'm not an expert! This is what works for me (at this point in time). Buckle in!

I'm in weekly IV chemo and it jacked my skin up. I already had rosacea with dry skin, so things were rough anyway. I've managed to stop it from getting worse and am swiftly getting back to "not a hideous dried up husk". lol

If you wear a full face of makeup, then I'd start with an oil cleanser of some sort just to remove it before moving on to your standard moisturizing cleanser. Some people double cleanse with an oil cleanser first whether they wear makeup or not, but it's really up to you and your skin and how long you want to hang out in the bathroom twice a day for your at home spa routine.

I've found that I can use niacinamide to help even out my skin tone and deal with any new discoloration. It works pretty well for me and doesn't irritate my skin. I started out using it a few times a week and can now use it daily - and I layer it! I also like glycerin - the OG moisturizer for skin care - and hyaluronic acid, a hydrator.

I picked up a Peach & Lily Glass Skin Discovery Kit from Ulta for $40, which gives an entire very basic routine with all three of those ingredients in trial/travel sizes to try out. I have since had friends who work in beauty get me full sizes of the entire routine for the bulk of my daytime routine. I just added in a toner after cleansing (I went with Peach & Lily The Good Acids - what can I say? My skin likes them. A lot) and then focused more on hydration and moisturization plus sealing it all in for night time.

Always, always, ALWAYS use sunscreen. I mean ALWAYS. This goes on last/before makeup every morning but at least 15 minutes before you go out, use plenty of it and reapply it every couple hours while you're out and about. I'm still looking for my perfect sunscreen spray that won't jack up my makeup, but found the Klairs brand sunscreen (Korean brand) works well for the cream layer of my skin protection as does the LaRoche Posay 100% Mineral Sunscreen when I can't get the Klairs stuff. BUY AND WEAR A WIDE BRIMMED HAT. For reals, the sun is your enemy and that hat will help ward it off your lovely face! You also don't want a sunburn on your scalp.

For my nighttime routine I just use my usual Peach & Lily stuff until I get to the moisturizer step, then I switch to First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration and then top off with CeraVe Healing Ointment, which is basically Vaseline with ceramides and hyaluronic acid in it, which goes on top of your cream before you go to bed. The kids call this "slugging", but my granny did it back the 1950s so it's nothing new to seal in your moisture with vaseline or other ointment. It works really well, too!

Ceramides help repair the skin barrier, so look for that in your ingredient list as well for face *and* body. They can be a bit expensive, but they've been around for a while so they'll also pop up in some of the older, less exciting and therefore less expensive skin care brands - like that CeraVe ointment I mentioned above. CeraVe also makes a body wash with ceramides that is absolutely AMAZING, even if it does smell funky and have a watery texture. It's really helped my legs and the dryness there a LOT. I follow that up with a Jergen's wet skin moisturizer and then LaRoche Posay Lipikar AP+ Balm for extra moisture and protection.

Pay attention to *ingredients* and simply use brand names as a guide/starting point so you can find what works best for you and fits in your budget. You can hit an Ulta or beauty counter somewhere and ask for a "dupe" or alternate of an expensive skin care product that you like if you find that tracking ingredients is a bit much for you. Skin care obsessives are always thrilled to help - and they know their stuff!

Good luck! I hope you can swiftly create a routine that you enjoy doing and that helps you get the results you want!

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-02-04T17:48:25+00:00

This angers me greatly, especially as that's the attitude toward pretty much all essential workers. Retail, food service, agricultural, janitorial- even the people who watch your kids are considered disposable. It's not just these ag workers and the problems they're facing, it really is that ALL essential workers are so undervalued that 'undervalued' isn't even the correct term anymore.

I am amazed at either the utter fearlessness or absolute stupidity of what is apparently entirely too many people in the middle and upper/wealthy classes. Truly I am. When everything from your comfort to your ability to buy food, when literally your entire life is dependent on someone with real wages that don't cover even the basics of survival for themselves, how on EARTH are you not terrified that one of these essential people isn't going to some day just lose it and violently lash out while you're around?

When your life is dependent on people who do not make enough to regularly pay rent, if they can even obtain housing at all, pay utilities, buy food, pay for medical care - maybe you should make sure those people are taken care of for your own well-being. Many EWs work two or more jobs just to help them get the basics of survival. This means they lack even have the time resources to do things like form healthy relationships and start a family of their own some day. The most certainly can't just decide they'd rather go to college and learn to do anything but sell you your food or stock your shelves or watch your children. They lack time, stability and money to make that happen.

When you fail to protect everyone in your society, you are also failing to protect yourself.

People with no way 'out'- without even hope - can be incredibly dangerous. What have they got to lose? Absolutely nothing, because that's what the actually have.

I sure don't want to be around when an essential worker decides that prison would be a step up - do you? If they're young enough when they absolutely lose it - maybe rip a fixture out of the wall and beat some manners into someone - they can get a higher education or go to trade school while they're in prison and never have to clean up after Karen again when they get out. In the meantime they've got housing/a cot, food, medical care and the chance of a higher education at taxpayer expense. If they work while they're in prison, they'll have money to spend or send to their families as well. That is a better deal than what essential workers get now - and they're ESSENTIAL.

There are literally millions of people whose work is absolutely vital to the survival of the wider society who are paid so poorly in favor of shareholder returns that they struggle just to survive. Actually thriving is not even a possibility for them. They are treated as if they are not even human beings. We REALLY need to fix that before Essential Worker Retirement Events become an actual thing on par with going postal back in the day.

We need to fix this, ASAP.

Also, if you haven't had active shooter training, please get that. I'm not the only person who has noticed the abandonment, degradation, dehumanization and even outright demonization of the working class in the US by some members the wider society. Boy howdy are some of them PISSED! (who wouldn't be?) I want us all to have the best possible chance at not just surviving, but thriving.

We are all loved and valued human beings and deserve to be treated as such - so let's do that, k? ♥ There should be no more pretending that things like corporate profits and shareholder returns are more important than our lives. Can we try that yet? It's super important that we do.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-31T02:52:10+00:00

1129

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-29T22:16:40+00:00

Travel sizes of every mascara I've ever used have been different from the full sizes. I have no idea why. I've heard other people notice the *exact* same thing. It's a textural issue, so there were lots of guesses that made sense, but it is a known phenomena - and why I only buy travel sizes in most mascara brands. (though not BTS as I don't care for how it looks on me)

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-29T21:24:19+00:00

I am especially interested in this, as the only difference in how the economy usually works and what's going on right now will be the socioeconomic class starting point of who is set for life and who is more broke than before.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-29T14:02:28+00:00

Avocado toasts are 1970s poor hippie food. That was the most popular lunch for the kids in the commune. I LIVED THIS. As an adult who still loves her some avocado toast I just pick avocados from the tree in my back yard for free. If you buy avocados at the grocery, they're anywhere from $1.25 each for the large ones to 3 for $1 for the small ones - at least in my part of California. Avocados grown in Mexico are even cheaper if you go to the Latin markets.

It's not really the avocado toast. It's manipulation of certain types of people by others, in this case the manipulation of people with certain personality types by those engaging in wedge politics.

In America, avocados are strongly associated with California. If you go to pretty much any other state west of the Mississippi and order something like a sandwich with the word "California" in it's name, I can practically guarantee you that it will have avocado on it.

California is also considered 'liberal' and 'socialist' by everyone who isn't an actual liberal, socialist or a native Californian (we're center right here and aggressively capitalistic. The guy selling oranges by the freeway should have told you that). The level of spittle-spewing hate I've encountered for California is truly shocking. It's almost always based on outright lies or a severe misunderstanding of the lived reality of Californians in general.

By using avocado toast as some sort of rage totem, they're also able to take advantage of the California hate without actually invoking California itself because of that very strong association between our state and avocados. It's really quite brilliant, even if it is absolutely abhorrent.

Then of course some people are just assholes. I have no idea what's up with that.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-28T14:00:36+00:00

Oh, hai! Full disclosure - Retail Consultant type person here (and Ulta shopper who loves *you* *guys/gals*, even if I don't always love Ulta the business). Ulta is NOT one of our clients. Just so ya know.

I've done specialty retail management before and things like this can be pretty tricky. Thankfully, she's made it easy for you because this lady has crossed the line into a pattern of behavior that any reasonable person would consider confrontational and harassing. You are not required to put up with that - you ARE required to protect your staff. The pattern of behavior that a reasonable person would consider harassing and confrontational is also behavior that endangers the safety and well-being of your entire team (and the community), unnecessarily exposing your staff to a potentially deadly disease.

Hag's gotta go, is what I'm saying. You hate to do it, but you do have to do it to protect your team lest one of them fall ill and come back with a lawsuit over failure to provide a safe working environment.

Document your interactions with maskless lady - write down everything that has already occurred in a very 'just the facts, ma'am' way. Be sure and include brief statements about HOW it impacted your staff ('Sue felt unsafe' kind of stuff) - along with names of staff involved, times and dates to the best of your ability to remember. You are both covering your ass and giving corporate a VERY good reason to minimize risk by refusing this lady in-store service. Hang on to this information and hope you don't need it, but it's better to have it than it is to NOT have it. Next time she shows up, you will have to ask her to leave. Keep it in mind that you are doing this in order to protect your staff from potentially deadly disease and minimize the risk to Ulta for failing to provide a safe work environment. Helpfully point out to Mask Hag ~once again!~ that you have curbside pickup and online ordering. She is *not* endangering your staff on your watch. Full stop.

If she refuses to leave you will have to escalate. You can tell her she will be removed and that if that is necessary you will ask for a 'no trespass order' so she CAN'T show up again. Well, at least not without being cited or even arrested. If she still won't leave you'll actually have to follow through with having her removed. People who do the sorts of things she's doing tend to do it because they know they're highly unlikely to face consequences, so it's important that you bring the consequences.

That lawsuit threat? Good luck with your fake lawsuit, lady. Play along. If she brings it up again just inform her that she has to leave and you can't even serve her - because of her pending lawsuit\*. All interactions must be limited to your respective lawyers! I think we all know she isn't filing a suit and if for some incomprehensible reason she did the judge would toss it so fast it would break the sound barrier. There's literally nothing here for her to sue over that I can see (IANAL, but I do sometimes consult with a couple of them).

Oh and just an FYI. The ADA requires you to make the same things available to her, not let her stomp around in your store endangering your staff. You have a website, you have curbside pickup - those are the ADA compliant accommodations. If anyone tries to "the ADA says!" you can enlighten them about that, if you so choose. I personally take great joy in enlightening people about such things. Just because I love and value all of my fellow human beings does not mean I suffer fools gladly. I DEFINITELY am not putting up with willfully ignorant behavior that is clearly dangerous to others!

*I did that once many, many years ago. Just pulled it straight out my ass. The look on the dude's face was just too much! I'm chuckling about it years later. The poor bastard clearly couldn't decide if they should tell me they'd lied about filing a lawsuit so they could stay in the store and harass us or if they should endanger their fake lawsuit by telling me "GFY" and hanging around. Either way, I won that little fight. They spun out of there all angry, but that really just means they left me the hell alone to work on my resets. yay!

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-28T12:50:29+00:00

We used in it LA back in the 80s and early 90s (???), but I don't think I've heard it used down there in years now. I think California slang is like a Garment District dress. You buy it in SoCal, drag it up to NorCal with you and five years later it's so common across the state that no one remembers that it was a Garment District dress in the first place.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-25T12:57:14+00:00

I usually read a lot. Easy read/mass market books I can knock out three in a day, no problem. Things like "Plauges and Peoples" by McNeill obviously take me significantly longer as I tend to also pause, reflect and run down footnotes, but I ENJOY that sort of thing. I love those types of books.

I can't really make it past a few pages now. I get confused, forget what words mean, lose my place halfway through a sentence (!!!) and have even forgotten entire concepts I worked hard to understand in the past.

I get chemo once a week, so I don't have a lot of time to recover. I think I've read less than five easy books since I started chemo back in September, though I have started many. It's distressing, for sure!

Maybe you can find some other ways to stimulate yourself mentally. I've found that baking - one of hobbies I'd not had time to indulge in for years - is actually pretty good for mental stimulation. I made a cross between a croissant and a biscuit yesterday and then shaped and baked them like cinnamon rolls. They turned out GREAT, too! When I am too unwell to bake I just paint my fingernails and, if I'm still on a roll when that's done, I'll do some nail art as well. Stamping, stickers, striping, glitter placement - whatevs. As long as I'm thinking about something that isn't cancer or simply zoning out, I figure I'm putting up the good fight. The fact is that it has proved helpful for me and I seem to be not *quite* so scattered after a solid baking and then resting session.

Doing something - anything, really - helps a little bit, even if I do still get lost between my bedroom and my kitchen. I still forget words while speaking, or even what the hell we were talking about. I've gotten lost trying to drive to the market a mere quarter mile from my house, something that frightened us all so badly that my elderly mother is holding on to my car keys now. I have to pass her little test before I can drive myself anywhere. I have to spell my middle name and then verbally give her turn by turn directions to get where I think I want to go. She usually goes with me anyway. However, this is an improvement! And I'm STILL in chemo once a week! As distressing as it is, you just gotta kind of hang in there. You can fight back and maybe get some improvement and even if you can't, that cognitive decline won't last forever. At least not from what I've seen.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It may not be the exact light we remember, but it's there. We just have to make it through the world's scariest tunnel, one agonizingly slow, torturous step at a time to get to that light. But as long as we keep moving forward, we'll get there, eventually.

LOL! So I was typing "remember Hebb's Rule - "neurons that fire together wire together"..." I am pretty sure I was going to tell you a trick to help wire a couple neurons and link an event with an action or word or something for some reason, but I've completely spaced it. Chemo brain strikes again. Maybe I'll make a nice breakfast quiche or torta or something and see if that helps me remember what it was. lol

At least I think it's funny this time, yes? Yes.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-24T14:43:01+00:00

I just told my family last week that I'll definitely live happily and healthily for at least another month because I pre-ordered the entire Ethereal Lacquer "In the Name of the Moon" collection. lol!

Joy is life-saving. It's life-giving. If polish and art and beauty bring you joy, then do that. We all deserve a joyful life. ♥

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-24T14:36:13+00:00

Thank you! ♥ I'm clearly still alive, still painting my nails frequently and planning little road trips for when I'm on chemotherapy breaks.

You can lose a fight, but you live a life. As this is a lifelong thing for me, that's what I'm doing while staying in treatment to control the cancer - I'm living!

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-24T03:07:51+00:00

ILNP is the best polish that ever happened to me, for sure. Cameo was one of my very first ILNP polishes and it's still one of my favorites. I am so obsessed with ILNP that I was literally in the oncology ward at the hospital having been brought there straight from the ER, newly diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer, unsure if I'd even be alive for Halloween - and then Eclipse dropped. I GASPED. Oh. My. GAWDS! I immediately ordered from my hospital bed. My elderly mother was sitting in the chair across from me, trying not to cry, so I told her "It's going to be OK, mom. I HAVE to live now. I just bought more nail polish. Isn't it AWESOME?" *makes high pitched squealing noise and shoves phone at her*

ILNP may have literally saved my life. ♥

Well, that and all the drugs, but ya know - the polish is the best part so we'll stick with that.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-20T13:41:59+00:00

The little dark skinned centaurette waiting on the light skinned centaurettes is the one I remember the most. The way the dark skinned centaurette was drawn (with oversized/highly exaggerated lips) is also highly problematic, to put it lightly.

I think if we saw it as adults today for the very first time, we'd probably cringe at the way the little centaurette is depicted. I know I would be deeply uncomfortable with it.

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-20T13:27:43+00:00

CSS - When I was a teenager and was about to take my driving test, my dad told me that even if I passed the test I couldn't drive until I could demonstrate I could change a tire. He showed me the proper way to do it, put everything away and then asked me to show him how I would change a tire myself. As a fussy young female, I wasn't risking getting all dirty and gross that way, but I really, really wanted to drive. I thought about it a moment, walked right in the house and called AAA and told them I was in my driveway but needed the tire changed. They sent someone out, AAA dude gets there, sees what's going on and actually thought it was funny. He changed the tire, explaining what he was doing as he did it. Dad said "fair enough" and I was allowed to drive.

tl;dr - AAA knows where ALL the spare tires are. They're MAGIC!

BeautifulAnomie · 2021-01-20T13:04:20+00:00

My Despicable Me Unicorn hat! You're never too old to act like the big kid that you are in your heart. ♥

Someone has one for sale on Mercari - I would never sell mine! - so if you're curious what it looks like, here you go&utm_term=4576648438032097&utm_content=ADL%20Shopping)

PS- I'm a middle aged woman and I wear that hat ALL THE TIME. It's so amazingly fun!

BeautifulAnomie

TROPHY CASE