Four Months -- No 'Poo

No, I have not been constipated for months. A few months ago I quit using shampoo. Why? It's expensive, it keeps the body producing excess oil, and I'd like to cut down on the amount of chemicals I use and dump into the water system. (Not that it's a massive amount of chemical waste...) Going no-poo doesn't mean you quit washing your hair. Every other day or so, I scrub a baking soda-water paste in my scalp and wash it out. For the first month, I was a grease ball. My hair and my face felt greasy. I looked like a teenager covered in pimples and wore a scarf. (I didn't care; I don't have a paying job where I need to look presentable.) After the month of no 'poo, the oils evened out. My hair has body to it that it never had before. No more 'poo for my hair.

Electronics complicate my life

I wanted to comment of Facebook about this, but I feel like anything I post will somehow be misconstrued, someone will be hurt if they ever gave me an electronic, or some miscellaneous problem will occur. But here, I can complain, and since probably no one reads this crap anyways, it does. not. really. matter.

So, I have this juicer. I just tried to juice some apples today and it just wouldn't work. So, I reassembled it about twelve times and finally it made some noise. I put an apple in. Nothing happened. I gave up. Then, I smelled the burnt engine. Great.

My frustration with this juicer reflects how I feel about so many electronics, starting from my solar-powered watch that falls onto the floor and cracks its glass, to the wireless printer that prints 30% of the time with my laptop, to the flat screen TV that makes playing in the living room a hazard (to the kids who would have to face the parent who purchased the TV), to all the other kitchen appliances that malfunction or simply take up too much space.

I need simplicity. I don't even want a vacuum cleaner! I have a sweep!

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

For so long I have ignored you, because I have been distracted by Facebook. I'm so sorry. Facebook can be a horrible friend with whom words get misinterpreted, feelings get hurt, drama is started, and disaster takes over your life. Well, that was a bit dramatic.

I promise to post pictures and to write about thoughts, problems, and events on you more often. I'm still going to see Facebook on the side, but I like you more, Blog. With you, I can completely explain a situation and make myself understood.

Sincerely,

Irene

Scarf for ICAN silent auction - January 2009

Presents Dec 2008

Staying up with rutabegas, beets and sweet potatoes

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. And I am getting food ready today so that tomorrow is less hectic. I've boiled, pureed and floured some sweet potatoes and they will sit over night and become imelletty perunalaatikko for tomorrow. Rutabegas are still boiling and I'll get that ready now to go into the oven tomorrow. I remember always skipping these dishes as a child, but now I'm preparing lanttulaatikko and rosolli, of which I'd only take the obligatory spoonful not too many years back. Perhaps my taste is more refined now... or perhaps I wish to torture my family with barely edible foods.