Old Reliables That Weren't

Do you remember Merthiolate?

Boo got an ouch yesterday.  He prefers Neosporin, which doesn't hurt,  over Iodine, which does.  I told him we didn't need to use Iodine on his particular kind of ouch (blood blister,) but maybe we should use Bactine, to make the hurt go away.

When we were little, we didn't have Bactine, which has been around since the 50's. My parents were firm believers that it had to HURT for the medicine to work.  They just didn't trust anything that didn't hurt; it couldn't possibly kill those nasty germs.

As each family has their allegiances to certain products, my mom had hers to Merthiolate.  So we didn't have Mercurochrome, which made your skin turn red.  We didn't have iodine, which made your skin turn brown.  We had Merthiolate, which turned your skin a bright, fluorescent orange.  It was the stuff that really.  REALLY.  hurt.  It made you wish you'd die from an infection or blood poisoning before you had to endure the pain of your mom swabbing your open wound with the scratchy plastic wand.  I'm sure that soldiers with blood gushing out of their wounds were glad my mom wasn't around because she would have POURED Merthiolate into the wound.

I did the old person thing of saying to Boo, "When I was your age, we didn't have all these choices and we only had MERTHIOLATE," and went on to tell him the gruesome story of this childhood torture device.

In writing this post, I did some research.
So.  Did you notice the name Mercurochrome?  Did you ever notice the similarity to the word MERCURY?  Mercurochrome is the trademark for merbromin. The molecular formula, for those of you interested, is
C₂₀H₈Br₂HgNa₂O_6.  Notice the Hg right in the middle there?  Do you remember your periodical table from high school chemistry?  Yup.  Hg = MERCURY.

So I looked up Merthiolate.  It's the trade name for thimerosol.  Got that?  THIMEROSOL.  The controvertial preservative in vaccines?  That is a mercury compound, too:  C₉H₉HgNaO₂S

Not only did it HURT LIKE HELL, we were being POISONED!!

So the punch line is, after I told Boo how much Merthiolate hurt, he said, "Mom, mom, it shouldn't be called Merthiolate.  It should be called HURT-thiolate."

Right on.

Not Bad, For Your Age

You know those emails you get seemingly every other day?  Some, I am sure I signed up for, but beats me if I remember when or why.  I get this one called "Real Beauty, Powered by You."  There is an article about how to apply blush for each decade of age.  Here's what it says about for women in their 50's:

Shimmer can magnify wrinkles, so it's best to apply it sparingly and only on the apples of the cheeks, says celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal.  Doesn't Michelle look fabulous for being in her fifties?

Do you know which Michelle they are talking about? Michelle Pfeiffer.  Look at her picture:

Now read the paragraph again:

Shimmer can magnify wrinkles, so it's best to apply it sparingly and only on the apples of the cheeks, says celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal.  Doesn't Michelle look fabulous for being in her fifties?

 For being in her fifties!  Does there need to be a conditional?  Doesn't she just. look. fabulous?? I'd put her up next to 1,000...no 10,000 younger women and see if they can hold a candle to her.

Why does Ariana Finlayson, the author, do this to women??

Things I Love Thursday

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Beautiful birthday gift from my 8-1/2 year old son:

Mountain Sunshine

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Sierra Mist Natural

What makes it "natural?"  Real lemon and lime juices? Spring water? Organic something?  anything?

Noooooooo.  It's made with REAL SUGAR.  That is what makes it natural.

Sugar.  You know, the addictive stuff that is sprayed with chemicals, poisons our land [and therefore water,] threatens the health of the workers... you know the stuff that is processed and bleached, and subsidized by our government?  Yeah, THAT sugar.

Natural!

Unexpected Feelings of a Working Grrrl

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I started a new job.  Today. The last time I got paid to work, was January of 2003....it's been a long time.

My overwhelming feeling? 

Sadness. 

I've said goodbye to a life I've known for 8 years.  

The Creation

All knowledge of God rests upon revelation. 

Though we can never know God in the full richness of His being, he is known to all people through His revelation in creation, the theatre of His glory.

The world is never godless. In the end there are no atheists; there is only argument about the nature of God.  The recognition is universal of a power greater than human beings themselves, to whom they owe piety. 

-Herman Bavinck

Vietnamese Food 310: Lettuce Wrap

If you've taken Vietnamese Food 101 and 201, Beyond Pho (which, if you haven't heard by now, is pronounced Phu.)  You're ready to move onto the 300-level upper class courses.  No prerequisites.  Just your charge card.

HH and I love Vietnamese food.  We haven't met one we don't like yet.  We love the combination of sweet and sour, mild and hot, rich and light, all in one bite!  We learned about this place Pho Hoa, which is actually a chain.  The meat was grilled to perfection, the greens were just-picked fresh and the interior...well, let's just end the comments there.  Any how!  Here we go...

Bún chả Hanoi, or Lettuce Wrap

Look at this spread!  On the left is my grilled pork, on top of bite-size rectangles of rice noodles and garnished with scallions and crushed peanuts.  At the upper right you can see HH's - similar to mine except with grilled shrimp.  I think you can order chicken, too, and maybe you can get a tofu version?  Here's a better photo below.  That big platter of greens has lettuce, Thai basil, mint and perilla, known to Japanese as shiso.  You can see also some slivers of carrot and radish which have been seasoned in a sweet vinegar.  The dressing in the little bowls are made of vinegar, fish sauce, red pepper and sugar.  It gives just the zing to keep every bite fresh and interesting.

HH had grilled shrimp

I always get grilled pork

Get the green(s) you want

Add rice noodles, meat, fixings, and vinegar dressing...

I'm making a bite with perilla (shiso) and mint...

And eat!!

Leave your American-western-European-heritage manners at the door, open wide and take a BIG bite. You'll be glad.  So many flavors and textures in one mouthful!

Bun Cha Hanoi, or Pork Lettuce Wrap.

Fashion Friday: St. Patrick's, IF YOU MUST

OK, if you feel you MUST wear green on March 17, then first things first.  Let's put these in the garbage:

 No, no, no. Don't put them in the charity box and tempt some other soul with them.  Throw.  Them.  Away.  If you're worried about the landfill, remember, cotton is biodegradable, so you'll be green!  HAHAHA!!

OK.  Now try these approaches:

1.  Bold? Wear one major, stylish piece.  But JUST ONE.

 

These bags range from $35 to $350.


2.  Shy? Wear just one little, stylish piece.  Like a pair of shoes (I suggest "stylish," so that means NOT Merrells and NOT Crocs.)

Try the gladiators with cropped cargo pants or shorts if you dare!

Really, really shy?  How about a piece of jewelry?

3. Wear it with an unusual color like this pencil skirt in gray:

Ann Taylor LOFT

Or lime, or sand, or white.

4. I'm doing 4 in honor of the 4-leaf clover.  So finally, how about this Arizona tank top available at JCPenney's to wear under a cardi or jacket?  Now this would be a statement for Ireland:

Soft twill jacket by Coldwater Creek

Things I Love Thursday

I love my husband.
I love my son.

and.

I love my body.

I'm sure the first two comments did not surprise you, but did the third? 

I have a new gig as a fashion writer at All Things Chic.

You will not see me make self-disparaging remarks, not because I'm perfect... oh wait, is that in itself a self-disparaging remark?? or catering to our common attitudes as women??  We women do it as a matter of course.  And if we don't, we are hated.

Let's stop that now.   I'm not being arrogant.  I have come to know and accept and be with my body.  So don't hate me, and stop hating your body, yourself.

Let's be like men.  Stick out our beer bellies, scratch it, and say "look at my awesome bod!"

The Question of Love

I think a lot about Love.  Love seems to justify everything these days.  Love and tolerance. 

What is Love?  Puppy dogs and sweet smelling babies?  A brand-new pick-up truck or a new pair of red pumps?  Is it a feeling?

If God is Love, then does it not come from Him, defined by Him?  Or do we define Love, then put it upon God? a god?  Does not Love have a definition? or do we make it up as we go?  Are all actions justified if we have love?  Can even abhorrent actions be justified by love?

"Because I love her..."
"I may not be the best mom/dad/wife/husband but I love him/her/them."
"Two people who love each other..."

Is God God, or is He only what we want Him to be?  Do you define God or is God pre-existent?  Is God only Love?  or is He also justice and wrath? Can a God be only love without justice?  Can a parent be a good guide to a child with only a love that is void of justice?  Does not love, the love of  a parent, have definition?  I knew a mom who had 4 children to four different men, 2 who were incarcerated.  One man had the custody of one child.  The other three were finally taken by social services because she was repeatedly arrested for shop lifting, the children were sleeping on mattresses on the floor next to dog excrement, and there were garbage bags of unwashed clothing thrown in the basement.  Tears streaming down her face, she wailed and thrashed in the courtroom as the children were taken away, because "she loved them."  Does it seem like an open and shut case to you?  If you really look, do each one of us define love as we want, in a way that is convenient to us?  Or is there something bigger, greater than us, that defined ---no made Love?

It says in the Christian Bible that people have come to love the Created above the Creator.  Worshiping money, nature, animals...even Love itself. And hold it higher than God Himself.

Does Love win over all? or does God?

Grace notes: The point I am trying to make is that people actually worship Love.  A Godless Love.  They worship and honor love over God. I would contend that God is Love, but Love is not God.  That is how people justify what they do, whatever it is, no matter how abhorrent it is to God, because they themselves define love instead of looking to what God tells us about love. 

God needs to win out because we need to define love as God has defined it, within the context of his mercy and judgement.  We live in a world that a (self-defined) love wins the day and I think it is tragic.

Fashion Friday: Dressing for the Holidays

I know.  It's March.  Shouldn't she have done this post in, um, December??

I'm not talking New Years' parties because you can find literally hundreds of posts and articles about that.

I'm talking....the dreaded....OTHER holidays: Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's, Easter and the worst: Fourth of July.  I just want you to know I never.  NEVER dress for these holidays.  Do you remember on Bridget Jones' Diary when the [gorgeous] Colin Firth wore that horrid "jumper" that his mother knit?  Yup.  That's what I think of.  If it can make the Fabulous Firth look that bad, think what it's doing for your figure!

Love makes you do funny things.  In my case, the love of a 3rd grader with an interminable smile.  I'm even volunteering in his classroom for parties.  Look, it's no secret among my friends that I do not like children.  Oh sure - I like MY kid and I [usually] like YOUR kid.  But not kidS.  So love makes me do funny things.  I get to watch these kids eat glop made with white processed flour, covered with sugar paste made desirable to them by a smathering of petri dish coloring and petroleum-based flavors...

Oh.  Fashion  Friday.  That's right...where was I??

So I went to help with the Valentine's Day party at this school.  What to wear.  What to wear.  So. I wore this slinky red tunic top, a red/grey silk scarf, skinny jeans and a pair of BONGO red wedges.  I wore earrings that my friend, Jessica Buchtel, made out of brass washers and red coral.  [I just want you to know that all the reds DID match.  At least they matched enough, but the camera makes them all look clashy!]

I would not be so "matchy-matchy," were it not for a 3rd grade Valentines' Day party.

So, if you wore one of these tops for Valentine's Day:

you have a chance to redeem yourself. St. Patrick's and Easter are coming up.

**Check next Friday for my suggestions!**

**Check out the What I Wore Wednesday features at my new gig - All Things Chic!**