Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Chocolaty Edible Anus (THIS IS FOR REAL)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Enjoy The Journey...
As with any destination, the journey is the most important part. I forgot the saying in its exactness, but you know what I mean. I know I am meant to travel, as each journey I've ever embarked on, the introspect gained typically runs parallel to whatever it is I'm experiencing at the moment. Does that make sense? As I navigate the world, I am also navigating my life, that's pretty much what I mean. Ok, disclaimer, I've just had my morning (4:30 p.m.) *smoke* break so pardon me for getting all deep. lol. Trust me, there were some opportune, highly entertaining shallow moments that I took great pleasure in last night. Errrrr.....or this morning? lol. When a pizza goes in the oven and a bottle of wine gets opened at 3:30 a.m. you know it's good times. I have the photos and the video to prove it, although I won't be disgracing my wonderful new friends by posting their drunk videos, the pictures, yes, the videos NO. ha ha.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Soul Suckers.......Land of Cheese......My academic future
Ok, so that's a bit overdramatic, but when have you known me to be otherwise? Whether my words are poetic and kind or bitter and distasteful. My job is sucking my soul dry.
I have had lots to update but much like my moods, my thoughts have been fleeting. I did get a very nice visit to Madison this past weekend. I will always have a place in my heart for good ole' Wisco. I got to hang out on a farm with K and help (sort of) put a hay shed together. I got to build a raging bonfire. And I met some really cool people. We didn't really DO much, but it was the not doing anything that I really enjoyed. I can't wait to see it when the city is in full bloom! Oh the glories. Then I took a short jaunt up to my Aunt Kathy's house and got to meet two of my cousins that I hadn't seen since they were babies. I definitely have to make this a more frequent habit. For several reasons. Anyway...here's some pics of good ole Wisco.



I bought two more books recently, someone please stage an intervention. Is there a 12 step program for book addicts? I'm serious.
I'm feeling anxious, scared, excited, happy, bewildered and befuddled by my future. I started to get in contact with my professors from DePaul to write me recommendation letters for graduate school. I'm terrified with delight. So yea, I am having trouble focusing on a topic, trying to merge all or several of them into one. Here's my train of thought:
ESL (English as Second Language), culture and media studies, linguistics, Latin American Studies, liberation studies, and education) And the concepts or thoughts or ideas I want to produce out of my studies are paradigm shifts, causality, and liberation. he he. I don't ask for much do I?
I have had lots to update but much like my moods, my thoughts have been fleeting. I did get a very nice visit to Madison this past weekend. I will always have a place in my heart for good ole' Wisco. I got to hang out on a farm with K and help (sort of) put a hay shed together. I got to build a raging bonfire. And I met some really cool people. We didn't really DO much, but it was the not doing anything that I really enjoyed. I can't wait to see it when the city is in full bloom! Oh the glories. Then I took a short jaunt up to my Aunt Kathy's house and got to meet two of my cousins that I hadn't seen since they were babies. I definitely have to make this a more frequent habit. For several reasons. Anyway...here's some pics of good ole Wisco.
I bought two more books recently, someone please stage an intervention. Is there a 12 step program for book addicts? I'm serious.
I'm feeling anxious, scared, excited, happy, bewildered and befuddled by my future. I started to get in contact with my professors from DePaul to write me recommendation letters for graduate school. I'm terrified with delight. So yea, I am having trouble focusing on a topic, trying to merge all or several of them into one. Here's my train of thought:
ESL (English as Second Language), culture and media studies, linguistics, Latin American Studies, liberation studies, and education) And the concepts or thoughts or ideas I want to produce out of my studies are paradigm shifts, causality, and liberation. he he. I don't ask for much do I?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
The History Of Body Hair Removal
We traditionally think of a cavemen as the "Hairy Ape" and we’ve been conditioned to associate excessive body hair with primitive people and tribal behavior. The timeline for hair removal stretches from prehistory to the hi-tech present and Homo Sapien’s reasons for being shorn, razored, waxed, tweezed, electrolysized, lasered, and in any manner depilated are as varied and unique as we are. The reasons for hair removal have ranged from the practical to the vainglorious and over the years an entire industry with many related businesses has grown out of our seemingly innocuous desire to be relatively smooth-skinned and on many parts of our bodies hair-free. Hair is a renewable resource, at least in our younger years, and left unattended will give us the opportunity to emulate Howard Hughes in all his hirsute glory, though not with the financial wherewithall that gave Mr, Hughes the latitude to remain totally unshaven to the bitter end. So follow along the follicle-strewn path of sartorial evolution and see the unique and interesting twists and turns in our journey of tonsorial discovery.
First The Practical…..
Perhaps it was a Neanderthal tired of Mammoth scraps getting caught in his beard. It’s believed that this was one of the first motivations for early shaving-if you call scraping the coarse matted hair off with a semi-sharp stone and most likely taking some of the skin beneath it "shaving." Eluding the clutches of the aforementioned Mammoth or his Saber Toothed nemesis, as well as other warring clansmen, was no doubt easier without having long, ropelike hair and/or a dangling beard to offer a handhold or clawhold, as the case might be. And although the grooming practice of picking out the lice and other vermin, remaining as a holdover from our simian ancestors, offered some bonding pleasure, most likely someone discovered that the irritating pests didn’t plague the less hairy inhabitants of the cave as much. Finally, it was certainly noticed that the more hairy tribesmen, being elder, died sooner. Thus an association of death with excess hair was formed in brains that were still evolving. This could also explain today’s young stylista’s fascination with the totally shaven head as a fashion statement; apparently this is no longer strictly the territory of military and correctional facility grooming.
he idea of singeing facial hair came into vogue early on; twigs and branches were used for this purpose, although a significant stubble would remain, unless the recipient was simultaneously being branded. Crude tweezer-like implements have been found in archeological digs of early man sites; this technique proved unpopular even in those difficult times. Our aversion to pain for appearance’s sake was apparent even then. The functionality and regimental visual conformity achieved by shaving or trimming facial hair was important to early Egyptians, Greeks, and other emerging cultures as they grew by massing armies and conquering their neighbors. Certainly, as the Emperor or King did, so the populace would follow, and rulers then and after have been noticeably clean-shaven.
Then the Fashionable…..
The development of metallurgy which led to a quality blade fostered men shaving with some degree of comfort and safety; in fact the 1800’s, with that period’s Victorian emphasis on gentlemanly grooming, is considered the "Golden Age" of shaving. It was the thin and practical disposable razor, invented by the young King Camp Gillette, that brought men’s shaving into the Industrial Age and many of these "Safety Razors" went off to war with the troops, thus ensuring the timeless smooth-shaven warrior. The Gillette razor’s popularity after the war introduced relatively risk-free cosmetic shaving to the soldier’s sweethearts and wives as well. Also came the advent of the electric razor, which was to herald the dawn of technological hair removal, at least on a temporary basis. Although plucking and tweezing had offered more lasting depilation, it would be science that would create the possibility of permanent hair removal.
In the latter part of the smooth-shaven (at least for men) 1800’s, an enterprising ophthalmologist discovered he could stop the growth of ingrown eyebrows by introducing electricity into the follicle before removing the hair. This was the birth of electrolysis and this method of introducing a fine probe to the hair follicle to abate its ability to regrow using electricity of different types remains a popular depilatory method to this day. There are electrologists operating in nearly every city of any size and this industry continues to flourish.
Not to be outdone, 20th century technology spawned a similar grooming aid when a laser scientist accidentally exposed his arm to a laser beam and, after determining he was uninjured, noted that the hair didn’t grow back in the area the light had affected. Laser research and refinements have enabled this technology to be used for many medical procedures in addition to cosmetic hair removal and medical science is continually finding new uses for laser technology.
While depilatory creams and lotions abound, these mechanical and technological methods are still used the most often. As mankind advances into further into space, it’ll be interesting to see how galactic travelers will handle hair removal; perhaps their whiskers will just seem to "float away."
By John Brooks
Published: 10/2/2007
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