Veteran's Day

In a time when the world is never all still, and holidays' are for stores to make money off of, it's good to remember the reason why we have these holidays. November 11 marked the official end of World War I, in 1918, at 11 in the morning. At that time, it was called" the war to end all wars" and the"Great war". Unfortunately, it was not, but it marked a great loss of lives for soldiers and civilians. Take only a second, if you will, to remember their lives, and what they have done. The past isn't just the past, but can be part of the present, and can shape the future, too.

Halloween and Homelessness

This year, I'm going as Kamui from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. My hair was even chopped shorter for this purpose. Unfortunately, CLAMP's characters aren't always easy to dress up as. While my costume is decently accurate, my friend commented on the finer details of it:"isn't his pendant supposed to be more twisted?" and "isn't the chain supposed to be longer?" Friends are always helpful (I checked my reference. My version is pretty accurate!). Lost of people dressed up today at school. Some were cool (a homemade lolita costume, Piglet, Native American princess) and some were (sumo wrestler, ostrich riders???)...Needless to say, it was very amusing. I hope my costume will turn out well officially tomorrow. The pendant I made out of polymer clay might break, so I'
m being extra careful. Is anyone dressing up? Kamui Kamui(again)

On a different note...today, while my mother and I were driving, she noticed a homeless person on the side of the road, and gave her a dollar. I couldn't see what was on the sign she was holding because of the sun in my eyes, but apparently the person was asking for money. I told my mother that the person could have a gun, or be crazy. But they weren't. That simple gesture and the words exchanged prompted me to think about the unfortunate, unemployed, or simply uneducated people even in rich or well-off suburbs. Some didn't get an education. Some may be abandoned by their families. Some may have lost their job and their home. Some may be alcoholics or drug users. Some, though, may be just plain unlucky. It's impossible to know what people have been through, or how they feel. For the homeless, how much can a dollar help? A meal today is a day of hunger tomorrow. However, I want to know more about people. If I could just sit down and talk with someone else about their life, their situation, their feelings, could I just know about them a little bit more? Would I be able to help them a bit more? Probably not. But I still wish I could have asked about that poor person's name.

Blogger Regulations

Apparently, there are new regulations for product reviews since I was gone. Since I don't get paid for this, nor do I get samples to try, I will just put it up here that everything I have reviews thus far was bought by me, my family, or a friend(I don't know anybody who works in PR). If a product is a sample, or furnished by a company, I will let you know on the bottom of that post. Thank you!

School makes me dizzy...

Whee! Sorry I was completely gone. I am attempting to adjust to this year. I will try to post more often. It has also been strangely cool these past few days, and after running every day, my hands started to dry out. I have been attempting to remedy the problem by using Weleda Skin Food. This is a cream that smells pleasant, and if you use a reasonable amount, it gets the job done. Sweet almond oil, beeswax, and calendula officinalis extract all go into it to make it mostly natural. Unfortunately, I only have a trial size. It's pretty expensive, but good in cold and and windy weather! It's really starting to feel like fall around here. I hope you all had a good September!

Give Away on Soap Bar Blog

There is a give away on Soap Bar, a blog run by Joanna Schmidt for a bottle of limited edotion Be Delicious perfume. Check it out!

We are popular with the birds here

Yesterday, because of the heat I was eating dinner outside, on the porch. We have a sapote tree in front, so as I was eating, I saw a bird landing on a branch. At first I thought it was a seagull, but as it turned to stare at me, I realized it was a hawk ( or falcon. but it was pretty big) It flew to a telephone line close by and perched o it a while, then flew off. My thoughts went like this:

1. Oh wow, a seagull
2. Why is a seagull here? (We don't live very close to the coast)
3. Wait, it's tan-coloured...
   
4. OMslktgpweflgkG, it's a hawk!!!1
5. Is it going to eat my dinner?
6. Dang, it flew away...

It had red-orange eyes and yellow talons, and the chest area was a light speckled tan. The back and wings were a mostly medium brown, and was 12-16inches long(?) After researching, I still don't know. We have a lot of crows and some scrub jays here(they visit our trees) , and many other small birds. Does anyone know what kind of hawk/falcon that was?

Brambleberry, Redesigned!

Finally, the new Brambleberry website is up! Thanks to Anne-Marie and the rest of her team for the new design. The website is now easier to navigate and order from. The design is clean, and the site is more helpful, too. Also I just found the descriptions of the products. (Sorry,Anne-Marie, i didn't notice it before!) Check it out!