Average Jane

Blog

  • Average Jane’s New Look?

    I’ve finally gotten tired of running around with terrible-looking hair, so I’m trying a new hairstylist tomorrow.  I hate dealing with my hair – perhaps even more than I hate shopping for shoes – so it’s an effort for me to prepare properly. 

    I know I should try to come up with a photo of a hairstyle I like, but I never think about people’s hair enough to know where to start.  My husband has offered to flip through the last few issues of Entertainment Weekly and make some suggestions.  I’m happy to take him up on it.  He’s way more interested in hair and haircare products than I’ll ever be.

    The one thing I always demand in a hairstyle is bangs.  I know, they go in and out of fashion and they may likely be out of style right now.  Too bad.  I have forehead issues and I refuse to walk around displaying my vast expanse of increasingly creased forehead to the public.

    My only other hairdo specification is a reasonable amount of length.  I cut my hair short about five or six years ago and was not at all pleased with the result.  And what would the heavy metal band think if their new lead singer cut her hair short?!  No, I think I need to stay with the shoulder-length hair I have now.

    When I get my hair cut, I’m always amused when the hairstylist wants to show me the back of my hair.  Sure, I’ll take the mirror and have a look – it’ll be the last time I see the back of my head until I’m in her chair again.  I think of my hair like the facade on a Western movie set:  the front’s the important part; don’t worry about what’s behind it.  That’s probably why I always had a dark spot on the back of my head when I used to bleach my own hair…

  • Average Jane Returns

    Wow, I feel like a complete slacker for blowing off two days of blogging just weeks before I leave for BlogHer.  I don’t really even have an excuse other than extreme morning tiredness.  I think last weekend’s trip caught up to me a little late.

    Because I’m sure you don’t want to hear me whine about how craptacular I’ve felt over the past two days, let’s talk about BlogHer some more.  I’ve finally gotten around to making my airline reservations, and my friend Cagey is going with me.  When I first registered for the conference, I don’t think there were any corporate sponsors, but it’s grown significantly since then.  I’m really excited about having a whole day to talk about blogging with people I’ve never met but whose blogs I read all the time.

    I plan to confine myself mainly to the business-oriented sessions, but there are enough social-time cushions built into the program that I’m sure I’ll have the chance to just chat with people.  Cagey and I are still determined to visit the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose either Friday or Sunday.

    If you’re interested in seeing who else is headed to BlogHer, here’s a Bloglines webfeed of everyone’s blogs.

    I promise this signals a return to my regularly-scheduled blogging routine.

  • Average Jane Goes to New Orleans

    I’m back from the Big Easy, none the worse for wear.  Eleven of us (all women) traveled together on Thursday and returned yesterday.  Hurricane Dennis loomed throughout the trip, but all we experienced of it was a couple of minor rainstorms and some wind.

    We stayed at the Hotel Villa Convento in the French Quarter.  Two other people and I shared a third-floor room that had king-sized bed on the main level and a loft with two twin beds accessible via a rather alarming spiral staircase.  Fortunately none of us ended up falling up or down the stairs. 

    We spent a lot of time in the hotel’s courtyard chatting and waiting for members of our party to gather so we could go out.  The food we had throughout the trip was very good, particularly the Gumbo Shop where we had my birthday dinner on Thursday night, and the French Market Restaurant and Bar where we had breakfast before we left on Sunday.

    Another standout restaurant was the Praline Connection, which had excellent food and service.

    Because we had such a large group, we stayed away from "tourist-y" activities for the most part, preferring to wander and shop.  I did insist on dragging one of my roommates to Cafe du Monde for beignets yesterday morning, though.

    After the first evening on Bourbon Street, we’d had enough of the "spring
    break" atmosphere and we spent the subsequent evenings at Frenchmen
    Street clubs.  On Saturday night we went to a club called the Blue Nile
    and saw an awesome band fronted by trumpet player Maurice Brown.  I bought his CD as my husband’s souvenir.

    The most interesting thing we did in New Orleans was attend the funeral parade for Mardi Gras "Indian" Chief of Chiefs Allison "Tootie" Montana on Saturday afternoon.  Several local people encouraged us to go, saying it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

    We walked to the church in the late morning and watched as dozens of people in elaborate feathered and beaded garb gathered for the procession, chanting and beating drums and tambourines.  Jazz musicians with tubas, Souzaphones, cornets, trumpets and other instruments clustered in groups throughout the crowd, warming up lightly as they waited.  It was extremely hot that day, so I can only imagine how the people in the feathered suits must have felt.

    As we stood in the crowd, everyone we met was very friendly, and we ended up running into our waiter from the Praline Connection and meeting quite a few of his relatives.  We’d been advised not to follow the parade, so once the casket was loaded into the horse-drawn hearse and the parade began winding its way  through the nearby neighborhoods, we made our way back to our hotel.

    Although I’d like to return sometime and do some of the tours and other more traditional tourist activities, I had a wonderful time on my first trip to New Orleans.  Now where should I go for my birthday next year?

  • Average Jane’s Birthday Pros and Cons

    Pros:

    • Did I mention it was my birthday?
    • Tickets to New Orleans on my favorite airline and hotel reservations in the French Quarter
    • I found a great dress, a skirt and two tops on yesterday’s shopping trip

    Cons:

    • There’s the whole getting older thing, but since it’s better than the alternative, I don’t really mind.
    • Hurricane Dennis
    • Never did find any shoes, but I can make do with ones I already have.

    I’m skipping tomorrow’s post one way or another (well, unless the National Weather Service decides we aren’t going to New Orleans).  Have a lovely weekend!

  • Average Jane Overdoes It

    Since I’m trying to compress a week’s worth of work into two-and-a-half days, I’m rushing to get as much stuff finished as possible.  Yesterday I was three-quarters of the way through a project that I really needed to complete, but it was almost 4:30 p.m. and I was getting rather burned out.  I decided to mix up an energy drink and even at the time I quipped to someone, "I’ll be up ’til midnight."

    Ha!  If only!  As it turned out, I left work around 6:40, worked at my dad’s office until 8 or so, and then worked at home until midnight (pausing briefly to go to Subway for a quick dinner).  I didn’t manage to wind down and go to sleep until almost 1:30 a.m.  That’s the last time I have an energy drink after noon.

    On the plus side, if I get to work early today and don’t dilly-dally at lunch, I should have time to run some errands after I leave the office, catch my club’s board meeting at 6:00, and get home in plenty of time to pack for New Orleans.  I’d considered trying to make time for a pre-trip pedicure, but then I remembered how sore my feet were in Las Vegas last December, and I decided that the calluses might come in handy.

    I’m still holding out hope that I might be able to find a cute cotton dress or two for the trip.  I may give Kohl’s a try.  My traveling companions suggested that I might want to purchase some airline-sized bottles of liquor to take on the plane, but I suspect that nothing good would come of that.   As tired as I’ll probably be when we leave tomorrow, I think I’ll be better off if I have a Red Bull on the plane and save the other drinks for later.

    Tomorrow:  It’s my birthday and I’m leaving for New Orleans!  What could be better?

  • Average Jane Starts Her Short Week

    I’m afraid I have absolutely nothing to talk about this morning.  These two-and-a-half days of work are likely to be frighteningly busy.  My brain is stuffed with product description copy that needs to be typed up before I forget it.  I have a million and one things to do before I leave town.

    I won’t leave you with nothing, though.  Here are a few entertaining things I can share:

    • I think this sign is a must-have for my living situation.
    • Here’s an interesting blog written by a bouncer at a New York City nightclub.  Not completely worksafe – you may want to save this for home reading.
    • I’ve been enjoying the Bottom Feeder blog lately.  It’s an oft-updated collection of packaged food and recipe reviews.
    • I wouldn’t have thought this would be my kind of thing, but I also like Jack & Hill: A Beauty Blog.  Jackie’s review of Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray convinced me to splurge on a bottle and I love it!  It’ll be the perfect New Orleans hair care product.

    Okay, that’ll have to hold you for today.  I’ll still take your New Orleans suggestions!

  • Average Jane’s Independence Day Weekend

    Aside from a party last night and another one coming up this afternoon, I’ve had a gloriously unstructured schedule since I left work on Friday.

    Minor highlights:

    • I’m almost finished with all the laundry (just in time for next week’s New Orleans trip).
    • I made the Jell-o/Cream Cheese/Pretzel dessert again and took it to my sister’s house for a party that ended up taking place in their garage, once the severe thunderstorms rolled in.
    • Since my husband couldn’t go to last night’s party (he was dealing with catastrophic computer problems in his studio), I marinated and grilled strip steaks and served them with steamed asparagus and baked potatoes before I left.
    • Somehow I’ve managed to keep the kitchen clean, although I’m about to make peach cobbler for today’s party.
    • Two shopping trips in search of cute, lightweight cotton dresses for my trip were fruitless.  There’s a trend toward snug-fitting bodices with a zipper under the arm.  First of all, that seems like an unnecessary threat to one’s tender underarm flesh.  Second, I can’t help imagining coming in after a night on the town in such a dress and having significant difficulty with the tiny zipper tab.
    • I finally managed to hang up my hammock, although the rope is so stretchy that I have to pull it as taut as it will go to keep from scraping the ground.  Still, it was such a gigantic hassle getting the thing up, I’m happy to have made it that far at all.

    See?  Lots of weekend nothing.  It’s been great!

  • Friday Miscellanea from Average Jane

    Yesterday seemed like Friday to me all day long.  I’m planning to get to the office this morning as early as possible so my three-day weekend will start that much sooner.  Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about to wrap up the week:

    • Lip-Sticking blog has an interview with me that came out yesterday.  It’s only ten questions, but since I’m the one answering them, obviously the article is rather long.
    • I’m counting down to my trip to New Orleans next Thursday through Sunday.  I’m going with eleven other women, so it should be quite the experience.  If you know of anywhere in N.O. that I simply must go, see, eat, etc., let me know!  I’m especially interested in restaurants that do *not* serve crawfish and other seafood, in keeping with my personal "no bottom feeders and nothing with an exoskeleton" culinary rule.
    • I lucked out with my recently planted impatiens in that it rained all day long yesterday.  They might have a fighting chance after all.

    Okay, off to shower and head to work.  Have a delightful weekend!

  • Average Jane Watches Cartoons

    When I was a kid, I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons.  My favorites were the Looney Tunes and other Warner Brothers cartoons, but I was a big fan of "Scooby Doo" (until they brought in Scrappy Doo, natch), "Jonny Quest," and to a lesser extent "The Jetsons" and "The Flintstones."  I never particularly cared for Mickey Mouse and his crew, nor for Tom and Jerry.  (Clearly I gave it a lot of thought at the time!)

    I’m just old enough that the shows I liked weren’t heavily tied to product marketing (although I did have a "Scooby Doo" lunch box).  "Strawberry Shortcake" and "The Smurfs" came a little later.

    Just because I’ve grown up doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy animated shows.  Of course the most prominent animated show these days is still "The Simpsons," which I don’t watch all that regularly anymore.  It’s become such a fixture that I take for granted that I can catch it anytime I want.

    Over the years I’ve enjoyed a lot of the "not for the kiddies" animation that’s come along, beginning with the early "Ren and Stimpy" and "Beavis and Butthead."  At the time, we thought both shows were pretty outrageous, but they’re tame in comparison to any given episode of "South Park."  I watched "South Park" pretty regularly for the first few seasons and I still watch it when I run across it while channel surfing although its "can you believe we’re doing this?" shtick is beginning to pall.

    I’m very fond of many of the "Adult Swim" shows on Cartoon Network just because they’re so odd and filled with non sequiturs.  I find twisted brilliance in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" in particular.

    My latest delight is that the Toon Disney channel is running episodes of "The Tick" animated show right now.  It’s been off the air for several years and hasn’t been available on DVD, so I’ve been eagerly watching the old episodes all week.

    One of the advertising blogs I read mentioned in passing yesterday that it seemed odd that Sharper Image advertises its Ionic Breeze air cleaner on Cartoon Network.  I’m guessing it’s because Sharper Image is well aware that plenty of adults watch cartoons and may well be in the market for fresher indoor air.

    Do you still watch "cartoons"?  What are your favorites?

  • Average Jane’s Burst of Domesticity

    A friend of mine is borrowing my roto-tiller over the weekend, which spurred me into an energetic gardening session last night after work.  I bought a flat of impatiens about, oh, two months ago and they’ve been languishing on my front stoop ever since.  Every few days I’d bring them back from the brink of death with some water, but I could never seem to get around to planting them.

    It rained yesterday morning, but it was still so hot outside as I weeded, tilled and planted that my oversized t-shirt was sopping wet by the time I got all the impatiens into the ground and watered them.  The flowers look cute in their little rows and I’m sure they’d grow into lovely, bushy plants if this were April, but under the circumstances I’ll probably be lucky to just keep them from shriveling away.

    Tonight I’m hosting a "bring your own grillable entree" get-together with friends.  I find that’s the perfect approach to barbecueing when I can’t keep track of who eats meat and who’s a vegetarian.  I spent the rest of last evening preparing for tonight’s dinner by making pasta salad with vegetables and Balsamic vinaigrette, potato salad, and a strawberry Jell-o dessert with a cream cheese layer and a sweet pretzel crust.  I forgot to buy charcoal, but I can pick some up on the way home.

    Tonight I’ll need to get home as early as possible, try to bring the level of housekeeping up a notch or two, and drag out every lawn chair I can find.  Aren’t summer parties fun?!