Time Management: OVERLOAD!

So, I've done it again: I left the blogosphere for an extended, unannounced, unwarranted hiatus. Of course, there's a good reason for this (there's always a good excuse for everything, as far as I'm concerned).

It's called TIME MANAGEMENT. We hear this phraselet often, especially in college. "Blah blah blah, procrastination, blah blah blah, good time management skills." Somewhere in all the how-to-be-a-productive-member-of-society mumbo jumbo, there really is important information that must of us don't bother to hear...or it doesn't make it through our thick, procrastination-armored skulls.

So, to make light of the very reason I have not put fingers to keyboard in months, I will provide these tips, as they work for me when I have not cast them aside to eat a snack instead of writing the paper that's due tomorrow.

How to MANAGE time (is that possible? yes!):

• Calendars. Lots of them. A good online calendar you can take everywhere you have Internet access is Google calendar. It really is useful. You can color-code events, set reminders for yourself, and share your calendar with the important people in your life. You can even add public calendars to your own (ex.: The University of Arizona academic calendar, the Tucson Jazz Society calendar of events, etc.) so you know what's going on when, and if you have any conflicts.
• Post-Its. I swear by them. They come in a bazillion colors and sizes and shapes, they're sticky, and they're disposable. What more could you ask for? Sometimes, when I get busy, hundreds of them will pop up, stuck all over my desk, bathroom and computer at work. But they work--because you look at them and think, "oh, yeah. I need to do that."
• Lists. It sounds anal to write lots of lists, but lists can be very potent little reminders. There's nothing more sobering than sitting down to write a list titled "To Do This Weekend" and finding that you need to turn over the 26-lined sheet of paper to continue the list. Eeee. But once you have everything written down, you can take a big, bold Sharpie and strike out each item on the list as you finish it. You can even rank each item's importance, so you know what to get done first. And you can make multiple lists--grocery list, work list, items due list, gift list, etc. Ahh, the organization.
  
• PDA. No, not public display of affection. Get a Palm Pilot, Blackberry or something of comparable stature. Even better if you can have Internet access with it, like on an iPhone. Taking your calendar, to-do list, contacts' information and a budget calculator everywhere can save you a lot of stress, extra trips to the grocery store and missed appointments. I set my PDA's alarm really loud, so it's obnoxious and I HAVE to pay attention to it to make it shut up. And it reminds me of what I need to be doing, every time.
• Alarms. So you already have a PDA/Blackberry/iPhone alarm blaring at you, and reminders on your computer. For someone like me, that's not usually enough. I have three other alarms in my bedroom to get me moving in the morning. Sometimes four or five alarms isn't even enough, especially in the dead of winter. The important thing is to place your alarms as far away from you as possible, so you have to get up to turn them off. Hopefully, you get distracted along the way and don't think about going back to bed or the TV or whatever it was you were doing before.
  
• Selbstmotivation. It's German, but it's easy to get: self motivation. I know, this is always the hard one. But after a few nights with only 1.5 hours of sleep, you're bound to get the point. And if you don't, you're like me and you're a masochist. So stop it! Take the damn bull by the horns and get to work, already!
  

Re-dic-u-lous!

So, an article in the New York Times this morning explained a new phenomenon in car paint jobs: preserving them by having your car wrapped with advertisements.

Sure, $500 to $800 a month sounds great, but I can't believe anyone would want to be a moving advertisement for any company.

You don't just have your car wrapped with the advertisement--you also have to abide by a code of conduct, limit where you shop and answer questions from people who see you in your advertisement-mobile.

The article also mentioned that advertisers see car-wrapping as a way to get within the confines of a target audience's social circle--to gain acceptance from the group you want to buy your product because so-and-so has it plastered all over his or her car.

I think such a blatant show of "buyer-loyalty" (if you can call it that in this society of money-grubbers) would turn me off to wanting to talk to that person. But, again, maybe that's just because I hate commercial advertising campaigns, advertisers who use normal people to do the work for them, and people who are big enough to suckers to do the work for those advertisers.

It stinks to me of an answer to the problems advertisers are encountering with social media. Rather than enter the network online and allow millions of MySpace and Facebook users access to the company's soft underbelly--**gasp! potentially leaving nasty criticism or sarcasm on the site/profile/comments area**--just make it so they can't help but gawk at the Tide detergent advertisement-encrusted Hummer or PT Cruiser driving down the street.

Maybe I'm just very anti-advertising in general, and that I have learned to ignore all visual and aural forms of advertisement, but this sounds like one of the most idiotic things I've heard of Americans doing yet. Can they top it? I'm sure they can. I just can't believe it's come to this level of advertising idiocy/desperation already.

Foot Notes

Shoes are a wonderful thing for many women.

I love shoes. I own 60 pairs, approximately 2/3 of which possess a daringly high heel (I tend to be more apt to fall or trip in flat shoes, ironically). Everytime I go into a store that sells nice, leather shoes, I am doomed to forfeit a paycheck.

I just can't help myself.

My boyfriend is always going on about how 2/3 of my shoes are bad for me and he doesn't want me wearing "hurty" shoes.

As I said, I just can't help myself.

And I just keep giving him more reasons to shake his head each time I buy a new pair of shoes!

Wednesday, first week of classes at UA. I'm teaching a class at 11 a.m. So I get to school around 10 a.m. to find a good, close parking spot. I'm wearing new shoes, after all.

I drive, and drive, and drive...and drive. No spots. Nada, nichts.

I end up in a parking lot on the North side of Speedway, very far away from my classroom. And the nearest purple CatTran pickup.

Curses.

So, I hoof it over there, 15 minutes before class time.

I'm feeling good, these shoes don't hurt so bad.

By the time I get to the classroom, I'm schwitzing like crazy. Damn Arizona sun (+ dry heat + humidity), I hate you!

I go to the bathroom to blot the sweat from my face (gross, I know, but we have to do that here if we want to look presentable). Ouch. I realize my feet sort of hurt. Grrrr.

I get through class, just fine, and have to walk to the CatTran stop to get to work. That doesn't feel so good.

From work, back to the university for harp master class. Feet feeling worse.

And from there, I have to walk back to that crappy parking lot. And my feet are ready to fall off.

OK, so I can deal with blisters. I get them all the time. I got a blood blister the size of Godzilla over the summer from wandering around campus in platform sandals.

Oh, no. Can't escape this one alive. We're talking lacerations on the sides of my feet like I was whipped by a mouse.

For what?

I JUST WANTED TO LOOK NICE!

Why do shoes have to be so unbearable the first 15 times you wear them? I mean, it's great when you get to that point when you can't remember why you ever hesitated in wearing them. But having to build your feet up to that point? It takes a ton of sacrifice--sacrifice in getting exercise by walking to and from classes or work, sacrifice in not being able to wear other nice shoes for a week if you get blisters/lacerations/some other form of foot-bound torture.

I know what you're thinking, and it's not true. I'm not wearing shoes that are too small or too large. I take great pains to find the correct shoes for my foot size and arch. Maybe it's the leather, I don't know. I'm just cursed.

This is why they say "beauty is pain."

Eggcellent, my dear!

It seems every month brings some new development in how many Americans view the food they consume. I don't think Americans are going to realize en masse any time soon that corn syrup, preservatives, added salt and added sugar are making them the world's fattest people, but at least they can begin to look less like the faster-food-at-any-cost lazybones the rest of the world sees them as.

This time the topic is eggs. I'm not going to go on a rant a la PETA about the cruel conditions many commercial chickens are forced to endure. Those who really care will find out on their own.

A New York Times article this morning discussed more and more big food companies switching from using eggs produced in chicken farms that use cages, to those from "cageless" chicken farms. Now, that definitely does not mean they are using eggs from chickens who frolic about outside. These are probably still chickens who will never see the light of day except when someone opens the door to enter or leave the egg-laying area. What is so important about this move, is the acknowledgment by larger chains that many Americans want to be healthy, thus wanting healthier food.

OK, an egg is an egg is an egg. But was the chicken who popped that egg out particularly healthy? It may or may not matter. The article said chefs like Wolfgang Puck have decided cageless eggs are higher quality, although there isn't any concrete proof they taste better.

Many farm activists think cageless farms are just as bad, if not worse than, as farms that use cages, or batteries. According to farm owners cited in the article, "...keeping thousands of hens in tight quarters on the floor of a building can lead to hunger, disease and cannibalism. They also say that converting requires time, money and faith that the spike in demand is not just a fad." Well, it's up to the American public to demand more and let the farmers know it's not just a fad, isn't it? And isn't it up to the farmers to ensure the quarters aren't cramped, the chickens are being fed and they're healthy?

I can see how there would definitely be a downside to letting a thousand chickens mill around in a barn together. The photo on the first page of the article showed a pretty cramped situation.

If you ask me, it looks far better than rows upon rows of chickens shoved into laptop-sized cages. At least outside of the cages they can move around, socialize and flap their wings a bit, and not have to sit in their own waste.

I'm all for free range eggs, and many of my friends also are. I think it's interesting that, according to the article, many universities have jumped on board in choosing eggs from cageless suppliers. College students, much like a growing population of today's high school students, want to eat more nutritious, better foods. Many of them also want food from humanely-treated animals. If this is what our younger generations of consumers are asking for, then perhaps it's time for a change in the way the food industry is run.

True, it may be expensive to make the switch from battery cages to cageless, or to have someone oversee the chickens to make sure they're not pecking each other to death. But if the conditions are good and the birds are well-fed, then they shouldn't be killing each other anyway. And if there are more farms producing these eggs, that should drive the price down from its current height at about $0.60 more than cage-farm produced eggs, and cageless eggs will just become the norm.

It's a slight ripple of change in a big industry--something to be aware of, in the very least. Who knows what food-producers will turn to next.

That's-a pizza pie!

Getting free stuff is always nice. Imagine my pleasure when I got a letter in the mail one day shortly after moving into my new apartment and discovered it included a gift certificate for a free large pizza at Rocco's Little Chicago, a pizza joint here in Tucson.



After a few weeks of sitting on the free booty, we called a quorum of friends and went to try it out.

The service wasn't particularly fantastic. The waiter seemed flustered and forgot to return with a lemonade refill for someone at our table. One of the regulars at our table said you have to get "the blonde" waitress, who is apparently very attentive and helpful.

We ordered a couple of appetizers, some beers and sodas, and two large, deepdish cheese pizzas.

The beer list changes every week, but we tried a Bitburger, Summer Solstice and Heileman's Old Style. I always enjoy a Bitburger, and this one wasn't bad. The person who got the Summer Solstice was trying to learn how to appreciate beer, and she ended up switching with the more experienced beer drinker who got the Old Style. I thought they both tasted like water, but everyone's beer taste buds differ.

The appetizers weren't bad. I tried the mozarella sticks, which were delicious and hit the spot after an evening of hunger. They weren't sensational, although I can't say I'd had mozarella sticks for a long time before trying them. From what I heard around the table, the medium hot wings were very tasty but a bit too spicy and the ranch dressing was delicious, and the BBQ sticks were fantastic.

The pizzas were monstrous: two-and-a-half inches of Chicago-style (sauce on top of the cheese) bliss. Very yummy, and worth the long-ish wait. They were quite filling, and at a table of five guys and three girls, we still ended up having two big pieces left over.

We didn't have time to sample from the dessert menu, which included cheesecake and giant cookies. Next time.

As for price: the free-pizza coupon helped a lot. Our original bill came to $72 (that's without the 15% gratuity mandatory for parties of six or more), and after the free pizza came off, it was $50 even (including tax and tip). A bit pricey for some college students, but manageable in a large group.

All in all, the meal was delicious and worth trying again.

Ick. Gag. Yuck. Pwuh.

Seven of the ugliest pairs of shoes ever created by man.

Summer Fashion

Every year, magazines like Vogue, Elle and Cosmopolitan come out with an issue devoted entirely to ideal summer clothing. The selections usually look good. They just don't work out so well in real-time as they do in theory.

At least, that's how it goes when you live in the Southwest. It's hot here. And dry. And in July and August, it's hot, dry and muggy all at once. Temperatures range from 80 to 120 degrees, and yet we're supposed to run around in espadrilles and long, flowing dresses looking cool and crisp.

Yes, flowing dresses in light materials ARE ideal for being outside in the hot Southwest. But what about when you go inside, and the temperature is 12 degrees Fahrenheit?

Unfortunately, Arizona is a place where it must be 75 degrees cooler inside than it is outside at all times from March through October. This does not compute well when added into the equation of summer fashions produced by women's magazines.After all, the long, flowing dress and matching espadrilles are going to look dowdy once you go inside and put on a hoodie and wrap a blanket around yourself so you don't freeze to death (yes, people in my office DO take jackets and blankets with them to work).

Perhaps fashion trends would be better set if magazines were produced in the hottest climates, rather than in cooler places like the Pacific Northwest or Northeastern U.S. True, it's humid there, but they don't use air conditioning like we do. Oh, no siree.

Emergency Response Mechanism

So I just turned 21 this May. That's a number signifying adulthood and maturity in the U.S. if ever there was one.

We tend to believe that and buy into how adult being 21 is, especially since you can get drunk legally in the U.S. at that point (which isn't that big a deal if you're say, German, or go abroad often).

But sometimes believing you're mature isn't enough to make you feel like an adult. Here's a case study that best exemplifies what I'm saying:

It's the first day of Summer Session II classes. I just got my car back from the shop after two weeks of having no window on one side and having to live at my boyfriend's house because I live too far from the university to walk. I'm in a fairly good mood, making my lunch and dinner to take to work/school the next day.

Then there's that damn piece of bread. A beautiful, delicious, golden, mini-sourdough loaf I'm trying to split open to stuff with butter and divine brie. And it's gotten hard over the weekend. So I get out the BIG bread knife. The new one. The sharp one.

It won't cut the bread. I try every angle. The knife will not go in. So, in a flurry of brilliance, I slam the knife point onto the rounded edge of the bread, thinking "WHY WON'T YOU GO IN???"

Slice.

No, not the bread. I got the top of my finger.


"Eh," I think. "I get myself with knives all the time and never bleed. No big deal."

Blood starts coming out.

"Eh," I think. "Merely a flesh wound."

I rinse it out. More blood...let's make that LOTS more blood.

The little red light in my brain clicks on and I suddenly tear across the apartment to my bathroom, grab a Kleenex and wrap it around the gushing finger. Thoughts of "what do I do next?" swirl inside my skull as the wound begins to pulsate with pain.

So what do I do? I run to my desk, and, still holding the kleenex tightly onto my finger, I wrestle my cell phone open and call my parents. Who live in Willcox. That's 70 miles away at a good 80 mph.

My mom answers the phone, and the floodgates let loose. "I CUT MY FINGER! WHAT DO I DO?"

Pause. "Um, did you wash it out?" "YES!" "Did you wrap a towel around it?" "I'M USING A KLEENEX!" "Why aren't you using a towel?" "I'LL GET BLOOD ALL OVER IT!!!" "Okay..."

The conversation progresses as such until my mother wakes my father, who gets his own dose of tearful wailing about the bloody finger and how I've gone through three Kleenexes and it hurts so bad. So my dad calls my boyfriend, who lives a mere five minutes away. What happens when he arrives? Calm, cool logic wrestles with emotional blubbering for two minutes and then wants to know why on earth I called my parents. That's a really good question.

And if that scene isn't bad enough, I struggled when Ian tried to clean out the cut (I abhor medical cleansing pads and Peroxide), and again a week later when my dad was changing the dressings Campus Health had put on my finger--I wouldn't let him get close enough with nail scissors to snip off the back of the medical tape.

There are plenty of situations where I embody that cool, logical 21-year-old I like to think I am. But apparently, that logic has a melting point, and mine just happens to be blood. The moral of the story? I'll let you know when I find out. In the meantime I'm too busy oohing and ahhing over my finger's healing progress to figure out what it means to be this old and still go crying to mommy and daddy when something goes wrong.

I mean, wouldn't the adult thing to do have been to dress the wound myself? Or call Ian before calling my mother?

Maybe 21 years just isn't long enough to be that kind of mature.

A new beginning

It's been a long time since the last fashion post on this blog. Since then, I've done some thinking...and I decided to take a new direction here. Rather than having a blog about fashion, a blog about food, and a blog about random things that catch my attention, why not just have one blog for all three?

So, into the future then, in hopes of many more blog posts in one place than previously.

Words of Support

Bras. They come in a multitude of colors, styles, sizes and materials.

Yet, sadly, most women walk around with a floppy sack of material supporting their assets. Why? Because the grand majority of women don't have the slightest clue about finding a properly-fitting bra.

It's true, bra-fitting wisdom isn't something females are born with, and not everyone is bright enough to realize what they really look like in the mirror.

I concocted a list of tips for finding the right bra, although every woman should really visit a bra specialist--not someone in the department store bra section or Victoria's Secret--someone who has been working with bras for a very long time and specializes in them.



1. As with all clothing, don't obsess about the size tag. Every brand fits differently, and many styles within each brand may also fit differently. The key is to try on as many styles and brands as possible to find the correct one.

2. Pull on the straps. If they are very stretchy, they won't lend to good support. Even if you have small breasts, you still want support--or you'll really be needing it when you're older.

3. Push on the cups with your thumb to see how stretchy they are. As with the straps, the stretchier the material in the cups, the less support you'll be getting. Another thing about stretchy cups, is they won't give you as nice a shape as something a little firmer might.

4. When trying on a bra, the band should sit comfortably in the middle of your back. If it hikes up, the bra is too small. If it slides down, the bra is too big.

5. Adjust the straps properly when trying on a bra. The only way to gauge if it really fits is to try it on like you're getting ready to wear it.

6. Beware fancy fabrics. A super-lacy bra may look pretty with nothing atop it, but the lace will definitely show through once you put on a shirt.

7. Padding is nice in bras, depending on what size you are. Women wearing a C-cup or larger really should NOT have padding in their bras.

8. Larger women should opt for minimizer bras that shape the breasts, support them and pull them up.

9. Severely molded cups are nice, but not always. Check the shape in the mirror (from the front and side) to be sure you don't have torpedoes or round balls sitting on your chest.

10. ALWAYS wear a bra. I don't care who you are, what you think your breasts are like, or what the outfit you're wearing is. There is no excuse not to wear a bra. Other women can tell you're not wearing one. Some men can also tell. And when you get older, gravity will really take over--no matter how small you were when you let it all hang out.

11. Large women should watch out for strapless bras. They may say "maximum staying power" or whatever, but they don't always live up to those promises. Try moving around a lot when trying on the bra to see if it will stay up. If not, try to find something with clear straps.

12. If you have small breasts, your bra straps should not cut into your shoulders. Try unloosening the strap a little to see if the indentation grows smaller. If not, try a different bra.

13. While florals, bright colors and rhinestones are oh-so-appealing on bras in the store, they may not always go so well under your clothing. For the majority of your bra wardrobe, go for nude- and beige-colored bras, a few whites and a few blacks. Once you have your neutrals, then you can go bananas with flashy brassieres.

14. If a bra is uncomfortable, it doesn't fit well. Move on to something else. A bra should never be uncomfortable. Ever.

15. Facts of life: There are always more choices in the bra section for smaller-breasted women. Bras made for small breasts are usually not very supportive, and brim-full of padding. Going to a lingerie or bra store is the best bet for the femme in need of a good bra collection, without incurring undue stress in her search.

16. As for bathing suits, small-breasted ladies pretty much have the pick of the litter. Just make sure the shape the suit gives your breast is as natural as possible, and that your top is supportive and sturdy--you don't want to become exposed in public. For large-breasted women, Calvin Klein now has a line of bathing suits (bikini and one-piece) with underwire bras built in, all the way up to 38DD. Dillards also has a large collection of suits in bigger sizes and with more supportive choices.

The flat-out truth

You know you've seen people wearing those long, skinny, flat-soled Converse shoes and knock-offs with a similar shape. They're the premier old-school tennis shoe, and they're sold in multiple colors.

The most disturbing thing about these shoes, is that people love to wear them. And the people who wear these shoes should not be wearing them.

A very skinny shoe makes a large person look top heavy--from the tip of his or her head down to the ankles. You have a very large silhouette atop tiny little feet.

A very thin person wearing a thin shoe has a similarly unattractive effect: thin, lanky and, well, stringy. If that's the look you're going for, fine. But it probably won't get you laid.

Wearing ultra-thin, flat-soled shoes with skinny jeans is a big no-no. Skinny jeans are bad enough on most people, but to pair them with pancake-flat shoes is grotesque. Such a combination makes the body appear to taper down to nothing.

Far too many people purchase these shoes in black. First of all, black shoes in general are not flattering. Especially on white people. But to wear them with shorts, is just a crime against fashion.

Word to the wise: stay away from shoes that will damage any chances you have of creating a flattering body shape.

S is for Sexy Spring Shoes

A springtime zappos.com search revealed these finds. Most are from Stuart Weitzman, others are from Anne Klein, Donald J. Pliner and Lacoste. These are the 12 hottest shoes from the site's "Redondo Drive" category.

Fashions from Germany

It's always interesting to find out what people from around the world are wearing. Here's a look into spring women's fashions in Deutschland.

Saturday Seven

These are my seven favorite blouses from Anthropologie.
When going for shirts like these, the rule of thumb is this: if you have a curvier figure, look for something fitted (which means you will be able to see seaming on the outside), or something that will obviously lead the eye away from your trouble spots. Don't go too tight--one can always tell when somebody's clothing doesn't fit, just by looking. Women who aren't as curvy can use flowy shirts and shirts with puff sleeves (none shown here) to give the illusion of curves.

What's blue and white and cute all over?

Some outfits I found on Ann Taylor's The Loft Web site. If you click on "Outfits" you can see suggested combinations for different categories: Social events, work and everyday casual. Overall, blue and white are the dominant colors for the current collection. You can also find lots of red and black styles, too.

Chunky!

Attending a recent public event in my small town brought me to a disturbing conclusion. In the rural areas of Arizona, clunky, chunky, bulky shoes are considered stylish. I shuddered as I watched a large woman with big black clodhoppers walk to the front of the room. Dressed all in black, she probably assumed her outfit was slimming. What she didn't realize, was the bigger and bulkier your shoes are, the bigger they make you look. Other women were guilty of that fashion-shoe crime, most of them rather large ladies. The few thin women who were wearing big, chunky shoes had an opposite sort of unpleasant effect. The shoes seemed to be weighing them down, making the top parts of their bodies look too thin.
If only people would stop to look in the mirror once in a while and STUDY the image projected before them with a CRITICAL EYE. Then maybe there wouldn't be so many fashion crimes against humanity.
Remember, the bigger you are and the bigger the item of clothing or shoe is, the bigger it's going to make you look. The smaller you are, the more sickly a large clothing item or shoe is going to make you look. Never fail.

A la Disposition

Pieces from the early 1920s-based Fall/Winter 2006 collection.