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January 24th, 2012
 | 03:48 pm - Degree Awarded!
What a year it was for name suffixes! I officially ended the year as "Sarah Wilson, M.S."
From my unofficial transcript: Huzzah!
And no, no Ph.D. for me, at least in the near term. First, I wouldn't know what to pursue exactly (maybe another social science degree? archaeology?), second, I'm already 120K in debt, and third, I don't want to be primarily a researcher. I'll keep my options open, of course, but for right now I'm just happy to be done with school and writing.
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July 30th, 2011
| 08:54 pm
There exists a Sherlock Holmes movie with Gareth David-Lloyd as Dr. Watson. I found it underwhelming.
Until a T-Rex appeared and ate a prostitute in the London underground.
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July 8th, 2011
 | 07:25 pm - omake: Mawaru Penguindrum
Mawaru Penguindrum... lolwhut?
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| 06:49 pm - Blood-C
First off, I made a super-delicious-and-will-kick-your-head drink. It's bright red, tastes only like juice, and will neatly knock you off your ass. I dub thee, the "Blood Thinner".
Shake with crushed ice and strain into a stemless wine glass:
- 8 oz cran-pomegranate juice
- a splash of lime juice
- 2 oz soju (shouchuu)
This shall be my official Blood-C cocktail.
Which implies that this show deserves a cocktail. It does.
It's been way too long since there's been much dark!Clamp in the world (the last I watched of them was Kobato which was fine, but light, and the gumbyish characters of XXXHolic don't count in my book). What tingles my spine is the gritty, pretty, angular, angstful, and wistful CLAMP from fifteen years ago.
CLAMP's prettiness, with StudioIG's production quality, and a storyline that's a take-off of Blood: The Last Vampire? Excuse me while I fangasm ALL freaking OVER this show.
( Initial thoughts... )
Nothing less from IG and Clamp.
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July 2nd, 2011
 | 06:33 pm - Sighting!
A TARDIS showed up in my neighborhood. No kiddin'.
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January 8th, 2011
 | 11:34 am - Better Living Through Insurance
I have terrible teeth and vision.
While it's great to have insurance, the tricky part can be actually using it. In my internship I was able to sign up for the highest coverage plans for dental and vision (no medical yet, but my body still generally heals itself, yay). But I didn't have a dentist or an optometrist, and I was nervous about finding myself some doctors.
Last Monday I finally decided to take the plunge: I looked at my insurances' web sites and searched for doctors who took my insurance in my area. Turns out there are lots. I called the ones with names I liked to see if they could take me on Friday - and they did! I had a dental appointment at 9am and an eye doctor appointment at 10:30. Each was less than a mile from my apartment.
First was a trip to my new dentist. See, I was born with weak enamel, so I'm resigned to my fate in dentists' chairs - I've had multiple fillings, four metal crowns, eight porcelain crowns, and a root canal. Each time I go for a cleaning I'm poked until I bleed and then lectured on the menace of gingivitis. I know my teeth are bad and I don't think they're getting better. I don't think they can get better.
The dental hygienist first took x-rays of my melon. It looks like my wisdom teeth have definitely got to go, but I knew that already. (The dentist himself was busy with another patient's tooth extraction at the time, so I'll go back to discuss the wisdom of having them pulled next Friday.) As for the checkup and cleaning, she said she was amazed at the condition of my teeth given that I haven't had a cleaning in two years - so it seems the Sonic Toothbrush has been doing its job! I didn't even get the lecture about flossing.
"Just keep doing whatever it is you've been doing," was the dental hygienist's message, "you look fine."
Then I went to the eye doctor. They used a machine to check the prescription of my glasses. The uber-sweet doctor said, "That's funny." And I was all like, what's funny? I'd told her I was seeing blurry with my glasses and contacts, and I was betting that my myopia had again gained some ground like it always does.
"Well," she said, "we don't usually like to reduce lens strength if you're used to it, but see how you like this lower strength pair of contacts."
So I have better eyes? Teeth with no issues? Seriously!? It's pretty awesome not to be given a list of things wrong with me and told that I'm just stumbling down the entropy path as I'm getting older. This is the first checkup since I was eight years old where I've gotten just a nod and a smile - I'm pretty pumped.
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December 20th, 2010
| 08:50 pm - NerdSpa(tm)
I’ve been feeling tired/down/sickly lately, and in the back of my mind I’ve been pineing for a soak in a Japanese onsen… like the “Dead Sea” pool at Toshimaen Spa where ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) mippa and I often enjoyed basking in their “cult of comfort” (EDIT BC I HAVE TEH BRAIN AMNESIA: and where I spent many entire days with choffman). The Dead Sea pool had brownish mineral water. A quick search of the mineral composition of Dead Sea salt reveals plenty of chloide (plain salt), magnesium and sulphur (epsom salt), bromide (??), and calcium (??).
Methinks I can replicate the experience even without the Dead Sea itself?!
Gray’s Totally Scientific* Home Spa Lab Experiment
*Totally not scientific at all.
I. Baseline
I’ll assess how I feel before this all gets underway, on a scale between 1 (meh) and 10 (arrghh).
- Ennui: 10
- Lethargy: 8
- Stress: 5
- Soreness: 4
- Anxiety: 3
TOTAL: 30
II. Treatement
I’ll do four types of treatment: a bath soak for 20+ minutes, a facial, a moisturizer, and also take some supplements.
1. Bath:
- Baking soda, 2 handfuls
- Epsom salt, 3-4 handfuls
- contents of the Facial Recipe below (once the facial is complete) to turn the bath into a fragrant haven.
Directions: Light aromatherapy candles. Put on meditation music. With the lights off, shower (to get basically clean) in the candlelight. After having a facial, add the tea-mix to the bathwater, climb into the tub, and soak for as long as humanly possible.
2. Facial Recipe
- fresh rosemary, 2 sprigs
- thyme leaves, 1 tsp
- green tea, 3 bags
Directions: Bring to just under a boil in an electric teapot. Hold face over the steam while the bathtub fills. Breathe in deeply.
3. Moisturizer
- olive oil (pref. as virgin as it gets)
Directions: After bath, rub two teaspoons onto skin of the face, arms, and torso. Rub until basically absorbed, then let soak in.
4. Ingestables
- Calcium/D
- Fish oil
Directions: Swallow with water.
III. Results (Immediately after)
- Ennui: 2
- Lethargy: 1
- Stress: 1
- Soreness: 0
- Anxiety: 0
TOTAL: 4
IV. Discussion and Limitations
Immediate results: Awesome. Yay.
From 30 to 4 on the "argh" scale isn't too shabby. Magnesium and fish oil fight against depression, rosemary helps it along. Vitamin D boosts general mood. So does meditation. I have to say these seem to work!
Except I have just a bit of a headache after typing this up. And longer term effect is yet unknown - I have no idea how I'll sleep (magnesium the neurotransmitter improves the chances I'll sleep well and rosemary purports to banish nightmares, but caffeine from the green tea might suck?), how my skin will look, or how I'll feel tomorrow... But at the very least, the stress relief of showering/bathing by candlelight with zen-type music is well worth the effort.
Epsom salt is really the linchpin here for me. It's the typical "bath salt." It reduces swelling. It's a neurotransmitter. Magnesium helps the body and its enzymes do all kinds of things, and it apparently regulates sleep, eases pain, and even ups serotonin. True to the advertising claims, I feel pretty good (even a bit more energized) after the bath.
Baking soda is found in mineral springs, is alkaline, and "softens" water. I find it helps soothe itchy dry skin. I found that a lot of bath "recipies" included baking soda along with the with the epsom salts, so at $1 for two boxes, I figured it couldn't hurt to try.
Thyme and rosemary smell awesome. Thyme has antimicrobial properties, and it ups brain DHA. Rosemary is said to increase memory (thanks, Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet!) and research shows reduction in free radicals in the brain. And uh, it smells good. And repels witches.
Green tea is antimicrobial, polyphenol-tastic, and I wanted to buy some anyway. It made the water look cool and extra caffeine in the water probably helps reduce cellulite if you bathe in it every day.
Hooray for science!
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December 15th, 2010
| 09:10 pm
Maggie-dog didn't make it the whole month.
She passed yesterday, in the backyard, in the sun.
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December 9th, 2010
| 10:33 pm - My beads came! (Pictures)
So I started making that necklace tonight.
( Pictures below! )
Voila! Easier and quicker than I thought it'd be! And inexpensive too - total material cost is about $25. ($15 for the crystals + $10 for a set of string, delicas, and the clasp.) Total time involvement was about 2 hours (because I've never beaded before). XD;
I seriously recommend making this one over buying.
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December 1st, 2010
| 02:09 pm - No topic. No reason.
So long, warmth! Today was probably the last of it. This morning it was thunderstorms with an unseasonable high of 62F, but the temperature's dropping fast all day, and tonight it's going to be as cold as 29F... Soon it'll be winter for real. We probably won't have that kind of warm air again until April.
The rationing plan is proceeding decently, save for those three beers on Monday night, ice cream last night, and supreme pizza and cookies for lunch today. Eh-heh. XD;; I feel ok about these because I've hit the gym twice this week already, and I'm at all other times sticking to fruit, veggies, LeanCuisine, and granola bars... and I feel more energetic... So, success?
Except, despite my health kick, my I've noticed face is looking ashen and sallow. Almost haunted. It could be lack of sun? Lack of fresh air? Not enough sleep? (Or D, all of the above!) *grumble*
Yestereday, mippa rec'd me the show Kuragehime, which also goes by the title Jellyfish Princess. Initially, she tempted me by saying that the seiyuu of X and PoT fame Suwabe Jun'ichi had a great role, but the very first show made me laugh so much that I watched all 6 available episodes straight through. *glee* The seventh is coming out soon! And I heart Suwabe Jun'ichi's character, Shu. And it sure don't hurt that Takehito Koyasu plays a minor role as a driver too.
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