The Lady of Shalott

Website description: The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger.

In the imp: Equal parts gardenia and musk, and I think I can smell hints of the ginger and muguet (lily of the valley).

Hormonal state & other notes: Pregnant (13 weeks), a couple of hours after an hour-long deep tissue massage

On skin, wet: The gardenia and muguet scents are very strong, with a hint of musk. Definitely has an aquatic feel to it, though it's hard to pin down exactly why. Reminds me of the Paris Hilton-themed Privilege scent, which I actually own a full bottle of and wear as my more traditional perfume-y scent.

On skin, dry: More gardenia and muguet, but lighter, musk almost undetectable. Still has that watery feel to it. Can't really smell the ginger, but it does smell slightly warmer than you'd think with the watery quality, so maybe that's it?

Well, I'm giving it another try. I just got a bunch of imps and I'm looking for a good staple perfume, so...

Jezebel

Website description: Biblical witch, priestess of Astarte, and general troublemaker. A true role model for today's upwardly mobile Modern Woman. A gloriously decadent blend of honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood.

In the imp: Smells VERY sweet, so basically the honey seems to overwhelm everything else.

On my wrists, wet: Sandalwood comes out immediately, and possibly a hint of that promised orange blossom? At first I didn't think I could smell the roses at all, but the more I sniff myself the more present they seem. The honey is still there, but MUCH more subtle; it's more of a warm sticky undertone to the whole scent, with just a hint of sweetness, rather than the cloying single note I got out of the imp.

On my wrists, dry: Christ. Baby powder. Sigh. I guess it's a fairly sandalwood-y baby powder, so it could be worse, but not really a keeper.

The email I just sent to hulu after seeing an APPALLING advertisement in the middle of In Plain Sight:

To Whom It May Concern:

While watching an episode of In Plain Sight, I happened to catch one of the HPV vaccine advertisements that you are airing. As a sociologist who has taught courses in human sexuality, and as a woman of reproductive age, I feel strongly that all people should pursue the HPV vaccine to protect their health. However, I was incredulous that anyone could air as fear-mongering and irresponsible an ad as I saw.

The ad opens with a woman telling her story of an abnormal pap smear, which she then links to cervical cancer and the fear that she will die. At no point does this ad emphasize the simple fact that these connections are far from inevitable. The narrator only strongly admonishes viewers that "this doesn't have to happen" to us, if we get vaccinated for HPV. As a college instructor in a human sexuality class, I have had to explain to numerous 19 and 20-year-old women that an abnormal pap smear is actually relatively common, that most of them clear themselves up within six months, that they do not necessarily mean cervical cancer, and that even if they do, cervical cancer is easy to treat in most cases. Unfortunately, their doctors have not taken the time to provide this explanation, and this ad directly feeds into a culture of ignorance and fear that leaves them afraid to even ask questions about what an abnormal pap smear might actually mean.

I advise everyone I know to pursue the HPV vaccine to protect themselves and the health of the general population. I also, however, strongly advocate for responsible and engaged medical care, because I know that the lack of these qualities frequently drives young women away from preventive care entirely. This advertisement does not provide any realistic arguments for receiving the HPV vaccine. All it does is make young women terrified for no reason. I consider it morally reprehensible and grossly irresponsible from a public health perspective, and I strongly urge you, and its sponsor, to pull it from circulation before it does even more damage.


Cabell Gathman
PhD candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison

I am literally shaking with rage here. There was actually just a whole thread on the wedding website forums where I hang out from a woman who got an abnormal pap and had no idea what it meant, and I wasn't kidding about all the students I've had to calm down in similar situations. Women get TERRIFIED about this, for no goddamn reason at all. I was terrified when I was 17 and had an abnormal pap and got a form letter telling me I needed to come back in six months, with no explanation and no access to WebMD.

I can't believe anyone would try this shit to sell their fucking patent, except that I guess that's just the natural product of a for-profit healthcare system. Fucking shit, man.

Today is the last day to buy cool stuff and help fans of color attend WisCon and other scifi/fantasy cons: http://community.livejournal.com/con_or_bust/

There is all KINDS of stuff for sale--books, hand-made jewelry (including some custom jobs so you get to decide exactly what it will be!), fannish licensed merch, and I have two custom mix CD pairs up as well.

elisem is having a shiny sale! Her work is amazing, if you are not familiar--I have one of her necklace crowns and I get compliments every single time I wear it (bought it in another one of these sales, in fact).

Sale!

The letter I just wrote to send to Bank of America Regional Headquarters:

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter to report the worst customer service experience I have ever had, with any company. I eagerly await some indication that appropriate steps will be taken so that my reports of the experience on Twitter may end on a happier note.

This morning I received notification from your company that my existing credit card account “may have been compromised at an undisclosed third-party location” and was therefore being closed and replaced with a new card, which arrived at the same time. As the letter noted, this means that I will now need to change credit card information for all recurring and pending payments, which represents a considerable inconvenience for me, especially since I am in the process of planning a wedding, many of the deposits for which I have been using this account.

I contacted customer service at 800-732-9194 and explained this situation to a customer service representative, who identified herself only as “Angela.” I told her that I was unhappy with the situation and that I was hoping to speak to someone about some possible compensation for the inconvenience. Angela informed me that it was not your company's fault that my information had been compromised, but could not provide me with any specific details when I asked her how this had occurred. I explained that the phrasing of the letter left me in doubt that Bank of America had been blameless, and that I just wanted to talk to someone who might have more familiarity with the situation and authority for possible recourse.

At this point, Angela became extremely belligerent, informing me that “[I] might wish it was the case that [she] was not a manager, but in fact [she] had a supervisory position and had all necessary authority to handle this case.” Her voice rose considerably in pitch and volume as she informed me that I should be grateful my account number had been changed, and that “millions of other accounts had also been compomised and [I] was nobody special.” I told her that I was sorry she was angry that I was exploring possible options for compensation, but that I would prefer to speak to someone with some authority who could discuss the issue with me in a more objective tone. Angela cut me off at this point to tell me that she was “not angry, but [she] did not appreciate [my] failure to recognize the importance of [her] job position.”

Feeling that it was no longer productive to continue the conversation, I asked Angela for her last name or for an employee ID number, both of which she refused to provide. She then informed me that “if [I] preferred, [she] could make a note in the file that when my account was compromised in the future, [I] would prefer that Bank of America allow fraudulent charges to be made.” I told Angela that I did not appreciate her sarcasm, and that I hoped it was not representative of the company's attitude toward customer service, an issue that I would be pursuing. Angela informed me that if I wanted to report her, then I could just contact the complaints department and they would be able to tell who I had been speaking with from the time of call. For reference, the call was place at 4:09pm CST on Saturday, February, 13th; it lasted only 6 minutes and 46 seconds, which I feel makes the level of hostility I experienced from your customer service representative particularly offensive and shocking.

While I am still unhappy with the apparent mishandling of my personal financial information that led to the closing and replacement of my original account with Bank of America, my negative associations with your company have been exponentially magnified by this horrible experience with your customer service center. I certainly hope that this is not representative of company policy towards customers, but I have no experience to the contrary. I may be contacted via email at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com or by phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx to discuss this further.

PLEASE feel free to link this (or RT my tweet on the subject). It's funny, because I really just wanted, like, I don't know, some extra reward points on my card or something to make up for causing me a lot of hassle. Now I want someone fired at the very least.

So at approximately 5 o'clock this morning (I thought 7:30 but PB says no), I had a nightmare that someone threw a venomous purple lizard at me, and flipped over in bed in a sort of mini-horizontal launching of myself at PB, while shrieking.

THAT sure woke him up good. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" said PB.

"IT'S OKAY!" I said. "I JUST HAD A NIGHTMARE ABOUT A LIZARD."

Then we both lay there until our heartrates dropped back down to something like resting.

Saturday morning I had a nightmare. I was working on a prelim exam and thinking about how I'd barely studied at all, which suddenly I realized was probably not a great thing, since I studied my ass off for like three months for the first one (both of them, actually, but obviously in the dream I was on exam #2).

OH GOD, I thought, I TOTALLY AM GOING TO FAIL THIS. I CAN'T BELIEVE I BLEW OFF STUDYING, WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

Then someone came into the large room where I was taking my prelim all alone (note: not standard procedure) and told me that we had to evacuate the building for a nuclear bomb warning.

I was really pissed that they were interrupting my prelim.

So, yeah: thank god I never actually have to take another one of those.

I made a Darlene Conner icon! It seems like it will have fairly broad application.

Now I want some Big Bang ones. Really, I'd like to do some kind of animated one with various nerd/geek girls--Leslie Finkle from Big Bang Theory, early-season Willow, possibly Rory Gilmore... who else would be good?

This one took me some time to work out (I've had a half-finished playlist for AT LEAST six months, for serious), so I'm pretty proud to have finally finished it:

( wasn't born a shepherd (Book)Collapse )

And for those who haven't seen them, my previous Firefly mixes:

( The Hero of Canton (Jayne)Collapse )

This was the first time I ever did something "gimmicky" on a mix--there's a record scratch sound between the first two tracks. I liked the bait and switch, acknowledging that Jayne is IN NO WAY Robin Hood, but I also love Robin Hood and traditional ballads, and enjoyed working them into the mix along with, of course, the actual Hero of Canton (I usually avoid actual source material, but it was too perfect).

( she knows everything you don't want to know (River)Collapse )

Funnily, I have very little patience for Joss's obsession with crazy ladies, but... they're just easy to mix for, because your average musician? IS TOTALLY INTO CRAZY LADIES.

( once upon a time on the Rim (Firefly)Collapse )

My first Firefly mix. Very Western.

( this way through the fire (Serenity)Collapse )

This one is definitely more focused on the movie than the series; I'm afraid I've lost some good Zoe tracks with #16 and #17, but that was obviously a major moment in the movie, so... Actually, now that I think about it, those are the main bits that make it more movie-focused; most of the other tracks still work for the series, too. I also had to fuse two different screencaps for the cover, but I like the effect.

Next up, obviously, are character mixes for Inara and Mal. I like them all, of course, but feel like I have better handles on them as individuals... although I find myself wondering, "Circus" by Britney Spears for Zoe: wrong or oh so very right?