Sorry to all you regular readers (all 3) that have been looking for a new talk. I have been SO busy. Literally no time to upload to the internet. But as a result of this furious pace, I am home sick today, so I have plenty of time (think I will go get some McD’s now…ok I’m back). I even wrote a coffee talk while sitting in the chair at the salon waiting for my hair to bleach out (before the pink). So now I will put that down plus some other stuff that has happened since.

Had a first recently. One of my many (3) readers wrote me to disagree with my Magic Wand theory. We had a lively debate and I was better able to explain my position, thus recognizing where my one directional monologue needed improvement. That is sort of the problem with this coffee talk thing. It is so one directional. I guess when you get good at this sort of thing, you get a job like Herb Caen (may he rest in peace) or Dave Barry. I’ll keep at it, since I wouldn’t at all mind having a column like Herb or Dave, I’d even keep the day job, I just want circulation. So tell your friends.

(wrote this in the chair) So I bought a beauty book while I was in the US over the holidays. I am always looking for new and better ways to have nice skin and stuff. I don’t think I am too obsessed with the beauty thing since I don’t wear foundation and blush and stuff, but I am a bit obsessed with my hair. Of course the hair chapter was virtually useless since I am pretty well versed. Anyhow…I have been reading through it and taking notes. It has lots of product recommendations for different skin types, needs and desires. Two Fridays ago Patrick and I hit Breuninger beauty and The Beauty Shop and picked up, well, have the store. OK not literally, but we got masks and cleansers and bath stuff. Even a bath tub pillow. We went back to the house and did a Spa Night thing. It was very nice. I had gotten some samples the previous weekend with my friend Annette so I knew which was I definitely liked. One of the really important things we bought was a body brush. It is softer than a hair brush and even softer than a loofa sponge. The book says to dry brush your body like every other day before your shower (don’t do it at night before bed cause it gets the blood moving and will keep you awake). According to the book if you dry brush and have normal skin you won’t even have to moisturize. And you know what? I think it’s true. Considering the acne meds I am on, I am really dry so I still need a bit of moisturizer on my legs, arms and shoulders, but it really is brilliant. I feel softer and my skin is brighter. Love it. So we did that, got into our rose and lavender essence bath water and relaxed. It was pretty funny from there. We had lit a bunch of candles, like the book said, but had more than usual because we need enough light to read the book. Once we got in the bath it was so bright in the room we had to get out and blow some out. We lay there with out ‘normalizing’ masks from Clarins (very nice) and tried to be Spa quiet. It was amusing. Finally one of us whispered something and we got into a discussion about how long one can sit in the bath and is it possible to just sit there and do nothing (not really). It was a lively discussion and all in whispers. Patrick finally asked why we were whispering and I said because we are in a Spa and you have to whisper in a Spa. After 15-20 minutes of soaking up the rose and lavender smells I hoped into the shower to use the new fruit essence body scrub (brilliant) and Milled body soap (also brilliant) from Origins. We’ve decided that Origins products are fantastic. Milled soap is the way to go too. It costs like $12 a bar but really lasts and helps to keep my skin from drying out. I had been using the liquid shower gels but found out they have a lot of shampoo in them that actually dries the skin! This was all just so great! I never went through the make-up phase as a teen since I didn’t particularly like being a girl (love it now), so this is like having a make-up party with my girlfriends, only I get to have sex at the end (since it is Patrick). Patrick even found a home wax kit he loves. My slightly homo-husband is not into body hair and has started waxing things away. It didn’t like the prickliness of shaving, so he has been waxing. Anyhow, he was happy too. The other brilliant thing I have discovered is washing my face with acne soap at night but only Cetaphyl in the morning. All of the stuff I have learned together has made an amazing difference! I’d like to get off my acne meds, since I feel that is silly, and hope I will be able to with this regimen. I’ve also started taking a multivitamin and though so far the only thing seems to be really yellow pee, I hope it will support my hair and skin rejuvenation. Anyhow, the experiment is going well and it is fun so I will keep you posted. Probably list the products I am using once I have settled on them. Even got great new shampoo to support my hair colour habit. Speaking of hair colour…

I’ve lost another colourist. Her name is Vera and she is leaving the hair biz. Not my fault but as she is the 3rd colourist I have gone through, I am starting to take it personally. Joerg had to go do his one year civil duty. Matthias got a special offer to colour in Italy for a year and now Vera wants to change careers! Not sure what I will do. Colour is important and I need a professional for bleaching and strange patterns. I realize this sounds like foolish whining but what if your favorite author stopped writing? Wouldn’t that bum you out? That is how I feel about my colourist. What happens when I leave Germany and have to give up Juergen (my cutter)? Do you think he would be willing to move to the US?

So we were in London last weekend. It was great. After working many, many 11 hour days, I needed a break. For 3 weeks in a row I had been trying to take Friday or part of Friday off, to go to the gym and do the steam thing. It finally took a plane ticket to get me out. We stayed at a slightly more expensive hotel since we were tired of the uncomfortable bed, midmorning pounding and lack of water pressure at the bed and breakfast we usually stay at. It was near King’s Cross underground stop which doesn’t have much around it but was easy to get anywhere from. The concert was awesome. The Hives rocked! They only have one album so basically they played 8 songs but it was fun and the music sounded great. The lead singer said an entertaining thing after like the second song. He asked “How many of you came here tonight to see the band?” Audience roars. Then he asks “How many of you came here tonight to be seen in your coolest clothes at the coolest show in London tonight?” Audience yells louder. They are considered a punk band but I think that is only because they are loud and wild. The music is sort of more rock-a-billy but I love it. I am so happy to say I saw them in person in a small venue in London. Of course they played The Brick Works in Chico, CA in early Dec and had I know they were, I would have definitely flow home to see them. Hope they had fun.

We went to see ‘The Vagina Monologues’ while in London as well. I think all mothers with preteen/teen daughters should take their daughters to see this. It is about pride in our bodies. It is about the greatness of our parts. It is sort of interactive and definitely friendly. The 3 women that did ours were really well balanced. You had the naughty librarian type British woman, the one-name uber thin blond actress and the sexy and unique boisterous black woman. The different monologues that ranged from what vaginas are, to finding yours, to having it assaulted, to taking back the word cunt, and finally to different orgasm sounds, were very empowering. Another way to reduce teen pregnancy in my opinion. Help teen girls to know and be proud of their vagina’s and no boy is going to be able to take advantage of it. Anyhow, you should all go see it. Take your teen boys even, so they know what they are going to be dealing with.

Been burning the candle at both ends since returning from the holidays. Which explains the lack o’coffee talk and being ill today (very thick head, sore throat). The project from hell is super close to super nova. I am preparing my EEIG death dance. I must admit though, I have learned a lot working on this project. I have learned about testing and clarifying roles and responsibilities (do you have any idea how long it takes to enter and completely process orders in SAP?) I’ve mentioned this haven’t I? It’s been just great in terms of improving my skills. I just don’t personally approve of the project. Now that it is dead, it looks like I will be concentrating on my other responsibilities and attempting to solve some mysteries. My favorite type of work.

I guess that is about it. The outfit is one morning at Mom’s house over Christmas. I have on my $9.99 Mervyn’s pj bottoms, NIN concert t-shirt from The Downward Spiral tour and Coach loafers. The hat is the most significant part of the outfit, I suppose. It is my Fiona Bennett hat. Fiona Bennett is a German hat designer who is located in Berlin but sets up shop each December in Breuninger. This year I found one that fit and I could afford. I really wanted the 900 DM Lamp Shade hat but couldn’t really justify it. It was so cool though. I will try to be a good girl and write my talks regularly again. Thanks for sticking with me, all 3 of you.