Like so many other people with teeth, I often try to find ways of making my smile whiter and brighter. Being a huge fan of coffee and red wine makes regular attention to the choppers necessary.
In the past I've gone to a dentist for that, "brighter smile in an hour" treatment (popular one now is called Zoom), which I found equally effective, expensive and painful! Decided it wasn't for me, my budget, or pain threshold.
I used a 5-minute teeth bleaching gel called, Plus White
, which offered me acceptable results given the time investment, but the improvement lasted little longer than the time investment.
Then of course, I've tried Crest Whitestrips
, which I've managed to swallow in the past when I fell asleep waiting for the magic to happen. Recently I bought the CVS generic version (we're still in a recession kids, don't judge), which is supposed to dissolve in 5-7 minutes. Well, that's true if dissolving means the strip on your teeth turns into a gooey mess that you have to wipe off.
Anyone else have an affordable suggestion? My smile is waiting.
Happy long weekend!
Anyone else still puzzled at how your spam box fills with urgent letters from Nigeria, requesting your help, in God's name?
I don't understand. Email is nothing new. Spam is an expected nuisance, like children selling candy outside grocery stores and post offices. Personally I've seen at least two different "Dateline" episodes exposing the Reverend collecting fees before he can send the moron's inheritance. This "practice" is no secret!
Let's see, here are the scenarios used I can recall the best: a distant relative of yours has passed and left you a large inheritance for which you need to pay fees before you can receive said enormous dollar amount, someone has to transfer money from their country to yours and would be happy to pay you a hefty fee if in God's name,you'll help out, someone is ill and needs your charitable financial help.
People still fall for this. The last Dateline expose' I saw on the topic, featured an educated woman in Connecticut who bought the inheritance bait. She lost $200,000.00 in "fees" even though Chris Hansen confronted the Nigerian ambassador living in Greenville, SC.
Maybe what's more difficult to understand than why people still fall for this, is why from time to time I can't help but respond to these emails with a well-deserved, "Go f*** yourself."
Leave it to me.
I have a newfound love for a show that's not new, but new to me. I love "Weeds"! Thanks to the ingenious Netflix-via-Wii phenomena entering my living room, access to every episode of every season is at my disposal on demand. Love!
Yes, it goes flying into the absurd at times, but that doesn't bother me. In fact, most of the time, I'd rather not see real-life difficult, problematic scenarios played out on my TV. A widowed mother of two from the suburbs, chauffeuring two thugs in a drive-by shooting, that's what my viewing time needs. Over the past few days, I've actually thought, "Sure, this is bad, but nothing near as bad as what Nancy goes through!"
Ridiculous? Yes, but mostly, so am I.
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!
After a number of years in this business, which will go undisclosed, I feel comfortable saying it doesn't matter who you go to for headshots, if you don't bring yourself to the picture, you won't get "the shot." But what the hell does that mean?
It means that your headshot should capture your eyes, show something going on behind your eyes, and completely look like you. Not some character you think you should be playing, just you. And with all I know and thought I knew about headshots, I was more than enlightened when I watched this SAG Foundation video, "Your Headshot From Every Angle," taped earlier this month.
Guests included casting directors Stuart Stone, Marci Liroff, and Geralyn Flood and photographers Sara Corwin, Alan Weissman, and Kevin Major Howard. Among many other things, I learned that Sara Corwin is really defensive about her high prices and Kevyn Major Howard might be slightly off-balance and/or an evangelist.
Bottom line, if you're an actor, it's totally worth it to see what they're saying.
Very excited to find out who the next American Idol will be!
I watch the performances every week (fast forwarding through the plethora of Ford infomercials, starring the top 12), but I only vote on the night of the finale.
Can I be honest? (Of course I can, it's my blog!) I voted for Crystal Bowersox and here's why; 1. If she were to make an album (or when she makes an album), I wouldn't buy the whole thing but I'd likely download some of her songs from iTunes. 2. I think she's really talented and unique. 3. She's a woman. 4. I've watched the show every week this season and I still can't remember what the guy's name is she's up against tonight. He might be forgettable.
It's true, I'm something of a feminist and that does bleed over into the way I vote. Of course, were she not likable she'd not be getting my support.
That said, one man I have great respect for has sadly given his last sharp-tongued, often painfully honest, critique. I don't care what anyone says, Simon Cowell was spot on in his assessments of performances throughout American Idol. Most of them were just too American to accept what was coming out of his mouth.
GO CRYSTAL!!!
The law of attraction is really at work with me today. I am OVERWHELMED with all of my end of the semester stuff, finals, submitting my films, writing meetings, meetings, work, meetings, work, attendance records, work, work, UGH! So, of course today, when I'm hurrying, arms full, with a trail of students behind me to get from class to the office so I can help them with registration, a random woman stops me and the following ensues:
A: Hey, you a teacher?
B: Yes! Sorry, I...
A: What do you teach?
B: English as a Second Language.
A: Can I have some worksheets on, uh... subject-verb agreement?
B: Uh... well, I don't have any on me (and are you kidding me?)
A: Can you mail some to me at 5211 Lake...
B: (Is this really happening?) Uh... you'll need to write that down.
OK, what the hell just happened? Phil must have sensed my stress. An hour later he forwarded me our anniversary getaway reservation confirmation for Lake Arrowhead Resort. Ahh.
It's true. This too shall pass!
Recently a friend sent me probably the coolest and most creative gift I've ever received. It was an
Edgy Princess Ring, which are handmade rings from France, made of glass. I am head over heels IN LOVE WITH IT!!
From the moment I opened the box, the experience began. The packaging was so carefully and beautifully created in their signature chocolate brown box with coordinating flower embellishments, I almost didn't want to open it!. So special! I just kept thinking what a GREAT and
special gift to receive!
I love big rings and silver, so this was perfect for me. Then I put it on. Love ensued. It fit my finger perfectly, but all the rings are size adjustable at the base, so you never have to worry about size when you're ordering. But what's cool is, because you adjust them at the base, they don't look at all like adjustable rings. They just look and feel really sturdy. And awesome!
I had never seen anything quite like it, so
I had to visit the website to find out more about this uber cool company. The Edgy Princess mission is "to bring our fabulous finds to every hip woman and girl out there. Why? Because there is an edgy princess inside us all." Yay!!
Mine is the Square Classic-Silver, but they have lots of other styles in lots of different colors. Other shapes include round, dome, rectangular, flower, flat, and plate. What's inside? Mine is filled with silver beads. Others are filled with colored water, pop art designs and water, and beads of different colors and shapes. So damn cool and chic!!
Cost? The rings range from $30 to $40. Not bad for my favorite accessory of all time.
One drawback. Everyone wants to know what's on your finger! I had to stop class twice on Thursday to answer questions about what was on my hand and where it could be purchased. I've also been stopped twice, once in the grocery store and once walking into an audition, about my ring. I'm getting used to it!
OK, two drawbacks, when you go to their website it is SO hard to pick one from the collection! They're all just too unique and fabulous!
And, turns out the folks at Edgy Princess are not just good at making amazing, eye-catching rings, but they're good people, too. A portion of all sales goes to charity.
Want more information? You can check out the Edgy Princess Facebook Page page or reviews on Yelp to see what other Edgy Princesses have to say about their rings.
Thank you Edgy Princess. I am unofficially a little bit cooler now. It's a start.
