Yesterday I stopped by the Ricky's on Broadway and Houston to pick up some shampoo. While looking over their selection I came across this bottle. No, you are not reading the info on the website incorrectly that is $50 for an eight ounce bottle of shampoo...and if you look at the list of ingredients you will notice that the precious white truffle oil is not even listed.
When I saw this bottle in store I was uncharacteristically outraged at the price (although outrage is definitely a characteristic in most non-shampoo related matters). I mean come on, are there really that many people that literally have money to waste. Apparently in Manhattan the answer is "Yes!"
Now, truth be told, I must admit that in the not so distant past I have overpaid for beauty products based on the miracles that are promised in the packaging copy. But hey, I am in customer service...I have to look good at all times. My public demands it.
When I got home I had to check out the Philip B. website to make sure that some rogue associate at Ricky's did not mislabel the product. Nope, fifty dollars was correct. Then my cynical nature kicked in...maybe this is not even the most expensive shampoo. In less than a minute the good folks at google directed me to this. Yes, this one is $66 dollars for 10.1 ounces.
Because I couldn't drop the topic right there, the voices in my head forced me to calculate the cost per ounce. Philip B. clocks in at $6.25 per ounce with Alterna posting $6.54 per ounce.
Now clearly this is ridiculous, and I am justifiably filled with some bizarre version of righteous indignation. But then I began to think about the number of times that I have bought shots of rare scotch that, trust me, would have been a steal at $6.54 per ounce...and that the scotch is going to annihilate liver and brain cells without giving my hair the lustrous sheen it so clearly deserves.
I guess it all depends on how you want to waste your money.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
One City's Trash...
As someone who spent a great deal of his childhood in Salvation Army and Goodwill thrift stores, and as an adult who has items in his home that are literally found on the street, it should come as no surprise that I am currently enamored with this site.
Now I can scavenge the detrius of my fair city from the comfort of my own home. I love the 21st century.
Now I can scavenge the detrius of my fair city from the comfort of my own home. I love the 21st century.
Glutton For Punishment
Despite my continuing ever-morphing illness I got my ass to the gym today. That should be enough punishment for the day, but as I get on the treadmill I noticed that the President's press conference was on. My better judgment said I should switch the channel, but because I do have a masochistic side to my personality I decided to watch.
After five years in office what else can be said about this guy. The lies and the "folksiness" are so forced that I can't possibly fathom how even his most ardent supporters can't see through his condescension.
Back in the day Jesse Jackson had a quote in reference to presidential candidate Gary Hart. Jackson said "Gary Hart has a superiority complex...without the superiority". Just substitute the name Bush for Gary Hart and you have my opinion on our current president.
I swear, if Bush had been born with the same personality and mannerisms, but without the Bush name or money or privilege, you would find him at the bar at TGIFridays trying to impress his buddies from OfficeMax over a platter of jalepeno poppers.
Unfortunately fate would not be so just...
After five years in office what else can be said about this guy. The lies and the "folksiness" are so forced that I can't possibly fathom how even his most ardent supporters can't see through his condescension.
Back in the day Jesse Jackson had a quote in reference to presidential candidate Gary Hart. Jackson said "Gary Hart has a superiority complex...without the superiority". Just substitute the name Bush for Gary Hart and you have my opinion on our current president.
I swear, if Bush had been born with the same personality and mannerisms, but without the Bush name or money or privilege, you would find him at the bar at TGIFridays trying to impress his buddies from OfficeMax over a platter of jalepeno poppers.
Unfortunately fate would not be so just...
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
The Message
"Maybe he's asleep or something..."
"He just said his name and his phone number and then said nothing"
"Hi...please come to my birthday party...bye Matt"
These are the shards of thoughts that my girl, Calla Merritt left as a message on my home phone answering machine. Carol left a follow-up message informing me that Calla has not yet mastered the concept of voicemail...in Calla's mind I had been sleeping, then when the phone rang I picked up but instantly fell back to sleep before a real conversation could begin. God, I wish I were that narcoleptic.
Later in the evening I talked to Calla on the phone and was officially invited to her 5th birthday party. I cannot wait to get to DC to hang out with Brian, Carol and Calla...good times are guaranteed.
"He just said his name and his phone number and then said nothing"
"Hi...please come to my birthday party...bye Matt"
These are the shards of thoughts that my girl, Calla Merritt left as a message on my home phone answering machine. Carol left a follow-up message informing me that Calla has not yet mastered the concept of voicemail...in Calla's mind I had been sleeping, then when the phone rang I picked up but instantly fell back to sleep before a real conversation could begin. God, I wish I were that narcoleptic.
Later in the evening I talked to Calla on the phone and was officially invited to her 5th birthday party. I cannot wait to get to DC to hang out with Brian, Carol and Calla...good times are guaranteed.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Rooftop Phoenix
I believe it was the summer of 2002. For about five months I had had a severe case of "artist's block". I could not execute any creative idea, even if one had entered my head.
On a particularly hot day, I was up on my roof. Why I thought that getting 19 feet closer to the Sun would be cooler I don't know, but that was my belief. As I stood gazing at the stairwell structures that lead to the roof I was instantly cosmically inspired...I ran back down to my apartment to grab a yellow China marker. In a blur of a vision of a heat-induced delerium I realized how awesome the yellow of the China marker would look on the black paint/tar/sealant surface of the stairwell structure.
I began an intricate abstract design. Soon my hands and arms were black from the residue of the paint/tar/sealant surface. I had no idea what the final design would look like. The design flowed out of my wrist as though I were merely a conduit for the creation of...of...of... something.
In about ten minutes the design had been completed. It looked incredible. I stepped back and admired it from many different angles. Flawless.
To the best of my knowledge I have never been hit by a literal lightening bolt, but in this instance I had experienced the same effect. I had been jarred, shocked, jolted by some force to allow this creation to come out of me. Etched in my mind is the visual of returning to my apartment with pretty much my entire upper torso covered in a dusty blackness. Although it is kind of a cliche to say these days, in that moment I truly "felt alive". The creative blockage I had previously experienced disappeared. Washed away as I scrubbed my body free of the blackness.
--------
When my sister was in town last November, I took her and my brother Stan up to the roof to take a look at the gorgeous skyline view on display. When we got to the roof I discovered that, unbeknownst to me, the building super had recently "resealed" the entire roof in with a fresh coat of silver paint/tar/sealant. My design was gone. Like most of my artwork, it now "belonged to the ages"
While I cannot say that I was not disturbed by the loss of a familiar visual element of my own doing, the feeling of loss and mourning was short-lived. In a flash it hit me. The fresh coat of paint/tar/sealant had destroyed my artwork, but it provided an unblemished new canvas for a new creation.
The first day the mercury reaches 75 degrees you will know where to find me. Up on my roof creating something bigger and better...I cannot be stopped.
Art
On a particularly hot day, I was up on my roof. Why I thought that getting 19 feet closer to the Sun would be cooler I don't know, but that was my belief. As I stood gazing at the stairwell structures that lead to the roof I was instantly cosmically inspired...I ran back down to my apartment to grab a yellow China marker. In a blur of a vision of a heat-induced delerium I realized how awesome the yellow of the China marker would look on the black paint/tar/sealant surface of the stairwell structure.
I began an intricate abstract design. Soon my hands and arms were black from the residue of the paint/tar/sealant surface. I had no idea what the final design would look like. The design flowed out of my wrist as though I were merely a conduit for the creation of...of...of... something.
In about ten minutes the design had been completed. It looked incredible. I stepped back and admired it from many different angles. Flawless.
To the best of my knowledge I have never been hit by a literal lightening bolt, but in this instance I had experienced the same effect. I had been jarred, shocked, jolted by some force to allow this creation to come out of me. Etched in my mind is the visual of returning to my apartment with pretty much my entire upper torso covered in a dusty blackness. Although it is kind of a cliche to say these days, in that moment I truly "felt alive". The creative blockage I had previously experienced disappeared. Washed away as I scrubbed my body free of the blackness.
--------
When my sister was in town last November, I took her and my brother Stan up to the roof to take a look at the gorgeous skyline view on display. When we got to the roof I discovered that, unbeknownst to me, the building super had recently "resealed" the entire roof in with a fresh coat of silver paint/tar/sealant. My design was gone. Like most of my artwork, it now "belonged to the ages"
While I cannot say that I was not disturbed by the loss of a familiar visual element of my own doing, the feeling of loss and mourning was short-lived. In a flash it hit me. The fresh coat of paint/tar/sealant had destroyed my artwork, but it provided an unblemished new canvas for a new creation.
The first day the mercury reaches 75 degrees you will know where to find me. Up on my roof creating something bigger and better...I cannot be stopped.
Art
Return Of A Friend
A little over two years ago my sister passed this book along to me. She did not like it and did not finish it but, nonetheless, put it on my radar. I instantly fell in love with it. "Running With Scissors" was one of those books that you truly, desperately do not want to end as it is so enjoyable.
After reading a great book, my first instinct is to read everything by that author. In this case I picked up Burrough's "Dry". As far as drug recovery memoirs by an urban gay goes it was okay. But it contained little of the magic that made "Running With Scissors" so hysterically funny.
Not suprisingly I ended the Burroughs reading series and chalked him as a one-hit wonder. When his book
"Magical Thinking" came out in 2004 I paid it no mind as I did not want to disappointed again (and the reviews were not as glowing)
Inexplicably I decided to begin reading "Magical Thinking" this week and it is absolutely awesome. Reading it feels like reuniting with an old friend who for some reason you have lost contact, and then you kick yourself for letting the relationship not get your attention...
Augusten...please forgive me.
After reading a great book, my first instinct is to read everything by that author. In this case I picked up Burrough's "Dry". As far as drug recovery memoirs by an urban gay goes it was okay. But it contained little of the magic that made "Running With Scissors" so hysterically funny.
Not suprisingly I ended the Burroughs reading series and chalked him as a one-hit wonder. When his book
"Magical Thinking" came out in 2004 I paid it no mind as I did not want to disappointed again (and the reviews were not as glowing)
Inexplicably I decided to begin reading "Magical Thinking" this week and it is absolutely awesome. Reading it feels like reuniting with an old friend who for some reason you have lost contact, and then you kick yourself for letting the relationship not get your attention...
Augusten...please forgive me.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
What Have I Done To Deserve This...
Like most people I appreciate positive input regardless of the source. One place I look for such input is horoscope columns. Yeah, yeah, I know they are usually so general that they could apply to any person or situation. I do not care as I will take a positive jolt regardless.
Rob Brezny's Freewill Astrology stands head and shoulders above any other column. It does so not because of it's accuracy for predicting the future but because, as Mr. Brezny has said in previous interviews, his horoscopes are a vehicle for injecting poetry into otherwise poetry-deprived lives. In addition they are always extremely positive, funny and empowering.
Last night, like a lot of nights lately, I have not been able to sleep. I inevitably wake around 3:30-ish and toss and turn for hours. I fight the temptation to just get up and watch TV or engage in any other bright diversion. After about an hour and a half of sleeplessness I gave up and said I might as well just get on my computer....anything to take my mind off of not being able to slumber.
So I decide to visit the aforementioned Freewill Astrology and this is what I am greeted with as a forecast for the new week:
Rob Brezny's Freewill Astrology stands head and shoulders above any other column. It does so not because of it's accuracy for predicting the future but because, as Mr. Brezny has said in previous interviews, his horoscopes are a vehicle for injecting poetry into otherwise poetry-deprived lives. In addition they are always extremely positive, funny and empowering.
Last night, like a lot of nights lately, I have not been able to sleep. I inevitably wake around 3:30-ish and toss and turn for hours. I fight the temptation to just get up and watch TV or engage in any other bright diversion. After about an hour and a half of sleeplessness I gave up and said I might as well just get on my computer....anything to take my mind off of not being able to slumber.
So I decide to visit the aforementioned Freewill Astrology and this is what I am greeted with as a forecast for the new week:
German scientist Juergen Zulley specializes in research about the hours we spend unconscious lying in our beds every night. He has come to the conclusion that a lack of sleep can make you stupid, fat, and sick. It weakens your memory, decreases a hormone that helps control your cravings for food, and undermines the healthy function of your heart, digestive system, and circulation. I would add that sleep deprivation reduces the time you spend dreaming, which compromises your mental hygiene. All of these consequences would be major problems for you in the next two weeks, Aquarius. If anything, you need to sleep more than usual. I implore you to get at least eight hours a night. More would be better
How cruel can the Universe be...
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Human Resource Quiz
Let's say you own a business that, for financial reasons, needs to be open and operating on a holiday. Your presence is not necessary on said holiday as your employees are more than capable of handling the business...and, if truth be told your presence is never necessary as you literally will not lift a finger to help any of your employees.
What is the most productive way to deal with your employees who are not spending the holiday with their friends and family?
A) Call your employees by phone and tell them you appreciate their sacrificing their holiday for the sake of the business...enjoy the rest of your day knowing that your employees are aware of your appreciation.
B) Neither call nor enter the business on the holiday, lest you remind your employees that you can have the holiday off while they have to work...
C) Come to the business on the holiday and point out the flaws of the employees performance during one of the busiest days in recent memory...while literally not lifting a finger to help them out.
D) Come to the business and in the midst of the most chaotic (and financially lucrative) periods of the day, go to your office put your feet on your desk and take a nap...when you wake from slumber tell your employees what a great nap you just had.
If you answered C and D then "Congratulations!" you are a co-worker of mine.
What is the most productive way to deal with your employees who are not spending the holiday with their friends and family?
A) Call your employees by phone and tell them you appreciate their sacrificing their holiday for the sake of the business...enjoy the rest of your day knowing that your employees are aware of your appreciation.
B) Neither call nor enter the business on the holiday, lest you remind your employees that you can have the holiday off while they have to work...
C) Come to the business on the holiday and point out the flaws of the employees performance during one of the busiest days in recent memory...while literally not lifting a finger to help them out.
D) Come to the business and in the midst of the most chaotic (and financially lucrative) periods of the day, go to your office put your feet on your desk and take a nap...when you wake from slumber tell your employees what a great nap you just had.
If you answered C and D then "Congratulations!" you are a co-worker of mine.
Starting 2006 With High Dose Of Positive Energy
Started my new year off with at workout to this CD. Totally one of my favorite discs ever....Have only had the good fortune to hear Farley&Heller spin live once and they tore the roof off the place. Those kids need to move to NYC so that the Children can hear them more frequently.
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