Fri-Yay 7

​I've been cleaning and going through things. I finally gave myself permission to toss old notes from school. I feel weird admitting that! I honestly had so much anxiety around it because I had this odd fear that my school was going to come back and demand my degree back because of a clerical error so I would have to prove that I had taken the class! 

It's too late now though. I'm not giving any of the degrees back! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

I also woke up 99% positive I was coming down with the 'rona. Which would be shocking considering I haven't left my house. Nope. migraine. Like always. It went away with Excedrin (and the CGRP shot I take). It's like that meme, is my headache from no water, migraine or a brain tumor. 

So no Covid-19! Although we've had some spikes where I live...which can be traced to people going out without masks and also protesters who are protesting masks (?). A bunch of them ended up in the ICU (according to the grapevine). I would hope they survive and learn something but I'm not sure you can fix stupid. Wear a mask for heaven's sake. 

​Listening:
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I'm getting ready to start the "Last Seen" podcast, from WBUR (Boston's NPR station I believe). This is a podcast (one of two that I have) about the largest art theft in the United States' History, the theft from the Isabella Gardner Museum. To give a quick rundown, one night upon the museum's closure, thieves broke in, tied up the security guards, and, stole a huge amount of art. Some of the art was priceless whilst others were...not as priceless but still valuable. Thirteen pieces were stolen, including a Vermeer, Rembrandts, Manet and Flinck. There's a strong connection to the Boston Mafia (which, don't quote me on this, seemed to be squabbling between the Irish and Italian factions). Irish mobster (Irish = Irish American) Whitey Bulger is often linked to the crime. 

Bulger was terrifying to me when I learned about him. He helped break up the Italian mafia (to gain control himself) and also placed a mole in the FBI. Let that sink in. An Irish mobster infiltrated the FBI. He escaped after several murders and went on the run. He was finally caught a few years ago (and has since died in jail I believe). A very scary guy. 

I'm catching up on my "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" podcast. I love this show and I love when I catch it live on NPR in the car. It's one of the podcasts I listened to when I lived in Scotland to keep up with America. It's funny and witty. Always good laughs to be had with this. It's also one of the podcasts my super conservative uncle would allow for road trips. He was pretty sensitive and was even more so when he was in a Fox "news" spiral. He would chuckle through these though. He's since passed so I can listen to whatever I want but anyways. That was a little rant...his normal response to anyone questioning his "opinions" was "respect your elders!" Which I understand...but when your "elder' is a moron, it's a 'no' from me. He did like me though because he thought I was listening when I would just tune him out, so he always rode with me for quail hunting. 

Not that I hunt. I don't enjoy it and I don't like game meat. There's a quail hunting lodge though and it's stocked with books.

​Anyways....it's a good podcast!  

Watching:
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I've watched five episodes of Mystery 101 on Hallmark. I think this is my second favorite Hallmark mystery show (after the Aurora Teagarden ones). It deals with a professor of literature at a scenic college (seriously, the scenic shots in this show are to die for) who falls into solving mysteries with a literary bent with a police detective. I think the detective's hair is way to long and fluffy but otherwise he fits the Hallmark "tall, dark hair/dark and handsome" trope for their male leads. I would assume the Hallmark series train is good, steady money for any actor so hopefully they'll make some more. They're cozy mysteries for TV. 

​Lusting:
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I have a few different face masks. I can sew and I can follow a tutorial of course but at the moment I'm working on my crochet stash more than sewing. My point is that I've gotten some fun fabrics and made masks but I've also bought some off of Etsy. I've found that if I set the search parameters to a shop location close to me than I can get my masks much faster than if they're states away. Since I have enough masks for the week, I've been looking to find some more for accessorizing. I tried to make a bedazzled one but it did not turn out well for me (my sewing skills only go so high at the moment) so I'm thinking about buying one. I can't decide if I want a fully bedazzled one or sequin one. I think masks are a great accessory...I mean, if we have to deal with a pandemic than lets have fun right? 

Signed, Blake is creating a curation for the Amazon Drop for the fall. I like her style, it's much edgier than mine but still oh so elegant. I'm not hard up for clothes but I think I would like her curation. I've gotten one thing total from all the other collections from the Drop as they tend to lend a bit too trendy and I don't really look amazing in trendy stuff for the most part. I'm fairly boring. I think Blake's most boring item would most likely be my most adventurous. 

I'm one day from tossing my Sephora eye palette. Sometimes their house brand is fantastic and sometimes it's the pits. I'm confused since they have in house brands and that LVMH connection--so why can't they figure out how to make a winning formula across the board? So annoying. I bought the Sephora Vintage Filter Eyeshadow Palette...and it's a muddy, chalky, depressing mess. I'm super bummed because I thought the colors were just so pretty and perfect for day/professional use.  I've been giving it a go for a month (as I stop buying makeup and pan what I have) but I don't think we're going to make it much further. 

I would love to get another eyeshadow palette but I don't need one and quite frankly, there's no room left in my vanity. I've been going through what I have in an effort to only keep the nice ones. I just went through this odd hoarding and buying phase with makeup. I have enough for a lifetime now but I wasn't getting items that were good to me. Granted, I have younger cousins that will take my "leavings" here so it's not a net loss but I got caught up in the consumerist identity of all these new launches. 

​Reading:
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This longform article from Texas Monthly on Juneteenth. It's almost a month old, so I'm behind, but I think Texas Monthly is such a good magazine (not just Skip Hollandsworth articles) that I wanted to read it. I hadn't heard of Juneteenth until college (when my roommate, a HBCU student, told me about it). So I'm thrilled it's more "mainstream" now because more people will hear about it. The essay is titled, Essay: Celebrating Juneteenth in 2020 Is an Act of Resistance. Juneteenth is originated in Texas, as it was the last place that enslaved people were freed (two years after the Emancipation Proclamation) and once free, they celebrated the date. 

This year felt different, in a good way. My neighbors celebrated the holiday with fireworks (granted, they're a bit rednecky and love any excuse to shoot them off, but they haven't done this before) and people had up signs wishing everyone happy Juneteenth and happy freedom day which I thought was really nice. I hope it enters into the national conscious as a major point in the national calendar. As for me, I was welcomed to my roommate's celebration that year and it's something she always includes me in (I'm on my tenth plus year!). This was the first year since being in the USA that I didn't go--because of Covid--but I've gone when in the country.