Tea Tree Oil

Tea Tree Oil is a great natural solvent. It won't hurt your skin but is a bit harsh if you apply full strength to your face. (And it will burn like hell if your pores are open [if it's steamy]). But a drop of it will pop a balloon.
Uses: antiseptic moisturizer for skin irritations (wounds or pimples), can help clean grease and paint stains (?)

I put some on my face after a warm shower, following some time in the sauna. The only time I remember my face burning so badly was when my dad told me ammonia would clear up whatever rash was on my face and failed to mention that I needed to rinse it off immediately and then I woke up in pain with that pretty bad chemical burn. Oh yeah, remember that time?

Those were good times. It's the cheapest way to have a chemical peel, if you don't mind gambling with blindness.

Simple Vegetable Soup

I spent 2 hours cutting vegetables and effing around, that the veggies and ingredients are still in my fridge 2 days later and I haven't actually made the soup. Instead I got distracted trying to take cool pictures for my blog demonstrating the awesome Bert & Ernie Sing in the Tub record I listened to about 6 times that night. Between this and the opera, my independence is revealing I AM A NERD. I don't know how long this blog will last. I'm trying to be married to these little things I talk about in the blog, not to the blog. Meanwhile, I've got a food diary and a personal journal and there is no life left. But if a blog gets me to figure out manual settings on the digital camera, then the blog it is! The food diary's making me feel a little crazy woman anyway.

Madame Butterfly

30 below outside, lots of old people in fur coats.

A little bit scary at first by myself, and a long, slow show which made it that much more powerful at the end. I totally cried, even though I couldn't wait for it to be over already.

Picture: My special opera shirt.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A makes my eyes shiny (I think) and my skin heal. It is in spinach, carrots, egg yolks, mozzarella, apricots, milks, mango, cantaloupe, sweet potato, liver and lamb.
Supplement: Cod Liver Oil.
How much? 15,000 IU
Too much? 200,000 IU for 6 months
Too much is toxic, esp. during pregnancy (can cause birth defects during early pregnancy). Too much beta carotene will turn skin orange. Vit A in plants (yams, mango, carrots, etc) is beta carotene and the body only absorbs about 30%. If most vit A is ingested through animal sources (retinal/retinol), body absorbs 90% and that would be a path to toxicity.

Conclusion: Eat as much vit A as possible, balance plant/animal ratio @ 2:1 and don't worry about it. Reexamine before getting knocked up or if you are looking rather orange today w/o sunless tanning.

Hello, Stalker

Possible Blog Titles:

Cece Klee (alias, less pressure. Cece: Cecelia, confirmation name, St. Cecelia, patron saint of music, died a virgin, hard to kill, incorruptible, visited her church in Rome. Klee: Paul Klee, Swiss-German Expressionist, awesome, methodical approach to identifying universal stuff through a completely subjective understanding... i don't even know what i mean by that, but that's what i mean. love his art. love it. the images by themselves, i consistently heart. This is "Drawn One" 1935)

Adventures in Letting it Die

Schnookie Sails the Seven Seas

Poopy & Flan

Two nights ago I dreamt I was sucked into a Tornado. Before it happened, I tried to call my dad to say I love you and let someone know I was about to die. And I realized that holding onto the the bottom of a bus shelter post was not going to save me. "Wow" + "Oh Shit" = Wide awake.

Yesterday I made Deviled Eggs. I also went to the gym, bought 4 pairs of shoes and a hat for $63, only bought the stuff on my list at the grocery store, and did all the dishes. Weird awareness of craving mind yesterday, success involved some sort of reallignment, ineffable. More I try to put my finger on it, the less understanding I can recall.