We were at the drug store the other day because we needed a few items, specifically shampoo. Of course she wants the most expensive stuff they have in stock, you know, because it smells good. I inform her that most shampoo’s smell relatively nice, and from my experience the cheaper stuff is just dandy.

It smells of puppies and unicorns.

While I wait for her to find something that passes her sniff test, “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel comes on the radio. I start to sing along, because this is by fair his best song ever.

“If you don’t stop it, I’m gonna punch you in the eyeball,” she tells me, with just a hint of a smile on her lips. It’s this smirk that keeps me from drop kicking her.

“No, you won’t,” I say. I continue to sing, now throwing a bit of a dance move into it.

“Stop. I mean it.” She pouts.

“The longer it takes you to pick out a shampoo worthy of your hair, the longer I shall boogie.”

What’s the point of having kids if you can’t embarrass them in the health and beauty aisle?

She moves farther away from me, so I figure I better start acting mature. In order to speed up the process, I begin to smell random bottles of shampoo myself.

I find one that sniffs good, so I hold it out for her to decide. I can’t resist the urge, so I gently squeeze the bottle. Some of it comes out, but doesn’t go up her nose.

“How’s that?” I ask.

“It smells nasty, and by the way, nice try.”

It’s a humongous bottle of VO5 moisturizing shampoo, on sale for $2.99. My husband doesn’t have hair, so between the two of us this shit will last a month. (My daughter goes through toiletries like a Tasmanian devil on speed.)

She watches me put the giant bottle into the cart.

“But it doesn’t smell good at all.”

“Yes it does, and its cheap. When you have your own money you can buy $25 shampoo.”

She shrugs.

“Whatever. I need deodorant too, but not the roller kind. I hate those.”

I give her a $2 cap and send her on her way before I punch her in the eyeball.

]]> http://avarwallace.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/womens-tennis-northwestern-sets-notre-dame-aside-to-advance-to-round-of-16/ Wed, 19 Dec 2012 02:04:31 +0000 avawallace http://avarwallace.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/womens-tennis-northwestern-sets-notre-dame-aside-to-advance-to-round-of-16/ Saturday’s NCAA Regional Championship contest between familiar foes No. 13 Northwestern and Notre Dame may have been one of the loudest matches the Combe Tennis Center has ever seen.

Fans filled the center’s bleachers and settled in for what would turn out to be a four-and-a-half-hour match as players brought drama and suspense to the court.

At the end of the day, the Wildcats (20-8) secured a spot in the NCAA Round of 16 for the 12th time in 13 years with a 4-2 victory over the Fighting Irish (21-8).

“Today was one of those days where neither team deserved to lose,” coach Claire Pollard said. “All credit goes to our kids for the way they gutted it out. It was just an incredible showing of great resilience and heart.”

This was NU and Notre Dame’s second meeting this year; the Cats defeated their longtime rivals in the regular season 4-3 on the road.

This time around it was junior Linda Abu Mushrefova who clinched the match for Northwestern with a thrilling three-set victory in the No. 5 singles spot, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. The junior was one of three Cats to come back from a set down to win her match.

Both junior Brittany Wowchuk and sophomore Nida Hamilton made their comebacks after losing their first sets 6-0, feats that impressed Pollard.

“Nida and Britt found ways to win,” she said. “Brittany especially really dug in there. I thought her opponent was just playing too well, but she really found a way.”

Sophomore Veronica Corning was NU’s first singles victory with a breezy 6-1, 6-0 win at the No. 4 spot. She would then wait nearly two hours for three of her other teammates to win their matches and secure an NU victory.

“The waiting makes me anxious,” she said. “But you’re standing there with your team – it’s exciting.”

In doubles, the No. 85 pairing of Corning and Abu Mushrefova lost 8-4 at the No. 1 spot against Notre Dame’s No. 8 Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews. The 45-minute match was an efficient demonstration of Notre Dame’s formidable doubles point.

At both the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles match-ups, NU and Notre Dame traded games for over an hour. Only Wowchuk and Hamilton at the No. 2 spot were able to come away with a 9-7 victory to even up the doubles score.

Sophomore Belinda Niu and junior Kate Turvy then conceded an early 3-1 lead to lose 8-5 at the No. 3 position.

The Cats were disappointed but not surprised at the doubles loss; Notre Dame dominated in their doubles matches against NU earlier in the season as well.

“Notre Dame has traditionally had a good doubles point, it’s a team that has played together for four years,” Pollard said. “But it was a tough doubles point, an emotional point because we finally had the chance.”

With their victory, NU will travel to Athens, Ga., to face No. 4 Stanford in the round of 16 for the second year in a row . Last year the Cats lost 4-2 to the Cardinal in Palo Alto, Calif.

Abu Mushrefova said the team will work on tweaking little parts of their game throughout the week in preparation for Thursday’s match, but once again stressed confidence as a key to winning.

Pollard said this year’s team is more “up and down” than the group that played Stanford last year. Nevertheless, she looks forward to going all-out in Georgia.

“It’s a tall order, but it’s nice finally going into a match where we have nothing to lose and they have everything,” Pollard said. “That being said, we have got to have that belief that we can do this.”

This is a short 84 minute movie about what happens when teenage boys get super powers. It is unlikely to surprise anyone to learn that it start off as good fun, but it all goes horribly wrong.  This link takes you to the full review

So I really should be studying/sleeping .. but no procrastination! I recently downloaded “photoplus” by serif , just for some basic photo editing ( because well I don’t have a mac. . I do heart my PC ) . It is like photoshop but not, I only downloaded the trial so its not all the features but hey I could make my picture do this :

I call it “mustachio”

Stay Pretty

Source: http://www.metroweekly.com

We have the highest teenage and childhood obesity rates today than at any other point in the world’s long history. Much of the blame for this is on the fast food, low energy society that we have become. Far too often we feel that it is safer to keep our children inside our homes rather than out and about in the great outdoors. The things we are doing for the protection of our children are actually detrimental to the health of our children.

There are things however that are being done to address the problem and get our children more involved, more active, and better educated about making the proper choices about diet, nutrition, fitness, and overall health. The problem for most teens is getting them off the computer, phone, or away from the television long enough to get active.

Even video games are getting in on the act of getting children up and active by creating games such as Play Station 2′s Dance Party Revolution and the new Nintendo Wii gaming system that seem to be taking the market by storm. These systems allow consumers, to actively participate in the game play adventure rather than sitting back and playing the game in a static environment. It is a great way to get teens off their seats and active. These games are also fun for adults and will have the same effects when it comes to activity. Whoever thought we’d be actually encouraging game play for exercise?

Get Outside and Get Active

Teens learn by example and whether they care to admit it or not, they typically enjoy doing things as part of the family. Go rock wall climbing or mountain climbing. Go bike riding as a family. Camp in the great out doors and go hiking, boating, or biking yet again. Learn a new sport together. It’s amazing how much fun you can have learning how scuba dive and while you are at it, neither of you will be consuming empty calories. Even if the sport you take up together doesn’t involve a lot of physical activity it is quite likely more active than sitting in front of the television.

Have your teen join a recreational sports team. We have all kinds of sports teams available in our community in which our teens can join. Even those with no skills at all can join and play in some of the leagues while other leagues are competitive. Getting out and about for a softball game, soccer game, and even volleyball can be a great way for the family to do something together and the games and practices are opportunities for your teen to be active.

Lawn work is another way to get out and get active with your teen. The key, as always, is in your teen burning more calories than he or she consumers. It is often easier said than done but it is quite possible if you work to get them out and about. Find things however that will be interesting to your teen and focus on those rather than torturing them with activities that hold no interest at all (well maybe not the yard work). At any rate, filling their time with activities is also allowing time that they aren’t consuming calories as well and that is something worth considering.

Encourage your teen to eat healthier foods. Eliminate calorie-loaded soda, fruit juices, and energy drinks from your pantry shelves, and encourage your teens to drink plenty of water each day. Introduce as many vegetables as possible to the diet of your teens and get rid of the prepackaged convenience goodies that teens are notorious for depleting in one sitting. Also having your teens actively participate in the preparation and clean up for meals will help them pay more attention to the things they put into their mouths as well as the messes they make in the process.

We are the RUSH, dedicated to sharing only the coolest moments in student sport and music performance. But we have been known to let the occasional embarrassing moment slip through. Whoops! Watch, enjoy, comment on the video, like it, add it to your favorites, share it with your friends!

For instance, I was getting a latte at the Coffee Bean nearest Santa Monica High right when school got out. Sure enough, it was a treasure trove of teen watching as I scanned the mob, searching for the depressed teen walking home alone, the teens in happily unruly mobs, the young lovers intertwined, and the brainiacs with backpacks larger than their bodies. As a writer, this is where the dramatic paydirt is – the moments when hopes are dashed for the first time, when betrayal is a fresh and ferocious feeling and love is a new invention you and your boyfriend just came up with. Of course, my children are much younger so I’m able to witness the dysfunction and pain of adolescence in a somewhat detatched way. Who knows, maybe when I actually have teenagers I’ll have to steer clear of writing YA. It may hit too close to home…

Três jovens americanas perderam o emprego após tomarem banho na pia da cozinha de um restaurante da rede de fast-food KFC e publicar as fotos na internet.

As três funcionárias demitidas pelo KFC após tomarem banho em pia de lanchonete. Uma delas postou fotos da ‘brincadeira’ em página pessoal no MySpace.

Depois que as imagens foram descobertas, na última terça-feira (9), as três funcionárias foram suspensas e demitidas, afirmou uma porta-voz do KFC.

Em agosto, um funcionário do Burger King em Ohio, também nos EUA, foi gravado em situação semelhante, e postou o vídeo na internet. Timothy Tackett, de 25 anos, estava nu nas imagens.

I don’t know lately I’m just feeling kinda weird. I really just don;t want to wake up in the morning like i use to. Two days ago i actually cried when my alarm clock woke me up. I Just wanted everything to subside and not have to come to the reality that my heart is till broken, my mom and are will never be the same, and that from now on it seems like I’m alone. I don’t know if this is as serious as it was before, I realized how much I’ve been throwing-myself into my social life and who much I’m relaying on my friends to supply me with the social recognition that I should be getting form others. I feel so bad about it, I’m clinging to the bits and pieces I get from them like there my life line.

Is this normal? I don’t believe this is that normal teenage slump i think this is the real thing,…i know it’s the real thing but i don’t have the motive to care or manage it anymore i just want………….to stop it all the beating heart the rushing blood just stop. People say how “emo” it is for me to say this kinda stuff, well then emo is just an open basis of reality.

I need help, i need answers, and Love. That’s the basis of it all LOVE. were can a girl get some damn LOVE!!?!

Roger Federer was going through a so-called slump in this point of his career. Ever since he grabbed the top spot in the ATP rankings in February 2004, this was the first time when he entered four consecutive tournaments without actually winning them. As if that was not disheartening enough, he lost only one of them to Nadal. This was surprising because just before this so-called slump he was riding high on his win from Australian Open and Dubai Open. Fans got a semi-shock when he split with coach Tony Roche and declared that he would enter the French Open and Wimbledon without a coach.

Fans of the lesser gods had a reason to rejoice and discussions like ‘is this end of Federer?‘ were abuzz, while fans continued to crumble when he lost again to Nadal in the battle of surfaces, an exhibition match played on half-clay, half-grass court.

So when he entered the Hamburg Masters 2007, few expected him to keep his streak unbeaten on the German clay court. Initial signs weren’t looking good either. Federer survived a scare when he beat a qualifier in a tense three-setter. Except for the match against Ferrero, where he showed the sign of a true champion, he kept struggling. The quarterfinal match against David Ferrer and the Semifinal match against Carlos Moya couldn’t be won without a decider set. The number of unforced errors were rising. Coming onto the net wasn’t as successful as had been expected. Something was certainly wrong. On the other hand, Rafael was almost flawless and triumphant, except against Lleyton Hewitt in semifinals where he was forced to drop a set.

The stage was set. May 21, 2007. The date was bound to go into history books as one of the glorious moments of Roger Federer’s illustrious career. When it’s Roger vs Rafael, you are supposed to be glued at your TV set, but fans in India/Pakistan were not lucky enough. The live telecast of the match was scheduled to start at 1830 IST, when the match actually started at 1730 IST, so there was no option but to stick to live scoreboard from Official ATP website. In the very first game, Roger had to save two breakpoints, but the pressure kept on mounting and finally he surrendered the set at 2-6 with two breaks of serve. That’s when the live telecast began in India/Pakistan. The pressure was still mounting. Roger again saved a break point in the very first game of second set. Then what happened in the 4th game, no one expected. Before anyone could realize, Federer was leading the game 0-40 and had triple breakpoints and he finally managed a long sought break and lead the set 3-1 and after that there was no looking back for the emperor. He held on to his serve elegantly and won the set 6-2.

Then came the decider. You can’t expect a fighter like Rafael,who was riding high on his unbeaten streak of 81 matches on clay surface, just to witness Federer rolling. You have to expect a backlash, but there was no stopping this juggernaut. Nadal couldn’t hold on to a single serve and the game,set, match went to Roger Federer. 2-6 6-2 6-0. He won 8 consecutive games and won the last 11 out of 12 games.

Although Federer has won the Golden Bagel Award,a light-hearted award given to the player who has served the most bagels (sets won by 6-0) in a year, twice in three years, I bet no Bagel tasted sweeter than this one. Beating one of the greatest players on the clay court by a bagel?!! That has to mean something. I bet Federer won’t forget that for a long time to come. It was a much needed mental and psychological win for Federer against Nadal and that too when Nadal was chasing an ever elusive streak of triple figures, which no one in the history of tennis has achieved.

He has tasted the blood now. It will definitely provide a necessary boost for Federer to add the missing trophy of French Open to his collection. Nobody summarized it better than the philosophical Nadal himself, “I was winning for consecutive 81 matches, I know it had to end sometime, then who better than this man to do so.” Bravo!!

The history of tennis has rarely seen such an extremely competitive yet healthy rivalry. Don’t expect him to lose his heart. This wounded tiger will be passionate and furious like never before to defend his Roland Garros title. Could the French Open ’07 have had a better curtain raiser? I don’t think so.

(cross-posted to DesiCritics)