Hummingbirds may be the meth-heads of the natural world, but Acorn Woodpeckers are vying for the title.
As many of my friends know I have a love/hate relationship with Twilight. I’m not really going to get into that here, but I thought mentioning this would be a good way to start.
My cousin’s wife, Meagan, is my fellow Twitard. And after I bought my first circle lenses we hit on the unoriginal idea of getting twilight-ish contacts for the Breaking Dawn midnight release. But being that Meagan is married with kids and bills and such I thought i would take it upon myself to do much of the research. This meant investing in a few lenses.
I searched all over for decent lenses that would work on light colored eyes because Meagan has blue eyes and I have green eyes. And since Circle lenses are designed in and for the Asian market, they are designed with brown eyes in mind.
There are lenses out there called “Twilight” lenses that really don’t have good coverage or much of a “golden” quotient on actual eyes.
The main thing I have been keeping in mind while looking for good twilight lenses is a small pupil hole for good color coverage. Color opacity is also fairly important.
Meeting these requirements seemed to be the “Geo Twins Brown” lenses from Kiwiberry1-Collection.com. Based on the image used on the page it looked as though it had pretty intense coverage that might even work on light colored eyes. Well, they arrived today and I am pretty pleased with the results.
Lenses in vials. Geo Medical has anti-counterfeit measures on their vials.
lens up-close in vial:
Lens on the right is upside down:
Lens in my right eye. left eye natural color:
indoor lighting:
With Flash:
Indoors with Natural Light:
In Daylight:
And here I am in all my webcam glory:
The Review:
Comfort: 8/10
My Dueba Puffy 3-tone green lenses are a tad more comfortable, but I think if I soaked these in solution for a while longer they might be more comfortable. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve worn lenses so my eyes need to adjust. This score will probably improve to a 9 out of 10.
Design/Color: 10/10
This is pretty subjective. If you are looking for non-subtle lenses then these are for you. The patterning of the pigments is in strands like a natural iris. No strange shapes. They have a nice outer/limbal ring in dark brown. The next color is a tan with bits of the darker brown for blending. Then the color nearest the pupil is golden. Most lenses have the inner color darker or more translucent for a more natural blended look. These will pretty much define a permanent pupil shape.
If you are looking for the really obvious golden Cullen colored lenses from the Twilight: Eclipse movie then these are pretty close and will work well on any eye color.
Since they have a small pupil opening your vision will blur on the peripherals in low light. I’m going to watch a movie in my dark room later tonight to see how annoying they are in a theatre-like situation.
Enlargement: 6/10
these are not enlarging lenses. They have a 14mm diameter which is standard contact size to cover the average iris. I give this a 6 simply because the limbal ring makes the eyes stand out more. It seems unfair to score this so low since this lens is not meant to enlarge at all.
So there you go. Happy Twitarding!
Are you glad to have me back in your frigid embrace? To straggling readers of this blog it must seem as though I never left.
I’ve missed you, MN. Not because of your geography. I mean, let’s face it, you are FUCKING FLAT! Don’t get me wrong. I don’t discriminate against flat-chested women. And even flat notes have their place in a musical composition. But I cannot abide by flatlands. I’m a Pacific Northwest girl and, as such, I love me some mountains. Thankfully, Duluth has these “hill” things that break up the endless monotony.
Are you wondering what I’m doing back here? What other reason could I have to be here except to enjoy the company of Crystal & Jess.
Okay, I’m not enjoying their company at the moment as they are in Florida. But I am enjoying the glory that is their streaming netflix and broadband internet connection.
I flew in on Crystal’s birthday and we went to the Mall of America. I’m fairly certain that I’m allergic to the mall. Nothing quite so poetic as being allergic to capitalism, but more like cleaning products or the chemicals they put in the water for the amusement park log ride. And we also spent a good deal of time in the Aquarium they had their. Crystal got in free since it was her birthday.
The aquarium was AWESOME. Seriously, diary, you would have liked it. I took lots of pictures and video and maybe if you are a good diary I will share them with you.
A few days ago Crystal and Jess flew to Florida with some other friends to do the theme park experience and I stayed here to love on their furbabies. Again. Play your cards right and you might get pictures. Anyway, that kind of brings us to the now of things. But you must be wondering what I have been doing since i was last here to see Muse. Mostly, crafting.
I’ve realized that I don’t post about my crafts nearly enough. I mean, I sell hats in my shop, but so much of my life is wrapped up in what I create that it seems silly that I haven’t been blogging about it.
So, Minnesota, I’ll be seeing you around. And even though I may not be writing to you specifically in later posts, please do try to swing by from time to time to read about what I’m up to.. you know, providing I continue to write about what I am up to.
ciao
I’m filing this under bug report because I don’t know of any other way to put this.
I am certain that you are aware of the problems many of us ipod touch users are experiencing with decreased battery life after foolhardily upgrading the firmware on our devices. But I believe complaining to other people on the internet doesn’t do as much good as complaining to the source of the problem.
I have satellite internet and have to deal with bandwidth caps. So the download of a 300+mb firmware update is a HUGE luxury, and one that has effectively crippled my internet as I wait for my ISP to forgive me my bandwidth transgressions. So imagine my extreme disdain that now, on top of having to temporarily limit my internet usage, I am experiencing the worst battery life of any product I have ever owned.
The iOS4 update has done little for me as a user of an ipod touch in terms of increased functionality. It has, however, caused my battery to drain at an alarming rate.
Overnight my battery has discharged nearly completely, leaving it virtually useless at the start of my day.
From what I have read (too late to keep me from upgrading the firmware) is that this may have something to do with the push notifications and wifi. Something to do with VoIP?
Whatever you have done to alter these settings, you have royally frelled up.
It would be nice if your next update that REPAIRS THIS ISSUE were to come out soon and NOT BE HUGE. But I despair at the reality that neither will be the case. And that a fix won’t be coming anytime “soon”.
Anyway, hardworking apple employee (providing that I don’t get a stock email reply), thanks for reading this “bug report”. And please, have a lovely day… while I drain mother earth of her resources by having a device with a USB outlet turned on at all times in order to keep my ipod from dying on me.
Yours in disappointment,
Melanie
I’m in Minnesota. Finally. I know. Who says that? But here I am and color me stoked. Because Crystal and I went to see Muse!
The story of getting here is long and aggravating. So I’ll sum it up with saying I was promised a lot of help and made to promise not to worry about money And then at the last moment all offers of help were rescinded leaving it highly improbable that in the remaining time I would be able to assemble the necessary finances to back this trip.
I’m rather indebted to my parents. They’d spent the last few weeks before I left home coming up with chores and tasks that would warrant them giving me money. And to cover the remained they gave me a loan and an advance on birthday money.
My aunt and uncle pulled some strings with their friends to find me the cheapest flight option. My uncle is a retired United Airlines employee and is friends with other airline employees. So I was able to get my flight paid for at just over half the price for full fare. This left me pleased as punch and excited that I would have some money to buy some concert merch or cover a group dinner for my friends Crystal & Jess. And that is when I was told that the tickets that had been purchased for me were going to be resold.
I didn’t waste any time being personally offended or shocked by that latest black hole & revelation (see what I did there?). At first I was going to try to buy the aforementioned tickets myself. But reviewing the forwarded StubHub email in my inbox made it clear that I could not afford to. So I wrote the person who had bought them and said I understood and that they could just return my $40 and we would call it even. I then immediately went to the Ticketmaster website to make sure that there were still seats available.
When first planning this trip Crystal and I were going to go to Minneapolis for the Muse concert. But there were no tickets available. So we decided to make a road-trip from her home in Duluth all the way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the concert the next day. So learning last minute that I would have to try and get tickets again raised my stress level. But thankfully there were seats available and I used almost my last penny to buy them. Thankfully, my father decided to gift me some spending cash right before I left. So I didn’t arrive broke.
Bradley Center Seating Chart
The original seats bought for me were in section 216, second to last row and just a couple seats in from section 217. The price they were going for on StubHub was over double face value.
The seats I bought were the next section over (217) , a few seats in and a couple rows closer.
At first these tickets looked awesome. But the map of the Muse concert seating and stage setup was inaccurate. First of all, the 400 upper levels were not even for sale. Secondly, Muse’s stage extend further out into the General Admission are than the map indicates. And worst of all, it looked like their own stage props would prevent us from seeing them perform.
If you google image or videos of the Resistance tour you would see that Muse has an en epic stage show with giant LED lit/animated pillars that separate and act as secondary stages within their choreographed show. But when Crystal and I got to our seats we discovered that the pillars that they had on stage were there giant cloth monstrosities that would effectively block our view. We noticed that the seats on the far end of the stadium with a straight on view of the stage were not remotely filled so we discussed it and decided that if the concert started and we still weren’t satisfied with our seats we would migrate to the ones further away but with a better view.
As the opening band, Passion Pit, began their set Crystal realized that she couldn’t find her keys. So we had a little adventure retracing her steps then going back to were we parked to discover them in her car. We waited for a locksmith who way overcharged here and then headed back into the Bradley Center. I bought us some merch and then the intro for Muse’s first song started playing. We ducked into an entryway a couple of sections away to peak and this is what we saw:
The pillars were only covered in cloth. The cloth was now removed and the pillars were lit up with video displays
Then the pillars started to separate and Crystal and I exchanged super excited looks.
From were we were supposed to be seated I could throw a rock at Matt Bellamy. And even with my poor aim and weak throwing skill I could still hit him. So we RAN back to our seats.
I took a lot more pictures and recorded video snippets. But this is all you get.
The concert was epic and Crystal and I had a blast despite our proximity to really annoying kids. There are more shenanigans and a lot of details I glossed over. But this entry is long enough.
I’m flying to Duluth today. This trip has been a long time in the making and the subject of an unnecessary amount of stress. But now all the stress is past and the trip is about to begin.
Several years ago I was living in the Seattle area and going to school. In my very first class at that school I met and befriended a girl named Crystal. When I moved back home to Oregon, she & her boyfriend Jess made a visit to me as part of a longer vacation that they were taking. It’s been years since that visit. And she & Jess have since moved to Minnesota.
I’ve been wanting to see Crystal again but lacked the opportunity. Perhaps I just didn’t make it a priority. The latter is probably the case because the concurrence of Muse performing in close proximity to where Crystal lives has made this visit rise on my list of priorities.
In the real world where people have incomes and also drive perhaps priorities align differently. But I have to maximize my outings because I don’t have the money to make trips just because I miss someone.
I will be spending a week in Duluth, just hanging out. That’s my favorite activity. And while I look forward to going to the Muse concert with Crystal, I also know it will be an exhausting experience.
I’ll try to take pictures of shenanigans, but I know you woant hold it against me, Diary, if I flake out.
Much digital love.
I have the most uncontrollable shaggy bob haircut and it is time to do something about it.
For the longest time I’ve been rocking variations of the pixie haircut. It has traditionally been the best at handling the constant assault of my hair dye obsessed lifestyle. Because as I damage it beyond repair it isn’t long before the damaged hair grows out and is cut away. However, lately I’ve been romanticizing long hair. And in my quest to achieve that long hair I have been laying off on the extravagant bleaching of my hair.
I don’t freak out over hair. I’ve melted it from over processing. I’ve gone from long to hyper-short. And I’ve shaved my head bald. So, when I get annoyed with my hair it is not unusual for me to cut it myself. So over the past few months I have been trimming up the back myself. But now I find myself wanting a specific style that I know I can’t achieve myself. So this weekend I am going to the mall to see if some under-trained flunky who knows less about hair than me can achieve what I lack the ability to do to my own hair.
Okay. That’s not fair. They know less about hair dye than I do. I’m sure they know more about hair cutting techniques. But I am CERTAIN that they are under-trained.
So this hairstyle that I want? I want long luxurious locks, of course. Glue some Asian hair on and I’m good to go. No. I can’t afford hair extensions. Even DIY extensions are beyond my monetary grasp. What I really want is Audrey Tatou’s hair from Amelie, minus the bangs/fringe.
Yes, going shorter isn’t exactly moving in the right direction for growing out my hair. But my hair does need a cut to make it healthier. And to get most of the damage gone requires going short. A short angled bob is the only option I’ll consider. And Amelie’s hair is exactly what I want.
The problem is, after I decided this I tried to find pictures online. And while the forward facing images are easy to find, other angles that fully demonstrate her hairstyle are virtually nonexistent. That’s why I grabbed my Amelie DVD and took some screen shots that I plan to print out and take with me. And, Diary, I am sharing them with you because I love you so much.
I’ve gotten bob haircuts in the past with a high back and I have always tried to get the blunt bob edge with the soft taper underneath but the hair stylist never gets it right and my hair ends up looking like a bad early ’90s variation on a pixie. This part of the haircut is really a crap-shoot. I’ve gone in with examples before and always come out with the same disappointing results. So cross your fingers for me.
I know that there are a number of reasons that this might be executed poorly that have nothing to do with inept stylists. Thin or fine hair that lacks body often wont support this cut. But I really don’t have that problem… yet.
The key selling feature to this haircut is the length available in front that allows for successful pinning back of the hair. This is something I very much want. I’ve been waiting forever for my hair to reach a length (post-pixie) for it to be able to be pulled/pinned back out of my face. And I don’t want to lose that just because I get a haircut.
I know that my hair won’t look exactly like Audrey’s. I lack the curl that gives it the look that she has. I’m not going in with unrealistic expectations that my hair will look exactly like her hair. But I hope I am able to get a cut that is as close to her’s as possible.
So, Diary, there you have it. My hair plans which I hope to successfully execute this weekend before my upcoming trip to Duluth. But that is another entry.
