Soapbox « Daisy, JD (Just Daisy)

Archive for the ‘Soapbox’ Category

D-U-M

Apr 30th, 10 / 9 Comments

Most bloggers have some sort of software installed in their HTML code to give them some insight on who is reading their blog. (Relax. It isn’t like I know what you ate for dinner last night. Only breakfast.)

(Sheesh. I kid.)

This code gives them enough information to figure out where the creepers are from but of course never enough to go to their boss with the crazy creeper’s comments printed out so you can shake papers while exclaiming “ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU FUND THE PAYCHECK OF AN IDIOT WHO IS USING YOUR INTERNET TO HARRASS ME WITH THEIR IDEAS & OPINIONS? FOR INSTANCE…..”

Not that that is a dream of mineor anything…but…well. Some people who read my blog are idiots. (Most of you are quite friendly and nice. Just a few idiots.) One of you is decidedly not an idiot because you appear to go to Harvard and all I can say about that is….well. Hello. I’m assuming you pop by to be wildly annoyed by my syntax and overuse of commas, no? (No? Oh, well then, lets have tea!) There are a lot of university IP addresses that access my little corner of the internet, with NYU winning something big time. LSU also represents, the aforementioned Harvard, Creighton, Iowa, Indiana, Rutgers, Georgetown and University of Florida. (I suppose now is not the time for Tim Tebow jokes, eh?) More interesting is the law firm IP addresses that make me go “Hmmmm. Really? THEY have someone reading my drivel? Oh. Well then. Are they….hiring?” while shrugging my shoulders wondering just how associate #45898 managed to bill their 52 visits to this here website to client #987. MODERN DAY MYSTERY.

Some of the ip addresses make me scratch my head and go “huh?” mostly because, if you could enlighten me, where is Hennepin County? And is it a quaint as it sounds? I hope so. I imagine it has lots of bunnies & perhaps a cozy library with wicker chairs where I could curl up in. I’m also wondering what exactly what Duck Creek Technologies is, and again, bonus points to someone who could fill me in.

Also? US Department of Defense? NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

US Court of Appeals: how you doing? (Also? Hiring? No? Really? Pity.)

Research in Motion? Sorry charlie, I’m a devout iPhone kind of girl.

Land O’Lakes, I do in fact love your butter (my personal preference for my baking needs) and I’m wondering if my many readers from the US Department of the Interior would be offended if I made a “lovely ginger jar lamp in the Oval Office” joke right about now?

And all of you from Ohio State? Go Blue!

To answer a few of the Google search questions bringing people to these parts:

I have no idea if cats can ride in the trunks of cars. I don’t like cats.
Yes, you can eat of Wedgewood. They are in fact, dishes made for eating off of.
I don’t store arsenic so I can’t begin to fathom how to tell you to do so. (Also: GO AWAY.)
Yes, it is stupid to get into a new relationship while studying for the bar exam. Also: asking Google relationship advice is even more stupid.
Sixty One Scent Stamps – um, scratch and sniff?
When I was an unemployed lawyer I slept a lot, but you seem to be spending your time Googling, so why are you are asking Google what to do with your time?
No, I will not show you photos of me in short-shorts or Legally Fabulous, but, thanks for asking. (Creeper alert!)

Finally, many thanks to Legally Fabulous, The Namby Pamby & Overflowing Brain for the insane amount of traffic you drive to this here blog. Kisses.

Chicago, Soapbox

Broken Record

Apr 26th, 10 / 10 Comments

I know I’ve written of this before, but lately it has been heavy on my mind. The friends from law school whose friendships have become not just distant but simply not there. A phone call un-returned. An email never replied to. Combined with Newlywed Syndrome & a grey, cold winter I’m feeling secluded from my friends, even the good ones. Thus, I think, the friendships that seems to have dissolved weigh heavily on me.

A good friend told me that when I have to ask myself when I should stop trying, I’m probably at that point. With each unanswered email or invitation my heart breaks a little more. Did I do something wrong? Have our lives simply taken two different paths? Has it been so long that the conversation would know have to start with the awkward excuses and filling each other in on details that shouldn’t be unknown to the other?

What do you do with these friends that drift away? Do you de-friend them on Facebook? You certainly are no longer friends, more of just acquaintances, people of a bygone time or era in your life. Do you stick to small talk when you inevitably run into them at a social function or in a coffee shop? Friends have a way of leaving an indelible mark on your soul, and just when you think you’ve made peace with them leaving your life you see something or hear a story that makes you smile or glance to the side, thinking without realizing it, “So and so would just love………” before you trail off into nothing. Perhaps so-and-so is no longer obsessed with pugs or the Beatles or themed key chains. Perhaps that too was a part of their soul before they moved on.

Life is a constant circle, an evolution. I know it is time to shake some cobwebs & move along, making new friends along the way. Until then though, I continue to mourn a little of those I feel I’ve irreparably lost.

“He said where you headed to girl,
Where are you coming from
She said, New Orleans
But that’s another story
New Orleans, that’s another time
That’s another town, that’s another life”

Soapbox

Mother Earth

Apr 22nd, 10 / 5 Comments

Today is Earth Day and as someone who has slowly been trying to stop the bad habits (I always leave lights on! Always!) and slowly make choices that are better for the earth & my household, I figured I’d share some of the “green” cleaning products that I’ve found that actually work. I’ve had quite a few misses – products that are green but leave my counter tops sticky or mirrors cloudy or laundry decidedly…..not clean. There is nothing worse than folding laundry and realizing that it just seems dirty. Also, for full alert, I’m a little OCD. My Mother accuses me of organizing her fridge when I go home and running around scrubbing things while exclaiming “LOOK HOW PRETTY!” So, here are some products that I’ve tried that are staples around the house here:

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day has quite a few products and some of them I love…some of them I don’t love. Their “glass cleaner” sent B running out of the bathroom, paper towels in hand, demanding what “GREEN CRAP” I’d bought because, um, look: the mirrors are streaked with toothpaste goo and it isn’t coming off. So I’d avoid the glass cleaner, but definitely suggest their counter top spray & handsoap (especially in the basil scent, mmm!):

I also really like the Method line of cleaners & products, but I’m a huge sucker for their cubes of hand soap that fit my criteria for my kitchen & guest bath: NO WORDS ON THE BOTTLE. I don’t need my guests to know their handsoap contains “all natural” strawberry extract or is a lovely “light rain” scent. I just need some gentle soap that declares nothing other than a pretty bottle to invite them wash their hands. The paper packaging comes off to reveal a simple textured cube with no brand name or images, so it will fit any bathroom motif:

method

The Method brand bathroom wipes are also wonderful for those of you who like to use disposable wipes – something I like using but try not to buy that often. I also really like the Method brand shower spray – the statistcs on the amount of chlorine bleach that goes down the drain from shower sprays is astronomical. I’ve also tried the Method stainless steel cleaner, and while it was a total failure, my Mom & I we have discovered that all stainless steel cleaners stink. Water with vinegar and a soft cloth are the only thing that are going to clean your stainless steel appliances without leaving tell-tale streaks behind.

For bathroom cleaners I like to be a little tougher (you never know what bugs are lurking on those surfaces!) so I turn to the only Seventh Generation product I really care for (their laundry soap is mediocre at best in my opinion), their natural disinfecting bathroom spray that, according to their website:

When we set out to bring to market EPA registered disinfecting cleaning products made from essential oils, we knew we had our work cut out for us. In the hunt for disinfectants that met our strict standards, CleanWell Company was a natural fit. The CleanWell™ scientific team was the first to discover how to blend thyme oil to kill 99.99% of harmful germs. Just like us, they’re dedicated to providing healthy ways to care for our families and homes. And just like us, they won’t compromise to get the job done.

The result of our partnership is our new Seventh Generation Disinfecting Cleaners. They have the tough cleaning power you expect from Seventh Generation, along with CleanWell™ patented disinfecting technology. We are proud to partner on this streak-free formula that quickly and easily cleans and deodorizes your home and other important places with the disinfecting power of thymol, a component of thyme oil, which is obtained from the common garden herb thyme.

The rewards of this approach are clear: A botanical disinfecting household cleaning solution that kills 99.99% of household germs* naturally on hard nonporous surfaces.

Works for me – I’m happy to kill germs without the aid of bleach!

For laundry I tried a lot of brands, some I liked how they worked but didn’t like the price, others didn’t work very well, others claimed to be “perfume free” but made me itch and the list goes on. Finally I found Charlie’s Soap Powder, which is an awesome powder detergent (I know! I hate powder too!) that works like a charm and leaves my laundry smelling clean. Not like flowers, or rain or rain forests, but just plain clean. That is something I can get behind. I order it on Amazon, and the small bag lasts me a few months. I only use dryer sheets on select “types” of laundry (no dryer sheets on towels, cloth napkins, dish clothes, no-wrinkle clothing or wicking fabrics – which means I use dryer sheets on undershirts & jammies) but with Charlie’s my laundry does not feel “crunchy” after drying:

charlie

One of the products I buy in bulk is dish soap (is there anything worse than running out of dish soap while you are trying to clean up?) and I buy the Kirkland brand soap from Costco in the gallon jug. It is $7 for a gallon, has a citrus scent, and works better than most other dish soaps I’ve used such as Joy or Dawn. The only “issue” with it is that it gums up more quickly than other brands, so I’m constantly rinsing out the spout I pour it from. FYI- I pour small amounts of it into a glass bottle that I bought from an “olive oil dispenser” section of Bed Bath & Beyond and pour it into the sink from the glass bottle, storing the huge container in the utility closet. I will admit that I have yet to try any green automatic dishwasher soaps, but I’m going to give the Method tablets a try in the near future.

Kirkland

I’ve also used the Clorox Green line & give their glass cleaner a big thumbs up- B doesn’t complain about it either, so while he might hate cleaning the bathroom mirrors, at least he isn’t fighting the cleaning product any more.

The one thing that I buy in its most commercial form ever is toilet bowl cleaner. I’m sorry, but I need chemicals to clean that out. I just can’t get behind the idea of a little essential oil in there to “do the job”, so I use a Clorox brand product to scrub out the toi-toi. I also continue to kill trees with my over abundance of paper-towel usage, but we have switched to cloth napkins at the dinner table, so perhaps that is balancing it out a little?

So I’m curious readers – are you a greenie like me, do you take it to a new level and make your own cleaners (love some recipes!) or are you beholden to your chemicals to put the elbow grease in for you?

(Rhett Butler says Go Green or Go Home….or take a nap) RB 6