David Evangelista Scrub shampoo, HD Hold hairspray, Straight smoothing serum and Shield leave in-conditioner

My hair is a mess.  Thin and naturally wavy (but not pretty curls), for four years I've been trying to grow out one layered cut after another.  And I've been through three hair stylists...none of whom...for some reason...honored my "I hate layers.  Don't cut any more layers!" and all of whom cut new layers as soon as my hair showed any signs of growing out.  After my most recent disaster, which resulted in head ringing layers, I've taken to cutting my own hair....which mostly consists of the few whisps longer than the rest as I try to even it out.

That means my hair care is even more important as I need to keep the various layers from drying out and breaking.

I am loving the David Evangelista products.  These arrived in the mail with the company's compliments a few months back but trying out hair care takes a while.  What are the long term effects?

So far, so good!  I really like the Scrub shampoo which gently exfoliates.  It really doesn't dry or strip my hair and this product I will continue to use.  It's hard - for me - to find a good like product.  I also have the Straight, a lifesaver in that it kills the frizz that my layers can develop when there is any moisture in the air, which happens even in a Los Angeles summer and makes the layers look a (worse) mess.  The Shield, a leave in conditioner, does smooth and straighten.  I like it and the product is a good version of its genre, but I'm not a big leave-in conditioner fan.  If you are, I think you'll love it.  Last, I have the HD Hold hairspray which doesn't have sticky residue as it promises and leaves my hair soft after I spray.  I also really like the smell!  Which I've never said about a hair spray.

The site is at:

Link

The products are also available on QVC.  David himself is a long respected and well known celebrity and media beauty expert with an impressive resume.

I love these products and will continue to use them!

Favorite thing of the day: three review books came in the mail: John O'Hara and Terry McMillan

I love getting review books in the mail!  First of all, I love to read.  Next, by expanding what I will read this past year I've really had fun trying new genres.  Some work better than others...but what I like best always surprises me (there are some really good witch books out there).

Today I got three books in the mail....unusual.   I'm a little behind on my review reading (but only a little) so now must pick up the pace!  Luckily, I read fast.

A while back I read John O'Hara's Appointment in Samarra and loved it.  The book was a brilliant satire of life just before the Great Depression and demonstrated well how a few bad decisions can unhinge a life.  O'Hara was the most published short story writer in The New Yorker of his time.  I jumped at this package of The New York Stories and BUtterfield 8.  I recently read a very positive review of the former in the WSJ.  The reviewer said that O'Hara's characters discuss everything but what they're really thinking and that shows better than any other way who they really are.  I can't wait to dive into these two!

Terry McMillan I haven't read since how Stella Got Her Groove Back.  When it came out...a long time ago.  I was too young for the story of a woman getting divorced but loved it anyway.  This new book, Who Asked You? is about a grandmother in a mixed race Los Angeles neighborhood whose daughter drops off her two children then disappears.  I live in Los Angeles so know the location and world well. I'm curious to see how McMillan handles the related delicate topics.  Life is complicated today.

As above, I never get three review books in a day!  And I'm so excited about all of these!  Truly my favorite thing of the day.  Reviews to follow when I finish the books.

I hate writer's block...which doesn't hit me often...but when it does....

It hurts.

Yesterday.  Then today I was with Jason...so I'm behind (though I so loved seeing Jason).

And the writer's block came from fear...I felt more pressure to write something "great" which is also the death of any writing at all.  Somehow, the more I let go of what I must do, should do or can do - the more I actually do.  And better.

I write - sort of - through it....taking more breaks to lighten and find a new way of viewing my project.  But it's hard not to panic and wonder if I need to throw the whole - almost final - draft away.  And I have done that before.  It hurts.

So today I wrote two blog posts first...for which I never feel any pressure.  Burned incense.  I reassured myself that my deadline can be put aside...even though the book has been promised (maintain your idea of quality or ship on time?).  And I realized the draft needs to go into a binder and not be just stuck together with a clip (how I like to work...I got lazy).

We need to push through our fears.  Finishing anything means committing and risking failure.  That's a hard risk to take.

Favorite thing of the day: The Psychology of Risk by Ari Kiev MD, Steve Cohen's psychologist

Risk taking is crazy making.

I remember reading a quote by Michael Milken along the lines of:  Everyone has a breaking point; the only question is how much stress it takes for them to reach it (not directly attributable to me...my memory of it instead).

Last week an article from INC on how entrepreneurs often don't deal well with stress was making the Facebook rounds.  Click:  link  And it got me thinking....

Ari Kiev is the psychologist Steve Cohen of SAC Capital hired to help him and his traders deal with the risks inherent in making the type of big trades that made the firm successful.  I don't know if Cohen is guilty (of inadequate supervision, a charge that has effectively shut down his job creating firm of around 300 people).  But I do know that trading at that level - and subject to the market's unpredictability and capricious ways - was so stressful that he hired someone to help him find his mental balance.  Indeed, Cohen was well known for needed and using calming techniques and psychology (if I remember correctly meditation too) to handle the stress of his job.

Throwing stones at the successful is so easy; we forget how hard building something from nothing is.  I'm doing it now and - wow.  I heard the founder of a billion dollar company tell a room of students of his concern about speakers like him.  "You see the ones of us who succeeded but even more failed.  And we make it sound exciting but don't tell you how hard it really was or how close we sometimes came to failure".

The Psychology of Risk was written for traders but the advice crosses disciplines.  With a busy and stressful week ahead of me...it is my favorite thing of today.

Don Quixote: my favorite thing of the day

Dream the impossible dream.

I'm a somewhat practical girl.  I have a background in finance and a law degree.  I also write terrorist novels and am now tackling education (as in fixing).  So I guess I'm just better armed than some when charging my windmills.

Don Quixote means a lot to me.  First, it's a really good book.  The first "novel".  Next, Cervantes had a terrible life, including spending time as a slave, yet he produced this iconic book.  And, importantly, I still maintain that - in reading the book - the world around our poor Don is more troubled than he is.

Don Quixote died a broken man, as did Cervantes.  But look at how he's lasted.  Most even moderately literate people know of him and how he chased windmills.

Most men die broken.  Don Quixote chased his dream.  And he saw, breathed and lived it.  Sure he was a little crazy.  Don't you have to be when you choose to see the good, even when it isn't really there?

I guess I'd rather my glass was half full and not half empty.  Don Quixote is not only my favorite thing of the day he's an everlasting image (and belief system) in my head.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes book review

I like Jojo Moyes' writing style.  She does, however, tackle topics that are tough to write about without falling into cliche, or worse - parody.  And she deserves a lot of credit for that effort.  I loved Me Before You, about a paraplegic former master-of-the-universe and his nurse.  I initially declined to read that book because the topic made my eyes roll.  I then changed my mind after seeing a complimentary review and got a lot out of the book.  The story dealt with all sorts of issues...life and death, our fears, a loss of control and horrible injury.  Moyes did not fall into cliche.

In The Girl You Left Behind, Moyes takes on another tough topic.  It has two main characters that alternate and during different time frames.  The first is a brave woman in occupied France during WWI.  The second is a widow stumbling on after the death of her husband.  Where they intersect is that the second woman has a painting of the first stolen by the Germans during the war (or was it) and the surviving family wants it back.

Moyes is good at drawing me into her creations and carrying me along with her story.  The book does that very well.  It's actually a fun read, despite the subject matter.  The weakness for me in this book is that I honestly didn't like either of the two main women characters.  They both see the world only through their own lens and self interest.  One could argue that Sophie, the woman during WWI, does a lot for others...but she just didn't win my sympathy anyway (hard to do given her dire circumstances).

I still recommend the book because it's a great read...and I think the bias is on my end...we all get drawn to different people.  My pet peeve is characters like this; most readers tend to love them as it's only by exploring such inner conflicts, which includes a selfish weighing of what we really want, that we get to know a character thoroughly.  I ended up really enjoying this book and am glad I read it.  Anyone who reads it...I'd love your thoughts....

Mac Midnight pressed pigment and matte Plumage eyeshadow...favorite things of the day...

Yes, back to makeup.  I got crazy busy again and wear makeup every day!  And today I got a box from MAC...that I ordered and was so excited to get.

The two items I grabbed are the pressed pigment in Midnight and the matte eye shadow in Plumage.  You'll notice in the photos that somehow I managed to get the sparkle in the matte and I'm really mad at myself.  Then again, it is just makeup!  Those glitter things can migrate anywhere!

Why?

I love color...which works really well with the blue plus (green, yellow, grey, depending) eyes that I have.  And I hate hard lines or too much color (too much is always too much).  So the soft grey blue matte of Plumage makes a great blended liner.  And the pigment?  Well, this one actually has almost too much pigment for me but I love the color...and with something soft and glittery like this I can blend it out to an almost wash of color.  Some people complain about that quality.  I love it.

Might be my favorite favorite of August.  I love these two colors.