Woolite Everyday

One of my biggest pet peeves is clothes that close their color and look worn within a month. I don't have a lot of money and really think about the things I buy, so it's important. I received a sample of Woolite Everyday to try.

In my wash, I had some older clothes and a new dress. The dress was a dark purple. I probably should have used a color catcher, but I was also worried about pilling. So I threw it in anyway and used the sample.

I also gave samples to my work friends. We all wear business casual, so using Woolite Everyday would be useful. Funny a couple people declined saying that they did not want to use the product. Other people already used it and love it.

So my dress came out just fine, none of the color bled and it wasn't pilly. I love the smell too. Great product.

Hitting Home

Sarah Dolphin at the Boston Marathon April 2008

It will never happen to me, I'm safe. Thoughts that everything think, but isn't really true. I thank God that I do not live in a country where bombings and killings are not apart of daily life. Today's bombing during the Boston Marathon hit home.

I went to school in Boston and lived there for four years. I would probably still live there if I got a job. Patriots Day a/k/a Marathon Monday was always so much fun and even more fun when I got to drinking age. My friends and I lived in an apartment above a bar and would stroll out into the streets. There is no school or work for most Boston residents. For me Boston is place where the greatest minds form their ideas. I was young and sheltered, but in Boston, I grew up and truly became the person I am today.

Where the bombing occurred today, I guess that I walked through dozens of times. Ashwini and I would go to the Burger King in Copley Square after shopping on Newbury Street. (Me complaining the entire length of the trip). One time, visiting the Boston library just for fun. Sara and I went to dance class in the area. Val and I lived less than two miles away. It's just too close, even though I now live thousands of miles away.

Many of my friends still live in Boston, everyone I know is accounted for, but I would guess that each of us are no less than six-degrees away from victims of tragedy. It may be only a matter of moments when those degrees get closer. Appreciate each day, and be thankful for the ones you have in your life now.

~~

My dad once told me a story that he was supposed to be on the Pan Am Flight 103 when I was just two years old, but his flight got delayed. He was picking up parts for the laundry in Germany, and flying home to us. Fate. Christopher should be happy he even exists. God knows I'm thankful for my dad.

I feel uneasy. Today was a beautiful day in Orlando, but my heart breaks for Boston.

Living in the Memory of

Yesterday my friend Carla Young passed away due to complications with breast cancer. I first wrote about Carla as part of my very first BroadwayWorld.com review. She was a great kind person. We first met at Universal when someone thought it would be a good idea to combine VIP Tours with Guest Services. Most tour guides were very hesitant, but not Carla. She found the work challenging, but kept an incredible positive attitude.

In this recent bout with cancer she kept us updated through social media. On the good days she loved the sunshine and fresh flowers. Things that we all take for granted. The world will miss Carla, I know whenever I see a pretty flower or experience the feeling of sun I'll think of her.

-----

I volunteered for a bunch of things this past week including the Dawn Brancheau 5k. Dawn was the Shamu trainer who died. I loved being at SeaWorld before park opening. I didn't see any whales, but had some fun anyway.

Ironically my horoscope said "Communication is not just talking." How fitting as I am plagued with

Less than 50 days until my Alaska vacation. I can't wait.

Hacking your brain

I attended an interesting lecture today as part of Universal's Women's Network. The Guest speaker was a very interesting woman who works as a sign language interpreter, yoga instructor, mom, singer, etc. named Babetta Popoff. Basically anything that is super cool. Her parents are deaf and she studied psychology to better understand the brain and such. Here's what I learned:

-There are two types of brain: The Reptilian - which controls all the instinctual functions; and Grey stuff that handles all other human stuff like emotions, thinking, memory, etc.
-Simple tasks like yawning, or balancing help activate different parts of the brain.
-It is important to try new things and do thing differently to keep the mind flexible. i.e. Lumosity.com

Another interesting conclusion was the power of positive thought. Recently Mike Costello informed me of the principals as described in The Secret by Rhonda Bryne. Apparently having a positive attitude attracts positive things and conversely negative things attracts negative things. Being positive, envisioning things, and being thankful for things, increases this power.

I've always felt negativity, in fact, I'm a junkie for it. My job is a very negative place (people bitch to me for 9 hours a day). To try these techniques and reverse the way of thinking that I've been doing for so long is a personal challenge. I have a great support team and I know that admitting it is half the battle. Part of me knows that there is a psychological effect to feeling better, but then there are strange things that happen too.

I figure that being more positive can't hurt, so we'll see.

Giving in to technology

I'm not talking about upgrading to a smart phone and not being more than a few minutes from technology. I'm talking about letting technology completely dictate your life. My Droid recently got the newest operating update, to what I believe is called Jellybean. One of the newer features is Google Now, which uses your behavior to predicts your needs. For example, it's synced to my calendar, so when I have an appointment it will pull up a map and traffic. When I'm walking around downtown Orlando, it will suggest places for me to eat.

So this morning, my phone buzzed me and said that it would take 55-minutes if I travel the way I normally do for work. This route is one-lane road, but the most direct path. The next path to work would take me about 20-miles out of the way. So rather than wasting time, I took the long way to work. It was actually much faster (it was a Sunday).

The whole event got me thinking about the role technology has in our lives. I am completely dependent upon technology and have no idea how people found their way or occupied themselves without it. I'm talking about phantom vibrates when the phone isn't even near me and looking for the little notification light on my phone to blink. Crazy psychological stuff. Then there are people who are completely resistant (my mom). My mom calls photocopies a rexograph.

When I go to Alaska for two weeks, I intend to unplug. I think it will be a nice change of pace. There was a time, when it use to make me grumpy. We will see.

Does anyone else feel too attached on technology?

Questions for musical fans

One of my favorite things is seeing plays and musicals. Someone sent me this silly fun survey for Musical Theater fans. 

1. How often do you see musicals? About once a month
2. Why did you see the last musical you saw?  Godspell at Theatre Downtown
3. What do you think about straight plays? Do you see them often? Plays are ok as long as they are not too long. I see a play or two every week. 
4. What do you consider to be the most over appreciated musical? A Lion King
5. How about the most under appreciated? Anything by Jason Robert Brown
6. Dreamcast your favorite musical actor in three roles. 
7. Dreamcast your favorite musical actress in three roles. 
8. Dreamcast your favorite musical. 
9. Do you consider any musicals to be your guilty pleasures? Dance of the Vampires
10. The musical that failed to live up to your expectations? A Chorus Line a/k/a 2.5 hours I'll never get back.
11. The musical that surpassed your expectations? Evita
12. When listening to musicals, does language matter? Do you enjoy showtunes in other languages than your native one? I prefer English, but I have all the Phantom cast albums in other languages.
13. If you had to take a person who has never seen a musical to watch one, which one would you pick for them? This happen and I took him to see Wicked. It's an easy story to follow and good music.
14. What’s your favorite non-Broadway musical? Love Never Dies
15. Bootlegs – yay or nay? Yay
16. Do you prefer sung-through musicals or ones with dialogue in between songs? Either
17. Have you ever seen your favorite musical actor give a performance you didn’t like? No, I pay too much to not like something.
18. Do you always have company when going to theatre, or do you go alone? I prefer to go with someone, but most times I go alone. 
19. Which musical has made you laugh out loud the most? Le Worse (A musical Katie and I wrote about our lives)
20. How about cry the most? 
21. Which is your favorite cast recording right now? On the Record, which is a compilation of all Disney songs
22. You have to remove a song from your favorite musical. Which one goes? Wandering Child
23. Your favorite understudy performance? Whoever was Sutton Foster's standby in Little Women
24. What started your interest towards musicals? I saw a school play in 7th grade and fell in love with the music. 
25. You’re having a dinner party with five musical people (actors, directors, composers…), dead or alive. Who do you invite? Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jason Robert Brown, Sierra Boggess, Gillian Lynne, Sutton Foster.
26. If you only could watch one musical for the rest of your life (but you could watch multiple performances and productions of it), which one would you choose and why? The Phantom of the Opera. It's my thing, I've seen it more than 40-times. Can't stop, Won't stop. 
27. Make a musical-related confession. See above
28. A musical you used to love, but don’t anymore? Chicago
29. A musical you didn’t like at first but love now? Les Miserables
30. You get to be cast in a musical. Which one, and which role? The Phantom of the Opera, Christine Daae.

Wins and Fails for March

So anyone following my blog knows that I broke down last month and bought a Samsung Chromebook, which is a Netbook running completely off Google. After a month I can say that this was probably the best purchase that I've made in a very long time. I forgo ed my Spring Coach purse and bought this mostly because I needed a computer.  It is portable and more powerful than it looks. I use to game, watch YouTube, and mostly write. At first I was concerned that writing would only be limited to places with Wi-Fi, but there is Wi-Fi everywhere. It also has an offline function that allows me to write and then it will automatically save changes.

I miss my Mac dearly, but it still works and when I need to design something or need something more powerful. One of the few drawbacks of using a Chromebook is that obviously iTunes is not compatible. I spent far too much money to just let my iTunes account disappear.

Chromebook = Win

In my previous post I discussed how ear drops are equivalent to lava for a dog. I am officially declaring a fail on ear drops. As much as we love this dog, the amount of bites and bruises on us is just not worth it. She's just too smart. I made her an Oscar for "Most Dramatic Performance."

Doggy Ear Drops = Fail

One of my biggest procrastination vices is the Game of Thrones Ascent Facebook Game. I'm starting to get really good at it and found myself playing while asleep. Then I got Johnny playing.  If you love the Game of Thrones series, you'll love this game.

Game of Thrones Ascent = Win

I've let the world know that I've openly declared virtual war against "serial criminal crime families." Dealing with these people on a daily basis, you would think that I've had the best training in the world to get comps or upgrades. Well I failed miserably to try to get something on my upcoming cruise. When I booked, I missed a promotion. Then the week after I booked all the Carnival ship drama occurred and missed another promotion. I didn't ask for a refund, but something as a goodwill gesture. I ended accepting a "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."

Negotiator on the other side = Fail.