Tek Gear Roll-Waist Yoga Pants

I found these Tek Gear yoga pants in the active apparel section of Kohls. I don’t think I’ve ever even been to that corner of the store before. Granted, most activewear tends to be far too spandex-y or nylon-y. I wanted something that was still breathably cotton. I’d never tried toe roll-waist style before, but they’re definitely in style. I’d read that they can be slimming and help you to pick whether you wear them higher or lower, and I’d hoped this would help with the height issue.

I didn’t need it to, though. These pants are available in different lengths so I quickly found one in “short.” This is the one definite plus. I can actually roll the waist all the way down on these and the double layering definitely slims around the waist. I feel pretty attractive in these. There’s just a bit of spandex, so they’re stretchy, but they don’t seem to lose their shape to me.

You should probably purchase one smaller than normal because they do run large. I went down a size and the flare at the bottom of the legs its feminine, while the thighs feels neither too large nor too small. It’s comfortable for lounging around the house but passable if I want to take a walk or run to the store. If you’re worried about the fabric being too thin, don’t. It’s thicker than any similar pants I’ve ever owned, and I’m sure that will be good for the walks I plan to take in these.

Also, these are so much more attractive on!

The Big One sheet set

All I really wanted was a set of black sheets for my bed. I figured if I was looking for basic cotton, it wouldn’t be too hard to find. I remember buying the smoothest, softest sheets ever from JC Penney in the past. I no longer have a full sized bed, so I gave them to mom and I sleep like a baby when I spend the night at her house. To JC Penny it was! I actually found an option on JC Penney’s website but, for whatever reason, black was available in every size but mine (queen). Sears had options online but were backordered until June! June! I mean, we’re talking about sheets here! I went to my local JC Penney, in hopes that they might have my color and size in stock, but there weren’t any black sheets to be found. The same was said for every department store in the mall.

My next stop, then, was Target, which had a variety of black sheets, but I don’t know who would buy them. Aside from the microfiber, which is far too warm for my body, every model felt like crap. Scratch, thick, stiff. There was no way I was going to pay the $50+ for the worst sheets I’ve ever felt. A handful of other stores provided no options. I was starting to think that my simply request was impossible. Bed, Bath and Beyond provided a costly and not-quite perfect solution: I could get black stripes for $90. I was hoping to spend a little less.

I think of Kohls only for clothes and shoes. I’d actually looked on their website, but couldn’t remember anything that seemed to fit my needs. It could be that they’re almost completely sold out of black sheets and they’ve updated the website to reflect that. Regardless, they had an amazing sale but their shelves were nearly empty. I grabbed the closest size and headed to guest services, hoping they might be able to order my size at the insistence of my shopping friend. Wouldn’t you know that they no longer do that, so she employee sent me to the kiosk, which couldn’t help me because it uses the same system as the website.

So I handed the sheets over to the cashier when I was checking out with something else, completely dejected. However, she was pretty awesome and offered to go look for some in back. I had no help but she returned triumphant! I was stoked, because I paid less than $35 for a new set of sheets.

As you can expect, they’re not perfect. They’re not the silky smooth cotton I would have really liked and these sheets definitely feel a little scratchy out of the package. For some reason, the flat sheet felt softer than the fitted one. However, after washing they soften up quite a bit; washing also seems to make lint stick to them. My bed look a little sloppy because of that, but other colors won’t be so problematic. The color is extremely deep and hasn’t faded at all in the wash.

I was worried that just because I’d found sheets, they wouldn’t fit. At the time of purchase, my pillowtop mattress was about 18″ high. It’s definitely sunk some since them, but I’ve consistently had problems finding fitting sheets that fit. The Big One sheets fit before washing and they didn’t seem to shrink at all, another worry. I’m not sure about the return policy, but sometimes you can’t return things after washing.

One thing that I love is that the flat sheet is quite wide. It hands past the edges of my mattress, which is fantastic. When I turn down the sheet and blanket, the sheet extends the full width of the blanket. Sheets that are less wide tend to look sloppy, in my opinion.

These are a little prone to wrinkles, but my flat sheet isn’t doing that annoying curling thing, yet, so we’ll see. I like the feel of these on my skin and, for the price, all the faults are acceptable. That’s pretty much what all the reviews say, too.

The Origins of Sex

In fact, you’d have to be crazy to think that the author, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, is anything more than diligent in his work. In discussing the changing social views and mores between the seventeenth and eighteenth century, he’s done a lot of research. His arguments come across as objective and valid; although I’m not expert.

The problem is, much of this research is cited within the text. As someone who was reading simply because the evolution and revolutions of sex interest me, I found it read too much like a textbook. I was often skipping the long list of texts the author was referencing, the dates of publication or the years of birth and death that the author deemed worthy of inclusion. Indeed, it would make an excellent study guide for a college course, but reading it straight through is more of a difficult task.

Although this is a dry book, I did learn a lot. I specifically found the later chapters, which discussed prostitution and public perception, the media and the relationship between a woman’s changing rights and the views about sex. Far less interesting, to me, were the copies of art that the author used to exemplify how society was treating sex; however, I do understand how they serve as a scholarly reference.

I’m glad to be done with The Origins of Sex, but I am also glad that I did push my way through it. In fact, the end of this book was quite refreshing, as the author took the time to explain that the sexual revolution and Enlightenment were the beginning of the more recent revolution in sexual mores. Although the 1950s and ’60s have progressed much faster than the first sexual revolution, Faramerz Dabhoiwala points out that it’s merely an acceleration of changes that were already in progress.

Purple LED Christmas Light Bulb

Now, most of my Christmas lights are pretty old — hand-me-downs, in fact. Not the giant styles of the 80s but I bet they’ve been around at least ten years and they look positively ancient to these LED lights. The bulbs on these are just tiny little nubs compared to my inch-long lights. That’s okay, it means there’s less to break, right? In fact, while this set does come with replacement fuses, there are no replacement bulbs. This leads me to think that I won’t have to replace them. The whole set does seem less fragile.

Another difference is that the purple is very bright. They’re described as a “warm” purple and it’s true! They’re more pastel than the blacklight-like purple lights I’ve used for Halloween. This means that the specific color is more appropriate for Christmas, if you wanted to decorate with less traditional colors. It looks rather blue in my photo, which is just the effect of lighting and the camera. The strand I got was insulated in white, and not green, but it looks like Holiday LEDs has some green ones, too, to match your tree.

Purple LED Lights

There is a bit of room for improvement, though.

The insulation on these is pretty thick, which makes these a little bit hard to work with. They definitely want to twist back into the shape that they were in, in the plastic (which was just a clear plastic bag — okay with me!). I hope they become more supple over time, because this is a pretty big problem. It’s good for outdoor use but there’s more corners and such indoor, which make it more problematic. In fact, I was trying to get a feel for how long the strand is — turns out it’s 25′ — but I couldn’t, because of all the twisting. I wanted to make my photo of a pretty heart-shape, but just couldn’t. I need an extra hand or three.

Nevertheless, they’re still pretty. They seem resilient. Plus, they’re energy-star rated and use the standard plug, with a plug on the end for more strands. The transition to LED is one that makes sense and provides more color options than glass or plastic, and I think anyone who loves purple — or any other color — would like these.

The Self Illusion

So, the book basically takes a stab at explaining how the brain develops the sense of self and identity. How do we come by the “I” that is so pivotal to our existence? Hood breaks down how the brain develops, how we socialize, how society has developed and how humans differ from other animals, to name a few concepts. It’s pretty interesting. He references other studies and, when applicable, gives examples from his own life. The mention of his family makes the author seem personal and, I think, makes this book a little easier read than it otherwise would be. It’s shorter than it looks, when you exclude the credits and references at the end, but still took a little brain power for me to get through.

Bruce argues that there is no “I.” Rather, the sense of self is a product of all the processes that occur in our brains as well as influences by our surroundings and people in it. In fact, some of the studies that have shown just how much we can be influenced by other factors, rather than the internalize sense of self, is pretty astounding. It also clearly exemplifies why the sense of an unchanging self is, to put it bluntly, bologna.

Hood talks about some of the very famous studies from the 60s and 70s, like the one by Solomon Asch, so not everything in this book was new, even though the basic concept was foreign to me. I found myself nodding along as I read, understanding his points but simply shocked at how much I believed in my own self only to realize that my brain has been painting a picture to fill in the holes left by its processes and other influences, much like our eyes do with optical illusions.

Some people might not like the implication that our lack of control equals a lack of free will but I think the author did a nice job of explaining that no matter what science says, sometimes the way society works and humans think or act, doesn’t quite follow the plan. On the other hand, it’s nice to be able to distance ourselves from our selves sometimes, too.

Of particular interest to me, was the chapter on how the Internet is changing our senses of identity, not just the way we communicate or live. It’s obvious — and it’s obvious to see that Bruce is excited about this — that the technology we are readily accepting is having a much more profound affect on us than most people will ever realize.

This isn’t the type of book that I’d recommend to everyone. However, it is the type of book that I’d recommend to anyone who wanted to learn more about identities and how the brain works. The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity a good refresher of neuropsychology at the very least. Anyone who works or studies in this field will have a more educated opinion, I’m sure. I found it fascinating nonetheless.

40 Days to Better Living -- Anxiety

I recently discovered a website that allows bloggers, reviewers and other folks to read copies of books. I was approved for a lot of books. This expands my to-read exponentially, which is both good and bad considering that I am in the middle of a book that I can’t get into. I figured something that could potentially help with anxiety would be good so I requested 40 Days to Better Living: Anxiety.

This book is split up into six sections, each beginning with a story of a person who has struggled with anxiety. The rest of each section is then a workbook, dedicated to the daily activitis that the author believes will help deal with anxiety. The sections walk you through morning, daytime and evening rituals to help you cope with anxiety. Those activities are all split into categories such as medical, work, emotional and nutritional. It’s nice to see such a broad approach to anxiety and suggestions for exercise or changing your diet to help anxiety. Because it is a workbook that you’re literally supposed to write in, I felt it a bit disappointing as a digital copy.

Each day, you’re intended to perform small activities, like listing loved ones who will help you with anxiety troubles,  switching up routine or taking a walk. The suggestions are easy enough to complete, for the most part, and I like the “baby steps” approach. The categories become a little more challenging. For example, the movement category suggests adding 2000 step to your daily routine at week 6 and, I assume, you’re supposed to keep this up. Taking life one-day-at-a-time is usually beneficial if you have anxiety and t However, this book will not be helpful for all for a couple reasons.

Journaling receives heavy focus, whether pen and paper or on the computer. I like to write and  I have a lot to say and I understand why this is a suggestion. However, not everyone will feel the same about it and they may find the focus to be overwhelming.

Secondly, faith/God are heavy influences here. The workbook is full of quotes from the Bible and suggestions and there is a lot of passages about how the struggle of anxiety relates to God or worship and how God can help you through it. It’s not that you can’t ignore this if you’re not religious but it’s unlikely that an atheist would pick up this book in the first place because of it. Thus, any benefit it may have is limited to the group of people who believe God can help them overcome anxiety — at least, in part. Now, I won’t say this isn’t the case because religion can be just one part of your life that is a boon when you’re trying to slay the beast that is anxiety. Still, the general advice in this book can apply to most people and it’s a shame the religion is so heavy.

Ultimately, I think there’s good things to be read here. Someone who likes structure, writing and religion may find it helps ease their anxiety. Others could pick and choose from the activities to find those that ease the mind but, then again, having to do so isn’t exactly something that would help with anxiety, anyway. Because so much of the book is intended for activities, it doesn’t have that much in terms of content. In fact, this is a hands-on workbook and not one that you should expect to actually read. If you’re still interested after this closing paragraph, then it’s the book for you. I’m still looking for something that better pertains to me and my anxiety.

Amazon Kindle fire

Purchasing Decision

When I realized I had some extra cash, it didn’t take long to settle on the Kindle Fire. I did take the time to consider some similar items, namely the Nook Tablet. I decided to check out both in person before going with the Fire. As it turns out, the Nook Tablet still uses a plastic screen, which makes it feel incredibly cheap. For exactly the same price, why wouldn’t I go for the Kindle Fire with its Gorilla Glass Screen? So I did.

Tech Specs

I don’t want to focus on this for too long because the tech blogs, so here’s the quick and dirty:

• 1024 x 600 ( 169 ppi ) resolution
• 7-inch screen
• 8 GB memory
• Dual-core CPU
• 802.11b/g/n
• WPA2, WEP, WPA
• MPEG-4 and VP8 video support
• AAC, WAV, OGG, MP3, MIDI audio support
• AZW, PRC (Mobipocket), PDF, DOC, TXT, DOCX book/document support
• 1 x Hi-Speed USB – 5 pin Micro-USB Type B
• 1 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

The only reason I really considered the Nook Tablet was because this “only” have 8 gigabytes of space, which is more like 6, once you figure in the space needed for the operating system and default apps. This is a major complaint of some people, especially because there’s no removable storage option. However, this is not a tablet, guys. This should not replace your MP3 player completely, nor should you expect to use it as a desktop replacement. Yes, you can do more than reading on this but, first and foremost, you should consider this an electronic reader.

Reading

I’ve probably done more reading this year than the last two combined and much of that is due to the Kindle Fire. First, the 7-inch screen size is ideal for reading. It’s a little bigger than a standard fantasy book but not by much. I find that the slim profile of the Kindle Fire makes is so much easier for me to hold with my short fingers. In fact, I never realized how much I hate physical books before this. There’s no paper cuts and it’s so much more comfortable to read in bed.

The app itself works well, for books from Amazon and PDFs from the Internet. There are so many options in terms of text size and color, background color and even screen brightness. I don’t have to have a light on to read; I can simply adjust the brightness and color until it’s perfect. This makes it good for people with failing sight, too. With a little help to set it up initially, the books are going to be incredibly easy to read.

There’s no text-to-voice reading, which is another complaint. I guess other kindles have it; although the Fire doesn’t This is fine by me. I do well enough with the ability to bookmark and make notes about the book. Every function of the reader is so intuitive that you don’t even need a manual. In fact, there’s only a digital copy on the device itself, which is awesome. I wish my phone or computer were that easy to use.

I lovelovelove that I can lock the screen rotation, and I truly wish this feature was native to my phone. This makes reading while lying down so easy! Finally, I love that I can email PDFs to my device. I don’t like USB transfer and this allows me to wirelessly upload books and documents without Bluetooth.

Music on the Kindle fire

Music

Music is the other thing I use my Kindle Fire for — every day, in fact. I downloaded Pandora to listen while showering. Amazon music comes preloaded and looks exactly like the version on my phone, which I already use. You’ll have to upload music to the cloud or transfer it with a USB cable which, oddly, isn’t included. For me, there was zero transition, which I love. Pandora doesn’t include a widget, because the home screen is set up like a bookshelf, or a lockscreen control. you can run it in the background and access it from the status bar, though. However, Amazon MP3 does incorporate the latter.

Apps

Because I already use the App Store, all the apps I’ve purchased or installed on my phone were waiting for me to install them to my Kindle. Well, almost all of them. Amazon analyzes every app before making it available to the Kindle Fire, so there’s not quite every aop. However, I quickly installed Twitter, Pandora eBuddy and a handful of other apps. I believe you can only use 1 GB of the hard drive for apps, so there’s a limit, but I find that I use it to supplement my phone, not replace it.

Noticeably missing are keyboard apps. You can side-load them but this version of Android won’t recognize it. I have Swype on there but can’t use it. The keyword isn’t horrible; it’s actually almost identical to the one on my iPod Touch. It just doesn’t work well for chatting or social networking. Furthermore, you can’t install or download from the Google Market, at least not yet. However, third-party apps sites will work if you just download and install the APK.

Annoyingly, the Facebook app is a link to the mobile site. I added the actually Facebook app from a third-party site, and it works fine. I can’t freeze the Facebook app, but this isn’t a deal breaker.

Video on Kindle Fire

Amazon Prime

I love that I got a free month of Amazon Prime. It means I can purchase lots of goodies and have them shipped for free. It also gives me access to free movies and television shows on the Kindle. Although, I’ve seen everything I would be interested in and the selection is sparse. I’m not sure that I’ll renew my Prime membership when it expires, but I love that I can “borrow” some books from Amazon, one a month to be extra. I read Mockingjay this month. If you frequently buy books from Amazon or like the selection of the shows and movies, this is probably a good investment for you.

Android

Because the home screen is set up like a bookshelf, it doesn’t really look like Android. The only time I’m reminded that it’s Amazon is when I’m messing with the settings. Sure, if you want the openness of Android, you’ll be disappointed. Still, for an eReader with perks, the perks sure are damned good!

A few kinks

If there’s anything that I don’t necessarily love about my Kindle Fire, it’s how each section — books, docs, music, etc — is split into content that’s in the cloud or actually on the device. This is a good idea, but it seems like a lot of data winds up in both places but I can’t actually access the files in my cloud drive. I guess I don’t quite understand how the cloud works on this device and I don’t like having multiples of documents.

Also, as I mentioned, this charges via USB but there’s no included cable. The adapter plugs directly into the wall. I can charge my phone with it, which is nice, but having a USB cable to transfer files would be convenient.

There’s no Bluetooth, which I wouldn’t mind having. It’s not a deal breaker by any means.

Amazon’s Silk browser is supposed to be a selling point. It’s basically the Android browser with a prettier design. I’d love to use Opera on this, but I don’t browse on the Kindle as much as I do any other device that I own.

Some dislike the lack of physical volume buttons and the placement of the speakers is a little lackluster. However, I usually just keep mine on maximum volume, so this is rarely a problem. I do wish the power button were slightly further from the USB port, because it’s slightly hard to press while it’s charging.

Overall

Were I to give this a star rating, it would be something like 4.75 stars. I can’t help but be a fan and recommend this to everyone I know. It stands out from the crowd and is available at such an amazing price. If you have been thinking about a Kindle Fire, you should definitely get it!

Fresh Step Natural Scoop cat litter

The fake that this is made of pine shavings contributes to its light weight, but I don’t necessarily care that it’s natural. I may have heard some possible bad things about pine shavings before, but I have to admit that I like the smell of wood far more than I like the smell of litter — scented or not.

So this resealable plastic bag is light but there’s no way that it replaces 20 pounds of regular litter, but this is just impossible. every time I scoop, which is one a day or every other day, I have to refill the litter pan about halfway. It seems like scooping just takes a lot of this super light litter. You wind up throwing away much of the unused litter. I also find the light weight to make it hard to scoop. The clumps just want to fly out of the scooper and the individual particles of litter aren’t heavy enough to fall through the holes.

Perhaps the worst part about the best feature of this cat little is how easy it is to track, which I am sure contributes to having to refill the litter box on an almost daily basis. The area around the litter boxes has never been this bad and the wood shavings stick to fabric, so I constantly find them in my carpets and rugs, on my furniture and in my bedding. Anywhere the cats go, this Natural Scoop litter is sure to go, too.

As the litter becomes less fresh, it becomes really sticky and clumps to the litter pan and scooper. It’s pretty gross.

All in all, while this smells better than traditional clay cat litter and weighs less, I’m not sold. It requires more clean up and takes more time to scoop.

Quaker Breakfast Cookies

Let’s counter with something I like — these cookies are huge! They’re great snack size and you never have to eat more than one. I don’t know how many Oreos I should be eating but, with the Quaker cookies, I grab one and it sates my appetite both physically and mentally.

The individual packaging does keep them fresh and these oat cookies are very soft. I was surprised by how much I liked the texture. They’re also not as dry as one might think, which is another “pro” in my book. You can certainly enjoy them with a glass of milk, for example, but you won’t feel the need to drink an entire gallon.

The chocolate chip variety is definitely sweet, but it’s mostly from the oats. The chips were quite small and I couldn’t really detect them in my mouth, which was disappointing. However, I always wound up holding the cookie in a way that the chocolate melted on my fingers. Funny, right? Ultimately, my opinion comes down to a snack with chocolate in it not sating my chocolate craving. That will never get a pass.

I may still try the other varieties of Quaker’s breakfast cookies, however.

Cheshire Cat Hat and Tail

As you can see, the pair are very fuzz with pink and barely-pink-white-ish stripes. That’s a very official term you see! They actually won’t match my costume at all, which is okay. They’re very different shades.

However, I was slightly less pleased with the type of fur. It’s kind of matted an just seems messy in person, both to look at and touch. I definitely felt like I had to comb this out, only it didn’t do much good. It’s actually kind of hart to notice the stripes because of this, in my opinion. I also have to move the fur away from the inside of the ears, which are lined in a light pink velour type material. I like to be able to see the inside of ears, I guess.

Where am I in this hat?

The tail is a tube of the fur sewn around a piece of bendable wire, so you can shape this piece. I just wouldn’t expect it to necessary stay put. Of course, you have to be careful so that your tail doesn’t get stuck anywhere — or that your cats don’t start chasing it! On the top of the tail is a loop made of the same pink velour type material. At first, I thought this might work for wearing it around your belt. I don’t wear one, though. However, it’s pretty thin so only some belts will work. Rather, you could use the loop and a piece of ribbon or a safety pin to attach it to your belt loop. A safety pin will work to attach it directly to your pants or skirt, too, if you don’t mind the holes. Honestly, I liked the tail on the costume a whole lot better, because it came with a pin and a bow that covered where it attached. I feel like, if you bought this, it would be a hassle to find the perfect way to work with whatever you’re wearing.

Matted Looking Fur Around the Ear

So, while I may won’t love this, your head and tail might work a little better. It won’t be a warm winter hat but will be cute paired with a pink, white or purple themed outfit, like on the model. It’s also super reasonable priced at the store that provided it for review so, even if you don’t love it, you won’t be out a lot of money!

Accessories from Both Costumes