Current Obsessions II

Here are three things that I can't stop talking about.

1. The power of the Neti pot.
Look, people. Have you never used a Neti pot? Do you know what one is? Do you think it's a bunch of hooey?

I am here to tell you as a former Neti pot skeptic, that that shit WORKS.

In case you aren't sure what a Neti pot is, view Exhibit A:

That's not drugs, people, that's the power of the H2 and the O. And a little NaCl. See! I did learn something in chemistry class after all! (Side note, in my chemistry class we had to make a periodic table of the elements of ______. I chose Rock and Roll for mine. My mom helped me. We had so much fun! Elvis was Hydrogen and the Beatles were ... whatever matches up with Hydrogen on the other side of the table. It followed all the rules of the Periodic Table. I'm still proud of it. I wish I had kept it. Also, my mom's and my knowledge? Formidable. Anyway.)

So you put a little warm saltwater in the pot. And pour it through your nose. If you tilt your head properly, you don't choke or gag on it. It's amazing. It's not even gross. I swear. It just totally irrigates your nose! Clears you right out! AND, a big thing for me is that it doesn't dry me out, but instead moisturizes! I already have dry skin, live in a superdry forced-air situation in the winter, and have side effects from my stomach medicine that dry out my skin. Taking cold medicine really, really sucks the life out of me.

YES!!! A non-chemical cure. I swear it lessened the mouth-breathing suffering and general malaise by a few days. I'm not exaggerating.

2. The power of grapefruit seed extract.
Dudes. This is also a new one to me. When I announced on facebook that I had a cold (because I'm sure my friends care and want to know), my brother's girlfriend shared a secret remedy. Yep. Grapefruit seed extract. Stuff's not cheap. I think it was $13.99 for a small bottle. But all you need is like ... half a teaspoon to a teaspoon, dissolved in a LARGE glass of water.

It tastes a little bitter/sour and weird. But it's worth it. It's not overpoweringly gross and I'm telling you. I had a cold for like FOUR days. Usually it's at least a week to two weeks. And the symptoms started magically dissipating almost immediately after drinking it. Highly recommended.

3. LOST.
Ohmahgah people. LOST. Wm and I are halfway through the second season—don't spoil anything—and I cannot believe that I never watched this show.

Although it does NOTHING for my flight anxiety or the fact that I will be flying to tropical locales sometime in the vaguely near future ... order me up one extra Xanax, sir!

Such a great storyline, cool storytelling and effects, it reminds me of my love of Hawaii, and there are just so many smart, good things about it. I can't believe it was on network TV, actually. It's sort of been ruining my gym habit the last two weeks.

OK, you'll have to excuse me now. I have to go watch Sayyid. I mean, LOST.

zine love

so, i work in the magazine industry. and i LOVE magazines. i can't get enough of them.
the first magazine that i remember truly loving was seventeen. my sister got me a subscription for christmas after hearing that i had been buying it on the newsstand. i think i might have been in junior high. sassy soon followed, and that became my favorite magazine. it was so fresh and smart. it wasn't all about getting a boyfriend and ditzy stuff. i remember one beauty article that made an impression on me--it was all about how much the editor loved cherry chapstick. they interviewed kurt cobain. this was my kind of world.
i have had other subscriptions along the way that have come and gone; mother jones comes to mind, the atlantic monthly. interview. spin.
now we have a schizophrenic collection of magazines coming to the loft every month: blueprint, metropolis, metropolitan home, details, espn, blueprint, entertainment weekly, glamour (after jane folded, i got the remainder of my subscription to glamour), elle decor. i buy instyle on the newsstand a lot; i buy bitch and bust on the newsstand although i should subscribe (did you know the magazines a larger percentage of money from a subscription, which is cheaper, than they do from newsstand sales?). i used to get the new yorker, which i love, but couldn't afford the renewal. i buy marie claire on the newsstand when it looks interesting or pertinent to something at my job. i get brides and modern bride, and i buy elegant bride on the newsstand, although those will go away after the wedding. don't worry. i plan to replace those with something else. . . perhaps real simple or body+soul, the new yorker again finally or domino. somewhere along the line, i got on some kind of mailing list where is tarted getting really cheap deals to subscriptions, so i just got one in the mail for a $12 national geographic. that's a good deal. i just also got marie claire, two years for $10, so i'll probably get that one too. they way i figure it, that's like buying three magazines off the newsstand, which i'd be likely to do over the next year or so, so it's worth it to me.
sometimes i dream about writing for national magazines. . . i don't know if it will ever happen on daily basis, but it'd be pretty sweet to see my name on national pages.
when i see a magazine stand (oh! the airport ones are my favorites!), my heart really starts to race. i love to see the new ideas, the old ideas repackaged into new ones, fashion spreads, beauty pages, feature stories i can devour. when one comes to our mailbox, i practically run upstairs and tune out the rest of the world while i escape into my little magazine-land. it's a living vicariously, a learning experience, a little escapism for me. i love to see things in magazines and make it happen for me without spending $1,000 on a dior dress. (of course, i'd love it even more if i could get the dior dress, but i can't imagine my lifestyle will NEVER be one where that's possible.)
last night i was at my brother's girlfriend's birthday party, where she introduced to me to her friends. her way of introduction for one friend was, "you have to meet each other because you remind me of each other. . .and you're both super stylish." i was really flattered. i love style but i always feel my wallet falls short of really being able to wear what i want (and that's not the couture stuff, it's like i'm always $80 short of what i REALLY want.) i know what my style would be if i could afford it; i see it all the time. milly is my favorite designer. but i work on buying classic pieces in nontrendy colors and hope i never get sick of black. anyway, i take a lot of cues from magazine stuff. . . sometimes it's a wide latitude though, i'm hardly a slave to trends. what i really love is 1950s and 1960s fashion. ah, i was born in the wrong decade!
anyway, i'm totally getting off-topic, and extreme home makeover (a.k.a. my weekly cathartic cry) is almost on. . . so off i go. but tell me, what are your favorite magazines?