clearing off the to-do shelf

~ rare product endorsement: Aveeno Creamy Moisturizing Oil. OMG, nothing in the world smells as good as this. Well, nothing that one can buy for the express purpose of slathering on one's legs after a shower, anyway, without over-spending by a wee bit. And it feels great, too.
~ From Self, November 2004: "Get naked! You'll feel like 50,000 bucks. It turns out that going from having sex once a month to once a week brings as much happiness as an extra $50,000 of annual income, calculates the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. True, you can't buy shoes with sex, but it's more fun than moonlighting." ~ for-women-only product endorsement: Well, I think this would be for women only. I've never heard any man speak of this issue, but guys don't really discuss such things so I'm not sure. Anyway, here's the thing: those little red bumps on the back of the upper arm. Where do they come from? Nobody knows. But Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Lotion makes them go away. Seriously, it's the first time that I've seen a remedy like that in a magazine (Self or Shape, I'd imagine, or possibly the Chicago Tribune), decided to try it, actually stuck with it, and had it work the way it was reputed to. It's a good basic lotion, but it absolutely does what it's supposed to do.
~ from Kiplinger's Personal Finance, March 2006: Tech that Picks Your Pocket "Incredible but true: Home-electronics devices consume 75% of their power while turned off, running a clock display or preparing to respond to a remote. Some of today's most popular products, including some big-screen TVs, are among the worst standby thieves. Power leakage costs the typical household $250 a year, says the Environmental Protection Agency.*
"Now the EPA and the Consumer Electronics Association are working on efficiency standards for set-top boxes for cable, satellite, TiVo and games. Some manufacturers get it, too: Samsung will soon include more energy-efficient power chargers with its wireless phones. That will save one-third of the power used by older models. Comparison shop at http://www.energystar.gov/."

* Incidentally, this is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves: "the
Environmental Protection Agency" cannot SAY anything. It is an inanimate object.
A spokesperson for the EPA can say something, or research from the
EPA can indicate something, but the EPA, itself, CANNOT say
ANYTHING. Duh.

~ From that same issue of Kiplinger's: "The Insurance Information Institute offers free software to help you create a room-by-room inventory of your possessions. Go to http://www.knowyourstuff.org/."
~ Again, from the March '06 Kiplinger's: "Sony BMG recalls millions of CDs by 50 artists. Software on the CDs designed to limit copying could be harmful to PCs. Visit http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp for more information."
~ And now, as revealed in that bastion of consciousness, Glamour (March 2006)--from a column of "Beauty do's": "DO beware of "happy endings" on the massage table. You've heard rumors of sleazy massage parlors that give men orgasms. Well, at a recent girls' dinner, I heard from female friends who had encountered this at popular NYC salons. What to do if your massage goes where it shouldn't? Speak up--and get dressed!"
     Um, well, not exactly. I mean, yes, that's the start of the answer, if you're opposed to what's happening. But it's not that simple. 'Cause if you're really opposed, you ought to do a fuck of a lot more than just "speak up" (presumably to the person who's just...taken liberties...with your at least partially-nude body?!). You should complain to the salon manager and/or owner, and then to the licensing board of the state in which the salon is located. And you should make a big enough stink about it that there is NO way that it happens again. Because sexual abuse isn't something that should just be 'avoided' and moved away from. Your willingness to follow up on something like this protects OTHER PEOPLE from something like this. People who are less able to take action than you are.
     All that being said under the assumption that the unprofessional contact is not consensual. If it is, then...that's another story. Your own.
~ In the mind-over-matter category, from Shape, February 2006: The Candy Lover's Calorie Saver
"Just in time for sweets season, a new study from Cornell University shows that when it comes to candy, out of sight is as good as out of mind. Secretaries who were given 30 Hershey's Kisses every day for a month ate more than twice as many when the chocolates were within arm's reach. Also interesting: when the candy was placed desk-side in a clear jar, the secretaries ate an average of 7.7 pieces per day, compared with 3.1 Kisses when the jar was opaque."
~ Seen the new Arby's TV ad? Kid taking his driver's test, trying to parallel park, smashes into the car behind, creams the car in front, squeals into position. The shot tightens; the instructor turns to him and says, "You passed." "I did?!" Then you see that the instructor has the Arby's emblem over his head as if a neon sign--he has Arby's on his mind.
     So what they're saying is that Arby's (thinking about it, and then eating it) makes you so fucking dumb that you won't mind sending someone out to drive, and eventually kill, with impunity.

Mmm. On that note, it's time to get me some chow. Not from Arby's. Sheesh.