"Do you ever just sit down and count your blessings? Being healthy. Able to walk. Eating a meal. Able to speak. Having a family. $ to spend." - Polo

Hope 2012 is as blessed as 2011.
Happy New Years. :)

Christian Louboutin... dream

Bikki 140 Pony Mary Jane Pumps, $581

Bikki 140 Leather Mary Jane Pumps, $581

Pampas Pumps 150mm, $551

Lady Daf 160mm Pumps Amethyst, $581

Aveeno?

I'm not sure if this winter is extra drying to my skin, but I have been noticing that my sensitive skin has been ultra itchy... dry... and here's something new: I have suddenly begun to develop painful cracks/cuts and uncomfortable tightness. These painful cuts have been driving me nuts. :( I saw that reapplying lotion several times a day helps, so that reassures me that it's just skin dryness. I've also learned today that AJAX dish soap aggravates my skin and makes it more painful.

Since Palmer's cocoa butter doesn't work anymore, I'm thinking about switching all of my lotions and body wash. :( As a kid, my parents always bought me Dove soap, but I've decided to try Aveeno. I had no idea that they were a company that was sensitive to people with skin issues. A lot of their products are made with oatmeal, lanolin, and are fragrance and dye free. They also have a body wash that is "soap-free," which is a total mind fuck for me. o_O I'm not gonna lie, their "hydrating fig + shea butter" body wash is taunting me. But since my skin is so bad right now, maybe I'll get it another time. Nonetheless, I'm a bit skeptical by all the claims Aveeno makes, but I read a lot of reviews and customers with painful cracked skin mentioned how surprised they are by its efficacy. Apparently their secret is colloidal oats (an oatmeal protein that soothes and protects skin) and dimethicone (skin protectant--which of course the nerd in me found out that it works well because its molecules are too large to penetrate the skin).

SHOPPING LIST!

fragrance free, soap-free, dye-free, hypoallergenic body wash

I think I'm going to get this instead of the regular daily moisturizer because of its extra dry skin claim, extra oats, etc. and customers say it works well during dry winter seasons. I'm kind of skeptical about the menthol part, I've never used it on my skin before. :\

WTF. I'm overwhelmed, apparently Cetaphil and Eucerin are also good products for ultra dry sensitive skin (although I think Eurcerin might be better than Cetaphil based on reading ingredients). Oh well, Aveeno serves as the first trial.

Rant done. :p

Hind-what? For Di. :D

If it wasn't for that giant honors history project back in 9th grade, I probably would never really know Indonesian history.

Ok--so mom is from Balikpapan, Indonesia and dad is from Freeport, Bahamas.

Mom

Today the dominant religion in Indonesia is Islam, but before Arab merchants immigrated in the 14th century, the dominant religions were Buddhism and Hinduism. Indian traders brought Shaivite Hinduism around the 4th or 5th centuries while Buddhism came maybe a century after. If you encounter Indonesians, you'll notice that although they practice Islam, they all still have Hindu names and mannerisms lol. For example mom's first name is Sri which is the Hindu Javanese goddess for prosperity, also known as India's Lakshimi (Vishnu's consort).

Dad

Currently the Bahamas is Catholic (which explains why dad was Catholic first and then converted to Islam in his early teens, thanks to the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Movement). The Bahamas was originally inhabited by the Lucayans/Taino who are basically a mixture of what we know as modern day Haiti, Dominican Republic, and South America. The Hindu history basically came from East Indians who came to Trinidad, thus "Indo-Trinidadians" and they had spread it around the West Indies. What's sad to me about this whole thing is that no one on dad's side has record of anything and there really isn't any information online. I feel like there is so much back and forth. X_x I guess it's complex because a lot of countries and cultures are meshed in. As of this morning, I learned that you can only find the names of his ancestors in England's family registries. I would ask dad, but I don't feel like hearing his emotional rants because of his intense grudge against white people. -_-' So yeah, dad's history is not recorded as well as mom's and learning about it is a work in progress.

Cool point: I learned that in addition to my Irish, Native American and obviously Bahamian/Haitian blood, I'm also from Barbados. WHOA.

Honestly I think I'm more and more like a mutt because of his side.

Ok bai.

irony.

not to be a prude, but i think it's interesting how we're all expected to say "merry christmas" yet when eid rolls around, i don't recall anyone else wishing me a happy eid ul-fitr or eid ul-adha. and don't start that bullshit about "this is america" because i don't remember history ever depicting white christian people to be natives. honestly, if you're not white, i'm sure christianity wasn't your ancestors' original religion. and yes, eid is on all the damn standard calendars.

oh snap, time to digress.

now that i think about it, my "original" religion is hinduism. which is interesting because even though my parents' countries are seas apart, they both were historically hindu. O_O

whatever. since i'm supposedly liberal and into the equality thing. fuck it. merry xmas to those who celebrate it.

Not sure if being "home" means it's worth feeling hurt everyday.

Well I haven't balanced equations in like. Forever.