Natural Disaster Week Update

Hurricane Irene has gone through. I still have power, and I don't see any trees down or deep puddles, but there are plenty elsewhere nearby. Saturday was overcast and drizzly all day, then rains picked up a bit later, like closer to 6p and winds started to pick up. I stayed inside, like we should, so I don't have any interesting experiences, just weird noises from the wind. I was expecting power to go out, so we got lucky that it didn't. Eventually I'll go out and see how the nearby stream and the roads are (if the streetlights are functioning). I don't plan to go out much yet since there are scattered areas of electricity outages and tree stuff in the roads. But school is currently planned to run on a normal schedule, so I'll be walking out and about tomorrow unless the status changes. Will take pictures if I see anything interesting.

All safe here. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Natural Disaster Week

August 23 Earthquake and now waiting on the Hurricane to hit. It's been a fun week, really. As an engineer, I was so exited when I realized it was an earthquake. I learn how to make buildings for earthquakes, but I never had experienced one. So this is not very new news for other East-Coasters, but I thought I'd quickly share my experience.

I felt it a lot! (I guess because it was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, even if it was 130 miles away.) There was an initial shake and I looked out the window to see if a truck hit the building or something. Then my office mate was pretty certain it was an earthquake and told me to get out of the window (I was standing up on a heater leaning out the window, since it is not at normal height). Then there was a bunch more shaking, lots of strong back and forth. Only little things fell - like a small bottle of glasses cleaner I had, probably from the movement of the liquid inside. But I just finally examined my bookshelf and the books had slid forward, so they could have fell in some places, but mine stayed on the shelf. I was really excited since I have learned about earthquakes and stuff but never felt one, and this felt pretty substantial.

My bookshelf

Then I went outside to talk with people. Anyway, when I was outside, I tried to make calls but I was only able to successfully send and receive texts. Some people had their computers outside and looked up information and found the earthquake was in Virginia, though I had a hard time believing it was that far away because we really felt a lot. But that was it, and apparently people have felt it up to New York and Toronto, Canada. So I am just excited about having been in an earthquake and can't believe it was felt so far away. I was also looking forward to maybe some aftershocks, but have mostly been smaller (though there was a 4.5), and it seems those have mostly only been felt closer to the earthquake origins in Virginia.

I heard from other people I know who felt it in Columbus, Ohio (380 miles from the earthquake), and Dayton, Ohio (440 miles from it). My husband was working near DC and he thought the ceiling was going to cave in (it didn't, the buildings were fine just shaky, since it was 80 miles from the earthquake).


So now we are waiting for hurricane Irene which is still projected to be hurricane-level (not downgraded to tropical storm) as it hits along the coast. Expecting lots of rain, flooding in some places, and power outage.

And for the incoming students moving in this weekend and getting ready to start school Monday (weather-permitting), welcome to Baltimore! It is never like this here, but it sure is an interesting way to experience the city. Up next: volcanoes, landslides, and tsunamis...

Purple Touch-up

It had been two weeks and I found the purple color is fading to reveal some of that "bleached" red-tone I had uncovered. So I applied some of the splat lusty lavender color to revive the purpliness.

Faded:

Re-Purplized:

 I find this purple version to be even pinker as it fades (since it has now been a week since I touched up my color).

It didn't stay purple (to my tastes) very long, but probably because my bleached undertone is red and not all the way to blond.

I will be getting more of the punky hair colour in plum to touch up my purpliness. (I used the whole container when I first dyed my hair.)

Audrey - Charade and Paris Fizzles...

I recently watched Charade and Paris when it Sizzles. (I needed some Audrey for a little pick-me-up.)

Charade was a fun who-done-it sort of thing with twists (some expected, and at least one very unexpected, in my opinion). Who stole the money? Who can you trust? And maybe there is a romance involved? ... It is an Audrey movie...
*It is also fun to note that Cary Grant turned down the role along side Audrey in How to Steal a Million (that O'Toole got) because he thought he was too old for her love interest (26 years older). He was still hesitant with the role in Charade, but the script was re-written so that lines originally made for him to pursue Audrey were switched so Audrey pursued him. I found this to be a nice, unexpected change to her character.


In Paris when it Sizzles, Audrey is working as a typist for a screenwriter (William Holden, who she also worked with in Sabrina) who needs to write a movie in a few days. I did not know the premise coming in, and I tend to find that movies from the point of view of a movie writer rarely work well. Paris when it sizzles is no exception. It is all over the place. Sure, it captures the possible haphazard thought-process of a writer, but I prefer the polished end-product of a well constructed movie. *Apparently, Audrey herself thought something similar - she had fun making the movie but it has been noted (by her son) that this was her least favorite movie in her body of work.

It did work well to watch these back-to-back, since they were both filmed in Paris back-to-back. So in terms of chronological order, the way Audrey did it, this makes sense. Otherwise, the films are very tonally different. I recommend Charade but could do without Paris when it Sizzles.

* = facts courtesy of IMDB

Obsessed with Yogurt

You may recall that I reviewed a local Build your own Yogurt shop. That was my first time at a place like that, and only about 3 weeks ago. Since then, I have gone to almost every self-serve yogurt place I have seen... At Freeziac in the Mall of America in Minnesota,

At Chilly Billy's in the collegetown (Dinkytown) by the University of Minnesota,

And another one in Maryland (in Nottingham, near White Marsh), Yogi Castle. (Hubby and I both got one.)

These are my new favorite desserts. They might sound costly at close to 50 cents per ounce (considering they usually have 16-ounce or bigger cups), but it has always been reasonable for me. I guess because I don't fill the whole cup with yogurt, which is heavier than the toppings. Though I do like the fruit toppings, which I was worried would get heavy, but I still haven't paid over $5 for my yogurt and fruit creations.

I recommend trying out these new-fangled yogurt shops. They seem to be popping up all over the place, some with a modern look and some that look more family-oriented. The modern ones can look a little intimidating, but they really are generally all the same. Some do have more flavors (Yogi Castle had snickerdoodle, toffee, cookies and cream, and cake batter, in addition to chocolate, vanilla, fruit yogurts, fruit sorbets, and more), some have more toppings to choose from (the ones in Minnesota had more fruit options), and some have more unique flavors (like yogoya, the first one I reviewed, had taro yogurt). But any one would be good to visit to try out building your own yogurt to see if you like it as much as I do.

More Purple Hair

I have been trying to take some better pictures to capture the color.

From the pictures in the sun, looks like the color looks pinker in the sun (glad I didn't go with the pink-purple dye color which would probably look hot pink). It is more purpley indoors but those pictures haven't been coming out well. (The best of the indoor pictures are in the original post.)

Also, the purple dye I chose has a grape scent. I have gotten used to it and don't really notice, but once in a while I get a fresh whiff of grape and I kinda like it (way better than the chemically smell some normal-color dyes have).

Cute Romatic Comedy - How to Steal a Million

How to Steal a Million: Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, in Paris. The plot line is cute and works so well with the two main actors. Audrey is sweet and honest, her dad likes to create artistic masterpieces in the styles of famous artists and pass those works off as authentic, which is only a recent problem when he decides to sell a few. She is paranoid that everyone around them is trying to prove the inauthenticity of the works of art, except she does not suspect a man (O'Toole) who she believes is an art thief. When one of the home-made works of art is on display at the museum and insured, a test of authenticity if required. But how to get this work of art from the museum before the testing day? Sweet and honest Audrey has to employ a more devious and dangerous plan to keep her family from scandal. And also entertaining are the relationships between the characters and how well Hepburn and O'Toole play off each other.

For the fashionistas, it's always fun when the opening credits have Audrey's wardrobe by Givenchy, jewelry by Cartier Paris. That made me pay more attention to the outfits, and there is a well-done 'third-wall joke' where Audrey wears a cleaning outfit and a joke is made that it "gives Givenchy a night off."

For a cute romantic comedy, and if you are craving some classic Audrey, I highly recommend How to Steal a Million. I watched it alone (while traveling), but I think this is one that could entertain the guys, too.

Also, there are pretty cars. I LOVE Audrey's red Autobianchi Bianchina Special Cabriolet. O'Toole's E-type Jaguar is also a sexy car.

Autobianchi Bianchina Special Cabriolet

 (Picture from movie, Info at microcarmuseum and Wikipedia)

PS: Givenchy designed for many Audrey movies (see link).