Beautypedia makes choosing moisturizers a snap

Hands of Joan of Arc at Domrémy by 

Henri Chapu 1872 CE.  Photographed at the 

Musee d'Orsay in Paris by Mary Harrsch.

Today I read an article about saving money on cosmetics and skin care products.  Essentially, it said the vast majority of cosmetics claims are pretty much bogus.  It said the single most important thing you can do for your skin to prevent wrinkles or skin damage is to mitigate sun exposure with protective clothing and sunscreen. But once wrinkles appear, little can be done to erase them (short of surgery) although skin moisturizers may help a little.  But trying to choose a moisturizer from the thousands of products available can be daunting so the author recommended the website Beautypedia sponsored by "Cosmetic Cop" Paula Begoun:

http://www.beautypedia.com/

I had never heard of it so I thought I would check it out.  It is a comprehensive database of cosmetics and skin care product reviews and clearly shows a rating to point out product effectiveness and which products are grossly overpriced.  I couldn't find the face cream I'm using at the moment (Seacret that is supposedly formulated from minerals from the Dead Sea - it's as close to ancient cosmetics as I could get!).  Then, I was surprised to note that the Cetaphil the doctor recommended for my feet doesn't have a decent rating unless you select a particular formulation (she only told me Cetaphil so I've just been buying their generic body lotion - although I must admit when I get a crack in my heel it heals up within a day with the generic lotion) and was shocked to see it on the list of companies that tests its product on animals.  I have had nightmares where I have seen animals in laboratories connected to instruments by tubes sprouting from their bodies so I would never want to do anything that would encourage that type of activity!

According to Paula's rating system you should basically look for a product with no $ signs, a check mark and a happy face icon although you should also look at the price and the number of ounces of product the quoted price buys you too. There seems to be quite a wide price range that garner a happy face and check mark indicating a product that exceeds expectations and goes beyond the criteria for a product in its category with minimal to no concerns.  For example, CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion PM at $12.99 for 3 oz. is rated equally with Estee Lauder Nutritious Vita-Mineral Moisture Lotion at $38.00 for 1.7 oz. If you click on the rating column heading twice to make it sort in ascending order by rating putting the best products with no $ signs at the top, it makes it easier to select the best most economical product although "Paula" does not give you unit pricing which would make this exercise a total no brainer.  Perhaps she doesn't wish to have her own line of products, priced in the mid-range with her Skin Recovery Moisturizer, for Normal to Very Dry Skin priced at $19.95 for 2 oz., farther down the list.  Although I didn't do the math precisely, it looks like, of all the skin moisturizers without sunscreen available, CeraVe is the most economical and effective and a quick check of the animal testing report card shows it doesn't test its products on animals - a clear winner for me!  Now I just have to figure out where to get it.  A quick web search shows me I can get it from Amazon for even less than is quoted in the database.  I noticed that CeraVe makes a lot of different skin care products so I searched Beautypedia for just that brand name and was pleased to note that all of their different formulations rated a "Paul's pick" and were vastly more economical than many of their competitors.

 Anyway, I thought if you have found trying to choose a skin moisturizer as challenging as I have you might find this website helpful too.

Feel the Love - Dancers Flash Mob at Dubai Airport

What I love about joyous flash mobs where people share dancing or singing is that they almost invariably make everyone smile.  Here you see people even in conservative clothing begin to smile (well, everybody except one guy!) especially when some young children join the dance troupe.  You even see a pair of pilots come down the escalator and immediately begin to smile instead of stressing out about possibly being late to the next checkin on their schedule - a much more humane environment than the typical high stress experience you usually encounter at an airport.

Related articles

• Flash mob, are you part of it? (socialmediaalley.wordpress.com)

Great food and beautiful handcrafts highlight Latvian Center holiday bazaar

Traditional Latvian dress worn for

festivals and special occasions 

displayed at the Oregon Latvian

Center, 5500 SW Dosch Road,

Portland, Oregon.

Seven years ago my brother married a lady from Riga, Latvia.  It's especially wonderful when we get to welcome a new family member from another culture because it gives us an opportunity to learn about new customs and sample ethnic dishes we may not have ever tried before.

To help Gunta feel more at home here in the states, my brother found a website for a Latvian Center in Portland, Oregon and soon they were shuttling back and forth between Pendleton, where they lived, to various activities at the Latvian Center.  Then this year, my brother and Gunta moved to the Portland area so they could be closer to other members of the Portland Latvian community.  When I was visiting them in their new home in Columbia City, Gunta mentioned they were eagerly anticipating the annual holiday bazaar that would be held on Thanksgiving weekend at the Latvian Center and I asked if I could go with them.

Carraway-flavored Jānu siers, a fresh-cooked cheese, is a 

traditional food prepared for the festival of Jāni celebrating

the summer solstice.  Photo courtesy of The Kitchen Mouse.

So, Saturday I had the chance to sample a little Latvian culture for myself.  Various members of the Latvian Center offered a variety of delicious homemade desserts like fruit and nut tortes and apple cakes.  They also displayed a wide assortment of savory breads including some of my brother's favorite pīrāgi, little crescent-shaped yeast rolls filled with chopped bacon and onion.  I also admired the intricately patterned knitted gloves, hats, scarves and hand-woven table linens along with books, photographs, glassware, jewelry and other mementos featuring pictures of Latvia and countrymen dressed in the various folk costumes of the different regions.  One of the ladies hurried over to tell my brother that there was only one wedge of Jāņu siers left so if he wanted any of the carraway seed-flavored fresh-cooked cheese he'd better hurry.  This exceptional cheese made from curds is one of the traditional foods prepared for the festival of Jāņi, originally a Latvian celebration of the summer solstice held on June 23.  

I bought a handmade knitted doll in a traditional Latvian costume, some fragrant soap with a picture of two women in Latvian dress on it and a braided loaf of sweet saffron bread with almonds and raisins called Klingeris that I will freeze then warm up for our family Christmas celebration.

At noon, lunch was announced and I indulged myself with some of the most delicious cabbage rolls I had ever eaten along with mashed potatoes and a specially seasoned gravy, salad and buttered peas served with Saldskabmaize, a sweet and sour rye bread.  Unlike the cabbage rolls I had eaten at a little Russian café in west Eugene that were simmered in a tomato sauce, these were simmered in the broth from the seasoned ground beef filling similar to these Polish golabki . 

Polish cabbage rolls known as golabki.  Photo courtesy
of About East European Food. 

Afterwards, Gunta and I shared a piece of hazelnut torte frosted with delicately sweetened whipped cream and finely ground hazelnuts. I found a recipe on the web for Latvian Hazelnut Torte but noticed it was frosted with a mocha buttercream frosting.  I'm sure I prefer the sweetened whipped cream as it is much less sugary and lets you enjoy the delicate flavor of the nuts.  Gunta told me that many desserts in Latvia are garnished with sweetened whipped cream rather than the heavier sugar-based frostings used so often here in the states.  

I also learned that hazelnuts grow wild in Latvia so hazelnut torte has been a festival dessert there for centuries.  Hazelnuts grow wild here in Oregon too but a more robust variety was commercially planted at Dorris Ranch here in Springfield in 1903.  That orchard was the foundation for today's thriving Oregon hazelnut industry. 

 Cake-like desserts made from ground nuts or nut flour have been documented as far back as the 17th century.  The Linzer torte, based on a recipe dating back to 1696 (or possibly an earlier recipe found in a 1653 codex), was originally made from almonds but almonds were so expensive that only wealthy nobles could afford dishes prepared with them. So the dessert was modified to use walnuts or hazelnuts that were more readily available.

Needless to say I enjoyed every bite of the delicious Latvian cuisine.  I look forward to going to Latvia with Joe Bill and Gunta one day.  They still maintain a flat in Riga and visit Latvia every couple of years so hopefully I won't have to wait too long!

Network news needs to be more objective about Occupy Wall Street coverage

The US Supreme Cout - another corrupted institution! Image via Wikipedia

Last night I was watching ABC World News and was really appalled by the story they presented in which they interviewed Occupy Wall Street protesters about why they were there.  It's as if they had purposefully selected dim wits that didn't have a clue.  There were a couple of people interviewed that did provide a valid reason but ABC seemed to quickly skip over them as if they didn't want anyone to think too hard about what they said.

So this morning I sent them the link to a song by Makana that pretty much says it all:



In case you can't catch all the lyrics here they are:

Ye come here, gather 'round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who've trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won't withdraw

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
'Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You can't divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can't buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We are the many
You are the few


The things I personally am particularly disturbed by are the inequitable tax structures that overwhelmingly favor the corporate and the rich, a Supreme Court who is obviously "for sale" or is at the least politically motivated rather than unbiased, rules that exempt Congressmen from laws that prohibit profit by insider trading and allow them to accept lobbyist favors in any form thereby making their job one of maximizing their own wealth rather than serving the vast majority of Americans who elected them, and being the victims of large corporations who are essentially thinly disguised monopolies who extract money from us like a blood bank who has no qualms about drawing out so much blood that a donor shrivels and dies!  

Caregiver Village online community new approach to caregiver outreach

I'm one of the 60 million caregivers in the United States that spends a significant portion of my day caring for  a family member with chronic medical problems - in my case a Vietnam veteran with PTSD and medical complications resulting from exposure to Agent Orange.  After more than 40 years of this responsibility, caregiving is simply ingrained in my daily life and I have learned to cope with the stresses it creates by engaging in cultural enrichment through my study of the ancient world and by focusing on my writing and digital photography activities in my spare time.

But, as a retired technology professional, I also try to keep up with new uses of technology, especially for educational purposes so was intrigued to see that health care and counseling professionals along with a team of technology developers have reached out to family caregivers through a new online social network community called Caregiver Village.  In Caregiver Village, members who subscribe to the service for $4.95 per month (they do offer a free 30 day trial) can play an ongoing Sims-like mystery game called the "Village Chronicles".  Each episode offers players a chance to learn better self-care, stress management skills and positive attitudes while solving puzzles and earning achievements as they explore an episodic mystery surrounding a caregiving situation.

Members can also join book club discussion groups led by authors who have written books about caregiving for a variety of conditions and access resources for dealing with ADD/ADHD, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, autism, cancer, depression, diabetes, general aging, general caregiving needs, heart disease, mental and developmental delays, mental/emotional illness, Parkinson’s, physical disabilities, stroke, surgery, injury or wounds, and war-related injuries and are encouraged to share their own experiences through personal journals and interacting with other community members.

"People connect based on common needs and interests in a place that becomes their own village of support and encouragement," say site developers.  "Family caregivers are exhausted, stressed to the point of illness and frustrated by their isolation.Caregiver Village’s virtual village creates a close knit community where caregivers can discover a sense of deep personal satisfaction – and escape – from the hard, intense work of family caregiving; while simultaneously learning how to handle their stress and building online connections with people in exactly the same situation as them."

 So, if you have found yourself in a long-term caregiving role and would like to meet and interact with others in a similar situation, check out Caregiver Village.

Related articles

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Star Trek comes to Netflix Instant Streaming but may switch to VuDu for new releases and drop DVDs by mail

The U.S.S. Enterprise at Star Trek: The Experience, an
exhibit that was once the featured attraction at the Las Vegas
Hilton.  Photo by Mary Harrsch.

Wow!  Today I went up to Netflix to rank a DVD series we just completed and noticed that Netflix must have reached an awesome agreement with Paramount as I see that Start Trek and most of its spinoffs are now popping up on my suggested TV shows list for instant streaming.  Classic Trek, STNG, Voyager and Enterprise are now available to download instantly!  I'm so excited - especially about Enterprise as I never had the chance to watch more than one or two of the episodes.

For some reason Deep Space Nine is only available on Disc but I'm sure it will be added before too long.

Yes, I'm afraid all of you who thought I was this serious classical scholar will be disillusioned to discover that I'm an original Trekker going clear back to the first 1966 airing of the Star Trek episode "The Man Trap".  I've even dressed up in a Star Fleet captain's uniform that I fashioned myself (circa "The Wrath of Khan") and attended a number of Star Trek conventions.  I've had the thrill of meeting Worf (Michael Dorn), Sulu (George Takei), Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Quark (Armin Shimerman) and even Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).  I've

Quark's business associates welcome me to
Quark's Bar at Star Trek: The Experience.

also been accosted by a Klingon down at Quark's Bar in Star Trek: The Experience that was once a featured attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton and I've sat in Captain Picard's command chair and "Made it so" down at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. (That was when the museum was first open and had only a handful of visitors.  I doubt if they let people do that now)  I even beamed myself down to an alien planet at the Star Trek: Federation Science exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. (Actually you stepped onto a "transporter" and watched yourself shimmer and disappear on a video screen in front of you then reappear in front of a backdrop of an alien world.  My husband and I stood in line for almost two hours to do it and my husband said afterward he can't believe we waited so long to only do that!  At that same exhibit I stepped up to a wax figure of Spock dressed in his Star fleet uniform that was protected by a cylindrical glass shield and pressed my hand formed into a Vulcan salute against the glass where his hand was positioned in the Vulcan salute and my husband asked me what on earth I was doing.  I told him it would probably be as close to Spock as I would ever get!

At one point Star Trek even inspired me to consider majoring in biochemistry so I could work at the Ames Research Center and search for extraterrestrial life.  But that was a lifetime ago.  Now I'm content to let my computer do the searching with the SETI at home software and just revisit the worlds of Star Trek via Netflix, especially since most of my Star Trek videos are old VHS tapes.  (Although two weeks ago I ordered the original collection of Star Trek movies on Blu-Ray that came up on Amazon as a Gold Box special for 60% off.)

The bust of a Cardassian at Star Trek:
The Experience

Today, though, I discovered this walk down memory lane was going to cost me twice as much as I thought.  I received an email from Netflix that informed me they were DOUBLING their subscription rates for people who subscribe to both streaming and DVDs by mail.

I watch far more movies via streaming than on DVD but I subscribe to both services (for $9.95/mo) because most new film releases don't make it to instant streaming for years.   Of course I must admit I have other choices.  Vudu only charges $2 per movie and have most new releases the day the DVD comes out.  With the pathetically few movies being produced that I find interesting nowdays, it would probably be far cheaper for me to just occasionally rent a new release from Vudu than to pay Netflix an additional $7.99 per month.  Dish Network also offered some new titles on PPV for only 99 cents this month.  If that is not just a flash in the pan but a regular new product offering, that could be another viable option as well.  I suppose I could also scale back my satellite channel package too since I hardly watch much on broadcast television anymore after the nightly news is over.

A Girls' Day Out in Historical Philadelphia

While I was on a photoshoot in Philadelphia back in April, I took a day to explore the historical district with my daughter Margaret.  For her birthday today, I sent her the Smilebox card below with a short slideshow of our day together.

Slideshow design personalized with Smilebox