Review: Dollar Shave Club

We like to fall down Internet rabbit holes. Find one thing funny on youtube and follow the links and see where they take us.

Not too long ago, the rabbit hole brought us here:

The commercial is hysterical, right? After a few months of discussion and, really, paying too much for razors and/or blades, we took the DollarShaveClub.com plunge. About a week later, a package arrived in the mail. 

I was a bit disappointed in the packaging, but, really, I understand. The bare bones packaging helps to keep the cost down. With the commercial, though, I just expected more jokes. 

We opted for the 4x, aka "The Lover's Blade." The handle that comes with the blades has a high quality feel. It really has some heft to it, and it looks nice too. Cause you know how important it is to look fancy while shaving. 

The blades are truly fantastic. I have very sensitive skin while shaving and, even with sub-par shave cream, the DollarShaveClub.com blades left me with minimal irritation.  With a good shave cream (eos, represent!) the irritation will be non-existent. 

So, basically, two thumbs up. Or four, if you count Mickey, cause I'm pretty sure he likes 'em too.

Paperback Writer

Since being unemployed, I have made it a goal to write at least an hour a day. Initially, I thought I would do that writing on this here blog.

Obviously, I did not.

But, I have been writing erry'day. For years, there have been bazillions of ideas rolling around in my head, so I decided to tackle some of them. Right now, I have four different projects going on.

1. Semi-autobiographical essay things.
2. A short story about the "Best Exit in Florida." Note: Recently, I visited the REAL self-proclaimed "Best Exit in Florida" last weekend. Verdict? Not that great at all.
3. Poems. I feel very stupidly pretentious to say that I am writing poetry, but I think it is my favorite. It's like a puzzle to choose the words that work the best.
4. D and I are writing a musical together. Out of all of them, this is what I am having the most fun with. This one just happened randomly. We were listening to a CD on the way to dance one day and D said, "This would make a great musical." I replied, "So, let's write one." So, we are.

Writing about writing seems lame. So, I will stop.

'S Wonderful

Recently, I became slightly obsessed with the Cleveland Show. I watched every single episode within about a week. Most of the time, the family humoured me, watching right alongside me. Even though Mickey had already done the exact same thing about a week earlier, he watched almost all of them over again. That's an awesome fella right there. And, well, the Cleveland Show is that funny.  I literally laugh at least twice an episode.

Well, to my great sadness, I finished the Cleveland Show. That left me with no background TV noise. So I went fishing on Netflix. D whined about everything I lingered over and, eventually, I ended up just putting something on before she got a chance to see what it was.

She started judging immediately, "What is this ridiculous cover of a Beatles song?" She even told me she was judging me. However, within two minutes, she was complimenting the opening lines. Within ten, she stopped typing on her keyboard. Twenty minutes into the first episode, she started comparing one of the main characters to Mickey. By the time Kevin and Winnie shared their very first kiss, she was hooked. 

I am almost having as much fun watching her reactions as I am the show itself. 

And... for the record? Even though I was afraid it wouldn't, the show totally holds up. 

Ready to Rock

No, no, not more Rock Band talk, I promise. However, we are now ranked #1 on a song:

On vocals, at least.

About a month or so ago, Mickey and I went to a wedding. The wedding was fantastic, the bride looked lovely and the groom was very bouncy. We drank, we danced, we took lots of pictures with disposable cameras.

But, my favorite part, and the part I was most looking forward to, didn't happen til the next day.

After breakfast at a place that reminded me of eating in a grandmothers kitchen in the 1950's (best Eggs Benedict, ever, btw) we drove a little further down the road and went gem mining.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved gem mining. I was so excited (and somewhat nervous) to share one of my favorite things in the world with Mickey. Excited because, you know, rocks are awesome. Nervous because, you know, if you don't like rocks, gem mining is boring as hell.

But, before you get bored reading about rocks, here are some pictures of our loot:

And seriously? That's not even a quarter of the awesomeness. 

Apparently,  gem mining isn't as common as I thought. So here's how it goes.

You buy a big bucket of dirt. The super-passionate gem-mining dood gives you a wooden box with a screen for a bottom and a spade-shovel-thingie. Then he leads to to this trough of running water that is normally a couple different levels. 

You sit on an uncomfortable wooden bench and drop a spade-full of dirt into your wooden-screen box. Then you shake it about and gently lower it into the water, letting it wash away all the dirt. Then you sift through what is left and, hopefully, find real treasure. 

And we totally did. We found quartz and tiger's eye and flourite and topaz and amethyst and some gorgeous jasper. But even better than that, we found rubies, sapphires and emeralds. This whole glass is filled with them, in fact:

Looks just like plain boring rocks, don't they? But once polished and cut, they are gorgeous. We just haven't made it that far yet. 

Rubies were probably the most fun for us to find because they sound different than all the other rocks. They are heavier than other gems, so when the water pushes them down the trough, they give off a deeper sound. We got a few of our rubies from the couple who was mining upstream from us. Shhh.

We killed almost two hours gem-mining. I am happy to report that Mickey enjoyed himself and now I have a lot more awesome to add to my rock collection. 

Don't judge. Rocks are awesome. 

I Know Why the Caged Bird... Laughs?

I have been a fan of SNL since I was a little girl and would stay up late  on Saturdays to watch it with my dad.

Yeah, sometimes the cast has sucked and sometimes the writers have been crappy, but I almost always laugh at least once every episode.

Well, this past weekend we watched the episode Maya Rudolph hosted. In that episode was the funniest skit since last year's smash hit "Liquorville."

It is hysterical and quoteable, which basically is my favorite one-two punch of SNL-isms. I present you with Maya Angelou's new prank show: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Laughs."