clevermanka | Signs of age

Signs of age

Y'all really need to check out all these cosplay posts.

This art keeps popping up on my Tumblr dash and someone please remind me the name of the wonderful series with the blue bathrobe because I am closing in on 50 (real fuckin' fast) and although I re-read one of the installments like, two weeks ago, even the author name escapes me and I am ashamed but what's a soul to do? Post-menopausal brain is a drag, friends.

Speaking of old person problems, does anyone had advice for getting mothball/thrift store smell out of clothes? A local friend gave me a potential dress for NYE but oh my gosh does it stink. No way can I wear this thing out dancing. I've run it through the wash twice (the second time with half a box of baking soda), soaked it twice (Woolite and the rest of the box of baking soda), and have had it hanging in open air for four days now with very little to no improvement. Do I just need to hang this thing in the garage for a year and maybe wear it for 2021? I'd rather smell like a mechanic than mothballs...

This is the first morning I haven't awakened with a headache since Saturday, so that's nice. Any of y'all get weather-related headaches? Good times. Hopefully the current winter storm is over. Not sure how much snow we got, but I'd say four or five inches which is (well, used to be) rare for this part of the world. Who knows what normal weather is now? Ha ha ha!

Struggling with what I suspect is some low-grade depression. And the desire to snog someone senseless is still...there. I think these things are related. *cough* It's an interesting thing, being a (for all intents and purposes related to sexy times) single woman in middle age. Especially one who is still mostly housebound. It's nice to think about eventually being more active and meeting people I might want to fool around with, but...who knows if that will ever happen? *emoji shrug* Anyway. It's an interesting thing to observe. I realize the fact that I've never experienced this before means I've been very very spoiled in my life. If my essay-writing brain ever returns to me, I'm gonna have a hell of a memoir.

But! In happy news, I finally washed my hair and can give the official stamp of approval for this cut/stylist. Pic in a comment bc I'm too lazy to make a cut.

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So gorgeous! <3

Thank you! I do have Good Hair. Thanks, mom!

You really do have amazing hair!

(Also, OH MY GOD, those cosplay pics!!!!!! Thank you so much for linking those.)

I feel like this photo is good explanation for my standard user icon across all platforms =D

Glad you liked the cosplay photos! They're incredible!

You have lovely hair! I love your curls. :-)

Thank you! I love my curls, too. They require some babying, and fall out into loose waves after a couple days post-wash, but they look so good a few hours post-wash (and, in this case, post-root-touch-up).

You have seriously gorgeous hair! (I don't recall it being SO long and SO wavy at Con*Strict...but that was some time ago.)

Yikes, that was disturbing about the mother-son meetup that occurred via app.

It was probably this long but the all-over length pulls out the curl. Also I'm sure I had it up 90% of the time so it probably looked shorter. I don't leave my hair down very often--especially in desert climates during the dog days of summer =D.

Yeah, now that I think about it...I think you were wearing it up EVERY time I saw you at Con*Strict.

(Any thoughts on attending Con*Strict 2020?)

TBH, I don't think I'll go back. If I ever do, it won't be for quite a while. I don't know how much I'd be able to enjoy myself without

splix there.

Edited 2019-12-18 23:11 (UTC)

I understand.

There's a con that isn't Con*Strict about which I feel the same way for not identical but similar reasons....

*sad fistbump*

*points to icon*

Your hair looks amazing! I just cut mine on Saturday, and today's plan is henna. This is the first time I'm doing it by myself in roughly four years, so we'll see how that goes.

Distilled white vinegar is useful for removing mothball smell. You can soak the dress in equal parts water and vinegar, or run it through the wash with just vinegar, then wash it like normal, whichever you deem a better idea for the fabric involved.

I get sinus-triggered migraines, so changes in weather like air pressure shifts, rapid temperature changes or extreme temperatures, and changes in humidity give me a lot of grief. I'm on a daily migraine blocker, which I occasionally supplement with caffeine, though I have to be careful with that because of my GI issues and insomnia. Chronic illness is just the best, isn't it?

Those cosplay pics blow my mind, Manka. How the fuck do they even do that.

Best wishes with the henna! Hopefully it's like riding a bike! Which I never learned to do so idk why I said that bc I have no idea if it's true or not...

I have the dress soaking in a much-less strong solution right now so I'll glug some more in the sink, thank you for that advice.

LOVE LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS FUCK YEAH

And lastly, yeah...they're wizards or something. Seriously, wow.

Oh, how's the dress turning out?

The smell is ALL GONE! \o/ Thank you!

Yay, I'm so glad!

HEY! Hope the henna turned out well!

It did! Though I was going to reply to your original comment and say that I did learn to ride a bike when I was a kid, and forgot how as an adult, because chronic illness (it's muscle memory, and my muscles functionally have dementia). Anyway, I'm waiting out the few days it takes henna to calm down before I post a picture. Right now, it's very, very coppery.

Ugh, condolences on drawing the chronic illness card. Day-after henna is always such A Thing. I'm glad I've got (well, had) the color hair for the basic henna-indigo two-step process. Sure it takes twice as long, but I don't have that 48 hour window of "please don't look too close I cannot be responsible for the retinal damage."

Ugh, condolences on drawing the chronic illness card.

Eh, it's no fun for any of us, is it?

I don't have that 48 hour window of "please don't look too close I cannot be responsible for the retinal damage."

Well, in my case, it's more like a week of it's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, because I start out with a blonder shade of ginger.

SUCH HAIR! *admires*

It's GOOD hair. *nods*

Beautiful!

Thank you! I love having a good relationship with my hair.

Distilled white vinegar is supposed to be good for odor removal. I get atmosphere induced headaches too- changes in pressure plus more crud in the air. Hope you feel better soon! Ps fabulous hair!!

Edited 2019-12-17 13:40 (UTC)

Ooooh! I think I even have a bottle of that stuck under the sink, thank you!

Condolences and solidarity on the weather headaches. NO FUN.

(and thank you!)

I second the vinegar suggestion.

Currently soaking! Cross your fingers!

Good luck!

The blue bathrobe series is

sakana17's Risk and Reward, I think?

GOD YES THANK YOU THANK YOU

Love the hair! Hope you get some action soon. I hear everyone's use apps these days :D

Thank you and thank you!

If I didn't live in such a small town (and didn't have such a long and highly-social past here) I would absolutely be getting on an app, regardless of how awful everyone says they are. Alas, I can't even sit in a coffeeshop downtown without running into someone I know. Encountering those people on an app--some of whom might even be former grad students (shudder)--is horrifying to merely contemplate, much less attempt. XD

Maybe I'll encounter a beautiful stranger at the NYE party. Where I will hopefully not smell like mothballs.

... oh my god... that is horrifying. May you meet a beautiful stranger in person. LOL

ETA: A friend of mine in Kansas City (about half an hour away) ran into her son on an app for cougars and knowing that can happen with a population of two million made me absolutely nope out what with my little burg of 95k.

Edited 2019-12-17 15:49 (UTC)

This is the sound of me screaming in horror

Finding people to make out with is not for the faint of heart. If I could send you a ZYL, I would.

I screamed and then cried laughing when she told me the story.

A ZYL (either Zhu Yilong or Zhao Yunlan) would be Very Welcome and put to Quite Good Use.

Getting laid was not a problem at all when I was young and kid-free. Now, I keep fucking my former co-workers, but it was a company that hovered around 50 total people, so eventually I'm going to run out and have to come up with a Plan B.

And, in Lawrence, we all do know each other in some way. And, my work hours with commuting time are 11-12 hours/day and then I have kids half the week which takes those days out.

In otherwords, if you find the answer, let me know.

Will do, bb. WILL DO.

Your hair is gorgeous.

And OMG the cosplay posts, how do they do that???

Thanks, bb!

And OMG I know! It's sorcery!!!

Ugggggggghhhh the hair looks GOOD

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! It's the one body part that does what I ask it to! =D

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Signs of age

New haircut, post-wash and air-dried

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