Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Manly Cosmetics

I vacated my bathroom for houseguests recently, and as I was moving my toiletries back in, with wry amusement I noticed how many face creams I have. Creams for eyes, creams for lips, creams for night, creams for going out into the sun, creams for after having gone out into the sun, creams for day, creams for “noticable reductions in wrinkles in 7 days or less.”

(The problem is, seven days later when I am looking for a noticable reduction, I can’t really tell if it is working or not. I look, but I am wondering what I might have looked like if I HADN’T used the cream? I don’t know!)

And I was thinking about men, who have skin, too. Particularly I was thinking about Adventure Man, and what would it take for him to feel comfortable using a skin cream?

First – it would have to have a very manly name. None of this Homme stuff, it would have to imply that this is a product a RUGGED man would use. Like Manly Lather. “Lather” is a word that goes with men, like barbers lather up your face before they shave you. Women use foam, men use LATHER.

Another name I thought might work would be Extreme Unction because manly men like flying near that edge of the envelope, it’s a testosterone thing, and unction means anointing, like with an oil. If you are Catholic, you receive extreme unction just before dying, or before people think you are about to die, so even unction has an extreme connotation.

Maybe Braveheart? Maybe Rock?

Help me out here.

If you are a guy, (please, keep it clean) what kind of names would allow you to use a face cream with dignity?

If you are a gal (and rolling on the floor laughing) what names can you think of that would encourage a guy to actually USE a face cream?

Have fun with this!

October 5, 2007 Posted by | Cross Cultural, Customer Service, Entertainment, Experiment, Health Issues, Humor, Hygiene, Marriage, Random Musings, Relationships | 11 Comments

“Where’s The Bag, Daddy?”

My friends, please be kind. Adventure Man loves plays on words. So last night I could hear him and the Qatteri Cat playing in the bedroom, the Qatteri Cat’s favorite game, Dad hides him under a laundry sack and the Qatteri Cat thinks no one can see him. Then Adventure Man dangles his belt and the Qatteri Cat slashes at it from under the bag. It doesn’t take much to amuse these two; they love this game and can play it over and over.

I can hear Adventure Man saying “Where’s the Bag, Daddy? Where’s the Bag, Daddy?” and dancing around, and he is totally cracking himself up.

“Wouldn’t that be a great blog entry?” he asked.

I dutifully grabbed my camera and tried to get some shots, which is not easy under low light conditions when the Qatteri Cat is swatting at a swinging belt.

So it’s kind of an action shot – that’s what we call it when some of the sharp edges go a little blurry 😉

00wheresthebagdaddy.JPG

This cat adores his Bag, daddy.

October 3, 2007 Posted by | Blogging, Entertainment, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Language, Marriage, Pets | 8 Comments

Qatteri Cat Wants a Drink of Water

The Qatteri Cat loves FRESH water. (We know we spoil him.) This is how he tells us he wants it FRESH.

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September 30, 2007 Posted by | Entertainment, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Humor, Kuwait, Pets | 16 Comments

Motherhood in 2:55

I saw this on Good Morning America, and then my oldest, dearest friend sent me the same in an e-mail. Motherhood condensed into 2 minutes and 55 seconds. Very original.

Every time I listened to it I understood it better! Adventure Man is rolling on the floor!

September 28, 2007 Posted by | Communication, Cross Cultural, Entertainment, Family Issues, Generational, Humor, Relationships, Uncategorized, Women's Issues | 8 Comments

Understanding Engineers

Thank you, KitKat, for sending me these. Nice to start the day with a grin! 🙂

One:

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said,
“Where did you get such a great bike?”

The second engineer replied, “Well, I was walking along yesterday
minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike.
She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said,
“Take what you want.”

The second engineer nodded approvingly, “Good choice; the clothes
probably wouldn’t have fit.”

Understanding Engineers – Take Two:

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is
half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to
be.

Understanding Engineers – Take Three:

A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a
particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, “What’s with
these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!”

The doctor chimed in, “I don’t know, but I’ve never seen such
ineptitude!”

The pastor said, “Hey, here comes the greens keeper. Let’s have a word
with him.” [dramatic pause] “Hi George, say, what’s with that group
ahead of us? They’re rather slow, aren’t they?”

The greens keeper replied, “Oh, yes, that’s a group of blind
firefighters lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last
year, so we always let them play for free anytime.”

The group was silent for a moment. The pastor said, “That’s so sad. I
think I will say a special prayer for them tonight.”

The doctor said, “Good idea. And I’m going to contact my
ophthalmologist buddy and see if there’s anything he can do for them.”

The engineer said, “Why can’t these guys play at night?”

Understanding Engineers – Take Four:

There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things
mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he
happily retired. Several years later the company contacted him regarding
a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their
multimillion dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone
else to get the machine to work but to no avail. In desperation, they
called on the retired engineer who had solved so
many of their problems in the past.

The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying
the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small “x” in chalk
on a particular component of the machine and stated, “This is where your
problem is.” The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly
again.

The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his
service. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges.

The engineer responded briefly: “One chalk mark, $1.00. Knowing where
to put it $49, 999.00.”

It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace.

Understanding Engineers – Take Five:

What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil
Engineers?

Mechanical Engineers build weapons. Civil Engineers build targets.

Understanding Engineers – Take Six:

Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the
possible designers of the human body. One said, “It was a mechanical
engineer. Just look at all the joints. ”

Another said, “No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system
has many thousands of electrical connections.”

The last said, “Actually it was a civil engineer. Who else would run a
toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?”

Understanding Engineers – Take Seven:

Normal people believe that …if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Engineers believe that: “…if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough
features yet.”-Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

Understanding Engineers – Take Eight:

An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was
better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he
enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring
relationship.

The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because of the
passion and mystery he found there.

The engineer said, “I like both.”

The others: “Both?”

Engineer: “Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each
assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the
lab and get some work done.”

Understanding Engineers – Take Nine:

An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him
and said, “If you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful princess.” He bent
over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up
again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful
princess, I will stay with you for one week.” The engineer took the frog
out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog
then cried out, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I’ll
stay with you and do ANYTHING you want.” Again the engineer took the
frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the
frog asked, “What is the matter? I’ve told you I’m a beautiful princess,
that I’ll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won’t
you kiss me?”

The engineer said, “Look I’m an engineer. I don’t have time for a
girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that’s cool.”

September 27, 2007 Posted by | Building, Communication, Cross Cultural, Education, Entertainment, Humor, Joke | 12 Comments

Where’s QC?

This is one of his favorite games: Where is the Qatteri Cat? But if you put your finger too close to that little paw, you may have a painful surprise – he is very very fast and those sharp little claws can do some serious damage in a matter of seconds. Better to use a feather duster!

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September 26, 2007 Posted by | Entertainment, Family Issues, Humor, Pets | 11 Comments

We Do Not Have Homosexuals in Iran

I found this clip through Global Voices Kuwait who got it from somewhere else, too! Isn’t the net great?

Mahmud Ahmadinejad,Iranian president,said,in Columbia University,”we do not have homosexuals in Iran like you do in your country.” He brought the house down. Most just laughed, a few boo-ed.

The Columbia University president has taken a lot of criticism for his decision to have Ahmadinejad speak. He stuck to his guns.

You can see the film clip for yourself here: We Do Not have Homosexuals in Iran.

September 25, 2007 Posted by | Communication, Community, Entertainment, Family Issues, Free Speech, Humor, Kuwait, Language, Leadership, Lies, Living Conditions, Mating Behavior, Political Issues, Social Issues | 12 Comments

Jimmie Rodgers Follow Up

A commenter, Thomas, responded yesterday to an article about Jimmie Rodgers that appeared several months ago (You can read the first article by clicking the blue type above) with a reference to a radio interview with Jimmie. It is a total hoot – when the interviewer calls, you can hear all his dogs in the background, and he asks the interviewer to give him a minute to get all the dogs out of the room – evidence enough for me that he is up and about, and capable of living a full life once again.

If you’ll remember, Jimmie Rodgers was a popular singer who, after a bad accident, had a metal plate put in his head. Years later, he was having it removed, and it was a highly risky operation. His family asked for the prayers of the people – and by a miracle, the operation was far easier than expected, and a total success.

You can hear the entire radio interview for yourself by clicking Jimmie Rodgers Radio Interview.

Many thanks, Thomas.

September 24, 2007 Posted by | Biography, Community, Entertainment, Health Issues, Living Conditions | 2 Comments

Night of Light

Last night I found myself awake around three, and took a walk to my window on the world. Off in the distance is a sight I find very comforting, a band of the old fishing boats, the shoowi, along the horizon, maybe twenty to thirty of them, each with a light on stern and bow, making a twinkling band of light like a necklace twinkling in the dark.

But over the boats was a light. A bright light. I had to look and look, like is it an aircraft coming in? It’s too high to be something off the boats, and it is so bright. What can it be?

Then I notice . . .I can see stars! I’ve always thought I didn’t see the stars because there are so many streetlights nearby, but last night I realized that the sky here is so hazy most of the time, we don’t see the stars. Last night – there were STARS! Lots of stars! And one of the brightest was near the horizon; maybe it was Suhail? (Canopus)

Here is something so cool. You can go to Weather Underground for Kuwait and go down the page below where they show the phases of the moon.

Click on “View the Full Star Chart.” You can put in the time you want; for example, it showed me exactly what I might have seen at 3 a.m. You can tell it you want it to look North, South, East or West, or you can tell it you want to see the whole sky, horizon to horizon. I LOVE this feature!

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FYI, it also shows Kuwait cooling down. It won’t go over 109°F / 43°C this week. 😉

September 21, 2007 Posted by | Entertainment, ExPat Life, Experiment, Geography / Maps, Kuwait, Weather | 5 Comments

K-Ville premiers tonight

Notice today from Amazon:

we thought you’d like to know that K-Ville, the new crime action series starring Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser, premieres Tonight at 9/8c on FOX.

From writer and executive producer Jonathan Lisco (NYPD Blue, The District) comes K-Ville, a new police drama set and filmed in New Orleans. Marlin Boulet (Anthony Anderson) is a brash veteran of the NOPD’s Felony Action Squad, the specialized unit that targets the most-wanted criminals. He also held his post during Hurricane Katrina, spending days in the water saving lives and keeping order, even after his partner deserted him. Boulet’s new partner, Trevor Cobb (Cole Hauser), was a soldier in Afghanistan before joining the NOPD. Though committed to his new job, he’s less than comfortable with Boulet’s methods – and is harboring a dark secret.

Here is the official website:

K-Ville

I don’t know how to get these things and it just isn’t that important to me, but you tech-savvy people might have some fun with this. And it IS New Orleans! The music is worth a visit, just to view “Anthony gives Cole some advice about gumbo.” 😉

September 17, 2007 Posted by | Adventure, Bureaucracy, Crime, Cross Cultural, Detective/Mystery, Entertainment, Social Issues | 5 Comments