Abstractions - Sydney Shimko » Miscellany

Unicorn tears!?

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:59:57 +0000

Jason just accused me of being a unicorn tear coffee drinker just because I put a little sugar in my latte – no caramel, no machiato, no soy, no nonfat or full-fat, no decaf or half-caf, just a little sugar. Seriously! Unicorn tears!?

What IS that on your face!?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:46:00 +0000

Knowing how many nasty chemicals are in cosmetics and personal care products, I’ve been looking for safer and greener alternatives. Sadly, I’ve found it a difficult search. Many companies that market themselves and natural, safe, green and even organic still use potentially harmful chemicals in some or all of their products. I guess I feel lucky to have never used an abundance of makeup, hair dye, etc. However, even lotions, sunscreens and baby shampoos often contain chemicals with the potential to cause cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and more. Additionally, many products are flagged as containing ingredients in violation of known restrictions & warnings – described as, “prohibited for use in cosmetics, or subject to concentration, use, or manufacturing method restrictions, according to industry safety guidelines and government requirements and guidance from the U.S., E.U., Japan, and Canada.”

Fortunately, there are resources to find better alternatives. Unfortunately, I’ve found many of these alternatives hard to find, hard to sample, or simply not as effective as their toxic counterparts. I have found some products I like and am comfortable with, but my search is not over yet.

Here are some useful web sites to visit:

Toxins in Makeup and Personal Care Products

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:47:32 +0000

School Gardens Cause a Stir

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:31:36 +0000

If you have an interest (one way or the other) in the sustainable food movement, check out Jason’s latest blog post and the linked articles he mentions.

Nurturing Creativity

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:38:23 +0000

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

I have certainly felt as she describes. In creative jobs we sometimes have to attempt to force creativity for a deadline, and this rarely works. In contrast, my best efforts in photography, design, writing, on a race course, and possibly even child-rearing have always seemed effortless in the moment – feeling like they came through me rather than from me.

Reigning in Facebook – Are you my BFF?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:11:51 +0000

I missed a timely post by a good friend on Facebook. It was lost in an information sea of long-lost high school classmates and estranged co-workers. So I decided to do something about it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to the “Hide” button. Games, quizzes and things like that get hidden without a second thought. I hide people too. No offense, there is just too much competing information.

I don’t spend that much time on Facebook anyway. I post to Twitter and to my blog and Facebook pulls in the feeds. So maybe I’m late to the game on this, but I just created friends lists. I made my ‘BFF’s’ list the default feed by dragging it to the top on the sidebar. Now I can avoid certain chronic updaters and I won’t miss the posts from the people I care about most.

Learn more about Facebook Friends Lists.

Learn more about Facebook privacy.

The Food Angel

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:29:12 +0000

Our friend Angella shares our CSA box with us each week and creates amazing recipes from the contents. See her blog The Food Angel and her latest recipe Velvet Tomato Soup.

Brilliant!

Sydney — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:23:43 +0000

Front Fell Off

Sydney — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:38:20 +0000

Designing the Mad Idea

Sydney — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:02:55 +0000

ok it’s TV, but this is cool …