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OMG! I just got an email from MAC promoting their new “Surf, Baby” collection, and I had to post about it. The collection itself looks OK, full of bronzers and powders and colorful shades, and you can check it out right here if you’re so inclined. But I need to talk about the image they included in the email BECAUSE IT IS SO CREEPY (and you will definitely want to click on this thumbnail image to see the full-size monstrosity):

Click for full size

1. That guy on the left is naked, yo. Not wearing a Speedo or very low-slung trunks, NAKED. (He also looks a LOT like Heath Ledger.)

2. What is it about the girl in the center that says “surf?” Is it the COMPLETE LACK OF EYEBROWS? Because that look has never just screamed “easy beach living” to me.

3. Furthermore, the dark vampy lips? Also not a terribly beachy look.

4. And could they have found her a more unflattering, ill-fitting, fugly swimsuit?

5. Mr. Hipster on the right is not only wearing a Speedo, but he’s wearing some kind of leather thong-type headband. Around his head. Like a boho doofus.

So maybe there’s some kind of irony at play here, like “Let’s promote a surf-inspired collection with a makeup look that looks nothing like surf-inspired, and let’s throw in a naked hipster.” I guess I’m old, because I’m not getting it, I just feel creeped out.

I have great hygiene!

While I may not have looked as styling as THIS lovely young lady, I had a really good hair day today.

OH YEAH! I also started my new job today!

Wait a minute. Let me back up a little bit and explain. I’m not the type to switch jobs lightly. I stayed in my most recent job for more than four years. Before that, there was a short blip at a place that was a bad fit for me, but before THAT I was at another place for over seven years. And that just about covers my entire career in my current profession (of course I had other jobs before that). So yeah, I like stability. When I get in someplace, I usually plan to be there for the long haul.

Now my most recent job had some complications. I can’t spell them all out in detail here, but I can state that generally: When I joined the company, it was a small company, but a year after I started it was acquired by a VERY LARGE and well-known corporation. And things just kept going downhill after that. But I still toughed it out another three years. See? I stick around!

Anyway, I started a new job today, and it pretty much addresses all the problems I had with my old company. It’s relatively small, I’ll actually be doing work in my field again, everyone can get up to $6000 worth of training every year, and they’ll let me telecommute regularly. I did give up some very generous benefits when I left Mega-Pain-in-the-Butt Inc., but I can deal with it. What surprises most people is this: I took a pay cut. Like a 14% pay cut.

Now you’re probably thinking I’m insane, but hang in there. See, working at this new place is going to make me a much happier person. It’s much more favorable to my work/life balance (see telecommuting, above), and has much more potential for my professional development (see working in my field, and training, above). I feel pretty blessed that I can even consider taking a 14% pay cut in order to “follow my bliss.” But to be honest, I was obscenely overpaid at my last gig, mostly because of my security clearance, which I am giving up in my new position, and that is not a coincidence.

Some of the things my last company did, some of the things I was personally involved with, made me feel morally bankrupt. Being able to get away from that, and still maintain the same relative level of comfortable, suburban lifestyle, is priceless.

So here I stand, starting the next phase of my life, and life is good. Sure, there are challenges, but I feel good about my latest career change. On top of that, I haven’t even mentioned the fact that I had a bunch of health tests last month (blood work, standard screening tests, mammogram, etc.) and my results were ALL normal. For me, queen of the false positive test result, that was exhilarating.

And OMG, have you guys seen this? Crazy. I just love this video. Who knew that redneck dude from The Walking Dead was so hot?

A long time ago, on an earlier incarnation of my blog, I wrote a post about a person who inspired me greatly when I was younger, and really made a difference in my entire life. That person is Robert Spano. While that post is now unfortunately lost to the ether, I still feel the same way about Bob Spano, who I was privileged to learn from when he was the Director of Orchestral Activities at Bowling Green State University. I played the violin and Bob conducted many orchestras that I participated in, including the regular Symphony and pit orchestras for both operatic and musical theater performances.

Bob even made me cry once, but I don’t think it was on purpose.

Read more about Bob Spano and his many accomplishments here. He is currently the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and just this March he was named the new Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School. There are many clips of him on YouTube, but I especially liked the one below, where he talks about Mozart, Freemasonry, and numerology.

So WordPress is nagging me that there’s a new version available, and two of my plugins need updating, and am I getting right on it and taking care of that? No!! I mean I’ll do it…eventually. Like posting. I do it…eventually.

It’s not that I purposely make a post and then wait nearly a whole freaking month to make another one. It just happens, you know? Just like that periodontist my dentist referred me to back in oh…November? December? I dunno. I’ll make an appointment eventually.

In the meantime there is lots of stuff happening. Like: I’m starting a new job this month! And, therefore, leaving my old one! YAY! And I’m planning the Bean’s birthday party! And I’m dealing with passive-aggressive persons who seem hell-bent on bringing me down! And I have approximately five million errands and odd jobs to do during the week between jobs that I have PROMISED myself to take this time.

(I’ve never had time off between jobs before. I wanted to try it at least once.)

So, longer post later. This is just to assure the three of you out there that I haven’t forgotten this blog, or you. Let me direct you to this old post of mine about how to clean your sterling silver jewelry. It worked back then (2009) and I just used it again this weekend – guess what? It still works! YAY!

(Thanks Vauxhall Vixens for showing me this image. Perfect.)