Tuesday, April 01, 2025

Let's Talk Some "Dirty Laundry" And Laundry Room Etiquette

The one thing I now require when living in an apartment building is on-site laundry facilities.

When I lived in NYC, the apartment in the building my partner and I shared did not have laundry facilities. So we had to drag our laundry to a laundromat, which was a royal pain in the ass, especially during the summer months when the city felt like a pizza oven. I dreaded it.

Even when I lived in Orlando and rented various apartments for the 15 years that I was there, not one of them had on-site laundry facilities. However, back then, I used to take my laundry to a wash-and-fold service once a week that charged $1.25 per pound. I would pay anywhere from $10.00 to $12.00 per service.

Since moving back east, the two apartment buildings I've lived in had on-site laundry facilities.

The one where I currently live has a nice-sized laundry room with 20 washers and dryers. They also have three washers and dryers for heavier items, such as comforters and rugs.

What I love about the washers and dryers in our building is that they don't require COINS to operate. Tenants now use a debit card that we can reload to activate the washer and dryer. It's so much easier than using coins.

Here's a picture of my card...

When I Do My Laundry -

I know this sounds crazy, but I like to do my laundry very early (4:30-5:00 AM) on Tuesdays. No one else is in the laundry room that early, so I can wash, dry, and fold two loads of laundry in a little over an hour. I don't dilly-dally; I get it done fast.

Note: I NEVER do my laundry on the weekends because EVERY tenant in the building is in the laundry room on those days. That's another reason I prefer having off during the week and working weekends. I like that I'm on an opposite schedule than the rest of the world, who traditionally works Mon-Fri, 9 to 5, and then have to do all the things on their weekends that I do during the week.

Here is a similar photo of what our laundry room looks like...

The building I live in has 25 floors and 250 apartment units. Because Philadelphia is a heavily populated college town, I would say that more than half the tenants in my building are college students. And college students, mostly, are interested in one thing - PARTYING. And they pretty much occupy all the apartment buildings in this city, regardless of how luxurious and costly because Mommy and Daddy are paying for them. And when you're in college, laundry room etiquette is the last thing on your mind.

And speaking of laundry room etiquette, here is a sign in most laundry rooms, which might as well be invisible because no one seems to READ it...

My Two Pet Peeves -

I've gone down to the laundry room countless times, only to find laundry in both the washers and dryers that have been sitting there since the day before. And I know that to be true because the clothes in the dryers are ice cold, and the clothes in the washers are still wet and smell like MILDEW from the depths of HELL.

Here, look...

My other peeve is people who don't clean out the lint trays after using the dryer. No lie, this is what some trays look like when I open the dryers. They look like someone sheared a herd of SHEEP...

In conclusion, I would like to show you my favorite laundry detergent. I love using a coupon from CVS and getting a discount because laundry detergent is so expensive, it's cheaper to buy new clothes.

Persil...

But I have a wasteful confession to make. Do you know how the lids on laundry detergents give diagrams of how much to use for medium, large, and extra-large loads?

Well, I NEVER follow those diagrams because I'm always worried there won't be enough detergent to clean my laundry.

Therefore, I do this...

I know, I'm OCD.

Wishing you a clean and lint-free week, everyone!

💖

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Flashback To The 80s

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of 80s music on Spotify and having flashbacks to a decade that I never fully appreciated because I never fully realized what an incredible decade it was. And I suppose that's because when you're experiencing a decade, you're not watching it, you're living it. It's only in retrospect that you appreciate all the wonderful gemstones within each decade.

Today, I would like to share bits and pieces from the 80s that I recall as being an integral part of its threadwork.

In the 80s, I was in my mid-20s and 30s. I remember it as a powerful time of personal growth for me. I learned so much about myself in the 80s through investigation and experience. I also had a lot of fun.

Please enjoy a flashback to the 80s...

I got my cosmetology license in the 80s and was working as a hairstylist. Trust me when I tell you that back then, hair was big. And when I say big, I mean BIG. So big, in fact, that people looked like they had been electrocuted with 765 volts of electricity. Also, LOTS of hairspray was used to make sure that big hair STAYED big. If you ever touched someone's hair back in the 80s, it was as hard as a rock. I used to refer to it as HARD-ON hair...

I miss Blockbuster. Yes, we can now stream movies through our computers, tablets, and phones. But for me, I miss the joy of walking into a Blockbuster and hand-selecting the films I wanted to watch. I was so sad when the last Blockbuster closed here in Philly...

Who didn't have a Sony Walkman? I certainly did. Back in the 80s, I used to jog. Therefore, having a Walkman was the ideal way to listen to music, which made jogging more enjoyable. At home, I had a big box of cassette tapes with all my favorite music...

Here are 10 vocal artists I enjoyed listening to in the 80s. However, there were many more...

And speaking of vocal artists, I remember seeing my first music video, a-ha: Take on Me on MTV. Back then, music videos were a new thing and everyone was SO in awe of them...

Aerobics and Jazzercise were very popular in the 80s. I took a few aerobic classes, but it didn't last long because I discovered that I did not like exercising with other people. I prefer to do it alone...

Do you remember when answering machines first hit the market for home use? OMG, I was obsessed with getting one and changing my outgoing message every other day. I would also call myself from work during the day and leave messages so that when I got home, I could listen to them LOL! I used to get so excited when I saw the little red light blinking on the machine because I knew it meant I had messages...

Popular TV shows in the 80s...

Clothing in the 80s was bright and colorful...

When cell phones were first introduced in the 80s, they were the size of a brick. Which is why they were called Brick Cell Phones. My boss at the time had one that he kept in his car. But few people had cell phones...

And speaking of cars, back in the 80s DeLorean's were the BOMB. My boss had one of those too. I remember him taking me for a ride and watching the doors lift to get inside. It was so cool! The DeLorean became widely known after it was featured as the time machine in the Back to the Future films...

Swatch watches were so popular in the 80s. Lee Majors (from the TV show, The Fall Guy) did a few ads for the company. I remember going to Burdines (a Florida department store) and purchasing my first Swatch...

Does anyone remember Glamour Shots? I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I worked at one in our local mall. Back in the 80s, Glamour Shots were the rage - big hair, seductive shoulder exposure, and a soft-focus lens.

Glamour Shots was a popular portrait studio chain, known for offering a complete makeover and photoshoot experience, often in malls and department stores, and emphasizing a glamorous Hollywood-inspired style.

But OMG, the photographs were so HOKEY...

Hope you enjoyed my 80s flashback, folks!

🕐🕑🕓🕕🕗🕘🕙

*If any of you experienced the 80s, please feel free to share some of your memories.

Wednesday, March 05, 2025

The Art Of Stage Makeup

Part of my training as an actor in New York City was learning the art of theatrical makeup, which differs from everyday makeup. Through theater makeup, I learned so much about contouring, highlighting, camouflage, and color theory.

Makeup was something that fascinated me. So much so that I became a professional makeup artist for stage, photographs, film, and as a rep for various cosmetic companies. In the early 80s, I went to cosmetology school and got my license.

Many people do not realize the importance of makeup when performing onstage. Not only does it make you feel more like the character, but it also allows the audience (anywhere from 350-1,000 seats in the theater) to see your facial expressions from a distance. That's why, up close, theater makeup looks overly exaggerated. But to the people sitting in the audience, it appears natural. For me, my makeup and costume gave me that extra something, which allowed me to become the character. When I looked like the character, I felt like the character.

Below, you will see some of my stage roles - the makeup I did myself. However, many talented people were an important part of these productions (directors, set designers, stage managers, lighting and sound technicians, costume and wig makers). That's what I love about theater. It feels like a community. A family. You rely so much on each other to create the whole. The theater is like knitting an article of clothing. It requires each piece of yarn to create the final product.

My longtime bloggers have already seen many of these photos from previous posts, however, I added some new ones. I also cropped them larger so that you could see the makeup in more detail.

Please enjoy....

-----------------------------------

Here I am (center), as The Wicked Stepmother in the musical, 'Cinderella', which I did at a professional children's theater in Orlando, Florida.

In this role, I had to do a complete transformation. And not only in makeup and hair, but also in body. The costume designer constructed a female form that comprised breasts, a bustier, hips, and a bustle that I put on before putting on my formal dress. I also wore tights, pantaloons and a petticoat. And of course, high-heels. I had the time of my life performing this role...

Backstage with (Rick) my talented wig and costume designer...

Emcee in the musical, 'Cabaret'.

The character of the Emcee in 'Cabaret' represents a complex mix of themes, including German nightlife, sexual freedom, and the rise of the Nazi regime. The Emcee is also a symbolic figure who comments on the political and societal atmosphere of 1930s Germany.

In this role, my makeup was primarily about contouring and highlighting my face so that I would look dark and sinister. What was really interesting about this character was that he was androgynous. In some of the musical numbers, I was male. And in others, I was female. In my dressing room, I created a written list that I taped to my makeup mirror to remind me of my costume and makeup changes throughout the show because I had a lot of them.

This photograph was from the final scene of the show, in which I looked as though the life had been drained from me. A skeleton. At that moment, I represented what Hitler was diabolically doing in Germany...

As Parpignol (a Paris, France toy vendor) in the Puccini opera, 'La Bohème', performed by the Orlando Opera Company...

Backstage during intermission as Mr. Smee in the musical, 'Peter Pan'. In this role, I blacked out some of my teeth. Here is Jim (Captain Hook) and me, touching up our makeup because we sweat it all off during Act 1.

As Patrone (a drugged-out saxophone player) in a bizarre one-act play by Sam Shepard entitled,'Suicide in B Flat'...

As the evil Barnaby (with cast members) in the musical, 'Babes in Toyland'...

In the French farce comedy, 'A Flea in Her Ear', I played Homenidès de Histangua, an insanely jealous Spaniard; paranoid his wife was cheating on him. I spoke with a Spanish accent in this role...

Isn't this a beautiful set?

These last three photographs are Halloween costumes and makeup I created.

I dressed as Norma Desmond from the movie, 'Sunset Boulevard'. My friends dressed as Aladdin and Jasmine. We had so much fun that night!...

Here I am as Pan (I apologize for the poor quality of this photograph)...

Pan was the Greek god of shepherds, hunters, and the wilds of nature. He was born with the legs of a goat and horns on his head, symbolizing his wild nature. A good friend of mine at the time made my hairy goat legs. She filled them with foam rubber to accentuate their shape. I used a liquid adhesive to glue more hair on my chest and chin, and then added the horns to my head. You do not know what a royal pain it was to use the restroom at the nightclub that evening...

One Halloween, I dressed as a grungy biker dude. The beard stubble and shadowing on my cheeks, under my eyes, and the little scar under my left eye were all done with makeup...

When I took my first stage makeup class in NYC, it included a Ben Nye makeup kit. This brings back such great memories...

⭐ Have a stellar week, everyone!⭐

Monday, February 24, 2025

Vegetable Puns

As you all know, I'm vegetarian. Many people assume that being vegetarian is boring because it's limiting. But I assure you it is not. I eat a wide variety of salads, soups, and entrées.

Even from a very young age, I knew that once I got out on my own and could choose my food, I would no longer eat meat. In the 50s and 60s, families traditionally had meat and two vegetables for dinner. For lunch, a sandwich consisted of lunch meat, cheese, and either mustard or mayo on Wonder Classic White Bread. Sunday breakfast was always eggs, bacon, scrapple, fried sausage, and toast.

As you can see, meat was a HUGE eatery when I was growing up. And yet, it never appealed to me. Never. But as a kid, you ate what was prepared for you.

Protein -

Meat is not the only way to get your daily dose of protein. You can get it from other things, such as legumes, nuts and seeds, tofu, cheese, quinoa, and Greek yogurt.

I truly love veggies. It's as if they were ideally created for me because my body loves them too.

Today, I would like to share a few amusing puns. Most of them I found online, and one I created myself.

Enjoy...

Veggie Puns -

I don't get it. Why would they carrot all?

Damn! Looks like another guy beet me to it.

Peas, just kale me now.

I’ll let you know if any turnip!

Results romaine to be seen.

Do you have a restroom? I gotta take a leek...

I was going to share a vegetable joke, but it's too corny...

I conclude this post by sharing a salad I made a few days ago. I took everything I had in my fridge (cabbage, sweet potato, carrots, avocado, kale, sugarbee apple, orange bell pepper, sliced raw almonds, feta cheese) and tossed them into a large salad bowl, topping it with a Thai Style Peanut Dressing. I also took a portion of the salad and created a wrap with garlic hummus...

Yup...

Have a veggie good week, everyone! 💕

Please feel free to share your favorite vegetable(s)

*You will find a wide variety of delicious vegetarian recipes at Evergreen Kitchen

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