Safe Cosmetics Act

I guess the goal of this bill is for there to be no cosmetics at all. Which is usually fine with me, since we should all be happy with the way we are. But this goes beyond what’s usually defined as “cosmetics.” We’re not just talking lipstick and makeup. We’re talking shampoo, deodorant, and, most importantly, SOAP.

The purpose of the bill is to reduce the toxic materials included in all these products, a goal which is laudable. But take a look at the bill itself. “Nanomaterials?” Putting down every single ingredient? This will put mom-and-pop shops out of business as they’ll have to hire labs to test exactly what is in the water they’re using. And the thing is, with this bill, drinking water will have laxer standards than makeup and soap. Remember when Dubya allowed more arsenic in our drinking water? You don’t see Agatha Christie’s poison of choice listed on your bottle of Aquafina, do ya?

In short, the drafters of this bill need to sit down and think a little more about what this will do to small businesses. Their intentions are good, but a sweeping change such as this is a bit much.

Please contact your representative on this issue. I wrote about the above to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke of NY’s 11th Congressional District (Give it up for Brooklyn!), but lost it while running between browser tabs.

It basically said that while the bill had good intentions, it would hurt people such as myself, who make soap out of their kitchens. We’d then have to hire people to check all the ingredients in our good old NY drinking water, including the arsenic Bush allowed in there, and the remnants of heart medications. It ended with a plea to give the Act some slack for small businesses.

Maybe I’ll follow up by sending Congresswoman Clarke a bar of soap with Brambleberry’s “toxic waste yellow” coloring. ;P

(Thanks to Anne Marie at Brambleberry for bringing this to my attention)

Once Again, Best Wishes to Aleja and Nick (with a dash of disability politics)

My friend Alejandra and partner Nick had a ceremony this past Sunday. One of the reasons it was not a marriage is because the current healthcare system imposes a marriage penalty on those receiving SSI benefits. Their benefits would be reduced by 25% if they were legally married.

Both Alejandra and Nick are outspoken disability advocates. I met Alejandra through the Peace of Heart Choir, which, as you should know already, promotes peace and healing through song.

Again, I wish Nick and Aleja the best, both in their loving relationship, and in their fight for disability rights.

Article: Couple Exchanges Vows in Central Park – Transportation Access.

Tags: choir, politics, rights

Free your mind, and the rest will follow…

I’m working with my husband Kevin and our friend James on a new service. It’s called Unshackle New York, and we offer consulting services, web services, programming, classes and tutoring. I’m doing mostly behind-the-scenes stuff such as building up a presence on social networks and working on the webpage right now. Hopefully, with Kevin and James’ help, I’ll get my Linux skills up to speed and be able to help out with the actual work.

I don’t get Facebook Recommendations sometimes…

I mean, sometimes, they make perfect sense. They suggest people with whom I have mutual friends, like co-workers, members of my choir, or family friends. Heck, sometimes, they’re even good enough to find my local representative (e.g., city councilwoman Letitia James). But today, I got a suggestion for this fella:

The guy on top is Hiram Monserrate, who was ousted from his New York State Senate seat in February for being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend. There’s no doubt he beat her up; there’s video of him dragging her out of the building while she’s bleeding and seeking help.

And the other thing: he’s not even in my district. And we have no mutual friends. I have one Facebook friend whom he used to represent, but she just moved out of not only the district, but the county (borough) altogether, and, survivor that she is, wouldn’t have friended him, either.

Tags: facebook, wtf

I never did like word problems much…

…and one teacher took it to the extreme by using the example of assassinating Obama for a geometry problem…

Draw Muhammad Day!

I’m all for free speech. I mean, nobody should have their life threatened for a drawing, no matter how offensive.

However, I’m not a fan of offending people. That’s my personal belief, and not one that I impose upon others.

So, without further ado, here is my submission for Draw Muhammad Day:

Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee!

Yeah, that’s right: I tried to draw Mohammed Ali. Bring on the fatwa!

♫ Champagne flowing down just like rain… ♫

I made a small batch of soaps Saturday night to celebrate the end of the school year. I used Brambleberry’s Champagne fragrance, and glycerin soap with white oxide and blue mica colors. I meant to do layers of blue and white (university colors), but realized (before it was too late!) that the blue mica hadn’t fully mixed, meaning there would have been blue suds and bleeding onto washcloths, etc. I averted crisis by blending the layers and coming up with a much lighter blue than intended.

My classmates just thought I had gone for Yeshiva Blue in the first place. They were a hit! At least one classmate was able to re-gift it for Mother’s Day, with much success.

One professor thought I had given her one in an attempt to get a point off of her (she gave me a 93 for the course, so very close to an A), but she didn’t realize that I’d been giving them to every single person in all of my classes. And I didn’t argue with the A- once I saw that she had “miscalculated” on purpose – long story short – I sleepwalked through that class, and she wanted me to put in more effort, even though my work was top-notch.

At least two classmates asked to be my business partners. Anyway, I made too many (since I share classes with so many classmates, I overestimated), and you can see one of the extras, along with the school’s Fall class schedule and my Human Behavior textbook:

You can buy one for $1, plus $1 shipping at my Etsy page.

Mother’s Day

In honor of moms everywhere, I remind everyone to check out my latest musical comedic obsession, Paul and Storm. Their Mother’s Day song will either have you literally ROFL or offend you to no end.

Paul and Storm » Mother’s Day Song.

Don’t Sue!

The advice of a lawyer: don’t sue! Or, at the very least, weigh all the factors first. I hope this lawsuit-happy society takes this man’s advice.

Don’t Sue! : Money :: American Express OPEN Forum.

Ms. Taken

Someone’s made a business off of something I’ve been doing for years: showing the ring to get a dude out of my way.

Ms. Taken | Work the room in disguise.

The only upside? It comes in a cute carrying case, just in case you don’t have, I don’t know, a pocket or a purse?