What I’m Lovin’ Round-up: Take 2

Here it is crew, another take on what it is I’m loving as of late. And for all of you who’ve stumbled on to my blog in recent weeks, I know it’s been absent of client photos. I promise, I AM still a photographer. And my season will pick up again starting in March. For now, y’all have been kind enough to let me indulge in my passion for words. And stuff. Speaking of ….

1) This season of The Bachelor

Guilty confession: If I would let myself, I’d get horribly hooked on every craptastic reality show there is out there. When we had cable (notice the past tense), I got sucked in to the worst of the worst. For hours at a time. I’m talking GIRLS NEXT DOOR, PEOPLE! I’m sure if we had MTV, I’d be watching Jersey Shore.

Stuck now with the networks, there’s still one old reality habit I can’t kick and it’s watching the occasional season of The Bachelor. Why? I seriously have no idea. It’s trite, cliched and just plain awful television. And yet, when it’s on, I’m suddenly all, “Oh no she didn’t” and “Could these girls BE any more fake?!” So, for those who are fellow viewers, who do you think Jake’s going to pick? I was SO rooting he’d take Ali back (she was my fave), but after this week’s episode, for some strange reason, I’m now pulling for the person I h-a-t-e-d from the get-go: Vienna. Again, I’ll echo what I said before with a Why? I seriously have no idea. Maybe it’s ’cause she’s got that crazy eye.

2) Pureology shampoo and conditioner

Folks, this stuff is not cheap; I’ll be the first to admit that. But I buy one bottle of each for an ENTIRE YEAR to get me by, so I figure if other girls can buy handbags and shoes, I can invest in the one type of shampoo and conditioner that makes my hair feel like I could just *maybe* pull off starring in a hair-care commercial. The kind where they frollick in fields and swing their tresses around like they don’t have a care in the world. ‘Cause we all want that kind of life, right?

For real, this stuff is liquid gold (especially if you color your hair). The fact I’m almost out of my yearly stash means I’ve been trying to milk every last drop out of those plastic tubes (which have been hanging upside down, toppling out of my shower caddy for 2 months now).

3) “Bright Star”

I watched this film earlier this month and it darn near took my breath away. If you’re a sucker for anything Jane Austen-ish (aka, all things romantical about bygone eras), it’ll probably grab you too. I’m not sure what I loved most about it. An incredible true love story portrayed by two awesome actors (Abbie Cornish was robbed of an Oscar nom, I’m tellin’ ya), shot in the most BEAUTIFUL locations, it made me think about romance in a time of true courtship and how much sentiment can be wrapped up in a few words on a page.

Unfortunately, I still can’t “get” poetry. Sigh.

4) OmmWriter

I have Dane Sanders to thank for the introduction to this one. OmmWriter is a free app for your Mac (sorry PC folks) that lets you mentally get your ommmm on with soothing music. I like to listen to, you know, stuff with words most of the time while I’m editing , but when I’ve got a deadline I’m facing or something I have to concentrate on while writing, I turn this program on. It’s been a lifesaver at the office for cranking out policy documents! Great way to get your concentrate on if somewhere along the way, Twitter/Facebook/TV has caused you to lose it.

5) Diane Birch’s “Bible Belt”

This woman can sing. And sing. And SING SOME MORE. This is her first album and that fact alone blows my mind. She sings like someone who’s had her fair share of gigs behind old pianos crammed in smoky bars — so in other words, this is a gal with a voice beyond her years.

Give her a listen whydon’tcha? (and thanks to my former student Hillary for turning me on to this gal!)

Fave tracks: Valentino, Rise Up, Photograph, Mirror Mirror and Ariel