Up and Down

So today I felt like I had a social life, what with the waking up and going to lunch.

Let me backtrack.

I had an AWESOME start to the day. Discounting the spring hives, that is.

I made myself a hot chocolate, and my front door faces northeast so the sun shines onto my deck. I brought out a folding chair, plonked it on the deck, propped my feet on the railing, and basked in the sun while drinking my hot chocolate.

I had lunch with castusalbuscor, lovely_lici and Andria. I've only met Andria thrice, maybe, but in my mind the four of us are the Fab Four already. Diversity rulez! and all that.

We lunched at the Mongolian Grill. Basically, the waiter gives you a bowl, you go up to the foods counter, pick your veggies, meats, noodles and sauces, and the chef weighs it and calculates how much you have to pay before stirfrying it up for you.

This is not an entirely new idea to me. Back in the mid-90s, there was a restaurant near my mum's shop called Deli Q. Like this place, you went up to the buffet and took your own meats. On each table there was a little fryer and you would fry your own foods. (Also, the fryer was kinda hump-shaped, so any juices would pool at the bottom and you could scoop it up and put it in your rice.) The cook-it-yourself concept is also found in steamboat restaurants, where there's a giant pot boiling on a small (usually gas powered) stove. You throw in meats, noodles, veggies and stuff. And after a while, the water becomes fancy-dancy delicious soup. (Sometimes it's not just water, it's a rice gruel. Delicious!)

So it was a bit of an experience having someone else stirfry my meats for me like that, when I'm used to cooking it myself.

However, they do have a wonderful range of sauces, so I'd still recommend the restaurant.

After that I became a total consumer whore and made them follow me to Venus Envy where I FINALLY bought Book Four of Marilyn French's From Eve to Dawn (History of women!) I'm so psyched. I'd intended to go to the 'Chase to finish reading Journalistas but I instead ended up going into La Chateau (made everyone else try on different hats), Sock It To Ya! (bought myself a new pair of tights, as well as Commandos, more on this in a bit!) and Park Lane (Andria had to pee, and then we ended up shopping for clothes, and I bought myself a neat little dress which can be used for everyday wear, and it even has pockets!!).

Then I went home and bummed and now I have a frigging headache, so I'll be skipping the Fetish Ball, although I really don't want to -_-

So, now I will talk about the Commandos Patches I bought.

...

OK, I haven't tried it yet, but from what I understand, it is a patch you put on the crotch seam of your pants to replace underwear. Made of cotton and adhesive (they're still working on making it completely bio-degradable), it's designed to allow vaginas to breathe better. I think this is a pretty neat idea, so trust me, I'll be testing this out.

Each packet comes with 8 patches, and costs USD $11 (I bought them for CAD$20). They're single-use patches. To be honest, $20 a week seems pretty fucking steep, so I doubt I'll be ditching my underwear anytime soon to wear these on a daily basis. However, through the website testimonials, apparently women use them when they can't wear underwear due to various pelvic, vaginal and pain conditions. (Of course, they also use them for more cosmetic things, like on horse-riding breeches and tights.)

The inventor, Jo Bernard, founded Freedom Clinic, which is dedicated to teaching and supporting "non-violence philosophy, principles and tools". It also includes corporate responsibility and female liberation as part of its vision. A percentage of sales goes towards this. Not bad.

But again, this is definitely an upper-middle-class luxury item. I feel kinda bourgeois just buying it.

Check the website out: www.gocommandos.com