I just checked this blog for the first time in months.
Heh, check this out. My last entry? I ended up getting real heart-broken. In due course, this section of my life - the space of time between my last blog entry and this - will hopefully be washed away by amnesic baptism.
For heartbreak was only the beginning of it.
There was also being admitted to the ER for Mallory-Weiss Tear and having to receive 2 blood transfusions. Apparently I am one of the lucky 0.0004% of the people who ever get it. I wish I bought a lottery ticket that day.
Then there was failing college...
And then the apartment that just won't sublet and am stuck with until August.
And all the little nasty things in between.
I am in a constant state of shock right now.
I hope this nightmare will be over come august.
At least now that spring is here, I don't have to worry about feeling continuous pain in my fingers and feet.
---
Not to despair, though. I have found out with my doctor that taking a low dose of bupropion (100mg SR) can allow me to use gabapentin at fractions of the doses normally required in order to achieve a state resembling emotional balance. At about $1/300mg, gabapentin is NOT covered by Ontario's aid for low-income families unless indicated for seizures, which for me it is not. So now I can stretch a week's supply for over a month. This is good.
I have also acquired a new hobby. Now that I don't live in a place with a gemstone market, that hobby has become close to obsolete, sadly.
What I found joy in is something radically different yet somehow similar in some respects: soapmaking!
It turns out that various oils all have very different properties when treated with lye to create soap.
Of course, I received more than one raised eyebrow when I tried to buy lye at my local walmart. But I eventually did manage to accquire a small amount. To date, I have made about 6 batches of soap, and attempting to perfect it as far as I can.
I am finding history to be true: the best soap has always been made from olive oil, pure and simple. It was known by various names such as "Castille", "Marseilles", "Aleppo", and the one closest to home, "Nabulsi" (from the Palestinian city of Nablus). Like many things in the mediterranean, every one of those people claims to have invented it
But anyway, a maximum of olive oil and a tiny bit of castor oil seems to be the key to good soap. What comes in between is more a matter of taste.
How does this relate to gemstones? It is very alchemical in a way. It is really difficult to tell what a given oil will do once it has been saponified, and, like gemology, there is an art and a science behind the identification of what constitutes good soap.
With that said, I no longer buy "soap" that is sold in markets (a bunch of artificial surfactants), for even my poorest batch is, by comparison, a luxury item.
I've been saving shavings and scraps so that one day I try a hand at making Glycerine soap, which is a bit trickier than normal soap. Will report on findings.
---
Of course, I never lost sight of my true passion: travel. I have been up to the elbow in history books covering the places I've visited and, more importantly, the places I hope to visit.
I still owe you guys an entry about my Balkans trip. Watch this space for info and pics about that soon.
Heh, check this out. My last entry? I ended up getting real heart-broken. In due course, this section of my life - the space of time between my last blog entry and this - will hopefully be washed away by amnesic baptism.
For heartbreak was only the beginning of it.
There was also being admitted to the ER for Mallory-Weiss Tear and having to receive 2 blood transfusions. Apparently I am one of the lucky 0.0004% of the people who ever get it. I wish I bought a lottery ticket that day.
Then there was failing college...
And then the apartment that just won't sublet and am stuck with until August.
And all the little nasty things in between.
I am in a constant state of shock right now.
I hope this nightmare will be over come august.
At least now that spring is here, I don't have to worry about feeling continuous pain in my fingers and feet.
---
Not to despair, though. I have found out with my doctor that taking a low dose of bupropion (100mg SR) can allow me to use gabapentin at fractions of the doses normally required in order to achieve a state resembling emotional balance. At about $1/300mg, gabapentin is NOT covered by Ontario's aid for low-income families unless indicated for seizures, which for me it is not. So now I can stretch a week's supply for over a month. This is good.
I have also acquired a new hobby. Now that I don't live in a place with a gemstone market, that hobby has become close to obsolete, sadly.
What I found joy in is something radically different yet somehow similar in some respects: soapmaking!
It turns out that various oils all have very different properties when treated with lye to create soap.
Of course, I received more than one raised eyebrow when I tried to buy lye at my local walmart. But I eventually did manage to accquire a small amount. To date, I have made about 6 batches of soap, and attempting to perfect it as far as I can.
I am finding history to be true: the best soap has always been made from olive oil, pure and simple. It was known by various names such as "Castille", "Marseilles", "Aleppo", and the one closest to home, "Nabulsi" (from the Palestinian city of Nablus). Like many things in the mediterranean, every one of those people claims to have invented it
But anyway, a maximum of olive oil and a tiny bit of castor oil seems to be the key to good soap. What comes in between is more a matter of taste.
How does this relate to gemstones? It is very alchemical in a way. It is really difficult to tell what a given oil will do once it has been saponified, and, like gemology, there is an art and a science behind the identification of what constitutes good soap.
With that said, I no longer buy "soap" that is sold in markets (a bunch of artificial surfactants), for even my poorest batch is, by comparison, a luxury item.
I've been saving shavings and scraps so that one day I try a hand at making Glycerine soap, which is a bit trickier than normal soap. Will report on findings.
---
Of course, I never lost sight of my true passion: travel. I have been up to the elbow in history books covering the places I've visited and, more importantly, the places I hope to visit.
I still owe you guys an entry about my Balkans trip. Watch this space for info and pics about that soon
.
