Ho ho ho !

Yes, this is a belated greeting. I've been away at Mr. O's and we didn't do much except eat, watch lots of movies, and sleep. It's always refreshing to skip checking e-mail for a few days.

Of course, Christmas was wonderful and quiet. The planet revolved around our laziness because we didn't hear about that terrorist attack until the day after, on the 26th! And then we couldn't stop talking about it, since it was pretty much in our neighbourhood. One of the things I enjoy about living here is being within 20 miles of the airport. Now I'm just a little apprehensive to get on a plane, any plane! The F***er almost blew up our airport; and it's an awesome airport, thank you very much.

No thanks to this, in the words of Brian Williams on today's Barack broadcast, "incompetent terrorist" I have to worry about a terrorist attack all the time now, including the flight to and from Schipol, which I have travelled often.
Mr. O and his cousins had particularly strong words about this incident since it so closely relates to their family and friends. It only takes one guy to screw it up for everyone else.

Moving on to better things, guess what Mr. O bought me for Christmas.

The semester is done!

I'm so pleased to announce that I have completed my first semester of the MBA programme. It has been an extremely productive and successful semester, thanks in large part to the fact that I have had two excellent professors. I am merely making the mistake of attending courses with the two best professors in the College of Business a little too early, as the road ahead is thoroughly paved with instruction by some of the type of characters we give "First Class Asshole" awards to.

That's right, I said it! Some of these PhDs have reputations that precede them, and I'm not talking about fragrant rose bushes.

In the mean time, check out that awesome, mounted certificate I received at the end of class today. I don't even have my Bachelor's degree framed; perhaps rightly so, especially since I have learned more in this one course, instructed by the wisest man of the moment, than I have in my entire undergraduate programme.

Graduate school is wonderful. Thank you.

Mac Factor Shuts Down

The rumours had swirled for almost a year now. Max Factor will no longer be sold in the U.S. after the current stock is sold out. Please consider this the worst decision Procter & Gamble Beauty Care has made in the last decade. My, and most Max Factor users', biggest gripe is the impossible replacement of the Volume Couture mascara -- pound for pound the best mascara in the commercial market today.

P&G's peace offering, if you can find them, are $2 discount coupons for Max Factor users to buy a CoverGirl "replacement" product. I've tried their much touted supposedly-Diorshow-comparable LashBlast mascara and it's absolute rubbish, not trash rubbish but rubbish nonetheless.

Hopefully P&G will come to their senses and bring Max Factor back, as L'Oreal has now (this week) brought back the once banned Ellnet hairspray. In the mean time, Max Factor users will have to scour the Internet or the European Union for any remaining stock beyond 2009. Good luck, ladies.