More cleaning house

As I clean out my draft box like yesterday, here are a couple year end articles that I found interesting. The first is a varied list of all kinds of stuff we didn't know before last year.

The second is a means to exchange gift cards you don't want. There are several websites set up and you can trade, say, a Bath and Body Works for a Lowe's.

~~

I know I don't look my best, but mostly I don't care, although I do know I look better made up. I don't begrudge anyone who does, but I don't go for fancy hair cuts, coloring, nails, or an extravagent wardrobe. Mostly, this all flashes dollar signs in my eyes; I tend to not do or even want if I can't afford it.

This Time article is about eeking our your best if you are on the elder side, like I apparently am now. Just a look at the picture tells me that one must be skinny, blonde, and wear tight clothing that is not age-appropriate.

There is a section about hair color:

I think that most women will look younger with colored hair. Now, there's this
big gray-hair movement. I understand and appreciate women who have silver hair,
and I think that they can look amazing, but it's such a luxury to be able to go
gray.

To me, she is saying it is a luxury to be yourself. I find it very frustrating. Perhaps that's another reason I am not frou frou: I have a thing about authenticity and being true to myself. I understand completely that other's feel like their being a better version of themselves with the fluff, but that's not how my warped brain processes this stuff for me.

Another excerpt:

What would you say to the person who dismisses all of this as an excess of vanity?
I really, really believe that we have to stop thinking of beauty as superficial because it's what makes us feel good. It gives you the confidence you need to exist in this world, and to survive. If anyone has any doubts about it, think of the days that you're sick and you never get out of your bathrobe and you look like hell — you feel like hell! But the times you get dressed up and look in the mirror and say, "My God! I look fantastic!" — it's such an up. I remember when I was sick and my aunt used to say, "Take a shower. Do your hair. Put makeup on." It does make a difference. I just think if you treat yourself better, you'll just feel so much better, competent and happier.

I don't know about you, but I feel fabulous in my bathrobe! Contrasting that, if I've gone to the Poor House tending hair, nails, and wardrobe, I will not be feeling better.

There's one exception: when Clinton and Stacy give me $5000 and do my hair and make up, then I'd cave.