Yesterday I noticed this strange noise, but couldn't pinpoint what it was or where it was coming from. At first, I suspected that the refrigerator was dying, but later decided the noise was coming from outside. A really noisy car? No, that would be gone by now. An owl, perhaps? No, they sleep during the day. And then I knew. It was a dog. He was perched on his owner's balcony making really strange noises. He wasn't barking or growling. Much worse, he was crying for his owner to return. How sad, that someone would put a labrador on their balcony with no entertainment or anyone to watch them while they're gone. I never realized that dogs get lonely, too. I wonder how many dogs are chronically depressed because they don't get enough attention. At any rate, I really wish this dog would be quiet because it's really annoying and sad at the same time to hear him whining. Heck, I'd go over to that apartment and play with him if it'd make him feel better, but I don't know the owner and it'd be really creepy to try to break into someone's apartment just to play with their dog...*sigh* Maybe if I buy him a chew toy and chuck it up to the third floor?

There was this one moment in high school that I think about every once in a while. I was in orchestra class, getting out my violin at 7:30 am when the girls next to me ask if my eyelashes are natural or whether I use mascara every day. Of course, the one day I put on mascara would be the one day they ask, so since I thought my eyelashes looked pretty much as natural with makeup as without, I told them they were natural. From that day on, there were very few days that I didn't wear mascara. It's really a strange lie to tell, and even stranger when people don't for a second doubt that you're telling the truth. I know my eyelashes are naturally black and relatively long on their own, but for some reason it's hard for me to not wear mascara. Of all things to manipulate, it would be the one feature I've always liked naturally. What the heck was I covering up by lying about wearing mascara that one day? I think it ruined my outlook on natural beauty from that day on.

So I went in search of books at Half Price Books this morning, partially because I want something new to read and partially because I don't like paying full price for...well, anything. As I scanned the aisles, I noticed there was no niche in which any books I'd want to read were. I started by looking at health & medicine books, only to find a bunch of diet books. Next, I scanned the fiction; I didn't really find anything I was extremely interested in, so I continued searching in the nonfiction sections. I went to the psychology books, thinking maybe they might have some kind of nutrition books (since there is no real nutrition section, sometimes you really have to search). There wasn't much there other than diet books and stories of women or men who lost weight and lost their identity consecutively. And then I found a section on eating disorders. "Great," I think to myself, "another chance for someone to think I have serious eating issues..." Since it's a subject that fascinates me a lot, I couldn't control myself from picking up just about every book that dealt with anorexia/bulimia/overeating. Then I found it, the book that had to become mine. Perfect Daughters, Starving Girls. A book written by a sociologist about eating disorders. I tend to prefer reading about junk food in America these days, but hey, why not? I go home, read the first few pages, then ask myself, "how many books about nutrition are really out there?" Searching on BarnesandNoble.com, I find that there's approximately one actual book I might be interested in to every 50 to 75 cookbooks and/or diet books. Pathetic. There are more books about baby superfoods than about eating habits of Americans...unless you call "Type O Blood Diet" the average diet in our country these days. [It's a diet book for people with type O blood, not vampires, for those of you wondering.] Maybe I need to start writing a nutrition book, in only so that more people can write cheesy books about how their lives have changed since they lost weight because they started eating sensibly instead of following some Hitler-style diet and exercise plan. I mean....yay dieting!.....