Secret Outlast

No one wants to be stinky, right? That is why deodorant was invented. However, most people stick to one certain brand and almost never try anything else. I know that is true for me, at least. I use the Secret Scent Expressions (on the right in the picture) clear gel. It's lavender. I like lavender. But I did jump at the chance to give Outlast a try. Maybe I would find a whole new world of deodorants.

For the most part, Outlast and Scent Expressions are the same. They are both clear gels, meaning you aren't getting that white powdery residue all over your clothes. And they both keep you dry and unstinky throughout the day. The big difference is just their scent. As I already said, I use Scent Expressions in lavender, but the Outlast is in Completely Clean. I think I was expecting something along the lines of baby powder or that "clean laundry" scent you can get in fabric softener sheets. Instead, it smells a lot like alcohol to me. Thankfully, that smell doesn't stick around once you put it on. I would hate to walk around smelling like rubbing alcohol. 

Even though this particular "flavor" of deodorant isn't my favorite, I will still use my Secret Scent Expressions. I am quite satisfied with the odor protection but I like the fact that it keeps my clothes looking nice even better. 

What is your favorite deodorant? Maybe that will be my new favorite too! 

Disclaimer: I received this product for free from BzzAgent. All opinions contained within are mine and mine alone. 

Vitamin C Serum

I am pretty terrible to my skin. I love taking rather hot showers, which makes my face turn bright red. It is a little embarrassing. Thankfully, Sano Naturals sent me some of their Vitamin C Serum to try. 

Here is how I used it: After I got out of the shower and dried off, I would put a dropper full of the serum in my hand. I would rub my palms together then smear the serum all over my face. (I said I was terrible to my skin, didn't I?) As I finished the rest of my morning routine, the redness would disappear. Now, I know the redness didn't just fade by itself. I have spent entire days walking around flushed. So the serum did help it along. I'm not sure that it had any other effects on my skin but I am glad it helps the redness go away.

I also got a sample of their eye gel. I have had problems with eye gels in the past. Most of them are very sticky. It is annoying when your eyelashes stick to your cheeks every time you blink. Instead of using it twice a day, I only used it at night and I only used a very little bit. I didn't notice any changes in the skin around my eyes. It is possible that I need to use a little more or give it a few more days to work. 

The one down side about both of these products is that they do not tell you how much product to use. The containers just say where to put the serum or gel. That makes it a little difficult to know if you are using the correct amount, which may be the issue with the eye gel. However, I do like the containers for both items. The serum is in a bottle with a dropper cap and the eye gel is in a tiny jar. I found the dropper much easier to use over the squirt nozzles that most other companies put on their bottles. I also prefer the eye gel in the jar. It lets me scoop out however much (or little!) I want. 

I'm not sure if I would recommend either product to anyone. The serum did calm the redness but it didn't seem to do anything else. The gel didn't seem to do anything at all. I suppose they are worth a try. After all, it is possible that I have completely screwed them up and you could do a better yourself. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

The Dream Ten: Where's Tony?

Where's Tony? is the second book in the Dream Ten series by A.D. Erving. Thankfully, for those of us that did not read the first book, there are player profiles in the front and back of the book to try to help us keep track of the book's key characters.

The Dream Ten series are various stories about a New York City youth basketball team. In this particular book, one of their players has gone missing after a semi-final game in the Lower-NYC All-Star League Winter Classic. Concerned, his teammates forgo practicing for their next match-up in order to find him. 

When I heard the book was about basketball, I was a little concerned. I'm not a huge basketball fan but I can read anything so I cracked it open. There actually is very little basketball in the story. The plot mostly revolves around the inner workings of the team and their friendships with each other. There were some super over-dramatic parts (the opening chapter tells us we will meet the devil) but kids that age tend to be Drama Bombs. Overall, it was a decent read. However, I think the book is more appropriate for boys in a 7-10 age range instead of the 7-14 age range it has listed. And, while the book does have some basketball, it feels a little disingenuous to call it a sports book. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

InstaNatural Stretch Mark & Scar Cream

I don't try very hard to get rid of my stretch marks. Most of my stretch marks are on my abdomen as a result of my pregnancy oh-so-long ago. They are what they are and I live with them, even though I don't particularly like them. When I had the option of getting a sample of InstaNatural's Stretch Mark & Scar Cream, I figured why not. 

First off, I will admit that I did not use the cream every morning and night, as the bottle suggests. I only used it in the morning after my shower. After I dried off, I would use one or two squirts of cream on the stretch marks on my abdomen. 

While it definitely is not a magic cream, I did notice that my stretch marks faded a bit. They didn't disappear but they were less noticeable. They faded enough that, at first, I thought they were actually gone. It wasn't until I squished my belly around a bit that I could see that they are still there, you just can't see them as easily. 

On top of that, I really liked the scent of the product and the nozzle on the bottle. The cream doesn't have one particular scent to it. Maybe I would classify it as kinda "ocean" scented? I'm not sure. As for the nozzle, it looks like you are going to get a foam out of it instead of a cream. I found that this made it easier to control how much product came out. If you only wanted a little dollop, you could just squeeze the nozzle a tiny bit. It was much nicer than some other nozzles.

InstaNatural also sent me a bottle of their Argan Oil. I have heard wonderful things about argan oil so I have been on the search for a really nice one. This particular oil worked well for me. The first thing I noticed is, once again, the nozzle is completely different from every other bottle of argan oil I have ever tried. Most other bottles use a dropper. This one has a squirt nozzle. While the squirt nozzle doesn't usually work well for creams, I found it worked nicely for the oil. Instead of having to count out drops from a dropper, you could just squeeze out a larger amount of oil at a time. (I really don't think anyone is using ONE DROP of argan oil for anything.)

I used the argan oil on my hair as a leave-on conditioner. In my opinion, it worked very well. It left my hair feeling soft without feeling oily and it didn't dry out my hair like some other "conditioning" products. It could be a little messier than some hair creams but I, personally, did not have any issues with it. 

In the end, I really liked both products. Neither of them had any magical powers to make me a gorgeous model but they did make my hair and skin a little nicer to look at. What more could you ask from a product?

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

PA Renaissance Faire - Whose Jest Is It Anyway?

To round out this week of Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire Festivities, I am going to leave you with one of the funniest stage shows my family has seen. Due to scheduling, we were not able to catch their show this season but we are hoping that the Faire schedule will allow us to see them next season. 

"Whose Jest Is It Anyway?" is a Ren Faire take on the popular television show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Much like the TV show, the stage show has different improvisational games the actors play. Some of them involve songs, some of them don't. One of them involves actors sticking their heads in a barrel of water while the others chat amongst themselves. It really is quite hysterical.

Unlike the other acts I have blogged about this week, Whose Jest is made up entirely of a segment of PA Ren Faire cast members called Blackfryars.  The show is one-of-a-kind. You won't find anything like it at any other Renaissance fair or festival. It's a must see! 

PA Renaissance Faire - Giacomo The Jester

Unfortunately, another one of our favorite acts was not at the Faire this year. That would be Giacomo the Jester. Sadly, I don't have very good pictures of him either. I just have this one and you can't even see his face. 

Giacomo usually has a few shows at the Faire. However, we have only seen two. The first is simply titled "Giacomo The Jester" and the second is the "Oops! Comedy Knife Throwing Show." I haven't seen his self-titled show in about two years so my memory of it is a little hazy. I just remember laughing a lot. 

However, it's the "Oops! Comedy Knife Throwing Show" that you need to see. (By the way, that is 'knife' pronounced ka-nife.) Giacomo and a partner (my favorite is Paolo Garbanzo) do a fairly typical knife throwing act with a ton of comedy. There is even a little bit of magic in the act.

While the guys usually get a little fresh with the women in the audience, this is definitely a show you should check out. I hope that he will return to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire next year. His presence was definitely missed this time around! 

PA Renaissance Faire - The Mud Squad

Another one of our favorite acts from the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire is The Mud Squad.  Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of pictures of their show. You can see more pictures of them on their Facebook page. 

The Mud Squad is a trio of comedians. The current line-up features Ploppy (who is in the picture above), Snarfy, and Oozie. (A previous version of the line-up featured Skeeter. However, Skeeter is now performing in Orlando so Oozie returned to the PA Ren Faire.) Every Faire day, the three mud-covered goofballs perform three different shows. I'm not sure if the shows are different every year but this year's shows are Mudpit of the Ape, Rumpelstiltskin, and Ploppy's Hot Date. The show we saw this past weekend was Mudpit of the Ape.

As you can see from the picture above, it is difficult to get a good picture of the mudpit when there is an audience. The mudpit is at the bottom of a slight slope, which makes it a little difficult to see what is going on when the actors are actually in the mud. In the background, the little hut is where the actors put on costumes and hide their props. The hut is raised off the ground a bit, making that the best place to see the actors in action. Unfortunately, they spend most of their time in front of the mudpit. You could move down to the front rows of the audience, if you don't mind getting splashed with mud occasionally. 

The three shows are quite funny. In Mudpit of the Ape, Snarfy is telling the story of his summer vacation. He went to a tropical island where he met a beautiful island woman, played by Ploppy. This woman is also the only virgin on the island. Unfortunately, her people are being plagued by a large monkey, played by Oozie. Snarfy fights the monkey and ends up face-down in the mud pit. The monkey kidnaps the island woman, prompting Snarfy to save her. Of course, the day is saved....only after they all end up in the mud. It is a mud show, after all!

If you find yourself with nothing to do a 12, 2, or 4 and you are at the Ren Faire, head on over to the mud pit. If you prefer the risque type of humor, Ploppy also performs an adult-oriented show with Looney Lucy. People with kids should stick with The Mud Squad instead. It is (slightly) dirty fun for the whole family!

PA Renaissance Faire - Circus Stella

Circus Stella is one of those acts that has managed to fly under our Renaissance Faire radar. While we were told that we had to check them out, their shows were always scheduled against other shows we wanted to see. This past weekend, we decided to skip one of Fool Hearty's shows in order to catch Circus Stella. I am so glad we did.

Circus Stella is another husband and wife act. Dextre Tripp handles the juggling, ladder balancing, and rope walking portions of the show. Jayna Lee, on the other hand, does the prettier parts. She does aerial stunts with both the trapeze and aerial silks. On top of that, their rescue dogs are part of the show too! (They actually named their show after one of the dogs, Stella.) 

In Dextre's parts of the show, he does a lot of crowd-work. In the show we watched, he had two children from the audience help him. One climbed up a ladder Dextre was balancing in order to bring him a dropped hat. The other, as you can see in the picture, sat on his shoulders while he rode a unicycle across the stage. Those kids were super brave. I don't know that I would have the guts to do either of those. 

We did get to see one of the best parts of Dextre's on-stage presence. He originally brought a different girl onto the stage for the unicycle bit. However, once she got on his shoulders, she freaked out a little. Instead of abandoning the bit, he simply put Girl #1 down, thanked her, and chose a different girl. I appreciated Dextre's concern for the girl and his willingness to continue the show. 

First off, I'd like to say that I wish I had better pictures of Jayna's act. My husband's camera didn't want to give her any love that day. Jayna started out on a trapeze, which was lovely, but my favorite part was the aerial silk. She looked so beautiful and so elegant with them. Even if you don't see them for the other parts (which you should), definitely check them out for Jayna's silk routine. Just gorgeous.

Then there are the dogs. The dog part of the show was very funny. I think we saw three dogs on Saturday. I'm not positive. I was too busy having a good time to count them. Anyway, some of the dogs did their own "tightrope walking" over some wooden boards. In this picture, you can see Stella doing her trick with Adrian. First Stella jumps over Adrian, then she crawls underneath. It is quite funny to see in person. 

When we were at the Faire on Saturday, the weather was not completely cooperative. There were wind gusts and some spitting rain throughout the day. Circus Stella changed their act around a little bit to accommodate the weather so some things were a little off but, honestly, I wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't said something about it during the show. If you get a chance to see them perform, check them out. You will not regret it. I even purchased a DVD so I can watch them in the off-season!

PA Renaissance Faire - Fool Hearty

As I have said a number of times, my family spends a lot of time at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. While we didn't attend as frequently this year as we have in the past, we did see some new shows and meet some new friends. Every day this week, I will be featuring some of our favorite acts from the PA Ren Faire. The Faire ends next weekend but it is possible that you could see some of these acts are other Renaissance fairs or festivals. 

First up, Fool Hearty! 

Fool Hearty is a husband and wife duo. As Marquise and Ima Nutte, they perform three different shows every day. There is a magic show, Fool School, and an untrained dog show. In addition, Marquise leads many of the parades that take place during the day. When they are not on stage performing, they are wandering around the Shire making everyone around them smile.

The Fool Hearty magic show is best for smaller children. Marquise handles most of the magic tricks while Ima Nutte plays his beautiful assistant. During the show, they bring two children (usually one boy and one girl) on stage as helpers. The boy helps during the rope trick and the girl helps during the paper trick. Even though I have seen their magic show dozens of times, I still can't figure out how they do it. 

Fool School is where the families get to make fun of Daddy. Ima picks a man out of the audience for them to turn into a fool. The audience member gets a new costume and a new name. Then there is some juggling and some pictures and a graduation ceremony. Trust me when I say that this is a funny show, especially when the new fool jokes back with Marquise and Ima. 

Fool Hearty's big show of the day is the Untrained Dog Show. The couple owns four dogs total but only two of the border collies are currently in the act. Originally, the main star was Blockhead, who definitely knew how to work the crows. However, he has recently retired. In his place, both Polka Dot and Wing Nutte have stepped up their games. This is, most definitely, my favorite show at the Ren Faire. I highly recommend that you check it out, if you can. 

No matter how often you see a Fool Hearty show, you always walk away with a smile on your face. Not only are Marquise and Ima very funny people, they are also very approachable and friendly. If you see them walking around, please say hello or give them a hug. They love you as much as you love them. 

How to Begin Blogging

I have seen a lot of people talking about wanting to start a blog but having no idea where to start. I have been blogging on various platforms since 2002 so I thought I would give a few tips on how to start and where to find things to write about. Even though I have been blogging for so long, I am, by no means, an expert. There is no One True Method to blogging. Please take these tips and change them around to fit your particular style. 

Where To Host Your Blog

A lot of people start blogging on either Wordpress.com or Blogger. Both of these are great places to start blogging for free. However, if you are looking to make money with your blog, you will, at minimum, need to register a custom domain name. Many pay-to-blog sites will not accept blogs with wordpress.com or blogspot.com subdomain names. 

If you are willing to spend a little more money, you can purchase hosting services for your blog. For many years, the previous version of this blog - The Geek Within - was hosted on GoDaddy servers and used Wordpress as the blog software. When I decided to change my blog into a fully formed website, I moved over to Squarespace. They use their own blog software, which has taken some time to get used to, but I am able to do so much more with my site now. 

These are just a few of the most popular options out there. If you are not satisfied with these, there are some other options. Do a Google search for "blog software" and see if any of those tickle your fancy. 

What To Call Your Blog

In my opinion, this is always the most difficult part of the process. When I was using Blogger or LiveJournal or Vox (which no longer exists), the URL was always my name (cassandramorgan) but the title would change depending on how I felt that day. Sometimes it was a song lyric, sometimes it was just my name again...there was no consistency. When I registered the domain for The Geek Within, I had decided that I was mostly going to talk about "geeky" things like Japanese dramas or video games or nerdy television shows. However, after seven years of the name, I felt like it was too constricting for me. I wanted to write about other things that wouldn't necessarily fall into the "geek" realm. That is why I made the big domain change this year.

So. You want to make sure your blog title is descriptive of what you do. (Yes, I know Cassandra Morgan is not particularly descriptive. I intentionally made that decision.) BUT. You don't want to make it too limiting either. If you call your blog "Fox TV Shows," what will happen in a few years when you want to write about shows on other channels? Perhaps a better title would be "24/7 TV" or "The Television Guru." Be creative!

How To Find Topics

If you have found a title that you love and a subject that you are dying to discuss, topics should come fairly easily. Write about the things you know! When you get stuck (and there will always be a day or two when your writing muse has decided to take a nap), you can turn to sites like 30 Days of Lists or Pinterest for ideas. Google is your friend. Do a little bit of searching and I'm sure a topic in your particular niche will pop up. Don't be afraid to write a "fluff" article once in awhile. No one is expecting you to write prize-winning blog posts every day of the year. That said, try your best to stick with your genre. If you are writing a celebrity gossip blog, you might lose readers if you start writing about the hottest cars of the year. 

Blogging really needs to be something that comes from the heart. You shouldn't blog because you want to make tons of money or get free products or anything like that. I have found that if you write like you are talking to your friends, people are not only more likely to return to your site, they will also recommend it to their friends. 

Are there other things you want to know about the world of blogging? Leave me a comment and I will try my best to answer all your questions.