Old Photos: Feeling Pretty In A Soviet Beauty Salon

When I was growing up® beauty salon employees were not dressing up as nurses any longer, although this seems to be a fancy establishment in 1956 Moscow.

A woman getting her hair curled.©Time Lisa Larsen

A woman getting a facial.©Time Lisa Larsen

Russian women having manicures.©Time Lisa Larsen

A woman getting a facial.©Time Lisa Larsen

A lady receiving a pedicure.©Time Lisa Larsen

A lady getting her hair cut.©Time Lisa Larsen

Soundtrack of My Childhood

Muslim Magomaev, one of the most popular Soviet singers of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s died today. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that 100% of the Soviet population knew and loved him. He was a huge star with a wide range of musical talents – from pop to opera, performing in many languages and winning many well-deserved international awards. Many times when Magomaev was on TV my Father would record his songs on our reel-to-reel tape recorder and little 6-year old me would sing along.

I always thought he was old, only 66…

Russian Caricature Of The Day: Traditional Swedish Recipe

Recent IKEA meatball news hit me hard. I’ve been a fan since the first time I’ve tried them years ago. And even though I stopped buying IKEA meatballs when my kid decided to stop eating pork, it’s still pretty sad. Not that I care about eating horse meat,  I am sure I unknowingly ate it more than once during my lifetime. If anything, this proves my long-held belief that we get too much information about the food we eat, with all the ingredient lists and nutrition tables. What we don’t know doesn’t hurt us.

This caricature is by Sergei Yelkin – a Russian cartoonist whose blog I’ve been following for years. I just translated the labels to share with the English-speaking audience. If you would like to see the original Russian version, please click here.

Traditional Swedish Recipe.©Sergei Yelkin

I Ain’t Classy

To those who already know me it comes as no surprise: I ain’t classy.
Today’s episode of me being “not classy” is brought to you by Twitter:

kcklo63:
@kcmeesha You’re making fun of law enforcement at a memorial ceremony? Really? You stay classy.

I guess I wasn’t supposed to post a photo of this gentleman getting ready for the police officers memorial ceremony in front of the KCMO police headquarters.

To quote Larry the Cable Guy: Lord, I apologize, but, on the other hand, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how could I possibly pass this by? I don’t know what law enforcement function this gentleman performs, whether it’s a wide entrance blocking, extreme uniform testing, bear-wrestling or just plain intimidation of the smaller-sized criminals, I am sure he is great at what he does. I just hope he is not tasked with foot-chases, stair-climbing or long jumps.

To my credit, this photo was taken before the ceremony started. Still doesn’t make me classy although even if I could buy class I am too cheap to spend the money.

And the Dove Came in to Him….

Most religions start with some kind of revelation. Some guy while walking in the woods finds golden plates, next thing you know, two scmucks are knocking on your door asking strange questions. An old man walks to the top of the mountain, comes down with a couple of stone tablets, next thing you know I have to feel bad about eating bacon. A guy gets crucified, next thing you know….

I may be on to something too. Lately, I started noticing that Dove Chocolate Promises contain unlimited supply of chocolate wisdom and life directives. After eating several bags of chocolates I now have enough wrappers to cover most of life’s questions and daily matters.

The Promises can be divided into two categories: wisdom and directives.

Directives:

• Go to your special place
• Go against the grain
• Send a love letter this week
• Don’t think about it so much
• Follow your instincts
• Whisper in the dark
• Live your dreams
• Wink at someone driving past today
• Smile. People will wonder what you’ve been up to
• Love without rules
• Discover yourself
• Watch reruns, they replay your memories

Wisdom:

• It’s definitely a bubble-bath day
• There is a time for compromise…it’s called “later”
• Sometimes one smile means more than a dozen roses
• Age is nothing but a number
• If they can do it, you know you can
• When two hearts race both win
• Temptation is fun…giving in is even better

These pearls can be combined in an infinite number of ways. Try it:

Don’t think about it so much+Go to your special place+Discover yourself

See, it’s like a higher power telling you what to do.

OK, I am back from my “special place” where I just “discovered myself” and I am “smiling” so “people will wonder what I’ve been up to”. Get it?

I am on my quest to eat more Dove Promises to finally discover the secret of life. I found out that I can actually order my own Promises with old stand-by’s like “don’t pee against the wind” or “don’t eat yellow snow”.

Inspirational AND practical!