Bang Blocker

     I decided on a whim a few months ago to give myself some bangs.  They're so cute, but I didn't consider how much of a pain putting on my makeup, washing my face, etc would be once I had them.  I tried using headbands to pull my bangs out of my way, but the end results were reminiscent of Alfalfa.  It took more effort than I was willing to put in to make my bangs behave after I had gotten them all wonky with my headband (which, by the way, never seemed to stay where it belonged).  The worst part, though, was that sleeping with my bangs on my face was starting to give me forehead breakouts.  I needed a change.

     Enter Dariya's Maegami Tomeru... Front Hair Stopper.  No.  Bang Blocker... Hmm... Fringe Foiler?

     The smiley face on the package claims it is perfectly suited for keeping your hair out of your face while applying makeup.

     Talking velcro and lame translations aside, these things are great.  They're basically large strips of velcro that you stick to your head.  They come in different shapes, but the most popular ones are square.  I intend to get some bow shaped ones next.  These look a little silly, but work beautifully.    You don't have to worry about them sliding off while you sleep, you don't have to worry about your bangs getting creased, you don't have to worry about anything.  Yay for small miracles!  It is unbelievable they're not popular over here.  I like this product so much that I've decided to upgrade to a cuter bow shape (if I can find it) this weekend during my Chicago beauty haul.  

     I've seen these for sale in hyaku-en stores, which are the Japanese equivalent of dollar stores.  I was lucky and got mine as a complimentary gift when I ordered some circle lenses.  You can get them online for about 1 to 3 bucks, assuming someone isn't trying to fleece you.   

I'll never be injured again.

Thank you, Wisconsin Outside for your picture!

I'm cursed.  Oh, say it isn't so!

After a month off to let my pinkie heal, I ran another 18 miles during a LPTR fun run.  Good times were had by all who were not injured.  Unfortunately, this didn't include me.  My finger hurt from the swelling that always accompanies my digits on long runs. (Whine, whine, wine makes me feel better.)  I could deal with that just fine, but about five miles in I skidded off the end of a lovely boardwalk through the marshy South Kettle Moraine and hit my knee.  Big deal.  I've taken worse falls than that--like that time I tried doing a wall flip in parkour for the first time.  

I continued on my merry little way, thinking that today would be a good day to break the 20 mile mark, until I hit mile 13 or so.  Things went downhill fast from there, even on the uphill sections.  

Should I have stopped?  Yes.  Did I?  Well, what would you expect from Ms. Attempted Wall Flip?  Apparently I have no sense of danger or tendency towards self-preservation.

On the up side, I found a hat and the food at the finish was particularly delicious.  On the down side, I gave the hat to the run director.  Oh, and I injured my knee enough to be unable to run for the following month.  The Ice Age 50 doesn't look like it is going to happen for me.  I guess I'll have to spend more time on my mountain bike.

I've still got 9 other perfectly good fingers.

Maybe I should change the Adventures tag to Injuries.