I saw a version of this and fixed it for me.

This is how I feel every time I meet a new person because I don’t want to share all my weirdness with my realtor or a random mom from my kid’s baseball team. Yes, that sounds ugly, but it’s me. I like to think that my Facebook is a reflection of myself, like this blog, but Facebook is the everyday day-in-the-life where I don’t censor much.

Fall is my favorite season, but I live in the south and we don’t have seasons. F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite writers and he wrote this about fall.

Y’all. I have no words for today. These children just about made me drop my basket today. Their bathroom is a hazardous waste site. Two of them have to work on assignments next week (during fall break) to get their grades up. I had to sit them all down for a long talk. Two of us cried. Super crazy. It ended in caramel apples and three of us watching Masterchef.

A great one from Emily McDowell.

I took this picture last month in my living room. The light was good.

When I was in high school I had cystic acne. The kind people can’t really see, but I could feel and it hurt. I worked magic with makeup. After my freshman year of college I went in Accutane and the acne went away.

Acne came back after babies. I worked magic with makeup.

I’ve always had a good skin routine. I’ve always gotten compliments on my skin. That’s great. I work magic with makeup.

For the past year or maybe more, I’ve had a couple of patches of raised skin on my cheeks and this face is an oil slick. I’m not exaggerating. And so, I’m seeing a new dermatologist tomorrow. I cannot work magic on weird raised patches of skin. Today I went to a store to buy the foundation that I’ve found controls the oil better than others. The cosmetologist said “you have Rosacea” and I said “no, no, I don’t have red skin.” Maybe that’s what it is, I don’t know. Maybe it’s some weird one in 1000 people have it condition. Maybe they can slice it off my cheeks and give me something my Crisco face.

I only know that I don’t feel pretty and it very much bothers me. I hate that I feel that way and that I’m more self-conscious than I want to admit, and that it’s what I see in the mirror, but that’s where I am right now. We’ll see what my doctor says tomorrow.

Stupid 45 year-old skin.

Last week I left therapy and felt better than I have in a very long time. More in that later. I’d finished homework for therapy (yes, you get homework) the day before and I felt like I could breathe deeply. I could soak it all in and let go. After therapy I smiled so much I felt my cheeks might hurt. I smiled through the grocery store, I bought a Halloween headband made of roses, and I bought orange roses. I said pleasantries and I meant them. I took a selfie and posted it to Facebook with this caption: it’s a good day to do good.

Today I read this:

How great is that? It’s a good day to do good.

My two theme songs are “Goody Two Shoes” by Adam Ant and “Be OK,” both two fantastic songs. I’m going with “Be OK” by Ingrid Michaelson. She’s one of the best singer-songwriters working today, so check her out if you’re not familiar.

“Be OK” is statement song for me after going through A LOT and it continues to mean a tremendous amount to me. So much so that I got a tattoo on my arm that incorporates the title.

That would be said tattoo. Doctor Professor Hillary was with me when I got it in Baton Rouge. Great memory.

Speaking of Doctor Professor Hillary, today is the last day of our Challenge. I’ve enjoyed the hell out of it and I know we’ll find another one maybe later this year. Thanks for joining me this month. See you tomorrow for something else.

Because I cover the Miss Universe Pageant each year, I give you Mr. Global (at least it’s not as pretentious as Miss Universe, which only includes contestants from Earth, not the entire Milky Way).

The pageant was held in Bangkok on September 26 with the “Inspiring Gentleman” theme.  One of the requirements is to be “good looking.” I’m not kidding. Mr. Korea won.

Let’s go to the photos!

And lastly, the whitest white people: Swedish Rocky and Superman because that’s all the US has. Guy in an ill-fitting Superman costume.

When I was six I purchase my first 45 with my own money after my birthday. It was “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

There’s no question, Natalie Merchant has the most amazingly beautiful unique voice in the whole wide world.

Here she is in the first song most people knew her by in her former band, 10,000 Maniacs, it’s “Like the Weather.”