That’s when I decided to try something a little different. When I visited the new David’s Tea, I picked up a delicious tin of crème caramel rooibos tea. After looking around at their selection of infusers I came across the Blomos Teastick. It seemed pretty cool, but I didn’t want to shell out $25 plus tax for it. I searched the net for similar teastick, since I was worried that the perforations in the Blomos model were a little too big for oh-so-scrumptious rooibos tea. I stumbled upon Gamila’s Teastick,  and found one selling on eBay for $15.99. After reading some favourable online reviews, along with the fact that it saved me a few bucks over the Blomos Teastick I decided to purchase it. Gamila states that:

this is the ultimate infuser for tea enthusiasts features intuitive “scoop-slide-steep” functionality while it reflects the aesthetic of traditional loose tea service. Durable enough for industrial use, it has no breakable mechanisms and is constructed entirely of 304L stainless steel with holes small enough to infuse the finest of teas.

Entirely made of kitchen-grade stainless steel, The Teastick boasts it’s made for a lifetime of of home use (we’ll see about that). I must admit, the design is very stylish, but does it actually work like an infuser should? I can now say that it does after finishing a warm cup of tea. Even the packaging is pretty cool, complete with info on how to use and care for your teastick, as well as some brewing tips.

After washing my Teastick in warm, soapy water, I dried it off and got ready to test out my new gizmo. It slid open pretty effortlessly, and I noticed the little locking mechanism on the top of the perforated sleeve. It’s pretty

roomy inside the Teastick once you slide the sleeve all the way to the top. I was worried that the tea wouldn’t have enough room to steep.

When scooping up loose tea with your Teastick, make sure you kind of shimmy the tea in the scoop so that it levels off with the fill edge. And you want to be careful not to overfill it because tea needs room to unfurl.

I had a small cup, so I didn’t fill it too much. The sleeve slipped back down and locked easily and I dunked the stick into my cup of hot water and waited about 5 minutes for my rooibos tea to steep. What I also like about The Teastick is that it doubles as a stir-stick (and it also looks pretty chic in my cup of tea).

Clean-up was a breeze: I just slide the sleeve back up, dumped out the tea, and washed The Teastick with soap and water (note that it’s also dishwasher safe). If some loose tea leaves get stuck in the little holes, the sleeve is large enough that you can use your finger to pry any out (and this is coming from someone with pretty big hands ). I also like the little curved handle at the top of The Teastick. It prevents it from falling into larger mugs or teapots, and allows it to rest evenly on your table or saucer with minimal drippage while you sip your tea.

Now, because the type of loose-leaf tea (rooibos) that I used it had some small needle-like leaf particles in it, and a few did float through the perforations, but it wasn’t as much as I thought it would be. For drinkers of full-leaf tea, such as green or black, I think The Teastick would be perfect.

Scoop it. Slide it. Steep it. Brewing a cup of tea is that easy with The Teastick. I think this was worth what I paid for it, but if you can’t afford to pay for the $18 + shipping as noted on the Gamila site, check out eBay for sellers. I haven’t seen this model of infuser in any stores in Canada as yet. And if a teastick isn’t your thing, then you can always test out the various tea infuser balls, glass tea infusers, infuser cups, Gamila’s new super-cute Teastick Gems, or simply stick to the ol’ teabags. Happy sipping!

Gee… I feel like making more tea!

What did I get? One full size (300ml) bottle each of Hydralicious Featherweight, Reconditioning and Self-Targeting shampoo and conditioner. That’s 6 bottles (looks like I don’t have to go out and buy shampoo anytime soon)! But wait… there’s more! Matchstick also supplied me with 20 full value coupons for Herbal Essences Hydralicious shampoo or conditioner for me to share with family and friends (and even faithful blog readers like yourself).

So onto my experience with the shampoo. I didn’t get a chance to wash my giant head of hair since I received the package until last night, because I didn’t take out my weave until then (boy, did my hair ever grow). Now we all should know that different types and styles of hair require different hair care techniques–Black hair in particular. Because Black “African American” hair tends to be very dry (because of it’s thickness and the inability of sebum to get to the entire surface at the end of the hair), it’s important not to shampoo too often otherwise it will dry out and break off. And keep in mind that not all Black hair is the same… it’s important to find what works best for you and your hair. A shampoo once a week seems to work best for Black hair, as well as maybe rinsing with plain water on a daily basis (check out the informative Treasured Locks website for more Black hair care tips).

So taking in these Black hair care tips, I decided to go with Herbal Essences Reconditioning shampoo and conditioner, since it’s formulated for dry/damaged hair (it’s the one in the pretty purple bottle). Let me tell you, that if I didn’t just eat dinner I probably would’ve tasted that concoction: these shampoos and conditioners smell great! The Reconditioning pair smells so fruity, and is “fused with extracts of shea, moisturizers & Hawaiian sea silk”.

Pouring the shampoo out of the bottle I noticed the pretty swirls of the mixture itself (it wasn’t just on the outside design of the bottle)! Turns out that I didn’t need to squeeze so much shampoo into my hand to lather up my hair: When I shampooed my hair a second time after rinsing completely, I noticed that all I needed was a quarter-sized dab of shampoo and it lathered up my entire head (and I have a lot of hair). So after washing twice, I used the conditioner . It felt so smooth on my hair. Usually I have to put a lot of conditioner in, but with Hydralicious I actually noticed that it covered my strands. I left it in for a couple minutes rinsed and towel-blotted my hair to dry. I didn’t experience any burning-eye or funny-taste-in-mouth sensations with either the shampoo or conditioner which is always a plus.

Now it’s hard for me to remember the difference in my hair texture after each and every shampoo since I usually have extensions/weaves/braids in so often, but my super curly (and happily nappy) hair did feel quite soft and was easy to manage when my sister went to cornrow it minutes later (it didn’t feel like steel wool at all ). Of course I did also add a bit of Shea “All Naturals” Shea Butter Super Grown Herbal Formula to the roots.

So what did I think of the new Herbal Essences Hydralicious? If my review wasn’t clear enough I really liked it and think the Reconditioning set worked well with my hair. I’ll most likely try the Self-Targeting shampoo & conditioner set in the near future, and maybe even the Featherweight set (for hair that needs body… even though my afro probably doesn’t).

Aside from the actual product itself, I thought the curvy design of the bottles fit well in your hand while your in the shower. The little “trivia” questions that are at the back of each shampoo/conditioner duo. On the Reconditioning shampoo for example, the “?” is: What is the average number of bridesmaids at a wedding? In order to find out the answer you have to take a look at the back of the conditioner bottle (4 is the answer by the way), and vise-a-versa. A nice little way to pass the time while you’re waiting for your conditioner to penetrate your tresses. I’m in love with the swirls that are visible in each of the shampoos, as well as their vibrant colours. The latch system is well designed and makes the bottles easy to open (I remember scraping my thumb a few times on other shampoo/conditioner bottles in the past because the cap needed so much effort). And of course the smells are intoxicating! The Self-Targeting shampoo takes the cake in that department, boasting “extracts of red vanilla & whipped aloe”. The Featherweight shampoo has “extracts of water lily nectar and passion fruit”. Yummy!

So I have a stack full of free Herbal Essences Hydralicious coupons to give away. Stay tuned to my blog for details on how you can win yourself a pair, so that you can try out this licious shampoo and conditioner yourself!

Here are some of the cover stories:

• Alicia Keys: The Grammy Award-winning superstar talks about her new album, the joy of helping others and what’s next
• Avoiding the post holiday financial blues
• Chaka Khan: Back in the game after a 10-year break
• Sign of the Times: Examining the ‘new’ nuclear family
• 2 Words that can define you and help design your life
• Stocking stuffer ideas for the entire family

The November/December issue of Passion Magazine is now available at Chapter-Indigo locations, as well as some Shoppers Drug Mart’s. Dont forget to visit PassionMag.ca to enter the Samsung Camera Giveaway Contest!

Detroit promoter Ulysses “DJ Lish” Barnes apparently cancelled the event that was supposed to occur last night at Club APT after getting a furor of angry calls and emails when word of the party spread to the net.

Barnes, 27, said that he “didn’t think there would be a backlash”. Really? He didn’t think that Black women of ‘darker’ shades would have felt ostrasized by an event that stated that only light-skinned women (and Libras!) got in to the party with no cover charge? According to a Detroit News story Barnes said:

I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I had planned a party for other shades (of black women). We were going to take a shade of color each week. Next week was going to be a party for ‘Sexy Chocolate’ and the week after that ‘Sexy Caramel.

That seems like a bold-face lie. He probably just said that to try and save face. Regardless of how many ’shaded’ parties he planned on throwing, he’s still being ignorant.

How could he have believed that he wouldn’t offend anyone with an event titled as such? What was he gonna do? Stand at the doors of the club and verify that the light-skinned women who wanted to get in free were actually light-skinned and take out a brown paper bag to make sure?  I could just picture it now: “I’m sorry.  You’re too dark-skinned.  You have to pay the cover charge.”  What if two “light-skinned” women were to show up, one being a bit darker than the other–where do you draw the line?

It’s probably not surprising to some that Barnes happens to be a “dark skinned” black man. I bet if there was a party being thrown for free entry for all the light-skinned brothas out there, he’d understand why there was such a backlash. It’s sad to think that as a ‘Black’ community there’s so much prejudice within our own race.

Well I guess something good came out of this situation: On DJ Lish’s MySpace page he’s now presenting “Controversy” as next Friday’s themed event. Everybody free entry all night.

Independently-owned cafes are becoming harder to come by as more and more Starbucks keep popping up in urban areas like dandelions. Don’t get me wrong, I love their Double-Chocolate-Chip Frappuchino® with whipped cream, but I’m not one to shell out $5 everytime I have a craving for it (it contains over 400 calories after all).

The Starbucks boom of recent years has mind boggled me, somewhat. Especially when I know people who purchase $3-5 coffee drinks there every day, even multiple times a day. That’s almost equal to one semester of college tuition! I seriously think that Starbucks might be spiking their drinks with “Starbucks Caffine” to keep customers buying their beverages.

Now to the main question of my post: Why to people go to Starbucks by themselves and just sit there with their laptops and a 1/2 empty cup of coffee? Sometimes they end up paying a lot for wireless service for Internet connection. Why not just sit in the privacy of their own home to work on whatever it is they’re working on? The question makes sense, especially if the people of this “Starbucks-laptop” culture have the nerve to complain about the noise that kids from a family that’s just entered the cafe might be making, or when someone trips over and unplugs the extension chord to their laptop.

It seems that I’m not the only one who has wondered about this trend. A repeat episode of Family Guy had me laughing, because there was so much truth in it:

If I feel the need to go out and people-watch, or hope that some hot guy will notice me typing on my (non-existent) laptop and strike up a conversation… then yes, I would go to Starbucks for that sole purpose. But I rather a nice, cost-efficient Iced Cap and Honey Cruller from Tim Hortons to go.

Now I wouldn’t think anything of it, but after a while the older, blind man starts leaning in close to the girl. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the girl obviously seemed like she was doing her best to be polite, yet abrupt. Then he puts his hand on her shoulder, as if it steady himself to get up for his stop… yet, he just sits there for a while trying to talk to her while patting her shoulder. The girl appeared to try to wriggle out of the unwanted attention, but all the seats were full and she was right behind the driver’s section.

About a minute later, he finally does get up, steadily holding onto her shoulder, and I witness the most disgusting displays that I’ve ever seen on TTC–he fully attempted to cop a feel of her breast! The bus pole was on the other side of him for crying out loud, so he could’ve used that to steady himself! Thank goodness she finally brushed his hand away and moved to the side before he got any lower. The “blind” man got off the bus pretty quickly, and didn’t really use the cane much, so I’m assuming he had at least some vision (according to the CNIB 90% of the people they assist actually have some vision).

I’m sitting there looking at the girl, who had this shocked and disgusted look on her face as she starts talking to her friend across the aisle in her language. She then glances at the woman sitting next to her friend as if to say “did you see what he did to me?”, and starts shaking her head saying, “so disgusting…” She soon got off the bus a couple of stops later.

Now I don’t know about you, but I think most blind people know where a woman’s breasts are on their body, in relation to their shoulder. I don’t care if he was old, or 99% blind, touching another person in that way without their consent is just plain wrong. What’s more wrong is taking advantage of your disabilities in a way like that. I hope a seagull flew into his balls on the way home…

A week goes buy and I’m damn well sure Canada Post isn’t that slow, so I call them up on the following Friday. Guess what? When I talked to their tech department, they said that they had no record of a modem set up to be shipped to me! So I explained the problem to them again. They told me to ‘reset the modem’ again and tested the line. After it was proven to be faulty, they agreed to send out another modem.

At this point, I’m thinking OK… common mistake. Maybe someone forgot to press the ‘enter’ key after my initial phone call. So after another week passes by still no modem!

I call up Bell for the third time, and explain that I’ve been calling for the past two weeks and that I was supposed to have a new modem shipped out to me TWICE. They seem to have gotten the message and did a rush order on the shipping and I got it the following Tuesday.

So new modem, new phone cable and it seemed that it was working. But then the Internet connection started tripping out again. So, I call up Bell (yet again) on the next Friday and get told to call up another 866 number to get a technician sent to my house to repair the phone jack (since the tech guy said that’s most likely the problem, after he had me unplug the modem to test it in the other room).

Great… the earliest appointment to have someone look at the jack is five days later. What if I were a business and depended on my Internet connection to complete my job each day?! Wednesday comes and goes. Surprise, surprise: no tech guy knocking at my door.

I just got off the phone with Bell (dry loop department), and the lady I spoke to (seemed really nice), informed me that there’ll be a $100 charge to have someone from bell repair my phone jack. $100?! After she connected me with the people over at 310-BELL, the next representative apologized for the fact that the last repair guy didn’t come yesterday and set up an appointment for next Tuesday. I asked her how much it would cost and she informed me that it was $99. I told her that the first time the guy set up the appointment, I wasn’t made aware of any charge, and to just forget it and connect me to the Customer Service department so I can get a refund on the time that my internet was down for the past 3 weeks (the tech rep initially said I could get reimbursed).

I wait on hold to get connected. Thee minutes later I hear static. Then that do-do-DO beep sequence with the operator that happens when a call cannot be connected, so I hang up the phone.

I hate Bell. I’ll call to cuss them back later on today. Really thinking about switching to Rogers right about now…

Update (August 15. 2007): After emailing the executive office yesterday, I got a phone call from a nice gentleman in Ottawa telling me that they got my email. After he quickly went through the gist of my problem, he asked me what I wanted and I told him to have my internet service charge refunded for the month that it was defective… and he gave me the next 2 months free! He was so helpful and friendly. I should’ve asked for a free ExpressVu Satelite. Bell’s now back on my ‘good list’ (barely).