Shampoo

"Don't Buy Shampoo, Get The Real Poo Here Today!!!"

Where does the word "shampoo" come from? Have you ever wondered?

Sham-poo.

I can't be the only person who has been showering and imagined the man who created it thinking "It looks a bit like poo, but, of course, it's not! Let's call it sham-poo!" But, to be honest, it doesn't even look like poo. At least, not if you're healthy.

Or maybe it makes you wonder what cavemen and women used to keep their hair clean.

I'll leave the ponderings up to you.

But if, like me, you are interested in putting your showertime wonderings to rest:
-"Shampoo" is originally a Hindi word, chāmpo, to massage, which apparently is an inflection of cāmpnā, to press.
-The first recorded use in English was around 1762, meaning an Indian Head Massage, usually with some sort of aromatic oil.
-It took around 100 years for the word to be used for "washing the hair" (first recorded in 1860), but only 6 more years for the word "shampoo" to be used as a noun [shampoo as an object] not a verb [to shampoo].
-Intriguingly, the first known shampoo-maker is Kasey Herbert (selling 'Shaempoo' in London), but the first shampoo we would recognise today was made in the 1930s, called Drene.

Not bad for a morning's ponderings! :)

6 months later....

It has been 6 months since I last posted on this blog!

The main change in that time is that I have changed jobs. I am now a teaching assistant in a school for children with special needs, mainly severe learning and behavioural problems. I'm really enjoying the work so far - the learners are challenging, but absolutely lovely when they're being good, and all my colleagues are absolutely lovely! :)

Also in the last 6 months.... My sister and brother-in-law came to England and then went back to Mexico, I got a new car, passed units 1 and 2 of the Level 1 BSL course (only one unit to go!), joined the National Trust and visited several properties, my bike got a shiny new exhaust, got a lovely new laptop, made some new friends (but not half as many as I'd like!), left one church and returned again, done some growing up (and some growing down again, I think!), and probably half a dozen other important things I can't remember!

However, not that much has changed really! I need to resurrect this blog because it helps to inspire me to do the awesome and exciting things that I love doing most! I've been making a list of things I want to do before I'm 30 (my 25th is coming up VERY soon, and I'm quite scared!), so hopefully I can make it through a good few of those in the coming year.

More posts to follow.

Sophie's World

Instead of an exciting update about the last few months since I posted anything (what could possibly have been so interesting that I didn't get a chance to blog?!?), I'm just writing about a book I read recently, called Sophie's World. Party the book which inspired the name of the blog to start with.

Interestingly, when I was 11 (or thereabouts) I really wanted to buy the book and read it, particularly as it had my name in the title. Mum and Dad didn't let me. Mum said that she was worried I discussed and thought too much as it was, and that she was worried it would make me unbearable.

She was probably right. It's a fascinating book, including so much history of philosophy - one of the key tenets of the book is "He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth" (Goethe). It's a brilliant mixture of story and deep philosophical thought, with a wonderful twist halfway through, brilliantly illustrating a point. The only disappointing thing was the ending, which I expected to be utterly ingenious, but which was a bit... fantastic (which in this case, as it was not a fantasy book, was slightly disappointing).

Apart from that, however, it was a brilliant book, and I now know so much more about the philosophical path we have taken to where we are now. I can't wait to find out more.

Bike (again!)

Once again, it has been so long since I last posted that I'm not even sure if it's worth it.
I was considering retiring the blog, and the lack of any interesting news has made for a very quiet month.

Anyway, I have an entertaining story today...

On Saturday morning I woke up to find that my beloved Baby (also known as motorbike) had been stolen again! However, the funniest thing was that the first thing I knew was actually a note from the police, and they had already recovered the bike! Woo!

So after a few days of relying on people for lifts and cycling to work (despite the evil, evil cold of doom that struck on Tuesday!), I finally got to collect my bike yesterday and wheel it up to a garage to get it all fixed up.

It's a miracle that it wasn't destroyed. Again!
I think someone may be watching over that bike of mine.....

Envy

It's been so long since I last posted anything from this computer that it has forgotten the URL. Shame on me!!!

I had some lovely moments last week I should probably tell you about. But I'm not. I'm going to let off some steam.

You see, I'm being consumed by little green monsters.

Loads of people from my church are now away on Summer Camp/Surf Trip. I am stuck here, working.

Don't get me wrong, work is actually not too bad. Apart from the stupid hours which mean I don't have any sort of a life, I actually enjoy what I do.

It's just that I can't remember the last time I had a proper holiday. And now loads of my friends are away, having what I imagine is a glorious week, being jolly and friendly and having fun and going for nice long walks and eating together and having great conversation.

And I'm *SO* jealous. I really really wish I was there. It doesn't help that Jon and others from work are there too.

This morning, in the shower, I had to pray that it would be sunny and lovely for them, because one of the little green monsters was telling me to pray for rain all week.

I hate missing out.

Oh well. C'est la vie.

I'm planning an exciting holiday later this year. Anyone interested?

Hot Cakes

This morning I ate Hot Cakes: sort of like American-style pancakes.

Rachel sent the mix over from Mexico when my Mum came back. It's the best (and probably most unhealthy) breakfast food ever! :) Especially smothered in butter and maple syrup. Mmmmm!!!

Thank you Rachel! :)

My last Saturday!

As you have probably gathered from the lack of posts recently, things have been pretty busy. And they've also been pretty boring. So there's been very little time to blog, and very little to blog about!

On Wednesday the 28th, Mum got back from Mexico, and we had an amazing time catching up and chatting, and seeing photos and everything. It's so good to have her back! I don't like living alone, it's just so much nicer.

This week was particularly busy, but not entirely boring.

Last weekend I saw lots of family. On Saturday I saw my Granny, Grandad and eldest cousin and her new baby!

On Sunday went to my Aunt and Uncle's place down in Stubbington, saw my Swiss cousins and Aunt and Uncle (YAY!), learnt a bit about engineering, flew kites and ate lots of very good food. :) Mmmmm.


I may put some photos up sometime.


Now, this is where it all gets a bit more complicated. I accepted a promotion at work (Wooo! Promoted after just 2 months!), but then I realised I couldn't do it. Not that I couldn't do the job, but that I couldn't face the hours (evenings and weekends - every evening and weekend). So two days in, I had to let them know I had to pull out. Which obviously wasn't met with greatest enthusiasm.


Of course, me being me, I made a much bigger deal of it in my head than it was in anybody else's head, which led to some complications on Thursday evening (by which point I was also extremely tired and, at the time, hungry). Fortunately, however, my bosses were very nice and forgiving, and everything got sorted out on Friday. Hurrah! Which means that I've had a nice calm weekend.


The deal is that I'll be working evenings and weekends in August, but from September my working week will be Tuesday to Saturday, and I'll only work Saturday evenings. Which is a more than fair compromise.


Hurrah! Certainly all things DO work together for good.


This weekend, I went to London on Saturday to see a very good friend (who was long-lost in Frankfurt but is now back!), and today (Sunday) I went for a lovely walk up by Silent Pool before heading to Priory Park for games and then going to church. I'm fairly tired now, so I think I'll end it there and head swiftly to bed.