Commentary Archives – Meredith Lindemon

Emerald Green

by Meredith on August 10, 2022 in Color, Commentary

This is not to say that everybody “has to be the same thing”, but rather that people might help themselves if they could accept that there are people in this world that don’t share the same spiritual beliefs. Because this is a fact. And then, just, basically, if everyone went about their own spiritual business as if it’s a sacred, private thing that’s above being rammed where it isn’t wanted. The Divine Name is not to be treated with this disgusting sort of belligerence, to be thrown around and shoved down a throat. At least, that’s my opinion.

This is the tricky thing about a common morality as opposed to a collective spirituality: to one form of spiritual belief, a moral code may be as foundational as it is irrelevant to another. So, in my opinion, again, it seems that it’s necessary to embrace a collective spirituality, to ensure cohesion in society, to sustain communities of diverse ideas and to develop tolerance for ephemera that don’t all originate in the same person’s head. Anyway, the emerald.

Créme de l’Enclos

by Meredith on May 8, 2022 in Beauty, Commentary

It should be obvious to anyone why milk is good for the skin, so I won’t go into it (but it’s because it’s a cream). The lemon juice works as an exfoliant and the spirits of wine, combined with everything else, creates butter milk with grain alcohol in it. I guess that makes the buttermilk maybe a bit flammable—because when you mix grain alcohol with sugar and acid, you basically get fuel.

Maloine

by Meredith on May 2, 2022 in Beauty, Commentary

I don’t know about you, but I get excited when I discover an unpublished recipe for a rare paste. If you are the same, prepare to lose your mind, because here it is: Maloine Paste. As of the nineteenth century, only six bottles had been known to have been made—and the recipe was especially hard to get ahold of. Apparently.

Almond

by Meredith on April 3, 2022 in Beauty, Commentary

Aside from the disgusting creams made of lard or other thickening agents, I’m more or less generally OK with pastes. At least I’m OK with Almond Paste. Probably because we use it in pastries—most notably the American Bear Claw, which I had a dream about the night before writing this.

Anyway, I am OK with Almond Paste because it is safe to eat. And if it’s safe to eat, then it’s safe to rub on your face. But if you think about the American Bear Claw, I do not want to squeeze its contents onto my face. And the dream I had about this particular pastry was a nightmare. So maybe, in actuality, I do not think Almond Paste is OK.

To Remove Black Stains from the Skin

by Meredith on March 31, 2022 in Beauty, Commentary

According to my own knowledge, the mourning costume was intense. It was made of wool, silk wool, tweed, cotton gauze, or merino over a black lining. And then there was also crape (that is the spelling of the day). Today it is called crepe, and it is silk. And then there’s a silk bonnet, a silk veil, a cape, and a number of directives on bows and folds to each of these items. I won’t get into those.

Anyway, these items were all stiff as they were dyed black. A deep black that would transfer to the skin as these costumes were expensive, and as a result, many people would wear for at least one-and-a-half years before they switched to lavender or purple garb. For the sake of this recipe, we’re dealing only with what happens to the skin when clothed in these particular fabrics, dyed with black coloring.