It's All For Free

      It's been a long week. A lot of ups and downs and self reflection. I had hoped to have some photos for you, but alas, I feel prey to an allergic reaction to the beard dye that I used. I did manage to get some test photos done, of the makeup. No full body shots, so I can share a couple of those with you. The day after taking those photos and doing the make up my face began burning and itching. It was worse under my beard which developed blisters like a really bad sunburn. Mind you, I took the allergy test that Just For Men recommended, what I didn't know is, that since the mid 2000's they have had an increase in people suffering allergic reactions to their product. The allergy test is to take the product and put a coin size amount on your inner elbow, wait 48 hours and if there is no reaction, you are good to go. I did that and had no reaction what so ever, not even a tiny itch. When I looked into what was going on, I found that people that have used this product haven't had reactions until days later, like me. It was 4 days after using the product that I began having the problem. It was difficult to sleep for several days, and I had to not only wash my beard and face a lot, but I had to use hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the chemical that causes the problem. Yeah, It appears to be one chemical in the formula that they use to bond color to the hair follicle. It causes an irritation that is not only painful but rather annoying. My face is finally feeling a bit normal now, but it is peeling like a spent hours in the sun. The beard itches, which is maddening, but that is the new skin underneath healing. Needless to say, I threw out that dye. If I want to try and maintain this look I will have to go another route, because in my research to find out what was going on, it said that this will happen with each application. I'm currently searching out alternative and safer products, but I may just go back to gray, which was really the plan from the beginning, I just liked the look so much. Anyway, here are those test photos.

     I'll have to put off the photos, until my face is full healed. I've only been putting moisturizer on it for now, and that's all I want on it, til my skin is back to normal.

     Before I get into that self reflection part, I did want to share with you my choice for best Halloween costume. It's a family photo from Neil Patrick Harris, and they all dressed like characters from my favorite movie, and they absolutely nailed it. Their son looks exactly like Charlie from the movie, it is uncanny.

      Ok, now to that self reflection. I've been talking to someone this week and they wanted to read my stories, so I gave them the link to The Patchwork Knight. They could only get to chapter 7 before the paywall kicked in on Medium. I went to find the friends link to give them and it wasn't there. That got me to thinking though. The story never got the readership that I had hoped for, and it hasn't made any money for about a year. Part of that was lack of interest and the other was Medium not promoting my stories that were published before they started a new format, so the chapters that were up early on were basically blacklisted because they wouldn't allow them to go up for review. With all that in mind I went in and took down the paywall for the whole story. I could go back in later and monetize them and have them all go to review, but I'll let it sit for a while. This means now is your chance to read the entire edited version of the story with no worries of a special link or having to pay to see it. Here is the link for you to get started at Chapter 1 The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 1) I only ask one thing from yo gif you read it, and that is to give me your honest opinion about it. I personally think it is my greatest accomplishment, and I honestly don't know if I'll have another one. My creativity has somewhat dried up, and with the state of the world, who knows how much time we all have left. I just want people to read my story and enjoy it.

     I'm just going to leave that story and the NPH family photo as my Favorite Things of the Week, and hope you have a great week. Don't forget that Tuesday is the last day of the election and if you haven't voted, please be safe and get out there and vote. I truly fear for this nation. Peace in and goodnight.