
So…what is the Monday Poll?
Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).
1. Call or text?
Text for silly things or middle-of-the-night musings, and call for important things.
2. Black and white or color?
Color, 100%. Side note (and sci-fi moment), this question makes me think of the new “Dune” movies and the planet called Geidi Prime, which is black and white and shades of gray. Everytime I see those scenes, I think to myself, “I could never live in a place without any color.”
3. Sushi or ramen?
Sushi all the way, babe.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder?
Brow pencil but only if it’s a twist-up pencil!
5. Something you have to do this week?
So many things – support Connor during her dance team auditions, finish a whole lotta stuff at work, train Marni and so much more. I do want to do some fun things for me, though, and that includes reading a book I just started called “Fourth Wing.”
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.
1. Call or text?
2. Black and white or color?
3. Sushi or ramen?
4. Brow pencil or brow powder?
5. Something you have to do this week?

1. Call or text? Call, I find texts distracting when I’m working at my job or on my next book. If it’s important call. Most friends know to send an email and I’ll call them when I’m free.
2. Black and white or color? Color.
3. Sushi or ramen? Ramen, not a fan of seafood.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Pencil – I always end up too heavy handed with the powder.
5. Something you have to do this week? Get the kiddie pool out of the garage for the Lab puppy. She just hit a year old and with the warmer temps she may love playing in that.
1. Call or text? If it’s something simple, I prefer text. If it’s complex and we have to text back and forth multiple times…just call me.
2. Black and white or color? Color🌈
3. Sushi or ramen? Ramen
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Pencil – Benefit
5. Something you have to do this week? Everything…or at least if feels that way sometimes. I really need to wash my makeup brushes🫤
1. Call or text? Text
2. Black and white or color? Color
3. Sushi or ramen? Ramen, I guess
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Pencil
5. Something you have to do this week? Work and send off my ThredUp bag
1. Call or text? Text, no always in a mood to speak to anyone as I grow old
2. Black and white or color? White color
3. Sushi or ramen? Sushi, Ramen is too messy for me to eat
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Brow pencil
5. Something you have to do this week? Tons of stuff to do. Need to complete lot of stuff at work. We are going to vacay in Peru next month so need to get all the bookings sorted out. At the same time I want to enjoy the June weather, where it is not too hot yet warm.
1. Call or text?
Text.
2. Black and white or color?
Color.
3. Sushi or ramen?
I’m not into either.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder?
Brow pencil, although I’d choose colored brow gel over both.
5. Something you have to do this week?
Clean out the refrigerator, hem some curtains, and stock up on batteries for hurricane season.
1. Call or text? Text unless absolutely necessary
2. Black and white or color? Color but I do love black & white photos
3. Sushi or ramen? Sushi
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Pencil
5. Something you have to do this week? Finish touching up the paint in the living room & make the curtains I’ve been avoiding. Too many projects
Hi Karen,
I’ve been hearing about fires near San Francisco. Are you in any danger?
Hi Jan,
We’re ok. The fires are east of us. It’s a reminder though of what’s coming this summer. 🙁
1. Call or text? Both. It depends on whether it is just a brief message or a leisurely call.
2. Black and white or color? Color.
3. Sushi or ramen? I’m vegetarian so sushi is definitely off the menu. I do like a good homemade vegetarian ramen. My daughter-in-law makes a delicious one. She fixes it for me whenever I go to whenever Imspend some time in SF visiting them.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? I have fairly thick black eyebrows and only occasionally get a grey hair or a little bald spot when a couple hairs decide to shed at the same time. For those times, I use Anastasia’s brow powder in Granite. Although it has two colors, I only use the deepest shade. The lighter shade is entirely too warm.
5. Something you have to do this week? I need to have my carpets steam cleaned.
Please excuse the typo disaster in #3
1. Call or text? Text first. Then if needs discussion call. With Dear Daughter I can basically text a short story every day. We do calls on Sunday.
2. Black and white or color? Either. Some days I want a black & white line drawing others I want a full blown Monet Waterlily. Side note, we didn’t own a color TV until I was a junior in high school.
3. Sushi or ramen? Depends on where I am. In Japan I’ll do both. Here it’s ramen.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Pencil
5. Something you have to do this week? Continue to declutter my makeup stash. (It would go a lot quicker if I could get rid of the guilt of throwing things out, instead of passing them on or recycling all the containers). I need to source new bed linens. I keep ripping the corners on the fitted sheets and the hems on the top sheets are tearing. When I complained that sheets don’t seem to last that long Dear Husband asked when I bought the sheets we have. It was when we moved into this house 21 years ago. I guess it’s time for new bed linens. Also like Eileen I need to get my carpets cleaned.
1. Call or text? Call most of the time, since I’m “old” and that’s what I’m used to. Pecking out words on a smartphone is actually more time-consuming than calling if what you have to say is relatively brief.
2. Black and white or color? I definitely prefer color movies, but will watch classic black and white movies. Cinematography for B & W is an art, but you have to watch carefully to notice the differences between B & W and color. For art I like both equally. I used to make realist drawings in pencil of horses, inspired by the great work of C. W. Anderson – look him up if you’ve never heard of him. Most of his work was in pencil.
3. Sushi or ramen? Ramen. Call me provincial, but the idea of raw fish is not appealing to me.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Either one, with a slight preference for pencil.
5. Something you have to do this week? Too much. Get insurance estimates for possible roof damage (trees and high winds are a horrible combination). Work.
Get the lawn mowed, in spite of the utter swamp it has become due to about 15 inches of rain in 34 days.
There is cooked fish sushi as well. The food department in the Student Commons at my old college had us sample it and to my surprise I liked it. I have since favored a crunch sushi with cooked fish.
Thank you for letting me know. I’ve never heard of that before.
1. Call or text?
Text. Even during times of duress it’s easier to text or email.
2. Black and white or color?
Black and white.
3. Sushi or ramen?
Ramen. Vegetarian here.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder?
Brow pencil. Less fussy.
5. Something you have to do this week?
Get my car in to the shop again. The check engine light is on.
Check your gas cap first. Sometimes if they’re not on perfectly that will cause the “check engine” light to come on.
Thanks so much, CL. I googled when the light first came on and did tighten the gas cap (the only possible correction I would know how to do) but the light remains on. Fingers crossed that it will reset itself as I drive to the repair shop!
1. Call or text? Text, 99% of the time.
2. Black and white or color? Color.
3. Sushi or ramen? Sushi all the way.
4. Brow pencil or brow powder? Pencil, it just lasts longer and doesn’t migrate. So far I haven’t really needed much but my brows are starting to thin a bit.
5. Something you have to do this week? I put some meat in to marinade that only really tastes right when charcoal grilled, so need to fire up the grill, most likely tonight.