People always (sometimes) ask me how I learned to do my makeup. Compared to the average person, I have skills but not compared to the girls at Smokin' Makeup. Back in the day, when I was about 15, Live Journal was a pretty big deal among my friends and I. This was before MySpace and Facebook and the recent surge in blogs (even in 2003 people thought that everyone cared about their thoughts, feelings and actions. Even in 2009, no one cares). When I wasn't complaining about how miserable my life was on LiveJournal, I used the website to help me be not miserable. The plan was to live vicariously though internet punk rock chicks and emulate them in any way possible. For me, makeup was a tool that made me feel confident, made me stand out, and had the potential of making me part of an elite group of bad, dirty kids. If I won the lottery, one of the first things I would do (apart from buying a Golf) is raid the MAC store for all it's goodies.
I guess my point is that if you want to be good at something, get inspired and practice. Don't get discouraged. And if learning to do your makeup well is on your priority list, please check out the book that changed everything for me, Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin (rest in peace).
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sex and Love are a Renewable Resource
So hook up with your good friends. And then once it stops being awkward, do it again. Repeat.
Warning: it might be awkward forever!!!
Also, hook up with ex boyfriends. It's a great way to keep your "number" down. You already know each other well enough. So hook up, and let all those emotions come flooding back, struggle to get over it. Repeat.
Warning: you'll never get over it!!!!
Why do people get so irrational when it comes to sex and love? The feminist and church hater in me wants to think that we're so used to hearing that sex will destroy us emotionally if we end up being rejected that we end up believing it and living it. But what about men? Do they get emotional about sex? And what about the women who can sleep with 20 guys and never fall in love? Someone please enlighten me.
Forget sex. Sex is retardedly simple when you compare it to love. Chuck Klosterman wrote that he will never be satisfied with a woman and a woman will never be satisfied with him and it's all a result of popular culture and the idealization of heart stopping-jaw dropping-pants wetting love as is depicted in Hollywood narratives and pop songs. "The main problem with mass media," he says, "is that it makes it impossible to fall in love with any acumen of normalcy."
I have no idea what real love is anymore. And sex is terribly overrated.
Warning: it might be awkward forever!!!
Also, hook up with ex boyfriends. It's a great way to keep your "number" down. You already know each other well enough. So hook up, and let all those emotions come flooding back, struggle to get over it. Repeat.
Warning: you'll never get over it!!!!
Why do people get so irrational when it comes to sex and love? The feminist and church hater in me wants to think that we're so used to hearing that sex will destroy us emotionally if we end up being rejected that we end up believing it and living it. But what about men? Do they get emotional about sex? And what about the women who can sleep with 20 guys and never fall in love? Someone please enlighten me.
Forget sex. Sex is retardedly simple when you compare it to love. Chuck Klosterman wrote that he will never be satisfied with a woman and a woman will never be satisfied with him and it's all a result of popular culture and the idealization of heart stopping-jaw dropping-pants wetting love as is depicted in Hollywood narratives and pop songs. "The main problem with mass media," he says, "is that it makes it impossible to fall in love with any acumen of normalcy."
I have no idea what real love is anymore. And sex is terribly overrated.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Whine about Wine
I'm a big fan of wine. It all started as a childhood curiosity at special family dinners when everyone, except me, being the youngest, had a glass of wine. My sister started getting into wine a few years ago and treated me to Zinfandel, a light, cheap "beginners" wine from California. Since dating a guy whose family are, professionally, wine connoisseurs, I learned a fair bit about wine and gained an appreciation for the unique climate and soil that allows the Niagara region to be one of the only places in Canada where grapes can be grown for wine. The world of wine in Niagara has seen some setbacks recently, however.
The Niagara Wine Festival (or commonly known as the Grape and Wine Festival) is a fantastic shit show that many people look forward to every year. However, the state of the economy has made organizers scale back the event. Corporate sponsorship is down and the festival has to rely on a $100,000 line of credit from the city to keep the gears moving. There are hopes that the festival will receive a $200,000 grant from Industry Canada to support the festival, a prospect that is still unknown.
But I wonder if any festival goes have stopped to consider those "Green Belt Disaster" signs sprinkled across the region. Driving past, it's hard to get the gist of what the signs are implying. Even a simple google search failed to come up with answers. But dig a little deeper and you will find that industry insiders and wine connoisseurs are pissed that wineries are importing grapes from international producers to mix with local wines. Wine makers only have to use 30% local grapes to be considered "cellared in Canada," a label that is misleading to shoppers at the LCBO. The result is cheaper wine, which rattles me even more because I can't comprehend how shipping wine from outside the country is cheaper than growing grapes and producing and bottling wine in our own backyards. It doesn't really make sense.
Anyway, the implication is that lots and lots of grapes are being left on the vines to rot because there is no use for them. Farmers suffer because the wineries don't want their more expensive grapes. And yet, that 30% counts for something. If people were to boycott the "Cellared in Canada" wines the economic implications would make the situation worse, suspects Rick Vansickle who suggests the region should just get serious and plant more grapes, as mass production often leads to a cheaper product. Personally, I'm going to buy more VQA wine... at least Peelee Island makes $10 bottles.
By the way, Grape and Wine starts September 18th and ends of the 27th. Details here.
The Niagara Wine Festival (or commonly known as the Grape and Wine Festival) is a fantastic shit show that many people look forward to every year. However, the state of the economy has made organizers scale back the event. Corporate sponsorship is down and the festival has to rely on a $100,000 line of credit from the city to keep the gears moving. There are hopes that the festival will receive a $200,000 grant from Industry Canada to support the festival, a prospect that is still unknown.
But I wonder if any festival goes have stopped to consider those "Green Belt Disaster" signs sprinkled across the region. Driving past, it's hard to get the gist of what the signs are implying. Even a simple google search failed to come up with answers. But dig a little deeper and you will find that industry insiders and wine connoisseurs are pissed that wineries are importing grapes from international producers to mix with local wines. Wine makers only have to use 30% local grapes to be considered "cellared in Canada," a label that is misleading to shoppers at the LCBO. The result is cheaper wine, which rattles me even more because I can't comprehend how shipping wine from outside the country is cheaper than growing grapes and producing and bottling wine in our own backyards. It doesn't really make sense.
Anyway, the implication is that lots and lots of grapes are being left on the vines to rot because there is no use for them. Farmers suffer because the wineries don't want their more expensive grapes. And yet, that 30% counts for something. If people were to boycott the "Cellared in Canada" wines the economic implications would make the situation worse, suspects Rick Vansickle who suggests the region should just get serious and plant more grapes, as mass production often leads to a cheaper product. Personally, I'm going to buy more VQA wine... at least Peelee Island makes $10 bottles.
By the way, Grape and Wine starts September 18th and ends of the 27th. Details here.
The Truth About Everything
My opinion is, and this goes for most unfair things that happen in the world, is that many people who are privileged, who feel a sense of natural entitlement to their current comforts, and who do not feel any social, political, or physical discomfort (which is a LOT of people), do not feel the need to relinquish or share some of their comforts to better the lives of those who don’t have it as good. There is one solution but I doubt that it will ever be realized: we need to dramatically reduce our dependence on, well, everything. Go back to basics. Give up our comforts so that plants, animals, marginalized people, and future generations don’t have to suffer because we felt entitled.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
I'm totally in love with Seth Rogen
Some of my friends have made fun of, or at least commented upon my unusual taste in guys. I'm fully aware that my favorite type of guy is the usually unconventionally attractive, beta-male dorky loser pothead. Seth Rogen is different from these guys: he is sexy as fuck.
I've seen all of Seth Rogen's movies. [Actually, according to IMDB, I haven't seen a few of them: Horton Hears a Who; has anyone heard of Spiderwick Chronicles and Fanboys?]. I went to see Monsters vs Aliens for Rogen's character B.O.B. I watch the first and only season of Freaks and Geeks constantly for two days and swooned occasionally (ok, lots). I've seen Superbad about 5 times. And while most of my friends lust after more conventional Hollywood heartthrobs like Justin Timberlake, Johnny Depp, and Gerard Butler, I'm becoming obsessed with Seth Rogen. I've YouTube'd interviews with him. I've wikipedia'd his life story as a way to get to know him, to get closer to him. It's so wrong but it's so right. I love Seth Rogen and I'm going to have his children.
I've seen all of Seth Rogen's movies. [Actually, according to IMDB, I haven't seen a few of them: Horton Hears a Who; has anyone heard of Spiderwick Chronicles and Fanboys?]. I went to see Monsters vs Aliens for Rogen's character B.O.B. I watch the first and only season of Freaks and Geeks constantly for two days and swooned occasionally (ok, lots). I've seen Superbad about 5 times. And while most of my friends lust after more conventional Hollywood heartthrobs like Justin Timberlake, Johnny Depp, and Gerard Butler, I'm becoming obsessed with Seth Rogen. I've YouTube'd interviews with him. I've wikipedia'd his life story as a way to get to know him, to get closer to him. It's so wrong but it's so right. I love Seth Rogen and I'm going to have his children.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
RIP John Hughes
You might not recognize the name but undoubtedly you've seen the movies. John Hughes wrote and directed some of the best movies of the 80s and early 90s and defined a generation through film. My favorite titles include The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and National Lampoon's Vacation. You may also be familiar with the Beethoven and Home Alone series. Huges died today at age 59.
Hughes also provided us with some dreamy male lead characters.
Judd Nelson played John Bender, quintessential bad boy with a heart of gold. Plus he brings the LOLs.
On the other side of the spectrum we have pretty boy Jake Ryan played by Michael Schoeffling for whom I swoon.
Hughes also provided us with some dreamy male lead characters.
Judd Nelson played John Bender, quintessential bad boy with a heart of gold. Plus he brings the LOLs.
On the other side of the spectrum we have pretty boy Jake Ryan played by Michael Schoeffling for whom I swoon.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
"There are no cash prizes and no eliminations; just a chance to answer the age old question: is love blind?"
Now that the latest season of The Bachelorette has come to a close (which I did not watch - I'm waiting for the next Bachelor) it's time for networks to fill the gap in between with yet another reality television show about dating and romance. In my opinion, nothing will ever top the awesome trashy salaciousness that was "Temptation Island," but this new show "Dating in the Dark" comes pretty close to being one of the most interesting dating/reality shows to date.
The concept is ingenious: three men and three women live in a house for ten days but are not allowed to interact with the opposite sex except inside a pitch black room where neither of them can see a thing. While in this room, each of them has to decide which member of opposite sex that they believe they have a connection with by dating them (in the dark!). At first glance, one would think that the show is promoting the adage "don't judge a book by it's cover," which is quite virtuous for a reality show. Indeed, participants make connections based on personality, and not looks.
UNTIL, after some one on one dates, including an awkward dinner in the dark (I can't wait for a spaghetti in the eye incident), participants reveal themselves to the person of their choice. Ok, first of all, it seemed very convenient that no one fought over anyone and no one said, "eh, nah, I don't like anyone here." It's not like any real person finds one in three people to be compatible with. ANYWAY, some how, participants pair up. Then they get to reveal themselves to each other, but only one at a time. Two of them are able to stand in the pitch black room together. Then, somehow, the light shines on only one of them while person who is under the light is unable to see the other person, who can see them. Then the other person is light up, while the other one is invisible under complete darkness... in the same room. So then, in an incredible plot twist, participants get to judge their partner by their appearance after all!
Granted, I've only seen the show once, but it seems as though the men came out on top. While the women were all content with the appearance of their potential suitor, the men picked apart some of their flaws. For example, one girl has an "unclear complexion" while another was "thick," which was problematic for her date who prefers "petite" girls (although his use of the word petite is wrong anyway). After the couples reveal themselves to each other separately, they may (or may not) see each other in complete light for the first time. The women wait on the balcony, while revealing their insecurities to the camera, and hope that their partner will come out, as a symbol of his interest in pursuing her further. I really hope that this in particular will change as the show continues and they switch up who is waiting like a damsel in distress on the balcony for his mate.
I know I'm beginning to sound harsh, especially since I just said that this show is great. And it is, mostly because encounters in pitch black darkness are incredibly hilarious. Also, because we get to see how shallow people are after getting to see their partner in the light for the first time.
I would recommend this show to anyone who enjoys some good trashy television, especially those of us who can't wait for the next season of The Bachelor to start. At the very worst, the patriarchal stereotypes will annoy you. At best, you'll get a hoot out of the awkward humor and take solace in the fact that you're better than the people on television (besides, that's what TV is for, right?).
The concept is ingenious: three men and three women live in a house for ten days but are not allowed to interact with the opposite sex except inside a pitch black room where neither of them can see a thing. While in this room, each of them has to decide which member of opposite sex that they believe they have a connection with by dating them (in the dark!). At first glance, one would think that the show is promoting the adage "don't judge a book by it's cover," which is quite virtuous for a reality show. Indeed, participants make connections based on personality, and not looks.
UNTIL, after some one on one dates, including an awkward dinner in the dark (I can't wait for a spaghetti in the eye incident), participants reveal themselves to the person of their choice. Ok, first of all, it seemed very convenient that no one fought over anyone and no one said, "eh, nah, I don't like anyone here." It's not like any real person finds one in three people to be compatible with. ANYWAY, some how, participants pair up. Then they get to reveal themselves to each other, but only one at a time. Two of them are able to stand in the pitch black room together. Then, somehow, the light shines on only one of them while person who is under the light is unable to see the other person, who can see them. Then the other person is light up, while the other one is invisible under complete darkness... in the same room. So then, in an incredible plot twist, participants get to judge their partner by their appearance after all!
Granted, I've only seen the show once, but it seems as though the men came out on top. While the women were all content with the appearance of their potential suitor, the men picked apart some of their flaws. For example, one girl has an "unclear complexion" while another was "thick," which was problematic for her date who prefers "petite" girls (although his use of the word petite is wrong anyway). After the couples reveal themselves to each other separately, they may (or may not) see each other in complete light for the first time. The women wait on the balcony, while revealing their insecurities to the camera, and hope that their partner will come out, as a symbol of his interest in pursuing her further. I really hope that this in particular will change as the show continues and they switch up who is waiting like a damsel in distress on the balcony for his mate.
I know I'm beginning to sound harsh, especially since I just said that this show is great. And it is, mostly because encounters in pitch black darkness are incredibly hilarious. Also, because we get to see how shallow people are after getting to see their partner in the light for the first time.
I would recommend this show to anyone who enjoys some good trashy television, especially those of us who can't wait for the next season of The Bachelor to start. At the very worst, the patriarchal stereotypes will annoy you. At best, you'll get a hoot out of the awkward humor and take solace in the fact that you're better than the people on television (besides, that's what TV is for, right?).
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