Monday, June 30, 2014

On Linguistics

I'm pretty sure I'm one of the nerdier people on campus, especially when it comes to language. How many other people taught themselves a bit of Sindarin when they were in high school? How many people even know what Sindarin is?
(Spoiler alert: it's a language created by J.R.R. Tolkien for Middle Earth. Like, an actual synthetic language with specific phonemes and noun and verb endings and irregular verbs).
I have decided, therefore, that I should go into language of some sort. I don't know how. I don't know what. I don't know why. (That's a lie. The 'why' is that it's fascinating!) This could be just the euphoria that comes with a six-week course in something you're interested in, or it could be actually something lasting, but I'm pretty sure this is SUPER DUPER COOL.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Confession time!

Okay, guess what? I haven't finished the book. I'm aware how lame this is, and how it seems like I'm slacking (which I kind of am), but hopefully I'll be done tomorrow and I'll be able to review The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tomorrow.

Monday, June 23, 2014

HICCUPS

Hiccups irritate me. That is all for today.
Well, no, it isn't.  I'm going to DO UPDATES!
Review of Hitchhiker's Guide will be on Wednesday and some other literary thing on Friday, since I'm behind on that. I need to fix that.
The Weird Happening Of The Day: a kid from my high school and a kid from my church now know each other. How? My school is hosting Governor's Latin Academy this year. So lunch was weird today, because three worlds that do not normally interact suddenly were shoved together.
Also, I really need to study right now, so I'm going to go do that.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

REVIEWS!!!

Soooooo I'm a dummy and didn't read a book for this week, so that's getting relegated to FRIDAY this time. (Hopefully two days is enough to catch up on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).  Anyway, this Wednesday I'm going to talk about something that I have very little experience with, and that is MAKEUP, because I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO REVIEW TODAY.

I don't have a long history of makeup.  I only started wearing it regularly when I started attending college - and by 'regularly,' I mean 'on average, once a week; a bit more now that it's summer and I have time and resources.'  As I just finished my second year, my experience is still very limited. Keep that in mind. That being said, these are a few things that I have used and like; this includes makeup-y stuff and other things dealing with personal care (frequently aimed at women and priced way too high). All specific products are linked in the titles. None of this is sponsored.

1. SHANY GEL EYELINER
This is a thing my mom gave me for my birthday this year, and I actually really like it. I've only ever done liquid, pencil, or crayon liners before now - in other words, things that wield like a pencil. That being said, it is not that hard to get used to a brush.
I like this set for a few reasons. First of all, it gives you a bunch of color options, which is really nice, especially when I'm just in my room and trying to figure out what color is supposed to look good on me. Additionally, each little container of eyeliner is fairly small, so it's really nice for traveling. The colors stay on quite well (this is a good thing for me, because I have a tendency to touch my eyes a lot). Also, my eyes have a tendency to get irritated if I accidentally leave eyeliner or something on overnight, but that doesn't happen as much with this brand. This company is also nice because it doesn't do animal testing.
If you want eyeshadow-y stuff, go here. Their general website is here.

2. REVLON COLORBURST MATTE BALM
I'm not really a lip-color kind of person. It's partially because the whole "WHAT SHADE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?" question is even more confusing to me than it is when it comes to eyeshadow; the other part is that I don't necessarily like the feeling of lipstick, based on what I've had in shows. That being said, I like this. I don't wear this often, but I like it because it feels like lip balm, but it's not! I have no idea if this is the right color for my face, or whatever, but I like it. It's available in most drug stores, but the link in the heading for this bit is to the Revlon site.

3. SIMPLE FACE WASH
I have two of these: the SMOOTHING FACIAL SCRUB (the exfoliating one) and the MOISTURIZING one. They're really nice. I'm no expert of Face Wash Stuff, or what you're supposed to do with this, but I'm trying to switch off and use the moisturizer one night and the exfoliating one the next. So far, it seems to be doing well enough. I've gotten a little more acne, but I'm hoping that bringing in the exfoliating one is going to help with that. What's really nice is that this, too, has no animal-based ingredients. There's also an environmental concern that some brands have these EXFOLIATING BEADS in their face wash that are actually terrible for the environment; this avoids that by using rice granules instead. The link above is to the main website, but I got mine at Rite-Aid.

4. SUGAR SCRUBS - WHISPERING SPRINGS FARMS
So I was first introduced to sugar scrubs through my fraternity - we did small sugar scrubs as fundraisers for the last two semesters. They're designed as exfoliants, but you need to take really long showers because you're basically shaving your legs twice - once to get the hair off, and once after you've rubbed on the scrub so you can shave off all the dead skin. You'd think sugar scrubs would leave your skin feeling gross, but there's different sorts of oils in it - this one has coconut oil and vitamin E, and is scented with lemon. I've only used it once, because COMMUNITY SHOWERS (I respect the other people enough not to leave as much hair as I could), but it makes your legs feel super nice. They're especially useful in winter, when your skin gets dry and gross.







THIS IS THE END OF THE POST. I WILL HAVE A BOOK ON FRIDAY AND ON WEDNESDAY. SEE YOU THEN.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Girls With Short Hair

I've been trying to do this sort of post for a while, but I haven't. I think, deep down, I have a lot to say about it, and a lot of it is reactionary. I've reacted to angry things being said about women and girls who have pixie cuts. That being said, this is partly going to be reactionary, and partly going to be Wild Card's Five Reasons Why Having Short Hair Is Awesome.

Let's start with the angry part of me. There's this article, which basically argues that 100% of people who identify as women would look much better with long hair, because "long hair's almost universally attractive to men." What the author fails to realize, however, is sometimes women don't want to be attractive to men. Earlier in that article, there's a dialogue box where he's speaking to a woman who had recently gone pixie. She said that she had about 90% fewer men hitting on her; he acted like this proved his point that she was not attractive. Though he included the rest of her sentence in the article, he seemed to brush it aside: she said that the reduced male attention is partially why she did the thing. (OMG! PEOPLE DON'T WANT MALE ATTENTION ALL THE TIME? WHAT A RADICAL CONCEPT!) This author seems to dislike short-haired women specifically because he has had negative experiences with them - the only short-haired woman he dated was into kinks that he found repulsive. (And somehow that applies to all of us? I can verify that is not the case). Apparently, I am also signaling that I am damaged beyond repair as I sit here with my super-short hair, but he doesn't say how. I'd like to know, because I'd like to see if I can fix myself: partly because I don't like being broken, and partly because I'd love the challenge.

On the whole, I don't think many men are as blatantly misogynistic as the writer seems to be (and, I might add, the rest of the website seems to be). There's a definite feminine factor to long hair; personally, that's just not for me. I know my boyfriend would prefer it if I had kept my hair longer, but he also knows that he doesn't have enough power over my body to make me grow it out. As personal preference, I like having short hair. Having had long hair, I felt like it was a big hassle to have hair everywhere, and I never really cared about making my hair look pretty, so it wasn't worth keeping it long.

But here's Wild Card's List of Reasons Short Hair Can Work For Women:

1. The right cut can frame your face really well.
The most striking example I thought of was this photo of Audrey Hepburn from the article I mentioned earlier:
hepburnpixie
LOOK AT HER JAWLINE. LOOK AT HER CHEEKBONES. SHE HAS A FACE. SHE IS PRETTY BECAUSE OF BONE STRUCTURE. THIS IS REVOLUTIONARY.



Sure, unflattering cuts happen all the time, but that's not exclusive to short hair.

2. If you're into makeup/ earrings/ jewelry/ etc, you can show it off better.
I mean, now that we can see your face, ears, and collarbone, you can better notice all the stuff you choose to do/ not do with those areas.

3.  It's fairly practical.
I'm fairly outdoorsy and I go running regularly. Though it's easy to pull my hair into a ponytail, it's easier to do absolutely nothing. Also, the right cut is versatile, just as long hair can be. You can tie long hair back, yes, but you can't spike long hair up, or anything like that. And it's just as easy to do absolutely nothing and still look fine. Not to mention that I can make a single bottle of shampoo last an entire semester; with anything longer than a pixie cut, a huge bottle could only last me two months or so.

4. SUMMER WEATHER.
Here meaning that, in the humid areas where I live, having hair to my waist was less of me saying "I'M A FEMININE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT" and more of me saying "MY HAIR IS SWEATY AND GROSS AND I WANT TO BRAID IT OR DO SOMETHING BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE IT'S STICKING TOGETHER AND I ALREADY SHOWERED TODAY AND THE REST OF ME FEELS FINE BUT MY HAIR IS NASTY." Also, it's an extra layer of heat, which is not fun when the weather approaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit, plus humidity.

5. 'Short' is a broad term that's easy to define personally.
As already stated, I had long hair in middle school - hair to my waist, to be precise. This is partly (well, mostly) because I didn't cut my hair through all of middle school. Then I donated 10 inches to Locks of Love. My hair was 'short,' and it just brushed my collarbone. The following summer, my hair was still 'short,' but it was shorter than my collarbone and layered a bit. Now, my hair is still 'short,' but that means the longest bits are at the top of my head; those bits are only an inch or two long. 'Short' can also mean bobs, or varying lengths of pixie cuts or pageboys or anything from the collarbone to the roots. It all depends on what works.


If a woman were to ask me whether she should cut her hair, I would say yes. Why? It's one of those things that should be tried once in one's life, like running some super-long distance or going somewhere you never though you could go. Short can easily be definable as "long-ish layers" or "longer bob;" it doesn't have to be a pixie cut or a fauxhawk or one of those styles with really long bangs and half the head shaved. And if you don't like it, be patient and grow it out. Learning to deal with not-fun things is an important part of life.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Reviewing Commercials

I'm home for the weekend! HUZZAH! This means that, aside from seeing my friends and boyfriend and family, I'm crocheting and watching TV - specifically, America's Next Top Model reruns. For Friday Reviews, I'm reviewing the commercials, not the material.

KOHL'S
Why would I shop late or wake up early to shop 20% off? Also, my dad doesn't wear Nikes, or use electronics, and I think he has functional razors. Also, I already got him something.

KY INTENSE
Adorable animation. Why are you advertizing lube with animation?

DAVID'S BRIDAL
If I were getting married ever, I'd definitely go for your $99 sale.

COVERGIRL
I do not want to insta-glam myself with your Insta-Bomshell mascara to Instagram you, Katy Perry.

MINUTE MAID DROPS
I already drink Mio, thanks.

PAYLESS
I have sandals, so I don't need to buy more half off.

STACY'S PITA CHIPS
Yes, I understand that it's difficult to make your pita chips, but why are you telling me the recipe?

KLEENEX
Cool use of color transits and animation, but I don't know why your packaging is relevant to your product.

CREDITKARMA
I don't want free credit scores, though the 'we're saving for a house' ad is better than the 'super corny game show' ad.

FIOS
I'm pretty sure we already have FiOS...

ENCORE DENTAL
Self employed? Retired? No dental insurance? Call these people! I should probably go to the dentist. But no, I would not like to use your TV ad to call you.

SISTERHOOD OF HIP-HOP ON OXYGEN
um... sounds interesting, but I don't know why I would watch a show about it.

BAD GIRL'S CLUB CHICAGO
I don't want to see other people make fools of themselves... not too much, anyway.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

"The Fault In Our Stars" review

Before I do this, let me preface this by saying a few things:
1. this is my first real review. Please be forgiving.
2. I've been putting this off to go back over the book a second time. Guess what I didn't do? I did write down what I liked/ disliked, but it was a few days after I'd read it. Keep that in mind. I'll do better next time, honest.
3. I tend to be biased in favor of the positive. Think I'm over-praising something? Let me know; just do what I didn't and reread the book first.
4. There may be spoilers. You have been warned.

OFFICIAL REVIEW STARTS HERE

So this is a review of John Green's newest book, The Fault in Our Stars. Most of the time I don't read books that are primarily romances; in my limited experience with them, they tend to be corny, over-romanticize the love interest, and provide situations that sometimes violate the suspension of disbelief. This may be because my primary experience with romance novels include the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and a lot of Meg Cabot novels, but it could be that romances are often written with those goals in mind.
That being said, The Fault in Our Stars does very little of that.
PLOT SUMMARY: Hazel Grace Lancaster, Age 16, has cancer and is very aware of her mortality. Augustus Waters then comes into her Cancer Kids Support Group one Wednesday night, and nothing is the same. Until the end.
ADDED SPOILER: In the end, Augustus dies.

That is a terrible summary, but I'm going to do the analysis stuff. THERE MAY BE SPOILERS.

GOOD STUFF:
  1. I really like Hazel's voice. Like good character development, Hazel's is subtle, until a moment of crisis occurs. In the beginning, she's all, "blargh de blargh i don't want to do anything i just want to sit on the couch and watch dumb TV and read this one book boiajo;efiwao;i...." Near the end, however, she has started hanging out more with Augustus and Isaac (their other friend), partly because Augustus's condition has worsened. It gets to the point where her parents ask her to stay home one night; after an argument, she basically tells them that she's going off because someone she cares about is GOING TO DIE SOON AND SHE WANTS TO GO SEE HIM.
  2. People idolize others all the time - especially recluses who have done something great. Hazel is no different. After Hazel introduces Augustus to her favorite book, Augustus is able to get them both the chance to meet the author. Turns out the author is... not okay. Drunk, etc. The important twist in his story comes at the end. I'm not spoiling that, but it's an interesting way to rework the "Childhood Hero Turns Out To Be A Wreck" trope without it all coming out in that one important scene.
  3. I like the humor. Hazel is very sarcastic and snarky, especially at the beginning; it's a blend that works for my sense of humor.

BAD STUFF
  1. Like many romance novel heroes, Augustus is a bit pretentious for most of the novel. This is partially why the end of his storyline is so saddening, but I wasn't sure I liked him for the first part of the book.
  2. I don't know how much Cancer Wish Foundations can pull off, but I don't know whether they would pull off Augustus's wish.
  3. Sometimes it was difficult to figure out how much time had passed. This may be due to my lack of a second reading, but I don't know if someone would take me to meet J.K. Rowling, John Green, or Patrick Rothfuss after a few weeks of possible dating. (I don't think my boyfriend would do that, and we've been dating for a solid three years).



Right, I know this is super rough, but I'm still muddling through How To Write A Review Without Going Into English Major Mode. Thanks for reading; come back on Friday!

Monday, June 9, 2014

ENGLISH IS WEIRD

Okay, AN UPDATE: Mondays suck. (That's not the update. We all know that Mondays suck.) That being said, I'm switching the Monday and Wednesday schedule proposed in Friday's post.

The new proposed schedule is Monday's Rant, Wednesday's Books, and Friday's Books And Sometimes Other Things. This is partially because I may need to reread TFIOS to review it properly, and also because, as you can see from the title, ENGLISH IS STRANGE.

This is inspired by my homework, as so often is the case. We're still early on (this is only the second day of class, technically). We're doing phonetics for basic practice, because Old English is not the same as modern English, so we need to read the phonetic alphabet. Don't know what this is? Go find a dictionary. Look up a word. Any word. Look just past the bold THIS IS A WORD text; there are probably some grey letters, a few dots, apostrophe-like things where there shouldn't be, maybe an upside down 'e' or something that looks like a theta or a an 'a' and an 'e' smooshed together. That's what we're doing.
In doing this, I have realized just how weird English is. There are two ways to write 'th,' for example: that and thin. 'Y' is counted as a consonant, and it's written like a 'j' in the phonetic alphabet. The written language has 'g' when you're supposed to phonetically write 'j,' except it's not a 'j,' because if you transcribe 'j' someone will say the word with a 'y.'
AND THIS IS SO COOL. I just don't understand why we do these things. WHY is 'y' transcribed as a 'j?' More importantly, WHY does English have two ways to say some consonants?
Check back in six weeks to see if I find out.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Updates and Stuff

Firstly, my apologies for missing Monday's post.  In my defense, I was being a nerd with my boyfriend. On Monday, we went to a local bookstore and then, after we got books, we went to a local tea shop and read for a while. Then we went back to my house and played Mario Kart. Yes, that is how we date.

Anyhow, tagging off of that, I now have two new books: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (just the first one - apparently it's a series?). I have made an executive decision (as of about twelve seconds ago when I decided to type that) to do Wild Card Reviews - in this case, books. If I don't wind up reading enough to do 2-3 reviews a week, I'm going to review things like classes and events and anything I happen to buy until the end of summer term in mid-July.

Since I have missed posting several times, I will try to adjust my posting schedule to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday. This will continue to the end of summer term. Monday and Friday will be reviews, and Wednesday will be whatever I feel like writing about.

That being said, I shall post again on Monday with a review of The Fault in Our Stars.