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The Hunger Games- Book 1 of 3
At almost 30-years-old I’ve apparently become a fan of teen fiction. I blame this partially on the last couple years difficulties and an extraordinary need to preoccupy my mind with much simpler things.
Twilight, of course, started the movement for me. What else, right? Don’t give me attitude about it either. I’m not saying it’s a masterpiece, but that I find peace in reading it, which is of a great deal more importance to me. It’s unrealistic, horribly edited, teaches young girls to expect things from men that they will likely never find in “real life”, and it’s indulgent… so I indulge.
Fortunately with The Hunger Games, written by Susanne Collins, I don’t have to offer excuses for why an intelligent adult would bother with it. It’s a compelling story and decently written… maybe even better than decently. Keep in mind that the writing style is simple given that it’s audience is young (not that that’s required, simply understandable). I believe if The Hunger Games were written for an adult audience that the writing might be a bit heartier, and possibly more gory.
I realize I’m not giving away any of the plot, at all, but that you can find out for yourself. If you’re in the mood for a bit of good story telling, check it out.
Carmindy of What Not To Wear
I finished off my Beauty Live experience yesterday with Carmindy from TLC’s What Not To Wear and, to be quite honest, found myself with mixed feelings.
Carmindy has been in the industry for 20-something years, does makeup for the victims of What Not To Wear, and is now the author of several books, so I was pretty interested in what she had to say.
She began her presentation with speaking about confidence and how the beauty industry puts pressure on all of us to meet certain (unrealistic) standards, which thus takes constant hits at our self confidence. She encouraged the women of the audience to take time everyday to practice, what she called “Mirror Mantras” and try to focus on the good things about yourself, rather than tear yourself down by obsessing about what you feel is wrong with you. Also, Carmindy urged us all to fight the need to compare ourselves to one another and instead use “contagious compliments” to not only encourage each other, but to feel better about ourselves.
I can’t disagree with any of the above, some of it may sound kind of cheesy, but I was rather pleasantly surprised that she would take up a good 20 minutes of her time there to focus on that, rather than promoting her new makeup line, or her new book, Crazy Busy Beautiful.
Unfortunately, things went a little down hill for me when it came to Q&A time.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a celebrity hater, but there are some things that I just think people should think a little harder about before they say. While I appreciated what she had to say about confidence and positivity, she kicked off the Q&A session by asking that audience members do their best to address her in a positive way. For example, instead of asking her “What can I do to fix my dark circles” she would prefer you say, ” What can I do to brighten my eyes”. I get the sentiment here, but I was put off by it for two reasons:
1.) I don’t think it’s quite fair to put these people who’ve come to listen to you speak on the spot and make them feel awkward about asking you their questions because they have to make sure they’re asking the right way.
2.) I feel like it’s not really giving respect to the questions themselves. It’s great to encourage people to be positive and not to tear themselves down, but if what they’re struggling with is severe, hereditary, dark circles, then I feel like they have the right to express that specifically in order to get the kind of answer they’re looking for. “How can I brighten my eyes” can mean a lot of different things and have a lot of different answers, many of which wont help certain types of dark circles at all.
Next Carmindy mentioned several times that it was unnecessary to spend tons of money on makeup and skincare from department stores, when you could get quality makeup from drug stores, and go to your doctor for good skincare. I don’t disagree (entirely) with either of those things, however, Macy’s was hosting Carmindy’s visit to the mall and her book signing, and we were sitting outside of Saks and Nordstroms. I am well aware that not everyone can afford top of the line cosmetics, I’m also in favor of not spending money where you don’t have to, but there ways to communicate that without knocking the department stores.
The examples above I just considered to be in poor taste, what really bothered me, however, and what speaks directly to the problem I have with a lot of celebrities, was Carmindy’s answer to a woman’s question about how to treat Melasma.
For those who aren’t familiar, Melasma is a condition (sometimes referred to as “pregnancy mask”) that is common among (but not limited to) women who are pregnant or who have recently been pregnant, which results in dark places on the face (the upper lip for example). The woman who asked the question mentioned that she had two children, one of which she had with her and was a very young infant, and wanted to know how to treat it, and Carmindy’s first recommendation was to get a cream with Hydraquinone in it (she also mentioned getting something with glycolic acid).
The trouble I have with this answer is that, that was the extent of it, and while that might not of been the time to go into a full scale description of the product, Hydraquinone isn’t something that you should just be recommending without offering some cautions along with it. Hydraquinone filters through your liver, and can be damaging to the liver if used incorrectly, but the even more important fact in this particular case is that women who are pregnant or nursing shouldn’t use it at all because it’s dangerous for babies. I feel like the recommendation could have AT LEAST come with the caution to check with your doctor before using the product.
There is, of course, the chance that the woman with Melasma will do her research and see the risks for herself, there’s also the chance that she may go into a store to get something with hydraquinone in it and find herself with a knowledgeable sales person who can warn her. However, it’s possible that she does none of these things and simply takes Carmindy’s word for it, because if Carmindy said it, it must be true, and unknowingly run the risk of endangering her health and that of her child’s.
While it very well may be the woman’s responsibility to do her own homework before taking the advise of a celebrity professional, at the same time, I think some responsibility still falls on the person giving the advice, and it disappoints me that people in that sort of position, aren’t more careful about the advice they’re giving out.
For this reason, please take it upon yourselves to ask questions, to do your homework, and to get multiple opinions before you try something. Obviously not everything is going to have serious consequences, but it never hurts to investigate for yourself! =)
I don’t want to end this blog entry on a negative note (ha!), I also don’t want to leave you with the impression that Carmindy is an awful person, I don’t think that at all. As celebrities go, I enjoyed listening to her talk, I thought she was genuine in what she was saying and I’m glad I had the opportunity to sit in on her session.
Hello! So things have been going well lately, the weather is good, things have been running smoothly at work and I’ve been enjoying my free time playing with my plants and experimenting with things the wonderful people upstairs at Lush have been giving me samples of (which I will go into more detail about in a moment.)
This is my welcome mat. I’m quite proud of it, as should be obvious given that I went to the trouble of posting a picture of it on my blog. I just like it… which is actually the theme of my post today… things that I like. Ha.
A very good friend of mine (you know who you are!) gave me a couple of books called Listography before I left Austin and ventured off to Dallas. One is a life list book, the other is a love list book. I can tell you, at this point I have a whole lot more to fill in in the life book than in the love book, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, it’s a lot of fun, and gave me the inspiration for this post.
On page 125 it asks you to list “things you love and despise” which I had to sit and think about for a while, because if it’s going to go on a master list, it’s got to be the best of the best and the worst of the worst, right? Anyway, I sat and made my list and I think I’m pretty happy with it right now.
Because I consider some things sacred and because I’m afraid that what I actually despise may be a deeper window into who I am as a person ( sounds horrible, but it’s true!) I’m not going to just copy the list into my blog, instead I’m just going to make a list of some things that I’m really into right now.
#1.) Masks. I would feature a picture of a facial mask, except the one I used to day I deemed inappropriate and I thought this foot picture was much, much, more fun. Yesterday I went into Lush to grab a big tub of Fair Trade Foot Lotion and the very helpful staff gave me a sample of the Volcano Foot Mask. Being in a really mask-y mood lately, I was more than happy to give it a try. This afternoon I gave myself a spa hour and decided to do the foot mask and one of my old favorites, Ole Henriksen’s Blue/blackberry enzyme mask. One of these days I’ll manage to find a lush product that I don’t absolutely love… I wont rest until I do because raving about everything I try breaks all of my own objective reviews rules. However, the search will just have to continue because I sit here typing this with the softest feet I’ve ever had. Paired with Fair Trade Foot Lotion, this stuff is amazing. I warn you, it smells like you just stepped in someone’s compost pile, and the heating sensation was a little unexpected, but baby, does it feel nice once you get into it. =) (It helps to know that I’m sitting here laughing about that last sentence.)
#2.) My container garden. These are my two most recent additions. In the back we have a Bougainvillea and in the front is my brand new Lavender plant. Both will eventually get better pots, and I think I want a second Lavender plant. I can’t put my finger on exactly why I’m enjoying having plants so much, but I really am having a blast learning about them and how to take care of them. It also makes me feel close to my dad. He’s into plants, he can grow just about anything and when I look out my patio door and see my plants, it makes me think of him and I like that. I may officially be on my way to being crazy plant lady, though. There are moments I find myself talking to them. I’m pretty sure my neighbor caught me telling the Bougainvillea last night that I loved it for making tiny blooms. Mostly I was just ecstatic that not only have I not killed any of them yet, but they seem to be flourishing.
#3.) New spiritual experiences… Last Sunday I had the pleasure of attending Sts. Constantine & Helen Orthodox church. This was quite an experience for my Southern Baptist raised self. I can only imagine what I must have looked like, everything I think and feel shows very plainly on my face, and what I was thinking and feeling half the time was “OMG I hope I don’t do something wrong” and extremely confused. Fortunately the kind elderly couple sitting next to me helped me follow the liturgy and in the end I really enjoyed it. Something that was amazing to me in particular was how close to God I felt in the midst of this experience… not because it was a holier experience than any other church I’ve been to, but because in my extreme state of unfamiliarity, I could hear and feel God in a way that was different, because there was no opportunity for me to just “go through the motions”, I had no idea what the motions were. I felt more aware of what was going on around me and a greater sense of reverence, which I feel is sometimes lost in a lot of modern churches, it was a wonderful experience.
Last, but certainly not least, #4.) Swedish Fish. I include this here at the end because, well, I always like Swedish Fish. Only the red ones though. =)
I’m learning a lot about myself here in Dallas, and I can promise you, that list that I refuse to post of things I despise has definitely seen some additions since I got here. The thing that I’ve finally embraced and am content with is that I don’t have to love it here… which sounds weird, sure. I’m still new, I still can’t get anywhere without using navigation (honestly I still use it to get to work), I still don’t know a lot of people, and I’m still extremely picky about the social activities I choose to engage in (that’s not likely to change), but I understand that I’m here to learn and grow, and as long as I’m doing that, everything else will come along. Things will be alright.
In closing I think I’ll throw in a last minute #5.) Incomplete by Alanis Morissette
I have been running so sweaty my whole life, urgent for a finish line. And I have been missing the rapture this whole time of being forever incomplete.
I finished Dear John yesterday. It’s the only Nicholas Sparks book I’ve ever read. I’ve seen others on the best sellers isle at the book store before, and they’ve always given me a moment’s pause, but a voice deep down in there somewhere would caution me not to pick them up, and now I understand why.
I had a vague idea that some of the things he’d written were sad, but I wasn’t getting the full picture. I never saw or read The Notebook… mostly because I thought it was kind of weird how the girls I knew talked about it like it was some sort of revelation, but again that sense of danger would kick in and I avoided it. Plus, if I’m being totally honest, there was no one cute enough to catch my attention in the film, so I never really had the motivation to see it, certainly not to take the time to read it.
I never would have read A Walk To Remember, but when the film came out I was going through my boy band phase, so all of my celebrity crushes at the time were the thug-polished type.
Shane West
Shane West (featured to the right), thought not actually in a boy band, definitely fit into that pretty-bad-boy category. Don’t be fooled by the I’m-a-bad-ass-grimace/smirk, or the pseudo-stubble going in this picture, Shane West is pretty and so I was more than willing to see A Walk To Remember when it came out.
I went in blind on that one… I had no idea what the plot was, and it ended up being tragic and sappy, but it wasn’t the saddest thing I’d ever seen, and the acting was bad so, again I failed to pay enough attention to what was fueling that voice inside my head telling me to stay far away anything Nicholas Sparks had touched.
Now we get to Dear John. I’ve seen the trailer for it a dozen times. Once again I’ve found myself drawn, not because the story seemed compelling, but because of a celebrity crush… and the fact that I really like the song that they play during the trailer.
With age my tastes have changed, but as this picture clearly exemplifies, I still have a weakness for the clean, roguish types. Channing Tatum (whose name should have been Tatum Channing because it sounds more like a real name), plays John, and thus caused me to be just curious enough to want to know what the story of Dear John was all about.
I can’t say exactly how it happened that I decided to read the book, other than I just wanted something easy to read and light, and that voice I mentioned before had warned me to at least prepare myself by reading before paying to see the film. So I went to half priced books and bought it. I jumped right in and knew, before finishing the first page of the prologue that I was going to regret it. I knew it the same way I knew, a chapter into She’s Come Undone, that it was going to be the worst book I had ever read, and it was a chunk of my life and time I would never get back. But just like with She’s Come Undone, I forged ahead anyway, because I can’t stand the thought of starting a book and not finishing it.
I’m sure that many of you are Sparks fans, and so I wont go into too much detail trying to tear the book limb from limb. I will admit that I though his writing style was rather weak. I found myself counting the number of times he would use a particular word, which is just down right annoying. And then, in my opinion, the narrative didn’t fit John’s character at all, but alas, it is what it is. What I really want to comment on is Mr. Sparks taste for wanting to put a knife in his readers hearts and then twisting it about 5 times.
I mentioned to a friend at work that I was reading Dear John and she warned me that it was going to be bad and when I questioned why Nicholas Sparks seems to only write that kind of heart-wrenching stuff, her response was, “because we love it.”
Do we love it? Really? I mean, I’m the girliest girlie girl who ever existed, but I like my unrealistic happy endings. Sure I like the occasional tear-jerker, but I like it coupled with romance and warm-and-fuzzies and people not dying after all, or finding someone new to love. I don’t know… maybe I just don’t get it, but one thing is for sure. I will never read another Nicholas Sparks book again.
In the wake of New Moon, and being out until 3am last night, I don’t really have anything of much value to say this evening. I just can’t seem to be ready to fall asleep yet, so this is just me killing time.
I’ve almost got my voice back, which is extremely helpful, and my nose is almost done being red. I’m extremely happy about that, red is not a good color on anything but my lips.
Today I was lucky enough to be a model for my friend/stylist Sandi! I spent 3 hours in the cutest little salon you’ve ever seen being pampered, high-lighted, and cut. Sandi always does an amazing job with my hair, and today we tried some new things an absolutely love it. Changing up my hair always makes me feel brand new all over… it also instantly makes me feel like I need to completely change the color palette I’ve been drawing inspiration from for my makeup and the style of clothes I’ve been wearing. This usually means a shopping binge of some sort, but I’m going to do my best to resist the urge to splurge this time. Besides, I’m fairly certain that in addition to the changes today, we’re going to be adding some purple to my hair in the near future which will mean changing things up all over again.
I suppose at this point I really should go to bed. Goodnight ladies and gentlemen, sleep tight. =)
Me..almost recovered from a cold, but still red enough to make a black and white photo a necessity
Katie and Edward Cullen
Tonight I will be joining, no doubt, thousands of other swooning fans, for the midnight premier of New Moon, the second edition in the Twilight saga. I resisted the mass obsession at first, but in all honesty my resistance really was futile. All it took was seeing the first film with my sisters to get me interested enough to read the books… and once you’ve read them, it’s all over.
I’m 28 (…nearly 29 shhhhhhh!) and while indulging in teen fiction is hardly a hobby of mine, I’m not the first, or the last adult to jump on the band wagon. In fact, of all the people I personally know who are into Twilight, the vast majority of them are adult women. Successful, hard-working, mothers, wives, business women. I consider myself in good company, really.
There’s just something about this story that speaks to women in general and instead of putting a great deal of effort into trying to explain what that thing is, I’ve created a list of the top 10 reasons I feel it’s OK to indulge in Twilight. Read on…
10.) You can’t get pregnant reading a book.
9.) While a fictional character can be unrealistic, with so many less than awesome guys out there (trust me, I’ve met half of them), I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a character that leads girls to set their standards a little higher, just so long as you don’t expect to actually find a sparkly vampire.
8.) Diamonds sparkle in the sunlight but sparkly vampires are much cheaper!
7.) It’s a good and humbling experience to be taken back to your first love, because every one of us was Bella Swan at one point.
6.) If you’re going to have something in common with hoards of teenagers, a novel sounds much better than Zac Effron.
5.) Low-level drama means easy reading and stress relief.
4.) The books are long and holding them for hours at a time is a good arm work out.
3.) Twilight can be used as an easy method to resolve conflict in the work place. ” You may have stolen my sandwich from the fridge, but I know we’re both on Team Edward, so I can let it go.”
2.) One day your grand-daughters will thank you for saving them all of the cool memorabilia.
1.) Edward Cullen is completely calorie-free.
