311. bring on the bubbles.

Just be lucky “Amber” isn’t stuck in your head (“WHOA, amber is the color of your energy. WHOA, shades of gold displayed naturally…”) because if I write or think 311 I automatically sing: LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SHIPS IN MY HEART, SO EEEEEEASY.

Champagne instead.

day 310. eyes closed.

I was watching this really, ridiculously stupid special on either 60 Minutes or ABC Nightly News about “real life vampires.”  They were a bunch of delusional adults who sincerely believed that they got their sustenance from either

(a) drinking blood (or Bloody Mary’s, whichever)

(b) absorbing the energy of other people, usually through direct contact such as prolonged hugging

or,

(c) food

Basically, they were a group of attention starved people who refused to join us all in the real world.  Whatevs, to each their own, right?

What’s interesting about these delusional folks is that, besides the dramatic flair-umbrellas in the sun-creeptastic way of life, they were basically normal.  Everyone has those things that they draw their energy from.  At one point I was the type of person who couldn’t function if I didn’t workout for at least an hour every day.  Obviously, I could function, but at the time I would wring my hands, get worried and feel completely awful if I didn’t have that time to myself every day.

There are different activities that can drain or enliven us.  If you start throwing numbers and complicated equations out to me my brain shuts off and suddenly I wan to curl up in a ball and sleep for days.  But, if you talk to me about the greatest movie, or craziest book you’ve ever read, I want to buy you a pizza, build a fort in my room and giggle and talk for days!  Actually, I get that feeling about  a lot of things; the hibernation feeling is the rare one.

Things that excite or enliven me are (in no particular order):

(1) Clothes.  I love clothes that make you excited to get dressed in the morning.  That are functional and comfortable and cute and are not sweats.  Because, currently, more occasions in my life call for sweats as opposed to heels, and I like the heels so much better.  Soooo much better.

(2) Great television.  New episodes of Glee, 30 Rock and, of course the best styled show on television, Gossip Girl make a few hours of my week completely chill and I thank them for that.

(3) Books that change the world a little bit.  Like Rosalind Wiseman’s Queen Bees and Wannabees, the book Mean Girls is based on.  It’s actually written for parents, but reading it as an incoming freshman with my other friends, we totally got it and we were so much more aware of how we treated others and ourselves.

(4) Music, movies, entertainment–especially live music.

Dancing, with a friend in a large crowd or in a room woefully short of filling capacity, with your eyes closed and the music so loud that your heart might actually be in sync with the rhythm of the drums is the most exhilarating thing I have done recently.  And I love it–so much that I might even pretend to be a vampire that lives off of live music.

Bad ass chick fronting Deluka

It was a party, a birthday party!

Hipsterdom.

day 309. the buck.

Remember the beauty of grace.

This day needs a little more Buckley–Jeff Buckley’s “Grace”:

day 308. summer in the city.

Just a couple weeks shy of finishing the semester, and while I’m letting that two week to-do list unfold as naturally as possible, I can’t help but jump way ahead into the future.  I’m planning my summer–tentatively.  It all depends on acceptance letters, and finding the right job application for a second job while I’m home for a month or so.  But then that also depends on whether or not my mother follows through with an elaborate three week vacation after the Spring semester, thus canceling the need for any job.

So, it’s baby steps for now.  I’m getting acquainted with deadlines, costs and everything in between.  I’m formulating a plan but I won’t say it out loud, lest I jinx it.

day 307.

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

PRESS ON.

day 306. the quest.

You know how for a little girl, or I guess a curious a little boy, there’s nothing more mysterious and ladylike than your mother’s makeup?  I still hold that wonder–except I feel that for everyone’s makeup.

My mom kept all of her makeup inside a fancy little box in the bathroom cupboards.  She doesn’t wear much makeup, never has, but she does on special occasions.  My mother is more of a perfume lady–Calvin Klein’s Obsession, which comes in the best bottle ever made, has been her scent for years.

When I first learned what the word “seductive” meant, I automatically linked it to this perfume and Jessica Rabbit.  While shopping for travel sized accessories for LA, I found a knock-off “body spray” version of Obsession and hell yeah I bought it.

Lipsticks can be found in abundance in my mother’s make-up box; perfectly complimented to her complexion and all bought from department stores.  I never quite figured out how to make lipstick work, but I definitely believed a part of the secret was how much you were willing to spend.

Now, I’m rethinking that.

While filling up my car last night, I went inside the supermarket to look around and find a big ass piece of Hershey’s chocolate, because why not?  The store was bigger than I remembered, so I wandered around and ended up in a massive make-up aisle.  The first thing I saw was lipstick.

I read more than enough magazines and online make-up blogs to know what colors will look best on me, in theory.  But it is a little harder to find that variety in a Revlon/Maybelline/L’Oreal filled aisle.  Finding the right shade of red is the impossible dream, but I, like Don Quixote the Man of La Mancha, will dream the impossible dream!

So, I bought a red.  A deep red, as recommended.

Little Red

Little Red is adorably packaged, made to look like it came from an Estee Lauder counter and not next to something made by Wet’N'Wild.  But, Little Red had some suspicious undertones that I did not detect before purchase and leaves me looking a little more court jester-y than classic and feminine.

With a little improvisation and help from another drug store buy, Maybelline lip gloss in Copper Cabana, I was able to minimize the court jester-y effect.  The result was alright, but I think I still need something bolder.  And so the quest continues.  Extra points to me if I can find it in a drug-store aisle.

Is it the orange of the top that makes the red more orange or, is it the cheap drug store quality doing that? The quality? Figures.

Also, mixed two great Sally Hansen nail polish colors, Gunmetal and Marine Scene, to create a dark metallic gray look.  I like it.  Also, I need a real manicure, but this will do.

"E.T. phone home..." with these fingers

day 305. straight lines.

Straight Lines – Dawn Landes

This song reminds me of my neighbor and childhood best friend. His dad smoked cigars and would give us the paper rings. They couldn’t fit on any of our fingers, not even our thumbs, but we pretended like they were wedding rings and were married. It was just another game we played.

Remember when we were young
How you asked everyone to marry you
All of those songs we sung
Changing all the words you used to make the heroine die
Why?

We also pretended like the canopy of trees in our yard was a spaceship, a McDonald’s drive-thru, and, of course, just a regular fort. My brothers and his brother would kick us out of our forts, pretending that they had already claimed that area. We dealt with it.

We pretended our porches were covered wagons on the Oregon Trail, solely inspired by the computer game. We also pretended to be farmers, and would pull up tiny little onion bulbs from around the yard.

Once, we walked to The House of Sight and Sound, a place we knew we shouldn’t go; a place boasting incense, old records, secret back rooms, and lots o’ stoners. We bought pretend cigars and cigarettes. Blow out of them and white powder would fly out from the butt, giving the illusion of a puff of smoke. We sat on the porch and pretended to smoke them; of course, we got in trouble and were never allowed to go back. Although, I went back plenty of times.

Remember when we got caught
Dirty hands and make-believe drugs
We never got
Give me all your money
Bank robbers and cowboy cops
Make-believe rocks

Kites, BMX bikes, and Red-Rover are a few other memorable points in both the song and life.

I’m thankful for great memories like that to look back on.

day 304. add-on.

71. Barbecue brisket beef sandwich.  I can’t deny its powers over me.

72. Naps, especially when you wake up to great food.

73. Discounts

74. Sarah Silverman’s comedy

75. All of you reading this!  God, why was that not number one?  THANK YOU.

day 303. thankful.

It would have been called “The 100″ but I couldn’t get the next 30, so here’s a short list of (70) things I’m thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film

2. Home

3. The City of Lawrence

4. Taking the lead

5. Fantastic films

6. Great books

7. My intro to Western Civilization class and my amazing, over-the-top professor.

8. My computer

9. The Internet (duh, really)

10. My cell-phone, despite the expensive service

11. My job(s)

12. Ability; possibilities

13. My car

14. Various hair removal products: no thank you, No-Shave November

15. Music

16. Madonna

17. Great friends

18. Family

19. A-ha moments

20. Apples

21. Cleaning products

22. Foam-mattress thingies that make your bed 10x more comfortable

23. Lots of pillows

24. Running shoes

25. You! Me! Dancing!

26. The TV show Everwood

27. GLEE!

28. SUA

29. New experiences

30. Women’s clothing, during the 30s to 40s transition. Androgyny rocks!

31. Jaunty caps.

32. Lessons learned (“and they don’t come cheap”)

33. Not ice-skating, but getting the chance to.

34. Guest bedrooms

35. Doing laundry for free

36. Warm clothes on cold days

37. More than enough blankets

38. The Shins

39. Opaque tights

40. High heels

41. The color red

42. Tchaikovsky

43. The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, specifically

44. Actually, The Nutcracker

45. Christmastime

46. Alvin and the Chipmunks

47. Movie theaters

48. Lazy days.

49. Water filters

50. Princes and Princesses

51. YouTube

52. Teen movies from the 90s

53. Teen movies from the 80s

54. The complete works of Winona Ryder

55. Images of Grace Kelly

56. Mika’s song “Grace Kelly”

57. Waist-emphasizing dresses

58. Occasions that call for dresses

59. Work

60. Skirts

61. Puppies

62. Kittens

63. Harper’s Bazaar

64. Vogue

65. Red lipstick.

66. Short hair.

67. California

68. Classics—classic literature, movies, whatever

69. Music, people, and events that make it easier to find happiness

70. Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin

day 302. como agua para chocolate.

According to Sparknotes and the infallible Wikipedia the Spanish phrase “Como agua para chocolate” (which translates to “like water for chocolate”) alludes to the state that water must be at, boiling hot, in order to create hot chocolate.

I was once told that the sexiest movie ever made was Body Heat, but I have to say, I think Like Water For Chocolate pretty much takes that title.  I have a lot of love for this film.

For this presentation I have for my Spanish class, I picked a topic that I knew I could work well with –cinema.  So, I’m documenting the development of Mexican cinema specifically, because I enjoy watching movies and it gave me a proper excuse, besides curiosity, to rent and watch Rudo y Cursi.

But, while I was reading about the history of cinema in this country, I realized how much more interesting it would be to watch something pre-2000, and thus I ended up with Como Agua Para Chocolate: the sexiest movie ever made.

It boils and it literally burns at many different points.

John Brown, the Jacob Black of the story, gets to share this gem with us:

My grandmother, Morning Star–she was a Kikapu Indian–she used to say that we’re all born with a box of matches inside.  We can’t light them by ourselves … we need oxygen and the help of a candle.

In our case, the oxygen has to come, for example, from a lover’s breath.
The candle can be anything — a melody, a word, a caress, a sound — anything that pulls the trigger and sets off one of the matches.

Every person has to discover what will pull his trigger to enable him to live.  Because it is the
explosive flare of a match that feeds our souls.

Last year I lost my favorite necklace. It was a thrift store find, and inside of a floral inlay, there was a tiny gold clock. It was, of course, broken, but I set the time at five minutes until midnight. I wore it on New Years Eve of 2008 and at 11:55, my friends and I sang that awful Boys Like Girls song “Five Minutes ‘Til Midnight“.

I’d like to think my music taste has improved, but the facts don’t lie: something about the whole “we should strike a match, and hold it to the wind to see how long it lasts” line paired with the idea of making time stand still…well, it gets me every time.

After all, I’ve got to the sickness, maybe you’ve got the cure? Aaaaand, I’ve got to stop there or else that song will be stuck in my head for the rest of the night. Bueno!