epic fail: a picture a day!

i have been defeated. my lazy ass lifestyle got the better of me, and i wasn't able to keep up with my brilliant idea of taking a picture a day. what is wrong with me? it's just a picture a day. i am and always will be a procrastinator, and that was what the central challenge was with this venture. all i needed to do was to take a picture a day, but my main problem was i never thought to take one. by the time i would settle into bed, i would realize that i hadn't taken a picture. pretty soon all my pictures would've ended up being of my very small bedroom. i don't want to take a picture of my ceiling fan or of my unmade bed or of the lamp without a shade or of my clothes chair. the idea was to better observe the world around me and to work on my picture-taking skills because who doesn't want to be an amateur photographer? everyone, except the boy, wants to be an amateur photographer, and i wanted to be able to use and understand apps other than Instagram (though i do love Instagram).

my downfall started one day in february when i missed taking a picture (i don't remember the exact date.) then i missed another day and another day. then i just stopped caring - this was also during the period when i was waist deep into my "down in the dumps" time. i didn't care about anything. i tend to be obsessive when it comes to projects like this. when i miss a day or two or three i just want to scrap the entire project because it will not be whole. this notion stems from my days in school when i would take lecture notes. when i was taking notes and couldn't get everything perfect, i would have to rewrite my notes until i had achieved said perfection. if my spacing was off or i misspelled a word and i had written in pen, i would scrap it all and do it all over again. it's really weird what i am obsessive over. 

so i am going to start a new section, one where i share some pictures of my life - i know you are all dying to see what i am up to all the time because i have the most awesome life. i got the idea from the many pretty lifestyle blogs that i am obsessed with because they all do a little picture post, and i love being a voyeur. so here you go, my life through pictures. enjoy.

      

a film (rental) review: This Means War

i know, i know; this movie has been out for a while now, and i actually saw it way back when i was still was getting Netflix DVDs sent to my place. the movie popped up on HBO the other day -- and when i say other day i mean other month -- so i set it to record. since then it has been sitting on my DVR taking up precious space.
*this is one of those movies that i record and save for my computer time viewing. you know what i mean, that movie/show you have on in the background while you're surfing the net, paying bills or just wasting too much time on Pinterest.

This Means War is a fun little girly movie. it stars the reigning queen of the chick flick, Reese Witherspoon, and her sassy real life best friend playing her sassy best friend, Chelsea Handler. are you ready for some witty one-liners from Handler? because this movie is full of them. i don't mind Handler, she has that bitchy i-don't-give-a-fuck attitude that i relate to very well. i just tire of her endless Angelina bashing because she cannot let it go. you would think that she was the one that was in the relationship with Brad Pitt. i don't give a rat's ass about Pitt's love life, Handler.

anyway, the movie is directed by McG, the music video maverick turned movie director. i wouldn't really called this a film because that would imply that this is a piece of art. this is just a good ol' fashioned movie. it's an enjoyable flick and doesn't watch play like a music video (insert stock Michael Bay slam here). side note, i really like the use of color in this movie. everything is big and bold and vibrant, especially at Witherspoon's character's workplace. loved it.

*spoilers! if you haven't seen this movie yet you aren't going to see it, and it doesn't matter if i spoil it for you. so there! 

the one fatal flaw of this movie, and for me its a huge flaw, is the guy she ultimately chooses. we are led to believe that Chris Pine is the better man because that is who Witherspoon ends up with, when really Tom Hardy is the superior choice. i don't know how anyone could think that Pine is better than Hardy. Pine is like the poor man's Chris Evans, although that's probably too flattering to Pine as i do actually love me some Chris Evans. Hollywood tends to do this. things (movies and actors/actresses) come in pairs. Dante's Peak and Volcano. Deep Impact and Armageddon. The DaVinci Code and National Treasure (America's response to The DaVinci Code). Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney. Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton. Bridget Moynahan and Michelle Monaghan. and lastly Chris Evans and Chris Pine. when it rains, it pours. so people tend to get Chris Pine and Chris Evans mixed up. gasp, how could they? Chris Evans is by far the superior Chris.

i fell in love with Hardy when i saw him in Wuthering Heights on PBS' Masterpiece Theater in part because i am a hardcore anglophile. he was the perfect Heathcliff for me: romantic and tortured but still very manly. from that moment on, he has a special place in my heart. he could be a little bit taller, but i'll look past that small flaw. this is where the choice at the end of the movie was questionable because i would've gone with Hardy in a heartbeat.        

This Means War is a fun little flick. you might enjoy it if you're not expecting much. xoxo.

the evolution of my crappy reading tastes: part two

*this is a long post. if you want me to drag you down memory lane, enjoy.

a couple of posts ago, which in the timeline of this blog is about a month, i wrote about the evolution of my reading and how it has unfolded over time. it was epic, really. now i will conclude what i have started with part one.

after high school typically one goes on to college -- this was 15 years ago (yikes!). i am from the midwest, so going to college after high school was more of an "everyone goes to college, there is no not going to college" thinking. i was one of those people. i went to The University of Minnesota when all i really wanted was go to The University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin didn't accepted me, i was heartbroken. boo! oh, how i planned my whole college life while in high school with the notion that i would be going to Wisconsin. i was devastated. like everything in your youth, it felt like the end of the world.

in college i put reading as a hobby on hold. i was too busy with school work and some drinking, or more aptly i was busy with drinking and some school work. i was an English major, or at least i finally settled on English after spending three years of trying to figure out what i wanted to do for the rest of my life. that's a scary thought, and one i am still working on. what the fuck do i want to do for the rest of my life? ugh! so i had a number of other majors that i went through.

the list:

• Anthropology/Archaeology - because i wanted to be the next Indiana Jones. seriously. 
• Computer Science - because a number of people in my family when this route, and it seemed to make them some money. unfortunately computers are not my thing. 
• Art History - because it brought me back to my Indiana Jones roots. i pictured myself as an art historian, working in a museum all sexy and bookish and smart, but i am not any of those things. what was i thinking? 
• Graphic Design - because i loved art, and i thought this would totally be my thing. i spent a year taking all these classes only to find out i wouldn't be able to transfer into the program at Minnesota and that i'd have to transfer schools. i was like "oh hell no!" let's move on.

by my third year i was looking at what classes i'd taken and noticed that if i went the English route i would be done the quickest and have myself an honest to goodness college diploma. after all, i was already three years in, and i would be damned if i wasn't getting myself a diploma. my time was filled with lots of reading and writing. then i came across the best news ever, if i do do English i could emphasize in Creative Writing instead of English Lit, instead of writing a long-ass thesis paper on some book, i could just write my own crap. that is how i got into writing and came to actually enjoy it.

good lord, this is not my long-winded college history of fuck up after fuck up (or as i like to call it "my time where i pissed away a big chunk of money"). it's a rite of passage.

in college i read all the staples that one in college reads. lots of Shakespeare, lots of British Lit and some American Lit. no recreation reading except for the Harry Potter book series. i loved those books. i never was a hard core Harry Potter fan -- you know the ones because i'm that way with my Jane Austen fandom; dresses, hair and food -- but i did enjoy the read. honestly, towards the end of the series i was just annoyed with Harry. he couldn't get his shit together and leaned on Hermione way too much. she was da bomb. i loved her. we really need to see more characters like Hermione in YA literature. i know Harry was all busy trying to survive Voldemort, but one would think "this crazy-ass guy is trying to kill me and the ones i love. i think i will try a bit harder in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class and all my other classes for that matter." you would never see Buffy back down. she would get her shit together and work out until she could kill the evil demons. i digress. the fantasy world of Harry Potter appeals to me; who doesn't want to find out that they are a witch/wizard and are destined to live in this whole different world/life? i sure did.

after college and Harry Potter, i would read here and there, but nothing really got to me. the boy would suggest books for me, but they just didn't hold my attention. i read some Murakami, but he just didn't do it for me. i know, i know. how can i say that because everyone seems to LOVE Murakami, especially the boy, but i couldn't even finish The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

now that i look back, i just wanted my guilty pleasure books. it all started with Twilight. NO! i remember seeing the teaser trailer for the Twilight movie and thinking that it looked amazing, and i have to find out more. oh Twilight, how you've sparked so much polar fandom. from haters to lovers, this book series is just crazy. i read the entire Twilight series, and i hated it, but i couldn't put these books down. there was just something about them. i couldn't stop. i could go on and on about how terrible the story is, or how Bella is the worst girl ever, or how Edward is the creepiest (like in a lecherous way) vampire ever, or how Meyers is the worst writer ever, but the internet is full of such reviews. my favorite is here, check it out. it's amazing.

the floodgates have opened. i really like The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris aka the True Blood books. they are super easy and fast, and they make me think that i too can write a novel because i am often dumbstruck by how stupid something strikes me as being when i read these books. i like the main character Sookie. she is sassy and strong, and sometimes she just wants to make it through the year without being beat up.

most other books that i've taken to reading recently are from the wonderful genre of YA (young adult for those who don't know.)
the books that i LOVED:

• The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
• The Mortal Instruments series and The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare
• The Divergent series by Veronica Roth
• The Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore         
• any John Green books
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak    

there. the books that i enjoy and love. i could go on an on about each series because i tend to fall in love with book characters, i'm looking at you Peeta, Jem and Four. my evolution isn't very magnificent, but it's a nice little history of my crappy reading tastes. xoxo.

the boob tube: Project Runway s11 e08

*spoilers! you have been warned. 

i would have to say that this episode was one of the better Project Runways and one of the worst. the challenge, in and of itself, wasn't bad; it was what the designers produced that made this episode to go down in flames. now, i haven't seen every Project Runway, but from what i've seen from this week's final outcome, this was the worst. the challenge was amazing and had so much potential, all they had to do was design three opening costumes that tear-away for the magical all-male dance group The Thunder from Down Under. OMG! best. challenge. ever.

the teams were reassigned again, and i like how they did it this week. no button bag was used or people picking partners. this week the judges chose the teams, and i like that they really thought about who they should pair together. it was two teams of four:

team shades of grey -- really?
Patricia
Daniel
Stanley
Michelle

team slick and hip -- oh good lord!
Richard
Layana
Samantha
Amanda

this was an amazing episode if only for all the great one-liners and the potential cold showers for some of the designers. Richard was incredible. when the designers had to sit down for the consultation with the Down Under dancers he was all like "oh i'll lead this one ladies." it was like "yes!" when Amanda was getting on his nerves during the work room time, he was all like "gurl, play nice." i love Richard. i felt really bad for him during this challenge. his teammates where attacking him whenever they got a chance. they would shoot down his ideas and disregard whatever would come out of his mouth. i was getting all protective and wanted to jump into the tv and be all like "nobody puts Richard in the corner." i think if he were to get his way the dancers would've looked like RuPaul, Boy George, and Prince walking down the catwalk like Layana pointed out. what's a girl to do?

Richards other teammates were way out of their elements. both Layana and Amanda couldn't construct a simple tailored suit. i know dressing a man is different than dressing a woman, but come on, you should be able to tell that the suit jacket that you're making looks like it's for a woman -- i'm looking at you Layana. how could she not tell that was a women's jacket?

the ladies from this episode were just out of control. Nina couldn't keep herself together during the judging. it was actually really funny because the shit -- and yes, the outfits they sent down the runway were total shit this week -- was one hot mess after another, and it had Nina laughing uncontrollably. all you could do is just laugh at what you're looking at. oh good lord. and all the ladies having to work with the male dancers was too funny. you couldn't shut up Michelle about the men being such "men." Layana couldn't not touch the men but couldn't stop touching them. get these ladies a cold shower.

let's move on and talk about the designs:

team shades of grey:
Patricia, Daniel, Stanley and Michelle
they were going for a business-man-by-day and a stripper-by-night, or something like that, look. the idea was okay, i could see it going somewhere, but what they produced was boring and baggy. Michelle had some good ideas, but Stanley just kept on shooting her down. Stanley is a classic kind of man so his strippers will be classic as well. oh boy. the suits were just basic and boring. Patricia's shirt was awful and she spent so much time on it, it was pointless. the trench coat was so boxy and boring. the entire collection was just boring. the only thing that was interesting was Michelle's vest, it just didn't fit with the collection. their tear-away's did not work. epic fail.

team slick and hip:
Richard, Layana, Samantha and Amanda
they were also going for this business-man-by-day and stripper-by-night look. what is up with this style right now? am i missing something in the male stripping trend? i thought make strippers are supposed to be firemen and construction workers and police men. i think i am missing something. this is not what i learned from Magic Mike! okay, i digress. this team was a hot mess. if the shades of grey team was bad, this team was bad on an epic scale. they didn't work together during the workroom time at all, and you could tell. they were not a team. the shirts were terrible, the pants were awful, the whole thing was just bad. however, their tear-aways worked. bonus.

the winner: no one!

the loser: team slick and hip by default because they were the worst of the bad, and Amanda was the team member sent home. i guess it was her time to go. out of her team, she was the weakest, but she isn't the weakest of the whole lot of designers. this is why the teams aspect kind of sucks, because you have the weakest designer on the winning team. but this is a competition, and someone needs to go home.

this was an exciting episode, and it just shows you how lucky some people are being on the winning team, and how some designers get sent home even if they aren't the weakest. now we are down to five designers, things are going to get interesting because it's going to be harder seeing people go home. everyone at this point is really talented, except for what we saw in this challenge. it was just embarrassing.

Project Runway airs on Thursday nights on Lifetime.

(photos from Project Runway at mylifetime.com)

the boob tube: Project Runway s11 e07

here i go again, attempting to catch up. i finally watched the next Project Runway - episode 07. it's been about a month. i am way behind. holy cow! i could sit here and list a number of reasons why i haven't been keeping up with my boob tube watching, but i have none that are very good. i've just been down in the dumps for a bit, and i'm trying to crawl out of the black hole. i have been thinking of writing about feeling "down," but we'll see. now, enough of my "feelings," let's get down to judging some people's hard work.

let's do this.

*spoilers! if you haven't seen this episode yet, you're just as lazy as i am.  

this episode was a fun one and a first. the designers had to design a prom dress made entirely out of duct tape. now if that doesn't sound like high school... because in high school there is always that group of "weird" kids who would make outfits out of duct tape. hell, when i was in high school, there was this one boy who made an entire three piece suit out of duct tape (i think there was one of those boys in every high school.) he was super proud of that suit, he should try out for Project Runway. and you can't forget about making your wallet out of duct tape, a project that kids tend to do while they are sitting at home getting high instead of doing their homework. oh high school. okay times.

this is the episode where the claws came out of Kate. good lord girl, settle down. i want to say it's her youth - she is worried about all the catty bitches, but she is the catty one. i feel that is an issue younger girls worry about because when you get into your 30s you don't give a fuck about what other people think. it's good that she is being passive aggressive and is only showing her feelings during the interviews. that is exactly what i like about this show. i don't feel like watching people being all catty and bitchy to one another, i just want to hear them talk about each other behind their backs.

the show changed it up again. the designers are still working in teams of two, but everyone is changing team members. i think the only two that are working together again is Kate and Tu, and i see her game plan. she chose Tu knowing that she can control him. it's sad to see Tu reduced to Kate's helper, he has a very crazy style, and we haven't seen any of it from him during the past two challenges. this can go either way for Kate, if they are in the bottom she can very easily throw him under the bus and save her own skin. isn't it always the cute quiet ones who are the most diabolical?

we must talk about that gold duct tape, or better yet, we can have Layana whine about it some more because she did not whine about it enough during the episode. good lord girl, just stop. you sound like a spoiled brat and it doesn't help that you have a whiny sounding voice so it was even worse. i like how Richard was all like "i want all the gold duct tape and i am not sharing it with anyone. so go fuck yourselves, bitches." actually i just imagined him saying that in my head, because then i would respond with "you go gurl." Richard doesn't have to share with anyone, it is a competition first and foremost.

what was up with Patricia's crazy eyes during Tim's critique? they were super scary. it was like she was burning a hole into Tim soul with her glare and placing a hex on him for thinking her design was anything but fabulous, and it worked. i have no idea how Patricia works her magic, but she has someone on her side. i would guess having to work with her would be super hard, but Samantha made it work. i don't know how, but the two of them were able to produce a crowd-pleaser, even though i usually think Patricia's designs look like an arts and crafts project, and this was no exception.

let's talk about the designs:

Michelle and Amanda - it was a cute little dress. i didn't like the side cut-outs, but otherwise i can see a high school girl in that dress. the judges loved it. the "Gwen Stafani" dress. ugh! i also liked how Kate hated this dress and kept on saying that she was just in high school, and no one would ever wear that dress. oh Kate, i just think you are an old soul.

Stanley and Layana - i thought the dress was okay. i liked that they were going with this over-exaggeration of the bow and pleats. the bow and the bracelet they made for the dress was really cute. the judges loved it, of course.

Daniel and Richard - i liked the dress, but it was dated. i think what got them was when Tim told them during the critique that the dress "looks like a wow." the boys got cocky. i thought the ruffles turned out better on the runway than when we first saw them. the dress did look like it came right out of the movie Sixteen Candles. boy, did the judges not like this dress, and Nina especially was harsh on them.

Kate and Tu - oh this poor dress. it was okay. boring, but okay. the judges hated it, and i have to agree with everything they thought about this dress. it did not look like a prom dress. it was a mediocre runway dress, and no girl wants to go to their prom in a stuffy stiff dress. it was Kate's dress, and she was all cocky with this challenge and like "i was just in high school so i know what high school girls want." wrong Kate, you have no idea what the youth likes. the color of the dress was terrible too. choosing the denim duct tape, ugh.

Patricia and Samantha - the "jiffy pop" dress. ha! i thought it was okay, but of course the judges loved this dress. i really need to be smoking what the judges are smoking. then again i am just an old hag who knows nothing because this dress also won with the high school kids when they did the runway show for the students. it had the most student votes, wtf!

the winner: Michelle. i was just happy it wasn't Patricia. i liked Michelle and Amanda's dress more.

the loser: Tu and Kate. holy cow! they tossed out two people this week. i did not see this coming. i am totally cool with this decision. they both needed to go. at this point they are like one unit. they like working together as a team, but it really is just Kate with a helper. good call judges.

what a great episode. i loved the whole duct tape thing. i hope to see it again.

i hope to have the next episode up soon. the show is just sitting in my DVR taking up precious space, and i need to get this shit out so my fellow Project Runway peeps know my feelings of each episode. it's very important stuff yo!

Project Runway airs on Thursday nights on Lifetime.

(photos from Project Runway at mylifetime.com)