When I look at this, I don’t see a mere cell. I see the potential for literature and art, empires and kingdoms!
06 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
Hello my lovelies!
I’ve been up to so many shenanigans since I last posted. For one, I went to France (near Lille) to interview a friend of mine for my thesis and I had the most amazing three days of the year. Seriously, I’m sad to report it won’t get any better than this. We worked, visited lots of interesting places, saw movies, went to Sephora and even took one hour dips in their hot tub twice. I also met their daughter (“they” being my friend Francois and his great wife Nadine) Marion who is a hoot and a half. They welcomed me in their home with so much love, it’s wonderful to see that people aren’t always rotten backstabbing buggers but can actually be this delightfully sweet and caring. I’ve been invited to “come back each year!” and if I can at all, I will definitely do so. Films, Sephora, hot tub and yummy French food, what’s not to like?
At Sephora I finally got my very own Urban Decay Naked palette. I had been very sceptical about this palette for a long time because it’s essentially a palette full of nudes. But after seeing Kandee Johnson use it in new, original ways, I researched it some more and decided that I really, really liked the colours. Also, it’s a great bargain. You get 12 full size UD eyeshadows for 40€ (I got it for 36€ because Nadine has a discount card at Sephora!), whereas if you were to buy the shades individually, it’d tally up at 204€ for the 12 shades. I am never buying individual UD shades again if I can help it! (Not that I have much in the past, since UD isn’t sold here or in Germany – I have only two single eyeshadows from UD) Anyway, the Naked palette is amazing. The colours are vibrant, buttery soft and so easy to work with I literally couldn’t believe it. They blend, mix and apply so easily, it just blows my mind a little every time I use it. And lemme tell ya, not much surprises me in makeup these days. But this kind of find, this kind of product is one of the reasons I love makeup so much. It’s just pure joy to work (well, more like “play”) with! I think that since I got it, I’ve used the palette every time I’ve done my makeup. I love it so much, this may actually be one of the first eyeshadow products I’ll ever have to repurchase! I hope they never discontinue them! If they do, I’ll have to buy like a hundred of them to last me for the rest of my life!
In other news, I’m back to the grind come September 1st. I’m going back to job at the call centre because odly enough, money doesn’t grow on trees and it’s starting to be more than real tight around here. I saved up for two months so I could get the few things I needed/wanted at Sephora! I wish a job at Benefit Cosmetics that had been in view lately would have materialised, but it’s kinda stuck in production hell. The woman who’d be my boss wants me desperately, but her superiors insist that she doesn’t need an assistant. So back to the call centre it is. I’m not exactly making cartwheels of joy about this, but it’ll actually fit in well with my upcoming semester’s schedule. And if the Benefit job does happen at some point, I can still take it. What’s most important to me now is to fraking finish my studies. It’s more than time!
Other than trying to get about a million ducks in a row, which I won’t all list because I’m trying not to completely bore you to tears, I wanna share what I’m reading and listening to these days. I always like seeing/reading that about other people. It really tells you a lot about a person to know their musical and literature tastes.
So here’s what’s on my nightstand (and my bathroom) right now:
Ash Wednesday by Ethan Hawke – the man has such talent to find the perfect word to describe a certain thing or situation
Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert – just plucked it out of my shelf again last night, I love reading aloud from it
Stars Wars – Anatomy of a Saga by Laurent Jullier – this is a brilliant book but it’s a really difficult read, you have to concentrate so hard if you want to understand any of it and three pages feel like an entire book by any other author; so I’ve been at this for a while now, but I still enjoy it whenever I open it
Bayou Folk by Kate Chopin – I had to read The Awakening by Chopin for a client a few years ago and liked it so much I decided to get this collection of short stories
short stories by Dostojewski – (in a German translation) I usually really love short stories, they are my favourite type of literature, but these ones are a bit weird, I’m not sure I’m liking them too much
The Once and Future King by T.H. White – such an original way to portray the King Arthur story!
and in my bathroom: Warte, Bis Es Dunkel Wird by the late Michael Althen – a book of essays about why cinema is so beloved, this was my birthday present from my Dad this year and I find it a fascinating read; Althen is a master at capturing the fleeting emotions of any situation and naming what so often seems unnameable
(I also have a Mao biography in my bathroom but I can’t seem to get into right now, I’ve read maybe 150 pages so far and I really like the content, but it’s just such a freaking long book, something like 1500 pages and it often overwhelms me when I think about reading along some more)
And my August playlist on iTunes, without commentary:
Almost There from Disney’s The Princess and The Frog OST
Americano by Lady Gaga
Angel Town by Peter Cincotti
Bang A Gong by T-Rex
The Beautiful People from the Burlesque OST, sung by Christina Aguilera
Best of Me by Amanda Marshall
Bionic by Christina Aguilera
Born This Way by Lady Gaga
Center of the Sun by Conjure One
Chattahoochee by Alan Jackson
Cinema Italiano from the Nine OST, sung by Kate Hudson
Down in Mexico by The Coasters
Dynamite by Christina Aguilera
The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga
Express from the Burlesque OST, sung by Christina Aguilera
Firefly (Main Title) from the Firefly OST, sung (I think) by Sonny Rhodes
God’s Gonna Cut You Down by Johnny Cash
Going North by Missy Higgins
Gordita by Shakira feat. Residente from Calle 13
Hair by Lady Gaga
Highway to Hell by AC/DC
Honey to the Bee by Billie Piper
I Am What I Am from La Cage aux Folles, sung by John Barrowman
I See the Light from the Tangled OST, sung by Mandy Moore and Zach Levi
Keeps Gettin’ Better by Christina Aguilera (ok, so I like her, shut up! she has a fantastic voice)
Lift Me Up by, you guessed it, Christina Aguilera
Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez
Make Me Wanna Die by The Pretty Reckless
My Girls by Christina Aguilera feat. Peaches
My Love is Pink by the Sugababes
New York City Lights by Sophie Ellis Bextor
Peachy by Missy Higgins
Pocketbook by Jennifer Hudson feat. Ludacris (this is an awesomely FUNNY song)
Prima Donna by Christina Aguilera
Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes
Short Change Hero by The Heavy
Single by Natasha Bedingfield
Something I Want from the Tangled OST, sung by Mandy Moore
Supersonic by Sophie Ellis Bextor (the PERFECT song for any geeky girl)
Tennessee Stud (live) by Johnny Cash
That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain
UBU by Peter Cincotti
Up! by Shania Twain
Welcome to Burlesque from the Burlesque OST, sung by Cher
You’re So Vain – a cover version from John Barrowman
Yoü & I by Lady Gaga (currently one of the songs I prefer singing when I feel down)
Down in New Orleans from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog OST
3 Spoons of Suga by the Sugababes
Rolling in the Deep by Adele
Everything is Ending by Chameleon Circuit
I’ll Be Waiting by Adele
Letters from the Sky by Civil Twilight
Skyscraper by Demi Lovato
Ave Maria Divita from the Bitch Slap OST, sung by America Olivo
You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me from the Burlesque OST, sung by Cher
Sunset Boulevard sung by John Barrowman
Government Hooker by Lady Gaga
Nightminds by Missy Higgins
Bang Bang Bang by Selena Gomez (the only other song on her When the Sun Goes Down album that I like)
Jolene by Dolly Parton
That’s all for now folks!
Live long and prosper, peace,
Anna
Oy to the poodles, already!