The Best Thing A Writer Can Do Is Read

Before I realized that getting more sleep would be a good way to kick-start my writerly inspiration, I decided that doing more reading might be the ticket. You see, I’ve given up a lot of things since I became a home-owner... that mortgage ain’t gonna pay itself! Sometimes it’s the little things that matter, so I gave up (amongst other things) buying new books. Because let’s be honest, books are expensive, especially in Canada.

Thankfully, I got a ton of Chapters gift cards over the holidays and finally decided to use one up. My purchase was the novel 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami; I’d heard great things about Murakami’s writing and the novel’s plot seemed right up my alley. Indeed, this gargantuan book has everything: sex, espionage, an exploration of the nature of writing, parallel universes, vengeful feminists, cults, and paranormal activities.

This past week I was feeling like I'd made significant progress in the book, but then I came to a plot point where I realized the author had just set up the crux of the novel... 344 pages in. I am LESS THAN ONE THIRD through this book. D: It's like the literary equivalent of a progressive house song; it's 9 minutes long and the bass doesn't drop until 4 minutes in.

In any case, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Can't wait to see where else it takes me!

It's All Coming Back To Me Now

Slowly but surely, a change is coming into my life... I’m starting to dream at night again.

Let me explain. For starters, I always dream, that’s never changed since I was a wee one. And my dreams have never really been average, but quite vivid, fantastical, lucid, and extremely easy for me to remember in great detail upon waking. Seriously, my subconscious has come up with epic House MD episodes that would have put David Shore to shame. ;)

But I noticed that around the time I turned 30, my dreams changed. They became a lot more boring for one; dreaming about working in the office or watching TV with the family really doesn’t compare to dreaming that you’ve runaway with fairies to an alternate dimension and chilled in Father Time’s garden along the way. Not only did they become more mundane, but I couldn’t even remember them once I woke up, only vague feelings of mediocrity lingered behind.

I assumed it was just a complication of getting older, my brain just wasn’t as sharp as it used to be. Then, about a month ago, I changed my sleeping patterns. Basically, I got more of it haha. As opposed to going to bed around 11:30pm-12am every weeknight, I committed to going to bed at 10:30pm instead. Not only did I noticed I’d be far less tired in the morning, but gradually my dreams have gone back to being grand and vivid and epic. It’s not completely the same as it used to be (I’m still having issues remembering details when I wake up) but it’s definite progress towards a place I want to be in.

I never realized how important my epic dreams were to me until they started to fade away. Last night I dreamed that it was like 200 years in the future and I was canoeing down some Vietnamese river with a group of grumpy rebels working to repel our evil robot space-lords. And then there was a final showdown between our group’s hero and the head bad guy, and our hero killed the head bad guy... and then was somehow crowned the prophesized king of the robot space-lords and turned to evil. Which is when I woke up. How unreal, my brain is awesome. :D

Blog Topic #63 - You Are Here

Yes, you are here. Where is here? Here is ~*~*~THE FUTURE~*~*~

Exciting, no?

Let me explain. In the last year or so I feel there have been a few technological and scientific developments that really hit home the message that a lot of time has passed since I was a child. Like 3D printing drugs. Seriously. WE CAN PRINT DRUGS WHAT.



I know that technically the future never arrives, it’s always out there before you, but I don’t care what the people say, the future is NOW!

When I was a kid, they told us we’d grow up and live on moon colonies and vacation on Mars. None of that came true obviously, but other things did. We were so focused on the outer world, on outer space, that we forgot about our inner worlds, a world of DNA fragments and energized electrons. Before you know it, we’ll be operating on a quantum internet people!

More food for thought: this AT&T ad from 1993 that basically predicted the future.



We live in a world where you can video chat with anyone around the world (well, except for Syria right now), a world where a pre-verbal babies/toddlers know how to unlock an iPhone and find the YouTube app, a world where you can access real time photos and content the moment events break across an ocean. To some this may not seem like a big deal, but I am starting to find the present quite futuristic. :)

Blog Topic #27 - How Women Use Social Media

Another amendment to the topic title...

Blog Topic #27 – How Women I Use Social Media

(Because “women” are not some kind of monolithic hive mind, duh. We are, however, made up of individuals with their own tastes and preferences, and here I am!)

I’d say I’m a bit of a social media junkie, in the sense that the moment some trendy new app or website pops up I get an account and attempt to participate. Whether I actually use it effectively or at all is a different story. Let’s break it down.

Facebook – I have a very love-hate relationship with Facebook. I’m always bitter that I can’t be done with its terrible privacy settings and delete my account, because if I did I’d have no social life. :P I basically use Facebook to keep abreast of everyone’s lives; places they travel to, changing jobs or moving cities, getting engaged/married/babies, etc. Aside from that, I use it to mostly post music videos I really like, or sometimes geeky/feminist articles that catch my eye. My status updates are mostly about hanging out with friends or bitching about the weather. I don’t really get too serious or political on Facebook. That’s what Twitter is for. ;)

Livejournal – My first real foray into social media, I’ve mostly abandoned it in favour of other avenues. But from like 2002 to like 2009 it was my lifeblood. As a blogging platform, it was perfectly suited for me to squee about my favourite TV show and obsessively deconstruct every nuance of plot and character development. And similar fans responded! We became friends in real life! LJ also gave me a venue to try another highly specific form of graphic design: icon design. Not to mention all the fanfic I posted there. Seriously though, where do the kids post fanfic these days??

Pinterest – Honestly I still don’t really ~get~ what Pinterest is for. I only pop over when someone links to a cleaning related lifehack or pretty nail art. Otherwise I’m like “ugh, people, stop posting about food, food is boring”. :P

Twitter – this is my main hub of social media these days. So many other apps and websites revolve around it, it’s easy to make it central to my online presence. I feel a lot more anonymous on Twitter too (less of my real life friends follow me there), so speaking my mind doesn’t feel so fraught. I mostly retweet other people or link to articles I like. I’m a big Instagram fan and everything I create goes straight to Twitter.

Tumblr – I like to describe Tumblr as “Twitter but with pictures”. That might have been how it started out as for me, but it’s grown into this weird, unwieldy vortex of timesuck that I tried to avoid because, well, timesuck. Once I get on there, I start reposting all the awesome stuff I come across and CAN’T STOP. I come for the gifs, but stay for the intersectional screeds of real-talk.

From CDs to iTunes Downloads: a Great Gatsby Soundtrack Review

I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled blog topics to insert a very important post about Baz Luhrman, movie soundtracks, and how single song downloads have changed the way we listen to music. Yes, that’s right, this is a Great Gatsby OST post!

First off, listen to the soundtrack. You can either sample it on iTunes (I think it released yesterday) or listen to the whole album free on NPR: First Listen: Music From Baz Luhrman’s Film The Great Gatsby.

Now, personally, I’ve got real soft spots for previous Baz Luhrman soundtracks such as Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. The music from Romeo + Juliet instantly takes me back to grade 10. Everyone had that CD. I remember a couple of the older kids in our drama class even created this cool contemporary routine with the Radiohead song on that soundtrack in the background. Not only that, the artists selected for the album and their varying styles of music are so indicative of the time period; grungy rock giving way to peppy pop.

The Moulin Rouge soundtrack isn’t quite the same, since it was a musical itself a lot of the movie’s songs are included on it. But I think the runaway hit from the soundtrack, Lady Marmalade with Pink and Lil Kim and Christina Aguilera and Mya, kind of sums up the time period well in itself. Trashy pop y’all!

The thing about the above two soundtracks is that I bought them as CDs. And while it’s relatively easy to skip around to your favourite songs, it’s much easier to just listen to the whole thing in one sitting. Which means that you eventually learn to enjoy most of the songs, while your favourites are little nuggets of joy in the course of your listening experience. That’s how it used to be. But with the advent of iTunes, you don’t need to get the whole album anymore. You download your favourites and leave the rest alone. That’s how I usually do it these days, haven’t listened to a whole album through since maybe 2005. Until now!

If you clicked on the link above, you’ll see that there’s a 57 minute track with the whole Gatsby album on it. And I’m kind of digging listening to the whole thing as opposed to my favourite 3 songs. And the best part is that all the songs are good, but when my favourites pop up... nugget of joy! It’s making me very nostalgic for that old way we listened to music. Anyways, my favourites are:

“Over The Love” by Florence + The Machine – her singing is so epic and it almost feels like they couldn’t create a score to match that epicness. ;)

“Hearts A Mess” by Gotye – this is WAY better than his song with Kimbra. It gives me a lot of “Talk Show Host” by Radiohead (from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack) feels.

“Into The Past” by Nero – the closest thing to dubstep on the album, which y’all knew had to be represented for our current time period. It’s got a dreamy electronic feel to it.

Overall, extremely enjoyable album; I like it better than Moulin Rouge but Romeo + Juliet still holds the #1 spot.

Rating: 8/10

Blog Topic #88 - Shaking Things Up

It’s no secret that part of my identity includes the term “writer”. I’ve been writing one way or another (diary, fiction, etc.) since I was around thirteen years old. I’ve got a prolific fanfic resumé, I’ve been blogging for years, and I’ve got this dream of writing my own novel as well.

But in the last couple years, that dream stalled. It started first with a fall-out with fandom; without a new TV show or movie for me to be passionate over, my inspiration dried up. Then, I noticed that it was getting harder and harder for me to remember my dreams when I woke up, another one of my methods of inspiration gone. In addition to my usual sources of inspiration disappearing, there were other factors that made writing difficult. On the “there’s not enough time” front, I bought a house and found myself in a long term relationship, both things that I like to devote care and attention to (therefore diverting attention away from my writing aspirations). Finally, I started a job that requires that I sit in front of the computer a lot, and now that I’m a little older the last thing I want to do when I come home is more sitting in front of the computer, my shoulders and back can’t handle it.

So there are reasons. But reasons can also be excuses. I still want to write a novel, but it’s hard when your creativity is in a rut. Thankfully I found this article (on my favourite inspirational website Tiny Buddha): 8 Ways We Block Our Creativity And Keep Ourselves Stuck. I’m totally a victim of every single one of those pitfalls, the worst being that writing my novel stopped being about a personal accomplishment and more about its potential marketability. So I thought: “Self, forget about seeing your novel in Chapters and Indigo, forget about publishing and getting an agent... this is about creating something that makes you proud.”

Exactly a week later, I met up with a high school friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in some time and she was bubbling with excitement I hadn’t seen in her for some time. She had recently seen a musical that was inspiring her to try her own hand at writing a three-part tragicomedy script/play. I told her about my own lack of inspiration over the last couple years and my recent epiphany. And she said, “maybe there’s a reason we’re meeting at this moment in time!” I don’t believe in karma or synchronicity but it was still awesome to talk to someone on the same wavelength, who encourages you to follow your passions.

So that’s how I’m shaking things up. This Friday is going to be devoted to sitting in bed with my laptop and getting back in the groove of things. :D

Blog Topic #37 - Book Shopping (Buy These Books)

Another amendment: Blog Topic #37 – Book Shopping (Buy Read These Books). Cause being thrifty is awesome and more power to you if you can get these books at the library or borrow them from a friend!

Any list like this is going to be extremely biased and personal to the author, but I’m going to give its a shot anyway. These are the books that found their way into my life and will be a part of my bookshelf till the day I die or can’t read anymore:

Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie – This is a book that manages to be beautiful and poetic on one side while being frustrating and bizarre on the other. The real highlight is Rushdie’s prose though, in this novel his craft is at its height. It’s almost as if he’s plucked the words from the brain of some cosmic maestro. Well worth the read, especially with a couple different plotlines to keep the reader occupied.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth – Despite being alarmingly hefty, this book is one of my favourites. In fact, after I finished if for the first time I was saddened to realize I was only 20 years old and had already read the best book of my life. ;P You need to prepare yourself for this book. There are so many characters that Seth had to include a couple family trees in the beginning for reference purposes, and their stories intertwine in the most surprising ways. There’s also an in-depth focus on Indian politics soon after its independence, which can be dry for some (myself included). But I ended this book feeling like I had just read a story about my own distant relatives, that’s how real Seth makes his story.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – I picked this book as an English project in grade 11 and was startled by how much I liked it. Then when I was in university I bought a discounted copy and realized that I could enjoy the story far more now that I was an adult. In fact, the older I get, the richer this novel becomes. Bronte was a trailblazer of her time and it shows through the main character’s actions and the little soapbox moments the author throws in every now and then. For a classic, it’s completely relatable for a modern woman like me, which is why I suppose it’s a classic to begin with. In the end, I’m enamoured with the way Jane Eyre is a lot like me.

Innocence by Kathleen Tessaro – I think this novel is categorized as “chick lit” but I don’t understand why, other than the fact that the main character is a woman and she has relationship issues. But the book is so much more than that. Romance plays second fiddle to the angst and agony of past choices, finding your calling, and the figuring out if you have the courage to truly live life. I think if you’re someone who spends a lot of time inside your own head and in search of your purpose, you’d enjoy this book.

JPod by Douglas Coupland – Coupland is known for his unorthodox writing style and frankly I find it something to aspire towards! As someone who does a lot of technical computer stuff at work and at home, this book was so much fun. Completely irreverent and seemingly lacking any kind of cohesion or plot, you get caught up in a world where nonsense is the norm in an otherwise stale existence. Also, with bonus Canadian content!

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – Back to the Indian stories; I know it’s been interpreted and postulated for ages but who can say no to a fictional examination of the Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective? I have to admit that when I started the book, I was flailing a little because I felt like I was reading something mildly blasphemous. But after a couple reveals I was flailing in a good way. That being said, I don’t understand how anyone who isn’t Hindu would get the kind of enjoyment I did out of this book. Therefore I humbly request that all you non-Hindus out there find a copy and tell me what you think. ;)

Blog Topic #85 - How I Went From Very Shy to Less Shy

It was a two part process!

Part 1 - Grade 10. We all have to pick a semester of some kind of creative art for one of our course selections. Instead of musical instruments (which made sense since I was in the school band) I decided on drama instead. Because despite my introversion and quietness, there was a diva dying to get out. ;) I ended meeting some fabulous new friends in that class, and for the first time I was prancing around and dressing up with people that I felt comfortable around. It really built up my confidence, and I had a great time finding my voice and expressing myself.

Part 2 - 2005. Freshly graduated from post-secondary education and I landed a great job right out of school, at a multinational company. My boss was senior management, therefore I was suddenly rubbing elbows with high-powered executives while we talked about stocks and sipped expensive wine. Stranger upon stranger would waltz into my life, experts in their field with mounds of education and experience. In that sort of environment, I knew one thing: confidence was key. Maybe it was the company's culture as well (I remember people like the CEO asking me to call him by his first name), people were very professional but open at the same time. So I didn't approach the situation as me being the newbie in the midst of sharks. I saw the men and women around me as my peers, my equals, and interacted with them like it was no big deal. Sometimes, I would fly across the country and run meetings with teams of people I'd never met before. I was forced to be at ease in strange and new situations, and it paid off. Now, chatting new people up at a party is nothing compared to shmoozing with rich execs. ;)

Blog Topic #23 - My Mother is On Facebook

The post title is a bit of a lie; I’m not going to talk about my mother being on Facebook. I mean, she is on Facebook, but I haven’t friended her there because that’s going a little too far IMHO. But! She is one of my tweeps on Twitter, so: amendment.

Blog Post #23 – My Mother Is On Facebook Twitter

And let me tell you, no one is as hilarious on Twitter as my mother! She spits realness in the most hilarious ways. Some examples...

Disney buys Lucas Films...Is that why they were saying world is going to end in 2012!!

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 30, 2012

If I were in this debate i would either walk out or punch my opponent #debate2012

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 23, 2012

Trump should join a circus team!

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 24, 2012

Can you believe??Power went out At Superbowl.Epic fail #superbowl2013

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) February 4, 2013

When you listen to Obama talking about immigration reform you realize there's no one cooler than him on this planet!!

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) January 29, 2013

Some of Indian Politicians have truly lost all their brain cells!! #stupidityofIndianpoliticians

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) January 4, 2013

Poor Romney's website doesn't work. How can he become a President?

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 23, 2012

LMAO she has a block of angry Romney related tweets last October that are just killing me right now. She also conversationally tweets a lot of celebrities and politicians. She tends to livetweet popular sporting events, award shows, and political debates.

Blog Topic #29 - If I Were a Television Producer

My show would be the shit, I can tell you that much. ;P

Back when I was far more fannish and obsessed with my TV shows (a mere 3-4 years ago), I used to have the most vivid and fantastical dreams that were basically episodes of House, CSI, Bones, or Lost. I shared a few of them with friends and the reaction was generally "omg, I’d watch that!"

My TV show would centre around some sort of supernatural or mystical element in our current world, because as much as I love my scientific procedurals, nothing beats the kind of mindfuck you get from messing with the natural order. And while I love futuristic space-timey shows, world-building is not my forté. The cast would be a variety of ages, genders, races, and orientations. Cinematography would be a big deal, as would the attention to detail on any props. I would be very picky about choosing a composer to do the show’s score and theme song.

It would be an intelligent show. I wouldn’t underestimate the potential of my audience. The dialogue would be succinct but clever, the characters complex and misunderstood, the backdrops epic and intimate at the same time. Aaaand it would be cancelled before the season is over. Isn’t that the way of the world? :P

Blog Topic #84 - Downtime (What I Do Offline to Recharge)

I spend a lot of time online. More than I probably should. And I think it’s gotten worse since I got a smartphone. :P Thankfully, I have a number of offline pursuits to distract me from the shiny lure of the internets. So what do I do in my downtime?

1. I crochet – nothing completely clears my mind like crochet does! Your eyes and brain are completed focused on the yarn and stitches, and you have to watch what you’re doing (unlike knitting). And there’s nothing like watching a pattern come to life and take shape. The only downfall is that if you continue crocheting for too long, your shoulders and neck will not be pleased with you. :P My mom taught me the basics and the rest is I picked up from YouTube.


2. I scrapbook – I really had no intention of getting into scrapbooking because I know how involved and expensive it can be, but I got one of those Mambi kits as a gift and it all took off from there. It’s basically the real life equivalent of making your own desktop wallpaper in Photoshop, which is another pastime of mine coincidently. So I took to it quite well. I love all the fun stickers, picking out photos and laying them out with borders and matting . It’s nice to spend time documenting memories and the people in your life!


3. I watch TV – the offline pastime of kings and queens! I used to be the kind of person who was religiously dedicated to prime time dramas such as Lost, House, Bones, CSI, etc. but I find that I don’t have the patience for such things anymore. I prefer unplugging my brain with a lot of HGTV or something with Gail Vaz-Oxlade on Slice. It's not like there's a plot line to keep track of, plus it's usually educational!


4. I journal – like, in an actual journal, omg. It might not be as quick as typing (and sometimes my hand cramps up, hah) but every now and then it’s nice to meander with your thoughts and document things low-tech style. Old habits die hard; I've been journalling since I was probably 12 years old. Besides, I like the way my handwriting looks! Plus, journalling is extra fun if you're doing it in one of those fancy gilded leather dealies from Indigo. ;)


5. I paint my nails - I've become somewhat obsessed with nail polish over the last couple years and have amassed quite the embarrassing collection (embarrassing only because HOLY CRAP that's a lot of money spent on what is essentially crap haha). It's a great way to kill a couple hours and be creative at the same time. They may be tiny, but even a tiny canvas has limitless potential!


6. I dance - nothing like cranking up the tunes and grooving around the apartment when no one's watching, it's the ultimate stress release. It's fun, it burns calories, it lets me practice my pipes... what's not to like?? :D

What about you guys? When you're not staring at a screen, how do you spend your time?

Blog Topic #10 - Somebody Has To Say It

The best way to enjoy life, to truly see it for the beauty it holds, is to live in the present.

When we live in the past, we’re focused on what has already happened and cannot be changed. We fixate on mistakes made, words we wish we could take back, ways we were wronged. Living in the past will keep you depressed and angry.

When we live in the future, we become focused on the unknown. Life isn’t easily predicted or controlled, there are no simple outcomes, and fate likes to throw us curveballs too. Living in the future will keep you anxious and unsatisfied.

But when we live in the present, when we stop and contemplate the moments passing us by at this very second, the small grandeurs of the universe are revealed to us. We have weathered tempests and arrived. We are exactly where we are supposed to be.

So for today, if only for today, don’t dwell on what has passed and don’t fret about what is yet to come. Today is a gift, enjoy it. :)

Blog Topic #25 - Books I Want to Write

I have so many ideas for this topic because apparently one of my favourite past-times is starting novels I have no intention of finishing, lolsob.

1. This one is the shining jewel of my ideas. So you know the story of Rani Padmini and the sacking of Chitoor? What if there was one young noble-woman who couldn’t go through with the mass immolation and escapes instead? And she seeks asylum at a brahmin’s ashram, where she learns that he is secretly training a new generation of Rajput soldiers to fight against the invading Mughals. She starts to fall for one of the dashing young soldiers and ends up taking on the role of spy and infiltrating the Shah’s court by being his Begum’s maid. And then her she sneaks her paramour in to help him murder the Shah but they’re both CAUGHT and EXECUTED, THE END. God I love this story haha. Too bad I’m bogged down by historical accuracy, or lack thereof.
2. My second favourite idea is this epic eastern-fantasy type novel. It’s the story of a man who’s cursed to slowly turn into a demon, but really it’s about a girl who used to be the court dancer of the gods and was cursed to live in the body of a hawk. Together, they traverse the kingdom searching for a cure, all the while outsmarting suckers, battling with their inner darkness, and possibly falling in love as well. But just as their quest comes to an end, the girl turns evil and tries to usurp the power of the gods, but the man stops her, but it’s too late, they’re both thrown into an inter-dimensional wormhole. They pop out on the other side and end up in OUR WORLD, and then have to struggle with their new reality and FIND EACH OTHER. Another really awesome story that got bogged down by logistics, because I started thinking things like “is this racist against Persians?!” Sigh.
3. Oooh, this one's pretty cool. So imagine an alternate universe, medieval-esque Spain where magic and potions and sorcery are an everyday occurrence. There's this poor orphan girl who's going to magic school but she's kind of weak sauce power-wise but very creative and a good problem solver. One day her and a friend are fooling around with a book they find and cast a spell that somehow creates a portal. They walk through it and on the other side they find... a frazzled university physicist (in OUR world) who at the same time just happened to be smashing atomic particles. Didn't really know where the story went from there aside from the government and politicians and dastardly villains trying to take over the other universe in a grab for power, and it's up for the plucky main characters to stop them!
4. This one started out as fanfic and morphed into something else completely. Again in a fantasy world, a young warrior is out hunting when he comes across a woman passed out by the river. She doesn't look anything like his tribes-people but he takes her back to his primitive village and nurses her back to health. She doesn't know anything about their world and has lost her own memory as well, but long story short they bond and fall in love. Years pass and she's basically one of them until one day she's like "EVERYONE FLEE NOW *UNINTELLIGIBLE LANGUAGE*" and then giant mecha spiders descend upon the village and kidnap a bunch of people and it's up to our young strapping warrior to rescue his woman and find out what the ever loving hell is going on. (Hint: advanced secretive society that likes to build giant mechanized spiders and wants to take over the rest of the primitive world.)
5. At some point I conceived a stream-of-consciousness type novel that was loosely based on my own life but mostly inspired by JPod by Douglas Coupland. Think young woman working at a terrible tech support firm with the best bunch of pot-smoking, car-stealing, shenanigan-having friends a mid-twenties woman could ever have. But I'm not even a fan of books with no plot, so writing it was more an exercise in narcissism than anything else. ;)
   

Product Review Time!

I’m the kind of person that companies love, in the sense that when it comes to brand loyalty I’m the ideal customer. Once I find a product I like, I will buy it over and over again without much reconsideration. I may even end up filling my life with an assortment of products from a specific company just because I like what they do. I’m a creature of habit, ultimately. Which is why it’s surprising that I decided to branch out and try a couple new things from my local drugstore.

1. Perfect example of my brand loyalty: when I was 18 I got a free sample of Glycomed hand lotion and loved it so much that I used nothing else for the next 14 years! But for some reason when my last bottle ran out I decided I was done with Glycomed, it wasn’t giving me the results I wanted and I didn’t care for the smell anymore. I did some research online and read some reviews and ended up buying Jergens Ultra Care moisturizing body lotion.
   Diagnosis – wow, I am seriously impressed! Within a couple days my skin was already feeling smoother and softer than it had been in a long time, and now that it’s been about a week the appearance of my skin is less cracked and dry-looking as well. It even feels warm on my skin when I first put it on. Smell is nice, no complaints there.
   Overall rating: 9/10 (it’s so good I recommended it to my mother!)
2. My hair has been fairly oily for as long as I can remember, which meant as a teenager I couldn’t stand going a single day without shampooing my hair. But I’ve come to realize how terrible that actually is for my hair and I’ve switched to rinsing (and not shampooing) my hair every other day. But my hair hasn’t gotten quite used to this change yet, so on the second day it looks fairly oily. I’ve been thinking about getting a dry shampoo to alleviate this problem but I’ve got black hair and most dry shampoos are white powders. Then one day I saw Mark Anthony’s Clear Dry Shampoo on sale and thought I’d give it a shot, despite the lack of reviews.
   Diagnosis – uhh, it doesn’t do a thing! I shake it up and spray it on and nothing happens, my hair is just as flat and oily as before. Even the nice smell of the dry shampoo wears off within a few minutes. Clearly I should have gone with Klorane like the internet advised me. Maybe next time.
   Overall rating: 3/10 (at least it doesn’t make my hair look worse?)

Masterlist: Blog Project

I was taking a look at this blog recently and noticed there has been a precipitous drop in how frequently I've posted in the last couple years. I went from around fifty posts in 2010 to approximately twenty posts in 2011 to a measly six posts in 2012! I know the reason for this (I blogged so much because I was bored and spent most of my free time at the computer... not the case anymore) but at the same time I want to rectify the situation somewhat and find a happy medium.

Therefore, I am going to schedule a bunch of posts (selected topics courtesy of 100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write) and hopefully that will get the creative juices going. I need more creativity back in my life!

Niche Dance Videos: A YouTube Compilation

It's no secret that I am a big fan of dance music. Not to be hipster about it, but I was into David Guetta before he was collaborating with rap stars and such. ;) Anyway, I've noticed that there are a number of dance videos out there with a common theme of "young woman throws off the shackles of her day job and parties instead". Makes sense, because let's face it, dance music makes us want to party! So I thought it would be nice to start a running playlist on YouTube. Presenting: "Work Sucks, Dance Instead", for your viewing enjoyment. Be warned, most of the videos are NSFW. Dance music might be awesome on the ears but for the eyes... well, there's a lot of T&A to contend with. :P

Another iPhone App Round-up!

Here are the apps I am currently digging! Nothing like the warm glow of your iPhone screen to keep you warm on these pseudo-winter nights when it should be breezy but it's snowing instead. ;)

Overgram – As the name suggests, this app ties in with Instagram. All it really does is allow you to add text to a square photo and then save/import to Instagram. But if you're an Instagram/graphic design addict like me (and you like to quote shit a lot) then this is the app for you. Added bonus: when you import to Instagram your share will be pre-populated with a crapload of hashtags designed to get you tons of likes. There are varying levels you can upgrade this app to; 99 cents lets you remove the watermark, $1.99 opens up more font choices. || Check them out! - @Overgram


InstaWeather Free – Another app that ties in with Instagram! This one allows you to take a photo and the app will add your location and weather forecast to the image, then you can ship it off to Instagram for sharing. Perfect for bitching about unexpected snowstorms or rubbing in your tropical vacation. ;) I'm using the free version, the Pro version removes the watermark and releases other layouts for the forecasts.
|| Check them out! - @InstaWeatherApp


Robotek – Now onto games! The premise here: robots have taken over the earth and you have to use some hacked robots of your own to take over various "nodes" around the globe. It's a turn-based strategy fighting game with great music and lots of creativity. Gets repetitive after a certain point though, and later on the enemies get so hard you can't go forward without in-game purchases.


Supermagical – A bubble-blaster type game with a little twist on the controls and a very cute storyline. Be warned: the twist in controls makes this game a lot harder than most, plus you run out of coins very quickly, making in-game purchases necessary again.


Dungelot Lite – Dungeon crawling distilled to the essentials. I have the Lite version where you can only choose 2 of the 5 character types but even then it's still really fun to play. Basically, ye find yeself in yonder dungeon and have to battle monsters, find keys and treasure, rescue villagers, etc. No storyline, just pure dungeon. The mechanics for the dungeon crawl are a little similar to Minesweeper, which is an interesting twist.

Oh How Times Have Changed

I know I am super late to the Bollywood game but I finally saw the video for Fevicol Se from Dabangg 2 and I have A LOT OF THOUGHTS I need to share with the internets. First off, watch it yourself:

I have to admit that I was basically expecting Munni Badnam Part 2 and I love Malaika Arora for what she does with item numbers, so when the song started and Kareena's doing her thing I was like "hmm, meh... this seems low budget somehow."

Then Salman shows up and a lightbulb went off. This is a throwback tribute to the picturizations of the early 80s. Munni Badnam has a certain sense of intentionalness to it, as scripted as you can possibly get when Salman is involved haha. Fevicol Se strikes me as being less about us watching a performance and more about us watching Kareena and Salman having fun. It's supposed to make you remember the silliness of those old movies you used to watch as a kid/teen. It's a nostalgia trip! And it's unpolished in a wonderful sort of way. (See: Wabi-sabi.)

Also, ACTUAL INDIAN BACKUP DANCERS FOR KAREENA. Yes! More of that! I am so sick of seeing all these goris up in the club, it's distracting and I'm done with it. And I have to give Kareena props for her dancing; I remember how much me and my sister used to mock her non-existent dancing skills, look how far she's come! *hat tip*

And finally, LOL those lyrics had me cackling. Tandoori murgh? Namkeen butter? FEVICOL? SERIOUSLY?! LMAO brilliant. :D

People Are People

Similar to how I give props to certain iPhone apps that I like, I thought it would be nice to do the same for people on Twitter. You know, like a Five Friday Friends to Follow, but all I’ve got is three people LOL.

@Shakestweetz – Melissa McEwan: The premier lady of righteous progressive awesome, she runs the blog Shakesville as well, which is my favourite community for feminist sanity.

@cleolinda – Cleolinda Jones: The premier lady of pop culture geekery. I’ve been following her LJ for years so it was only natural to follow her over to Twitter as well.

@antoniaZ – Antonia Zerbisias: she calls herself an ecofeminist and I think the term is a good fit; my favourite columnist for the Toronto Star, she brings the leftist awesome with a Canadian twist.

Bleep Bloop

I think it's about time I once again shared the apps that I'm currently in love with!

Puzzle Craft – This game actually costs money but it was free one weekend so I downloaded it. Basically it’s Farmville meets Bejewled LOL. You have to play two kinds of matching games that grant you resources to grow your own little personalized village. It’s not very difficult, the sounds and music are wonderful, plus it’s a creative idea.


Songza – I’m pretty sure everyone and their dogs has this app by now. The premise is that you can find free musical playlists customized based on what you’re currently doing or what mood you’re in. You can find pretty much any kind of music, from 70’s blues to classic Bollywood to the latest progressive trance. A wonderful resource to discover new music or just set the mood.


Tweegram – Sometimes I don’t want to Instagram a photo, I want to Instagram a quote. When I do I turn to Tweegram, which allows you to type the text, give it a pretty background, and then import to Instagram (or Twitter/Facebook directly if that’s what you want). It’s convenient and the free backgrounds are rather nice; the app definitely fulfills my very particular needs. ;)


Houzz – So you’ve bought a house but need design inspiration, what do you do? Download this app and let the inspiration and pretty designs carry you away! Scroll through thousands of photos of bedrooms and kitchens, or search for that perfect oak headboard you’ve been hankering for. If you sign up with Houzz, you can even save your favourite photos.


Cinemagram – It’s like Instagram but with 2 seconds of animation. Take a video and then highlight what parts of the video you want to keep the animation going and which parts you want to stay static. This tweaking allows for all sorts of interesting/wacky/freaky video to be created, plus you can add filters to give it that hipster look LOL.