The Top 25 on my iPod (latin name: Dorkus Malorkus)

A few weeks ago I was chatting to Natalie about music and made a comment about how I had considered doing a post on the top 25 songs on my iPod, but I was vaguely concerned about what might be on there - let's be real, there's more than an even chance of at least two Partridge Family songs and probably 17 Doris Day songs. And maybe a Nickelback number... I should say upfront that I'm not really a 'music' person. When I was a young 'un I did hang out with a lot of people 'in the biz' - musicians, sound mixers,  festival organisers and so on, so I was aware of a lot of music, saw a lot of bands, hung out in a lot of (smallish) live venues, etc. However, I've never been (nor had any desire to go to) a stadium concert or a big music festival, and the most well-known performer I've ever seen is probably Harry Connick Jr in about 1991. I tend to like a specific type of song, and this list makes it fairly obvious what that type is - upbeat, jangly guitar music that occasionally borders on country and/or rockabilly.   

Mother's Day 2012

I don't really consider myself 'a parent' in the way a lot of people do - as something that defines me. I consider myself a person who has a kid. I never had any desire for a kid, and I never set out to deliberately have one. When I was pregnant I did not go to classes, when I had her I did not go to mothers' groups or playdates. I can think of few things worse than being stuck with a group of parents who just bang on endlessly about their kids. I can't stop myself from rolling my eyes at anyone who has any kind of 'parenting philosophy' and I would definitely be considered a bad mother by those crunchy weirdos who congregate in parenting groups online to point fingers and dish out judgement.

I don't dislike children as such, but they make me uncomfortable and I don't usually enjoy being around them (though admittedly that's probably more to do with not wanting to be around their parents - they make me even more uncomfortable). The few whose company I have enjoyed tend to be the precocious, socially adept types who will chat away happily to adults about normal things.

Having said that, my daughter Noodles is my favourite person, and not merely because she's my daughter. She's funny, clever, kind and I genuinely enjoy her company. We have a million things in common and a bunch of in jokes and I can't take much credit for how she turned out, unless going out of your way to avoid playing Mouse Trap for years counts as quality parenting.

She also knows me very well, and is great at getting me presents that I love. She knows of my fondness for daggy, inoffensive Chemist Warehouse perfumes, and what kind of dangly earrings I like as opposed to what kind of dangly earrings I don't like. She knows I like rings but not necklaces, body lotion but not body scrub, 60s kitsch but not 70s kitsch. And she also knows that I detest store-bought greeting cards (I just consider them pointless and wasteful).

As usual, Noodles came up trumps on Mother's Day. Chemist Warehouse perfume - check (love this one, it takes me back to the 80s). Handmade card - check. Pancakes for breakfast - check.

Perfect. 

Some Films You Probably Haven't Seen But Should

Big Fan  
Patton Oswalt is pretty well known for comedy - both in stand up and as an actor. Pretty much anyone who knows who he is loves him. However, he is also a talented dramatic actor, and deserves far more recognition for it. Big Fan is a film about a hardcore football fan who meets his favourite player and it does not go well. I have less than zero interest in sport, so the fact that I can be so engrossed in a movie that pretty much entirely revolves around football fandom speaks volumes about how much I like Patton Oswalt.

Red Riding  

This isn't a movie - it's actually a trilogy of connected films made by IFC a few years ago, and first up a warning: this is probably one of the grimmest things you will ever see on television. The trailer gives the impression it's about the Yorkshire Ripper, but it's really only the middle one that tackles the subject. The first and third delve into even murkier waters than those horrific killings. There's a great cast here - Sean Bean, awesome as always (but eeeeevil), Andrew Garfield, David Morrissey, Paddy Considine, and that cheeky little guy out of Misfits whose name escapes me at the moment. And for those who commented on how Mark Addy was a revelation in Game of Thrones, he shows some phenomenal acting talent in this as a man who finds out an awful secret about his family.

  

What Happened Was  
I'm not including the trailer to this because it is just ridiculous - it portrays this movie as a creepy thriller about a guy stalking a woman, and it's not that at all. This film is one of my all time favourites, and when it first came out in the cinema I dragged a bunch of different people with me to see it. It's a one-set piece about two colleagues who have a painfully awkward dinner date and find out they don't necessarily have as much in common as they thought they did. It's very low key, occasionally funny, often sweet, and oddly sad. I can't speak highly enough about this film - everyone should see it.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Tucker and Dale are two goofy hillbillies who go on a fishing weekend to their uncle's cabin in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, a bunch of college kids who have seen too many horror movies rock up to spoil their fun. This is an awesome twist on the slasher genre, but be warned - the trailer gives away a lot of the story.

Love Honour and Obey

No lie, this movie is a dog's breakfast - it's one of those ones where a bunch of luvvies got together to make a film and have a jolly old time and it ends up being completely insular and self-indulgent (looking at you Ocean's 11). The narration comparing it to Reservoir Dogs is laughable, but it does come from the Lock, Stock... school of gangster movies. There are some funny moments in it, and the main reason it's worth seeing is because of the soundtrack - Ray Winstone's mob boss is a karaoke nut. Also Kathy Burke is in it. And she sings. And she's a good singer. Enough said.

Mystery Team

I had never heard of this until a couple of weeks ago when some guys on a film podcast were talking about it, but their description was enough to make me hunt it down immediately. Imagine if Encyclopedia Brown grew up and was still being Encyclopedia Brown. This is a film about three kid detectives, now 18 and in their senior year of high school, who are asked by a little girl to find out who murdered her parents. The leader of the trio is played by Donald Glover, and this is exactly how I would imagine it would be if Abed made a movie starring Troy.

*Stupid Blogger will not allow me to fix the font on this, so apologies that it's all over the place. DAMN IT BLOGGER. GET IT TOGETHER. 

April Empties and Chuckers

My first post with new blogger layout. I HATE NEW BLOGGER LAYOUT.

I haven't been around much of late because my laptop is in the throes of dying and only works sporadically. Since I can't afford a new one at the moment and the only other spare one in the house is Noodles' weeny school one that my stubby Simpsons fingers are way too unco for, I'm not sure when that will change. But let's crack on while we can, shall we?

You Like Different Things From Me? You Suck!

 

Michelle wrote a post the other say having a bit of a rant about judgements from people when you tell them you're a beauty blogger. I love a good rant, and she has a valid point (though speaking personally I have to admit I detest the term 'beauty blogger' and never, ever use it to refer to myself). If I'm ever in a position of having to explain this blogging thing, the conversation is usually something like:

"You have a blog? What's it about?" 

"Oh, you know... makeup and shit. Nothing you'd be interested in..."  and trailing away into an embarrassed mumble. 

I don't deliberately keep it a secret, but I don't go out of my way to tell people either. On the few occasions I have, I've regretted it, because the other person has either been completely disinterested and doesn't even have the manners to say, "Oh, how nice for you!" or words to that effect, or they look at me like I'm crazy, which I think is what Michelle is complaining about, and (I would venture to guess) exactly what most of the people reading this have experienced. I feel like I'm being looked down on for what I choose to spend my money on.
 
However, I've noticed lately that there's a bit of an all-round trend toward intolerance of other people's hobbies, regardless of what they are (and full disclosure, I side-eyed Harriet Archer when she delved into scrapbooking). I attend regular work-related meetings with a woman who prides herself on not owning a TV, not having internet, and not having the vaguest idea of anything related to pop culture. In the first few minutes when everyone is shooting the breeze waiting for the stragglers to turn up, conversation inevitably turns to trivial things like television, especially if there's some big thing that everyone's watching (more likely to be Masterchef than Game of Thrones with this crowd). This woman literally gets angered by people talking about these sorts of things, because she has no interest and can't relate to any of it. (I have no interest in Masterchef either, but I just tune out of the conversation.) Yet, at the end of the meetings when the discussion turns to 'what's everyone doing on the weekend', she will happily hold forth for 10 minutes about her weird, obscure hobbies that only about 5 people in the entire world have even the most passing interest in. She likes some odd stuff, and if that makes her happy, good on her. If I have to sit there and listen to her bang on about it, I'm not that thrilled, but I'm polite and I understand that we live in a society (as a wise man once said), and these are the things one does when one is forced to interact with people they wouldn't normally cross paths with. On the other hand, she seems to be insulted if anyone dares to spend a minute or so talking about something she doesn't like, and makes it quite clear that she disapproves.
 
I was listening to a podcast yesterday where two guys were talking about a segment on one of those chat shows (The View, The Talk, whatevs) in which several older women and a middle-aged guy were sitting around talking about how men over 30 playing video games were weird. Again, this is the same sort of thing - people who don't have any interest in, or understanding of, video games looking down their noses at people who do enjoy them. These guys are avid gamers and devote a lot of their podcast to the discussion of various game-oriented topics, and one of them is in his mid-30s while the other is only a few years younger. Not surprisingly, they took great offence to a bunch of non-gamers judging them, and as they pointed out, it's no more weird than men in their 30s seeing a couple of movies a week, or watching a few hours of TV, or going to watch a football game.
 
I think it's human nature to judge other people and feel superior to them, and in most cases we can only do that by picking at trivial things like what hobbies they enjoy. I know I'm guilty of it (adults reading Harry Potter, people who like car races, the above-mentioned scrapbookers), but really - if they're not doing any harm, what business is it of mine how anyone else chooses to entertain themselves and spend their money?
 
Challenge: think about the people you judge who are enjoying totally harmless activities that have no effect on you, and make an effort to change that thinking. You'll be a better person for it.

March Empties and Chuckers

It hasn't been a good month for me. I've not been well for quite a bit of it, work is still awkward and annoying after the pre-Christmas drama, work and health stress seems to have made my hair start falling out again and it's thinning quite alarmingly, various people are pissing me off for various reasons, and blogging is getting on my last nerves for reasons I don't really want to go into because I can't say it without sounding like a bitch. But Natalie can. Anyway, the short version of that is that I haven't been wearing much makeup or using many products, so I don't have much in the way of empties this month.

Al'chemy Unscented Very Gentle Shampoo: I really like this, it's light and doesn't build up in my hair like a lot of shampoos do. I already have another one on the go, as I stocked up a few weeks ago from my favourite hippie go-to store, Echolife.

Avène Thermal Spring Water: I've had this floating around in my bag for about 6 months, and though it's nice to spray on oneself in a hot, crappily air-conditioned office, let's be real. It's a can of water. WATER. I think I paid about $8 for it. That works out to be $160 a litre. FOR WATER.

Gaia Bodycare Lavender & Frankincense Body Wash: I don't love the smell, but this has a really nice skin-softening effect, which is perfect for me because I'm too lazy to use body lotion more than about 8 days of the year. I have already repurchased one in the other fragrance they have - Jasmine and something. Again, don't love the fragrance - there's a vague hint of tobacco in it that's kind of weird.

Nivea Rich Nourishing Body Moisturiser: This would be one of those 'luxe' samples that came in one of those stupid monthly boxes (I don't think that word means what they think it means). I used it on my feet at night, and I have nothing more to say about it lest I get into yet another rant about stupid monthly boxes. I would not repurchase.

Silk Naturals Firming Moisturiser: I didn't like this much at first, but eventually came around to it. I found I liked it more when I mixed it with a few drops of Echolife's Rosehip Oil. I'm not sure whether I would repurchase; I think I'd probably go for their Intensive Moisturiser instead.

Perfumatory Body Cream in Vixen: The last of my Perfumatory products, I eked this one out because it was my favourite of their scents. I wish I'd bought an enormous jar or seven of this - loved it. I've bitched before about their lacklustre customer service, but I'd definitely go back for this - the quality of the body products is excellent. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have this fragrance anymore.

Only two chuckers this month, and one not even mine. This NP Set lip gloss palette came free with one of Noodles' teenybopper chick mags and it looks pretty, but the colours have pretty much no pigmentation. It also stinks - a hideous plasticky cheap smell, like candles from The Reject Shop.

And sadly, my Benefit Creaseless Cream in Get Figgy is for the bin. This was one of the ones I bought from Strawberrynet and it was way marked down - maybe $10, I think. Caveat emptor - obviously it was really old. I've bought others from there without problems, but they were more expensive so they obviously weren't such old stock. I decided to finally turf it after getting the ELF Cream Eyeshadow in Eggplant, which is a pretty good dupe for this one.

Inventory 2012: Pressed Single Eyeshadows

This may be my final inventory post. I do have some nail polishes but I got rid of most of them a while ago and they're not something I ever use all that much, so I don't know that I can be bothered photographing those.

Things I have learned from doing this:

1. I have WAY more blushes than I thought I did. 
2. I actually have fewer eyeshadows than I thought I did, though having said that, I have sold or given away a ton of them in the past year or so. 
3. I think I have a reasonable number of lipsticks, but I have a tendency to only wear the same half dozen or so over and over. I might need to do a lipstick challenge or something. 
4. Since taking my mascara pictures I have acquired two more, one from Beauty Heaven and one sent to me by L'Oreal.