Friday, December 22, 2006

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

It's that time of the year again... time for Domesticity to take its annual Christmas vacation! No, I'm not leaving the island right now (not yet) but I will be taking the next few weeks off from blogging. Normal weekly updates will resume after New Year.

Mele Kalikimaka e Hauoli Makahiki Hou!

Friday, December 08, 2006

Retiring the Makeup

A moment of silence for the following former staples of my makeup bag:

- L'Oreal Feel Naturale blush in Mocha Rose: I unintentionally broke the mirror in the compact, but you could say that it was a long time coming - I hadn't been using this one lately because it was beginning to look muddy on me. I saved the brush, though.

- Avon Glazewear lip gloss: Can't say which one it was, since I've peeled off the labels, but I opened it one day and both the texture and the smell turned on me. Straight to the garbage it went. It's been two years, anyway.

- L'Oreal HIP lipstick in Driven*: MIA since Halloween. Don't know where it went. The HIP lipgloss in Gallant is a similar shade and an OK substitute, though. I think I should also add that HIP is probably the best mass-retailer lipstick that I have ever tried - okay, this and probably Maybelline's Moisture Extreme - and I'll be happy to repurchase this one again, even in a different shade.

They say that you have to throw out at least two items to make room for something new. If so, I wonder what my next purchase is going to be? Hmmm...

In other news, I think I'm now doing a better job of grooming my eyebrows than any waxer ever could - either that, or the stress has gotten so much to me that I've practically tweezed off every unsightly-looking stray hair I could find. Mind you, I'm still keeping the basic shape that I ended up with two weeks ago, so I really should lay off on the arches for a while -- but, seriously, taking a tweezer to your own eyebrows (with a careful and loving hand, I should add; I most definitely DO NOT condone tweezing yourself bald) is the best way to kill time and tension between papers. Plus, if you look awake, you WILL be awake.

*EDITED 12/23/2006: I don't have to buy a replacement for this lipstick because I FINALLY FOUND IT! It was hiding in my bathroom next to the Q-Tips all this time! And the lipstick's name is Driven, not Defiant. Still, a lovely cranberry color, and perfect for the holidays.

Friday, December 01, 2006

YouTube with the Picture Off

Because I like my entertainment cheap, I often hang out at YouTube looking for songs that I haven't heard in a while. The key word here is songs - there are just some moments when I'd rather listen to the song (or browse another website altogether) than watch the video itself. It also explains why I've developed an addiction to the following...

- Nelly Furtado, "No Hay Igual" and "Say It Right." Let me state for the record that I am not a fan of the current skanked-up version of La Madame Furtado - not that I was that crazy about the "I'm Like a Bird"/"Turn Off the Light" era, either (oh, please, like I didn't wear out Whoa, Nelly! back in the day), but I like Nelly best when she's ponderous and wistful at the same time, like in her videos for "Try" and "All Good Things." Which reminds me, the guys in those latter two videos were hot hot hawt, and there's no way either Calle 13 or Timbaland are anywhere in that same eye-candy league. Take the video away from "No Hay Igual" and "Say It Right," however, and you've got two songs that should've been hits right about now: "Igual" has that infectious, speeded-up reggaeton thing going on, and "Say It Right" sounds like what "Promiscuous" should've been if Nelly really meant what she said about going for a sexier, more mature sound.

- Vanity 6, "Nasty Girl." Speaking of skanky, I remember listening to this song on somebody else's car radio and thinking, "Oh, how fun" - until I heard the ad-libbed skit at the end of the song (y'all remember what that one's about, right? the one that goes "I need seven inches...") and started laughing way too loud for comfort. Don't know if you could find THAT version on YouTube, but I'm just as content listening to this one while I'm washing the dishes.

- TI, "What You Know." Yes, I've tried my best, and I still don't see the fuss about TI and his hotness - good-looking, sure, but he skews a little too young for me. That said, if I had a car, and this song came on the radio, I'd be blasting this joint out of my speakers.

- K7, "Move It Like This." Going from Dirty South to South Beach freestyle, this song used to be my guilty-pleasure jam when I was in high school, and to this day I can't listen to the line "Lydia, I miss your rose tattoo" without cracking up. The video, on the other hand... gee, okay, I get the part about the ladies being "natural" and all, but did you even need to have all those cheesetastic, pre-Backstreet Boys choreographed dance sequences?

- No Doubt, "Running." The video that they do have isn't bad - it's a montage that darts between old No Doubt and current No Doubt - but it's not my cup of tea, especially considering what Gwen Stefani has turned herself into lately. The song, on the other hand, has a lovely, mournful quality that's just great for those moments when I'm feeling pensive.

- New Order, "Crystal." Again, I'm meh on the video (and that's where The Killers got their name? REALLY?) but belting out "We're like crystal, yeaaahhhhhh" alongside Bernard Sumner is the best way to blow off mid-typing stress.

- Nine Inch Nails, "The Fragile"; U2, "Dirty Day." The U2 one I don't have to turn off the video - it's actually the live version from the Sydney leg of the ZooTV tour, and Bono has never looked hotter while playing his own guitar - but the NIN one, also a live version, makes me sad because people keep throwing stuff at Trent Reznor while he's singing. HELLO, PEOPLE, IT'S TRENT REZNOR! Who in their right mind would throw stuff at such a beautiful, beautiful man? Anyhoo, 'tis a pity none of the Powers that Be thought that either one of these songs were good enough to be made into videos, because we're talking about some seriously stunning songwriting here.

- Me'Shell Ndegeocello, "Who Is He and What Is He To You?" The song itself was my first taste of HoYay! since I flew my parents' coop; it's so intriguing to think about a woman singing this to either a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and Me'Shell makes this sound so damn hot that, really, I couldn't care less which team she's calling out here. That said, it also makes me sad that I can't find Bill Withers' original for this one. Come to think of it, there's not enough Bill Withers on YouTube... and how sad is it that the only decent version of "Use Me" that I could find is actually... gulp... a duet between Taylor Hicks and Elliott Yamin, live from Birmingham? (And don't even get me started on how Taylor sounds way too much like Bob Seger on this one.)

- Gordon Lightfoot, "Sundown." The only thing more shameful than loving this song - or Gordon Lightfoot, for that matter - is leaving the radio on all day in the hope of hearing at least one DJ in Honolulu sneaking this song in between the ten millionth back-to-back playing of "Breakaway" and "This One's For The Girls."

- The Guess Who, "No Sugar Tonight/ New Mother Nature." Lonely feeling, deep inside. Find a corner, where I can hide. Silent footsteps, crowding me. Sudden darkness, where I can see-eee-eee-eee-eee.... WHAT? Oh, don't look at me that way!