take your face off

since i posted about my morning routine the other day, i thought i'd post about my nightly routine. i know you're thrilled! i promise as soon as i get a lovely picture of myself, i'll post it, and you'll be like YES, THERE IS A REASON WHY SHE'S BORING US WITH HER ROUTINES. plus, i'm obsessed with beauty products, and love sharing, and hearing, tips and tricks.

first, i cleanse. i use this:

i really love this polish. the beads are super tiny, so it's not as harsh as other exfoliators. it's even light enough that you could use it every day, if you like. not sure i recommend that, however. i concentrate on my nose the most - i have a tendency to get blackheads - ew.

and sometimes i use the whipped cleanser i told you about the other day, and then i finish with this:

it's meant to be used after you cleanse. it has teeny tiny micro-exfoliators that really clean out the pores. it can also be used on your lips, which i absolutely love. the bottle says to only use it twice per week, but i use it more like three or four times.

after that, i typically end my routine using this:

this is what i imagine heaven smells like. you may think it's weird to use oil on your skin, but it's totes not. in fact, i was just reading in Allure about how you lose a lot of your natural oils as you age, causing wrinkles. anyhow, i'm not sure it's for everyone, but i love the way it makes my skin feel, especially the next morning, and especially after i've been exfoliating.

last, i slather this on my eyes:

i swear on everything that is unholy that it is the best for dark circles. remember this tip from The Beauty Department, when applying eye cream.

and that's all she wrote! if i'm feeling like i need more hydration, i use Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream. i like to keep mixing up the products i use, so my skin doesn't get complacent. it's kind of like going to the gym - you always have to keep tricking it to being the very best it can be.

what's YOUR night routine that you love?

visual referencing

or, what i paw through when i need a brain jolt.

Christian Marclay: Things I've Heard

Urs Fischer, Shovel in a Hole

Lula, Issue 16

Nick Cave, Meet Me at the Center of the Earth

AnOther Magazine, Issue 24

beautifying

i've been changing up my makeup routine to use LESS makeup, but get a better effect. i've also been attempting to get a good cleansing ritual down, to not overly aggravate my acne-prone, reddish-undertoned skin. it's also very important to me that my makeup last as long as possible, as i refuse to carry it with me throughout the day like a sherpa. so, here are my tricks!!

first, the japanese know what they're talking about when it comes to beauty. buy this. you can get it in japantown, in any japanese drug store. you only need a pea-sized amount (or smaller!) and it whips up into a lovely lather. cleanse for one minute. yes, one whole minute. you'll love it, i promise:

second, i use tea tree oil toner. i'm not picky on my toner, and i actually prefer to use the oil itself. (they sell this at Trader Joes/hippie shops)

third, i'm a primer gal. i love all sorts of primers! prime me! primers all the time! BUT the best primer for putting on your face is this:

yes, it is 45USD. yes, that's a lot of money. yes it erases your pores. you're welcome.

i can't show you my fourth step. lately, i've been developing my own foundation, since Kiehl's discontinued my favorite tinted moisturizer, and my skin is pale. very pale. in fact, it's rare that i "match" any particular color. so, to make up for this, every few weeks i squeeze BB cream (some i got at the drug store - nothing fancy - i think it's L'Oreal?!), Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation, primer (lately, Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer,) moisturizer with SPF (again - nothing specific, but i love Kiehl's everything) into a little jar and mixing it all up until it's a color i like. the benefit of this is that not only does it match my skin, it's also significantly lighter in weight to a traditional foundation. it's infinitely buildable as well, which i love. get creative - try it out. especially on a weekend. go to japantown and buy cute little jars from Daiso to put your new foundation in.

fifth, i just started using the multiple that's been around FOREVER from Nars. i love it. yes, i still wear "orgasm." no, i'm not 22. it looks the best on me, what can i say. it comes in a lot of lovely colors, and can be used on lips, and THEY claim eyes, but i find it makes my eyelids greasy.

sixth, i use Makeup Forever HD Microfinish Powder. i actually mix that with bare escentuals bronzer that my mom gave me once, for the teensiest bit of shimmer/color over it. again, i like experimenting to find just the right balance and the right color of makeup.

seventh, i do the EYES. yes, the EYES have it! lately, i love highlighting the inner corner of my eyes with a white liner for a bit of brightness. i also use this just below the brows. then, i use a simple nude eyeshadow (one from smashbox) to finish the eye look. if i'm feeling particularly fancy, i line the upper lids with the same Aqua Eyes pencil in black from Makeup Forever. i finish off with as much mascara as i can humanly put on my lashes before they get sticky. loving the Buxom Lash by Bare Escentuals lately, but i am not loyal to any mascara, since they all kind of suck.

i finish off the brows with Anastasia Brow Wiz. this is the bomb.com, no lies. i have patchy eyebrows and this is super easy to use and looks natural.

another VERY IMPORTANT BEAUTY ITEM is the following:

warning: this is like rubber cement. once you put it on, whatever you put on top of it will stick. forever. you will need makeup remover if you mess up, so i only recommend it if you have a steady hand. THAT BEING SAID it's amazing, and makes your eye makeup last all day/night.

what AMAZING products do you have in your arsenal that i need to know about?!

consuming: kitchen edition

Anish Kapoor espresso cups

Louise Bourgeois mugs

David Shrigley drug shakers

Ali Miller tea set

inspiring

this was not in the show, but it is awesome

went and saw the Christian Marclay show at Fraenkel Gallery here in SF.

the show runs through 25 may and i highly recommend that you hightail it over there to see it. THINGS I'VE HEARD gathers visual documentations of objects that make music and a whole host of other sounds.

CHRISTIAN MARCLAY: THINGS I'VE HEARD

also very exciting is The Clock, at the SFMOMA. i have yet to see it, and i haven't seen it before, so i'm quite looking forward to going to it. you can check out wait times for The Clock, here.

what i enjoy about Marclay's work is not only the spontaneity, but alternatively the deliberateness of his collage. using found objects, he "remixes" items to create something new and/or unseen. his photographic work is brilliant; Marclay finds the extraordinary in the mundane, and finds quirky moments that people usually ignore.

stereo / blindness

Stereoblindness (also stereo blindness) is the inability to see in 3D using stereo vision, resulting in an inability to perceive stereoscopic depth, by combining and comparing images from the two eyes. Individuals with only one functioning eye always have this condition; the condition also results when two eyes do not function together properly. - wikipedia

i'm trying to read everything i can about an issue i've dealt with my entire life, but only recently have realized the full impact of. i was born with, for all intents and purposes, a blind eye. my right eye, although bigger, wider, and (i think) prettier than my left, does not see anything but blurred colors and slight shapes. close one eye. look at something. that's what my entire life is (basically) like. though, i do have some peripheral vision in my right eye, so i can sense when something is there, even if i cannot discern what it might be.

since i've had it since birth, when i was younger i never noticed that i saw things differently than other people did. sure, i was shite at sports, but one look at my chubby physique could have told you that. i was deathly afraid of heights - even heights as low as the kitchen counter to the floor. it wasn't until much (much) later that i realized it was because i had no concept of how close i was to the floor, and felt like i was lost in space.

taking driver's education as a 16-year-old was probably the best idea. there is no way that with the self-awareness i now have i would ever be able to make it through a driving course. at 16, you're given the gift of invincibility (or, the illusion of it, rather) which allows you to get behind the wheel of a 2,000 lb vehicle without worrying about hitting everything in sight, because you can only see about half of everything in sight. my mirrors, when i drive, are my best friends. a few years ago, i gave up my car for city living, and i have to say, though i miss it sometimes (like when i haul two full bags of groceries up a steep hill) i am much less stressed out. i, again, didn't realize the effect driving was having on my psyche (i lived in LA for years and thought nothing of driving all day every day) until now - when i get in the car, i understand that i have to be twice as careful, but also i have to block out bad ideas and just trust that i have a vague notion of where i am existing for those moments on the road.

art was my outlet. perspective, as a concept, came incredibly easy to me, as that's how i see the world. i thrived in drawing class, but received the critique that my work was "flat." well, at the time i couldn't articulate that my life is "flat." it's hard to evoke volume when you have no sense of what volume is. through my artistic training, i was able to study objects and slowly build volume and shape in my work, which allowed my work to become more complex. now, i eschew all of that nonsense and take the flatness two steps further by not only working from photo swipes, but translating that onto canvas using embroidery. it's like i have upped the ante on flat. triple flat. perhaps that's my own rebellion? read more about artists and stereo blindness from the NY times, here.

after having cyborg Neil Harbisson talk at work, i wondered if i'd been complacent all these years. why wasn't i more concerned about seeing the world the way everyone else is able to? why didn't i want a eyeborg that could teach me how to see 3D? am i missing something huge? i never thought that there could be more for me - i just accepted this was the lot i had pulled in life. i don't know. maybe it's worth it? maybe it's not? i'm certain my health care doesn't cover it, so with what money am i going to get this magic eye? should it be about money, or is seeing the best thing ever? maybe i have the fourth cone? i'd rather see infrared and a bajillion colors like that creepy mantis shrimp (pictured above and below.) i want sixteen cones! i want to see all the colors! that to me would be far more interesting than being able to watch a 3D movie. or, you know, know how far away that car over there is.

what would YOU improve, if you could heighten your senses?

I SEE ALL THE COLORS! I WILL DESTROY YOU!

watching

documentary roundup:

on ACT UP, during the AIDS crisis in the 1980's/1990's

on the 1%, falling into the abyss of the 99%

on modern-day bullying - not so much focused on internet bullying, but in real life bullying, and the impact that takes on families/communities

fascinating tale of a man who wanted to be someone else

cyborgs are going to rule the earth

Harbisson's sonochromatic scale

at work, we have special company-wide meetings where a speaker is featured to talk about their work, either art, design, or a whole host of other disciplines. a few weeks ago, the most amazing experience happened when Neil Harbisson, self-proclaimed "cyborg," gave a talk about his art practice. Harbisson was born without the ability to see color, and for the past few years, has been developing an "eyeborg" that allows him to hear color, and therefore experience color.

i can't explain how wonderful and amazing his talk was, so i'll let him cover that, in his own words, in various articles, and a TED talk i found online. he's incredibly charismatic, and has a true thirst for knowledge and tenacity that is admirable.

from Slate, on cyborg rights: slate.com. Harbisson founded a non-profit organization for cyborg rights, called the Cyborg Foundation.

from the TED talks website:

http://www.ted.com/speakers/neil_harbisson.html

from huffpo Life As series: Neil Harbisson interview

and, finally, Harbisson's website

perhaps this piqued my interest so intensely because of my own condition, stereoblindness. i'd love to pick Neil Harbisson's brain about a cyborg creation that i could use to see in the third dimension. more about stereoblindness, running into walls, and only seeing in 2D later.

reading

in real life:

on the kindle:

on the internet:

everything written by Cat Marnell:

on xojane.com

her VICE column, Amphetamine Logic.

consuming

in no particular order:

new tattoo

lip injections

the next day, david bowie

can can juice cleanse

clairsonic mia

plane tickets to NYC

dr. brandt pore refiner

django unchained soundtrack

pill head leggings / dress

a cat

22-year-old me tells you that she went to three bright eyes shows in three days

it's a true story. here:

So on the 12th and 13th of February I went and saw Bright Eyes in concert downtown at the Orpheum Theatre. Now, you may be wondering why there aren't about 50 bazillion up close shots of Bright Eyes on my blog. THEY DIDN'T ALLOW CAMERAS. How disappointed was I. So you will just have to trust me when I say I had kick ass seats for BOTH shows.

The set list was basically a rundown of I'm Wide Awake It's Morning. He kicked both shows off with At the Bottom of Everything, followed by one of my all-time [okay, these albums] favorites, We Are Nowhere and It's Now [please, just download this one song- it's so beautiful] and then Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) (which is about a big old war protest that was in NYC.) Now i don't really remember all the set list from both nights, (and who really can?!) but here goes:

- The aforementioned 3 songs

- A Scale, A Mirror, and Those Indifferent Clocks, off Fevers and Mirrors (he played organ on this one- totally intense.)

- When The President Talks to God (this one got a standing ovation because it's the best anti-Bush song ever written. both nights it totally roused the audience. the second night it caused a tipsy Betsy to yell out "Fuck Bush!" You think I am kidding. I am not. And yes, I was sitting front row center.)

- Train Under Water

- Another Travelin' Song (phenomenal live!)

- Poison Oak (I have a newfound appreciation for this song. I mean, I liked it before, but now I can't seem to get enough of it. It really highlighted Stef Drootin, the bassist, who is also in the band Consafos whose new album is coming out. She's totally awesome- and a deadringer for Maggie Gyllenhaal.)

- Land Locked Blues (which I still insist on calling One Foot in Front of the Other, but I digress. Just Conor and his guitar. Heartbreakingly beautiful, just beautiful live. I'm getting teary just thinking about it.)

- Padriac My Prince (which was good live, and one of his most haunting [it outlines a baby drowning in a bathtub as a metaphor for a bad breakup] but its like he was only playing it cos he had to play something off his first album for the long term fans.)

- Lua (I cant even describe. You just really had to be there.)

and finally, the grand finale, the piece de resistance (pardon my french)

- Road To Joy. Which is the single reason why everyone should worship at the alter of Oberst. I'm not kidding. This song live is...intense. That's the only way to describe it. The first night, because he was drunk as all hell, he decided to climb up on the drum kit, which so totally rocked until some tool came out and acted like he was gonna catch him if he fell (it wasn't that high, mind you.) The second night he wasn't quite as drunk, but he still started "playing" his guitar on the amp, causing crazy feedback and noise and all around rockin' craziness. Totally totally intense.

But heres the thing, the amazing thing on the saturday show was, he really was totally trashed the whole time, but you could only tell when he talked. The music was still tight and perfect, he didn't even slur. That's how good of a performer he is. There was some lighthearted banter about an umbrella and tuberculosis, as well as some people giving him shit about Road To Joy being on KROQ (and rightfully so, as he has so railed against Clear Channel) his answer was that they must just have good ears at KROQ, and claimed they didn't give them any money. Who really knows, though?

The sunday show there was some bitterness over the Grammys. He was taking the piss about a song being simulcast to the Grammys, and introduced it as if it were, and kept repeating that he was really sorry Ray Charles had died. And then claimed that the fact that him and Billie Joe were sporting the same eye makeup was not a coincidence. Oh, and he's no longer vegan, because "I like fish. It tastes good." I know, you're thrilled. Is this getting boring yet?? Okay, and on Sunday, because I was tipsy and sitting front row center, I yelled a request, which he presently ignored. I really wanted him to play June on the West Coast which is one of my all time favorites, but to no avail. So there you go.

I mean, it was just so inspiring, really. It made me want to go and play music.

And THEN!

The next afternoon, I played the best hooky I have ever played in my life. I went and saw the taping of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson because Bright Eyes was on. They played Road to Joy, and rocked so hard that Conor had to smash his guitar at the end, and the trumpet player (yes I said trumpet player) smashed his trumpet into the ground. Crazy shit man, we were like 10 feet away from the band too cos it's a teeny tiny studio. Oh, yeah, i was in the front row for this too. It was neat, cos you could kinda see it building from the past couple days during Road to Joy- we thought he was gonna smash it Saturday, really. During his interview, Craig asked him if he was strapped for cash, and he replied "uh, yeaah, that was an extremely expensive guitar" and sorta laughed nervously. But that's not the best part. I now am in posession of a piece of that smashed guitar- which quite possibly might be one of the best Valentines I have ever received. Not the best, because the past two years Art (my dad) has sent me these totally cute Valentines, this latest one included a drawing of Cappy, so those are really the best ones I've ever gotten, really. Valentines day was tolerable this year.

that was long. 23-year-old me is exhausting.

seminal albums / 2000's

this was college / post college. where my taste changed the most, i discovered indie rock, and became a total music snob. i still listen to most of this music regularly.

when i heard "no lies, just love" it was a revelation. i devoured the bright eyes catalog, old and new, and have devoured every album since. possibly my all-time favorite band ever. it's true that conor oberst is my favorite songwriter, hands down, bar-none. i know what this makes me, and i don't care.

album of the year, by the good life. heartbreaking. amazing.

funeral, arcade fire. after college, i moved to LA. this came out the first fall i was there, in 2004. it summed up everything i was feeling. it made me long for a different place/time, but not one i had experience. this was transcendent.

wild like children, tilly and the wall. i believe it was 2005 when i discovered the tillies. they brightened up my rather gloomy/emo/morose musical library.

this is very hard to do, so i am stopping.

miss midwest midnight checkout queen

detroit

detroit

chicago

union pier

frustrating

eating a salad. nothing stays on the fork / too much chewing.

warm (read: moist) humid rainy days. at least have the decency to be cold and rainy.

nylon / synthetic fabrics. skin. can't. breathe.

police barricades.

pair bonding

thoughts on my dating life, brought to you by my dad

on when i am able to date, circa 1994: "not until you're 30."

on my future partner, circa 2000: "he'll not have a desk job. he'll be creative."

on the certainty that i will be married, circa 2002: "oh, you'll be married before the decade is out. trust me. before the decade is out"

on how he doesn't understand men my age, circa 2007: "they're all boys. none of them grow up. i can't figure it out. losers."

on how to trap a man, circa 2013: "spray some perfume on business cards, and hand them out. all men want is a scent of a woman. it's a great idea."

in response to my worries about my future (job/money): "oh, you'll be fine. you'll get a spouse and be set for life. set for life. meet a designer. you can build your own design company together."

side effects may include

most notable in patient x, tinnitus

drowsiness, dizziness;

sleep problems (insomnia);

mild nausea, gas, heartburn, upset stomach, constipation;

weight changes;

decreased sex drive, impotence, or difficulty having an orgasm; or

dry mouth, yawning, ringing in your ears.

an increased risk of suicide is one of the most serious side effects reported with the long-term use of ________, but this is common with nearly all antidepressants on the market today.

fruits

seminal albums / 1990's

the 1990's brought a lot of change to my musical repertoire. mostly because i remember more of that decade, and i officially went through the pains of being a teenager in the '90's. this spans ages 8 - 18.

i received my first CD player the summer (or maybe the winter - it could have been for xmas) of 1991. this was my very first CD. i was 9 years old.

this was the soundtrack of my puberty. i was 12. i was obsessed with gavin rossdale. it was my gateway drug into music.

my sister had this album. i did not understand it, but i knew kurt cobain was a big deal, and that the music was a big deal. i was 9 when it was released, but probably didn't listen to it until i was 13 or 14.

i was 15, and listened to radiohead and was obsessed. i still love radiohead. other notable british bands i listened / still listen to: pulp, blur, the stone roses.

went through a ridiculously long pink floyd phase. owned (and probably still have) all of the albums. this phase lasted until i graduated from high school in 2000 and i realized that no, i was not a stoner.