So this is attempt no45 to kick myself in the you-know-what, and to keep my blog (or my sorry excuse for a blog!) updated. It's kinda pointless, I know I'll probably end up neglecting it again in the very near future.. and I know, it's kinda pointless to state this fact, as I should be positive instead of setting myself up to fail, but what can I say... that's how belief works. I believe the sun will set tomorrow because I've seen it set every day for 27 years now every day, I also happen to believe I'll fail lamentably at posting here every week, because never in my past have I been dedicated/motivated enough to keep a decent blog rolling.
Not that I'm particularly busy or anything, especially now that I'm a professional student on strike... (yup.) I got a lot of time on my hands, time I'm almost ashamed to admit spending on less than stellar intellectual enterprises (ANTM anyone?). What's a girl to do though? I can't work, since I don't know when classes are gonna pick up again, I can't write my papers, because I don't know if I'll even have to turn them in or not.. All I can do is read, and as much of a sucker as I am for a good book, I just can't get myself to read for 8 hours a day. I would turn into a social science zombie!
I'd much rather be reading those physics books I bought over Christmas time too, but I get so tired of reading only from my classes, I can't even imagine myself reading for FUN right now. Which is mildly sad, but I can live with that for a few more years, just so I get myself a decent degree in.. something! In other news, I'll be attending the ACFAS congress this next month. Two of my teachers are lecturing on Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life, a text I wrote about in my term paper last semester and really enjoyed reading altogether. I strongly suggest the conclusion of that book to anyone reading this, it was published a century ago, in 1912, and is still very much of actuality. Anyhow, I'm really excited to attend, my research on secular humanism and atheism will surely benefit from the insight, and I'm curious to hear what my professors have to say about this subject at large. I know they're both very critical and passionate, as well as convinced anti-utilitarians, so it will surely be entertaining and insightful!
So since it's Easter, I'll leave y'all with a Easter-themed video from Deep Sky Videos:
I'm not one for resolutions, although if I were to pick one, I'd say spending less on makeup and more on healthy food and life choices would be first on my list.. *coughs* But nevermind this, I think if you need to make a change in your life, you don't need to wait for a new year to embark on your journey. I mean I'm all for setting dates for important things (I've heard it was a good tip to stop smoking to set a date for it and prepare mentally before you go cold-turkey). The most important date for me in 2012 will most likely be March 1rst, since I have to pick a major by then. It's SOOO SO hard, because I'm interested in too many things at once, and can't decide if I wanna take the long road and study physics, or if I wanna keep with the humanities and go into science of religions.
The latter seems to be the simplest option, I just don't know yet how I can succeed to integrate it into my life and grow into a... religion expert? Heck, if I'm lucky the mayas were right, and those existential questions are illusory and useless in the face of the impending doom that awaits us in December! :P
I was gonna do some "What I got for Christmas" haul, but then I figured.. who really cares that I got a coffee machine? So I'll abstain. I WILL say though that I got the Laura Mercier Oil-Free Foundation at Sephora during the holiday break and that I am IN LOVE with it. Also a big shoutout to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Sin, which is the most flattering shade and stays put FOREVER.
That being said, I also bought 4 books, to feed the mind as well as the vain beauty addictions, y'know.. so:
The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch
For the Love of Physics by Walter Levin
The Hidden Reality by Brian Green
Religion in Human Evolution by Robert N. Bellah
I started reading The Hidden Reality, and so far, besides some random facts about an old Einstein ignoring string theory as it became the leading theory, I didn't learn much. This MIGHT be a sign that I am watching way too many videos and reading too many physics forums trying to understand quantum physics and the theory of everything as it unravels, or maybe it's just that I only the introduction so far... ;) Spacetime will tell.. (huhuhu)
Here I am again, daydreaming of CERN and of Big Hardon....er... Hadron Colliders... (I know, I know, joke largely overdone..) I was watching these videos on interstellar space travel, anti-matter, dark energy and universe acceleration, y'know, basic, common knowledge stuff.. and I thought you know, those videos are really well made. They serve a purpose that I would like to serve too one day, to popularize science and cosmology, to awaken humanity from this deep, long, restless slumber it sorta fell into, starting with religions and ending the new religion: economy.
CERN, Switzerland
It just sorta came to me while studying sociology that.. we have all the tools, all the knowledge to bring the whole of humanity together in its first era of global awareness. We know what we are made of, mostly, we're on the way to understanding most everything in the universe, and yet, we barely use that newfound freedom of consciousness, that new knowledge, to make sure that new research brings us all forward. Instead, we divide the knowledge into workgroups, and target the greater advances and lay them onto the laps of the wealthy capital owners to dispose of. Worse even, nowadays researchers in all fields of fundamental science are being pressured to come up with results that will be economically beneficial. That's where knowledge is headed, and that is scary shit my friends.
Anyways, I'm done ranting for today, I'll leave you guys with two great videos.
This first one is for your brain
This second one's also for your brain, but on Halloween candy sugar-induced high
Say that title like Chong would, yeah, that's it. Doesn't that feel good? Now that we're on the same intellectual level, I'll take that time away from sociology and the (albeit fascinating, quite headache-inducing) works of Karl Marx to post some holiday makeup fun! Because seriously, who doesn't love the holiday palettes and lines that beauty companies come up with before Christmas?!? I know I love them, so this is my excuse to check them all out!
NAILS
So Nars isn't my go-to for nail polish, only because they have such great face products, I dunno.. I'd rather spend on a Nars shadow than a Nars polish, no? No. Nuh-uh. Not anymore. I am SOLD on the Nars polishes this holiday! They have a great set of kabuki inspired colors that I will most likely buy for a certain friend, I know she'll love these!
The second one is my favourite, and the one I will probably spend the big bucks on! It's called Endless Night, and the peeps at Nars deem it a black grape color. I'd say it's about right, it comes on super dark, and has hints of berry color in it.
Just another quick post, because I need to procrastinate my midterm paper even more.. *coughs*
I was watching makeup videos on youtube, and I just found a new guru I really like. I was talking to a friend earlier in the week about some great ways to find products that'll look really good on you, so I figured I'd share my tricks with you guys too!
The best tip: find a good makeup guru/beauty editor.
It's that simple. Well.. simple.... The trick is to find one (or better, a few ones) that look kinda similar to you. By similar, I mean skin tone, eye color/shape, hair color/shape/length, etc. It might seem hard, but you can pick different people based on different criterias. Like for example, you can find a good "hair dupe" for yourself, but she has a different eye shape/color, or a good face color/eye doppelganger that has darker hair or really short hair, etc.
For me, because I'm a natural dark blonde with blue/grey eyes and straight mid-length hair, it's fairly easy to find a few makeup addicts with those features, which could be considered typical "pretty girl" features. (NOT bragging or anything, it's just known that the blue eyes/blonde hair combo is considered attractive. It's a historical factual statement!) And well.. I dunno, blondes, we're all vain bitches deep inside, and we like makeup and beauty stuff. lol (Just for the record, that was NOT factual at all.)
Dee Snider, Twisted Sisters
So anyways, here are a few of my inspirations beauty-wise, so I don't end up looking like a girl version of this guy....
A heavier version of this would most likely make me wet myself. Regardless of what style it's sung into, this is a beautiful song, it could be country, it could be blues, it could be atmospheric doom metal, she made it her own with the voice/piano vers., I would looove to do a heavier, rock version of this. It's originally done by The Weeknd, I had no idea who the fuck that was before stumbling upon the cover.
Just a quick post to share this delightful documentary on whales and the scientists that study and protect them.
I, like Capt. Paul Watson, believe our action towards whales and other "intelligent" animals are highly representative of our ethnocentrism and of our (very) relative intelligence, considering the harm we (almost unconsciously) cause Mother Nature and these creatures with which we all share a common ancestor through evolution. Paul famously said he considered intelligence to be gauged by the ability to live harmoniously with your environment, and in that sense, we're proving ourselves to be quite inferior to these beings.
The title says it all, this is what my blog is all about I guess, a duality between my obsession with beautiful things and my thirst for knowledge. Zombies would be delighted with today's post, more braiiiiins! Let's dig into the good stuff. (warning to those seeking low-brainage: this is philosophical, an amalgam of social sciences and pure science in relation to human existence and the universe..!)
*gasp*
Yeah, that's right, you heard (read) me. Let's start with two Carl Sagan quotes, as food for thought.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
"If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?"
What I always loved about Sagan was that link he constantly made between scientifical and intellectual knowledge and the social applications and understanding of fundamental questions. His approach was always tinted with that open-mindedness and his awareness of the social aspect of his work, especially in his popular reach-out work Cosmos : A Personal Voyage and anti-nuclear activism.
Like Feynman, he wanted you to think of the answer yourself, rather than feed you the latest hypothesis as the only truth possible. Now I get to study society, and my goal more than ever is to drop that wall between the social sciences, which claim from their part to be a "different science" (more on that later), and pure science, like physics, biology and chemistry, who claim now more than ever that they can explain life and determine social behavior in a more scientific manner (in the field of neurobiology for example). Social science is different in that it has this flaw: you can't really experiment on societies. Well, you can, but that would probably make you something like a dictator or a mad scientist... Either case, not cool.
Like Sagan famously said, "We're all made of star stuff.". We are matter, and yet more than the sum of our parts, and yet still more beast than consciousness, stuck even in modernity in that pattern of duality, of polarity between the oppressor and the oppressed, the rich and the poor, the intellectual elite and the dumb masses, the physical and metaphysical.
I hope I get to ponder on these fundamental questions for a long time, and hopefully make a living out of teaching kids and people around the world to question things, and to be eternal objective critics of the world and what we make of it, especially now that we commonly know our Pale Blue Dot for what it really is: extraordinary and unique and so small in a universe so much bigger than us and beyond us even. Such vastness makes you ponder on how self-important we are in our alteration of our habitat. We didn't create the universe, God didn't create the universe, some claim it created itself in a Big Bang, I stand somewhere in the middle: sometimes I think we create the universe when we observe it, quantum-style, and sometimes I think there was somewhat of a big bang, because nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything transforms, right? So there had to be something before that singularity.
I wonder if dolphins believe in a god-type perfect dolphin-like Being, or if they have a similar desire to explain the universe they float in. I wonder if they ever looked at the stars and wondered what they were. I know, it seems perfectly random, but wouldn't it be hard for a species like humanoids to not only prove, but admit that another species on Earth has grown a universal consciousness, not only for its personal survival but for social and intellectual development purposes? We take so much pride in being "superior".
We're looking for life in space, but not really giving a rat's ass about all the life we have here on Earth, we take a distance from it through our growing detachment from nature and industrialization of basic needs. Why is there that double standard between human life and the rest of life? That moral barrier that is far more flexible when it comes to animals as food, perhaps because we have that innate, bestial need to feed that goes back to our hunter/gatherer origins, or perhaps our social experience develops in us a feeding moral code?
Do we give too much importance to owning beautiful object, and not enough to intellectual pursuit?
Fundamentally, what is life, what is the universe?
What is consciousness and why are we capable of thinking and creating?
Are we, as the dominant force on our planet, responsible for it's preservation?
Is religion a thing of the past, now that science exists, or do we still need its moral guidance?
Such big questions, so little time to answer because I have to go read some stuff for class.. I'll leave you with a last Sagan quote.
"Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge."
Ok, I have this fashion confession to make. I've been checking out new trends, fashion week action, bla bla blah, and I came to this realization: I do not ♥ clutches.
In fact, I think they're retarded, and defy the purpose of a purse, which is to NOT carry all your stuff in your hands. I just can't get around how unpractical it is to have a bag to carry in your hands all day/night long. What do you do if you're sipping on a drink, and then your phone rings? If you're carrying a coffee late night, and you have to hold your dress up from a puddle? It's all so uncomfortable.. possible, but just a hassle, I guess I like to have access to my hands when I need 'em.
Though perhaps I'd make an exception for this McQueen number....
I know, I know, they're like.. some fancy accessory for a night out, and those flat ones you can stick under your arm, yadda yadda. I get it, I even like it on others sometimes, but you will probably never see one in my closet (never say never, but in this case I feel pretty confident).
My bags all have handles, TYVM.
What do you guys think?
Do you own a clutch?
If so, do you miss your second free hand?
Partly to remind myself what I want to buy, partly to daydream of having the money to afford even half of it.. ;)
- This AMAZEBALLZ palette from Bobbi Brown, 8 coordinated earthy shades for 60$. A little bit on the pricey side, so this would go into the "daydream"category.
-This would be a more affordable option by the Sephora brand, in the colors displayed on the big preview (Almost Nude 09), retailing at 24$. It's all about the purple!
-Speaking of which... Here's my favourite new color, a nice deep greyish purple by OPI called I Brake for Manicures, off their Touring America Fall 2011 line. Also IN LOVE with this Nars shade from the new collection! The name is Galion, they describe the color as a "dark stormy gray", 17$.
-Also madly in love with Chanel's new Joues Contraste blush in Rose Ecrin (68), 43$ on the Chanel website or in stores. Perhaps I would splurge on that one, a good blush is essential.
-The Paul&Joe lipstick in the Uptown Girl color. Adorable, isn't it?
BONUS:
This is sorta ridiculous, but I thought it was funny enough to share... Tarte came up with a True Blood-inspired palette.. It doesn't seem bad, if you're into shimmery and glittery stuff, which I'm totally not. But the person that thought up the names? Gawd... The True Death is the most creative, but.. for a shimmery silver?! And then Waitress, a sparkling pink champagne color obviously, because nothing says waitress like champagne.
Speaking of True Blood, I'll leave you to some eye candy: Eric is back, mofos!
I think I need to mellow the fuck out, and stop thinking too much, indeed. But I still won't go around parading my emotions like so many others do. Is it so bad to be a private person? I guess that's why my blog will never really be more than this, a few posts here and there, random videos and random PMS rants about my unexpressed feelings.. :P Because yeah, there's a strong correlation between my.. lady troubles and my emotional outbreaks. Who would've thought... (LOL!)
So yeah, in sheer Katsy tradition, I'll end this video with... a blog. Yeah. I'll end this blog with a video. To represent how fucking annoyed I am by my random bursts of emotional distress. I do not by any means refer to the lyrics, for first we don't fucking understand them, and for second, it's something about a rapist... :P Enjoy anyways!
I'm at a crossroads. There's so many things going for me right now, and so many stressful events ahead, I feel like my head's about to explode! But enough about me, what about you?
LOL
Yeah, I don't like talking about myself.. perhaps because I'm deceiving myself enough, I don't want to inflict that on others. But then, am I really honest with the people around me if I go about life ignoring my feelings altogether, dismissing them as hormones playing mind tricks on me? Sure, scientific knowledge helps bring you back to reality and to the fact that time and space are really just the conjecture of what we experience as living things. But really, string theory and neuroscience don't love back. I need to start focusing on myself and making my own experiences, instead of living through others.
I need to feel alive, and not just like a living, breathing experience lab. Enough with the observing, let's go on the field! I feel rusty, but I'm ready to make efforts, to put myself out there a little more. Perhaps that'll help my confidence somewhat. Maybe it'll crush it, but at least I'll go down knowing I did everything I could to get that experience. I can live with that.
In other news, I watched the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove the other night... it's truly heartbreaking. Dolphins are absolutely amazing animals, and to quote Capt. Paul Watson loosely, intelligence is the capacity to live consciously in harmony with nature, and by those standards, whales and dolphins are far more intelligent creatures than we are. And yet, they are vulnerable to our senseless imprisoning and slaughtering, revealing the proud nature of men for what it is: foolish and unnecessary. What we do to these creatures is but a reflection of what we are capable of inflicting upon one another. It's unsettling.
This week was also the season finale of Whale Wars, and here's a link to watch it online.
So for those of you who know me, this ain't news, but for those that just stumbled onto my glorious(ly neglected) blog, hi, my name is Katy and I'm a nail polish addict.
In fact you see, I'm so addicted that, coming back from a job interview, I could NOT resist walking into Jean Coutu to check out the nail prodz. And of course, I left the store with two colors. One's a limited edition of Maybelline Express Finish in a nice banana yellow color called Sunshine, and the other is a nice peachy-pink sheer color by Personnelle, the Jean Coutu home brand.
Now I don't usually go for those cheap brands, but being in between jobs right now, that's all I could really allow myself to spend without feeling completely irresponsible. I don't usually go for sheers either, but the color was so gorgeous, and then, the fact that I don't have ANY shiny colors like that also helped, I didn't feel that I was buying something completely useless or similar to what I already have! As for the yellow.. I'm slightly mad I bought another yellow polish, but for 3$, that girl couldn't resist, and the other one I have from Sally Hensen really sucked, so yeah.. I thought for 3 bucks, I'd give it a shot, see if the application is better. Sadly, I find it hard to blend, just like the other one I have, so maybe I'll just re-gift it.. or maybe not. I don't know yet, I guess I'll have to try a full mani with it to really judge.
In other news, I was blog-hopping just now, and I found a great blog written by this chick who makes the most GORGEOUS jewelry! It so happens that she's having a Giveaway right now: beautiful "skeleton cameo" jewelry made by the lady in question, as well as a bunch of makeup courtesy of Morgana Cryptoria! Now I'd join for the jewelry alone, wouldn't you? Click on the "Giveaway" link to enter, all you have to do is follow the gorgeous Blix and tell her why you would love to win in a comment. Easy enough! And of course repost this, just so your friends can too have a chance at winning (and sharing!) the great prize! Ans if you don't win, you can also buy her jewelry on Ebay right here. I know I got MY sights on this ring...
I just love it to death (ha ah, get it?)...
Bad puns aside, follow this girl, not only is she pretty and seriously skilled at eye makeup (we could all use her pointers!), but she's a real artist, no doubt.
Now on that note, I'll leave you with some youtube videos, as per usual, but this ain't no Taylor Swift or Kanye West, haha. The first one is The Violation by Fleshgod Apocalypse, an AMAZING video and a great song.
The second one, if I didn't scare you away already, is by my friends of UneXpect, off their new album Fables of the Sleepless Empire, which will probably end up being my favorite metal album of 2011!!!
Also... can just about ANYONE have a duet with Kanye West these days?! Boy, that guy is a fucking song whore! Soon enough there might be more songs ft. Kanye West than actual Kanye West songs... :P (seriously, type "ft. Kanye West" on youtube, it's RIDICULOUS!!)
Anyhow, let's go on to some nail trends shall we!!! You thought ombré was a hair trend only?! Think again! Here's the How To, courtesy of Seventeen Magazine!
How-To: Start with shaped and buffed nails. Clean nails thoroughly with acetone polish remover. Do not use a base coat, as the blending for the ombré look will not work as well over a base coat. Work with one nail at a time so polish is wet enough to blend. Starting at the cuticle area, apply a polish in a thick layer, using a dabbing technique, about 1/3 of the way up the nail. Using a lighter shade, immediately polish, starting where the darker color ends, and "drag" the end of the darker polish up the nail to the end with the lighter color to create an ombré "fade" (so the colors look like they fade into each other). Continue this application with all nails. Seal nails with a quick dry top coat.
Sounds easy enough, no? To see pictures of what it looks like, click the Seventeen Magazine link above, it's the second picture in the slideshow.
I had to share this big, big fashion crush I just developed checking out Donna Karan (the Bunny Butcher)'s new Resort collection!! Expect no bunny fur, only absolutely gorgeous glam dresses that would make Dita Von Teese wet herself, as well as some awesome structured modern pieces, I was literally floored!
I figured something out over the years... I hate blogging just for the sake of blogging. If I blog, it's either because there's something I HAVE to share with people, or something I HAVE to get out of my system. Or both, like the whole Taylor Swift and Kpop thing, for example.
That being said, I've had a true awakening lately. Perhaps since my vacation, I noticed that I missed my friends a LOT. I mean staying home watching documentaries and videos on youtube all night has it's advantages... but really, I'd rather be out and about! So expect me to be quite the sporadic blogger this summertime!
/coughs As if I wasn't already...
In the meantime, here's an update of the MoA thing... well apparently she was a signed artist in disguise, and was found out, so she deleted her accounts with the kpop covers! It would hurt her indie creds.. but it's SAD, because she has such a lovely voice regardless! Reminds me of Adele, in a softer way.
Edit: Might as well share the results of my "ohhh, Adele..." moment after finishing this blog entry... lol This is my favorite song of hers. She makes singing exquisitely well seem so effortless... /sigh
Yaaaaayyyy! I wish it was for some deep essay about the meaning of life or the expansion of the universe, but no. This is a no brainer video dump!! :D Lots and lots of random ass stuff about the meaning of.. your mom. There!
Enjoy the crap! (as I know at least SOME of you will, hahaha)
First off we got some videos from this girl that does english covers of kpop songs (winning, as Charlie would say. No, not the unicorn, the other Charlie.) Two of my favorite kpop songs of the moment, too.
This had me cracking up SO MUCH! This is a MV by 4 Minutes, and it really sounds like they're starting the song saying "4 Minute Slut, 4 Minute Slut". Yet, the chorus is sorta catchy, so.. you be the judge!
Oh my, is it 11:30 already?!? Got two more! This one's addictive as fuck, and I guarantee you one or two laughs watching the video!
