Chapter 240: Cruel Summer

Let me preface tonight's blog by saying that I am going to keep it short tonight. As a matter of fact, I have pretty well decided that, moving forward, I am probably going to start trying to keep it short every night. There are a few reasons for this at this time. Of course, there is the fact that, as I have been mentioning a lot lately, it just seems like there isn't all that much going on lately & I don't really have a lot to say. Actually, that's not an entirely accurate statement - there is plenty going on lately, I just don't have a lot to say about it. I mean, I don't know what to say about a lot of it. I don't know what I'm trying to say here exactly but it just really feels like I have been struggling a lot lately to find things to say. Another reason for making the blogs shorter is the time factor for me. It takes me quite a while to write a full-length blog, based on what I am considering full-length right now. If I am really focused on what I am doing it takes me a good hour or hour and a half. On a less than great night, when I am distracted or doing other things, it has taken me well over 2 hours to finish. If I cut my blogs down to half or three quarters as long, that will save me a LOT of time. Another major reason for this is because I feel like cutting down the length of the blogs will make them better for you, the readers, to keep up with. The thing is, I know I don't have a ton of people who read the blog every day or anything like that, but I think I would probably make it a lot easier to have more people read regularly if I made them a little shorter. It would be a quicker read and would probably be considerably less tedious or repetitive. I mean, I don't feel like my blog is ever tedious or repetitive but, xlearly, my opinion is more than a little biased. So, moving forward I am going to be keeping this blog much shorter.

Today was a pretty decent day. It was a nice, relaxing day at home. I didn't step outside at all today & I am perfectly satisfied with that. I woke up at 10am after having fallen asleep around 2:30am. I got up, ate a muffin and sat down in front of the TV. I didn't really have much left over on the DVR from this past week, so I watched last night's "Chelsea Lately," and then was pretty much done with the TV for a while. After doing my morning skin care routine and brushing my teeth and such, I came back into my bedroom and dicked around online for a while. I wasn't doing anything substantial enough that I can even recall it at this point. I basically spent most of the morning/early afternoon today wasting time, which isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes I really enjoy just sitting around and wasting time on asinine things... as long as it isn't TOO MUCH time. The initial plan for this evening, as of last weekend, was to have a girl's night with Whitney, April and Rachel. Earlier in the week we found out that April wasn't available this weekend, so we cancelled those plans. However, Rachel and I talked about it and decided that we still wanted to get together and just hang out at the house and watch movies or something. So, we decided to go ahead and invite Whitney over for that. She wasn't sure whether or not she could come but she said she likely could. Then last night she asked if Nate could come along, as well. I told her that of course he could - Nate is pretty well ALWAYS welcome to anything I am doing. So, the plan was for the four of us to all hang out tonight. Still, I tried to get a hold of Whitney today and couldn't get a response out of her for most of the day. I tried Nate, as well, but didn't get any response out of him, either. I went ahead and cooked enough dinner for four people, just in case, but it wound up that they didn't come. So, this evening wound up just being Rachel and I hanging out and eating enough dinner for four people. It was really nice, though. I have hung out with Rachel a lot more than usual lately and I feel like, after spending forever saying that we need to start hanging out more often, we finally are actually hanging out more. I really hope it continues because I enjoy it a lot. Rachel is awesome because she is one of those people who I can always just relax with - there is no concern of anything. We can both be perfectly content just being exactly who we are with one another and we always manage to have fun, even if we're doing nothing more than just hanging out and watching whatever happens to be on the television at that time. That's basically what we did this evening. We watched a random episode of "Clean House," and, after it came up in conversation at random, watched the movie "Baby Mama," which I love and Rachel hadn't seen before. We basically just spent the entire night talking, though, about all kinds of random things.

Earlier today during that time when I was just wasting time, which I kind of skipped through in this blog, I watched the most brilliant independent film on the Netflix Instant Watch. It was a film called "Timer," which starred Emma Caulfield, (from the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer,") and the gorgeous John Patrick Amedori, (who played Aaron Rose, Serena's magic disappearing boyfriend, in season two of "Gossip Girl.") This film is set in present day but has a certain fantasy element to it, in a very practical, everyday sort of way. You see, in this film, there was an invention created some time in the 70s or 80s or so that is an implant you can have place on your wrist, which is a timer that counts down to the day that you are going to find the person you will spend the rest of your life with - your soulmate or "the one" or whatever you want to call it. Now, if your "one" doesn't have a timer, as well, yours will remain blank until they get one. Fascinating concept. Now, in this world where this timer exists, clearly pretty much everybody has one because who wouldn't want that? The main character in this film, Oona, is on the verge of turning 30 and has had her timer on for half her life and it has always been blank. Oona is desperate for her time to come and lives out her love life in a "process of elimination" sort of way, where she meets men who don't have timers and dates them for a little while, then makes them get one to find out for sure if they are her one or not. If they are not, then she feels she doesn't need to waste her time with them. Still, all this waiting gets lonely for her, so when she meets the adorable cashier at her local grocery store, Mikey, it doesn't take her long to give in to his advances, in spite of the fact that he is wearing a timer that only has about four months left to go. I won't tell much more of the plot because I definitely recommend that everybody check out this movie - it is available on Netflix for Instant Viewing, otherwise it should be available in video stores and such. It is an absolutely brilliant film and I highly recommend seeing it. In fact, I recommend it so highly that I will provide you with links to buy the DVD at Amazon AND Barnes & Noble AND Borders. Seriously, pick this movie up - it is well worth it. It really got me thinking a lot about the concept of finding "the one." I mean, I don't necessarily believe that there is a "one" out there, although it is certainly a nice idea. I think the whole concept really just came out of lonely people needing some form of comfort about their love lives. Still, it's a nice idea. One of my favorite things about this movie is the fact that it is the story of a woman trying to find her "one," but the love story that this movie tells isn't the story of a woman finding "the one," it's the story of a love she has on her way to "the one." I feel like too many romantic comedies are focused on finding the one when, in real life, it doesn't necessarily work like that. In fact, for many people, life is nothing but those passing "on the way to the one" stories. There isn't anything wrong with that and I think this film demonstrates that really well. Once again, I highly recommend seeing this film. It is absolutely brilliant and really proves to me that there ARE still truly original ideas out in this world.

It's 4am and I should really be getting to bed but before I do I wanted to mention my newest makeup inspiration. No, it's not like how I will do my Barbra Streisand or Taylor Momsen or whoever else inspired looks. It is more just something that provides a certain type of feeling that influences the looks that I have been doing lately. You see, recently I have been listening to one specific album while I am doing my makeup and it has really had a huge influence on the looks that I have been doing. What album would that be? "Cruel Summer" by Ace Of Base. This album was originally released in 1998 and it's lead single was the title track, a cover of the classic Bananarama song. This album has a really big, fun, summery pop sound that I absolutely adore. It makes me smile a lot. You just don't find pop music quite like it anymore, which sucks. I was a pretty huge Ace of Base fan in the 90s and have recently kind of rediscovered them. It's really fun music and, like I said, this album has had a major influence on a lot of the makeup looks I have been doing lately. There are a few songs, in particular, that have been my main staples for makeup time - "Cruel Summer," "Donnie," "Whenever You're Near Me," "Adventures In Paradise," and "Don't Go Away." I don't know how to explain the influence they have, exactly, but I consider this album very light, very blue and gold and bronze colored. This has been the main influence that it has had on my makeup looks. I love it. Another thing I wanted to mention is this new album I came across earlier today. It is by a new artist, named Ashley Arrison. The album is called "Hearts On Parade," and it is pretty gorgeous. It is kind of reminiscent of Sheryl Crow's more recent work but with much more of a pop edge to it. It is really upbeat, peppy and positive. I would also call this album very light. It is really kind of a perfect summer album, honestly. I am really in love with it right now. Every song on the record is really strong but my favorite tracks would include the lead single, "Trying To Help You Out," which is a song about trying to deter somebody from getting too involved with you because you know you'll only end up disappointing them. That's definitely a concept I can relate to in a lot of ways. There are also two really sweet little ditties about love, "Favorite Thing" and "Walk Me Home," which I adore. Another favorite of mine is "Winter," as well as "The Hard Way," "California" and "Breathing." Like I said, the entire album is brilliant and well worth checking out. Definitely pick this record up if you spot it some place where you are picking up music. It is well worth actively seeking out on it's own even. Anyway, it is now getting closer and closer to 5am and I REALLY need to get to sleep. Goodnight.