December 2012 Topbox

 I realize this is coming very late, but again I am trying to catch up. So I figured I would post this anyway.

This is my second last Topbox. At first I was subscribed to Glymm, Loosebutton, and Topbox. But gradually each fell away. Finally I realized that instead of spending about $13 a month on subscriptions, I could probably just buy one full sized item each month.

I would really rather do that instead of sometimes getting awful products, but sometimes getting hits. Besides, my samples are piling up.

 

First, there's this powder foundation. Many reviews online claim this to be fantastic and amazing. It is extremely powdery and lots of it spilled out when I first opened it. However, the consistency is quite nice and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like this product. 

 Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser
I'm excited to have gotten this as a sample. I like Murad, and their stuff is often too expensive for me to buy on its own. Also, I know AHA and BHA does very good things for my skin, so I'm eager to continue trying this. The beads are quite unnoticeable, but I know the AHA and BHA should be doing the chemical exfoliation.

 This is bizarre. But I haven't tried it yet... mainly because of the delivery method of the hairspray. Yes, this is a hairspray. It comes out in a little spray, like a perfume would. Not the conventional method. It smells okay, just like a soft fruit scent.

Chloe perfume. Cute packaging. Matches the Chloe body lotion sample I got, which looks similar (taller opaque white bottle). Smells okay, not the best scent for me but I adore this sitting on my desk.

That's it for December. January is the last month I'll be receiving any subscription boxes! And frankly, I'm kind of excited to be free of credit card payments always coming out.

One Sentence Movie Review: The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey

Martin Freeman shows off his hesitant and cute Took side as he goes on the first part of his LONG adventure in a world filled with more special effects than ever before, endearing dwarves, with charming scenes and dialogue that stays true to the original.

Best and Worst Movies of 2012

I am once again compiling the best and worst movies I've seen in 2012. Now that we're in a new year, hopefully I continue to watch a slew of great and a ton of horrible movies as well. Granted, I've seen lots of movies that aren't on this list... but I wanted to mention the ones that stuck out most of all.

I also have individual movie reviews, if you want more in-depth opinions.

I'll best keep these as concise as possible! 

Best:

Chronicle

Basically a modern day Akira. Very convincing special effects, good (and timeless) concept, with a fresh cast. 

The Cabin in the Woods

Joss Whedon does horror? Funny, exciting, unconventional, and unexpected. 

The Avengers

Joss Whedon does superheroes? How could I avoid this movie? Great dialogue, excellent direction, great cast, using an old and traditional story line but executed well.

Prometheus

The dork in me loves this, and the original Alien film. Noomi is one badass chick. She can put up with so much.

The Dark Knight Rises

Batman. Need I say more? Oh, Bane. Oh, Catwoman. Oh, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.


Worst:

Underworld: Awakening

I like vampires. But I like Anne Rice vampires, not the new age of weakling love-triangle vampires. This just felt unnecessary and excessive. Lots of violence, not much payoff. Good brainless fun I suppose. But I expected more action. 

The Man with the Iron Fists

I feel like they're making these films just to show off. Yes, it looks cool. Yes, there's lots of violence and action and blood. But there is absolutely NO content or story.

Battleship

Remember that string of movies that came out all about alien invaders? Battle LA? Skyline? Yes, this follows around the same premise. Except there's terrible acting, and if possible I was waiting for the movie to end by around the halfway point. No one should want the action to STOP during an action film, right?

Total Recall

They don't go to Mars. That's a major plot point! It's an alright movie if you took it as a stand alone piece. But I must compare it to the original Total Recall, and it doesn't do the original justice at all. 

Resident Evil: Retribution

How many of these do they have to make? I get it. There will always be an enemy, and evil. I get it, as long as video game sales are up, they'll capitalize on these movies. But I feel like these are done to death. There's almost too much CGI and too many special effects. None of this movie looks real.

Pet Peeve of the Day

People borrowing books and not returning them.

I have a lot of books. Now, this isn't like the library in Beauty and the Beast... but I do have a relatively big collection. This comes from my father being an English major when he was in school, and from me also being an English major. This means lots of books.

Classical books. Contemporary books. Mostly fiction. All of them sentimental or expensive. I could probably list of all of my books, if you wanted to waste your time listening to me.

Which just proves my point: I know my books. I know which books I have, and which books have disappeared from my collection.

I remember back in elementary school I actually devised a book-borrowing system. This was before I knew libraries existed. I made little cards and slipped them into books like bookmarks and students would write their names on the card with borrowed dates and returned dates. Then they'd sign it. Since the little bookmarks kept slipping out, I fashioned a little envelope in the front covers of books and taped that down, and put the bookmark inside the envelope. There were two copies, one in the book at all times and one for the owner. It blew my mind that school libraries actually worked this way. It made so much sense.

But of course, being that OCD meant my friends made fun of me. I was too anal, and of course I couldn't keep doing that in high school or university. There was no way I was going to get socially ostracized because I wanted to keep track of my books.

But now that I'm older and I'm missing a few key books from my collection... I wonder. Should I have done this to all my current books? Yes, it'd look a little silly, but at least there's some accountability.

Where's my Macbeth? It isn't even my own copy. It's my father's, from when he went through university. They don't even make books that look like that anymore. Who has it!

Where's my Fight Club? I remember hearing I'd get it back several years ago. Years later, I'm wondering what 'soon' really means.

Where's my Haunted? I miss that glow in the dark cover.

And of course, other books come back tattered, ripped, stained, and bent. Come on guys. These aren't library books. I paid for them. If I didn't pay for them, my father did. They're not yours. Give them back. And I'll never lend anything to you ever again.

Catching up with Life

Hi life, how have you been?

I have been busy. I have also been a little dishonest. I've been busy but not so busy that I really HAD to stay off Blogger. It wasn't as if there was any pressing matter why I couldn't keep up with my blog.

It was more making excuses that I was busy, and the further I fell behind on my blog, the harder it seemed to catch up.

Logically, it makes sense. Obviously the longer I go without blogging the longer it'll take me to 'catch up.' That's assuming a post a day, or thereabouts.

However, if we're talking practically, it doesn't make sense at all. So if I were to go on vacation, I just wouldn't catch up when I got back?

So I guess I just let the fact that I knew I'd have to 'catch up' get to me. I didn't want to catch up. I want a thought-recorder to transcribe my random musings automatically to my blog.

But you have to start somewhere. And I'm starting here. With life catching up with me, it seems.

So it'll be slow moving. It'll be tedious. But it'll be honest, it'll be real. Like life, it'll suck sometimes, and sometimes it'll get better and give me sufficient time to get er done.