Image via CrunchBase
Thanks to the invention of Netflix people across the world have increased the countless hours spent in front of televisions and computers. If you’re like me, most of my time on Netflix is wasted on scrolling through the endless rows of movies and television shows. Luckily, I spend an unhealthy amount of time on my futon watching Netflix. Each week I’ll weed out all the boring stuff on Netflix and post five picks of awesome (or awesomely bad) things to watch.
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For this bit of nail art you will need: scotch tape, two beloved colors, a nail art pen and or a stripper color, and patience.
Step One: Paint your nail a base color.
I used Square Hue’s High School Crush from the February 2013 collection
Step Two:
Once nail is fully dry –and I mean fully otherwise the tape will bind and dry into he wet polish and there will be no separating them– apply tape.
With tape on use your second color, in this case Square Hue’s War time romance (2.13)– to paint the uncovered half of your nail.
Let this dry completely, otherwise the nail art pen will dig into the polish–craving through the damp paint ruining your paint job and creating a mesh on your pen.
Step Three:
Remove tape and use nail art pen to make a line.
Line is not straight, like mine? The nail art pen can cover that up. 
.
Step Four:
You could stop here and have a Joker effect or you could add some more lines to spice things up. I went for more lines and ended up with this:
As I work on my nail art skills I will continue to use my soon to be growing collection of nail art pens. In addition I will try something other than lines so my mistakes won’t be as glaring. Happy polishing!
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When the nail fanatic bug bit me I went on a polish hungry shopping spree. One stop on my quest for color domination was Sally’s. I came across the Ruby Stone ( also called the ruby crystal nail file) and was drawn to it because of the cute protective case and the low price. At Sally’s the Ruby Stone was 2.49. 
I think it was just so different from my other emery boards, buffers and files, that I hard time adjusting.
However my issues with constant ridges led me to search for the sources of my problems. I came across many sites that indicated physical trauma may be a cause of constant tears, ridges, or nail splitting. While that seemed plausible, I never thought my tools were causing me trauma.
Alas, my buffers were thinning my nails leading to tears; my clippers were causing splits, so on and so on. My nails just couldn’t win.
I decided to ditch my old shaping tools and re-visit the Ruby Stone because I read it was the most gentle file on the cheaper side.
In my opinion The Ruby Stone’s results, price and durability gives glass files a run for their money. The Ruby Stone website claims the tool:
May be used in both directions
Dust from the crystals helps prevent splitting nail tips during filing
Special, rounded edge at the tip lets you to remove burrs, dirt and stains
Flat area near the tip gently and easily erases excess skin around the cuticle (when used with light, circular motions)
Reusable/washable
The crystals are of course synthetic and while i can’t speak for what chemical compounds make this work it can be used in both directions and is looking like magic my nails need.
In my naked nails series I will be chronicle my experience when using the Ruby Stone exclusively so check there for more information.
This week’s theme is cult movies. They are small films with a big following. Here’s list of some of my favorites that are available on Netflix.
1. The Toxic Avenger (1985)
The Toxic Avenger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Think of the most bizarre movie you’ve ever seen. Now have it set in New Jersey and you’ve got The Toxic Avenger. I loved The Toxic Avenger movies as a kid and recently rediscovered these cult classics thanks to Netflix. This movie has everything: over the top violence, raunchy nudity, romance, and pink tutus. You’ll mostly gasp and wonder how this movie got made. You might even want to write a strongly worded letter knowing that Toxic Avenger became a children’s cartoon. It’s an absurdly twisted, yet charming, 87 minute take on a misunderstood superhero.
2. The Evil Dead (1981)
Sounds familiar? This movie was recently remade/reimagined/rebooted into an all out cringe inducing gore-fest. While the original is not as gory, it is very creepy. The premise is your typical “teens trapped in a remote location,” but with the direction of Sam Raimi and the greatness of Bruce Campbell it makes the movie into something much more. The movie looks extremely low-budget because it was made for about half the amount of loose change one can find in their sofa. However, it adds a unique charm to the movie and pushes the creativity of everyones involved. Groovy.
3. Battle Royale (2000)
I’ll keep this simple, this movie was The Hunger Games before there was The Hunger Games. Battle Royale has everything you want to see in a Japanese movie. There’s action, drama, and even some romance. However, the main selling point is high schoolers killing each other in various horrific ways in order to survive. Unlike, The Hunger Games this movie doesn’t puss out.
4. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension (1984)
On paper this movie doesn’t make any sense at all. The movie’s hero, Buckaroo Banzai, is a neurosurgeon, physicist, and race car driver. Also, he’s a world famous rock star. Multitasking at its best. He has as many jobs as there are words in the film’s title. On top of all of this he has to save the world from evil aliens. Not much can get better than that.
5. Death Race 2000 (1975)
What’s better than driving at death defying speeds across open roads? Hitting innocent bystanders and getting rewarded for it. The title pretty much explains it all. There’s a race and death is in it. Also, it’s set in the far into the future in the year 2000 where death is televised for entertainment. Death Race surprisingly co-stars Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot actor Sylvester Stallone. Enjoy!
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Below are the products I’m using. I listed them in order of frequency, not preference.
Shampoo
Cleansing Conditioners
Rinse Out Conditioners
Deep conditioners
Deep conditioners I’m on the fence about
Leave- In Conditioner
Oil
Heat Stylers
Non-Heat Styler
Sealants
Occasional food stuff
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In my quest for blog worthy nails I will continue oiling my nails and staying trauma free.
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I have loved F. Scott Fitzgerald since I first read This Side of Paradise. To me, and throngs of others, Fitzgerald’s description of a generation lost to the shallowness of the pursuit of the American dream has been a cautionary tale. That sentence right there has more depth then the entirety of the new movie’s story telling.
Thinking of Fitzgerald’s works, including the high school mandated Great Gatsby, as a warning against the frail beauty money can buy, I was curious about Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby. The advertisements for the movie looked like they were trying to sell yachting clothes, but curiosity killed the cat and my hope for this movie.
Step One:
I re-read the book. I took down my well loved copy of Gatsby (that I purposely forgot to return to my high school English teacher) and fell in love with Fitzgerald all over again.
In high school, my teacher tried to push the notion of the green light as a symbol of wealth and while I still have my doubts, I am certain Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby is a love story between a man and his status–a man and his idea of his status. The main characters all seem to have met someone as careless as themselves and in their coming together there is a maze of vanity, lust, egotism, money, and emotional poverty.
Nick, the less than omnipresent narrator, makes the story. As the narrator, Nick allows readers to build the character of Gatz into Gatsby as the story progresses. Through what Hemingway fans call the overly detailed descriptions, readers are able to experience the slow motion collision of Tom and Daisy who “smash up things and creatures and then retreat back in the money or their vast carelessness.” (179) This retreat leaves in its wake the most frail character, Gatsby.
The magic of this novel is that the only love story is between status and recognition. Gatsby’s love of Daisy is an indulgence in his own ego. Daisy’s love of Tom is a love of lifestyle. Tom’s love of Daisy is that of trophy admiration. And Nick is well the only honest one of them, right? To bad this little nuance escaped Luhrmann in his quest to create the most colorful love story since Moulin Rouge.
Readers are left with a sense longing because when Gatsby fails the connection between wealth and attainment seem to fail. The party is over.
Step Two:
I re-watched the original movie. The 1974 Jack Clayton directed The Great Gatsby also came courtesy of my High School English teacher, who remains a source of inspiration . However, at the time I was too busy trying to figure out t9 texting and missed the subtle differences between the book and film.
The film does a good job capturing the superficiality of relationships that float around the Egg, but because everything is so without explanation it requires viewers to have read the book.
One aspect the movies covers extensively is the love affair between Gatsby and Daisy. For what the book reduces to a line “Daisy comes over quite often in the afternoons,” the movie shows lounging, dancing, and kissing ( the latest move goes further). The movie portrays the two as so close it shocking when Daisy doesn’t run away with her love toy. But those who read the book will know the author leaves the depth of their romance unknown because it was likely unknown to the characters themselves. But who watches a movie for repressed physical desires? Certainly not Baz.
There is of course also the movement of scenes and difference in conversation partner, but that is to be expected in any adaptation and besides all the crucial parts are still there.
Overall I would go 4 of 5 stars. And did so on Netflix.
Step Three:
I watched the Baz Luhrmann movie. I sighed.
Seriously, what in the hell was this?
Fitzgerald’s Gatsby was a beautiful tragedy of the failure of wealth. Luhrmann’s Gatsby was a hard-fought and painfully tragic love story. BIG DIFFERENCE.
The movie reminded me of his other two movies: Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge lots of color, lots of movement, lots of adaptation of a someone else’s brilliance. The problem with this movie is that Baz Luhrmann is not a critical reader. I will restrain myself from calling this man an idiot and “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that [I’ve] had.” By the way that line didn’t make it in the movies.
Luhrmann’s film seems to disregard much of the subtlety that makes Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby a classic. No longer are the characters egotistical maniacs with money to blow they are soft sentimental characters.
So now you are supposed to pity Daisy who was too weak, rather than too vain, to follow her great love. Fine. Then why maintain Fitzgerald’s quality of making her so distant and shallow? Then why keep the line about hoping her daughter being a “pretty little fool?” Seems like the inclusion of her mediation on her daughter should mean something since her daughter is only in the movie once.
You are supposed to believe Gatsby loves Daisy? Then why focus on how he won’t run away with her? Seems that would be the opportune thing to do…unless of course Gatsby had something to prove.
Overall, this movie is gorgeous, but it is certainly not the telling of classic.
Other things I HATED:
Netflix rating: 2 of 5
Step Four:
I posted this.
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Etsy said I might like this and Etsy was right!
[Product Name]:CoCo Castor Pudding
[Product Price]: $10.00
[Product Size]: 8 ounces
Ingredients]:Purified water, Coconut & Castor Oil, Agave Nectar, Mango Butter,BTMS (emulsifier), Cetyl Esters ( thickener) Candelilla Wax, Vegetable Glycerin, Coconut Milk, Agave Nectar, Potassium Sorbate, Optiphen ( paraben free preservative), fragrance and inner beauty.
[Product Directions]: Apply to wet hair after you have washed and conditioned. Style as desired.
[Products Claims]:The perfect synergy of a styling aid and moisturizer!The pudding is great for waves, twists, braids, taming edges/frizz and protective styles.
[Product Scent]:Coconut like
[Product Consistency]: Pudding is the perfect name for this because it is somewhere between a yogurt and pudding consistency. The mixture spreads well in your hands and lends to easy distribution. Leaves no sticky film.
[Product Realities]: This product can be used on wet or dry hair as it is non-faking, but I find it best on damp hair. I am a rollerset girl and us this to give a little life to my pin curls at times, but I mostly use it for my mini protective styles.
Once my set falls and I am not feeling like bunning I twist or braid my hair and pin it up. I use this after misting my dry hair with my leave in and water mix. I then use a about a quarter and dime size (35 cents)
amount of this product from ends to about an inch from roots and style. I leave the twist or braids in for 2-3 days and then where my hair down.
The resulting twist/braid out is always light and molded–never crunchy or flaking. Admittedly the out style will only last for two days because the hold is so light. Howev
er, that doesn’t bother me because as the pattern falls it is soft, moisturized and smells good.
I would repurchase because:
The vendor was very responsive and polite and has occasional sales.
The products fits my need for a moisturizer with a light hold.
herampersandhim 