Monday, February 27, 2012

Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Black Friday


Growing up as a Baha’i, I didn’t have much exposure to Christian traditions other than Christmas and Easter. Even with these two holidays, all I knew about when I was younger was that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, Easter has something to do with His death, and on both days, people get presents. I didn’t know because no one had really taught me. My parents probably told me what these various days celebrated but I felt too excluded by my lack of a tree and inexperience with egg hunting to take any of it in.
Then I heard about Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday. I have read about these on Wikipedia and I know that they relate to the crucifixion of Jesus and I have asked my classmates about them but I don’t have a good idea of the spirit of these days because of my lack of exposure to them. Are they holidays or holy days? How significant are these days? Do different sects celebrate them in different ways? I really don’t know. 
Hearing about Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday brought the opportunity to learn about Lent. In elementary school, kids would talk about giving up chocolate or Rugrats for a period of time but that was it. No one talked about why they gave up these things or what it meant. 
In middle school, I learned about Black Friday. To a fifth grade me, it was another Christian holiday named by an adjective and a day of the week. I had no idea what it was but I knew that stores loved it. Hearing people talk about “participating” in Black Friday really confused me and asking what it was embarrassed me. To be honest, I didn’t know that it was a day dedicated to America’s obsession with material things until a few years ago.        
On Wednesday when I saw a black cross on a forehead for the first time that year, I had to do a double take. Every year, I see people displaying the symbol and every year I have to ask in order to remember what it’s for. After only seeing it on two athletic girls before lunch I thought, “spirit day?”. Upon seeing it on a parent volunteer and a few guys later in the day, I rushed to my next period to ask people in my class. I then proceeded with a brief interrogation with my peers about the origin, significance, and execution of this tradition. 
It’s strange to me that people don’t like to talk about religion. Because it is one of those topics that everyone has some sort of connection to—whether or not one believes in God— I see it as an important factor in someone’s identity. Why have I only been exposed to the materialistic side of Christian holidays? I mean, really. I knew about Black Friday before I knew about actual Christian celebrations. And for some reason, I’m capitalizing it even thought it’s not a real thing!  If people talked about religion, maybe I would know more about these holidays and maybe others would know about Baha’i holidays, making it less awkward to sneak away during lunch for three weeks while I fast. 
Then there is the other angle on this issue. Once a year, Christians abstain from partaking in something that they enjoy, draw a symbol of religious devotion on their foreheads, and prepare for the coming of an important day with a period of reverence.  So then why are some people so weirded out by fasting, religious clothing, and periods of reverence when expressed by an unfamiliar faith?
There are so many themes that connect each religion and so many similarities that get looked over. Instead of being afraid of offending others by expressing differing beliefs, people should be open torespectfully- talking about God and faith. We all have a personal relationship with religion and whether it is a positive or a negative one, we all have something to say and something to agree about.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Dots!

I have made a decision: from now on, Friday is Nailday. So, without further ado, the first official Nailday post!

The goods: All of the polished I used for this look are Sally Hansen and the colors are as follows—Double Duty base and top coat, Sea in the Smooth and Perfect line, and Pat on the Black in the Complete Salon Manicure line.

Paint nails a solid color. I got Sea intending for it to be a light pistachio but it turned out to look mostly white. While it was a disappointing at first. it works well with the dark purple spots.
Dotting time! Get a medium-large dotting tool —I used a clicky pen with a rounded click thing (do official terms for these things exist?). Create three dots in the middle of the nail and it doesn't really matter if the dots get cut off by the length of your nail but don't let the dots touch!
Get a smaller dotting tool and create three dots on each side of the larger dots. TA DA!! Easy, right? And now, all there is left to do is dazzle. And finish it off with a top coat.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

EEE!

When I was trying to figure out a name for this blog, I was really frustrated by all of the people who had taken the good blog titles, posted a few times in the early 2000s, and then disappeared.

I don't want to be like those people.

Obviously, I won't be able to post in the early 2000s and there probably aren't many people who want to name their blog after me but I would like to think of this blog as a regular thing. I'm thinking maybe 2 or 3 times a week but it's also difficult because I have been recently assigned to write blog posts every week for a project in my English class and those posts are being graded i.e. they have to be "thought provoking" and can't be about nails.  I have a ton of thoughts floating around in my mind that I want to type up and as soon as I can find the initiative to do it, I will!!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Kissy Kissy!

Happy Valentines's Day!!

I'm never really excited about February 14th because in my mind, people who love each other shouldn't need a day to remind themselves of that love but at least I get candy at school. See, there is always an upside to even the most useless of days. For example, don't think President(s/'s/s') Day deserves a day off from school? Boom! Wrong! Presidents(s/'s/s') Day is the perfect time to buy a mattress.  Once again, another perfectly good reason to "celebrate" something that doesn't mean anything and in my opinion, Hallmark should jump on the President(s/'s/s') Day bandwagon and make some patriotic cards for people to send to their patriotic friends.

But back to today, I guess I'm more comfortable with V-tine's Day when it is more about things that are cute, lovable, and generally adorable than "love". Because aren't kittens and Zooey Deschanel more enjoyable than sitting near people using pet names?

P.S.  I have a challenge for humanity: come up with something that allows people to change the color of their lips (not like lipstick, I'm talking about a pill or something that grants magic powers) just by thinking about wanting to change lip color. If this happens, I will no long need to fumble around with stupid tubes filled with whatever gunk they put in lip products. Also, it would be cool.

P.P.S. I left my phone on the school bus today and that makes me sad.

P.P.P.S. Click here for the PERFECT love song to share with a soon to be special someone

P.P.P.P.S. Should I be putting periods after the post script abbreviations?

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Bluest Eye(s)

Once again, it's fashion week. And while I won't have the pleasure of being in New York and taking in all of that stylish energy, I can rely on the internet to be my eyes and ears in the tents.

When I saw this picture from the NYT magazine's slideshow of the Prabal Gurung show, I had to post it. I love the emphasis on the intensity of the blue and black and the disappearing model. It shows the spirit and versatility of fashion through the juxtaposition of a soft-looking model and the intense styling.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Valentine's Day Nails

I think the image is pretty self explanatory...

And just as a little comment, I had originally painted my nails a very light shade of pink(which I never do) and after getting bored with it, which took only a few hours, I decided to jazz up the look. Naturally, because Valentine's Day is coming up, the negative space heart thing came into being. Ta Da!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Fault In Our Stars

I finished reading John Green's most recent novel, The Fault In Our Stars, about a week ago but I have been putting off writing anything about it. As a nerdfighter, I decided to preorder the book to ensure a signed copy but I wasn't too into reading it. Most of the reviews of John's previous books that I had read and heard from people who don't watch is Youtube videos were fairly negative. They said that his writing was inconsistant and came across as if he was trying too hard and I could see where they were coming from just by listening to him talk a couple times a week in his videos.

I hated the first chapter of TFIOS. I was immediately bored and really considered closing the book and giving it a permanent place on my bookshelf. I felt that the characters were empty, the descriptions were unprofessional, and overall it didn't grab my attention. However, while on Facebook on the day that I decided to stop reading the book, one of my Facebook friends wrote a status about how much she loved the book. Because of that status, I decided to read on.

The following chapters weren't very interesting either and I'm pretty sure I only finished the book out of boredom and loyalty to nerdfighteria, the community of people who watch John and his brother Hank on Youtube. I never got to like Hazel or Augustus, the two main characters. Their personalities were annoying that the fact that they kept quoting some fake book the whole time really bugged me. They tried to act really philosophical because they were those kids who excused their loneliness with being too cool and dying of cancer but none of anything they do would ever really happen. And the shtick about how some infinities are larger than others— yes, I agree but you don't have to mention that in every other page!  The book repeated itself a lot and not many things were catching or unexpected, making it hard to care about the relationship between these two teenagers.

I felt that Augustus 1.has a name that sounds really bad out loud so I would always skip over it while reading 2.needed to stop comparing Hazel to Natalie Portman 3.should stop putting cigarettes in his mouth "metaphorically" because it was a stupid and pretentious thing to do and 4.was never properly, or at least memorably, described so in my mind he remained a stick-figure with one leg.

Hazel wasn't much better. She owned a knee-length dress from F21, which never happens because everything there is either mini or maxi, and for some reason that really bothered me. I also didn't like the way she spoke or anything else about her.

Whenever I read or watch anything, I always pay attention to the way children treat their parents. Hazel was really moody and the only thing she told the reader about her dad is that he cries a lot and Augustus's parents were about as relevant as house plants. Neither of these are good things.

All in all, I didn't like the book. I think that its a meh read for John's fans but people who don't watch the Youtube videos should stay away from it. The only exception to this is tweens because they will fall for anything and see the improbabilities as romantic.


Saturday, February 4, 2012

February Wishlist


My wishlist for this month:

http://www.mikkatmarket.com/product/two-tone-shirt-dress
http://www.mikkatmarket.com/product/embossed-collar-necklace
http://www.mikkatmarket.com/product/bubble-collar-necklace
http://www.asos.com/ASOS/ASOS-ANDRE-Leather-Chelsea-Ankle-Boot/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=1591240
http://www.pixiemarket.com/store/fauxleatherpaneldress-p-3928.html