I was mad for a while...

when I read this article by Joyce Carol Oates concerning Lena Dunham (who I SEVERELY dislike with a passion). But after reading it, I realized something. It is the equivalent of

Ms. Oates offers very little to no praise for Ms. Dunham herself, doesn't exhibit any true emotion other than "this is a thing that is happening".

Never mind, not mad anymore. You've been forgiven, Ms. Oates.

*meme does not belong to me*

Aww dammit...

After working on Spiders and thinking about how much fun NaNoWriMo was, I think I want to do it again this year.

Dammit.

But I won't compete for prizes, but do it for the fun stuff. After all, like I said before, I already won the best prize you could get. I'll still post on the boards and try to participate in local events. It is something I shouldn't have said "eh" to after all that. I do enjoy the rush of plotting something and putting it together. Maybe I can revise an older story, like Thorns or even Spiders! Or write another feminist thriller/horror thingy. That would be really neat.

We'll see what the year has to offer and go from there.

Random-Ass Facts about My Current Novel Project

While hard at working on A Wilderness of Spiders, I came up with a random thing to procrastinate on... a random list of facts about the project.

Read at your own discretion (or boredom, same thing).

• This was LOOSELY inspired by my time as a bridesmaid for my best friend's wedding. It was thankfully not chaotic and tragic like the events of the novel (it was actually a huge blast and there was a mariachi band). And maybe the movie Bridesmaids, even though I have never seen it. I heard it was good...

• An addendum to the first fact: none of the characters were based on anyone I knew in the wedding party. Everyone was awesome and drama-free!

• One of the main characters was loosely inspired by my little sister. She approves of this. :D

• The novel plays with the legend of how bridesmaids were supposed to be the guards of the bride in tradition. 

• Yes, there is a stab at Fifty Shades of Grey. You're welcome.

• The main character listens to this song as she travels to the bride's place. I love this band.

• I may or may have not deliberately named three characters after two Talking Heads members and The Cars' drummer... o_o; (You get a prize if you guess the connection to two of the musicians!)

• An early title for it was Nowhere to Hide and then West End Girls (after the Pet Shop Boys song).

• It is supposed to be my attempt at a feminist mystery/thriller. I want that genre to exist so badly. Get on it, writers! I don't want to invent it!

• It takes place about two weeks before the 2012 elections. So when I was planning it, I had no effing clue who was going to become President. I wanted to capture the pre-election tensions going on around the time. (Not times we all want to recall, eh?)

• It takes place in the span of ten days. The prologue and epilogue are the exceptions, taking place in late 2004 and in mid 2013, respectfully.

• There wasn't supposed to be a wedding scene, but I added it in after thinking of it as a "deleted scene" and realized how awesome it would be if it was actually in there.

• I created my first atheist character in this novel. She's really awesome.

• The common connection that three of the characters have is a shared love for the music of The Band. And yes, they listen to The Last Waltz a lot in the novel.

• One character names "Gangnam Style" as her favorite song of the year.

• One of the police officers was named after a suggestion by my little sister's friend. Shout-out to her!

• Three characters from a previous novel idea make cameos in here. WTF, y'all? Stay in your own universe!

• And finally... this is the novel's official theme song.

Have I sufficiently bored you yet? No? Then go look at some LOLcats or something. Why are you still here? Here, have a random picture.

*meme does not belong to me*

Going Cruelty-Free: 1 1/2 Years So Far...

It will be two years in June/July (I'm not really sure) that I began to buy mostly cruelty-free products. Over time, I learned to look out for items that were human and animal cruelty-free (or CF as it's commonly shortened) and to find quality inexpensive products.

One of the big things I noticed on my search for great CF items is that this stuff's expensive. If you want to stick to certain brands and stay indie, then prepare to pay up big time. Nothing wrong with that... unless you happen to have limited monies, like myself. Though I still live with my parents, I have taken up buying all the CF stuff on my dime. And it does add up after a while. I don't blame a single soul for not jumping on the CF train here, times are tough and you gotta save up all you can. No shame here, money-troubled peeps.

After a long agonizing search for a good shampoo, I found that Trader Joe's and Giovanni have worked the best for me. I also learned that: soap bars work better that liquid soap, Kiss My Face makes an excellent toothpaste and solid deo, and Too Faced will be my makeup indulgence (I love their Violet Femme eyeshadow). Physician's Formula continues to be my go-to for makeup in general. Pacifica also has a great range of perfumes (so does Bath and Body Works, who I still patronize). For bath-time, I love LUSH's bath bombs and bubble bars (they also make a great powder deodorant that smells like coconuts!), along with Enfusia (a regional brand, FTW). As for facial care, I'm torn between LUSH (which is expensive) and Yes to Tomatoes (which isn't, but works well!). For lip care, Burt's Bees and Badger Balm.

*All of the above, except Too Faced, LUSH, Pacifica, and Badger Balm, are very reasonable. The aforementioned are my indulgences.*

There is a line of thinking amongst the CF community that it's best not to even buy CF products owned by non-CF companies, like how Burt's Bees is owned by Clorox. Nothing wrong with that, it's your call if you want to do that. As for me, I still buy CF products even if they're owned by non-CF corporations (hilariously, the only one I still buy is Burt's Bees). I like the concept of "showing more support for the CF brands". But there is a risk of green-washing, as I'll explain more below.

I have decided not to buy Body Shop products anymore because of some really troubling details I learned on this article. Besides the green-washing, there is the exploitation of indigenous people. Not here for that. We privileged people have already harmed them multiple times, no need to add to their suffering.

I'm unsure if I'll ever go fully cruelty-free, like buying expensive detergents and even eating less meats, but I go about as far as I can afford and that my health is concerned.

After reading so much about how kids in third-world countries are exploited so we can get our chocolates, I'm uneasy to get me a Hershey's bar in the future. Then again, I've never been a big chocolate consumer to begin with. Nutella can GTFO, I love me some cookie butter!

Either way, so much to know and continue to learn! If you want to go cruelty-free, don't worry about breaking the bank. There are great brands out there that can give you quality results without the harming to people and animals.

*Not Paid Enough to Bother Making Up A Title*

Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a while, well, other than a response to my best of movie post below this one. Yeah, that kinda went well, didn't it? Holy mackerel.

Either way, I still have plans for various posts, including one detailing something I mentioned in my comment in the previous post. I'll have to think it over and see if it's a good idea to post about it.

Hope 2013 is going well for y'all!

Best of 2012: Movie Edition

Well, looks like I saw enough films to make a list. Here it is!

Best of 2012: Music Edition

Okay, here comes one of my favorite things about every new year: more new music! I'm looking forward to Atoms for Peace's debut album so much, you don't even know...

Either way, here we go!