tell me, tell me, tell me, c'mon tell me the answer

Both the fabby Nicole of Twist and shout! and lovely Luna of Child of the Moon (whose blog was the one that inspired me to create DRG many moons ago) gave me the Tell Me About Yourself Award, where you tell seven things about yourself and share your favorite blogs. Well, I'm very excited because I looove talking about myself, as well as my fave bloggers. 

So, here are the facts ...

1. I have an obsession with boys in white v-necks. 

Seriously - who can resist the power of the v-neck?

2. I am on a constant search for the ultimate everything - the ultimate perfume, book, lip gloss, person ... 

3. I want to be Karen Elson. 

She's British, she's a gorgeous glamazon model, friends with Anna Sui, is an incredible singer,  and has the most enviable wardrobe. I would be mentally unhinged to not be jealous of her

4. "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known." Actually said by Chuck Palahniuk in Invisible Monsters, which shows exactly how unoriginal I can be. 

5. I have a dream to travel just to get lost. 

6. I fully relish in the fact that a lot of people think I'm a bit kooky and out-there, especially in the way I dress and what I think. I like that I tread the line between here and insanity. 

My inner voice is narrated by Michelle Tanner. You got it, dude!

7. I have no clue what I'm doing with my life. I have so many dreams, ambitions, things I want to learn and places I want to go that, as a result, I have no clear direction.


Blogs:
All Babes are Wolves
Ashen Lady
Being Blinge
Born Late
Charlotte's Attic
ChicGeek
Eloise
Glamoretta
London Calling 
Lost Muse
Lovely Bohemia
musings & inspiration
Restless Summers
You've got the silver

the top ten award

I want to thank the fabulously fashionable Jessica of ChicGeek for giving me the Top 10 Award. This is one of my favorite kinds of awards because it consists of you listing your favorite cosmetics. I am a total beauty product junkie, so I had quite a bit of fun going through all my goodies and deciding which ones I would choose. I had to make some very difficult decisions - choosing Buxom Lips gloss over my trusty Sexy Motherpucker, and opting for my fragrance obsession of the moment (D&G The One) instead of one of my favorite summer scents - a toss-up between Marc Jacobs Blush and Stella by Stella McCartney, and the dirty rose fragrance of my recent go-to for spring, Kate Moss's original scent, which is a bit of a rock'n'roll floral. But these are the crucial choices that every one has to make in their lives.
I kid ... but beauty products do offer considerable importance to me, no matter how vain that sounds. The word 'cosmetic' comes from the Greek word 'kosmos', which means "the order of the universe"*, and makeup products actually do have a mystical hold over my life. I love reading blogs (Into the Gloss is my girl-porn - I'm addicted), magazines, various articles, books and such regarding the world of cosmetics and beauty. I adore women like Eva Chen, the Beauty Editor at Teen Vogue, for making such an interest into a full-fledged job. During my too-regular-for-own-good visits to department store beauty counters and my mecca Sephora, I make out like a pirate with all my goodies; and sometimes look like a pirate too - that much kohl eyeliner is good for Jack Sparrow, but not so good for me. So right now I'll play Beauty Editor pretend and offer my bits of 'wisdom' regarding the best of my beauty booty:

1. Temptu Airbrush Foundation in 002 Ivory: I love how evenly and flawlessly this foundation applies. It's super easy to use - just a few swooshes around the face, and my skin looks better than I've seen it in years. The only downside - I'm unable to apply normal foundation and be satisfied with it anymore. Guess Temptu and I are for life.
2. Covergirl Lash Blast Fusion in Black Brown: I prefer drugstore brands for mascara because why spend twenty-plus dollars on something you have to toss in a few months anyways? I'll admit I still have Benefit BadGal mascara, Urban Decay's Big Fatty and a Lancôme mascara with a scary brush (I'm a bit of an eye makeup whore) but ever since I first had my 'lashes blasted', I've been hooked. I don't think I've found a mascara that is so consistently non-clumpy than this one. It's great to apply on both sides of lashes to make your eyes pop and look like you just stepped out of a Latisse ad.
3. Smashbox Artificial Light Flash Luminizing Lotion: technically a lotion to be mixed with or applied underneath foundation, I actually use this light formula as an illuminator after I've applied foundation and blush. I dab a bit across my cheekbones, my nose, eyelids, forehead and right above my cupid's bow. It's shimmery enough to make my skin look glowy and a bit shimmery without looking like I raided the body glitter collection I hoarded in the third grade.
4. Anastasia Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil in Blonde: since I have naturally light blonde hair, I also was given matching blonde eyebrows. It never bothered me until recent years, when I noticed in photographs my brows looked like Whoopi Goldberg (have you ever noticed that she doesn't have eyebrows?). Now, since I've darkened my hair, I hardly ever leave the house without using this light pencil and grooming my brows with its dual-ended comb.
5. Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder: I'm obsessed with the idea of perfect-looking skin. This translucent powder is perfect for all skin tones and literally makes every pore imperfection go away. The powder is loose white (but immediately goes away) and reminds me of the story Kenneth Anger told about the filming of Lucifer Rising that he warned Marianne Faithfull not to bring drugs into Egypt at risk of execution. Faithfull hid the drugs in her makeup box under her face powder, and Anger alleged Faithfull "powdered her face with heroin." ... but that has nothing to do with this.
6. Maybelline The Falsies Volum'Express in Brownish Black: when I want mega-lashes without the added effort of applying actual falsies, I again turn to a trusty drugstore brand. I think it was Cindy Crawford who said that unless you have ultra-dark hair it's better to use brown mascara as it's not so severe. I like brown-black mascaras because I like being just a little bit severe.
7. Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Velvet in Bewitched: a rich chocolate shadow; I apply this to the upper lash line (and to my bottom lash line when I want an uber-dolly look) with a MAC 263 brush.
8. BareMinerals Buxom Lips in Dolly: ahh the name of this gloss's shade says it all for me. Though it doesn't produce the same über-beestung look (or cheekiness in the packaging) as Soap & Glory's Sexy Motherpucker (my fave shade is What a Melon, btw), this gloss is the perfect there-but-not-there shade with just a hint of color, tingle (a bit minty), and shimmer. It's perfect for any occasion. I always have it in my bag.
9. Dolce & Gabanna The One: simply just one of the best smelling fragrances I've had the pleasure of sniffing in my life. One of my friends wears it regularly, and I was obsessed with it and begged her to tell me what she was wearing. She said, "The One." It was as though that's all that needed to be said. Everywhere I went after that when I would smell a hint of it, I would freak out until I sought out the wearer of the perfume ... seriously in order to chat with her about the scent. I love it ... and unless I find a different perfume that I fall in love with more than this, I think I may have found "The One" I want to be my signature scent.
10. Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF 30: it would be a vast understatement to say that I'm not a sun worshipper. I wear sunscreen and sunnies everyday in order to protect my visage from the the damaging rays of le soleil. This brush-on sun protection powder is such a lifesaver for someone like I, who doesn't reapply sunscreen every few hours and tends to get a bit shiny during the day. I discovered it at Bliss Spa in NYC senior year of high school and I have been a loyal user ever since.

My Awardees:

Gloria of musings & inspiration

JessM of You've Got the Silver

Kaitlyn of Born Late

Kirby of Lost Muse

Louloublue of All Babes are Wolves

Lucia of Who The Fuck Is Mick Jagger

Melissa of Glamoretta

Raquel of Eloise

Smashingbird of Smashingbird

Summer.B of ..Summer Baby

Here's what you do:
- Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog
- Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog (the logo is under my 'Kind Words' section if you want to snag it)
- List your top ten favorite cosmetics
- Choose ten bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know about their award!

* thanks to the book Life is a Movie Starring You by Jennifur Brandt for this fun fact

you’d look good pram-pushing down the high street, come on now, honey, don’t you want to live with me?

Sure, everyone who's anyone (well ... and who is a fan of Miss Boyd) has seen these photos of Pattie totally owning the London high street - but it never hurts to take another look. Pattie is my inspiration for this summer - I want that same self-confidence to be oozing out of my every pore like it is for her. Of course, I can't have the same twig-legs, sixties designer fashions, great hair, gorgeous hubby (I'm talking George ... sorry Slowhand), or fab makeup ... but at least I can be like Pattie in this regard.
That doesn't make me sound pathetic, does it?

Title: from "Live With Me" (The Rolling Stones)

"the nature of society is to create"

Let me explain the James Baldwin quote I so lazily and pretentiously made to be the title. You see, I was nominated by the lovely Miss Jess from You've Got the Silver for the 'Creative Blogger' Award. This award, in addition to pumping up my ego, entails that I list ten things about myself and then nominate more bloggers that I adore to have the award as well. 

So to get back to Mr. Baldwin, while this sentiment was not the one he was necessarily trying to communicate (the quote continues "...an illusion of safety" - yep, the nature of society is to create an illusion of safety, apparently) but this is the sentiment that I - a twenty-year-old chick who not just passed, but aced, her intro to philosophy class - is making. And we all know that the musings of a self-involved blonde girl are much more interesting than the political insights of a Baldwin not on 30 Rock.

I think that the nature of society - at least the blogosphere society - is to create wonderful works of art, writing, photography, poetry, or (in my case) really fabulous collages, and we share our genius with each other. I think this ability to have a communal use, love and appreciation of each other's work is incredible. Even more incredible is that it's in our very nature. 

Without further ado, here's the main attraction: ten fascinating facts about Barbara Walter's Most Fascinating Person of 2011 

1. I am double jointed. So is my grandmother, but it freaks her out. 

Note: this is not a photograph of me or my grandmother. Neither of us can play the piano. 

2. I am a member of a very eccentric family. We have the type of personalities and dynamics that would only be found on a prime time sitcom (or an E! reality show), in the best possible sense. 

I would be Kim, obvs. 

3. During my brief stint modeling during the ages of 14-16, the agency photographer told me I looked like Christie Brinkley. I was incredibly flattered. Not that I actually knew who that was at the time, though. I have also been told I could be a foot model (And by non-foot fetishists, to boot!)  

4. I love the smell of gasoline. No worries though, apparently so does Kate Moss. 

5. It breaks my heart to eat anything remotely resembling an animal. I can barely bring myself to eat a bunny-shaped chocolate for Easter.

Nor do I encourage the consumption of pug loaf. But this pup is too darn cute to not put up here

6. I think that tuberculosis is a very romantic disease. 

Like Greta Garbo in Camille and Nicole Kidman as Satine in Moulin Rouge. Minus the part where they both die in the end. 

7. I have a not-so-secret desire to be a hip-hop wife. 

I want this to be my life. Just Kidding. Not Really. 

8. I am the biggest wimp when it comes to wearing high heels. With the amount of complaining I do, you'd think that Kathy Bates had gone all Misery on my feet. 

9. When I was much, much younger, I fell into a table that Sidney Poitier was sitting at, and proceeded to cry obnoxiously as Mr. Poitier tried to comfort me. This was at the Brown Derby Restaurant. (Did I mention that this happened in 1954?)

10. One day, I am going to live in Paris. 

In the forthcoming hours, I will include my list of bloggers I would love to nominate for the Creative Blogger Award 

(I know, you're all at the edge of your seats in anticipation)

* I am being entirely sarcastic in the first paragraphs. I love James Baldwin and I know he's not related to Alec. Just throwing that out there. *

now when arrows don't penetrate, cupid grabs the pistol, he shoots straight for your heart, and he won't miss you

Love poster; illustration by Kris Atomic; vintage Valentine's Day card; "Be my Valentine" by Lula Mag; Rob Ryan's "This is for you" hand cut-out, from The Curiosity Shoppe

Honestly, I don’t get the big frenzied hoopla over Valentine’s Day. Maybe because I’ve never seriously been in love before, but I don’t see why people get so worked up over it – it’s just a day like any other. I have this theory, you see, no one actually likes Valentine’s Day. All the unattached people in the world are hyper-aware of their singleness, and go one of three routes: they embrace their freedom (e.g. go dancing with all your single friends), flaunt it (get drunk and canoodle with someone at a bar), or simply hate on the opposite sex, as well as secretly hate everyone who is romantically involved with the other gender. And everyone in relationships is so fraught with anxiety over V-Day plans and finding the perfect gift to exemplify their love that they don’t get the chance to enjoy it.

The problem with Valentine’s Day, as I see it, is that this “holiday” is too focused on others – and not a warm Christmastime feeling of loving others. It’s a terrible, nasty, guilt-ridden feeling where everything you experience that day is completely dependent upon the actions of other people. It's not that I don't love love - quite the contrary, actually. I love the idea of romance and excitement. It makes me feel heady and dreamy to see a boy, and consider him my own Cary Grant, a knight in a well-tailored suit and a sports car coming to whisk me away. But I detest the rules and regulations set forth by the Hallmark police. 

I am calling for a Valentine’s Day reformation! As the self-consumed individual that I am, I think that Valentine’s Day should be centered on our love for our selves. After all, how can you even begin to love someone else if you do not love your self first? (Gee, I sound like one of those corny self-help books)

So tomorrow, make a date with yourself. Be your own valentine! Treat yourself to something decadent, out-of-character, whimsically useless, something you’ve lusted after from afar but never got up the nerve to buy (like shoes … not, like, a person…)

Much in the same vein as Diana Vreeland, I ask why don't you: Put on your fanciest, frilliest undergarments (just for your own enjoyment), even if you’re just around the house wearing sweats all day. If you are going out of the house, try a trend that you always thought was cute but never had the nerve to try (socks with heels? a button down shirt half-tucked-in to trousers? feathers? wild color combinations?). Buy flowers and hand them out to whomever you’d like (or just keep them for yourself!). Have two scoops of Baskin Robbins for lunch (I recommend Gold Medal Ribbon, personally). Do a face mask-and-deep conditioner combo in your bedroom while dancing around to ABBA tunes and singing shamelessly into your hairbrush. Buy yourself a box of chocolates and don’t feel the slightest bit guilt if/when you finish the box. 

Title: from "Happy Valentine's Day" (OutKast) 

well, i heard so much about london, i decided to check it out

I hope everyone is having a fab start to the New Year. I certainly am. I got news today that I was accepted in a study abroad program, which means that by this time next year I will be living in London. It would be nothing revolutionary if I were to tell you that I have always dreamed of living in London. My infatuation with the country is well-known and longstanding. Even as a little girl, I was quite the Anglophile. Around the age I entered kindergarten, I adopted a terrible Cockney accent that would give Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins a run for his money. My peculiar penchant for British slang terms (chips were now ‘crisps,’ my sweaters were ‘jumpers,’ and I wouldn’t dare calling my mother anything other than ‘mum’) could only be explained by one thing: I was destined to live in England.

To me, London is the Beatles performing atop the roof of Apple Corps. It’s Virginia Woolf holing up with the rest of the Bloomsbury group to discuss the curiosities of human behavior of the day. It’s Jean Shrimpton and David Bailey walking arm-in-arm down Carnaby Street, looking in the boutique windows of Mary Quant and Ossie Clark. It’s been the home and hideaway to Keats and Shelley, Shakespeare and the Sex Pistols. The birthplace of some of the most progressive thinkers in politics and poetry, London is filled with history and yet it is always on the brink of something new.

I have travelled to London twice with my family over the past few years, and though the time we spent there was short, it gave me memories that I still revisit regularly. London was the most wonderful paradox for me - I felt simultaneously that I was such a little part of that living, exciting city, and yet there was a part of me that felt like it was a homecoming. In a way, London has always been my home. I'm excited to be given the chance to live there for six months. I have a chance to be like and live like the British babes I so admire. Sure, the times have a-changed since the days when Julie Christie was the 'Darling' of the town, and Pattie Boyd and Jane Asher hung on the arms of their Beatle boys, but there's such magic in that city that I hope will rub off on me. 
I always knew that I was going to study English, and become a writer of some sort. It was never a question. Some people believe they were born to be doctors or lawyers; it was the fate Brahma wrote on their foreheads upon birth. But I always knew I wanted to be a writer. I have journals upon journals filled with my juvenile short stories, poetry, and lyrics, all ranging from the ages six through sixteen. A Dolly Rocker Girl’s literary canon, of sorts. During high school, perhaps there was a part of me that was caught up with the romanticism of it all, imagining myself as a modern-day Sylvia Plath (minus the part about the oven) or Colette (minus the lesbian tendencies). It seemed like such a gorgeous idea to a bored suburban teenager – I would become an artiste, someone who was far more intellectual and worldly than any of my more plebian classmates. But I’ve grown past the mere idea of pursuing English as a career post-university, I want now to make it a reality. Studying in London will be the most wonderful opportunity for me in working towards my goal. To live in a culture where my favorite books were penned and plays performed, I cannot help but hope to soak up some of the creative energy of my surroundings. London offers itself so much to exploration – not just of its surroundings, but also exploration of your own self. All of the dreams I have for my future are intertwined in one way or another, and all of their roads lead back to the one place where I can grow and become who I want to be: London. 

My girls: Pattie Boyd, Jean Shrimpton, Jane Birkin, Marianne Faithfull, Julie Christie, and Twiggy

Title: from "Cocksucker Blues" (The Rolling Stones)

only a week until new year, that's when i'll make a new start

As 2010 is winding down, we are given the chance to reflect on the goals we made for ourselves this past year and evaluate whether or not we made any progress. Even if we've failed or forgotten a lot of our resolutions, we are given the chance to start anew when the stroke of midnight comes on December 31st. With the new year comes renewed promise - we are given 365 days to make some magic happen.
I personally do not want to let 2011 slip by as quickly as 2010 did. I want to do something significant, truly make this the defining year in my life where things began to happen for me. (No pressure or anything, eh?)
Without further ado, here are my list of resolutions for 2011:

1. Say Yes - I've never seen the Jim Carrey movie (despite the dear Zooey Deschanel being in it) but there is some good in saying 'Yes Man' to things that come your way. 
2. Put the sources of things on the blog - work on citing song lyrics, quotes, and pictures as best I can. I know how annoying it is when I stumble across a site that is using my collages (there was a site out there that actually lifted my writing as well - it really irked me) without any credit. 
3. Edit my vocabulary - eliminate curse words, 'like,' and 'uh/umm' from my vernacular. I want to sound like I am living in a glammy 1940s screwball comedy, not a Kevin Smith film.
4. Write in my Moleskine every day - even just a short sentence or two. How can I write my memoirs one day without some reference to when the great events happened in my life? One of my favorite recent rom-coms, Love and Other Disasters, had the most delightful exchange that I think is so marvelously appropriate: "I'm sorry I'm late - I was in the middle of an absolutely gripping book. I couldn't put it down." "What books is that?" "My memoirs, darling. I've decided to publish."   
5. Release my inner free spirit - I want to act more like the girl I know I am on the inside but I'm too afraid to let come out. I want to stop caring what other people think, let go of all my hang-ups regarding judgment, failure, and fear. I want to live life out loud!
6. Find a signature scent - a repeat from last year. I have found some lovely scents (Mûre et Musc by L'Artisan Parfumeur; Kate Moss' original scent; Tom Ford Black Orchid) but I am still on the lookout for one that I cannot bear to part with. 
7. Learn more about classical music and art history - it's been about four years since I took a course on the history of art and music, and I definitely want to revisit some of my favorite artists. 
8. Find a mantra - discover or invent a phrase that I can repeat often and hold close to my soul. 
9. Have confidence - smile more, walk tall and strong, and improve my posture. No more shuffling around looking at the floor!
10. Adopt the Dita Von Teese approach to life - "I advocate glamour. Every day. Every minute." I'm nowhere close to being the beauty that Dita is, nor do I dress myself in the bombshell apparel that she sports (though I've thought about it - I certainly have more of the body for those retro cuts than the bohemian garb I so love but better suits the thin, tall, lanky gals). Still, I think that glamour can be applied to any lifestyle - not just the burlesque-at-heart, but photographers (think Meryl in Out of Africa or Faye Dunaway as Laura Mars), substitute teachers (perhaps a lovely Donna Reed-inspired circle skirt with crinoline and cherry red lips), and even university students like me (Ali MacGraw in Love Story maybe). 
11. Be better to my body - your body is your temple, so they say and I need to treat mine a little better. As important as it is to feed the soul, it is equally as important to feed the body with good things that can actually improve the way I feel, the amount of energy I have, and how productive I am (sans caffeine). I want to try cutting out dairy and processed white sugar, as well as exercise more regularly. 
12. Do these random things - brush up on my French speaking skills; take dance lessons; have media black-out days once a month; meet new people; do something I've always been too afraid to do (karaoke, skydiving, etc.); change my hairstyle; drink more water every day; learn the names of flowers; wear nice undergarments daily; practice yoga more regularly; keep a poetry journal; wear scarves, hats, and driving gloves with outfits; learn to walk in my frighteningly tall Jeffrey Campbell Lita's; learn how to do finger waves and other retro hairstyles

And in the spirit of Resolution #2...

Title: from "A Cold, Cold Christmas" (Stephen Colbert)