Collecting new ideas as a squirrel collects nuts

I've been taking my time with Howards End, and today's title quotation comes from this novel. This weekend has been pretty busy and scattered so I'm just squeezing this post in before dinner. I'm sorry that there isn't a haircut picture here for you today. I did get it all chopped off (gosh, there was a lot of hair on the floor!) but after coming home and showering (and subsequently re-straightening my hair) I realized that it might need a night to be slept on before it looks quite presentable. Right now, because it's sooo short and straight, it looks kind of. . . stiff? Do you know what I mean? Like me, it obviously needs a night to relax.

So for tomorrow I'm thinking a full OOTD combined with haircut pictures. Tuesday will be another OOTD so you should feel sufficiently spoiled that I'm giving you two in a row. I'll be going to see Iron Man 3 on Tuesday with a friend of mine and it kind of makes me wish that I had a really dorky (not actually) superhero t-shirt to wear. Even though that piece of clothing wouldn't get worn much. Plus, I don't actually like the Iron Man series (more about my mixed feelings on comic book series here). This still feels like a blasphemous thing to say, but they are my friend's absolute favourite movies, so I might be taking one for the team here, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that it will be great and I'll love it.

This makes me think fondly of an amazing (to me) t-shirt that I used to have. It said "I love Italian boys" on it and was accompanied by a picture of Mario and Luigi. I've regained my affection for it, but now have no idea where it is! It might be a fortunate thing that I haven't found it sooner though, because I might have been tempted to wear it to Italian class (I'm studying for a minor in Italian Language Studies at my university) thereby making prof and students alike either laugh or feel uncomfortable.

Do you have a favourite graphic t-shirt (that others find dorky)? Are you planning to see the latest Iron Man installment? Are you a superhero film fan generally?

-C

Butter AND Jam

Every once in a while, we seem to get just about everything we want. Today's title comes from the fourth Pants novel, Forever in Blue, and actually wasn't at all planned until I was inspired while having breakfast this morning. Literally, I had butter and jam on my toast. Cutting edge stuff here, people. Anyway, the combination doesn't have be butter and jam, but any two things that make you feel good and happen to occur together. I feel like I'm getting the jackpot this weekend. Family and books (thank you, public library). Shopping and haircut. Technically that's four things, but I feel like the first two are simpler pleasures.

I'm getting into E.M. Forster's Howards End at the moment, and really enjoying it so far (for more Forster, see my mentions of A Passage to India from last summer here, here, and here). After having taken a class in Modernism last term at my university, I feel pretty good about myself when I'm able to identify an allusion without having to turn to the novel's endnotes. I won't be posting tomorrow because I'll be pretty busy with family, but expect a new post (and haircut, SO excited!) on Sunday.

Happy weekend, all!

-C

And then there was one

The title of today's post hints not only at the the next book I'll be reading (well, rereading, but it has been eight years since the last time) but also another realization that I am feeling back in the swing of things when it comes to this blog. The "one" I've mentioned in the title is simply the post that I did yesterday. . . one after a break of about seven months! Anyway, if you've read past posts of mine, you might know that I am utterly devoted to mystery fiction, particularly Agatha Christie. University lit classes can train me up all they want, but they'll never separate me from my original love of the small-town-murder novel. Oddly, the only thing I actually remember about Christie's And Then There Were None is who the killer is. What I've forgotten is the entire plot. Weird, but workable.

In other news, I'm puzzling more over the fate of my hair. Yes, it is THAT easy for me to swing from literary accomplishments to utter vanity. I digress. I told you yesterday that I'm almost/kind of/definitely sure that I want to cut all (most) of my hair off again, so I'm in the process of browsing through styles. I have fairly small features, a face that's slightly more round than oval, and a forehead in proportion to the rest of my face (i.e. do not necessarily need bangs to compensate for large forehead). Oh, also my hair is quite thick, but not naturally curly, though it does occasionally decide to have a bit of a wave. Keeping these things in mind, feel free to give me suggestions! Otherwise, take a look at the inspiration pictures I'm posting and let me know what stands out! Ok?

This is generally the cut I went for the first time around and it worked out pretty well.

Obviously not a picture of short hair, but I so love these bangs! Something I could still have if I kept my hair at a medium-ish length.

 

More bangs, I know, but I love how sleek this one is.

And one of an old short haircut of mine for good measure. Although I look rather like a solemn Peter Pan.

-C

For some reason our lives were marked by summers

Today's quotation comes from one of my best-loved books: Ann Brashares' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The other night, during a much needed break from studying, my mom decided that she wanted us to rewatch the second Pants movie (2008). I am personally not a fan of these two films. The acting is great, but the storyline decidedly falls pretty flat when held up in comparison to Brashares' original work. Plus, they called the second film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." Really? 2? I guess that was the best possible title for this shambled together film, which is, in fact, comprised of mixed up bits and pieces from each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Pants novels; this bothers me to no end.

And now for my actual point, although, if you've read this blog before, you may be used to the occasional literature/film-based ramble. The books are still amazing. I thought I'd reread the first one just to prove to myself that there was actually a strong foundation, despite how the movies turned out (in my opinion). So I did. I read the first one in a day and a half in between studying for two exams. Then I read the second. Then the third. This was all in all very irresponsible of me, but luckily I think I still managed to ace those two exams. Today is the day after my final fiiiinal exam (it was three hours, three essays, three texts per essay, MODERNISM dun dun duuun) and I'm well into the 4th and final novel. My pace has slowed, and I'm not entirely sure if it's the knowledge that I actually have more time to enjoy the book now, or I've horribly made myself completely sick of the series. I'm hoping it's not the latter.

Like the characters in the novel, my blog-life seems set to be marked by summers. This was never particularly planned, as I did try to carry on with it for a little while into the beginning of the school term, waaaay back in September. Well, I've got plenty of time now, so hopefully you're ready to read! This reminds me that I also have quite the line-up for reading myself this summer, so I'm sure you'll be encountering more book reviews on here, as well as the oft seen OOTDs and FOTDs. There isn't a picture to go with this post, not because I no longer like clothes/shopping/etc. but simply because I'm getting my hair cut on Sunday and I'd prefer to wait until I look a little more like myself (or what I feel myself looks like) again before posting.

I've honestly been going back and forth about cutting my hair since November. Yikes! It's just around shoulder-length now--long enough that I've started to appreciate its presence--but the thing is, I only really enjoy it because I can put it back in a ponytail. After all, wouldn't having it short effectively do the same thing? I mainly just like having my hair away from my face, so I feel like in the end it will be getting cut quite short once more.

I'm glancing back up at what I've written thus far and am impressed by how much I've put down (negative? positive?). It's surprising, but comfortable to see that I'm still able to do this after so many months. Anyway, as always, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see from me this time around. Any books I should read? Let me know your own opinions on the Pants series! I'm genuinely curious! Films I should see? One last note relating to this: I am so crazy excited for "The Great Gatsby" to come out next month! I'm also wearing my Great Gatsby shirt which feels way too cool to be dorky.

Talk to you again soon!

-C

Ventisei pagine? Grazie mille...

Today's title is not a quotation at all, but rather an attempt at Italian sarcasm. I had my first classes of the year this afternoon, Italian being "il primo." I was assigned 26 (ventisei) pages of homework. Let's all just try to wrap our minds around that for a second. Ok. Moving on.

How I feel about my 26 pages of homework.

On the bright side, my hair behaved itself nicely thanks to my getting it cut last weekend, and it only took me thirty minutes to bus home (it usually takes 50, which is ridiculous because you can drive the distance in 10-15 depending on traffic)!!

Hair cut!

Went for some peach, pink, and gold today...

Did anyone else start back at school today/this week? How's it going so far?

-C
P.S. I'll put my OOTD up tomorrow.

Flinging it off like an old shoe

I'm finding that Vanity Fair is a novel full of colourful metaphors. I almost wish I could personally thank Thackeray for the one that inspired my title today; the comparison of casting off a social aquaintance with violently flipping a worn out shoe off of your foot. I suppose that, in the dressing room of life, some days you're the shoe and some days you're the foot. Isn't one of those elements supposed to be obviously superior? You know, like the bug and the windshield. I guess in the foot-shoe relationship there are no winners. Now that I've gotten you sufficiently confused, and hopefully a little amused, let me wander back onto the track this post was meant to take.

The thing I wish that I could so easily "fling off" is having to do almost anything to my hair. I don't have straight hair, nor do I have curly hair. I have a sort of hybrid hair which is about 50% straight-ish, 50% wavy-approaching curly, and 100% thick. Combine this with the length (I'm in the process of growing out a pixie cut) and you can likely see the problem. It looks alright if I straighten it, but this must be done just as it dries, otherwise it's a big no go. Since it is summer and I don't have to make it look too polished every day, I've really been trying to give my hair's curly alter ego a fighting chance.

To do this, I've been using Mark Anthony Strictly Curls, although my hair doesn't exactly curl strictly. This product is classed as a "styling foam," and let me tell you, it feels delightful. It doesn't make my hair feel dirty or crispy, and it smells like lemon-lime. No joke. The scent alone makes me want to believe it will work for me. I've paired pictures of the effect on my hair with a quick FOTD, so if you don't like how I've done my hair, look at my makeup (and vice versa)!

Mark Anthony Strictly Curls

Face: MAC select SPF 15 foundation in NW15; Sonia Kashuk beautifying blush in "Flamingo"

Lips: C.O. Bigelow mentha lip tint in "Magenta Mint"

Eyes: three shades from the E.L.F. everyday basics palette (pale purple, pink, plum); MAC fluidline in "Macroviolet"; Lancôme hypnose drama mascara in "Black"

-C