The Founding Myths of Rome

As interested as I am in history, one of my biggest problems in learning and reading about it is that I tend to get so bogged down in the (oft fascinating) details that I lose sight of the bigger picture. And so it is now – I’ve been doing a very slow, laborious listen-through of Mike Duncan’s excellent podcast The History of Rome, except am so concerned with remembering details that sometimes I replay episodes even 2-3 times to try and catch all the minutia. But why? If I don’t yet know the larger unfolding of events, what good will all the inconsequential details do me? Many times I’ve found myself delving into the comprehensive – except if you were to ask me for a 3-sentence summary afterwards, I couldn’t tell you.

So going forward, I aim for all my notes on history to be concise; no in-depth features unless the topic really warrants it because there are already plenty of well-written essays out there on any given topic, written by experts in their fields.

Anyway, on to actual Rome-related points!

Review: Assassin’s Apprentice

I was itching for a classic fantasy read so it only seemed natural to pick up one of the most classic books in the genre – Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. She gets a lot of love on /r/books so I figured it was as good a choice as any, but it turned out to be just meh for me. Solid 2.5 star material.

Bijlmermeer

Recent episodes of 99% Invisible got me reading more about Bijlmermeer, a neighborhood in the southeast ‘suburbs’ of Amsterdam that has an interesting history.

Bijlmermeer honeycombs

political thoughts

I am a die-hard liberal. I’m not particularly proselytizing, but I am the type of liberal that, when meeting someone who identifies as Republican, will judge him for his views in an instant. I am not proud of this reflex, but there it is.

Quitting Running…or at least taking a break

I started running the summer after my freshman year of college after I gained the Freshman 20. It was the first semi-regular exercise I ever did my in my life, and even though I wasn’t consistent or very intense about it (think half an hour on the treadmill every other night, with 1/3 of that spent warming up and cooling down), I still managed to bring my weight down to some semblance of normal in time for the start of sophomore year. Since then, I’ve run numerous races from 5k to 15k, have been unintentionally on and off with it, have occasionally loved it and found it really enjoyable – but the one constant across the past several years is the struggle.

A Mini History of Fashion Month, and Fashion Show Overhaul

If you think about it, the current fashion show system is pretty outdated, whether it be just NY Fashion Week or the entirety of Fashion Month. There were three main steps in history in the progression leading up to the modern day fashion show:

1. Louis XIV set the precedent for replacing clothes semi-annually, as part of his economic stimulus plan
2. Charles Frederick Worth introduced the runway aspect with his atelier line
3. Eleanor Lambert paved the way for the frenzied media coverage of Fashion Month – a brilliant marketing tactic

Zuhair Murad SS 16, pt. 1

Zuhair Murad can do no wrong. His collections are always so flawlessly feminine, oftentimes delicate, oftentimes more art than clothing. I love the corset-inspiration of the first part of this set, though his corsets aren’t like any other with how pure and delicate and breathtaking they are. Every petal of these dresses is sewn on individually, making everything all the more incredible.

Review: Bi-Facil Double-Action Eye Makeup Remover

This is it. I’ve found my Holy Grail for Life eye makeup remover.

I used to make do with the Neutrogena remover for years, like literally ever since I started wearing eyeliner. It worked fine, maybe had some trouble with waterproof mascara but otherwise did its job – or so I thought, until I met this classy vixen of a remover. My mother somehow gets tons of sample bottles of these but she doesn’t wear eye makeup anymore, so she passes it all onto me. Score.

Review: Scinic Aqua All In One Ampoule

After seeing all the buzz with the Shara Shara / Scinic ampoules, I really wanted to try one, and Jolse Haul ver. Holiday Season 2015 was a coincidentally perfect time to order. Shara Shara Bombs are a little too massive for me so I went with Scinic; also decided I could get a decant of the very-coveted Honey Ampoule from ABE if needed, and I wanted to focus especially on hydration, so Aqua Ampoule it was.

Skin profile: Oily/dehydrated/unsensitive; PIH; NC 20-25

Battle of the Lip Balms

I’ve been absolutely fanatical about buying and applying lip balms this winter! I don’t know what it is about this year in particular, but my lips have been constantly chapped and dry and most worrying of all, keep getting little blisters. Boston winters are way worse than NYC winters yet never affected my lips, so I’ve been so puzzled all season as to what’s causing the change.

As a result, I’ve collected quite a number of balms in the quest to heal my lips! Some have been shockingly blah while others actually delivered what they promised, and one of them is going to be my HG balm for the rest of my life.