Why I Love to Take Photographs

To notice the small things. (The many small things.)

To play in the rain.

To take pause in each moment.

To see stories all around me.

To daydream.

To appreciate the world's beauty.

What have you seen so far today?

Photo by Sway Sovay

Things Over Which I Find Myself Currently Obsessing

- iPhone
- Coffee
- Doves dark chocolates
- Flight Control app on iPhone (wicked fun)
- Twitter (Erg! I've finally been sucked in!)
- Lush products
- Blogging
- Green tea
- Messenger chats with KT
- Coffee
- How I Met Your Mother
- Big Bang Theory
- Scrubs
- Better Off Ted
- People.com
- IMDB.com
- More coffee

And, of course...

- Not ending phrases, sentences or blog post titles with prepositions*

*Unless in instances of extreme laziness... in which I want to fix the phrase, but I'm just too tired to

Flaming Lips, Bruno Torfs, a Box of Beauty Supplies and Selling Out

Oh geez. There's so much to post about today that I don't even know where to begin. Let me try to be organized about it.

1. OK, so first of all, I have to mention that ye good citizens of my former state of Oklahoma have declared "Do You Realize??" by The Flaming Lips to be the state's official rock song.

[I could go off on a tangent here about my confusion as to why state officials feel it's important that a state has an official folk song, an official country song and an official rock song, and why they aren't busy cutting budgets and generating more state revenue, buuuuuut... I'm not in the mood to dive into politics tonight.]

I felt like this tidbit of news was something important to point out, seeing as most of my friends here in Arizona fully believe that Oklahoma is filled only with conservative, country music-loving types who would never ever -- ever -- find any good or worthwhile material in the lyrics of a psychedelic alternative rock band. But see now? There are people in Oklahoma who like trippy music, too. And this should not come as a shock, considering backwoods Oklahoma is one of the meth capitals of the world. I think you see where I could go with this.

2. I had never heard of Bruno Torfs until today, but I wish that I had known of his artwork long ago, because it's incredible. He's a painter and sculptor who created hundreds of these gorgeous, fascinating wooden sculptures in a rain forest in Australia, an area which he called his art and sculpture garden. Check out the site for photos of the fantastic forest people he brought to life.
Unfortunately, last month, on February 7, fires overtook the area, claiming lives and destroying all of Torfs' creations. Please take a moment to think of the families whose loved ones were lost, and I encourage you to view the images of Torfs' sculptures, as they are truly wondrous and exist now only in photographs.

3. Remember the beauty products article I was assigned? Well, our LA office sent me a box of goodies, some of which are to be included in the article, but most of which are just mine to keep.

















I'm currently trying to refine concepts for a site on which I will post reviews of all these products, plus others I acquire. So stay tuned for further word on these fun items. Um, did I mention that the total value of the box's contents is about $1,400? (My head nearly exploded when I added that up.)

4. I am a sellout. (...who finds it amusing that Wikipedia has defined the term...) Today I got a freelance assignment that will pay $250, plus reimbursement for gas and tickets. It involves following someone famous around like a bloodhound next week -- which, under normal circumstances, would not appeal to me at all, but it only took me about three seconds today to determine that $250 is $250, and I need CASH. I'll let you in on more details after the event. Wink.

5. Random quote of the day: "You know, I once read an interesting book which said that, uh, most people lost in the wilds, they -- they die of shame. Yeah, see, they die of shame. 'What did I do wrong? How could I have gotten myself into this?' And so they sit there and they... die. Because they didn't do the one thing that would save their lives. Thinking." -- From the movie The Edge, written by David Mamet

And finally, I present to you: "Do You Realize??" set to animated children's movie clips. Why? Why not.


Photo by Sway Sovay

All Made Up

I put in another order at Alima Pure last week and look at all the goodies that arrived.


I pretty much swear by this brand of makeup. And here's why:

(Because you know how I am, and how I can can never pass up the opportunity to create a list...)

1. All the products are mineral-based and free of chemicals, so it's light and I don't feel like I have a ton of crap all over my face.

2. They have an almost overwhelming number of color choices.

3. They ship fast. (I ordered last Wednesday morning and received everything on Friday.) And even though this seems kind of silly, I thought it was cool that there was a handwritten "Thank you, Sway!" written on the receipt included with my order. They're an online shop that still tries to give customers some kind of personal touch, which I appreciate.

4. A little bit goes a looong way. I think the technical explanation is that the minerals have such a high concentration of pigment, but the point is -- a little jar of the stuff can last forever.

5. And to me, this is the best part: In addition to full-size jars of their products, they also sell smaller trial sizes for $1-$1.50 each, which is awesome, because who can really accurately determine their color of foundation via photos on the internet? Not me.

And, like I said, the stuff lasts forever, so sometimes all I really want or need is a trial size. It cuts down on a lot of wasted product. Because honestly, show me a woman who always finishes her makeup products before moving on to the next one. (I know you have that basket under the sink filled with random polishes and lipsticks and old eyeliners and blushes. Don't pretend like you don't. We all do.)

So the photo above is of 10 samples I ordered. Grand total = $12 + shipping = $16. The three packets came complimentary and are two eyeshadows and a finishing powder. My summer tan is gone now, so I need a lighter foundation color, plus I wanted some darker blushes and eye shadows for fall and winter. And even though they're small, these samples will probably get me through the end of the year.

Very awesome.

Photo: Sway Sovay

Currently Overrated This Week of August 10, 2008

5. Facial peels

4. Gladiator-style sandals

3. Gossip Girl

2. Brad and Angie's twins

1. The Jonas Brothers

First Day of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China

The opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics takes place today.

A few interesting things about the games this year ...

The ceremony was scheduled to begin on 08-08-2008 because the Chinese people consider the number eight to be very lucky.

The air in China is so polluted that the U.S. teams are actually staying in Korea, where the air quality is only a little better.

A total of 205 nations will be represented at the games. The most athletes from any one country will be those from China, who will have 639 individuals competing. Next is the United States with 595 athletes, Russia with 467 athletes, Germany with 439 athletes and Australia with 433 athletes. Many, many nations will be represented by only one or two athletes.

On July 24, 2008, the International Olympic Committee forbade the nation of Iraq to participate in the Olympic games, but reversed its decision five days later.

There will be 165 events for men, 127 for women and 10 mixed, for a total of 302 events in 28 sports.

The events will take place in 37 venues, 12 of which were constructed recently, specifically with the Olympic games in mind.

Runner-ups after Beijing for the opportunity to host the 2008 Summer Olympics were Toronto, Canada; Paris, France; Istanbul, Turkey; and Osaka, Japan, in that order.

The traditional torch relay began on March 24 and ended 130 days and 85,000 miles later. It was the longest torch relay in the history of the Olympic games.

During the relay, the Olympic torch was carried to every continent except for Antarctica. The torch was engineered to remain lit in winds up to 40 miles per hour and rain up to 2 inches per hour.

South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, a five-time gold medalist at the Athens Paralympics in 2004, qualified to compete at the Beijing Olympics, making her the first amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games since Olivér Halassy in 1936. 

Natalia Partyka, who was born without a right forearm, will compete in Table Tennis for Poland.

Cash Cows of the Silver Screen

Drumroll, please.

The world's No. 1 highest-grossing film of all time is Gone With the Wind, according to Boxofficemojo.com's top 100 list. The movie has raked in a gross profit of $1,430,476,000 (adjusted to reflect inflation) since its debut on the silver screen in 1939.

No. 2 is the sci-fi favorite Star Wars (1977) with $1,261,086,700 in gross profit, and the No. 3 position goes to The Sound of Music (1965) with $1,008,300,900 in gross profit.

Aside from all of today's usual suspects, which include almost all the films from the Pirates of the Caribbean, Batman, Spiderman, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones franchises, the list also names a few blasts from the past that probably haven't crossed your mind in a while: Mrs. Doubtfire, Ghost, Men in Black, The Sixth Sense, Twister, Forrest Gump and -- but of course -- Titanic.

Classics loved by my generation's parents and grandparents appear frequently on the list, notably The Exorcist, The Sting, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, M.A.S.H., Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Lawrence of Arabia.

Would you be able to guess the highest-grossing animated Disney film of all time? I am willing to bet not, but visit The List and see if you're right.

Movies I Didn't Sleep Through

Thanks to Blockbuster's rewards program, as well as my own amazing ability to sidestep household chores, I've come across a handful of good movies recently. May I recommend ...

1. Fracture (with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling)

Synopsis: Ted Crawford (Hopkins) murders his adulterating wife, then hands over the murder weapon and confesses to the whole thing. Willy Beachum (Gosling) is the Deputy District Attorney who believes putting the guy behind bars is going to be a cakewalk -- that is, until the entire case begins to fall apart, piece by piece.

My Two Cents: I thought this was a phenomenal movie. What I call "A Thinker." Something great about this movie was that it was skillfully subtle with its plot twists, rather than overtly dramatic. It was such a well written script: the viewer watches Crawford commit the crime and admit to it, and then the fun part is watching him masterfully wiggle out of the whole thing. But besides all that, isn't it just so much fun to see Anthony Hopkins play yet another deliciously creepy character?

2. Gone Baby Gone (with Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Freeman)

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. Little girl goes missing in Boston. Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) is a private investigator hired by a member of the family to help the police find her. Extremely unexpected complications ensue.

My Two Cents: I took away a few things from watching this film. #1) Ben versus Casey in front of the camera = Casey victorious any day. It's clear now which brother is the better actor. #2) Having said that, Ben Affleck did a great job directing this one. Let's hope it was a career epiphany for him that sticks. #3) Human character really sucks sometimes.

3. No Country For Old Men (with Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin)

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. In Texas, Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) happens across a drug dealers' exchange that left no survivors. But, there is a big box of cash lying around at the scene, so he takes it. Anton Chigurh (Bardem) is a homicidal maniac who is after the money and will try to kill anyone and everyone standing in his way.

My Two Cents: This movie won four Academy Awards, including "Best Picture," and told an interesting story in an interesting way. But man, Javier Bardem's character freaked me the hell out.

4. Iron Man (with Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow)

Synopsis: Based on the Marvel Comics. Tony Stark (Downey) is a wealthy businessman who also happens to be a mathematical, engineering genius. His company primarily designs, builds and sells weaponry. After a near-death experience, Stark has a change of heart (literally ... just see the movie) and decides to build the greatest weapon of all -- this time, to be used for good, not evil. Of course.

My Two Cents: I was skeptical that this movie was going to be anything beyond amusing, but in actuality, it wasn't so bad. Not the best Marvel Comics adaptation, by any means (because those would be the Batman movies), but still, the screenplay was nowhere near as bad as I expected. Honestly, I believed this was going to be like Transformers, part two. Just one major concern, however ... Does it worry anyone that this film makes Middle Easterners The Bad Guys? Is that politically correct in this day and age? It's reminiscent of the Cold War, when Russians were suddenly The Bad Guys in every other film. Are the children of this generation going to grow up automatically prejudiced against persons of Middle Eastern descent if filmmakers keep casting shadows over them? I see a danger here.

5. Michael Clayton (with George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack and Tilda Swinton)

Synopsis: I don't think it's possible to sum up this movie in only a few sentences, but let me try. Suffice it to say that Karen Crowder's (Swinton) employer is doing something illegal. Michael Clayton's (Clooney) employer is the law firm that represents that company. When the law firm's top litigator suffers a sort of mental breakdown and runs away, Clayton is responsible for bringing him back. But it's just never that simple, is it? Once Clayton learns the company's terrible secret, a hit is put out on his life, and he has to find a way to expose them.

6. Atonement (with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy)

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Ian McEwan. Briony Tallis, younger sister of Cecilia Tallis (Knightley), accuses her older sister's lover, Robbie (McAvoy), of raping a guest in their home. Even though he's innocent, the court finds him guilty according to Briony's false account, and he is sent to jail, and then to the battlefields of World War II. The rest of the film revolves around Cecilia and Robbie's attempts to clear Robbie's name and reunite.

My Two Cents: If you hear that this movie was "visually stunning and extraordinarily powerful," it's not just a cliched review, this film was truly something special. The storyline really stayed with me, long after I left the theater. In fact, the plot was so engaging, that I had to buy the book. I'm a huge fan of reading books that were adapted into movies, and I can't wait to see what this story looks like on paper. It's next on my reading list.

7. Leatherheads (with George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski)

Synopsis: Somewhere in the 1920s, Dodge Connolly (Clooney) recruits a star college football player and war hero, Carter Rutherford (Krasinski), to save his rapidly deteriorating team. Lexie Littleton (Zellweger) is a newspaper reporter out digging around for a story that will prove Rutherford isn't as polished as he looks. The two men vie for her affections while changing the face of football, all while Littleton gets closer and closer to finding what she's looking for.

My Two Cents: This movie could be described as charming. While it didn't make me feel as though I'd just had a raucous good time, it was cute in its own right. It kind of reminded me of Some Like It Hot, and I think that's what the director (Clooney) was going for -- something of an old (old, old) school romantic comedy. Let's put it this way: I wouldn't run out to rent it tomorrow, but if it happens to come on HBO the next time you're flipping through the channels, it would be worth watching.

Music Sites I Wouldn't Want To Live Without

Could I live without them? Yeah, probably. But I wouldn't want to.

If you're an audiohead, I hope you've already found these, but if you haven't...

Pandora: A kind of online radio station that you can customize to play only the music you like and music it suspects you'll like based upon your preferences. Super easy to use and a great way to discover bands you might have been missing out on.

Pollstar: This site lets you search for concerts by either artist, city or venue. One of my main thrills in life is good live music, so this is a required site for me.

And a true gem:

Live Plasma: A very cool page that will "map" your favorite artists/bands, movies, actors or directors, in order to show you what/who is similar in that same category. It's a bonus that the "mapping" uses really cool graphics.

Things That Made Me Laugh This Week

It's been a long week; however, there were highlights:

1.) The people at Dictionaraoke have used audio clips from online dictionaries to "sing the hits of yesterday and today." I've listened to almost all of them by now, and there are so many good ones I couldn't possibly choose a favorite. Go there, right now, and see what happens when karaoke and diction collide.

2.) Jessica Francis Kane's "Adverb Your Enthusiasm" currently found over at The Morning News is very clever indeed. I totally plan on using "Loch Nessily" in at least one sentence this weekend. Seriously.

3.) To be filed away under Things I've Overheard as I Left the Grocery Store: A thirty-something woman on her cell phone: "Well, if your dream isn't to move to Oklahoma and start a pickle farm, then we really need to talk!"

I find this particularly funny since I'm from Oklahoma. And no, I don't know anyone who owns or operates a pickle farm.

4.) Needs no introduction or wrap-up: