To make things less confusing & more search-able,
we are COMBINING our blogs!
Now just go to brainybeautyblogs.com for all product reviews!
Perfume reviews still available on perfume fiend.
Menfolk-- Gifted Guys Groom is still up & running for you.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Chelsea Handler--Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang
So, Chelsea & I would totally be best friends.
This book confirms it.
I would finally get to be the grounded one!
Don't read this book anywhere that you will care that you are laughing your a** off (i.e., job interview, doctor's office...), because you are going to go into hysterics!
I really don't know if I could live in Chelsea's world, but I do love to visit!
Take this trip to Chelsea-ville!!!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
JB Berns-- Do It Or Age Quickly
Some of the advice presented is just good sense-- eat right, get enough sleep, exercise.
Some advice is, well, just plain strange: Stopping your periods through yoga, "The Herbal Fountain of Youth," using Peelu Bark instead of toothpaste, preventing breast cancer through massage...
Really?
There are several plugs for herbal supplements, including Dr. Chang's Forgotten Foods "Female Formula: BD-203, Reproductive Tonic Combination," which "strengthens and balances the female reproductive organs and hormonal system."
The one that really freaked me out was the recommendation for daily herbals, including Hawthorn for the heart: "Scientific evidence shows that it is beneficial in cases of mild heart failure."
I can't find references to said "scientific evidence" anywhere else, only found that studies have shown that Hawthorn could be beneficial as part of a regiment.
I like the simple exercises, but then Berns brings in the bizarre. Two words: Prostate massage. Eww.
I have no doubt that JB Berns is an excellent advisor on the martial & yogic art, as well as a great personal trainer. I think that following a healthy lifestyle-plan is extremely beneficial.
If his methods work for you, more power to you.
I'll stick with the trampoline based Berns exercises & leave the book to the brave.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Coraline
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
What a wonderful little story - in my humble opinion - for girls of all ages (including the over 30 set) about being brave and facing your fears for the ones you love. I picked this book up from the library to read before going to see the movie. While I much prefer the movie's look to the original book illustration, they are a nice addition to the book.
I also love that Coraline is adamant that people call her by her right name - Coraline as opposed to Caroline. (Even at age 33, I struggle with correcting people who insist on calling me "Cathy" instead of using my full name "Catherine" or the preferred nickname of "Cat.") In my case, as in Coraline's, it is important to be called the correct name because one's name is so closely tied to one's identity. Coraline's insistence on being called her right name echoes the larger storyline. Coraline is trapped in a world with the Other Mother, who is seeking to control Coraline and thereby make her into someone else - the Other Coraline. But throughout her struggle to return to the real world, Coraline holds onto her identity and what she loves. She's an explorer at heart, and she uses her explorer skills to win her freedom.
While some have criticized this novella as a streamlined retelling of Alice in Wonderland, I find the similarities delightful.
Coraline is a quick read, but thoroughly enjoyable. It may have been written for the 'Tween crowd, but there are lessons and enjoyment for all.
ETA: I saw the movie....um, yeah, no. Loved the book, hated the movie. The finer points of the story were completely lost, and the addition of a new character completely eroded the point of the book - Coraline's bravery and sense of self.
And actually, now that I'm writing about it, I realize that I should have known better. I should have expected that an independent female character would cut down and reduced to a damsel in distress, needing to be rescued by a male. Aren't I a stupid girl! Stupid for being shocked that they tarted up two older female characters (in a completely shocking and inappropriate manner), so that we are left with every misogynists favorite trio of female archetypes (the hapless and helpless girl, the evil mother, and the crone) expertly presented as weak, self-centered, feeble-minded sex objects positioned perfectly for ridicule and loathing. Duh! What was I thinking? Oh, and let's not forget to completely eradicate even the smallest of implications that there is a God, by having Coraline search for eyeballs rather than souls! I mean, God forbid we even remotely acknowledge that there is a God. Because, wouldn't that be a travesty!
by Neil Gaiman
What a wonderful little story - in my humble opinion - for girls of all ages (including the over 30 set) about being brave and facing your fears for the ones you love. I picked this book up from the library to read before going to see the movie. While I much prefer the movie's look to the original book illustration, they are a nice addition to the book.
I also love that Coraline is adamant that people call her by her right name - Coraline as opposed to Caroline. (Even at age 33, I struggle with correcting people who insist on calling me "Cathy" instead of using my full name "Catherine" or the preferred nickname of "Cat.") In my case, as in Coraline's, it is important to be called the correct name because one's name is so closely tied to one's identity. Coraline's insistence on being called her right name echoes the larger storyline. Coraline is trapped in a world with the Other Mother, who is seeking to control Coraline and thereby make her into someone else - the Other Coraline. But throughout her struggle to return to the real world, Coraline holds onto her identity and what she loves. She's an explorer at heart, and she uses her explorer skills to win her freedom.
While some have criticized this novella as a streamlined retelling of Alice in Wonderland, I find the similarities delightful.
Coraline is a quick read, but thoroughly enjoyable. It may have been written for the 'Tween crowd, but there are lessons and enjoyment for all.
ETA: I saw the movie....um, yeah, no. Loved the book, hated the movie. The finer points of the story were completely lost, and the addition of a new character completely eroded the point of the book - Coraline's bravery and sense of self.
And actually, now that I'm writing about it, I realize that I should have known better. I should have expected that an independent female character would cut down and reduced to a damsel in distress, needing to be rescued by a male. Aren't I a stupid girl! Stupid for being shocked that they tarted up two older female characters (in a completely shocking and inappropriate manner), so that we are left with every misogynists favorite trio of female archetypes (the hapless and helpless girl, the evil mother, and the crone) expertly presented as weak, self-centered, feeble-minded sex objects positioned perfectly for ridicule and loathing. Duh! What was I thinking? Oh, and let's not forget to completely eradicate even the smallest of implications that there is a God, by having Coraline search for eyeballs rather than souls! I mean, God forbid we even remotely acknowledge that there is a God. Because, wouldn't that be a travesty!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Notes on a Scandal [What Was She Thinking?]
What Was She Thinking
Zoë Heller
5 of 5 Stars
Anyone who has ever made disastrous romantic decisions, been betrayed or disappointed by a friend, or has ever had their reason overruled by emotion, will understand why I love this book. As a new teacher at a comprehensive school, Sheba Hart is in over her bourgeois head, and quickly head-over-heels for a 15-year old student. But this novel isn't just about a forbidden teacher-student affair. The real story is the relationship between Sheba and Barbara, the older and more experienced teacher, who is at once her savior and her Judas. Heller's examination of the female psyche and female relationships is accurate and compelling.
Zoë Heller
5 of 5 Stars
Anyone who has ever made disastrous romantic decisions, been betrayed or disappointed by a friend, or has ever had their reason overruled by emotion, will understand why I love this book. As a new teacher at a comprehensive school, Sheba Hart is in over her bourgeois head, and quickly head-over-heels for a 15-year old student. But this novel isn't just about a forbidden teacher-student affair. The real story is the relationship between Sheba and Barbara, the older and more experienced teacher, who is at once her savior and her Judas. Heller's examination of the female psyche and female relationships is accurate and compelling.
Monday, August 4, 2008
My Horizontal Life A Collection of One Night Stands
If you watch E! at all, you'll know Chelsea Handler. She has a show "Chelsea Lately" where she rips on celebrities. That said, this book is literally laugh out-loud funny. Chelsea recalls many of her extremely odd and note worthy one night stands. You will die realizing with each turn of the page how nuts she is. It's a great, easy, quick read. Plus, you'll feel like the perfect sober prude after reading about her debauchery and sexcapades.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Syal-- Anita & Me
Anita and Me by Meera Syal4 of 5 stars
Very engaging story of young Indian girl in small English town in the 1960s. Anita is a trashy older girl (white) who Meena (the main character) semi-idolizes. Meena wants to be part of Anita's crowd, wants her family to fit into the bucolic English world... Pre-teen & teen angst appears to be universal!
Well written, some odd twists. I really like that Meena wasn't perfect, was sometimes downright unlikeable. A solid everyman anti-hero;) I've also read Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal, a great story of 4 women.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)