All My Pigments
I have decided to review every pigment or loose eyeshadow I own up to this point. I hope these reviews will provide you with the information you need – whether to buy that rare pigment from a trusted seller, or whether to buy a pigment that is in the manufacturer's permanent line or that is being repromoted in a new collection.
Each review will go over the same basic qualities:
- Color
- Color Payoff
- Texture
- Blendability
It is a given that the review is subject to my taste in what I like in a product. Something I may consider a positive quality may be a negative for you, and vice versa. Keep this in mind – I will try to be as descriptive as possible.
As I am a new blogger, all products are purchased by me in the review. There is no corporate influence in my reviews.
The Whole Wikileaks Thing
Some of the info released by Wikileaks was amusing; It's not like we didn't know that diplomats are really spies. DUH. Did you watch the Tudors? (just kidding. sorta.) I imagine the dangerous stuff was not run in most newspapers. However, there are other things in those files which probably should not be public. (people's personal info, etc.)
Amazon finally pulled the plug on Wikileaks web hosting – sort of like closing the barn door after the cows got out. Their lawyers are probably sifting through their TOS right now to see how liable they are.
Hopefully this will get sorted out soon.
Congrats William and Kate!
Congratulations Kate Middleton and Prince William of Wales! I really do not know who filters through all the blogs and press the royals get, but these two are the ones I most want to say "good luck and happiness" to. Wills and Kate seem like such a mature and relaxed couple – even among all that blown-out flash at their press conference. (sheesh! how do you get a decent exposure in that?)
I alway felt for Diana's boys. They truly didn't ask for the things that happened to them. Yes, they have money, bla bla bla. The reality is though, William and Harry were trapped in a messy divorce in a fish-bowl as children. Then they had to publicly grieve for their Mom when she died so soon. No amount of money helps with family problems like this. It only hurts, really – it gives the warring factions something more to fight about.
Now we see William and Kate making their happiness on THEIR terms. I propose a hypothesis: Kate Middleton wasn't "Waity Katie" as everyone has assumed. I truly believe the both of them planned it all out this way because they know what is coming. William and Kate decided to have some real "couple" time before a Royal engagement and wedding. Smart move. The flash bulbs, the press the lack of privacy – at least they had time to themselves before they decided to make it official and weather the crap being Royalty dishes to them.
Kate looks ready for the press. She seemed more comfortable with them than even William is (perhaps with good reason he is more jaded). The announcement at the palace was a circus as I had mentioned. The photographers (I have yet to see a really good photo from that event) were shooting their flashes so much that the Royal family put a seisure warning on the video. The important thing to notice between the photo-op and the video is the body language between the two. They seem to me very much like the couples I have photographed for weddings who have been together a long time. They have their own "space," yet they are fully into each other without the least bit of awkwardness. I love when William said, "I didn't realize this was a race." He really put the "Waity Katie" critics in their place. So much for everyone calling her by her given name Catherine, though – someone should have given poor William that memo. Like my good friend says to her husband, "We'll talk about that in the car…"
I truly hope for the best for William and Kate. From where I stand they look solid and ready for this step. I hope their life together does not get derailed by the fish-bowl called Monarchy. Oh and by the way, if you need a wedding photographer, I know one…
The Beatles Now on iTunes Press Release
Windows 7 BOOTMGR is Missing
I had come across this problem after upgrading from Vista to Windows 7. Apparently there is a subtle difference in how Windows 7 boots from how Windows Vista boots. I do not know if this is a bug or if it is intentional.
The symptoms I had were:
- I would have NTLDR is missing or BOOTMGR is missing Messages
- Windows 7 DVD Startup Repair disk did not work (It said there were no problems)
- My windows installation would only boot if my Windows 7 DVD was in the drive (weird I Know!)
It turned out that my boot drive was not plugged in to my SATA port properly. I have all SATA drives, so this was not in my radar of troubleshooting choices – because I thought all SATA drives were hot-pluggable and it did not matter which port they were in. Apparently, for Windows 7, your boot disk has to be plugged in to SATA 0 of your first bank of SATA ports. I had figured this out because I read on Howtogeek.com that someone had fixed his bootmgr problem by replugging in all his drives. So I decided to do some testing, and low and behold, my Windows 7 would only boot if my primary drive was in SATA 0 of the first SATA bank. No other configuration would work.
Bye Bye GL
It's old news – the soap opera Guiding Light has been cancelled. The show tried some really innovative techniques to keep the show viable, but in the end, it was not enough. I didn't think it was a big deal right when it happened – but now it's sinking in. This is my obituary of sorts, I guess.
This soap will live in infamy for me forever. I was in second grade when the Holly and Roger rape storyline was playing out. My mom was a faithful watcher of the soap. In school, I was asked to write about my favorite TV show. I wrote about GL and the entire Roger and Holly storyline. The teacher called my mom, upset that I knew what rape was in second grade. The truth is, being the youngest of eight kids, I had an idea what sex was – that it was something intimate that people did when they were married. My mom explained that when both people do not want to and the guy is violent – it's a bad violation. That was all I knew. I don't know if that teacher was ever OK with my Mom's explanation.
In recent years, I have watched on the web mostly, since the Buffalo CBS station WIVB first changed GL's time slot to 11:00 am and then later stoppped carrying the show. After I moved to WI, I continued to watch GL on the web – mostly because the TV schedule was (and still is) the hardest thing for me to adjust to.
The stories on the show were compelling over the years. Luckily for us, many of the old shows are on YouTube so we can watch them over and over. The Holly and Roger rape storyline was and is one of the best in the soaps. Reva and Josh were compelling as the rich versus poor storyline. The Spauldings were always intriguing. Although killing Maureen Bauer was a mistake in the long run, the story of her death and the circumstances surrounding it was great stuff. The writing and acting was simply amazing. CBS should re-release the Reva and Roger video compilations on DVD.
I imagine there will be a day in the future where we will have to explain what a daytime drama is because they will be extinct. I often wonder if traditional television as we know it can survive the internet. I guess we shall see.
iPhone 3.1
It’s took forever to update my iPhone to 3.1. I am always a little “afraid” to update my iPhone, but this release has security feature updates for Safari that are very important. My iPhone is my business line, so getting hacked would not be the best plan for my life. The update was slow like I said, but it was a smooth update.
The new iTunes features did not show up until I updated the iPhone. When they did, I was impressed – especially with the application interface. It was MUCH better than before. You can even arrange your screens. That is wonderful. My husband will LOVE that. The also changed the interfaces for movies and podcasts. It is much more intuitive and organized.
iPhone 3.1 OS Applications Screen
The iTouch will update for free if you paid for the 3.00 update, otherwise you will have to buy it. (I think all security and function updates for something already so pricey should be free!)
reCAPTCHA
I was looking for a good captcha solution for all the websites I currently manage, and I decided on re CAPTCHA. ReCAPTCHA was very easy to install on my blog – I was amazed. Normally captcha solutions are clunky to install, and ones in the past included a lot of code and file editing. While I am proficient enough to edit, I wanted a better solution to make upgrading and updating my site easier. Installation was very simple. You sign up on their site, install the the plugin, and BAM! your site is now a bit more secured. You have the “clean” design option, which integrates nicely with sites, without having to style the plugin.
WordPress installs were very simple. Next, I want to add it to my Joomla sites. I’ll get back to you to see how that goes.
Hopefully it will help keep the spammers at bay. 
Installation was easy, and it is easy for users to understand what to do. Please comment below on your experiences with re CAPTCHA.
My Sister is Coming Over Tomorrow!
I'm excited, but a lot nervous. my house is not spick and span as I'd like it to be. Oh well. Rome wasn't built in a day.
I discovered the Joys of two-faced Shadow insurance. It has to be the best goop ever invented. I used to be jealous of all the girls who could keep their eye shadow on. Now, I am one of them.
My Dad, who lives in New York, went to Cleveland to hopefully figure out why he's internally bleeding. I hope it turns out OK. He feels so defeated. My Mom is handling it OK. She's a trooper to the utmost degree.