It's about time, Top Model

There are so many amazing African models. Top model has been going on what, 10 years? And they only now start a Africa's Top Model. Well, it is about time.

So excited that it is in English so I can watch! (If only they would subtitle in English the ones from non-English speaking countries...)

http://antmafrica.com/about-antm-africa-2/

Cheesecake Cookies

So recently I decided to try a box mix of cookies for sugar cookies with some extra ingedients...I made the cookie mix according to the package. But I also had leftover cream cheese for cheesecake I did not make. I decided to add 1 of the packages of cream cheese which is 8 ounces, 1 egg, and a little bit of extra sugar. I mixed that with the sugar cookie mix then I baked the sugar cookies according to the sugar cookie package. The cookies came out very good - fluffy sugar cookies, very tasty, I recommend trying. I'm looking forward to trying this with other cookie mixes. No pics this time because they went so quick!

american football

I have never been much of a football fan, maybe because I didn't grow up with a good team. But it is fun that my local team is doing well and people around here are happy. I'm mainly enjoying the little traditions we're making....

Before the Ravens' first playoff game this year, my husband got an Avengers Nick Fury mini muggs figure. He liked the little guy so much, he talked about getting more. So I got him Hawkeye. He put them both as protection in front of a bobble head figure of the quarterback, Joe Flacco right before that first playoff game.

When the Ravens won, we decided we needed another Avenger for the next playoff game. My husband really wanted Thor next.

And they won! Guess what that meant...Avengers Assemble - almost. The hubbs doesn't care much for the Hulk figure, so we just got Captain America and Iron Man. Guess that makes the quarterback the Hulk.

So no the Ravens are headed for the superbowl, with protection ;)

Cute Holiday Surprise

I got a cute gift that I had to share. This little guy is incognito....

 What could it be? Would a friend send me coffee from across the globe?

It has a packing date... Hmmm, check out those silly instructions!

 I'm thinking there's a notebook hidden in this. Time to open it up!

 How cute! World Domination, very fitting. ;)

 All unwrapped and ready  - even has a hidden back pocket. Looks like I need some plans to write.

For now, maybe a few doodles (no lines - I can do what I want).

Thanks, Jelita!!

America's Top Model Season 19

For the record, this season of Top Model is WEIRD... In an attempt to make top model seem progressive and interactive, they posted the photos on facebook in Spring and had people comment, like, and all that. Then now, during the already recorded episodes, they act like the social networking stuff is current and live. It some weird trick-type-thing: The show makers are hoping that viewers don't know any better (don't search and read up), so that they will actually think the interaction is current and that their own viewpoint matters. Maybe their opinion would matter a tiny bit if they knew anything about this social media component during filming, but not if they are tuning in for the show now. It is strange and confusing to work in a "faked-live" component, to trick the viewer into feeling useful.

Anyhow, they some ideas that aren't bad, like having college contestants and themes around that.

But I don't care much for this season so far.

1. The "faked-live" thing.
2. Because it is college-themed, they mention "Tyra's degree from Harvard" a bunch. A 9-week certificate program is not a Harvard Degree. I don't mean to sound elitist or anything, but that is not anyone's definition of a "Harvard Degree."
3. The complete cast change could have been okay. I do miss Jay Manuel and J Alexander, but they probably had other things to do, so it probably did not hurt them. Or any of the other judges, who are accomplished in their own right and used to change every few seasons anyway (except Nigel). But, since this season also has the social media thing, they have a guy who is famous on YouTube delivering the "Tyra Mail" and they have video clips and quotes from fans who did the Spring commenting stuff. It's odd extra stuff that doesn't really fit for me. I don't know about or care about the random YouTube guy or the non-expert opinions, especially if they aren't "live."
4. To make the "faked-live" thing work, they need all the contestants to participate in all the photo shoots so the numbers don't go down (so the people interacting in the Spring don't know who wins). So there's an online series to follow just to watch the eliminated people (who I usually forget about once they are gone, especially the first half or so) do their photos and one will get to come back. Yay? I don't care, really. Since I know they only did that to have pictures of everyone for the Spring social media interaction, it just seems like a falsified after-elimination-competition so they could get something out of having to take the extra photos. It just feels fake. I guess that should fit, but it's in-our-face-fake this season.

My normal downloading site is down, but it seems I need to work on tracking down the other country top model shows and just watch them instead of this season. Yes, I know I will watch this anyway, but there are so many things that bother me about this season. I just feel as a viewer they expect me to buy into the falseness of this season, like they expect the viewers not to know any better or think, at all. Give me some credit, especially during the "college-themed season."

America's Top Model Season 18

I was let down with the all-star season (cycle 17) - there wasn't live stuff except the first episode and there were only two or three girls I really liked and they didn't win. Plus the weird cut/ refilming of the season finale.

Anyway, having watched all of Britain's next top model, I am super excited for this US season because half of the contestants were previous UK contestants. I don't expect to recognize them all, but I am excited that the shows are colliding. :) I find it funny that the first complaints are about not understanding the accent. After watching plenty of non-US shows, I don't have that problem and forget that it can be a problem for some.

This is a fun twist because the US ones were starting to bore me. Now, if Tyra can avoid making it all about her, I might really enjoy this season.... Here's hoping!

Spicy and Sweet

I love spicy foods. And I have recently found that I like spicy chiles (cayenne) with just about everything (the only exception I can think off offhand would probably be with caramel, but I could be persuaded otherwise). I like it with savory foods and with sweet. Here's how it happened:

This past summer, I tried Trader Joe's chile mango floes, sweet mango popsicles with spicy chilli powder. They were good but confusing - a very spicy frozen snack. I had never tried such a combination, but heard that similar sweet with spicy combos are popular in South America.

When it got colder, I tried making some Aztec hot chocolate. At the time, I had a specific recipe I followed to make the spicy hot chocolate drink. This I thought matched better, hot sweet drink with spicy.

Now, recently, I was shopping at Trader Joe's and picked up some dried mango with cayenne (chile spiced mango) to give that a try. Love it. Not as confusing like the popsicles because they don't have a temperature component, just the flavor aspect - the spicy with the sweet.

Today, in lieu of my regular thermos of coffee, I have made Aztec hot chocolate from memory and am enjoying that very much. Here's the general recipe (I didn't measure anything): hot chocolate packets ~1packet for 10oz water, cayenne powder ~1tsp, cinnamon ~1tsp, hot water. Mmmm, sweet and spicy. Give it a try if you like spicy stuff.

the Social Network movie

It took me forever to watch The Social Network and then longer to finally post this. I don't have much for a review - it was a good movie, that's pretty much all there is to it. Not an action movie or comedy, more like a based-on-life character study, so it was informative and interesting. Not to say they may not have made some characters more unlikeable or likeable for movie-purposes, but it is an entertaining adaptation of reality.

Most (all?) of the outdoor college campus scenes where filled here at Johns Hopkins, so I had been meaning to watch it eventually (no matter how the movie did) so that I could keep on eye out for the Hopkins scenes, specifically the ones with my office building since I know they changed the exterior for a few days so it could say Harvard and the name of one of their buildings.

So this will be quick, mostly listing times in the movie that were shots of my campus. Mainly the beginning credits (that caused a re-route of my walk home one evening) and then a few other short walking scenes.

I was actually reminded to watch this because there have been spotlights and cameras off-campus this past Fall for other filming. The upcoming HBO show Veep was using Baltimore for scenes that are supposed to be Washington, DC.

Based on the version of Social Network I watched, here are the times that show Hopkins:
5:55 to 7:37, of which 6:14 was at the time of filming my walk home that got rerouted due to filming and 7:10 is the breezeway (overlooks the 'lower quad' and my building, Latrobe, can be seen)

7:22-7:34 Latrobe! (my office building/ civil engineering and mechanical engineering building) is used as the exterior of the Harvard dorms

11:27-11:36 more Latrobe!

19:28-19:53 Shaffer Hall, in the same quad as Latrobe


So that was additionally interesting for me because of the Johns Hopkins connection.

A purple bag

I don't want to make this blog about handbags, but I have to share this purple beauty. <3

Rebecca Minkoff's Circle Quilt Casanova in purple shine with silver hardware

I had a hard time capturing the color in the pictures (ever since my camera broke I have not gotten the hang of taking great photos with hubby's old camera). But this is a pretty perfect deep purple (between the flash and non-flash picture colors), perfect with the silver hardware. And the circle quilt pattern makes it wonderfully smooshy!

Of course I love the cute matching tassel and surprising leopard lining (and matching dustbag).

The size is great, especially as a crossbody bag (my preferred style). Not too big but bigger than the RM MAC which I love but can be a little tight if I am carrying one or two more things than normal.
... Sorry, I am messy so the background is a disaster...

<3

The hair...

I had tried to get some better pictures with the violet dye, so here are those:
indoors:

 outdoors:

Sadly, my hair looked black or blue which was not my intent, so I have since dyed to a 'normal' brown. However, I really dislike having a normal hair color now, so I might try out one more purple color (without bleaching). I have heard good things about a British hair color brand called La Riche and their plum purple in the Directions line. I have heard some reports that the color does not bleed as much, so I may be going for one more purple attempt soon.

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

I recently decided to try making cheesecake again. I had a bad experience about 10 years ago with a family recipe and the inside didn't cook all the way. So I looked up some easy recipes and tried my luck. (Not to ruin the suspense... but it worked so well I've made it multiple times.)

Filling:
16 oz (two 8-oz packages) cream cheese
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat until smooth - *I recommend using an Immersion Blender

Crust
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs (~one package inside box)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/8 cup water
Melt butter, mix all together, press into pan.
Does not require pre-baking if pie will be baked.

Bake 350 degrees for ~50min

My first one (I made less because I put a portion into a not-so-good attempt of pumpkin cheesecake, but this tasted great and didn't need to cook as long - only about 30min).

 

For my second one, I blended in some frozen strawberries (which is why the color looks different).

 Before serving, I spread some strawberry topping on top.

I've also used half of the cheesecake filling recipe for muffin filling. I made pumpkin muffins with cheesecake filling and can't wait to try this again with chocolate muffins or brownies.

*I added the recommendation for using an immersion blender after talking with a friend who has many cheesecake-making problems. She believes her problems (sometimes explosion, sometimes collapse) had to do with how much air was in the cheesecake mixture. She uses a hand mixer and I have used my immersion blender for this recipe and never had a problem. So maybe that's the key? Anyway, it is worth mentioning.

Hair Updates

While I have purple hair, I figured I'm make one more attempt to get stronger color. So more bleaching, and then the purple. Then I'll let my hair grow out and trim the purple until the roots get long enough.


So here are the details of my re-dying attempt.

Bleach with Clairol Textures & Tones Permanent Moisture-Rich Hair Color in Lightest Blonde. This is not made for white girls like me, but my hair was resistant to bleaching last time and this was cheap, so I figured it would be my best bet. And it did work much better than with the Splat color bleaching method.

This time my purpling product was initially Manic Panic Semi-Permanent Hair Color Cream in Ultra Violet. But I found one container was not enough for all my hair. Also, this violet shade is very blue-toned. So the top of may hair looked purple in sunlight but dark blue in the shade and indoors, the rest of my hair was a light brown from the bleaching.

Not enough product, so got some Jerome Russell Semi Permanent Punky Colour Hair Cream, this time in Violet, and did the rest of my hair and blended it with the other color up top. It looks pretty dark in the pictures, and still looks bluish indoors and in the shade, but I am hoping it fades more purple (less red-toned like previously). I will also try to get some better pictures of the color... Here's what I've got:

That's where I am with my purpling hair attempts. :)

US Top Model All Stars!

I am scared but so excited! Usually I wait to watch seasons until they are over and I can watch all the episodes together, but I can't wait for this.

I remember all these girls (since I pretty recently watched all of the seasons) and I do have a few favorites. At the same time, it has been a long time for many. This season can't really be about starting a modeling career because some of the girls are too old to start modeling (sad but true).

So I am a little worried how this all star season will go, but it will be fun to see some of the girls again. However, with a show all about the girls who were memorable, the opening sequence with all Tyra as all the girls was a bit much. Hopefully Tyra won't try to be the main focus all season.

And the celebrity guests this season, probably not necessary but could be interesting, and the live finale like the other country shows, we'll see how it goes for the US. At least for this all star show, it makes sense since it is not really a modeling competition, so it works fine for the public to have input (if that is how they are doing the finale, with some public voting).

Movie, TV, reading Update

Been watching more movies and shows between work.Generally, here are my thoughts:

Funny Face has an interesting premise - turn a not-model into a model - seems like something I'd like, especially with Audrey Hepburn, but I have mixed opinions. It is shot beautifully, and has some interesting songs (it's a musical) and fantastic clothes, but the love interest (Audry with Fred Astaire) did not work for me and the bohemian dance scene did not seem to fit with the usually graceful Audrey.

I have an odd mix of stuff on my computer... next up Clockwork Orange. Besides the content that is supposed to shock the viewers (which I knew to expect, like violence and rape), the general premise makes you think. To me, a good movie confuses your emotions and makes you think. First you hate the character, for obvious reasons, then you might end up feeling bad for him, which is confusing because he is not a good person. But the premise makes you think. One thing I could do without is the 'futuristic' russian-infused-english. It may work in the book, but in the movie it just made it harder for me to understand. So, for movies that make you think, if you are okay with violence, this is a good movie. I would say people should see this once (though some argue it gets better with multiple viewings) - I am okay with once unless you don't get the movie at all, then multiple viewings may help.

As for TV shows, I have been starting this season's Project Runway. I do like watching multiple episodes at once, so I hadn't watched any and them watched 6 in a row. Though now I have to wait for more. The designers this season are very interesting with their unique styles and personalities.

I have also been watching the 1960s show Gidget with Sally Field (so cute!). This only lasted one season, and I can see why fans of the movies would not care much for the show - her love interest is off at college, so it is more about the family relationship during the school year. But, as I never saw the movies, separate from the movies, this is a cute series. However, you have to take it with a grain of salt. For me, some of the 'lessons' in the show don't match with my belief of encouraging women that they can do anything they want, even 'men's jobs.' But that was a part of the times - this is based on a series from the 50s, with 50s mentality of women as homemakers and all that jazz. But I've noticed enough of that in the Audrey Hepburn movies, too, and just chalk it up to being part of the time period. If you let it get to you, you may not enjoy this show or many of the Audrey movies.

Also watching Friends - as a replacement for my Top Model - to have in the background while I work. I have seen a lot of the early Friends shows, but I think 7th season on I haven't seen much. I don't know if I really want to (I have heard some opinions that it gets bad), but I would like to know how it ends, since the show is a pretty big staple of American pop culture.

And in Books (this is new for me), I have a lot of books I want to read. The hubby is more of the reader, so we went to Border's store closing sales. I actually found a few books I wanted. A few are picture collections (of rock stars), but I also found (and started) a book about the band Queen (Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen). Among the others I grabbed, the ones I am most excited about are: 1) one about hollywood (Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood) and how it changed with some pivotal movies and flops like Doctor Doolittle (incidentally, I loved as a kid and plan to re-watch soon); 2) one about the filming of Breakfast at Tiffany's (Fifth Avenue, 5:00 AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Dawn of the Modern Woman); 3) one about studio 54 and the disco party days (The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night); 4) one about Bruce Springsteen. I am a super slow reader, but I will review them if I finish any...

Natural Disaster Week Update

Hurricane Irene has gone through. I still have power, and I don't see any trees down or deep puddles, but there are plenty elsewhere nearby. Saturday was overcast and drizzly all day, then rains picked up a bit later, like closer to 6p and winds started to pick up. I stayed inside, like we should, so I don't have any interesting experiences, just weird noises from the wind. I was expecting power to go out, so we got lucky that it didn't. Eventually I'll go out and see how the nearby stream and the roads are (if the streetlights are functioning). I don't plan to go out much yet since there are scattered areas of electricity outages and tree stuff in the roads. But school is currently planned to run on a normal schedule, so I'll be walking out and about tomorrow unless the status changes. Will take pictures if I see anything interesting.

All safe here. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Natural Disaster Week

August 23 Earthquake and now waiting on the Hurricane to hit. It's been a fun week, really. As an engineer, I was so exited when I realized it was an earthquake. I learn how to make buildings for earthquakes, but I never had experienced one. So this is not very new news for other East-Coasters, but I thought I'd quickly share my experience.

I felt it a lot! (I guess because it was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, even if it was 130 miles away.) There was an initial shake and I looked out the window to see if a truck hit the building or something. Then my office mate was pretty certain it was an earthquake and told me to get out of the window (I was standing up on a heater leaning out the window, since it is not at normal height). Then there was a bunch more shaking, lots of strong back and forth. Only little things fell - like a small bottle of glasses cleaner I had, probably from the movement of the liquid inside. But I just finally examined my bookshelf and the books had slid forward, so they could have fell in some places, but mine stayed on the shelf. I was really excited since I have learned about earthquakes and stuff but never felt one, and this felt pretty substantial.

My bookshelf

Then I went outside to talk with people. Anyway, when I was outside, I tried to make calls but I was only able to successfully send and receive texts. Some people had their computers outside and looked up information and found the earthquake was in Virginia, though I had a hard time believing it was that far away because we really felt a lot. But that was it, and apparently people have felt it up to New York and Toronto, Canada. So I am just excited about having been in an earthquake and can't believe it was felt so far away. I was also looking forward to maybe some aftershocks, but have mostly been smaller (though there was a 4.5), and it seems those have mostly only been felt closer to the earthquake origins in Virginia.

I heard from other people I know who felt it in Columbus, Ohio (380 miles from the earthquake), and Dayton, Ohio (440 miles from it). My husband was working near DC and he thought the ceiling was going to cave in (it didn't, the buildings were fine just shaky, since it was 80 miles from the earthquake).


So now we are waiting for hurricane Irene which is still projected to be hurricane-level (not downgraded to tropical storm) as it hits along the coast. Expecting lots of rain, flooding in some places, and power outage.

And for the incoming students moving in this weekend and getting ready to start school Monday (weather-permitting), welcome to Baltimore! It is never like this here, but it sure is an interesting way to experience the city. Up next: volcanoes, landslides, and tsunamis...

Purple Touch-up

It had been two weeks and I found the purple color is fading to reveal some of that "bleached" red-tone I had uncovered. So I applied some of the splat lusty lavender color to revive the purpliness.

Faded:

Re-Purplized:

 I find this purple version to be even pinker as it fades (since it has now been a week since I touched up my color).

It didn't stay purple (to my tastes) very long, but probably because my bleached undertone is red and not all the way to blond.

I will be getting more of the punky hair colour in plum to touch up my purpliness. (I used the whole container when I first dyed my hair.)