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The SALES are coming! The whole of Tokyo has been marked down 50%, and I spent yesterday afternoon in Shibuya, poking around. So far, I've bought a cool brooch (that I'd been eyeing for months, but wasn't ready to spend 30$ for), two necklaces and a purse that's the most gorgeous shade green, exactly the colour of pine needles. Also coloured tights, but those weren't on sale, so I guess they don't count. Will post pictures at the end of the month, when my shopping's done. >:D
It seems I wasn't mistaken after all: in the fourth drugstore I visited, I finally found the closest things to cotton balls I'm most likely to find, and that's little cotton squares. At least they don't come pre-creamed/lubed/whatever.
Anyway, carry on.
Now, about reviews, I've been wondering how best to go about it, and I suppose that Review Saturday is as good a place to start as any. So, without further ado (and I really hate it when people mistakenly write "further adieu", it makes no sense!), here's what I finished reading and watched this week.
Beautiful WASPs Having Sex (Dori Carter):
Subtitled "A Hollywood Novel", this is another one of those books that I'd never go out of my way to pick up, but I must admit it surprised me. It was not, as one review promised, "hilarious", but rather funny in a bitter way. Indeed, a sense of bitterness infused the whole story, which is about Frankie, a screenwriter nearing forty, who is trying to finish and sell a script. Her husband wants a divorce. Then, she meets Jonathan Price, her agent's secretary. Jonathan is smooth, charming, and very ambitious, and it's a good thing that you don't need any actual talent or education to make it in Hollywood, according to this book. The story is also mainly about Jews, specifically Jews in Hollywood (and New York, because that's where both Frankie and Jonathan are from), and how they spend their lives trying to live up to their parents' expectations of greatness.
As I said, I didn't find the book hilarious, though it was very wry. Of course, I am neither interested in Hollywood as an industry, nor am I Jewish, so I didn't have any sort of insider "Ha ha, that's so true!" reaction, as I'm sure people in either or both those categories would. Also, I'd already read Brian Michael Bendis's Fortune and Glory, which tells a similar (true) story, only it's about a comic book writer trying to get his book made into a movie. It made many of the same points (except without the Jewish angle), and had generally the same tone of hopeful despair, though it wasn't quite so sad.
Final verdict: 6.5/10 -- the writing is fairly good, but a lack of interest in the subject matter made me not care too much.
Exes & Ohs:
It's a lesbian series that isn't The L Word! Now, I like The L Word, but sometimes it's just TOO glamourous. Exes & Ohs takes place in Seattle, not Los Angeles, so the glamour is adjusted accordingly. Also, there is snow! Have you ever noticed how little snow, especially of the real variety, we see in television? In this, there are actually people out in the cold (of Seattle, so it can't be all that cold, can it?), with snow on their boots and on their cars, and YOU CAN SEE THEIR BREATH IN THE AIR! *fans herself* Sorry, it's just that it's such a rare occurence... Anyway, the story is about Jennifer, a documentary filmmaker, who still isn't over her ex (who has married another woman), and her friends Sam (the one who likes sex a lot, with a lot of different women), Chris and Kris (the sappy, lovey-dovey couple), and Crutch (the wannabe singer-songwriter with funky hair who doesn't like paying rent). Jennifer occasionally breaks the fourth wall to offer up "The Rules of Lesbian Dating", and sometimes goes off into little fantasy sequences, but on the whole the show is funny and realistic in a natural, low-key kind of way.
There are only two bad things about this show. The first is the actress who plays Sienna: Sienna is rather important to the plot (without having very many lines), but whenever she shows up, she stands around like a bump on a log. Seriously, would some facial expressions kill you? Pretty is not enough. What the hell did Jennifer ever see in her, anyway? The second bad thing is that there are only six (that's right, 6) half-hour episodes. That's it! The last episode ends with "You slept with ----?!?!?", so I assume they were hoping to make more, but it didn't happen. It's a damn shame, too.
Oh yeah, actually there are three bad things about this show. The third is that I cannot imagine why an aspiring singer-songwriter would want people to call her Crutch.
Final verdict: 8.5/10 (I deducted .5 because I want MORE!)
It seems I wasn't mistaken after all: in the fourth drugstore I visited, I finally found the closest things to cotton balls I'm most likely to find, and that's little cotton squares. At least they don't come pre-creamed/lubed/whatever.
Anyway, carry on.
Now, about reviews, I've been wondering how best to go about it, and I suppose that Review Saturday is as good a place to start as any. So, without further ado (and I really hate it when people mistakenly write "further adieu", it makes no sense!), here's what I finished reading and watched this week.
Beautiful WASPs Having Sex (Dori Carter):
Subtitled "A Hollywood Novel", this is another one of those books that I'd never go out of my way to pick up, but I must admit it surprised me. It was not, as one review promised, "hilarious", but rather funny in a bitter way. Indeed, a sense of bitterness infused the whole story, which is about Frankie, a screenwriter nearing forty, who is trying to finish and sell a script. Her husband wants a divorce. Then, she meets Jonathan Price, her agent's secretary. Jonathan is smooth, charming, and very ambitious, and it's a good thing that you don't need any actual talent or education to make it in Hollywood, according to this book. The story is also mainly about Jews, specifically Jews in Hollywood (and New York, because that's where both Frankie and Jonathan are from), and how they spend their lives trying to live up to their parents' expectations of greatness.
As I said, I didn't find the book hilarious, though it was very wry. Of course, I am neither interested in Hollywood as an industry, nor am I Jewish, so I didn't have any sort of insider "Ha ha, that's so true!" reaction, as I'm sure people in either or both those categories would. Also, I'd already read Brian Michael Bendis's Fortune and Glory, which tells a similar (true) story, only it's about a comic book writer trying to get his book made into a movie. It made many of the same points (except without the Jewish angle), and had generally the same tone of hopeful despair, though it wasn't quite so sad.
Final verdict: 6.5/10 -- the writing is fairly good, but a lack of interest in the subject matter made me not care too much.
Exes & Ohs:
It's a lesbian series that isn't The L Word! Now, I like The L Word, but sometimes it's just TOO glamourous. Exes & Ohs takes place in Seattle, not Los Angeles, so the glamour is adjusted accordingly. Also, there is snow! Have you ever noticed how little snow, especially of the real variety, we see in television? In this, there are actually people out in the cold (of Seattle, so it can't be all that cold, can it?), with snow on their boots and on their cars, and YOU CAN SEE THEIR BREATH IN THE AIR! *fans herself* Sorry, it's just that it's such a rare occurence... Anyway, the story is about Jennifer, a documentary filmmaker, who still isn't over her ex (who has married another woman), and her friends Sam (the one who likes sex a lot, with a lot of different women), Chris and Kris (the sappy, lovey-dovey couple), and Crutch (the wannabe singer-songwriter with funky hair who doesn't like paying rent). Jennifer occasionally breaks the fourth wall to offer up "The Rules of Lesbian Dating", and sometimes goes off into little fantasy sequences, but on the whole the show is funny and realistic in a natural, low-key kind of way.
There are only two bad things about this show. The first is the actress who plays Sienna: Sienna is rather important to the plot (without having very many lines), but whenever she shows up, she stands around like a bump on a log. Seriously, would some facial expressions kill you? Pretty is not enough. What the hell did Jennifer ever see in her, anyway? The second bad thing is that there are only six (that's right, 6) half-hour episodes. That's it! The last episode ends with "You slept with ----?!?!?", so I assume they were hoping to make more, but it didn't happen. It's a damn shame, too.
Oh yeah, actually there are three bad things about this show. The third is that I cannot imagine why an aspiring singer-songwriter would want people to call her Crutch.
Final verdict: 8.5/10 (I deducted .5 because I want MORE!)