{Book Review} As You Are by Ethan Day

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as you are, book review, books, ethan day, fiction, lgbt, lgbt romance, novel

As You Are by Ethan Day

My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars

I’d like to start on a positive note, so: this was pretty funny and sweet. I picked it up because it had my favorite trope–’right-in-front-of-you-but-dating-someone-else-jealousy!!’ While it did have a bit of that and some quirky humor, I was mostly annoyed by the storytelling, specifically the use of flashbacks.

Using flashbacks are supposed to enrich a story. Maybe there are details needed that can’t be revealed at a certain point, which makes a flashback necessary. Or maybe something’s been published, and the author just thought of something that should have happened when s/he’s writing the second book so she uses a flashback to include it.

This book makes horrendous and frankly, overuses flashbacks. There are things you need to flashback on, and there are things that you can simply narrate because doing them in a flashback does not do anything for the story. In this case, the flashbacks did not add suspense or flavor to the story nor did I find the flashbacks interesting. The soccer game? Jeannie? Granted, the jokes were funny, but the book could have done without them and developed the story in a different way. Such as more attention to what’s written in the blurb, maybe romance developing in the bookstore or the bar or whatever. Because in all honesty, the love interest (Danny) could have been a bartender, a novelist, or have any other profession. I don’t see why ‘he owns a bookstore!’ even made it to the back cover as it wasn’t a significant detail in the story. Yes, the leads may have met there (in a quick flashback, i might add)–but that’s it. They could have met while peeing at a public bathroom and it would’ve been the same.

I have mixed feelings about the lead. While out, loud, proud and funny, the fact that he’s got more or less a perfect life (and figure despite having chocolate as a major food group) and is practically floating in money given by his parents, annoys me. He’s a hopeless romantic and you know he’ll get love. He even corrects the small mistakes he commits at exactly the right time! HE HAS EVERYTHING. Those are the leads I hate the most–yet I can’t hate the lead too much because he reminds me so much of a lot of my friends. And the other off thing is that in his romantic fantasies, he is very much content to be a trophy boyfriend and not achieve anything for himself. While I know that some people are happy with that, it seems kind of off to someone who is “always the favorite” in class and is smart enough to understand which political and religious beliefs belly gay rights.

Overall, the story was pretty boring and safe. It is pretty funny though, so that’s the saving grace.

Favorite quotes:

There’s nothing like mutually assured destruction to keep a friendship ticking along.

You have to stop making assumptions about why other people do the things they do and think the things they think, and start asking them why they behave the way they do.

Bangui Windmills

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bangui, bangui windmills, ilocos norte, ilocos windmills, travel

There are a lot of beautiful attractions that you’ll pass by on the way to Pagudpud, the northernmost tip of Luzon. One of these attractions are the Bangui Windmills.

The Windmills were developed by NorthWind Development Corporation as a practice in renewable energy sources. They help reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. This is the fist “Wind Farm” in the Philippines consisting of wind turbines on-shore facing the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea and is considered to be the biggest in Southeast Asia.

How Do I Get There? From Laoag, take the Laoag – Cagayan route towards Burgos. After reaching Burgos, watch out for the directional marker on the left side of the road that leads to the Bangui Bay. Follow the dirt road leading to the bay. Some wind mills will already be visible from this point then make a right turn to the bay. Travel time from Laoag will approximately be an hour and a half.

{Event} Multiply Shopping Party 2011

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dresses, event, fashion, multiply, multiply shopping party 2011

Well, this is extremely late. Haha! The Multiply Shopping Party was on October 18, 2011. I actually didn’t want to write this after the event happened, mostly because I was a bit disappointed with it. From the name itself, “Shopping Party“, I thought there was shopping to be done. Unfortunately, Multiply only launched their new shopping cart option and we were not allowed to do any actual shopping–and they had all those sponsors and shops there, with their goods on display too! I’m pretty sure they lost a lot of impulse buys there.

The event started late. Good thing there was a lot of finger food going around, and even some drinks. The event was hosted by Bianca Valerio.

There was a fashion show. That part was lovely, since I loved looking at the dresses… and the good-looking models.

During the program, Multiply gave out several prizes. Some were raffle prizes, some were chosen. Like “Most Fashionable” went to Laureen Uy, for wearing an f(x) inspired outfit!

After the fashion show, Multiply President gave a speech. And then people mingled, ate, gave out flyers, etc. No shopping was allowed. They did have computer kiosks there where you could try the shopping cart option, but everybody was discouraged from buying while they were at the party.

It was a shame, because I was so ready to buy this camera shaped USB while I was there. Of course, when I got home, I didn’t buy it online since I didn’t need it.

During their event promotions, the marketing staff kept posting their goody bags online. It was quite disappointing to get the bag and realize that not everything they posted on their facebook website was in the bag. Unlike most events I’ve gone too, where the goodybags are all equal–they all have the same items from the sponsors–the Multiply goody bags didn’t. They had the standard Multiply freebies (pen, notebook, t-shirt), lots of flyers, some items from BDO, and one freebie from a sponsor. I was looking forward to get the cute freebies they posted. Oh well.

{Book Review} Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Tags

book review, books, dash and lily's book of dares, david levithan, fiction, rachel cohn, ya, young adult

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved the idea of communicating through a notebook hidden in a bookstore. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before, You’ve Got Mail and Message in a Bottle, but the fact that it was a bookstore and it wasn’t lonely thirty somethings communicating made it endearing. Plus, it was a notebook of dares, unwittingly making the communicants try things they wouldn’t usually do, as well as a notebook of self-reflection and trust. I truly loved the idea that a notebook can be hidden in random places and especially in a bookstore, a place where everything is arranged and rearranged daily, and not get thrown out the same day the notebook is placed.

Dash, the lead male character, might as well be equivalent to word vomit, not in the way that when he talks it all pours out but in the way that he is obsessed with words. Lily is a cooky, overprotected good girl from a large family. Two people who practically have nothing in common (except that they are related to well-read people and love books themselves), yet they fit so well together. And one of the best things is that this book doesn’t even point out that they are opposites. The story shows you how they are different, in their families, how they see the world, their friends, the experiences that shaped them but it never highlights the opposition of characters (thus, it doesn’t market the story as an opposites-attract gimmick).

This was an adorable read–insightful enough to be believable to be from the point of view of a couple of standout teenagers. Lessons or philosophies in life and love, theories, and facts of life are present (the absence of these would not make it a YA book, I believe) but they are not delivered in a way that sounds preachy. It’s hard to show that you tried unless you end up succeeding.; I wanted to ask, what does a stranger feel like? Not to be snarky or sarcastic. Because I really wanted to know if there was a difference, if there was a way to become truly knowable, if there wasn’t always something keeping you a stranger, even to the people you weren’t strange to at all. The story ended a bit abruptly for my taste (there were a couple of unresolved issues on Lily’s side of the story) but it was a good ending that fit the story and everything it was trying to show/teach the reader.

Stylistically and grammatically, this was better than Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Cohn and Levithan’s first collaboration. I’m glad I tried to read this at Fully Booked, otherwise I’d never have read it (out of fear from the Cohn-Levithan headache induced by run-on sentences Nick and Norah left me with). Oh and this story is in the same !verse as Nick and Norah, a feeling I had when Lily entered a dive bar and went to a bathroom stall as the notebook told her to–the ‘feeling’ of the bar was the same. My suspicions were confirmed when one of my favorite lines from N&N appeared in this book: A sharpie scribble on a stall,

The Cure. For the exes.

{Product Review} Garnier Nutrisse Cream Review

Tags

black hair, brown hair dye, garnier, garnier nutrisse cream, gray hair, hair dye, l'oreal

The problem with having your hair colored is that you can never go back. Well, okay, that’s a bit dramatic because technically you can–you can wait it out, until your roots grow long enough for the artificial color to be chopped off. It’ll give you years of having Jeje!hair, as one of my friends call it. Or you can dye your hair over with its original color and grow it out.

But once you do get your hair colored, you would want to keep it a single color and not have your roots show because it looks unkempt. Unfortunately, I am pretty lazy so I sported Jeje!hair for quite a bit before I got off my butt and tried my hand at a home coloring kit.

Two tone hair, badly in need of a make-over! Luckily, there are a lot of inexpensive home coloring options nowadays. I was choosing between Garnier and Kolours (a local brand manufactured by Splash Corp.). Both brands were decently priced, packaged well and had great looking hair colors on their boxes. Kolours, as an Asian brand, had their formula made specifically for Asian hair and it was the main reason they made it in my final choices. I ended up going with Garnier based on the fact that the brand is made by the L’Oreal Group, and the company started out and are succesful with hair colourants. I was also a bit iffy about trying a locally made product, since I tend to break out with locally made products (like ph Care and Splash skin care products).

After much staring, I finally went with Macadiama 53, a medium golden brown color.

I honestly wanted something lighter or more reddish, but there wasn’t any available in the grocery I bought this from and beggars can’t be choosers (my mom was paying, haha) so I picked the lightest shade available instead.

Why did I want a lighter color? Because dark hair (black hair in particular) is quite resistant to color change. When I first got my hair done, the red shade I chose wasn’t quite as vibrant as I wanted it to be. It also faded quickly. Two days after application (got it done in a salon), it had faded into a blondish-brown (see first picture in this entry) color instead of the initial red.

My first foray into getting my hair colored. The red hair I wanted only lasted for two days

So instead of spending a crazy amount of money, I thought I’d be practical and try dyeing my hair at home.

ALWAYS do a skin patch test. This will let you know if you are allergic or will get reactions from the product. Each hair dye has their own specific instructions on which product to use when you do the skin patch test. For Garnier, you have to patch the product in the tube (the hair colourant) to the area behind your ear.

I didn’t experience any irritation, itching or redness during my 48 hour skin patch test, so I proceeded to use the dye.

This is very easy to do, even by yourself! First, you have to empty the contents of the tube into the bottle. Shake well! Then apply it on your hair by squeezing the bottle and massaging the product on your hair from root to tip. I used a Bigen Speedy brush to help. I applied the product on the brush and ran it through my locks repeatedly. I did this until the product ran out. Then I massaged my hair gently and let it sit for 40 minutes. I was pretty nervous–I wondered if the color would show (because it didn’t seem like it when I was applying by the instructions, and it only started applying well once I used the Speedy brush) and if I got all my hair lathered with enough color (I have really thick hair. The first time I got my hair colored, the stylist told me he had to use two bottles of dye–and my hair was shorter at that time!).

The box says 25 minutes but it recommends 35 if your hair is resistant to color. I did an extra five minutes to make sure it stayed on.

What I liked about the Garnier Nutrisse Cream, aside from its easy application process, was the fact that it didn’t itch and sting. When I first got my hair colored in a salon, it itched and stung like crazy the whole hour it was on. I was worried then, and told the stylist about it but he insisted it was natural for it to do so. Now I know that’s not the case.

After forty minutes, I rinsed the product off my hair until the water ran clear. Then, as instructed, I used the whole bottle of Garnier Nutrisse After Color Conditioner on my hair. I wrapped my hair up in a towel to dry. There wasn’t any leftover color residue on the towel when I dried my hair. That’s great because I saw some reviews that said the color wouldn’t stay put and kept transferring to towels even after two days–it wasn’t the case with my hair or this particular dye color.

Here is the finished result, some three hours after my hair dried.

There is however, a very strong lingering scent of dye that permeates long after you’ve used the product. It is very strong and annoying. I couldn’t even wash over it with shampoo because it isn’t recommended to shampoo at least two days after dying to make the color settle and last longer (they never tell you this on the instruction manuals though). I just used my Pantene Color Preserve  Volume Conditioner on my hair.

Here it is on Day 3:

Product Rating: ♥♥♥

Overall, this is a pretty good product for its price. I’ll update you guys on how long the color lasts!