Tag: 2016

Mini facial review (Rodan and Fields)

December 23, 2016 / melissa / 0 Comments

I am a fool for free samples. The tiny packaging. The ability to try new things. THE FREE! It’s so fun.

When my friend Jennifer started selling Rodan and Fields, she offered some “mini-facials” to people who filled out this skincare quiz on the website. I jumped on at the chance. FREE! Facial!

What I got in the mail a couple of days later was a little packet of Microdermabrasion paste, a capsule of Redefine Night Renewing serum, and a capsule of lip renewing serum.

I washed my face with micellular water and went to town.

The Microdermabrasion paste is a thick gritty scrub that you rub all over your face. The particles were thick. It like rubbing sand on your face. I can imagine if you have sensitive skin that this might be a little too rough. I did like the feeling that I was rubbing off all the dead skin on my face.

Then I opened the blue capsule of Night Renewing serum, dabbed it on my face, and then rubbed it in. I then put the lip renewing serum on my lips. It was around bedtime and so I went to bed. I could still feel a dampness on my face as I went to bed.

I woke up and my face still felt the same way. It was odd. It was obvious there was something still on my face. My face felt smooth but it felt dirty. It kept feeling like there wasn’t something on my face and that it wasn’t able to breathe. It was a feeling that didn’t go away until I washed my face. It bugged me.

My lips felt fabulous.

[Note: This was actually sitting in my drafts for about six months but I still stand by it.]

Thank you Lin-Manuel Miranda

July 9, 2016 / melissa / 0 Comments

Dear Mr. Miranda

I feel compelled to write you and congratulate you on your successful first run performing Hamilton on Broadway. (note I said first.) Strangely, I first became a fan of you for being the guy who coordinated the best wedding toast ever. I’ve kept that video on my YouTube favorites as a pick-me-up for when I have a bad day. It took a ridiculously long time for me to make the connection that you were the Hamilton guy. I’m not going to confess how long except to say that it could be used as evidence that Superman could indeed only put on glasses to go unnoticed in Metropolis.

I did get around to listening to Hamilton and was impressed with the breadth of differing musical styles as well as the fusion of those styles within one song in this one musical. I could write a thesis geeking out over the music theory/composition styles of it all but I’m sure at some point a music major will do that. Besides technical brilliance, Hamilton is catchy as hell. Thank you for writing it.

I feel compelled to thank you for so many other things.

In a time when politicians are wanting to channel education budgets to focus on STEM, you showed the value in studying history and the arts. Thank you.

In a time when the media and the general public demand perfection from our politicians, you showed that our politicians have always been flawed humans and are still capable of greatness. Thank you.

In a time of toxic masculinity, you have been a man unashamed to laugh, to cry, to gush, and to love. You have publicly admitted seeing a therapist. You weren’t afraid to love a woman who is smarter than you and had the potential to make more money than you. Thank you.

In a time of anti-intellectualism, you showed the value in thinking and exploring nuance. You also showed the value in being an avid reader who chooses an 800-page biography for vacation reading. You also showed kids that you can love reading dense prose and devouring pop culture like Saved by the Bell at the same time. THANK YOU.

Even though you wrote the entire book of Hamilton, you have acknowledged the value in seeking help and advice from others. You have shown gratitude for every single person in the Hamilton company right down to the ushers in the theater. This kindness is rare. Thank you.

Thank you for being you. Enjoy these moments and have a great vacation filled with a bunch of naps. You have to be exhausted.

Melissa

Orlando

June 12, 2016 / melissa / 0 Comments

It’s happened again. A guy got an assault rifle, drove a bunch of miles, and killed a bunch of people This time it was over 50 people in a gay bar in Orlando. Another 50 or so people were injured.

I’m sorry for the victims. I can’t even imagine. I can’t imagine a bunch of gay people in their safe space, dancing and chilling out having their brief utopia ruined by the actions of an angry man. I can’t imagine having to tip toe through bodies to try to find your friend, only to discover that friend is now a bloody body on the floor. I really can’t imagine.

As much as I would like everybody to love each other, I know that is a big ask. But I think it isn’t too much to ask for each person to realize that no matter how much you hate somebody, you are not justified in killing them. Other people aren’t put on this earth to make you comfortable. They are put here to live their own lives. Their lives, for the most part, are really none of your business. You can choose to be friends or choose not.

I’m not sure what the answer is really. Right now, people on the terror watch list can buy guns. RIght now, certain research on gun violence is banned. This research might have the ability to answer some of these questions that keep getting asked every time something like this happens.

But I don’t know. I am just one person looking from a distance. People are messy. Society is messy. This is just a big mess and I’m sorry.

Mini facial review (Rodan and Fields)

Thank you Lin-Manuel Miranda

Orlando

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