My blog has moved to theconfessionsofaproductjunkie.com

The Confessions of a Product Junkie has moved!!!!! Go to: theconfessionsofaproductjunkie.com

I finally purchased my own domain name, which is exciting but at the same time I don't want to lose my readers because I'm moving locations. Blogspot doesn't support the host I'm now using, so I had to switch to wordpress so my blog may LOOK a little different, but it's the same I promise!

Goodbye blogspot, you've been so good to me!

Sarah

Bumpits – Yup, they work!

I’m not going to lie; I’m no hair stylist. Styling is by no means my forte. But as a girl, I do know that the perfect “bitch poof” can fall out of even the most hair-sprayed head as fast as you can say, well, “poof!”

 

Now that teasing our hair is back in, what’s a girl to do?!

 

Miracle of miracles, Bumpits were invented. A while back I blogged about how I wasted 20 minutes of my life just trying to get through to the damn payment section of bumpits.com, so I won’t waste anyone’s time telling that story again. But FINALLY, the Bumpits have arrived on my doorstep!

 

You’re the first to hear it from me: Bumpits work! However, they take a bit of getting used to. The key to creating a successful poof with the Bumpits is to TEASE the hell out of your hair (as the instructions say to do)! If you don’t tease, and hairspray, and tease again, the Bumpit comb will show right through your hair. Can you say, “taccckkkyyy?” So tease, tease, tease ladies!

 

I wore my hair in a poof with my new Bumpit all day today and it didn’t even come close to falling out. Now THAT is an impressive poof.

 

The package of Bumpits I ordered came with three different styles of Bumpits:

1)   The Hollywood Bumpit (way too high of a bump for my taste)

2)   The regular Bumpit (just right!)

3)   The bangs Bumpit (it works but I’ll probably never use it. ). 

 

Another crazy thing about the Bumpits is that they come in four different colors so you can match them to your hair: Light blond, medium/dark blond, auburn, and black. I ordered the light blond.

 

The only thing I wish I did differently is ordering from amazon.com instead bumpits.com. It would have saved me a lot of hassle and possibly some money. But overall, I do recommend this product.

 

Xoxo,

Sarah

Jose Eber crazy European flat irons

My newest obsession (of the moment) is the Jose Eber flat iron. I already had a nice flat iron (a CHI) before I bought this one, but as I was walking through the mall the other day I somehow got roped into “testing out” another one at the Jose Eber kiosk. I was practically ambushed by those charming but somewhat obnoxious European men who work at the mall and call out to you “pretty lady, is your hair naturally curly?” (In a heavy European accent, naturally).

At any rate, one thing led to another and five minutes later my naturally curly, frizzy mess of hair was straight. I’m telling you, it only took FIVE MINUTES. With my $120 CHI flat iron, it takes me 15-20 minutes to straighten my hair.

But when my lovely new European friend told me that Jose Eber flat irons cost a whopping $250 each, I laughed in his face and told him when hell froze over I would spend that kind of money on an iron (in a nicer way, of course).

“For you, pretty lady, a special deal…” he said. Right, I’m sure he’s never said that before. “How much did you pay for your horrible CHI?” he asked.

“It’s not horrible, but I got it on ebay for $80.”

“Your CHI is ruining your hair! Jose Eber makes it soft and shiny! For you, I will match the price of your CHI, but don’t tell anybody because you are robbing me blind!”

Sadly, I’m a sucker for a good deal. I got the price down to $75 and I bought the damn thing in hot pink. But as soon I as I got home I looked for Jose Eber on amazon.com and found irons for as little as $69.99, so don’t be fooled into paying anything close to the $250 the men at the mall are asking for it.

At any rate, it’s been a week since my impulse purchase and my hair still straightens in five to ten minutes, which is a huge feat for someone with as much curly hair as I have. The iron also makes my hair softer than it’s been in years, and much shinier than my CHI makes it. So yes, I would highly recommend Jose Eber flat irons.

The dealio:

Price: $69-$250

Colors and design: Tons!

Warranty: Lifetime!!

If you’re on the market for a flat iron, Jose Eber is the man!

Sarah

My apologies

I am so sorry I haven’t been updating this week. I moved back to Portland to do some work for my parent’s company and I’ve been very busy. The good news is, I have had the opportunity to try lots of new products this week, so you can expect a plethora of updates coming your way…

Sarah

Ps. The Bumpits were finally delivered! I have to go to Eugene on Saturday to pick them up so it'll be a few days before I can give an accurate review.

Latisse—Does it actually make your eyelashes grow longer!?!

These are my Week 1 photos (Before any use of Latisse).

Every week, I will update my blog with new pictures so that we can track my eyelashes' growth with Latisse. In the photos, I am without makeup and my lashes are 100% natural. Like most women, I’m not entirely satisfied with my lashes. They’re fairly dark, but they’re lacking luster. Could Latisse change that for me?

Latisse is the only FDA approved eyelash growth treatment with Lumigan, an ingredient that is actually proven to increase hair growth.

Lumigan was originally used as a drug to treat glaucoma patients. Patients applied drops of it to their eyes. One unintentional side effect of the drug was that regular use caused patients’ eyelashes to grow longer, thicker, and darker. This was observed years ago but it wasn’t until recently that the FDA approved the drug to be used cosmetically. The result is Latisse.

Latisse is available by prescription only, but it’s not difficult to get. I walked into my local plastic surgeon’s office simply to ask about it, and I walked away $120 poorer, but with Latisse in my hands. According to latisse.com, “users may see results starting at 8 weeks with full results at 12 to 16 weeks.”

It looks like my journey toward long lashes will be a long one, but I’ll keep the photos coming every week, I promise.

To track the progress of my experience with Latisse, without having to sift through all my other blog entries, go to the right side of my blog marked “Labels” and click on “Latisse.” All of my updates pertaining to the eyelash grower should come up together.

Basic info (from my understanding) about Latisse:

• It’s available by prescription only.
• It costs$ 120 (per month, which works out to be about $4 a day)
• Possible side effects include darkening of the iris, which is not dangerous to your health
  
• It is applied once a day
  

For more information about Latisse, testimonials, and “before & after” photos, visit: www.latisse.com

Biore Cleansing Pore Strips— the BEST way to get rid of black heads, white heads, and dead skin!

Pictures taken by me, attempting to show the gunk that the pore strip pulled out of my pores. However, my camera isn’t good enough to focus on the pore strips… If you look VERY closely, however, at the edges of the strip, you see a bit of yellow nastiness.



If you’re looking for an effective method of smoothing and softening the skin on your nose, look no further than Biore’ Pore Strips. These little babies have been my saviors for many years. Every few weeks I use a strip on my nose and I’m as good as new; my makeup sets quicker, doesn’t clump, AND my nose doesn’t break out. (Not to mention, the strips make my skin as soft as a baby’s buttocks.)

Another crazy/cool/semi-gross thing about these strips is that once you take them off, you actually SEE the yucky gunk they pulled out of your face right there on the strip. That way, you KNOW they worked!

Instructions for use (borrowed from Biore’s website):
1) Remove strip from pouch. Before using nose strips, twist strip to loosen and separate slits featured on nose strips only.
2) After washing your face, thoroughly wet your nose or other face areas (where you have clogged pores or blackheads). The strip won't stick if skin is dry.
3) Dry hands. Peel strip off plastic liner. Apply to skin, smooth side down, pressing down to ensure good contact with skin.
4) Let dry for about 10-15 minutes until stiff to the touch - like papier-mâché.
5) Slowly and carefully peel off starting at edges, pulling toward center.

Bumpits Website Isn't Worth It

Image borrowed from bumpits.com

I was going to wait until my Bumpits arrived before I blogged about them, but my experience on the website made it pertinent that I blog now.

As some of you probably know, Bumpits are the little comb-like, clip-like things that promise to create the perfect “hair bump” or “bitch poof,” as my dear friend Brittany calls them. It seems as if you can’t turn on the TV without being bombarded with a dozen commercials for the damn things. Naturally, I had to try them.

The TV commercials promise an inexpensive product for $19.99 plus p&h. Once on the website, www.bumpits.com, I see that I only get two Bumpits for $19.99 and p&h is $7.95. To get the product advertised on TV that is supposedly FREE, an additional p&h of $6.95 is added to your bill, resulting in a whopping $34.89 total. As you can see, that is a huge jump from $19.99.

But of course, I love products too much to pass up the opportunity for the Bumpit. I’m sucked in. Once my credit card information is entered, I am bombarded with five pop-up windows asking me to purchase more products, most of which have nothing to do with the Bumpits (and all of which are very expensive). In order to confirm my original order, I need to sift through all of these other propositions and find the tiny, faintly colored “No” button on each page. Needless to say, the Bumpits website is a time-consuming, expensive pain.

Hopefully when they arrive, it’ll all be worth it ☺. Perfect poof, here I come! I’ll take pictures as soon as they’re here!

The Secret to Healthy, Shiny Hair: Mayo??

When I was a child I read on some crazy website that putting mayo in my hair would make it shiny and soft. The thing was, at the age of eight, I already had shiny, healthy hair. My daddy, well intentioned but no hair-care expert, allowed me spread a cup of mayo all over my eight-year-old head like it was a Subway sandwich. The end result was a traumatic week at school with wet-looking, stinky, greasy hair. It was a week I never lived down.

Now, at the age of 21, I'm older and wiser. Or am I? I've dyed my hair a different shade of blond, brown, and blue-ish, blond-ish, brown-ish every month for the past two years. As most of you know, I was committing hair suicide.

My hair no longer has the shine and health it had when I was eight. But whose does? And now that I'm seeing some serious breakage in my ends, and having difficultly getting my hair to grow much longer than my shoulders (which I've never had a problem doing before!), I'm once again considering the mayonnaise trick. But dare I risk it?

According to online sources, mayonnaise is made up of a blend of egg yolks, oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. When combined, they help add strength, moisture and shine to hair. Many other hair treatments lack the protein that mayo has, which why it’s used to add strength to weak hair.

MY EXPERIMENT:

1) Add ½ cup of full-fat mayo to dry, unwashed hair.
2) Cover with a plastic cap (or warm towel if you’re cap-less), and let penetrate for 15-30 minutes.
3) Rinse thoroughly with cool water (be careful not to use hot water, you don’t want to accidently cook the egg into your hair!)
4) Shampoo and condition as usual.

Despite the nasty smell of mayo in my hair for the 20 minutes I left it there, the overall experience was not all that unpleasant. The end result is that my hair really is a little bit SOFTER, SHINIER, and possibly stronger (but how do I really test that in just one day?). I plan to use the other half of my mayo jar in a week to do another treatment, and I'll report back.

-Sarah

Posts to look forward to this summer!

Coming soon to Confessions of a Product Junkie!!


1) The secret to healthy, soft hair: Mayo???
(Mayonnaise has lots of protein and oils that just may be the key to the hair I've been hoping for... or a sticky mess?!? Check back and find out!)

2) Does the Bump It really create the perfect "bitch poof"?
(We've all seen the ads on tv, and don't deny it... we've all been curious... I'll report back once it arrives at my house!)

3) Latisse, the first FDA approved eye lash grower with the Glacouma drug everyone's been talking about!
(I've heard it actually works... but at $100 a tube, wouldn't you rather I try it out and report back before you go running out to buy it?!)

4) Biore' Pore Strips, the secret to a blackhead free nose!
(Pretty self-explainatory... but my personal favorite quick fix beauty product!)

It's some good stuff, and it'll be complete with pictures and my own first hand experiences! For those of you product lovers out there, you don't want to miss it! :)

Sarah

Horse Shampoo-- Does it really make your hair grow faster?

What’s the deal with Horse Shampoo?

I laughed out loud the first time my friend Kelsey told me she was using horse shampoo to make her hair grow faster. Shampoo designed for horses?! Whaaaat? A few months later, wonder upon wonders, her hair was significantly longer.

Being a product junkie myself, I needed to do some product research.

The brand of horse shampoo everyone’s been talking about is called “Mane’nTail.” When I first went to manentail.com/home2.asp, I was initially a bit thrown off. The website asked me to select whether I was using the products for “personal” or for “animal care.” I scanned over the picture of a well-groomed horse and selected the picture of a bored looking girl with very long hair and the words “personal care” plastered across her picture. I chuckled to myself that the website even had to ask.

According to the Q&A part of Mane’n Tail’s website, its products were originally developed for horses. Horse owners reported seeing “significant improvement in the health and appearance of their horses’ manes and tails.” The improvement in their animals’ hair prompted horse owners to try the shampoo out on themselves (which wouldn’t have been my first inclination, but hell, why not!?) Animal owners supposedly had the same results.

Still, I was skeptical.

After looking at the Mane’n Tail website, I did a bit more research into the success of the product from outsiders’ perspective.

Can horse shampoo really make my hair grow any faster than it already does?
The answer is “no.” Nothing you put on your head can increase growth (at least nothing that has been discovered thus far). However, Mane N’ Tail does give us Long Hair Hopefuls a few good reasons to buy it.

First of all, those of us trying to grow out our hair need a shampoo that moisturizes and helps to prevent breakage. Mane N’ Tail does just that. It also comes without the sticky and unhealthy residue that many other shampoos leave behind. All Mane’n Tail leaves behind is clean, healthy hair. And best of all, it’s CHEAP (A few bucks per bottle at most grocery and drug stores!).

So, I obviously had to purchase a bottle of Mane’n Tail to try on myself. Just so that I could write a fair and accurate review, I used up the entire bottle before commenting. As promised, the shampoo cleaned my hair without leaving it dry and brittle. It didn’t smell bad, and it didn’t turn my hair blue (as I’d heard a rumor it would). However, it didn’t do anything amazing to my hair, either. My hair grew at its normal rate, and for now, I’m going back to my old standby, SunSilk Captivating Curls shampoo (until I find something else intriguing, of course!)

More later!
Sarah

Lancome Oscillation mascara rocks my tired lashes!

I’ve always been jealous of those girls with natural beautifully long eyelashes, and bitter toward those boys with sexy lashes they’ll never appreciate the way a girl would (like my boyfriend). I’m one of those unfortunate people born with short, dull lashes... UNTIL NOW! Finally, after much searching, I’ve found the most incredible mascara.

My new god sent is Lancôme Oscillation mascara!!! Yes, it vibrates. Yes, it’s strange. But IT WORKS! It takes me about ten seconds to apply it and I only need one coat. It doesn’t clup, or smudge. It curls my lashes without an eyelash curler, it lengthens them to the max, and it carefully covers every single lash. This is by far the best mascara I’ve ever used.

The only draw back is the price… It’s about 34 American dollars. If you’re not quite ready to spend QUITE that much on a mascara (although I urge you to, this stuff is worth the $$$!) then Lancome also makes a mascara called Hypnose which is almost as good, and less expensive ($24). I’m all for drug store cheap makeup, but when I find a product that’s worth the extra cash, I just have to share it with the world! Trust me, you won’t regret this purchase.

(Image borrowed fromhttp://fashionesedaily.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/lancome.jpg)

Skin care: Acne-- Product reviews and recommendations

Section one of new blog: SKIN CARE!

At 20 years old, it's difficult to wrap my head around what my skin could look like when I'm 50, if I keep doing to it what I've been doing: Tanning beds, sleeping in makeup, picking at my face, not moisturizing, using harsh products on my face... etc. My future could be tragic... However, I think there's still hope! After doing some research and meeting with a dermatologist, I've finally come to a solid skin care routine to help revamp and salvage my skin.

Today we will be talking about CONFRONTING ACNE...

It's a zitty situation.. heh heh.. Ok... I know I'm not funny...

My skin: Fair. Somewhat uneven reddish tones in places. Burns then turns to tan. Freckles and is beginning to show sun spots (damage!). Occasional breakouts. Dry patches. Oily t-zone. Combination skin. Fairly typical of someone my age (20).

Being the product junkie that I am, despite many a failed product, I'm always convinced that I can find a magic skin care routine that will cure all my breakouts. Well, I've tried MANY a product... and here are my reviews of the more popular ones I've used..

-------------------------

REVIEWS:

+++Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash--

For me, this face wash worked OKAY. It left my face feeling clean, but it didn't clear up my zits very well when I had them. It also had the tendency to dry out my skin more than other face washes, which is a huge downside to it because moisture in the skin is important for it's long term texture and appearance.

Price: $6-8.

Where to buy: Walgreens, Target, Fred Meyer, pretty much any grocery or drug store...

Recommended?: Not really.

+++Neutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser--

This is a pretty decent cleanser. It has a nice creamy texture to it (so it doesn't dry out your skin), and it's oil free. It also smells good, and leaves your skin feeling tingly and clean. But even though it contains no oil, I felt like my skin got oily pretty quickly after using it, so that was a downside to the cleanser. But it did marginally help reduce the appearance of pimples. Personally, I like this product better than Clean and Clear's competing version of it.

Price:$5-10.

Where to buy: Pretty much any grocery or drug store...

Recommended?: Sure. For the price, it's not a bad buy.

+++Clean and Clear Deep Action Cream Cleanser--

Similar to Neutrogena's cream cleanser... Oil free, creamy texture and doesn't dry out your skin. However, it does a poor job removing makeup and it doesn't do anything useful towards clearing up acne. \

Price: $5-10.

Where to buy: Pretty much any grocery or drug store...

Recommended?: No.

+++Clinique Acne Solutions Cleansing Foam-- If you're going to spend this kind of money on a cleanser, it needs to be a damn good cleanser. Clinique's Acne Solutions Cleansing foam is supposed to calm, sooth, and reduce redness. But in my short usage of it, I noticed very little difference in my skin's appearance when comparing it to other, cheaper, drugstore brand cleansers.

Price: $17.50

+++Clinique Acne Solutions Clarifying Lotion-- It does everything it promises to do: it exfoliates, unclogs pores, and helps to reduce excess oil that can lead to breakouts. I'm a big fan of Clinique's toners. I've been using them since my preteen years when I noticed the first spot of oil on my face. Therefore, like every other Clinique toner I've used, I like this one very much. It helped me get those last bits of dirt and oil off my face that a cleanser can't quite get to, which is great and exactly what a good toner should do.

Price: $13.50

+++Clinique Acne Solutions Clearing Moisturizer Oil Free-- This moisturizer is great because it's oil free, light and moisturizing. It's also "medicated" to help clear up your breakouts. Well, I'm not sure if it actually cleared up my skin or if it was the toner that did that,, but it definitely didn't clog my pores or make my skin any worse while it moisturized, which is really all you can ask of a face moisturizer for acne prone skin.

Price: $16.00

Where to buy these products: Macy's Clinique counter, Nordstrom's Clinique counter, Sephora, www.clinique.com

Recommended?: Yes, all of the Clinique Acne Solutions products except for the cleansing foam, which I think could be replaced by Nutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser (cheaper option than Clinique) and still work well together.

+++Boscia Clear Complexion Treatment with Botanical Blast-- Try saying the name of this product ten times fast... Boscia Clear Complexion Treatment with Botanical Blast. Boscia Clear Complexion Treatment with Botanical Blast. Boscia Clear Complexion Treatment with Botanical Blast. Boscia Clear Complexion Treatment with Botanical Blast.... ANYWAY... I was recommended this product at Sephora when I asked for a spot acne treatment. Now, I don't know if it was some sick joke on the sale's lady's part, or if she just hated me, but somehow she convinced me to blow $35 on this worthless product. It did absolutely NOTHING to my pimples. Didn't make them worse, didn't make them better, the gel just made my skin sticky.

Price: $35.00

Where to buy: Sephora

Recommended?: No! Expensive waste of money.

+++Noxzema Deep Cleansing Cream-- A bad idea for acne... I know our mothers all used Noxzema, and many of us probably have too, but the tingling part of this face wash makes red pimples even redder. Although it might feel like the tingling sensation means that it's working, it's really just irritating your skin. It has cleaning power, but if you're acne prone, stay away from Noxzema.

Price: $5-$8.

Where to buy: Drugstores.

Recommended?: Not for acne.

+++ProActive 3 Step system-- I have mixed feelings about ProActive. It's effective, yet I don't feel like it's very good for your skin. It can irritats and dehydrates it. I was a tried and true ProActive fan for 4 years. It was the only thing that I'd found that REALLY cleared up my skin. However, my skin got addicted to this stuff. I had to use it every day, otherwise I would break out. Then, after four year, I must have built up some sort of immunity to it, because it more or less stopped working for me this summer. Another annoying thing about it is that it's really difficult to buy the three products separate from each other. This was really a pain for me becasue for the most part, I only used the cleanser (it was the part of the system I found to work the best). AND there is no SPF in their products as of right now. Overall, it's an effective skin care system. It's affordable. But it's hard on your skin.

Price: $39.95 for the whole thing.

Where to buy: Online.

Recommended?: I'm not sure...

+++Nature's Cure Two Part Acne Treatment System-- This system consists of a cream, and a daily pill. The pill lured me in... I don't know why. I think it just made it seem like the system would actually work for some reason. Well, I don't know if the pill does anything by itself, but the whole process works okay. As far as acne treatment, it's defiantly better than nothing. It dried out my skin a little bit though. Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed by this product.

Price: $10.49

Where to buy: Drugstores and online.

Recommended?: Not really.

+++ZAPZYT Maximum Strength 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Treatment Gel-- This is a topical cream (they're calling it a gel) which you apply for spot treatment of acne. It's much like Nature's Cure and the Boscia product I reviewed, except in my opinion, it works much better. Finally, a fairly effective, CHEAP, spot acne treatment! The downside it that it will probably dry out your skin a bit, so be sure to use a face moisturizer.

Price: $5.29

Where to buy: Drugstores and online.

Recommended?: Yes

...And FINALLY... My MAGIC acne cure... The best system I've found thus far...

+Murad's Clairfying Cleanser-- $18.99 at sleekhair.com

+Murad's Clairfying Toner-- $15.99 at sleekhair.com

+Murad's Gentle (Moisturizing) Acne Treatment Gel -- $26.99 at sleekhair.com

(The gentle acne treatment gel is my favorite because it not only is it gentle, but it moisturizes AND clears up your skin!)

This system is INCREDIBLE. Cleared my skin right up after ProActive failed on me! Every Murad product I mentioned here is oil free and can be used day (the gel is even great under makeup because it helps reduce shine!) AND at night. However, for day use I would still recommend some sort of product over it with SPF in it. I haven't actually tried Murad's moisturizers with SPF, but I'd be willing to bet that they're a solid pick based on everything I've read about and experienced personally with this line of products.

Where to buy: sleekhair.com has a sale right now on Murad... so go there to get the best deals!

Recommended?: YES YES YES!

Check back soon for my next blog entry which will be on the top oil free moisturizers!

Ta-ta for now,

Sarah

Blog Makeover... NEW and improved? We shall see..

I'm a product junkie. I can't make decisions until I try everything! This habit of mine has been draining my bank account. All summer long I've been contemplating my spending problems, and although I've yet to come to any profound conclusions about them, I figure in the mean time I'll at least put the knowledge I've gained to good use.

So as of now, I'm transforming this blog (who knows how permanently), into--- product reviews and recommendations, shopping, and website reviews. So bare with me and the new, possibly improved, blog...

-Sarah

Media

           I choose Journalism as my major because I love to write, communicate, and hear myself talk (yes, I'll admit it). With that said, Journalism sounds just about perfect for me. Lately though, I've been having second thoughts. It's taken me a while to see past the glamorous haze surrounding the media and everything related to it, but I've really begun seeing the media's pitfalls and negative contributions to society. And let me tell you, they are not minor pitfalls. 

           On one hand, journalism does make very noble contributions: news and awareness... and therefore journalism has great power to make a positive difference in the world. At the same time though, Journalists can (and DO) easily lie, skew the truth, and take down society one naive citizen at a time. People are so easily influenced, it's frightening really.

          I'm not saying that there is no good media out there. I'm just saying that before I graduate college with a Journalism degree, I hope I discover a good way to contribute to the good media, and not to perpetuate all the trash out there.

Just needed to get that off my chest,

Sarah

Ps. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like to read a little trash every now and again. Can you say, "Perezhilton.com"? :)

iPhone 3G Review--The GOOD--The BAD and the UGLY

           As I mentioned on my birthday, the cell phone I've had for the past year stopped working when the lady doing my pedicure dropped it into the bowl of foot water. Rest in peace, my dear Sony Ericsson. Since then, I've waited patiently for the new iPhone 3G, which was backordered from AT&T, for quite a few weeks. Yes ladies and gentleman, I was cell phone-less for a few weeks. Actually just a few days, but I survived it! I'm a living example of life without technology (with the exception of my computer, internet, email, ipod, facebook, and television, but those don't count, riggghhhtt)? At any rate, on July 30th, I received my brand new, beautiful, shiny black iPhone 3G. And I haven't looked up from it since, with the exception of writing this blog (note how this is the first update since I got my phone) and while I'm driving (but I'll get to that in a minute).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t be fooled by the lengths of the “good” versus the “bad and the ugly”. I spent more time focusing on the bad because the good is so good that there would have been no room in this blog for me to explain everything, so I simply listed things. The bad needed to be explained in more detail so that it can be better understood.

 

THE GOOD-- Practically everything!! Oh gosh, where to start? You needn't ask, "what DOES the iPhone do?" But instead ask, "what DOESN'T the iPhone do?" And the answer to that is, "not much"...

           In addition to the replacing your ipod (you just upload all your music on your phone and plug in your headphones, which come with the phone), the iPhone comes with numerous useful features. To name a few: Email, calendar, notepad, weather information, iphoto, camera, stock updates, Safafi 3G Internet, calculator, maps, GPS with directions, clock with timer, alarms, stopwatch, and world clock, youtube, and a store where you can download and access practically anything you could ever need.

           This store is called the "applications store" and these downloadable applications range from games, to hospital patient locators, restaurant, bar, gas station and grocery store locators, to flash cards to interactive beer glasses, to calorie counters and electronic personal trainers. The store is so filled with applications that it categorizes them to make them more user friendly. Categories: Books, Business, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Games, Healthcare and Fitness, Lifestyle, Music, Navigation, News, Photography, Productivity, Reference, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities, and Weather. Each one of these categories have up to 400 different helpful applications to choose from. It might seem a little overwhelming, but apple did a good job simplifying it so that it's user-friendly. Honestly, I could go on about the applications for hours, but that would be a waste of your time and a waste of my time that I could be spending playing with my new iPhone. So I'll get into the "bad" now...

 

THE BAD AND THE UGLY-- The iPhone 3G is a fabulous invention. With that said, like any newer technology, it has it's bugs (that's tech speak for software errors) and it's letdowns.

           First of all, like I said, it's sold out all over the place. Many people have been trying to get the iPhone 3G since it first came out on July 21st but still haven't been able to acquire it. Also, once the phones do come back into stock, they're a pain to get your hands on. You need AT&T service for one thing, which eliminates a good part of the cell phone using population. Secondly, you need to activate the phone there in the apple or AT&T store, and be present for the activation. And there's the minor detail of the $200 it costs to buy the phone itself. The process of getting an iPhone 3G is, as of right now, a total pain the ass. 

           As far as bugs go, there are quite a few. The ones I've noticed the most are the crappy battery life, the random and annoying crashes where the apple icon comes up and stares you in the face, and the lack of a filter for shitty applications.

           As far as the battery life goes, you can turn off the 3G when you're not using it and apparently that saves a lot of battery (I actually never use the 3G to be perfectly honest). Also, my phone having a short battery life is probably my own fault, since I'm constantly using it for more than just talking because it can do ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. The random crashes are few, but annoying. They're not usually caused by normal phone use, but instead by faulty applications that I've downloaded on my own. Which brings me to the other bug I was going to talk about, the buggy applications. It's difficult to tell the smooth running ones from the buggy and pointless ones, and it doesn't appear that apple weeds through these very thoroughly. They could do a better job of this. It's very helpful to read reviews of applications before you buy them, so that you know weather or not you're going to be wasting your time, phone memory, and money (yes, many applications cost money, meh).

           My main letdowns from the iPhone are its GPS system, email system, and the fact that I can't type while driving anymore (which probably isn't a horrible thing...).

           The GPS works like mapquest.com, but a little bit better because it can determine your current location at the start of your journey. This is fine except for the fact that before I got the phone I had the unrealistic expectation that the iPhone's GPS would give me directions as I'm driving by talking to me (it's not that crazy, my friend's Razor cell phone does it!) and that it would correct my wrong turns. It doesn't talk to me, so I have to be looking down at my phone and reading directions as I drive, and press the "next" button to see the upcoming directions instead of having it all in front of me. And if I do take a wrong turn, the GPS doesn't react to it and try and help correct me. It just keeps the original directions on the screen. My friend's razor phone worked like a car GPS and corrected wrong turns, talked, and gave better directions. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

           The iPhone's email system is frustrating because emails don't come to your phone automatically like they do with the blackberry, you have to get into your email and check for them and upload them. This is unpractical for anybody who constantly needs access to their email like many people in the working world do.

           And as far as text messaging while driving goes, I probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place, but it's practically impossible with the iPhone. I could type on my old phone without even glancing down at it, but the iPhone's touch screen technology gives you no buttons as reference points. You need to look down at the screen to type a semi coherent message; it's just a fact.

OVERALL---

           In conclusion, I would highly recommend the iPhone 3G. Yes, there are a few areas that need to be updated, but that will happen soon I’m sure. And well, I’m OBSESSED! The iPhone 3G gives me constant entertainment to the point where boredom is not an option. I don't know what I did before my iPhone, back when I was naive enough to think that all I needed in a phone was text messaging and phone calls. Not only can I make phone calls and send text messages, the iPhone’s applications help me do practically anything. Currently, my obsession is the application game “Enigmo”, which is well worth the $10 download, and the “iDrink” application which provides me with a lengthy list of my cocktail favorites with recipes, lets me create and edit my own drinks, and gives me an extensive alphabetized cocktail menu which is all perfect for a night out at the bars. Hey, a girl’s gotta unwind every once in a while, right?

Ta-ta for now,

Sarah

Monogamy.

Monogamy: "The practice or state of being with only one partner at a time".  Personally, I've always been a big supporter of monogamy. Most people would agree with me on this. The romanticized idea of being with one person whom you love, and only one, is very appealing to our society. But who really, and I mean REAAALLY, follows this practice? True, a few people do. But it's disturbingly rare. From what I've observed in my twenty years of life, people generally cheat, more often then stay entirely true to one partner.

Even those who never physically cheat, occasionally find themselves longing to experience someone other than their partner. Don't deny that. Why else would they continue to talk to exe girlfriends and boyfriends or have conversations and rondevues with people of the opposite sex that their lover doesn't know about? Why would they flirt, look at porn, or fantasize? Even without the physical act of cheating, you can't deny that there's that psychological aspect... The white elephant in the room. Are men capable of never having the desire to be with anyone other than the person they love? Are woman? If they are, why do they feel the need to push their limits on this?

Monogamy, a concept that is unnatural, and doesn't work for so many people, so why is it even the accepted norm in the first place?

Is it because, as humans, we need to be monogamous to survive? What are the purposes of our beings? To reproduce, to progress, to make the world a better place- are these purposes really dependent on monogamy? Not at all. Most animals in nature are not monogamous. They love and care for their young the same way we do in our society, without the complications of monogamy, and they're been functioning like this for as long as we know. That being the case, why do we choose to accept monogamy as the rightful norm?

Ironically, as I say all this, I'm in a monogamous relationship right now. I'm in love, and it would kill my inside if my boyfriend cheated on me. I trust that he would never physically cheat on me, and I've come to accept that he talks to girls and I don't hear every single conversation. 

But at the same time, if someone wants to communicate privately with someone of the opposite sex, shouldn't they be allowed to follow that urge without complications?  It's easy to ask the question, why do people cheat? But I think that answer it kind of obvious. It's could be any of the following: it's some sort of sick thrill, they want to experience something different, they want to prove that they're still attractive, they became attracted to someone else, they got bored, they got distracted, they got horny, they got scared... Hmmm... But why DON'T people cheat then, if there's so many reasons to do it?

The main thing stopping people from doing more than just communicating with people of the opposite sex, are the elements of respect and disrespect involved. In our society, being with another partner is disrespectful. So we lock up our urges, and don't do it.

I can't speak for everyone. But I don't cheat because I don't want to disrespect him, and in return, I don't want disrespect me to hurt me. With disrespect comes embarrassment, with embarrassment comes hurt, and with hurt... well, it's bad. You get the picture. 

If our society didn't find it disrespectful to be with multiple partners though, then there wouldn't be the hurt and embarrassment involved. Without that, who's to say that anybody would care if they got cheated on or not? It wouldn't even be considered cheating, it would just be an accepted lifestyle... called polygamy. 

In conclusion, my personal opinion: when it comes right down to it, it's very possible that human beings aren't meant to be monogamous. Monogamy could easily have nothing to do with our nature, but be solely a product of the society we live in, hindering us from expressing our true needs and desires, and potentially bringing more pain upon us than we would endure without it. If polygamy was the societal norm, and there was no disrespect resulting from it, what harm could it bring? None, it would just be a lifestyle. However, to most of us (myself included), what cheating represents is so much bigger than what it really is. It represents disrespect, selfishness, and lack of self-control in our society. And with that being the case, polygamy, now, would be devastating. 

Just something I've been thinking about... See you next time,

Sarah

Be what?

It's really complicated, this whole being a good person thing. It has so many levels. Don't do this. Do that. It's confusing.

I remember the day I realized that there was pain in the world. It was a Saturday, in the middle of the day, and I was about five years old. One of our two cockitail birds my mom and dad had as a pet had just died. I didn't understand the concept of death though. To me, it just looked like he was sleeping. My dad had to explain it to me. He wasn't very good at this stuff though... "He's dead Sarah. He's not coming back".

Me: "What?"

Dad: "Our bird, he's going to another world".

Me: "What?"

Dad: (Sighs) "Our pet bird is not alive anymore. He has passed on".

Me: "Uhh ohhh..."

Finally, I was starting to get it...

Dad: "I'm sorry..."

I didn't really know what to think, but I knew what happened wasn't good. Then I asked a stupid question. "Why did he die?"

Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. That's how it works. "Because everything and everyone has to die sometime".

That one put me into a fit of tears which I can only describe as the saddest moment of my life, the moment I realized when nothing could last, and everybody in the world whom I loved so much was going to die on me. Fuck.

That's the first time I remember ever really feeling pain. It sucked. Soon after that I discovered that pain happens to everyone. That sucked even more.

Ever since then I've tried to be really conscious of everyone's happiness, to prevent pain. I was, as Mahatma Gandhi said, trying to "be the change I wanted to see in the world". This was really simple when I was younger. All I had to do was be nice. So I was nice. It was easy. Then when I started getting older, I stopped caring quite so much. No one else cares, I thought. I kind of lost sight of what I wanted the world to be, let alone what I should do to make it happen. I started to grap the fact that there are a lot of shitty things going on, and I just didn't want to be bothered with them. But that feeling of sadness and guilt that you get whenever you do something wrong would would sweep over me constantly. It's not that I spent my teenage years being cruel or anything, but I could have been much nicer and a much better person in general. I might as well have been, for all the guilt I was experiencing all the time.

Then, I started college, and for the first time in my life I feel like I really started learning something. College has opened my eyes to so many things I didn't understand before. Not only stuff from my classes, but causes I didn't even know existed, and people I let change my life. 

And I'm starting to see more and more things that are worth fighting for. I've never been a hardcore activist or anything, but I'm realizing that you really do need to "be the change you want to see in the world". For me, I'm realizing that it's not enough JUST to have an opinion. I need to stand up for it, and create change because nobody else is going to do it for me. I'll start small though, I'm new to this whole awareness thing after-all.

CHANGES I'M GOING TO MAKE:

+START RECYCLING MORE.

Right now I only recycle the bare minimum, which is ridiculous. There's no reason not to make more of an effort, it's really easy.

+REMEMBER TO VOTE

Not only the presidential elections, but read up on local elections so that I can have a say in what's happening around me.

+STAND UP FOR MYSELF

Often when people say something offensive, I stay quiet so that I don't piss anybody off. But I can be tactful and still voice my opinions.

+WATCH THE NEWS/ READ THE PAPER

I'm embarrassed how little I know about what's going on.

+TRY AND NOT SUPPORT STARBUCKS AND CLOTHING COMPANIES WHERE THEY USE SWEAT SHOPS

This one's going to be hard because I like my coffee, and I like my cheap clothes...

+CHOOSE A CAUSE A CONTRIBUTE

There are so many things in the world that need to be changed. This year I want to get involved in some sort of social movement that is important to me.

+BE A GOOD PERSON

Treat others the way I want to be treated. The golden rule.

+DRIVE LESS

I should start walking more anyways, I need the exercise. 

Ok, I've said my piece for the day. My boyfriend would probably call me a hippie and never talk to me again after reading this spiel. Ok, it wouldn't be that dramatic, but the hippie part is defiantly true. Oh well, people can have different interests and still get along, right?

See you tomorrow!

Sarah

It's my birthday for 14 more minutes!!!!!!

As you might have noticed, I get really excited about my birthdays.

Today I took the day off work and got my nails done. I went to one of those places where, to speed things up, they have one person doing your manicure and another doing your pedicure, both at the same time. I'm not a huge fan of that technique.. too many sensations going on at once to enjoy any of it. And the woman doing my manicure was pretty rude. And I'm pretty confident that she took the entire tip and didn't share with the woman doing my pedicure. And on top of all that, because of the chaos from myself and two women being packed around one chair....SOMEHOW.... my cell phone got knocked into the water my feet were soaking in. The woman doing my pedicure reached in quickly to retrieve it, but now it's not working. Fuuuuckkkkahfaslkhsgrlhkd.

I'm been happier, I'm not gonna lie. 

On the bright side, dinner with my mom, dad, my mom's boyfriend, and my boyfriend was, surprisingly, relatively painless. 

I'm sure you'll be hearing from me tomorrow when I'm at work. But now I must sleep,

Sarah

What's in a Job? Not a lot.

I'm working on a series of "How To's" for work right now. 

....You know, "How To Write an Introductory Paragraph", "How to Write a Conclusion", "How to Make a To-Do List"... that sort of thing. All educational, all rather tedious to write. I have to spell everything out step by step, and put it all in an organized outline form. My most current "How To" that I'm authoring is titled, "How to Use Webspiration to Write Your Paper". It's a pretty detailed tutorial with examples of paper's I've written, and other crazy shit.

These "How To's" are funny because they put me in this position of authority which I haven't done anything to deserve. Who am I to tell people how to do anything? Are people going to listen? What do I know? Not a whole lot...

I guess you've just got to trust me. 

That's the cool thing about having a job, the trust factor. The moment you sign your job contract, you're being awarded a certain level of trust. Trust which isn't awarded to just anybody. You have been carefully screened (although sometimes, not carefully enough) through multiple interviews, resumes, and simple meet and greets. Your employer gets a feel for you (shut up, you dirty mind!) and if the boss is feelin' it (again, not meant to be dirty) you're in.

What's interesting to me about this process is that interviews and resumes really tell you very little about a person. And what they do tell you has only marginal truth to it. For example, my resume says that I worked every summer for the past 5 years at Inspiration Software Inc. It says my supervisor was Mona W. And this is all very true, but what it doesn't disclose is that Mona W is actually my mother, and I completely 100% only got these fantastic internships based on nothing to do with skill, but because my parents own the company. Lucky for me, my mom has a different last name than I have, so no-one would ever expect a family relation... Shhhh...

You can train yourself pretty easily how to preform well, and bullshit, in an interview too. Some people are naturally born with this skill, and for that (directed at those lucky few) I hate you. I'm not one of those people.  I can talk your ear off, but I've never been good with answers on the spot. Needless to say, interviews are not my area of expertise (maybe "How To Lists" are where my only strengths lie)? For unfortunate people like me, there are classes to teach you how to be a good interviewee, and even a much cheaper alternative, which I took advantage of this summer: Google.com. Just look up "Top 25 Interview Questions", concoct and memorize answers to them, and you're good to go. However, at the end of the day, being a good talker and knowing what answers to give says very little about your ability to do a job well. Is this a secret that employers don't know about yet? If it is, another "shhhh..." is in order at the end of this paragraph.

With that being said, one of those annoying cell phone stands in the mall (you know, the obnoxious sales reps that try to get you to switch services as you walk by) was dumb enough to hire me. I tried the googling approach and memorized answers to an array of questions varying form "What can you bring to the team, here at (insert companies name)?," to "If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?"... A flying squirrel, duh!

They ate that shit up. Wow, the world is a joke sometimes. I get hired for some job I don't take, and people who really need jobs are still out of work or working minimum wage jobs, barely being able to support themselves or their children. I didn't even want this job. I interviewed with them for the sole purpose of practicing my interview skills in a real life situation. But they hired me. Who woulda thunk it?

Honestly, I'd be an awful salesperson. I don't know how they didn't pick up on that during my interviews. I'm nowhere near pushy enough, and way too frightened of rejection to approach strangers.

My point? The whole job getting process is a lot of BS, and luck. 

Luck in my case, being that my parental units are connected enough to hook me up with a legit job. Legit enough that I'm blogging instead of working... oops... you see my point?

Just something to think about... It's back to work now for me,

Sarah

I don't know if it's my temporary insomnia working it's magic (it's 3:30 AM right now) or if I was just inspired by Emily, but I've decided to make a blog. Duh. 

I don't really know how to begin this, so I'm just going to talk. Introduce myself, I guess.

Hi. My name is Sarah. It's nice to meet you.

I'm 19 years old, soon to be 20. My birthday is actually tomorrow, in case you care. But I'm not really sure why you would. In fact, I'm not really sure who YOU are and what/whom I'm talking to quite yet. But whatever.

I'm beginning my junior year at the University of Oregon this fall. The past two years of college have been fun. Incredible, actually. I'm so lucky. But I won't get into that right now.

Right now I'm "home", for the summer. If you can call it home. I'm in Portland, OR. It's where I grew up, actually. But since I graduated from LHS in 2006, my mom's moved houses. And now, my room isn't exactly my room anymore. Most of my shit is in boxes, and I'm too lazy to take it out. We'll probably move again anyway. My mom's moved 3 times since my graduation (what is that, 2 years ago?) and she's looking for a house again. Oy vey... whatever makes her happy, right?

This summer I'm working for my parents at their company. They own a company called Inspiration Software Co. Maybe you've heard of it? Probably not. It's an educational software company. I work in this little cubical in a secluded section of their office, miles away from human interaction. Well, maybe not miles. But it's pretty far. I usually see about 3 people when I work, and 2 of them are my mom and dad. It's not all bad though..I actually enjoy the peace and quiet. 

My mom and dad are actually divorced. Since I was 4 years old, to be precise. And yes, they still work together. What a strange world we live in, I know, I know...

Alright, I'm tired now. 

Goodnight,

Sarah