http://obliviousjjl.wordpress.com/

I have decided that I like the interface of Wordpress better. So from now on, please visit my blog at the link provided above. 

Hair treatment & mascara

So after damaging my hair through coloring and perming, and after about one month of intensive treatment using Jonathan's Anti-aging restorative conditioner, it's finally feeling much softer. Before, even the grass on the lawn felt smoother than my hair. Slowly, but surely, my hair is finally healing. I like this particular brand because not only does it smell fruity and nice (like pineapples and coconut) but it is also 100% vegan and tested only on celebrities. It was not too expensive ($28 for a 6.8 oz jar), and the point is that it worked, and I really needed it. 

Since  I'm on the topic of beauty products, I might as well share 

another purchase. For you mascara lovers, I highly recommend 

Guerlain's Le 2 de Guerlain. It does amazing effects! I usually 

stick with Shu Uemura's Fiber Xtension mascara, but I've heard 

so many good recommendations on Guerlain's. I really like it; it 

is now my favourite mascara. It has two brushes, one on either 

end, a bigger one for the longer and upper lashes, and a smaller one for shorter and end lashes. 

A bit pricey compared to other brands ($35 for a tube at Sephora), so buy only if you can 

splurge and if mascara is something you are willing to spend a little bit more for good quality.

New find of a rather new Jazz vocalist! Sounds like a cross between Madeleine Peyroux and Diana Krall. This particular album is slow, relaxing, and really soothes the soul (at least it soothed my soul). Her voice is not as thick and rich as Madeleine's, a bit more like Norah Jones, in fact. 

My favorite tracks:

Worrisome Heart

Love me like a river does

If you've never listened to her, and like any of the above mentioned artists, I highly recommend!!

Lethargic

Another humid day in the Steel City. Last time I checked, it rose to 21 C, but due to the 73% humidity, it felt more like 25 C. It is currently cloudy, and looks like it's getting ready to rain. This morning I could not pull myself out of bed until 10.30. 

My motivation: breakfast.

So I quickly reheated some of the leftovers from dinner last night (rice, a tofu-corn-egg-drop soup, and stir-fried nappa with shiitake, oil tofu, and ginger), and gathered my papers and files to head down to Crazy Mocha, with a goal of finishing the first draft of my Spinoza paper. It took me about an hour and half to get into the gist of things (usually it only takes about 40 minutes) and concentrate. I'm on my 17th hand-written page, so I'm pretty darn close to concluding. The question is, whether I want to stop now, or continue with research. Sometimes I feel like I'm on to something ground-breaking. But then when I reread it, it doesn't seem as profound as I originally imagined. :-/ 

Afterwards, I walked over to Giant Eagle and back to Tokyo Shoten for some groceries. I had told myself: no more cheese, no more donuts. I managed to refrain from buying donuts, but succumbed to my stomach's desire for good cheese. Lately, for the past 2 weeks or so, I've been on a rather high-fat, high-calorie diet. (For example, lots of donuts, cheese and veggies omelets, coconut milk, kabocha baked with mozzarella cheese - which is really nice - and so on.) I really need to find some way to exercise. As I'm getting closer to the big three-oh, I do feel that my metabolism has slowed down quite a bit. I am not saying that I'm fat, because I'm not. But I can no longer eat according to my heart's desire without gaining a pound.... because I am gaining some pounds, unfortunately.

Tonight for dinner: yakisoba with cabbage, carrots, and veggie meat; miso soup; and last night's leftovers. Yummy......

Talk about eye-catching book titles....

Is it just me, or is there something creepingly interesting about Critchley's new book, due on the shelf next January, 2009? You can even place a preorder on Amazon.uk! I'm not sure if I need to take that step, but I am definitely going to purchase it. He's not only focusing on Western philosophers, but also the East, which is quite rare, and I am quite impressed! Dr. Critchley teaches at the New School for Social Research in New York, and is one of my favorite contemporary philosophers who does work in the continental tradition (e.g. Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida, and so on). The New School was (and still is) my top choice for doing graduate work, by the way. 

The Quest for Life

On this coming Monday, NASA's space probe Phoenix is scheduled to land on Mars, further north than previous missions in order to collect samples for traces of water (which means traces of life). I am no scientist--not even close--but I do appreciate the geniuses of our nation (and of course those around the world) who contribute to these sorts of massive think tanks, making space exploration (among many others) possible. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to think this stuff is pretty awesome. I was watching this video clip of how Phoenix must land safely for a successful mission posted up on the BBC News web-page, and my jaw just dropped on my table. It was absolutely AWESOME and SPECTACULAR! I mean, if you just watch all the technology inherent in Phoenix........ it is just *mind boggling*! SO RAD! Look at how cool (and kinda cute, too ^-^) this thing looks:

Seriously, for those of you who have not seen it, you must check out the video on BBC (I've provided the link above), and don't trust any of my primitive descriptions of Phoenix. 

On a more philosophical level, I just remember something Hannah Arendt had written in one of her essays (well, she's said this in many essays, but I like this one the best, and it's one that I'm most familiar with) where she reflects about the many new beginnings that humans can create:

"In 1957, an earth-born object made by man was launched into the universe, where for some weeks it circled the earth according to the same laws of gravitation that swing and keep in motion the celestial bodies--the sun, the moon, and the stars. To be sure, the man-made satellite was no moon or star, no heavenly body which could follow its circling path for a time plan that to us mortals, bound by earthly time, lasts from eternity to eternity. Yet, for a time, it managed to stay in the skies; it dwelt and moved in the proximity of the heavenly bodies as though it had been admitted to their sublime company." (From the Prologue to The Human Condition.)

The importance of this event, "second to no other", is not from the human capacity of wonder or power, but rather because it was a sign of human rebellion against existence, a need to escape from the prisons of earth. And then, she talks about how this has to do with the artificiality of life. Humans create objects, and these artifacts that remain on the earth after our death signal an immortality even after we have ceased to be. 

Drawing of a Chihuahua