xkcd is another web comic I enjoy. I think that the fact that the comic is drawn entirely in stick figures forces the reader to really concentrate on the content, which mainly consists of very geeky humor.

Today’s xkcd was probably one of the best, because as an avid Facebook user (I signed up way back when it first started and Johns Hopkins was one of the beta schools) I can understand the hilarity of the “relationship status” concept.

Enjoy!

As a huge geek, I can’t help but be smitten by geeky proposal stories. So here are my top three favorite geeky proposals:

3. Dashboard Widget Proposal

Earlier this year, a Mac geek created a Dashboard Widget (which, according to Apple, are “mini-applications that let you perform common tasks and provide you with fast access to information”) to propose to his girlfriend. When she was using his computer, he told her to hit F12 and an image of a ring popped out with the words “Will you marry me?”

Needless to say, she said yes, and all (Mac) geeks reveled in delight. You can get more details on this proposal here.

2. The Joy of Tech! Proposal

The Joy of Tech! is one of my favorite comic strips, concentrating on geeky, techie, pro-Apple subjects. Here is their idea of a proposal….and I love it! I really would’ve been swept off my feet if any guy had done this.

1. The Apple Store Proposal

Last summer, Apple opened its famous Fifth Ave store in Manhattan (can you tell I’m a huge Mac head? ). In celebration of the grand opening, Apple set a website with time lapse photos in front of the store. This man took three signs with him to the location at 5:30am and proceeded to propose to his girlfriend on camera:

Here is the direct link to the video on the Apple website – the proposal shows up about 2/3 of the way into the video.

I’m pretty cheap when it comes to most items but the three things I splurge on are gadgets, handbags, and anything that goes on my face…aka beauty products. And as a natural researcher by heart (and trade), I research and test items from all three categories to death before making any purchases, especially if a lot of money is involved. While I can go on and on about all three topics, I decided to share my all-time favorite (meaning I never stray from these) beauty products with my readers.

(Before I start, I want to say that I have an extreme case of combination skin. My t-zone is a natural oil well, but my cheeks and chin can become so dry to the point of flakiness. So while some of these products may work well for other people with combination skin, it may not with others.)

My favorite lotions and creams:

Clarins, I believe, has one of the best skincare lines out there. I’ve tried almost all major skincare lines in pharmacies and department stores (aside from the uber-expensive ones) and Clarins beats them all. I alternate lines depending on season, and I usually use one lotion/cream for night and another with SPF in the morning.

Clarins also has a great men’s line. I’ve even converted my father, who’s very picky and sensitive about lotions. He’s tried almost every men’s line out there and swears up and down that Clarins is the best he’s used.

My favorite exfoliator:

The Korean ddae soo gun (exfoliating rag). These are relatively cheap and you can buy them for less than $1 at almost any Korean market. I use this to exfoliate my entire body once a month and my face daily. Since new ones can be rough, I usually rub it across rough surfaces before using to break them in a little. This is not recommended for anyone who has sensitive skin. And although I use it on my face every day, I do it VERY gently with a light hand.

My Favorite Cleanser:

The Prescriptives All Clean Fresh Foaming Cleanser For Normal Skin, $21 for a 6.7oz tube which lasts about 3 months with twice-daily use. I’ve tried soooooo many cleansers out there (practically everything at drugstores as well as Sephora) before finding this one, and I’ve stuck with it for the past 5 years. It has everything I look for in a cleanser: some foaming action but not too much, unscented, and leaves my face squeaky clean without it being too dry.

My Favorite Eyeshadow Primer:

The MAC Paint, $16.50 for a 6.5g tube. Okay so it’s not meant to be an eyeshadow primer. But it still works great as one, even better than the popular Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion! I use it in Bare Canvas, which matches my skintone perfectly. My eye makeup stays put for 18 hours straight with no creasing whatsoever. And although it’s a tiny tube, mine has lasted more than 8 months with daily use.

My Favorite Eyeliner:

The MAC Liquidlast Liner, $16.50 for a 2.5ml tube. I swear up and down that this is the best long-lasting eyeliner out there. It even stays put after you wash your face! I’ve tried all other long-lasting eyeliners, even the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner that my friends love so much, but even that smudged at the end of the day. The only bad thing about this liquid liner is that the brush that is part of the packaging kinda sucks – it’s too long and flimsy. So I use the MAC 266 Small Angle Brush to appy it. And, as with all liquid liners, you need a very steady hand.

What are your favorite beauty products? Also, I still haven’t found THE mascara yet….what do you recommend?

Are you one of those lucky people who are blessed with long, lush eyelashes that never need mascara or even curling? Well, I hate you. I have very short and very sparse lashes that are practically non-existent.

I still remember a couple of years ago when my mother first read about trichotillomania (the disorder where you pull your own hair). She immediately called me and asked me if I have it.

“Of course I don’t have that, why would you even ask me?”

“Because your eyelashes are so short and sparse! Everyone else in the family has long and full eyelashes except for you! You can tell me….is there anything you want to share with me? Do you have trichotillomania?”

Over the years I’ve been trying to make up for this disadvantage with eyeliner, mascara, eyelash curlers, etc. I redefined the word ”irony” when I purchased the ever-so-popular Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler to find that my eyelashes were too short for it.

False eyelashes never worked well for me. The first time I successfully applied a set, J said I looked scary and ran away from me. I tried flares, thinking that it would be more natural looking, but it looked like an army of spiders had died under my eyelids, leaving their legs dangling over my eyelashes.

So when I first heard about eyelash extensions, naturally I was ecstatic. Individual eyelashes are applied between your natural lashes with a semipermanent adhesive. Depending on the life cycle of your natural lashes and other factors, they usually last 3-4 weeks.

I immediately began calling around and received a shock. All the salons I called in the NYC area charged $300 $350!

When I mentioned this to my mother, she exclaimed, “$300?!? That’s ridiculous. My salon does it too – I’ll ask them how much they charge.”

It was $100. Not exactly small change, but definitely a lot better than $300. I asked my mother to set up an appointment.

Normally I shudder at the thought of being the subject of “before” and “after” shots. But I decided to suck it up and share these photos with the world…purely for the sake of research, of course.

My lashes before:

My lashes after:

Wow, I never realized how many freckles I have… Anyway, the closed-eye view looks a little freaky but I have to say I LOVE how my lashes look now!

The procedure itself took about 30-45 minutes. The false eyelash is real human hair (which is a little freaky now that I think about it) that is pre-curled for this procedure, so no more need for eyelash curlers! The lady who did my lashes explained that each false eyelash is placed between my real eyelashes, so if the person has more natural eyelashes the ending result would be fuller as well.

Since this was the first application it cost the full $100, but if I come back every month for touchups she’ll only charge me $50.

If you’re interested, the salon I went to is:

Hye Chung Salon
10 Sylvan Ave
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
(201) 944-0220

They speak some English, but not much so if you don’t speak Korean you may want to ask someone who does to call for you. Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll gladly answer them!

I’ll be the first to admit that I was never good at math and science. I never possessed the analytical, logical mind to excel in the subject; I much rather preferred social and language studies. I’m one of the few Asians I know who actually did better in the verbal portion of the SAT’s.

Not surprisingly, I usually dreaded the few times a week we were required to attend science labs. Whether it was physics or biology, chemistry or life sciences, I never had the patience to clock the amount of time it took for water to boil, let alone follow intricate instructions meticulous enough to obtain expected results.

I would usually end up making one mistake, panic, then do something completely idiotic in order to make up for it. Like the time I accidentally spilled all the contents of a bottle of distilled water. And quickly tried to recover by grabbing the first bottle of clear liquid to replace it. Which ended up being hydrochloric acid.

But there were a few labs that I thoroughly enjoyed. There are two in particular that stand out in my mind, even to this day.

The first is my very first scientific lab, from way back in elementary school. Maybe it was the excitement of actually doing something hands-on for the first time. Maybe it’s because the problem placed before our young minds stumped us. Or maybe it’s just because I felt like a total idiot when I found out what the answer was.

The Problem:
You have a large bowl of water and a lump of clay in front of you. How can you make the clay float in the water?

Can you figure it out?

The second lab is the infamous egg drop. That’s right – when a raw egg gets dropped from the top of a building (usually 2-3 floors high). You must design a container/contraption/device which will keep the egg from cracking.

This activity has become a staple of the American public education system. If you attended middle school/high school in the states, there’s a good chance that you participated in an egg drop of some sort.

Most kids ended up designing parachute-like devices, which usually ended up failing miserably. I mean, just how much drag can you expect to get from 2-3 floors up?

Others would design crazy, complicated-looking contraptions which consisted of many parts forming a cube or a circle, with the egg suspended in the middle with elastic bands. These were usually the most admired, because to most kids’ eyes, the more complicated-looking something is, the more amazing it is.

I don’t remember exactly what I did; it was probably something boring like a tin box stuffed with cotton. The funny thing is, I didn’t have that much fun designing my own. I had a lot more fun the day of the egg drop, when weeks of planning, designing, and constructing either succeeded or failed.

Did you participate in an egg drop while growing up? What did you design?