Holiday Nail Polish

This past holiday season, I experimented with lots of different nail polish designs. I have always loved nail polish, however, this is the first time in years that I have had time to paint my nails! When I was in college, I was taking a lot of 'crafty' classes for my art and design majors, so, polish was just a lost cause. Also, the years I spent working in retail just didn't cut it for nail polish. It would last, what, 2 days before the first chip? And that was just if I was lucky. Now that my job involves typing, it tends to last longer. And now, I don't mind so much spending the time to paint them perfectly, knowing that they will actually last through the week. Here are some of my recent polishes:

Christmas Nails

Over the Christmas holiday, I had these on my nails. This design lasted three weeks! I had this color in well into the New Year, without chipping, and finally decided to just take it off. It took about 6 cotton balls with polish remover to get it off, though, because it was so hardy. For this, I used the following: Wet and Wild 223C, 224C, Clear.

1. First Coat: Paint your nails with 223C, the gold glitter. Let dry. This is so when you paint with 224C, the yellow, the glitter will show through.
2. Second Coat: Paint your nails with 224C, the yellow polish. Let dry.
3. Third Coat: Paint your nails with 223C, the gold glitter again. They should be super sparkly now. You can skip to step 5, if you do not wish to have the yellow tips.
4. Fourth Coat: Do the french tips with 224 C, the yellow.
5. Top Coat: Paint with your choice of "clear" nail polish (I used the above). This is important, because the glitter tends to fall off some without the clear coating.

New Years Nails

I followed the glittery inspiration from the Christmas Nails, but this time chose a blue color inspired by how snow sparkles, and how the color of the sky looks as the sun goes down this time around 4pm. For this look, I used the following polishes: Wet and Wild Clear, Sinful Colors Lets Talk, and Hottie.

1. First Coat: Do one layer of Lets Talk, the solid shiny blue. Let dry. I start with this instead of the glitter because with the dark color of the nail polish, it takes more than one coat to get the full depth of the color.
2. Second Coat: Do one layer of Hottie, the glitter, and let dry.
3. Third Coat: Do another layer of Lets Talk, the solid shiny blue. You should be able to see the glitter through the blue. Let dry.
4. Fourth Coat: Do a final coat of Hottie, the glitter, and let dry. You should be able to see what appears to be glitter from all depths: The ones on the first layer will appear farther away, but still shine in the light, and the ones in the top layer will be the most shiny.
5. Top Coat: Put on your favorite "clear" polish (I used the above) to prevent the glitter from chipping off. I also find that with this particular brand, the luster of the the "clear" part of the glitter polish is kind of dull, so adding another layer of a different "clear" polish makes it much more shiny.

Winter Gradient Nails

I did these this week, dropping the glitter as it is now almost two weeks into the New Year. It is still very much Winter here, so I wanted to keep the dark colors, but I couldn't decide which dark color to choose from. Solution? I chose three. I used Sinful Colors again, which come with a bit of luster (tiny glitter) in them. So, still slightly glittery, but not in-your-face glittery. Unfortunately, Sinful Colors: #10 Aqua, appears to have been discontinued. So, I'll link you to a different brand which as a similar color. Here are the polishes I used: Sinful Colors Lets Talk and 926HD. For Turquoise, OPI Ogre-The Top Blue.

1. Thumb: Two coats "Green."
2. Pointer:
1. Bottom Coat: "Green."
2. Top Coat: "Aqua."
3. Middle: Two coats "Aqua"
4. Ring:
1. Bottom Coat: "Blue."
2. Top Coat: "Aqua."
5. Pinky: Two coats "Blue."
6. Finish all fingers with your favorite "clear" top coat.

We are all Reflections

We are all a reflection of what others have done to us.

Most people live by the stereotype that teenagers make their lives a whole hell of a lot harder than they need to be. They probably do. But no matter the needs, or the wants, or the reasons; those hardships shape who we are today.

And sometimes those hardships make people go insane.

When I was fifteen years, I first realized the motives of bad people. The short version is a damaged person did something to make themselves look like a bad person, and that damaged bad person did something to destroy my optimism. I don't know the exact reason why this person mentally shattered me, but it was probably because they were insecure about something, specifically something I'm sure I represented in their life.

And then you get it, a bully. A successful bully. A bully that was successful in breaking me.

After my roller coaster of an association with that person, I decided I hated that person. I decided I wanted to break that person, and bad. I realized I understood the motives behind criminals that want to hurt others.

But I never acted on that. I just left. I gave up. That event was among what I consider the turning point, or loss of childhood innocence. Children, in my opinion, are these magical creatures that do not hate and do not resent. Adults, on the other hand, hate and resent, and mostly do so because of the things that shaped their personalities into what they are as a younger person.

That event, among others, is reflected in the way I behave today. It's reflected in my insecurities. Maybe I can't trust people? Maybe I think everyone has an ulterior motive? Maybe I cry a lot, over nothing, over everything? Maybe I still have that tendency to make my life harder than it needs to be.

Of course, I suppose the point of this blog entry is to assess that for the first time in my life, I'm trying to shake those feelings of insecurity that cause me to do things like act like a clingy, desperate,  center-of-the-universe.

I think people have the entirety of their teenage years to get hurt.

I think people deserve their twenties to get over that hurt. 

Twenty-one

As you may have guessed, I am twenty-one years old. I didn't just turn twenty-one, either. In fact, I will be twenty-two sooner than it would take to drive from Alaska to Brazil. As my impending birthday approaches, I have come to realize how different things really are compared to a year ago. And then I start comparing it to two, three, four and five years ago.

For example, this was me at age 17: http://www.myspace.com/thevoiceofkathleen

At seventeen, I thought I was going to make a serious career out of singing. I even recorded a few songs, and played a few shows. I was an excellent singer, and still am; with a range of four octaves, as well as experience with various vocal styles. But somewhere along the line, I changed my mind. Do I know when? Not really. I guess I just lost interest in doing that particular thing. Maybe it just wasn't something I needed. I still keep my MySpace up, because I'm sure at least some of the 1882 "friends" I have on there still like my music (at least my dad does)!

How about ten years? At the age of 12, I did stuff like this:

When I was 12, I wanted to be an architect. I would spend day in and day out drawing floor plans for houses. They were pretty damn good, and I have license to say that as I am no longer a seventh-grader by any means bragging about my life. I probably could have done well in architecture school, but who makes money off of architecture these days? Thanks, housing bubble. 

But these are just two examples, of many, of things changing. I'm sure everyone's plans change at one point or another in their lives.

Yeah,  a year ago today, I was living in a tiny apartment, majoring in Art (like, my fifth major in college) at Western Washington University. I think I played World of Warcraft, too? I'm not trying to undermine who I was a year ago, but I truly believe that I have changed most drastically in the past year than ever in my life. And I think it has everything to do with graduating college.

As for college, I graduated two months ago with a general studies degree (never did decide on a major, but did decide it was time to leave). I now live in a pretty nice house with a yard in a garage, which I don't own, but have come to the realization that I could very easily purchase a home like this with my savings and the amount of money I will be making at my new job. 

Oh yeah, I start my new job next week. I'm going to be a technical writer! It's funny that I say that, because it is seriously something I both never said "I want to be this when I grow up" nor heard of before my last quarter of college (when I took my first and only technical writing course). 

I don't know that writing isn't something that I'll just lose interest in, like architecture or singing, but I do know this: I have been writing almost as long as I have been drawing. At first, I seriously sucked at spelling. But I was always writing. When I was a younger kid, I kept a diary. In fact, I kept a diary up until...well, I still keep a diary! Though I don't write in it hardly ever. Then, in the early 2000s, I got a LiveJournal. Then a MySpace. Then a Facebook. Then a Blogger...then a Hubpage...and now, back to Blogger, apparently. 

I don't know if writing is something I necessarily enjoy, but I know it is something that is basically a backbone to who I am as a person. When I laid out floor plans in the seventh grade, I kept a diary. When I sang, I blogged about it. Now? Well, I am apparently making money doing it. 

How much did you change between your Senior year in college and your first year out?