Lately

So it's been 3 months since my last post O_o How time flies. I've obviously not really been feeling the whole blogging thing, and don't know if that will be changing anytime soon, but wanted to check in and say hi anyways. Hi! Lately I have:

–Been learning Python, using How to Think Like a Computer Scientist (highly recommended; it's the only tutorial thing I've tried [and I've tried several of the big ones] that scales up difficulty at a manageable pace while still explaining a lot of different concepts)

–Been running subjects, and coding subject data, and teaching undergrads how to code subject data, and checking their coding, and working on conference abstracts and running models and trying to write a program to find phonaesthemes in Turkish (I've been running into problems with it taking up too much memory, blagh) and reviewing R and all the other fun things that experimental linguists get to do

–Continued translating a Turkish fairytale (Sevdalı Bulut, by Nazım Hikmet) with the help of my Turkish teacher. We hope to finish the line-by-line glosses by early spring term, and then I'll work on translating it into more natural, poetic English. Having never done anything translation-y before, it's very different from just learning a language! There's a lot of artistry in it, and it's been an interesting challenge. Our plan is to recruit someone(s) from the art department to illustrate it, and then work on getting the rights to have it published. Whee!

–Finished teaching another term, with another great set of students. Teaching is great, guys. If only it paid, like, twice as much.

From one of my students

Holidaying

Happy holidays, everyone! I hope you're all having a marvelous season. I've been absent around here for awhile, as usual, but here's some pictures of what I've been up to.

Final day of the (8 day long!) strike

Lions from a visit to the Oregon Zoo

On Striking and Organized Labor

Today, I spent 4 hours holding a sign and walking in a circle in 35 degree weather. I walked approximately 10 miles, shouted approximately a billion slogans (slight exaggeration), and it was exhausting. The lead-up to the strike, and now the reality of the first strike in our union's 38 year history, has been emotional, frustrating, challenging, angering, and so very tiring. I've been posting regularly on Facebook, and thought I would share excerpts here (self-plagiarization ftw!); it's completely non-beauty-related, but it's hardly the first time that's been the case...And as usual, an excess of emotions results in an excess of words, so it's pretty long. Enjoy?

November 21, 2014 – 2 weeks before the strike

There's been a lot of misinformation spread about the impending GTFF (Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation) strike, scheduled to start Dec. 2. The UO administration has repeatedly misrepresented the current contract, their own offers, and the bargaining process thus far, including taking credit for inclusions they fought hard against and lying to international students about risks to their immigration status if they strike. For an excellent summary of some of the more pervasive lies, see: http://gtff3544.net/bargainin…/clarifying-misunderstandings/. A number of department heads, including Linguistics, wrote a letter to the upper-level administration, which you can (and definitely should!) read here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/…/HeadsAndDirectors_Lette….

If you are an undergrad and have a GTF (which, as we teach 1/3 of UO classes and 98% of "special sections" [discussion sections and labs, primarily], is practically guaranteed), you can read up about how the strike might effect you here: http://gtff3544.net/bargaining-fa…/letter-to-undergraduates/. Unlike the Provost, the GTFF can not send out emails to the entire university community, so if you are an undergrad/spend any time with undergrads, please do consider reading it and sharing it.

There are many things about this that make me angry, but I don't want this to become even longer than it already is, so I will just say:

We teach your classes. We grade your tests. We mentor your students, do your research, keep your university running. And 56% of us make less than the UO's own cost-of-living calculation. We're not asking for that to be rectified (the wage increase proposed only applies to the ~250 lowest-paid GTFs out of a total of ~1500); we just want to know that if a medical emergency occurs, we won't lose our jobs and health insurance, and that if we decide to have children, we have options besides taking time off or leaving school entirely.

And, for God's sake, maybe some indication that the University of Oregon values education, not just athletics and administrator salaries.

Clinique Cheek Pop Berry Pop Review and Swatches

I really didn't intend to be absent for so long, but...well, time flies when you're having fun (and by "having fun", I mean "working frantically", which fortunately are not mutually exclusive). My union is on the verge of a strike, scheduled for December 2––you can read about it here, here, and here, and if you'd like to support us, you can sign the petition here––which adds further excitement to an already-full schedule. Basically, I love my union, my university has disappointed me (gee, I feel like this has happened before...), and I have no time. But here, some blush!

pristine and beautifully untouched Clinique Berry Pop*

Hi

Fact: it's been a month since my last post. It's not a lack of things to write about that's caused the hiatus––I've got product reviews, comparison swatches, list posts, and assorted miscellany to share. But the boy and I broke up a few weeks ago, and even planned, mutual, amicable breakups still fucking suck. Add in teaching, research, classes, and general life stuff, and you have a very tired Amy.

I don't know when I'll be back to posting (regularly, or even at all) again, but I wanted y'all to know that I'm still alive and relatively well. I miss you! And even though I'm the most lax commenter in the world, I'm reading and enjoying your posts.

Now I'm off to drink some tea and do some grading. I hope you're all enjoying the changing leaves and the consumption of the hot beverage of your choice :)

ModelCo Eye Shadow Trio in Smokey Eye Review and Swatches

Another eyeshadow palette! This one was a gift from Larie, and fills the black-smoky-eye hole in my collection.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Radiant Magenta Review and Swatches

I am not a blush person. I mean, I wear it every day, because otherwise I look like a sickly ghost, but it doesn't excite me like lippies do. Still, every once in awhile, something comes along to catch my eye. The Hourglass Ambient Lights Blush line was one such thing. Upon swatching, I liked Diffused Heat and Radiant Magenta, but decided that the latter was more unique in my stash and picked it up during the Sephora spring sale (since $35 for a blush is, like, a lot).

It is pretty, though.

Fun with Mascara: Maybelline Great Lash Royal Blue

I wear foundation/concealer/brows (and to a lesser extent blush) because I think they make me look better, but eyeshadow/liner/lipstick because they're fun. I realized a few weeks ago that mascara, long part of the first group, comes in colors and could therefore become fun, too! So when I found a bunch of the Maybelline Great Lash colored mascaras from last summer at Grocery Outlet for $2.99 apiece, I picked up the blue and teal ones. I've only opened the blue, since I currently have 3 other mascaras in rotation (I don't know how that happened, either), and have been playing around with it. And guys, guess what? It's fun.

this is what fun looks like, y'all.

Urban Decay Naked Basics Review and Swatches

In the process of moving, I sorted through my makeups and got rid of things I don't (at least semi-) regularly use. This included theBalm Nude 'Tude, leaving a brown-neutral (matte) hole in my stash, which I decided to fill with Urban Decay's Naked Basics. (Urban Decay just released Naked2 Basics, which I have not seen in person. It claims to be a cooler-toned version to Naked Basics, but swatches online suggest it doesn't have the same range of depth as the original, so while I love cool-toned neutrals, it's not calling to me particularly strongly.)

Naked Basics is UD's matte companion to the more glitter-tastic full Naked palettes, none of which I own. Basics includes 5 matte shades and one shimmer (Venus), with 3 pale highlighting-type shades. It is definitely not a palette that everyone will find useful (though the denizens of the internet review sites certainly seem to like it), as you have to like mattes and light shades, but I find it to be a very valuable addition to my stash.

Makeup / Beauty / Cosmetics Return Policies by Store

Back in the baby days of the blog, I did a master post of beauty return policies by store. As that was more than 3 years ago (whoaaa), I thought it high time for an update. Many stores haven't changed their policies, but I've included them all here regardless.

Pretty much everywhere will accept returns on orders if the product is damaged or they got the order wrong, so I'm just going to focus on products that didn't work out for whatever reason. Stores followed by a * only accept unused beauty products, though some are "at the discretion of the manager", which is noted as necessary; all others accept used/opened makeup and beauty products. I make note of the following: online vs. in-store purchases, including how long you can return items with a receipt, without a receipt, and what form the refund comes in, as well as any other relevant notes. I've listed them in alphabetical order, with links to the page about returns, if available (some of which are great, and some of which *cough*ULTA*cough* are clearly designed to put you off with the hassle of returning something). I do most of my shopping online, since Eugene is a bit of a wasteland shopping-wise, and it can be hard to find information about returning in-store purchases on stores' websites, so if you have any personal experience returning things you bought in person (especially without a receipt), please let me know! OKAY, LET'S DO THIS.