{by Carli van Heerden}
Before diving back into the blog last month I read an article with tips on how to get (re)started blogging. One of my favorite ideas from the article was to pay attention to the bloggers I like and basically copy them. Easy! So today I will be copying a commonly used Friday blogging theme which consists of posting a random list of things I personally enjoyed and/or encountered during the past week. Fun extra: I have arranged my things into categories based on the senses. Enjoy!
Watch
- Glamour magazine is confronting the gender pay gap in a way I’ve never seen before. Check out their three episodes (each is about five minutes long) that each feature a man and woman with essentially the same job at different companies, sitting down to discuss how they feel about their salaries with a reveal of actual number at the end. It’s uncomfortable and fascinating. I don’t think I would participate in this, but perhaps that is because my current salary is $0 (my brain equity is priceless, however).
- I am loving every second of my marketing class this semester because finally I understand things. Meanwhile, all the finance people are whining like babies because they can’t handle the nature of subjective answers. I don’t like to think of it as revenge, but boy does it taste sweet watching them argue with TAs and lose. Anyways, this week in class I learned about Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) and how nuts it is. My world imploded when I watched this episode (32 minutes) of the John Oliver show explaining exactly what MLM companies do and how they are pretty much ruining people’s lives. Examples of companies with an MLM structure: Mary Kay, Rodan & Fields, Amway, and HERBALIFE. No joke, my family was (is?) deep into Herbalife. I have actually purchased Herbalife goods myself. But I literally did not know until now that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme!! Do my family members secretly have truckloads of expired product in their garages?? You bet your *ss there will be something new to discuss at Christmas 2017.
CEO of Herbalife and potential cult leader
Listen
- Want more info on MLM? Listen to this podcast by This American Life. Skip the first and last parts – just listen to the Wake Up Now segment and have someone available to talk to afterwards for a dissect sesh. Highlights include people at a Wake Up Now conference not knowing what the h*ll Wake Up Now sells or even is, but expressing undying devotion anyways. It’s insane. And sad. Good luck.
Read
- Check out this article about the 100 safest cities in America and see if your city is on it! Spoliers: Naperville is NOT a on the list. Neither is Excelsior, MN. They must have skipped those in the count for some reason. Good news: Lake in the Hills and Bartlett (both in Illinois) are numbers 7 and 9! Illinois has 19 cities total in the list, which is great but also crazy considering Chicago is what some people in charge are calling a “war zone.” MN stats: Shoreview is the second safest city in the country! Chaska is 87! The safest city of all is Oak Ridge, TN with a total of only seven crimes committed in 2016. Good for them Massachusetts had 21 cities on the list, making them the safest state in America. Hard to believe since MA is freaking TINY. See full list here.
This guy does not do business in Oak Ridge, TN
Anticipate
- Cutex is coming out with new line of nail polishes! This is timely in my world because my marketing professor, who is from Trinidad and Tobago, mentioned in a lecture this week that growing up, everyone on his island called all forms of nail polish “Cutex.” Like, “what color Cutex should I paint my nails?” I lolzed at that since I’ve only ever known Cutex to be a brand that removes your nail polish. Then, wouldn’t you know, a day or two later one of my beauty news blogs announced that it’s back (back back, back again)!
{photo from cutex.com}
Et cetera
- I heard this week that Trump likes to inflate the facts about the number of floors in the various towers he owns. For example, a building may have 58 floors in reality, but then Trump will tell people it has 68 floors for fake. He says he does this because “it sounds better.” In one building, he had them put 46 elevator buttons in as if there were 46 floors, but really, there were only 43. Read more here if you want to poke your eyes out.
- If you’re looking for a reason to celebrate this weekend, break out the Riesling for National Lash Day on Sunday! From NationalDayCalendar.com: “This is a day to promote the love and need for true and false eyelashes. It is a day we all can honor our lashes.” I’ll be toasting to my favorite falsies and my must-have mascara (below) that turn my lashes from translucent to “oh there are her eyes.” Cheers and TGIF!
Queen B falsies from Lady Moss Beauty are amazing even if they do make me look like I have two black eyes
Bless up for L’Oreal Voluminous in Carbon Black
for you, love emily 