September 2016

In fashion, change is the only real constant. It may be subtle or groundbreaking, but it’s the one inevitable in an industry dependent on reinvention. This year a new guard of trailblazing lip colors has upended the status quo with a quirky, off-kilter cool that redefines the ideas of conventional beauty.

A New Reality: The future of beauty in cosmetics is a new generation, ignoring yesterday’s rules and expectations, while experimenting with color and texture like never before. Lips have an unpredictable edge with colors ranging from teal, dark matte purples and sapphire blues, to nude pinks and bright reds too. Color is intense, impulsive and unusual, but doesn’t take itself too seriously.

If you Dare: Make a statement by trying something entirely different, like a teal lipstick. This will fast forward you to the future with lightning speed.

Game Changers: Lip colors are wildly the focus this season with high-impact, colored liquid lipstick mattes. The new range of futuristic lip tones are teal, deep purple, sapphire blue and bright orange, to name a few. While not everyone can pull off these colors, young millennials will for sure start exploring the new color continuum. If you’re not up to exploring the new bold colors, try the new neutrals and bright reds in the liquid lipstick mattes. The non-drying formula delivers a timeless matte finish in high impact hues for everyone to enjoy, with delicious colors that are of-the-moment-modern.  I still love using gloss so I will be choosing a soft lip gloss to go over these remarkable Liquid Lipsticks for my own modern vibe. I say, “Always make it your own, while following some of the hot new trends.”

Easy On the Eyes: Lid-Loving Cream Eye Liners. These lusciously smudge-proof textured eye liner creams apply like a dream and then sets to an ultra soft, long lasting finish, leaving the eyes looking especially natural and oh-so-modern. Buildable color helps create looks that run from sheer to sultry, without caking or smudging.

Fall in Love with Color-Corrector Pens: Beauty experts and make-up artists are always the first to adopt new trends, application techniques and secret ways to create a flawless and youthful appearance. Try a color corrector pen for a younger retouched look, in real life. Our new color corrector pen concealers come in six fabulous colors, from light apricot, light green to light purple, to name a few. It helps to brighten the skin around the eyes and change the tone of the skin for that beautiful, youthful glow. If you have redness, try the light green corrector to banish ruddiness. Light yellow counteracts pink, and is best suited for dull skin tones. Discover the new beauty correctors coming to The Rouge Cosmetics this fall.

The team of professional make-up artist at The Rouge Cosmetics are excited to assist you with all your modern beauty needs, whether it is subtle and natural or bold and futuristic-dreamy. Their Fall Beauty Trend Event starts September 12 through October 30 2016.  Book your appointment today for a free Fall Make-up Update and discover a new you, or reinvent yourself with the new future colors with the looks of the season. Check out their Facebook page at “The Rouge Cosmetics,” for beauty tips, and special events.

 

 

 

Dear SSHS,

Our youngest just left for college, which officially makes us empty nesters. The house is so quiet now and I’m realizing my husband and I have very little in common. I know I sound like a cliché, but I cannot see myself spending the next forty years like this. What do people do?

~ Kathy L., Walnut Creek

She Said: Well, don’t do anything just yet. You’re in a huge transition, so settle down and give yourself time to adjust to the new normal. What you’re experiencing is typical, and honestly, your husband could be feeling the same, so communication is key. I suggest you start with a vacation together and see if you can find the common ground that brought you together in the first place. If you’re still feeling this way in a year, you may want to do something, but for now, shelter in place.

He Said: Who says you need to have a ton in common with your husband? Raising children together is more in common than most couples ever have. What you need to do is get out of the house and not worry about reconnecting with your husband but instead rediscover yourself and what makes you happy. After all these years of focusing on family and children, you owe it to yourself to focus on YOU. Find somethings that you’re passionate about, and as Robin says, stay put for now, but get the heck out of that quiet house!

 

Dear HSSS,

I’m a 52-year-old guy who hasn’t been on the dating scene for a couple of decades. I’m doing the on-line thing now and wondering about the protocol when out to dinner and the bill comes. Who pays nowadays?

~ Going for Broke, Concord

He Said: This is a no brainer—you don’t usually get a second date if you don’t pick up the tab on the first date. Unfortunately for us guys this is how the dating world works and it’s the chivalrous thing to do. But chivalry goes both ways and it’s very refreshing to hear our female counterparts at least offer to pay their share or say something like “I’ll get the next one.” It’s a good sign that a woman is interested in you and not your wallet if she offers to pay. But Guys, don’t be a cheapskate;  pick up the whole darn tab, at least on the first date.

She Said: Shawn and I have talked about this a lot and both admit we’re drawing a lot of conclusions based on what happens after the check is placed on the table. So I’m just going to tell you what’s going on behind the scenes for us.  Shawn will always pick up the check, but Ladies, he really likes it if you at least open your purse and pretend to go for your wallet. That little game of, “oh let me get it; no I got it; oh are you sure?” goes on for a bit and ends with Shawn picking up the tab, but he feels good that you tried. Guys, I will always play that little game, but deep down, as Shawn told you, I want you to pick up the tab on the first date, that is if you want a second date. And I will reciprocate on the second date, if you’ll let me. Good luck—it’s not easy navigating the new dating age!

Robin Fahr is a communications specialist and host of Conversations seen daily on Tri-Valley TV, Channel 30 and online at trivalleytv.org. Shawn and Robin also host He Said/She Said on TheTalkPod.com.  Send your questions to AskHeSaidSheSaid.com.

Why would anyone want their kid to play football?  I have a son and he opted for other sports, but I have a grandson. He’s built like a linebacker and loves the game. This is going to be a movie review but even deeper we’re going to talk a little about the “love of the game.”

This is his fourth year. He works hard at the game. Even before the practice season started, I’d look out the window and he would be doing conditioning exercises in the heat. When I asked him if he wanted a cookie or something equally as enticing to an eleven year old, he would respectfully decline, hmm, “for the love of the game.”

Friday Night Lights profiles the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers. I’ve known a few people who like, even love football, but high school football takes on a whole new meaning in Texas. I’m talking about full stadiums that hold 20,000 fans. Somehow I can picture Al Bundy, one hand in his pants the other wrapped around a beer telling the story of his glory days.

For most of the boys, it wasn’t just a game, winning the Texas State Football Championship was scholarships for education and even the dream of playing pro football. It was the hope of a way out when they honestly believed there was no other way.

Director, Peter Berg captured Texas football:  the guts and the grit and every bump, bruise and broken bone in between. Billy Bob Thornton (who else would be right for the part) plays Coach Gary Gaines. Others doing a noteworthy job in this true story are Garrett Hedlund, Amber Heard, Lucas Black and Tim McGraw.

Back to my Grandson.  I decided to ask him why he loves football so much. He plays for the Thunderbirds, lovingly known as the T-Birds. He actually articulated his reasons quite well. He said that it has helped him to become a better person; more disciplined physically, mentally and scholastically. He loves that the coach and the team have expectations of him that he strives to achieve. Knowing that his team needs him to do what is right, doing his part, teaches him to serve others. He tells me it is anything but easy but that his confidence is growing with each year as well as his physical and mental strength. Yes, and his passion as well!

As I watched Friday Night Lights I had all kinds of emotions. I talked to the screen a little and I wondered: Who are these people? After talking to my grandson I realized I knew these people—thirty years later and a few states away—but I knew these people.  They are the ones who fill the bleachers in your hometown and mine. Family and friends bursting with pride even when the scoreboard doesn’t reflect the real outcome… building men.

You can see the floodlights of the neighborhood high school from my grandson’s home.  If you listen closely, you can even hear the band. Grab a bleacher blanket and follow the lights, Friday Night Lights, for a night of fun; but look closely at the young men on the field.  Blink and you’ll miss it because before you know it they will be defending your country, tending you when you’re sick or carrying your neighbor out of a burning building.

As always, I welcome your comments at chastings@rockcliff.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Open Letter to Debbie and Draymond

Dear Debbie and Draymond (and to the readers of ALIVE MAGAZINE):

You gotta be kidding!  Did you really expect something put out into electronic space to remain between yourself and the intended recipient?  Debbie, you are obviously a bright, accomplished person and a U. S. Representative in Congress.  In addition you are a most attractive woman, and I confess that I especially kvell about one aspect of your background (Wasserman Schultz + Cohen = MOTs or Members of the Tribe).  You organized, unfortunately without the credit you deserved, a four day national committee conference that came off   beautifully (I personally would like to have a little more spontaneity other than from Bernie’s people).  You obviously have a dynamic brain between your lovely ears, but are you really so naïve (dumb) as to believe that electronic information goes from just one person to just one other person without the Russians, the Chinese, and 726 teen age boys with severe acne reading it?

Everyone who has ever been on a nominating committee, whether it be with a small local organization or a gigantic national committee, has their favorite candidates for whatever position, but if they are smart, they do not publicize their choice or certainly do not send it out for international consumption.  That is why Roberts’ Rules of Order specifically states that a member of a nominating committee cannot be a nominee.  On the Internet!

Oy, Debbie! Debbie!

Draymond, you, as you well know, are a magnificent, championship caliber, all-Pro basketball player. As one who in his younger days enjoyed playing the game, I realize that in addition to your natural advantages of height, speed, and coordination, you had and have the discipline and desire to achieve at the highest level of the sport. (Discipline and I were total strangers.)

Do you really think the entire world, however, is interested in seeing pictures of your private parts? Oh, it was an accident! Sure. Perhaps (come on) you are really so naïve (dumb) as to believe that electronic information goes from just one person to just one other person.  As a professional athlete, you must realize that in ten years you will be a has-been; an over-the-hill jock.  Do you think that any reasonable school board would hire you to coach their children?  (Reasonable and School Board are probably contradictory terms. As Mark Twain said over a century ago, “For practice God made idiots, then He made school boards.”  That discussion, however, is for another time.)

Mr. Green, you are physically advanced way beyond most of us.  Maybe it is time you thought about growing up and becoming an adult.  Can you imagine a coach telling young players, “First you have to learn how to handle the ball; then you need to know how to knee a guy in the groin; and then you send images of your . . .”   Get the point?  I hope so.  I personally love to watch you play ball, but most of your life will happen after NBA basketball. So now a great, big “Oy!” for you too.

Now to both of you, Debbie and Draymond, as well as to 325 million Americans, and to 7.5 billion Earthlings I say unto you:

THERE AIN’T NO SUCH THING AS PRIVACY. 

For all of us: if you have credit card, YOU HAVE NO PRIVACY; if you have some kind of bank account, have ever taken out a loan, or if you have ever passed within 100 feet of a bank, YOU HAVE NO PRIVACY; if you have and use a computer, YOU HAVE NO PRIVACY, if you have a cell phone, forget about it, YOUR PRIVACY IS LONG GONE. If you use a card or your phone number at a supermarket THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR LIKES AND DISLIKES THAN YOU DO. Ever contribute to a legitimate charity? Guess what?  Yep, it’s gone.

Our privacy began to die when they cut down the fruit trees in Saratoga and Palo Alto and planted silly silicon baubles and toys that may have some usefulness for business, but are mostly grown-up playthings for the adolescent  in us.  I personally know people who if you say, “How are you?” they have to consult Siri or some other disembodied voice that rattles off blood pressure, pulse rate, body temperature, and cholesterol count before the person can answer, “Pretty good!”  And then it’s there for everybody.  (All right, I do not know anyone like that, but I will bet they exist.)

The number of people and organizations that know more about us than we ourselves know boggles the mind. And, unless you opt out, they sell the information about you and me to other people and organizations. (My cynical mind thinks they sell the info even if you do opt out.)

What is the moral or lesson to this open letter?  It seems pretty simple: Gentlemen, if you are going to say “I love you” to someone, either whisper it in her ear or in a private, extremely private, place.  If you decide to email it, realize that your wife and the recipient’s husband will both probably read it and you will never be the chair of national committee or a great athlete.  (You might want to go online first and discover the cost of a good divorce lawyer.

Sincerely yours,

No way will I tell you my name. That is PRIVATE. (Nuts! You probably already know it anyway.)

 

 

I was asked to supply several sports questions for the annual Kings X Trivia Tournament, held on August 21 in Walnut Creek. Since I have exhausted myself with the work, I thought it convenient to share a few of them with Alive. Here goes…

1. On April 15, 1958, the first Major League Baseball game in West Coast history was played in San Francisco between the Giants and Dodgers. The Giants won 8-0. Who was the winning pitcher?

2. Another famous day in San Francisco sports history occurred August 28, 1965 when a Minnesota Viking picked up a 49er fumble and proceeded to run the wrong way. He spiked the ball in the end zone and the ball went out of bounds, resulting in a 2 point safety for SF. Who was that ill fated Viking?

3. You may not think of competitive eating as a sport, but let’s. This chap was the annual champ of the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest, until Joey Chestnut came along. He then got into a dispute with Nathan’s, so is no longer invited back. He still competes and goes by a single name. Who is he?

4. The late Nate Thurmond was one of the most popular players in Warrior’s history. Ironically, he was traded to Cleveland a Center for a Center , who played on the Warrior championship team of 1974-1975. Who was that center?

5. Serena Williams is closing in on the record number of Grand Slam titles of 24. Who holds the record of 24 Grand Slam Tennis titles?

6. He played for the undefeated, untied, uninvited University of San Francisco Football team of 1951. He went on to a Hall of Fame career as a Defensive End for the Baltimore Colts and participated in the so called Greatest Game ever Played against the NY Giants in 1957. Who was he?