Katie Peoples

The End of Mr. Y

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 03:01:00 +0000

The End of Mr. Y is a science fiction fantasy story. Ariel Manto is a doctoral student writing about a mysterious author, T.E. Lumas. His final book, The End of Mr. Y has never been read by anyone alive because whoever reads the book disappears. After spending the last of her money on the book, Ariel uses it to fall into a trance and enter the Troposphere – an alternate dimension where she can travel through time and space.

This book is long – clocking it at about 400 pages. While it did pique my interest, it was not a thrilling page turner. I set it down for a few days and was perfectly happy to leave it there, with no urge to continue reading just to know what happens next. The End of Mr. Y references a lot of science and philosophy from the late 1800s that some might not be familiar with. Without such familiarity it would be hard to keep up with references to Charles Darwin and a large cast of thinkers. The book, however, is an interesting read once you get past all the references; it turns into a great adventure story.

Written by: Katie Peoples, March 13th 2007

Butter Cream Salve

admin — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:08:00 +0000

By Suki Pure Skin Care

The butter cream salve by Suki promises to relieve dry skin with natural ingredients and prevent further damage. They tout it working on everything from dry elbows to eczema and stretch marks. As I have no dry elbows, my eczema is currently under control and I lack stretch marks, I’m basing my review of this product on how well it healed my dry hands after working in a coffee shop all night.

The salve works like ointment, and has a medicinal, greasy feel to it – much like Neosporin. However, after it’s on there’s a slight cool, tingling feeling that’s refreshing. The salve even smells like mint. After a few minutes of soaking in, it feels less like grease or medicine and more like lotion and much more tolerable.

The trick to using this salve is to use small doses. A tiny sample pack has more than enough to treat several dry spots of skin. While my hands definitely felt softer and smoother after using the salve, I did not think the product worked any better than other lotions I’ve used before. However, the smell alone sold me. It was soothing enough that I’d want to use it over and over again yet not so over powering that I got sick of it.

Written by: Katie Peoples, March 11th 2007

Applicant

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 02:05:00 +0000

By Jesse Reklaw

Microcosm Publishing

Applicant is the story of one man’s journey into an Ivy League recycling bin and the humorous and cringe-inducing files he finds there. While searching through a bin for magazines, Jesse Reklaw happens upon the discarded confidential Ph.D applicant files for the biology department of an Ivy League school between the years 1965 – 1975. He organizes the pocket-sized book by photograph and an interesting blurb about the person provided by the recommendation letters of former professors.

Some are simply funny because of the combination of picture and quote, like a well-groomed woman said to “lack a certain amount of poise.” Others are painfully funny in what they reveal about the culture at the time, particularly towards women and people of color, notably Miss M who was praised in her recommendation for overcoming any environmental handicaps she may have faced as a black person in an almost exclusively white class. It is hard to judge whether this statement is meant to praise her ability as a student or her ability to keep up with white people.

Another woman’s weakness was as follows “she is a female and an attractive, modest one so is bound to marry.” While women were subjected to scrutiny for their potential to become wives and mothers, men faced criticism for being too lazy or rebellious. One male applicant was described as “a very bright underachiever with sharp elbows, and I wonder whether he was majoring in house-keeping and girls.” Despite all of the heavy analysis that can be gleaned from the book, it remains an amusing to read. I got more than a few giggles and hearty laughs out of it.

Written by: Katie Peoples, March 6th 2007