221 : Friend's Fashion : Alison Interview

I hooked my friend, Alison, up with an interview with a boutique owner in Akron. Alison was homeschooling at the time, and I thought it would be cool if she could work a few hours a week here and there. This is what she wore when I told her to be "fashiony". I liked it!

220 : Cache Adventures : A quick one!

I haven't gone geocaching in two weeks, because I've been working a ton. On my day off, I forced myself to go grab a quick one. I'm glad I did. I needed it, and it was fun and easy!

219 : Dear 90's, I love you

There was a time when this video didn't look so ridiculous. The song is still badass, but this video makes me laugh!

218 : Review : A Beautiful Mess App

Recently, I bought an app created by Elsie and Emma of A Beautiful Mess. The app is a photo app called, "A Beautiful Mess." I saw a photo decorated via the app on Instagram and decided to spend the $.99 to buy it. I'm gonna start by saying, I really hate that blog. I find the content to be just mind numbing. I think the site is boring, I think the content is trite, and I think the blog represents everything that I hope young women don't find to be aspirational (and inspirational). I've even mentioned how awful the all-white layout is. I just want to get that out of the way so that you know where my bias lies.

The first photo I decorated with A Beautiful Mess app.

I don't really know why I bought the app, because I hate the blog and don't want to promote them in any way. But maybe the picture was interesting or I just wanted a diversion? I've bought or downloaded a few photo apps in my time, and I really never stick with any beyond Instagram. I guess I don't want to decorate my photos. Also, most photo apps degrade the quality of the photo. (For the record, a photo taken in Instagram is high resolution. A photo taken with the iPhone camera and edited in Instagram is not high resolution. Any photo taken with the "selfie-cam" is low resolution and low quality.) A Beautiful Mess app is no different, it does degrade the quality of the photo. I used a filter, background, and text on the above photo. A Beautiful Mess app made the photo more blurry and smaller. Maybe this is fine if you're just sharing around your phone and on Facebook, but I want the option to print my images, and I can't do that with the above image. This means the couple in the photo can't print the image either, which means I would never use it in any professional capacity.

I paid $.99 for the A Beautiful Mess app, which isn't much, considering. However, Wish, Wish, Wish made an app, which is free (though supported by ads). So, I find it mildly annoying that one blog can make a bloggy type app complete with GPS stuff, but A Beautiful Mess charges for their app.

But what's worse than the initial fee is the in-app add-ons. I mean, this app is nothing but bullshit doodles for your images. There are probably 800 million apps that offer this shit, and I already have two cool apps that do badass stuff on my photos. So really, this app is about buying into the A Beautiful Mess brand. They are banking on their readers who will then share and spread their brand around the mobile world. So, they charge instead of having an ad-supported app, which is fine. What's not fine is all of the extra crap you have to buy in order to have the fullness of the app.

So, I made three photos with the app, to try it out. In order to make what I wanted to, I spent another $1.98. Remaining is seven more extras I can buy. That puts the app's actual cost at $9.99. Now, they claim that making an app is an expensive and time-consuming enterprise, and it kinda is. Sure, making an app can be very costly, but there are also several free app making solutions and very valid arguments for making a free app. The only app I own that cost $9.99 is my geocaching app, which provides me with years of actual activity and awesomeness vs., you know, fucking doodles on a stupid picture. Sticking with the basic, $.99 price tag, the app got old real quick. Even spending $3.97 total, I'm not sure how much longer I'll use this app. What's even more annoying is that I'll be reminded that there is more to the app, every time I use certain features.

I wish I could make those annoying dollar signs disappear, so I could just enjoy the app as it is. But I can't...and I can't undo an edit without starting all over, which is also annoying.

The thing is, you know, spend a buck here and there on whatever you want. I sure as fuck tried this shit out, knowing I don't like their brand and knowing I don't really use these photo apps for very long. But what I'm saying here is; you are buying into a brand. A Beautiful Mess is a couple of pretty girls, living a slightly interesting life, and trying to sell it to you. Maybe this is who they are. Maybe all that boring shit on their blog is super sincere. Maybe you're into recipes and cocktails or bad to mediocre photography advice. But the thing to remember, is they are selling you. When you click on their blog or buy the app, you're buying their brand. You're saying that they've got something over you, and you should give them money so they can show you how to be more like them.

But I just think you should be yourself.

Hey, maybe $10 for some fucking doodles on some low-resolution photos is your thing. I'm positive this shit will be popping up all over my feeds. But I just think you're cool, and you don't need a $.99 bait and switch to $9.99 to validate that. I also think you should take the highest quality photos possible, and that's not going to happen with this app.

217 : Hiatus or no?

Sooo...I'm working 6 days a week, generally 10 or more hours a day and am coming home totally beat and spending my one day off not writing blog posts. I don't have a lot banked, and am somewhat annoyed that they are all fashion posts. I might end up taking some time off from blogging, just blogging a bit less, until after May. After May, life is not so crazy.

Sorry in advance if I choose to take a break from posting so much.

216 : Outfit Post : Speakeasy Dance

I went to a speakeasy swing dance recently, and this is what I wore.

Shirt : Old Navy - Hot Pants : Express - Tights : Target - Ballet Slippers : Bloch

215 : Marathon Training : Week 70

Read all marathon training posts...

I definitely didn't run this week. I worked about 50 hours, though. Also, my job kind of sucks a lot. No geocaching happening right now, either. I just work and sleep. So, that's what's going on here.