I also love mysteries, and thrillers.

So if your tastes are anything like mine — heck, even if you can handle scary entertainment, you have got to check out From on MGM+. (I also believe the first season is available on Amazon Prime.)

From is produced by the same producers of Lost, and it bears some similarities. The characters of From are trapped in a town, as the characters are trapped on an island on Lost. Both shows feature a diverse cast with multi-dimensional characters, and on both shows, the town/island serves as its own character.

The major area where From deviates from Lost is the degree to which it incorporates horror into the story. The residents are trapped in a town from which all roads seem to lead back into town, and every once in a while, new people arrive. Some residents have been stuck there for years, decades even. And every night, monsters come out of the woods — monsters that are genuinely terrifying. These monsters are shapeshifters and can look seemingly benign (and can act innocent too), but they will rip you apart with their hands and eat you alive while enjoying it. Not only that, they will keep you alive for as long as possible while tearing you apart for the pure torture.

The only thing that keeps these monsters away is to hang a talisman on the door/wall of an enclosed space — something one of the residents discovered accidentally after years of hiding from, and being terrorized by the monsters. But the monsters will try their best to talk their way into the house/room/cave and they are cunning. More than one resident of the town have opened the door/window for the monsters only to reap tragedy.

As you can imagine, there have been quite a few deaths on the show. Some were of beloved characters that fans were quite fond of, so the shock factor is certainly there.

In addition to the monsters, the residents have other mysteries to deal with in the form of the town and the surrounding woods. People have visions. There are portals that lead to different places at different times. A girl can walk through time. One resident was even able to escape (!), only to return with someone else of significance. 

From is currently at the beginning of its fourth season. Through its first three seasons, From has slowly revealed more about the mysterious town, detailing the seemingly magic rules that govern it, the monsters that haunt it, and its disturbing history. But with each new answer seems to come more questions. This new season introduced a new character that seems to have an end game in mind, and I know that season five will be the last.

All I know is that From is my favorite show on air at the moment. I know that there aren’t enough people talking about it, and I know that it’s not as popular as it should be. Is it scary? Yes. Is it gory? Yes. But there’s no other show right now that makes you think, wonder, be shocked, amazed, and ponder as much as From.

Since I have been using a few new products since the last time I did one of these posts, I decided it was due time for a new one. As always, some of these links are affiliate links, meaning I will make a small commission for purchases made through those links. And, as always, I would never recommend a product that I haven’t personally used and love.

First up is sunscreen.

I do not use a serum/essence/moisturizer after cleansing in the morning. Instead, I just use a sunscreen. And if you haven’t guessed which sunscreen by now, you haven’t been with me for long. Enter the Saint Jane Luxury Sun Ritual Pore Smoothing Face Sunscreen.

I’ve sung praises of this sunscreen numerous times, so I won’t repeat myself again. It’s just the best sunscreen I’ve ever used in terms of texture, performance, look, and feel. The latest reviews on Sephora talk of a change in formula (starting from February), but I purchased my latest bottle in April and I haven’t noticed a change.

The next item is a primer. I know, I know, I’ve said in the past that my sunscreen acts as a primer so I do not need one. But this item really made me change my tune when I first tried it:

The ELF Luminous Putty Primer has been around for a while, but I only just discovered it last month. I had tried the original Poreless Putty Primer when it first launched because it was supposedly a dupe for the Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer. However, I didn’t find it quite as luxurious as the Tatcha — nor did it help my makeup be more vibrant as the Tatcha— so I put it to bed. But when I saw the Luminous Putty Primer at a drugstore last month, something compelled me to pick it up, and I am so glad that I did.

Not only does the ELF Luminous Putty Primer do what it advertises to do — prime the skin for makeup while leaving a glowy finish — it does what the original Poreless Putty Primer couldn’t, which is make makeup colors become more vibrant. I don’t know what the difference in the two formulas is that helps make the difference, but the Luminous version is so much better than the original. (Although oily-skinned people might disagree with me.) No matter what foundation I laid on top of it, it has made it look better.

Now, onto foundation. Last month, I had written about the m.ph by Mary Philips Foundation and how it was my everyday foundation. Well, because I was using it almost every day for almost three months, I started to run low. So I went to my foundation “archives” and rediscovered an old favorite:

I had included the Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation in my Top 7 Foundations list two and a half years ago. It has since gone through a reformulation and I’m happy to say that the new formula is just as good as the old. I know that it is still a favorite foundation among makeup artists for its natural appearance. I still love it for the same reasons I did before: its light-to-medium coverage, lightweight texture, and skin-like appearance.

Concealer comes next. These days I mostly use the Makeup by Mario SurrealSkin® Awakening Concealer. It has become my go-to concealer for 2026.

Although it’s advertised as having medium coverage, I can easily build it up to full for my very dark undereye circles. It doesn’t fade or change colors like other concealers tend to do. Additionally, the shade 140 Light Warm is the perfect color for me.

I do my brows next. I still use Kosas products for my brows: the Brow Pop Nano Ultra-Fine Detailing + Feathering Eyebrow Pencil for creating those hair-like strokes, and the Air Brow Tinted Clean Volumizing Eyebrow Gel to fill in the brows.

Then comes eyeliner. For years I was faithful to the Chanel Stylo Yeux, but a couple of months ago I found a better pencil liner. Now, you have to believe me when I say that I have tried dozens of pencil eyeliners out there, and ALL of them smudge on me. I know that this is probably just the nature of pencil liners, but it’s hard not to be disappointed when even waterproof, 24-hour ones make you look like a raccoon. The Chanel one smudged too, but just the least amount. And then came… the MAC Color Excess Gel Pencil Eye Liner.

I don’t know why I never tried this eyeliner before. Perhaps it’s because it’s not sold at many retailers? Nonetheless, this eyeliner is legit. I use the shade Sick Tat Bro which is a dark brown, and although it too smudges on me by the end of the day, it smudges remarkably less than any other brand I’ve tried.

Next is contour. I don’t go too heavy on the contour, just a light dusting here and there, and the product I use is a tried-and-true classic:

The Kevyn Aucoin The Sculpting Contour Powder has been described as “shadow in powder form” and it was designed exactly for that purpose. It was a contour powder before coutouring became popular and it promises to mimic the natural shadows on the face.

Then comes blush, and this one is a product I received from Influenster to review. The Benefit Juice Stick Dewy Gel-Cream Blush was a very pleasant surprise for me because I usually do not like cream blushes. I never really liked the strong blush trend and I find cream blushes difficult to work with as they tend to be stronger and opaque.

But the Benefit Juice Stick Dewy Gel-Cream Blush is more to my speed. It is a gel formula, and as you can see from the picture, the color is almost translucent. So it is practically goof-proof, and the sheer color is buildable and leaves the skin underneath shining through. It leaves a slightly dewy finish that is not sticky and lasts all day. I will probably be purchasing my own stick when I run out.

Now comes setting spray. I bought a bottle of the Saie CitySet Ultra-Fine Mist Setting Spray when it first launched in January, and I have been hooked ever since.

This spray lets out a fine mist and leaves a glowy, flawless finish to lock in your makeup. It doesn’t leave a film on your face and your skin still feels like it can breathe after using this spray. It doesn’t mess with the colors of your makeup either, like make anything oxidize like other setting sprays I’ve tried in the past. My makeup definitely lasts longer after using this spray and looks fresher longer.

I do mascara after setting spray because if I do it before, I have found that it can run. My mascara pick is the same from October last year: the Tower 28 MakeWaves® Lengthening + Volumizing Mascara.

I have nothing to add about this mascara other than that it just works for me. Its skinny curved wand grabs and separates my short Asian lashes well. It does not smudge or flake. It’s easy to remove with eye makeup remover. (I use the Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover.)

I usually end it there, but if I need to powder, I use the Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder. I have found, through much trial and error, that this is the one setting powder that sets makeup and takes away shine while still leaving a glow.

It’s expensive, sure, but I bought the smaller size and it’s lasted me quite a while.

So that’s my daily makeup routine. I know it sounds like a lot when it’s all laid out and written out like this. But it takes me all of 10 minutes and I feel so much better afterward, so it’s worth it for me.

Here is a shot of me, about 5 hours after applying my makeup for the day:

As you can see, the makeup still looks pretty fresh after 5 hours. Some may think that I look oily/greasy, but I like to believe I look glowy. And I like how my makeup allows my freckles to show through. I didn’t include a lip product in the list above because I try different items each day depending on my mood. In this picture, I’m wearing the Violette_FR Plume Lip Moisturizing Feather Matte Lip Whip in Châtaigne Grillée.

NASA has launched a Your Name in Landsat site where you can input your name (or any word, for that matter) and see it spelled out using real satellite imagery from the Landsat program. Here’s mine:

Because there are millions of images to choose from, repeated letters use different images. And I’ve tried inputting my name multiple times and I’ve gotten different results. You can save the resulting image, or share it via a link or a QR code. If you hover over or click on an image, it reveals the name and GPS coordinates of the location featured in the image.

It’s a nifty tool, to say the least, and a nice way to wonder at the beauty of our planet. I’m sure it can be used to send short messages to friends, family, and loved ones as well.

Via Boing Boing.

I examined the credit alert and saw that the account was for a credit card, so I looked up the credit card company online and called them. I didn’t have an account number or anything like that so trying to get a representative on the line was a bit of a hassle, but eventually I got connected to the fraud department. I told them that I believed someone had fraudulently opened an account under my name and wanted to verify this information. They asked for the last four digits of my SSN and my birthday….and yes. Someone had, indeed, opened an account under my name.

The customer representative asked me other information for verification of my identity. When we got to my address, that’s when we found the discrepancy. The scammer had given them an address in the same city as me, but a different street address. They had wanted the credit card sent to this address. So the scammer lived in the same city as me.

Eventually, they were able to verify that I was who I said I was and the credit card was opened by someone other than me. They asked me if there’s someone in my life, perhaps a family member who lives in the same city, who could have applied for an account. My sister’s family and my parents had moved to Texas, so there was no one living nearby. And my cousins, who do not live nearby, definitely do not have access to my SSN.

I asked them if they could give me this other address in my city so I could report them to the authorities or even perhaps even check it out myself. They said they couldn’t, for security purposes. So they need to protect the scammer?!?

Finally, they told me that they will close this account and stop the credit card from being issued. They advised me of my next steps (credit monitoring service, file a report with IdentityTheft.gov, etc), and that was that.

I was left wondering how the scammer was able to open an account under my name in the first place. I knew that I was part of the SSN data breach from a few years back, and I had gotten alerts that my information was available on the dark web. (What is so frustrating about this is that there’s nothing I can do about this. The decentralized nature of the dark web makes it nearly impossible to remove my information.) Could the scammer have obtained my information from there?

There’s also the fact that this credit card company sends me offers via the mail often. Those pre-approved, one-click apply offers where all you need to do is input the offer code. Since the scammer lives in the same city as me, it wouldn’t have been too difficult for him/her to obtain one of these pieces of mail.

Nonetheless, this led me to freeze my credit at all three credit bureaus, and I went on with my life.

Did you think this post was over? No, this is not the end.

A couple of months ago, I received a letter from T-Mobile stating that they needed me to verify my address in order to proceed with opening an account. What?

Both my parents and J’s parents have their mobile phones under a family account under my name. Perhaps they were thinking of switching over to T-Mobile and because the account was under my name, they needed some type of verification?

I checked with them and no, they did no such thing.

So I called the number listed on the letter from T-Mobile. I asked them if someone had tried to open an account under my name. Yes, they said. But they needed additional information to verify my identity and that’s why they had sent the letter.

Again, I told them this was NOT me, that someone tried to fraudulently open an account under my name. They told me that this person was unsuccessful, so there was nothing to be done. I asked them how the scammer tried to open the account — online? At a store? And if at a store, which store?

They told me they couldn’t tell me.  

Don’t you just love how these companies want to help us catch these scammers? Unfortunately, I’ve learned that even after damages are done, creditors are notoriously difficult to work with when trying to catch the perpetrators.

Last week, I came across this infographic on Facebook and it showed me that there are separate credit agencies for banks and utility/cell companies:

I had done everything else on the list, so I went ahead and froze my ChexSystems and NCTUE accounts as well. If my NCTUE account was frozen months back, I wouldn’t have had to deal with the T-Mobile incident.

And just a few days ago…

I received an alert from my credit monitoring services that a hard inquiry was blocked. The details were scant, just that the creditor was Barclays Bank Delaware and the type was “AllOthers”. I looked up these details and it turns out that Barclays Bank Delaware services store credit cards like Gap and Barnes & Noble, and some airlines. So someone had tried to open a store or airline credit card in my name and failed because I have a freeze on my credit.

I have no idea if the perpetrator of these three instances are the same person or not. It’s more of a scary notion if it’s three different people, because out of millions of leaked SSNs, three different people were trying to use my information. It’s more pathetic if it’s one person, because they keep trying and they keep failing.

I asked Claude if there’s anything aside from freezing my credit and monitoring my accounts that I can do at this point. It recommended some identity theft protection services, but when I asked what they could provide on top of what I was already doing (aside from insurance from damages), Claude said that I probably didn’t need it.

Hundreds of millions of SSNs were leaked on the dark web. Like Dwight says, identity theft is not a joke. I highly advise everyone to follow the steps on the infographic above.

You can see that the final four came down to The Princess Bride, Apocalypse Now, The Silence of the Lambs, and The LOTR: The Return of the King. All four are solid choices, IMHO. I wish Jurassic Park could have made it to the final four, but alas, it was competing with The Return of the King in its subgenre. I was a bit surprised to see Clueless on this list…and then I remembered that it’s an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. A solid film adaptation and well-deserving of its place on this ranking.

However…

Can I be honest here? I didn’t love The Princess Bride, the movie. Perhaps it’s because I love the book so much, but I felt that the movie didn’t quite live up to its source material. I know that William Goldman, the author of the book, adapted it into the film. But there are so many details in the book that you just can’t capture in a movie. Sure, there are parts of the movie that are better than the book (i.e., Peter Cook’s portrayal of the clergyman and the “mawage” scene becoming an instant classic). But I just love the book more than the movie.

So in my opinion, The LOTR: The Return of the King should have won. Actually, if I really had my way, The LOTR: The Two Towers would have won. The second movie’s my favorite of the trilogy despite the second volume of the book being my least favorite and that’s how you know they adapted a film well.

What do you think of the bracket, and the winners? Do you think The Princess Bride deserved to win?

We will have been together for 23 years this November. Since I’m 45 years old, that means we have been together for more than half my life.

Time flies when you’re having fun.

Also, I can’t believe our marriage is now old enough to vote.  

As you can see in the screenshot above, there is a “Vitality” bar at the top of the screen. It is what makes the Slack dot green, yellow, or red. The vitality level keeps decreasing as time goes by, and your doing certain tasks — as the manager — at the bottom half of the page will bring the vitality level back up. It can be anything from typing a certain phrase into a box, typing nonsense into another box, inviting your employee to a meeting, or writing a “CC: CEO” email.

When the vitality level reaches 0, it means that your employee has abandoned their workstation. You are then asked to fill out a performance review to submit to HR.

Then you are met with your own performance review. I got a rank of “S” which I am assuming stands for “satisfactory.”

Did you read what my review says? The “asset” (aka the employee) is deemed defective, and I have “successfully externalized the cost of failure onto the disposable component.” Pure heartless, corporate talk. I love it.

Via Reddit.

It can be quite addictive to keep going, to see which lines you recognize and to see which ones catch your attention. Pretty soon, it’s 2 A.M. and you suddenly have a hankering to read The Hobbit.

Be sure to check out the site for more famous opening lines! It can get repetitive at times, but you’re sure to stumble upon some gems and find inspiration for your next read.

Via Reddit.

Via Reddit.

While Wednesday’s launch went off without a hitch, the crew did encounter some problems onboard the spacecraft. First, the toilet malfunctioned. The fan was reported to be jammed, which meant the astronauts could use the toilet for number two but not number one. Fortunately, mission specialist Christina Koch managed to repair the high-tech toilet with the help of mission control.

Then, yesterday, the astronauts encountered a computer error and asked for help from Mission Control because they “have two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those are working.”

right now the astronauts are calling houston because the computer on the spaceship is running two instances of microsoft outlook and they can’t figure out why. nasa is about to remote into the computer

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— niki grayson (@nikigrayson.com) Apr 2, 2026 at 2:06 AM

I don’t know what’s funnier, that they installed Outlook on the computers onboard Artemis II, or that it inevitably malfunctioned.  

But wait, I’ve seen this before…

This was such a great show. I was really disappointed when Netflix cancelled it after only two seasons.