OtherPress2015Vol41No31.pdf-19

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(Facebook) leg



» A depressing-but-necessary step to living

Sharon Miki
Contributor

WwW: all going to die,
eventually. How will you
be remembered? Five years after
you've gone, will your friends
and family look back on your
life fondly, or will they be forced
to subsist on your jokey profile
picture, stupid tweets, and
vaguebookey status updates?
Social media is weird
and wonderful and terrible
in many ways, but—if you are
active in it—it creates a way
for your friends, family, and
acquaintances to see you when
you aren't around. This ubiquity
of self does not end when you
take your last breath. For the

: sake of your life’s legacy and

: those you love, take steps to use

: it for good when youre gone.

: One important move you can

: (and really should) take today is

: to create a legacy contact on your
: Facebook account.

Facebook recently unveiled

: anew security feature called

: the “legacy contact.” While

: living, you can select one trusted
: Facebook friend to be this

: person; upon notification of your
: death, your legacy contact will

: have the power to update your

: profile and cover photo, respond
: to friend requests, and write one
: last pinned post on your profile

: (they won't have access to your

: private messages, or be able to

: post forevermore as you). This

: seems like a lot of responsibility,
: but it’s actually the most useful

: thing on Facebook. What this

: means is that someone you love
: and trust can take the reins and

: leave your page as you would

: want it if you had known that

: your last post would be your ...

: last. This is as important to your
: online legacy asa will is to your

: physical and monetary legacy.

: ago an old friend of mine passed
: away quite suddenly in a car

: accident. We hadn't spoken in

: awhile and when I heard the

: news, I spent hours doing what

: [believe most modern grievers

: do—I scoured her Facebook

: profile, looking for clues. Was

: she happy, in the end? What



: haunt the people I love, but I do

: want to ensure that my kin have

: away to find me if they need

: me. In days past, people used to

: save obituaries and magnet those
: sad scraps of paper to the fridge.
: Today, and in the future, our best
: way of being remembered will be
: online.

: Mortality is universal. When
: we're young, we all think that

: we will live forever. Hopefully

: something will happen, and

: we will live forever; but, if not,

: were her last days like? Was

: she loved? I looked for old

: pictures of us, to solidify now-

: hazy memories. It was, and is,

: very sad. Her life was full, but

: too short. Now, years later, a

: family member seems to have

: taken access to the account,

: and occasionally makes posts

: on her behalf, under her name.
: While I believe that this is that
: person’s good-intentioned way
: of remembering her, every time
: I see a new picture of her on my
: feed, my heart swells, andthen : we need to havea plan—just in

: sinks again. It hurts, but I will : case. Choose someone you trust,
: never unfriend “her”; I can’t bring : someone who will put a picture
: myself to sever my one remaining : of you at your most beautiful;

: link. : choose someone who will

: With this in mind, would : remember you.

: never want my virtual ghost to

A brief example: a few years



The truth about makeup

» How being ‘on fleek’ makes you terrifying

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor

M lifeandstyle
@theotherpress.ca



t’s time to recognize the truth.

Women don’t wear makeup for
men, and saying that they wear it
just for themselves is a complete
and utter lie. Although it may not
be to impress potential significant
others (male or female), or their
current main squeeze, makeup is
worn to intimidate other women
who cross their path.

Think back to the last time
you were in a Sephora. Generally
their staff is so caked in makeup
it becomes difficult to discern
whether they are in fact human
or carefully painted works of
art (sometimes abstract). Asa
consumer, if you have a question,
who are you going to go to? The
perfect, practically airbrushed,
could-have-been-a-model-if-
she-wasn't-five-foot-nothing girl
behind the counter? No, she’s
terrifying. You're going to go to
the clown-faced staff member

: they stuck near the door. Why?

: Because she obviously knows the
: makeup brands that last, and if

: you stand next to her you don’t

: feel like some sort of grotesque

: lizard creature who climbed out

: from under a rock because you ran :
: out of bronzer that morning.

Though it may seem stupid,

: havea personal rule that I won't
: leave the house without at least

: filling in my brows. Because of

: this, I've gotten pretty decent at

: it. But as soon as you put me near
: a woman whose brows are more

: “on fleek” than mine, I get so :
: distracted that I become incapable :
: of criticizing her, even if she’s a

: terrible person who steals walkers
: from the elderly and pushes

: children in the dirt.

Makeup can also be unifying.

: Be it eyeliner or contouring,

: everyone who wears it becomes

: really good in at least one respect.
; Everyone gets one.

Although youre not even

: aware of it, suddenly you become
: involved in the biggest Cold War
: in human history. It’s the eyeliner
: gurus versus the eyeshadow army
: versus the pucker police (they’re

: the ones who can make normal

: lips look like Kylie Jenner’s with
: just a liner and nude gloss). The
: list goes on, and it gets added

: to everyday. Six years ago, only

: stage performers had ever heard

> common, and no one messes with
: those who've mastered contouring
: because those bitches are wizards.
: “Hi, I'm just going to suddenly

: change the entire bone structure

: of my face without cosmetic

: surgery. I mean, screw biology,

: right?”

: Not because anyone wearing it

: intends to battle and beat their

: day into submission, but because

: it’s used to make us appear more

: intimidating than we actually

: are. That’s what gives us self-

: confidence. So I suppose if you

: go by that logic, you can say you

: wear makeup just “for you” but it’s
: a little like saying you play football
: just for the love of the game.

: Everyone knows youre a little full

: of shit, because if you sucked at it
: and always lost, you wouldn't be

: spouting off such cliché phrases.

of contouring. Now it’s pretty

Calling makeup war paint,
in my opinion, isn’t too far off.



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