I was deciding on which type of eye cream gunk to buy yesterday (you’ll just have to bear with me on this one). Because how do you know what really works anyway? Usually no matter what you buy the product doesn’t actually do anything.

I assume that’s the unspoken rule about women’s beauty products—they’re useless.

But I felt the need for some eye gunk. So instead of trying to find the most effective brand, I fell back on my tried and true method of purchase: buy the product that has the most attractive packaging.

I know, I know. It goes against “Consumer Reports” type thinking. All the reports about how it’s all basically the same except the packaging—nice packaging equals higher prices. “Don’t fall for the pretty packaging!” they tell you.

But really, if a company sits down and takes the time and energy to make it look so very very lovely, doesn’t that count for something somewhere? Anywhere?

I certainly think so. And apparently so do the makers of my recently purchased eye cream.

On the subject of interesting packaging, I have this random tin box from a cologne purchase. The buyer didn’t want two attractive effeminate men staring back at him every time he used the cologne, apparently, so he gave it to me. I think he was afraid if he kept the thing it would further confirm to those around him (like… his wife) that he was turned on by hot shirtless dudes.

It now stands as my monument to heavily-closeted married, gay Evangelical Christian men. Wherever they may be.

Plus it totally matches the color scheme in my bedroom.

In other news, an acquaintance of mine recently returned from Guantanamo Bay. She works for a law firm that has a client currently being detained there. Although I guess it took some time for her to receive proper security clearance to visit.

She didn’t have much to say about it (to my cousin, who relayed the story), but one thing I found interesting was how difficult it can be for the lawyers of the detainees (to say nothing, OBVIOUSLY, of those being detained) because their clients often fear that these strangers are actually just more interrogators trying to deceive them.

So the law firms try to obtain information about their clients, like tracking down their families, and will bring their client’s favorite food or a message from a loved one in an attempt to convince them that they’re telling the truth.

I can’t even begin to fathom what goes on there…

In other other news: I’ve been flipping channels and it took me a full minute to realize that the random motorcycle versus border cop chases occuring on two channels were not only sorta similar, but in fact exactly the same.

TNT and SciFi are airing the exact same X-Files episode at the exact same time—except they’re about 30 seconds off from each other.

If I keep flipping back and forth I’m gonna start yelling at the screen. “Dude, you shouldn’t have gone through the door on the other channel! Don’t go through there again! Dude!”

Or some such utterings…

And yet… who knew Alan Dale was on the X-Files?

Well he does, most likely. But I didn’t.

That sexy Kiwi shows up everywhere.