Saturday, November 24, 2007
Only vaguely interesting.
I've been tagged by Heather of Tango Pirates and Absinthe and I've got to say that being tagged is rather like being challenged. For instance, on this occasion, I have to think of 7 interesting things about me (and I think you can see where the challenge lies), nevertheless, I'll rise to the occasion because I'm trying to avoid doing work (surprise!)
1. I've had more crushes on fictional characters than I have had on boys in real life. I'm incredibly critical, and I find it hard to see potential in guys beyond friendship. It doesn't help that I've such an idealised image of the 'perfect guy' because of how much I read.
Some of my literary crushes:
- Holden Caulfield - JD.Salinger/Catcher in The Rye - didn't everyone?
- Inigo Wallace and Harry Delancy - Eva Rice/The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets - I was torn between Inigo and Harry even though the novel doesn't pit them against each other. Harry was a table magician with one dark brown eye and one blue eye and as a child kept a loaf of bread as a pet, called Julian the Loaf. Inigo was a singer and absurdly suave for someone who was 16.
- Captain Wentworth - Persuasion/Jane Austen - he was a Jane Austen character, need I explain further?
- Atticus Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird/Harper Lee - completely worthy, and you can tell he's attractive in a bookish way (played so well by Gregory Peck in the film).
- Gilbert Blythe - Anne of Green Gables/LM.Montgomery - the first. He saved a girl from drowning, was smart and handsome.
- Laurie Laurence - Little Women/Louisa May Alcott - immensely betrayed by his marriage to Amy. I'm from the 'school of Jo and Laurie.'
- Mr Thornton - North & South/Elizabeth Gaskell - a bit of a brute but kind and honest.
- Rhett Butler - Gone With the Wind/Margaret Mitchell - embarrassing but true.
2. I love books with really thin sheets of paper. Like the Bible. When you can see the words on the other side of the page and it doesn't feel like you're holding anything between your fingers.
3. If someone gave me £100, I'd probably spend it on stationary and notebooks. I have notebooks that have never been used in drawers, on shelves, in piles of clothes...
4. I'm incapable of walking on uneven pavement without tripping. This means I trip at least twice daily. My knees are a mess of scars from falling over when I was a kid. I could regularly be found howling in the bathroom, perched on the edge of the bathtub while my mother cleaned my knees and elbows up - this would usually involve lots of dramatic blowing after dabbing wounds and sympathy which I thoroughly enjoyed.
5. I love thunder and lightening. I could listen to it all night. There's something about it that I find so soothing, and I love how the air and the sky seems so clean the day after.
6. I'm a bad loser when it comes to Monopoly. When I was younger and I was losing, I'd usually get into an argument with my sister and end up sweeping the board with my arm so everything fell off and the game would be ruined.
7. I write comments and underline passages in books I borrow from the library. It's against the rules but it's my little rebellion. (Sometimes I even doodle...I know, I'm living life on the freaking edge!)
And now I'm tagging:
Dylan's Candy Blog
Nonsense on Stilettoes
Red Lipstick and Macaroons
The Fray
Cotton Candy
Labels: random musings, self-absorbed
17 commentsThursday, November 22, 2007
Fit for a Snow Queen
Forget about the cold lustre of diamonds and rubies, Elizabeth Yarborough makes the perfect jewellery for frosty winter days. Mixing semi-precious stones with materials like wool, feathers, tassels and buttons, she's created this unique collection which makes you reconsider materials you might see everyday and never really notice. My personal favourites are the cable-knit bracelets and leather rings.
Sidenote: My film screening this week was Frederico Fellini's 8 1/2 and if anyone has the chance to see it, I recommend it. I thought it was really interesting that it was based on Fellini's own experiences, if anyone's seen it already I'd love to hear what you made of the ending.
Labels: designers, films, jewellery
16 commentsTuesday, November 13, 2007
Me and (You)
I always thought those ancient grill radiators that were capable of fending off a stampede were really unsightly, and I used to be utterly grateful there wasn't one in my room, however, designer Byung-seok You is now making me quite annoyed that I don't have one. He's designed this rather nifty little ceramic plate, on which you pop your cup and (in this case) muffins to keep them warm via the heat of the radiator. And I love it. I'm addicted to hot drinks, so this is such an ideal solution to my drinks conundrum where they're always lukewarm before I've finished. It's like a really safe hotplate. Makes me positively nostalgic for those ugly old radiators we had at school - it seems postmodernism is alive and kicking.
On a completely different note, I was watching Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers in my film class today and I fell in love with Ethiopian jazz. I didn't even know there was such a thing as Ethiopian jazz, but in the film, Bill Murray's character Don, is constantly being given mix CDs of Ethiopian jazz by his neighbour Winston. The tracks play continuously throughout the film and the music actually held my attention more than the film did. In my opinion, if you're going to watch a Jim Jarmusch movie, start with Dead Man with Johnny Depp and Crispin Glover, Broken Flowers did nothing for me...except introduce me to a different form of jazz...and remind me just how old Bill Murray is.
Standout tracks:
Yegelle Tezeta - Mulatu Astatke
Labels: design, films, music, random musings
14 commentsMonday, November 12, 2007
The luckiest girl in England. For now, anyhow.
Somedays are better than otherdays.Who says the leaves fall off the trees in the winter?
My tree is leafy.
These days - Nico
Rear moth - Psapp
Right in the Head - M Ward
Labels: music, random musings
11 commentsWednesday, November 07, 2007
Voids. Filled.
Urgh. Ryvita are horrible. They taste (and look like cardboard) but I can't be bothered making real food. So for now, Ryvita slathered in raspberry jam will have to suffice. I'm not sure why I'm updating really, life has been dull, dull, dull seeing as I have relinquished all forms of social life in favour of working...and shopping. It's funny really because in my Consumer Culture class, we've been studying Marx (long-winded) and other theorists who mostly seem to suggest that we're suppressed and trapped by consumerism - and blinded by it too, I suppose seeing as I seem to have learned nothing from them. Anyway, it's been an escapism of sorts from studying/procrastinating (which by the way has paid off, my last Media essay was selected as an example of well-written work - yes, smite me down for boasting if you want God, but I earned that grade fair and square which means I get bragging rights...plus I gave up Halloween for it. No word of lie.)
Labels: designers, random musings, style
16 comments