Another Brick In The Narwhal

Unconscious Subconscious

2012-01-03T17:27:00.001-08:00

New blog, that documents my dreams, accompanied with interpretive drawings.

http://lucid-labyrinth.blogspot.com/

The Parish of Space Dust

2011-11-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

We held a moustache party.

Newest Painting

2011-11-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

Sea of Time

2011-11-08T17:28:00.001-08:00

Czech out this store, it is mighty fine.

A, B, C, D, Can I bring my friend to tea?

2011-11-08T17:15:00.001-08:00

Sail the ship...

Chop the tree..

Skip the rope..

Look at me.

I am single.

2011-09-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

I will one day do a post that is not entirely photographs.
Today, is not that day.

Penny

2011-08-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

Some photos of some recent events.
The rats in the photos are a new addition to my family. The brown one is Chimichanga, and the white one is Spaceman (pronounced Spa-che-men).

I haven't got a lot to say..

2011-05-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

There was a big earthquake in my hometown. Things got pretty fucked up, a lot of people died.
My brother and I mourn at the carnage.

Then we went for a longboard.

Then I fell off a cliff.

And then miscellaneous other events.

And then finally, our Viking God, Hauksbok.

Breathing Place

2010-10-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

I got - hours sleep last night. And so instead of lying restless in my bed, I got up at 5am and went for a stroll. I ended up watching the sunrise atop a hill in a graveyard waiting for the doctors to open.
It was romantic, except for the pain in my internal organs.

Devil's Tongue

2010-09-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

Plain Jane in my plain jeans to see a plant that only flowers once every ten years. With Anna. Instead of attending University.

The French who came in search of Furs.

2010-08-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have just had an operation to make my airways into clearways. I would not recommend getting an operation to anyone, that did not of course need one. They are very undesirable, in all respects.
However, thanks to my grandmothers voodoo, I am slowly on the mends.

In other news, the ducks (Medula and Oblangata) that graced our house last year have returned. They stay outside, trying to catch flies and sitting in our pot plants. Mother is trying to teach Boje to say "Ducks," but for now he just calls them what he calls everything, which is "Squid."

Christchurch has been uneventful during my stay. I have had various visitors during my vexing state. Michael (the one who bought me that dress and shirt from America many a post ago) bought me a DVD, some gloves, a necklace, some flowers, a script and a pair of shoes to cheer me up. Outrageous. I repaid him by throwing up mid-conversation. Hayleigh caught me whilst I was still coming out of the anaesthetic. Oh the things I said. She then returned yesterday with her dog, also to cheer me up.
However nice it has been to see people in Christchurch, I am holding my breath for my return to Wellington. I am looking forward to being reunited with my paintbrush, my flatmates, and a boy.

Gandy, Anna and I were in a film for Thomas.

Invalid.

We drink and play the Ocarina.

The original casting for Howl's Moving Castle.

Snow is hard to walk through when you have a comb-over.

Parisian Goldfish

2010-07-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

Wellywood has seen my return and Christchurch my departure.

We broke into a museum.

I read the news today, oh boy.

Sobriety Society

2010-07-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

Partying like a Rock Star; minus a few components.
A best friend leaves to Syndey at the turn of a week, so we are wasting away our livers together. First, out at her house in an Olive Grove, and then at Mariah's 20th/Town. I forget how much I dislike clubbing, until I go clubbing. I tried to pinpoint what it was I didn't enjoy last night. The music, for one, is shit. And then it is the people.. The older age bracket especially. It is sad to see what people have become. I enjoy talking to people, but in town the conversation revolves either around explaining that a bindi is not a piercing in your forehead or that I in fact bear very little resemblance to the girl from Paramore, or that I have a boyfriend and do not wish to share sexual relations with anyone who wears a Metallica t-shirt. But regardless, we found ways to keep ourselves entertained.. And boy were we entertained.

____________________________________________

I have also been wasting away my liver and such with Charlie. We do so in such style in Wellington, and so thought we would check out Christchurch's adventure night life. It didn't come close. However, it was a clear night, so we walked down the beach through various playgrounds. The beach was bitchin'. Most of the pictures are inappropriate to upload onto the internet, and so.. A small dose of the docile ones.

Anna and I have also been on some late night adventures, up to the Botanic Garden. I have recently installed this fish themed wall. It is indeed like the one of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where it tastes like the picture when you lick it.

And as for a horse of a different colour, I am now 20. I had a social gathering, under the theme of Television Ads, up in Wellington. Many a friend from Christchurch came up for it, which was boss.

One more week in Christchurch, and then I get to go back up to Wellywood to see my boy-man and start another semester at Uni.
Oh boy.

Sky Rockets

2010-06-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

Feast your eyes, mortals, on my sister Georgina. She got the looks in the family.
As did my brother. They however, much to their distress, did not get my prodigious abilities at being able to tell whether or not a person has played Hockey during the course of their life. The accuracy of my predictions will blow your mind.
And so I laugh at their photographs of refinement!

And by laugh, I mean cry.

Corpse impression

2010-05-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

Just kidding, I'm not dead... Contrary to popular belief, and/or popular demands.

It turns out you have to invest a substantial amount of your time into University. Perhaps if I had known this, I would have been a little more hesitant in throwing myself into the deep end. Alas, I cannot complain. Well, I am complaining.. But I enjoy it, regardless.

Not much is new. Well, really so much is new that it is cancelling itself out as it travels down my spinal cord, down my arms, through my fingers and onto the keyboard. And so I will summarise in a series of seemingly unrelated short sentences.

Moved up north.
Live in an apartment above a bistro.
Met a boy at a picnic.
Anna.
Drugs and alcohol and trivial pursuit.
A Swedish hippy.
Anime.
University work and procrastination.
The boy.
Adventures around Wellington.
Hometown.
Best friends engagement.
Dog suit.
Musique.
Dreadlocks.

Succinct. And in aid of these, have some photos. Free of charge.

It's a Girl!

2010-03-11T13:43:00.000-08:00

This will be brief, and uninteresting.

I have been in Wellington now for almost a month. It's fucking great. University is boss, albeit the workload could be a little lighter. I have made some pretty groovy friends, been to some pretty funky parties, and been on some pretty psychedelic city adventures. I will update photos and comment everyone back once I have these essays under my belt, and my belt down from around my neck.

I hope all is well in Blogsville and beyond. I will be catching up on your posts post-haste.

Putting a Cork in it.

2010-02-16T01:14:00.000-08:00

I am still alive, despite what my posting statistics may suggest.

I have been drinking vodka, buying a new phone because of drinking too much vodka, having to replace the new phone a week later because of drinking vodka and whisky, organising university courses, university related costs, governmental allowances, my last day at work, goodbye drinks and packing up 19 years of my life into a few boxes and posting them up north.
I am moving up to Wellington, this Saturday. I am trying not to think about a whole lot or I think that I will pass out, never to wake again. We finally found a flat, and it is pretty fly. It's pretty expensive, but we are central city, close to the university (well, as close to the top of a fucking mountain you can be (the walk to university is going to be the death of me)), its a modern appartment, and we are at the back of a bistro, which has a neat industrial feel to it. I will take photos and post them as soon as I am sorted, and have a camera.

I will also post a photo of my sewing-savvyness.. Made some sweet, sweet hoods. Also of this most phenomenally good looking apron a woman at work bought me as a goodbye present.

Who would you rather make out with? Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer, or Scarlet Johansen in Lost in Translation?

We Tigers

2010-01-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

I have just gotten back from housesitting. It was nice, albeit I spent the majority of my time on my lonesome, singing in the comfort (or rather discomfort) of my own presence, or running my hands through the fur of an over-sized cat. I got some drawings done. I texted Samora and asked him to give me a word, and after 4 times of him saying something outrageous, he said wolf. So I drew him some quick sketches of wolves in the artbook he gave me for Christmas.

On Monday some friends from school and I went on a road trip to Le Bons bay. It was hot when we set off. Not so much when we got there and sat on the beach in the rain. Then we went around to Rachels to consume unhealthy amounts of alcohol, as seen in the following photo, watched The Wall. Dear god.

The week beforehand much of the same people went to a picnic in the gardens. It was mean, we played petanque and ate in the sunshine. I got a pretty boss onesie on Boxing Day. Check it.

And then after the picnic a few of the children came back to mine, we got out of it and watched Fantasia. It was fantastic. Phenomenal. Out of this world. High as a kite.

It was my mothers 50th on New Years Eve, so my sister, mother, grandmother and I went out to the beach to have fish and chips. It was really nice, despite my deep dislike for the ocean/sea/deep dark ambiguous waters. There were seagulls there that made me more tolerating of my surroundings. I bought extra chips to feed to them. Grandma looks like she has had a few too many gins and passed out on the beach. I wouldn't put it past her.

And I went back to Mikes to play with his puppies which have gotten a whole lot cuter now they can walk.

I am off to read the rest of Lolita so that I can move onto reading Oscar Wilde's children stories.
Favourite books, what are yours?

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas was yesterday for me, as it is today for most of you. I had a good day. I woke up early to boil some apples for my infamous apple shortcake, we opened presents, we went around to Grandma's for lunch with the whanau, then my brother, sister and I went down to the park (an old family tradtion) and swung on the swings whilst some g-units sat on their pimp cars watching us. Then we came home around 6:30pm, and I went back out at 9:30 to meet up with some friends, as one didn't have anywhere to go on Christmas after work (his family left him), so we all got together so that he wouldn't spend the rest of it alone. Here are some photos from yesterday.

The jersey I'm wearing, I wear most years at or around Christmas. It was my mothers when she was eight.

My Grandmother (the legendary one) and I.

My Grandmother, her two best friends and I.

The Siblings, Friends, Grandma and Papa Smurf.

My brother Brennan and I trying to fit at the table.

My sister Georgina and I watching The Wizard Of Oz and playing Gin.

Record.

Naughts and Crosses.

Now because I was so poor this week, saving for a new laptop and for flatting next year, I decided to take to pov-path and paint everyone their presents. Samora got me this wonderful environmentally friendly Nepali Paper sketch book, and Thomas got me a jewish scroll. Here is Anna with my portrait of Gandy.

Thomas with his Flying Fish From Birds Eye Perspective, and Gandy.

Anna and her painting of the Radish Spirit, trying to look like the Radish Spirit (from Spirited Away).

The Seagull I painted for Eloise.

Back up painting haha.

Totoro for Mariah.

It was my sisters 18th birthday on the 23rd of December. All of her friends were busy that night, and we weren't going to let her be sober on her 18th, so Brennan and I took her out to her first night legally in town (certainly not her first time overall though). We spent most of the night playing pool, which was cool.

Would you rather, pet-wise, have a tiny Armadillo.. Like, the size of your hand small.. Or a giant bumblebee... Like, the size of a cat big.

Full glass of Milk

2009-12-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

I am very tired (stayed up to 3am, watched 6 Disney movies with Anna), so this is going ot be brief. And actually brief, rather than the brief I always claim to be, and then proceed to write scolls of writing.

Rachel's Suprise Mexican Party. Dirty, dirty mexicans.

Went out to New Brighton with Anna, had Pizza and Juice on the beach after op shopping. It was so hot and windy. Oh good lord I am tired!

Ghosts and Lizards

2009-12-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

It is raining, so I am going to spend the day drawing and painting. This is going to be a short post.
I went to Michaels Christmas party on Sunday, which was nice. He made the mistake of having puppies there though, as that is where a lot of people spent a lot of the night.

Good god they are cute. I saw them when they were three days old and hadn't opened their eyes yet. They weren't so good looking back then. We went out and played with all of Mikes farm animals, and then Chris and I put on stick-on tattoos. Mine didn't work at all, other than that blue dot on my arm. Chris's looked pretty legit though.

And this is Chris and Thomas recreating the famous Three Men in a Tub scene, minus the third man.

Circuuuuss.

Would you rather have the ability to talk to animals, or be able to speak every language on earth?

Ziplock Bag

2009-12-02T23:53:00.000-08:00

Long time no post! Time has just been flying by, I forgot what a computer was. This last week has been pretty high on the busy scale.. I've had productions, of which I am sure to upload photos of later, drawing for an exhibition (as seen further down the page), and parties. First of all, I will talk about the art. My art school is having an end of year gallery viewing - most people get to submit a piece of work they've done to be displayed. I drew a new one over the weekend (of which I was hungover, so things could have turned out a lot worse). Tartan is a real fuckin' bitch to draw.

I go to see it at the gallery tomorrow with Samora.

The hungover part of the story comes from drinks at Mariahs after our last show. We all got very drunk, played Tappy (greatest drinking game ever) and then Mariah's boyfriend and I went to play crack the egg on the trampoline for a while. It was bitchin'. Then on Tuesday, which is when I usually have rehearsal for drama, it was the class party. Basically everyone brings food, and then eats food, and then regrets having eaten so much food. There is usually a lot of food.

And here I am with some of the teenagers from the teenager class. Now the story behind the first photo - The theme was Poker Face, as in Lady Gaga Poker Face. However the blonde girl at the back took that literally and poked the other girl holding her eye, in the face.

And then afterwards on Tuesday I went around to my friend Rachel's house who had people over for drinks. We played Drinkopoly. Rachel made a monopoly board, revolving around drinking and drunken activities. It is very amusing. Then we watched some scary movies, and Eloise and I biked home.

Would you rather be (literally, no colloquial business) too cold for the rest of your life, or too hot?

Little Sophies Little Lesson

2009-11-19T16:16:00.001-08:00

I have been busier than usual, which is quite unusual. On Wednesday I went to a house party, which was nice; I felt as if I were back at highschool. Thursday, I went out to town and drank away my hangover, friday I drank away Wednesday/Thursdays hangover, on Saturday I drank away Wednesday/Thursday/Fridays hangover, and on Sunday I went to a Champagne breakfast. Oh, my poor sweet liver. Here are some photos of said breakfast. Mind the jacket and womb, it was very cold. Oh, and note the champagne in the fourth photo.. Mike (the male in the photo; also the one who bought me that top and dress back from America as seen in previous posts) brought it along so to get drunk off - it was an $100 bottle of champagne. Outrageous.

And on Thursday afternoon Saraid came up from Dunedn for a day, so we went and got sticky photos and sushi.

Last saturday I got a call from a woman I use to do theatre with, Sarah. She asked to meet up for a hot chocolate and a talk at the Chocolate Cafe. So of course I accepted. Got there, and she started talking about this childrens book she has written called Little Sophies Little Lesson. It was adorable. She has sent it to a lot of publishers in New Zealand and Australia, and all have sent it back saying that they will seriously consider it, if it had illustrations. And so she has asked me to illustrate her book. How boss is that! Boy am I excited. She said if she does a book tour, I will have to go; She hates kids.

Anywho, I'd better get the hell outta here. I'm working on a drawing to submit to my art schools gallery next week.

What would you rather? You smelt like a sewer rat, or you looked like a sewer rat? Both being equally as permanent.

Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends.

2009-11-07T00:55:00.000-08:00

On Saturday one of my best friends Saraid texted me to tell me she was in town, so I dropped everything I was doing (basically just my eyeballs, as I was watching the birds outside eating a loaf of bread for a good two hours) and rushed out to go and meet her for lunch. Then we walked back to her motel and our school friend Tillie biked in from her rowing training. We drunk diet cola and conversed for a while, and then got up to do what we did best; Jumping photos. Then after that, we walked down to get hot chips, and do more jumping photos. It was the best day I have had in a long time!
Here are said jumping photos. They're boss. Look out for themes such as Dragonball Z, Electric Eels, walking, water bombs, bats and wizards. The best themes.

And a week or so ago it was Hayleigh's 21st. It was wizard, Hayleigh got horrendously drunk. Hilarious. I bought a new dress for it from where I got Hayleighs present. I bought her a dress. Funnily enough, she was tossing up between the one I eventually bought her and the one she bought for her party, for her party.

It was a great night. Dancing, drinking, dancing and alcohol. Unfortunately, however great the dancing and jumping photos were, my back has gotten a whole lot worse. It's in a new dimension of pain now. So I went to the doctors, finally, and am getting an xray soon. I am looking forward to seeing my bones.

Would you rather have an alien burst from your stomach, painless... Or would you rather burst from an aliens stomach? Both being equally as graphic..

Halloween

2009-11-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

The photos for Halloween, of me, are very limited. They are just shocking. My hair looked a mess, and as did my face. Alcohol is nice like that. These ones are the best... But they're still not good.
We went to a Halloween party around the corner from my house after recieving possibly our first ever trick or treaters (unfortunately New Zealand is not big on Halloween, at all). So we stayed there partying for a good couple of hours, and then went out to town to some clubs. It's suprising how much attention, wanted or not, you get for dressing up.. Infact a nice young man went inside and bought us lollipops for our effort.

As you can see, I was the Cat in the Hat. Dr Seuss is one of my all time favourites, and we happened to have the costume at work.. So, when in Rome! And I grabbed my friend a frog suit whilst I was at it.

I love meeting new people going into town, or into anywhere really. We spent a good hour and a half (at 3am) sitting down talking to an 18-year-old mother of one, listenting to the horrors of her labour. But it's amazing the people you met! Last week I met a Taxidermist and now know everything there is to know about taxidermy, and a casting agent from Miami. I met these two girls outside of a convenience store.

And some (awful) photos from the party.

I don't know why I do this to myself.
Oh wait... Yeah I do.

It took me a while to see that figure lurking in the background. Wow!
And that is all the photos I am willing to put up from that particular event!

Last week I went over to Thomas's with Gandy and we made cupcakes that look like our friends. It was hilarious. Although it did begin to get a little racist near the end.

Gandy and I (doing my best Gandy impression) with the cupcakes.

The bottem two are mine.. The left is my friend Saraid and the bottem is Gandy. The rest are indistinguishable, as the boys were.. Well, you can see how they did. They tasted great though!

A few of you asked on my last post what I was going to be studying at University. Well, it isn't set in stone but most likely two or three religious papers, an english literature paper, a biology paper, a film paper, an art history paper, and possibly a classics paper. They are all just interest papers, not working towards anything at the moment (exluding Fine Arts degree the year later). This may change, however.

I went and saw Ponyo finally on Wednesday night. Good god was it cute! Thomas and I had the entire movie theatre to ourselves, which was great - We could talk as loud as we liked. Before I went into the movie, I had been told I looked like one of the characters. As soon as he came on screen, I saw it. The nose, the hair, the fashion, the magic.. I am Fujimoto.

Not so the much the magic side... But I can dream.

Would you rather have your legs give way spontaneously through-out your life, or you have to (lightly) slap everyone you meet on the face?

Oats

2009-10-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Eloise and I went out for some Adventure Time a couple of days ago. We drove spontaneously through the city, ending up at the hills. Eloise's car not being able to make it up any of the hills, we decided to follow some signs which lead us to a Quarry. We got out, grabbed the camera, and went wild. Literally. The photos do follow a story, but it is a very poor story which follows Eloise Aunty and Uncle with an Octopus Farm on the Chatham Islands. I was somewhat hungover, which explains the poor effort on the outfit/facial front.

But more importantly, I am certain I have come to a conclusion on how I will be spending next year. I have bitten the conformism-bullet and decided to go to University. Even if it's just for a year, or if I flunk out half way through.. At least I will know, will be living in a different city and will have made new friends. And it will bide me some good time until I can do fine arts, and serve as good inspiration for some new doodles. So now I have to work out papers, student loans, flatting... All of that crap. Sigh. I sincerely hope it is worth it, as I do have my reservations.

Would you rather swallow a hair so long that you would have to pull for three days straight to get it out, or have a bug flapping around in your ear for three days straight?

Tea for Two

2009-10-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I went to the Botanic Gardens with some friends to enjoy the weather. Walking with Thomas we saw a man-duck ontop of another man-duck, ripping the flesh off its skull. It was horrifying. I broke it up with some stern words and strong arm movements. The lesser man-duck left with a limp and a few less feathers, but a lot more street cred. We sat and played cards for a while, then went to get a hot chocolate and a french pastry for Thomas. The boy I am with in the photo is Gandy.. The is the reincarnate of Popeye.

On Friday it was the University's end of year celebration called the Tea Party, or the Tea Party Alternative which was basically the same thing but a different location. Basically an excuse for uni students to dress up and get drunk in the morning. And so I got drunk in the morning. It was glorious. Two of my favourite people were there, Hayleigh (the haemaphiliac I have mentioned previously) and Mariah (who I have also mentioned previously). Mariah was in a pretty bad car accident on Monday; two broken ribs and a punctured skull. She was on top form on Friday though, even with the limp. The boy in the second photo with Mariah assured me he was strong enough to carry me over his shoulder on our honeymoon.
Oh good god...

On Sunday I went around to Anna's (who is down from Wellington for the week) and we watched some Miyazaki movies, some Muppets Show episodes (Mark Hamill and Paul Simon) and then went around to Thomas's and sat with Samora and talked about Ho Chi Minh and his indecisiveness over Jellytip or Lemonade iceblocks. It was nice.

And now I am going to watch Lars and the Real Girl and chase paper, getting nowhere.

Return of the Jedi

2009-10-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

I don't recall the last time I blogged a real post (I do, actually.. Just emphasizing on the fact that I haven't posted properly in a very long time). As briefly stated in my previous blog I have been teaching young(ish) children Dance and Drama. It was great. The children did any and everything I said. We played a game with the which some of you may be familiar with, called Captain's Coming. It's quite a physical game used to either encourage or get rid of the kids energy. The rules are that when the leader yells out a command, everybody does it... Whether it is running to the Stern of the boat, scrubbing the decking, saluting to the captain, getting into lifeboats of three or climbing the rigging.. They all do it, and the slowest one is out. Mariah (who took the programs with me) and I gave the game a twist though, making the children contort themselves into the most bizarrest of things like; Captains Bandaid, Captain crossed with Freddie Krueger, Captains pulsating toad, Captain has taken off with your handbag - bash him for it, Captains mother-in-law, Captain has carpal tunnel syndrome... And so on and so forth. It was hilarious, as you can imagine.
Anywho, I will upload some photos of the performances once I get some fast internet back.

Other than torturing children, I have been doing some research on various things (what in gods name I am going to be doing with myself next year), watching old films (Little Rascals, Who Framed Roger Rabbit), working and socialising. A friend, Eloise and I went out to a vintage shop in New Brighton and I got a dress and houndstooth dress/vest/tunic... thing, which I am sure to post on here at a later date. Eloise and I sat down with some local fish and chips (really, just chips) and watched Seagulls for a good 20-30 minutes. I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming out of my eyes. Fuck seagulls are funny.
Well, they aren't. Like, they're really stupid. But that is the attraction. I took a video of Eloise training them to fly on command. I'll try to upload it, because it is great.
Well, it's not. Like, it's really stupid. But that is the attraction.

Hand feeding the seagulls was a highlight of my evening. I was thrilled, as seen by the expression and extra chin line on my face.

I showed this to a friend of mine and they looked at me, one eyebrow raised and said "Small things amuse small minds". I think that is bullshit. I think its the complete opposite, those who can't find amusement in the small things are the ones with the small minds.

Here are some old photos from some drinks at Claires a while ago, before I got the fringe. The male figure is Claires brother.

The black and white really brings out the sentimentality of these photos.

And this is a photo from when Thomas came back from Poland, as seen in a previous post.

I quite like the photo. Makes Thomas out to be some genre of celebrity, and we his entourage. My head looks strangely small in this photo.

Onto more pressing issues, I got two new pairs of shoes today. Both black brogues. Only difference between the two is one pair has a heel, and the other is flat with some point (a physical point) to it. I will take photos when I wash the blood off from having worn them in.

Would you rather wake up with your fingers swollen and pulsating, never for this feeling to go away again.. Or wake up with Breaking Free from High School Musical stuck in your head, never to get it out?

Tick tick tick..

2009-10-06T01:19:00.000-07:00

I have very little time to write this post, so I will upload some photos and leave you to enjoy my absence of speech.

From the Drama course I taught last week...
The girl in the red hat is my favourite. She is a child genius, I kid you not. Also the one in the huge white wig and the one in the cape (who are sisters), they are a little morbid - but fantastic. The girl in the glasses and my knitted cardigan, haha, is super talented. I love the rest, but I am too tired to talk much now. The next post will be good (well, as good as my posts get haha), I promise.

That is me in the green, up the top left. Yeah, the retarded one. The girl in the red down the bottem right is a friend - a fucking cool one, who also teaches Dance and Drama at the YMCA with me. I'll upload a video of one of the rehearsals. Its gold.

Our pet ducks.

... And Bajinky in a Two Minute Noodle bag.

The Longest Blog Post Ever

2009-09-24T01:40:00.000-07:00

A bag of sand.

Globe Trotting

2009-09-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Last year I went on a trip overseas with my school to Greece/Italy/Vatican City(briefly)/Singapore(briefly). It was out of this world - almost literally for me, living in the middle of nowhere on a country that is about the size of a 50 cent coin. However incredible it was.. I would never recommend it for anyone else (travelling with a school, that is). The countries were phenomenal and the flying was great... But you are surrounded with about 30 other people that speak English, which meant that I never really got to absorb any sort of real culture, and had to get up at 7am every morning to visit as many museums it takes to make them all blur into one. Which is sad. There were some moments though when I got to take a step out of a Classics lecture and slip into the sublime of another country. Like Venice, for one. How fucking incredible is Venice? Some of the other students and I walked for as long as we could to get ourselves as lost as possible, then when they went and bought a bottle of Absinth I begun to find my way back to the hotel with another non-participant in the drinking. It was phenomenal. The moon on the water ways, the cobblestone footpaths. There was a walkway that came to a deadend at one of the waterways, and there were two teenaged girls with a bottle of some sort of alcoholic substance just sitting there drinking. That was my favourite moment whilst I was over seas.

Santorini was another favourite of mine. The white houses, the blue rooves, the donkeys! Unfortunately only now do I know of the animal cruelty that went on there. This is my favourite photo from the trip - there was a stray dog (I almost died of excitement with all the stray dogs over there, I patted them all. Did not contract raibies - fear not) lying on one of the rooves, so another student and I went and sat with him, admiring the view.

Another favourite was Tivoli. What a sweet little village that was. We drove to the top of it and went to an Abbey there. They had built hundreds and hundreds of water fountains. It was magnificent. The second photo - oh sweet jesus! There was a woman absorbing the sun, with her eyes closed. I liked her style. So I documented it.

And an assortment of others photos from other destinations such as Delphi, Orviato, the Mediterranean (about the only time I've ever worn a bikini) and a pet shop in Athens (animals were in horrible condition. On a lighter note, saw my first ever Chipmunks!)

There are about a quadrillion other photos that I've chosen not to put up here, for lack of time and will.

Where have you been that is worth making mention of?

Welcome back, Simple Jack!

2009-09-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

This is one of my best friends, Thomas... One of the best dressed males I know. The second photo is him in one of my dresses with my name tag on; a costume for my birthday party. The theme was Come As Something You're Glad You're Not Or Wish Never To Be. Oh the flattery! He has just come home from nine months over in Europe. He went to Poland for a few months to do volunteering - teaching blind children to speak english. How sweet is that. And then spent the rest of his time country crawling.
Welcome back, Thomas!

I went for another adventure walk on Wednesday to get my Anime. Like I mentioned in my previous post I did actually walk to and from town, which took me about 4-5 hours. It was so hot. I ought not have worn tights this time. Whenever I am walking I say hello to any one that walks past me. This lovely old woman walked past and I smiled and said hello, and so she smiled and said "Lovely day isn't it!" Simple enough, yes? But no. Not when your alter ego is Retardation-Man. Oh, he got me good. And so I replied "Yes, it is a lungely day". Lungely? What an awful way to describe something nice. It's nice weather today, kind of reminds me of a large fleshy mucus covered organ!
God damn.

So I got into town, after a pitstop in the Botanical Garden (almost wrote bionical garden - boy would I like to see that!), and as I was walking into the city centre I heard this awfully bizarre music. So, I followed the sound and it lead me to these guys.

Fuck are they cool, man. They were making the most incredible music and bird noises. I stayed to listen and took a few photos... He looked at me from the corner of his eye, and I thought perhaps it was Native American faux pas to take photos. But that didn't seem to be the case. The next day my Mum took me out to an outlet mall that is quite out of the way. We got to the outlet mall and who was there? My Native American friends. Mum really wanted to see them as she thinks she was a Native American in another life-time, which is nice because I'm sure I was too. He looked at me through the corner of his eye again, which was a little embarrassing - he probably thought I was stalking him. ... If I knew where they were performing next, I would have been.

After that, I went to the videostore, got out Pom Poko, Only Yesterday and Panda! Go Panda! Very bizarre movies. Well, Pom Poko and Panda! Go Panda at least. Pom Poko was about shapeshifting raccoons (yeah, need I say more?).. And would have been fine, if it wasn't for the narration. It was still okay, but I won't be going out of my way to watch it again. Panda! Go Panda! got me excited, as I had read that it was quite like My Neighbor Totoro, plus Miyazaki had written the story and scripted it. It was queer as fuck. The big Panda had the strangest voice.. The animation was pretty rubbish too. Only Yesterday I quite enjoyed! The animation was pretty good and the storyline was quite sweet. I didn't understand what was going on in the beginning, perhaps I wasn't reading the subtitles very well. But once I understood that most of these things were flashbacks, I was sorted. I think it was quite a realistic portrayal of a family (well, the relationships that Taeko has with others), especially for an Anime. I quite liked it.
It is Wednesday today, so three more Animes! I wont be walking down to get them though, as I am feeling sick. Jungle Emperor Leo (which is a shitty japanime version of Lion King, basically), My Neighbours the Yamadas (I have my reservations over this ones animation style) and Tokyo Godfathers. I am running of Anime. If anyone can recommend any, please... Please do.
Anywho, here are some photos I took from my long journey.

Christchurch is a hole. In spring, it's pretty easy on the eye though.

On my way back I sat down at a pond. It has so many ducklings. I counted 18. I tried to take a photo of them. It didn't work out so well.

And I went back to the other side of Mona Vale (mentioned in last post).

New shirt.

New dress

And photos from the actual 21st. Neither of us were overly sober. Hayleigh smokes like a rastafarian when she's drunk.

And a dress that I got from my trip up in Wellington! I moaned about the price to Anna, and so they brought it down to $40 for me. I wore this to work and drama yesterday.

Would you rather live knowing that any moment a giant shark is going to fall out of the sky and crush you, or every bird you see/sees you flies straight into you getting their beaks stuck in your flesh?

Crab Girl

2009-09-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last week was pretty fucking sweet. On Friday I went for a very long walk as the sun was out and.. I wanted my life to be more like how it is in Animes. It turned out to be quite the adventure. I walked for an hour down the railway tracks and saw a Train! Cheap thrills! I got out my camera and pretended that I was looking through old photos but don't have very good eyesight so I had to hold it up higher than usual and squint at it, so that the train driver didn't think I was a dork taking photos of him. It worked out quite ironically. Then I walked a little bit further to a place called Mona Vale, which is a public garden.. And quite a good looking one at that. As I was walking through Mona Vale these most incredible looking men were there taking photos. They were speaking in Japanese, and did I mention they were incredible looking? They were a splice between Johnny Depp and Howl from Howl's Moving Castle. Need I say more? So I exchanged smiles with them, asked myself WWSD (What Would San Do), and so went to sit under a big tree. They came and took some photos infront of me and said hello. And it was at that point I wished that I had put make-up on, had done my hair, and wasn't wearing scuzzy jeans with my houndstooth coat and wasn't wearing yellow penguin socks. I stayed a little longer when they had gone out of sight (the wind was very cold) in hopes of them coming, well, back into my sight. So I went and bided my time infront of the lake, when four little ducklings (shit, how cute are ducklings!?) came and made beeping noises around my feet. Then, after I got a glimpse of the men again (sigh) I started my journey home. I walked past my Grandma's street following the train tracks, so I popped into say hello.
"Oh I was wondering who that tramp walking up my driveway was!" ... Thanks Grandma.

Hey hey, new Totoro bag! Could have taken a photo of it in its box, but thought you might like to see some skin ;-)

And you may as well, whilst you are at it, check out my new shoes. And dress. In combination. Contrasted against my awkwardness.

On Saturday, during the day time (we won't talk about that night (I'm using a lot of brackets in this post)) two best friends of mine and I went out to the Arts Centre. It was another very nice, sunny day. Still not warm enough to not wear tights though, but we're getting there. All of the blossoms were out which was wonderful.

This is Anna. She is being the sculpture.

Here is Charlotte. She is being the scaffolding.

Where's Wally?

This is Anna and what Samora (left in the photo bellow) thought was a Crepe. Or how he pronounces them - Creep.

My two favourite frogs!

A photo of some friends and I at a friends flat.

Oh, and the photo had such potential to look nice! The girl to the left of me is one of my favourite people, Hayleigh. Possibly the most sarcastic, coolest person you will ever wish to meet. She is one of seven females in the world to have Haemaphilia.. And I think that's pretty fuckin' cool.

Right, it is Wednesday; so I am off to pick up my weekly Anime. This week it is Only Yesterday, Pom Poko and Panda! Go Panda! Very excited. I said I would report on the two Anime I watched last week - Whisper of the Heart and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. My verdict is they were both... Actually very good! Minus the singing in Whisper of the Heart, I loved them. If anyone has seen The Cat Returns, that is actually the sequel to Whisper of the Heart, following the story of Baron. I'll let you know how these three go.
I am walking to the Video Store, which is going to be a good two-three hour walk both ways.

Wish me luck.

Frida Kahlo's eyebrows.

2009-08-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

Wednesday again. Back to Alice in Videoland for my weekly Anime. Whisper Of The Heart, The Girl Who Lept Through Time and When The Wind Blows this time. I am curious to see how these turn out as none are done by Miyazaki, and only two of them are from Studio Ghibli.
Other than that, it has been a frightfully uneventful week. I am concerned that the intended 'relaxation' of taking a gap year has begun to cancel itself out. You know when you times a negative by a negative, it becomes a positive... But the other way around. Or perhaps when you times a positive with a negative, it's still a negative.
Either way I look at it, I'm heading towards the negatives. Good god, what I wouldn't do for some inspira/innova/motivation!
I am willing to pay anyone $50 and a goat to stand with a harpoon to my head until I start drawing and/or painting. Well, last night I did a few shitty doodles of an outfit I'd like a character in one of my unwritten stories to wear. These are just some ideas... Some very rough, unfinished ideas that I don't particulary like and most certainly won't be using. But it was nice to pick up a pencil, regardless of how short a period it was for.
Check out the state of those stars on the left one! My word. The white stripes in the middle one are supposed to be a darker shade of green, but I couldn't find my actual colouring pencils.
Next stop... Negatives.

Despite how this may look, this infact is not a reference to Hitler.. Merely a show of appreciation towards a particular genre of upper lip facial hair.

And as for outfit numero deux. I was dropped off in town so that I could meet up with a friend and bus back right past my house to a friends place to play Pictionary. Pictionary is very high on my list of genuinely entertaining board games.. Along with Balderdash, Cranium and the Pokemon Board Game. Speaking of Pokemon, I'll have to scan and upload some highlights from a Pokemon Activities Book I made when I was very young and put them in the next post. They're mind blowing, man.
A photo for Grandmama.

A week or so ago I went around to a friend of a friends house and watched nature documentaries with Radiohead playing in the background. What an experience. Highly recommended for all levels of sobriety.
Large emphasis on the 'high' in that sentence.

Oh and this link...
Ukraine's Got Talent
She's incredible. A real looker, too!

What would you rather? Spend the rest of your life in silence (deaf also), or have a loud and violent midget surgically sewen onto your back (take into consideration lying down), with no chance of ever having it removed.

That's a Bingo!

2009-08-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

Boy am I slack at writing posts. I have been up to various activities in the past week or so. Work, which has been good.. Other than being underpaid when I ought to have been paid for over time. I don't know how the system works, but something is quite astray if that is how. Other than that, I have been up to my usual routine. On Wednesday I went into town and got out four more Animes. Last week I watched Grave of Fireflies, Tales from Earthsea (done by Miyazaki's son, Goro. Very impressed), The Cat Returns, and my favourite movie alongside Lion King, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro: Howl's Moving Castle. If you haven't seen it, I strongely suggest that you do... It is out of this world, phenomenal! And this Wednesday I got out The Castle of Cagliostro, Barefoot Gen, Castle in the Sky and Porco Rosso. Sadly, these are the last few Miyazaki movies (excluding Barefoot gen) that this cities best video store have. What in gods name am I going to do without Hayao? The Castle of Cagliostro is my least favourite of Miyazaki's films. I mean, it wasn't bad or anything... It just wasn't anything special. Porco Rosso was great, but again nothing overly special. I'm yet to watch Castle in the Sky. Barefoot Gen. Very emotional, depressing movie. It is about Hiroshima. I'm getting that lump in my throat just thinking about it.

Anywho, onto more pressing matters. This is what I wore to work on Monday. My friend came back from his house in America and brought back some amazing gifts with him. Ah, a male with taste. Pity he isn't interested in females. He brought me back this top here, which I just love. (It is plum, not brown).

And he brought me back this outrageously goodlooking dress from LA. I could live in it... If hygiene wasn't a factor. I wore it to work on Tuesday, and then out to town on Wednesday. I'm reluctantly giving it some rest in the wardrobe and giving my other outfits a turn.

And this here is what I wore out to town yesterday. One of my best friends has come down from Wellington for the University holidays. And so yesterday we went out to town to get some fruit tea, went and got sticky photos, ha ha, and watched Inglorious Bastards at the theatre ($16.50 later). Wow, what a movie! Very gruesome... But totally worth the squirming.

And here are the sticky photos. They just keep getting better and better...
And/or worse.

Oh, and what would you rather? Everytime you blinked, you'd have to yell obscenities at the person nearest to you, or have tenticles coming out of your chin?

Stick with me, and you'll never go hungry again!

2009-08-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

Sticky photos. An endless source of entertainment. Some years ago they were nothing more than just a booth that took your photo and printed them onto some sticky film. But now, oh now they are so much more! Now they are green screens, they are accessories, they are wigs, they are new bodies, they are make-up. But above all, they are fun!

These are a very small percentage (say, 4%) of my compilation. We always try to theme our photos, to avoid the tedium of smiling. This now is made so much easier by the introduction of the green screen to the process. The second photo has the theme of Pedophilia. The fourth has been likened to that of a Porno cover, which I'm not sure how to feel about. The eighth photo, I think my friend Anna looks just like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone.

And so I was tagged by the lovely Marmelindela of Jesus and his lawyer are coming back... So now I must tag 10 more, and give 10 random facts about myself.
And so I would like to give the award to these following bloggers because I think they are fantastic:

Jesus and his lawyer are coming back... - Marmelindela
Eline - Eline
Pigeons Look Silly When They Walk! - Jessica
Strawberry Koi ♥ Vintage Style - Aya
Pigtails&BlushingCheeks - Willow & Daria
Wooden Walrus - Tasha
left hand endeavor - Meaghan
Rust and Stardust - Saraid
Emy Augustus - Yvonne
Eyeliah SS - Eyeliah

And for the facts:

1. When I am in the front seat of the car, I have to blink when the dashboard gets between two of the lines down the center of the road.
2. I have ten piercings. I used to have twelve, but two of them got infected. Why, I hear somebody ask? Because when the woman was piercing the top of my ear, her glove was too big for her and she actually pierced it into my ear... Right into the flesh. She then proceeded to rip/cut it out.
3. I love the smell of chalk and hot water bottles.
4. I don't believe in boredom. Boredom comes from boring minds. It drives me nuts when somebody claims to this boredom shit. There are literally infinite ways to entertain yourself... Literally. And if you can't see that, sorry son... But you're stupid.
5. I have huge issues with unmelted butter/margerine. If I can see it on my toast, I will not be eating the toast. Fairy bread gives me the creeps.
6. I have been a vegetarian for twelve years. When I first told my neighbours that I no longer ate meat, they served me vegetables... And meatloaf. They said that seven was too young to make that decision. Hilarious.
7. I am really not a big fan of butterflies. I mean sure, their wings are great. But have you ever seen one of those creepy looking things up close? If they didn't have wings, I'd rather wake up to a spider in my eyeball. It's sort of like a woman like this This wearing something from one of vivetta's spring collections.
8. I used to be an "emo", ha ha ha. Oh you should have seen my make-up, my hair, how I dressed! Boy, was it great! This was at a party... I didn't usually have wings, halo and that black goop dripping from my eyeball. But you get the jist. The rest of it, well... I'll look for some photos later in the evolutionary chain. I started changing my ways once I got sick of it, and after I got beaten up, ha ha!
9. I took this year off from study and all that jazz to focus in on my art. And this is all that I have done (as shown in one of my previous posts) Art to Detu. I have art supplies that I got last year that I haven't even opened, of which I am really ashamed of. I haven't had the inspiration or the motivation at all this year (although I have a few ideas at the moment), which I think could be due to still living at home. Hopefully next year things will be different.
10. My bird Bajinky is the greatest thing to walk the earth. He is hilarious. Here's some videos of him playing around in his bath (empty), and around in general.

Boje Bajinky

Jinky and Christmas Ball

Right, back to shifting the furniture back into my newly carpeted room.

Oh boy!

Why the long face?

2009-08-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

I get asked that question quite frequently. Albeit, it isn't really my face they're asking after, it is more my nose they're interested in. I used to get teased for it when I was younger; "Ask Charlotte, she nose." Looking back on it, it's quite funny ha ha. Not so much at the time though, as you may imagine. I'm not sure if you can see it so much in the photos but I have quite a Jewish nose, as I have quite Jewish ancestory.
I was at a friends house a couple of weeks ago, and their five year old cousin was there also. We were watching Snow Buddies. What a fucking shit movie that was. Then we turned on the camera and watched the filming we had done earlier on, and the five year old pointed out how queer my nose is. "Don't say that! That's not very nice" my friend said.
Like, I don't see the need to treat it like an insult, I am fully aware of how my nose looks.
Who nose, eh?

Anywho, onto more irrelevant matters. I have work today, which is a real drag. I work a costume shop around the corner from my house. It's a pretty neat job as far as part-time jobs go. But there are only so many size 13 platform shoes and gorilla suits you can wash and fit to someone until you are wanting to be doing something else. I got a new shirt the other day. Its covered in stars and planets, and space people. I live in it... For brief periods of time. I saw a friend in one months ago and searched all over Christchurch for one. Lucky for me the Cosmic Corner in Wellington had one left. Mmm, I sure do love my astronomy.

On Saturday night I went out and watched a friends band play at a bar in town. They're called Radio Ron (after a man who walks around our city with a radio to his ear supposedly called Ron), and boy do they have the funk! If ever you see their name in the future... Go and see them. Band photo, as seen here...

And some photos at the gig. Some of us don't look overly amused, but the concert was good I assure you!

I'm all about the class.

Jessica and I. Fringe looking a little uneven.

And on another note, I have had a very good past week. On Wednesday I went down to Alice in Videoland (as I do most Wednesdays) and bought Spirited Away, and hired out Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind, Kiki's Delivery Service and The Brave Little Toaster and watched them with a 2L tub of Goody Goody Gum Drops. Yes, all Miyazaki films (except for The Brave Little Toaster which was my favourite film as a child). Miyazaki is my favourite director. Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro are two of my very favourite films (along with Howl's Moving Castle). Princess Mononoke is.. Oh it is the most beautiful film; about the battle between humans and the supernatural guardians of the forest. It is the third highest grossing movie in Japan history. And boy you can see why.. Miyazaki's animation will blow your mind.

In the film there were these cute beings called Kodamas (bottem picture), that are spirits of the forest; their inhabitance implicating the forest is healthy. I am contemplating getting one of these tattooed behind my ear. And My Neighbor Totoro, the other film. Most adorable film you will ever watch, I guarantee it. It's about two daughters of a Professeur befriending some woodland spirits. The two girls are played by Dakota Fanning and her little sister Elle Fanning.

Watch them.. Or the Dilly Dally ghost will come and hit you on the noggin.

Fluff

2009-08-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have just been up north to Wellington to visit some friends of mine as well as checkin out the city for next year (I thought I probably ought to before I make the move up there). Large women in pirate hats, more hills than Adam DiVello's television show, houses you'd expect to see in some sort of Beatrix Potter story, the potential to get hit in the face by a flying pigeon, unnecessarily good looking men and about the best Zoo I've ever been to. I mean, what more could you ask for in a city?

Tigers are actually a lot bigger than what they make them out to be on TV shows or in magazines. Like, they weren't kidding when they classed these things as "Big Cats". Don't be fooled by this photo either, the cat is quite far away - apply field of depth.

Lemurs. Now seriously, how cute are they! They are big, fluffy and have strangely large hands and feet (I think I just inadvertently described big foot). If exotic pets were still condoned, and/or legal, ye old Lemur would be high on my list!

This photo was to mark the coming of Spring, as these are the first Ducklings I have seen all year. It also marks my new thrifted $40 Dr Martens.
My friend Saraid, who accompanied me to the Zoo, and I were just admiring the Kotuku (white Heron), when a small boy about the age of 4-5 comes up to the enclosure with his mum and asks "Mum, is that a Snake Snicky?" We almost died. What in Gods name is a Snake Snicky? The fact that, well this clearly looks nothing like a Snake, and the fact he used the word Snake adjectively to describe the Snicky - Oh the hilarity!

We also visited Te Papa, a museum/art gallery type thing. My god were those birds big!
And of course... Of course, the 'Colossal' Squid. It was a bit of a let down, to be honest. What do you think of when you hear the word 'Colossal'?. Don't get me wrong, it is a very very large Squid, for Squid standards. But 'Colossal' to me makes me think, I don't know... That there is a still a hole in the roof where they had to lower the thing down from a 40 ft crane or something. Albeit, it was just a scummy blur in a bath tub.

Oh, and a big thank you to Eyeliah of Style Symmetry for her mention of me in her 'Blog to Watch' post. She is a lovely young lady!

The Dress Code

2009-07-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

I know that I talk quite a lot about my Grandma, but I assure you that it is justified as she is pretty fucking great. She was known for being quite fashionable back in her day, or so she tells me. And so I believe her, as she kept a majority of her clothing in hope that somebody again might wear them. 'Hoarding', I believe my mother called it. Well that hoarding more than paid off, as now I wear everything she owned (everything being a bit of an exaggeration). Ever since she gave me her apple-patterned boned day-dress, I have been infatuated with this particular item of clothing. And so, I began collecting. Some people collect shoes, others collect Twilight memorabilia, or Elephants, pictures with Cats in them, or vegetables that look like celebrities... But I, collect dresses.
I am sitting on 81, currently. I am going to gradually upload the majority of them onto here (major emphasis on the 'gradually'), and any new ones to the collection.

I got this one dirt cheap from TradeMe. I apologise in advance for any facial expressions you may experience on my blog. I think smiling gets tedious in photos.
This too was from TradeMe. Thank god for belts. This dress is a tent otherwise.
Funnily enough, this one was also from TradeMe. I probably ought to put another few photos between these two, and delete this sentence to seem more versatile with my shopping. It's a shame I'm lazy. What a pattern though, huh? The dress of the dead, November 2nd.
This one is from my favourite vintage shop, Tete e Tete. The label claims it is from Poland, and has a picture of a Dutch looking woman and a clock tower. I like labels with pictures on them.
I love these socks. My Grandad used to wear them. I didn't think I would be able to find socks to match my mushroom tinted shoes. Oh, and the dress is from a four towered mall in Singapore. Outrageous.
This was given to me by a wonderful friend who didn't have enough room for it in her bag when she moved up north, and so gave it to me to look after. She got it from Tete e Tete. God I look awkward in this photo.
I love this dress. This too was my Grandma's. I need to do some repairs on it as the boning in the bodice is poking out around the arms, and I'm not going to lie... It is not comfortable.
This is a favourite face of mine. Not only is it fun to do, but it effortlessly makes you look like some genre of oriental goffer. My mother wore this dress to a wedding when she was 11. It has a matching bag lying around somewhere also.
Oh how I do love barber shop stripes. I lived in this one over summer last year. How lucky am I that all of my Grandma's clothing fits me?
I have a real thing for anything double-breasted and/or with big buttons. This is a winter dress of mine, (worn over jeans), as it is quite a thick wool. I got it from a shop that used to be in town but moved into one of the malls. I don't go there anymore.
I rekon I look an awful lot like a Dinosaur in this photo, or some sort of Centaur beast. I think it's just the length the dress cuts at the leg... And the mangey face. My mother wore this when she was nine, hence the length (and/or lack of). So understandably, I won't wear this without some genre of pants underneath.
This too is from Tete e Tete. How I love my Paisley! This was my outfit on friday night to a friend's birthday. Unfortunately, the walls of the bar she hired were also red Paisley.
This also was my Grandma's. This is my outfit for this evening. I am being squired off to have drinks with some friends of mine.
Another TradeMe dress, with a big black collar.

Right, my wrist is starting to hurt from all this frenetic mouse clicking. So to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, I will leave my dress collection there.

Next time, on Charlotte's Dress Collection, we see much of the same as we did in previous episodes, and Donkey's with crackers!

Birds of a Feather

2009-07-20T16:33:00.001-07:00

Whenever I go around to my Grandmother's house, she always asks me whether or not I have a boyfriend yet. She is very much a woman of her era, if you know what I mean. She always gives me a queer look to say 'is there something wrong with you?' or 'are you a lesbian?' when my reply is always no. Earlier this year I went around to her house with my mother, and she pops the boy question. This time however, I tell her yes, I do. Excited, she asks what his name is, and I tell her Boje Bajinky.
"Oh. Okay... What sort of animal is it, Charlotte?" I tell her that he is a Rainbow Lorikeet.
"You're a loser. You need to get out of the house more"
Thanks Grandma.

In all reality, I think my bird subjugates any boycreature my Grandmother may wish for me to be with, hands down. I mean, boys are great.. Don't get me wrong. But shit, are they thick!
(Mind my sweeping generalisations).

I bought this hoody because A: Well, it is fantastic, and B: It matches my bird.

I am working on my personal menagerie at home, taking into consideration I will have to either transport or leave them next year when flatting. My two rats recently just passed away, as did one of my cats. So I am left with bird-face, Cat #2, fish, seamonkeys and an assortment of ants. Frogs are definately next on the list. And/or more rats.

Oh what I wouldn't give to be around in the 60s. Harrods had a Zoo section in their department store, selling Vultures, Lions, Leopards, Bushbabys, Sloths, Bears and other such creatures. It's mind-boggling to even begin contemplating how cool that would have been. There are two wonderful stories of people purchasing such wildlife from Harrods. One of course being Christian the Lion, of which I am certain everybody has heard all about. And the other is this woman here who has a lovely story...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-498814/I-fell-love-bushbaby--young-girls-unlikely-love.html
Sorry, you'll have to copy and paste the link due to me being technologically inept.

Ooh isn't it just awful knowing you were born in the wrong decade?

Mysterious Mammalia

2009-07-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

I'm often up late at night, staying awake being a common side effect of having Insomnia. Often I flick on the Discovery channel or Animal Planet, as both tend to be rather interesting. Last night a program came on Animal Planet, a David Attenborough type documentary. It followed the lives of some very peculiar looking animals that I didn't even know existed.
This got me a'researchin'. Here is a list of obscure animals I've just discovered, and/or think are kind of neat.

#1: Pangolin

These anteating creatures reside in Africa and Asia. Now I know this looks an awful lot like an Armadillo, and for a while it was classified as being in the same family as one, but alas they are infact quite different. Now to appreciate the obscure nature of this animal, you must watch it walk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btkVS7uYNwM
Yes. It walks like a T-rex. It doesn't get much cooler than this in the Animal Kingdom.

#2: Long-eared Jerboa

Very little is known about the long-ear Jerboa, which I think is kind of cool, except that they live in and around Mongolia. Honestly, how cute is this! I mean, really!

#3: Yeti Crab

I think this creature is hilarious. Albeit, if I were to face one of these in the wild unaware of their existance, I think I would more than definately wet myself. The fuzzy sleeves actually serve the animal a purpose, other than fashion couture. It lives by hydrothermal vents which emit poisonous minerals, and the hairs detoxify these minerals. Anyone else see the smiley face on his back? Never seen a crab with a tattoo...

#4: Blobfish

Disturbing. They live off the coast of Australia at the very depths of the sea, thankfully... I don't know how well I'd sleep knowing something like that is within a 5 mile radius of me. Britney Spears bald phase, anyone? No?

#5: Narwhal

Now I couldn't leave this list without including the animal that features in my blog title! These curious looking critters live year-round in the Arctic, under thick layers of ice. I suggest you don't google image pictures of Narwhal, as there are some disturbing images of them being hunted, and nobody likes to see that sort of stuff. Assholes.

#6: Dumbo Octopus

I have a huge affinity for the Octopus and the Squid. And look, at, this one! What more could you ask for in a mollusk? Apparently this genre of Octopus is very rare, as they live some thousands of meters under the sea. I would love to add this guy, and #7 to my tank collection.

#7: Bobtail Squid

Now this is my kind of animal! I have a huge affection towards Squid, I think they are just fantastic. And this creature is just the icing on the cake. The colours these things have are phenomenal, and the size of them... Well, let me show you!

#8: Aye-Aye

A little disturbing, yes... But who am I to judge? These queer looking things live in Madagascar and are supposedly the largest nocturnal primate. I find the Aye-aye quite sophisticated looking; perhaps it is the mad scientist hairdo.

#9: Sea Pig

This reminds me of some sort of Pokemon. It is, however, actually a type of sea cucumber. It lives on the ocean floor, eating mud. What a life, eh? Scientist don't understand how they have become such a successful species.. Ha ha ha ha!

#10: Okapi

How fantastic is this! What a fine splicing of animals! These babies live in Africa, and supposedly the stripes on their legs are to help their young follow them through the dense rain forest, which makes sense. Zorse comes to mind when I see one of these.

#11: Saiga Antelope

Does this not remind you of Watto from Star Wars? I would love to hear Darwins reasoning behind that nose.

I personally don't see much need to look elsewhere in other galaxies on other planets for Aliens. I mean, look at what we've got on the planet we're on!
I'm not sure how more peculiar it could get...

Lady on a Tramp.

2009-07-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I had just begun reading Lord of the Rings again, and you know when you read a book, sometimes they compell you to want to do something...
Like perhaps stop taking drugs, stab someone in the eyeball, throw a child off a cliff, or to believe in fairies. Well Lord of the Rings is one of those books that makes me want to pack my napsack and head for the forest. However, this has never really equated to anything, with my lack of survival skills. Until now!
Well, until a friends boyfriend agreed to come with us.

And so we set off, to Lake Daniels, which was about five hours outside of the city I live in, Christchurch.

And so after reaching Lake Daniels, three years later, we had to drag ourselves out of the van, pack the rest of the tents and the cooking utensils into our already heavy bags, and then show signs of mobility. I needed help tightening my waist belt, my hands were insufficient. Apparently that's where you are meant to hold the weight of the bag. But really it just means you have to carry the same amount of weight, and have good posture whilst you're doing it.

I made sure my tramping attire did not consist of any natural colours or patterns. I think New Zealand would be one of the only countries you could wear bright colours walking through a forest, as there are no Bears, or Cougars, or other human flesh eating mammals to worry about hiding from. God I love New Zealand.

So it took us about three hours to walk to our camping ground. I'm sure parts of Lord of the Rings were shot in the Lake Daniels walk, as it all looked awfully familiar. Lothlorien, anyone?

I was half expecting to see some elves on our venture, but was sadly disappointed when I did not. The trolls around the campfire, however, I did see. Albeit, it was us, and we were not eating mutton.

Really, what kind of person gets stuck in a tree trunk? Like, a horizontal tree trunk...

Now without trying to sound like I am advertising for my country; Come to New Zealand. We have subjectively friendly locals, semi-populated cities, some of the cleanest drinking water in the world, and boy oh boy is it good looking!

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

2009-07-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that I do not think I have ever been this excited to see a movie. Usually I'll read up on the film in the newspaper the day I see it, if that, but I think this one calls for something a little contrary to usual pre-cinema preparations.

I don't think anyone out there could look me in the eye, dead serious, and tell me they didn't think that this film looks out-of-this-world, incredible.

Tim Burton is the shit.

Summer

2009-06-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

I was helping to pack up the theater the other night after a very long day of children with whistles and stomach complaints. This unfortunately meant that I actually had to go outside after dark, leaving the theater's womb and all its warmth. I had planned for a smooth transition - you know like when you get the toast out of the toaster promptly after it's popped, propelling it onto the plate to avoid burnt fingertips (note the alliteration.. please). The transit, however, did not run according to plan, as we were delayed outside the car doors by an early onset of Frost.

It took copious amounts of ice and a Smart Car to make me realise how much I missed summer.

Grandma's old bathing suits...

The necessity for sunglasses...
Swimming pools...
Tea parties at Grandma's house.
Picnics on the grass...

Perhaps if I were Inuit or some sort of Arctic mammal, I would appreciate the cooler temperatures a lot more than what I do. Sadly, due to a thin layer of skin, sparsely covering hair and a greed to be wearing a dress all of the time, I desire negative degree temperatures about as much as I do Iranian Politics.

Six months and counting...

Jasper Oostland

2009-06-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

This man would have to be one of my favourite artists of all time. I have taken it upon myself to educate you of his existance.

"The work of the young painter from Groningen (1976) always makes you at least smile but most of the time just laugh. By placing animals in a human-like context he developed a very own style: very precisely painted, well targeted cartoonesque presentations in bright colours full of witty detail. He puts forth a story in which the viewer can fill in the storyline for himself. There's no shortage of inspiration: the formula seems inexhaustible and seems applicable to the wildest combinations which, together with great painting craftmanship, create estranging, but primarily surprising and tempting images." Press report, Gallery van Strien, May 2001

www.jasperoostland.com

If my bank balance was a little bigger and my current grip on the purse strings a little looser, I would adorn every inch of my house in Jaspers work. Now you know you are a great artist when there is a demand for your artwork, whilst you are still alive.

Mmmm. The taste of superlative talent is sweet, and I have a huge cavity for Jasper's work.

Art to Detu.

2009-06-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

A year off from study to dedicate my all to art, and the result is a few crumby HB doodles...

Cummings.

Sentimental.

I was flicking through a clothing magazine and noticed how forced the models facial expressions were. I took the liberty of accentuating the animated nature of this young gentleman's photoshoot.

I have a real soft spot for the undesirables in life. A friend of mine and I used to have moral debates over the swatting of flies and moths. He sees it as being plausible, on the basis that they are irratating; whereas I take the more empathetic side to the dispute. This was a quick sketch in ode, ultimately, in the destruction of his moral high ground... Concerning bugs.

Brainstorming.

It rained more than anything...

The cure for Insomnia.

2009-06-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

I have drawn to the conclusion, through a personal compilation of statistics, that there is no cure for Insomnia. The refusal of drugs, the reading, the excercising, the meditation, the baths, the milk, the lavender, the sheep; equated to nothing, in the end.

Trial and error was exactly that. Trial, and error.

Fortunately, I have come to the understanding that you can't change the direction of the wind, but can adjust your sails accordingly.

Blogging, cast anchor.