Le Success

Rather than spend all my money on Leavers (or Schoolies, if you will) buying alcohol and wristbands and such on top of the hefty $250 accommodation fee for five nights IN A TENT THAT WE SUPPLIED OURSELVES (sorry, I have a thing with extortion), I went on a total spree with Darling Sister on Monday and got me some gladrags.

These included Rubi shoes - two pairs of flats for $20 is something I cannot refuse. Especially when the lining is gorgeous floral patterns - I'm a sucker for cute detailing at the best of times, but this was all too much. Plus, if you spend sixty dollars you get a free twenty dollar voucher. I'm not going to lie, I considered the possibility of eight pairs for $60 quite heavily.

Cotton On Body have a sweet little offer at the moment of 3 pairs of pyjama shorts (or shirts... or a mix, even. Whatever takes your fancy!) for $30. BARGAIN, I say! I got some of those... obviously this post would be enhanced with photos but I lost my camera and google is being most unkind in returning viable pictures.

Anyone else found a bargain recently?

Arts students have more fun!

I found this on the adorable Gala Darling's blog, and it made me giggle.

Say grrr!

Obviously, I am all up for animal-themed clothes and accessories. Well, I wouldn't wear them, but I appreciate their frivolty (much like the frivolty of two blogs in a day after I haven't posted for approximately 6.3 hundred years!)
So check-ch-check-check-check-ch-check it out. These are insane. I found a link for them while forum-whoring (thats also on my to-do list, it's been too long). More can be found here.

Things to do now I have no study!

1. Make some money
This is quite high on the list, although doesn't sound half as frivolously impractical as the typo "Make some Monet"...

2. Learn guitar
Aside from the three chords I already know. Darn the amount of songs that use an F chord! Darn my tiny fingers!

3. Make a business plan
This should be relatively easy once I know what to put in it. Sample ones I've come across while looking for a simple, retail plan include:

• Office Furniture Manufacturer - I guess someone has to do it.
• Irish Pub - This is, I feel, very specific.
• Horse Reseller
• Religious Coffee Shop. I didn't realise the need was so vast!

4. Learn to cook pasta

5. Learn Italian, so I can keep up with conversations at work.

And, more importantly, read Italian Vogue. Although, let's face it, looking at the pictures is also quite satisfying.

Being tagged and study breaks

Today, I have studied History and decided to hate on Nicholas II because there were three revolutions before all this shit got sorted and I can't remember what happened where! (Although, to be fair, hates on Stalin as well. Evil dictators FTL).

Anywho, I have been tagged by some lovely people (tara and jacinta... <3)>

4 things I did today:

1. Went into town and spent $30 on magazines - Frankie (with bonus gift wrap book! ker-ching!), jpg (a photo magazine) and some gaming one for Boy. I suspect it's actually manga porn. (I jest)

2. Studied. Ugh.

3. Bought my second CanTeen bandana this year. I can't resist the geeky robot designs!

4. Decided to post Kay's dress (my first design and business venture!)

4 things on my to-do list:

1. Find the sheet music for my WAAPA audition. Its next month but I'm terrible with actually doing stuff.

2. Save up for a four-track and make an EP!

3. Write some songs for said EP.

4. Study! Darn examinations.

4 guiltiest pleasures:

1. The icecream from work. Fererro tastes exactly like a Fererro Rocher and it is a mouth-gasm.

2. French Cannoli from work. We have two Italian pastry chefs, okay? I'm getting fat* working there! (* not fat, but no longer able to slip between the pastry desk and the doorway. This must be rectified)

3. Cheesy 80s music. Belinda Carslile and Meatloaf come to mind.

4. Sex. Not really, I'm just running out of things to say! Oh, actually, good cover versions. I used up much of our downloads watching The Arcade Fire and David Bowie perform "Wake Up", Stars covering The Smiths' "This Charming Man"... I may have dabbled in the odd Bowie cover myself (it's on youtube somewhere).

4 random facts about me:

1. I like using 1950s profanities more than modern ones. It's deeply satisfying to yell "Hot dang!" in an aggrivated tone.

2. I'm planning to save $7000 to go to England next year for Reading Festival (most of this will be spent on clothes while I'm there, for me and my darling sister). I have something like $5605.45 to go.

3. I've picked the name of my solo music project, and now just have to get around to recording the darn ep.

4. In one month I will be in Dunsborough caring for my drunk/hungover friends while playing Guitar Hero with the only other person I know who will be there and doesn't drink. I highly look forward to it.

Tag #2 from Jacinta

The rules:- Link to the person who tagged you. (http://justjacinta.blogspot.com/)

- Mention the rules. (am currently doing so)

- Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.

- Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.

- Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

1. I have a History examination in six days. I know not a lot about Russia or Australia, hopefully my brain starts to function again when I catch up on sleep tonight!

2. I have a six day old "nephew" - my friend just had a baby and since she won't let me be godmother (even though I was promised the role) because her new lesbian lover is (I know, if she stayed a lesbian this never would have happened!), so I decided it's my nephew and I am the cool aunty who it loves.

3. I'm drinking green tea. I love green tea almost as much as life itself - this actually goes for most cups of tea.

4. I painted a picture a couple of weeks ago of a girl (in black and white) but her face is in a TV screen and that is in colour. I then analysed it from a third-person perspective and decided it could be a commentary on society, or it could just be crap on canvas.

5. Im unsure whether to sell said painting (money for England!) or give it to my sister (original plan, it was meant to be a birthday present but I had too much to do so I got her the DVD of Popular instead)

6. I'm not sure whether to cut my hair or grow it. Decisions, decisions!

xx

Holy Calamity!

Hot dang, Holy Calamity! have some gorgeous jewellery. Launched by a Perth girl (so lets all show our support... WA needs it! :D), the designs are gorgeous and oh-so-sweet. Plus, she's a good lass who does free shipping. Had I not blown $50 today on this...

I might have spent it on one of these.

Only in America...

Ok, so maybe The Chaser got us all on the Kevin07 bandwagon with their Chaser 07 shirts. But honestly, I can't see One Teaspoon or another Australian brand (Be a Tiger, anyone? :D) getting on board and making shirts to promote Turny Turn Turnbull or any other MP. America went that step further, though, with Runway to Change showcasing designs from musicians, designers and the like for Obamarama.

Gracious, though, they have some good designs!

Juicy Couture

Zac Posen

Diane von Furstenberg

Here's to you, Mrs Robinson

I was introduced to the wonders of The Graduate on the weekend, and its a pretty awesome movie. Considering I usually hate stuff thats so awkward it makes you cringe, the social awkwardness of this all is great.

Ann Bancroft is an awesome Mrs Robinson. I wouldn't go there with the whole "Oh, lets seduce the college graduate who is the son of my husband's business partner", but I'd go there with the classy clothes.

And this just makes me giggle...

Lady Luck Rules OK!

As my last post probably indicated, I tend to lust after poppy, kitsch pieces (read: most of my sister's adorable wardrobe). I'll admit it. So I will definitely be stocking up on LLRO! when I'm in England. Who doesn't want a pear ring that opens up to have a picnic hamper? Or a notepad shaped like toast? Their jewellery is simply swell. The dress is also quite cute, though I could make one quite easily. The ultra-adorable accessories are a definite win!

Daily inspiration: That cool version of me

Seeing as I finally got my business name registration (Be a Tiger Designs officially exists! WOO!) I thought I'd make a celebrationary post.

Inspiration of the day:
Big Sister Tara
(all together now... nawwww)

The adorable-ness of this is insane. A big sign saying love! A peter pan collar! Music notes! I think getting more kitsch would be impossible.

The perfection of the rock and roll "I'm bored, lets go grab some vodka" look. Cure shirt is a bonus.

OH MY! Is that a jacket like Cassie from Skins? Doesn't it just look so sophistocated?

To be honest, this outfit makes me happy on the inside. It's so gorgeous and 'underground jazz bar'. And that hat. My goodness.

I don't think those tights could be more reminiscent of the mirrorball suit if they tried. Plus, the anatomical heart necklace is a big win.

Love/hate

Love: Love by Genine Honey - such a gorgeous range of jewellery! They're kitsch! They're adorable! They're not that expensive!

Hate: The lack of images except for this catalogue of her designs.

i wonder indeed...

It would be nice to be that motivated when I get dressed.

Still, lets take a moment to praise the wonders of Postsecret. Frank Warren, I salute you.

fear and loathing of gatsby

Often the work of one prolific writer will influence others throughout their lifetime and after. This is especially true of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his work The Great Gatsby, which is revered as one of the best representations of the Jazz Age and a brilliant novel. A snapshot of an era, Gatsby deals with the decline of the American Dream and critiques the values of the upper class. These themes are also evident within Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a piece of 'gonzo' journalism that has been hailed as a modern literary classic. Thompson’s admiration for Fitzgerald’s work seems to have influenced his writing considerably, as many correlations can be made between the two pieces that are each hailed as classics of their time. While working, Thompson would copy out Gatsby on a typewriter to try and learn the literary style of Fitzgerald that made him such a revered author (he would also copy out Ernest Hemmingway's A Farewell to Arms). As such, he has been largely influenced by Fitzgerald's work and the themes of the novel have seemed to permeate Fear and Loathing.

Both novels concentrate largely around the decline of the American Dream. In Gatsby, the characters that aim for the stereotypical American Dream of wealth, possessions and freedom (Gatsby and Myrtle) are killed. Gatsby and Myrtle both aspire to have the material possessions and the privileges of the upper class, a dream that neither of them are able to realise. Fear and Loathing, meanwhile, is concerned primarily with an (albeit drug-hazed) search for the American Dream. This novel ends with them not having found the American Dream, just as Gatsby ends without Gatsby and Myrtle having achieved their American Dream. Coincidence? Possibly.

However, there seems to be too much correlation thematically between the two texts. And given Thompson's admiration for Fitzgerald's work, it seems too coincidental that the texts are similar. Fear and Loathing, while a revolutionary piece of work and groundbreaking in terms of publicising 'gonzo' journalism, seems to be highly influenced by Fitzgerald and another attempt, although arguably more successful than any others, at recreating Fitzgerald's iconicism.

That being said, I should also add that Fitzgerald had a lot more to work with. The 1920s did produce some rather awesome music and fashion, and I doubt you have any taste in either whilst on drugs.

All flapper, no slapper!

Not a fan of the unfinished lip, but gosh darn it, I love to be able to pull of that smoky eye!

being a tiger

If only I hadn't spent £150 ($325... ouch) on a ticket to Reading Festival 2009 last night, perhaps I could afford a pair of these H.P. Lovecraft NYC shoes I've been lusting after...