Blog Challenge Day 07

"a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you"

there's a few someones:

My mister (obviously, not actually him)

fiona & sped

niamh & greaves

my boys. I miss living with them.

my gorgeous sister.

as for things
bakerella's cake pops




the work of toby keller


candid street photography (these are by Noah Bucher)





That's it!

Blog Challenge - Day 06!

My favourite superhero & why.

oh golly, you know I've been waiting for this one. We'll kick it off with some brilliant illustrations by Mark Grambau:










Just awesome. It's much easier for me to pick a favourite super-villain: venom. He's exactly what Spider-man could so nearly have become, and for that he wins brownie points in my book, because I've always found spider-man to be a bit self-righteous (especially in the films!)

As for superheroes, I'm going to have to pick two. In comic-book form, it's The Punisher because he's so not what people think a superhero should be - he has no amazing powers, and he has a very twisted view of morality. He's out for revenge, but I think more than that, he enjoys killing, and a in the comics is an interesting examination of why he's the good guy. I was introduced to "the war journals" comic by Jack, and it's one of the darkest reads you'll find.


Non-comic wise, it's definitely Faith of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. I know she's not technically a hero all the way through, but again, that's what I love about her. She's not what she's supposed to be, and she's the darker side of the slayer image. She's also a lot cooler than Buffy, who I often got quite frustrated with, because she's so self centred. Joss Whedon is an amazing writer though, (I've mentioned this before)and only he could write such flawed, yet strong, women. I liked Faith in the comic book of Season 8 as well, as she really comes into her own as a leader.

The Trestles single review & Blog Challenge Day 05!

The new single by The Trestles opens with beautiful chords being picked out delicately and quietly. It is vaguely familiar, and instantly stuck in your head for the rest of the day. It is when Al O Hare’s distinctive vocals kick in that “Sing On” becomes really special, though. The flat northern accent, with its gently tuneful qualities is a brilliant complement to the thoughtful lyrics.



The opening line, ‘let me tell you a little tale…” takes me straight to drinking a pint in a dingy pub (Pogue Mahones, if you must know). The words echo how O’Hare speaks, and there is no farce here. This is the kind of song writing that I search for, in its honesty and poetry. It’s no conventional love song, but rather speaks of that moment when you look up, and the person you’ve been waiting for arrives.

“Sing On” is the song for those nights when you’re staying up all night talking, the kind of night where you drink and smoke too much, without even noticing. It’s a brilliant representation of what The Trestles do best: create the songs you can’t wait to share. Led by the lyrics and the vocals, the song is kept strong all the way through by the sheer catchy force of what’s going on in the background – insistent drums, a really beautiful riff and a carefully crafted build up and breakdown.



The positivity of “Sing On” is neatly juxtaposed with The Trestle’s cover of “I’m on Fire” (originally Bruce Springsteen). There’s a lot that’s very good here – it’s reminiscent of the original, it’s nicely sung, and it reminded me of something I’ve written about these guys before; that they can take your emotions on a bit of a rollercoaster. I’m not as enamoured as I am with “Sing On”, but that’s because I’ve seen this performed as a solo by O’Hare, and there was a lot more to it. It’s definitely worth a listen though.

More importantly, I can’t wait to hear the guys live (30th August, Zanzibar!), because that’s where they really shine. I’ll take some photos, do a live review and I’ll get some questions with Al for here.

See how nice I am to y’all!

Oh, and here's the pictures to go with today's blog challenge:





Me and my sister on our massively chavvy holiday in Ibiza. It was really "brits abroad", but amazing for it - lots of sun, partying and relaxing! my sister is brilliant fun, and we're hoping to again this year.

Blog Challenge - Day 04!

"a habit you wish you didn't have"

To be honest, this is a difficult one for me. I'm quite strong willed, so if I don't want to do something, I just won't. As you'll see though, it's not always the case the other way around - I'll sometimes let people hold me back from doing things I do want to do.

My bad habits include:
I've been an on/off smoker for years (a side effect of having a group of best friends who nearly all smoke), but I've never been addicted. I can just pick it up or stop it whenever I like, so I don't really feel it's a habit. I stopped for good for about a year with no trouble, and now I'll have one when I'm drinking or in an environment where it seems social, but I'd never really smoke as a regular thing.

Other fairly bad habits that I don't want to give up is dying my hair unnatural colours, getting tattoos (five and counting!) and eating food that's bad for me. I refuse to give up something I enjoy because someone I've never met decided that what's beautiful is tall, slim, tanned women with unblemished skin and wheat-blonde hair. It's just not for me. I'm short, roundy, bosomed, pale, tattooed and freckly. I dye my hair a different colour every month (like Ramona from Scott Pilgrim!)and currently have hair that's the colour of ginger autumn leaves. I love it.

I was recently asked "Do you not wish you were thinner, so you can wear more fashionable clothes?" My answer was a resounding no. I wish I could go running with my friend Fiona, I wish I could sit on my boyfriend's knee without fearing I'll give him a dead leg and I wish I could wear haute couture. But none of these things make me feel like less of a fashionable or attractive person - because I know size 10 girls that can't do those things either.

I'm currently wearing a maxi skirt, chunky knee-high boots and a loose fitting top. All these things magazines would probably tell most girls my size and shape to steer clear of, but there you go. I feel like my ourfit is edgy, comfortable and looks good on me.

Clothes shouldn't be about how tall or thin you are, or how big your chest is. Clothes should be about making the person wearing them feel like they're great. A brilliant example is Christina at Musings of a Fatshionista. She wears amazing clothes that challenge what people believe about how bigger girls should dress. Check her out.

I guess that's the habit I'd like to give up - going for the tame option in dressing, for fear of how people will judge me. Because although I like to write about what I believe, sometimes it's hard to fight against the tide of people telling me what I should look like. It's interesting that I was unafraid to tell my Catholic family that I had discovered Atheism, but still sneak out of my flat (it's in the cellar of my parents house) when I'm wearing something I know my family will ridicule or tell me I "look fat" in. I spent years wearing nothing but black, when I was much thinner than I am now, to avoid comment, so I could blend in. I didn't blend in. I looked like a ninja. I'm freer with colour and style now, but I still need to embrace myself, and to trust my ability to dress in a way that makes me happy.

Sorry about the word-heavy post! I'll do a nice music review for you tomorrow, as well as my blog challenge post!

Frank Turner extract from Sellout

Frank Turner Extract

the interview/review I did with Frank Turner and Crazy Arm earlier this year.

Blog Challenge - Day 03!

Today's challenge was to upload a photo of my friends and I. I had difficulty picking a favourite, so these are some of them. There are lovely people missing from here, but I doubt they'll be massively offended!

Today is all about New Found Glory and shivering - because it is so bloody cold in this office!

Blog Challenge - Day 02!

In case you haven't noticed this blog challenge is something I'm doing on a weekday basis. This is because what with a full time computer-based job, a daily commute and an evening spent doing creative stuff, I tend to reserve my weekends for errands, shopping and hanging out with my friends.

This leads me neatly to my day 2 challenge - the meaning behind my blog name. This is pretty obvious really - it's my name! The second part is to do with Sellout Magazine, a project I created for my degree. I still write under this name because I'd like to create another issue when my current housing/job situation calms down somewhat. I've attached below a copy of my magazine I uploaded to scribd.

sellout_revised


Simples!

Blog Challenge - Day 01!

The Blogger Challenge

I haven't been posting very often recently, so I thought I'd take up this blog challenge. I found out about it via the always brilliant Messy Carla, and thought I'd give it a go. Basically, this is what I have to do:

day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
day 2- the meaning behind you blog name
day 3- a picture of you and your friends
day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have
day 5- a picture of somewhere youve been to
day 6- favorite super hero and why
day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
day 8- short term goals for this month and why
day 9- something youre proud of in the past few days
day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
day 11- another picture of you and your friends
day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one
day 13- a letter to someone who has hurt you recently
day 14- a picture of you and your family
day 15- put you ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
day 16- another picture of yourself
day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have
day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them
day 20- someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future
day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy
day 22- what makes you different from everyone else
day 23- something you crave for a lot
day 24- a letter to your parents
day 25- what I would find in your bag
day 26- what do you think about your friends
day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge
day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?
day 29- in this past month, what have you learned
day 30- you favorite song

I'll do another post today with day 1's challenge!

Tea Parties.

As regular readers will know, I'm a big fan of baking, and so I've decided to put together an image blog post of my favourite things for a tea party. It's quite strange, because my design aesthetic for my own home and pieces I create is really very minimal, so the odd bit of chintzy indulgence usually sends me into dreams of tea dresses and doilies!


This image is from a lovely blog written by Katie.

So, today I'm wearing my beloved floral jersey tea dress from Evans, and this, combined with the amazing cupcakes I made from Cook Yourself Thin, has led to dreams of refined tea parties. This is no alice in wonderland affair though. We're talking fancy ladies, grown up food and cocktails.


Tea party clothes:
OH. I don't post clothes I couldn't wear. I am plus size, therefore all clothes I mention are nessecarily also so, unless otherwise stated. I was recently disappointed after seeing a brilliant tshirt on a supposedly plus-size fashion blog, only to find the largest size the stupid online store stocked was a 14. Which is supposedly XL. Right.



Clothes! I like to combine something really soft and feminine with something tailored to create a sort of sexy librarian look á la Rachel Weisz in the Mummy (obscure reference I know, but a very good example!)




The food I'd serve would be Nigella's Butterscotch Fruit Fondue, Nigella's Chocolate Cloud Cake, Delicious Magazine's turkey club sandwich, and Jamie Oliver's little "Fried Pizzas"





Cocktails are the Casablanca and the Gin Sling




So! who's coming?

NOTE! I don't own any of these images, they all came from the links with them.