Yeah I'm sorry, I ate my sandwich before I remembered that the next point on the list was "what you had for lunch".
If you're interested I had the last of some mushroom pate I bought in Nottingham in them.
Now onto the main topic of this post.
Pets, furbabies, fluffy siblings, whatever you want to call them, this post is about having animals in the family.
Now you've probably all heard the whole "a dog is for like and not just for Christmas" thing before, so it's not like what I'm about to post is going to be startling news or anything but if you're going to have an animal make sure you can look after it!
I was inspired to write this because for the past two days, next doors cat has been sat on the wall between our balconies yowling to be let in (I guess she must be going in at night to eat and sleep because she looks well fed and I don't hear her at night).
This is really starting to upset me. To me the sound of an upset animal is more heart wrenching than that of a crying child.
I can't help wondering why you'd bring an animal into your family if you were just going to let it sit outside and cry all day.
I'd let her in here for a while, but I think Stirfry would object, though I don't understand "cat" I'm pretty sure the yowling is upsetting him too.
So please people, if you're going to bring animals into your life, at least look after them, a cat is for life too.
What nobody said I had to be the only person in the picture!
I'm a little behind with my blog at the moment (mostly because I was waiting for my boyfriend to upload this photograph), so I'm going to double post until I catch up.
The other day I discovered that Saturday does in fact have a morning!
So Saturday morning Kev and I travelled to Nottingham for the Trashstock festival.
We travelled by train, then attempted to follow google directions to the B+B we were staying in that night...Aaaaand got totally lost and had to call a taxi...Whoops!
When we got there it turned out we had the smallest room in the world ever (it was pretty cold to), up some crazy stairs in the attic!
We were only in it the one night so that's not so bad.
After a quick freshen up we headed to The Central to see some bands :D
When we got there the first band (JD and the FCCs) were already on, so we grabbed a drink (mmmmm Pear Cider) and went to watch the rest of their set.
They sounded pretty good, their music isn't really something I'd deliberately go out and listen to, but it wasn't at all bad.
After them was a trek upstairs for the Jukebox Junkies, who I thought were pretty awesome.
They'd won a Battle of the Bands to be there, and they suffered a bit of a reduced crowd, presumably down to people having seen them three times already. Bit of a shame because as I say I really liked them and I wished they'd had more than a half an hour set.
After that it was back downstairs for Dead Identities, again not really a band I'd go out of my way to listen to, but they were pretty good.
Back upstairs (where the flooring didn't cause me as much back pain) for The Lost Souls Club and after a jaunt back downstairs it was time for Falling Red.
I've seen Falling Red before, and I really like their music.
They're very 80's inspired Motley Cruesque rock and or roll that always seems to get people jumping around.
After that Kev was supposed to interview Chris from Lord of the Lost, but this got pushed back half an hour and we didn't find out straight away, which is a bit of a shame because we missed the first half of The Rocket Dolls.
From what I saw of them they were pretty damn good, defiantly up there with my bands of the day, with a little bit of luck I could see them getting quite big actually.
Then it was straight back stage to talk to Chris :D
When Kev does something with the interview I will let you know, but for now I will say this is one of the funniest interviews I've sat in on!
Glitter flying everywhere (the rest of The Pleasures were sparkling themselves up in the background), lots of hushing in German (Kev was recording the interview) and silly answers :D
So after the interview and the quick photo up there (I've just noticed we look like pale skintone colour swatches in that one!), we headed back downstairs to catch the rest of The Eureka Machines.
Chris Catylst was certainly looking a lot less purple that when I saw him at Mera Luna with The Sisters of Mercy, shrouded in their famous cloud of purple fog!
Again Eureka Machines aren't really my cup of tea, but what they did was good and people seemed to enjoy it.
Back Upstairs for Obsessive Compulsive, who were frikkin' amazing!
They reminded me a lot of The Distillers, when The Distillers were actually kinda good, but with their own sort of thing to. t's hard to describe but take my word for it, they were kick ass :D
Then back downstairs for The Pleasures.
Words cannot explain how awesome this band was!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making glitter cool again and saving it from the evils of Twiglet!
Admittidly, when I first heard that half of Lord of the Lost were also in a Glam band I did make a WTF? Face, but yeah I was suitable impressed (also their cover of Ballroom Blitz= amazingness).
I was in masses of back pain by this point so I ended up having to go for a sit down and missed half of The Glitterati set, but when we did go see the rest of them, I got the eerie feeling that I knew them from somewhere I just couldn't quite put my finger on where.
Next came the rush up to the front of the room to get a good spot for Lord of the Lost. I ended up infront of a speaker stack, which kin of hurt my ears a bit and gave me THE WORST COTTON EAR EVER when we left, but hells yeah it was worth it :D
This isn't by me but I found a little bit of camera-phone footage someone took of their version of Bad Romance (it has to be heard to be believed):
Then came the headliners, Acey Slade and the Dark Party.
Apart from the use of nylon guitar stings (nylon guitar strings are from the devil!), I really enjoyed Acey Slade and The Dark Party, Acey has pretty amazing stage presence, even off the stage!
He tightrope walked along the safety barrier, climbed on top of the speaker stack that I was standing next to (thought's running through my head at the time: "Wow this is so cool! Please don't fall, please don't fall! Sooo cool! Dude how high must this guy's insurance be? PLEASE DON'T FALL!"), walked through everybody then got up on the bar and sung from over there for a while!
The poor tech guy looked like he was going to have a fit!
Again, not filmed by me but I found this footage from the night (including the drummer's beater falling off) on youtube:
Over all, I had a fabulous time, and it's an awful shame that there isn't going to be another Trashtock.
I couldn't get a photo of the actual tie, but this is very similar to the one a girl tried to strangle me with when I was twelve.
I was always eager to learn as a child, but the school system let me down when I needed it.
I was unable to protect myself from a group of at least twenty girls and boys, some my own age, and some older from beating me up and then leaving me in a heap on the grass. Nobody stepped in to help me, the few friends I had hid and waited for it to be over so they could pick me back up when it was done and make sure I was ok.
Yes the sight of the real tie does make me cry, and does remind me of what I went through, but it's also a symbol of strength to me.
That was the last day that I was ever weak, that was the last day I ever curled up and hoped that it would hurry up and be over.
Ever since then I've never let anybody hurt me.
People have tried, but after what I went through, I'm never letting anybody hurt me again.
Way, way back in 2003/4 ( don't remember which), I was googling for Goth sites (even at 14 I knew that trip pants and a Slipknot hoodie didn't constitute as Gothic and so I turned to the internet for help...Hi remember when people still used gothmap and Writhe and Shine updated more than once a year?), anyhow I accidently came across this article that Morbid outlook article that makes people wince when you mention it...
I was curious and googled "Gothic Lolita" to see if I could find out more, and I came across Avant Gauche , and in their gallery I found the first photos I ever saw of Mana Sama, and I thought to myself "Wow, she's beautiful I want to look like her!"
Of course, now I know Mana is a guy, that doesn't change anything.
Now onto today's main topic.
Bisexual Pride day!
Now I thought I'd take this opportunity to try and dispel some of the myths surrounding Bisexuality.
A lot of people have a hard time coming out as Bi ( I know did), because of the terrible stereotype that accompanies it.
The stereotype people seems to associate with us is that we're promiscuous scene girls, with no morals who kiss other girls to impress guys we like.
While I'm sure that people like that do exist, in the majority of cases that stereotype couldn't be further from the truth.
Most Bisexual people I have met (myself included), are monogamous (which means we stick to having one partner) and those who aren't make sure everybody in the relationship know and is happy with the situation.
Another one is that Bisexual people are "not fussy" or "greedy".
Now I for one am the fussiest person I know, while everybody I knew was dating everybody and their mother in their teens I was finding flaws in almost everybody that tried to ask me out, yet still my "friends" called me greedy bitch.
I guess it's quite easy to come to that conclusion, after all this is how Bisexuality is displayed on TV and in the media.
Do you believe everything you see on TV though? You really shouldn't.
In short, do make assumptions about people based on who they find attractive.
Also, Happy Bi Pride day (or what's left of it) :)
Two slices of marmite slathered toast and a cup of tea for breakfast mmmmm mmmmmm :)
I'm starting today's blog with a bit of an advertising fail. In response to the keywords in yesterdays blog google has been throwing out this advert in the sidebar:
Children & Bereavement
Helping Children Cope with Death Watch the Free Video Now!
parentchannel.tv/Bereavement
Now let me get this strait, I'm not saying helping people cope with the
loss of a child is fail,
however the gammar in that advert is certainly made of fail.
Am I the only one who read it in an innapropriate, shouty advert voice because
of the exclaimation point?
C'mon Google, have some tact please...
So today I've been working on the editing for the photographs Bloodmyer took of me yersterday.
So far I have:
and
So now do you get where I was heading with those descriptions of my ideas yesterday?
That's Bloodmyer in the second image as my hoax spirit by the way. :)
In other news, in amongst the daily chores I've been watching Torrinpaige's youtube videos and now I REALLY want my hair to hurry up and grow!
I really want enough hair to be able to do this:
Seriously she does some amazing things to her hair... I have the jellous.
Today I visited Bloodmyer, she made me tea, took some photos and showed me her amazing Decoden prototypes, hopefully I will have something of hers to review at some point because they truly are beautiful.
It was fun to chill out with my bestie for the first time in ages :D
As I said yesterday, she was going to take some photos for me to use in a Halloween themed photo competition.
My original idea was based on the both sweet and morbid Victorian practice of Post Mortem Photography.
In the early days of photography it cost an awful lot to actually have your photograph taken and most people weren't able to justify the cost during their lifetimes and so it became practice to have a photo taken of a loved one when they died.
I do find it very sweet that people wanted to remember their loved ones, but some of these images can be very moving.
The following link has quite a good collection of them for those who are interested (warning, a lot of the subjects are children, so if you are easily upset by that kind of thing please do not click):
For my second image I was inspired by early hoax "Spirit" photography
Almost as soon as photography became popular people found a way to exploit the vulnerable with it.
Not long after World War One ended hoax spirit photography became really popular.
The idea was that the camera could capture images of the mourner's deceased loved one(s) under certain conditions, in reality in most cases the negatives were double exposed.
Eventually a lot of these charletons were found out when mourners realised the "spirits" looked nothing like their loved ones, but often resembled the photographer's assistants.
I need to do some editing on the photos to make them look old (and to remove the shine from the baby's head) but I decided to share to preview images with you from today's shoot:
Unfortunately today I have been putting the finishing touches to a letter of complaint.
I always find having to write letters of complaint saddening, but it's even more so when it's to people you put your trust in to help you with your future.
Some people are able to write such letters with smiles on their faces, not me though, I am just saddened and feel let down.
Anyhow I did end up leaving the house yesterday, we had to get some emergency things like bread, and ham for Kev's sandwiches, also picked up some batteries for my camera so from tomorrow I'll be taking my own blog photos, huzzah!
I'm off to see Bloodmyer tomorrow to take some photos for a Halloween themed Lolita competition, though more on that tomorrow.
I decided today to share a little of my art, not to much, just the pieces I am proudest of.
This one is "Queenie", one of my first forays into vector art, although I see room to improve, I still really like this image.
"Rococo Lady", one of the sister pieces that goes with "Queenie"
"Fetuscide", a fabric design (it still needs a little work before I make an actual print, some of the circles are still a little out. It was inspired in part by the Parisian and Prauge Vaults (a reproduction of the later can be seen in the Velvet Revolver video for Slither)
The initial ink drawing of "What Would Freud Say?"
Simplified and almost ready to print.
Printed :D (we weren't able to print onto fabric for this project :( )
The fabric for a printed silk skirt I made (I still don't have decent photos of it finished)
Haha yeah sorry, I'm not taking a photo of me in it. I am in massive amounts of leg pain right now so I can't see myself changing into anything else! Need to have a lazy Sunday.
So why am I in such pain?
In short, way to much dancing in seven inch heels!
The band didn't show up at Charnel House last night, as of right now we're not really sure why, but we suspect they must have gotten stuck in traffic somewhere (they did have to come a pretty long way), this did mean there was more DJ time though, and this week there was so much music played that I love!
Highlights included reducing Aaron to hysterics whilst doing Kate Bush impressions, Kev making everybody laugh doing his Death Metal Lady Gaga impression, and Bloodmyer and I doing the macerena to Temple of Love and actually managing to look quite serious this time! (There is a little bit of back story to this, I might tell it at some point).
Proof that I am totally still a student:
This morning I had two slices of cold Spicy Vegetarian (sans cheese) Pizza for breakfast. NOM NOM NOM!
So I thought I'd start out with a meme I found. Day 01 - A picture of yourself Day 02 - A picture of what you wore today Day 03 - A picture of what you did today Day 04 - A picture of where you went today Day 05 - A picture of your morning Day 06 - A picture that inspires you Day 07 - A picture that makes you cry Day 08 - A picture of yourself Day 09 - A picture of what you had for lunch Day 10 - A picture of what you like to do Day 11 - A picture of your favorite drink Day 12 - A picture of your favorite food Day 13 - A picture of your friends Day 14 - A picture of your favorite teacher(s) Day 15 - A picture of yourself Day 16 - A picture of your dream cell phone Day 17 - A picture of your mp3 player Day 18 - A picture of your room Day 19 - A picture of your favorite musical instrument(s) Day 20 - A picture of where you want to honeymoon Day 21 - A picture that makes you think of your loved one Day 22 - A picture of yourself Day 23 - A picture that describes your life Day 24 - A picture of what you did today Day 25 - A picture that you edited Day 26 - A picture that makes you angry Day 27 - A picture of you more than 10 years ago Day 28 - A picture of what you wore today Day 29 - A picture of yourself Day 30 - A picture of you and your best friend
So even though I posted a photo of me already yesterday I'm still going to start with day 1 because if I started with day 2 it might take me a while to get a photograph (my camera batteries are deadzorz). So here we go, this is another photo of me:
Here I am with one of the most stylish Dr Who baddies ever! Kind of annoyed my bra straps decided they wanted to be in the photo, but oh well I guess whatever I wore I wouldn't have looked half as good as the clockwork man!
Other things of note today:
Tonight is Charnel House (one of the night my boyfriend Kev and our friends DJ), the band Lupine are playing tonight, who I have seen before, and from what I remember fro last time they played they were pretty cool.
Hello,
My name is Louise, I occasionally go by Alex (yes people sometimes call me that in life).
I live with two men, Kev and Stirfry (Stirfry is Kev's cat, I will probably post photographs of him looking cute at some point).
My life isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn close.
Sometimes I'm super lucky, sometimes not so much.
I have the most awesome friends anybody could wish for.
I am a Fashion and Textiles student, I major in Print (mostly screen print but I've dabbled in other things here and there), I was supposed to be going back to University this year but due to an administrative error I've been forced to take a gap year.
I'm a little disappointed by this but I'll survive.
My current mission is finding a job that lasts less than 16 hours a week so I can get help from The Prince's Trust to start up my own business.
What is my business?
I'm afraid I can't tell you right now (I had a nightmare about that old cable advert for the Inventors Hotline with the giant light-bulb and decided not to tell anybody except very close friends and people helping me get funding etc), but if you stick around and all goes to plan then you'll find out some day.
I party quite a lot, no not because I'm a secret millionaire but because Kev and a few of our friends are DJs, I'm no booth babe though, I like to make myself useful. I managed to pick up one of the super heavy big speakers a few weeks back...I ROCK!
Oh yeah, this is me:
