Dead Household Plant Syndrome

Some time ago, I watched a trashy film about alcoholics. I have a fuzzy memory of Sandra Bollocks...Bullocks...whatever. Anyhow, the only piece of trivia I gleaned from this film was something along the lines of 'don't rock up drunk at your sister's wedding' and 'if you can keep a houshold plant alive for two years, you can then get a pet and if you can keep the pet alive for two years you are ready for a relationship'.

The flaw in this silly mantra was that the relationship part wasn't about keeping someone alive (which would be more like advice for psychopaths) but simply getting someone to stay with you...or well still want you after two years.

For some reason this trivial piece of mindless drivel rooted itself pretty deeply in my subconscious and so I decided to buy some household plants. However, after nearly two years...my household plants are not doing so well. In fact 'not doing so well' is a bit of an understatement. They are in fact wilting, browning and one plant only has one leaf left!

This leaves me in something of a predicament *resists the urge to make a really inane pun* If I manage to bring that one leafed plant back from the brink, does that mean I'm really quite good at relationships? Or would that make me worse? Also, since I have no pets...well...damn that stupid film.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is really just a load of crap. However, I made this card for my beloved last year and before I send it to the recycling bin, I thought I'd scan it and post it here (since I treat this blog like a scrapbook and can't be arsed to stick the real thing into the large pile of scrapbooks I've already managed to accumulate). I know there are an excessive number of dodgy images on the card, implying blood loss, rampaging bulls and splattered roses. This was not an attempt to venemously portray my loathing of ficticious excuses to send silly cards, inspired by questionable saints...oh no....it does have some relevance. You see, I planned to take my lover to a production of Bizet's Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall...however...in true 'me style' I fucked everything up and ended up going alone instead. I had a private box to myself and a bottle of wine to boot...so by the end of the performance I was lonely and singing along to Toreador-
la-la-la-la (since the only word I knew in the song was Toreador *blushes in shame*). Mmm *tries to remember why she posted this stupid card anyway*. Well, my lover forgave me for being a complete twat and is still with me... so I guess the card has a happy memory after all.

Another Beautiful Image From Ascend

I hope they make this comic into a film or a video game. The images are so vivid and striking. A preview is available on Image Comics.

Haircut

Last photograph of my short hair. I'm making a promise to myself that I'll let my hair grow...no matter how much I like the feeling of short hair. This bob makes me look silly. Part of the reason I started this blog, was to document my different hairstyles...I still need to go platinum blonde before I die.

Ascend

Ascend

It's another one of those wacky facts...but the concept of fallen angels is kinda sexy. The recent spate of bad films dedicated to this very topic is perhaps an indication of how, despite our secularism, something about challenging God captures the human imagination. It's perhaps one of the reasons why John Milton created such controversy with his epic poem 'Paradise Lost'; what was meant to praise God, ends up making Lucifer look pretty impressive. Lucifer comes across as the ultimate democrat, stirring up his fallen companions with elegant rhetoric and crafty intelligence. One only has to look at the lasting effect the concept of Lucifer had on the Romantics to understand that the guy has a kind of...erm...presence. He's also been the muse of many poets and writers alike. No, I'm not a Satanist...quite the opposite. When I refer to Lucifer, I refer to the literary figure, the romantic icon, the idea that has been added to over the centuries. Anyway, I digress. The reason for this little tangent is that I have found a completely stunning graphic novel about fallen angels called Ascend. I think there's something quite beautiful about the artwork and the story line. It's derivative, but imaginative. I love it. I want it. I'm broke. Sigh.

This is an awesome site, where you can check out what's new and what's hot in the world of graphic novels: http://www.imagecomics.com/ I like it because you can actually read some of the latest comics online. I'll include a piccie of Ascend above this post.

Calvinisms

Whenever things get really messy and life seems about to do a spectacular belly-flop, right above where I happen to be standing at any given moment, I turn to a rather obscure source of wisdom & insight: Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson.

This is deeply superficial, but helps me see what some people call 'the funny side of life'...or is that the 'brighter side of life'? Who cares...whatever side it is, it's important that you can see it I guess (in case it too decides to sit on you). For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about...well...erm...you've been deprived.

Anyhow, I've decided to write down a couple of 'Calvinisms' which make me smile (when what I actually feel like doing is setting something on fire).

He he...this one is more of a universalism:

"In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks."

This one makes me realise no conversation is wasted conversation:

"A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day."

This one is a good argument for Atheism:

"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning."

This one makes me think of every Friends episode I've ever watched:

"Why isn't my life like a situation comedy? Why don't I have a bunch of friends with nothing better to do but drop by and instigate wacky adventures? Why aren't my conversations peppered with spontaneous witticisms? Why don't my friends demonstrate heartfelt concern for my well being when I have problems? ...I gotta get my life some writers."

http://chris.ericbosken.net/pages/calvin.html

Bloody Hell

Wow. I just had one of those surreal wake-up-calls that make you have to pinch yourself to make sure you're not in a dream. All I can say is that some people are just completely weird. One minute you think you know someone and then 'bam' reality bites. Bloody Hell. Think I just learnt one of those crappy little lessons life has up her sleeve...or more like one fell on my freakin' head and I had to take note.

*note to self: tone down on overly active imagination*

For Lovely Things Found by Accident

I stumbled across this sonnet by accident, while doing some research on the form. I think some of the most interesting and lovely things are found by accident.

- Sonnet Macabre -

I love you for the grief that lurks within

Your languid spirit, and because you wear

Corruption with a vague and childish air,

And with your beauty know the depths of sin;

Because shame cuts you and holds you like a gin,

And virtue dies in you slain by despair,

Since evil has you tangled in its snare

And triumphs on the soul good cannot win.
I love you since you know remorse and tears,

And in your troubled loveliness appears

The spot of ancient crimes that writhe and hiss
I love you for your hands that calm and bless,

The perfume of your sad and slow caress,

The avid poison of your subtle kiss.

by Theodore Wratislaw, from "Caprices" (1893)

I love this sonnet. I find it haunting and beautiful. It reminds me of women like Dorothy Parker & Anais Nin. I love the fact that it goes against the convention of traditional Petrachan Sonnets and praises someone for all their faults and experience, rather than their physical perfections, which is similar to Shakespeare's 'My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun'. I like the honesty of recognising desire as something potentially destructive. I'm listening to a really strange piece of music by Puerto Muerto, called Ghostee. It's a nice accompaniment to this sonnet, I think^^.

Mohammad Haque

Someone sent me this image. I think it rocks. The person who sent it, however, is a complete twit. It's a sad fact of life that some twits have good taste.

New Haircut

Yesterday I was a guinea-pig/model for a Toni & Guy student.
I got a cool new haircut for free. I think it makes me look a bit
girly in an Emily Strange kinda way...but a free haircut is a free
haircut.

Yauatcha & London's China Town

Today I went walking around China Town, which is fast becoming one of my favourite haunts. Apart from fantastic stores that stock a wide variety of jasmine teas, exotic spices and various oriental nick knacks, the place has some truly wonderful restaurants. I found a shop that was called 'Feng Shui' and adorned wall to wall in colourful fish lanterns, which made the place seem playful and welcoming. I also found an interesting shop that sells Chinese pastries and sweets.
The smell that was wafting through street, inticed me to sit down and have a sticky bun and herbal tea. The hustle and bustle of China Town in the early morning also adds to an endearing atmosphere, despite the rumours of Chinese mafia chopping people's heads off with traditional swords. I resisted the urge to buy lanterns, fans or even silk slippers and made my way to Yauatcha for lunch.

Yauatcha is an awesome (but expensive) restaurant in Soho, on the corner of Broadwick & Berwick Street. It is both a tea house and Dim Sum restaurant, to be precise. On the top floor, one is greeted with an array of colourful delicacies, that seem almost too beautiful to eat. Here, you can choose from various cakes and puddings and a rich assortment of teas. Nothing is displeasing; a beautiful waitress, in Chinese dress, pours you steaming tea into beautiful crockery. I like the feeling of being pampered...even if I am paying for it. Below, is the Dim Sum restaurant and I can't even begin to name some of my favourite dishes. I like the atmosphere here and I also like the added snobbery of trotting off to the bathroom to wash my hands in delictable Molten Brown hand soap, which then bubbles away down a glorious basin shaped like a water feature ^^