Red, red, mud

Today I went for a wind-ailed wander to Darby Street. I bought some cute postcards from Blackbird Corner (want me to send you one? :D) and some dark red henna from Natural Tucker. I wanted to buy a copy of this (relatively) new Australian magazine called Peppermint, at Blackbird Corner, but I couldn't justify the $10 purchase, when that would be useful food money for the fortnight, I'm feeling so poor. Besides feeling unnecessarily self conscious, poor and unhappy for most of it I had a nice time being out.

When I got home I very cautiously started mixing together the henna. I used beetroot juice, lemon juice, some fresh brewed black tea and boiling water and mixed it up with the henna powder, which C said smelled like spirulina. Once mixed it had the consistency and colour of thick brown mud, or chocolate cake mixture, and I got C to help me smear it all through my hair. I've had it in for about two hours, wrapped in glad wrap and a towell, but the guy at the shop said basically the longer you can last with it in your hair, the more colour will come out. I will report back on how it turns out. I managed not to stain any of the basin or myself in the process which I thought was quite an acheivement. I've dyed my hair at least once a month since I was 14, and every time my Nanna sees me she begs me to stop poisoning myself. I often wonder what it would look like without the layers of dye and what the long term effects of regularly soaking it in ammonia and peroxides and other chemicals can have on your body. Henna dye seems like a good alternative, and hopefully I won't convince myself to use the nasty stuff again.

Tonight I'm watching the last of season 4 of Scrubs (my favourite character is the janitor) and chilling out til my hair is done.
I have to get up early tomorrow and desperately try to beat hundreds of people in regestering for tutorials and studio/demos for my classes for next semester. I'm not looking forward to it one bit. I've already drafted up my 3-day timetable plan for uni, and I know that once I try to get on to register for all those things I'm going to miss out and end up with a five day week. I'm seriously considering just taking some time off, not studying and relying on Centrelink to support me while I look for some crappy work. I felt like I'd had a break between finishing the HSC and starting uni, but I was moving around and unsettled and I just want time to decide what I want. I don't want to waste money and time doing uni courses that I'm not going to get a whole lot out of, or pass, just for the sake of going to university. Raaah.

And for my regular 'If I had a lot of money...' moment:

This collar. Yes please!

Also, one of my Postcrossing postcards was received, so I can send another one :) The post in Finland must be super efficient, it got there in like, five days. Maybe it's not a public system like ours. I am obsessed with this website.

&& here are some of the postcards I got today:


PS. The henna was SO INCREDIBLY EXHAUSTING TO GET OUT OF MY HAIR, but the results are lovely. Our bath/shower's plug hole doesn't drain very well, so I was basically standing ankle deep in chocolate brown coloured water, with this gritty brown water pouring all down my face and in my eyes. It was really hard to get out, but lots of shampoo, conditioner, combing and patience and it all worked out. It is so intensely red, much redder than it's chemically alternative would have turned out. I'll take a photo tomorrow in the light and show you :P