Illustration + Design

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Eats
Today I did C's homework for him. He signed up to a Swap-bot vegan/vegetarian recipe swap, but he had lots of actual homework to do, and as this swap is now two weeks overdue, I though I'd help get it done to avoid any nasty 1's! Haha. They're a bit scrappy, but they'll do. I had been sitting here since I got up making them and then realised that I hadn't had breakfast yet myself, it's 3pm.



Tomorrow I have an early start and I have to try to navigate my way to a wedding using only public transport! I still don't know what to wear and haven't practised the song with my old music teacher, but I'm sure it'll be okay. Eep!

C went to work last night and Manneh came over just after he left. We went for a walk to get pizza and while we were waiting we started browsing in a nearby bookshop that was still open and after a while a small lady walked up behind us, I thought she was going to ask if we needed any help but she asked us if we'd like a free glass of wine each. Puzzled, we accepted and then awkwardly stepped out after finishing our glasses, without buying any books. The pizza was glorious, then we came home, watched and listened to things, drank whiskey and Baileys and Manneh put himself to bed at 10 (!) and I waited for C to return home from work. A pleasant evening. Manneh is always enjoyable company.

Ps. I found out yesterday that I got back into uni (graphic design correspondence) which I am really excited about (I know I'll regret having said this a few weeks in).
Seeing Is Believing

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With the best mail always seems to come the worst mail. Two bills arrived today along with two letters and three postcards. At least if my internet gets cut off I will have more time for letter writing. The pile of letters needing replies is growing larger and larger.

Today's incoming mail;


^ A delightful letter from Belen I can't wait to reply to.


^ From the lovely Rokia.


^ Two gorgeous Postcrossing postcards, the first is Dutch, the second is Finnish.


^ And this rather gorgeous postcard from Wendy from Ohio. Thankyou Wendy! :)

My outgoing mail;





I'm spending today writing letters, making lots of phone calls, reading zines and trying to reapply for uni. I'm feeling like everything is out of my control at the moment and as a result I have this intense desire to clean my whole house, I guess that makes me feel in control of something.

I am rather in love with this Modcloth hoodie, and as the AU to US exchange rate isn't too bad a the moment I could get away with this beauty for about $50. Hmmm. Want to buy me this as a Christmas present mum? (I'm pretty sure she reads my blog but I'm not sure, haha);


I thought this postcard garland was rather fetching;


And I am amazed by the accuracy of these photographs by Alison Jackson using celebrity lookalikes. Seeing is believing;




My Heart Is Frozen Still

^ Ghost World; One my top 3 favourite films.

I just had the most delicious chai banana smoothie.

C's brother and niece came over this afternoon as she needed help with an assignment about seventies music (she's in year two) and we spent several hours compiling some of the best/most memorable/influential songs from the seventies, it included some Bowie, Frank Zappa, Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, Gil Scott-Heron, Supertramp, Queen, Rolling Stones, ABBA (at her request) and so on. It was pretty fun, though I never realised how difficult it would be to sum up a whole decade of music in 20 tracks. Later we went to their house for dinner and on the walk home C and I stopped at the IGA and spent a whole lot of time in the tea aisle contemplating buying some chai powder for smoothie making. I also found tiny little tubs of this stuff called 'ammonia bicarbonate' which is apparently an integral ingredient in making pfeffernusse. Near the counter was a marked down box full of packets of chips with strange flavours like 'buttered popcorn', 'late night kebab' and 'caesar salad'. I made C close his eyes and pick one and we ate buttered popcorn flavoured chips on the way home, strange, but not unpleasant.

Ingredients in smoothie;
Yoghurt, chai powder, manuka honey, bananas, soy milk, cinnamon, frozen yoghurt, blueberries.

I think it was as good as the one we get at our favourite cafe and it didn't cost us $12 to make!

This photo made me smile today. At first I thought Obama was dressed as a priest, but on closer observation he seems to be dressed as himself (Obama masks seemed to be a popular Halloween costume this year);


I thought these paper shoes were very impressive. I hope Nike doesn't sue him for copyright infringement, really it's just free advertising;



Amazing - British artist Stephen Wiltshire is currently attempting to draw the Manhattan Skyline from memory. Since Monday October 26th Wiltshire began filling in an 18 foot canvas at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. The drawing is expected to be complete by Friday. Wiltshire diagnosed with autism at the age of three displays an unusually powerful photographic memory that he has applied to rendering cityscapes. He can look at the subject of his drawing once and reproduce it accurately with photographic detail, down to the exact number of columns or windows on a building. he memorizes their shapes, locations and the architecture (via design boom);


Last night I dyed my hair and got bright red dye all down the side of my face, which is yet to come off. It kind of looks like I have been bludgeoned in the side of my head. I am feeling very guilty for taking the lazy option and going back to using regular dye and not henna. I'm sure I'll get to 50 and all of my hair will have fallen out and I'll have cancer from all the chemicals, but there will be a lot of women (and men) in the same boat.

I just applied for an apprenticeship as a sign writer. I'm sure in reality it will involve very little actual design work and mostly just putting together signs for KFC, at least in the early stages, but I guess it is in the realm of something interesting.

I was also pleased to hear that former prime minister John Howard had a Doc Marten thrown at him today while speaking at Cambridge University. Unfortunately the perpetrator was a bad throw.

On Friday I'm going to see Ladyhawke with my friend Laura, and then on Saturday I'm catching two buses to the bay to sing at the wedding/commitment ceremony of my former drama teacher and her girlfriend. It's going to be lovely! I have nothing to wear!



The lovely miss Belen tagged me with this award recently so I thought I should get on to it. I always find these things difficult, but fun. You have to share 7 facts about yourself, so here I go...

When I was a kid my mum wouldn't give me black paint when I was painting as it would put me into a kind of trance, wherein I would begin to take off all my clothes, cover myself in black paint and run around the yard. There are incriminating photos.
I love tv on dvd. Our tv never gets switched on unless we're watching a dvd. My favourite things to watch lately are; Dexter (s4), Carnivale, The Vampire Diaries (I hate myself), Our Hero and The Wire. What have you been watching?
My dream job at the moment would be to work in the post! :D In the future I'd love to work in some facet of design - I love print, web and graphic design, though I'd also settle for being an astronaut.
I am a compulsive hot chocolate drinker, even in warm weather. It is my comfort drink.
I don't cook, at all. My boyfriend does all of the cooking in our house. One in a blue moon I make us something sweet. I think I would be capable of learning to cook, but my boyfriend's cooking is just so good and he enjoys doing it, so I'm not going to stop him. The last time I cooked was when I went to my parents house and I made us fried mushrooms with rosemary on toast.
According to my Last.fm I have played the song 'Forget Her' by Jeff Buckley 27 times in the last week and a half. I think I could still listen to it another 27 times in a row and love it.
I'd really like to know seven things about you!

I pass this award on to; Sophie, Sylvia May, J/Ecological Storyteller, Rokia, Nina, Charlotte Lucy, Sartassa and Elle-Tea! Of course, no obligations if you don't want to do it or have already done it!

Ps. I just saw this, it's kind of corny, but it has a lot of truth to it (via Just To Be Free);
Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.

What would you do?
Draw out every cent, of course!
Well, everyone has such a bank. It's name is time.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the records of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the tomorrow.
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

And remember, time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present


Melting
Well, well, well... this here is my 100th post on this little blawg. I've been trying to think of some way of celebrating it, like a giveawway or the like, but nothing is really coming to mind. Any requests? Haha.

Well, today was a rather lovely mail day. I sent out a bunch of stuff (7 postcards and 2 letters) and received some lovely instant mail karma when the postman arrived;

My favourite mail artists and publishers of Good Mail Day sent me an awesome little surprise package that contained an wonderful zine they made about making their book;



I also got this sweet Postcrossing postcard from the US;


A letter from my pen friend Lila in Poland. I love all of the elephant stamps;


And a Swap-bot cd swap which included this cute card;


Outgoing mail included;



^ A postcard I decorated for November's Benevolent Postcard Society mail out.

A few quick things I've found interesting of late:
Perception
Things Bogans Like - my new favourite blog.
Parking attendant makes millions
This Lichtenstein inspired Halloween costume;



I'm obsessed with 'nooks' lately, and this has to be one of my favourites (via you are my fave);


Yesterday when I got home in a bad mood C said that he had something to show me that would cheer me up, and linked me to these photos - Alexis Denisof and Alyson Hannigan (from Buffy) and their baby dressed as kangaroos, I can only assume the occasion was Halloween, but who knows! Definitely made me smile;





Did I mention it's freaking 40 degrees!? (104 F), and it's only Spring :( I'm meeeeeeelting... C bought me frozen yoghurt and I am so eating all of it when he goes to work :P I have heard a sad little dog a few houses up just whining and whining all day, I hope he hasn't been locked in all day in the heat! :(

PS. A little hello to miss Lauren, thank you for the lovely chat! I hope I got this posted before you went to bed!