How Tao, Brown Cow

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like." ~ Lao-Tzu

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything at the moment. End of school malaise, gray sky weather and all that. Bah humbug.

And on a slightly less dour note, I quite like this editorial from the new Russh (which I won't see for another two months, knowing my local mag shop). Got that whole feral beauty thing going on, wilderness, eyebrows run amok and all that. It makes me smile.

Not Quite There

Though I've been hearing reports of glorious weather on the other side of the ocean, it's still not-quite-spring here...It's that annoying transitional weather, where one false move, one layer too many, could lead to uncomfortable sweatiness but layer removed and the chill sets in. Very annoying. Doesn't make too much of a difference to me anyhow as I am holed up inside writing. Supposedly academically, though clearly currently not the case ... rather been playing, dreaming up an imaginary world where I could afford everything from Weekday. It's a world of simple transitional outfits for awkward weather: lighter sweaters, shorter skirts, pastel pants or scrunched up socks while risking the bare leg...simplicity for studying. (Apparently in this imaginary world, I still study).

Though to be honest, my fantasy world would actually involve no studying and no need for transition: summer would be Now. Straight to minimal dressing: throw on dresses, shorts and slinky blouses, and the same shoes and an iced coffee every damn day. Ah summer, you are so far away. Come back soon.

It's Cold...

so cold that my flight back to London was canceled. C'est la effin' vie.

damn.

I don't care what anyone says, Chloë Sevigny looks damn hot in this outfit. And only she could take a straight-from-the-runway outfit and make it look so effortless and throw-on. The girl's got gumption.

(source: tfs, via ringo, have a banana)

take a break, it's wednesday

This has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that I thought it was hilarious. And it's Wednesday. And I had to wake up early, but woke up late, subsisted on coffee alone for four hours and have to go to work in three. But this made two minutes of my Wednesday brighter...maybe it can do the same for you.

country mouse

Today, I was dressed, and felt a little bit like the country mouse in the city, a bit overwhelmed with annoying transportation, overcrowding, pricey fare and the muggy city air. And then I came home, to my little nook in the city, visited the little window box on the balcony, where our vine has started to flower, thought of my home home in the woods and felt a little bit better.



Now you must know that a town mouse once upon a time went on a visit to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he loved his town friend and made him heartily welcome. Beans and bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely. The town mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country fare, and said, "I cannot understand, cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the country; come you with me and I will show you how to live. When you have been in town a week you will wonder how you could ever have stood a country life." No sooner said than done: The two mice set off for the town and arrived at the town mouse's residence late at night.

"You will want some refreshment after our long journey," said the polite town mouse, and took his friend into the grand dining room. There they found the remains of a fine feast, and soon the two mice were eating up jellies and cakes and all that was nice. Suddenly they heard growling and barking.

"What is that?" said the country mouse.

"It is only the dogs of the house," answered the other.

"Only," said the country mouse, "I do not like that music at my dinner!" Just at that moment the door flew open; in came two huge mastiffs; and the two mice had to scamper down and run off.

"Good-bye, cousin," said the country mouse.

"What! Going so soon?" said the other.

"Yes," he replied. "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear."

Death in a pretty dress

So I ventured outside today for a change of scenery. Of course, change of scenery requires change of clothes. And though my life currently consists of wearing a rotating wardrobe of pajama pants and is horribly consumed by reading, when going outside I choose to be horribly consumed by reading in a pretty dress. Ignore the glasses.




It's okay, I'll be alright....just four more finals to go, and then homeward bound to Massachusetts for a couple weeks, followed by a jaunt to the south of France at the beginning of June. Just 12 more days. 12, 12, 12. Shoot me, please.

Cousin It in Knee socks

My bangs are out of control. But I am absolutely terrible at trimming them, and so I let them grow until my vision is almost obscured...then I take my scissors to them haphazardly, but only enough so I can see (for fear too short, too crooked will be the result of any further cutting). Which means that in a week, I will be visually-impaired again.

Oh, and by the by, I finally made it outside of my apartment this week, only to be greeted with gray, cold and rain. I refused to wear tights though, not in mid-April! So knee socks, which I've owned for quite some time, but never wear, were my only option. One small step towards bare legs...

my eyes are tired

I'm just pooped. This past month has been filled with deadlines, sore throats, stuffy noses, runny noses and more due dates. and exam period hasn't even started! anyway, this is just to say -- i haven't been around much, and may not be for a little while, but i hope to come back to this little space and start saying things again so it ain't just photos I fancy. Deal? Deal.

Dear eBay, how I loathe you,

*beware: a long rant to ensue*

I have a love/hate relationship with eBay. Sometimes you will look something up and find it being sold for 1p with no one bidding, and voila 5 days later its yours and it is everything you wanted it to be. Then there are other times, when you find something, that you kind of hoped would be there, but never actually expected it would be, like this A.P.C. dress:

I've had a thing for this A.P.C. dress since I saw it on Kirsten Dunst last summer. I lusted for it, but it was already sold out and I figured it was just one of those things that I would want but never have. I don't know what it is, to be honest, it is not particularly special...but want it I did. So periodically, I search for A.P.C. on eBay -- and last week, there it was, that A.P.C. dress going for a very reasonable price. So I watched it...the evil eBay watch that allows you to visit an item everyday and build up hope that one day, soon, it shall be yours. Only 1 bid -- for a week. "Others have to be watching it," I told myself, "No way it will be that easy." On the day of bidding, yesterday, I had the page open all day so that I wouldn't forget to bid. I like to bid 45 seconds before its over, swoop in and ensure my victory, and that was my plan for 1:20 am yesterday.

But then, at 10:30 pm, I refreshed the page to, ya know, check on the bidding when, all of a sudden, the price had jumped from reasonable to $162.50! In one second, I had lost it. Before I had even begun! $160 was definitely past my budget for a last season dress that essentially is a chambray sack with a little sailor detailing. I went to bed heartbroken, all my daydreams of the past week-- wearing it on a sunny summer day -- were dashed.

I awoke this morning and went to the page that I had despondently left open last night. I refreshed it one last time to see the final bid. It went for $372.76. 372.76 EFFING DOLLARS!!!

And this is why I hate eBay. It makes people crazy. The dress originally was 110 euros which is something like $140. Now, a year later, some crazy (or determined) person paid almost 3 times the price. There is a weird adrenaline rush that happens when you bid, and though you told yourself, no I will only bid $100, somehow, it's a competition and you can't let anyone else win and so you bid ridiculously high, hoping no one will suspect you are bluffing. But they do, and you pay $400 for a chambray sack that your mother could've made.

In fact, an epiphany! I bet my mother can make it (I've put her sewing skills to the test with A.P.C.-copying before). So I come out of this awful eBay experience with a defeated ego, dashed hope, no dress BUT the vindicated knowledge that I did not overpay for something just because eBay told me to. Plus my mom will make it better anyway. hmph!

Phew. The End.

Quote du Jour

A memo from the Bank of England on how to "Dress for Success." Ladies, pay attention:

"Look professional, not fashionable; be careful with perfume; always wear a heel of some sort — maximum 2 inches; always wear some sort of makeup — even if it’s just lipstick.” Shoes and skirt must be the same color. No-no’s include ankle chains — “professional, but not the one you want to be associated with;” white high heels; overstuffed handbags; an overload of rings, and double-pierced ears." ~ The Cut

Perhaps, we should all go back to the wonderfully coordinated oufits of these professional [though not bankers] ladies. Hair & makeup! Placements, everyone! Smile!
Ahem. Or not.

wish list (no. 5)

I have a self-imposed shopping ban in place until February 15th. I was trying to see how long I could go without shopping (hadn't bought anything since right before Christmas), and I figured a month was a good goal...especially, since I literally have no money right now. Anyway, I made it all the way until January 15th and then fucked it up, and so restarted the ban until February.

The upside is I have not had any guilty "shouldn't have bought that" moments in a while, the downside is all the things I've found on the internet (damn topshop.com) and cannot (will not!) buy. At the moment, am I feeling very prone to a minimalist (as much as I can be) aesthetic, probably because of the grey weather, and the above wish list fits that precisely. Once the ban is lifted, I think I will buy one thing from the list -- only one I must remind myself -- as a pat on the back for a job well done. Who knew abstinence could be so trying.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun...Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me! (PLEASE)

The sun came out today! For a wee bit.

Blech, being back in dreary old London makes me miss the States a wee bit more...I can handle the cold, but its the grey sky that bums me out. Here its mild, with grey. There its freezing, with blue...sky that is. Win some, lose some. These pictures make me dream of summer, hopefully London will actually have one this year.

silver lines in the snow

A bevy of winterness has been thrown at me this past week. Ice Storm - check. Powerless - check. Power returns then pipe burst, causing leak that causes ceiling in living room to cave in slightly and take down the christmas tree - check. Snow storm - check. Snow storm part deux - check. SIGH. After a while, I gave up even trying to venture outside the house and settled for fun things to do indoors. Such as redecorating the christmas tree, making graham cracker houses/village, drinking hot cocoa and decapitating snowmen cookies. Winter's a cold-hearted bitch. But at least the chocolate's warm and the snow's purty.

(EDIT: I finally figured out how to enlarge images in blogger, so I fixed that up and the pictures are as big as my skinny borders will allow. Not much bigger, but good enough. Hurrah.)

On the flipside

Though I may be trembling at the thought of winter (and its sudden appearance last night with a strange hail/snow/slush phenomenon), I find it useful to look at magazines from the southern hemisphere to keep me warm. Damn them, entering summer and all. Right now I am on the hunt for the new issue of the Australian magazine, Russh, with the model on the cover looking very (mid-90s) summer ready. It's really difficult to find in London, and thus far come up empty-handed but during my search I discovered Frankie magazine...another Aussie mag on art, fashion, music, etc and I quite enjoy it.

Ironically, it was the issue from july/august, so was all about winter anyway. Sigh, I guess I am just destined to accept and embrace the grey ahead.

Grumpity Grump Grump

Man, alive! I was not prepared for the hectic week it has been. Has it been a week already? Well. It's been hectic. Hmm, already said that.

This past week I was thrown back into the depths of despair that is 2nd yr law school, with stacks of reading to do while simultaneously starting a new job. Thought I could handle it. Well. I woke up an hour and a half late for my first morning shift. How's that for first impressions?

All in all it's been a fuzzy week, and was left feeling a little like so:-
Though, that said, it hasn't all been bad. The upside is that I was not fired, so still have a steady paycheck. Plus, that evening I shirked all responsibility in the most delightful way and went to the cinema to watch an old Hollywood classic. I left as cheery as ever.

All I needed was a little Hollywood magic. Thanks, Mr. Welles.