If I read any more Baudrillard, I fear I may go insane

Taking a break from studying....

I realised last week that I'm surrounded by people based in the arts or those who are creative beyond a doubt. Which is unintentional, I might add, the part about being surrounded by all this creativity. My interest in the arts has to have come from my mom's side because there is a long line of artists down the generations: one of my great-aunts was an Indian dancer/singer, my grandmother used to sketch and draw, an uncle of mine was a cartoonist when he was younger, another couple of uncles are musicians (one of them only part-time), and my lawyer mom moonlights as a painter on the weekends.

While mom's interest in the arts is visual and mine is written, I'd like to think I get my arts-based mind from her.

And the list continues: my sister plays piano, two of my friends design/make clothes (I mention one of them, Molly, a lot), another three or so sing and/or dance, and one is a musician. Update: I forgot to add that my musician friend is also a theatre actor, which is good for me because it's easily accessible and I know the plays will be good as he chooses interesting roles. And my only female cousin wants to be (and is going to be, after reading her work) a writer as well - it's funny that out of the five of us grandchildren, all three girls want to be based in the arts. So, my friends and family round out the arts nicely.

Not such a bad crowd to be around, huh?

My mom hasn't painted in about 20 years, so I got her an easel and acrylic paints for Mother's Day. She painted this on Mother's Day, and it was her first time using acrylics:


Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Listening to: "Cloudbusting" by Kate Bush, Jack's Mannequin's "Dark Blue", "Give Me Heart" by Susie Suh, "Welcome to England" by Tori Amos, "Buy Now Pay Later" by The Whitlams, "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac, "Fine Line" by Little Big Town, "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks, "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel

Meanwhile during my stagnant Wednesday morning class

Finally, something more closely related to writing: I broke my no writing spell. I wrote about 3/4 of a handwritten page on Monday night continuing on from a story I started two months ago. That may have been the last thing I wrote before this huge break.

I only have 4 more weeks of classes and due assignments before the winter break. And then there will be 12 more weeks of university before I graduate later this year. Argh! My university degree (a Bachelor of Arts, or as people in other discourses like to call it - the 'Get a real job' degree) is three years long, and boy, have those three years gone by at lightning speed. Or it will have.

Blogging may be the last thing on my mind over the next 4 weeks because I don't do exams and my tutors compensate by piling up each class with assignments. Since I've been good at keeping up with work this semester (and starting assignments early) I'm hoping it will leave me with time to blog regularly.

I watched a cartoon version of the double slit experiment (in quantum physics) in class today. The Big Bang Theory boys would love that, although I'm thinking Sheldon would find many inconsistencies in the experiment. I, however, did find it interesting, although I was completely lost when it came to the last half.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl?
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Planets of the Universe" by Stevie Nicks (there is a short guitar solo towards the end of this song that I just can't stop listening to), "Come" by Fleetwood Mac

Quirky things

In case you missed the allusion in the last 'What I'm Reading' section, I have finally finished Bret Easton Ellis' Glamorama! I actually finished it last week, reading the last 40 pages or so in one day. It wasn't that it was a bad book - it was, surprisingly, an engaging and interesting book, but it was the graphic sexual scenes and violent fights that let me put the book down at times. I'm not averse to reading material of that nature (if it contributes to the story) but Ellis describes bloody and brutal bombings and amputations in such detail that I almost started to feel pain in each part of the body that was being blown off in the story. If you're interested in technique, and structure in particular, I suggest you read this book. Ellis uses stream of consciousness very effectively and seamlessly.

On another note, I love finding quirky things anywhere, so here's some of my most recent purchases.

I had to buy these black shoe socks when I saw them, and then bought the same pair in red. The striped socks just seem really witchy.

I've heard that these masks can sell for up to $300 (in the Australian dollar) so to find this mask in a crystal and knick-knack shop for $20 was incredible. I was immediately fascinated by the black one in the store because the last time I had seen Venetian masks was in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette and all these thoughts about where this mask would have been and who would have used it if it was made during that time started to flood my mind.

That day I also bought the 2 candle lights behind the mask. They're battery-operated and are made to look like old 17th-century candles in gold holders. I bought them in a $2 shop.

And these are my first Argyle socks. You can tell I have a thing for socks. Now I want to find an Argyle vest in these same shades.

Now I have to finish off a reading for tomorrow's class, watch the last 5 minutes of a Big Bang Theory season 1 episode, and get some sleep before this all starts again.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, and Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl?
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Illume" by Stevie Nicks, "Silver Girl" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Everybody Finds Out" by Fleetwood Mac

Breaking the chain

I honestly haven't written anything in about 2 months. Any stories, that is. (I have some from class but I don't think they count because they were written for assessment). Things have been really hectic for a while; between classes, work, assignments and general tidying up of my room and house I have little time for sleep, let alone writing.

This is the first time I've had a writing break this long. Yet, the longer I don't write the easier it is to continue in that frame of mind. I'm going to break out of it though. Tonight. Even if it's just half a page, I'll write something. I'll post some story fragments up here soon.

Grown from my mom's garden. Pretty much the size (actual size) of my inspiration at the moment.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice (for class), Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl? (because I love me some real English - as in the country - fiction)
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Illume" by Stevie Nicks, "Silver Girl" by Fleetwood Mac

"Might paint something I might want to hang here someday."

I went into the city (with my older sister) on Friday, to have lunch with our mom. I have a red and green tartan dress that my mom found for me at Myer (Australian department store) which I've only worn once before. I was never really someone who enjoyed dressing up or even wearing dresses for that matter. I was kind of a tomboy when I was a kid, and it's only very recently that I've started taking an interest in clothes. I'm still warming up to clothes shopping though.

This is how I was going to wear the dress. It's sleeveless, but I didn't like the cut of it, so I wear it with t-shirts. This isn't how it was originally. My aforementioned friend Molly altered it for me, so it's more fitted, shorter to wear it as a sleeveless coat, and with a curved hem at the back and front.

Dress from Myer, Fleetwood Mac 2009 concert tour shirt, red tights, Iggy Youths shoes.

However, the temperature dropped down to 24 degrees C/75 degrees F on Friday morning, so I ended up wearing the dress with a longer-sleeved t-shirt and my boots.

Yes, there is a hole in the red tights. By pure bad luck, the first time I wore the tights the Velcro on my skull bag latched on to them and caused them to ladder. Luckily, this happened when I got home, so I managed to buy another pair of red tights yesterday without wearing the ripped tights out.

Dress from Myer, black Mickey Mouse t-shirt (hidden under dress), red tights, boots from Forever New, drum kit necklace (given to me by my sister).

On the way up to lunch, we saw a man playing the bagpipes, but he wasn't wearing a kilt. I haven't heard live bagpipes in the city for a while, so I dropped some loose change into his open case. Then, while we waited for a car to back out of the carpark the man was playing in front of, he stopped to tell me thanks and said, smiling, "You're wearing tartan, too." I knew there was a reason I wore this dress today. I did get a lot of stares for wearing red tights though. The city is business central and everyone wears monotones with maybe dark coloured clothes, such as dark purple.

Now I have to get back to my university readings. At the moment I'm taking notes from my creative writing set text. Yes, we have a set text for creative writing.

I'll be back to post soon,

KiaraWrites.

Reading: Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis (80 pages left)
I'm listening to: Tegan and Sara's Sainthood

"A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake."

(I had dinner really late today. It's currently around 1 am as I write this, and I ate dinner at 10.30 pm. We had lunch at 4 pm because my mother and I did grocery shopping during lunchtime. I'm staying up so my food digests properly. Okay, weird fact over now.)

I work in a clothing alterations store and my new "Most Intriguing" customer came in today to pick up his two pairs of trousers. The first time I saw him was last week when he dropped off his clothes and I was immediately fascinated by him. See, he has long black hair tied in a low ponytail and a black handlebar moustache twisted at the ends so it curves ever so slightly.

I knew he wasn't one of our typical male customers - businessmen needing suits altered. One of the trousers was blue and black, the other red and black. The coloured parts were made of a satin-type material. If my friend Molly was with me she could tell you the exact kind of material (she's fantastic at sewing/making clothes so she would know). This particular customer seemed vaguely familiar, so I wondered what he did for a living because maybe I'd seem him doing that.

When he came back for pick-up, we got talking and he told me about the Guiness World Record he's going to attempt to break: sword-swallowing! There is currently a GWR for someone swallowing around 94 swords. Yes, you read that right, 94. He said he will probably only be able to swallow 25. I would not even attempt to swallow one sword. That's when I realised I'd seen him before all right. He performs and busks in the city (I live in what would be referred to as the suburbs) as a sword-swallower and basically a street magician/illusionist.

His last comment before he left? "If you don't see me here again, it's because I died trying this." I hope he doesn't; I've seen his street work and it's amazing to watch. His comment also applies literally to death as well - if I died, I'd want to go out trying too. And doing something I enjoyed, if it were possible.

And with that, I bid you goodnight,

KiaraWrites.

Reading: and still Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis (the book has approximately 550 pages, and I only have 100 pages or so left)
What I'm listening to: Florence and the Machine's Lungs, "The Con" by Tegan and Sara, "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap