Notting Hill Carnival

I've decided I'm going to make more use of this blog than just a place to write about my dull life- I'm going to put up things I live for. Music (in the form of articles I've written and pieces on new bands etc), Fashion (in the form of pictures of outfits and designers/looks I'm loveing) and Photography (in the form of....my photography and photogrophers I like) So yes it's still very me orientated (it is my blog!) but I'm going to cut down the amount of life ramblings...

To begin with I'm going to put up some photography. Me and my sister went to Notting Hill Carnival today and I got some great shots!

Here's what I looked like before we left....

And here are a very select few of my favs....

We also went for a stroll in Embankment- but I'll have to put those up another day- I'm late for a date with my lover :)

Notes from the past

I love notes, especially notes that turn into ramblings that involve doodles and make little sense. I became quite the master of such notes when I worked in my lil shoe shop in Southampton. It was a tiny shop full of 'alternative' shoes and a lot of wooden beams. I worked there for a year and made some awesome friends. Here's a pic of me there:

As the shop was so petite, and I was the only full time member of staff when I took over as manager, I worked alone quite a lot. Sometimes for the whole day. And when you only have a handful of customers- it can get a little dull. Hence my note writing habit. I also have a habit of holding onto crap like that and putting it in cute memory boxes (I know, I'm mentally 10), so I stumbled upon them today and decided to publish my ramblings. Because it's funny- what you write when you think no one will ever read, isn't it? So lets go crazy and get people to read them....

This first one I entitled 'Shop Girl' (yuh, der).......

"Yellow sheets make my eyes sting, while chipped nail polish saddens the soul. Dust stuck to wood and gum stuck to floors. Too many boxes, never any space- we're all just playing tetras with our thoughts. Strangers make you run and look down at the one person with all the power. Silly rabbits. Desire feeds depression, but when will we learn? Not until we see the perfect shoe in our size."

Isn't it funny the crap your mind spits when its bored? The next one started as a shopping list then transformed into a teenage rant....

• " .........Chille burger things, yum.



• Blank CD's!!

Mmmm. Yay for food. Food is good. Sweet lord I'm bored and hungover- I think I might just die. Bollocks to that. Boredom strikes. You know like hunger used to in those shreddies adverts? I never liked shreddies. Except the chocolate ones. They were OK. I digress- boredom strikes and it sucks.

Is it sad that the highlight of my afternoon is catching the eye of the cute indie kid that works in Costa? Work is something we need to do to survive. If we all need to do it to live- why the fuck can't we think of a more fun way to do it? My current job isn't too bad. I'm managing a shoe shop full of skate brands and middle aged eccentrics. I can wear what I want, listen to my own music (really loud) and have the power to ban the shoe pervert. Things could be worse. But still, it's not what I want from life- it is a temporary arrangement before I put off the real world again by fucking off around the world for 6 months. And no, I'm not going to 'find myself' like some hippies, I'm going to spend half a year on a beach.

I'm in the real world now, I've graduated uni and it's pretty shit. I'm not done having fun. My ultimate career? Doing this for a living- writing narcissistic articles for the pleasure of a loving audience, (That's you BTW). But I'm sure even that would have its down sides. I just want to spend my life having fun- travelling, spontaneous road trips, house parties, attractive strangers, gigs, love- life! And I'm simply not willing to give that up to be an accountant crunching numbers for a quick buck. Fuck that. Fuck grey suits, fuck office life. And fuck growing up. We only have one life and I do not intend to waste it rotting in front of a computer."

Corrr, how angst ridden was that? Lovely. My last one I found was quite a pretty one, full of doodles and on the back of a flyer no less! Not entirely sure what I'm jabbering on about, but it sounds kinda profound...or something......maybe....

"Oi! Won't you please....take me to a windowless house in the country. Somewhere that will hold our love away from prying eyes. Take your shame with you and hold me until the world stops turning. Let's go to the beach. We can be five and stop playing these games that I tire of so easy. Come on now, let's have a bottle of wine to forget ourselves. Then maybe you will remember and ask yourself the question I ask everyday"

Here's a pic:

Oh and no- I do not know what the question was. And no, I wasn't dating anyone at the time....strange what your mind comes up with huh. I kinda miss those days...when there was time to stop thinking and note down any random thought that flew into your mind once you quietened it down. The best time to write is when your not thinking. So much more interesting I think. Anyway enough of my ramblings (until next time) off to think some less.

ta ta xx

Perfect day

I've had the best day today and unfortunately I must share this with the world. These are the things that made my day fantastic today......

• I have a week off work, not that I don't like work, it's just nice to have a break!

• I had a lovely (/fattening) meal with Antony last night and got to lie in his lovely bed until 11:30 this morning. I woke to find his cats meowing for my attention in the living room (it's nice to feel wanted...)

• Most of my day has been spent on tinternet.....mostly listening to music such as my new favourite band of all time: http://www.myspace.com/peggywho and also listening to lots of Pearl Jam on Spotify

• I got asked by my sister's lovely friend Laura (http://lauraroutledge.blogspot.com/) to help out with some band interviews for Noize Makes Enemies (http://www.noizemakesenemies.co.uk/) so spent some time writing up some questions....

• Then saw that my news piece for For Folks Sake has been put up, and was given another album to review (Theoretical Girl)

• THEN (and this has been the most exciting part of my day so far) I spent some time looking up travelling packages for Jan/Feb next year. So far have found an amazing 4 week package in Thailand which includes a visit to a temple, teaching and some time on a pretty island :) hunting for similar deals to Oz as well....

• Playing on twitter I found some cool websites recommended by fellow twitterers: http://supermarketsarah.com/newsite.php (a place to buy cool ickle trinkets) and http://www.papermash.co.uk/ (cute stationary)

• Now I'm going to go sit in my garden because its so sunny (for once!!!). Then this eve I'm going to see my beautiful boyfriend again and finish off that cookie dough ice cream....*drools*

Tomorrow I'm off to visit my friend Paul to check out his new pad in Angel- so good times ahead. I like this week already.

Bloggers Bloggy Blogosphears

Right, in my last post I promised a list of my favourite blogs, so I'm just going to dive right in. Think I'll put them into catagories and use lots of bullet points.... because I'm a massive geek.

Aparently.

FASHION:

http://facehunter.blogspot.com/

This is just a simple photo blog of Mr face hunter stalking style around the world. Amazing for inspiration for future shopping trips.

http://www.showmeyourwardrobe.blogspot.com/

A great blog showing us exactly what we want to know- what is in the wardrobes of the elite and stylish. Features in Elle magazine monthly and just really quite addictive.

http://stylebubble.typepad.com/

The queen of style blogs, Susie Bubble. I love her style and just find it fascinating to see an origional and quirky perspective on things.

http://www.whatkatiewore.com/

I love the idea of this blog- basically Joe and Katie are a couple and one day Joe decided he needed to share his girlfriends eye for style to the world and set her a challenge: To be photographed everyday in her awesome outfits for a year- the catch? She has to wear a different outfit every day. Again inspiring to see how to mix up your wardrobe.

MUSIC:

These are a mix of websites and blogs, some of which I've written for...

http://www.forfolkssake.com/

My new favourite music website focusing on all elements of folk music from global, conventional and indie. Gorgeous illustrations on the site too.

http://thefourohfive.com/

Covers the essentials in music and films.

http://anikainlondon.wordpress.com/

A lovely blog following Anika's musical pursuits. Awesome photography and funny content- loving her taste in music too.

http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/

Just covers some cool artists! Big fan.

ART:

http://www.little-doodles.blogspot.com/

A blog found through twitter- Kate is an illustrator with a thing for lil birds- such cute drawings and she's done some very cool projects including working with Marc Jacobs! Jealous much...

http://lucyplayer.blogspot.com/

A graphic designer- I just love looking at illustration and graphic design! I wish I could draw/think like these guys!

http://www.pictureyear.blogspot.com/

The year in pictures- a great blog for lovers of photography or anything visual.

http://www.katemoross.com/blog/

Another illustrator who I wish I could be....sigh...

LIT:

http://jennashworth.blogspot.com/

A blog by writer Jenn Ashworth- have been following her blog for a while now, was actually partly why I decided to start my own! Just like her style and can't wait to buy her book.

http://www.dogmatika.com/dm/index.php

Covers the kind of books I want to write.

http://www.sixsentences.blogspot.com/

A blog that encourages writers to submit 6 sentences. I've always liked a challenge! And even though my 6 didn't get published I still enjoy reading others!

http://www.readtwelvestories.com/default.htm

12 stories- simple as. And again even though these guys chose not to publish my submission, (boo) I still go on regularly to see what new stories are up. Great for the short story lover.

FRIENDS:

http://zoelavender.blogspot.com/

My friend Zoe's blog about Public Relations- fascinating even if you aren't in the buisness yourself. Trust me, she knows her stuff and has got a huge future ahead of her :) and I hope she lets me crash in on it from time to time hehe.

http://lawrencebarrettotalksmotorracing.wordpress.com/

My fellow journo Lawrence has made his way into sport journalism and has started to carve a nice little future for himself. Again I know he will go far, and again I hope he lets me crash :D

So there we have it- my current favourite places to be in cyber space. Check them out and let me know if you like them too. Or if you have any suggestions of other blogs I might like give me a shout :)

In other news I have had one rejection this week from a submitted short story which, yes, sucks but hey it's expected. Not quite sure what to do with the story now though? Maybe I'll post it on here one day. On the positive side, I've just emailed a new magazine called 'Libertine' (a kind of I-D/Vogue/Dazed and Confused for under 25's) asking if I can contribute. So fingers crossed I'll be able to get more work out there. In the meantime I've got a review of Duke Garwood to submit and a review of Alice in Chains to prepear for! Lot's going on still which is nice.

Non-work related news...I'm off to Portsmouth this weekend to see some girlfriends and I cannot wait! Has been far too long since I saw them and can't wait to check out their new house. May have to get the rest of my rib piece tattoo done while I'm there aswell....because tattoos make you sexy. Just like these kids-->

The Art of Doing Nothing

Sometimes you just have to slot in a bit of time to sit back, reflect and re-boot. How do we do this? By doing nothing. Nowt. Nada. I felt the need to do this today after self doubt (the bastard) encroached on my otherwise optimistic outlook on life. I’m trying to get into the (apparently) glittering world of music journalism and have been lucky to have a few jobs recently to beef up my portfolio... but not all has gone to plan. First a fashionable self harmer managed to make me feel inadequate, then gig venue politics prevented me from doing my job properly. Fantastic. Neither of these things were my fault, but somehow they still manage to creep in your subconscious and whisper “You are shite.” And that’s never nice is it?



All this being said, I decided today needed to be a day of nothing. Except that never quite happens does it? Turns out I’ve run out of clean underwear and am currently borrowing Antony’s (love you!)- so lot’s of washing needed to be done. On my third lot now, not quite sure how my wardrobe is going to cope with the sheer volume of clean clothes, bless it. Then of course after I got that dull job started I needed to tidy my room as the junk in it was upsetting me. So I cleared that then stopped for lunch which ended up being cereal as there was no bread in the house… sigh. After this I needed a break. This break may have involved sky+’ed Britain’s Next Top Model and The Hills finales….don’t judge me. Then it was onto my favourite past time- lying in bed reading fashion magazines and listening to I-tunes on random. This all took my thoughts away from career/dreams/crap and took them to pretty clothes and witty articles about fidelity (Elle). GOOD TIMES.



After this I needed to get my social networking fix and spent quite some time on facebook and twitter. I now have 90 followers by the way…! I’m sure they care about my self doubt crises…. Yuh. Fascinating though, just getting incites into strangers lives, discovered quite a few awesome blogs too, (will type up a pretty list for you in the next post, promise).



Anyhoo- after all this doing nothing malarkey I realised I needed to get over myself and my self doubt and to just keep on marching. You have to do your fair share of wading around in crap before you reach the top of the hill right? All I’m saying is that it better be bloody good up there.



Ultimately this is what doing nothing is for, because when we do nothing we get the chance to just be. For me this is usually when I stop panicking, breathe and re-boot. So the moral of the story is this- doing nothing can be good. Mustn't get addicted mind you.....my bed is calling at the moment actually.....veg out with a mind numbing film maybe?....yeeeah.


This kitten's got the right idea...

Wish list

For some reason lately, even though in general I am incredibly unorganised, I seem to be a little obsessed with writing lists. At work I spend a good chunk of the day writing what needs to be done instead of actually doing them (oops), and even at home I love covering pages with bullet points of things to do or purchase this month. Thought I'd share a pseudo to do list for this summer, thanks to work commitments and lack of mula, half of this wont happen/ be bought, but hey, pretending's fun.

To Do:

• Interview Crystal Fighters next week (that ones real- woop woop)


• Install Spotify*


• Visit the Rankin live exhibit (http://www.rankinlive.com/)


• Write a short story and submit to some lucky buggar


• More interviews/reviews for For Folk's Sake site


• Review Guildfest


• Go to Laitude....Reading....and Bestival


• Go to a spa with the girls and get lotsa treatments


• Go on beachy hol with Antony in Sept


• Sort out internship for next summer


• Figure out a route for travelling


• Shopping in Camden


• Eat at yo sushi


• enjoy a cupcake at Candy Cakes in Covent Garden


• Go see Lisa Mitchell play at Monkey Chews


• Win lottery, travel, move to Fiji, live in tree house

*Just installed Spotify- GENIUS

To purchase:

• New laptop- Mac Air


• Vespa scooter and scooting lessons


• Apartment in Brighton to move into next year


• Books galore- Nocturnes (Kazuo Ishiguro) The Thoughtful Dresser (Linda Grant) Apples (Richard Milaward) Poems by Lara Dockrill.....etc....


• Musack- Florence and the Machine, Lisa Mitchell, Bat for Lashes, Blue Roses, Alessi's Ark, Marina and the Diamonds, Emmy the Great, Prodigy.....etc....


• Tipi to festival in


• Ditsy floral shirt from Zara


• New giant day bag


• Hair cut and colour


• New tatts....lots....


• More equipment for camera to take better pictures at gigs


• Fish eye camera from Paul Smith


• Round the world ticket

I expect I'm asking for too much yes? Oh well- that's life isn't it. Wouldn't be as fun if we could do/have what we want all the time would it? Thrill of the chase keeps us all going in life- gotta keep chasing those frisky lil dreams. Speaking of which- I've got to dash, I can see one making a run for it....

Update!

Wow, I'm getting lazy with my blogging- Haven't posted anything in a while have I! Well I'll give you a quick update....



Work-wise:

• Promotion going well, not burnt the shop down yet or anything. Had a few disheartening run-ins with the area manager, but then I reminded myself that this isn't life or death I'm dealing with, its SHOPPING.

• Used my discount wisely this month- peg leg trousers and beautiful shoe-boots, mmmm

Writing-wise:

• Have finally had work!! Written two reviews for 'For Folks Sake' website- has been awhile since Ive done any reviews, was nice. Hope to do more with them.

• Just emailed a couple more websites trying to get more work! I've got the hunger.

• Have not written in my diary for weeks. Bad Kat. My diary is my therapist.

Life-wise!

• Boyfriend is beautiful and making me happy :D

• Sister is home from Australia and taking me out drinking a lot!

• Went to Cyprus with some girlfriends to soak up the sun and chill by the sea- gotta love holidays.

• Travelling fund is growing! Hope to get away in January :)

So there ya go. My life in 9 concise bullet points. 9 feels an odd number. Might add one more...

• Went to see 'Drag me to Hell' last night- bloody awesome! Sam Raimi- Raimy? However you spell it is a genius. And quite sick in the head.