secret: creative brain fry, or, the fine art of pottering

i don't know about you folks, but when i have a lot of things on my plate (not literally, although i do love a good full plate of thanksgiving dinner) my creative will to live just disappears out the window.

when i finally do have a night off, and i have to say i haven't had one in a while, i need some decompression time, in the form of pottering. i thought i'd share the sorts of things that happen during a pottering session in my lovely (chaotic) space.

music debrief:

i've had a few "must listens" floating about lately on my ever-expanding list of things to listen to. thanks to a music-loving friend with whom i share many great favourites, i was reminded that a certain amount of time has passed since i'd listened to some of my all-time bestest favourites, namely Radiohead and Elliott Smith. I'm really digging this particular track from Elliott:



and OK Computer reminiscence (let's face it: Radiohead in general) lead me right to this beautiful thing that i once was able to play on piano, harder than you'd imagine.



i also have quite a lot of live footage to watch from my all time favourite thing i've found on YouTube so far, tiny desk concerts via NPR. crazy into The National at the moment, and so this show has pretty much given me the feeling where the world opens up and you fall in love, right down to your little toe.



apologies for the music-heavy sharing, but i just can't get enough of this at the moment. so of course, it's time to make my november Maude the Mazda Mix (they are famous, but only in very tight circles of maybe 2 people, one of which is me... the other is one of my brothers, whichever one is handy).

YouTube giggles

my YouTube dirty pleasure is interviews on ellen, mostly when it's ryan gosling. i recommend you look that up, the one in onesies in particular.

besides this, i also like to watch standup comedy from such greats as dylan moran and louis ck.





Pretty things

i am a bowerbird when it comes to pretty things. sometimes, when i'm pottering, i like to arrange my pretty stuff that i own into aesthetically pleasing combinations.

all of the favourites, but of particular note is the sweet 'hello' necklace from the awesome anna at The Eclective, the sweet and special 'imaginary lovers' zine from deerface, and my granny's old copy of Alice in Wonderland

sometimes, i like to just sit in my chair and rifle through books i haven't actually read yet, looking forward to having time to read them. 

this weekend just passed i had a great score from a book stall at the local steiner school's spring fair, and the illustrations are so much lovelier than disney characters. don't get me wrong, i love the disney classics, i'm just a bit bored of what disney thinks people look like.

Writing notes and letters, and finding old things I wrote once

i found this recently. a thing i scrawled into the back of a notebook long ago, when i still lived in melbourne and longed to escape whatever it was at that point that held me there:

i have a fantasy about swimming in an open air pool at night time in summer. this fantasy is so tangible to me that i wonder if it may in fact have happened once, a dormant memory of sliding into a pool the temperature of my warm arms, the weightlessness of my previously cumbersome body, sounds echoing off the water.
surely it has happened, at one time, to somebody; how else could we know how it feels to swim at night? the cocoon of water closing over and into my ears, the smell, or imagined smell, of warm jasmine blowing overhead all through Brunswick.
i can hear my own gasping breath as i pull to the surface each 4th stroke, and i feel my heart hammering. why must my words end here? for suddenly, the warm summer night is lost to the absence that is you my dear, and all i remember is floating, face down, with night city noises filtering through the pool water.

i write postcards and letters to the friends of far away that i am missing lots lately, perhaps because i get to see them again soon.


these are the things i do o a quiet quiet Monday night. and find new artists to fall in love with, again on YouTube (such a magical place).

i leave you with a beautiful tattooed man whom i shall perhaps one day meet and marry.

#30daychallenge day 25: someone who fascinates me, and why.

i've mentioned her a few times and i think now is the perfect opportunity to talk about it.

tavi gevinson.

i came across her TED talk probably 3 months ago. i was home sick with ridiculous headaches that have been almost-but-not-quite chronic (seems that it's my ribs, folks- in case you wondered), and looking for a bit of meaning to life. naturally, TED talks. my lovely mum had given me an early birthday/thanks for housesitting present of an iPad, which is something i'd secretly wanted for quite some time, but could never quite justify buying. so yay! lucky me. with it came my discovery of all sorts of apps i never ran on my iPhone due to space, but iPad is all spacious inside... so we find ourselves at TED talks.

for anyone not in the know (to continue on this aside... we will circle round to tavi, i promise) TED talks are about inspiring people in their field making a speech and flashing a few powerpoint slides when relevant. what i like to do is put one on when i'm doing a menial thing, like organising my wardrobe (why is it that i have to do this once a day lately? why??) or alphabetising my books (just kidding; i use the Dewey system) or painting my nails or some such. so i get to listen and learn and be inspired and also, in theory, see my floor again at some point.

so tavi's talk came up under one of the feminism searches i did, and here it is:



she's young and articulate and has used silly powerpoint slides to be self-depricating. and i like that.

naturally, the next point of contact is rookiemag.com. rookie blows my mind on a regular basis because there is just so. much. content, it's carefully managed and high quality in a way that's not smooth but holds a lot of integrity. everytime i read it, i think 'why on earth did i have to grow up 10 years earlier?' - not that i'd like to go back to being a teenager, but for the one time i had to be one, i wish i'd had this to read. i am going to make my stepsister get into it, although she'll probably roll her eyes at me. that's ok.

the content covers so many points and intricacies of a teenage life that i wonder how heavily into mindmaps the team gets in order to pull this off so perfectly. recent favourites posts include:

• movies about obsession
• this awesome review of people, in general; everyone picks one
• this confessional piece about sneaking out

as time wore on and i read more rookie content and interviews with tavi about her motivation and creative processes, the more admiration i had for her. this is a woman with a seriously clever head on her shoulders, but what's more amazing (and i guess also a little sad) is just how revolutionary rookie is, as a very concept. why is it that something made by young women for young women which gives us the depth of character we deserve, as well as speaking to us with respect, in a way that makes us feel known, normal, and supported, is such an amazing thing? why has a young woman speaking up filled me with such hero-worship type feelings?

we need more of it, and we need it yesterday. gradually, bit by bit, this is something i try to address in my own work. not so much that every single thing needs to be picked apart from a feminist standpoint (although listen, between you and me it probably does), but to start being aware. particularly, the stories we're being told as women, through media, are not the only stories out there. that we can create our own stories, and we damn well should. 

rookie, and tavi, are feminist in a way that everyone should be feminist. there is a simple statement there, and it's that feminism is a no-brainer. that being a woman looks different for every.single.woman on the planet. that women are never just one thing; that women are creative, passionate, intelligent, clever, smart beings who make up half the world. 

i'm fascinated by tavi because she is a great many things. her first blog, style rookie, is her younger self and her relationship to fashion, which is just as interesting to read. you can be a feminist and be interested in clothing (i have struggled with this one in the past, back when i was a theoretical feminist fueled by university study, and not a feminist living in the real world who loves clothes), you can be a woman and not care about clothes at all, because you're really into the environment. or, you can care about clothes, and the environment, and asylum seekers, and what other people think of you, (even when you know you shouldn't).

i was lucky enough to see tavi speak in august; she did a talk at the opera house and i went along. it was a special experience made more special by the others i was there with. so many amazing, individual young women. i people-watched and internally raised my eyebrows at some of the outfits until i realised just how great it was that these people didn't look like they walked out of cosmo, and were rocking awesome floral-thrifted-sparkly clothing in the light of day, outside their rooms. the shoes! the leopard print! the fringes! the flower crowns! the red lips! the mixed prints! the accessories! the instagrammin'! the floral cotton dresses! the thick framed glasses! the fur hats and peter pan collars! the dr martens! the general lack of men! the eyeliner and high-waisted things!

tavi gevinson did that - just by being a fashion blogger. it was a physical manifestation of one woman's words and their impact on other young women looking for something telling them it's ok to be different- in fact, it's pretty awesome that we all are.

you can see her full talk at the opera house here, or you can read up on her message for this tour of australia she made according to Pip Lincolne's take on her Melbourne visit. i have to agree with Pip, and observe that my take-away point was really if you have something to say, you should say it- even if someone else has already said it, or heaps of people already have. it's about the way you are saying it that makes it creative and original, because everyone's backgrounds are different. tavi talked a lot about fangirling, and what a valuable role it plays in our creative selves. it's ok to love something obsessively, just like it's ok to get to a point where you want to kill your idols (not literally kids; she's not into murderousness) and create something different. 

i've been thinking a lot about my own creative history and am currently sifting my way through over 20 journals from my teenage time. i'd forgotten just how many unrequited feelings i felt at that time of my life, and it makes me nostalgic and in awe of the sheer amount of poetry i churned out. i also painted, drew and collaged. i was marvelling the other day to someone about the days when i used to have spare time (like school), and wondering what i did. now i know. i wrote all my angst to death, but in a good way.

i will continue to be fascinated by tavi, because she is articulate and wonderful, and i'm interested to see what happens next, for the sheer knowledge that so much about my life happened after highschool. she is going to be even more of a force to be reckoned with, and she continues to inspire me every day.

selfie on instagram, from which i get serious spectacles envy.

an instagram of food and shoes- she is @tavitulle on instagram, and awesome to follow.

The physical version of the best parts of web content from the first year of rookiemag.com

The famous bow-on-head combo from fashion week. Apparently it sucked to sit behind her.

 

#30daychallenge day 18: my beliefs

it's awkward when i feel like i've sort of already touched on this with day 4: my views on religion.

so i shall, at this point, wildly ad-lib some ideas and opinions (which could be transposed into beliefs). i ask of you, excuse the repeated use of the list format; i just find it easy to think aloud this way.

Nothing grates worse than someone who actively likes their life.

Don't be a dick about that though.

Except when you're shredding the gnar. Because everyone should do it. I believe this for true and forever.

1. people should do the best they can. try to be good as much as possible, and i don't mean good like making your bed and never having old teacups in your room. i mean like, don't waste your tiny amount of time on the planet arguing and complaining. do the things that make you happy, but also, step back and let other people do the things that make them happy.
2. don't ever talk in a complainy voice; not even as a joke. 
3. it's hard to get the balance of cynicism and realism right, but try.
4. you'll never regret dressing up crazy in opshop clothes, but dressing boring every day may just kill ya.
5. be prepared to be amazed by stuff. by this i mean, stuff you were wrong about, like pop music, or pop rocks, or popsicles.
6. have fun being an adult. try to do something every now and then that you used to fantasise about doing when you were a kid waiting to be an adult. like i don't know, drinking beer in the daytime, staying up late watching moves, telling people your opinion about things like it matters.
7. Remember that things are fleeting and you have to be brave.

yolo, motherfuckers.

#30daychallenge Day 15: your favourite blogs*

*i've amended this - it called for my favourite tumblr sites, but i am new to tumblr and really haven't put much energy into it yet. it's like twitter for me - can see why it could be cool, but haven't gotten there quite yet. it's not like i don't have plenty of social media in my life already... what with all the facebookin, pinterestin, instagrammin, bloggin etc.

Let me start off by observing that I'm relatively new to being a reader of blogs, despite having written blogs for about 3 years. In Whistler it was all I could do to find the time to write something, whack a picture with it and hit 'publish'. Now, I'm studying and working full time and I still have that feeling slightly. However I get around this by following my favourite blogs on Facebook (this is why I have started my own Facebook page for my blog) and so I can see what all these folk are writing and when a title of interest pops up on my newsfeed, I can check it out. Alternatively, Z of 'Sometimes Z takes pictures' has this article with helpful suggestions.

But I will share a few blogs that I follow on the regular, just so you get an idea of what sort of stuff is inspiring me these days:

1. Her Library Adventures: this blog, written by Sophie for the past few years, was something I found while researching thrift blogs before starting on something for Re-Use-It Centre/ Whistler Is Awesome (FYI: this is my favourite blog from that time in my life). Sophie is now based in QLD, but has a lovely thrift/vintage/crafty vibe to her blog, with a bit of depth and careful thought. Recently, there's a lot of baby-themed things going on, but that's because she's due in less than a month, so I can forgive her, mainly because it's just so lovely and she's just so happy about it. Her 'Mid-Week Thrifting' section from a while back when she lived in VIC was always one of my favourites... it got my thrifting cravings going!

2. Another lifestyle blog I can't resist is Pip Lincolne's Meet Me At Mikes, which I've organised to come straight to my inbox, because I like to read it off my iPad in the morning when I have breakfast. Pip tends to offer commentary on all kinds of things (life & politics & culture & DIY & general awesomeness happening around the place), but not in a particularly pushy way, which is just the right vibe for breakfast time. She is also the author of several very lovely craft and project type books, and used to run the store called Meet Me at Mikes on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, which I discovered once and promptly forgot about (fail). Go and have an explore of her site - you won't regret it! 

3. Fiending for Hope is more on the feminist side of the spectrum; Britni is extremely eloquent on her opinions on things that I haven't figured out yet, which I find to be helpful whether or not I actually agree with her (because I'm a mature adult and don't get freaked out by ideas different from my own). Go here for discussions on everything from why Miley Cyrus's new song is not ok to the work she's doing with Hollaback! Boston (another cool blog/organisation to get into). Be warned though, Britni does tend to discuss things that aren't always so nice to read about, like rape, and this blog does actually come with a trigger warning, which is a kind way of letting us know this.

4. I may possibly have mentioned how I feel about Tavi Gevinson (I'm working on a loved-up blog about her talk at the Opera House earlier this month) but you really should check out her online magazine, Rookie. Just awesomeness. I wish I'd had this blog at my disposal when I was a teenager. Lucky I had Radiohead, that's all I'll say. Favourite posts I've read lately include decorating your room like a tv show or movie and this one about reunions and a lot lot lot more. One of my favourite parts of this website is the random tags section in the bottom righthand corner... there's so much content on this website that it can keep you occupied for hours. I just read this one about body acceptance today, and it's making me want to write a post of my own. In conclusion: rookie.

5. I've been partaking in a 30 day thrifting challenge this month, and while I'm waiting to the end of the month to do my write-up, Modern Girls in Vintage Pearls have been covering each day. It's great, and weirdly addictive, and I think I have spent more money on thrift stores this month than many other months combined, all in the name of this challenge (also, summer is nearly here! and thrifting is cheaper than regular shopping! and other such excuses!). I love her Op-Shop love post best so far.

That's enough for now, but I'm always looking for more things to read (while trying desperately not to get overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of words out there in the world). If you, dear readers, come across anything you think I might like, by all means, send it my way!

treasure: Tavi Gevinson

Bit of a girl crush happening all up in here.

Today, I saw Tavi, editor in chief of rookiemag.com and general all-round awesome lady, give her talk at the Sydney Opera House. She spoke for nearly an hour and then had q&a with Benjamin Law, who is also awesome and writes for Frankie magazine.

Tavi managed to hold the thrall of a crowd in the opera house even when she paused to take a sip of water- I think that speaks volumes about the type of talk she gave.

At this point I am still holding the wonderful experience of seeing this talented and wise person speak, in person, so close to where I was sitting. Her ideas played right into some thoughts I've been thinking for a while, but I want to let the magic marinate for a second or two.

Be sure that you'll hear about it before long.

For now, go check out her magazine and be impressed by the depth of content and the vision of a freakin' 17 year old.