Aug 16, 2009

My Favourite Things #1

By · 1 Comment

I find a lot of random things that I find funny and interesting on the web over the course of the week. Rather than piss off my Twitter followers (they do put up with quite a lot), I thought I’d dump them here every Friday*. Hope you like!

1. I found out about bespectacled soul singer Mayer Hawthorne and wrote about him here. I haven’t stopped listening to him since, and I’m ridiculously excited to be seeing him DJ on Friday because he’s an absolute cutie a really talented guy.

2. Want to declare your romantic intent in an organised, clear and bureaucratic fashion? These forms are the only way to do it.

3. I’m absolutely besotted with this Funky Love Tonic playlist on Mixcloud (I have a few invites to give away if you like – just let me know).

*Yes, I know it’s Sunday but on Friday I was a little distracted by the sheer crappiness of the day. So I hid.

Filed Under: Brain Dumps · Tagged: , ,
Aug 16, 2009

You know you’re a Domestic Slut when…

By · 7 Comments

Domestic SlutteryIt was only three months ago that Sian (Editor of Domestic Sluttery) sent me a Direct Message over Twitter asking me if I wanted to be a Domestic Slut. As it was one of my favourite blogs at the time I happily agreed and then performed a small dance around my laptop.

Since I’ve been writing for Domestic Sluttery the way I look at interiors and homeware has changed somewhat. I’ve always liked them, but they never made me excited and I certainly wouldn’t have called a sugar bowl “sexy” three months ago. A few other things have changed too which I can blame thank Domestic Sluttery for:

  • The first thing that I notice in a bar, after the cocktail menu obvs, is the wallpaper. This is only a bad thing when I decide to comment on this to the boy I’m with. Boys don’t generally like small-talk about wallpaper, I’ve discovered.
  • I have a greater appreciation for cupcakes.
  • I’ve realised that I need a (vintage, oriental-inspired) screen in my life.
  • I can’t walk past an antiques shop without pressing my nose against the window and lusting after the treasure inside.

I’d be interested to know if this is true for any of the other Domestic Sluts?

Filed Under: Fun & Games · Tagged: , , ,
Aug 11, 2009

My new favourite musician

By · 9 Comments

I’ve discussed here how much I heart Motown, and anyone who has had the misfortune to karaoke with me (totally a verb) will know that I’m particularly enthusiastic about it. So I guess it makes sense that my new favourite musician, as of eight hours ago and thanks to My Chemical Toilet, is Mayer Hawthorne.

Just watch this:

That track is toe-curlingly good and so much like 60s Motown I can’t believe it was produced in 2009. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about new music and I’m crossing my fingers he’ll be touring the UK soon.

Also, have you seen how cute his specs are?! Geeky glasses make a boy at least 17x cuter. Trufax.

AND he replied to me on Twitter. See.

Filed Under: Brain Dumps · Tagged: , , , ,
Aug 9, 2009

My Scary Sunday Task

By · 2 Comments

Just so you know, this post is frustratingly vague, but I don’t want to give too much away at this point. Soz.

Today I’m doing something a little scary. I have been putting it off all week, even though everything is going in my favour – several very lovely people  have offered their support, sent me encouraging messages and promised to help me out.  In fact without the encouragement of those individuals, the idea would never be in my head.

But I’ve yet to get on with it. Even though it’s a very exciting task, it would be quite sucky if I put a great deal of effort into it and failed. And that scares me because I’m terrified of failure and rejection. But I’ll never know until I try, right?

So I’m going to stop blogging and get on with it right….Now.

Filed Under: Writery Things · Tagged: , ,
Aug 5, 2009

Good things that have happened today

By · 2 Comments

Today has been one of those rare days: lots of little things have happened to make me happy. None of them are especially significant on their own, but together they have made this Wednesday pretty special. Here they are, in a nice list with bullet-points:

  • I spent the day with my good friend Laura. I’m making a number of pretty important decisions and after talking to Laura, I always feel a lot more confident in my choices. It’s like she delves into my brain and organises my thoughts into neat little piles. Or something.
  • It was a lovely sunny day, so  I was fully justified in wearing sandals, sundress and a flower in my hair.
  • We walked along the Thames, from Tower Hill to Southbank. I’ve never done that before.
  • I passed Shakespeare’s Globe! Have made a mental note to visit.
  • Ditto Gordon’s Wine Bar.
  • I ate oreos in my current favourite patch of grass (the lawn directly beneath the London Eye).
  • I discovered another nice patch of green – it’ll be my new (secret) reading spot.
  • I bought some new bubble bath, the smell of which reminds me of something lovely from my childhood. 
  • I had a lovely stack of pancakes for dinner.
  • I made these pancakes whilst listening to some of my favouritest songs ever on Heart Fm.

Today certainly wasn’t perfect (I’m sunburnt, have achy feet and it was the last time I’ll see Laura until January), but there’s no fun in focusing on the negatives.

Filed Under: Fun & Games · Tagged: ,
Aug 4, 2009

What I have learned after two weeks at more!

By · 7 Comments

I’ve been a little quiet on the blogging front lately but this time I have a pretty good excuse – I’ve been interning for the past fortnight at more! magazine. I organised this over a year ago and before I decided to boycott the vast majority of women’s glossies on the basis that they are vile damaging rags.

(Before I go on, I will say that I don’t think that more! is a vile damaging rag. In fact it’s funny, has brilliant fashion pages and no “[insert celeb] CELLULITE SHOCKER”-type stories. So there.)

devil-wears-prada1

You know The Devil Wears Prada? Nothing like that. Not even a teensy bit.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, more! is a weekly fashion and lifestyle magazine aimed at women in their early 20s, but mostly read by 16 year old girls, best known for the Position Of The Week feature (described in pornographic detail and illustrated by Barbie and Ken dolls).

All in all, I enjoyed my time there much more than I expected and added a great deal to my (zero) knowledge of how a magazine operates. I also learned the following:

  • Finding a dead rat under your desk on the first day isn’t necessarily a bad omen, just indicative of a slightly messy office.
  • Make tea and everyone will love you.
  • Type up a transcript and they will love you even more.
  • Some people will flash you a slightly insane grin when they want your attention and can’t remember your name.
  • Other people will ignore you outright.
  • Do everything – even the most dull and menial tasks – with a smile.
  • Knowledge of soaps, celebs and Big Brother will come in handy.
  • Ditto the love-lives of the male cast of Gossip Girl.
  • Don’t make any The Devil Wears Prada references (“Omigod, I’m so Andi”). You will look like a wally and people will laugh at you behind your back.
  • Bring back a receipt for every little thing that you buy for staff or risk being outed as a thief.

I’ll be doing this all over again for Time Out (my most favourite publication ever) in a few weeks  - what else should I keep in mind?

Filed Under: Writery Things · Tagged: , , ,
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.