happiness looks good on you

23/09/2013

Over the years I've learnt what works for me.

Classic Blair Waldorf Quotes

“People don’t write sonnets about being compatible. Or novels about sharing life goals and stimulating conversation. The great loves are the crazy ones.” 

"Fashion is the most powerful art there is. It's movement, design and architecture all in one. It shows the world who we are and who we'd like to be. Just like your scarf suggests that you'd like to sell used cars."

“But every time I try to move on you’re right there.”

“Stop whatever you’re doing. We need to shop.”

“I mean the most important thing in a relationship is trust. After sex. And hygiene. And earning potential. Wait. What did you think I was going to say?”

“Usually I have a “never say never policy”, but for you I’ll make an exception.”

"Too bad no one told him: you can’t save a damsel if she loves her distress."

“I look forward to never seeing you again.”

“I must have totally blanked on the part where I invited you over.”

ours is a society of the superego

Having too much stuff is an unfreedom. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. 

"The one freedom we lack is the ability to imagine a different world to that of global capitalism"

...

"We feel free because we lack the very language to articulate our unfreedom."

- Zizek

...

                                                  "Waste" - Foster the People

I'll hold your hand when you are feeling mad at me
Yeah when the monsters they won't go and
your windows won't close
I'll pretend to see what you see

"How long?" I say, how long will you relive the things that are gone?
Oh yeah, The devil's on your back but I know you can shake him off

And every day that you want to waste, that you want to waste, you can
And every day that you want to wake up, and you want to wake, you can
And every day that you want to change, that you want to change, yeah
I'll help you see it through 'cause I just really want to be with you

You know it's funny how freedom can make us feel contained
Yeah When the muscles in our legs aren't used to all the walking
I know if you could snap both your fingers that you'd escape with me
But in the meantime, I'll just wait here and listen to you when you speak... or scream

And every day that you want to waste, that you want to waste, you can
And every day that you want to wake up, and you want to wake, you can
And every day that you want to change, that you want to change, yeah
I'll help you see it through 'cause I just really want to be with you

The truth cuts us and pulls us back up
And separates the things that look the same
You can fight it off, you can fight it off, you can

And every day that you want to waste, that you want to waste, you can
And every day that you want to wake up, and you want to wake, you can
And every day that you want to change, that you want to change, yeah
I'll help you see it through 'cause I just really want to be with you

break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous

George Orwell’s 6 Rules of Effective Writing (1946)

1.    Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of          speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2.   Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3.   If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it             out.

4.   Never use the passive where you can use the               active.

5.   Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a       jargon word if you can think of an everyday                 English equivalent.

6.  Break any of these rules sooner than say                       anything barbarous.

#

"Unanswered questions are much less dangerous than unquestioned answers."

the city outside is nothing but a flicker now

The only reason I am the way I am is because I'm not the way I used to be. 

The Red Tree by Shaun Tan

18/09/2013

"Human beings are the only species who pay to live on earth."

I wasn't born to make you happy

"Born To Make You Happy", Britney spears (1998)

I don't know how to live without your love
I was born to make you happy
'Cause you're the only one up in my heart
I was born to make you happy
Always and forever, you and me
That's the way our life should be
I don't know how to live without your love
I was born to make you happy

"Give It All Up", The Corrs (2000)

I'd give it all up just for you
Just to have you near me
I'd give it all up just for you
You bring me up, you bring me down
You turn me inside out
And i'd give it all up just for you

"Roar", Katy Perry (2013)

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar

Now I’m floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero

You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me ROAR...

Roar-or, roar-or, roar-or, roar-or, roar-or

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me ROAR.

It's interesting to see how pop music reflects our times. A pop song with the female lyrics “I was born to make you happy” would definitely not fly today.  

Top 10 Purchases of All-Time

10. a toss-up between 3 pairs of high heels

9. Beautiful by Estee Lauder

8. flashdrive

7. signature notebooks

6. calligraphy pen

5. leather jacket

4. a basic set of watercolours

3. reading glasses

2. laptop

1. The Norton Anthology of Poetry (Third Edition) in pristine condition for R50 (!)

art

What I love about art is the freedom it allows; you can just go. If you mess up you can always just paint or stick over it - often making your piece into something even better than you could have imagined. Art lets you do it over. Nothing makes me happier than fixing something up that I thought would never look right again. Perfecting something is the ultimate satisfaction. 

The Top 10 Break-Up Songs

10. Since You’ve Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson

9. Aerodynamic, Daft Punk (actually anything by Daft Punk)

8. Free, Vast

7. The Sign, Ace of Base

6. I’m Not Alone, Calvin Harris

5. I Don’t Love You, My Chemical Romance

4. Dancing with Myself, Billy Idol/Generation X

3. Drop the World, Lil Wayne feat. Eminem

2. I Don’t Need You, Die Antwoord

1. I’m Still Standing, Elton John

the beginner's guide to drinking

Feelings come and go like clouds on a windy day. Conscious breathing is my anchor. - Thích Nhất Hạnh

This girl has made academia her life.

While she may have an above-average IQ (intelligence quotient), her EQ (emotional quotient) is without question underdeveloped: absolutely no ability whatsoever to relate to her fellow (wo)man.

You must never become so caught up in your academic life that you become unrelatable.

If I could stress two attributes they would be kindness and sincerity.


Sonnet 94, William Shakespeare

They that have power to hurt and will do none, 
That do not do the thing they most do show, 
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone, 
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow, 
They rightly do inherit heaven’s graces 
And husband nature’s riches from expense; 
They are the lords and owners of their faces, 
Others but stewards of their excellence. 
The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet, 
Though to itself it only live and die, 
But if that flower with base infection meet, 
The basest weed outbraves his dignity: 
   For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; 
   Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. 

...

non-quote of the day

I still cringe when I hear, at an institution of higher learning, the phrase 'That's so gay'. 

...

I don't like being forced to speak when I don't have anything to say. 

17/09/2013

"Nothing is better than clean design, delicious food, and good company..." - racitron on imgfave, http://imgfave.com/rachitron 

all-white-everything

Don't feel despondent when you're broke and walking past the Vineyard Road boutiques:
a tan, a smile, hot pink nail polish, perfectly plucked eyebrows, and a discerning look are your best accessories and all you need to take on the world. 

"So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being" - Franz Kafka

16/09/2013

"At the centre of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want."

- Lao Tzu

So do MacDonalds chippies. 

15/09/2013

I feel safe when I'm

• in my bed wrapped up in fresh white linen

• browsing fashion websites

• watching dancing movies

• up and about before the sun is up

• watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire

• at live music concerts

• finding interesting stuff on Wikipedia

• in the library

• making visual diaries

• With you. 

13/09/2013

Messy bed, messy head. 

on the train ride home

Its amazing how someone's face lights up when they are talking to someone they love. You can notice someone and think you have gauged them fairly accurately. But when you see them talking to a loved one everything kind of goes out the window. I saw this gruff-looking lady on the train; tall, slim, athletic, wearing black Nike sneakers, an eighties bomber jacket, with a matching eighties haircut, reading a cheesy novel. Halfway through the train ride her phone rang and she broke into the sweetest Afrikaans. It was not what I expected at all when she beamingly answered the phone with "Hello my liefie". She was suddenly transformed into the most gentle and caring person and her face just looked so lovely all lit up like that. Her entire outer persona collapsed giving me a glimpse into who she really was. 

11/09/2013

"If you can't explain it simply then you don't understand it well enough." - AE.  

I'm the second one!

I can't help it, I just wanna move to my own drum!

why anthropology works

There are currently labour strikes in various Western Cape townships. 

This means that men who work on construction sites are harassed if they are found to be going or have gone to work. When they come home in the evening they are asked where they have been. If a branded vehicle arrives to pick up men, the vehicle and its occupants are placed in immediate danger.

Why anthropology works:
Someone is trained in the nuances of language, dialogue, understanding and caring.
With the aim of action.
With a status of an elite. (eg. The University of Cape Town).
Policy makers often literally DO NOT KNOW what is happening and want to know how it is that people manage daily tasks in these conditions.
They NEED someone whose sole task it is to listen with the sole aim of UNDERSTANDING.

Anthropology, in terms of its current very important role in our society, is the presence of a sound group of individuals who seek to bridge the gap between those who run the world (for lack of a better word, the man) and those who are most affected by their decisions by working from the ground up. 

It allows one the opportunity to make a change instead of helplessly and hopelessly talking about structural inequalities at the dinner table or on car trips. 
Talk is cheap. 

My pet peeve is a conversation in which people are throwing words around but no one is really saying anything:

anecdochen. a conversation in which everyone is talking but nobody is listening, simply overlaying disconnected words like a game of Scrabble, with each player borrowing bits of other anecdotes as a way to increase their own score, until we all run out of things to say. 

(posted by jkcreative in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/42961208848/anecdoche)

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else."

-Charles Dickens, novelist (1812-1870)

06/09/2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvjML3-66SA

I was writing mock matric when this was a hit so I don't know how it was received party-wise, but it still holds great memories for me. A one-hit-wonder, like the song Breakfast in Tiffany's. Always nice to go back to every once in a while.

think it through

Where do anthropology and language meet? Poetry.

'There's no money in poetry, but there's no poetry in money either' - Robert Graves