old enough to vote, man enough to die, but young enough to care enough to ask why

in what i think was december of last year i was asked by my mum, a primary school teacher, to give a speech to the grade sevens of her school at their graduation. every year they get a guest highschool senior or similar to the grade sevens themselves; a recent highschool graduate, to speak for a few minutes about their highschool experience, the transition between schools, and that sort of thing. i thought i'd put parts of it (about half, i think) up here since a lot of people my age are packing their stuff ready to go off to uni - which i can imagine in many ways would and will be much like starting grade eight, all over again.
maybe some of these words can bring some insight into some important things to remember for some of those people. :)
(if sections appear particularly disjointed or jagged, its probably because i've removed a paragraph - or paragraphs - in between, or a sentence or two.)

recently, and as a school-leaver myself, I’ve found that a lot of speeches that are delivered to graduates and their families are full to the brim of lasting memories and stories but are so often almost immediately forgotten afterward. these graduating speeches can be emotional and can make you reflect upon what great times you’ve had, but I think that it is important that speeches be delivered at the start of a school year, and not at the end of one.

first of all, and this applies to everything - learn like your life depends on it. absorb as much information as you can possibly take in. you have five years to be almost entirely insulated from the world outside, and so make sure that you use this to your full advantage and realise that highschool is a safe and comfortable environment in which you can explore, experiment, meet great new people, and extend yourself within.
take advantage of every opportunity that you are given, because many you will not be offered ever again. take part in every sports carnival, every cultural group that you are able to join, and go to every lunchtime meeting that allows you to have your own individual opinion voiced. it is these events and the lasting friendships built and challenges overcome that you will remember after you have finished. after all, if you talk to anyone five or even ten years after having graduated from high school, they will tell you about the great relationships that they forged during that time. they will mention the teachers that made a difference to their education by going out of their way to help their time there as a student.

respect your teachers and the work that they put in; over the years you will find that you even become friends with some of them. you will come away a better person because of the people that you will meet and learn from. take the time out to work with others and to spend time with people that you would not normally speak to, if left to your own devices.

keep in mind that not everything will come easy. if it does, it probably wasn't worth it anyway and there is a chance that it won't have made you a stronger, smarter, or better person for it.
one of the most important things in this part of your life, believe it or not, will be humour. if you walk through the gates with the ability to laugh at yourself, then you will have an advantage over those that can not.
also, during your first few years of high school, take the time to establish a supportive group of friends. these people will not only be there to share the good times and to learn the tricks of the trade along with yourself, but they will also be there to help you through the bad times as they come.
know that you are not alone, and nor should you have to be.
never feel afraid to ask for help.

and last of all, make sure that you enter this chapter in your life with a fresh and open mind.
it will not be what you expect, and things will be a lot different to what you have been used to for the last seven years. be aware that your life is not all about what exists directly around yourself; experience everything and every opportunity that comes your way. appreciate art, world languages, science and the other things that you know you wouldn't have anything to do with unless ‘forced’ to..think of it as being like the vegetables that your parents forced upon you as a child; you might find that you actually like it and that it is good for you.

..and when you reach the end, much like now, look forward rather than back. do not simply reflect upon what you have learnt but put it to good use in all of your future endeavours and pass on what you have learnt to those around you and to the people that are just about to enter a journey similar to the one that you have just completed.


i made some raspberry (but i used frozen mixed berries instead) scones today, thanks to a recipe out of Frankie magazine's Afternoon Tea cookbook today. i haven't tested them out yet, but they look fun enough to demolish within a week or two.



on a short family holiday to the Sunshine Coast around New Year i did something i haven't done before, and its a method of packing that i'm going to abide by for years to come; i stuck to basics, rather than pack my entire wardrobe plus more. i packed a few plain colour t-shirts and some basic singlets, i think one black dress and a couple pairs of shorts. i tanned a little, (faux of course), so was able to wear minimal make-up and when i did i stuck to liquid eyeliner and a little bit of mascara if it was at night, and a tiny bit of bronzer for during the day. i stuck with basic buns and high ponytails, and it was so nice to not have to worry or think about that sort of thing in advance when heading out each day.




i've been really cleaning out my room lately and culling a whole heap of old clothes and things that aren't used anymore. there's a lightness of mind to minimalism that i'm really becoming attracted to. i'd like to accumulate more basics within my wardrobe; more blacks, whites and nudes, and to keep my room relatively free from clutter. perhaps that is my single mini new year's resolution..one that i'd like to keep going for years and years :)

why do so many people insist that Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap should have been voted for in this year's (well 2009's, if we're being technical..) Hottest 100 ?
and how did Sleepy Head by Passion Pit manage to sneak in this year.. ?
Sleepy Head was released on an EP in 2008, - despite hte fact that it was re-released on their first LP last year - and so the radio caught wind of both of these songs well within the constraints of 2008.

i wish research was conducted and that songs were actually listened to earlier than 6-12 months following their release dates..before the general public begins thinking or audibly claiming that they've loved said artists and songs from day one..
cmon.

and what a mouthful ^

i'm going to almost apologise now, in advance, for the mass video content that you will come across in the next three or so seconds

timeless, ageless, everything-bad-less
outkast and this song are/is/iz/argh/isz/ah so freaking GOOD.
the intro's pretty long in this version, but i thought it was worth keeping in just for fun.


the line at 1:32 always seems to resonate the most with me. and 2:20..awiosejskdf !.
this song has gotten me through tough times, and made other emotional times even more prolonged. but in any case, i think its such a powerful song.
not sure how i feel about this video so much..i've never youtubed iOTA bc i always imagined him to be middle-aged and workin a lot of scruffy facial hair with a pair of genuine Pete Murray-like eyes and some sort of good clothing steez.
but wow @ the description of 'this is a poetic death ballad set in a mid 20th Century post-war Australia.'


i remember reading a youtube comment about this video once saying that the video for this song was one of their very favourites, but that they didnt like watching it bc they'd already made up their own mental imagery while listening to this song and didn't want to have someone else's perception overclouding their own. couldn't have said it better myself.
the first time i heard this i was almost disappointed. i hadn't heard all that much of Grizzly Bear, but this song seemed dull, and too long.
but it's a grower for sure. now i just think it's beyond words. please please listen if you have the time.
and imagine how long this claymation must have taken in production !

ohmygod. ohhhmygod.
that just reminded me. there was a book i used to hire out of my primary school library week after week after week, for years.
i loved it.
it showed the view from a boy's window, i think. over time.
i think the imagery of the landscape was done in clay, or something.
it was beautifully done. oh god the dejavu.
over the images the view changed, as man slowly but surely altered the natural Australian landscape into a concrete and barren cityscape.
i just googled it and from the thumbnails that i've seen i thiiink it could be Window by Jeannie Baker. but not entirely sure.
this is an image out of that book..
'Window is a groundbreaking work which points to one possible direction for books in the future - the wordless picture book.'
in her own words; 'I'm not saying that all changes are bad, and we have to live, but I think we should be more careful about the way we live. It's not intended as propaganda.'
i can't wait to have kids so i can give them book after great book when theyre growing up, to give them the books that i read and loved and learnt from when i was their age, to give them books for Easter and other celebrations, like i have been given.
i can't wait to fill their bedrooms with bookshelves of books that they can read over and over and still feel the same as they did the first time they read them.
if anyone has any book suggestions, i'm all ears. its been a while since i've settled into something that i've really loved.

this is both one of the most heart-wrenching and uplifting things i've read in a long time.

'I just wake up each day in a slightly different place. Grief is like a moving river, so that’s what I mean by it’s always changing. It’s a strange thing to say because I’m at heart an optimistic person, but I would say in some ways it just gets worse. It’s just that the more time that passes, the more you miss someone.' - Michelle Williams, re the loss of Heath Ledger.
oh my heart.

'I am an independent, autonomous adult, and I should be able to leave my apartment whenever I want. I know that women get harassed and assaulted in the city, but that isn’t my fault. I shouldn’t have to stay inside after dark, to avoid certain streets, or to watch what I wear because if I’m not careful, men will attack me. Men are responsible for their own behavior. I hate how our society places the responsibility on women, like I need to accept misogyny and be “responsible” by drastically restricting my movements after dark.' — Never Be Silent: Three feminist rants



i'll try to articulate my thoughts as well and understandable as possible in the following, so bear with me.
i've always had a bit of a favouritism for silver, or at least rose-gold, over stark gold. it can appear a bit tackie when in excess, if put together or accompanied wrongly.
for Chanel's latest Couture collection designer Karl Lagerfeld's focussed largely on a use of silver and i worship him for it. it hasnt got the sort of ~arrogance that gold can appear to possess.
the concept was a result of "electronic flashes" he experienced in his sleep. 'I saw it in a dream and I made the sketches..at five o'clock in the morning.'
i admit i'm clearly not a karl on any level, but i've had some of my best ideas, like he, in dreams. i keep a notebook or my phone close to my bed and when i shower so that i can jot down the ideas that i get at those times. sometimes they're terrible when i fully wake up and reconsider them, though at othere times they've fulfilled everything that i've been desiring at that time.


lately, i've been absolutely trying to emulate in every way, shape or form these sleek, sleeved maxi-dresses that the Olsen twins seem to love just as much. i love them. i love them i love them.

yesterday i found a pattern for a similar-ish dress in my mum's archives and bought some drapey black fabric to do so with. i wanted to make it for a party on friday but i think i rushed and so far it has turned out so so miserably. today i'm going to start again. i'm so determined to have a thousand of them !

i think i really need a tumblr account so i stop clogging up this blog with so much imagery and wording that i have everyday lying in waiting just to be used in the next post. also, i'd then have saved the credit for each slice of imagery paradise. i so often just save an image off a site without taking note of where i saved it from, then later run into a spot of trouble when trying to find its source.
i think blogging is meant for personal thoughts, but i've really been abusing that purpose for so long now. i wonder if my posts are even interesting, they've just been so consistently full of the insides of other people's minds and not my own. i suppose its a form of laziness, as well as a virtual tumblr page.



ps i know there's been a lot of fashion blogging hype re blue hair lately, but god i want some. if only just some grey-blue streaks in lightened hair for small-town-stomachable-subtlety..

farbloodyout. it is so good to get so much of that off my chest. phew.

Hope for Haiti Now telethon

when the sky falls and the Earth quakes, we gon put this back together, we won’t break.
sa pa sé, my Port-Au-Princes, my Haitian Gods and all of my Princesses.
our condolences as you're fighting against this, we’re right by your side as we're trying to make sense of this.
so here’s my theory, the country’s already starving..so we sacrificed many to shed light on all of them. so lets get involved with them, hand to hand with them, arm to arm with them til they get strong again..can’t wait until tomorrow.
learn from the past, New Orleans was flooded, so we know we just can’t rely on the government.
the tears fall, and we fight back. tomorrow’s survivors gon carry on your name.
you live on inside us, your memory’s alive with us, you inspired us, to rebuild this country, you just guide us.
the people waiting, position vacant for hands to help, not just to pray.
..thanks jay-z


i really like dave matthews, i came across him after receiving a 4-set of cds from a live concert of his in NY from my brother one birthday a couple of years ago. at one point before a song he said to the crowd, 'if you love New York city, please, leave only your footprints.' ..good. so good.
the songs that he performs with his band are generally v different to the sound that he's produced here with Neil Young and are a whole lot longer with average 9-minute sets for each song when performing live and with a much larger and sort of more wholesome percussive and instrumental sound.
but i did nearly choke when i heard ~2:41 and some of the haunting melodies that they've seemed to wail out here, especially toward the end of the song. i can't go past a vocalist that sounds truly genuine about the words that theyre singing.


the altering of some of the lyrics to fit into the context is really lovely, as is Chris Martin from Coldplay being thrown into the mix to play the piano part.
i like how stripped back this song is, as well as when her voice is especially low and growly at the beginning.
somehow the repetition in this song never bothers me, especially not when presented as it has been here.

the performances by John Legend and Stevie Wonder deserve a mention as well. but then again, such men can hardly step a foot in the wrong direction.
there's so much raw talent that can be so easily overlooked or misjudged amongst the musicians that performed not-for-profit in the telethon in addition to those in Haiti performing journalistic duties so that the news and latest relief efforts are able to be heard across the globe, as well as the obvious incredible effort that is being poured into the most damaged areas via aid workers, the transport workers that are getting said relief to the places that it is most needy, the medical workers and others that are on-scene and on-tap just to help the weakened the survivors themselves.
its humbling to hear and to see.

its truly sad that a natural disastrous event like this needs to occur to publicise and promote such selfless efforts by individual people, but a message that was pointed out in the song that Jay-Z performed (alongside Rihanna and Bono) deserves to be highlighted: so many died and lost countless of their loved ones amongst the rubble in the Haiti earthquakes that the only reason that he can see for such a disaster was that the world is now collectively aware of Haiti's plight. even before the small nation was hit, poverty levels were so overbearing amongst the population. at least, now, aid is being poured into the nation and its people to help rebuild it as a stronger, more knowledgable and healthier nation than that that existed beforehand.
youve got to look for the reflection of the sun in the murkiest puddles sometimes, i think.

the first time my heart was broken, my mother, who'd never read a single self-help book in her life, passed me a tissue and informed me that no man in the universe was worth one of my tears. i was going to wallow, write tormented poetry and spend six months in my pajamas. after two days, she parted my curtains, flung open the windows to let in some fresh air and declared: 'it's enough now' - adding various assurances about there being many fish in the sea.
with the equanimity and grace of what is inescapably now my middle age, i understand it was love - not cold-heartedness - that drove her insistence on steel reinforcements for the sandcastles of my heart. being a romantic by nature, i'd probably still be mooching over a lost love were it not for my practical mother, who wears sensible shoes and has superlative time-management skills.

to love and be loved are the greatest human needs, as deep as hunger, as primary as thirst, as necessary as oxygen. romantic love is, of course, the queen of love, with delicious promises of gropes beneath the sheets and tingles down under. but there's also good old platonic love, love at first sight, arranged love, the 'love-that-dares-not-speak-its-name', long-distance love, maternal love and, the biggest bitch of them all, unrequited love.

some of the greatest works of literature have been inspired by love unreturned. while it certainly plumbs the darkest depths of emotion, and therefore appeals to artists seeking out extreme experiences, there are few better ways to torture ourselves (other than with, say, an eating disorder or a relationship with a married man) than engaging in the masochistic torments of unrequited love.

i've been there. so i'm sympathetic to those suffering the agonies of unrequited love, which induces, as a web site on how to cope with it states, 'low self-esteem, anxiety and mood swings between depression and euphoria', making it sound more like a mental disorder than a state of the heart.
a man i know believes that unrequited love is love at its most uncontaminated and pure, remaining forever elusive and tantalising. real relationships, he claims, lead to domestic arrangements, hair in the sink, complaints about toilet seats and uncapped toothpaste tubes.
this man is 76 years old and still lives with his mother, so obviously that philosophy is working a treat for him.

there are, it seems, only two options: wait it out or confess.
women are socialised into waiting, which is nothing but meekness dressed up in bras and frills.
apparently, stating what you want is unladylike, even slutty.
i've seen too many woman wait. for Valentine's Day cards. for dates. for marriage proposals. i'm all for exercising patience in the right context, but at a certain point waiting becomes less like the seasons and more like concrete. it sets and we find we can't move. there is 'a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.' waiting is no way to live.
we grow pale waiting. ovaries dry up. lust becomes mouldy. there's an expiry date on sitting on an egg, waiting for it to hatch.

fear of rejection is paralysing, only slightly less terrifying than actual rejection itself. but this i know: you can get over rejection. it is easier to move on from a clear no. the heart has a plasticity. we can fall in love again. unrequited love keeps us stuck in a place of incomplete regret.
if we spent more time learning to love ourselves and less on someone who doesn't love us, we'd be a lot closer to the kind of love that gives back and doesn't only ache.
a patient once told a doctor: 'doctor, when i press my toe, it hurts.' the doctor replied: 'don't press your toe.' which is just what Eleanor Roosevelt meant when she said: 'no-one can make you feel inferior without your consent.'
unrequited love has a lot to teach us about how to love ourselves. self-love, you'll notice, is never unreciprocated.

- Joanne Fedler, Vogue Ausralia Feb 2010.


after reading it, i found this article an important one to be aware of and in representation of a topic that should perhaps be kept at the front of anyone's mind.
i omitted some sentences or sections that i found to be less interesting or a little irrelevant. i tried to keep the word count down, but as usual seemed to fail in that.

why ?

..cos i'm chuck bass.

i've never made a single New Year's resolution in my life.
1, usually theyre outrageous and large leaps from peoples' current lifestyles,so there's a pretty good chance that it won't be achieved or at least not in its entirety, and so the resolution-ee will be disappointed within themselves down the track when they don't go through with their resolution.
so many people decide to make grossly unrealistic changes..there's no point in taking such a leap all at once. it won't work that way, or not for long.
baby steps.
2, why wait until a certain point within the year or a life to make a positive change. do it now, don't hold back until next january, or the next, or the next..


'everyone we look up to is trying to sell us something at one point or another.
one thing that communities are missing right now are good mentors. it's about psychology, it's about being the best that you can be.
it's about investing in other people. it's very simplistic in its essence..it's about sharing stories.'
(re: the dying breed that is boy scouts)
+
'appearance is everything, and he's enlightened enough to know that he is not thin and without hair because of the illness, but because of the treatment, and that's something to keep in perspective.'
(re: cancer)
= ABC radio, 1.20pm 11/01/10


they say the darkest hour is right before the dawn, and in the hour of greatest slaughter the great avenger is being born.
the critics could not comprehend this nonchalant phenomenon.
"Why this man is a machine," they said. "Even his friends say he isn't human."
he was longer than a memory, bigger than a town.
his feet they used to sparkle, and he always kept them on the ground.

(december is for cynics.)

ways to a girl's heart..:
- when she asks how she looks, shrug and say 'could be better.'
this will keep her on her toes, and girls love that.
- never hold her hand. this can be interpreted as a sign of weakness.
if she grabs your hand, squeeze hers really, really hard until she cries. this will impress her by showing her what a strong man you are.
- once a month sneak up on her from behind and knock her over.
girls are like dogs.
they love to be roughed up.
- call her in the middle of the night to ask if she's sleeping. if she is, say 'you better be.'
repeat this 4 or 5 times until morning. this will show her you care.
- when she is upset about something, suggest to her that it might be her fault. this will pave the way for her own personal improvement,
and every girl needs some improvement.
- recognize the small things; they usually mean the most.
then when she's sleeping, steal all her small things and break them. because jewelry is for wussies and Asian ladies.
- when she gives you a present on your birthday, Christmas, or just whenever, take it and tell her you love it.
then next time you know she's coming over on a trash day leave the trash can open and have the present visibly sticking out of the can.
girls actually don't like this one that much, but I think it's funny.
- if she's mad at you for not calling her when you say you will, promise her that you will call her at a certain time of the day. this will ensure that she waits by the phone. tell her when you call you're going to tell her a special surprise.
now she'll be really excited.
now don't call.
that's also quite funny.

i give three thumbs up to passive-agressive names for wireless internet connections.

this song makes me dance. other songs ask politely and depending on my mood I either accept or politely decline. this number bends me over and gives me no choice in the matter.


when i was living in new york there was this old man i would see in the garment district once in a while, he was average hight and thin, well-dressed, and he would wear this oversized butterfly - as a bow tie - with flower embroidery on it.
he walked so nonchalantly.
he inspired me.





Dear time,
Please stop.
-M.M

this song is really good. i had a lamb rack for dinner last night, and that was really good too.

[Network] Ten used to tag its on-air promotions with the word ‘seriously’ to be either ironic or hopeful. still, if not for our edgy “youth” network, they’d have to air the likes of Dr Phil on real tv.



i live on the frozen surface of a fireball, where cities come together,
to hate each other in the name of sport.
i looked up to you but you thought i would look the other way.
you hear what you want to hear,
your faith has got to be greater than your fear.
forgive them even if they are not sorry.
drop your guard, you don't have to be smart all of the time..and don't be shy, oh no, at least deliberately.
no-one really cares or wanders why anymore, all the dreamers on the run.
we're so quick to point out our own flaws in others.


i encourage that you watch this sci-fi goodness and also chuck a listen to his almost admirable speech impediment at around 1:30. i can't stop listening out for it now :@.
none of the non-censored videos that i have found allow embedding, so instead:


one comment was pretty well played: ‘a Yay for the Video; a Nay to the laughable censoring.’
and another: ‘such a relief to know they found The Fist after all that face massage, yellow crap and lying around naked.’, haha.
but my favourite and possibly most unrelated is a comment that stated: ‘fuckin some donald darko shit right here..god damn burt reynolds.’


beneath the Lego museum at the Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark, is a locked, secret room whose contents have been known to make grown men cry. i ask my guide Jette Orduna, head of Lego’s archive, what’s in there, but she won’t say. instead she asks me the year i was born. i tell her 1965. she leads me into a basement room, mostly comprising a floor-to-ceiling, gunmetal-grey filing system. she slides back one of the cabinet walls, each of which has shelves piled high with old Lego boxes in mint condition. the label on the shelf reads 1972, when i would have been seven years old. i don’t burst into tears – as more than one adult visitor has done – but i definitely feel a catch in my throat and a moistness in my eyes as i see my early childhood: the ambulance set, the police car set, the Shell garage set, all exactly as i remember them from more than 35 years ago.
such is the power of Lego.
since its first interlocking brick set was launched in 1949 it has become more popular than any toy in history. every second, seven new boxes of Lego are sold; for every person in the world, there are 62 Lego pieces; Lego people – mini-figures, as they’re known – outnumber real people.


i like Maggie T. she's aged elegantly, and has taken incredibly good care of her hair and skin in particular. she has a clear-cut, simple and classic beauty regime.
she radiates.
some of her words that i read today:
'my favourite interviewee is: [writer, filmmaker] Anne Deveson. she has an intellect that scares you but she’s still Annie, a good mate.
someone who makes me laugh is: any man I get involved with. a lover has got to be able to make you laugh.
the best invention is: good fake tan. anything that keeps people sensibly out of the sun and yet gives them the look they want is very desirable.
my biggest regret is: nothing. everything that’s happened in my life, good and bad, has taught me something.'
'Maggie T builds on the philosophy that today's woman is discerning.'

humans are innately curious about their world. science as a ‘way of knowing’ is used by people to explore and explain their experiences of phenomena of the universe. it is a process for constructing new knowledge. science is part of the human quest for understanding and wisdom and reflects human wonder about the world. the study of science as a ‘way of knowing’ and a ‘way of doing’ can help students reach deeper understandings of the world.
(Science Syllabus, QSA)

a good lipstick's on my list of things to do, still.

willow > you.
according to net-a-porter:
'since 2003, Australia's most stylish have fallen for designer Kit Willow's soft romantic draping and sumptuous fabrics spliced with hand-worked metal and glass appliqués. opt for bead-sprayed jackets, sharply tailored jackets and billowing feather trimmed chiffon blouses.'
these clothes make me close to tears, no exaggeration.
even the titles for the collections are dreamy.

and shit this model (and the one on the runway, below) makes me want white hair again. i wish it wasnt so so so so unbearably damaging to keep up.:

images via

my favourites looks:
ETERNAL PHI, JAN/FEB 2010:


FRAGMENTATION, Resort 2009:

i build my daily look around an emotion

to study Fashion Design would require a great deal of money. in working this year to earn, i'm without fashionably conscious or tasteful work clothing because of my saving.. catch 22 ?



my most wanted at Big Day Out:
The Mars Volta, The Temper Trap, Midnight Juggies, Magic Dirt, Calvin Harris, The Decemberists, Tame Impala, Girl Talk

this also hurts:
Laura Marling is playing with Boy & Bear at the Zoo on Wednesday.

woe woe woe.

i was reading the Courier Mail just before, and there was one feature that was talking about the way that young women and girls are becoming more and more violent and seemingly masculine through their increased amount of swearing and agressiveness, especially in public, and that they now generally hold so many characteristics that only males had before (stereotypically) shown. it ended saying that today there is really little difference between males and females other than their bodies and the clothing that they adorn themselves in.
one line, though, that i found to be really funny, (but is probably really quite bad) was referring to a survey or study that students or lecturers or something at UQ uni had just been conducting..:
'the lead researcher in the UQ study, Jake Najman, said researches found part of the shift to the dark side..[edit:the study was in referral to a 'clear escalation of violence among girls']..was because they are fatter, and therefore hit puberty earlier.'

i mean, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt. hahahahahhahahhahaha
how fantastic is that hahahaha.

empty magazine

i thought this was charming:
'We here at EMPTY are art sluts. We like seeing your art (preferably nude with a can of baby oil!). We like all sorts of stuff... writing, designs, monkeys, illustrations, porn, paintings, photos, monkey porn, etc. We can't get enough.
So, send us your art and if we're drunk, and your lucky, we might even put it in the mag.
Send low res files only please. Any emails over 1mb will be deleted, shot, punched in the groin and then deleted again.
boo [that symbol] emptymag.com'


***
---in a strange way, everyone is right. a giant step forward is to move beyond self-righteousness.
---littering is a political act. it indicates and uncaring and insensitive action from an unthinking individual.
---a meeting can be like a stone thrown into a pond; one can never know the full implications of any meeting nor just how far hte waves will go.
---pornography is not by definition obscene.
violence is obscene..
poverty is obscene..
gross materialism is obscene..
insensitivity is obscene..
---if your grandfather kicked my grandfater in the ass, it has nothing to do with our relations. some people are still fighting old wars.
***
= all from the book Everything by Jim Haynes.

an abridged version of an essay by Jim Haynes, first published in 'Everything is! Soft Manifestos for you time.':
talking is a medium. writing is a medium. singing is a medium. drawing and painting and sculpting are mediums. theatre, dance, mime, photography, film, television, video are all mediums. anyone is capable of using any medium to transmit any kind of information to make a statement. the concept of 'Art' confuses the issue. anything transmitted through any medium is information. like it or not, it doesn't matter. to claim that those who use the two mediums - painting and sculpture - are the principle producers of 'Art' is absurd.
to say that individuals who elect to make statements in this medium are 'artists' is even more foolish.
to classify certain kind of films as 'art films', certain kinds of video as 'video art', certain kinds of books as 'literature', and certain kinds of music as 'classic', is, for me, senseless and arbitrary. it suggests taht the rest is valueless and of little importance.
producing something in any medium is valuable if only to the person or persons doing it. receiving information through any medium has value if it brings anyone anything.
the concept of 'Art' grew out of a linguistic mistake, then filled the vacuum left by a growing disbeleif in religion. painters and sculptors became the High Priests. being an 'artist' or 'understanding art' gives one a special place in society. it confers sensitivity. it supposedly separates one from brute forces, the illiterate masses, and the philistines.
but this is a lie, an illusion, and a fabrication. hanging an expensive painting on your wall doesn't make you better, wiser, nicer or more sensitive. it is a conceit. it may make one feel better, more important - but you are still you - expensive painting or not. if you wish to be better, nicer, more sensitive, then be it. no amount of so-called 'Art' will help. the information produced by others is not you, only you are you.
the 'Age of Art' is over. let us now enter an 'Age of Mutual Respect'. everyone cries out for it. everyone needs it. why do we not give it ? either everyone is an 'artist' or no one is. for me, everyone is unique. everyone has their own story to tell, their own life to live, their own dreams to realise. everyone has value. we are all unique. we are each fantastic.

'art is..anything you can get away with(john cage)..as long as it's signed(andy warhol)..and someone believes it(jim haynes).'

you know that u got it u got it bad..when you find yourself relating to a song by Usher.

today i'm writing a list.
1. i've always liked the thought of my middle name being my mother's maiden name, despite it being the boy's name of Charles (i like some boy's names on girls..james, cameron..).
as Charles it would be much like Ashley Olsen's middle name being her mother's maiden name Fuller.
Ashley Fuller Olsen.
Rachel Charles McGann.. looks better when written, sounds like a bit of an elaborate stutter when said aloud.
if i end up creating a label of clothing, i think i'd like to call it Charles Rachel. i've thought about Rachel Charles but it seems to be too closely following suit to Rodarte, the american label named after two sisters' mother's maiden name. perhaps my idea of including Charles in the name is in subconscious homage to Rodarte, Ashley O and my mother..all at once.

2. everything she forms in words has substance and weight.


image via

3. thom's from South Orange, and has only had an 'h' in his name for the past two months.

4. today, i'm going to go finally looking for a nice grey nailpolish, and perhaps also a muted turquoise-green shade similar to the one that Chanel released a little while ago.
i'd like to find a lipstick or a tinted something..not too glossy or straight gloss, i've always been a bit squinty-eyed towards lipgloss..it can look cheap so easily.
but in moderation can also look fantastic..it's fine line that i dont really want to tiptoe across or down so instead just stay far away from.



(from Jak & Jil)

5. i much prefer any serious conversation that you can learn from over the funniest, most hilarious conversation that anyone in the world or my future/past self has ever experienced.
i'm definitely not going to turn down some great humour, but i always enjoy a chat that you can think about for days and days afterward.

6. i've been really envying and admiring girls with short hair lately. in Eumumdi and on the coast i was tricked into being surrounded by a lot of trend-ai people that had such a laidback, summery atmosphere about them. a lot of girls were sporting loose dresses with flats, some scattered jewellery or a slouchy bag and most importantly; tiny tiny pixie cuts.
it made me miss the days of having short hair two to three years ago. not a bob, but the really short stage. i could get ready so quickly bc it looked okay having just woken up and left it as it was..on the average day.
i felt really transformed and confident within my hair..occasionally, i admit that i would feel a little self-conscious bc i was one of the only girls under 40 in a school of 1500+ with short short hair, but that in itself seemed to spark more confidence than not.
i can't describe the feeling, but the length of my hair really changed my personality and inner self-assurance for a little bit, and i'd like some of that back..i think that, most of all, i felt..different.
i don't at all strive to be different and intentionally jump on any ~'alternative'/'individual'/'i listen to triple j along with half of the nation but i'm one of a kind and you know it' bandwagon, but i like the feel of having created something fresh.
i'm not going to be cutting my hair short again for a long time, but i wonder if a change of colour will bring on a similar feeling again ?
i'm willing to try.

7. 'particle physicist..dumb bastard.' - grrrreg, who makes up words while completing crosswords and married the woman who was once on television in a self-made dress as a finalist in the Girl in a Million quest. just sayin.

8. i get shy around bullshit.

9. BEWARE! not all potatoes can swim.

10. (i miss him so much i can barely breathe.)