Just when I try to downsize my shoe collection, I go and DIY a pair of shoes that makes it harder for me to downsize. Whoops.
But what really happened was that I came across this pair of boots which triggered a project in my head. I love these boots but I would never wear a heeled pair with such height.
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There’s this repetitive idea it seems that when people write scripts for film or television, they go with this office setting that has the typical characters such as the uptight boss, and the quirky secretary. At this point, it’s predictable. Not that it could be a bad thing, but it’d be nice to see quirky female boss ladies? Hmm.
But at the same time, it’s not so far away from real life because I’ve seen this a lot. The receptionist from my pediatrician from back in the day was wacky. She had frizzy red hair, bright blue eyeshadow, and red lipstick. At my current job, the secretary for the big boss has a short black bob, wears Cleopatra makeup, and all sorts of patterns that clash. I actually love this, but like I said, it’d be awesome to see a boss lady like this.
It made me think of movies and tv shows I’ve watched. The quirky secretaries: it’s a thing.
Quirks: 90’s style with large knit sweaters, large curly hair, high voice, cute but sassy attitude especially towards Deputy Andy and their precious but rocky relationship.
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I’ve been on a bit of an internet hiatus the past month, but I’ve been keeping an eye out everywhere I’ve gone around the city taking pictures of whatever graffiti I came across.
A lot of trucks, doors, and scribbles down in the subway. You know, the usual.
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This year, I’ve been trying to expand outside of my 9-6 job and do some freelance work/side project fun. One thing that is a “practice what you preach” for me involves sending out emails to people and/or companies and inquire about any sort of freelance or submissions. At the end of the day, what do you have to lose? It never hurts asking even if these people and companies aren’t looking for extra or outside help.
So I came across a “help wanted” Insta post for a pin company and I thought, “hey, yolo”. After some back and forth and some test designs, it ended up being a bust which is a bummer, but these things happen. Companies knows their aesthetic and what their customer wants. I guess I was right at the border but couldn’t fully cross over the line to what they were looking for.
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Whenever I get into conversations about my hobbies and background in art and sewing, I always bring up my grandparents. My grandma was a seamstress and when my grandparents moved to America, they bought a space in Queens and opened up a shoe repair shop. They had all sorts of machinery, and loads of leather, shoelaces, and other materials. I loved visiting them at work when I was young because it was fun watching them fix all sorts of shoes.
Their basement in their home was what you could imagine. Multiple old school Singer sewing machines attached to the table, fabric everywhere, thread, and other miscellaneous items. Towards the end of them owning their shop, and before my grandma got sick, their basement turned into a hot mess which one would say became a bad case of hoarding. It was mostly my grandma and her need to collect things to sell at flea markets. But flea markets became out of the question when she became immobile. After that, we’d take a trip to the basement to grab a few things here and there when I was running out of sewing supplies.
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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about motivation and what drives people to try and be go-getters. I have some friends currently browsing for new jobs; some notice how miserable they are in their current situation and are actively applying for new jobs, and some know they’re miserable but can’t seem to find the motivation to apply to job postings they come across. This makes me wonder what the latter can do to find the will to send their resumes out to change their situation. Not everyone is a go-getter. Hell, I’m not either, but I try my best to change my situation if I find it’s not working for me. Adapting for the better can really make a huge difference in your outlook on life.
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Happy World Goth Day! I didn’t even know this was a day that was “celebrated” but it makes me so happy that it is.
I don’t really have much photos from back in middle school/high school featuring my extreme black phases. Without me asking, people liked bringing it to my attention that I was more punk than goth, but my music taste was pretty broad where I dabbled in the goth genre.
In terms of music, goth spawned from the post-punk scene which is why some bands from the 70’s – 80’s have a slight punk sound. These days, the genre has evolved with electronics replacing brooding guitars, industrial sounds resembling machines, classical strings with opera-like voices, or basic rock mimicking it’s roots with and updated gloomy feeling.
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Guest post written by Victoria
I’m being stalked by a number. No matter what I do, I can’t seem to stop seeing 22’s. License plates, clocks, receipt numbers — basically anywhere a number could be, there it is. Staring me in the face. Unignorable. A lot of free spirited folks like myself might call this an angel number or Universal sign. Like the numbers on Lost. Perhaps they function as a Matrixian code for our brains to stay on our true paths? I don’t know. It’s not my place to question such matters. Zen.
One place this number appears to me is in the tarot deck. Your traditional set is comprised of 78 cards, the first 22 of which are called the major arcana. Each arcanum is an archetype we all live at certain points of our lives and it is at the very core of being able to excel at cartomancy — if you can’t understand the many hats we wear as humans, you can’t connect deeply with the energies in the spread before you and give a good reading.
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I grew up in the 90’s with both stylish and cheesy trends. Even though some trends were fresh, a lot of them were recycled from previous decades. Some originated with back stories we didn’t even know about.
Enter jelly bracelets. In the 80’s, people such as Madonna and Cyndi Lauper made them cool. In the 90’s, Gwen was all about it, and apparently so was I. I twisted them up when I wore them just as Gwen did. It made me feel cool. Then in the 2000’s, I guess the trend came back and they were out in stores again, in which I bought a crap ton. So much color variety.
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One New Years resolution I always have is to use more film and take more pictures. I had my eye on two finished rolls that I wanted to get developed but I couldn’t find the will to travel all over the city to find a place to do this job for me. Pharmacies like CVS/Walgreens are not even an option because they ruined a couple rolls of mine a few years back and couldn’t fix their mistake because their policy states that they throw out film strips within a week. (Make note all y’all!) So I finally found a place by my job that I was able to run to during my lunch break. I didn’t even remember what was on these so it was a surprise when I got them back developed. That’s what I love about film. The element of surprise.
A lot of the pictures are kinda nonsense since I found an old film camera my parents had from the 90s and I used one 35mm roll to experiment to see how well the camera still worked. It’s an old 90s type with batteries and all. It still holds up!
These are some of my favorites basically ranging from 2014-2016. They take place in NYC, Brooklyn, Long Island, & Portland.
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