Hello everyone!

I can't believe that summer's drawing to an end.  (No, I can't say that!  If I don't say it, I won't believe it's true - and then it won't be true, right?  Sigh.)

I've a question for everyone.  I know some people here are into photography.  I am, and I also like to play around with photo processing software.  (As you might tell by the photograph above).  I had an old version of paint shop, but that went away when I had to get rid of everything on my hard drive.  Right now I'm using a freeware program called photoscape.  I like it a lot, but it tends to have lots of settings and preset things and makes it difficult to actually do things yourself.  (Although I must admit that the antique and fisheye filters are fun).  Does anyone have any recommendations on another photo software?  

All that said, I'm still very much a fan of film photography.  I've got an old minolta slr that I simply love.  I should be getting a roll of film back from walmart soon, can't wait to see how my photos turn out.  Anyway.  On that note, here's a poem that I wrote a day or two ago.

Snap a Photograph and Walk Away

We manipulate 
The film
In our darkrooms:
Emotion is a mere function
Of colour, light, and chemical,
Until it matches our memories
Like a negative,
A little smaller, a little less colourful, a little more transparent.
Yet it matches.

And we clip the two together,
A small square of waxy grey paper
Folded to protect
Against the sharpness of aluminum,
And file them both away
In one of the abrupt corners
Of a steel cabinet, shedding chips of paint
Somewhere between dark mustard
And warm olive.

We file them away,
Together with the memory
Of all the things,
All the intricate moments
And all the simple beauty
We ache to give our hearts to,
But for which we cannot stop our lives
Any longer 
Than the moment it takes
To fill the frame,
Snap a photograph,
And walk away.

I'll try to catch up on styleboards and blogazine posts and all of the wonderful things that happen while I'm away.  

Until next time. <3

Good morning, Kaboodle!  How is everyone today?

Today it's raining here, not terribly hard, I still have my windows open.  I've decided that today I'm going to get some writing done, add watercolour to one of my ink drawings, keep working on cleaning, and - well, maybe that's enough things to try to get done in one day.  :-)

I'm wearing a wool skirt (yes, a wool skirt, I figured today's the coolest it's going to be for a while, and I really miss wearing my wool skirts, so why not today?).  It's from a thrift shop near where my sister goes to school, I think I got it for about $10.  The shirt I'm wearing is actually one I made in Girl Scouts a few years ago - it looks basically like a shapeless pillowcase with a pleat and straps, hence the rummage sale scarf/belt.  In the pictures (and right now) I'm not wearing shoes.  I suppose I'll have to put some on later if I go out, but I don't feel like it right now.  Oh, and I'm also wearing a red silk poppy in my hair.  

I miss my long hair.  :-(  Short, it's super curly, and it's grown out just enough that the layers look awkward.  I've been trying to calculate when it'll be back to a length that I want, but the results are just depressing, haha.  Hopefully I'm way off.

One of the summer projects that I've been working on is a long story/short novel.  In it the main character visits a place where there are things like gutted skyscrapers full of hanging gardens, carousels, and umbrellas that float above the streets on rainy days.  I really could use a town like that today  :-) 

I hope that everyone's doing well and enjoying the summer.  Until next time.  <3
 

Nothing outstanding going on here.  In the middle of essays and whatnot - "this too shall pass."  :-)

Photographs of the new haircut - it looks pretty messy in the photographs, but I don't have to straighten it! 

The first shot has a nice clean background, but the second (me dressed to go watch my younger sister's dance recital) - well, you get to see my terribly messy room.  Embarrassing.  The year coming back and forth between school and home/ leaving things one place or the other has not been kind to the organization of either room.  And I don't have such great organization skills to begin with.  :-|  Do I at least get extra points for turning it into a polaroid?  Or for the cool cameras sitting there on the bench?

Oh well.  I'll survive until summer.  Until next time.  <3

I've spent the day daydreaming, reading Milton, and composing fragments of poetry.

That, and looking for dresses on Etsy.  My birthday and the boyfriend's birthday are both coming up, and it would be sort of fun to have a new summery dress for the occasion.  I'm envisioning something with a defined waist (like all of the fifties styles!), and a soft, light fabric.  I haven't found the perfect one yet, but you all will hear when I do.  :-)

I can't wait for summer to start.  Summer to-do list includes taking photographs, writing poems and stageplays, designing and making dresses, going to movies at the old movie theatre, drinking orange juice from teacups beside the pool, and assorted adventures with the family, friends, and boyfriend. 

With that in mind, this dress is perfect for the weather autumn through spring.  The dress is a lightweight but sort of fuzzy polyester/rayon blend.  It's a bit more red than it looks in the picture.  I'm wearing it over a blue cami I've had for ages, and no shoes because I haven't left the house yet today. 

I believe that's all I have for you today.  Oh yes, and I'm hoping to get my hair cut tomorrow, will post pictures!

Until next time.  <3

Fingerprints on the outer glass of the window on a commuters' bus/ a piece of goodbye left behind when time takes everything else with it.

Hello!  Since my last blogazine post, a lot has changed.  Such is life.  I've gotten hit pretty hard by what we like, or dislike, to call the real world, but I think that I'm seeing a bit clearer because of it. 

That said, on to the themes that I've established in earlier posts.  I'll have to get back into doing outfit posts, I'm having a lot of fun with spring/summer outfits.  I always love it when the seasons change; although I try not to neglect any particular piece for too long, the change of weather and aesthetic is always the perfect opportunity to try out new fabrics and shapes and colours.

In the meantime, I'll share with you a few photographs from a series I displayed at a student art show last night.  There were nine in the series, but I suppose that a sampling of three will suffice.

I'm trying to catch up on all that's happened while I was away from kaboodle.  Of course, I never completely forgot about it.  :-)  I have been reading a ton of fashion blogs off of kaboodle, though, maybe there will be some posts on that to come.

I've missed you all.  No matter the fact that "virtual" communities are never the same as face to face, kaboodle is the closest-knit community I've found anywhere online.

I'm off.  More photography, some astronomy coursework, writing on the old typewriter, and some daydreaming.  About soft cotton dresses, straw hats, and colourful summer shoes, of course. 

Until next time.  <3

First off, a big apology to everyone: I hereby formally express my sorrow to all kaboodlers for having dropped off of the lovely planet of kaboodle.  Aside from the bump of the unpleasant landing (I do not, by the way, recommend dropping off the face of a planet, for future reference), I'm none the worse for the absence - except for having missed all of the wonderful blogazines and lists and polls and products that everyone has been posting!

So without further ado, I haven't been up to much, but I have put together a few decent outfits that haven't yet made it onto kaboodle.  So here's an outfit I wore a couple of weeks ago. 

The outfit started with a brown cotton dress from Kohl's, it's really a summer dress, I think I paid around $10 for it.  On top of that is a fine-gauge crocheted shrug.  I can't for the life of me remember where I got it.  Then my favourite vintage leather boots.  Oh, and those $1 stockings from walmart.  I made the earrings, which you can (sort of) see in the second photograph, from crystals I bought in a bead shop one of the times I went to New York City last year.

I wasn't exactly sure if I liked all of the different colours of brown together - if anyone has any opinions or comments, please feel free!

I hope that everyone is doing well.  I'm still making an effort to catch up on everything that I've missed.  Not to mention studying for my last exam tomorrow.  :-)

Until next time. <3