Happy Me Day

You read it right - Happy Me Day.

Because there are alternative lives being lived around the world that don't involve motherhood. I was going to declare a Happy Wives Day given the success of Husband's Day last year - but again, that only really works if you're focusing on your relationship status... and that's not as fun as thinking about what an awesome person you are, all on your own, without anyone else's validation. So today is all about Me. 

(If you are cringing right now or have some sort of issue with declaring yourself worthy of a whole day of celebration... perhaps this isn't the blog for you. Go and read my first ever blog post to get an idea what this blog is all about and perhaps gain some insight. And if you are all for celebrating your own 'Me' Day, then three hearty cheers to you too! You deserve it.)

So to celebrate, I went on a little shopping trip with my bestie (also celebrating Me Day) and after a syrupy pancake breakfast I picked up a few necessities for said-Day. 

Like these (only mine are navy blue with red and green dots, but I couldn't find an image on-line):

And Paramore's new self titled album:

On a side note, and with much unexpected synchronicity, I have just launched my first (ever) stop-motion animation on YouTube. Excitement! Go on, click here to watch. It's a 2 minute animation which just happens to involve the theme of 'Me Day' although it was wholly unintentional. - the actual theme is 'pleasure' (you will see how I inadvertently weaved in today's celebrations at the very end of the video). 

I have been working on this for the last two weeks for Uni - a very interesting learning curve involving cameras, lighting, unsteady tripods and miniature strips of paper text. It was seriously fun though, and it's my introduction to the wonder of stop motion. I can see loads of opportunities using paper craft in stop motion. But oh, the time involved! This one contains about 1256 photographs, all put together in the free software Windows Movie Maker with a lovely little ditty via opsound.org. 

And it is dedicated to all the 'Me's of the world... so enjoy. 

For the love of reading

Here is how my morning panned out:

I woke up naturally before the alarm (no, I don't switch it off on Saturdays), made toast and tea, perched myself on the couch near the window with a blanket and my iPad, and haven't moved for three hours.

Bliss.

Most of the time was spent lingering on the Goodreads website, ogling lists that others have made of 'books about books' and adding too many of them to my 'to read' shelf. That, and listening to my dog snoring, and occasionally glancing out the window to see two Willie Wagtails (those tiny black and white birds that appear to be dressed in tails) dancing around the lemon tree.

I'm well aware that I should have been dressed by now and busy doing productive things, and that I don't have spare time to read books that aren't on my required reading list for Uni (in amongst my actual working life) but I'm ignoring all that. I'm reading anyway. I started last night and am in love again already.

With this:

Creative in an awkward and beautiful way

Foray into collage for Uni this week

I love my Uni course when the tasks involve scissors, paper and glue. 

I have the whole week to mull over the concepts (or to try and understand what the hell is going on) and then comes Friday... Uni day... and I'm allowed to play with scissors. And that is when I know I am in the right place.

The more I think about making stuff, the more I want to make stuff. Time seems to be the barrier for me (with work/study/life/other) but my imagination is not put off by such minor hindrances. Heck no. There will come a day when I'll try that technique, have a go at using that tool, or get along to that workshop. There is all the time in the world. No need to panic.

When I think back over the last six months I'm astounded at the amount of crafty escapades I've squeezed into my busy life - completely unrelated to my Uni course work. Yet it's so easy to forget those wonderful experiences when they have passed... perhaps that's why I'm back here at the keyboard. I need to capture some of these moments. 

It's true that I've barely looked at another blog in the past 8 weeks, however I opened up Feedly today (now that Google Reader is no more...) and found a whole array of tutorials on the lovely blog Awkward & Beautiful. There are tutorials about tissue paper, collage, art journals, and wait for it... image transfers. That is on my radar, oh yes.

Go there and be amazed just for a few minutes. Maybe have a go at something, or make a list of supplies and book yourself in for some play time. I'm away to check out this one right now. 

 

Public art and a vague memory of a book

It seems I am averaging one blog post a month. But in my head I think I've written about twenty.

That's okay, you know how it is with blogging... all the magic happens in your mind, and then you just need to find ten minutes of computer time when nobody needs you, or when there is nothing good to watch or read or write. Add in 8 solid weeks of Uni work (on top of the regular office work) and next thing you know it's May.

That's okay. I've missed you too, Blogger.

I've been having some fun though, in amongst all the book work. My time management leaves a lot to be desired. However, I've had a go at designing some ideas for public art, researching video game culture (violence, etc), learning about Détournement (a word I had never heard of until this week) and an enormous amount of research on public artists like Banksy. Things are looking up.

Next week we delve into the Surrealists - which brings up a vague memory of a book I've been trying to locate since mid high school, 20-something years ago. It's about (or by?) Andre Breton. I recall falling madly in love with the first few chapters, devouring them while seated on the floor of a public library in a small country town. And it had a yellow cover. With some pink. And there was something about a Matador. I'm sure it will all become clear after a session or two of hypnosis (If you have any inkling of the book of which I vaguely refer to, I beg you to leave me a note. Sorry I couldn't give any actual details... oh, it begins with a bunch of chums hanging out in Parisian cafes).

So, Banksy - if you haven't seen 'Exit Through the Gift Shop', it's worth a look. Particularly if you like street art, or despise it - it may just change your view a little.

First week into work + study

I've been hiding away here:

Doing this:

And trying to work out how to use this:

And discovering this:

You must check out the insanely cute Cardboard People by Anton Tang on the Junk Culture website.

***

Who would have thought that going back to Uni would involve a week messing about with a cardboard box? Drawing it, photographing it, tearing it to shreds... it's been rather interesting.

But as all first weeks go, the new 'work + study' routine has been a little rough. Or rather, settling in to the new routine has been slower than I thought. It has only been a week - and the perfectionist in me wants to be on track and understanding everything about these units by now... 

The best parts have been creating a visual diary, drawing with graphite pencils, philosophising over my own personal media use, and exploring new websites (like above). I'm also quietly thrilled to have access to an online University Library (I'm a complete Library geek... all those journals and databases... sigh)