29 August, 2009

Design Ideas

Here is a shitty photo of a quick design rough I did in the second of my shoe design courses today.

I'm kind of in love with the design, to be honest. I want to produce this one. The body of the shoe will be thick, ruched black leather while the heel/back/collar and toe are in taupe leather.

It was compared to Rick Owens' work by my teacher, and I am VERY flattered.





(MY design, please do not steal. If you do I will send my ninjas after you. Shiny ninjas. Shiny ninjas of pain.)

28 August, 2009

The Beginning of a Little Artistic Venture

My flat mate and I have been discussing a number of projects we want to do together. They range from ridiculous business ventures (a butcher shop called "Please to Meat!") to the basic art student shit. You can probably guess which we feel is more realistic for us to pursue at this time...

She got a fantastic digital SLR camera for her birthday and we've been DYING to mess around with it. So today, we found time to choose an outfit and shoot in the park just as the sun was setting. But of course the light disappeared quickly and took the warmth of the day with it. Not ten minutes into our shoot the temperature dropped and the rain began. We got only three photos, which I will now post here to mark the beginning of an artistic collaboration between two idiot girls with a camera and some pretty dresses.










All photos are by the very talented Nivina Hameed.
(ps- not all the photos will be of me, we're just starting this way because we have to work with what we have.)

27 August, 2009

Replacement Bikes



Today we went back to Bike Works, my favorite bike shop, in hopes of picking up two bikes that had been fixed up for us. The new-to-us used bike buying was half successful today- My flatmate came home with a nice bike, but the one I went back for needed some more work done to it. They offered me another one but it wasn't quite the right size. I was a little let down.

The shop is couple of miles away from our flat, and I didn't want my friend to have to walk her new bike back simply because I hadn't found one, so I offered to walk back alone so that she could ride back. The guys at the bike shop overheard and in a moment of pity over our stolen bikes, offered to loan me the bike I had tried out today!

So we rode away with two bikes, only one of which we paid for, with plans to go back on Wednesday (my birthday) to go try out the bigger bike. :)

We rode home along the canal and through Victoria Park and it felt so good to be riding again. In the week I had my bike I had become rather addicted.

I can't wait to go back on my birthday and try out another bike!

Oblique Strategy for the Day.

"Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate"

24 August, 2009

99p of Oxfam Greatness

How could I leave the store without it?

23 August, 2009

Bikes Be Gone

Today my flatmate and I both had our bikes stolen while we were having a drink in the pub a few streets away.

We came outside excited by our day and our new found comfort riding in real traffic, only to find that the rack where we had chained our bikes was empty. I felt numb, and then sick, and now I'm just sad and pissed off.

We are going to do everything we can to try and find our bikes. We will go to all the 2nd hand bike shops to ask if bikes matching our descriptions were sold to them yesterday. We also filed a police report, even though we know they won't do anything about it (despite the CCTV cameras pointed directly at the place where we locked our bikes up).

It feels like someone took away the symbol of my new freedom to go where I want to go. It really shook me up for a few hours. Somehow it will all work out, I am sure of it. But right now it just feels shitty.

:/



goodbye little bikes.

S&M Brunch

Brunch.
Tasty.


Sausages and Mash.

22 August, 2009

Well Hung

I finally took a moment to hang the chalkboard we bought for the kitchen.

This Is My Life

There is nothing like biking to your neighborhood produce shop in the sun to come home and prepare a dinner of Dhal, Curried chicken and potatoes, Bhindi Bhaji, and bay leaf soaked rice. We cooked curry in a wok while listening to MC Hammer in a flat in England.



We also discovered magnetic poetry stuck to the side of our refrigerator and have since begun tormenting one another with it.

Our first poem sprung forth from the eating of tarts and discussing being an interracial household.



"You are whit(e)y. I, pariah. Tantamount torment! We know ennui. Usurp my Treacle."


And today we picked up the Russian print from 1927 and hung it in our otherwsie empty living room!


This is my life.

15 August, 2009

Growed Up

Today I bought a bike. My flatmate and I rode around Victoria park for hours enjoying the sunshine and the inevitable feeling of freedom that comes with having control over your means of transportation.

We then rode along the canal back home, and around our neighborhood. All in all I'm guessing we rode more than five miles today! Go team!

Then, a few hours later, in the cafe/vintage shop that is quick becoming our new favorite haunt I found an amazing piece of vintage art from the 20s. And seeing how much we loved it, the owner (who seems oddly fascinated with the fact that we are two girls originating in two of England's bastard children countries, living in London) cut the price in half for us. We had to say yes. With our birthdays only a week apart, and upcoming, we decided to call it Our Birthday Gift to ourselves.

We bought art. And ghetto bikes. I'm an adult. And a little hipster biker chick.