Swiss Cottage Antiques

The wife was up for the weekend and the first place I took her was to Swiss Cottage Antiques. This massive antique warehouse just around the corner from my flat. Keep an eye on Dianne's blog for more photos soon as she was LOVING it. 
I made two purchases. This sweet 1953 Coronation mini tankard. I think I'm going to take it to the bars I frequent and insist upon having my cocktails in it!
I also had to buy the framed religious needlepoint. It has a label on the back from the company who framed it but no date. I'd say at the latest it's from the 70s. I just had to get it. I've hung it above my bed. No I'm not religious. I just have a really weird sense of humour! 

Slutwalk.

So Slutwalk is still going on. I've never seen so many divided opinions over something. Personally I don't want to take back the word 'slut' as a label. I prefer to not label myself. But for me that isn't the point of Slutwalk. 


This is the point.... 


It’s hard to live in a world where those who are meant to serve and protect treat people that way. It’s really hard to live in a world where an off-duty police officer can rape a woman at gunpoint and have his behavior apologized for in the media by reports which cite the fact that he was drunk, since it may (and I quote) “explain certain behavior.” It’s even harder to live in a world where if a woman is drunk and she is raped, as in the case of the acquittal of two police officers for the rape of an East Village woman this summer, she can’t get a fair trial.


Via - http://sarahelspeth.com/blog/


Yeah, the radical notion that no-one deserves to be raped. Radical huh? I guess it's just a shame that the name has stopped some people getting behind it. 

A to Z

So I've read this on a few blogs that I frequent and I thought I'd do it myself as it's been nice learning a little bit more about people... 


A. Age: 27
B. Bed size: Double. One day I'll have a Queen sized bed. 
C. Chore that you hate: Putting clothes away. 
D. Dogs: I prefer kitties but sausage dogs are pretty cute.
E. Essential start to your day: Get up , feed the cat. After that it varies.  
F. Favorite color: Black.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver. 
H. Height: 5’4”
I. Instruments you play: Violin but it's been a while. I also have a ukulele - I wouldn't say I can play it though. 
J. Job title: Blogger, photographer, bar pixie. I'm not one for titles.  
K. Kids: Kitties?
L. Live: Leeds, UK.
M. Mother’s name: Lea.
N. Nicknames: Lolo, Lolski, Loz. There are a couple of others but I don't want them to get out.
O. Overnight hospital stays:  None overnight. Do 1 a.m. A&E visits count?
P. Pet peeves: People saying 'somethink' rather than 'something'.
Q. Quote from a movie: "What happens in the next reel? Do I get dragged off screaming to the snake pits?" All About Eve 
R. Right or left handed: Righty-tighty.
S. Siblings: Younger half sister. 
U. Underwear: It tends to be black. And either from American Apparel or ridiculously expensive. 
V. Vegetable you hate: I love veg. I mean I eat raw potatoes. That's how much I love it! But sprouts are the worst.  
W. What makes you run late: I put things down and then can't find them. My purse, my phone, my keys - just as I'm about to leave. Then I need to spend 5 minutes looking for them.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth and right shoulder. 
Y. Yummy food that you make: I make a damn good chilli.
Z. Zoo animal: I like penguins. And meerkats. 

Reading.

I've read some fascinating articles recently and I wanted to share them! 

http://greatwen.com/2011/08/11/london-riots-and-football-hooliganism/

This shows the similarities between the recent spate of rioting/looting in London and football hooliganism. Living in Leeds I have to admit that I've seen so many rampaging football fans I've actual become a bit blasé about the whole thing. I'm always surprised when people are shocked to see the city centre crawling with police on a match day. But I digress! I couldn't agree more with everything written in the post - in fact this is something that I've found myself repeating over the past week... 

"There are always lessons to be learnt from the past, if you look in the right places."

 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0407_030407_snakehandlers.html

They shall take up serpents...

Snakehandlers are something totally foreign to us UK folk. And maybe that's where my interest in them comes from. More than anything I would love to visit Appalachia and travel round photographing these small churches. 

Side note - I have a tattoo on my stomach of a snake and apple - obviously fall of man themed. I find the symbolism of serpents really interesting.


http://rachelrabbitwhite.com/atheists-are-sexy-a-secular-reader-round-table/
A reader round-table I took part in. It's about how your religious beliefs (or lack thereof) influence your sexuality, morality and views on life and death.

http://pervocracy.blogspot.com/2011/08/sinsational.html
When did "sin" become synonymous with sex? She raises an interesting point... gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins but when was the last time you saw fundamentalist Christians picketing outside a fast-food joint?  



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5847315.ece
Coal not dole...
So the author of this article visits Pontefract to talk to people about the miners strike. This won me over straight away for two reasons. 1- I'm from Pontefract and 2- my grandad worked in the Prince of Wales Colliery there. I really believe the 84/85 miners strike and the outcome of it has a lot to do with the way things are in the UK today. From how we view the police to the lack of any real sense of community in a lot of areas - the end of the strike and the closure of the mines ushered in a new Britain. This article asks some interesting questions. Is it fair to compare the strike a civil war? What if someone other than Arthur Scargill had led the strikes? Maybe it wasn't a civil war but there's no argument that the miners strike was Britain's most important postwar social confrontation. 


Okay, this isn't a blog post/article it's a video but just let me have it yeah!
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74ffb8b7d6/we-hate-music-bon-iver
I managed to find some other people who really dislike Bon Iver. Unfortunately this video isn't even that funny. SIGH. Man I fucking hate Bon Iver. I only mention this because facebook and twitter is all blah blah Bon Iver blah at the moment. I get the feeling it's going to stay that way until like a month after they tour the UK or something. I guess the problem is - I don't get it. I just don't get it!! It sounds like the kind of music you would hear on an advert for feminine hygiene products. To put it bluntly - this music has no balls. Listen to it. Now imagine going to one of their gigs! I'd be trying to gnaw my hand off out of boredom within ten minutes. Fact. NO THANK YOU.   


I'll leave you with two questions - 
Which of the articles did you prefer?
Do you like Bon Iver? Explain it to me!!

Flat mates.

Taken in May - This matches my mood today.

So I've lived on my own for about 5 years now. Over the past few months I've been thinking that actually it might be quite nice to have a flat mate (read - I need to economise).
A conversation with a friend on the subject got my thinking about what qualities I would look for in a potential flat mate... and also what I should tell them - or warn them? - about my living habits.
Soooo. I thought I'd make a list!


Potential flat mate must -

• Read! FHM, Mens Health and The Sport DO NOT count. You much read actual books. Ideally classic literature - I get through books at an alarming rate and I'm always on the look out for a book recommendation. Or if you have a book I can borrow, even better! This makes it sound like I'm a book snob but I'm really not. I read Star by Pamela Anderson and I enjoyed it! 
• Be okay with cats. I have a cat. She is white. I will supply lint rollers as and when needed.
• Be able to discourse on politics, sexism, history, feminism, and lots of other things that end in -ism.   
• Be able to cope with the fact that sometimes I suffer from insomnia so will be pottering round at all hours. I have also been known to hoover at 4am. 
• Not tell me about my odd behaviour. Hey, do you really think that I don't know that eating half a block of cheese out of the wrapper for dinner while stood in-front of the open fridge is weird? I am aware of this thanks!! 
• Cook sometimes! I love cooking like but I don't want to have to do it all the time. Or at least procure us some takeout or something.
• Ideally be good at 'man-tasks'. Whether you are male or not. I'm fucking sick of putting my own shelves up. And changing fuses. 
• Also be able to cope with the fact I rarely make tea or coffee - I hardly drink them. I also drink juice from the carton. If you drink it after me I'm pretty sure you won't die. 
• Have a tv, microwave, toaster, kettle. I have none of these things. 
• Drink! The thing I miss most about living with other people is social booze time in the living room. 
• Not constantly bitch about your job, the weather, life, how hungover you are. Go post it on facebook yeah? It would drive me to murder/suicide. 

Oh I thought of another one! I have genius/insane ideas. I like to share them. If they're insane please talk me down. But if they are genius you have to up for getting involved! 

Hmmm. I wonder if I'll actually be able to find a flat mate that could put up with me? Angry night-owl that eats/drinks straight from the fridge... but hey, I cook a damn good risotto.

Hunter.

I've been rereading 'Kingdom of Fear' - Hunter S Thompson’s autobiography - If you haven't read it I can't recommend it enough! It's no secret that one of my favourite books ever is 'The Rum Dairy'.

For anyone who hasn't read The Rum Diary this is what it's about (according to wikipedia) ‘Set in the late 1950s, the novel encompasses a tangled love story of jealousy, treachery and violent alcoholic lust among the Americans who staff the newspaper.’ and ‘… it deals extensively with a fear of “going over the hill” and growing old. The prominent characters are typical of Thompson's work; violent, maniacal and alcoholic, stumbling through life. It is written in a highly paced and rather exciting style, also typical of his work.’

Side note - Generally the books I like cover these themes. See the work of one of my other favourite authors Tennessee Willliams. His plays have similar recurring motifs, such as social mores, greed, superficiality, decay, sexual desire, and death.

Anyhoo, Thompson is the king of quotes.

"Life should not be a safe journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly use up, totally worn out, loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a ride!"

I really agree with that. My 'live fast' tattoo ain't for nothing you know. But lately I've been getting the feeling that I may sometimes spend too much time rushing through life, hungry for the next thing. I suppose there's something to be said for savouring the moments too rather than casting them aside and hurrying on to the next. 

while I'm quoting - here's a great Tennessee Williams quote -

"We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it."

I remember Halloween.

Jeez. I've just realised that I have a full on caffeine addiction. This is something I’m going to try and break at some point. But right now it’s like sweet jesus I need this to get through the day.

I was going to write a weekend round up post but I seem to have lost my mojo. Let me see if I can condense everything –

Saturday – Reetsweet Craft Fair at Nation of Shopkeepers. This was loads of fun. As the Reetsweet events always are! I spent Friday night getting everything ready so Saturday morning was nice and easy. I chucked everything in a bag and headed down to the venue for 11am to set up. It was nice to catch up with some crafty people I haven’t seen for a while and meet some new ones. The amount of people checking out the stalls was kind of steady but definitely seemed to pick up between 3 – 5pm. Some well good nachos and cupcakes were eaten and Claire (who makes amazing wooden brooches by the way) and I decided to share a table at the Reetsweet event at the Corn Exchange on June 5^th.
At 5pm I packed up and made my way home, inhaled some food and turned around and went straight back into the city centre to meet Sofia for some cocktails at Neon Cactus. They do the best strawberry daiquiri in Leeds hands down. HANDS DOWN FOLKS. If you ever find yourself in Leeds please go and try one. They will not disappoint. After that everything is a bit hazy. There were more cocktails at Milo. Then I went to Santiago to see some bands play. I bumped into loads of people that I hadn’t seen for ages which is always good! I also spent a good amount of the night covered in vodka and lemonade (not mine) which was a bit bum but the good far outweighed the bad.

Sunday – Despite feeling like I’d been hit by a bus I managed to get out of bed and go have a meeting with my new boss Michaela. It was awesome and I really can’t wait to start working with her. Then I went home and didn’t do much of anything.

Monday – I love bank holidays. LOVE THEM. Seriously. So despite still feeling a bit crap I decided I was going to make the most of it. The first thing I did was alter an American Apparel skirt that I got from them in their April fools sale. It was a pencil skirt but the length just didn’t suit me. I figure I’m too short for pencil skirts. Anyway, 15 minutes with the sewing machine and I had a mini skirt! Problem solved! It worked out really well actually and I wore it for the rest of the day – I also realised that everything I was wearing (apart from my Converse) was from American Apparel *facepalm*.
In the afternoon I met up with Kaytie. We had some amazing veggie enchiladas before going to our first pole dancing class. Hilariously we got the sessions wrong and showed up to the advanced class. But it actually worked out quite well. It was so much fun and I’ll definitely be going back. I am actually looking at poles on ebay at the moment. That’s how much I enjoyed it!

Hang on. I was supposed to be condensing all this guff. Eh. I'll leave it at that then. Some photos from the craft fair will be posted tomorrow.

One last thing - last night I listened to this well interesting podcast about terror management. Basically it's a theory that we construct culture and all it's trappings in an unconscious effort to create meaning in life and to distract us from becoming obsessed with our inevitable death. Apparently there's a process called distal defense where people cling more strongly to the culture they identify with when faced with their own mortality. In the podcast they talked about some research that was done about this process involving judges handing out sentences and it seemed to prove it existed.
If you're interested read more about it here and here. I'd like to know what you think.