Musings of an unofficial trend analyist

In the spring of 2004 I was rummaging through my mother's clothes and trinkets and I came upon three strands of pearls attached together. Having my own little quirks, I decided to wear it to school. Yes, pearls to school. Obviously they were faux pearls or costume pearls (they have a more official title but I can't remember what it was anymore). These are the comments that came upon me:
"Are those real?!
"You're wearing pearls to school?"
"Why are you wearing those things to school?"
"What's up with the pearls?"

Lo and behold fall of 2004 rolled around and guess what is in now??? Oh yes: fancy, 20's style clothing and accessories, over the top anything, chunky brooches, fur anything and most of all: pearls. I wore them today and I didn't get those kind of comments. I got nice comments. This is very amusing. Funny, I bought an extremely wide skirt last year in Chicago and I wasn't gonna wear it anywhere and I bought that funny looking corset purse from Marshall Fields (that place rocks). And guess what comes into style the next summer? I love being ahead of the game. HAHAHA. Yes so this summer I was predicting that pencil skirts would be the next 'in thing'.. As you can see fashion likes to go from one extreme to the other, and I was right (duh. I think I got this whole predicting trends from Grace). So this is my next prediction (let's see if I am right. If I'm not... well that's the end of the world isn't it?? N.B.: the sarcasm.): Streamlined everything, minimalism, leather, Narciso Rodriguez-esque looks, Armani, small jewelry.

Ergh... transferring this song from Mitch's comp is making me antsy.. something wrong with my msn.. I can't get certain song files from her and I'm watching the number of kb's go trickling down... yergh.. making me antsy here! I need help on allusions! ARGH.

Let me dream:
If I get into Parsons (puahaha.. my chance is 1 in 10000000000000000 x infinite since they only accept 50 students per year for interior... yo they accept hundred and something for fashion. Stupid), I want to get my degree and become a registered Interior Designer. After that I want to get a degree in Communication Designs and perhaps I can become an Art Director for a magazine company. And I want to get a Photography degree (is there such thing as a fashion photograpy degree? Lol.) so I can assist at photoshoots or whatever. Funny, when girls were dreaming of becoming models and fashion designers, I wanted to be a fashion photographer. Lol. Cuz I think it's so awesome to do lighting and finding good poses and flow and to try to convey a certain mood or meaning. And then I want to get an art history degree. grrrr.. too many things... I'm just wondering, what if I get all these degrees before I go out to work and in the midst of my study, my parents die? Then what. I don't have any proper funding! Lol. Okay that is so morbid. I shall not think of such situations. Yawn.

Mmm... to counteract all the 'marshmallow' entries, I'm gonna put up one of my journal entries that I had to do in english. We had to respond to this article called 'Please Offend me and Let me Offend You". Basically it's this guy saying what if I said men are superior to women? What if I said sweatshops were good for our economy? What if I said white people are better than black people? We get so offended by these little comments... If I called a black person... a black person, they'd think I'm being racist. But when you think about it, you're just describing their skin colour and it has nothing to do with being racist. For example, my little group of friends who we call the 'UN group' cuz we're so mixed: Chinese, Russian, Canadian, American, Filipino, Sri Lankan, Irish and French.... and we just make 'racist' remarks at each other but none of us get offended. Why? Because it's just a joke and if you called me a yellow person... I wouldn't be offended cuz I am yellow. It's my skin colour for pete's sake. Yeah a lot of people would get offended by what Julia says cuz she makes so many racial remarks.. but she doesn't mean it. If someone did say it intentionally for the wrong reasons.. well I'd get offended... but in this world we're so easily offended that all of us have to censor our own words. We're not allowed to say certain things or speak our mind because we're afraid of people putting us down and judging us. If everyone thought the same.. how could we get different viewpoints? So what if I thought something totally from you? If I thought Hitler had some human qualities? You may call him a tyrant and a monster but he's still flesh and blood: human. So anyway here's my entry. You can be offended by the things that I say or you can just take it as my opinion. It's exactly 600 words. ;) :

. Please Offend Me and Let Me Offend You.

The privilege of speaking what is on your mind, and not what other people want to hear is becoming rather narrow and scarce as Pablo Martin de Holan has said. I believe it would be great if everyone spoke their mind and we’d get so many viewpoints on one subject. However it’s human nature to want to please and impress others so that we could blend and fit in like everyone else. But how could you become an individual if you think just like everyone else? Even the process of thinking is not necessary if we all believed in the same things. Just as it is written in the article: ‘Consequently, thinking and speaking have become perilous: better to shut up than to offend your neighbour, lest you end up prosecuted for something you did not do but merely wrote, something you simply imagined.’ P206.
Freedom of speech is a privilege to those who live in North America and other parts of the world who are not oppressed by the government. But we are so used to being able to say whatever we want, when we want, we forget those who are under the force of the some political power. If you ever expressed your opinion on an issue, say in China, they could have you arrested and exiled. Just recently a university student was arrested twice for attempting to pay respects to those who died in the protest on June 4th. All he wanted to do was light a candle in remembrance of that fateful day in the Tianamen Square. China may seem very far away and the very thought of forbidding people to express their own ideas; an absurd one in itself but our freedom of speech in Canada is on the precipice of going downward as well.
Half a year ago, the government had introduced a draft for a new bill named Bill C-415 that would ban all literature that condemned or challenged homosexuals. The bill also said that people were not allowed to talk against homosexuals lest they wanted to risk getting arrested. When I heard about this bill, I was shocked. In Grade 10 we had to take the Canadian History course where we learnt that one of the reasons so many people wanted to immigrate to this country was because they could practice religious freedom. And Canada has always been boasting about its diversity in nationalities, cultures and religions. So if this bill were to be passed out, we’d no longer be able to express our thoughts and objections towards this group of people and books such as the Bible would be banned. We are forced to remain silent and keep to ourselves. Is it so wrong for people to think differently from the way you do? Would you try to oppress these people who have offended you? It is true that we are not producing an environment where people could exchange their thoughts which are rich in both backgrounds and beliefs. Instead as Pablo Martin de Holan described, we are ‘working our way to the operating room equivalent of a public place: sanitized, righteous and sterile in all the splendid meanings of the word’. Being displeased with a person’s lifestyle is nothing near to hating the person. One can dislike what his friend does, like doing drugs, but can still love the person for their character. So please do not hate me for saying this because this is what I think. Do not denounce me as being narrow minded for what I believe in. I am just saying what is on my mind.

Calorie count (and no I am not an anorexic. I'm just doing this to bug a certain someone ;) ):
Fish sandwich: 856 (according to BK nutrition chart)
Yogurt: 160
Milk: 146
Iced tea: 100 (coke is 110 according to the BK nutrition chart)
Iced almond: n/a (100?)
Bak Choy: n/a (perhaps 91? Does that even count the oil?)
Chocolate Soya Milk: 160
Ham and egg sandwich: n/a (but I presume around 600?)

Total: 2113 (approximation. I had a couple of french fries. ;) )

What is the normal calorie intake of a growing (? am I even growing?) female? Wasn't it like 2400? Or something like that.. I should find that sheet where it gives me all the calories on each food. HAHAHAHA.. Did you know calorie and diet blogs are becoming increasingly popular? Every day girls would post their calorie intake and what they ate and stuff like that. Funny. I should include exercise.. but I can't really do that lest I have a treadmill. -_-. Oh well. I ran around with Robyn today at the convention center which was hosting the Clothing Show (omg Grace you'd love it there cuz it's all cheap. and I mean CHEAP). We arrived at 4:45 and it was supposed to close at 6 so we ran around the entire floor looking at stuff. There was so much vintage stuff there. Rob was trying on a pair of 1940's shoes but she didn't get them cuz they were high heeled (I would've gotten them to display on my shelf. They were awesome. Gray blue, round toe with small bow on front. Real leather. I could use them as bookends!)..
I'm living in this material aquarium. I can see why it's really bad to be so materialistc but I cant seem to jump out of it. It's pretty pathetic. I'm happy when I buy stuff. Okay fine maybe I am a bit impulsive... lol. I try to think of all the other children whom have only one set of clothing. But... it's so difficult to.. ergh.. it's hard to describe. You feel guilty but you dont do anything about it? You're fully knowledgable but don't do anything? Grr... Well anyway Rob and I was at the clothing show and we bumped into Jasmine with some of her friends later on when she and I were waiting for my parents to pick us up.
Yep it was fun because everything wasn't mainstream (save the occasional faux Louis Vuitton purse) and everything was vintage or handmade (handmade things rock). So emerging with one huge bag and a lighter wallet, this is what I ended up with (I sound so freaking ditzy. I think I'll post one of my English response journal entries tomorrow cuz they sound way more profound than I do now):
- Black 100% leather peacoat: $18!! HELLO!! It used to be $35. Darn it and it's real suede. I'm guessing it used to be in the hundreds. aeklrjaeklrae! Am getting it drycleaned tomorrow. It's second hand but who gives a darn.
- Handmade earrings: $15. Was $20. The best time to go is at the last hour of the last day cuz they always end up marking down their merchandise and you can bargain with them. Lol.
-An ornamented dark green hair tie (reminds me of absinthe cuz it's green and there's a fairy charm attached to it. LOL... that stuff that makes you hallucinate when you drink it.lol): $9. Was $18 but I asked her if I could have it for cheaper than 40%.

And there was no tax how great is that.. so how much did I spend today... $42! You can't even buy three items at the mall for that kinda money. And a jacket? It goes above my knee. :) I'm good. All that waiting has paid off. Lol. I sound hysterical. Okay tomorrow will be a serious, profound, well thought entry. I just had to let it out today. Lol. Btw Rob got this very Moulin Rouge dark blue necklace with ribbons for $15. It was $32.

Calorie count (and no I am not an anorexic. I'm just doing this to bug a certain someone ;) ):
Fish sandwich: 856 (according to BK nutrition chart)
Yogurt: 160
Milk: 146
Iced tea: 100 (coke is 110 according to the BK nutrition chart)
Iced almond: n/a (100?)
Bak Choy: n/a (perhaps 91? Does that even count the oil?)
Chocolate Soya Milk: 160
Ham and egg sandwich: n/a (but I presume around 600?)

Total: 2113 (approximation. I had a couple of french fries. ;) )

What is the normal calorie intake of a growing (? am I even growing?) female? Wasn't it like 2400? Or something like that.. I should find that sheet where it gives me all the calories on each food. HAHAHAHA.. Did you know calorie and diet blogs are becoming increasingly popular? Every day girls would post their calorie intake and what they ate and stuff like that. Funny. I should include exercise.. but I can't really do that lest I have a treadmill. -_-. Oh well. I ran around with Robyn today at the convention center which was hosting the Clothing Show (omg Grace you'd love it there cuz it's all cheap. and I mean CHEAP). We arrived at 4:45 and it was supposed to close at 6 so we ran around the entire floor looking at stuff. There was so much vintage stuff there. Rob was trying on a pair of 1940's shoes but she didn't get them cuz they were high heeled (I would've gotten them to display on my shelf. They were awesome. Gray blue, round toe with small bow on front. Real leather. I could use them as bookends!)..
I'm living in this material aquarium. I can see why it's really bad to be so materialistc but I cant seem to jump out of it. It's pretty pathetic. I'm happy when I buy stuff. Okay fine maybe I am a bit impulsive... lol. I try to think of all the other children whom have only one set of clothing. But... it's so difficult to.. ergh.. it's hard to describe. You feel guilty but you dont do anything about it? You're fully knowledgable but don't do anything? Grr... Well anyway Rob and I was at the clothing show and we bumped into Jasmine with some of her friends later on when she and I were waiting for my parents to pick us up.
Yep it was fun because everything wasn't mainstream (save the occasional faux Louis Vuitton purse) and everything was vintage or handmade (handmade things rock). So emerging with one huge bag and a lighter wallet, this is what I ended up with (I sound so freaking ditzy. I think I'll post one of my English response journal entries tomorrow cuz they sound way more profound than I do now):
- Black 100% leather peacoat: $18!! HELLO!! It used to be $35. Darn it and it's real suede. I'm guessing it used to be in the hundreds. aeklrjaeklrae! Am getting it drycleaned tomorrow. It's second hand but who gives a darn.
- Handmade earrings: $15. Was $20. The best time to go is at the last hour of the last day cuz they always end up marking down their merchandise and you can bargain with them. Lol.
-An ornamented dark green hair tie (reminds me of absinthe cuz it's green and there's a fairy charm attached to it. LOL... that stuff that makes you hallucinate when you drink it.lol): $9. Was $18 but I asked her if I could have it for cheaper than 40%.

And there was no tax how great is that.. so how much did I spend today... $42! You can't even buy three items at the mall for that kinda money. And a jacket? It goes above my knee. :) I'm good. All that waiting has paid off. Lol. I sound hysterical. Okay tomorrow will be a serious, profound, well thought entry. I just had to let it out today. Lol. Btw Rob got this very Moulin Rouge dark blue necklace with ribbons for $15. It was $32.

Calorie count (and no I am not an anorexic. I'm just doing this to bug a certain someone ;) ):
Fish sandwich: 856 (according to BK nutrition chart)
Yogurt: 160
Milk: 146
Iced tea: 100 (coke is 110 according to the BK nutrition chart)
Iced almond: n/a (100?)
Bak Choy: n/a (perhaps 91? Does that even count the oil?)
Chocolate Soya Milk: 160
Ham and egg sandwich: n/a (but I presume around 600?)

Total: 2113 (approximation. I had a couple of french fries. ;) )

What is the normal calorie intake of a growing (? am I even growing?) female? Wasn't it like 2400? Or something like that.. I should find that sheet where it gives me all the calories on each food. HAHAHAHA.. Did you know calorie and diet blogs are becoming increasingly popular? Every day girls would post their calorie intake and what they ate and stuff like that. Funny. I should include exercise.. but I can't really do that lest I have a treadmill. -_-. Oh well. I ran around with Robyn today at the convention center which was hosting the Clothing Show (omg Grace you'd love it there cuz it's all cheap. and I mean CHEAP). We arrived at 4:45 and it was supposed to close at 6 so we ran around the entire floor looking at stuff. There was so much vintage stuff there. Rob was trying on a pair of 1940's shoes but she didn't get them cuz they were high heeled (I would've gotten them to display on my shelf. They were awesome. Gray blue, round toe with small bow on front. Real leather. I could use them as bookends!)..
I'm living in this material aquarium. I can see why it's really bad to be so materialistc but I cant seem to jump out of it. It's pretty pathetic. I'm happy when I buy stuff. Okay fine maybe I am a bit impulsive... lol. I try to think of all the other children whom have only one set of clothing. But... it's so difficult to.. ergh.. it's hard to describe. You feel guilty but you dont do anything about it? You're fully knowledgable but don't do anything? Grr... Well anyway Rob and I was at the clothing show and we bumped into Jasmine with some of her friends later on when she and I were waiting for my parents to pick us up.
Yep it was fun because everything wasn't mainstream (save the occasional faux Louis Vuitton purse) and everything was vintage or handmade (handmade things rock). So emerging with one huge bag and a lighter wallet, this is what I ended up with (I sound so freaking ditzy. I think I'll post one of my English response journal entries tomorrow cuz they sound way more profound than I do now):
- Black 100% leather peacoat: $18!! HELLO!! It used to be $35. Darn it and it's real suede. I'm guessing it used to be in the hundreds. aeklrjaeklrae! Am getting it drycleaned tomorrow. It's second hand but who gives a darn.
- Handmade earrings: $15. Was $20. The best time to go is at the last hour of the last day cuz they always end up marking down their merchandise and you can bargain with them. Lol.
-An ornamented dark green hair tie (reminds me of absinthe cuz it's green and there's a fairy charm attached to it. LOL... that stuff that makes you hallucinate when you drink it.lol): $9. Was $18 but I asked her if I could have it for cheaper than 40%.

And there was no tax how great is that.. so how much did I spend today... $42! You can't even buy three items at the mall for that kinda money. And a jacket? It goes above my knee. :) I'm good. All that waiting has paid off. Lol. I sound hysterical. Okay tomorrow will be a serious, profound, well thought entry. I just had to let it out today. Lol. Btw Rob got this very Moulin Rouge dark blue necklace with ribbons for $15. It was $32.

A couple of days ago I bought the 'special' fall issue of Vogue. Some people buy the magazine to find out the newest design of Louis Vuitton purses (they all look the same and the classic is so freaking ugly. Mustard yellow on mud brown. Yum) or the ways of wearing a brooch (since all our clothing is now a reminiscence of the 40's). The reason I buy magazines (this one was two inches thick... the sheer weight was equivalent to one of a textbook) is to look at the advertisements and the photo shoots. I love looking at the lighting and how they photoshop their images. How the hair sweeps up and the way the clothes are highlighted and folded. The other day I was reading Elm Street and this specific issue was dedicated to fashion. As I was flipping through one of their photo shoots which focused around Baroque-like clothing, I noticed something pretty cool for those who study art history! lol. All the lighting in the pictures were focused on the model, who is obviously the central figure in all the images. The background is almost an inky black. This type of high contrast lighting was used a lot in many of the Baroque paintings... Artists such as Caravaggio (forgive me if I spell it wrong) loved to use this technique to bring out the prominent figures. Okay I am blabbering. But anyway I love reading every single little thing.. I read all the letters that readers send to the editor. Darn I should've gotten last month's issue cuz there was this article on Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy. Darn darn darn. And pple were saying they could relate to the two women. Darn darn darn!!
I love to listen to 97.3 easy rock. Is that so weird? I listen to an 'oldies'/parent/adult station. You know why I like it? Cuz a lot of the songs bring back memories and I love the Delilah show at 8 or 9. You can call her and dedicate a song to a person... and they tell her about their problems and why they want to dedicate this song to this person and it's so sweet. I know, behind all that cynicism (is that a word.. lol.. can't be bothered to look it up.) Sam has a romantic side to her. lol. I just don't like it when girls go "aw I miss blah blah.." at school and every other word is the guy's name. ARGH. It's not because I'm jealous (I barely know these pple) it's just that... BE QUIET!! Can you be separated for a few hours?? Is it that necessary to utter his name in every sentence? ANYWAY! I like listening to the Delilah show cuz it lets me think and the songs aren't about exploiting a girl or anything like that like all the other rap music these days. And she's nice. HAHA. and I like listening to the dedications and the songs she pairs them up with. :)

I am absolutely in love with the song 'This Is Our God'. LOL. Viv thinks I'm psycho. Okay maybe not in love, but it's a nice slow meditative song that just makes you think. And it's really peaceful and soothing. :).

A refuge for the poor,
a shelter from the storm
This is our God
He will wipe away your tears and return your wasted years
This is our God Oh... mmmm this is our God
A father to the orphan,
a healer to the broken
This is our God
And he brings peace to our madness and comfort in our sadness,
This is our God Oh... mmm this is our God.
This is the one we have waited for.
Oh... mmmm this is our God
A fountain for the thirsty,
a lover for the lonely,
This is our God.
He brings glory to the humble and crowns for the faithful
This is our God.

Ah... I'm at peace. :). I'm feeling so bubbly today. Lol. Today was sooooo pretty. I love fine weather days!!! And sitting outside of the Civic Center with the wind blowing and the sun blazing brightly... It's nice to sit there... Oh mmm this is our god.

Sorry to all you people who actually continually scrolled down to see that I published my previous entry five times.. geez.. you guys are all losers: Mitch, Kitty and Andrew. I don't know how that happened but I fixed it... happy now.
Yep well one more day before school starts.. er.. yay... blech. I am so tired from Julia's cottage.. All the things we did there.... It reminds me of those tween books where four girls go on adventures when on holiday and drive a boat and have a campfire and stuff.... it's almost like a fairy tale I guess? well we did make a bonfire and we toasted smores on it, they wathced a stupid scary movie, TUBING (I WENT TUBING JUST TO TELL ALL YOU GUYS I WENT TUBING... MY ARMS KILL FROM HOLDING ONTO THE CANVAS TUBE. you are literally airborn when you go over the waves that the boat makes... and it's so freaky. if you like roller coasters, try tubing), we drove the boat out... we literally flew off the waves at 70 km/hr.. hey.. that is fast ... try sticking your head out the window of a car next time you go at that speed. It's freaking cold. I love going on speedboats. Julia drives one. Score. So we went all over the place, we went swimming and lazed around.. lying in the sun makes me incredibly sleepy, especially when you are rocking back and forth on a boat and all you hear is the gentle splash of the waves.
You know what I found out yesterday as we were sitting around the bonfire? The sound of fire: crackling tongues of flame, and the sound of water: a soft gurgling noise as it rushes up on the smooth sand, are so profoundly different. It's really cool. I was quite awed by my discovery actually. Yet they complement each other quite well. Nature's symphony.

Ow. I have a new callous on my foot from all that meandering around downtown.. ow... Il Fornello... yummy. Don't I just pick the best restaurants? Lol. I am a connoisseur of fine Italian food. Joking. Omg I can't believe we didn't take the subway to Finch.. We walked from Eatons all the way to Skydome (we saw Canadian Idol. How sad) and all the way to Harbourfront, Queens Quay... just to come back where the Intercontinental Hotel was. -_-. We walked in a giant "C" shape. Yup so I had my strawberry, pear, almond spinach salad today. Sweet... Must weigh self after walking for the entire day and surviving on two slices of pizza and a salad. Hm.. how many calories is in a piece of pizza? Oh well I'll check later. Well I had soup later as soon as I got home. Lol. Chinese soup... That stuff is good.haha.. I keep thinking of what Steph and Kitty said throughout the whole day when I told them that the escalators at Eaton Center were placed so that you would sub consciously feel happy when you arrived at the mall cuz the stairs went up and when you left, they went down. Yes so throughout the whole day I hear two very mocking and skeptical pple going "Oh I am feeling sad.. wow.. going down another level.. I'm bordering on feeling depressed." -_-. If you guys ever hire me as an interior designer, I'll make sure to screw around with your brains by bringing up some particular emotions with paint colours.. so watch out if you think colour theory does not work!Why are MDs so expensive.... Or is it just cuz I was at the Sony Store? Lol. Must be.....Omg.. so many things to do this year.... portfolio, extra curricular activities, apply for scholarships (dude they all suck..), apply for universities, look into universities, do calc (SCORE I AM TWO THIRDS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'VE DONE 6/9 CHAPTERS!! LOOK WHO IS THE NERD NOW. I'm joking. I could never topple the all time world record, Loiser. lol), attempt to write essays for scholarships, grad blurbs, attempt to do AY yearbook, attempt to do the school yearbook cover etc etc... ah.. it looks like so much I don't wanna do it anymore. So overwhelming.