Wish I could still tapdance

I've already mentioned in previous posts how much I love tiled floors and feet. In fact, you've seen a lot of my feet. A lot. The last few days, I've been sorely tempted to shoot a whole series of photos of my feet in different shoes, stockings, pants, skirts, etc. in different locations with unique tiled floors.

I know, it sounds kind of insane, but it might result in a fun mosaic. Particularly if I frame or zoom in so that all of the tiles are about the same size as one another!

This project probably won't really happen, however. I'm a bit neurotic, but not that obsessive. Not even about feet.

RANT! RAGE! SMASH!

Lately, I've been severely lacking in socialization. My job has gotten to the point where I wish I had quit outright rather than giving them a month to replace me. I usually keep my raving about work out of this blog as much as I can, but today is an exception. I'm pissed.

One of my co-workers, the other keyholder on staff, has gone AWOL. She handed in her keys one day and stormed out, leaving us to flounder in the lurch. The District Manager (DM) told us she'd be back, pending an "investigation". What this investigation entails, he won't tell us. We're not sure what's going on or if she'll be back (much less when she'll be back).

In the mean time, the Assistant Manager (AM) and I are covering her hours.

Worn down, but not out!

Work lately has been a real challenge to keep up with, mentally and physically. I've had a few scares with my health the last few weeks, among other things. Things are looking up, though! Last week, I handed in my letter of resignation. As of September 14th, I will freely give up employment and head into the wide world to find something new.

Photo of the Day: Face ... SMASH!!

 

One of the projects during my capstone class was to create a show poster for the class to view and vote on. It had to name each of our classmates and represent us as a whole. One of my classmates asked us to each smash our faces into a scanner and then used those images to design her poster. I was "known" and teased by classmates for my insanely long hair (it hung all the way to my hips at the time), so I used that to my advantage. The necklace I'm wearing is an Australian opal my grandfather gave me when I was a child.

She also tagged us all on Facebook with the unedited, uncropped facesmashes, so I swiped this image from her for today.

Photo of the Day: Reality

Every five hours, four times a day, I take two of these pills. Eight pills a day, fifty-six pills a week, two thousand, nine-hundred, twenty pills a year.

Catch-Up and Froufrou Stuff

When I first got into lolita, I really did have an admiration for sweet lolita. It has gradually turned more and more sour, the more things get added to people's heads. It's always the heads, why not the rest of the outfit?! It sort of clicked into place a few days ago when a sweet-lolita obsessed friend of mine made a remark that sort of amused me. She commented on her Facebook about a new pair of circle lenses and how the old ones gave her tunnel vision.

The above little doodle resulted from her remark. It could use some refining, but I'm happy enough with it for now.

Photo of the Day: Lunch DESTROYED

Work is upsetting me. My favorite coworker was let go last week.

I don't have much else to say right now, so ... enjoy this cell-phone snap of my Healthy Choice Thai Chicken Steamer lunch from yesterday when I found out. Or something.

Shit, I feel blue. Better go to the post office and mail those packages, now.

Photo of the Day: Marblesque

A model pauses at the end of the runway at Anime Matsuri's
j-fashion show, featuring Hangry & Angry and Sixh. of h.naoto.

Wow! I've been really busy lately. Much, much more so than I had anticipated.

My promotion at work went through, so I'm now acting as a shift leader on top of my other responsibilities, and have been working quite a bit more than I anticipated. In fact, I went in yesterday to pick up some bias tape and fabric and ended up working for an hour (while not in uniform).

When I'm not working, I'm sewing, and haven't made much time for photography or this blog. I've finished several pieces in the last week or so, including a vest and skirt set. I'm also working on some vintage patterns from Butterick. Right now, I'm using B5603 in a wine red taffeta.

Tomorrow, I'll be going to the Japanese Festival with friends, so there should be photos coming from that soon!

(And those articles I keep promising, whoops.)

Brief Hiatus

Hey there! Remember me?

Yeah, I vanished for a bit. I know. It's good though, I promise. Continuing from my last post, I was hired on the spot after the interview. I've worked every day this week (though I wasn't on the schedule) and may have another job interview coming up in a few days.

Things are starting to turn around, but this means that I'll have to rearrange my time a bit, and get organized. I'll be back to posting regularly in no time, but until then, I'll be rather quiet.

Thanks everyone for the well-wishing! I appreciate it!

Personal? Personal.

It's been a hectic few days (they all seem that way lately), but good things have happened. All that sewing appears to have paid off. Just because I've been indulging in my crafty side lately, I've been spending quite a bit of time browsing Hancock and talking to the staff, I may have found a solution to my joblessness. I submitted my application today, and got a phone call within three hours.

I have an interview tomorrow.

It's only a small job, but hey. Job's a job's a job (I also may have an interview pending with a newspaper, we'll see how it goes! I sent them portfolio samples this afternoon) and I can really use a job.

Either way, this means there will likely be more sewing photo-posts in the near future. I have another skirt in that aqua kitsch fabric half-completed.

I know, I know ...

I'm still not done. But. It's almost there!

Today, there are no photos of it, as the bodice requires a bit of hand-stitching around the waist, zip and shirring before I show it off. Instead, you get ...

A fabric rose!

The bodice was looking mighty bland, so I told a friend I was going to add a bow. She said that might be a bit much, that she liked the fabric on its own merit. She suggested a small corsage to wear at the strap, instead. Thus, a fabric rose. I'm planning on making at least one more for my hair, and a few smaller ones out of the green ribbon as additional accents.

Fingers crossed that I finish this project tomorrow!

How many lolitas can you fit . . .

Lolitas cram into a purikura booth at PMX 2009. At least two more lolitas snuck in after this photo!
(And there's another out of view! So nine?)

 Most people are familiar with photo booths. You see them at carnivals, amusement parks, and even in malls. The idea behind them is simple: put in money, get instant photos. It's a fun, quick way to capture memories with friends, and share them around.

Because of a resurgence in nostalgia-based consumerism, these photo booths are once again popping up in malls and public spaces, which brings us to today's topic: purikura booths. These sparkly, graphic-coated machines are becoming more visible of late, and though they've been around a while, it looks like lolitas are still flocking to them.

Photo of the Day: Now Where Was I?

These signs are really common in my area. Every drainage ditch/bayou has at least four.

Today really has nothing to do with lolita, except to explain why I don't wear it very often. Today, I'm going to tell you a little bit about where I live!

To warn you, this post is not for the faint of heart: I live in Houston, Texas. This is going to be a bit of a word-vomit. I won't be sad if you skip it.

Frills and Photos - The Perfect Marriage

Lolitas attract lenses.
The first time that I went out in lolita in a large group, it was for a meet-up at a zoo. Until that point, I had worn it only with one or to other girls at a time, or else by myself. The day we went to the zoo, there were approximately ten girls in all in our gathering, and we drew quite a lot of attention. During the day, we became something of a tourist attraction, drawing as many photographers' lenses as the animals did in their enclosures.

As more and more people asked us for photographs, I knew that it was because we were so much out of the ordinary, and I began to wonder if there was some way to make use of that "strangeness" in photography. Since then, I have discovered others who have done so, and to great effect (but that's a subject for another article).

So why combine lolita fashion and photography?