Dessert Du Jour

This where I exhibit a piece of my weirdness for The Internets. My favourite at home dessert - not chocolate, not tiramisu, compotes, bombes, clafoutis, meringues or anything brulee. No!

Equals heaven, quite frankly.

Instead it's kind of, well, baby food in a sense. But yummy! Take one tub of no fat French Vanilla yogurt (Formé by Yoplait, quell exotique nest pas?) and one small tub of apple and mixed berry puree (Goulburn Valley, adds a rustic all Aussie country home goodness feel, right?). Either combine, or, my own favourite method: grab a teaspoon, take a little scoop of puree (approximately half a teaspoon, or to taste), then add a little scoop of yogurt on top. Into gob.

Nom nom.

A Sunday Afternoon In Newtown

I grabbed my camera while I was out and about on Sunday, and snapped some little slices of Newtown within a few blocks of my house.

Christmas decoration fail. a) Ugly b) it's late February - time to let it go.


Here's hoping it loves him back.


The colours in this are subtle and gorgeous.

Mr Darcy Sure Is Tasty, Nom Nom

I don't know, this could be either terrible or awesome.



Actually, it could be both.

Windswept And Interesting

Out on the wiley, windy moors...



We'd roll and fall in green.



You had a temper, like my jealousy...



Too hot. Too greedy.



How could you leave me, when I needed to possess you?



I hated you.

I loved you too.

[Photos from GQ Autumn/Winter 07/08 by David Slijper, via foto decadent.]

Prepare Yourself For A Diabetic Coma

Because really this is more sugar sweet cuteness than anyone can handle.

Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo welcomed two new additions recently, Meerkat pups! I'm plotzing. Can I have one, pleeeeeeeeeze?

Sneak Peek

I finally got around to creating an Etsy shopfront. It's a work in progress, and I haven't uploaded anything for sale yet, but here's a sneak peek of something I've been working on. (I'll post a link to my shop once I have something up for sale.)



A generous sized woman's scarf, in warm tones of chocolate. Lightweight mannish wool suiting, silk embroidery and Indian handmade beaded flowers. Yin and yang. Serious and flirty.

I'll be setting up shop with some scarves, some jewellery... and maybe later some kilts. It may not be the ideal time ask people to buy high end handmade goods, but these ideas have been bubbling away for a while and with my new sewing machine it all becomes possible. Handmade has become more and more sought after in the past few years, in this mass produced high tech world. But most of all I'm having fun, and that's as important as the $$$s really.

This Is The World I Want To Live In

5 Way Fun Things I Have Done This Week

• Rummaged, exclaimed, declaimed, come over all woozy from excitement and ultimately purchased a bunch of gorgeous things at a shop called Bollywood Braid & Trims.
  
• Forgotten all about the diet. Sorry, what diet? (Don't worry, only for part of the week and I'll be back on the path of righteousness next week.)
  
• Posted an RSVP to attend the wedding of 2 friends. And I've volunteered to do their photos. And they're getting married in full Victorian dress! OK, steampunk wedding photos... too much?
  
• Signed up for a Wardrobe Re-Fashion challenge. (More on that to come.)
  
• Enjoyed walking in the rain for a few days, got well and truly over it by day 5, and then enjoyed walking in the sunshine even more.

Food Coma Of Epic Proportions

I just had the most amazing Mexican meal of my increasingly longish life. Now Mexican is not a dominant cuisine in Oz, not as ubiquitous as Thai for example, but I've sought out Mexican restaurants wherever I can find them over the years. I'm a fan. Well, be gone shredded 'tasty' cheese (that isn't) and goops of sour cream because The Flying Fajita Sistas have got your number.

The service was friendly and non obtrusive, the Bohemia beer was tasty nom noms, the food fantastic, and the restaurant was one of the few on Glebe Point Rd that was actually full of diners, and atmosphere. So. Much. Food. I wish I could have managed a third course, but it was not to be. Even though there was something on the dessert menu that combined orange, coffee and caramel in what only can be described as (probable) brulee heaven.

Home now, and frankly I can barely type from the food coma.

Joy Of Toile

This week so far has been a rough one, lot's of angst, pressure and overtime on the work front and tired, listless evenings filled with take-away food and desultory web surfing on the home front. Meh. Oh yeah, punctuated with cussing as my internet connection keeps dropping out. My phone line that was playing up a few months ago seems to be crackly and erratic again.

Anyhoo, the high point of this half arsed websurfing though is discovering a few fantastic new design oriented blogs. With a new sewing machine in my custodianship, and ideas bubbling in my head about remaking, reusing and recycling some of the things in my wardrobe, I stumbled across a cool community of wardrobe re-fashionistas. Like the amazing Finnish 'trashionista' OutsaPop Trashion, and Queen Michelle of Kingdom of Style.

On the yang side of design and fashion Mr Peacock is my new fave. Not a re-fashion blog this time around, but a wonderful curated mix of food, interior design, fashion and interviews with stylish 'peacocks' about town. One recent post that really put a smile on my face was about the tattooed vintage peacocks of doll maker Mimi Kirchner. Mimi has a wonderful blog Doll: The Art & Craft of Mimi Kirchner and an Etsy shop full of goodies.




Kirchner had the genius idea to use Toile de Jouy fabric for the tattooed bodies of the dolls. Genius! The scale and fine line art style of the drawings are ideal and have a great vintage look.



She compliments the fabric with vintage strong-man style togs, and super cute illustration style facial features. Cute non?



I've never been tempted to be a doll collector, but I'd love a couple of these guys. Of course, as handmade dolls the prices (while being reasonable for the work involved) are a little out of my budget for something so non-essential. Although, if I re-classified them as essentials...



She also does a line of other female dolls, like these super cute mermaids, and magical little 'tiny world' pincushions in a tea cup. So clever and inspiring! Aside from having a go at re-fashioning, maybe it's time to get the sewing machine to work on some other fun stuff.

[All photos and doll designs by Mimi Kirchner.]

Tonight's The Night

149,996 visitors... as I write this.

Ugh

Day from hell. Don't make me go back there tomorrow. (DO NOT WANT.) On the upside, the monthly management meeting will be over by mid morning and then everyone can stop acting like freaked out fuckwits Henny Penny. That will be good.

Are You The One?

Hey, sometime in the next day or so this little blog will have its 150,000th visitor! Who will it be? Will it be you?

I'm so stoked that anybody reads this that really it could be 150 and I'd feel like I achieved something. Thanks so much for stopping by everyone!

Living History

Sunday, part 1.

A perfect lead into an afternoon spent at the Mardi Gras Fair Day (see below), was a Sunday morning stroll with the good ladies of the cloth. James spotted that the annual GLBT Mardi Gras walking history tour with the Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence was going to be a tour of Newtown this year. So this morning I met up with James and Graeme to learn more about the history of my much beloved homo 'hood.

So much fun! Not only were the Sisters sweet, lovely and entertaining, but the whole exercise was very educational.

'Cardinal' Robert French from the Pride History Group and the Sisters lead us through Newtown, eventually ending up just a few blocks from the GLBT Mardi Gras Fair Day (see the entry below). Newtown has such a history as being a gay friendly neighbourhood, and quite a chequered past. More than I realised, really. Am I adding my own little stamp on the homo history of Newtown for the future? Maybe!

Sister Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation II (left) and Sister Salome Of The Ninth Mystic Rhinestone (right) had lots of first hand history to share!

The only drawback was the weather, with some incredibly heavy rain squalls that fortunately were gone 10 minutes after they started. Until another one came along that is! (It sort of became the pattern for the day really.) Still, we opened our umbrellas, huddled together, listened a bit harder over the downpour, and let the fun continue.

Such a great start to a wonderful day!

GLBT Mardi Gras Fair Day, 15 Feb 2009!

Sunday, part 2.

OMG, what a fabulous day! Yes the weather was a bit crap, cool but sunny one minute, bucketing down with rain the next, then sunny and humid. Hello, pick just one and go with it Global Warming, at least I could plan my wardrobe.

Speaking of which, kilt pics! (As promised.) I LOVED wearing it, and got lot of attention, including some favourable comments from strangers. In my opinion though there was one guy that looked better in a kilt on the day, and that was Mr Leather Sydney 2008 in a leather micro kilt. Woof.

Oh yeah, and there was this other rather attractive boy there. OMG IT'S MATTHEW MITCHAM. SQUEEEEE!

He and his partner Lachlan were just hanging out, watching the drag shows, while gay men all around (and I speak from first hand knowledge) were plotzing so hard. I could. Have. Died. I was too shy to talk to him but I did snap some pics, and I took a pic of Graeme with him for Graeme. (Who was braver than I). And you know what, he and Lachlan couldn't have been nicer and more gracious. Crush! These guys are a class act.

Gratuitous underwear competition photo, no explanation required.

The fair was as fun as always. The unpredictable weather was a nuisance, but didn't dampen (ha!) the spirit of the day. I wandered with Graeme and James, chatted with other friends I ran into and hung out at the Leather Pride stall and chatted with Fin and Bec (right) for some of the afternoon. Speaking of hot bitches (sorry ladies!) there were adorable puppers everywhere (left). I could die from the cuteness. Couldn't you?

The Budweiser Bunny! Sometimes the funny things you see, really. You could not make this stuff up.

How about that pink fur, and the licorice button nose! OMG, diabetic coma!

So it was a really fabulous afternoon, one of the most enjoyable Fair Days I've been to. A few beers, and lots of fun just hanging out with James and Graeme, and meeting up with people was had. It was so refreshing to be reminded of the diversity of the community again, and that is one of the great things about Fair Day. In my own small way I did my bit for the team by answering every darn community questionnaire that came my way.

AND DID I TELL YOU I SAW MATTHEW MITCHAM?!

Be Mine!

Big loves, smooches, affectionate squeezes and maybe even a drunken face-lick to you my sweet readers! Have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Shall we all make out now?

[Pic via Vintage Photographs.]

Sparing A Thought

I've put off writing about this because how do you encompass something so huge in a little blog post? How do you write about hundreds of dead? Properties, homes, towns, native and domesticated animals, in fact whole lives gone? I can almost be reduced to tears by a lost favourite coffee cup, what if I had nothing left but that cup?

The scape of the wildfires in Victoria is so horrifying, and every night the news is full of home recorded footage that has left my chin on the floor. Meanwhile another part of this country is seeing the worst flooding in decades. I can't see how extreme weather conditions that brought both situations to bear can't be part of a changing climate. Really, how can it not?



On the upside the support and community spirit has been amazing. The news has tried to hard to find stories of looting and such, and they've found a few, but the overwhelming spirit is one of community, service, support, team spirit and gratitude. Hopefully the horrible events of the past week can see some positives, whether it's practical changes to fire prevention strategies, or whether it's renewed appreciation for the harsh, beautiful country we live in and each other.

Kilty Goodness

These pics were taken in a hurry when I got home from work tonight, because I was keen to give you guys a look at the kilt I made this weekend!

So,
a) please overlook the slight creases etc because I wore it on Sunday and couldn't bring myself to press it again before taking these pics, and
b) the fading evening light has made the colours a bit off no matter how I adjust it, in reality it's a black background with navy blue check.


The front! Kilt lesson 101 - the flat piece at the front is an 'apron' and there is another inner apron underneath! The aprons are traditionally 5/12ths of the waist size, with the remaining 7/12ths given over to the pleating. The pin on the front apron is a large Celtic design brooch I bought in the UK 20 years ago.


These button straps are a bit of a temporary fix, ideally they'll be replaced by adjustable leather straps and buckles. I couldn't source them in time, but I'll replace them when I find something suitable. I made this to a traditional kilt plan, where the under apron has a wide inverted box pleat between it and the start of the pleats. I wasn't sure why, but it makes perfect sense and means that the front apron can move freely and the pleats still hang nicely.


The back! Or, where the action happens! I pleated this 'to the sett', which means that the pleats are sized to allow for the distance between each check. I made each pleat the size of 2 setts, or in this instance about 22cm. The distance between each pleat is 4cm. If I had more fabric (the lenghth I used was just under 6m) I would have made the distance between the pleats a more traditional 2.5cm (1 inch) which would have put even more fullness and swing in the back. Traditionally a standard men's kilt uses about 7m of fabric.


See how the check pattern travels across the top of the pleats, that's the result of pleating 'to the sett'. Neat huh? And the pleats are slightly narrower at the top to allow for hip vs waist sizing. (Oh, and ps: HARD. Worship my sewing skills!) On the left hip you can just see the strap from the under apron. The under apron fixes closed with a single strap that passes through a bound buttonhole concealed by a pleat, and fastens on the outside. Neat trick, and you start dressing by fixing this strap through the buttonhole first. The pleats are cut away at the top inside to reduce bulk, and a lining hangs freely from the inside waistband. The plan on how this is made is probably best described here.

So, there you have it. This was heaps of fun to make, and the fabric was a 1.5m wide remnant labelled as 2.5m in length (actually just under 3m) that I bought for only $20. $20! It's not in fact a wool, but a surprisingly drapey cotton that has a hand like wool suiting. I cut it along the length and pieced it end to end, taking care to match the check and hide the join in a pleat.

I plan on wearing it to the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day on the weekend, so hopefully I'll get a shot of me wearing it!

70s Photo Lab Archives

Sharon realised too late that there's no way was she's getting out of this with a full set of press-on nails.


The staff at the Kwik Pix photo lab were left with no option but to call Child Services. Crimes likes this could not go unpunished.


Education is for life. Starshadow took great pains to point out The Man, whenever the opportunity arose.


Yes he was teased, but after creating the world's largest burger chain... who's laughing now?


The Sid And Marty Krofft Renn Faire Experience Parade!(TM) was widely considered to be a disappointment.


Jerry wanted to be the 6th Jackson. Pete wanted to be Farrah Fawcett. Harvey just wanted to be visible.


(L to R) Jan Brady. Jan Brady. Jan Brady.


Shelley's parent's never understood why she spent so much time at the truckstop.

[Pics from Miss Tamie Lee via Vintage Photo.]