ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER HOTEL

I may be on the verge of taking advantage of everyone's Ramadan inspired goodness by begging on the streets but I haven't had much to complain about recently, it seems. Take last weekend, for example, on a private island not so far, far away...

...completely secluded stretches of pristine beach, your own villa with private splash pool and amazing claw food tub, et al. They weren't so keen on letting me off scot free with this review, though, which is why I had to pinch a few bills off mother dearest yesterday. I think the tub (and being greeted in the morning by dozens of elegantly grazing gazelles) was worth it though.

This weekend, I am here.

doing fuck-all...

Business chain, heart of dirty down town, kiddie-sized pool, so-so food...

But pretty nice rooms, gorgeous city views, free wireless...

and my favourite type of lighting!

Anyway, I am off to enjoy my room serviced suhour (the later than late late night snack Muslims indulge in before fasting at sunrise - yes, I am fasting this Ramadan. It's going really well, in case you were interested).

RAMADAN KAREEM!

IȾ iϟ Ẇrittɇn.

SHE SAID I'VE REACHED ANOTHER ADOLESCENT MONSOON

Yes I did, and I told you I would. Summer Ball. I came. I saw. I got punched in the nose. And that was a week after I had it done. Gorgeous mess doesn't even cover it.

SUMMER SLUTTING IT

[The Cobra Snake]

After doing that interview with Jesse Spears for WAH, she's now one of my favourite bitches in all of Los Angeles. So sure. And then, she went and trumped it and made this list (along with some other sayings and definitions) of what it means to be a Summer Slut (if you read the interview you'd know that 'Summer Sluts' is sort of the theme for one of her next projects). So here we go. Her list. My dream. Summer Slutting it:

WHEN YOU ARE:

HAVING FUN
HAVING FUN IN THE SUN
HAVING FUN IN THE SUMMER MOONLIGHT
PLAYING SPIN THE BOTTLE
JOKING ABOUT PLAYING SPIN THE BOTTLE
BEING IN NU CALIFORNIA
WEARING LISA FRANK GEAR
WEARING VENICE BEACH GEAR
WEARING MALL GEAR
WEARING GEAR FROM THE SMELL
WEARING BLOOD IS THE NEW BLACK GEAR
WEARING LA GEARS
TALKING ABOUT WEED
BEING KIND OF OBSESSED WITH WEED CULTURE
MAKING ALL YOUR PHONE CALLS IN THE WHOLEFOODS PARKING LOT
EATING HEALTHY
GOING ON HIKES
SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN
SWIMMING ALL OVER THE PLACE
BON FIRES
BREAKING STUFF PARTIES
MAKING OUT WITH BOYS IN UNIFORM
WHISTLING AT EVERYBODY
HANGING OUT IN CARS AND VANS
CHASING THE ICE CREAM TRUCK
TAGGING ON WALLS
WEARING BAGGY PANTS WITH TIGHT TANK TOPS
WEARING BIKINI TOPS INSTEAD OF BRAS
LISTENING TO ROCK AND ROLL
DANCING AT PLACES
SCHOOLS OUT 4 EVER

A GREAT BIG EMPTY SCENIC THING

So if I wasn't tired of my friends and family bitching about my no-show antics for graduation in July, I wouldn't be attending this event. How embarassing...

I mean, Sugababes? Yeah. I'll be 'making an appearance' at our summer ball this year with its exorbitant 50 quid tickets. Lucky for me, I don't have to spend a penny more on wardrobe for it as when I got back a suitcase of my stuff from a friend's a couple weeks ago I found an old dress stuffed in it that I bought at an Oasis sale years back when I hadn't yet banned myself from West End shopping. A lot's changed since first year. Now I have to ban myself from East end shopping. Anyways, a little help?

WHICH BAG?

WHICH SHOES? (And no Becks; a $75 shoe from Macy's and a £12 one from Primark are not the same thing despite slight similarities. VERY slight.)
*might change the head gear for a top hat because le Vampyre said he's gonna wear his.
* fuck, I can't believe I posted this. I am soo playful and shit right now and am putting wayyy too much effort into this. I think it's because I plan to leave the country the week after and this has kind of taken over as my graduation ceremony. Cut me some slack. I'm not crying.

JUST WHATEVER PT. 2

Today's a sunny day. Well done, well done. So I have to take advantage of it, not just by taking pictures of oddities in my room, but by actually doing the whole outdoor tra-la-la: walking around with camera, sunglasses, iced Starbucks drink, double decker buses; yup yup. I have a lot of shit to do today though.

It's good to see Kill City in all these rad places (not that I know who the fuck Whitney Port is - and please, don't tell me). Above is me wearing the stained pewter skinnies they sent me. Wearing these I know it's gonna be a good day.

Heading here tonight with a vampire. Not just to review it, but for the live acts as well - whoever they are, I don't care; it's a punk bar and they came all the way from the US for this shit, so fuck it, let's hear it. Haven't been to a small gig in centuries. Come along and say hi! I'm wearing plaid. Okay, that sure as fuck won't set me apart. Better one: I'm black. Oh, and buy me a drink...

Damn, this looks good though too:

I never get tagged to do these shits but as we're bloggers, we like talking about ourselves, hence I'll do it anyway. Our generation is walking around with mirrors in their back pockets.

3 random things about me:
1- I like picking the scabs off recent cuts (likethisoneonmyindexfingerthatjustwon'tfuckingbudge!!!)
2- I read Stephenie Meyer's latest cult vampire books but if I feel the urge to do it in public, I take off the covers
3- I'm thinking I should remove the link to this blog from my Facebook page as so many goddamned relatives keep adding me


P.S. The next post is gonna be some awesome scans from some mags I just bought: War (free), Plastique and i-D

YOU'VE GOT ME UP AGAINST THE WALL

Haha. I thought this image found on google was funny.

RIGHT! So Skin Two posted up this cool interview with bondage expert Esinem (har har) that I sub-edited. And because I got this really short notice call about a bondage workshop going on today, I couldn't attend so I went over to Esinem's website to check out his rates (and I can't afford it- no surprise here). AND THEN, his website had a banner on top about The Bondage Awards. Checked that out, and I realised I am getting so deep into this thing that I actually know of people in the bondage scene that I could and would vote for.

Like, without a doubt, after admiring his work in Dave Naz's photo book L.A. Bondage (which I was able to keep after reviewing), Damon Pierce is so up there as a winner in the Best Rigger category (one day this will be me). I did a post on some of my favourite scans/riggings from the book, and I scanned some more a while back for my novel's research portfolio so expect some more awesome knot-and-tie photography up here in the not-too-distant future. No doubt, people who have won in the past must include Midori and Chanta Rose (whose Inescapable Rope Bondage class I attended in December). Here's one of Damon's riggings. I assure you, he's done WAY BETTER, but...PURPLE ROPE! I also find this funny because it's yoga.

There's also a best writer category, which made me laugh, because my novel has aspects of Bondage in it (a lot!) and at this very moment, my editing group is going over the first three chapters and will be giving me feedback on them on Monday. Really interested to see what they think...haha. But no doubt past winners have probably included Violet Blue and/or some of the people in Best Sex Writing and Best Women's Erotica, whose 2009 issues I've just reviewed as well.

I don't know who would win Best Photographer, but, once again, Dave Naz would probably be mentioned. Speaking of Bondage photography this Mario Sorrenti fashion editorial was heights too (knew I'd end up bringing this up again - too good!). I also like Nobuyoshi Araki (sucker for Japan).

Just talked to my friend Mistress Ivy about the rope thing today. It's also a Play Party, so I guess part of me is glad I'm not going. Play's more of a couples thing, or something I would do only with Mistress Ivy because I'm only comfortable with her, being new to the scene and all. I miss my boyfriend. Anyways, Mistress Ivy and I are definitely going to the Skin Two Yearbook Launch Party on the 25th!!! So stoked for this...and need to find an outfit. But I'm guessing the PVC mini comes out again.

RUB MY NOSE IN ICING SUGAR

We're meant to do this assignment for Developing the Novel where we make a detailed list of things that make us happy, an excercise inspired by that woman Barbara Ann Kipfer's book 14,000 Things to be Happy About (actually, Panda, I mailed you one of her books a couple months ago The Wishlist). Kind of EXTREMELY Maria from The Sound of Music singing about brown paper packages, but, I have a definite love of lists, so I'll attempt (and I'll try not to make it too fashion-focused):

*complete towns of pastel coloured buildings with white accents in Curacao
*road-tripping from Vegas to San Jose and back with Panda
*the idea of hiding out in a half empty motel in Mexico with nothing but notebooks and pens for writing and a bottle of red wine; or more. There must also be a leafy pool.
*long letters (writing them and receiving them)
*all you can eat grilled cheese sandwiches by the pool at All-Inclusive hotels
*fresh notebooks without the lines
*the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll lifestyle that is so aptly portrayed in Hanif Kureishi's AMAZING novels
*smooth prominent collarbones
*the shape of perfectly waxed thick eyebrows (I notice a lot of Arab and Indian girls have the most perfect kind)
*browsing new words in dictionaries just for fun
*warmth; namely sweaters that provide it (I collect them), and being able to stay in and just do nothing but sit in my sweater.
*the intense energy and the feeling of invincibility I get after doing mantras, breathing and yoga (completely beats Prozac)
*heavy rain storms back home in Trinidad, waking up from the racket of one (sounds like bullets falling from the sky onto the roof), being pissed, then realizing it's a Saturday and I don't have to get up
*watching old school Tom and Jerry episodes late in bed when everyone is asleep, in Abu Dhabi
*Long bus rides around London (people totally flip out when I choose to spend hours on buses to meet them instead of taking the tube)
*unexpected emails or packages in the post (I got some recent things that MUST be posted about. Stay tuned!)
*People like Mary Kate Olsen who pair the most hideous and unlikely things together and make something completely jaw-dropping, so much so that it just becomes its own living invincible thing.
*Asian eyes
*Iced Chai Tea Lattes from Starbucks
*going to Wagamama and just having to sit there because they already know what you want (and it's in front of you in an instant and it's just as amazing as the first time you tried it - Amai Udon)
*Setting to work scouring an densely packed charity shop
*finding a perfectly mixed Virgin Pina Colada (this is my favourite drink...I'm like a connoisseur about it. It's such a sad thing for me when I order one and it's not 'together')
*Lounging around in big soft worn tshirts, but only when my legs are shaved (alternatively, I like to see women in movies and editorials smoking a cigarette and wearing nothing but a crisp men's shirt
*the nape of my boyfriend Panda's neck
*the way he stretches in bed and the sleepy scent he gives off when he's tired/sleeping
*telling people I'm a writer; I get a tingle. My writing career is actually happening!
*buying and testing out toiletries and new products (notice I didn't say make-up; not make-up; rather things like face wipes or washes, lotions, sprays, body scrubs blah blah...)
*how people hold and smoke their cigarettes and their bottles of beer
*familiarizing myself in a definitely abnormal way with the lives of people and their friends in their photo blogs; especially when it looks as stylish and chill as the sets on Epicly Later'd and The Skullset (see blog roll)
*Interiors on The Selby (see blog roll again) and elsewhere where the styling is so careless and chill yet very thought out. When things are just thrown together, but with purpose. (does that make sense?)
*scalding baths back home in Abu Dhabi where I have access to my own bath tub, rather than a communal shower in campus housing (egh!)
*being extremely busy and tired at the end of the day, but only when it's amazing projects that you can't believe you're part of and are working on (right now my life is like this and it just keeps getting better and better. Not looking forward to the inevitale crash that will soon follow)
*white, black and grey t-shirts with the right kind of baggy fit
*girls who are so in their own world that they look a mess; it's the beautiful type of mess I enjoy.
*being the one sitting at a gate at the airport, ready to board (when all the packing and stress of rushing is over with and you can think about what you're going to do when you hit the next country at the end of the day)....

[images: a random-ass set of inspiration (a mon avie) photos on my desktop: The Skullset (5), The Selby (1), my own (1), The Lookbook (1), Epicly Later'd (3) and The Cobra Snake (1)]

LOVE IN A BLUE TIME

I was looking up some pretty images from The Selby to soothe my throbbing headache, which might be a result of last night's impromptu 2.99 bottle of red wine (on my own) and coffee shisha with old and new friends. It pains me to say that after a very fruitful day of work and errands, and an intense pilates class, that is what I did next. I broke my own rules. I even ate after 9pm. Well, I had to, what with that kind of drinking going on. But I have honestly been too hard on myself so it's not something I completely regret. It was fun to be social again.

As for this weekend...

FRIDAY: Possibly going to some artsy cabaret affair at Shunt and must pop in at the new Trash Palace on Old Street for a couple hours. I am writing a sample review of the venue for a club and bar reviewers position with a prominent London events website. Then possibly Shunt clubbing into the wee hours? Who knows...(Fi, read my wall and Becks' and join us for some of it? - oh yeah, by the way, Fi started blogging again. She's awfully good at the stuff and I don't know why she isn't a freelance writer. You should check her out here...)

SATURDAY: Yeah, sure, it's Valentine's day (and speaking of which, I sat behind an old man on the bus with a bald spot in the shape of a heart this week!) but you will find me moshing and rocking the fuck out at the Metal Hammer Defenders of the Faith gig for which Lamb of God and DIMMU BORGIR will be performing (AND SPEAKING OF METAL, I. JUST. MIGHT. DIE.)

SUNDAY: not one fuck. You won't be able to reach me. There's no way I am leaving my bed/room/dream-space for anything this Sunday. Absolutely not. I hope I made that clear enough how in dire need of rest I am.