Male Muse: Roger Radcliffe

I watched 101 Dalmations (1961) last night, and this Disney classic has left me in a nostalgic coma. It's funny, watching something like this after  a decade and a half. I don't remember it being this upsetting while watching this as a kid, oh, but cry I did last night.

Also. I can't believe it has taken me all this time to realise how much of a cartoon babe Roger Radcliffe is. He's a bachelor music composer. He's funny. He's romantic. He loves dogs. He's kind. He's incredibly charming. He's tall (lean, long limbs!). He has nice hair (subjective). And he really rocks skinny slacks and sweater vests (not easy). I can't believe I've overlooked this insanely attractive songwriting hipster gentleman!

He's made me want to meet my future husband when our clever dogs' leashes tangle together in a park.

Confessions: The Turning Twenty-four Edition

1. It's the job of every twenty-somethings to feel old.

2. I'd still rather eat anything saturated with sugar for breakfast.
3. I'd trade partying with a cup of tea and a book. (Just typing that sentence made me feel so old, I swear my fingers started to feel arthritic around the words "cup of tea".)

4. I still get pimples.

5. Sometimes my body aches. Like for no apparent reason.

6. I am still looking for friends.

7. I understand more jokes. Like when I watched The Lion King recently, I got all the jokes, and the deep stuff, that I never remembered seeing.

8. I still cry. Way more.

9. People appreciate the things that make me different.

10. I realise it's all about who you know not what you know.

11. I lick my fingers to turn the pages of a book. I used to think it was gross. Now it comes naturally.

12. It's now illegal for me to drive without contacts or glasses.
13. I wake up looking like my driver's license photo. Eww.

14. I'm still completely delighted by Starbucks Christmas cups every year.

15. I have daily moments of nostalgia. Almost anything can trigger it. And it kills me.
16. I'm sad I have not taken enough risks with my youth.
17. That taut young body I once took for granted in high school is disintegrating before my eyes.

18. I've learnt that the definition of bravery is having diarrhoea and chancing a fart
19. I complain about "kids these days blah.. tween these days blah blah" (By all account, I'm not that old, but that doesn't stop me from complaining about teenagers.)
20. I've perfected the Irish goodbye. It's a move you pull when you're at a gathering/party/bar/event/etc and because you're a tired (physically & psychologically) old soul, you slink away into the corner, then RUN out the door when nobody's looking. 

Confessions: the late 2012 vers.

1. When you believe that there's no such thing as coincidences... can't help but realise God really is good.

2. The sound of sharp scissors cutting fabric turns me on.

3. I finally get dubstep. Why did my Dre beats ear plugs have to break?!

4. Snaggle fangs/tooth and asymmetrical eyes are very attractive on a boy. Gives him character, and character is sexy.

5. I entered a competition to go on a date with Shinee.

6. Just in case I win, I'm teaching myself to beatbox, to impress them.

7. I finally understand why Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada is so cold. Heck, I might be even starting to understand Anna Wintour. I'm afraid I'm becoming aloof too. #defencemechanism

8. I've been asked out by lesbians. Truly sadly, that's one way I lose friends these days... when they ask me out.

9. When my model bailed on me and I had to desperately seek someone from my personal circle, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of tall males I know.

10. I'm bipolar. These posts should've given it away.

11. I cried with a bunch of freshmen (first year design students) in the bathroom while trying to comfort them about "not being able to see their friends for 6 months", "my friends are offended when I don't have the time". I told them it gets worse. By third year, you're a myth! I cried out of pity (for them) and my hurt because people/friends will never understand the demands. It's just the norm that people fall off the face of the earth when they get a gf/bf, or when they do a design/architecture/fashion degree.

12. I want a husband who understands.

13. My verbal skills have become subpar to ESL students because of how less talkative and expressive I've become.

14. Some people explode, I implode. 

15. I do a "head, shoulders, knees, toes - swag check" before I walk out of the house.

16. I want to run away and live with Beast. I'll have a private library in a castle, funny talking furniture, cabinetry and cutleries that'll make food for me all hours of the night while I read by the fireplace and snuggle up to the furry Beast. Plus, I've totally always related myself to Belle.

Musical songs I adore.

I'm going to shout out from these internet rooftops: I love musicals and movies with singing and dancing! Last night, a bunch of us girls broke out into songs from Broadway musicals on the ride home. I voiced that I'd love to marry someone who'd do this with me - anytime things were going boring or bad, we'd bust into a song and dance and completely turn everything around. Then to my disappointment, my friends tell me 'he would be gay' (Is this true?) I must prove them wrong. If my man has trouble expressing his feelings (which is completely normal, I guess), no problemo! He can sing it! And when I have children, I'll discipline them with songs, and they'll sing me goodnight. So here is my list of musical numbers I adore. What are your favourites?


The Sound of Music, 1965

The lonely goat herd

Edelweiss

Do-re-mi

A few of my favourite things

So long, farewell

Phantom of the Opera, 1986 (Broadway)

Think of me
All I ask of you
Angel of Music
Music of the night
Lion King, 1994
The circle of life
Can you feel the love tonight
Wicked, 2003 (Broadway) 
For good
Defying gravity
No good deed
Dancing through life
Once, 2006
Falling slowly
Anastasia, 1997 
At the beginning
Journey to the past
Once a december
Cats, 1982 (Broadway)
Memory
Sweeney Todd: Demon Barbar of Fleet Street, 2007
A little priest
By the sea
Johanna
Miracle Pirelli's elixer
Enchanted, 2007
How does she know
So close
Hairspray, 1988 (Broadway)
You can't stop the beat
Welcome to the sixties
Without love


Mary Poppins, 1964
Spoonful of sugar
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Practically perfect


Peter Pan, 1953
You can fly
I won't grow up
Following the leader
Never smile at a crocodile


Billy Elliot, 2005 (Broadway)
Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher


Grease, 1978
Summer nights


Avenue Q, 2003 (Broadway)
There's a fine fine line
Shodenfreude
Everyone's a little bit racist
The internet is for porn
Wizard of Oz, 1939
Over the rainbow
The Muppets, 1969
Rainbow connection
The Muppets, 2011
Life's a happy song
Cinderella, 1950
A dream is a wish your heart makes
Cinderelly, Cinderelly
So this is love
South Park: Uncut, 1999
Blame Canada
Tarzan, 1999
You'll be in my heart
Two worlds
Singin' in the rain, 1952
Singin' in the rain
Prince of Egypt, 1998
When you believe
Rock around the clock, 1956
(We're gonna) Rock around the clock
Beauty and the Beast, 1991
Belle
Beauty and the Beast (Tale as old as time)
Something there
Oklahoma!, 1943 (Broadway)
Oklahoma Ok
Emperor's New Groove, 2000
My funny friend and me
Sunset Boulevard, 1993 (Broadway) 
Sunset boulevard
Chicago, 1975 (Broadway)
Funny honey
All that jazz
Mr Cellophane
Hercules, 1997
Go the distance
The gospel truth
I won't say I'm in love
Pinocchio, 1940
When you wish upon a star
42nd Street, 1980 (Broadway)
Shuffle Off To Buffalo
Dance of the Vampires, 2002 (Broadway)
Total eclipse of the heart

I want to marry Simba

When I was 8 years old, I wanted to marry Simba. That love was reinforced when I watched The Lion King 3D at the theatres recently (it was glorious and beautiful!), and The Lion King 2 in bed last night. Adult Simba is very sexy and incredibly cute. He has that sexy I've-got-a-complicated-past vibe. When he discovers the truth about Mufasa's death, that red-hot passionate anger (in the right context), is quite attractive. In the sequel, you see Simba become a wise and handsome King, and a loving dad. What's not to find hot?
Even young Simba was pretty much the whole package - adorable, fun-loving, scrappy, and brave.

Monthly Recap: September '11

Laundry list of things memorable about the month:

Anxiety.

Insomnia.

Realizing that time is short for grandpa.

"Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will find it." Luke 17:33 - this finally makes sense to me now.

Scary encounters with a lecturer that resembles Mrs Doubtfire x Cruella DeVille.

Mum accidentally throws away my 10 weeks worth of drawings. I don't know what to do but cry.

I have finally mastered the 'smokey eye' make up. Now all I need is a special occasion.

Picnic near the water, with cakes and carrots.

Grandma's advice - "All men are sex maniacs".

My mad baking phase.

2 weeks of vegan diet.

Painful time of looking into myself and my wicked heart.

Disney marathon.

Being told by some 17-year-old boys that I'm "so naive," which is something that I kind of knew, but I sell can't believe I had to hear it from them.

Farewell to 'the good-looking' life group, and hello to the new.

My queen-sized bed has finally broken after I jumped on it too much. I now sleep on a mattress until I get a new bed. Single-sized.

It's almost summer. I'm dreading summer. Everything is too hot, time moves too fast, you spend every waking moment feeling physically uncomfortable, your skin is always unattractively flushed, and you get sun rash.

Failure after failure. But you know what? I'm not going to be scared of failing anymore.

29th was International Coffee Day. I celebrated by drinking coffee. Actually, I've been celebrating this beverage since my very first cup!

Music stuck on repeat:

Two weeks - Grizzly Bear

Nothing - The Script

She's electric - Oasis

Uncharted - Sara Bareilles

My body's a zombie for you - Dead man's bones

In the room where you sleep - Dead man's bones

How He loves us - Kim Walker

Currently obsessed with:

Textile print designs.

Hugh Laurie.

Dead man's bones.

White summer dresses.

G-dragon. Still undecided about his new ink.

Finding the 'right' pair of wooden flatworms.

Ryan Gosling. (Surprise, surprise.) What can't he do? He acts, he's an accomplished jazz guitarist, a pianist, he's in a band, solves rubiks' cubes, and breaks up street fights in his spare time.

www.ryanfuckingogsling.tumblr.com

Books read(ing):

April fool's day - Bryce Courtaney

3 things I am thankful for this month:

His grace that runs at me, and embraces me.

Music that takes me on journeys.

Puppies and kittens.

Disney, romance and Carrie Bradshaw.

After an awfully long and awful week, and a draining friday of pattern-making, I decided I deserved a Disney marathon in bed with a tub of coffee ice-cream. Good old classics, that gives me the childlike (childish) feeling of dancing and singing and crying and dreaming. So last night, I watched Beauty and the Beast, and Tangled (for the first time! I thought I'd be a tad too old to appreciate the newer Disney movies). The marathon didn't quite finish until this morning with Aladdin, because I needed a pick-me-up before I head-butted into my assignments and textile print design briefs. And once again, I got into a whirlwind of dancing and singing and crying and dreaming.
A couple of days ago, a friend told me, "girls struggle with romance". I think this is what he was implying. I'm 22 and finding  flaws because it's not Disney enough. It's stupid, right? And I still wish Disney romance was real. But it's not. Even at 22, my idealist self is still trying to figure out how to accept that just because a guy isn't a 'prince charming' doesn't mean I'm settling for, but rather, I'm settling in. Maybe they should put a disclaimer in the beginning or end of these movies, reminding us that this is based completely on fiction. My generation and I are lost causes, and we will never recover. But maybe, future little girls can avoid this frustration. I'm reminded of the scene in the Sex and the City Movie, where Carrie cautions Charlotte's daughter Lily, "You know this is just a fairytale, right sweetheart? Things always don't happen like this in real life. I just think you should know that now".

I will conclude this post with my random thoughts on Beauty and the Beast.
1. I think Belle was adopted.
2. What's the Beast's name?
3. It's been too long since Celine Dion has had a movie soundtrack hit. TOO long.

Muse: Snow White

Guess what? I coloured my hair jet-black! Wave a sad goodbye to my ginger red 'femme-fatale' mane. You know, just two days ago, I read an article on the train that on average, women change their hair styles 104 times in their lifetime according to a British Survey. Women undergo several hairstyle changes (shortening, layering, colouring, perming) at least twice a year. In my case, I undergo a mini-hair-makeover at least 4 times a year. So looking at those figures, my poor tresses would have already endured around 104 transformations. My main reason usually being plain old fashioned boredom. And what I've come to discover, is that not only am I murdering my hair, it's also costing me a lot more than just the bottle of hair dye. New hair colour means new colour palette, which means a wardrobe revamp and a new face (oops, I mean make-up). Cue: Snow White. This delicate avant-garde beauty with fair skin and raven black hair is my style muse, especially in terms of colour complexion. Both of us belong to the winter colour season (I was formerly Autumn). Because our hair and eyes contrast the colour of our skin, clear, stark, pure, rich colours work best. The winter colour palette is intense and high contrast, containing the primary colours, and jewel tones such as ruby red, sapphire blue and emerald green. Hence, Snow White being my inspiration. And when it comes to make up, I will be embracing the 1940's eyeliner and lips.