Ballet Flats, Knee High Boots... and Gumboots?

Hey guys! Sorry for the HUGE gap between the last time I posted and now, but life has been a bit of a nuisance. Yeah, I know. Excuses excuses, but you know what? I'm going to make up for it by having a girly post about the latest fashion trend that I've seen this winter. The humble Gumboot!

Now, I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fashionista. I mean, it's only really since I've gotten a job (and left highschool lol) that I've developed my girliness and started looking at shoes and bags. and boys. *cough* But the whole fashionable shoe just boggles my brain. Let's just cover the three big ones in my book. Also, I'm using the highly appropriate site of UrbanDictionary for the definitions.

1. The Ugg Boot.

"a type of boot invented by australia made from sheep skin. should be worn for warmth in the comfort of your own home, SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER BE WARN FOR F***ING FASHION."

Now, I will admit freely that I wear Ugg Boots around the house. And yes, I have worn Ugg Boots *outside* the house when I have been too lazy to put proper shoes on and when my parent is demanding I leave the house with them in order to do a take-out run. But really? Walking around in Ugg Boots with mini-skirts and tight tops is not very attractive. It just makes people look like floozy homeless peeps. (I am well aware that sentence was awful because I had the word people in it twice. So I changed the last people to peeps, which clearly makes everything better.) But I mean really. If you can be bothered putting on make-up and spending two hours straightening your hair and then choosing an outfit... why can you not spend two minutes putting on proper shoes!?

In any case: Ugg Boots are for the home, not the urban streets.

2. The Gladiator Sandal.

"Sandals that look like they could be worn by the Spartans. Most likely to be worn by females, also known as "gladiator shoes"."

This. This has to be THE worst shoe fashion trend in existance. It is awful. There is a reason why we haven't worn these shoes since the Sword-n-Sandal times. I mean, look at them. There are sandals and then there are these. No where in modern times does someone look at those shoes and think: Oh, those are pretty neat shoes. I might buy them and show my face in public! NO. Unless you are going to a University toga party and it was for a costume. I just... I'm boggled that these even came back into existance. I think they require a check list for a do or do not wear occasion:

Gladiator Sandal Checklist:
Are you -
a) Going into public to have fun or go shopping?
b) Going to a funeral of a family member?
c) Going somewhere that involves being in public?
d) Going to a costume party or toga party?


If you answered any of those but d - please change your footwear before leaving the house. Thanks, Humanity.

3. The Croc.

"In a minority (but still alot) of people's opinions: crocs are the most ugly shoes they have ever seen. Made of rubbery material, these "shoes" (/sarcasm) are like slippers, except with oddly shaped holes on the top. Did I mention they also come in assorted colors too?!
I just cannot see how some people I personally think with a good taste of fashion could possibly fall for these."

Also another fashion shoe trend that I don't understand. I mean, I understand that people want to be comfortable when wearing shoes but... they're so ugly. Why would you inflict such pain on other people when they see you walking through the stores in those? It's all very ok for young children to wear them, I mean, I wore jellies when I was young and they were fine but it's like wearing nasty sandals in public. It's gotten to the point where Crocs have branched out and are now also being made into slippers! What? No really. Next thing you know, you'll have Croc high heels and Croc flippers for when you want to go ~diving in comfort. I do realise that I said fashion shoe, but I'm sure this one can be counted amongst those.

So, those are my pet shoe peeves. I suppose I should also briefly discuss the entire point of this post, which was to write about people wearing a gumboot as a fashionable accessory this winter instead of shoes. Now me, when I go out and it's raining I tend to wear sneakers, or even hiking boots because I want to have enclosed shoes and fashion boots just aren't cut out for the weather (and because no one wants to be walking down the road in heels when it's raining and slip). But gumboots. I mean, I can see the allure of having dry feet/toes/legs, and to some extent a nice floral pattern could be pulled off. I just... I don't know.

I'd have to get back to you guys for this one but for now, it's late and I have exams to study for so I wish all of you the best until I next post.

P.S. Sorry about the lack of pictures, they kept stuffing up the html and I figured text is better than nothing :P

Addictions and Obsessions

Yes. This is what I spend my free timing doing.

The topic of the day seems to be gaming now-a-days and the crazy stuff that the Government and People-Who-Think-They-Know-Better-Than-I-Do-About-It (now known as PWTTKBTIDAI or PWT) are pushing for new laws and health plans to be implemented.

My father turned to me this morning to tell me that according to "experts" spending three and a half hours (or more) on a computer game is a sign that you're addicted. Now, as a gamer myself who spends more than three and a half hours playing a computer game, I can honestly say that is pretty much nonsense. According to the report that he was watching, these experts are pushing for people who play more than three and a half hours a day to be admitted into a psychology rehab or forced to seek psychological help is just... mind bogglingly stupid.

But if you pretty much put their theory into the real world, is doing three and a half hours of anything now considered an addiction. If I read a book for more than three and a half hours, am I addicted to reading? Or work? Or study? (Note: Not that I do that anyway.) Sure, I may spend endless amounts of hours on a computer game or MMORPG, but I'm not to the level that should be classified as an addiction.

–noun

the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

I can play games for endless hours, but sooner or later I'm going to get bored. Not even a computer game can really hold my rather temperamental attention span, if I really don't feel like playing I end up having the game in an alternative tab and end up surfing the internet for a couple of hours mindlessly refreshing facebook until something interesting pops up. I play an MMORPG that I haven't renewed my subscription to in several months cos I couldn't be bothered playing it anymore. This isn't the sign of an addicted person. An addicted person are those that spend 15 hours a day, every day on the game and wear diapers because they can't be bothered going to the bathroom. A) That's really flipping gross and B) These are the kind of people who need treatment, not the casual gamer like you or I who happen to enjoy doing something for more than ten seconds like a hyperactive squirrel on red cordial.

I won't deny that I don't have an obsessive personality, because I do. I've had times when I've been completely obsessed with something or someone to the point where I kinda go a bit whackadoodle and flip out, no, I'm not going to recount those tales to you because I actually like maintaining some semblance of sanity. Thankfully, I've gotten over it and have now mellowed out a bit in my old age, but still. There is a distinct difference between the people who are actually addicted to gaming and those of us who know when we've reached our limits and decide to go outside and enjoy ourselves in our other hobbies.

Granted, me and other hobbies right now don't get along that well, mainly because I've suddenly become the leader of the Guild I'm in and now have an extra commitment besides occasionally popping on and hitting up some instances. I do plan however, after I have finished several assignments that are rearing their ugly heads at Uni that I want to retake up cross-stitching and start saving up for that eight month trip to France. I also plan on actually writing that novel that I occasionally mention.

I know I've digressed but my main point of this entire (and slightly short/ranty) post is that the "experts" that are trying to push these things through are the kind of people who look down their noses at the Gaming and Geek (and/or Nerd) culture and see it as wrong and somehow as a disease. We don't go around telling them that they need to stop playing Golf because they enjoy it too much and spend most of their free time playing it. I just want these people to step-off their high-horse podium and pick something more pressing to deal with, like education and sustainable energy.

That is all.

Zed Post

This is a post for Zed. Because he won't stop bugging me. New post will be along shortly :D

Dramatic Dreams (I have them)

So, dreams. Everyone has them (at least I think most people have them) and many people i.e. 'Scientists' and 'Dream Experts'* believe that the dream is a subconcious conduit into how we deal with situations and evaluate the days events into a way that our brain can deal with. I've done my fair share of analysing my dreams through the 100% accurate dream guide diaries so I thought I would give you all a kick and analyse my dream with you.

Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.

Oh, before we start. I'm going to disclaimer my dream and say that I am not responsible for what my subconcious decides to do, or if anyone is involved (which none of you are). So, uh, I'm pretty sure that covers everything. Also: I am in no way a qualified dream analysist or psychologist or having any sort of medical/scientific degree. So, don't try this at home and then attempt to sue me.

Right, on we go!

Step 1: Try and re-call the dream as accurately as possible. If you need to, have some paper and a pen if you're really desperate to know. Thankfully, when it comes to more of my bizarro dreams I tend not to have problems remembering.

Fun Fact:

REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.

Step 2: Outline the basic "plot" of your dreams. Pretty much the key elements that stand out in your dream that seemed the most important, since we're assuming that these are the issues that your brain is trying to process.

Plot of my dream: A life or death situation where I am running from people and for some reason, I have a talking uber car which was awesome and then somehow a polar bear cub that could astral project into a nine year old, blue eyed, blonde haired russian kid became involved. He also tried to use sing-star in the middle of the snow-covered ruins that we were living in. Then I woke up.

Step 3: Use a dream interpreter to interpret your dreams. For this situation I am using: http://www.dreammoods.com/

Fun Fact:

Some studies suggest women need up to an hour’s extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.

So, let's start with the basic. The life or death situation. So, uh, I'm just going to chalk it up to being chased.

To dream that you are being chased, signifies that you are avoiding a situation that you do not think is conquerable.

Car: (Note, the liklihood of them having a meaning for talking cars is unlikely so I'm just going to throw this out there and say that I've been watching too much Knightrider.)

Overall, this dream symbol is an indication of your dependence and degree of control you have on your life.

Polar Bear and Astral Projection:

To see a polar bear in your dream, signifies a reawakening. Alternatively, the polar bear symbolizes your frigid and cold emotions.

(Gee, thanks. Since it's a small polar bear, does that mean I have little frigidity and cold emotions?)

To dream of astral projection, suggests that you are looking at things from a whole new perspective. You may be feeling liberated and free. Alternatively, it indicates that you are physically or emotionally disconnected from those around you.

What does that say about the Polar Bear? O.o

Kid, Russian, Aryan:

To see children in your dream, signify an aspect of yourself and your childlike qualities. You may be retreating back to a childlike state and longing for the past. You are trying to still satisfy repressed desires and unfulfilled hopes.

I'm just gonna put this out there and say that maybe I'm sad because I've never played sing-star. Tru Factz.

Well, it didn't have anything for Russian or Aryan so I'm just gonna say that I've been watching too much James Bond. Sounds like the most reasonable explanation.

Ruins, Snow:

To see ruins in your dream, suggest that you are neglecting aspects of your life or that it is falling apart. You feel you are self-destructing. It is time to get on the right path.

To see snow in your dream, signifies your inhibitions, unexpressed emotions and feelings of frigidity. You need to release and express these emotions and inhibitions. Alternatively, snow means that you are feeling indifferent, alone and neglected.

Step 4: Mix ingredients and serve. So, using the meanings of what I got, this is what my subconcious was trying to tell me.

Basically: I am a frigid, repressed, self-destructive and emotionally disconnected twenty-something woman who is afraid of commiting to a situation. LMAO. Thanks dream intrepreter, you got me in one. Who needs to pay money to see a counsellor when my dreams tell me everything?

Fun Fact:

Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

* I am not either of those so I can't really judge on their accuracy. Each to their own.

As per usual, quoted stuff not my own, the facts come from here and dream guide here. Picture of adorable puppies from here.

Anyway, that was the fun foray into the wild and whacky world of my subconcious. Feel free to analyse your own dreams and see how close to the mark they are. Hopefully it's enlightened some of you :P

Relevant Question is Relevant

Or at least semi relevant in today's young, hip population. Most likely the most you'll take away from this blog is how much of an old person I sound, instead of a young, hip twenty year old. I have been known to shake my fist at more than one hoon driving on the road as I shuffle along the footpath. But I digress.

(Also in the whole digressing tangent whilst we're here. I was told by my pal Anthony that I had to throw an honourable mention his way as he was the one who linked me to the Raptor watches Edward pic. So, here it is. *honourable mention here*)

As I briefly made mention of yesterday, I do plan on writing a novel. What kind of novel some of you ask? Well. I did have plans to write a werewolf novel. Yes, now you see my dilemma and the entire theme for the rest of this post:

Werewolves Vs. Vampires.

Now, usually I wouldn't be thinking much of this. Hey, I like fantasy and werewolves and so naturally this makes sense to write about it, right? Well, the problem that I see surfacing now in the modern YA/adult fantasy book market is that I might be jumping on the bandwagon after everyone seems to have gotten bored and jumped off. The thing is, there aren't that many werewolf novels floating around, or at least ones that have become best sellers. This is a good thing in some ways because it means at least I have a possible niche to get into - the downside is The Vampire Problem or TVP.


TVP is relatively simple. In the last five years (maybe even shorter), Vampires have suddenly become a huge thing again. Normally this wouldn't be much of a problem, but most of the time, Vampires and Werewolves kind of have a thing. Their bitter enemies, pitted against one another, constantly destined to be each other's nemesis' in books/movies/comics. Basically, where there are werewolves - there are usually vampires too (ok, sure. There have been numerous Vampire novels without werewolves. But for the sake of this argument, lets just ignore those).

People are getting sick of the whole Vampire Craze. Every where you go, pictures of Vampires and other vampire related objects are practically being broadcast into your face if you happen to be wandering around innocently at Conventions or the Bookstore. I myself happen to like occasionally spending time in the Young Adult section because I find it often has some quite good books and when I just want a holiday read and not srs bzns. YA is probably the market that I would aim for because it just seems to be the right fit, that and adult novels scare me sometimes. Most of the YA section is now taken up by the masses and masses of Vampires Series.

What hardcore readers consider a light reading list.

Now, I'm not just hating on Vampires for the heck of it. I have read a couple of lulzy Vampire Series that have entertained me such as the Vampire Beach series, Evernight Series, and the first three books of the House of Night series. Twilight (although I refuse to read the last book) is a completely different matter. Twilight seemed to alleviate TVP. All of a sudden, after Twilight, Vampires became a huge craze again and so the whole mythological Vampire (and to some extent Werewolf) market has become something that people are now going to avoid. So, pretty much writing a werewolf novel may not get me very far.

	Vampires: Mythical creatures which were once considered genuinely scary, but are now the laughing stock of the monster world thanks to Stephenie Meyer and her extreme pile of fail 'Twilight', otherwise known as 'Necrophilia for Tweens'. - Urban Dictionary

What is it about Vampires that attracts people though? I actually do not see what people find interesting in them. I haven't read Dracula, or Interview with a Vampire, or any of the other older series, but it's clear that there's been something about them that keeps people reading. To me, Werewolves are just so much more fantastic. And alive. I think that's a big thing for me. Vampires have never really interested me because they aren't alive.

Seriously. No one would tap that.

Why is it just Vampires that people seem to get so hot and bothered over? The thing that bothers me the most about Vampires (besides the obvious necrophilia issues) is that when I'm reading them, the Vampires are just so... argh. I had major issues with the House of Night series that I stopped reading half way through the first book. For some reason, all the female characters in Vampire novels are huge hussies. Is there something wrong with having one boyfriend/partner/significant other? All, if not most of these girls end up in love quadrangles. D: It just seems to be showing young girls the wrong idea about relationships and love. DEAD PEOPLE ARE NOT SEXY. This is why there are no Zombie romances. For serious.

Whereas werewolves are just: they're people. Monsters, yes. I can agree completely that werewolves can be vicious blood thirsty creatures, I'm not going to completely cotton ball the issue. But they aren't dead. They are mostly human 87% of the time (depending on which werewolf medium you are looking at). To me, the werewolves in the Harry Potter series showed both sides of the werewolf. One in Remus Lupin, the boy who grew up with it after being bitten and learnt to live with it and choose to not give into his bestial instincts and Fenrir Greyback - who, lets just admit it - was a complete psychopath. With werewolves, there seems to a more "normal" romantic relationship. They die. They're mortal. They aren't going to live forever in shiny happy land of rainbows and sparkles. There are still consequences and to me, most Vampire novels just seem to gloss over them.

And that is pretty much my entire issue with my novel. How am I supposed to enter a market for a young adult series when people are getting bored of Vampires. Werewolves are pretty much considered to be in the same area as their bloodsucking arch-enemies, so what do you do when the bandwagon seems to have left a long time ago? One suggestion was a Chupacabra romance but I dunno, it seems almost as bad as the Minotaur idea.

The next Edward Cullen?

I think I'll just write a children's book about Cyril the Sad Squid and call it a day.

(So, that was less of a question and more of a 'My incoherent thoughts, let me show you them.')

Liopleurodons and You.

That's right! I've come to introduce you to a little known (or cared about) dinosaur! Why liopleurodons? Well, why not I say!

As some of you may have heard, Jurassic Park 4 is being made. Yes, you did read that right. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved the first two movies. Filled with action, adventure and rampaging dinosaurs, they should be on everybodies top movie list. However, the third movie I found was uhm, slightly disappointing. Still on the velociraptors? And Spinosaurs? Really? Whilst I adore Velociraptors as much as the next person, maybe introducing a different set of scary predators would liven things up.

What Velociraptors have become. A hilarious husk of their former selves.

Hence: Liopleurodons. I know, I know. There was the whole Pterosaur sub-story going on as we saw from the end credits as they flew romantically off into the sunset, but what's the likelihood of them actually flying to somewhere to terrorise people? Which is why I think maybe they should make it in the water. Much more scary! Like Jaws, only with dinosaurs!

How'd you like that in your swimming pool? Yeah, I thought so.
source

See? Can you imagine the possibilities they would have with that? One minute, a bunch of people having a fun party on a boat, the next second: RAWR!CHOMP. According to the knowledgable and completely factual internet source that is wikipedia, Liopleurodons were an apex predator of the ocean during the Jurassic period. That's practically a winner!

Continuing along on how awesome this potential aquatic version of Jurassic Park meets Jaws is, their fossils have only been really found around England, France and Russia. We could have Russian spies! Or some crazy Russian lab for the Government attempting to clone a Super Army of crime fighting... I mean, a terrible force of unstoppable power bent solely on World Domination (tm). Only! They're nuke resistant! Oh noes! The American's sole weapon effective enough against people, aliens and Godzilla suddenly becomes nothing more than a childs toy! The Russians laugh at their feeble attempts to stop them! Calamity!

Ok, ok. So it's less Jurassic Park than some terrible spin-off of all the other Monster Movies. Lake Placid and so on so forth. The only way that they could make Jurassic Park 4 any more awesome with the dinosaurs they are recycling is if they made one of the Velociraptors into James Bond or attached lasers to their heads. Because I think Doctor Evil had something going with the whole Shark-laser routine.
So really, when it all comes down to it, do we really want another sequel of the same old thing when there is a whole bucket load of dinosaurs that could really makes things go from a rating of : Eh, I'd only watch this if I was super bored or if it was the only option besides Twilight to Oh, wow! This film is amazing! I would totally date this movie if it was a person because it is just that awesome?

Exactly.
And on a final, and somewhat related note, I leave you with this:

Disclaimer/Note: Pictures aren't mine! I got them off google, so google away to find the right sites. Or alternatively look below. I'm also not making profit from this otherwise I would have been doing this a long time ago. No offense meant to any of the following mentioned people/countries/movies above. It's also pretty much a guarantee that I'll end up watching Jurassic Park 4, because I am a masochist and there aren't enough dinosaur movies to begin with. Woe.
twilight liopleurodons velociraptor