Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I especially love the hairmet, as I like to call it, a helmet made of hair, or at least some sort of fuzzy material, and designed by Soren Bach. What can I say? He gives hair accessories and headgear a whole new meaning.

YSL and those ostentatious creations

Head of design at Yves Saint Laurent, Stefano Pilati, for the Spring/ Summer 2008 Collection. Daring and bold, it's a vest made of Plexiglass. We therefore have to be duly agog.

Listening to: Belle & Sebastian

I absolutely cannot wait till I get to walk the streets of London and get to be surrounded by fashion conscious folks. Just a few more painstaking days to get through and off I'll fly on a jet plane. I need to remember, according to the words of my dearest brother, to pack my most outrageous and chic outfits, you know, for partying and such activities which we are definitely going to be engagin in. Oh, the life! I hope I'm not too backwards in terms of what's hot in the fashion scene. Coming from StePo, that's not unlikely at all, whatsoever. In true Sara fashion, I'll just rock it out and act as if every single outfit I put on is the most avant garde of outfits possible. Oh the lies I'll be feeding myself. Maybe I'll even upload pictures of the outfits I plan to bring along, just so I can feel better about them be reassured of their (high) position on the style barometer. Till then, I'll just be chilling out at the UC and listening to folk-y music, with a good book in hand.

Listening to: Belle & Sebastian

I absolutely cannot wait till I get to walk the streets of London and get to be surrounded by fashion conscious folks. Just a few more painstaking days to get through and off I'll fly on a jet plane. I need to remember, according to the words of my dearest brother, to pack my most outrageous and chic outfits, you know, for partying and such activities which we are definitely going to be engagin in. Oh, the life! I hope I'm not too backwards in terms of what's hot in the fashion scene. Coming from StePo, that's not unlikely at all, whatsoever. In true Sara fashion, I'll just rock it out and act as if every single outfit I put on is the most avant garde of outfits possible. Oh the lies I'll be feeding myself. Maybe I'll even upload pictures of the outfits I plan to bring along, just so I can feel better about them be reassured of their (high) position on the style barometer. Till then, I'll just be chilling out at the UC and listening to folk-y music, with a good book in hand.

Une Vida Bella Unknown

H&M tent dress- $10
Topshop necklace- $3
Bona Drag Denim boots- $20

All Cookie-d Out

Work party+Christmas cookies+(a whole lot of) frosting+theatre folks= weird crazy fun. We had a work party at Wendy's house where we decorated pine tree shaped and star shaped cookies. She had bought like 10 dozen of those cookies and Susan had MADE frosting and had bought colouring for it and all sorts of sprinkles and M&Ms. Good God, it was sugar galore I must say. There was blue, pink, red, orange and so many more coloured frosting. It was all such a new experience to me! evidently, I am neither domesticated nor patient enough to spend a day just decorating cookies, that will eventually be eaten anyway. BUT, I had so much fun and it was nice to get out of the room and do something to just relieve my mind of all the stresses of school, namely tomorrow's 220 final. But that was on an entirely separate note. So anyway, cookie decorating was fun fun fun! I probably won't be able to eat them though, I am totally cookie-d out and sugared out. I just might puke. I have to give them away asap. Just looking at them kinda makes me nauseous. Too bad, cos they would be great Christmas decorations. Well, Merry Christmas everyone.

The Sedimentarians

So I met with Michael for 2 hours yesterday and we had such a fun time discussing activities for me to do over the summer of 2008. I've decided that I'm going to audition for a scholarship for the American Dance Festival (ADF) and hopefully I'll be able to get at least some kind of scholarship so I don't have to burden my parents too much with paying for tuition and everything else, which all amounts to approximately $3000. It's way too much of an amount to pay without some sort of financial aid. And I'm planning to attend the Susna Marshall summer intensive, if it falls some time before ADF, that is. I am so excited about my plans and I really hope things go well. I'll be going alone and not going to lie, I am pretty apprehensive and nervous about that. But I need to grow up and suck it up and just do what I have to do.

Michael also mentioned me costume designing for his Danstage piece and I am definitely up for the challenge. He has so many great ideas and I would really like to get the opportunity to collaborate with him on this level. And I'm going to have to search and source for some techno music for his piece as well. I love how he's giving me the chance to not just dance in his piece, but to be a part of the whole creative process as well. And I love this about art- all art forms are so interrelated with one another and I honestly believe that they are interdependent of each other; one art form cannot do without another's influence to some extent. I am ALL about parallels being drawn between all schools of thought. The parallel that I am finding the most fascinating lately is the connection between Psychology and Dance. The MInd vs. Body debate never made so much sense to me till lately, when I've actually discovered an answer for myself. After a whole semester of searching and being in a perpetual state of confusion, I have decided that my views lie with the side of the debate that states that the mind and the body are one. And so I'm definitely a Materialist, who asserts the synonymity of the mind and the body. Oh god, reading back through my 220 journal just reminds me of how absolutely lost and just how much ambiguity was in my life at that point in time. But it's such a great chronology displaying how much I have learnt about myself over the course of the semester and just how many answers I have managed to come up with for myself. I am so proud of myself! I will continue to journal and keep my mind active with regards to all the talk on Dance and Psychology and improvisation. I love all this debate and discussion.

Boot #6

I was just looking through some other fashion blogs, one of my favourite past times and i was looking through stylebytes.net and she mentioned an online store known as Bona Drag and i decided to check it out and this amazing pair of denim boots were on sale for only $20! i just had to purchase them. I definitely bought them on impluse, but I absolutely could not resist. I hope they turn out looking as fantastic as they look in this picture. Can't wait to receive them in my mail!

Intertextuality

One last picture from AfterImages 2007. Get it, cast of Jesse's piece!

Ponderations

I was hoping to have pictures from last night's AfterImages cast party to upload, but I ended up not even attending the party, something which I'm kinda upset about really. I really needed to unwind and I saw the party as an opportunity to dress up and have fun and let loose for once in a really really long time. Unfortunately, I didn't have a ride to the venue and that's a definite problem. It's a 'walkable' distance, but last night's weather was terrible and my heels ain't made for walking, no siree. Not to mention, I didnt want to have to walk all the ay back to my dorm late at night, all alone, in the drastic cold. And to think I had my silver dress and pink heels all ready to wear for the party. Darn the cold weather. I hope another opportunity to be a little more flashy presents itself sometime soon.

I spent the day organising my room and putting things back where they should be. It's therapeutic really, getting rid of all the mess in my life and giving myself the chance to restart on a nice clean slate, this being a metaphor for my mind. After the production's ended, my mind feels so relieved and uncluttered, it's so refreshing. I also took a walk to Starbucks to get ome work done. The trip there was rough, but Starbucks is such a place of refuge that it's all worth it. So I got some work done and a stranger came up to me and asked me whether I was in the AfterImages production and when I told him that I was, he told me that I did a great job. Boy, did that make my day. And Meghan, such a sweetheart, reassured me of my capabilities and how I'm going to fulfil my dreams. I definitely needed those few compliments. Being in a production and not have any close friends or family come support me was and is a real trip. I hear fellow dancers talk about their families coming and them receiving these bouquets of flowers and my heart sinks. I used to have that, but I dont anymore and I don't think I ever will, seeing how my life's going, not being able to make any close friends outside of the dance department. It's a definite challenge, but I know in the end, I have to suck it up and get on with life. I have no time to cry over spilt milk. I chose this path and I have to face the consequences and obstacles I have no choice but to face. The only audience I need is up in heaven, watching over me and providing for me every single day of my life.

My cammie's screen got smashed quite awhile's ago and so I haven't even been trying to use it, but I figured that it's still usable even though I can't see what I'm taking a picture of (and it's worsened by the cammie's absence of a peep hole to look through). So I made a few attempts at taking pictures of some paraphernalia around my room. They didn't turn out too well, but who's to say what constitutes a good picture right? I say it just gave a new perspective on the picture and it just made it more challenging to figure out what exactly I was trying to take a picture of. Unfortunately, they somehow ended up not being rotated. C'est la vie. All in the name of ambiguity.

Drift Away

Some images from a recent issue of The New York Times Style Magazine. I absolutely love these images- the sheer serenity and mystery it exudes, and even some sort of hidden sexuality. A definite understated sexiness. The neve blankets Lake Tazawa in Japan and juxtaposes the strong and bold colours of fall- scarlet and charcoal. The air of the geisha-esque models as they appeared to suspend above the snow, was one of sorrow and loneliness, yet so beautifully captured. Any other emotion would have been lost in the huge piles of snow. Exquisite!

Bob The Builder

Just some pictures from the AfterImages production; Jesse's piece entitled 'Intertextuality:Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Digital Age'. Costumes by, Me!

Ghetto Blast!

Honestly, how cool is this nail polish? They are called Day-Glo's and they are fluorescent colours- neon pin, orange and melon. Too bad they're AUD40 for 3 bottles. I would totally send my order in if not for the price. And the packaging is pretty sweet as well! 3 little bottles in a capsule, can't get any ghetto than that, in a good way of course. The colours just remind me of the 80's fashion, with all the electric blue leggings, pink leg warmers and cut off sweatchirts with a yellow sports bra and the ubiquitous old school Reeboks. Gotta love that look!

Accordian-esque/ Geometric

Just some really beautiful sculptural and origami-inspired dresses by Rei Kawakubo, the founder of Commes Des Garcons:

I think these dresses are absoultely beautiful and it reeks of an understated sort of beauty and sexiness and is definitely elegance redefined. I also adore the photography and how the pictures emote some sort of ethereal quality and mystery. It makes me want to enter a whole new land where beautifully crafted clothes are made for unfortunately, people with money...Nonetheless, I can always enjoy the ingenius and challenging designs of such a designer as Kawakubo.

Voyeur

My Fashion Must-Haves:

Coffee and Icicles

It started snowing really heavily today and I have to admit, it was really pretty and it's probably just the effects of the first snow, but it made me feel really happy on the inside. It was literally a sight for sore eyes and simply a winter wonderland. Every single inch of ground and tree branch was covered in snow and it was just one pure white scene right in front of my eyes. There was so much snow on the ground that I had to resort to scuffing my feet on the ground instead of actually walking, which really tired my calves out. Oh the snow, it's such a heavenly sight, but only for a while. I'm almost certain that I'm going to hate it as soon as tomorrow. I got to rock out my D&G winter jacket, which is always fun. I makes me feel all bundled up and oh so warm and cosy. And getting some Starbucks early in the morning with Lindsay was such a geat start to my day as well. From ^ in the morning to 11. I really love the smell, the atmosphere, the music and just the aura of Starbucks. It evokes in me, a mood to want to study and read, but without placing any stress on myself. And I always feel like it's where I am able to just refect on things that have happened to me and where I get the chance to ponder over questions and such. And I'm sure it's where many people do likewise. Oh Starbucks, such a place for solace...a refuge for the overwhelmed.

White precipitation

Get it snow boots!

This is a gift from Lindsay! She got it from Nordstrom and it's such a cute little metallic purse that's going to go really well with my Mango black and gold coat. I can't wait to use it! It's definitely a sassy one.

Ramblings

Question: Is choreography the same as improvisation in terms of dance? We had this deabte in class today and I honestly see them as maybe not the same thing, but definitely 2 processes which cannot be done independent of the other. I find that one cannot choreograph a dance without improvising to some extent. It may not be to the extent of creating well planned and carefully thought through movement, but even just the idea behind a movement that comes to one's mind, to me, is still a constituent of the art of improvising, as Michael likes to say. And when he says "art", I personally define it as the thought and time put into the creative process and the actualy execution of an idea and the translation of that idea into some sort of visual or audio representation, be it visual art, music or dance. That is my definition of "art", but what Michael actually perceives what that word means may be totally different. According to my Widget dictionary, art refers to the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a usual form...producing works primarily for their beautyor emotional power. It can also mean a skill at doing a specified thing; typically one acquired through practice. And I certainly agree that improvisation takes a lot of practice and that's why I agree with the statement that improvisation is not the same as just fooling around and dancing on your own in a club for instance. Personally, the element of improvisation which is most significance and of the highest level of difficulty to master and attain, is the ability to translate all the images, phrases, words, thoughts, sounds, into some sort of movement that makes sense to your fellow dancers, if any, and to the audience and maybe even to yourself. More often than not, I find myself improv-ing, but not necessarily moving the way I visualised in my mind's eye; it may look interesting and may evoke certain emotions in a spectator, but it may not always be what I had intended it to look like, which on the other hand, totally doesn't matter. I am all for the explorative nature of dance and how organic and raw and honest movement is. That's what dance is all about and I hope that it never loses that essence of itself.

VIN

A Tree, horses and a checked piece of cloth

Today's fabulous outfit

Almost Lover

The weather has been positively frigid and many degrees lower than my ideal. And so cute outfits are harder to come by, but I think I was still able to wear something that I felt really good in and that's all that matters. So costume designing for Jesse's piece is facing a roadblock. I absolutely have no idea how to dress males and this includes a girl who has to look like a boy. And I only ordered certain items recently and when they are going to arrive, I have no idea and I'm starting to worry a little. I hope I don't screw this up. Other than all these problems though, I feel really good about what I have dressed the cast in and right now it's up to them to MAKE IT WORK, from the words of Tim Gunn, probably the nicest person in the fashion business today. I went to Starbucks for some solace and study time. I spent 2 hours or so completing much of my homework and so it's time to just chill out and lounge in my room/house.

AfterImages is coming up and it's approaching real fast. I dont know if I'm ready for it. I just want to do the choreographers of the pieces I'm in justice. A whole week of tech and such awaits and my life has definitely got to be put on hold...again. This semester seems to have been full of such weeks of crammed activities and restless days. Gone are the days of reading a novel in bed with my pjs still on at 2 in the afternoon, with a cup of ginger tea by my bed. Those halcyon days.

And so I really want to get a marilyn when I get to London. My good ol' source of inspiration if a brother reassured me of my decision. He got his tragus pierced and agrees that a sparkling mole above my lip would look really pretty and awfully sweet. I already have a beauty mole there so just adding a little glimmer to it is going to look pretty awesome. I'm just trying not to think about the pain as for now. I heard it isnt too bad, though it does hurt a little, but this is coming from soneone who had had her tongue pierced and she was basically comparing the pain of piercing her upper lip to that of her tongue. So there's obviously no contest there. I hope to have a picture of myself with my marilyn posted really soon.

Que Pasa?

I wore my new H&M skirt today. I really do love it. Finally, a pretty long black skirt to add to my wardrobe. I have a few questions that were brought up in various classes today which really sparked my interest and intrigue. The first of which was brought up during my movement anamysis class where we were being given some background information of Rudolph Laban. He believe that movement is intentional and human beings move to satisfy needs. Jesse was definitely contesting it and there was a little debate between Michael and him. I do think that Laban probably could have worded his statement a little more clearly to emphasise that it is the effort that he is concerned about. That as opposed to animals, we humans move with an intent coupled with the capacity to perform an action in a spectrum of ways and energy levels. I believe that Laban was trying to say that both human beings and animals move with intention and with the purpose of satisfying one's needs, but humna beings are superior to animals because we are able to choose the way in which we approach the task of for instance, picking up a water bottle. And this idea is known as 'humane effort', effort which we force ourselves to put into performing an action, a characteristic that is absent in animals. Instead, they have very strong instinctual natures.

The other question which really piqued my curiosity and got my brain kind of whirling was are movies like the colosseum? In terms of feeding entertainment to the masses through violent scenes and action. It was brought up by a kid in my Psychology class and my goodness, I actually do think it makes a lot of sense. After all, the colosseum did serve to entertain and maybe even brianwash to a certain extent, the public. And isnt that what movies are all about right now? The violent and graphic ones about brainless and far-fetched situations of course. Hence, the question of whether violence in movies today affect the minds and thought processes of the younger audiences and influence them to do criminal things still stands and is very relevant. I truly see the purpose of the colosseum and all that had happened in it being to warn its spectators of challenging the government and so doesnt that have a really strong influential nature? My conclusion is that movies today, indeed are the replacement of the activities that had gone on in the colosseum.

Just some food for thought.

Walker

A picture taken in the Walker Art Center...illegally. We didn't know whether we were allowed to or not and so we just decided to give it a shot. At least we managed to get 2 good shots. I was introduced to the art movement known as Fluxus, which I am really intrigued by. It as something to do with how everyone and anyone can be an artist and their art work pretty much involves everyday, mass produced items. It does remind me of Pop Art, but maybe a little less severe and in-your-face. I should reseach a bit more about it. It was the first time I had heard of it and I like being in the know. You know, having your finger on the pulse.

You'll Never See Me Again

Here are some new purchases I made over Thanksgiving break in my new favourite city of all time- Minneapolis! Give it up! And my outfit for the day. I got the jeans from H&M for a steal! It cost me a mere $10. I was unbelieveably lucky. Pretty much everything I bought over break is from H&M. That's the store for me. It's all I need and it was the only store I bought anything from when we made our trip to the Mall of America. To hell with every other clothing store. We also visited the Walker Art Center and our original plan was to view the Frida Kahlo exhibition that is going on right now, but alas, the queue was a mile long and we weren't about to waste precious time standing in line. Too bad, it would have been really great. I got a souvenir though, a compact mirror with 2 of Frida's paintings on it. It's pretty amazing. Pictures of it will be up some other time. I also finally got my hair cut and honestly, bangs are the way to go for me. I'm just looking forward to wearing some of my new gear soon!