OK so it goes like this. I need to overhaul a few things in my life, including my blog. I have severely neglected it in recent months and I can only assume it’s to do with the huge life changes I went through earlier in the year ie. breaking up with a long-term boyfriend, moving from the exciting Valley in the quiet suburbs (with my mum, no less), plus a few others. While these changes have ultimately been for the better, I have spent these last few months being super strong and tough and basically putting up a big front of strength which kind of came crashing down on me last week. Don’t worry, I am all right and am feeling much better this week. Last week really highlighted to me the things I need to fix about myself and the fact I am not infallible and am allowed to have moments of weakness now and then, as long as I learn from them and use them to make myself better and stronger.
I absolutely love writing, which is why I started this blog in the first place a number of years ago. But I have been really bad at it. I am a hopeless procrastinator, so any wonderful ideas I have for a new blog entry are either forgotten or I piss fart around so much that by the time I sit down to write them out, they’re no longer relevant. I need to stop doing that and write ALL the time. I need to make note of any new blog idea I have in my diary (yes I still carry around an old-fashioned, paper diary) or even better, in my damn smart phone! I need to stop worrying about whether anyone will like what I write or if I’m writing too much or if it’s too pointless. Who cares? It’s my blog and so I need to pour myself into it, not write what I think people might like.
So please stay tuned for more entries. I aim to blog at least three times per week, more if I can manage it! I will blog more about fashion and music since that’s what my life tends to revolve around, as well as movies, advice and my patented rants. I’d also appreciate feedback and suggestions, if anyone has any. Feel free to comment here or email me at rockfotze (at) gmail (dot) com.
Love and fist shakes!
About Ruby
My name is Cara (but you can call me Ruby) and I like the colour pink, swearing, fist shaking, daggy dancing and 90s RnB music. Often all at once. I live in Brisbane which is always warm and is famous for its zombies.
Hi guys, many apologies for not blogging lately. Basically life has been a tad hectic, as my work moved buildings which I helped co-ordinate, and my internet has crapped itself at home so I’ve just not had much time beyond using my phone on the commute to and from work to get online!
Never fear though, because on Sunday my sister and I filmed, edited and uploaded our “Shit Bogan Girls Say” video. If you haven seen the original “Shit Girls Say” video then please check it out here. There are tonnes of other variations, such as Shit Black Girls Say and my favourite Shit Asian Dads Say. Naturally I found these to be completely hilarious and decided to make my own version. But of what? Since it was nearing Australia Day and I have a bit of a soft spot for bogans, I knew that was what I had to do!
This video is the result of the 2nd attempt to make this video as my three years at film school was not enough to help me remember to change settings on a camera before filming the first time. Luckily though my sister wanted to be involved and made this version about 1000x better than I could have ever anticipated! We had so much fun making it and are already planning the sequel.
Please Note: There is a LOT of swearing and it’s pretty damn obnoxious. If you’re offended by crass behaviour, swearing or bad mullet wigs, please do NOT watch this video!
I am so sorry that I have not been posting very much lately but seeing as how it’s very nearly Christmas I think that’s fair enough. Plus I spent a whole week trying to create an audition tape to be the host of a music programme on one of our free-to-air TV channels here, only to have it ALL fuck up 20 minutes before the deadline so I missed out. Being a VJ is basically my dream job but after about 4500 takes and still struggling to get the whole 90 sec single review out in one go, I now realise that maybe I am not cut out for that particular type of job. Or maybe I am trying to make myself feel better. Either way, I’ve gone off track f what this post was meant to be about!
As I may have mentioned here, I have a Kobo eReader and enjoy using it thoroughly. One day I will do a review on the few eReaders I have used, but for now let me just say they are AMAZING and you will get extremely angry the next time you have to read from a real book. I’ve read more in the 6 or so months that I’ve owned my Kobo than I have for the last 10 years. It’s proved esoecially handy when it comes to really large books. Imagine being about to carry all seven Harry Potter books with you at all times? I know, right?
So, I started reading George R R Martin’s series “A Song of Ice & Fire” after finally watching the TV show. Let me just say it would have been a LOT better if I’d read the books first as I quickly discovered I got it ALL wrong while watching the show (I didn’t realise Theon Greyjoy wasn’t Ned Stark’s son and also thought Jon Arryn was the king… I know, I obvs wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention or something). But once I’d worked out how everything actually was, I was immediately OBSESSED with the series. Oh my god, I cannot devour them fast enough. I am almost finished the fourth book and am going to die when they’re all done and I have to wait for another one to be written.
Since the Christmas holidays are coming up and most of us will have some time of and probably be a bit bored at some point, I thoroughly recommend you start reading them. No, you do not have to be into fantasy or really dig medieval history, as a number of friends who thought they hated both are just as obsessed as I am with the books. You just need to be aware that these books are loooong. And Mr Martin spares no one. No matter how safe you think a character, he’ll find an awful way to kill them. And no matter how deserving a character is of death, they’ll never get their comeuppance. Ever. It’s a mind fuck and the third book will essentially ruin your life (it’s both incredibly long and has some of the most intense scenes I’ve ever read in my life in it). But it’s a damn good read and you learn a lot about the medieval times, even if the books are set in an alternate reality. Oh and it’s likely you will also start talking like they do in the books (ie. on the morrow = tomorrow, braking my fast = breakfast, moon’s blood = period etc). Good times, all round.
Have you read this series? What do you think? Doe you think the TV show compares?
Can you believe it’s already December? What is with this year going by so quickly? I just checked and there are only 15 days til my birthday so that means only 17 days til Christmas! Guess who still hasn’t done their Christmas shopping either? Uh oh!
I love Christmas. I may be atheist and come from an atheist family but we’ve always considered Christmas a special time of year, though not for any religious reasons, but just a time to be with family. I absolutely love getting presents, and while I’m not really the best gift-buyer myself, I love thinking of what to get my family and friends that they’ll like but also haven’t directly asked for (I’m a big fan of surprise gifts).
I love the traditions that come with Christmas. I love getting up early for presents on Christmas morning. I love having miles of wrapping paper strewn across the house while mum tells us off for not saving the paper for future use. I love the bacon and egg breakfast with fresh, pulpy orange juice that we have after the frenzy of the gift-giving is over. I love having a HUGE lunch with ham off the bone, cold chook , salads, prawns and too much dessert. I love the full and sleepy feeling after lunch where you just want to sleep. I used to love having a swim regardless of the weather an hour after lunch back when we had a pool, usually to test out the awesome new pools toys we were given (which we’d usually manage to break in the first 10 minutes, much to mum’s horror). Then the lazy, relaxing afternoon where we’d attempt to eat some more before falling asleep in front of the TV, usually watching ballroom dancing which always seemed to be shown on Christmas day for some reason.
I’ve only just put up my Christmas tree (above – and yes it is black with pink and silver trimming) and am wondering how long the presents will survive with two maniac puppies on the loose. Maybe it’s a good thing I always leave my shopping til last minute so that there’s less time for wrapping to get chewed up! It’s kind of exciting that I’m about to have my first Christmas as a “mum”, I might even be super lame and get the boys a little present for the under the tree each ;)
What are your favourite Christmas traditions? If you don’t celebrate Christmas, what do you do during this holiday period?
When I was in Tokyo in 2009, I discovered the most wonderful thing on earth: mameshiba. Mameshiba is a Japanese cartoon based on various types of beans with doggy features that come to life and freak out people by stating rather obscure facts about various things, typically food and biology. If you’re familiar with mameshiba though, you probably just know the edamame bean, which is most famous for being an adorable keychain novelty where you pop him out of his pod and he’ll have a funny face:
But there are many other types including a peanut, black bean and coffee beans and they all have some random facts to give their unsuspecting “audience” (victim might be a more appropriate choice given the reactions the beans tend to get). In fact their name is a play on the Japanese word for trivia “mamechishiki”. Literally the name means “bean dog” (a shiba is a breed of dog) which is basically the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my entire life!
Mameshiba is so big now, apparently 78% of Japanese adults recognise the characters! It’s also infiltrated the USA and Canada and one can only hope it will make its way to Australia shores soon. You would not believe how much merchandise you can get. Personally I got a couple of bits and pieces while in Tokyo (notepads, stickers, keychains etc) but at Supanova last year one stall had a giant edamame pillow that I simply could not refuse!
If you’d like to get into mameshiba and their wonderful world, I suggest checking out all of their videos. Then once you’re hooked, you can get all of them as wallpapers! You’d better believe my work desktop now scrolls through all of them throughout the day!
Japan, have I told you lately how aesome and CUTE you are?
I am the type of person to get unreasonably excited about the sort of things people ususally find mundane or at best, kind of average. I will stop in my tracks to look at a dog, I get a thrill when I find money lying around and I squeal with delight when I find pink version of everyday items.
So imagine my delight when Iopened up the fruit box at work and found the DOUBLE BANANA!
I let it ripen up for a couple of days and then when it was finally a perfect shade of bright yellow, I decided it was time. What wonders would this enormous, double width banana hold? Was it just a big, funny shaped banana, or was there going to be two perfect bananas squished into one skin? IT WAS TIME TO FIND OUT!
Under the watchful eye of a workmate who was almost as excited as I was, I opened it up:
YES! It was better than I expected, there were two perfect bananas in the one skin. I thought I was going to hyperventilate with excitement, especially so when I discovered it didn’t have a single bruise (a sure-fire way to ruin any banana experience). It was now time for the taste test.
I like to eat my fruit all cut up so I got a-cuttin’ and was presented with the most perfect pair of bananas of all time. Neatly encased in the one peel. Two for one baby! The two bananas pulled apart easily and except for being slightly indented from being stuck in such a small space together, they were completely and utterly perfect.
And the best bit? They were honest-to-god the tastiest bananas I have ever eaten. It was an excellent day!
A friend of mine pointed me to StyleTread today, which was very convenient as it was only this morning that I looked upon all of my shoes strewn across my bedroom floor, I thought about how badly I need some new, interesting shoes to mix things up a little. I have so many shoes, we’re talking about 50 pairs, but I tend to be a bit samey with a lot of them. Black patent? Pink leather? Sequined flats? I have heaps of ‘em. I guess I tend to just go for what I’m used to, often without really thinking about it. But I need a change! As I browsed through their hundreds of goregeos shows I came across a few that are unlike what I currently own but are still very “Ruby Velour”.
First off is Leo by Diavolina in Black. I love the suede, the wood and the studs. Three sexy textures in one shoe! The heel is just thick enough so I know I would be able walk in these without too much stumbling and the thick sole means enough padding my feet won’t be ready to fall off at the end of the night. Oh and they have grip! Oh how I love the thought of heels with some grip! They are so simple, but definitely not boring. I have about a dozen LBD’s I could team up with these. They’re just $139.95 too.
OK so allow me to explain… I love the 1920s very passionately. I love the fashion, the art, the music and the decadence of the roaring 20s. I swear I was a flapper in a former life, visiting speak easy’s, getting drunk on bootleg liquor with my long pearls, short hair and low-backed dress. I absolutely adore in these shoes (Louisiana by I Love Billy in Black/grey) and would wear them with so much. Just because they look like they’re from the 20s, doesn’t mean you can only dress like you’re from the era when wearing them. Because of the colours you could wear them with just about anything. Personally I have a few black and white dresses that would look outstanding with these and at $89.95 I may well just have to get them.
And now for the totally ridiculous! Please welcome Faya by RMK in black! I was only talking to a fiend recently about the ghetto fabulous boots that used to be around in the early – mid Noughties. These are by far the most ghetto-fabulous yet completely wearable type I have ever seen. They’re hiking boots, with sexy heels. Aaaah it’s a match made in heaven for me. So impractical and fun, I think these would look amazing with black skinny jeans. I honestly don’t know what I own that would suit these, but I am sure I can work something out! The brown ones are also very special. These babies are $189.95.
Yay my first ever wishlist! I tend to lose track of all the cool stuff I find online that I want to buy, but not today! Here are the lovely things I am currently gushing over:
I was going to explain why I like them all to you, but I think they all speak for themselves. I’m seriously considering getting that dress though. I don’t think it could be more “me” if it possibly tried. And the price is pretty good too!
So you’d think that now I’m well and truly in my late 20s that I’d stop having themed parties. WELL YOU’RE WRONG. I love having themed parties, but not just one of those boring decade parties (like 80′s parties or the dreaded flapper/gangster parties you see everywhere) but really specific ones. Like out Doomed Lovers party for Valentines Day one year (Anthony and I were Rihanna and Chris Brown) and our excellent Superheroes on a Budget party! For my birthday this year I decided I’d go for Vampires since I missed out on Halloween this year thanks to the zombie walk (and boy am I sick of zombies these days). I’ve loved vampires for years, especially the old ones starring Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee as well as the recent, sexy TV shows like True Blood and yes, even Vampire Diaries.
I knew it was going to be a smaller sort of party considering it was on the last weekend before Christmas (damn having a birthday on December 23rd) but that didn’t stop me from going all out on decorating the place. I got some awesome vampire decorations from Martha Stewart’s Halloween range from Scrapbook.com and I also had a lot of help from my mum who made gravestones out of cardboard and cut out dozens of bat shapes before spending hours making almost 100 mini cupcakes with me the night before. I scoured the internet in the weeks leading up to the party looking for good ideas but found few that weren’t totally tacky and/or aimed at children. So we just used fake spiderwebs, lots of bats and dark decor to make my unit look like Dracula’s lair and had lots of red foods and drinks to keep the theme. It was so much fun to set up, but I was totally beat before the party even started. I might try not to go so crazy for my next party, I think (haha yeah right).
WHAT I WORE:
Dress: From Retro Metro, Paddington (I think it was some sort of costume as they had heaps in various colours)
Boots: Bought off a good friend who got them from Pulp – an amazing investment!
Gloves: From Adornments, Paddington. Necklace: Not sure, probably from Diva or somewhere similar. Hat: From my sister – from Dollars & Sense of all places! Hair: My trusty extensions from Price Attack Stockings: Ambra from David Jones (the best fishnets ever, I assure you).
And just for fun here are few snaps taken during the night (hover for descriptions):
Oh and in case you’re wondering how I got such kickarse vampire teeth, you’ll want to check out Dracula House. We got the werewolf fangs as there are four teeth which seemed like a good investment. They stick with this weird putty stuff that sets and become small plates that come out easily but stay put amazingly too. Don’t try and use these with crazy acrylic nails like I did – they stick like shit to a blanket! Get someone else to put them in for you, which is probably the best way to do it anyway as you may end up throwing many tantrums if you try and do it by yourself!
I love walking in cities at night. I love how much a city changes just by being lit up after dark. Tonight I went for a walk around and through Brisbane City because I haven’t done that in such a long time, and I loved it. I actually really miss working in the City, even though I’m sure I’m saving heaps of money by working in the most boring area on earth. As I walked I made a few observations:
The boardwalk is crazy-busy at 7pm on a Tuesday night. You can hardly walk for runners, bicycles and couples strolling along the riverside. It’s nice to see people getting out and about and enjoying the beautiful weather warm weather tonight.
There is this smell as you walk along the boardwalk, as you pass under Jade Buddha that smells like a thousand dead vagina’s. I’m serious, it’s just the worst smell ever. I try and hold my nose as I walk through there but it always manages to get me. Just FYI.
There are a lot of bars and restaurants around Brisbane that I’ve never gone to that I’d really like to try someday. I think 2011 will be my year to try them all out.
The Brisbane wigga’s still exist! They apparently hang out outside the Timezone on Albert Street. Or maybe they always did. Either way it was hilarious!
There are some really pretty lights up across Queen Street (between Edward and Creek streets). They remind me of the ones they have around Oxford Circus in London. They need more though, only a couple of sets of them just aren’t enough.
The City Cycle bikes are everywhere now, I really want to get a membership. This is why I should be working in the City! I can ride one to work and then walk or train it home without worrying about leaving my own bicycle unattended. I love it!
They’ve really overhauled a few of the dodgy little parks, particularly the ones near the Valley. It’s good to see some landscaping and interesting street furniture instead of scary dark spots and angry drunk hobo’s.
Brisbane is actually very quiet. As I walked I was impressed by how tranquil and peaceful it was. Of course there are traffic sounds but it was a dull hum in the background without car horns or loud engines hooning by. I doubt there are many cities in the world that can boast that.
I probably noticed a lot more but I was trying to exercise/didn’t have anything to write my observations down on. It was just really nice and I’m going to do it more often.
Tell me about your City and the nice, strange, stinky and funny things you notice!
