Today is a Wednesday. So not a Tuesday, and therefore should not be my blog day but I'm doing things a bit differently this week as I won't be able to blog on Friday. So this is technically my last actual October post :0. It's a little sad really because I've enjoyed this challenge so much, but going forward I'm going to blog more anyways :)
This week I got the good news that my request to make a La Dispute fanlisting had been accepted! The layout came together so quickly which is good and I'm super pleased with it. I feel like it represents the band well whilst also keeping with my own visual style. It's not 100% done yet - I still have some codes to make - but it might be done when you read this so I'll link it anyway. La Dispute Fanlisting
textures everywhere...
So because I got obsessed with making the fanlisting I kind of forgot everything else I was supposed to be doing this week. sigh. I have managed to make a few gift tags for the craft fair but I need to hurry up a bit lol.
The weather this week has been uhh changeable. Today I had the weird experience of walking to work in the rain and I barely saw anyone which is very rare usually. The sky was the spookiest gray so I obviously had to listen to A -> B Life by mewithoutYou for full spooktatsic vibes. The leaves are all still pretty at the moment though which is nice. Autumn colours are the best...
On Friday I'm getting on a train to see my friend in Wales for his halloween party!!! I'm staying all weekend so will be unable to finish the challenge in October but will wait for Monday to write my final post (not ever lol). But for now I must hibernate because its very cold, so until then happy halloween!
Here's to being post seven into the October Challenge, only two left! (sob.) I cannot believe this month has gone so quick - I mean halloween is next week and if I hadn't realised it would have passed me by. This challenge has been really great at helping me to reflect on the days this month, and I've found myself looking forward to my bi-weekly posts :)
The weather this week has been a bit unpredicatble; sunny and warm, then an insane downpour! On Wednesday for example, I was able to put washing on the line and read outside in the sun in the morning but on the way home from work I got drenched waiting for the bus! It's kind of fun though, same weather all the time would be very boring.
This week I watched the documentary Jesus Camp and I didn't enjoy it at all, it actually just made me sad. The documentary is about this right wing pentacostal Christian kids camp run by this - honestly unstable lady in the early 2000s, around the time Bush was in office. Why it depressed me so much is the fact that these children in these types of environments - e.g homeschooling about why climate change is fake - have actually grown up into adults who believe the same shit. And guess what, these adults have more of a platform in American politics than they have had ever before. The documentary itself isn't bad, it's actually funny to see a grown woman shout to loads of kids that Harry Potter is a demon or whatever but the actual impact of it is chilling. It's depressing that a country with falling rates of Christianity refuses to acknowledge exactly why that is - seeing sinister, narrow-minded people in positions of power praise God for their every success is fucking unsettling - especially if that's a God you are supposed to trust in.
Saying that there are some pretty funny gifs/ images from it lol.
me listening to hopesfall af
Anyway, I think I need to cool it on the religious movies for a while, so I started watching Higher Ground which is a Canadian 2000s teen tv show. Thank you to felix for the reccomendation! It's suprisingly really good, it's about a school for at risk teens who all have crazy pasts.. it's similar to both degrassi and skins but also quite different.
Today I made a purchase. Ok, purchases. I bought a coat lol. I spent all day at the charity shop staring at it secretly hoping noone would by it - and they didn't! It's very fluffy inside but quite light which is good for the weather this time of year~ I also went to the shopping centre with my parents and I went to the body shop to refill my shampoo. I may have caved though and bought a limited edition pumpkin shower gel because the assistant was being super sweet and we talked about pumpkin things lol. I'm not one for seasonal things so I thought I'd indulge that side of me and just buy into it for once. And it smells very nice. ALSO... my final CD arrived. Brother ☼ Sister ☾ by mewithoutYou!!!!!!! It's my favourite mew album so my hand slipped and I bought it. The case is a bit scratched but I think i can clean it up a bit - the CD itself is fine though so I'm not worried. I'm in my Catch For Us The Foxes era right now though because of the time of year but on a sunny day it will be perfect...
I feel trendy in this.
Just look at the cute pumpkin... i am spineless.
Next week, halloween week begins! This also means loads of people will be off working looking after their kids this holiday so that sucks. But also halloween!!! This year I'm going as Juno and my bestie is going as Bleaker, once again we will win our imagainary halloween costume contest! (i hope) Full costume details will be revealed in due time. Have a good week, and don't tell your kids climate change is a hoax!
Last week was crazy looking back, I don't think I really had anytime to just exist until Sunday and then I could relaxxx... It went by very quickly which I guess is okay, but I don't really enjoy living just to see the other side of stuff - it feels depressing. Saturday was regular, but I did get some delicious pesto for dinner - I think it has miso paste in it which is a weird combo but it works well. On Sunday there was some church shenanigans which everyone dealt with really well and with lots of compassion. I'm always happy to be apart of a community like that :) Monday also proved to me just how caring people can be again, because I kept being asked to do extra stuff at work and couldn't finish doing some jobs so my coworkers helped even out the workload so I didn't have to rush to get everything done. And I finished on time for the first time in ages!! We musn't let capitalism tell us we don't have communities anymore, we need them to survive!!!
On Sunday night it rained like crazy (according to my mum, I was out cold until midday LOL) and so I walked in the drizzle to work. I actually enjoy walking to work in the rain, because it's less busy and I walk through the park and it looks extra pretty when it's raining~~ I saw two doves which was awesome because they aren't common where I live at all and also because cough cough.. cough THursday cOugh CouGH... I took a video of a bit of the river that is usually calm but sometimes it gets crazy like a mini twin peaks opening.
Sorry the video is in portrait mode, it messes with my feng shui too.
In regards to my various challenges, I have been doing... okay. maybe. So basically, I was listening to music on YouTube and then in a moment of true weakness I clicked on an It's Always Sunny clip -_- and then y'know I just had to watch it. It wasn't even that funny lol. I don't feel so bad because, I read.. somewhere.. that Finny had also broken the law and watched the Dan and Phil vid (which I have had to use all my self control not to watch). Sometimes u just gotta break the law with your friends lol. Anyway I also watched a movie on YouTube so I think rule bending is allowed sometimes :)
Compared to last week I have actually watched 2 movies: Priest (1994) which is about.. you guessed it, a priest! It was actually really intresting, and I don't want to spoil anything about it but it's actually quite a heavy film but defo has light-hearted moments too. It kind of has Mike Leigh vibes, which I like alot.
Had to share this pic.. =^x^=
I guess I've been on a religious movie kick lately (when am I not lol) because I also watched In This House of Brede (1975) which is a about a business woman becoming a nun. I didn't like this movie as much because the pacing is awful and you don't really get to even know any of the characters well at all. But it has good moments and the nuns are actually portrayed really nicely and not evil lol. It also features the actress Judi Bowker who is in Brother Sun Sister Moon, that I watched earlier this month! I don't think I would rewatch it but it didn't feel like a waste of time. Oh and the abbey in it is so beautiful. I read that it's based of a book, which might be more worthwhile as I think films often suffer from trying to condense a book into 100 mins.
Nearly finished this Tooth & Nail Records project I've been planning but it's been totally painstaking to do lol. I do quite like projects that require alot of time though, it's nice to be fully engrossed in something. See u on Friday!
Not much to report since Wednesday, but I thought I'd get back into the habit of blogging on the right days! On the last post I mentioned that I'd ordered CDs of Mae's Destination: Beautiful and The Everglow and guess what, the seller was so sweet and posted them that day - so they arrived today!! They got delivered this morning and so I had all day at work to look forward to collecting them~~
2003's Destination: Beautiful, Mae's debut
Destination: Beautiful's cover is just so captivating... also I just love a huge sans-serif font with a tiny sub-heading (text-nerd over here). Didn't expect to find this CD at first because it had a smaller release but I'm overjoyed to have it!!!
The Everglow.. with a special edition cover!!
I'm gonna be honest - I don't love this cover... the original is just so kitschy 2000s, I can't help but prefer it. But beggars can't be choosers and I couldn't find the other one anywhere so I'm very happy I have it at all. This particular release is pretty special as it comes with a DVD alongside the album and three bonus songs too. Full review of the DVD contents are gonna go on the music blog on my site hopefully soon - theres so much cool content, so I now realise this version is totally worth it!
Heard something on the radio this week that said that Taylor Swift has singlehandedly boosted CD sales. I just wish this was actually a good thing but since most CDs are kind of terrible these days I just can't help but sympathise with her fans that buy all her stuff - CD booklets aren't even creative or printed on good quality materials anymore. Both Mae CD's were printed on lovely grainy paper and featured some awesome photography that didn't look cheap or reused from the album artwork. The CD used to be an artistic experience and now its.... a way to sell the same thing 100 times over? I have a feeling K-Pop companies are to blame but at least the graphic design on K-Pop albums is usually really interesting and conceptual (not just a shitty cardboard case)... rant over..
In other news, in my spare time this week I've been putting together a playlist of one song from each Tooth & Nail release from 2000-2005. I am calling it the Tooth & Nail Project and will (obviously) be making a web-page about it. So far I've founds lots of great bands, who I would have never listened to before so that's really awesome.
So... the challenge.. This week I have..
- Watched NO YouTube
- Watched 0 movie.. sob..
- Fixed my shrines page yay!
- No CDs listened to but I have acquired two lol
- No art made.. but I have signed up to a craft fair so I've got to start making some stuff !!!
- I liked making the Diary of a Webpage, maybe I'll make another post like that soon!
Picture this: I'm walking to the supermarket at midday on Sunday. Nobody is about. Crossing the road I notice something on the otherside. A picture on the floor. I go over to investigate. I never would of guessed whose face I would see when I looked down...
Bill Kaulitz.. from 2000s German band Tokio Hotel?!
LOL. I have so many questions like why is he ripped up? What did he do to deserve that?? And why was he on the pavement like this a Tokio Hotel fan prank. Where's Mr Beast at? Needless to say I took him home and will treasure him (unlike the previous owner!)
Honestly, that story is the most interesting thing that's happend to me this week. I've been very very busy doing cover volunteering as well as being back at work... but I did get to work on the site a bit (see last blog post).
This week my movie consumption has been: 0 .. sad.. but I have been listening to lots of good albums like...
- Commit This To Memory, Motion City Soundtrack
- Self titled, Scary Kids Scaring Kids
- To Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love you, Ethel Cain
and also my favourites Mae's The Everglow and Catch For Us The Foxes, mewithoutYou.. talking of those two albums... I found them on Vinted (lol place to by CDs) and have made purchases!!! I am soo excited, I also got Destination: Beautiful in a bundle with The Everglow so thats 3 CDs total!! Yay
Soz the posts have been late this week.. normal service will resume shortly hehe
I wanted to make a tutorial (sort of? not really) of how I put together my webpage layouts. Currently, I'm putting together a single page layout for my fictional record company - Avocado Records. The main things I wanted to include were spaces for a sampler tracklist, a media player and some fake advertisements...
Lets go! (๑•̀ ᴗ•́)૭✧
1. What do I want the layout to look like? Basically all my web layouts are in someway inspired by other website layouts, mainly 2000s websites because I like them the best. I always try to collect as much inspiration as possible from different sources so I don't accidentally copy someone elses. However, when I started making layouts I would practice by recreating a layout I liked just to see how it fit together - this is very helpful! Good places for layout inspiration are archive.org, 00s Blog Layouts on Instagram, Web Design Museum and CreateBlog. Pinterest is good too but the selection isn't very diverse, you can also get layout inspiration from modern websites but be careful not to get too inspired as people don't appricate getting their ideas stolen!
For this layout much of my inspiration comes from record label websites from the 2000s. Particularly, the Island Records website from 2004. Find it here!
The collage effect is awesome!
I have never made a layout which fits together like this, so I wanted to give it ago!
2. Putting the layout on paper. This step is quite self-explanatory but before I even open PhotoShop I always make sure I've got a few sketches down of what I want the page to look like. These sketches can range from mega detailed to super simple - whatever works for you!
First sketch
3. Digital 'map'. After I'm happy with my sketches I'll create a version of the layout on PhotoShop (any editing software is good, adobe sucks!). Making a digital version of the sketch is a good way to figure out what colours and fonts you might want to use. From here - depending on what you're making - you can go straight into building your layout using CSS and HTML or stay in an editing software.
Pink and black... edgy...
4. Making images to go on the web page. This is probably the biggest step depending on what your site is going to look like. The page I'm making here is going to be all flat colour backgrounds and tabs so I don't need to make any prior adjustments before I start coding. For this page I wanted to create some adverts and "celebrity cameo" pics to make it look more (or less) authentic. They look very silly LOL (ᵕ,,—ᴗ—,,)
Geoff Rickly of Thursday outside Avocado Records HQ!
Ryan Ross LOVES Avocado Records?!
I saved my images straight from PS as pngs. This means you don't have to make lots of different documents.
5. Coding the webpage. After you have all the assets done, you can begin creating your page using HTML, CSS and JavaScript (if ur fancy). W3 Schools is the best website to learn how to do this. I used to use the Neocities code editor but now I use Visual Studio Code (ew.. microsoft), VSC actually makes things loads easier. Most of my pages have the same look so usually I reuse my old code and add my new layout on top. From there the creation begins...
These days I like to use Flex and CSS Grid to build by pages which works well if you want a structured look, however, this isn't that helpful for more free flowing designs.
For a two column website both Flex and CSS Grid are great!
6. Completed Webpage! It's always fun to see sketches come to life! I like to think of layouts as being constant works in progress, and it's awesome that compared to say a painting I can keep adding and developing it whenever I want to.
Sorry it's a day late! But it's for a valid reason lol. Yesterday I went to an Ethel Cain concert with my friend - who has just moved to Ireland so it's been a while since I last saw her! The concert was really great but in all honesty... I got a bit drunk and therefore cannot remember that much of it.. oops. My friend kept buying me drinks which was so sweet of her but I don't drink much at all and so it hit me hard. All I can say was that I'm glad I got home okay lol... It reminded me though just how much I dislike being drunk - it's like being on a rollercoster for too long, at the start its fun but by the end you feel a bit nauseous and your vision is a bit wobbly. Anyway, regrets aside Ethel was really great and it was so nice to hang out with my friend all evening!My videos kind of suck but I hope you can at least appreciate the lighting...
Nettles from her most recent album - Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You
Dust Bowl, from the same album
Crush from her earlier EP, Inbred
Other things I've done this week include, watching Goodbye, Lenin! again - with my mum, who enjoyed it alot. Today we also watched Walk The Line together which is a film about Johnny Cash. It was suprisingly great and as someone who doesn't know anything about Johnny Cash it was super interesting. Also Resee Witherspoon has the cutest southern accent. This morning I went to the allotment my mum and grandad share to help with some stuff and that was really fun! I helped my mum to fix a fence and we picked some chard :p
Swiss chard.. kind of like colourful spinach lol
Butternut squash - super cute looking~
In the afternoon today I went on a walk to the park, the lighting was super pretty! I listened to the uswithoutThem podcast episode about the mewithoutYou song, The Soviet. I love the song so much and it was interesting to hear more about the lyrics and production.
I'm soo sad for my holiday week to be over but I've done lots of fun stuff and watched lots of films too!! In good news, Geoff Rickly is releasing the audiobook for his book Someone Who Isn't Me on November 4th. Even though I've already read the book I'm excited to listen to it because apparently he has composed 4+hrs of music to accompany it!!
Next week is gonna be super busy for me (sob) but I just need to get through it!! Gotta stay positive :p
It's Tuesday... blog day! This week I have the week off work, so today's blog is particularly fun and image-packed :0
Saturday was boring.. so I'll skip it and go straight to Sunday! Sunday was the harvest service at church so everyone had to bring food for the foodbank. Harvest isn't a religious holiday as such but is almost like a 'Thanksgiving-y' type affair. I looked it up on Wikipedia and apparently its a British thing dating back to early Christians, where everyone would have a big feast in the village with everyone's successful produce. In the modern tradition, everyone makes or buys food for those who have less than they do and then sings songs about gratitude and nature and stuff. It's usually alot of fun, and has great aesthetics. Read more here... This years harvest festival was my first in a new church - and also first in a long time lol so I had a good time reliving good childhood memories associated with it. However, it was pretty busy and I think I was just feeling a bit anxious anyway, so at the end I was fully socially exhausted.. (っ- ‸ - ς) ᶻz
On Monday, I went to the cinema to watch the film Brides. The premise is that these two girls are running away to Syria to become ISIS brides. So I knew going in it was gonna be a sad watch.
Spoooky cinema...
The theater was basically empty which was cool and the film was really great. Defo not an easy watch but way more light-hearted than I expected. The writing makes you root for the girls so much you almost forget why they are there in the first place. Highly recommend.
Today (Tuesday) I took a trip to Oxford, home to the notoriously fancy and very beautiful university. I hadn't been before but my mum helped me plan where to go as she has been before. ^.^ The train journey was very chill and I listened to The Everglow by Mae. Oxford is very pretty to walk around as the architecture is soo pretty! All the university buildings are amazing looking and soo ornate.. I can't imagine studying there...
They also had a cute market - which is always one of my favourite things in British towns. What can I say we just love to trade things!
After walking around various churches and historic streets I decided to make a pilgramage to a vegetarian cafe I found on google maps. The walk was long.. and treacharous.. and I was soo hungry... but I made it yay! The food was all homemade and looked so good, so it was def a worthwhile trek.
Beetroot salad, roasted chickpeas, courgette salad with mint and a curry vegetable pie... my dream meal..
They also had amazing looking cakes but I was already full.. maybe next time Magic Cafe Oxford..
Oxford was the home of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice In Wonderland and so there's a cute shop called Alice's Shop that sells themed items. I got a very cute keychain (photo at the end). At this point my phone was dying so I turned it off to preserve battery and used signposts and intution to navigate around. This meant I got lost a few times.. lol. I found my way to the Ashmolean Museum, which is an arts museum and also totally what the museum in the game, Mystery of The Druids is based on (I only figured this out AFTER I had gone home and had been convincing myself that it was another building)
Museum from Mystery of The Druids - not at all similar to the one below LOL even though I really thought they were the same...
NOT the Ashmolean museum but the Natural History museum instead.. maybe i'll go inside next time
Anyway, the museum had some great art and was very relaxing! Here are photos of my favourite paintings.
Convent Thoughts - Charles Allston Collins
Home from the sea [Mother's grave] - Arthur Hughes
After doing some more shopping and looking around I went home. For my train journey I got a smoothie as a treat but I def made the wrong decision getting one with blackberry in it because the seeds were very.. crunchy..
Here are the things I bought:
New Testament Bible, postcard of New York, Alice In Wonderland keychain and oil pastels
The New Testament Bible I got in a second-hand book shop. I didn't really intend on buying another Bible but when I opened it I found all these things inside - so I couldn't resist LOL. btw I realise this is the second time I have mentioned Christianity in just one blog post.. this is not going to become a Christian-blogger situation don't worry!!!!
Cool af tapestry book mark
There were more pictures than these - some dated 1950! The book smells very old and damp.. I don't think anyone else had opened it in a looong time.
The oil-pastels were just so cute, I couldn't resist. Hopefully I'll try them out tomorrow! ₊🖌⊹♡
In regards to the challenge, this week I have:
- not watched any YouTube
- watched 4 films since Saturday
- Goodbye, Lenin!
- Novitiate
- Brides
- Brother Sun, Sister Moon
- uploaded all photos from my music pages from imgur
- i have fixed my disk-man (needed new batteries LOL), so more CD listening is happening!
I would say the challenge is successful so far! Yay! (^__^)
First offical day of my blogging challenge, and I actually remembered to post! Yay!
I can report that since the start of this month I have not watched any YouTube yet, however, I have listened to music on YouTube Music - which I have decided is okay. Instead of watching YouTube I have... watched a couple episodes of The Office, read a couple chapters of my current book, began to fix my website and actually made some artwork! So I can report that it has been successful so far :-)
The art work in question is something I came up with as I was practising my calligraphy. However, the actual calligraphy part of it is really messy - lol! I don't mind it so much though.
The magpie drawing is really inspired by the cover of La Dispute's album, Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair. The text on the image is a couple lines from the poem somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond by E.E Cummings, the band references the poem alot in the album so I though it was a good fit. I love it when lyrics reference poetry - yay! The photo is really ass sorry but I'm considering redrawing it anyway...
Today I got some awesome clothes from my volunteering job at a charity shop. I have a week off work next week so I'm looking forward to wearing them ^-^
This blouse is meant for hiking I think but the colour is so cute I had to get it! I have a weakness for short sleeved blouses...
This polka dot skirt is really light and layered. I gave away all my polka dot stuff a while ago and I miss it, so I was happy to find this! It's a little big but that's what safety pins are for :p
I also got a new scarf earlier in the week but I'll include a pick in a later post. I feel like it's very Pam from The Office, which is totally my look these days haha..
This weekend is normal for me - work.. bleh.. Im looking forward to Sunday though, because we are having a harvest service at church which is usually fun - I need to remember to bring things for the foodbank collection though.. hopefully I don't forget !!!!
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