Drawing isn’t only done on paper. Here are some of my vector fan art about the acclaimed series Mad Men that I did in Adobe Illustrator. Both of which I LOVE. The first poster is some of Peggy Olsen’s iconic dresses and the second poster is of some of Don Draper’s very cool ties. They make quite snazzy desktop wallpapers, feel free to right click and save.
Byronic: Characteristic of Lord Byron or his poetry – [of a man] alluringly dark, mysterious, and moody.
It’s a bit morbid for a Friday freebie, but here’s a label for a little notebook everyone should have. I use mine to stipulate my last wishes. But also to write letters to the people who matter to me, which is actually quite a life affirming exercise in gratitude. I have no superstitions about an afterlife but I do want to leave something behind for the people who helped and loved me throughout my life. Something positive. Something not to grieve about and I make sure to include something in each letter that I know would make the recipient smile a bit.
Bjork said that. Bjork’s pretty damn cool. Here, listen to her:
Personally I deeply dislike Valentine’s, I cannot remember one year that it went well never mind special. But in the spirit of love, my gift to you this Valentine’s is this free printable gift tag. Right click, save as, print, cut and paste. Add to your flowers, box of chocolates or diamond earrings, if you should be so lucky, for that personal touch. Just don’t propose, that’s plain corny.
I identify strongly with this quote. People often say “it’ll get better” or “things happen for a reason” and my personal favourite “it can only go up from here”, which is just indicative of a lack of imagination. It’s all bullshit. Many goodhearted, lovely people die alone, suffer pain, get screwed and many shitty people prosper. I am definitely not an optimist, but I am a PRISONER of hope. Hope is just as narcotic as depression, the two can be very close and equally misguiding. Hope, expectations, disappointment and so on. Optimism is an affliction. It teaches us that if you are not happy there is something wrong with you, you “lack faith” or you need pills, for example. When in reality no one is promised happiness and few achieve it. Most who do stumble upon it by pure luck, sheer randomness or hedonism. I highly recommend the latter.
I love this band and for a solid year they’ve been making me feel all sorts of cool and sexy. Today’s post is a tribute to The 1975 and the things they make, and the ways they make music. And make music better.
Chocolate, my most favourite:
“dressed in black from head to toe”
The City:
“don’t call it a fight when you know it’s a war”
Girls:
“Well, shouldn’t you be fucking with somebody your age instead of making changes?”
Sex:
“We’ve got one thing in common, it’s this tongue of mine.”
Heart out:
“God I love the way you love yourself”
Somebody Else:
“Fuck that get money”
It takes courage to say you’re sorry. I’ve learned that the longer you wait to apologise, the more difficult it becomes, and then one day it’s just impossible. Mostly because it will have become irrelevant. What ever you did no longer matters to the wronged party. Ironically, by that time, right or not, you kinda lose the argument by default. Because your “opponent” has moved on from what you still mean to make right. The sooner you begin to fix what broke, the quicker you can leave it behind you.
Very often adults/teachers/lecturers won’t admit to kids/students when they’re wrong. Google will expose you before you have time to edit the Wikipedia page. You lose your reliability as well as the student’s respect and trust. It tells a student the little bit of authority you have is more important than your responsibility to actually teach the truth. They realise that you would rather compromise their education than your ego. Would you pay any attention to someone like that?
I would like to start the new year with a special thank you to the women who held my head above water when I was drowning. 2015 wasn’t an easy year for me and I’m not the easiest person to get along with. Well honestly, I’m a horrible friend. I cancel dates last minute, I give home made gifts, I pretend I’m not home when someone “pops by”, I don’t answer the phone, it takes me days to reply to messages and I generally have a bitchy attitude. I also suffer from irrational anxiety, I’m suspicious of everyone and I seem to attract bad luck like flies to a corpse. And that’s when I’m in a good place.
I haven’t been in a good place. I’ve never had a circle of girl friends. I don’t drink wine, and I’m not a great listener, in actual fact I’m a bit of a chauvinist. But not having a BFF never bothered me. Probably, an only child thing, and most girls are untrustworthy lovers of gossip. Looking back I realise that I hit bottom last year, I was in denial at the time but it was probably quite obvious to the people I allowed close to me. Thanks to a few awesome women I survived – despite my very best efforts. They forgave my fickle behaviour, stuck by when I pushed them away and helped in meaningful big ways. Whether it was drying my tears, giving me money, feeding me, even Valentine’s gifts. They distracted me when I needed it, made me laugh when Corne and Twakkie would fail, and told me the harsh truths when I refused to participate in life. Y’all have been mothers, sisters, caretakers, psychologists and cheerleaders.
Baie dankie aan Mikke, Anika, Hanli, Loraine, Chantelle, Siske, Shane, Letitia and last but not least Michelle. Ek sou nie 2016 gesien het sonder julle mooi siele nie. Ek hoop ek kry die jaar kans om daar te wees vir julle, soos julle daar was vir my. Ek het elkeen van julle fokken klip hard lief!
Take them with you and use them! They like it…