JOHN LENNON WAS RIGHT

The Beatles claimed that 'all you need is love'. I often wonder if George, Ringo, Paul and John were together today, would they pen the same lyrics? It often seems to me, in our post-modern world, 'love' has sold it's soul. Now, 15 year old girls sign off their conversations with the charming phrase 'love ya, bitch', and Hallmark makes easy what should be stomach-flipping - telling someone you love them, be it the first time, or the fiftieth. 

Of course, there is unconditional love which manifests itself in the deep, unwavering roots of a family, but I want to talk about 'love' in it's most stirring form - romantic love.

It seems to me that today's version of 'love' causes little but anxiety, Facebook stalking and a general sense of trepidation that one day, it will all just come to an end. The post-modern philosopher, Baudrillard, had a theory as to why it seems love always ends up ugly. His theory relayed a sense that we are all being manipulated by seduction, constantly lured away from stagnant reality towards an enigmatic and inexplicable truth. Thus, consciously or not, we are in a constant state of search and attracted to the 'game' that the first stages of love are built upon. Today, contentment is fleeting as there is a never-ending supply of the 'new', the constant suggestion of an upgrade to a better version - the newer software, the shinier model, the latest app. 

I came to understand Baudrillards theory through reading about it. But I never really accepted it until I experienced exactly what the old chap was going on about. The modern love 'game' endorses many responsibilities and often it is the desire for freedom and lack of liability that can lead people from the person with whom they are romantically tied to. It is always the mystery and fleeting glances that appeal. 

So, what happens? How can love ever last? Baudrillard purports that before one can love another human being wholly, there must first be a holistic love of the world, a love for the way one cannot control another and a love of life's unforeseeable future. Love has no formula, no structure. It is as unpredictable as hatred or fear, yet supersedes both these emotions with it's sheer force. I'm pretty sure that when John Lennon sang the words 'all you need is love', he wasn't talking about the procedural love that modern society shoves in our blindly accepting faces. He was talking about free love, love that isn't controlling or manipulatory. It's true that all we need is love... as long as that love is unique, adaptable and free. 

SENSE

BUT

AND THEN

Photos courtesy of Darren Mcdonald. Genius.

LIGHT + DARK + GOOD + BAD

So much light and dark, good and bad in my life at the moment. 

The confusing bit is when you can't tell what is light and what is shade. When they mesh. And everything is just grey...

BUNNY RINGS + BREAKFAST CLUBS + BABING FRIENDS

August was a tricky month. Cold, and loaded with deadlines; stress and chilly wind gusts aren't the best of friends. However, as the month drew to a close and my early September birthday drew near, I began to feel strangely euphoric. The sun began to peel itself off of it's day bed, my spirits lifting with every ray that indulged my wintry skin.

It's been a long, tiring week. Some of this exhaustion was self-induced (a little too much celebrating of my 23rd year, me thinks), and some was due to masses of work that kept tugging at my time and energy. Sunday, however, was the perfect antidote to a week of late nights and hours in front of a computer screen. The day began by slipping on my new Rabbit In A Hat ring, admiring my new vintage 70's typewriter (both perfect presents!), and trotting off to meet some very lovely friends for eggs and coffee. Many cupcakes, a flea market, a movie and some much needed vegetables later, I am able to sit down and breathe a big sigh of relief that it's over.

Sweet dreams, pretty people.

x

GET YOUR FREAK ON

VINTAGE MARKETPLACE LAUNCHES! 

Isn't that girl in the feather head-dress pretty? That's my friend, Kate. She has gone and done what so many of us dream of doing, yet don't for whatever reason (lack of money, time, or just a feeling of trepidation). She and her business partner, Jai, have followed their dream and launched an Australian first - Vintage Marketplace - an online purveyor of vintage threads. 

On Thursday, 9th September, Vintage Marketplace launched its business at the very befitting 1000 Pound Bend ( see my own very thoughts on the cafe here ). The party was filled with supportive friends, general Melbourne types (there's a paradox, right there - 'general' Melbourne types!), and fancy fashionable folks. I spent the evening sipping on apple juice from a marmalade jar and admiring the pretty dresses that adorned the walls. 

There aren't many things that make you as proud as seeing a good friend reach a goal that they have been working towards relentlessly. Unless you have also been a part of the process, seeing them go through all the shit that comes along with starting one's own business. I was always happy to help, in my little way by posing for a few of Kate's magnificent finds. In fact, the black velvet dress that she sourced for the pictures in this link was so wonderfully alluring it was said to have stopped all sense of public order when worn. 

I can almost guarantee that slipping on one of Vintage Marketplace's frocks will have you saying 'peace' and threading daisies through your hair in no time at all. And you can't really say no to that, can you?Don't miss out. 

xx

T-SHIRTS+TRENDIES+JAMESON=BLOOD.

The annual FAT Limited T-shirt Exhibition turned ugly this year when a bearded man lost some vital fluids. Maybe it was just another irreverent gesture to trendy kids everywhere - (take that! - Some broken glass and a dollop of blood on the floor, that is). Prior to the gore and glass, it was all posing and peering, naturally. On the 2nd of September at Block Projects on Flinders Lane, swigs were taken from Bulmers and Brothers Cider bottles, and tall glasses of Jameson and Dry were putting the pretty faces in good, um, spirits. So many people to speak to, so many people to ignore - it could have been easy to forget that we were there to support the Australian designers who created one off T-shirts for the 'Apple Of My Eye' exhibition. The t-shirts from the clever kids behind labels Bassike, Beat Poet, The Collectif and Ffixxed (among others) ranged from the cheeky and disparaging to the deft and charming, each one adorning a green or yellow velvet mannequin (how patriotic!). The exhibition was accompanied by music from Roman Wafers + Wilham. It didn't take long before the mannequins were being violated and the cute girls started an impromptu dance floor. 

I left, disappearing into the dark night with a belly full of free cider, wondering if the bearded man received any medical attention. I was also left wondering if we were all too focused on weaving our way through the crowd instead of looking at the t-shirts. Unless that was the point of the thing? I don't know - but I was definitely glad to be leaving cut-free and surrounded by real friends, not mannequins.