Take me to Ocean Dome...

... http://www.alltraveltips.com/oceandome.html

Retractable roof, flame-spitting volcano, artificial waves...why is everything so cool in Japan?!

[Procrastinating once again but work is on the agenda]

Hairstyles

I think I've fully come to terms with how procrastination plays a large part of my life now (especially on weekends). I have therefore spent the last hour on www.taaz.com to make-over my face and try out some fancy hairstyles, all without the effort of leaving my bed!

[01]

[02]

[03]

I can't ever seem to decide what to do to my hair. The problem is, I just want a different colour all the time. It usually depends on the latest hair-crush image I've seen on Tumblr or Weheartit. Everyone seems to be copying Rihanna at the moment, so that has put me off dyeing my hair any shade of red...kinda feeling a lighter shade of brown, more golden-like perhaps, though I tried that before and my hair didn't take to it. Anyway, these three images above were my favourite styles. I like the idea of having a fringe, but I can imagine it'd piss me off rather a lot. My indecisiveness is actually ridiculous sometimes! Hair-crushes of the moment:

[04] Golden brown w/ fringe

[05] Miley's dark brown w/ light on top

[06] Left: wavy w/ long fringe

[07] Zooey's long glossy locks w/ long sweep fringe

This ain't got no alibi...

http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33053&storeId=12552&productId=1646593&langId=-1&categoryId=&searchTerm=CULTURE&pageSize=20

So, whilst browsing the Dorothy Perkins online sale section I stumbled upon this, um...creation. Basically, its sheer ugliness astounded me, and I felt that I simply had to blog about it and bathe in the horror with others. Whoever the hell designed this should be banished to some sort of anti-fashion psychiatric ward/institute. Literally, my eyes are burning. The fact that it is £20 (original price £30!) makes matters even worse. However, if by any chance you take a fancy to this little number, it also comes in black and white! Don't rush all at once, now... 

100% procrastination. 0 work done.

So given the fact that my ability to do work is seemingly deteriating at an exponential rate, among the other load of unproductive things to do today I decided to 1) Revamp my blog, and 2) Actually write a blog post. Which is what I'm doing now.

Currently led on the sofa, complete with a variety of home comforts: blanket, check. Laptop (which doubles as a lap heater), check. 500 Days of Summer (this was originally intended to be background noise for a suitably productive working environment. Needless to say, this hasn't worked out so well)... check. 15 minutes ago, the tub of cookies and cream haagendaz (sp?) was also a check...until I reached past the half-way mark, whereby I decided it would be sensible to banish the tub to the freezer. BOGOF deals in Sainsbury's shouldn't exist. The heating is on the constant switch, no less - a special saturday late-afternoon treat!

The internet is way too distracting for my liking. My new-found addiction for Tumblr is becoming slightly problematic. Not only is it fuelling my innate desire to be someone/somewhere else, it is on-par (if not worse) with Facebook in terms of its time-wasting potential. I really need to do work. Really, really need to...and I will. Soon. Reeeally soon. Honest.

N.B. Brothers lemon cider now being stocked in Cloud Wine upon my previous queries. 3for£5. Needless to say, it made my day, as did the man who served me; possibly the jolliest man I have ever met... "That'll be a trillion pounds please! Enter your special secret code!". He even did a little jiggle/dance as we were leaving the shop... I think I want to marry him.

Social networking under fresh attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US | Media | The Observer

Social networking under fresh attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US | Media | The Observer

"technology is threatening to dominate our lives and make us less human. Under the illusion of allowing us to communicate better, it is actually isolating us from real human interactions in a cyber-reality that is a poor imitation of the real world." - Turcle's thesis

Would you agree or disagree to the above theory? I would have to agree. I find it so sad how our generation today can barely even remember a time where Facebook didn't exist. I feel lucky in a way that it wasn't around when I was younger and more easily influenced by everything. I think I must've joined Facebook in year 11, but I'm pretty sure that if the Facebook evolution began any sooner than it did, I would have done so, so much worse at school! Don't mean to sound satirical, but I have honestly got to the point where I hate everything Facebook represents; yet, somehow, I can't stay away from it. It's a truly dire situation. It's like the more I am online, the more I feel I have to keep checking, refreshing etc, but it also works the other way; the longer I spend away from the online world - like if I'm on holiday - the more I really don't want to return to it. Basically, I think it all stems back to us feeling the need to know everybody's business. We are a nosey lot, eh? I sure am, anyway, yet most of the time I just sit there internally screaming at my Facebook homepage and at all the shit that pops up from the hundreds of people ("Friends") that, frankly, I couldn't care less about. I am only interested in about 10% of my 291 friends on FB, and those are the people who I keep in touch with by external means - by this, I mean not stalking their page. The rest of the 260-odd lot do not interest me, yet they might still fall prey to my stalking ways - a habit that has been solely developed through use of social networking, and is definitely not healthy or beneficial to my life. Generally, I feel like Facebook is another self-generated media-ploy that really adds nothing to the quality of one's life; paradoxically, I think it does the opposite, and makes you feel a whole lot more shit about yourself. No, I do not need to see another album containing hundreds of the same mirror pose, and nor do I want to be subjected to disgustingly cringey status's that automatically makes me never want to talk to said person again - not that I'd really talk to such people in reality, anyway. Keep it to yourself, or GTFO.

I'm done now. 0:)

Banana Chocolate Fudge Bars

Banana Chocolate Fudge Bars

I should really cut back on reading food blogs....hungerrrrr, ow.

Might try this recipe out at some point, maybe when the kitchen looks more hygenic/when I can muster up a little more energy.

Oh food, glorious food. :(

First post...and an uncomfortable post at that

So this is possibly my third try at blogging, and I am determined to make this one last!

I'd better introduce myself. My name is Katie, I have very recently turned twenty (grudgingly) and I am a second year student at Southampton Solent University, studying for a degree in Writing Fashion and Culture. I am originally from a wee little town situated about 12 miles out of the centre of Bristol.... so technically I am Bristolian, but I don't particularly have the accent (fortunately/unfortunately? I can't decide).


Second year at university is proving a little trickier than first year; for starters, we have to actually do work this year! Don't get me wrong, I did do work last year too...but the workload is clearly a lot heavier this year. This means less time partying, which is actually easier to do than I first thought! I find that now, going out maybe once or twice a week makes me really look forward to those nights so much more than I did last year. It's less of a routine now. However, it would appear that the lounge room/sofa of our student house is becoming more and more enticing as the weeks pass (and as the deadlines get closer). Big problem.

Now I will revert back to the title of this post, as I feel like I have some explaining to do on the 'uncomfortable' front. The thing is, I am currently lounged across the living-room sofa at home in glorious Yate, sucking on a bandage in my mouth with the distinct taste of blood and saliva. Before you start wondering if I am actually some crazed masochist, I will reassure you that I am indeed not: I have had my first tooth out today in prep for my brace, which will be fitted next month (17th December to be precise). Yes, that's right: I will be a real-life Ugly Betty, a full-grown twenty-year-old with a great big lump of metal in my mouth. Woo!

I can't say the tooth-tugging was the highlight of my day; however, I did spend a good two hours shopping in good'ol Yate town centre with my lovely hometown chum Maria (aka Mazzle jazzle, mazj, majjle...take your pick) and the Yate charity shops came up trumps yet again! I spent my money wisely on a gorgeous vintage-looking handbag (apologies to Mazzle who was simply a second or two late in this case - first come, first serve is a rule that must be abided by I'm afraid! <3), a classic leopard-print shift dress, a rather attractive M&S Autograph parka coat, yet another big fat patterned Granddad jumper (I can't get enough) and a leather plaited belt. A bit of a splurge, I know, but hey - it's for charity! :)

I'll post images of said items as soon as I can. But for now: must work. Really, I must. Oh.