Hair hair

Being a student of little income, I thought it would be especially clever, save money, and give my fringe a trimming. It was getting in my eyes, which is jolly annoying and after all, how hard can it be to cut in a straight line? 

5 minutes later, I had managed to hack off half of it in the most unsymmetrical way imaginable, and decided to stop before making it any worse. Fortunately, my lovely hairdresser and her sharp scissors managed to salvage the ruins and now, even though it is a lot shorter than before, it looks quite snazzy, do you think, maybe a little more interesting? My hair is rather dull, its been in the same 'long with a fringe' style for years now, and although I used to get blonde highlights in my high school days I have let it grow back to its dark blonde/light brown mousy colour. Mama always says "People pay lots to get hair that colour" - but I don't quite believe it. There are so many more beautiful colours: white blonde, black, dark brown, and red - oh I have always had a leaning towards red hair, heightened significantly after being introduced to the character of Anne Shirley. The last month has had me thinking of dying my hair a rich auburn brown/red, but I just know it won't turn out the way I hope it too, and to be honest, I don't think I am quite brave enough to make such change! When I look at these pictures though, its almost enough to convince me, sigh!  

            

 A. x

Lighthouse Girl

 A few of the pictures from my frosty morning photoshoot on the farm with Ella. Always so scratched and dusty, I don't know why?

Today I wore

 

Today I wore my dark purple velvet jeans,  a top I sewed from one of mama's old 90's floral dresses, a marino skivvy because its oh so freezing and my burgundy jumper. My hair went super frizzy after taking it out from its topknot. Dad gave me a pair of earrings that he didn't want (he is a jeweller) They are silver snail shells and I think they are perfect.

Some lazy, photobooth outfit shots - silly poses in the bottom set - my hair has grown lots since then! x

The Leonardo House

A long time ago, Rosie and I ventured out into the hills, she wore her grandmothers wedding dress. We visited an amazing, huge old abandoned mansion in the bay, that belonged to my great-great-grandparents long-ago. It was a lovely day. Here are some of the collection of film photographs that I have been slowly printing over the years. 

Today I did a huge clean-out, DIY session in my darkroom, and finally I have all the equipment I need to start experimenting here in the comfort of my own little home-village. Its located in a laundry out the back of an old historic cottage and I was skittish and terrified much of the time I was there because 1) The cottage was cold and empty and old & its probably haunted 2) I am a scaredy cat when I am by myself and 3) There were mannequins staring at me from a window, and mannequins are just undeniably creepy. But now I am home by my warm open fire and I am not scared anymore. 

Tomorrow I am going to make some prints from a film I developed today - they don't look particularly promising, but never mind: I am going to stay at my darling friends house this weekend who I have persuaded to model for me so I should have some new shots to play with soon. 

A. x

Dreams, I think?

5 December

Last night: I dreamed about war. A boy was taken from me and it was terror. 

22 December

Tonight I waited up for the moon. The clouds were kind, and let me take a peek. But looking up into the universe often makes me feel peculiar and so very tiny. I tiptoed back inside and sat beside the window and watched the sea instead.

Harry.

I took this picture after seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One: I think that my shirt has ended up looking like a wizard sleeve. I thought I might talk a little about the film, as I do like to talk about anything Harry Potter.

These books mean the world to me... I have grown up with the series since I was a little girl. When I was young I used to dress up in robes and go out in the garden and mix up petal spells in saucepans and mutter extremely cutting remarks at the nasty old professor Snape. I can still recall waiting for the new book to come out, my parents bringing it home for me, and staying up all night, reading until my eyes slid shut...

I have always been horribly mean to the films, I have only just begun to fully accept that film is indeed a different media than prose - and they cannot film every single page as is in the novels. Some of the earlier movies have been frightful in my opinion, (I shall never forgive the failure of the Harry and Ginny relationship, nor Michael Gambon as a gruff, hippie Dumbledore), however, to my surprise, I absolutely adored DH 1. The acting of Emma, Daniel and Rupert seemed to suddenly become, well totally breathtaking... Emma's screaming during the torture scene was spine chilling and my favourite character Ron was certainly done justice.

I sobbed, I screamed in fright (Snake attack!), my heart ached. Its nearly at an end.

A List.

a quick note

My little page has had a few changes, and I changed the name as well - 'Postcards to the Moon' is replacing 'Rabbit Heart', as I think it might be a teeny bit more exiting. You see, I simply copied the latter from the Florence and the Machine, but I came up with the former by myself.

Ella through windows

I am going to try again. My mind is all in a terrible muddle, and I simply don't know what I can write that may be interesting, and even more so, I don't know why it even matters. I will try to write about little trivial matters that may interest me, snippets of my pictures, of my life, of clothes and films that I like, instead of poetic passages with pretty words. I wish so much that I could write something lovely and creative, but it just sets me up for perfectionism and that won't do at all! I wonder sometimes if all girls, girls that I admire, perhaps have these doubts about their own work, but often I feel as if it is only me who is unsatisfied, which is ridiculous of course. Enough of this silly moping!

Above, the picture is from my latest photographic pursuits... I have hundreds of ideas that float around in my mind for pictures, never ending rows of trees with blurred girls in white dresses and glitter and flowers and angular bones... images that I am going to capture that will inspire awe in others, which of course is an extremely idealistic dream as I feel my ideas are particularly unoriginal. The thought of all the photographs in the world makes me feel all funny (sort of like thinking about the universe and all the never ending stars), as I think, how am I to do something that has never been done before? My darling parents have been helping me to make a darkroom, which is nearly finished, and I suppose all I can do is keep taking photographs, as its one of the few things that I really really do love.

p.s I do tend to babble alot, you may need to get your skim-reading glasses on!

x

Brrrr

It froze over last night. I woke up with my warm breath fogging the ice cold air and my nose bright cherry red, poking over the sheets. Frost is so pretty, isn't it? Its almost as everything is wearing a glittery party dress - everything sparkles! It seems that beautiful things can be rather dangerous, as a combination of the slippery steps and the lack of grip on my ankle boots resulted in me falling flat on my back. I will have to be more careful tomorrow!

A few nights ago I watched Titanic, one of my favourite films ever, for the first time in 5 years. I sobbed and sobbed. My throat stung, my cheeks burnt, my heart was as cold as Atlantic ice. I hadn't cried so hard in a very long time... it shattered me into a million pieces. But the shards were pieced back together so much more painlessly and quickly than before. It really was a wonderful feeling... just feeling.

Cards

Today is a marvelous day for sitting inside by the fire, winter is here and the time has come to eat chocolate biscuits and drink tea.

I have been knitting, very slowly of course - a scarf - foolishly made from very fine, 4 ply, bright red wool. Its coming along but with the wool being so little - its taking such a long time. I can't wait to be able to knit jumpers for myself... I want to make a black and white one with little hearts on it. Today I bought a remote for my digital camera - I am totally fed up with having to put it on self timer and then scramble about and usually muck up the shot... it should be very useful, hopefully!

♥

Some of the prints I made yesterday. Aren't darkrooms quite spooky places though - you are all alone in the dark, doors locked, taps dripping... oh I find it quite scary, but ever so enchanting at the same time! Anyhow its nearly lunchtime, and I am still in my jim jams, so I must go and get changed and tidy my little room and then perhaps watch 'I Capture the Castle' with a cup of tea.

A x

Tap Tap Swing Jive

♥

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire

A secret wish, since I was a tiny girl, was to be a singer... however I was gifted with neither the voice nor the confidence to fulfill this rather idealistic dream!

Adding to my list of virtues - two left feet... oh the cruelty! I can quite happily bop about at a disco, but when it comes to learning routines and moves... my, it quite goes out the window - dignity and all! Recently though, I have been going to dancing classes at University, learning Jive and Salsa (!) Its not quite as bad as I thought - I might even admit that i am enjoying clomping my way through basic moves. The next G. R. though...? Perhaps not!

(More wishes) ; that I was a slender and graceful ballet dancer, that I could do gymnastics, that I could sing beautifully, that I could play harp and drums. That's all at the moment.

p.s developed a roll of film today all by myself - going in earlier tomorrow to make prints! A day is always so much lovelier if you have something to look forward to, don't you think?

x

film

♥

There is just something so darn lovely about film. Its funny how the blurs, the scratches... all make it so imperfect, yet somehow more perfect than digital could ever be... Wow. And the anticipation, taking time to make your picture, watching it appear in the developing fluid... its so much more special than just connecting a cord to a computer, isn't it!?

Tonight I am going out to a mid week dance party with friends. Before that I shall need to write my diary and also write my job application! Bye bye

x

♥

Luella is a true genius.
Those heart cut out dresses would be something I would replicate if I only could sew more than a crooked seam... they are just a dream. I visited my dear grandparents and took some photographs which I am hoping to use in my photography portfolio this year.

Oh, and super duper exciting news - Topshop has arrived in the far off realms that I live in: New Zealand. I never thought I would see the day - if only it really takes off and moves further down the country. For now I am going to order a Cherry Red Parka from the UK site, or perhaps grey? Decisions decisions...

And All That Jazz.

A few days ago I had a bit of a movie marathon... I intended to only hire 'Marie Antoinette', but ended up with quite the loot. 'Chicago' has been something I have been wanting to watch for an age after seeing the beautiful screen captures on Allegra's Flickr (I based my dresser upon that beauty long before actually seeing the film). The set and costume design was magical, and my favourite musical numbers were "All That Jazz" and "Cell Block Tango".

♥

a small introduction

Perhaps, until I become a little more comfortable with blogging, my posts will exist as nonsensical, whimsical little snippets of my life; pieces of this, that, and the next thing... But it is my hope that in a little while, someone, maybe someday, will read this and gain the same enjoyment and inspiration that I have found in the pages of other blogs for so long!

The hardest part in any assignment is always beginning. After the first few lonesome words are joined by others, things often fall together in unknown and surprising ways. I hardly know where to begin, so I will start with a few of favourite pictures that live in my collection.

♥

new years eve

here I am, with my nose cut off!