picked all the weeds but left the flowers.

Lykke Li and el Perro del Mar

Favourite

"Fashion fades, style is eternal." - Yves St. Laurent

it suddenly dawned on me when i woke up this morning. it was like all the puzzle pieces came together to depict what i already knew i would see. as of late, i've been wondering why my vivid imagination has failed to produce any dreams of days to come. so often have i found myself, in the past, taken out of the moment to the life of a future Me. whether it be returning to london or paris, working hard for what i love, or loving hard for what i've worked for, these detailed visualizations gave me something to strive toward and made the present-day seem important yet nothing more than a preamble for the future. all that seems to resonate now is a loud silence. not to sound crazy for placing so much faith in dreams or to sound morbid for thinking such thoughts, but the total erasure of my future self has led me to believe that i am going to die quite soon. this is all very disturbing, how strange.

sometimes questions are more powerful than answers.

waiting for celebratory drinks

remember how i said i am always late? i guess karma does exist. after writing my last exam, i spent over two hours waiting for my friend Caitlyn to get dressed to go out. this is how i killed time while anticipating the sweet taste of celebratory drinks:

a good student?

heh, believe it or not, i really don't think i was made for this whole studying thing...

Becky's bday

my flatmate Becky turned 19 so we celebrated her birthday with cake and finals. what a mix, right?

Read This

The Great Witch-Hunt is a major historical event during Early Modern Europe, stretching over three hundred years and spreading from country to country, bringing together members of all classes in hysteria to torture, try, and execute thousands of persons for witchcraft. Feminist writer Silvia Federici, however, notes the lack of knowledge of the witch-hunt in popular culture:

Thus, not only has much been lost concerning our history, but the lesson it could have provided has not been drawn, as has been shown in the current debates concerning the meaning of western civilization, or the conditions of the capitalist take-off in Europe, and finally the relationship between the sexual and the political, or, more precisely, sex, race and class.

Moreover, philosopher Mary Daly points out “except for a few specialists who have made it their field of ‘expertise,’ there has been a policy of almost total erasure, wiping out the witches again and again through subterfuge of silence.” Noted historian Brian Levack stands as perhaps the most recognized voice on the witch-hunt. His book The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe offers an interesting examination of the intersection between history and anthropology, as well as addressing the cumulative concept of witchcraft, pre-conditions of witch hysteria, and the the deep underlying implications of the relationship between class, sex, and religion. In addressing these points, the following themes arise: the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, the Inquisition, the use of judicial torture, the wars of religion, the religious zeal of the clergy, the rise of the modern state, the development of capitalism, the widespread use of narcotics, changes in medical thought, social and cultural conflict, an attempt to wipe out paganism, the need of the ruling class to distract the masses, and the hatred of women.

P.S. I'm not a witch.

quick sand

why is there never enough time in the day? out of breath and with 3 minutes to spare, i just scaled 6 flights of stairs and stormed into my professor's office to hand in a term paper after sleeping a total of 6 hours in the past 3 days. term being the key word; as in, i had all term to work on it and was, somehow, still rushing to finish and am unhappy with the final product. and it's not like i have been procrastinating on it either. this is bad. not only am i always rushing, i'm also realizing i'm never on time. and i don't just mean i'm fashionably late, i'm talking late-late. so i'm sorry if i've made you wait in the recent past, don't take it personally. i'm probably going to make you wait in the future too. it's not my fault. seriously, no matter how much i plan ahead, i find myself rushing only to be late. why is there never enough time in the day?

World AIDS Day

There are 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS.

The epidemic is hardly over.

Dear Vaniglia Baily,

There's only one StyleSeeker and he's back... so back the fuck up.

P.S. "Fashions fade, style is eternal."

Favourite

we share a name. and, at times, a soul.

Are you where you want to be? Did you get there easily? Did they make you sacrifice? Did you make a sharp left, when you should've turned right? Are you where you want to be? Did you sell off all of your gold? Did you trade it in? Did you wait for love, or settle for somebody to hold?

last week was such a good week.
while this week is not. kill me now?

and you don't owe nothing to me

my tears dry on their own. (:

It's Here

The sounds of stillness fall
With the fall of each flake.
The grounds cover in frosted sprawl,

Once where the colours would shake

Laying to rest in their dying crawl.

Echoes of early evenings arrive,

Chorusing pale skies and moon so fair.
Simple surprises come alive
In cups of tea and coffee to share
And in memories of things to come.

you're so beautiful, i can't even look at you. it's ridiculous.

i want 'beautiful lengths' again...

but my hair just won't grow back!

Make Love Not War

The Creelman server stood still and watched my 6$ Belgium waffle burn to a crisp as bagpipes played over a loudspeaker and everyone in the room hung their heads low in solemn silence. I rolled my eyes repeatedly after seeing smoke steam out of the waffle grill. I know it’s a touchy subject – and I have been torn on the subject for a while – but war commemoration is so stupid to me. So stupid that people a hundred years later are willing to let perfectly good waffles burn!

I'm all for mourning and respecting the dead, but why hold a fallen soldier any higher than a peaceful protester who died from natural causes? A lot of these boys who signed up to fight took war as a game, seeing it as a rite of passage. The World Wars were not fought for noble causes. German greed and French resentment turned lives into pawn pieces in WWI. And don't fool yourself if into thinking WWII was fought to save the Jews -- it was actually a matter of appeasement gone too far. I don’t think I can support the troops, dead or alive, during such dangerous times. Perhaps reconsider what your poppy is representing.

Read This

I found Marvin Harris’ Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture to be a fascinating read for enjoyment sake but also very interesting as a student of anthropology. Harris attempts to demystify lifestyles that are supposedly irrational and unexplainable from various historical localities by implementing scientific objectivity through his cultural materialist approach. He does not, however, completely disregard the importance of cultural beliefs to prove the ecological and economic significance of his historical research subjects (cows, pigs, wars, and witches). Further, his well-ordered sequence of chapters allowed for the flow of ideas along a sort of continuum, making it very easy for the reader to connect these seemingly discontinuous topics of discussion. I think, despite being subject to negative critique on occasion over the past 34 years, this book remains an interesting read for the general public as well as an influential anthropological work for the school of historical anthropology.

More Than Just Abba

below is an article i wrote in the Ontarion Newspaper at the beginning of the year. Lykke Li is on constant rotation right now so it seems suitable.

When you think of Swedish pop, does Abba come to mind? I know it does for me. However, this Scandinavian country has come a long way from "Dancing Queen" and other perky pop tunes, breaking into a more creative realm of music making. Here's a look at a few contemporary groups making waves in the music scene in Sweden and abroad:

The Hives
Though a leading name in garage rock revival, The Hives have enjoyed little commercial chart success on the international stage. Yet this Swedish rock band has been praised for its live shows, complete with matching outfits. After collaborating with hip-hop heavyweight Timbaland on "Throw It On Me" and talk of an upcoming joint effort with The Raconteurs, The Hives are sure to gain more recognition from the general public.

The Hives and their matching black-and-white outfits have been around since the garage-rock revival of the early 2000s, but are continuing to gain international acclaim. Photo Courtesy of thehives.nu.

The Sounds
Often confused with the 60s Finnish band of the same name, and frequently compared to Blondie, The Sounds are a new wave/electronica punk musical group that have had success both at home and on the international scene. Feisty lead singer Maja Ivarsson lends powerful vocals to infectious synthesized beats that I just can't seem to get enough of. If you haven't already, check out their hit-filled follow-up album, Dying to Say This to You.

Robyn
Think back to the late nineties and you might remember a young R&B singer who belted out hits such as "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What It Takes)." Disappearing for almost a decade on the international scene, Robyn has re-emerged with her hit single "Be Mine!" and a new self-titled album, which features a cover of Swedish rock band Teddybears' "Cobrastyle" and a collaboration with Kleerup on "With Every Heartbeat." Robyn has also recently provided backing vocals for Britney Spears' "Piece of Me" and Snoop Dogg's remixed "Sexual Eruption," as well as on Swedish newcomer Lykke Li's second single.

Lykke Li
Bursting out into the indie pop scene is 21-year-old Lykke Li with her smash single "Little Bit". I absolutely love this captivating song, as well as the video. Drawing from synthesized bossa nova roots, Li's geeky dance moves and subtly provocative lyrics are interesting, to say the least. Have a listen to her donation of vocals on Kleerup's "Until We Bleed."

1 step forward, 2 steps back

sometimes i feel like a victim of vicarious atonement.

Yes We Can!

Tonight, finally yet suddenly, I couldn't help but be overcome with inspiration. I suppose that there is no better time than now to return to writing.

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so our children can fly."