Liebster Awards

Hi y'all. I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I've had writers block, which has savaged several elements of my life, but you will have noticed because of my lack of content recently. I'm terribly sorry. Here is a gif to make up for it:

I have written large swathes of several posts, and then abandoned them because they weren't perfect. This is a personality flaw that I will try to rectify. My new mid-July resolution is to write about every film I see, and every book that I read. So! I hope that I can stick to it!

The superlative Ella at Gorilla Legs has nominated me for a Liebster Award. Thank you, Ella! First and foremost, I will say that I am a grumpy recluse, and so I will decline from nominating any one else. Apologies :(

Now for eleven things about myself:

1. I am mixed race, an eclectic combination of Afro-Caribbean, and American Wasp. My skin colour is similar to Obama's, or Beyonce's.
2. I have a younger brother. He is 12 (I am 15), and he lives to irritate me. He went through a phase last year when he would wear a three-piece suit, a hat, and a pair of leather gloves every day.
3. I <3 manga, although I don't care for anime. My favourite manga series changes rapidly, but at the moment it's probably Ai Yazawa's Nana.
4. I love Kelly Link's short stories so much that it occasionally hurts my heart.
5. I saw every film in the Twilight Saga in a cinema (please don't judge me, by the time I discovered feminism it was a habit :c )
6. When I was seven I wrote a book called the Life and Times of Alica Parr. It was completely insane on multiple levels, and one day I will find it and scan some of its pages for you people.
7. My favourite TV show at the moment is Hannibal. It is awesomely scary, but also sometimes camp. It has great performances, and the way it's shot makes it seem like every episode takes place on a cloudy day.
8. I have scars on my knees from when I tripped over my dog while running along a gravelly path.
9. I have never been in a relationship, which is frustrating because of my perpetual adolescent longing.
10. I am obsessed with MT washi sticky tape <3. It is amazing, but expensive.
11. I collect momoiji dolls. At the moment my collection is haphazardly piled on my desk, swathed in bubble-wrap. 
12. I have a persistent patch of eczema on my wrist.

Here are Ella's questions for me:

1. Shrek or Ice age? Shrek! I will admit, I've never seen Ice Age, but Shrek and its first sequel were awesome enough that I doubt there's much competition between it and Ice Age ; ) .
2. If you were invisible for one day, what would you do? I would visit the British Museum's public access prohibited archives. 
3. What is the colour of your walls/wallpaper in your bedroom? This colour! I might spray paint my walls silver one day, however, because I didn't get to choose the colour of my walls.
4. Who is your current celebrity crush? No one really at the moment, sadly. At least, not in the sense that I'm actually pining for someone. I will say that I am mildly infatuated with Saorise Ronan. She was the only good about The Host, which is another terrible film I saw in a movie theatre!  Saorise was also incredibly awesome in Hanna. 
5. If you could travel back in time, where would you go? Because of my mild blackness, I worry that if I travelled back in time I would face hideous discrimination :( . If I could disguise my self in such a way that I could match the appearance of the people that I'd visit, I would travel back to Edo era Japan.
6. What do you have an irrational fear of? Irregular groups of holes and lumps. There are few sights worse to my eyes than lotus pods, and clusters of barnacles. Although it's not officially recognised by the medical community, the unofficial name for it is trypophobia.
7. What book are you currently reading? Kitchen by Banana Yamamoto.
8. Do you have a strange habit? What is it? I used to peel all the foil off of the blister packs of my anti acne antibiotics once I was finished with them, however for whatever reason I've fallen out of that particular habit.
9. Do you read Rookie? (If not, why not!) Why do you love it? (Because if you do read it, you obviously love it, as it is impossible not to!) I love basically everything about Rookie. I especially like the Friday Night Playlist, which have introduced me to many of my favourite music artists.
10. What is your favourite song? It changes constantly, but at the moment I like Midnight City by M83, AKA the Made in Chelsea theme song.
11. If  you were trapped in a vat of food, and had to eat it to get yourself out of there, what food would you want to be trapped in? Condensed milk! It is so wonderfully sweet and thick, and milk-like (I am really incredibly eloquent). 

Okay that's it! I'm sorry if this post was partly incomprehensible, it's past 1 am and I am tired.

Ligia Montoya's Flapping Bird

I have folded many flapping birds, and this model, developed by Ligia Montoya, is my favourite.  My instructions are adapted from those in Robert Harbin's Secrets of Origami.

Versatile Blogger Awards

Gosh! The fantastic Ella of Gorilla Legs has nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award!! Thank you so much, Ella!

Okay, frankly I'm struggling somewhat to think of fifteen blogs to nominate. The thing is, I don't read that many blogs, and instead I mostly look at websites and webcomics. So, here are three blogs that I nominate:
8tokyo
The Frill Seekers
Slightly Biased Manga

Okay, here are seven things about myself:

This was a very unusual scene

• I have a cat named Sparkle, and a dog named Shippo. The cat is mean yet gorgeous, the dog is a babe.
• I have played the violin for many year. One composer who's music I like to play is Schubert.

• I love Karen Kilimnik. Another of my favourite artists is Takashi Murakami.

 The matching shoes, with awesome socks.

• I own a fairly awesome black and white '80s jumpsuit, which I like well enough to have bought a matching pair of shoes.
• I go through periods where I discover an objectively terrible crime show, become obsessed with it, watch nearly all of the episodes, and then grow bored with it. This has happened to me so far with Poirot, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order.

• Speaking of Criminal Minds, I have an entire bookmark folder dedicated to Matthew Gray Gubler. This video is my favourite.
• I am a fairly good baker. I love the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook.
• My week has wildly fluctuated between being completely terrible and mostly fine. I'm sure that I will start regularly updating soon, as well as finish that short story of mine. I know that this is like the third post in which I've said this, but technically some of my above facts mentioned two things, so I feel like this is still a list of seven unknown things about me.

Okay, I hope that this list has been somewhat interesting. Thank you again, Ella! Especially for that ultra supportive comment you made on that really sad post of mine. It really cheered me up! (⌒▽⌒)☆
  

On Revelations

Hi,
Firstly I would just like to thank all of you people for reading this fledgling blog. I am sure that you are all awesome people, and I really appreciate that you've taken the time to read what I've written. Thank you, especially, people who have made positive comments. Thank you again, dear readers, for making me feel like less of  insignificant blip in this world.

I've had a pretty bad week. Some good things have happened, like I've started work on the second part of my story about grief, and I'm in my new house, but lot's of the rest has been terrible. Mainly, I've had a revelation. It's not the sort of revelation which blasts all sadness away, which makes you see the light at the end of the tunnel, or gives you the feeling that you're riding a unicorn, and have slayed all of your  dragons. No. It's the sort of revelation that wraps its tentacles around your throat, and drags your now limp body deep into its pit of despair. I won't share this thought, because in my opinion it's pretty triggering, but I will say that the worst thing about it is that a large part of my heart and soul think that it's true.

I will be fine, I'm sure. Until that happens, I would really appreciate any virtual internet hugs, or positive thoughts that you could send my way. Thank you.

P.S. This is a gif of a paper phoenix that I made a few months ago. I hope that one day, too, I will rise from the ashes. 

Grave Mercy Review

So. The other day I went to Kew Gardens to see the magnolia* blossom.

It was slightly too late in their season, and thus magnolia were not quite as beautiful as they had been in previous years. Although I saw many flowers, and explored parts of Kew I had never been to before, I did not have a great time. My morning had been horrible, and that had polluted my entire day. 

Sorry (╯︵╰,)

Some apologetic eye candy!

Dear people,

As you probably know, I posted the first part of a short story of mine the other day. I've had the basic idea for ages, and I'm super pleased that I've gotten to share it with you people!!

Sadly, I think it will be awhile until the next instalment. Not like, I'm moving to a hut in Cambodia for six months awhile, but maybe a few weeks. I'm moving house soon, my studies are getting pretty intense, and I've had a really bad week, you know? By mid-May the first two things should be fine.

I mean, the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Thus, part two of my story will have to be anger, but I'm not sure that I'm in the right headspace for that right now. I think that waiting is better than forcing a sub par product, right?

I mean, I'll probably try to do a few light posts about origami and stuff, but the story will have to wait for now, ok? Hopefully, I'll be settled soonish, and my study deadlines are all due in early May.

Take care, all of you wonderful human beings!

The Five Stages of Grief, in Hell, With Mermaids, Part One: Denial

Two sisters are standing by the mouth of a cave. They are having an argument.
Dreamchild, the younger one, was born halfway through an unfortunate spiritual phase of her parents. She loathes her name and has christened herself Sadie. She dresses with care. Dream-Sadie wears the finest exercise clothing her allowance can buy; her face is covered with arguably too much foundation. Her bleached blond hair is scraped into a high ponytail; her arms are covered with bangles from Claire’s. Dreamchild, or rather, Sadie, is in her early teens. There is a four-year age difference her and her sister. 
Her older sister’s hair is loose and wavy; her eyes are lined with kohl. She wears skirts which are long and flowing, her nose is pierced like a pig's, and she has been vegan for eight whole entire days. Her name is Holly, and she is partaking in an unfortunate spiritual phase of her own.