You

"There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you."

-David Burns, Intimate Connections






Picture by Warwick Goble

Saturday Happy Song

Hello!



How is every one's weekend going? I am cleaning up my apartment, it is such a mess. I am working on my desk, and the living room in general. But, I think it is going to take longer than I originally planned.



I had a magical night with The Man, and he inspired this video post. It's one of our love songs, by Hanoi Rocks. I know, it's an 80's hair band from Finland, but we like all kind of weird stuff. And this song will forever make me swoon! Eeeep!



So get out those legwarmers guys, and enjoy!



And Mr. Man, don't you ever leave me babe!

"I have a theory...

picture

...that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.

I will have the Friday links up a little later today, I think, I am gonna go home and have a drink.

I have enjoyed a drink after work every night this week... I am a little stressed. So that is why I am doing this post now, lest I forget. Because if I do I will be all pissed at myself, and that is really counter productive to this whole loving myself thing I am working on.

4 years ago today, Hunter S. Thompson decided he was done with this plane of existence and ended his life. He died the way he lived, on his terms.

Hunter was a little bit crazy, a little bit gifted, and a huge lover of life. He did it all, just to see how it felt. He made no apologizes for the way he was. And although you may not agree with the way he lived, or the way he died (although I respect the man, I think suicide is a cop-out), it would be very worth while to take a look at the things he believed in. I can't begin to tell you how Hunter has shaped my way of thinking, the way I look at life, and the way I enjoy my time on this earth.

So I am going to go home and reflect for a few moments, on the greatness of Hunter. I am gonna light a candle, and raise my glass.
And so you can do the same, few links to look into:

Owl Farm Blog
Hunter's lovely wife Anita posted a beautiful poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye. My heart goes out to Anita today, I hope she is doing ok.

Totally Gonzo
Ron Mexico is a great guy, I have emailed back and forth with him a few times. I was had the honor of being picked winner of his photography contest for Hunter's birthday back in July.

And bonus a rockin article on the great life of this great man!


"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."

Rut. Stop. Step.

Picture by Jules

I have hit a snag in my Transformation, and if I have to be honest (and I have to be, because it almost makes me ill to lie.) I haven't made much progress in the last few days. I tried to help a friend sew up a homemade gift last night, and I am unsure of how my machine works so it took way longer than I thought. Then I had some errands, and before I knew it it was 11pm! I was beat, didn't give The Man the attention he craved, and didn't get anything productive done....

LAME!

It's lame, I feel lame, and that makes me lamer. I also haven't had a super great diet, or slept well, or been in a good mood. So it has all snowballed, way downhill.

I think I need a better work space.
Correction, I know I need a better work space.

My desk is cluttered, my apartment is cluttered, I can't get to anything. I am working on two very important projects that anywhere near organized enough, those are starting to go in good directions, and I feel out of control. The problem here is that I hate to clean. I very much hate to clean during the week, because I don't see the point in just cleaning the little things. If I did, my place would probably be cleaner! But I like to wait till the weekend, and do a big cleaning job. And if I don't feel like the big cleaning job, or it is a very busy weekend, then it doesn't get done. Then it piles up, then I get sad, then I am in the state I am writing to you from now!

Wow! Huge run on sentence there folks! Whew!

So how do I tackle this? I think the best plan (other than going back to, and sticking by my lists) is to decide on one thing to clean, then set aside one or two hours to clean it. So this is my new goal: to create a clean, organized, inspiring work space.

I would like to say by the end of the transformation challenge, but I'm not sure that is going to happen as the end is only like 11 days away. Yikes! And really I need to permanently change the way I do things so it sticks, I can't just do it this month. Also, it may take longer than 11 days (even though I have a big clean up planned for Saturday) because I am trying to downsize the number of possessions I have, and it is getting into sentimental territory. It may take a bit, but I am determined to get it done!

TAWANDA!!!!!

~Sydney

Friday Favorites...on Monday

Hi Guys, I am a few days behind....
The weekend was amazing, my Valentines Day was both fun and enlightening. And I will get to all that. Soon. My head has been spinning trying to get all my projects together. I am a Goddess in Progress you know!

Till then here are the Friday links I am 3 days behind on giving you!

♥ Dirty Comics for Valentines Day! ( Or Presidents Day as it were. Link not safe for work!)

♥ I have one of these at home I inherited from my older sister! I love spool knitters, even though I hardly made anything with mine...

♥ 15 bizarre statues! It makes me want to go see them all in person.

♥ Weird, crazy photos from the LIFE magazine photo data base. All on Cake Wrecks, one of the funnest blogs out there!

How is your transformation going? Still sticking with those New Years Resolutions?
I have slipped a little these past few days (although I danced yesterday). Then I saw this post from Gala, and it inspired me...and made me cry.

OK, guys I'll be back. More content coming as soon as I screw my head on, Hahaha.
Keep that head up and stay sparkly!

~Sydney

The safest principle

"The safest principle through life, instead of reforming others, is to set about perfecting yourself."



-B. R. Haydon

Happy Friday!

Welcome to Happy Fridays!
I have decided I don't wanna be like everybody else and do a links page on Thursdays, I want mine on Friday! WhooHoo for being different! (I bet there are a lot of other people that do theirs on Fridays, whatever, just let be do my happy dance. *Happy Dance*)
So it has been a pretty good week, the last two days have kinda sucked. I was in a funk that I think has finally broken, I am feeling a little brighter. I am feeling brighter as the sky has gotten darker. It is pouring rain here in lovely Hollywood California today, and I just want to cuddle on the couch and eat too many carbs. And drink spiked hot cocoa. And get back to reading Zen and the Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. Mmmmm....

Well, while I dream away at my desk, and prepare my lists of things to do this weekend enjoy some of the stuff that has made me smile this week!

♦ Homemade Girl Scout Cookies

It's Girl Scout Cookie time again! Which one is your favorite? Mine? Samoas!
Oh my god, how can you possibly resist carmel and coconut and chocolate?
Well, here Nicole of Baking Bites shows you how she made them herself. I bet they are out of this world! I have drooled all over the picture all week!


♦ Memories of El Monte
Where were you the first time you heard Frank Zappa's music?
I don't remember, my father listened to all kinds of different music for years. So I was probably like, 3.

♦ Huge Dita von Teese interview
Is this girl glam or what?

♦ What's your secret?
I am so addicted to this place!

♦ Isn't Anjelica Huston freaky beautiful?

♦ Creative Bras!
My favorite one, the silver hands...I think...but they all make me smile!

♦ Chocolate!
This box of Valentine chocolate is entirely made of cake! Wow I have drooled over a lot of virtual food this week! Haha!

Have a great weekend my dears!

~Sydney

Cramped

The punk/goth/alternative/rockabilly/add label here community mourns the loss of The Cramps front man Lux Interior today.
There are differing reports of his age, and birth year but it is agreed upon the he was in his 60's and was claimed by a pre-existing heart condition. He leaves behind wife and Cramps guitar player Poison Ivy.
The internet is rife with stories, memories, and tributes to this amazing and eccentric man.
I don't have one to add, my sadness being that although I grew up in the Kustom Kulture community, went to car shows, and punk concerts my whole life, I never got to see The Cramps play...and now I never will.
Please check the links below, awesome things being said there. My heart and thoughts go out to Poison Ivy, it must be very painful to lose someone you have loved for over 30 years. Stay strong girl, Lux is with you always now!

Rest in Peace Lux, you will be missed.

~Sydney

♥ L.A. Times

♥ Daily Burlesque

♥ Punk Turns 30

♥ The Daily Swarm

♥ Boing Boing

♥ Rolling Stone

Photo from thecramps.com

Feel

I Found this in my cell phone today, I took it more than a year ago on La Brea Blvd in Hollywood during one of my lunchtime walks. It really applies today, I really feel. There a lot of people in my life that this message would be appropriate for. I hope they all see it.

I am a little down today, not as much now as I was say, an hour ago. But I am still not quite myself. Despite this, I am thankful for the fact that I feel it. I am thankful for my feelings, even though some are inconvenient, uncomfortable, or confusing. And I am forever thankful to those people that help me feel, make me feel, or want me to feel. Without feelings we would be cold and unreachable.

Thank you all, for helping me feel.

~Sydney

Shake it baby!

Picture

So it is the dawn of day 4 (not really dawn I realize, but I don't really get to work on my own projects till I get home at night) of the challenge and I have still made progress! This is amazing, my New Years resolutions didn’t stick this long! I think I mentioned what I intend to do, (working on my photography and dance a little every day) and am pleased to report that a little of both got done last night. AND I still had time to lie in bed, watch TV and love my man! SCORE!

For the dance portion of the evening I mixed it up with The Bollywood Dance Workout,

and loved it. I love, love, LOVE eastern dance, and took my first Bollywood dance class back in July (or was it August?) in a workshop with the amazing girls from Blue 13 Dance Company. It was SO much fun; I knew I would be doing more of it. But then I have tried to concentrate on my belly dance, because that is part of a project I am working on with The Man. I do all of this in my living room by the way. I haven’t always, I was a dance major in college, I used to go to studios to dance; right now though I just can’t afford it, so I do it at home with videos. It’s really funny because I have recently gotten back in touch with quite a few people I used to dance with, they all ask “where do you dance now?” and laugh when I say “my living room”. Then, they smile big and say “no, really though, where are you dancing?” Really people, right there in my living room. And you know what? I love it.

The Bollywood Dance Workout video is really geared toward the novice, living room dancer. I had never heard of Hemalaya Behl, and she seemed to be new to the concept of teaching dance as the instruction moved pretty quickly. She wasn’t always in sync with the music, and the other two dancers weren’t always in sync with her. (Although upon googleing her I have found that she has many videos, so maybe this was just her first one.) Despite all this, it was the best workout video I have ever used, and I had SO much fun!

Part of this is due to the fast pace, which although not good for the first part of learning the movements, does keep your energy way up. Hemalaya is always telling you to smile, and not to worry too much if you don’t get the steps right, just do what feels right. She was having fun the whole time, smiling and laughing. Her voice over instructions are always in an upbeat voice, and a few times she realized what her mistakes were and said not to forget to laugh at yourself and have fun! Wow! This girl rocked! She has such good energy! More exclamation points for her! !!!!!!!!!

I was sweating by the end, and felt like I got a good workout. Then she cools you down and gets a little stretching in. It was a pretty complete package. I am gonna do it again tonight, and would highly recommend this video to my fellow living room dancers!

Progress

"Let us strive to improve ourselves, for we cannot remain stationary; one either progresses or retrogrades."


-Mme. Du Deffand

Changing Form

So this month I am taking on Gala Darlings Icing Transformation Challenge in an attempt to focus my energy in a more fruitful direction. I was kinda already doing this, (since January 1st actually) but this way I have less wiggle room for copping out. My goal for this challenge is to work on my photography and dance in some form, every day. Without even remembering the challenge I got a good head start on Sunday by tagging and posting a temporary portfolio to Flickr. Then last night got away from me as I reconnected with a few family members on Facebook, and The Man was sick. I had to take care of him, his throat hurt! :-(

I am really excited to see how much progress I make, I didn't set an end goal because I thought it might be too much pressure. I respond to pressure pretty well actually, but I put a lot of it on myself already. If it gets out of hand I run and hide, then the project is abandoned. Add to this I am working on a couple other things right now too, and the whole thing could go caput! I really don't like that Idea, getting further with my art is really important to me.

So the bonus for you guys is I now have a large selection of photos on Flickr, and a large pool of other peoples pictures to link to! So the blog can only get prettier! YAY! And y'all are thinking, "where have you been? Flickr has been around since, like, forever!" I know, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with mine yet. But now it there, YAY AGAIN!

I would definitely recommend you think of taking on the challenge yourself, you might find you like the results. It doesn't have to be a big change, (it could be as small as drinking more water) but it is always good to mix up life and try to improve oneself.

If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.
-Thomas Edison