I am still trying to get back into regular blogging after my unintentional hiatus. I had gotten out of the habit of reading/seeing/buying/wearing something and thinking "my blog will hear about this" and am still trying to get back into that in order to have content and such. I am also starting to get ready to move and all my normal photographing spots are a mess. Anyway....
Since my office doesn't have a dress code at all we don't actually have casual Friday, but I've noticed everyone seems to informally observe one anyway. Also, as today is Geek Pride day* it seemed like a good time for one of my work-appropriate geeky t-shirts.
The skirt is one of a few pieces I got from the relatively new online plus-sized boutique Domino's Dollhouse. If you haven't heard of them before I recommend checking them out. The styles are generally pretty gothabilly and punk and some randoms, kind of reminiscent of early Torrid, however totally unlike torrid the clothes are well-made out of decent quality fabrics (I have seen way to many polyester a-line skirts going for 50$+ at Torrid. There is a lot of discussion about the advisability of wearing dark colors in summer, but synthetic fabrics are the real enemy). I also recently got these grey and black striped tights (thigh highs, actually) which are really great subtle stripy tights. I included the weirdly moody photo below just because it was the only one where the tights showed up.
Outfit Details:
Shirt: Think Geek
Skirt: Domino's Dollhouse
Tights: Foot Traffic brand via Sock Dreams
I also wore my new favorite hairstyle: a dutch-braid bun. It makes it look like I have a huge amount of hair and is classic looking but still interesting.
*the combined holiday commemorating Towel Day, the Glorious 25 May, and the release of Star Wars and celebration of all things geeky. Towel Day may be my favorite but I have yet to figure out how to visibly incorporate a towel into a work appropriate outfit, so that's strictly after hours.
Mostly how I am not sure how to do it. The world of job searching is full of all sorts of random, seemingly magical, and often contradictory advice, leaving a poor random recent graduate like me with no idea what is true. It is also largely geared towards the business world, which is not really my field. I've recently been able to cut out a lot of the noise with the site Hiring Librarians, which is fantastic and simply a series of interviewers with the actual people who make hiring decisions at libraries. I know since I started reading it regularly my cover letters and resume have dramatically improved, but the question of how to dress for an interview hass, if anything, gotten more confusing. A huge number of the interviewees list dressing "too casually" as a common mistake, but what does that mean? Should I wear a suit? Crap, I don't actually own a suit. Then I will read someone saying a common mistake is "dressing too casually, like some people show up in flip-flops". Right, I wasn't really ever considering showing up to an interview in flip-flops. The most formal library staff I have ever seen still only dress in "business casual" wear, so I figure, slightly nicer/more conservative than that should be fine. I do however, have a pretty weak grasp on what normal people consider normal clothes. So, here are the outfits I am most strongly considering, your feedback and general comments are very much appreciated.
This is my personal top pick. It is dressy, but interesting and not at all revealing. On the left I wear it with a sweater since I may soon be interviewing in Maine where it is usually in the 50's this time of year. I'm wearing it with some earrings that have a bit of vellum from a medieval copy of the Justitnian Code. I don't know if the print is a bit too funky or the whole thing is too casual.
This is a generally safe outfit. I wear it to work pretty regularly, but it is one of the nicer outfits I would ever wear to my job. I think it might qualify as "too" casual, but the skirt is fancy and I just really don't know.
This one may be a little too odd, as a coat-dress it risks looking like I am just not taking off my coat, but in other respects it's very much the most conservative piece I own (I mean, it's even navy).
And shoes! I mean, obviously no flip-flops, but as someone who is nearly six feet tall, are high heels off the table? Here are my options:
I think the heels are the best option, otherwise maybe the boots? I suspect the glitter flats are not a good idea. My shoe collection seems to be failing me now.
Silly thing the First:
For many years I have been studiously hiding the dark secret that I am actually blond. After layers of dye and integrating root touch-ups as part of my life I can almost forget this shameful fact..... Except those moments when I don't have any makeup and want to just put on pants and run the store for ice cream at 10 at night and realize that my eyebrows are several shades lighter than my hair and look decidedly weird. I could either take two minutes to apply brow gel or decide I don't care if the Giant Eagle stock boy knows my terrible secret. Not anymore!
I spent a few hours like that yesterday to dye my eyebrows with henna. Normal dye is both more runny and toxic so, you know, you can go blind (even I am not so lazy at 10 at night to think it is worth it). The chance of going blind doing this seemed pretty low, but I am not a doctor, so you probably shouldn't try this at home. I ordered samples of Twilight henna and indigo from mehandi.com, mixed them up together into a fairly thick paste and left them sit while I was at work, then applied petroleum jelly around my eyebrows, applies the henna/indigo paste on the brows, and covered with saran wrap for a few hours. Apparently I killed the indigo by mixing it up to far before applying it, so they came out lighter than they should have.
before on left and after on right
I don't think any objective assessment would allow me to conclude that it was worth the trouble, but I will probably still do it again, because I am stubborn and want to get the indigo thing right
Silly thing the second:
I made a dress with no pattern and a sort of vague notion of how I should go about it. I think it turned out fine, but I had to remake several parts and keep adjusting the fit. Honestly, a really simple maxi dress really shouldn't have been this much trouble, and wouldn't have been had I spent ten minutes on google looking up maxi dress tutorials. Still, Gorey print maxi-dress:
So I haven't seen the movie yet. As per usual I am waiting until it has been out for two weeks so I can get really cheap tickets. I did finish the books a few weeks ago, and between that and reading a lot of commentary I have found I have a lot of thoughts. Spoilers for probably the whole series, skip to the video to avoid.
Based on the hype and press surrounding the series, going in I thought I had a good understanding of what I was going to be reading: a post-apocalyptic novel with a scrappy girl hero who, after many trials, would overthrow her oppressive government (maybe with the help of a band of scrappy teen freedom fighters) and revolutionize the world! That's pretty much, more or less, the template for these novels. I was really unprepared for what actually happened (and actively fought it while reading, "No! Katniss is the plucky girl hero! She will not be a puppet for any government" {spoiler alert: yeah, she totally will}).which was actually a story about how incredibly hard that peppy post-apocalyptic YA story-line actually is; how those who try to change the world will find themselves co-opted, sold out, and having to make deals with the devil. Also, PTSD, and super creepy coerced romance. The Hunger Games series is not about a plucky girl hero saving the world, but about an admirably surly would be girl hero relentlessly ground down by the oppressive system, about surviving that system, and maybe managing to scrap together a slightly better life for you and yours. It possibly has the most depressing happy ending in Young Adult fiction. Once I gave into the fact that this is what the series is about, I was pretty impressed with the whole thing. Really it subverts so much we have come to expect from YA genre fiction (including having the least interesting or relevant love triangle in fiction. Pretty much every fan of the series is Team who-gives-a-crap).
That having been said, the quality of the writing takes a nose-dive between each book. The third book is just rushed and poorly written. See, by this book Katniss is supposed to be slightly unhinged, having constant flashbacks and barely able to keep it together. Unfortunately it's written in the first person, so she can't just say "yeah, I'm totes unhinged". If you can see into a character's mental processes they should probably not be so coherent if the character is supposed to be mentally disturbed.
Anyway, ever though it is kind of massively ironic, I am looking forward to the movie. I just have to find someone to come with me who will put up with the inevitable gross sobbing that is going to happen when Rue dies. I am also really excited about the soundtrack. I am a fan of alternative country and was hoping, since the book is set in Appalachian coal country, for some good music, only to have it show up from the most unlikely source. Taylor Swift, who has a troubled past with regards to writing songs about literature, wrote and preforms (along with The Civil Wars, who are awesome usually) a song that is actually completely perfect, appropriate to the narrative, dark and down tempo, with wisps of traditional Appalachian folk music. The video's really beautiful too.
I am so sorry to have taken so long to write this up. I keep getting eaten by the job application process which, combined with the fact that I recently bruised my tailbone falling down the stairs and have had limited sitting upright time, has eaten all of my normal blogging time. Anyway, I was nominated for the "Lovely Blog" award from both Sal Kaye at Still Dark @ Heart and Siouxsie Law. Thanks so much! The rules are that an awardee must post 7 facts about themselves and nominate 15 more people. I believe everyone I would otherwise name has already been so honored so I will skip that part. I have tried to make my random facts the most interesting I could remember in order to make up for my tardiness.
I can say "where are my pants" in seven languages despite not generally wearing pants, or losing clothing in random foreign countries (or ancient Rome, since classical Latin is one of the languages).
I used to be a inveterate liar, making up elaborate stories about my past or strange incidents because in my youth I became fascinated by the fact that people would believe things you told them just because and because I seem to have never fully absorbed the idea that lying is bad. It was a fairly difficult habit to break, as lying is sometimes terribly convenient, but I do much better these days. I still have friends who beleive some fairly strange things about me.
The strangest thing that anyone believes about me is that I am a secret agent for the Chinese government. I am not myself actually responsible for that one.
I am not actually sure what my natural hair color is anymore. It's statistically unlikely that it is still growing out blond, as neither of my parents were blond as adults, but it's so much lighter than the colors I have dyed it that it's not really possible to tell. My eyebrows are light brown/dark blond, so probably that.
At last count I have moved around 2 dozen times and can fully unpack my apartment in under six hours.
I have 2 Garth Brooks songs on my mp3 player, and secretly love them.
I was obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie books as a girl but I was perhaps most captured by the chapters on pig slaughter and secretly wanted to roast a pig tail most of all.
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I have had a nasty case of writer's block/ennui that just of course got worse as time spent not posting went on. Hopefully this quick note will jump-start my writing again.
Today is International Women's day, a holiday which has been used widely to celebrate women's achievements and highlight continuing inequalities. The International Women's Day website theme for 2012 is "Connecting Girls: Inspiring Futures" which I think is a pretty awesome theme. Since getting two fantastic nieces I have started thinking more and more about how to help bring up girls to be strong, confident, and full of self-worth in a society full of so many negative messages. I don't have any great answers (although I think buying a lot of Girl Scout cookies can't hurt) and sometimes it can be pretty demoralizing. Sometimes feminism can be just exhausting. Sometimes though, I try remember why I fight for gender equality:
Because I want to see what these fierce girls can make of themselves in a world without limits.
I was looking through photos when I noticed this outfit, which I wore, oh sometime in mid-november and never got around to posting.
This sweater was not meant to be cropped, and I kind of don't understand why it is, but I decided I really like it. It looks a bit strange left open though, and once closed I realized it opened at the top in almost the exact shape/space of a lace insert on the top of this cami.
Since I have always loved the look of green with purple I decided to stifle my tendancy to do incredibly matchy-matchy makeup and use purple in my makeup.
Outfit Details
Cami and tights: Torrid
Skirt: In the Starlight
Sweater: Handmade
Pin: Jujube Pins
Earrings: Art of Adornment
Lipstick: Sephora
Eyeshadow: Geek Chic Cosmetics, "Ambassador"
I also wore my new favorite hairstyle: a dutch-braid bun. It makes it look like I have a huge amount of hair and is classic looking but still interesting.
