Compliments! And Their Antithesis....

Today, I received the most amazing comment (Since the one where I was told I looked like Mrs. Lovett ^.^ From Sweeny Todd). As I was making my way through the hallways on International Physics Day (today, celebrate it) someone I don't know grabbed my elbow and literally squealed, "You look like that Goth from the Big Bang Theory!!" Which immediately made me like this person because A) he knew I wasn't emo B) He mentioned the Big Bang Theory! *How did he know that's one of only four modern TV shows I actually watch....* C) Need I say more?! He complimented me with the words "Goth" and "The Big Bang Theory" (!!!) After he left I realized he might have meant the OTHER Goth, Sarah (Not that anyone cares) from the Big Bang Theory...  This is the one I hope he was talking about... (on a side note, I have no tattoos or facial piercings, and my breasts do not ever make that much of an appearance in public. Still, the sentiment is appreciated, random boy from hallway)

I have recieved a number of compliments, my favorite among them being "Goth Poppins" (which was meant as an insult from a friend, but I rather like it) "This is my friend, Morticia Addams" (a best friend introducing me to another friend) "You look like Sweeny Todd's friend... *snaps fingers* Mrs. Lovett" (random stranger) and possibly the best of all... my grandmother told me I reminded her of a singer from the Eighties. Yes, Robert Smith. I think I died right there and was reanimated as the happiest of goths.

On the flipside, however, I have recieved quite the number of negative comments, including "Try looking nice when you come to school", "Why is your hair purple? It looks like you're a grape" and "your eyebrows are hideous." Amongst the many more generic derogatory comments I hear on an almost-daily basis. However, given that if it REALLY bothered me, I'd tone down my appearance, I'm not sure why people get so bothered about being insulted by someone who quite often doesn't know them.

Does anybody want to comment with a favorite compliment or particularly imaginative insult they have received/heard or thought of and found amusing?

Music: Vampires Everywhere

I'm too lazy to do much research on them, but I think they're fairly decent. Definitely not the best band I've ever heard, but I got the CD cheap and it had pretty coverart. Yes, I'm that easily drawn in.

Anyway, I really like "Bleeding Rain" and "Undead Heart" as well as "Children of the Night" though I have yet to figure out if the band takes itself seriously. It seems to be a little too much of a walking cliche to do so, but then I'm sure they think they're pretty badass.

The sound is pretty good, the lyrics are repetitive but decent and it takes a couple listens to really get the hang of what they're saying. They seem to be a combination of techno/oontz-oontz, hard rock and metal. Like they tried playing "Crazy Train" on a keyboard set to snare drum/techo beat and screaming the words instead of saying them, then decided that was a really great sound. Weird.

Their music will really keep you awake, though. And the beats to several are quite catchy, even if they're hard to sing, hard to hum and really difficult to tap out correctly with a pencil. Their image in my mind calls up 'emo/punk trying to be goth' but like I said, I don't know them that well, I only have one CD. They are definitely on the list of things I would embarrass myself dancing to, but then I'll dance to pretty much anything.

If you like metal or alternative stuff that really can't quite be called Goth within the traditional parameters, you may like this band.

Young Ones and Goth

Being fifteen and obviously all-knowing, I feel myself uniquely qualified to write my thoughts about this because A: they're my thoughts B: I AM a young one who is Goth and C: I am the only Goth in my highschool (possibly the entire town) since my darling Elijah moved away and so... for some reason that qualifies me to give an opinion.

I have seen a lot of things about being young and goth, several of which seem to go along the lines of, "i love goth, but my parents hate it, how do I circumvent their will?" While I applaud "sticking it to the man" or whatever you people call it, they are your parents and so maybe you shouldn't dress in the all black and stompy boots with piercings they are likely thinking of. Perhaps looking into Lolita, Visual Kei or a subset of Goth like Victorian Gothic or *gasp* pastel goth. Something that looks happier will likely make them happier, no matter how thrilled you are when you move out, get a deathhawk and twelve piercings.

Listening to the music and reading Dracula five hundred million times is all well and good, but if I'm not mistaken, most of us around the age of highschool are still looking for our identities and when we find something we like, we want to advertise it. If the clothes are off-limits, perhaps a Sisters of Mercy decal for your binder and a Bauhaus bumpersticker for your car (or motor scooter). Maybe randomly quote Poe or Bram Stoker, or say that your favorite superhero is Captain Unexpected and Tragic Death (that's a joke... because what kind of a superhero would that be?!)

That all being said, a bat necklace or vampire teeth earrings are small, cute ways to proclaim to all and sundry that you're incredibly deep dark and not a force to be trifled with! Small touches of darkness like tendrils seeping into your daily wardrobe are an excellent way to introduce Goth to your parents and friends while still being overall the person they remember. Try black nailpolish and eyeliner (nothing too heavy, mind) with a cute blouse and fluffy skirt. You'll still look like their little girl, but hopefully the touches of darkness will be sufficient to help you along.

Good luck!

Goths and Creativity- a Correlation?

It seems like every member of the darker subculture is artistic or creative in some way. Not to say that non-dark people aren't creative, but it seems to be the case that a higher concentration of Goths than mainstream peoples are creative.

Some of us draw. And draw like a beautiful madness flows onto the page hardly using them as the conduit at all. Others do photograhpy and have very creative or artsy shots, or even just simple straightforward things, like a friend of mine in Portland who leaves flowers in dyed water until they turn black then takes pictures of them in front of the rising or setting sun. Who thinks of that? Goth girls in college, apparently. Me, I write. Madly. Usually by hand for the first fifty pages but after that mark if I think it's worth the time to develop I type it up, improving it as I go. Other people sing, or write music or design things or have a hobby of building models or painting. We are just such a creative little group, aren't we? *makes overly cutesy face*

I think that it requires a certain creativity to express the big dark storm clouds we are. Okay, bad way to say it, but now it's said. We've all seen/been the person with swirly eyeliner out to our ears because we felt a little too whimsical... if there is such a thing. I personally would like to give a "normal" person the job and wardrobe of a Goth and not let them change anything, just see what they did. It would be interesting, I think, to watch them pick out a suitable outfit for work that would not draw any attention... amusement would ensue.

Creativity within the Gothic subculture runs rampant. And that's just the way we like it.

Romeo and Juliet

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene... etc. Great play. Don't watch it too often, you will start to wonder why Juliet didn't just go with Romeo into exile in the first place. I have come up with a few reasons, but each of them is rather far-fetched.  Anyway, where was I, Romeo & Juliet, right. This latest version I have seen featured a very convincing Juliet, who actually acted as young as she was supposed to be, a REALLY unfittingly overdramatic Romeo and a very very annoying Lord Capulet. Mercutio was really good, and so was Peter, the random pageboy type person for the house of Capulet.

Benvolio also was decent, as was the Nurse, and every other character was about as good as I'd expected, nothing that really stuck in my memory. This wasn't a horribly tainted version of Romeo and Juliet, but neither did it stick exactly to the original text. One thing that actually stuck in my brain was the way they did the balcony scene. They just used one set throughout, only one set of props which didn't really move too much. They did at one point remove chairs and bring in a blanket, but that's beside the point. Balcony scene. Right. So the balcony on which Juliet stood was a really interestingly crafted astructure, sort of like a wing stuck up above the wall of the basic set. There was a door set into it, and it curved upward to the edge of the wall, which she grabbed like a banister.

All in all, a decent but not amazing version of Romeo and Juliet. I don't consider the day wasted, though I probably would not go see it again. This play was better than Baz Luhrman's movie (with Leonardo DeCaprio) and worse than the old movie with a bunch of people I don't know but Juliet wore a dress that looked like the bodice was about to fail and release her chest to the world.

Ashland!

Tomorrow, our theater teacher is taking some of us to see.... ROMEO AND JULIET!! In Ashland, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival! yay. We arrive two hours early, to be sure that we have enough time for lunch and to get seats. Of course, I eat in record times, so I get to shop! I think I'll pick out a hair dye color and perhaps a new blouse... Normally, I would not bother blogging about such trite things unless the show was amazing and I got the coolest clothes ever, but since Ashland is the only place within a radius of at least a hundred miles that I can find really good vintage or purposely "Goth" things, I am quite excited.

Last time I was there, I got purple fishnets and saw a Living Dead Souls top that I have wanted ever since... And my mom bought a pair of steampunk boots! (I accidentally made my mom a steampunk-er... *shivers* I apologize, world, for unleashing that upon you), and this time I will be with some friends, so perhaps they can help me decide whether I NEED body-art pens or... no, I need them ;D

As you may be able to tell, I am very excited. Ashland is a cute little town, lots of theater, lots of quirky semi-hipster culture and the one shop that carries clothing made to be interesting (and parasols and wigs!). Tomorrow will be in all likelyhood the best day of the month, with sushi and a walk in the park and looking at alternative-culture clothing ^.^

Now I just need to figure out what to wear... I really wish I could picspam all of the 93 people who have looked at my blog and make them help me figure out what to wear...

Wish me luck in Ashland, watching Romeo and Juliet and eating sushi! Hope everyone else is having as magnificent a week as I am :D

The Cruxshadows

 yes, they're awesome. I really like them, though there are those who criticize their songs as being too repetitive, grating or cacophonous. Probably my favorite song of theirs is either Perfect or Quicksilver, though I will admit that I really haven't heard all of the songs. Birthday may be the most inspirational song that I have ever heard, not in the 'you're awesome, you can do it,' sort of way, just in the 'get up and do this because you never know, you know?' sort of way.

Grr why words, why? Why do you fail me at such moments? I am trying to explain something here, is a little help from you, words, far too much to ask?

Anyhoo, The Cruxshadows. And all of their epicness. I very much like their sound, their look and even the cover art of their albums.  the cover for Birthday is very pretty as well, but I don't want to take up a whole page with pictures. Ah, hell with it.

Vampires!

NOT the sparkly kind! (and that shall be their final mention)

Firstly, I only believe in true, Dracula, Nosferatu vampires in my dreams. Same goes for the other types. This is just a look at some of the vampire legends from around the world. I got a lot of this information from a book on how to draw vampires, called How to Draw Like the Masters.

Upyr: Russian vampire. Generally looks sort of like a Yeti. Tends to be dirty and blood encrusted; feeds on humans after tearing them to shreds.(sounds fun, da?)

Ch'iang Shih: Chinese vampire, appears as a human, but with a greenish-white tinge to the flesh and bearing the wounds of death. Sometimes, it becomes a sphere of light as an immaterial form. his poison breath kills the prey before he drains their blood.

Lamia: Greek vampire. A beautiful woman, winged and serpentine below the waist. She is said to prefer the blood of handsom young men, though there is no mention of whether she kills them.

Baobhan Sith: A Scottish vampire who is a fairylike demon, in a green dress with golden curls and hooves. She attacks in the "wild", usually the forest, dancing with lone men before drinking their blood and eating their flesh.

Nekomata: Japanese vampire, a shape-shifter! He goes from cat with two tails (in size, from domestic cat to larger than human) to grumpy-looking aristocrat. In both forms, his feeding habit is to suck on human blood.

Rakshaka: Brighly colored (blue, green, yellow) Indian vampire. The physical form is either a tiger with human features or a human with tiger features who preys on the blood and flesh of human victims.

Civateteo: Mexican vampire, who looks like a young mother, but as a vampire her face is pale because of her death in childbirth. She hunts babies and children.

And now, everyone's favorite; the Romanian vampire, Nosferatu. As we all know from a certain extremely popular and great novel; the aristocratic male extracts the blood of his human victims through the neck, at night only. His strength is superhuman and he has nearly translucent skin and long sharp teeth.

My Frustration at the Lack of a Camera....

It knows no bounds. Really, my frustration stems from the fact that I do have a camera. I have two. One is on my cellphone and cannot post pictures to the internet and the other barely has enough memory or a long enough battery life to take and save one picture at a time. And, there's no cable to attach it to my computer. Curses. A thousand of them.

The reason my frustration has mounted to the levels that I must share it in a blog post is because I wore something absolutely adorable, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, to go iceskating with Katherine. Granted, we ended up not able to go iceskating, but we did walk to a park and swing and generally do picturesque things whilst I HAD NO CAMERA.

The worst part? Yes, thank you for asking, there WAS something that sucked more than having a parasol on a swing looking adorable in front of a bunch of flowers in a park on a sunny day. And that was this; on the way home, walking in pig patches of super green grass, still in the sun and carrying a parasol, she brought me magnolia blossoms, and we found a rabbit. Epic Alice in Wonderland moment: missed.

Imagine my frustration. Wait, you don't have to, I just told you about it! She's a beautiful girl, it was a beautiful day, I had on a beautiful dress... Damn. No camera. Screw you, universe. Actually, not universe, just camera people for making the camera I want so expensive....

Frustration mildly alleviated. You will not hear of it again for a time.

Black.

It's good for so many things. Contrast, matching, proclaiming to the entire population how dark and foreboding you are.

Black makeup, black hair, black clothes, black makeup, black fingernail polish, black jewelry, black makeup. I have a feeling I repeated something... Ah well. There is no such thing as too much black. One of my personal favorite ensembles is a black lace skirt, black tights, black lace platforms and a black velvet top with lace edging the wide sleeves. A long black wig and black eyeliner and eyeshadow, black nailpolish. At this point, you may be thinking, "wait, where's the black lipstick?" Yes, I own it. Yes, I wear it. Just not with this outfit, because my blue eyes already look out of place, ergo the only spot of unnatural color is my purple or red lipstick. It's fun.

Point of tangent; black is fun. Black is amazing. Black goes with anything, or all by itself.

Does anyone want to post pictures or long-winded descriptions of why black is amazing, or their favorite black-centric outifit? Or pictures of cates. Whatever.

"My expectation in life is to be invisible, and I'm good at it."

The Princess Diaries. *Not Goth alert! The sirens are going off!*

I love the movies. Yes, they're sort of dumb. Yes, they're about a Princess. Yes, the main characters are silly and semi-superficial, but it's just so... cute!! The Queen and Joe, The girls with rhyming names, Lilly and her sea-otter things, Lilly herself! The fact that they're all supposed to be fifteen and they look twenty.... Ah, the movie. I like Lilly's choker and hair. "Voltaire, hair. I would personally like to learn about Voltaire." I actually said that, when we got to the French Revolution at school... did we stop laughing? Not for five minutes.

The mother, they way they live in the firehous, the crazy neighbor... I wish I was a writer like that. I write, but I don't have a recorder, I don't sit morosely on my porch (in broad daylight) monologuing to myself (outloud). Oh my gosh, I'm the crazy neighbor!

The costumes (especially for the state dinner and royal ball)... The state dinner pallette cleanser... fail. The MnM pizza... random white haired butler cameo, rain driving.

So very very funny. So much fun to just stare at. Haha that's made me giggle since I was a little girl. And then I dressed up as a princess and went to school. >.< facepalm. There are no pictures. The evidence had been destroyed.

Book Reviews! Animal Farm, Farenheit 451, Brave New World

(In case you're wondering what the heck is up with the novels I read being mostly dystopia-centric, they're assigned for class. Luckily, they're also good and I like talking about them. Currently, I have very little free time (hence the sporadic blogging) and even less of it uninterrupted, as I prefer my reading time to be, so I don't read for myself very much, just for classes. Over the summer, however, I will likely bombard you with reviews of manga, Star Trek novels and whatever dark material I can get my pale little hands on.)

Animal Farm: Possibly because they are by the same author (George Orwell), Animal Farm reminds me quite a lot of 1984, (which, incedentally, was a book I read for myself, not for class) but with pigs. Snowball becomes like the object of the Two Minutes' Hate, Goldstein, who is blamed for everything that goes wrong within the animal totalitarian/communist farm. Again, no ruining the book ending for you, but it really was a very quick, very interesting read and I do reccomend it to anyone who has a little time and a distaste for dystopia.

Farenheit 451: by Ray Bradbury. This is a story about a future in which books are burned, social media is an unrelenting assault upon the senses, and billboard advertisements are hundreds of feet long to compensate for the speeds at which drivers pass them. In other words, my personal hell. The main character, Guy Montag, is a fireman who burns books but becomes disillusioned with the society he lives in, a mentality exacerbated by a girl he meets, Clarisse McClellan. The book follows Montag's journey from brainwashed citizen to semi-enlightened hobo. Have fun!

Brave New World: by Aldous Huxley. This book is centered around a few main characters, each of whom is a different example of the society they live in. People are grown in factories, preconditioned and chemically to fit the stratified social castes, which is set for life. It's really very interesting, 259 pages long, and I read it in roughly four hours, intermittently, because it's just that good. Probably my favorite character is the writer, Helmholtz Watson, who becomes dissatisfied with his mandated topics and writes a sort of poem about loneliness, a topic which is much avoided and discouraged. I would highly recommend this book, even if you're not much of a dystopia fan, just because of the interesting aspects of the society depicted.

The Search for College

Every day when I log into my email, the inbox is just overflowing with invitations to attend collges I'm lucky if I've heard of, and each seems to have the same angle. "hello, you're cool, check us out"- it gets annoying as hell.

Why? Why do I have four million school wanting me to go there? University of Boston, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Cornell, University of Tampa (yes, because I like to inhale my water in the form of humidity, I like swimming through my air, and the heat and sun absolutely wouldn't ruin HALF of my wardrobe... Florida. Pssh.) etc.

On the upside, I have a lot of choices, and a whole year and a half to decide. Also on the plus side, I opened my inbox one day to find a request from Transylvania University! Not that I'd ever heard of them, much less had any inclination to attend, but the name! Is! TRANSYLVANIA! Nothing in the known universe could stop me from wearing on my lazy days a sweatshirt that said "Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!" and on the back said 'Transylvania University'. It's a liberal arts college... perhaps I should look into it. I could at least start there, and transfer my credits, just for the pure irony of attending TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY.

Anyone have any thoughts on colleges? Tips, ways to condense a wardrobe so as to allow the inevitable roommate closet space... I haven't yet chosen a major, though I am particularly fond of both writing/literature-centric things and SCIENCE. It is my life! Actually, it created my life, biology and such, but that's not the point...

Returned From Jet City!

Seattle was great, but much the same as where I live climate-wise. In other words; it rains. It rains like the sky is determined to convince us that the atmosphere is made of ice and the more we heat the world with global warming the more it melts and drips right into our eyes, dammit!

The Space Needle was probably my favorite thing we experienced, hardly a surprise as I rather like all things sciency or engineering-y and also being up high, and looking at city lights at night. The restaurant housed in the needle rotates, powered by a 1 and 1/2 horsepower engine, so you get a full view of the city, Puget Sound and the islands. It was amazing! There was also an observation deck, which didn't rotate, but did have a few information plaques and a kiosk that talked to you. Fascinating.

We rode the ferry out to one of the islands, Bainbridge, I believe, and had lunch in a cafe, then decided there wasn't much else to see and rode the ferry back to Seattle.

I got some Doc Martens, bright red. I know! Sadly, that is not my picture, as I have yet to get myself a working camera. I'm torn between updating my wardrobe and buying a camera. Curses. Hope you all had a wonderful Spring break!