My Beloved Backpack

Hello again snarklings!

About a week ago on Tuesday, I got it in the mail. Yup, my black backpack. Nothing fancy-shmancy, and a small thing to receive (considering the boots, mini skirts, stockings, and chokers that I usually buy. Poor mailman), but I was kinda excited. Seeing that black bag was like seeing a blank canvas for the first time. My imagination began to go "How can I improve upon this?"

Sooo, out came the creativity. It's black, so I would need a contrasting color. I didn't want to add much color because if I wore a black/red outfit with a black/purple backpack (or vice cersa), I would be committing a big personal faux pas. I chose to stick to a monochromatic sort of color scale: black, grey, silver, and white. (Does clear count as a color?)

I recently went to something called The Pink Parlour Festival where a lot of crafters sell their handmade, one-of-a-kind goods. Even though some things were a bit too pricey to purchase, I took pictures (to replicate them at a later date when I had the time and money to do so. Also, pins. Lots, and lots of pins. There was this great graphic novelist who, though I couldn't buy her book, sold a lot of cool pins with her character (female goth girl, w00t w00t!) and other little gothic trinkets as well. These were utilized in my backpack's conversion, as well as useless safety pins.

This is where I ripped off the Jansport logo and decorated it with a lot of pins, and drew on an ankh with a whiteout pen as well.

My beloved bag Spooky will now be spending hours at home having tea with the unicorns and bunnies that inhabit my bed, so I decided to keep with the black/white cross theme and add a little homage to Spooky's presence. I love Shakespeare and I love Emilie Autumn, so the quote seemed necessary.

I'm thinking of adding little crosses and ankhs in random order down the straps, but they're plain for now. I'm also thinking of dissecting an old studded belt and adding those on the straps, but I dunno yet. I also want to add a biohazard sign, but those seem kinda complicated for my minimalistic artistic skills. ^^;

Have you guys ever "spookified" something? A bag, a shirt- no matter how small and inconsequential, tell me about your experience.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Hello again my snarkling friends!

 

Okay, so I don't really know what this means (still being new to blogging and what-not), but I've been nominated by this lovely lady for The Versatile Blogger Award!

http://ultimategothguide.blogspot.com/2011/04/im-still-versatile.html

 

According to these written rules, I am required to:

1. Thank and link the person who nominated you. (^Done)

2. Share seven random facts about yourself.

3. Pass the award onto fifteen of your favourite bloggers

4. Contact your nominees to let them know about the award.

 

Okay, so seven random facts about me:

1. I love all music and am an aspiring opera singer. I would love to combine the classical operatic bel canto sound with like an Emilie Autumn Industrial/Goth feel.

2. I like to sew and make things for myself and friends. My latest creation was a mini top hat for my friend's birthday. It's black and white checkers that I glued little red hearts onto as well as blood stains.

3. I have many journals and I love to write.

4. I have a black lab named Claudia Emilie Rose Zacarias, or Emilie for short.

5. I love Emilie Autumn and everything about her. For serious.

6. I love tea. My recent addiction is something you can get at Starbuck's called a "Dirty Soy Chai Tea Latte." It's a chai made with soy milk and 3 shots of espresso, and I love it!

7. I went to Christian school for 8 years, from 5th to 12th grade. Seriously. I always did as I was told and went to church and was a good little Christian girl and was SOOOOO shy. I had no friends in 9/10th grade. I was the weird girl with black clothes and long hair that read books under the tree at lunch.

 

Glad the "Me" portion is done, ick.

 

Okay, so... I don't know 15 people on this thing. I'm sorry for breaking the chain and well (though this seems very much like a chain letter kind of thing), I'm afraid I'll have to tag the only person I really know, my little dementiakitty:

http://dementiakitty.blogspot.com/?zx=f8973abcba4954da

 

AND! I have a post coming up on my lame backpack I've mentioned before. But I'll have to upload some photos first. :3

 

I hope you all have a good morning, my fellow bat brethren!

Impromptu Performance

Hello my darlings!

Sorry it's been so long, but I've been uber-busy lately. Yesterday (Friday April 15th, 2001), I woke up at 5am, was at school by 8am, we loaded up the bus and went to the school by 9:30, had a show at 10:30, performed and got to the school by 12pm. We do shows with opera, musical theater, operetta scenes, etc., and we tour on Friday mornings to help bring music to the children. It was a really long morning, but as I was driving home, my friend texted me.

We were going to a concert (a fundraiser event) at my old college at 6pm. He said the lead singer from one (of many bands) had to back out and if I wanted to fill her place. I was super excited! I'm so used to singing opera and what not, and now I got to let loose and sing Heart's "Crazy On You" with a band!!!

I said yes, and as soon as I got home, I studied the pants off of that song. I've always loved Heart. My mom used to play them in our van as she drove my brother and I to junior high school, so I had a vague understanding of the song, but I didn't know the lyrics or the form of the piece. I printed out the lyrics (in purple because my printer suddenly ran out of black ink) and memorized them while I got ready.

When I got to the college, the two guitarists were there, but the drummer and the bassist were both MIA. I was really nervous, but I said that I was willing to sing even if it was just with the both of them, and they agreed. As we rehearsed the piece ( just the second time through from the refrain), Kris stopped playing. I looked him and said "Don't we go to the chorus there?" but my sentence trailed off as I saw his face. He looked sad, like a little boy who broke his toy helicopter, so I looked down. His string had burst.

We all had an unofficial moment of silence. Javier was the first to speak "C'mon, there's a Guitar Center a few blocks from here. Let's go!" So Javier and Kris ventured forth into the land of guitars while I stood behind with Chris (the one who texted me in the first place) and memorized the lyrics some more.

During this time, we had a little impromptu photo shoot (Shameless plug, I know). Here was what I looked like.

I couldn't dress uber-Goth and I wanted to be safe because I didn't know the venue or the band, but I still wanted to incorporate some goth-y elements. I wore my blood red front lace-up bodice, my black velvet jacket, all my silver rings and my black wrist rosary. Then, I incorporated some "casual" elements like skinny blue jeans and studded high heeled boots. Also, my studded belt with a black cross belt buckle and a feather in my hair. Tres "rockstar."

That's just outside the venue I performed at. There were a lot of performers from different bands playing and they all wanted THEIR amp, so this is the graveyard of amps that they constructed.

I really loved the skull on this amp.

The boys came back and Kris worked on his guitar, trying to tune it up before the concert. After about 30 minutes or so, it was 6pm and the show was about to begin. Everyone filed in the room, so I decided to take a few obligatory photos with these Classical musicians.

This should be our first CD cover.

The drummer and bassist were kinda MIA until after 6 when the show began. I was a little nervous, but we did it anyway. With little in the way of a rehearsal and reeeally coming down the last second, I think we did pretty good. It was nice to do something fun like this, like my hobby job on Friday nights after dark. XD

It was hard to hear myself over the graveyard of amps and right beside the drummer, but I somehow made it through without making a fool of myself. Here's the video, I hope you like it.

Backpack

Hello my spooky friends!

Okay, I bought something on Friday that I haven't had since before Freshman year of high school- I bought a backpack. A true backpack, not the kind that is shaped like a coffin with a cross and chain dangling across it, like my bag "Spooky."

I love her to itty bitty bat pieces, but she has elastic straps- this means that I cannot carry heavy things because she'll bounce up and down on my back. This means that I would usually also carry a tote bag filled with books, paper, music, and edible delights as well.

I never weighed the tote bag when it was filled, but it deemed a "Holy hell!" from my mother when she tried to lift it once. Tried.

I realized I needed a vessel that was build sturdier, roomier, and easier to carry. So, I bought a backpack.

Nothing special, it's a Jansport "Super Student" (basically meaning it's bigger). It's all black, and has lots of pockets for stuff. This means that I can also put all my purse/wallet belongings inside of it Meaning I'll have to leave Spooky at home. Though this saddens me, this also means that I can be more comfortable whilst carrying all my gear at school.

However, this also brings about a dilemma: how to I dress with said backpack?

'Tis a trivial question, I know, but do you think I'd wear this outfit with a big black backpack on my back?

(Note: This ISN'T me. This is the amazing, talented, beautiful, awesome, lovely Emilie Autumn herself. You should know about her if you're going to know about me, so get to know her now because she's amazing. *Nods*)

It's hard to convey the supernatural spookiness that I want to create with my day-to-day changing wardrobe choices with 30+ pounds of stuff bulging forth from my back, so I'm going to try to adapt to this small change with a more "casual" (eh, I don't know if I like that word, is "conventional" any better? How about "practical"?) approach to my wardrobe.

For starters, I think that my corsets/bodices will have to be for special events now. Fishnets and boots are okay, as well as gothic lolita stuff (plaid skirts, over-the-knee stockings, button-up shirts, pigtails, etc.), Just no frock coats, trench coats, cloaks/capes (I DO own a purple velvet one), and other such truly eccentric spooky garments.

I am a wee-bit saddened at the neglect that Spooky shall have to now endure, but I know my back will thank me for it. What do you guys think? Do you have any such said experiences with your wardrobe? <3!

Introductions

Hello again, my lovies. Mary here, and I'm so glad to see you again.
Yes, I say again. Why? you ask? Simple. I made my old blog private.

Time and time again, I read a small portion of it, trying to see a small fragment of my real, true self in there. And I didn't.

The truth is, in all my photos and listings, it was be being what I thought was healthy, what I thought other people wanted me to be when, in fact, I had low self-esteem. I disliked what I saw in the mirror, so much, that I couldn't do my make-up, I couldn't do my hair, nor function properly without curling up in a ball at night thinking "Why aren't I happy?"

Aside from all that slow self-annihilation by self inhibitions, I've decided to do something I've longed for- I'm letting it out. All the crazy, all the joy and the hurt and the beauty and the shit and all the hilariousness that comes with this strange thing called life. This is my safe haven for my thoughts and dreams and things that go bump in the night, so please respect that and have a nice hot cuppa tea.

Okay, backstory complete. Let's move along.

I recently feel like I've entered this safe place in my life where I can put myself out there and not be afraid. Afraid that I'm not pretty enough, smart enough, thin enough, loved enough, good enough. I've always been "the weird girl", the odd one out, and all those other cliches that you hear in books or in high school. I still feel that way at times ( a LOT ), but I've learned to work through them and attempt to get past them, if only to have a brief moment of happiness.

I swing back and forth from the pink/glitter/floral loving Ophelia to the dark/inky/ankh wearing Raven of the night, so let me establish this now- you will get a lot of weirdness on this thing. *nods*

Put simply? I am the girl you read about in poems: singing songs to a nameless face from a far-off place, full of purity and grace, all wrapped up into this mental case.

So hello. It's nice to meet you. I've been waiting for you. <3!