Rogue, day 2

so yesterday was our second day with the kitten formerly known as charcoal. we spent most of the day out, leaving our little rogue to mew mournfully after us as we left. me to rogue: loka ka! kagabi dinededma-deadma mo kami, ngayong paalis kami saka mo kami iiyakan? i jest, of course, in my usual babaeng bakla fashion, but i was getting a bit worried by the time we left because she still hadn't eaten or done any business.

the morning was spent attending mass and a lunch for ateneo alumni at the parish of st. ignatius because our beloved fr. ben (dumbledore!) was visiting, along with the OAA director and my philo 104 teacher fr. nemy, and marlon's favorite math teacher ma'am jo. i can't tell you what a beautiful, beautiful feeling it was to sing filipino jesuit church music.

i was also completely moved by the opportunity extended to ateneo alumni in singapore to help with funding for scholars. that's pretty much because i was a scholar too. i was stunned to learn that 14% of ateneo college students are on scholarship -- not because it's a small number (it's actually more than decent), but it really hit me how lucky i was to have been that 14% in my time. also how lucky i was to be among the 250 scholars a year who are given scholarships out of the 850 who apply. so marlon and i agreed to set aside a little amount each month to contribute to the scholarship fund, because i know just how much difference a little bit can make to a scholar who really needs the money.

afterwards, we went all the way down to harbourfront to shop at charcoal/rogue's foster parents (FPs) pet store of choice. as the cashier rang up our cat food, cat-away spray, feeding dishes, scratch pad, cat carrier, catnip, cat collar and various other cat paraphernalia, he murmured: "first-time cat owner, huh?" you'd better believe it.

maryosep tantanan n'yo na kami

actually, walang tatalo sa pagka-first time cat owners ng mga FP ni charcoal/rogue. after we got out from our afternoon screening of WALL-E, nagpumilit lang naman silang dalawin ang pusa, ostensibly para i-turn over ang mga natitira nilang mga kagamitang pang-pusa... kahit tumanggi ako (politely of course) at sinabi kong nakapamili na kami. but no nagpumilit pa rin sila. k fine. baka nami-miss lang nila. pagbigyan.

ang mga kasangkapang dinala: litter tray and litter sand (kahit sinabi kong meron na kaming binili), cat-away spray (ditto), pagkain, flea spray para sa carpet, flea powder para sa pusa, mga samu't saring laruan, at... dito ako muling tumambling. shampoo. dahil araw-araw daw nila itong pinapaliguan.

diyoskoday. naloka ako. unang-una, naiimbyerna po ang mga pusa kapag sila'y nababasa. ikalawa, ang mga pusa po ay may katangi-tanging abilidad na paliguan ang kanilang mga sarili.

bigla kong na-realize kung bakit ang dialogue ng mga FP ay panay ganito: "gusto sana namin ng pusa, pero wala kaming oras eh." e gaga pala sila. kung pinapahirapan nila ang mga sarili nila sa araw-araw na pagpapaligo at pagpupulbos at 2x kada araw na paglilinis con johnson's baby wipes ng isang hayop na napakalinis sa sarili nitong katawan, e mawawalan talaga sila ng oras!

eto pa ang maganda. ayaw daw nilang makaistorbo, pero bibisita raw sila every two weeks para tingnan kung inaalagaan namin ng mabuti ang pusa. talagang nagkatinginan kami ni marlon sa napakandang non sequitur na ito. buti na lang ay kaagad kong sinabi na mas mabuti kung kada buwan na lang, kung hindi baka napagulong pa ang aming mga eyeballs. haha sorry naubusan ako ng tagalog. siguro dahil ganun na lang ang kabuwisitang naramdaman ko sa taong nais magpulis sa aming pet-rearing skills.

all's well that ends well

...because at the end of the day, we have our rogue and she's worth it. TV time has turned to kitty time, as we discovered the singular pleasure she takes in being cuddled by two simpering humans at one time. in the midst of some heavy-duty double cuddling, she fell asleep in the cozy hollow created by our bodies as we watched TV on our tiny two-seater couch. really, marlon and i completely melted.

that TV cuddle seems to have finally impressed upon her that marlon and i are good humans to have around, because this morning she actually came out of her favorite sub-coffee-table hideaway when we came out of our bedroom for breakfast. plus, she actually came to me when i called her! marlon hasn't quite succeeded yet, as he has yet to undo 26 years of dog training and stop saying "here, boy!" hahaha! but not bad for just two days eh?

RAndommmmmm

*Lirin feeds night neko chan* Ice's umbrella is blue while mine is red. same brella! XD Syazz loan me de new moon! WEE~ mm.. i was hopin of more of Edward and Bella, not Jacob =X









Calefare is FUNNY. @_@!! me fightin "Yugioh wif Tama" XD

Zean kor actin like dat bunny above.(my fave ice cream!) went to watch wall-e wif Mizu, Zean and Tama at cathy on sat night. SO CUTE DE MOVIE. "Wallll-eee" "Evaaaa???" :X:X u'll understand aft watchin. it was rainin like crap, so... *puts plastic bag over his shoes* LOL! but it began tearin T__T~

spent time wif Tama on a sun. haha *oversmiles* =D feel so nice on a peaceful day, just slackin ard XD

Conventional dressing

From The New Republic - I like this because it doesn't just deal with how the women are dressed:

Like his niece, Ted Kennedy, who delivered the most moving (at moments heartbreaking, given the circumstances) speech of the evening, was dressed in navy blue. If, as Diana Vreeland once quipped, "pink is the navy blue of India," then navy blue is the navy blue of politics. All the prominent politicians of the evening--Joe Biden, Jim Leach, John Kerry, Kennedy--wore navy blue jackets, white or blue shirts, and white-and-blue patterned ties. Their ensembles were so similar one began to suspect they had, like a clique of junior-high girls, called each other the night before to coordinate outfits. (Kerry's take, however, was rather more patrician: cornflower blue tie; matte where others' fabrics were meretriciously shiny.) The reasons for all the blue are obvious. It's patriotic, and it's also the party's color. Perhaps more relevantly, navy seems safe and stalwart in this aforementioned time of war and economic insecurity: the color is free from the suspicious slickness of black, and the dowdy, Beta-male connotations of brown. A real man throws on a navy blue sport coat when he cleans up and goes out. Navy blue is a color that will--to quote another commentator from CNN's very deep bench, who was himself quoting Groucho Marx --"play well in Peoria."

Politics or not? YOU decide

I had this idea that with the US election coming up I'd have a post a week where everyone can talk Obama/McCain, but there's a feeling that you want this to be a politics-free zone.

I'm a great believer in democracy so I'll go with the popular vote. Punch your hanging chad in the comments below. One comment, one vote.

But if you're in New Orleans, just get in the car and go NOW.

Ain't she sweet

The strange world of me

I have a deadline. The deadline is actually tomorrow but I managed to get an extension to the end of next week. The deadline is for the book of The Thoughtful Dresser and I have been stuck in London all summer finishing it, and a cold, wet and windy summer. It's not been good or memorable.

But I have done something I have never done before, I have now almost completed buying my Autumn/Winter wardrobe. I broke with the habits of a lifetime and instead of going into a shop and saying, 'Ooh! I like that', I sat down and thought about what I needed, looked to see what was coming in to the shops and then went and got it. Yesterday I bought knee length boots, the day before, ankle boots, the previous week, winter coat. I bought scarves on eBay, a coat-dress at Jaeger and I've ordered a bag which will be in mid-September. One more item and I'll be done. I bought stuff when it had just arrived in the shops, and the sales were still on. They had not sold out of my size.

The clothes are all hanging in the wardrobe, unworn, under protective anti-moth covers, so it makes them feel old before I ever wore them. A little of the joie de vivre of life has gone, the impulsive purchase. I have far greater confidence in the capsule collection of clothes I've chosen. I have some marvelous investments in there. But it feels old. I feel old.

I realise that what I really want is to be rich enough always to wear new things. Change keeps the heart light.

US elections

Two months to go. Since there seems to be a lot of interest in discussing the issues arising from the election, I'm proposing to have an open thread every Friday where you can discuss the past week's campaign.

If any American voters would like to write a guest post, drop me a line at lindagrantblog(at)googlemail.com

A Rogue in our home

there's a new member of the paul-plazo household. she's five months old, covered in sleek black fur with lovely white streaks from each of her eyes up to her ears, and a long hooked tail. her name is rogue, and she is a beauty. 

the cat idea had been floating around since late last year, when i realized that moving out of our askal-populated home in mandaluyong meant that i could have a cat again. though marlon has always been a dog person, he warmed to the idea of a cat when he took into account our busy schedules (cats are way more low-maintenance) and living space (70 sqm is not enough for an active pooch). so we both agreed to get a cat at some undefined point in time, but never really put any work into getting it done. 

then i got really bored at work. with my two big pitches and a couple of promo projects all finished last friday, monday was the first day ever that i actually spent a full day at work without actually doing anything related to work. after making the rounds of my usual online haunts (chuvaness, pep, facebook, et al) there was nothing left for me to do except... google "singapore cat adoption." patay!

the days that followed were completely cat-crazy. i looked at the spca and cat welfare society, learned about the horrifying tale of the cat hoarder,  sent links to marlon and discussed many a prospective pet over yahoo messenger with him. i must have emailed and texted over 10 cat rescuers and "fosters", mostly asking about pure black kittens aged 3 months to over a year old. 

hello charcoal

i got a couple of encouraging responses, but the one i really wanted to hear from was davis, foster daddy to a beautiful pure black cat named charcoal. to see the adorable-ness that sucked me in big time, check out the last cat posted on august 12 here.

and when i finally heard from charcoal's foster, boy was it a whopper of a reply. for a brief moment, i knew what it was like to be angelina jolie, or even madonna. because the adoption requirements and screening process was just... 

basta. as my boss james would say: "have a look."

Name : Charcoal
Age : 3 months
Sex : Female
Type : Mixed black tabby

Note : Needs patience & time to get her warmed up to you as she was a stray kitten and has no contact with human before at very young age. Near missed by a vehicle & rescued. Traumatized due to siblings knocked down by a vehicle. Probably weeks or months to get her warmed up. Once warmed up, she will be very friendly and will stick to you very closely and follow you where ever you go. Very nosy (kay po) & curious, and would like to follow you & see what you do everyday.

Favourites
1. Enjoys running around & playing with you or toys.
2. Loves to be cleaned on her head and face with your wet fingers.
3. Loves to be bottle-fed with milk before going to bed at about mid-nite.
4. Loves to sleep on a hammock.

Dos (Her Routine)
1. Litterbox / toilet trained but need to guide her initially before each meals to familiarize your place.
2. Litterbox : A tray with newspaper and sand (preferred brand : Fussie Cat - Lemon @$7.00 per 10litres pack).
3. Clumps to be removed from the sand (otherwise she will play with the clumps).
4. Clean her feets & bottom with wet serviettes after using the litterbox.
5. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Supper with dry food & water.
6. Dry Food (Science Diet or Eagle - Chicken Flavour) or whichever you can introduce.
7. Play with her after each meals as a reward.
8. After supper, clean her with your wet hands (with very little cat shampoo and anti-flea spray on your hands).
9. Feed her with milk in bottle max: 15ml at least once a day (Preferred Milk : Animalac Milk Powder)

Don'ts
1. Open windows and open doors that she will jump out as she's very nosy and curious.
2. Toilet bowls and plug holes to covered as she's very curious to jump in.

cue tumbling! may brand preference ang hitad. saan ka pa? pero siyempre feeling ko hindi na yan routine nung pusa kundi ng taong umampon sa kanya. 

at kung tumumbling ako sa listahan na yan, nag-nastia liukin floor routine ako sa listahan na sumunod.

I would like to know a little more about you as the caregiver to check if you're suitable to love & care for Charcoal. 1. Do you want the kitten for yourself or is it for a gift?
2. Do you have any experience with cat / kitten?
3. Are you above 21 year old? Are your working or studying?
5. Do you live with your parents, landlords or do you own or rent your apartment?
6. What's your working hours? Do you spend most of your time at home and how long?
7. How many adults & children live in your apartment?
8. Who will be responsible for the kitten & how long you or whoever will responsible will look after the kitten?
9. Do you have any pets now or in the past?
10. What are they and how long did you have your pets?
11. Will this kitten be an indoor or outdoor pet?
12. Do you plan on having the kitten de-clawed?
13. If you moved, what would you do with the kitten?
14. Does everybody in your family want an adopted cat / kitten?
15. Is anyone in your household allergic to cat / kitten?
16. Do you have carrier, harness & leash, enclosed yard, cat-proof fencing or enclosure?
17. Do you have the financial resources to pay for the kitten - food, litter, medical fees, incidentals & etc?
18. Do you plan to sponsor the kitten for vaccination (asap) & sterilization (6 month old) and regular vet checkups?
19. May I visit your home to see how and where the kitten would be living?
20. Will we or CWS members to visit the kitten / cat from time to time within reasonable limits to see if it is well-taken care of?

suddenly makes you wonder what the adoption process for children is like in the philippines and if it's even half this stringent. 

the next level

mejo nabuwisit ako sa simula, especially since hindi naman talaga kanila yung pusa. pero go lang, kasi ang cuuuuuuute cuuuuuuute cuuuuuuute niya talaga. so sumagot naman ako. and i realized marlon and i have lived with enough pets to open a small zoo. our combined pet history covers: one poodle, six spitzes, five german shepherds, one husky, ten mongrels, three rabbits, four hamsters, god knows how many fish, five turtles, four turkeys, four maya birds, a cage of parakeets, an indian cockatoo, a duck, a chicken, fourteen chicks and generations upon generations of rescued stray cats. 

so this super jologs version of the twelve days of christmas must have impressed charcoal's foster parent, because he replied quite speedily, revealing the next stage of the adoption process: a house inspection. sa tumbling na ginawa ko, i swear puwedeng-puwede na akong isali sa chinese olympic gymnastics team.

marlon and i hosted a lunch for his officemates today, so it was perfect timing -- the house was clean and we were in a rare social mood. at quarter to six (well over an hour after our agreed time of 4.30pm), davis and his wife jennifer brought over our little charcoal. at dahil mukhang pumasa naman kami sa mag-asawang umampon sa kanya, naging "our" little charcoal talaga siya in less than one hour.

in fairness hindi naman sila super lukaret, which i kind of expected after reading their lists. na-attach lang talaga sa pusa, at super concerned. they gave us a "starter kit" of packed kitty litter, food, toys and even lent us their cat carrier with the cutest DIY hammock inside. they even offered to accompany us on the kitty's visits to the vet. which was nice but a bit strange because i think if marlon and i can relocate, establish careers abroad, furnish our own place and manage our household siguro naman kaya naming magdala ng pusa sa vet diba? 

ewan. inisip ko na lang na super attached sila. after all, they did rescue the poor kitty at 5 weeks old from the middle of a major intersection... after its sibling had been splattered all over the street. they loved her and took care of her until she got over her skittishness and trauma. so i figured a little weirdness is justified. kahit pinapirma pa kami ng adoption contract. sige na.

kitten, thy name is rogue

as our new kitty quickly staked out its favorite spot under our two low, circular coffee tables, marlon and i lay on the living room floor thinking of a new name -- charcoal wasn't quite doing it for us. we went through a couple of names -- ash (after aishwarya rai, since the kitty was all eyes), pepper, even the completely silly beyonce, bulbol and kili-kili. then i saw the spine of one of the magazines on our coffee table, and knew we had the perfect name: rogue.

and so the evening has been a quiet one at home, as we let rogue get used to her new digs and to having the two of us around. she's warmed up quicker than i thought -- we had a great time lying on our stomachs on the floor, stroking her back and her jaw as she purred like a motorboat gone mad. she even let marlon carry her into the TV room for a little bit of cuddly while he watched wrestling. now she's back under the coffee table -- kind of an odd spot for a cat, but hey, who are we to complain now that we have her?

later i decided to tack on blair to make a full name -- blair after blair waldorf, my favorite character on gossip girl (pretty, snooty, naughty) and after the blair witch project, because this kitty can look absolutely creepy when she stares out at you from under the shadows of the coffee table. 

so her full name is blair rogue paul-plazo (ang landi!), but mostly she's just rogue. and just perfect. :)

oh and please excuse the crappy photo -- i can't find my digicam cable and we just have our camera phones, and this kitty wriggles like crazy!

Fat or unfashionable?

Jess Cartner-Morley in the Guardian asks, I assume rhetorically of the new peg leg trousers:

In my ignorance, I initially dismissed the look as an unflattering trouser shape that would never catch on. The second time I saw it, I suspected it was a ruse to quieten the size-zero debate by making models look twice as broad as they are. But the third time I saw it, I had to accept it was a trend.

Ever since, I have been dreading the day I would have to write about peg-leg trousers. For photographic purposes I have wimped out of the cutting-edge version of the look, in which the trousers are the same shape but lopped off above the ankle, in favour of a more forgiving, ankle-length pair, but still. The brutal truth is that unless you are blessed with long legs and a tiny waist, they do you no favours. Yet the peg leg is indisputably the on-trend trouser shape of the season. So we are faced with a stark choice: to look fat or unfashionable?

Chess anyone???

Is it me or do you feel like you are watching a chess match when it comes to the presidential election? Mc Cain has been all over Obama for his lack of experience then he chooses someone who has just as little as Obama. I am sure there will be a counter move coming from Obama's camp in the coming days. I really can't wait for Nov to get here so I can get back to my mindless TV that relaxes me so in the evenings, instead of the chess match that is the presidential election. Some call checkmate already!!!!!

Have a great long week, I plan to put the finishing touches on back to school stuff and get ready for the big day on Tuesday, still hard to fathom that I have a 1st grader, mom wasn't kidding when she said this time would go by in the blink of an eye!

So what are you up to this weekend?

Family drama

I have a piece in the Guardian today about how to make family films about the Nazi Death Camps. Or perhaps not.

This is a Hollywood version of the Holocaust, and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is literally a Disneyfication (you wonder whether The Gas Chamber ride is being installed outside Paris). When you make films about the Final Solution for children there's not much you can say other than to introduce the historical events in a palatable way, and to make a general lesson about being nice to other people. When The Diary of Anne Frank was adapted for the stage in the 1950s, it was with the intention of suppressing the specifically Jewish element of the story to make it "universal".

F1 night race

yay~ got de F1 night race job as ticketing inspector. will be there all 3 days(26th sep to 28th sep) from 4pm-12am. mm.. thks dar for being understanding. =)~
will be at town area for movie today and tmr. wee! gonna meet deary, Mizu and Zean kor.
ah... me wans to buy him somethin nice. Psp? (it's somethin i tot of long time ago when u 1st said u wanted it so DUN ARGUE wif me XD)

A conversation with my son....

Jackson: Mommy, I want a bagel naked!

Me: What!

Jackson; you know a bagel with nothing on it

Me: oh ok where did you learn the phrase naked bagel

Jackson: I haven't

Me: you didn't here someone say O want a bagel naked?

Jackson: No, but if you have a bagel and you don't put anything on it then it is naked right?

Me: yes, you are right. I say scratching my head wondering what I am going to do with this boy when he is 8 if already has this line of reasoning at 4!

Harry Peers Through The Looking Glass

There has been something of a debate recently on these pages about unwearable designs and the fashion writers role in promoting them.

The problem , it seems to me, lies with the fashion pundits
or style arbiters and what they say about these clothes, rather than with the designers.
It’s not only ok for the designers to produce clothes that are impractical and perhaps even unwearable: we want them to. We want to have glimpses of a fantastic world where fabulous people wear fabulous creations. It plays to our innate child like sense of wonder. We like to imaginatively believe that there is a wonder land somewhere out there . And, just as we did as children, we get to this land by reading about it , and, very importantly, by looking at pictures. The higher reaches of fashion and style have become , for many, the enchanted land that is populated by princesses , and princes, where real life is suspended and all sorts of things may , or may not , happen, just by dreaming of them. For many, of course, the door to this land can be found in the metaphorical wardrobe.

Most of us would maintain that we left fairy tales behind us years ago. We’re wrong . The fables that nurture us have just taken on a different guise. Hollywood once understood better the adult appetite for enchantment. Fred and Ginger didn’t just live in a world where people danced at the drop of a top hat. They lived in a world where people wore immaculate clothes, in houses with drawing rooms as big as a hangar, and rooms furnished in sleek cream leather. It may have been monochrome , but we were transported to a world of otherwise unimagined glamour.
Hollywood doesn’t seem to deliver this anymore ( perhaps it is Bollywood that has taken up the fabulist role)

So what are we left with? Fashion and style. And celebrity and gossip. And these volumes of fairy tales are published monthly, or weekly, and the newsstands are like carnival kiosks forever hawking new instalments.

Of course, some readers have a more refined taste . But for many a quick cheap fix will often do. I am referring to the acres of photographs devoted to second rate celebrities, and the spreads of the tacky lifestyles and bad taste mansions inhabited by the rich and famous. These celebrities don’t really pass muster as the princesses and prince charmings that we are looking for.
But in the more rarified reaches of fantasy inhabited by the likes of Vogue we do see a fabulous world. And it’s been designed by Prada or Galliano. And it’s been art-directed. And beautifully lit. And dramatically photographed. And populated by exotic and beautiful creatures. And they are wearing fabulous clothes. That we have never seen before. Or imagined.

That’s when the fashion writers step in and ruin it all. There is no point in telling people that this is what they must buy and wear. That’s actually got nothing to do with it. It should be about feeding the imagination , not laying down rules.

Not all fables appeal to all people. My advice is simply to devour and cherish the fables that you like. And ignore the commentator.

Occasionally the real world has palpitations when it seems that someone has managed to inhabit both the real and the fabulous world. Step forward Ms Paltrow, recently to be seen in just about every newspaper in the UK. The allure of Gwynneth in the highest of heels is surely because she plays to a sense of this fabulousness. She doesn’t need to run for a bus. Heavens, she doesn’t actually need to walk if she doesn’t want to. She has untold riches. Almost like living in a movie . And this is her way of communicating it. And we lap it up.

Bye bye posh girls

The media has been rife with rumours that ITV are going to cancel Trinny and Susannah's contract. Now it so happens that I go to the same hairdresser as these two goddesses, and that hairdresser also does the make-overs for the show, when they actually still did makeovers.

A long time ago, these two posh birds used to tell badly-dressed women the truth about how they look. It wasn't nice, it wasn't kind but they did manage to shoehorn them out of their beige sacks. And in my view, it was the conjunction of fast fashion and T&S which really jacked up British style in the past few years.

Now we have this guy Gok Wan, who gets a fat woman to look at an ID parade of other fat women and force them to say that they look fabulous naked. Often I'm sitting there thinking, no, you don't look fabulous. Cover yourselves up! (This is equally a criticism of myself.)

Where it went wrong for T&S was when they turned themselves into agony aunts, to 'refresh the formula', delving into people's personal lives. For godsake, it's just the frocks we're interested in.

The point of What Not To Wear was contained in its title. It told you how to dress for your figure, age, colouring. It's not rocket science yet many of us still aren't very good at it. The pleasure for me was watching someone look and the mirror and realise that, whoa, I've got a waist. Their choices might have been eccentric at times, they were obsessed with bosoms, but they were like two bracing St Trinian's prefects. They took you for a walk on the wild side. I loved them.

Sir Salman and me

There's a Q&A interview with me on the Man Booker website (and the other longlisted authors, too)

i feel lonely

eh.. i feel lonely again.
i wish i didn't need him that much... sometimes i wonder if he needs me. not a must. not a want. but a need. but i can't be like dat right? i know.. Lirin.. don't be so selfish and stop ur high expectations.
but i'm going out tis fri and sat wif him. how can i not be happy? =) hehs!

Democratic National Convention: Reprise

And here's a lesson on how to beat the credit crunch (is that really the National Rifle Association backing the New Deal?)

Taka nga muna...

it's for events like 100 katao, 100 taka that i wish i were back home. after reading about it on carlos celdran's blog, i went to the website of manlilikha, the organization that's putting this exhibit together, to learn more.

100 katao, 100 taka brings together 100 people (mostly artists, but some writers, politicians, designers and random others as well) who have each painted a taka, or papier-mache figure made by folk craftsmen from paete, laguna. i actually checked out each and every one of the 100 takas (yes, i have nothing to do this week) and was blown away by quite a number of them.


some of my favorites, from left to right: (top row) juan sajid imao, kusina salud (two figures, a woman and a horse), josie sison, arturo sanchez; (bottom row) eugene jarque, ferdz valencia, tado jimenez and karen flores.

then i found out you can bid for them when the exhibit is over! dang, i really wish i was home. thanks to marlon's promotion, we have a bit of leeway for luho this month, and a bit of art would be just perfect. what particularly draws me to the taka project is its filipino and folk art character. and i loved seeing all the hundred different directions a simple papier-mache figure can go.

i actually emailed manlilikha to see how i can participate in the bidding from way over here, although i am rather dubious about getting an actual response from an "info@..." email address. fingers crossed for this month's art fix, and for this year's addition to my wee but growing art collection!

Trousers: The Truth

The Telegraph has gone through all the trouser trends and tells you which ones to wear for your height/shape.

You can read this in full, if you like, but what you are about to find out is: There are no trousers that suit pear shaped women of average height.

"Cropped trousers only suit those with long legs,"

"Wide-legged trousers are ideal for tall women,"

"High-waisted trousers are wonderful on tall or petite women with hourglass figures," says Pinnot, "but they should be avoided by pear shapes as they accentuate the hips and the waist."

"Skinny jeans look fantastic on petites," says Pinnot. "But curvy women should steer clear, because skinnies accentuate curves."

"Peg legs are an interesting, edgy cut," says Pinnot. "They flatter taller women, and drown small frames."

What we're left with is the boot cut:
"Boot cuts suit women of all shapes," says Pinnot. "They flatter the leg and bottom and create subtle curves." (Because pear shaped women need more curves?)

My problem with bootcut jeans is that if they fit on the waist they're tight on the thighs and I cannot stand the sausage thigh, I like trousers to skim, that is right, skim over the thighs. But then they're too big on the waist.

I am 5' 5". I have one pair of trousers, they are wide legs and they skim over the thighs. If only we could lower the hem of the dresses to below the knee I could stop worrying and forget about trousers altogether.

In which Margaret Atwood and I speak of many things

In all the various excitements, I neglected to mention that I had dinner with Margaret Atwood and her husband (and several 19-year-olds) on Saturday night. Despite the noise in the restaurant we managed to talk at some length about Margaret Laurence, Janet Frame, and even for a minute or two about the importance of clothes.

Cashmeres died so I might live

Bring on September

So last week while I was watching the wee bit of TV that I do I saw the promos for the upcoming season of Biggest Loser families and Lipstick Jungle. I love these shows!!!! I usually tivo them and watch in the morning while I am doing my workout or runs on the treadmill because there is no time when those shows are actually on for me to watch.

For some reason the idea of new shows got me all excited. Something to look forward to, then I thought Wow !!! I need to get some excitement in my life if new shows in September are what I am looking forward. Am I alone or are there others out that also get all hyped up for the new season of shows??? What are the shows you can't wait for in September?

natsu matsuri

Candy apple. BEST YUMMY THING I'VE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE.
went to zean kor hse 1st, changed and left for de matsuri ard changi area. Mizu fainted like omg! XD it got super crowded aft a while. de food is awesome! but so ex =_=

Teddy, Kyuru kor and me.

Kyuru kor(handsome guy :X:X), Mizu, Zean kor, Teddy, Jojo, Farhana, Suki, Celeste, Celeste's guy came! met Wei jie&Raven(lol!), Tomoyo, Lilly, blablabla so many =__=...


at de end i really enjoyed de dance. everyone in de hall all danced together =D superrrr fun. but sad..... stupid rain ruin eveythin. if it didn't rain everythin wld be FUN. darn it!! @_@~!!
i kinda miss natsu matsuri... espiacially... the candy apple... i'd do anythin to get my hands on it again T______T! GOD SAVE ME! hahaha! *spasm & foams at mouth* candyyyyy..... appleeeluuu.... (*-*)
[ btw horror fans. watch 4bia. i almost died watchin it. too scary =( ] we watched at causewaypt on a monday. i kept jumpin in fright and cutting off Tama deary's blood flow. was very stressed aft de movie =_= me no likes at all! bleah. i wanna go fishin and eat candy apple. *rolls away*

Lagerfeld: I am not an intellectual

He glides in looking relaxed, wearing a black suit jacket by Tom Ford, black jeans by Christian Dior, a 4in-high Edwardian collar, and fingerless biker gloves adorned with rings. He offers a gloved hand and a well-practised apology, and takes a seat at a large wooden table in a room attached to the main studio, surrounded by sleek filing cabinets, yet more books and stacks of hip fashion and design magazines.

“I’m mad for books,” he says, sitting motionless behind his black Dior shades. “It is a disease I won’t recover from. They are the tragedy of my life. I want to learn about everything. I want to know everything, but I’m not an intellectual, and I don’t like their company. I’m the most superficial man on Earth.”

Lagerfeld relishes such contradictory language – or should I say, he relishes talking rubbish, probably because it makes understanding him more difficult and shields his private life. “There are many Karls,” says the publicist Caroline Lebar, who has known him for 22 years. “He is like – how do you say in English – the animal that changes its skin?” A snake? “No, a snake changes only once in life.” A chameleon? “Oui, oui. Karl is like a chameleon. Always changing.”

. . .

Discussion about “the hidden depths”, as he calls them, should be avoided. “The quest to find yourself is an overrated thing concerning not very interesting people very often. Psychoanalysis – I don’t want to hear about it. Before Freud, people weren’t tortured by these things that have undermined the territory of perception. You have to live with your shortcomings.”

I’m just trying to get behind the many faces of Karl, I suggest. He laughs.

“This reminds me of when Annie Leibovitz photographed me for Vanity Fair. I didn’t know her very well then, and she said, ‘I have to spend three days with you to see what’s behind.’ And I said, ‘Annie, you’re wasting your time. Look at what you see.’ ” He casts his hand theatrically over his face. “There is nothing else.” Why do you want to be known as superficial? “I like that image. I don’t want to look like an old teacher.

from the Times

Baby come home

Today, I am going to pick up this.

When I have brought it home, I will show it to you

I speak!

The excellent on-line magazine Nextbook has quite a long audio interview with me on the subject of The Clothes On Their Backs

I am now firmly of the opinion that you get a far better deal and better service from The Book Depository, which offers free shipping worldwide Though charging in £s, they have several fulfilment centres in the US

Am I the hottest mommy blogger???

Ok I was nominated and now I want to win so I need your help! A friend nominated for the Hottest Mommy Calendar!
Go check out Hottest female bloggers

Vote for me and I might be a pin up girl! What more could a working mommy blogger want???? So go now vote!!!! I am listed as Steph (The Daily Grind) about 3/4 of the way down! Hit the CTRL key plus the letter F and type in Steph (The Daily Grind) in the prompt box. It will bring you right to my name. Double-click and it should say "voted successfully".

Please go vote!!!!!!! And tell your bloggy friends

Back to school

I am a planner by nature anyone close to me will tell you that I plan everything down to the littlest detail. So when I read some blogs that were bragging about the new school supply website, I thought I have to go check that out because it might save me a couple of hours going from store to store to buy the school supplies on our 1st grade supply list.

So I checked out Exschoolsupplies.com I was able to get everything on my list with the exception of the disinfectant wipes that were on the list. (still trying to figure that one out btw) So I added everything to my cart and within a week all of Lauren's supplies were here and I was able to pack her back pack for the first day with all of her supplies. Now I am still a novice when it comes to this school supply list gig since my daughter is only in 1st grade but I must say this was easy fast and really kind of fun.

Also they have a program that allows 10% of your purchase price to be donated to the school of your choice. Since I am the BoxTop coordinator at our school I am very interested in ways to earn money for our school and this just seemed to be so easy, I plan to bring the idea to our PTA president at our first meeting.

So I encourage you to go check them out, I don't think you will be disappointed. Now if only back to school clothes shopping was that easy!

** I was not paid for this post!

A well-judged column

So rare that finds a really, really good writer about menswear. Harry has disappeared to his country retreat, so I am offering the position of locum menswear writer to Hardeep Singh Kohli. I wonder what he does with the rest of his time?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a well-made cotton drill sweat top as much as the next slightly overweight, amply-arsed man, but there is a time and a place for such frivolity. Perhaps I belong to another era - maybe the 1950s - but I do yearn for all men to enjoy the suit again, feel pride in their smartness and become elevated by elegance. It's time to promote the peacock and I am happy to be at the vanguard of the strutting. I have plenty of denim and trackwear but I'd rather been seen in a beautifully tailored, plum-coloured three-piece suit, a multi-stripe double-cuff shirt and an appropriately complementary tie. Upon my oversized, calloused feet I would have tasselled Bally loafers. I have even invested in half a dozen pouchettes and a handful of cravats, either or both of which I intend to coordinate with my turban. I will be embracing dandyism in every way possible.

Second place in the Karachi Bonniest Baby Contest

Last week I commended to your attention the weepingly funny account of author Imran Ahmad's trip to the Edinburgh International Book festival where he met Gordon Brown, while dressed in shorts.

Yesterday afternoon, in the the authors' yurt in Edinburgh, a pleasant man in a linen suit came over to introduce himself to me. This was Imran Ahmad in person. He had been deluged with visits to his blog from The Thoughtful Dresser, more he said, than from all the other sites put together.

He pressed into my hand a signed copy of his book Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the West, which I read on the plane coming home. Later he would persuade Salman Rushdie to take a signed copy off his hands. And has the photographic evidence to prove it.

I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed this book, particularly his account of how he was robbed of the title of Karachi's Bonniest Baby by political corruption and nepotism. Here he is, pictured on the cover, in the contest.

Look, just go and buy it. It's the story of a Pakistani Muslim Adrian Mole. What's not to like? Eh?

UPDATE

Imran has updated his account of Edinburgh:

On Sunday morning, a quiet chap wandered into the Writers’ Yurt. I could see that he had no Festival ID and obviously wasn’t supposed to be in here – maybe another wannabe writer?

The Festival staff were all very busy, so gallantly I stepped in to deal with this situation, with my characteristic sensitivity and tact.

I shared with him some advice on writing and getting published; I gave him a signed copy of my book (so that he would gain an appreciation of the standard of writing which has to be attained in order to get published); I let him have his photo taken with me; and then I gently nudged him out of the Writers’ Yurt.

Although I am a successful internationally-published writer, I’m always ready to help aspiring writers on their long journey to some form of publication.

PLEASE NOTE: The Writers’ Yurt is strictly for invited writers, authorised Festival staff and nominated guests only (all to be wearing Festival IDs, unlike this gentleman).

Here's another bit:

I returned to the Festival on the weekend of 23-24 August, taking a train up to Edinburgh on Friday night.



At Kings Cross, there was a huge crowd waiting to board the train, but I was quite relaxed. This being the last train to Edinburgh on the Friday evening before a holiday weekend, I wouldn’t even contemplate this journey without a reserved seat in First Class.



The crowd surged forward as soon as the platform number was revealed, and I still got caught up in the herd mentality – even though I knew I had a comfortable seat waiting for me. I boarded the train and began to arrange my stuff around my seat (suitcase in the luggage rack, jacket on the overhead shelf, food bag at my feet, book on the table etc).



A man in the next carriage was yelling into his mobile phone. An attractive woman seated at the next table smiled at me, as we both realised we could hear a phone conversation taking place so far away.



“… THERE ISN’T A SINGLE UNRESERVED SEAT! …”



He was moving towards me …



“… THIS IS A COMPLETE TYPICAL F--- ING FIASCO! …”



He came into my carriage … He was a thin man, with very short, dark hair and wearing jeans and a t-shirt …



“… MY TICKET? IT’S A STANDARD SAVER RETURN …”



He sat down in the reserved seat opposite me (although a Standard Saver Return would not entitle him to a seat in First Class).



“… WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO F---- ING DO? …”



An elegant Japanese couple stood hesitantly alongside me, conferring together and looking back and forth between their tickets and the seats opposite me.



“May I see?” I asked them, and examined their seat reservations. “Will,” I said to the man on the phone, “these visitors to our country are waiting to take their seats.”



Studiously not acknowledging that he had heard me, Will Self moved off down the carriage, back in the direction he had come from – still yelling into his phone.



Later during the journey, I was unable to overcome my curiosity. I made the hazardous journey into Standard Class and down the length of the train, to find out what had happened. The aisles and connecting areas were strewn with people on the floor: reading, talking, sleeping and (in some cases) drinking far too much.



Eventually, I found him. He had a seat and was furiously scribbling notes and using a purple highlighter in a copy of Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’.

A curmudgeon writes

Norm goes shopping:

I will leave aside the fact that my body is always overcome by a draining fatigue the instant I arrive in this environment - a physiological phenomenon I have never been able to comprehend. And I will leave aside the puzzle that, on entering a large department store, the intending purchaser never arrives at the part of the store he (for he it is in this case) needs or wants; there are always floors to negotiate, by lift, stair or escalator, and then vast spaces to cross, as if shopping doubled as a training ground for long hiking expeditions. And I leave aside, too, that the air in such places is like a condensed falsehood all of itself. These obstacles and inconveniences I now know, in the light of much experience, I must expect.

To My Little Man Jackson!

It was 4 years ago on the 23rd of August that you decided to come into this world, well you decided but so did I since I scheduled to be induced but was already having contractions when we arrived as the hospital so I guess it was a bit of a joint effort.

When I first found out I was having a boy I was a bit worried, I had never been around boys, who was going to teach me how to take care of a boy? Luckily it all came naturally and you have been a joy to watch grow.

From the start I called you my little man but that was not true at all you were quite the big man tipping the scales at a whopping 10lbs 2 oz and 22 inches long ! When they wheeled me by the nursery on my way to my room they asked if I knew which one was you and I said "of course the 3 months old in the center there!" You will always be my little man, my silly man and goofy man who likes to talk and explore. Happy 4th birthday little man!