new years resolutions

We say we'll do them and by the end of the deadline we find that we've done nothing. Yet, we continue to make them anyway. Yup, I'm talking about New Year's resolutions (and about 99% of my school assignments).

Since the year is coming to a close, I'd like to share my ten resolutions.

1. stay true to myself 
2. don't be afraid to take risks and step out of my comfort zone
3. get organised and manage my budget
4. don't stress about university/college choices, just tackle the HSC as best as I can 
5. exercise!!! 
6. drink 1L of water every day, then midyear make it 1.5L of water 
7. take action! 
8. get a job I enjoy 
9. make new friends and be a better friend/person 
10. enjoy life as it is

So those are my goals for 2015. What are yours? 

Over and out

xx Cece

img source

current jam #3: unattainable... little joy

"I can't coerce you into this one

Jealousy lay all your spells to bed

I'll choose unloved instead"

What is this song and why does it have a strange effect on me?

At first, I honestly had no idea what this song meant, only knowing that it made me feel calm, kind of sombre and it came with a tinge of warmth.

When I googled for answers, I discovered its subject: Falling in love with your friend. 

just a little note: I'm swapping platforms!

Guess what? I've decided to move where I'm posting photography and art stuff. Even though I barely did that anyway... But I did plan to!

You can find anything arty I do here from now on: http://ohxc.deviantart.com/ 

So far, I've uploaded photos from the city like these:

album review: songs I wrote with amy... ed sheeran

Return to the origins of Ed Sheeran with... 

No, I'm kidding. Whatever musical origins Ed Sheeran has I am quite unaware of. What I am aware of is Ed's crazy talent, unique charm and the heart he puts into every song. 

style sister #1: jenn im

Welcome to my new fashion series, Style Sister, whereby I present to you gals with killer fashion.

First up in the series? 

Jenn Im

(fashion guru / youtuber)

Jenn Im aka my fashion icon

Jenn's the first Style Sister for a reason. Her style and daring approach to fashion has transformed my own style and outlook on fashion completely since the first video I watched in 2013. 

Before then, the most exposure I had was to the clothes hanging in mall shops, teen magazines and basically everything trendy. But she didn't just show me, and plenty of other girls and boys, what fashion was.  

From memory, she once said: 

People ask me if I really need all these clothes. I don't, but it's a personal choice. Fashion isn't just wearing clothes for me. It's a form of expression that defines who I am. 

or something along those lines. Either way, it was pretty dang inspirational.

let's see art: pop to popism & chuck close exhibition

So my art class had a fun excursion this December to see these Pop to Popism and Chuck Close. (LOL um if they somehow found my blog and are reading this - hi guys?) I count these as the first two exhibitions I've seen because the ones I've seen before were in Year 8, I wasn't that interested in art and we had to fill out booklets for school the whole time which cut out the time to actually appreciate the works.
Yeah, school kills everything.

Pop to Popism

No pictures were allowed in this exhibition, unfortunately, but OH MY GOODNESS WE SAW REAL, AUTHENTIC, GENUINE ANDY WARHOL AND ROY LIECHTENSTEIN AND ALL THEM PEOPLE STUFF.

oh christmas lights, you do shine bright

Apologies to my neighbours who are unaware my little brother and I are a big fan of their Christmas lights. Another neighbour (not of these houses) did catch me taking photos though, and they were rather curious. oops! 

the last time these neighbours will ever put up Christmas lights on this house *sobs* 

I was meant to return again the next night to take more photos since I was unhappy with most of them, but things did not go as intended. So here I have the two pictures I kept. The first one I love, and the second one I like because it captures the summer season of Christmas in Australia where the sky is bright, the sun is up til late and we wear short shorts and flip flops to battle the heat. No white Christmases for us!

walking up the streets and what do we see? 

I feel rather rebellious taking these pictures without permission. Oh my.

Over and out
xx
Cece

photo process diary #2: changing shutter speeds and memories in the kitchen

Please bear with the grimy nature of these pictures. I was having my mum's special avocado smoothie/ice cream thing and talking about how amazing dinner (now glad wrapped on that plate) was. That was when I whipped out the camera and began testing out shutter speeds. 

I'm pretty sure they're ordered from quickest to slowest. I did change the ISO throughout the things so not so accurate. Ah wells. 

I really like the first picture. It kind of feels homely, like its been taken on a bad family camera. 

Which one do you prefer?

If you have any advice for me on shutter speeds, or anything in photography really, please comment and let me know! I'd love to learn more. 

Over and out

xx

Cece

current jam #2: because of you... lana del rey

On the streets of LA / Where the future is now / We dance like nobody's watching us / And we live like we want to / But it can all get a little crazy / Unless there's something to hold onto / For me, that was true love

Lana del Rey is queen. Don't even argue with me on this, because I refuse to think otherwise. 

She has this ethereal quality to her voice that takes you back in time. Although I think we often associate her with Hollywood glamour and wild parties with bad boys, motorbikes and drugs. Okay so not the best qualities for a queen. And yeah, she can stir up a controversy about real music (if there's such a thing) just by existing.  

Because Of You just reaffirms why I love Lana del Rey. The slow drumming coupled with her dreamy voice emphasises another world - a past world - where she reminisces a love in the past and how he made her feel. The song feels like its really personal, with its lyrics and it seemingly connected to a past life. 

Now that I think about it, a lot of her songs talk about youth and is nostalgic for her past. She must have had a pretty adventurous time as a teenager. 

My favourite line in this song?  

Roses in my hair, / dancing in the air, / feels like I'm flying / Tell me you love me, boy, do it

I personally think there's something beautiful about all these words she concocts. Which line is your favourite?

Over and out

xx

Cece

photo process diary #1: testing the features

Today I had a first real play around with my new camera, a Canon 600D. Here's one of the pictures:

Meh shutter speed, pretty high ISO (the day was dark) and a play around with aperture. I really didn't know what would suit the day. Of all the amateur photographers, I am admittedly the most amateur of the bunch.

But hey, learning this will be a process.

At the moment, I'm not really fussed about subject matter and getting it in the right composition. What I want is to understand the camera, starting with the key features of getting the perfect exposure (shutter speed, ISO and aperture) then move onto the nitty gritty.

Bicycle

I forgot the settings I had the camera on from my previous shoot but
shutter speed = slow
ISO = high
aperture = wide

I actually quite like the effect. It reminds me of washed out photographs from the olden days.

Now this is very typical photo-y.
shutter speed = standard
ISO = lower because there was some strong natural light
aperture = don't remember
(NOTE: these are most likely not the correct terms but that's how I understand it so I'll keep it as this for now. Also, I forgot the exact settings they were kept in which is why no numbers!)



Dogs

Cherry is the supermodel one, then there's Bobby, who seems to represent me well. I think you'll be able to tell which dog is which.

*smack!* get outta the way cherry, i wanna pat (even though cece is pointing a scary black box at us)

shutter speed = fast (my dogs are way too energetic)
ISO = a bit high
aperture = don't remember



Honestly cannot remember the settings for the rest of these pictures, I was too busy laughing at the dogs. Just know that it was a very blue-y, dark kind of day. To be honest, this photo and the one below look pretty nasty. Gross exposure, especially since it doesn't capture the nice coats they have. Maybe if I was capturing a different scene it would suit?

Pfft, what a poser.












Ahhhh, they're so cute!







So that was some of the results from my first experiment. Let's hope I get better at this, hey?
One day I will not need a process diary anymore. Until then...


Over and out
xx
Cece

dream stream

For the last two nights, I've been having strange dreams. Night one was a zombie apocalypse dream where everyone was useless and I, the third in command of a surviving human group, made futile attempts to save us all. Night two, yesterday, was a better dream.

---

night two 

This dream is amazing, because it features [drum roll]...

Colton Haynes, as not himself or Roy Harper, actually (although in one part he did randomly transform into an Arsenal costume to save my life). He was just a boy that looked a whole lot like Colton Haynes. Which is reasonable, because I watched Arrow that day and I adore Roy.

Anyway, according to my memory it started with me on top of a clothes hanger while there's a white bear trying to bite off my face. Setting: my current house, minus the dogs and family.

You see, this bear and I were doing combat training.
Yeah, really weird.

Turns out the boy in this dream (let's call him The Boy) can transform into a white bear when he's really angry, and us two really hate each other so during combat practice (which involves me fighting on a clothes line?) he basically just turns into a bear. I am freaking terrified of him.

Something happens, he turns into Arsenal for one minute, shoots something with his arrow and I end up rescuing an teensy little owl and OMG THE OWL IS SO CUTE HE'S JUST LIKE A FERBY OF AN OWL AND HE'S SO SOFT AND HE SITS IN MY HAND AND SMILES WHEN I PAT HIM AND ASDFGHJKL! Sadly, the boy also is quite fond of the owl

But then the owl becomes like my little baby and the boy and I finally stop fighting and become friends after bonding over the owl.
Naws.

Sounds weird when I read back.



So there you have it, my dreams for the last two nights.

What have your dreams been up to?


Over and out
xx Cece

grandpa, raisin toast and kermit the frog

Mum's family, soon after moving to Australia. Grandpa is located second from the right. 

My love for raisin toast is probably a stolen habit taken from my Grandpa.

I didn't remember until she mentioned it, but after seeing me consume about five slices of raisin toast in one sitting, Mum commented how I was like Grandpa, because he really liked raisin toast too.

(Flashback to back in the day, with us at his and Grandma's old place and him eating raisin toast with margarine and five-year-old-me wondering why the bread had weird specks in it)

My grandpa always reminded me of Kermit the Frog for some odd reason. He used to be an electrician, and now he just gardens. He has this cheery atmosphere around him and a kindness like no other. He's always friendly and gentle, even when he scolds us.

Much of the stories I hear about my grandpa come from my mum. I'm not that great in speaking in his language, and there is some regret and guilt that lingers because A. I hated learning the language and the culture is sometimes unappealing to me and B. I was just born not able to speak it.

But there's no denying that when Grandpa's around, the world just seems so much more peaceful and vibrant. Though I don't really know him that well, I love him to bits.


Over and out
xx Cece



[I do not own the image of or hold any right over Kermit the Frog, all rights go to The Walt Disney Company]

current jam #1: say you'll be there... MØ

I love 8tracks. 

It lets me nab people's wonderful playlists when I'm too lazy to make my own, but its most distinguishing feature for me is discovering new music. 

One of these new discoveries is Say You'll Be There by MØ, the most amazing Spice Girls cover to have ever graced my ears. It's so unexpected. 

This is the first time I've ever heard of MØ, and boy do I want to hear more.

firsts

This is my first blog post ever and I'm not quite sure how to use this thing.