END OF THE WORLD

Watch this video first: ASK LENA #10: Death.

I wouldn't say my biggest fear is about death, it's rather about the end of the world. I fear the end of the world almost every day whenever I hear a noise that could signify a massive meteor / giant military robots / a world-ending natural disaster. [Fighter jets zooming past are the worst.] It probably sounds totally illogical and ridiculous (especially the movie-drama images that pop into my head). But, as Lena explains, she also considers potential 'last moments alive' and feels cool about it. I agree. It's an exhilarating and heart-pumping sensation. I've always hated high adrenalin sports/activities like roller-coasters, so my 'end of the world' moments are as close as I'll get. And, imagine acutally witnessing the end of the world?! Unless it's an instant explosion that lasts less than a second, it could be cool watching massive balls of fire blast through our atmosphere (or NOT!!!!). 

GRADE 6

Click here: Remembering MS Paint.


In honour of the past:

LOVE TALK

I had a busy weekend. I like busy weekends but I also don't because by the time Sunday evening comes around, I feel unprepared for the working week. But besides feeling tired and sunburnt and just generally over today, the weekend was a good one. I enjoyed dancing like a total weirdo and getting my knees burnt (before I knew they were burning) at Patrick's farm. I enjoyed catching up with B and work working with Sylvan Aztok. I enjoyed drinking champagne and eating almost a whole plate of smoked salmon at the 12 Apostles hotel. I enjoyed birthday Kathryn's tipsy love talk and Jonny's karaoke. Oh, and I even fitted in watching 12 Years a Slave. That movie is filled with some of the most powerful scenes I have ever seen [except for co-producer Brad Pitt's out-of-place cameo].

COOL

I'm busy writing an article about afripedia. They have such a cool website, go check it out. And then go check out my other articles on Between 10 and 5.

MAX BAGEL

Today I bought a salmon and cream cheese bagel for my lunch from Max Bagels. Its taste took me straight back to my Brick Lane life of 2009. If I'm honest, today's bagel is even better than the Yellow Shop's ones (Max, that's a huuuuuuuge compliment). Bianca, Marin and Jana, we should all go get one sometime soon, when Marin is back from her unbelievably amazing Paris experience that I'm very jealous of. 

WEEKEND VIEWS

Writing isn't my strong point. I have always been better at maths (even though I still count using my fingers) and my sister had the gift of words. But at my current unpaid job/internship I'm writing writing writing. In a month's time I'll be a writing machine.

RIVERHOUSE

I've finished my honours degree. It went well. I enjoyed it. And now I'm interning and enjoying that too.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MS PAINTS

So I scrawled the web for other people who draw on MS Paint, like I do. There are a couple but these two were by far the best. Whoever draws for MSPaint Like a Champion has an amazing imagination. He's definitely obsessed with American football but draws in crazy detail and even made a funny GIF. The second 'best MS Paint Blog' is Microsoft Paint is my Medium. I love how she draws people!

MSPaint Like a Champion:

Microsoft Paint is my Medium:

FRANCE

I have been working like a mad (read: highly focused and motivated) woman to get my thesis done and dusted. But sometimes, when you concentrate too hard and stay cooped up in a single room looking at a single computer screen you start getting a bit hazzy, like I did yesterday. To solve this problem I went for a walk which was nice. And I listened to Madonna and looked at the pretty trees. This is obviously incredibly interesting information but, if not, check out my new paint instead! 

P.S.

p.s. I'm procrastinating

p.p.s I'm currently into using primary colours and shapes (after spending some time looking at Bauhaus art yesterday)

SONGS

Sometimes I listen to certain songs, at certain points in my life, over and over again. There have been a few that I can relate to specific periods from the past. Currently I am listening to Little Dragon's 'After the Rain'. Each time I pick up my iPod I'll choose to re-listen to this song instead of finding something new. I don't often do that. If anything, I usually play my iPod on shuffle or randomly pick an artist I haven't listened to in a while / haven't ever listened to (my music predominantly comes from Simon and Yannick). But certain songs just get me. And this one has. It's great to listen to while you're driving, in headphones. And every time I listen to it, I think that 'after the rain' (after this last stretch of my honours degree) things will be great. 

Other songs I've done this to include:

Agnes Obel - On Powdered Ground (last 2 weeks of 3rd year, architecture)

Faithless - Woozy (matric final exams)

Portishead - The Rip (after coming back from South America)

Lianna La Havanas - Don't Wake Me Up (post breakup)

Underworld - Born Slippy (grade 10)

Paul Simon - Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (gap year, London)

And these songs weren't necessarily my favourite tracks but for some or other reason they just got me.

Also, for comic relief, these were the first ever CDs I owned:

1. Nothing Hill soundtrack

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way

3. Coyote Ugly soundtrack

4. Bon Jovi - It's My Life (single)

(what were yours?)

:D

DREAMS

Next year is a little bit of a mystery for me. I'm in two minds about where my life should head and what I should decide to do - to study or not to study. But last night, while driving along De Waal drive towards Newlands, I had this feeling of euphoria. A feeling that felt as if all my dreams would in fact come true.

Moments when you are reminded of your dreams are the best. 

STOP

Stop with this, stop with that, stop stop stop. I get the message and I get that now it is time to stop. And I get that I need to START with other things. Most importantly, I need to START working NOW. 

BRAINDEAD

VOOM

WORK SHMURK

"Do... or do not. There is no try." - Master Yoda

THIS EXPLAINS IT ALL

I haven't been feeling myself lately. I have been half crazy/odd and half emotional/contemplative which does seem rather normal but something has been out of balance and I'm not sure what. Rebecca is taking a break somewhere in my head and I'd like her to come back.

EFFORTLESS

I love this movie this movie. 

FLOWERPOWER

LUV

'Luv' is not the same as 'love'. And I don't say that because I'm a word snob (although I do prefer sticking to the "right" spelling in most cases) but because it implies something different. Something less permanent, intense or meaningful. It's often a stepping stone to the 'real thing' but using the word 'love' in a relationship is "a big step" so perhaps 'luv', as an in-between, is a good thing. 

HYSTERIA

hɪˈstɪərɪə/

1. exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement.

UH HUH THAT'S RIGHT ... SHIT

Facebook is becoming less and less about personal expression and more and more about the convenience of online connection. Statuses used to be fun, commenting lighthearted and your 'friends' were actually your friends. Now I log on to check upcoming events (that I probably won't attend), forgotten birthdays and admin related notifications (group work, group work and more group work). If I want to "express" myself it's censored according to what a potential employer might think or how all my non-friend friends might misinterpret my sarcasm. I wonder if it's even possible for a social media platform (that includes your name and face) to be without unwanted peeping, prying and stalking.

Also, I'd like to learn French. When I went to Paris (I wonder how Arnaud / 'Arnu' is doing...), Marin was better at grasping the language than I was. But I managed to perfect 'oui', 'merde' and counting up to 6. At least it's a start.   

Current procrastination (besides paint): watching Melissa A. Fabello YouTube videos. I'm not big into YouTube channels let alone people babbling on about their personal perspectives to an imaginary audience [although this is obviously ironic and hypocritical] but Melissa is well articulated and effortlessly debunks media myths. 

   

YES

Brand Challenge has officially begun. Oh, and I'm studying at Vega this year. (google it, they've recently relaunched their website)

WHY DO I ALWAYS LET MYSELF FALL...

... in love? 

Here is a selection of teenage Rebecca's paint collection (as previously promised). They make me giggle. It is funny how I haven't changed much. Right now I should be doing "my homework". 

FRUITY

Sometimes there are times when I get annoyed. And it is an overwhelming emotion. But luckily it's not all the time. 

WOMAN

The http://pixlr.com/editor/ is pretty cool. It is a bit of a cheat because it is more like photoshop than ms paint but I'd call it a fantastic mashup between the two. The brush options are awesome. I drew a naked woman because drawing boobs and curves with a sketchy tool is a lot of fun.  I made another rather depressing one (of a woman's body) with thick dark "ink". It became fairly intense after I blacked out her face and emphasized her boobs. The "paint" included in this post may or may not be better but I like it more. Speaking of "artistic" responses to feminism, I had a good chuckle at this confusedcatsagainstfeminism tumblr. 

SILVER

My internet connection at home is still unreliable and inconsistent. Besides needing to post a new post for my trusty followers (which, I'm sorry, I do not care much about because this blog is more for me than it is for you and I scribble only when I truly want to) ... I was craving to PAINT! But my varsity computers are all Macs so unfortunately (but fortunately) there is no MS Paint application. This lead to a very successful and speedy Google investigation which discovered THIS AMAZING ONLINE PAINT EQUIVALENT and subsequently I produced this cool semi-psychedelic pic for today! [side note: why are all 'psy' or 'phy' words so difficult to spell?! There is always a silent and confusing 'h', or 'ae' or 'qxfgyyjiii'.]

BEDTIME

slow / non-existent internet = posts aren't uploaded when they're made [This post is about 2 weeks old but I think it's one of my favourites]. 

I've been making paints since I was a preteen. I found endless folders on my external hard drive that were filled with bright ms paint doodles. I'll upload a selection the next time the internet behaves so there's something you can look forward to.

But for now, good night.

  

LOVE AFFAIRS AND OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR

Love is not a red heart

RENEWAL

"Everything else in your life disappears and you look at your bit of paper and get completely lost in what you’re doing." - Roald Dahl, radio interview (1970) 

HAPPYSAD

This paint is called 'happysad' but not because I feel happy and sad, but rather because the characters that scribbled themselves dictate their own emotions. The story goes that the purple blob is sad because the blue blob is happy. Soon, though, the blue blob is going to give the purple blob flowers to cheer her/him up. Blob life. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE

This is how you make me feel. xxx

ETHIOPIA BUT NOW ITS 2014

Now it's 2014. It is now the year that I am unsure about, that I don't yet have a definite plan for. At least it doesn't involve going back to UCT for Architecture torture.