Pastry Ruminations by katytron, destroyer of worlds

Ladies and gentlemen of the internet, I have a confession to make. For several years in my mid to late teens, I was a goth. This may come as no surprise to those of you who know me, because it is statistically likely that any chubby girl who likes Placebo will indeed eventually turn to the dark night of gothdom. I've cheered up in recent years but my brief stint in black lace lasted up until as recently as 2002, as evidenced by the below photo:

So you understand that when I link you to the incredibly funny Goths in Hot Weather blog, I do so with fondness and love in my heart. I am not without sympathy for our leather and velvet-clad brethren.

I too, know only too well the pain of growing up in a relentlessly sunny country, in a stupendously blessed beach town, bathed almost perennially in the kind of sunshine that makes you feel like a free man after years of enslavement. I know exactly how it feels to be so exhausted from stomping around in several kilos of black cloth and chains. I am intimately familiar with having my eyeliner go all runny after a few hours at the beach.



Oh, my sweet, sweet children of darkness. Remember: waterproof foundation will resist melting, even in the heat of an Australian summer. Liquid eyeliner is your friend, but you must earn its respect.

Goths in Hot Weather, via BoingBoing.

Oh by the way, for those of you who read this via an RSS client (hello Google Reader I love you did I mention that today?) I did a little work on my blog's appearance. It is a lot more spiffy now. So go Check it out!



A gazillion thanks go to the folks at Blogger Buzz for their post about the wealth of free blogger templates available out there. I was recently complaining to a friend about how fugly the default Blogger templates are, and how even with my amazing Google ju-ju I was unable to find something even resembling prettification.

So if you have a Blogger and you want to make it look nicer, or if you just like to see cool design skillz, check out the links at this post.

When I was a kid my parents loved camping.


They were nuts for it. Apparently in their younger days they caught some sort of disease from using unbleached toilet paper and then all of a sudden had this pressing urge to run out to Kmart and buy camping gear. By the time I came along their madness was unstoppable. Our garage was full of canvas tents and rusted poles, two-man sleeping bags (I didn't want to think about that one too closely), folding plastic tables with chairs attached, gas cookers, gas lanterns, gas bottles, portable gas barbecues, and a set of very weathered-looking tin pots and pans.

Apparently having children had only somewhat dampened their enthusiasm for sleeping on the ground outside. Each school holiday brought new horrors. Do you know what it looks like when at least seven families who see each other no more than twice a year pack their 4WDs full of camping gear and their many children, take it all somewhere remote, and attempt not to murder each other for a weekend? Well I know what it looks like. It looks like happy school holiday fun!

Anyway lately I have been thinking about those family trips quite a bit. It is camp season in the US right now, and as I lose weight I begin to imagine what my life will be like once I am no longer hamstrung by my physical inadequacies. Naturally, the mind turns to images of beautiful, free-spirited young people, dressed in only slightly dishevelment by armed-forces grade jumpsuits of pure energy, clutching their tactical assault liquid nutrient vessel, smiling wholesomely at a camera. Behind them is a stunning sunset, glinting off the towering peaks of a n incomprehensibly beautiful canyon. In front of them is a life of athletic endeavour, punctuated with sights of all the wondrous splendour this Earth can provide.

It is prudent to remember that the reality is never quite what you imagined.

images from Happiest People Ever! via Laughing Squid.