the things i learned about dictators

I'm stuck here writing a research paper about civil disobedience (instead of studying for finals? I guess its a lose-lose either way) and there seems to be a pattern with these darn dictators:

They have ridiculous names. See previous post (he's my personal favorite.

Oh and aren't they an attractive bunch?! RAWRRR.

Idi Aman

OMG! I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. Her Excellency, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor marthamydearest, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.

It's got a ring to it, no?

Thanks for the inspiration, Idi.

I'm not sure why I find this so fascinatingly interesting.

Yahoo beat me to it.

Giambattista Valli RTW s/s 2009

I am in love with the ginormous. I am always drawn to that which is abnormally large. I drink water out of 1 L bottles, eat apples that come very close to being the size of half of my head, and carry bags that can be very well considered suitcases.

So no wonder I am kind of in love with Giambattista Valli's new collection. The oversized bell bottom dresses, the big bows. I heart it! And it doesn't hurt that all is in shades of beige and black. Yum!

The Pretties:











The Uglies:








Here's Natalie Portman at Valli's show. I reallly love her dress, which, might I add, looks very much like another Giambattista design during the show.

Is it just me or is Michelle Obama, wife of a man very likely to become president, wearing a very Balenciaga-esque floral print dress?!


This gets my vote, and am quite fond of this number here. I was pretty panicked with the other Democratic nominee. Seriously, Hillary, that is so two decades ago.

New Boots

Being that I live in Houston, my winter outfits whenever I went on my Christmas trips to Europe were always nothing to be quite proud of, especially in the genre of boots. I could always find sweaters here in Houston and nice coats on my first day overseas, but I would always arrive in Poland or France or England wearing pretty fugly boots, which usually just stuck to throughout the trip, opting for my other shoes whenever possible (although flats in below 0 weather never did wonders for my poor little feet). Nonetheless, when I saw these - I weeenntt for it. I remember last year, when I saw the most amazing knee-high boots of knitted material and pompoms (good pompoms - I try to avoid cutesy as much as possible for fear of looking like a Barbie) and I chose to wait another week, thinking that maybe I would find something else that I loved even more. To make a sad story short, I never saw them again.

This time - I gotchoo boots. Czech Republic, here I come!

Because You Can Never Get Enough Britney

Britney is not looking back lately! She's coming (here's to redundancy), recording a new album, etc.
Here's Britney's new track, Womanizer. Sounds a bit like "When I Grown Up" by the PCD, no?

PS. although, Britney>PCD . Having a no-undie slip up once in a while is one thing. Incorporating that look into your everyday wardrobe is quite another.

A Much Needed Breather

I am really enjoying this entire week of no school. Hurricane Ike, I love you. With the weather in Houston still pseudo-summery at a comfy 70-something weather, I am finding these days quite reminiscent of my summer days in Toronto not long ago. It allows me to take everything baby step-by-step, like my APUSH notes or physics homework, or even the much dreaded driver's ed booklet. I even have the time to look through my August issue of Elle (about time...), refreshing my inspiration meter and reinstituting my dreams and cravings for NYC and Paris. Screw individual holidays like Martin Luther King Day or Labor Day. I vote for entire weeks, like this Hurricane Ike Week we're having here.

I does do for a refreshed spirit and attitude when returning to school come Monday.

Vivienne Westwood RTW Spring 2009

I was sweetly impressed with her new very newborn/spring inspired collection, especially with her playful pattern-mixing, her layering of subdued blues and tans, her sophisticated, loose-fitting suits with a fresh breath of pastel, and, above all, those shoes! They take the spring theme to heart. Don't they look like newly sprouted buds upon tree branches?

Why don`t you take a gander.

Another Janet Jacksonesque nip slip or a bonafide statement of Vivienne Westwood's brilliancy?

I'm placing my bet the the Superbowl uh-oh moment.

Giles RTW 2009

Through the fashion self-denial I have been putting myself through while searching through the multitude of both New York and London Fashion Week pictures, my dear readers, I have found him! *sigh of relief*. You have no idea how many outfits I tried to convince myself were attractive.

I adore how he puts an eclectic twist on elegance.

Giles Deacon marry me! <3

Darth Vader LBD?! The wedding ring's waiting.

Paris, Je T'Aime

Perhaps because of Breakfast at Tiffany's, which I watched last night, and the fact that New York always somehow reminds me of it. Perhaps because I have been NYU lovin' lately, hounding the website and dreaming of a semester abroad in the City of Love. Or maybe because I bought these lovely black and white Paris posters and just now mounted them on my wall, their own wall, mind you.

I've been in constant Paris nostalgia and can't seem to wait until my return there. I want to. I've bene searching for a black and white photography album of my love, yet, surprisingly, it is very hard to find. I yearn for one that captures the complete essence of the city; its dirt, its liberty, its people and laissez-faire way of life that I crave.

You can only do justice to Paris in photography through only black and white pictures. Everything else just reminds me of cheesy postcards.

But I found these. :) Yay!





P.S. I found many of these here.

Take Me With You, Into the Sky

Badgley Mischka RTW Spring 2009

I girl can only wish for this dreamy fairy princess cloudylike creation. Siighh. Somedayy...

I Survived a Hurricane Pt. 2

Despite there being nothing on either the radio or TV except "live coverage of the aftermath after Hurricane Ike", I like the atmosphere. I like not having running water, or feeling lucky to have electricity and no severe damage. I love going down the near empty roads in search for an open store. I love seeing one and feeling that I just foudn an oasis in an arid desert. In the materialistic, over-commercialized, technology-filled world I live in, I enjoy having to look for something; not having everything handed to me on a shining silver platter. Driving down the roads covered in leaves and broken branches and general household debris, I feel like I just survived something; like I just underwent an Indiana Jones adventure (yeah, yeah I know that I just slept through the thing...). Its the simple atmosphere of a closer community, as if we all just underwent something together; as if there was mutual support involved to come through alright. It's like on the subway - there's the crazy guy talking and yelling and screaming at everyone and everything around him. The simple eye contact with the person sititng next to you or a quick smile from the person sitting across from you, it is that sense of artificial closeness that I am feeling right now. It is the half-dark, lightly populated mass that I am talking about. You feel that you are experiencing something.

Jeezus

I'm tired of reading about him or seeing his picture everywhere or caring whether he's going out with Vanessa Hudgens or not. Yeah, I said it. And, like Miley Cyrus, I think he's everywhere too much and its all overkill. It's driving me bejeezus. Sheesh.



And he looks gay on the cover of Teen Vogue.

Tea for Me!

My tea drinking habits have varied throughout my life, from being an essential part of my day to only an occasional drink at a dinner party. When I was in Toronto, I was at a point in my life similar to the former, and so when I happened along a pretty little box of these tea infusers at Write Impressions (probably my favorite store on Bloor Street West) I surely bought them.

They come in a variety of blends ranging from fruity to black, including a nice little spin on a regular black tea that has a hint of black currant.

http://www.teaforte.com/

I Survived a Hurricane

It is no secret that there was a hurricane this weekend on the southeastern coast of Texas. Even my grandparents in Poland were up-to-date on the various wind-blowings and city-floodings over here (however sensationalized by the Polish newsgroups).

It has been six years that I have been living in Houston and the occasions for hurricanes have been numerous. By this hurricane season, I was tired of the hurricane warnings and preparations that were to no use - the winds would always pass up Houston, would suddenly take a turn in their path, and all we would be left with was a single day of school to be, unfortunately, made up at the end of the year (shorter summer? NOOO!). This time, everything was showing the same warning signs as Rita and Gustav and whoever/whatever other hurricane there ever was. We missed school on Friday and everyone, including engineers like my dad, was free from any forms of labor on that day (except the faithful cashiers at HEB - i love you guys!).

Waking up Friday morning and watching the ginormous waves crashing into the seawall of Galveston several hours before the actual arrival of the storm on the shores of the island changed my views on a hurricane-less weekend. There were 20 meter waves.Seriously.

The hurricane came at night, and the winds were extraordinary. You know when youre speeding down a highway and stick your hand outside the window and you're fighting against the wind to keep your hand from flying backwards? Yeah, kinda like that, except here its youre whole body. I watched the trees and the wind and the various objects sailing through the air throughout the night thanks to the kind and generous calls of both pairs of grandparents and my mom (thanks for calling at 2 AM, mom).

We were some of the luckier ones of all of Houston. We have electricity, water and everything else the most serious destruction to our home was a bit of our fence folding over. And the leaves of our freshly-sprouted grape vines torn off (tear).

Finally a real hurricane hit us! I am so happy and excited. Here are the images that I will be remembering when in 50 years I tell the story of Hurricane Ike to my grandchildren.