H&M- You've crossed the line!

There's an annoying trend going around in fashion at the moment. No, it isn't chinos, it isn't highlighter coloured tops and bags (I mean honestly, why did people find that appealing?), and it certainly isn't terrifyingly garish dresses that not even my older sister (who managed to pull off the highlighter trend) can wear and make look...bearable.

No my friends, I'm talking about printed t-shirts. But not your usual printed t-shirts, no, printed band t-shirts.

'But what's so wrong with band t-shirts' I hear you cry! 'You wear them all the time!' Yes, and I admit that, I wear band t-shirts because I want to support and go around as a walking advertisement for my favourite bands. Plus, I can rock men's t-shirts in a way no other woman can...Mainly because most women buy... you know, women's band t-shirts. But this is where the problem lies, because many shops (and H&M isn't the only one, but provides an extremely sacrilegious example) are selling t-shirts with the logos of bands that many of their target demographic, i.e young women with money to burn, will have never heard of.

It started with The Beatles. Not so problematic, everyone has at least heard of The Beatles, who didn't sing Yellow Submarine in primary school? Just me? Right. Then it went a tad more obscure, The Ramones. I'm not necessarily a fan, but each to their own. Then further away from the bands that my generation could be fans of. The Rolling Stones.

But then, H&M touched holy ground, the grail of prog fans.

My friends, I regret to inform you that H&M are currently selling t-shirts with the artwork for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

Yes, you heard me, Dark Side of the Moon.

As in, the incredibly progressive and one of the most popular Pink Floyd albums by general consensus.

So, I challenge you, dear reader, if you care for your favourite bands, to go up to anyone you see wearing these t-shirts and ask them 'Oh wow, Dark Side of the Moon? You didn't look the type, what's your favourite song from the album?' Or, alternatively 'Great to see another Pink Floyd fan around, hey, you mind refreshing me of the lyrics to The Great Gig in the Sky?'

Beauty Blog- Would you be interested?

Now before you all get up on my arse about this, I am well aware that there are a million and one different beauty blogs out there, I know there's nothing that I could possibly add to the incredibly diverse world of beauty blogging. Skin care focus? Been done. Product reviews? Only a couple of hundred for each product lining the Superdrug shelves. Tutorials? One of the first women to hit a million subscribers on YouTube focused on tutorials.

So, what can I add, considering that this is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but haven't been able to because of a number of reasons (eg lack of a decent camera, terrible skin; would you trust the word of someone on a skin care product if her skin was bright red and had more spots than a leopard?)

How about video game inspired?

Now, initially, I would focus on looks from the Elder Scrolls series, initially wearable race tutorials, before branching out into other aspects of the universe and, after that, into a much broader scope of video games. Think Jeanette/ Therese from Vampire; The Masquerade- Bloodlines, think The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3, that sort of thing.

So, what I want to know is, would you be interested?

Kony 2012: A retrospective

As if you couldn't tell from my (now deleted) last post, I was swept up on the Kony 2012 bandwagon. It's been less than 24 hours since that post, and upon furthering my research into the organisation Invisible Children I am beginning to regret supporting the cause. Now, before I get jumped on, I have been to unbiased and biased sources to get the full story. First of all, I went to the BBC's profile on Joseph Kony and, the BBC being a relatively unbiased news source, I have to agree with the fact that Joseph Kony is a terrible war criminal who should be punished accordingly if he can be captured in a way that harms as few people as possible- And that doesn't mean execution.

However, I do not agree with the military stance that Invisible Children are taking on this, something which I should have seen in the initial video but I only realised on retrospect. You do not, and I repeat do not fight fire with fire. It is true that Kony has kidnapped thousands of children, horrifically abused them and turned them into child soldiers, and, as many before me have pointed out, if military force is used then thousands of these children, who have had their minds twisted by this horrible man, will end up not rescued, but killed. I don't want to promote military action. I do want to promote capturing a criminal and delivering justice.

And this is where everything comes to an impasse. Because Kony is a military leader. If he is tracked down then, even if those who find him don't show violent intentions, chances are that he will give the order to take those men or women down. Then they will have to attack.

However, I do agree with some of the other things that Invisible Children have done for the affected communities. The radio broadcasts to warn of incoming attacks are a stroke of genius in helping the families keep their children safe, albeit slightly redundant unless they make radio broadcasts more widespread to the nations where the LRA are currently focusing their energies on. And if this movement has done nothing else, it has at least raised awareness to a, lets face it, ignorance riddled youth (including myself) who need to be made more aware of what is going on in the world. Hopefully, this will encourage our generation to pay more attention to the world in which they live in, the world outside of their Facebook and their Twitter account. I know I'll look a little more outside the box now.

But the point still stands. I believe that military action is nothing but a last resort. I want these children to be free and safe again, just as anyone should, but military action is the final line in a case as delicate as this. The video compared Kony's actions to Hitler, but I'm going to compare this to Osama Bin Laden. Capturing Kony will set a precedence, just as killing Osama Bin Laden did; terrorism will not be tolerated. However taking out the leader will only on very rare occasions take out the organisation. If Kony is captured and imprisoned then it will set a wonderful precedence for other war criminals, that those kinds of crimes will not be tolerated and are not justifyable. However, it will not take out the organisation as a whole. That's the whole point behind an organisation. They are organised. Go back to Kony's profile on the BBC, look to where it says 'he and his senior commanders take the pick of the girls they capture' senior commanders. That's the word I want you to focus on. It proves that Kony can be replaced as head of the organisation and that they will more than likely continue the kidnap of children.

I am upset at myself that I didn't originally look at this objectively. I'm a history student for christsakes, it's my job to look at both sides of the argument! I guess that I'm just helping myself to organise my own thoughts and hopefully, help others who are confused about their thoughts on the Kony 2012 movement see things in an objective light.

Because if there is one good thing that the movement has done, it has helped raise awareness about injustice in the world. But in my own, personal opinion, they counter this with the encouragement of the use of military force. There has to be another way to bring this man to justice, and to break his organisation down.

Lent, and what I'm giving up for it

I know I know, there are probably a million and one different posts like this popping up around the internet at the moment, and I know you're saying 'But Alice, you're not religious, why should you care about lent you hypocritical arsehole!'

Well for one, thank you for saying arsehole. It brightens up my day because the voice to my inner monologue simply cannot pronounce the word 'asshole' without sounding like a completely different entity has entered into my thoughts and is rudely jumping in on my normal mental narrator who speaks in a very distinguished and refined English accent which I attempt to channel into my everyday speech which has earned me the title of being 'very ladylike'

But I digress. Secondly, I believe that lent is a good thing (despite the fact that this is going to be the first time I observe it) because everybody needs a chance to let their bodies wind down, relax, and detox. Considering that exam season is coming up soon as well, I need to spend as much time as possible relaxing now before the stress induced binge that will come with frantically reciting my lines the night before I'm due to play Titania for Theatre Studies, or trying to overcome my resentment of the character Holden for English Literature.

So, what am I giving up for lent? Well, quite a lot of things actually, considering I'm also dieting (inb4 'so that's your real motivation!')

-Chocolate (obvious one)
-Sweets (still obvious)
-Sugar (as in adding extra sugar to things)
-Fast food (fast food that mum doesn't cook- Yay for oven bake!)
-Soda and diet soda
-White bread
-Pastry (I'll miss you pastry </3)
-Cake
-Alcohol

Well then, haven't I got a fun and highly enjoyable 40 days ahead of me

Bras

Bras should be a girls best friend.

Bras are meant to be there for support, they should make you feel good about yourself, to help you wake up with a smile when you get ready for work.

That is not the case.

Bras are prisons for your womanly appendages, who rebel against the stiffling cage you force them into every single day. Then you have to buy more bras to fit them in. They rebel again, you buy more bras, the cycle continues. At least until puberty finishes.

Long story short, I haven't worn a nice bra in a long, long time :(

'That Goddamn Regret'

Everybody has done something they regret. I know I have. Some people, it's only minor regrets, wishing you'd revised harder for a mid term assessment, a bad choice in hair, make up, or clothes. But a lot of the time the regret is a lot more serious to you, maybe not terribly regretful in someone else's eyes, but in your eyes it makes you ashamed.

I've just realised how much I regret one thing in particular, I should have been regretting it for months now. I went against my own morals for someone else and it just hit me today how sick it makes me feel. My stomach is turning, and I'm just so angry at myself. As this blog isn't anonymous I'm not going to post exactly what it is I regret, but I can still talk (i.e vent) to you about this feeling of regret.

Yes, I do have minor regrets, only they're very minor. I tend to try and live for the moment. Emphasis on the 'try'. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who will always, always, dwell on the past, no matter how hard I try. I find it incredibly hard to let go of emotions I feel at certain points in my life because I naturally want to cherish them, no matter how painful or upsetting they are. I only let them go when another emotion replaces it on reflection, and lets face it, sometimes the emotions brought on by reflection can be even worse than the original emotions in the first place.

I tried to let go of some very painful emotions today, and all I felt afterwards was shame. I'm incredibly ashamed of what I allowed myself to do under the influence of another, it went against my morals, and for now at least, I feel truly disgusted in myself.

I'm going to try and wash myself clean of the whole affair. Literally, I'm going in the shower now.

P.S: Don't worry, it isn't anything illegal that I'm regretting, just things in general that I allowed myself to be influenced into doing :)

I 'hate' you

First off, let me say that I don't like to think that I 'hate' anything, hate is such a basic word that because of its simplicity, makes a bigger impact than more complex words, such as 'resent'. I resent things. I resent some people. But I don't hate. I'm not a hater, I like to think I'm above that.

But you know what ticks me off, annoys me to the bone? When people say they 'hate' something with no good reason, they hate a band, they hate some people, and yet they can't justify it. The people who I see do this most, especially towards people, are girls. Specifically, the friends of girls who have just gone through a breakup. Young couples break up, and you're never going to find true love at sweet 16, that's pretty much a fact nowadays, and a lot of the time couples will break up because it isn't working. That's fine, that's nothing to hate each other for. You may be upset (girls, I'm talking to you) but he was probably honest and decent about it and it'll work out better for the both of you in the long run, who knows, you could even end up being friends. But don't listen to your friends when they say that they 'hate' him for splitting up with you; that is not even a halfway decent excuse to hate someone. Like I said, if it wasn't working, then it was better to split up than keep at it, there would be more pain in the long run.

But what if the boy (lets face it, it's easier for me to write this from a girl's perspective, much love for the few lads who read this blog <3) had been a complete ass in the relationship, not putting any effort into making it work, dragging the girl along to be there when he pleased and not when she pleased? What if he had started physically or mentally abusing her, before getting fed up of her and then dumping her? That, my friends, is when it's Ok to hate someone, when they've been a complete and utter disgrace to their sex.

Remember, dumping someone by itself is not a bad thing. Treating someone like an object or toy or something without a real unique identity (just another girl friend/boy friend) is. Hate them for that.

Or, even better, resent them.