Graff Attack

The weekend before last I went on a Graffiti Tour with one of my BFF's Lo.

You've been warned!

We both love graffiti and street art so when I saw a discount offer on Time Out I said yes please I'll be having some of that.

The tour hosted by Great British Tours took us round a small area off and around Brick Lane in East London. It's somewhere I've been to loads of times but never really stopped to take in all graffiti.

This is what I think Mother Earth would look like

So off we went.  There are loads of fantastic pieces ranging from huge artworks and murals to with tags and tiny pieces you'd miss without an eagle eye.  They included pieces that had been commissioned and impromptu work. Walls, pavements, streets, shop stutters, doorways any and everything was a canvas.  Lots of different techniques: spray paint, stencils, paints, posters, 3D stuff too. Some of it had clear political or social messages others not, some well know artists and others unknown to the tour guide.

One of my favourites

Someone's electricity meter got a makeover

Angry Stick men by Stik

A year in hair....well almost

'Hair as a metaphor for life', is how the idea behind our blog has been summed up.


Sounds ridiculous? Well, not really.  For me definitely and for Miss Karla, there's a lot of truth in that statement.  What we've done with our hair has, many times reflected what we were or weren't doing with ourselves.  Karla for example this year finally took out her braid extensions, writing about the experience here.  They had become her equivalent of a hair blanky that she was slowly having to ween herself off,  and now, she's having a whole heap of fun with her new, freer do.  I can personally vouch that her shiny, super soft head of healthy hair is looking very cute indeed and is currently accompanying her are she gets ready to fulfill one of her life dreams: dancing with a famous Rio Samba School for Rio Carnival 2014.


My hair.....hmmm, my hair is hanging on in there despite some odious instances of neglect this year.

Fascinator, pompadour &
victory rolls for a
40's style party

At the start of 2013 I was all about trying new stuff. I was all over the retro updos (left), pinning, headscarves and quiffs. I dusted of my Curlformers like I said I would and managed to master my own take on a Rose the Riveter do (below right).  

At some point this year my hair and I entered into a long distant relationship. As I got busier, more stressed and feeling less like my myself the fun of experimenting fizzled out. Lack of time and inclination meant that chunky twists pinned back in simple updos became my go to style. Quickish, practical and low maintenance, praise be!

Scarf purchase courtesy
of Brixton Market

In May I finally visited the hairdressers for a straighten 'n' trim, my first in 2 years (I know, I know, will never, ever leave it that long again to get a trim), the split ends and fairy knots were too much to bear.  Sadly, there are no joyous pics of me frolicking about with my shorter, straight hair, and it wasn't coz I couldn't fix my face long enough for pouting over the shorter length to take a decent pic. Truth be told I was disappointed that despite my careful maintenance, my bra strap length hair (yep it was that long, sniff) was getting sizeable chop coz the ends were in a sorry state.  However, better more consistent care would have prevented that in the first place, so I had to take it like a big girl and remember my hair was better off. Anyway, aside from that I was too busy and too feeling stressed to give a damn about posing for hair selfies, which I suck at taking anyway.

Where's your head at?

Just over a year ago, armed with our laptops, Karla and I met at a local cafe: warm, free wifi, the most amazing hot chocolate, a resident cat and laid back enough to allow you to bring your own food, perfect for two skint ladies on a mission!

We'd been talking about starting a blog for ages but this was the first time we'd met to properly bash out ideas.  In my head, and staying nicely within my comfort zone, this was all it was gonna be, pre-planning before we took the plunge. To my surprise (and alarm that I tried my best to hide from Karla), a couple of hours later we had a real life blog and our first post.  It was the push I needed to start making my things happen!

A lot has happened for both of us this year, some good, some bad, but for me, most of it has not been what I had hoped or wanted for 2013. This year was about moving forward, about seriously starting to sort my life.  I didn't expect everything to go my way, or not have any setbacks, but whatever happened I thought I would be able to handle it, pick myself up and keep moving.   It didn't happen like that.

Back in June, a few days after loosing my new job I wrote about how I was feeling.  Karla encouraged me to do this and to use it as a way of starting to look ahead,  but I felt totally rubbish at that time and didn't have much capacity for feeling positive.  Sorting myself had come to a screeching and premature halt!

I've found it hard to put into words how I was feeling, but I was, and sometimes still am, struggling with the feelings of stress and depression. I was reluctant for long while to use the D word. It's not something I thought I would ever experience personally.
Why? Why is it difficult to admit?   I know there's no shame in it, I know most people experience it as some point in their lives.
I lived with someone with depression. I saw how, for 18 months a close relative of mine struggled to get out of bed, stopped taking basic care of themselves and was unable to do the simpliest things. They became a shadow of the person they previously were, and gave up on the possibility of seeing any improvement in their life. Although this year I have felt as low as I have ever done before, I was never as a bad as that, was I?