Norwich Pride 2016

Saturday was the 8th Norwich Pride (only my second) and it was so much fun. The route was different this year, ending in Chapelfield Gardens where there were stalls and a stage and it worked really well. As well as going in the opposite direction, the route was longer this year too which pleases me greatly ^_^ Seeing all the people gathered for the start of the march had me tearing up a bit. I've been so down on Norwich lately (although I'm pretty sure the negative people are getting too loud all over the country (and world) at the minute) and having all these people together just celebrating each other really lifted my lil' heart.




We headed into the city before lunch to check out the stalls in The Forum and were given free cake by a trans support group so I was happy lol. There were lots of stalls by all sorts of organisations and it looked like a lot of good information was getting shared (also, lots of sweets).
We stocked up on badges and headed out to where the march would start. We kind of watched the march from a few different spots and then joined on the end. The atmosphere was so good.






Once we were in the park the atmosphere was even better, all sorts of people having a really good time together. I was just so happy all day, it was awesome.




Rather than taking lots of bad photos of the stage I went with lots of bad video instead. Although the footage isn't technically good it makes me smile and if that isn't the point of recording a day out then I don't know what is. Look out for Steve the policeman. We'd seen him walking about, looking fabulous in his pink feather boa, the strap round his hat was Pride themed, he had rainbows on his cheeks and was just brilliant. Then he was up on stage saying hello to his boyfriend and dancing along with Ashley-Kate and it was definitely one of my top moments of the day, watching that footage makes me smile so hard.



It all makes me smile so hard. I can't say enough how much fun it was, can't wait till next year :D

I Am Enjoying Snapchat

I needed a new memory card for my phone, my internal memory is so small :'( and when I finally got one I thought I'd see what snapchat was all about. I wasn't expecting to keep it for very long, I don't have friends using it so I thought I basically wouldn't be able to use it but once I'd learnt how it works I actually got kind of obsessed. I realise this isn't really the point of snapchat but I have a real hoarding instinct when it comes to photos (I don't save all of them... but I do save most of them) and thought a blog post would be a good way to look back at them later. So here are some of my snaps so far.

I'll be sharing more work progress pictures, I just need more practise at stopping to take photos while I'm working. It will always be lots of my face plus filters though, I especially enjoy catching a filter when it's not on my face properly. If you want to follow me I'd like that ^_^  my username is vongarratt and I have my story set to public. I follow people back on there (and if it turns out to be a creep I quickly unfollow, keep your online spaces how you want them folks) but if you want to see my story without me seeing yours I'm cool with that, just ask me to unfollow you, I won't be offended ^_^

And here's the videos I've saved, not as much as the photos and mostly pets because they are often cuter in motion. (And I kind of forget you can do videos on there lol)

Recent Reads ~ First Bad Man, Batgirl, Saga, Paper Girls, Fangirl and Death Note

*Writing words is not my thing, reviews are not my thing. However, I love books so much and always want to share what I've been reading so I'm just going to go ahead and do it regardless. Also, I don't much care about spoilers so who knows if I say too much or not but I also rarely read anything new. Read at your own risk.*

The First Bad Man by Miranda July - This is classic why I don't try and do reviews territory. I guess this book is about a woman who is suffering with anxiety, loneliness maybe, being very constrained and then someone is forced into her life, literally living in her space and she starts feeling things rather than holding everything back. This makes it sound like a very different book though. The things she feels aren't necessarily healthy. And there are all sorts of off shoots. I dunno but you should read it. It's a little uncomfortable at times but that's not always a bad thing, this is a really good book.

Batgirl Volume 1 Batgirl of Burnside by Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr - I really enjoyed this. I haven't read any Batgirl before, but have a basic knowledge of her background. I thought how this was set now with the tech was handled well. Because I'm old and remember when stories didn't need to include the internet sometimes fake social media/apps in stories seem a little shoehorned to be 'current' and 'down with the kids' but this really didn't (let me tell you a story children about the days when not everyone even had the internet and mobiles could only call and text and you had to pull out the little aerial and not everyone had one of those either...lol). I really liked the art style and the use of colour was great. Also the diversity in the characters was very welcome in such a mainstream comic. The story was good to, lol. Reviews pro.

Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples - I had obviously known of the existence of this comic for a long time. Everyone loves it, everyone suggests it to people who don't read comics yet. I hadn't decided not to read it, there's just a lot I want to read so not everything has been got to. Anyway, I read it in one sitting the day before I had to take it back to the library and I really enjoyed it. I hadn't read anything so fantasy in a while so it was nice to have so many different species? creatures? I dunno, characters. It definitely got me hooked, I got volume 2 out when I took this back.

Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang and Matthew Wilson - I really enjoyed this. Before I read it I wasn't really sure what it was about except a group of girls in the 80's (that's all I really needed to know) and then there was added sci-fi shit going down. I liked how the time differences were handled in terms of one of the girls often saying some pretty inappropriate things to current ears (always inappropriate, more 'acceptable' back then) and at one point the guy from the future is just like, "you're just an ignorant past person, things change love". I'm pretty sure those are his exact words. The art and colours are beautiful and I can't wait to see where the story goes. I'm kind of annoyed I've read it so close to when it was released because now I'll have to wait ages for the next trade. At least being behind the times works out well for that.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - The blurb on the back of this book read to me like "she writes fanfic and is a nerd but now she's going to college so she'll have to stop that stupid stuff and grow up" which I obviously thought sounded really lame. But I kept seeing people love it that I assumed wouldn't think like that so I gave it a go. The first half of the book I found a little dull. Oh there's two of them and one is extrovert and maybe a little too into the party with frats thing and the other is too introvert in a rather unhealthy way, how different but the same, did we mention they're identical twins!! But about halfway through when the dad ends up in hospital I thought it got a lot more interesting and I ended up liking it. Mostly because she doesn't give up on being a nerd, she just fits it in her life with all the other good stuff she likes. The idea you should grow out of stuff like that bugs me so bad so I'm glad it didn't go down that route. I guess it might seem preachy to some people about the party/drinking thing with the whole "you must never drink now and come home every weekend" reaction but it didn't bother me because I don't drink or go to parties. And she was using it as a coping mechanism (same as Cath was hiding from everything) which isn't healthy... Overall, not sure how it gets so much praise but I did like it.
Sidenote: I will never stop being surprised by the US every time I remember you go to uni before you're old enough to drink. You're an adult now go off and live by yourself and be an academic, but no wait you're also a child and you're not allowed to drink alcomohol yet. Weird.

Deathnote Volume 1 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata - This was not what I was expecting. In a good way, and I'm not sure what it was I was expecting lol. Ryuk is kinda adorable and Light is evil and scary. There's something to be said there about death not being scary and humans being twats but I'm not articulate enough to say it. I enjoyed this too.

Maybe I should just list all the books I've read and at the bottom put 'I enjoyed these' ^_^

Please tell me what you are reading or what I should read and add me on goodreads if you use that because I love it for finding new books to add to my ever growing list ^_^

Also, go visit your library if you don't already (and if you do then go an extra time, treat yourself), it's where I got all these books from. Libraries are magical, amazing and important and need your support. If you can't get to your local library look them up online, I know mine also do ebooks and stuff so maybe they can still help you out.

16.07.16

That bun, he's just too cute to handle. Literally, maybe that's the actual reason he doesn't like to be held...

14.07.16

My brain has been failing me lately. I need to keep doing things though or I'd just sit and spiral down into worse moods. So here's a vlog where I had all good intentions but end up laying on the floor.

Shop Update ~ Patches, Octopus, Kawaii Food

3scoop // bread // cat ice cream // halloween patch

Here are a few things I have recently added to my Etsy shop. A couple new, a couple restocked. I'm planning to do a giveaway on my instagram soon for the 'prototype' be kind patches I made before making these ones to actually list so follow me there if you don't already. Not sure when I'll do it but I'll mention it again here anyway. I also have a couple of the ice creams and bread slices that I won't be listing, maybe they'll get a giveaway too? I've never done a giveaway so I don't know if anyone would even enter! Only one way to find out though.

I hope you have a good weekend ^_^



be kind - lilac, blue, purple // mint octopus

Failed Vlog Montage

About a week ago I wanted to vlog the day but it ended up being a bit of a bust because I'd been feeling kind of down and it wasn't the best day and it sort of kept happening so for some reason I've plonked those clips into one video. I think it's important to notice when you're not feeling your best and to try and counter it somehow. It's not always possible but I find even making the effort to think about trying can help. This week I've pushed through on work, which can be hard. Working for myself makes it easy to put work aside but I always feel worse for it so I've concentrated on doing as much as I can. Also, stickers. Buying them, sticking them. Whatever. My art journal/scrapbook/whatever it would be called is giving me a nice start to my days. Do whatever helps you but don't give up on yourself, it's ok to feel down even if there's no obvious reason. It'll pass.



I took this photo the first day I tried to vlog and was going to use it as the thumbnail but I thought it was too misleading lol so I went with a youtube suggested one instead.

New stuff plus discount code

I have a quick couple of shop updates to share with you. Firstly I have started selling crochet patterns in my Etsy shop. I was going to wait until there were more of them to mention it but seeing as I had another little thing to share today it seemed like as a good a time as any. I will be adding more soon, I'm currently going through patterns I have already written, tweaking them, photographing the process, making the downloadable files etc. Writing patterns is long, friends. But I hope you'll like them (if you crochet, otherwise they mean nothing to you. It's ok, I understand). Once I've done patterns I've already written I'll be writing new patterns to list too. I have had a few ideas over the years for amigurumi that I think would be too complex (and therefore too high a price tag) to be worth making for the shop but as a pattern rather than a finished piece I think they'll work. These are the two up so far, a carrot and a blushing pear.

If you have a look at my website homepage there is a drawing of me and I have a cute little fella on my shirt. I had the amazing realisation that I could make that shirt be real and now that cute little fella design is in my society6 and redbubble shops. I even have a discount for you, with this link you get free worldwide shipping on everything + 15% Off Wall Tapestries when you order from my shop. Only if you use that link though. (expires 10th July 2016 at midnight, pacific time.) And here are a few examples. I'm still amazed by the range of items. Redbubble have just added a new type of dress too so that's exciting.
































I'm off to eat a massive bowl of rice and work on more new things. I'm feeling super productive. I hope you're feeling good too and if you're not, I hope you do soon ^_^

Lord Mayor's Celebration 2016

I've lived in Norwich for 5 years this summer and have never seen the Lord Mayor's Procession. It's a really big event and I have meant to go before, it's just never worked out. But yesterday I finally went. I watched the procession then met up with Will when he finished work and we had a wander round, got some food and checked out some of the entertainment before the fireworks and heading home. It felt really good to wander about and to just come across stuff happening. I wish the street performers were there every day.





Here's some video I took of the procession, my favourite bit is probably the little Rey and watching R2-D2 go down the road was also pretty magical. I didn't take so many photos of the procession but then we went wandering.



The weather was a little all over the place but it did give us this double treat.





That bean wrap was so good.







I love fairgrounds so much. I don't go on rides but I love all the lights and colours and maybe most of all, the airbrushed paintings decorating the rides.






I love looking at all the slightly wonky versions of characters you know so well or maybe they had a theme like the underwater mural. I love anything handmade and these always have so much character. They seem to be being edged out by bad photoshop ride artwork though. I guess a lazy photoshop attempt is visually the modern comparable to a 'bad' airbrushed painting but anyone can print photos after fudging them about on photoshop. Whatever you think of the airbrushed paintings there's still a level of skill and creativity in there. I hope the airbrushing doesn't disappear too quickly, it's got so much more charm (and crosses a more acceptable line when it comes to copyright).



In this second video I collected together snippets of the fair and some of the entertainment we watched. Like I said before, wandering about and just coming across a performance made for a really good evening, I had a great time. I added a caption on the video but that guy, wow. It really was amazing to watch, it seemed so random and all over the place but you know it must have had so much work go into it. At one point he ripped his trousers off but they were only half stripper trousers so one leg came off but the other didn't so he had to take off his shoe to get the other leg off and then only had one shoe on and was in his pants the rest of the time. He pretended to smoke a flare. He put on a sombrero, filled if with nachos and threw them at us. There was a puppet and it fell apart and it's impossible to know if it was on purpose or not. He was making a soundtrack all the time too recording himself and using loops and repetition. It can't really be described, it was too amazing. Hopefully one day I'll see him perform again. My second favourite performance we saw was really very different but also awesome, the Punjabi Dance Group on the forum stage which you can probably tell I enjoyed from how much they take up of the video.




At the end of the day, once it had got dark, they set fireworks off from the castle. If you watched from city hall they have music timed to it or something but we went round to a different patch of road where there were fewer people which is often a preference of mine. We rarely go out at all and I definitely stayed up past my bedtime (lol, I'm a nanna) so I'm pretty knackered today but what are Sunday's for if not to potter about eating crisps and looking at photos from yesterday?

June Wrap Up

Another month of the year down, another attempt at a monthly round up type thing. Like I say in the video, ever since I started blogging years and years ago the idea of some sort of 'well that was that month' type post has appealed to me but I've never really managed it. So I thought why not have a go at a video version seeing as I enjoy that these days. Maybe it'll become a thing maybe this will be the only one. Hopefully we don't find out for a while, I need the year to slow down!



Here's a photo of (most of) the stuff I mention in my video. I also mention a couple of things that aren't tangible so they obviously aren't in the photo.




Here's that lovely wrapped up Sanrio parcel. It made my week, post is always good but when it's that cute it's even better.



And here's the poster from the My Little Pony comic pack. I love those things, they're pretty cheap too. Also my last dinner of June. I didn't mention it in the video but I probably should mention those carrot and kidney burgers at every opportunity because they're too good. It's a Jack Monroe recipe but I don't use onions and rarely have fresh herbs and yesterday I didn't need the flour. It's basically grated carrot and kidney beans warmed up and mushed together into patties then fried and nommed. So good.

Hope you had a good June ^_^