The Beginnings of my Bucket List

1) Have a copious amount of wigs of all colors, shapes, and lengths. And actually wear them.
2) Get a gun and use it to intimidate first dates.
3) Dance in Paris at a discotheque and say no to men with whom I don't want to dance.

4) Travel to China, where I will study the Tao.
5) Have my honeymoon in Paris or Greece or Spain...or all three

6) Go skydiving
7) Go skinny dipping
8) Go cliff diving/jumping
9) Live on the beach

10) Go a day with no speaking while being in a forest
11) Pet a tiger cub (again)
12) Buy a pair of Louboutins with my own money

 (via net-a-porter.com)

13) Take a head shot of everyone I know
14) Host a giant dance party
15) Occasionally observe British tea time

 (via here)

16) Build my dream extension-of-the-mountain house
17) Dress up for Halloween every year until I can no longer put on clothes or am dead
18) Be best friends with an influential artist
19) Build a library that's actually aesthetically pleasing
20) Be a stylist for a year
21) Have two babies (when I have money to afford them) and call them Sylvia (female) and Sven (male)
22) Write a novel - not necessarily to be published

23) Expose my entire self to someone
24) Play dress up at least once a month

25) Get a telescope and/or travel to Mars

(via here)

(all other images via fashiongonerogue)

Sanctuary

Everyone needs a safe place; a place to go to be vulnerable, to complain, to cry, to be held, to speak without hesitation, to not be rejected. Are there sanctuaries that are constant, or are they ever-changing? A mother is an archetypal safe haven, but not everyone has a good relationship with a mother figure. A best friend works, but best friends change over time. Maybe some people have consistency with their sense of "home," but the way in which "home" manifests itself transforms.

Speaking of mothers...

(all images via fashiongonerogue)

I think this editorial speaks for itself (and click them to enlarge; they're better full sized).

And as Madonna wrote,

Who needs a smile when a tear's so full of love
Who needs a home with the stars up above
It's here in your heart I want to be carried
You are my sanctuary

Who needs the light with the darkness in your eyes
Who needs to sleep with the stars in the sky
It's here in your soul I want to be married
You are my sanctuary

Hollywood diva personified

This was published in Vogue Italia in 2008, titled Stardust. It was photographed by Steven Meisel and modeled by Viktoriya Sasonkina. Click to enlarge.

Shoooessss! Yes, please.

"Siiiigh, signing autographs is so boring."

Hello beautiful dress, would you be so kind to drape yourself on me like this?

Masculine-feminine dichotomy personified. Beautiful styling here plus a fantastic pose and face. "So I might look a little like a man; what's it to you?"

"I am dead tired from the constant 13 hour days. In fact, I think I might literally be dead."

Photoshopped, of course, but what a beautiful cheekbone, no?

"I know I'm gorgeous. I don't need you to tell me."

Smoking is bad. It will give you lung cancer. But can you look gorgeous while smoking? Hollywood says yes.

"Think 'wax doll, wax doll, wax doll.'"

The magnificence of this editorial is the range of the model's face and posing, Meisel's photography, the styling, and the story. As always, the best spreads must have all four in order to be successful. If you want to be bored with an editorial, check out the Vogue US November issue featuring, once again, Anne Hathaway. How predictable for Anne to be in fabulous gowns and attending parties...doesn't she do that as part of her job? They should've put her in all black and in a dumpster or something.

(all images via fashiongonerogue.com)

Giant pink flowers

Rihanna released her video recently for her new song. It's worth watching the video.

A commenter on youtube said, "This is one of the most disturbing videos.... going down on the yellow flower, the giant pink vulva flower... And the lyrics. The lyrics are heartbreaking really. You can never be the only girl in the world and you can never be the best. This, like all her videos is sending the message "I'm a hot vag, use me and I'll imagine its love," but this one seems more self-aware and pained. I'm sure no one reading this is going to get what I'm saying though... It is sickly mesmerizing."

But she's saying "I want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world." I don't think she's implying, "I want you you to tell me I'm the only girl in the world and mean it absolutely." She's talking about a feeling, not a reality.

This video is incredibly different from her pagan Rockstar 101 video. That video screamed "Fuck off. I'm in control now," while Only Girl in the World says, "Look at me! I'm a womaaaannnn! Deflower me!" She would prefer it if you loved her like a "hot ride," though. So, if you can't love her like you love your car, I suppose you're out of luck.

I must say that I think her sacrificial virgin bra-and-long-skirt at the end is a bit strange. Her red hair, though, ugghh, amazing. I want. Apparently I can't write proper sentences when I want bright red hair.

(from here)

Why should I title posts?

I've found that the closest men's magazine to Cosmopolitan is Men's Health. GQ writes about the sexiest women in rock and fashion week's sexiest women. Maxim...well, there's not much to say about Maxim except that it's soft-core porn.

Cosmopolitan females love to please their man in bed, dress fashionably, wear the latest make-up trends, and fix their hair just right (to see this, all you have to do is look at the homepage). Men's Health at least has one article on their website about pleasing a woman. I just found one, though. How many articles does Cosmo have about how to know "what your man is really thinking" and how to "make your man love you even more"? From all the editions of Cosmo I've flipped through (I've read it more than you think), there are a lot.

If I want to know what a male is really thinking, why can't I just, hmm, I don't know, ask him? But men lie, so I have to go to Cosmo in order to find out what's actually going on with "my man." Really, I should be thanking Cosmo for giving me the knowledge on how men actually work. I mean, Cosmo is the Bible for subservient women, right? (I feel like I need to define subservient: subservient |səbˈsərvēənt| adjective, prepared to obey others unquestioningly)

What is society turning us into? Society is either turning women into slaves to men or rulers over men. Neither is right nor good. Society is turning men into cowards or into alpha males who are ready to pounce at any minute. The former seems to be more prominent in the male gender. Again, neither is right nor good. Where is the balance?

This photo has nothing to do with the above, but this gown is amazing.

(Atelier Versace Fall 2010 lookbook via fashiongonerogue)

An unfortunate event

(from thesocietypages.org)

There's not much to add to what it already says, but it definitely shows how society wants everyone to put the focus on the other (being the opposite sex - or same sex, whatever floats your boat) and not on the self.