Life: Opening Windows

New hair, new course, new glasses. We're halfway through september and at the start of the academic year - and having moved flats (photos to come) and just started a year's research project, I was feeling like somebody had opened a window for some air.

I haven't had hair this short for years now, and if anything I'm excited to cut it shorter. I've also been growing my nails out, and the contrast between the two aspects of my appearance is interesting (even if I spend every waking moment terrified of breaking them). Playing with femininity and how I appropriate that has been fascinating me for a while now, and I've been influenced significantly in this by hard femme identity in lesbian culture; androgyny is great too though, hence the hair cut.

This year I'm taking a break from medicine to do some clinical research; it's a big change for me and I don't know how I feel about all the statistics yet, but I'm excited to learn how to incorporate evidence based medicine into my practice, and contribute in some small way to the research community. Between this and settling back into university life however, it does mean life will be somewhat hectic and blog updates might be spotty for a while.

As for the glasses, the stars aligned and I found the frames by chance for £30 in my optician's sale. Cat's eye frames are something I've fancied for a while now, but that doesn't mean that there was any forward planning. 

Has anyone else had changes in their life recently, big or small? How is autumn (or spring, depending on hemisphere) going for everyone? Let me know below.

Fiona C. 

Review: Karma Se7en Jewellery

There's a lot of reasons I don't particularly plan on getting piercings - above all, an irrational dislike of committing to anything regarding my appearance. This is revealed at its most absurd regarding the only piercing I have seriously considered; a septum piercing, probably the easiest to hide and the most easily removed. I accept all judgement you heap on me, piercing aficionados. 

Karma Se7en recently sent me some (very well packaged) faux septum clickers along with an ear cuff (some of which you'll have seen already if you've got me on instagram or twitter), and I'm really happy with these pieces. They're much more difficult to bend and get in than the septum ring I reviewed from Body Jewellery Shop - gosh, that was a while ago - and do wobble slightly on account of being heavier pieces (like a real piercing, how high/low these sit depends on your own personal anatomy, and some suit me better than others), but they're well made and have a range of designs I really love, and all for buy-one-get-one-free. All designs are available for pierced noses too. The ear cuff is even better, being comfortable and easy to bend around your ear.

And what's the point of going through the hassle of a piercing when I can just pop one of these beauties in and carry on with my day? I'm lazy, but that doesn't mean I need to compromise.

Single point ear cuff  -  Opal clicker  -  Royal filigree clicker  -  Rose gold imperial filigree clicker  -  Celestial clicker

Fiona C.

Barcelona: Four Days and Four Nights

Sun, sangria, and so much art. On exiting the airport, I was immediately accosted by the most Spanish of smells: drains. Yet it wasn't detracting - Barcelona is a city that sits balanced between decay and vitality, with the numbing heat made bearable by the cold saltiness of its seafood. Nowhere is this more perfectly found in the mordernisme buildings of Antoni Gaudi, where bones and living forms are used equally, and the underlying geometry of nature's undulating shapes revealed. Even as a long time lover of brutalism and bauhaus, I cried whilst visiting Casa Batlló it was so lovely.

Of course, there was some time spent drinking silly cocktails on the beach and trawling overpriced tourist shops, but I was touched by just how much the Catalonians cared about their art and civic spaces; graffiti and sculpture were treasured side by side, and I listened and danced to a live jazz concert on the roof of the world heritage site La Pedrera. You can see more of my photos from this brief break on my Instagram (where I also post lots of things that don't make it to the blog), and maybe again in future if I manage to make it back.

Have you visited another city recently? What's your opinions on art in public spaces? Let me know below.

Fiona C.