My personal blog as a 'grown-up' Goth and Romantic living in the Highlands of Scotland. I write about the places I go, the things I see and my thoughts on life as a Goth and the subculture, and things in the broader realm of the Gothic and darkly Romantic. Sometimes I write about music I like and sometimes I review things. This blog often includes architectural photography, graveyards and other images from the darker side of life.

Goth is not just about imitating each other, it is a creative movement and subculture that grew out of post-punk and is based on seeing beauty in the dark places of the world, the expression of that in Goth rock. It looks back to the various ways throughout history in which people have confronted and explored the macabre, the dark and the taboo, and as such I'm going to post about more than the just the standards of the subculture (Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, et al) and look at things by people who might not consider themselves anything to do with the subculture, but have eyes for the dark places. The Gothic should not be limited by what is already within it; inspiration comes from all places, the key is to look with open eyes, listen carefully and think with an open mind..

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Useful Posts on Other Blogs!


This was supposed to be Sunday's post, and I did write most of it on Sunday! Sunday is Wash Day. Washing day began at just gone midnight because we use the timer on the washing machine, and washing will continue all day in various forms. There's clothes to be washed, floors to be washed, dishes to be washed... Basically I'm actually being a domesticated Goth. Don't worry, the Other Half does chores too. My Other Half is particularly good at doing chores on account of two things: the first is that he runs the chalets at the local ski & holiday resort and is therefore in charge of a whole lot of house keeping and is rather hands-on and perfectionist about it all and the second is that he used to work in a hospital which gave him a vey good education in cleanliness.

As it is Wash Day my first link is washing-related: ::How To Wash Your Wool Jumpers:: at the lovely Juliet's Lace blog. I only discovered this blog today via ::Sophistique Noir::. Anyway, Amy of  Juliet's Lace explains in nice simple steps how to properly wash a wooly jumper without it shrinking or stretching. I don't own that many wooly jumpers, but I've been guilty of not caring for those that I do.

The next link is a crafty link and back at Sophistique Noir, this time with Victorian Kitty's tutorial on how to make a veil. This is really a simple tutorial! I'm going to have to make one of these when I find some more craft supplies. I can't even find a John Lewis department store here :(  I had just enough tulle for this back in Oxfordshire, but it is sadly one of the things that got left with my Dad when I moved North. ::Link:: When I do get materials, I will be posting my progress through this tutorial. I do come up with my own craft projects, but I like to try other people's projects too. My take on this will probably involve a few ribbons and bows, because I just love ribbon.

I know I haven't really written anything of my own up today, but I'll remedy that. Anyway, all my previous posts have been rather text intensive and I don't want to bombard everyone with massive walls of text all the time so I guess this makes up for that. Also, my next post will have photographs, and while not quite a tutorial, will show some funky make-up based on a video I saw on YouTube. 


3 comments:

  1. Reply: Thank you! It's amazing what can be done with simple, mainstream items (for example the Klimt is from IKEA. Who would have guessed?). All one has to do is give them a small twist! :)
    No, it's not proper mistletoe, though I wish it was... Some kind of clingy vine, I suppose. I honestly don't know what it is as it was given to us as a housewarming gift a few years back.
    I love your idea for a Goth tree... I wish I had room to make one! Although I want to keep our decorations somewhat traditional for my little brother. He lives with us and I don't want to force him into a satanic/pagan christmas celebration (he's still a little young to understand why).
    About religion, I'm not really that much of a satanist. There are just as many flaws in the idea of satanism as there is in any monotheistic religion... I have yet to find a word for what we are; we have kindof a satanist-sprititual-pagan-witch thing going on. I personally resent Christianity as an organized religion for all the wrongs that have been done in the christian gods name, as well as the idea that all people are gods "sheep". To e that implies that we are to mindlessly follow - and that doesn't work out well for me.

    Either way I'm a little dumbfounded with the idea of religious neutrality. As well as it works in theory, I think it is hard to enforce in practice. Still, it is good for precisely the reason you wrote about; that is the kind of thing such rules should work against - trying to force students into religious conformity? So wrong. It makes me sad somehow to know that you were put in such an environment, although I'm happy to see that you seem to have come out of it unscathed and intact! ;)

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  2. Oh, and yes, that star in the window does belong to our neighbor... I didn't realize that it was in the picture..! :)

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    1. It is indeed quite useful to get things from non-obvious sources. I applaud your desire not to force your beliefs on your brother. I'm Pagan/Witchy, and while I hold my beliefs quite dearly, they are mine, and do not believe in pushing it on people, especially not on young people. I had Christianity forced on me by my school, but it only pushed me to reject it as a faith. I resent the wrongs of organised religion, but I've met enough nice, non-pushy, tolerant Christians to realise that I can't blame or judge individual Christians for the actions of a splintered and divided organisation. I can't do being a sheep, I'm too wilful! I cannot believe in the Christian concepts of humans being innately flawed and damned and in need of saving, it's a mentality I cannot accept. Without seeing a need for a saviour, the rest of Christianity becomes redundant.

      I used to have a star like that! I found it in a charity shop.

      Pushy religious types are not the worst thing in the world, but they were one more misery at a time when there were a lot of bad things going on in my life. I didn't come out totally unscathed, and I think my time at boarding schools has made me a tad jaded, but with time and distance, mostly time, it has become much less significant

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