My Life In Instagram Pictures

Posted on April 24, 2012 by The Dame

I’ve been busy “gallivanting” these past few weeks and it doesn’t look like I’m stopping any time soon before I head off to South Africa, so this is what I’ve been up to recently…

I’ve been wearing some badass shoes… (Top shoes by Iron Fist from their ‘Manslayer’ range – I also have the thigh high boots and the calf length boots from this range! Bottom shoes from Ash and unfortunately not very comfy to wear!)

And some badass costumes (red wig with lilac PVC worn to fetish Club Rub this weekend)

Having my feet massaged, A LOT, by eager foot loving men every weekend, FOR FREE.

Eating proper burgers at the coolest places, namely BYRON in Waterloo. Not only are all the staff, cute, friendly and clued up on their sales techniques, but the venue is all rustic diner decor and OH MY GOD THE BURGERS! Let me tell you, I have never had a more heavenly burger and I had the veggie version! Delicious warm, oozing goats cheese on a plump, fresh Portobello mushroom with crisp baby spinach in the freshest, softest bun, oh my! I was in happy food heaven!

We even wrote them a love letter!

“There are times you see food and think, “I want that in, on and around my mouth”. Your proper burgers do just that and truly satisfy. Waterloo branch is best by far with great service, great rustic diner decor and good sales techniques by good looking staff”.

Our waitress told us all the staff were arguing about who we were referring to as good looking. We didn’t tell them that they were ALL good looking, especially the cute Spanish looking chef de partie that caught my eye as I left with a wink!

Gawping at extremely expensive jewellery on New Bond Street, I hate to hazard a guess at how many houses/cars can be bought for the price of these jewels…

I adore big trees like this, they just beg to be climbed and remind me of a tree in my neighbour’s back yard when I was a kid that I used to fall asleep in.

I met kleinjinx for lunch last week while she was in London getting her wedding dress fitted. We’ve been friends online for ages so it was awesome to finally meet her!

Marvelling at this silly “claim to fame“. Stephen Fry was one of the first people to follow me years ago! I know he follows like 52,000 people but still, he is like my 16th follower, so I think that counts as something! :p

On a whim, my friend and I bought the cheapest tickets to Zach Braff’s play All New People. Our seats were a thinly padded bench at the very top of the theatre with no back rests, just a steel banister but we still enjoyed the play, it’s very funny and charming and a bit serious and existentialist in places and definitely worth catching before it ends at the end of April.

We also paid a visit to the Tate Modern (YAWN…!). It’s weird that I come from an artistic family and love and appreciate art, but I just cant get the stuff at the Tate Modern… I dont know if its conceptualist or contextualist, but Im looking at a piece of rock in a room and despite the indepth explanation of what it represents and its intention, I cant get over the fact its a rock in a room. The only piece I liked was the big bathroom mirror that reflected us… Now THAT was a great picture!

You can follow me on Instagram @TheDameIntl. Do you love Instagram as much as I do? I must admit I was not a fan until recently, and now, I love it, but I always try to remember, quality over quantity! Art over substance! Just because you can tweet/snap a pic, doesnt mean we should hey? xo

Off On My Next Adventure

Posted on April 21, 2012 by The Dame

Ive been trying to write this post for the longest time but I just cant seem to find the words to explain myself.

Im everything and nothing.

Yesterday I booked a one way flight to my home country South Africa leaving 8th May. Im going to volunteer on a horse ranch where they also rescue animals.

Why? Well, after four months of living in London, Ive had enough. I just cant do cities. The rife consumerism drains me, not to mention its overcrowded, expensive and lacking of humanity.

I CRAVE animal company and spending time in nature. I NEED to do something meaningful and helpful and worthwhile, so Im going, and Im not sure when Im coming back and thats just the beauty of making your own way in life.

If it doesnt make you happy, stop doing it and find what does.

Why didnt I just move back to sleepy, peaceful Cornwall? Because I want to experience disappearing. Unplugging. No make up, no fancy clothes, no hair dye or even hair dryers. And that means no Twitter, no Facebook, no Tumblr, no Internet. No mindless distractions.

Im an all or nothing person.

Like a pendulum I swing from one extreme to another hoping I’ll land somewhere on a middle ground some day, I think, after 33 years, I may be getting there. But I know what makes me tired, what makes me sad, what makes me feel hopeless and that’s city life. It’s the rat race that says I must give up 90% of my time and money and make do with what Im left with and try and enjoy my existance with that deal.

I dont bloody think so. And thats why I unplugged from the rat race so many years ago, but I thought, now that Im a budding writer and photographer and hopeful performer (or something), city life wouldnt be so bad.

But its the forcefulness of advertising and media that we are subjected to and mostly mindlessly accept that suffocates me. Watching people behave like animals and mindless drones, all around me, I cant take it.

So Im going to the bush, the outback, the nature, the loving, open arms of Mother Nature to find solace and peace and myself. To figure out what really matters and hopefully what the point of me is.

Im nervous. My country is not what it was when I left some 13 years ago. My colour is a minority there and my government is corrupt and inept. Our roads are unsafe to drive on and you have to drive everywhere due to the expanse. Our currency has lost it’s value and what used to cost coins now costs double didget notes.

But my country is wild and beautiful and free spirited and courageous. My people are friendly, accomodating and tolerant. We were raised with manners and respect and consideration for others.

I have no money, but I have friends and I am able bodied and willing to trade my helping hands for food and a place to sleep. And the bonus? I get to do all this while taking care of animals and being around good people.

So, this isn’t goodbye, Im sure I will find something to share with you while on my next adventure. You never know what might happen!

Do You Have These Problems Too?

Posted on April 14, 2012 by The Dame

I have a problem with applying myself and staying focused… ooh shiney!

But seriously. In giving myself the freedom to do as I please, I now have the problem of having too much choice and no daily structure, so I tend to just float along on an addiction to constant stimulation (Tumblr) and spontaneous choice making.

Before, when I had a boss and a 9-5 or waitressing gig, I had routine and only a certain amount of my time was mine. Now, I have all the time in the world and I dont know what to do with it! I LOVE to take photographs, and I love to visit quirky places and meet unconventional people and I love to travel, and I love book shops and nature and, and, and…

And none of those things pay my bills. So I have to apply myself to something in order to have the bills paid and thats where I fall short. My eratic attention span means I cannot be consistent enough to satisfy an employer and I am yet to be employed in a position doing something that engages me long enough to keep my attention… Apart from being a strip pub dancer in Australia – that was a riot!

I even lost focus with this here website. When I began to explain to my mom what I do with it, the intention became clear. This website is intended for women who think for themselves. Its for women like me, who dont plug into the status quo, who dress for themselves and find it hard to find anything to buy in the fashion stores because the current trend never quite fits our aesthetic. This website is for women like me who never buy “women’s magazines” because just looking at the covers makes us think, “what a load of bullshit”. This website is for women who dont like being told what to do or feeling obligated to anything.

And this website is for women who are beginning to figure out that maybe they arent who they thought they were, that maybe being everything everyone else wants them to be isnt ticking their pleasure box anymore and find inspiration from those women like me, who make their own way in life to the beat of their own drum.

I do whatever I want, whenever I want yes, but unfortunately, that costs money. So where does the line get drawn between selling out and my own autonomy? Having a boss and a “real job” terrifies me but without it, I live on the bread line.

I am talented, inquisitive and game for adventure. Let’s hope this year brings me a way to indulge all those things while also being paid to do so!

Do you have these problems too? Staying focused and applying yourself? Have you found a way to deal with them? Id love to know how you do it!

Instant Images: A week in the life of Instagram

Posted on April 4, 2012 by The Dame

So I finally gave in to Instagram, I had signed up a long time ago, but never used it until about a week ago and since I have been busy and therefor slacking on updating here, I thought Id post some photos from my Instagram feed.

Yesterday my newest interviewee and I went to the park to do the interview and discovered a whole world of graffiti art…

I bought a new hat this weekend

Currently corset training, they are NOT fun to wear…

I went to a fetish club on Friday night wearing fully fashioned seamed stockings and Louboutins…

Mmmm, lunch!

I love throwing together whatever I have in the kitchen, it always turns out delicious!

MUST HAVE these gorgeous boxes! From a store in Spitalfields.

To The Woman Who Makes It All Happen

Posted on March 18, 2012 by The Dame

If it weren’t for my mother, I wouldn’t be here today.

Here as in alive and here as in where I am at in my life. My mother has bailed me out of every place I keep getting myself stuck in, in life.

My mother is currently living it up on holiday in Western Australia because she worked her ass off taking care of old, sick people. My mother has a bottomless heart of gold while wearing her heart on her sleeve.

My mother has not always been treated well, people take advantage of kindness and gentleness and yet she is still the most generous person I know. My father was a brut and yet she still keeps in touch with him, despite everything he damaged and took from us.

My mother is friends with all my friends, who all adore her. There is a small coastal town in England who all know my mother and give her hugs when they see her out and about.

My mother deserves the best of everything and yet plugs along without it.

My mother has done the best she can all her life and despite having a frustrating daughter, is still there for me no matter what crazy plan Ive failed at yet again. My mother is my life.

I Got Published!

Posted on February 28, 2012 by The Dame

Towards the end of last year I got an email from an Italian interior design magazine called Brava Casa. They had seen the photos I had taken of Ugly Luggage in New York and asked if they could use some of them for an article they were doing on the vintage store. Of course I obliged and below right is the photo they chose (they even give this site a mention!).

This is the second time I’ve had one of my photos published. The first was for a tourism website for Brisbane, Australia. It was a shot of City Beach. Unfortunately the link to the page died with my other Macbook.

It would be wonderful to continue to have my photography get published!

Baby, Let Me Upgrade Ya

Posted on February 8, 2012 by The Dame

Hello again!

I’ve not disappeared I promise! I have just done a complete about turn in my life and have been busy finding my bearings. So, a quick update on where I am at:-

I moved back to London. London is over-crowded, over-priced and smelly. Many people have lost their humanity here and it’s very consumerist. But, my experience is what I perceive it to be, so I soldier on.

I have started taking dancing classes, Jazz and Contemporary, as well as Screen Acting classes (my first was tonight) in an attempt to find out what Im truly talented at and because I would like to have a career as a Performing artist. (As well as all the other things I get up to!).

Acting class was fun! Its held at the Finsbury Town Hall and Im new to Finsbury so I had a wonder down Exmouth Market and popped into Morito for a red wine and a tapas plate of lamb chops that were absolutely oozing and dripping all over me and yes I devoured the fat because I can! (Thankfully the lemon juice seasoning and a glass of red wine prevented me from feeling sick from all the richness of the perfectly cooked lamb chops)

The staff were lovely hipster looking guys, one with a turned up ended mustache and the other with some geometric tattoos. The place was PACKED and the music they played could have been from one of my playlists.

I am broke but I decided to treat myself to practice feeling good and the way I want to feel every day of my life.

I stumbled across this blog today The Londoner and got spanked by Inspiration so hard I’ve been furiously writing affirmations in my notebook that I take with me everywhere! Rosie, the girl who writes the blog may be rich and skinny, but I definitely want to upgrade my life as much as possible.

I may have been born in the gutter but I don’t have to spend my life there. I have every right to want the best life and currently living in an absolute shit-hole (think unkept dormitory) is putting a serious fire under my ass to make things happen and live the life I desire.

So, in the very near future you will see the following from me:
- more blogging here, and an overhaul to the site to look professional and sleek
- photography of street fashion and food and unusual/interesting places in London
- interviews with people who have unconventional careers

And in the future (i.e. by the end of the year) you will see that I have:
- learned aerial hoop to the point that I can perform on it in a professional show
- become proficient in pole dancing also to professional performance level
- internet and tv presenting
- travel features

I intend to be paid to be my magnificent, inspiring self. I intend to be paid to do the things I am passionate about experiencing. I intend to live a life of beauty, passion and inspiration and bring those same things to the lives of others.

This year, I will shine.

Transition Time

Posted on January 17, 2012 by The Dame

It seems to be that absolutely every one I know is going through some sort of major transition. The theme seems to be that we are all losing everything we have; homes, jobs, relationships and not sure where to go next. If this sounds like you, don’t worry, it’s happening to everyone right now!

I really think it’s a universal thing. I feel like the world is getting shaken up in a major way and people are starting to wake up to themselves and to each other. We have spent so long on the grind, “doing jobs we hate to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like”.

I’ve started reading a book by Jungian analyst Marian Woodman and she talks about the “birth canal” in terms of it being painful going through changes in our lives. I think this is why I had such a break down earlier this month, I had to lose everything to realise what I really, truly wanted.

And so I am happy to update you on what is happening with me:

I am moving back to London into a creative’s community right next door to where my best friend lives.

I put myself on a couple casting websites last week and now have an audition class and casting on the 28th and have been asked to send in a head shot for a feature film by Ron Howard.

I have aerial hoop classes, dance classes and pole classes lined up for when I hit London and have started doing work out DVDs to get myself into some sort of shape for when they start!

I am feeling good about life! It feels Iike I’m coming out the other end of the birth canal. I know where I’m going and what I want to do – be a performer. This has always been my dream and unfortunately I strayed from the path for quite a few years, but it’s better that I do this now than never.

I also plan on taking some acting courses and finding out what sort of singing voice (if at all) I have at some singing classes.

If you’re a creative living in London and want to meet up and even possibly be featured on my website, email me! Speaking of which, there will be a lot more interviews of people doing their own thing up on my site in the coming months so make sure you’re subscribed!

I’m excited and motivated! I LOVE performing, especially in dance. I am completely without professional training and utterly out of shape, but that’s even more exciting to me because my goal is to go from this to being trained and in perfect dancer shape to be able to apply to agencies and of course, be booked for shows!

I’m also excited to finally start working on the three burlesque performances that have been dancing around in my head for years.

By the end of this year, I want to be with a few agencies, regularly booked doing dance shows and at least be able to do some sort of acting if I feel its something I still want to do after Ive had some training. TBH, I have no idea how I’m supposed to remember my lines!

Are any of you going through a disruptive period at the moment? Lost and don’t know what to do next? How are you coping?