Bel Says

Harajuku isn’t just a place—it’s an attitude.  The 4 most famous Harajuku girls are Love, Angel, Music, and Baby, the entourage of Gwen Stefani during The Sweet Escape Tour of 2007. Google Gwen, you can‘t miss them.

Harajuku is really a mishmash of quite a few fashion styles, but, generally, it’s most celebrated by teens and youngs adults on Sundays on the bridge across the train tracks from Harajuku station to Yoyogi Park, Japan.

Gothic Lolita ~ Looking like either modern day aristocratic Elizabethan debutants or over-the-top French maids.
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Visual Kei ~ The Glam Rock  look – think 80’s goth rock, punk or heavy metal.
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Ganguro & Kogal ~ Get hip with the orange fake tan… orange, gray, or platinum hair… light lipstick, and white eye shadow (like a panda)… slap on a set of fake lashes, bright clothes, and bling… and she’s all ready to go. The most famous Ganguro Girl is called Buriteri, named after a brand of soy sauce. Think Spice Girls with a tan.
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Decora & Kawaii ~ Meaning ‘cute’. The clothes are meant to emphasize the cuteness of the person wearing them, or make them look quite childlike. Accessories include back packs with animation characters on them and oversized stuffed toys.
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People even choose to express themselves dressed as Cosplay of anime or manga characters .

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It looks to me that there are only a few standard rules when it comes to Harajuku:

• Stand out
• More is more
• Weird and cute is good
• Guys may look like girls if they so please (and vice versa)
• Being ignored is NOT an option
• If all else fails, pick something with COLOUR!!!

Gwen Stefani – What You Waiting For? (Featuring Love, Angel, Music, & Baby)

I tell you, I’m friends with quite a few vampires around the world. I even worked for a famous one for a while. Anyways, I decided to have a bit of fun with the ten commandments for my tips for dating a Vampire. (You know, that cute one who lives next door, who you’ve been friends with for ages) *eyebrow wiggle*.

TEN: ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbours.’
~ If you want something he has, circle it in catalogues and leave it lying around his house so he can get an idea of what gifts to buy you. If you’re yearning after an ox or a donkey, in this day and age, you may need more help than he can give you.

NINE: ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.’
~ Nobody likes a liar. If he asks if there’re bits of his dinner in his fangs, tell him the truth.

EIGHT: ‘You shall not steal.’
~ He’ll know if you borrowed that Nine Inch Nails CD. Be sure to give it back.

SEVEN: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
~ Who wants a girlfriend who can’t be faithful? Not him, obviously.

SIX: ‘You shall not murder.’
~ Yeah, he doesn’t want to die. Talk with words, not a stake.

FIVE: ‘Honor your father and your mother.’
~ He’ll probably want to be around you a fair bit, so you’ll both have to get on the good side with the respective parental units.

FOUR: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’
~He’ll really want to spend Halloween with you. Keep the day free on your calendar. Oh, and if Ozzy Osbourne tours again, be prepared to party hearty.

THREE: ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.’
~ Avoid using the names of the higher powers. I.E. God, Jesus, Allah, etc, it will make him choke on his soft drink.

TWO: ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’
~ He’s probably on the run from a vampire hunter (or some crackpot who thinks they are one). So don’t lead the hunter right to him by posting his picture all over your FB. Not even those pics of him in his hot board shorts at the beach with his shirt off.

ONE: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’
~ Really I think what it means here is: once you go Drac, you’ll never go back.

Music: Vampire Weekend – Giving Up The Gun

Bel Says:

Buying that brand new corset
Those little red numbers counting down to the end of the auction… I swear they’re mocking me.
16 minutes to go…
Now, I know exactly what I want— I’ve bid on it for heaven’s sake. It’s supposed to be in my size and I’ve memorized the sizing charts. It’s going to fit. Now I just have to win the damn thing.
15 minutes to go…
Last time I bid on something like this, I wasn’t home to watch the clock tick down to nothing and was outbid by 3 cents. That’s right— 3 freaking cents. I was unimpressed to say the least.
14 minutes to go…
I’m a very small lady. How big was the ‘person’ who outbid me by 3 freaking cents!?
13 minutes to go…
I was the perfect shade of red and this one is black.
12 minutes to go…
I have my bid in the space provided so that at the 3 second mark I can outbid myself.
11 minutes to go…
Oh for goodness sakes, I don’t like this waiting crap. Just get on with it.
10 minutes to go…
I wonder how long it’ll take to get here if I win it.
I wonder if it’ll be well made, or if it will be a matter of ‘you get what you pay for’.
9 minutes to go…
99 cents is a great price for anything… except a chocolate bar. Those should be less than a dollar. Rip off merchants.
8 minutes to go…
I wonder if I will want to go out and buy a new blouse to go with the new corset?
No—I’ll wait until I have it in my hot little hands before I decide.
7 minutes to go…
The stress is getting to me… I can feel my heart racing…. My hands are sweaty (and my typing is worse than normal!).

6 minutes to go…
Hubby is trying to talk to me and I snap at him to shush until the auction is over. I have to give it my complete attention… (Well, apart from writing this).
5 minutes to go…
¾ of the way there. My eyes are set to no blink mode and are starting to dry out. I hate having dry eyes.
4 minutes to go…
$8.77 postage. Amazing how they can charge us more than they’ll probably pay themselves for postage.
3 minutes to go…
Call of nature… NOOOOOO!!! Not now. Now I wish I was a man so I could just tie a knot in it.
2 minutes to go…
Kiddo is whining for the computer… she has an assignment to write up. Not Now—EBAY!
1 minute to go…
All the blood has rushed to my head and my mouse is over the ‘place bid’ button. I am so nervous I think I’m going to  make a mess. Oh no! The clock is under a minute…

To be continued…

Music: Europe — The Final Countdown

Bel Says:

How does it feel when you have nobody to love? When you’re walking around the CBD, watching all the love birds holding hands and making goo goo eyes at each other. I know–it makes me feel pretty meh too. Imagine if you were a ghost… then you really would have no body. But if a ghost were to have some body, then he’d be a lucky guy indeed.

Timing is everything – Halloween is the time when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest; though, this would probably be the time when everyone is out looking to find their own Patrick Swayze. Be sure to get in early to avoid disappointment.

Location, Location, Location – He will probably be spending most of his time hanging out at the cemetery, the dead center of town; where his body was buried, or in the spooky looking house where he died. These places would probably bum him out, so if he’s not bound to the area, take him somewhere nice, like the fair. He’d probably get a kick out of the fun house.
Dress to impress – White flowing gowns or sheets with eye holes cut into them will probably make him cringe. Also avoid jangly chains. Cliché much. Try to dress in whatever was sexy in the year he was still alive. So if he’s been cactus for a while you may have to invest in some corsets and long flowing skirts. For the first few dates a costume store rental would probably be fine.

Pet hates – Cats tend to get their tail in a twist around ghosts. So Mr Whiskers isn’t going to appreciate you bringing your Boo home. Maybe it’d be a good idea to send his furry butt on a little vacation to your Grandparent’s place.

Bridge the gap – The key to any good relationship is communication. Unless you know Morse code and don’t mind his constant wall tapping to make conversation, you’ll need to look into a few things. Befriending someone with the ability to see and talk to the dead would be a good start. But for those times when you want to be more private… a digital voice recorder for EVP’s (not to be confused with VPL), a light with a motion detector, night vision surveillance with infrared lights, and if you want to catch anything he mutters under his breath, perhaps an infra-sound monitor.
Imagine the possibilities – You’re a little old to have an ‘imaginary friend’. People will think you’re an absolute nutter unless you manage to prove to them you really do have a ghost for a boyfriend. For this you may need to have a séance with an Ouija board. Or look into investing in a full spectrum or deep infrared still camera for those happy snaps. For the home movies a full spectrum high definition camcorder is what I’d suggest. All these gadgets can be found at any reputable ghost hunting store.

Electro shock therapy – Ask your Boo to avoid fiddling with your electrical goods. He’ll waste power with all the turning on and off, and if you’ve bought the EVP equipment he shouldn’t have a need to be killing your light bulbs to let you know he’s there.

The cheaper alternative – Everyone knows ghosts make the room cooler when they’re lurking. Inviting your Boo around on those stinking hot summer evenings will be more cost effective than switching on the air conditioning. Not to mention more environmentally friendly.

Penny Wise – Save money on going to see those horror movies together and just have him scare the life out of you when you least expect it. It might make him giggle, and a happy partner is better than a grumpy one.

Safe as houses – Don’t live in the safest part of town? Ask your Boo to move in with you. Ghosts don’t have to sleep and they make less mess than a guard dog. Would probably be more effective on burglars as well.

Good luck!

Music: Blondie — (I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear

Bel Says:

I’ve been looking up survival guides on getting through Zombie invasions. You know what I’ve noticed?? Not one of the sites has a list on what to do if you fall for one of them.
I mean c’mon, there is a SERIOUS drought of single, well mannered, genteel, people of the male persuasion. Surely one of the rambling dead has to be a better bet than one of those drunk losers in the Valley, late on a Friday night. He would even open a car door for his lady friend. Yes, he may want to do it so he can get to you, but at least he opened the door. In today’s society, that’s classed as manners, which in my books shows higher brain function than the moron who tells you to shake that sweet ass on the dance floor at 3am.
So, I’m going to go through and reword the meanings of some of the more pertinent warnings or suggestions from a couple of the lists I found so that, if you do happen to be looking to fall for a Zombie, you’ll know what to do.
10. Don’t be a hero — The hero is the most irritating person in the room, thinking every Zombie is a bad guy, and trying to separate all the ‘damsels in distress’ from their possible hook ups. You may push people out of the way, but only in the pursuit of your one true love.
9. Think before you act — Always a good tip. Pick the freshest Zombie in the room. A gas mask isn’t exactly on the fashion must have list for summer.
8. The buddy system — Stick with your buddies, but avoid his.
7. Choose your weapons wisely — Glade is the key word here. The guy is a rotting corpse—you’ll need a wide range of deodorizers to aid in masking his musk. Avoid scents based on food. This may turn you off your favourite dessert if the relationship doesn’t last.
6. Be ready to move — Not everyone is going to be thrilled for you and your betrothed, you may have to take an extended leave to avoid those pesky lynch mobs.
5. Stay in Shape — Catch and ‘kiss’ may be his favourite game, so be ready to run… for your life.
4. Silence is golden — He’s lacking in the higher brain functions ladies—he’ll be the strong, silent type. The less he says, the less stupid he’ll sound.
3. Duct tape is silver — If anything like a finger or an arm falls off, you can’t get much better for reattachment than duct tape. Strong, durable and, as long as he’s not a gangster who wears lots of gold, he’ll be accessorized perfectly.
2. Fire — Why? Mainly because it’s romantic, but if he goes in for the kill and doesn’t take no or a good walloping for an answer, at least the best cure for a Zombie attack is close at hand.
1. Distance is key — Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so don’t let him near your brains and he’ll want you all the more for it.
Hope these tips helped. Good luck!

Music: White Zombie – More Human Than Human