Being Serious: Bullying

Posted by unknowntheartist in Being Serious and tagged with , ,

Disclaimer: I don’t normally post this kinda stuff regularly anymore but this really pissed me off.

Just browsing through the internet news, this morning, and I read about a young girl who was beaten on her first day of middle school in the US. Originally, not allowed to sit down (plenty of empty seats as reported), seven attackers punched her repeatedly until she was on the ground.

(Yes, I know this occurred earlier in the month but I’m only hearing about it today. Now off my case, you get.)

This is a serious situation but I did find one unfunny joke in it. The school that these students are from: Liberty Middle School in Marion County, Florida.

I watched the video to see if I could make any sense of it and I wish I hadn’t. The girl was practically crumpled and destroyed emotionally by the time she was removed from the aisle and towards the front door.

How the “students” (can you really call them that? Savages would be a far better label) have not been expelled from their school yet is beyond me?

Here, once you lay a violent hand down on someone on school property, you’re out for good. And you will be arrested and charged, no doubt.

American laws for this kind of trouble absolutely astounds me. The school’s been putting discipline packets together or some rubbish, I don’t know. For teenagers who have fought on that same bus route? Like come on, why weren’t they banned from the bus system per that school, entirely? It would show that there is zero tolerance for fighting and causing trouble on the school bus. You bust someone up, you can find your own way to school. And explain that to your parents who probably have no idea what you’re up to.

Sure, these kids have been arrested but will charges come of it? Probably not. They’ll probably just get moved to a school for troubled kids. Together. Which means more bullying and beatings.

-The fact that two boys were beating the victim. Never will be a more true outcome for them but to become violent criminals, wife beaters, etc. It starts young. These pathetic little boys have so much to be ashamed of, regardless of being black or white or any other race.

-The claim is now that a racial slur was involved and exacerbated the situation but to be truthful, only the defendants are saying this after being arrested and identified.

I’m not saying that it couldn’t have occurred but who knows any 13 year old girl (who is not ethnic), with an older sister experienced on the same bus with the same teenagers, that would sling the N-word on her first day at middle school?

-The accused are all on home detention. I call bullshit on that. It’s called wasting time- watching TV, not studying, playing around on the internet. F*cking around, to be blatant. Trust one of those idiotic children will go ahead and brag on Facebook or Twitter about it.

-The excuse from one of the defendants is that she “accidentally kicked the girl in the head”, she was not remorseful even though the mother (and barely that from the way she speaks) apologised in some kind of fashion (something along the lines of “I’m sorry to the girl and uh, whatever, happened to you”. Like come on, we all know the daughter probably went home and bragged about it.)

I’m not sure about you but I can see if someone is on the ground in front of me and know not to kick them in the head. It’s called stepping over. Or even, for Christ’s sake, helping them up off the ground!

Will the victim be scarred forever? Highly bloody likely. I can’t even imagine wanting to ever go back to school or even take public transport again.

I just don’t know what the world is coming to. Children are having babies and not parenting. Can’t even spell the word “parent”.Children aren’t taught to move on or keep their damn hands to themselves.

We’ve all been so worried about cyber bullying lately that we sometimes forget that the physical bullying is still prevalent.

It’s stories like this that make me feel like we’re all doomed, because this is the breed of children that is being raised right now.

Children having children have been like “F*ck evolution, we’re going back to caveman days and doin’ it up Neanderthal style”.

Supposed to be moving forward but this holds us back, as human beings. The aliens must be laughing their asses off, outer space somewhere…

Life At Random: Your Memoir In Six Words or Less →

As seen at the wonderful Everyday Minimalist

My memoir in six words or less…  

MOH. Music. Movies. My Life Rocks. 

It’s the truth and nothing but. 

 

Shiny New Things: December 2011- January 2012 Hauls

Posted by unknowntheartist in Shiny New Things and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Not a gigantic personal haul done over Xmas, moreso, pressies for my team.

Although, MOH’s Xmas pressie to me was off the hook! Lemme show you…

Yep, an iPad2 plus a pink cover!! Hooked me up with Beyonce’s new scent, Pulse, a pink vinyl Domo, some cupcake lipglosses and a cupcake notepad. Super cute! My man knows me so well :D

I loves it! I have been on this thing nonstop since December 25. MOH already has one so now we’re twinsies :P

My company sent out this gigantic gourmet chocolate hamper which included everything Lindt, Baci, Guylian, plus a copy of the Michael Buble Christmas CD and David Campbell’s Let’s Go (back to the 80s) CD. This below is one set of choccies that were in the hamper.

(I forgot where the big pic is, atm.)

One of my team gifted me with some beautiful perfume bottles, cute socks and a large pink Domo :D

Because I worked all through Xmas and Boxing Day, I missed getting out to the sales. I had a couple days off over New Year so I made sure to get out to a shop or two to take advantage of the sales.

SATC 1 & 2 Blu Ray Set and perfume haul

  • SATC set- onsale for $14.99!!! Holy focaccia!
  • Cosmic Radiance EDP by Britney Spears (didn’t even know this existed) plus was given 3 gifts- the gold clutch, the gold wristlet and a nail polish bag by Sally Hansen
  • Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture- been wanting for ages and found this size at a fantastic price!

Colette/Target/Priceline/Kmart Haul

Needed a new handbag, spent a half hour walking up and down the store, trying to find the perfect one that would fit all my junk and not break.

  • Beige tote with gold hardware
  • Studs, Hoops, Rings in silver and/or black
  • Nail polish in lavendar and pink glitter (wearing at the moment, just gorgeous!)
  • Lee Stafford travel pack- has my fave hair product in it- a dehumidifier! Love to bits!!
  • Hello Kitty book cover- I know it’s childish but I want to cover my work diary in it :D
  • Eyeliner & Mineral Foundation top ups

The Hills & Equip Haul

  • Hills boxset- $56 on sale, for all 6 seasons. Now, I can possibly get rid of my American copies of Seasons 1 and 2. Miss this show, seriously.
  • Bracelet sets, rings and studs
  • (not pictured) Restocked underwear, basic tees and tanks for the new year as well. Some fantastic bargains, esp. at some of the places in my local shopping centre. The centre is being opened up on one side for expansion so the stores that are being demolished/walls broken down first, have started vacating and therefore, practically throwing out the stock.

Anyway, that’s it for another month or so, haul wise. Got bills to pay soon so I don’t expect to be hauling a great deal for a while :(

2012 Resolutions: Whatevs 2011, It Was Real

Posted by unknowntheartist in UnknownOpinions and tagged with , ,

So, this past year (2011) wasn’t such a bad year. I mean, I stuck to some by some random occurrence and not any real planning on my part but at least, something in my life went according to the  New Year’s Resolutions of a previous year :/

Let’s revisit what got done and got ignored in 2011…

√ Get my money right.

MOH and I are still saving our money, haven’t wasted it on much except the big 3D plasma in the living room died so we went ahead and bought the LCD version instead. It is beautiful :D  

Barely spent any money this year on clothes, mainly ‘cos I’m in uniform 5 days a week. Didn’t go nuts at any sales and only bought what I knew I would need/wear. 

As for private health insurance, we finally signed up as a couple and got the corporate rate, thanks to MOH’s job. New glasses, new contacts, that trip to the dentist I’ve been dreading, MOH’s back op, all gonna happen this year ‘cos we got our shit together. 

√ Bargain shopping and trend shopping will be cut out for good.

I barely shopped this year in comparison to previous years. I did buy more from eBay and Amazon but it was through painstaking hours of finding the right sellers. I didn’t even hit up the boxing day sales. 

X Take better care of myself.

My skin condition has gotten better and I am being more vigilant in not scratching the crap out of my arms.

Unfortunately, while MOH has spent less than a month sick all year, thanks in great part to us moving and also, to my nagging, I spent probably a quarter of the year sick. Why? One of my team got sick, passed it onto me and due to my work schedule, I could not get to a doctor within the first month. Thought it would go away soon after but I began wheezing and only getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep per night, because I would wake myself up from wheezing so loudly. The verdict? The asthma I had as a child (up til I was probably 14 or 15) had reared its ugly head. And because I have been off the medication for over a decade, my first dose of it, at the medical centre, made me so f*cking woozy, I had to stumble to MOH’s work and get him to take me home. I think I will have to take this medication for life. 

√ Continue to work smarter, not harder at work.

I’ve had a drama at work this year but most of it is sorted. As anyone who reads this would know, I spent 3 months on and off annual leave ‘cos I have too much built up. Gonna go again soon, hopefully. I need a break and some time to tan :P

√ Enjoy life and try to capture some of it on film.

Gotta say this has been our lowest year when it comes to going out- eating at restaurants, going to the cinema, shopping, travelling. Kinda all went south. but we enjoy the comforts of home, which is like our own restaurant and bar( I’ve been drinking homemade pina coladas for the past 3 days!), our own home cinema, shop from the computer, look at other blogger’s travel pics

X Eat, Drink & Be Merry.

What did we try this year? Nothing really. Oh, we went to this restaurant called Mundo Churrasco. Food was great, when you finally got any. Takes about an hour to get a full plate and by then, half your food would be cold. Beautiful place but I’d rather a meal in one go, not a taste here and there of random meats. 

√ Cut down the book and CD collection.

Definitely cutting down. Last year, it was like ten sales in a week, then none for a month. That continues. Odd… 

√ Devote more time to being with MOH.

MOH and I talk more. We have so many private jokes, we laugh a lot still, which I think is key to a lasting relationship. MOH opens up to me more than he used to. I appreciate having my best friend as my love. 

√ Try to say “Yes” to all invitations.

We were invited one place so we went. 

√ Storage: What For?

We are doing much better. Got rid of lots of our moving boxes and things we don’t use any longer. After the floods, there was no way we were keeping everything. 

So, the general overview, I went with last year, worked better than specific resolutions. It was quite surprising as I was going through each of the points above and thinking, “wow, I actually accomplished more than I thought I would”. 

Happy New Year!

Images via midlife.wordpress.com, pharmamkting.blogspot.com and outblush.com

Life At Random: Thoughts of 2011

Posted by unknowntheartist in Life At Random and tagged with , , , ,

So, we’re in the final days of Christmas and I can truly say that I am tired. I didn’t feel like it’d been a huge year but it really has been. Despite my 3 month on and off annual leave at the beginning of the year, and ceasing spending so much extra time at work after hours, I still feel plenty spent.

It hasn’t been an emotionally draining year- MOH and I are still going strong and I only had my one short outburst at a colleague last week (but water under the bridge now ‘cos it’s Christmas snaps). What the year has brought me is more experience in my job and the ability to handle things so much better. Protocols that are set out for me, I understand better, and for me, I think I communicate even better with them in place. While my patience has waned during some setbacks, I am so glad my company has tools for me to work situations out, professionally and less emotionally. I feel like I’m finally thinking like a businesswoman. (A colleague actually called me a shrewd businesswoman a little while back, and I loved it!)

While I’ve been in the company for 8 Christmases, this is my 2nd with this particular section and it’s taken me a whole year to adjust and get my “work smarter, not harder” hat back on. I’m glad I’ve got it under control, I’m just hoping to pass that knowledge and experience on, in the future.

Which brings me to some thoughts in my head about my life. I always knew I was intelligent and would do something with my life. I used to be pretty loud and bold and whatnot, centre of attention. But never once did I think I would be a leader. I had always been happy to go with the flow but I realise with the right people, the right skill set, the right attitude, that’s just what I’ve become. I’m very happy about where I am in life. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I didn’t offer it you to drink so whatevs. I could care less about what people think I should be doing anymore. I’m at that age where if it sucks, you should move on but if it rocks, stick with it and go up against some more challenges.

Anyway, this year, in terms of stuff I’ve been getting into- I’ve tested the waters in different things. Discovered nail art and deco den, been inspired to pink-ify my life (i.e. bathroom, office, the girly places in the apartment), gone Beyonce blonde (just like I said I would), tried Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr- only to realise that Tumblr is where my heart and eyes are at, even minimised my wardrobe regularly. I constantly think of how many people’s things I saw wash down the Brisbane River in January during the floods and know I’d never want that to happen to me. Music-wise, I’ve been exposed to so many great artists this year that I’m afraid next year’s breakouts will not be able to top- Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd and Iggy Azalea, to name a few. TV & Film-wise, I’ve watched a plethora of fantastic television- Pretty Little Liars, Come Fly With Me, Glee, Homeland, Boss, The Lost Room, Angry Boys, there’s so many good shows. Films, I’ve been very picky with. Not an awesome lot this year, for me anyway- keep in mind, I’m not a Harry Potter person. 

To bring this post to an end and my drafts list down by one, I’d like to take this time to wish each and everyone of my regular readers (and the sporadic ones who get redirected here by mistake), a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and any other particular holiday you celebrate at this time of year.

Although, I failed my post a week challenge, I did go hard for  the first 6 or 7 months. Thanks for reading, commenting, looking.

No resolutions for the new year, just bring it on. YOLO, apparently… 

And to conclude, a couple of pics of my favourite things… 

Lady Times: NOTM November 2011

Posted by unknowntheartist in Lady Times and tagged with , ,

These are the designs that I worked my way through November with.

Ulta 3 Black Satin with BYS Glitter Gold on top.

Yes, I know, it’s a bullsh*t picture (damn dopi.) made with Ulta 3 Lily White, Red Glitter and Green Glitter. I’ll have to put more layers on next time but I recall that I was in a rush for my nails to dry. Only good thing about this is the glitter polish dries super quickly.

This month, I stumbled across a new-ish stand in the local Target store, with an inexpensive cosmetic range called Essence. The product is a little more nicely packaged than BYS and from what I have experienced, the nail polishes are pretty awesome! The glitter in Blue Addicted is a great size and it reminds me of looking into a large fish tank/aquarium at night time, with all the reflective sparkles. I brushed that about 3 times over Ulta’s Metal just to get more of the glitter on my nails. Teeniest bit of chipping after one day of work but to be expected. The larger brush in the tiny bottle makes touch ups easy as heck. (I have actually misplaced the pic of the Blue Addicted nails- this is the Essence Hard To Resist blue, with matching rhinestones…)

Received my first set of nail foils after buying Bridesmaids on blu ray. Never used before but from what I’ve seen of the Sally Hansen ones, they can look good.

If you put in the prep time and are careful…

I, obviously, didn’t… :( But now I know for next time. The prep for your nails is very easy, it’s just very time consuming to snip the foils to the exact size of your own nails. I know I will never get it right for every single nail and I hated seeing them on, making my nail beds look too wide. They lasted one day without lift.

Polka dots made on Ulta 3 Allure (my absolute fave nude polish!). Dots made from Ulta 3 Spring Blossom, FOA Lemon Sorbet, an Australis pastel purple, a Maybelline pastel blue and the green dots were a mix of (I think) a mid green by Ulta 3 and Lily White.

I got bored. I really wanted to try a rhinestone design that wouldn’t pop off after one day of work. This is after one day and they would have stayed on, a third day if I hadn’t removed my polish. I gotta get better with my stripers, though ‘cos that middle finger is ick-en-spick… (I got that from the Babysitters Club if I can recall correctly.) The thumb is Ulta 3 Confetti over Ulta 3 French Blush over Ulta 3 Lily White. So I’m a layers girl. What of it?

I have to get a lot quicker at taking pics before they get wrecked at work ;P

Around The Way: Sydney in July 2010

Posted by unknowntheartist in Around The Way and tagged with , , ,

After my semi-traumatic experience to Sydney the year before with my company for conference, I was actually very happy when MOH sprang/sprung (?) his surprise on me. For my birthday, MOH had paid for flights and accommodation for us to go to Sydney for my birthday. Yay! Our first flight together ever (and the first of many to follow.) We even got extra leg space ‘cos we were in the emergency exit row. Because I’d been to Sydney before, I was able to guide MOH and I out of the airport pretty easily (though the ticketing system sucked ass- it was niggly and pricey- you really gotta know where you’re going before you decide to use public transport down there..)

View from the hotel room..

I can’t remember every single thing that we did but here is a collection of photos that try to :) (I really should get better with updating more regularly)

We didn’t do restaurants, even though finances allowed, I think we were both alert to not wanting to get sick in a city we don’t know. Despite the first shitty meal we had at Hungry Jacks’ near World Square, we continued to eat at places we know and for dinner, we actually got room service through delivery- Elvis Pizza or something like that- hearty food :) Best meal was the night we had ribs and beef nachos.

OMG, I was stuffed for hours…

I was scared of the public transport. Truthfully, I was scared most of the time.

The trains being double decker freaked me out, the amount of graffiti inside the trains, the alarming number of people EVERYWHERE! Rudeness abounds there, I’m sorry to say.

Anyway, we stayed at the Travelodge near World Square so we were basically at the opposite end of all the good stuff. Walking was not an issue, the damn rain and mugginess was. We went window shopping and thankfully, found the most weirdly put-together Woollies store we have ever been in?! Tried to find the Apple store to no avail, checked out on of my company’s beautiful stores (’twas lovely, I was envious) and I happily discovered a chain clothing store by the name of SES, which had not previously been in QLD (it is, now.)

We ate some awesome cupcakes from some cupcake place in one of the malls- we had a chocolate chilli one- it was bitey, I’ll say that. Oh, and I ate my very first red velvet cupcake too :D

One  morning, we trained it over to the infamous Luna Park.

It was drizzling that morning so we walked from the entry to the back and back out again. It seemed like an effload of teens were going to be herding themselves in so we ducked out almost as quickly as we arrived.

We entertained ourselves by taking photos of each other under the bridge, I can’t recall the name but I think it’s the famous one?

I’m pretty sure this is the same day we headed over to the Opera House as well and took photos there too. Unfortunately, July in OZ is the hardcore Winter season so it was cold and rainy, so taking pics with one hand on the camera and the other holding the umbrella proved a little difficult.

Obviously, the only other full day we spent there was at Taronga Zoo, documented here. (I can’t give you a reasonable excuse as to why I’m so late publishing things from the same trip…)

Umm, finishing with a lazy pic of the plane home.

Going home via the company’s namesake airline :D (oh, I forgot to find the photo of me outside my company’s airport store- it was way expensive but I loved the store!)

All in all, MOH and I had fun on the trip, I think it was definitely an eye opener for us, that we must research places to feel the tiniest bit comfortable as we are homebodies and barely leave our home. I am looking forward to the first half of next year because we are off somewhere on the other side of the world! Yay! (But no more speaky of this right now as I don’t want to jinx things… or spoil my anticipation :D )

What’s On My Dopi ATM: Talkin’ That Talk on Rihanna

Posted by unknowntheartist in What's On My Dopi ATM and tagged with , , ,

Disclaimer: This is my own review, also seen on my company’s in-house forum. Edited where necessary. 

I am disappointed in the material on this album. The album is strong in obvious places but weak for the most part, due to lazy lyricism, boring vocal arrangements and an overload of vocal processing. This album doesn’t seem to be clocking up the sales, despite the obvious attempts at hardcore promotion. 

The deluxe edition cover art and the photos on the inner sleeve? I remember a time when Beyonce was almost crucified for smoking in the Suga Mama vid. 
Now, every pic of Rihanna promoting this album has her smoking in almost every shot. (I thought I couldn’t talk up Rated R due to profanity and sexual innuendo but this one takes the cake.) 

Tea on the tracks (excluding the bonus 3) 

You Da One- bah, boring. Nothing more… 

One word review: Forgettable 

Where Have You Been- utilising the opening line of Oz’s travelling song ‘I’ve been everywhere, man’, it kind of follows the same love themes as We Found Love. Danceable track that we may hear in the clubs for months to come. 

One word review (okay, maybe 2): Australia Represent! 

We Found Love-  good choice for first single off of this album, considering the dance direction in which pop music has been moving. The accompanying vid is akin to some crazy relationship gifs you might see any day of the week on Tumblr… 

One word review: Skitzy… 

Talk That Talk feat Jay-Z - one of Jay’s poorest rhyme showings in years and a waste of a minute. The song itself is almost Rudeboy 2.0

One word review: Waste

Cockiness (Love It)- Sexual innuendo and vocal processing abounds on this song. Some odd beats, samples and vocal arrangements used throughout by producer Bangladesh (famous for Lil Wayne’s A Milli and Beyonce’s Diva)

One word review: Sexual

Birthday Cake- This could have been a fantastic song! Rihanna’s bravado and the oft-heard hip-hop beat work well… for all of 1 minute and 18 seconds. I ran the song back to make sure I didnt have a faulty CD! And then I tried a second one- no go, same thing. Who has an interlude between 10 songs??? 

One word: Gangsta :D  

We All Want Love- there seems to be one of these heartfelt, acoustic, mid tempo ballads on each of Rihanna’s more recent CDs. The vocal arrangement and lyricism paired together will make this a ‘lighters up’ anthem at future concerts. 

One word review: Anthemic (well, as anthemic as you can get for pop)  

Watch N’ Learn- Rihanna’s very own simple sexual instructional. Lazy lyricism, easy to read innuendo. And with lyrics like ’till my lipstick ain’t on my face no more’, impressionable children should be steered in the opposite direction…

One word review: Naughty 

Roc Me Out- another Rudeboy flashback without such hardcore references. Nothing to write home about. 

One word review: Rudeboy 2.0

Drunk On Love- another well played midtempo ballad, reminiscent of Rated R’s Stupid In Love. The lyricism similarities tell a story of a woman who gets into love full on and is completely aware of the addiction and the stupidity that ensues when letting love in. 

One word review: Reflective 

Farewell- a goodbye song in similar melodic tones to pretty much anything Ryan Tedder has put out. 

One word review: Lovely

All in all, I am left wondering why she didn’t ride out the LOUD album for a little longer? After all, the last time she was in OZ, she’d put out LOUD before finishing The Last Girl on Earth tour for the Rated R album.. 

I think more effort could have been put into this CD. She’s come a long way from that difficult place she was in on Rated R, though.  

What’s On My Dopi ATM: R&B and Pop Infusions Abound

Posted by unknowntheartist in What's On My Dopi ATM and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

This past month has been huge for artists going hard on their 4th quarter releases. I have listened to quite a bit but am only banging the best through my speakers..

But with that said, I’m still gonna run through what hasn’t made it to dopi status.

Dev’s debut “The Night The Sun Came Up” showed up about a month ago and on my own tastes, I prefer her as a pseudo rapstress, not as a singer.

I still like Booty Bounce and Bass Down Low along with the numerous versions of “Dancing In The Dark”, heard on all the different compilations out right now. Dev has made quite a career out of catchphrase hooks. 

Talk That Talk, the 6th studio album from Rihanna rubs me up the wrong way, for the most part. I’ll blog my mini review a little later.

It’s not flattering, it’s not promising but as I usually point out, that’s just moi. There are only 11 tracks on the CD, one of the songs being a bloody interlude, which turned out to be the best track of the whole thing. I literally thought I had a faulty CD when it faded out at 1 minute 18. 

Disturbed are on hiatus for a year so The Lost Children is something us Draiman fans can rock out to for a little bit. 

It contains rarities and B-sides, which most fans have already, either from the deluxe versions or from iTunes exclusives. Still, great tracks. I hope this really isn’t the last we’ve heard from Disturbed. Heartbroken I would be if true. There are no new vids for any of the unreleased songs but below is the trailer vid for The Lost Children. 

 

Ed Sheeran has been around a while but this past month marks the first time a lot of Aussies have even heard of the 20 year old Brit singer/rapper.

He’s a ‘ranga (redhead) but don’t hold that against him, ‘cos dude can sing, spit and write a mean song. The Lego House video clip sees him being stalked by one Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame , You Need Me (I Don’t Need You) includes a sign language interpreter for Eds’ rhymes (way cool!) and The A Team is the latest single knocking off some of this year’s strongest singles on charts. 

Anyway, that’s all I can muster up for you, music wise, ‘cos my head is about to explode with the amount of new music pouring in. I will post my Rihanna review right up after this is done :D  

Lady Times: NOTM October 2011

Posted by unknowntheartist in Lady Times and tagged with ,

Got super lazy this month as I had a work conference to go to so not a great deal of nail art went on or a great deal of polish designs but here’s what I did get done :)  

Please note: some of these are done after a couple days of wear so they may be chipped and ugly as hell. 

A couple I did close to the back end of September but forgot the pics were on my phone not dopi.. 

I realise now that I should really be taking the pics with my phone and not dopi… :{

I got some new gold glitter polish and it was boring until I threw some white polish under it. Worked so nicely with my gold jewellery that week. 

I really wanted to do a Halloween theme so I decided on two things. General Halloween coloured polka dots for my left hand as I can barely paint with my right hand and a Dexter inspired blood spatter on the other hand. Because I rocked up to work shortly after my nails were done, they got smushed around a bit and it ended up less like spatter and more like a blood bath, and textured too, which added to the gory feel of them, hehe.. 

And Xmas theme, I just took off the other night. My first attempt at Xmas trees and it won’t be my last. I’ve gotta have more faith in the brushes and stop being a light touch. 

That’s it for October. I doubt November will be a very creative month for me as I’ve gotta knuckle down at work but I’ll try to do some different stuff.