My favorite art piece

So Tonight I asked for an interesting thing to blog about, and someone said "tell us about your favorite art piece" and I figured, well why not? Unfortunately this is something I could go on and on about, so I've got to find a way to shorten it!

Okay, so I'll tell you the title first- The Persistence of Memory, and the artist- Salvador Dali.
Now, most art students will know exactly what I'm talking about (especially the art students in my class, because Mr. V gave us that very yummy description about how Salvador Dali was eating cheese while looking at a clock to get his inspiration) when I say that this is a surrealist painting.

Surrealism is the era in which painters would bring dream like figures and try and put into a realistic scene, to try and create a bond between real life and the dream world. It's probably my most favorite genre when it comes to paintings, because the thought that goes behind it is so interesting!

So this painting, The Persistence of Memory- is my favorite because not only is it strange, but it makes use of weird colors and whenever I look at it, I feel curious for some reason. It just triggers that in me.
I love Dali's paintings because they're so weird, and if you look closely you'll see so many strange objects and figures in this painting.

I was going to do a full analysis on the painting, but I realize that will probably bore most people, but hey! If you want me to do the analysis, just pop some comments down below and I'll do that for you! In fact I'd be happy to analyze any painting, just comment below. Anyway, I have to go read now, because I have a book review due quite soon, and I need to write it. Just about twenty more pages to read till I can begin the review!

Lots of Love,

<3 Lee

Ten things not to do when arguing

There are just some things that are okay and not okay when arguing with a special friend, boyfriend, best friend or family member, and I for one absolutely HATE arguing! Not only because it hurts a relationship, but because it emotionally hurts the other person, and also can get very annoying at times, so tonight I decided I want to blog about the ten worst things I can think of when it comes to arguments, so here it goes:

• "Are you on your period?"  So, This one goes out to boys specifically (sorry boys, but it's true). There is a HUGE difference between anger and being on our period! Sure,  when we're on that awful time of month we do become a little bit cranky, but that's just for about 3-7 days, the rest of the month we're fine- and when we're angry, it doesn't mean we are on our period- it means we are angry. Asking something like "are you on your period" is a pathetic excuse to avoid an argument and can make a girl even more angry- unless you have physically seen me opening up a pad, don't ask me if I'm on my period.

• "Whatever" In a situation where arguing is involved, saying something like "whatever" is bound to make someone even angrier, and I know that I for one Hate it when someone says "whatever" while I'm trying to get my point across. Like all humans, we all want to know that the person we are talking   to is interesting in what we are saying, because it gives us a sense of worth, and if they don't want to     hear what you are saying, and are not interested in the conversation, what are they doing in your         life? Clearly the relationship isn't worth it.

• "Just drop it" NO! Do NOT drop the subject! I can promise you that will not help ANYTHING. If one side brought up a subject obviously it was brought up for a reason so SORT IT OUT. Rather now than have it blowing up in your face later on, yes?

• People who Ramble Hey! Whoa! Slow down! Just remember, there are two people in this argument- give the other person a chance to speak too! Their side is just as important as yours is.

• An arrogant attitude No one likes a person who thinks too much of themselves, especially when you're busy arguing. So stop being cocky and start listening to what the other person has to say before putting yourself first- not only will this calm the situation down by showing the other person that you are willing to hear them out, but it will also make you less uptight.

• "I don't like you"  "well if you don't like me, LEAVE!" Need I say more?

• "You seem angry" Okay, now first of all... If I wasn't just a liiiittttllleee bit mad- we wouldn't be having this discussion, but as soon as a person tells me that I'm angry- I am bound to get angry, because not only have you just reminded me that I'm angry, but your calm, cocky question has just made me want to hit you in the face multiple times, and then still set my cat on you. Really, "You seem angry" ? not a good call, my friend. Rather say "is there something bothering you?" (still not a good one because by now they've probably already told you about the situation) or "well what can I do to help fix the situation?" (much better, because that tells the person that you are willing to help)

• The whole world doesn't need to know you're arguing! Yes, it is nice to have support when you're going through a rough patch, but putting your status messages as comebacks to an argument, or writing on a person's Facebook wall about how much you hate them certainly is not the best idea of the day. Firstly- it makes you look like a pathetic attention seeker who is a complete meanie, and secondly- it embarrasses the other person very badly and will most definitely hurt their feelings. You're having an argument with that person- not an argument with that person AND Bob, AND Sally, AND Joan.

• Yelling "STOP YELLING! IS THIS PLEASANT TO READ?" I thought not. Listen, you're in the same room as that person, why do you need to yell at them? It's not like being angry has made them deaf- you're making them deaf by yelling at them, and not only that- you're boosting your adrenaline which makes you much more excited. This makes you seem aggressive and the other person will respond in the same way and this is what makes most arguments blow up in punches and cat-fights and shouting matches.

and lastly:

• taking words out of context A person isn't going to hide information in their words. They will say what they mean so don't put words in their mouths! That is definitely one of the things I hate the most when I'm arguing with someone.

So there you have it folks! The top ten pet hates when it comes to arguing! I'd like to say thanks to my friend Dee for helping me with this one, because it really was quite a tough topic to cover! So the next time you're in an argument- think back on this blog, and see if you're doing what the other person might hate.

With Love, 

<3 Lee

First Exhibition Masterpiece.. Complete!

Hello there!

I have finally finished my first Matric Exhibit masterpiece (painting).
This isn't really the best quality photo, but I had to use my Nokia C3-00 to take this photo. I am very proud of my self because of this painting, and I can't wait to start my next one! When I have completed all of the pieces I will do a blog about them, but I still have a long way to go! So far it's going to be the observation of the glass, zambuk tin and Cape Velvet bottle, and this.

<3 Lee

One of Those days

Today is another one of those days where I'm feeling completely insecure about myself.

I found myself wishing that I was somebody completely different, someone much more beautiful, and thinner, and with a lot of talents other than just art.

I decided to open a Tumblr. account because I thought that it would make me feel a little more normal, which it didn't. What it did do- was make me feel like I'm trying to change myself to become some sort of blog-spammer, so I think I'm going to delete the account.

What I did realize though, is that I have a friend who saw the picture pictured here on the left, and he texted me telling me that I have to stop feeling so insecure, and accept myself for who I am because everyone else does. Part of me believes him, and Part of me doesn't, but I am grateful that I have friends like him who are there for me.

So recently I have had two friends (they are dating each other) trying to set me up with one of their mutual friends who I haven't met. But I don't think I'm willing to do that, like I said on my Facebook status,

"That awkward moment when you have a friend, and his girlfriend trying to set you up with someone you don't even know after two months of being out of a relationship that lasted for two years, and I'm just chilling there thinking like.. I don't really want a relationship.. or to meet new people  I just want to crawl in my hole and play WoW and get healthy again.. and concentrate on school work...  why would I want to get in a new relationship again? I mean, isn't it enough now? I'm seventeen, way to young for commitment, way to young to be involved with people older than 18 (unless I was friends with them beforehand). I guess people just try to help, but I rate that I don't need help, I just need support right now. I don't think getting in another relationship will help anything, and I feel that it would be so unfair to the other person if I were to use him as a building block, and I explained this sort of. I don't think its so hard to understand, is it? I'm just not ready.."

the amount of correspondence I received on that post was hectic- people telling me how proud they were that I am being so mature about the situation- and then a lovely comment from sweetheart Meg saying 

"babyy you are young! what happened with you and my brother was either a blessing or a lesson! you will learn from all these experiences! whats meant to be will be! thinkinbg of you! nothing changes between us gorg mwahh! chin up!"

(Thanks babee x, it made me feel so much better about the situation <3)

For now, I'm going to take all the negativity I'm feeling and transfer it into something beautiful, in a painting or a drawing.

A note to self- never let anyone or anything put me down, I ought to accept myself and I also have to accept that people want to help me, so Don't take things so personally.

Also- Don't wear my heart on my sleeve.
<3 Lee

Nostalgia and my life so far

It's about one AM and I still am not able to sleep, and I keep going back to thoughts of my childhood and how everything turned out, and how everything changed to make me who I am today. And I'm just sitting here on my bed, wondering how things are going to change for me in the future, will it all be good or bad?

Before I came to the coast, I lived a very interesting life.

I was the cute little blond baby, first of all- I was adorable (even if I say so myself), and I grew up with an ENORMOUS family, and when I say enormous, I mean huge, there is my dad's side, and my mom's side, (as we all have), but, I have an extra bit of added family- The Circus.

You're probably thinking "well, this has to be a joke", but I kid you not, I grew up with the circus as family, and I loved it!

At the age of about 4, this is me just taking a guess, I drank hydrogen peroxide quite accidentally- I was making myself some Oros and I thought that the Peroxide was water, so I put it in my juice, and drank it, and of course, I landed in hospital! (Who wouldn't?)

My Circus family came to visit me, and now that I think about it, I still remember it every now and then. But this is the one part that I have a photo of- one of my uncles came to visit me in hospital.

And not only did he visit me- he visited the rest of the children's ward too! (I'm the one on the lap, I was always rather boyish).

At age 6 I had a circus birthday party, I remember it well, I was too afraid to go up on the trapeze, so I had one of my friends do it for me. I remember my Aunt (Tufu the Clown) entertain us along with the help of all the staff, and of the circus one of my most favorite memories is when I used to help Daniel (the stable guy) take out the pony for all the Birthday parties, and he would let me ride her to the ground by the coffee shop where they would have the horse rides.

 Pictured there is (left to right) the girl I was best friends with at the time, Megan, Tufu the Clown, Lauren, My sister- Nicky, and Myself at the end.

For a while after that my sister and I started going to Circus School- it's like a gymnastics thing, only except you learn circus tricks-

 pictured here is us getting ready to do a show called "Wonderland" - with months of training, and I remember clearly my toes being smacked a good couple of times by my Auntie Susie because they weren't pointed, we got the show right!

Then school became the first thing on my mind and I left Circus school, but was still in contact with the family, I would help with end of year functions and I would work where I could- and I got trained how to work. Honestly I would never have done it any other way.

 High School came and I started making friends:

By the end of eighth grade we were all best friends, and we would have done anything for each other. We had created a bond. It was as if nothing would stop us, and from staying that way. There are other friends- Megan, Michael, Alex, Daniel, Mkiwa, Bonolo (2 of them), Randy, and Aaliah, but pictured here are Johan, Kevin, Diren, Shannon and Nicol and myself obviously.

And then Life happened and we all moved away. Aaliah to Madagascar, and myself to KZN, and then the others moved friends I suppose, but the point is we all lost contact and stopped talking.

Michael though I never stopped talking to, because we'd been best friends since grade 5.



But writing all of this has got me thinking- what has all of this even achieved for me? I've attempted to be positive, and in the past two years I've falling in, and out of love and gotten hurt and I've wasted my time with people who pretend to be my friend and they too- hurt me in the end, and that's when I realized:

It's called life.

And of course, if I could do some of it over again , if I knew what I know now- but certainly not all of it. I have had amazing experiences, and the most awesome childhood that any kid could ask for- I have a family that loves me ,and I adore them just as much

 and a big sister who I can talk to about anything:

 and I realize that even though we might not have everything that everyone else has, and I'm not as pretty and as skinny as all the other girls here, and that I'm probably the strangest person anyone has ever known- I attract all the crazies ...

We have what some people don't have- and that's love, and love for life. My family (including Michael and his family, and the Circus Family) has happiness and a strong bond that will possibly never break and I realize that I should be grateful, because some people don't have a family at all.

And I am grateful, and I realized I don't need to be like the people here to be happy. I just need to be myself.

Moral of the story- don't let other people change you, just stick to who you are and you will find out what you really need and want out of life, you'll turn out to be a much more happier and loving person.

<3 Lee