Documentation.

Yesterday was a day at the Races with some good bitches. 

Along with pouring empty wine bottles, grammin' selfies, banter on the male creatures and moments by which only channel can make braces look utterly cool, one topic  has stuck.

That topic is that by 2015 something utterly fabulous will have happened. What that thing is exactly, we are not so certain. But it is the date before anticipated travel between one of said good bitches and I. She will do something out of the blue and I will do something out of the red.

Letters from Famous Authors to their Children.

If you are reading this, you may as well stop.
Just go straight here.

If you're still reading this, then you clearly need more motivation to get there.

There being, Adorable Letters from Famous Authors to their Children.

It is quite possibly the most lovely thing I've seen since watching that french collection clip a while back.

Reading these letters from such authors naturally, have no words to describe them.

You must read away, get lost in them and imagine what life both the child and the author lived in.

 If you're too lazy to go to the link, here's two of my favourite letters:

I would reccomend listening to this while reading them...

From F. Scott Fitzgerald to his 11-year-old daughter Scottie, while she was away at camp, 1933:

La Paix, Rodgers’ Forge
Towson, Maryland

August 8, 1933

Dear Pie:

I feel very strongly about you doing duty. Would you give me a little more documentation about your reading in French? I am glad you are happy — but I never believe much in happiness. I never believe in misery either. Those are things you see on the stage or the screen or the printed pages, they never really happen to you in life.

All I believe in in life is the rewards for virtue (according to your talents) and the punishments for not fulfilling your duties, which are doubly costly. If there is such a volume in the camp library, will you ask Mrs. Tyson to let you look up a sonnet of Shakespeare’s in which the line occurs “Lillies that fester smell far worse than weeds.”

Have had no thoughts today, life seems composed of getting up a Saturday Evening Post story. I think of you, and always pleasantly; but if you call me “Pappy” again I am going to take the White Cat out and beat his bottom hard, six times for every time you are impertinent. Do you react to that?

I will arrange the camp bill.

Halfwit, I will conclude.

Things to worry about:

Worry about courage
Worry about Cleanliness
Worry about efficiency
Worry about horsemanship
Worry about. . .

Things not to worry about:

Don’t worry about popular opinion
Don’t worry about dolls
Don’t worry about the past
Don’t worry about the future
Don’t worry about growing up
Don’t worry about anybody getting ahead of you
Don’t worry about triumph
Don’t worry about failure unless it comes through your own fault
Don’t worry about mosquitoes
Don’t worry about flies
Don’t worry about insects in general
Don’t worry about parents
Don’t worry about boys
Don’t worry about disappointments
Don’t worry about pleasures
Don’t worry about satisfactions

Things to think about:

What am I really aiming at?
How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:

(a) Scholarship
(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them?
(c) Am I trying to make my body a useful instrument or am I neglecting it?

With dearest love,

Daddy

P.S. My come-back to your calling me Pappy is christening you by the word Egg, which implies that you belong to a very rudimentary state of life and that I could break you up and crack you open at my will and I think it would be a word that would hang on if I ever told it to your contemporaries. “Egg Fitzgerald.” How would you like that to go through life with — “Eggie Fitzgerald” or “Bad Egg Fitzgerald” or any form that might occur to fertile minds? Try it once more and I swear to God I will hang it on you and it will be up to you to shake it off. Why borrow trouble?

Love anyhow.

From John Steinbeck to his teenage son, Thom, who had written of his feelings for a girl at boarding school, 1958:

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second — There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply — of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it — and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone — there is no possible harm in saying so — only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another — but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

One simply does walk into Mordor.

I think these creatures are absolutely fabulous. 

A series of amateur youtube episodes dedicated to proving young Boromir's statement...

...wrong.

These two young wannabe Shire folk are a perfect example of what we should be doing with our lives.

And by that I do not necessarily mean travelling to New Zealand to challenge a fictional statement resulting in physically mimicing a story line.

But instead living an unexpected journey by means of whatever inspires you.

Mission from Good to Awesome.

Oh Charlie's, not only do I completely love you for who you are *insert gulp here, but your kind garden-of-eden-esque generosity in Ponsonby Central last weekend, truly made me yours forever.

Experiential campaign or not, I am yours.

ps. I like your font. 

Documentation.

I love documenting moments. I will not stop. No matter how many Nickelback soundtracks are made that make me laugh at myself for how ridiculously accurate such a song can represent how much a digital fad takes over and becomes embedded into my reality.

I just can't help but be a part of something that lets me document every moment and elaborate it to a point where it is close to capturing the real thing. Or in some cases I shall admit probably makes things seem a tad  more delightfully aesthetic then what they seem.

But I'm an ad kid, what would you expect? 

It would be blasphemy for me to excuse new fads out of my life.

Right?

From Sutherland to Austen.

The thing I think I most like about Ad man Rory Sutherland, is that when reading his words, topics more often than not begin with a sentence much similar to what Austen would have begun a novel with; "it is a truth universally acknowledged...that the President of the USA can not buy a better coke than a bum on the street".

I once read that ideas should start in the large and can then be applied to the small. Sutherland does this, with every point he makes, my eyes start feeling a de ja vu of that word "universally". It's a good thing.  It makes every point he makes align with All, as well as Austen.

This parallel made allows me to utterly career-adore this man away from the, may I say 'generic ad love' which comes quite naturally form the inspiring Sutherland.

Both reading Rory's words and listening to his perfectly paused ted talks, give me the same intellectual comfort that I get from reading Austen.

I hope to some day meet this man. And perhaps find out his opinion on Austen, and whether he thinks Caroline Bingley would share a coke with Elizabeth Bennet.

Utterly Few.

There are only a seldom few things that which when put under the light to show it's Beautiful, give you none other than the aesthetic  pleasure which the maker intently intended it to share. 

A type of beautiful that does not make you feel any other way than luxurious and centered at the same time. Whisked and content. 

Perhaps it is the utter Frenchness, or perhaps it is the deep red silk collar on the cut blazer. 

Or perhaps it is the complete inspiration and wordistic excitement about what an ad can do in 3 minutes and 13 seconds.

Little like this.

A world of monsters and men who talk little like this, is definitely the world I want to be in. 

I promise you'll love them as much as I do...

So much, it Hurts me So.

Press play below and stare at the picture above…

Now press play again and stare at the picture below…

Tumblr Inspiration #3.

Okay, I'll Call You.

Give me Carly Rae Jespen paired with home made cocktails and Wellingtonians and I will admit, I will not find it particularly hard to stay away from the camera.

Light on my bicycle.

Little Kaiju. from a TWiN thing. on Vimeo.

This wee little adventure makes me want to go explore the shadowy corners in the dark.

Kaiju (the cute wee vending machine creature) means "strange beast" in Japanese...and often translated as "monster". 

No Safety Guaranteed.

I've just come out of a 9 month internship, to be offered a permanent role. 

I only now wish, that as an intern, I could have had reason to follow someone or something that had

"no safety guaranteed".

And whilst the industry of advertising comes mildly close to such a place...

Instead I shall have to watch films like this and only hope that the time of full that comes with a job, will be a place of other unguaranteed adventures all the same.

Moustaches, Milk, Cookies, Whittakers & whiskers.

What is more brilliant than a Milk & Cookies bar opening on Queen St.

A Milk & Cookies bar named

Moustache.

I had the awesome pleasure of meeting the owner and creator of this lovely wee shop in the middle of the most busy street in Auckland. This milk & cookie bar with three stools, is tucked in between chain stores and taxi stands. 

A little Stuart Littleesque.

It's a little room full of heaven and whittakers chocolate.

Also, what is so super lovely, is that it is the owners birthday this Wednesday. And she has asked for all her new customers to be so kind (although I think she is the super kind one) to donate a can for the wee cats that aren't so lucky. And in return, you get a cookie. I'm not usually a big cat fan...but when there's a cookie involved...and a good cause 'n all that...!

A nightmareesque dream.

Isn't this girl a fabulous nightmare-esque dream?

I'm completely in love with her sultry goth look.
Putting pink lips and a scrunchie with such killer goth shoes and a dreamful dreary skirt is an odd sort of heaven to me. 

And I thought nowhere could please me more than the streets of Wellington for this sort of look...suffice to say, this girl says a lot for Auckland.

Check out Four Eyes here featuring on TVone for their Fashion Week coverage.

The 4 I do's.

I've been thinking so much about where I want to be in a few years and what I truly want to be surrounded by in a work place.

I'm sticking to my editorial dreams whether that be a blogger for Etsy, an editor for House & Garden or an art director for Frankie.

But I also feel like I'm getting more on track with my everyday.

Since moving to Auckland it's taken me a while to get back here. 

But here I am, back and inspired by...everything.

I am surrounded by awesome people here in Auckland that keep telling me their dreams and goals-all work related ones. And I can't stop being inspired. I LOVE IT. But at the same time, horrific stuff keeps happening that also makes me think more and more about the everyday and how much I want to love every bit of it.

So yes, the 4 goals; to dream, to enjoy, to meet & to do.

Road Trip USA from Menassier Gabriel

Models off-duty.

Have you been utterly surrounded by Fashion Week? If so, are you ardently in love with it? 

I simply love models. They're people I call creatures-in a fabulous good sort of way.

Fashion blogger Katherine who is attending a heap of fashion frenzy this week is capturing and writing about all the best kids and shows of the Fashion Week.

I direct you to her because she is the best aka awesome dot com.

(if you haven't checked her out before, I advise it- my favourite NZ fashion blogger). 

Spotted: After the Company of Strangers show at the Sunday Star Times Star bar.

Tess from agency Clyne.

What’s something a model should never come to fashion week without?: Comfy shoes, iPod, Water – actually, no, Coffee!

Holly Rose, from agency Red 11

Caitlan Mitchell- not a model, but a fabulous creature all the same.

Why are you here?: I’m working for Michael Ng, the photographer. That and Apparel magazine.

What’s the best thing you’ve seen today?: The Cybele show, I’ve loved being backstage too. 

What’s the worst thing you’ve seen today?: Two girls almost tripped because their shoelaces weren’t tied properly. They were stumbling all over the place. Don’t worry – I took photos of it all.

One must Always.

One must always love bikes. 

And bags.
In baskets.

And socks.
One must always adore socks.

Today is Rainy.

I am completely in adoration of wellies/gumboots right now. 

I know we're finally coming out of the wintery season now but I just can't help wanting a pair.

I really want to go live somewhere in the snow like Canada, or star in the McLeods Daughters; anywhere that would justify wearing wellies on a daily basis. 

I know it is somewhattt accepted as a semi fashionable style at the moment- Karen Walker obviously thinks so, and so does Elsie from A Beautiful Mess.

visit Elsie...