Tribal tattoos

Do you watch rugby? I recently found out about a young rugby star from New Zealand, who has one of the most beautiful tattoos I've seen.

Isn't his tattoo striking? At a music festival last year, my friends and I tested each other to see if anyone could spot a tattoo that wasn't ugly...and none of us succeeded. They are hard to get right, and I think for them to work aesthetically, they have to go beyond personal significance and be works of art. I think Williams' tattoo hits the mark perfectly and is just gorgeous. Here are some closeups of his shoulder art:

Williams is part-Samoan, so it's a nice bonus that his tattoo hearkens some of his heritage. I doubt I'll ever take the plunge and get permanently inked, but if I did, I'd consider modeling it on this type of style. Although perhaps...something a little more subtle?

Orange and yellow

I just moved to Ontario two months ago, and have hardly left the big city. I certainly have not taken advantage of the how beautiful this province can be when the leaves change.

[Credit: anvilcloud]

[Credit: Keith Levit]

[Credit: Gordon Wolford]

[Credit: Peter Burian]

These photos make me want to explore, instead of sitting on public transit for two hours each day.

Loeffler Randall Mathilde v. Aldo Shehane boot

About once a month, I head over to the Loeffler Randall website to ogle their gorgeous footwear. I ogle the photos the way a construction worker would ogle a woman wearing these fine boots. And when I say fine, I mean like how a construction worker would say it. "Damn woman, you fiiiiiiine!"

Loeffler Randall Mathilde boot, consider yourself ogled

Unfortunately, most of their products run in the range of $400-800 USD, which is slightly out of my price range, what with the fact that my other hobby is figuring out how many meal combinations I can make from food purchased at the dollar store (truth). The specimen above is $695, or as the French say, le ouch.

Behold what I uncovered today at Aldo. I can't confirm this, but when I saw these in the window, choirs of angels may have struck up a chorus. It's possible.

Oh sweet Shehane boot, I may love you

At $160, they're not exactly giving away the Shehane boot, but it's similar in all the right ways and that makes it a bargain. Needless to say, I snatched these puppies up pretty fast. And while in practice the knock-offs slouch a little more in the ankle than the top dollar version does, it's definitely a worthy alternative.

Autumn leaves

Speaking of the weather.

Something about the crispness in the air makes me want to listen to jazz. How can you not think of Paris when you hear this? I would happily hibernate to this track all the way till Christmas.

Perfection.

Winter is on its way

The changing of seasons is a big deal. Just ask Mary Poppins. She up and moved her whole life whenever so much as the wind changed, leaving depressed and disconsolate children in her wake whenever she went. What an awful woman. That was the main message of that movie, right? Or was it "only take dancing lessons from chimney sweeps." I can't be sure.

Why encourage children to invest their money when they can befriend dancing, Victorian-era wage labourers, am I right?

Well, here in Toronto, last night was the first night of the year to drop officially below 0° Celsius, so I'm declaring it winter. Yes it is still October. But in Canada, that's how we roll. And with the change of seasons comes a new hobby. So here is my first blog post.

Oh, and in case there was any confusion: yes, this blog is a girl. Her name is Celeste.