Outside my head

Random things which are relevant to my interests.

[lexichoreographer]

Like a strange carnival

Being in darkness and confusion is interesting to me. But behind it you can rise out of that and see things the way they really are. That there is some sort of truth to the whole thing, if you could just get to that point where you could see it, and live it, and feel it… I think it is a long, long, way off. In the meantime there’s suffering and darkness and confusion and absurdities, and it’s…

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[lexichoreographer]

I don't blog nearly enough anymore but here are some of my favorite things from 2025.

Good things 2025 edition

[harpersterns]

[lexichoreographer]

Rewatched this a week ago and it’s still as wonderful as ever. 

[lexichoreographer]

2022 in books

Apparently I read 68 books in 2022 (that’s a StoryGraph link because the stats are fun, my Goodreads list is here.) I started the year reading The Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny, and am ending it reading Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo (I’m only halfway through it as I type, so it’ll be the one I start 2023 with too.) Here are the ones I loved the most, in no particular order: The Trees by…

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[t4yce]

koco’s struggles in dragula titans 1.01 ↳ for @tumble4rpdr

[lexichoreographer]

Koco’s hilarious inkpot and quill pen struggle has lived rent-free in my mind since that episode aired. I am beyond pleased that it has been memorialized in gifs.

[lexichoreographer]

Pandemic exercises

It feels like today is either the 45th of April or the 273rd of January.

All I know is that it’s a Tuesday and Ireland is (still) in lockdown.

I no longer know how many days we have been in lockdown.

It’s enervating.

I haven’t wanted to write lately, or I have but I haven’t known how to write my way through any of this. That turns into not wanting to write. Refusing to write. Throwing my hands up…

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[lexichoreographer]

Strange alchemy

Take nine strangers, with nothing in common but a love of words.

Drop them in a country house in the Boyne Valley.

Leave them there for a few days, surrounded by rolling pastures, with a soundtrack provided by a lawnmower, a whistling podcaster, some highly irritated cows, and the occasional sheep.

Cellphone coverage is spotty, the occasional single bar popping up and vanishing as though the…

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[lexichoreographer]

Ciao, Pablo.

I got a text message at work on Thursday letting me know that a guy I used to work with had passed away suddenly. The message came late, after the funeral, when it was too late for me to show up for him and say goodbye properly. This morning, I hauled my lazy ass out of bed early and went into town for Record Store Day because I knew if he was still around, he’d be so excited about all the…

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[lexichoreographer]

A taster of an abandoned post-apocalyptic draft

Look at me, turning up again like the bad penny I am.

If you’ve ever had to listen to me meander on about writing (in a non-work, possibly NaNoWriMo capacity), you’ll be aware that I’ve been noodling around with a post-apocalyptic concept for a few years now.

I keep tackling it from different angles, trying to find the right one.

I have my lead character now, and it is not the one I’d originally…

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[queen-haiz]

Clone Club + tumblr (insp.)

[lexichoreographer]

Project Runway - Season 13 Episode 6 - Rock the Wedding

This week the designers were tasked with making an unconventional wedding and reception dress. Their challenge was issued by Dita Von Teese, who also guest-judged. It was also a team challenge....

All the drama after the cut.

The episode opened with a moment of pure awkward with Korina, Char and Amanda, turns out that Korina broke out the mean-girl guns and called Amanda a phony. Char didn't disagree. Korina was obviously still sufferring from delusions of...something, but I'm not so sure why Char would side with her.

When the button bag came out, it was a given that Amanda and Korina would be teamed up, and they were, but by default since they were the last 2 buttons in the bag...if there were even any buttons left in the bag, because there's a pretty mellow bunch of designers left there and the producers may have felt the need to manufacture drama.

The sketching and the trip to Mood was pretty peacable, except for Char mildly disagreeing with Sandhya's choice of yellow. I'm concerned that she didn't put her foot down, because Sandhya is much better at making bright colours and strange juxtapositions work than Char has been thus far.

Everyone seemed to get on very well, except for Korina and Amanda. I think I may have done a disservice to RPDR's Shannel by making a comparison with Korina - Shannell was actually creative and Korina isn't. Not. At. All. Watching her and Amanda interacting with Tim was hilarious, with both of them shooting him looks like daughter's warring for the affection of their father. However, Tim quite evidently sided with Amanda.

Sandhya displayed a very good level of insight in how she characterized Korina. She may seem like a happy-go-lucky lady living in her own Sandhya world, but she's more aware of what's going on around her than some of the other designers.

There were a lot of looks in the workroom that looked like potential disasters, but you can never be quite sure until you see them on the runway...

Dita Von Teese guest judged along with another fashion blogger, Chiara Ferragni (not sure why they needed two guest judges but whatevs)

Kini and Sean I want Kini's wedding dress. I want it now. He blended masculine and feminine so masterfully, into a stunning dress. Part of me wishes it wasn't black, but only because he may get dinged for that in the judging. Sean's reception look was also great, but I do think that the cummerbund was just a little too high and created a bit of an issue with the bustline. The blouse was stunning, but Kini made that, so it shouldn't count for Sean. Alexander and Samantha Alexander's wedding look was interesting, but the applique felt a little heavy and indelicate to me. Well made, but a little harsh on the eye. I really liked Samantha's reception look, but I'm concerned that it doesn't seem fitting for that occasion - unconventional or no. Also, she should have left the feathers off the shoulders.

Korina and Amanda Korina's lack of imagination and time spent futzing around really killed this. The fit was a mix of too tight and too loose, and the lapels looked like a sailor suit.The tailoring on the jacket was abysmal, and even though the pants were too tight, Amanda still did a better job on them than she did with the jacker. It was also too shiny and ended up sort of cheap looking. Amanda's reception look was not fringed (surprise!) and I really liked it. It had a sixties baby-doll feel with a very interesting geometric vibe on top of it.

Emily and fäde Emily's wedding look was a little Spanish funeral, and I really wasn't in love with the peach and black of the skirt. I think she was going for goth glam, I'm just not sure she got there. fäde's look was at once simpler, cleaner and more complex. I hope that the judges consider this the right kind of deconstruction (or reconstruction) since it works far far better than Sean's moth-eaten curtain lining did.

Sandhya and Char Sandhya's wedding dress sort of worked, until it was seen up close. The lighter yellow of the skirt would have been better used throughout. Not sold at all on the french lace technique but I'm still giving Sandhya mad props for sticking to her vision and producing work entirely different from everyone else's each week. Char's look...oh no. It looked like the clothing equivalent of a messed up omelette. All that trying to cover up something that wasn't working turned it into a hodge-podge of odd layers and random extrusions.I think this is probably her last week on the show. 

Amanda and Korina were safe...so we have another week of Korina. Le sigh. I noticed she didn't thank Amanda for making those pants. Delusion shall continue.

High team weas Kini and Sean. Just them. Sean charmingly said he'd like Kini to win because of him coming so close so often. I forgive him for explaining deconstruction to the judges now.

Low teams were Emily and fäde, Sandhya and Char. Sandhya and Char were eviscerated, big bird and tweety bird, OMG.

Then Samantha and Alexander who much have thought they scored highly were disabused of any notions they may have had. Not sure that their critique was as harsh, but they did get accused of throwing everything including the kitchen sink at their clothes, and lack of originality in their design.

Kini got shafted for the win because Sean didn't admit that Kini made that gorgeous billowy blouse. Sean has fallen down in my estimation again, he has to know that he only made half that look, right? The man yo-yos more in my estimation than any other designer I can remember.

When it came down to Sandhya and Char as the true bottom two, it was evident that Char was getting the auf. I really think Korina should have gone home ahead of her, but being paired with Amanda gave her a stay of execution. Tim was truly sad to see Char go - the difference between his farewell to Hernan last week and her this week was incredible.

Next week is a jewelery challenge, and there is something weighing on Tim. Whatever that is, I hope it gets sorted quickly. 

[lexichoreographer]

Project Runway - Season 13 Episode 5 - The Klum of Doom

Short one this week because my loaner laptop crashed and ate the longer version.

This week, the designers were challenged to create a "fearless, fashion-forward and unexpected" red-carpet look for Heidi Kulm to wear to the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Seasoned Project runway watchers knew to have popcorn at the ready, because the Heidi challenge is one of the toughest each season. It's also entertaining to see how wrong the designers can be in their assumptions about her taste and personal style.

We'll see how the Season 13 crowd coped with this after the cut.

Panic, panic everywhere. The designers had 30 mins to sketch and $250 to spend at Mood. Armed with sketchbooks and guesswork they all ran off to procure their idea of the perfect red carpet fabric for Heidi. Many of them were wrong. Some of them were terribly wrong. Heidi's first look at the outfits during her trip around the workroom with Tim was best summed up by Char when she said that there was a "domino effect" as Heidi walked down the line saying "No, No, NO." Korina like she was about to cry after having shade thrown at her in German by Heidi who roped in a giggling fäde to amp up the horror factor. Sandhya smiled and nodded her way through Heidi's evisceration of her dress and then asked if all of that was bad or good, only to be assured by Heidi and Tim in chorus that it was "BAD". She seemed to take it relatively well, but given that she (and some of the others) had gone all in on one fabric, things were looking very bleak indeed.

Heidi and Tim must have noticed that too, because they came back and offered all of the designers another 20 minutes shopping at Mood with $100 to spend. Those that did not go could pass their $100 on to someone else. Sandhya managed to collect hundreds of dollars from those who were confident enough to stay behind on the trip. Counting back, I think she caught all of them. Fair play, but it did put her in the firing line for one of Korina's pointless bitchy comments. Korina needs to put in the work and stop with the barbs because her first look was a thing of pure hideosity and she clung to the concept of a green dress like a limpet.

Emily bitched too, but I don't get what her problem was, she had extra workroom time and she had to know that out of the group that went to Mood, only Sandhya was likely to be able to pull off a complete dress in the remaining time. Maybe that was her issue, or maybe she just wanted more screen-time. Who knows?

Once the second trip was done there was much running about, panicked cutting and sewing and model fittings and crises and a few very apparent disasters. Time for everyone to take a deep breath and send their looks down the runway:

Guest judge this week was Lindsey Vonn who is an Olympic and world skiing champion. Heidi says she's also "very fashionable" which is Project Runway speak for "she is a woman who wears clothes and has been seen in magazines".

Char: Bad fit at the bodice, but nice flow and a really nice color. I'd say she's safe

Emily: Very short and a bit cheap looking. Didn't like the bedazzled lapel effect at all.

Mitchell: Oh, this was terrible. Nothing about it worked, and it was hard to look at. Again, I have to wonder about his taste level.

Korina: Uber boring dress, a hot mess in terms of fit - especially at the back. It was a simple silhouette too, I don't know how she managed to mess it up so badly.  

fäde: I love what he does with prints. This was fun and interesting, but also felt a little bit cocktail and a little bit safe. 

Alexander: Butt cheeks on display. He was so wrapped up on the concept (duvet meets coccoon?) that he seemed to forget someone would have to wear the dress. For all his work, it wasn't all that interesting, it crossed over into ugly and didn't cross back to ugly-pretty. He's lucky some of the others did so badly.

Sandhya: For $432 worth of fabric, that's a pretty meh dress. The back elevated it a bit, but it does have that standard red carpet gown feel to it. It's Sandhya, though, and she'll probably get top 3 anyway, not least for the moxie displayed by gathering all that extra money. Unless Tim quirked enough of a brow at the amount she spent in front of the other judges. At worst, she'll be safe. 

Samantha: Nice fit, I'm not sure about the scalloped edges on the bustier, were they scalloped or was that accidental? It looks a little severe for Heidi. There is some creativity there, but it's muted. Sam really needs to amp things up. 

Kristine: Yup, devil boob horns. It's terribly fitted too, with rolls of fabric running down the model's body. Far too short red carpet. She's probably going to be auto auf'ed based on past performance. She's one of those designers that needs time to cook, a bit more experience and she'd probably have been more show worthy. 

Kini: He drapes like a dream and this is beautifully fitted, but it's very safe-feeling. I think Kini needs to take some more risks. I can see that gown on the red carpet for sure, but I think they're not going to give him a win until he leaves his own comfort zone. It does seem a bit unfair that his comfort zone produces work vastly superior to the others, and they won't throw him a win, but that's the way the game is played, unfortunately. 

Sean: Fun, a great color, lots of interest in it when the model moves. I think we have a winner. I think I'll also have to resign myself to the idea that fringe is currently "in" whether I like it or not. At least his use of it was more creative than many looks I've seen.

Amanda: Oh no, it's Holly Hobby time. The beading is terribad and tortured looking. The cut at the back was excellent, but the front of the dress was painful to look at.

Really easy to spot top and bottom three once there were six left on the runway.

Top 3 were Kini, Sean and Amanda (seriously?). Sean's coiffed fringe won the day. Happy-making clothes should win more often, and it was great to see that he could make something this playful. I feel a little sad for Kini who has been slotted into the perma-bridesmaid role this season, but as I said above, I think it's obvious why.

Bottom three were Mitchell, Korina and Kristine. A closer look at Korina's was horrific. She was in tears in the room with the other designers, but really, she only had herself to blame. Zac said Kristines was a "zero" and "unwearable". Mitchell's model could do nothing but giggle as his dress was torn apart.

I began to suspect that we could be seeing a multiple auf because the bottom 3 were all so bad. And then Heidi said "one, or more of you will be out" and I was pretty sure.

Mitchell was auf'ed first, then Kristine. Korina was the only one left standing, and they kept her in. I honestly don't think she'll last much longer. I was a little surprised they didn't go for the triple. Someone must like Korina's soundbites. 

The double auf was a major shock to the designers, but hopefully it'll light a fire under those remaining and encourage some more risk-taking.

Next week: Dita von Teese comes looking for a garment, and it looks like it's a team challenge. Double trouble. 

[lexichoreographer]

Project Runway, Season 13, Episode 4: Remixing an American Classic

I wrote this last week and forgot to post it due to new job dementia... 

Lololololol, it's the Project Runway Red Robin challenge. Welcome to cognitive dissonance 101. The head of "brand transformation" for Red Robin tried desperately to sell burgers as an option for fashionistas. He didn't really do a great job of that.

More after the cut.

Red Robin presented the designers with an array of men wearing fugly suits and wielding bugers. Sandhya got first pick of the suits and also got to assign suits to the other designers. This matters because they have to design an outfit inspired by the suit using the material in the suit.

Sandhya obviously relished the time-worn tradition of hobbling her opponents under the guise of being helpful with her choices. The designers sat in the vicinity of bottomless fries to sketch before going to Mood to buy additional materials.

Hernan and Mitchell were particularly baffled, Amanda suspected sabotage but was ready to move past it.

At Mood, they were given a hundred bucks and 30 minutes to find additional materials and fittings. Tim was also wearing a classic suit, and I'm not entirely sure he made it work. 

Amanda may or may not have been allergic to her material.

Mitchell wouldn't last 5 minutes on Drag Race, he cannot see the potential beauty in the hideosity inflicted on him by Sandhya.

Sandhya openly admitted to passive-aggressively dumping a pile of crap in Hernan's lap, I guess he earned it, but he didn't seem to see it that way. She gave him nasty fabric, it's up to him to sack up and make something good out of it.

Alexander called Kini's aesthetic bland...uhhh...the man is lightning fast and his design looks very interesting to me. It's not a post apocalyptic potato sack, for starters.

Mitchell thought Sean's look was ugly. I think it's interesting but rather like stuff we've seen before.

Mitchell's own garment looked tacky and cheap on Tim's walkthrough. He may have been planning on dressing a stripper for a Leisure Suit Larry game.

Hernan was making something horrible out of vinyl. Kristine and Korina appeared to be making identical motorcycle jackets.

This was one of those weeks where it was really easy to pick out the top and bottom designers before anything hit the runway - they need to do something to make the editing less obvious.

We saw so much of Hernan, I'm pretty sure this is his last episode. Can't say that I'll miss him.

Runway time!

Guest Judge this week is Bethany Mota aka someone with a youtube channel where she talks about clothes or something. Fashion vlogger is an odd job title. The only people I watch on youtube are Willam and Glowpinkstah so I have no idea who this woman is or even if she's super-popular.

Korina - didn't hate this, liked the top more than the skirt (that slit was a bit much), but it isn't pushing any envelopes, no matter what she says. Should be safe. Char - I really like Char, but I really did not like the collar on this, it gave me fashbacks to Amanda's original season where all her clothes had that terrible collar. The skirt was good, but she really needs to stop putting fabric explosions on everything that she makes. A little more editing would make her looks all the better. Another one who should be safe.

fäde - more Yamamoto styling, but I won't dog on him this time because he used those hideous prints to great effect. Nice lines, very well structured and A+ on interesting to the eye (if a little painful!). He may only be safe because of the very obvious influence, but I'd kind of like to see this one in the top 3.

Samantha - good grief girl, please make something that is not all black. This looked interesting in close-up but it also had a blah factor due to it ONLY looking interesting in close-up. The only things visible from afar were the Versace-style safety pin closures.It's well constructed, but she's going to be auf'ed pretty soon if she doesn't manage to put something out there with a real wow factor.

Hernan - is it bad if I confess to giggling at the level of delusion apparent in Hernan's voiceover as this cosplay 101 outfit hit the runway. His model looks as though she's role-playing a medieval tavern wench who moonlights as an assassin. That dress is bad and he should feel bad. But he's Hernan, so he doesn't feel anything except proud and superior. This should get him the auf.

He whined still more runway-side at Sandhya with the passive aggressive "Thank you again, Sandhya. Bitch." so she flipped him the bird (yay!) and told him never to speak to her again (also good, but he's not the kind of guy who'll listen anyway).

Alexander - Much better than last week, but he's playing it very safe here. Great proportions, nice finishing (that panel on the back!) and lovely draping work, but the overall effect is a little bland, even with a bare midriff it seems sort of matronly - maybe the length of the skirt?

Mitchell - Ok, we know I don't like Mitchell, but he took his Leisure Suit Larry monstrosity and transformed it into a Judy Jetson turned space hooker monstrosity. It's well made so my money says he's safe, but I don't think I'm ever going to like what he comes up with. Let's just say we have differing tastes and leave it at that.

Sean - Ewwwww.... this is Miss Havisham after being attacked by a million moths levels of ugly. It looks like it was made out of stained curtain linings.

Kristine - I wanted to like this but the pants were awfully unflattering and the shape was all wrong (that zipper...urgh). I don't get the chiffon and organza add-ons either, it was an interesting idea, but one that should have been yanked as soon as it was evidently not adding anything to the look. I think she suffered in comparison to Korina, which is always the risk when 2 designers reinterpret a classic look. Korina's vest was better than Kristine's jacket, and the law of the runway states that this puts Kristine in the bottom 3. Fair or not.

Amanda - nice patchwork nouveau hippie look, but I do not know why there is a fringe on it. Are fringes going to be her new high and stiff collars? I think I might have liked this more minus the fringe. Definitely safe, probably top 3 judging by the faces as it walked the runway.

Kini - I loved everything about this look. The contrast between masculine and feminine, the idea of a suit as everyday armor, the lining up of the pinstripes, the fit, the craftsmanship, all of it. This would be my winner this week.

Sandhya - bright, vibrant, fun. Except for those hipster mustaches which are so passé that they are almost, but not quite, retro-ironic. The ombre and the black panel were obviously added to make it less junior looking, but they kind of work. The styling of her model was not so hot. No-one should wear that color lipstick, ever. Again, it's the most out-of-the-box look on the runway, but it wouldn't be in my personal top three. At worst, she's safe.

Emily - not entirely sure about the proportions on this, something felt a little off, I think the waist was too high on the skirt/pants and the top was a little short at the bust. Nice blend of tartan and black, but it feels like something I've seen before, many times. Probably safe.

Top three were: Kini, Amanda and Alexander.

Bottom three: Hernan, Kristine and Sean.

The judging was pretty harsh, as has become usual. Sean idiotically morphed into Mr. Patronizing, EVERYONE knows what deconstruction is so explaining it to the jury like they're five did you no favors. Vlogger girl had nothing much to add, but still declaimed on every design. She wasn't wrong, but she was repeating what others had said, and in very gravid tones.

The brown vinyl V on the front of Hernan's monstrosity was the source of all the vagina superhero stuff from last week's trailer. Amada got a lot of love from the placement of her fringe and for the transformative nature of her design. She won, no surpise there, but I think Kini was robbed to be honest.

Hernan was aufed and hugged by all except Sandhya - and a muted goodbye message from Tim, "It had to be someone", indicative that Tim was disappointed in him too.

Next week they'll have to design a red carpet look for Heidi, who we all know is not an easy client. Should be some fun to be had there.

[lexichoreographer]

Very pretty, and very sweet :-)

gluttonouspenguin replied to your post: Bodie wants in on this whole “cats on ...

pretty kitty!

[lexichoreographer]

That's his version of Blue Steel.

kezzha replied to your photo:Bodie wants in on this whole “cats on the...

srs face cat <3

[lexichoreographer]

Bodie wants in on this whole "cats on the internet" dealio. 

[lexichoreographer]

Incoming - slight hiatus

Incoming – slight hiatus

Because I lucked out and got a new job, I’ll be blogging more sporadically than usual for the next while.

I haven’t been vaporized, abducted by aliens or placed in cloud storage. I’m just headed back to Galway, without my PC. I should be back posting randomness once I’ve found myself a permanent abode and moved the cat, the computer and all of my remaining books into it.

I will try to keep up…

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