01.

(courtesy of fromapapercup, 2007, because she let me ❤ )

I borrowed this particular photo for the purpose of illustrating some things, and after a round of psd, I showed g the results. Well you see, the thing about black and white photos is that the lack of colour obscures the sometimes unfortunate palette, in this case those hideous tones of green, the composition presents.

Now I can’t tell real grass from weed because it’s too much of a mess, methinks. It makes me wish that she was on an artificial grass patch when she snapped that shot. This is how it should look like:

02.

The benefits of an artificial grass patch include the time and effort it saves you on its maintenance that frees up enough time for you to organise a picnic with some sophisticated pocky, milk tea and delectably sexy ice pop made with bloody real fruit juices, with an entourage of your classified potentials to boot.

Besides, you honestly wouldn’t mind being on it barefoot cause there’ll hardly be any insect heading in the direction of your little tea party anyway.

03.

On the other hand, when it comes to the real kind of grass you find in green meadows and on mountain tops, treading on it is definitely out of the question.

When you imagine the the unknown lurking beneath the the soles of your shoeless feet, the dreadfulness – very much like accidentally stepping on a delicate animal, for example a beautiful swan – the kind that sends you leaping, shoots up both legs and much more if you actually do happen to step onto it.

The feeling clings like a leech you can’t shake off. (come to think of it, some people are also like leeches, no? just saying, lol)

04.

In the event that you really squashed the poor creature, an overwhelming gut-churning sensation would follow, not in the breathtaking way but that of which automatically renders you breathless, don’t you think?

*gasp! gasp!*

05.

A situation like this can be fatal, so at the very least, get the hotties to dial home first. You would be considered lucky if you even happen to have an inhaler along in your black picnic box.

On closer inspection, though, it says:

06.

However it does the trick of restoring your breath is beyond me. In your state of semi-consciousness, you woefully spin a coin – behold! your personal totem! – and wills it not to fall, while going off on a tangent, thinking maybe you’d still like to hop by (for the reason why they invented convenience stores) and extract inspiration nested within the synapses of your neighbour’s head after all.

Probably because your own originality has long emigrated to limbo and refused to find its way back.

07.

Dang! It dawned upon me swiftly that in reality that the green grass tones are still hideous, and the results of ignoring that in favour of black and white will barely make the cut as anything very awe-inspiring.

So I guess in future, having gained this insight, I would have to happily make do with a highly feathered standard blue border effect, using psd, framing every picture hereafter.

P/s: Oh by the way, if you haven’t noticed, I’ve given the picture a watermark – how’s that FTW! So uber original I can’t help but heart it ❤ The other day, I also read (thanks g!) a wonderful article by Keri Smith which you can find HERE.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
ほしの王子様「第6章」

「あるときなんて、おひさまがしずむのを、４４かいもみたんだよ！」
　そして、君はこう付け加えた。
「しってる？人はとってもかなしいとき、夕日を見たくなるんだよ」
「じゃあ、その４４回見た日って、きみはとても悲しかったんだね？」
　星の王子様は答えなかった。

Move forward, move on, move off, move up against, move back; directions are but choices circumstances offer you in a platter, whether of expensive silver refined and highly polished to reflect our blank countenances or caked in flaky rust and inflicted with scratches aplenty.

We will all find our way, eventually.
And it boils down to the matter of whether you want to or not.

☆ olive green-brown checkered ribbon hairclip
☆ engraved metal heart-shaped chain necklace (~300円, from Japan)
☆ slim beige leather-strapped wrist watch (~2600円, from Japan)
☆ star dangle earrings
☆ chain necklace joined with an array of quaint trinkets

I think I’ve grown significantly more keen in my daily fashion than any time else in my life ever since I started going to work. And by paying attention to all these details and aesthetics, I’ve probably picked up something on coordination and styling. Now I do understand and appreciate why people spend heaps of time looking for the right look, and simply looking good. To some it’s more of a skill than a gift; if you don’t work on it you won’t realise how much you can achieve. But no one says you have to, anyways.

I’m intrigued by this photo to no end; not only because it truly depicts the era (1880s) of Japan that is often seen only in period dramas and in illustrations, but because of the striking resemblance at first glance. I couldn’t help but imagine Ohno living in this very surreal world – he would most probably enjoy making umbrellas and fishing at lakes all day, no? 「優しい傘そっと差して行こう」嵐

See more of these, taken by Adolfo Farisa, the man who shot old Japan.

And it sure gets even more surreal. The portraits are beautiful.