Pick of the week: Delightfully Tacky

So I was thinking that I should be doing something else instead of just rambling on randomly about myself... I mean, I could tell you a whole lot of stuff about today, like how I'm going to watch Lamb of God tomorrow (provided my work doesn't swamp and kill me first) or how I watched the most awesome documentary last night in which a guy called Nick Baker went on a dive in search of the Indonesian mimic octopus.

(If you've never seen a mimic octopus, I urge you to check out this clip - this isn't from that particular show, but it's amazing all the same. The mimic octopus is one that can swim or colour itself in such a way that it looks like all kinds of other creatures from snakes to flounders to ward off predators.




The cooler part of the show (I thought) was all the stuff that Nick Baker saw on the way to actually finding the mimic octopus, for example, the box fish, which looked like a tiny neon swimming box of chinese takeout, or the wonderpus octopus. The wonderpus (I kid you not) looks almost exactly like the mimic octopus, according to Baker, because the wonderpus is poisonous and the mimicry is part of the mimic's defence.

He actually watched in his scuba gear as the wonderpus floated over to a crustecean and ate it in the most amazing way possible. It stretched out its arms, flared the membranes between them and actually inflated itself like a translucent dome-shaped canvas tent which mantled over the fish and promptly snapped it up with its beak. It. Was. Incredible)

SO. I could tell you all that, but I figured that I would add to the non-existent links in my sidebar instead, with blogs that I love to read for whatever reason each week. Each morning before I can do anything functional, I'm paralysed until I'm done reading a certain set of blogs, so I thought I would share them with anyone out there who is reading this (all two of you) because they inspire me, make me think or make me smile, and maybe they'll do the same for you.

Copyright http://www.delightfully-tacky.com

One of the blogs I like very much is this one - Delightfully Tacky - which is written by a girl who lives in Alaska - the backdrop to some of the stunning photos. I love it because even though it's a fashion blog (and god knows there are a million out there) she not only has adorable style, she's one of the spunkiest girls I read.

Copyright http://www.delightfully-tacky.com

She wrote one post about all the other aspects to her life even though most people only know her as a blogger and it was both surprising and wonderfully inspiring to find out that she also plays ice hockey, rides horses, exhibits muscle cars and actually worked on a fishing boat in the middle of the icy ocean for months (ala Deadliest Catch) and I thought it was incredible.

As are some of the things she writes:

" I hate the fashion magazines telling me to wear this or that. I hate the pages full of trends. I hate the shopping suggestions telling me to buy $700 shoes and a $2000 bag. I hate the aristocracy. I hate Anna Wintour. Once she walked by me in Bryant Park and I was paralyzed by her presence. But now all I can think is that she is one arbitrary voice in a sea of voices and why does hers matter more than mine? Because she’s been doing it for decades? Because she’s the editor of Vogue? Damn Vogue. I don’t give a shit what Vogue says. I’ll look at their pictures and fawn over the beauty of their editorials, but really, there are photos that are just as magnificent on flickr done by people like you and me."

Copyright http://www.delightfully-tacky.com

And I love that even though she's small-sized and has self-professed "big hair", she's comfortable and at peace with herself which is more than I can say for myself or the people I know sometimes.

For me, her personal status sums it up: "Life is too short to not be who you want to be." And why the hell not? Who's to stop us from being punks or nerds or any cool or strange thing that we chose?

If we could all reach that height of personal zen, we should only be so proud.