The Avengers Hair Style

Yesterday I went to the cinema to watch The Avengers for the second time in a week. To honour this wonderful, wonderful movie I decided to create a hair style that would suit the occasion. I chose red, white and blue ribbon to match the colours of the flag of the United States. I am not a fan of America AT ALL but as Marvel comes from the States I thought the colours would fit. 

If I were a super hero from the Marvel universe this is how my hair would look like when I were costume but not fighting. During fights my hair would be my weapon, it would function as rope, lasso and whip. It would be really long so I thought a bun would be good to hold it in place when not fighting. How weird is it that I even think about this kind of stuff?

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”

It's been a while, I know.

I do have an excuse though (other than pure laziness): I went to Hamburg. Yay.

I might have mentioned before that I have a pen pal who has become a dear friend of mine: Sonja. We met over the internet nearly 3 1/2 years ago and started emailing for a reason that neither of us knows anymore. We soon noticed that we share a love for good written stories, movies and music. Ok, well, she showed me most of the bands that we now both like such as Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship and many more. I on the other hand finally found somebody who at least knew My Chemical Romance and who did not think that they're a weird emo band. Which they are not, by the way.

 We never stopped emailing and sometimes we even exchanged up to five emails a day. Proper emails, not facebook messages. So when I last year found out that her birthday was coming up I awkwardly asked her for her address so I could send her a little present. I nearly assumed that she would find some sort of excuse because, lets face it: We never actually met. Or spoke on the phone. Just emails. Luckily, she DID give me her address and since then we have been exchanging letters. And postcards whenever one of us is on a holiday.

In December 2011 we finally got the opportunity to meet when You Me At Six played a show in Cologne. She came over and we spent two great days watching X-Men (we're Marvel fangirls...seriously.), Youtube videos, baking vegan cupcakes, giving them to You Me At Six, fangirling about the tweet by the band that followed those cupcakes (with a picture!) aaand watching some more Youtube videos. It was amazing.

Now, half a year later we met again. I went to Hamburg (by car ...stupid idea...) last Friday and again, it was just great seeing her. One would think it is a little weird to see that person that you normally only know because of their handwriting but after about an hour I already forgot about that. Sonja is amazing and so is her family and even her cat.

After a 8 1/2 half hour horror trip over the German highways (Autobahnen) I arrived Friday evening. After dinner with her family we did something that we thought would be appropriate for Marvel fangirls: We went to the cinema to watch The Avengers. I hadn't seen it before in contrast to Sonja who saw it for the fourth time that night. First I thought she was just obsessed but now I can really understand her, the movie is soooooo unbelievably good!!! Seriously, I went to see it again just yesterday!

On Saturday we decided to visit a fleamarked where Sonja drew some stuff and people for one of her art classes. Later, we had lunch in a vegetarian café and went to the harbour. There we decided to take a little boat tour because I felt that I should do something tourist-sy just because I could. The weather was sooo nice and Sonja even burnt her neck during that tour.

That's the best one I have got of us together, seriously!

I'd like to own that house, it is marvellous

"This is something famous...I don't know what it is but it IS famous!" -Sonja

Afterwards we went to heaven aka the biggest Saturn store in Europe. Saturn sells everything concerning electric and technics and they had a whole floor only for DVDs, Blue-Rays and CDs and a cinema. Yep, a cinema. Also they had this:

Huuuuuuuge action figures! We wanted to take them all home!

The Joker, my favourite villain except for Loki. I have a thing for tricksters.

I'm a Marvel fangirl but I gotta love Batman!

Sonja and the beloved Tony Stark aka Iron Man, inspired by the second movie.

Dobby. He is perfect!

Can I take him home, please?

And again Iron Man, this is the version from the first movie though.

I bought a whole bunch of stuff. I got the second season of BBC Sherlock (so did Sonja), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Thor on DVD. I was beyond happiness.

What else did we do? Oh yeah, Sonja showed me the town hall on the way to the Saturn and the building is unbelievably beautiful! We didn't have the chance to actually go in there due to our tight schedule that included an hour at Saturn.

We spent the evening watching the Eurovision Song Contest while live-blogging about it on Tumblr. My favourite quote from there concerning the ESC: "The day when America realizes they are not the only country in the world." It was quite funny to read all those comments of confused Americans who didn't understand why Tumblr was suddenly full of this weird thing called Europe.

Afterwards we originally wanted to go out dancing because I have never done that before (which Sonja finds hard to believe) but when the ESC was over it was 1 am and it rained.... So we rather stayed at home and watched Thor. 

Sunday went according to plan. That plan included Youtube videos, Sherlock A Game of Shadows, Scott Pilgrim, BBC Sherlock with live-blogging, Doctor Who, some more Youtube videos and the specials on Sonja's X-Men First Class Blue-Ray. Yes, we stayed the whole day at home and yes, it was awesome! 

On Monday I unfortunately had to go back home. That weekend was simply amazing and I hope we will meet again soon. There are some undefined plans including the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Again, I'm sorry for the lack of posts, I have a few more to come the next days to make up for it.

Have a great day,

The Countess

Body oil recipe

After a bath there is nothing better than pampering yourself with a rich, lush body butter or oil. The pores of your skin will be open due to the warm water and will be able to take in the products you use on your skin better than any other time. I have a ton of body butters, lotions and oils because my family and friends know about my proclivity. 

At one point I decided that a bathroom cabinet full of perfectly fine products wasn't enough, no, I wanted to make my own body oil. I played around with a few scnets and finally found the perfect combination. As you might know I am into perfume making, so I have the basic ingredients at home but I believe that you can buy the things you do not already have at the Chemist. The scent is really nice, light and flowery, perfect for spring and summer. I use it for my knees, hands and even my hair before braiding it in my night-braid. The scent stays in the hair for the whole night but it is really subtle and not ovberwhelming at all. Long things short: It is perfect.

You will need:

- A bottle or container ( I found mine at the drug store)

- A pipette (I got mine at the Chemist for about 10 cents)

- 20 drops of rose oil

- 30 drops of jasmine oil

- Jojoba or sunflower oil to your taste (maybe about 30-50ml) The more carrier oil you use the more subtle the scent of your body oil will be

Put the rose oil and the jasmine oil in the container with the pipette and mix them. Smell whether you like the combination, if you are unhappy, adjust to your taste.

Add the carrier oil and mix everything again.

Let the closed container sit in a dark and not too warm cabinet for about a week. After that you cann smell again because the oils will have melted into each other and combined their scents. If you are unhappy with teh result, change it, if you are happy, put the container in the cabinet for a few more weeks. 

Your body oil should stay in the cabinet for at least a month before you use it- believe me, it is worth it to give the oils time to combine properly.

That is it, now you can create a nice label for your oil and enjoy it.

Tip: Seriously, put a few drops in the root of your well combed hair over night!

I hope you liked the recipe!

The Countess

A survey

• After writing this blog for quite some time I wanted to let you know a little bit about me. I found this survey and adapted it a little so I wouldn't bore you with simple yes-no answers. Hopefully, I'll be able to post another blog later this evening with some pictures.

• What time did you get up this morning? At about 8:30, I'm not really one for sleeping in.
• 
  
• How do you like your steak? Haha, good one. I'm a vegan.
• 
  
• What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I think it was the three musketiers. Which was really nice by the way. It is kind of frustrating that I just saw it again...On DVD.
• 
  
• What is your favorite TV series? BBC Sherlock, The Big Bang Theory, Doctor Who, Bones, House MD, Gilmore Girls (guilty pleasure), NCIS, How I met your mother. 
•  
• If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? London. Cologne is lovely though.
• 
  
• What did you have for breakfast? Bread with vegan chocolate cream. I LOVE bread, I'm a typical German when it comes to bread. Did you know that Germany has the biggest variety of bread? It's awesome!
•  
• What foods do you dislike? Meat, eggs, all dairy and honey, obviously. I hate zuccinis, mushrooms and aubergines and the glibbery stuff inside of tomatoes. Olives are disgusting, too. And pineapples in everything that isn't a fruit salad or a cocktail.
• 
  
• Favorite Place to Eat? There is this kebab shop around the corner of my Uni which serves the best falafel sandwiches in the world! I go there every Thursday and have the same bloody thing. I'm like Sheldon Cooper.
• 
  
• What are your favorite clothes? Dresses, blouses and plateau shoes. All black, of course.
• 
  
• Favorite time of day? The evening. I love sitting in bed with some nice tea, watching a TV series or read a book while watching the sunset from my window.
• 
  
• Where were you born? Cologne!
• 
  
• What is your favorite sport to watch? Soccer, I dislike every other sport.
• 
  
• Favorite pastime/hobby? Reading, writing, going to concerts, meeting friends for a movie or a glass of wine, sewing, stitching, making jewelry, watching Tv series or movies, trying out make-up or new hair styles
• 
  
• Bird watcher? Not really. I love birds though, I tend to watch them when I sit in the garden or wait for a train. They fascinate me a lot.
• 
  
• What did you want to be when you were little? An archaeologist! I'd still like to be that sometimes.
• 
  
• Always wear your seat belt? Absolutely, yes!
• 
  
• Favorite Pizza Toppings? Corn, peperoni and onions, no cheese. 
•  
• How many times did you fail your driver's test? Uhm... We have a theoretical and an applied one in Germany... And... well.. I failed the theoretical once and the practical even twice. The third time I did pretty badly, too but the test person said that it was just enough...
• 
  
• Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? My favourite clothes store- Paranox. Oh, and Amazon! And craft stores, of course.
• 
  
• Do anything spontaneous lately? I am not a spontaneous person AT ALL. I hate when plans change or people get ill the day of an appointement. It stresses me out. The most spontaneous thing that happened during the last weeks was probably deciding to go to hamburg to visit my pen pal only a month before the actual date.
• 
  
• Broccoli? Is good. It's the devil for the Count.
•  
• Coffee drinker? At Uni!

Homophobia is gay!

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia And Transphobia!

It's an important day even though it makes me sad that we still need to create awareness because so many people have to live their lives in fear and hate in our so called free and modern world. It is just so unbelievably disgusting that a person should be discriminated against just because of whom they love. 
Love is good! It makes people happy, everyone should want other people to love and to be loved. I mean, seriously, have you ever been in love? It's awesome!!! 
Why for fuck's sake should the love between two people ever be considered as something  "wrong", "disgusting" or "unnatural"? I am an Atheist but if the God that so many people believe in would hate gay people why would he/she/it still create them? That doesn't make any sense! 

We still put human beings in categories. Straight. Gay. Bisexual. Male. Female. Those who do not fit in one of the categories we think are "proper" or "good" or who simply do not want to identify with one of the labels society has created are excluded from range of what is normal. Happiness, love and having a family should be human rights! Why should gay people be less good parents? Why should a person who was born with a penis be less of a woman? What is a woman, anyway? Or a man? Label yourself if you want to but do not force those labels on other people! And hell, do not use your close-minded views and morals to spread hate!

The wonderful Frank Iero, guitarist from My Chemical Romance and his really cool t-shirt

Here is a video from the awesome FCKH8 campaign that fights for the rights of gay, bi and transgendered people. They make really great videos, they're loud, they neon-coloured and their message is so fucking true!

So go around and spread the word: Some people are gay, get over it!

Have a great day,

The Countess

Photoshoots

I haven't done a photoshoot for nearly a year now and gosh, I miss it! I love to dress up and put a huge amount of make-up on in order to get pictures taken. I am not very good with artsy stuff like drawing so dolling up is my form of being creative. 

I really need to ask one of my best friends if she would like to go outside with me and take some nice new pictures. That would be awesome. (How about it, Imke?^^)

Well, to get over my want for new photos, I'll go and show you some of the old ones.

Have a great day!

The Countess

Celebrating

This is just a quick emotional outbreak (a positive one!).

Today, the parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia had an early election after the minority government had what other people would call "failed". The old government was a combination of the Social Democratic Party and The Greens. I have just come out of the poll site where I functioned as a poll worker and turned on the TV as soon as possible. Then I jumped. And cried out of joy. And danced. And then jumped a little more. The minority government has turned into a majority rule, the Christian Democratic Party (conservatives) have lost a f*ck load of votes, The Left isn't part of the parilament anymore while The Pirates (yes, we have that) got into the parilament of Nroth Rhine-Westphalia for the very first time. 

As a member of the Green Youth these are awesome news! I am right now celebrating with tea, chocolate and NCIS while spamming Facebook in my amazement.

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

On students, hipsters and caffeine addictions

So, I have been a Uni student for one and a half years now, a little more maybe and yesterday I realized how surreal this world that students live in actually is. How come, you might ask. Well...

Yesterday I went out for a drink with some friends of mine. First of all: Yes, we do go out on Thursday nights and yes, I do have Uni on Fridays... Guess where I am right now. But back to topic. We sat in the outside area of a cocktail bar, chatted, discussed the best way of how to say "It's time to drink" in latin. Nunc bibendum est or Nunc est bibendum, it's really a matter of style, not of grammar. In the middle of this discussion I realized how weird this whole situation actually was. Even when we go out we talk about stuff that would put big question marks in other people's faces. With Uni students it is simply different. Everyone in Uni is smart (at least on an interlectual level) and sometimes we aren't even aware of that fact. We discuss politics on a pretty high level in our free time, analyse why we like or do not like Kant while drinking mojitos and think of how one can get rid of that low /l/ in their accent that sounds so unbelievably stupid when one sings "Defying Gravity". Gosh, that all sounds extremely crazy, right?

The discussion about the latin drinking phrase ended in one of my friends only speaking latin for about 10 minutes, by the way. To spice things up, we started to throw in French, Spanish, English and Italian phrases, as well as some Japanese. My mother speaks English, Spanish and French as well so we sometimes say basic phrases in one of those languges, our personal joke between each other is "Donde estan mis gafas?" (Where are my glasses?) because she always loses them and runs around the house asking that question again and again.

Nearly all of my friends are Uni students so I sometimes forget that this form of conversation and interlect isn't the standard. When I quote Kant's idea of enlightenment when I am not around Uni students I get weird looks and I always have to remind myself not to show my consternation to people when they say that they are not fluent in English because it is so normal for me that people speak various languages and have a basic understanding of philosophy, literature (Can you believe that some people do not know who Oscar Wilde is?), history and many, many other things.

Don't get me wrong, I do not think that I know everything. I do not expect people to know everything. I couldn't build a shelf if it was for my life and maths has always been an arsehole to me. I just enjoy being around smart people and listen to them, learn from them and share my thoughts with them. When my friend speaks latin, for example, my knowledge of that language increases and is being influenced and when I tell people why we have the calendar that we use today and how it was influenced by Cesar and Pope Gregory XIII. it maybe changes peoples' idea of time and standards. I think that is pretty cool.

Another thing I have noticed lately is the fact that we Uni students run on caffeine. Everyone drinks coffee here. Everyone. All the time. Or Club Mate ( A cold, tea based drink with caffeine that has become THE hipster drink. I love it.).

Before coming to university and during my first semester I always thought that the caffeine myth is just a stereotype concerning Uni students. Stupid, stupid me. It is one of those clichées that exsist because they're true. We seriously do drink stuff with caffeine in it all the time.

Why, you might ask. Well, I believe the reason for that is a combination of studying too hard (something that certainly isn't true for me), working part time, sleeping too little (true!) and drinking too much. Oh and it's a self-fullfilling prophecy, of course.

Something else that I find very funny about us students is that many of us try to hold up the reputation of not being cool. We want to be unique, not following the mainstream and listen to bands that nobody else knows. So basically we're just a bunch of hipsters. Student equals hipster, at least most of the time. That sounds weird in the first time but when you think of it, it really makes sense. University students are like pupils but with IDs and more money, we don't really have any responsibilities, we can experiment with style and music because we don't have a reputation to preserve. We don't have to look serious for a job, we just sit in our classes and listen to the professors; listening works fine with pink hair and skinny jeans.

Have you noticed changes in your life since you have entered Uni/ left school?

Have a great day,

The Countess

All the reasons. Well, actually not all of them but at least a few

I love you

Because you have the same stupid smile at concerts as I.

Because even though you prefer Iron Man you still understand my endless love for the X-Men and Batman.

Because you agree that crisps are worth dying for.

Because you know that if Draco Malfoy ever turns into a real person, you might have to fight for me. And you don't care. I'll stay with you, anyway.

Because you eat vegan when I am around without me telling you to do so.

Because you smoke even though none of your friends does and still you aren't apologetic about it. Because you like it.

Because you are the biggest nerd in the world and because you see that as a compliment.

Because you never critizise my political views even though you don't agree on them.

Because you are looking forward to combining our movie collections when we move in together.

Because you call me stupid while your eyes tell me that actually you think I'm a pretty smart cookie.

Because you can talk about physics for hours and forget that I don't understand a word.

Because you make the most wunderful gifts.

Because you let me take pictures of us even though you hate it.

Because you run around telling everyone that I am your girlfriend.

Because you know that 3 1/2 years isn't a lifetime but the beginning of it.

So, thanks. You're pretty awesome. Even though you'll never read this because you don't read that blog as a principle.

The Story of a Pair of Shoes. And donating blood.

So, I had really good plans for today: I only have one class of Uni on Tuesdays (I know, right? Sometimes life just loves me!) and it's basically in the middle of the night. 8:00 am. Okay, okay, I am exaggerating... but I have to get up in the middle of the night to be there (05:30 am) and after that one class I don't really have anything to do because my friends are all at Uni and I am a lazy shit and don't have a real job ( I tutor kids on Wednesdays and Fridays). So I decided to do something good for society and my bank account and donate blood. Normally, I do it for free at the Red Cross but I missed the last date because occasionally I do have Uni so I went to the University clinic in Bonn where they give you 25 €. 

Normally. 

Normally doesn't seem to work that good for me though. After going to Cologne central station after Uni and eat a way too early lunch at 10:30 to be fit for losing half a litre of blood and after going to the Uni clinic which was a trip that took me over a hour to get there, after nearly getting lost at the friggin' clinic grounds and after preparing myself to not get a panic attack when they come up with those huge needles they didn't want my blood. 

Let me repead that: They. Didn't. Want. My. Blood. They didn't even test me for asiderosis ( the deficiency of iron in the blood). They asked me which asthma sprays I use, discussed for a while whether or nor not I was a suited donour and that was it. 

I was a little perplex. As I already said I do have donated blood before (3 times) and my medicine had never been a problem. I was afraid that maybe the Red Cross had made a mistake those times and that my blood wasn't suitable for transfusions so I simply asked why it was a problem that I use those sprays. The lady on the counter gave me a quite annoyed look and said: "Well, we aren't the Red Cross, we give the blood to very ill patients, there mustn't be anything in there."

Oh really?

What do you think does the Red Cross do with the blood? Sell it to occult sects? Give it to My Chemical Romance so that they don't have to youse paint in their photo shoots anymore? Paint walls with it?

Or maaaaybe they give it to "very ill" people who have lost a lot of blood? Well, no, that idea is far of!

Don't get me wrong. I am not pissed because I couldn't donate and didn't get the money, I am pissed that I used my free time to get there and do something good and they treat me like an idiot. The counter lady was annoyed the whole bloody time! I tought my question was a valid one, I should know why my blood isn't good for transfusions, shouldn't I? Argh!

So I went back. I took the bus to Bonn central station and then remembered that there are no train connections to my home town from there, only to Cologne. Therefore, I decided to walk through the city and do some window shopping because on the other side of the city I could take a metro to the city next to mine and from there I could easily get back home. 

Long things short, I suck at window shopping, I always buy stuff.

I have been looking for a decent pair of flat shoes for weeks now. I am not exactly a fan of shoes without heels, I mean where is the point in wearing them? On the other hand, I have to do quite a bit of walking on some days of Uni and I still have problems with my right metatarsal ( or rather the tiny extra knuckle that is next to it and that shouldn't be there. I am a mutant...) since January so heels are not always an option. 

Unfortunatly, I haven't seen any nice shoes, neither high nor flat, during the last weeks. I don't like mainstream shoes but getting and overpriced pair of gothic brand shoes isn't really worth the money as I "only" needed flat shoes. 

Luckily, I wasn't allowed to donate blood and luckily I was pissed and wanted to cheer myself up because I found the perfect pair of shoes. At H&M. Seriously. I try not to buy at those kind of chains of stores because I do not like the conditions under which they produce their products. The workers are often minors and underpaid. Urgh! On the other hand, I cannot afford to buy my basics at my favourite gothic store where I know where everything comes from, so...

Well, back to topic. 

I found them.

They are perfect.

I think I am a little in love with them.

Here they are.

Patent-leather goodness with ribbon shoe laces

And a wannabe plateau

 Aren't they just awesome?

The correct answer is yes.

I also had another lucky finding. A black agate ring with a diamond pattern. I got it at Bioux Brigitte for less than 2€ which is really cheap. Did I mention that I love semi-precious stones? Well, i do.

Ihad to take about 100000 photos in order to get two decent ones

Did you have any lucky findings in the last time? Or are you more the organized and structured shoppers?

Have a great evening, 

The Countess

May tree madness

Do you remember the post where I talked about the German tradition of may trees? In the night of the 30th of April to the 1st of May Boys and men put up birch trees in front of the girl's/woman's house they love. The trees are usually decorated with colourful crêpe paper pieces and a wooden heart with the girl's name on it. It's a nice tradition and I loved every tree the count gave me so far but this year is a leapyear which means it was my turn!

Well, may the first passed and therefore I can finally post pictures of the tree and especially the heart. Unfortunately, I cannot show you a picture of the finished heart as it features the Count's name.  Still, I have a few pictures to show you.

Here we go:

The Count studys physics so I thought a robot with an atom on its head would be appropriate

Unfinished

That's how we transported the may trees. Yes, seriously.

The end result. I edited the name away

Have a great day,

The Countess

A lesson in life

Ok, so I tutor this kid. She is a lovely girl, fourteen years old and very well liked by everyone in her class not because she is amazing looking or cool but because she is nice. She believes in talking to people when they have problems at school or when they seem upset and she is really open minded for a kid her age...BUT -and yes, it's a huge but, all capital letters- she refers to people dressed in black as emo. The first time she did it I wanted to punch her in the face but then I realized. It's not her fault. She just doesn't know it any better. For her all those weird spooky people that wear black and dye their hair in crazy colours are emos. Punks, visual keys, goths, scene kids, everyone is emo to her. She doesn't mean it as an insult, how could she, she doesn't even know what the word "emo" means! I asked her to descibe the people she refers to as emo and why she thinks they are emo and she just said "Uhm, they wear black..."

So I sat her down and explained it to her. I told her that emo is short for emotional and that it is a term that originally comes from a music genre, a genre that used to be popular but is dying out. I told her that no, emo kids do not cut themselves and no, they are not sad all the time. Furthermore, I explained that probably 99% of the kids she calls emo wouldn't call themselves that, simply because it is a friggin' music genre. A person cannot be emo, they can listen to emo, that's it. 

She told me that if she wouldn't know me she would think I am emo but when asked she couldn't really answer why she would think so except for the obligatory "You wear black..." statement. I didn't like the idea that someone would think of me as emo but then I thought: Why?

Why do I mind being labled wrong? People never really get what I am because I am nothing but a human being. If I cared for labels I'd call myself a goth or a quaintrelle but when someone asks me whether I am a metalhead I just say no, no hard feelings. So why do people hate the term emo? Bands try to avoid being called emo, kids use it as an insult... Why?

To me it is the stereotypes that annoy me. What the common school bully calls emo is someone  who wears too tight black jeans, cuts him or herself in order to get attention (which is a stupid thing to assume!), always sits alone in the corner and whines about how their life sucks. Oh, and emo kids are of course all gay. 

We all know those stereotypes and we all know they are stupid, still I don't want people to think that stuff about me because that is simply not who I am.  I do listen to bands that are falsely called emo such as My Chemical Romance or Billy Talent but no, that does not mean that I am suicidal.

I think the steretypes concerning emo are not only stupid but also dangerous. When kids believe that it is a form of lifestyle when others harm themselves or have depressions they won't see it as what it is: A mental illness. Do those kids also make fun about cancer? People who suffer from depressions, are suicidal or harm themselves need help, what they definately do NOT need is being bullied for being sad, for listening to comforting music or for writing poems about their feelings. I know, kids are cruel but that is simply too much.

I tried to explain all this to the girl I tutor and even though she probably didn't understand all of that I am pretty sure she understood that you shouldn't label people. 

Labels are for cans.

Have a great day,

The Countess