school daze

so i have this friend - who shall remain nameless - who transferred to a new school this semester. she moved in on a sunday, i believe, and had decided to leave by wednesday. and by leave, i mean permanently. she's now attending school locally. sometime during those four days, something must have happened that completely and totally overwhelmed her beyond repair. i'm taking pains to ensure that i never become that stressed out.

last week at school was what they call 'shopping week', in which everyone tries out classes to see if it fits their schedules and/or interests. at the end of the week, we make our final decisions and register for the classes we've chosen. it's a pretty good system, in my opinion, and i prefer it to other schools' process of registering for classes before the year starts, but the only issue is that while you're running around campus that first week, trying out quantum mechanics and advanced playwrighting, you're still responsible for the work assigned in the classes that you end up taking. and that's what i was up against last week, along with still trying to set my room up, getting in my required number of weekly hours at work, shopping for books (which i'm paying for myself this year-eek!), and other assorted responsibilities. the bulk of these tasks have carried over into this week, as well. i can't wait until all the dust has settled so i can get back to blogging normally.

after missing the shuttle and having to walk home last wednesday, tons of brand spanking new course books in tow, the october 2008 issue of nylon in my mailbox was a welcome surprise. i flipped through it a bit during work, and paused when i hit page sixty. i knew that m.i.a. was working on a clothing line, and i knew exactly what it would look like too, but what possessed nylon to dress a model in three (or is that four? did they really layer two of those jackets?) of the loudest, boldest prints i've ever seen, i'll never know. it doesn't look attractive by any stretch of the imagination, but i had a hunch that separately, the pieces might have potential. some poking around on m.i.a.'s website confirmed my suspicions.


let me preface this by saying i have so much love for m.i.a. even though she got a little cocky and claimed to have "owned" marc jacobs' fall 2008 afterparty. even if she randomly decided to retire from making music (nylon reports that she's safely back in the studio). i just love her. her songs never get old to me, and my retinas are not yet singed from the haphazard mix of neon patterns that brand her outfits and music videos. so maybe i'm biased, but i kind of like this collection. i'm very aware that it's practically a sampling of her own ridiculously distinctive wardrobe, but i think it's actually possible to make the stuff your own. i would love to pair the 'mexico' bodysuit with my bright white high-waisted mid-calf length pleated skirt (see post below), and brightly colored heels. or the afrika jacket or leggings with all-black everything else. unlike that nylon debacle, i think wearing one color prominently with one of m.i.a.'s pieces would allow you to wear them without looking like you were dressing up as m.i.a. am i completely out there on this one? it's possible, but i'm pretty sold on this line. in a figurative sense, of course. all sartorial fantasies aside, i don't really see myself shelling out a hundred bucks on a bodysuit.
but i'm curious as to which came first: m.i.a.'s 'afrika' print? or american apparel's?

wow, did i just do a pseudo-adventures in copyright post? oh, man.

"where were you in '92?"

p.s.: happy 26th birthday to my brother!