Monday Morning Rant


Have a great week all!

Posted in Podcast | Leave a comment

Apartment update

masa
I’ve been enjoying parking in the middle of my 2 carpark spaces which has made loading easier, but today this rude bastard’s Maserati was parked in one of my spaces.

note
I left a note on his windshield. Bastard!

mirror
2 of the spare bedrooms have these ugly mirrors. Mirrored wardrobe doors were so in fashion once. Personally I hate them! Gotta figure out how to cover up the mirrors somehow. White vinyl (temporary wallpaper) might be the go.

doors
The walk in wardrobe in the master bedroom is an IKEA PAX system. It’s a beautiful dark brown wood finish but it’s covered up with these really dated bevelled door which are a MUCH darker brown (almost black) and just look so heavy. I’ve decided to remove the doors and rock an open closet (the shelves and other systems like shoe holders and drawers) in the lighter wood will look amazing. I just need to find 2 door replacements at IKEA for the last 2 doors closest to the wall (will most likely use full length mirror doors).

carpet
Wasn’t a fan of the cheap and high wearing rental carpet on inspection and it’s not grown on me over time either. It’s far from plush, and looks a bit corporate. I did a lot of research on carpets and it seems like wool is out, and polyester is in as it’s got great stain resistance, which is a great thing as Mia does throw up on my carpet from time to time and cleaning the carpets has always resulted in visible stains.

I found some really awesome looking polyester carpets online that had really nice texture. I went for a trip around the block the other day and it turns out one of the web sites I had checked out has a showroom in Rosebery. Whilst I was there I got a quote for laminate vinyl wood flooring too as they had a range that was on sale. That night when I went back to Maroubra Mia had spewed up in the bedroom! I took that as a sign to avoid carpet altogether and go for timber floors. I’ve since had them over the measure my space for a quote. The hard part will be choosing the right flooring as they can’t match the flooring that’s already in the apartment, and trying to match it might look silly, so I may have to go for something completely different (to contrast) to make it an obvious design choice.

console
Previous owners drilled this ugly IKEA console into the wall at the entrance with HUGE ugly white brackets. So annoying! Will remove it and either replace it with another console, or a bookshelf/display shelf for my toys, or a bench and shoe holder. Needsa more thought.

abbeymcculloch
Still one of my fave original art pieces. This painting by Artist Abbey McCulloch adds a lot of colour to a white wall.

I was determined to never buy another IKEA product ever again, but after talking to Nick (Turner) about it the other day I think I came off as a bit of a brand snob. He mentioned that some pretty awesome designers are doing stuff for IKEA these days so I thought I’d drop in. I got there too early though, so thought I’d have a $5 breakfast whilst I waited for the store to open!

haul
Impulse buying. I ended up buying WAY more stuff than I intended!

bathroom1
Respected British designer Ilse Crawford did some vases for IKEA so I thought I’d check them out. Bought the little matte black one for the bathroom and also bought a cheap IKEA 3 piece set (soap dispenser, toothbrush holder and tray) as it was also in matte black.

bathroom2
Perfecto! The matte black finish matches all my matte black bathroom hardware.

vase
Also picked up this vase by Ilse Crawford.

lamp
Looks huge in the picture but it’s actually really small. Couldn’t resist this lamp. A solid marble base with a black braided cable which I paired with a naked LED bulb that looks great.

floorlight
I was eyeing The Post Floor Lamp by Muuto design. Not cheap at $1,349. This looks and works a LOT like it for a fraction of the price so I pulled the trigger on it.

switch
It’s very adjustable (can even point it up to the ceiling) and the back of each lamp is a massive push button so you can turn them on and off individually. The braided black cable is a nice touch too. IKEA are upping their game!

I’ve been really picking up the pace with the move and have been moving a car load’s worth of stuff every day for the past week. My Grandma used to check the lunar calendar to find the best date for me to move in to my previous houses, she’s not around anymore so my Mum has found a friend who can not only come over and bless my place, but she’s able to find me a good fortune date to move in too and it happens to be the 8th of Feb (my lucky number!).

Posted in House | Leave a comment

Farewell House of Photography

rosamina_musicroom_skullvodka-640x428
A goodbye note I sent through to a Boudoir Photographers community I’ve been a part of on Instagram:

HNY! Selling my house late last year has given me a new outlook on life. Not having to shoot to pay the bills and put food on the table has given me some freedom to ponder and I’ve realised that ever since design school in the late 90’s I’ve been spoilt by computers and lazy with my creativity.

I’m quitting photography (and social media) in an attempt to find more peace and get back to my roots which is drawing and painting.

Much thanks, love and respect for having me on board. It’s been a wild ride! Wishing you all the best! X

Posted in Photography | Leave a comment

Sushi Train Rosebery

IMG_0674
Took a walk around the block and found a Sushi Train around the corner. SO happy!

Posted in Food | Leave a comment

Monday Morning Rant


I bought $1k’s worth of underwear!

Posted in Podcast | Leave a comment

Time to get moving!

trolley
Just bought this.

I did a car load the other day (the Jazz can fit a LOT!) and the multiple trips up and down from the carpark to the top floor almost killed me! This should make moving my crap so much easier!

Posted in House | Leave a comment

My Diablo Immortal reddit post got read out in a video


A post I made on reddit gets read out in it’s entirety in this video.

Posted in Games | Leave a comment

A note to my Patrons and DeviantArt Subscribers

22_viviennelaw_justinfox_mirrorplay
HNY ALL!

I actually have no more photos to edit right now. You’re all up to date! I’ve been thinking for some time now to quit photography. There are a few reasons:

1) Since I’ve sold my house I’m no longer in a position where I need to shoot in order to live. Having said that I truly appreciate all of the financial support I’ve gotten from you, my Patrons, over all these years. It’s been an amazing ride!

2) I’m an Artist and have always needed to create, but I feel that design and photography have been a little too easy, almost too convenient. I’d love to try and get back into drawing and painting again. Time will tell!

3) Sadly there’s a stigma attached to shooting the female form and one that I’m ready to move away from. From people condemning me for shooting “pornography” to having my work constantly removed from Instagram (and worse yet my accounts banned or deleted).

I’m 100% sure I will still shoot from time to time, but it’s not going to be a job for me anymore going forwards. I’m still unsure about what to do with my Patreon and DeviantArt for now. Do I delete everything or do I keep them up as an archive of sorts so people can still pay for access? Needs more thought!

Either way I hope everyone had a great new years break, here’s to 2023!

Posted in Photography | Leave a comment

Monday Morning Rant


Monday Morning Rant – HNY ALL!

Posted in Podcast | Leave a comment

The one true biggest problem with Diablo Immortal

I’ve read through a LOT of complaints people have with DI since launch, but there’s one problem which I believe is greater than all, and that’s the Shadow vs Immortal mechanic.

Our clan was once super competitive and we became Immortals on our server. At some stage, due to politics, our leader crumbled under the stress involved in running our clan. The same thing happened to our next leader. I now find myself as the leader and I’m trying my best to not let the politics ruin the fun, but it’s not been easy.

At this stage of the game (especially since the server merges) it’s quite clear that only the strongest clans will become Immortal, and the Immortals will only align with the 2 strongest Shadow Clans. This means that it’s now probably impossible for many players to experience what it’s like to be Immortals in the game.

Since launch, after each rite we lose our strongest players who leave us to join the new Immortals. Never mind how much we’ve gotten to know each other (we have a very active discord and in-game chat, some of us have even met up IRL), and all those hours helping each other get our characters stronger. For some, the desire to become Immortal is above all.

The devs have created a game that pits us against each other and it’s obvious that this is by design, but in reality we’re more like minded than people may realise. Most of us in our clan live in the same country and we love playing Diablo, yet the mechanics of the game creates tension, much of it negative.

When you’re an Immortal you sometimes feel like many players on the server despise you. When you’re competitive you’ve got to have spies to manipulate and collect information on potential alliances which need to be made in order to become the next Immortals.

You can get lost in all the politics of the game, or you could simply choose to have fun and ignore it (and potentially lose a lot of clan members who desire to become Immortals). Personally I’ve tried to focus on what my clan does have, and that’s a great community of great people, but I’m also facing the reality that we’re probably not going to be Immortals again any time soon (or ever) as most of our clan are low spenders (I’m now the only one left with 3K res in the clan).

Whilst I understand that this is the nature of the game. I’m not 100% sure if the devs truly meant for it to get to where it’s at right now. IE: That in order to be Immortal you’re going to need a clan full spenders, and if you’re a F2P player, you might never get the chance to experience what being an Immortal is all about.

Would especially like to hear thoughts from other clan leaders, and whether or not you guys and gals might have suggestions on dealing with the politics.

/rant.

PS: Happy New Years!

I made this post on reddit, it’s getting some great responses! Check: https://www.reddit.com/r/DiabloImmortal/comments/1006yl2/the_one_true_biggest_problem_with_this_game/

Posted in Games | Leave a comment