Daydreamer

Daydreamer

Art | Music | Fashion | Life | Culture | Film

Contents MUSIC 10 Funzo 38 Autumn Owls 48 The Candidates 60 Talulah Does The Hula 86 Arveene Juthan 98 Leah Burke FASHION 14 Yesterday, I Dreamt of the Ocean...

26 Wendy Crawford 42 LadyUmbrella 90 Blog Crush 110 Mia O’Connell 120 Style from a Bag 130 Field Day 139 Rosie O’Reilly FILM 56 88 102 136

The Daydreamer Film Natalia Kostrzewa Emma Eliza Regan Sean Smith

TRAVEL 35 Berlin 62 Montreal CULTURE 126 Ark 141 For The Love Of FEATURES 28 New York the Dream City 44 Dream a Little Dream 50 It’s a Family Affair 68 Deadringers 96 C’mere til I Tell You

PHOTOGRAPHY 8 Lucy Nuzum 40 Summer Girls 119 Cliona O’Flaherty 128 Girls in the Woods 138 Dance ILLUSTRATION 100 Aaron Brady 112 Robert Carey SHOWCASE 64 Hand-made Illustrated Greeting Cards 114 Grumptys ARTICLES 12 The Pains of Growing Up 24 Miriam Lea 34 Stories With Their Own Stories to Tell 46 Service With a Smile 58 Wearing Failure Like a Suit of Armour 84 When I Grow Up I Want to be an Astronaut...

111 Gotta Take the Good, the Bad, the Happy and the Sad 118 All it Takes is a Surrender 125 Your Sartorial Superior 129 Moving Out, Moving On 140 Hook, Line and Sinker 143 Small Talk FICTION 122 Daydream Fiction POETRY 27 The Lonesome Quest 36 Watermelon Wife 49 Temperment 127 A Gaze 137 The Perfect Wife, the Perfect Life 144 Dusk

Daydreamer info@daydreamer.ie

WHERE TO FIND US

http://twitter.com/DaydreamerZine http://daydreamerblog.tumblr.com http://www.facebook.com/daydreamerzine Founders and Editors Arsheen Qasim and Anahita Tabarsi Design David McEnroe, Anahita Tabarsi Flash Animation Barry Chapman Editorial Illustration Aimee O’Beirne Intro Music Ian Tierney Intro Film David Freyne, Joana Medeiros, Eoin O’Faolain Song Sadder Day Blues by The NPB The Daydreamer Film Arsheen Qasim, Anahita Tabarsi Original Score Derek Conlon Player Music 3epkano, Derek Conlon, Fiona Melady, Funzo Words Colin Bartley, Alan Bennett, Adrian Bratten, Hugo Gibson,Tim Hanan, Hermia, Shane Leavy, Riona Judge McCormack, Jennifer McGinn, Maria Moynihan, Tara L. Nicole, Brian O’Driscoll, Sarah O’Hegarty, Angela Scanlon, Anahita Tabarsi, Aidan Wade, Shona Weymes Photographs Nikki Browne, Siobhan Byrne, Aisling Farinella, Moselle Foley, Jason Lowe, Katie Lilga Mooney-Sheppard, Holly Moynagh, Lucy Nuzum, Farzad Qasim, Reza Rashidi, Anahita Tabarsi, Ian Tierney Art Bevan O’Daly, Mahnaz Tabarsi, Jessica Timlin Illustrations Aaron Brady, Robert Carey, Derek Conlon, Rachel Corcoran, Gemma Crowe, Cormac Hughes, Joseph McCafferty, Joana Medeiros, Elena Montes Casado, Duffy Mooney-Sheppard Fashion Editorial Photography Anahita Tabarsi Fashion Editor Arsheen Qasim Models Theodora Victoi Castan, Emma Gill, Samuel McArdle, Emma Eliza Regan, Sophie Tanza Makeup & Hair Carol Beecher, Katie Derwin, Love Hawkridge, Nadia Macari Field Day Fashion Shoot Photography Johnny McMillan, Fashion Aisling Farinella, Assisted by Kieran Kilgallon, Make Up Ashley O’Connor, Hair Jessica at Toni & Guy, Blackrock, Model Frida at First Option Online www.daydreamer.ie CONTENT MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM DAYDREAMER MAGAZINE. FOR ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT info@daydreamer.ie © Daydreamer 2010

EDITOR’S NOTE

Sometimes you’re really passionate about something but you keep it in, or you shrug and mutter a comment in passing careful not to sound too excited or eager or earnest. Sure it’s no big deal, yeah it was kinda cool or nice. But hey, no big deal.

We close-off our walls, build up defences, shutter up our windows, but then always on our tip-toes trying to lean over and lean in, peaking through and peaking within, trying to make a real connection with someone, feeling for those tentative cracks in the self-made armour of irony and post-irony and sarcasm and sardonicism and what not. Our language antenna always tuned in and on. Human communication feels like a code-cracking ordeal sometimes.

Maybe it’s time for post-post-irony, saying things, meaning them, and then just that meaning them. With all your heart, and all your sincerity and all your passion. There’s nothing wrong with feeling. And expressing. There’s some kind of pure joy in it all. In the unadulterated sincerity and childlike earnestness of being able to feel life and conveying it fully without feeling doubtful and vulnerable and suspicious.

Here’s to good ol’fashioned honest-to-goodness earnestness, a cracking zeal for life, and a sincerity for expressing it that is as deep and as old as the human soul.

Arsheen Qasim, co-editor

I haven’t heard a truly heartfelt compliment in a long time. Come to think of it, I don’t recall giving one recently either. It seems these days, that we tend to steer clear of saying things are good and focus on the flaws instead. More and more often we downplay our exuberance.

If you compliment someone, you're being gushy or maudlin. Being sincere and truly earnest about things translates to being naive or cheesy. These days it's all about underwhelming subtlety. We have become afraid to love things unabashedly for fear of ridicule. We find the act of expressing genuine emotion a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

Which leads our every utterance to be dissected and filtered in our minds before vacating our mouths. Deemed acceptable only after all traces of ‘corniness’ and ‘eagerness’ have been removed, and what comes out of our mouths are just banal regurgitations. Nothing original, just inoffensively the same.

We hold our dreams and aspirations so close to our hearts but often so hidden that sometimes they become invisible, even to ourselves. And after a while, we forget about the things we truly do love and care about. They sit on a shelf in our minds gathering dust.

But we need to remind ourselves not to take those dreams for granted. To accept the delicate beauty of them and everything around us. .

Embrace the good things in life whole-heartedly with both hands. Gush about the beauty of it, be cheesy, be sweet, and awesome and honest.

Be soulful. Do it without having to think about it. Shrug off the anxiety. Each of us has a great big, thumping heart just beneath our ribs, and it's not something to be ashamed of at all.

Anahita Tabarsi, co-editor

illustration JOSEPH MCCAFFERTY

Photography

5Ws & an H Lucy Nuzum Photographer http://solarina.org

What adventures have you had in your life?

I could tell you about an adventure I had just the other day – we're driving towards Kilkenny, in my car, a battered old 1998 Hyundai Accent, piled to the brim with three tents, four friends, 60 beers and duvets/blankets/bags/pillows aplenty. We're blundering along with the tape-player blaring 'I am 16, going on 17' from the Sound of Music, when suddenly the whole car is filling with smoke. The wheel and engine seize and the brakes stop working, so we skid using the handbrake to the roadside. We trek to a farm and ask if we can camp in their fields, and they offer to bring us pizza!

Who do you trust with secrets?

The World Wide Web. I tend to spill so much of my personal life online that it feels like that sometimes. Yet still, I use enough odd, vague references in the titles of my photographs, that possibly those I’m ‘talking to’ have no idea! In fact, I probably tell the good juicy stuff to a friend called Charlotte, I can tell her anything thoroughly reprehensible and know that she's just as bad as I am.

Where will you be in five years?

Impossible question! Dream answer: Exhibiting work and shooting constantly in Montreal, above my wine and cheese shop, best mates with Ricky Gervais and spooning someone mad and beautiful at night.

Probable real answer: Living in a kitchen-cum-bath/bedroom overlooking the N11 desperately throwing photographs and sketches at passers-by and spending my days watching the Gilmore Girls. But I'm hoping for a healthy balance between those two.

When are you at your most imaginative?

During lectures. When something important and relevant is being offered right in front of me, that seems to be the moment I get the most creative and sketch up some madness. Long DART journeys with good pencils are productive too. And late-night under extreme intoxication with a biro, at least I personally think, everything I come up with is genius at that point.

Why did you decide to take up photography?

The cruel mistress that was the Irish Leaving Certificate forced me out to play in the woods with our little point-and-shoot family camera, it was simply a way to procrastinate. Then, the instant gratification and fun of publishing online and talking to people just hooked me. I always loved to paint and draw, but I couldn’t actually create the scenes I wanted to with paint or pencils. But, I could haggle a silly friend into my car and drive into the countryside and make anything in seconds with a camera!

I think that's what I love about photography as a medium. I can think up anything, bend any limbs, stretch any concept, but with the addition of actually experiencing the moment while you’re shooting it - it's exhilarating. You can create anything, document something truthfully and carefully or capture mayhem and magic, all in 1/200th of a second.

How often are you surprised?

Very often. Though I do spend hours on the internet ‘working’, where you run that wild risk of being suddenly linked to monkeys racing on bears or pterodactyl porn ... so being surprised has become an occupational hazard.

What cheers you up when you’re sad?

Mark: Thinking of what the future holds...while eating ice-cream and watching The Sopranos.

Brian: The Beach Boys, Reggae, Maradona videos, my peeps.

Rónán: Movement.

What was the high point of your month?

Stig: A drive in the sun yesterday with my windows down and my system up (Gorillaz 'Plastic Beach').

Kevin: Sun out, blossoms on trees.

What has been the low point of your week?

Stig: Walking out of work to my car in a daze thinking I'd finished for the day only to remember I was on my lunch break.

Kevin: Having to steal my lunch from Superquinn on Monday.

What makes you sad?

Brian: Sky News, Haters, The Bomb.

Stig: Missed opportunities.

What’s the highest point you have climbed to?

Mark: I’m 6’4” tall.

Rónán: I got a piggyback off Mark once.

Liam: Half way up the Eiffel Tower (I'm scared of heights so had to turn back) What was your last high-five?

Stig: With my 2-year-old nephew for replying to me in Irish.

What are the highs and lows of being in a band?

Stig: The highs are often having access to opportunities that would be unavailable otherwise: meeting certain people, being invited to perform at places where usually the doors would be closed to you.

Music

Highs

&

Lows

FUNZO

www.myspace.com/listentofunzo

The lows? Getting close, but not close enough.

Rónán: There are plenty of negative aspects to being in ‘a band’ – lots of waiting about, financial drain, odd hours etc. But I’m lucky to still be playing music – good music – when my peers are starting to make compromises between aspirations and options. I suppose that realisation dilutes any of the negatives that get to you on occasion.

Liam: It takes up a lot of my spare time but it's my favourite thing in the world, so I don't mind.

What are the highs and lows of your gigs?

Mark: Playing to a crowd of strangers and seeing them begin to smile, then bob their heads, then dance, then scream. As long as we get to play a set, I’ll never be low at a gig.

Brian: Seeing groups of friends and people coming together through Funzo gigs is great, and we enjoy engaging with the crowd at any show.On the other hand, there are plenty of seemingly great venues that end up

being unprepared for a gig and we have to stop/cancel playing.

What was the most terrifying experience you’ve had?

Rónán: I’ve been in three motor accidents over the years. They were all scary.

Kevin: Being chased by a terrifyingly small dog.

What was the most exhilarating experience you’ve had so far?

Mark: Living in Brooklyn, New York in 2007. It’s my favourite place on the planet and I’d love to move back someday. I discovered so much new music while I lived there, it was where I first fell in love with hip-hop.

Stig: Playing at Electric Picnic in the sunshine was pretty beautiful.

Liam: Our drummer Rónán (or 'Filler' as he likes to be known) is always doing wacky stuff to surprise us - on my birthday, he released a dove into the crowd during our song ‘Pop Secret’.

Article

The Pains of Growing Up words ANAHITA TABARSI illustration JOSEPH MCCAFFERTY

They don't teach you to grow up. They expect you to, but nobody teaches you to. That's just part of life. One day you're throwing tantrums at your parents about not being let go to Tanya-something's sleepover, everyone else is going to be there, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I can't wait till I'm grown up and don't have to listen to you anymore and the next day you're working forty hours a week to support yourself, you're too tired for parties, social engagements have become more of a chore than pleasure and you keep forgetting to get milk and toilet-paper when you're grocery shopping.

But that's what we wished for, to be grown up, so it's our own entire fault really. But what is being grown up about? I am now 25, and my attitude is a far cry from when I was 15. Only a decade separates me from the younger, slightly shorter, more melodramatic version of myself and yet it seems like we are entirely different people. Perusing through old journal entries in which I lament being but a child unable to detach myself from rules and restrictions that dictate my very existence are somewhat embarrassing and feel overly dramatic now. Memories of my younger self are more an out-of-body experience of a voyeuristic nature, not very tangible to the person I have become.

So a shift in the mechanics of thinking has occurred since then and certain priorities have changed. But instead of longing to be grown up, I now long to be free like a child.

Granted, I no longer think the way I did back then, but I don't feel like a grown-up and in almost every way possible, wish I didn't have to be one. Not right now, just give me a few more years please, I’m not done with childhood. I want to eat candy till I'm sick and not inspect it for artificial colourings and E flavours. I want to have birthday parties where people get upset tummies from snarfing down too much cake, not too much alcohol. I really don't want to have to know what utility bills are and credit card statements and tax forms. Ignorance would have been bliss if I knew how thankful I should have been to be ignorant.

Oh what pleasure it would be to parade about in teddy bear pyjamas on Saturday mornings and watch cartoons. If I could grab hold of the 15-year-old me now, I would shake the daylights out of her, 'Take it back! Take it back!' I'd shout. Being a child is so much better, you're required by law to live with your parents and it's not something you mumble embarrassingly when asked in conversation.

They say hindsight is 20/20, well I'll be sure to bring a powerful telescope with me when I travel back in time to set the younger me straight, so she can see that growing up isn't all it was cracked up to be. I just have to find that gosh darn elusive flux capacitor and then all will be right with the world.

But then of course I should probably just take that advice into hand now and stay young at heart for as long as possible, I envision that's what the 40-year-old me would be telling me to do right now.

Fashion

Yesterday, I dreamt of the ocean...

photographer Anahita Tabarsi

stylist Arsheen Qasim

hair and makeup Nadia Macari

model Emma Gill

Polka-dot vintage jumpsuit Shotsy Vintage Green belt Oxfam Vintage

Jaguar print dress Om Diva Boutique Red turban Shotsy Vintage Button ring Cute As A...

1950s pink vinatge dress Jean Cronin Vintage

White blouse Oxfam Vintage Military jacket Oxfam Vintage Assorted brooches Cute As A... Red-frill skirt Om Diva Boutique Red scarf Om Diva Boutique White rose necklace Jean Cronin Vintage Straw hat vintage style Christine Bec, Dolls Boutique Brown suitcase stylist’s own

Yellow maxi dress Shotsy Vintage

1980s stripe dress Jean Cronin Vintage Charm neclace Cute As A... Charm bracelet Cute As A...

Green blouse Jean Cronin Vintage White boat-motif skirt Om Diva Boutique Jade necklace Dhamika Vintage, Dolls Boutique

Purple vintage print dress Dolls Boutique White rose necklace Jean Cronin Vintage

Article

Miriam Lea words MARINER illustration DEREK CONLON I woke slowly in the half light of the very early morning. The ship rolled slowly to port and the curtains tilted away from the porthole, brightening the cabin until the ship settled once more. Miriam must have felt the change of pitch in her sleep because I felt her arms tighten around my neck, but she didn’t wake. We anchored each other in place.

I lay without moving for a while, enjoying the soft swaying of the ship as it ploughed a long furrow in the North Atlantic.

Miriam’s face was pressed against my ear and I felt the warm, humid breeze of her deep exhalations as she slept on. I would tell her later that these were my favourite moments with her, these short moments after waking and finding her close beside me. I don’t think she believed me. The problem with being romantic in a cynical age – everybody mistakes it for sarcasm.

She let go of my neck then and the next roll pushed her towards the wall. We were two separate people again. I eased myself out of bed, now that I could do so without disturbing her.

I found the small bundle of my clothes, an island in the chaotic sea of her things, and began to dress. The single gear bag she had arrived with was apparently a relative of the Tardis. There was a bottle of water on the table and I took a drink while looking through a gap in the curtains at the lilting horizon that seesawed back and forth. With that stationary point of reference, it was easier to stand steady, my legs adjusting to allow the boat to move around me.

Four years in this job and I had seen more of the world than I had ever dreamed as a boy looking at copies of National Geographic. But for every port and ocean I explored, my life in Ireland atrophied. I fell out of touch with friends one by one. My name passed out of their plans. Without the focus point of a shared social existence in Dublin, I lost my bearings. I couldn’t see the horizon and I was stumbling.

Increasingly, I had thought I would need to quit this life to reconnect. The irony, that as long as I was drifting, I would never form a bond that could survive this lifestyle. Then I met her. My world inverted. Here I was home. Ashore and alone, I pined.

I sat down on the edge of the bed to put on my trousers and paused there beside her sleeping form. The slender body filled the tiny single bunk and I wondered again how it had held us both all night. I pressed the blanket tightly around her as it was chilly in the room and placed a kiss on her lips as carefully as I could. She seemed to respond, climbing to a higher level of consciousness within her dream for a few seconds. She said something in her native language, a flood of whispered syllables that I would never understand. It might have been ‘I love you’. Perhaps she had just ordered pizza. I would never know as she never remembered and I couldn’t repeat it.

Fashion

dot dot dot

Wendy Crawford

boutique Bow Boutique www.bowboutique.ie

I never throw away…clothes. I recycle & swap.

When I was a kid…I dreamt of being a bare-back rider in the circus.

The best thing I’ve done in my life so far…is start my own business.

The sweetest thing someone ever said to me… ‘I love you madly every day’.

My friends are…precious.

I love the feeling of…Eilis Boyle’s cashmere anything!

I believe in…having fun despite these times.

Poetry

The Lonesome Quest Forever young, And feeling free, I travel to a destiny, The place unknown, a new found home, a time when I can rest at ease.

To see it all, to learn what must, I lie my trust in questioning.

What lies ahead? I hope a grave of stories that will rest with me.

words ADRIAN BRATTEN illustration CORMAC HUGHES

My heart holds whole a hobo soul, a quest for something so much more.

I long for feeling, something healing, something here that has some meaning.

What's my purpose, what’s my path, what direction my life hath?

No one knows, as life unfolds, I'll learn the lessons looking back.

And so I play this travel game, to live and stay and work the same, Each culture carries different sights, each continent; a different life, I'll earn to learn by wrestling my yearn for such necessity.

And one day, some day, I'll feel free, to live my life for you, not me.

Feature

illustration ROBERT CAREY

NEW YORK THE DREAM CITY

Here are the stories of three Irish kids who went looking for a big, big dream, in the city of dreams, New York City.

From what made them take the leap to how they found their feet, from their favourite New York hotspot to their favourite New York cup of coffee, here’s an adventure in the Big Apple from the Irish dreamers.

FIONA HYNES Age: 24

Company: Hungryman Position: Intern/Freelance Production Assistant

Living in...Greenwich Village, Manhattan Live with…Silvia, and Alley, the cat. Really happy here but it’s the 4th apartment I've had in eight months!

Apartment hunting is the most difficult task that NY has thrown at me yet. It’s no cliché that NY is full of strange characters, which is great, but not when you’re living with them!

When I first moved to NYC…I did feel lonely. The fact that there is such a huge population here is a promising prospect initially, but you soon see that it’s something which makes the city all the more lonely when you know nobody. I think it took a good three months for me to really find my feet and feel like I had my own place in this city. That said after the first week, I knew that this was the city for me. It made me very determined to stop feeling sorry for myself and start carving out some kind of life for myself here.

Best place to party in NYC…is wherever the night takes you! My advice would be to move around the boroughs and don't get caught in the Manhattan trap. Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side are my hang-out spots, but Brooklyn in particular has a huge amount to offer as well. One of my best, and longest, nights out in NY took me from Manhattan to Brooklyn, to Queens, back to Brooklyn and then out to Coney Island!

The first thing that hits you when you move to NYC… for me it was the iconography that surrounds you constantly. From the yellow cab that picks you up at the airport that takes you across the Brooklyn Bridge, where you get your your first glimpse of the Empire State

Building. New York to me is a living movie set. When I was living in Midtown, I was on the 29th floor and had a great view. I was watching TV and they had a shot of Manhattan, I looked out my window and realised that my view was almost identical to the shot on my TV. It was a very surreal moment. Whenever I start to feel jaded, something like that happens and reminds me that I live in New York City and that’s pretty cool!

The best season in NYC is…summer. It's impossible to not stumble across some amazing street fair, free concert, art exhibition or outdoor cinema in New York during the summer. It gets a little too hot for my Irish skin but it’s well worth it!

My local NYC vendor is… Cho's Grocery on Carmine Street. And on this street you also have the best Thai food in NY at Morakote Siam and in my opinion the best Irish bar in NYC, Mr. Dennehy's!

The biggest misconception about NYC…is that everyone is rude. That's not the case at all. Everyone is in a rush, but most people will take the time to give you directions or help you out if they can.

In New York you have to…try very hard. It’s a tough city to live in but it offers so many opportunities and experiences to me every day that I think it’s worth the fight.

They call NYC the dream city because…that is exactly what it is. Almost every person you meet is multi-dimensional. Everyone has aspirations to be better than they are, to do something else. Even people at the top of their game keep dreaming and striving to find ways to improve themselves. It’s really very inspirational to me.

LYNDSAY MCGREGOR Age: 22

Occupation: Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, 'Hamptons' and 'Gotham’, Niche Publications

Living in…Right now I'm living in Woodlawn in the Bronx, which is basically like a mini-Ireland, but as soon as I can afford it I want to move into Manhattan. The commute between boroughs kills me!

Work experience…I spent seven months interning at Nylon Magazine and it was great. Unfortunately, unpaid internships don't exactly pay the bills, so I also worked part-time at a blues club in Times Square. I still do!

When I first moved to NYC…I didn't know a soul. It was tough at first, especially as I wasn't in school or any sort of environment where it was easy to meet people, but after a few months, I settled in and made friends at work and started to go out more and meet more people.

NYC smells like…coffee and honey-roasted peanuts.

You get the best cup of coffee…from street vendors! It's way cheaper than Starbucks and tastes a lot nicer.

The best place to get books is…Strand Bookstore. 18 miles of books! It's a bit overwhelming but great for a browse.

The best place to people-watch in NYC is…on the subway. I don't know how they did it, but New York has more weirdos per-square-mile than any other place on the planet and they love to congregate on trains. I've lost count of the number of times I've been told the world is ending in 2011.

The best place to get lost in NYC is…the Upper West Side. It's so pretty. All brownstone townhouses and tree-lined streets and people out walking their dogs. I like to pretend I'm Meg Ryan in 'You've Got Mail'.

The most crowded place in NYC is…Times Square on a Saturday afternoon, or Forever 21 in Herald Square.

When I need a time-out I go to…the park. Any park. I grew up in the countryside, so sometimes the city can get a little overwhelming – it's so full of people all the time! A walk in the park helps to clear my head.

The biggest misconception about NYC is…that all New Yorkers are mean. Some of them are but not all of them.

They call NYC the dream city because…it's the centre of the universe. To quote Frankie, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

To become a true New Yorker, you have to…toughen up, take care of your nails and learn how to nab great bargains.

I moved to NYC because…it was something I always wanted to do and I knew if I didn't do it right after graduation, then I'd never do it and I'd regret it for the rest of my life. I also wanted to pursue fashion journalism and what better place to do it than in the greatest city in the world.

DAVID MCGOVERN Age: 23

Occupation: Visual Merchandiser for American Apparel and Fashion Intern for V magazine

Living in…East Williamsburg/Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Live with...a friend from home and a friend from Craigslist.

When I first moved to New York...we stayed in a hostel on the Upper East Side for a month, as it was a bit of nightmare finding a spot. We had some knowledge of the city, but didn't know our bed-study from our BK when we came over. Then we found the perfect place in Brooklyn. It just takes time.

New York is my most favourite place to live in because…almost everyone here wants to be here. It is too expensive and stressful to stay if you dislike it, so the majority of people are here to follow or figure out their dream. And this motivation feeds the city and makes it anything but boring. There's nowhere like it.

My favourite party spot in NYC is…Williamsburg, I love the bars, but for a good dance-party you need to hit the Village or LES. I'm a big fan of Home Sweet Home.

The air in NYC is...giving my lungs a sad face.

My favourite place to chill in NYC is...around Bedford Ave. Most of my friends live in the neighbourhood, so we meet up, get some food and just faff about in general.

The street-style around Bedford is pretty rad, so it's good for people-watching.

You get the best cup of coffee and cupcake, burrito and movie in...our local coffee shop, Boulevard Cafe.

Magnolia Bakery's famous cupcakes can't be beaten and I am obsessed with Chipotle's chicken burritos. Best place for a movie is one of the outdoor screenings under the Brooklyn Bridge during the summer. Can't recommend it highly enough.

The craziest thing about NYC is...it makes you very happy or very sad, seldom in between.

The first thing I did in NYC was...update my Facebook status. And then I walked through the streets and thought ‘I'm finally here’.

Cool place to shop in NYC...American Apparel of course. But in joint second-place are 10 ft Single, About Glamour, Love Brigade and any number of good thrift stores around the city.

Best place for a haircut in NYC is…Hair Metal. I get my ducky-duck hair-cut by the finest heavy-metal hairdressers in the 'Burg.

Best ‘this is NY’ feeling…during the summer the Met has a weekly cocktail reception on the roof. It's a really, pretty roof garden with a great view of the park and city.

artwork BEVAN O’DALY

Art

The Great Escape

Article

Stories with their own stories to tell words RIONA JUDGE MCCORMACK photo ANAHITA TABARSI The secret is this: it can only happen when you’re not looking. That’s why it tastes the way it does, sweet and slightly sharp at once, because even then you’re missing it already. It will never happen exactly like this again.

Perhaps it goes something like this: a plan falls through at exactly the last moment. That is how you find yourself midway up a sunny street, on this mild Sunday afternoon, with the thrill of having nothing in particular to do.

You stretch your fingertips out as far as you can, to see if the edges of this moment can be touched, and you think maybe they could if you could reach only a little farther. Then with someone else's voice in your ears, singing of days much like this, you wander through the first open door.

‘Second-hand books downstairs’, the sign says, so you follow it. The ceiling is low down there, and the floor tilts at odd angles. There is a hush among the crowded shelves, the other people moving in slow sleepwalking circles, heads to the side, reading spines, one foot out, one finger to their lips in a half-admonishment for silence.

There is a woman on her knees in front of Classics, re-sorting books with featherlight hands. She is humming a tune that you take out your earphones to listen to, something unidentifiable and wonderful.

You don’t want anything in particular, except to be here surrounded by these books that somebody loved once. You run your fingers along the shelves, not for titles but for their feel, for a thick frayed binding or faded lettering, for a solid weight or an inscription – To Judith, I hope this brings you some comfort. I will always be here for you if you need a shoulder.

Christmas '93.

You lose yourself for a while, in the sacred book-hushed silence. You find, after an hour, maybe more, that you have collected an armful of treasures, misfits, stories with their own stories to tell. The humming woman rings them up, handling them like old friends. You think, purchases, and roll the word around in your mouth. Things to be tied with a piece of string and wrapped in brown paper, like sausages and hatpins.

There is more to come, though you don’t know it yet; a quiet coffee-shop overlooking the aimless crowds, the lost hours within the pages of a pocket-sized gem that once belonged to a Peter you will never meet. Knowing and not knowing, some spent and some still to come.

Outside, a little snatch of the woman’s tune escapes you, but it’s already fading and you can’t remember how the rest of it goes.

photos KATIE LILGA MOONEY SHEPPARD

Travel

Berlin

words and illustrations GEMMA CROWE

Poetry

On the road with...

AUTUMN OWLS Niall Jackson

www.myspace.com/autumnowls What was your staple diet on the road?

Unfortunately, due to the nature of being on the road all the time, restaurant visits were few and far between. So, it was mostly street-meat or snacks. Our drummer Will did develop quite a worrying addiction to ‘Death Metal Pizza’ in Austin.

What was the best city/town you visited?

For me, the surprise town of the entire trip was Denton, Texas. All the bars were around one central square. We played a festival there called NX35 with The Flaming Lips, Midlake and The Walkmen amongst others. Lovely people, lovely town, even if it was a liquor-dry county.

What was the best part of the the trip?

It would have to be SXSW, that was the whole point of the trip in the first place. The road to Austin had many perks, from New York through Chicago and down to Vegas, but the sheer volume of music around and the amount of shows we played in Austin over the four days of SXSW was an incredible experience.

What was the strangest thing that happened on tour?

There were many strange moments, most of them involving Paul, our guitarist, but I can’t tell those so I’ll say being invited by Danny Masterson from ‘That 70s Show’ to a house-party owned by the Midlake boys in Denton.

Who’s the most interesting person you met on tour?

It sounds slightly hammy, but nearly everyone we met was interesting in one way or another. Americans, in general, were so positive, friendly and accommodating. We were put up on couches or floors or spare rooms almost every night of the trip by complete strangers.

Music

What do you think about America now after the trip?

I still think Lone Star is probably the only nice beer they make over there but the people are great. Don’t judge them based on the idiots represented in their reality TV shows, they are by and large smart, funny people.

What did you pick up on the road?

We picked up an old Hammond organ from a pawn shop in the middle of the Arizona Desert. Some one-horse town that was selling it for $50. But we never got it home, it’s still lonely as a cloud in the desert.

Any tips for American road trips?

Bring some sleeping tablets, unless you’re the driver.

What did you see?

Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, we drove right past both of them which killed me. Music-wise there were just too many. Highlights – Les Savy Fav, The Antlers, The Walkmen, Ola Podrida and two up-and-coming American bands, Finn Riggins from Idaho and Twin Brother from Vegas. Both huge talents that should take over the world.

What did you bring back?

Memories and a Hofner bass guitar (only €200 brand new in Austin).

The road trip in five words...

Where are we playing next?

Summer Girls...

photos HOLLY MOYNAGH

Photography

Fashion

What...

LADY UMBRELLA Elena Montes Casado t-shirt designer

www.ladyumbrella.com

What inspires your illustrations?

I’ve always loved artists from the late 19th and early 20th century period, from art nouveau to impressionism and even pop art. Artists like Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha are my biggest influence and have given me inspiration.

What colours inspire you?

I like bright and vibrant colours. I use black and white for my illustrations and designs, but each t-shirt gets a healthy splash of colour.

What do you dream about?

I like to dream about other worlds, different places and ways of living, different types of beings and beliefs. My dreams, like everyone’s dreams are uninhibited and I like to let my mind roam wherever it wants.

Sometimes I get ideas for designs and then have to sketch them into my notebook.

What puts you in the mood to create?

My dreams. Some days I wake up in a good mood and look at things around me and start to draw. I could be on a bus into town or anywhere and I like to draw new ideas. Also, on the rare occasion when there is sunshine here in Ireland, I like to draw.

What satisfies you most about your work?

I’m very critical with myself. So, satisfaction for me comes when I see other people wearing the t-shirts I’ve designed and I hear that they like them.

What do you find captivating?

Small things and small details that I can find in big things captivate me. Designs that let you look and explore and the more you look into them the more you see. Like, if you are in a big city, there are lots of small things that you can find on the streets, that can make weird or interesting shapes.

Sometimes I get lucky and I notice them.

What are your plans for this year?

I’m going to keep designing with LadyUmbrella. We have some new designs for summer. Also, we would like to have a right big party somewhere, sometime, to announce the fact that we are here.

Gerry Murphy

What is your biggest dream come true so far?

To be living a day at a time.

Ellen Byas Pictured centre

What did you dream of when you were younger?

I dreamt of doing well in life and helping people, which I’ve done all my life.

Kathleen Clynes

What is your biggest dream come true so far?

Nothing. I don’t dream the impossible.

Andy Donnelly

What do you dream of?

Wish I had me wife back again, she was 61 when she died.

Catherine Thornton pictured right

What is your biggest dream come true so far?

Good health and I’ve a beautiful family, eight children who are all good to me.

Elizabeth Dolphin

What did you dream of when you were younger?

I didn’t want anything really.

photos IAN TIERNEY

Dream a little dream

Feature

Margaret Ryan

Paddy Coffey

What did you dream of when you were younger?

I dreamt of being brought to the Botanical Gardens. I used to love that, as on the way up we used to buy sweets and lollipops.

Mollie Burke

Willie Shanks

What did you dream of when you were younger?

Willie: I dreamt of singing on the stage.

Mollie: Dreams of dancing.

Sheila Warren

What is your biggest dream come true so far?

The biggest dream anyone can have is to be happy and protected. To be content with what you have and friendship.

What did you dream when you were younger?

I didn’t dream. I played music six or seven times a week, every Monday was off.

Sean Whelan

What is your biggest dream come true so far?

To grow to 70 years-of-age. I didn’t think I’d see 50.

Getting this far is great. Having grandchildren was the best thing to ever happen to me, it was just magic.

Patrick Prior pictured centre

What is your biggest dream come true?

Meeting my mother for the first time in 35 years and going to England to see her.

Thanks to Friends of The Elderly, Bolton Street, Dublin 1 www.friendsoftheelderly.ie

Article

Service with a smile words MARIA MOYNIHAN photo JASON LOWE

If I was writing a Mills & Boon novel, I might say that I was in the midst of a torrid love affair with a sheik, with lucrative links in the petroleum industry. The reality, however, is somewhat more pedestrian.

For the last year or so, I’ve been engaged in a mildly flirtatious relationship with the shop assistant in my local petrol station. It started with a shy smile exchanged over €20 unleaded and a copy of Heat magazine. A few months and many transactions later, we exchanged names and shook hands across the counter. He always gives me double stamps on my loyalty card. Sometimes, he tells me that I look pretty, even when my hair needs washing. Often, he makes my day.

He’s not the first shop assistant with whom I have formed an unlikely bond. There was the Italian guy who worked in the chipper across the road from college (you know you really have to amend your diet when you’re greeted with a cheerfully pre-emptive ‘quarter pounder with cheese and chips?’) and the Egyptian butcher who would always notice if I hadn’t been in for a few weeks to stock up my freezer with his homemade meatballs in tomato and basil sauce.

Clearly, I have a weakness for flirtatious foreigners and fattening food. But there’s just something about walking in the door and seeing that first flicker of recognition spread in a smile across a familiar face, the small talk that’s exchanged over the counter with your change and the ‘see you later’ that makes you feel appreciated as a customer.

In my local supermarket in Dublin, most people use the self check-out rather than having their shopping scanned by a staff member. Sure, it’s quick and convenient when you’re just running in for a pint of milk, but I also find it incredibly hollow. A computer-generated ‘welcome, please scan your first item’ is no substitute for a human being who will help you to pack your bags; even if we’ve all come across the surly staffer who finds their nails or text messages infinitely more interesting than assisting a customer.

Still, we realise the importance of the local shop, post office or pub in rural Ireland, especially for the older, more isolated population. So why consciously cut ourselves off from other people in the small transactions of daily life?

For years, I could never understand why my mother would drive out of her way to the only petrol station in our home-town that still had a pump attendant. Refuelling is hardly rocket science. But she appreciates the service and feels that she’s doing her bit to keep him in a job. It’s starting to make sense to me.

My dad sold electrical home goods for exactly 36 years and one day. Whether they were buying the latest plasma TV or a toaster, customers would actually spurn the advances of other shop assistants because they valued his honest advice. He used to do the voice-over for an ad on our local radio station and even now, if I ever need to explain my lineage within Kerry county bounds, all I have to do is introduce myself as ‘Fred from Kiely’s’ daughter and straightaway, there’s a knowledgeable nod. One customer christened the family cat after him. Local lore has it that there’s also a sheep called Fred from Kiely’s bleeting away on some hillside outside Killarney. We already bank on-line, bid on eBay and buy music on iTunes. None of which make great names for a pet, do they?

illustration DUFFY MOONEY SHEPPARD

A chit-chat with...

Music

THE CANDIDATES

www.myspace.com/funkthecandidates

What are your nicknames for each other?

Deane: Mark is ‘Dirty Rigs’ or ‘Dr D Fine’. Ciaran D. is ‘Dusty’ and Ciaran K. is ‘The Hurricane’ or just ‘Keogh’.

Graham occasionally goes by his alter-ego ‘Dr Beef’.

Tim, after complaining that he has no nickname, has been gifted with the moniker of ‘Chicken Ball Higgins’.

How did you come together to make this style of music?

Mark: About three years ago, a few of us worked together in a video-shop and started gathering musicians for a funk band. About a year later, we had our first gig and from there it has just grown and grown.

What are your party-tricks?

Dusty: Origami and petty larceny.

What’s your most fun group activity (apart from playing music together)?

What’s the strangest thing that has happened at one Ciaran D: Just hangin' out, listening to a few tunes, having of your gigs? the craic together. After that, we crochet.

Deane: Nothing particularly strange during a gig, but we did manage to capture a ghostly voice on tape while How do you keep each other entertained? practising one evening. It seemed to say ‘I killed a child, I Ciaran D: A wealth of inside jokes and stupid phrases put it in the wall’. But it was fairly garbled and probably usually keep us laughing. could have been saying anything. To be on the safe side, Deane: With nine people in the band, usually a few of us we burnt all our clothes and instruments, and spent a are in a good mood and that tends to keep us all going week in a sweat-lodge in Cavan. through the 12 or so hours we see of each other, each week.

Who’s the best dancer out of the collective?

Ruth: Tim Who gets the most attention out of all of you at a gig?

Mark: Tim Ciaran K: Graham, it's that 5th string!

Dusty: Tim Graham: Offstage, it is Ciaran K. though, drunk people Keogh:Tim always want a go of his bongos.

Deane: Tim

Temperment Delight, tempered with fear Fear, tempered with optimism Optimism, tempered with regret Regret, tempered with hope Hope, tempered with desire Desire, tempered with anguish Anguish, tempered with delight

words SHONA WEYMES photo LUCY NUZUM

Poetry

It’s a Family affair CHRIS & SIMON JUDGE www.chrisjudge.com

How old are you both and what do you guys do?

Chris: I’m an illustrator and I’m 34.

Simon: I'm just finishing an M.A in Journalism and I am a DJ and Arts editor for PUNT magazine. I'm about to turn 33.

Describe your relationship...

Chris: When we were younger, I was always the taller more mature and intelligent between the two of us, but as we got older it became apparent that Simon was leagues ahead of me in the brains department which really bugs me. Although I’m still taller than he is.

Simon: We shared a room for years, so there was no getting away from him. He wired up our room so a pulley system opened the curtains, turned the lights on and off, and if I'm right, could pull back the duvet in the morning.

Very Inspector Gadget.

What are your similarities?

Chris: When we both hit our 30s we really started to look like each other. I guess it’s the beards and eye-patches mainly.

Simon: Lots of people used to think we were twins because of our blond bowlers and knobbly knees. That used to really annoy Chris. Nowadays, we are both pretty nerdy when it comes to gadgets and geekery – in fairness though, nothing compared to our brainiac elder brother.

What are the major differences between you?

Chris: Simon talks at 100 miles-an-hour about intellectual things, while I slur my words and talk about cartoons and bananas mostly.

Simon: He is nice most of the time, whereas I am only nice some of the time. Plus he likes M. Night Shyamalan movies.

Feature

As children who used to get away with things?

Chris: Simon used to get away with everything. He was a small, scaly demon encased in a blond-pudding-bowl-haircut-angel-boy shell. A really annoying little brat.

Simon: It's all true. I really did get away with things when we were young. Every so often though, at family gatherings, certain incidents are brought up. So I never really got away with anything.

What’s the best thing about the other sibling?

Chris: He’s a very generous fellow and is an amazing cook.

Simon: He is the best friend a brother could ask for, even when he is championing the plight of bananas.

What’s sacred about the bond of brotherhood?

Chris: The most sacred thing is all the memories we share from childhood to adulthood. We keep them alive as we constantly reminisce. But we’re bonded by our love of Badminton.

Simon: Our childhood. We come from a great home.

There were lots of mental kids in our area growing up. It was like a cross between the Bash Street Kids and The Goonies.

What ticks you off about the other?

Chris: His staggeringly large and pointless lies.

Simon: For years, he used to tell me I was good at things, but then I realised it was only his way of getting me to do things that he didn't want to.

Have you guys ever worked together? If so how does that affect your work and relationship?

Chris: We both worked together in Supervalu many years ago. It was a blessing and a curse because you couldn’t get away with anything but also meant we had the best tag-team for the Store Room Wrastles.

Simon: We just finished a short animated film written by our older brother Andrew. Chris designed and illustrated it, and I did the sound and music for it. I think it could be the start of something scientific.

LEAH & JOE BURKE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKrgrYPqK8c

How old are you both and what do you guys do?

Leah: I am 34 and Joe is 27. I am the Senior Style Advisor for Topshop in Ireland, and look after the Personal Shopping and Press for them. I also help run the Toejam carboot-sale at the Bernard Shaw with Chewy and John.

Joe: Comedy purveyor.

Describe your relationship...

Leah: We have a functional relationship.

Joe: The odd couple/flatmates.

What are your similarities?

Leah: We both dress quite scruffy, but mainly we like a lot of the same things, music, books, art, comedy, films, and traveling.

Joe: Big lips.

What are the major differences between you?

Leah: The major differences between us would be gender, after that maybe I have more clothes and Joe visits the cinema more.

Joe: It starts with a Y chromosome and follows from there.

As children who used to get away with things?

Leah: Joe, for sure. When you are the youngest the parents have been through all the teenage drinking and cheek, so it’s not as new.

Joe: I guess me, as the youngest but that’s just because nobody could be bothered anymore.

What’s the best thing about the other sibling?

Leah: Joe told me it was everything.

Joe: Cheap rent.

What bonds you together?

Leah: I suppose it’s just the family bond, they will always tell you the truth and look after you.

Joe: Cheap rent again.

What ticks you off about the other?

Leah: He is a smartarse 24/7.

Joe: She is unlikely to die and leave me her apartment anytime soon. Unless...

How does the relationship affect you guys working together?

Leah: We only ever worked together when Joe worked part-time at the weekends in Tribe with me years ago, and folded Carhartt jeans badly.

Joe: We don’t work together but we do live together so it does get a bit ‘Grey Gardens’ at times, but in a nice way.

Joy: Love would be a bit more chilled than me. I tend to be a busy little bee, always something on the go. I find it hard to sit still for too long. Love would enjoy soaps and romantic dramas, I prefer action-packed thrillers or fantasy. Love enjoys going to parties, I love hosting them and cooking, and entertaining.

Who used to get away with things?

Love: Neither of us got away with much, our parents were pretty strict with us when we were kids. Mom knew all the tricks before we could enact them.

Joy: We’re both very close in age, one year and four months, so we were raised almost like twins. Love was definitely mom’s pet, being the first born.

The best thing about eachother?

Love: Joy is a great businesswoman, very organised, knows what she wants and won’t let circumstances get in her way. She is also a very positive person who always finds the good in people.

Joy: We both understand each other’s lifestyles and don’t expect anything unrealistic from each other. At the end of the day when you just want to chat to someone about something silly, your sis is always gonna have time for you. I love her to bits.

LOVE & JOY HAWKRIDGE www.whetstone.ie

How old are you both and what do you guys do?

Joy: I am 34 years of age. I own Whetstone, an Aveda hair and make-up salon in Parliament Street.

Love: I am 35-years-old and I do make-up and hair in Whetstone and a lot of freelance outside the salon.

Describe your relationship...

Love: We have always been very close, as we left home together and have worked together in different jobs throughout the years. We used to be in a band together years ago, we practised everyday for hours. It was a great time in our lives. We still sing from time to time, mostly at parties.

What are your similarities?

Joy: We’re both very sociable, we’re into health and fitness a lot. Mom brought us up in a very strict, healthy way. We have a lot of the same hobbies like music, fashion, and art. Sometimes we even finish each other’s sentences.

What are your major differences?

Love: Joy has brown eyes, mine are green. Joy owns her business, I freelance. Joy paints and does art while I paint faces. Joy plays guitar and I sing.

What’s sacred about the bond of sisterhood?

Love: Blood is thicker than water, as the saying goes, and we always have each other no matter what. The fact that we’ve gone through so much together is what bonds us. If you’re feeling down, dial a sister.

What ticks you off about the other?

Love: Not many things tick me off, although, she has a habit of always being right and of course the fact that whatever she puts her hand to, she can do, so not fair!

Joy: Love knows how to wrap me around her finger and sometimes it’s hard to say no to her.

Have you guys ever worked together? If so how does that affect your work and relationship?

Love: Yes, at the salon. Being sisters makes work easy as we trust each other. We understand how the other is thinking and feeling without having to vocalise it, just a look will do – it’s great!

Joy: We’re a great team out on a shoot or working on any job or show together. We know exactly what to expect from one another and can almost read each other’s minds, it’s brilliant. I would have a hard time finding someone else who’s so professional and reliable on any job. As a boss though, it’s a bit more challenging as Love still has the older sister affect on me and bossing her around doesn’t come easy. But we have a great laugh and everything always works out at the end of the day. That’s how we remain best sisters.

ROB & RONAN BURKE www.ronanandrobburke.com

How old are you both and what do you guys do?

Rob: We’re filmmakers who co-direct. We also write a bit. I am 29 and Ronan is 34.

Describe your relationship...

Ronan: We’ve always gotten on really well and had similar interests. When we were younger we moved around a lot and our immediate family were the only constant thing in our lives, so we are all very close.

What are your similarities?

Rob: In some ways we are very different people, but we both have a drive and passion for the work we do. We also have a similar sense of humour, rarely does one of us find something funny that the other doesn’t.

What are the major differences between you?

Rob: During our teenage years, we had quite different interests. I was into sport and Ronan into music but our mutual appreciation for films was always there. These days there’s not much difference between us, but those we have worked with might say I am the good cop and Ronan’s the bad cop.

As children who used to get away with things?

Ronan: Rob definitely got away with more because my transgressions were always more dramatic – they were designed to attract attention. Secretly, I wanted to get caught, whereas Rob operated on a covert level. There are still things our parents don’t know about him, they think he was an angel, but he wasn’t.

because directing, like life, is full of difficult decisions.

Rob: Ronan, being the older of us is definitely the wiser.

He’s always the one who is looking at things from every angle and showing great foresight.

What’s sacred about the bond of brotherhood?

Ronan: We’re not exactly sure what makes it sacred, perhaps it comes from the process of experiencing so much together. We’ve met siblings who don’t have the strong bond that we have, so it’s not simply a case of blood being thicker than water. When we were younger we used to pretend that the couch in the living room was the boat from Jaws and the shark was trying to get us. Obviously, when you go through something like this, an intense emotional bond is forged.

What ticks you off about the other?

Ronan: Rob has a tendency to speak very slowly like Jim Morrison or Eddie Vedder and sometimes it takes ages for him to finish his sentences. Sometimes he takes so long that he even begins to talk about something else midway through a sentence.

Rob: Ronan has a tendency to repeat himself, not in a Rain Man way but just to the point where you might start to wonder about his short-term memory.

How does the relationship affect you guys working together? and vice versa?

Rob: Directing films is hard and co-directing is even harder, because it requires you to always be on the same page. We have very similar tastes, so our collaborations haven’t ever required much debate – we often finish each other’s sentences at production meetings. But, on the odd What’s the best thing about the other sibling? occasion where we do disagree, the fact that we are Ronan: Rob is the best confidante a person could ask brothers enables us to be very frank with each other and for. If you’ve got a problem or a difficult decision to make, not have to worry that we’ll offend each other or fall out there’s no better person you could talk to, which is handy over it.

MAISHA & PETRIA LENEHAN www.dollsboutique.ie What do you guys do and how old are you each?

Petria: I am 29 and Maisha is 31. Maisha is a chef and owner of Bibi's cafe and I own a Dolls Boutique and also design my own small fashion label!

What’s the best thing about the other sibling?

Petria: Maisha is probably the most kind and generous person I know.

Maisha: The fact that Petria has a clothes shop!

Describe your relationship...

Petria: We have always been very close since we were small, great pals really! We have different friends, passions and lives and yet get on really well one-on-one and both take a big interest in each other’s lives. We love cooking at home together, talking about life in general, enjoying lots of laughs, and watching movies.

Maisha: Even though we are sisters, we choose to hang out a lot outside of family situations. We can always rely on one another, possibly more than if we were just friends.

What’s sacred about the bond of sisterhood?

Petria: I think we have a deep understanding of one another’s personalities and no matter what happens we know we can always rely on eachother

What are your similarities?

Petria: We talk and laugh the same. We are both generally pretty easy-going, I think, but both have a tendency to be sensitive, maybe too much at times!

Maisha: We tend to see things from the same point of view a lot, and have similar interests and both love food and fashion.

How does the relationship affect you guys working together?

Petria: I think that we are able to work well side-by-side as we have learnt to accept one another’s differences over the years. I think it’s great that we have quite different roles. We help each other out a lot so there is a good work balance and it’s lovely to have the support.

I get to eat brownies and say how yummy they are and Maisha is probably my number one customer when it comes to raiding the shop!

Maisha: It's wonderful to know that Petria is there if I need someone, so the support is great. As she has been in business for longer, I have also learnt a lot from her experience.

What are the major differences between you?

Petria: I think I am probably more forward and direct as a person. Maisha definitely takes a softer approach and probably needs less recognition from the outside than I do.

Maisha: I have red hair and Petria has brown hair!

What ticks you off about the other?

Petria: I think we had more issues with one another in our late teens and early 20s, but have a better understanding of our differences and communicate really well now.

Maisha: Probably Petria's scattiness but that has definitely improved with age, so not much really.

Film

The Daydreamer Film Anahita Tabarsi and Arsheen Qasim Starring Theodora Victoi Castan Original Score Derek Conlon

Check out The Daydreamer film at http://www.daydreamer.ie/thedaydreamerfilm.html

illustration JOSEPH MCCAFFERTY

Article

Wearing failure like a suit of armour words SHANE LEAVY photo REZA RASHIDI When I was fifteen on a class trip to Achill Island, the local guides brought us for a night walk down to the sea. I remember a group of boys huddled together, shining a torch onto a crab, washed up on the beach.

‘Is it dead?’ said one. Another stamped on the crab with his foot. ‘It is now.’ They all laughed.

Ah, adolescence. Five years earlier I’d had a very different experience with a crustacean, a crayfish I’d discovered living in the local stream. I had never even heard of such a creature, so I was simply stunned to find it waving an antenna at me from under a rock. The excitement! My brother and I trapped it in a jar and rushed home to show our parents.

Childhood had been easy that way: a safe and secure time to experiment and admit curiosity in the world. Life seemed fascinating, if sometimes scary, and it was good to share that fascination with others. This ended in September 1995, the autumn I started secondary school. The rules changed overnight and all around me, I could see my peers adapting to them, by building careful walls of cynicism and defensive aggression.

Enthusiasm made you vulnerable to insults. Any interest in academia marked you down as a lickarse, teacher’s pet, any interest in nature or society made you a probable faggot. So the boys learned to suppress their curiosity, hide their optimism and adopt a feigned indifference and contempt for the world. If you showed the others that you didn’t care about anything, you couldn’t be touched.

This faked cynicism manifested itself in the most absurd ways. When a teacher rang the bell at the end of the lunch-break in primary school we all raced back indoors; in secondary school, students initially ignored the bell before finally sauntering in with sullen scowls. In class, no student concerned with his or her social standing ever volunteered an answer, however fascinated they were by the subject. We had to pretend to hate everything.

The most insecure of the boys wore failure like a suit of armour for the same reason. They worked hard to cultivate an identity tied up with failure, because if they showed that they never really tried to succeed at anything then they would never be laughed at for failing. I remember one classmate being quizzed by the principal on what he wanted to do after school. ‘Dole,’ he said. The others sniggered along with him. With ambitions so low, he would never risk disappointment.

To go along with this pro-failure attitude, we also developed a lazy, defensive assumption that nothing else in the world worked properly either. Vending machines would swallow your money, buses would be late, computers would crash, football teams would lose – there was no point in trying anything since it was all going to fall apart anyway.

I finished school at 18 and headed for college, callused by years of struggling against that daft pessimism, but also influenced by it. Despite myself, I had built walls in my mind and convinced myself that many things were impossible.

It was a shock to find that others hadn’t. My new peers decided on a whim to form rock bands, write plays, publish magazines, direct short films – why not? They assumed that these things were possible and barged straight into projects, succeeding and failing with equal spirit. One housemate decided to design his own email programme; if Google could do it with billions of dollars, why not he with absolutely none? It was all so impressive, so courageous.

Some scepticism remained. I never wanted to become like the deluded optimists babbling about their ‘X-Factor’. But the passionate people broke down some of the walls I had made in my own mind and forced me into activity too.

Surround yourself with people you like. And pay no heed to the sniggering, hands-in-pockets cynics, risking nothing by criticising the risk-takers. These people wear pessimism like armour because underneath it all, they’re scared rigid by the world. You needn’t be.

photo JEANNIE O’BRIEN

Music

Milestones CEEVA DERWIN TALULAH DOES THE HULA www.talulahdoesthehula.com

First time you kissed…I was sixteen which is quite old to have your first kiss, but I soon realised what I was missing out on.

First musical instrument you played…I learnt to play piano on my sister's Yamaha keyboard.The demo on it is ‘Venus’ by Bananarama.

First memory of school…singing ‘May is the month of Mary’ in the schoolyard, in the summertime. And Derek from my class drawing Transformers down the back of the room while making the Transformers’ noise, with spit all over his face.Yuck.

First heartbreak…When Johnny Depp got engaged to Winona Ryder. I was only eleven but I was sure I’d marry him.

First pet…Mia – a boy cat with a girl’s name.

First time you said I love you…I tell my family I love them all the time and always have as far back as I can remember.We’re like that stupid programme Seventh Heaven.

First best-friend…my cousin Sue, we used to write books together.

First time you flew the coop…I was a late bloomer, 28 I think and I moved into a house near the Phoenix Park. Before I moved in, I went to a party there and the windows were blacked out with bin-bags and there were ten TVs in the sitting room and luminous grafitti all over the walls. It was like a crack den! But it became a very cosy home.

First song…I remember loving Uptown Girl by Billy Joel. It still makes me happy.

Last movie that made you laugh…Zombieland made me laugh a lot because of the best cameo appearance ever by Bill Murray. He is awesome.

Last time you let go…We made a music video for our latest single and I was attempting to rollerskate. I was so embarrassed miming and skating in front of the camera, but I had to let go and try not to be to be self-conscious. The skating was my idea after all!

Last sticky-note…Milk!

Travel

Showcase

Hand-made Illustrated Greeting Cards Sarah Cunningham

http://sarahcunningham1.wordpress.com How did you come up with the idea?

The concepts for most of my pieces come from stories or jokes that I hear. I take the scenario and replace the people with my animal characters, and this is where most of my drawings come from.

What was the first card you made?

I started-off making cards with drawings of mice. Then, I moved onto owls and rabbits and birds. The one thing that has remained consistent throughout my work is that animals are always the characters I draw, people very rarely feature in my work.

What is your favourite piece at the moment?

My favourite piece at the moment is called ‘Missy and Mabel were lost, very lost’. It’s a little water-colour and ink drawing of two mice in a tea-cup floating down a river.

I’ve started adding captions to my drawings recently, instead of just having a title. I think it brings a bit of my humour to the work.

What fuels your creativity?

I love patterns! I get most of my inspiration from old wallpaper, fabrics and china tea-cups. I’ll see a pattern and immediately get an idea for a drawing and that idea usually sticks in my mind until I get it out on paper. I also collect children’s books, in particular ‘Alice in Wonderland’. I’ve been collecting them for years and currently have close to a hundred Alice books, all illustrated by different artists. I find these a great source

of inspiration too.

When is the best time to work?

I mostly work at night, more often than not sprawled across the couch. I don’t really choose when to work, I just start drawing whenever I sit down.

How would you describe your work?

I would describe my work as colourful, quirky, and nostalgic. My drawings remind me of the book illustrations I liked when I was a child and I think this is why my work is appreciated by young children and people my age.

Any interesting projects in the pipeline at the moment?

At the moment I’m working on a series of drawings of my pet cockatiel, Phoebe. I’m also working on pieces to submit to various upcoming exhibitions. Of course, I will continue The Crafty Market which will be running over the course of the summer. And sometime in August, two friends and I are hoping to have a small group exhibition, and I’m really excited about that.

Where do you see your work in five years?

Well, I’m currently in 3rd year in NCAD studying painting, so in five years I’ll have graduated (hopefully) and I’d love to open my own craft shop/gallery somewhere in Dublin city centre. I would also love to get some of my children’s books published.

Feature

Deadringers Dude, Guess Who we just did a shoot with…our favourite prankster and all-round goofball – Ashton Kutcher! We were so stoked to catch up with him in his awesome L.A. pad. Can’t believe he took time out from his Hollywood high-life and general mischief-making to talk with us. But wait, you didn’t really fall for that, did you, cos You’ve Been Punk’d! No seriously, this is our good friend Sam, who is cast in the same mould as Mr. Kutcher, not only in appearance but also in profession. With a burgeoning modelling and acting career, we’re sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of him.

photographer Anahita Tabarsi stylist Arsheen Qasim hair and makeup Carol Beecher

model Sam McArdle

Charcoal sports jacket Ted Baker Floral shirt Simon Carter, Arnotts Tapered black trousers Topman Brown brogues Topman

When was the last time you were mistaken for Ashton Kutcher and have you ever used it to your advantage?

I was in Thailand a few years ago, in this bar in Koh Tao, when these Swedes came up to me asking for my autograph. Didn’t know what to think, so just laughed and signed it for them. As they left, they smiled and said, ‘We loved you in Dude Where’s My Car!’ Jeepers…

Navy blazer Tailored Collection, Tommy Hilfiger Navy cardigan Topman Montague poly-stripe tie Arnotts Gingham shirt Levi Strauss&Co Red Tab Arnotts Cotton chinos Arrow Adenos Arnotts

What would you say to Ashton Kutcher if you ever met him?

Probably just shake his hand and maybe cheekily go for a high-five.

Grey suit jacket with black piping Topman Grey suit trousers with black piping Topman White shirt Nicole Farhi Arnotts Navy tie Topman

The top three films that you would watch again and again…

The Dark Knight. I’ve loved Batman ever since I was small. Everything about this movie is perfect, especially the soundtrack. It will always remind me of being in Chiang Mai with my mates, seeing this in a cinema, after trekking through the forests for three days on a diet of rice and water.

Star Wars: A New Hope. It’s the first movie I remember ever seeing, and I think every kid wanted to be Han Solo at some stage in their life.

Hunger: I remember once hearing that you know a movie or a play has had an effect on you, if you can’t talk after seeing it. The last few shots of a young Bobby Sands on the bus juxtaposed with him passing away still crop up in my mind years after seeing it.

What’s your favourite Ashton Kutcher show or film?

I always thought ‘That 70s Show’ was hilarious. He was easily the funniest character, although, it seemed like he was just being himself. He could have stayed doing those kind of comedies for the rest of his career but the fact he took a chance on doing something different like 'The Butterfly Effect', I thought that was cool. But I'd say I like 'Punk'd' the most out of all the things he's done. Some of the situations he set up for the stars were hilarious, especially Justin Timberlake and Triple H.

Floral shirt French Connection, Arnotts Navy blue Remus suit Arnotts Black leather belt Topman Polka-dot tie Arnotts Black boots Topman

Kevin Davis blue suit Tailored Collection, Tommy Hilfiger Hartford Liberty floral shirt Arnotts Brown brogues Topman

Would you marry Demi Moore?

Yeah, she's unbelievable looking. Although, the fact she's already married with kids is probably a bit of a turn off! I like older women but I think I'd be pushing my luck going for someone that much older.

Amero suit Dantoni, Arnotts White shirt with grey collar Topman

Dude, where’s your car?

Ask my brothers, they hog it all the time.

Feature

Meet Natalie Portman…oh sorry, we mean Sophie Tanza who has an uncanny resemblance to our favourite little Hardvard-educated, vegan shoe-designing, indie sweetheart. Following in the footsteps of her Hollywood twin, who also happens to be her favourite actress, Sophie is an up ‘n’ coming talent with dancing and acting skills under her belt, set to make her own mark on the circuit. Don’t hold a Vendetta against her, she’ll charm you with her Garden State of mind and draw you Closer.

photographer Anahita Tabarsi stylist Arsheen Qasim hair and makeup Katie Derwin model Sophie Tanza shot on location at Shebeen Chic 4 South Great George's Street, Dublin 2 www.shebeenchic.ie

Peach slip dress Topshop Striped Spandex, zipper-front body-suit American Apparel

How often do you get mistaken for Natalie Portman and have you ever used it to your advantage?

If I ever go anywhere new or different, someone says it to me. I think I'd feel a little bit stupid if I tried, if it didn’t work, it'd be terrible.

Pale-pink cardigan Topshop Nylon, micro-mesh shirt American Apparel Cream pencil skirt American Apparel Shoes Topshop

What’s your favourite Natalie Portman film?

Garden State. It really reminds me of myself and the mess I get myself into sometimes. It’s weird to watch someone you look like, doing things you've done. I used to go out with a guy who lived in London while I lived in Dublin. It was great, but it felt like we spent a whole lot of time at the airport, and the last scene of this film makes me cry.

Pink-cream sweater Topshop Babypink Poplin shorts American Apparel

What do you do when you feel completely unoriginal?

Dance around my house and sing, you can imagine you’re anywhere, and pretend to be anyone. I make up loads of stories when I’m doing it, then I feel a bit special again! I dance to mostly Stevie Wonder, especially Sir Duke and I do the trumpet bit round the kitchen.

Breton mini-dress Future Classics, Dolls Boutique Cafe metro necklace Les NĂŠrĂŠides, Dolls Boutique

What one song do you swear will change our life?

Luther Vandross, ‘Dance with my father’. It really is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, this song reaches you faster, and makes you feel happy and sad, at the same time quicker than any other song I’ve heard.

Pink beaded, mesh top Topshop Cropped, long sleeve top Zoe’s Tees, Dolls Boutique Khaki Harem trousers Topshop

Would you ever shave your head for a role, like Natalie?

I wish I had the guts to do it now, but if someone told me I had to, I would definitely do it for a role. But it would take a lead role to get me to do it.

Baz Luhrman is a great director, I’d do anything to be in a film of his.

Utility Jacket Topshop Grey, solid-rib, oversized cardigan American Apparel Coral Oxford shirt American Apparel

Favourite smell...

Home Sweet Home. It reminds me of what I do when I’m not working...sitting at home, watching films with my family like 'Mrs. Doubtfire' and 'Some Like it Hot'. In my house, we have a pyjama day, safe to say they’re my favourite times, the phone gets un-hooked and the computers are gone, it’s just time for us. We spend the whole day watching movies and eating rubbish. Of my family, I am closest to my mum.

Ever since I moved away we talk everyday about everything and nothing. She always sorts all my problems out or makes me feel like they are all sorted out.

art JESSICA TIMLIN

Article

When I grow up I want to be an astronaut... words JENNIFER MCGINN illustration JESSICA TIMLIN I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. After 26 years roaming this earth, I’ve only managed to rule out chiropody, taxi-driving and accountancy. When I was younger I had all the plans in the world. I was going to be a lawyer, a social worker, a writer, an actress, a showjumper, a psychologist, a philosopher, a fashion designer, an academic and a baker. Not just one of these I might add, but all of these. But as age crept in, I had to whittle down the playing field – I can’t act, I can’t philosophise and I can’t bake anything apart from brownies. But ambition spurned me on and I’ve flung myself head-first into an array of working scenarios, some imaginary, some real, some plain bonkers.

It’s funny how seductive it can be trying on the different work-caps. When I flirted with the idea of being a novelist, I had visions of me hunched over a gnarled oak desk, tapping away furiously, with curls of smoke licking the curtains. There would be books tumbling out of every nook and cranny, an antique drinks cabinet and I’d regularly meet with my mentor Margaret Atwood for afternoon G&Ts. When I thought about being a lawyer, I imagined myself striding purposefully through the courts, doing battle with smug barristers and winning cases with devastating one-liners. I would be fierce, yet feminine and smash all the glass barriers to the Law and Order soundtrack.

And then there is the whole actualising as visualising, another self-help coda from our angst-ridden times. So when I was trying my photographer hat on, I had all the gear – a state-of-the-art, super-flashy camera, the compulsory white Mac iBook, the design software, the functional-yet-cool bag, the coffee-table photographic porn. I had everything, except an eye for it. Not only was I sadly lacking in photographic skills, vision or flair, but I also have a penchant for losing expensive pieces of equipment. My flashy camera was stolen about six weeks after the first picture was taken.

The thing is, I always hurl myself wholeheartedly into the different avenues that present themselves to me. But none of those avenues have led me to the yellow brick road. Why does it have to be so god damn difficult? It’s definitely a by-product of the modern era we live in – we’re all encouraged to be winners. We can do anything, be anyone, climb any mountain, eat all the oysters in the world and other such clichés, but what exactly does that promote?

As you ripen with age, you realise in fact, that you might not actually make it onto X-factor. And the reason for that is because you can’t sing. Just because mummy and daddy paid for you to go to stage school does not mean you have a credible talent in the arena of music.

So, even though, I have been berating my lack of vocational focus and my limited skill-set and dithering over what to do, when I take a moment to rest on my laurels, I realise that the career schizophrenia has been surprisingly worth it. I have a wealth of experience; not all of it necessary of course, especially internships for bizarre, avocado-obsessed German publishers or Microsoft Exchange online tutorials. But I’ve met some amazing people, been to amazing places, and had terrific highs and lows. My taster ethic has made me a well-rounded individual with a wide network of people who will facilitate any of my future business endeavours or attend my one-woman poetry reading nights. I guess what I’m saying is, Future Ditherers: Welcome to the Hat Party. Try everything on, but remember no one-size fits all.

And most importantly, have fun while you’re trying.

Tea or Coffee?

Music

ARVEENE JUTHAN DJ

www.arveeneandmisk.com

Tea or Coffee?

Tea. Although, my sister gave me a George Clooney Coffee machine. It's cool but I'm still a tea man.

Comedy or Drama?

Comedy. David Brent has always made me laugh. Who doesn't love a good laugh? I've a mate called Big Al, he always make me laugh. He's the funniest person I know.

Laughing keeps you younger.

Friends or Lovers?

I've always thought that you can tell a lot about a person if you meet their friends. Friends are really important to me.

Lovers are different, but when you find the right one they become your most important friend for life.

Electric or Acoustic?

Electric feel, Our Friends Electric, Electric Dreams, She's Electric… and on and on and Ariston. ‘Plug it in’ is a very important part of my world.

Up or Down?

I'm always about the positives in life. You have to look up no matter where life takes you. The Cheesy Mantra “The only way is up” is bang on the money (thank you Yazz)

Poetry or Prose?

Poerty in motion... Wordsworth, Yeats,Wilde, Dickinson, Allen Poe, Frost, Shakespeare’s sonnets, Guru (RIP), Biggie (RIP), Q-Tip, Ghost Face Killer, Chuck D, Nas, Big Daddy Kane, Krs-One and the king himself, Rakim...I love them all.

Dawn or Dusk?

You know there's nothing like being in a club in a hot country when the sun rises. It's just uplifting... I remember this left-field art/music festival in West Cork years ago.

We stayed in these small cottages that were surrounded by a cloud of mist, you couldn't see a thing. Carl Craig played live with Innerzone Orchestra but it was empty, we stayed up till the next day and as the sun rose it just opened up one of the most spectacular parts of Ireland I've ever seen...we were right by the sea.

Sight or Sound?

Sound. Without it I wouldn't exist. It wakes me up, it gets me motivated, it makes me cry, it makes me smile..it's everything.

Food or Drink?

Food, food, food. So little time, so many places in the world to eat and so many different foods to choose from. I love trying local food when I travel. Asian, Indian and French food...mmm.

Summer or Winter?

Summer. Although, the Irish summers have been slack.

Sunshine seems to melt all and any problems. I think it's the only thing holding Ireland back. We don't get enough of it and need the drink to balance things out.

Showers or Baths?

Showers. I never have a bath, just don't have the time.

15 minutes in the shower is like an extra hour’s sleep.

Massive flower-heads are the way forward, I hate those pissy ones. If a hotel has an amazing shower then a lot can be overlooked.

Analogue or Digital?

Mixing the two is the way forward. We use a mixture of old synthesizers and modern production software like Ableton Live to create our tracks. It's where electronic music has always been and it's a great way of making music. Analogue for the fat sounds and digital for the quickness of arranging.

photo LUCY NUZUM

Photography

photo KATARZYNA IWANOWSKA

Film

These are a few of My favourite things NATALIA KOSTRZEWA Actress

http://nataliakostrzewa.com

photo KATARZYNA IWANOWSKA

Favourite item of clothing I have a big collection of 50s dresses and I can’t live without them. A nice scarf, I'm addicted to knitting so Photo most of my scarves I made myself. Katarzyna Iwanowska Favourite artist I can’t live without photography, the magic of it! Irving Penn and the early work of Annie Leibovitz are amazing.

Favourite album I just discovered ‘Band Of Horses’ and I love their album, ‘Cease To Begin’.

Favourite musician I’m a big fan of Tom Waits. I will never get bored of Billie Holiday and Karen Dalton, she is a country singer and she is absolutely amazing! Google her now.

Favourite songs There are so many songs that I just love. I have favourite songs for my moods. When my heart is broken I listen to Etta James ‘I'd Rather Go Blind’ or Billie Holiday ‘All Of Me’, when I’m happy I listen to Bjork.

Favourite quote ‘Damn it...Don't you dare ask God to help me.’ Joan Crawford, just before she died.

Favourite food Anything that my mum cooks.

Favourite gift My iPod. Favourite website http://blog.johannaost.com A Swedish artist called Johanna Ost, I just love her style.

Favourite person My mum.

Favourite book I always come back to the classics and William Shakespeare is timeless, Othello is my favourite.

Favourite emotion When you realise that everything in your life is good, and you are truly happy.

Natalia is performing her show ‘More Light Please’, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, New Town Theatre, 5-29 August, more info on www.universalartsfestival.com

Fashion

Blog Crush We talk fashion, food, blogs and shopping with three uber-cool Irish bloggers over a cuppa. Here's a peek inside their closet.

TAHTI SYRJALA

http://tahtisyrjala.blogspot.com

What are you wearing?

I'm wearing an American Apparel bodysuit, a skeleton necklace from Topman, and a hexagonal pelmet skirt from Topshop.

What influences your style?

A steady stream of visual/imaginative information, garnered from people-watching, or movies, magazines, and ideas from books.

What are your basic must haves?

Statement heel boots, or even just statement shoes.

What are the five makeup items in your bag?

I never carry just five make-up items in my bag, the number tends to be more around 20! It depends on what make-up look I'm wearing on the day.

What inspired you to start blogging?

I was inspired by the blogs I read on a day-to-day basis, and mainly it was something to fill up my spare time.

If you could go back to any fashion decade which one would you choose?

The 1920s. Some of the styles were just so deliciously decadent.

What’s the most daring thing you’ve done in fashion?

I used to have a lot of bizarre hairstyles when I was younger.

How did you reinvent your style through the years?

It changes nearly every year - it's not a conscious thought process however, it just happens.

FOOD What’s your favourite dish to cook?

Lemon tart. It's delicious.

What was the first meal you learnt to cook?

Cinnamon rolls. I got the recipe off TV, I must have been about eight or nine. They tended to turn out somewhat disastrous though, as I always forgot at least one ingredient, usually eggs!

Why do you like to cook?

Because I love to eat, I get joy out of creating something beautiful and edible, and everyone I know seems to brighten up when I make a batch of biscuits!

CILLIAN O’CONNOR Male-Mode

www.male-mode.com What are you wearing?

The charcoal blazer is from Barnardos (originally M&S), the nautical tee is from River Island, the waxed black jeans are from Zara, the suede and leather hi-tops are by Swear and the black chain is from River Island.

What influences your style?

Anything, really. Chiefly though, it's mood, street-style, film, and the odd magazine.

What are your basic must haves?

A well-cut white cotton tee, a decent black leatherjacket, a not-so-boring formal blazer and comfortable boots.

What’s your favourite accessory?

I don't often wear accessories but when I do it's almost always a bracelet/chain. Bowties and ties have their uses but, by and large, they're reserved for more formal occasions. I'm scouting for a good watch at the moment.

Where do you shop?

Zara, H&M, River Island, and Reiss fulfil a lot of my sartorial needs, then TK Maxx for cut-price designer-wear and charity shops like Oxfam and Barnardos.

What has been your biggest fashion disaster?

Wearing ill-fitting clothes on numerous occasions. Shoes, shirts, trousers – I've bought them all in the wrong sizes and suffered for it too.

What’s your favourite cologne?

I'm a bit mercurial by nature so the answer could change in the next half hour. But right now it's Tom Ford Extreme.

MENSWEAR Who’s the most stylish man you know?

I couldn't really name one. I admire several of my friends' styles, as well as randomers around college who always put themselves together well.

Who’s the menswear designer to watch?

It's difficult to choose one, but if I had to, it'd be Carolyn Massey, who's somewhat established but hasn't made it really big just yet. I've seen two of her shows in London, both were breathtaking not because of outré looks but rather lots of uniquely tweaked classics.

What elements from women’s fashion do you think are inspiring and can be adapted for menswear?

Few! When it comes to sartorially gender-bending, it's definitely not a level playing-field. Women can adopt trouser suits and be lauded for their take on masculine lines, whereas men in dresses don't go down so well.

Lujain AlHajji Save Our Shoes

http://saveourshoes.blogspot.com What are you wearing?

Black top with leather-flower shoulders from La Vie En Rose at Sunday Upmarket in London, sheer black top worn underneath from H&M, leather cage skirt from Norwegian Wood at Etsy, grey slip from Camden market, floral tights from River Island, patent black heels from Christian Louboutin, leather green bag from Miu Miu, ring from Camden market.

What influences your style?

Anything and everything.

What are your basic must haves?

A bomber coat that has a hood and pockets, a cosy wool cardigan, a pair of high-waist skinny jeans, a basic white tee, a sheer/leather top, Miu Miu bag, a pair of ballet pumps that won’t fail, flat leather What’s your favourite shop in Cork?

I tend to do my shopping when I'm in London, and I go there quite often! The TK Maxx in Cork has a few 'win' items, depending on your luck. On good days, I've scored two Alexander McQueen jackets, three Manoush dresses, Mimi Holliday lingerie, and Marios Schwab for Scorah heels.

What excites you about fashion?

There's always something or someone new, whether it's classic designers creating new styles or newly-surfacing designers coming up with something completely different. This turnover in creativity keeps fashion from being boring. I express myself through my style, and I like seeing what designers come up with.

What’s the first fashion item you ever purchased?

When I was about eight years-old, I asked my mom to take me to Benetton. I wanted a pair of colourful stretchy cycling shorts, and a stretchy top to go with it.

I'm glad I don't have any photos for evidence.

Who would you love to talk fashion with?

I'd like to have a fashion tea-talk with Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Gareth Pugh, Daphne Guinness, Susie Bubble, and Lady Gaga.

ONLINE What’s your favourite online store?

ASOS is one of my favorites, as it carries its own brand, high street brands along with designer items. I love the collaborations they've done with Louise Gray, Holy Fulton, Natascha Stolle, Ostwald Helgason, etc. I also like Beyond The Valley, Farfetch, and Etsy.

What makes online shopping better than high street shopping?

I like both. However, online stores are accessible to everyone, and carry out a wider variety of brands and clothing items that are available with a click!

What have you regretted buying online?

Nothing really. The only downside with online shopping is the fit, especially with shoes.

But the shoes that didn't fit, I exchanged. So, no regrets!

illustration JOSEPH MCCAFFERTY

C

‘mere, til I tell you...

TOM ROWLEY Storyteller

www.milkandcookiestories.com

Tell us a story about your…

Laptop. I was on a train to Milan which stopped for a long time. The driver then asked people to check their belongings. I ambled down to my luggage and everything valuable was gone, including my laptop with mountains of work on it. I panicked and ran out on to the platform to find the train inspector. Just as I was running up he was overseeing the arrest of the thief. The inspector had spotted a shabby-looking guy, wandering down the platform, wearing ridiculous shoes and stopped him, finding my laptop a moment later. I got everything back within a minute. It turned out he’d also robbed a man’s fancy shoes – the man had noticed and reported it.

What’s your best travel story?

I travel a lot, working as a freelance cameraman around Europe, so have ended up in many peculiar situations.

One night in Athens I wandered into a bar and met a group from Meath. A few of the guys started looking at me oddly. Finally they told me that they had a friend in Meath who looked identical to me in almost every way.

Soon enough, they found a photo of him on their camera to show me. It was an uncanny similarity. Then they said ‘Yeah, you look just like Tom Rowley’. I was swiftly confused - ‘No… I’m Tom Rowley’, I told them. I couldn’t figure it out - did I lead some Jekyll and Hyde existence, living as a light-hearted country-guy at weekends? We had to phone up Tom Rowley, even though it was about three in the morning. I wondered would I hear myself on the other end of the line, or would one of us suddenly drop dead. I heard a thick Meath accent on the other end and we got talking. It turned out he was a relative of mine who my family had lost contact with over time.

Feature

Tell us a funny story...

One night, I was wandering home very late with my friend, Max, when we noticed a most alluring billboard of the Sugababes. Max and I had been arguing before, so to make it up to me he decided to take the poster. It was heavily glued on, so we ended up having to hammer and wedge this giant billboard down. We carried its weight for about a mile, with the rusted nails sticking into our shoulders, not unlike Christ with the cross. At the apartment gate, it just wouldn’t fit, and as we hammered the edges off, the door swung open and two neighbours ran out with torches and a baseball bat.

They thought we were robbers, but we stopped them in time and explained. They’d already phoned the police who then arrived. After much grovelling on our part, the guards got us to bring the huge billboard back, and drove slowly beside us all the way. I hope the Sugababes one day know how much we did for them.

What storybook character would you be in real life?

I just took a Facebook quiz and it told me ‘Karana from the Island of the Blue Dolphins’. I haven’t a clue who that is. I’d like to say some cool character like Robin Hood or Sinbad. However, I think I’d be Tintin. But an awkward and somewhat, inept version of Tintin.

What bedtime stories did you parents tell you?

I clearly remember ‘The Happy Prince’, a children’s story by Oscar Wilde. People often forget about his children’s stories, but I still find them the most engaging storytelling displayed in his work. This one, about a gold statue that gets a swallow to redistribute pieces of himself to people in the city, is a really moving account of living in an unjust world, yet with light and witty touches.

What stories will you tell your grandchildren?

I’d be one of those granddads who re-tells stories from his past and embellishes them to epic proportions.

Re-inventing all my old friends as colourful characters and sending them off on new adventures. And I’m a huge fan of Greek mythology, so those too. Except Oedipus. Or any of the myths where fathers get killed.

On seconds thoughts maybe I’d avoid Greek myths.

Tell us a sad story…

When I was in Morocco I met quite a sad man, bandaged up and on painkillers on the roof of a cheap riad, who told me a sad tale. He was an American, in his 30s and he had an unnerving manner about him.

He had just met a girl through couch-surfing while travelling across Spain. Though nothing seemed to happen between them, he had decided afterwards, that she was ‘the one’. He climbed the second-highest mountain in Morocco and brought a camera with him.

Right at the top, he photographed himself with a sign saying ‘Maria, Will you marry me?’. He then wandered back, but slipped after a few feet and slid down rapidly, flying off an ice-cliff and crashing into the ice on the ground. He managed to call mountain rescue, and got to the hospital. He was going to call her up and send her the photo via email the next day. I asked if this was a bit of a gamble. He quickly replied ‘I never gamble. I play to win’.

Milk&Cookie Stories presents Milk and Cookies After Dark Variety Show, August 13, The Basement at Clarendon House, Clarendon Street. www.milkandcookiestories.com

Music

Soundtrack to My Life

LEAH BURKE

Senior Style Advisor for Topshop http://insideout.topshop.com

Wake up to: Work to: Ambition: Driving to: Rites of passage: Going out : Party Time: Dancefloor: The Crush: Anticipation: The First Date: Falling In Love: Heartbreak: Aftermath: Regret: Healing: Walk in the park: Deep Thought: To create to: Breakdown: Wanderlust : Sleep to: Tearful Goodbyes:

Bill Withers - Lovely Day Lees Dorsey - Working In A Coalmine Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up De La Soul - Roller Skating Jam Called Saturday Public Enemy - Fight The Power M.I.A. - Galang Naughty By Nature - Hip Hop Hooray Beastie Boys - Root Down Bon Iver - Skinny Love The Pharcyde - Passin’ Me By The Police - Every Little Thing Bob Marley - Stir It Up Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy Hall & Oates - I Can’t Go For That Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues The Cure–- Close To Me Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Roots Manuva - Witness The Smiths - Big Mouth Strikes Again Canned Heat - On The Road Again Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla The Waterboys - When Ye Go Away

illustration CORMAC HUGHES

Illustration

zzzzzzDREAMzzzzzz AARON BRADY Illustrator

http://linesanddesigns.blogspot.com What is the last dream you remember having?

My dreams often affect my mood during the day even Do you dream in colour or Black and white? though I can’t remember them. Sometimes, a dream will be My dreams are mostly with a red tint. They’re kind of desaturated. It’s like the colour behind your eyelids when so deep or affecting that it will trigger a place in my mind that stores old, forgotten dreams and a chain-reaction of you face the sun with your eyes closed. Generally, the dreams will come into the fore of my mind. It’s like I have colours in my dreams are never really vivid unless these dream-spaces that remind me of other something lucid or captivating is happening. dream-spaces. It starts a domino effect and all of a sudden doors are flung open in my mind and flashlights are shone What is your most vivid dream? sporadically but never for long enough to focus. I end up The first dream I ever remember was when I walked up a hilltop with my little sister and under a tree at the top of the with this feeling of sped-up time that gives me mild anxiety.

I think a lot of my dreams merge into one when I try to hill, was a raggedy, old man who was the keeper of day remember them. and night. It’s all very vague but I remember the end because it scared me so much. He turned day into night What do you dream of doing in the future? and then stole my sister’s eyes.

In the short term, I dream of making a brief but honest animated film from the heart. In the long term I’d really like What do you daydream about?

I daydream quite a lot and I’m pretty good at it. Sometimes to create lasting characters with memorable stories, that will exist in people’s minds and hearts for a long time, like my daydreams aren’t always what I want them to be though. I worry about what other people think even though Moominland or Oz or Hundred Acre Wood.

I know I shouldn’t. I find myself caught up in ridiculous, What would be your dream house? made-up narratives or debates with these people. I daydream about design quite a lot too. For me everything My dream house would have to be a simple, bright, airy place with a sheepdog and great views. I’d have a messy can be connected to design. It’s my natural disposition to painting studio out the back and I’d have a writing area make connections in my environment and create or with all the books I’ve always wanted. appreciate the meaning in the things around me. I’ve always done this.

I dream of …

Being stress-free and travelling the world.

You wish for….

I wish to make it as myself and be all I can be. I wish for What’s the importance of dreaming? the stream to flow the other way and give me a break, I Without dreams we are empty vessles. wish for happiness and I wish for the beach.

Film

Emma Eliza Regan

photographer Anahita Tabarsi stylist Arsheen Qasim hair and makeup Love Hawkridge model Emma Eliza Regan shot on location at The New Buck's Townhouse, 67 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2 www.buckwhaleys.ie

Navy frill dress Mia O’Connell Shoes Topshop

Where do you live in London?

Tell us a bit about your neighbourhood…

I live in Camden, the market is on one side and Primrose Hill is on the other – total contrast which suits my personality. Camden town is the centre of the alternative fashion and art scene while Primrose Hill has a real village feel. The whole place breathes a creative underground energy. I love just walking and seeing where it takes me.

Navy velevt pleated collar Mia O’Connell Peach silk t-shirt Mia O’Connell

What do you do on a Sunday Morning in London?

I’m usually up by 9am. I have bought the Sunday Times for years, just to pull out the Style and Culture supplements and throw away the rest! I flick through those while curled up, having tea. I peruse the Camden stalls for vintage books, bargains, and jewellery. I love having melty, dreamy Sundays. I don’t consider myself religious but I like to go to a church and reflect.

One-shoulder nude-pink fringed dress Mia O’Connell

What piece of clothing could you never part with?

A cardigan I stole off my granny. It’s a very unusual, pale pink, woollen cardigan. It’s huge on me, but there is something about the oversized cardigan that makes it look great with everything. I’ve worn it over evening dresses, with skinny jeans and even with pyjamas. It goes everywhere, it’s been a blanket on trains and bus journeys. It’s got so much nostalgia attached to it.

Navy lace dress Mia O’Connell Shoes Topshop

What’s your favourite café?

I love Snog,http://www.ifancyasnog.com/ it’s a frozen yoghurt place. You can pick all sorts of toppings, from seeds to chocolate chips – strawberries are my favourite. It’s decorated with little, pink lights, stays open all hours which is good because I could eat yoghurt anytime.

Black drape silk jacket Mia O’Connell

How would you describe your sense of style?

Feminine grungy. I've ballet inspired style. I have a lot of floaty and delicate pieces in soft, muted colours. I clash them with something edgy, like a small leather jacket. I love dainty, silk nightdresses when going out, I accessorise with a chain and throw my leather jacket over. I like to personalise outfits. I’m always rolling up or tying up or adding a brooch to make it my own.

What do you like the most and the least about acting?

While acting, I experience such huge rapid turns and changes. With my past roles in The Fading Light and in Our Wonderful Home, I have felt everything ranging from ecstasy to moments of melancholy to pure depression.

The process of acting is such fun, although the hours on set can be long. But I love the atmosphere and I've met great people on jobs, the cast and crew is like a huge family where we all work, eat and laugh together. Acting has brought me on a wonderful journey, it's like I put on red sparkly shoes and got caught in a mysterious whirlwind.

Black chiffon bommer jacket Mia O’Connell

Emma plays Mollser, in Wayne Jordon's production of The Plough And The Stars, which is currently running at the Abbey Theatre until September 25th. See www.Abbeytheatre.ie for more info.

Fashion

MIA O’CONNELL Fashion Designer

http://miaoconnell.blogspot.com

Favourite dress A Jonathan Saunders Topshop, jersey dress with a heat print.

Favourite accessory My vintage, black, studded handbag...a gem, as when I bought it the lock was broken and I couldn’t open the bag. I brought it to a locksmith to be opened and found £300 inside.

These are a few of my favourite things…

Favourite fashion designer Givenchy, Junya Watanabe and Commes des Garcons. I am an admirer of Japanese fashion. Often there is a sense of calm and technique to their work, and it is never designed to suit trends.

Favourite city Paris. I spent a year there, working during a break from my degree. Paris is a city with so much history and beauty. It is truly a magical place that inspired me greatly. My best days in Paris were spent simply walking and discovering little parks, hidden galleries and places to eat. My favourite area would have to be the Marais on a Sunday morning.

Favourite artist Tracey Emin. I admire the honesty in a work and Emin creates what she wants and says what she wants. She is not dictated by anyone, I love these qualities in creative work.

Favourite fashion era The present. I have never been strongly influenced by past fashion. I often find my inspiration in the everyday and how people interact with objects.

Favourite shop Printemps, Paris…sadly window shopping only!

Favourite photographer Juergen Teller. I love his work for March Jacobs’ campaigns.

Favourite magazine Purple Magazine. The shoots are never solely for the purpose of showing the clothes, they often have a message or a creative story running through them. I find this more interesting. Purple also has an innovative graphic design which is an area I really do appreciate.

Article

Gotta take the good, the bad, happy and the sad

words HERMIA photo MOSELLE FOLEY I’m a realist to the bone. If something is a disaster, I don’t try to look on the positive side: it’s a disaster, plain and simple. I accept the bad things that have happened to me and don’t try to ignore them or hide them away, because these are the things that shape who I am. And these are the things that make me appreciate the good things I have.

Sure I don’t get on very well with my family, and I’ve been betrayed and used by so many friends that I’ve lost count, but that makes me appreciate the few true and loyal friends I do have.

I’ve had some horrible relationships that made me give up on love and dragged me into depression, but all that makes me appreciate how wonderful my current boyfriend is, for being so constantly patient and loving, despite the struggles we’ve both had. I’ve experienced hurt and have been torn apart by boys I placed my hard-earned trust in. I put up with poor effort from them and thought that’s just what relationships were – just had to take the good with the bad.

When The Boy and I got together I was a mere whisper of myself and turned to him just to feel something again that didn’t hurt my heart. And it was then I realised what love actually was. I am his world and he’s mine. The Boy and I occasionally talk about the painful episodes I’ve had and he always says he wishes that I’d never gone through them.

But I’m the person that itches to touch the display that says Do Not Touch. I’m the person who gets easily bored with the everyday routine. I’m the person who leans on the fence and marvels at the greenness of someone else’s grass.

Nobody tells me how something is, I have to experience it for myself and won’t be happy until I do. Even though I knew The Boy for years before we started dating, I am forever grateful that we got together at the exact time we did.

Nothing is too much effort for him. He would spend hours of his day texting me and spend countless hours staying up until dawn talking to me online. Previous boyfriends used to barely keep in contact, claiming they just weren’t ‘into’ texting, now it’s blatantly obvious that it was me they weren’t ‘into’.

He puts up with my quick and fiery temper, he puts up with my constant impatience at how slowly life moves and he puts up with watching Clueless for the hundredth time. If I had dated him first, I probably wouldn’t have stayed with him. I would have presumed that this is just what all relationships were like and would have itched to move on to experience something new. And boy, would I have gotten a shock to realise that I’d thrown away and underappreciated the relationship of my life.

Although heartache and troubled times aren’t very pleasant, I have an appreciation for the bad times, because if we never truly knew sadness, we’d never truly know happiness. Yes, it is good to focus on the good things in life, but without the bad things, the good things wouldn’t exist – they’d all just be ‘things’.

So while you’re lying on the grass, gazing up at the clear, blue sky and glorious sunshine, take a minute to appreciate the rain – for making you appreciate the sun.

Illustration

If You Could...

ROBERT CAREY Illustrator

http://theartofmansloth.blogspot.com

If you could do something without a consequence what would it be?

I am a very content person, and I have all that I ever wanted, with the exception of maybe getting a little more work or a little extra cash, life is good. I suppose if there were no consequences I would rob a bank, get enough money that my family and friends were sorted.

If you could have a superpower what would it be?

Quantum Mega Intelligence. I could then build anything I wanted.

If you could pick a fictional character to be for a day who would it be?

The Punisher, because there are a lot of people that need to be punished.

If you could be a shape and instrument what would you be?

I am the shape I want to be and that is round, cause I ain’t no square baby and I’d be a guitar, cause I love to pluck, or be plucked.

If you could eat all day what would you eat?

Crab claws, cold with garlic butter. I love how salty they are. Gorgeous.

If you could live in any era what would it be?

Ancient Rome. I know the reality would be far removed from the romantic notion I have of it, but if it’s anything like Spartacus: Blood and Sand, send me now. Plus I would love to enter the gladiator arenas, but only if I could bring an Ak47 or something from our time, even out the odds a bit.

If you could have chosen your own name what would it be?

Jesus B. Spectacular.

The Indifference Engine coming out soon.

Showcase

Grumptys Dolls Vicky White

www.grumptys.carbonmade.com How did you come up with the idea?

It’s hard to say how I came up with the initial idea. My husband, Harry, and I collect dark comics and figurines, for example, Roman Dirges 'Lenore' and anything zombie. I also love Tool’s music videos. I've always bought creepy toys and I really wanted to make my own.

One day my sewing-machine came out and a Grumpty was born.

The first Grumpty you made?

I made my first Grumpty from an old orange and green stripey t-shirt my mum give me, that she used to wear in the 80s. He’s got a scar down his face and some tufty hair. The design is still the same but it’s much more refined now. All my Grumptys are made from recycled t-shirts and vintage buttons, I love the fact that I can re-use someone else’s junk.

What is your favourite piece at the moment?

My favourite Grumpty is one I made a few years ago for my husband Harry. He’s a Mohawk Grumpty made from Harry’s old Nirvana t-shirt. He had the t-shirt from his grunge days, I found it at the back of the wardrobe one day. It’s not that it looks the best... it’s just that I like making Grumptys that mean something special.

What fuels your creativity?

I read a lot of zombie/horror comics and love horror movies which fuels my creativity. I also love artists/authors like Edward Gorey. All things macabre and a bit creepy really fascinate me.

When is the best time to work?

The best time for me to work is when my 16-month-old-baby Oren is tucked up in bed. Needles plus Oren, not a good combination.

How would you describe your work?

Horrifically lovable.

Any interesting projects in the pipeline at the moment?

I'm thinking of making some flying beasts like bats, crows and flies.

Where do you see your work in five years?

I definitely want my work to have evolved in five years time. I really want to see a Grumpty come to life... maybe puppets or animation! Although, I’m convinced when my back is turned they get into all sorts of mischief.

Article

All It Takes Is A Surrender words TARA L. NICOLE photo FARZAD QASIM Senior year of college is one of the most stressful experiences I have ever been through. There you are trying to wrap up with challenging classes, have some fun while you do it and somehow amongst that, pick what you want to do for the rest of your life. Lucky for me I knew – I was going to Wall Street.

I had never been at the top of my class, never been the most attentive, or quickest. In fact, I hated competition, I valued my friends and my family way too much, and I didn’t want to work more than eight hours a day. I was not what you would consider an ideal profile for Wall Street.

Meanwhile, my book had come out. It had been something that I had never taken seriously in my life. But there it was in December sitting on my desk, at last released and lying beautifully bound. Still, I was going to Wall Street, so it didn’t really matter about my book.

My mother sent me to the psychic. I don’t completely buy into them. Despite this, I was desperate. I needed to know what I was going to do next. I just needed an answer to stop all the relatives from asking. So I went.

‘You are already doing what you are meant to be doing,’ she told me.

I looked at her as if she was mildly stupid. How could I already be doing my job? I didn’t even have a job, unless you counted my waitress shifts on the weekend. But good God I didn’t want to be waitressing for the rest of my life. It was one thing to give up Wall Street, but surely I could do more than waitress?

‘Your book,’ the woman explained patiently, ‘You are meant to be bringing your story to help others.’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘You could do business,’ she conceded at last, apparently picking up on the fact that that was what I wanted to hear. ‘But it’s not what you should do.’

I returned to college after a break with a new dedication for business. So maybe not Wall Street, but something else less competitive, I would prove that I could do this. Then it came.

I met a man at a book-talk I did at my school and he offered me a job in mergers and acquisitions. This was it. This was my destiny. Here was a job I would never have gotten on my own, was everything I had been studying for and had been given to me through my book. Yes, this was fate. I was sure of it. But for some reason, it didn’t feel like it. I kept fighting it somehow.

I flew to Chicago, I made the hour drive out to the offices, I stood in the cubicle, and I felt sick. This was everything I had always wanted, why didn’t it feel perfect? I could have done that job. I knew it at the time, and I know it now. It took me the entire summer to decide what to do. I asked everyone I knew and got angry no matter how they answered. Of course, I could do the job, it was exciting, it was what I wanted, or at least it represented everything I thought I had always wanted. But I just couldn’t bring myself to accept it. And in doing nothing, I accepted the alternative – that I was to become a writer.

Now I am writing my second novel, and doing lectures to youth about the issues I write about. Now I am sharing my story to help others. The psychic had been right. My father, when he told me over and over again that the right job will come to you, had been right. I don’t think we choose our vocation, it chooses us. And sometimes all it takes is a surrender, a sitting back and listening.

Five things that make me happy Cliona O'Flaherty Photographer

www.clionaoflaherty.com

Three Fs The three Fs, in no particular order, my family, fella and friends.

Teeny-Tiny Vices Tea and cake. Oh, and a little glass of red wine and dark choc. Teeny-tiny vices everyday are extremely enjoyable.

Cycling Cycling around on my bike, I love having a leisurely cycle out the coast or in the Phoenix Park. If I am feeling super energetic, somewhere like the Wicklow Mountains makes a great cycling day out. Betsy the bike is a super-pal and confidante.

Photography Being able to take photos everyday and to be able put clothes on my back and food in my belly from doing so. I wanted to be working as a photographer for so long, so it's absolutely brilliant to be doing it.

Smell Of Mum’s Fresh Laundry The smell of clothes washed by my mam. Surely, at this stage of my life I should be able to do laundry as well her, but alas, I am still trying to discover the secret formula.

Photography

blogger LAURA WHISTON

model CLAIRE CAVANAGH

Fashion

photographer EMMA TURPIN

Fiction

DAYDREAM That Daydream Feeling words ALAN BENNETT illustration JOSEPH MCCAFFERTY You’ve just come home from work, or play. Anywhere, it could be anywhere, even shopping or just walking the dog.

Maybe you stayed up too late last night or got up too early this morning, whatever it is you just don’t feel up for it.

You’re lazy, you’re not bothered, you fall back on the bed or couch and look up at the ceiling as if trying to make it transparent.

Relaxation flows through your body, you can feel it as you breathe an unrushed sigh. Your hands come together like old lovers behind your head or atop your belly. Your feet may cross themselves, they may not, your body will locate its own comfort zone. Your weight works slowly into a you-shaped groove. Warmth fills your veins, the ceiling becomes interesting.

You see yourself, but where you want to be. You are that figure who people look up to, you are the one they strive to be like. You have had success and you relish it, you accept awards and you give to charity. You have money in your pocket and respect all over the world, you are free. Your friends, your family are where they want to be, they are proud of you and you them.

Music swirls as you take your steps, colours fill your surroundings. Dogs will talk and play with cats and your long dead relatives walk among those who respect you. The Beatles are still touring and they are a fan of your work. War doesn’t exist, not anymore, and world leaders enjoy picnics.

You have a squirrel that sings you to sleep and he is crooning in your ear right now. That polyphonic squirrel, always finds a short tune and repeats it over and over. The squirrel stops suddenly mid tune, this is a habit of his, he’ll be back later.

The gentle breeze now entertains your musical fancies, using the open window as its instrument. The sun shines high in the sky and follows you around, shade doesn’t exist, the light will always find a way. Grey is a crayon and nothing more. That teacher you always hated in school sits in your kitchen eating cereal on a plate with a fork, that silly lady, how you love her now! Why are you lying in the toilet-paper aisle of the supermarket you used to work in? It doesn’t matter, those brands really are soft. Your old boss walks past, sucking a thin layer of porridge off a plate, through a straw. He was a silly man but his flaws were endearing.

The squirrel pipes up again singing an adorable tune directly into your eardrum. You turn on your side. Still, his song pierces the acoustics of your ear. This is not an adorable song, and he is singing it directly into my ear! Stupid squirrel.

He usually stops, why is he not stopping this time? Man, this is annoying! You turn back and you grab the squirrel by the neck and turn him off. You open your eyes. You have three missed calls, on the phone you hold in your hand. You lay back. You smile.

Fiction

Fiction The Daydreamer words HUGO GIBSON photo MOSELLE FOLEY Dreams rushing through my mind, things that could have been and still could be, ideas lost somewhere in someone else’s mind. I rose and went into the office slightly earlier than usual, a cup of coffee in my hands, a paper tucked neatly under my arm. Today, like all days, I will spend the waking hours working. I will sit at my computer, hear it whir, as it powers up, and check my emails. A process which will be done countless times throughout the day.

I look around, as the office fills up with my workmates. Those timeless people that fill the same stretch of carpet as me day in, day out. They all practice a routine they’ve honed over years of repetition. One carries a thermos full of coffee, another, the front tyre from his bicycle, a third walks gripping her make-up bag. I turn away from them and let them get on with their day. I have lots of work to be getting on with, work that will benefit the company, work that will show the bosses that I can perform, that I deserve my pay grade.

But while I was working, while those keys were crunching underneath my well-groomed nails, the rain had started outside. It beats down upon the glass, it claws and screeches towards the inside of the office. Then someone shuts the blind, and all that is left is the pitter-patter of droplets on the glass.

The office is lit by neon only, now that the blind is closed and any chance of natural light is drowned out by my colleagues’ eagerness to finish their work so they can go home to their loving families. What do I go home to, but the cries of a distressed housemate wanting last month’s rent. His girlfriend will be around tonight. She comes only on Tuesdays and he goes to her flat on Fridays. They only see each other twice a week because they both work so hard.

They’ve got high-powered jobs, high-paying jobs, jobs that I should have applied for but somehow never found the time.

As I sit at my desk, hammering through the monotony of accounts, I wonder what the weather is like in Antigua this time of year. I wonder what the sand feels like in the Seychelles. Pretty soon, I’m on the internet checking the weather in Antigua. The average for February is 27 degrees. I imagine sweating in February, I imagine swimming in the sea in February. I imagine sleeping with the window open and an ocean breeze sweeping across my head in February.

‘What’s that?’ I hear somewhere outside of my daydream. I look up to see my boss looking at my computer screen, a big picture of Antigua staring back at her. I smile at her and say, ‘Oh it’s just a project I’m working on.’ She looks at me, seemingly satisfied and walks off. I watch her go and close the browser, as sunny Antigua returns to cyberspace.

Perhaps it’s time I stood up and went to my boss’s office. Perhaps it’s time I handed her my notice. Perhaps it’s time I told my flatmate to leave me alone. Perhaps it’s time I told his girlfriend the same thing. Perhaps it’s time I got on a plane and went to Antigua. Perhaps.

art MAHNAZ TABARSI

Article

Your Sartorial Superior words SARAH O’HEGARTY illustration RACHEL CORCORAN For some women the ultimate accessory is to have a man that is just as fashion savvy as themselves. The final flourish to top off any outfit. When you brunch in the latest, trendy hotspots you may turn a lot of heads, but be warned, dating a man who is Y.S.S. (Your Sartorial Superior) does not come without its drawbacks.

Yes, the age of the metrosexual man is well and truly solidified. But now comes the backlash. Women want real men. We’re talking wood-cutting, mountain-bear wrestling, lumberjack wearing (and not in a Williamsburg way) men.

Warning signs that your boyfriend is Y.S.S include: - Too much competition for the mirror in the bathroom (he’s supposed to be waiting for you on the couch, not nudging you out of the way to check out his blackheads).

- Intolerable amounts of time talking about his hair. When a guy talks about his hair more than you do, you know he is Y.S.S, or, for want of a better phrase, vain.

- He scrutinizes your outfits asking ‘Are you really going to wear that?’

- On shopping trips, you are the bored one standing outside Urban Outfitters waiting on him.

- He reads your Vogue magazines and not just to gain an insight into the female psyche.

Working in the fashion industry I take solace in the fact that my boyfriend does not, know or care, about the pros and cons of choosing Balmain over Balenciaga. By no means am I belittling fashion but when one passes the day discussing the difference between drop-crotch harem pants and joggers for SS10, it is with supreme pleasure that I have a conversation about something normal over dinner. My day may be all about fashion but evenings should be the complete opposite. Art, music – all welcome topics, and if you really want to floor me, just bring up a good book.

Perhaps, women have hit boiling point, as no matter where you go in this dog-eat-dog world every corner you turn there is an insecurity-inducing Amazonian-like goddess.

The type whose hair is shinier than yours and who can afford the dresses you can’t. In the quest to look good it is becoming increasingly harder to stay at the top of your game. The very last thing you need is to compete with your boyfriend to boot.

My advice to anyone who finds themselves in this situation is to get up and get out. Leave immediately. But not before taking an array of items from his wardrobe with you. Come on, the man’s got taste.

Culture

DOT DOT DOT CAMERON STEWART Ark

www.arkhq.com

What means the most to me…jam with everything.

I have the most fun…starting a days work with a rollerblade to the office.

People are…everything. The minute we realise this, is the minute we figure out what life’s really about. It’s the most important thing my seven thousand, four hundred and twenty-two days alive has taught me. Live for people, everything else will follow.

If I could change one thing about the world…I think I’d make the sky green and the grass a nice shade of blue. I’ve always wondered what that’d look like.

On sunny days…ice-cream is a must.

I would love to know…the recipe for The Bay Tree’s unbelievable Cinammon Scones.

I have never…drank a cup of coffee.

One thing I will never forget is…a winter run into the Irish Sea’s eight foot waves.

If the world ends tomorrow…I'd say thanks to life for having me. What an awesome adventure it's been. 20 years simply haven’t been enough to explore all the cool things it has to offer. Wish I had skinny-dipped more.

Ark° is a not-for-profit movement on a mission to reconnect society. The idea: Perform one Act of Random Kindness (an Ark°) every time you wear the Ark° logo. It's a reminder to be kind, and a symbol for a new way of life through a new kind of clothing.

Poetry

A Gaze A gaze out the window Eventually becomes a stare Trees sway gently in the air A cloud in the shape of a bow The wind is fresh and light The distant hills decorate the skyline A low stone wall divides the field like a spine Nothing in view can bring fright Yellow shine atop the cloud Dark blue shade underneath Still cows graze on the heath The wind picks up, loud and proud.

words ALAN BENNETT photo SIOBHAN BYRNE

I know I should go out there I sit in here and think about it I should call someone to walk about with I’m a bit lazy, I just don’t care I really prefer to sit and stare.

Girls In The Woods

Photography

photos KATIE LILGA MOONEY SHEPPARD

NEW YORK THE DREAM CITY

Article

Moving Out, Moving On words ANGELA SCANLON photo KATIE LILGA MOONEY SHEPPARD Yesterday I moved house. I spent most of the day trying to pack my life into my car, leaving behind one place and starting all over. I spent a number of years on-and-off travelling around the globe, smiling at the prospect of what was facing me but crying at the idea of what I was leaving behind.

There is something about packing that always makes me emotional. Disproportional to the task that faces me, it’s more about what moving symbolises and the memories attached to it, than the physical upheaval.

Close to a year ago, a long term relationship finished. My room was full of its memories. The beginning of love, pictures of happy times, cards documenting birthdays, holidays and milestones that were shrouded in love and support.

It took me ten months before I could face clearing out my room. But it hung over me, like a task on my to-do list or a plaster that I knew had to come off and no matter how much time lapsed it was going to hurt. I faced it and abandoned it. I ran away and walked back. It took a lot for me to persevere. When you lose someone in your life, you pick yourself up and you move on. You hide the photos and the letters in a box, the dried flowers from your first meal together, the cinema stubs from the movies you’d seen. But the worst thing about the cleanout is the memories it provokes.

But the memories and snap-shots of times gone by are just that. They are tiny pieces of a big picture, and while the tears fall and the pain is still there you know, deep down that your life is really better than it was. Those lonely days are your own to fill. They belong to you and only you.

For now I want to be alone. To be selfish with my time and fulfil my dreams on my own terms. I want to wake when it suits and watch what I want on TV. To go for lunch or dinner on my own, open to the possibilities that may present themselves and proud that I’m comfortable enough in my own skin to just be.

Life goes on, situations change, people grow apart and relationships end. It’s at these crossroads, many of which are beyond our control, that we have two choices. To sit and cry, live in the past and wish things were different or to walk forward. By all means wallow, go for it, get those sad songs playing and cry your little heart out but give yourself a maximum of one week’s solitude before you shake yourself back into reality and decide to move on. And really that’s the vital word, ‘decide’, because you do have a choice. So, embrace the future and all the wonderful opportunities it will present, go forward safe in the knowledge that there is only hope in your heart.

Fashion

Field Day

photographer Johnny McMillan stylist Aisling Farinella assisted by Kieran Kilgallon hair Jessica at Toni & Guy Blackrock makeup Ashley O’Connor model Frida at First Option

Bodysuit A.F. Vandevorst, Smock Fringe necklace Topshop Thigh-high socks American Apparel Loafers Rachel Comey, Smock

Vintage men’s shirt Urban Outfitters Leather fringe earrings Travis Taddeo Sweatpants Future Classics, Dolls Boutique Silver Loafers Rachel Comey, Smock

Suede bra Travis Taddeo Stripy sweater YMC, Dolls Boutique Jeans Topshop

Jumpsuit Topshop Blazer Ralph Lauren

Leather bodysuit Travis Taddeo Sweatpants Rick Owens, Smock Trainers Mini Market, Dolls Boutique

Five things that changed my life Wilco The first time I heard Wilco I was driving late at night and some weird station played ‘Shot in the Arm’, and immediately I liked it. At any time, I can listen to a Wilco album and it relaxes me. I think it was the start of me developing a strong personal taste in music outside of what was popular.

Running Since I spent my youth watching movies, I hated sports, and still do. Why watch a match when you can read a book or listen to an album. About two years ago, I decided to take up running, I ran a few times and it felt great. I suppose what works for me about running is you do it alone. You only need a good pair of runners and you can go at any time. Nothing describes the feeling of running around the Phoenix Park, late in the evening, nobody else around, the sun setting and listening to Bill Callahan’s ‘Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle’.

There Will Be Blood Sometimes, something odd happens in the cinema, from the opening shot, straight away you just know you’re going to love the film. There’s just a power in the way the camera moves in the opening scenes. As somebody wanting to make films, it gives me hope that there’s room for intelligent films on a large scale.

Film

Sean Smith Souljacker

www.souljacker.ie

Peter Cushing As a child I watched movies non-stop. I really loved old movies, especially the Universal and Hammer horror movies. The first Peter Cushing movie I watched was Dracula (1958). In many subsequent films Cushing played both good and bad guys, but for some reason you always rooted for him. In his later years, he was in a lot of bad horror movies, yet I found I could always watch them, just because he was in them. His performance anchored the movies and kept them watchable. I found that a strong actor can really make a difference to a film, especially a bad one.

Self-discipline When studying film most of us were always looking and asking where do we get a job, how do you become a filmmaker? Regardless of all the classes we’d had, films we’d watched, people we’d talked to, we realised that the most obvious thing to become a filmmaker was that you need to just do it, simple as that. To write scripts for instance, you need to get up early before work or stay up late, sit at a desk and write. You learn that you need self-discipline because there’s definitely nothing glamorous about the work, and there is nobody asking you to have a script ready or saying ‘well done’ for finishing it. You can go weeks without doing anything and nobody will know or care.

But it’s reassuring to know that no matter how big or small a writer is, the principle is the same, they need to get their ass in a seat at a desk and put the hours in.

The Perfect Wife, The Perfect Life

Poetry

Annie Worchester had on a constant smile While those around her stressed and pained, it seeming to her all quite vile Come rain or shine, the smile would remain Come the good times, and the bad, she saw no real reason to refrain She welcomed it all, adoring the ins-and-outs of her daily life All she ever did was avoid that nauseatingly pointless strife Heck, what did it matter if a bill wasn’t paid, or even if she missed an important deadline Wouldn't time keep a-ticking, while the birds continued singing, all in all, she feeling sublime When she finally married her man, he wondered why it was that she never got too mad She simply telling him that there was no point, that he should always be glad A worrier to the last, he wanted desperately to see things in the same light She happily obliged, telling him to enjoy everything, and to embrace each and every day with all his might

While neighbours cried and wailed, full of sorrow There they would sit, anticipating a good day, even better tomorrow Undoubtedly the happiest couple in town Nothing to be seen other than smiles all round, never an aforementioned frown She kissed him hard, thankful for a perfect life He turned to whisper in her ear, my oh my, you truly are the perfect wife

words BRIAN O’DRISCOLL photo REZA RASHIDI

The two of them went about their day free of sadness, and full of glee Even when the winter winds ripped the roof from their home, the leaves from the big tree

Photography

With thanks to the students from the Irish National Youth Ballet.

photos NIKKI BROWNE

Dance

Fashion

Then and Now Rosie O’Reilly Re-Dress

www.re-dress.ie

What were you’re childhood dreams?

I dreamt about the sea a lot and aspired to be a Marine Biologist .. imagined myself as an Indiana Jones of the ocean.

What are you’re dreams now?

Still dreaming a lot about the sea and ambitiously aiming to bring Re-Dress' mantra ‘Change more than your clothes’ to the masses.

What TV show did you love growing up?

Monday afternoon Elvis movies, to the disgust of my sister and brother.

What TV show do you love now?

BBC2 documentary 'Welcome to Lagos'. Unbelievable insight into life in urban mega cities.

What were you obsessed with as a kid?

Whales and pirates.

What adventures did you have as a kid?

I remember writing stories about being on huge adventures, delving into the unknown and fabricating tales from your childish mind.

What are you obsessed with now?

Right now, my wormery. I'll bend anyone’s ear on the marvels of the slimy fellows.

What adventures are you having now?

Beachcombing and bargain-hunting, illustrating and designing.

Article

Hook, Line and Sinker words COLIN BARTLEY illustration DUFFY MOONEY SHEPPARD

And there they were, three of them. Dashing forward and back in a disjointed and unrehearsed effort to get free.

Centuries, if not millennia of practice and progress ensured the likelihood of escaping was slim. However, that is not to say they were going to give up. Why would they? What was merely a meal or sport to me was living to them. It is hard to parallel a situation, or even imagine the pure futility felt by those three at that time – that is if they had feelings.

Blasé about it at the start of the day, I was more concerned with killing a hangover than killing fish. Not that at that time I needed an excuse to have a hangover but I had just been made redundant. Brilliant. Finally away from the soul-numbing necessity of the night shift, away from programming, away from figures and panic calls from Far Eastern companies when their equipment wouldn’t work – ‘Sorry sir, but I believe the room you have your server in, is on fire.’

Anyhow, it was a World Cup summer. It’s not that we want to watch football all day; it’s just that football becomes an excuse to go to the pub, meet friends, get drunk and high.

That was it! That was the summer to that point – I knew harder days were to come, so I made those days as easy as possible. However, on the surprise arrival home of a friend, who had his own ideas on how to make his break back in Ireland pretty easy too, I was convinced into joining him sea-fishing the following day.

Apathetic to the situation, I didn’t wear anything near the right attire. It was my stance against boring fishing. I hate golf and all its etiquette, so when forced onto the course I wear a fisherman’s hat. Logic to me dictated that for this fishing non-occurrence, I should show my disdain by wearing a golf hat. And did I have the right one for the job; it was a 70s baby-blue, large-peaked rim (with a card-table green underside) hat, the one that exposes the hair. On the front of the cap were three plastic tee-holders, one at 90 degrees and one each to the right and left of it. These became the perfect receptacles for holding joints while casting.

My friend had his grandfather’s old fishing bag, feathers, lines, even the rusted, salted and scratched ‘Old Holborn’ tobacco boxes with rusted hooks in it. This was his easy summer. After being given a lesson in tying salmon nooses, casting, and patience – it began. Maybe an hour after the first cast, all that could be heard were hollers mixed with grunts of joy, gradually getting closer.

Then I got that first sensation myself, the tiny vibration, then the big pull. Right there, three mackerel attached themselves to more than just my fishing line. From that moment on, I was hooked.

Culture

DOT DOT DOT For The Love Of

Shane O’Driscoll and Ivor Noyek www.krop.com/fortheloveof

I fell in love with…nicely designed things from an early age, and they continue to inspire.

I love the feeling of…a new piece of music that kicks a bad day in the balls, and has you drumming at your desk.

I would love to be…front-row for Pearl Jam. I love the sound of…drums.

For The Love Of…everybody!

I love the colour of…the sea and Pantone 187 C.

Love makes me…stay late in the studio, too late sometimes.

I would love to go…live in Barcelona.

Love is….the smell of a freshly printed book.

I would love to be a fly on the wall of…Stefan Sagmeister’s studio in New York.

Love can….take you away from your daily day.

I would love to know…where Martin Hansson was looking.

Love needs….attention.

Love grows....friendship.

FTLO is a platform for both emerging and established Irish creative talents to showcase their work together in one accessible and contemporary environment.

FTLO will be getting involved in Offset October 1st-3rd, Grand canal Theatre, Dublin. Watch this space www.iloveoffset.com

illustration JOANA MEDEIROS

Article

Small Talk words TIM HANAN photo ANAHITA TABARSI

Any time I tell someone I hate small talk, they heartily agree and start complaining, often at length, about how much they hate it. And I always think, ‘But you make small talk. All the time. You talk about irrelevant things, unimportant things, you share minor, unnecessary details, you reiterate the same facts over and over again. Isn’t that small talk?’

I guess, to most people it’s talking about the weather, basic things, the kind of thing you learn early on in French class.

Although that stuff isn’t really bad, is it? It can lead somewhere. A start is always good, and where it leads, is up to the ingenuity of the individual. Though I have tried that sometimes, and it seems to have confused people. They just repeat what they already said, or pretend I didn’t say anything, or just give me a look of confusion and hurt. There are some people, I suspect, who consider small talk to be anything they’re not interested in. I may be one of those people myself. I’m not interested in shopping or celebrity gossip, for example. But then I’m not necessarily interested in ‘big talk’ either. Conversations about philosophy and supposedly deep subjects often strike me as pointless, or even pretentious.

So what kind of talk do I like? Maybe I’d just rather have no talk at all. When I was growing up, I found basic conversation very difficult. I never knew what to say to people. In school, if someone asked me what I had been doing during the weekend, I would always draw a blank. I still struggle to find words sometimes, hate talking on the phone, and continually rehearse even the most basic exchanges, like what to say when I get on the bus. Partly it’s because my mind is always so busy, and I’m afraid I’ll blurt out whatever I’m actually thinking about, which could be anything from an old Bill Hicks routine to the word ‘boobs’.

When I was younger, I wasn’t even sure, when someone was speaking, if I should look at their eyes or their mouth.

And I've always found the greeting ‘How are you?’ baffling, because clearly the other person doesn't want to know, so what do you say? Why do people even ask questions if they don't want to know the answer?

Consequently, small talk was like a gift for me. It gave me a starting point. I developed an aptitude for it, at least somewhat. I’ve met some people for whom it seems to be a real talent, they can spin lengthy conversations with strangers out of the most minor details. It’s kind of a gift, and one that I can find myself envying. There have been times I've felt inferior, abnormal.

But then, there have been times I’ve heard people talking with evident enjoyment about what sounds to me like, well, nothing. And thought yeah, I think I prefer being the way I am.

Poetry

Dusk The dusk, it leaves me silent.

A jolt pulses through each vein.

A silver thread stitches all the parts together.

Sweet snatches of life that shimmer like heavy drops of rain.

words ANAHITA TABARSI photo REZA RASHIDI

Forever hiding in shadows, Dreaming of the light, I watch it fade.

illustration DEREK CONLON

Thank You! A big super-duper thank you to our family and friends for all their help and encouragement and especially to the following people for their awesome support throughout…

Alan Bishop, Ros Caffrey, Gavin Clarke, Damian Callaghan, Derek Conlon, Louise Fullam, Jason Healey, Anna Kealey, Joseph King, Saoirse McTiernan, Deborah Noyek, Ivor Noyek, Shane O’Driscoll, Colum O’Dwyer, John Paul O’Grady, Rahim O’Neill, Myles Palmer, Farzad Qasim, Emmet Riley, Dave Rooney, Robert Ryan, Bobby Tabarsi, Mahnaz Tabarsi, Ian Tierney, Laura Whiston Thanks also to 3epkano, Shebeen Chic, The New Buck’s Townhouse, Gillian Foley, Sonia Harris

Stockists American Apparel 114 Grafton Street Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6706936 Arnotts 12 Henry Street, Dublin 1 Tel: 01 8050400 Brown Thomas http://www.brownthomas.com Tel: 01 6056666 Cute As A… http://www.etsy.com/shop/ascuteasa Design Centre Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, 59 South William Street, Dublin 2 Dolls Boutique 14a Emorville Avenue, Dublin 8 Tel: 01 4736256 Dolls Boutique 32b The Westbury Mall Clarendon Street Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6729004 Elaine Curtis, 122 Tullow Street, Carlow Jean Cronin Vintage The Loft, Powerscourt Centre Dublin 2 Om Diva Boutique 21/22 Market Arcade, South Great George’s Street Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6791211

Oxfam Vintage Unit2, Wicklow House, South Great George’s Street Dublin 2 Tel: 01 4780777 http://www.oxfamireland.org/oxfamvintage Shotsy Vintage http://shotsyvintage.wordpress.com enquiries@shotsyvintage.ie Smock 31 Drury Street Dublin 2 Tippe Canoe Boutique, Shannon Street, Limerick.

Tommy Hilfiger 13-14 Grafton Street, Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6337600 Topman 41 Grafton Street, Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6793481 Topshop 7 St. Stephens Green Dublin 2 Tel: 01 672 5009 Travis Taddeo http://www.travistaddeo.com Urban Outfitters Temple Bar 4 Cecilia Street and 7 1/2 Fownes St. Upper Temple Bar Dublin 2 Tel: 01 670 6202

Wood Wood http://www.woodwood.dk