cuteness: tableware

OMG OMG OMG!! this Pepe and Friends tablewares collection by Camila Prada is sooooooo cute! If I had a house of my own I would seriously consider getting something of the sort!

[via: Apartment Therapy]

eyecandy for the bibliophile 6

The Italian company Cassina came up with the above bookshelf, which when you place two together, they look like a giant opened book.

Now that's quite a nice idea, ain't it? :)

[via: Design Milk]

oh for heaven's sake!

Today I've ran into a couple of articles which made me groan. 

Times of Malta ran an article saying that a group of Muslims in Malta have said their prayers on the Sliema promenade after they have been turned out of an apartment which they were using to meet up and pray.

The journalist interviewed one of the onlookers who said:

"Malta is a Catholic country. They have no right to come here and pray in front of us. I don't care what they do in the privacy of their own home but not here," one Maltese woman said."

... spoken like a true Catholic!!  Obviously other persons commented on this article and took this position. For heaven's sake!! If you believe that Malta is a Catholic country and you are a Catholic, then practice what the Catholic church preaches.  Be tolerant!!  Also, if the Maltese are allowed to have their festas (which I love!!) which are considerably noisy, and can have their processions and their Easter peagants (which I really hate) which border on the gory, why should we stop a group of persons from practising their religion if this is done in a quiet and respectful manner?  As far as I know they were not doing anything indecent or creating havoc, etc. so why should we complain?!!  Anyway, if you want to read this article and all of the comments you can go here: Muslims gather on Sliema waterfront.

On to the next show of stupidity of the day.  The Mail Online states:

"State-funded organisations are being ordered to boost the proportion of female, black and gay staff to reflect the make-up of the UK population under plans unveiled by Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman."

It goes on to say that:

"Earlier this month a leading academic [Dr Louise Livesey of Oxford University]

 said the BBC should employ more women to help make shows such as Top Gear 'female-friendly'."

So let's look at this from Top Gear's point of view.  As Top Gear's executive producer Andy Wilman aptly replies:

"I also do believe that this sort of claptrap is very patronising to women, because it assumes women can’t enjoy a show’s presenters on merit, but can only appreciate a programme if spoken to by one of their own sex.

As I’m sure our regular viewers know, on account of them normally having more common sense than politicians or academics, Top Gear is a male show, in that it revolves around three males enjoying their love of cars.

That doesn’t make it macho, or exclusatory, it just means one of the show’s editorial pillars involves a journey into the male mind, in the same way that the excellent What Not To Wear veers more towards the female mind."

For Pete's sake! Stop this crap! We don't want to see women everywhere! I don't want anyone to change the format of their product just because someone has decided that we are not inclusive enough. In Malta we are already ruining the education of our children because someone has decided that we have to be inclusive. I had a chat with a couple of friends of mine a few weeks back who happen to work closely with kids and they have confirmed what I've always thought. This inclusivity thing does not work! Instead of helping a child who has learning disabilities to move forward, we are setting back the rest of the class because this child cannot keep up. Anyway, back on the original topic, the Mail Online has also stated that:

"Critics fear programmes will be forced to hire actors, presenters and producers on grounds of gender, ethnic background or sexuality, rather than suitability for the show. [...]
Mr Hunt [Now Tory culture spokesman] said: 'Allowing broadcasters creative and intellectual freedom over the content of their programmes is vital in a free society."

I hate how new shows have to include an Asian, Caucasian, Black, Indian, tall, short, disabled, with glasses, without glasses, with moles, without moles, hairy, non-hairy, bald, with hair ... characters. You can actually have a show without having to include everyone you know! And this selectivity actually gives a different product which can have it own appeal. Honestly, stop ruining everything!!!

on getting a car

10 days ago I got my driving license yippiieeeeee!!! But now it's the turn of the frustrating bit ... choosing a car. There are far too many decisions that have to be made for my liking; new or 2nd hand? what's the budget? do you really need that feature? bla bla bla

At the moment I'm thinking about getting a new car straight away; less CO2 emissions, less consumption and the thing I like most of it all ... not having to deal with the 2nd hand car dealers. Most of my friends think that I should not go for a new car and I do agree with most of their points - you still don't have the 'real' experience of the road and the other drivers, you still have to get used to the size of your car, etc. But then I think of my brothers who started with a new car (because my mum never let them get a 2nd hand one, but I managed to make her realise that not all used cars are $hit :D) and realise that I should focus less on the denting and more on the reliability, warrenty, peace of mind, etc.

So we've been going round to some showrooms to get some quotes, get to see the cars, etc. and in a couple of days I managed to get material about 14 models. And there lies the problem ... which one shall I choose?!!!

I've made myself a nice little list ... comparing the price, CO2 emissions, consumption, etc.  Here's a copy of what I've compiled so far:

Anyway, so far it seems that the C1 is the best buy (I still have to check about the features though as the sales rep was nowhere in sight when I went over to have a look at the car), and so you might say "so what's the problem? Go ahead and buy it!".

Well the problem is that for the past couple of years I've been obsessing about the Fiat 500, and now I can't shake off the influence this has left on me.  I like it because it's got a retro design, it has a history and when it comes to styling it's amazing ... and when you see it upclose and actually touch it, it's breath taking!  I've been always wondering why car manufacturers do not put any emphasis on designing a car whose interior is also beautiful instead of throwing a bunch of cheap plastics together with the hope that the customer will overlook it (especially the dashboard).  And then Fiat came up with the New 500 which is stylish both on the outside and in the inside and it stole my wee little heart.

And even though everything shows that it's not worth it, I still want to keep it short listed.  

I've been driving around in a Peugeot 107 (which is basically the same thing as the Citroen C1 and the Toyota Aygo, except for the body) for the past year or so and even though it seems to be a nice sturdy car, I don't really like it, especially it's interior.  The plastics, the design, yuuhhkk!  But that's not the main reason why I'm still hung up on the 500.  After giving it much thought I realised that it's not just the influence of loving something with all my might for the past years, but it also had to do with the image it portrays.  It's a case of keeping up appearances something very instrinsic with the Maltese character ... the idea of being better off than your neighbour.

Mind you, I wasn't brought up like this, and I'm not the kind of person which gives a lot of weight to image but I've realised that in this case deep down I do.

In the past few days someone (can't remember who) asked me to imagine myself in the car - first in the most reasonable one and then in the one I really want and that should help me in my decision.  Today I was thinking about that advice and I've discovered this 'dark' characteristic.

I imagined myself meeting or even seeing all those persons who made my life hell, and those girls who back in school thought that they were too cool (back in school I wasn't popular for various reasons, mainly because I'd rather stick with a stinky nerd than with a bad-mouther).  I would imagine myself walking past with a grin and thinking "while you were busy polishing the tonsils of every guy in sight and getting knocked up at 16, I got a degree, got myself a good job, landed a promotion and now I have enough money to get a nice swanky car" *even wider grin*

Once the "you rock girl" moment passed, this thought shocked me.  I'm not a person who seeks validation from anyone (except for a couple of persons) and I surely don't give a rat's a$$ what these persons think.  So why the heck was I factoring that in?!!!  ... or maybe it's just another way to cling to the idea of still getting the car of my dreams?

*sigh* I don't know.  There are still things that I have to take into consideration like features, warranty, insurance, etc.  I just hope that whatever decision I take, I will not feel bitter afterwards.

PS:  sorry for the very long post!

Happy Easter

Just wanted to drop a quick note and wish you and all your loved ones a Happy Easter :)


hope that the Easter bunny will bound your way :)

Ravelry meet

This is just a quick reminder about the "stitch and bitch" meeting for Maltese craftsers. We shall be meeting at 10:30/11:00 at the Wool Shop in Msida, and we'll move to Irrera from there :)

Below you can find a map showing you where The Wool Shop is and where Irrera is. If you know anyone who might be interested in meeting up then spread the word!!



View Larger Map


Nighty night ... looking forward to meeting y'all :)

cuteness: keyholder with message board

Stumbled on this while browsing DaWanda. This is a site similar to Etsy but it seems to be more focused on the European market.

I love this idea, it's practical and sweet. You can hang your keys, it acts as a mail rack and it is also coated with blackboard paint so you can leave your notes on it. All this for €39 ... I think that's a sweet deal :)

[Loki Pinboard by anette72 via: DaWanda]