The chordae tendineae, or heart strings, are cord-like tendons that connect the papillary muscles to the tricuspid valve and the mitral valve in the heart. This is another new illustration, based on a little gesture Nick did the other week. You see, he is quite susceptible to having his heart strings tugged by tv shows, and one evening he did a demonstration of how one would tug on their own heart strings. It was so adorable I had to draw it...



Miss @Makalita liked it so much she bought a canvas print of it and kindly took a photo upon its arrival! It looks great, I'm always impressed with the Red Bubble print quality.

I have been absolutely OVERWHELMED with responses to "How to love yourself in 8 really hard steps", so I want to maintain some of the body image vibe in my blog from now on. In this post, I want to share one of my secrets to feeling confident and loving myself - and it's just a simple matter of taking a photo of myself! I have been following flickr groups like wardrobe_remix, Fatshionista and No More Mumus for a while, and on the odd occasion (when I've remembered) I submit a photo. I really love to put my outfits together, and even though I don't have any kind of budget for designer stuff, I still feel great about myself when I wear things I feel comfortable and awesome in. My main failing has been consistency - often I'm running late enough as it is to be bothered with pulling out my tripod, or trying to get Nick to take a photo of me where my head isn't cut off!

I think photographing and documenting our outfits has so many benefits. I'm slowly learning to pose myself - something I've always had difficulty with. Usually I'm the girl who pulls a face in a photo! I think photographing your outfit can also help you to find peace with your body shape and how you look to everyone else. I take inspiration from other flickr outfit posters, especially from the plus size groups, and find myself becoming bolder because of the influence I take from people like tootsicle, 52 stations, Girlchile and pining for the moon. I'm also an avid reader of The Musings of a Fatshionista and Young, Fat and Fabulous - Christina and Gabi are amazing fashion role models for me, who take HUGE risks. I bought wet look tights the other day just because I heard Chris chanting "DO IT DO IT DO IT" in the back of my head.


So from now on, I'm going to make a concerted effort. My friend Sonya, of the No More Mumus blog, really inspires me because she consistently takes photos of her amazing outfits and posts them to flickr. I don't go out a whole heap, but I'm pledging to myself that when I do dress up - I'm going to take a photo. Hell, if I'm going to the shops and I've pulled something together that makes me feel great, I'm going to take a photo of that too!

Some tips for taking photos of your outfits:

• Use a tripod if you have access to one.
• If you don't have access to a tripod, use a human being who can take directions well.
• If you don't have a tripod or a human being, find somewhere you can prop your camera at about eye height.
• If you have a remote, use it! Disguise it by putting it up your sleeve, or putting your hands on your hips.
• If you don't have a remote (my new camera doesn't!) use the 10 second timer.
• Turn your camera around so it's of portrait orientation. We want to see your head and your feet!
• Try to put yourself in a place where the light is behind the camera, not you.
• If you take photos during the day, and you're in a well lit area, don't use the flash. If you can't avoid the flash, that's ok! Just ensure we can see the details, colours and textures in your outfit.
• Try not to have distracting things in the shot. I'm pretty guilty of this, so I'll forgive you quicker than others :P
• Take photos from a few angles - front, side and back! And include detail shots of brooches or your shoes. I love outfit posters who do this!

I have been so busy lately, but I want to tell you about a few purchases I've made in the last few weeks - from We Love Colors, Yours Clothing and Evans. But I need to create a few outfits first to fully illustrate them - so hold tight, they'll be coming soon!

For most of the world, it's been July 1 for a fair wack of the day but I'm skidding under the door Indiana Jones style for the rest of the globe... here's July's desktop!

To download one of these babies, click the link to go to the flickr page where you'll have to go to "All sizes" to download that sucker and slap it on your background.


1600x1200


1680x1050 - widescreen


320 x 480 - iPhone


240 x 320

You may not upload this desktop to other websites, nor may you use it for any other purpose than to wallpaper your desktop. This also means it's uncool to alter it and reupload it somewhere as your own work. Soz :(

This morning Michael Jackson died, and I have been running the gamut of emotions remembering my childhood as an avid MJ fan. I think it was when I was about four that I became fixated on him, and I remember that my uncle Pete had brought up his Thriller album on a visit from Melbourne for me to listen to. Michael then became my imaginary friend - even though I had two baby sisters, I was a very solitary child and would play by myself for hours and Michael would keep me company. When my sister Amanda was born, it meant that all three girls took up the back seats in the car, and Mum tells me (with a giggle) that I used to panic and protest that they were sitting on Michael and hurting him.



I would watch for the "We Are The World" clip to come on Rage on the weekends, anxiously anticipating when Michael would come in for the first chorus. (That song had ALL of my heroes, basically!) Michael used to say and do a lot of things to encourage peace and love, and I honestly felt that all people should have the same aims (oh naivety!)

When the Dangerous album came out I was about 10 years old and Mum and Dad bought us the cassette album, which we'd play in my awesome pink cassette player. We'd blast it in the garage and sing and dance with our neighbours until the very end of the album. Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual would typically follow.

By 1993 the sexual abuse accusations came out; I was 12 and becoming more and more confused about my childhood hero and former imaginary friend. I was around the same age as Jordan Chandler, so it was only natural that I had some degree of empathy with him. The media went crazy, the magazines my mother frequently bought started calling him Wacko Jacko (to be fair his behaviour did become quite erratic) so my love affair with him ended quite abruptly. I felt embarrassed and betrayed.

This morning my Mum called and Nick answered the phone. Mum arranged a BBQ for Sunday night, and then told Nick that Michael Jackson was rumoured to be dead. I was in a state of disbelief. Rumours were flying on Twitter and Facebook, and as the hour swung around and Michael's death was confirmed, I put on Thriller and relived my childhood memories. They were good memories. Happy memories. Michael Jackson taught me to dance and sing, two things I still adore as an adult. He was my role model and I think a lot of my creative aptitude was encouraged in those years, by him and my family.

Vale Michael Jackson. My hero.

I am quite the choir nerd - This is Perpetuum Jazzile covering Toto's Africa completely a cappella, even creating the rain and thunder from clicks, knee slaps and jumping on the stands. Amazing.



Yes, I'm gay. It amazes me when people reduce a gay person down to every stereotype they've ever heard because it somehow protects them from actually getting to know that person. This is a beautiful video, and I love everything these guys said.