Happy Holidays!

I don't often post photos of "life" things, but today was such a lovely day that I thought I'd share some of the snaps I took. Enjoy, and I hope everyone is having a lovely day! (Or is about to - it's still Christmas eve for my American readers! Make sure you go to bed before Santa gets there!) Dinosaur jars I made for my boyfriend's sister, re-purposing some old jars and dinosaur toys, following Kitten Bear's awesome DIY. A whole heap of presents for a very large family!! And our teeeny little Christmas tree (we got the tree too late and so had to settle for something small. I think it's cute though.) An amazing Christmas breakfast spread, featuring mini pears, dates, mascarpone cheese, pomegranate, mango, cherries, nectarines and peaches. Yuuuum! Present from my boyfriend's parents - Chemistry mugs!! The nerdiest/coolest gift. Here it's filled with some hot chocolate because it was cold this morning (it's definitely not a typical Australian christmas)/ The present my boyfriend got me! Unfortunately it didn't arrive in the mail in time, so he made me this card of it, featuring Princess Bubblegum - It's a SOLAR SYSTEM MOBILE!!! Hahaha I am so excited for it to arrive :) And what I got for my boyfriend - a Kindle which I loaded up with a whole bunch of science fiction and David Mitchell's autobiography. And of course - a snap of the Christmas outfit I decided on! (and OMG my real - and very windblown - hair!) Dress is c/o Koogal, sweater is vintage and shoes are from Asos.

Lady in Red / End of the world

This is a dress that I've had since I was 14, and have almost gotten rid of a countless number of times. I am glad that I have refused to let go of it (via a little bit of a hoarding problem) - because it's the perfect little Christmas dress, goes perfectly with this cardigan from Oasap, and has an awesome plaid pattern which I am loving right now! I also did a more "grown up" look with some heels. wearing dress - Ally (?) cardigan - c/o Oasap socks - Cotton On boots - Ebay heels - Wholesale So I didn't want to add to the ridiculous end-of-the-world hype before the 21st, but now the world is well and truly not ending, here's a list of ways in which scientists think the universe might meet its eventual demise! And don't worry - they're not going to be happening for a number of billion years yet and our world will most likely not be around any more, having being burnt to a crisp by our exploding sun. So it's all good! :) Image from here. Ways the universe is predicted by physicists to end: 1. The big freeze The universe is currently expanding. It will continue expanding forever. Expanding causes the universe to cool down until it reaches absolute zero, at which point life cannot survive, and atoms themselves stop moving. Estimated time left: trillions of years. 2. The big crunch The universe is currently expanding. At some point, it will reach maximum expansion, then come rushing back in on itself until it's condensed into a black hole. Think of it like the opposite of the big bang. Estimated time left: between 10 and 20 billion years. 3. The big rip The universe continues expanding forever. It reaches a point where everything is so "expanded" that all matter, including all the atoms, rip apart. Estimated time left: 20 to 22 billion years. 4. The big bounce Like the big crunch, the universe is going to collapse into itself. However it will then "bounce" back out again in a kind of a big bang, and continue this cycle infinitely. Estimated time left: infinity (although not much is going to survive the universe continually condensing in on itself). Wikipedia has a good page on the "ultimate fate of the universe" if you're interested in further reading on the subject! Oh, and uh, Seasons Greetings guys!

Plaid & Lace / Running in the Rain

I needed to wear a blazer and some tights the afternoon I took these photos - the weather here is so odd that I have no idea whether it'll be a hot or a cold Christmas! So I've actually had to think up a few Christmas outfits to suit any weather. I'm celebrating Christmas at the beach this year - I'm a very lucky lady whose boyfriend's family owns a holiday house at the beach! I would really love to take some photos on the beach itself, and I'll try and do that for you guys if the weather permits! And just to plug my store here for a second, you can clip these little sunflower clips basically anywhere to brighten up an outfit, like on my pockets here! Just sayin' ;) Thank you so much to the people who have bought stuff from my new store so far :) I'm planning on opening an etsy store too in the next few days, and I'm also in the process of creating a whole bunch of new things to put in it! wearing dress - c/o Koogal sunflower clips - the Little Pineneedle blazer - c/o Sheinside wig - c/o Choies bag - Ebay tights - ? shoes - Rubi Shoes I've been travelling all day and don't currently have the necessary cognitive faculties available to me to type out an interesting science lesson (i.e., I'm very tired). So as there was a massive spontaneous downpour this afternoon that I was half-caught in, here's a great video from MinutePhysics who answer whether you'll get wetter if you walk or run in the rain - using science. Love, p.s. I'm probably going to regret this, but feel free to formspring me - particularly with any science topics/questions you'd like me to cover on my blog, or anything else you want to ask me!

I'm Madeline!

You guys have no idea how long I've wanted a cape coat! So when Faith & Lola asked me if I wanted anything from their store to try out I had to choose this! It's got a peter pan collar, the cutest little buttons and some super pretty crocheted lining around the sleeves and bottom of the cape. I'm completely, completely in love. Luckily I also happen to live in a place with a totally bizarre and unstable climate (it's about 20 degrees colder than when I was complaining about the heat yesterday), so it was easily cold enough to layer up today and wear my new coat. This cape also happens to go perfectly with these sunflower sweater clips (which you can buy from my store here!) wearing cape coat - c/o Faith&Lola collar clips - The Little Pineneedle sock cuffs - The Little Pineneedle blouse - c/o Oasap ring - Ebay shorts - ?? boots - Asos bag - Vintage Today Phil Plait shared his pick of the best Astronomy images of 2012 - and they are mind-blowingly awesome.  My favourite is this one that the deep-field Hubble space telescope took - the astronomers decided to point the telescope at a part of the sky which they thought was empty, do a set of super long exposures... and came up with this. Each bright "star" you see is actually a whole galaxy - and some of the galaxies it captured are 13 billion light years away. That means we are seeing them as they existed 13 billion years ago, almost as old as the universe, because of the time it takes light to reach us. I can't even wrap my head around the fact that we are able to see things like this. Go science! Much love to you all!

Neutrals / Neuroscience

At the moment I love wearing different shades of browns together. It has a vintage-photography, antiquated feel to it. I matched this dark brown bowler hat from Oasap with a honey-coloured skirt and warm brown vintage satchel bag, and a beige lace shirt also from Oasap. Add my new Chelsea boots from Asos in the mix and I think this ended up being a pretty nice outfit. The only frustrating thing about today's outfit was that I took these photos in 35 degree heat - not so much fun - and when I finished, my memory card decided to die. So I had to retake all the photos and I think it's amazing I managed to not look totally grumpy in them all. wearing blouse - c/o Oasap hat - c/o Oasap bag and belt - Vintage skirt - Wholesale shoes - Asos So here's some neuroscience for those who are interested: today I want to share with you all what I find to be one of the most fascinating diseases affecting the brain. Blindsight refers to the phenomenon in neuroscience where a person is either partially or totally cortically blind (ie can't see), but can still "see" movement. In effect, someone can throw a person with blindsight a ball, and while the person may not be able to see the person or the ball at all, or even know that the ball is being thrown to them, they are still able to reach up and snatch the ball out of the air. While appearing to be blind in a number of tests, people with blindsight will still blink if you clap your hands in front of their faces. One of the most amazing documented cases of blindsight involved this study. The reason this occurs is due to damage to a specific part of the brain called the visual cortex (V1). When light enters your eye, it is converted into chemical signals which then travel into your brain, and after reaching a kind of optical control centre, these signals travel down different paths. One path, hypothesized to be the more recently evolved, "mammalian pathway" leads to what you see - which is what is damaged in people with blindsight. However, the visual signals from the eye are also thought to travel down a faster, but unconscious, "primitive pathway", allowing the signals to bypass the V1 visual cortex entirely. This is what leads to people with blindsight being able to see without being aware that they are seeing. (If you're interested in the specific anatomy, read more here). And for anyone who was wondering, the old black and white anatomical drawings are available to buy as prints at the gorgeous etsy store Maps and Posters.

Cosmic Unicorns and the Scale of the Universe

Hey guys! I bought this ASOS bodysuit the other day as soon as I laid my eyes on it - basically as a unconscious knee-jerk response to the ON SALE signs and the fact that it's got unicorns on it - then had immediate regrets (immediate as in 1 hour later so it was too late to cancel the order) because it was a petite-sized item. I started stressing that it wouldn't fit me as I am quite a bit taller than the recommended height for petite clothes! LUCKILY, I must I have an oddly short torso or something, because it fit perfectly! I also needed to show off the whole print in all it's spectacular, cosmic unicorn glory: And I just checked, but unfortunately they're all out of stock now :( wearing bodysuit - Asos tights - (worn backwards) c/o Oasap boots - Asos skirt - Wholesale After attempting to make you all feel small and insignificant about your place within the universe yesterday, I figured why not do it again? 'Tis the season! This is an old favourite, that I'm sure some of you will really enjoy if you haven't come across it before: The Scale Of The Universe (2). I just spent about an hour clicking on all the different stars and planets that they use as comparisons and learning all about them. Also the minecraft world is bigger than Earth. Also apparently this site was made by two 14 year olds (!!). Go check it out - it encompasses the entire universe and makes you feel very very big and then very very small all at the same time.