Hesitant aliens, dark matter, disobedient objects, dancing and slash.

This past weekend I took a trip down to London, and I had the best time!
Friday saw me head to Brixton Academy with my friend Nick, for the first time in years to see Gerard Way. Anyone that knows me know I am a BIG fan of Gerard's work, his music, his comics, his art, his generalness, so I obviously had a GREAT time!
If you want to go to a gig where you get to pogo like it's the mid 90s, get served some sass, shout outs to the trans* community, young women and talks of mental illness taboo, posi vibes, art and to see someone enjoy being on stage probably more then you enjoy being there (which is a lot!) then GO SEE Gerard Way!

Saturday saw us have a big breakfast followed by having our minds blow at Peter Harrison Planetarium. We saw  a show called Dark Universe that was a visualisation of what make's up 95% of the universe, all the parts you can't see. Whilst some of it went over my head, I got the gist of it and the idea of infinite space ALWAYS blows my mind, but it was sooo good and what felt like the closest I will ever get to floating in space! The gift shop could have more fun things though, all I left was a bookmark!

Then we hot footed it over to the V&A to catch Disobedient Objects.

This was too good, it's only on until this weekend, but go and see it if you can! It made me angry and sad and riled up, all by a bunch of stuff in a small room. It was a bit like stepping into a 90s rave with the music and neon and scaffolding, but it had lots to look at and think about, protesting through great crafts, modern devices, jewellery made my inmates in solitary confinement, political activism through inflatable cubes, how to make a tear gas mask, guerrilla girls, graffiti, real life mocking jays and so much more!

When I left it made me want to stitch up a storm and angry dance to Atari Teenage Riot. Instead we went to get some super tasty homemade ice cream and peruse the science museum shop (again had nothing for me!)

Headed home for some pizza before dancing in a pub to all the best emo pop punk, YAY!!
Then the weekend was topped off by hanging out with my other bff Holly, eating a roast dinner and Dime cake and playing the best game ever, Slash!

To infinity and beyond!

I think 2015 might the year for space, space and the future and time travelling and stuff!
I have already made a reference to the fact it's 2015 and Marty McFly and co. told us we should be zipping around on Hoverboards by now (I'll try not to talk about this again as I'm sure SOOOO many people will be talking about this all year!)

But yeah space! Space is probably back big time, seeing as the 90s is so now and everyone EVERYONE in the 90s loved space and aliens and stuff. the X Files is the boxset du jour and that holographic Arakki look is sooo hot right now.
I think I like space because I am a child of the 90s, from the cartoons I loved in the late 80s/early90s (like Galaxy High and Moondreamers)

awesome colouring book I still own!

To being impressed at people who can draw Marvin the Martian...

To awesome TV shows about aliens that looked like humans...

and obviously songs about space...


So I am super excited about having projects this year about space! The space far up in the sky, with planets and stuff, I can't wait to get myself deep into it.
But also space as in your space. I want to make a zine about people's favourite spaces, I want to know about cosy bedrooms, cluttered studios, homely kitchens and the rest.

So to infinity (2015) and beyond I go!*

*I think I just got spacey as I just recently watched Hugo for the first time and I just wanna live in a George Melies film!

My Year in Lists: Seleena!

So here is my annual end of year 'look how awesome I am and look at all the awesome things I have done' list! Everyone should do one of these lists, it makes you feel good!
Now as I mentioned in my previous post I'm a firm believer of making a change whenever you feel the need to, not just at the end of the year. But as I also mentioned, working in retail does kind of book end your year at the end of the year!
All that busyness, overtime, madness, non-stop-no-time-for-yourself-ness that comes with working in retail at Christmas followed by the quiet, anti climatic, boom it's all over-ness of January that comes with working in retail means it's a perfect time to do all that stuff you did have time to do from October-December and take stock of things!
This year has felt like a bit of blur, it has gone by so quickly, I think this is what happens when you get older! Or this is the same shit I say every year!
This year was pretty jam packed now I think about it!
This is the year I turned 30, THIRTY! now I know that isn't old, but I can't believe I'm 30, it feels like I left school just yesterday, 2015 marks 15 years since I left school!!!!!!!! enough of that here are my 2014 highlights (in probably chronological order!)

-The great Yorkshire Zine weekender: This was in March and was the best thing to sort of kick start 2014. It involved tabling at both Sheffield and Leeds zine fests, meeting people you only talk to on the internet, getting great feedback about the zines you make, selling shit and best of all I got to see ALL my favourite Yorkshire faces!!! more of this in 2015 please!

-April saw Yiiikes! second outing when we turned the gallery space in Islington Mill into an upside down living room for Baduncle at Sounds From The Other city.

Then Mad May hit.....
-my birthday is on the 1st so yeah I TURNED 30 (not sure if I mentioned that already!) I ate cake and had the BEST dance party ever, that I called The World Happiness Damce, got my friends to DJ only songs from the 90s, had corn snacks, alien balloons and the worlds biggets cake that was Jamaican flag colours on the inside, blue on the outside and had my face all over it (thanks Charlotte!).

-I decided not long before my birthday that I was going to take myself to New York New York, because you know, you only turn 30 once!
THAT WAS A GOOD DECISION!
I got to see soooo much good stuff, the sights awesome art (Kara Walker's giant sphinx sugar sculpture was life changing) bands (shout out to upset, took in a musical (Heathers!! sadly not Hedwig), took a tap class at Broadway Dance and one of my teen hero's made some great art I got to see, hugged me and took a selfie with me, I need to tell 15 year old me that GETTING OLD IS GREAT!

-Then mad may got less mad as gigs got cancelled, namely The Julie Ruin and I never got to see my 8 year old hero Macauly Culkin sing songs about pizza, but I did still get to visit London and DJ at a friend's night in Leeds!

-The summer saw Yiiikes! get our first practice space, WOOOOO.

-The other great thing about turning 30 means you have other friends that turn 30 too! so an early birthday caravan Holiday to Great Yarmouth for Holly's birthday happened. Stopped via my sister and we were in Yarmouth together for the first time since Baton Twirling camp in the early 90s!

-Late summer meant surprising Holly right near her birthday with a party, where I got to DJ again and play all the songs we have loved in our 15 year friendship, THAT'S HALF OUR LIFE GUYS!!!
Whilst in London I also stopped by the felt shop which made me want to break out the felt and start making shit instantly.

-My oldest friend Katie turned 30 too and so we headed to Italy, because getting old is awesome and means you get to go on holiday all the time!!!!Sun, sea, lemons, friends, GOOD TIMES!

- Then it was Kandy's birthday but she was 30 last year but I had already decided I wanted to go to Leeds fest so we called that her birthday trip when she decided to join me. So yeah I went to a Leeds fest for the second time ever in my life (the first being back in 2000!) only for the day, but it was bloody good, awesome bands, great friends, not too shitty weather!

-I attended my first ever hen do followed by a wedding of one of my other oldest friends Jenni. I made her cry walking down the aisle (sorry about that!)

- Earlier in the year favourite artist and Bessie Alison was part of an awesome exhibition in a grand old building in York, then in October she was part of Manchester Literature fest and had art in the grand old John Rylands library in Manchester, this was all obviously awesome!

- Peaches Christ returned to Manchester and I was there, this time for Bearberlla (the bear version of Barberella!)

- I whipped out some art just in time for Halloween, All Of Them Witches, which saw me depict 12 of my favourite fictional witches in felt form!

- For Halloween I dressed as 3rd Degree Burns from the Fabulous Stains and did a tap dance at my friend's night Zombie Pride! my first solo tap performance. Granted it was to Hunx' Don't call me fabulous so lasted like 20 seconds, but it was awesome!

Then hit non stop November... the month where I got to meet several of my heroes and super nice people who create super great art!

-There was that one week and half where I went to see Gerard Way (twice), Tacocat, comic book signing, John Waters, Frank Iero, whilst putting up Yiiikes! Snotboobs at Nexus art café and topping it all off with a trip to Leeds for thought Bubble. Meeting people who create great stuff that inspires me whilst being super nice and humble is like THE BEST THING EVER!

Then it was December which was just a blur of bathbombs and fighting off illness and trying not to stand on customers feet!

I obviously had lots more great things I wanted to write about but this is already word heavy (no time to add pictures, I have a Bakewell tart to make!)

I look forward to taking over the world in 2015, with Yiiikes! Poor Lasses, crafty goodness and a zine about crisps!

HERE'S TO 2015!

Picture of the year; me at Coney Island!