Clockwise from top left: Lanvin Knitted Bow Tie, £75, Liberty, Bracing Silverbirch Thermal Muscle Soak, £19, Molton Brown, H is for Homme Tote Bag, £18, Doghouse, Comme des Fuckdown T-shirt, $35/£22, SSUR, Tintin Plastic Thompson Diving Keyring Big, £5.95, The Tintin Shop, Patum Peperium Gentlemans Relish, £2.45, The Cheese and Wine Shop, Torbay Point Harris Tweed Shoes, £49.99, Clarks, Izola Prospector Beard Oil, £30, John Lewis, Farah's Olde English Toffee Assortment, £6, John Lewis. 

Where the man resides that this motely crue of things is for, who knows. But Harris Tweed/Comme/Bow Tie Wearing & bearded sounds alright to me. This was weirdly one of the easier lists to compile, mainly because I have a strange interest in high end male grooming products, all that badger hair brush shit fascinates me. In fact the boy got a little addicted to having a professional razor shave every day a few moons back, so maybe it's catching?

In the early hours of yesterday morning my friend Ella who I told you guys about last week sadly passed away. My thought are with her family & friends & all I can say is at least she's not in pain anymore. All my love. 

Clockwise from top left: Rhys Lee Teatowel Pack, $59/£36.86, Gorman Shop, Audrey Hepburn Cardboard Cut Out, £40, V&A Shop, HHS Heat Cardigan, €50/£40.75, High Heels Suicide, Starry Night Brooch, £9, Sweet Bestiary, Dotted Back Seam Tights, $48/£30, The Olive Shoppe, Black Cat Curved Hem Tank, £47.76, Leah Goren, Me and Zena x Saatchi Gallery Paint Brush Earrings, £18, Me and Zena, Golden Twig Pencils Pack of 10, £9, INKKIT, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in RX, $16/£10, OCC Makeup, Oversized Deep Red Flower Crown, £25, Kis for Kani, Burgandy Lace Underwired Bra, £19.99, Oysho, Map Coin Purse, £34, Jonathan Adler, Diamond Sculpture, £29.04, Mega Myers.

Lots of etsy shops this year. It is nice to buy directly from the makers always, & I just couldn't find enough good stuff in the usual places. But I've trawled through listings just for you!

Clockwise from top left: Burt's Bees Head to Toe Starter Kit, £14.99, John Lewis, Fuck Off Heart Brass Necklace, $20.12/£12.57, Tevin Vincent, Tattoo Hands Glove Mitt, £16, Of Cabbages and Kings, Pacific Coat Fished Bandana, £15, Slow Down Joe, Deco Basil and Lime Soap, £12.95, Twenty Twenty One, Bear Head Wall Mount, £19.36, White Faux Taxidermy, Mighty Asterix Wooden Puzzle, £12.50, Siam Collection, Colour Wheel Wooden Puzzle, £19.36, Puzzled One, Dumb & Ugly T-shirt, £15.49, Burger and Friends, Cycle of Violence Comic Book By Grayson Perry, £16.50, Blackwell's, Owl and Zebra Illustrated Wooden Badges, £14.20, Depeape.

Feeling a bit dodgy about this one considering two of them (T-shirt & necklace) might be offensive if given to the wrong person but I think they're fucking awesome. In fact the boy gave me a "Fuck It" bracelet a month or so back which is so perfect in it's sweary loveliness. Hopefully we all have someone who *gets* the shit we give to them anyway huh. & sorry about the puzzles, the colour wheel was too good not to include & I think they'd both look good as decor sculptures not just puzzles!

"

Clockwise from top left: Nanoblock Giraffe, £8.50, V&A Shop, Swan Egg Cup, £8.50, Culture Label, Gin & Tonic Bathing Gel, £7.95, Hand Picked Collection, Huf Plantlife Socks, $12/£8, Huf Worldwide, Calavera Brand Cinnamon Hot Shot Jelly Beans, £5, Heals, The Gourmet Mulling Syrup, £6.99, Lakeland, Wooden English Rose, £4.25, Of Cabbages and Kings, Ron Swanson Simple Man Key Ring, £7, Peachy Apricot, Jelly Belly Bubble Gum Scented Candle, £5.10, Jelly Belly UK, Dr Harvery Quant's Cure for Uncontrolled Spending Herbs, £3.45, Find Me A Gift, Skyline Sticky Tape, £6.95, None Such Things, Anatomicals Stop Cracking Up Lim Balm, £2.55, ASOS.

It's back! Much more a mixed bag than last year I think but that wooden English Rose is the sweetest & actually I'm pretty stoked to have found some of the online shops these things are from. None Such Things & Of Cabbages and Kings are absolutely lovely. But I have to fess up I have cheated a little as I actually bought this Ron Swanson keyring for myself last week because they are perfect for my "Work Keys". Well I found it funny anyway. & if you don't know who Ron Swanson is, better add that Parks and Recreation Boxset to your Christmas List. Promise you it'll be worth it! (shit just looked & found out it's only available as a US Import, & since we haven't overcome that obstacle yet, have to stick to watching it online instead)

This man is now the Mayor of my city.

I can hardly talk that makes me so fucking angry. He was elected on the back of lies & the white middle classes. THE BIGGEST ISSUE IN BRISTOL IS INEQUALITY & GEORGE FERGUSON IS THE EPITOME OF THAT. In a city that has the highest sexual assault rates of anywhere outside of London we have elected a man who believes prostitution can never be got rid of, into a council that is on the brink of allowing a Spearmint Rhino to open in my city. My city. MY CITY. My city. My city did this.

So why do I call him a liar? The media is calling him an independent. He quit the Lib Dems practically seconds before announcing running for Mayor. He says he way key to the redevelopment of Bedminster. He bought a piece of prime property at the right time as the middle classes moved into Southville & instead of turning it into affordable housing or a place for the community is became a hub for theatre, organic food markets & middle class white people. Awesome. At one end of North street and the other the polarities of the city have never been clearer. He says he's "actually done stuff" in Bristol. What he does is campaign against any form of development until it's not approved & then presents his own architecture firms plans and wins the new contract. 

This man is completely self interested. He has been elected by sections of society in Bristol that have too much say already (40% odd turn out in Henleaze, Westbury & Redland) whom I shall forever deem as "The Unthinking Posh". He has no policies on inequality. He has no policies full stop. This is not about one in the eye for party politics as he is at his core a Lib Dem, this is about the fact that people can be bought.

He has admitted to spending at least £60,000 but what about the PR people around him? Every member of the Labour party staff have to declare their time as a deduction from the campaign fund. But I guess they were just volunteers right George? Not that they're getting paid fuckloads from their firms to campaign for you. He needs to be investigated.

I will fight every fucking thing he tries to introduce. If he has any power it will be detrimental to Bristol and will only line his pockets further. This man is poisonous. & we have just put him at the head of our city. Are you fucking happy Bristol? This might be a deal breaker for me to get off my ass & actually leave this ridiculous city.

Oh but PS. The Independent woman won for our PCC, which would be great, if all the above didn't apply.

FUCK.

So sheepishly, I'm back guys! I know I suck. I half heartedly did posts & didn't get back to reading other blogs & commenting & actually engaging with anything. But I swear new leaf & all that. I always hated people who fled blogspot for tumblr because I thought it was lazy. But man, tumblr is so easy. & unoriginal. The people on blogspot are better but the content on tumblr is so broad. The above illustration for example is by Sam Taylor for Vice, who I found via tumblr. But for now I'll try & split myself a lot better. Promise. I've put my gift guide together (remember from last year?) for next week so the posts will definitely be more frequent & I will resolutely march my laptop into work to keep up with other peoples blogs on my lunch break. Sound like a decent deal? Sweet.

Now onto some way more important stuff.

My friend Ella from way back was diagnosed with cancer last April. It came completely out of the blue & was obviously more of a shock being that she's only 20. After all the horrible chemo finally came to an end unfortunately a couple of weeks ago she was told it was too agressive to treat. Her story isn't unique but she does have a unique way of telling it & she wants to get her message out that she's facing death & she's not going to be scared to talk about it. So if any of this resonates with you even a tiny bit I massively encourage you to read her blog Day to Day Living and Then Some. She wants to answer questions anyone might have about her situation so if you have anything you want to know, ask away! I know I can trust you guys to leave awesomely lovely comments right?

Right.