DWT Manchester: Rihanna Stan

I'm so irritated right now! Completely besides myself, want to know why? It's simple really. Because I feel like blogging!! You're probably thinking "So do it then, what's the big deal?" but the big deal is this. I have a specific set of pictures that I am very keen on sharing with you which I took with my proper camera after a couple of photo walks with friends, but then I got home and got ready to transfer the pictures to my laptop, it was then I realised I had two major setbacks. One, my camera USB cable seems to have disappeared on me, I've never transferred pictures off it before so I'm not even sure there was a USB in the box but that seems like a ridiculous notion! So I switched to plan B; get the memory card and just put it straight into my computer, thwarted again! There is NO memory card reader slot on my laptop!

Can you see how this would be very frustrating? Now until I either buy a USB cable or find a way to connect a memory card reader to my laptop then I'm stuck with no pictures! :(

Do not despair though for I have a back up plan! Today we can broach one of my favourite topics... Rihanna!! :)

For those of you who don't know, I am a proud Stan! There is nothing else to say about it other than it is true and I will admit it again unashamedly any day, anytime. I don't really understand what there is to hate about her, I can understand feeling indifferent though. I'm indifferent about a lot of things, but Rihanna is not one of them! She's young, she's beautiful and she's rich! Haha. She also lives her life the way she wants too and though she's a bit extra sometimes, like the stan I am, I forgive her for her muchness and blame it on the fact that she was a star from such a young age! Almost 10 years now to be precise.

So as I have now confessed where I stand maybe you will understand this post a bit more! You see, last month I went to the Diamonds World Tour in the MEN Arena! Whoop whoop! It was my second time in the arena, but my first time in the standing area. The decision to go to the show was extremely whimsical, I think I got my tickets the night before or something because I decided I couldn't let her pass right through my city and not see her! So at about 4pm, Tomz and I got ready to start the entire process that will eventually see us to the front and centre of the stage!

We got dressed and ready to hit the road.

I have no idea what she's wearing and I didn't think to ask as this was never meant to be an outfit post! But I'm wearing TopShop from head to toe, lol, except my shoes which are Nike Blazers and my belt by Ferragamo.

As we got closer to the arena you could really start to feel the buzz, there were people giving out some pretty awesome stick on tattoos which were actually infused with the scent of her new fragrance Nude. I loved the concept! Rih and all her tatts, I was completely unadventurous though and simply stuck it on my hand! Lol.

After a lot of standing around and waiting patiently with palpable excitement (approximately 4 hours worth!) the show finally started! Whooooop! She was opened for by 2 DJ's who together make up a group called GTA (i forget what it stands for) and they were awesome! For the first twenty minutes anyways.

You see I'm pretty sure that whenever you are waiting for your favourite artist to come and rock the stage, nothing is more annoying than some DJ's playing the same type of music over and over again! I don't even know what the genre would be called but I guess their tagline is in fact 'death to genres' sadly it was still all one genre all house/dubstep/electro/drum and bass like. I was quite disappointed and very very tired from standing for hours now but I still managed to keep my smile, somewhat.

And then fiiiiiinally! At about 9.30, the queen Rih finally comes unto stage and it was pretty crazy from there! Most of the night from this point is a bit of a blur, I was so high off her energy and loving every single song she performed singing and dancing around like crazy! Unfortunately (or fortunately) the arena was packed! Stadium Status baby! So there was no room to take some action shots of Tomz and I dancing, there was plenty of room to take pictures of Rih though and she looked amazing! Here are shots of her outfits from the night, she changed so many times!

This is by far my favourite outfit of her! She looks like Iron Man's long lost girlfriend, I loved it!

Literally flawless is she not? And I was so up close to the stage as well! It was amazing, what would have made it even more Rihdiculous would have been if I got to touch her when she came down to the crowd! Unfortunately I was about 1 person too far away from her! Boohoo :( All in all even though her vocals could do with some work she's a pretty amazing performer! "Where have you been" "Cockiness" "Diamonds" and "Rockstar 101" were amongst my favourite performances! She's coming back to Manchester again on Tuesday and I'm trying to decide if I want to see her again, I so would if I can convince just one person of her awesomeness and get them to shell out the cash. But for now it's peace out b*tches! (It wouldn't be a complete Rihanna post if I wasn't profane at least once! lol)

Reni x

In Love With Two

Hey hey hey!

I apologise for the current ever-changing state of the blog, trying to find a perfect new look for 2013 :) Please bear with me while I experiment with colour schemes, dynamics and so on until I think I love it again! Also like my Facebook Page! Anyways, moving swiftly on to today’s topic!

Can you be in love with two people at the same time? This is something that I’ve ALWAYS wondered about! Is it truly truly possible to be completely in love with two people simultaneously? For once this topic doesn’t even stem from my love for Rihanna and Chris Brown (who are apparently off again **boooooo**), it’s just something that always seems to pop up in conversations every now and then and I realised that I haven’t ever posted about it. I asked a couple of people about it and I got the usual answers about how there’s a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone, which I completely agree with! But this post is not about the differences between those!

People have dedicated whole songs to trying to figure out how to live when in love with two people (Usher-What’s A Man To Do) and some people have even released silly videos on the interweb which caused one of their significant others to dump their ass! (Breezaay). There’s even my favourite series at the moment; Vampire Diaries, where Elena has been in love with both Stefan and Damon separately and together, they’ve both represented different things to her, Stefan always being the safer option while Damon is the daredevil bad boy that every girl secretly wishes they could tame. And while I’m unhappy that she’s straying from the plot in my mind and trying to please all the Delena fans, it makes me wonder why no one has ever questioned whether she ever truly loved Stefan but when it happens in real life, people always jump to the conclusion of “you obviously were never in love with the first one”.

The movie Scavengers put being in love with two people in a whole new perspective. Blake Lively’s character claims to be in love with two guys who happen to be best friends, not in a destructive way to them though, they also both love her. But anyways, the way she describes it is that one of them has a softer side, he ‘makes love’ to her, he’s more passionate, more in tune with his feelings, let’s call him Water. The other is hard, he’s not as in touch with his feelings I guess and he definitely doesn’t ‘make love’ to her, her body experiences a whole new set of feelings. Obviously he’s Fire.

Throughout the movie she doesn’t show preference to any of them, she’s equally distressed when either of them are in danger, she doesn’t sleep with one more frequently, in fact they often have coitus in threes. One might argue that she isn’t in love with either of them and that what she feels for them is just lust but for arguments sake, let’s say she is actually in love with them both. She feels no form of confusion at all, she’s not conflicted in her mind on who she should love more or spend the rest of her life with. She’s just a young girl, having a blast on an island with two hot best friends. I suppose it helps that they don’t get jealous and petty over her; she’s both of theirs equally. What I’m wondering is this; is it possible for two different people to bring out two completely different sides in you but in your mind neither side is better or wrong, you love both people and both sides and can’t imagine life with only the one. And no, you do not have split personality disorder! Is it possible to have Water and Fire coexist?

I think it is, if not how on earth did Adele set fire to the rain?! I’m not trying to say I can define what being in love with two people is but I do think it’s possible! I mean why the hell not?? Who is always creating all these plenty rules that we must abide by. Sure it’s probably confusing and leads to a lot of heartbreak and a lot of pain, but if you know you can’t handle it then don’t entertain the thoughts of having two people in your life at the same time, flee from temptation! Let your heart heal before inviting someone else to fill a gaping hole that was left by your last love. If you end up living happily ever after, that’s great, if not... Well, all’s fair in love and war.

Adios!

Let's Play A Game

Hey beautiful people, so I've been suffering a seemingly incurable bout of writer's block but on the train last night I think I was finally cured! Wrote a short story so read and comment please! It's partly inspired by Rihanna's "Russian Roulette".

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She could feel the sweat dripping down her face as she slowly regained consciousness; small beads forming on her forehead and then trickling down her face slowly, like lazy raindrops on the window, eyes flitting open. “How did I get myself into this mess?” she wondered. Her head was pounding where someone had struck her. Hard. “She’s waking up boss” she heard a man say in a voice that was too high pitched to be respectable. She wanted to laugh but her breath caught in her lungs. Her chest ached. Looking down she realised had been bound hands and legs, and there was duct tape firmly around her mouth. “What should I do with the haggard thing?” the voice said again. Ashleigh tried to remember how she had gotten here in the first place, the last thing she could remember was getting into a rich guys car. He drove a Maserati and she felt lucky to be the one to service him that night

“Hey Mistuh, you need a lady friend for the night? I only charge £1000 till the morning and I can do you nine ways from Sunday,” she cooed in her southern drawl, shoving herself through the open window, cleavage first. It was well after dusk and the streets were cold. Business was slow and she would do anything to climb into this matte black car and be carried off into his swanky apartment somewhere uptown, never mind what she might have to do for the next few hours. “Really? All nine ways?” his voice was a rich deep alto and she could feel the vibrations in her ear as he spoke. “Yessir, maybe even more” she offered, snapping her gum and smiling flirtatiously, playing coy because she knew what men like this wanted. It wasn’t that she liked doing this… ‘job’, but sometimes there was simply no other way to pay the bills. She only worked the streets when she needed to, when her three year old could no longer eat broth consisting mainly of water and cried for some meat or bread, sadly this was becoming more and more frequent, she even had a couple of regulars. “Well hop in then, but I’m only giving you £300 no more.” He said with a smile “That’s still higher than some f*ckers offer so I’m in.” she thought as she clambered into the car, feeling the cold leather seats on her thighs.

Now the same alto voice was saying “Leave her for now, wake them all up first.” For the first time Ashleigh realised there were other people around her. Girls dressed almost exactly like her; scantily clad, some stripped down to their underwear, obviously ladies of the night. She saw the guy with the high-pitched voice, he was stout and dressed like an undertaker, even including the hat. He went around the room brutally kicking and slapping all the girls until they were all on their feet. There were about 8 of them, all tied up with lips that had been sealed. “Now, now Caleb, don’t be so harsh, they have enough punishment waiting for them.” The alto voice said, reverberating through the room.

Ashleigh wondered where they were, all she could make out was that it was unfinished and the concrete on the floor grazed her bare legs constantly, there were also a few sparsely spaced windows. It must be a warehouse of some sort. The voice sounded even closer than it was before as it spoke. He was standing in front of one of the girls. “So tell me your name sweetheart” the hooker stood shaking before him speechless. “Very well then, let me explain the rules of my little game to you.” Emerging completely out of the darkness to reveal his 6 foot 5 frame, with a wry grin he said. “It is my job as a bearer of the light, to rid the world of all things sinful and all things immoral and you my dear, all of you,” he says looking intently at each one of them “are both sinful and immoral” Ashleigh watched as he ran a finger carelessly down the hookers face and stopped right at the end of her breastbone, in between her breasts. “Because of your undignified means of living, I have chosen you to play this little game with me, oh don’t cry darling, it might all be quite alright in the end.” He smiles slightly as he watches the hooker shake with fear, then he jab her forcefully in the chest with two fingers. The girl doubles over and falls, completely out of breath. “You simply must choose between 2 options. Caleb, show them the games rooms.” With that the lights went off again and there was an image cast on the wall directly in front of them. From what she could make out, there was a table with a gun on it.  She could hear the baritone voice explaining the rules of the game, and the game was Roulette. There was only one cartridge in the gun. Anyone who managed to survive would be allowed to leave and everyone else… could finally meet her maker. The only catch was a pack of rabid dogs just through another door, waiting to devour anyone who took more than two minutes to pull the trigger. Ashleigh felt sick to her stomach; this job cannot be the reason for her being here right now.

She closed her eyes and began to remember all the decisions that had brought her to this place. Dating Chris, the neighbourhood bad boy even when her father told her not too. Falling out with her mother after she failed to side with her. Isolating herself from all her siblings as she claimed they had all never been in love before. Her decision to move out of her parents house at the age of 17 and live with Chris instead. Loosing her inhibitions one night and indulging fully in his pleasures. Staying with him even after he beat her continuously. Getting pregnant and dropping out of school to have his baby. Chris eventually kicking her and her baby out of the house no matter how she pleaded. Meeting a woman who got her started in the ‘business’, getting her her very first client. Wondering to a perfect world in her mind while different men constantly filled her womanhood; old, young, poor, rarely rich. Nothing good had come out of this and all Ashleigh could think of was her baby girl, sleeping in the dingy apartment. She could only hope someone would save her.

All of a sudden there was a loud bang and then a thump on the floor as the first girl’s body went down. She saw Caleb drag the lifeless body out of the room “Feed her to the dogs” the alto voice said. “Yes boss” answered Caleb. Shivering convulsively and crying at the sight she shut her eyes tight again and thought of her perfect world. Another bang and another thud. Dreams of bright summer days and white Christmases were interrupted by a hand placed firmly on her shoulder. “You’re next” She looked at him with all the light left in her soul and pleaded with her eyes for him to let her go. Her deep brown eyes swam in tears waiting to fall at the bat of an eyelid, but all she was met with were cold black eyes, devoid of any emotions. Caleb grabbed her roughly and she wriggled and thrashed about trying desperately to be freed. Four slaps in rapid succession met her cheek, life had dealt her a heavy blow. Now locked in the room she stares at the revolver, her only escape. Picking up the cold lifeless gun like the eyes she had just seen her hands begin to shake. She stares into the barrel and realises they look exactly like the eyes she has just seen. Her knees buckle and she sinks slowly to the ground. “Only 1 more minute before my puppies come in to play.” says the voice through the speakers. “There are some truly sick people in this world” she thought as she spins the cylinder. “Better to take your chance with the gun than the dogs.”

“30 seconds”

Clicking the cylinder into place, she wills her hand and her heart to be still.

“20 seconds”

She raises her eyes to heaven and says a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening.

“10 seconds”

She lifts the gun slowly to her temple and feels it ice cold on her skin.

“9... 8… 7… 6…”

Slowly and deliberately she squeezes the trigger.

“With This Ring I Thee Promise”- The Promise Ring Paradigm

I would never forget the look on my mother’s face and the confusion in mine when she sent me to buy my brother a gift for his (female) school friend whose birthday it was. Jewellery was the suggested present so I popped into Accesorize, looked around found this gorgeous ring, and bought it. On presenting it to my mother she went into swift Yoruba, roughly translating to “Ahh, Morenike, don’t you know any better? A boy cannot give a girl a ring lest he plans on proposing to her with said ring.”

Now truth be told, this came as news to me. It’s just like any other piece of jewellery as long as both parties are sure that the relationship is platonic no? Well apparently not. Which brings me to the topic of this blogpost, the much coveted promise ring. In essence, a promise ring, as made famous by Tiffany Evan’s and Ciara, is more or less a pre-engagement ring where the guy promises not to lie, cheat, hurt and/or whatever other bad things guys sometimes do to girls. Sweet huh? I know right.

My only beef with promise rings is when the guy in question is almost certainly should not be dashing out rings to anyone **cough** Chris Brown & Karrueche **cough**

As far as I’m concerned he still has eyes for Rihanna, especially if she was truly the cause for him and Drake’s recent blow up, but let’s allow that discussion for now. Neanderthals who do it just because they think it’s ‘cool’ need not degrade the value of the promise ring. I like to think of it as one of the highest forms of flattery before marriage but there I go, romanticising everything, I really do need to get out of my head sometimes. Anwyays, as you were.

Bisous xx