Go-To Fashion Blogs (Reposted from WordPress school blog for JRN504)

I don't follow many style blogs religiously, if at all. If something interesting pops up on TweetDeck or in my Google Reader I might take a look, but there are really just a few that I go back to. The following are blogs that I enjoy reading, but they're in no particular order.

Toronto Bike Chic focuses on trendy bicyclists in Toronto. The postings involve mostly photos and a bit of description. The photos are nice and crisp, and they're of regular Torontonian bikers who have that little bit of extra style. I enjoy this blog immensely because I'm a cyclist. I bike to school, to work, and around the city on the weekends in the good weather. I feel that my bike is an extension of my attitude, my style, and my personality. In downtown Toronto, a bike is part of the culture. A bike can be a fashion statement, and in Toronto it usually is.

Coffee Cycle Chic is by the same person, but focuses on coffee shops and cycle shops in Toronto. Sadly, neither have been updated in a while. This round-up makes me miss them.

Though, Hipster Musings is updated frequently, and it is one that I check often. A small-town girl, who goes to Waterloo University, writes this one. Her style isn't actually necessarily what I would wear myself, but I the outfits she puts together are cool nonetheless, and that's exactly why I read it. I wouldn't wear it, so I read her blog and sort of live vicariously through her. Also, I find that her posts are kind of a blast from the past. The music and movies she writes about, as well as her sense of fashion, are very 90s. Not to mention the writer looks like Winona Ryder so I constantly think back to Girl Interrupted (1999) and all the dark, 90s fashion in it.

Lastly, Cheap and Chic is a blog that similar to a million other blogs, but I read it anyway. Nothing about it is spectacular, but I do read this so I thought I should include it. Even the name makes it hard to distinguish. It has pretty photos, some DIY ideas, and some nice fashions. Though I can't really tell what the cheap part is. Of course, the DIY stuff is cheap, but I the clothes are all a bit pricier than I would personally buy.

Here are the rest of the online fashion and design media that I read (again in no particular order): LENS, The Sartorialist, Worn Fashion Journal, Textstyles, College Fashion, and Eye Weekly Style

Stapleless Stapler

Staplers seem like a great invention, right up until the moment when you are trying to jam those impossibly small and hard-to-handle pieces of bent metal into a teeny-weeny slot.

Staplers just know when the exact worst moment is to run out of staples. It always needs reloading right at that critical moment when you're handing in an assignment, when there are customers waiting in line, or when you need to catch a bus.

But fear not! The days of actually filling a stapler with staples are over.

Check out this stapleless stapler! It basically just punches a hole in the paper, and then folds the punched-out part in on itself, so the folded bit is holding the sheets of paper in place.

I got one for Christmas from my mum, and it has saved my sanity.

I love the library

Whether it's the Toronto Public Library or the Ryerson library, I just absolutely adore the library. They're a great idea in general, a way for people to share and learn using books they might not have necessarily had access to otherwise.

Toronto's public library system is one of the best systems in the world. There are many branches, a huge amount of material, and even some really great building and system updates lately. Library staff (not just the librarians) are usually quite knowledgeable and helpful. Not only that, but the Toronto public library system also offer programs for kids and adults alike, all of which are free.

The Ryerson library is also really great. Librarians at Ryerson really know their stuff, and they know how to help a university student, what kind of texts we're looking for and stuff like that. As a former prof of mine (Prof. Copeland) once said, "For some reason, the librarians really like helping you kids."

Ry library also has computers, ipads, laptops and lots of other equipment that can be taken out of reserve for a few hours at a time. But the best part of the reserve material at Ryerson is that there are text books for each class available to take out. You can sign them out for two hours at a time.

So, this semester I didn't even bother buying my French textbook for $120. Instead, before class, I take it out of reserve. Even if it's a little bit late getting back to them, they only charge a dollar fine per hour that it's late. So, if this semester is thirteen weeks long, and I take the textbook back late after each class, it still only costs me $13.

Wow.
And that is why I love the library.

*Photo Credit: Anais Kelsey-Verdecchia. Figure in photo is my sister.