Lesley is obsessed with tumblr, torrents, writing letters, participating in giveaways, her diana mini, mayo, cheese. Is stalker obsessed with leopard, her last obsession was Camel, and she thinks she is a cat-a distracted one; loves angry birds; wishes she was Gogo Yubari, is distressed by the fact that each time she saves up money to buy Jeffrey Campbell Litas..the money vanishes..is almost spelling bankruptcy for her family; has recently started using the AC; wants to go to a beach, kick her shoes off, and sing some Beatles real loud; hates talking on phone; hates Espadrilles…because they look tacky and cheap; thinks muffin top is too ugly a word to be included in Oxford Dictionary, is currently reading a book called ‘Secrets: A memoir of Vietnam and The Pentagon Papers’ by Daniel Ellsberg..is busy with googling articles, facts, and all of the works of the US Secret Service…and calls her laptop Slim Pig.
What do you do when you’re not blogging?
Before the blog came about, or even now when I don’t blog/study, I am usually reading a book or always jotting down little things .. mainly stories and poetry. But yeah, I’m pretty much always reading. ^____^
You make this all the time – ^____^ What does it signify?
This was introduced to me by a really good friend of mine called Ahji. She’s Korean and she used to use that emoticon a lot when we’d write/text/chat often, and I just sort of got it from her and it stuck. 
And how do you make a cat?
>^_^<
or
~^_^~
or
=^_^=
They all look like owls. And this ^____^ could be..umm..a boat? What if they all sat in this boat?
Here’s an Ode to the 3 Owls on a boat:
There once were 3 owls who sat on a linear boat.
while the little one in the middle sang songs of revelry,
the other two looked troubled.
‘whoooo’ said the little one and looked on mysteriously,
up and down, left and right.
Yet he saw nothing that could give them a fright.
T’was unfortunate because the little owl in the middle was too stout too see.
A great storm brewing in the distant sea.
The two great owls gave their lives to shield the little one,
but alas, all 3 lives were lost in the deep blue abyss.
So henceforth, be warned.
Never sit on a linear boat.
They never stay afloat.
Every now and then, when you hear an Owl ‘whooo’,
remember the little one in the middle who had sung songs of revelry.
The boat rocked not one bit for him,
and down he went so silently.
This is sort of what I do with my time. It’s a classic example.
How would you explain your blog to your 5 year old niece?
I put pictures in the computer.
what pictures?
Pictures of me.
and why?
So that they circulate through the entire world and everybody can see them.
I will make her sit in front of the computer and point finger at the photos saying look “your aunty..me me.”
but why do you put YOUR photos?
Is it too vain to say I love myself?
Most of your photos are self taken using a timer on a tripod. Is it a task? and who else photographs you?
All the home ones in the balcony, I place my camera on these white railing pillars. Ones taken indoors are on a tripod. I’m quite an expert with the tripod now. Camera on self-timer. Yes. 10 seconds it is, and I’m in front of the camera in a 10ms dash. It’s not much of a hassle although I’d like to have that wireless shutter release remote but I’d need a new camera for that. Task is..me trying to smile..BIG mistake..so those photos are strange. I am smiling at no one. I feel retarded. Most outdoor photos are taken by whichever friend is around with me[usually 2 of them: Debbie & Naro].
What inspires you to take photos for your blog?
Anything that catches my eye..and is not quite conventional.
What’s the most difficult aspect of blogging?
I rant on and on. And I write just the way I talk. My fingers won’t stop typing. I wish I’d stop.
Do you face blogger’s block?. How do you get past it?
ALL THE TIME! I usually get it when I’m ‘trying’ to blog. My over-coming method is: open microsoft word, listen to some prodigious music like Mt. Desolation, The Beatles, Mates Of State, and start typing whatever comes to mind. That’s the reason why my blog posts are usually not fashion related.
First fashion blog..
Cherry blossom girl..my sister told me to check it out. This was in 2007.
Indian fashion blogs you LOVE?
LahLah. There are many good ones now, and I have 3 to 4 favourites, and you know them all too, but I think with Esther’s blog, it’s like, we started pretty much around the same time, and hers was the first Indian blog I came across so I guess I feel a sense of solidarity with her blog!!
…international?
Lulu Chang’s luluandyourmom!!
What did you study after school? What do you plan to do next?
I studied a lot of things ranging from an A level in English Lit, History, and Geography. But most importantly, I studied the arts of fucking up and growing out of it. Honest. And next on the list is to conquer Art & Aesthetics in JNU.
“I studied the arts of fucking up and growing out of it?”
The teenage years. You do exactly what you’re told not to do. You don’t think or care about the consequences. I had major life lessons and so, more than education. I think my life after a highly protected life in school was an experience in the art of growing up.
Why did your internship at Cosmo put you off fashion?
Dark waters! I was styling. I suck at it and it definitely isn’t my line of interest. I can’t do it. Styling others and styling yourselfisn’t the same at all. Had I been doing some other things, maybe it would’ve been different? But to be clear on one thing: my decision about not continuing on fashion wasn’t really from that experience. It just added to the line up.
So what exactly did?
To be honest, you’re going to find my answer vague. Its an amalgamation of 2 things that merged together. My childhood fascination with Art and Egyptian History in particular was slowly creeping its way back into me. Most people who get into fashion have always had some sort of love for it even when they were young. Playing dress up, putting on mom’s make up… etc. Not me. apart from my love of hearing heels going ‘clank, clank,’ I didn’t do any of that. In fact, I hated anything that had to do with dressing up and shopping. I liked being a loner. I thrived for it because it gave me time to read my books on space, history and art. Of course, all suited for my age then. I was happiest in those times. And once I began to get back to those…reading books or even articles online, something just clicked. Yes. I really do love fashion very much, but I know that I am not in this for the long haul. If something that I loved so much since I was 6 or 7 could stay with me all this time, it’s got to mean something!
And now you’d just pursue ‘fashion’ blogging as a hobby?
Yeah. I like Fashion as it is, how I see it. I don’t want to ruin it for myself. That’s just my view though. It made me shallow. And I hated that. I am 22 and I feel really old already but in a great way. Life is much clearer to me now. And the road ahead seems less winding. But I can’t write off fashion from my life. I am consumed by my obsession of dressing up that it gets me into a high.Although I know my style isn’t all that appealing to most eyes, that’s just bagatelle for me!
Do you know what got you all obsessed?
Not really. It just sort of happened! I was a late bloomer in fashion, trend wise. But I was always a little bit flaky in my dressing since school. I think somewhere in 2008 I told myself “Lobeni. You’re not a kid anymore. Let’s try to dress a little bit your age shall we?” and so I did. And little by little, the tale of my obsession of going all out goes on…
And..as the road seems less winding + things are clearer, what do you think, now, you’d really want to do/end up doing?
Life is so unexpected that I don’t even know if I’ll live to see tomorrow. In an alternate universe where my life is not bound by these beliefs of mine, I see myself studying hardcore journalism and writing for TIME magazine, or working as an Art Curator in the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Arts, or The National Gallery in London. I don’t mean to be morbid, but it’s terribly sad that we are made in such a way that we get used to living. What will I do? what will you do? what will we do? Always in future tense.
Lesley Lobeni, 23. Fashion blogger.
Lesley is one of the nicest, oldest fashion bloggers from the country. Hers is one of the first fashion blogs that I saw when I started mine. She’d complete 2 years of blogging this May. About two weeks ago when I was working on this post, Lesley ran out of Mayo, although she had loads of cheese. I’m hoping she bought some Mayo. ^____^
