The Australia Times - TAT Girl magazine. Volume 3, issue 4

TATGIRL

Vol. 3 No. 4 July 2015

THE

AUSTRALIA

TIMES

TATGIRL

TH E

AUSTRALIA

TIMES

nid

WHAT’S

Oh,

THE HUMANITY

8 26

BUYING

my rst

VIBRATOR

Oatmeal

facemasks,

and ar

Hipsters

Now

Un-cool?

SHOES

L'altra parte

Hello!

This month’s issue is, as usual, lled with

quirky and thought-provoking pieces!

If you’re in the mood for something

challenging and empowering to read,

check out the anonymously written

article about purchasing a vibrator. For

the reective reader, there’s a poem

included in this issue.

If fashion is calling out to you, dive into

sub-culture with Kate’s fashion column

this month or indulge in your guilty

pleasures by reading Yuliya’s article

about shoes, shoes and more shoes.

Happy reading, TATGirls!

Alexandra.

Oh, The Humanity ............................8

Buying My First Vibrator ............... 18

Oatmeal Facemasks, and Are

Hipsters Now Un-cool? ................. 26

Shoes ............................................ 36

L’altra parte .................................. 46

Edors

NOTE

Conibutors

We aim to inform, entertain, teach, encourage, educate and support the com-

munity at large by facilitating communication between all Australians. By provid-

ing the opportunity for all opinions to be shared on a single website.

TATGIRL

THE

AUSTRALIA

TIMES

Alexandra Saltis

Kate Turner

Yuliya Tamanyan

TAT GiRL is a young, fun magazine that incorporates art, culture, food, and

creative and factual writings that are interesting and exciting!

Our ultimate aim for the magazine is to a provide a platform where young

and upcoming journalists, photographers and enthusiastic individuals

can have the opportunity to be published, as well as to create an open

discussion for topics and events that are relatable to the youth of Australia.

Based in Melbourne, TATGIRL has a wide range of contributors from around

Australia whose ages range from 15 to 25.

We welcome all sorts of feedback and suggestions, so if you’d like to get

involved and share a simple poem, musing or story with Australia, please

get in touch with the TATGIRL team today!

TAT GiRL is a young, fun magazine that incorporates art, culture, food, and

creative and factual writings that are interesting and exciting!

Our ultimate aim for the magazine is to a provide a platform where young

and upcoming journalists, photographers and enthusiastic individuals

can have the opportunity to be published, as well as to create an open

discussion for topics and events that are relatable to the youth of Australia.

Based in Melbourne, TATGIRL has a wide range of contributors from around

Australia whose ages range from 15 to 25.

We welcome all sorts of feedback and suggestions, so if you’d like to get

involved and share a simple poem, musing or story with Australia, please

get in touch with the TATGIRL team today!

Welcome

NOTE

Text and Images by

Alexandra Saltis

Oh,

THE HUMANITY

But the one hour Facebook ﬁlled

wait is worth it. Inside lies the

eerie experience of suering

people, preserved in poignant and

heartbreaking ways.

I have read the Diary of Anne

Frank, and like many other teenage

girls, my previous understanding

of her struggle was superﬁcial.

Admittedly after visiting the house,

it probably still is. But I read and

re-read her story and only took

real interest in her interactions

with Peter, their ﬁrst kiss, and the

girly stu that she included. Did

I really understand the pain and

humiliation and hopelessness of a

person in that situation? No. But

visiting the house brought me

closer, or at least I like to think so.

When visiting Amsterdam, people

will tell you that the ﬁrst thing to

do is to get acquainted with the

coee shops and the prostitutes.

But once you’ve had sex stoned,

the Anne Frank House is next on

the list. The queue at the entrance

entails a solid one hour stand still,

but it has WiFi for goodness sake;

the line has WiFi!

YES, in front of the

building where eight

persecuted souls spent

years hiding silently and

secretly to avoid death,

you have access to WiFi;

GO FIGURE.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

The brilliance of the house is

that it brings into very high relief

the personal experience that

the Second World War became

for many people. When you see

the bookcase, Margot’s Latin

lessons that she maintained by

correspondence and the wall

where Anne and Margot’s growth

was measured over the time in

the Secret Annex, there is no

mistaking the inevitable nausea

and desire to sit down in a corner of

that unfurnished empty place and

cry your heart out. I found myself

repeating in my head ‘I’m so sorry’.

And for a while I wasn’t sure what

I was sorry about. Then I started

to understand my own instinct to

apologise. I was, and am sorry that

this happened to human beings.

I’m sorry that this happened to

people who had done nothing to

oend or appall. I’m sorry even

more that the suering of these

people was at the hand of other

human beings. I’m sorry that the

individuals in hiding were having

their humanity, their humanness

removed by others who felt they

were more human.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

Being in the Secret Annex, you realise

the extent of what they would have

felt; humanity, and their own humanity

at that, had betrayed them.

Being in the Secret Annex, you

realise that conﬂicts, be they political,

social, economic or environmental,

are human above all and it is the

individual experiences and the human

experiences of these conﬂicts that

mark them most starkly and indelibly

with tragedy.

However, when you hear about

Anne’s childhood friend trying to

throw Anne packages of food over

the fences of the concentration

camps and the sacriﬁces made by

the helpers for those in hiding, your

heart breaks for their loss and then

reignites at the thought that there

are such wonderful, selﬂess people

in the world. They recreate humanity

for those who have been reduced

to less than animals. They bring

hope and help and through that the

persecuted become human again.

They are no longer the unwanted,

because compassion transforms

them. After having visited the house,

I am convinced that it is compassion

that saves, renews and gives faith to

people who have had their humanity

removed.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

The Anne Frank House is a treasure.

It has the potential to open the

eyes of many to the struggle of

the persecuted everywhere, and

teach us that compassion restores

humanity and dignity. But we must

also remember that it is a monument

to the story of a minute proportion

of the suering. There were many

suering families then with their

own stories, and there are many

now that continue to suer. But by

remembering our own humanity

and by virtue of that humanity, our

ability to be compassionate, we

can humbly begin to give dignity

back to people who have been lost

by society.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

And to Anne,

Margot, Edith and

Otto Frank,

who represent for

so many people

the horrendous

struggle

to live and be

human,

we should

continue

to be sorry,

so as not to forget

what happens

when humanity

turns its back on

itself.

Shout.

JUST DO-NATE.

ShoutForGood.com

Shout.

JUST DO-NATE.

ShoutForGood.com

Shout.

JUST DO-NATE.

ShoutForGood.com

Shout.

JUST DO-NATE.

ShoutForGood.com

BUYING

my rst

VIBRATOR

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

This week I went and bought

my ﬁrst vibrator with a friend.

She insisted I give her a cool

pseudonym for this article so

she’ll be Ingrid for the purpose

of this story. Not sure if she will

like that or not. Oh well, I need to

get on.

Anyway, so I had been thinking

of buying a vibrator for a while,

I was hearing a bit of chatter

amongst my friends who were

even more open about this stu

than me (someone more open

than me about sex? I’m writing

an article about it right now!).

They’d talk about how I “had to”

get one and that I was “missing

out”.

Out on a Wednesday night in the

city, Ingrid and I got talking. I can’t

even remember the stream of

conversation that lead to talking

about vibrators. I think it went

somewhere from Fifty Shades of

Grey, to porn, to candy knickers,

to “have you ever used a vibrator

before?”

how i

had to

get one

and

that i was

miing out

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

We decided to visit a sex shop

that she knew nearby, that wasn’t

Club X and didn’t seem too seedy.

I was so excited to go! I had been

meaning to go with a friend to

Sexy Land but had never gotten

there. I think visiting sex shops

is something that shouldn’t be

premeditated. It means you have

less time to feel embarrassed.

I am speaking for myself here

though. I mean, I don’t mind

being talked to about the toys

amongst the lingerie at Honey

Birdette, but the idea of it makes

me feel a little uncomfortable,

as it probably does with most

people until you get there and it

feels totally normal. Right?

We walked up the stairs of the

chosen shop, giggling a little and

talking about something that was

sooo not sex, because of course

we didn’t want to give away that

this was our ﬁrst time looking

at ladies’ pleasure toys. We had

a little laugh at the Fifty Shades

of Grey themed hand cus and

THE GOOD ONES

sounded

JUST LIKE

YOUR PHONE

on silent.

other accoutrements, and then

headed to the section we were

there for. We had fun playing

with all the dierent vibrators

and seeing how they worked.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

The smaller, ‘beginner’ ones we

called them, had to be twisted

at the bottom like a glue stick.

The larger ones had buttons so

you could increase the vibration

or choose a dierent vibrating

pattern. Some were long and thin

and some actually looked painful.

One looked like it was made of

hard chrome – ouch! Some even

had diamantes, butterﬂies and

“rabbit ears”. Some were suuuper

loud and others barely made a

noise. The good ones sounded

just like your phone on silent.

In the end, Ingrid and I chose

one of the ‘beginner’ vibrators

that was purple with diamantes.

It twisted down the bottom and

vibrated depending on how

much you twisted it. It came

in a discreet looking box and I

couldn’t wait to get it home and

play with it. There was a larger

one that we liked too but it was

just a bit too expensive. I’ll go

back and get that one when I’ve

become pro I think.

I wanted to recount this story

for you, dear reader, because

I was once scared of going out

there and getting myself a toy,

for that thing you do sometimes

at night but don’t talk about.

Especially since I am pretty much

perpetually single, ﬁnally having

a vibrator makes my private

time much more interesting and

closer to the real thing. If you

have been thinking about it, I

urge you to go out and get one.

I actually felt really empowered

after buying it, especially since I

have just recently ended my latest

dalliance. I could even see myself

using my new vibrator with my

next partner. It’s a fun little thing

to add to your repertoire and I

love mine.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got

some business to attend to in

my bedside drawer…

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

NOW IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME,

I’VE GOT SOME BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO

in my bedside drawer…

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

Oatmeal

facemasks,

and ar

Hipsters

Now

Un-cool?

Kate Turner

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

Oatmeal

facemasks,

and ar

Hipsters

Now

Un-cool?

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

Kate Turner

I was walking in Sydney’s CBD a

few days back and noticed a scene

that gave me goose bumps. There

was an everyday hipster standing

across the road at the trac lights

waiting for the little green man to

appear. He was in his cool knitted

jumper that had a cat wearing

glasses printed on it. You know

the one. He also wore glasses, the

tight jeans, and desert boots;

he had impeccably kept hair

and a well-groomed, fabulous

beard! I mean just full, lush,

and delicious. And next to

him was another guy, a

Grunger! He was wearing a

black leather jacket, a torn

Nirvana T-shirt, dark jeans,

and black converse sneakers.

His hair looked unkempt and

rested at his shoulders; he ﬁt

the perfect grunge look to a

T. Both looked awesome in

their get ups, but Grunger was

standing there so conﬁdently;

he was chillaxed and looking

eortlessly cool. Hipster, on the

other hand, looked uncomfortable,

embarrassed, and somewhat

dated.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

The two shared an exchange with

each other, looking up and down.

One might think they were just

checking each other out! I mean the

two looks, though worlds apart, do

share some similarities - being cool

for one. But no, this was personal.

Fashion personal. Fashersonal you

could say. Hipster, the lighthouse

to the cool kids, who can make a

homemade knitted scarf look like

the best idea in the world, was now

kind of, dare I say it…un-cool! And

Grunger was like the bad boy you

craved in high school, standing

Raul Hernandez Gonzalez Prudence Styles

there looking eortlessly awesome

and just showing Hipster how it’s

done.

So is it true, are hipsters a thing of

the past? I hate to say it, but I kind

of hope so! That look is everywhere

and it now kind of makes me

want to puke on wide brimmed

hats. Though I will say that I am

writing this wishing I had a vintage

typewriter to type on, and a nice

cup of lavender tea to drink from

a vintage tea cup. I’m so confused!

My head hurts…let’s move on to

breakfast!

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

Huh? I hear you say! Yes that’s right,

breakfast! Next time you make

your morning porridge, take this

tip… go ahead and shove it on your

face! Yes you heard right! I mean

let it cool obviously. I’ll explain why

porridge in this little childhood

memory of mine.

Many years ago in the ancient

times of 2001, a woman named ‘My

Mum’ took a bowl from the kitchen

cupboard and placed it on the

counter. She then put some oats

she’d been boiling, a raw egg, some

berry yogurt, barley green powder,

some mashed avocado and banana

and mixed it all up. I thought,

What the frick

are we having

for dinner?

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

She then wiped a layer of it over

her face, bits of oats and raspberry

from the yogurt sticking like blobs

to her cheeks and forehead.

Wow,

Mum’s really

lost it!

But no, she hadn’t gone cray cray,

she was just beautifying herself,

home-style!

From then on I grew up with my

mother doing this weekly. But did I

or my mother know that this would

become the ‘IT’ thing to do today?

It’s everywhere, this organic way

of beautifying, and much cheaper

when you’re just raiding your fridge

and cupboard.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

So I’m

going

some

recipes

mother

uses.

•

For a good relaxing bath, and some

needed hair and skin therapy, try

adding some thyme and sage

leaves, and some lavender

ﬂowers to a pot of water, boil to

a simmer, and then add to a hot

bath. The thyme and sage have

great healing properties for your

skin, and lavender is the best for

relaxing!

•

We all know to use cucumber on

the eyes to tighten the skin, but

why not try camomile tea bags?

They work just as well, if not better.

Just let them sit in hot water for

ten seconds, squeeze them a

little to get rid of some water, and

place on eyelids. Let them sit for

5 minutes. Afterwards, you can

just chuck them in the bath as

well and let them fuse.

•

If you love milk baths, why not try

a protein bath? Just add a scoop

of your protein powder to the

bath for a good soak; your skin

will feel silky smooth.

ou’r welcom!

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

SHOES

Yuliya Tamanyan

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

“give

a girl the

right shoes

and she can

conquer

the world

”

Marilyn Monroe

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

Shoes! What is it about you that

makes us girls go wild? You beckon

me to take you into my arms and

never let you go! When I stare at

you it’s so dierent to anything else

I lay my eyes on and when you look

at me with those adoring features,

I immediately know you’re mine!

What happens inside me when I

see a pair of gorgeous heels? I just

can’t say no to myself. I love to look

at you, cuddle you and know you

are mine-all mine- and somehow

I know nothing is impossible.

What is it about you that make

female icons speak about you? For

instance, Marilyn Monroe once said

“give a girl the right shoes and she

can conquer the world”. This quote

is as true as they come!

There are so many to choose from

and they all ﬁt my many moods and

situations, be it elegant sparkles,

tiger print pumps or a simple black

heel stiletto; all are so unique and

very beautiful. Yes, they all have

their own personality and leave a

memorable impression. Shoes are

special to me, as I may imagine

they are to quite a few others, but

I ﬁnd nothing puts me in a better

mood than looking at shoes, trying

them on and simply staring at them

with admiration and breathtaking

desire. It’s an even bigger plus if

the shoes are comfortable, then I

know I must give in to temptation

and pay the price for heaven on

my feet, because not only do they

look good but I know I won’t need

to bandage my feet once the night

is through.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

R.A

It may take a while for me to

actually get the courage to wear my

favourite shoes out, in fear of them

getting hurt or dirty or simply from

loving them too much. Letting them

free may prove disastrous. A series

of ‘what ifs’ follow… but then again

isn’t it more of a pity if the world is

deprived of seeing such beauty out

and about?

If you’re not in the mood to

wear heels or you just feel like an

appealing ankle boot today, it’s all

good! The shoes don’t envy each

other and you get a kick out of

wearing exactly what you want,

when you want, with no argument.

Shoes have an amazing eect on

one’s disposition, believe it or not.

They contain an extraordinary ability

in themselves to dictate feelings on

the day. If you feel like a pick me up,

throw on a pair of you favourites and

they can make you feel incredible

instantly. Just got dumped? I know

the cure! Put a pair of your ﬁercest

heels on and don’t look back. The

pure joy from hearing a compliment

and a follow up question “where

did you get those shoes? They’re

darling!”is a remedy for any long

and tiresome day.

“WHERE

DID YOU

GET THOSE

SHOES?

THEY’RE

DARLING!”

Of course shoes do provide a lot of

happiness but they can implicate

just as much misery. That feeling

when you know your hip pocket

cannot handle one more blow, or

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

the absolute embarrassment when

your card is declined- “insucient

funds”. When you ﬁnd your one

true love, the search is so worth it,

the wait, all those years you knew

something was missing. Once

you’ve found it, you discover that

your true love is out of reach. This

is devastating and I am afraid that

is where the credit cards win. If

this doesn’t teach discipline, then I

don’t know what will. The strength

and self control it takes to leave

the store with your dignity and

pride still intact, as you walk out

melancholy but with your head held

a little too high, ﬁghting back tears

as your eyes glisten, you know you

shouldn’t come back to the store,

the store where your heart has just

been torn out, knowing you will

never forget a pair of shoes such

as those. You promise yourself to

get a second job, whatever it takes

to make sure those shoes go home

with you sooner rather than later,

so you can give them the proper

care and love they deserve. Life

isn’t easy and neither are shoes! I

always say: “Yes, I may gain weight

or even lose weight, but shoes are

there forever!!”

LIFE ISN’T EASY AND

NEITHER ARE SHOES!

I ALWAYS SAY:

“YES, I MAY

GAIN WEIGHT

OR EVEN

LOSE WEIGHT,

BUT SHOES

ARE THERE

FOREVER!!

“

Independent Media Inspiring Minds

L'altra parte

Text and Images by

Alexandra Saltis

For here I am and there I was,

And there my soul does rest.

The physicality I can escape,

But reality asks redress.

Upon my sharp return,

My body starts to ache.

For the grace and for the romance,

And for my poor heart's sake.

I move uneasily in harsh confusion,

Baiting recognition.

Mine is a face that people know,

But changed by lack of inhibition.

And on every turn I stumble,

On every word I falter.

There is a familiarity here,

But me, the other world did alter.

The others cannot see it,

Hidden deep under my skin.

For here I am and there I was,

It, slowly, has crept in.

I am not the tall skyscraper,

But the well-worn

cobbled streets.

I am not the chaos,

But the calamity of peace.

I am not the stern expression,

But the laughter of joyful eyes.

I am not the wanton soul,

But power in disguise.

I am not the sad and desperate,

But a brand new promise born.

I am not the struggle,

But inside I am still torn.

For here I am and there I was,

And there my soul does rest.

The physicality I can escape,

But reality is my unrest.

Independent Media Inspiring Minds