Blog post 2| Sir David Attenborough

An occasional blog full of tales, recommendations, ideas, and inspirado.

Inspiration and all time muse: Sir David Attenborough.

Sir David Attenborough! What a guy! A constant inspiration that I’ve drawn from and the muse for my first collection.

My first introduction to Sir David Attenborough came as a child, watching documentaries on television. I was captivated by his unmistakable voice and found myself mesmerised by the animals on screen and the these wonderful places in far away lands.

The next significant chapter came in my late teens and early twenties, when I was living in Melbourne. At the time I was part of a large group of friends - possibly up to forty of us in extended groups. We were all punk hippies that would play in various bands and hang out at all hours of the day.

Maybe it was the accent that made Attenborough’s voice so soothing to me - something about it has always kept me subconsciously drawn to Britain. It is a calming tone to listen to after all.

Somehow at the time, I managed to survive on just three hours of sleep. I worked a demanding job which took me all over Aus, played in two different bands, and stayed up through the night more often than not. Weekends were a blur of jamming and watching Attenborough documentaries.

Fast forward to last summer - I was walking through Brixton when I stumbled upon a secondhand bookshop. Inside, I came across David Attenborough’s Adventures of a Young Naturalist, and I couldn’t resist picking it up. I loved it! I love stories and travel and the book transported me to his early career-what life was like as a journalist pre phones and internet!

Onse’s first collection is inspired by those stories - the animals, the jungle, the jeep they drove, the tribes they encountered, and even his beloved pet cockatoo, Cocky.

I highly recommend giving it a read. Hopefully, you’ll find the same sense of wonder, inspiration, or much needed escapism tucked between the pages.

Criz x

Blog post 1| Scrunchie Monster

An occasional blog full of tales, recommendations, ideas, and inspirado.

Wearing one of my first scrunchies

This first posting is kinda the back story of why I chose the name onse - the Tagalog word for (eleven)…

I was eleven years old when my Dad died. I didn’t cry. My idea of dealing with it was making a playlist for the funeral and choreographing my brother and cousins to dance down the aisles as the coffin made its way down the middle of the church. The big adults did not approve. I settled for the playlist and excerpts from the bible which in my mind was far less memorable. Dad would have let me do the dance because like all girls - I was his princess.

Up until the age of eleven, things were pretty sweet. For various reasons, and a story far too long to write - my parents weren’t around much, so I spent my spare time rollerblading through the neighbourhood, painting, having fruit fights or water bomb battles with the other kids, and creating concerts in my living room, convinced I was performing for the masses.

When it came to fashion, I was always finding interesting ways to refashion my outfits - think scrunchies stacked in my hair, on my wrists, and even on my ankles.My Dad would even let me tie as many as I could in his curly hair and flip his eyes lids back chasing us round the house as the Scrunchie Monster. I was a weird and wild and I’ve managed to stay that way. I’m an eleven year old at heart.

Criz x