What Is It With Wonder Woman?

I was going through the airport a little while back, and spotted a woman carrying an adorable Wonder Woman tote bag. Right after my first thought of, "Hunh, cool!" came another less positive thought - "I bet she's never read any of the comics." Two seconds after that, I realised *I* hadn't really read many of the comics either. And yet, I would still consider myself a Wonder Woman fan. And it’s not just me – a quick google for Wonder Woman merchandise reveals a market of fans MUCH larger than I imagine the actual comics readership to be. Hell, if everyone who bought a Wonder Woman t-shirt actually bought the comic as well, DC could discontinue all their titles and just live off that. I see at least three Wonder Woman cosplayers at every comic convention I go to, usually more. The only character I see cosplayed more frequently is Batman, but hell, who DOESN'T want to be Batman? All these people can't be reading the current Wonder Woman - the trade would have been all over the bestseller lists for months if that were the case.

So why aren’t these fans of Wonder Woman, who are happy to shell out for a branded tote or a shirt, or a whole cosplay outfit not interested in reading the comic? Maybe they simply don't like reading comics, and that's a fair enough reason - but I don't think that's the case for all. I think there is a pool of potential readers, that are avoiding the comics.

If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It - Loki's Lacquer review and nail art

I'm excited to have something super fun to show you today! As you might have noticed from my previous reviews, Loki's Lacquer LOVE doing tie in polishes with movies, tv shows, and anything generally nerdy. I was scrolling through the Etsy store a little while ago when I came across a glow in the dark polish called, "If It Bleeds, Kill It", and I knew that it must be mine.

I Wanna Do Bad Things With You....Loki's Lacquer and Lilypad Lacquer Review

It seems that there are just too many awesome Australian indie polishes these days to show them to you one at a time - I'd never have time to do anything else, let alone do the job that allows me to buy them. So today I'm doubling up with two True Blood themed polishes; V from Loki's Lacquer, and True Blood from Lilypad Lacquer.

Conscientious Objector In The Weight Wars

I was actually tossing this topic around in my head for some time, trying to decide if I had anything to say that hadn't already been said. There is almost as many words out there on women's weight and associated issues as there are actual women, and I wasn't sure that my point of view was something that really needed to be added. However, when I put the word out on Twitter and Facebook that I was looking for input, the response was pretty overwhelming - which at the very least convinced me this is something that DOES actually need to be written. I've tried to wrestle as much of it into a post as possible, but it's a huge subject to try and condense down. I described writing this as being like wrestling with a kraken made of feels, and now it's done, I totally stand by that. But really, the core of what I'm trying to say is simply this; how about we women try being kinder to each other about our bodies, and save the vitriol for the institutions that actually contribute to making our lives harder?

Wander the streets of Tokyo with Sayuri Nail Lacquer

As soon as I opened my package from Sayuri, I started kicking myself for not ordering earlier. Sayuri Nail Lacquer launched a couple of months ago, with their inaugural Streets of Tokyo collection inspired by the diversity and creativity of Japanese street fashion. I was fascinated by the idea, but my growing obsession with indies means my To Buy List is forever getting topped up, and somehow this label got lost in the hubbub. Finally I got back around to this little note on my list, and I'm so very glad I did.

Left to right:Mizuiro, Love Sayuri, Fairy Kei

The Good, The Bad, and the Horrific of Customer Service

The basic principles of customer service always seemed to be pretty straightforward to me, but it's become pretty clear to me lately that a lot  of companies just don't have the first clue how to treat customers in such a way that they are actually likely to return willingly. I find it hard to believe so many businesses employ people who have no interest or ability to treat customers pleasantly - that just doesn't make sense to me. There can't possibly be that many clueless people in the world. The alternative is that a lot of businesses are actively turning away and discouraging potential and current customers because they're not the kind of customers they want, for whatever reason. Maybe they're too fat, or too poor, or too black, or too gender ambiguous. Whatever the reasons, this is a completely ludicicrous business model. The global marketplace is packed with alternatives to whatever you happen to be selling, and it's getting more crowded by the day. The ability to sell things online has made the number of potential businesses in any given marketplace virtually limitless, and I've heard a lot of brick and mortar storefront companies complaining that this is ruining their businesses. In my opinion, this is complete nonsense. Online stores are only taking business away from brick and mortar stores because they've been treating their customers so badly for so long that customers are fleeing now they have a choice about it. Sure, you have to wait ages for stuff ordered online, and you can't try it on, and sometimes it's not at all what you thought it would be like - and STILL customers are fleeing brick and mortar stores. The way they treat a lot of their customers has been SO BAD that all the downsides of online shopping are still preferable. When the prices are higher, and the hours you can shop there are restricted, pretty much the only upside that brick and mortar stores have over online stores is the immediacy of the purchase, and face to face customer service. But it seems a lot of them can't even get that right, even though it's almost all they have to draw in business.

Dead Set Babes Competition Winner

Just a real quick update tonight, to announce the winners of my Dead Set Babes contest.

Image courtesy of Dead Set Babes Etsy shop