MY ADVENTURES IN HAIRDRESSING
The style of haircut that you think best suits you is largely determined by the width and length of your face. The most important thing to remember is that there are no hard and fast rules, only guidelines.
Different lengths suit different faces because they provide variety in proportions. One way to get a different proportion on a long face is with a shorter cut on one side, longer on the other. This creates more angles and highlights your best features (your cheekbones for instance).
A short-haired person should always consider if their hair needs more volume or if it’s too heavy for their face shape...etc etc.
If you have a small face and want to make it look larger, then wear your hair longer, full and quite off the face. Although this doesn’t suit everyone but its ok to try.
My observation on this article is that Lavender herself is still a child and doesn't really understand how different cuts can change the look of a person's face.
I also find it interesting that "my" sister only started writing in her blog when she entered Year 7. The first entry was on the 1st of January 2000 and it would appear she used to write her thoughts on stationary during class time while at school.
18th of January 2000
Written by Lavender (Age 11)
"The summer holidays have started and it's really good, but I am a bit disappointed because Daddy said he would take me to Disneyland Paris, which is the theme park near Paris. Anyway I think this is going to be a great summer,"
There you go, confirmation that my father did indeed take Lavender to Paris.
After that she seems to continue her life as normal until July 29th 2000. The first big shock came when I read the next entry because it contained photographs of Lavender's body when it was found in my room. The photograph came from the back of her diary and was a Polaroid type photograph. It showed the back of Lavender's head and the last few pages were torn out.
July 29th 2000
Written by Lavender (Age 12)
"I can't believe how sad I was to find my diary missing. I was so upset for all the things I had written about and everything in it. This morning, when I got downstairs, there was a big brown envelope in the kitchen, addressed to me from my new friend called Jessica. She must have been looking for her diary because mine had disappeared."
July 29th 2000: The final entry for Lavender's diary until it reappears in my hands on August 9th 2002. This is when the diary starts to take on its more sinister nature.
August 9th 2002: I received Lavender's diary from my sister in her new school uniform. The first thing that caught my eye was the large brown envelope that she received from a friend at school. When I opened it, it contained the following:
Excerpts from Lavender’s Diary
September 2000:
Wednesday, September 20th 2000 - This is an important day because this is when my Magic School Bus came back after its two-week break. I had missed seeing it and now we were getting back together again. I was very excited. I had enjoyed the Scratchy record so much I wanted to make a magic show for them.
I wanted to use their songs and music because they had been very kind to me and they put me on the bus when scraped by Putty. I listened to their stories on the bus and we laughed at Putty, who wasn’t very nice to them. So I tried a trick that Putty would never dare do, like telling him his name or asking him if he was going to eat us silly green things in space that were called Putties in space.
"My magic school bus came back from its two weeks break today after I missed it. I was excited. I had enjoyed the scratchy record so much I wanted to make a magic show for them. Instead of the show, I decided on a trick that Putty never dare do like telling him his name or asking him if he was going to eat us silly green things in space that were called putties in space."
September 20th 2000: Here is the first mention of my Magic School Bus. It would appear that Lavender used their songs and music to make her magic show, but took an even more sinister turn when she told Putty his name and asked him if he was going to eat us silly green things in space.
"I chatted to the bus and played their records. I made my own magic show but didn't tell them all the tricks I was going to use. I told them some interesting things that had happened on the bus such as when we saw a big black meteor coming down and it hit us. Also, when Putty glared at us, we closed our eyes and pretended that he wasn't there."
This is where Lavender started to play with their fears and fears of authority figures.
September 19th 2000 - After having a lovely time with my Magic School Bus friends yesterday, it was sad because today was Missouri's birthday. I remembered last year when we had a special magic show for her. I missed her very much but I wanted to make my own special magic show for all of my friends this time. So I made a lovely cake and had a party in the Magic Room with the bus and a shop bought birthday cake with big pink candles on it.
Jessie seemed to like it very much because it was her birthday not Missouri's, even though the birthday cake was for Missouri. This is why saying Happy Birthday to Jessie gave me an idea for the next trick I was going to do on the bus ride home. I wanted to make Jessie's birthday happy so I told her she'd get a present from the magic show.
"Yesterday was Missouri's birthday, so I remembered last year when we had a special magic show for her. It was sad because today it was Jessie's birthday, but I wanted to make my own special magic show on the bus for all my friends this time."
September 18th 2000: Lavender had more fun with her Magic School Bus and even seems to have put on a "magic" show for them.
Conclusion:
Here is my conclusion from what I've found in my sister's diary:
The diary was written by Lavender before her untimely death and it contains many messages of hope, hopes and dreams that she wanted to achieve in her short life at the tender age of 12. A journal the girl was writing to keep herself going despite the heartache she felt due to the recent loss of her beloved mother and father. She seemed to be holding back feelings of sadness, anger and a feeling of loss as well as trying to escape into another world where nobody would hurt her again. The message behind the diary was one of hope, but it also contained a message or symbol that seemed to point towards something sinister.