61
" Whenever I get a free period, I set off to the college library and work systematically through the Dewey system, taking each book off the shelf one by one and adding, in black biro, ‘/she’ and ‘/woman’ to every ‘he’ and ‘man’. I do this for the whole three years but I never finish (and luckily I never get caught). I do it with righteous indignation; there is hardly one book in the whole library that doesn’t use only the generic male pronoun. As if only men think and feel and discover and read. We’ve been taught on this course that every single mark and sound on film or the page is important and laden with meaning, and yet every book in this library talks only to men. Language is important: it shapes minds, it can include, exclude, incite, hurt and destroy. If language isn’t powerful, why not call your teacher a cunt? "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
63
" I feel more confident with the posh mums. I’ve found someone who gets me. It’s OK that I don’t fit in here, I fit in somewhere else, so I can relax. I’m not mad, I’m not wrong, I’m just not in the right environment. "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
66
" After so long worrying and being fearful, living by the sea and running is giving me the mental space to think creatively again for the first time in years. With the salty wind on my face, feet pounding on the shingle, Kate Bush, The Hounds of Love
, on my iPod, new thoughts enter my head.
What do I think about that architecture?
as I run past a white modernist house: ‘I like the shape of the house but the windows are too small.’
What do I think of the asymmetrical stairs, the sculptures in the garden? "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
67
" Mi marido está, con razón, cabreado e intimidado por lo que él percibe como una pasión mía hacia Vincent Gallo, pero en realidad es lo que Vincent me hace sentir por mí lo que me tiene obnubilada y no lo que siento por él. Si Marido me hubiese estimulado en mis posibilidades creativas, aunque solo fuera un poquito, Vincent Gallo no me tendría así de obnubilada. "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
68
" I’m scared,’ I whisper to Hubby. ‘I know,’ he says. What else can he say?
When you’re facing death, you have to walk that walk alone. "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
69
" Language is important: it shapes minds, it can include, exclude, incite, hurt and destroy. If language isn’t powerful, why not call your teacher a cunt? "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
74
" For those in a hurry … Sex references: here, here, here, here, here, here Drugs references: here, here, here, here Punk rock references: here, here, here, here, here "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
75
" He’s soaking wet from dancing, all sweaty under his arms. As I lift the hair off the nape of my neck for him to fasten the necklaces, he closes in. Well, this is it, make or break, if I don’t like his smell, this is going nowhere. He smells of good honest sweat, no poncy deodorant for him. He’s a vegetarian so it’s not a meaty, kebabby smell, not overpowering, but strong enough to let me know, here is a man. I like it. "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
76
" There I went again, building up a glamorous picture of a man who would love me passionately the minute he met me, and all out of a few prosy nothings. Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
77
" I think of it as saying Yes to Nothing. If your choice is either the wrong thing or nothing, however frightened you are, you’ve got to take nothing. Haven’t you? Hasn’t everyone? No husband, no lover, no band, no money, no confidence. Here goes nothing. "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys
79
" I’ve noticed a pattern forming in my life, it happens every time something doesn’t work out – a friendship, the New Slits, my marriage – if I have the courage to walk away from it rather than stay and cling on for fear of the unknown future, it seems to take from four to six months at the very most for something even better to manifest in front of me. I think of it as saying Yes to Nothing. If your choice is either the wrong thing or nothing, however frightened you are, you’ve got to take nothing. Haven’t you? Hasn’t everyone? "
― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys