The final part! Here we go, rapid-fire, quick questions!

Favorite Diane Vreeland quote? (Mandy)

“Never fear being vulgar; just boring.”

Who would you really, really like to kiss under the mistletoe this year? (Kelly)

I can’t really say, it will get me into trouble! So I’ll just say… Nubby! Aw! (It’s true, too. I love her very much.)

What are your favorite kinds of lists to make? (Beth)

To do lists. I have them for the day, the week, the month & the year… OBSESSIVE!

What’s a bad habit of yours? (Mandy)

Procrastination. I also love to “multi-task”, by which I mean: listen to music, talk on AIM, look at my email, browse Flickr, read Livejournal, reply to comments & write an article all at the same time. It doesn’t really work.

How do you feel about graduation ceremonies? (Beth)

I have never been to one, so I have no feelings on them whatsoever! Those little hats look cute, though, & I guess it would be fun to throw them in the air!

Hugs or kisses? (Becca)

Kisses.

Do you drink alcohol? (Mai)

Yes, I do. I have never been a huge drinker, but I know what I like. Some of my favourite tipples include Jameson, Canadian Club, & ridiculous cocktails.

What is one gadget that you don’t think you could live without? (Kelly)

My Macbook. It is black. I love it. My camera comes in a very close second, but it’s all about the Macbook.

Do you ever want to get married and start a family? (Mai)

I don’t know. Maybe. I think marriage is kind of unrealistic. I’m not being cynical or child-of-divorce-esque, my parents are still married 26 years later, but I just think that promising to love someone forever is kind of illogical. You can’t promise that. & you can’t promise that you’ll always want to work at it, because feelings change & people grow apart sometimes. Also, as romantic a premise as marriage is, what does it mean? If you’re living together & not married, how is that any less legitimate a relationship? Does a piece of paper & a big frothy dress & a book of photos change anything? I don’t think it does. I am not adverse to spending the rest of my life with someone, I just don’t know if promising to do it makes any sense.

Looking through your blog it is easy to see that you have an amazing sense of style, and you change your own personal style regularly (especially your hair style and colour). Everyone says you shouldn’t change yourself to make people like you – but were you ever scared that if you changed something about yourself (say, your hair colour, or the amount of makeup you wear), people might *stop* liking you because you’d changed? (Anon)

My personal style is the last thing I’m worried about causing that kind of reaction. I reckon I could shave my head & start dressing like… um… Martha Stewart & someone would appreciate it. It’s more likely that people would be upset if I changed what I wrote about, or people thought I was “selling out” (whatever that means), or if my lifestyle became radically different. Some of you will have noticed that that did actually happen when I moved to New York. I can’t really say much about that — except that I live a life that makes me happy, & the way it makes other people feel is really not any of my business…

What are your thoughts on Germany? (Becca)

I love it. I went there on the school trip I wrote about in the last part of my interview. I wore blue, ha, & we travelled all over the place (Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Baden Baden, Karlsruhe, Salzburg etc.). It was amazing! I really, really like it there, & think I will probably live there at some point in my life. I saw some of the most incredible mid-summer thunderstorms there. I love German people too, they are very friendly & precise, the perfect complement to the Virgo disposition, haha! Also, Germans make the best sandwiches & rolls. Ever. Something about the bread. Drool.

You’ve written before about how you used to have quite a negative outlook on life and believed that it would always be that way for you. How did you turn your life around? Aside from EFT, what inspired you to start living differently, and how did you put it into practice? (Alice)

I think I decided to try changing it because I was sick of feeling bad all the time. I was so miserable, not really eating, I hated my job & I was always really angry about everything. The not eating thing was the part that messed me up the most — I would look at my reflection in the mirror & really, really hate myself, what I saw, what I was about. It was supremely dramatic & is pretty embarrassing to look back on, but I was desperately unhappy at the time. So unhappy I cannot even put it into words. I decided to try using EFT to see if I could make myself happier, on a whim I guess. I probably thought, ‘Oh well, it doesn’t cost anything to try & if it doesn’t work, all it will have meant is that I wasted some time’. Amazingly, it worked.

I guess after that I got kind of hooked on the idea that I could keep improving myself, so I did. I haven’t really stopped, though I go through phases where I don’t use EFT much, & then times where I use it all the time. It depends on what’s going on in my life.

I also spend quite a lot of time thinking about my life & what I could do to make it better. I get into it in pretty intricate detail. Do I want more money or just a certain lifestyle? What kind of friendships do I want to have? How do I feel about this or that? Knowing the answers to those questions makes it a lot easier to manifest the kind of life you want.

Have you been to the Middle East? (Mai)

No! One of my best friends grew up in Dubai & speaks very highly of it, however.

Last book read? (Mandy)

How embarrassing. I don’t even know. Cringe! I buy books compulsively, but very rarely finish them. I always start them with great enthusiasm & then… abandon them. It has been this way for two years. Most of the time, I would rather work than read…

Do you ever get hit by the jealousy bug? (Becca)

Very rarely. I’m pretty happy with my life! I guess, also, when I feel jealous, I just try to work out whatever it is that I want — & how to bring it into my existence!

What’s your real name? (kate)

Gala Darling! Yes, really & truly… It’s on my passports, credit cards & everything.

What is your personal definition of nerd-dom? (Ceka)

Anything that isn’t generally accepted as being “cool”. I indulge in a lot of that stuff shamelessly. Plus, I like nerds.

What was your favorite thing in/about San Francisco? [gotta ask; it’s my city!] (cuileann)

I haven’t spent a lot of time in San Francisco — I was there twice in 2006 & it was really just a place to get ready for Burning Man, & then relax afterwards! I had a great peanut butter & chocolate shake in a diner there somewhere, haha, & I loved the Sanrio store… I also wanted to go to The Hungry I, but never made it, unfortunately. Next year!

Gothiest thing you’ve ever worn? (Becca)

Um… a cape? LET US NEVER SPEAK OF THIS AGAIN.

Why you so fly? (Beccalise)

You think we’re fly, but we levitate, just be yourself, don’t ask us why, ’cause if you don’t we’ll make you fly.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you ‘grew up’? (Cally)

I always wanted to be a writer! My second choice would have been an actress, probably just because I loved attention!

If you could turn into an animal, like a werewolf, what would were-Gala prowl as under the moon? (Bing)

Whatever I turned out to be, I would have to have prominent ears. (Purple bunny? White bunny? Sequinned mouse? Normal mouse? Fingers?)

So, say for example, you could have any creature as a pet, (mythological/sci-fi/extinct/talking beast à la narnia- whatever!) what would it be, what would you name it and most importantly would you cruelly dress it up in glitter and nylon? (May)

You guys ask weird questions. I don’t know what it would be, maybe just a big flying shaggy carpet with googly eyes, called Hernandez. Of COURSE I would cruelly dress it up in glitter & nylon! What do you take me for?!

When will you be back in Melbourne? (Cally)

I’m not sure at this stage. I was going to come back in early 2009 to see some friends & get my hair done by my favourite people (Wildilocks!), but I actually think it makes more sense to get back to the States as soon as I can!

Are you a dog or cat person? Or some other animal entirely!? (Mandy)

I am definitely a dog person. All the way. Forever.

I’m uber curious about the end of your relationship with Steve/the beginning of you and Timmy. I know it’s so personal but I just want to know for my own personal knowledge/reference/etc. Like how did you get over it so quickly? (Embarrassed)

Well, the two situations are completely unrelated. By the time I officially called things off with Simon (his name isn’t Steve!), we had actually been apart from each other — him in Australia & me in New York — for three months. I often find that when I’m in a relationship, towards the end, one of the reasons I stay in it longer than I should is that I’m not sure how I would cope without them. You get so used to having them around, etc., that the idea of not having them by your side is terrifying. Going to New York & spending time there alone was fantastic for me in that sense — I learned that I didn’t need anyone, that I was self-sufficient & while having someone else around was nice, I certainly didn’t require it. The distance between us made me realise how different we were becoming, & I could see problems down the line that I didn’t think we would be able to iron out, or that we should. I think I felt like we would both be happier doing our own thing, unrestrained. I don’t really want to get into the reasons for our break-up (nothing dramatic, but not necessarily for public consumption!), but anyway, I ended it. I was afraid at the time, but it was the right thing to do.

I got over it quickly, because… I just do. That’s kind of how I am. Maybe because I was the person who made the decision & could see my future as a bachelorette, that made it easier — who knows.

As for Tim & I, we I had been friends since 2006 & it just kind of happened.

Okay one that’s not so personal… do you think I’m weird and gross and disgusting if I kind of have a little crush on Jay Gordon from the band Orgy, as he was from 1998-2002 (I haven’t a clue what he looks like now). but I kind of think he was hot (makeup, stupid hair, stupid outfits and all) and I want to have sex with his voice… I care what you think of me. Haha. (Embarrassed)

Psshhh, no, not at all! We all have ridiculous, unexplainable crushes at some point or another.

Do you sun-bathe? (Mai)

Rarely! I am too restless for that kind of thing.

Are all women from Venus? If not, what planet are you from Gala? How about Nubby? 😉 (Corissa Jade)

Nubby & I are definitely from Mercury — the planet of ideas, communication, media, magic, trickery… & VIRGOS!

I know you travel a lot, and you’ve got loads of fans all over the world, including here in London! Are you planning to come over any time soon for a visit?? And if you’ve been to London before – I think you have – what did you think about the city, the people, and the fashion scene? (Keishy V.)

London’s a strange city to me. I have been a bunch of times & enjoyed it, but it’s certainly not my favourite place to be. It definitely has its charms but it just doesn’t speak to me in the same way some other cities do. I wish I liked it more, actually, because I have a British passport & so I could live there easily, but it doesn’t really appeal to me. Having said that, whenever I went, I stayed with family & never really had any friends there (the last time I went was in 2006), so I am sure my experiences would be quite different going these days! I know a lot more people there now, & they keep trying to get me to go over, so you never know, you could see me there soon!

What do you doodle? (Mandy)

Hearts (mostly) & stars (sometimes) & occasionally faces. I read an article in some terrible magazine when I was in my early teens which said that if you doodled hearts, you desired love, if you doodled stars, you desired fame, & some other nonsense. I don’t know if I buy into it!

Do you feel you are taken very seriously with your neon hair color, and your half sleeve body art? (Madison)

Honestly, it’s not something I’ve given a lot of thought to. I don’t have a great desire to be “taken seriously”, it’s just not something that is important to me.

Having said that, I know that people react more positively to me without facial piercings, which is one reason why I don’t have them any more (as well as the fact that I feel like I outgrew them & got sick of them). Pink hair people seem to be okay with, but piercings push some (usually older, much more conservative) people over the edge. As for my tattoos, they’re not often on display. I will sometimes catch a grumpy-looking old woman flash me a look of disgust, but I really couldn’t care less what they think!

What are your pet peeves? (Kelly)

Bad table manners. People who yell into their cellphones. People who play all their ringtones on the bus. People who don’t turn off keytones on their cellphones. Um… a lot of cellphone-related stuff!

Your Daily Outfit is one of my favourite parts of iCiNG, and has inspired me to start looking at my own outfits on a daily basis. But are there any outfits that you look back on and go, ‘omg what WAS I thinking?!’ (Keishy V.)

I definitely do, & that’s one of the reasons why I take outfit photos! Often when you throw something on & look in the mirror, you look at one area of your body — your boobs or your legs or your waist or whatever — but not the whole thing. Photos don’t lie! I have worn plenty of extremely questionable outfits, & I feel okay about putting them online, because we can all benefit from it. & maybe have a giggle or two.

If you could smooch any designer, who would it be and why? (Becca)

Karl Lagerfeld. I doubt he’d be into it, but he’d definitely be my pick. I love him!

What are your long-term career aspirations? (Madison)

I know I should have a grand plan laid out, but I don’t. I’m really very happy just taking opportunities as they come & seeing where life takes me. I have faith! I do have some things I’d love to do, like have books published & start speaking, but other than that, I don’t feel the need to plan my life out to the letter… I love the adventure & being able to live spontaneously!

Alright, that’s it for now. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to do this, I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s awesome to get an opportunity to be so unabashedly narcissistic! I hope you enjoyed it too, & feel like you got some more insight into “the real Gala”!