I came across this beautiful poem being read aloud by the beautiful Sophie Dahl (who I've since developed a big, big crush on) on her cookery programme that I was watching clips of on YouTube to procrastinate from exam revision. What do you think?
On Waterloo Bridge where we said our goodbyes, the weather conditions bring tears to my eyes. I wipe them away with a black woolly glove And try not to notice I've fallen in love
On Waterloo Bridge I am trying to think: This is nothing. you're high on the charm and the drink. But the juke-box inside me is playing a song That says something different. And when was it wrong?
On Waterloo Bridge with the wind in my hair I am tempted to skip. You're a fool. I don't care. the head does its best but the heart is the boss- I admit it before I am halfway across
So, I've decided I'm just going to stop worrying. About pretty much everything. It doesn't help me or anybody around me and very rarely does it help the actual situation at hand. I'm just going to roll with the good times and even roll with the bad times and change what is within my power to change, and anything that is out of my control - I will leave for fate to decide. I'm blessed to have incredibly supportive, caring and generous friends who I don't actually think I could be without, and I am lucky to have good things in my life (both material and not), and those are the kinds of things I need to hold onto, not angst and woe.
So, onto my promised update of Great Escape Festival! (even if it is a little late!)
I'm not going to do a full on, in-depth cover of the festival as to be honest 1. it happened over a week ago and 2. you probably all won't care as it's old news now, but know that I had a fantastic time and I've definitely caught the festival bug (if such a thing exists!) I got to see some fantastic bands and I got the best of both worlds - the festival atmosphere of great music, good friends both old and new and (expensive!) drinking, whilst avoiding the horrors of camping (call me a Prince but camping is something that really does not appeal to me. If I wanted to wallow around in my own sweat and piss for three days, I could do that in my own home). My highlights were Niki & The Dove, Grimes, Lianne Le Havas (watch out for this lady!), Nordic Giants, Vondelpark and Jonquil, I'll be sure to upload some photos (myself and George took hundreds, no exaggeration, so I need to filter through them all!) and share them all with you when I'm not feeling tired and tipsy from too much cava consumption with Veronika.
So the past two weeks in general have been absolutely awful. I've lost sleep, cried, had panic attacks and seriously considered dropping everything and fleeing the city over money, Uni work and Topshop (which I may have to unfortunately quit). Fortunately thanks to the aforementioned help of friends both near and far and my ever faithful mum, I'm nearly back on track and determined to face this week with a fresh face.
On Saturday night I headed up into the forest near my house with Matt, we lit a small bonfire and burnt some personal memorabilia belonging to him and his ex-girlfriend. I hope he feels better from it all now. I managed to snap a couple of photos I'm pleased with:
Then today Veronika, a good friend who I met whilst living in halls, contacted me to ask if I wanted to take a walk as she as recently broken up with her ex-boyfriend (I should be paid for my therapy services!) so once again, we headed up into the forest near my house and up onto the hills, where we jumped the fence and sat on this mount which was covered in reeds and wild flowers, it was so pretty. We sat and talked and drank cheap, sparkling wine and put the world to rights for nearly an hour, before running down the hill screaming, being homophobically abused, getting more wine and ordered a Papa John's whilst smoking far too many cigarettes. The soundtrack to our pizza consumption was this album, with this song being mine and Veronika's favourite:
And to leave you, here are the photos I took of Veronika whilst we were up on the hills, with a sneaky one she took of me. The next post will be photos of Great Escape Festival, where the subject will then be laid to rest!
What did you get up to this weekend?
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Hi guys! Having a bit of a meltdown at the moment - don't worry, I haven't done or said anything stupid and haven't been taken away by the men in white coats either, I'm just letting everything get on top of me! I do however, have plans to sort things out so I'm counting on next week to be nice to me. Once everything has calmed down, I will fill you all in on my drama filled life and Great Escape Festival, amongst other things!
Monday, 14 May 2012
Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated for a few days, I swear I'm still recovering from the partying and antics that Great Escape and this weekend in general have bought - I'm tired quite literally all of the time! It's gone midnight right now so I'm going to try and go to sleep early (yes this is early for me) and hopefully wake up feeling fresh in the morning, where I will try and fill you in on the Great Escape Festival via the mediums of written word and photography. I hope you're all keeping well!
So it's 10.02pm, I'm a little giddy from the two red bull's that I've consumed and I'm sat staring at my laptop over a presentation that is due tomorrow, and - you guessed it - I haven't even started. I've gone as far as opening Microsoft Word and Powerpoint, but nothing has been entering into their blank white domains. The subject I've been asked to present on (relational art and aesthetics) means nothing to me - I don't like it, I don't properly understand it and how I'm meant to put together a half an hour presentation on something I don't even have adequate knowledge on is beyond me.
So I'll update you all with what's been happening in my life to make the pain of Uni work go away!
As you saw a couple of posts down, I had a lovely photoshoot last week with my new friend Loni (apologies for the broken link in my last post!). The photos that she took of me came back only a couple of days afterwards and I'm extremely pleased with the results. Here are my favourites:
A very talented photographer I'm sure you'll agree!
Apart from doing arty farty things on the beach and pulling my hair out over money and Uni work, I've also been working what seemingly feels like all the hours of the day in Topshop. I am yet to find a balance between Uni and Topshop, for it seems if I do too much of one, the other suffers, and this for all parties involved, is not a good thing. However, work are currently hosting a competition called "Fashion Role Models" where ten employees of Topshop and ten employees of Topman, who are deemed: 1. fashionably dressed and reflecting the store's latest trends 2. to have "outstanding" customer service, have their photo taken and put on the wall downstairs in the corridor by the Manager's office. These ten "entrants" are then whittled down to three, and the winner receives a £50 gift voucher, along with something else which I've forgotten right now. As a broke art student, I am downright determined to win this contest! I had my photo taken on Monday by the VM so I am now in the running to potentially win, so I'm going all out for the next two weeks to ensure that that £50 giftcard is mine! The Store Manager has also been handing out pre-loaded gift cards for good customer service that she has seen or heard about, and I was lucky enough to be presented with one on Saturday!
This week spells (apart from the looming presentation which I have to give in 25 hours) more overtime, dissertation proposal reading and GREAT ESCAPE FESTIVAL! Which I am extremely excited for as this is my first ever festival, and I have been lucky enough to obtain a delegate pass so I can report on it for the Uni's student newspaper! I will also upload a review of the festival on here so keep your eyes peeled. Are you going to the festival too? Let me know if so!
"...a strong desire for, or an impulse to, wander or travel and explore the world."
Travelling has always been something close to my heart. I love going to new countries and new cities and experiencing different sights, sounds and cultures and this has been something I have especially enjoyed since I went travelling around Continental Europe with my parents for nearly two months in 2004. I'm nearly 24 and I've been lucky enough to visit 13 countries. Nothing beats exploring a city where nobody knows you or wandering through breathtaking countryside with your closest friends and/or family to accompany you. This time next year I will have very nearly finished Uni and a lot of travelling is on the cards for me. Here are some videos that I discovered on Vimeo this morning whilst distracting myself from Uni work (which is partly also why I'm going to be blogging multiple times tonight, hope you all don't mind) that really made my feet itch, and got me in the mood for escaping everything close and familiar to me and plunging myself into the unknown. Unfortunately Vimeo doesn't let allow Embed coding from their site on Blogger (or at least I couldn't find a way to do it), but the links to these beautiful pieces of art can be found here and here.
What do you think of the videos? Have you been lucky enough to go travelling? I'd love to hear about any experiences you might like to share!
Just wanted to very quickly share a link to a poem I've become fascinated and intrigued by - Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, there's just something about it, I'm going to sleep now as it's gone 2am here and I have a six hour shift tomorrow! Bisous mon ami.
A few weeks ago I was contacted via my Tumblr by someone to ask if I would be interested in participating in a photoshoot to help with a photography project this person was working on. At first I was a little alarmed because the message was sent anonymously, but the culprit soon unmasked herself and turned out to be my now very latest friend Loni, who also writes poetry and posts photography and such on her Tumblr too (as I'm sure you'll see if you'd be so kind as to click the link) and once we got discussing ideas and so forth I was very excited as I haven't posed for photos that are going further than the internet for a good two years.
So after her having to re-schedule twice and me being an hour late, I met Loni at Brighton station and we headed to the beach, amongst other locations, where she patiently and professionally directed me and took what I'm sure will be some fantastic photographs. I also bought along my DSLR, and managed to persuade Loni inbetween breaks of snapping me, to take photographs of her (which was an opportunity that I rinsed and did near enough all day). Here is the cream of the crop!
The basic idea of her project/exhibition is to look at how ordinary people carry beauty, and she is photographing 100 people who could have the potential to be models but aren't - so I'm very very flattered! I'm also very excited to see the outcome once the rolls are developed. So Loni, I wish you every bit of luck with your exhibition!
Hi guys! Sorry I haven't had much to share with you recently, but here are some songs I've been really enjoying, including a beautiful video at the end, which puts an almost hypnotic twist on those cliche Tumblr quotes. Hope you enjoy.
