Once upon a time...

Long ago, in a land not so far away, as this bittersweet, modern-day fairy-tale shows us, a girl meets a boy. A boy with a guitar, a broken heart and an unrecorded album in him enough to get him across the ocean to the life of his dreams. This unnamed Irish musician along with an equally mysterious and talented Czech piano player carry us into a world where anything seems possible. She has a broken hoover, a complicated family, a talent for sharing her own joy with all she meets and changes his life irreversibly and forever.

But the course of neither true love nor musical success never did run smooth, and this whirlwind ride through the pubs and bars, kitchen tables and poky upstairs bedrooms, recording studios and vacuum cleaner repair shops of Dublin is no exception. With an ending as poignant as it is surprising this show lets you take nothing for granted and will break your heart, leaving you wondering, wishing, hoping, like its two romantic protagonists.

Once takes it's audience on a magical, musical journey, encouraging you to follow your dreams and open your eyes to the world around you - with plenty of stomping and clapping Irish and Czech folk music to keep your spirits up every step of the way. A love song to the power of kindness in strangers, the importance of friendship, music and following your heart and a story that will leave even the saddest of faces nodding, smiling and clapping along.

I can safely say it's the most uplifted I've ever felt leaving a theatre and something to regret missing out on! "Once" The Musical opened on Broadway in 2012, winning eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, before appearing in London's West End at the Phoenix Theatre in 2013. I saw the show in April 2014 with Doctor Who's Arthur Darvill as "Guy" and Zrinka Cvitesic as "Girl," who were both absolutely amazing. This show is truly a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience.

And if you need any more convincing...

 

Oh, and by the way: "Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who wrote the music and lyrics for the film, have composed the music for Once the Musical. They won an Oscar for the song Falling Slowly." I got emotional again just listening to the soundtrack while writing this. Enjoy xox

 

Saving Mr Banks ...

It's hard to know what to say - what to start with - when trying to describe this film. I could tell you that you definitely need to see it; that you will laugh, cry and want to shout at the screen; that by the end, whatever your feelings on Disney, you will love and adore the characters and hope that Emma Thompson writes all future scripts for all movies. "Saving Mr Banks," as well as being the story of how the much loved children's book "Mary Poppins" was made into an equally - if not more so - loved Disney film, is about a (now grown up) little girl and her relationship with her father. It is about how your past haunts you into adulthood, and if you aren't careful and willing to let it go, all through your life. It is about love and loss, about watching your parents screw up their lives and, by extension yours. 




I have to confess I didn't cry while watching it. I didn't cry as two small girls watched their father drink himself closer and closer to death and then eventually, gently even, slip over the edge. I didn't cry as the oldest daughter saved her unstable mother from a suicide attempt. I didn't cry as P. L. Travers, now a fully grown-up woman and a successful writer, crumpled into tears watching her childhood brought to life in a magical, moving film that somehow made all of that pain as close as it would ever be to alright. In fact the closest to tears I got was as she hugged a Mickey Mouse cuddly toy all alone in L. A. and realised how just how very lonely she was.

 

Trust me, you need to watch this film. If you love the story of the nanny who blew in with the east wind, carrying a magic carpet bag; providing the spoonfuls of sugar needed to help the life lessons go down, then you will enjoy seeing a whole new element to her creation brought to life. If you are yet to be won over by the singing and the dancing, the mystery and adventures - the dancing penguins and the flying kites in London skies, the suffragettes, the chimney sweeps and the echoing cathedral with it's swooping birds - prepare to have your opinions changed. Emma Thompson is totally magical and has written a movie that will sweep the most hardened Disney haters off their feet. Tom Hanks is ideal as Walt Disney - the storyteller who makes dreams come true and characters dance off the page and into imaginations all over the world.
 

 

The songs that make "Mary Poppins" so wonderful are all here. From Chim-Chiminey to Supercallifragilistic to Feed the Birds (sobs) and Fly A Kite, you can easily spend the whole film singing along and will come away feeling oddly reminded of your childhood, however distant it seems day to day. Personally, among others such as Annie and The Sound of Music, Mulan, Peter Pan and Pocohontas, "Mary Poppins" was one of the films I watched with my sister about 743682 times when we were little. It's really rare to see something that perfectly appreciates what's so wonderful about the original, but adds to it beautifully, expanding on the themes you were only partially aware of, when watching curled up on the sofa, having begged to stay up past bedtime to finish the ending. It allows you to love it again in a whole new way; seeing it with fresh, grown-up - or at least closer to it - eyes. 

 

And finally, no. She didn't come to save the children. She never did. Excuse me while I go and cry over how perfect "Saving Mr Banks" is, re-watch "Mary Poppins" and spend the next three weeks raving about it to everyone I know.

xox

I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS...

1) Is there anyone in Britain right now who doesn't watch Sherlock? If so where are these people and can we have some kind of intervention before its too late?

2) Can I get one of those coats?  I know its actually pretty much the same size as me but its so beautiful - look at it.

3) There is nothing that makes me cry as much as this TV programme does - do I have a problem? Also THOSE CHEEKBONES.

4) What's with the naming everyone M thing? Moriarty, Mycroft, Mary, Molly... actually that might be it.

5) Why is next Sunday the last episode, why why why?

6) Is someone else going to die, and why are you doing this to me and when are you going to tell us how he faked his death and are we going to have to wait another two years for series 4 (please no) and has this blog post made any sense to anyone?

Do you watch Sherlock?

xox

The 365th Day...

I love New Years. Everything about it, from the evening and night before, to the clock striking midnight and the start of the first "day" of the next year- just everything. It's fair to say I look forward to it with easily equal (if not more) anticipation as for the C-word that comes at this time of year as well. Of course, why wouldn't I? Because taking away the turkey (that poor, pescetarian little me can't eat anyway...) and the presents (that, let's face it, aren't the point anyway,) and the family arguments, excessive chocolate consumption and drinking at 10am, you're left with a national holiday that - to be honest - I don't think is anywhere near as good as New Year's Eve.

 

 

I love - clichéd and hated though this is - the feeling of a clean slate. A new year; a fresh start; a blank and empty page ready to be filled up with all the stuff that's going to happen to you over the next months and weeks. This year could be the best one yet - you can make it whatever was lacking from the last, make it full of amazing experiences and say yes to everything. You could finally quit smoking, start running or taking more photos or spend more time with your family or be nicer to everyone around you. Whatever you decide to do, the possibilities are endless and potentially life-changing. I love making my resolutions for the months ahead - as well as looking back at last years, reflecting on what I made happen, the things that were good ideas as well as the ones that turned out to be better off forgotten about. Seeing how much has changed in a whole year can be terrifying - but also a reminder of how far you've come; the things you achieved that would have seemed impossible only 52 (sometimes very long) weeks ago. Some years you feel like a completely different person, a whole new version of yourself, and other December 31sts you feel exactly the same.

 

 

I love celebrating NYE with my family, friends and whoever else turns up at our house. We always end up having a traditional *everyone just gets pissed* type of party with small children asleep on sofas, adults dancing in the living room and a kitchen full of bottles and glasses to clear up the next morning. When me and my sister were little our favourite thing was being allowed to stay up past midnight for once, and even now I'm older I still prefer "our" New Years to going out anywhere else. I love the countdown, the excitement, watching the fireworks at midnight and hugging everyone in the room. I love being dragged into a circle of my family, being forced to sing something Scottish that after 18 years I'm sure I still don't know the words to. These days, I even don't mind the first hangover of the year either...

 

 

So, whether its your favourite night or the one you dread most of all; if you were out for the night, watching fireworks in Edinburgh or London or someone's back garden or curled up on the sofa, drink in hand watching Jools Holland (this is how I always secretly suspected my dad would prefer it to be...) I hope you had a very happy New Year's Eve and a lovely first day of January.. *cough, Sherlock...*. It may be known as "amateur night," the worst one of the year to go out on, you may simply long for it to be over and just go to bed and sleep through it, but however you chose to spend it, to celebrate or endure the start of 2014, I hope you enjoyed it and the next 364 days to go.

 

Oh, and this is the best New Years-y song in existence. xxx

 

LES MIS

Ever since I first heard of Les Miserables, I have been fascinated and a tiny bit obsessed with it. I sobbed my way through it more than once in the cinema, insisted on helping out with every show when my school performed the musical - just to get to be there and watch it each night - and was given both the film soundtrack and a copy of the original book for my 17th birthday. Although at the moment the (huge) chunky text is sat being quietly ignored on my bookshelf - its about 7,000 pages long, okay?! - I've definitely been inspired to attempt to read it now. Maybe when I've watched the movie once more...

 

Anyway, yesterday, December 23rd, I was lucky enough to go and see the musical in the West End. I've been hoping this would happen for about two or so years now so it was a completely amazing experience. The show recently moved to Queen's Theatre and is now the longest running musical in the world. We booked tickets really last minute so ended up being sat at the back of the stalls, which isn't ideal as you can't really see the top of the barricades from there. However, the singing, the actors, costumes, sets and everything else about it made it so incredible that I stopped noticing the fact that some of the characters looked like they didn't have heads and I'm already planning to go again sometime.

I think the reason so many people all over the world love this show so much is because of how relatable it is. That may sound strange, given that the whole thing is set in revolutionary France, and we like to think the world has moved on since then. But all of the different bits of plot, the complicated lives of all the characters, mean that whatever you have experienced in your life, you can see a little bit of it in Les Mis. There are so many different relationships, so many themes going on, and the story is universal, ending with a message of hope, even when surrounded by death.

It's fair to say that Les Miserables isn't the most "happy" musical you could imagine - it's name is basically French for: "The Miserable Ones" after all - which is why the comic parts of it are so important. The audience sat up a bit straighter when the Thenardier's came on stage and their songs are the most entertaining by far. The contrast of laughing at them and enjoying the humour in their scenes makes you appreciate the sadness of the deaths of several characters and feel that you are on an emotional rollercoaster - everything from danger, fear, love, anger, redemption and finally hope are explored throughout the nearly 3 hour running time. It might be a long musical but it seemed to go by seriously fast. I felt like the curtains had only just risen when the actors started taking their bows to a standing ovation. My eye makeup was cried off down my cheeks by the middle of Act 1, I literally had to force myself not to start singing along and I can honestly say I hoped it would never be over. If you ever get the chance to see Les Miserables, definitely say yes! It's an experience you will never forget; you'll find yourself humming the songs weeks later, wishing you could see it for the first time all over again.

Lets all laugh at the bands I like.....

So my friend Robyn wants me to answer some question about my music taste... which is obviously because it's so great and not at all because she wants to laugh at me. I don't see anything wrong with the fact that I love Mcfly, The Killers and (not even that secretly...) Kanye West, along with the Arctic Monkeys, Biffy Clyro and Nirvana. I'm just all about encouraging diversity... mainly on my iPod, and yes, I did just put it on shuffle and the first song that came on was Starlight, by Taylor Swift. What do you mean you don't like that song...?!?!

Anyway...

Which bands/artist do you own the most albums by?
I own everything recorded by The Killers and I think all the Biffy Clyro albums as well. I also have a whole lot of Taylor Swift OF COURSE. As well as that I have tons of my dad's music - so basically a lot of Oasis and Bruce Springsteen albums. I told you it was diverse...

What was the last song you listened to?
I'm writing this while watching the Gilmore Girls, but the last thing I listened to was either Vampire Weekend's album Modern Vampires of the City, Boys in Books, by Carrie Hope Fletcher or a band called Moose Blood that I discovered the other day. Someone I follow on twitter posted a song by them and I listened and fell in love with the lyrics....

I guess I'll never know why you closed the window,
Start reading Hemingway, start drinking cups of Earl Grey
then I guess maybe one day.. I'll be yours forever....

What’s in your CD player right now?
I don't have a CD player anymore - who does?! - but I used to and I miss it to be honest. I still own loads of CDs and mostly I just cut up the sleeves to add to my wall of posters and tickets. The last thing I played from my iPod speakers was The Velvet Underground & Nico's debut album, from 1967.

What was the last show you attended?
The last concert I saw was Biffy Clyro who played a show in my town at G-live on October 28th. It was amazing, the band were incredible, the crowd were insane, I crowd surfed for the second time and basically just had a great night. They are such an good band live, definitely see them if you ever get a chance to.

What was the greatest show you’ve ever been to?
That's a really hard question because every show I've been to was amazing at the time. I think the best one ever was when I saw The Killers at the O2 in 2012 with my best friend. My mum came to it with us - because we share our amazing taste in bands - and her dad bought us the tickets and I have honestly never been so excited for anything in my life. We had seats right up high but even though the arena is huge, the atmosphere was fantastic. We screamed and danced to every song and even though the tour was for their Battle Born album, they played tons of their old stuff and loads of my favourite songs. I think they started with Mr Brightside and from start to finish it was the loudest show I've ever seen, despite how far away we were. In fact I think my ears are still ringing just thinking about it. I'm wearing the tour t-shirt right now. Okay, definitely the best show I've seen. A close second was when I went to Mcfly, I'm not joking: I laughed, I cried, I danced and it was fab.

 
What’s the worst show you’ve ever been to?
Hmm, its either the time I ended up seeing a really terrible scream band for reasons I do not remember, possibly temporary insanity. Anyway it was awful and we ended up leaving mid-way through... trust me, we didn't miss much. Or it was one of the various shows I've seen with my family at the music festival in the tiny town where my grandparents live. Think of granddads with beards and banjos, and although its fun to go and see my cousins and go to the beach, its not exactly my idea of musical heaven.

What’s the most musically involved you have ever been?
I used to do dance and performing arts (before I became a teenager and realised I should never be seen singing in public EVER) and we used to do loads of shows and at the time it was really fun. I was in Annie as a little orphan kid, a show called "Simply The Best!" (don't even ask..) and one for my dance school's 25th anniversary celebration. Try not to laugh too much but one time we had to wear clown outfits.... while singing. I know, I know, I was like twelve at the time, its all in the past.

What show are you looking forward to?
I'm just about dying of excitement to see Taylor Swift in February on the Red Tour. I'm planning on buying a t-shirt, a poster, any other merch I can get my hands on, dancing like a crazy fan-girl, taking a million and one pictures, completely freaking out and singing along to every song.

What is your favourite band shirt?
Either my Killers t-shirt which is beautiful and really soft and lovely or my gorgeous new Twin Atlantic t-shirt. I have a thing for Scottish bands at the moment and I saw them at Reading Festival this year. They did a really good set, despite it being a bit rainy and I ordered the t-shirt online, rather than spend my train fare home buying it at the festival, although trust me, I was tempted to. The only other one I have is Nirvana, but its too big for me and doesn't have memories attached to it of actually experiencing the band. It is pretty though!

What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
I would love love love to meet Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys because I am just completely in love with him so I could say him, but there are so many other options too! Like its a really obvious answer but everyone would want to meet Kurt Cobain (obviously impossible) and personally I would want to hang out with The Killers or Stevie Nicks. I also really got into Haim recently and they seem really cool and fun as well as talented, so that's another one.

Who is one musician or group you wish would make a comeback?
I would love for Oasis to reform! And I wish Lou Reed wasn't dead, I got into him via The Killers because his vocals are on one of the tracks from Sam's Town and his voice and lyrics are brilliant.

Who is one band/artist you’ve never seen live but always wanted to?
I've never seen Arctic Monkeys and I've wanted to for ages, hopefully I will do one day. There are lots I'd like to have seen, and sadly one of the members is usually dead. It would have been amazing to see The Smiths but that's never going to happen either - although I did get to see Johnny Marr play.

What are your top 5 favourite bands? 
Right. At the moment...
The Killers.
Biffy Clyro.
Arctic Monkeys.
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
and probably Twin Atlantic.

Name four or more flawless albums:
The Velvet Underground & Nico (self-titled record).
Rumours by Fleetwood Mac is perfection.
Dookie by Greenday. They played the whole thing straight through at Reading and I remembered how much I loved it when I first heard it aged about thirteen.
Hot Fuss by The Killers is one of the best albums I've ever heard.
I don't know... if its just about a flawless album then The XX's first one is unbelievably beautiful.

How many music related videos/DVDs do you own?
I don't actually know if I own any - I watch stuff online rather than buying it and I would rather buy an album than a book. I watched a documentary about The Rolling Stones about four times last year though and about a week ago I watched one about Jimi Hendrix - I just don't own any of them. And honestly, I'm pretty tempted to read Morrissey's book, although maybe I'll just wait until someone I can borrow it from buys it....

How many concerts/shows have you been to, total?
God, I actually don't know! Okay, the first proper one was The Killers, then last year I saw P!nk, I went to Capital Summertime Ball (because Taylor was playing!), I saw The 1975, Frank Turner, The Pogues and I've seen stuff at Guil-fest like Kids in Glass Houses. And then more recently I've seen Mcfly, Paul Weller, Biffy Clyro, Tall Ships, The First and then I saw loads of bands at Reading in the summer: like Frank Turner again, Greenday, Jake Bugg, Johnny Marr, Foals, Alt-J, and Biffy.

Who have you seen the most live?
Frank Turner wins because I've seen him three times: twice at a festival and once supporting someone else, does that count?. But then I've seen The Killers and Biffy both twice so I don't know, one of those three.

What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
Probably The Perks of Being a Wallflower. But 10 Things I Hate About You, 500 Days of Summer and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist definitely make the list as well. Good music = good film.

What was your last musical “phase” before you wisened up?
Oh god, I'm so not "wisened up" yet! Hahahaha I still listen to Mcfly and loads of rubbish stuff. But I like so many different bands, I don't really have phases. I'm always discovering something new and it keeps life interesting. I have phases of listening to something a lot and then forgetting it for about a year and then going OH YEAH I LOVE BLONDIE and then re-listen with fresh ears. Its nice.

What’s your “guilty pleasure” that you hate to admit to liking?
I don't hate to admit to anything if I genuinely like it! Probably the one that I would be laughed at the most for is how much I like Kanye West, HE'S REALLY TALENTED, OKAY! Yeezus is a great album, I will stand up for that opinion. There's not too much else really.

Leave a comment if you feel like answering any of these questions yourself - I won't tag anyone but if you enjoyed reading and want to do your own post please tell me because I would love to hear about other people's favourite bands, guilty pleasures and best ever concert experiences.

xoxo

I forgot how much I love Vampire Weekend....

 

the gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out

what you on about?

I feel it in my bones, I feel it in my bones

 

 

all your diction, dripping with disdain

through the pain I always tell the truth

 

 

we know the fire awaits unbelievers

all of the sinners the same

girl you and I will die unbelievers, bound

to the tracks of the train

 

 

half of me is the gasoline

but the other half's the surf

 

 

nobody knows what the future holds

said its bad enough just getting old

live my life in self-defense, you know

I love the past cause I hate suspense

 

 

 

paper's shot to pieces

the kids don't stand a chance

Some lovely little questions...

Ages ago I was tagged in one of those chain blog award things by another Jessica. So thank you Jess - and have a look at her blog because she does some amazing artwork! I've finally got round to writing the post - because who doesn't love answering some questions about themselves...?

The rules of this tag are:
1.The tagged/nominated blogs have to have under 200 followers.
2.Tag the blog that nominated you.
3.Tell the people you tag so they can respond.

And here are my answers.........



1. What inspired you to start a blog?

I was inspired to begin blogging after reading other people's blogs, which I know is a really boring response. It was also because I love writing and at the time I wasn't really that into using Facebook or Twitter so it was sort of a way to create a space for me to be creative and talk about things I was into, which I didn't really do in any other way on the internet at the time I started it.

2. If you could go back to any era for a day which time era would you go to?

I would visit the late 1960s and either go to London and see the Rolling Stones playing or I would want to go to one of the huge music festivals in America, either Monterey Pop or Woodstock. Honestly if I had a time machine seeing bands would be the only reason I would use it; the idea of mucking up the course of human history by accident really freaks me out and as much as we'd all like to think that *killing Hitler* (or insert other mass murderer etc.) would be a good thing, we can never know what effect changing things would have - it could be worse after all and that really scares me.

3. Cats or Dogs?

I'm not much of a fan of either but if forced to pick I'd say cat. I can't handle the level of emotional commitment a dog needs; sums up my life really.

4. What is your must have clothing item for Autumn?

A coat? Does that even count? I don't know really, I have some lovely new ankle boots but I can't walk properly in them and they're too pretty to take outside in the rain and puddles and ruin, so I'll go for my nice warm coat. That or a really snuggly jumper.



5. What is your favourite book?

Ugh so many! The Harry Potter books are probably my all time favourites as my entire childhood is measured in terms of waiting for the next books and films to come out. There are so many quotes that I love and the whole series means so much to me. One of my favourite places in the whole world is the Elephant Café in Edinburgh where J K Rowling wrote, and where I insisted on spending ages in when I visited Scotland! But I also love anything by John Green, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, The Great Gatsby, ummmm The Book Thief and On The Road are also two of my favourites, there are just far too many really! And don't mention I Capture The Castle to me and expect me not to get emotional... I sometimes think I prefer that book to reality.





6.What is your dream job?

A writer. Can you tell?

 

7. Is there anything you do that other people find weird?

I tend to be quite quiet... that is until you get to know me well. I can bend my thumbs back at a weird angle, apart from that I don't know, can't think of that many things. Try asking my friends.... they may have a different answer.

8. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Oh My God, so many places. Firstly, its obviously a huge cliché, but New York City. Then Paris, anywhere in Italy, Australia, India.... there are so many millions of places I want to go to, to be honest. I'm a bit in love with Scotland as so many of my favourite bands are from there, and there are also random places that I just want to travel to for no particular reason - like a particular lake in Russia, for example, or Seattle in America, and I also really want to go back to Poland again. Finally if I really could only pick one place it would have to be somewhere in Asia - maybe Japan, China or Thailand - because I lived in Hong King when I was little and have always wanted to go back there.

9. Must have make-up item?

I have to say eyeliner comes close, I love doing pretty winged or really messy smudgy eyes, but if you told me I could only use one make up item ever again it would be lip balm. My pet hate is having chapped lips and I'm constantly smearing on different flavours; my favourite at the moment is the Body Shop Spiced Vanilla which tastes exactly like Christmas. However, I probably couldn't live for long without most of my make up bag to be honest.

10. Favourite quote?

My current favourite quote is this one. I just think it makes a lot of sense and makes me feel better about being permanently in a bad mood about something.



 

Hopefully you enjoyed reading this post, a bit different from the usual really. I'm going to ask Lucy and Robyn to answer the same questions I was asked (because I'm too lazy to think up more but ssshhh.....)

 

xoxo

Things I Know Today.

Sometimes a week off is what we all need. A few nights spent drinking too much and laughing with friends are the most perfect things. It doesn't matter if the film is bad, as long as the person you watch it with doesn't mind you providing sarcastic commentary. Pizza is all I need to cure any hangover. Really cold coke optional but preferred. Burning incense in my bedroom is filling it with thick sweet smoke but its worth it, even just to save money on my scented candle addiction.



Christmas is beginning to feel just around the corner, and bonfire night is even closer. My favourite time of the year has definitely begun. Towns full of students are fun towns to visit - especially if they look like a setting from Harry Potter; complete with castles, gothic cathedrals and shops full of beautiful old books. Six hour train journeys are bearable with an iPod full of music and a phone full of people to text and complain to about said journey. Vodka and coke is the one. Waking up to cider spilt over your bedroom floor and last nights outfit is not.

Halloween is incredible, so is face paint, so is going to church on the night of October 31st - as an atheist - I've never felt so spooky in my life. Dracula is good reading material for giving you nightmares and skies full of stars are suddenly quite scary. The music I'm listening to changes as the nights get longer and the evenings get darker earlier. All I want to do is curl up under my duvet and wait for it to start snowing; the disappointment when this doesn't happen until February is just as much of a yearly ritual.



In other words: autumn is well under way. The high street coffee chains have brought out their seasonal specials, everyone I know is bundled up in coats and hats every time we set foot outside, I've got some new snuggly warm boots to wear and a pile of books to read. I've switched back to my "wintry" perfume, and started longing to buy new jumpers, as if Topshop needed any more of my hard-earned cash. A very happy girl really.

Memories need to be made, photos need to be taken and life needs to happen while we still have time left living here. This is how I look today. Tired, yes. Piles of work to do before next week starts, yes. Regretting not spending more time studying, definitely not. I could get run over by a car tomorrow or fall under a bus and I wouldn't want to feel like I had missed out on anything.

Did I Ever Mention That I Love John Green?

It happened again. Don't expect me to be capable of using Amazon to order all my Year 13 books without sneaking in something I actually want to read as well... Sorry A2 Politics textbook but you don't really fit that definition. I don't think there's anything I would prefer to arrive in the post on a Saturday when I don't have to get up to do anything than a new (to me) book that I can dive into and read pretty much in one go. This one was no exception. According to Wikipedia Paper Towns is Youtuber John Green's third novel, but I know this is true because I have also read AND LOVED Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. And don't even get me started on The Fault In Our Stars. I love this book so much it feels like a tiny piece of my soul.

 

Anyway. Thoughts. It would be wrong to say that Paper Towns is a love story, not because it isn't, but because its so much more than that. Its a growing up story, a coming-of-age tale of life in a small town on the edge of a huge country full of futures. Its about friendship, knowing who you are while accepting that all that could change at any moment. Its about road trips, adventure and mystery. Its about “a lovely, eccentric girl; a mystery that begs to be solved by clever, quirky teens," but also about a boy. A boy who believes in college and jobs and the future and spends his final days of high school questioning all of those beliefs. Paper Towns is all about confronting what is and isn't real. The imaginary towns drawn onto maps that don't really exist are "paper," but so are the suburbs and the communities full of houses that all look the same, containing the cookie-cutter lives of people who grew up accepting "the whole allure of a life rightly lived." There probably isn't anyone alive who hasn't found themselves, at some point, asking these questions and it helps sometimes, when you feel like you're struggling to decipher the point to existence, to read a book like this.

 

I liked it a lot, but I'm kind of struggling to put into words as to why. I think it may be one of those books that you read fast and then put down for a few months while it simmers away in the back of your head until you pick it up again and go Oh I Get This Now. This Is All So True And etc. etc. One part I really liked was the idea that "the metaphors have implications." The way we decide to perceive things does affect the world and the way things are. The whole book felt full of little moments like this; tiny sentences of wisdom, in between the drama and humour and car crashes, after-proms and midnight break-ins of the plot. Drunken chats in empty bathtubs at parties with people you had never spoken to before. Falling asleep on long drives. Maps on bedroom walls, highlighted bits in books, messages to your friends, lying to parents, sneaking out and back in again. All of these things are so recognizable as parts of growing up: everyone can find a memory of their teenage years in here.

 

Much of Paper Towns is structured around this incomprehensible poem by Walt Whitman. I searched through the internet for a bit and eventually I found one quote that I liked from part of Song Of Myself: "My words itch at your ears till you understand them." I might have to let Paper Towns itch at my ears for a while until I get it but I would still definitely recommend reading it. I think its quite rare for books aimed at teenagers and young adults to be about stuff that actually means something. It can feel like if you want to read something that understands the questions that are nagging at you about life or the future or whatever your choices are limited to books written in the past. Obviously there's nothing wrong with this, but equally it would be wrong to limit philosophical questioning and stuff to *old* books. We should be doing it today as well, because sometimes it feels like there's more and more options and more and more to question than ever.

Okay I'm done. If you've read Paper Towns or any other John Green books, what did you think?

TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU

I've found my favourite movie. I probably say this about once a week, or at least every time I watch another Heath Ledger film but I MEAN IT THIS TIME, OKAY!!!

Ten Things I Hate About You came out in 1999 so I have no idea why it took me this long to actually watch it. If this is you then please stop whatever you're doing right now and go see it.

Immediately.

I love it so much I don't think I can actually write about it properly. Instead, I'm just going to tell you 10 things I really, really don't hate about it.

10) It's based on a Shakespeare play and the high school the characters attend is named Padua High. I don't know why I love this, but it's just really cute. Also Patrick "Verona," like in Italy.




9) Kat and Bianca's dad is the best. You're probably supposed to hate him for, like, "OMG, totally ruining everything," but he really cares about his daughters and *spoiler* lets Kat go off to college in the end. I'm tearing up over here.

8) All (or most) of the characters are really smart and intelligent, which makes a nice change from watching teenagers portrayed in films as stupid and irresponsible. The obvious exceptions to this point are part of the plot so we can look past Joey and Chastity.


"Trust you to use long words when you're smashed."

7) JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT. I have nothing else to say about this except: He. Is. Adorable.

6) Mr Morgan. Why isn't he real and why isn't he teaching me English?

5) Bianca reminds me of my little sister. They're both annoying, attention-seeking and have this amazing ability to get exactly what they want but still manage to seem sweet and innocent. She's also definitely the best dressed one in the film.

4) The music. All of it is so good, from the Joan Jett song playing while Kat drives to school to the concert where he asks her out to the bands performing at the prom at the very end.

3) When he buys her the guitar and then kisses her and she just won't shut up interrupting to tell him what to do. I just can't deal with how much I love this bit you guys.

2) Julia Stiles. I think if I was 17 in the nineties rather than now she would be the girl I would secretly want to be but would be too shy to go be friends with. Because she is seriously scary. With great taste in books and music, but still terrifying.

And if you don't cry at her poem, you're either lying or just have no soul.

1) Heath Ledger. <3 <3 <3 And THIS. If it doesn't convince you to watch the film, then I don't think we can be friends.

Writing and stuff like that...

Life is good when you're as excited as I am to go to work experience every morning. For a whole week I get to sit in an office, with my laptop and write about stuff, while drinking coffee and being surrounded by other people doing the exact same thing. I'm literally loving it, and getting to "pretend" to be a writer for the week is making me all the more sure that it's what I want to do with my life. Although work experience can sometimes be oddly reminiscent of playing at being a grown-up, like playing in a Wendy house at pre-school, it is definitely worthwhile and you get out what you put in.


I would be lying if I said there haven't been dull moments - or hours - or times I've been texting friends wondering if they're enjoying it more or less than me, but overall it has been amazing. And if anyone's interested, here is the link to my first real article for something other than this blog. Give it a read if you want to find out more about a new reality TV show starting in my local area of Surrey - South-East England. Here you go...

my first real article for @TG2Surrey http://t.co/7zZE7YrGQv so exciting :) #surreyhills
— Jessica (@JessicaFKeyes) July 24, 2013

Hope everyone is having a lovely week
xxx

I wear short skirts, I wear t-shirts.

 "Because she wears high heels, I wear sneakers. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers..."

Firstly, I love Taylor Swift. Her music makes me want to dance around my bedroom, singing into my hairbrush. It cheers me up after a bad day, a long shift at work or a fight with someone I care about. It makes me smile when I'm already in a good mood, and is the only thing I want playing on a long train journey. I have some tissue paper hearts that came out of the confetti cannon at her Summertime Ball performance on my wall of posters in my room and I own most, if not almost all, of the music she has released. Red is my running music, Speak Now gets me up in the morning and Fearless plays through my headphones while I fall asleep. Listening to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together got me through my GCSE revision last year as whenever I thought I was going to go mental doing chemistry questions, maths equations or history past papers I would get up and dance madly around my house, singing along and blasting it from my speakers. And I will be the most excited person in the country when she announces UK dates for the Red Tour.

However, listening to the lyrics of You Belong With Me the other day, I realised something. Although it may be my favourite Taylor Swift song, and definitely her best video, it kind of made me sad. Its safe to say its a pretty well known fact that Taylor is famous not only for her music but for her high profile relationships and break ups as well, so it probably isn't a surprise to anyone when she writes songs about heartbreak and girls stealing her boyfriends from her. But something that occurs almost as frequently in her songs as mentions of beautiful blue eyes and driving trucks through the rain, are lines where she sounds pretty harsh or judgemental about other girls. She is a star, so it is in the job description to be entertaining and make music that people will love and want to listen to over and over. You may think that it doesn't really matter whether Taylor Swift makes a bitchy comment in a song - whether its about what a girl "does on the mattress" or what a guy is doing "with a girl like that?" - and you would be right. With people dying in wars all over the world and losing their jobs and homes due to the economy, the lyrics in music could be seen is completely irrelevant. But you could also argue that it is important; that how we talk about people is what makes us who we are.

And, honestly, that line just really irritated me. Because we all (girls.. mostly) have days where we do want to get up in the morning and put on a really short skirt and a lot of eye make up. Perhaps you're not feeling very confident or there's someone you want to impress, maybe you just want to dress up for the day. And sometimes on Taylor Swift's planet it seems like that makes those girls into the "slutty" girls. But at the same time, maybe even the next day, you might wear jeans and trainers, or go bare-faced, not even bothering with mascara and does that then make you the "sweet and innocent" one? The one "listening to the kind of music she doesn't like?" Not really. The way you dress shouldn't influence what other people think of you, and even though the image you present to world can sometimes feel like the most important thing in the world, it's not. Who you are doesn't change because of how you dress or how your hair looks. And sometimes, I want to wear high heels and sneakers at the same time. That's why wedge trainers were invented, okay.

My little sister, her friends and many people their age and younger all love Taylor and I think a lot of parents would prefer their daughter to be singing along to her music rather than Rihanna or Ke$ha. Its a little more innocent and while they may not actually understand some of the lyrics, Taylor Swift's whole image is just that bit more classy, more appropriate for younger girls to look up to. However as much as this is a good thing to have role models, and to admire people who are talented or successful, I think its just as important, personally, to be a "good" person. The definition of this could vary depending on different people's values, or what they see as important, but overall I would say you should be kind about other people. We're all guilty of it, and people who know me might be laughing if they read this, as I have a really sarcastic sense of humour and can probably say some very harsh things. This isn't necessarily something I'm proud of though, and I hope that people know that when I laugh at them, its because we're friends, not in spite of it!

 

So Taylor, maybe you need to take the advice Tina Fey gave you at the Golden Globes. Maybe you do need some "me-time to learn about yourself." And even though I really, really, really loved when Ed Sheeran came on stage with you and sang Everything Has Changed, maybe don't date him just yet. I don't think the world can take another really good break up album with lots of acoustic guitars and it definitely isn't going to handle two. And, last thing - I promise, please don't make that face again, the next time Adele wins an award you wanted... because we all know what you're thinking. And it makes the lyrics to this song look really ironic.
xxx

An Open Letter To Sleep.

Dear Sleep,

Although we haven't ever been the best of friends - in fact we haven't been very close since I was old enough to refuse to be put to bed - I hope we can work this out between us. I'm sure I slept properly as a baby and even when I was little. Its just since then that we've struggled.

Because I do love you, sleep. I love having a long lazy lie in, when you know you have absolutely no reason to drag yourself out of bed before lunchtime. I love falling into bed - the rare nights when this happens - exhausted, drifting off as soon as my head hits the pillow, worn out from a busy day or a run. Its just all the other times that we don't get on - I'm too busy for you, too distracted, stressed or having too much fun to bother with you.

I don't know who's fault it is for our disagreements either. I spend too much time ignoring you and pay too much attention to other things - my laptop for one. My phone is another, Facebook, Twitter - all to blame for our relationship being slowly destroyed. And we definitely haven't spent as much time together since I started my A-levels. However, you haven't ever been that nice to me. I can lie in bed for hours on end and my eyelids won't so much as feel heavy, let alone close. You can keep me awake until 1 or 2 am when you know I have to get up early the next day.

But I'm sorry, sleep. Can you forgive me? If I promise to make the effort to spend more time with you and make you a priority in my life, not an afterthought, will we be able to get along again? Because I honestly need you: I function much better when we are friends, my eyes feel clearer, my brain is less foggy and I don't feel like I'm going to die when someone asks me a question about the French Revolution. I eat much healthier when I'm not deprived of you and I don't find myself craving chocolate to stop me being snappy or Red Bull and coffee simply to keep me awake all day. I'm a lot nicer to be around as well, after a good night's sleep I won't be moody, stroppy or grumpy to anyone - except if they're reeeaaalllyy annoying.

I think we should stop fighting each other now and try to get along. And for once, I am actually feeling sleepy before 1 am. So I'm going to make the most of this and put my PJs on now, turn off my laptop and curl up in my bed. Before getting up tomorrow morning at 5.30 am. I might cry.

Wish me luck.
x