Winter Wonderland

Revision has taken over my Christmas holiday and I've found myself having crazy outbursts. Hopefully I can calm down during my break for Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, ready to start again minus the strangeness in character.

Saturday's snow was mental. Archie and Bertie loved it, despite the cold, and they even dared the frozen pond.

And here they are afterwards, enjoying the fire. Awww..

Sky High

Sorry again for a late post I've been having some internet problems lately.

I've been thinking about last years Christmas and it's getting me excited for this year. My family has quite a structured Christmas day and my dad limits our present opening to make sure that it lasts us the whole day. Last year my sister bought us all some flying lanterns for us to light together as a family. We took them to the common and had a go, one by one. It was lovely watching them float away.

'where new red gas-pumps sat out in pools of light'

Apologies for not posting last Sunday; it was a busy week. I've been thinking about my GCSEs more and more as I'll be sitting the mock exams straight after Christmas. So for art I've been practising painting which is something I haven't done a lot of as I'm more into drawing and making things. It's been driving me a little bit mad but I think it will all be ok, eventually..

This is the one I had a go at painting-one of my favourites of Edward Hopper's



This reminds me of The Great Gatsby where they fill up with gas

'gas'-Edward Hopper



 The famous 'nighthawks'



'was it cosy and comforting?'

It seems that we have a bit of a Schnitzel Von Krumm problem here. The boys have started chewing up their beds. Yes, that is plural. They have been through three already.

The first bed was reasonably small (for small dogs), round and had pretty much been outgrown anyway. The second was lovely and soft. I honestly would have done almost anything to have my own human sized version. It lasted two hours. The third and final (for now) bed was, in the words of the label, 'tough and durable' and even asked its user to 'bite me'. And apparently they happily complied. Awoke the next morning to a kitchen full of blue, expanded stuffing.

As for my hate of crocs, we will definitely not be resorting to this:

Unfortunately, the boys will not be getting their old bed back as Schnitzel Von Krumm did. We'll just have to find something else that is a 'MUCH better fit'.

Teenage Dream?

I saw something on facebook a few weeks ago that I couldn't agree with more : 'good grades, enough sleep or a social life...pick any two.' Unfortunately, this IS life. As much as we teenagers wish we could go out every night and sleep all day long, many of us do realise how important an education is. We know that without it, the late parties and hours of sleep would be worth nothing.

But how does this help when teenagers are notorious for last minute decisions and dealing with things the day before even though they have known about it for months? Sweating and stuttering may be huge problems for some of us but one problem we all share is planning our time in a way that means our lives aren't deadly boring or worthless. Sometimes I think we have been put together to make the most awkward period of our lives even worse.

'The Greatest Show Unearthed'

Reading last weeks Sunday Times Magazine I came across a really amazing article about an underground project in New York. Artists have been expressing their street art in a way that cannot be sold and now cannot be seen as it has been sealed off.
         '"The underbelly was a way of feeling like we were an island again. We finally had a space in the world that collectors couldn't contaminate-that couldn't be bought"'.
The idea was that it would become a kind of time capsule; somewhere street art wasn't in danger of being stolen.

Last night I went to a Diwali party. The food was amazing, the music was amazing and the people were also quite amazing. I spent most of the evening selling jewellery for money towards charity and of course stuffing my face with really good Indian food. Unfortunately, this meant I missed the yearly bonfire party at our family friends' but hopefully I'll manage to make it to both next year.

Recession Girl

Having sworn never to enter it again, I found myself walking into my local Primark and leaving relatively pleased. Previously, I have told myself that the quality and price is ridiculous but more recently I have realised that buying cheap (sometimes) isn't such a bad thing. Fashion comes and goes in seasons after all and I think Primark is a shop I'll be entering a bit more regularly now..

MADE YOU LOOK, MADE YOU STARE

Went to Portobello today which was nice, except the weather wasn't great. I felt literally swept away by the wind most of the time and my hair was becoming all flat because of the rain. I bought a beautiful little cameo ring though and have been staring at it since.

I've been properly getting into my art work lately and it's so much fun! Is that weird, when it takes up so much of my time? Whenever I go into an art shop I just want to buy everything and have to stop myself from being ridiculous.

'nobody marks you'

I was reading the Sunday Times Style magazine this morning and, as always had a look at the Going Up-Going Down scale. Normally I find myself agreeing with everything, however today I did not and can't imagine anyone else agreeing either. The lowest on the Going Down scale was 'Real Beards'. Understandably, not everyone likes beards and I tend to think the same but it wasn't shaving that was suggested as an alternative. It was this:

Not going to lie, I was slightly disgusted. The rest of the scale seemed more normal though. 'Naked Wrists'. It's true, 'Bangles, watches, cuffs and friendship bracelets' are so much more fun, especially now that people are wearing 'Silly Bandz'.

Point of Information

Earlier this week I went to watch a debate at my school. The motion was, 'This house believes that brothels should be made legal in the UK'. I went having no idea whether I agreed with the motion or not and I left with the same opinion, except I now know who's a better debater. There were some very good arguments made and it really made me think and try to weigh up the pros and cons.

School has got me thinking about work experience as I will have to do at least one week of it in the summer, after my GCSEs. I would love to be involved with some kind of fashion website or anything to do with design or writing. I think I'll have to do some research to work out what it is I really want to do.

I have been saving up money for a while and am now searching the Internet on my favourite websites for something wintry to buy. I'm really feeling some boots. Maybe these : http://www.osoyou.com/items/1188164.publisha

Goodbye Summer

Quite upset that summer has gone. No more leaving hair to dry or going out in shorts, which is such a shame. Not looking forward to dark mornings and early evenings or the cold and rain. However, there is a plus side to winter: the clothes! How snugly does that look?

http://www.asos.com/Diesel/Diesel-Chunky-Hand-Knit-Scarf/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=1074735&SearchQuery=chunky knit&sh=0&pge=1&pgesize=20&sort=-1&clr=Beige

I’m also looking forward to having the stereotypical hot choc in front of the fire. Let’s be honest, it does make up for the morning rush to the tube station in the rain. Thinking about taking off wet socks, sorry, reminds me so much of Duke of Edinburgh and I can’t help but be so relieved that it’s over.  Hoping that the worst of the rain pours down while I’m inside, asleep. Not while I’m outside playing netball in a tournament Saturday morning.

Pretty in Punk

So last night I went to a party as a punk! The theme was ‘anything beginning with a P’, so I bought a pink strip to clip in my hair and a lip ring (yes, lip ring). I put dark makeup on my eyes and wore a tight black dress with my friend’s boots, very punky.

What I love about London the most is how you really can get anywhere you want to reasonably easily. Used the tube and bus to get to the host’s house all in about an hour-not bad.

It was fun seeing what other people turned up as: princess, pumpkin, pillow, panda, pants (don’t ask), president, party animal, pyjamas, Pythagoras, plumber, painter, player etc.

The possibility really is and was endless.

Musical Misunderstandings

This week I have been listening to the Hoosiers most recent album ‘The Illusion of Safety’ and absolutely love it. Looking up the lyrics from ‘Made to Measure’ (one of my favourites) I realised that the song is about incest!

“Such a silly thing to do fall in love with you...

My God what were you thinking of
We're cut from the same cloth”

I was quite surprised by this but I love the song nevertheless and actually prefer it now that I know what it’s about. For some reason I love understanding the meaning behind lyrics, especially when they are clever and fit together well.

 A friend told me “If I like the song, I like the song. I don’t care about the words but YOU have to understand what its about” after having explained what Tinie Tempah’s ‘Pass Out’ is really saying in the line “if your son doesn’t, I bet your daughter knows”.

Does no one else share the joy I find in knowing the meaning behind things? If you know someone who does PLEASE let me know. I don’t wish to be the only one.