Getting Going

It's a Monday morning. I wake up at eight. I eat my bowl of wholesome cereal. I shower, get dressed, go to the bank - buy some fruit from the supermarket. I come back and do a phone interview. I've got some chores, an article to write and both Maths and Science homework to do but I write here. Blogging is therapeutic!

I've got two job interviews this week (just little part-time roles) and I passed the interview for my volunteer role (which I'm so happy about!) so here's a post dedicated to things that I'm grateful for.

Every now and then I think it is important to highlight what is good about your life. It is the little things that make the biggest difference, I often hear.

- Buying Christmas presents for everyone.

- Passing my interview.

- Hearing beautiful music (Bastille and Bizet!)

- Writing

- Blogging

- Starbucks skinny gingerbread latte (with the red cups!)

- Walks

- Clementines (so yummy)

- Reading a good book (James Joyce)

- The thought of going back home to London soon

- Watching good films

- Wearing cosy jumpers and woolly scarves.

- Cute stationery

- Learning (science and maths!)

- Smelling L'occitane perfumes.

- Stepping on crunchy leaves.

- Feeling cosy in my flat.

Books books books

Hey everyone, it's me again :-)

I received a belated birthday present a while back from my kind brother. It's a book about London, and more specifically, things to do in England's capital city. I've had my eye on it for months, and I felt very smiley when I finally got it. It has lots of wonderful ideas of things for me to do. My plans have changed and I've decided to leave London for once and all. So I really want to enjoy it as much as possible before I head off :-)

Today I went to the Courtauld Gallery again. The Picasso exhibition is free and so I decided to take my wonderful boyfriend along with me this time. I think he really enjoyed it too. If you're a student, it is completely free to go. So go if you can!

So yes, I went to see lots of beautiful paintings this afternoon. Picasso, Manet, Dagas, ahhh ... endless.

David and I also went to three book shops. They were so fun! I love looking through bookshops. Especially when I'm not by myself. Although reading itself is quite a solitary act, there's nothing more fun than discussing books with friends! :-) There was one called The World's End in Chelsea, then we walked pass Daunt Books and then we saw one in Fulham, too. Charity shops are equally as good as these places, though. But you'll find second hand ones are often just as cheap :-) and it's always nice seeing lots of independent places to rummage through. I found this lovely edition of Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair' with a biggish font (which always makes me happy, as a fellow dyslexic). I also bought a really nice edition of Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' which I intend (at least attempt to get through) to read ths summer.

Since I handed my work in, I made sure that I would read at least one book within the first week of finishing. Just because I had completed a literature degree, why should I not carry on reading? Would it be considered a 'break' to stop reading entirely? I don't know, really. I reckon it'll be more of a break to read a book that I wanted to read solely for pleasure. This is why I read 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck. It was so good! I highly recommend it to anyone, even teenagers. I won't go on about it, as I'll end up telling you something that will spoil the plot! I also read Kafka's 'Metamorphosis' which I actually thoroughly enjoyed. I read it thinking that I would hate it, but I always like to give things a try; I ended up loving it instead. So, in the not-too-distant future, I intend to read 'The Trial' if I can :-)

I've also been catching up with Jane Eyre. I bought the book on my 22nd birthday back in February, hehe. I've just not had the time to re-read it though. I'm currently on page 250/450 so I'm just over half way through now. I'm enjoying it much more this time. I don't feel so frustrated with Jane and instead I actually feel a lot of sympathy for her so far - despite some things!

What are you reading at the moment, everyone? :-)

Ambitions

As I'm graduating from university this year, I have been experiencing the inevitable worry that is the concern of my future. For the first time in three years I won't be going to seminars three times a week. I won't be working until five in the morning to meet that essay deadline. In a mere matter of weeks, I will be handing in my first conducted piece of original research in my field. As opposed to going into denial, I have decided that there's a lot of new things that I would love to experience in my life as a graduate. I state in my 'me' section on the left, that my blog may contain such 'contemplations' regarding my life. Well, here's one of them.

For the first time in a long time, I have felt such a strong urge to learn so many new things. I want to study Science and Maths (nerd!) and I can't wait to start playing violin properly again. Pictured above is the violin I have just started renting from my local music shop. Last year, I borrowed a very very cheap and nasty (sorry to be mean!) violin from an orchestral group I joined for a few months. It was there that I grasped the basics, however, it was so difficult to make a decent sound! Today I opened the case, tightened the hairs on the bow, applied some rosin and started playing as if I had never stopped in the first place. As the violin was better, I sounded a lot less bad than I used to! Now I have a job, I have to decided to put the majority of it into savings, but for me to enjoy some of it by doing what I love - music.

After university I intend to read a lot of non-fiction. I've been having such a fun time reading Darwin's On the Origin of Species and using it as part of my literature dissertation. I want to make beautiful music and learn lots of facts about the world. 

My future ambitions:

- Go to more concerts
- See more theatre productions
- Go to more art exhibitions
- Experience what it is like to go to an opera, even if the seats are too cheap to see the stage!
- Take up dance lessons again, and try not to kick anyone during ballet.
- Volunteer
- Take a calligraphy class.
- Postgraduate study.
- Science and Maths lessons
- Learn more about art (because I've only studied photography)
- Achieve a Grade 8 in violin ;)
- European tour!
- See the pandas in Edinburgh (which is happening at some point this year!)
- Learn Italian and/or French
- Have fun wherever life leads me :-)
- See Nicola Benedetti perform live.
- Graduate with a 2:1
- Try and help others as much as possible.
- Smile, all of the time!
- Have a library in my house, full of books I love!

Happiness In A Blog Post

Me hugging a Happy Tree

Here's a list of things that make me happy! For some reason, I always feel much happier after reading other people's happy lists. It's infectious!

- Cups of tea. Cherries too!

- Smiles :-)

- The Strokes having a new album out!

- My adorable hamster, Scout!

- Hugs

- Flowers (daisies)

- Rom-coms (I know, not very sophisticated)

You've Got Mail

- Being around friends, and giggling over the silliest of things.

- Going to Starbucks with David the other day because walrus and snail impressions happened! (With the aid of many straws)

- Elephant sneezes.

- My hot waterbottle, Ernest. He's a penguin!

- Merlin, a little owl I received as a present last year. He's meant to inspire me to write my university work! Heehee.

-Being all cosy, and spending weekend mornings in bed.

- Being able to wear my brogues outside again, now the Spring is on its way.

- Reading in bed, when the sun is glaring through the window.


- Children's books from when I was younger. Also, when I saw the Cath Kidston book design for Ballet Shoes my heart sank a little!

- Pandas are sooooo cute.

 - Paris!

 - Baking (yum yum)

- The snowman that David and I built. His name was Herbert George, after H. G. Wells!