got the rainy day blueeeees.

despite Britain being in a 'drought' it has pretty much rained non stop for the past 10 days. Today is no different and its all grey and miz outside and I was planning on going for a procrastination walk and everything. Why is the weather so stupid?

Made myself some muselli today, actually tastes lush. Put mixed dried fruit in, banana, pumpkin seeds and greek yoghurt with some honey. Super noms! Topped it off with some green tea and morning reading.

Feeling fressshhh and slowly plucking up the courage to leave my warm and dry room. Need to go to the Barber Gallery today to take so photos of the exhibitions for my exam. Had a peep up there yesterday and we have a new painting! Rene Magritte's 'The Flavour of Tears' 1948. So excited I love his work!

Actually leaving now, need to check to make sure my car doesn't have a fat parking fine on it and collect my coke.

Wish me luck! x

plansplansplans.

Been planning my Ugandan adventure. Looked at flights to Uganda, then to Kenya and back to England. £736! Wasn't so happy about that but I was up for it, but my friend who I was travelling said its too much, so she can't come. I'm just going to Uganda now, but flights are still pretty expensive. I called up Flight Centre today to get the cheapest deal, they are so good and I really trust them. I'm paying for it at the end of the week! My mother is having a mild breakdown over it, she thinks I'm going to be kidnapped by the LRA (fingers crossed I actually don't) and Idi Armin is going to raise from the dead to get me.

I can totally understand her worries, from the 60's- 80's the country was a no go area in the middle of a civil war, I suppose it would be like if my children wanted to go to Afghanistan in 20 years time for me. But still, the country is moving on now and needs tourism to help it thrive. Many websites and lonely planet books say that in a few years it will be a tourist hot spot, and people who have gone have said it was fantastic! How good is it to go now when its still relatively unknown and to be able to experience a place like that. Obviously with any travelling there is an element of risk, you just have to be aware all of the time and not take any stupid, unnecessary risks.

Aaaanyway, looked at prices for safari and white water rafting on the Nile and I think I'm gunna do it! Will book and pay for it when I'm there, I have 12 days at the end to mooch around so I need to be really thrifty with my money so I don't run out!

Really tired now, going to go see Will for a cig and then go off to bed. I will not let him persuade me to go out!

Byeeeee x

Also made myself a super healthy dinner today. Need to shift my easter belly!

Made from whole wheat pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, garlic, mixed fish and an egg with some light phiilli. And a cheeky glass of red wine joking its grape juice HA. 

Yummmmmmmscrum! 

X

It's exam season

which is obviously just a fantastic excuse to buy new multi coloured paperclips, fresh notebooks and highlighters! I am honestly a stationary fiend, walked into Rymans on campus today and I just go so super over excited. Is it a sign of the quality of my life that this was the actual highlight of my day? I don't think so.

Apart from that extreme excitement, I also got back an essay from last term and handed a new one in. This meant waking up super early (9:40am) to go over any stupid spelling mistakes which I undoubtedly made (being 19 and still getting where and were, know and now confused is no longer acceptable. I will never learn) and having to remind myself every 5 minutes not to forget to hand it in online buuuut apart from that extreme drama, everything went smoothly. Last essay of the year yeah bitches.

Spent late afternoon 'revising' anthropology and ethnography- that's a euphemism for seeing the course material for the first time and thinking 'OH so that's what ethnography means!'. Not really a flying start but its my own fault!

Just looked out of my window and saw this beauty! Brightens up the prison like feel of my halls, doesn't it?

Had a few friends round last night for copious amounts of wine and chills. Was so nice catching up but paying for it today! Went to a fashion show at my sisters school yesterday- it was kinda nostalgic going back but hardly any of the teachers recognised me. I USED TO GO HERE TOO. But anyway, it was actually really good.

Picked up my best friend from hers afterwards with Rachael and Robbie in the car. We where playing Kate Bush really loud, windows down wailing to our hearts content. My sister had bought a floral blouse from the vintage stall and was halfway through getting changed into to- essentially topless- when we pulled up at traffic lights. The whole scene must have been so comical, my sister was so embarrassed the lights couldn't go green quick enough!

In addition to that, got a cheeky photo of my ex headteacher in a onesie. My life is pretty much complete.

ONE HUNDRED DAYS UNTIL THE OLYMPICS!


Going to see Basketball, I'm so excited!

I would really like to be here right nowwwww. 

only in the 90's.

Whilst manically trying to look for my savings book yesterday I happened up four beautiful photos of myself, my little sister and my cousin all having ultimate chill times in the bath. I have proper fond memories of us three always being together, playing outside ALL of the time and generally just being munchkins. Some family bonds really can never be broken. That being said, today I saw my cousin Charlie's girlfriend for the first time. A little bit strange seeing as I haven't seen him for at least 10 years, and he's only a few years older then me. C'est la vieeeeeee.

Top to bottom- Abbie, Rachael + Me.
Royal Chiefs of the Munchkin Realm. 

At work today we have taken all of the out of date sweets and skinny popcorn off from the shop floor. That means we have three full plastic bags of minstrels, m&m's and gummy bears. Yesss! But what I am ultimately super excited about is the 9 bags of Wasabi Skinny Popcorn. I appear to be the only person in Woking who loves it! We can't take them home though so in my next lunch break I'm sure I will be found surrounded by several empty packets of the food of Gods.

Also picked up a copy of Lonely Planet's guide to East Africa from a second hand shop for £2- so much better then £16.99 at Waterstones! So chuffed.

Am currently chugging down a whole cafetiere of coffee in order to get this essay rolling. Don't want any extra stress when I get back to uni! Also going to the pub tomorrow with Jeska, George, Cat and possibly Dasha for looong overdue drinks and mild insanity.

Nanaiiiiight x

Postcards from Japan.

Today I am committed to starting my essay. No excuses, its happening and its ready to be born. Or at least go into labor. 

I'm gunna need a lot of coffee. 

X 

19.

On the 5th April I turned 19. An exciting age to be, but for some reason I have already developed a knot in my stomach which is threatening to rise up and engulf me in anxiety and dissatisfaction. I have decided that once I have finished my degree I am going to train to be a teacher and then go travelling for a few years. For some reason the thought of a career, and a set path is making me feel really uncomfortable and actually, rather pissed off with myself. But at the same time, not knowing how I am going to earn money in order to move around has been causing me worry. I don't want to be worrying about shit like this now, I wanna just be muddling through life and living for today! This year has gone so quick and I know that before I know it I will be at the end of the best years of my life and wondering what the fuck I did. I think I may need to have a drink and a cigarette and calm down before this all turns into a severely premature midlife crisis.

I did have an amazing birthday though. I was in France with my ma + pa and we went to Pont Aven which was where Gauguin tried to set up his artists colony. It was quite a drive away from home and my paps moaned 97% of the way there but once we arrived he was quietly impressed. He doesn't really get the whole 'art thing' but I think he's just glad I'm at uni and not bugging him all of the time. The town is really beautiful with windy roads and French town houses and little art shops. There is also a river which literally flows through and under some of the ancient houses, it is absolutely beautiful. I felt so happy and bloody lucky to be there! My umma got me a delicious cake from the patisserie in Mur and I had a boiled turkey egg for breakfast (bit weird but I didn't ask any questions).

19th Birthday, Pont Aven, Brittany. Holding Sunny. 

Being in France always makes me turn into a bit of a crazy hippy. It must be the mixture of fresh manure filled country air, a distinct lack of cigarettes and the fact that there is nobody around for miles between the age of 10 and 50. The result of this is that I end up looking as though I have either got entirely dressed in the dark, or have decided to compile an outfit made from clothes from several different people, countries and climates. Thankfully there's only Super Cider Man around to see me sloping off on my bike.

Also, very pleased with myself because I went to the British Heart Foundation charity shop in Woking after work yesterday and got myself a copy of D.H. Lawrence's 'Women in Love' and Ella Fitzgerald's 'It Ain't Over...' which I'm listening to now. I also got an old oval leather handbag which was from John Lewis. My umma and sister are super jel so I'm keeping it well out of their reach! Trawling through second hand and charity shops is one of my favourite things to do, but it is actually becoming a deceptive money killer! Need to be careful with my pennies for summer!

Sweet Dreams
X

Just Kids.

This evening I finished reading Patti Smith's 'Just Kids'. I can say in all pure honestly that it is possibly one of the best books I have ever read, not only because of her humble rise to fame and deeply routed relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe but also in the way in which she writes. Her words are truly captivating, you feel like you have become part of her mind and almost as if you are her. And she is you. She is an artist in every true sense of the word, and I greatly admire her. 

Robert Mapplethorpe, Self Portrait, 1975.

Patti Smith, by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1976. 

I have also finished reading the biography of Grayson Perry by Wendy Jones. I have an admiration and also incredible interest in the medium of his work- pottery. He says that he can convey complex meanings and images through his pots because it is such a simple and harmless material. His mind is fascinating, as are his fetishes and psychobiography. I would definitively recommend both books!

Grayson Perry Essex Man, 1999.