Change of plan...

It's too hard doing a 'song of the day' every day, so instead I'll do it when I remember, when a song stands out, or when a song gets stuck in my head.

Song of the day (25/01/2012)

Let me just start this blog post by saying I love Jurassic Park. A lot. In fact, to be more specific, I love dinosaurs. Now that we're clearer on that fact, maybe you'll understand why I love this song so much. It takes the theme tune to one of my favourite films and adds words to it that are funny and factual. What more could anyone ask for!? Brett Domino was on Britain's Got Talent many moons ago and, if you ask me, it's a crime he didn't win. His videos always cheer me up (especially this one) and his lyrics aren't even all that bad. He's clearly got talent with all the instruments he plays (watch his videos and you'll see what I mean!).

Anyway, this song is often on loop in my head. If I remember correctly, I sang it in my head when I walked around the museum with all the dinosaurs in. I even hummed the theme tune aloud. I was on a date and I'm sure the guy (David) bloody LOVED me humming it ha.

Song of the day (24/01/2012)

Totally forgot to do my 'Song of the Day' yesterday. So I'll post yesterday's one and today's one and we'll all be happy.

Emeli Sandé is unbelievably talented and is definitely going to blow up in 2012. Not in the literal sense, just the chart sense. This song has been stuck in my head since I heard it a while ago - the lyrics are fantastic and the melody is brilliant. I have absolutely no criticisms at all. In the second verse, there's a clapping part which, if you know me well you would know, excites me tremendously. Honestly, as far as songs are concerned, as long as there's clapping, it's a hit with me! I first heard of Emeli when she did vocals for Professor Green's track 'Read All About It', which is another tune! If I'm honest, I don't even wanna talk about this track a lot, I just want everyone to hear it because that says more than I could ever even try and do. So listen and enjoy!

TIRED!

Actually, tired is an understatement, I'm knackered! I'm looking at my pillows, those beautiful, soft, welcoming pillows, and just wishing I could rest my weary head and sleep the day away. However, I've got a long ol' day at university; 1-3 is Journalism Portfolio, followed by Literature of the Gothic 3-5. It should be alright, although neither lesson is the most exciting so I might fall asleep in class. I don't think I snore though, so I should be okay. 

I want to see Katie soon. I feel like I haven't seen her in ages, even though I probably saw her a few days ago at the most. I bloody love that girl. She's been there for me through so much and still picks me up now. I'm so incredibly proud of her too - she's got a fantastic job which she enjoys, she's an amazing person, and just an all-round brilliant, young lady. I like that I know she's going to be a part of my life for as long as I live, it's an overwhelming feeling.

There's been no real point to this post, so I apologise if anyone has read it. I'm just tired and rambling on. 

Oh! I know something that I can write about. Last night/Early hours of this morning, me and David played Fifa. Guess who beat him twice?! BOOM! Okay, so he beat me twice too, but that's not the point. I kicked his butt. I got pretty stroppy when he wouldn't tell everyone on Twitter that I'd beaten him which was kind of funny. I like having him in my life. 

And I had a brilliant conversation with Saffron today, about how I couldn't be an English teacher. I don't know how people do it. I would literally be bashing people around the head with a book each time they made a mistake or took too long to read something. I know that sounds bad (probably because it is) but I really can't stand poor grammar etc. Does my head in.

Right, enough pointless rambling... 

Song of the day (22/01/2012)

I used to hate Los Campesinos! until a particular David Spearing came along and forced me to listen to them. Okay, slight exaggeration, he didn't force me to listen to them, he just listened to one song so much that I became intrigued and gave it a listen myself. It wasn't this song, it was "Songs About Your Girlfriend", which took a little while to grow on me. Now, however, I love it and I have a lot of respect for them as a band. Their album, "Hello Sadness", is brilliant and all the songs on there are definitely worth a little listen. This particular song, "Life Is A Long Time" was stuck in my head for the first few hours after waking up today. One line in particular, "You know it starts pretty rough and ends up even worse and what goes on in between, I try to keep it out of my thoughts" stands out but I can't quite think why. Perhaps it's because it's something I can relate to, who knows? Either way, this is definitely my song of the day... You should check it out!!

I can't be the only one...

I've been feeling so restless and bored of London recently, and I don't know what's brought it on. I know that London's a great city, I appreciate the brilliant views that I can see from my window, or from the top of a hill in Greenwich park, I just need to get away from it all for a bit.

However, there's a problem with that, well, two if we're honest:
1) I don't exactly have the luxury of throwing money away on trips here, there, and everywhere. I have to think about when I finish university and won't have a job, so I need to save as much as possible (although, my recent spending spree on iTunes would probably suggest otherwise).
2) I have so much work to do for university and I don't want to fall behind like I did last term, so getting away would be tough.

It's just so frustrating. This feeling, this restless "I'm a bored Londoner, get me out of here!" feeling, happens once in a blue moon, but when it does it literally consumes my life. It's all I can think about; where I'd go, who I'd go with, what I'd do when I was there, etc. It's ridiculous, because chances are if someone offered me a trip out of London, I'd probably refuse it. Y'see, I love London too much to leave it sometimes. Even though it frustrates the life out of me, even though I don't like the attitude of most of the people I stumble across during the day, it's my home and I can't leave it.

There is, however, a faint light at the end of the tunnel... David goes on tour with the McFly boys soon, which will be exciting for him because he bloody loves it, but I'm also hoping I can tag along to one of the places and stay with him there. I don't necessarily want to go to the tour date, just go to another city and spend time with him there. At least that way, if I'm ill or whatever whilst I'm there, I trust that he can, and will, look after me.

Not just this, but I'm hoping to plan a little weekend away with my best friend, Katie, soon. She doesn't know it yet, but I definitely want it to happen. Katie doesn't particularly like trains, so it could take some convincing (send me all the luck and positivity you have!) but I'm sure we'll reach some sort of arrangement. It'd be awesome to go somewhere new and exciting with her.

Anyway, the point of this post was that I can't be the only one who gets the overwhelming urge to flee their hometown, can I? Furthermore, there's no way I can be the only one who wants to leave, but wants to stay at the same time, right..?

Song of the day.

Okay, if I remember, I'm going to try and post a song of the day, every day. It might not be a new release, it might just be a song that's stuck in my head, or that has a place in my heart.

To start this off is a song that I loved from the very first time I heard it: Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You).

I'm pretty sure Kelly Clarkson is yet to sing a bad song. From what I can gather, this song's all about becoming stronger when a relationship breaks up - which, let's face it, we need a song like this when relationships end. What I love most about this song is the fact it just makes you want to dance; if I were to hear this after breaking up with someone, there's no doubt it would make me feel tonnes better (though, may I just say, I'm intending to stick with my boyfriend for a while yet, so fingers crossed I don't need this anytime soon).

I've always loved Kelly Clarkson's music - I have the most respect for her as an artist, and a person. There's been so many spiteful comments on YouTube videos about her weight, it's absurd. Okay, she's not a stick but that's not such a bad thing. She's gorgeous and has one of the best, and most consistent, voices in the music industry. Go, Kelly! Knock 'em dead!

Stereoboard.com

Remember that email I mentioned getting a while back..? Well, if you go to this page you'll be able to see what became of it; my first published piece of work. I'm so unbelievably proud, as are those who matter to me. It's definitely motivated me to work harder, that's for sure.

Stoked!

A while back, I wrote to an online music site (Stereoboard.com) regarding writing for them. I've wanted to work in the music industry for so long, but I'm the most unmusical person you're ever likely to meet, so writing about music is the next best thing. They replied asking to see a piece of my work, so I sent them a review I wrote about Professor Green's single 'Never Be a Right Time'. I'd written it for university, and whilst it could probably be better, I was proud of it.

After a while of not hearing back from the site, I assumed that I'd been unsuccessful and they weren't interested and was, kind of, okay with that. Then, out of the blue, I got an email from them, saying they want me to write for them and asking me to confirm details, etc. I literally cannot put into words how excited I am about this whole prospect.

I'll be able to review singles/albums/ep's, gigs, interview artists and write features. It's literally my dream job! I think that, providing you have enough passion for a job, money is irrelevant; which is why I don't care that I won't get paid, unless the budget allows. I'm just happy that somebody's given me a chance to do what I love - write about music.

I'm pretty nervous, in case what I produce isn't up to their standard, but I'm hopeful that it will be. I always put my everything into what I write and I hope that, particularly with music related things, it shows.

Looks like this year's going to be a good one after all. We're only in January and I already have a job/chance to do my dream job and I've bagged myself a lovely man who treats me like a princess!

Procrastination

It seems only fitting that I write a post about procrastination as a means of procrastinating, so here goes...

I currently have two pieces of university work to do. One is a 2,500 word essay for Literature of the Gothic, about the uncanny. It's alright, as essays go. It was certainly the lesser of 12 evils that I had to choose from. The two books I'm using for the essay are amazing, I really loved reading them - even though The Shining gave me nightmares, ha. So why am I struggling to get my words down on paper? I could sit and talk for a while about them in person, but when it comes to writing down my thoughts I get stuck. I think I'm so focused on getting the structure of the essay right, and making sure it's a really good essay, that I've put too much pressure on myself and now I'm sat here putting it off because... Well, I don't really know why. I should just put my head down and get it done. It's due in 4 days. I've still got 2000 words to do. I also have a 3,500 word essay due for PR. I've not even looked at the question properly, so that should be fun!

The workload this year has been so intense and I've been more distracted than previous years. It feels like nothing's going into my brain; like I sit in lectures and seminars, I write notes, and I go home only to forget everything that has been said. Then when it comes to assignments, I fall apart because I genuinely struggle to remember everything that I've been taught. Perhaps my brain's too full with useless information from years past and I no longer have room for new stuff, or perhaps I'm just not giving university the attention it deserves/requires. Either way, I don't like it.

So yeah, procrastination... It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? Technology makes it even easier for us to procrastinate nowadays. I mean, I always have YouTube open and that requires more attention than I think - despite the fact I say every time I'm going to do work that I won't open it because I know how much of my time it consumes. Then you have the social media side of the internet. Admittedly, Facebook is lacking somewhat these days, but it's still brilliant for chatting to friends and forgetting about work that way. Let's not forget Twitter either - so good for quick updates and brief insights in to everyone else's life. So good, in fact, we forget about our own life and get absorbed into everybody else's. Brilliant! Of course, there's always Tumblr should you wish to scroll through pages of pictures and posts about peoples lives, most of whom you don't really know. Though, you should be warned, it's mainly full of girls confessing they want to look like other girls and boys posting pictures of girls they wish they could get with. Other than that, it's alright though.

So why do we procrastinate? Why do we put off the inevitable, knowing it will only make whatever it is we have to do harder in the end? If anyone has the answer, do let me know!

New year, new start..?

I've always thought new years resolutions were pretty pointless, mainly because I've never been able to stick to them, but also because I figure that if I want something to change that badly I'll make it happen when I want it to, not just because I've entered a new year. This year, however, I thought that I'd try setting myself a few targets - nothing major, just small things.

1) Push myself out of my comfort zone more often 

For too long now, I've stuck to doing things I know I like and going places I know I'm comfortable in, and I think now is the time to change that. If I don't take risks or try new things, I could miss out on so much. I'm not talking about drastic changes, I'm still far too wimpy for that but little things might just start the ball rolling. Of course, I'm no doubt going to back out of doing most things that make me feel uncomfortable but if I reach the end of the year having done a handful of things I wouldn't have done last year, I'll be a happy girl.

2) Try and be more positive

If you ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you that all I ever do is look for the negatives in any situation. If I'm honest, it kind of works for me; if I expect disappointment, I'm never disappointed because everything is always going to be a bonus, y'know? The problem is that being so negative takes its toll on you after a while, so I think it's time for a change. I'm not going to claim that I'll be super positive because I know that's something I'll never be, but I could definitely get away with being less of a miserable, little, git. Watch this space!

3) Take the stairs instead of the lift more often 

When I said they were small targets, I wasn't lying. Most people opt for 'join the gym' or 'lose weight' but that's far too much pressure for me. This is something I can do with my every day life, (I live on the 3rd floor in a block of flats, y'see!), and it won't seem like a massive change but I'll still reap the rewards. Who knows, it might even make me want to start exercising! Okay, I can't see that happening either...

4) Try harder with university

The key word with this would be 'harder'. I put my all into every piece of university work I have, I always have and I always will because, deep down, the idea of failing terrifies me. I'm just tragic with timekeeping and starting work. So this year, hopefully, that will change. This isn't something I'm expecting to change straight away, I'm going to have to work at it which, given that I leave in May, might prove hard. At least it's something that will prove useful in life, timekeeping skills and organisation skills etc. 

I guess those will do for now. If I think of anything else throughout the year, I'll add that to the list, but I'm not expecting all of these to be achieved by next year; that's unrealistic and foolish. I know me, I know how I work, and I know that change isn't something I welcome with open arms - it never has been. So I know that all of the above is going to take me time to get used to, and I know I'll no doubt go back to my old ways with them all. Having said that, I also know that I've got some amazing people around me right now who'll help me through this year and many more to come, I hope.