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...Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.
As recommended by Miss Warren, tis just great.

So I realised I've not posted in a while. Seem to have been quite busy, but with very little to show for it. As usual.

This past weekend I went to York where my Dad had booked an apartment for my Nana's birthday, which overlooked the river and was right across from the city center. I'd forgotten how nice York is, it's been quite a while since I last visited, and as an embarrassed girl guide marching around in a long line of pairs, I don't think I really appreciated it then anyway. The shops really are the cutest in any city I've ever been, each street is crammed with cobbles and tipsy squiffy buildings what have seen every era we learnt about in history class, all the way from Viking times through to the middle ages, Tudors and Victorians, and unlike most cities -ahem Birmingham- York has preserved as much of it as possible.
History aside, the shops are just great, within 10minutes of leaving the train I found myself outside Cath Kidston and Jack wills, ahh just fabulous! Although I was only a window shoppper for the majority, I did treat myself to a dear little tea strainer shaped like a mini teapot - complete with a mini dish to pop it on (I say treated, I mean treated by my father). This obviously meant I felt the need to stock up on loose tea at Whittards. Darjeeling, Acai & Goji berry and White Pomegranate tea. Yummee.
Also took Diana with me, still have yet to quite figure out what I'm doing, plus that I forgot what half the settings meant, so am sure her first film will be rather hit and miss.
Hmmm what else. It snowed, again! Meaning everyone left early Sunday morning for fear of getting stuck driving home, leaving me to explore the city a bit more on my own. I wandered aimlessly around in the snow looking for my tea, bopping in and out of charity shops. I think the combination of snowy weather plus it being Sunday morning made people want to stay at home, but it was really quite peaceful out around the Minster, all quiet and dusted with white. Just lovely.

Okay I'm now going to have a look at my methodology, making no promises to finish it, since clearly that approach isn't working for me. Have found myself in exactly the same work position as this time last week, oh geeeez I need some structure.

Since your in love

...Jesse Malin

When I was 8 I received a card on Valentines day, I was quiet a shy child, and so when I opened my desk to find it lying there I was more embarrassed than flattered. Without really thinking I screwed it up and slid it into the bin before anyone saw. Later that day the boy who sat next to me fished it out and held it out to me asking if I wanted it back, again I was too concerned at the embarrassment, so I hurriedly told him that no I did not want it, and to put it back. He looked a bit hurt. The card was handmade with glitter and really very cute. It must have taken him ages.
Well now I'm 20, and pretty sure that karma has a large part to play in my lack of cards ever since. 8 year old me may well have kept that card if she'd have known it would be the last one she'd be receiving.

Today is definitely a day to be spent with friends and alcohol.

It's started snowing again.
Oh I want to wear floaty dresses and little shoes already!

L.E.S. Artistes

...Santigold

Soo today has been another productive day. Meeting this morning led to us acquiring free tickets to Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake on Wednesday, which is absolutely brill and very exciting since I've never been to the ballet before :)

Then we gave up on the work, went for lunch at Bella Italia before heading over to the Bridget Riley exhibition. Have to say I'm not as mega into this style of modern art, although I can see there's an awful lot of work gone into the shape and illusions created by her work. I find myself more impressed at the neatness and managing to paint sooo many lines, whereas I would get bored after the first few. I think I just relate art to my own capabilities and taste, so I'm more impressed by really fine art or something more expressionist. That said I really liked her pieces like this one, mainly because yes I like the colours, but also I'm a bit more drawn to the flow and shapes, a little more interesting than blocks and lines.



Also had a little look at the Clare Rojas and João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva exhibitions on at the Ikon.
I quite liked Clare Rojas' work, again because I was just SO impressed with her painting in the lines skills, but it also had a bit more imagination to it. I think that takes a bit more skill to conjure up these patterns and scenes, which again I can admire because it's not something I've ever been good at. Also, her pieces ranged from covering whole walls, to smaller detailed animals, and patchwork pieces, which of course had me all 'ooooo that's pretty', like it's something I would pop on my wall.




The other exhibition, by João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva were silent video installations. I think these kinda freak me out, in the pitch black room, with just these strange images flickering away. This kinda art is definitely something you need to 'get', and I just don't. Like, I can appreciate some of them, and I did genuinely get drawn into watching them, waiting for something to happen. And then you remember, this ain't a block buster movie, nothing is ever actually going to happen. It's going to end, and then loop round again. All this said, I didn't dislike them, I'm just not artsy enough to understand them. And there was one that was quite interesting. It involved a man falling on the floor.

Anyway. That was a boring read I'm sure. I'm actually really tired, thought about taking a nap and then thought NO I'll make myself stay awake, and hopppefully fall straight asleep at real bedtime, rather than lie awake until 3am.

Sick Muse

...Metric.

I don't know if I'm cursed or stupid or un-nurturing or what, but I seem to have a tragic inability to look after plants. My peace lily is sitting on the windowsill behind me, I moved it to the kitchen a few months ago because I thought maybe it was needing a bit more light, but now I think it's just dead. It's poor limp yellowy brown, with a hint of green, leaves are merely hanging on to their former glory.

Sensing the end was nigh a long time ago (really should have put it out of it's misery by now), I bought a hyacinth bulb a few months ago, which had been in dark isolation ever since, until I spotted its shiny green shoot and blooming flower and decided to take it out. That was a couple of weeks ago. The flower has since shrunk back into the shoot, and I'm pretty sure it's now dried up past the point of revival.

Oooooooh. It's things like this that make me think I should never get a cat.

Heart Skipped a Beat

... The xx

Sooo thought I might as well post something, in the hope that I'll type a load and get my fingers used to it, and make them want to carry on and type type away at my dissertation, which btw has hit a rock. A big gray lifeless rock. Eugh.
Thought if I got myself comfortable and warm that would take my mind away from being uncomfortable and cold, leaving lots of thinking space for writing. Apparently not, because that was 6 and a half hours ago and I've got 1 more quote to add. There is no winning.

Needless to say that's 2 points on my list of things I was meant to do last week, which have yet to be achieved.
Did give blood though, which I love. Having a dull meaningless life, it makes me feel like I'm doing something that matters a wee bit. Finaaally ordered a replacement drivers license, making sure to tick organ donation (again, just to be safe), but not my eyes, because I still feel a bit strange about that.
Council tax, sorttted. Although did receive a court summons the other day, so should probably call them to make sure that we do not owe £800+, because that would not be cool.
In my one library visit (another failed dissertation attempt), after an hour or so of staring at and fiddling with my dried, knotty split ends, I decided to book a hair appointment. Another over priced visit, which I generally dread. I'm not sure if it's because I booked it on a whim, or I've simply become numb to the distress of hair cuts, but I'm still just not sure it was a great idea. I thought I wanted to get rid of the scratty long bits at the end, and I'm sure I did, but I now remember that I grew it so long to distract from how boring and fluffy the top half gets. Plus I didn't ask for anything exciting with my fringe, which means that's just really long and boring too, and I can't actually be bothered to put rollers in it every day. Pfff oh well.

Sherree and I took a bus ride to Kings Heath on Saturday out of our sheer boredom. Did the whole bunch of charity shops on the high street, managed to ignore and resist all of those garments made of nice prints that were too big and I would never have fixed, and returned with just one cream cardi with pastel beady bits on. Lovely. :)
We also stumbled up to a cute little alleyway cluttered with garden furniture and other decorative gardeny things, which also had a garden shop and cafe tucked away at the back. We sat there sipping our tea and iced tea, me with my potato and watercress soup, Sherree with her ham hock sandwich, admiring our matureness and wondering why we'd never ventured further than the high street before.
Saturday night however, we went to Snobs. Loves it, they never fail to play a few great hits, which we unashamedly dance and sing our hearts out to.

This week;
- DO finish lit review and methodology
- Proposal writing and meeting for Trinket Creative (has me way distracted browsing for fonts)
- Potential visit from the mother. Could maybe get her to take some of my unwanted crap home to it unclutters my room a bit
- Maybe paint something. Provided point 1 gets finished
- Book train to York for Nana's birthday

...Okay so this week has the potential to be lifeless. The joy of February. Which, I have decided is definitely one of the more crappy months, all the nice bits of winter have long gone, summer is still so far off, it's still cold and windy, I'm getting bored of wearing so many layers, I want to wear my new summer dresses, and all there is to supposedly jazz it up is valentines day. Which I will be spending with Sherree, again. Yaayz.

I have no pictures to make this loooong post more interesting. Sozz.
But here's what my face looks like when on the odd occasion, someone just comes out with something unexpected and nice... :)