2010: a year to be thankful for.

If you happen to read any sort of trashy, girly magazines (which I of course do) you will know that this time of year is the time for reflection. The glossy pages are adorned with countdowns and summaries: summaries of the highlights and low lights of the last year, of the most costly celebrity divorces, of the most successful makeovers, etc.

Following this trend, I've decided to present to you the highlights of my year. I know that this is quite a self-centred thing to do, and that you may not want to read about my year. I thought about this though and realised that the act of blogging itself is pretty self-centred. So if you want to read on, please do. If you would rather pop to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of tea and watch old episodes of 'Peep Show' on 4oD, that's fine too. In fact, I encourage it. 'Peep Show' is full of well-constructed, subtle humour with a dark yet bohemian twist. My meandering thoughts are all I can offer you, so I won't judge you if you stray a little.

So we'll start at the very beginning, shall we? As 2009 became 2010, I was passed out with my head in the toilet after drinking some horrid yellow concoction brewed up by Olly Dix. This wasn't the best way to kick off the year, but it did prompt me to give up drinking for about seven months which can only have been a good thing.

After that, things started looking up. A-levels passed in a flash, I stopped dying my hair, summer happened.

The highest of all highlights has to have been my trip with Sarah across our gorgeous continent. I definitely caught the travelling bug and intend to do it again when I have money and time. I say this like it's a certainty. Seriously though, it was the most fun I've had in such a long time. I got to spend time with one of my dearest friends in some of the coolest places in the world. We made friends we had no intention of keeping and drank some fine Czech beer. It was simply wonderful.

Although the election in May was an utter disaster, the run-up was exciting and could easily have led to me failing all my exams. I didn't, so I look back on it fondly. If I was doing a 'Shit bits of 2010' blog, however, I'm pretty sure the election result and our sham of a government would be hovering somewhere near the top.

In February, I gave up meat for lent, and just sort of carried on. I wouldn't label myself a vegetarian because I use stock-cubes and eat fish and suchlike things. Hypothetically, if I was eating at somebody's house and they didn't realise and accidentally cooked a big fat steak, I'd eat it. This has only happened once, but I'm hoping for a repeat... But yes, no meat means I'm eating a lot more healthily. Everything I cook seems to be full of chickpeas and coriander and spinach. Yum, yum, yum.

This summer was immense. Aside from the hosteling, Edinburgh and Greenbelt were both lovely. A trip to Bristol and a couple of pretty camping trips, paired with really nice weather made the season a complete delight from start to finish.

Coming to university has been completely wonderful. I was so scared that I was doing the wrong thing, but I've settled in so quickly and made such good friends that it's hard to have misgivings. Warwick is home now. I can't believe I have to leave for Italy so soon. Life is proper scary sometimes.

On reflection, really not that much has happened, but it's been a really good year of music and friendship and recovery and education and adventure and Italian. What more could a girl ask for?

the art of looking sideways...

Life is better when you keep yourself busy. The mind craves exercise almost as much as the body. Sitting before a screen all day is hardly the most productive way to spend your time.

But God I've missed it... When I'm busy, my little blog suffers, but you will be pleased to know that as the leaves begin to turn and the nights extend, I will be back here, before this screen, religiously refreshing Facebook and checking emails and consigning my every insignificant thought to this blog once more. In other words, I'm back. Of course, you may not have missed me at all. It is very likely that you hadn't even noticed my absence. Equally likely is that (as absence makes the heart grow fonder), you love me more than ever and have been perched on the edge of your seat, just waiting for the day when I take up writing waffle once more.

I will tell you what I have been up to, but I promise to keep it brief because I'm sure you're not all that interested. First, there was results day. After all the moaning and melodrama, I got AAC, got into Warwick and I leave in October. Needless to say, I was pretty chuffed, but I can't help but feel that I owe you all a bit of an apology. Never again will I be whingey and pessimistic. Much.

Next, Charlotte and I trekked off to Edinburgh for a bit of Fringe fun. It was actually amazing: we saw two plays, one musical, lots of comedy, lots of oddballs and drank quite a lot of beer. Excellent.

I just got back from Greenbelt which was even better than usual because I was volunteering in the Performance Café, where I spent most of the weekend watching bands do lovely acoustic sets and drinking free tea. What's not to like? For those not familiar, Greenbelt is a very cool, liberal Christian arts festival, and pretty much the highlight of my year. A large part of its appeal is the opportunity to catch up with very dear friends, many of whom live further away now than I would like. Greenbelt makes me Christian again every single year. I probably shouldn't need the nudge but it's very welcome.

I am off to Bristol tomorrow to see the lovely Miss Carvlin, so when I said I was back, I didn't mean back back. After that, however, I will be back back. Lucky you.

the glory of summer...

Well hello there. I have returned from my excellent trip (see facebook if you're interested, but i won't bore you here). I am once more in the little village of Wolverley which I can't help but feel is bad for the soul. My mother has a better social life than I do, and I can't currently see any means of escape after what is bound to be a disappointing set of results on Thursday. The more I think about it, the more I want to cry, but crying is hardly productive so I won't waste the time.

While away, I read two really good books: 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith, and 'Everything is Illuminated' by Jonathan Safran Foer. The first is a light, funny book about two girls who want nothing more than to be classic Austen-esque heroines, while the second is much sadder and more poignant. It pretty much blew me away, especially when I realised how young the author was when he wrote it. This makes me feel particularly inadequate, mostly due to the fact that as I have mentioned, I am spending my time in Wolverley doing washing and making various kinds of bean soup. The novelty of being home wore off in about ten minutes. I want to be back in Munich.

The sky is about to burst, which should pass some time. I might watch 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' again. I think it's that sort of day.

Right, enough moping, I still have Edinburgh and Greenbelt (aka God camp) festivals to look forward to which should both be ace. Best of all, I haven't had to pay for either of them. Lucky swine.

detergent days...

The rain just started slamming down in noisy splats which makes the fact that I have been doing load upon load of washing today seem a little less pathetic. Today is the dreaded day of my mother's return, and as a result, everyone's a little bit stressed out. My sister and her bloke have resolved this stress by taking the dog for a walk (to the pub), while I am sitting with my laptop procrastinating. Youtube appears to be struggling somewhat today so I'm left with the Guardian website and (fully aware that I am becoming a broken record) the brilliant Grey's Anatomy. This blog is also a definite form of procrastination, but somehow it's not as bad as watching Countdown. Which I am certainly not doing.

It's working again now...

I leave for my grand European adventure a week today and I'm feeling distinctly unprepared. I have bought suncream and facewipes. Perhaps some more effort is required. This website will get me through. And books. Books will help...

lost in boxsets...

My mother has just departed for a fortnight in Turkey and my sister's just arrived in Bruges. Now as much as I love solitude, being stuck in Wolverley without a car pretty much sucks. I've passed the day stirfrying various vegetables and delving into Postsecret archives; all in all, pretty depressing.

I need a hobby or a pastime. Something to pass the time other than reading and staring at various screens. Unless power napping counts as a hobby. No?... I've had various commitments in my life, but I'm a bit of a quitter and they all seem to have faded into nothingness. I danced for years, but had no coordination. I played trumpet, but had no musical ability. I helped at Brownies, but stopped due to my general contempt of children; girls in particular. Yesterday I dug out my paints, but then realised why I only got a B for art GCSE. When you build your life around being a nerd, the summer holidays tend to be a bit of a disappointment, particularly when most of your friends live in awkward places like Clent or deepest, darkest Black Country; a good half an hour away. By car. So that's irrelevant.

So tomorrow I'm going for a run. Or a walk with sporadic bursts of lethargic jogging. This means I have to find some trainers (I'm not even sure I own anything other than impractical, canvas flats) and some tracksuit bottoms (I'm a skirt girl). I also have to find a way to overcome my complete lack of fitness. Baby steps...

I'm also going to Worcester in the afternoon to see my good friends the Haworths (my ex-vicar and family) and have tea, chillax by the river, etc. I might even squeeze in a sneaky trip to Accessorize... It'll be lovely to see them because it's been months and while I used to practically live in the Vicarage, since they moved, I really haven't made enough of an effort. Plus it will be nice to see some human beings who neither live in Wolverley or compete at Wimbledon...

I go away on my beastly trip in three weeks and I seem to own no summer clothes. Probably time to get on that...

I won't say I like Tomas Berdych because so far this seems to have jinxed my favourites (Federer, Djocovic, Jankovic, etc), but I have provided a picture so you can work it out for yourselves. His eyes are VERY blue...

do not for the fame, but for the glory. learn the difference.

My mother is currently in the corner of the room with a carpet fitter, looking at samples which all look exactly the same and deliberating loudly, while denying me the joys of my iTunes. We're finally getting our (avocado eighties nightmare) bathroom ripped out and starting again. Trust me when I say that anything would be an improvement.

I finally bought Fyfe (Fyfe, love of my life)'s album and in no way is it disappointing. Every song is magnificent. When you are a shambolic aspiring writer as I half-heartedly pretend to be, occasionally you read a book and think 'wow. I wish I had written this.) I imagine lots of music-types feel similarly about this album.

I'm currently reading 'One Day' by David Nicholls and storming through it (this is one of the aforementioned novels). It's sort of a nice compromise between a critically acclaimed but difficult to trawl through novel and a trashy beach read. I'm only half way through, but already it's established a firm footing amongst my favourites. I'm sure most people think this, but I feel that I am strangely similar to the protagonist, Emma. She's pretty clever but a bit of a skank who waitresses instead of getting a job while her less intelligent but copiously charismatic best friend shoots to fame. She has idealistic newspaper cuttings lining her walls and becomes too cynical and too critical. This is pretty much the life I have mapped out for myself. So anyway, I would definitely recommend it, even if you are not really the reading type.

I used to read all the time, but have somewhat lapsed lately. I really love books, but I have picked up the bad habit of spending loads of money on books, beginning them, then giving up half way through, or even worse, just letting them sit on my shelf (floor) gathering dust. So from now on, I vow to read more. I imagine that books will help Sarah and me immeasurably on our trek across Europe in the summer, and I reckon that as I'm doing a French degree (bleugh, don't get me started), a bit of literature in my native language will become a treat once more.

Inspiring isn't really the word, but I found myself clinging on to this awesome woman's every word. It really doesn't seem twenty minutes long, I promise. I think you'll enjoy it. Lesbianism aside, I pretty much want to be this woman. I fear that I can only be disappointed...

boy prey...

Charlotte and I have decided that backpacking around Europe is the only way we could possibly spend this summer. We have a very vague plan to go Germany - Austria - Hungary - Czech Republic - Poland - home. We both agreed that while all of these countries are slightly more originial than a couple of weeks in Ibiza(!), we should be fine backpacking there and they do not seem too scary for a couple of teenage girls. I'm excited! We're also hitting Edinburgh festival in August and I am determined to spend a weekend in Dublin, possibly with my friend Sarah at some point. Finally, I am going to Greenbelt arts festival (as usual) later in August, though I plan to volunteer instead of just attending. Greenbelt is my favourite thing in the world; it would be nice to give something back. So a jam-packed summer, and I can't wait!

Sam Taylor Wood, the 42 year old eternally cool artist is pregnant and engaged to Aaron Johnson who is 19! Now I'm all for shaking things up a bit, but surely this is a little on the creepy side? It was only a couple of years ago that he was playing the male lead in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, which should probably say it all. He was even rumoured to be getting fairly cozy with his co-star who is my age and seems even younger. It seems quite a leap to then date a woman old enough to be his mother. Saying this, however, I am not sure anybody would bat an eyelid if the genders were reversed. Many famous men have a much younger woman as their armcandy, for example Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, yet a woman is branded a "cougar" if she goes for a younger man. I am on the fence when it comes to large age gaps in relationships. In ten years time, Taylor-Wood will start to become less attractive to the boy, and I am fairly sure he will not be with her in another ten, baby or not. Saying that, they seem to be happy, and they are certainly an attractive couple... See for yourself.