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.

The devil owns a bookshop

Well it's been a while. I have been wearing the same clothes since yesterday morning. This is gross. I ended up going to a Warwick open day yesterday and then on the spur of the moment stayed with Helen in Leamington. A very bad thing has happened. I really like Warwick... I had resolved to dislike it, mostly due to the fact that if I go there I will be studying French and Italian rather than Spanish. Obviously Spanish is the more useful language as everybody told me when I was trying to decide what to apply for. The Warwick language department is pretty small so they don't offer Spanish. Another thing which was putting me off was the fact that the year abroad is in the second year rather than the third, however I came away convinced that this was best. Also, Italy is really, really nice. So yet again, we'll see...

I sent off my application to volunteer at Greenbelt today which is exciting. I'm also hoping to do a bit of work over the summer at an English language camp for French kids. They've expressed an interest in my application, so I'm hoping I get it. It would beat the Safari Park, surely?

Exam results came back today. I got a B in my history resit (after getting a C the first time). This sounds good, but in fact I only went up a few marks. This sounds bad, but I was convinced that after the Nullification Crisis crisis, my marks would have gone down. Any improvement is welcome.

I'm tired and moody (shocking I know) so I intend to spend the evening replacing homework with sleep and dinner with chocolate.

I saw Alice In Wonderland on Tuesday at the Imax in Birmingham for the lovely Jordan's birthday. It was pretty enjoyable, if only for the stupid "3D grannywag" glasses. I love getting engrossed in the film then turning round and chuckling at your friends looking ridiculous, sat beside you. The film was ace anyway. Of course it was no Sweeney Todd, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Anne Hathaway didn't even annoy me that much. The Devil Wears Prada haunted me for weeks...

This website is awesome! www.modcloth.com I want it all please!

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.