This is my bedroom. I thought about posting pictures as soon as I moved in, but this way you get to see it like it really is; a bit of a dump.
As you can see, it's a tad yellow. This is not okay so I strive to fill my walls with crap. Crap that's not yellow...
This is the wall of cool. If you're not on it, I don't love you. Or perhaps I just don't know you. Or perhaps I met/grew to love you after September when these photos were developed.
This is my desk where my laptop often lives and I play Radiohead while reading Harry Potter in French or playing online scrabble or other things that aren't work and which won't help me to get a degree. In this picture, you will also spot a lot of dirty laundry. I would like it noted that I have spent all evening doing washing, so the basket is no longer overflowing, but empty and unchaotic. This is where I keep rogue bags. They overflowed a bit and I haven't quite got round to putting them back.
This was the view from my window at some point this afternoon when I decided I would get the camera out. Who says Warwick is ugly?
So there you have it! I feel like this is sure proof that if one day I am lucky enough to own a house, it will be mental and messy and full of utter rubbish. I wouldn't have it any other way...
Apparently some people have had some snow. We do not, but it is certainly very cold. If it did snow, I would pretty much be screwed because all my shoes are made of muddy white canvas and I have no sense of balance. There isn't a cloud in the sky; it really is gorgeous out there. It feels like proper winter now. We've definitely escaped the fuzzy in-between stage (Autumn if we're being technical) and it's a definite excuse to spend too much money on gingerbread lattes in Costa.
Degrees are so very very hard, but they are not without reward. My French is definitely improving and even though I am definitely one of the less skilled linguists in my Italian group, it's quite astonishing how much I have learned in the past few weeks. Of course in the run up to the Christmas break, the next few weeks will be full of essays and assessments, but after this will follow a blissful month of laziness and presents and frosty walks. I'm never very enthusiastic about Christmas, but I am enthusiastic about gluttony and laziness which will be abundant in this holiday season. Also, Mum is going away which is always a bonus.
Between writing the last paragraph and this one, I went to Tesco and my mood changed significantly. I'm all coughy and snotty and tired.
Between writing the last paragraph and this one, night fell and I watched Beauty and the Beast and I came down with full-on flu. My muscles are aching and I'm shivery and far too hot and cherry tomatoes are all I can eat. I fell asleep for a bit, but now it's late and I'm wide awake and drugged up and all I want to do is curl up in a ball and sleep for a few hours, but sleep isn't coming so I thought I'd continue this blog post. The one I started at lunchtime. When I was annoyingly happy.
Right, so I fell asleep again straight after I wrote that. It is now tomorrow and I feel ten times better. At least this post if nothing else has illustrated how fragmented my writing style is and how my mood meanders quite significantly. I'm going to go now. My day will be one of slippers and honey and translation. Can't complain with that!
I'm a little bit emotional. Tonight (as you probably know by now) was prizegiving, and not only did I see my best friends in the entire world, but beloved teachers and my excellent school with which I have a bit of a love/hate relationship. My old French teacher made me cry, my old English teacher roped me into organising a Christmas reunion and my (very) old maths teacher helped me find my mother's coat when she was being inept.
We're all going to see Harry Potter tomorrow and I'm disproportionately excited. The books, while a little lacking in stylistic narrative are brilliant. The films are obviously less good, but still offer a better cinematic experience than most other films around at the moment. I'm sure many will disagree...
I am getting on oddly well with my usually tempestuous mother at the moment. This is probably because we haven't spent more than a couple days together since I started at university. The thing is, despite what I say, Mum and I were always going to work things out eventually. We are simultaneously the same and completely different. I'm quite a practical person: I can change light bulbs and fix the electrics and get dead mice out of traps. None of these things are particularly tricky, but my mum is a woman and is therefore incapable of completing these menial tasks. It's partly a generational thing, I think. We're also quite different in our attitudes to men, music and friendship. But I begrudgingly admit that we are SO similar: we're both pretty left wing, we did the same A-levels, neither of us are stupid and we both really like food. I think we both really needed a break. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I certainly resent her a little less.
I've taken up drinking coffee which I used to really hate. Tea doesn't quite cut it when you need to stay up because you've left it a bit late to do that essay, so I've upped the caffeine stakes. I'm also very much aware of my looming year in coffee-mad Italy. I don't want to seem like a complete tourist. I'm sure I'll be gulping down espresso in no time...
In the past couple of years, my music taste has definitely become a bit more abstract. I like quite obscure bands and melancholy melodies, but I've tried my hardest not to become too pretentious or take my music too seriously. There's nothing worse than a pop snob. Often pop music is popular in the first place because it is genuinely good. An example of someone who has lived up to the hype in my opinion is Ellie Goulding. I really liked her album, and now this gorgeous cover has emerged which I can't get enough of:
And this is the thing that converted me in the first place:
01) Rainy Payne & Doc Link – Relax (Atjazz Remix) 02) Julius Papp Feat. Lisa Shaw – Way Back (Doruk Ozlen Vocal Mix) 03) Morra Derey & The Heavy Quarterz Feat. Mfalme – Roho Yangu (Jihad’s Movement Mix) 04) The Layabouts Feat. Shea Soul – Perfectly (The Layabouts Vocal Mix) 05) Kink – E79 06) Emmanuel Jal – Kuar (Henrik Schwarz Remix) 07) Siji – Ijo 08) Deepcitysoul Feat. Rainy Payne – Remember Me (Mr.V De Ja Vu Main Mix) 09) Toni Braxton – Make My Heart (DJ Spen & the Muthafunkaz Remix) 10) Kenny Dope – Warp 11) John Julius Knight – Born Again 12) Tim Deluxe – See Lye 13) Treasure Fingers – Lift Me 14) Kenny Bobien – Don’t Be Afraid (Ian Friday Libation Mix) 15) DJ Le Roi Feat Andrea Love – Let It Feel Good (Atjazz Remix) 16) Munchies – Are You (Tom Drummond Remix)
