Comfortably Academic

For the first time in a long period of time, I am feeling suitably comfortable academically. But of course, from the moment I hit "publish post", this little hypothesis will begin to disintegrate as I will begin to start pulling my hair out and scrunch up notes yelling "where is my pen?!"

I really hope that doesn't become the case. I'm finding it incredibly relaxing to be doing my work right now, and surely that must be a sign that I probably am not trying hard enough? And perhaps I should not judge so soon, considering I have only been back for a month.

Teamed with my hot chocolate and my copy of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, I just stormed through note-making and hot beverage sipping at complete ease. Unfortunately, during breaks I am still thinking of what work to do next, how I can make my grades better, how I can balance my work. Surprisingly, I'm not feeling claustrophobic from the work at all. I don't know, perhaps an explanation for this relaxed atmosphere will come to me at 3AM and that is when I will feel the need to wake up and come here and explain myself immediately.

I'm doing work just for the sake of it. I like it.

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Love & War & The Sea In Between

There's just something incredibly atmospheric and soothing I am getting from Josh Garrel's album Love & War & The Sea In Between.

There's just so much variation in the album, it's surreal. I am really happy that I decided to browse around Bandcamp and this was the first artist that I clicked on. Some essence of Florence + The Machine, along with (surprisingly...) Linkin Park and hints of Bon Iver. The album art really drew me in as well!

I know exactly what I will be listening to all week. You can download and listen to his 18-track album here on Bandcamp. Consistently, it's the most underrated musicians that impress me the most.

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Song of the Day: "June Gloom" by The Like

Despite it being quite far off from June, there is some gloom today. But that gloom has been kept outside, so today has been that equivalent of a Nigella Lawson day on the inside.

I've been making cupcakes and had books cluttering my study, and I know that music mends any sort of gloomy weather. Hot chocolate is up next!

Today I present to you..... The Like! They're currently a band of four, but during "June Gloom" we have three members of the band. This video was before they adopted their 60's style, here known for their elfin, folk-like fashion sense and Elizabeth Berg's slightly raspy voice. Anyway, if anything, this song reminds me of Christmas... anyone else agree?

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Steve Jobs: Visionary.

Despite always waking up in a rather groggy wake, I'm always capable of automatically find myself at my computer to check my mail and Twitter. The first tweet I saw today wasn't the nicest and most settling one. The death of Steve Jobs.

Yes, as we all know, Steve Jobs (computer entrepreneur, co-founder of Apple Inc. and FT's Person of the Year 2010) died after his long battle struggling with pancreatic cancer last night. My instant reaction? Shock. We all know cancer has taken away many people we love and adore, but my reaction was similarly that of a stomach punch. It was almost the same feeling I had felt when Michael Jackson had passed away too.

Although Jackson and Jobs don't exactly come from the same branch of industry, there was something similar in both of them: they were incredibly influential and they pushed the boundaries.

I feel as if Steve Jobs was an auteur of technology or the auteur of technology. Apple was built in his own image, and it successfully carried through in all his products. Funnily enough, I was just researching the Auteur Theory for my music video project for school, and I know for sure that Steve Jobs would definitely be placed in the auteur category.

I'm glad that he passed away peacefully, almost as calm as the man himself. It would be awful to know that someone had died in an inconsiderate amount of pain like my own grandfather's death. Still, 56 is young in my books, and it's an awful shame.

RIP Steve Jobs, may your legacy continue.

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new." - Steve Jobs

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What's In My Bag?

A while ago on Flickr, I had joined a group called What's In My Bag? I had joined the group but never had the chance to actually take a picture of my bag with it's contents. Today, after realising I have nothing productive to do, I started exploring around Flickr and then stumbled across the group again. I immediately took out my bag, all the contents of it, and took a picture of it.

What I am going to be doing is creating an occasional "What's In My Bag?" feature, because I think the contents of a bag can often be very interesting. I'll talk a bit about what's in my bag, and see if I can remember any interesting stories from them. Credit has to go to groc for the inspiration.

As you can see, I don't really have much in my bag at the moment because I had recently cleaned it out and re-packed the thing.

1. You see that little red book on the left? It's a play. No, I am not a drama student, it's for my English literature classes. We're currently studying "She Stoops To Conquer" by Oliver Goldsmith. I was made to research Oliver Goldsmith for background, and frankly... I dislike him. His work is enjoyable thus far, but his attitude and history is just ridiculous; but he definitely is a character.

2. TESS of the D'URBERVILLES: Two words... READ. IT.

3. Wreck This Journal was something that I received from a friend on Christmas. I'm yet to complete, but I've done most of it. I carry it with me in case I need to imprint grass stains into it or find a public place to hang it and have people furiously scribble in it. I was terrified to crack the spine but eventually I did it. And several times also. I poured a little spiced wine on it too, and when you fan the pages, it smells of Burberry perfume. The journal is a character in itself.

4. My beautiful floral purse, another Christmas present! Vaseline, USB, glasses case.. they're all basic needs.

Unfortunately, that's all there is in a bag, but the contents always change so you should see some more updates a little later.

You will find that this will be a regular feature on my blog now, as a page will be dedicated to it right HERE!

Have a great day everyone, and keep your bags safe and interesting!

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Song of the Day: "You're The One That I Want (cover)" by Angus & Julia Stone

I know, I know, once again I haven't been able to update in quite some time. I've been so caught up with work and trying to get myself organised that I have neglected this poor blog.

With some of my time off, I have been listening to a lot of music again, and I stumbled across Angus & Julia Stone's cover of "You're The One That I Want" from Grease. Yes, you must be wondering... how? If you're familiar with Angus & Julia Stone's music, you can only wonder how a song such as this one could be pulled off in this style?

It's for you to find out.... Julia's voice is precious.

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Song of the Day: "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra

In remembrance of the 9/11 attacks, I have decided to post a song by none other than the great Frank Sinatra. I greatly admire their resilience 10 years ago today, and perhaps someday I will be lucky enough to visit such a  vibrant and strong city.

I want to send all my good thoughts to the families of the people who lost their lives and all the services of New York that participated in the safety of such a great city. Continue to stay strong.

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Song of the Day: "I Need Some Sleep" by Eels

This song could easily sum up how I feel today, I really do need some sleep. See if you can guess where you may have heard this song before?

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Too late, Too Dark, Too Stuffy

I feel that my brain always functions best after 2AM, but of course it must involve me skulking around in the night in my house like an absolute creeper. I can have so much to think about and mull over in my head, because it takes me literally forever, (if not more) to fall asleep.

If the world was at it's safest, I'd feel comfortable to walk around in the night and take everything in. I can't stand still and think. Well, I can, but I feel useless standing still whilst I think of "great" things. If I am to think about philosophical topics, I must of course do something whilst I think of it. Just in honour of the thought.

So, what I've been thinking at this hour, instead of sleeping because it is unnecessarily hot even with the fan on, is about my increase in reading. Don't get me wrong, I've been reading for as long as I remember, I've always been encouraged to read. But as I deepen into literature that strays away from my childhood; Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Roald Dahl, I'm venturing into more complex novels.

But as I read more of these novels, I can't help but to feel pretentious. The more I read, the more I feel like a pretentious character. It would possibly not seem apparent on the outside, I don't really think I strike off as pretentious apart from the fact that people are aware I read quite a bit and I don't indulge in only mainstream activities but in a way, I feel like I am. This is probably because I think a lot, and I tend to over-think a lot. Often I tend to feel selfish, because I keep everything in my thoughts, but I never say them out loud.

Then I feel alarmingly pretentious when people tell me things that I always think about and I just nod my head and say "Yes" and "I know", always in agreement. I wonder if the person I am talking to wonders "wow, she claims to know everything." Or perhaps they may think something along the lines of like "She's pretending to know everything, I've never heard her utter anything of the sort before." Due to my lack of voicing opinion. This is terrible for a person who wants to do the things she wants to do in the future.

No secrets, just thoughts.

Just thoughts all in my head, kept under lock and key.

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Plath

Today started abruptly, as I jolted awake and was immediately aware that I was to meet my friend in a short couple of hours and I was, indeed, a mess. I don't think I could congratulate coffee enough for being such a lifesaver. I can't imagine the places I'd be without it.

Anyway, yes, I made yet another trip with my friend Sophie to the library today. On the rota, the task was "Get Work Done For Personal Statement". I was confident I'd get a fair bit down, but instead my time was spent reading Time magazine, inspecting pieces of Russian art and reading Sylvia Plath's biography. I decided to take it home. "Take" as in borrow it of course.

Well, here she is! I really enjoy her pieces of work, especially Ariel and I thought The Bell Jar was truly captivating. There are times whilst reading the novel, I feel like I can relate to how the protagonist feels, and it makes me worry, considering people reckoned The Bell Jar was a semi-autobiographical novel, and if you were not aware, Sylvia Plath was mentally ill and had committed suicide at the age of 30.

But then again, not everything is the same for everyone. Situations are dealt with differently by each person. In all honesty, "we are all unique" pretty much sums it up. So far I have reached the point of reading about Plath's maternal side of the family. As I read the story of her maternal grandparents, I feel as if I am reading a novel and then I realise that this is actually somebody's life. This is why I find biographies difficult to take seriously; I mistake reality for fiction and forget that these words depict the accounts of real events in history. Not quite sure why I am so fascinated by this.....

Sylvia Plath led a very colourful life. A life which could be considered almost "normal" to society's judging eyes, almost fulfilled. A life that could be mistaken for any person with a healthy mind, so I am looking forward to reading about the shadowed events in her life which could explain the reason for her angry and ambitious poetry.

    

I'm going to leave you here in the midst of Plath and dive into some work if my wireless keyboard decides to live.

Goodbye!

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I haven't seen one of these in a while

My sister rushed upstairs today to tell me that there was a rainbow. I had suddenly turned into a magical pony as  I pranced all over my room panicking and looking for a camera. I needed to take a picture ASAP before it would fade away.

I got the picture though!

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Sorry!

I've been ill for a couple of days, I'm sorry for not updating! I think I've reached the conclusion in which these "Song of the Day" post will be a little less frequent, and I'll post on my Twitter (which you can access here) when I'll have another one up!

Again, I really do apologise for the lack of posts, but when my mind is in correct working order, and I'm not sneezing every couple of minutes, I'll be sure this blog will be abundant with thoughts and opinions and complaints.

I hope you've all stayed on the right side of health, and please enjoy the rest of your summer holidays!

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Song of the Day: "Pretend (Reprise)" by Lights

I discovered Lights quite some time ago whilst browsing around YouTube, and I fell in love with her music video of "Second Go" which involved her haphazardly painting a bright house room with bright colours. However, that isn't the song I wanted to show you today. I wanted to show you "Pretend" by Lights. Her voice is really sweet and is a reminiscence of innocence.

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A little update

These past few weeks have been some sort of a haze. I received my AS results (not too bad, it's something to work with next year) and watched The Inbetweeners Movie - crude? Yes. Hilarious? Yes.

I did make an attempt to visit the local book club - yes, that is my enigmatic nerdiness coming out of it's shell again. I don't think I could explain to myself what seems so appealing to me about book clubs. I've always loved reading from a very young age, and that's been constant to this day. I went to this club last week and I arrived at the library with my friend and couldn't in fact locate where the damn book club was being held. We figured out where it was just as it had ended (we sat around reading instead, which is just as good as any book club!). We're having another go at it tomorrow, and perhaps get a little more of my personal statement done.

As school approaches, I'm getting more and more nervous about this personal statement; it has to be crystal clear and brilliant. It just dawned on me the other day that this will be a long process. I will be spending hours drafting this personal statement, so to avoid the infamous "last minute panic", I'm trying to get as much done now and then ask for advice from my tutors.

For anyone else in the process of applying to university (anywhere in the world) and you require a personal statement, I'd suggest being as true to yourself as possible. Don't try any cliché quotes and lines, and don't use vocabulary that you couldn't define on the spot. I've heard that during your interview, you could be questioned about these things.

Another tip: START NOW!!!!


As summer ends, I'm slowly depleting on money so I doubt much will be posted on any exhibitions or events I'm going to. I think most of my money has been blown off on travel and food, and less on material things as such. So if anything is posted, it is most likely on the basis of thoughts, opinions or maybe even photography, considering that's free.

Hope you're having a great week!

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Song of the Day(S): "Whatever You Like (T.I. cover) by Anya Marina + "Island In The Sun" by Weezer

I missed yesterday's "Song of the Day", I apologise. To make up for it, will present you TWO "Song of the Days" today.

Yesterday's song was Anya Marina's cover of T.I.'s "Whatever You Like". It came up on my iTunes library yesterday, and I forgot how much I love this cover. The original song is great, but I think this is one of those few occasions in which I can say I prefer the cover more.

Today's song of the day is "Island in the Sun" by Weezer. I always chill out on my balcony with this song, and the weather is considerably nice and bright in London today.

 Hope the weather is just as nice wherever you are! Get out of the house, take a walk, take some pictures, a picnic perhaps? If the weather isn't too great where you're residing that's fine - a day or night in with films, food and hot chocolate is just as great! 

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Song of the Day: "I Don't Know" by Lisa Hannigan

I found Lisa Hannigan a couple of years ago whilst I was listening to Damien Rice. Her voice is beautifully melodic, and "I Don't Know" could generally make any one person happy. Good beat, good song to chill out to.

If you want to check out more of her music, visit her website: http://www.lisahannigan.ie/
You can also get a free MP3 of her song "A Sail" by signing up for her mailing list on the homepage.

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Independence of mind

We go to school to build ourselves as people, learn to be unique, to become knowledgable for the world ahead of us. Unlike most people my age, I actually enjoy going to school, apart from a groggy morning which is very systematically: coffee, clothes, teeth, breakfast, out the house.

A couple of months ago, I was revising for my exams, and a recommendation from teachers was to look at the mark schemes from past papers and see exactly what the examiners want to see. I did this, and I began to wonder, whilst practicing for these exams, how wrong this must be. If I was to put an answer down on the paper, clearly showing the right answer, I still wouldn't get the mark. Because it is not what examiners want to hear.

Does that not mean we are doctorined to learn and believe things in a certain way? Where is the freedom of mind? That is why I do extra reading.

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Charity shops and stationary

I haven't really posted in a while, so I might just document a "book haul" I had experienced yesterday. I went out to the local shops with my friend Sophie, and the original plan was to buy lots of stationary for school again.
The only things I managed to buy in relation to that was a considerably cheap notebook and a considerably cheap pack of pens. That's it.

The rest of the time was spent traipsing around from one charity shop to the other, hunting for books like no tomorrow. This was a good idea. I came home with six.

The bottom one is The Godfather, which I was very pleased about because it was in excellent condition and I got it for only £1!

It is fancy, no? I really love it!

I finished reading Cat's Eye last night. I thought it was a great book, the ending was slightly wishy-washy in my opinion but it was the content itself that was great. Some bits didn't exactly have my eyes glued to the page, but obviously it would be difficult to be able to be interested in every aspect of Elaine Risley's life. Or perhaps that simply wasn't the case. I think I reached a point where overlapping description got too much for me. But the symbolism in this book was brilliant. I love the descriptions of her paintings and how time was integrated so seamlessly into the novel. Took me a while to read it, which is rare, I tend to finish books quite quickly, but the book basically documented the protagonist's life from around 6 or 7 to her late forties.

Now I have started reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I'm up to chapter 83. Oh, yes, of course. The chapters are in prime numbers so I'm actually on chapter 22. I have high hopes for this book, I've heard a lot of praise about it. I love how simplistic the book is, yet it's captivating that way. The mind of someone with Asperger's Syndrome is so interesting. Yet it is strange considering that I think in a completely different way than him: Christopher, the protagonist, thinks in numbers and science. I think with words and feelings. But in some weird parallel, I understand everything he means, how he feels or doesn't feel. He makes so much sense and makes me feel quite pretentious with my words and feelings.

Funny the emotions a book can bring out of you. 

I supposed I should go make coffee now, I'm literally slumping at my desk from tiredness. Ciao for now.

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Racism

Just before I start this post, I would just like to say that the following opinions I express are nothing in connection to the London and UK riots and the supposed "justifications" for arson and vandalism. This is just about my views on society in general.

Ok, so completely contrasting what I just said in the last paragraph (sort of), I'm hearing a lot of things being said in the news that the reasons for the riots may involve "race suppression/unfairness etc." This gets me thinking about what people actually think about "racism" these days.

Some few say that racism is a natural thing that is just embedded into our system; our dislike... or perhaps failure to see eye-to-eye with someone who does not look like us.

Living in London, it's often I hear people say things such as "I don't think racism really exists that much these days." In the kindest way possible, I can say this: I think they are naive. Yes, in comparison to the segregation of black people many years ago, there is less racism. But it is there, and racism is extremely difficult to get rid of. I'm not even sure if it's possible.

I think that racist culture has become a trend, you can see it in comedy, on websites such as Tumblr, you can easily identify stereotypical connotations. Yes, to some extent, we can all have a laugh. I can easily make fun of myself, and I'm a pretty laid back person. I don't get easily offended. But eventually, jokes get old. You don't want to hear them all the time, and slowly people think it's ok to be "stereotypically racist."

"It's a joke, just having a bit of fun!" That doesn't sound too nice now, does it?

I think it's hard to relate when someone is not in the midst of it. I'm good at empathizing, but even there are things that I do not understand and I will refuse to be fake and pretend I understand it. I will TRY to understand, yes. I will do my research, look into things, get different perspectives. But I will not nod and think I know, when I clearly do not.

I am Indian myself and I have received racism when I was younger. But then again, kids repeat what they hear. A couple of weeks ago, myself and a couple others were discussing the topic of bullying, and when I was questioned, I admitted that some children used to say "Do not play with Ria, she is brown." People looked sad for a brief moment and then one said "Well, I suppose that's normal. It's what kids do, you know?" Fair. Or wait, is it? Not all kids do it, surely? It stopped for a bit and then the racism picked back up quite recently.

I don't know, what I'm saying is that I think it's complete and utter bull when people say that racism doesn't exist anymore. It's not just lower class people that are racist, it doesn't even matter what class they're a part of. There's a difference between being tolerant and thinking and behaving in a racist manner.

Unfortunately, it's impossible to prove so it will have to remain a conspiracy for quite sometime.

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Insane

Yesterday in Tottenham, protests started because a 29 year old man was shot by a policeman. The man, Mark Duggan, a known "gangster" of the Tottenham area attempted to shoot a policeman, but missed as only the policeman's radio on his chest was hit. The policeman hit Mark back and obviously, the man died.

The family of Mark Duggan, according to reports, weren't informed in the correct, proper way about the death of Mark Duggan, thus creating protests outside the police station. The protest was apparently led mainly by women, and after four hours, the women left considering they have kids to look after and their kids were getting tired.

I am just shocked that in these four hours, no one in a senior position attended to these peaceful protesters before things got bad. There was no authority until things got ridiculous. Ok, so that was point number one.

I'm going to be using the word "apparently" a lot in this post, because I don't know how much I can trust what the government is saying. How can anyone trust the government when they have done nothing but faff around with sheets of paper, coughing at parliament and arguing about international affairs?

These people who have participated in this riots are criminals, yes. They have participated in arson, robbery and many other miscreant activities. They want attention, and this is how they're getting it. This isn't a racial problem, this is a collective problem that has been ignored for a long time. Everything about this riot is wrong, on both sides. I think this is about more than Mark Duggan, this is about everything in society. Yes, some of these people want to have a bit of fun and are attracted to flames and think they can add something to their "CV of criminal activity". It still comes back to lack of community and proper attention given to these people.

Authority is lacking, the police need more resources. The government need to stop peeing themselves over other countries' business and should focus on their own country first.

I always think that you need to help yourself before you help others. If you aren't stable yourself, how on earth are you supposed to help others properly? It doesn't make sense in the slightest.

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Just thought I'd do a quick update

I haven't updated in quite some time, so I thought I should inform of my latest doings and such.

After some time, I finally left the house with my friends for a good day out on Monday. We were a bit unsure as to what to do, so we decided to try something different and we went to the Natural History Museum. Now, if I had taken any decent pictures, I'd have posted them here but instead I'll post another beautiful picture that someone else had taken.

It's pretty, isn't it? We entered a back entrance by accident, which prevented us from having to queue up for ages in the street. We went and got some food afterwards. The original plan was Tesco sandwiches but Tesco was so far away we had to settle for M&S which was way closer. Expensive, yes. Taste? Brilliant.

Tuesday was my day off and I did a bit of reading. I'm really loving Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood; despite the fact that the book had been published way before I was born, I feel like Atwood has been poking inside my brain and applying them into the book. Everything that the protagonist feels, I feel too.

Yesterday I hung out at my friend's house. We discussed next year's holiday plans, I shot a few hoops, and jumped on the trampoline. It was a really relaxed day, and I got a little more comfortable with a new location.

Today I'm going to be helping my friend film her documentary. I'm excited to see what she has planned out! I should start getting ready, wash my hair etc. I'll properly make a blog post later.

Ciao.

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Austin Gibbs

Once again, I've been a little slow on the posting but I'm back again, with more music to share with you all.

Alright, so I first came across this musician, Austin Gibbs, via my favourite band The Maine. They were touring together for quite a while so I decided to check this guy out. I was definitely impressed. There's something about his music that I just can't describe - I immediately fell in love and I find it hard to find any songs I dislike.

Now, this is all up to taste. If you're into acoustic, chilled out music with the American feel-good twang, Austin Gibbs is perfect for you. I've spent most of my summer so far sitting on my balcony with my Austin Gibbs' most recent album "Charlie", as pictured above. My three favourites are "Sierra The Serial Killer" and " La, La, La" and "Take Me To Your Leader".

His humorous lyrics, rough yet extremely satisfying vocals and good ear for beat is exactly what you'll need for your perfect summer playlist.

For fans of:

• Ryan Adams
• The Maine
• This Century
• Jimmy Eat World

Charlie - Austin Gibbs is currently available in the iTunes store.

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Summer mood is lacking

It hardly feels like summer - and to be completely honest with you, I'd rather just be back in school again. The only thing I like about summer is waking up late and sunny days out.

It's been far from sunny. It's not raining, it's not windy, it's not snowing. It's just fine and cloudy. Not a single ray of sunshine, and the clouds refuse to give way for blue.

I'm finding it extremely difficult to put myself in a good mood. But let me just document my day so far. I've been downloading more music actually. I don't like much from the UK charts to be honest, apart from Lady Gaga. Instead I decided to go on Billboard.com. I am going to be axed by a lot of people for saying this, but Billboard's music is just ten times better than what's on the UK chart. Some songs are the same, of course. And then a lot of it's just plain better.

I'm not saying the UK chart is this bad all the time, and of course it's always down to a matter of taste - I'm just not the biggest fan of dance anthems and house music. Billboard.com has more of a select of country rock 'n' roll along with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and LMFAO. It's good, I think the charts should always have a mix of genre. But here, my, my. It's house, club and dance everywhere.

Anyway, I'm deciding to steer away from the UK chart and any chart to that matter and I've decided to listen to some musicians that are perhaps lesser known.

1. Matt Wertz
2. Tim & Jean
3. Darwin Deez (although many will know his song "Up In The Clouds" on the New Look advert)
4. The Virgins
5. Tegan and Sara (lesser known in accordance to "mainstream")

Well there you go. If you want something fresh, I urge you to check these people out. They're simply fab, I promise you.

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Everything has been blurry

Loads of events have collided into once, and I'm not exactly sure how. Anyway, I won't get in to the details, but I was cheered up by my friends last night. I visited my friend Sophie's new house for the first time and slept over.

I think it's safe to say that the four of us wouldn't last a minute in a horror film. We were all stumbling over each other in the dark, doing god knows what kind of antics. With no sleep at all, I'm back home to celebrate my dad's birthday! We just cut the cake, and he's gone off to do something else so I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to present to you..... my summer playlist!!!!

A lot of the songs aren't exactly typical "summer playlist" material but if it floats my boat then I'm alright.
It's a bit of a long list, consisting of 30 tracks so beware.

1. I Feel Like Dancin' - All Time Low
2. What The Hell - Avril Lavigne
3. The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars
4. Holiday - Vampire Weekend
5. Ocean Avenue - Yellowcard
6. Chelsea - The Summer Set
7. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N - Noah and the Whale
8. Punch Drunk Love - The Summer Set
9. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry
10. Give A Damn - A Rocket To The Moon
11. Bass Down Low (feat. The Cataracs) - Dev
12. We Are The People - Empire of the Sun
13. Louder (feat. Sian Evans) - DJ Fresh
14. Blow - Ke$ha
15. La La La - Austin Gibbs
16. Surfin' USA - The Beach Boys
17. The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga
18. Both Sides of the Story - We Are The In Crowd
19. California - Phantom Planet
20. She Takes Me High - We The Kings
21. Island In The Sun - Weezer
22. Rich Girls - The Virgins
23. We All Roll Along - The Maine
24. Flume - Bon Iver
25. Runaway - Artist vs. Poet
26. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
27. Up In The Clouds - Darwin Deez
28. I Can Show You - Tim & Jean
29. Infinity Guitars - Sleigh Bells
30. Forever Young (feat. Mr Hudson) - Jay-Z

I have way more but I'll save the other 30 for next time. Some of these songs you may have heard, some you may haven't. Whether it makes you discover new music or you've remembered to add particular tracks to your own playlist, enjoy! I'll be putting up more playlists on my new page "playlists" (so very bluntly named) which can be found at the bottom.

That's all I really have to say for today except have a fantastic day!

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“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”

- Carol Lynn Pearson.

Today, five of us embarked on an epic tale. An epic tale that ended in soft toys and Golden Arches.

Ok, I'll cut to the chase - I have two more days of school left before we break up for summer (yay, shouts of approval etc. etc.). So this week, our school organises a sort of "activity week". Barely a week in my opinion, I don't recall weeks consisting of three days. Or perhaps ISO 8601 gone horribly wrong?

Anyway, back to this activity week. Today is the first of these so-called activities, and we were proposed with a "treasure hunt." I'm not going to lie, I love a good ol' treasure hunt. It makes me think back to the times when I was younger - My wardrobe was a cave, the arm of the sofa was a horse, my scarf was a lasso. The dining table would always be considered shelter - a safe place... for extremely short people or for those with the capabilities of crouching for a long time. My mum would say "you're not going to stay under there all day, are you?" and I would reply with something like "perhaps only until the cyclops has gone away so I can collect the treasure."

Oh, those were the days. If I was to do anything of the sort now, I would be branded as deluded. So I saw this as a perfect opportunity to have fun.

The day had already started sloppily - I was extremely tired and there was no coffee in the house. Tea doesn't wake me up, you see. As I hiked up to the station, I tried to tell myself "No. This is going to get much better. This will be a good day."

How wrong was I? Very wrong. Although I'm sure people can think of worse things that could happen. I am obviously in the mood to exaggerate. I mean come on, did you see the quote?

Myself, Sophie and a couple of other girls from school got off at Embankment Station and then walked to Jubilee Gardens. Fair enough. We got assigned maps and instructions of which points to go, what information to receive, what photos to take. This extended from Jubilee Gardens and then all the way to Tower Bridge and then back again.

The black line - oh, so very obviously, outlines the journey. Now, I'll tell you this. By foot, it's a bit of a walk. No, it's a hell of a walk. Sure, you'd think "oh, well what's wrong with that? You get to enjoy the views of London whilst you're at it!"

The buzzer says incorrect. Other groups were literally speed-walking, and myself and my group of four comrades were taking this a little less seriously. Deep down inside, I knew the "treasure" would be something like crayons. So, with a little bit of perseverance and less perseverance towards the end, we finished in an hour and 16 or 17 minutes. I'll let you in on a secret though - we took the bus back to base point. I'll tell you why - because there was no rule against it. We came second last or something like that. We never bothered to check after realising that the prize was a soft toy about the size of my palm. I'm glad I didn't take it seriously now. I'd rather have the crayons. It was a waste of £5 spent on transport.

Tired, hungry, annoyed by the choice of treasure, irritated by the humidity yet gloomy sky, we headed in search of the Golden Arches a.k.a good ol' Sir McDonald. Embankment's McDonald's was full, Waterloo's McDonald's hardly had any seating. So we decided to just take the train back home and eat locally.

Home is where the food is.

So what have I learnt from this process? Don't wear Primark shoes during treasure hunts, don't take treasure hunts seriously unless the hunt is proposed by Captain Jack Sparrow or Billy Bones and don't have a strawberry milkshake when you know you have to walk home.

"Heroes take journeys along the Thames, confront tourists, and discover the treasure of food." Much more suited I think!

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Don Quixote

Light reading, anyone?

I'm just kidding. This is the next book I will be attacking, whilst simultaneously reading Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (which you can slyly see in the background of that picture in the green binding.).

Cat's Eye is compulsory reading for school. So far, I think it's brilliant. I love the way in which Atwood has incorporated time seamlessly. Atwood did a fantastic job on it. The plot is also very alluring - I'm trying to see where the book is taking me at the moment; the more pieces of information is getting unfurled, the deeper I'm falling in between the lines. Elaine's character is great too - she's one that I can relate with, despite the age in which she is telling the story from (frequent ages, may I add).

Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote" was just something lying in my parents' reading shelf and I decided to pick it up. I promised myself I'd read more classics over the summer, and there is no way on earth I'm backing out of that promise.

Summer has been pretty busy - in fact, "summer" in academic reference hasn't even begun yet. As of Wednesday, I will supposedly be "free" to be lazy. That, of course, is hardly my intention this summer. I need to be 100% topped up on knowledge and culture. Lectures, museum exhibitions, summer schools, workshops,  events of all shapes and sizes need to be attended to.

Perhaps it's time to buy a calendar soon? And maybe a gigantic pot of coffee whilst I'm at it.

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Not disappointed in the slightest

Harry Potter was brilliant last night. Everything was pretty spot on, apart from the Ron and Hermione kiss, but other than that, it was very exact.

3D wasn't too bad, I didn't notice much but it was really interesting at some parts. I didn't see any spells shooting out at us or anything of that sort. And yes, I cried. A lot. But I won't be releasing any spoilers, so I won't talk too much about it.

If you're considering watching this film, do it by all means. I assure you, whether you've read the books or not, you will not be disappointed. Although at some points, I think the people who haven't read the books will be a bit confused.

But that's what Google is there for, isn't it?

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The end of another chapter

Half accomplished something. I've been planning to collage the cover of my scrapbook for a long time and today I finally decided to do it!

From the angle of the picture, it looks like I've finished it. I've still got the binding and back to do.

I'm pretty pleased with it to be honest. I always have an image in my head of how I want things to turn out, and it usually doesn't end up anything like what I had imagined. But this exceeds my expectations a little. Alright, alright. It's just a scrapbook and it's something worth getting emotional over - but it looks nice, and that's an accomplishment for me.

And in other news, I'm seeing Deathly Hallows Part 2 today! There will be a lot of crying and soggy tissues, and drenched popcorn tonight. It's crazy to think that 10 years has passed so quickly. 

You really don't notice the time, and I'm trying to weigh out how much things I had done wrong and right in the past decade. The thought of "a decade" makes me feel a lot older than I am.

Back to Potter; it's insane. I would like to commend JK Rowling for creating such an inspirational and intricate book series that has taught this generation some amazing life values. It's wonderful how literature can affect the way people behave, and ultimately, it can change their lives.

I do feel slightly sorry for the people who don't understand the hype - whether you like it or not, it's obvious of the influence Harry Potter has caused. It's encouraged many people to read more, stand up for their rights, and perhaps even re-evaluate their moral values.

Tonight will be fantastic, I'm sure of it! Plus, I'll be seeing it again tomorrow with my little sister. It'll certainly be a great weekend.

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I always try to be very careful with my words. I take a while constructing them and eventually, the moment has passed and there is no point.

You've heard of the angel and demon fighting inside your head? That's me. All the time. So I'm always in a state of confusion and eventually my "planned out constructed sentences" turn out to be a road accident on the motorway. I'm just wondering if I'll always be like this or I'll just get over it. From what I can remember of being younger, there hasn't been a significant change.

Whatever. I'll be setting up some pages in a while. I haven't quite sorted out a precise plan on what content is going on what page. Bare with me!

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Notepads

My house is full of notepads,
A host for notepads,
They're filled with numbers and words that don't make sense.
They don't make sense to me.

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Landscape / Italy / Amalfi

Landscape / Italy / Amalfi, a photo by ►CubaGallery on Flickr.

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Flowers

Flowers, a photo by ►CubaGallery on Flickr.

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Cuba Gallery

Can I just say I found the most amazing pieces of photography whilst I was hunting around Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/

You will not regret clicking that link a single bit. It is truly fantastic. I think just looking at these pictures has inspired me to take out my camera and just explore the world. Although honestly, I don't think I could ever take pictures that well, with my little experience.

Oh, and whilst you're at it, be sure to check out my Flickr too. http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsriasajit/
Perhaps I should have put my link first so that my pictures wouldn't look as rubbish after clicking Cuba Gallery's pictures.

I might post a few of Cuba Gallery's pictures on here whilst I'm at it.

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Everything falls at the wrong time

Very recently I've been completely depleted of all money. I probably have just under £5 in my bank at this very moment. I promised myself that I wouldn't let my money fall under £100 and here I am... with merely anything but £5.

I feel a little defeated and I can't help but to feel frustrated too. Last year, my favourite band (The Maine) came to the UK. I wasn't sure who to go with because no one really wanted to. By the time I found someone to go with, the tickets had sold out. Now, they're supporting All Time Low, who are just as big and just as more likely to sell out. Tickets go on sale Friday, and I have absolutely no money whatsoever so go see them.

This sounds like such a typical teen post, but I can't exactly go against my age. I have no idea what to do, and the last thing I want to do is have to ask my parents or dig into my savings account.

I'll figure something out... eventually and hopefully soon!

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scrapbook collage

scrapbook collage, a photo by itsriasajit on Flickr.

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A new week, and a free week at that

So whilst all my friends are away on "work experience" and I'm sat here feeling extremely pubescent, I should probably be doing something significantly contributive to the world or my future.

Now, four or five posts in, you need to learn that I am one of the biggest procrastinators you will ever meet. Before the clock strikes 12 next week for Monday, there will be very few things I would have done (apart from copious amounts of tears from Harry Potter on Friday). I think that perhaps if I spent more time creating bullet points, I might actually achieve these goals? Lets see:

• Watch Harry Potter films 2-7. I've already seen the first one. Does this mean I'm ahead? Anyway, this is in no shape or form contributive to society or my future. Next.
• Complete my personal statement for university. Oh, the joy! There is nothing worse than writing about yourself when opening a new user in the world of social networking. Surely, from those few or many words, people are supposed to judge you. In this case, it's university officials. Lots of them. Nah kidding, just four or five. But it's still daunting. I might take some time on that personal statement, it must radiate pure excellence.
• Get a head-start on sketching for my technology project. It's on "signage at festivals". I'm pretty sure I had a dream of a brilliant concept, it's a shame I can't remember it now. Tough, we can't all be Stephenie Meyer. (and I say that with all the sarcasm in the world.)
• Purchase my "summer reading list". I might post it on here later. I need to be plenty well-read for A2 English Literature next year. I'm going to try to avoid sounding cocky, and go for "slightly cocky" - I need to get an A. I will breathe frustration if I don't get an A. So that means, plenty of novels, plenty of poetry, plenty of coffee. I will be working like a steam train this summer in order to get my vocabulary at it's optimum best for A2.
• Hmm, you see, now I don't have any "huge" things to bullet point. These are just smaller tasks like contacting musicians for my music video next year (it's a project, don't worry. And yes, perhaps that is a big task). Also tasks such as apply for my provisional license and complete working on my scrapbook. I have some rather nice pictures of my scrapbook collage on my Flickr if you would like to see it...

I can't be bothered to printscreen and save it, so what I'll do is just "share" it from Flickr as a separate post. That way, you'll get a direct link to my photos. I can't say they're very good, unfortunately.

RIGHTY-OH, just realised I haven't had this morning's dose of coffee.

Toodle pip, cheerio.

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London Film and Comic Con

Yesterday was a completely new and different experience for me. I went to London's annual Film and Comic Con, which was absolutely brilliant!

I've always looked at these things from a distance, and people would always tell me about events such as these, and although comics and such haven't always been at the forefront of my life, it was genuinely something I thoroughly enjoyed. I hadn't been to Earl's Court since I was very little, and I had visited with my mother to visit my dad's fashion expo a very long time ago.

Despite how long ago it had been, I still remembered the place - very vaguely, yes. I regret not having dressed up for the occasion, although it didn't really occur to me until last minute. People were dressed up as all sorts; Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Princess Leia, Doctor Who, Amy Pond, Spider-man, Wonder Woman, you name it! I did manage to get a picture with Darth Vader. You can't see it very well, and I'm looking terrible, but I'm glad I got a picture nonetheless!

I went with my two friends Sara and Hannah and we attended "Q&A" sessions with:

• Mark Sheppard (known for Supernatural, Doctor Who, various CSIs. Basically, he's been in everything). What a lovely and hilarious man! If he did stand-up, I'd pay to see him.
• Karen Gillian (Amy Pond from Doctor Who. She was lovely. It was her first time at a convention, and although she was a little nervous, she handled the questions brilliantly. And Karen looked so pretty, may I add!)
• Harry Potter cast: Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley) Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks) Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan) Georgina Leonidas (Katie Bell) Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum) Alfie Enoch (Dean Thomas).

There were so many stands selling merchandise. I wish I had more money, but I've officially drained my pocket. Looks like I won't be going anywhere else for a while! Anyway, there's so much more I could add but it would simply make this post ridiculously long.

Hope you've had a good weekend! 

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Headaches ahoy!

I'm pretty sure all the possible headaches in the city of London (pay close attention to location; headaches and London are in perfect correlation) have just been transferred into my head. Although if that were possible, there would be some form of spontaneous combustion happening.

What I mean to say is that I still have a horrible headache - this could be a really bad sign and I should get it checked, but ok - let's not catch hypochondria whilst I'm at it too. It's probably 10x worse than usual because I've been a lot busier than I normally am. Everyday I've had to go up to London from my meek suburbia state, draining me of money and draining me of energy. But really, I love London. It's amazing - the architecture, the ambience - even if it does give me severe headaches.

Or the other founder of my headaches could just be rain - because everyday I've been up, it's rained. And heavily. I've had no umbrella, and just a hood to protect me. So it's either the rain or London. Funnily enough, the two are very familiar with each other.

My dad is being a vulture and standing over my shoulder, so I think I should get off now and do something else. In all fairness - it is his computer.

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Keats House

Yesterday I had such a tremendous(ly awful) headache, that I couldn't stick around long enough to post. But yesterday was beautiful. The day, the place I went to, everything was beautiful. I know for sure now that if I don't move into a townhouse in Regent Street or Great Portland Street or Kensington when I'm older, I'd move to Hampstead for sure. There's just everything I love about the place, the people (no hooded delinquents, not a single one), the boys/men are lot more good-looking, it had the perfect ratio of cafes to boutiques. The town planner planned it out perfectly; the quaint houses, the rose bushes, the cafes. Everything is perfect.
Anyway, the reason I was in Hampstead is that the school offered a select few to go to John Keats' house. If you don't know Keats, let me jog your memory for you. He wrote Lamia, Ode to a Nightingale, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, The Eve of St Agnes. He died of TB aged 25. If that still hasn't jogged your memory, you better look up his poems, because they are amazing.

His house was beautiful (I need to come up with better adjectives). I'd taken a few pictures:

I didn't take any pictures inside, I assumed I wasn't allowed to. His house was rather big, sort of like the house in the "recently updated" version of Peter Pan with Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook. Except a bit smaller. The garden was very large, but I suppose it'd look even larger in a way when Keats was alive considering the surrounding houses weren't there at that time, and only a great expanse of countryside.

It's just amazing to be in the home of a great poet who wrote such enthralling poetry, it was definitely captivating. We had a really cool workshop too, where a performance poet named Carol Ohemaa talked to us about how poetry doesn't always have to be deep, but can be about the little details in life that may seem insignificant. I think she was great, her enthusiam as inspiring and I think towards the end we were a lot more confident to voice our opinions. I like people like that. People who bring out the best in others. If you want to check out her work, you can on http://carolohemaapoetry.blogspot.com/

Just thought I'd like to share my day yesterday with you. I think it's time to perhaps get ready for my university open day now. It's going to be a long tiring day, and I feel a little bit of coffee is in order.

WARNING: I will be talking about coffee. A lot.

Have a great day!

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New

I've been meaning to start this for a while. I suppose this is me just deciding to drift away from the business of Tumblr a little a start my own Blogger.

Posts about my musings, books I've been reading, films I've been watching, music I've been listening. I'm deciding to be a little less calculated whilst I'm doing this and let whatever just happen.

Well, let's see how this goes.

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