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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