Thursday 20 October 2016

Why I like autumn so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was going to have a short break from blogging as I just moved house and everything is very unsettling. I just cannot resits doing a blog post.

There is nothing like the season of fallen leaves, rainy days and hours spent at home with a warm drink and a good book. While most people complain about the rain and long for summer cheerfulness where as I truly thrive in the fall season.

First reason why I like Autumn because it is less crowded outside. I am not a fan of going out in the common sense of this world such as clubbing or hanging out with a company of friends. However, I like the outdoor activities too-they are just different from what most people prefer.

If you are like me an introvert, you would probably love to take a walk in a shady park or sit in a quiet cafe near by, enjoying a cup of aromatic coffee and reading your book. Still, in Summer, a peaceful walk often turns into a struggle for survival among the crowds of noisy kids and loud teenagers.

In autumn, things change: children start a new school year and people of all ages spend more time indoors. How fascinating it is to roam deserted streets on a rainy day and watch colourful leaves fall.........

Second reason I like autumn because I have a good excuse to stay at home. The fact that people now spend less time outside has one more benefits for those introverts. It becomes more generally accepted if someone prefers to stay at home, which means that I don't have to explain myself all the time. Also it means that I don't get invited to social occasions the same often as in summer. But even where I am, there is always a good and plausible excuse, such as bad weather or being sick with a cold. So I can enjoy the quiet of my house and get involved in my favorite activities while listening to the calming sounds of falling drops.

Another reason why I love autumn because of the special atmosphere it brings. This season has long been a source of creative inspiration for poets, writes and artists. Watching nature's gorgeous transformation is enough to give me fresh ideas and new insight, no matter what way I use to release my creative energy. I.e. taking a picture of the tree and write a blog post about why I love autumn.

Autumn provokes reflection and teaches us important life lesson. It reminds me of the eternal cycle of existence and inspires me to embrace the change. It shows me how important it is to let go in order to make a fresh start and teaches me to accept the transition to a different stage in life. All these lesson we can learn from nature in autumn are great food for thought and reflection-something that I do certainly appreciate.

Lastly autumn is a perfect time for solitude and solo activities. Loud summer with its open parties, group activities and crowded beaches is over. Autumn is a realm of thoughtfulness, solitude and beautiful sadness. It's a season when the time seems to slow down, just like everything in nature. And that's exactly why I love autumn-it allows me to recharge my batteries after the summer adventures and enjoy alone time doing my favorite activities.

So what are you waiting for? Make yourself a cup of herbal tea, take a book you've long wanted to read and enjoy the coziness of your home this autumn.🙂

Friday 7 October 2016

Monthly musings: September



Good heavens, I can't believe autumn is upon is upon us once again.

This month was the most difficult month settling in a new environment and getting my bearings. I know the metro center, Eldon square, Ryton of course and the next village along from where I live which is Crawcrock, Winlaton and Blaydon. Any where else is a complete mystery to me apart from Corbridge and Hexham. This month is where we get back to normality apparently! Though is there really such thing as normality?

I started my new college course. I thoroughly enjoying it. Getting the hang off Abode Photoshop. I have had a workshop doing a Low poly. If you're not familiar with the term, you've certainly seen the style. Simple geometric shapes placed side-by-side to create angular minimalist compositions. The "poly" from low poly comes from the word "polygon," which is a merely a 2-dimensional shape made of straight lines and angles. I have been getting messy with paint by doing Jason Pollock Art. And much more great fun. Plus I met some lovely people and made great friends.



I have days where I finish early so use this time to explore the city or go for a walk by the Quay Side. My Fridays is where I try out a new cafes or coffee shops and read my book. I have been reading books like there is no tomorrow.

I have entered my first ever photo competition and received positive feedback. It was good to see other people photo's and how I can improve to become a better photographer. Well you can only go up!

Well done! You have found a snowdog. 

My Dad had a weekend away doing kite bugging at Camber Sand with his friend from work. Yep that's a thing! So Mum and I had a lovely girly weekend to ourselves. Which involved, going to the town and doing the Great North Snowdogs trail with my Mum friend from school and her daughter. Where you have an app on your phone and you become a tourist in your own city. You have to find 50 snowdogs some are big and small which are dotted around Tyne & Wear, Then we decided to watch a film on Sunday. Whatever you do, do not trust me to pick a film for you to watch!! As my Mum found out. It was between Bridget Jones or Bad Mom's. I decided to watch Bad Moms now I think Bridget Jones would be a better suitable choice. Then had dinner out and my favorite place to eat Wagamama's.

When the great north run happened this year. Parents and I went to Open Heritage, we went to to the old power station for trams called CastleGate though it used to be called Manors Power station.
I won't bore you with the history. Though if you wish to look into it then here it the website. 

Quote of the month:
Me: Next year I am going to do the Great North Run
Mum: Me too
Me: Dad are you going to do the great north run?
Dad: yes!!!!!
Dad: We are talking about the helicopter. Right?
Me: No!!!!!!!!!! The actually running the half marathon.

Right, if I put it on here it means I got no where to back out. Right! I love running and doing my bit to help others in need. I am going to run the great north run marathon next year. It would be a shame not to since you get to the beauty of Tyne & Wear especially when the event is right on my door step. I already started training to get ready to run from nothing (haven't been running since some time in winter of 2016) to running a half marathon. Watch this space for my updates on my running process.

September was the month where I was between three houses. You don't hear that often. Do you?

I just got settled in Ryton and now it time to move across the river to Newcastle in Westerhope. I'm looking forward to put some roots down and being all settled completely. So watch this space for another tour around the house with Roger. Though this time you wouldn't see random things in weird place or boxes.

Now if you could please excuse me, while I just finish the packing. For my last move for a while. So you might find yourself refreshing the browser a couple of times before another blog post makes a appearance.

Saturday 1 October 2016

The manifesto on how to be interesting


My recent trip to the library I picked this book as I previously read Holly Bounre "Am I normal yet" I thoroughly enjoyed that so thought I might enjoy this one. And I certainly did, it's one of those pick where each teenager can relate to and a book you cannot you put down. Thank goodness I don't own a book light otherwise I would have no sleep for serveral nights. Though my next treat I might just buy one. So I don't have to turn the light on and off which is another great way to get those 10,000 step a day.

Apparently I'm boring. A nobody. But that's all about to change because I am starting a project. Here. Now. For myself. And if you want to come along for the ride then you're very welcome.

Bree is a lose, a wannabe author who hides behind words. Most of the time she hates she her life, her school, her never-there parents. So she writes.

But when she's told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The manifesto on How to Be Interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

Sometimes books have impressions on you. Sometimes you read something which is so raw and real that when you finally, finally finish it you have to put it down and just sit there for a few minutes, letting it all sink in. This is one of those books.

The Manifesto On how To be Interesting begins with the life of Bree, a rich teenage girl who could be pretty if she wanted but chooses not to be. She is close friends with geeky Holdo and doesn't seem to care about her social reputation; all she wants is to be a published author. However there is a near constant stream of rejection letters and, doubting her skills immensely, she turns to her English teacher and close confident for help; he tells her no uncertain terms that her current life is boring which is why all her writing is boring, too. What experience is she supposed to write from is she has none? And thus the story begins.

"What' my purpose? I'm going to become interesting. I'm going to become somebody you want to read to about." Chapter 6

Usually if I don't like the main character I will not like the book, especially if it's one which delves so deeply into Bree's psyche. What's interesting about the way Bourne characterises her lead is that she's written to be unlikeable-we are supposed to read the book and slowly let her become a sour taste in our mouth. That's the point. And it works, it absolutely works. Bree is a character you will love to hate because she's real and she's flawed and she makes mistakes so many of us to but are too scared to admit to. She falls into the traps of vapidity and seeking revenge and manipulates those around her so easily. It almost feels unreal. Is she any better than the stuck up bitches she gores tow to two with? That's for you to question.

No fear, though Bree is not only the flashed out character in this beautiful world of lifelikable people. Plenty of the other characters have depths I did not see coming and intricacies to their lives which were not expected. It's not a black and white tale, easy to categorise the people within in. It's very complex and ambiguous and draws upon the realties of all humans. Even the most shallow of people are human underneath.

"I'm terrified that my journey won't tie up all the loose ends nicely. Because this a life, not just a story, and life doesn't always go the way stories tell you."

So, whilst working her way up the social ladder through means of make overs, rare lipsticks, and interesting new stockings, Bree infiltrates the mean girl posse of her school. It's not an easy fete and I was glad to see not all of the girls were enamoured with her as Jasmine first was. Whilst on many levels it really was quite simply executed there were always ongoing nicks that separated Bree from the other girls and likewise. Blogging about their exploits as she uncovered the truth about what it meant to be 'interesting' (aka popular), Bree enacts a quest to bring down the Queen Bree.

 And yet, though a lot of her time seemingly filed with lying her way to the top of the social chain, she still has time to run the Creative Writing club with her favourite teacher. The reader is very quickly introduced to the idea of Bree and Mr. Fellows as a romantic pairing but their romance doesn't actually develop until a later on. If I'm honest it's actually aa little.....of putting. I don't quite se the need for it. Whilst I recognise the implications of Bree caring for him, the reciprocal feelings were not necessary to the overarching themes of the novel. It would have made me far more comfortable as a reader for this to have been axed.

"If we were more interesting, we would be having sex right now. (...) They should be having sex! That's what people cared about. That's what interesting people did. (...) If she and Holdo ended up sleeping together tonight that would be a very interesting thing to have happened!." Chapter 5

In a similar vein I felt that Bourne slightly neglected the friendship between Holdo and Bree. I thought he might be her respite, I thought she might indulge him in her experiment, let him know what was happening, but I was wrong. Neither the big reunion scene or the interesting parallels I expected to be drawn happened. Not in the way I wanted or anticipated, anyway. I think Holdo could've been utilised more as an antithesis to the others.

What did work exceedingly well was the inclusion of self harm. It's constantly important to discuss serious issues like these within YA novels particularly and I'm glad that Bourne is so driven to include mental health in her works. What I like about it in The Manifesto, though, was that it was rather low key. I'd like to make it clear that this is not a book about self harm but its a by-product of how Bree reacts to the events of the novel. It is by no means a focal point of the story but it's not sugar coated either.

Ultimately I loved this novel. The themes it explored, the characters, all of it rolled into a story I just couldn't put down. With each book I read by Holly Bourne I become more convinced that she is one of the most important YA writes of the age. It's impossible to read Bourne's writing and not come out on the other side a changed person. This book will change you.