Glands up, Gloves off.

I am under attack from the vicious army of the Common Cold. A veritable squadron of coughs, sniffs and sneezes. Not to mention the hammering headache and a sore throat.

Put it simply, I have possibly the most boring illness ever. Anyone can get a cold, in fact, it seems everyone has a cold at the moment. Why not "I'm ill my nose is falling off" or "I have Unicorn Flu". The Common Cold (even its name) seriously lacks the creativity that I look for in the world. Not only is it a mundane ailment, having a cold makes you feel horrendous, yet just well enough that you feel guilty for taking a day off from busy busy life to lie in bed watching the OC boxsets. To add insult to illness, a cold has the power to completely eradicate your social life in one full sneeze after you've wiped yourself out at work/school/[insert something you have to do here].

The Beast of a cold I am currently fighting is particularly menacing and is attacking me from all angles, like I said, the gloves are off. Not fun. Yesterday, I awoke from a terrible night's sleep with a temperature, killer headache and when I attempted to blow my nose I managed to make myself so dizzy I had to sit down. Ding Ding Round One. I must admit I took the day off work. I was in no shape to look after children, unable to extract myself from my tangled sheets as I was.

Ding Ding, Round 2, I had to flake out on going for dinner with my friends. However at least it was already looking unlikely that we'd get there. Due to the inconsiderate dump of snow we had last saturday which will not budge, or melt.

Round 3, and I think I might be winning the war, even If I lost the last few battles. Feeling a little better, at least I'll be going to work tomorrow. Note to self, don't cough over the young children. Headache hammering away like the blacksmith who made the dagger that is stuck in my throat...nothing a neurofen/strepsil combo won't fix.

As ever I will try to scrape a positive spin from the bottom of the proverbial barrel. I can think of two benefits to this unimaginative and inconvenient cold.
1) I spent all day yesterday watching The OC which I thoroughly enjoyed
2) at least I caught this cold with plenty of time to beat it into submission by Christmas Day
and (Spanish Inquisition style*) 3) the snow is keeping me indoors anyway

So aside from giving me time to drool over Adam Brody, this cold sucks. Whats more is that I had finally relaxed after a ridiculously busy few weeks. Now the smug ones amongst my readership will preach that its 'textbook' to become ill in the holidays. The theory goes that we run ourselves ragged for however many weeks, relax, then BAM there it is, a stupid cold right in your face (literally). I'll admit I have been known to opine something to this effect in the past. However, those of you who are not currently coughing up your lungs over a mug of lemsip, the one sneezing all over you every 5 minutes does not want to know your stress/relaxation theory. Is it going to make them better? No. So don't even bother, it is not worth the grumpy croak of abuse that they will try to cough in your direction.

One thing I am determined to do is beat this petty, tedious sneeze-a-thon by Christmas, I will not let myself be ill, and anyone reading this I need your moral support. Anyone reading with a stinker of a cold like me, you have my sympathies and I hope you feel better soon.

At least my Christmas shopping/wrapping is done and ready, bring on Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for reading :)

*If you don't know what I am referring to, get listening to Monty Python now. Right now. No delays. I mean it.

Ellie

On my desk there is a post-it note. Ok so in the interest of full disclosure there are 4 post-its each with a different list. Yes I have a list-making problem and I've accepted it. My lovely friend Ellie decided to deface each list when she was here and at the bottom of a list entitled blog ideas, it says "Ellie" and is circled many times. So, just for you Ellie, this blog is dedicated to my crazy friend and I have no idea how it will turn out...

Yesterday I spent the day being somewhat of a Christmas Ninja, not only did I manage to buy and wrap all of my presents I also helped to decorate our house and Christmas Tree. I even ended up spreading the Christmas spirit all the way across Sevenoaks.

Having trekked through wind and snow to reach her house I found a "grumpy gremlin" (her words not mine) in Ellie's room feeling particularly tired slash hungover.

I've known this girl since she was just 2 days old, I know that she shares my Christmas "cheer". Every year she hands me a present wrapped so beautifully I'm embarrassed to open it (or give her my slightly dog-eared present which I originally thought looked great). So to pass a bare christmas tree in the hallway and then to find Ellie's room full of presents not yet wrapped, I didn't quite know what to do.

However a cup of tea and a (large) packet of crisps later we were untangling fairy lights that looked like each light had been individually tied in a knot by the grinch himself. Lights on the tree and decorations out of the roof, another cup of tea needed now, naturally. A little coercion on my part, and a small amount of rolling her off the sofa, and we were back on track. As I left she was hanging candy canes on the tree...I think that counts as a win for my Christmas Ninja skills.

If I'm honest this is totally random but I'm proud of my powers of persuasion slash bullying to get Ellie into the Christmas spirit so why not share them with anyone who wants to know.

Added bonus; I can cross this off my list...

Tis the season to be busy

Advent calendar's bought and opened...check. Christmas lights on in town...check. School Carol Concert...check. It's impossible to avoid the first flakes of christmas falling like the snow around us, ready to engulf us in a flurry of merriment. I love Christmas and have been counting days since somewhere around the 55 mark. However I failed to realise, and it saddens me to say, that Christmas has become somewhat of a deadline this year.

Although on 25th December I will dive head-first into celebrating, the last week at school is littered with deadlines. Not to mention attempting to start revision for nasty january exams, playing piano in a Christmas Concert and ensuring that my friends and family have some semblance of a gift to open from me.

Christmas time is precious - what I mean by that is everything, ever, apparently must be finished by Christmas. Combine that with the smattering of celebrations that eat up time faster than you can munch a mince pie, it looks as if I'll be working in overdrive to get everything done. For fear of sounding negative let me reiterate that I love Christmas and all its related traditional meals, shopping deals and surprises. I'm not so keen on the rush to finish everything off in time for a day of eating, present-opening and eating some more. How did a religious celebration become a deadline?

You can probably tell from the lack of recent posts on my blog that I have been trapped under the snowdrift that literally and metaphorically kept me housebound for 3 days. Not only could I not open any of the external doors at home, I had so much work to do there was no point in even trying. The heaps of essays, notes and reading that have kept me buried in my house were just about melting when a fresh blizzard came my way, hitting me like a wall of A-level stress.

I guess I'm writing this in the hope that I am not the only one feeling the manic, panic leading up to the Holidays, often associated with the get-everything-done-now-so-that-I-can-relax-at-christmas plan. Am I really the only one with too much to do that I can't think about it all at once without melting my brain? Please let me know if you're in the same boat as me? If you're the one whizzing past in the speedboat of no deadlines, enjoy the ride, and keep bragging to a minimum please...

Whether you're carolling or cooking, relaxing or revising, Christmas will be a busy one this year. Whatever you do, make sure that come the 25th December you eat far too much and do absolutely nothing useful at all.

The bright side of obsession

Checking UCAS has become an obsession. Once you've decided that your personal statement will never be any more impressive no matter how many times you move that comma; once you've meticulously checked every detail of the 'qualifications' section; once you've taken the plunge and submitted the UCAS application, the only thing left to do is wait. It is now temporarily out of your hands whether you get into the university of our dreams. At least until it comes to revision.

So we check the "choices" section of the UCAS website to see if any universities have granted you a "conditional offer" or the lesser-seen "unconditional offer" so elusive I have yet to believe it exists. For me, the UCAS obsession comes in waves, big ones, really close together. Some days I have the restraint to log on just once, others I have found myself checking every ten minutes if there is a computer within reach. Even sneaking onto UCAS at silly o'clock in the morning after a petrifying dream, let's not forget that the lovely administrators at UCAS will not be working at this time and so there is no point in checking. However, obsession is by definition irrational and a little unhealthy.

For those of you reading this who aren't in the process of waiting impatiently to receive university offers, I'm sure you have obsessions too. A favourite TV show? Finding the perfect jeans? Endless to-do lists (certainly one of my obsessions that I share with What-Katie-Did) Whether its an all-consuming passion, or merely a preoccupation, there are advantages to obsession.

For one thing it focuses the mind, makes you put all your energy into something. Don't underestimate the power of a slightly unhealthy obsession. If you can use your compulsion in the right ways it can become your biggest accomplishment, attribute or party trick. Mathematicians must be obsessed enough to focus on discovering a theorem. Concert Pianists obsess over the tone, dynamics and rhythm of a piece of music. Users of sporcle.com, such as myself, find they can magically locate and name all 50 states of the USA and all 195 countries of the world.

I admit I have an addictive personality, I love a song, listen to it far too much and ruin it for myself, bummer. But I think there is a spark of obsession in everyone, waiting to do its damage, whether its finishing a video game or making the perfect cake. We all have something that we think about more than perhaps we should. My completely unqualified and unnecessary advice is this, embrace the obsession to a degree that you achieve something from it - but don't let it consume your every thought!

P.s I really recommend the Geography section of Sporcle, when my sister recommended it I called her a massive nerd... now I'm obsessed too and implore you not to become addicted to learning the names of all the countries beginning with the letter 'A'. And knowing all the countries in the world is a cool party trick.

Is this the end of the Gap Year?

Sleeping in hostels, 8 hour train journeys, traipsing around Thailand with all your possessions on your back, sound exciting?

As we are sprung free from the comfortable nest of school and home-life, many eighteen year-olds are chomping at the bit for adventure. It seems the best way to approach this is to work in Tesco's just long enough that you've saved money to travel the world on a shoe string, but not too long that you've completely lost the will to live. Then you leap head-first into a country of your choice, the first stop on a rickety duct-taped bus to independence.

The Gap Year is dreaded by many parents, feeling unable to express concern about safety without an indignant, know-it-all retort. As my mother would say "why don't you leave home now whilst you still know everything". However I'm certain the majority of parents are pro-Gap Year as a way for young people to see the world without a care or worry. Everyone I've spoken to who has taken a Gap Year has persuaded me to do the same and enthused me about the brilliant unforgettable things they saw, tasted and smelled.

I toyed with the idea until recently. My mind was made up for me. As the rise in University Fees was announced, plans for 'The Gap Year' were dropped countrywide with a defeated thud. As the increase in fees will take effect from september 2012, current year 13 students will be able to slip under the wire and get to University paying the current fees. Anyone considering a Gap Year must now also consider doubled tuition fees. Suddenly a month spent on a beach in Fiji doesn't seem such a great idea.

I have decided to spend my summers travelling (it seems the more you pay for tuition, the less you get, as you spend 2 months of the summer back at home getting under your parents feet). Whilst I am perfectly happy with my adventurous summers in the pipe-line, many others my age are feeling dejected that this great opportunity has been effectively whipped out from underneath their feet. The majority will throw themselves into university lifestyle in september 2011, putting off plans for later. I find it disappointing that so many young people already have to start postponing the things they were most looking forward to. At least they are not in the awful position of the current lower-sixth students, many of whom will be re-thinking applying to university at all, let alone a jolly in japan.

Yes it has been made more difficult for current sixth-formers to plan out their not-too-distant future, but I wouldn't put the final nail in the coffin of young exploration yet. I am sure that young people will continue to travel, explore and take gap-years in future. The rickety buses will continue for many years yet to transfer teenagers through three countries in as many weeks.

Procrastination is the mother of excessive organisation

My socks are in pairs for the fist time in many moons. There are no longer random piles of books and university prospectuses strategically strewn on the floor. I have even rearranged my entire wardrobe, only to end up with everything back exactly where it was. I have been procrastinating all afternoon.

Although it feels to me like I have been busy today, none of the afore mentioned tasks will enrich my life in any way shape or form. I could argue that these pointless procrastinations are "a good job jobbed" (as my grandma would say). In reality I have been so restless today that I had the attention span of a gnat, leading to several random projects started and unfinished. I may as well have sprawled in front of the television for the lack of productivity in my day.

This situation is not easily remedied when there are so many devilish distractions lying in wait around the house. Culprit number 1 is of course the deadly television, followed closely by the depths of the internet. Depths that draw you in further and further until its an hour later and you still haven't looked up that word. Re-organising, list-making and tidying all fall under this category of useless diversions. On one occasion I found myself up to my eyebrows in old birthday cards, rammed into a shoebox for "safe-keeping".

Eventually the feeling passes and I find something to fasten my concentration to, then I must cling on to dear life so as not to lose focus again...

Pick up a Penguin Classic

Choose 100 literary classics from the last century....basically impossible right? At least impossible to fine-tune a list to suit as many people as possible. That's what The Guardian's John Crace has attempted with his new book Brideshead Abbreviated. His work was featured in G2 last wednesday*, six extracts of his summarised classics.

All the usual suspects can be found in Crace's top 100, from The Great Gatsby to Swann's Way. Crace said he broke it down into ten works per decade and limited each author to one piece. Although this is fair, I find it too clinical to logically catalogue artistic 'oeuvres'. You've got to hand it to him for putting in the leg work in deciding who and what would make the list, it must have involved a large amount of umm-ing and ahh-ing. In the first instance how do you decide on the criteria? Subject matter? Themes? Perception? Style? Length?  

Take it with a pinch of salt. One man's opinion on the status of twentieth century literature, did he decide on his favourites or was he aiming to please? Who was he aiming to please?

Crace's recently released book is a collection of these 100 novels abbreviated into roughly 700 words a piece in the style of so-and-so. Having read the six extracts in the newspaper I will not be buying this book. Arrogant and belittling. Crace's stylistic imitations have a mocking air, intentionally or not, and the notion that a 700 word precis gives the same effect as reading the original is outrageous. As an english literature student, exploring a text in its entirety with nuances of implicit meaning is fascinating to me. Not suggesting that we must write coursework essays on every book we read for a full experience, I want to emphasise that reading the full work is so much more rewarding than one man's take on it. 

If the goal of Brideshead Abbreviated is "now you don't need to read all these great novels but you can feel like you have" then I fundamentally disagree. Particularly with the idea that there is pressure to have read the entire literary canon. This is unrealistic and unnecessary, people should enjoy reading, period, read any genre any author as long as they enjoy it. It is a sign of a consumer society that todays readers may want to have read (a version of) all the classics now. Before I delve deeper into the crevices of this mountainous debate I'll cut to the chase... Yes a summary of 100 classics will display a fresh interpretation and if it inspires readers to read the full version then great! However I take issue with the idea that one has to have read all the 'greats' to be accepted as a wide reader and I feel that Crace could have been more tactful when interpreting and imitating each style. 

I must add that I generally agree with the selection -  which "[reflects] the consensual view of the western literary canon rather than trying to reshape it." and I know next to nothing about what makes something 'great'. Let's hope that Crace's work inspires more people to pick up a penguin classic...

Guardian Feature

The brilliance of a glass sandwich bag

Hunting through the seemingly infinite depths of online shops I am mystified by the amazing creativity and vast variety of things we can purchase online. 

From mainstream favourites ASOS and Topshop to my new favourite website RockettStGeorge everything you could ever want is literally underneath your fingertips. I am a product of consumerism to the highest degree, but I'm ok with it. I love those unique things to be found when you aren't even looking. Although it is a little frustrating when you only meant to google something for an essay and you ended up spending an hour analysing the virtual merits of various handbags, most of which are too expensive *sigh*.

The internet is a perfect, free outlet for creativity. The retail industry favours chains and mass production leaving out the opportunity to be unique and everyone ends up wearing the same topshop dress. Take Rocket St George as an example of individuality as they sell products I had never considered before, a glass bowl designed to look like a standing up sandwich bag to name but one genius kitchen accessory. I kid you not, it is possibly the coolest bowl I've ever seen. I'm inspired by the ingenuity of these kinds of things, that will make you smile smugly every time someone asks "ooh where did you get that".

We all know the pessimistic problems with online shopping "you don't get to try it on first" or "you don't realise how much you spend" blah blah blah... Let me put it this way: if it doesn't fit? send it back, and get real, you know exactly how much you've spent. When you can buy things whilst in your pyjamas at 11 o clock at night, I think that's pretty great.

I will concede its not preferable to spend our every waking second browsing the internet, we all need to get out and be sociable. I am not encouraging everyone to become a Howard Hughes recluse. It is an added bonus of the modern world that we have the option of easy peasy shopping. You can scour the stock as many times as you like and always come back for more. Even better that it doesn't matter what your self-esteem level is at whilst you shop. Online there is no pressure from a judgemental shop assistant or pretentious minimalistic shop design "sorry I came here looking for a coat but you appear to have hidden the clothes from me in order to look tidy/modern/intimidating".

Style-note emails are a phenomenon about which I am undecided. I have been inspired to try out something new prompted by the input to my inbox from ASOS and Net-A-Porter. However I can't escape the feeling of being subject to extreme, unapologetic product placement. As if my free-will is being stripped from me and it would be rude not to at least look at the outfit being advertised as I sift through my emails. 

Mission Accomplished. The online shops have hooked me in and now I'm in I can't stop.

I will continue to shop in real shops, with my friends who can offer me their opinion on how I look in something before I buy it. I will also continue to cheer myself up and/or procrastinate with a spot of internet shopping, looking for something new to make me smile.

Some of my favourite websites

Rockett St George - especially the wall stickers

Totally Funky - I love the bags on here

Not on the High Street - brilliant for present buying

Urban Outfitters

ASOS.com

Please please please let me know of any little gems of websites that you like, and what do you think about my favourites?

In response to "school food" what-katie-did

Having read Katie's post this evening http://what-katie-did-blog.blogspot.com/2010/10/school-food.html, I felt the need to reply...and agree:


Tuna and coleslaw is most definitely not a good sandwich filler I am with you on that one. Coleslaw alone is a confusing concept, is it a sauce? a filling? or something in between. Whoever thought it up, should not be allowed anywhere near a carrot if that's what they plan on doing with it. Cheese and marmite however is the best sandwich filler ever in my book and I am left wondering why it has yet to make the school canteen shelves.

Katie I totally agree that no-one cares about the coffee, tea should of course take pride of place. I still haven't sampled the tuna-trifle but you have inspired/intrigued me to give it a go, do I dare?

The magic of raining meatballs...

The other night I watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". It was the latest dvd to fly through our letterbox from lovefilm - I say fly because on saturday the post was launched through the door with such force that it made me jump out of my seat. I would like to tell you that how this charming children's cartoon made it to our lovefilm list is a holmes-esque mystery to me. Except that really I love a good cartoon - who doesn't - and it may or may not have been me to suggest it...

As far as films go, this one has got it all. Not only are the characters vivid and funny, the graphics are so good I almost believed that it was actually raining cheeseburgers. Not to mention the moral of the story - gluttony is rubbish, the romantic interest and a truck-load of topical references for the benefit of the over 11s. Let's not forget the brilliantly portrayed father-son relationship and the nerve shredding will-he-won't-he-make-it part. In other words this film is an action-rom-com-cartoon-allegory all wrapped up into a "children's cartoon"

The gluttony was laid on thick in a 'in case you didn't notice, we're saying greed is bad' kind of way. This worked in favour of a film that makes you crave all your favourite foods all at once and right at that second.  Yes I munched my way through several chunks of cake as I watched but I didn't feel good about it.

All things considered there is a lot to be said for your average children's cartoon; educational, fun and witty, there is something for everyone. I'm off to watch Aladdin (arguably the best film ever)

p.s If you haven't seen Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, watch it and let me know how much you loved it

p.p.s If you haven't seen Aladdin there is something wrong with you, go and ask a parent why you had such  a deprived childhood then watch it over and over again to make up for lost time.

When I Grow Up...

As a sixth former in the middle of the oh-so-stressful experience of begging universities to offer me a place, I am constantly asked what I want to do when I grow up. Unfortunately "become a princess" is no longer an appropriate answer. I am now expected to reply with a sombre look on my face and sincerity in my eyes.

Cheerfully I reply that I want to be a writer and travel the world. Although this is a perfectly "acceptable" aspiration, I have often been warned about how "terribly competitive" journalism is now and how such-and-such knows so-and-so who is having a terrible time with it. As far as I'm concerned it's my dream and so will make it happen. An eternal optimist (you might call me naive) I believe that too many people give up and go home at the first sign of trouble. If you want something enough then you should make it happen - take on the challenge, take the bull by the horns or whatever other cliche you want to use. At the risk of smothering this post in cheese, I must add that I don't intend to give a pep talk, it's just that I would rather not hear about the trauma of so-and-so. Let me get excited about my ambition.

This is my dream right now, and I will use everything I have to achieve it but who knows  what's around the corner? Who even knows when you are officially "grown up" and does it even matter?

It's as if we all set ourselves a blurry deadline of ambition as if one day we'll say to ourselves "I'm now officially grown up". We are told in school to be mature and set an example, yet we are clearly not yet "grown ups". Then comes university-age. No comment. Does growing up mean leaving education? Or starting a family? Buying a house? If the latter is the case then it doesn't look like any of my generation will ever grow up the way things are going.

I feel like I have confused myself and in writing this I have changed my mind so many times that I can feel the cogs turning between my ears. So for now I'll say this, I want to write for a living and that is the most succinct answer I can trot out at a moment's notice. There are of course so many other things  I want to see and do... and I intend to try them all. In particular, I will one day open a cake-shop, with deliciously decorated treats to send a diabetic delirious. Watch this space...

Ode to a cuppa

I sit here on my bed with tea nearly brimming my second favourite mug staring at the blank screen of this blog post and all I want to write about is tea.

Everyone knows that some guy a long time ago dropped a tea leaf in hot water and decided it was a bit of a winner in the drinks department. Maybe it's the heat, the taste or the caffeine but I'm with Emperor Shennong on this one, there's nothing better than a great cup of tea. After a totally disastrous day, a cup of good old English Breakfast can make mountains into mole hills. It is the perfect way to accompany breakfast, and during revision periods, a magic motivator "15 more minutes of geography then it's tea-break time!" A good cup of tea is the perfect accompaniment to a catch up with friends or curling up on the sofa with a great book.

From English Breakfast to Chamomile, Peppermint and Jasmine, theres very little that can't be done with tea. There are also may ways to ruin a cup of tea before you've even started; in France I have often been presented with a packet of lipton sitting next to a glass of tepid water, hopeless. By the time I've plunged the tea bag into the glass and battered it with a spoon to eek out as much flavour as possible, the water is nearly cold. Heaven forfend I should be treated to boiling water. I have almost given up ordering tea when abroad, finding coffee to be a much safer choice. 

Its no wonder that the UK is top of the list for global tea consumption. (Tea Stats) Seeing as most Brits start their day with a stumble towards the kettle. In Britain we tend to go for tea in a comfy mug, and everyone seems to have a favourite. Mum and I are often caught fighting over who gets the best mug - I would say the mug is a vital part of the perfect cup of tea and I've had many a diva moment over the shape, size and design of the mug holding my tea, much to the frustration of my mother! 

So let's here it for the cuppa... Britain's favourite hot beverage