An inspiration is what you are to me, inspiration, look... see. And so today, my world it smiles...

Back to blogging - must remember to do this more often! Apologies! Because, since setting up this blog interesting and exciting things have happened as a consequence.

Firstly there are a couple of people who follow me - many thanks to you for making me feel like i'm not just talking to myself!

Secondly all my friends are intrigued and try (unsuccessfully) to find me, which gives me a great sense of mystique! lol

Thirdly, and most excitingly, i've  received an amazing present all the way from Canada - records! Now for those people who have been following my blog you know at Christmas I was given a 60s Fidelity record player by my dad, which is now one of my most prized possessions! But collecting vinyl has not turned out as cheap as I first thought it may, especially seeing as all the artists I like seem to be very collectible! I've picked up a couple of charity shop bargains, but most have been either nicked from home, or bought on ebay (can be very expensive!!).

So, this entry is dedicated to you ScholarLee, for your generosity in sharing some of your duplicates with me, and doubling my very small record collection into something that is almost worthy of being called a collection! (Hopefully you'll get the song reference in the title of this post)

I've got them on now, first listen... here we go....

Moondance - Van Morrison

One of my favourite albums by Van the Man, and includes my favourite track - Caravan :) Good shout! An awesome quality piece of vinyl, great sound, no crackles or skips! Whoop great Sunday afternoon album - which is a great excuse to play it tomorrow too so my flat mate can't get mad ;) There's a cool little fable in the cover too, i'm told this is exclusive to the vinyl copy - chance to put on my story teller's voice and read it to my flatmate.

Blondie  - Eat to the Beat

I actually already had this, but my copy was awful because this was how i discovered Blondie, at a parents BBQ when I was pretty young - Atomic is barely playable on my copy!! Takes me back to being a kid dancing around with my little brother making the record skip - good memories even if they do make me cross at my younger self for damaging the record!

The Cars - The Cars

I have to say, i'd never heard of these guys... very new wave - i'm loving MGMT at the moment, and i get a similar feeling at times listening to these guys. A good one to put on after Blondie I think, I feel like i'm back in the 80s/90s and for some reason have the three men and a little baby movie playing in my head - especially the party at the start! I think i'm gonna like The Cars :) Oo, i like Just What I Needed - good track once it gets going.

Chicago - Chicago VII

Again, i've never heard of Chicago before... I feel before long I might have to apologise for my musical ignorance, but i'm only a young-un and there's so much out there to find (plus American music is less of my forte). Anyways, these guys had completely slipped past my radar, a very cool album cover though, one of the most exciting in the bunch. The track are long, and have some amazing instrumental work on them from what I can make out from a quick listen. All these records so far are making my imagination work overload! With this album I kinda get the feeling it would be playing in some jazz bar bar, background music in a movie like Jackie Brown or something. Could be a winner for when i'm doing other things like painting and don't want to have to get up and change the record all the time :)

Phil Collins - Hello, I Must Be Going

Great Call! Phil Collins along with people like Elton John, The Beautiful South and George Michael make up the soundtrack to my childhood and were always playing in the car. I was surprised to not find much at home, but my mum informs me that this is because she had a car boot sale years ago and sold a load of records - dammit!  So, the album, some great tracks, like Little China and You Can't Hurry Love. I will always love Phil Collins, despite the fact I am occasionally ripped for it when people find him in my music collection. But for that very reason I am so glad to now have him in my vinyl collection too :) Excuse me while I boogie away to You Can't Hurry Love....

Right onwards and upwards, what's next....

Billy Joel - 52nd Street

Piano man is one of my favourite tracks from this guy, but I have to say i'm not really familiar with many of his other tracks, and don't think i know any of the tracks on this album - but he's got an awesome reputation so looking forward to giving him a chance...

It's very funky, already grooving away! Didn't realise he sang stuff like this, Stiletto is cool... My life! haha it's great when you know a song but didn't know you did until you heard it - of course I know this song, i remember cheesy discos and my parents and their friends singing away to this one! I get the feeling this track has been well played on this copy, good to know it's been well appreciated!

Harry Chapin - Greatest Stories Live

I think this one might have to wait for now... i've never heard of this guy either, but with a bit of research and from what Lee tells me he's a story teller. If I think of other artists I know that I would describe as story tellers Bob Dylan immediately springs to mind. And whenever I introduce people to Bob, I mean past his more well known stuff, it has to be really listened to to be fully appreciated, so Harry, you are being saved for when i have the time to give it my full attention and i'm not writing a blog entry!

Billy Joel (again) - The Stranger

Already wondering which of these i'll already know....let's see....

Well that was easy! Just the way you are :) Now this is an example of the kind of music I thought Billy produced and released. Not that I wasn't kind enjoying some of the funky stuff on 52nd Street I like it when it turns out that what I assume is wrong, keeps you on your toes - know what I mean! Loving the piano runs on Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, kinda Elton esq, then the sax comes in - nice (place in my heart for a good bit of saxophone playing - i play clarinet)

Rod Stewart - A night on the town

I has to be said, i'm not overly sure about this one... you say Rod Stewart and I think cheesy pop commercial shite. But, in the spirit of this amazing gift i'm gonna trust Lee, who says this album is before he turned into a pop whore, and give it a chance...

Not only that, i'm going to do something I don't think i've ever done on vinyl... i'm going to skip to track 4 on side 1 for The Killing of Georgie as recommended by Lee. I know this is bad, but i'm familiar with The First Cut is the Deepest and Tonight's the night, so i'm keen to see if there's more for Rod to offer.

He does have a great rock voice, that's so so difficult to argue, and it has to be said when i try and think of a Rod Stewart track that I like, it would have to be Maggie May for exactly that reason.  So already on this track i'm liking that aspect. I think I like part I better than II, but together they're a nice enough track I think, and I don't hate it which is very positive - I think this album will be getting more of a listen.

Right, i'm leaving it there for now - phew it was a whistle stop tour, and I want to go back and have a proper listen to a few. Still to go:

Steely Dan - Gold

Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna

Styx - Cornerstone

and of course Harry Chapin - Greatest Stories Live when i'm in the right frame of mind!

In my room, in this world, I lock out all my worries and my cares; in my room, I do my dreaming...

Hey all, long time no blog i know, but i'm snowed under with work, and exams, crazy crazy busy! But i decided enough is enough, and i'd give you another snippet into my world....

I've just finished watching the Sex and the City movie with some of my girl friends... one word - eugh! I mean i don't mind the series, the odd one or two episodes are quite entertaining, but i definitely don't have the obsession of most of the other girls i know... what can i say, it just doesn't float my boat!

But, after a while we get talking about the inevitable (apparently) - the walk in wardrobe Big gets for Carrie, and how amazing it would be to have one.  

But, the more i think about it, all my clothes can sit in a box. Really, i'm not that precious about any of them! Sure, i love my clothes and all that, but given the choice of what to do with a space i can think of something much more exciting... much more me - something i'm gonna drool over...

I would LOVE literally L-O-V-E a room just for me, i can see it now... 

A rectangular room, quite long and thin, white washed floors (impractical i know, but will soon be covered with paint..), white walls, black grid shelves for my vinyl collection (which by the time i can afford anything like this will be ma-hooooo-sive!),  not forgetting my record player of course, the love of my life!

A huge squishy black leather sofa sits in the middle of the room, there's a huge window at one end to let in loads of light coz at the other end of the room is gonna be my easel, paints and art stuff for kick ass creativeness...

Bliss!

I'll sit, listen to the most amazing albums ever recorded, be inspired, reflective, block out the world, and do what I love most, take some time out for me...

....I can dream can't I!

If death is pretty final, I’m collecting vinyl

I've been trying to work for the past hour, and haven't done bad, however i can't work in silence so i put on music (i sometimes try and persuade myself i can watch TV and work, but who am i kidding!?!?).

Anyhoos... I got an old 60s fidelity record player for christmas, it's AMAZING and i love it so much, so i've been starting a vinyl collection too, which is a good past time, very enjoyable so far (although yet again, another distraction - surfing the net for classic vinyl)! 

Yesterday I found Pink Floyd dark side of the moon on vinyl and bought it, so i've been giving it a listen while i work...it's INCREDIBLE, I forgot how much of an amazing album it is, and so good on vinyl, because you listen in the format it was made, no digital fading from track to track e.t.c, and you have to listen to all of it - the true mark of a great album, when you love every track and it's so much better listened to from beginning to end.

Anyways, i gotta get up every so often to change the record/change it over, which is the worst possible thing to do coz then i get distracted and put the washing on, or notice the kitchen floor needs a sweep, or whilst going to the bathroom decide the sink needs a scrub... then when i get back to work i check my emails again, or see if there's anything interesting going on on facebook...or write another piggin blog entry! lol - GAH!

Professional crastination it's a way of life if you've got lots of time...

Put it off cause tomorrow sounds much better than today...

Sunday, day of rest, at least that's what it's meant to be... but yet again I haven't even begun to do all the things i've got to do! This is really bad, considering one of them is an essay due in on Tuesday for which not only have I still to write, and research, but I have to find something to write about too...shit!

I'm such a procrastinator, i can't help it, and i worry about it, yet do nothing to help myself... today for example has gone like this:

"Right what have i got to do today?"

*list everything

"Well i'd better have breakfast first!"

*cook breakfast

"What's on TV while i'm eating breakfast?"

*turn on TV

"ooo, this looks good"

*watch show for 1hr, something good's on next

"...well it'd be a shame to miss it"

*make a cup of tea, notice the kitchen clock

"shit it's 5 o'clock and i've not done anything!"

Then i go off to check facebook and emails, blatently not helping the problem, and i'm now writing a blog entry....oh dear!

Ain't no way to hide your lying eyes

So i'm officially an awful person. I've become the person i never said i would.  Years ago my mum cheated on my alcoholic father, and as justified as that may have been i said i would never be in a relationship where the other person would go elsewhere.  I've had an ex, my first boyfriend in fact, who cheated on me so much that when it came down to it he couldn't remember who or how many....

So, my ex boyfriend and i made a conscious decision that if we wanted to go elsewhere we'd tell the other person first. Now i'm single (not through other people but through a distance issue), that's not a problem, but i've found myself in a situation with insane sexual tension between me and a guy on my course.  The problem is he has a girlfriend.

This is bad on two levels, firstly because i've met his girlfriend and she seems great, secondly is that she's more sexually inexperienced than he is (not her fault), which is only adding to his frustration which is at this the moment is being directed towards me.  I'm stuck, I honestly try to be good and to just be friends with this guy (which is how we started out) but as soon as he starts i can't help it....

Now it should be said i'm quite shy, but i've ended up being compelled to be more explicit than i've ever been with someone, especially someone i've not known for long.

What's worse is that i can't explain why, the guy's fairly attractive but to be honest nothing special, but there's something which compels me to him...really fucking strongly, and i can't help it when he starts with me. I'd also like to point out that i've not done anything more than the dirty txts, and (being honest) that photo i talked about last week....but still....it's wrong and i know it.

Everyone tells me to stop and leave him alone, every week i try, i make a decision to stop all this, but then he starts and i can't stop....i'm in trouble and i don't know what the hell to do about it!

Is it because it's wrong, is it because i can't have him? This feeling has been there for a while, since before the girlfriend when i didn't do anything about it - going back again to me being shy...but it's been getting worse, is it because of the encouragement? is it because i know i can't? or is it because deep down there's some kinda Freudian thing about emulating your mothers!?!

I like you so much better when you're naked; I like me so much better when you're naked

So, what's a good trade for some naughty pics then? 

It's so much easier for a guy - pic of the girl will do nicely, but i'm afraid it's just not the same for us girls...unless they have a body that rivals someone like Michael Phelps!! 

Not that i'm saying that's the only type of guy that stands a chance, but in sending photos stakes looking at a guy's photo just isn't the same, fair enough if they get all their kit off...but then...well let's not kid here - i'm having the dilemma right now...and i don't know the guy well enough to take all my kit off and send him a photo....underwear is about right but i just ain't gonna get the same kick from seeing him in his boxers (unless i'm in the room at the time)! Eugh i need a trade off, but i've got a proper mind blank....

Deep beneath the cover of another perfect wonder, where it's so white as snow

So the snow we've had over the last couple of days is apparently pretty special - the worst we've had in years, hell the buses in London were suspended which didn't even happen in the Blitz!!

Snow is awesome, it covers over everything - the good, the bad, the ugly - it's like giving us a clean canvas, temporary though it may be....

A couple of years ago when i was living in Newcastle it snowed...not as much as it did this time but nevertheless enough for an attempt at a snowman - the official marker of whether it's 'good snow' or the icy 'bad snow' and whether it's a decent amount. Anyways, I took one of my favourite photos that day, of a skate park half covered in snow, i love the contrast between the graffiti and the 'clean canvas' that the snow provides....

Someday I think i'll get it blown up onto canvas, it was taken on my SLR so the quality's there for it to be made bigger no problem, there's just something about it that draws me in.

Stop rushin' me, Rushin' me let me finish talkin'

Why must life always be so rushed? The western world is so consumer based and everything is designed to be here and now. These last months in London have seen me being sucked in by the whole thing...rush, rush, rush!!

Before I knew it I was so busy - I was one of the people rushing! It was all about getting to where I was going as quickly as I could because I had to.  Getting annoyed by slow walking people, those with luggage on the tube, old people doddering around and getting in the way....But then one day I found myself subconsciously planning every second of my journey to the friggin shops! Rushing had become such a habit that it was hard to stop.

So, I get to thinking, what am i missing with all the rushing? Not to mention the fact that rushing makes you tiered so when you're not rushing you can't be arsed to do anything but sit on your arse!  I'm so scared i'll wake up one day and the world will have passed me by because i've been caught up in this relentless rush...eep!

Please allow me to introduce myself...

So, new blog, new start! As i'm starting to get used to my recent move to the big smoke of London i've decided it's about time I started a brand new blog for a brand new city.

I feel a short history of moi could be interesting (this is gonna take the form of a rather bi-polar esq interview of me by me)...

Age - 23 (just - last tuesday) 

Born - and bred in Yorkshire, small town not far from Leeds and York. 

Parents - divorced, both remarried to varying success

Siblings - a not so little little brother - 20, he's awesome!

Relationship - Single

Why London - doing a masters course

Enjoying London - more so than initially, friends make all the difference, homesick for Newcastle

Why Newcastle - did my undergrad there, lived there 4 years in total, all my amazing friends are there, love the city

Work - doing some science writing at the moment which is awesome, but my heart will always lie in cocktail bartending