What If...

So I'm quite a hypothetical person. As in I think about things that can never happen - as in they, sadly, and sometimes thankfully, will never be possible. Such as what if the whole world was made up of people who were exactly like me? Imagine (not to be egocentric!): the world made up of over six billion Alexandras - what would that be like?

Firstly, the world would lack in all things technical - there would be no engineers, no plumbers, electricians. The world would be a very monolingual place - I can only speak English, and I'm sure that all the other Alexandras would only be able to speak the language of their country. So communication would be very difficult. And don't even get me started on the inadequate mathematical skill of all the Alexandras - Wall Street where money never sleeps probably would over-sleep in a world made up of me. There would be so much not understood, so many practical things not addressed. Oh, and being a student, the world would be inundated with washing-up, dirty washing (don't worry reader, I do wash my clothes - and myself for that matter!)...On the plus side, all Alexandras would hate driving, meaning that there would be a sufficient decrease in the number of vehicles on the road (and reduction to global warming etc) - yet everyone would be stuck in their little bubble, unable to travel around their local area (apart from by bike - which could decrease obesity levels..), which would be incredibly boring and parochial.

It would be a highly disfunctional, unconventional and impractical world.

Yet the positives are that there would be a lot of theatre, a lot of films (there would be Alexandras who would work out the technicalities of film making, I assure you), a lot of books, stories, Hobbiton would be real, there would be a lot of travel (I said a lack of vehicles, but I've never flown a plane before; never know, I might like it!) - a lot of travel books, big schemes, photographs of exotic places. Laughter would be compulsory, school would be much less stressful (goodbye A-levels), everyone would go on long walks to de-stress. Everyone would love curry and pizza and cheesy chips, and Chunky Peanut Butter KitKats, and have dreams about living in New York and moving to the capital.

Yes, there would be good parts. Although I reckon it would get pretty boring, what with the lack of diversity, and the lack of people doing things besides the arts and recreational things (and I don't mean drugs!).

I'm pretty glad that the world isn't made up of Alexandras, but it is an interesting thing to wonder and one that I often come back to.

Ax

The countdown begins...

When I say 'countdown' I am referring to the countdown to my 19th Birthday. Now I know I shouldn't be complaining, as anyone older than 19 will tell me how young it is, but I can't help but suddenly feel terribly old.

18 was the big one....the business, the one where you had the party, had the fuss made over you, ate too much cake, probably got a bit tipsy...you had the perks of being able to use ID to go to places you'd never been before (unless you had fake ID, but let's not talk about that!) - hello clubs, bars, 18 certificates at the cinema (I'm afraid I was one those who would be ID-ed no matter what. No sneaky 18 viewings for me. Actually I got ID-ed for a 15 when I was 17 and with my parents. My parents. Would I really be going to watch 'I Give It A Year' with my parents if I was 14? Do I look 14? Ok, don't answer that!).

So, all in all, 18 was a definite milestone. Anyhow, I now have 3 days until I'm 19. And I'm not remotely excited. So I decided to put together, (yes reader you guessed it) A LIST (taadaaaa!) of what I wanted to do this year at 19, starting from 12.32pm 09/05/2014 until 12.32 09/05/2015. (12.32 being the time I was born.)

 1. Go interrailing around Europe

 2. Get an internship

 3. Obtain a 2.1 for my first year at university

 4. Start doing more things to do with drama - open days, auditions, networking etc!

 5. Become better read - cue Game of Thrones, but also On The Road (Jack Kerouac); another of Fitzgerald's; reread Harry Potter 7 - a friend recently did this and said she got so much more from the whole series at 23 than at 13); George Orwell's 1984 (I feel an inadequate English student not having read it); Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake; Lord of the Rings ..and probably many other titles will come to me, but those are currently my top few...I think there's a good mix of respectably literary titles and general popular culture - if I do say so myself!

 6. See more theatre - hello the Globe and cheap tickets for 18-26s; Noel Coward Theatre, The Old Vic etc...!

 7. Be more spontaneous - I'm at that point in my life where very soon I'll have to become responsible and have to be a proper adult. It's true - life at uni isn't like the real world at all. I live in a bubble, provided by money from the government to live and do what I want (so it doesn't feel like proper money, it's like being a Sim or something - yes it'll all catch up with me when I'm 30, but, well, for now, I'm not yet 19, so not to worry about my older self's trials and tribulations yet!).As my dad says, responsibility creeps up on you, it's like you don't see it coming and then suddenly it's here with bills and mortgages and jobs, money worries etc. - I need to capture my relative irresponsibility while I still can.

 8. And lastly, for now - I just want to be happy. Because what's the point of it all if you're not enjoying it? Yes, you have to take the bad with the good, yes there will be things that are unappealing and have to be done, but ultimately it all comes down to your happiness (I think, anyway).

 18 was my best age yet. But I'll top it this year. Afterall, age is just a number; who cares how old you really are. I'll just try to do what's good and right and much else really matters.

 I think, anyway.

 I'm still working on my life mantra..come back in a few years and I might have it down, reader.
 Ax

Procrastination

So I'm back after a long (but brilliant, exhausting, draining, fun, non-stop) second term at University. And I have, to my mind, so much work to do. Admittedly, less than A-Level, but for someone led to believe that first year at university was a doss and was much easier than A-Levels, I beg to differ.

So, among the breaks and some time out (of course!) I found myself working - and more often than not - procrastinating. This very piece is a product of procrastination...

I started trying to devise key ways to procrastinate that would a) serve as a suitable break from work, but was not going to take up hours of time, which I really need to spend essaying and revising b) be something away from the screen and computer (in some cases!) c) did not just comprise eating out of sheer boredom.

You may be aware of my love of lists, and this felt like a suitable time to utilise them in my 'Top 5 Procrastination Tips' -

1. Making cookies.

I know I said about avoiding eating out of boredom, but this is different as you actually have to put effort into making them, which serves as a suitable way of focusing your attentions away from work, so giving you head-space away from your work. 

Source: http://www.twindots.com/keep-your-cookies-safe/#.U16cofldWSo (I do not own this photo)

2. Thinking up future schemes and projects.

I love a good scheme - I like planning things, especially now I am at the stage in my life where I am doing a degree but have no idea what I want to do after. So I peruse websites, prospectuses, travel books...anything that could give me ideas for the future. Surprisingly this actually helps increase my motivation to do my Easter assignments, as I have found that I think: 'Ok so I want to do x, but to achieve this, I need to push on through my university course, and course is currently sat in the form of this essay plan which desperately needs writing up...'

3. Blocking Facebook, or turning off the internet and listening to your favourite piece of music instead.

It stops you from procrastinating during your most productive periods (no more 'oh I'll just pop on Facebook mid-sentence), so then you build up a bank of time which you can actually usefully use when you have a break. Instead, I'll listen to music during and after work - it provides a perfect distraction whilst on a break from work, but can also help make work more bearable whilst you're actually doing it!

4. Reading a chapter of a good book (but then stopping...no I must not let myself get carried away...)

Probably one of the oldest entertainment methods in the book (no pun intended!) - but everyone needs a bit of escapism, a bit of distraction - reading provides both, as well as (usually) a break from the computer screen. It also, I think, makes you a more interesting person, as your mind is being filled with creative ideas from someone else - which could prompt ideas you hadn't really considered before, which is technically an education within itself!

5. Planning your next travel extravaganza (!).

Not that I'm saying I'm going on an extravaganza, but this one I have most enforced this Easter. Any form of planning, mulling over ideas for where you can go once exams/assignment due dates/term dates are OVER! This way is highly effective as a) it makes you excited about something b) is something you can look forward to regardless of how well the work goes c) still feels productive - after all, this holiday needs to get planned, so may as well do it now...making it feel that even though you're not working, you're still being productive.

So whatever you're doing, working for school/university/masters/at work (although please don't let your boss catch you - and not that I'm condoning any kind of slacking behaviours!)...these methods are applicable to all ages, all stages. Let's face it, no one is invincible, no one is able to keep on going for hours and hours, so there's no need to feel guilty about a bit of procrastination, but it's best to make the time you're not working enjoyable (and it's a bonus if this is also productive!) - you owe it to yourself!

Ax

2013 Memory Jar

Again, my current track record at posting has been pretty poor, and I hope you, my wonderful reader can forgive me for my neglect.

Perhaps this post marks a change - not only in that I become better at posting, but also that today is the (in English time at least) the second day of 2014. I think becoming a more consistent and dedicated blogger will make it onto my resolutions list.

I cannot deny that, on a personal level, 2013 was one of my favourite years so far. Well, correction from April 24th, which was when I watched 'the Phantom of the Opera' on stage for the second time, but this time in my home town, rather than in London where I first watched it. Both times it was absolutely fantastic - apologies for sounding such a pretentious bourgeois! - and both times made me want to clamber onto the stage and join in. Slight problem in that I can neither sing nor dance, but we don't need to inform my fantasy of this...

Soon after I celebrated my 18th, which was, naturally, themed: Hollywood 1950s glamour, if you please! That night will always be held dear to me.

Naturally the year involved work, completing a-levels and working towards a university place, but wow, upon completion, it was the most liberating experience - although I have to admit I was initially lost as to what to do with my time! But that was soon cured by Game of Thrones, a trip to Spain to visit family, Latitude festival, followed by a 6 week drama course in London.

After all, what's the point in slowing if you have the energy to keep going?

So summer over, bonjour university. Such a change! I used to think I was mature before I went to uni! But I promised myself that the 3 years would be enjoyable and just, just great (& come out with a good degree too!) - after all, I'll be paying for it for many years to come, and I know I will regret it if I come out having gained a first, but lacking in remarkable memories. Or perhaps I'm just very naive? Probably that too.

So all in all, naturally 2013 had hard times, tears, tantrums, turmoil...but it was also full of celebration, laughter (& tears of laughter), great memories, wonderful family and friends and all the other mushy things that I could write, but which I will graciously spare you, my lovely reader.

So here's to 2014, may it be as brilliant as and better than 2013. You know, I'm actually really excited. Bring it on!

Ok enough reminiscing and gag-inducing sentiments - reader I won't do it again for a while!
Much love and happy new year! Over & out, A x

50 Shades and Charity Shop Trawl

N.B. I have nothing against Fifty Shades - in fact, I admire the trilogy's success.

In preparation for my start at university, I, like all other English students, have a reasonable list of books that need to be purchased and (preferably) read before the start of term. As we all know, books these days ain't so cheap, so I took to trawling the charity shops in my local area (there are 7 of them along one road) in search of cheap books.

Sadly, there was a deficit in the books that I required for my course, but there was an oversupply of copies of E. L. James' 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and the sequels. I confess, I haven't read them, although due to all the hype surrounding the books I am fairly confident in my knowledge of the plot and 'events' in the novel.

In every single charity shop I went into there was at least one copy, usually more, of Fifty - in my local Oxfam they were doing a deal on the whole trilogy for £2 (or something). It made me consider novels such as James', which are undeniably popular, hugely successful and undoubtedly relieve the author of any need to write again (for money's sake, that is), yet are essentially throw away fiction - once read, the owners are willing to disown their copy to free up shelf space for a more 'literary' title or perhaps, the owners of the novel are somewhat embarrassed to have had a copy in the first place, and are therefore eager to chuck it (or at least, this is what I gathered from my charity shop ventures).

I don't know - this is all highly speculative and suggestive - but it did make me consider what it is that makes  a novel rarely show up in a charity shop (by that I mean, people giving away a novel). Yes, once could argue the novel that never sells will never end up in a charity shop; naturally, popular novels, which are more widely read are more likely to find their way to the British Heart Foundation. Although there weren't so many copies of 'A Game of Thrones' or 'Harry Potter'...

If I were to ever write a novel (and I'm not holding my breath on that one) I would like, naturally, to have even the tiniest portion of success that James has had, although at the same time, I would not want my novel to join the ranks of 'throw-away fiction'. (N.B. I am all for giving to charity, just so you know, and I give away regularly.) Yet, perhaps is that what fiction has become - a quick and easy read for the otherwise very busy mind? Do 21st C people seek clutter free lives, so they throw out paper volumes to read i-pad and kindle editions instead?

I never knew that a trip to the charity shop would stimulate such thought! Still, I went home and ordered the books off amazon...and my first package arrived today!

Epic Stages!

So after a 6 week National Youth Theatre course, the final day has arrived. It's strange how fast time goes; especially when, at the start, one cannot imagine it passing or happening at all.

The course (Epic Stages) was full of masterclasses all to do with acting - be it Shakespeare, voice masterclass, stage combat, acting for screen and many more - as well as working in a group of 25 and 50 to devise and create a piece of theatre, which we performed at Hackney Empire on Friday 30th August 2013. Plus, we had regular Q&As with industry professionals as well as having general rehearsals, where the group learned ensemble skills, worked together as a team and got to know each other.

It was a fabulous (yes, I just used that word) whirlwind - learning so much, being with so many new, inspiring people and really launching into the creative industry. I certainly feel that this summer has been one where I have learned the most (out of all my previous summers!), not only learning about theatre and the industry, but also about myself. I think I have 'grown up', so to speak, over this summer - from being completely naive of how to be properly 'independent' to taking my first steps towards this.

Living in London has been an absolute treat, and following my graduation (a mere 3 years down the line...!), assuming that all goes to plan, I will return to the city, hopefully to throw myself into the London theatre making, creative scene that I have so recently been exposed to.

The course, and the social side of it, has been completely consuming for the past 44 days, so returning home back to a slower pace will be a huge change, but I'm excited to get going, get creating, and see where I end up next.

8 Things I Didn't Know About London

So I have been staying in London for the past 3 weeks, and the extended period has made me realise facts about the metropolis that I had previously overlooked... So here goes:


1. There are Starbucks and Costas on every street - everywhere you look, every road full of bustling and jostling people...except when I desperately needed a Frappa and there was neither Costa nor Starbucks to be found.

2. The city is constantly alive and roaring - brilliant and electric and buzzing. Except, why Mr Bottle Collector Men (or women!), do you have to empty the recycling bottle bins at 5am? I am constantly awoken to the sound of a hundred bottles clanking into each other (not that I am complaining, of course).

3. Angel is a fabulous place, full of bars and restaurants, shops, cinemas - and all fairly central. I had never been there until recently, and was mighty glad to have visited it. I will definitely return there.

4. I always knew there was theatre in London. But I was never aware of just how much - the city has so much creativity, so many productions; so many discourses waiting to be watched.

5. The Hammersmith and City Line (as of August 2013) is not particularly reliable - although London transport is, on the whole, brilliant with tubes/trains/DLR/buses/ and, of course, the trade mark black taxis.

6. The National and the Old Vic sell £12 theatre tickets - bargainnnnn!

7. Time Out has all the news on the arts...and has recently become a FREE magazine. I did not know this - it was a serendipitous moment when I stumbled across a Time Out distributor, and provided me with my cultural dosage for the day.

8. Pop-up bars and restaurants are the 'it' thing - usually there is good food, good service, affordable prices - all for a limited time only, before the pop-up pops-away.

The longer I stay, the more I learn...I will be sure to let you know soon what else I discover!