Gobbledygook

*PLEASE IGNORE THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG POST* - I couldn't think of what to name it, so I just called it an interesting word to pronounce, even though it bares no connection to actual content of this post. 

When I haven't written a blog post in some time, I always go out the swing of things, and find it hard to know where to start. I always love writing lists, so here's a few that I have been taking down mentally throughout the week. Since it is almost the end of February, I thought I might as well do a monthly round up! Click here for my post about January. 

In February I have:

• Been to HJ and MB's 16th birthday parties
• Eaten so much food in 2 days that I have felt physically sick - Indian restaurant, followed by a "Brett-fast" and finished off with a Thai buffet
• Got a new phone - finally
• Made profiteroles with MP
• Went to the South Bank for a music GCSE trip
• Completed phase one of my Adventures with FC
• Was scared shitless by Woman in Black

I know that I'm really stressed/busy when...

• I have literally no lunchtimes or break times free during the school week because I have that many extra-curricular clubs.
• I spend more time in the music department than with my friends.
• My forehead is an oil-slick, exploding with a plethora of spots.
• I have no time to write beloved blog posts (I'm sorry guys!)
• I worry too much.
• I look like death in the morning, but I'm too tired to attempt to put on some make up to mask it
• I don't dream at night - I only dream when I'm not sleeping deeply.
• I have no time to catch up with my favourite television programs, such as Skins and Desperate Housewives.
• Everything else, apart from the task I need to do, seems so interesting and alluring. 
• I am constantly hungry.
• I shout at my parents about the most trivial things. 
• Time goes by rapidly.

That pretty much sums up my last week. However, it hasn't all been doom and gloom.

I have been liking...

• My new phone! I've now got a new HTC Wildfire S (like most of my friends it seems nowadays) and I've really been enjoying it. I have made the wallpaper of it match this blog and my favourite app by far is one for making to-do lists - yes I am that lame. Whoever made that app is a genius as it's pretty much perfect for me.
• Glee club! Yes, again, I am super lame, but it's been going suprising well - I am really looking forward to the school concert now. Don't know what Glee Club is?
• Blogging! I'm going to end up writing this every month, but this blog is like my baby. I really do enjoy posting.
• The fact that it's the 29th February tomorrow! This only happens every 4 years so it must surely be exciting.

What I am currently craving: 

1.  UNIF H8 Ball Tee - I need some more graphic tees
2. Deena & Ozzy Rayanne Lace Up Boot - These are probably the most fugly shoes ever, but I absolutely love the 90's grunge vibe. 
3. Purple Tie Dye Crop Top - I've decided that when I have a chance, I'm going to do some more tie dying as I actually quite like the look of it. Plus, this top is also velvet - my favourite fabric.
4. Stripy Leggings - Been wanting some for yonks, but I want some that are of a thick material, so I can wear them as trousers, but not printed denim jeans, as I hate wearing jeans. 

Aside from clothing and shoes, I also really really really want to get onto the Headstart course, get into the next stage of the Arkwright Scholarship and go to Madagascar next year for the expedition.

Just to finish off, here is possibly one of my favourite songs ever. It's such a haunting and chilling version of Britney Spears' Toxic, but it's so beautiful. I love the dark and avant garde twist.

I would put some goals for March (time flies) but I can't think of anything at the moment, plus my eyelids are feeling rather heavy - I have already spent over an hour on this post already.

Toodle-loo


Rebecca x

P.S. Just like to ask, does anyone actually care about my thoughts on fashion, clothing and style? If not, I'll stop posting about it, and make a separate blog for it!
P.P.S.I'd just like to say hey and THANK YOU to all my regular readers. If you want to make sure that you don't miss any posts, add this bookmark to your browser by dragging the picture below to your bookmark bar. It'll work I promise, just test it out!

Origami Peacock on Neptune

A sequel to my "Origami Elephant on my Ukulele". This peacock is probably the hardest thing I have ever made using paper folding, but I think that I prefer my elephant to it though! Folding these two animals has just made me realise just how much I enjoy origami, so you're probably going to see more of it on this blog.

I made this .GIF simply because I could - it's the peacock spinning

Please don't laugh at my terrible photography, but I have no idea how to get the focus where you specifically want it and most of the images also far too over-exposed.

Night night,

Rebecca x

P.S. I'm so sorry for the lack of interesting posts, going back to school has reminded me of just how tired I do get from school and lessons. Currently at school, I have absolutely no breaks or lunches free, due to the ridiculous amount of musical groups that I seem to do. You know when you have no life when you spend more time in MU1 and MU2 than with your friends. Thus, by the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is string words together to create a coherent post for this blog. I will try harder though!
P.S.S I am currently watching "Take Me Out", which is probably my guilty pleasure! The girls are honestly so desperate and the guys are so cocky, but it's so hilarious. Paddy McGuinness' jokes are most of the time really stupid, but I still laugh at them.

The BRIT Awards 2012

Here is my running commentary from yesterday's BRIT awards, as it happened. These are all my initial thoughts of the show, with no later editing or tampering. I haven't written anything for the first 10 minutes of the show, since I missed it.

20:10 I love Florence so much. She’s performing one of my favourite songs from her album “No lights” and I really like how they’ve used lighting for effect - such a feast for the eyes with all the dancers galloping around the stage. She looked absolutely amazing, with her flowing, glittering dress. My only complaint is why was her performance so short?!

20.13 Olympic coke advertisement – yay, a Katy B song, not too sure whether I actually liked the advert, but I liked her singing the famous jingle.

20.15 Oh cringe, James Corden making flirtatious jokes about Kyle Minogue

20.17 British solo act goes to Adele – pretty much a given with her massive year. Her accent is absolutely hilarious. I reckon she’s going to win all the other awards that she nominated for.

20.18 Bruno Mars and Jessie J look so hot! I’m loving Jessie J’s poodle hair, and Bruno’s 50’s quiff. He won international male solo act, which was also pretty predictable, considering the people invited to perform, usually win something anyway.

 

 20.24 Rizzle Kicks are awesome; why is Olly Murs so rubbish?

20.24 Eurgh even more annoying people performing. Ed Sheeran’s “Lego House” is just so ridiculously overplayed. I wonder if he would still be famous, if he wasn’t ginger.

20.31 Is every single advert going to be exactly the same? A short coke ad, followed by the album from the artist that has just performed being advertised?

20.37 One Direction are going to get the Best British Single award. Yup, they have, obviously since they have a MAD fan girl following, so I’m so not surprised. Is it bad that I find that “What makes you Beautiful” is actually really catchy? They all look like little Ken dolls with their matching outfits and perfectly groomed hairstyles.

20.40 Yummy Jenson Button! And I love Rihanna’s Barbados accent.

20.54 I want Pro Green to win Best British Male; unfortunately, it was the ginger again…

20.59 Does anyone actually know the name of any of the other bearded men in Coldplay, apart from Chris Martin?

21.02 More Adele, without a doubt going to go down a treat in the arena. However this year, she’s got a band with her and obviously, it was a good performance, but nowhere are amazing as last year’s.

21.05 Since when did Jay Z/ Kanye was a group act? But so pleased that Foo Fighters won Best International Band – all the other nominees were rubbish!

21.16 Oh go away Ed Sheeran, not you again. He has just won his second award of the night with Best British Breakthrough Act.

21.17 Bruno Mars is so smooth. Swoon. Fantastic smooth jazz version of “Just the way you are” – vocals was lush, plus what’s better than a funky bass line. Definitely the best performance so far, if not the night! Standing ovation!

21.29 First Cesc Fabregas and Nicole Scherzinger, then Will.I.Am and Rob Bryden, can these pairings get any odder? 

21.30 Lana Del Ray looking absolutely classic and stunning. Her face does look it’s made of rubber, but she does seem like a sincere, genuine artist. I am loving her makeup, effortless hair and slinky red dress. 

 

21.32 Next is Rihanna performing, probably the complete opposite of Lana Del Ray, performing the most boring number one single of the year –“We Found Love” Her outfit is also quite mismatched, with her Timberland boots, ripped jumper, fish nets and knickers. There is also a questionable amount of singing too, considering the only words in the song is “we found love in a hopeless place” and the rest of the song is a monotonous synth-y riff, complemented with probably the slowest and worst drop in dance music history. The entire performance was slightly disappointing and lack lustre, with her half- hearted dance routine and seemingly disappearing half way through the performance. A big thumbs down from me.

21.41 Oh, just shut up talking dude from Blur… The awkward moment when you can hear that one person woop-ing over-enthusiastically.

21.51 Crazy statistic – One Adele “21” album is sold every 6 second last year. No wonder she won the Mastercard British Album of the Year. And, uhoh, quickly flashed a middle finger as James cut her off, for Blur to close the show, just as Adele is getting emotional and patriotic. Silly ITV. That’s not going to go down well for the broadcasters, but is going to be gold for the tabloids! Not a good way to end the show as the audience boos.

21.53 I think that Britpop bands like Blur need to realise that they’ve gone past their hay-day and stop playing songs that they would sing a few decades ago. I feel bad for their children; imagine having your dad prancing around on national television, trying to relive the old days. Time to put away the Doc Martens and move on! I can’t deny that I am enjoying “Parklife” though.

So that’s about it - all in all, a satisfactory show. It definitely started off well, but quickly went downhill from there on. I’m disappointed that they didn’t have any duets, since last year’s “You got the dirtee love” with Florence and Dizzee Rascal was such a success. The performances – minus Bruno Mars and Florence – were all below par from last year. I am happy for Adele, but apart from her, nothing that prominent happened in the British music scene last year, which was reflected in the show.

Ciao for now




Rebecca x

P.S. I am missing having the time to post every day... :(

Memoirs of being a Runescape Keeno

Back in the days of 2004, I was a fully-fledged Runescape keeno - I absolutely loved that game. If you don't know what it is, Runescape is basically "a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-player game" according to Wikipedia. You have a little avatar, who you can train, level up on skills such as prayer skills by burrying bones (wtf ikr), kill NPC monsters, complete quests, or interact with other players by chatting, trading or killing in the "Wilderness".

The old Runescape logo I used to know and love

I was in year 4 when I started playing the game, as my sister played it and as you do being the younger sibling, I just had to copy and play as well. I remember during the later part of year 5, some boys in my class started to play the game too, but I had already been playing for way over a year, so I thought I was just so cool, since I was better than all the boys.

Why I was a Runescape Keeno:

•  I was level 56.
• I know that lots of people are higher levels than this, but at this point,  I could fish for lobsters and chop down yew trees - I had basically unlocked everything that a non-member could do. I wasn't stupid enough to spend real money on becoming a member so I didn't level up anymore, even though it was possible. This was the sad point when I stopped playing Runescape, as there was nothing new left to do!
• I looked awesome.  
•  By the end of year 4, I had pretty much the best outfit, that your little person could possibly have. My username was "Mariella" as I really liked the name Maria/Marie at that time in my life, and she had aquamarine hair tired in a pony tail, and full suite of rune armour which consisted of a rune plate body, armour skirt, and helmet. I also had a rune shield and rune skirt too. This was pretty much the best that a non-member could wear.



I basically wore this, but with a skirt instead (but I had both as I was cool like that)

• I also had so many limited edition holiday editions such Santa hats and a yo-yo (that you could do tricks on) which would probably be worth a fortune now on Ebay, which is quite unfortunate, as if you don't play on it for 6 months, your account is deleted, so "Mariella" is long gone! 
•  My favourite though, was this rubber chicken which was only avaliable from 21st March 2005 for two weeks. I remember you could whack people around the head with it.  

• I completed every single quest for a non-member

•   Yup, I was that keen. Quests were basically little adventures/storylines that you would complete by doing tasks, killing monsters and interacting with NPCs in order to get cash rewards, skill points or special items and abilities. I remember "training" long and hard to get my levels up high enough so I could complete the final quest, which was "Dragon-slayer". This was basically a task where you had to slay a Level 83 Dragon, which was very hard - at least for a 9 year old girl! Once I finally reached level 50, I was good enough to kill the dragon, but I the first time I attempted it, I died! If you don't know, when you die, you drop everything that you carry, so I would've been absolutely devastating if you were to, as everything that you were carrying would be lost (like armour). Luckily, I had befriended a nice guy, who had the magical ability to pick up items that you physically cannot reach, so he was nice and picked up all my expensive armour, and then I tried again and suceeded! I was honestly so happy that day.

• I memorised the entire map of the Runescape world for a non-member

•  Yes, I played the game so much (pretty much every day for a year - not even exaggerating)  that I knew my way round the entire land of Runescape without having to look at the map. I also knew all the short cuts that you could take and where all the good mines were for harvesting runes and fishing etc. One place I never explored though was "The Wilderness" - which apprently no longer exists! - where you could kill other players and steal their stuff. People would go round in "clans" and attack people together, in order to have their possessions. I was always scared of the Wilderness, so I hardly ever went there, in fear of losing my precious rune armour and rubber chicken. 

After I stopped playing Runescape, I started playing some other RPGs as well, but they were never as good. I played "Puzzle Pirates", but it was rubbish if you weren't a member, and also I never really got how it worked. Next was "Club Penguin", but at this stage I found it super childish and boring. I actually kind of miss those types of games though, perhaps I should start playing some again!

So that's about it. I wish I was a 9 years old and playing Runescape again. Those were the days.

Signing off!


Rebecca x

P.S.Yesterday was the last day of my BEDIHT, but as you probably may or may not (probably not!) have not noticed that I failed to post yesterday, which is absolutely terrible. However, I was so sleep deprived to the extent of having a terrible headache, so I went to sleep at 8pm, which for me, is extremely early! Anyway, I did managed to post 9 times in total over half term and since there were 9 days in half term, I think I have succeeded! Yippee!
P.P.S I know I said a few posts ago I hated this song, but this song is growing on me! I love Sleigh Bells, and how they have juxtaposed the hard thrash-y sound with the bubblegum pop melody. It's definitely something that you either love or hate.

Origami Elephant on my Ukulele

What it says in the title.

Today's BEDIHT is a quicky, as I'm about to go out for my friends birthday dinner! I'm sure you guys have had enough words to read on my blog from yesterday. Hope you guys enjoy these pictures, even though I couldn't get the focus exactly where I wanted it and they are by no means perfect!

See you tomorrow,

Rebecca x

I'm thankful for...

I feel like I haven't written a talky-talky post is quite sometime, so I am going to do one for today's BEDIHT (Blog Every Day In Half Term). On Wednesday, my friend Stripeytofu, wrote his post: "I'm thankful for...", and I'm going to write my own version of it in response to it.

WARNING: THIS IS A WAFFLY, BADLY STRUCTURED AND A MARATHON OF A POST, SKIP TO THE BRAIN AT THE END FOR A SUMMARY

My Parents:
Obviously my parents are who I am most thankful for, as most people would say. This is because they are usually the people in the world who  teach you some of the most important and basic skills required for a successful life: what is right and wrong; how to converse and communicate and how to look after yourself, so hopefully one day, you can leave the nest, live your own life and pass on these skills to the next generation - it's basic biology.

Now as for myself, I may not have a story as poignant as Stripeytofu and even though I may have not appreciated it at the time, I am eternally grateful for what they have taught me and done for my upbringing.

• Independence
• I personally think that I am a very independent person for my own age (you can be the judge of that). This is mainly because my parents have given me so many opportunities to explore the world by forcing me do things, which to begin with may feel scary, but is something vital to learn. For example, I have been to a variety of places by myself, plus I also went on a plane to Finland for the first time when I was 11, which at the time, was really nerve racking, but now I know how to navigate an airport. It has taught me try new things, take the risk and not be afraid.
• I also think that this independence has made me very self-motivated. I strive to achieve, not because my mum is going to shout at me if I don't, or to impress to parents, but for my own satisfaction. Even though perhaps, deeper down that may be still a reason, but it is not the sole reason. If I achieve an A* in an exam, I don't go telling my parents, or anyone else for a matter of fact. I try to be pro-active as possible, and find my own opportunities, than relying on other. 
• Eek, I just realised these two paragraph makes me sound so egotistical and I hate talking about myself, so don't judge me And no, I am not using reverse psychology.
• Appreciating other cultures and travel
• This is something that is a huge part of my life, and is something I am extremely, extremely thankful for. Being a BBC means that I have been able to appreciate two different cultures, and my parents have done very well to try and bring alive my cultural heritage. We go on holiday almost every year to a variety of countries. These holidays, however, are never just sun bathing on the beach. I always manage to learn something from these holidays to places of cultural/historical importance. I feel like appreciating other cultures is absolutely imperative for the future as the world is becoming increasingly globalised, and multicultural. Cultural understanding and acceptance is the key living harmoniously together (I sound like Confucius or someone!). I am going to write a more in depth post on this subject later this week, as I feel like a measly paragraph cannot do it justice.
• Obviously, I am thankful that my parents have the time and money to take me on holiday, as I do realise that lots of parents aren't able to do that, so thank you!
• Modesty
• This is almost a paradox by saying this, but I thank my parents for making sure that I'm always modest - lol, what a hypocrite.
•  Violin lessons
• Again I am not attempting reverse psychology or anything, but I do not think I am very musically talented in anyway, at all. Why are you grade 8 violin I hear you ask? Well, I think it's simply because my parents have been sending me to music lessons since I was 7, and I practise (sometimes!). This is all thanks for my parents, especially since music lessons are so PAINFULLY expensive.
• Taxi driving
• Some of my musical activities are very far away, so thank you Dad for driving 60km a day for a week, for my music course! Also, I must mention that my school is 15 mins away from our house and there is no bus, so thank you for driving my sister, others and I to school every day for the 11 years - now that's dedication.
• Having a love for food
•  Something that is a HUGE part of my life is - of course - food. My parents have taught me something, which I am SOOO grateful for, and that is to not be picky with food. I can honestly say I am probably the least picky person you could ever come across. This is probably because I love food so much and that my parents fed me some food from a young age, which you guys may find rather bizarre/grotesque/stomach turning, but I find delicious! For example, in this week alone, I have eaten frogs legs, pigs ears, and fish cheeks.
• Culinary skills 
• My mum is a whizz in the kitchen and has passed on a few tips to me about food preparation, but I really hope to learn as much as I can before I leave for university.  

The Internet: 
We are the first generation who cannot remember a time without the Internet, or a personal computer, thus in that sense, I am so grateful to live at a time in history when technology is so quickly evolving and changing our lives.

Why it's so cool:

• If anyone has any problem they need solving, type it into Google and BAM, there you go, an answer in around 0.15 of a second. 
• They say the uprising and revolutions in the Middle East were catalysed by social media via the Internet. 
• Over 35 hours of video is uploaded to Youtube every minute.
• Imagine if North Korea had the same level of technology and accessibility to Internet as South Korea, and everyone suddenly became computer-literate, what would happen?
• We can't deny that we do enjoy those Internet memes such as the troll face, nyan cat or rickrolling. 

 

What optimises the Internet - in my eyes - is that there is freedom of speech, and when there is opposition against it, such as SOPA/ACTA/PIPA, a huge backlash is prevalent. That is why I do believe that when governments do block/regulate the internet (such as the Great Firewall of China), it can be so detrimental. That, and also the fact that it does enable opposite sides of the globe to be connected in milliseconds, linking into the ideas of increasing globalisation and other points I mentioned earlier.

Anyway, I enough about all that deep stuff. I really should do some more research before these types of posts - I don't claim to be a expert in this topic! Back to what I was getting, I am also so thankful for blogger, as doing BEDIHT, has made me realise just how much I enjoy doing it, and being able to express my views online, even if no one is reading it.

Future Posts:

• Being a BBC (British Born Chinese)
• Drinking culture vs Food culture
• Cultural intolerance and Stereotyping
• (They sound so lame, but they will be enlightening!)

Okay, that was a really long post. Sorry if my writing and grammar is a bit flouncy and incoherent- I am in a weird essay writing mood (what has the world come to!) and I think I went off on a tangent on quite a few subjects. I am a pseudo-intellectual, at least at the moment!

In summary, I am thankful for my parents for teaching me everything I know, and the internet for being awesome. 

Hasta la vista,


Rebecca x

P.S. CONGRATS if you've gotten this far and the entire post, you are a true fan!
P.P.S.   Support me by following via Google Friend Connect
P.P.P.S Create a bookmark of ScatterrBrained, to stay updated to the posts, simply drag the image below onto the bookmark bar above your tabs. Please do this as I spent yonks making and editing that tiny image - time to learn how to use Photoshop/Gimp etc!
P.P.P.P.S I probably have missed out lots of words etc. in this post, but my eyes are going funny from after staring at this screen for 2 hours, so I'll proof read it later, and you can giggle and laugh at it for the moment being. 

Profiteroles

Today, I decided to make profiteroles with my awesome friend MP. After the first few steps, I must admit, the choux pastry looked absolutely vile, but in the end it turned out pretty ay-okay.

The finished product!

Here is a video I made of the entire process! 

Here is Youtube video that I got the recipe from.

 
And lastly, here is a funny video about profiteroles. 

I now realise why no one ever makes profiteroles by hand. They are probably the most tedious and ridiculous things to fill with cream and dunk in chocolate - especially since ours were so diddy. Nonetheless, they tasted very yummy!

Unhello,

Rebecca x

P.S. I am uploading this post at 00.14pm, so technically I have broken my Blog Every Day in Half Term, which sucks! However, I got home at 10.30pm, and since then, I've been attempting to upload this video onto Youtube, which has decided to be a bum and keep crashing when reaching 93% uploaded. I also posted twice yesterday and I've also got another 2 planned to write later today, so please don't be too angry!

Stop Clownin' Around

WARNING: NOT SUITABLE FOR THOSE EASILY FRIGHTENED 

Party-pooper

Obligatory Camera Shot

~ BONUS NUGGET OF KNOWLEDGE ~

Did you know the fear of clowns is know as coulrophobia, as coulro- means stilt walker. In 2006, the British arts and music festival "Bestival" cancelled its planned clown theme, after many ticket holders contacted the organisers expressing their dismay. 

Two posts in one day - I'm on fire!

Adieu

Rebecca x

P.S Sorry for the rubbish pictures, still haven't worked out a method of taking pictures of myself.
P.P.S Sorry if I have scared any young children. Clowns have always been creepy.

Arty Farty

Since I didn't take Art GCSE, there aren't that many chances to express my own creativity. The good thing about half term, is that I have more time to do things that I normally wouldn't have to do - being creative is one of these things. It is quite a time consuming activity, so usually end up starting something and never finishing it. Today, however, I thought it was time I changed this and actually finished some of the "projects" that I have started in the past.

 

 I started drawing this on MS Paint on my laptop during a 14 hour plane journey to China last year, as I was honestly so bored. I just copied this model from my magazine very tediously using the touch pad. I never finished the rest of her body though, so I did that today. I made up the shoes, as I've lost the magazine I copied it from, but I think black and white brogues work quite well.

This is a pencil drawing of Daniel, which I started more than a year ago. It's of a photograph I took of him, but I have since then, lost it the image, so I just made up his clothes and half his hands.  I was going to do a background to it, but I got lazy and gave up. The more I look at it, the worse it is... I wasn't sure if I was going to even upload it, but oh well. I wish I was better at drawing.

So those are two things that I completed today. As I was searching them up, I came across these Tim Burton Mad Hatter inspired images that I did with MP. I'm actually happy with how they turned out, I really want to do something like that again - my face painting skills must be getting a bit rusty!

The Making Process

I forgot how epic the eyebrows were

Farewell!

Rebecca x

Dip-dye top and Denim Shirt

Here is what I would style with my dip-dye top and denim shirt. It is quite a summery outfit, as I was in the mood for it. I wish it was warm enough to wear this - darn British weather. Thus, instead I decided to just lay the outfit out on the floor and take pictures.  This is really not my style at the moment, nor am I really that content with it, but oh well - here it is.

What I would wear with the clothes I currently own

Top: from the "Teens" section of New Look for £9.99  - all the clothes there are pretty much the same as the adult section, but far cheaper, due to less tax. If you are size 10 or smaller, they actually have some good trendy clothes there. I love how it says "too cool", because that's just so me, obviously. Black Bandeau underneath as the arm holes for the top are quite long. 

Denim shirt: from a Vintage shop in Camden for £15 - I really like how this shirt is teal/green colour, instead of the average indigo denim, since I have so many items that are that colour now. It's quite oversized, but I like it like that, as it covers the bum, and by rolling the sleaves up, a bit more shape is given, so it doesn't look like you're being swallowed by your clothes.  Once the weather is warmer, I look forward to wearing it as a jacket.

Lacey leggings: not sure where this is from - I wouldn't normally wear this with it, as I think it makes the outfit too girly, but I have nothing else to wear with it.

Shoes I wouldn't pair with it.

 Here are 2 pairs of lace up brogues probably wouldn't wear with this outfit, but I have no other shoes which would go.
Brown leather brogues: from Marks and Spencers. I hate wearing brown and black together, so this is why I wouldn't wear with it.
Floral brogues: from River Island. Too much pattern going on, if I wore this and my lace leggings.

Head accessories

Wire floral headband and flower: from New look
Flowery headband: from Primark
Trilby: Sister's

Obviously I wouldn't wear all 3 of these acessories together, but here are some different options.

What I would wear if I had all the clothes in the world
I think that the outfit above is okay, but I think that my own personal style has changed, and is no longer as girly. Here is what I would chose to wear if the world was my oyster.

I don't know about you, but I personally think the Dr Martens Langsten boots are the most ridiculously awesome shoes to ever be designed. I love how it is shiny and is "petrol" coloured. The bracelet also matches the boots so yay. I like being matchy matchy.

I was going to do an outfit two, but outfit one has taken me long enough!

Buh-bye!

Rebecca x

Favourite Youtubers

I was going to write a boring post about trains today, but then instead I thought to myself, who cares.... I'll do one of about my favourite Youtubers for BEDIHT day 3!

I far too much time on this website, as I am sure you do too. I am subscribed to almost 300 people on it, even though I have recently decided to unsubscribe to as many people as possible. It's just too tempting to click on a video on the subscription list, and then spend half a day going through all the videos on the channel. Plus, alot of the people that I am subscribe to, no longer interest me since my taste in videos have changed.

I think I first started watching Youtube videos in 2007-ish. This was when I first started getting into make-up and beauty, and at this point the beauty community was much nicer, less bitchier and I felt like I was actually learning about it from the videos. I am still subscribed to loads of those beauty "gurus", but I find that some videos are so repetitive, really poorly made and often unrelatable. There are make up artists (such as Lisa Eldridge) who have decades of professional experience in the trade making videos; I don't need a 14 year old girl to teach me how to do my eyeliner too.

Anyway, here are my favourites:

KickThePj
I think that his videos are all so fantastically animated, drawn and edited- it is obvious that alot of time and effort have been taken in them. And those eyes!
Favourite Video?

It's so peculiar, I love it!

brettdomino
Brett Domino and Steven Peavis are the epitome of cool. Geeky is the new sexy.
Favourite Video?

grav3yardgirl
I think that this is one of those beauty channels that I was just ranting about, but I think Bunny has to probably one of the funniest people I have ever come across on all the interweb. Plus her eyes and shoe collection is absolutely awesome.
Favourite Video?

I don't have a favourite video - all of her videos make me feel happy - but is a random recent one.

sortedfood
I think I can thank Sorted for helping me improve my culinary skills! Plus, whenever I watch their videos I get so hungry!
Favourite Video?

This simply because I use this recipe so often for an instant chocolate cake!

ClothesEncounters
If I had to only watch one channel, this would be the one that I would chose. As you can probably tell at the moment, I am really into thrifting, fashion and clothes and Sarah has a fantastic sense of style. It's so inspirational.
Favourite Video?

This is by no means my favourite video since I love all of their outfit videos. I want some disco pants, plus all of Jenn's platforms! I do miss Sarah's presence in their videos though. :(


I realise that probably not will be interested in quite a few of these channels, since they are often quite specific, but I hope you got something out of this quick blog post!

What are your favourite Youtube Channels? Tell them me in the comments. 

Tah-tah for now.


Rebecca x

Camden

Today is day 2 of BEDIHT*, and the first phase of "Outings with FC" - we went to Camden for a spot of shopping and generally being tourist-y. I was going to take my camera to take some cool hipster photos (sarcasm), but I forgot.

Note to self - tomorrow, I am going to be a good blogger and actually remember to take my camera with me.

Random Stock Image

I caught the 12.44 train to London Euston, which I met FC on, and they we got going into Camden. I've been to Camden a number of times already, and I swear I enjoy it even more each time I go. It is honestly such a tourist location, but the further you go exploring around it, the better it gets.

Why it's such a tourist location:

1. The shops - they are all identical in Camden Lock!
1. There are literally so many of the same shops, which sell the same sort of merchandise, such as: 
1. Printed tee-shirts which say have very un-funny slogs on them such as "i-pood" or "addi-hash", along with some terrible quality hoodies and souvenirs with the Union Jack plastered across it, usually sold by an Asian man (not being racist, merely an observation).
2. Stretchers/plugs/tunnels and other body jewellery, sold by some foreign dude.
   
3. Printed floaty vests and off the shoulder tee-shirts of fruit and animals, being sold along with fob watch necklaces and dangly earrings by a Chinese lady.
4. Incense, tie-dye clothes, shisha bottles and "cocaine" lollipops & other legal highs sold by a man with dreads.
2. Probably the greatest tourist location in Camden is Cyberdog: a shop with blaring rave music, UV lighting and very cool dancers on a platform. Probably, less that 5% of the people who go in there actually buy their items of neon rave clothing, so that may be why all the other smaller nicknack's are so ridiculously prices, in order to cover its huge electricity bill.

1. The food stalls -  so obviously targeted towards the tourists. Most of them are Asian take aways, offering a variety of deep fried chicken, smothered in fluorescent sweet and sour sauce, and MSG. They offer free tasters by shouting at you through a microphone,  which usually taste deliciously addictive, so you end up buying a portion of the food. This usually tastes quite good, whilst you are eating it, but afterwards, you finally realise how salty and the amount of unidentifiable chemicals that were probably added to it, thus end up feeling rather nauseous. Well that's just my experience. 

1. The crowds - they are ridiculous! If you go on a weekend, like what I did, it is usually flooded with mainland European tourists. It can be quite squishy just coming out of Camden Town station, but having gone to night markets in Taiwan, I'm used to the squeeze!

Obviously, I don't mind that Camden Lock is pretty much a huge tourist destination - after all, the last few times that I have visited Camden, I have been a tourist! 

Why I like it so much:

1. It is a melting pot of so many sub-cultures, ethnicities, and styles. 
2. It is absolutely ginormous as the stalls seem never-ending.
3. Camden has some amazing vintage shops. 
1. I have really been loving vintage clothing and there really are some amazing shops, where you can get good quality, stylish apparel for decent prices. I bought a teal, oversized demin shirt for only £15 (even though it does smell rather funky, but nothing that a quick wash won't fix), but I really want to go back for some vintage Levi cut-offs, a really furry jumper and a farmer jacket. Looks like I'm going to have to come back again soon.  Also, all the people who worked there are seriously well-dressed and good looking.

In conclusion, I really do want to go to Camden again asap (maybe again in half term) so I can simply have some more time to have a good rummage through all the lovely vintage shops, as I have decided from this day forward, I am not going to buy anymore boring clothes. Moreover, I feel like I still haven't been to every single stall/shop there is there, as it is so big, so I want to get to know where all the good shops are.

If you want to go yourself, I advice you to on a week day where there will be not so many people, and also try not to be lured into the yummy foods - you'll regret it later!

Plus huge thanks for FC for being such an awesome person - we have such good organisational skills, since we planned this last night at 10.30pm.  Looking forward to phase 2 of our adventures; I wonder if there will be a nice old lady on the train next time.

So that's what I did today, what did you do?

Cheerio!


Rebecca x

P.S. Will start doing more fashion based posts soon, as I have literally been so inspired!
P.P.S. There are loads of other places I want to go in London for some more shopping: 

• Spitalfields Market
• Brick Lane
• Covent Garden
• Portabello Market

*Blog Every Day In Half Term

The Woman in Black

Yesterday, a group of my friends and I went to see "The Woman in Black" in the cinema.  Firstly, I would like to express my dismay at the extortionate prices that multiplex cinemas seem to be charging nowadays! Now that we are above the age of 14, we have to pay adult peak prices for tickets, which turned out to be £7.95 each. The price for concessions is slightly less at £5.75, but apparently, that is only for children under 14, OAPs and students - which we don't count as being, since we aren't university students (ridiculous!). I have decided that being 15-17 is a terrible age as you still don't officially count as an adult, even though you have to pay the ludicrous prices, as some of my other friends and I once found out when we attempted to buy a family ticket instead. The price of popcorn and other confectionery is just as preposterous - £2.50 for a scoop of ice cream my arse.

Anyway, for the actual movie itself, it was okay. I really detest Daniel Radcliffe - he's like a middle aged man trapped in a teenager's body - but I suppose he was bearable in the film, even though it wasn't a particularly taxing role to play, since all he had to do was creep around the house looking anxious. The film seemed to be mostly filled with lots of scares and things that would make you jump, instead of having the story line as the main focus. My friend who went to see the theater production said that the story line was particularly chilling, especially the ending, but this wasn't the case in the movie. Instead, the most prominent feature of the movie was the use of camera trickery to create all the scares, which was enhanced by the horrible, suspense-building background music.

I would be lying if I didn't say that it kinda freaked me out. There were so many scares which were so obviously coming, like when Harry Potter was looking into the room which had Lucy locked inside, or when that bird randomly flew across the screen and the dog barked. They are the types of scares that would make you jump as they would build up by slowly increasing tension, which was suddenly broken by a loud noise, but, they aren't actually that creepy. However, I think the most chilling things are when you half see the actual woman who is haunting the house, such as when you saw her blurred in the rocking chair, or behind the spinney thing. Her scream is also horrible, but apparently in the theater production, it is so much more ear-wrenchingly loud and blood-curdlingly piercing. I really want to see it in the theater!

There are most probably way more scary moments in the movie, since I spent quite alot of the most frightening moments not paying 100% attention, as it was so creepy. In retrospect, it's quite funny really, because during the really horrible scenes, it seemed that everyone had adopted a different method of hiding from the scary parts. (See if you guys can work out who is who...;))

• I sat side way, and watched the scary parts with my peripheral vision, so I could easily look away
• One friend had her coat on backwards and but it over her head, then used the sleeves to block out all the sounds
• Another friend closed her eyes and hand her hands over her ears
• Another friend buried her head in her scarf
• Another just simply put her hands over her face
• One attempted to look at her phone to distract herself from what was going on onscreen. 

I wasted far too much time drawing this...

So yeah, it was all in all a good movie! They attempted to make a "happy" ending, which sort of worked, I suppose. I recommend you to go watch it, just not by yourself! I want to see it again too, simply so I can watch all the scenes that I missed.

Good bye,

Rebecca x

P.S. Today is the start of BEDIHT - Blog Every Day In Half Term. Huzzah. I'm not really sure what I am going to write about, but it shall be fun. Click follow on Google Friend Connect for a new post everyday.

Tribute to my dad and careers

Yesterday, my friend Wendy wrote a post about role models that she has in her life, on her blog, which made me ponder who is my role model in my life. This, coincided with the fact that I have reached a stage in my life where I have to make vital decisions about my future (such making A Level options and future aspirations and careers), has made me realise that possibly the greatest inspiration for myself, is my father/dad. 


The primary reason why I see my dad as such an inspiration is because he is so clever. He is obviously academically intelligent, but then again, lots of people have parents who are- some even have multiple PhDs, for example! However, what is most inspiring is not his achievements in academia, but his practical ability to solve every day problems. 


Every single problem that I can come across, my dad can usually think of a simple, yet effective solution, one which is probably so obvious to him, but absolutely genius to us mere mortals. If you look around our house, there is something in each room which he probably made/fixed/improved by hand. 

• We needed a new bookshelf, he made 5 new ones from planks of plywood
• We needed more room for storage, so he converted the loft and placed new floor boards and built a conservatory
• The light in the cupboard under the stairs had broken, so he placed a new LED light which would automatically turn on when the cupboard door was open
• He made my grandma a chicken pen for her chickens when they grew too large for their old one
• He made my mum's wedding ring by melting and casting some gold that he had

And the list goes on and on...

I suppose those examples just make him sound like a handy man, but he really isn't. Anyone can nail some wood together. It's having intuition to think of innovative solutions that impresses me. 

For example, once we were going on holiday for a few days, leaving behind no one to feed the fish. Therefore, he created this fish feeding device. He had this sort of tape player device, and within each layer of the film, he would place a few flakes of fish food, and then place the device a the top of the fish tank. We would then press play on the tape player, and the film would unravel, causing the fish food to drop and thus, feed the fish. He worked out a speed for the tape player to run, in order for the fish to not be fed too much food, and how much fish flakes would be needed for the entire duration of the holiday. It's hard to explain, but basically he came up with a contraption which actually did work well, using resources that were available to him, and solved the problem. 

For his career, I must admit, I don't really understand his business, but what I find most interesting is that he once told me that some of the technologies that he is developing and using didn't even exist during times that he was in university. I know that he isn't Lord Alan Sugar, and isn't making millions from his products, but, this is something that definitely spurs me on in life - I also wish to make discoveries, and then develop them further into viable products to improve and make a difference and advancement to the society we live in. Of course, people skills are invaluable, but development in sciences and technology is what is going to shape each and everyone of our futures. 


So here I am, soon starting to build the foundations of my career with my A levels. It is always good to think about what your end goal is going to be, and it's important to learn from the people around you. My dad is someone I definitely someone I am going to aspire to be like.


Good speed, 




Rebecca x


P.S. If anyone is wondering, I am taking maths, further maths, chemistry, physics, Chinese and design and technology for AS, and maths, chemistry and physics for A2! I hope!

More Newfangled Music

I have kind of been sticking to my New Year's resolution of listening to more music, so here I am again with a list that I have compiled of new songs that I have been enjoying these few weeks.

I've been loving...

Jack White – Love interruption

Jack White is back with a solo album after The White Stripes announced their split. I am very excited to hear the rest of his album! I find the picture really funny too in the background of the video, reminds be of Edward Scissorhands, but in a good way. 

Band of skulls – Sweet sour

I mentioned Band of Skulls on my blog post yesterday and since then, I've discovered this song and it's awesome. I can image it being epic if it was background music for an advert for Toxic Waste sweets. 

Beyonce – Love on top

No one can deny that Beyonce is such a power-house. When I first heard this song, I couldn't take it seriously, due to borderline ridiculous, sheer amount of cheesy semi-tone key changes. Just when you think the song is going to end, it just keeps on going higher and higher. I can imagine this song being played on an infinite loop forever for torturing prisoners, until it reaches dog pitch. On a serious note, it is really good song; I am liking the retro/Jackson 5 vibe to it. 

Madeon - Icarus

The French definitely produce the best electronic music producers (such as Daft Punk). It's crazy to think that the guy who produced this track is only 2 years older than me, and in pictures he looks like he's younger! This record reminds me flying through space, rainbows and shininess. His song "Pop Culture" is also very good, as he mixes in samples from a variety of popular records. Definitely one to look out for in the future. 

Young Guns - Bones

I must say, I'm quite uneducated when it comes to Young Guns - I haven't heard many of their songs, but this has been playing alot of Radio 1 recently, and I'm liking it. Good, solid rock song.

I have been hating...

Cover Drive - Twilight

No need to elaborate. It's s**t. I'm not even going to post a link to it, as it's that bad. And to think this was the UK best selling single last week. There is no hope!

Ed Sheeran - Drunk

...

Madonna featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A - Give me all your lurvin'

Madonna is back with this terrible, terrible song. "Every record sounds the same", yes they certainly do Madge. This song bares huge resemblance to Nicole Roberts' "Dance to the Beat of my Drum", possibly the worse song produced in this century so far (yes, even worse than Rebecca Black's "Friday"). Oh please, Madonna, can you stop singing songs intended for girls half your age? And please explain what on earth is happening at 1.46, are you attempting to breast-feed a doll or something?!?! That is something that could mentally scar young children - it has already scarred me! 

On the flip side, I actually (surprisingly) thought that Nicki Minaj's rap was really quite good, and M.I.A was a nice bonus, even though they should've featured far more heavily. Has anyone heard M.I.A's new song, "Bad Girl", can't decide whether I love or hate it! The video is quite bad-ass though.

Speaking of this song, did anyone see their half-time performance of this during the Super Bowl last night?

Even though she is in her 50s, wow she can still put on a good show! I hope that when I am that age, I can still do handstands, flips and ride LMFAO's shoulders... Shame that it was all lip synced, but I'm sure it would've been impossible to have done such an energetic routine and sound that great as well. "Like a Prayer" was by far my favourite song that she performed; Cee lo Green is so awesome! There has been some controversy around this performance though, since apparently M.I.A put her middle finger up at the screen, even though didn't see it when watching it back. I think this is absolutely ridiculous, surely seeing a 50 year old dancing "sexily" is far more damaging to the general public than a middle finger! Ah, why can't major British sporting fixtures have such "exciting" entertainment during the breaks - you would never see Justin Timberlake ripping Janet Jackson's dress to expose a naked boob during the FA cup final, would you?

What I'm looking forward too...

In 30 minutes, Lostprophets are going to announce and debut their first single from their up and coming album - "Weapons" on Zane Lowe's radio show. I am so excited, even though their last album from two years ago was quite underwhelming.

Just finished listening to it and eeek it's so good! The song is called "Bring 'Em Down", but it should be renamed "How to Count to Ten". I must say, the chorus is very powerful, with lots of harmonies and texture. There is also the inclusion of some synths, which I am not too sure whether I am liking or not at the moment, but I think that it is a good choice for them to start experimenting with more types of sounds. Listen to it from Zane Lowe's blog for free for a week.

Random gem from the past...

System of a down - Chop Suey!

Need I say more?

PEACE!

I'm out.

Rebecca x