sunny grass

New header - what do we think? Slightly bigger than the last one. The grass on the other one seemed to look more yellow-tinged the more I looked at it so I've changed it to a healthier green alternative...

magic tricks, wave-chasing, and welly-whanging champions

I have finally finally done the video for the Easter holiday and it's up and running on YouTube. It was so nice going back and looking at all the clips I'd taken during the week - spring-like and cheerful. Mint :)

the best thing?

Literally, can there be anything more perfect and delicious than getting into a bed with freshly washed sheets dried out in the sun? No, indeed there cannot.

I believe I have found my own little corner of perfection in my shoebox of a bedroom. The whole room smells of fresh air and spring, and I'm here grinning propped up on my pillows.

Cleaning your sheets is one of those things that makes you feel entirely in control of your life. It's akin to shaving your legs, dividing your folders, or cleaning the bathroom. For the price of half an hour's washing machine time, you can attain utter inner peace and satisfaction. Worth a washing tablet or two, surely?

also, a mild concern

Those headband things never fit on my head. Seriously.

Do you know the ones I mean? The fabric ones with an elasticated bit that make the wearer look slightly hippy-ish and delightfully bohemian.

Thing is, in the evenings my fringe starts to annoy me so I like to hold it back out of my eyes. My tool of choice used to be a black plastic headband (or Alice band, fine), but after the death of it and its many successors I resorted to a red paisley neckerchief thing which used to belong to my Granny and made me look like Rambo.

So, after endless mockery and scorn from the housemates (and partly because I left it at home), today I decided to invest in a new one. I found one in Boots, and it's quite nice - silky and patterny. That'll do the trick, thought I.

But, it was not to be. Either it is made for people with heads the size of peanuts, or I have a malformed skull. While I'm hoping it's not the latter, I have a horrible feeling that it might be the case. Whenever I put the headband on it sits there looking sullen, then pings off my head. It's infuriating, everyone else manages to make it look so effortless - an elegant knot over a perfectly dishevelled chignon, or tied delicately at the side leaving trailing floaty material. I, on the other hand, am rapidly resembling some kind of human elastic band launcher.

What's a girl to do? Is there anything that can be done to tame ungainly heads? Probably not. Until then, I'll have to submit to fringey eyes, or else invest in some sort of latex swimming cap.

Just another one of life's lesser delights.

planning planning

So, tomorrow is module selection. At 9:00 tomorrow morning I'm picking my modules for next year. This is what I'm thinking:

Semester 1

• Beyond Wonderland (a module on the origins and development of children's literature)
• an Extended Study (5000 words on anything I've been taught so far - basically a mini-dissertation)

Semester 2

• Contemporary Documentary (learning about the theory and practice of making documentaries. We'll be taught how to use editing software and stuff, and part of the assessment is a 4 minute film we have to make about ourselves. Eek!)
• Career Development (70 hours volunteering at a placement. This is where I'm hoping to go - it looks amazing!)
• another Extended Study

So, all in all, it looks pretty mint. Not huge amounts of taught modules this time, but there are always less in third year because of dissertation/extended studies. Eee, I'm really excited!

I've wanted to do the documentary module since the beginning of uni, but have always chickened out. It's taught by Tina Ghavari and I think there's a fair amount of practical work involved and I've got no idea what to expect, which is pretty intimidating. Thing is though, I'm thinking when else am I going to get an opportunity like this?  I love film and documentaries and it's a real chance to learn to do something I love better. So I told myself to get a grip :)

I'll have to start thinking of ideas for my 4 minute film...

back on track

Well thank goodness for that.

Laptop issue sorted at last after final showdown in the repair shop. So yesterday I went and bought another one, as mine was apparently dead as a doornail.

So now that I have a fully-functioning beauty of a laptop I can crack on with some uni work that really pretty desperately needs doing (8000 words in 3 weeks? No problem... *cough*).

Leunig on Sunday and Monday's Faces shall start again with fresh vigour and excitement, and a film of Easter at Othona (see last year's) soon to follow. Huzzah for that!

and a lovely Easter

This Easter I went to my favourite place in the world, with some of my favourite people and - as expected - it was lovely.

Video to follow on YouTube but won't be until my laptop's working again.

red velvet cake

'Twas a lovely tasty success. Taken me a while to upload the pictures but better late than never. An amazing amazing cake, so thank you girlhula for the inspiration :)

After initial struggle to find buttermilk (to be found in what look like tall yoghurt pots, just so you know...) I donned an apron, rolled up my sleeves and got cracking.

About an hour and an ocean of red food colouring later - voila!