Sunday, 22 July 2012

Olympic Spirit in Winchester







Saturday, 7 July 2012

Things I have learnt from Mean Girls

(By the way, if you haven't seen the movie you will not understand this post AT ALL. I recommend you avoid it)

If you're trying to lose weight, stay away from Kalteen bars

You will often encounter people in your life who you simultaneously hate and want to like you.


People don't have to be nice for you to make friends with them.

Saying 'fetch' is never going to catch on.

Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die!

If the limit never approaches anything, the limit does not exist.


Joining the Mathletes is social suicide.


Everyone in Africa knows Swedish.

It will always be awkward to meet a teacher outside of school. Especially if they try and make a joke 

Why say either great or cool, when you can say Grool?

When your friends says they want to lose three pounds, you're supposed to say "Omigod, you're so skinny!"

Glenn Coco is a very popular guy.

Some movies are just quotable in ANY situation

Calling somebody else fat won't make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn't make you any smarter. All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you.

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

American style in British culture

I made this collage ages ago when I'd just started blogging and I thought it would be appropriate to share it again today. When I made it I was going through a phase of being really into Americana. Seriously, I still have the star-print dress and baseball jacket to prove it. Anyway, it got me thinking: how do girls like me living in the heart of Hampshire - with a passion for reading Jane Austen and love of hosting tea parties - end up falling hopelessly in love with that strange collection of states across the water? Well, allow me to explain...

It's seductive
You only have to look at any Levi's campaign to see why we Brits might get the impression that America is land of the free, home of the sexy. Something about the imagery which spills out of the US fashion industry coincides with that image of young and carefree people wearing what they like because they can. It isn't just the advertising: film, music and books about High School love stories, they all tell us that the USA is the place to be for teenagers. Even though Britain's own youth culture is thriving, we'll never shake the image of the fuddy-duddy Lord Granthams of the country. We have such a rich heritage, which is great. But America... it's young and exciting.

It's all about the dream
I've been reading quite a lot of American fiction recently: Tom Perotta, John Burnham Schwartz and Jack Kerouac mainly. While they can be skeptical or dismissive of it, there is one idea which holds all their writings together - the American Dream. James Truslow Adams defines this as the belief that "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement". This is a pretty good summary, but I think that the concept can have no fixed definition. It will keep changing as time moves on. We might have a lot of political and philosophical ideas in the UK, but there is nothing quite like The American Dream. Its promise of a better life seems to shine enticingly and draws us in (those of us who are young and naive enough anyway, and that's definitely me).

It's just BIG

Geographically, population-wise, economically, politically, the USA is just overwhelmingly much larger than dear old England. The potential which that entails is like a siren-call to people who want to make a name for themselves, be that in performing, writing, studying or in fashion. There just seem to be so many opportunities out there to get your star on the sidewalk. When the furthest you can go without falling into the sea is John O'Groats to Land's End, the sheer size of America will always be a cause of wonder to us young Brits. The simultaneous desires to both fit in and be noticed are both well-served by the vastness of an enormous country.

We all want what we can't have

Let's face it, half of the reasons I've cited are traits also apparent in British culture e.g. dressing as we please? I direct you to the punk movement. But the problem is, we all grow accustomed to the places in which we grow up. It's not that we don't appreciate all the things and places which the UK has to offer, it's just that... they're attainable. For some reason, the human mind values those things which are just out of our grasp, and in this case, it's about 3472 miles out of our grasp.

Federer Top Appreciation Post

Sorry I haven't been on much recently. I hope I'll be posting regularly soon, but for now: just look at Roger Federer.

He is wearing a top featuring a pixelated design of a tennis player. That tennis player is him.

Personally, I love it. I think the sleeve length is really nice and the material look like it would be really comfortable to wear. Most importantly though, it's a really nice design. I would be happy to wear something like that myself. It could even be the answer to striking the balance between sporty and wearable when trying to achieve that sports-luxe look.

But wearing a top with an image of himself on it? That is a little odd.

Would you wear a top with a picture of yourself on it?

Image from the Official Wimbledon Facebook Page