Saturday 29 December 2012

Reflection of 2012


It's New Years Day on Tuesday a.k.a. the ending of one year and the beginning of another, and it's always at this time that we start to reflect on our achievements, experiences and regrets of the last 12 months and begin to speculate what the next 12 months has in store for us. 

This year more than any other has been a chance for us to feel good about who we are, what we represent and where we are from. It has been a fantastic year to be British, and as an already patriotic individual myself, it has been truly amazing even to witness it. The pleasure I've taken in participating in the Jubilee events, watching Olympians and Paralympians win gold medals, and even seeing the England football team play in Euro 2012 this summer (well, perhaps not the latter) has been phenomenal - singing the national anthem has become something of a recent regularity. As Lord Coe quite rightly stated in his speech at the closing ceremony of The London Paralympic Games:

"there are some famous words you can find stamped on the bottom of a product. Words that, when you read them, you know mean high quality, mean skill, mean creativity. We've stamped those words on the Olympic and Paralympic Games of London 2012. London 2012 – ‘made in Britain’.” 

But it's not just been a year for national achievements - every individual has seen success in their own unique way. One of my own family members and so many of my friends achieved fantastic exam results this summer, not only at University but also at college and sixth form. My incredibly brave best friend went travelling in America for 4 months, something which took real courage to do, especially as she was so far away from home and had never done anything like that before in her life. My little brother gained his brown belt in Karate, an achievement which took real effort and determination. My parents, as always, have completed another year of working hard, not only in their exhausting jobs but also in supporting us three kids. And my brilliant cousin gained a position in the British Army as a musician and our entire family are so incredibly proud of her.

This year has been quite a turning point for me too. On Jan 28th, it is a year since I signed up to blogger.com and began writing (/rambling) on the internet. I was also offered my first ever paid writing job working for a company called Mediarun who advertise particular companies through articles on subject-specific websites. And as well as this, I was appointed News & Current Affairs editor of my University's newspaper, something I thought I'd never manage. So it's been quite a year - some parts have been particularly difficult, but as always you manage through them - pick yourself up, brush yourself off and get on with it.

2013 sees several exciting events, including my parents' 25th wedding anniversary, my brother's 18th birthday and my grandparents' 80th birthdays. Not to mention the beginnings of my final year at Uni, and hopefully plenty more to keep me busy. This year has been a rollercoaster, but enjoyable for nearly every step of the way. For now, I'll look back on 2012 and smile, able to beam with pride when I say "I was there".


Thursday 13 December 2012

December

First of all, I have to apologise to my blog for abandoning it, basically leaving it in the cold like a little lost orphan. This past month has been absolutely mad with assignments, general Uni work, my job, newspaper deadlines etc. that I really haven't had the time to sit down and write properly in absolutely ages. But I'm back now so it's fine.

Nothing else has really happened since I last wrote so I'm not really sure where I'm going with this post - might just be the most pointless piece of writing ever, but I didn't want anyone think that I'd given up posting on here because I still absolutely love it and have really missed it. However, I want to write about worthwhile topics, and just typing out load of rubbish down for the sake of it (slightly like I'm doing now) seems a bit stupid.

Therefore...just so this post has an actual point, I'm going to try and persuade you to do something worthwhile this Christmas, and by that I don't mean sit in front of the telly just watching Elf and eating loads of turkey sandwiches, but actually making a difference to something or somebody's life. For example...you could give a charity a Christmas donation or raise some money yourself, achieve a personal goal (a good one, I don't just mean seeing how many mince pies you can fit in your mouth), help a friend or family member who is going through a tough time, give blood, give a few hours of your time to a volunteering organisation. Christmas is such a magical time of year, and you can feel a whole lot better by doing something truly amazing!

This is inspired by my amazing housemate, who rather than celebrating Christmas Day with his family - having a delicious Christmas dinner, opening presents, watching festive movies and playing games - he goes down to his local hospital to play in the Salvation Army band to make other people feel better. And it's so inspiring and touching to hear how much he loves doing it - a totally selfless act to help those who need cheering up more than ever at this time of year.

If I don't find the time to write on here before the 25th (hopefully I will), then I hope everyone has a lovely time celebrating wherever they are and whatever they end up doing.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Nats. X


Sunday 18 November 2012

Saving a Life The Easy Way

The last few posts have been really boring and merely entailed me banging on about my not very exciting life as a mad, clumsy student with no money.

Because of this, I thought it was time to go back to writing something a little more serious, and today I've chosen to write a bit about blood donation. Right now, NHS Blood Donation are running a brand new appeal called 100K in 100 days, in which they're attempting to recruit 100, 000 new donor registrants from 7 November 2012 to 14 February 2013.

The whole scheme is being backed by cast members of Hollyoaks, to highlight the severe need for young blood donors across the UK. The number of young donors aged between 17-24 registering in the last 10 years has been falling steadily, with a 20% decrease in the last decade, and a 50% drop in the last year compared to 2011.

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My story with blood donation started when I was about 10 years old. At the time, NHS Blood Donation had just launched a brand new campaign and they were promoting all over the country. Television and radio adverts, leaflets through your door, leaflets given to you on the street; it was everywhere. I had heard of 'Give Blood' before, but had never considered actually becoming a future blood donor until this point. The moment I read through the leaflet which came through the letterbox that day, I made the decision that as soon as I was old enough, I would become a blood donor.

Before I knew it, my 17th birthday came whizzing round the corner and I was eligible, but started to panic. There was no getting out of it without making an idiot of myself, not without it looking awful. So I convinced myself to get the first one out the way. Then at least I'd have done it, and could consider whether to continue afterwards.

And I did it. It was scary, but the NHS staff members were so relaxed, friendly and easy to talk to that, for half the time, I barely even acknowledged why I was there in the first place. I was also lucky enough to have a friend with me who had done it many times before and she, too, was anxious because she has a phobia of blood. She uses donation as a way of overcoming this fear, so I knew that if she can do it, then I could too. Putting it into perspective, I remembered that those who depend on blood donation are suffering far more than me.

Registering for blood donation could be one of the best things you do this year. I cannot stress enough how easy it is to sign up, go along to a session for an hour or so every 4 months and offer someone the best possible gift you could ever give them. The feeling you get afterwards is indescribable, and you can only ever experience it by actually doing it yourself.

Donation sessions are run all over the country throughout the year, so why not go along to one and see for yourself? First, be sure to check the guidelines to ensure that you're eligible: http://www.blood.co.uk/can-i-give-blood/

If you have any queries or questions, visit http://www.blood.co.uk/, 'Like' the NHS Blood donation Facebook page, or follow @GiveBloodNHS on twitter.



Giving blood is so amazing and it saves so many lives. Do your bit and register today!

Wednesday 7 November 2012

The Anguish of All-Nighters

Featured in a copy of Christ Church's student newspaper UNIfied. Have a look at previous editions at http://ccsu.co.uk/UNIfied.

All-nighters are quite often a customary aspect of the student lifestyle.  You have a deadline looming, but you haven’t even started writing yet and to be honest, watching back to back episodes of Friends sounds far more appealing.

It doesn’t matter how many times you convince yourself that this time you will be organised and prepared, refusing to leave everything to the very last minute; you will probably still find yourself being drawn to other, more interesting things. And as a result, pulling an all-nighter is the only solution you believe you are left with, knowing that in a few precious hours you will be expected to hand in an important piece of work you are meant to have taken time and consideration over.

The thing is, I’m not even criticising you for it, because I’ve been there. In fact, I think we all have. It’s common knowledge in the student world that chatting to your mates on Facebook or Skype is a far more engaging activity than writing an assignment about Wuthering Heights. But procrastination can be poisonous, as more often than not you may find yourself moping into lectures powered with 4 hours sleep or less because you had a deadline and your time management skills had let you down.

We all know that sleep deprivation isn’t good for us, but having a frequent lack of sleep for the three to four years that you’re at University can be seriously damaging to your health.


Studies conducted by professors of sleep medicine have shown that there are clear links between sleep deprivation and the onset of neuropsychiatric disorders, like bipolar depression and anxiety. If you keep forcing your body to stay awake when it’s in severe need of a good rest, your blood pressure can be significantly affected, which in turn increases your susceptibility of cancer and heart disease.

You might even find yourself showing symptoms not just in the long-term; namely, short-term euphoria has been revealed in research at Harvard and Berkeley to be a condition which comes from sleep deprivation.

Here comes the science part: from missing a night’s sleep, the neutral circuit that controls pleasure and reward in your brain (something called the mesolimbic pathway) is stimulated in a process driven by a chemical called dopamine. If your dopamine levels are high, you receive a boost in positivity, motivation, even sex drive. And even though that sounds great, what comes next is not so wonderful.

Because not only is this boost extremely brief, this rush in dopamine also results in impulsive behaviour and addiction. The sections of your brain which control planning and evaluating shut down when they’re deprived of sleep, which means you’re more likely to become careless and happier about taking risks. When your brain is forced to operate in a different state regularly, it can permanently alter itself. So if the ‘mesolimbic pathway’ is continuously over-stimulated by lack of sleep, you could end up with permanent brain damage.

The moral of the story? Organisation of assignments, essays and exams is not only crucial to achieving great results, but crucial in keeping you healthy in body and mind. So every once in a while, switch off the TV, sign out of Facebook, sit down and actually study. If not for the sake of your work, at least for the sake of your health.

Friday 26 October 2012

Birthday Celebrations/Exciting News!

Today is 26th October. How the hell did that happen? This month has flown, and now the day's are getting shorter, the night's are getting longer and the weather's getting colder.

But let's not get into that. Far too depressing.

Quite a lot has happened since I last wrote so it's most definitely time for an update. I am a year older since my last post, as it was my birthday last weekend! Two of my best friends came down to visit and we had such a brilliant few days together. We went to the zoo (an obvious choice if you know me well enough), failing to forget that it rains on my birthday every year with no exceptions. It's a slight understatement to say that it was 'muddy' at this zoo, but it was a great little place with loads of animals and a lemur enclosure which you could go in and let the lemurs jump all over you. I also held a snake round my neck, which I was pretty proud about, but I drew a line at the tarantula.

We went to Nandos in the evening, which is a given for any occasion. My incredible housemates surprised me with a big chocolate birthday cake and sang in front of everyone in the restaurant - it was slightly embarrassing but lovely of them all the same.

The next night was the party, which had an 'N' and 'K' (my initials) theme, so each person had to dress up as something beginning with N or K. There were some fantastic creations; we had nerds, a Nan, a Native American, a newborn baby, a ninja, Noddy, a nymph, a New Age hippie, N-Dubz, a nun, a kitten, a king, Kermit the frog and an incredible looking Katie Price...and I was a nurse! We had an amazing night, got very drunk and two of my housemates met Fatboy from Eastenders. Success.

And I'd like to finish with some exciting news - I have recently been appointed this year's News and Current Affairs editor of my University newspaper, UNIfied! (Follow us on twitter at @CCSUUNIfied - cheeky plug). The next edition is expected to be released in a couple of weeks so everything is going to be a bit hectic but I'm looking forward to it being finished and all pieced together.

Enjoy the rest of your October, it'll fly past you before you know it...

Nats. X


Saturday 13 October 2012

October News

Happy October! We're finally getting in to my favourite part of the year and I'm so excited! My Dad's birthday was during the week, still to come we have my birthday on Sunday, Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas and New Year! So much going on that it's hard to keep up with it all, but so much to look forward to.

I've been back at Uni for nearly 3 weeks now and still loving it. Getting back into work and routine etc. was a tiny shock to the system but one I'm sure I'll adjust to. I'm pretty lucky that most of my classes start at 1 in the afternoon or later this year, but this is sadly supplemented with the fact that two nights a week I don't finish till 7pm. My course modules so far have been a mixed bag, with some seminars being quite boring and others been absolutely brilliant. When I get more into the year I'm sure it'll get much better.

Other things that have been happening lately....I went to see my housemate in a musical last night which was a lot of fun! He played the main character so that was great to see him up there performing like a pro. Afterwards we went to the pub to see another of my housemate's friend's band play live and that was also incredible! The band is called 'Ghouls', if you haven't heard their stuff before you should definitely have a listen: www.facebook.com/ghoulsuk or @GhoulsUK on twitter.

My parents drove up to see me today - I love it when they come and visit. I accidentally left quite a few of my clothes at home when I came back to Uni because I'm a total idiot, so they dropped those off for me and then we went out for lunch. Also have my Grandparents visiting in two days time and then my best friends after that, so it's going to be like Piccadilly Circus at my house for the next week.

Also... as some of you might have realised from my last blog post, I write for my University's newspaper but haven't been doing it for too long as they aren't issued on a regular basis. It's for the reason that I haven't really hit my stride with it yet and have been struggling to come up with ideas. I'd like a regular feature which I can continue with every issue, but I'd also like my writing to be topical. The only problem is that there's quite a big gap between the time you send your finished article off and the time it gets published. So if I were to write about, for instance, the recent news story about Jimmy Savile, by time the article was published, that story might have completely turned on it's head and the points I have written might no longer be relevant. Am I making sense?

I'm interested in hearing what other people think about this and what you think the student population of Canterbury, or even just UK students, would like to read about in newspapers - topics or issues which you want people to be aware of. This is your mission. Please help! Either leave a comment at the bottom or message me on facebook/twitter etc and anything you suggest will be hugely appreciated.

I think that's probably about it, sorry this post was a bit of a rubbish one. Must try harder next time.

Nats. X

Monday 17 September 2012

Freshers Beware of The Facebook Fraudsters

This article was originally written for my University's newspaper but they ran out of space and it couldn't be submitted. I thought instead of wasting it, it would be a good idea to add it to my blog for the benefit of freshers. Enjoy!

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Coming to University for the first time can be an incredibly daunting experience. There is so much going on around you - names to remember, fancy dress outfits to buy and god know’s what else - that you begin to forget the important things, like security.

Before I’d even arrived at University, it seemed everybody was adding as many fellow first years from Uni as possible, so you could discuss online about the freshers events you wanted to go to, how many pots and pans you were bringing, and if you were nervous, scared or excited. Most students can probably relate to this, knowing that for the majority of the time, you will never end up meeting half of these people face to face. 


But in the midst of a Facebook-friend-adding frenzy, it is vital to be wary about how much personal information you share on your facebook profile. Internet scams can hit students like a bomb, especially during freshers week, and social networking is an extremely easy way to gain access to bank accounts, student finance accounts and more.

The Student Loans Company recently conducted a study on 1100 university applicants from across England, investigating how much information they share on their profiles, and their feelings towards Facebook-exclusive friendships (i.e. people you only know through Facebook).

The study found that 56% of freshers who about to begin University this year will add most of the new people they meet as their friend on Facebook, while a third would give their phone number to most other students at the same Uni as them. It was also uncovered that the majority had only met 51% of their Facebook friends; despite the fact they had included several important and personal details to their profile for all their “friends” to see. In addition, males were found to be at a higher risk of student finance fraud than females, because they are more likely to accept anyone as a friend and make their profile visible to the public.

More than half of the students interviewed had displayed their relationship status and date of birth to their profile, while 41% shared their email address and 14% included their phone number. It is these types of info which can be used to a fraudster’s advantage, so it is certainly worth removing these details off your Facebook page, particularly during the first year of Uni.

Fraud manager at The Student Loans Company, Heather Laing, commented that freshers students are more vulnerable to ‘phishing’ operations because they are often managing their finances for the first time. The scams tend to work using the details they can easily find on most facebook profiles. They will then pose as The Student Loans Company to attain more details, before eventually gaining access to your money. While loan phishing and scamming is monitored very closely, it is still a big threat to all first year students, usually targeted at the three installment dates for student loans – September, January and April.

It’s extremely important to remember that you will never be asked by The Student Loans Company to update or verify your bank details, date of birth, account numbers or passwords. You will never be asked to provide combinations (e.g. your reference number and your password) on the same screen. You will never be given a choice of a secret question – only the question you gave an answer to when you first applied.

Here are some top tips to staying safe:

  • Create a strong password with mixed letters, numbers and symbols for your online accounts and ensure to update passwords regularly. Avoid using the same password for different websites.
  • Beware of how much information you include in your profile. Addresses, mobile numbers, dates of birth and email addresses are all ways of gaining access to your important accounts, so limit how much you post about yourself.
  • Beware of who you friend. 'Phishers' can easily take personal information from your Facebook page and social bots can use friend requests to hack your network.
  • Stay updated with your social network’s security and privacy settings. Sometimes when a website changes its privacy policy, your profile can become more exposed to the public than it had been previously.

Inspired by an article in The Guardian - http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/sep/17/freshers-students


Saturday 15 September 2012

September

Right, I have a bit of a situation. I sat down in front of my laptop to do a new blog post on Thursday evening,  typing whatever came into my head, quite like a stream of consciousness (any psychologist would actually have a field day analysing my brain), hoping that something amazing would come out. But nothing did.

I've now hit the point when I've ran out of things to discuss and I'm not really sure what to do about it. I'm sure I would if I got out of the house and did something spectacular - break a world record or climb a mountain, something like that. But sadly I don't really have the time, or motivation. Because I am a lazy git.

However, I would like to send a little message out there to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog and giving me feedback that I was not expecting at all - it's been really lovely to hear that people are actually enjoying reading the rubbish I have been coming out with. As some have read in my post 'Chatalie the Natabox' from a while back, I was absolutely terrified about blogging publicly because I was afraid of the response that I'd get (even found the guts to add a link to my blog on Facebook the other day - ahhhh). Fortunately, you have all been gems and made me feel a lot more confident about carrying on with this. So thank you very much!

Anyway to wrap it up, just to say thanks again and hope you continue to enjoy reading. I've really started to love writing on here. Initially I did see it as something to use to build up my writing portfolio from a professional point of view, but it's become really fun and hopefully it continues to be! Anything you think I should be writing about or you'd like to see me write about (sensible suggestions please...), just leave a comment at the bottom and I'll try and include it. 

Happy September! Have a good one.

Nats. X


Tuesday 11 September 2012

What makes an artist an artist?

Setting apart a performer from an artist in the world of music is as pointless as debating which came first, the chicken or the egg.  The simple answer is, we don't know, and never will, because ultimately what makes an artist an artist is completely down to interpretation.  However, that shouldn't prevent us from giving it the consideration it deserves.

The inspiration for this questionable matter was sparked from an article published by NME, which the majority have probably already read, (if you haven't, read the article here).  The piece reported on a comment made by a member of The Vaccines, the indie rock band who stormed into the UK music industry last year with their debut album, 'What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?'. Freddie Cowan, the band's guitarist, conveyed that pop princess Rihanna is not a real artist because she does not write her own music.



Cowan remarked, "she has 15 writers, 15 songwriters and 15 producers all fighting for space on her albums and she's the face of it."  And in retrospect, this is true. Rihanna's huge international success has quickly sent her to becoming one of the biggest popstars on the planet, but her journey to stardom may not have been so starry without the team of individuals who went leaps and bounds to secure Rihanna's fast ticket to fame.

Nonetheless, does this stop her from being categorised as an "artist"?  In one way, yes.  An artist is defined by their level of creativity and passion, their ability to express their emotions and experiences through the lyrics in their music. Consequently, if a musician were to use the creativity and passion of a songwriter rather than their own, this merely makes them a performer.  In the same way that reading aloud a poem written by somebody else does not make you a poet, singing a song written by somebody else does not make you an artist.

On review, it would seem as though Freddie Cowan has a point.  Then again, his further comment of "I have nothing against it, but I don't want to be associated with it" leads me to question at which point musicians not writing their own music became so repudiating.  Do we lose any respect for Rihanna for not writing all her own material?  While some may say yes, I don't think we do.  After all, there are a number of singers from the past who, like Rihanna, were the faces of songs which they didn't write themselves and are still considered to be legends of the music industry in the 21st Century.  The most well-known hits of the brilliant Frank Sinatra were written by professional songwriters, notably "My Way", "Come Fly With Me", "That's Life", and "I've Got You Under My Skin" were among these.  Welsh superstar Sir Tom Jones did not start writing his own music until he was 62; such tracks as "What's New Pussycat?", "It's Not Unusual" and "She's a Lady" are considered to be the largest successes of Jones' career, yet were not actually written by the singer himself.   Aretha Franklin's massive hit "Respect" was in fact a track written by Otis Redding (subsequently inspiring Franklin to begin writing her own music), yet respect is certainly not something we lose for this highly talented performer just because the song was written by someone else.

Even the king of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley, had the majority of his songs written for him.  In fact, it was stated by Mick Jagger that Elvis was "a unique artist...an original in area of imitators."  And there's no doubting that Elvis was original.  He introduced a fresh, new and quirky style of music to the ears of several generations, something nobody had ever heard before and ever will again. Thus, it seems Elvis was an artist, but perhaps an artist of his genre rather than an artist of the music.

These world famous singers were and still are adored and loved by so many, regardless of whether wrote their own music or not.  It is questionable, therefore, as to why the same attitude cannot be applied to the singers and performers of the modern age.  Perhaps, it is the sheer difference in musical and historical eras which set the two apart.  For Elvis, Franklin and Sinatra, the music world was a different place to the way it is now.  The competition has since grown in ferocity, and a singer must fight for longer and harder to attain their own little bit of spotlight.  If songwriting is what defines an artist, diversifying a performer aside from others, then that is what they will do to prove that they are distinctive, new and one-of-a-kind.

It is also hugely significant to contemplate where the songwriting industry would be without a need for songwriters.  There are a vast number of people in the world who have an exceptional talent and gift in writing music, but do not possess the vocal ability to perform the songs themselves.  Singers and songwriters heartily rely on each other - often, neither can gain success without the other one.

When all is said and done, we can probably assume that Freddie Cowan's comment about Rihanna's lack of songwriting credit was evoked by a want for publicity, along with a supplementary inkling of the green-eyed monster.  Maybe if The Vaccines concentrated on their own music rather than denigrating other performers, they might actually have a chance at producing material more worthy of attention.

Friday 7 September 2012

Dedicated to Tinkerbell

If you own a pet, you're obviously aware of how significant they are to you and your life; particularly if they have been there for what seems like forever. Even though they're quite often off exploring and doing their own thing, their presence is monumental, life isn't quite right without them, you'd always feel like there is something missing.

I myself have never had a proper pet - the furthest I got was a goldfish which I had for roughly 5 years before it died and was flushed down the toilet. But in spite of my inexperience I know that the relationship a person and a pet share is like no other - it is unique in every instance and nothing is remotely close to it, nothing can replace it. So when that relationship is lost, when that bond is broken, or when that thread tying the two of you together snaps, it is unfathomable to understand how that must feel.

And while people may say, "It was only a dog", "It was only a cat", "It was only a rabbit", you have to remember that they are the ones that simply don't get it. They don't understand it like you do. A pet is a family member, so losing someone that you have loved, nurtured and watched grow from strength to strength, is like losing a small part of yourself. You made the life that they lived special - to experience the loss of that life is incomprehensible.

I've written this blog post because very recently, my best friend lost her best girl. Tinkerbell was totally one of a kind, a friend, and a part of a family whom she meant the absolute world to. She was a little comedienne, always making people laugh and smile. She'd always appear at the back door at the sound of the fruit jar being opened, knowing that the food was for her, and if even if wasn't she'd make sure at least some of it was. She loved playing in the snow and you could always see where she'd been as the garden would be covered in her little paw prints. And I'll never forget my favourite story of her making her way from the garden through to the living room, placing herself in front of the telly and watching Deal or No Deal - she was a big Noel Edmonds fan. (but then who isn't?).

While it's unfortunate that I cannot appreciate the unique friendship than an owner and pet share, I know for a fact that Tinkerbell was deeply loved and reciprocated her love back to those who took care of her, nursed her and adored her. Tinkerbell made us laugh with all her antics, her funny little ways, and her enormous love for food. Now she can finally be at peace, enjoying a good rest after her long and happy life.

Rest in peace Tinks, thanks for the memories. xxx








Saturday 25 August 2012

"Those who say the music of today isn't as good as it used to be aren't looking hard enough"

I recently heard the quote above articulated by a friend of a friend and I thought it was outstanding. The quality of the way music used to be and the way it is today is something of a neverending debate, primarily because it is based upon when you were born, your taste in music and the type of music you grew up listening to.

I'm a '90s kid. I was born in 1992 and grew up listening to the likes of Spice Girls, Steps, S Club 7, 5ive, Britney…the list goes on. This was the kind of music which made me feel happy and want to dance around my bedroom using a hairbrush as a microphone (don’t judge, we’ve all done it - some more than others). And now over a decade has passed and hearing those songs still has that same effect; the nostalgia of being a kid and wanting that precious time back again is overwhelming.

I then turn to my nine year old brother, who was born in 2003. He has grown up with the likes of One Direction being played on the radio, Jessie J, Olly Murs and Rihanna, and to him this is good music. While I might struggle to understand why anybody would choose listening to “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction over “C’est La Vie” by B*Witched, he has no problem in doing so. This is the music of his childhood, the soundtrack to a time when he doesn’t have a care or worry in the world, a time when he has the freedom of a child that adults so desperately crave.

The world of music has changed enormously over centuries and more so in the last 100 years. In the early 20th century, you would go to see singers and bands play live in bars and clubs in order to listen to their music. Now, we can listen to it anywhere. Not just at gigs, concerts and festivals, but on the train, in the bath, at parties, on the other side of the world, on the moon, wherever you like. And while in the moment, we whine about the autotuned robotic sound of Nicki Minaj and cringe at the thought of Justin Bieber being top of the charts, we have to remember that it's the good stuff that will last.

For instance, does anyone remember Cascada? Basshunter? Their music isn't that old and already it's virtually been forgotten. How about 3 of a Kind, who wrote that awful song "Babycakes", which stayed at number 1 for a week before disappearing into the chart archives never to be heard again? Has anyone uttered any of the lyrics to a Blazin' Squad song in the last 5 years? These pieces of music are not the ones that you want played at your 50th birthday bash to remind you of the good times, simply because they weren't around long enough for you to remember how old you were when they were released.

The music of today is not dead. While in the midst of a music storm in which autotune is being used more often in a recording studio than medication is in a hospital, we must not forget the gems that appear in amongst the other so-called "artists".

We will always have music and while, at the time, a lot of it is terrible, it is the special pieces which will be remembered. These are the pieces of music which will be played at weddings and everyone will still know the words. It is the special pieces that will be played on the radio 10 years after their release date and people will smile and sing along.

You can't blame a teenage girl for listening to Justin Bieber. You just have to keep listening to the music that you love and that is all that counts.

Below I've added a few of my favourite timeless classics, they may take a while to load if your computer is as slow as mine, hope you enjoy!






A bit of a ramble.

I have recently discovered, according to my "blog stats", that the majority of my audience are Russian. So, hello Russian readers. I don't know any Russian I'm afraid, but I appreciate you dropping by.

I'm not sure what this blog post is actually going to be about yet, so I'm just going with the flow as I type. The last week has been a bit of a slow one. I'm currently sat in my room wearing old clothes, drinking coffee and being miserable because I am ill. This, according to general consensus, is what you do when you're ill. You mope. You slob around the house feeling sorry for yourself because you feel rubbish through no fault of your own (contrasted with, for instance, if you got drunk the night before). You can't face eating, you just want to sleep all day and all night until the horrible yucky feeling goes away and leaves you in peace. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to sleep so the yucky feeling is still here and probably intending to hang around for a bit longer. Not for too long though, I hope.

I got Netflix yesterday. I'm only using the free trial for a month thing, I have to cancel it on September 21st, which works out well as I'll be back working away at Uni after that. Because I have a little brother and I spend 97% of my time being with him while my parents are working, I have so far watched 3 kids films in the last 24 hours. These include, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", "Open Season 3" and "Hocus Pocus". Kids films are all well and good but I was on the brink - so when my little brother Luke went out this morning with my parents, I watched The Sixth Sense, primarily to remind myself that while I feel awful with the flu, my life could be a lot worse.


Friday 17 August 2012

Holiday adventures

Today we returned from our holiday in Center Parcs! I am exhausted, bruised, battered, aching all over the place but I had the most brilliant 5 days! And would definitely love to do it all over again.

This time we went to Elveden in Suffolk, as we've never been to that one before so thought we'd give it a go. I was definitely not keen on returning to Longleat after the last time, I did actually want to have a holiday which I would enjoy and going back there would certainly not allow that to happen. So hence our choice of Elveden, which we had heard was much flatter than Longleat and a bit smaller, so it was slightly more compact with less people.

On Monday, the five of us packed into my Mum's Citroen C3 with loads of suitcases and we were ready to go, with only one mere problem in that my mother's car is tiny. It's essentially a car for midgets. My Dad has been begging my Mum to buy a bigger car for years, and she's been having none of it. She isn't, however, the one who has to squeeze in the back next to a whinging child who radiates heat the same temperature as the sun and a lanky unsociable 17 year old who's blasting dubstep out of his headphones as though he's half deaf, with virtually no room left for important things, like breathing. But that's the joys of family bonding, isn't it? I think? Who knows, the point is, there wasn't much room. However, we were going on holiday for the first time in two years. So I wasn't complaining. That much.

We arrived in our midget car in mid afternoon and it was sunny, happy and had a good atmosphere. I did actually forget that the second you enter Center Parcs, it is like entering your own little world. It's desolate from any towns or cities, there is just beautiful open countryside surrounding you, and it's gorgeous. We hired our bikes and found our little cosy cabin not far from the Center Parcs Village Square. Luke made the rookie error of bagging one of the bedrooms for himself and Jack, before realising that this was in fact the smallest room and the size of a cupboard in comparison to the bedroom he'd left me. So I was happy but Jack was slightly pissed off.

Throughout the week we got up to all sorts of activities to keep us busy. We played Badminton and went on long bike rides which were brilliant, very exhausting, in the case of the bike rides, especially when my Dad was leading the way, but great all the same. We also went on a pedalo boat in the lake, during which time my Dad sent us straight into a water fountain and we were all drenched. The swimming pool was amazing - they usually are at Center Parcs. I'm a little kid when it comes to swimming, I absolutely love it. This swimming pool had huge slides, a really powerful wave machine and rapids which we must have gone on at least a hundred times. It wasn't difficult to go crashing into other people and get bashed and bruised, but that was part of the fun.

I actually ended up injuring myself in the kids adventure playground as well. I was balancing on a horizontal giant rope, and to cut a long story short, I basically fell off it and gave myself really bad rope burn right across my arm. I may be 20 in a few months but I swear I still have the mental age of a 5 year old, it's pretty shameful. But completely worth it....

Tree trekking on Wednesday was quite eventful; we were attached to harnesses and had to do an assault course through the trees, and it was actually really good. I have to confess I had a bit of a tiny incident. I jumped off a wooden ledge to get to the next part of the course attached to a zipwire, and I did reach the next wooden ledge but ended up accidentally heading back down the zipwire in the wrong direction. I was hanging there for a good 2 minutes before one of the helpers came to rescue me. My family have insisted time and time again and will do no doubt until I'm old and grey that I pulled a "Boris" (if you haven't seen the video, I've added it below), but still maintain that I did not. Boris got stuck half way on the zipwire, at least I made it to the other side. Back up on this would be extremely appreciated.

All in all, I would say our holiday was a success! Without consideration of brief family bickering, minor medical implications with my brother which I won't go into, and moments of stupidity on my part, it was actually brilliant. Same time, same place next year, please?




Saturday 11 August 2012

Chatalie the Natabox

I changed the name of my blog today! As you can probably see above, I decided to use a bit of brain power and ditch 'Natalie's Blog' for something a bit more creative and personal. So I chose to use 'Chatalie the Natabox', something which reminds me of my childhood and the way I used to be.

I say 'the way I used to be' because even though a lot of my friends and family tell me time and time again how I have a tendency to waffle, I find that I have lost a bit of this in myself, especially when talking in public. It does make me question whether or not that's why I love to write. I can type or jot down everything I'm thinking and feeling in one moment and happily hide behind the words I have written. Saying them out loud is a totally different matter, that takes far more guts.

I was dubbed 'Chatalie the Natabox' at my primary school by my best friends. As the name suggests, I would just talk and talk and talk till I drove people crazy, and I soon found it the norm to be referred to as 'Chatalie' or 'Chatty Natty', simply because it fit so well and people used it all the time. It wasn't until I began secondary school aged 11 that I found my confidence soon diminishing and I have always wondered why this was, whether it was one thing, or a number of different factors which built up slowly over time. Either way, I found myself becoming more shy, unable to find the confidence to speak up in class and in front of big audiences. In social situations, I would comfortably sit and listen to the conversation in front of me without contributing much at all, because I always felt I had nothing interesting to say. After all, I considered most people to be far more interesting than me full stop. 'Chatalie the Natabox' had slipped away and I had barely even realised it.

My lack of confidence is still something I suffer with today. I struggle to express myself and my opinions in the fear that I'll be disagreed or argued with, or laughed and mocked, which is stupid in reality. I shouldn't give a damn what other people think, nobody should. But I always do and I wish I didn't. Being yourself around people you've never met before can be tough, but nobody will appreciate you in the way that they should if you don't love who you are in the way that you should.

I have always been a little bit too scared to blog publicly in case people judged me and thought I was a bad writer. After all, writing is the only thing I have. It's the only thing that I believe myself to be good at. If someone were to take that away from me, what would I have?

But I've decided to go crazy and take a risk. If I'm going to be a successful writer, my writing has to be read. So happy reading, and please, don't criticise too harshly. 'Chatalie the Natabox' is finally making a comeback!

Friday 10 August 2012

August

I think I may be the worst blogger in history. I think if I want to be a writer, I'm going to have to start coming on here more. Anyway, I'm here now. Hello. How've you been. Nice to see you again. etc. etc.

It is August, as you can probably work out for yourself by looking at the title of this post. August 10th 2012, which seems mad. How is it August? How? How did this happen? Where has the year gone?

It is of course The Olympics at the moment, and it's in London! It has been the most incredible two weeks so far; watching the events really has become a huge part of my day to day life in no less than a fortnight. Everything is just addictive to watch, even the stuff which nobody ever watches, archery, trampolining, judo. The lot. Amazing.

We're going to Center Parcs in Elveden Forest on Monday which is very exciting. It will be our first family holiday for 2 years so we're all buzzing to go and hoping it'll be more successful than our last trip. The year before last we went to the Longleat site, which was lovely but so steep and hilly it might as well have been on top of a bloody mountain.

As Center Parcs regulars are aware, you have a bike with you for most of the trip so you can travel around the site as cars are disallowed. However, some idiots decided to screw that rule and drive about like it was a bloody F1 racing track, carelessly swerving amongst 3 year olds on tricycles and the odd deer which would be leaping about. So while you were panting up what felt like Kilimanjaro on a bicycle, you also had the added worry that you might be run over by a petrol loaded Landrover the size of a monster truck at any moment. Instead we started travelling on a little bus for most of the weekend, which slightly defeated the point of being at Center Parcs.

Hopefully this years trip will be slightly more successful. Hopefully.

Nats. X


Monday 4 June 2012

Summer is on the way

Happy June! Now it is officially summer (well, sort of - it officially kicks off on 21st June but let's for the sake of it, pretend that it is), any normal, sane person would expect the sun to be shining, the BBQs to be sizzling in gardens, the air to smell of flowers and cut grass, the trees to be blossoming beautifully, people to be smiling, laughing, and having a great time.

Well, that was certainly the case last week. But considering I live in the UK, a.k.a. land of ever changing and unpredictable weather, someone, I don't know who, has decided to smack a few great big clouds over the top of our glorious island, and thus the rainy summer days have begun.

Yes, I'm afraid if you were expecting a bit of a happy, chirpy blog writing from me this afternoon, you are greatly mistaken. Because in fact, I'm in a very bad mood and in definite need of a rant. So if you're already depressed by my solemn and grumpy attitude, then it's perhaps best to stop reading, and to go and do something much more productive and positive with your time.

I should also probably mention that my first year at Uni is in fact over, which is very bizarre considering it feels like I've only just started. And, if I must be honest, right now I'm wishing I was still there. I have been home all of 3 days, and for 2 of these days I have had stupid, ridiculous and tiresome arguments with my Mum which I cannot even be bothered to go into, that's how stupid and ridiculous and tiresome they are. Living in a house with an atmosphere so tense you could cut it with a butter knife is not the best feeling, and right now I'd very much like to re-pack my bags and get on the next train back to Uni. But that won't solve anything, especially considering it's raining and I don't want to go outside, and also - this house has food and my Uni house doesn't. Therefore, I should probably stay where I won't starve to death, or have the temptation to order absurd amounts of Dominos pizza and munch them in front of the telly. So I'm going to stick it out here, for the next 4 months. I'm not sure I'll make it out the other side. But there's no harm in trying. Right?

Also in the news, this morning at 10:30 am, my best friend jumped on a flight to San Francisco and won't be returning for another 4 months. This is another reason why I'm feeling very down in the dumps. She's going to work at Camp America in North California, and I'm so incredibly excited for her, but I'm going to miss her very very much.

And finally, the most significant news of the weekend has to be that it has been 60 years since the Queen's Coronation i.e. The Diamond Jubilee. I'm a bit of a sucker for Royal events - I loved the Royal Wedding last year so I was ecstatic for this year's patriotic celebration. Though, to be honest, it's been a teeny bit pants so far. Yesterday was the parade in town, which as ever was shockingly bad with hardly anyone turning up, and those that did need not have bothered because it lasted about 5 minutes. It rained through the whole thing, so everyone was slightly damp by the end. There was also a funfair on at East Court, which is this massive public park near my house with a playground and mansion for the town council, and huge fields around it. We shouldn't have bothered turning up there either, as it was very boring. Then again, being boring is one of East Grinstead's top talents, so in retrospect it was actually very successful.

The funfair continued onto today, but after the row I've just had with my mother, I very much doubt we'll be doing any kind of celebrating/spending time together until one of us apologises. Admittedly, I did try to about 10 minutes ago but I just got another earful so I quickly made myself a coffee and ran back up to my room to hide for a bit longer.

I think I've vented for as long as I needed to now. It does make you feel much better getting it out of your system. Although, while I'm feeling a bit better, I've probably made everyone else feel a bit worse. Sorry, but I commend you all for an admirable sacrifice on my behalf.

Happy Diamond Jubilee!

Nats. X


Monday 23 April 2012

What's new

Hi world.

I've just arrived back at University from being at home for a month on my Easter holidays. It went far too quickly, and I'm already a bit homesick, which, to be honest, is pretty bad. I'm 19, I need to man the hell up and stop whining. I'm going back in 5 weeks so I should suck it up and be strong. It probably won't happen, but it's nice to give myself a bit of motivation.

The Easter holidays were fantastic. I saw my friends, I saw my family, I lost my mobile, I got my mobile replaced. I went to the cinema, I went to Croydon, I went to the pub (several times), I went to see my favourite band in the entire world in Hammersmith. I laughed. I cried. I fell over (several times, and not just while drunk). I've worn ridiculous clothes (many thanks to my close "friend" Daisy Ottman for that one). The one thing, I regrettably have to admit that I haven't done, is work.

But I'm back now, ready to crack on, take the bull by the horns, etc. etc.... Although, admittedly, I have been awake for the best part of 6 hours, and I am still yet to actually get anything productive done, other than help my housemate unpack his shopping, break the shower, and write this blog.

Tonight, I'm going to a St. George's Day themed party for my friend's birthday. It should be quite interesting, although I'm a bit anxious about how the evening will pan out. First of all, my friend is putting the guys and girls into pairs, so each 'damsel in distress' (that would be the girls) has a 'knight' (that would be the guys) to take care of her all night. And yet in all honesty, I've been having a quick stalk on Facebook of the guys attending this thing, and quite frankly, I'm unimpressed. And while three of my best guy mates have been invited as well, two of them are boyfriend and boyfriend, and have asked to be paired up together, and the other one is no longer going. So I, no doubt, will be stuck with winner of least attractive man of the year award who has more spots than a dot to dot puzzle and a face which looks like it's been hit by a bus. Wonderful.


Sunday 29 January 2012

10 little facts

Hi world. Because I'm a newbie to this whole blogging thing, I thought it would be good to introduce myself properly.

1. I'm British, and I'm proud of it. I have no idea what the most popular nationality of bloggers is on here, but I'm guessing most of them are Americans. I've heard the Americans like the British. So I thought that might be a good place to start.

2. I'm 19 year old - a 'spring chicken', as my Grandmother would say. The world's my oyster at the moment. I'm still figuring out who I am and what I want to do with my life, but enjoying the ride.

3. I'm a first year student at University studying English Literature. I really really love English. It's mind-blowing when you think about the enormity of power that words hold, the way they can change things, the way books can influence a debate, and raise awareness to issues and problems within Western societies and culture. I know so many people who consider English to be such a doss subject because obviously, English people use English as a language all the time. But they're wrong - English is not all it's cracked up to be. It goes way beyond anything you ever learnt at senior school. More English-related blog posts to come. You're probably getting the sense that I like English.

4. Of course, I really should have put this as the number one thing about myself, but to be honest, the thought didn't even cross my mind. If you haven't already guessed, I'm a girl. The name 'Natalie' probably gave it away. I'm yet to meet a boy named Natalie, but if you happen to come across one, tell him I said hi.

5. I bite my nails. It's an awful habit which I've been trying to shake off for the past 15 years. Not having much luck thus far.

6. I am likely to be one of the clumsiest human beings you will ever meet in your entire life. My severe lack of co-ordination is actually prize-winning and I'm surprised I am yet to be awarded some form of certificate or medal for my fantastic efforts in dropping things, breaking things, spilling things.... shamefully the list goes on.

7. I have a bit of an addiction to music and have my radio on every day, my favourite bands being Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines and so on. I'm also a huge lover of the band McFly (most people mock them, I, however, worship them). I'm going to see them for the third time in April with my best friends and we are all very very excited.

8. My ultimate best friend, my partner in crime, my right-hand man (or woman, in this instance), my top amigo, my sister-from-another-mister, is called Alice. I've known her for 8 years, I'd trust her with my life and I know I can rely on her in any situation. We've had ups and downs like any friendship has, but we always pull through and we already know that we'll continue to be best friends until we're covered in wrinkles and liver spots, being carted around in wheelchairs shouting the odds at whoever gets in our way.

9. I also have a fantastic group of mates who mean the absolute world to me.  You know you see in those typical coming-of-age movies about school cliques and little girl troupes parading around, generally being a bit wacky and getting into all sorts of madness? That's us. I have so many great memories being with those girls, and now with everyone off doing their own thing, it's a rarity that we get to be all together again like the old days. But when we get the chance to reunite as a group, it's as though absolutely nothing has changed.

10. Fact number ten. (I'd better make this a good one.) Since I haven't mentioned them, and I really should, I want to talk about my family. Like most people, I have a Mum and a Dad and I've also got two brothers. My family mean everything to me and I'm definitely a family-orientated, 'homey' person. I love being at home, even if we're not doing anything exciting, just being there is fantastic in itself. My family and I gel together so well, we fit together like pieces of a puzzle. I love them to bits and genuinely can't imagine how awful life would be without them.