solace of snow.

I haven't had the best of weeks, so I'm going limited words and just sharing a few photos with you today. Fingers crossed I'll have something a bit more blogworthy for you next week.
(But please don't hold your breath because I've got coursework deadlines to meet and that's not looking too positive either...)

Anyway, here's some photos that my sister and I took of the snow that lasted a day and a bit.

-evan. :)

january favourites.

January is never that great a month, the cold weather has no promise of festivities and the looming deadlines of coursework start to actually take their toll on you. However, January hasn't been that bad, I've seen a few friends that I hadn't seen for a while, met a couple of new people, that I hope to keep in touch with aaand certain projects have become a little more exciting in the outlook to their futures...

I thought I'd share a few of my favourite things (without sounding too much like the Sound of Music...) with you, as it was an excuse to play around with my camera some more, and it gave me content, which I thought might actually be interesting to some people... - but let me know on that last point! So, in no particular order, here's a few things I've been loving this month.

1. 'A Visual Journey' by Ed Sheeran and Philip Butah (book)

I'm a big reader of autobiographies and I love art, so combine two things, and make it all about a musician that I'm a pretty huge fan of... I'm going to be hooked... I loved the concept of this and asked Father Christmas to get it for me as my main 'pillowcase present' for Christmas '14, and sure enough good old Santa wrapped it up and Rudolph dropped it off. I'd been flicking through it every now and then, but I had one night earlier in the month that I was still awake at 3am and I decided this was a perfect time to read the book, and sure enough I read it all that night. If you're interested in music, art or people, this is a perfect read for you!

2. Into The Woods (film)

I haven't been a huge fan of the recent Disney films and I can't say I've been too impressed with the musicals *cough* Frozen *cough*. BUT I went to the cinema with the fam the other day and surprisingly really enjoyed this film. I feel like the cast did play a huge part in that, with actors and actresses that I really like, and people that can sing without being too 'stagey'. I did find the soundtrack incredibly repetitive and a bit too in your face, probably the original Broadway musical influence there, but there were a couple of songs that I thought, 'Yeah, I like this'. I struggled with the plot a bit, but then that's what I haven't particularly liked about Disney's films in the past few years, so there we go! Overall, a good family fun that everyone will enjoy - ooft how cheesy did that sound?!

3. Nintendo 64

I've fallen back in love with old games, not just Nintendo 64, my Playstation 1 games have had a bit of love recently too, but Diddy Kong Racing and World Cup on N64 just beat Powerpuff Girls to the finish line... In all seriousness, I've been playing World Cup '98 and Diddy Kong Racing every day and it's great because despite having a Playstation 3 (which obviously has better graphics and more to do/play etc.) my little sister has been asking me 24/7 to play on the N64 and PS2. Retro Games 1 - 0 Today's Technology :)

4. Eminem

I've been studying and writing poetry for a course at sixth form, lacking a 'clever' vocal, I started listening to more rap and spoken word, as reading poetry isn't my favourite cup of tea, when there are more 'interesting' modern alternatives (not degrading poetry at all, I still like it but only in very small doses). However, I've learnt the majority of my favourite verses of his, due to listening to him A LOT and I watched 8 Mile, which I really enjoyed, but hated the ending. So, yeah losing myself in the music (apologies for yet another awful pun...).

5. Fererro Roche

Basically, we got some over Christmas, and I've tried making them last but I think they are my favourite chocolatey treat! That is all.

6. The Book Thief (film)

I haven't read the book, but I watched the film the other day and absolutely loved it. I enjoy most films about war, I think appreciate might be a more suitable word, but you get what I mean (I hope!) especially the second world war. This film stood out to me as it wasn't directly following soldiers of that war or their families, like most films or TV series do, it followed a young girl affected by the war and her story through being fostered, taught to read and onwards, it's just really good and I'd urge you to watch it! 

7. Unguarded - Rae Morris

My favourite album release from this month, along with a couple of others, which I will probably listen to a bit more (and include in next months blog...). Being Rae's debut album there is a mix of previous releases and new material, all of which I love and get stuck in my head often. I reckon (and really hope) this is Rae's year! Definitely worth a listen! :) 

What have you been loving in January? 

- evan. :)

gone backwards.

I just started typing out a blog titled 'lack of motivation', which I'm going to save for another day, quite ironic really. Today's blog is destined to be a little less meaningful/in-depth/exciting than others previous. 

My bed with added music has been my solace today and now I'm catching up on a month's worth of blog reading and attempting to chill, after getting annoyed about not doing anything today, so I thought I'd go old school with this blog, tell you what I've done, share a couple of photos and a song. 

So, to be honest, apart from sixth form, I didn't do a lot in the week, apart from going out for dinner on Thursday and watching the stars with a friend for half hour. Yesterday, picked up a bit and I ventured outside the house, picked up Enter Shikari and Fall Out Boy's new albums. Then headed to the cinema to watch 'Into The Woods', great acting from the brilliantly cast actors, just a shame the storyline was a tad boring and the music was a bit repetitive, still worth seeing though. In the evening, I headed out to celebrate my Dad's birthday, came home and watched Celeb Big Brother, because I like wasting my time watching celebrities being pathetic and arguing with each other :)

Here's a couple of photos to share with you... 

a solo adventure to a view. 

the frost on my car looked pretty cool.

a photo i took yesterday, which came out alright.

aaaaaand a cover that I'm really enjoying right now...

Sia Mashup - Bribry & Dodie (link)

what have you done in the past week? seen any films or taken any photos you're pleased with?

- evan. :)

the small things.

In the last few months, I've had to look after myself a little bit more, I became a little fragile and even though bad days include(d) keeping myself to myself, avoiding talking to other humans and investing my time into writing, tidying and listening to music, I've learnt to find happiness in the small things. 

Throughout 2014, I completed '100 Happy Days' (with a few days lacking in between - but it's something I'd recommend doing), however it meant that every time I did anything that made me remotely happy, I'd take a photo to capture that moment and that continued until the end of the year. Leaving me photos and videos to look over to remind myself of the good times in 2014, even if there were lowlights, it left me focusing on the highs. 

This year, I'd like to focus more on being in those moments and enjoying them as they are, rather than documenting them as much as I did in the previous year, as I want to be sharing my best content rather than some half-arsed photograph that's a bit blurry and doesn't make me feel proud of what I can achieve(?!). This year, my 'memories' project is a 'Best of 2015' jar, where I will write down a moment that I feel I should remember, fold it up and put it in, to be read through at the end of the year. 

However, for now, I will continue finding happiness in the small things, enjoying moments that I should be enjoying and getting through the storm of coursework and exams. 

So, an ending note for this blog is that; in an attempt to remind myself of the things that make me happy (big or small) I will be posting a series of blogs titled '100 Things That Make Happy'... 

Have you got an 'Happiness/Memory Projects' for 2015, if so, what are they and how are they going?

- evan. :)

my reading list.

I want to set myself a challenge (amongst the others that come with A Levels and general life). Ever since GCSE English and Drama and A Level English Lit, I have despised reading; especially books. 

However, a couple of months back, I started reading magazines more and gradually progressed to Roald Dahl and then 'real' books - as certain people might like to call them. 

So, I've decided to read at least 12 books this year, 15 ideally, a realistic goal - right?! I've got an 'ideal' reading list, which are books I'd quite like to get through this year, after having a growing reading list for a few years. 

That doesn't  mean to say they won't be swapped about for others, but here's the list for now: 

To Finish:

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

After Auschwitz - Eva Schloss

Read & Complete:

Strong Woman - Karren Brady

Field of Shadows - Dan Waddell

Doctor Who: The Monsters Inside - Stephen Cole

Nineteen Eighty - Four - George Orwell

War Horse - Michael Morpurgo

Revolution - Russel Brand

Stig of the Dump - Clive King

Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey - Ed Sheeran & Phillip Butah

Doctor Who: The Shakespeare Notebooks - Justin Richards

The Machine Gunners - Robert Westall

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window & Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson

Are there any books you want to read this year or any you'd recommend as a top read? 

- evan. :)

an end and a beginning.

In the past week I have taken my camera out on a couple of adventures, they were only small, but it gave me an opportunity to take some photos and rekindle my love of capturing moments. 

I was really happy with how a couple of them turned out and thought I could share them with you in a blog - re-learning that blogs can be chilled, short and not have much depth to them - so without further a do... 

First of all are a few photos from a New Year's Eve trip down to Brighton, it would have been rude not to have gone to the pier and taken it all in. 

Then on Friday, (2nd January), my Gran and I went for a little drive to watch the sunset, which turned out to be pretty colourful... 

How did you finish 2014 and how did you start 2015? 

- evan. :)

hello twenty fifteen.

First things first, Happy New Year and welcome to 2015!

Even though I hate the whole ‘new year, new me’ idea, I think it’s good that it fuels people with some motivation to do something for the better and if they can’t find that half way through the year, then why not have resolutions at the start of a year for the 12 months ahead.

Saying that, I haven’t really got any ‘resolutions’, I’m setting mine down as rules more than anything, because I am genuinely fed up with myself saying I’ll do something and never doing it or getting it done.

So here are my five rules that I’ve written out for myself for 2015.

1. Rest More: This is my main one for the new year. I’ve managed to completely wear myself down in 2014, resulting in a few ‘not very good’ moments. I’m not very good at doing nothing, when I can’t sleep I get up and do stuff, usually creative things not linked to the coursework that I should get done when I’m too tired/unfocused in the day. Having more down time is definitely on the list for 2015. Dedicating at least an hour a day to ‘chill’, either listen to music, read, draw, watch something etc. is the plan.

2. Read More: English Lit at GCSE and A Level really put me off reading, having to analyse books and plays made me despise written texts and I’m slowly getting back into it. I’m still not at the level of reading a book in a day which I used to be able to do, but I’m getting there, I think I’d like to read at least 12 books in 2015, that’s a reasonable target; right?

3. Do More: I know this kind of defeats ‘rest more’, but I mean live a little, as in go out a bit more, visit a new place, make an effort with meeting up with people. I’ve got a few ideas for next year, but these need to become plans, I think going to at least one different country would be a good place to start.  Attempting to play a bit more cricket/at least regular exercise is a good shout too…

4. Create More: This kind of links into rest more and do more in two ways… I feel if I want to do what I want to do for a living I should be ‘creating’ more content, which is fine, I need to organise my time to be able to do that – and it should be easier.  However, in my down time, I want to get back into drawing and it’d be nice to take more high quality photos/videos. I really want to get my creative juices flowing again.

5. Enjoy More: I want to be able to do more things that I will enjoy. Unfortunately, the majority of those things are likely to come after I’ve finished A Levels in June, but after that I hope to see a bit more of the world (even if it’s just a bit more of England). I also want to get back to enjoying creating content rather than forcing myself to make content that I don’t necessarily think much of, just because I feel I should post.

So there we have it! Hello 2015, good to see you!