a breath of fresh air.

This weekend I've ventured with some of my family, down to the coast. We visited the lovely town of Selsey and are staying here until tomorrow lunch (Monday). It is and I'm sure always will be a place I go to, to feel better.

The past few months especially have left me feeling incredibly deflated and lost, going to the coast and regrouping and grounding myself was much needed, I've been able to get a lot more coursework done and have ended up in a more positive mindset, which is incredibly helpful for the next couple of months ahead with deadlines and exams, that always leave me feeling crap.

Yesterday, we headed to see the lifeboat, I've always loved watching the displays and supporting them as they really are a huge help to a lot of people, and I'm sure they are one of those things that people will not miss until they're gone, which is such a shame and I'm really hoping they don't fade away like many things nowadays, because they really do save lives.

I took along my camera and got a few photos that I'm really happy with. I keep forgetting how refreshing I find just going for a walk with my camera in hand can be, whether I just chill with some music or have some company. It's something I must do more often, I just need to find some places to go and make the most of with a camera, because unfortunately near home, a lot of those places have been built on.

The sea air really has been a breath of fresh air and if anything it knocks me for six when it comes to sleeping, so that really has helped! So when it's all getting too much, remember Evan, Selsey will be waiting for you.

Where do you go to get a breath of fresh air?

- evan.

Sunday Recap #1

I've decided on a name for a new series of blogs. (That's a formal way of starting a blog and pretending you know what you're doing, when really, you just wanted to write and didn't know what about, so decided to come up with a name for those old weekly blogs I used to do...)

This week has been a weird one; there's been ups and downs and it's been flipping tiring. I got feedback on a MIT blog that I posted just over a week ago and that was positive, so that started well.
I headed to the coast with my Gran on Wednesday, which was refreshing, the sea air seems to solve anything and I managed to get a good nights sleep that night.
Then a long week of coursework and not getting far with a media essay took it's toll on me. Thursday, I spent my day feeling like I was going to pass out, throw up or just collapse in a heap at any given moment, oh the joys of anxiety.

Friday wasn't much better, I got my final school report EVER, can't say I finished on a high, but I think I'm now past caring and just want to get to the end of the course and attempt to pass it. It was also my last time leading at the church youth club that I have helped out at for just under 5 years and that was a hard one to say goodbye to. I helped out on Wednesday and Friday evenings and I loved it, but what with exams and other things happening, I couldn't quite hack it. I'm regretting it massively but short term it's definitely for the best. (I spent that evening forcing my way through a blog post for MIT, crying, eating chocolate - which I regretted massively feeling pretty ill later on, listening to sad music and crying some more).

Yesterday was long, although I went out in the evening with people and enjoyed Nuway Army, a Gary Numan tribute band, I forgot how much I loved his music and Tubeway Army's stuff, so I'm back on one of those music hypes I get on...
Today I've been tired, hated the wibbly-wobbly-rimey-wimey stuff that goes on when the clocks go forward but enjoyed breakfast out this morning and spending some time going through my poetry coursework and trying to come up with a understandable order for it all. Think I've given up with media now, really not the time eh? Hah.

Anyways, here's two songs to enjoy, and a few photos from the past week.
Some of the James Bay song lyrics punched me in the face nicely on Friday night and Bright City linked to the context of my week.

Let It Go - James Bay (link)

Colour - Bright City (link)

What have you been up to the past week?

-evan. :)

#DearMe

Dear 13-year-old Evan,

Three small things, your teeth will get better, you won't grow much and Duck will be sewn together a few more times... Onto the more meaningful things... 

In a few years, you will have changed your mind on what you want to do with your life, and that’s ok. Work experience will strengthen your passion for teaching, but your exam results and subject choices will start to put you off the idea, even though you’ve been set on it for most of your life. Choose subjects for you, don’t pick subjects you’re going to stress over and hate, because that’ll get you into a horrible rut of thinking you’re going to fail at everything, you’ll be close but you won’t quite fail.

Moving on from that point, positivity is key, not everything is going to go your way. Don’t let those things keep you down, keep going, they won’t last forever and you’ll soon learn to focus on the small things that make you happy.

Anxiety will kick in next year, learn to look after yourself, don’t get angry with yourself for not being able to do normal things some days. Spend a day in bed; just don’t spend half a week there. Go for a walk, listen to music, watch Toy Story, drink a cup of ‘funny’ tea, eat macaroni cheese (even if you can’t for much longer, make the most of it now!), do things to keep you calm.

Don’t give up on sport, you won’t realise how much it means to you until you stop. Spending five days a week doing cricket was tiring, but when you stop completely, suddenly it feels like you’ve gone into withdrawal. Find a middle ground, don’t give up on it just because you feel you’ve failed at it, it never failed you, fight your anxiety when it comes to batting, work on gaining confidence, you’ll get there eventually. Even if you get arthritic fingers from all the times you’ve dislocated and broken them, or bad knees just because your joints don’t like you, stick with it.

Friends will come and go. Your best friends now, won’t be your best friends in 5 years time and even though it might seem like they’re going to be there forever, stop taking that for granted. In a few years, everyone will move on, including you.

The next five years will see quite a few people pass away, people you regret not talking to much because they meant so much to you when you were younger, as well as people you look up to, people you care about, they’ll become stars and you won’t get the chance to say goodbye properly so just make the most of your time with them now.

You should be proud of things you achieve in the next few years, nothing will prepare you for your trip to Kenya, cherish the memories you make there. You'll go to the Olympics held in London, which  could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, soak up the atmosphere when Andy Murray wins. There will be many other experiences you should be thankful for and make the most of those (and scrapbook them when they actually happen, rather than forgetting about those smaller things that meant a lot to you). 

You’ll set up two blogs and one of them will grow more than you’d ever expect, you’ll be asked to write about musicians you’ve been listening to for years as well as getting to see so many artists and bands live and watch them grow and become well known all over. Even though there will be weeks where you won’t have the motivation to post, there will be people willing to wait for your next post. Keep at it. It could lead to what you do in the future.

From 18-year-old Evan.

What would you say to your younger self? Or even just 5 years ago?

a photo is worth a thousand words right?!

I'm writing this blog from the comfort of my bedroom, sat on my bed trying to ignore the crap weather on the other side of my window. I've got a headache (again), I'm tired and I'm starting to get one of my anxious tummy aches, so I'm sure I'll be finishing my evening off with a cup of 'funny' tea (as my family like to call it) and carrying on with some of coursework to keep my mind occupied.

The past week has been a weird one, I've struggled to motivate myself out of bed, so setting things to do for the past couple of days with family and friends has helped me get around that one. So, again, I'm just going to share a couple of photos, because 'a photo is worth a thousand words' and right now, words seem to be failing me :) 

'til next time!

- evan.

a busy break.

Somehow it's already got round to Sunday, and it's also half term. Being in the last year of sixth form (again), this means that coursework deadlines are looming, as well as the build up to exam preparation.
Half term never seems to be a break for me, I'm usually behind on work of all kinds and I see it more as a time to attempt to catch up. However, my body seems to see it as a time to be ill and not get half as much done as I'd hoped...
This time, I've attempted to create a to-do list for the whole of the half term, including a daily break down of what I want to get done, plans have already been changed a little since this morning, so I'm not sure this whole idea is going to work out very well to be honest, but I'm going to take it all in my stride...

I must admit, even though I'm feeling really crap right now, I've got a few things to look forward to, like spending time with a friend I don't see as much as I used to, spending time with family, going to the zoo, hopefully a trip down to the coast etc. but I have a lot of poetry to write, 3000 words of creative writing to write, a media essay to finish, a linked production piece to plan out, an inbox to sort through, emails to reply to, questions for interviews to put together, emails to be sent, drafts to be put together for both blogs, a bedroom to finish sorting out and a couple of other bits here and there.

I'm also quite happy with how my 'Best of 2015' jar is slowly filling up, I'm doing my classic of including the small things that make me happy every few days as well as the bigger things to remember, so that's helping the process. I'm also managing to read every now and then, I've been trying to set aside half an hour to an hour each day to catch up on blogs, read parts of my magazines (it's been a mix of NME, Kerrang, RockSound and Nat Geo), a bit of poetry here and there, and I'm currently reading 'After Auschwitz', which will be another one to tick off of my reading list.

I think my highlight of the past week has to be seeing Rae Morris and Fryars live, if I haven't already raved about it enough on social media and my other blog, I'm sharing the love here too!
Review: http://musicintimeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/review-rae-morris-fryars-110215.html

What have you been up to in the past week? What are your plans for next week?

- evan. :)

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. :)