Explanation for the lack of pontification,

I'm applying to Uni this year to study English Lit at Cambridge, York, Exeter, Nottingham, or Swansea.
Four out of five of these are v.v.v. competitive and here's the thing: I have never read any Austen, any Dickens, any Chaucer, any ANYTHING and so I'm dedicating between now and my Cambridge interview (if I get that far :/) to reading until my eyes fall out. Since Tuesday night I've done Tess of the d'Urbervilles and I'm halfway through Great Expectations now. So hopefully, I'll get through enough that I'm not a complete literary non-entity

http://prettybooks.tumblr.com. You won't regret it.

Anyway,until then I will be very very very busy reading so I'm keeping posts to their barest minimum. Don't go away! I'll be back!

Little quotes that aren't too abrasive.

I stumbled upon a nice website of atheist quotes today,

and I don't mean in a beat-Christianity-into-the-ground sort of website, either.

An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated. --Madalyn Murray O'Hair

My own journey into Atheism has been relatively simple. I was never brought up with religion, but I always assumed my parents were religious and that God was real (I later found out that neither was true). I'm not trying to draw a direct comparison here, but much in the same way I never questioned the existence of Santa and the Tooth Fairy, I never questioned the existence of God.

Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? --Douglas Adams

When I was 10, I started wondering if God was real. I can't remember what triggered it, or why...but I remember quite distinctly sitting at the desks in the Y5 classroom (Beautiful old desks with inkwells and that lifted up so you could stick your posters inside the lid. They sold them off for a tenner each.) thinking...I don't really know if God exists.

Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements - the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life - weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today. --Lawrence Krauss

And the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. I'm not going to go into it, because people who insist on proving why they're atheist are so boring. And they get on my nerves. And they need to get over themselves. Suffice it to say that the flimsy defences in my RS textbook were just that- flimsy. Everything about the whole caboodle seemed flimsy. 

And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. --Bertrand Russell

And really, that's about it. 

Emma X

P.S. All quotes found here

Here is a tree, have a nice weekend.

A million good things about today.

(I allow space here for epic spaz attacks like the one I had on Vintage Vixen's blog.)

How awesome is life? HOW AWESOME IS LIFE?

More good things about life:

- Tomorrow = inset day, a quirky little invention of the British school system that means we get a day off. For no apparent reason. Fab.
- I'm watching Gossip Girl. A few days let, but nevermind.

In fact, on the subject of GG - does anyone actually watch it for the plot? Thought not. It's epic but sadly lacking in Chuck thus far.

I'm Chuck Bass and I'm the sexiest man alive.

Just life :)

(Except we have rats. As in, the verminous scrabbly germy grey rodent type of RATS. Which is disgusting so I'm carefully not thinking about it.)

Today I am a chef,

Confronted with a half a tub of leftover chilli, a few stale(ish) tortillas and half a bag of doritos...what do you get?

NACHO WRAPS!

Seriously, it was a bit of a random decision to put cheese and a layer of crushed doritos in my chilli-wrap combination, but its one of my more genius eccentric streaks. Whaddyaknow, it actually tasted pretty good.

Of course I don't have a picture, what do you think I am, organised?

Nah.

I'm here again.

1.   When I get a day to myself I like to: In an ideal world, loaf around on the internets, have some lunch, do a bit of shopping and a bit of reading...in the real world, catch up on the little things that slip through the net...tidy my room, paint the skirting boards, sort out my filing system for college...get organised! Ah, the satisfaction. I actually don't remember the last time I had a free day.

2.  High school was...only last year! And it was by turns epic and totally shit, usually the latter...eh, I can't knock the place. College is way, way better.

3.  A little dream I have is: to watch the sunrise at Stonehenge on the summer solstice. This isn't something I share with people because I know it's full of naked, dreadlocked weirdos high on mushrooms, but I can put up with them for the magic of standing amongst the stones...on my birthday :)

4.  A big dream I have is: big dreams are for big people. I'm a little people :)

5.  If I could drive any car my pick would be: urgh, cars! I'm so rubbish at them! All though I do have a bit of a craving for a beaten up old Land Rover, the sort with benches in the back; then I can get a dog and it can live in my boot.

6.  A time that I felt really and truly beautiful was: New Years Eve last year. My hair just turned out perfect, and I'd just lost a bunch of weight, and I managed my makeup, and I was wearing this hotstuff black lace dress. I just felt so good looking. Maybe not beautiful though because that implies a soul-level depth I don't have.


7.  Tomorrow I will...be working like the pro I am. Then urgently cramming in some theory revision. Sigh.

See ya Friday loverrs :)

Emma x

(P.S, I do have another post in the offing but it's actually quite difficult to write :/)

In which I discover I am a battery farmed chicken.

1) Last night I read Marina Lewycka's Two Caravans, which I liked and disliked. For lots of reasons I won't go into now because, er, they're boring. But it brought back alot of imagery about the poultry industry...you know, electrical zappity zap, skin the skin, no space to move, et cetera*

*I should probably explain that my best friends are a group of 4 hardened vegetarians who've explained the horrors of battery farming to me a million times. Hence the flippancy.

But today I was thinking about chickens, and my sister announced she'd turned down a date with another guy, and I was watching the Big School Lottery and all my thoughts collided like this,
PAKOW.

Oh, thanks, blogger, for the unintentional italics.

Anyway, here comes the convoluted metaphor:

Academic pressure turns alot of people into battery chickens. They're prepped and prepared for a career as a high-end chicken fillet, but when they're sitting in the barn, being fed knowledge like chicken feed, it's unhealthy: ever heard about how battery chickens' legs are underformed, brittle and breakable, and they don't hold up their own weight? Even whilst their bodies are expanding and becoming turkey twizzlers.

Er...chicken twizzlers...

Anyway, I'm discovering that the metaphor applies to my life, in the sense that I've sacrificed a social life and a love life for the sake of academics. And I haven't even finished college yet! But I can see where it's going.

The thing is, I know that it doesn't have to be like this. Free range farming for the win, baby, I was born to run ;)

Emma xxx 

The moment you realise you're pretty much a grownup.

Yesterday I was really ill.
Like, fully feverish, shivering, sweating, duvet-on-the-sofa type ill. Nasty. I recovered a bit in the evening, enough to actually take in Enrique Iglesias crooning Hero to me.

(And when I say to me, what I mean is to 60,000 people at Twickenham and about 2million viewers at home. But I'm pretty sure it was aimed at me. Swoon.)

PEOPLE GOT TO TOUCH HIS SEXY FACE

Oh lordy, where was I?

Oh yeah! This morning I woke up with a conundrum. Because I'd had one day off school, I was almost an entire weeks' work behind. But I couldn't take a day off to catch up...because I'd fall much further behind...

So yeah, first opportunity to have a day off school since I was TWELVE GODDAMN YEARS OLD (I have a steel lined immune system. My mom says its because I was breastfed.) and what do I do? Like I good student, I trek into school.

Sigh.

Emma x

Feeling patriotic, feeling kinda sick.

Anyway, tonight was Last Night of the Proms.

I WOULD TALK MORE ABOUT THIS BUT AMERICANS CAN BE SUCH TWATS!
Fucking hell. Racist bigots.
And I'm talking about the protesters, not the general population of the country.
Ugh ugh ugh.

Anyway, to calm yourself down, I suggest you mosey yourself over to iplayer or whatever and watch the Benjamin Britten arrangement of God Save The Queen. Don't sing along or anything. Just listen.

It will make you happy.

(It's not on youtube yet or I'd link y'all up.)

Anyway, I just think it's beautiful to see a display of mankind of many, many ethnicities all coming together just to sing. Even if you disagree with the concept of celebrating Britain's often brutal and bloody past. What's being celebrated is our country, our people, our diversity; the traditions that we see copied across the globe (tea is so cool these days!) the new things we try...and things we get wrong, too.

All I'm trying to say is that I'm proud of our England, proud of my national identity, and proud to stand with my hand on my heart and sing God save our gracious queen, long live our noble queen...long may she reign.

Emma xxx

(Please excuse my rampant patriotism. You know how I roll.)


 

Hello Friday! You've taken long enough to come around. Seriously, the first week back at college was the longest one ever. Anyway, here's a few blanks to keep you going over the weekend. Thanks Lauren! 

1. The strangest thing I've ever eaten is: erm...nothing, really :) I'm a conservative nommer.

2. I wouldn't be caught dead in: those calf length skirts that seem to be de rigeur at the moment. You look like you're in Little House on the Prairie.

3. When I am 75 I will...wear a purple dress and a red hat that doesn't match. Or is it the other way round? Anyway I intend to be utterly eccentric, to make awkward conversation with everyone in the supermarket, do hip things with the grandkids and ramble on for hours about the internet revolution. And ting.


4. If I had to be named after a place I would want to be named: Wow, we're at the height of randomness now. I have no idea :D I think it would be cool to be India.


5. My name is: Emma Rose Crighton. Means nothing, but I like it because Emma can basically be anybody, girlie, tomboy, clever, thick...whatever?


6. My all time favorite photo is: this!



It just reminds me of a fantastic day,
and my hair was epic,
and we were just happy as Larry :)

7. If I could afford it I would: pay off all the mortgages and loans and tuition fees my parents will be paying over the next few years. Boring I know, but sadly probably the best usage of money i can think of.

So that's that one done! Things I have enjoyed this week:

• Rediscovering old music 
• Eating cupcakes ten to the dozen thanks to somebody's 18th :)
• Eating out three days in a row for the same reason. (Here ...they have an excellent vegetarian menu. I personally opted for half a dead cow and some bacon on top, for the bargain price of about 5 quid due to half price vouchers from t'internet.)
• Vintage finds from the charity shop thanks to payday...and an exceedingly warm men's cashmere jumper for the bargain price of six of you finest british pounts. 

 Things I have found infuriating:

•  I personally think that if Rev. Terry Jones, creator of the inspired "National Burn A Koran" day really wants to burn the qu'ran, we should burn him. Over a barbeque. Preferably using the tongs of religious tolerance and dressed using an I-don't-tar-all-muslims-with-the-same brush. Twat. Wonder how he'd feel if I announced I was going to burn Bibles to protest the continued influence of religious doctrine in the education of children in America as well as here?
• The use of "indie" "quirky" songs in adverts. I mean really, one is okay. But I swear the bandwagon has been jumped on enough now. The straw that broke the bullfrog's back was this one:

Although the stop motion ones look EPIC.

Oooh I do get heated when it comes to hot topics! All in all my week hasn't been too bad :D

Emma x

My slightly stressful but actually rather rewarding day.

6.55am: recieve text from best friend and dance-teaching partner - "not coming in today, ill, sorry :( good luck!"
7.00am: realise I have to lead the first session of Junior Dance completely alone...and I haven't choreographed a dance yet.
7.00am-7.30am: panix!
11.35am - head to the dance studio in my free. scroll through my ipod aimlessly.
11.45am - sudden flash of inspiration! start choreographing.
12.30pm - finally finish choreographing.
12.35pm - the first kids come in, we are a go-go!

Oh, but it was pretty darn good :) I did a dance to Lady Marmalade, about 30 people showed up and I think it went okay! I really do!

Phew.

I do know how to leave things until the last minute.

Emma x

OH YOUTH :D

So today my friend posted this very old photo on Facebook, of myself (a droit) and another friend on a residential, aged twelve. And with a sudden shot of remembrance, something appeared in my brain which I'd completely forgotten.

THIS 

Is the funniest thing alive. It's my old Windows Live blog, and I was so...so completely unlike me, it's shocking.

But hey, I've officially been blogging since April 2005. Ahead of the times or what?!

Particularly amusing extracts:

On Daddy Long Legs season.
 
"Nia is terrified, bless er. Dey r annoyin, no? In facto, they suck. Las nite, rite, i heard this scrabblin on the ceilin abuvv my ed. I ws TERRIFIED coz I thought it was a mouse. So I finally plucked up the courage to turn the readin lite on and lo and behold, a daddy long legged fellow is on my wall. So y know. Nia droppd er apple becoz of those things...... "

On life itself:

"Life, life, life. Its a wonderful thing. Its gt chocolate and grapes and Charmed and clouds, and earwigs and France and hair dye and New York and so on. Ye, wed all b lost without life. Genrali speakin."

On being cool:

"N nehoo, who sez wats kool n wats not?! coz i mean if evry1 was wearin wooly bikinis 2 awards shos, wud peeps fink dat woz kool? Man, iv gt so menny forts!yah, how cums studyin aint kool. I no its borin n evryfin bt so is eatin salad evry day to look fin 2 b cool! Ok mebbe its a bit diffrent bt hey..."

As you can see, I was an inspiring, eloquent and interesting writer from a young age.

Man, iv gt so menny forts!

*snorts*

Emma x

If in doubt...

hit the beach!

Today was one of those weird coincidences where all of my family had the day off. And we decided to introduce my dog to the beach!

We went to Brean, which is at the moment a relatively quite place with sand and fish and chips and a nice long hill walk...eh, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Me and the littl'un (she's still little to me!) on the beach. My hair = mental.

Delight from she as she discovers that the bottle of water she just bought HAS HER NAME ON IT.

Windswept tree is windswept.

I have a fondness for men's jumpers and posing as if I'm G.

Shock! Horror! I discover the macro button! Still, I ate like a hundred of these. 'Elf and safety? To hell with health and safety!

I'm looking outta'a window.

This is a WWII lookout post...or something. We went on a verrrrrry long walk to reach this point.

"Hold on, let me just do up Moss's rucksack." The point at which we realise my Dad == Moss from the IT Crowd.

Dog.

So I've basically just had a lovely day :) Family time is soo important and I swear we never get it these days, what with me working/at college 6 days out of 7, and my parents out of the house 7 till 7, 6 days a week. Any time left over tends to get devoted to the obvious things, housework and homework and cooking...so it's nice that when we get time we can do special things like this :)

Emma x

Dimanche discoveries.

Okay so I didn't discover this on a dimanche, really, but Hipster Hitler is making me laugh at the moment.

Its irrereverent...slightly inappropriate...but hilarious :)

(Admittedly part of the reason I'm writing this is because I'm watching The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit from Season 2 of Dr Who, which up until Season 5 was my favourite, and it's scaring me a little bit. Don't ask me why because I don't know why.
It just.
Is.)

X Factor 2010

Oh lordy,
why are the Birmingham auditions always so bad? It's absolutely hilarious.
Absolutely hilarious.

Oh my god, I've never laughed so hard in my entire life. We've had nerds trying Take That, old people in high-heeled boots...argh.

Plus, pleasingly enough, a few good'uns:





"Oooh, I like his voice."
"He's fit, but his speaking voice is horrible."
"How old is he?"
"16."
"Aw shit, that officially makes me a pervert. Never mind, I only like his voice anyway."

Seriously though, how mature is his voice?? If he was like, two years older, (and looked two years older) yum.



She's kind of annoying, but credits to her for picking such a unique audition song. I like her.

Top fellaz. See, we create talent!

Also exciting fact. Remember Mary Byrne from a few weeks ago? The Irish one who worked in Tesco?

I was watching my Every Little Helps training video at work today and there she was! Doing those fakey smiles and selling stuff.

Awesome.

Eh, no title.

You know what it is. You do know! I've been filling them in since the dawn of time.

 

1.  If I didn't have to work anymore I would: basically just not have enough money to go on holidays. Or go shopping, fun things like that. Because er, I only work on a Saturday :)

2.  My favorite thing about a vacation is: pushing all of your to-do list to one side and just ignoring it all and enjoying yourself. Reading lots of books. The beach. Sightseeing and being wowed. Taking photos. Reading maps and getting lost in new places. Excitment, packing lists, sunburn, air sickness, foreign taxis...argh it's all so exciting!

3.  When packing for a trip I: viciously underpack because I'm terrified of going over the baggage limit. This year I packed half as much for twice as long as my friends and weighed 12kg, which was 8kg under the limit. Admittedly I wore a bikini for most of the holiday anyway :)

4.  If I could go on a road trip with anyone (dead OR alive) I would choose: honestly? Truly? My sister. Famous people are cool but she's the one I'd get along with the most.

5.  My top 3 absolute travel essentials are: book, camera, aftersun. Book because reading on holiday is the best thing ever. Camera because what's a good holiday without the pictures to look at afterwards? And aftersun because I burn like a baby and it comes in pretty handy!

6.  Vacations are: the absolute best thing ever.

7.  On vacation you must always: be a tourist. Eh, it's fun to see the tourist things!

Thanks Lauren!

Anyway, on a fashion note...have you seen beautiful, practical, vintage-y, pocket-filled just everywhere at the moment? Because I am. And they're gorgeous. It all started for me with Gala's blog about the contents of her handbag. A post which, predictably, I can't find now. But never mind! It looked like this:

But with her name embossed in silver along the top. Ohh, I fell in love! Unfortunately, without £85.00 to spare, I was stuck.

Then along came Primark with their version:

An ebay flipper is selling this for £13 over the original price. Cads! Fiends! Don't buy it :P

 Which at £9 was much closer to my original aim, if a little tacky looking and everybody, and I mean everybody has it.

So I was comfortable with that for a while, until I started seeing others. Nicer ones, structured, less shiny, less baggy, more...satchelly. 
(Oh, and my Primark one broke.)
So in desperation I checked into the British Heart Foundation shop today, looking for a cheap, temporary bag and looky! A small-ish black satchel, only a bit worn, for the cheap, CHEAP price of five of your british pounds!

There would be pictures but everything is being a gay, so there's not. Enjoy the silence.

Loves for thrifting!

Emma xxx

Mumford and sons, seahorses and coincidences.

This song is one of the songs that you play to yourself over and over and over again.

Anyway! I was thinking about seahorses, as you do. Note - this has nothing to do with the song. I'm just listening to it at the moment. As most of you know, male seahorses carry the babies to full term and then pop them out one by one.
Nearly two hundred at a time by the way, and we think we have it bad!
Anyway, I was watching a Youtube video of a pregnant seahorse giving birth, and I thought wow. The universe is so complex and so beautiful, that something as weird and as fantastic as this is just a footnote in the human brain. We occasionally think about it and that's it.
Another thing: we never think about why women's menstrual cycles coincide with the moon. I googled it and it's just a coinkydink apparently, but still. Something else fascinating and completely useless.

Where am I going with this?
1) The world is big and beautiful and wonderful in its complexity.
2) Seahorses are really weird. So are women ;)


Definately filing this one under random thoughts.

Emma xxx

Also as another bizarre footnote...I once drew a pregnant seahorse. WHICH IS STUPID BECAUSE SHE WAS A WOMAN AND I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER.