To Love Or Not To Love?

Hello!

You would think, as a Literature student, I should love all Literature and should especially have an appreciation for Shakespeare, buuuut I don't.

In fact, I have more of a hatred for Shakespeare than a love for him.

I have read a large majority of his work, having studied it since I was about thirteen, including: 

Much Ado About Nothing

Othello

Macbeth

As You Like It

A Midsummer's Night Dream

Hamlet

And, of course, Romeo and Juliet (who hasn't read that? Or at least watched the movie? Not many I bet) 

There are plenty more I've read too but this list is getting too long already.

 I can tell you which ones of those is a tragedy, which a comedy, or which is a mixture of both but I can't say I genuinely enjoyed any of them.

The fact that it takes me longer to decipher what he's actually trying to say than it does to read the whole play from back to front is probably a big reason for my disliking of his work. 

When I've seen performances of the play, although they're still not the best thing I've ever seen, I haven't minded them so much but I feel like all I do when I'm studying the book is try to get my head around the words used and then I end up not knowing what's going on because I've spent too long on translating the language!

Don't get me wrong, Shakespeare sounds like he was an awesome dude and he definitely had a lot of imaginative, creative ideas, for his time, but I don't get why he's still considered to be so great and why his writing is so prestigious... Just my opinion though.

I'd love to know what you think?

Katie x

The Top 25...

Hello!

I like all kinds of different music but, because I'm super nice, I thought I'd let you have a little insight into my top 25 most played songs, on my iTunes... I'm just going to get started or this could end up being a very long post.

Starting at the bottom, then!

25.

Cemetery 
 Charlie Simpson

24.

When I Look At You 
 Miley Cyrus 
(Yes, I like Miley Cyrus - new and old!)

23.

Salvation 
 Gabrielle Aplin

(She has such an amazing and beautiful voice, well worth a listen)

22.

Little Black Dress 
 One Direction

21.

Next to Me (Radio 1's Live Lounge Version) 
 Emeli Sande
(I didn't think it was possible but, she sounds even more amazing live)

20.

Dear Photograph 
 Lilygreen & Maguire

19.

Walk
Foo Fighters
(A bit more rocky than the others, I know. What can I say - I like to surprise people)

18.

A Drop In the Ocean 
 Ron Pope

17.

Great Escape
Mike Dignam

16.

Sexy Lady 
 Jessie J 
(Seriously one of the best feel good songs ever... For the ladies anyway!)

15.

Without You 
 Glee Cast

14.

I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off
 Fall Out Boy

13.

Don't Wanna Miss A Thing
Aerosmith

12.

Wanted 
 Hunter Hayes

11.

Cry Me A River
Michael Buble
(Love his voice sooo much! I wish he could just sing me to sleep every night)

10.

What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) 
 Kelly Clarkson 
 665 Plays
(If you need a song to pick you up and motivate you, this is it)

9.

Mr Brightside
The Killers
 757 Plays

8.

The One 
 Olly Murs 
 801 Plays

7.

Already Gone 
 Kelly Clarkson 
 841 Plays

6.

Wide Awake
Glee Cast 
844 Plays
(I like Glee, so what? They do some amazing covers; I like some better than the originals!)

5.

The Writer 
 Ellie Goulding 
 846 Plays

4.

Read All About It (Pt. III) 
 Emeli Sande 
 933 Plays

3.

Sleeping With the Light On 
 Busted 
 1282 Plays

2.

Thunder 
 Jessie J 
 1579 Plays

1.

Always Tomorrow 
 Shane Filan 
 A whopping 2640 Plays!

AND

Pumped Up Kicks (Cover)
Lilygreen & Maguire
Also on 2640 Plays!

So there is a little insight into my iTunes library - quite the privilege really! A bit of an eclectic collection! If you were to see my Top 50, you would probably give me a lot of funny looks - it goes from Panic! At the Disco to Disney, at one point!

Katie x

A Mid Week Pick-Me-Up #2

Hello!

I did a post like this last week and I really enjoyed it, so I thought why not do it again!

(If you missed last weeks then click HERE to give it a quick read).

When it gets to the middle of the week, I always feel like I'm need of a good pick-me-up or something to simply spur me on.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." - Vivian Greene

This is just an amazing quote, in my opinion! 

This, to me, just means don't let anything hold you back. If you have to do something new to get you to where you need to be then go for it, dance in the rain! I can't dance to save my life, I just look like a really awkward... I don't know... giraffe. I look like a really awkward giraffe. Yep. That about sums me up. It doesn't stop me from dancing though! In fact, I probably dance way more than any person with my coordination should...

I hear dancing in the rain can be pretty amazing too, although it probably results in one hell of a cold afterwards but it would be worth it! Don't let something as meager as a storm hold you back when it's something that you can make the most of and fight through, you just have to be willing to try.

Katie x 

The Unsung Luxuries

Hello!

I've been home for exactly a week now and, I must say, there are some luxuries which I have definitely missed whilst I've been at uni.

1.

Baths

Baths galore! I don't understand how someone can't love to unwind in a heavenly, hot bath, that's just crazy. I would live in the bath if that were possible... I couldn't deal with the prune-like skin though. Having only the option of showers since September has definitely given me more appreciation for my relaxing bath and book time!

2.

My Own Bed

Oh man, how I've missed my bed! I know that my bed at uni was technically 'mine' but it wasn't a double bed and it was definitely not as comfy as my luxuriously sized cushioned bed, with a big fluffy duvet that I can wrap myself in and stay happily cosy for the whole day.

3.

The Little Ones (obviously)

How could I not miss my babies like crazy? I hate missing seeing all of them grow up because it feels like everyday something new happens with them - at the minute, Daisy's favourite word is "shooooooes" - and as for the older ones, they're just getting way too clever! I should be able to answer the math's questions a nine year old poses to me - apparently not!

4.

Unlimited Food Supplies

I will never take food for granted again! At home, food is limitless (to a certain extent, anyway). If I want extra cheese, I can just go get it. Or if I fancy a yoghurt, I can go get that too! At uni I couldn't have that extra cheese because, much to my horror, cheese costs a hell of a lot of money when it's not your parents paying for it! Also, I don't have to wash the dishes every night because I'm rarely the only one eating, yippee!

5.

The Laundry Problems

I no longer have those horrible problems of "I don't want to pay £2 just to wash a jumper" because there tends to be enough laundry in our house to make a full load and I don't have to pay £2 every time I have to do it, which means I can where my favourite jumper whenever I want!

At least I can say I fully appreciate the unsung and unappreciated luxuries now!

Katie x

Music Crush #1

Hello!

I've had an idea... Not always a good thing, I know, but hear me out.

On a previous blog I shared with my friend, we did a weekly music crush and I was thinking of starting it again on here, because I really enjoy sharing what my current musical loves are and there are tons of them. 

However, to try and switch it up a bit, because I listen to all sorts of different music all the time, I thought I could do a weekly music crush and then in the last week of a month do a mini playlist of all my favourite songs that month, as a round-up type thing... Let me know if this floats your boat, tickles your pickle, dings your dong, blah, blah, blah, or if you'd just prefer it to be a music crush every week or just a playlist at the end of the month... Yeah... Let me know!

So, getting down to the business!

I have so many favourite songs all the time, and I know every week I'm going to face the difficult decision of having to just pick one but it's good for me to exercise my decision making skills every so often... Right?

This weeks Music Crush was easy though!

Drum roll, please!

Sam Smith

~~~

Stay With Me

I love, love, love this song!

Who would have thought that anybody could make a one-night-stand sound romantic? Well, Sam Smith certainly thought he could and he sure did.

It's a beautiful song and the lyrics are equally as beautiful, even though I'm very aware of how strange that must sound when you think of the topic of the song but they really are.

Take a listen, I know you'll love it.

Katie x

5 Things That Make Me Happy

Hello!

There are a lot of things that make me happy but here are just five - my indecisiveness made it extremely difficult to narrow it down to just five, but I've done it, finally!

1.

Books!

How can books not make you happy?! You get to imagine this whole new place and get overly-attached to characters and ahhh! I just LOVE books.

2.

The Little Ones

The little babies in my family never fail to make me smile. I told you all about taking the Daisy out the other day in THIS post and it was the happiest day I've had in ages because I can't not be happy when I see that cheeky little smile on her face (super mushy, I know!).

3.

Sunshine
I know a lot of people say sunshine makes them happy but when you live somewhere where sun is practically non-existent you crave every minute of sun you can get and you always appreciate it! So sun makes me extremely happy!

4.

Pajama Days

I know a lot of people say you should get up, get dressed and ready for the day every day but that just doesn't float my boat! I love the days when I have nothing planned and I can stay in my pj's and sit in bed with some tasty snacks and a book. Lazy days are perfect.

5.

Writing

When I can write for pleasure. Not to meet a deadline or because somebody wants me to - because I want to. That's when it makes me the happiest little bee around!

As you can see, it doesn't take much to keep me happy!

Katie x

The Cute Days

Hello!

I am loving being back at home because it means so many of those cute days that I just love!

Yesterday I took Daisy Doo (her name isn't actually Daisy Doo - it's just Daisy but we add the 'Doo' on the end because, well, why not), my goddaughter, out for the day and it was soooo cute! Or maybe it was just her that was cute... Whatever the case, she made the whole day cute! Basically, there was a whole lot of cuteness!

Her sisters were off to see One Direction with their Mama, so it meant I got to spoil her for the whole day!

It's beautiful weather at home (for once) and there was no way we weren't going to make the most of it, so we ended up at the park. Of course, I took tons of pictures but here are just a few (we'd be here all day if I posted them all!).

It's days like this that I've missed since going to uni and I can't wait for more!

Katie x