Living in the moment is something I'm not an expert at. Yes, of course I can live in the here and now, experience life as it comes and be spontaneous but I don't do that as much as I plan. I love planning. Everything. I make plans to make plans.
I can never be fully satisfied with where I am currently in my life, I always want to be 1 year, 5 years, 10 years in the future. Sometimes it's hard for me to be patient and I wish I could skip time but then I check back into reality and think about all the things I would miss out on.
In my weird futuristic life I've already graduated and I'm living in London in an awesome flat with some really cool friends. Possibly YouTubers because I like being surrounded by creative, intelligent, internet people. I'll be doing some really interesting work in social media or presenting a sex education show on television. Oh and then after living in London for a bit I'll get a job in New York and live in Brooklyn for a couple years. Then by 26/27 I'll move back to an as-of-yet-undecided big city in England and start planning the rest of my life.
But alas, I still have 2 years of university left. These are supposed to be the best days of my life so why do I have the mentality that I'm just sitting around waiting for my real life to begin?
Am I crazy? Do other people do this? Well, I know that my dad does. That's where I get it from.
Hannah
25 Jul 2012
6 Jun 2012
Student Stereotypes
I've finished my first year at university and boy has it gone fast.
Before I came to uni I made this video talking about the different student stereotypes:
And now after I've experienced a full year being a uni student, we're going to see how I compare to the different stereotypes I talked about (watch the video first if you're confused).
1. The Studious Student
Although you only need to pass your first year (40%), I still like to try my best. I never missed lectures because I'd been out the night before or just through pure laziness- I only missed two when I was in London for a Channel 4 thing (priorities).
2. The Party Animal Student
I like going out clubbing but I only go about once a week (which is not a lot for a uni student). I do find myself in the pub a lot though.
3. The Gap Year Student
It's a given that if you put a bunch of people together who spent a year out of education doing whatever the hell they liked that they'll all talk about it. The novelty wore off after a while though.
4. The Societies Student
So in my first year I joined the History Society (duh), FilmSoc and as of a few weeks ago I'm now a member of Footnotes (the comedy society). I'm on the committee for FilmSoc, I'm a blogger for the Arts & Culture department of BurnFM (radio) and my friends and I have set up our own blog, We Play Fair. It seems like a lot but I want to get even more involved next year! I want to go to more comedy gigs and maybe try out stand-up myself, I want to volunteer for Sexpression who go round secondary schools teaching kids sex education (right up my street) and I want to dance and play tennis. Hmm...
5. The Political Student
We get to pick one module to study that's not part of our degree and I chose a politics module. I went to one protest on campus but I was more of a bystander and listener. Most of my political activity is online.
So what do you reckon I am? If you're a student do you fit into any of these categories? Or if you'll be a uni student soon, which one do you think you'll be?
Two more years to go!
Hannah
Before I came to uni I made this video talking about the different student stereotypes:
And now after I've experienced a full year being a uni student, we're going to see how I compare to the different stereotypes I talked about (watch the video first if you're confused).
1. The Studious Student
Although you only need to pass your first year (40%), I still like to try my best. I never missed lectures because I'd been out the night before or just through pure laziness- I only missed two when I was in London for a Channel 4 thing (priorities).
2. The Party Animal Student
I like going out clubbing but I only go about once a week (which is not a lot for a uni student). I do find myself in the pub a lot though.
3. The Gap Year Student
It's a given that if you put a bunch of people together who spent a year out of education doing whatever the hell they liked that they'll all talk about it. The novelty wore off after a while though.
4. The Societies Student
So in my first year I joined the History Society (duh), FilmSoc and as of a few weeks ago I'm now a member of Footnotes (the comedy society). I'm on the committee for FilmSoc, I'm a blogger for the Arts & Culture department of BurnFM (radio) and my friends and I have set up our own blog, We Play Fair. It seems like a lot but I want to get even more involved next year! I want to go to more comedy gigs and maybe try out stand-up myself, I want to volunteer for Sexpression who go round secondary schools teaching kids sex education (right up my street) and I want to dance and play tennis. Hmm...
5. The Political Student
We get to pick one module to study that's not part of our degree and I chose a politics module. I went to one protest on campus but I was more of a bystander and listener. Most of my political activity is online.
So what do you reckon I am? If you're a student do you fit into any of these categories? Or if you'll be a uni student soon, which one do you think you'll be?
Two more years to go!
Hannah
21 Apr 2012
Personality Crisis?
So me and my friends were trying to psycho-analyse ourselves according to the Myers Briggs method.
Pick between each of these options (look them up if you don't know what each characteristic means exactly- we had to!)
You can either do a silly online quiz or work out for yourself what you are and then the end result will be FOUR LETTERS.
You may have heard of it but if not here is a quick low down:
Pick between each of these options (look them up if you don't know what each characteristic means exactly- we had to!)
Extroverted (E) OR Introverted (I)
Sensing (S) OR Intuition (N)
Thinking (T) OR Feeling (F)
Judging (J) OR Perceiving (P)
Sensing (S) OR Intuition (N)
Thinking (T) OR Feeling (F)
Judging (J) OR Perceiving (P)
You can either do a silly online quiz or work out for yourself what you are and then the end result will be FOUR LETTERS.
I couldn't decide between two different outcomes-
ENFJ - The Mentor
OR
ENFP - The Advocate
OR
ENFP - The Advocate
"ENFJs are externally focused, introspective, altruistic, positive and have excellent people skills. They place utmost importance on helping others grow. They are warm and have a natural desire to be supportive and encouraging. Being charismatic and possessing excellent language skills, they do well in leadership roles. ENFJs strive to enhance the lives of their human brethren."
"ENFPs are introspective, values-oriented, inspiring, social and extremely expressive. They actively send their thoughts and ideas out into the world as a way to bring attention to what they feel to be important, which often has to do with ethics and current events. ENFPs are natural advocates, attracting people to themselves and their cause with excellent people skills, warmth, energy and positivity. ENFPs are described as creative, resourceful, assertive, spontaneous, life-loving, charismatic, passionate and experimental."
Each individual characteristic of ENFJ suits me better but the overall description of an ENFP person just felt like it was describing me. Clearly, I'm a confused person now and I have no sense of identity. Oh help me. Personality crisis.
Anyway, the point of this post was just to share with you my love for personality quizzes and psycho-analysing myself. Do you do it to? Which personality type do you think you are? Or do you think it's all rubbish and we shouldn't waste our time on things like these?
Hannah
Information from http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/
17 Apr 2012
YouTube & Gender
Just
from the title I bet a lot of you will have dismissed this post to be just some
other rant about feminism. But please keep reading- this is going to be
different.
But this here is what makes me
angry. My friend Bing’s recent Future Bing video showed him and all his YouTube
friends all hanging out together. And that’s awesome, I love it when YouTubers
all get together! They kept saying in the video that ‘the whole of YouTube’ was
in Bing’s house and I couldn’t help notice that they were all male. So then
this happened:
One
of the special things about YouTube is the fact that content is user generated.
This means that no matter who you are, where you’re from, what religion, gender
or race you are, as long as you have internet access you can be a content
creator. It’s a completely equal platform; no-one gets an automatic head start
because of their social situation.
So
why is then that men are more successful than women on YouTube? Don’t judge,
hear me out. I’m not saying this in a disapproving or angry way, more just in a
‘this is a thing’ way. Men do better. I’m not saying that there aren’t any
successful women on YouTube, look at JennaMarbles, DailyGrace and Hannah from
My Drunk Kitchen, but there are just more
men.
My
main theory as to why this happens is because most of the people who subscribe
and watch videos are young girls and they’re more likely to subscribe to guys-
I, myself, am probably subscribed to more men than women. But I don’t have a
problem with that, I love all the people I’m subscribed to. I just think this
topic is really interesting and I’m not having a go at anybody.
Seriously,
Bing?! Harsh. What exactly is ‘that person’ anyway?
A
thing that I find quite frustrating is when a woman makes a comment along the
lines of gender and a man takes this as a personal attack. We don’t hate you!
In fact, Bing, I fucking love you, I think you’re amazing. And the same goes to
everyone else in that video: Jack, Tom, Khyan, Tim, Jamie, Matt – seriously,
you’re all awesome. I have no problem with you all being successful YouTubers,
you’re talented and you all deserve it. So Bing, please know that I wasn’t
attacking you so don’t get all defensive. I was actually hoping for it to spark
an interesting discussion and I know you’re good at them, but not when you
dismiss what I said with a rude comment like that.
So,
I’d really like to just have an open discussion. Why do you think men are more
successful on YouTube? Or do you think that it’s actually pretty equal? And
what do you think about how men and women react to comments made about gender?
Let’s
not be mean and attack each other, let’s have an interesting open debate.
Hannah
29 Mar 2012
Project Perfect
My last post about body image had a really good response and so when my friend Mandy wrote a piece for her blog talking about her body likes and dislikes, I thought I'd follow on from my last post and write about my personal body image issues.
As she said in her post, I'm not fishing for compliments- this is about sharing the fact that not everyone is "perfect" and we all have body hangups which just makes us human. Every part of our bodies, whether we like them or not, are what makes us unique and gorgeous!
Here we go...
1. Post a picture of yourself
2. State three things you DISLIKE about yourself
3. State three things you LIKE about yourself
I dislike-
1. My height- I'm 5 feet small (152.4cm). It's impossible to find jeans that fit and skirts and dresses always drown me and make me look even shorter. Also, my stomach is pretty much non-existant.
2. My thighs- They're short and they're big. Shopping for jeans is a nightmare- nothing will fit over my thighs!
3. My eyebrows- They're big, messy and ugly. I even I have big gap in one of them which is a chicken pox scar and it just looks weird. I pluck and pencil them in but I guess I'll never be completely happy with them.
I like-
1. My waist- I have a tiny waist and I love it! When tops and dresses nip in at the waist and really show off my curves, it makes me feel extremely confident.
2. My eyes- I love my eyes. They're big and brown. They're so dark brown that sometimes it's impossible to find my pupils.
3. My boobs- I'm not going to go into any specifics but I have massive boobs. Although, it means there are a lot of clothes that I simply can't wear, with a good bra and the right clothes I can make my boobs look awesome!
So what are your body likes and dislikes? Write a similar post if you like and share!
Hannah
8 Mar 2012
Body Image
The UK newspaper, The Guardian, often holds 'comment is free' competitions where they pick a controversial issue and ask readers to write 250 words about it and then the best ones are published.
Back in January the topic was 'body image' and I felt compelled to write something about this because I have quite a strong opinion on this issue and it affects so many people. I know my writing style isn't very professional or journalistic so I wasn't surprised when my entry wasn't picked. However, I still think it's an important message to spread so I'm going to share it with you here.
[Disclaimer: I talk about female body image here, this does not mean I'm saying that men don't face similar problems, because they do.]
Girl body image is complex, frustrating and baffling. Everybody worries about the way they look, and if you disagree and say that you’re completely happy with your appearance then I’ll tell you that you are lying. To make ourselves feel better we’re told to be comfortable in our own skin and that appearance doesn’t matter and it’s what’s on the inside that counts. However, that’s not true is it? At least not for women. Society places an unhealthy amount of importance on aesthetic and no matter how much you dye your hair, do your make-up or dress differently at the bottom of it all a person cannot change how they look. So why do we measure a person’s worth by something we are born with and can’t alter?
Back in January the topic was 'body image' and I felt compelled to write something about this because I have quite a strong opinion on this issue and it affects so many people. I know my writing style isn't very professional or journalistic so I wasn't surprised when my entry wasn't picked. However, I still think it's an important message to spread so I'm going to share it with you here.
[Disclaimer: I talk about female body image here, this does not mean I'm saying that men don't face similar problems, because they do.]
Girl body image is complex, frustrating and baffling. Everybody worries about the way they look, and if you disagree and say that you’re completely happy with your appearance then I’ll tell you that you are lying. To make ourselves feel better we’re told to be comfortable in our own skin and that appearance doesn’t matter and it’s what’s on the inside that counts. However, that’s not true is it? At least not for women. Society places an unhealthy amount of importance on aesthetic and no matter how much you dye your hair, do your make-up or dress differently at the bottom of it all a person cannot change how they look. So why do we measure a person’s worth by something we are born with and can’t alter?
It’s no wonder that women, at all ages, feel pressurised
to look a certain way. I feel like I’m lucky in a sense being a petite size 8
with large boobs, however, there are other parts of me that are ‘wrong’, which
to me says that if I want to be a T.V presenter or in the public eye in any way
shape or form I’d need to be a lot taller, in fact I’d actually need smaller
boobs and skinnier legs would definitely boost my chances of success.
Naomi
Wolf’s ‘Beauty Myth’ still exists and makes women critique themselves so
harshly because they believe they don’t fit the mould that society has deemed
‘beautiful’. There needs to be ways to help women who punish themselves for not
looking how they believe they should. One way would be to represent more ‘real’
women in the media. However, we can say with a lot of confidence that it’s very
unlikely. How successful do you think The X Factor would be with two short,
size 14 women with un-plucked eyebrows sitting on the judges’ panel?
I'd love to get a discussion going so please let me know what you think in the comments. Is the media distorting our perception of 'beauty'? And let's not just keep the debate focused on women, we should open it up to the effects of the media on men's body image too.
Hannah
5 Jan 2012
YouTube Identity
This is something that I've been thinking a lot about lately but I'm not sure how much sense I'm going to make, so bare with me.
YouTube is a very complex place but for the sake of getting across my point we're going to split it up into categories. In terms of people who create content on the site I can see four main categories: vloggers, musicians, gurus and film makers. Now lets remove musicians and gurus from the equation because I am not musically talented in the slightest and I haven't a clue about make-up or how to do anything. So we have vloggers and film makers. (As I said before it's actually more complicated than this but just go with it).
Now I would probably fit in the 'vlogger' category. However, I don't consider myself a vlogger. I don't think I'm actually very good at talking to a camera. The best videos of mine (in my opinion) are ones where I barely say anything or it's a comedy sketch of some sort. Real vloggers are people who have something interesting to say on a topic or their life such as Owlssayhooot, Emilythebravee or OhItsJustKim. But not me. I don't think I could ever upload a video that is entirely three minutes of me talking.
[Just as a disclaimer, I love all those YouTubers and I'm not insulting just talking to a camera because I think their videos are fantastic. I just know I wouldn't be very good at it.]
So I'm not a 'vlogger'. But neither am I a 'film maker'. I don't know how to use fancy cameras, lighting and sound confuse me and I've just installed Final Cut Pro onto my MacBook but I'm too terrified to start using it. However, being a film maker on YouTube- so making nice looking videos containing a sketch with a story and a punchline- really appeals to me. From recently meeting and hanging out with people who do make awesome sketches on YouTube, I am more and more fascinated by that side of YouTube and its content creators. One day I would love to be able to make videos as good as Slomozovo and OMFGItsJackandDean. But for now I guess, I'll just take it slow and learn a little bit at a time. Who knows, maybe my friends will help me and teach me the ropes...
Did this make any sense to you? I really hope so. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I feel a bit lost. I don't really know where I belong on YouTube but hopefully one day I'll find where I fit in and I'll be the best that I can be.
Just out of curiosity, which genre of YouTube videos do you prefer? And which of mine do you prefer?
Hannah
YouTube is a very complex place but for the sake of getting across my point we're going to split it up into categories. In terms of people who create content on the site I can see four main categories: vloggers, musicians, gurus and film makers. Now lets remove musicians and gurus from the equation because I am not musically talented in the slightest and I haven't a clue about make-up or how to do anything. So we have vloggers and film makers. (As I said before it's actually more complicated than this but just go with it).
Now I would probably fit in the 'vlogger' category. However, I don't consider myself a vlogger. I don't think I'm actually very good at talking to a camera. The best videos of mine (in my opinion) are ones where I barely say anything or it's a comedy sketch of some sort. Real vloggers are people who have something interesting to say on a topic or their life such as Owlssayhooot, Emilythebravee or OhItsJustKim. But not me. I don't think I could ever upload a video that is entirely three minutes of me talking.
[Just as a disclaimer, I love all those YouTubers and I'm not insulting just talking to a camera because I think their videos are fantastic. I just know I wouldn't be very good at it.]
So I'm not a 'vlogger'. But neither am I a 'film maker'. I don't know how to use fancy cameras, lighting and sound confuse me and I've just installed Final Cut Pro onto my MacBook but I'm too terrified to start using it. However, being a film maker on YouTube- so making nice looking videos containing a sketch with a story and a punchline- really appeals to me. From recently meeting and hanging out with people who do make awesome sketches on YouTube, I am more and more fascinated by that side of YouTube and its content creators. One day I would love to be able to make videos as good as Slomozovo and OMFGItsJackandDean. But for now I guess, I'll just take it slow and learn a little bit at a time. Who knows, maybe my friends will help me and teach me the ropes...
Did this make any sense to you? I really hope so. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I feel a bit lost. I don't really know where I belong on YouTube but hopefully one day I'll find where I fit in and I'll be the best that I can be.
Just out of curiosity, which genre of YouTube videos do you prefer? And which of mine do you prefer?
Hannah
7 Dec 2011
Getting personal...
I said right at the start of making this blog that I wasn't sure how personal I wanted to make it. I feel like I can be extremely honest here and from the last couple posts you guys have made really interesting comments and I like the discussions we get going, especially on issues that mean a lot to me. So here's what I want to talk about today and please don't be scared. It's romance.
About 8 months ago I broke up with my long term boyfriend. It was my decision and I didn't regret it afterwards. I was living in a different country at the time and I guess I just didn't miss him as much as I should have. That was how I knew. Anyway, this is just background. Literally, since then I've been in a completely 'anti-romance' 'anti-relationship' phase and I've loved it! Except when I watch rom-coms because then I want to be sick over everybody. But generally the freedom and independence and just not having to worry about guys is amazing! This doesn't mean I've not been dating but I guess you could say I have commitment issues. But now, I think I'm growing out of this stage, I'm moving on and you know what? It terrifies me! It's as if I know I would be happy and comfortable in a relationship now but I'm too scared to actively go looking for one. Or something. I'm not quite sure, it's very difficult to articulate.
I know this seems extremely personal but I feel fine about putting it on the internet because it's all so vague. I am still very happy in my situation, however, I do believe that whatever situation you're in you should be happy. Otherwise, you need to change your situation immediately.
I hope it's not too personal, but what are your opinions on relationships/romance? Do you think it's overrated? Could you not live without it?
Hannah
P.S. I may gag at cheesy romantic moments in films but I think deep down, like really deap down, I'm jealous.
About 8 months ago I broke up with my long term boyfriend. It was my decision and I didn't regret it afterwards. I was living in a different country at the time and I guess I just didn't miss him as much as I should have. That was how I knew. Anyway, this is just background. Literally, since then I've been in a completely 'anti-romance' 'anti-relationship' phase and I've loved it! Except when I watch rom-coms because then I want to be sick over everybody. But generally the freedom and independence and just not having to worry about guys is amazing! This doesn't mean I've not been dating but I guess you could say I have commitment issues. But now, I think I'm growing out of this stage, I'm moving on and you know what? It terrifies me! It's as if I know I would be happy and comfortable in a relationship now but I'm too scared to actively go looking for one. Or something. I'm not quite sure, it's very difficult to articulate.
I know this seems extremely personal but I feel fine about putting it on the internet because it's all so vague. I am still very happy in my situation, however, I do believe that whatever situation you're in you should be happy. Otherwise, you need to change your situation immediately.
I hope it's not too personal, but what are your opinions on relationships/romance? Do you think it's overrated? Could you not live without it?
Hannah
P.S. I may gag at cheesy romantic moments in films but I think deep down, like really deap down, I'm jealous.
22 Oct 2011
Is religion dead?
I'm supposed to be writing an essay right now so I'm on the internet. Standard.
Following on from my last serious blog about sex education I'd like to carry on with this grown up talk. So the essay I've got to write is about secularisation in 20th century Europe, I never thought I'd find the history of religion interesting but hell it is.
I am Jewish but also an atheist. It's easy for me to self-define this way because there are so many parts of Judaism that I can celebrate for purely cultural or traditional reasons rather than religious. A bit like Christmas for most of society these days. More often than not we're celebrating being with our family, presents and a massive meal. We're not celebrating the birth of Jesus.
My upbringing was very interesting, I live in a part of Manchester which is stereotypically known to be very hippie, left wing, vegetarian etc... And it is also extremely atheist. Growing up and going to primary school and then secondary school I felt that religion was dead, it was never an issue that came up and none of my friends were religious. Then I went to sixth form college and I met my first Catholic and it was weird. I genuinely believed they didn't exist in Britain anymore. But hey it turns out they do and now one of my best friends is a Catholic and an ex-boyfriend of mine was also a Christian. However, in my world they were still a minority. Then I came to university and within my block in my halls of residence at least one fifth are Christian. Now this completely screwed over my little brain that told me almost everyone nowadays is an atheist. It really shows how being brought up in a certain way or a certain place can make you believe things about the world.
Being away from home and the environment I grew up in is really helping me learn things about the world that I otherwise would never have found out if I hadn't moved out.
I realise religion is a tricky topic and often people don't like to talk about their personal beliefs in public. However, I'd like to know if you ever had any preconceptions about the world and then you were proved wrong.
I hope you all have a good weekend and you don't have an essay to write like I do.
Hannah
3 Oct 2011
Sex
I am passionate about a lot of things and obviously as a human being sex is one of them. But, that's not what I want to talk about here. I want to talk about sex education.
I was educated in the UK in secular comprehensive schools and so my sex education growing up was a lot better than some people in say religious schools. In primary school we were taught about puberty, relationships and reproduction. In secondary school we were taught about contraception: aged 14 I had to put a condom on a test tube, I was shown photos of genitals of worst case scenario STIs, taught about abortion, all other different types of contraception and the myths and legends about sex. I am so grateful for this education I received in my early teens and even though those photos were absolutely disgusting it was worth my teachers showing them to us because it taught me one of the most valuable lessons you can learn in your life. And that lesson may even one day save your life.
Some, were not as lucky as me, and in their schools were taught next to nothing about sex and so when it came to experiencing it first hand they were completely clueless. I'm not going to name any names but when I was 17 I got very close to having sex with a guy but neither of us had a condom. His exact words were, "it doesn't matter, I'll pull out before I cum." Seriously!? Rule 1: you can still get pregnant or catch STIs even if the man doesn't ejaculate. Have you ever heard of pre-cum?
I strongly believe that every child and teenager has the right to a good and proper sex education. So many pregnancies and STIs occur simply because of ignorance. And it's not just the issues I mentioned that need to be addressed. So many people (teenagers especially) have no where to go if they have intimate questions about sex, body image or puberty.
I have come up with a mini solution. Seeing as I make videos on YouTube and my insight stats tells me that most of you who watch my videos are aged between 14-17, I thought where is a better place to educate people than via my YouTube channel. What do you think?
I plan on making a sex education video in the near future but I need your help! Please ask me questions on my tumblr (you can do it anonymously there) on any topic that fits in with sex and puberty. I will use these questions to come up with topics and a structure for the video and will obviously answer them too.
Thanks very much for reading this ramble!
Stay safe and sexy!
Hannah
I was educated in the UK in secular comprehensive schools and so my sex education growing up was a lot better than some people in say religious schools. In primary school we were taught about puberty, relationships and reproduction. In secondary school we were taught about contraception: aged 14 I had to put a condom on a test tube, I was shown photos of genitals of worst case scenario STIs, taught about abortion, all other different types of contraception and the myths and legends about sex. I am so grateful for this education I received in my early teens and even though those photos were absolutely disgusting it was worth my teachers showing them to us because it taught me one of the most valuable lessons you can learn in your life. And that lesson may even one day save your life.
Some, were not as lucky as me, and in their schools were taught next to nothing about sex and so when it came to experiencing it first hand they were completely clueless. I'm not going to name any names but when I was 17 I got very close to having sex with a guy but neither of us had a condom. His exact words were, "it doesn't matter, I'll pull out before I cum." Seriously!? Rule 1: you can still get pregnant or catch STIs even if the man doesn't ejaculate. Have you ever heard of pre-cum?
I strongly believe that every child and teenager has the right to a good and proper sex education. So many pregnancies and STIs occur simply because of ignorance. And it's not just the issues I mentioned that need to be addressed. So many people (teenagers especially) have no where to go if they have intimate questions about sex, body image or puberty.
I have come up with a mini solution. Seeing as I make videos on YouTube and my insight stats tells me that most of you who watch my videos are aged between 14-17, I thought where is a better place to educate people than via my YouTube channel. What do you think?
I plan on making a sex education video in the near future but I need your help! Please ask me questions on my tumblr (you can do it anonymously there) on any topic that fits in with sex and puberty. I will use these questions to come up with topics and a structure for the video and will obviously answer them too.
Thanks very much for reading this ramble!
Stay safe and sexy!
Hannah
11 Sept 2011
Distracted by Cake
It's time to do that thing I hate. Packing.
I'm going off to university in 6 days and I have no idea what I want to take with me and what should stay at home. The boot of my parents car will probably be overflowing with all my things when we drive down and the rooms you get in halls are pretty small so where's all my stuff going to go?
Tomorrow is the infamous trip to IKEA where I'll buy all the things for my flat like pots and pans, a toaster, a cheese grater and a cake tin. How can I forget a cake tin? Oh, and a cupcake tray! I almost forgot that one. I think my new diet will just consist of cake. Actually, I want to make a banana cake now, I've just inspired myself. Brb.
Okay so cake's in the oven now. Seriously, I will do anything to distract myself from thinking about packing let alone the actual act of packing. I hope when I'm uni I don't let cake distract me from studying. I'm actually quite nervous about that part. Because I took a gap year it has been a long time since I've had to write an essay or do any kind of academic reading. I think I've forgotten how to hold a pen or read a book.
Speaking of studying, I've bought 2 books off my reading list. They look big and scary and are sitting on my desk just starring at me... I should probably read at least the introductions before I go, right?
Packing- not done.
Reading- not done.
Shopping- nearly done.
Cake- done.
I hope my new flatmates like cake.
Hannah
6 Sept 2011
A Day in the Life of Hannah (ill edition)
So today I'm ill. I wasn't at the beginning of the day, I was actually feeling pretty fine, just sneezing a little bit here and there. Then I went to work and I got worse. So now I'm at home again.
So what do I do when I'm ill?
First thing I did was eat a piece of toast, need food in me, right? Then I did the most important thing which is get into my pyjamas, my favourite jumper and my bed socks. Then I got my laptop, got into bed and decided to write a blog about today. I've nearly used up my first tissue, I've eaten two chocolate bars and I most definitely haven't drunk enough water.
Now, I've just woken up from trying to sleep. I say trying because I was constantly kept awake by my runny nose. Oh the joys a being ill!
Oh god, it's happened, I've taken being ill as an excuse to divulge in crap T.V so now I've got 3 episodes of The X Factor to watch. The first contestant has already offended me. Some 18 year old guy called Frankie who is in it just for the ladies and not afraid to say so. He has 7 girls' names tattooed on his bum! This is just insane...
Chocolate bar #3
Okay so I wanted to eat chocolate bar #4 but I CAN'T FIND IT! Seriously, I've looked everywhere in my bed. This is really bothering me. I am 100% sure I went downstairs and got chocolate bar #3 and #4, I ate #3 and kept #4 for later. I've even counted the wrappers so I've definitely not eaten it. WHERE IS IT?!
Oh my bad. I just recounted the wrappers. I ate #4. I don't remember that... I must be really ill.
What do you guys do when you're ill?
Hannah
So what do I do when I'm ill?
First thing I did was eat a piece of toast, need food in me, right? Then I did the most important thing which is get into my pyjamas, my favourite jumper and my bed socks. Then I got my laptop, got into bed and decided to write a blog about today. I've nearly used up my first tissue, I've eaten two chocolate bars and I most definitely haven't drunk enough water.Now, I've just woken up from trying to sleep. I say trying because I was constantly kept awake by my runny nose. Oh the joys a being ill!
Oh god, it's happened, I've taken being ill as an excuse to divulge in crap T.V so now I've got 3 episodes of The X Factor to watch. The first contestant has already offended me. Some 18 year old guy called Frankie who is in it just for the ladies and not afraid to say so. He has 7 girls' names tattooed on his bum! This is just insane...
Chocolate bar #3
Okay so I wanted to eat chocolate bar #4 but I CAN'T FIND IT! Seriously, I've looked everywhere in my bed. This is really bothering me. I am 100% sure I went downstairs and got chocolate bar #3 and #4, I ate #3 and kept #4 for later. I've even counted the wrappers so I've definitely not eaten it. WHERE IS IT?!
Oh my bad. I just recounted the wrappers. I ate #4. I don't remember that... I must be really ill.
What do you guys do when you're ill?
Hannah
4 Sept 2011
I can't vlog.
So I tried to make a video today... That failed. Sorry about that.
Whenever anyone says to me, "Oh, you make videos on YouTube? What kind of videos do you make?" I have no idea what to say to them. What kind of videos do I make? Vlogs? Sketches? Stories? Songs? One thing for certain though is that I feel most comfortable in front of the camera when I'm not talking so much. In fact, in my most viewed video I say one line in the whole thing. I like it when I don't speak, mess around and make a fun video. Vlogs, on the other hand, make me feel awkward and words don't come out of my mouth right.
I have so much that I want to share with you guys that I thought the best way would be to do a traditional vlog. But I just felt weird and awkward and when it came to editing I just thought "well this is definitely not going on the internet" and it is not. BUT I STILL WANT TO TELL YOU ALL THE THINGS! I may put them in a vlog soon and work out a funner way for me to talk to a camera but for now I'll just tell you here : )
Firstly, I'm moving out in about 2 weeks to go to university. I'm going to be studying history at the University of Birmingham and I can't wait! I'm so excited to be starting a new chapter in my life and I'll be making new friends, experiencing new things and learning again (I'm a bit out of practice). I got a letter the other day about choosing which modules I want to take and it had a reading list and everything so it feels like it's getting very real.
Secondly, I want to talk about charities and helping people out and stuff. My friend Jonathan is doing a skydive for the charity Mind on the 8th October. I've sponsored him £10 and we would appreciate it a lot if you just had a look at the Facebook event and considered sponsoring too. I'm pretty sure there is no minimum amount so you can sponsor however much you like and it goes towards a great charity.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200505836675910
Also, you may or may not have heard of Harry & Alfie on YouTube. They are Irish brothers who are musicians and are currently holding a Pledge Campaign to raise money for their new EP and 10% of everything raised will go towards The Ross Nugent Foundation. I've pledged for a Harry & Alfie canvas bag and a ticket to their pledgers only gig in London. They are really brilliant musicians and if you like their music I strongly recommend pledging for something. The campaign has less than a month left and they're at 75% of their target and they need to reach 100%.
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/harryandalfie
And lastly, I was going to mention in the vlog how I have a blog but obviously there's no point in doing that here because if you're reading this then you know I have a blog.
Sorry about the no video thing but I'm not going to upload any old rubbish just so I have regular uploads. I'd rather put content out that I am proud of and I think you guys will like and find interesting.
Thanks for putting up with me.
Hannah
Whenever anyone says to me, "Oh, you make videos on YouTube? What kind of videos do you make?" I have no idea what to say to them. What kind of videos do I make? Vlogs? Sketches? Stories? Songs? One thing for certain though is that I feel most comfortable in front of the camera when I'm not talking so much. In fact, in my most viewed video I say one line in the whole thing. I like it when I don't speak, mess around and make a fun video. Vlogs, on the other hand, make me feel awkward and words don't come out of my mouth right.
I have so much that I want to share with you guys that I thought the best way would be to do a traditional vlog. But I just felt weird and awkward and when it came to editing I just thought "well this is definitely not going on the internet" and it is not. BUT I STILL WANT TO TELL YOU ALL THE THINGS! I may put them in a vlog soon and work out a funner way for me to talk to a camera but for now I'll just tell you here : )
Firstly, I'm moving out in about 2 weeks to go to university. I'm going to be studying history at the University of Birmingham and I can't wait! I'm so excited to be starting a new chapter in my life and I'll be making new friends, experiencing new things and learning again (I'm a bit out of practice). I got a letter the other day about choosing which modules I want to take and it had a reading list and everything so it feels like it's getting very real.
Secondly, I want to talk about charities and helping people out and stuff. My friend Jonathan is doing a skydive for the charity Mind on the 8th October. I've sponsored him £10 and we would appreciate it a lot if you just had a look at the Facebook event and considered sponsoring too. I'm pretty sure there is no minimum amount so you can sponsor however much you like and it goes towards a great charity.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200505836675910
Also, you may or may not have heard of Harry & Alfie on YouTube. They are Irish brothers who are musicians and are currently holding a Pledge Campaign to raise money for their new EP and 10% of everything raised will go towards The Ross Nugent Foundation. I've pledged for a Harry & Alfie canvas bag and a ticket to their pledgers only gig in London. They are really brilliant musicians and if you like their music I strongly recommend pledging for something. The campaign has less than a month left and they're at 75% of their target and they need to reach 100%.
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/harryandalfie
And lastly, I was going to mention in the vlog how I have a blog but obviously there's no point in doing that here because if you're reading this then you know I have a blog.
Sorry about the no video thing but I'm not going to upload any old rubbish just so I have regular uploads. I'd rather put content out that I am proud of and I think you guys will like and find interesting.
Thanks for putting up with me.
Hannah
24 Aug 2011
Music and Festivals
I want to talk to you guys about music!
Now I really like music but I don't know a lot about it. For example, I have no idea who is in the charts at the moment, genres of music confuse me and generally I haven't really heard of that many bands, I tend to just keep listening to the same people over and over again.
I like all kinds of music but my favourite genre by far is folk but more modern folk (I don't know what you call it). If you like harmonies, loveliness, great voices, awesome melodies, clever lyrics and such check out these people, they are really incredible!
First Aid Kit
Mountain Man
The Avett Brothers
Stornoway
Emmy the Great
Kate Miller-Heidke
Seriously, they are all wonderful and I wish I could write songs like them.
A thing I like to do is sing and I think I'm pretty good at it but just singing all the time often annoys people so about 2/3 years ago I decided to learn how to play the guitar just for the sole purpose of being able to play the songs I like to sing (less annoying that way, no?). However, I'm really bad at the guitar. I only know a few chords and I can only do one strumming pattern so every song I play sounds the same. I can only play 3 songs by plucking which I'm really proud of but it's still pretty difficult for me. But anyways, I love just playing covers on my guitar when I have nothing better to do and searching on Ultimate Guitar for tabs to all my favourite songs.
I went to Green Man Festival last weekend which is quite a small folky festival in Wales. And it was absolutely wonderful. I got to see The Avett Brothers, Laura Marling, Fleet Foxes, Gruff Rhys and lots of other bands. Oh and Tim Minchin, twice : ) The festival itself was really friendly and sunny, seriously one of the best weekends of my life. If you have never been to a music festival with the fields and tents and mud then I strongly recommend you do, they are glorious and you should never miss out on glorious things.
Based on the kind of music I like, if you have any recommendations of bands for me to listen to, that would be amazing! Even if they're not folky, I'm pretty open minded (as long as it's not heavy metal or RnB).
Hannah
Now I really like music but I don't know a lot about it. For example, I have no idea who is in the charts at the moment, genres of music confuse me and generally I haven't really heard of that many bands, I tend to just keep listening to the same people over and over again.
I like all kinds of music but my favourite genre by far is folk but more modern folk (I don't know what you call it). If you like harmonies, loveliness, great voices, awesome melodies, clever lyrics and such check out these people, they are really incredible!
First Aid Kit
Mountain Man
The Avett Brothers
Stornoway
Emmy the Great
Kate Miller-Heidke
Seriously, they are all wonderful and I wish I could write songs like them.
A thing I like to do is sing and I think I'm pretty good at it but just singing all the time often annoys people so about 2/3 years ago I decided to learn how to play the guitar just for the sole purpose of being able to play the songs I like to sing (less annoying that way, no?). However, I'm really bad at the guitar. I only know a few chords and I can only do one strumming pattern so every song I play sounds the same. I can only play 3 songs by plucking which I'm really proud of but it's still pretty difficult for me. But anyways, I love just playing covers on my guitar when I have nothing better to do and searching on Ultimate Guitar for tabs to all my favourite songs.
I went to Green Man Festival last weekend which is quite a small folky festival in Wales. And it was absolutely wonderful. I got to see The Avett Brothers, Laura Marling, Fleet Foxes, Gruff Rhys and lots of other bands. Oh and Tim Minchin, twice : ) The festival itself was really friendly and sunny, seriously one of the best weekends of my life. If you have never been to a music festival with the fields and tents and mud then I strongly recommend you do, they are glorious and you should never miss out on glorious things.
Based on the kind of music I like, if you have any recommendations of bands for me to listen to, that would be amazing! Even if they're not folky, I'm pretty open minded (as long as it's not heavy metal or RnB).
Hannah
17 Aug 2011
State of non-emotion
So I made this blog this morning and it's not until now that I've even managed to write an actual sentence into a post. I have no idea where this is going...
I'm slightly confused as to what I want to turn this into. I'd like it to be a space for me to ramble and write down my thoughts and just general goings on but then I'm not sure how personal I want to make this. I want to get the same feeling out of this as I did when I was 13-15 and I kept a diary but I most certainly do not want to be writing the same sort of things down. (When I was 16 I found my old diaries, read bits of them and was so mortified by my young naive self that I threw them all away- I've never kept a diary since).
I want to tell you guys about how I just got back from an amazing holiday in Croatia with my family and family friends from Austin. I want to tell you about the books I read on holiday and how I reread Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows which was a weird experience when I finished because usually I read the book again after the film comes out but because that's the last one and all the films are out now I have no idea when the next time I will read those books is... Perhaps reading them to my children...? Odd thought.
I also want to tell you about how I'm going to Green Man Festival tomorrow and really I should be packing right now but I just can't bring myself to start. I love music festivals and I'm really excited for this one but today I'm just in a state of non-emotion, if that can exist. I guess a state of non-emotion can't exist because the truth is I'm feeling a big meh, bleurgh, akjdhfksdf. Those are emotions, right? I know I'll have an amazing time but right now I'm finding it hard to get excited for it (hence the not packing).
Sometimes I do just feel a bit down and I can never pin point what has happened to make me feel meh. Maybe it's because in general I'm such a happy person, a bit too happy sometimes and my brain can't take it and so has to have these extreme moments of not happy just to balance it out. It won't last long though so don't worry about me guys. I know myself well enough to know that if I keep busy I'll be happy. However, checking YouTube and Twitter every five minutes does not count as keeping busy. I'm the type of person that has to be constantly doing things, always on the go, always full of energy and ideas for things. Unfortunately, not today. Maybe I'm having holiday withdrawal symtoms...
Well I guess this has turned into something fairly personal. If anyone has read this then I guess you now know me a little bit better.
Hannah
I'm slightly confused as to what I want to turn this into. I'd like it to be a space for me to ramble and write down my thoughts and just general goings on but then I'm not sure how personal I want to make this. I want to get the same feeling out of this as I did when I was 13-15 and I kept a diary but I most certainly do not want to be writing the same sort of things down. (When I was 16 I found my old diaries, read bits of them and was so mortified by my young naive self that I threw them all away- I've never kept a diary since).
I want to tell you guys about how I just got back from an amazing holiday in Croatia with my family and family friends from Austin. I want to tell you about the books I read on holiday and how I reread Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows which was a weird experience when I finished because usually I read the book again after the film comes out but because that's the last one and all the films are out now I have no idea when the next time I will read those books is... Perhaps reading them to my children...? Odd thought.
I also want to tell you about how I'm going to Green Man Festival tomorrow and really I should be packing right now but I just can't bring myself to start. I love music festivals and I'm really excited for this one but today I'm just in a state of non-emotion, if that can exist. I guess a state of non-emotion can't exist because the truth is I'm feeling a big meh, bleurgh, akjdhfksdf. Those are emotions, right? I know I'll have an amazing time but right now I'm finding it hard to get excited for it (hence the not packing).
Sometimes I do just feel a bit down and I can never pin point what has happened to make me feel meh. Maybe it's because in general I'm such a happy person, a bit too happy sometimes and my brain can't take it and so has to have these extreme moments of not happy just to balance it out. It won't last long though so don't worry about me guys. I know myself well enough to know that if I keep busy I'll be happy. However, checking YouTube and Twitter every five minutes does not count as keeping busy. I'm the type of person that has to be constantly doing things, always on the go, always full of energy and ideas for things. Unfortunately, not today. Maybe I'm having holiday withdrawal symtoms...
Well I guess this has turned into something fairly personal. If anyone has read this then I guess you now know me a little bit better.
Hannah
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