Some things...

So I've slightly neglected this poor little child of mine over the past week. I haven't meant to. I keep logging in, and going over all of the boring, blog-related stuff, and then just have no idea what to write about. I mean, I never usually have any idea what I'm going to write about, but now it just feels more and more obvious that I have nothing to write about. Maybe it's time to face it - I'm just not that interesting anymore! (I know, I know... it's heartbreaking)

So, I'm sure you're all positively bursting to know what I've been up to lately? No? Well I'm going to tell you anyway.

Star Track
First thing's first, I posted a little while ago about the Spark+Mettle Star Track assessment day and how much fun I had there, and how it had really boosted my confidence, and all that jazz. Well it turns out I wasn't a complete doofus on the day because the wonderful Spark+Mettle people accepted me onto the Star Track programme. (Woo!)

I've had to set up a Tumblr as a part of the programme (I deserted Tumblr well over a year ago. It just depressed me too much, all those bloody Photoshopped "Inspiration" photos just make me despair). I was given a list of questions to answer and it was stated that I didn't have to answer all of them, but this is me after all so I went to town.

I apologise in advance for just how much I can ramble on with those questions.

I'll be posting about my Star Track experience on the Tumblr, but I will, of course, dump tons of stuff on this blog too. You lucky things!

Work
Yes, work. As in, a real life job. A job that doesn't make me work at nights or over the weekend (the first time since I was fourteen! It's so weird not having to work on Saturdays!).

As with all new things, it's going to take a while to fully settle in and find my footing but I'm having a whale of a time so far. Also, I didn't realise it was possible to have so many nice people in one place at the same time. Seriously, everyone is so lovely and welcoming. It genuinely causes me to live in fear when I'm there. All that niceness is only going to end in the world imploding. Surely there's a rule that states at least one person must be a complete and utter dick in any work place? If there is, my place definitely didn't get the memo. Not that I'm complaining... I love a drama free workplace!

Reading
I read a lot. I know this. You know this. The people in Waterstones know this. But I've taken a step back from the historical books I've become addicted to in recent weeks and ran straight for the bandwagon with this...

I've had it on preorder with Waterstones for months but finally picked it up yesterday. I'm only a couple of chapters in and I'm not too sure what to make of it so far, but I'm incredibly optimistic. After all, this is the woman who gave me THAT Snape scene. You know what scene I'm talking about. I can't go into further details with the Snape scene because, to this day, even thinking about it leaves me on the verge of tears. Ms Rowling better not disappoint me with this one!

Arguing

I really love Battersea. I wouldn't be able to live anywhere else in London. It's where I've lived for 21 long years. It's where I discovered ballet, reading and terrifying dogs. It's where I went to school (primary) and where I got my very first job, seven whole years ago. It's where my favourite family members live and it's home to my favourite London park. 

But if there's one thing I don't like about Battersea, it's the hoodrats and chavs that populate the area. Like seriously, it's an epidemic. Battersea is a breeding ground for absolute tosspots. I normally manage to avoid them by not sitting in parks after dark and not smelling of dog piss. They live in their happy little existence, and I live in my own one. But the fates decided it shouldn't stay that way.

Last night, our paths collided spectacularly.

I'm standing there in Asda, buying yet more yoghurt and post-it notes, when one delightful 16 year old decided that I was looking at her and began a delightful little confrontation that went as such:

"Why you looking at me for bruv?"

Bruv? BRUV? Do I look like her fricking brother? More importantly, do I look like a man? If I do, I'm heartbroken. But I was wearing a skirt last night so I'm pretty sure I didn't look like a male relative of hers.

After ignoring her appalling grammar for a good ten minutes, I eventually snapped. I said something along the lines of "cider's given you terrible wrinkles, m'dear" and waltzed off into the Battersea night to go home and make an amazing vegetarian curry. And when I say amazing, I mean amazing. Monuments will be erected in honour of how good that curry was.

It's been an eventful week and I'm pretty tired.

But it's been a great week (minus the hoodrat)

Let's see what the first week of October brings!

A trip down the reading rabbit hole...

A trending topic on Twitter grabbed my attention this afternoon. #BooksIGrewUpWith. I'd barely been on Twitter five minutes and had already fired off a diverse list of books that I grew up adoring, and still read and love to this day. I realised as I was furiously tweeting that reading has always been a large part of my life and has shaped me as a person far more than I had realised.

I learned to read when I was two. My first book was the wonderful Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Something about Max's magical adventure enthralled me, and as I looked back at the mound of children's books I still own I realised that pretty much all of my favourite books as a child featured some sort of magical adventure.

There was, of course, the Harry Potter series (I'm guilty of adhering to 90s kid clichés!) as well as the wonderful books set in a mystical, imaginative world where lions talk and beavers have a mothering instinct (and also, Turkish delight is the nectar of the gods). Dr Seuss features pretty prolifically in my childhood treasure trove of books, sitting prettily alongside Mr Roald Dahl. And then there is, predictably, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. The book that I'm pretty sure turned me into the creative, imaginative daydreamer I am today. (I'm not sure I've gone longer than a week without speaking of Alice In Wonderland in some form online)

I'll find the right entrance one day.

I have my mother to thank for my love of literature. Like my grandfather, my mum is an avid reader and always encouraged my reading habit as a child. She would discover new books for me, tolerate me trying to throw myself down every rabbit hole I could find as a child, and would listen to me creating additional chapters for the books I loved the most.

I'm not really sure there's a greater gift a mother (or father) can give. The love and respect for literature has followed me around for 19 years now, and I'm certain it's the reason I love writing so much. Maybe I'll never create a world as magical as Wonderland or Hogwarts, nor as enchanting as Narnia, and I'll probably never figure out where the Wild Things reside, but I can continue to daydream. I love and appreciate my mum so much for starting me off on such a magical path in life and I know wholeheartedly that if I ever have children, they'll have a library full to the brim of old and new classics and I'll encourage the love of reading in them. I think I owe it to the great minds who had a hand in raising me.