Category: Other

Posted in Other

evermore – Taylor Swift Multi-Song Theory

Posted on by Georgia Haze

Yesterday I posted my reactions to all the songs on Taylor Swift’s new evermore album. While putting my thoughts together and reading through all the lyrics to pick out my favourites to include in that post, I started to see repeated metaphors and themes between songs led me a rabbit hole… and it was a good time. So, I’m probably way, way off with this but here is a potential narrative theory that connects half of the songs on evermore. Buckle up and here we go.

Ok, let’s start off with cowboy like me, a love story about two con artists. What if one of the “cowboys” is also the speaker in willow? The lyrics seem to suggest that their lover disrupted their life plans (“wreck my plans”) and there is conning imagery in the song too (“bait-and-switch”, “one prize I’d cheat to win”). If cowboy like me is about how they fell in love in the first place, willow could be one of them describing their love for the other. Whereas their partner, who is a bit more reluctant to totally give into their feelings recounts their different experience of falling in love in gold rush.

However, as time goes on, things don’t go so well. Maybe one of them rejects the other’s marriage proposal, leading to champagne problems or maybe one of them ends up not really feeling the same as the other anymore and starts just tolerating their love. Both of these songs could even fit into the same storyline if the speaker in tolerate it decides to attempt proposing to their partner in order to see once and for all if they really are in love and the speaker in champagne problems describes rejecting this proposal and the guilt that comes with it. I think this is unlikely though, I don’t think these two songs are part of the same narrative but, they could be potentially and honestly, none of this theory is probably right, it’s just for fun!

Then, the rejected proposal and/or one of them feeling as though their love is merely tolerated leads to the breakup where happiness and evermore come in. Each of the partners is represented in these two songs. I know this is a lot but stay with me because I have lyrical evidence!

In willow there’s a reference to a “head on the pillow” and in happiness there’s a “pillow where you used to lay your head”. Also in willow, the speaker refers to themselves as “the water when your ship rolled in that night” but in evermore, the speaker is “shipwrecked” and “unmoored”, suggesting that water actually led them to a painful place i.e. the relationship broke down. Also, the water/ship imagery is explored in gold rush too. Both willow and gold rush feature references to ships on water at the beginning of the songs but in willow, the speaker is comparing themselves to the water whereas in gold rush, the speaker describes their partner being like the water (“Eyes like sinking ships on waters/ So inviting, I almost jump in”). The speaker in willow is more certain of the relationship and the speaker in gold rush is more hesitant, perhaps leading to them not showing their partner how much they care for them. This could make them reject the other’s proposal or make their partner misconstrue their hesitancy for lack of appreciation and lead to them thinking their love is only tolerated.

Hope you’re saying with me on this because believe it or not, I’m not done. So, one of these speakers, the one who ignored their lover in tolerate it, probably the same speaker as evermore, sits alone on a bench in Coney Island, wishing they had treated their ex-lover better. The evidence here is more conning imagery popping up in coney island. Example lyrics for this include: “do you miss the rogue?”, “coaxed you into paradise” and the romanticising of a simple suburban life that two longtime con artists would likely be unfamiliar with: “the mischief, the gift-wrapped suburban dreams/ Sorry for not winning you an arcade ring”. Again, the apology over a ring could tie us back into champagne problems.

So, the speaker of gold rush, possibly champagne problems and coney island is then also the person behind evermore. They are “writing letters” for their ex to apologise and get a sense of closure. However, the speaker of willow and possibly tolerate it and cowboy like me doesn’t want to accept this closure. There’s a direct parallel between lyrics in tolerate it and closure here, in tolerate it, the speaker says “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky/ Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life” and in closure they say “I know I’m just a wrinkle in your new life”. The sense of prolonged hurt and not being ready to forgive is echoed in happiness, “All you want from me now is the green light of forgiveness”.

However, I think both evermore and happiness, although very sad songs, end with hopefulness. The pain the speakers are experiencing won’t last forever and they’ll find happiness again, just not with each other.

Finally, to put it all together. I think, and this is just one great big highly unlikely theory (especially as I’m not even getting into the fact that some of these are duets and so possibly have two speakers in them already) that the speakers of these songs are as follows:

willow: speaker 1, likely a young female con artist

gold rush: speaker 2, a slightly older male con artist who is a bit insecure about his lover’s beauty

’tis the damn season: Dorothea in a completely separate storyline

tolerate it: speaker 1 when she realises her partner isn’t treating her with as much love and appreciation as they used to

no body, no crime: completely separate storyline

happiness: speaker 1, post-breakup

dorothea: Dorothea’s home-town lover in a completely separate storyline with ’tis the damn season

coney island: speaker 2 when realises where he went wrong, harking back to how his ex was feeling in tolerate it

ivy: I have no idea, probably completely separate storyline

cowboy like me: speaker 1 but it’s the origin story of speaker 1 and 2’s relationship

long story short: completely separate, personal TS song

marjorie: completely separate, personal TS song

closure: Could be either of the speakers but in my version of events, I’m saying speaker 1

evermore: speaker 2

There we go, that’s my potential theory and dissection of some of Taylor Swift’s beautiful imagery. Let me know what you think about the album in the comments.

Posted in Other

evermore – Taylor Swift Song Reactions

Posted on by Georgia Haze

Was anyone as stunned as I was that Taylor Swift dropped her second surprise album of the year this month?! I’m certainly not complaining but wow, I’m still not over the Heavenly blessing that is folklore and now we have a whole new album of stories and characters to devour! Here I’ve put my thoughts on each tracks and my favourite lyric but I have a theory that ties together over half the songs in the album into one continuous narrative so stay tuned tomorrow for that blog post as well!

Track 1) willow

Argh this has such gorgeous imagery and somehow it’s both beautifully indie-sounding and a catchy love song. Also, the music video for this song is one of my favourite Taylor Swift videos, it almost looks like a fantasy movie and it’s a great tribute to folklore with the gold string and Taylor picking up where she left off in the same room from the cardigan video.

“Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind/ But I come back stronger than a 90s trend”

Track 2) champagne problems

I didn’t get the storyline of this song when I first listened to it but on second listen while reading the lyrics, this song really made me feel some things. This song is sang from the point of view of someone who has turned down a proposal and they are clearly feeling guilty about it. It explores the emotional turmoil of the speaker and their fragile mental state.

“She would have made such a lovely bride/ What a shame she’s fucked in the head, they said/ But you’ll find the real thing instead/ She’ll patch up the tapestry that I shred”

Track 3) gold rush

GOLD GOLD GOLD. We can probably assume this mystical-sounding ditty is about her lover because by now we know gold and blue are the symbolic colours for her love. I’m interpreting this song as being about the anxiety that comes with being with in love with someone who is well… gorgeous (see what I did there?) and dreams about a simplistic, homely life with that person but not being able to go for it.

“My mind turns your life into folklore”

Track 4) ’tis the damn season

I don’t know why but this song has strong exile vibes to me. Maybe because there’s a muted sense of longing and lost love that feels buried beneath other complicated feelings. One song it is nothing like is Taylor’s other holiday hit, Christmas Tree Farm… it feels like we’re quite far away from the Lover era now! I adore this song honestly, it contrasts the speaker’s successful but vapid lifestyle in LA with that of their past love from their small hometown, a place very much now in the rear-view mirror of her life. I wonder if the speaker is Dorothea and the “you” in the song is an ex-lover of Dorothea’s maybe? More on her soon.

“The road not taken looks real good now/ And it always leads to you and my hometown”

Track 5) tolerate it

Ow. A lot of the songs on this album are truly sad listens but there’s something so much more intensely painful about this one. The storyline seems to be about someone who is in love with their partner but their partner has fallen out of love with them. The speaker knows this but can’t let them go so they keep the relationship going, knowing their “love should be celebrated” and coming to the difficult conclusion that they need to accept the situation and move on for their own sake.

“I made you my temple, my mural, my sky/ Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life”

Track 6) no body, no crime

This might just be my first favourite (I’ll probably go through a few favourites the more I listen). The storytelling in this song is so damn smart. It’s only three and a half minutes long and you get an entire crime thriller! The tone of this one is so sleek, suspicious and dark, I just love it.

“Good thing my daddy made me get a boating licence when I was 15/ And I’ve cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a scene/ Good thing Este’s sister going to swear she was with me/ Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy”

Track 7) happiness

At the moment this one isn’t as up there for me with the rest but it will definitely grow on me. The speaker is just at the moment of a difficult breakup, she can’t be mad at the person she was with or even at herself because they equally hurt each other and she knows she’ll find happiness down the road but right now, it hurts.

“You haven’t met the new me yet”

Track 8) dorothea

Let’s ask the question that we’re all wandering, does Dorothea know Betty, James and co? Maybe. But, I don’t see Dorothea as being a part of their story necessarily, as I said before, I think her story might be shared with the speaker of ’tis the damn season. However, dorothea has a much more upbeat sound. It seems a big life on the “small screen” and “shiny friends” is a much more painful and lonely experience for Dorothea than her old hometown lover who reflects happily on their younger years without a sense of resentment or self-pity. Generally, this song is just much more hopeful and maybe advocates for the small town simple life over big dreams and Hollywood scenes.

“You got shiny friends since you left town/ A tiny screen’s the only place I see you now/ But I got nothing but well-wishes for ya”

Track 9) coney island

This is definitely a song I need to listen to more but my overall opinion is that this is an enchantingly sad song. I do have a theory on this one though, there seems to be a sense of regret and letting someone down with lyrics like “I forgot to say your name”, “Sorry for not making you my centerfold” and “Did I leave you hanging every single day?” that makes me wonder if the speaker from tolerate it perhaps did leave their partner and now it’s their partner’s turn to realise where they went wrong and to express an apology for their neglectfulness and lack of appreciation for their ex. Or, you know… maybe not.

“If I can’t relate to you/ Then who am I related to?“

Track 10) ivy

Wow, this song has such pretty lyrics! For me, this song has similarities to the lakes, only in the strong nature imagery though, not so much the sentiment. The story itself seems to be a classic woman is unhappily married but someone else catches her eye, she falls in love but their romance is doomed because… well, because of the whole being married thing. That imagery that I mentioned is what makes this song so sad, there is a fantastical feel to this song, with the speaker referring to her “dreamland” and the object of her affection being “magnificently cursed”.

“My pain fits into the palm of your freezing hand”

Track 11) cowboy like me

I like this song, it’s weirdly cute compared to all the other so very sad songs on this album. The story is about two con artists who fall for each other. They have usual targets, mostly older people, that they swindle money from but everything changes when they find a fellow “cowboy”. There’s definitely an exploration of people and situations being grey in this album and folklore. By which I mean, in the folklore/evermore cycle, she presents the stories of people who are flawed and not black and white. But, there’s no comment or sense of needing to justify giving their stories airtime, it’s just a study of humanity.

“The old men really did believe that I was the one/ And the ladies lunching have their stories about/ When you passed through town/ But that was all before I locked it down”

Track 12) long story short

This is a very personal song about overcoming the things you’ve been through and looking back on all that pain and sadness knowing what you didn’t know then: that, ultimately, you’d be ok. The song is also a tribute to Taylor and one of her favourite songwriting subjects, her lover, who came into her life at just the right time. I’d say this was perhaps the most poppy song on the album, perhaps because it’s reflective, looking back on when she was writing upbeat pop songs but struggling the most as opposed to now when she writes sad, indie songs but is much more happy and settled in life. Swiftie irony.

“Long story short, it was a bad time/ Long story short, I survived”

Track 13) marjorie

I really appreciate what Taylor did with this song, track 13 on folklore, epiphany, makes reference to her grandfather so track 13 on evermore is a tribute to her grandmother. As someone who has lost three grandparents during pretty formative years and deeply regretting not listening to their stories and advice better, this song speaks to me on a pretty personal level. Also, the fact that Taylor’s grandmother’s voice is included at the end of the song is just absolutely beautiful.

“I should’ve asked you questions/ I should’ve asked you how to be/ Asked you to write it down for me”

Track 14) closure

This is a simple song about feeling like someone is trying to bring up old wounds to give themselves closure when you’re not in the same place. It’s bitter and presents the idea that it’s ok to not have to get over something that hurt you. It’s a real feeling that can be applied to be so many situations and I think it’s one of the most relatable songs Taylor has written. It’s not as deep in imagery and literary allusion as many of the other folklore/evermore songs but it wouldn’t make sense to be super eloquent over that raw feeling so there is strength in its simplicity. This one also gives me subtle Reputation vibes.

“Yes, I got your letter/ Yes, I’m doing better/ I know that it’s over/ I don’t need your closure”

Track 15) evermore

This one isn’t my favourite, it doesn’t really make me feel quite as emotional as some of the others on the track list. You could perhaps place it next to happiness as evermore feels to be the pessimistic cousin of happiness. It is a nice song and I know it will grow on me but it’s not my absolute favourite right now.

“Writing letters, addressed to the fire”

So, there you have it, my initial thoughts on all the evermore songs. What’s your favourite song on the album and do you think we’ll have anymore surprise album drops soon? Let me know in the comments.

Posted in Other

My Blogging Future

Posted on by Georgia Haze

It’s time for another little update. In October, I uploaded a Halloween-themed post everyday and whilst I’m so proud of all my posts (check them out if you’re still feeling spooky!), I have to admit I am quite glad to not be writing about ghosts and vampires today!

To be honest, the reason I decided to give Blogtober a go was to experiment with types of content and figure out what I really wanted this blog to be going forward. I said this in my life update post back in September but I was having a bit of blogging crisis in terms of working out what to write about and what my niche should be. I had gotten so comfortable writing about pretty much exclusively musicals but I was scared of trapping myself into a box I didn’t necessarily want to always be in. Sometimes I want to leap into a book box or a film box or a history box, y’know? Weird metaphor I know but stay with me.

Here are my two main content-related takeaways from doing Blogtober: I miss talking about musicals but I don’t think I would have been able to keep up a post a day if it wasn’t for getting to do a variety of content. Basically, I’ve realised that I want to still be talking about theatre here but with some other odd bits thrown in now and then. I did think about creating two separate blogs but I think that’s too grand of a commitment for me right now and I need to take this blogging thing at a steady pace so I don’t drown.

I’m not going to be posting everyday and I’m not going to commit to a regular schedule right now as I’m still finding my feet off the back of Blogtober but I think I want to get a schedule later on down the line.

Essentially, what I’m saying is, bear with me. I’m still figuring out how to be blogger. I’m so excited about blogging, more than I ever have been before but I’m not quite sure what I’m doing right now.

In other news, in England we’re heading into our second national lockdown and everyone seems a bit muted and conflicted about it. The Covid stats are bad currently so it’s a relief it’s happening but, at the same time, no one loves a lockdown. Hang on in there, my fellow Englishies, we’ll get through it. I’m very sorry for anyone who has been affected by the virus. I feel like everyone on the planet has experienced at least some disturbance to their everyday lives so just remember, no matter how big or small the changes you’ve had to make are, you’re doing your bit simply by staying home and being careful. Even when it gets lonely, you are doing something amazing by having the empathy to stay home and keep others safe. Be proud of that.

Thanks for reading this post. Sorry I seem to have stepped up on my soapbox at the end there, I’ll get down now. I’m so excited to get back to regular blogging and creating some fun content. Stay tuned and bye for now!

A Wee Life Update Banner
Posted in Other

A Wee Life Update

Posted on by Georgia Haze

Hey, my name’s Georgia and I have abandoned this blog for about a year aside from one post back to May to rant about the movie, Midsommar (don’t worry, I’m over that rage now finally). I’m not going to promise I’m back for good as if there’s one thing that 2020 has taught me, it’s you literally can’t predict anything but I’m certainly planning to give this blog more love than one post a year.

So, what’s happened since September 4th 2019? Well, aside from the obvious. Back in September I was working in marketing for a book company that is now no longer in business and after a pretty stressful summer there I quit and got a new job. I started my new job, working for a theatre and events marketing agency, in October and for six months things seemed to be going pretty well. As I was commuting to London each day and had events to go to for work every now and then (and free theatre tickets which was a pretty damn good perk), I didn’t have as much free time as before and the blog took a back seat.

March was a massive turning point. For anyone outside of the UK, I’d say March 16th was probably the day that everything changed here in Britain. It’s not when we went into lockdown but it’s the day everyone seemed to know it was about to happen. That was my last day in the office. I didn’t know at that point it would be my last time ever in that office though. Within three weeks of working from home I was put on furlough which was honestly a relief, my workload basically disappeared overnight as theatres and events across the UK shut their doors. Then, in June, I found out I was being made redundant and the company I worked for was closing down. It’s sad to see this happen and I wish the best for my previous colleagues at both of my past two workplaces.

So, I haven’t actually worked a day since April and I’ve been job searching since June and now, three months later I would love to say I’m working somewhere new but with so many people unemployed and nearly every industry dealing with much uncertainty, getting a job is proving pretty tough right now. I’m in a very privileged position as I still live with my family and I don’t have anyone relying on me. I really feel for those who have mortgages to pay and families to feed. It’s still a fairly anxiety-inducing situation though. My mental health has been all over the place between the fear of COVID itself and concerns over being unemployed.

So, you can see, hopping back to the blog wasn’t my priority because I had a busy job and then it became even less of a priority because I didn’t have a job. Somehow, I’m trying to make that make sense. Basically that’s my excuse for disappearing for a year anyway.

So, what brings me back now? Well, I still don’t have a job but my brain has been a bit better lately. I’ve decided instead of moping, I’m going to try and use this extra time I have (especially since a second lockdown looks imminent) to put more effort into this blog. I have a whole list of topics to write about and I’ve decided I want to expand to writing about quite a mix of things in the future. Part of the reason why this blog is just called Georgia Haze rather than anything thematic or topical was so that I could have the freedom to write about whatever I wanted. I never wanted to feel trapped in one topic and before I took this ridiculously long hiatus I was writing nearly exclusively about musicals. Although I still love the theatre and want to continue sharing that love on my blog, there are so many other things I want to talk about as well.

Anyway, this is getting very long so I’ll wind it up here. Basically, all this to say, I’m back. I hope you’re doing well and 2020 hasn’t been too cruel to you. Take care and expect another post from me very soon.

Georgia

Posted in Other

Top 10 Tips for English Literature Undergraduates

Posted on by Georgia Haze

A lot of UK students received their exam results this week which means there is a whole new group of freshers about to take on an undergrad course. I’ve been out of university for two years now but I still remember student life and there are a few things I wish I’d known before I started my English Literature degree. So, I’m going to impart some wisdom today. Here are my top ten pieces of advice for English undergrads:

  1. You’re never going to read all the books on the reading list so don’t give yourself a hard time when you still halfway through a novel from last week and haven’t even started on the play for this week yet. Pace yourself and prioritise the texts that you feel you will be able to make the most out of for your essays, presentations and exams. What you don’t want to be doing is writing an exam or essay on a book you haven’t yet finished. Trust me, attempting to write an exam on how A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man functions as a Bildungsroman when you haven’t even reached chapter four yet isn’t fun…
  2. Film versions and plot summaries can be lifesavers, equally they can be the work of the Devil, you’ve been warned. Before delving more deeply into this point, let us all raise a glass to our good friend, SparkNotes. SparkNotes, Wikipedia and Shmoop are the golden trio when it comes to finding a quick plot summary. But, sometimes they can be your downfall when you start rambling on about a part of the story in your seminar and your lecturer asks you about a bit in the plot that the summary seems to have glossed over. Likewise, film adaptations can make the plot stick in your head much easier without you even having to open the book itself but filmmakers love putting their own spins on the source material. So, no discussing the significance of Nick’s retrospective narration from the psychiatric ward in The Great Gatsby please!
  3. English lecturers want originality in your arguments and there are a few easy ways of getting an original argument pretty much every time. If your essay is a comparison between two texts then choose texts that wouldn’t usually be paired together. You can find similarities in any two texts if you look hard enough and don’t forget that finding interesting contrasts in the texts if just as important as finding similarities. And, if you’re choosing your own question, choose to examine an uncommon theme, idea or theory when it comes to the text(s). Significance of doubling in Frankenstein? It’s been done before so anything you try to say about it has likely been said already in many different ways but there are many other topics you can sink your teeth into for this book anyway.
  4. Plays are meant to be performed so if you can watch them, then do. If there isn’t a stage adaptation of the play you’re studying on near you then take a look and see if there are any film adaptations you can watch or even if there are any scenes uploaded to YouTube. Reading a play is like reading a novel without any description so seeing a play performed in front of you by actors who have their own way of interpreting the lines can really help you get an understanding of exactly what is happening.
  5. Your uni library may only have so many copies of your course texts and books on context and literary criticism so find simple work-arounds. Find the books you need at libraries outside your university, buy them second-hand and, if a book is now out of copyright, you may well be able to find it for free on the Kindle store. Plus, you can find quite cheap copies of the complete works of Shakepeare and it’s really worth investing in one rather than buying a copy of each play separately. When looking for articles from critics, Jstor was always my go-to but Google Books and Amazon look-inside are also great tools for helping you find great quotes from critics for free and without having to fight for the last book on the library shelf.
  6. Shakespeare, Dickens, Shelley and Austen will be on your reading list so get used to them. 
  7. Make sure you understand your literary theories because you will be expected to use them throughout your degree. Some of them are definitely harder than others and you’ll naturally warm to a few of them and get comfortable using them in essays again and again. Even so, as tempting as it might be, throwing Judith Butler and/or Sigmund Freud into every essay isn’t always the best way to go. Theories are hard, lecturers know that so if you don’t get it, just ask. Saying that, I don’t think I ever got my head around Cixous’s take on French Feminism…
  8. Make the most of your lecturers. Different unis give you different allowances on how much your lecturers can help you with your essays but even if they can only glance over a plan and give you some feedback in a five minute slot, make sure you take that opportunity. Just getting a nod from your lecturer to know you’re on the right track can help relieve a lot of that essay stress.
  9. Literature degrees have notoriously few contact hours which means you don’t spend that much time with the people on your course so make the most of the opportunities you do get to speak to your course mates. This is one I wish I had done more of when I was at uni but one thing I did do which I would advise was setting up a Facebook group for your course and year group (this goes for any uni course really). There’s always a general Facebook group for your uni or a Freshers page for your year so you can advise your group on there to find other people on your course. It really wasn’t long until the whole of my course were connected on this one group and we used it through our entire degree.
  10. First year usually either doesn’t count to your final mark or counts very little so use it as your practice year. It’s so important to get the balance right in your first year. If you spend too much time enjoying yourself and doing all your essays in a rush at the last minute then you won’t be giving yourself a good chance to see how well you can do from trying your best. However, the jump from first year to second can feel quite intense so enjoy your first year for what it is, a practice year that doesn’t count much to your final grade. So, make sure you try your best but not to the point where it’s keeping you up at night, you’ll probably experience quite a bit of that in your third year anyway (sorry!) so give yourself a break.

I hope these tips help you make the most of your first year as an English undergrad. The most important piece of advice I can give is just to enjoy the overall uni experience as much as possible. It really is a very unique time in your life so make friends, learn about yourself and throw yourself into the subjects you love and you’ll be fine. Good luck!

Posted in Other

The Things I’m Not (or hi, let me introduce myself)

Posted on by Georgia Haze

Blogging is a fairly new venture for me. I have had blogs in the past but not kept up with them and frankly the less said about them the better so this blog feels like a new and exciting project. I can’t wait to get chatting about the things I care about like musicals and dogs and history and so much more but let’s start with me introducing myself. I didn’t want to jump into what will hopefully be regular scheduled programming without putting out there who I am and why I’m blogging now but I couldn’t figure out how to start. The first time I went to write this post it started a little something like this:

me - what i'm not

“Hi I’m Georgia, I’m 22, I graduated with a BA in English Literature with Creative Writing in 2017 and have been working in marketing since. I love musicals and history and am a proud dog mother to Rebel, my very bouncy labradoodle.”

This intro is fine if not a bit personal statement-y or worst, a bit dating profile-y. Then I thought it might be a bit more interesting to shake it up and explain the things I’m not to get the ball rolling. Hopefully this intro to me will be a bit less dull.

  The things I’m not:

  • A singer… you have no idea how much this fact upsets me. I’ve been a huge fan of musicals pretty much all my life and I listen to showtunes over any genre of music any day but when I sing along I either sound like I’m screeching or mumbling, there is no in-between. Don’t get me started on the belting in musicals either, I can’t hold a note longer than half a second and the fact I can’t sing any higher than most men leads me to conclude I am definitely not a singer.
  • A skeptic… tell me gullible is written on the ceiling and I will look up, I’ll believe just about everything. Now, there’s obviously no shame in believing in certain things and anyone that makes anyone else feel disrespected for their belief system is no better than a bully but I believe in nearly EVERYTHING. Ghosts, aliens, the idea that I’ll get seven years of bad luck if I open an umbrella indoors or forget to salute at a single magpie, I’m basically constantly terrified of either being possessed by a demon, zapped up into space or stepping on a crack and breaking my mother’s back.
  • A super slim, exercise-loving Instagram star… here’s the thing, I like to eat. I’ve tried dieting in the past and it was depressing af. Living a healthy lifestyle shouldn’t be such a chore. Exercise releases endorphins that make you happy but so does chocolate so do both in moderation. I’m sure dieting and doing a 2-hour workout everyday works for some people and more power to them but I cba to keep up with that. I try to exercise regularly enough, whether that’s going on a walk at lunchtime or throwing my body around on the Wii Fit (does anyone else still use the humble old Nintendo Wii?) but I do it because I want to, because it’s enjoyable and because I like my body to feel strong and fit rather than slim. I’m never going to be Instagram-model slim but I can teach myself to like the way I am and that’s way more worth my energy.

So, there’s a just a little bit about me before we start. I’m going to see Come From Away tonight because I don’t know if I’ve made it clear enough yet but I really do bloody love a musical. TTYL.