Success Is Liking Yourself, Liking What You Do And Liking How You Do It

SO I'm pissing off to university in three weeks! Eeeeep. After much deliberation on the whole 'gap year' thang and much confusion about what the hell I was going to study, I have finally accepted my place at Manchester and I am (surprisingly) really excited.

I think the main reason I wanted a gap year was due to the financial aspect of university but with a year off to 'travel' I would have spent any money I earned on that anyway. Plus I will have much longer holidays to do things. To be honest, the excitement that I would have found travelling is easily found with the prospect of meeting a bunch of new people and exploring the city of Manchester! Whatsmore, I get to spend six months in a French-speaking country and six months in a Spanish-speaking country in my third year which I can't wait for. Hopefully by that time I'll be able to hold a somewhat normal conversation as opposed to discussing Europe's immigration policies and the death penalty.. Whatever happens in the next few years, I think we should all remember the wise words of Ms Angelou:
"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it."

I'm currently writing out my never ending list of things that I need to take but, judging by the size of it, I am yet to realise that I can't take my whole bedroom with me. I think I've also forgotten that they do actually have shops in Manchester. If you're either at uni and have any tips for us freshers or if you're a newbie first year like me, I'd love to hear your take on the whole university topic. If anyone is going to Manchester that would be even better!

The Sun's Gonna Shine For The Last Time

Is anyone pining for the sunshine, sand and sea? But, alas, with a weather warning for this weekend it seems like these pictures and listening to Radio 1 in Ibiza sets on repeat will have to do until next year. I can't believe that more than a month has passed since we were on our favourite Grecian island (I've only been to one but that's not the point). Following Jenah Yamamoto's escapades in her native Hawaii and Erika Bowes' Ibizan getaway on instagram hasn't helped either but they have offered me a slice of the sunshine that almost every other country in the world is experiencing in...wait, what was it called again? Oh yeah, SUMMER.

 

The first image is one I took in my beloved Zante and the last is taken from Erika's instagram. Ibiza is defo on the places to go list. If you really want to get emotional over the fact that summer is almost over then listen to 'Unmissable' by Gorgon City or Secondcity's latest song called 'What Can I Do'. But MK and Duke Dumont's sets will probably do the trick; when he lays down 'I Got You' that is really the tipping point man.

Zante Playlist

Lots of house music; that was all they played at the white party, and in many of the bars in fact. I bought the Pure Deep House album before I went back and played it non-stop while we were getting ready to go out. Yeah that's right we went back.

Met some Brazilians who taught us the Ai Se Eu Te Pego dance which was like a dream come true to be honest.

Anything Professor Green will remind me of the immense White Party on Cameo Island. Although, if I hear Read All About It I will most likely break down in tears. That was his last song and we were singing our precious hearts out to it.

The Sam Smith song reminds me of Hannah; we played it once during round 2 and she said she liked it. It was towards the end of out stay so it was a bit emosh.

Infinity is our song.

PS I can no longer sing the Wiggle song by Jason Derulo without changing the words to "Sizzle sizzle sizzle" - the name of a bar where I met my one true Scottish love. It's okay, I'll be alright.

If you want to see some of my pictures then you can go to my instagram which I started again.

Waste Land

With the World Cup in Brazil looming, there has been an innumerable amount of documentaries focusing on the South American country over the past few weeks. I've always been fascinated by Brazil but with this bombardment of images and information my interest has increased tenfold. The most recent of these is a documentary film titled Waste Land in which Brazilian artist Vik Muniz delves into the lives of the catadores (the pickers of recyclable materials) at a landfill called Jardim Gramacho near Rio de Janeiro.

 Although the landfill was closed in 2012, the work of Tiaõ and the other members of the ACAMJG (Association of Recylcling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho) remains an exemplary model for Brazil's future plans for sustainable development.

By no means an art how-to, the film displays the capacity of people, no matter what their status may be, and the character that provides the inspiration for such masterpieces. The result of this exploration is not only these beautiful portraits made entirely from recyclable materials but a stirring film that displays the power of the human spirit and the promise of transformation.

Also, how gorgeous is the Portuguese language? I love it.