Friday 4 November 2011

A Gift To Remember


Last week I turned eighteen. It was fabulous – I had a party, cocktails and then hit the local town and danced all night. Somewhat clichéd, but it was the perfect evening surrounded by friends nonetheless. Admittedly, birthday parties aren’t the only thing we look forward to when our birthdays approach, it’s the gifts we delight in receiving which partly make the day. When it comes to presents, I’d like to think I’ve never been particularly hard to buy for; give me a book, item of clothing, or One Direction poster and I’ll be happy. However, for my eighteenth I wanted something special, something no one else would be getting and something I could treasure forever.

I asked for the Oxford English Dictionary, a thesaurus and the Oxford Companion to English Literature. This about sums me up and I’m proud to say that these gifts all fulfilled the above requirements.



However, my mum, being who she is, went the extra mile. For the last year I’ve been doing the Leith’s Cookery course at school. For those of you who have never come across this, it’s fair to say it’s pretty self explanatory; set up by author and chef Prue Leith, the course derives from the prestigious cookery school in London, offering training and, if completed, a qualification for budding chefs. I’ve always been into cooking, spending countless hours baking when I was young (although perhaps not as many as I spent reading) and moving onto more savoury things when I finally decided that I’d made one too many batches of brownies.

So, with this in mind, mum got to work on a recipe book for me with contributions from many of my friends, family, teachers, and even a few recipes from Prue Leith herself and (my idol) Stephen Fry. Each page was so thought out, with little comments from each person, some of which made me how with laughter and others moved me to tears (although, I admit, that really isn't a difficult feat). Although every contribution was lovely, the best ones were those that brought with them a memory; a message from my nanny who I haven't seen for years, or my brother's method of making his famous fish-fingers for one (the quantity for which reads 'fish-fingers: 10'). As I flicked through the pages, it astounded me to notice just how many of my memories are evoked by food and I realised that I couldn’t have summed up the first eighteen years of my life in a better way - without writing a novel, of course.

It's true that presents can come in any shape or size, but with this present I really learnt that it's the thought that counts. For me, with so many eighteenth birthdays this year, I know it’s going to be hard to part with all the cash, but it’s good to remember that we don’t need to. Whilst something material is always lovely, a piece of jewellery is always going to be in the shop. With that in mind, it would have been hard for me to have put together my own recipe book. Yes, it is hard to think of something original to give someone but it always means more when it’s been thought through.

So, when choosing a present for someone, although they will appreciate whatever you give them and a gift doesn't have to have sentimental value at all, make sure it counts. And, to those of you who were in some way responsible for my recipe book, I’d like to thank you for all your thought and care – it really is one of the most special gifts I’ve ever received.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

The Start of Summer: A Post With a Whiff of Cheese...

After a month off, I felt it time to re-embrace the blogging experience. And so I shall, although perhaps in a slightly cheesier format.
At the start of the summer holidays it seemed only apt to write a few words of encouragement for the even fewer that read my blog. A few months, whilst in the grand scheme of things is a very short time, can make a massive difference depending on how you use them.
I would definitely take the extended hours of freedom in the day to sit down, as our Headmaster so frequently – and rightly – reminds us, and read a book. Not only is a good novel engaging and exciting, but also educating. You can discover a lot, from politics, to religion, to romance, and, what's more, your response towards these topics can be very telling about yourself.
However, I think that the summer is a time for grand adventures and exploring yourself and the world around you.
Whilst preparing to set off for Uganda in the early hours of tomorrow morning, my thoughts turned to my purpose for taking the trip. As a human race, and certainly in Western culture, we seem to be so attracted to what we might call ‘aid work’ as an opportunity to share our talents and ‘reach out’ to the wider world. And of course, this is important. However, although there are moments for pretentiousness (I am thinking mainly of my A Level English exam), this is certainly not one of them.
I think it’s important to remember that the experience, far from bringing our own culture to the country we are visiting, is one for learning ourselves. A wise person once told me that it is only when we are pushed to our limits that we discover our true selves. I agree. We see examples of this happening in daily life - the contestants of BBC1’s ‘The Apprentice’ always seem like much nicer people in interviews… - but even more so in situations which are extremely different to our natural environment.
Whilst the next two weeks, I am sure, will be a fantastic opportunity to throw myself into the activities at our link school and try to make a difference to my fellow adolescents’ lives, I am assured that I will gain more from the experience than those at the school ever will. This, again, I agree with and, as a result, have decided that I am going to Uganda, quite simply, to have fun, to put myself out of my comfort zone and discover a new culture and friends.
I believe that as humans we should test ourselves and allow our personalities and opinions to be changed by the experiences we have. This summer is the perfect time for that – don’t be scared of what you might find and go for it!

Sunday 5 June 2011

Jack Whitehall: The New Comedian

I am becoming very excited about this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and, beginning to plan what must be my fifth visit to the festival, I must admit, I've been doing a bit of research as to who I'd like to see and which acts to avoid. Indeed, although am a keen theatre goer and revel in the dramatic side of the Fringe, it has always been the comedy which I have enjoyed the most. From 'The Oxford Revue' to improvised comedians 'The Noise Next Door', it is these performances which I have seen every year and enjoyed the most. And, after seeing a certain comedian on various stand up shows such as 'Live at the Apollo' and 'Comedy Roadshow', as well as in interviews - my favourite being his second appearance on 'The Graham Norton Show' with another love of mine, Adele, and Miranda Hart (see below - part 1 only) - I was keen to look him up, and was thus given inspiration for this post.



Far less known for his stint as a presenter on 'Big Brother's Big Mouth' in 2008, and again in 2009, than as 'that posh comedian who went to school with Robert Pattinson', Jack Whitehall certainly promises to be big. Privately educated Whitehall holds a certain comic genius not seen since Michael McIntyre first hit the stage: the elaborate gestures, the playing up to the the middle-class back ground. Indeed, although his style can perhaps, like McIntyre's, be a bit over the top, his flamboyance works, and is, in fact, the essence of his success, as shown by his 'America's Next Top Model' impression below. Hilarious.



That is not to say that he is not flawed. At only twenty-two, his style does perhaps need refining. What is more, his limited repertoire can only indicate his lack of life, and comic, experience. However, these things can only come with time, and I am certain that Jack Whitehall is a comic face we're going to see a lot more of.


Saturday 4 June 2011

The First Post

Ever since I was small I have kept a diary. My first few years - aged six or seven - were a record of days and weeks and months of 'school', 'cinema' and 'good day {smiley face}'; my pre-teens passed with entries of the latest fads (anyone remember the days of Scoubi Doos?) and crushes until slowly, as the years passed, the posts faded from the daily doses of gossip to irregular instalments of extremities of emotion: sudden anger or happiness, or an update of exam results and achievements. 
Diaries are perhaps the best way to get something out in the 'open' without fear of embarrassment or misunderstanding. I certainly found a comfort in spilling out my secrets and feelings into a book that only I knew about. I felt I could write anything - anything - and not have to worry about a reaction or response.
That was until someone read my diary.
There are few times in my (admittedly short) life that I've come close to feeling that betrayed. I remember afterwards becoming so protective of my diary that if someone went upstairs I had to sit in my room in front of its hiding place to make sure that they hadn't snuck up to read it. I brought it with me everywhere to keep it within my sight. It seemed only inevitable that the relief of clarifying my feelings towards something through the medium of a diary would be outweighed by the worry of someone's coming across these thoughts once again. Sure enough, not long after my diary had been read by someone other than me, the entries began to dwindle and its cover gathered dust.
For a while now, I have wanted to reinvent that escape. I tried beginning a whole new diary, which inevitably failed, as the same problems arose. I even attempted another private blog, limited to a few followers and even fewer page hits.
Perhaps in this blog I will discover something to take my diary's place. However, I hope to treat you to more exciting posts than 'School was rubbish today :(', or, indeed, a commentary of my life. What is more, I hope to express myself through this blog in a way that I never did through my diary: by focusing on what I love, rather than what I hate.
And I hope that maybe these posts can influence and inspire those who read them, or at least introduce them to my favourite things. I would like to think that they will get more attention and enjoyment than my diary ever received, sitting in its lonely hiding place, and, perhaps, more respect.
Enjoy.