Saturday, March 30, 2013

I Am Officially An Award Winning Blogger!

OK, I know I'm in Texas right now, and you're all expecting me to blog about what I'm doing here. And I will do that over the next two weeks (I'll blog in New York too), but to be honest we have only just arrived in the hotel (we had two flight stopovers and a 3 hour drive to get here). So we haven't really done a whole lot that I can blog about.

However, my feelings of blogger's block (writer's block for bloggers) ended when I found out I've been nominated for my very first award! It's called the Liebster award and I'd like to say a massive thank you to the brilliant Dare of brighteyesandbeautifullies.blogspot.com for nominating me. I never thought when I started this off thirteen months ago that people would ever bother to nominate me for awards. Again thank you Dare. Go on and check out Dare's blog, people who haven't already, it is well worth a read!

Anyway, now for the rules...

1) You must share 11 things about yourself.

OK! Here are 11 facts about me...

1. I have visited Japan seven times (my mum used to live there so we have lots of friends there to stay with).

2. Until I was about 10 or 11, I slept in a giant box made from four old doors. You have the right to presume I'm weird.

3. Despite liking both broccoli and Brussels sprouts, I really hate carrots. Maybe the luminous orange colour put me off when I was little and the prejudice never wore off, or maybe I genuinely don't like the taste, but I flinch at the sight of a secret carrot in a stew.

4. I'm the only student in my year at school who walks to school. Actually, I'm not sure if that's entirely true, but I definitely live the closest.

5. Our household often receives calls from Indian call centres, despite all of us being English. Don't ask why. I usually say that my family have gone on a thousand-year trip so call back when they're done.

6. I have chilblains. Lucky people who've never experienced these, they're red swellings just below your toenail that you get from exposure to the cold. They are some of the worst itches I've had in a while.

7. I once ate all the sushi that was meant for me and my mum, plus a family of four, when no one was looking. As you can guess, sushi is my favourite food :).

8. From being in the Scouts, I've met The Lord Mayor of London and Bear Grylls.

9. I'm the youngest cousin on either side of my family by a long way ( i.e. the next youngest is four years older than me).

10. Here is one of my favourite jokes:

Two atoms walked into a bar. One said:
"My electron's missing!"
"Are you sure?", replied the other.
"Yeah, I'm positive!"

11. My favourite TV show is a UK show called Pointless. As quoted from the show, it is a quiz show "where obvious answers mean nothing and obscure answers mean everything". I think I'd be quite good at it, and I seriously wish there was a junior version, because at the moment you have to be 16 to go on :(.

2) Answer the 11 questions your tagger has given you.

Here are Dare's questions and my answers!

1. Where are your top three places to travel?

I'll interpret this as meaning top three holidays, so my top three read like this:
3) Mexico (we went on a general trip all over the country, but we saw places like Mexico City and Chichen Itza)
2) Egypt, where we saw the Pyramids and lots of other famous sights.
1)Borneo, because seeing orangutans, proboscis monkeys and other animals in the wild was unforgettable.

2. Who is your favourite Disney princess (or character)?

I know this sounds unimaginative, but Mickey Mouse, especially in the Sorcerer's Apprentice sketch in Fantasia, when he's trying to stop all the water. AWWW!

3. Do you believe in anything supernatural?

Reincarnation. Maybe not believe in it, but I think it would make sense to have it. Nice people get reincarnated as some fun animal like a cheetah or an eagle or maybe even another person, and bad people get made into rocks or something boring and not living like that.

4. Who is your favourite author?

OMG. This is so hard. I love so many! Probably one of my favourites is Penelope Lively, who's more famous for her adult books, but also wrote great children's books like The Revenge Of Samuel Stokes and The Voyage Of QV66 (which I recited for a drama exam in Year 6 and no one had heard of it - but I still managed a Distinction :)).

5. If you could choose one junk food to be magically turned healthy, what would it be?

This has to be a chocolate brownie. I mean, they're rich enough to taste good, but not so rich that if they were healthy and you ate several a day you wouldn't get bored, so they seem the best for this specific question.

6. If you could live in a world from a book, which would you choose?

The Kingdom of Wisdom in The Phantom Tollbooth. I love the way idioms are portrayed literally here (e.g. Jumping to the Island of Conclusions), and I'd love to meet some of the characters there like Tock the dog with a clock on his back.

7. What are your pet peeves?

People who value being the same as everyone around them over their own unique opinion and personality. It's the trademark trait of "popular" cliques, and it annoys me SO MUCH.

8. What is your dream job?

Anything that involves writing, because that's what I love doing best and the thing I can realistically imagine making a career out of. I dream of being a writer or a poet, or perhaps something else that writes, like a journalist or a songwriter.

9. What is your favourite accent?

I like the Irish accent. There used to be a gardener in the park/graveyardy place near my house who had a fantastic Irish accent.

10. Sweet, salty, or savoury?

I know this sounds boring but savoury, because there are way more types of savoury than sweet or salty. While sweet and salty are just plain flavours, savoury is very versatile and can be used with many more dishes.

11. Why did you start blogging?

Well, the story goes like this. My mum followed lots of blogs and had a vague idea of starting her own, and I thought it would be cool to tell everyone at school that my mum has a blog, so I encouraged her. But however many YouTube blogging tutorials I played her, she still couldn't be bothered to get on the computer and start writing. So my dad suggested if I was so keen, I should start my own. I wrote (and photographed for!) my first post, "Whose Tracks?", on 11th February 2012 and the rest, as they say, was history.


3) Choose 11 fellow blogs to nominate. (Nominees must have under 200 Google Friend Connect Followers and be told in a comment on their blog.

My nominees - some of you have received this award before, but that's OK, right? (NB I strayed away from nominating bloggers who are also my friends at school, because that would seem biased. Sorry guys!):

1. Abbie at http://welcometomypalace1998.blogspot.com/

2. http://www.artworkdiary.com/

3. Emma at http://bookworm716.blogspot.com/

4. Emma Buysse at http://missinspiria.blogspot.com/

5. Jenni at http://jennistales.blogspot.com/

6. R-A-N-D-O-M at http://mariejoreyes.blogspot.com/

7. Charli at http://rosesunglasses.blogspot.com/

8. Claire McKenna at http://littlemisscupcakecutie.blogspot.com/

9. Karlee at http://rosewaterreflections.blogspot.com/

10. Holly at http://beware-my-awkwardness.blogspot.com/

11. Becky at http://teenreviewsbeautifulmakings.blogspot.com/

Well done everyone! Others, all these blogs are well worth a look if you have some time to spare!

4) Next you need to think of 11 new questions to ask the bloggers you have nominated.

Here are my questions for you to answer!

1. If you could be teleported anywhere right now where would it be and why?

2. Who is your style icon and why?

3. If you could have any animal in your home what would it be and why?

4. What book do you think has inspired you and why?

5. What was your most memorable meal so far?

6. What one thing (solid or abstract) would improve your life and why?

7. What personality trait do you most dislike in yourself?

8. What is your favourite song and why?

9. Can you cook? If so, what is the best meal you have cooked?

10. What word or phrase do you most overuse?

11. What has been your most memorable blogging moment so far?

5) Finally, thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

Thank you again Dare, and I've already linked back to you.

Well done to everyone who's been nominated, those of you not reading this, I will notify you soon!
-DP :)

PS I will post the Liebster logo on my blog when I get home!




Friday, March 29, 2013

It's A Revolution: My Top 5 Inspirational Pop Songs

As you can tell from the title of this post and my last opinion piece, I'm feeling somewhat inspired right now. Look at my last post if you want to know why someone can get inspired at the end of term. I won't repeat. Now said inspiration is coming off in another form: music.

Yes, I have a music post, which I've been meaning to do for a while, and was going to do yesterday, but my intended introduction got too long and eventually occupied the whole post :D. So I decided to save the songs for today. I think music is something that inspires us all, any type, whatever it's about. I crave that kind of song that seems to change you in some way, a motivational kind of song. And that's what I'm going to talk about today. Inspirational pop.

Now, anyone who's ever reviewed music will know it's notoriously difficult to write about, so I made it easier for myself and you readers by organising my list in a Top 5 instead of just randomly (but I do love all the songs, just because Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) is number 5 does not mean I hate it). Also I did a "Best Moment" for each song, which I've seen on several music blogs, to sum up the greatest bit of the track, and a "See Also" for comparison. And for each song I've posted the music video and the lyric video in case you want to sing along. But I don't want to go on for too long, so let's get started!


5. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson



Found on: Stronger (2011)

One word for this song: empowering. There's something about it, how Kelly doesn't complain about her lost partner (or even mention him that much), and the whole song focuses on her feelings of power and achievement, that makes you feel exactly the same way. The lyrics (although not written by Kelly herself) seem real and not too dramatic: "You know I dream in colour/And do the things I want" - haven't we all experienced this sort of freedom? Kelly's soaring pop-rock vocals and the gradually increasing, syncopated beat also sum up this spirit - they retain strength and anger on aggressive lines like "Think you left me broken down/Think that I'd come running back/Baby, you don't know me, 'cause you're dead wrong", but also change tone to show enjoyment of her freedom during the sarcastic bridge thanking her ex for her new liberty. This kind of resilience is something we can all look up to.

Best Moment: Surely Kelly's impressive vocals on the song's bridge, especially on the lines "You know the day you left was just my beginning/In the end". Her vocals descend on "my beginning", and rise on "the end", a vocal equivalent of the song's message. The fore-mentioned quote was originally said by Mary Queen of Scots (and "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" by Friedrich Nietzsche), and she meant it about her forthcoming death and eventual legacy, so it's interesting how a quote can be interpreted in different ways.

See also: Picture To Burn by Taylor Swift. Another "I can be better without you" dismissal, with similar influences from rock and country. Also with an "interesting" metaphor about setting fire to old photographs.



4. Wings - Little Mix 
                              


                                      


Found on: DNA (2012)

I first heard this on the radio about six months ago, and thought WOW. This song blew any expectation of any X Factor winner debut single, for several reasons. Firstly, the songwriting credit. All four of the Mixes contributed to the writing, and you can see from the very personal content of the track (we'll come back to that a bit later), so it's got more meaning than the usual cover songs or non-self-penned tracks usually taking up X Factor debut albums (and given that modern-sounding beat and harmonies, they're good songwriters too). And it's relatable in the way it talks about Little Mix's former bullying experiences; we've all thought (or tried to think) that we can spread our wings and fly higher than the haters out there ("Walk, walk on over there/'Cause I'm too fly to care, oh yeah" is something we all want to do at some point). We just all don't fly away with the carefree vibe as Little Mix's lyrics. It's also not a cheesy fight-the-haters song, which is hard to achieve without making a song not meaningful (this can be said of all the songs on this list). Finally, there's the ultimate professional sound and lyrical content of the song. Artists usually write songs about achieving their dreams three or four albums through when they can justify their success, but Little Mix have the assurance of strong and believable lyrics, so they can do an achievement song for their first proper single. 

Best Moment: The "Your words don't mean a thing/I'm not listening" pre-chorus. It has a more soulful sound and harmonies to the slightly frantic R&B of the rest of the song, a good contrast that might just be the difference between another teen-pop song and actual talent.

See also: Who's Laughing Now by Jessie J, nearly placed on this list and one of the only credible Jessie J songs. Another anti-bullying anthem, this track boasts a haunting tune on the chorus and memorable third-person jibes about Jessie's appearance in the verses.


3. Change by Taylor Swift

                               

Found on: Fearless (2008)

"These things will change/Can feel it now/The walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down" - brilliant songwriting. Teamwork, revolution, and a cliché that actually feels right in the context and not too overused. Change was almost a prophecy for Taylor; she wrote it about the small Nashville label she originally signed with, and how they can change their lack of success. And guess what? All her four albums have been successfully released with them, and so have many others! But it wasn't just about that; it also accompanied clips of Team USA at the 2008 Olympics, and some lyrics fit that theme better than the previous  - "It's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair", for instance.

Musically, Change is also a very interesting song, starting with a lengthy violin and drum intro which has a definite revolutionary feel to it, but soon strips back to light violin, which to me emphasises the small-to-big message of the song, whether intended or not. And that  small-to-big message is the most relatable and inspiring on this list. We've all felt we can make success in something, and we've all known that we can change failure. I've even felt it with this blog! And that relatability is one of the things that makes Change so inspiring, and a perfect closure to award-winning album Fearless.

Best Moment: That iconic intro, or maybe Taylor's feisty vocals on the line "You can walk away, say 'we don't need this'/But there's something in your eyes, sayin' 'we can beat this!'". Yes, you definitely can.

See also: Taylor's other inspiring numbers, Mean and Long Live. The former is the ultimate nasty critic slamdown ("Someday/I'll be/Livin' in a big ol' city/And all you're ever gonna be is mean!"), and the latter is a calming track about Taylor's memorable experiences touring with her band, that sounds a little too like a graduation anthem, but is still another great album closer (closing Speak Now).

2. Girl On Fire - Alicia Keys
                       
                               
                                             

Found on: Girl On Fire (2012)

No Hunger Games connection here, but this is the ultimate musical role model. If everyone in the world acted like the girl in this song, the world would have a lot more successful people. This song has always been the one that's got me on my feet and stopped me lounging about, and made me start doing something with my life. Lines like "Looks like a girl but she's a flame/You can try but you'll never forget her name" are something the couch potatoes of the world need to listen to and learn from. CPs, Alicia wrote this song about herself, that does not make her immodest, she is being entirely truthful. Alicia is one of my idols, and I think from her sensational debut Songs In A Minor all the way to the soulful pop sound of The Element Of Freedom and Girl On Fire, she has done nothing but progress in her music, making her the ultimate Girl On Fire (well, her and Katniss Everdeen).

However, I do have a complaint. The "Inferno" version did not need to be ruined by Nicki Minaj! There's Alicia's beautiful voice and inspiring lyrics, and a silly pink-haired rapper has to come in rambling on about "Spirit of Marilyn, calling me/Audibly, said she would never leave"! Honestly, absolutely uninspirational and unrelated to the main song! And that was the version they played on the radio too! Tut tut tut.

Best moment: The effortless transition from the calm pre-chorus to the faster chorus, which only Alicia Keys could execute without going in the least bit shouty.

See also: Album-mate Brand New Me, a stunning ballad and album highlight. There are things in life that change us all, and people are sometimes angry at us, but it's all change that none of us can avoid ("Don't be mad/It's just a brand new kinda me").

1. On My Way - Charlie Brown


                                    





Found on: On My Way (Remixes) (2013)

The newest (currently number 9 in the UK Charts) song on this list, On My Way is a deserved number one. A new face in the world of urban pop, Charlie Brown may share a name with a Peanuts character and a Coldplay song, but he still is bringing a unique sound to the dinner table that is music. The dropping vocals on "Just stand up and never say never" and the pauses before the title phrase are reminiscent of the kind of Noughties pop songs that were the first I listened to, which brings back nostalgic memories, but the electropop beat ensures it doesn't sound dated. And obviously, it wouldn't have a place on this list if it wasn't inspiring ("You might work, but I work harder/You might fight, but I fight smarter"), but it's the only one of the five that's completely honest, with its hook being "Might not be on top of the world but hey/I'm on my way". You really don't get stuff like that in songs very often. If I had to make one criticism it would be that the piano-accompanied verses don't seem to fit fluidly with the chorus, but a overall a great song, really worth a listen and I really hope this guy is successful.

Best Moment: Hard to choose for a brilliant song like this, but probably the line "You're so hot, but I'm on fire" for its multiple meanings :D. 

See also: Charice's One Day, a pop-rock anthem with a lot of repetition of the titular phrase, but still another inspiring little tune about being true to yourself and achieving your dreams ("One day, you're gonna know who I am / Oh when I'm high and free / It's not fate, wait and see, one day").

I hope you enjoyed my reviews and, of course, the songs!
-DP :)

PS I'm going on holiday in about a hour and ten minutes, and I'll post there, but this is the last post at home you'll see in a couple of weeks!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Yes, The End Of Term Can Be Inspiring In A Way

Yay! The Spring Term ended yesterday! It's Easter hols! Whoa, this is great. I'm two-thirds of the way through Year 7! It feels like only yesterday when I was having my meet-your-new-class day, my end-of-primary-school prom and my final primary summer holiday. And that sounds all gushy and enjoy-schooly, but don't think I wasn't happy when the term was finally over! Seriously, I lay on my bed listening to Taylor Swift and screaming about it being holidays all the time before my mum got back from posting eBay items! Even though we haven't even being doing much the last few days, just shopping for presents and getting my hair cut :( (but I guess it's all for holidays to America tomorrow :))!

I'm not going to lie, there will be millions of things about school I'll crave the lack of during the next two-and-a-half weeks. Getting stickies in your Geography book when the only correction is a non-underlined title, the endless cries of "not enough work is getting done here" in Maths, not to mention our epically unrehearsed fail at House Music on the last day of term, the list goes on...AAAAARGH!!! But obviously there are mixed feelings: I'll miss (slightly) the select subjects at school I like (i.e. English, History, Spanish etc., you get my taste in school subjects) and of course I will miss my absolutely epic friends (I shout out to those of my little minions - just joking - reading this, you are awesome, every one of you, and I can't wait to see you all again!). But yeah. Focus on the positives. School's over (for a few weeks anyway)!

But this term has been one where I've thought a lot about symbolism, inspiration, memories and all that jazz (sorry, I know it's a cliché, but it still sounds awesome!). I don't know why, but it's probably a mixture of Taylor Swift songs, philosophically enriching blogs and me generally maturing that's made me think in this deep way. But as I was saying, I've naturally applied this way of thinking to what the end of term means to me. I thought of intense happiness, and I thought of grief, and I thought of a mixture of both. But there was one feeling that stood out: inspiration (a word that my Geography teacher patronisingly asked us a few weeks back if we knew what it meant). You feel inspired and motivated that you've pushed down the doors of the term and not broken down in stress at that pile of homework over there you've got for the weekend, but there's also all the memories of the term, academic or not, that you can always look back on and surely utter an inch of a smile. That's another kind of inspiring. And I have to admit that I had both types of end-of-term inspiration this time. 
-DP :)
PS Here's artist Roy Hoes' jazzy impression of inspiration in our home city (this image isn't mine). Particularly love the way reflected coloured light is depicted on the skyscraper windows.



Sunday, March 24, 2013

RIP Mr. Shrew

Shrews are vulnerable creatures, and not just because they make us humans go "Awwwww, that's so cute" when one comes hopping by and we just thinks it's a sweet little mouse, and not a neglected little non-rodent that's a whole lot sweeter. But more on that argument later. More on the shrew vulnerability argument. Shrews are vulnerable because they can die so easily. All they need to do is stop eating for a bit, because their Achilles' heel is their necessity to eat every 2-3 hours to consume 2-3 times their body weight a day, otherwise they face a slow death from starvation. That's why shrews haven't really embraced dieting.

Anyway, biology lesson over, today I researched these shrew nutrition facts in a vintage British Wildlife book and on Wikipedia after I became curious about the occasional shrew found dead in the Suffolk house. And how did I become curious about the death of shrews? Well, we found another dead one, a pygmy shrew. And I bet you're thinking right now, OMG, is this lunatic of a blogger going to torture us with creepy pictures of dead animals while she tries to take over the world? Right, I'm clicking on "Next Blog". I've had enough of her shrew nonsense. Well, all you people out there on the brink of The Dramatis Persona hater-hood, these pictures aren't creepy or scary or disgusting. They're not all that different from living shrews, except they don't breathe or have a pulse. But why am I telling you about them; I need to show you them. See, not all that scary, hey?!


To make the most of his final journey on the Earth, the poor little guy hitched a ride in the back of a truck. Hopefully it was on its way to The Underworld, via The Windowsill.


So, dead animal pictures over, for any of you that are still squeamish even when there's no blood or guts. What I was going to mention to take your mind away from the gloomy world of death, I'll tell you about how much I love shrews when they're alive. I really don't understand why there aren't loads of pictures on Google Images of shrews captioned "CUTE!!!!" like there are for rodents such as mice, squirrels and hamsters. Because they really are. as sweet as those animals, if not more, with their long, thin noses, pink feet, white tummies and long tails. Perhaps they're not as conventionally cute as, say, mice, but I think so-called conventionally cute just means manufactured cute. It's probably the shrew's sweet but unusual long nose that has prevented Disney from making a movie based around it.

*this image isn't mine
-DP :)

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Snow In March??? Seriously?!

In my twelve exciting, tumultuous but nonetheless memorable years of life on this weird and wonderful planet that we call Earth, I have never seen something as strange and almost unnatural as this. It is officially spring, I have only three more days of school left until our so-called Easter (I repeat, Easter) break, yet guess what the almighty snow demons have done to us? They have made my world a pristine white.

So, basically, we're in Suffolk on a Saturday morning like we are every weekend, and I'm in a great mood: I have only to jot down some notes about my DT designs for homework (trust me all you primary school readers, if you're in Year 7 and you've got only one subject for the weekend, you know the homework gods are smiling upon you), my Turkish dinner on Friday night with one of my best friends who I've known for six years was awesome and the weekend stretches ahead of me with lots of time to read, watch TV, waste time on my iPad, listen to music, make up random chord progressions on the piano that I hope I'll remember next week when I get back to the manuscript paper in London and most importantly blog.

Little did I know that my mood was about to escalate. I'm sitting on the toilet at 7:30 am reading a mixture of Calvin & Hobbes strips that I've read a million times and John Hegley poetry that I only got last Christmas so have read zero times, and I casually glance out of the window before I walk downstairs. And you probably can guess what I saw. PROPER SNOW. Like, the kind of snow that makes you think someone's gone to the world with lots of white paint. The kind that you know will stay, if only in priceless memories of walking through it and throwing snowballs at your dad. That you can't wait to see in the flesh, that you want to run straight without shoes or coat. That carries on the whole day, and not just in your imagination. And that all sounds so amazing, and snow is my favourite weather (although I've ironically never been skiing) but seriously Mr. British Weather, it is March. I'll look at the Guide To Weather Planning, and it says March should be a brisk, refreshing, sunny-but-cold kind of month, with some build-ups to April showers. But not snow. That is reserved for winter and hopefully Christmas, get with it! Get your act together soon guys, or I'm moving somewhere where the Guide To Weather Planning can  actually be trusted.




But on the positive side, snow is snow whatever season it is. So I thought I'd share it with you in picture form!



I think one of the prettiest instances of snow is when it lands on things like trees, tables and fences. It looks almost as if the object has a second 3D layer. I particularly like how the wind has blown snow to only one side of the fence.




Above are some more general pictures of the snow I took in our garden and when we went walking in the surrounding fields. I love how snow can be pristine like on the lawn, or hard, clearly defining the bricks on our patio. I also like how the pattern of snowy field-snowy tree can feel like it goes on forever and ever, continuing the enigmatic allure that novelty snowy weather always produces in me.


Snow is a great medium for drawing in, so I made a snow angel (the arms went a bit wrong) and even paid homage to this blog!

Finally, to end my second snow post this year, I'll post a picture of me looking pensively out at the snow. I think this picture says that the snow, sky (if you can tell them apart :)) and trees are all big blocks of colour in the painting of the world, and I'm the critic at the lonely art gallery. I'm a lone living thing looking at a world of beauty.



As my snow day draws to a close, all I'm hoping for is snow when I'm back in London, throwing snowballs at my friends at breaktime and a snow day! But this is wishful thinking, because I was talking to my friend today on Skype, and apparently the snow in London isn't settling :(.
-DP :)

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

That Delightful Moment Where Your Predicted Disgust Turns Out To Be Untrue





Finally! A literal post title that you don't need to read a couple of times or know an obscure song lyric to get what I'm going to write about. This time, the title of my post is exactly what I'm about to talk about. That Delightful Moment Where Your Predicted Disgust Turns Out To Be Untrue.

So anyway, post-title-ramble over. Now I start talking about what I said I would. Do you ever get an overwhelming sense of dread when you are faced with a dish of unfamiliarity that the biggest foodie might just decline? I have, many times, from my mum's cheese tart (that has a place up there with DP's Most Disastrous Family Dishes) to that Vietnamese soup in a bowl bigger than my head (my head is average size). The words you'd usually associate with these instances are Disgusting and Revolting. But I just think it's just overcoming your natural fear of strange, unknown things that we're all born with (as the wonderful Calvin* of Calvin & Hobbes proves here).

*this image isn't mine

But I didn't bother to go along the long road to the Blogger homepage to talk about such normal things as food disgust. That's not what The Dramatis Persona is about. I talk about unusual things in everyday life. That Delightful Moment is not the initial unfamiliarity, but the discovery of something new; a much more interesting feeling. In fact, about 80% of the many times I've been faced with unknown nutrition I've in the end said "Actually, it's quite nice!" (ironically, I think that's something my cartoon blog addition Calvin has never said). And THAT, my friends, is the feeling I really love. The discovery of a new substance to be added to the Approved Food list I think makes you that tiny bit more mature in a way. And I've got a lot of proof of that; I'm a lot less fussy than some of my friends (I have this distinct memory of a primary school trip to France where I was the only one who dared to touch the cold ham and tomato salad - it was alright actually!). And I think that food resilience is due to being faced with new discoveries every day.

My most recent try-it-you-may-like-it (yes, I know that's from Green Eggs And Ham - a lot of childhood memories are popping up here!) dinner was on Monday, when my mum made celeriac and beetroot gratin (a Guardian Magazine recipe), which is basically those vegetables in a cheesy cover. Cheesy sauces and celeriac didn't really sound my sort of thing, and the appearance of the dish didn't improve that view. But I now count it as one of my favourite dishes! While the cheese sauce wasn't particularly desirable, its soft taste complemented the crunch of the vegetables in a brilliantly delicious way. And to prove that you can't judge food by its cover, I have some pictures!

The grattin - this image isn't mine

And the original celeriac - also not mine



Thanks for reading, and I hope I inspired you to be more adventurous with your food!
-DP :)

PS I'm sure those of you active on the blogosphere like me will have heard this from a million other blogs (I have on at least five), but Google Reader and Google Friend Connect are shutting down on the 1st July. This means you won't see blogs on your Blogger dashboard any more, so if you don't want to lose my blog and any others you follow, I suggest you start an account on Bloglovin' or another blog following site (the blogs you follow can be imported!) ASAP. I have, it was very easy :D

PPS On a happier note, my family and I are going to Texas and New York for the Easter holidays, and I can't wait to blog from over there!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

But Loving Him Was RED...

Well done all of you out there who recognise the reference to the title track from Taylor Swift's fourth album. You are awesome people. Not that you non-Swifties aren't, but you will be glad to hear that that's not all I'm posting about today. I'm sure you're all aware that tomorrow's Red Nose Day (otherwise known as Day When We All Come To School Humiliatingly Dressed In All Red, all in the name of charity), so I thought I'd mention some cool things about the powerful, dangerous, attention-seeking and in Chinese tradition prosperous colour that is red (I know its the second symbolism post in a month, but I guess that's what I'm interested in right now). 



I know I said I wouldn't talk about Tay-Tay too much, but as I've probably said before, she is my absolute favourite artist ever, and also one of my greatest role models and the person who inspired me to write songs. Her latest album was named after the colour of death and love that always apparently appeared in her mind after break-ups in her life as a teenager and young adult. But my favourite song on the album is not one of the break-up ones (although I do like Red, Begin Again and Starlight) but rather a song called The Lucky One, which is about how fame can affect young people like Taylor. Here's a video for you to sing along to:





Now for the actual history and symbolism of the colour red. The word actually comes from an Inuit word for "like blood". It of course has many shades, my favourite being the bright red of the little cardinal bird with the quiff. As well as being dangerous, powerful and prosperous, it's also symbolic of freedom; some Chinese and American brides wore red instead of white during their country's revolution. It's also thought to be a courageous and inspirational colour, worn much in mediaeval battles, and I think that's the connotation I associate with most. Especially when I look down at the scarlet skinny jeans I'm wearing for Red Nose Day, I can see it's more of a brave and call-the-shots colour than others (even when my favourite colour is actually green).

Sorry I haven't posted for almost two weeks, it's not really in keeping with my New Year's Resolution to blog more often :\. On a more positive note I'll leave you with my once-scarlet-headed other musical inspiration Rihanna on her iconic Loud album cover (she had the most legendary hairstyle in history in my opinion. Why did you ever leave this mesmerising colour for brown, Rihanna?) , and the icons of Red Nose Day (aww, they're so cute! Little dinosaurs on your nose :)).



Enjoy your humiliating Red Nose Day guys!!!

(N.B. None of the images or videos in this post are mine)

-DP :)

Sunday, March 3, 2013

40: A Very Important Number

Guys, I have a very very VERY special announcement for all of you!!!! This is the fortieth ever DP post! Five times my favourite number, 8 (random)! And for a long while I've wanted to do a post that says some cool facts about a specific number, so a few weeks ago I realised that the upcoming post number 40 would be a perfect opportunity!

It's a wonderful word, forty. And it's unique, because of all the numbers in the world it's the only one to have its letters arranged in alphabetical order. So wonderfully unique is 40 that Christianity chose it to be the number of days Jesus fasted for AND the length of the Biblical floods. Tennis has decided to make 40 significant in its scoring (the reason for this isn't known), and whoever invented temperature scale decided to make 40 Celsius and 40 Fahrenheit uniquely equal. The stuff that makes up our bones (calcium) is mass number 40,  and the stuff in zirconium (fake diamond) is atomic number 40. And the UK Top 40 is 40 rather than 100 like in other countries because of the 40-record storage limit on early jukeboxes!

Some pretty notable stuff happened 40 years ago in 1973 as well, hard though it is to believe for an impressionable 12-year-old like me. We (by that I mean UK for those of you who don't what country I live in), along with Denmark, joined the EEC, and the iconic Sydney Opera House was opened. The Bahamas gained independence, and the Vietnam War ended, to name but a few important 40-year-old events. Also in 1973 people like Heidi Klum, Gwyneth Paltrow and Eminem came into the world (all 40 this year, unbelievably).

On a sadder note, some other famous people have died seriously young. Glenn Miller, John Lennon, Edgar Allan Poe and Jack London all died aged 40. However, XL, 40 in Roman numerals, is either extra-large, or more cheerfully, excellent!

Still not yet convinced by all of this that forty is an awesome number? Well, take a look at these beautiful fireworks!





-DP :)

PS BLOG MAINTENANCE POINT! I have added a new animated pageview record, that moves one higher every time someone looks at my blog! Oh, and the firework image isn't mine.