Turn to the Music

The Very Cusp!

2012-01-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

Classy.

This Christmas has been stupidly decadent. Every single one of my lovely students gave me chocolate and I ate ALL OF THEM. (I shared, don't worry.) It was foolish. And delicious. I also spent a lot of if watching DVDs and meeting friends, recuperating and hopefully getting the coming year's illnesses out of my system. (Wishful thinking.)

Since we hit 2012, I've been on a family trip to Northern Ireland and on a hen weekend. I must say, Miss Estelle (far left) and her friends know how to have a good time. We dressed up in 80s garb and pub crawled in a West Cork village, much to the bemusement of the locals. One of the bars we shimmied into had a 20s theme. That was fun.

A lot of people have been talking about New Year's Resolutions. Bleh.

As much and I have thought and written about it (by hand), I know that nothing is real until tomorrow - the first day back to school! So it's totally fine that I ate ten Celebrations earlier. And that I've not sung or done any exercise today.

My resolutions are as follows:

1. SING MORE - write and record songs, post them. Singing is the most important thing ever. However, on this, the cusp of the new year, I have a sore throat, so that leads onto...

2. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK - you don't have to be on form all the time. Sing through the bad times, but don't record them. I just recorded myself singing 'My Funny Valentine' with a chest and throat infection. "Why?!" I hear you ask. Guilt. I felt I hadn't done anything singing-constructive in ages so I recorded some songs. Whatever, it's all a learning experience. I can only improve.

3. EXERCISE - every day. Get toned. Good times.

4. BE MORE POSITIVE - stop talking about situations and people in a negative way. Let it all breeze past you unless really need to get it off your chest.

5. LESS INTERNET - limit Facebook and Twitter. I am just the worst person when it comes to frittering time away online. I never get anything done. It must stop.

PRIORITIES

2011-12-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Amy,

You need to sort out your priorities. What have you been spending your 'free' (non-teaching/event organising) time doing for the last, let's say, four months?

a) Cleaning and decorating a house you don't own.
b) Sewing baubles and soft furnishings.
c) Twitter.
d) Going from infection to 'flu to infection.
e) Being involved in a lame-ass T.V. show competition.
or
f) All of the above.

Oh, Amy. You idiot. You don't need to tell you what's missing here, but just in case you really are that dim, I'll spell it out for you.

M.U.S.I.C.

Yes. That thing you'd like to do as a career. That thing you're massively, overwhelmingly passionate about but unbelievably inferior in. Oh dear.

I feel rather strongly that you should get your backside in gear, get back to studying singing and piano and start writing again EVERY DAY. That malaise you've been feeling; that sort of weird gnawing in your stomach and tightness in your chest? That's all the unwritten songs in you, eating away at your soul, trying to get out. That uncomfortable feeling in your brain? Feels a LOT like a sinus infection? That's the Amy of the future calling to you and really super hating you for wasting so much time and not improving yourself.

Here's what I want you to stop doing:

1.i Spending money.

I'm not actually sure where you're going with this, but let me remind you that you're not very wealthy. That trip to Florida you insisted on taking (though I understand why) was incredibly expensive. You don't need to spend any more money. You're cool. It's cool.

1.ii. Neglecting the dog.

THE POOR DOG. The weather was FINE for the last two days, you neglectful asshole. She loves you. That poor dog just wants you to bring her out so she can smell things. This refers back to number one. Do NOT join a gym - you can't afford it. The dog is your gym.

1.iii So much crafting.

This is a hobby. You enjoy it. You are not going to make any more from it. Maybe take a sabbatical from sewing after Christmas. Use the time to practice for another piano grade, or to get back into researching opera, or even brush up on your baroque counterpoint harmony theory! You do NOT need to spend money on any more fabric, thread, buttons or anything of that nature. Go to the Saturday morning knitting group. Improve your knitting in that weekly slot.

2. Cleaning the house.

Just pick, like, two days where you do one hour. Stop spending your life tidying and cleaning, it's moronic. If you were practicing or writing, you wouldn't make a mess anyway.

Write songs. Record them. Upload them. Play the piano. EASY.

Quite frustrated and definitely hacked off at you.

Amy~*~

Knitmas

2011-12-01T01:59:00.000-08:00

MY KNITMAS PRESENT CAME!! Look at it! Isn't it beautiful?! The postman came at EARLY o'clock this morning - I swear I was transported back to being eight years old on Christmas morning. It was so exciting!!

Here is the artily arranged window photo.

A breakdown of the delights.

LOOK AT THESE HARRY POTTER-INSPIRED CHARMS! LOOK AT THE OWL!! They're Gryffindor colours!! In real life they look soooo pretty. I've been informed that they're stitch markers for circular knitting. (*n00b*) They came with a 'coffee candy.'

I'm saving these for the Christmas holidays and I'm not sharing. x

LOOK AT THIS COWL. LOOK AT IT. IT LOOKS LIKE THE SEA WAS KNITTED INTO A WARM NECK ACCESSORY. I love this. I'm wearing it right now.

In the dark (it was early) I thought this was blue but it's actually a gorgeous shade of teal-blue. It's kind of sheeny like a peacock feather - I LOVE IT! I would never buy yarn this nice for myself! It's made of silk and merino. I'm going to have to do some serious research and thinking before I decide what to do with this!!

THANK YOU, KNITMAS SANTA! x

The Christmas Cake...

2011-11-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

... is out of the oven.

(Contains blueberries, strawberries and macadamia nuts, as well as the tradition goodies!)

Carrot and Almond Soup

2011-11-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is my favourite soup recipe which I'm posting for Laura. It comes from Gillian McKeith's cookbook "You Are What You Eat," which, actually, there is no point in buying because it only has about three good recipes in it. Though I must admit that those three recipes are AWESOME!

When ever I eat this soup I always feel like I'm putting something really nutritious into my body. It tastes sweet and the ground almonds give it a lovely creaminess. Gillian does some messing around with herb stalks but I'm inclined to ignore anything fussy like that. It's also nice to double the recipe and freeze ahead for ease of access to yummy deliciousness. :)

Carrot and Almond Soup
Serves 4

2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
6 carrots, trimmed, peeled and sliced
2 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
1 tbsp wheat-free vegetable bouillon powder (I use a stock cube...)
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
100g ground almonds

Method:

1. Place the onions, garlic, carrot and celery in a large saucepan. Add 1.25 litres boiling water and the bouillon powder. Bring to the boil and add the herbs.

2. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife.

3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Strain, reserving the stock. Blend the vegetables with a hand held blender until smooth.

4. Return the mixture to the pan and add the ground almonds and enough of the reserved stock to make a soup-like consistency.

Reheat, then divide between warmed soup bowls and serve garnished with chopped fresh coriander and parsley.

What I said earlier about freezing was true - I always made double to freeze - but everyone always eats at least two bowls in one sitting so the next time I make it, I'm going to do it when everyone's out and not tell anyone what I made...

Hedgehogs

2011-11-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Bonjour, mes amis! My recent absence was due at first to a singing competition and then to the awful, evil flu. I'm better now and ready to blog again -LUCKY YOU, YAY!!

Having literally eaten my body weight six times over in the last two weeks to stay alive, I have now taken up the challenge of losing 7 - 10lbs before Christmas. (I've said it on Twitter now, so it has to happen.) This does mean that my baking will take a step back for a while and the cooking will take a step up.

HOWEVER! I made this recipe for one of my trips to Dublin two weeks ago and it is so fast and SO EASY and reminds me of being a little person. My sister used to make a variation of this and we always called them 'hedgehogs."

Hedgehogs:

4 oz butter (at room temperature)

4 oz caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten with a dash of milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 oz self raising flour

For the top:

150g raspberry jam, heated until runny

100g desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius (170 fan)/ 350 Fahrenheit / Gas 4

1: CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGAR!

2: Add the egg, vanilla and flour a little at a time, mixing as you go until all ingredients have been used.

3: Divide the mixture between 12 prepared lined bun cases.

4: Bake for 12-15 minutes until risen and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

5: Lightly toast the coconut on a baking tray under a grill or in a frying pan until lightly golden.

6: Spread the jam on top of each cake and dip into the toasted coconut until coated.

EAT THEM.

Autumnal Apple Tart

2011-10-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

My attitude to apple tart is a bit 'rough n' ready.' I firmly believe that you should just go with your instincts on this. Here's a rough recipe for my favourite Autumnal twist on apple tart. I used nine apples that varied in size. If you make too much filling for your tart, the left over apple sauce is delicious in steaming porridge on a cold Autumn morning.

In Ireland and the UK we like to use a sharper variety of apple for baking with, commonly called 'cooking apples.' For this reason it's necessary to sweeten them - just make sure you taste your filling as you go along as some apples are more tart than others, and personal preference plays a big part in apple tart. :)

INGREDIENTS:

. 6 med-large cooking apples (approx)

. 50g sultanas (or raisins/dried cranberries)

. 1.5 tsps cinnamon

. 4tbsps honey (approx)

. 30g walnut pieces

. 20g sunflower seeds

. shortcrust pastry

1: Peel and chop your apples into a pan, discarding the cores and skins. Allow enough room for them to expand.

2: Add in the sultanas and cinnamon. Drizzle over enough honey to cover the tops of the peeled apples.

3: Add 2 tbsps cold water and turn on to a gentle heat for 15- 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until most of the apples have broken down into the sauce.

4: Test for sweetness (be careful not to burn your mouth!) and add more honey if it needs it.

5: Tip the sauce into a pie plate lined with shortcrust pastry. Sprinkle over the walnuts and sunflower seeds before covering with more pastry. Brush with a beaten egg, pierce the lid.

6: Brush with a beaten egg, pierce the lid and bake for 20-30minutes at 180°C/350°F/fan assist 170°C until the pastry is golden brown and firm.

Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne

2011-10-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I showed you how to make pumpkin purée. Now I'm going to share with you a recipe for Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne I tried out for dinner yesterday. The original recipe comes from a magazine called 'Healthy Food Guide.' (My favourite magazine, so many gorgeous recipes!)

Alterations:

Though the original recipe asks for chunks of pumpkin to be lightly fried, I used my purée instead. I also used adult spinach instead of baby spinach, removing the stalks and wilting it before adding the pumpkin. The recipe also called for 350g of fresh lasagne but I used dried and I only needed five sheets! Very low in carbohydrates. :) (Also low in fat, salts and saturates as well as high in calcium and iron.) How many sheets of pasta you need will depend on the size and shape of your oven proof dish.

PUMPKIN AND SPINACH LASAGNE
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Cooking oil spray.
500g pumpkin purée
250g spinach, heavy stalks cut off
2 x 400g cans of tomatoes with herbs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g ricotta
250g low-fat cottage cheese
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
30g parmesan, grated
5-7 sheets of dried lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/ fan 18O°C/gas 6.

2. Spray a frying pan a few times with the cooking oil. Add the spinach, a third at a time and wilt over a low heat, stirring frequently.

3. Add the pumpkin, garlic and tins of tomatoes to the spinach and cook over a medium heat for five minutes.

4. Add the ricotta, cottage cheese, two thirds of the parmesan and dried herbs together and blend in a food processor or with a handheld blender until it makes a smooth paste.

5. Pour one third of the tomato into an ovenproof dish. Add a layer of lasagne, followed by more tomato sauce and a layer of the cheesy sauce.* Repeat these layers until the ingredients are used up and finish with the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes.

*(The cheese sauce can be tough to spread, I found. Try using a spatula.)

The Pumpkin Pie

2011-10-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yes! Finally, the pumpkins are here! Aren't they beautiful? I've literally spent the entire day making various dishes with these lovelies. It sometimes bothers me that Irish people don't really use pumpkins for anything other than jack-o-lanterns. I have noticed a record number of said seasonal decorations all over Cork city, though, and they are gorgeous!

I've never been one to sit around lamenting and not doing anything so here is my pumpkin pie experience! I've put together a 'How To' style tutorial to show you what to do with your pumpkin when it's all big and orange and staring at you questioningly. The first step to any pumpkin recipe is to first purée the pumpkin. Once it's puréed, you can freeze it or use it for various recipes.

1. Slice your pumpkin in half, and then into slices. Scoop out the innard-goop and put it into a bowl. You can rinse them later and bake the seeds if you want to use every part of the pumpkin. The stringy bits are great for compost!

2. Place the pieces (skin intact!) into a steamer and steam for approximately 20 minutes until soft. Remove from the steamer and allow to cool before peeling. Do NOT try to peel the slices while they're hot! You WILL burn yourself.

3. Allow the skinless pumpkin chunks to drain in a colander for 10 minutes to get rid of excess juice. Sometimes this isn't necessary, if you feel your pumpkin isn't very watery, you can skip this step!

4. Whizz up the pumpkin with a hand blender, or mash with a potato masher until it's a thick purée. Now you have your base ingredient, ready to use! If you have some left over, you can freeze it in a lunchbox or in small amount in freezer bags.

PUMPKIN PIE!

1 cup sugar
1.5 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground allspice
0.5 tsp ground ginger
0.5 tsp salt (optional)
4 large, free range eggs
3 cups pumpkin purée
18 floz evaporated milk

1. Mix all ingredients together with a hand mixer. It will be a very wet mixture.

2. Line a pie dish with short crust pastry. I find that this recipe makes enough for at least one extra pie, so have some extra pastry to hand, just in case!

3. Pour in the pie-filling, not filling the dish more than 3/4 full, as the mixture will rise! Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for the first 15 minutes.

4. Turn down the heat to 165 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 45 - 60 minutes, until a knife comes out clean from the centre.

When it is done, take it out and EAT IT UP, YUM YUM! :)

I hope you try this recipe! I originally found it online somewhere about two years ago and I've stuck with it. It's really delicious! I have a lovely recipe for pumpkin and spinach lasagne which I'll post soon. Let me know what you think! x

Coming tomorrow!

2011-10-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks have been insane for me. Between work and traveling, I've barely had time to sit down. Between last Thursday and Tuesday I went from Cork -> London -> Gothenburg -> London -> Cork -> Dublin -> Cork with work from Tuesday evening to Thursday evening. So today (Friday) has been the first day that I've been able to go out and get some food shopping.

I BOUGHT PUMPKINS!!

Three of them. Beautiful little ones! I'm excited about making them into pies, soups, pasties and curry! It's been more than a year since my last Pumpkin Post. This time I promise to post recipes.

Horizontal Thinking

2011-10-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

I'm in bed. It's WAY past my sleep-time but I'm just being stubborn. I feel like a useless lump because I'm ill so I haven't gone for a walk in.... weeks.

But I wanted to make a few notes:

I am going to Sweden on Thursday and I have not thought about it AT ALL.
I wrote and posted three letters today.
I made 15 pairs of key earrings and three Wizard Rock tote bags.
I have eaten one proper meal in the last three days. If I have not at least lost 2lbs, I will be most put out. It's the least this illness can do for me, really.
I don't want to teach drama tomorrow.
I hate spending money on clothes, but I really needed to.
And, in the last half an hour, I've actually felt hungry.

It occurred to me about an hour ago that I put pressure on myself to do things that I really shouldn't. I should worry that I miss a day of reading a book, or that I didn't get my room tidied today. Maybe I should make a list of the things that, if neglected, actually merit guilt. (Singing practice, piano practice, walking the dog...)

Pro.

2011-09-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Amy, please be professional. I don't know if you think about it enough in your singing. Be professional. Try not to be too bossy. :S

I think I am professional. It's how I roll? But I won't be running this show, for once.

For the Future.

2011-09-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

Just a few thoughts before I turn off the light.

1. ALWAYS be humble. Don't ever do it in a false way. You are the same as everyone else, remember that. In fact, most people are actually better than you at most things.

2. Always be nice. No matter how much someone or something is irritating you to the point of explosion, save it for when you are in private with someone you trust. Get it out, get over it, move on. If you're mean in public it will come back to bite you in the ass.

3. Don't be someone you're not. Just stick to you.

4. Distractions are just that. You don't need to keep up with things on TV or YouTube - they just distract you from more important things.

5. Sing more. Sing always. Don't stop singing.

September Makes Me Insane

2011-08-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

September approaches. It's the new school year, and for me that carries more meaning than the start of the calendar year. It's deeply rooted psychologically - the excitement, the new stationary, school bag, putting on your school uniform again. It's also the promise of something stable, secure and familiar - the routine of getting up, going out, doing things and coming home to relax.

OH HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED! Well, to an extent. Now I work in the evenings, so I wake up in the morning and wait for the day to begin at 3.30pm. It does seem that I am learning how to do life on a very gradual basis. For example, this end-of-August I have quite a detailed schedule of work I do from waking up time until about 6pm, after which time I can read, watch TV or Skype my friends. (Mostly the latter.) This is so lovely, and so reassuring and just like the days of yore. In a way, I am a little but wary of going back to the routine of getting up and waiting to work.

At this time of the year I start to get anxious that I'm not fulfilling my potential, and that I'm basically wasting my life because of sheer laziness. This year, at least, I can take a step back and say to myself: 'No. I am working towards goals. I am doing as much as I can.' A lot of this feeling of inadequacy comes down to being distracted. I look after people and let them take my time, even when I have a defined schedule. At least I recognise this now, and I can work towards fixing it.

Does anyone else have a panic in late August/September? Or do you just think: "I WANT NEW STATIONARY!!!" (I think this too....)

Question.

2011-08-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

If you love someone very much, and they love something very much, do you think it's your responsibility to engage with the thing? Like if it's a nerdy TV show, books, game, music, whatever?

I do.

Productive

2011-08-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

It's weird how I only start to get things done at about 7pm and finish up at 1am. I'm sure these aren't normal working hours.

Millie

2011-08-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Source

She's curled up one her beanbag-bed now in a little bundle. She is just the cutest, most affectionate, gentlest, loveliest creature on earth and I can't belive I had a life without her. She's my first dog and we got her eight months ago. I wouldn't be without my Millie.

Adele

2011-08-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

What makes Adele so nice, for me, is that her music is quite straightforward. It's like the accumulation of all the music she's listened to in this (what I would describe as) heightened era of musicians being able to do whatever they like. She's taken all this stuff in, digested it, and then written some songs straight our of her heart. Then she's sung them in a plain way with her nice voice. She's talking to us, she's communicating. I like that.

I think that's why so many people are loving her so much. They're hearing what she's saying and understanding it. Maybe it's just because there's something to understand in the first place. It's not about shaking your ass or being purely an object of sex. The funny thing is that I am not one of her devoted followers - I just understand what I'm hearing. And I like that. I respect it - and for that I respect her.

Listen to the piano part. It's so basic. Then there's a straightforward harmony on strings. It's the same thing in 'Someone Like You.' It's just broken chords. But that's perfect, because it means that the story can come across and doesn't have to compete with anything.

I like it. :)

Apt14

2011-08-05T14:13:00.001-07:00

Having put the deposit down on an apartment with a friend, I can't fight the feeling that I just want to PACK UP ALL MY SHIT AND GTFO NOW. Even though it's fine here. It's totally fine.

Timeturners and Armies.

2011-08-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

I wish that I could have been given a crystal ball when I was twelve years old and given a glimpse of my future. If I had known how reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone would shape my life, perhaps I would have been more enthusiastic about getting to read it. The truth is that my best friend at the time pestered and pestered me for weeks to read Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets.

Eventually I relented and checked them both out of my tiny local library. I remember sitting down on my bed, opening it up and being swallowed up by the story. I broke only to call the friend and whisper frantically (because I wasn't allowed to use the phone) that "SNAPE IS LORD VOLDEMORT! SNAPE! IS! LORD! VOLDEMORT!!" I remember that so vividly. Immediately I was swallowed up again, and finishing that first book, I realise now, my life changed.

From the second I met Harry, my life was better. School was more fun as my equally obsessed friend and I reenacted scenes from the books in empty corridors and made our new secondary school our own Hogwarts. (We even scratched a snake onto the tap in one of the girls' bathrooms.) When I was thirteen and fourteen, I lived and breathed the books. In classes, I did my very best to out-Hermione my friend, and we did our homework with quills. We had a folder filled with fanfic and fan art that we found on the handful of fan sites that existed back then and it was our most prized possession, apart from the books themselves.

When Prisoner of Azkaban came out, my friend and I both put our names down on a waiting list in the library for it. (We weren't aware yet that people often just went and bought books they hadn't already read.) The depth of story completely bowled me over. It occurs to me now that I never analyse these things as they happen to me, all I knew was that suddenly there were Marauders and I was in love with two of them. But really, J.K. Rowling has a way of NOT writing things that leads the readers to fill in the gaps themselves. It came at just the right age, where that amazing childish imagination hadn't yet succumbed to teenage 'coolness.' My friend and I spent hours imagining ourselves at Hogwarts, with Harry, Ron and Hermione. We knew them as friends. I longed for friends who were just like them in real life - just as courageous, loyal, funny and caring.

I couldn't possibly write all the ways in which Harry has affected my life. When, initially the movies were announced and the tiny fandom began to grow I resented every new fan who turned up and said they loved it as much as I did, or as much as any of the people I knew online. I was a child then. In fact, I was a child until very recently and in many ways I will never stop being one. But at the time I didn't understand that people could read three, four, five, etc, books in a row and still understand, love and enjoy them as much as we did, having lived them out several times.

Again, if I'd had a crystal ball and seen what this enlarged fandom would be capable of - adopting causes, changing the world, helping not only others but each other - maybe I wouldn't have minded. And of course, I would see my wonderful friends.

There's a fierceness, I think, in a way a Harry Potter fan loves their friends. I know that among my closest friends there is an unspoken understanding that we are the Rons and Hermiones to each others' Harrys. We're going to be there for each other when we're needed.

This brings me to, if you'll allow me, the 'crux' of this post. My Rons and Hermiones. My Nevilles, Ginnys and Lunas.

In every one of Harry's friends there is an admirable quality. Ron is loyal, unassuming and does everything he can to help. Hermione is clever and prepared. Neville is ready to step up and do what he has to for the good of others. Ginny is ferocious when it comes to protecting the people she loves. And Luna sees the world in a different way, and embraces the differences she sees. Harry doesn't feel that there is anything special about him. In fact, we are led to believe for a long time that he is very average. But Harry sees these qualities in his friends - in every person he picks out something that is admirable.

I've noticed over the last few years that once you leave school, college or work, the people you were friends with may drift away from you. Often you were only friends because you were sharing a common daily life, not because you had anything in common. I have also noticed that in each of my friends now, I can tell you at least one quality in them that I admire. Harry Potter has brought me together with so many different people and I admire all of them. They're my friends. The word has taken on new meaning to me in the last few years. In a way I went through a very traumatic phase last year of examining my existing friendships and thinking about how I felt when I was with a person, or how they treated me. It resulted in me letting some friends drift away, to see if they cared enough to come back again. (Not one of those friends did.)

Even though that was difficult, it helped me to see the incredible relationships I did have and gave me more time to spend on the people with whom to spend time is its own reward. Rewarding. I give my love and more love comes back. Only today did I realise how much love I have and how many people I love, in so many different ways. And I know that if I hadn't picked up that book twelve years ago, I wouldn't have these people who make my life so much richer. I may not have the privilege of being friends with people I deeply admire.

"I longed for friends who were just like them in real life - just as courageous, loyal, funny and caring."

Thanks to Harry, I found them.

.

Dear Mr. Potter

2011-07-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

The things I feel are worth writing about are, without fail, the things I find incredibly difficult to put into words. For instance, when I was given a piece of paper in the Room of Requirement at LeakyCon '11 to write a Dear Mr. Potter' letter, I could barely take it seriously. What did I want Harry to know about how he shaped my life? Could I just sellotape myself to the postcard? I am so implicitly formed by the Harry Potter books, my understanding of them, the experiences I've had and friends I've made because of them.

LeakyCon

2011-07-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

'Your love reminds me why I am alive.' - When the Lights Go Out, The Whomping Willows,

It seems actually foolish to sit here and try to put into words what happened last week in Orlando, Florida, but I'm going to give it a go.

Emma and the Mel containing their excitement like pros.

For me, the weekends started out with a group of friends getting on a plane in Gatwick airport on a Monday morning. We were all excited, thrilled and a bit tired having all stayed in the same hotel the night before. When we found that we had a fancy-pants new plane with DEATHLY HALLOWS part 1 on demand, we knew we would be properly taken care of on our 9-hour flight.


Me, Lucy-the-cat, Mary, Lizzie and Harry :)

When we touched down in Orlando airport, the air-conditioning was marvelous. We shuffled aboard a cool tram and sped towards the main airport, where we would be greeted by the beautiful and massively over-sized face of our favourite wizard. We all felt fresh as daisies and knew it would be a good idea to go rock out at a Harry and the Potters concert so seven of us piled into a taxi to the Orlando Public Library.

This was such a fun show. Despite spending nine hours on a plane, we, the Europeans out-danced every single American there at the concert. At one point Kylie and I divided to dance around the room and make people dance with us and I discovered Erin Pine! It was such a nice and unexpected surprise! We got to chat for a while afterwards and I remembered just how lovely and great she is. We need more Erin over here. I'm going to have to make this happen....

When we had to get back to the hotel, it was LASHING RAIN like nothing I had ever seen before. So obviously Mel and I had to go out and get drenched. :)


Joey's Gryffindor Sax


Kylie Mouse

TUESDAY:

On Tuesday, Mary, Aileen, Kylie and I went to Disney's Magic Kingdom. Kylie showed us all the best things like Philharmagic (in which I cried), the parade (in which I cried), and we stumbled upon a show outside the castle about dreams coming true (in which I cried.) This was the day that I discovered that rollercoasters are FUN! We went to Space Mountain twice, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and they were soooo the best! In the end we went home because it started lashing rain and we wanted to go to Hard Rock. It was there that I got hideously drunk from a SIP of a mojito and had to divide the cocktail between Ellie, Emma, Mary and Aileen. The room spun and I had to lie down. I think I may have been rude to the waitress - I can't remember.

This night became really fun after I had dinner and things stopped spinning! We all wandered around City Walk and found a DJ who may have been there for children and/or professional dancers. Needless to say we ignored any protocol and boogied down for quite a while before getting on the boat back to the hotel all sweaty, fed and happy.

Mary, Ellie and I decided that we were buzzing too much to go to sleep and bumped into Camie Heller and Jenni Russel in the lounge of the hotel. At about midnight, a rumor reached us that registration was opening so we went downstairs to find a huge group of Wizards lining up to get registered. It was so exciting! Unfortunately they didn't have my registration then and I was told to come back in the morning.

WEDNESDAY:


Mikey, Lizzie, Emma, Mel, Emilie, Kylie, Me, Bevin, Kelsey, Ellie

This day I queued for more than six hours to get registered. BUT, my friends were lovely enough to queue with me, Emma and Emilie, who also had badge problems. Mary and Aileen were great and went to queue for park tickets and cinema tickets. It was fairly stressful but when it was over, we got to the 'Opening Festivities' which featured a guy proposing to his girlfriend and a video montage. We also met Laura, Cathrin and James there!

Kirsten the Blibbering Humdinger!

After getting soaked on some rides in Islands of Adventure and going on the Hulk Coaster, WE WENT TO HOGSMEADE! We had to run across the park and somehow, Mary and I got separated from everyone on the way but found everyone again in the Hog's Head. Outside we had our butterbeer and bumped into a very merry Alex Carpenter before heading up to the castle. Kylie wanted to be there for my first go of Forbidden Journey and the gorgeous Kirsten Humdinger came too and pointed out all the cool details in the castle as we went along. As soon as we got off the ride, we got STRAIGHT BACK ON again, it was SO GOOD!!! I just loved it, I can't believe how great it is! I want there to be a new one every year!

At the end of the surprisingly short night, I found a very sleepy Cathrin sitting alone on a bench and knew that it was definitely nearly bed time. After sampling some of the 'Traditional Bristish fare" I headed home on the last boat with Mary, Ellie and the group from the plane. Alex was also on our boat with who I now know to be the Starkid Potter people. Ellie, Mary and I started a 'Hey Jude' sing-song and everyone joined in for the 'na-na-na-nas' á la last summer in my kitchen with Joey and Paulie. (The Beatles bring people together.)

THURDSAY:

Vladimir Snape, Post Mortem

Thursday was a really busy day! I woke up and went to the ballroom on my own to watch Finding Hogwarts. Ironically, I found many of the Brits in there (this includes Kelsey and Bevin...) and we wound up watching the film together. I ended up staying in there for the next two events with Ellie on our own until we had to go get lunch.

(I don't really remember what happened between lunch and what happened next)

We went to go see the film for about 7pm. I didn't quite process the film but I do remember thinking it was great and clinging onto Kylie's hand for at least half of it.

That night, there was Wizard Rock on and, because I'd been to the latest showing of DH2, we only arrived in as Lauren Fairweather was on stage, meaning we missed two bands. I was still feeling a bit troubled by the film so I wandered outside and found a few witches I didn't know as well as Mikey, Emilie and Mel, all sitting in a corner. I joined them for a while until MoM and The Remus Lupins came on. It was Alex's last set. I think I was so emotionally drained from the film that after the dancing was over that I didn't know what to do with the knowledge that this was his last set.

I'm going to have to continue in Part 2!

New Things.

2011-04-03T03:38:00.000-07:00

Hello neglected blog. The number of times that I've drafted blogs in my head over the last month is ridiculous. I've wanted to blog almost every day. The thing is, when I'm going through a period of high stress or feeling low or whatever, I tend to not want to document it. It's like the opposite of being a teenager. Now I would rather look over entries and relive times when I was happy or calm. At 10.07 on this sunny Sunday morning, as I sit in bed listening to music and lawnmowers I would say I feel content.

Kylie has a nice hairband. She made it herself!

The reason for my contentment is the prospect of waking up somewhere else from now on. I'M MOVING! This day last week I picked a house to look at, looked at it and met the lovely people living in it and tomorrow I'm moving in. Bish, bash, bosh! I can't explain how delighted I am. Something my homeopath said to me made me realise that I was spending too much time looking after the people around me and not focusing enough on myself.

My house is a building site at the moment, with bits of wood and dust everywhere. (Not to mention the furniture piled up everywhere.) That's quite stressful. Then my dad's been ill for about three weeks and finally went into hospital on Thursday for pain management. (He has chronic pain and kidney stones.) So, that and the dog keeps eating every weird thing she sees - including some broken pieces of glass. She's already on antibiotics because the vet things she may have eaten some plastic. (I'm going to buy her a mesh muzzle because she's kind of a danger to herself.)

Mel has nice fluffy cat shoes. :)

I've just found that taking care of the house, the dad and the dog have been a bit much for me of late and it's time to spend some time on myself. I'm moving into town, to a gorgeous big house full of mature student artists and musicians and a cat. What I'm MOST looking forward too are the times when I can just spend a morning practicing singing, cooking just for myself, composing in my room, I AM GOING TO READ SO MUCH OMG, having friends come to stay, and being able to focus on my diet and exercise. Over the last four weeks, my healthy diet has gotten worse and worse owing to no kitchen and stress. I'm looking forward to getting back on track before the Easter.

Last night when I needed a break from packing I started to look at places and requirements for MMus degrees in the UK. So, my new life will include a lot of sight singing, piano and learning Italian! I can do it, though. I have time now. :)

I luv dem.

Spending Time with Henry

2011-01-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

I'm going to have a go at one of those liberating, rambly posts that I used to enjoy writing.

It's 00.35 and I should have been asleep 1 hour ago because my body is fighting a cold virus (quite successfully) and I am unable to function mentally right now. Text looks wrong, I can't string proper sentences together and I keep forgetting how to spell halfway through words.

Today, as with yesterday and the day before, I spend every single free moment of my life cleaning the house. My birthday party will be on Saturday and I have friends arriving from Thursday onwards and basically sleeping in EVERY single room in the house. This means that the spare room, to which all of my sewing and knitting paraphernalia has been relocated over the course of about two years had to be CLEANED OUT. This took me an entire season and a half of Peep Show to accomplish, and even then it wasn't/isn't done. I am quite proud of myself for managing to organise all my fabric and wool. It's quite a feat. I should really take a photograph.

Then there's the spare front room, into which all of my clothes, books, jewelry, junk, stationary, crap, bits and things had been transferred at Christmas so that my brother and sister in law could have my bedroom. Happily that is tidy now, despite having Lucy on Skype for a few hours while I repeatedly cried "What am I doing?! What am I doing? I don't know what I'm even doing!" because the enormity of my task was just ridiculous.

Tomorrow, I will clean my bedroom, the bathroom, the hall, downstairs and put the Christmas decorations away.

And so, my friends, I have once again come to these conclusions:

1: I have TOO MUCH BLOODY STUFF
2: I don't understand punctuation well enough
3: .......................

OH MY GOD I'VE GOT AN OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOK AND IT IS STRESSING ME THE FUCK OUT.

BongBong

2011-01-03T16:41:00.001-08:00

Usually at this time of the year I'm all excited about the challenges of the New Year's resolutions. This year I'm finding it hard to get started. Apart from bringing the doggie for daily walks and trying not to swear, I've not had a chance to have a go of my other ones. The problem being that the Christmas period doesn't just suddenly stop on the first of January. My sister is still staying in our house and I know that if we have to go out to do anything (eg, buy food, meet a friend) it will inevitably take all day.

The first part of my day is pretty good. I get up, I eat, feed and walk the dog, come home, shower. Standard morning fare. But you can't just abandon everyone in the house to go composing in the music room. For one thing, in my house people will listen which is annoying and interrupt which is beyond annoying.

We were supposed to travel to Northern Ireland to visit a friend for three days but I just sort of put my foot down. (Very carefully...) I really do want to go visit Margaret but my run up to Christmas literally went like this:

CUMBRIA -> AMSTERDAM -> BERLIN -> EDINBURGH -> CHRISTMAS

I'm tired. And worse than being tired, I feel I'm behind on my actual life. Until I get some time on my own and space to get things done, I know I'll just feel panicked and stressed. I make a to-do list before I go to sleep every night for the next day and I find that I don't have the space to get anything on the list done. Time for piano practice has run out as I have a lesson tomorrow. Oh well. In at the deep end, I suppose.

It will be interesting to spend time with the woof on our own for the first time. My dad, sister and I were invited to lunch at our friends' house on Saturday. Their son-in-law just happens to be some kind of champion dog trainer and we just happened to have Millie in the car so we got a lesson in heeling and staying and sitting. We're also going to train her to poo/wee on command. (The word is "bongbong." You say it every time they go so they make the association. Amazing.)

I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO TOMORROW, YES, YES, YES!!!

A celebratory gif. My friend Jonny made this of us in the graveyard in Edinburgh:

lol @ Elaine getting hit with a snow ball on the right.

One Step Ahead of Myself

2010-12-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

Bonjour, mes amis. Merry Christmas!

It's that time of year again; time for reflective entries where I think about the type of person I'd like to become and ways I plan to get there. On the plane on the way home from Edinburgh, in a bid to distract myself from my fear of falling out of the sky, I made a list of resolutions. Not one of my resolutions is weight related. I think that's progress. My healthy eating and positive habits are just life now, I will continue to lose weight because I've changed. I don't need to put unnecessary focus on it.

It's mostly career-related, this list. That's fairly amazing when you consider that this time last year I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do. I thought event manager. Funnily, that's still part of the package.

I'm not sure if I've written about it here yet, but I've decided to pursue being a singer/songwriter. My core of family and 2 Cork friends have been just really supportive. As in, no one has tried to talk me out of it. When I told Martha she very calmly said, "Yes. I think that's probably right." As if it'd been staring us all in the face. I suppose in a way it had?

So my resolutions are as follows:

__..:: Write and/or play music every day.

__..:: Record three albums.

__..:: Record one Wizard Rock album.

__..:: Become an inspirational performer. (Totes easy, guyz.)

__..:: Achieve the next grade in piano.

__..:: Spend time promoting myself.

__..:: PLAY AT LEAKYCON!!!!!!

__..:: Book at least one live show of my own music.

__..:: Write more letters.

__..:: Gain an acceptable level of French. (Be able to hold a conversation.)

Before the 16th December I honestly thought that the Snow Ball in Edinburgh would be my last Wizard Rock show. I thought I was finished writing music about Harry Potter. Being there, spending the weekend with my friends, meeting new friends, singing, drinking endless tea, singing, hugging, eating porridge and singing.... It's just reminded me what friendship can be. It's reminded me of why I got into it. It reminded me of how amazing people can be, how you can have a group of friends around you who look out for you and care for you the way you care for them. It's something that I encountered twice in America and something I don't think I've ever really encountered in my own Irish life. It's incredible. And so, I feel inspired to keep doing it. Until I have to stop...

I'm not the kind of person who will keep flogging a dead horse. When the time comes, I will stop. If I'm not inspired, I won't write. But the people in the community, especially here in Europe and Scandinavia just surprise me with their warmth, their support and their willingness to give of themselves. When I see someone come from Norway or Germany to come to a Wizard Rock show that I'm playing at, it really amazes me. And no one is horrible. We don't seem to have any drama over here.

Okay, I need to stop gushing. Long story short: ♥

Here are some photos of what I got up to...

SONIC SCREWDRIVER!!!

Cathrin, Ellie, Laura, me, Lucy

Singin' at the Snow Ball.

Snowball fight with Kylie in the Tom Riddle Graveyard.

I wrote this.

I didn't write this.

My voice was fairly wrecked by the time I came to these two songs so please don't judge. D:

HPFTW

2010-11-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

HARRY POTTER!
HARRY POTTER!
HARRY POTTER!
HARRY POTTER!
HARRY POTTER!

HARRY POTTER!!

I'm so inspired right now! I need to be singing! <3

Seriously?

2010-11-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

An example of a time I wanted to be taken seriously

I am quite confident that I don't take myself too seriously. As I go about my life I literally police myself about it. Recently though, I've worried that I try too hard not to take myself seriously. Perhaps I should start, because if I don't, who will. It's possibly a symptom of what we in Ireland consider a very Irish mentality. We don't like to make it seem like we're anything out of the ordinary. We would like to make it seem that what we do or what we have achieved is just a trifle, that it was nothing. And if anyone acts like they worked hard for what they have, we consider them to be snobs and tend to be suspicious of them.

"Ireland is a nation of begrudgers," is a phrase that is tossed around quite freely here. And it's true. And I often worry that if I were to just explode my sense of containment, to say the really arty, stupid things that come into my head, people would think that I'm assuming another personality and doing it for attention. The reason I've been thinking about it more recently is because I want to be an artist. There is, obviously, a type of artist that is very coy and cunning about everything that they say. I would at least enjoy a period of unpoliced freedom to say and create whatever I like.

I'm always drawn to song-writers who don't follow the rules. Marina and the Diamonds, Regina Spektor, Elbow, Florence and the Machine, Lily Allen. In art class at school, I used to detest when I was making something I was excited about and my teacher would tell me how to fix it and what I shouldn't do. It's that age-old argument of "What is art?" At that point I just wanted the freedom to explore my abilities and what worked and what didn't.

That's what I want now. I'm writing all these slightly absurd lyrics. (One song is actually inspired by the Absurdest play "The Sandbox" by Albee.) And songs about the change that has happened, the way I understand my brain, the people I know and how I feel about what's occurring (<---pop reference!) Even though the speed at which I'm turning out complete songs isn't what I'd hoped, I'm still getting into the lyrics which I always found the hardest part.

In the end, if I start Tweeting or blogging completely teenage things and just seeming a bit pretentious, please don't hate me. I probably won't even get past my self-preservation reflex anyway, but I thought I'd just jot it down... in case.

Not a Slacker!

2010-11-09T16:01:00.000-08:00

(At the risk of sounding American:) I HAVE TOTALLY NOT BEEN SLACKING OFF!

I've written a LOT of sets of lyrics and thought an awful lot about things. Tomorrow I'll be back in the music room and it will be fabulous.

It's interesting, this project. It's particularly interesting that ALL my lyrics are about the time in life when you are young and expected to understand what the heck is going on and who you are and what you want to spend the rest of your life doing. That time that I hope I'm coming out the other side of. So, I'm going to write some music for those songs and choose something else to write a song about. Last night I forced myself to write about something else. And I was quite happy with the result. But let's see how it is with music. :)

When I'm out and about, of even doing something as mundane as peeling carrots, I seem to have these great sparks of inspiration for songs. But I forget them almost as soon as I'm finished what I'm doing. Ah, so fickle is the nature of creativity.

OKAY SO BACK TOMORROW AND WITH LOTS TO SHOW ;)

Bumpy Road

2010-11-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

I am extremely unwell. All my energy today went into doing work-work. (As opposed to work.) At the moment I am going to concentrate on battling this chest, throat and sinus infection. But hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to write again. Listening to myself rasping on the last two recordings is driving me around the twist!

Naturally I'm really inspired at this time of not being able to write. ;)

I am enjoying this spoon's face.

Song numero 2

2010-11-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

Well. Body has decided that now is the best time to have a chest/sinus/throat infection. So in case you were wondering why Song Numero 1 was so breathy, this is probably the reason. I mean, I can't be 100% sure, but the evidence is certainly pointing that way.

Today and yesterday I learned a few things:

1: If I want to be a musician, I will have to live...
a) Not under a flight path
b) Not next to neighbours with a strange LOVE of construction

2: Don't leave the condenser mic on top of the piano because it WILL fall down and give me a heart attack.

3: I'm going to have to work harder at writing non minor melodies. I just don't know how to do this. Maybe I should collaborate with someone happy.

So I didn't write anything yesterday because I was in bed except for when I had to teach. I've nearly finished the entire series Gavin and Stacey. It's amazing. I love it. This means I'm one song behind. When I feel better I'm going to have to catch up.

Okay, so here's today's offering. Please excuse my DISGUSTING voice and any ambient noise such as men with electric saws outside. It's not very finished, it's more of an idea that I've recorded.

Listen!

Start out closed and almost frozen,
When you go your mind will open
Letting in all sorts of crazy
Things but will you let them win?

Shoeless art, attack the heart and
Deconstruct what already does
not make any sense and put your
Hand up so that you can gain a

Feeling that you know what's going
On the inside you feel so bewildered
Spoons and cows and toes and
Political blanket-throws...

NaSoWriMo: 30 songs in 30 days!

2010-11-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Cathrin Cowdrey, me, Laura Crow @ a show we played in Cumbria, UK on Saturday

I have an announcement to make. It's quite serious. I do hope you're sitting down. Are you ready?

I'm coming out.... as a singer-songwriter. It's my career choice.

As you may already know, it is November, AKA: NaNoWriMo or "National Novel Writing Month." As a former participant, I understand how fantastic and awful writing 50, 000 words in thirty days can be. When I considered the month of November, examining my schedule I realized that I can't do this. Not in a negative way. It's just not the right time for me. I need to be focusing my creative energies in improving my songwriting skills and creating a body of work that I'm proud of.

And so I have invented NaSoWriMo.

Because I am trying to improve, your input, constructive criticism and comments would be VERY much appreciated. And before you say anything about how awful the recording is, I know. But it's the song we're looking at, not the terrible recording. Kthanks.

I'm going to design some sort of meme-style form to remind me what's surrounding the songs.

This song is for everyone I've ever met.

Listen!

INSIDE:
Feel this star inside your soul
And know that I'm not the one
That holds the holds the answers
To what's haunting you
Stop looking around,
It can't be found

CHORUS:
Inside the darkness
You have found
A way to keep the ground
Beneath your feet
One move and you'll collapse
The pieces of you don't quite match...

All you want is someone to
Believe in you
To help you through
Things are not so easy now
Nothing's clear
The path is what you fear

CHORUS:
Inside the darkness
You have found
A way to keep the ground
Beneath your feet
One move and you'll collapse
The pieces of you don't quite match...

Can't move, can't see
Feel this star and start to breathe

CHORUS:
Inside the darkness
You have found
A way to keep the ground
Beneath your feet
One move and you'll collapse
The pieces of you don't quite match...

Memememe

2010-10-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Hazelnut Torte from Sunday lunch today. Got to have the dark chocolate! ;)

Hooray! I was tagged in this meme thing by The Cottage Smallholder. The rule is to tag eight other bloggers and make your own eight questions.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

__..::1* What have you learnt from blogging?
I started blogging when I was an angsty 17 year old. Over the years I've learned that it's a very good idea to just let all the ideas, troubles, annoyances, happiness sprawl on the page. Once they're there it's much easier to be reflective and to work things out. I'm actually looking forward to meeting more bloggers. I'm new to the public blogging thing, really. If anyone has any tips, I'm open to learning!

__..::2* What was your proudest moment and why?

Graduation day at university. I have never worked so hard or suffered so much for anything in my life. It was an incredibly tough course (Music and Drama and Theatre Studies) and I learned so much about the world, people and myself.

__..::3* What is the naughtiest thing that you have ever done?

I picked up all the business cards for a rival soprano, put them in my handbag and replaced them with my own. I feel so guilty to this day. I think I'll put them somewhere else because I can't live with the guilt.

__..::4* Who or what populates your nightmares?

Men with knives coming to stab me. My mother.

__..::5* Do you have “me time”. If so what do you do and why?

I love meeting up with my friends in Cork and Tweeting/Facebook. I find the internet so relaxing. It's better than a bath. I also enjoy tidying....

The whole social thing is good for me. I like socialising and meeting with people and the internet opens up the possibilities of who I might meet. :) It's very useful for keeping in touch with my friends in other countries, which I do every day. I prefer real life contact though, and that's why it's important to me to see my close proximity friends regularly.

__..::6* The one food or ingredient that you fret about running out and why?

Dark chocolate. Things can never go completely wrong when there's good quality dark chocolate in the store cupboard.

__..::7* The best book that you have read in the last five years and why?

OH MY GOD, HARDEST QUESTION EVER!!!! I'm going to say 'His Dark Materials' which is a trilogy by Philip Pullman. It sucks you right it to its world and almost makes you into a character.

From my LiveJournal:

Jan. 5th, 2005 at 1:16 AM

"I've been reading Northern Lights and thinking about daemons. When I'm reading it/thinking about it I'm like "Wow, thank God no one will ever separate me from my daemon." It's actually surreal to think that I don't have one. I feel like I do."

__..::8* If you could erase a person/experience/mistake from your life who/what would it be and why?

No, never. Nothing. I don't think I'd erase anyone or anything. I've learned from everything.

Questions:

1. What inspires you to blog?

2. What's the best thing about blogging, for you?

3. What is your favourite book of all time?

4. It's 9pm and for some reason you've been hungry all day, despite the three square meals. What do you rustle up?

5. Who are three of your style icons?

6. What's your current favourite song/piece of music?

7. What's the last book you read?

8. What is your current favourite recipe?

Tagged:

The Smallest Smallholding

This Yorkshire Life

Operaman's Blog

Elegant Musings

aaand I fail because I need more blogs! I INVITE YOU TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS! :D

The Making of the Pumpkin Pie

2010-10-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome autumn! It was really fiery and gorgeous for about two days and now it's lashing rain. It's pretty in a different way. Wet or grey weather is never something that I complain about. It's just very Irish, isn't it. It's a different sort of lovely and amazing.
When I was in school I used to imagine that college would be this endless autumn with scarves and coffee. It kind of was, but colder and rainier. There was lots of coffee, anyway.

When it's all moldy and slimy outside, it's makes me feel much more justified in staying indoors and baking. Last week I bought a GIANT pumpkin for six euro in the English Market in Cork. Last year I had my first go of cooking with a pumpkin and was informed after the fact that I was using the wrong sort of pumpkin.

It seems that in Ireland we seem to only use one sort - the big jack-o-lantern kind. Trust me, it tastes amazing. I am so completely unconcerned with it not being a "pie pumpkin."

Last year I scooped out the innards of our actual jack-o-lantern so I had to be quite careful of damaging his beautiful visage. But this year I was free to do whatever was necessary (bwa-ha-ha >:D ).

This pumpkin provided enough for two pumpkin pies, a vat of pumpkin soup, a tray of pumpkin pasties and a lot of purée has gone in the freezer for later.

Have you tried pumpkin? I don't think it's that common in the UK and Ireland. If anyone has any other suggestions for how to use up the rest of the pumpkin, please comment! :)

Oh my Jo.

2010-10-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've paused the interview that J.K. Rowling did with Oprah Winfrey. It's just that I feel quite overwhelmed. At the moment the huge messy ball of my thoughts is not showing any signs of organising itself, but I'd like to at least attempt to convey what it's about.

For over a year I've felt quite distant from the Harry Potter fandom, and from the story and "The Feeling." Without getting into a massive debate about tier systems, I have very much felt that the fandom as I knew it has disappeared and what is left is a community where we have made certain people celebrities. It makes me hugely uncomfortable. I couldn't exactly tell you why. Perhaps some part of me feels that celebrity is not what I signed up for. What drew me to the fandom was the people all over the world, from different families and religions and countries, who were on the same journey that I was. We were all Harry. We were all learning about how important love is, how important loyalty, friends, hard work are.

Me and Martha, queuing for Deathly Hallows. 2007

Listening to Jo Rowling speak about what it was like for her on the other side of the typewriter, about how she had no idea that there were children and adults alike reading the books and becoming involved in such a dramatic and emotional way, rekindled The Feeling for me. Honestly it really has been a long time. And how can I put into words what I've been through with these books, what they've done for me or how I've experienced them?

Let me explain for a moment what The Feeling is. (Although, I know that if you are reading this as a HP fan, I don't really need to.)

When it's an early autumnal morning, everything's crisp and quiet and there is a mist hovering above the grass, you may experience The Feeling. It's almost as though the world is completely yours and only you know its secrets. That there's some strength or power you get from that. It's very difficult to describe an emotion in the first place. If all your friends and family turned up to surprise you with love and hugs, the feeling you would experience in the middle of the night when they're all asleep and it's quiet is "The Feeling."

It's kind of like "I feel so lucky to be alive that I'm slightly melancholy." Strange, but so am I.

I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when I was twelve years old. I've always felt different to my peers. And adults. And people younger than me. For some reason I've always felt just a little bit out of step. I tend to think of things differently, or imagine things differently. I'm convinced that this is a reason that I can't fathom poetry: it resonates COMPLETELY differently for me. I never saw what everyone in my class at school saw.

Don't get me wrong, I've never been shy or felt that being different was a very bad thing. It's just always been that way. Even something as small as like being the curly-haired girl in a class or straight-haired people. I've just always felt different. I've never seen a reason to be shy. When my school friends avoided raising their voices, I'd be the one shouting or singing or just asking questions.

It's my nature to be that way, definitely. And even though I never felt that I had to seek solace anywhere, I definitely found reinforcement in the Harry Potter books. Hogwarts was a place where EVERYONE was different. No one tried to be the same as anyone else. Each character had their own strengths and each character was on his or her own personal journey. They got through it all because they had individual power and the love of their friends.

I needed to see that. To this day, I'm not sure if a world exists where everyone feels okay being themselves all the time. I am myself all the time and I certainly feel that in some places Amy is frowned upon. But I needed to see that someone else believes that it's okay to think differently, or to be 'strange.' In the Harry Potter books, it's the idiosyncrasies of the characters that makes them so lovable and so memorable.

Jo Rowling didn't know it, but she and I were having a long conversation. She was teaching me how to feel things like loyalty, friendship, strength, love and grief and to understand what they meant.

My mother died when I was 15 years old, a good three years after I had started reading HP. It was sudden and unexpected. One day everything was fine, the next day I was told my mum was dying. Obviously it wasn't as straight forward as "I understood grief because of JK so I was fine," but I was certainly familiar with the concepts and emotions that came next. I recognised what I was going through because I'd been through it already with Harry. During my particularly dark periods, I could relate to Harry. I never felt a hundred percent alone.

The WZRD Staff. Terminus, Chicago, IL August 2008

There is so much I could say. I could talk about Terminus, about how much it meant to me to go and spend time with people who had been on the same journey as me. I could talk about how much I've gained from being the the fandom in terms of work experience and life experience. I could talk about you, my friends, who I'm sure wouldn't be reading if not for J.K. Rowling. Yet, I feel sure that she doesn't understand what she has done for so many people. I know that, simply because she is human, she can't begin to fathom the way she has touched so many people's lives. Maybe she thinks that we read and enjoy and are inspired.

We are.

But it's so much more than that.

Birmingham, UK. October 2007

New Canaan, CT, USA. January 2008

With Squib Girl. Providence, RI, USA. January 2008

With Camie and Grace at FAO Schwartz, NYC January 2008

LeakyCon, Boston, MA. July 2009

The Snow Ball, Edinburgh, Scotland.
December 2009

Ellie, Laura, me, Cathrin and Lucy. After "The Cork Show"
June 2010

If you can relate or have any thoughts about this, please comment!

Vibes and Scribes

2010-09-23T04:49:00.000-07:00

My amazingly fantastic and beautiful bookshelves. Back when it was new and i didn't want to overburden it.

On Tuesday I met my friend Martha for Coffee in Cork Coffee Roasters. That's irrelevant (but nice!) When we were finished I insisted we went into Vibes and Scribes, the bookshop next door because it's literally against the law to be near a Vibes and Scribes and not go in.

Let me just explain a little bit about Vibes and Scribes...

IT'S BEAUTIFUL! It's kind of like the bookshop of your dreams. Kind of. Not only do the have the best selection of cookery and bakery books in Cork, they also sell CUTE FABRIC for dressmaking and crafts. They have three branches in the city.

1: The craft shop.
YARN! CRAFT BOOKS! PAINTS! BEADS! INK! PAPER! YAAAAAY!!!

2: The new books and fabric shop.
So many books on art, photography, cooking and baking, classics, young children's books, Irish writers, novels and random kitchen equipment.

3: The new and second hand book shop.
YAY SECOND HAND BOOKS AND DVDS AND ALSO MORE COOKERY BOOKS! There's a really heartbreakingly beautiful gardening section and a humour section and a young adult section.

And on top of that they have craft demonstrations for FREE every week in bookbinding, sewing, jewellery making and more. AND they hold weekly knitting groups and book clubs for children and adults.

Right, back to the story.

Martha saw a notice in the window that said they wanted full time staff. Suddenly my eyes grew as large as my head and filled with stars, just like an anime! And now I've completely convinced myself that I will work in Vibes and Scribes and it will be beautiful. I stayed up stupidly late last night editing my CV and even later just fantasizing about what life ~~will~~would be like if I worked there full time.

Now I have this weird pain in my chest that probably won't go away until I know that I don't have the job. D:

D: D: D:

Eurgh.

2010-09-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'd like to be a productive, successful person. If only I could find a way of using the internet to help me.

Singing

2010-09-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

Yaaaay singing! Well, it's all extremely confusing at the moment. I've signed up to sing with a new teacher and I'm not sure how we're going to click. Open mind! :)

Apart from the teacher-finding problem I'm in a much better mental place. I'm reading a great book about technique and tips for coping with being sick and things. (Steam inhalation!) And it's really good to just go back to basics and think about things like diaphragmatic tension in a different way. I definitely pushed through too much air when I was with Hilary. Like, I'm breathy. I hate it. So in my practice at the moment I'm focusing a lot on regulation the flow of breath, keeping my throat open and not holding tension in the stem of my tongue, or in my upper body.

Even just having adjusted a few elements of my posture and the way I use my tongue, I'm able to keep singing for soooo much longer. I think I did a straight 40minute practice earlier. It did include breathing, but I totally think that's a worthwhile investment and it was mostly singing.

Another thing I'd like to change is my visualisation. Definitely with Hilary, the way she's taught me to visualise makes me inclined to be flat. She has always told me to think down when I'm singing up, because the larynx goes down when the pitch goes up.

So I used an exercise from the book I'm reading. It's one we used before in a speech module I did at college. You hum at a low pitch and feel the resonance with your fingers, then change the pitch and feel how the resonance moves. To be honest, I can never feel it with my fingers, but it always alerts me to where the resonance is actually going. So now, I'm imagining the different areas of my face, hairline, top of my head. It seems that when I do this I really do get a more resonant sound on my top notes. And for some reason it encourages me to open my mouth more at the top.

Just going back to the stem of my tongue, it's something that was pointed out in the book. When I studied with Hilary, she taught quite a complicated system of tongue positions. I understood it to an extent and it helped me a lot in my middle register but once I had to go up my upper register I found it constricted my throat. And I realise now it's because I was too focused on what my tongue was doing, and as a result I just tensed the bejesus out of it, which tightened my throat.

It is quite disheartening to come from five years of training to think that you have to go back to the start in many ways. Honestly, I'm relieved this is happening now rather than going on being afraid to sing because of sore throats and just STRESS. I learned a lot from Hilary and I can definitely sing. It's just that I think it's time for some new perspectives.

Wine Lady?

2010-09-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

It's nice having neighbours. It's nice to know that if anyone tries to break into your house or murder you there will be people around to call the police or find your body. However, most people will have at least one set or family of neighbours who endlessly amaze with their level of inconsideration.

I have one such family of neighbours.

Last winter we were woken every morning by such trilling beauties as jackhammers and pneumatic drills right outside our window. For four seemingly endless months the house next door was effectively shelled out and rebuilt. In the end we were rewarded with an extension window which faced directly into our living room window. Hello new neighbours.

So, that's all in the past and forgotten, obviously. However, this family has a little boy. He's about five years old and likes to play in front of his house, which is totally fine. He also likes to play in our garden, which is not totally fine. Last week he was playing hurling right next to my car with indiscriminate force. I watched this from inside and the fourth time the ball narrowly missed my dad's car I decided to go out and tell them very sweetly to feck off.

Out I went and in my most teachery voice I said:

"Boys, make sure you stay off the grass here. Go and play in your own garden."

Child: "THIS IS MY GARDEN."

Me: "Nnnoo. This is my garden. That is your garden."

Child: "ALL THIS IS MY GARDEN!!!"

Me: "Play on the green or play in your garden. Don't play here."

Then something quite unexpected happened.

His little friend was mortified and started trying to explain. It just didn't make any sense.

So I was just watching them pick up their toys and move off the lawn when the child turned around and said

I mean, I could understand if he'd actually seen me carrying a bottle of wine or drinking wine. But I don't drink.

My conclusion is that this kid is mad.

WIZARD ROCK WEEKEND and more!

2010-07-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

I feel quite bad for not having posted at ALL in the last week. Last week literally nothing happened. I slept for the entire week trying to recover from the weekend before.

The show was EPIC! The only hitches happened in my set, which is okay because I feel I can take ownership over Siriusly Hazza P and Harry and the Potters' successes in a tiny way for actually being the person who organised the concert. It was a great weekend. I just can't stress how amazing my friends are. James and Lucy, Mary and Janice, my family - MY PIANO TEACHER, EVEN? All helped in some way and were there to support me. God. Amazing, really. The actually progression of the day went so eerily smoothly. There were no disasters. Well, my friend Martha has a seizure after my set but like, these things happen. More than 200people showed up. I'm still in shock.

The after party was cool too and culminated in me collapsing at 2.30am. Whimp.

---:D---

Today this happened:

Me:Maybe getting a cat would help you with your paranoia.
Sister: I'm not paranoid!
Me: You called the police on some mice in your house....

---:D---

God I can't believe how long it's been since I posted, really. Here are some photos:

I was in Cheshire visiting my friends a few weeks ago. They brought me to a BOUTIQUE that was NAMED AFTER ME!

Laura and Cathrin also brought me to a bakery which had SUCH tempting confectionary. I sampled 6 cakes and took the rest home to my father. :D

In the bakery I got a hug from Robert, my man cardi who I named after my boo, Robert Downey Jr.

Later I murdered them at the dinner table.

From the show weekend!

On Saturday we went into town with some Wizards and Witches.

Neil, Mel, James, me, Lizzy, Matt on our way to the Opera House

And in the evening I had everyone over for a barbecue at m'house:

THE SHOW!!!

Siriusly Hazza P

Me with a Hazza P on either side.

Harry and the Potters working the crowd!

Me, Cathrin and Ellie doing our thang.

GOOD TIMES!

Pimping the Maids

2010-06-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Words:

Sadomasochism, homosexual, incest.

Moderately coherent thoughts:

'Pimping the Maids' was a multi-media exploration of Jean Genet's play 'The Maids.'

In the original play two sisters, Claire and Solange take turns in role playing the brutal murder of their mistress. It's based on a real story of the Papin sisters; two French maids who murdered their employer in 1933. In 'Pimping the Maids,' the audience was shown a selection from a material from a work-in-progress.

To be honest, it was quite weird. But that's good, to me the original play was weird. The whole concept is weird and it's even weirder when you read about the Papin sisters. It took place in the UCC Drama lab, which is where I expect weird experimental things to go down.

My favourite part was the soundscape. It was a combination of electronic sounds and strings being used in various ways. There was a man sitting to the side of the stage bowing, winding and tapping strings and playing pre-recorded speeches and (once) an opera aria. I found his goings-on pretty fascinating. I spotted what looked like a tiny hammered dulcimer that had a picture of the creepy Papin sisters glued to it.

I REALLY LIKED how they tied in the sense of tension throughout the different media. Over the drama lab's fireplace (yes, fireplace), there was a projected looped video of "Madame" looking down over the audience and actors sternly, portrait-style. The strings in the soundscape played a major part in the creation of tension. At one point the sound guy played the sound of wire strings being tightened, so that the audience is wondering when breaking-point is going to be reached.

Another example of the tension was in what I would like to call "the toilet roll scene." Madame stands on a stereo-speaker/pedestal over the two maids, who unroll and pull sheets of toilet roll. The more submissive maid seems able to break off the paper and bend the sheets, while the more frustrated, dominant maid pulls the sheets taught until they break. All the while a high-pitched whirring noise plays over the rest of the soundscape.

There was some spitting that I'd really rather not think about. But there was some amazing movement by the "Madame."

Different Things.

2010-06-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

This morning as surreal. I wasn't at work. Work finished last Friday and yesterday was a bank holiday. There was a weird moment where I'd just cleaned the kitchen and hulled a load of strawberries for jam and I thought "I shouldn't be here." It was bittersweet because I would have been going into a double practical class which I never enjoyed but I sort of missed that sense of very fixed purpose.

So instead of shouting at a load of fourteen-year-olds, I made strawberry jam. :) I used a recipe from out family bible (below) which uses quite a troubling amount of sugar.

This evening I made chocolate chip and hazlenut cookies....

Can you tell I need a purpose?

Vision Board

2010-05-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made one of those lame-ass vision board things. You're meant to find pictures of what you want in life and shtick 'em onto a poster. Or, alternatively flick through magazines and just cut out the pictures that capture you or spark your imagination.

I wish I had a camera so that I could show you what I put in. I'll have to improvise with Google Images.

FOOD:
Muffin with star:

Trifle:

Mackerel:

Raspberries:

Blueberries:

Vegetable soup:

An orange:

Cup of tea in pretty flowery china teacup:

A laattteee:

Woman in apron holding a tray of cupcakes:

FLOWERS:
A yellow flower:

Lavender x2:

Girl with bunch of flowers:

Misc:
Girl spinning in pretty purple dress.

Needle and thread:

1940s lady looking mysteriously happy (Yes. I know this is Grace Kelly. She's closest to the picture):

Paper party streamers:

Cracked Tree trunk:

Flicked Liquid Eyeliner:

Plus the words GORGEOUS CURLS and five pictures of Robert Downey Jr.

When I went to sleep last night I decided that this meant nothing more that I was hungry when I was making it. Which is true, but something is clear here. I like food. A lot. I only recently realised for certain that good food is one of my passions in life. No matter what I end up doing - if I work in SuperValu stocking the frozen section - cooking, baking, growing and eating food will ALWAYS be a part of me. I was brought up around recipes and ingredients. People knew we were about excellent food. It's true that I would like my career to involve food. That is one of the reasons why "event management" is such a positive thing for me to do - it's stretchy. It means I can incorporate my passions (music, food, dresses, people, singing, talking) into my life.

There's kind of a crossover there with nature. Flowers and fruit.

I'd love to let a psychoanalyst analyse this for me and tell me what it meanssssss!

ALSO! Since I pasted all those pictures, my camera arrived from Ebay. :D So I may post one later of the chart! :D

Song of the Provinces

2010-05-01T04:28:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday (28th April) the choir I sing in, the Fleischmann Choir, opened the Cork International Choral Festival with the Cork School of Music Orchestra. Under the leadership of our conductor Dr. Geoff Spratt we performed Song of the Provinces, a piece written by Professor Aloys Fleischmann himself.

The wonderful thing about this musical work is that it requires audience participation. After the melody is taught, the audience must join in with the choir several times. It's amazing how it came together on the night. Putting it together with the frankly EPIC orchestral accompaniment in rehearsals was one thing, but to hear the audience join in for the main melody was just unbelievable. It gave me shivers and I couldn't keep the grin from my face.

I think Prof. Fleischmann was there in spirit, singing with us. He had admirable views on the importance of choirs in communities and it's undeniable that the the sense of community in the City Hall on Wednesday was at its strongest while everyone sang together.

Below is the video of the performance. Watch Geoff conduct the audience, I love that!

Plans.

2010-04-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is not how I thought my life would go. Things were meant to be easy. I was going to be "discovered." Whirlwind adventures, amazing loves, fabulous friends. Coffee cups and scarves and studios.

Let's just say it didn't go according to plan. But what do I do now? I fashioned a little life for myself. A little life. A little singing, a little writing, a little traveling. But I want BIG! I want GIANT! I want FAST! I want NOW!

Distraction is a big problem. Something jumps in front of me and I have to look at it. I'm like a seven-year-old. I need to knuckle down. What a waste. Formulating a complete thought is not exactly something I'm overly familiar with. It's not exactly a surprise that I've never followed anything through.

Maybe there's too much to do. Maybe I need to do one thing and just DO IT. I have too many interests. There are things I can see myself doing: writing, singing, organizing, performing. But not just one. All. Has to be all.

It has to be all.

Schoooool!

2010-03-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

I teach music to second years (14 year olds). Maybe studying Drama and Theatre Studies at university completely spoiled me, but I can never understand why our education system requires nothing more from the pupils than to sit an absorb the information only to regurgitate it later in an exam. What's the point? That's not learning. That's glassy-eyed recitation.

Their lack of motivation and team-skills astounds me. Out of two second year classes, I can only trust one in a practical situation not to just start screaming and banging things. They don't want to listen to me, maybe because all they do all day is listen to teachers. They are actually so used to the classroom situation that as soon as it changes, they get out of control.

It's quite sad. It's sad for me to see but it's really sad for them because they are missing out on so much. They need teamwork exercises. They need to learn to respect each other and to respect the teacher.

The weird thing is that they don't actually understand why the would benefit from listening to each other and listening to the teacher. And I completely understand! I was exactly like that when I was in secondary school. We all were. We didn't know anything different. But having been to university has just completely opened my eyes to everything that could be done to make school a better, more educational place for the country's teenagers.

Shaaaaaame. :(

Wuss.

2010-02-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

The house has been closing in on me for quite a while now. I finally snapped and as a result, we are about to make some big changes. The kitchen is being expanded to include the dining room and the living room and kitchen are being re-floored.

BORING!

In preparation for the improvements I've decided to either donate or sell many of my books. This is really difficult! I keep thinking "Ohhhh, but, maybe I'll read it again!" or "What if I need it?!" etc. It's so hard. I'm a freak about books too. No one may crease the pages, bookmarks must always be used. They must be kept away from moisture and food. (The exception to this rule are all of the Harry Potters which are frequently read in the bath...)

This morning I was practically just closing my eyes and stacking the books while trying not to look at them too clearly. It's distressing. Hopefully posting little pictures of them will make me feel better. Like proof they existed. :(

If you see anything you like, leave me a comment or a message on facebook. I'll be adding to the list as books go out. The first consignment is going to the second hand bookshop tomorrow!

~~13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.~~SOLD!

~~Looking for Alaska by John Green~~ SOLD!

~~Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris~~ SOLD!

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

~~An Abundance of Katherines by John Green~~ SOLD!

Things I Wish My Mother Had Taught Me by Lucia Van Der Post

Beauty Basics for Teens by Dianne York-Goldman

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Wicked by Gregory McGuire

~~Tolkien's Gown and Other Stories of Great Authors and Rare Books by Rick Gekoski~~

SOLD!

~~Life Strategies for Teens. (I never read this. And I have literally JUST realised who wrote it...)~~ SOLD!

~~The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne~~ SOLD!

~~Girls in Love three-in-one by Jacqueline Wilson~~ SOLD!

~~Girls in Tears by Jacqueline Wilson~~ SOLD!

Comfort.

2010-02-17T02:33:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make. I can't believe I'm saying this...

I haven't been for a singing lesson/done anything singy in... nearly three months. Since the 10th December 2009. I haven't had a singing lesson since last year. Ohhhh let me explain.

On the 22nd November, I was involved in a recital. It was a selection of my singing teacher's favourite students for friends and family. I, of course, was delighted to have the chance to sing! However, my singing teacher loaded an aria on me that I didn't think I was ready for. So for a few weeks, my self-imposed singing routine was regimented. I didn't eat dairy, I warmed up, breaked, rehearsed and was paranoid about not exerting my voice. By the time the concert came, I was ready to take a break from singing. I pulled off the aria and it was all fine and dandy on that front, thank God.

Now, let me just underline that I understand that practice has to be done every day. I understand that if I were a professional opera singer, or any kind of singer really, I would have to be strict in my routine. I suppose my problem is that I didn't feel ready for that aria. There was a B in it that, despite being able to sing, wasn't audience-ready in my opinion.

(After this I did an audition for a musical theatre college in London, but that was a bit of a lark really!)

After a conversation with a friend the other night about her observations in a singing competition, I've come to a realisation. She, wonderfully insightful person that she is, said that she noticed the following:

In a performance it's not about having the biggest aria. It's about singing the song that you have to its best. To your own best. It's not about who sings the highest note, it's about the musicality and performance of a song you're completely comfortable with.

Maybe it sounds obvious. But then again, it probably depends on what you've learned. In the shows and competition I've done, it's always been about singing something new and scary and daunting. This. Makes. No. Sense.

Case and point: my falling out after the November concert. It just completely turned me off for a while. It made singing unenjoyable and ultimately, I still wasn't comfortable singing that aria in front of a load of people. It came at a weird time too, where I knew I needed to switch singing teacher. I'm still searching for a new one. It's frustrating. I think I'm actually desperate.

But this new revelation has totally changed my view of competitions/performances. Amazing.

Slow Movement

2010-01-31T17:01:00.000-08:00

My generation depresses me. This world of buying cheap things, using them until they die and discarding them is getting me down. Clothes, home decor, jewelry, you name it, we consume it and then promptly throw it away. I miss the world I grew up in, the world of having certain dinner plates and silverware that were only used on Sundays, and tea cups that were only used if my mother was feeling extremely extravagant and free-spirited. It gave things a sense of occasion. It made it special.

(A plate from my mother's set)

Nowadays, of course, we use mugs that can be washed in the dishwasher and cleaned with minimum fuss.

Well I happen to enjoy a bit of fuss. Especially if it means taking a little longer to enjoy a dinner when it's being served from a terrine that matches your plate. Or a slice of cake from a little plate that matches your cup and saucer. It's ceremony! It's elegance and festivity! It's not downing a bucket-sized cup of tea for the sake of caffeine (although that will forever have its place in everyday life). It's taking some time with a friend or family member to catch up and relax.

This evening after dinner I decided to have a rummage around and tidy out the sideboard in my parents house. Of course I was never allowed near it when I was a child because it housed all manner of beautiful, delicate things. My mother was in love with a blue Aynsley china set of cups, saucers, dinner plates, bowls, jugs, gravy boats... everything except a teapot, actually. During my rummage I uncovered all the extra pieces that had been concealed. Now the complete matching set sits in pride of place on top of the side board.

I also made several exciting discoveries! A set of hand-painted EXTREMELY delicate china cups, saucers and cake plates that belonged to my grandmother, a Waterford Crystal duck (!!), another two complete matching tea and dinner sets. (Denby and another one I'll have to look up) and several candlestick holders. Not to mention a plethora of linen napkins, both plain and embroidered.

I've convinced my dad that next time we have people over for dinner we must use one of these sets. Including dessert and coffee, of course. And all served on one of the newly uncovered tablecloths using some nicely pressed linen napkins.

It's all sort of prompting me to be a bit more careful and thoughtful about what I have and what I buy. Maybe if we all had a bit of a rummage, or just looked with fresh eyes on the things we already have, we could learn to appreciate them a bit more and not feel the need to buy new, convenient wotsits every time we walk into a shop.

Good luck.
xxx

Cómhrá

2010-01-27T06:43:00.000-08:00

Me: "Next Wednesday we'll be starting Vivaldi."

Girl: *groans* "Aww, a Mhuinteor, is that Spring?"

Me: *Can't handle music students with no tolerance to classical music* "Yes."

Girl: "That's boring!"

Me: *omfg* "No it's not, it's amazing!"

Girl: "Autumn is waaaay better!!"

Me: '_'

Boy: "I have Spring on my iPod!"

There's a reason that they are my favourite class.

Resolve.

2009-12-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't thought about new years' resolutions at all yet. It's almost as though I'm preventing myself from it. Like I don't want to commit to actually thinking about anything seriously. I did a lot of serious thinking this year. There was that whole quarter-life crisis where I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. And I had that meeting with Ger and I thought I was ok and then I wasn't again.

Well, anyway. I need to set goals for 2010, because 2009 was so very lacking in direction. It was just floating and bouncing and floating again. I am lucky that I have a job in a school for now, I can sing for now and I have piano students. These are all things that I at least don't have to think about. I also know that I will be working for Midsummer Festival in the summer and there will be my brother's wedding in July. After that I don't know. But in fairness, that's the next seven months taken care of. I would quite like to make a few new resolutions at the start of every month too.

Personal goals.

Obviously, I have to lose weight. I don't even see this as a goal because it's already happening. But it is a goal to be a size 10 for the wedding.

Things I want to take up: Low Whistle/Tin Whistle, belly dancing, running, continue piano and singing and guitar.

Finish my album. I can't believe how long this is taking me.

Have some ME TIME. Been sorely lacking in recent months.

Sort the house out. Massive declutter. Paint, decorate, etc.

Make a YouTube video soonish.

Is that enough?

London Audition

2009-12-09T16:16:00.001-08:00

The audition went quite well really! Much better than I expected! I was expecting to mess up my monologues and get really flustered and rush through them. But I managed to say them in a way that was beyond my expectations of myself. I think they found my Irishy one funny, which is good. They didn't really laugh very much, though.

My songs went quite well, even though I thoroughly messed up one part of "Let Me Be Your Wings. I missed an entry and screwed up a syncopated but. But whatever. I feel like I dealt with it well, which is a good sign of a performer.

The pianist is like the musical director on "Wicked" in the West End, so I nearly had a conniption because one of my songs was "Defying Gravity." God, it was such a good feeling to sing it with him. I was so elated and enjoyed it so much. UNFORTUNATELY, he didn't follow me at all and took it much too fast, which didn't give me enough time to change register a few times. But I did my best and he should have been following my lead.

The workshop was NOT SCARY!! Christ, I've had Drama classes more scary than that!! It was a short physical warm up with spine rolls and rhythmic movement followed by a 3 minute improvisation. I *love* improv. So... well, that was awesome? The girl I was doing it with ended it after about 1 minute though. Idiot.

Meeting up with everyone was just wonderful. My flight was delayed and thus I was 1.5hrs late to meet everyone but I got to see them for a while and we went to the Science Museum. (fun) Once the younger people went home, myself, Chloé, Neil and James S went to a quiet pub near King's Cross for a few drinks and a loong chat. It was just thoroughly enjoyable. I had a pint of water and two bottles of J2O. Lots of fluid. Neil had come all the way down from Scotland just to hang out! How great!!!

I stayed with Chloé on Sunday night. I had never met her before. I am besotted. I think she's amazing! I'm utterly astounded by how wonderful she is. She's so kind and funny and fun and just so nice? And she has amazing taste in MUSIC and obviously BOOKS and she's so TIDY and ARTISTIC and she's FRENCH and I don't know. I'm just marvelling at the fact that I never knew her before, I suppose. Like definitely I wish everyone had a Chloé. She made me feel so at home in her little bedroom!!

After the audition I went home with my friend James and we had dinner out and I stayed at his place in Windsor. That was nice. We watched YouTube videos for a while and in the morning I made him breakfast with food i'd brought from here. He put me in a taxi and everything.

Jaysus lads. People. Humans. They're just awesome. I love them!!

This a photo of me singing at the opera show two weeks ago! :) The thumbnail above is a photo of the whole cast!

Draw her home with Music

2009-12-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

This is literally the first moment I've had to sit down in about four weeks.

I sang in an opera concert on the 22nd November in a lovely converted church in north Cork. It was a really pleasant evening and the audience seemed to really enjoy it. I was even given a gorgeous bunch on yellow roses afterwards! It was great! The run up to it was quite stressful, though. There were a lot of duets and the pianist came over from the Netherlands to accompany us, so we had to fit in rehearsals in with him. He was wonderful though! It's a great feeling to sing with an excellent accompanist!

Once the concert was over I started rehearsing properly for an Audition I have coming up in the Royal Academy of Music, London on the 7th December. It's for musical theatre, not opera, though. HA! It's something different, anyway. A challenge! So I've been studying three songs on my own and two monologues with a teacher. So far it's been a really positive experience. I didn't get too many opportunities to act during my time at college. Apparently I have natural comic timing! Who'd have thought it :P

Apart from that, I've been taken on in a Gaelscoil in Cork, teaching music to second years for the year. (A gaelscoil is a school where Irish is spoken all the time. Everything is taught through Irish.) So for example, today I was explaining was syncopation is in Irish to a group of 14 year olds. I've only been there a week but I'm enjoying it already. All of the students play at least one instrument and the can all sing. They all play the tin whistle too! So I've arranged about six Christmas carols on the tin whistle for them and organized some Christmas songs for them to sing too. (HARMONY!!) Obviously the problem here would be that I don't speak fluent Irish. But do you think i'd let that stop me? BAH!

I've also been singing in churches a lot recently. Two funerals this week. Funerals are so sad. And I'm still teaching beginner piano two evenings a week. I should also mention the Feischmann choir concert next Thursday for which I have been attenting rehearsals. We'll be singing Vaughan Williams' Serenade (absolutely stunning) as well as Handel's Hallelujah Chorus and Zadok the Priest and some other fun bits and pieces. We're singing with the Cork Symphony Orchestra and Julian Lloyd Webber is playing ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO!!

So, you see, I haven't forgotten about blogging about singing! I've just been too busy actually SINGING to blog! Above picture depicts my crazy busy head.

Listen to Williams' Serenade.

Taci! Taci!

2009-11-09T01:05:00.000-08:00

On the Sky Arts channel on Saturday there appeared to be some sort of opera marathon. I came in for a bit and watched a documentary on Caffé Taci in New York City. It's a restaurant that has regular opera nights. Singers come and serenade the diners once a week. It sounds amazing. I would so love to sing or eat there. Or both. It seemed so lovely - such a warm and understanding, supportive atmosphere. I wish we had something like that here in Cork. It would be amazing to be able to have somewhere to perform frequently if we liked. I wonder if anyone would come. I'd say they would - there appears to be quite a devoted opera following in Cork. Imagine an open mic opera night!! Amazing!!

If only I could snap my fingers and hop of a flight to New York. I could do a musical tour of the city and go to Broadway and Julliard and Café Taci and the Metropolitan Opera. I need to do this.

Excuse me while I tell ever single one of my New Yorker friends about Caffé Taci.

Romanze

2009-10-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I bought an album on iTunes. It was a special occasion because I'd just bought one of those iTunes gift cards for myself with the first 'spare' money I've had in a few weeks. The idea was that I would purchase a few different recordings of the songs I'm singing at a recital at the end of November.

My search led me to Akiki Nakijima, an operatic soprano whom I had never heard of. Having listened to a few samples of the album, "La Pastorella," I decided to buy the whole thing.

You know when you get a new album and you kind of listen to the start of every track, flicking through to see if anything grabs you?

Oh God.

"Romanze Ich Schleiche Bang Und Still Herum." By Franz Schubert. Track 7.

It is so beautiful that I am having a very hard time believing that I've never heard it before. It is incredible. I can't find it on YouTube and I can't find a translation on Google. But I can't stop listening to it. Nakajima's voice is like a crystal bird. It's so clear, it soars, it's light, it flies. It's beautiful. There's something so delicately sad about this song, so wistful.

The arrangement of clarinet and piano for the opening is wonderful. The clarinet is played expertly by Peter Schmidl. It is so beautifully negotiated that it sounds like another voice, perhaps the voice of the soprano's lost love. It echos her and weaves around her, complimenting her but never over-powering her.

I love songs like this. Songs that are so wistful that you can just get completely lost in the feeling without understanding why.

EDIT: The beautiful and talented Miss Tamara Fritz has translated the lyrics for me! Thank you Miss Fritz!

I creep quietly, anxiously and silently about.
My heart beats so fast in my chest
Life seems wasteful and wordless to me,
And farms and castles so empty.
And every joy speaks scorn to me,
And every sound is a complaint
Is love, furthermore, misting the eyes of the star?
Oh, what love once bound
Should never meet again!
What do you seek in foreign land
And there over the sea?
If there also colorful flowers bloom
No heart will burn hotter for you
Oh stay no longer
You, my love's star.

The Ghosts of Versailles at the Wexford Opera Festival

2009-10-26T03:45:00.000-07:00

On the 18th October I was lucky enough to be given an opportunity to see a full, public dress rehearsal of "The Ghosts of Versailles" at the Wexford Opera Festival. The opera was attended by its composer, John Corigliano and its librettist, William M. Hoffman.

The action in the opera is rich and extremely unusual. The story weaves artfully between the afterlife and the fictional world of an opera ("the opera within an opera"). In the afterlife, we meet Marie-Antoinette, her husband Louis XVI and their court. Marie-Antoinette laments her death and does not seem to accept what happened to her. She re-enacts her beheading and is tormented by the cruelty and injustice of what happened to her. The other ghosts are much more at ease with their lifeless situations, although they are bored without the distractions they were used to in life.

That is why they jump at the chance when another ghost, Beaumarchais, the author of the three Figaro plays suggests an opera. He is in love with Marie-Antoinette and can't bear to see her so unhappy. He plans to stage a play in which she is saved from the guillotine by Figaro. In saving her in the play, Beaumarchais tells everyone that he will save her in real life and rewrite history.

The problems begin when the characters of the play stop bending to Beaumarchais' will and developing a will of their own. In an attempt to reign in his unruly characters and convince them that they must save Marie-Antoinette, Beaumarchais himself enters the world of the play.

Once this barrier is broken, all of the ghosts find that they can enter the colourful imaginary world.

Being seated four rows from the front, I was afforded an excellent view of the actors, the sets and the costumes. The costumes particularly struck me as something to write home about and I'm sure every time I've spoken of "The Ghosts of Versailles," I have raved about them. To begin with, they more than anything separated the afterlife from the world of the play, although the style of both was firmly rooted in the 18th Century. A palette of grey, black and white was used in the wardrobe of the ghosts, as well as in their makeup. It was startling how haunting they all looked in their pallor. The only colour used was red, and sparingly. The eye of the spectator was drawn to the red glittering areas, which signified how the characters met their end. There were glittering stab wounds, shimmering head injuries and gun shot wounds and red neck pieces, symbolizing decapitation. Notably, Marie-Antoinette does not wear any red for most of the opera.

The costumes in the world of the play, however are bursting with jewel-bright colours, shining fabrics and stunningly made dresses. When we enter the house of the Turkish Ambassador, we are provided with a feast for the eyes when Samira, a Turkish singer seranades us. Everyone from the core cast to the dancers are clad in rich and sumptuous colours and patterns. It is, without a doubt the best wardrobe I have ever seen on stage.

At times the music is what you might expect from an opera written in the 1990s, and yet there were more than a few pleasant musical surprises. In the beginning the music is discordant and eerie, almost unpredictable. It frames the mood of the afterlife flawlessly, as the ghosts sound like they are crying out. Some beautiful motifs are carried out through the play, such as Marie Antoinette's "Once there was a golden bird" motif, which forms the basis of her powerful and chilling aria "They are always with me".

"Once there was a golden bird,
In a garden of silver trees,
From the courtyard could be heard,
The laughter of women at their ease."

To contrast with this, the music in the world of the play is altogether much more melodic and what one might term 'traditional' for opera. Many of the themes from the actual opera "The Marriage of Figaro" are explored and visited during the action of the play and there is, of course, much more laughter and up-tempo music.

This contrast further serves to immaculately separate the two worlds in "The Ghosts of Versailles." Between the lamenting, eerie notes of the afterlife and the jovial and tuneful music of the play's world, the viewer always knows exactly where he or she is.

As for the acting and quality of the singing in the Wexford Opera Festival/St Louis production - I've never seen anything like it in Cork, that's for sure. While the whole cast and chorus were flawless, there were a few who shone even brighter. Maria Kanyova delivered a chilling and heart-breaking performance as Marie-Antoinette. Christoper Feigum, who played the character of Figaro, was quite a powerful and charismatic presence on the stage. He is completely perfect for the role of Figaro in this play. Other notable performances included Laura Vlasak Nolen as Samira, the Turkish singer, and Dominic Armstrong as Count Almaviva.

This production opened on the 21st October and will wrap on the 30th October 2009.

My advice? GO SEE IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

Paranoia

2009-10-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

My friend Emma recently pointed out to me that as singers, we are so vulnerable to any change in our bodies. I remarked that absolutely every singer has at least one thing that causes them trouble. For me it's my sinuses and throat. For someone else it might be athsma or tension or old muscle injuries. Every one has one thing.

I think this breeds some paranoia. If we know that the tiniest thing going wrong can ruin us, we start to worry about it until we have to be talked down.

Right now I'm convinced I have laryngitis. Just because I feel like I've had a lump in my throat for about two weeks. "Laryngitis?!" I hear you cry. "Isn't that a SLIGHT over-reaction?"

WELL NO. I'm just a leetle bit worried that my throat is doing anything out of the ordinary four weeks before my deluge of rehearsals, concerts and auditions begin. You expect me not to freak out?! Well then you need to send me some singing and ear-nose-throat specialists STAT because that is the only thing that will calm me down.

As it stands I'm drinking buckets of the above "Yogi Throat Comfort Tea." Today I had to replenish my stock and buy two new boxes. I'm sipping it as I type. I'm convinced that if I drink enough of it, the mysterious larynx lump will go away and I'll be able to reach that C6 with ease and grace. A girl can dream.

Today I mentally started writing letters to anyone who might be able to figure out what this weird feeling is.

If it were laryngitis, it would hurt right?

Gah! It's so frustrating! I'm not hoarse and my singing's not impaired but I haven't practiced any of my songs since Wednesday because I'm PARANOID that maybe I've inflicted some terrible irreversible injury on myself, of developed vocal nodules/nodes. Nooooo! A singer's worst nightmare! Let's not even go there!

Right, I'm going to make another cup of throat comfort and go to bed with my programme from the Wexford Opera Festival. Hopefully when I wake up I'll be a bit more rational. Or maybe I'll actually start writing those letters.

Goodnight. xxx

Singing.

2009-10-22T03:39:00.000-07:00

Singing is my life. It's always been my life. I can remember being 4 years old and standing on a stool to sing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' for my grandparents. Every car journey, regardless of distance was spent singing along to cassettes in the back seat with my older sister. There is nothing that I have ever wanted to do more than perform.

When I was in third class, aged 9 years old, I stood up and volunteered for the first time to sing 'Land of the Silver Birch' publicly. (In front of my whole class) I will never forget the feeling that came straight afterwards. That infinitesimal stretch of silence between finishing a song and the applause that follows. It's heart wrenching and terrifying. You wonder why you just did that and if everyone now thinks you're an idiot and if they're going to laugh at your or just stay silent and stare in horror. Thankfully neither of those happened to me at the tender age of nine. In fact, that was the beginning of my school music career. That was when the teachers realised I could sing, and that was the year that I auditioned for the school choir.

For the next three years I relished every second that was spend singing, listening to music, learning about music... My only weak point was practicing my instruments, which I will undoubtedly delve into at another time. On reflection, the fascinating thing was that my family never really knew I felt like this, or that I had "a voice." That changed, I think, when I was in sixth class. I was 12 years old and the teachers put me singing something at the Christmas concert/mass. I think I sang 'Once In Royal David's City.' Afterwards, parents of other children came up to congratulate me and once I managed to reach my mother, she said "You never told us you could sing!" She was a music teacher and my mother so I took that as meaning "OH MY GOD YOU WERE AMAZING. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU. YOU ARE THE BEST SINGER IN THE WORLD!!!"

And so I carried that with me into secondary school. Incidentally, I attended the school where my mother was the music teacher. This meant that I happily spent half of my secondary academic years in the music room singing in choirs, playing the 'cello and learning about Vivaldi and Jazz. The school knew me as a singer, because I didn't just restrict my musical activity to the music room, and because I was the music teacher's daughter and that comes with a legacy of its own.

I decided to study Music at university. Actually, I don't remember ever deciding to study music... I always just knew I was going there. That was almost a complete disaster, except that I found my singing teacher. I started to train my voice and appreciate singing classical music and opera as well as popular music and musical theatre.

I've since graduated. And I'm still studying my instrument, my voice with aspirations of being on stage, on TV, in a recording studio, on the radio and far, far more.

Starting to learn to sing properly is simultaneously wonderful and frustrating. It poses many more questions than it answers and every day your voice changes. It's a journey with puzzles and rewards along the way. I'm going to start properly blogging about singing here as often as possible.

It would be fantastic to hear from other singers and music lovers in the comments.

Amy~*~

My Happy Song

2009-08-25T05:37:00.001-07:00

I have never told you about my "happy song." It's from the musical "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and was written by the ever-surprising Danny Elfman. For those unfamiliar with the film, it is on of those magnificently craven products of Tim Burton's mind. The story follows Jack Skellington, a skeleton frustrated with the humdrum of living in 'Hallowe'en Town' - a place where three hundred and sixty-five days of the year are devoted to preparing and executing Hallowe'en.

The song is called "What's This?" and it's performed when Jack stumbles across 'Christmas Town.' Jack is completely confused and amazed by all the happiness, colour and light that he sees everywhere.

"Oh my, what now?
The children are asleep
But look, there's nothing underneath
No ghouls, no witches here to scream and scare them
Or ensnare them, only little cozy things
Secure inside their dreamland
What's this?"

Basically this song brings across the spirit of an excitable four-year-old who has just been let loose in a toy shop and told he can have whatever he likes. I LOVE THAT! The pace of the song accelerates and lulls depending on what Jack sees and how bewildered and excited he is.

The effect that this song has on me is quite remarkable. It has been known to cause me to just laugh hysterically at the top of my lungs. I don't know why I find it so funny, but I can find myself in floods of tears from singing along. It's especially fun if there are people around who don't know that I am particularly insane. That's always good.

I can't stress enough how wonderful I think this song is. I loved it before I saw "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and I still maintain that it's better to listen to it without the video.

From it's magical and energetic extended introduction to the final line, I LOVE THIS SONG! IT MAKES ME HAPPY!

TRY IT!

Breakdowns.

2009-02-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

__..::Part ONE*

Recently music has become about exercise for me. It's hideous. I don't even listen to it anymore - I just plug it in to my brain and use the beat to keep me going. In moments of reflection this makes me feel a bit sick. It's not who I am. But I know I've been avoiding music, just like I've been avoiding something giant and looming and invisible. Some part of me is rotting when I'm not listening to music or singing. Why don't I sing anymore?

__.::Part TWO*

It's so easy to get caught up in all the hype and popularity. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to walk away. I crave "quiet all about me."

__..::Part THREE*

I'm developed a sort of fear of the kitchen, cooking, food, shopping. I'm listening to my inner seventeen-year-old a little bit too carefully. She's the one who taught me silence and self-control and tact. University taught me to forget her for three years. Maybe I shouldn't welcome her back so readily but I envy her ability to write and marvel at everything, alienate people and not sleep.

__..::Part FOUR*

"Oh simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on."

Somewhere Only We Know by Keane.

Good friends, good times, good music.

2009-01-21T03:30:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in the last few weeks. I mean other than cleaning my room. I turned 22 on the 17th of January!

The weeks leading up to that date I was sad and I couldn't quite figure out why. For days I was in a sort of "emo" funk that I couldn't shake, no matter how much I cleaned the kitchen (I clean when I'm upset). But on Wednesday the 14th of January I finally realised that I missed my friends and the knowledge that I would see them on the eve of my birthday was like an amazing beacon of hope.

It sounds lame. It sounds like something out of an American after-school special. But it's true. The thought that in just a few short days I would be surrounded by people I love and who love me was exactly what I needed to get me out of the funk. That's when it hit me how important friends are - and I don't mean MSNing or emailing them. Or even creating a YouTube collab channel with them. I mean actual hugs and smiles and laughter. There's nothing quite like being completely ridiculous with your friends.

So since then I've been a lot more active in arranging meetings with my friends. I'm avoiding the return of the emo funk. Sadly some of my best friends live in the UK and USA but I need to make more time for the ones who live closer and more of an effort to get together with the UK ones. The USA ones will just have to put up with Skype sessions until the summer.

Turn to the Music:
Two of my dearest friends came to visit me from England for my birthday and as we walked into the airport we sang this:

Closing the Door

2009-01-09T06:57:00.001-08:00

Every so often I need to hide away from the world. I close the front door and stay in my house, avoiding going outside at all costs. Even to the garden. I think this is day four. I'm not sure why I do it exactly but a recent almost-argument with my father about going out to buy paint has alerted me to the fact. Is it a condition? Have I developed temporary agoraphobia? Well, I'm not sure. Perhaps is the answer. I mean I'm not really afraid, more extremely reluctant. In fact it could just be chronic laziness.

The only thing that detracts from the laziness idea is that I'm shying away from life, even on the internet. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter all give me a hollow feeling and I'm wary of them.

Luckily I know it won't last forever. I know this because it's happened before. In fact it usually occurs at the beginning of a holiday after working for a long time. Well. In a way, I suppose, this is one big life holiday.

However, I couldn't say that I'm sitting inside all day and watching TV. Quite the opposite. I've been cleaning and tidying and cooking and knitting. I've also been thinking a lot and reading and, of course, listening to music.

I have to admit that so far I don't miss the outside world at all. I mean, it's only been three days, right? I recommend staying in and enjoying leisurely pursuits to anyone who has the time. The Christmas holidays were too mad to get anything done. Now is the time to pick up that book you've been meaning to read for weeks, turn off the TV and have some "me" time.

Turn to the Music:

Well, if you need motivation, or inspiration for any reason try this newish song by Snow Patrol : Take Back This City. (videokindofsucks)

May 12th 2008

2008-12-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

So this breath caught in my chest because the lyrics were ruthless and the music was like polished glass and I felt like I was standing in the middle of a cavernous room with mirrors everywhere, echoing, voice bouncing off the walls. The breath started to swell because I was inspired and sort of touched and I suddenly grinned and wanted to do all of the silly things that make me me. I also wanted to be a scene girl because scene girls have the funniest faces and take themselves so seriously and I would laugh to take myself seriously. The room is so shiny and self-fulfilled and thin.

The breath almost always comes out as harmony and minor but sometimes it doesn't come out, it just stays in my chest and grows and grows and I want to go outside so that it has room to expand and the sun shines on my face and the sounds ring in my ears like the echo in the cavernous room. I'm not sure how this is supposed to make me feel but it makes me feel like this. And I feel the onset of 17 and diets and cupcakes and running around in fields with friends and spending money on things that make me happy as a GIRL with an eye for pretty or quirky or so-uncool-it's-cool.

And I'm thinking about all the ways I can play the piano and I don't want to be rich, and I don't want to be famous but I want to spend days with friends driving around green countryside with picnic baskets and running into the sea and doing things I'm afraid of and finding a boy and getting excited everytime he texts me.

I want to pine for my friends and the for the pining to end and I want to eat lettuce all summer long and go to the gym and make friends who like to sing spontaneously and make videos of themselves being ridiculous because let's be honest, nothing else matters.

Turn to the Music:

THE FEAR by Lily Allen http://www.myspace.com/lilymusic

Flu Network

2008-12-20T03:47:00.000-08:00

Ah, everyone's favourite annual visitor has finally made its call to me. Hurray I have the flu! Oh joy! I get the Christmas gifts of runny noise, hacking cough, burning throat, painful sinuses, nausea and fever! Golly golly gum drops, lucky me!

Well now I can look forward to a wonderful Christmas under the influence of powerful cough-suppressants! And I have the perfect accessory to such a festive state: cheery red nose from the constant tissues!

Last week I played at the UK Yule ball, and looking at the photos I generally look crap in all of them. However, the one that I look okay in features me holding a packet of throat lozenges, and indeed sucking on one. (see above)

If you are unfortunate enough not to have recieved a visit from Mr. Flu, then fear not! Eat all your vegetables, do your homework and be good! He may come to you next year. :)

Turn to the Music:

Nothing like The Hermione Crookshanks Experience to make you happy again, if a little melancholic. I recommend "So Long" which can be found on her Myspace.

UK Yule Ball

2008-12-14T12:12:00.000-08:00

I'm a sap. I can't help thinking those thoughts that you might associate with an Christmas movie. They rarely make it out of my mouth, it's true. That's because I am completely aware of how corny and over-the-top I would sound if I said what I was thinking. However, if there were no censor button on me I would spew forth love and ramble greetings card-like lines constantly.

This past week has been no exception to the rule. Spending time (at long last) with my friends in London has had me on the verge of exploding in a shower of cuddles and love all over them. It was great. I had such a good time. The last time I got to spend time with them was in Chicago in August-too long ago by far.

Leaving was hard. But I've decided not to be sad. Life is too short and I know that. There is a bright side: London is only an hour away on a Ryanair flight. It could be so much worse! Instead of moping I'm planning to have them over for my birthday in January. It will be amazing to have them here and to look after them and show them my life.

Hopefully the next few weeks will go as quickly with something to look forward to.

Turn to the music:

This little gem by the effervescent and talented Miss Bella Black from Friday night:

Wizard Rock Seminar

2008-12-03T08:24:00.001-08:00

Today I went back to the Music department of the university that I graduated from in September to give a seminar about Wizard Rock to a group of final year students.

The title of the paper is "The Internet's Influence in Shaping a Musical Movement" and it goes into the various ways that Wizard Rock has utilized modern online facilities to get to where it is today.

What I didn't get to talk about, and what doesn't have anything to do with the title, is how much I have learned through Wizard Rock. I was born the daughter of a Music teacher and grew up playing instruments, singing and listening to every kind of music but I do believe that I have learned more about music as a result of Wizard Rock than I did during my time studying for a degree in Music. Not kidding.

With my band Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons (RVatCC), I wanted to write songs but I didn't know how to. So I just hit out a few notes and tried and tried until I manage to etch out a song. Then I wanted to record so I found out where do download a program, plugged in my mic and again, tried until I could do it.

When I started RVatCC I couldn't play piano. Pianos scared me. They were a scary reminder of terrifying lessons when I was a child. Recording made me use the piano and forced me to understand chords. Soon I was playing shows in the UK and USA and I had written an album.

About two years ago I began taking theory lessons because I wanted to understand what I was playing and why some things worked and some things didn't. Now I've reached a pretty high standard of music theory, something I probably wouldn't have bothered to do without the Wizard motivation.

Not only did Wizard Rock remove my fear of the piano but after coming back from Terminus, a Harry Potter conference in Chicago and going on tour on the east coast of the USA for the second time, I picked up my guitar and learned to play it over the last three months.

Finally I've bought a macbook and a midi keyboard and I have to figure out how these work, so the learning continues.

I never had a reason to play music before but now I want to do it all the time. I feel so lucky that so many of my friends are now musicians and songwriters and all I want to do is immerse myself in that world.

One more thing that all this experience has taught me is that when I teach kids about music, I will never neglect the theory. I will try to get them interested in the music and have fun. Practice doesn't have to be a chore and it's never too late to learn.

Turn to the Music:

Well, it has to be something piano-y and by me. :) 'Break This Spell' by Romilda Vane and the Chocolate Cauldrons

(photo by Squib Girl, 2008)

Martha

2008-12-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

You know how it is when you're young: your mother is friends with someone and so you are expected to socialize with their children. You do it because you have to, not because you want to.

That's what happened with Martha and me. We were very young, maybe 3 and 4 years old, forced together by our mothers' friendship. I didn't like her. She was too quiet and she used to copy everything I did. Also, she was from the country and knew how to grow vegetables and look after chickens and things I had no clue about.

At the age of 12 or thereabouts something suddenly clicked into place and Martha and I became good friends, going from strength to strength in our friendship over the years. Over the years I watched as she turned from a quiet little country girl to a confident, cool, talented adult and maybe as a result of that I feel more like she is my sister than just my friend.

She is the person that I queued up for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with for 16 hours and read it with, surviving on a diet or chocolate, tea and kettle chips.

Sadly we recently realised that we haven't seen each other in nearly a year. Because of going to college on opposite ends of the country , we haven't hugged since my 21st birthday last January.

Martha will turn 21 on the 9th December 2008 and I will be there, in Belfast to celebrate with her. The best part is that we both know that no matter what happens, no matter how far apart we are or how long we go without seeing each other, we will always be friends. We can always pick up where we left off.

Can't wait to see you, Martha. <3

Turn to the Music:

In memory of the summer spent watching DIGIMON!!! This fun fun fun track "All Star" by Smash Mouth

Turn Up The Musing

2008-11-30T03:25:00.000-08:00

'On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

A partridge in a pear tree."

Well it's not quite the first day of Christmas, it is however the third day that I have woken up to a blanket of ice covering my car and freezing fog hanging eerily in the air. Imagine my delight when, on Friday morning, after waking up to find that my alarm had not gone off and I was late for work, I opened the door to a virtually opaque world. I had to feel my way to the car armed with jugs of water to melt the windscreen.

Now don't get me wrong, I hate hazardous driving conditions as much as the next person. But there is something so reassuring about winter being, well, winterish. Especially living in Cork, the Wet and Warm Capital of Ireland, it's nice to see some evidence of the change in seasons. Although I'm not crazy about waking up in the dark, working through the daylight hours and driving home to see a 4pm sunset.

Some people will blame global warming for this unusually bitter weather but I must say that it brings me back to my child hood. Many happy mornings were spent crunching across the frozen grass on my way to school bundled up in hats and scarves and anoraks. Good times. Personally I'm looking forward to the opportunity to don my favourite hats and scarves again. Nothing says "WINTER!" like disappearing under a sea of mittens and socks.

So come on people! Stop complaining! Stoke up that fire, pull out your comfiest blanket and snuggle down. If we're lucky we might just get a white Christmas!

Turn to the Music:

To keep my smile warm I'm listening to "Good Morning Baltimore" from the musical Hairspray. Listen to it first thing in the morning to keep you happy for the rest of the day.