Thoughts and Wonders

My name has changed a few times over the years. I'm a 20 - something researcher. I enjoy fencing, circus arts, writing and experimenting. I spend most of my time travelling between various libraries, writing and drawing.

[kari-shma]

We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (via kari-shma)

[akatrinaschu]

Does he ask to take your hand? Does he believe in dreams we talked about, when with no music we danced?

Anberlin, Stationary Stationery (via akatrinaschu)

[memoryleaves-blog]

...This song has been on my mind a lot recently for one reason or another.   It doesn't reflect the whole of the last three days (yesterday being particularly awesome), but it seems to fit a couple of general themes of the last few days.  Some times... just some times... I think I know the feeling this song expresses. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

"I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

Aslan, in the The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis.  You are never truly alone. nor without hope. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

[aredotna]

[memoryleaves-blog]

architizer:

For the last 500 years, the locals of Nongriat in Meghalaya, India have grown several hundred bridges across the region’s numerous water channels, using just the roots of local ribber trees. Some of the bridges extend over 100 feet in length and are strong enough to support more than 50 people at a time. 

Quite scarily I drew something similar to this in Year 9 in art...

[memoryleaves-blog]

Knee / Physio

Well it is apparently not only my knee which is damaged.  Then entire leg is somewhat buggered.  Apparently the arch of my right foot is collapsing as well as the problems with the knee.  I've been given orthotics to help the leg and prevent problems developing on the opposite side as well.  I'm probably going to be referred for hydrotherapy.  The basic statement was "You're in too much pain for us to properly assess what's actually happening on a mechanical level, so we'll refer you back for medication for the pain first."  It's not a step back, it's just a different outcome to what we thought.  We'll have to see how it works out I guess. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

This seems an appropriate soundtrack for today. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

Disorganised... again...

This weekend will see a concerted effort to get myself back to being roughly organised.  Losing *everything* - external HD and laptop HD - to a technical failure has given me a fair bit of perspective on things.  It has also however sent work and other stuff in a chaotic mess.  Time to sort things out I feel. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

[memoryleaves-blog]

Busy Times

It's been a crazy and very fun few days. 

Thursday - Came into to town to do some sorting out and use the wi-fi in the Library.  After hearing two buskers, the radio in Paperchase and a passing car all playing songs by the same band I realised I was basically being stalked by the Beatles.  Worrying.

Friday - Trip up to Newcastle to meet up with Jennifer who was on the whole a great laugh.  Wandered around and explored the city a bit, managed to avoid bankrupting myself in Forbidden Planet, and had a look round the Hancock Museum.  On the return to York went for a drink in Evil Eye and for once didn't end up sticking around for the entire evening. 

Saturday - Took a trip to Whitby with Naomi, discovering it was Whitby Folk Week.  So many interesting things going on!  Also many beautiful and sadly out of my price range instruments.  I did however end up buying a new tin whistle as my last low D whistle was damaged beyond repair during a trip back from London.  Discovered a few amazing shops and drove through the moors with the heather turning everywhere purple and pink (resulting in a very happy Naomi!)

All in all a busy few days and a good few days.  I'm writing a lot at the minute, both academic wise and other stuff.  I think I might actually be able to make this work, which frankly makes a change. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

Small Steps Forward

Okay, so in the last two weeks I've moved house, applied for six shiny jobs, had fewer panic attacks and done a lot of thinking.  The odd thing about time I guess is that things often expand to fill it.  Living back in Eastbourne (which does have some things I miss - family, the sea etc), being unable to find a job, I had a lot of time to devote to art projects, writing projects, academic work and other assorted 'stuff'.  Post relocation I have a massive long list of things I've needed to sort out, and every day has featured at least two things which need doing asap and eat large amounts of time.  Consequence - I'm more productive.  Limited time has meant things have been squashed into manageable sections and had to organise to survive.  It reminds me of something which came up in a discussion a while ago about needing time limited goals - which makes sense in this context.  It means some things have pushed themselves to the front and others have moved backwards.  Strangely it's clarified a lot of questions which had been buzzing around my head like angry bees for a good few months - and given me a lot clearer sense of 'things in general'. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

Another beautiful song performed by Kate Rusby. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

'Standby, Sir' by Signal Hill from the album of the same name.  This was my down time music during my MA year and still makes me relax pretty quickly. 

[memoryleaves-blog]

Guitar / Legacy

As some people who read this know, my Dad died four months after my 18th birthday.  Yesterday was my 28th birthday which made me think about one of my possessions which has much deeper meaning than it might first seem. 

^ That is a stock photo of a Yamaha Pacifica 303-12 - it's not my one.

For my 18th birthday my Mum and Dad bought me my first guitar.  It was Yamaha Pacifica 303-12.  Not the ideal first guitar you'd think but to be fair I had been playing for about five years by then so not such a bad choice.  Of all my instruments this one has not travelled with me - generally staying at my Mum's house on the South Coast. The 303-12 was an experimental series by Yamaha and not many were made, and most were made in the usual Pacifica series colours with one or two runs being made in 'Old Violin Sunburst' like mine (and the one pictured above).  Coming back to it is like coming back to an old friend.  It was my last birthday present from my Dad, and as such is one of the few things I've got that have that distinctive link to him.  It's not just an item.  it's more than that.  It's a piece of my own past, and a link to things which while absent, never really leave.

[memoryleaves-blog]

... Key point "It makes sense in Britain, because it rains all the time!"

[memoryleaves-blog]

As profound as when I first heard it...