I told myself never to use the word 'tune' as I have done in my title but now I have. So... yeah. Anyway, as Eurovision if over for another year (why, God, why?!) I can finally share some music that has nothing to do with the contest. That's right, I do listen to other stuff too. So, what's new on my iPod?
Emeli Sandé - Abide With Me
Emeli Sandé is a fantastic singer, there is nothing I've heard from her that I dislike and Abide With Me is no different. As I'm sure many of you will know Sandé featured rather heavily in this year's Olympic ceremonies having performed this song in the opening ceremony as a tribute to those who died in the 7/7 bombings, and it truly was a beautiful tribute. Sandé's vocals are truly beautiful and soft, something which is evident in the final moments of the song when she sings a capella. The music, or general lack thereof, gives the song a haunting, mournful side which is emphasised by the beginning bell chime, the heartbeat throughout and the violins which play later in the song. This is the kind of song that makes you fall silent when you listen to it. It will make you stop in your tracks and think. All I can say is that the American's really missed out by not broadcasting this section of the opening ceremony. Dragonette - Live In This City
Dragonette - you know, Martina Sorbara (lead singer) provided the vocals to Martin Solveig's Hello? Yeah, that's the one! Anyway, the point in my opener there was that NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE LISTEN TO DRAGONETTE!!! This song is their 2nd single from their upcoming 3rd studio album, Bodyparts, the previous single being Let It Go which is equally/more amazing than this song. Live In This City is a fun, upbeat song which reminds me of Rogue Traders (Voodoo Child) before they went downhill after Natalie Bassingthwaighte left as lead singer. If you fail to enjoy this song, fail to enjoy the rock elements then I really don't see how you ever manage to have fun. Carrie Underwood - Blown Away
This is the first time I've ever paid attention to Carrie Underwood, winner of American Idol 4, mainly because she is a country singer and country isn't really my thing. This song however is less country and more rock/pop. The biggest draw to this sing, for me anyway, are the lyrics. There are some fantastic lines such as "There’s not enough rain in Oklahoma/To wash the sins out of that house/There’s not enough wind in Oklahoma/To rip the nails out of the past" and "Listened to the screaming of the wind/Some people called it taking shelter/She called it sweet revenge". The lyrics are dark, the song in general is dark and has a kind of 'twisted fairytale' theme that, as some of you will know, I love. There are, of course, other songs I've acquired lately that I like but they're more mainstream and what would be the point in sharing those?! I hope you give these songs a chance and maybe even go crazy and add them to your iPods or whatever. Liam
My creativity is on the blink today so I went for a factual, un-funny comment. Hope you don't mind.
So Summer has begun, I have finished my time at uni and I have moved back home to Barry. Boo. I don't really like the summer, I hate feeling hot and while the Welsh summer is typically grey and rainy there is the odd day or two when the sun decides to fry me alive. If I wanted a nice summer I would go on holiday or move away, I don't expect to have it in Wales! I am very sad that uni is over as it means for the first time in my life I am no longer a part of the education system and I have to grow up and get a job (NOOOOOO!) not the the job hunting is at all fruitful... As for living in Barry, I really, really, really miss Aberystwyth; the place itself and the people there and the fact that you could use Welsh anywhere and there'd be someone who could understand you! Though there are benefits to Barry, I do have family and friends (to any of you reading this - love you!!) and I suppose being 20 minutes from Cardiff is much better than being about 2 hours from anything.
I haven't posted much lately simply because without uni or a job or anything my life has become rather dull and there is nothing worth posting really. I need to start thinking about a way of making this blog more interesting but don't panic! I'll still post about my boring life and continue to share the music that I love because, frankly, you should all be listening to it! No Eurovision posts though (is that a cheer I hear?!) as that's over until May next year so there's no point bothering with that.
So yeah, no controversy, no humorous stories or anything, nothing to rant about. This is a new one for me, folks. If anything does happen though I'll be sure to let you know!
As widely predicted by bookies, fans and even me Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with "Euphoria" - the song won with 372 points, the second highest score in Eurovision history, just 15 away from Alexander Rybak's record. Euphoria did break the record for most '12 points' awarded, namely 18. Out of the 41 countries that could have awarded Sweden points, 40 of them did, Italy being the only country not to award Sweden anything - crazy!
Euphoria is currently number 3 in the British charts making it the most successful winning Eurovision song since 1997 and the most successful foreign Eurovision entry/winner since 1987. It's great to see Euphoria doing so well here especially as it is expected to become a massive summer hit in many parts of Europe.
For those of you who didn't see it (what were you doing that was more important?!?) here's Loreen winning the contest and her victory performance of Euphoria at Eurovision:
A quick note about the UK, while the song was pleasant and very well sung there's no escaping the fact that it was boring and completely lost amongst the fantastic competition this year, we should be grateful just to have avoided last place (poor Norway). The media and public have gone a little mental saying we should pull out of the contest because it's all political (very, very sore losers) but I will defend the contest to a hilt, I do not believe that the contest is political, countries voting for their neighbours is not political, it's a cultural thing. Singers who are successful in Russia, for example, will be famous in Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, etc because they share media and music tastes and the same goes for the Nords (Sweden, Norway, Finland, etc) and even the UK and Ireland. It is not Europe hating us, it is the BBC selecting the most random people and allowing us to be represented by frankly inferior songs. Also, we don't consistently do badly, in recent years we've come 11th (2011), 5th (2009) and 3rd (2002) - the BBC just needs to put the effort in!
And that is it for another year, Eurovision is over - how depressing! Though I imagine a lot of people will be pleased that I will finally stop posting, talking and whatnot-ing about Eurovision on a constant loop but Euphoria has earned itself a permanent place on my iPod so it's not all bad!
If you haven't already, go and buy Euphoria, it is a fantastic song! Don't let the fact that it is a Eurovision song dampen the fact that it is a genuinely good song that would chart well out of Eurovision x
Until Eurovision that is! Amazingly excited - though these exams keep me grounded - and, as promised, here is my last pre-Eurovision top 10 as decided by my iTunes play counts. Quite a few changes here, there are just so many good songs - how can I limit myself to 10?! Here's my first top 10, my second top 10 and finally, this week's top 10:
1 Point Azerbaijan: Sabina Babayeva - When the Music Dies
Round: Final
1st score: 0 points
2nd score: 10 points
2 Points
Romania: Mandinga - Zaleilah
Round: Semi-final 1
1st score: 2 points
2nd score: 0 points
3 Points
Ukraine: Gaitana - Be My Guest
Round: Semi-final 2
1st score: 1 point
2nd score: 6 points
4 Points
Iceland: Greta Salóme & Jónsi - Never Forget
Round: Semi-final 1
1st score: 0 points
2nd score: 0 points
5 Points
France: Anggun - Echo (You and I)
Round: Final
1st score: 3 points
2nd score: 2 points
6 Points
Norway: Tooji - Stay
Round: Semi-final 2
1st score: 10 points
2nd score: 8 points
7 Points
Italy: Nina Zilli - L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)
Round: Final
1st score: 4 points
2nd score: 3 points
8 Points
Austria: Trackshittaz - Woki Mit Deim Popo
Round: Semi-final 1
1st score: 7 points
2nd score: 1 point
10 Points
Cyprus: Ivi Adamou - La La Love
Round: Semi-final 1
1st score: 8 points
2nd score: 7 points
12 Points
Sweden: Loreen - Euphoria
Round: Semi-final 2
1st score: 12 points
2nd score: 12 points
So some big changes and no surprises here - Sweden is a complete non-mover, easily my favourite entry and it looks likely to win.
Entries no longer in my top 10: - Greece - Russia
Entries that returned to the top 10: - Romania
New entries in my top 10: - Iceland
Entries that featured in every top 10: - Austria - Cyprus - France - Italy - Norway - Sweden - Ukraine
Hopefully at some point next week I will make a post about my party preparations so you can use some of the ideas to celebrate Eurovision yourself. I've already posted the party playlist so on the next post I'll hopefully include things like drinks, food, decorations blah, blah, blah and, very importantly, the rules to my adaptation of Finnish drinking rules - ooooooh!
For any non-Eurovision fans still reading this post and indeed this blog, I still love you and it'll all be over soon! x
There are just two weeks to go until we are well into Eurovision week (22nd - 26th May) so today and then next Wednesday I will post my top 10 most played 2012 Eurovision songs and then we can see: 1) if there are any changes between them and my first top 10 (which you can see here); 2) if any of my most listened to songs will make it into the final; and 3) how they fare (if any make it) in the Grand Final. I should point out that my personal choice of winner has only ever matched the actual winner once and that was Lena with "Satellite" in 2010. It seems that Europe and I have different tastes...
1 Point
Austria: Trackshittaz - Woki Mit Deim Popo
Round: Semi-final 1
Previous score: 7
2 Points
France: Anggun - Echo (You and I)
Round: Final
Previous score: 3
3 Points
Italy: Nina Zilli - L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)
Round: Final
Previous score: 4
4 Points
Russia: Buranovskiye Babushki - Party for Everybody
Round: Semi-final 1
Previous score: N/A
5 Points
Greece: Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac
Round: Semi-final 1
Previous score: N/A
6 Points
Ukraine: Gaitana - Be My Guest
Round: Semi-final 2
Previous score: 1
7 Points
Cyprus: Ivi Adamou - La La Love
Round: Semi-final 1
Previous score: 8
8 Points
Norway: Tooji - Stay
Round: Semi-final 2
Previous score: 10
10 Points
Azerbaijan: Sabina Babayeva - When the Music Dies
Round: Final
Previous score: N/A
12 Points
Sweden: Loreen - Euphoria
Round: Semi-final 2
Previous score: 12
3 new entries here: Azerbaijan, Greece and Russia who have displaced Bulgaria, Denmark and Romania who were in my last top 10. Azerbaijan surprises me slightly because it's a ballad and they usually bore me but I like this one, clearly a lot. All but 2 of the songs on the list here which were on the previous list have fallen, the biggest being Austria who fell from 7 points to 1. As I expected, Sweden has remained on top - such a brilliant song! It is expected to win the second semi-final and to go on and win the contest altogether. If so, I am DEFINITELY going to Sweden for Eurovision next year!
The hope is, following my last top 10, this top 10 and my next top 10, that I can post a little something about who I would like and who I expect to progress from the semi-finals on Tuesday 22nd and Thursday 24th but what with me having exams we'll have to wait and see! I will hopefully also post on the Saturday before the final as I prepare for le party.
Again, feel free to share your comments, your top 10 - I am seriously interested! Eurovision-mad! x
Hello Nottmares (GaGa has her 'monsters' and Minaj has her 'barbz' so I thought I'd have 'Nottmares', let's see if it catches on)! I am fresh from finishing my Welsh oral exam which went OK, I think. I have a problem talking in general, in any language, so I think that this exam was always gonna be a challenge but the examiners led me to believe that it went OK, so phew! I had half an hour to read a random article (in Welsh) - mine was about technological advancements and how they affect language - and I then had 15 minutes to discuss that article with three lecturers. I feel that I was incredibly luckily to essentially just talk about Facebook when other people I know had topics such as the current droughts in England and sustainable farming in the 3rd World. With that exam out of the way, that leaves me with 3 exams to go, starting next Thursday.
A few posts ago I wrote about an event that I would be attending, namely Dawns Fai (May Ball), but as it transpires I am no longer going. As you might have guessed from the aforementioned post, I was never really up for it after the very disappointing line up was announced but I was concerned about other things as well such as my motion sickness (it is honestly really bad) which would only be fuelled by alcohol and my foot which has recently been in agony and I don't know why, though finally after about a week it's stopped hurting so much. Anyway, I've sold my ticket so it's not like I've paid £40 to not go somewhere and I think I will regret not going for the experience but I'm definitely not going to regret missing the 'big name' acts. That still makes me scoff.
Unfortunately I have become an emotional wreck at a very inconvenient time. Sometimes I get upset for no apparent reason and other times I get upset about my feelings for someone, which has always been a major inconvenience really. I'm on a bit of a moody roller-coaster; last night I was a bit of a mess (emotionally) yet now I'm not feeling too bad - though I put that down to post-exam high. Hopefully, I will stop being so pathetic and emotionally-retarded soon so I can focus on my revision for the upcoming exams like a good student.
To end on a happier note, Eurovision is coming!!! I got my official album last Saturday and I immediately imported it to iTunes and synced it to my iPod, though that did mean erasing my play counts... The Grand Final will be held in 17 days and the past couple of days I've had people talking about the party I have planned which fuels my childlike excitement for the contest. I get so much more excited for Eurovision than I do for my own birthday and even Christmas. No joke. I have even ordered glow sticks for this wonderful occasion.
Oh, I also, finally, got a haircut. Just thought I'd let you know. Been putting that off for a while...
I will try and post as often as I can, but May is a busy month for me, so please do forgive me if I scarcely post - I haven't forgotten about you! x
I can't believe that it's May already - my final full month in lovely Aberystwyth. Though this thought is rather saddening, May is setting itself up to be a very busy month with some things to 'get out of the way' and other things to look forward to. This is also really the last time I can make a list of things that are definitely happening as I have no idea about what I'm gonna do post-uni - scary times! Anyways, if you fancy stalking me you can easily find me using these details...
Those are my final DEFINITE plans until I figure out what I'm gonna do after uni/graduation. The exams are the 'get out of the way' things on my list whereas as Dawns Fai, Eurovision and Graduation are most definitely things to look forward to. Also, can I just say: who the hell puts a Welsh grammar exam (Gloywi Iaith) on a Saturday?! Not only is Saturday a terrible time for an exam, it's at 2pm - TWO PM - how ridiculous! Revising/exam-sitting until 4pm on a Saturday is rage-inducing but I think I hide it fairly well...
I shall also use this post, if I may, to warn readers that from now until the end of May (and possibly beyond), there will be a LOT of posts about Eurovision 2012. I can't help it, I'm addicted, and perhaps I should get help but I don't want to. Eurovision lover and proud!!
For everyone else who is/will be sitting exams in the next couple of months or so - pob lwc! (good luck!) - and for everyone else have a fantastic, exam-free month and, if you're looking for something to do, watch Eurovision. It'll be amazing, I promise! Have a great May x
Dawns Fai (May Ball), essentially a big farewell kind of student party hosted in the village of Pontrhydfendigaid, is fast approaching and I have bought my ticket. The ticket is £40, but what does it cover? Is it worth £40? I will be answering these questions, but bear in mind that I am completely sober and have not actually been to May Ball before, so I'm pretty much guessing how my experience will pan out.
The Aberystwyth Student Union has this to say about the event: "Here it is - our biggest line up ever with 5 big name acts on the main stage plus the comedy zone, tribute tent, headphone disco & chill out marquees, fairground and much much more..." Let's take this bit by bit, shall we?
Main Stage - '5 Big Name Acts' Zane Lowe, The Hoosiers, Roll Deep, Ms. Dynamite & Toploader. Someone needs to help the students' union define "big name acts" as NONE of these five are 'big names', not currently at least. I have never heard of Zane Lowe before the union announced his participation and the other 4 acts have peaked. The 'Big Name Acts' are not big name acts and, for me, are a major let down, I even very briefly considered not going again this year based on this but, as I'll explain later, there are much better things to do at May Ball. Worth £40? No. None of them come close to that value.
Comedy Zone John Robins, Horse & Louis, Jared Hardy, Tommy Rowson & Ben Van Der Velde. No familiar names for me there, but that's not a bad thing! Aspiring comedians have to be given a chance and, seeing as I don't know any of the acts or their material, it would be unfair to pre-judge them. The Comedy Zone probably won't be a high priority for me but I wouldn't complain abut going. Worth £40? Doubtful, would you pay that much for a handful of unknown comedians? But I could be pleasantly surprised...
Tribute Tent As the title suggests, tribute acts have a place in May Ball, so who do we have this year? The Fillers, 182 - A Tribute to Blink, The Rinky Dinks & DJ Jinx I am a Killers fan so The Fillers might be worth seeing, I am not totally adverse to listening to Blink 182 so perhaps that won't be bad either. The Rinky Dinks apparently cover a myriad of artists with a twist ranging from rock (fair enough) to ska (good God, no!). DJ Jinx will be playing tracks between the other acts and is not a tribute act. He has DJ'ed at a couple of Student Union events before which I've heard and liked. This tent seems as though it won't be a total disappointment. Worth £40? It's definitely worth more than the Main Stage.
Headphone Disco LOVE a good headphone disco, they are SO much fun! Usually two DJs performing at once and, equipped with headphones, disco-goers have the choice of switching channels, between DJs. It is so brilliant to remove your headphones for a second and hear half the room singing one thing and other half something else, and the dancing is also just fantastic! I remember at the Union's last headphone disco that one DJ told his listeners to get on the floor and stay there. I seemed to be one of the very few people not on that channel as I discovered on my way to the bar. I was listening to some pop song and when I turned around, everyone was on the floor and I had no idea why. Brilliant! Worth £40? On its own, no, of course not! But there is no way I'm missing out on a headphone disco!
Other "...we have free to ride FULL SIZE FAIRGROUND including dodgems, waltzers, bench ride and traditional stalls. The CHILL OUT MARQUEE features the return of the OXYGEN BAR and also includes FISH PEDICURE tanks, WALK ABOUT MAGICIAN along the with the cosy bean bag area to take a load off! For the thrill seekers, the 200ft BUNGEE CRANE awaits all those that want to take the plunge! Along with the half a dozen bars there will also be the champagne bar, food court, official photo studio, novelty acts and much, much more." Fairground - cool; chill out marquee - not for me but still pretty cool; walk about magician - sigh; bungee crane - never, ever, ever; champagne bar - hell yes!
All in all, I would (and have) paid £40 for a ticket and I am looking forward to it and I think the thing that is meant to be the most attractive about the event is by far its least attractive element. Ah well, with all the alcohol and other distractions involved, why let poorly chosen acts ruin what could be an otherwise great night?
I shall, of course, write a new post after the event, probably to take back all of the negatives I've mentioned above x
Coconut ice cream! Coconut ice cream is, by far, my favourite flavour ice cream and today I got to taste my first ever, home made ice cream for the first time and it is yummy! So I thought I'd brag about my skills share the recipe - here it is:
600ml double cream
400g coconut milk (1 tin)
150g desiccated coconut
5 tablespoons caster sugar
Method:
In a mixing bowl, whisk the cream until thick.
Fold in the coconut milk, desiccated coconut and sugar.
Pour the mixture into a container and freeze for at least eight hours, stirring ever hour or so to keep it smooth.
And it's that simple!
As you can see, I had some of my ice cream on top of some apple slices which makes for a yummy combination as the apples have a sharp flavour and the sweet, creamy coconut ice cream kind of tones it down a bit.
The ice cream is very yummy and simple to make, so give it a go! x
That's right, another Eurovision-based post, this time I'm just sharing my Eurovision party playlist. Wtih just over a month to go until the contest kicks off, it is VERY important (for me at least) to start thinking about how to top last year's party and where better to start than with the pre/post-contest music? Feel free to take ideas from this year's playlist or last year's for your own party, also, feel free to tell me if I'm missing any essentials or have a go at me for including some Eurovision songs you'd rather forget.
The party this year will be on May 26th, the same night as the live final, and is very conveniently two days after my final, final-year exam so I don't have to feel guilty for not revising (as if I would anyway)!
This year's playlist is 48 tracks long, I have somehow managed to more than double the length of my 2011 playlist! The playlist does not include 2012 entries, save those for the show! The worst thing is that this playlist is only gonna get longer every year as I add songs from the previous contest...
10 of these are winning entries (2, 4, 8, 13, 19, 26, 28, 29, 31 & 38)
Amazingly there are more UK entries than any other, there are 7. The next highest is Ukraine & Moldova with 4.
Most of the songs come from last year's contest - 2011 - then 2010 (9), 2009 (8) and 2008 (7); proof that Eurovision gets better every year?!
Only 4 of these songs are pre-2000: 3 winners & 3 UK entries (2/3 winners there)
Song 43 (Sieneke - Ik Ben Verliefd (Sha-la-lie)) is the only song in the list to have not actually been in the Eurovision final but it's a fun song so I thought best not to leave it out!
Any thoughts on this year's playlist? Do let me know!
For European readers, ESC 2012 will take place on the 22nd (1st semi-fianl), 24th (2nd semi-final) and 26th (the final) May. For non-European readers, the final and the semi-finals will be broadcast live on the Eurovision website - don't miss it!! x
No, I haven't misspelled 'Norway' - I've spelt it the Welsh way, think of my blog as a very long Welsh lesson. Anyway, why a post on Norway? Surprisingly, this has nothing to do with Eurovision but does have a lot to do with this BBC report. The report is about the trial of Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian man who ruthlessly murdered 77 people. 8 people died in an explosion in Oslo after Breivik planted a bomb outside the Norwegian Prime Minister's office and, following this, Breivik travelled to the small island of Utøya where the Labour Party youth wing were at camp, disguised as a policeman. There, he shot the island hostess and a security guard before summoning campers to stand around him under the pretence that he was there to talk about the Oslo bombing. He opened fire on those who surrounded him, on those who ran away from him and later on those who attempted to swim away from the island. Breivik killed 69 people in all on Utøya on 22 July 2011. A further 319 people were injured.
I remember when I first saw the news, I couldn't sleep so I was up all night and I first saw the report on BBC News early in the morning. Of course I was totally shocked, no one expects this kind of travesty to occur in Norway, credited as a very tolerant country, but I was also surprised at the lack of reactions from people online, mainly on Facebook. The vast majority of Facebookers seemed much more concerned about the death of Amy Winehouse, and while any death is tragic, I felt a bit uncomfortable that so many people were so concerned and apparently upset with her death and completely unaffected and in many cases oblivious to the travesties in Norway, the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II, and on average 1 in 4 Norwegians knew a victim affected by the attacks. I am NOT saying that Winehouse shouldn't be mourned and that her death wasn't notable, what I'm saying is that I was slightly annoyed that her death was very heavily publicised and seemingly more important than the deaths of 69 Norwegians.
Breivik has confessed to the crime and wants his day in court. He says he committed these crimes (and would do so again) because he is "on a mission to save Norway and Europe from being taken over by Islam." This notion is, of course, ridiculous. I like to think that Europe, and members of the EU especially (Norway is not a member of the EU, but is practically tied into it), is home to very tolerant governments and tolerant people, the best in the world - save for the odd xenophobe here and there. However, several countries in Europe have small but loud right-wing extremists even in countries where you may not expect them, such as in Norway or Finland. I have long thought and made clear that the Nordic countries are leading examples in many things: democracy, the economy, healthcare, education, international relations, etc and it's about time people started following their example. Having said that, I really do hope that the Nords stay true to who they are and fail to allow people like Breivik to change them. I don't think they will change, and that they will remain the leaders in the things I have mentioned and so I hope that one day governments, like that of the UK, realise that they are no longer 'the envy of the world' but are years behind our Nordic friends.
Breivik's trial begins 16 April 2012 and is expected to end June 22, 2012. The trial is expected to cost £10 million (€12.1m), a price worth paying for the Norwegians to get the answers they desperately want and to put a dangerously volatile man away for life.
This is my first foray into current affairs, and everything above is of course MY OPINION. If you agree or disagree with anything do feel free to comment and I will be more than happy to reply :) Diolch am ddarllen!
We are fast approaching what I like to call 'Eurovision season' - I say 'fast approaching' but we are already there really, for me it means Eurovision starts when all the songs have been chosen; the last song to be be picked was The Social Network Song, on 22nd March, which will be San Marino's entry. The season ends about a week after the contest, once I start getting bored with the vast majority of the songs.
As I've mentioned on the blog before I do like a Eurovision party, and this year will be no different - there will be the usual banners, munchies, alcohol and music. I've created a new playlist and I will, like the sad-mad-obsessed-fool that I am, be sharing the tracklist. You never know, you might like some ideas for a playlist of your own. Everyone loves a Eurovision party!
Moving on - due to a rather large amount of boredom, I wondered what my top 10 Eurovision 2012 songs are so far. Fellow Eurovision fans will know that only the top 10 countries will get points based on this system: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 & 12. So here are my top 10 so far...
1 point Ukraine: Gaitana - Be My Guest
2 points Romania: Mandinga - Zaleilah
3 points France: Anggun - Echo (You & I)
4 points Italy: Nina Zilli - L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)
5 points Denmark: Soluna Samay - Should've Known Better
6 points Bulgaria: Sofi Marinova - Love Unlimited
7 points Austria: Trackshittaz - Woki Mit Deim Popo
My top 10 are based on their number of plays on iTunes so they're probably very likely to change, except for Sweden's entry anyway, that song has made its way to my top 25 so...
Eurovision isn't for everybody so if you made it this far down the post - WELL DONE!! And seeing as you made it this far, why not tell me your favourites and criticise/praise my Euro top 10? The Eurovision final this year is May 26th - CANNOT WAIT. Diolch am ddarllen x
Easter holidays again already? Madness. What's also mad is the lack of recent posts. Been a bit distracted lately - tut tut. Anyways, the Easter holidays have returned and this time I am spending the hols in Aberystwyth. Why? Well I've never been the biggest fan of Barry, the chav capital of Wales, but having said that I still have some good friends and family there who I will no doubt get a chance to see once uni has come to an end anyway and, speaking of uni, I thought staying might make me more productive as I have two essays to write by the end of the holidays but I have done very little - no work as of yet. Silly, silly me. There are currently 4 of us still here (including me, and that's out of 9) so I've no reason to get lonely or overly bored, besides, I like the quiet and surprisingly ghost-like town of student-less Aber.
So if I've not been working, what have I been up to? Well I have been trying (and failing) to deal with some of the emotional nonsense that I've alluded to in previous posts but I don't want to go into details as the blog has been depressing enough recently! Dealing/not dealing with that kinda stuff has taken up a fair chunk of time but I have otherwise been working on my creative writing. I have 2 story ideas, for one I've pretty much finished planning and have written the first chapter and for the other I've done some more planning after having left it alone for about a year. They are both, of course, in Welsh and giving the plots away would be silly but I will divulge the titles I've given them (please feel free to be critical if you fancy it): 'Glaw Galarus' ('Mournful Rain') and 'Effro' ('Awake'). The stories are not connected so one's not the follow up of the other or anything. The hope is to have finished planning them both and to have written one by September/October and try my luck with publishers like Y Lolfa & Academi.
To finish, I will share with you what I believe to be the greatest song of 2012 - I cannot stop listening to it and despite the fact it was only released last month it has already soared its way to number 3 of my top 25 on iTunes and I doubt its long until it takes second place. Anyway, here is Loreen with "Euphoria":
Sorry for the boring post, I will try to make the next one much more interesting! I suppose this was just to show that I've not forgotten about Nóttmare and I think I'm getting better at this Twitter malarkey so do feel free to follow me. Diolch am ddarllen! Liam
More depressing news from me I'm afraid, I don't seem to post any happy stuff on this blog, sorry about that. I've put off posting for a bit because I've been plagued with one problem and I didn't really wanna post about it, thinking it would go away but it hasn't. I'm hoping that by getting this out there I will miraculously relieved of this ever increasing burden I'm feeling. If you don't fancy being depressed/bored out of your skull, look away now.
In a previous post I mentioned another inconvenient infatuation, an annoying reality for a lot of us I imagine but when you're a gay guy falling for a straight guy, there are, obviously, major problems at play. I've only really noticed my infatuation for this guy late last month (January) so it's a fairly recent thing and I will hopefully get over it very soon. But you know what it's like when you like someone, you think about them all the time, you'll try and spend as much time as possible with them and, failing that, texting or facebook are used a lot - already doing these. A lot.
So, problem number 1 is how your object of your affection perceives you, because that will undoubtedly effect everything; the way you act, talk, think, everything. I didn't tell the guy how I felt at first, that in itself has a minefield of issues, the main one being how will they react? But as I've said, I did eventually tell him and he was fine with it and has not treated me any differently which I do think is a good thing because, regardless of everything else or how I'm feeling, we're friends and I wouldn't want that to change. At the moment nothing has really changed s there isn't much of a problem there but with the texting and time spent with him I am in constant fear of changing that which would really upset me.
Problem number 2 is me. The way I act and talk with/around him is under constant scrutiny - by myself. If I do this, say that, send this, blah, blah, blah, how will he react and will it cause a problem friend-wise? This kind of thinking leads to over-thinking immensely to the point where I can't remember the last time I had a good night's sleep because I think about stuff before bed and when I wake up in the morning which creates a kind of perpetual hell. I've been through this before and I have learned some lessons but the fact that it can effect me so much and make a good day turn bad (today for example), or a bad day turn worse and the fact that it can really upset me and make me feel a bit depressed annoys me and I just get angry with myself.
Ultimately, what I want is to stop having feelings for this guy and to just carry on as normal, as friends but neither my stupid head nor heart will allow that, for now at least. It's things like this that make me have really negative views of love, it's something that can take over and it's something so far out of your control that you have no hope of sorting it out properly yourself. It also really angers me because in the past, as well as now, it has created problems between myself and friends and puts me in a constant state of paranoia because the last thing I want to do is scare away my friends.
Anyway, that's more than enough of that and I'm sorry for going on about it in the first place. Just needed a chance to rant it out, it could have been worse, this could have been a Valentine's day post - how depressing would that be? Thanks for reading, Liam x
