Confidence To Try

Hey Bloggers, Lovers, Haters, Aliens and Strangers!

So this summer has been a bit of a different one, I haven't been to France and I haven't been at home, instead I've been in good-old Canterbury mainly working but there has been an exciting new venture in my life! As I've previously blogged about, I'm a University Cheerleader for the University of Kent Performance Squad (The Falconettes) and it is from this that I began talking to my now housemate Charlotte about cheerleading. It turned out that she had been part of a professional cheerleading squad the summer before who cheer for the Kent Spitfires (The County Cricket Team) at their Twenty20 Matches and YB40 matches. 

It was a bit random but she asked if I wanted to try out with her back in Spring time and obviously thinking it would be very similar to cheering at American Football games I said yes! I was asked to prepare a short cheerleading routine. I had no idea what to expect so decided I would just go along, have some fun and perform part of my University Cheer routine! (Since I'd never done any real dancing before, let alone choreography!) So I got all dressed up in my high pony tail and glitter and caught the bus to the St Lawrence cricket grounds - considering I had never been before I was in total awe, the amount of seating and the size of the pitch was spectacular to little old me in her glitter and trainers. Luckily I had Charlotte there with me, I think I'd turned white as I turned to her and gulped "Does it really get that full?" 

After a couple of weeks of waiting I got the message that I was being asked back by Tanya (Head Cheerio and Choreographer extraordinaire - gosh I hope she never sees that!) for another audition, this time with more of the girls! So again I turned up the next week, shaking, nervous and no idea what to expect! It was when I walked into the gym following behind "Miss Herne Bay" that I suddenly realised how out of my depth I was - or I thought I was! 

Featured in the Newspaper

Still I smiled, even when the local newspaper came to take photos and I danced as best I could! Quickly picking up the routine but failing to perform it very well - have I mentioned yet that I've never done proper dancing before? No? Oh well guess what? I'd never danced properly before! 

To be honest with you blog readers, I left that audition knowing that I'd done horribly, I've done a few auditions for plays and such in my short time on this planet and I know when something has gone awfully wrong - Tanya was lovely during the auditions and the other girls were joking around, smiling, laughing and made me feel totally a part of the group! (Most of them were coming back for their third year so all knew each other) and I cannot tell you how disappointed in myself I was, I genuinely went home and curled up in bed and cried the glitter off my face - I felt like it was a disaster. 

A few days later I received a text - "Hello just to let you know that you are in the squad for the spitfire sweethearts. Can you make a meeting on Monday afternoon? Well done! I will discuss payment etc on Monday" I screamed. I was in work at the time and I so vividly remember turning to one of the girls I work with Ellie and just grinning "I'm a professional Cheerleader" 

From there it was a whirlwind couple of weeks full of 3 hour long rehearsals every Sunday to get ready for the first match! Being one of three new girls in the squad I had to learn 3 routines and fast! Whatever I had thought this squad would be like I was so so wrong. I remember the first rehearsal, full of pirouettes, high kicks, complicated counts and would looked like an impossible routine - we weren't cheerleaders, we were dancers. But something really strange happened, I picked it up and I learnt the routines and even though I was so stupidly nervous, when the first match came I knew the dances and I performed in front of hundreds of people at the county cricket grounds with Sky TV filming... 

I have never been so scared in my life. 

But that was just the beginning of what turned into an amazing summer! I've spend my Sundays rehearsing with the squad, and long days cheering and dancing in front of up to 4000 people at a time! On big screens and everything! I've even been shown on Sky Sports behind an interview shaking my pom poms and looking like a grinning idiot. 

What's surprised me the most about the summer is the fact that, despite being so nervous and never having danced before these girls gave me the confidence to go out there and "Shake your pom poms" whenever I felt like giving up, or I wasn't good enough (and that happened a lot) there was always someone there to knock some sense into me and make me smile, so I owe all of it to them, my beautiful cheerios!

Of course it wasn't always a barrel of laughs, Twitter has been a dangerous media during my time as a Spitfire Sweetheart and I'd become obsessed with checking what people had said about us;

" #spitfiresweethearts are shit"

"Lack-luster performance"

"Thunder Thighs"

"Too much sweets and notenough hearts" 

This is only a small sample, but they got a lot worse! It used to really get to me, like I said I became obsessed, paranoid about my figure and I would spend a lot more time before match days fixing my hair and makeup worrying what horrible things people were going to say next. What I swiftly and thankfully realised was that no matter how many negative comments we got, there was always someone at the ground on the day who came up and thanked us, an audience who clapped for us, men who complimented us and countless people telling us how well we had done and what a joy it was to watch us. It was this kind of responce that I began to pay attention to and that's when I realised how much I loved being a part of something that made people smile! Then it didn't matter whether they were laughing with us, or at us because we were having fun and putting in all our efforts to make our routines amazing. I can honestly say that I wouldn't change a thing, even the critique and I cannot wait for next year to be bigger and better than this!

So as I hang up my uniform for this season and put away the glitter I can't help but reminisce over what a fantastic summer it has been, and how I've gone out and done something I never in a million years thought I would do - So in case any of you ever see this I just want to thank Tanya from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity and the rest of the girls for being so supportive and so much fun!

Heck I'm allready missing it so very very much- thank goodness University Cheer starts again soon

Muchos Love @5:30am

HarrietCorey

Lucy, Anna, Jessie, Me, Ashden, Eloise, Hayley, Morgan, Melissa 

If Home Is Where The Heart Is...

Hey blog viewers, I know it's been a while and my blog has become somewhere that I can only really turn to when something happens or when I need to let off some steam or I have something that needs to be said. Well unfortunately it's a little bit of each of those this time and I'm sorry for anyone that hast to read this but it's basically my way of ranting and raving about whats happening in my life at the moment. But none of this is supposed to sound like a sob story and I apologise if it does, especially to my family since it obviously concerns them a lot, I'm writing it all down because it's the only way I'm ever actually going to get over it all and come to terms with everything happening so quickly and if it sounds over dramatic or attention seeking then again I apologise because it's really not, it's just the way everything feels at the moment.

Since coming to University I found it so hard to settle in, in my first term I was going back and forth between here and home every week or so and it was a great comfort to both me and my family knowing I was so close and able to see them every few days. The second term was much the same and it was only summer term that I really became independent. I suddenly decided to take my job at B&Q more seriously and University suddenly became a lot more interesting and it between this and my new job as a Spitfire Sweetheart (which I will post about soon when the timing is right) that made me feel like I could stand on my own two feet a bit more. It ended up that going home became something I only did once or twice for special reasons, heck I didn't even go home for Mothers Day.

It was when I went home about a month ago now, for a week, that my family started to tell me everything that was going on in their lives and it sounds pathetic and poetic and just stupid but it was when I was sat cup of tea in my hand that my mum went "There's also some sad news" and my heart sank, the last time she'd used that line it was when my kitten had been run over and they weren't sure if he was going to be OK or not. This time isn't much different, I'm sure I've posted about him before since he's such a colossal part of my life and has been for the past 8 years. My dog Sirius (named after the starts not the Harry Potter films) has a tumour in his mouth. It's malignant and he is going to die, when my mum told me it wasn't a case of years or months but more weeks and a month or so at best. I don't think I really came to terms with that idea, after all I've not been at home, I've not seen him getting worse but over the course of that week at home I realised how slow and sad he had suddenly become, at that point he was eating and he was playing with his ball and would curl up on the sofa with my mum in the evening just like usual - he seemed OK and I think a part of me forgot what was going to happen, so I never said goodbye. I don't know if it was on purpose or if I simply forgot with the excitement of coming back to Canterbury but I didn't and I've been waiting for the phone call from my mum ever since.

But it's been ok, each time I've spoken to my family I've been told Sirius is fine, he has his low days and his high days and it's all looking ok at the moment, until this week when I was speaking to my mum about plans for my dad's birthday on the Friday. I only had the Friday off work and so it was a case of either me going home for the day or my family coming to Canterbury to see me, both of which sounded like really good options, until Wednesday when my mum asked me to go home, my dad was working during the day so that was part of it but Sirius was worse and she felt it was time I came home and said goodbye. Again I managed to push it to the back of my mind, I had hundreds of things to sort out and work every day and my boyfriend was staying the night Thursday so I had plenty of things to occupy my time. Then on the Friday I caught the train home, met up with my family and went to the cinema to see Simon Peggs new film (it was awful). At 6 we got home, and pulling into our drive the first thing I saw was the "For Sale" sign outside of our house. (This is where two sob stories interject into being one)

I've known for a while that my parents weren't happy in the house anymore and that they wanted a change of scene, my mum and dad had been talking about moving since before I went to University and to be fair (and I'm sorry family) I never thought it would happen as there was so much hesitation and procrastination. I'd been told that day before that someone was going to take photos of the house to put it on the market but it never crossed my mind that the day after they would but the sign up outside. I've lived in my home my entire life, it was the house I was taken back to after I was born, the place where I lost my first tooth, where all our cats are buried, where most of my happiest memories are. You see in films when parents decide to sell a house and the kids aren't happy about it, the kicking down the sign and the tampering with the property to make it so other people wouldn't buy it - I can honestly say all of those thoughts went through my head. Maybe if I break down the sign no-one will know and my family can stay living there whilst I finish at University and then everything will be ok for when I come back - oh and universe whilst you're at it could you work a miracle and make it so my dog's tumour just goes away? Thank you.

I know, I'm being about as selfish as I can get!

So leaving the house thing for the moment and going back to Sirius. When we got inside the thing I noticed first was the happy bouncing puppy who I'd left behind a year ago - he seemed no different and for a split second I thought it had all been a joke. Then I noticed the smell, to be fair he is a dog and has never smelt of sunshine and buttercups but the smell of rot and decay was slightly overpowering, to the point I had to go upstairs and prepare myself for going back down to see him. Along with the smell was his chest and front legs, they looked black from all the slobber and gunk which was coming from his mouth, obviously where the tumour has grown closing his mouth and swallowing and all these things we all take for granted he couldn't do. I don't think my heart has ever actually been broken until I caught sight of him in the kitchen, laying on the floor not moving, just staring into the distance and I think that's the point it really hit home about what was happening - The long and short is that my parents are going to decide soon when he should be put down, he's sad and miserable and although he has his good days his bad days are so bad that they're barely worth it anymore. It was with this idea in mind that I had to say goodbye to him at 6 the next morning - 12 hours to come to terms with the reality of the situations going on back home. Saying goodbye to Sirius, our home being sold and our holiday home in France also being put on the market (I'll explain in a second). When I sat down by his head (behind him so I didn't have to smell his breath) and started to stoke his head I thought he would get up, slobber on me, demand my affection and wag his tail - the most he did was open his eyes and look up at me. Cue the tears, but I did it and I've said goodbye and now I really am waiting for that call to let me know that it's all over, that whilst I'm miles away doing my job, cheerleading for the county cricket and hanging out with friends my family are having to make one of the hardest choices they've had to make and it's killing me that I'm not there for them, that I'm so far away but so close and yet there's still nothing I can do.

As for the houses? Well my parent's don't know where they'll move to, some of the ideas that have been considered are ridiculous (sorry family) but so long as they're happy then that's all that matters. I think I'm about to learn that home really is where your heart is - since both my homes are being sold.

I've gone all emotional and teary again so I'll be quick saying about France - When my Grandmother died my parents used the money to buy us a holiday house in the Loire Valley, it was just a run down old barn without heating, Internet and without any other English people around. When we were younger my brother and I loved it, it was great fun making dens in all the sheds, riding our bikes up and down the lanes pretending we were on mopeds like in Zoey 101 (not that he would every admit it) Even before we got actually beds and used to have to camp on little cots in the main room all together it was family time and every summer we would love it. Then we got older and grumpy and friends and boyfriends/girlfriends and parties and Internet became a lot more important to us and we started wishing away the 4-6 weeks of bliss we had out there, now my parents have decided they won't ever be able to make the house as nice as they wanted and so are looking to sell it and buy somewhere nearer the South, where they can go and not have to worry about doing all the DIY that comes with our current house. I don't think they were actively going to sell it yet - but they received a letter from a French Estate Agent asking would they be prepared to sell it and I think it's been taken as a sign that this is the right time and that it would be a good idea to sell both homes at the same time, and I'm ok with that, like I said - so long as they're happy.

So there you have it, that's my somewhat crazy life at the moment.

I will get back to blogging properly soon - I promise, I just need to get everything sorted in my life first!

xox

HarrietCorey

An Update:

I wrote this a while ago, several weeks ago in fact and I did post it, but even though I managed to write down everything that was happening I didn’t feel like I could actually post it – however since writing this post Sirius has passed away. It’s been a few weeks since my mum called me crying and I can safely say that even though I’ve spent two weeks at home since I haven’t come to terms with it, he’s been such a massive part of my life that whilst at home I kept imagining him, I’d throw some food on the floor and leave it for him only to walk back into the room and realise he didn’t clean it up. I kept hearing him shuffling around the house and countless times I would run downstairs to let him into the house if it was raining. I think that’s been the hardest bit, the two weeks where I was home and the house was still so full of him, his toys, his memory, it’s like he was still there with us and I know the rest of my family felt the same. That’s not to say I don’t miss him terribly, I’ve been trying not to think about him too much because if I do then it takes a while to stop and carry on with the day. But now I feel like I can post this to the world and say hey – this is what has happened in my life, thank goodness for my friends, my family and my boyfriend for all being there for me through this. I know it’s been hard but without them I really wouldn’t have coped. 

University - The Truth

It's pointless - sorry everyone who says it isn't but after yesterday I have officially decided that no, university is not a good use of time and money... I do have a proper case against it though so here goes -

My first ever first -

Yesterday I got an essay back with 72% (for those who don't go to Uni that means I managed to get a first!) which I was beyond thrilled with, actually I couldn't have been more happy... Not just because its a first but because it was a very unlikely result. This term I've had clashes with my extra curricular activities (cheerleading) have haven't attended my Tuesday lecture for one of my modules. Which in theory should mean I didn't know how to write the essay!
It doesn't stop there, my essay was on Ibsens "Hedda Gabbler" and the objective was to compare the women in the play to women in society now and look at how the play still has an impact. I haven't read the play. There you go readers! That's my biggest confession, I wrote a 2000 word essay on a play I've never read.
Then to top it off I researched and wrote and handed my essay in, all in a single day... Pathetic right? So HOW did I manage to get a first?! It should have been impossible!

Unless I'm a super genius and never knew it before now...

Highly unlikely right? But for the amount I'm paying to be at university you have to wonder what even is the point?!
Anyways rant over blog viewers!

Xox
HarrietCorey

Easy Transitons

So It's A New Year Tomorrow
Which always means reflection time - woo

Hey blog viewers! Missed me? I bet you did, deep deep down somewhere. At least, I kind of hope you did, as ever after a long period of not posting I apologise and explain why I didn't post - this time it was pathetic of me but I let some nasty comments get to me and so felt that being me posting on here was no longer a good idea. I'm sorry. I only wish I'd kept it up as so much has happened since I went for that Disney Audition and I can't really begin to explain, so maybe the highlights of my year will help?

So last year I knew that 2012 was going to be a big year for me, it was the year I turned 18, the year I went to University and the year I promised myself I'd learn to drive. I managed all of this and more and now that the year is out I cannot say that there is anything I would change. My last half year at WOK was the best and the worst, the best because we all became friends again, anyone in the year who had arguments or differences put these aside and we all forgave and forgot which meant it became the worst half  year too since leaving was so hard. I will never be able to thank WOK or my friends there enough and it's weird to think I won't be seeing most of them again. Work commitments mean I miss out on the "Year 14 Celebration" which is slightly disappointing but honestly I think it would be far far far too weird going back again.   

My last post was about my Disney audition, which I did kind of well in, I managed to get through to the second round and then messed up on my dancing, which was always going to happen! But it's one of those experiences I wouldn't change for the world, truly I loved every second of it and I'm almost certain I want to audition again. Just after I finish at Uni since I've already paid so much money to be there! As a side note to all the people who were commenting telling me that dreaming of being a Disney Princess was "pathetic" and "childish" I think that says more about you than it does about me, I have many times explained my love for Disney and I think it's sad that people don't have those dreams or feel the need to put down the few people left in this world who believe in true love and fairy tales. 

 As for University I managed, by some miracle, to get the grades and it was with this that I was packed off to The University of Kent. Uni so far had been pretty rough for me, I didn't like my course and I'm not entirely sure I do at the moment but I promised to wait it out as second year is apparently "a lot better" and more interesting! It's odd to think I've only been at Uni for a few months, I feel like I've been there all my life and I think this is largely down to my friends. It's an odd feeling but I'm hoping some of you have had this where you look at someone after having spoken to them for just ten minutes and something inside you just knows that you will be that persons friend for a long time. Yes? No? Well that's happened to me with several people and when I think of life before said friends I find it weird to think I didn't know them. It's largely down to this rag-tag group of people that I didn't give up and leave Uni and for that I am so grateful because after a lot of drama with housing for next year I've found a house for 6 of us to live in and I am so beyond excited, it's funny how something so little as finding a house to live in or people to live with can totally change your outlook on a situation! 




I think the biggest influence on my not leaving Uni hast to be UKC Cheer, after trying out for the Raven's Pom Squad and not getting a place I joined the Falconettes, the game day and performance squad and I have never ever been more happy around a group of people than I am around the cheeries. Since joining I've made friends, mistakes and a fool of myself and I wouldn't have it any other way. There's something about just chilling with the Cheeries and Falcons that makes me feel like I belong somewhere, there's never a dull moment and it's through Cheer that I've met two of my future housemates and people I will call "friend" for life. So if any of you read this, and I doubt you will I just want to say thank you, for everything and for being there for me when I needed you even if you didn't realize it! 

So all in all 2012 proved to be a rather special year and although 2013 doesn't technically have any big significance in my life I doubt there will be a dull moment - after all this is me we're talking about! 

So blog viewers, I hope you have a lovely and wonderful and beautiful New Year and I promise I shall start to blog again, pinky swear! 
xox
HarrietCorey   

 

Shh...

50 Shades of Embarrassed?

Porn? Smut? Good? 

Embarrassed by the book everyone is talking about?

Dearest blog readers, I am only somewhat ashamed to say I am currently reader the most talked about "porn book". 50 Shades of Grey. Even more ashamedly I am actually a little bit hooked! Let me explain, I first picked up the book because everyone around me was talking about it, at work, on the radio and even my second cousin was reading it whilst she was staying at ours for the week... however I had not been told just how bad it was going to be, nor how addicive!

A lot of people who haven't read the book are instantly judging it as straight up porn, those who are reading it seem to think it's the best thing since Jacqueline Wilson  (Yes I spellchecked her name).

So the question I pose to you, my ever valued and totally sensible blog-readers is "Should we be ashamed to admit to reading such "smut"?" as my darling father likes to call it! I'd like to say no, because oddly enough I'm not - however if I had come across it in a dodgy section of Waterstones I probably wouldn't have picked it up, actually I wouldn't be anywhere near a dodgy section in Waterstone FULL STOP.  But the innocent looking cover and the seemingly harmless name almost encouraged me to pick it up, plus the fact I was desperate for a good read and it was only £6 in Hmv, on display right by the counter... yeah I think it's safe to say the family-friendly Hmv staff probably haven't read it, if they had then it wouldn't be shown so prominently in store, that or all the female members of the staff would be hidden behind the counter eagrly reading away ignoring all the male customers who probably don't have the faintest idea about the book.

The plot itself is actually quite interesting, it's another one of those unlikely scenarios where a young collage student in America stumbles into the life of a rich and famous (not to mention totally gorgeous) business man who becomes quite smitten with her - at least, that's what happens in the first four chapters! From then on it's a twisted world of shackles and somewhat grotesque descriptions of sex, not to mention various contracts outlining sexual acts I had never even heard of before!(Which will probably be of great relief to my parents)

I'm actually only about 3/4 of the way through the book and so I have no idea what the ending holds but I reassure you I have the 2nd and 3rd book in the series ordered and awaiting dispatch so if it ends on a cliffhanger I can continue my avid interest in a series which was probably written for bored housewives who don't see much change in their daily bedroom routine!

So readers, friends and haters! This book seriously isn't for the fainthearted or squeemish as it will probably leave you questioning why you're reading about such crazy sex acts - and proabably very scared that somewhere deep down inside you, you find Mr. Grey just as attractive as Ana does in the book... but don't worry, I think  everyone reading this will be in the same boat as you! (Unless they are male... in which case they would probably just be thinking about the sex, goodluck girlfriends of the unlucky few!)

So I'm off to bed, or maybe to read some more, but probably bed! My last bit of advice? Girls, you might as well give it a go! You never know you may become as totally horrified but as completely engrossed as I seem to be! But hey, if you don't want to read it - you could always go see it on the big screen!

xox 

HarrietCorey

How I learnt to spell iPod, growing up and making mistakes.

Sorry, it's been a while

But there have been no words. 

 Hey blog readers, viewers and friends! I'm truly sorry about how long it has been since my last post - a lot seems to have happened and so far I haven't felt the need to write about it, any of it. 

So I finished my exams, had my leaver's ball and breakfast and am officially no-longer a school girl. All I have left to do is await the 16th of August for my results - which will hopefully enable me to go to one of my universities of choice, hopefully! 

  

So in the last week at school my iPod was stolen from the common room, which pretty much put a dampener on the whole leaving school thing as it was never found - despite my posters, begging and intense bugging of the school secretary - who knew me by name at the end of a long week's searching and hoping. See for most normal people they have one iPod taken unfairly from them but me? Apparently I'm not normal. My brother managed to then fix my old iPod touch, which I stupidly took to a party down my road - although it wasn't that stupid considering my music was playing almost all night, a mixture of Glee, Beyonce, Disney and goodness knows what else (Yes, my music taste is something a bit out of the ordinary) Towards the end of the night my iPod gave up it's battery and died on us so it was switched for a different one and put by the side of the iPod speakers - when I went to leave my iPod was no longer there. We searched everywhere and guess what? It wasn't there!! Again someone has stolen my iPod weather in a drunken state of hate or just accidentally, it's been a week  and somehow I don't think it's going to turn up. For most people the drama would end there, but not for me - after all this I decided to replace my first iPod, an iPod classic, and ordered a 120GB iPod Classic (black) from Amazon... I was over the moon when my iPod arrived, it seemed to be perfect and beautiful and it already has at least 500 good songs loaded onto it. Later that evening I went to scroll through the songs I had then uploaded and guess what? The wheel broke. It came apart. So I e-mailed the guy I brought it from, he said he would repair it - for a further £20. I said no and he finally relented saying that because I had put music on it he wouldn't refund me and instead I was allowed a replacement if I sent him the iPod immediately. In return he would send me a new one the day he received the broken one, so I sent it off and e-mailed the next day checking if he got it. He had, but he wasn't sending me a new one - not until they had inspected the returned item. I am so annoyed I cannot explain it without using incredibly rude and very very bad English.

Also - it's only one month and 5 days until my 18th birthday. FINALLY. My mum asked me about what I wanted to do for it earlier with my friends, unfortunately my response was "what friends?" as I genuinely feel I could count my friends on an alien's hand right now. For the past few months I seem to have lost a large amount of friends and now my dream 18th, which I have secretly been planning for months is a no-go. I had wanted to either rent a hall, or have a big gazebo in my back garden either of which would be draped in material like the photo to the right. I would also prefer the material to have a little bit of sparkle to it - because you know - glitter is kind of my favorite thing.Then I would have a theme, which I kept toying with all the different ideas, one of which was "When I Grow Up" so everyone would have to dress up as what they wanted to be when they were little. I also very much enjoyed the idea of "Fairy tales" or "Princes and Princess" as everyone who knows me knows how I believe in all the romance of fairy-tales and this will probably be my last chance to really have such a childish theme due to the fact it's my 18th and technically it's time to grow up. (Being the control freak I am, I also really really wanted to give everyone ideas for what to come as so that I didn't have an abundance of Snow Whites or heaven forbid Tinkerbells!

Ever since seeing Disney's "Tangled" I really wanted to steal the floating lanterns idea, as I think it's a beautiful and honestly amazing idea. My mum already said no to it though, apparently it's not very good for the environment, which is very true but at the same time I  really wanted to have an amazing 18th, which not only I will remember but so would everyone else. Alas due to idiocy and carelessness I'm too afraid to do anything, for fear no-one would turn up or that those who did would come spitefully just to get drunk or to ruin it and not actually to help me celebrate my birthday, which has always been really important to me. See my predicament blog readers? 

I doubt any of the friend's I've lost will read this, I almost hope they don't. But I will say this just in case, I'm sorry for pushing you away, for taking out my frustration over exams on you and for being a terrible friend. For those very few who dislike me for no other reason than someone else told you to then I'm sorry you didn't get to judge me for yourselves, I don't wake up in the morning with a list of people to hurt over the course of the day. No-one is perfect and I am certainly not! One day I hope you can judge me for me, and get past the whole forced dislike. For those who I hurt I really am sorry and if there was a way to change it I would but I have tried on several accounts and no good has come of it. I hope everyone has a lovely summer, and enjoys Uni or Year 13 or whatever it is you're going to be doing come September! 

I solemnly promise to my blogreaders that I shall try a lot harder to keep blogging - promise! 

Happy Saturday 

xox 

HarrietCorey

Welcome to Breaking Point.

Exams. Drama Practical. Driving Test. 

Coursework. Art Deadlines. The list goes on and on...

Afternoon blog viewers, all the way through our school life we are told "it will be better next year" but I have come to realise this doesn't happen, I was one of those naive children told that A-Levels would be great fun as you are only doing your 3 favourite subjects... No-one told me I would end up in my current frame of mind. 

So I take Drama, Art and English Language and I feel like I'm sinking (quickly) We have been working on our Drama Practical since just before Christmas and we have 5-ish weeks left... a week on Tuesday we are supposed to show a polished 10 minute extract. We have nothing. It isn't that we have been sat around in lessons doing nothing, it's just that every idea we have we change and every time we see a new play or Youtube clip we change our minds as to what style to do. Drama is my favourite subject but right now it feels like the hardest task available, for one my Drama Teacher told me not to be the principle character "Jim" as I'm not very good at playing men and so I am one of the 3 who are multirolling. All my multirolling characters are men. See my dilemma? 

It also doesn't help us that I only finished the novel "Lucky Jim" which we are doing a creative adaptation of on Tuesday, considering the others in my group are barely half-way through this made me feel slightly better until I realised that my Drama Teachers think it was only me that hadn't read the book, they have no idea that I'm the only one who has finished it. 

I don't mean to complain, but I know that's what I'm doing. I fully believe that when we pull it together this will be an amazing piece however if I don't vent my stress and worries and anger somewhere then it will all build up and that is never good for anybody. 

I know it's not just me who feels stressed and scared about the future but sometimes you just need to stand up and speak out but more often than not it's one of the hardest things in life to turn around to your friends or your parents or a teacher and say "Listen up, I feel like I can't do this" Which is exactly why I use my blog, it enables me to express how I feel without the conflicts and the guilt. 

So I leave on a word of advice to younger students; Think really carefully about the subjects you take and really do listen to teachers when they ask you to read a book or watch a programme or research something because it will always help. Trust me! 

xox

HarrietCorey

 

Pinocchio - Strangeface

 Masks, Music and More...
A definite night to remember!

Morning blog readers, lovers, haters and everyone in between! 

I saw another play on Friday and I cannot help but feel compelled to tell you all about it! 

Strangeface hast to be one of my favourite companies (EVER!) First I knew of them was on a school trip to the Trinity in Tunbridge Wells to see "A Rakes Progress". Initially their half masks made me uneasy and I was cautiously judging how much I would enjoy the production. However I soon fell head over heels for their energetic, somewhat creepy and totally brilliant performance. Through puppetry, song, masks and an amazing composer I was totally won over.

It wasn't for a few months that I heard about "Pinocchio" to be performed at the Stables in Milton Keynes over Christmas 2011. For weeks I painstakingly researched trains, buses and finally ended up begging my parents to take me (They said no). So unable to find a suitable solution I gave up and resorted to watching video's on youtube and reading other people's reviews. 

So a few weeks ago when my boyfriend's mum suggested I accompanied them to see a show at a local primary school I couldn't believe it when she handed me the leaflet. I knew instantly from from masks on the front that this was the very play I was desperate to see. 

So on Friday the 27th I walked into a primary school hall to see Pinocchio. The set was very much the typical Strangeface construction, made up to look like houses in a town with movable sections to create various scenes and tiny opening windows which are used during the performance as the homes of very grumpy hand puppets! (Who are actually a little scary)

The play began with the chorus, made up of 4 characters, milling around interacting with the audience. When I say interacting what I mean is chatting and joking with the younger members of the audience and flirting with the adults (Specifically my boyfriend). By breaking the fourth wall they had us in the palms of their hands, from that moment on we were totally absorbed in the story and completely without a doubt believed each of the characters were as real as we were. Despite their strange looking faces! 

A great personal highlight for me was the cast. 

The first name I recognised was Sarah Mardel, and ex-wok student whom presented the awards at the upper school reward ceremony in 2010. During the ceremony I was presented the Year 12 Drama Award and so was fortunate enough to speak to Sarah briefly afterwards. Needless to say she was completely inspiring and proved to me that with a bit of hard work it is possibly for a Weald girl to become a successful actor.! Therefore it was a real treat to see her perform as the title role "Pinocchio". (It's no wonder she won the Drama Cup) her performance was captivating and as an audience we truly believed in Pinocchio's conflict between wanting to make Geppetto proud and wanting to just enjoy his life without school.

The second name to catch my eye was Samuel Davies, whose name I recognised from "A Rakes Progress". It's a Strangeface tradition that at the end of the play they allow the audience onto the stage to talk to the actors and try on the masks. I had the pleasure to speak to Samuel after "A Rakes Progress" and it was him and composer Mark Dean who really made me see how wonderful Strangeface is. There are many companies who do a performance, receive their applause and then slink backstage without a second glance yet Strangeface really care about inspiring their audience. Samuel and Mark happily stood and chatted to me for a good 10 minutes answering my hundreds of question about life in the theatre, the company itself and the every present Uni vs Drama School debate! I had loved his performance in "A Rakes Progress" and I loved it even more in Pinocchio! Signor Cherry had me in hysterics with his green wellies and stupid argument with Gepetto over the magic log. (To put it in context for you, the magic driftwood was calling Signor Cherry names behind his back and Cherry believed it to be Geppetto to the point that they ended up on the floor panting for breathe to come to the conclusion that the whole thing was just a dream)

Unknown to me at the time I was also watching another of my all-time favourites, the artistic director of Slingshot Theatre Company, who play "The Zanniskinheads and the quest for the golden balls" I saw at Sevenoaks school. It was one of the absolute strangest yet most hysterically funny plays I have ever seen! In that he played Peenut, quite a hard character and so it was nice to see him playing the sweet Geppetto in Pinocchio. His role as Gepetto had me teary-eyed for the majority, his despair and pride in Pinocchio wonderfully conveyed. Which was offset by his hysterical performance with Samuel Davies and the two spirit doctors whose song still has not left my head!

Last but not least Roxanne Palmer whom routinely embarrassed Kieran (My boyfriend) through out the performance, my to the audiences amusement. With her 5 roles she has me in hysterics from the rough Lampwick who swaggered around the stage steeling buns with Pinocchio before turning into a tap dancing Ass! (I apologise for the language) to the wonderful Cat a role in which she had to act seductive and mean both at  the same time, which with wearing one mask seem like a hard task however Roxanne pulled it off perfectly creating a wonderful portrayal of the character.

Overall the cast of four played around 16 characters, not including hand puppets, each to perfection.

As a whole performance I couldn't have been more impressed, they had me laughing at the spirit doctors and their made-up symptoms and tearing up at Geppetto and Pinocchio's reunion inside the belly of the beast. The technical aspect including lighting, set and of course the music really brought the play to life making it an all-round success!

So if you do get the change go and see a Strangeface production as they are by far one of the most original and captivating companies of our time!!!!

So there you have it blog readers! Check out their website, facebook and The Stables' Youtube to see exactly what I mean when I say just how wonderful they are!
xox
HarrietCorey

Love Song - Frantic Assembly

"Time is linear. When we die. I think we die. 

But until we do... I want that time to be with you."

Evening blog readers! So as my last post suggested I went to see Frantic Assembly perform their new play "Love Song" at the Lyric in Hammersmith on Friday. I said I'd review it and so here goes, bare in mind that I've only reviewed a few things before, actually it's only really been Sudentberry Jam! So if this goes badly, I appologise! 

  

I was introduced to Frantic Assembly just over a year ago by my AS Drama teacher, for weeks my drama class read their "Book on Devising Theatre" and watched DVD's of their work. At the time I never thought I would be able to see them live, as all their plays had finished and it didn't look like they had another on the way... lucky for me LoveSong by Abi Morgan was in the creative process. 

 The play began as soon as the audience started drifting through the doors, I'm still left wondering if many of the audience even realsied there was an actor on stage, from that moment on we were plunged into the world of Maggie and Billy, otherwise known as Margret and William, the story followed Maggie and Billy as they prepared for Maggie's iminante death. Through clever theatrical devices we were shown their past and present as both characters revisited their memories of each other. 

I'm an emotional person and I knew as soon as I read 3 reviews saying to take tissues that I would need a pack myself... I didn't realise to what extent. When a play moves you to tears you have to wonder why? Why did I feel so emotionally attatched that the smallest gesture made my eyes brim? Was it the script, the acting, the music? The truth is it's probably all of those things, without giving too much away each and every moment in Maggie and Billy's past resonates within you, your worst fears were played out infront of you. However the scripting was done so carefully that they never really confronted these issues, the only time they came close was when Maggie almost cheated on Billy... other than that everything was said through cryptic use of language and gesture. 

When the end of the performance came there was no doubt in my mind, I immediatly stood and joined a handfull of others in a standing ovation despite still wiping the tears from my cheeks. As a wanna-be actor I know the power of emotion and how good it feels to influence your audience this much. I cannot tell you which part of the performance I enjoyed most, although it was not akin to Frantic's usual high impact physical theare this piece used more gentle movements. An exaple of Frantic's classic "round by and through" was used in a beautiful dance sequence between the young couple, dancing around Billy and Maggie as they made lunch in the kitchen reminding us that the past was always interlinked with the present, captivated in the walls of their childless home.
From a technical view point  there had been projections onto a sreen upstage at various key moments, starting with swallows taking flight and ending with handprints like those of cavemen, this visual device gave the play an entirely different element and resulted in a beautiful performance by all.

In conclusion Frantic Assembly's "Love Song" is a must see, for anyone! Whether you love theatre or not you are bound to be moved by the script, entranced by the movement and captivated by the music.

 

An Exciting Evening...

An Evening in...

London!!!

Afternoon friends and followers! Just a quick post to say I'M GOING TO LONDON!!!!

The reason for my visit? To see the wonderful Frantic Assembly perform their new physical theatre piece "Love Song"... Yes, I will review this properly for you later! If you haven't heard of Frantic Assembly you should have a look at their website: http://www.franticassembly.co.uk and then you will understand why I am so excited :D

I am also going to Primark for some well-needed shopping... So I will also share with you the bargains I buy (No doubt I will buy lots of things I don't actually need!)

Love to you all!

xox

HarrietCorey

ps. Thank you to all the people (especially the 60 South Koreans) who have been reading my blog as of late... it is much appreciated! If you want to get in touch then just email me at harrietcoreyblog@hotmail.co.uk