Casual Drama Homework!

Summer work : Such fun! 

Although I did find something interesting...

Hey blog viewers (Mainly my drama buddies!) Sorry about my lack of posting this summer BUT I have a good excuse I have been in France for three long weeks and since I got back I have been trying to do some homework, which this blog post is about since I was given the option to do a blog post instead of a power point for Drama!

  For summer we were asked to read Ted Hughes' "Birthday Letters" written about Sylvia Plath and research their relationship. As I was in France the first half of the summer I decided to read the letters and then find out their background, something I wish I had done first! Initially I tried to read the poems whilst in bed, which wasn't the best of plans since I was tired and it took a lot of effort to understand the poems so the next day I re-read them at the same time I kept a note of everything that went through my head!So this blog post is a little bit of what I think now and a bit of what I said then! The only difference being that now I know the background to their relationship.

"When I read the reviews of “Birthday Letters” I was preparing myself for the “tender and elegiac acts of remembrance” which the Observer, a highly regarded newspaper, promised me. However my first encounter with “Visit” was not what most people would call productive, originally I found the poem slow and to me wholly uninteresting so I put it back on my pile of summer work and carried on with my holiday but then, I’m not one to give up too easily and so armed with a dictionary for words such as “recidived” I sat in a peaceful orchard in the Loire Valley and tried again, this time the poem came to life. Although I will still keep my stance that Ted Hughes does not have the skills for writing a love poem (not from what I’ve seen at least!). For me in a poem it should be easy to see different meanings and interpretations with a clear line of thought and focus to the poet’s work, however Ted Hughes has completely stripped me of these comforts and I find myself desperately grasping at strings as to what his poems mean. I managed to get through two pages of “Ruby Street” before coming to the realisation that these two poems so far were Ted Hughes guesses as to what came after death, where Sylvia Plath would visit and what she would do from beyond the grave, some strange ghost hunt brought about by words and thoughts and past histories, a way of him showing how well he knew her even after she had died. 

From then I started to become absorbed in these clearly heart-felt poems which now became something other than just words on a page, these were the words of someone who was left behind. His love committed suicide and left him alone in the world, to me it seems somewhat tragic to think of life without my family, my friends even my acquaintances and it astounds me to think that possibly Ted Hughes had to write these poems to keep her memory alive, from there it a simple leap to the question “how do we respond when faced with death” Hughes wrote poems, destroyed her journals and carried on, an interesting piece of drama may come from the memories of a ‘left behind’ the struggles they have to overcome their grief and the pain they go through. Or maybe those with a lack of pain, the blind stumbling through life which carries us through never truly seeing and never responding to the world around us, instead stuck in the world after death with those we loved and lost yet unable to reach them.  

What also astounds me is the way in which Hughes describes his fierce loyalty and determination to remain faithful to Plath even after her death, his descriptions of the girls in “Fidelity” are not wholly clean cut and there are many moments where his ‘fight’ seems to waver but his description of his love for Plath reminds the reader that he has such devotion to her which echoes that of fairytale princes and knights in shining armour. It is this strange and time-old idea that we can only find this devotion once in our lives, otherwise known as a true love and I find myself to be slightly jealous of the adoration Hughes has for Plath."

Only when I got home did I research Hughes and Plath's relationship and realise the reason for her suicide. Part of me was close to deleting my document and re-starting but that wouldn't be truthful as to how knowing the whole story can change some one's perspective.

Previously I said that the "left behinds" would make an interesting story, so why not now develop this and use this idea that until you know the whole story you can never understand properly. Maybe we never truly know everything there is to know and this scares me. Lots. Death is something we cannot prevent and when it happens we are left feeling slightly lost, I have only ever lost two people in my life that I have been close enough to know. My grandmother and my next door neighbor, who died a few months ago from cancer. In our modern culture we are surrounded by the idea of death and of suicide, films, songs and books tell us the stories of those who feel they have no place left in this world, who just can't keep going. To me it is a horrible idea that Ted Hughes caused Plath to kill herself, that he gave her children and love and then took it away and gave his love to someone else. Reading about her I feel deeply sorry for Sylvia who was replaced for someone else yet at the same time was kept hanging on, waiting for him to come back. 


Part of me wants to end this here with the idea of the left behinds but I was still too interested to find out what happened next, little did I expect him to reject Assia Wevill, his mistress after Plath's death... causing her to commit suicide as well. I know that my drama teachers would want me to think more about the poems themselves but I find myself stuck on the story behind the poems, I know that all great artists, poets, writers have an interesting life which inspires them to create such wonderful pieces of work however I cannot make up my mind if Hughes "Birthday Letters" is wonderful or just tragic. Since he is now dead there is no way to find out which of the two he loved the most or whether he loved neither of them. 

Now I am just rambling and so I shall leave it with this one concept: What about those who make mistakes, cause accidents they cannot help and have to live with it for the rest of their lives. What about those people who are left behind after a tragedy, not moving forward nor backwards just drifting along in the world searching for what they once lost! 


xox
HarrietCorey

Harry Potter Premiere

Heartfelt farewells to cast and crew

London's premiere was a night to remember

When I called my dad at nine in the morning on the 6th of July I had no doubt in my mind that there was no way I would get one of the exclusive "Harry Potter Part 2 Wristbands". However here I sit with band 3,241 on my wrist, a soar throught and a bucketful of memories!

From the start it seemed unlikely that my three friends and I would ever get into the premier, to start we were at school when the bands were handed out, then we decided we couldn't (unlike most) skip school to wait in Trafalgar Square so we stayed in school and waited for the bell to ring before rushing to the station, then when we got there we were refused entrance at two different places and only by chance did we end up in the viewing pen by the start of the red carpet.

To begin we sat on each others shoulders and fought for just a glimpse of the stars, along the way we managed to make a new friend and a new enemy! By the time the main cast were getting out of their cars we were four people away from the front screaming as loud as we could and joining the thousands of people desperately pushing their books forward for signatures.

Before I say anything more I have to quickly say how stunning Emma Watson's dress was, an ice blue fairytale princess dress suited her perfectly and won the hearts of the crowed, not that they could be any more won over by the cast.

Once we were told it was over those who had been camping started to move away and go home, our giant crowed dwindled down to 40 at most. However spotting that the security guards and PR people were still hanging around we stayed put (thank goodness) because soon enough Rupert Grint was back signing books and taking photos. Sure enough we were beside ourselves and two of my friends got his autograph but unlike Daniel Radcliff, Rupert apologised to those few he couldn't sign and walk off. Shortly after another car turned up and out stepped Alexandra Burke, apparently so late she was banned from walking the main Red Carpet. Calling her over we smiled and beckoned her over which proved too much temptation for the X-Factor star who ran over in a pair of beautiful Le Boutains to converse with us and sign our respective books!

She even told me how nice my top was!

Next up it was Darren Chirss, who played Harry Potter in "a very potter musical" and the heartthrob Blaine in Glee. Although he didn't sign any autographs he did smile and wave and even pointed and winked at me... yes girls you may be jealous!

Shortly after Emma Watson came back as we shouted out praise, which made her cry, and begged for her attention but with the parting words of "thank you all" she disappeared in her car to go up to Leister Square to see the film. Daniel Radcliff made no effort to come back and see us but JK Rowling decided we were worth the effort and stumbled her way over as elegantly as possible sniffing with, what we presume is a feeling of joy and thanks to her ever-loyal fans.

When it was all over we battled for posters and ran out of the gates. Now hanging on my wall is a wonderful black board with "WORLD PREMIERE HP 7 PART 2" written on it in the official font!

So all in all it was a phenomenal experience which I won't be forgetting in a hurry!

Well I have to go and learn something so I can one day be walking down the red carpet at my very first movie premiere!!!!

Much love blog viewers!

Pictures to come!

xox

HarrietCorey

Growing Up.

"I'm just trying to write the story of my life"

My story just keeps on changing.

Hey blog viewers! Have you made a mistake which sometimes you can't seem to make right? Maybe you left the milk out of the fridge, no maybe not something so silly and pathetic but right now all I seem to be doing is make mistakes. Last night we have a huge thunder storm and I managed to go to school in the morning and leave my window open. Needless to say I was sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag last night whilst my mattress was in the bath "draining".

I don't just mean mistakes like that of course, I told my parents I don't want to see any universities until I have my results in August and I think I'm regretting that now whilst everyone else seems to be off up to obscure cities to find out about crazy courses. They all seem to come back the next day determined that they're making the right decision to aim for such and such a university! Me? Well I'm sat here trying to keep up with all the new work we're being set whilst scanning the websites and virtual tours of campus from the safety of our Sixth form computer room.

Sometimes though mistakes can be a good thing, like Louis Pasteur. He accidentally left the mould out on the side and found this amazing new discovery which we still use today and will probably use until we find out how to make ourselves immortal.

My biggest mistake, which keeps happening to me, is talking without thinking. I don't think about consequences and I know that, recently I've spent my lunch times and break times and early morning times hiding away up here finding any excuse to be doing work just so I don't have to go to the common room where all my friends are. Why? Because I don't feel like I can be around them anymore, after a fall out with a few of them it feels impossible to work out how to talk to any of them. I've even found it hard talking during lessons like Drama, which is abnormal since it's my favourite subject in the world.

As human beings we make mistakes, we never mean to and we never internationally try to cause destruction and pain but sometimes it just works out that way and there is nothing we can do about it. On my Formspring someone asked "scared of growing up?" my response: "petrified" and I really am, I know that when I get to university I'm on my own and I won't have my parents there to support me to help me correct my mistakes. My mistakes are going to be permanent and there is nothing I can do but try to stop such mistakes. Which would be impossible as nobody is perfect.

So my question to all of you is: should we try to amend our mistakes? Should they be written off as mistakes never to be done again and to be learned from? Do people have a right to dictate which mistakes are acceptable and which aren't?

See, thoughtful and deep!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I've been so busy with exams that finding something to write about that I wanted to write about was too hard and I just gave up!

xox

HarrietCorey

UK vs. US

"Across the pond"

Is it really that different?

So recently blog readers I've been thinking a lot about other countries, especially America and I was mainly thinking what the differences are for two people, the same age, living in either country. So I came up with 10 questions and asked my friend Rachael who lives in Utah to answer them for me! I then answered the same questions and this is what happened:

1: Who’s who in your family? So who do you live with? Who are you closet to?

R - "Well, I have four sisters and no brothers. I'm really close to all of them. My oldest sister went off to college and we still talk almost everyday. "

H - "I live with my mum, my dad and my younger brother. I'm close to each of them in different ways, I'll always be "daddys girl" but I also rely on my mum a lot. Hugo and I don't get on very well though."

 
2: What is your typical holiday destination? How many times have you been abroad?
R - "Living in Utah, I like to go to warm places because Utah is cold half of the year. So I mostly go to California and head off to Disneyland. Also, during the summer I love to head to my hometown in Oregon to go and visit my grandparents. I've been Abroad about 4 or 5 times. (Bahamas, and Mexico)"

H - "Usually every year I go to my house in the middle of the world because it's only a short journey and doesn't cost much to go. The only time I ever go anywhere else is with school and I've never been out of Europe"

3- What kind of meals do you have? 

 R - "To tell you the truth, I don't eat breakfast unless I'm on vacation. I'm not sure why. Probably because I'm not too fond of breakfast foods. And for lunch I usually make some sort of sandwich. Mostly ham and cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. All that jazz. And for dinner I eat whatever my mom usually makes for us. If not, My parents love going out on Saturday nights to certain restaurants and stuff. So I stay home with my family and usually order a pizza."

 H -"for breakfast I usually have a huge cup of tea and porridge or muesli in the summer. It being so cold in the winter I have to have a big warm breakfast to make sure my stomach doesn't rumble in lessons! For lunch I usually have pasta either hot from school or cold from the night before and for dinner it's usually loads of veg and on Sundays mac and cheese. My family are also a huge fan of beans on toast although everything we eat has to be organic or free range and we rarely go out for dinner, if we do it's either for Chinese or a curry" 

4. On a trip out with your friends what do you usually do? Where do you go?

 R - "I used to love going to the mall constantly. I would go almost every week and just chill with everyone. Now a days I don't like doing anything too special. (I guess you can say I'm boring xD.) But friends usually come over here, or I go over there and we watch a movie, or play board games or something like that. Whatever we have, We do. :)"

 H - "I live far away from all my friends so I mostly meet them in town and we go sit in the park with some music and junk food, because we mostly all have jobs or have no money we don't meet up on the weekends but I have a friend down the road who I walk the dogs with every weekend and then we usually end back at his on the Wii! Also silly games with his little sister like Cluedo are always fun."

5. What subjects do you take at school?

R - "Well, our school here in Utah, is different from schools everywhere else in America. We have something called A days and B days, A days one day and the next day we have B days. 4 classes each day.
A1- I go to Algebra 1. So just math for an hour.
A2- I go to Seminary. Which is a class for my religion.
A3- I go to Peer Tutor. It's where I tutor math to kids with disabilities. It's super fun.
A4- I go to Spanish 1. Pretty self explanatory. Learning Spanish.
B1- English 11. Which is how we learn writing skill and what not. It's required to take every year.
B2- I go to World History. Where I learn about the history of the world. We just got past the WWII unit.
B3- I go to Drama 3. Which is a theater history class. And we learn about how Acting came to be.
B4- I go to Aerobics. Where I do Killer work outs that leave me sore forever." 

 H - "For me I take only four subjects which I chose: English Language, English Literature, Theatre Studies and Art and a language which is compulsory. My weeks work on a two week rota (like most of England) so we have week A and week B however my days are usually pretty samish:

Mondays: Two free periods then English Lit and Theatre and Art 

Tuesdays: One Free then English Lit, English Lang, Theatre and Art

Wednesdays: One free then either Theatre or Russian, English Lit and English Lang

Thursdays: Two free periods then either Art or Russian, English Lit and English Lang

Friday: Two free periods then Art, English Lang and Theatre"

6- Do you like having a Presidency/ Monarchy? What are your views on the President/ Royal Family?

R - "I love having a Presidency. And even though I probably should, I haven't really paid much attention to the Royal Family. I think it's really neat though to hear about it though. (Especially when I was little, when I found out Princesses existed. Talk about excited.) :)"

 H - "I love the Royal Family and I can't wait for the wedding this Friday I'm planning on having a party to celebrate it! However I think it would be nice if the Queen had more of a say about how the country was run than the Prime Minister! I think just having one person in charge is a little odd plus there isn't the cultural background behind the President but I do think it's great that the American people get such a strong voice that they pick exactly who runs the country."

7- If you could compare your life to a film, a song, and a book, which would they be? 

R - "That's a tough one.. For the Movie, probably Cheaper By the Dozen. The little red headed boy who owns the toad would probably be me. The song, being the hopeless Romantic that I am. "Gotta be somebody" By Nickleback. Or "Friday" By Rebecca Black. (As terrible as that song is, it describes ALOT of people. haha) And a book. I wish I did, But I don't read much. So I wouldn't know what books related to me."

 

 H - " Hmm, for the movie I would say Mean Girls! The cliques we have at school and the girls who think they're better than everyone is crazy! For my song, I'm not sure right now it would probably be "Just around the river bend" from Pocahontas because I can't wait for tomorrow, I live for the day when I leave home and go out into the big wide world however stuff like school is holding me back at the moment! For my book I would have to say Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging! Only my nose is small not big! I have exactly the same problems Georgia has, especially the whole eyebrow plucking incident, I've done that before!!" 

 

8- How big is your school prom? 

R - "Oh gosh, People go WAY far to get it to be a night to remember. I'm not kidding, it's just like in the movies for some people. I've never been personally, so I'm not really too worried about it. I would just like an excuse to wear one of those huge dresses that some of the girls wear."

 

 H - "We only had a school prom because some girls in our year organised it, so not very big but it was perfect for our year. The school had nothing to do with it what so ever but it was so much fun and I can't wait for another at the end of next year when we leave."

 

9- What's your favorite Thing about America/England?

R - "I love how we can vote for a president, and can have our own opinions on a lot of things. I don't like how people don't care though and always take advantage of it, or don't even vote. But, I'm excited to move out of here. I'm doing a study abroad program once I graduate. I'm not sure where I'm going to go, but I'm going to Europe for sure."

 

 H - "As I said before I love the fact we have a Queen and also the idea that we have so much history, more than countries like America which are relatively new compared to England! I also like how as a country we have been through so much with the wars and royalty fighting but we still kept hold of what it's like to be British - Also Harry Potter came from England ;) "

 

 10- Have you ever Visited England/America?

R - "No, sadly I haven't. I would certainly love too though. Mostly for the reasons why every tourist goes there. :)" 

 

H - "No, but I really want to go, just to see the sights and experience the culture which is so different to ours! I also really want to walk down Hollywood and see my name on one of those starts in the ground!"

 

So there you have it blog readers, 10 different questions and answers from two people on opposite sides of "The Pond" of course there are many differences but as you can see there are some similarities too, what I find amazing is that America was a place of hope for many people (including those in England) and from being a new country it has become one of the biggest and most influential powers in the world! How crazy is that? 

Anyways I had better go do some work! Thank you Rachael for helping me with this! 

xox

HarrietCorey  

Jemma Pixie Hixon

She hasn't left her house in two years,

But everyday thousands watch her perform.

 Jemma Pixie Hixon, is not your average 20 year old from the good old UK. No Jemma is an outstanding singer with a voice many have compared to Britain's best, how do I know about Jemma? Well I followed her for ages when I was into posting (very bad) videos of myself singing on Youtube. I wanted to be just like her, however there is something even more special about Jemma than being able to sing so well, she suffers from anxiety attacks and agoraphobia, in other words she cannot go outside into large open spaces with lots of crowds. For Jemma this started when she was 6 however now at 20 she hasn't left her house in two years, imagine if that was you! No going shopping with your friends, no dog walks, bike rides, no school! 

However with the Agoraphobia and the inability to step outside came another downside. Her singing would suffer, or so people thought. When Jemma was 13 she won a competition on the BBC to sing live... with the Sugababes 

Instead of letting the Agoraphobia prevent the world outside her door from hearing her voice Jemma came up with a way to combat this. Instead of letting it get to her Jemma set up a studio in her room with a camera, a laptop and a microphone and began recording videos to upload to Youtube. 

From these her fans have been able to follow her progression from blond to brunette and from brilliant to outstanding.

Personally I think Jemma is one brave girl, she's kept doing what she loves despite being afraid to go outside and I marvel at her determination and positive outlook on life and wish her the very best with everything. 

So blog readers I leave you with my favorite of her covers. 

xox 

HarrietCorey

PS. all the links to her youtube and her facebook are on the "up and comings" page

 

"Kizuna : The bonds of friendship"

Funny things happen when you don't expect them.

Evening blog readers! 

I was in my garden doing some art earlier and I had a newspaper over the table so as not get it covered in glitter and I was this peeping out from under my sketch book: 

 At first I ignored it and then I realised that I had no idea what it was about, turns out it was a letter put into every newspaper from the Japanese President say thank you for the kindness all the countries who have helped Japan after the earthquake and tsunami.

One particular sentence stood out for me and that was this: 

"" We deeply appreciate the Kizuna our friends around the world have shown and I want to thank every nation, entity, and you personally, from the bottom of my heart."

Something about this made me stop and think, why is it that Naoto Kan decided he wanted to thank the world for helping. For so long gratitude is just assumed, if someone lends you a pen you assume they know how grateful you are, if someone saves you a seat on the bus you assume that they know just how much you wanted that seat. It's only on rare occasions that someone goes to the lengths, such as this, to thank someone for something they did. Personally I grinned when I read this and I felt so proud to have taken part in charity events at my school, not for the fun but to give money to Japan. A message like this really can make something so small as giving £1 seem so much greater when you know that it really did help and those you gave the money to really did appreciate it. 

So next time someone does something nice for you then remember to thank them, maybe don't put a letter in a newspaper but find a little way to show your gratitude.

As ever, much love

xox

HarrietCorey

Thank You.

Thank you to everyone who has ever read, followed or publisised my blog! 

It hounestly means the world to me! 

xox

HarrietCorey 

ps . spechial thanks to www.casualbloggercommunity.com for featuring me on Wednesday!

Studentberry Jam - A night of variety.

From beautiful voices to loud music

Studentberry Jam was definite must see.

Afternoon blog readers! Last night I hopped along to The Tunbridge Wells Forum to see one of my best friends playing in a night of music organised by two girls in the year above me. Being a first time Forum-goer I wasn't sure what to expect, however I was pleasantly surprised. 

The venue itself was cosy with a hole in the carpet and lots of flashing lights but once the music began the atmosphere changed and not a single person in the room had their mouth closed. Jaw dropping sensation wouldn't be a close enough description. 

The night started with the wonderful Millie who stunned the audience into submission with her blue guitar (named Tigerlilly) and a voice so unique you couldn't possibly compare it to another artist. Singing a mixture of her own material and covers, such as KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" and "Little Black Numbers" by Kathryn Williams, Millie played a total of six songs before being cheered off the stage, many in the audience calling for an encore however when we were denied this we were left hungry for more. 

After a short interval the next band took to the stage, Act Sober confused the audience by playing what appeared to be a mix of hip hop and rock music complete with a lot of swearing which evoked a mixed reaction from the audience, some feeling that perhaps they were slightly too young to be swearing so much. However the swearing aside the band managed to whip the audience into a frenzy, some even jumping up to dance "gangsta style". 

Our next delight came in the form of a supposed "filler act" who defiantly lived up to the description of "2 godly guitarists make sweet love via their instruments"  However personally I think their description did not do them justice as Rob and Andy were so much better than gods, giving the audience a more peaceful vibe with their almost jazzy tunes. 

Next up was one of my personal favourites, Josh Davies and his red guitar. Within the first minute Josh had the attention of every girl in the room as they watched eagerly waiting for the cord he played and note he sang. With beautiful lyrics and a rhythm to die for Josh made the room full of a melody and tune equal to the greats and just when we thought it couldn't get any better he stepped to the side and brought out Jasmine (Who later sung as part of "Jasmine and the tribe") to help him sing a cover of Mumford and Son's "The Cave". Needless to say it was perfection and if I wasn't a huge Mumford and Son's fan I would probably claim it to be better than the original! 

After another "filler" Annmarie Clay took to the stage backed by the Rob, Andy and the rest of their band and although she slipped up on her lyrics once or twice the overall performance was breathtaking. If you could imagine an angel singing backed by a loud bass and drum then you might possibly come close to how outstanding Annmarie was last night. A good friend of mine pointed out how nervous she seemed to be getting up onstage in front of all those people but she honestly had nothing to worry about as the crowd hung onto every note of her truly heavenly voice. 

A quick switch and it was once again Jasmine's turn to take to the stage, this time as part of "Jasmine and the tribe" I will be completely honest with you now blog readers, I could not stop smiling! Jasmine had a voice which not only matched the talent of the artists she covered but added a whole new meaning to popular songs such as Amy Winehouse's "Valarie". However the highlight of the performance was when the guitarist broke his string mid-performance and struggled through being one string short! 

As an audience we were not aloud to rest our ears and recover from the beauty of the music before Index and Primo jumped onstage to deliver a heavy electronic beat and a very strange track about eggs, which although completely random with no logical sense made the crowd scream for more. The quick beats and techno genius had everyone on their feet jumping, dancing and in some cases hopping around. 

Finally the evening finished with the DJ Arcan3, which I admit I only stayed for five minutes before having to leave (the joys of living far away meant being picked up was an earlier affair for me than many others) However reports this morning said the reaction from the crowd was extraordinary and you can check out some of the stuff in the links below! 

So overall the music and the atmosphere last night was phenomenal, if a little loud in places, each of the acts should be very proud and a special congratulations goes out to Annmarie Clay and Jasmine Tribe for their organisational whirlwind which made the evening such a sucsess. Well done! For those who didn't manage to go cross your fingers that there will be a next time because man it was good! 

Index & Primo 

Arcan3  & Arcan3's Facebook

(sorry if this is an awful review, it's the first time I've written anything like this!)

Peace out! 

xox

HarrietCorey

Beautiful Story...

The Starfish Story

Original Story by: Loren Eisley (Don't know who she is but from this she sounds amazing)

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed

a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.

The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?

You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,

and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”

I made a difference for that one.”

 

 

 

-Just thought you readers may like this whilst I struggle to get revision, art and life back to normal-

xox 

HarrietCorey

SUMMER TIME!

I love summer

But what a crazy time it is all ready!

Hey blog lovers, haters and walkers (whatever that is!) I'm so sorry I haven't blogged recently but I've been soo busy! So this past week I've been in a play "The servant to two masters" and I loved every minute of it. However it has taken up so much of my time that you all got slightly overlooked! For that I apologise! 

Another crazy thing in my life right now... 

Wait for it... 

It's big news...

I, YES HARRIETCOREY HAVE A JOB!!!!

I handed in my CV at the local ShoeZone two weeks ago... and my first shift was yesterday! How crazy is that?! It was all such a quick process that I'm still getting my head around the idea that soon I can go out and buy my own stuff (not dvds though, I've been banned from buying and Disney Dvds by my mother but oh well) 

How crazy is that? This is on top of revision and everything else! Eeeek! 

Now as you may tell by the title... I officially declare it to be summer in my world and therefore the colour scheme for the blog... WILL BE CHANGING to something more seasonal! So watch this space... literally!

I'm also going to be updating my "Up and Comings" which I'm excited about because I have a few youtubers I want to show you! 

ALSO I just quickly want to say on this Wednesday, the  20th of April my friend Millie, I lie - sorry my best friend, that's better! Will be playing at the Tunbridge Wells Forum for Studentberry Jam at 7.20 pm tickets are £6.50 on the door and you should all go because she is AMAZING. No, I'm not bias because she's my bestie... okay a little but still! GO SEE IT! 

Also debating having a video blog too? Not sure though! What do you think? harrietcoreyblog@hotmail.co.uk   

xox

HarrietCorey

Reading is bad for my health.

I love the movies

I always want my life to be like one

Hey blog readers! So the other day I started reading a book about this girl who is in love with the movies, she loves the romance, the excitement... starting to sound familiar to anyone? Yeah. It was pretty much describing how I want my life to be. So I was reading this book and I admit I finished it today, about five minutes ago, but the whole point of this girl going to London for a few weeks is to prove that her life is just like the movies and that movie moments do happen in real life. 

So being a girl who wants her life to be like the movies I can empathise with the main character Scarlett. When at the end of the book she realises her life does have movie magic moments I decided maybe I could find my few "Movie Moments" from my own life? However then I realised that actually, everything in my life could be a movie. My friends could make great characters, the boys in my life. Hell they would defiantly be good for the movies and even my own thoughts in my head would be good I think. 

I was going to think up a list of 10 movie moments for you, but then I remembered something an old friend said to me the other day: 

"I'm glad I'm not something important in your life anymore
quite frankly i don't want to be a blog post, a picture or a status, something to show off and then hide away"

 So this made me think about my blog, about my Facebook and about how I view my life, I have a book now that I write very strange and random thought in. It's like an extension of this blog but more personal and then I realised as I look around my room that I document a lot of things in my life. Sitting where I am now at my desk I see 49 photos around my room. I see hundreds of bits of paper and countless scribblings.

 

The person who made that comment used to be very important to me, I won't deny that even if I may regret it sometimes. What people who know me don't seem to understand is that to be important to me they have to accept that this blog and my various books of notes and photos on my wall are my way of showing the world who I am and for me to remember every passing moment of my life, I believe everything happens for a reason and we should treasure what we have, whilst we have it. 

So I may spend a lot of time writing on here, taking photos, searching for new ways to show the world about me and my life. But this is my little way of showing the world my life, not as a movie but as a collection of posts and photos all of which in 70 years will be the most precious things in my life. Memories. 

xox

HarrietCorey

Individuality

We all like to think we are different

But what happens when we define that?

Good morning viewers, so a strange thought came into my head last night, one which I thought I'd share with you. We all want to be different, individual. If we feel we aren't original then we change our hair, our style, our personalities. A lot of the stuff we change isn't permanent, but with the invention of tattoos we are now able to change our body's with a strange form of art. Art is a funny thing, no-one ever really agrees if something can be deemed as "art" or not.

The thing with tattoos is they're supposed to make us individual. When you search tattoo into google images the main picture or stencil that comes up is a star. Stars symbolise bigger hopes and dreams, a far off place which we can only really dream about. From stars we have planets which hold hope for a new form of life, for astrologists and scientists it gives something to strive towards. Take the moon landing for example, each country was fighting for the best spaceship to take into space. America won. So the battle continued.

Tattoos each symbolise something different, however there is one tattoo which although the same has a completely different story behind each marking.

The Nazis gave each of their prisoners in the concentration camps a tattoo. Not a star, a heart or a pretty picture but a number. That number would take away their personality, from there on out they would no-longer be known by a name. They would forever be a number, the Nazi's didn't care about the individuals that they killed, just about the facts and figures. When we went to Krakow we didn't see a single photo of the tattoo and it's very rare that you'll walk down the street and see someone with a number on their arm. That's because it was turned to a sign of repression, of fate most of all, of death.

xox
HarrietCorey

The clocks change...

It would be quite nice if someone told me

as opposed to letting me think I'd gone mad

 

(Edit: apparently most of what I've said in this post is complete rubbish... goes to show how much I know about time changing and my sleeping pattern. No, it's not light when we get up... I found that out this morning when i threw open my curtains expecting sunlight and instead found darkness and a few stars. No, we don't get more sleep, we get less. Yes, I know even a baboon would have known this.)

Afternoon blog readers, lovers and haters! 

So guess what?! The clocks went forward, which I think means I get an extra hour of sleep? Although it does mean I have to go to bed early... so actually it means I get the same amount of time to sleep? I think? Would someone explain this please? 

What I have noticed though, is that on Heart FM this morning they decided they were going to accidentally say the wrong time, causing me way more confusion than was necessary... Apparently they apologised straight after but I'd changed over to listen to something else instead by that time! 

Now I know, deep deep down, that the clocks changing is a good thing, it means it's now officially light when we get up and light when we get home from school (which sucks because it means if I need to run down the hill to catch my train on time I don't get the usual darkness which until now was very useful at keeping my identity secret). However what happens to all those animals in the world (like my dog Sirius) who have internal body clocks? They know exactly when they should be fed and won't shut up until we've fed them at this time! I'm currently locked safe in my room so I won't be able to hear him begging for his food an hour early, which sounds incredibly mean of me but it's true! After a while he does get used to it, but for the fist few days he doesn't quite understand it! 

Another crazy thought just popped into my head, they were trying to make us go forward by two hours at one point weren't they? Meaning that right now it would be... five in the afternoon? What an awful waste of two hours! I know that we would have all been asleep, unless you're some crazy party animal who stays out until two, not some sad freak who can barely keep her eyes open past 11 at night. Of course I'm not talking about me here... ok. I lie, I am!

Ah heck, I still have an essay to do which I only just realised about... sorry readers but I have to go and write essays inside, while wishing I was outside in the sun... someone trade places? Pretty please?

Anyways love to you all

xox

HarrietCorey

  

Somethings just don't add up.

The weather is not an indication

of what kind of day you'll have.

Evening Blog readers! 

I witnessed an accident today, a boy crashed his moped into the back of a bus on his first lesson, he was sixteen. No don't worry, he is fine but it does make you put things into perspective.

For those of you living in the little slice of heaven (only on occasion) that is Kent you'll have seen the sky... no, not the usual cloudy dull and darkness but the actual blue of the sky above your head. For those of you in a rainy place I apologise for being a little bit smug and overly excited, I'm sure you'll have some sun soon... unless you're in Gloucestershire... It rains a lot there apparently. (Yes, I'm taking that from the well known nursery rhyme) 

So back to what I was originally trying to say, sometimes the weather can be perfect, not a cloud in the sky but horrible events will take place. Today I nearly missed my train so I ran down the hill with my friend Steph, yes we looked stupid. However we got halfway and started walking again, neither of us decided to start walking we just simultaneously stopped running. Not having walked more than five paces we heard a crash, a horrible screeching noise which really really didn't seem to be anything important until we turned around to check and saw a moped go into the back of a bus... the 205 to be precise. 

It's fair to say when the boy sat up Steph and I didn't have a clue what to do, however we did work out that calling an ambulance and standing shaking and smiling whilst trying our best to keep calm and chip in our accounts of what happened when anyone asked. 

I know this doesn't really make much sense... ever but it's really quite strange thinking that on such a perfectly sunny day something so awful could happen. As far as I know the boy was fine (I feel awful I don't even know his name) but he was up and walking about and getting into the ambulance when we were told we should leave so don't worry. In English we've been studying The Great Gatsby and the same idea occurs in that, the weather in the initial meeting between Gatsby and the love of his life Daisy it's raining, but not the romantic heavy rain but the drizzly stuff that no-one in their right minds likes. Then when Tom runs Mertyl over it's stiflingly hot, for all intense and purposes a beautiful day! Ordinarily in the movies, the books, the songs we hear how when someone dies it's raining outside, you can hear it on the window pain and the sadness of the situation seems worse simply because of the rain. Where as the hot weather usually means romance, rolling around in hay bails with farm boys, lazy days on the beach gossiping with your friends, not death, not accidents, not something so sad. It seems to me that when the weather doesn't match the tone of the day (like today for me) the whole world seems to start tipping slightly, not much but enough to think that yes, the world has finally lost it's mind.

I guess it goes to show how no-one can judge when a disaster is going to happen, when something good will come about and no-one will ever really understand how this world works. Seeing this accident and feeling the sun on my back has made me realise how nothing in this world seems to be connected. The earthquake in Japan happened at the same time as the riots in Lybia, leaving newspaper reporters confused as to which story will make better news. 

I guess you could also take the ideology that actually we are only interested in something when the news is bad, when someone dies or when our peaceful state of mind is threatened. You never hear stories which don't have a happy ending unless it has a sad beginning, you never hear of a sad ending unless it began happy. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone other than me, my thoughts aren't very coherent today not that they ever normally make sense :/ 

Well blog readers I'd better go to bed, I have a long day of drama rehearsals and English essays (none of which I have any idea what I'm doing! I think I'm going to have to find a year.13 to tutor me at this rate!)

Goodnight!

Love you all loads

xox

HarrietCorey

PS. This came up on my "following blogs" link thing and it made me laugh so check this out, it's two guys from my school's podcast and I found it hysterical in places, if a little random! 

               www.aquestionbasedpodcast.blogspot.com

  

Non-Contact Time...

So girls we want you to do work

Meaning discuss prostitution?

Gooooood morning blog lovers, hates and other alien forces.

I'm having a bit of a wierd week, for one I just got told I had a spider in my hair by two people who are supposed to be my friends... Actually I say friends but they're really just people I spend my free periods with, again I lie. They are my friends, they just think it's amusing to tell me I have a spider in my hair, refuse to get it out and then watch as I run across a room to get one of my more understanding friends to get the fictional spider out of my hair (which looks so, so messy today, but that's beside the point)

 These next few weeks are all about universities and exams and stressful things lie that. For instance my "good-friend-but-one-of-the-spider-plotters-who's-reading-over-my-shoulder" Richard is looking at different universities. He wants to go to Oxford (but he's checking others incase he doesn't get in, which is highly unlikely as he's like a mini genius in a pink shirt. (No he isn't gay!) However he claims that it's red white and blue... like the French flag... French people get sunburn therefore go pink therefore I have decided his shirt is PINK.

So with exams looming I've not had much chance to write on my blog, compose posts in my head... yes. But not actually sit down and write anything! I'd like to take a moment to rejoice that I now have 17 followers *feels proud*

Why is this post about prostitution? Well I have spent my last two free's studiously working whilst discussing getting a job therefore also debating the possible income from becoming a prostitute... which I stupidly decided to tell the world I'd be a very good prostitute. Of course this is just one of those random things we talk about when all our heads can think about is exams and food and probably in Abby's case how long until she can insult me again!!

So anyways I have to go and get on with my work... I've spent way too much time on here allready and serious work needs to be done... by serious I mean finishing drama notes for the 100000000000000000 time!

Love to you all my blog readers and blog skippers...

xox

HarrietCorey

results! I stuck to my new years revolutions... so far!

1 : I'm going to stop eating bread
2 : I will post a blog at least once a month
3 : I'm going to know which Uni I want to go to 
4 : I'm going to take care of my appearance
5 : Audition for the National Youth Theatre

I am amazed at myself. Truly blog readers I. Am. Amazed. So far (nearly two months into the new year) and I've already stuck to... wait for it 

FOUR OF MY RESOLUTIONS

This is undoubtedly a great achievement for me, as before I've never kept a resolution more than a few weeks, but here we are  on the brink of March (a time of exams) and I've already completed two of my resolutions and am currently working on the others. So I thought you may like an update (after the depressingness of the last post I also felt I needed something more light hearted)

1: I will stop eating bread - ever since New Years Day I have stopped eating bread, well until last week where all I could eat for breakfast and lunch was bread, but until Poland I had not had a single piece of bread. Brown healthy pitta breads = yes. But no white bread what so ever and I am so incredibly pleased with myself, because before all I thought about was how soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside the French Bread was going to be! 

2: I will post a blog at least once a month - As you can see I've stuck with that one so far, and I probably will carry on with it as best I can because I'm enjoying getting home and logging onto my blog because, well, I'm an addict. There I said it. I, Harriet Corey, am addicted to blogging. Most of it nonsense! Tehe. 

3: I will know which Uni I want to go to  - After a successful ACT Day (Alternative Curriculum Time) researching Universities and other options I have decided my aim is The University of Surrey where I will study Drama and Theatre Studies. I need ABB or AAB to get in (I know, that's allot of hard work but I'll try my best) and it seems like my ideal. I've visited Guildford, the nearest town, and I love it. No not just because I found Lilo and Stitch in a charity shop for £2.50 (Although that had something to do with it) 

4: This one isn't working... yet. Check back with me in a few months and I may be looking as amazing as Cheryl Cole. (not)

5: Audition for NYT : Yes good blog readers, I did it. I auditioned on the 20th of February at London's Bubble Theatre and you know what? I loved it. I managed to get up to London on my own (first time ever) and catch a tube then walk the twenty minutes to the theatre! HOW AMAZING! 

I honestly don't think I have got in, this time around, but they did say that I was very good and I just need more confidence! How great is that? Although I think I needed to be a little more active in the group workshop! But some of those people were scary! 

So there you have it blog readers! I am one happy bunny thanks to keeping up with some of my resolutions this late into the year, I know I make it sound like October but never before have I done so well when it comes to keeping these silly things! 

Anyways I had better go and do some work otherwise that ABB will not be, and then I'll have to rethink Uni's and it's taken me far too long to decide all ready! 

Love to you all 

xox

HarrietCorey 

PS. SO close to 2,000 blog views... *mini party*

See! Even Terrence is happy for me!

   

"each rock represents one person that died"

Only when we remember
Do we learn something new

Afternoon blog readers! I'm sorry I couldn't finish the earlier post with as much gusto and enthusiasm as it needs, but I was in desperate need of a dog walk and an awful lot of tea and reflection before coming back to the computer and trying to find words. 

After visiting Auschwitz we sat in a cafe outside of the camp and drank hot chocolate (as we did every other time we came in from the cold) However our break wasn't a long one as once we had finished our lunches in a box (this consisted of a cheese and lettuce sandwich, a bar of chocolate and two very hard oranges) we got back in our coach and traveled the short distance to Birkenau (otherwise known as Auschwitz 2) the second camp which was built entirely by prisoners of the camp. Why did they build a new camp? Because Auschwitz wasn't big enough for them. It took 45 hours to burn all the bodies of just one group sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz and so the Nazi's decided they needed somewhere bigger and "better". 

And so Birkenau was created. 30 times bigger. hundreds more killed. ten times worse to visit. 

When I thought of the camps before I signed on for the trip all I knew was about Auschwitz, I hadn't heard of Birkenau, which scares me slightly because it was so much worse to think about. We thought that Auschwitz was big but it was nothing compared to Birkenau. For a start there was nothing left. 

A handful of building and miles of fencing was all you could see. Actually that isn't right, what was the scariest thing was the "forest of chimneys" all of which were once attached to a wooden bunker which housed Jewish people in tight, filthy conditions. 

Many of you will have seen the iconic image of the railway tracks running through the stone entrance and some of you may have thought how pretty something so horrible could be. I did at one point. I'm an A-Level art student and I have moments where I forget about what something is and just look at the artistic value of it. I am ashamed to admit I did this in Birkenau. However this showed me that we can go on these trips to such places, we can walk along the same path hundreds walked to their death and still we can think of trivial and human things like "I'm hungry" and "how that would make a good photo or final piece for my art" it's a shocking realization that no-matter what we do we cannot change who we are, and although I've learnt a lot from the trip and although I have a better understanding of what happened in the camps I will still always be Harriet Corey, the school girl who loves Disney and who can go home and live her life how she wants it to be. 

You may have noticed that through all of this I have not mentioned crying at any point, that is simply because I didn't cry, not until the end. 

Right at the back of Birkenau is a stone monument made up of little stones "why?" because it is Jewish tradition that when someone dies a rock is placed on their graves to show that someone has remembered and that the deceased will never be forgotten, each indervidual stone represents one of the million who died in the death camp. However on this monument are plaques in every language you could think of which translate to: 

"Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, 

where the Nazi's murdered about one and a half million

men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe.

Auschwitz-Birkenau 

1940 - 1945"

Our guide around the camps told us before taking us down the row of plagues all in different languages that the English translation was only put there so that we could remember and understand and that all of the other languages were spoken by people who died in the camps at the hands of the Nazi's and how English speaking people were not subjected to the gassing or hard labor in the camps. 

It was only when I stood before the plague that I felt something inside of me break and my eyes started to water. The whole time i'd spent in the camps I had started to understand, just a little, about how the millions must have felt and suddenly I realised I still had no idea, I'm English and I've always been proud of my heritage and it was only then that I realized we hadn't any idea what was happening and for a moment I felt like I shouldn't be there, stood on a stone monument dedicated to all the men, women and children. 

So I looked around at my friends, my teachers and my tour guide and I saw that I had as much right as anyone else, I don't want the holocaust to happen again, I cannot imagine anyone being bullied to the extreme like that. I cannot let it happen again and even if England wasn't subjected to the heartless cruelty we still have the right to be allowed to stand in the camps and feel sorrow for all the lives lost, related or not we are all connected and we are all part of this world and no man, woman or child should be victimized in that way. 

So readers you may ask, "what did you learn from the trip?"

My honest answer? more than I can possibly fit into words, I learnt about a time of suffering, I learnt the stories of people who lived and loved not long ago and who died because they weren't seen as "normal" by one person. More than anything I've been given a renewed sense of the value of life and I swear that I will live each of my days here on earth to the best I can and never let an opportunity pass me by, because you never know what will happen next.

Well readers there is so so much more that I could say, but for now I will leave you in peace for I have said all I can say for today but I learnt so many other things on my trip which I will surely share with you at one point or another!

Only one last thing remains for tonight and that is to say :

Thank you to everyone who went on the trip and both wonderful teachers who organised the trip. I have learnt so much and it wouldn't have been the same without any of you. 

Also blog readers a final little note, our tour guide said something which I feel I have to repeat:

"If we forget what happened to these people then each one of their spirits dies all over again" 

xox

HarrietCorey

p.s I'm copying both posts about the trip into a "page" as well as leaving them on the main blog, so that they will always be easily accessed because I really think it's important to remember.