10 Albums To Help You Through Revision/Assignments

It is that time of the year when thousands of University students, like myself, are revising for their exams or stressing out because of their assignment deadlines. This diagram below describes exactly how I feel at the moment.

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This month I have had three deadlines far too close together for my liking and the only thing that is getting me through the last week of writing assignment is the abundance of food and music. So, while I nibble on a coconut slice and a bag of Cool Doritos, here are a few albums getting me through until my deadline:

Beyonce: 4.
It's Beyonce, what more can I say. She brings out my inner diva and puts me in a much better mood. You will find me re-creating Beyonce dances instead of writing my assignments. Being Beyonce is a lot more fun.

Favourite track: Love on top.

Justin Timberlake: Justified
This was a hard one to choose. Not because I didn't want JT in my list but because I wanted to put all of his albums in. However, I have whittled it down to his Justified album, due to the fact that I know all the words to it and love a good sing-a-long.

Favourite track: Señorita.

Disney:
Listening to my Disney album takes me back to times where life was simple, easy and care free. I can sing the whole of 'A Whole New World' to you... or how about 'When You Wish upon A Star'. This album has all the classics in once place and no, I am not ashamed to listen to this in the library.

Favourite track: Part Of Your World

Calvin Harris: 18 Months
As Will Ferrell would say, this album 'Gets the people going'.

Favourite track: Feel So Close/ I Need Your Love

Bombay Bicycle Club: Flaws
When I need a more chilled out album, this is the one I reach for every time. The songs on here are beautiful and the backing vocals from Lucy Rose are yummy! My sister and I have got tickets to see these guys, FINALLY, after about 4 years of waiting to see them.

Favourite track: Jewel.

Arctic Monkeys: AM
I didn't think that I would like this album when it first came out. I wasn't the biggest fan of Humbug, but I've grown to love it. Alex Turner is a bit of a babe as well isn't he.

 Favourite track: Arabella/ Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High

The Great Gatsby Soundtrack:
Ever since seeing this film at the cinema I wanted the soundtrack. It is full of upbeat and powerful songs that just stimulate my brain and make me write as fast as a mother fudger. It is also fun to pretend that you are in the 20s when you are listening to it. In the 20s, with a laptop of course.

Favourite track: Love is Blindness- Jack White

Mumford and Sons: Babel
Working on an assignment jus wouldn't be the same without a bit of Mumford and Sons to carry you through. Marcus Mumford's voice is a comfort in these hard time, and everyone needs a bit of banjo to perk them up! I like to let loose to this song. Jump around a bit and get rid of some of my tension. This is not advisory for in the library however!

Favourite track: I Will Wait

Kodaline: In A Perfect World
Another wonderful, calming album that can make any stressed person feel slightly better about life. Listening to these songs is like butter, its so smooth and its easy listening for those moments where you actually need to concentrate.

Favourite track: High Hopes

Destiny's Child: #1's
If you ever want to bring a bit of sass to your work, I know where to direct you. Head on over to Destiny's Child. They have sass pouring out of their bones and every single song on this album is a killer. I feel so much more motivated once I have listened to this album. They remind me that "I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it.." (hahaha sorry, it was killing me not to put that in).

Favourite track: Survivor/ Bills, Bills, Bills

What songs get you guys through revision? I'm always looking for new music to listen to, hit me up!

It's Not Been A Great Week

Apart from the fact that I actually uploaded my first in the series of 'Midweek Reads', this week has been pretty dire, and here is why:

1. Deadlines.
I have 3 deadlines in the space of 3 weeks and my stress levels are about to go over-board. Two of them are group work (which is a whole other issue in itself) and one is an individual piece. On Wednesday we submitted one of the group work assignments, 20 minutes before the deadline. Cutting it close was not ideal. We would have been finished the day before if our tutor didn't keep changing his mind about what he wanted us to put in our assignments. Yes, that is right folks, 2 days before the deadline at 00:10am, he adds another part to our assignment that was once optional and he suddenly changed it to mandatory. What a poop-head.

2. The Weather.
Rain, Rain go away, come again ..... NEVER. Who would have thought that it would be raining everyday in January? I at least wanted some snow or something. Anyway the excessive rain has made far too many puddles that cover the roads, in order for cars to drive through them and soak you whilst you casually walk to university. Boo you lorries.

3. Builders.
The rain also completely wrecked our house, creating water damage. We called the estate agents, who called a contractor, who called his 'mates' to come and sort it out. So this week, every morning at 9am we have had builders drilling at our walls, hammering dry wall back onto the brickwork, making a hell of a lot of mess and scaring me when I open my curtains in the morning by standing on some scaffolding right outside my window. I hope they finish their job soon!

4. RIP iPhone.
Yesterday was an extremely dark day. I spent 5 hours in the library, doing more group work for an assignment thats due on Monday. Then I came home and was rather peckish. I decided to make pasta, and can I just say it was delish! However I then decided I wanted sweetcorn in my pasta and rummaged to find a can in my cupboard. In the way was a jam jar, a Roses Lemon and Lime Marmalade jar to be exact. So I took it out to see behind it, there was no sweetcorn, so I put the jar back. This is when the jar slipped, fell and smashed my iPhone screen. It is not only smashed but the screen has bled too. My phone still works though, Hallelujah. I just need to find someone who will fix the screen for a student budget.

After this rather drab week, I have compiled the things that have made me smile when I didn't want to smile...

1. Someone on Facebook posted this and I am glad they did. These guys from Ireland killed this song!

2. My housemate 'S' showed me this and we sat in tears, laughing at this for a good 10 minutes. I have showed other people and they don't get it. Maybe we were just delirious from work, but it made me smile none-the-less.

 

3. This week 'S' and I started Pole Dancing as a form of exercise. It is a lot harder than it looks but is so much fun at the same time. I do however have achey arms and bruises now. I can't wait for next weeks lesson!

What's made you happy this week?

Midweek Read: Forty Days of Dating

One of my goals for this year was to read more. That includes books, novels, poems, newspapers, magazines, blogs... you name it, ill read it.

So while I was putting off uni work reading I discovered this wonderful project, '40 Days of Dating'. I found this project through another blogger and I can't for the life of me remember who it was, so I am sorry for the lack of mention.

I enjoy reading things that make me think, things that question my beliefs and values. I enjoy reading about other peoples lives and experiences because people intrigue me. Either that, or I am just a nosey so-and-so who feels the need to read into other peoples lives for entertainment. I love a bit of romance, don't we all? But Forty Days of Dating isn't your stereotypical love story.

Forty Days of Dating was an experimental project created by New York designers Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman.  They posed the question: 'What do you do when you are tired of the prospect of dating?'. What do you do? Do you stick with it in hope that you will find something or give up completely?

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I spent a good couple of days reading through their 40 days of ups and downs, of their adventures and everyday lives. I did however, find that, while it was stimulating for the eyes, their story lacked something. Half way through the project I felt like hitting them both round the head with an extremely heavy book, especially Jessica. She started to over-analyse their relationship, which go rather frustrating. But damn it is interesting!

People have said how fake they think this project was. "They are artists, they were probably doing it as another art project." But is that not the point of art? To make you think, to help you see the things in your own life that you might not have seen before. To be creative and to understand the world a little better? To be completely confused, but to understand at the same time? If it was an art project then I liked it. It hooked me in, mainly with pictures and colourful illustrations that coincide with what had been written by Jessica and Tim. Anyway, they must have done something right, as Warner Bros. have won the rights to create their story into a film. Because nothing cannot, not be turned into a film these days.

"Do they get together in the end?" I hear you cry. Well... find out for yourself HERE. Also, if you know of any more projects like this, let me know, I have had a craving for more things like this ever since I stopped reading.

Arty Days, With No Essays

Today has consisted of many arty projects, and for students who do not do an art degree this was a challenging task! My housemate (lets call her 'S') and I were set the challenge by our group to take pictures for an editorial piece that we have to create for an Assignment. 

Our first task was to melt some crayons onto a canvas in order to get paint splashes that we could then take pictures of. Can I just say how hard it is to find canvases and crayons... Do the youth of today not colour in with crayons anymore? huh? Anyway, a tube of superglue later, my fingers were stuck together and we were ready to melt our crayons. I have to say it is one of the most fun things I have ever done. 

Next I had the task of carving an image of the world onto an apple. My group did not have faith in me that I would be able to do this. ALAS, I carved an image of the world onto an apple and if I don't say myself, it looked terrific. I traced it onto the apple using an image of the world and poking holes around the outlines of each country with a pin in order to have a guideline of where to take away the apple skin. I then hacked at it with a knife and TADAAAAH. This miracle happened.

I would like to thank our uni for letting us be so creative and have a fun afternoon, before we get back to writing essays and reports tomorrow. Oh the joys.

// As a side note, I think I am going to get my hair cut shorter. And with a centre parting... thoughts?