a perfect day of almost nothingness, + then some of the days previous to this day.

boxes packed.
boxes put into car.
dad approved of positioning of boxes.
squeezed the unicycle in on top of the boxes.

friday morning.

i wake up at around 9:16 am.
i'm going to london today.
i'm driving with mum, to london, today.
we have car sweets.
we play charades in the car.
mum thinks it's hard whilst driving.
she doesn't do badly.

i get to london. foggy london town. foggy.
i wait outside haggerston station for ollieccc.
i chat with a man on his way to a 'wacky & wild' themed party.
ollie approaches, late.
big hug from me, little from him.

tesco list :
booze.
king skins.
chewing gum.
a good time #winkface#thumbs#up

walk to flat.
swipe keys to get in (posh)
get in lift.
go up.
up.
up.
up.
up to fifth.
five 'ups' i did there.

in flat

"holy shit, you've got a cat, it's so fluffy. you didn't tell me you had a cat"
"yeah dais' i did, and she's called daisy"
"oh, yeah!"

roll.
beer.
talk.
roll.
beer.
beer.
"wine?" .. "no."
"food?" .. "fuck yeah i'm starvin'"

ollie complains about having no food in the house.

"Have you got food?"
"No, nothing."
"I always say to mum there's nothing to eat in the house and then there actually is... do you have pasta?"
"yeah.."
"Pesto?"
"umm, yeah."
"Pesto... Pasta? Pesto pasta?"

slab of butter on top and some pepper?

we eat it.
by gosh, it was bloody good.
still....hungry.

roll
beer
talk
talk
rock back on chairs on balcony.
drink drink drink

this may be in a stop/start list but it was a lovely night spent in lovely company and an incredible cat...

daisy the cat smoking a joint
funny on so many levels.

ended up falling asleep on the sofas ; me on one sofa with a massive quilt and daisy the cat, getting her fluffy cat fluff everywhere.
i woke up at 4am with fluffly cat fluff in my mouth.
spluttttter! "daisy, you're cute but fuck off."

"Why are we still awake?"
"dunno... joint?"
"yeah."

SATURDAY 22nd

The day has come..
The day I move back to Southend, and, like an adult, move into a big scary house with my girls.
Finally.
After some troubles with our letting agency (c**ts)! I was on my way to Southend with my headphones in listening to Patsy Cline.
So excited.

blah blah blah, boring stuff happens

I'm at the house, me and mum with all my stuff in the car..
All the girls are here.
IN THE HOUSE
Jane gets a hug.
Roisin gets one too.
There's one for Ellie.
And Mumma Luc' can have a hug.
hugs.all.round.

I threw all my boxes into my big, untouched room.

blah, blah, moments too precious to write and all that shit.

hug mum goodbye, #sad#face
she's a gem #sparkle

that's it.. we're moved in.
sort room!!
sort room!!
room looks shit!!

I unpacked the boxes I had stored at Phil's over the summer and felt a lump in my throat at the sight of some of it...
boxes of things I had in my room from last year in halls!
letters from people, receipts, train tickets, photographs, riddles, bottle caps, marmite jar, ball of string, my vintage clock, harmonica, skulls, a cup with 'I'm a cup' written on it.
Serious case of memory flashbacks.
Little tear. of. joy..

Think back on the amazing summer I have had.

My room slowly improved inbetween kitchen meetings with the girls and making tea intervals.
Bit stoned. But happy.

First night in our house, we sit around the kitchen counter exchanging summer stories, sex stories, and other things.

Second day we wake up, after sleeping in our beds for the very first time.
Best I've slept in months.

Went to Dj's,
hung with Dj,
Improvised with Dj,
Snuggled with Dj,

Third day...

MONDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!
!!!!
!!!
!!
'Babel' Mumford and Son's second album is released in shops today.

I shall now write a seperate blog in a desperate effort to try and describe this album..

And leave you with these photos to re-cap my last few days, hours, evenings, drivings, beach lunchings...

 

 

 

 

 

livin' with ma hoes

roisin

jane

lucy

ellie

 

l.i.f.e.i.s.g.o.o.d

l.i.f.e.g.e.t.s.b.e.t.t.e.r

 

'Meet at the big green star!'

 MARCH 2012

Ollie Campbell was asking around to see if anyone was going to Bestival or if they'd go with him, as his mates hadn't got around to buying their tickets...  and at the time, of course, I said I'd go or at least try to save for a ticket as I hadn't been before and was in desperate need of a festival this year.. 

Post Glastonbury blues still living with me a year on..

JUNE 2012

Told Ollie I wasn't going to be able to afford it. Gutted.

Thought nothing more of it until last Monday night when I recieved a text from Tash (Yes, the Tash I mentioned in the last blog.. The one I met in Edinburger.. That Tash) saying she might have a spare Bestival ticket going, and that if she did, would I want to go.. WHAT!? Uhmm, YES!

What I forgot to mention about Tash was that her brother is the drummer in Friendly Fires.. hence the possible spare ticket.

Thanks to CVenues only paying me 11p an hour, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to afford it... but started looking at cheapest ways of travel nevertheless. £169 TRAIN!? NO!? £70 Ferry!? No!? £80 COACH!?

I was beginning to think there was no way of me being able to afford it... HATE BEING A STUDENT..

The festival started on 6th (we'd be going on 7th)... it was the 4th and we were still unsure whether I'd have a ticket... anticipation.

By this point I had already got my hopes up by scanning through the line-up and planning who to see..

5th JUNE 11pm

I get.... THE PHONE CALL.

Tash says I can have a ticket.

I squeal with excitement.

My mum looks pleased for me.

Tash gets to see me again, which she of course is delighted about.

6th JUNE

One day to :

Book tickets

Pack

Sleep through excitment

7th JUNE!!!!

It's 8:30am.. I'm at the train station..

I'm wearing an aztec print backpack.

I'm holding a sleeping bag, wellies, cider.

I am ready... for BESTIVAL.

I get to Southampton, Tash and her sister pick me up and we get on the ferry to THE ISLE OF WIGHT, after buying some more alcohol of course.

With a boot packed to overflowing with sleeping bags, a tent and a box of wine we were well and truly in the right spirit for three days of fun..

MEANWHILE SOMEWHERE IN A FIELD OR TENT

Ollie is already at Bestival with a group of his mates... waiting for my arrival..

Here's what was so sweet about the whole deal..

Not only did I get a free ticket.. it was an Artist Guest ticket, which meant we got to set up camp (after two hours of looking for where we were camping) in the Artist Camping.. away from all the scummy other tents, away from the constant tripping over guy ropes, away from the constant noise.

We were in a quiet field, just behind main stage, with a 'chill tent' with plug sockets and free sweets and cushions.. and plenty of room to set up without being directly on top of another tent. Perfec'

It was boiling hot and I was on my first Carlsberg to get me on my way..

Walked for ages with all our stuff, asking dumbass stewards where the hell we were camping.

Finally found it.

Set up tent... somehow..

Our wrists were now four wristbands heavier...

FOUR!? 

Like I said, dumbass stewards.. not knowing where to send us and also giving us the wrong wristbands.

One of them had to be the right one.

Tent done.

Wine time...

Box of wine time..

warm..

Warm box of wine time.. 

Rumour had it that the number of people attending this year was 50,000!!
How was I going to find Ollie?
"Meet at the big green star.!"

 And there it is... The big green star, which ended up being the official meeting point if we ever lost each other..

After sending several texts back and forth with Ollie along the lines of :

"Where are you?"

"I'm at green star!? Where are you Daisy?"

"Where is the green star?"

"Behind Bestival sign."

"I'm here!!"

 

After all that cufuffle... we finally saw each other!

Big hug.

Time to get fucked.

 

Friday night = BLUR.

 

 

 

Woke up on saturday morning in Ollie's tent with my head on his mate's arse.. still wearing my wellies... freezing cold... dry mouth... headache....

THOUGT TO SELF : "still drunk, must somehow find own tent, so cold. What happened last night?"

 

The weekend continued...

 

Saturday .. chilled.

plenty of smoke, plenty of drink.. bumped into some loverly peeeeeples.

 

LIST OF WHO I SAW! (epic)

 

Stevie Wonder

Florence

New Order

Sigur Ros

The xx

Friendly Fires

Two Door Cinema Club

Miike Snow

Ben Howard

Michael Kiwanuka

Kate Nash

Rizzle Kicks

King Charles

Little Dragon

The Cuban Brothers

Subtract

Gabrielle Aplin

 

Sunday was incredible.

Saw Stevie W..

Then saw Tash' brother do a dj set at WAGAMAMASAASASASAS... sick.

Headed up to Big Top to watch Friendly Fires after consuming a bottle of gin..

 

me and T gettin' our dance skills out at wagaz///..



So the plan for Monday was to wait till 1am (tuesday) to get our ferry...
so we spent the day wasting time, feeling shit, in the isle of wight..
This included :
Spending over £10 on shit food at Morrisons
Spending over 40 minutes finding a cafe to charge our phones
Going to the cinema to watch Ted and sneaking into another screen to watch Anna Karinina (or something.. whatever, free film)
Sleep in car for two hours

Then the plan was to go to Tash' flat in Southampton after getting off the ferry at 2am...
All was going well...
until...
we got to her flat, got inside and discovered the landlord had changed the lock to her door..
so we ended up sleeping on the landing
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
we kind of had to laugh... right.

Tash and Fran setting up 'the nest' in the landing, while I slept in the corridor with Henry The Hoover staring at me.. creepy.

Bestival was insane.
Same thing next year!

 

'as if the festival never happened...' BUBBLE BURST

I'm one of those awkward airport people, the ones who wander aimlessly around, alone, with their over sized, over packed, bursting at the seams suitcase. The ones who turn up at the airport far too early (12 hours too early in this case) and so, spend their time jumping from one cafe/restaurant/seating area to the next to avoid looking lonely and too early.. Yes, I know I'm too early. I'm the girl at the airport who sits on her phone and makes the face of someone who's receiving a text that reads 'see you at the airport soon.' you know, so I look like I'm meeting someone or someone's coming to see me off. But today I'm not meeting someone, and no one is coming to see me off. Sad face. I'm the awkward girl at the airport whose suitcase opens up unexpectedly and spits out a pair of pants and neon green shades (not shades I personally bought, oh no, shades kept simply for comedy value after finding them on a drunken night out. They're vile) I've got odd socks on, pulled up above my ankles, above the top of my Docs. My tights are ripped. My hair is half up, half down with a big pink rose sticking out of the messy top knot. My skin is weary from lack of sleep and too much drink. My cheap jewellery is turning my fingers green. And I'm wearing a Topman hoody I found on the street a week ago. I'm a real sight. I've got furry teeth and chewing gum is not putting the hard work in to make them clean. I've got a tea stain on my skirt. And as I sit at this table, amongst three business men, I'm struggling to decide how to sit. Cross legged? Cool looking? Elbows on table? My glasses keep slipping down my nose and as I push them back up with my index finger, my nose crinkles. I'm also hungry, despite the intake of food today : 

• two waffles

• potato smiley faces

• sushi

• duck wrap

• chocolate bar

• wham bar

• pizza express pesto pizza

• chocolate fudge ice cream sundae

          AND a caramel Freddo

Fucking glasses! Stay up! 

So at 6:10am I will be checking in at Edinburgh airport, with fingers crossed that my suitcase doesn't weigh too much over the weight limit. At 7:10am I will wave goodbye to Edinburgh and fly out of this bubble I've been in for six weeks and into reality. 

The Fringe has been.... Insane. 

On the 21st July I flew up here with expectations of hard work and free theatre. I now sit at the airport, 31st August, wandering what just happened for 42 days of my life! My expectations were well and truly crushed. Hard work is an understatement. Free theatre was an accurate expectation but little did I know on the 21st just how much free theatre I would be attending. A total of.... When I last checked, 50 shows!! Some horrendous... Some good.... Some very good... And a couple OUTSTANDING!! 

21st July I arrive in Edinburgh with good skin, healthy liver, clean socks, un-ripped tights and energy. I'm greeted on the first day with blazing sunshine and a very friendly taxi driver who said "aye, you're working at the Fringe. You're gunna need a lot of coffee and cigarettes" I smiled and laughed this comment off, thinking "I always need coffee and cigarettes, this won't be any different." HE WAS RIGHT. I WAS WRONG.

I was nervous/excited and wide-eyed when he dropped me off at 'CMain, Adams House' - the main venue of Cvenues. Keys collected and introductions of myself to some other suitcase holders hanging around looking just as anxious. Introductions done and the typical questions asked and answered.. 

"Where are you from? And what are you studying? Oh cool. How old?" Back and forth until you reach that point where you realise you've had the same small talk with about 20 different people and you only remember one of their names by the end of it. I ended up at the pub with about 15 of these people I had asked questions and forgotten the answers, but that was fine because I was sure at the time they had forgotten my name too. We had an hour to kill before having to have a meeting so we went to a pub called The Tron. Had my first Scottish pint, paid with Scottish wonga. Felt... like a tourist. Before going to the pub... I had managed to remember one lass' name... Tash. Don't know why, perhaps it was the shocking short red hair or excessive amount of piercings in her right ear.. I just remembered her name and so walked by her side to the pub. Not knowing then that I'd be spending every waking minute with her for the whole 6 weeks.

After pub and meeting, everyone went to their flats and began to pre-drink before stumbling to a place called The Hive, or as I would put it, 'The shit hole that smells like sweat and cheap sex'. 

Needless to say after 5 months of not drinking, I was trashed rather quicky... in a bad way... 

Moving on..

This half of the blog is written from home.. after spending the night at the airport.

I am now in Plymouth, safe and sound and tired as hell.

Blog continues...

Originally I was meant to be a 'FOBO', as was Tash : That's 'front of house and box office' ... But when we were told there were spaces left to be a Space Technician I jumped at the chance, having never used a lighting or sound desk in my life, I was super eager to do a job I'd actually learn something from... Instead of six weeks of ushering and ripping tickets.  
I managed to also convince Tash to be a space tech instead of a fobo!
We ended up being based at the same venue for the entire festival with each other and shared a studio! It must've been fate #wink-face#ha.
I also forced her to move into our flat after about a week of being in Edinburger.

Here's Tash during the 'get in' at ECA, working really hard.

This particular photo was taken just after we were asked to measure a bit of wood (a pretty simple task you might think? not for a natural blond and a girl who spends 18 hours of the day with a tube of foundation and a mirror in her hands) H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S..

Day shifts consisted of pretty hard work, but nothing to soul destroying, the odd paint job here and rigging a light if necessary. Night shifts however were a fucking joke : endless amounts of taping chairs, cables, painting steps with gold paint that cost £170!!!! and a complete unsure mind of when we would actually be allowed to go home... 3am? 4am perhaps. here's a pic of Maria, Aliki and myself on day shift... notice my Docs painted with the expensive paint... yeah, fuck you Cvenues. I'm taking back for all the hard work I put in.

 

Worst part of the Fringe : The get in. Even though we had the best team at ECA.

When the festival actually started it was absolutely incredible.

Time went so quickly, as did money. 

Me and Tash were lucky enough to have a company called Applespiel bring a show up to Cvenues in our studio .. Studio C. They were all the way from Sydney and ended up being our faves EVER!!!

Here they are with us on their last day!
They had a massive goodbye breakfast with us and gave us t-shirts and a bottle of wine.

There's much more I could write about the 6 weeks, but it would take me forever, so I'm just going to narrow it down to highlights...

Fire!!

HIGHLIGHTS OF MY EDINBURGER FRINGE FESTIVAL 2012

* Mine and Tash' experiment.. forcing her to be late to work one morning when we couldn't stop laughing
* Having Applespiel in our studio
* Eating shit food every day
* Meeting so many incredible people
* Having a nice flat (not the fucking mattress on the floor.)
* Seeing over 50 shows FOR FREE
* Going out
* When Roisin came to visit
* Pizza hut
* Lynn
* The fact Lucy Bishop was also up in Edinburger... she just can't keep away from me
* The beautiful weather we had for pretty much the whole festival
* Learning how to use a lighting desk and sound bored
* How easy my job was when the Get In was over
* Sleeping in the sun
* Being at the nicest venue
* How busy it got EVERYWHERE
* The vintage market on the GrassMarket
* Free Soda water at C bars
* The crepes

 THE ECA TEAM BELOW. CHARLOTTE, BEX and ME ABOVE.

 The 'Get-out'

 Me, Simon from Applespiel and RHYS DARBY!

Me and Maria on the last nigt, staff party. Don't remember a thing so it must have been good.

Quotes/sayings

SWEDGER
SAINSBS?
PIZZA?
Look mother, a funny shaped cloud.
Fucking 18p noodles
You can do it
Go ROUNDABOUT PEER
I am a werewolf at night
Rock & Roll
That was vile.....ent
No Phil
Bottle of wine in Bonnie's?
I'm too drunk... No I am, I'm going home.
I want cheesy chips.
I'm getting cheesy chips.
I got cheesy chips.


Not sure how I survived the 6 weeks.
Will be back at the festival next year, but this time I'll be in a show, not taping chairs for the audience of someone else' show.
DETERMINED!

Bit of a poorly written blog, but I'm terribly tired and I really can't sum the last 6 wees up in written form.
It's been..emotional.
draining.
rewarding.
frustrating.
confusing.
incredibubble.

Literally feels so weird to be home now... as if the festival never happened.

BUBBLE BURST
BACK IN THE REAL WORLD

Want another holiday now.
Paris Tash?


Peace out mother bloggers.