SpeechMotion

I was travelling around yesterday and had a couple hours to kill so sat at The Horse and Groom faffing on the internet until the night begun. I tried to write a blog in that time, but Blogger was playing up and wouldn't let me sign in or see any 'post new' type buttons. I even took a photo of me sat in the pub reading to use any everything and even though I am now at home sat on my bed I'm going to share it with you anyway...

Uploading that, I realise why Blogger was playing up... They've updated bits (like the image uploader). For this I shall forgive them.

At last night's SpeechMotion we had a variety of stuff as always. Thanks to the volcano our feature performer was stuck in Turkey or something so we had to find a short notice replacement. Luckily MC Angel stepped in =]

She performed a bunch of new stuff and ended with a freestyle which was incredible. The audience threw a bunch of words at her and she just went for it. Also, I've mentioned it before but I'll say it again, she runs a night in East London called Lyrically Challenged which you all need to check out. There are updates on it via her Facebook, so go have a look see.

Charlie Dupré came down and did a bit of open mic. He performed Not Thinking, which can be found on his Myspace. He will be a programmed guest next month and was just checking the night out. Having  two MCs in the same night made me happy, I do enjoy when rappers do poetry!

Also got a YouTube friend turn up! Peter, also known as Nordicsky on YT turned up to show his support and got so into the night even read a couple of poems for us in the open mic!

I read three new poems never before performed, which went down well. I'll video at least one of them soon and post them up. I didn't memorise them this time as I didn't want to waste valuable memory space on poetry when it should be storing philosophy at the moment.

It was fantastic and you should all go check out msft on Facebook for future stuff or you can hit up the website

Before I sign off on this one I'd like to say that the random girl I met on the tube all that time ago - the one who was coughing and I gave water too - turned up last night with a mate. How funny is that? She actually turned up!

On that note, don't forget to join the Underground Challenge group! It's growing; slowly.

Truth and Identity

Not to get your hopes up or anything, this post wont be nearly as deep and thoughtful as the title may lead you to believe. That's what I've been revising today for my logic and metaphysics exam... but I got bored so decided to bleach my teeth and write a blog post instead =]

Instead of discussing what I've been reading with you on the likes of Stanford Encyclopaedia and stuff, I'll tell you about my weekend! Haha, ok maybe that isn't nearly as interesting; maybe it's more so. Who knows?

On Friday I got a new tattoo!

Me and my girlfriend planned to get tattoos together, me the 'drink me' bottle from Alice in Wonderland and her an 'eat me' cake. It didn't quite work out as planned thanks to Boots refusing to sell me numbing cream, which apparently is on prescription only or something silly so I just got mine done and K's going to wait until we can get some of the cream from online instead.

It's on my outer right thigh and is lush.

We like Alice in Wonderland =] Though I realise that now that the new movie has come out it's going to seem as though we're just bumming Johnny Depp or something but never mind. I know I've loved the book since I was tiny so I don't care much for what anyone else thinks.

On Saturday me and K went to Cotswold wildlife park, 'cause I said I'd never been to one before. We went with her parents and it was definitely an amazing day! I learnt that penguins are absolutely fantastic and bats are fucking cool. Apart from me ignoring the fact that I get motion sick and getting on the little train which took us around a section of the park, thus leading to me feeling sick beyond even throwing up, I had mass amounts of fun!

My best mate asked me to photograph a giraffe for her, but they didn't have any. I did however find a massive JCB, which I took a photo of instead knowing she'd appreciate it. As it turns out the JCB was there to make the new giraffe bit! How funny is that? I'll have to go back when it's finished to take a photo of the new giraffes.

Here's the picture for anyone who cares >>

Now I guess I should get back to revising all this philosophy stuff. Just over a month left then that's it, I'm a grown up! Well, kinda. It's a scary time, but I seem to be ignoring it fairly well...

I'll leave you with some pictures:

The Underground Challenge: Part 3

Hey hey!

So I've made the group on Facebook. Everyone join up!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111209162246211

Invite everyone along!

It would be amazing if we could get as many people involved as possible!

Real blog post up soon =]

The Underground Challenge: Part 2

I started writing about my evenings of essays; tedious battles with Marx, Aristotle, Plato and Socrates whilst putting off sleep to maximise productivity. But I figured me winging about university isn't all that interesting to anybody. The only reason I felt like sharing was because I was proud of myself for staying focused and stuff.

So, let's move on...

My last blog post (the one about the girl on the underground) sparked conversation with a bunch of different friends. One friend was made irate by a rude woman on the tube, which led to her suggesting I cover the underground with posters that teach Londoners how to be polite. This actually sounds like a promising project. I'll work out the logistics and document it if I decide to do it. It could be a pretty cool art project, maybe even convince a few moody London types to perk up a bit.

Oh gosh!

I think my sister actually did this when she was at art school! She made that glue-paste gunk, as in the kind you use to paper mache things (you know, like when you'd blow up a balloon and paper mache the outside before popping the balloon and hollowing it out, remember? Then you'd paint it or something and feel all arty 'cause you were making a mess...) and used it to paste A4 pieces of paper with things like "smile"printed on them all over the place. I think she may well have got in trouble for fly posting! However, this was years ago, so my memories might be wobbly...Confirmation is in order. Also, I'm pretty sure she carried a video camera around with her to film commuters reactions to her holding up signs. If this really happened and I'm not just making up memories, I think that's a little bit amazing.

I will ask her.

Another suggestion following that blog came from the lovely girlfriend who decided we should create a Facebook event, where just for the day, Londoners talk to each other on public transport instead of sitting in the usual silence. Try and convince people to just be nice to each other; it's only for a day! So this is something I will get onto organising too. Make sure you play along! This is part of my underground challenge! We're going to choose a day in the summer so people have notice to hopefully spread the word! I'll give you lot the link to the Facebook event as soon as we've sorted it; be sure to participate! And to invite all your friends. And tell them to do the same!

Maybe the person you decide to help out or just to talk to will be your next best friend... maybe even turn out to be your one true love! And ok, maybe those are far fetched possibilities but fairytales are always far fetched and they always turn out alright... Well, by 'alright' I mean the flowered up fairytales that were twisted by the likes of Disney and such are always spun to have one of those unrealistic happy endings we all pretend we're after but are terrified of finding. We're all terrified of making contact with anyone, in case they think we're weird or creepy or something. We can't allow anyone to know we love them more than they love us, so we close ourselves off. We try and stay as far away from other human beings as possible, but during certain times of the day riding public transport means you're going to touch people. And not just the occasional brush past someone, but leaning, pushing and grabbing are all going on all over your personal space. This makes us uncomfortable, so we ignore it's happening and in ignoring the closeness of the people surrounding you as you all cram into a metal tin, silence falls over you. Because it would be too weird if that guy pushed up against you started talking, or if that woman that just fell into your boobs then asked you about your day.

But sometimes, I think you just have to take a leap. If you spend all your time avoiding making contact out of fear, you'll miss a lot of amazing people. And ok, it's not like the tube is an optimum friend making situation and you might be a whole lot better at it out and about or something, but if you live your whole life in your comfort zone is that a bit of a waste?

So prepare yourselves for TalkToAStrangerDay (that can just be what I'm calling it for now) and let me know about your adventures! I'd love to know how you all get on.

The Underground Challenge

Londoners rarely talk to each other (unless they're drunk or something), we're normally storming through crowds or sitting in silence on public transport. Whenever friends of mine from out of London come to visit they find the tube seriously bizarre. All these people, sat in a room together in complete silence for anything up to about 2 hours or so depending on how far you have to go.

The other day my best friend wrote a blog about imagining the lives of people he could see on public transport; whisking them off to fantasy destinations and building up entire stories they might just fall in to. Well, yesterday I went a step further and actually spoke to someone. Found out a bit of their story. Made contact.

I was sat in the corner, writing a poem in my note book (as you do) and the girl opposite me started coughing. It looked like she was in pain so I offered her my bottle of water. I hadn't touched it yet and she could clearly use it more than me, so instinctually pulled it out of my bag and handed it over. She seemed so grateful, like a ridiculous amount of grateful for an 80p bottle of water. Isn't that sad? We're conditioned to think the world is a pile of wank and people are all horrible, so if we ever come across random acts of kindness it throws us off. I didn't even do anything, but she was surprised anyone would step outside their own protective bubble to notice her. And she was thankful.

TubeGirl seemed to have friendly eyes (you know when you can tell if a person is going to be alright or if they're going to be a dick?) and I had just stuck a couple flyers for SpeechMotion into the poster holders over head so figured I'd offer her one and ask if she likes poetry. 

Turns out I found a poet. Who's the same age as me and the same star sign, how weird is that? I handed over my notebook and she read the poem I had just written. It was my first attempt at a love poem. Being a love poem and me being me, I doubt it'll ever hit the interwebs but I've given it to the girlfriend. If she can inspire a love poem, I think she deserves a copy. 

Before TubeGirl got off the train at Turnpike Lane, I gave her my Facebook name and a link to my YouTube account. Check me out, with the self promoting and stuff.

And guess what... When I got home she had actually added me. And had been watching my YouTube videos. Which I am definitely slacking on at the moment, but the last leg of uni combined with a girlfriend means I get less play time and haven't quite worked out time management yet. I have loads of new poems though, just need to do something with them. For my birthday, one of my friends bought me a lush notebook, which I think seems to be encouraging me to write far more than the PukkaPad I was carrying around before. Strangely. 

So, the challenge part of this blog for the lot of you is to talk to a stranger. Or help someone out randomly. See if you make a new friend. You never know who you may find. People are too detached from one another, from themselves. Especially living in the city. Sometimes it's like we don't even exist in a big city like London. Surrounded by people, but no one can see you, because no one is looking.




UPDATE: There's a FB Group for the challenge

Stolen Minutes

      (This is my study face)

I am down to my last week before I reach my presubmission deadline. 9 essays due in on Monday 12th (it's currently Tues 6th for anyone wondering and too lazy to look). This is pretty scary, but I definitely feel as though it's an actual possibility. I came into uni this morning to have a one on one with the dyslexia tutor man, who helped me come up with an action plan and split my time up. I felt really anxious and sick when I realised how much time I had left last night, but I'm feeling ok today. Let's hope it lasts long enough (at least the week, come on!) for me to get all this work done...

Now, I've not written a blog for a while and since my last entry quite a bit has happened that I want to talk about with you. All these things deserve a decent amount of attention, but this is me taking a short break from studying so I wont stick around for long enough to talk about it all - and besides, you wouldn't want to troll through a massive long post all in one go now, would you?

Didn't think so.

So I'm going to give you a quick, what's what, and maybe next time I'm taking a break from philosophy I'll go into things a bit more.

Do you remember me talking about my friend that died on New Years Day? Well, when the car hit her it hit 4 other people too. Carrie died then and there, and I really hope she didn't notice, but who knows. Two of the others were left in comas, one was injured and the other got lucky I guess. Last week, Chelsea, who has been in a coma since the accident and been through the operations we thought would save her, died. About a week after her 20th birthday. I probably said this before, but 20 year olds are not meant to die. I want to say something meaningful, but I'm lost for words. Losing two friends in the space of three months is horrible. But look at me, feeling sorry for myself. 'Cause isn't that all grieving is, feeling sorry for yourself for having to deal with this loss? I'm not really sure what I believe when it comes to what happens next and all that, but I'm pretty sure it's not a lot. I don't believe in things like the soul, we're just a collection of cells and stuff buzzing around, making things happen. So I imagine when I die and my consciousness ends, that'll be it; for my consciousness. But my body? My body is part of this universe, it's part of existence. And it will continue to be part of everything forever. It might not look like me for very long, but it'll change form and move on. I think we're tied in with the universe; with nature I suppose. Maybe I need to look into Buddhism or something when I get a chance, 'cause I know they say something about cosmic energy... or something.

It seems we are surrounded by death all the time; yeah it's depressing to lose people you're close to and it's scary to come face to face with your own motality but I think there's something in this for us to walk away from. A lot of the time, we live as though we have forever. We put things off all the time and save for dreams we're never going to reach. Or worse, we saves for standard grown up things like a house and a car and don't even attempt those dreams your childhood self wanted nothing more than to achieve.

I think we all need to stop trying to be what we think we are meant to be, and just be. Do those things you want to do. See those people you want to see. I dare you to be happy. 'Cause in this Capitalist society of ours, happiness is definitely not on the agenda; it's a waste of time. But relax, 'cause we're not in a race.

Now, I've had my break so I'm hitting the books again. Wish me luck...

___

I just spoke to a friend of mine about this blog post and she just made a really good point. It's important that when you lose someone, who was really important to you, you don't allow their life to have been in vain. Take something positive from everyone around you, 'cause you can learn something all the time. Let these people affect your life and your out look and try to always be your best and try to always find happiness, 'cause we need each other sometimes. I'm not sure that's exactly what she was getting at and I'm not sure I've really said what I wanted to say, but it made me think.

... I think I sound like a nut job.