even artichokes have hearts

Hello again...I seem to actually be posting quite often now (compared to my old once-a-month habits) which is kind of crazy considering the amount of work I currently am supposed to be doing.I'm in my final year of compulsory schooling and so have to take a set of exams called GCSEs, that will basically determine what courses I can do at college, and therefore what I do at university. It's pretty full on, and I'm currently preparing for my mock exams in November which will give me my predicted grades, which are used for applying to colleges. I guess I'm lucky as I'm not one of those people that gets phased by exams - if anything, I'm worryingly relaxed about the whole thing. But it's still pretty scary to be actually doing them...I miss the old days when nothing really mattered and school was just a way to pass the time, instead of a ticket to your future career.

I think the worst thing at the moment is the way the government have decided to essentially make it impossible for us to get good grades, just so that they can in turn make the exams easier next year, get great results, and claim that they 'saved the education system', even though it was them that caused it to need saving in the first place. I'm not hugely into politics, but it seems a little unfair to use exams that determine our futures purely as a statistic to make your party's campaign look good at election time.

 

Anyway, on a slightly less whiney note, I met up with a few fab girls on Saturday evening to plan out some exciting things that we're going to try and do over the next few months. I can't really say exactly what we're going to be doing, but I can say that our plans are sounding incredibly awesome and you guys should watch this space (you'll be the first to know when we begin). We had a lovely time being all sophisticated and creative, and finished the night off with some delicious pizza, which as you probably know, is the best way to end a Saturday night. I wore my Levi shorts from Rokit and white belt from Beyond Retro, combined with this super 70's gem of a shirt that I picked up for £9 from Absolute Vintage in brick lane. It's so silky, and colour-wise matched the Beatles badge that I used to hold the collar in place.

I also watched the film Amelie on Friday, and was so taken with it's whimsical simplicity that I absolutely have to share it with you all. It is a romantic comedy directed by Jean-Pierre Juenet, about the life of the young woman Amelie Poulain. It follows the ups and downs of her struggles to find happiness for herself, whilst also bringing it to everyone that she meets along the way. Not only is the plot so quaint and cheerful, whilst still upholding a gritty, dark undertone, but the cinematography is absolutely to die for. Each frame is drenched in soft, yellowy vignettes, with not a second wasted on pointless scenes or unnecessary characters. Everything has been thought out and planned, producing a complete masterpiece of a film.

 

At one point in the movie, Amelie finds the photo album of another whimsical soul, who happens to be a collector of old photo booth pictures. The book is filled with torn and tattered scraps of the images that people had decided weren't good enough, and so had ripped up and discarded on the floor by the booth. I love the concept of this...the idea that he reconstructed these broken images could be interpreted in so many different ways, and has made me want to experiment with similar things in art.

 

 

I am particularly understanding of the protagonist's plight at the point where she imagines seeing her death related on the news channel, in the same fashion as Lady Diana's. It is at parts like these, with Amelie clutching a packet of biscuits and sobbing into a cushion, that the film really hits home and becomes a relatable message instead of just a piece of art. Her character is so understated and simple, and it is because of this that the story's moral is so clearly communicated through the screen.

It's such a lovely movie...the costumes and characters alone are a work of art, and combined with the fantastic, quirky storyline, it's definitely made it's way onto my top ten list (possibly even top three). I hope you are all having a good week, I should be back as soon as possible with some better photographs.

ellie xo