stephsby

I just watched Estée Lalonde's '5 Things I Want to Make More Time For' video. Mine? Reading, running, cooking, music, and, you've guessed it, blogging. I'm in danger of becoming that person that starts every blog post with 'sorry I haven't written anything lately lol'. We mustn't let this happen. I'll nauseate myself.

I need to come up with a proper name and format for these update-y posts. Suggestions welcome.

(Update: "Wordvomit + date?")

ISLA

If you follow me on Twitter or Tumblr, this probably won't come as any news to you. Kinda in a band, now? To be completely honest, I can't really tell you how this came about. Matt obviously always has a million and one music ideas boiling away in his brain at once, and spent a lot of this summer writing for what would eventually become 'isla'. I think he made a joke about me playing bass for this new band, and then without every formally asking me (or without me ever formally agreeing), it just sort of happened.

It's been a lot of fun so far, though. We rehearsed a couple of rooms over from The Wytches last Saturday, which (wytch? haaaaaa) was pretty cool. Things are looking good so far. Lots of music to release and gigs to play - if you're in Brighton, we'll be debuting at the iSessions (Tempest Inn), this Monday, followed by an acoustic set for Folklore the next day. I'll leave a bunch of links at the end of this post.

Over the summer, Matt and I went a bit mad with buying gig tickets. Probably a less-than-sensible money decision at the time, but well worth it once September finally rolled around. Since the start of Autumn, we've just seen Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Marika Hackman so far (we actually bought tickets for MH whilst waiting for UMO to come on stage). Tomorrow it's Kurt Vile, and then the Maccabees, Flyte, The Wytches, and then a little break before Tame Impala in February.

It's really great to have someone to go to all of these things with, especially while a lot of my friends are quite distant. Beautiful Clara flew back to Singapore a month ago, and everyone else just has a lot going on - including me. I guess we'll see. Sometimes people surprise you.

Can we just appreciate that the existence of e-submissions allowed me to finish writing and hand in my essay a mere EIGHT MINUTES before it was due? Because yes, that happened. Every time I think I have scared my brain into starting the next essay earlier, I surprise myself by being laughably wrong. I have two monsters due on the 5th of January though, so I don't know how late I could possibly leave that before I ruin my chances of getting them both in on time. On the bright side, I am 5000x more motivated to write things now that I have a shiny new Macbook. Yes, I utilised Matt's friends-and-family Apple discount to its full capacity.

Also, the English student 'MY DEGREE IS READING BUT I NEVER READ?!?!" dilemma/crisis is prevalent as ever. I'm dreaming of Christmas break, and the ever growing 'to-read' pile that sits on my bedside table.

Did I ever mention being president of my university's Ukulele Society. Yes, it's as dorky as it sounds, and yes, I blame charlieissocoollike. If you'd have told my sixteen year-old self that at some point, she would be not only leading, but teaching a ukulele group for two hours (at least) every week, there would have been a whole lot of LOL NOPE going on. It's the weirdest thing.

The society has changed so much over the last few years, and I owe it quite a bit, but it's strangely one of the things that I'm proudest of. I'm beyond relived that (so far, touch wood) I've managed to keep it afloat. It's obviously another thing to juggle, and another responsibility that lingers in the pit of my stomach, but I think I'll continue to love it, despite how difficult it can get. It's a room full of new faces since the familiar ones drifted away or lost interest. Sometimes that's exciting, sometimes it's incredibly disheartening, but I'm trying - and will continue to try - my best.

This isn't an apology for writing so few posts over the last few months. This isn't even an explanation.

I've set up a good dozen or so blogs over the past six or seven years, each with the intention that it will be the 'one'. Then come the obligatory three posts (at the start, when motivation is at its highest), and months of inactivity before I hang my head in shame and reach for that 'delete site' button.

The problem for me, I think, was always feeling trapped in a 'type' of blog. I'd let myself be convinced that you were supposed to find your niche, and stick to it. If you wanted to write about films, you wrote about films and nothing else. That never really worked for me. When I made this site active again, earlier this year, I decided to allow myself the freedom to write about whatever I wanted. I want to share playlists and monthly favourites, little life updates and snippets from my brain. I don't want to have to be a 'beauty blogger' to write a post about my favourite Autumn lipsticks.

The plan for this blog, then, is that there is no plan. I want to write more, and I want to start engaging with blogging communities. But I don't want to ever feel pressured into making one type of post.

♥

"ISLA" BAND LINKS:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ohisla/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ohisla
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohisla/

FREE DOWNLOAD @ https://ohisla.bandcamp.com/releases