Writing an Essay

Writing an essay shouldn't be a chore. They always are, but they shouldn't be. They are an opportunity to craft words in order to express an opinion sharply and concisely. They can be compared to dining at a fabulous restaurant.
First is the planning phase. The restaurant needs to be chosen, the day set aside and people invited. It then needs to be booked. Like research.
On arrival at the restaurant, an apertif is the norm. This is comparable to the plan. It relaxes you, gives you chance to look at the menu and generally think about food. The plan gives guidance, explores your ideas and implements order.
Once food has been ordered, the first course comes; each course of food should have very different tastes, but not so different that they don't compliment one, and should be enjoyed thoroughly. A good wine binds it all together. This is like writing each paragraph. Delicious to write, exciting and different. With all the crumbs swept up because it's just that good. But bound together by a solid idea.
There. Essays are just like good food.

"Name the Nicest Thing Someone has Ever Said About You"

I found this question on an online quiz (procrastination is really taking its grip).
I tried answering it and found that I couldn't. Not because nobody has ever said anything nice, they have! I just can't think of any examples.
So why then can I call to mind at least three un-nice things that people have said about me? I don't really dwell on either, so is it  a confidence thing or a self improvement thing? Or are they one an the same??? Way back when cave men trotted around the country side, those who could run fast, kill well and were presumably attractive were the ones who bred. We can imagine that those who weren't naturally pre-dispositioned to be this way trained hard, learnt to use arrows and clubs and...had the equivalent of cave man botox. Whatever that may have been. They were bad at something so improved. Children do the same at schools all over the world. They don't do well in a spelling test so they (are supposed to) try harder for the nest. Is this not what negative comments constitute to? A way to make ourselves more appealing to a wider variety of people, because let's face it, the smelly, fat slob sat in the corner reading 'Take A Break' probably isn't going to be an employer's first choice. And sadly, that is generally what life has come to; the office has become the new hunting ground and where success was once measured on physical ability it now has more to do with the ability to climb and network company ladders.
If you say anything nice to me, anything at all, I will try to remember it. It just seems like evolution doesn't deem it a satisfactory use of mind space. Either that or I should re-assess this question when I have fewer exams, I'm less stressed and generally in a happy frame of mind.

My Good Friend Nigella

It's said that the kitchen is the heart of the home, and although my kitchen currently looks more like a post apocalyptic refuge, this sentiment is most certainly true. Food is one of life's biggest comforts; it is necessary to eat at least once every three weeks to carry on living, a piece of chocolate or bowl of rice pudding can make the entire world seem like a better place and there really is nothing quite like a greasy £4 pizza at 3am. But before I sound like a secretly obese whale (although how I'd keep that a secret I'm not sure) let's also remember that food is what you eat with friends, where you go on dates (having said that, I've never really understood the attraction of watching a virtual stranger shovel food into a hole in his face while I frantically refrain from dripping pasta sauce all over my top and around my mouth. But each to their own) and an all round bonding experience. 

This is perhaps why celebrity chefs and cooks (Nigella does NOT like being called a chef) have such a special place in our own hearts. Many people are on apparent first name terms with Jamie, Heston and Delia. Food somehow connects us; it is something that everyone has in common no matter what nationality, class, age or gender. It is virtually impossible to dislike someone who cooks good food...which is a little damning for me when I manage to ruin scramble eggs. But practice makes perfect...Breakfast anyone? 

The Real Point of Uni

Maybe the title of this is a tad generic. Should be something more along the lines of "Why I want to get a degree". I'll change it later. Probably.
When someone asks me what I want to do after I graduate, I instantly reply that I want to do Masters (and no, not in Hull). Although the thought of getting a job and being -dare i say it?- responsible absolutely terrifies me, I don't want to prolong my education to stall for time. Nor do I actually want the Masters to further my career prospects (just don't tell my mum this), although most of the jobs that I'd like do require one. Instead the mere knowledge is why I want those letters after my name. It excites me. Alot. Learning in such depth about something that interests me.
In turn the reason I am currently an undergrad is for similar reasons. I just like learning about Wordsworth's politics, Hardy's character formation and Middleton's depiction of London. For me, my degree is more of an indulgence that has the added benefit of career prospects, valuable life experience (from living with other people and budgeting to not drinking sambuca) and meeting new people, some of whom will prove to be incredible friends and others useful contacts, than being a total necessity. It's a bit like an expensive but high quality pair of beautiful shoes. Costs a lot, you do it for love but ultimately they save your feet from getting dirty. I could read the books at home in the same way I could wear crocs or something equally as repugnant.
There is nothing quite like an active, engaging seminar where everyone has their own opinions, the tutor encourages discussion and you leave feeling thoroughly intellectually stimulated.

Yet despite all this I'm still struggling to find motivation to write my essay.

Gilded Beauty

Fashion is a world that is perceived to be a glamorous and fierce place, dominated by beautiful people.  Indeed, the front rows of the world's major fashion shows back up this image. But the magazine editors who adorn their pages with the likes of Kate Hudson, Mary-Kate Olsen and Kristen Stewart to name but a few, sitting with concerted expressions pondering how they can fit the latest trends into their mammoth wardrobes, fail to mention the other side of fashion.

Fashion weeks see journalists, models and designers practically mainlining coffee, clutching their trusty sunglasses to hide bags a panda would be proud of and avoiding human contact as much as possible for fear of an episode of sleep deprived murder. Such are the effects of sleepless nights. And, yes, these may be but a few weeks a year but there is a constant pressure that is put upon people in the fashion industry to live up to a standard that has been set largely by myth and Photoshop.

Possibly the hardest hit in the general fashion stereotype are the models themselves. There is no denying that eating disorders are rife, enhanced not only by designer's preferences for the slimmer creature (samples are much cheaper to produce in a UK 4) but also though an ever-changing ideal body shape. In the real world, the ideal body shape is a natural one, achieved though a healthy diet and lifestyle with perhaps more than a little influence from photographs of flat stomached celebrities and television (think of the current trend for 1950s clothing that best suits a curvier shape). For a model her body shape is her livelihood. If the clothes don't fit her, she won't be booked. Simples.

Supermodels are a slightly different kettle of fish, but still face the same pressures. Although they can get away with being a little less restrained around the canapés because designers will book them on the basis of their name, their fame means money to the paparazzi.  Celebrity gossip magazines thrive on photographs of supermodels where they are drunk and humiliating themselves or simply have had a late night, haven't worn make up and aren't looking up to their air-brushed perfume ad image.  Have a moment's thought for Lily Cole; a photograph of her stumbling out of a Cambridge club could have a negative impact on her work. She may be rich, she may travel a lot and she may know Karl Lagerfeld and other fashion Demi-Gods   but she can't have the true experience of being a student.

This isn't to say that models should be pitied or felt too sorry for; they choose to stay and it often pays off for them. Modelling gave Natalia Vodianova her fairy tale escape from Russian poverty into a Tom Ford wedding dress at her wedding to the wealthy London property developer, Justin Portman.  Fashion does have its ugly, dark facets but it has a reputation of beauty and glamour and there is never smoke without fire.