(Char) Emily Writes

We're nearing the end of 2017 now, and it has been a very weird year for me. It's been the year of sadness and breakdowns, of loneliness and stresses, of tears and anger, and political messes and fears that the world will soon end. But, it has also been the year of growth and new beginnings. Of making changes and making new friends. Of love and happiness, and of course gigs! And starting recovery and hopefully finally starting to move forward. At the beginning of the year I wrote a post about the new year resolutions I had set myself and now I am finally replying to those resolutions. Let's see what I have achieved! 1. LEARN TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT  So I own a guitar and a keyboard but I would actually like to learn to play at least one of them. I used to take piano lessons and tried to teach myself the guitar but I gave up really quickly. This year I would like to start learning again and NOT give up this time.  Yeah, I didn't do this... great start! I...

I am currently studying in the beautiful city of Bristol and in September I moved into new student accommodation. I love my new room and wanted to share it on here... but it has taken me a fair bit of time to do so! I finally got round to snapping some pictures of it before I went home for the Christmas holidays. I thought I'd take the opportunity while it was clean and tidy, and while I had a lot of time on my hands. This is the view of my room from my door and from the back by my window. I love how spacey and light it is feels, even on a gloomy winter's day, and it's very white and modern. I am used to my old, country house in Cornwall so it's a nice change for me. On my door I have my towel and (very cosy) dressing gown hung up. I have my shoes lined up next to my door so they are easy to grab and put on before I go out. Moving on to my desk, which is next to my not-so-tidy wardrobe. This is where my vin...

On Friday 24th November, I finally got to see Enter Shikari. I've really gotten into them and they're now one of my favourite bands. Their music is so powerful and it completely hooks you. I've never seen them live before, which I was feeling so annoyed about. Even my mum and my little sister had seen them! But I did meet them back in September at a signing and they were some of the nicest people I have ever met. I was full of excitement when my boyfriend messaged me asking: "do you fancy an Enter Shikari gig?" His friend couldn't go so he had a spare ticket. Unfortunate for him, but obviously it worked out well for me.  Unfortunately, I got ill and lost my voice... but that wasn't going to stop me! So, before I knew it, I was on my way to Birmingham, snuggled up under a blanket in my boyfriend's car.  The gig was INSANE. It was definitely one of the best gigs of the year. The energy was unbelievable! If I wasn't feeling r...

On Thursday 12th October, Neck Deep took to the stage at The Great Hall in Cardiff and absolutely killed it. They also did a soundcheck and meet and greet with fans and I was lucky enough to attend. It was an amazing experience and once again the band were lovely and down to earth. The soundcheck had a very chill vibe and Ben Barlow admitted that he had only just woken up (at least he was honest). The band performed Threat Level Midnight, Losing Teeth  and we even persuaded them to perform Serpent . In between the songs we had a Q+A with the band and questions such as "What album would you most like to cover?" and "What's your favourite video game?" were asked and someone even threw a cheeky pick up line at them: "Are you today's date? 'Cause you're a 12/10". For me, it was great to be at the front barrier. It's a very rare experience for me, being claustrophobic. Afterwards we got to take pictures with the band and...

I spent this bank holiday weekend at Reading Festival and it was pretty amazing... apart from the fact that I am now laying in bed feeling sorry for myself instead of enjoying the sun whilst it lasts because I have heat stroke and a very painful sunburn (ALWAYS wear sun scream, it's not worth the pain or the danger you put yourself in). This was my first ever camping festival, and I usually hate camping but I really enjoyed it. It was nothing like I have ever seen before. I got to see some amazing bands such as Pvris, You Me At Six and Queens of the Stone Age who did a surprise set. I found a new love for Bastille and I discovered some new bands and songs. Deap Valley and Judas are two new bands that stuck out for me. Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes were my favourite performance of the weekend. The energy was incredible and t...

Neck Deep released their new album, "The Peace and The Panic" on Friday 18th of August and I am in LOVE with it. As soon as they released their first two singles, I knew the album was going to be amazing and I just had to pre-order it. They're actually the first band I have ever done a pre-order for! I got the vinyl bundle (mainly for the nice vinyl splatter but it was totally worth it!) I was a little upset that I didn't get a retweet from them... but then again, I have had a real life conversation with Ben and Dani so I guess I'll live. This album is full of emotions, politics and catchy lyrics that you'll find yourself singing all day. It is also very diverse. Each song is different... but they're all perfect. It's another incredible album from an incredible band. Their last album, "Life's Not Out to Get You", is one of the best albums ever released. It really helped shape Neck Deep and helped grow their fan base. This albu...

Back when I started my blog last year, I wrote a second-hand camera appreciation post. Last week, I finally got some films developed that I took back in the winter, so I decided to do a film camera appreciation post. I love taking pictures on film, it gives beautiful effects that digital cameras cannot give you. I was really happy with the outcome of these photos. I had three rolls of film to develop and they were mostly taken in Bristol and a few in Cardiff. I wanted to share some of my favourites. I use the Canon EOS 300 camera with 35mm film. This picture really shows how beautiful Bristol is. This was taken at College Green and I love how it turned out. I love the Autumn scenery with all the fallen leaves and the beautiful agriculture that surrounds it.  Bristol is full of written messages like this one. I have seen ones such as "smile, you're alive", " you look beautiful today" and "anyone but the Tories". But this ...