On Crushing All Over Taylor Swift

 

So I realised today that I have developed a full on eleven year-old fangirl obsession with Taylor Swift, I am literally obsessed with everything she does and everybody she hangs out with and I am sure it is NOT NORMAL for somebody my age. The thing is she's just so cool and so supportive of woman and lovely and wonderfully dressed and yet she is also a bit of a - what the Americans would call - a dork. I'd say a loser, geek or weirdo. If we're talking a American Pie / Mean Girls world here, she's definitely not the cheerleader, she's the band geek or the art freak. And that I think is why I love her, because she's interesting and slightly odd as well as having super cool clothes, great songwriting skills and a crew of BFFs that I would kill to hangout with. As a fellow former loserish kid who liked learning, I can feel it. So it's ok to be in your late-twenties and love her... Right?

Here's some of evidence of why I do

1) Clothes

Ok, the girl can dress, but she couldn't always. Back in the early days of T, it was all Cinderella white lace and little house on the praire and all a bit "Y'all coming to milk the cows on the farm and then Jim-Bob's taking me to thr prom..". Now, though she's found her groove and she's ice cool without having to be "LOOK AT ME" which so many other female celebrities are. 

Also, she doesn't have a tendency to carefully curate her cleavage or let her arse enter first which other young women do (not that I am against this, gurl can do what she wants). But I like the fact that Taylor turns heads without needing to compete for nudity levels.. except those famous legs of course (see below).

2) Songs

Look, I'm a fan of Country music, so I've pretty much liked all her albums but 1989 is just so good. So catchy and with clever lyrics. I mean the tumblr generation freak out about them, because they feel like she is WRITING THEIR LIVES OMFG, and isn't that what the best songwriters do. 

Even my 21-year-old DJ brother admits to thinking it's "a really great pop album"... Watch out for the upcoming premiere of the video for new single Bad Blood, which features many of her equally rad BFFs Cara, Ellie, Lena et al.. speaking of which...

3) Her Woman Crew (& Ed)

Taylor's friendship circle causes me to feel 80% "Go Women" and 20% seething jealousy that I will never get to hang out with them. From supermodels like Karlie Kloss and Cara Delevingne to other popbaes like Ellie Goulding and Lorde, to my idol Lena Dunham and loads of Americans that I know vaguely from reading Sugarscape (sue me). She seems to be constantly hanging out with achingly successful young women. And it seems it is often she who extends the hand of friendship through fangirling over them herself, with no need for a "cool" face on it. And who wouldn't want to be her friend tbh, who wouldn't want to be part of that kind of ambitious, supportive, whirpool of women power where everyone is -like- free to be themselves -you know.. 

Plus there's the fact she's got Mr Sheeran - the nicest and most talented man in Britain (and the world probs) on speed dial as her best man-friend. (I'm mean I'm hoping they'll get married tbh)

4) She's So Bloody Nice

Taylor's treatment of her fan's is legendary, from throwing pre-album launch parties to "Swiftmas" to surprising them out of the blue. She also was also named the "Most Charitable Celeb" of 2014 by DoSomething.Org for her work for feminist causes and New York City public schools. She has, as Glamour recently wrote, made Nice cool again.. and thank goodness for that.

5) Legs

She has the most enviable legs in the business. Full stop. And she's over 5'10, which is so refreshing in the celeb land of minature people.

6) Her List of Ex-boyfriends and How She "Deals" When it's Over

I really don't think women should be judged by who or how many people they date. However, Taylor's got an enviable list of exes and the fact that her relationships with famous men are splashed all over the papers and then when the relationship ends, the lovely media seem to relish in her heartbreak is part of her journey. This is because of how she deals with it, rarely mentioning it in interviews and instead pouring it out in her songs, which to be honest is how we'd all like to get over relationships if we could isn't it... purge the issues and all. Her song "Shake it Off" says it all really, "I go on too many dates, but I can't make 'em stay.. At least that's what people say mmm, that's what people say mmm." People are currently saying that she's dating super star DJ Calvin Harris. Good luck to them; it takes a real good man to keep up with her.

7) Haters Gonna Hate

A lot of people seem to hate Taylor online and off and she has dealt with any hate in the most decourous and graceful manner. She has even recently made up with Kanye West after he stormed the stage at the 2009 Grammy's to claim Beyonce deserved the award and not her. When Lorde called her "too perfect" in an interview, she proceeded to make her her best friend.

Mostly she says, she avoids reading most things that are written about her, because it is not said by her fans and it is not relevant to her life.

"The little I am exposed to hurts my feelings. The only things I can really control are my songs and my behavior. The rest? If I focused on it, that would lead to insanity."

8) Business Woman

Nobody should underestimate Taylor, for all the sweet words and the niceness and the cats, she is one of the most successful women in the world right now. She is a steely business woman, but she has done it without trampling all over other people, another score for feminism, she is destroying the belief that women must fit into the patriarchal definition of success to make it.

Her net worth is estimated at $200 million dollars. She has made shrewd moves like not only copyrighting her entire lyrics but also key phrases in her songs like "this sick beat". Her music is not available through free-streaming powerhouse Spotify as she believes it is unfair on the musicians and artists who make the music to give it away. When her record label were unsure about her making a pop record, she went ahead an made 1989 anyway, because it was what she wanted to do. She is also a social media powerhouse. She has cultivated her own brand and her own business and stayed true tp herself whilst doing it. (*high five emojis).

9) She's a bit of a "Loser" Really

Another example of staying true to herself is that she doesn't try to look cool or change her natural enthusisasm for life in order to fit in to some sexy-starlet stereotype. Half her instagram feed is videos of her cats.Of course she is a beautiful, successful woman and that brings with it a certain status, but she is always willing to be the geek.

She loves cooking and making things and staying in and she has never been pictued falling out of a club. There's no whiff of drug or alcohol rumours and she loves her Mum, who prior to her recent Cancer diagnosis has been on every tour with her. The thing is with Taylor, she's not anti-cool, she's just made it cool to be nice, to be inclusive, to support others, to love a lot and to have an open heart. And this most of all, is why I bloody love the girl. If only we were all this wise at 25.

"Well, I just don't place much priority on looking cool, and I think at 25, I'm finally OK with feeling that. I've said this before. I think there's this priority on having this persona of being edgy or cool or bored. And those things are all sexy. All those things are chic, when you seem not to care about anything other than yourself. And I just don't buy into it. I'm really excited by lots of things. I think enthusiasm is the best protection. It can protect you from anything. And I don't feel bored by any of this, so I don't strive to look bored by any of this." (c) Glamour 2015

Day 8 of #The100DayProject #100DaysofWriting

None of the photos are mine.

We're All Going on a Much Documented #Selfie Saturated Summer Holiday

I have a question for you, or a few if you don't mind. If a modern guy or gal goes on holiday and no one sees a #selfie from it, has it really happened? If a person enjoys good weather, ice cream and super strength cocktails at an achingly cool bar and no #hashtags are employed, was it worth it? If a beach view is enjoyed and marvelled over on vacance, but not snapped and shared and Instagrammed the crap out of, is it as beautiful? I think you know what I'm getting at kids.. The holiday overshare, the boastelfie, the validation vacation, the inherent obsession that the modern generation have with documenting our leisure time, with making sure everyone knows that we are having FUN in the sun or other, around the world. Check out our beach bodies, how cool we are, you're in the office so...

I do not protest my innocence in this. My Instagram feed is choc full of exotic check-ins, #Ibiza selfies, sponsored by aviator, here I am chilling on the slopes, at a sunny English seaside town, cityscape of #HongKong. It's all there. I work in the travel industry, I understand the power of an image believe me.. Half of my job on the online side relies on the fact that people love to take a piccy on hol. In our image-obsessed, digital society that shares life's highs everyday, holidays are the most aesthetically pleasing and probably flushest time of our years...

But how much is too much? Do we miss out on actually absorbing the experience as we view it through a lens and worry about the lack of fucking wi-fi? When does it go from fun to irritatingly irksome.. Or is it simply the present day diary and a given in our social world. Inspired by a recent group of some of my bestest friends (they know who they are) who seemed to narrate their recent holiday from start to finish with images of them looking absolutely gorgeous and sun-kissed and oh so desirable. Here are my rules:

1) Bikini Overload

A couple of casual bikini shots with your friends or a kooky pic of you on the beach is fine.

However, an entire album of you posing, pornstar/fashion model-esque on the beach in a variety of poses is not..

Rihanna and Kelly Brook are prime examples... okay okay, they are models and singers who make money from their looks, so perhaps we can forgive them for it. However, when I see "normal", yet perhaps unfairly aesthetically gifted girls posting picture after picture of themselves in their bikinis, I just cringe. Sure, we may marvel at their insane bodies that they have probably worked extremely hard for, but eventually it just seems a little sad.. the need for that constant validation from your friends, followers and random #pervs screams lack of self esteem and real love of your own body.

2) The excessive "Check-in". 

I learnt this the hard way.. see examples below..

 

Whilst it may fun to share your enthusiasm once that you've arrived in Mykonos, are swimming in Maya Bay (is there 3G there?) or have climbed Kilimanjaro, numerous check-ins narrating where you are every moment of the day is bloody annoying and to be honest, no one cares. They are not there. Whilst your Facebook friends may "like" one or two check-ins when they know you deserve a holiday, five per day on a week's holiday that include Nikki Beach, VIP Champagne bar, Les Caves Du Roy etc, just makes you look like a tool, a gold digger or an alcoholic. Do you even like half these places or are you just worried that you won't remember where you've been. :P

3) Couples, again, calm down with the sick-making holly snaps. 

Yes you're both gorgeous and having a wonderful time, but stop taking photos and actually enjoy each other. 

This is sweet:

This type of thing (below) on the other hand is cringe... fine for your personal collection or on the wall of you house, but not for sharing.. We get you're happy, tanned and attractive.. we don't need to see your pre-coital beach moments...

4) Group shots should be relaxed and natural or in action...

A couple of my holiday snaps...

You are not models on a beach... unless you actually are.

How long did it take you to get in those poses anyway... surely spending half an hour getting just the right shot with you all looking fit and hip and unbothered by life or having a v posed HILARIOUS time could be better spent actually partaking in your holiday. This leads onto...

5) The timing rule.

This basically says that it is acceptable if you go on holiday and upload maybe one or two photos whilst you're there, then an entire album of mildly-cringe shots, mixed with some pissed blurry ones and a few scenery/artsy snaps once you return. This was one album that you spent five minutes uploading in the hours you returned with a major case of the holiday blues.

Updating your Instagram with hashtags whilst you are on holiday, putting every photo up and replying to comments.. just ain't. Again, I reiterate, are you bored by the company you are in, or so addicted to networking that you can't leave it alone.

6) I don't want to see every meal you eat... (this goes for non-holiday life, for some people too)

Unless you are offering me a recipe, then I'd be quite keen. Yes the tomatoes are plumper in Provence and you're eating a real Italian pizza in Tuscany, fabulous for you. But I can't fucking have it. You are just wanting people to be jealous of you again.. aren't you... Why is that?

*Note, extremely aesthetically pleasing images, or great photography can be forgiven.

7) Keep the "in-jokes" n #holidaybanter to a minimum.

Wittily titled albums and smartly captioned twit pics are only funny for people who are there... We've all been on one of those holidays, where we spent the whole time laughing and wanted to spread the joy when we return. However, other people won't get it...and again most of the time.. they'll just cringe or think you're a dick.

To be honest, there's hundreds more I can think of.. all of which by the way, I have certainly done. Writing this post has simply made me ask why we do it.. why we overshare our most precious time away. There seems to be three main reasons to me:

1) To make other people jealous: So we all may do this occasionally, but constantly throwing your fabulous life in other peoples faces is just so unnecessary, do you want to make people feel bad.. Something we should all grow out of before our 25th birthdays..

Similarly

2) Validation: Look how great I am, look how attractive I am, look how happy I am, look what hip places I go to APPROVE of me... PLEASE. Need I say more. Do you approve of yourself darling?

3) For laughs: This I comprehend more, because videos of you and your friends drunk dancing or belly flopping in a packed pool probably will be funny to other people, not present. As long as your not just showing off (see 1 and 2).

Having said all this.. maybe I'm just being a bitter, singleton with a far from perfect bikini bod who isn't going on holiday till September (watch for the selfies). Who knows???? :)

#BeachSelfie

An Ode to Plaits

I totally blame Cara for my re-obsession with plaits. Since the Met ball over the summer where she and Sienna were both in studded Burberry and side plaits - I just wanted to try them again. Bearing in mind, I was a plait junkie age 19-22, literally any time, night or day, I would be sporting one. In the last few years I've tried to "grow up" and just rock the straight, blow-dried professional sort of look, but I'm bored... At the Elle Style Awards again, Cara had styled her favourite faux-undercut plait, with a vintage black kimono dress and her new "Cara" bag for Mulberry and looked fierce and  I now vow to bring them back...

The urge to plait reminded me of a few other classics... Sienna's milkmaid look..

. 

I've got all sorts of ideas, as I've been neglecting them...

Up and across

Up with a Scarlet twist 

Up the backside

A little LC

Tie up with lots of bows for an up do...

Fishtail and Art Deco like Blake; beautiful.

Fishtail Cowgirllllllll

GIVE ME PLAITS.....

(c) not mine

Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit at Hackney Empire

Johnny Flynn at Hackney Empire

I'm still learning how to get these posts out on time, it is a struggle with work being so busy, hence this post being over a week late. I went to see Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit at the Hackney Empire on 10th October 2013.

I have been a fan of Johnny Flynn's deep poetic tones since 2008, when his first full length album, A Larum was released. Since then I have seen him a full five times prior to this, twice on his own (Transgressive Records in Shoreditch and Shakespeare's Globe this year) and three times with his band The Sussex Wit (Union Chapel, Shepherd's Bush and this year's Gentleman of the Road Stopover with Mumford, The Vaccines, Edward Sharpe et al). I've even blogged about him before at The London Word. So it is safe to say I am not a newbie to his gigs or admirable musicality. This time I trekked to Hackney - three tubes from work followed by two night buses home - to hear him perform a set which including many songs from his new album: Country Mile.

Along with the only friend who really indulges my love for the "modern folk rock" and its many relations, we were of course late and arrived mid way through the performance of the second of his support acts, Marika Hackman. A slip of a girl who looked about twelve and had the suitable uncomfortable-on-stage air so much favoured by the folk/singer-songwriter types because "it's about the music" you know. Apparently she's an ex-Burberry model and childhood friend of the rarely pictured Miss Cara Delevingne. Her voice when we listened following a hurried trip to the bar was extremely special, a softer strummier version of the girl from new indie pop sensation London Grammar. Her lyrics were poetic, straying to quite dark... definitely one to watch...

Later, Johnny strolled on stage accompanied by his usual bunch of sartorial misfits The Sussex Wit including his female backing singer/pianist/flautist/accordion player etc, his sister, Lily who I actually went to school with for two years when I was 11. I remember playing opposite her in a adapted musical version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - even then she had a hauntingly beautiful voice. Talented family.

As usual as well, Johnny stood in the midst of a circle of various instruments which I knew would be exchanged throughout the set as he showed that genuine musicality that I mentioned before. His band the Sussex Wit include, not only his sister Lillie on vocals, flute and accordion but also David Beauchamp on bass, Adam Beach on drums, Joe Zeitlin on cello and Cosmo Sheldrake (also the first support act that we missed) on keyboard.

The set rambled merrily through old favourites such as Brown Trout Blues,The Box and the The Wrote and the Writ from first album, A Larum and Been Listening, Howl and The Water from Been Listening. He interspersed well-known songs with new ones from Country Mile.

Preffered tracks of mine from the new album included the title track, Country Mile - apparently about walking according to Johnny and a very "country" folk record in the old American sense with a lot of twangy guitar behind the catchy, repetitive chorus. Murmuration (def: an act or instance of murmuring), slower dream-like and more poetic Johnny "I dreamt I flew with the saints last night/I know them all by wing size/And up there it just doesn’t count for naught/Whether you’re clever or wise" - I do appreciate a good poetic lyric. I've heard the sweet sound of Einstein's Idea - Johnny's lullaby for his son - before performed live and always like it. My favourite new track though had to be Fol-de-rol, which as Johnny explained referenced the bands love for South American folk music and Chicha; psychedelic Peruvian music from the 60’s/70’s. It stays true to the band's musicality and Johnny's earthy tones, but builds to rollicking chorus with some great male harmonising that certainly made my friend and I stamp our feet very un-surreptitiously amongst the well-behaved, serene audience.

If you are not a nu-folk/folk rock/ Flynn fan already I would generally advise starting with A Larum as it is probably his most "popular" work, but personally I am a great fan of Country Mile. Whilst Flynn and his band were never going to make an album that was a significantly different sound from the others, I do feel that Country Mile is more upbeat and positive than Been Listening and goes back to the twangy, memorable chorus's found on A Larum, whilst the philosophical lyrics never fail to pique thought.

As a live act, Johny Flynn & the Sussex Wit are a must-see in my book. Rarely is so much musicality seen on stage; Johnny himself plays the banjo, trumpet, mandolin, guitar, fiddle - and I'm sure others that I didn't notice. The band really feel one and other in the way that only comes from years together and constant jamming on the road and whenever they can just because they enjoy it. I would see them again and again. Going to their gigs makes me want to move to North East London marry a guitar player and become a whisky-drinking poet... aaahh if only....

Images (c) (1)Annabel Cameron and (2)Wunmi Onibudo on Flickr