November 2015 | Monthly Wrap Up

Monday 30 November 2015

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I have been reading the blog, The Halfway Point, for a while now and I really love Erin’s series of posts ‘Dear…’, that are essentially wrap up posts for that particular month. So I thought I would do something similar. I have used some of the questions that Erin uses, but have adapted them and added more of my own to make it more personal to me. (Expect to see these posts monthly!)

Favourite part?


Small moments with friends.

Best read?


How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran - none of the other books I have read this month could compare to it. I cannot describe  how much I love this book!

Favourite tunes?


She Falls Asleep Parts 1 and 2 by McFly and Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra.

What did I learn?


That it gets really REALLY cold in England and that green tea is always a good thing.



What’s happening next month?


Revision, finding out the result of my music theory exam, revision, going home for a day or two, revision, coursework, revision. And oh yeah, CHRISTMAS!!!!




What’s been on my mind?


Exams, pressure, grades, the future. The sentence ‘What makes a favourite?’

Favourite blogger/vlogger?


Lucy Moon who makes videos on her YouTube channels meowitslucy and teawiththreesugars. Also Dodie Clark’s videos have been playing on loop! (doddleoddle and doddlevloggle)






Favourite post?


I really love How to Time Travel, however I think the one I felt most compelled to write was Paris Attacks. I needed to write that.

Biggest inspiration?


The little things everyone does to try to better themselves and to achieve the highest they can.


Any other favourites?



Earl Grey tea! 




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Thank you for reading this month!

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5 of my favourite teas!

Friday 27 November 2015

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It’s no secret that I’m a great tea lover; I can’t get enough of the stuff! I drink loads of tea - particularly in the winter months - and my favourites chop and change almost constantly. So today I’m going to share my 5 favourite teas today (don’t be surprised if it’s completely topsy-turvy tomorrow!).

5. Redbush/Roobios

Redbush is probably the tea I’ve liked the longest. I first had it on a camping holiday when I was younger and it’s remained a regular ever since - especially in the evening when I don’t want to be kept awake by a caffeine overload!

4. Jasmine Tea

Recently I was feeling really horrible; I was freezing cold from being in the open Winter air for too long and I was ridiculously hungry - which is never a good thing as those of you who know me will know! I had some jasmine tea (when I say some I mean A LOT) and it made me feel so much happier. I love you green tea…

3. Rooibos & Earl Grey

Last weekend my dad came home with a box of tea he thought I might like. It was a mixture of Redbush and Earl Grey, which, while it sounds a bit weird, is really good and, in my opinion, is better than normal Redbush although I will still continue to drink the original. 

2. Glengettie

This has been my normal black tea since I can remember and is a family favourite. Gotta love a proper brew!

1. Earl Grey

This has been my Winter tea for this year! I don’t know why but I have been drinking it like it’s the only thing I need to live. It just sort of embodies Autumn and Winter for me - it smells great and is so tasty. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.








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I Have a Beehive in my Head

Wednesday 25 November 2015

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I have a beehive in my head. I can hear them inside there - their wings flapping furiously, banging against the walls of my skull. They engulf my mind, increasing in numbers as my thoughts do and fleeing the hive once my mind is clear. I have a constant background noise, a soundtrack to my life.  Sometimes it can drive me crazy - oh God can it drive me crazy - but the honey my little black and yellow workers produce is of such sweet quality that the buzzing issue is well worth the trouble it causes.





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How to Be Attractive | What Do You Find Attractive?

Monday 23 November 2015

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All over the Internet there are articles, videos and How-Tos, all instructing us how to look and how to be more “attractive”. We are told from magazine articles how to get the perfect face and body, by artificially tweaking them. YouTube only adds to this mess with videos entitled ‘What Guys Look For In Girls’ or ‘How To Get Your Crush To Like You’.

These are instruction manuals young girls/boys go to when they feel self-conscious or inadequate, when they have everything already built, it’s maybe just not polished yet. 

No one is perfect, particularly when you are a teenager or of an age between 11 and 13. It is at this age that we are experimenting with different aspects of our personalities and bringing them to light. We are growing into ourselves - we have spots and freckles and we’re not comfortable in our skin for the most part. We are children expected to act and look like adults.

We given a set of guidelines that show us how to behave and present ourselves in order to be appealing to someone else. These guidelines could be the complete opposite of what your personality or natural looks are - but the rules are still the rules. No one cares.

But we care - the ones who suffer at the hands of society’s stupid guidelines. The people who cannot conform to rules. We don’t have perfect hair or teeth. Our complexions aren’t clear and even and our body is covered in constantly growing hair.

So, according to society, we will never find someone who is attracted to us. We will live out the rest of our lives in complete solitude. 

Oh, how wrong society is.

There will be someone out there who finds you attractive - no matter what you look like or what your interests are. Just because you’re not a tall blonde supermodel with great legs, doesn’t mean you won’t be found attractive or won’t be loved. Someone may not find that attractive. 

Everyone finds different things attractive. It’s a fact of life. And we shouldn’t let a set of guidelines make us feel inadequate - because we are far from inadequate. You are far from inadequate.

Attractiveness is completely subjective - so just because one person doesn’t find you attractive doesn’t mean that you aren’t. One person could hate strawberries, but for others it will be their favourite food.


Found on the Cosmopolitan Snapchat
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5 things I have learnt so far this month

Friday 20 November 2015

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This month has been hectic. Seriously. So I thought I would share some of things I have learnt with you.

1. Writer's Block is real!

I have been staring at the document of my novel, unable able to write another word. I’m not sure what has caused this but I hope it’s over soon.

2. It’s good to read a kids’ book every now and then.

I finished reading James and the Giant Peach today and I forgot how much I love Roald Dahl’s writing and the imagination he puts into his stories. Absolutely brilliant.

3. One good book can get you back into books again.

Over the summer I read a few bad books and that slowed my reading down quite bit. Well, they weren’t bad as such but they felt tedious and didn’t excite me, causing me to fall behind on my yearly reading goal. However, this week I read a book that I really enjoyed and read quickly as I found it to be hilarious and interesting. Caitlin Moran you genius!

4. Good organisation will help you immensely.

Getting things done and dusted in plenty of time frees up spare time and I’ve been able to relax a lot more.

5. Chocolate is great.

Well, I didn’t really learn that this month but I have been reminded of it. No explanation needed.




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How to Time Travel

Wednesday 18 November 2015

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I love photographs. The way they look, their colours and structure. A picture well taken is a picture treasured. Pictures are sentimental objects - even if they are virtually so.

But all those reasons aren’t why I love photographs. It’s really much simpler than that. I love the way we capture time. We are constantly pining after the wonders of time travel, but we travel back in time every time we set eyes on a photo. We are transported to that moment - to that sliver of time - whether or not we were originally there or not.

Seeing a picture from our past can flood us with a whole host of unwanted, sometimes forgotten, emotions. Something so small can make us cry so much. Or, on the reverse, they can make us unimaginably happy for the rest of the day.

Your feelings are the same as they were then, in the picture you are looking at. You are angry, scared, excitable. You are your younger self again, and all those silly worries are back and prominent in the forefront of your mind.

It’s amazing really - how one image can cause our innards to squirm and squeal, and our emotions to go rocketing about all over the place. We can capture and preserve moments in time, so that we can remember them at a later date. We catch time and store it in videos and pictures, for our pure enjoyment.


And I think that’s fantastic.







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Paris Attacks 13.11.2015

Monday 16 November 2015

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I had a whole post about the subjectivity of attractiveness planned for today, but I’m afraid that that’ll have to wait for another day as something in my gut told me I had to join a different discussion. That of global security against terror attacks. Attacks seen in various countries around the world, all occurring within 24 hours of each other.

On Saturday morning I woke up to a new message on a group chat, a friend asking one of my other friends if their family in France were okay. More specifically if they weren’t in Paris, and were safe. Now this confused me, and I stayed silent on the matter. Having just woken up from I dream in which I met J.K. Rowling, I was clueless about the events that had taken place the night previously. Living in the technological age that we do, I decided to type ‘Paris’ into the search on my phone and find out for myself what happened without asking my friends. 

The first word I saw on that search was ‘terrorist’.

I saw that word and I clicked off immediately. I did not want to know the rest of the story. It could only end badly.

So I continued my day as I had planned - a pile of homework to complete, various applications to fill out, revision to do. The usual. But it wasn’t until I was sat down, exhausted, tired and hungry - waiting for the Strictly results show to start, that I actually found out what had happened in Paris.

Me and my brother sat in silence watching the extensive news report. Everywhere in Paris seemed to have death and destruction plastered all over it. The report was so vivid that I found myself in tears by the end of it. I could not believe that just 8 people could achieve such a terrible death toll in mere hours. 

But then it wasn’t until I went on the Internet that I saw that Paris wasn’t the only place affected in the past day. I found that there had been earthquakes in Japan, a hurricane in Mexico and further terror attacks in Baghdad and Lebanon. The news and general media had only focussed on the tragedy that had taken place in the European city, and had ignored the rest of the deaths in other countries. Deaths that should be equally as important as the ones in Paris.

Maybe the point of this post was to make more people aware of the events that have happened in the east. But then again I wanted to spread the message that it is not Muslims who are carrying out these acts. These people are by no means a representation of the religion they claim to belong to. Islam is a religion that focusses on peace. 

One of my friends said something that really hit me and I think is easy enough for us all to remember: “Terrorism doesn’t equal Muslims and Muslims don’t equal terrorism”. That should really sum up that last paragraph in a sentence.

My thoughts are with anyone who has just suffered the loss of a loved one due to terrorism or a natural disaster, and anyone who has been injured by such.

Stay peaceful

Jemima x








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5 of my writing inspirations

Friday 13 November 2015

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1. Giovanna Fletcher


Gi  Fletcher is one my my life inspirations just because of her happy, positive outlook that she spreads into her work and the Internet. I have read and love all of her books - particularly Billy and Me which is on my “All Time Favourites” shelf on GoodReads.

2. Cecelia Ahern


I just love this woman’s writing. Honestly I love all the books I have read of hers. They’re so creative and full of life and humanity. It all seems so true to life (apart from certain elements like imaginary friends but you know… we can forget about that). I have actually been given some writing advice from Cecelia Ahern as well, which was amazing and really boosted my productivity and confidence. It took her barely 20 minutes to reply to me after I had direct messaged her on Instagram and she gave some of the best advice I have heard.



3. Carrie Hope Fletcher


I have been a viewer of Carrie’s YouTube videos for years and she has been someone I look up to for most of that time. In times of sadness or when I just need a bit of an uplift in my spirits, I watch one of her videos - whether it’s a video of her singing, acting or just talking to the camera. I love hearing about her writing habits and her book All I Know Now is one held really close to my heart. Thank you Carrie, for keeping me going when life made it difficult.



4. Jane Austen


The brilliant woman who has written what are, in my opinion, some of the best books ever written is a huge inspiration to me. I have never heard the sound of her voice nor know for sure what she looked like but she has brought me immense happiness in the stories she created. Her books are so well written and reflect the aspects of society that have not changed since the time she wrote them, something I want to achieve in my own writing.



5. J.K. Rowling



How could I not include the woman who has essentially shaped my life with her words? She is one of the reasons why I write so much today and why I love words and stories so much. I cannot thank her enough for writing the books that would change my life in more ways than one. Her story strives me on to write and to believe in my ability as a writer - I know that if I am meant to write then I will be able to write.



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Thank you for reading!

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The Naked Truth about Nudity

Wednesday 11 November 2015

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I find that, at times, I can become very aware that I’m living. I’ll feel every breath and hear my pulse. I notice every slight noise my body makes and become focussed that I am just that: a body. We become so self and appearance obsessed that we forget that we are human beings, thinking with a human mind in an utterly human body.

In times gone by it would have been difficult to forget that fact, as we would have seen each others’  naked bodies on a regular basis, what with fabric not having been invented and all. Then, we didn’t flaunt our wealth with the expensive clothes we wear, or perfect our attractiveness through pieces of cloth that hang on our bodies.

Body image doesn’t even seem to be about the body anymore; it’s more about how well your clothes fit you.

The fact that we rarely see the naked form has made us, as a society, quite uncomfortable with nudity. So much so, that any piece of skin we see becomes sexualised in an instant (particularly if you’re a female). Pieces of skin that really should not be sexualised as they are just part of our anatomies.

We are constantly told to cover up (again, this applies more to women). Our bodies are forever being viewed sexually, even when we do not want them to be seen as such. We get squeamish and embarrassed when the naked form is brought into conversation. It’s completely ridiculous.

We seem incapable of looking upon bare breasts or female nipples without sexualising them. We cannot escape from that fact.

If you like this post then you might like Why Do Wear Make-Up?

On those rare, hot British summer days, plenty of the male population go about their daily business without a shirt on, displaying their bare torso to the world. No one gives a second glance. It’s ordinary - nothing unusual. However, if a woman were to do the same she would be stared at in disgust and probably arrested for public indecency. Seem fair?

This hypothetic woman isn’t even naked! Her boobs shouldn’t be banned from seeing the sun. They have their own, unique function, which is completely unrelated to anything sexual. The only thing that makes them different from the male breast is the extra breast tissue/fat and the fact that they do actually have a function.

We really need to get grips with nudity; we need to stop viewing the female body as entirely sexual.  We may, as individuals, be comfortable with naked bodies, but as a society we are not.


Maybe - just maybe - we will reach that. Hopefully the next generation, or the generation after that, won’t feel the societal pressure to hide themselves. Now wouldn’t that be great?
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Would you believe that today is Another Ranting Reader's 6 month birthday? How time flies! Thank you to everyone who has read my posts and given me encouragement - it really means the world! Here's to another 6 months.

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Those Last Memories

Monday 9 November 2015

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Why is it that when we are alone, lying in bed with the empty darkness surrounding us, that our deepest, darkest memories that had been presumed long forgotten, all start flooding back to us? Why is it that things we didn’t even know we remembered, are suddenly so vividly imagined in our minds?

A conversation once whispered in class. A walk taken in the depths of autumn. An act of stupidity destined to make us cringe forevermore.

Memories from five years into our past. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years ago. Little scenes that make it through the tough sieve of time. Snippets of our lives compact into a dream, a flashback. For some reason they are the memories that make it through and survive. They are the ones that make us alive.

We have a whole lifetime’s worth of memories and clips and scenes. They are all archived away in the dusty back corners of our mind. It can only take one, tiny trigger before a whole file comes cascading down and we see a film of our lives paying before our very eyes.

We become that person again. Although, there are many times, when we look back on our idiocy and regret every action we took at that point in time. 

These distant memories show us how much we have grown since it was formed. They allow us to realise that we have changed, in more ways than one. They are helpful in the fact that we can see, quite easily, how we have become a better person.


Life is weird. In many ways. We live so long that we forget most of the things we have said and done. And then suddenly, miraculously, some of those things are remembered - clear as day, like they were never forgotten



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Thank you for reading!

Jemima x




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5 things to do when you're feeling down

Friday 6 November 2015

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1. Have a shower

Get yourself cleaned. Spend as long as you want standing under the water. Sing as loud as you can to whatever song it is that makes you smile.

2. Get changed into clean clothes

Wear something nice, that you feel comfortable in. Just make sure you don’t put on a clean pair of pyjamas on, that will just make you want to go back to bed.

3. Eat something reasonably healthy

As much as you may want to binge eat ice-cream: don’t. It’ll just make you feel worse. Eat something else. It doesn’t have to be all that great for you, just as long as it’s not junk food and has some sort of goodness in it.

4. Go for a walk

Clear your mind and listen to the sounds of the world. Go wherever your feet take you - just as long as you know your way home again!

5. Make yourself a cup of tea

Tea makes everything better.
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I Wonder | Collab with Katieswaytohappy

Wednesday 4 November 2015

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I wonder what’s like to dance in the middle of an empty street at dusk? I wonder whether the wind would whistle through my hair as I jump up and down - whether a stranger, passing by, would dare to join me. Would the moon create a spotlight for me? Lighting up the dim and dusty tarmac. The old, fading road would become my stage. The music player made by the tap of my feet, the hoot of the night owl. Stage lighting edited and updated by the clouds moving across the flickering stars. Would rain burst down from the heavens? Splattering my face and my dancer’s feet. A flurry of birds, all shapes and sizes, clapping their wings and cheering me on as they line up on the branches of the trees around me - my own little concert hall.

Singing to the trees as they whistle back a tune that may be major, may be minor. It keeps modulating, between happy and sad, like the moods we have in our lives. Will the trees whistle a tune that will change our life this time? Or will the tune dampen our spirits? We don't know. It's ever changing, like the seasons. 

As we walk through the rain, will the clouds move to silhouette our walk? I wonder what it's like to skip through the rain, with your best friend and no one would be watching, except the owls that whistle, like the trees. I wonder whether the birds would stop in their flight and watch us, floating like an apple bobbing in the water. 

I wonder what it is like to picture your future and for it to come true. For it to be different to what we expect would not occur, because we had predicted what hadn't happened. A fatal turn, perhaps, or maybe a jump that saved our lives.

Who knows, I wonder could become I remember. You just have to make it happen. 




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This post a collaboration with my friend, Katie, who blogs at Katieswaytohappy! We each wrote part of the post and was really fun to do. Head over to her blog to read the other post we wrote!

Thanks for reading!

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A Brief Understanding

Monday 2 November 2015

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There are things I no longer wish to understand:
Why people feel the need to hate. To antagonise. To taunt.
Why the world seems to choose a certain path for us all - sometimes we are unknowing and ignorant of it; sometimes we are not.

But there are some things I still crave an understanding of:
What happens to us once death has wrapped its cold arms around us, and welcomed us into it realm?
Why we, as humans, thought up the concept of an afterlife in the first place? Where did it come from?Who, or what, inspired it?
Where, exactly, do emotions come from? All that happiness, jealousy, love, hatred, panic and pain must come from somewhere. Our most human ingredient has to have a root, rather than sprouting from nowhere.

I want to know how we imagine. The vivid images in my mind fill my life with colour, with light and joy. I can sense new characters - meet people who do not exist. I create worlds and lives… But how?




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