through the dark turns and noise, of this wicked little town

textiles revision. | finding old clothes you forgot you had is the best. | smurf haribo. | the rocky horror show at the grand theatre in leeds. | my new name badge for work. | new books. | follow me on instagram: beckyyroo :)

hello, long time no see! sorry it's been such a while since i last posted anything, up until the 12th of june i was working very hard to finish my a-levels and revising for my last exams, and after that i spent 1 week relaxing and being lazy. the other big exciting thing that's been keeping me busy is i've finally got an actual scary job like an adult! last week, on tuesday, i had a job interview and they offered me the job straight away! i had my induction on thursday and friday, then my first weekend of work on saturday/sunday, then i was working yesterday and today. i'm finding the work to be not so difficult but the whole responsibility/grown-up side to it is freaking me out a little, which is why i've spent my free time since i started watching mind-numbing tv and sleeping. i'm very excited to be finally earning some money though, and i plan on spending my first wage on a ticket to see elton john at the new leeds arena in september, which i'm very excited about. :)

currently listening to:
'the origin of love' - hedwig and the angry inch film soundtrack: i recently watched the film 'hedwig and the angry inch' for the first time; not only is it amazing, but it has the best soundtrack for a musical that i've ever heard. if you think that showtunes are all cheesy and stuff, you need to listen to this song, it's beautiful. listen here.
'wicked little town' - hedwig and the angry inch film soundtrack: what they said^. listen here.
'barlights' - fun.: since i saw fun. live in april, i've started listening to some of their earlier work, and 'barlights' is my current favourite. it was amazing live, too. :) listen here. 
'for crying out loud' - meat loaf: the raw power and emotion and the progression of this song is just insane, i wish could sing like that. listen here. 
'bring him home' - alfie boe, in les miserables: my favourite song from les miserables changes on a weekly basis, and this is my current favourite. listen here. (last weeks favourite was 'in my life/a heart full of love'.)
'i will survive' - leah mcfall: okay, so i'm not the biggest fan of talent shows, but i always tend to watch them just because sitting down for an evening of tv is just something we do in my family, and when i saw leah mcfall perform this song on the voice this year i was just blown away. i believe it got to number 3 in the uk download charts, i think? anyway, it's INCREDIBLE. i can't believe she didn't win! listen here. 

currently reading: 
'the bling ring: how a gang of fame-obsessed teens ripped off hollywood and shocked the world' by nancy jo sales: i'm only about 60 pages in but already i'm LOVING this book. it's written very much like an essay (you can tell it was written by a journalist) so it feels a lot like you're just researching the topic rather than reading a book, which i actually quite like as it keeps the interest going. the chapters are very short, which i like, (i hate having to put aside like a whole hour to read just one chapter) and it's easy to get through quickly. so far i'd recommend it!
'everything is illuminated' by jonathan safran foer: i don't want to give this book a 'bad review', but so far i'm not liking it. i'm about 40 pages in and i just don't want to read any more. it's not really holding my attention and, because half of it is written from the point of view of a man who speaks very little english, it's quite difficult to understand and is one of those books that gives me a headache straight away. i'm going to power through though and i'll tell you what i think once i'm done.

currently watching:
'the call centre': this is a documentary on bbc3 about a call centre in wales and it is HILARIOUS. there's not much else i can say about it really, but if you get the chance, you should definitely watch a few episodes on bbc iplayer.
'hedwig and the angry inch': this is a musical about sexuality and gender identity, essentially, and tells the story of hansel, who later takes his mother's name, hedwig. this had been on my 'to watch' list for years and recently i heard that it was going to be adapted for broadway (starring neil patrick harris as hedwig, which is the perfect casting!) so i decided to finally watch it, and it was amazing! as i said previously in this post, the music is incredible, but so are the costumes and the sets and the story and the characters. i can't believe that so little people have seen this film because it's just perfect, and i'm so excited for it to get more recognition. i also kind of really need to go to new york now haha! x

recently

reading right now
wicked: as mentioned in this post! i'm absolutely loving it. it's like lord of the rings meets wizard of oz. because of the big premise and the whole new universe that gregory maguire has created, i thought it'd be quite difficult to read, but it flows so easily! though i do sometimes read over ozian words and can't remember at all what they mean, it doesn't affect the story too much. also, elphaba is probably the most interesting character that i've ever read about; i love her!

watching right now
vlogbrothers: okay, it's gotten to the point now where every post i make mentions vlogbrothers and it has got to stop. unless i make a post purely vlogbrothers-related, this is the last i will say about them! watch here.
doctor who: i missed a lot of episodes of doctor who when matt smith took over because i couldn't really see him as the doctor. he's now my favourite doctor, so i'm going back and watching all the episodes i missed on virgin 'on demand'. :)
extreme couponing: I LOVE THIS SHOW! reason #14354353 why i wish i was american: i could extreme coupon. i'm addicted to watching it. people buy $1000 worth of shopping and pay $2?! it blows my mind every single time. too bad we can't do it in the uk. :-(

listening to right now
elton john - goodbye yellow brick road: this song is perfect and beautiful. i'm on a bit of a wizard of oz hype. listen here.
alex day - good morning sunshine: i recently delved into alex day's youtube channel and i'm in love with his music! this has been in my head for days. listen here.
alex day feat. carrie hope fletcher - this kiss: ^what she said. listen here.
all american rejects - beekeeper's daughter: i've never been a big fan of aar, other than the obvious hits like 'gives you hell' and 'dirty little secret'. this is the best come-back single ever. i love the music-stops in the chorus haha, "laaaadadadada *CLAP*". listen here.
rhod stewart - i don't wanna talk about it: my parents introduce me to good music a lot. they know how to raise their kids right. listen here.
jackson 5 - i'll be there: i've loved this song for the longest time but never realised the lead vocal was michael jackson! listen here. (on another note, recently we passed the 3 year anniversary of michael's death. rip darling. you were a beautiful person and you made beautiful things. thank you.)
sublime - santeria: i heard this song play on the radio a lot when i was in orlando and i've only just got around to finding it on youtube. it's not my kind of music or a band i'd usually like but i pretty much just love this song to death. listen here. 
paloma faith - picking up the pieces: i love paloma and her new album is phenomenal. that is all. listen here.

sorry about the blurry phone photo's! these are just some of the cushions we made to sell, and this is the patchwork table-cloth that we made to decorate our stall at the summer fair. 

other things right now
raising money: my textiles group have been manically sewing fabric to make cushions, headbands and hair scrunchies to sell to raise money for the make a wish foundation. we sold lots around school but we finished the official 'project' on saturday when we had a stall at our schools summer fair. we didn't sell everything - we'll be selling around the local community again soon! - so our total is yet to rise, but right now we've raised £214.49! :)
couponing: more on this later! keep your eyes peeled for future posts!
planning for christmas: i know it's way too early haha but i'm so excited already! i've started putting money aside to buy the most amazing presents ever for my family this year. i've been treated so much this year but my parents never treat themselves and it's time to change that.
collecting prospectus' for university: i ordered a massive 36 prospectus' recently because i missed the 'higher education fair' and felt guilty about not being able to pick any up. i don't have to think about university for another year because i'm doing an art and design foundation course first, but it's nice to be prepared! xx

right now

this is an accurate representative of the size of my face; yep, it's big.

reading right now
charla vail's blog: i just love her. i went through her whole blog, finish to start, this week. she's amazing and so talented and beautiful and uh. i just wish i was her. she's perfect. read here.
miss peregrine's home for peculiar children: my sister bought this book in super target when we were in america. it hasn't been published for very long and it's already a best-seller. it's a collection of found abnormal photograph's strung together by this amazing adventure/mystery-esque story. lovin' it. you can buy it here.

watching right now
make it or break it: have i mentioned this tv show before? it ties in my two loves - gymnastics and american teen drama. it just makes me sad that i never did gymnastics when i was younger haha.
sex and the city: remember ages ago in swingsandwatercolours history when i bought the sex and the city boxset? yeah, i still haven't watched it. since i have a week of pure freedom i've started working my way through it. (fyi - big was so hot in the first season!)

listening to right now
jonathan coulton - re: your brains: a hilarious but amazing song about zombies, introduced to me by the lovely john green of vlogbrothers in this video. listen here.
the beatles - in my life: the most familiar song i've ever heard. it sounds like my childhood. i grew up on the beatles. listen here.
glee - paradise by the dashboard light: their cover reminded me how much i love this song. this was from the best episode ever. i cried and danced and laughed and they did such good songs. pinball wizard, paradise by the db l, and we are the champions? YES. listen here.
florence + the machine - shake it out: this makes me cry. it's so beautiful. i love it. listen here.
pink floyd - the entire 'dark side of the moon' album: this album got me through a week of solid psych revision. thank you. i loved every minute of it. listen here.
guns n roses - november rain: this was in my head all throughout my psych exam. it's a good song for writing. listen here.
bruce springsteen - thunder road: introduced to me by a girl that i don't really like. she has good taste in music though. listen here.
kate bush - wuthering heights: what can i say, other than this song is perfect. a notable mention is noel fielding's take on the video. listen here.
super heroes - from the rocky horror picture show: my childhood was based on this film, thank you sophie for showing me something that will live with me forever. listen here.
i'm going home - from the rocky horror picture show: ^what she said. listen here.

other thing's right now
being tweeted by celebrities: you may remember a while ago, i dedicated a whole post to my love for ryan matthew cohn. i was on a big oddities-watching spree in march and tweeted that^. on the 27th of may he tweeted me back. i can't help feeling that he was probably terrified by my creepy comment but OH MY GOD HE TWEETED ME.
constantly eating rolo cookies: yum. that is all.
sketching: i'm very close to finishing my first ever non-school sketchbook. it's almost totally full so i've been working really hard to get all my un-finished sketches, finished. inspiration from charla helps too (see above).  maybe when it's done i'll get the scanner out and show you all.
writing to-do lists: since i'll be having a lot of free time on my hands very soon, i wrote this little list of things i want to do this year;

• read all the books in my 'to read' pile (before buying any more!)
• save up an emergency fund of money for when important, unexpected things occur, such as the announcement of concerts, etc.
• use my free month on netflix and watch as many films and tv shows as is humanly possible in that month
• create at least 50 pieces of artwork for myself - i.e. not for coursework
• dye my hair semi-permanently
• plan every patch for a patchwork quilt i plan to make at some point
• finish my current sketchbook and then start another one
• attempt my first ever flip-book animation (may need to get a light box for this one). xx