119.____Ellie Goulding

Last week The Boyfriend, Little Brother and I trotted off to Leeds O2 Academy for an Ellie Goulding gig. It started off well with tickets only £15.00 each, and just kept getting better. Ellie had 2 support acts, Bright Light Bright Light, find them on twitter here and their website here and Sunday Girl, whose website is www.wearesundaygirl.com and twitter www.twitter.com/sundaygirljade.

Bright Light Bright Light were hands down fantastic, they are a similar genre to La Roux, only all male. Little Brother bought the limited edition tour EP, and after hearing it (which is amazing) I have to say that they are so much better live. It's a huge thing to say when a band is better live than their recorded work as very few bands are.

Sunday Girl were also really good, the only thing which annoyed me, was their lead singer had a very annoying tendency of flicking her hair about 200 times a song, which makes watching very off putting. On the other hand, she looked amazing in a gorgeous cape.

Ellie Goulding was also brilliant, she really puts on a show, talking to the crowd as well as performing some awesome music, including new songs and covers. Her version of Temper Trap's Sweet Disposition was unbelievable, I really hope she releases it on her new album. (If you were wondering Ellie wore a navy military jacket, black/navy embellished crop top and high waisted leather shorts/skirt).

If you can go and see her do, it's a brilliant show, and take a listen to Bright Light Bright Light & Sunday Girl, you will not be dissappointed.

Image from Ellie Goulding's website http://elliegoulding.com

04.____The Art Of Procrastination...

Clearly, there's at least ten things that I should be doing right now, and writing this blog isn't one of them, but here you find me, typing away.

There's so many distractions these days, Facebook, Twitter, Blogging are just a few, don't get me wrong they're all brilliant at the right time, but when your deadline is tomorrow, they really aren't.

Getting out of bed this morning, you felt vaguely positive, here you have a full day where you don't have to be anywhere, no commitments, just time to get down to the pile of work which has been increasing while you hide it under your pile of Vogue magazines. Around you are mugs, shopping lists, printed out lecture slides, a filofax, your phone, all sorts of things which are there to inspire you, but the simple truth of it is, they don't.

Instead, what you really have your eye on is your laptop. No-one can take it away - a parent's nightmare quandary - clearly they need it do to homework, but they are also using it to watch iPlayer, listen to music and spend half their lives on Facebook. What's a parent to do? It's the same when you're a student, however the only one disciplining you is yourself, which doesn't quite work as well...trust me.

Its like when you know in the bottom drawer of your desk is a bar of chocolate, you know you shouldn't eat it, you definitely know you can wait until tea time, but it's calling your name, so you give in.

Except when the thing you give into is time, there's no way of going back, there's no gym you can go to to get rid of the extra chocolate, it's simply gone, and the pile of work is still building.

This was the position I was in... instead, I found myself on Ebay - as you do, just to look - the state of my bank balance is a constant feature in my mind, so just nosing around, I came across a vintage camera. A Kodak Retinette to be precise, and at the price it was, I bought it, I have a love of photography and vintage things, and this little camera brought the two together, so why not?

Isn't it beautiful?

Another thing I came across during my misspent time was Ellie Goulding, she's 23 and has a brilliant sound. I thoroughly recommend buying her album - and yes, buying - the old fashioned way, the one that involves a CD.