{ Thank You }

First I have to thank you all for your well wishes! :) I was so surprised, and delighted, to read your words of wisdom and consolations regarding my poor sick foot. Ha! Well, thankfully, no needles went near it. I was even more delighted about that. The doctor, gosh, how I love him for sparing me at the hand of the evil pinprick, said they don’t like to stitch the sole of the foot because it’s not very practical. How I had waited and hoped to hear those words! They gave me butterfly stitches, medicine to stop the swelling and a big bandage. So I spent two days off school watching The Daily Politics Show with my bandaged leg up on a chair. Fun! ;) Seriously, though, this taught me a lot. To not leave ringbinders on the staircase, to be more careful, to not freak out about the little things, to be more grateful when I don’t have a lacerated foot. It might seem a bit philosophical to see all these insights into such an insignificant event, but I guess that’s just me. And, for various reasons, the foot/ringbinder incident confirmed my view that some good always comes out of bad.

 Anyway…enough contemplation…I must sound like my philosophy teacher! Never a good thing. I’m so excited. Not because I sound like my philosophy teacher, but because tomorrow I’m taking part in the Hovis London Freewheel  – TFL, and Hovis, are closing off all the roads in the City of Westminster and in London, and opening it to 38,000 cyclists. I signed up a while back and finally received my (ugly) red bib and (cool) bicycle bell today. So roll on! Hopefully my foot won’t bother me too much. I’m so excited – and am definitely going to take my cam. Should be fun. I’ll just share one shot, showcasing my ‘so-excited’ mood ;) Ta-da!

Have a fun day tomorrow, and thanks for all your comments. =) Love ya, Lulu.

{ Accident Prone }

In a nutshell, that is me. You wouldn’t think it if you saw me. Twelve years of ballet gave me a little grace and poise, so you wouldn’t think me clumsy. I guess I’m not a klutz as much as accident prone. Last week at school I skinned my heel (through my Mary-Janes…erm….how does that work?!) on some steps outside and there was blood everywhere. I have a very low pain tolerance and the slightest bump causes me excruciating pain. So you can imagine how much that hurt! And then, this past Sunday, I managed to ride my bicycle INTO the blackberry bush; resulting in 22 long, thin, delicate red lines on my left leg. I just hope they don’t scar. And yesterday, to top it all off, I had my worst accident yet. I’d left my English folder on the stairs and was running up with a heavy laptop in my hands, I slipped and slammed my left foot down on to the folder. The metal rings of the ringbinder pierced through the front cover of my folder and into my foot. I was quite proud of myself for not screaming out in pain. It was agony. I thought I’d just hit it on something though until I stumbled to the kitchen and found a huge trail of blood streaming behind me. It was horrible. Literally. My mum immediately wrapped the teatowel she was using around my foot (how hygienic, lol) and it stained crimson in minutes. I really should have gone to A&E but I hate hospitals. Just thinking about them makes me nervous. I am terribly scared of needles too. There was no way anyone was putting one near my foot. In fact writing this, I am close to tears. I hate hospitals that much. I wish I didn’t but I do. That’s life, I guess. I’m going later to the Minor Injuries Unit…it’s not bleeding, apart from a little sporadically, but I can’t put any weight on it without being in terrible pain. I know they’ll want to stitch it. I just know it. And I’m trying not to think about it. I know I’ll cry hysterically when I get there, smell that disinfectanty smell only associated with hospitals, feel my feet (or foot) against the squeaky clean floors, see all those people in white coats striding about…it’s so scary to me. It’s the one thing I hate most in the whole entire world.

Anyway, sorry for the rather depressing post. I thought I’d blog since I’m not at school (due to the foot…a one-legged Lulu might not go down very well, and since I don’t possess a pair of crutches, I think I’d get a wee bit tired hopping round all day). Wish me luck. Thanks for your comments on the last post too. And sorry I am in such a negative mood. I’m happy most of the time, but when I’m not…that sadness or anger could cover oceans and mountain ranges. That’s just me.

 Have a nice day and don’t leave any ringbinders on the stairs, okay? love, Lulu

{ Canada + Film }

Remember I visited Canada this past summer? The trip I have hardly blogged about, the trip from which I still have hundreds of photographs to proof and develop and print…well, it’s time. Yes, Miss Ellen. 

I took perhaps three hundred digital images in Canada – a mix of buildings, Starbucks frappucinos (LOL), people, little details, lakes in the North, my feet, my reflection in skyscrapers… and I love them. They are such a wonderful reminder of the fun and laughter we shared whilst there, and those photographs will I treasure forever. But I recently got some of my film images back from the lab, and when I heard the quiet thud of the brown envelope as it fell through the letterbox, as I sat down in the kitchen all ready to open it up, as I looked through slowly smiling at each one of the 72 pictures….when I came across one of my little sister, sitting quietly in our log cabin on the lake, writing or drawing, or perhaps both, with the morning Ontario sunlight spilling through the screen door…forming pretty patterns on the floor…I knew that would be my favourite picture from my visit, no matter how many others I looked through. I just knew. It’s not such a great photograph technically but it conveys such an aura, such a time and a place, that I cannot help but adore it. So here it is…taken with my beautiful little Pentax 35mm and a 50mm lens. I Love It.

There are many more where this came from. So I promise, and this time I promise to keep to it, that my next post will be about Canada too. I’ve gathered all my images and am getting round to proofing and thinking about it. So…I’m ready.

See you, have a nice Sunday and give me some blog lovin’ ;)

Lulu.

{ I Am Terrible }

I truly am! No blog post for eight days – EIGHT! And I don’t think I have commented on any other blogs for at least that long. So please forgive me, I truly do not deserve your lovely comments but thank you so much for leaving them. I just adore reading them. : ) School is super! Super, super, super. I love it as much as I always have. Politics is beyond interesting – so incredibly current that I can’t help but love it – , German as wonderful as always (despite one crazy teach…!) and Religious Studies is fabulously fun most of the time, although Mister Plato bores me frozen. And English Literature, of course, is lovely. I have two brilliant and marvellous teachers, and we are reading the best books: Antony&Cleopatra, Persuasion, Snow Falling on Cedars… it’s just so much fun.

I have been busy as banana jam with homework and getting back into the swing of thing; practising piano, a Brownie outing to London Zoo where little Freya got bitten by an alpaca (it sounds hilarious now, but it wasn’t at the time!) and just having fun. I love Year 12. We’re in Sixth Form now so we get lots of free periods and we’re allowed to go home or wherever we want during lunch, and no uniform too….! I’m having a ball in my dresses and tunics and woollen skirts and all. Today two lovely girls from my Politics class and I popped out for frappucinos at lunch, and we had so much fun just chatting and watching the world go by. I am loving Ancient Greek too. It’s a lot of fun. How many times have I said the word ‘fun’? Haha, I hope you’re not counting. I haven’t taken too many pictures but I have snapped a few and…so I thought I’d share two favourites.

 This one is sooooo my life right now – school work and reading for English and polka dot mugs of wintery hot chocolate….all wrapped up with school and happiness and life as a 16-year-old kid. I’m loving it. And, of course, my infamous pink wall from the music room at home had to make an appearance!!!

And this one, I just loved the light. IKEA Lantern love. Gotta love it!

Thank you for reading…and I promise to check out all your blogs asap! I really do. I was going to check them earlier, on Tuesday, but I was feeling so sad about 9/11 that I just didn’t have the heart. May God bless those families. Hugs to you all. Have a nice Friday tomorrow.

Love, Lulu.

{ Autumn , and the kid photographer…}

It truly feels as if autumn is here, doesn’t it? The days are darker, the leaves more crimson, and there is that crisp fresh breeze in the air that one could only associate with autumn. : ) I love it. School starts tomorrow. I had to go in yesterday too – to meet my form tutor, my new form, and to have our photographs taken. There are sixteen – yes, SIXTEEN! – new girls. Sixteen! How will I ever remember them all? I met some lovely people though, and one lovely Victoria is going to be in Ancient Greek with me so I’m happy about that. My form are nice too, and my form tutor is a little strict (still lovely though) but I think she’ll improve.  I liked my photograph too….So, yes. It should be fun. I’m taking English Literature, Politics, German, Religious Studies and Ancient Greek – and I can’t wait, strange as it sounds, to be doing homework again and going to the library for private study and eating in the lunch hall. I just love it. As you well know!  I have a few photographs I was pleased with to share. They so signify that autumn feeling to me – the light, the bokeh, everything…. – I love that it’s coming. It makes me so happy.

And, what else…minus my autumn loves and rambles…well, I picked up my apples for my teachers today – tradition we have – and I had my hair chopped…yep, yesterday before I went into school. All my beautiful long curls gone. But I like it. I needed a change. Not to self: take an SP sometime. It was just getting unmanageable, it was so long…truly. It was hard to wash and I never ever blow-dry my hair so it took forever to dry naturally, and it was all tangly and full of split ends. It’s still classified as long though. :) . And I looked after my cousin today – he goes into Year 2 tomorrow. How adorable is that?! He is getting so grown-up though, and guess what…? He wants to be a photographer when he’s older. I let him use my old film SLR for fun, with no film in, and he loved loved loved it. And it gave me a chance to capture him…. :) Here.

….a little self-portrait ;) …

And, one sans camera…. :)

And that’s all from me….

Love ya, Lulu