enjoying your sunday evening?

:)

I got my Wii back on thursday! I've pretty much been living in mario world since then. It's really freaky though - if I play mariokart for too long in one day I go crazy. I hear the music EVERYWHERE! So if I'm trying to get to sleep or something all I hear is 'dun dun dun dun dundundun dun dun DA DUN da dun dun dadundun'.

Well, you all know the Mario music.

In the latest Sugar mag there was this really interesting article on teenage homelessness. One of the writers went round different places in England where there are homeless people and teens and spoke to them etc. Imagine how long the days would be if you didn't know where you were going to sleep that night, then spending the night in pure terror in case someone found you.

I'm thinking about all the people like that in Belfast right now.

Also, how people have all these prejudices/sterotypes/discrimination against homeless people. The main cause for homelessness in Northern Ireland is family and relationship breakdowns. One girl in Sugar said she ran away when her dad lost his jub, started drinking and getting violent with her and her mum. It's really sad.

And look at me, talking about how I got my Wii back a few days ago.. taking for granted there's a warm bed upstairs in a safe house...

We are all extremely lucky.

xoxo
kate

music therapy:
ignorance - paramore

Anna Banana (check out her blog!) wrote a post on the songs that made her smile.

I liked that idea - spreading a little happiness :) - so I think I'll do it too!

ABC, 123 - Jackson 5

The Best Day - Taylor Swift

Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) - Mika

Big Sur - The Thrills

Birds - Kate Nash

Breakfast in NYC - Oppenheimer

Bruises - Chairlift

Contagious - Avril Lavigne

Dancing Queen - ABBA

Do The Panic - Phantom Planet

Does Your Mother Know - ABBA

Fearless - Taylor Swift

Feeling Better - The Teenagers

Foundations - Kate Nash

Girls and Boys In Love - The Rumble Strips

Hot 'n' Cold - Katy Perry

I'm Yours - Jason Mraz

I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me - Annie

Ice Cream - New Young Pony Club

If You Can Afford Me - Katy Perry

In The Morning - The Coral

Love It When You Call - The Feeling

Love Story - Taylor Swift

Mad About The Boy - Ava Leigh

Mary's Song (Oh My My My) - Taylor Swift

Mercy - Duffy

My World - Avril Lavigne

Naive - The Kooks

Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi

On the Beat - Electrocute

Our Song - Taylor Swift

Paper Planes - MIA

Pull Shapes - The Pipettes

Pumpkin Soup -Kate Nash

Rad - Smoosh

Shake It - Metro Station

She's Got You High - Mumm-Ra

She's So Lovely - Scouting For Girls

Spotlight (Twilight Mix) - Mutemath

Stay Beautiful - Taylor Swift

Super Duper Love - Joss Stone

Teenage Kicks - The Undertones

Tim McGraw - Taylor Swift

Toothpaste Kisses - The Maccabees

Turn It Up - Robots In Disguise

Ultraviolet - The Stiff Dylans

Up - The Saturdays

Valerie - The Zutons

We Get On - Kate Nash

When Did Your Heart Go Missing - Rooney

Who Needs Love? - Razorlight

Wonderwall - Oasis

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Young Folks - Peter Bjorn and John

1234 - Feist

5 Years Time - Noah and The Whale

wow. that's a long list!

If you're ever feeling down - look at this post! 

There's nothing that 60 songs from my iPod can't cure :P

Have a lovely day

xoxo

kate

Yesterday, (Friday the 13th - AGAIN), was Red Nose Day in the UK. A.K.A Comic Relief! Woop!

Comic Relief is a charity that fights against malaria in Africa, and helps out young carers,  runaways etc in the UK, too.

It's pretty awesome.

Anyhow, I wore a red nose to school yesterday, but our form tutor was annoyed with our class because some peeps  messed around in History on Thursday, and our history teacher came to registration in the morning and complained :( He made us write an essay in form period on 'why respect is important'. Mine was really deep. I said, 'Together, with respect, (school), the city, the country, the world, will be a better place.'

Oh yeah... Anyhow.

He made anyone with a red nose take them off. It's lucky my hair covered the red heart drawn on my cheek with lip-liner :P

The TV is great for Comic Relief. I watched the doc of the celebs climbing up Mount Kilamanjaro, it was so good. They raised so much money. 

And then there was Comic Relief Does The Apprentice, the Mamma Mia spoof (that was hilarious), the Ricky Gervais thing... and of course the videos showing the effects of malaria. Those videos were so sad, and a bit distressing too. I mean, who likes to see babies die? I sent the text message that donates a fiver, buys a mosquito net, and saves a life pretty much. Then my family called in and gave £50 which gives emergency treatment to 40 kids with malaria.

One child dies every 30 seconds from malaria. That's one million every year, and it's a preventable cause!! 

To anyone who did see it - did you see the video of the teacher who asked her class to put up their hands if they knew someone who died from malaria? The whole class had their hands up. I was in tears the whole time. 

But, omygosh, you will never believe how much money the raised!!!

OVER £57,000,000! 57 MILLION POUNDS!!!!!!!!

That will help so much. 

What else. It's my school's ski trip. I really wish I'd gone! I was allowed to!! I didn't want to at the time, but I do now! They're away to Austria.

Downloading some music... yesterday and today iTunes are donating 20p from the 79p a song costs in the UK top 40. I bought a few, Right Round, I'm Yours, Broken Strings... and I just bought Taylor Swift's album :)

Feels good to help the world.

lots of love

kate xx

Hiii!!

You know the way I'm really deep and everything? With always something intellectual and fascinating to say? 

OMG, seriously don't drink water that's been left out overnight. If it looks bubbly, and it's not lemonade, don't go anywhere near it unless you are literally dying of thirst. It tastes like PUKE.

Yes, well, in R.E we've been studying different denominations of Christianity (Catholics & Protestants), and I realised that this whole 'labels' thing is just crap. 

And not just religious labels. I'm Catholic, and I go to a Catholic school, but SO WHAT? Seriously? That's just one thing I am. I'm also a Libra and I mostly like pop and indie guitar type music, and I'm a vegetarian, and I'm a serious book junkie and I'm a chocaholic.. the list goes on. 

I live in Belfast, and there was a lot of tension between Catholics and Protestants. A lot. And that's settled down now, what with ecumenism etc. But maybe people are just fed up of being judged by what church they go to or what part of the city they live in. 

Really, if someone said to me 'Hey, I'm a Protestant.' I'd be just like, 'Oh, really? Have you seen [insert movie name in here].' 

Or if there was a girl in my year who had a black school bag with skull and MCR badges stuck on, I'd still be completely interested in what her opinion on global warming, or something, was. 

Hmm. I wonder if cliques annoy me too. Actually, now that I think about it, they don't. If you like hip-hop and want to hang around with people who also like hip-hop, that's perfectly normal. Having things in common. What is bad, is when people of said hip-hop group refuse to talk to or be friends with someone from the drama club. That's really stupid. Because that person could introduce you to a whole new thing. What's wrong with being a hip-hop loving drama girl? Or boy. But the majority (actually whole) of the commenters and followers are les filles. 

So whatever your colour, creed (beliefs), nationality, music taste, fashion sense, etc. etc. etc. it doesn't matter. 'Cause you are unique and beautiful, baybee! 

Aw, I'm all full of love at the mo. 

Love love love, Kate

xoxox xD

Alright, confession time. I'm a serious save-the-world chica.

If that TV is left on stand-by, if your lamp is on and no-one's in the room, if you don't switch the toaster off at the wall when you're done, I will pounce.

OK, don't get scared! All I do is try to make the Earth a better place for future generations.

But coming up to Christmas, that is hard. Even for me. I'm so excited about tearing open a fab new gift, that recycling the packaging doesn't even cross my mind. 

So, I've resolved that this season I'm going to keep on saving the world, not put it on hold. You should too! And if you don't already recycle/energy-save/re-use/etc. here are some trés-facile (I had my French listening exam today, croissants and baguettes are still wandering around my mind) ways to have fun and help the enviornment.

1. Energy Saving

I luurve the twinkle of fairy lights around the Christmas tree in the evening, but if you're leaving yours on in the day, when you're at school, there's a bit of a problemo. Seriously, what's the point in leaving them on? But with the flick of a switch, your conscience is clean. 

2. Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.

Oo-er. Grandma's just given you a hideous cardi that you know you wouldn't be seen dead in! But before you put it in the bin or burn it it's so ugly, why not give it to your local charity shop? You never know, someone might think it's a spectacular piece from Victorian times. Just spare your nan and tell her it's lovely.

If you're like me, and couldn't wrap a prezzie to save your life, and instead end up with wrapping paper stuck to your hair, don't chuck out the crumpled pieces of paper. Put it in your paper bin. Just make sure there's no bits of sellotape stuck to it, it's not recyclable.

Old jam jar about to be put in the rubbish? How about painting it and making it a pretty tea-light jar? Give it to someone as a gift, or keep it for the dinner table.

Cut down on landfill and make gift-tags out of old Christmas/Birthday cards.

3. Trees

Did you know that about six-million Christmas trees will be thrown out this year, creating more than 9,000 tonnes of waste?

Persuade your folks to get an artificial tree instead of buying a real one every year. Artifial trees can be taken apart and put up again every year. This saves loads of landfill.

4. Prezzies

My friends and I have a Secret Santa every year, it's so much fun. Tip - don't buy cheap little things that fall apart in a minute. They have to be thrown out. I'd rather spend a fiver on some make-up and hair prods for someone than a quid on rubbish.

Hope this helps you have a enviro-friendly Christmas!

P.S, it's only 2 weeks! So excited!