so to my delight and utter astonishment i got a nice surprise yesterday morning when i found out that the lovely Kate over at Vintage in a Modern World had given me a 'stylish blogger award'
the award is a sort of meme thing where if you're awarded it you have to list 7 facts about yourself then pass the award on to 7 other bloggers that you think deserve the award
so here goes... i tried to think of things that you might not have necessarily known about me, or maybe not known as much about
7 facts...
1. i'm a little bit (a lot) obsessed with classical art and architecture.
ahaha thought i'd kick this off with a cool fact! no but seriously, i'm not even sure why!
all i know is that i can happily sit and flick through books of classical stuff for hours and hours!
don't get me wrong i love contemporary art and architecture as well but there's just something about the old stuff that intrigues me. especially the way it's helped shape and form today's art and architecture.
i have more books on Greek and Roman architecture and art than i do on any other subject. you might not think stuff like that matters nowadays but go to an old big city and look around, you'll see architecture inspired by the classical style all over the place! honest...
2. i'm kind of addicted to buying and reading books!
seriously, about 85% of what i spend goes on books alone, i rarely visit town without making a trip to the book stores and whenever i'm away anywhere a book shop is usually the first place i'll go to!
unless i'm in a foreign country... but honestly even then i head in for a skeet and have even, on occasion bought books in foreign languages!
i have so many books in my room i've run out of shelf space so they're just stacked about the place or lined up against the wall all along the floor.
in fact i have books in most rooms in the house, i don't think there's actually a room in Chateau Boylan that doesn't have at least one or two books in it!
i wouldn't change a thing though since "a room without books is like a person without a soul"
i'd also like to say that i have one of those memories where i can remember everything i read, but i don't... i just love to read! whatever and whenever, hand me a book and i'll be happy
3. i've (secretly) always wanted to be an actress! sounds mad i know but although art was always my favourite class at school (right from age 4) growing up i always secretly aspired to be an actress!!!
for as long as i can remember i'd sit and watch movies/musicals/shows and while my friends saw the magical characters and wanted it all to be real, i just wanted to be an actress so i could play characters like that too one day!
at school i joined all the drama clubs to be in the school productions but i took private piano lessons instead of private drama lessons and as such most of the top parts always went to the private drama students in the auditions, which is understandable.
so eventually i guess i just sort of gave up and worked backstage instead where weirdly i always ended up being in charge of costumes, props, scripts, sets, blah blah blah regardless of my age.
so apart from reading/writing plays at school for drama and English lit classes + playing a few characters in class while reading out Sophocles, Shakespeare, Brecht, Clark and countless other playwrights, i never really followed it properly!
people always say it's never too late to follow your dreams but i wouldn't have the confidence to pursue it now!!! looks like i'll stick to art instead :)
4. i used to a complete and utter tomboy. now i know what you're thinking, every time i post a photo of myself on here i'm always in a dress and i usually have red lipstick/nail varnish on, so how can i be a tomboy?!
well i'm not a tomboy any more, i just used to be! i grew up spending my time playing outside in the river knee deep in muddy water, or playing with my toy train set (told you i loved trains!) and cars. and if i was indoors i was usually watching scary movies or playing racing games on various games consoles.
school didn't help. you see at my school there was no trouser option for girls so far as the school uniform went. at primary school it was tartan kilts in the winter and striped dresses in the summer. and at high school it was pinstriped pencil skirts all the time. no choice.
so at the weekends and days off i pretty much lived in hoodies, t-shirts, jeans and converse/trainers. in fact the thought of wearing a dress or skirt in my spare time horrified me.
the only time i got to wear trousers at school was for (some) sports lessons and CCF training.
you see as if i wasn't enough of a tomboy already, i was also in the CCF (combined cadet force) at school.
which basically meant crawling in the rain drenched mud, marching about during drill training, lying on the floor for weapons practice at the shooting range and shining up boots and buttons before going on parade.
a lot of my (girl) friends resented it all but i loved it! the combat uniform, the beret, the camouflage gear! running through marshes covered in camo paint practicing orienteering.
we even went to a British Army camp across, it was great! i really enjoyed my time in the CCF.
all cadets started off in basic Army training and then you could stay in the Army or switch to the RAF (Royal Air Force) or the RN (Royal Navy)
so i ended up in the Royal Navy which was also brilliant! learning to sail boats and kayak, what's not to love!
anyway by the time i reached Sixth form and started studying for the IB, i still hated skirts! sixth formers get to wear skirt and trouser suits so naturally i LIVED in trousers. even my first year at college was the same. jeans. day in day out.
and then for some reason around summer 09 i started wearing dresses...
i'm still not entirely sure why! all i know is that i lived in them for the rest of the summer... and the winter... and have been wearing them non-stop ever since!
funny how things turn out :)
5. i don't really have any proper hobbies. like most people maybe go to a dance class or join a choir, play a sport, take a cookery or painting class etc etc i do... nothing.
i mean obviously i have hobbies (of sorts) but they're not really proper hobbies. for example. other than reading all the time, i study art history as a sort of hobby.
i also study classical mythology of the ancient cultures from around the world. see what i mean... they're not really 'hobbies' are they.
to be honest i've never really had any proper hobbies! so far as after school clubs go, at school i always went to art club (surprise, surprise), drama club (sad but true), tennis club (no joke), football club (yes really), fencing club (honestly) and scrabble club (i had no choice in the matter).
but i haven't played tennis, football or practiced fencing for years! and i grew to loathe scrabble because of aforementioned scrabble club.
no dance classes for little miss boylan. i was already in the choir so that doesn't count. however, i can't help but think i've missed out on hobbies a little over the years. i should probably try and find a suitable hobby now but i'm too stuck in my boring ways to want to!!!
more of my current boring 'hobbies' include: astrology, divination, symbology, mythology... and writing.
well i told you i lived a boring life...
6. i am a useless jack of all trades, or a 'jade' of all trades! i was taught French at school from the age of 4 and i STILL can't speak/write/understand it fluently. not even close!!! i studied Spanish for 3 years and can barely remember any of it now. I've been learning Italian for a year and am also useless at it. languages are clearly NOT my forte. end of.
i took piano lessons for 5 years and still can't read sheet music. i can remember notes and small pieces but sheet music makes my head want to explode. i have to decipher and translate it note by note as if i were reading a page in French/Spanish/Italian. music also clearly not my forte.
i can name all the orders of Greek Architecture and draw out a diagram of them explaining the various parts and their names... but i can't drive a car or bake a batch of cookies without burning them
i can tell you the history of the Sistine Chapel and how Michelangelo painted it or explain the stories behind most of the Pre-Raphealite masterpieces... but i can't change a bulb or fix a fuse without the serious possibility of electrocuting myself to death
i can remember all of the words to Habanera and Seguedilla or recite the prologue of Romeo and Juliet word for word... but i can't remember when my sisters/nieces/cousins birthday's are
WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MY LIFE!!!!!!
7. FACT: writing these 7 facts has been one of the most difficult things I've undertaken in a long, long time! seriously i must have spent about 3 hours sitting here trying to think of 7 useless facts. here's the proof, i genuinely couldn't think of a 7th so i wrote this instead!
what an ordeal...
phew!
anyway i have to pass it on to 7 bloggers as well, so here are my seven, a fabulously mixed bunch of lovely ladies
anyway thanks for stopping by to read up on the 7 random (aka boring) facts about me!
that's all folks... ★ ◕‿◕ xX
