RAISING THE MONEY

Right, i am starting off my travels in COSTA RICA where i am volunteering in the depths of the country to improve their health, education and lifestyle by building education/health centres, teaching english and working in the rainforest to improve the conservation of their local wildlife!

It is going to be relatively tough i am sure and a bit lonely too but thats all good, i am up for it.
I have to raise some money to show my commitment for the cause and to do so i am holding 2 events in Jersey. A gig at the Watersplash with Ben Howard headlining and half price surf lessons, all proceeds going to charity!
I am working on the poster right now... i'll add that on when it's done.

In the meantime check out this website where i hope to raise some money and just spread the word -

http://www.justgiving.com/Delia-Baker

The weariness and silences of such a crowded situation here.

A friend and up and coming artist who will be coming to Jersey for my charity gig.
www.myspace.com/benhoward

These Waters..

I saw red and yellow flowers outside

The brightest sunrise than i seen in a long time.

And through it all,

I stood and stumbled, waded through my thoughts and heart

Yeah through it all,

I fooled and fumbled, lost to the poet's frown.

I fought the wolves of patience just to let it lie down.

See these waters they'll pull you up,

Oh if you're bolder than the darkness.

That these songs be an instrument to cut,

Spaces between the happiness and the hardness.

Out the door,

The touch of morning, the burning of the frost

Out the door

Strong hands to hold; good friends that i never lost.

And what we found 

Down these coves of limestone and cockle shells,

What we found

Down these roads that wander as lost as the heart,

Is a chance to breathe again, a chance for a fresh start. 

See these waters they'll pull you up,

Oh if you're bolder than the darkness.

That these songs be an instrument to cut,

Spaces between the happiness and the hardness.

Oh, spaces between the happiness and the hardness.

-  The beach, being near the sea in the wind rain or sun is something that makes me bloody happy! 

Read more:http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=143232027&blogId=526299443#ixzz0uA5rcHDW

a pothole of memories.

So at the moment i am talking to no one and listening to Grizzly Bear - Grizzly Bear is passive to my past and does not create any intense memories - so i feeling a bit low i can be content with it for now.

I went swimming with a good friend yesterday, Annie Law - http://annieloulaw.blogspot.com/ We were talking about anything and everything and we got on to the subject of being/feeling alone and the pain and loneliness that it can create - we both agreed how crucial it is to try and conquer this fear, but is that ever possible? We explored how listening to music is sometimes the scariest thing ever when you do feel sad or alone; the emotions it can arise are often impossible to face.

It sounds cliche but music is the most powerful drug known to man - so powerful it has made the majority of the musicians in the past want it so bad, loose their minds, take drugs... and die. Therefore loose all the passion and roots of what music actually is... it is sad. And obviously that is an exaggeration but i guess also it is a metaphor for love and sanity - and the pain and extent people will go through to find it. Should you search for it? Or will it come naturally?

My next hurdle is Control... to what limit can you have the strength to control your own emotions and remain healthy? When is it the right time to listen to music/your heart and are you a coward if you are afraid to?

Possibly having the strength to be completely alone with no music, no outside interference is almost more courageous, you are relying on your own strength of mind to settle yourself OR are you just afraid to face those fears and memories that music can create.

Music is a pothole of memories. It can make you feel amazing, on top of the world and it can make you feel pathetic, small and lonely. It's all just in the essence of your timing and the tone. 

Annie introduced me to The Cribs properly as we were driving around in the sun yesterday... something new and exciting for my ears. At that time it made me feel on top of the world and therefore now will create a great memory. 

The end of A beginning.

My friend, a best friend, http://indiebeau.blogspot.com/ told me to do another post so i am going to simply obey her orders and do so as i sit and fester in my bed reminiscing over last nights intense antics.

Intense in all aspects of emotion. It was our official last day in which we HAD to go to school - so 14years of education FINISHED. Pretty amazing, considering in my first post i expressed how i was never one for the system of scholarly education.

To be honest i only have one exam left in Media Studies so my life is not as stressful as others - i am actually quite bored and becoming unmotivated and lazy - which i hate. And therefore i have only been going in for one lesson a day that seems to always get side tracked onto watching amusing and unfortunate YouTube videos.

Well anyway i am going to give you an insight into the end of a beginning and the beginning of the reason for this blog - finishing student hood and concurring the wide world - well attempting at least.

Jord & Em slaving away in Media Studies

Jord has the heart of a queen and a special ability to fall over or trip where no one else could possibly imagine.

Em is the fashion councillor who's smile could charm a blind king.

Here is a slice of my photography - it is in fact the layout for our exhibition.

A mixture of travel and portrait photography.

So GETTING READY" Schools been and gone so time to go out and celebrate properlyyy. Here is picture of my queen Tamsin and myself.

Jords hosts the pre-drinks.

...and supplies the stolen cigars...

Well i may as well introduce myself. this is me. yup. i think too much. party too much. read too little. say my opinion. enjoy adventures - sporting and all. could not live without music but also could not live with out my eyes, i tend to indulge in the beauty of the world for safety.

The ocean keeps me sane and i wouldn't mind being a fish.

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ANYWAY... after some intense and explicit games of 'I have never...' we got truly and utterly merry, told each other how much we loved each other and crawled onto the bus into town where we sang our hearts out to classic tunes - with not a care in the world, simply beautiful.

1st. Stop was Champions Bar where all the other schools crammed the d-floor to reminisce, dance and drink.

Reuniting and taking photos in the toilets - completely standard.

Tamsin being a lad with her pint.

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I was loving the night of friends and ladies until sadly the boyfriend turned up and changed the mood :/ I did not want this to happen but it did. We had things to sort out.

Therefore we ended up rolling home to his flat (which is bare and dirty as he is moving out) sitting on the floor of the lounge as there are no sofas - drinking and smoking until we sorted it out.

Can love conquer all though?

"We live our lives on different sides But we keep together you and I."

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Anyway - back to the celebrations.

Basically our teachers bribed us with a free breakfast instead of having a 'Muck Up Day' and messing up the school. Considering we were all hungover, are generally pretty lazy and don't really care about messing up the school (as you then just have to tidy it up) we were completely down with a free English Breakfast along St Ouen's Bay to cure the head.

And that was that...We then finished off our mid-week smash up with a windy yet fresh stroll along the beach - perfection.

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The End.

Jersey Streets through Pentax film

"Empty, the streets have their own kind of beauty, a kind of decaying splendour and always great atmosphere - whether romantic on a hazy winter day, or listless when the summer is hot; sometimes it is forbidding..."

Two girls jiving, Richmond Jazz Festival, 1967

‘Photography involves two main distortions - the simplification into black and white and the seizing of an instant in time. It is this particular mixture of reality and unreality, and the photographer’s power to select, that makes it possible for photography to be an art. Whether it is good art depends on the power and truth of the artist’s statement.’

Roger Mayne, Peace News, 1960

I have studied a lot of Roger Mayne’s street photography and despite the brilliance in all of his images, this image has always remained my favourite. I love how it portrays such a strong sense of freedom and soul yet also concentration with such simplistic style. A keeper.

www.rogermayne.com

To Write.

It could be seen that i am hugely hypercritical.

I have an endless passion for music, yet i do not play an instrument.

I enjoy fashion, yet i do not care enough or have the patience to practice it.

I have a fascination for knowledge and history, yet i never listened when i had the chance - therefore now i try and catch up. However, i struggle to just read knowledge, i like to see it to learn it.

I love to write and read poetry, yet i get lazy, loose inspiration and think everything i write is then crap.

Photography and Art, i practice. Photography more so - subconsciously most probably because it is the easy option, less time consuming and not testing my invalid patience.

I initially was going to start this Blog just before i went travelling, which is to come in October, so that my family and friends can see where i am at, if i’m alive and what strange cults i may have been brainwashed to join. However, i wanted the chance to follow the music blogs and then decided we might as well capture the journey from start to finish.

I am about to finish school, i have one exam left and c/w deadlines but on June 15th i will be done. I have never enjoyed school. I did’t hate it, i just didn’t enjoy it. I was confrontational in my younger years leading to me being ‘hard work’ and once ‘malicious.’ Simply because i had an opinion and lots of people did not/do not. They go by the book and agree. Which at school i agree is a clever logic as you should ‘respect’ the teachers and their authority, it was just sometimes their thrill to endure a power trip whenever possible instead of having real passion for their subject irritated me, leading to me rebel. I think the majority of the teachers at my school have little to no passion for their subject, therefore how are we supposed to have passion and enthusiasm?

Anyway. I will finish and then start my summer job. O yeah, i live in Jersey, a little island in the English Channel between France and England, it is 9/5 miles, beautiful. and claustrophobic. You will hear about it more sometime i am sure. The reason i mentioned it now is because my summer job is working on the beach as a Surf Instructor, it is a rewarding, tiring and a pretty perfect summer job. You’ll get the jist of it when i start and i can show pictures.

I will then begin my travels in Costa Rica where i will go explore, surf and learn spanish for a few weeks before getting carted off to some local village to teach english and help for a month. I will then transfer to the rainforest/beach and do a month of environmental work… From there the plan is Melbourne to live with a best friend of mine, Carmen, you will also hear more about her, teach surfing or work in a bar, get some money somehow someway. Untill i jet to Indo, to surf my heart out in the cheap perfection of Sumbawa and Bali. I hope to then be typical and live it up in Thailand and hopefully depending on funds explore as much of Asia as i can.

Keeping it spontaneous.