In April 2022, I took a month long trip to the Italian capital. Aside from one week where my mother and lover joined me, I solo-travelled the eternal city. In some ways, Rome is a typical European city, and in many others, it is incredibly unique. A must-visit, some might say, myself included. If you’re a solo female traveller that’s heading to Rome, here are … Continue reading A Guide To Rome For Annie (And For You)
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to welcome you tonight, to one of the greatest nights in human history. Boy am I going to beat out that sea-scraping speech…I’m kidding, of course. All our work here at BioBeta is equally important. Some of it is just a little more exciting. I have to start out with the necessary bits, so please disconnect your … Continue reading FICTION: Simulated Nature Shit Machine
(You know the drill, all names have been changed.) Today, I’d like to tell you the story of my first job. My 15 year old self described the role once as ‘the maitre’d in a greasy spoon’. That about sums up my hatefully optimistic attitude to the whole thing. I still can’t work out whether it was incredibly gruelling work, or whether I was just … Continue reading The Castle on the Hill
Just a quick one today! When it comes to songs, I love finding hidden gems from around the world. I’ve written a few blog posts on my favourite world music that I have found so far, and I have another one coming. But, in the meantime, I thought it might be cool to tell you how you can find songs from different countries. I have … Continue reading How to Find More World Music
Deep into the search for self, the spinning fractals of Madchester and its descendant indie scene light the way for the troubled teenager. Thirty years after its release, The Stone Roses’ eponymous LP remains the headlamp of choice, faint rumblings of revolutionary thought and grounding in the grounded classes guiding the only-slightly edgy into an individuality. An individuality shared with a million other individuals: the … Continue reading A Guide To Happy Music: The Stone Roses’ ‘The Stone Roses’
In April 2022, I travelled to Rome for the month. That’s Easter month, for those not pumped with spiritual propaganda in primary school or lucky enough to escape the commercialism that’s latched itself to Christianity, the West’s mothering religion. One morning I woke up to find the population of Rome, who at that point were still clad in thick duffel coats and jackets to stave … Continue reading The Lord’s Best Supplicant.
That damned owl is a figure we’ve all become a little bit more accustomed to in recent years. Duolingo has quickly, and probably quite rightfully, become the best place to incorporate language learning into our everyday. Having been a member since 2015, I used to employed the common and lacklustre attitude to the app, strengthened by the joy one feels deep in their soul every-time … Continue reading What I Learned In A Year On Duolingo
AN: This is a piece I wrote for an assignment – go somewhere you’ve never been before. The sun shines through shredded sky, night disappearing. From the decaying footpath, behind there are motors, in front there is splendour, to the left there are grandparents, to the right there are daffodils. The colossus reaches up into the sky and across for two miles, its younger sibling … Continue reading Somewhere You’ve Never Been Before
(As per, all names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved). When I was six, my nan showed me a picture of my mother from her childhood in Belgium. She was sat in formation with about thirty other girls, dressed in immaculate blue uniforms with white neckties, and a perfect scale model of the Taj Mahal between them. Later that evening, my … Continue reading Brownie Points: Girl Guides For (and Against) the World
Listening to music on a flight is an odd experience. It’s obviously the best choice for entertainment, especially if you don’t have a screen or a tray-table big enough for your laptop. But, the claustrophobic din of the engines and passengers doesn’t really disappear even when the music is playing. Noise-cancelling headphones are alright, but sometimes they make my head feel like it’s going to … Continue reading The Airplane Playlist
ELLE VA 