Happy Easter - Book of Elsa

Happy Easter - Book of Elsa

Winston Churchill  said that failure is not fatal; that our ability to get up and keep going ultimately defines us more than our mistakes ever will. 

So whilst it's alright to wallow in defeat... If you're like me a couple days spent in bed feeling like crap generally do the trick.

However, it is important to realise that things ALWAYS get better. 

Rise, shower, put make up on, do those little things that make you feel better and leave the house even if it is just to visit the library especially when one doesn't feel like it.

Life keeps us moving forward like a bullet train thus it's safer to stay onboard.

Happy Easter

xo

Art - Book of Elsa

I hate my art; it owns me.

It's more than what I do... It has become who I am.

Writing is my curse, I love it with all I have

It's in my soul, it's my lover, my friend. 

Words are the best I have, the best 

in me. My art brings me more joy than man...

Feelings are confusing they mingle in ones' heart 

stewing and brewing. Making  nonsense.

Words are clear. perfect. Direct. 

They say what they mean and mean what they say.

They can swaddle in eternal warmth and cut deep. Deep in truth.

I hate my art; It owns me.

It is ALL (say it!) that I am.

Book of Elsa. 

WRITER. 

May/June Beauty Favourites

Hi! Welcome to Book of Elsa,

Video does what is says on the tin 

Enjoy! xo

HOW I MISS YOU - Book Of Elsa

HOW I MISS YOU  

by Book of Elsa

I miss the smiles you never had

I miss the clothes you never wore

I miss all the time we would have spent

Playing. Fighting. Loving.

I miss you little boy, like the piece of my heart I never knew I had.

Most of ALL,

I miss the life you didn't have, 

Wondering what kind of man you'd grow to become.

Endless possibilities that weren't to be 

Keep me awake in the dead of night.

Oh How I Miss You... Just like that. 

ONE ART by ELIZABETH BISHOP

One Art

BY ELIZABETH BISHOP

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident

the art of losing’s not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Bread - The Staff of Life

Welcome, to Book of Elsa!
For those who visit my site often carbohydrates are a common sight. The truth is, I love them (too much some might say) in all forms... BREAD being very high on the list.
This is NOT my first attempt at baking bread from scratch; this is NOT my 10th attempt either. I can honestly write that I've wasted tonnes of flour trying to achieve the perfect staff of life and that I kept failing. Badly. All I ever had to show for my efforts were badly shaped, flour covered rocks with the texture of sawdust.
Until this recipe here by Paul Hollywood. Anyone, can make this. I promise.
Elsa, XXO

Sunday, 1st June 2014

Welcome back to my blog! Here is this week edition of Week In Pictures, 

Enjoy....

XXO

Random Pictures Collage - Elsa

Welcome back!

I've got a LOT of random photos on my laptop. Thought I'd put some in a video. Enjoy!

XO

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Dylan Thomas

Welcome to my Blog!!

2014 marks the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth; to celebrate the life and times of Swansea’s most famous son, I began reading some of his works. The one below is a favourite of mine because I believe it's a warning to live life to its fullest. That even if you're going down not to make it easy on yourself 'That Good Night' signifies death to me. Keep Fighting.
What do you think this poem is about??
Elsa xo

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

UNTITLED

Asked myself why I never got a tattoo to remember my brother.

Honestly, I don't need it. I'll never forget him or what happened to him;
I could never write anything about his Life -and death- on my skin or anywhere else.
Not because of its insignificance in my life but simply because: there are No Words.
No words to truly do justice to my feelings on the subject.
To quote an old proverb:
A man wrote a poem on set in stone about LOSS,
Days later he scratched it out.
Loss cannot be described through scriptures.
It has to be endured.

Like love, loss isn't one feeling. It is a mixture of them all;
A wave of pain and emptiness that no amount of writing will ever fill.

Sunday, 20th April 2014

Happy Easter Sunday everyone!

Back by popular demand here is my Week In Pictures:

The Likes of Us - Elsa

Aspirations were not meant for the likes of us
We cannot afford to pay its price
Private schools, elite universities
Legalised gangs and clubs: entry by credit card only.
£20,000 minimum.
This not so simple five letter word brings with it
Problems the likes of us cannot comprehend.
It means seeing beyond the special confines of our lives
Time has taught the likes of us our destiny is to be nothing
Below everyone else only good enough to serve
The likes of us should never read. Why, reading is the same as
Being glued to front of a warm bread filled bakery with an empty stomach
And equally empty pockets.
The likes of us accept our fate not because we want to;
The likes of us accept our fate because once we do we can feel much better.
The likes of us have our dreams stuck in the back of our throats claggy and sticky
Corrupted by fate, circumstance and experience.
Till they are no more than annoying distractions.
The likes of us, like the rest you just want to be happy.

First Day at Work - Truth

Got lost going to work this morning, my first day.
Got to a roundabout no idea where to go, thinking I'm going to lose this job before I even start.
Fighting back tears I called my recruitment agent and he drove me there (ashamed is the word)
Hope I haven't ruined everything

Week In Pictures - Montage Edition

Hi!
Welcome back to my blog!
This week is a bit different because it's in video form. Hope you enjoy it, comment if you like and would like to see more. As always
Thanks for watching....
XXO

Edinburgh Travel

Hi!
Welcome back,
I've only just got back from my trip to Edinburgh and may I just tell you: The pictures will not do it justice. It is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited combining old and new parts of town seemingly. The Scots are so warm and friendly I cannot wait to show you guys... I'm making/editing as I type. The excitement was killing me so I'd thought I'd share a little now.
ENJOY XXO :)

Happiness

It doesn't take much to make me happy, seriously I am all about the little things in life. When you grow up having next to nothing, struggling with the basics and all the while pretending you're ok the simplest things can no only make one happy but also bring me to tears.
Like having a hot shower, pure joy.
Like buttered toast the smell of which is, in my opinion what heaven smells like.
I'm not saying growing up poor is awful, by all means it wasn't. My mother never let our lack of money show either to us or other people. Far from it, I'm saying it made me appreciate what I have now all the more. It has made me want better for myself, it has taught me to work hard.  But most of all, it has shown me that one doesn't need a lot in order to not only survive, but be HAPPY. Isn't that, at the end of the day what we're all aiming for?
XO

Let's Dance!

Hi guys,
Overall, almost 64% of all adults in England have a body mass index over 25. Figures between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered healthy... In order to help (myself) I've decided to start dancing a little everyday.
Just enough to get my heart rate up whilst I get boogie with it; if you'd like incentives as to why dancing is the best form of exercise I've included a video :)
Enjoy,
XXO

Happy New Year!!

Chinese New Year is upon us and the year of the Horse is my birth year sooo to celebrate I am getting Chinese food and having an old style Jet Li marathon starting with Once Upon a Time in China and Martial Arts of Shaolin. Can't Wait!
Also I've found a recipe for my favourite dim sum of all time: Pork and Prawn Dumplings, from the BBC Food website to try later...
Any recommendations??

Happy Year of the Horse!
Enjoy, XXO

Being a Woman

I'm thinking about the time I became a woman.
Wince at the thought because in all honesty it was horrifying.
If I remember correctly the event brought with it a mixture of fear, pain, self-consciousness and the deep desire to hide my new found femininity.
12 years later, nothing much has changed; I feel all those things. Everyday.
So does it mean that being a woman is particularly hard, or that I am doing it wrong? God only knows.
From what I've been taught by other women I'm failing. Especially when it comes to my mother I mean to her being a woman IS a full time job. You have to be both strong and weak (appeal to men), independent and reliant (appeal to men), smart but not TOO smart... WTF??
I think I'm going to keep on failing for a while yet.

Elsa

Sleep

I'm scared,
The world after university is too big and way too small at the same time.

My choices are limited and endless, I wake up everyday wishing someone would tell me what to do... point me in the right direction. A map maybe at the end of the bed that says 'Hey there! How's it going? Here's a plan for the rest of your life, enjoy" No such luck.

My plan B (and am really rooting for this) is an impending apocalypse ending the world as we know it (zombies if you're curious) so I won't have to make up my mind. Until then I'm here, typing like a lunatic at 4:41 am, because let's be honest if I don't use my brain for something soon it will atrophy.

By the way I love writing, don't even care that no one might be reading (hope there is at least one - please comment below if you are) It's the feeling of emptying my clustered mind onto paper/screen I adore. I can never make sense of words out loud but somehow when I write - and edit - I can convey my feelings in a way that other humans can understand.

See that is why I embrace other animals, they have no need for trivial stuff like syllables and sentences; grunts and body language works for them, sometimes I wish I could be more open to people. But then I wouldn't read or write. Blasphemy.

Good Morning,
Elsa

XXO