Goodbye Grandad Skelton

Sadly my Grandad passed away today.
I wanted to write this blog post, not to dwell on death and sadness, but instead to remember the happy moments and to celebrate his life. He was a great person: kind, generous, highly intelligent (one of the first in my family to go to university) and he had a wonderful subtle sense of humour which he never lost despite the circumstances.

When I was younger, even though he was retired, he continued to help teach design technology classes at schools around Harpenden. He'd design mini projects for them to construct and whenever me and my sisters went to my grandparent's house - we would test out his ideas and make the little models. Although most of the children he helped probably won't remember him by name, it makes me happy that some of them might remember the man that used to visit their school and help them with their design projects. In the garden my Grandad even had a little work shop and I have fond memories spending time in there making random things like key-rings and jewellery out of bits and pieces he had lying around.

Another thing me and my sisters would always do with Grandad when we visited was go to a small park close to my grandparent's house. We'd pretend we were fire fighters and that the climbing frame was a burning building, of course Grandad would always join in with our imaginary games and we'd 'save him' from the flames...

I know he is no longer here to read this in person but nevertheless, I want to say a massive thank you to him. I firmly believe that every person in your life influences who you are and what you do. My Grandad's generosity meant that I could afford to go to university, something that I will always be so grateful for and I hope I can carry on helping people like he did. But if there's one thing that Grandad made me realise - it's that even when things get tough the best thing you can do is to stay optimistic and most importantly, never lose your sense of humour.

R.I.P. Grandad, lots of love.

Laura.

Work Experience at Penguin

With the end of university drawing increasingly closer, the prospect of having to find a job and choose a career is something that starts to become reality rather than just a distant thought in the back of your mind (even if you wish it could just remain the latter). So over the Christmas holidays last year I started to email some publishers based in London to try and gain some work experience in publishing. However, although I did receive a range of responses none of them led to anything certain and I decided to focus on my university work and exams for a while because I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere. After exams had finished and I'd moved back home for the summer I decided to give it one last shot, there was one publishing house I hadn't yet applied to - Penguin. Unexpectedly, the morning after I sent my application off I received an email offering me two weeks work experience in the publicity department with the Penguin Press imprint. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity.

Penguin is based at 80 Strand in London; a large, impressive eight storey building that is fronted with an old archway - just what you'd expect really! On my first day I was very nervous as I waited in the Penguin reception for Matt (the publicity assistant) to come and collect me. But I needn't have been nervous because all of the team I worked with where absolutely lovely and very welcoming. I was shown around the building, given my ID pass and told more about the role of the publicity department and what I'd be doing during the two weeks. I'm happy to say that I was kept very busy: sending out books to journalists, cutting out and filing news coverage, writing/editing press releases, putting together material for the department's noticeboard, answering enquires via email and of course some basic admin tasks. I'm sure I've missed some things out, but you get the idea. I also got to sit in the departmental meetings and the larger scale Penguin Press meetings with editorial, marketing and sales which helped give me the bigger picture and an overview of the various stages in publishing.

Before I started work experience I was concerned about commuting to London everyday and whether I'd find an office based job engaging... But by the end of the two weeks I'd got into the routine of travelling too and from London everyday and I was never bored in the office because there was always so much to do - plus publicity involves arranging events with authors beyond the confines of the office which is nice as I thrive being around people. I learnt so much from the people I was working with during my time there and gained some invaluable advice that I hope will help me in the future. The fact that the people at Penguin genuinely love what they do is definitely very infectious, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Penguin and if I can get a job in publishing after university (particularly in London) I will be absolutely thrilled. On a side note, the Penguin offices are a great environment to work in: bright, airy an filled with piles of books (you'd expect nothing less) and is one of the coolest work spaces I've ever seen! Publicity is a department I'd never considered before and work experience showed me the range of roles there are within publishing beyond editorial - which what most people associate with publishing. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for opportunities in either of these departments. My main advice for anyone wanting to go into publishing would be to remain open minded and if you get offered work experience, make sure you ask lots of questions! I've found that the more you put into these experiences, the more you'll get out of it. Not only did I gain knowledge due to the whole experience, I also gained confidence and independence.

While I was at Penguin somebody said to me: "People who want to work in publishing will always end up working in publishing". Publishing is competitive and difficult to get into but if you're willing to work for it, you'll get there eventually. So, to anybody who is struggling to get some experience or a job in publishing - keep trying! There's certainly an element of luck and timing with these things and persistence pays off in most cases. I'm glad I now have an aim for after I finish my degree because in all honesty university was always the furthest point in my life I'd planned up to and it's comforting to have at least some idea of what I want to do in the future.

P.S. Everyday I walked past a super cute little coffee shop called 'The Fleet Street Press' and one lunch time I decided to treat myself to a homemade brownie and a latte, if you're ever in the area I'd definitely recommend it. I also got some free books during my work experience (perks of working for a publishing company) so thank you Penguin - especially the Penguin Press Publicity team!

If you have any questions feel free to message me.




Laura

Song: Shine by Years & Years


Twitter: @lauraskelton_
Instagram: lauraskelton_
Tumblr: www.marvellousvictory.tumblr.com

Updates and Thank You

It has been quite a while since my last blog post went up and it probably won't come as a surprise that lots of things have happened during the intermediate gap of nothingness on this online space. I revised, took my university exams, moved home for the summer, completed a placement at Penguin Books (blog post coming soon with more info on that one!), finished my second year of university with a first, saw Ed Sheeran at Wembley, and have caught up with some of my friends from home.

However, despite all the good things that have happened recently there's been a few stressful things mixed in. I don't really know how many of my friends read my blog, but now the days of 'like for a like' are over and only exist on timehop, I feel like it can be easy to forget to say how much you appreciate people. So I just wanted to say a massive thank you to all of my friends (you guys know who you are). Although you may not realize it, you all help me through the stressful times even if it's just making me laugh and taking my mind off things. I don't know what I'd do without you all! But also, thank you to anyone who takes the time to read my blog posts - it really means a lot to me and I never expected to get as many views on here as I do!

I hope everybody has a wonderful summer, my publishing work experience blog post will be up soon, in the meantime make the most of any free time you have to catch up with friends - may it be relatively new ones or old ones you've known for years.

Laura.

Song: Another You by Against The Current 

Nostalgia

I'm a pretty nostalgic person. I've always fallen into the category of people who tend to drift back into thinking about 'how things used to be' and looking at old photographs or reading through past conversations. Those of you who have followed my blog regularly over the past five years or so will probably know that letting go is something I often struggle with - which is increasingly evident through the amount of posts I've written about time, change and loss. I suppose it was part of the reason why I started this blog in the first place: to help myself and to a certain extent it has.

I've learnt that loss is not only restricted to people passing away, but is also applicable to losing touch with people, people changing drastically over time and the break down of any kind of relationship. But consequently, over the past few years I've tried my very best to make the most of the current moment and to appreciate all the important people in my life more. I suppose you could say that I've come to accept change. But that doesn't mean I'm any more prepared for when unexpected things happen, I've just learnt to deal with it better and approach it with a more positive mindset. I don't let it drag me down as much.

I still frequently miss people that I used to be close with and speak to a lot. I still sometimes contemplate what would have happened if things had turned out differently. Although my nostalgic ways will always be a part of who I am, I don't let it completely define my life anymore. Plus, the people that do stick around make other changes in life a lot easier to deal with. I think that letting people into your life is worth the possible risk of losing them in the future, and is massively outweighed by the positive aspects of close friendships and the privilege of being part of their lives too.

In all honesty, I still don't have any amazing, invaluable advice that will benefit everyone who reads this post because it's a personal thing - my blog posts always has been. But what I do know is that letting go of the past doesn't necessarily mean forgetting about it, and I think that's something important to remember if nothing else. 

The way I look at it, the past has helped shape me and although I still remain a nostalgic person it no longer holds me back, I've learnt to keep moving forwards (even if that does include occasionally looking back too!)

Laura.

Song: Run by P!NK

Make It Count

"The truth is, every human being on this planet is ridiculous in their own way. So we shouldn't judge, we shouldn't fight, because in the end... in the end, none of it matters. None of the stuff." - Billy Connolly

Firstly I'd recommend any of you who are fans of Outnumbered or David Tennant (like me), to watch the film where this quote comes from: What We Did On Holiday. It's a great funny film with some deeper meanings entwined into it, and is well worth a watch if you have some spare time. 

The quote above is taken from a point in the film where the terminally ill Grandad is discussing how pointless it is to be angry at the people you love due to them being who they are. Everybody has their own little quirks or slightly annoying character traits, but we are all 'ridiculous' in our own way; it's what makes us who we are. It also highlights the temporary nature of life and how the petty arguments, the disagreements and the past - it all doesn't matter in the end.  

I think this is an important thing to remember, regardless of how cliche it may seem. Too many of us go through life getting caught up in the past or worrying too much about the future. Maybe it's just best to live in the moment and enjoy being with the people we get to experience it with now. After all, 'stuff' only matters whilst we're living, so we might as well just go for it and make every moment count while we can.

Laura.

Song: The Outside by Ellie Goulding

Never Let Me Go

Last week, for my Contemporary Literature module at university, I read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. (Just to warn anyone who hasn't read the book/seen the film this post will contains spoilers - so stop reading now if you don't want it to be spoiled for you!) The novel explores the questions: 'What is it that makes us human and what does it mean to be human?' as well as other questions surrounding ethics and about life generally. Ishiguro raises these questions by positioning the main characters as clones who have been purposefully created to donate their organs to the person whom they are a clone of. Consequently Ishiguro plays with the idea of time and age, shortening the clone's lifespan in order to lengthen the original person's. While I was reading the book it never occurred to me that the clones may not be considered 'human', yet when I was reading secondary criticism it became evident that some people do not categorize them as being 'human'.

To me this ultimately suggests that many people must have a particular conception of what makes somebody human and that the scientific manipulation aspect removes the clones 'human-ness'. It's argued that the clones are not human because they aren't natural, they aren't unique - they are just mere copies of an existing human. But each of the clones in the novel has their own personality, albeit a limited one due to their upbringing and end purpose. They also demonstrate the ability to portray emotions and construct their own opinions about the world, which I would consider 'human-like'. Identical twins are as close as we get to Ishiguro's fictional clones in real life and yet we would never say that the second twin is not a human just because they have the same genetics as the first. They, like the clones in relation to their 'original', do not grow up as the same person - they are individuals with unique experiences. I think this shows that it is our experiences in life that shape us most: our upbringing, our friends, the institutions we're a part of and our relationships. However trying to pinpoint what exactly 'human-ness' is, is more problematic, more blurry and less clearly defined than I initially thought. Your definition of what makes a human dictates whether you'd deem Ishiguro's clones and being human or not. But I'd suggest that the unsettling, disturbing feeling the novel leaves the reader with, regarding the clones and their end purpose, must say something. The clones focused on in the novel: Kathy, Tommy and Ruth are all treated in a human way, they are given an education and so on. Whereas it is implied that other clones are not so lucky and are treated in a inhuman way, I would suggest that these clones would probably appear less 'human' to the reader.

It seems to me that Ishiguro is stressing the importance of experience and of living. He moves beyond the debates of human-ness and back to the idea of time. Perhaps the underlying message is that we should learn to appreciate the experiences and opportunities we're given rather than endlessly trying to survive longer and live to an older age. Sometimes we have to let go. After all, a longer life isn't necessarily a better one, especially if you just spend twice as long sleeping.

Laura.

Song: Hey Now by London Grammar

Association

It's always weird when you smell something and it automatically takes you back to a particular time or reminds you of something or someone.
The smell of tomatoes growing in a greenhouse instantly reminds me of my Grandad. There's a particular washing up liquid smell that always takes me back to baking in lower school and a faint lavender smell which I always associate with the microwavable teddy the office lady used to give to children with a tummy ache. Then of course there are the certain perfumes and aftershaves that I associate with people I'm close to and the smell of old books often brings back memories of my middle school library. I'm sure there's plenty of other examples but the strange thing about association is that sometimes you don't realise a connection until you smell the scent again, and who knows when that's going to happen.

I just think it shows how closely smell and memory can be connected sometimes. The fact that random experiences that you haven't thought about for years can be brought back just through smelling something is crazy to me. It's kind of comforting to know that there are aspects of experience, beyond sight, that have the ability to remind you of the people you love too - but maybe that's just me.

Laura.

Song: Ain't It Fun by Paramore (Cover) by Against The Current