A Brief History of Brackers

One of my earliest memories is telling my mum that when I grew up, I wanted to be a writer. At twenty-one, the same holds true. (I am not 'grown up', nor do I think I ever will be). That's mostly why I'm starting this blog – I’m hoping that it’ll inspire me to actually get some writing done rather than merely having the best intentions.

So, me. Feels a bit odd introducing myself as I suspect the only people to read this will be those I already know, but I can live in hope that complete strangers may stumble across my ramblings and find them oddly amusing.

I live in Hoxton, which isn’t as trendy as most presume. While there are multiple trendy media types wandering round the place, they don’t tend to reside in Hackney’s infamous council estates. Though our house does the job. We all fit in, and it keeps the rain out (well, mostly).

I’m in my final year of an undergraduate degree in English Literature. Books are quite possibly my favourite thing in all the world. So while I may be digging myself into an ever-deeper pit of debt, I’m enjoying myself while doing it. It is, however, getting to the point where my books are taking over my room. One of us is going to have to be banished to the cupboard, and as they outnumber me something like five hundred to one, I suspect I may lose the battle. One day, when I’m rich and successful (a girl can dream), I want to have a house full of books. I can’t bear to part with any of mine. I can’t stand libraries because having to give back a new friend after just three weeks breaks my heart a little.

I’m originally from Loughborough, one of the dullest towns on earth. Seriously - its proudest claim to fame is having the "world's largest bell foundry", and is the only place in the Western world I know of that doesn't have a Starbucks. (This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but proves it's about twenty years behind the rest of modern civilisation). We also have a statue in the town centre of a man naked, except for a sock and a fig leaf. The most famous Loughborian is Roy from Coronation Street. I thankfully managed to escape out into the big wide world. Many never manage it. Though while I ran away to the big city, my dad did the opposite and now lives in a lighthouse on the most remote inhabited island in Britain. We’d have called it a mid-life crisis were he not a bit too old for that.

I have a tendency to anthropomorphise things. I’m a vegetarian. I like things that glow in the dark, dinosaurs and red wine. I hate tomatoes and people touching near my eyes. I’ve been dying my hair since I was thirteen. I prefer Pepsi to Coke. I’m just over halfway through a mission to see every Shakespeare play performed on stage. I watch Doctor Who and have put a Dalek on our Christmas tree. I want a pet cow.

The title of this blog is a lyric from a Dresden Dolls song. I’ve never been particularly graceful and seem to have a more tumultuous relationship with gravity than most people. I walk into things and fall over things – more often when sober than not. I’m the only person I know who has actually injured themselves by "walking into a door." More than once.