Curiously Charis

I'll be honest, when I first heard Hozier playing on the radio I'd often switch the station. I was one of the few people who didn't really like Take Me to Church and the radio stations continuously played it. All. The. Time. I mean it was a huge hit, but it was saturated. I got the impression that Hozier was like another Gotye, he'd had a huge hit with Somebody that I Used to Know with the help of record company backing and radio hype (but don't get me wrong it was a great song!) and I felt Hozier was another artist with a limited range who would fade into obscurity after one song. It wasn't until a few months later that I was flicking through Spotify playlists when I came across Hozier again. I was listening to the Southern Gothic playlist when his song It Will Come Back invaded my earphones. I loved it. I had no idea it was Hozier. I was confused. Hozier was that guy with chorus-heavy semi-pop songs who got played on the radio all the time. This w...

It had been one of those strange October days, when the sun hung low and limp in the ice blue sky. As the day turned to night, the icy feeling drifted south to the ground, rendering frozen the golden leaves underfoot, the sharp air catching in the lungs of those unfortunate enough to have to venture out after dark. Rebecca was one of those lucky enough to find themselves in front of a warm fire with good company on the night of October 31, but as she sat on the window seat idly glancing over the slick tiled rooftops and up to the starry skies above, she couldn't help but wish she was one of those with somewhere more exciting to go. How often had she stared from that high window, over the centre of the town, wondering about the lives of those who dwelled below? Cassie had sneaked up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulders, asking what on earth she was thinking about in this 'dream world of hers'. “Just somewhere else,” replied Rebecca, lightly placing her ...

I LOVE French food. but it's one of those things that I don't really cook for myself very often. I think it's because sometimes it can be a bit of a pain to prepare, or quite expensive (I mean, if we're having to cook prime beef slowly in bottles of fancy French wine?! I'll leave that to the professionals.) So I always like to visit French restaurants. My favourite one locally is Rustique , which has two branches in York, they do a really good value set menu and have some great lunch dishes, too. I'd read about Beverley's  Fleur de Lis 's set menu I thought it sounded really good, so Phil treated me for my belated birthday meal (I swear I always have like four birthday meals. One is never enough...) My first impression of the North Bar restaurant was: wow. I loved the soft art-deco inspired decor, it was such a warm and relaxing environment to eat in, and luckily for us, very romantic. The waiter was really friendly, but service was al...