2015: A Year in Review

As 2015 draws to a remarkable close, I will take a look back on the year as it unfolded, and the special moments that also reminded me of just how wonderful this year has been. I will also take a look back on some of the articles, certain articles of which will focus on those who we have lost over the course of this year, and I will also take a look back on the happy memories that have been made along the way.

1.1.2015 – I welcomed all of you to 2015 on Mother Nature, after ringing in 2015 with the New Year’s Day fireworks that happened just hours earlier. As well as this, I also mentioned that this year would: “be the year where the hard work really does begin, as everyone will have an all-new mindset that is solely focused on getting ahead and completing the work. As I’ve said in the status update I posted to Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, it is always best to live your life and enjoy every second, and to take a chance when you are given one. Take every opportunity that will last a lifetime, and enjoy every opportunity and every good and happy moment that life intends to throw at you.”

2.1.2015 – I published the 2014 in Review article on here, as this review would reflect on last year in review, given just how much of a wonderful and perfect year 2014 really was.

9.1.2015 – This article I wrote came hot on the heels of the HP Stream 11 that I purchased back in December, which was most recently advertised on TV alongside the HP Stream 13. I gave a run-down of the features of this laptop, and how the HP Stream 11 would benefit those who want their own computer for college studies or for work, given the 10TB online storage space for OneDrive that Microsoft would provide with their Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium bundle, if you signed up to their storage expansion waiting list.

23.1.2015 – Following such shocking news that Anne Kirkbride had passed away from breast cancer on the 19th January 2015, I made sure to pay a small, but fitting tribute to Anne, as she is best known for portraying her role as Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street. This article would take a look back on Anne Kirkbride’s career as it unfolded, as well as the legacy that she had also left behind.

31.1.2015 – To kick off 2015 with a bang, Case Study #4 would mark the first case study for this year, as this case study would travel back in time to the 1500s, when Mary, Queen of Scots had attempted and also plotted to kill Queen Elizabeth I. This case study would also go in-depth as it was based on Mary’s life, and her rise and fall in the 45 years leading up to her execution on the 8th February 1587.

1.2.2015 – I welcomed all of you back to Mother Nature for what was set to be a chilly February, as this month was set to be full of hard work, love and experiences, as everyone is preparing for what could be a hard season that is solely focused around workloads, before the Spring break is due to hit us. As Valentine’s Day was just around the corner, this month was also set to be filled with love, which would create a refreshing feel to the atmosphere over the course of the next 4 weeks.

14.2.2015 – As there was a wet storm that hit us hard where I live back in January, the rainy weather had really poured it down, with hints of thunder that followed in the process. I ceased the opportunity to get some gorgeous photos of the raindrops just after the storm passed, and by using the Nikon D3300 DSLR, I was able to capture some beautiful shots of the raindrops from certain angles, which would ultimately define just how clear and crisp the raindrops were on one of the days I was off from college last month. As the first month of 2015 was officially behind us, I would showcase these photos in the article, which would focus on the raindrops, up-close and personal.

19.2.2015 – 30 years ago to the day, the first ever episode of Eastenders debuted on our screens. 30 years on, and we would all finally find out who had killed Lucy Beale (played by Hetti Bywater) in the flashback episode that aired on this day. With many of the gripping scenes that kept viewers like myself wanting to find out who killed Lucy over the past 10 months, this night would be the night when we would find out who killed her, and why she was killed. At the end of the flashback episode, the killer of Lucy Beale was revealed to be Bobby Beale, which was one of the most unexpected, yet surprising reveals that had ever happened, which even I didn’t expect, which had indeed been a killer twist.

28.2.2015 – As I wanted to celebrate writing 200 articles for Mother Nature, I did Article #200 on the Greatest Briton himself, which was Sir Winston Churchill. Case Study #5 based on Sir Winston Churchill would take a look back over his life, and how he had risen to become the man known for supporting the United Kingdom, and also for fighting for peace for the UK during the Second World War. This article would also celebrate what has almost been my second year since I started up Mother Nature, which is why I wanted to do Article #200 on Sir Winston Churchill, as this would also mark 50 years since his death, and also for the fact that it was 50 years ago on the 30th January that his state funeral took place.

1.3.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for what was expected to be the month when we start to see some nice weather, as well as the relaxing temperatures that would take away the cold, wintry weather from January & February. This month would also be the month where I would have a lot of hard work to complete, as well as the fact that I had my English & Maths exams to prepare and revise for.

6.3.2015 – As Spring has finally arrived, I used this day to cease the opportunity by taking some photos of the lovely weather, as I wanted to get back to using my Nikon D3300 DSLR after just a few weeks of using it previous. The photos I took gave me the opportunity to showcase them via the article that I wrote and published, which was titled: “A Bright & Breezy Spring!!!” This article would also showcase my videography skills, given the fact that I had recorded some video-clips, which I had put together and uploaded to YouTube via the video-editing software, ezvid.

20.3.2015 – To mark the special occasion, Madonna’s 13th Studio Album, Rebel Heart, was released to the world. I was delighted however, as the U.K. got the album the day before the U.S. did, and I was raring to go, as I wanted to hear her new album after listening to her song, Living for Love, on loop. I did a special music feature article on Madonna, because after 3 years, the Queen of Pop is finally back with a classical and perfected masterpiece, which is much better, and also continues, but focuses away from her 12th studio album, MDNA. Rebel Heart also went to number 1, which made the celebrations even better. Living for Love has most recently just surpassed 10,000,000 views on YouTube (now, not on the 20th March), which has made the longevity of this album get better and better.

29.3.2015 – As excited as I was, I was absolutely over the moon to have been nominated by Vijay Shah of the Half-Eaten Mind for the Real Neat Blog Award. This nomination would mean I would go on to answer the five questions that Kitty’s RNBA Award had set me. After I answered the questions, I would go on to nominate 10 other bloggers for all of the hard work that they had gone to into making their blog or website become known for what it is today.

Also on this day, I announced that my latest book: “My Journey Through a Lens”, would be out soon, as the book is almost nearing completion, given the fact that the contents page in this third book is almost full. This book would not only count as my 3rd installment, but it would also count to be one of the biggest books that I have ever produced.

31.3.2015 – The awards kept coming, as Chey had nominated me for the Liebster Award, which counts as the second award of 2015. This award would mean I would go on to answer 10 questions that were set by Chey, one of which I was unable to answer, considering just how much of a good, yet tricky question it was for me to answer. Overall, I did manage to answer almost all of the questions I was set, and I tried my best, so hopefully one question shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Other than that, after I answered the questions I could answer, I then nominated 10 bloggers that deserved the Liebster Award as well, but this time, I would set them 10 questions, as per the rules of the Liebster Award. After I did this, I congratulated them all in the article, but left a note underneath my name to say to those I nominated that they should get a pingback in their notification tab, as I thought that the blogs or websites I nominated would get a pingback automatically, just after this article went live.

1.4.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for what was set to be a month full of a lot of good weather, despite the solar eclipse that happened a few weeks previous, as well as the Maths & English exams that I had done before I broke up for the two week holiday. As I mentioned, I did initially hope to get this book completed by the end of this month, though the release may be held off until sometime around the end of May, considering the large amount of coursework I have to complete over the last few weeks of the year.

I sadly failed my Maths exam, which I was really disappointed about, but I have been given another chance to re-take the exam around the last week of college, which will give me plenty of time to revise between now and when the exam takes place.

7.4.2015 – I decided to take a different turn in this article, as this article would focus around The Press, Social Media & The Internet, as I would talk about what makes us turn, and how I see the use of social networking platforms from my own perspective.

I also mentioned two different shows, one of which was Jeremy Kyle, while the other was Jerry Springer, as the social networking site, Facebook, is often the most talked about social network, mainly due to the fact that it has caused a wide birth of marriage break-ups, divorces, and even many different forms of bullying. This article did require an awful lot of thought, because I had to make sure to tread carefully about what I was going to talk about, as well as the kind of content that I would go on to use.

9.4.2015 – After just 8 years of the iPhone OS being around, Apple finally released iOS 8.3 to the masses. Bringing along with it some much-needed changes, iOS 8.3 is the first ever update to go diverse, as most of the emojis that are found in Apple’s Emoji Keyboard have been updated with new sets of different coloured emojis, making diversity become something known, something that was meant to happen from the very start.

As these emojis are now diverse, this will give many users the chance to choose that emoji that they want to use, but in a different skin colour, which is much better, as everyone now gets the fair and diverse choice that they’ve always wanted.

13.4.2015 – Following the release of her 13th Studio Album, Rebel Heart, Madonna released her second music video from the album, titled Ghosttown. Over 500,000+ copies of Rebel Heart have been sold so far, with a possible 45th Number 1 set to rise to the masses. Most recently, Rebel Heart was certified Silver in the United Kingdom after 60,000 copies were sold, which is fantastic for Madonna, considering that this video was released within the first two weeks of April.

In the first few days of its release, Ghosttown clocked up to over 2,000,000+ within the first week alone, and most recently, Madonna’s Ghosttown video has now clocked up to over 5,000,000+ views in almost the first month, which I think is fantastic, considering that it has much more of a better approach, as well as Madonna’s Living for Love music video.

30.4.2015 – After hearing that the music department at Croydon College took to Kickstarter to fund their new project, which is called OutBr3ak Records, I wrote an article to support the project, because, although I am unable to back the project myself, I wanted to help out, as OutBr3ak Records is a project which is being set up to be made into a record label, which will give those budding future musicians the chance to let their musical roots shine, and to also allow them to set their creativity free in what they love to do the most.

1.5.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for a month that would begin on a relaxing and delightful note. As we have been getting a lot of good weather recently, which is a first in a while, the Whitsun holiday was just around the corner, despite the fact there was a bit of a chilly breeze, which I was fine with. I also announced that there would be a 6th Case Study included in my third book: “My Journey Through a Lens”, given the fact that this book had just recently crossed over the 300-page target mark.

Also on this day, I published an article that focuses on the YouTube Vlogger, Alfie Deyes. As I share my love for YouTube, I wanted to dedicate this article to Alfie Deyes who, over the past few years, has taken to YouTube to upload videos to his YouTube channels, one of which is a gaming channel, while the other two are based around his life, as well as a lot of the funniest things that he has done with his girlfriend, Zoe Sugg (a.k.a. Zoella), and their little pug, Nala, who is so cute.

7.5.2015 – On the 15th April, I took a trip up to the Victoria & Albert Museum (a.k.a. the V&A), as I went with my class to take some photos that I could use to stick into my A3 Sketchbook for my UAL Level 2 Art & Design Course, and because of the fact I took those photos, this gave me the chance to showcase my photos here, and as well as that, I had thought that this trip was a lot more interesting than the previous one, given the fact that this museum had a lot of interesting works, artefacts, and not only that, some, if not, a lot of model designs that focused on certain building elements, such as the Model of the Crystal Palace.

17.5.2015 – This day was an absolute honour for me to talk about the YouTuber, Joey Graceffa. On this day, I published a special music feature article about this YouTuber, as Joey released his music video: “Don’t Wait” to the world on the 16th May, which had instantly blown me away, given the fact that it had so much sentimental value, and also a lot of meaning to it. Just days before Joey Graceffa released his debut memoir: “In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World“, he officially came out as gay to the world. After a few years of speculation from a lot of his fans, he officially announced he was gay before the release of his book. As I support him and everyone else entirely that are gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender, I wrote this:

I support the LGBT Community entirely because for those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, I believe in equality, LGBT equality and gender equality entirely, no matter what sexuality the person is. I respect all of those who have come out and expressed their sexualities to the world, because everyone in this world deserves to be treated equally, no matter what sexuality they are, and everyone should be respected for who they are and also be treated with the full respect that they deserve. – Alex Smithson

Joey Graceffa’s music video: “Don’t Wait” is available now to watch on YouTube, and if you want to buy the song, it is now available for purchase via the iTunes Store, Google Play, and any other major music outlets that offer the song for purchase. If you want to watch the music video, please make sure to head to the “Related Articles” section below to view the article, or, if you want to get to the video a lot quicker, it can be found on the sidebar under “YouTube Music Favourites“.

31.5.2015 – As it was almost a year since I left school for good, I wanted to take a look back on yesteryear, given that my nostalgia for yesteryear has been really strong. I chose the colours, Purple & Green, as they are how I sense nostalgia, as those two colours combined symbolise my own nostalgic views with reality.

1.6.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for what would be a relaxing and peaceful month that would lie ahead. I also did a very short look back as I mentioned in this article that it would be one year ago this month that I had left school for good, given that I had also mentioned that I took a near-enough 5-month hiatus from February 2014 to June 2014, as I had my final exams to worry about.

6.6.2015 – Mother Nature marked a very important milestone on this day, as this day saw Mother Nature officially mark it’s 2nd birthday on WordPress. In the space of two years, I have gone on to publish two books online, one of which I have a physical copy of, and with my third book being close to being ready for its final release, I have felt absolutely proud to have come this far in the space of 2 years.

29.6.2015 – After a month-long wait and a lot of research, I was finally able to publish Case Study #6, which focused on the Former President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. This Case Study is the first case study to have more than 10,000+ words containing dozens of research about a Former President.

30.6.2015 – Following just weeks after Apple held their Worldwide Developers Conference, iOS 8.4 was officially released to the masses. Along with this update brought the newly-announced music service, Apple Music. After 2 very long years, the United Kingdom, for the first time ever, gets access to iTunes Radio, including the new Radio Station, Beats 1 Radio (a.k.a. B1), and with this update came an entirely redesigned Music app, which was given not just a massive overhaul in design, but it also brought back with it the ability to play music videos in the Music application, but in Landscape Mode, which was a commonly used feature that was often seen quite frequently in iOS 6.

Also on this day, I published a Special Music Feature article on the Queen of Pop, Madonna’s high-octane music video: “Bitch I’m Madonna (feat. Nicki Minaj)”. This music video had featured a numerous amount of cameo appearances. These cameo appearances featured the likes of Katy Perry, Rita Ora, Chris Rock, Diplo, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Alexander Wang, Rocco Ritchie & David. This video, as mentioned by some, if not a lot of people, would wipe Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video to the floor. This video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who had previously directed Madonna’s previous video, Ghosttown, taken from Madonna’s 13th Studio Album, Rebel Heart.

1.7.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for what would be a scorching hot July. This month was set to be an energetic and relaxing month, despite the hot weather. I also mentioned that my third book was finally reaching the completion stage, which was a fantastic sign, as I was itching to get the book finished and ready for release.

2.7.2015 – After a year of hard work, studying and revision, I was absolutely pleased to tell all of you that I had officially, as of this day, passed my UAL Level 2 Art & Design Course with a high Merit grade. This news came in light of the 8 units that I had completed and passed, with a Distinction on my research, which had resulted in me getting that high Merit grade for the whole course overall. I was also delighted to tell all of you that I had also received two certificate from Croydon College that day, one of which celebrates the outstanding achievement in terms of my exemplary attendance, while the other had celebrated my outstanding achievement I’ve made in terms of excellent achievement.

3.7.2015 – After 9 months of working on Book #3, I was absolutely pleased to tell you all that: “My Journey Through a Lens” would officially be out on Independence Day at 6:00 PM. The news of this book release finally came, as I had just finished up work on the book that day (and night), which had left me then to just prepare it so that it was officially ready for release the following day.

The book would contain over 400+ pages, and this book was indeed my largest book to date. It was originally going to be released towards the end of May, but because of the fact I had my college studies and revision to worry about, I had to hold off the released of the book to allow myself a lot more time to finish up the book and to also finalise it, so that it would give me a lot more time to work on it.

In terms of this book, some of the book would focus mainly around the photographical work that I have published on Mother Nature, and not only that, but most of the book itself would also focus around my own interests, as well as Croydon College.

4.7.2015 – After 9 months of hard work, effort and designing, My Journey Through a Lens finally became available as of this day. As the book was over 400+ pages long, this book was indeed the largest book I had ever made, which followed up from my previous book: “A Year in Photography”, which was released on the 1st September 2014. In this book, I talked about 6 historical icons, as well as musicians, from Ben Haenow to Madonna, and not only that, but I had also dedicated this book to a small number of people that I mentioned, including those that had passed away most recently. As of this day, you can now officially download my third book: “My Journey Through a Lens”, which is available now under “Free Books“.

9.7.2015 – Spinning back the clock to 1998, Crash Bandicoot: Warped was the 3rd, most popular installment in the series of Crash Bandicoot. Crash Bandicoot: Warped continues from where Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, left off. I wrote this review because I thought it would be good to relive the nostalgic days of gaming, when games were much better compared to some of the games that are around today. Some of the games that are around nowadays tend to leave little to the imagination, especially for those that are younger than the age that is given on the game’s PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) rating. Overall, I think the game is perfect, and it is one of the top-of-the-class games that you just can’t miss. To end this review, I gave the game an overall rating of 10/10.

13.7.2015 – On this day, the world lost a true gaming icon. Satoru Iwata of the worldwide gaming company, Nintendo, sadly passed away on Saturday 11th July 2015 at the age of 55 from cancer, following complications from a bile duct growth. On the same day, Nintendo had issued an official statement, which had documented the news of Satoru Iwata’s passing. To me, this was a massive shock, as I had only just found out the news of his death on the same day, and not only had his death shocked me, but his death had also been a massive shock to the gaming world. To pay tribute to Satoru Iwata, I would take a look back on his life as it unfolded, and the highlights of his career up until his death.

1.8.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for a relaxing, peaceful & joyous August, as this month was set to be the most relaxing month, despite the scorching hot weather that I thought would be impacting the UK. It definitely was safe to say that this month would be full of joy and relaxation, given just how lovely the weather was.

In light of recent events though, I made sure that I would make and publish a tribute article as soon as I could to pay my respects to the Formula 1 Racer, Jules Bianchi, who sadly passed away on the 17th July 2015, coming just 9 months after a racing accident that left him with severe head injuries.

As Windows 10 was the most-talked-about Windows Updates, in the 72 hours that Windows 10 was downloaded, it was downloaded by as many as 14 million users around the world that use Windows, due to unprecedented demand. As I was lucky to download my copy of Windows 10 on release day, I had found the Windows 10 Operating System to be a damn sight faster than Windows Vista and Windows 7. Windows 8 and 8.1 were really good though, they were both speedy, but to me, they were finally balanced in speed, and now that Windows 10 is out, I find that speed and connecting to the internet is more important, because as long as you have both of them, then you’re well on your way to finding things quicker.

4.8.2015 – As the hot weather was officially back, it was safe to say that Mother Nature didn’t slow down just yet, as she decided to provide us some hot weather, despite the humidity, and the hot weather had proved to be almost as hot as it was at the beginning of July. As this day was a lovely day, it was the perfect time to take some photos. I had also taken some photos towards the end of July, and Mother Nature didn’t disappoint at all, as she had created a trail of happiness, slight destruction, given the preparation of the hot weather, and not only that, but she had certainly made the path to Summer feel beautiful.

5.8.2015 – As Mother Nature needed a bit of a refresh in readability, I took the chance of changing up both the font choices by switching to a more readable user interface. The original default fonts were okay, but they were beginning to look dated, but, as I wanted to give Mother Nature a fresh new face and lease of life, I changed the heading font to Oswald, and the Base font was also changed to PT Sans, to accommodate for better viewing.

10.8.2015 – Following the longed-for release of Microsoft’s Operating System, Windows 10, which hit all laptops and PCs running Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 with Bing, I was absolutely delighted to write this article as a way of saying thank you to Microsoft for really nailing the best of both operating systems in one OS.

21.8.2015 – Following shock news reports, the world had lost a true icon in the world of racing on the 17th July 2015. Jules Bianchi sadly passed away on the 17th July 2015, and his death came just 9 months after a racing accident which had left him with severe head injuries. Jules Bianchi’s death came just 21 years after the former Formula 1 Racer, Ayrton Senna, lost his life in the 1994 San Morino Grand Prix, following an accident whilst on the track.

The news of his death had come as a shock to the racing world, and his death had also shocked me, as I hadn’t realised just how bad the extent of his head injuries were until they had announced his death.

The tribute article I made to pay my respects to Jules Bianchi would take a look back on his life as it unfolded, and it had also included the highlights of his career up until his death on the 17th July 2015. We will miss you dearly Jules Bianchi, but you are forever in our hearts.

31.8.2015 – On Friday 1st August 2015, the world had lost an international music & TV icon. Cilla Black, who was best known for being on the hit TV shows, such as Surprise Surprise & Blind Date, which had both ran for 18 years, sadly passed away at the age of 72, at her holiday home in Spain. The tribute article would take a look back on Cilla Black’s life as it unfolded, and the timeline of events that had occurred throughout her life up until her sudden death on the 1st August 2015.

1.9.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for a hard-working & energetic month. I also mentioned that September would become the month where it would start to get a little bit chilly, considering the fact that August had experienced a Summer washout. I also mentioned that I may have to post less frequently considering the fact that I have my course to think about, as well as my GCSEs which I would be re-taking, considering the fact that I expressed my joy of wanting to go back to college. I also mentioned that I would be starting on Book #4 soon, to which I mentioned that I wasn’t exactly sure as to whether I would release it this year or at the start of next year.

16.9.2015 – As this day marked the release of iOS 9, I published an article focusing around this release, and in this article, I went through a complete rundown of the new features and changes that iOS 9 had brought with it, and also with iOS 9, this was the first update that became available at just a storage-friendly 1.3 GB, which was a lot lower in download size than iOS 8, as iOS 8 weighed in at 4.58 GB in download size. Also in this release, iOS 9 had finally brought about the ability of expanding the regular 4-digit passcode limit to 6-digits, which is much more beneficial as this will help to up the security of iOS, as well as the security of personal photos, videos and also apps, that’s including the ability to further protect the user’s iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

25.9.2015 – My first few weeks back at Croydon College were absolutely perfect, and after going back to college on the 8th September, college felt like a welcome of open arms, as I couldn’t wait to go back, and I wasn’t nervous at all, but I was actually excited to be back. The 8th September had also marked a milestone of its own, as that day was exactly one year to the day that I had started my first ever day at college. A huge amount has changed in that time, everyone has matured, the respect of the students and the lecturers in the college are much better, and everyone gets on really well.

26.9.2015 – As it was coming up to ten weeks since Windows 10 was released, I published an article on Microsoft’s all-new browser, which was Microsoft Edge. As stated in the tagline, the tagline defined the browser to be: “Your no-fuss online browser for doing.” In the short space of the time that Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge have been out, Windows 10 was installed on almost 100 million devices across the world.

30.9.2015 – Exactly 10 weeks ago on this day, Microsoft Corporation released the last version of Windows to the entire world, and that last version of Windows was Windows 10. Windows 10, in the 10 weeks since it was released, has been installed on up to almost 100 million Laptops and PCs across the world. Windows 10 has also revolutionised the way we use computers, and with the recent release of Office 2016, both tie in effortlessly and work perfectly with no problems at all. Altogether, I gave Windows 10 an overall rating of 10/10, considering just how perfect it has been on me, given just how speedy it has been since I installed it.

1.10.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature, where an Autumnal Dawn broke and a cold and chilly working season had begun. I also mentioned that the clocks would be going back towards the end of October, given that it would be like it has been every year on record, while October would become a lot colder, and if not, a lot busier than usual.

3.10.2015 – Following a tangent that I went on a few days prior, I wrote an article that focused on the bad bus experience I had, when I suffered a nasty fall on my 367 Bromley North bus, which resulted in me having a juicy bruise on my right elbow, with a winded chest. As this accident had happened the year before, I wanted to take the opportunity to write the article so that I could talk about how my bad bus experience affected me, and what I wanted the bus drivers to do in the future, to prevent this bad bus experience from occurring ever again.

9.10.2015 – I remember asking you all how music shows our emotions, and how it affects us as well. Well I mentioned how many of the songs that you hear by a very huge number of musicians, they would create their music in a way where certain songs can capture elements of happiness, sadness, anger, but also capture a kind of feeling where you can relate to that musician in terms of certain life experiences.

16.10.2015 – 20.10.2015 – He’s back!!! After being hard at work and being all-hands-on-deck on recording his own music for his upcoming debut album, including shooting his music video for Second Hand Heart, Ben Haenow is back with a bang!!! Second Hand Heart, which features the Piece by Piece American musician, Kelly Clarkson, has a vibrant, energetic beat and bass that will really give you goosebumps on its first listen. On the 20th October, Ben Haenow finally released his much awaited music video for Second Hand Heart, which is absolutely fantastic.

19.10.2015 – Following a formal debate that was discussed in my English lesson the Monday before, I took the opportunity to share my own views on why I felt that violence was never the answer to any problems.

Also on this day a year ago, the world lost a national treasure and an icon. Lynda Bellingham, who was most famously known for being a regular panellist on the TV talk show, Loose Women, from 2007 until 2011, sadly passed away a year ago from colon cancer. I took the opportunity to pay my respects further, considering that she is always thought of and loved even after a year, and she left behind a legacy of her own, she will never be forgotten. We love you Lynda xxxxxxxxx.

21.10.2015 – Coming just a little over a month after Apple released iOS 9, which brought with it a revamped user interface and a software update for doing, Apple finally released iOS 9.1 to the public. This update, for the first time, brought with it a large bundle containing over 150 all-new emojis with full support for Unicode 7.0 & 8.0 emojis, and also for the first time, Apple included the most-requested middle-finger emoji, which has, in so many aspects, been on the cards for a very long time.

25.10.2015 – After sending Facebook & Twitter into a frenzy with her 30-second advert of Hello, Adele, after four years, came back with a bang. After the advert aired, Adele announced shortly after that this record would be available by the week’s end, and just like clockwork, the record was released, along with a comeback video for the new record, and during the course of the week, Adele announced her comeback album, 25, which hits all retail and digital stores on the 20th November.

28.10.2015 – After working hard behind the scenes on his EP, Vander is back!!! Last year, you might remember me telling you all about Vander, as he released a free download of his single: “Back to the Sun” last year. After I gave his Back to the Sun record its first listen, I knew straightaway that it would instantly grow on me, and it did, and I had a very good feeling that more of his music was to come. The Special Music Feature article was commissioned by the man himself, Vander, and it gave me the absolute pleasure to talk about his EP in full detail.

31.10.2015 – Happy Halloween everyone!!! As Halloween is the time of the year where everyone goes out celebrating fright night, I thought it would be good to celebrate Halloween with all of you. As Halloween is also the time of the year where everyone dresses up to go to Halloween parties, and to celebrate a yearly event, it’s often known that Halloween can be a bit of a scary part of the year, but also exciting at the same time, considering that there are often good elements of Halloween that connect well together.

1.11.2015 – I welcomed you all back to Mother Nature for what would be a bitter cold and chilly November, as this month would see the cold and bad weather getting even worse, given that patches of mist and fog had opened November to a near-wintry landscape. In this article, I also mentioned that the next few weeks were going to be very busy for me, considering that I had my studies to worry about, among other things.

3.11.2015 – As censorship is often the most-talked about controversial issue that is still going on today, I decided to express my own views, and also explained why I thought that censorship was a very good idea, and how it would help all of us to put an end to abuse, forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying.

7.11.2015 – It was exactly one year ago to this day that I had my braces off, and I explained what it’s been like for me since I had them off on the 7th November 2014, and I mentioned that not much had changed, though I did admit that it felt completely different to the way my teeth felt before I had the braces fitted. I also mentioned that there would come a time in life where we would all face the possibility of having a few teeth out in order for the process to become a lot easier for us. Well, my time came to experience the pain of having two of my teeth out, and yes, it was horrible, but at the same time, it was going through that horrific pain that got me the perfect smile that I wanted.

Also on this day, I asked you all how life in general would matter to you, as I saw from my own perspective that life in general matters to us, as we should value the lives that we are given, and to make sure that we make the most of the time that we all have in this world. I also said that I appreciate life entirely and that I am entirely grateful for the fact that I was brought into this world, as I have learned so much in the space of the time I’ve been around.

8.11.2015 – On this day, I gave a 5 bullet-pointed list based on the five main fears that scared me, given that I asked all of you: “What 5 Main Fears Scare You?”. My 5 main fears were having a fear of heights, the second fear was to do with the level of protection that the United Kingdom has at the moment. The third fear was to do with travel, given that I often fear for my own safety. The fourth fear was to do with falling over when I would least expect it and the fifth fear was the tendency of fearing the element of time going so quickly.

13.11.2015 – Exactly 5 weeks after he released his collaboration of Second Hand Heart with the Piece by Piece American singer, Kelly Clarkson, Ben Haenow finally released his long-awaited debut album to the world. After spending 10 months out of the spotlight, considering he won the 2014 version of The X Factor, Ben Haenow decided to take as much time as he needed to make sure that this album would achieve the sound that he wanted. I gave my full overview on his debut album, considering that it was absolutely perfect, and I also mentioned that his debut album would be available to listen to on Mother Nature through the Spotify widget located in his own widget, which would also remain as a permanent fixture on this website. I gave the overall album rating of Ben Haenow’s self-titled debut album a 10/10.

15.11.2015 – In light of the horrific events that occurred in Paris, following a devastating massacre that resulted in the loss of 132 or more lives on Friday 13th November 2015 (Vendredi 13 Novembre 2015), I announced on Mother Nature that I would not publish any articles for one whole week, as I wanted to pay my full respects to the victims who lost their lives in Paris on the night of the 13th November. I also requested for all of you to put the Pray for Paris sign up on your blog, as I wanted to make sure that we could all pay respect to all of those who lost their lives as a result of the devastating massacre.

Also on this day, Mother Nature changed it’s orange and white colours to the blue, white and red flag colours, as I wanted to make sure that my full respects were paid to the 132 victims who lost their lives on the 13th November 2015.

[1 Week Hiatus Out of Respect to Paris – 16th – 22nd November 2015]

27.11.2015 – With their EP, Life Goes On, being made available for release the following day, my close friend Charlie Philbrick from the Drowned Out band treated me to an early listen of him and his band’s EP (Extended Play), and it was an absolutely awesome EP, and also mind-blowing as well. I also mentioned that one of the band members in Charlie’s band has certain vocal elements in her voice that remind me of Christina Aguilera.

28.11.2015 – On Thursday 26th November 2015, I headed down to some parts of Croydon with some of my classmates from my UAL (University of the Arts London) Level 3 Diploma Film & Photography Course, as we were doing some filming for our project which is currently based around Ghost Stories. I thought, considering that I was with my group, it would be the perfect opportunity for me to snap some photographs down Surrey Street Market, Crown Hill and also around Croydon. As of Thursday 26th November 2015, filming for my group was actually finished, and I was absolutely pleased with the way the production of the film had gone, despite a small faux pas moment from a member of the public, but aside that, me and my group absolutely enjoyed filming for this project, despite the weather conditions. I snapped the photographs in that article with my iPod touch (5th Generation).

30.11.2015 – With her third album becoming the number one most pre-ordered album, with her album still remaining number one just after it was released, Adele finally delighted us all with her much awaited album, 25, which is the first album in a while since she last released music. In just the space of the first week alone, Adele officially broke the sales records in the US with 3.38 million in sales, with her ‘Hello’ video spanning over 500,000,000+ views, also with the sales record in the UK showing that a whopping 800,307 copies of Adele’s 25 album were sold in the first week alone, which had beaten the 18-year long record that the former music group, Oasis, once held with their 1997 album: “Be Here Now”.

1.12.2015 – I welcomed you all to December, as Christmas was finally here, and with 2016 being just around the corner, I thought it would be the time for all of us to celebrate this time of the year, given that it is the one and only time of the year that we always wait for. I also mentioned at the end of the article that I would be taking a break from publishing articles altogether, given at that stage I had an ear infection that was diagnosed by my local doctors.

10.12.2015 – After I fully recovered from my ear infection, I did an article based on how you could scale your article image to the correct size for the Motif theme. In this article, I would give all of you a run-down on how you could scale your image to the correct size that would be perfectly suited for the Motif theme. This article was for if you wanted to make the switch to the Motif theme.

13.12.2015 – After almost two weeks prior to being diagnosed with the ear infection that I had, which has since gone, I recalled about how I took the rest of that particular week off from blogging and from college as I was sick due to a diagnosed ear infection that I had in my right ear, that left me in nothing but untold pain. In this article, I talked further in detail about my life experience by giving a run-down as to what I experience over the course of that week when I had my first ever ear infection.

14.12.2015 – I did a topic based around whether life was easier for the younger people of today than it was for their grandparents, as I would argue why I was for certain arguments, and why I was against certain arguments. This topic meant I would cover the core areas as to what I thought about life being easier for the young people today than it had been for their grandparents.

On this day as well, I also published an Audience Subjective Confidence Builder, where I would give my 3 key tips that could help you build your confidence when you’re giving a presentation or speech, as confidence is mainly a major key factor that plays a big part in our lives.

23.12.2015 – As I have currently been doing the first year of my two-year photography course at Croydon College, I wanted to do some research on a large number of historical photographers, and the first historical photographer I would be talking about was August Sander. I did mention, however, that I would be making sure that the article would be short, considering the fact that I wanted to make sure to try and publish as many articles as I could before 2016 opens its doors.

25.12.2015 – As this day was a special occasion, this day was the day where everyone would come together to celebrate a landmark event that occurs only once every year. I made sure to make this a short article by wishing you all a Happy Christmas, and a wonderful New Year for 2016.

28.12.2015 – The next historical photographer that I introduced into this new series was Cecil Beaton, who was a renowned English fashion, portrait and war photographer, who had also been a diarist, a painter, an interior designer and also an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films, as well as theatre. In this article, I talked about Cecil Beaton, as well as the timeline of events that unfolded up until his death in 1980.

29.12.2015 – On Christmas Eve, I noticed that the moon had been somewhat bigger than its usual size, and I had thought it would be a good idea to take a photograph of it with my Nikon D3300 DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex). I did keep in mind, however, about those of you who might be suffering from visual impairment, so what I did was I provided three of the same photo, but with one being zoomed in a little, but with another being zoomed in further, so that it would be a lot easier to view.

30.12.2015 – As the sun was beginning to set the day before, I wanted to make sure to show Mother Nature’s Path into Darkness by taking a large number of photos. Thankfully, because it wasn’t as cloudy as I thought it would be, and thankfully because there was some forms of clear sky, I was able to take the large number of photos in the style that I wanted them to turn out. I did mention to all of you to keep in mind that the photos I took were taken just as it was getting dark, so some of the photos would look like as if they were taken in broad daylight because of how my camera took them.

31.12.2015 – As I followed on from the lengthy case study I did which was based on John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Case Study #7 would focus on the Spiritual Leader of the Nation of Argentina, Eva Perón. This case study would focus on Eva Perón’s life as it unfolded, which would feature specific moments and highlights of her career up until her death at the age of 33 on the 26th July 1952.

From me with love and happiness, I want to say thank you so much to all of you for making 2015 such a fantastic year. This year, despite it being eventful in most cases, was also fun in the process, and I loved and enjoyed this year. I will mention, however, that to those around the world, especially those who lost their lives in Paris on the 13th November 2015, that you will never be forgotten, but you shall all be remembered for many, many years to come. I love you all, and to those who lost their loved ones this year, I will always love you forever, and I will never forget you. I will make sure to do you all proud in 2016, and I will also make sure to show to you all, especially to those of you who are no longer with us that despite everything that’s happened this year, we will not go down without a fight, and we will make sure to keep standing strong for you.

Until then, have a Happy New Year for 2016!!!!!!!!! May your 2016 be full of joy, happiness, strength, determination and courage. Goodbye 2015, and thanks for everything. I’ll see you all in 2016.

Alex Smithson

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