Long to rain over us: why rain is sometimes pretty wonderful

Rain has a bad reputation. It is the ruiner of barbecues, outdoor weddings and once immaculate hairstyles. Many artists have turned it into a metaphor for horrible, soul-crushing sadness. It's hard to hold a candle in it in cold November. Don't leave cakes out in it. The 15 July, St Swithin's Day, is even dedicated to determining whether we're going to have to put up with 40 more days of it.

But really, everyone, most of the time it's not all that bad. Here's a short tribute to the stuff that got Gene Kelly singin'.

You get to wear wellies
While everyone else is doing the oh-shit-I'm-wearing-Uggs two step around all the puddles, you, the master of the weather, stride confidently through them, feeling like the genius you are. And some even have jelly bean designs.

It is the bringer of rainbows
The symbol of wonderful institutions such as peace and Pride and Skittles only exists because of rain.

It inspires human resourcefulness
Rain is nature's version of a surprise quiz, designed to see who on our streets can handle this bonus obstacle. Faced with a rainstorm, people are forced to get creative. Will you cover up with a free newspaper and be scrubbing ink off your hands for days? Will you sacrifice 5p to rig up a fetching plastic bag head scarf? Or are you going to just make a run for it, as if you can outpace the weather? Total Wipeout for the masses.

We suddenly have something to talk about
'Horrible weather isn't it?' 'Did you hear that storm last night?' 'It's a bit damp outside!' are considered riveting conversational openers in Britain.

Sometimes it understands you
I don't want to walk through brilliant sunshine, surrounded by singing birds and smug daffodils when I'm feeling enraged. I want moody rock video, mascara-smudging, hair-drenching, splashing-off-the-pavement rain. Call it pathetic fallacy if you will, but I'm not ashamed.

You finally get to use the umbrella you've been lugging around
They called you paranoid but who's laughing now? You can get three, maybe three and a half, uses out of this thing before it surrenders to the wind and snaps like an After Eight, so you're not missing an opportunity to get it out. Plus some even have jelly bean designs.

It's sexy
Books and movies and TV shows aren't just using rain to show us that their characters are deeply emotionally perturbed at how things turned out. How many times have writers sat around agonising over the missing quality to make that romantic climax scene really work and suddenly thought, 'I know - we'll add rain!' It makes sense: we know they've got to really want that snog if they're willing to get soaked to the skin for it.

No, it's not The Notebook. Yes, that is a cat.

Pavements look ridiculously good in rain
Not just because it washes the layer of crap off them, either. Street lamps glimmer and gleam like a light show beneath your feet. Here's the photographic version.

It clears the streets quicker than a tiger on the loose
Goodbye, pesky slow-moving tourists and families with five children spread across the pavement. Hello intrepid rain lovers, charging through the water with purpose. Just be sure to dodge the umbrellas.

There's that magical 'smell after the rain'
I vaguely remember the air smelling better after a good old rainstorm, but that was before I moved to London, where it always smells vaguely like the colour grey.

It's better than snow
Take all your issues with rain, freeze them, and let them linger around for a week before turning to brown mush. Feel like hugging a raindrop yet?

It makes being inside that much better
You won't appreciate the sheer joy of being dry and warm and drinking tea until you've got a storm to compare it against.

The mandatory New Year's resolutions post: my plans for self-improvement and not getting scurvy

Most people don't make New Year's resolutions. This statement is not based on an official survey or scientific research or even a Google search. I know it because every time I ask someone what theirs is, I get a sigh and a shrug and a flippant, 'Oh I don't bother'.

Given this, writing out a list of stuff to improve feels a bit old fashioned. Plus it's not like I'm striving for World Peace or to end poverty or even to save whales. I feel like that's a bit beyond my skill set, but here are a few things I'd like to polish off that could just happen in 366 days.

Be glamorous
This has been an aim since I saw The Devil Wears Prada. Or Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Or whichever film it was that introduced me to the world of women with perfect hair, a different fabulously stylish outfit in every scene, and eternal non-smudged lipstick.

And handbags. Handbags of glory. Not a huge satchel that pulls your coat out of shape and saves your lower back, but a work of fashion art carefully carved into perfect curves and lines. The kind you have to wear long gloves with and dangle elegantly from the crook of your elbow. How strong are their elbows, anyway? My bag always weighs a ton, even when I think I can’t possibly take anything else out of it and still survive the entire day. There's a law of nature dictates that the one time you don’t bring nail clippers, a torch and an A5 notebook will be the time you need them.

I’ve accepted that I’m not cut out for the truly grown up handbag, so last year, my quick fix to this was resolving to paint my nails more. I achieved this by doing them once, on New Year’s Day, and never again. In 2016, the plan is to become someone who remembers to bring make-up and one of those compact mirrors with me and then actually uses them. I will also stop putting off washing my hair or shaving my legs for another day. Or do a better job of hiding that I have.

Stop eating granola
Sweet, crunchy, nutritionally void wonder food. If it was possible to survive on this stuff, I would eat nothing else. But since scurvy is a thing and sugar is now meant to be the devil we’re all exorcising from our diets, it’s time to find new food groups. Like muesli.

Learn more about what’s going on in Britain
Movies, podcasts, articles and my degree have all conspired to swing my focus to what Americans are up to. I know all the states and capitals and NFL teams and what was in the 14th Amendment but I have no idea how many English counties there are, or how first past the post works, or who won the FA Cup last year. (Was it Chelsea? Fuck, I bet it was Chelsea.)

I’ve looked these things up at relevant times, put them in the Post-It part of my brain, and crumpled them into the bin when whatever made them significant is over. I know, I’m a horrible, ignorant person. Which is why this is on my self-improvement list. That’s the point of New Year’s resolutions: to look at all the disappointing bits about yourself and enforce strict measures to replace them with respectable qualities you can bring up around educated people.

Do yoga
Or just stretch a bit. Then a bit more. Basically, I want to get to 26 and still be able to touch my toes with my legs straight without hearing things creaking, cracking and snapping.

Get through the books on my to-read list

2015 was a terrible reading year for me. I ended up getting stuck in the mire of a book called The Moviegoer because it had a sexy ‘50s Americana-style cover. (See above comment regarding being an America groupie.) Plus how can a book about the cinema be dull?

Merciful. God. It was like going on a date with someone who talks about nothing other than the chemical properties of moss and the bowel movements of their cat Boris, complete with slideshow, then gets distracted by something on the floor. So awful that it puts you off ever agreeing to go out with someone again.

But the months have passed, the year ends in a different digit and it’s time to move on. I have an enormous pile of books with unbent spines and clean pages calling my name, plus my parents, fiancé, bank account and table they’re stored on are silently begging me not to buy any more until I’ve read them. Bring on book nerd-dom.

Be on time
I absolutely can be on time. I’ve never missed a flight because I was late. Or a coach. But that’s about it. I have this incredible ability to underestimate how long it will take me to get somewhere. From now on, I will tell myself to leave 15 minutes before I need to. That way, I’ll only leave 10 minutes late and I might still make it.

Don't fear forms
I hate forms. Everyone hates forms. They’re cold and impersonal but also incredibly nosy. Why do you want to know my birthday? Do I get a card and a balloon? What’s it to you if I’m female or male? What if someone doesn’t identify as either? Why do you need to know about my potential devious criminal past? OK, so you are US Customs. Also I have a million previous addresses, which makes what should be a very easy section a bit of a minefield.

Sadly, I’ve learned that you have to fill them in to get paid for things and do other important life stuff, like go to the doctors and vote and give blood and get married. So I’m moving forms to the top of my to-do pile. No more cleaning the house or finally reading that book instead of doing paperwork. Even if it makes me late.

Write more blog posts
The only New Year’s resolution I have ever stuck rigidly to was writing a diary every night, which I still do. Even if you can only write one or two lines, I would absolutely recommend it. It’s like having a continuous chat between your past and future selves, which is pretty entertaining, especially if you’re falling asleep because that's when the Weird Shit comes out. So I’m applying this discipline to the writing I inflict on the people reading this. After all, this is actually fun for me. If you’ve got this far today, come back next week and see if I’ve managed to make it stick.