In which Demi is starting to feel like a new person.

After the heart-break of editing down what I think might be the best essay I've ever written, the stress of realising I had 700 words left for my Arthurian essay when I needed at least 1000, and the tediousness of checking, checking and triple checking, all three essays were handed in on Thursday. At 10% each of my final degree mark, it's little wonder I went a bit cuckoo. But I wasn't expecting the full extent of the stress I'd put myself under, which revealed itself in the following days. I've lost about 6 pounds in those two weeks, from sheer stress, weird sleeping times, and a churny stomach which sent my appetite AWOL. It's slowly returning, but nausea still grips me when I eat lunch, and I'm wracked with dizzy spells and an emerging cold as my adrenaline slowly dissipates, revealing my crippled immune system.

Luckily I'm confident that I'll be in much better shape for my final essays in Easter, even though I'll have more words. It's always the madness of Christmas that distracts me - the family, the films on TV, the food, the friends. With these distractions gone, I have more faith in my ability to get them done to a decent standard and not make myself ill.

It was so lovely to see my housemates and friends down the road, even if it was for less than 24hrs. It's made me want to go back, but I'm glad I took the opportunity to come back home for an extra week, for some R&R, while everyone else finishes up their exams. I've spent a lot of time with my family - watching films, playing on the Wii, visiting my grandparents in their new house. We're making a collective effort to sqeeze every second of family time out of this short period where both Dad and I are not away. I've got shopping tomorrow to look forward to, with my mum and sister, and final friend catch-ups on Tuesday, before I head back down for my final ever term at University. I can't quite believe it yet.

I've been very bad and abandoning my course reading for this term (currently Alan Sillitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, which is bizarre to read, as it's set in Nottingham in the 50's. The narrator is casually mentioning roads which I walk up and down all the time, yet are very different - filled with factories and smoggy terraces) in order to indulge my love of fantasy with S.J. Maas's new novella, The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. It's the first of four e-novellas to precede her debut novel Throne of Glass, an epic fantasy loosely based on Cinderella. I read Throne of Glass in its original incarnation (then called Queen of Glass) when I was about 16, on Fictionpress.com, a site for amateur authors.

It was a sensation, pulling in about 3 times as many reviews as the second most popular story. Even now, she has regular readers who have followed her since Fictionpress, like me, on her blog, or her Facebook page, flapping about excitedly at the prospect of reading the real, edited, published version. She's a lovely, lovely girl, who always replies to comments or questions, and to say that I was excited to have a conversation with her on Facebook chat is an understatement. She pretty much single-handedly sparked my interest in fantasy novels, and I am literally counting down the days until the book is released in the summer. I'm only on Chapter Three, but I'm already hooked. 

She's getting published by BLOOMSBURY, which should tell you how awesome she is. Picture Source

I've also been taking full advantage of having Sky Movies here at home, and been catching up on a whole host of films I missed out on seeing for one reason or the other. While Never Let Me Go was a bit of a let-down (as was the book), I loved The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Even if the concept was a bit wacky, I thought the cinematography, score and acting pulled it off.

And to finish off this post, some more Hurts (sorry! Obsessed!). Every time I think I've found a favourite song from the album, I start to fall more in love with another one. But I keep boomeranging back to this one, mostly because Kylie's addition makes my hair stand on end (in a good way). That, and I have a real urge to play this to a handful of boys, to shake them up a bit and make them see sense. After this, no more Hurts promo, I promise. xo.

In which Demi celebrates.

10,000 words done in 2 weeks with some sanity left over!

Source

Celebrating with lovely sausages for dinner, a lovely cuppa and a lovely bath later. Yeahhhhhhhhhhh! xo.

In which Demi says, very simply...

I don't want to write this essay. I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.I don't want to write this essay.

I really really don't. Sorry Arthur, I don't think you're the best king in the world. End of. Unfortunately, my tutor wants 3500 words on the subject.

To distract myself, I keep staring at my fingertips (yes I am that easily distracted), which are currently covered in my lovely Nails Inc.'s Magnetic Nail Polish from Christmas. I'm currently sporting Trafalgar Square, a deep chrome, but my favourite has to be Houses of Parliament, a lovely deep purple. Unfortunately Big Ben, a bright brassy gold, didn't work very well, but that's okay because the other two are gorgeous, and came with a super glossy top coat in a big bundle. If you haven't seen or heard of the magnetic nail polish trend, feast your eyes on its coolness:

Sorry it's so messy. I was so excited to try it that all technique went out the window.

People who know me know that I'm big on nails, so my mum apparently bagged these months ago in excitement for Christmas. And with good reason, look how cool it is! The magnet in the cap of the polish pulls all of these microscopic metal particles in the polish into this awesome pattern, which shifts as the light changes. Depending on how you position the magnet, the pattern changes. LOVE IT.

And to motivate myself through these essays, I also bought two polishes from the indie brand a-England, which arrived the other day and are GORGEOUS. But I'm giving Trafalgar Square it's outing before I try them out. Once it chips, it's switcheroo time.

I can't wait to see my housemates on Wednesday, even if it is only for about 24hrs while I hand in my essays. It's been a long, stressful holiday, and I can't wait until we're all vegging out in companionable banter (there's never silence) and watching trash on the TV. Thank God for Take Me Out etc.

Back to the grindstone. 4 days. Then freedom, filled with films, tea, food which I am no longer able to stomach due to stress, and restful sleep. I had an irritating waking dream last night, which involved me searching desperately for some sort of technological gadget (which most certainly does not exist but I seemed to think did) at 5am, resulting in me ripping all of my bedding off in a harried attempt to find it. And then realise I was being stupid, and re-making my bed.

I'm turning into a fruit loop. Trying to motivate myself with my new kick-ass playlist, which features a lot of Hurts, which I know my dear Elf is happy about. I find the singer, Theo, to be strangely sexy... not quite sure what it is about him. He looks like someone my mum would have fancied in the 80's. Like mother, like daughter I guess. Half of it's probably his voice tbh. And the fact he's called Theo, which is one of my favourite boy's name. Happy weekend everyone xo.

I think it's the eyebrows. And the cheekbones. Maybe. (Source)

In which Demi is a little late to the Hurts party.

I'm meant to be furiously finishing off my second essay, which I am, but I had to quickly take some time to rave about how AWESOME the band Hurts are! How am I only just listening to them?? I watched the recent 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks' episode with my lunch, which featured the singer Theo on Phill's pannel, so when I got back to work I thought I'd have a listen.

Since then, I must have listened to this song, in particular, about 50 times:

Amazinggggg. I'm only a year and a half late to the Hurts party. Ahh well.

Also, I watched the first episode of 'New Girl' last night when I took a break from writing, which I LOVED. Zooey's just so cute! Although I can't make my mind up on Schmidt, I think he'll start to grate on me.

Looking forward to treating myself to the absolute trash that is the new series of 'Playing it Straight' when I finish this (only 500 words left!!). I remember watching the last series, when I was about 16, and it was amazingggggg, I'm hoping this reboot will be as good. Such a weird concept for a show. And hopefully, tomorrow my celebratory nail polishes from a-England will arrive, to brighten my nails as I bash out my final essay.

9 days until hand-in. 4000 words to go. Ding ding ding - game on. xo.

In which Demi is clearly crazy.

Not only was I up far, far earlier than is the norm for me, to entertain company at 9.30am ('barely presentable' is how I would describe my look, but then again, he didn't look much better), but it is now nearly 4.30am and I am STILL GOING. I am so behind on this essay that I refuse to go to bed until the majority of it is complete.

ONWARDS. Relying on a mix of OneRepublic, Star Wars and Gabrielle Aplin to keep me going musically. Rawr.

Tea and music are getting me through. Just about.

Apologies for the craziness. xo.

In which Demi is knackered.

I'm up and working on my esssay at 9am on a Monday morning. What madness is this? This, it turns out, would be at the request of my friend. He'd better bring me something nice to make this early morning business worth it.

So, December and January. Blogging fail, a bit. I've been going a bit crazy, trying to be both social and productive. And, ultimately, achieving neither. The only reason I agreed to meet my friend at an ungodly (in my eyes) time is because I'm not sure I'd have time to see him another time. I've another nine days to write about 5000 words. Oh I do like to put myself in sticky situations.

A picture-laden post of Christmas goodies and New Year madness is on its way, as soon as I locate my camera.

Recently I've said goodbye to two friends heading back to Uni, pulled my hair out about Transitivity and verbs for my language essay, applied for my first real job on a graduate course at a massive adertising firm (eek!!) and played babysitter for some of the kids in our parish yesterday. The tiny chapel we used to attend got shut last year, due to lack of funds in the diocese, so my dad decided that we should play hosts to the first reunion of the friends we'd made there. It was a small, friendly community that my dad really misses, and apparently so does everyone else, as we had a good 40 people show up. Me and my sister entertained the kids on the Wii, and I wanted to steal away an adorable little blonde-curled four year old girl, who had been just a baby the last time I saw her, when I became lazy with my church-going at the end of school. Too cute.

Yawn. Verbs, I hate you. xo.

In which Demi ushers in the New Year.

Source

 May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Neil Gaiman - Source

I hope everyone had a fabulous start to 2012! I went to a small but lovely house party and am now feeling decidedly worse for wear after celebrating from 8pm until 4am. Ahh well, if you can't do it on New Year's then when can you?

This holiday has been a very sleepy affair. Lots of food, films and family. My grandparents came and stayed with us, and it was lovely. After the passing of my Nana earlier this year, I was desperate to see them, in case anything terrible befell them. Life has the habit of surprising you.

I also had a very nice reunion with my homegirls, with a delicious meal and plenty of gossip. It's been a stressful term for all of us; there have been break-ups, house issues, fall-outs and sadness at Uni, so it was nice to have familiar ground under our feet and familiar faces in front of us. 

I've developed an obsession with having my hair curly/wavey recently, with the rediscovery of my SpinCurl hairdryer extension. So simple! This is what I wore for our catch-up.

Right now I'm having to knuckle down and finish off my first essay, so I can crack onto the next one tomorrow. I didn't really factor in such a raging hangover to my schedule... rookie error! It's even more difficult to concentrate than normal this year, with my brother receiving the new Zelda game on the Wii for Christmas. We are hard-core Zelda fans, and I'm constantly finding myself drifting into the living room to watch him soar among the clouds of the new game. Jealous! Luckily the syrupy smooth voice of Gabrielle Aplin is making my work easier. I predict we'll be hearing a lot more from her this year! She's too talented not to make it. 

Ghosts

The Liar and the Lighter

Thank you to Beth for posting about her on your tumblr! Instant love!

I have a good gut feeling about 2012. My gut feelings have never steered me wrong before, so here's hoping. I'm wishing for at least a 2:1, some form of job before the end of the year, lasting friendships, and maybe even a new boy on the scene. God knows I'm sick of drunken, regretful texts from my ex.

2012 will be my year. I'm sure of it. xo.