In which Demi is colourfully inspired.

I need new clothes. Badly. A trip into town to score a birthday present for my housemate, and my trip to Liverpool next weekend are the perfect opportunities.

My winter wardrobe in particular is fairly drab. I open my wardrobe and am confronted with dark colours and boring, safe, old clothes. I'm dreaming of sunnier weather, now we're at the back end of winter, and of brighter colours.

So, while wasting time on the internet (instead of planning my midterm essay... standard) I ran across these incredible self-portraits, by 16 year old Cristina Otero. The bright colours, crazy make-up and bold photography has inspired me to build up a more vibrant wardrobe, and to try new shapes and colours which I would normally shy away from.

How awesome are these? The full spread and more information can be found here: Tutti Frutti!

All photos by Cristina Otero.

I'm getting ready to go see The Descendents tonight with some friends, which I'm really looking forward to. I haven't been to the cinema in forever! In other film news, I watched True Grit the other night, but was a bit... unimpressed, if I'm honest. Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld outshone both Matt Damon (although I still love him!) and Jeff Bridges if you ask me, by a clear mile. I also caught Bull Durham on BBC iPlayer one night when I couldn't sleep. I found it hilarious, but in a kinda bad-80s-movie way.

Next on the film list is A Dangerous Method hopefully. Anything as a distraction from this essay that I don't want to write. xo.

In which Demi constantly seems two steps behind life.

I'm feeling really sluggish at the moment. I'm even thinking slow. Ideas are taking longer to process, I'm lacking in motivation and energy, and my to-do list is growing longer by the day.

I need to pull myself together, as we're now in the third week of teaching and I have an essay due on the 1st March. Which, at 1a.m. after a day of procrastination, I've decided is now going to be planned. I really am my own worst enemy sometimes.

New musical obsession is Eskimo Joe's new album, 'Ghosts of the Past', which is excellent. I'm in love with his husky voice. My favourite track is Words of Avoidance:

I'm also super DUPER excited at the prospect of seeing what is pretty much the formative band of my teenage years, The All-American Rejects, supporting Blink 182 the day before my Graduation in the summer... If I could get my act together and book the bloomin' tickets that is! Also seriously excited at the prospect of their new album, as their last offering ('When the World Comes Down') was pretty awesome (but not as awesome as Move Along... even if it does feature one of my favourite songs everever on it.)

Seeing AAR perform 'Another Heart Calls' and 'Dance Inside' would pretty much make my year/life. Fingers crossed they play them.

Excited at the prospect of seeing The Descendents next week as well, as I've heard it's Clooney's best work yet, and who doesn't love a bit of Clooney? Wish I'd got to see The Ides of March earlier this year. Also on my must-see list at the moment are Like Crazy, The Vow (I'm a sucker for cheesy romances) and The Hunger Games, which I'm hopinghopinghoping will do the book justice. My sister and I are big fans of the book, so I promised I'd take her to see it in the Easter holidays.

Also to look forward to are the first housemate's birthday, and her party at home, a trip with A. to see O. in Liverpool and the first magazine social of the year, which is going to be LaserQuest, and sure to be hilarious.

...Maybe I should stop looking forward to so many things, and concentrate more on the present. xo.

In which Demi has had the lurgy. Ick.

Apologies for the delay, I've been moping about with an awful flu-y cold, which I subsequently passed onto my housemates, to their extreme joy. Sorry guys!

SO, the main news is that I've arrived back at Nottingham, and started up at my final (proper) term at University. It's so bizarre. I'm frantically compiling lists of companies to apply to, thinking of final essays and worrying about 21st birthdays. Third year is more exhausting than the other two years combined, but it's hard to pinpoint why - I have less hours, and fewer modules. But everything means an awful lot more. Even time spent socializing is precious, as I'm becoming more and more aware that my life here is reaching its end. Every day spent in the company of my friends and housemates may be something I take for granted now, but I know that come September I will be feeling like I'm missing a piece of myself.

Cheery!

Anywho, my modules are all interesting (hurrah! That's all six this year, I knew it would happen eventually that I'd at least be interested in everything I'm studying!), even if my tutor in Cognitive Poetics enjoyed making me the subject of all of his examples today when I got cornered into the only free seat at the desk, next to him. Lets face it, it's not every day that an eminent professor of Cognitive Poetics uses you to highlight and discuss his own theories.

The university magazine arrived yesterday, and my head is filled with deadlines, appointments and schedules of distribution. Everything's fallen apart a little bit, as my co-manager seems to have decided that the job's just too much hassle in her already busy third year. Hopefully we'll still manage to get the issue out by the end of the week, and plan the next social. By popular demand (and slight fear of what would happen to me if I object against it...) we're doing lazerquest, which should actually be really fun now that the committee is much closer, with real friendships forming parallel to our working relationships.

I've been trying to reign in my sudden and inexplicable desire to splurge on new make-up. I know I don't need anything. Not really. Especcially after my Christmas haul.

The best make-up remover EVER (Gatineau Floracil) and my gorgeous hat-box of Bare Escentuals make-up (blush, Mineral Veil, 2x eye shadows, eyeliner, lip colour and brush).

Stunning Vogue calender, which I think I will be saving for my room redecoration; the photos are so pretty I think I'll cut it up and frame them.

Mother of Pearl jewellery hanger, again for impending redecoration.

This term's reading for Post 1950's Literature, and the novel at the bottom was one I used for my essay. I went through an entire stack of post-its on the two novels I wrote about. Ridiculous!

L-R: a-England's Tristam and Perceval, Boots base coat, Nail's Inc magnetic polishes in Trafalger Square, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament.

I treated myself to Tristam and Perceval, as post-exam treats, and I'm sooooo happy. They're both stunningly pigmented colours, and the formula was silky smooth.

Excuse the quality of my cuticles! I cite essay stress!Tristam is flecked with iridescent holographic particles, and adds a touch of mystery to this lovely denim-y blue.

[Sorry about the photo quality, I need practice clearly.]

And in other news, I went on my first date in almost three years the other day. It was... bizarre. It was such a normal set-up (met a guy in a bar, chatted, kissed, exchanged numbers, then he actually got in touch to arrange a date) that I was almost confused. I've never had a 'normal' set-up when it comes to meeting guys; it tends to be me developing a massive crush on a friend suddenly, or meeting someone in a somewhat bizarre fashion. As sweet as he was, I simply wasn't feeling the chemistry, but it was a lovely evening nonetheless (and gave my friends something to enjoy vicariously. I'm pretty sure a few of them were more excited than I was about it!)

On the plus side, it's made me realise that I do really like a guy I've had a vague crush on, and as a result I've decided to try and do something about it! Wish me luck... xo.