In which Demi doesn't entirely believe in the green light.

I should probably state here, for the record, that The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite books, and I don't believe a cinematic version of the tale will ever truly be able to recreate the subtlety and beauty of Fitzgerald's words. Nick's first person narrative issues aside, I think that such a wordy book will never have a fully successful film adaptation, as what we are delivered on screen will almost never match, or indeed outmatch, our own imaginations, unlimited as they are.

Nevertheless, when I heard that Baz Luhrmann was taking up the novel as his new project, a little thrill of excitement went through me. Surely, if anyone could do a decent job of matching the extravagance of Fitzgerald's 1920's world, it would be Baz.

It was certainly close, but no cigar.

Source

I monitored all press news, photos from the set and rumours incessantly. The more I saw, the more I liked. The cast seemed perfect, with my only concerns saved for Leonardo Di Caprio. It wasn't that I didn't think he would do a good job, as I think he's an amazing actor. I was simply intrigued as to how he would craft the titular character; the rest of the cast fit smoothly into their roles in my mind, whereas Di Caprio was like a puzzle piece which I knew would fit into the whole... I just hadn't worked out how yet.

When the soundtrack was leaked I was fizzy with excitement. Baz made such a fantastic call by getting Jay Z on board, with the music sounding both fresh and nostalgic; jazz and modern rap or dance seamlessly blending.

 Some of my personal favourites from the soundtrack, but the whole thing is amazing.

When it was announced that the film was going to be delayed so that it could be engineered into 3D, internally I reacted like this:

I hate 3D films. It ruined The Hobbit for me. I hate that when you watch a 3D film in 2D (or even in 3D) how inherently false it looks; you can practically see the green screen behind the actors. It jars with the believability of films, and I just wish the whole trend would go away.

So, with hesitant feet, I made my way to my old local cinema during my last trip back to Nottingham, with two equally trepidatious friends.

And, inevitably, felt my heart sink whenever the shots revealed the unnecessary 3D green-screen effect, which in turn affected the lighting quality of the actors and threw several key scenes off-balance for me.

BUT, 3D-hate aside, I was fairly happy. It seemed to take a long time to get going, but once it did the film fizzed into life like an uncorked bottle of champagne - all bubbles and sparkle and light and airiness. The party scenes in particular were great, but the big show-down in the New York hotel scene was the highlight of the film. With no green-screen, no scene-stealing props or gimmicks, we were graced with terrific performances from all of the actors. Leo did an incredible job, even if his 'old sport' catchphrase was slung onto the end of every sentence - but having re-read the book since, he really does use it that much.

Which brings me onto my joy and delight at seeing how much of the actual text of the novel was quoted. I liked the framing of the narrative, the reasoning behind Nick telling the story. While I could have done without the weird floating words in the sky occasionally, I liked that Luhrman tried to tie the book in as much as he possibly could.

However, there were niggles, and many of them. The green-screen aspect and the unnecessary composite layering. The flashy flashbacks. Some strange camera angles. All of these things kept me from sinking into the film, into wrapping its decadence around me like a fur stole.

Baz gave it a solid effort, one which drew out excellent performances from his actors, and certainly beats the Redford/Farrow version in my opinion. But it is a film which ultimately falls short - and not just for the fact that he was never going to be able to match Fitzgerald's unearthly prose.

Did you catch The Great Gatsby? What did you think? xo.

In which Demi is absent and tries to sort her life out... again.

So I suck at blogging. Again. Do I have an excuse? Not especcially. I got a job (not in PR, unfortunately, but it's enough to tide me over for now), and lazy, and quite frankly my social life has dried up into a small puddle of couple of guy friends who are all at varying stages of uselessness. Gotta love graduate life.

Here's a quick run-down of what's been happening:

I went all nerdy. I played this game for the 7th, perhaps 8th time, through and fell in love with it and the characters all over again. It's such an underrated RPG, even if the graphics are very dated now.

Source

And as a result of this gaming, I'm re-obsessed with the SSX snowboarding series, because I want to be skiing now.

I made a trip back down to Nottingham a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday. And it was SO much fun. I got to see all my housemates, other friends I hadn't seen in ages, and even my lovely summer boy, which unfortunately didn't work out, but it was still great to see him and catch up.

The 'Nottingham Lean'!

My darling Elf has disappeared abroad to Austria and live her daydream (I'd say her dream dream, but I'm not even sure if she knows what that is!) of being a ski instructor. I'm counting down the days until she comes home for a quick pre-Christmas break before her season gets into full swing.

I'm listening to Taylor Swift's new album Red constantly.

I've been reading a fair bit! Finally, something productive! I finished The Hobbit in time for the film's release. I had previously attempted the novel when I was about ten and got so bored with the tedious tale that I gave up just as they got to the bloody mountain and met the dragon. Years later, I'm now a massive fan of the Lord of the Rings films (not so much the books - The Fellowship was fine, but the isolated storylines of The Two Towers drove me mad and I gave up) and can't wait for the film of The Hobbit. So I figured I should give the book another, proper, go.

It's still stupid. I still thought it was tedious. And finding out what happened after I had stopped reading before only made me angry. The dwarves can't bang on about killing the bloody dragon all the way through the book and then it not be killed by them! Some man shot it instead? Great. How handy. And stupid. When I saw the turn towards war at the end of the book I decided to withhold my anger, hoping that a more satisfactory conclusion was coming. Wrong. He glosses over the massive, culminating battle by knocking Bilbo out for most of it. What an ending. Talk about anti-climatic...

I also gave Me Before You a go after being lent it by A. I'd heard good things about it, and knew it had been on Richard and Judy's summer booklist (my mum's favourite way to check if a novel is alright, but not pretentious). Although massively predictable, it was funny and touching. Although I definitely didn't cry, unlike some people *cough* A....

Film-wise, there has been a fair few new ones, such as Crazy, Stupid, Love which I LOVED. Totally did not see the twist coming, and I'm a big fan of Steve Carell, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (marry me?) Then during my Nottingham trip I watched Midnight in Paris (weird) and The Amazing Spiderman (mixed feelings. Loved the cast and performances, not sure about the plot/script in some places). I caught The Dark Knight Rises in the cinema twice, as I am an unashamed nerd, and thought it was amazing, and even (despite Heath Ledger's incredible performance) better than The Dark Knight. I also got my Bond on with Skyfall, which I thought was absolutely brilliant - Sam Mendes has saved that brand single-handedly as far as I'm concerned, although the performances and script were also fantastic.

Through a swapsie-esque film session with one of the boys, I made him watch The Hunger Games (which maybe wasn't quiiiite as good as I remembered, but still pretty damn good) while he introduced me to Bronson. It's one of his favourite films, and while Tom Hardy does an incredible job, I didn't really get the big deal. Definitely style over substance for me. And I may have slightly spoilt the film for him too.... ooops. And finally, on Wednesday I finally got around to seeing Silver Linings Playbook. I'd been looking forward to seeing it for months, and I was slightly disappointed that most of the best lines had been used in the trailers (I hate it when they do that!) and that Jennifer Lawrence's character was perhaps less developed than I would have liked. But Bradley Cooper, considering I'm not a massive fan of his, really impressed me. And I think the film does a great job of showing how people are struggling with mental illnesses as part of their everyday lives - even when they're not aware of it - but that it doesn't, in any way, have to define you. With two siblings with mental disorders, I found it a pretty interesting representation.

And I've been watching a lot of Grey's Anatomy. From the start, because it's funny to go back to the beginning when you're watching series 8 and 9 and things have changed so much. An episode a night is all I'm allowing myself.

Now I'm going to crawl into bed after a long, busy day at work, with my current read and a cup of tea. By the way, The Lies of Locke Lamora is bloody brilliant if you like Pirates of the Caribbean, fantasy, kick-ass characters, twisty plots - or all of the above.

That's all for now folks. Things should be picking up soon with things to do and people to see, so hopefully my writing mojo will come along for the ride. xo.

In which Demi shares her current favourites

First and foremost, Happy Easter to everyone :)

So after having a quick rifle through past blog entries, it seems to be quite customary for me, when doing essays at home, to post some songs which unintentionally form a work playlist for that period. Over Christmas it was Hurts and One Republic. This time, I can already tell it's going to be The All American Reject's latest offering, 'Kids in the Street'. I am a maaaaassive fan, and while it is by far my least favourite of their albums, it's still got some gems on there.

'Beekeeper's Daughter'

'Heartbeat Slowing Down'

I predict that a medley of AAR tunes will form the basis of my playlist. My Hurts love is still going strong, so they'll be in there too, along with Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum from my jaunt into country music.

'Cowboy Casanova'

'We Owned the Night'

Films-wise, I've been spoilt. From re-watching olders ones I loved which have recently made it onto Sky Movies (No Strings Attached, Love and Other Drugs, Water for Elephants) to films I never got around to seeing (Thor, American Beauty) and new releases in the cinema (hello The Hunger Games ♥ SO glad the film was an accurate representation of the book!).

Quick shout out to Chris Hemsworth for having a body that literally made me and my sister gasp, at the sheer size of his muscles. Which made our brother roll his eyes and sprout about how ridiculous we are. [It's probably true...]

Had a lovely meal to end the term with the housemates, and it's been great to catch up with a bunch of my friends back home as well. Spent yesterday with my grandparents, having family time. I'd missed them way too much. We're all still at the 'spontaneous hugs' stage, even though I've been back over a week, we've all missed each other so much. Even my usually anti-social older brother!

As for my visitor at the end of last term... lets just say they've got a lot of making up to do.

So for now, I'm grudgingly making a start on my Easter work, although as it's Easter Sunday I'm taking it easy and just doing reading/research. 11,500 words to go, bring it on! But first, chocolate and Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.... it's research, honest! xo.

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 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 is geeking it up.

Tonight's fun-filled activities? Reading criticism of the character of King Arthur, while trying not to lose the sensation in my fingertips. Nottingham has turned icy cold, along with the rest of the UK. At least we're not under a foot of snow, like this time last year.

It's hard to believe that there's only this week and next week left at Uni! Then one more semester, then THAT'S IT. Finito. Crazy times. I can tell I'm going to be running around like a mad hatter.

Today, the latest issue of the Uni magazine FINALLY arrived! We put our super duper PR helpers to work stocking the immediate buildings around campus, with the plans to spread out and cover everywhere by the end of the week. And what's that? The editors are calling for another social before the end of term? Erm.... we'll see....

Finally, I've been listening to a mixture of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars soundtracks to keep me focused on my work... only to be distracted by the gorgeousness of some of the songs. I was listening to this medley of The Fellowship of the Ring's soundtrack, and kept getting distracted by visualising what was happening in the film when the music was being used. I'm hopeless.

Also, would it be too ridiculously geeky to have the beginning of this featured in my wedding? I think the answer is yes, but I'm pretending it's not for now.

Yes, I am a massive geek for these two film franchises. So sue me :) xo.

In which Demi has slept all day and now can't sleep.

Since my current illness rendered me unconcious for the majority of the afternoon, followed by a slobby evening of Sex and the City with the housemates since our going-out plans were scuppered by said illness, I am now feeling both groggy and unable to sleep. Fabulous.

No better time to blog, clearly!

[I do feel quite bad actually, since my updates this term have been sporadic at best.]

So, what's been happening in the world of Demi? A lot of my time has been devoted recently to my role as PR rep for our Uni magazine. Pretty much as soon as my essays were handed in my attention was directed at selling as many tickets for our first launch party of the year as possible. The very first issue of the year was assembled over the summer holiday, so this was a chance for the new contributors, as well as the editors, to celebrate putting together an issue together.

Nikki, my co-manager, and I eventually settled on what most people agree to be the best cocktail bar in Nottingham, Coco Tang, as our venue. If you're ever in Nottingham, I would DEFINITELY reccommend a drink there. Their unique cocktail recipes range from tasty treats, such as the Haribo and Krispy Creme inspired recipes (the Toblerone is to die for - including a little chunk of the sweet itself balanced on the glass edge!), to delightfully whimsical sippers such as a Dirty Cinderella and the gorgeous Cherry Blossom Martini - all served in a super sexy underground bar reminiscent of the prohibition era.

Evidence that I need to start working out again!! But my stomach aside, I think this is a cute photo of me and my co-manager :)

A couple of hiccups aside, the night seemed to be a success, with lots of people from the mag thanking me for such a good night, which made me feel a lot better. Next up: distribution of the latest issue. Submitted to the printers a week behind schedule, we're now getting sliiiightly antsy, after some of the pages had to be re-printed following an ink bleed. Our posters, proclaiming the new issue to be out the end of November, are now essentially worthless, as we are STILL waiting on the delivery, and people are starting to ask where it is, and whether they've missed it. Not good. We'll just have to be totally on.it. when the issue finally gets delivered.

I'm also starting to worry about graduate applications for PR. To London or not to London seems to be the main question, followed swiftly by to go travelling next year or to put it off for a bit, and wait until I have some more experience. I've got a while to think about it, and sift through which cases make the most sense. Also, freaking out somewhat at the weird creative questions they're throwing into the applications: Describe yourself in rhyming couplets. What would the title of your autobiography be? Apple, hero or villain? - discuss. WHAT?!

Next problem jostling for attention in my head is our latest release of essay questions, due in January. While that might seem forever away, I've had two years of experience now as to how little work I manage to achieve over Christmas, what with everything that goes on. See this post for evidence of my essay misery from last year. The bad news is that I have even more words this Christmas than I did last year - 10,000 words compared to last year's 8,000, but at least I have no exams to revise for.

SO, my master plan is to have all of my reading and planning done before I leave for Christmas, and to have at least started one of them. Fingers crossed it'll all go according to plan. I get the results from my mid-term essays this week, and I am preeeeetty terrified, as my Arthurian Literature essay was shoddy at best. I felt like emailing my tutor and apologising, because it's such a bad representation of what I know and enjoy about the module! Gahhhh.

So, essays at the forefront, yes? Not quite, since I still have two weeks of reading to finish up as well. I've really loved my modules this term, especcially my Post-Millennial literature module, where we've looked at the effects of 9/11 on literature, at genre cross-overs, at style experimentations - and all of it written in a fresh, modern prose a million miles away from stuffy 19th Century writing. Yeahhhhhh post-modernism. I've absolutely loved reading What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt recently. Something about it really stuck with me, and I'd thoroughly reccommend it.

I've also had a mini book-swap with an English Studies friend of mine, where we've swapped short stories that are both, coincidentally, being adapted for films in the coming year. I received The Woman in Black, which I've already heard terrified reviews of. My friend A. refused to return to the second half of the play, having been too freaked out in the first half. I'm not good with scary films, and I'm not sure I've ever really read a scary book, so this should be... interesting. I gave her The Great Gatsby, which is pretty much my favourite book ever :)

In film news, we've signed up for a trial of Love Film, so hopefully we'll get to keep on top of seeing all the films we want to watch! I recently caught London Boulevard on my laptop version of Sky Movies the other day as well, which I surprisingly loved. I thought the dialogue was sharp and witty, the characterisation excellent, and that it was much more than your standard London gangster film. ALSO, I had no idea how amazing Colin Farrell was at accents! I think I've fallen a little bit in lust with him. Weird, I'm like 10 years later than everyone else, right?

I think it's the eyebrows that does it...?
Source: http://magiclanternfilm.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/farrell.jpg

Next up, to 'lull' me to sleep, is The Fighter, which I managed to miss in the cinema. Hopefully I haven't overly built up my expectations, like I did with Black Swan.

Off-loading over... Have a good weekend everyone :) xo.

In which Demi has cracked on.

Two essays down (sort of). One to go. Progress!

Yay, annotation!... Sending me cuckoo.

Everyone's getting cranky at this point in the term. Our social lives have shrivelled up into nothingness, and I can't even remember the last time I went out dancing. Next Friday's trip to the student club (haven) Ocean cannot come quick enough, once these essays have been polished off and handed in.

Me and two of my housemates took a break from tearing our hair out to watch some happy films tonight. First up was 'Saved!', a dreadful Christian high school comedy that was as hilarious as it was bad. Followed up by 'No Strings Attached', which is most definitely my favourite rom-com everever. If only for the sheer fact that it has Natalie Portman in it, cracking awesome jokes. Paired with Ashton Kutcher. Perfection.

That, plus fizzy strawberry laces, doughnuts and copious mugs of tea (surprise surprise) have put me in a much more positive frame of mind. And a sugar high.

Arthurian Literature, beware - Demi has her work hat on! xo.

In which Demi swoons a little.

Just finished watching the Star Wars trilogy prequel, with Episode One before bed. Not quite sure why I decided to watch them in the wrong order. That's just how I roll I guess ;)

I pretty much swoon every time Ewan McGregor is in the shot. I don't know what it is about him that makes me so gaga. He's not a pretty boy, but neither does he fully pull off the badass look. He's a little scruffy looking and rather... plainly handsome, in a way that I can't put my finger on. Added to the fact that he's apparently a lovely person, as well as being funny and charming (as witnessed in several interviews) and I am pretty much a puddle of goo with little little love hearts floating in it.

♥ (Source)

I think the fact that he's a good actor helps. He's one of the few actors that I will go to see in a film, even if I'm not sure if I'll like it. Because he tends to win me over every time. I'm itching to see his new film coming out later this year, with Eva Green called Perfect Sense (click to see trailer) which looks interesting and gorgeous. I'm also still meaning to see him in 'Beginners', which I heard is really good. Oh Ewan, won't you just marry me??

Went out for dinner with two of my best girls tonight, one of whom is heading off to Hong Kong next week to study abroad for a semester, and we won't see her until February now. It's made me long for the travelling I've started to plan for after graduation. Instead of jumping straight into a job, I'm hoping to have built up enough experience this summer to allow me to take a year out first. I want to head out east, for the first time, and see parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. Then Australia, and round it off with a couple of hot-spots in the US, especcially San Fransisco and Boston. I'm getting butterflies just thinking about it.

Until then, I'm gonna have to work hard and get the grades to be able to afford the time off. Time for bed, and dreams of Force powers and a purple lightsaber. I think I'd make an excellent Jedi. xo.

I don't think they make lightsabers in hot pink. Shame.

In which Demi indulges her inner geek and child.

In an ideal world, I would work in the film industry.

I'm not even sure which part of the industry, to be perfectly honest. My mum always thought I'd make a better script writer than novelist, as my childish tales were always filled with dialogue and little else. Even my little scribbles and scene ideas that I still jot down on occasion revolve around what's being said, whether it's through speech or body language. I don't feel the need to write excessively about the scene, or pad out the thought process. Maybe it's because I don't always think about what I say. I'm a gut instincts kinda girl. I think some of the most powerful scenes can be some of the simplest, depending on what's being said - or not said.

I don't think I'm a talented enough writer to do well in Hollywood. But if I could choose one area of the industry I could have a go at, I would absolutely love to work in costume and make-up. I love watching the extras on DVDs (I can practically quote the Lord of the Rings extended editions extras, they're by far my favourites) to see how much exquisite detail is put into films; from sourcing Jack Sparrow's sword from an antiques store in London, to the hand-stitched tapestries that line the Golden Hall of Rohan, there is such art and dedication put into the subtleties of a character or a location, which we pick up almost subconsciously.

I've been chilling out tonight after a hectic day, and watched 'Hercules' and 'Star Wars' Episodes II and III. I'm not sure what prompted my film choices, but I've enjoyed them as always nonetheless. As much as I love books, there is just something so vivid and compelling about films.

My blog posts are getting more and more random, I know. I'm getting a little stir-crazy I think. I'm intent on getting another couple of my 30 letters written, since the project has gone on a looooooooong time past the predicted deadline. Oops. I'm really struggling with my letter to my siblings, as this year has seen a real shift in our family and how we relate to one another. We'll see how it goes. xo.

PS. I think Natalie Portman is possibly the most beautiful woman on the planet, yet so understated and intelligent. Jealous. Also, I don't care how wooden his acting is, I love Hayden Christensen! Although not as much as Ewan McGregor ♥