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 catches up (Part.1)

Right-o, here comes a quick recap of the events of my final term at Nottingham.

Starting with the work, since that's the reason I went to university in the first place! I was absolutely thrilled to get my joint highest mark on any piece of work for the Cognitive Poetics (language) essay I spent two months hammering into shape. Hurrahhhhh! Funnily enough, I got exactly the same mark in my Literature and Medieval modules as I did in their counterparts in January - I'm nothing if not consistent!

Essay-writing craziness. This must have been a good day where I actually left the house, I'm not wearing a vest and sweats.

We produced two final issues for the Uni magazine, which fell among exams, essays and end of term madness. Luckily the new Ed in Chief has made the wise decision of only producing one issue for the summer term next year, because we seeeeeriously struggled to shift them. We also held elections for the new team next year, and I was more than happy with the new PR team - I'm wishing them all the best for next year, and I've already promised to pop in and see how they're doing if I'm ever visiting.

Me and some of the girls from Impact ♥

Now, where was I... the end of term. Lots of parties and celebrating, as one by one we threw our stationary down and declared ourselves finished. Graduation Ball was the big event on the calendar, something (the girls, at least) had been planning for months. I bought my dress over the Easter holidays, a stunning floor-length silk affair from Warehouse. The modern style was in stark contrast to the 1920's theme of the ball, but I didn't care, it was love at first sight (thank God for A., who spotted it, and her fantastic taste in clothes).When I'd slipped into it, finished my hair and make-up and added the finishing touches, I felt like I could burst in excitement. It was my third ball (although my two high school ones were hardly anything to get excited about), but I'd never felt so happy with every aspect of my outfit before - I told my housemate as we giddily checked each other over that I'd never felt so pretty. I Skyped my mum quickly, missing her suddenly, as she'd always excitedly helped me get ready for my balls and big nights out before.

Just finished getting ready :)

My beeeeeeeaaauuuuutiful housemates

So much love for this photo! ♥

The venue was gorgeous, and while the entertainment was a little hit-and-miss, the queue for drinks genuinely ridiculous, and the layout with it's numerous scattered marquees more of a hinderence than a help thanks to the oh-so British rain, it was still a lovely evening.

Pub golf, a nineties-themed birthday party (I consider the 90s the decade that fashion forgot, so I went for 90s-ish make-up and hair), and my early birthday (part 1) followed. I chose to recreate a classic Campus 14, which was a staple event in First Year - the group visits every bar in each of the 12 halls on campus, with a drink in each, followed by a drink in the Union's bar and club venue. It wasn't entirely successful, but a good night regardless!

About halfway around the Campus 14, starting to show it.

The 90's grunge theme was popular.

All of this was topped off by a final trip on the last night of term to the cheesiest club to possibly ever exist - the one and only Ocean. Not to be confused with the Oceana, the chain, Ocean is Nottingham's staple Friday night venue. Everyone goes to Ocean. The drinks are over-priced, your shoe frequently gets stuck to the carpet, and it's compulsory to take your top off and swing it over your head when they play the Baywatch theme. Don't ask me why. You just do. We've discovered that this is a trait unique to Nottingham, and it's always entertaining to watch visitors gape in confusion at the mass-stripping that occurs whenever Baywatch is played.

Housemates!

Florence Boot-ers!

Mid-Baywatch

After a solid six hours of drinking and dancing holes into the disgusting carpet, the lights flicked on and the music ground to a halt, prompting the thousands of students present to sit (or, if possible, hover over said carpet) in protest, and chant until the lights dimmed and more cheesy music was presented to satisfy our cravings, until we surrendered to exhaustion. It was the perfect ending to the year, surrounded by my friends from my hall in First Year (Florence Boot corner was an established part of Ocean's floor ♥).

And two days later, I finished packing my belongings, pulled the last photos from the walls, and left Nottingham for - almost - the last time.

Depressing stuff.

It was a bizarre feeling, the days slipping by with alarming alacrity. Even now, I can barely believe that it's been three years. That I've already emerged from the dark tunnel of final essays, stood blinking in the blinding reality of Adulthood. Studenthood is no longer an excuse, and aide. I've nothing between me and my career now. No more essays, no more seminars or lectures, no feverish skim-reading of a book due to be discussed the following day.

It's a scary prospect. I'm good at being a student, I thrive in an educational environment. My mum has attempted to reassure me, telling me that we never stop learning. And while I agree with her wholeheartedly, there's still something about the structure and familiarity of education that I will sorely miss. I'm not chomping at the bit to get out and earn millions, to throw myself into a suit and march off to London. Not right now at least. I had always anticipated that I would feel far more prepared for this moment than I currently do. I only hope that when I get a job and settle down into a new routine, and get excited about it the way I did about the stage of my life that I have just, regretfully, finished, I will be ready. xo.

In which Demi dusts off the keyboard

So, you may have noticed there's been something of an almost-three-month hiatus here. Which is  quite unlike me, I'd like to think; I got into the swing of blogging a lot more this year - or so I thought - but I had enough bumps over my Easter holiday in April to send me careering off the track.

My bad.

So what, you might ask, caused this diversion? Well, to be honest, it was a number of things.

Essays (three of them. Big ones too). Reading (when am I not?). Doctor's appointments (enter mysterious and rather scary lump, stage left). Being smitten and/or embarrassed (over the cute and funny design guy at the magazine, who somehow made me revert to a 14 year old with a crush). Magazine elections and two new issues (the timing of the last two could certainly have been better, but loved the year as a whole). Summer placement interview at a great PR company (which I didn't get, due to my unavailability thanks to mysterious and rather scary lump). Celebrating the end of my degree (lots). Getting drunk (lots). Met a boy (sort of. Three years ago, technically). Films and Grey's Anatomy (my treat for finishing). Grad ball (beautiful). Results day (2:1 BA in English Studies, thrilled). Goodbyes (lots of them). A wedding (my cousin's, in Dingle, Ireland... beautiful, but far too remote). Trip to see the boy (romantic). Graduation (surreal, but lovely). Two early birthday celebrations (hilarious and very different). Surgery (damn you, mysterious and rather scary lump). My 21st birthday (two days later... not ideal).

Forgive me?

I'm now laid up in bed a lot, resting and/or being generally lazy after my operation, so I'll try to fill in the gaps of some of these events with some quick, belated posts. I've got a ton of photos to sort out and upload, so they'll probably make an appearance, along with some insights into my post-university life. No idea what they'll contain - mainly because I don't feel like I've properly finished. It all seems rather surreal. Once my results come back from the lab, I'll also finally be able to make some decisions about The Future, and what it shall contain.

...For now though, I'm going to curl up and watch New Girl I think. Hope you're all enjoying your summer so far, wherever you are. xo.

In which Demi is frozen in time

Waiting, I have decided, sucks. Having an uncertain future, a vague description to go off, is not enough. I've always wanted concrete answers. Vague is not something I enjoy, especcially when your future might be hanging in the balance.

Apologies for the delay, but I've not been very well. Trying to get back on track with my last two essays. I'm returning for my last term (although does it count as a term if I have no teaching...?) on Tuesday and I'm both dreading and impatient for it. Dreading because it's the last one, my final three months as a student, unless I have a massive change of heart and decide I need an MA. Impatient because I miss my girls, and the freedom of living on my own. Although I don't get perfect chicken pies served up for dinner in Nottingham with no effort, no siree. Thanks mum!

This is a bit of a cobbled together post. I'm avoiding an essay, as per usual. This time it's my Language one, which is unusual because they're normally my favourites to study and write. This one is certainly interesting, but its scale and 100% module assessment weighting is scaring me.

Nail varnish, chocolate and cups of tea in my adorable new teapot are making my life right now. With all that excitement going on, I'm sure you can understand my lack of blogging.

I feel like sherbet sat fizzing away in anxiety.

On another note, how awesome is this performance? I know Juliet as the girl who's featured on one of my favourite All Time Low songs, Remembering Sunday, so when I saw she was on The Voice in the US I knew I had to keep an eye on her! xo.

[edit: This is my 100th post. Wish it was a cheerier one! But yay! Happy blogday to me?]

In which Demi is basically her own worst enemy...

So it's 3am here, and I've settled down for the long haul to get half of my first essay written. Today didn't quite go as planned; an accidental lie-in was a bad start (sort of. I enjoyed it really), before I, along with my sister and mum, spent about 3 hours longer than planned shopping for outfits for my cousin's wedding in June.

[We didn't even end up with anything for me, which was mostly the point as the other two have their dresses already. Bad times.]

Then, when I finally did settle down to work, I sent myself careening off course and topic in my essay, which I'm only just rectifying now.

It's one of those annoying essays where I can reduce the 3500 word count, quite easily, down into one word to answer the question: No. I hope my tutor's prepared for 3499 words of waffle as a result.
At least I've got Liquorice here to keep me company. Not that he's being particularly useful...

My new song discovery, along with M83's album (thanks J.!), is keeping me motivated though, along with crispy Italian breadsticks, tea and a delicious raspberry and lemonade 'cooler'. The song is by Aidan Grimshaw, who was my one of my favourite contestants on the X Factor a couple of years ago, and while I'm surprised by the style of music he's adopted, I'm also loving it. Check out Aidan's soon-to-be-released single here. xo.

In which Demi's only excuse is life and laziness.

Wow, it's quite a testament to how busy this term has been that I haven't even really blogged to avoid doing my work. It's now the final week, and all I can think about is how I will be finished, forever, with my English degree when I hand my final essay in on the 23rd May. I've booked tickets for Graduation, started looking at dresses for Grad Ball and dreaming of all the free time I'll have to read books I want to read.

So, a quick re-cap of the last month, in picture form. Firstly, Liverpool, which I loved. My dad's side of the family are Scousers, so it was fun to get to know the city he grew up in!

A week later, my housemate's birthday celebration in her hometown, involving glowsticks, a cardboard cut-out of the birthday girl, and a party-crasher from the weddding upstairs!

House photo :)

My travelling adventures aside, there's been another magazine social, plenty of reading, and lots of lazing about, as I've been feeling rather unwell almost all term. I seem to have done some real damage to my body when I pushed myself to my limits at Christmas. Ooops.

March, for me, is Birthday Month, with a bevy of good friends celebrating their 21sts. Sadly, Nottingham has some funny term-times this year, which means I will be forced to miss both O.'s and my darling Elf's birthday celebrations at home D: It also means that March is an expensive month! Good job I've got a bunch of money saved up from me not going out much due to feeling ill!

Counting down the days until I can head North for Easter. This time next week I'll be out on the town in Leeds, celebrating K.'s birthday with my homegirls, and chilling with my family the next day. Until then, I have last minute essay meetings, more present buying, and a certain someone visiting on Wednesday. I have no idea how it'll go, but I'm just hoping it won't make things any more complicated. My head already hurts.

I might do a film post later this week, I've been watching plenty in my downtime. So much more attractive than Middle English dream poetry. *siiiiiiiiiiigh* 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 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.

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 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 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 is sososo close to freedom!

Just proof-reading my final essay, and then I can breathe an almighty sigh of relief that all three of my mid-terms are completely finished. I am looking forward to sleeping for the majority of Saturday, to recover from what is sure to be a crazy night tomorrow. Bliss! Time to dust off my dancing shoes!

To distract myself from my essay (standard...), I've been drooling over these absolutely stunning photos by Kristian Schuller. I heartily recommend checking out his website for even more examples of gorgeousness. xo.

My new laptop background :)

 All pictures from http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/spectacular-fashion-fantasies, see the rest of Kristian's work here: http://www.kristianschuller.com/

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 is Queen Procrastinator!

So in case you haven't noticed, I blog a lot more when I have work to do. Coincidence? I think not.

I am an expert at procrastination. Take this afternoon for example; I wrapped up last night at 2am on 1700ish words, with only 300ish left to write. Easy peasy. Yet after a leisurely lunch, instead of sitting down to tackle this, I've sat and watched 'What Women Want', which I have both seen before and don't even like!! Then I read The Times magazine. Now I've made a cup of tea, and blogging instead of wrapping up this bloomin' essay, which will probably only take me 15mins.

Part of my frustration stems from the fact that I could write at least double the word limit I've been set on this vague question. I've only written 3 out of 5 sections, and with 300 words left to go it's not looking good.

Meh. I've eaten all the yummy snacks too. Guess I'm out of distractions now. Unless I start looking for a new winter coat...

NO. Bad Demi. xo

PS. Totally unrelated, but I liked this and wanted to get it down before I forgot:

When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke – the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert. - Paulo Coelho, 'The Alchemist' (via Quotebook)

In which Demi gets a wake-up call

Every so often, reality gets up and smacks me in the face and wakes me up. Today was one of those moments. My facebook snooping got me the answer I assumed, and yet I still reared back in shock.

The kind of shock that jolts you like a bucket of cold water, and makes you go 'Holy hell, look what you almost got messed up in.' Step away from the edge, sharpish.

So I've retreated, and something seems to have settled in place within me, and I think that's it. For now at least. Cutting off my attachments, slowly but surely. Until you can drift free completely.

I'm focusing on what I can control for now. I can't control other people, nor death, nor my feelings fully. So I'm focusing on things like my mid-terms essays (not flowing as easy as my plan and research would indicate, but when do they ever?) and rebuilding a bridge with a friend that I'd been prepared to burn. I guess that's what last chances are for.

Current work playlist:
Misery - Maroon 5
Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine
We Found Love - Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris (me and my housemate have been singing this on repeat recently ♥)
Lets Kill Tonight, New Perspective and Ready To Go - Panic! at the Disco
I Won't Let You Go - James Morrison
Tron Soundtrack
Ed Sheeran's whole album.

Oh, and because I haven't posted any of the photos yet, here's a little taste of the chaos that ensued last Monday on the 7-legged Bar Crawl :) xo.

Our theme was 'Sins in the City', and we decided to do a twist on them all; as 'Pride', I decided to spice things up by going as Gay Pride, which basically involved a lot of bright clothes and some awesome make-up!

Sloth (literally), Gluttony and Wrath.

Wrath, Pride, Sloth, Gluttony and Envy

The whole bunch of us :)

The 'being attached' part didn't last very long this year...

♥