Freya's Blog

LATE "The Hunger Games" Film Review (spoilers)

2012-12-09T09:15:00.002-08:00

I've been meaning to write a review of "The Hunger Games" film for a little while now but because I've left it so long I've actually managed to see the film twice which hopefully will mean this review will be even more objective. A little warning; I will be discussing some specific details concerning the plot and way it was interpreted in the film so if you have not watched it yet and don't want it to be spoiled then I'd advise that you don't read on and go and see the film instead (as it's fantastic)!

So, overall I thoroughly enjoyed the film both as a fan of "The Hunger Games" book trilogy and just as someone who appreciates good films. As book to film adaptions go it stayed remarkably true to the characters, plot and themes and I would even go so far to say it is one of my favourite films based upon a book. The fact that Suzanne Collins, the author of the trilogy, was hugely involved in the film and co-wrote the screenplay really comes across when you watch it as the dialogue was always relevant and believable and true to the characters. Of course the actors' performances carried the lines beautifully. Jennifer Lawrence gave a stunning performance as Katniss and Josh Hutcherson was a perfect Peeta and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna were both very convincing.There was never a point during the film were I found any of the acting unconvincing.

The only real issue I have with this film is the censorship and the way the deaths and murders were presented in the film. The original cut was rated a 15 in the UK so they cut out a lot of the violence and gore to bring the rating down to a 12A so that part of the target audience would still be able to see it. And whilst I can understand why this decision was made as "The Hunger Games" is a young adult piece of literature and the higher rating may have limited the audience, a cynical part of me thinks that they were thinking about the market in terms of money rather than doing justice to the series and what it stands for.

How to motivate yourself to write!

2011-10-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

I've been bursting with ideas lately for various stories that I'm working on and I've been staring at my computer screen for the past hour, checking emails and other mundane things like that thinking I really need to write these ideas down but for some reason I just can't get in the writing spirit at the moment. In terms of ideas I'm on a roll but I know that if I don't get them down on paper soon, I'll forget about them. So, I decided to help motivate both myself and anyone who reads this I would write a list of ways you can motivate yourself to write.

1. Remind yourself why you're writing the story. Think back to the early stages of the project when you were really excited about the characters and the plot and the themes raised. It's easy to get bored of a writing project that you've been working on for a long time and want to move on to something new. But, the truth is all writing projects take a little while and if every time you gave up when it got tricky and moved on, you would never ever produce anything. So keep working at it and don't loose faith in the story that you've spent so much time creating.

2. Create a routine for yourself. Put aside a few hours in the day for writing and whether you choose to do this in the morning, afternoon or evening make sure you choose a time that will work for you and stick to it. Avoid time wasting activities like going on Facebook.

3. Take breaks. If you're completely stuck and you're just sitting there staring at your paper with a blank mind then you know it's time to take a small break from your story. Move away from where you are sitting and make yourself a drink or a something to eat. The tiniest change of scenery and a little activity does wonders for a frazzled brain and you will probably find that when you return to your writing, after your break, that you can see a way to get past the "writer's block".

4. Don't give up on your story. When you get to a tough part in your story it can be tempting to just give up on it and start something new instead. You may think that there is no point investing time in finishing a story which you simply don't think is any good anymore but NO story is a hopeless case and if you don't like it at the moment then work on it, building on the weak aspects and you will make yourself like it again.

5. Know that you can do it! Writing a novel can sometimes seem like an impossible task especially when you'e struggling it. There is no denying that it takes a long time it's definitely not easy but it is not impossible. If it was impossible then all the bookshops and libraries would be empty but their bursting with hundreds of diverse books written by all sorts of people. So have faith in your ability and you will complete your story.

So...what are you waiting for? What am I waiting for? Let's go and write!

TOP TIPS: How To minimize frizzy/flyaway hair.

2011-08-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

I know I don't usually write tutorials on my blog but I haven't updated it in a while and this is the only thing I really feel like writing about today. I'm having serious trouble articulating myself well enough to do book reviews or anything similar.

So I've been wanting to write a post about taming frizzy hair for a while now. When I was younger I used to really hate having frizzy hair and I used to scour the internet looking for tips to help with it as I'd tried countless frizz ease shampoos and conditioners without any luck. Now I've managed to regain a bit of control over my hair, I figured I would share the top tips I've learned over the years as I'm pretty sure some of them are little known.

1. Don't blow-dry your hair. It dries out frizzy hair and makes it course and extra frizzy. It's best to let your hair dry naturally. If you really don't want to wait then use a diffuser to evenly distribute the heat through your hair but I recommend just gently wringing out your hair (DON'T RUB WITH A TOWEL) and then letting it dry in its own time.

2. Keep hair hydrated and healthy. Of course it's always important to maintain healthy, hydrated hair, whether or not it's frizzy, but it's especially important if you have frizzy hair as dry, unhealthy hair makes it worse. So, to care for your hair, use a hydrating shampoo and conditioner and be sure to leave your conditioner in for about 2 minutes before washing out. In order to keep your hair healthy, as well as hydrated, get it trimmed regularly to prevent dry or split ends. Also do NOT bleach your hair or use heat tools excessively.

3. Don't wash hair with cold water. I used to have very greasy hair about three years ago so, when I washed it, I rinsed out the shampoo with cold water to close the hair follicles. This prevents oils building up in your hair and stops it getting greasy so quickly. This is a good tip if you have very greasy hair but it doesn't do any favours for frizzy hair as frizzy hair requires a certain amount of oil to stop it from becoming dry and, as I mentioned above,it is crucial that your hair is hydrated. So when I became aware of this is stopped rinsing with cold water.* Additionally, make sure you don't over-wash your hair. If your hair remains fresh for three days, wash it every three days. Only wash your hair daily if it is extremely greasy.

4. Don't brush your hair when it's wet. Your hair is extremely fragile when it's wet and the worst thing you can do is repeatedly run a hair brush through it, regardless of what your hair type is. It not only causes your hair to dry static and frizzy but it can rip your hair and cause damage. If you want to untangle your frizzy hair after washing it then either comb it with a wide toothed comb or simply brush through it gently with your fingers.

5. Don't overestimate frizz ease products. It is true that most frizz control shampoos, conditioners and serums are useful but you cannot solely depend on them to make your hair tame. For example you can't just blow-dry your and straighten your hair and just assume it's not going to make your hair dry and frizzy because you've used a frizz control shampoo. You're much better of using more basic tips to solve frizz rather than just spending a fortune on products. I regularly use "Dove 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner for normal hair", which isn't a product specially for frizzy hair but I still have relatively frizz free hair, when using it, as long as I follow the tips that I preach.

The only remaining tip I can offer is don't let your frizz rule your life. True, it's a pain and it does mean you may have some bad hair days if you get caught in the rain but don't let it get you down! Just care for your hair the best you can and don't panic too much if a little bit of frizz still shows up now and again. Hope this post helps!

*Recently, after washing my hair less often I've found that finishing with cold water isn't making my hair frizzy anymore due to the fact that I'm not washing it excessively. Try both and see what works for you.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review (SPOILERS).

2011-07-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

My friend, Matt and I at the cinema.

I was beginning to feel sorry for my poor abandoned blog today so I decided to try and write a review of the epic, emotional finale of the Harry Potter films. I went to see the film on Friday morning with my friends after a pretty much sleepless night wishing I was at the midnight release and worrying about the end of Harry Potter. I actually recorded a video-log of my day which you can find here if you are interested. Overall, I really enjoyed the film; it was exciting, funny, emotional and epic and I have very few complaints. I think, in order to cover everything I want to in this review I'm going to have to split it in to sections. Read no further if you haven't seen the film yet because the following contains spoilers, however you may wish to skip to the last paragraph which is spoiler free.

Good Points

The sense of belonging and sentimentality was beautiful when the trio returned to Hogwarts, I especially enjoyed the use of the theme tune in this scene as it really built up a feeling of hope and the idea that Harry, Ron and Hermione were no longer alone. The build up to the battle was perfectly paced, I loved all of McGonagagall's lines from when she said "it's good to see you" to Harry to "I've always wanted to do that", after bringing the suites of armour to life. I thought Matthew Lewis was awesome as Neville too...infact, despite some of his perfect lines being changed (I'll join you when hell freezes over), he was absolutely super! Also Ron and Hermione's kiss was adorable, I didn't even mind that they changed the location of it. Overall main thing this film did succeed in was portraying the emotion; from when the trio arrived at Hogwarts I was crying on and off until the end of the film. I thought the tragedy of war was represented well and it felt nearly as sad as it did in the book, which is certainly an achievement. Lastly, I was much more impressed by the "19 years later" scene then I thought I would be, the actors didn't look silly and John William's "Leaving Hogwarts" playing in the background added a whole new level of sentimentality to the whole thing which was perfect for the end.

Bad Points

After the disappointment of "The Half Blood Prince" film I have grown to expect many changes from book to screen so most of the changed made in "Part 2" didn't bother me too much. However a section of the film that did frustrate me was from when Harry "came back to life" to when he killed Voldemort. The prolonged killing of the snake dragged and I couldn't see the point in it and I didn't enjoy Harry and Voldemort's final battle for several reasons;

1. The only characters who showed a flicker of emotion when Harry was thought to be dead were Hagrid and Ginny and the whole scene just felt a little awkward to watch.

2. I didn't understand the part when Harry grabbed on to Voldemort and they fell out of the castle together; the clawing at each others faces was particularly bizarre and I really didn't see the point in that whole section.

3.There was nobody watching when Voldemort died. I loved the fact that it was a public affair in the book. I felt it was really important for it to be a very open moment in the midst of hundreds of hushed people because it made it tense and meant that those fighting were finally able to actually witness the victorious end of the war and see for themselves what they had been fighting for come true. Also, it meant Voldemort's humiliation, when Harry called him Tom, was multiplied by the dozen by the fact everyone was there to witness it.

I won't go in to any more detail about parts I didn't like because I do like this film...a lot and too much negativity would be unfair.

Overall Thoughts

To tell you the truth my overall thoughts are too jumbled to put in to words. I can't quite believe the last Harry Potter film has come out but, at the same time, I don't feel like Harry Potter had ended entirely. I'm currently re reading (for the hundredth time) the Harry Potter book series and am so excited for Pottermore. I just feel like there's still so much to be explored, so much more to be done and so much more to look forward to before I can feel like Harry Potter has truly ended. As a dedicated fan, deeply in love with the Harry Potter world I know that Harry Potter will always live on in the hearts and minds of its most dedicated fans. Even though I feel this way I think it's safe to say the movies went out with a bang! Obviously, I recommend this film, it's unmissable really seeing as it's the LAST one!

I found a time capsule

2011-06-20T03:33:00.000-07:00

Hello, I know I haven't updated my blog in a very long time but this was due to examinations. But now I have finished school and I'm eager to start blogging regularly again! So...anecdote time!

Unlike many people nowadays, I still own all my old videos as well as my video player. I do like "staying with the times" and do of course own a DVD Player and a whole drawer full of DVD's but I honestly don't see the point in throwing out videos if they still work... plus most of my favourite Disney films are in video format and it's not always easy finding them again. Anyway, I was looking at the row of videos on my shelf the other day when I noticed one that I'd completely forgotten about; the "two in one" video of films, Anastasia and Bartok the Magnificent. Just looking at the cover art of this video seemed to awaken something in my mind, something I'd previously forgotten about that hadn't ever disappeared but was just dormant in the very back of my mind.

When I was about five years old I became fascinated, almost enchanted with a particular scene in "Anastasia" in which the female protagonist sings a song in an deserted, grand house and, as she sings, hundreds on glistening figures appear and start dancing along with her. And at the very end of the song the dream-like figures dissolve in to thin air again and the girl was left alone. I distinctly remember a wide shot of the now completely deserted hall she was sitting in. I don't quite know why I was so mesmerized by this scene but I remember being completely taken by the atmosphere and the contrast of the room filled with people to the deserted empty hall. If my vague description didn't do this justice then here is a link to the very scene from YouTube.

The point of this post was not to merely describe this scene in "Anastasia" but to share my delight of finding this thing that had made such an impression on me when I was younger. I can't believe I forgot about it but the sense of discovery at recalling it again and being able to listen to the song and recognise the lyrics was almost as magical as the feeling I had originally felt watching it as a young girl. I know know how it feels to find a time capsule and the coolest thing is that it was not a regular time capsule that was organised and put together purposely... This one was completely accidental.

A Revising Girl's Diary

2011-05-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

The main problem I, personally, have with revision is, aside from the fact that it's work and no one likes work, it makes me slightly lonely. Of course revision and studying can be a social activity if you make it one but, unfortunately, I have an appallingly short attention span and work a lot better individually for this reason. I've done a few revision sessions with friends before but they've never been particularly productive so I doubt I'll "attend" many in the near future. So, yes, revision makes me lonely. It also makes me lazy- in terms of anything else that isn't school related, for example getting dressed and looking nice. Lastly, working on subjects such as maths, science and history fairly intensely make me feel creatively frustrated and by this I mean I crave more than anything to express myself in some way, I also get really strong urges to read books but, inconveniently not the books that I will be writing about in my English Lit paper in three weeks.

This "creative frustration" is the reason that I am writing this blog post. The fact that I'm about to post it on the internet is besides the point as I confess I'm writing it for myself as opposed to for anyone's enjoyment. I never intended for this blog to become so personal but I'm writing these thoughts here because the computer is the closest thing to me, at the moment. I actually keep a diary and would normally write such thoughts in there but, as I said before, the revision related laziness means I can't walk next door and pick up a notepad.

It's a slightly scary thought that I only have two months left of mandatory education. It's particularly strange for me, as someone who hasn't made up her mind where she will be studying her A levels next year, to not know to what extent my life is going to change in September. I may stay at my Secondary school for them and I might go somewhere a little further afield. But, regardless of that, things are going to change anyway. Friends will be moving away; going to different colleges; doing different courses. I'm not trying to be sentimental here, I promise...

There's no denying it's scary to think the end of my official school days is approaching but it's also very exciting. I'm excited for the long holiday coming up, I'm excited for the creative projects that I'll be able to start in this time and I'm very excited for the courses I will be taking next year. Anyway, It's time for me to get back to some revision so I'm going to wrap this up. I hope everyone reading this is well.

~Freya~

Tumblr, Internet Projects and Inspiration

2011-04-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

Seems it's the last day of BEDA today I can't NOT write a post. I'm currently researching artists- Marc Chagall's work is really interesting, you should check it out. So...does anybody here use tumblr? I, personally, think it's an awesome tool for inspiration- I don't post much but I could easily spend hours on end surfing through the different pages, looking at quotations, pictures and photographs, which always leave me feeling creative. I definitely prefer Blogspot as a place to write (although a friend of mine regularly writes on tumblr) so I'm not being "controversial" talking about tumblr on here. I see tumblr as more of a visual source of inspiration, whereas I see blogspot as inspiration in a written form. Both are awesome sites for gaining inspiration and expressing inspiration. If you're in the slightest bit interested, here is my tumblr page. I gave it the title "My visual source of inspiration" but I don't blog or re-blog anything enough, at present, to make this title a worthy one. I'm working on it though, not for other people to visit it, but for me to be able to visit it for reference and inspiration. What do you guys think of tumblr?

Now I want to talk a little about forced creativity (and by that I mean things like BEDA, VEDA and NaNoWriMo). There's been a lot of discussion on YouTube and here on Blogspot about whether or not these projects are actually encouraging creativity. Some people question whether they actually stifle creativity and force people to put out content which isn't interesting or entertaining. I admit that I have some posts on here that, as a result of blogging every day (well, I say every day) which aren't up to a standard that I am proud of. However, I have posted a few things which I really do like and that I wouldn't have come up with if I hadn't been doing BEDA, this year. So, overall, I have mixed feelings on this "every day" malarkey but I have, on the whole, really enjoyed it and haven't found it too taxing*.

As for NaNoWriMo, I confess I have barely even looked at my novel, since November; partly because I'm trying to focus on school work but also because I haven't been that inspired to edit it. I don't blame this on NaNo, I wouldn't have even wrote it in the first place if it wasn't for that but I just hope that I'll still feel it's worth editing when I go back to it...I am feeling more inspired to finish it at the moment though, for the record. The main problem I have with writing is that I tend to get super, super, super absorbed in a writing project if I allow myself to think about it too much and the reality is that, at the moment, I cannot afford to be overally involved in a huge writing project when I have exams to revise for. I'm currently putting off several projects until my exams are over; time consuming YouTube videos, large writing projects, huge book series re-readings etcetera. I want to try to get out of this mind frame though- I know I could still be writing whilst revising for exams, I know tonnes of writers manage to fit writing in when they are super busy. I'm just an unmotivated, lazy, unproductive person who can't focus on more than one thing at a time. Gosh, sorry, I've gone of on a rather negative tangent- I'm sorry for moaning, I just get frustrated with myself. The funny thing is I don't even mind sharing this with the internet.

To sum up this post I will say that I've enjoyed doing BEDA; I did it for a new experience, to see if I enjoy it and because I thought it would be an easy, slightly creative activity to do alongside revision. It's worked pretty well- maybe I'll swap to daily novel editing instead, just a tiny bit at a time. We'll see how it goes, shall we? I'm a great supporter of not just accepting your flaws and problems but trying to change them. I'm also a big supporter of just freaking doing things- you regret things that you didn't do more than things you did do. I don't regret spontaneously doing/failing at BEDA, I don't regret spontaneously doing NaNoWriMo in my mock exam month and I will continue going ahead with creative projects until the day I die. So many creative people just sit around talking about things they're going to do instead of doing them.

Wedding, Birthday, off school day

2011-04-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

I've been at school for the last two days, which is why I forgot to blog for a little while, but obviously it's the royal wedding today (and my brother's 14th birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY ) so I'm off school again. Today's been pretty chill- of course I have been revising and doing other productive things (e.g. watching the royal wedding) but it's nice to be off school and I did get dressed pretty late.

The above picture shows my cool/lame attempt to celebrate the wedding. I'm also wearing a white vest top, red tights and blue shorts. 100% British flag colour scheme for me today. Please excuse the rather frantic look on my face, I'm no good at posed photographs.

Now, as much as I find the fact we still have a royal family here a slightly old fashioned and strange concept I am happy for the couple and I think, although we do PAY taxes for all their wealth, the royals do contribute to society. The amount of charity work a lot of them do is wonderful and Prince William seems like quite a grounded, friendly guy... I really don't admire the couple's wedding though; with the security, police and hundreds of people in the room they don't even know. I mean Kate couldn't just turn to her husband to be and say "let's just have a quiet wedding with a small reception and one tier cake" could she? There was no choice in the matter. Ugh, I just generally find the lives of famous people quite sad- EVERYONE should be entitled to privacy. I don't mean to put a damper on today but I just think it's unfair that Kate Middleton had to essentially chose between marrying who she loved and living a life of privacy and stability. Obviously, I don't know everything about how the royal family are treated, nowadays. I suppose they get a lot more respect and discretion being, you know, royal but I, personally, think it's a shame.

Anyway, happy wedding, I'm proud to be British etcetera, etcetera... Bye!

Post Easter Post

2011-04-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Arghh! I think I can safely say I haven't done very well with the whole BEDA thing recently. Of course I could pummel you with excuses about revision, going away and parties but I doubt you'd buy it so we're all just going to have to move on...

I hope you all had lovely Easters with your family and friends (or whoever you spent Easter with) and, those of you in Britain, I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather as much as I did! I'm currently sitting in a vest top and shorts, in denial that the weather is no longer 24 degrees. I drove* down to Devon on Wednesday night, to see family for Easter and stayed there until Sunday evening. It was a really relaxing, sunny break, especially as I'm swamped with work at the moment. Although, sadly, I was forced to take some work with me due to the ridiculous amount of GCSE art work I have to do.

Paignton

Teignmouth

I was meaning to write a blog post yesterday, before my friend's 16th birthday party, but I stupidly forgot. Hmm...that means I haven't blogged in six days- that's awful for someone who announced on various social networking sights "I'm doing BEDA, come check it out!". Fail.

*My dad drove, I can't drive.

A Fresh Start

2011-04-18T04:04:00.000-07:00

Today is a fresh start for me. I've been somewhat unmotivated so far, in this holiday. It's kind of been like a viscous circle of feeling like I need to do work, not wanting to do work and then feeling guilty about not doing work so not being able to do anything else even semi productive e.g. blogging. It's tricky getting out of that mind frame but, last night it got the extent that I was doing my own head in so I kind of slapped myself and awoke, this morning, with a conscientious mind frame. I've already been outside for a walk (which I recommend when you have lots of work to do) and sat down and done a two hour English paper (for practise). So, as a result, I don't feel guilty for typing this blog post out.

I'm going down to Devon on Wednesday night to see family, which will make it difficult for me to blog for a few days, especially as I'm already going to be bringing a ton of art work with me, working towards my art exam. It'll be really nice to get away, though and eat chocolate eggs!! I've actually given up chocolate for lent and it's been really easy, on the whole. There was a small "glitch" the other week when, during an after show party, my friend offered me some chocolate fingers and I genuinely FORGOT they contained chocolate but I haven't had any chocolate since then and I was too exhausted at the time to taste the damn things anyway. It's so typically me to FORGET something was chocolate, it had nothing to do with poor self control... I'm just forgetful. Haha! I'm not actually religious and this is the first year I've given up something for lent. I'm not doing it for any religious reason, just to exercise self control and because there's more than life than chocolate. There is. Seriously. I'm off to go tidy my pig sty of a room now so bye!

The Mystery of a Stranger's Self-Image

2011-04-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't write a blog post yesterday. I won't give my excuse because my excuse is boring so we're all just going to have to move on. First, I would like to thank the bundle of new followers I have as well as the older ones who have stuck with me for ages (by that I mean a few months) and I would also like to compliment you all on your excellent taste in blog. I'm joking. I think you are all mad.
Today I'm going to talk about self image (and no, this is not going to be a girly post because self image is not purely something which applies to girls). Anyway, I've been thinking about this because I've spent a day at a shopping mall surrounded by a huge variety of people who all hold themselves in such different ways. It's funny how you see a stranger walking by and you are immediately struck by how confident they look when you don't even know them. It begs the question do they even know how confident they look? It could all be just an act, it could be an unintentional thing as a result of their stance or the clothes they wear. It's always interesting contemplating the assumptions you make about people- the example I just gave was rather general but how do you explain bad first impressions or an instant dislike to a person when you have no good reason to make these assumptions. It's actually quite worrying because it's all built on prejudices or past bad experiences and it just shows that no one can go through life without developing some sort of narrowness or ignorance.
As for my personal self image I think I'm pretty clear on what my strengths and my weaknesses are. Something I do try to do is appear happy and I think it seems to work. I am of course a happy person anyhow but not quite as cheerful as I act in certain situations- I try not to look fazed by things that perhaps I am fazed or upset by and I try not to make a fuss over things too, because I don't like to come across as "moany" either. I do feel mildly uncomfortable talking about this but, hey, it's done now. Please make me feel better and leave a comment on what your personal image is or just what you think of this topic, in general.

What does art mean to you?

2011-04-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

I made this video yesterday. Here it is, enjoy. I'm too tired and busy to write anything on here today. Sorry.

Jackie and the Skyscraper

2011-04-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

This is a modern fairy tale I started writing a few years ago. I really like it and, although I'm yet to finish it, I hopefully will this year!

Once upon a time, hundreds of years before flying cars and automatic brains there lived the people of the twenty-first century. Now, the twenty-first century was a fascinating time, although the people were not as clever as we are now, and had terrible dress sense, they were philosophical, courageous and sacrificed much for the need of others. This story starts in the middle of London and underneath a colossal rain cloud…

Jackie Alton sat in the deserted park, scuffing her shoes across the tarmac. It had been raining intensely for a whole hour, that Friday afternoon, and the entire park had turned in to an enormous glittering lake. The swings, half covered with flaking paint, were creaking furiously in objection to the wet weather, but the slide, usually rusty and looking worse for wear was transformed into a breathtaking water feature.

Despite the inconvenience of it all, Jackie loved the park like this. It was usually just a tacky little play-park, swarming with gossiping mums and little kids that screamed and wailed. In the rain, the park was changed in to a sanctuary, just for Jackie to enjoy.

It was a place for her to think, a place for her to reflect on her problems. And there were plenty of them in her life. Jackie lived with her mum, her two older sisters and her baby brother, Ricky in a Tenement block. She absolutely hated it! From the outside you could have probably mistaken it for a multi-story car park and inside; it was a prison. The staircases were narrow and dark, the lifts stank of wee and the windows were so filthy that even in the middle of summer very little light managed to break through the grime.

But, that was where she lived and complaining about it wasn’t going to help anyone. Unless her mum miraculously and very suddenly got a profitable job then there wasn’t much anyone could do about the family’s situation.

“There’s nothing you can do” Jackie proclaimed out loud to herself, however in her heart she knew this wasn’t true. Up in her bedroom, in a large white shoebox sat her new Nike trainers, unworn. She had been saving up for them all year, but her mum needed money now, and she could probably get about £25 for them if she haggled hard. She had initially planned to take them to the loan sharks to sell, but when she had took them out of their box and ran her fingers along the soft leather she was won over by her longing- her longing to wear the trainers; to feel good about her self for once in her life. Although she knew it was self-centred, Jackie didn’t want to let go of her most prized possession.

Blocking out these disturbing feelings, Jackie slid off of the bench she had been perched on, then began to make her way home. She was just turning in to her street, after a five minute walk, when she came face to face with the very person everybody dreaded meeting; Moe White with her diminutive gang of seven ‘bling’ clad followers. She was the ultimate bully of the class. She even made some of the boys cry and if she truly didn’t like you, she made your life hell.

I hope you enjoyed this little taster- feedback would be awesome for this is only the first draft.

~Freya~

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on DVD!

2011-04-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

The title speaks for itself. I've just literally finished watching the film and most of the special features on the beautiful, shiny, two disc special edition Harry Potter film. Horray! I do like this film; there are many things I adored about it but, being a Harry Potter fan, I have many moans- but they are legitimate ones. I try not to nitpick when it comes to the films as they are always going to change a few things. However, I do enjoy moaning so I've compiled a list of my top HP and the DH Part 1 complaints (SPOILERS):

1. The first half of the film lagged terribly and all the "making up for plot holes in earlier films" was untidy and spoiled the film slightly as well as causing more plot holes for THIS film as there is only so much screen time.

2. The way they portray Ginny in the films never ceases to annoy me! The only screen time she got was to relay information to Harry in a monotone and to stand in the kitchen with her dress undone. Really?

3. They screwed up the Malfoy Manor scene. I'm sorry! I know many people really like this scene but it wasn't nearly as atmospheric, scary or as horrific as it was in the book. I wasn't looking for mistakes but I found this scene riddled with plot holes, things that happened that were not loyal to the characters and a inconsistency of mood.

4. They missed out sooooo many beautiful, important and quirky moments/scenes.

However, I did overall like the film. It's not my favourite out of all of them but it doesn't fall to the bottom of the pile. There were some really nice trio moments in it, the seven potters scene was awesome and I really enjoyed the ministry scene too! I haven't got time to expand on my points right now but I may make a video about this later on in the Easter holidays.

Tell me your thoughts on the film, Do you have any moans?

Harry Potter DVD Out Tomorrow!

2011-04-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 comes out on DVD tomorrow! *GASP* Who's excited? Are you excited? I know I am! if you want to know my thoughts on "Deathly Hallows Part One" from way back when I saw it, (on the day of the release) in November then click here.

So I'm very much looking forward to sitting down with a huge packet of crisps (and hopefully some ice cream) tomorrow and watching the film with my family (who haven't seen it yet). It's always awesome seeing films at the cinema but it's also a whole new experience having it in DVD form and watching it in the comfort of your own home... And after that we have Part 2 to look forward to and, wow, am I excited for that! But also kind of sad and nostalgic as it really will mark the end of Harry Potter in its prime. *Pauses to reflect on hopelessly Harry Potter consumed life*

OK, I am a crazy person for doing BEDA- it was very much an impulsive decision so, yet again, it's only a short post today so I'm sorry about that. I'll write up some nice Deathly Hallows content tomorrow!

Bye.

Paul Klee

2011-04-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

All I can think of to blog about today is one of the artists I've been studying for my coursework. Most of the artists I have to research aren't actually appealing to me but for the purposes of my course I have to. But you do get the odd artist that you actually think is awesome!Paul Klee was a very individual artist who was influenced by many artist movements including expressionism, cubism and surrealism. He enjoyed experimenting with colour theory and eventually mastered it and wrote about it. He was a German/Swiss artist who worked in several medias including oil paint and watercolour.

This piece of Klee’s work, opposite, is called “They’re Biting” which is a combination of drawing and oil on paper. It is an abstract piece of work, as you can see which actually portrays fishing. It is also one of my favourites of his. Klee, himself, has described this piece of work as “taking the line for a walk” which is an interestingly whimsical phrase. His choice of colour in this piece is also interesting to me as there is not blue in the picture, which is a colour associated with fishing, but the colours are warm and calming- maybe this is how Klee felt when he went fishing. I really like this overall feel of this piece of work as it is rustic, aesthetically pleasing and unique.

So, what do you all think of this piece? My friend came over and looked at it in my art book one day, saw this picture, and said something along the lines of

"Haha, unlucky you having to do such a weird artist" and I said

"I like it, actually" and she responded

"Oh right, I just think it's kind of ugly"

...goes to show how differently people interpret art. For the record my friend wasn't trying to be mean as it may have come across as I recorded the conversation.

Feeling Happy on a Sunny Day

2011-04-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Hey, guess what? I'm feeling really happy today. I'm not writing this to shove it in your face (whoever you may be who's reading) but that's all that I can think of to blog about today because it just feels so awesome! A contributing factor to this happiness is definitely the weather, which is absolutely gorgeous. I love the way warm weather makes you feel; free, relaxed, optimistic and slightly impulsive. It's also really cool to be sat at my computer at quarter past six in the evening, with sun streaming in the open window and only a vest top and leggings on (no socks). It was only last Monday that I was walking to school with my winter coat on! English weather is rather unpredictable but in a charming way, I think.

Another thing that's making me really happy is my friends; I'm in my last year of school and I've finally found the most amazing group of friends who are lovely, supporting, considerate and funny people as a group, and all lovely individuals in their own ways too. It's the last day of term today and I was home really late because my friends and I all stopped half way home, on a patch of grass next to a small road, and chatted in the sunshine. When I did get home I went out to town with another friend to help her buy summer clothes but we ended up on some grass, just as I did earlier except this time eating sherbet and coke.

The summers here in Britain are rather short and fairly cold and rainy but we don't dwell on this fact as we're used to the coldish weather. But this just means, for me, that when the warm weather does come around again you realise you've forgotten just how beautiful, inspiring and cheerful the sunny weather is. I think maybe you appreciate it more when it's short lived...although a warmer, longer summer would be nice. I'm feeling sightly surreal now and I think that's because of the sounds of cars rolling by and my brother playing piano downstairs- I'm used to working on my computer in 100% silence. I'm not obsessive in the slightest.

It's a beautiful day today!

2011-04-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

It's such a beautiful day today. I know I said it was beautiful yesterday but today is even better. It's really warm with clear blue skies and so, so much sunlight. In my Geography class, at school today, a small group of us got taken out of class to work for a bit and there were no free classrooms so we worked outside in the sun! It was kind of hard to write as it was so bright but it was beautifully warm.

I've been sat at my computer since I got home, typing up a script for my exam in Drama and it's rather stressful as I need to finish by tomorrow so that's why this blog is rather rushed. I love the way I feel so comfortable with blogging. When I first started I felt kind of awkward as I didn't feel as if I was addressing anyone and I didn't know what direction I wanted my blog to go in...I still don't really know what direction it's going in but it's really fun posting and I'm going to keep blogging every day until the end of April. Oh, wait a moment. I've just remembered I'm going away over Easter and I may not have internet access...so I may have to minus some more days from my BEDA. Oopsie! Can I go now? Can I leave you with some spring-like pictures?

Paper Towns, by John Green

2011-04-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

I finished reading this incredible book quite a while ago now but for some reason or another I forgot to blog about it which is odd because I really, really enjoyed it. Paper Towns is a YA novel which follows the nerdy, confident and wonderfully opinionated Quentin in his at first seemingly impossibly task of tracking down the mysterious and beautiful Margo Roth Spiegelman who left him hanging after sweeping him away on an exhilarating and hilarious all-nighter.

It kind of takes my breathe away how beautifully John Green blends the funny, meaningful and suspenseful together without ever straying from a realistic and consistent plot line. In fact, Paper Towns is exactly what a young adult novel should be; it's reflective, thoughtful, entertaining, relatable and intelligent. It's also really witty and unique and the characters are all wonderful developed and, in the case of Q's friends, just as annoying, quirky and persistent as friends often are in real life. I love how none of Q's peers were portrayed as the clique- type "perfect friend" who is always selfless considerate and "there for you". A theme that runs subtlety through the book is acceptance and more precisely acceptance of people's flaws, hang ups and overall imperfectness. I think this is something very interesting for a YA novel to explore as, let's face it, all teenagers are fairly annoying!

Anyway, I definitely recommend Paper Towns to you, even if you're not a young adult as it's an insightful, entertaining read which everyone can enjoy. One thing I have noticed about John Green's books is that they are never as you would expect; they are always better than anticipated. They always hugely exceed my expectations to an almost crazy extent. In my mind there's two catogories of YA books; regular YA books and John Green's YA books as John Green takes this genre to a whole new level and it is absolutely mind blowing how much "awesome" is contained in his books.

I'll leave you with one non spoiling quote from Paper Towns:
"What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person"

p.s. It's such a beautiful sunny day in England today. Would it be really cheesy of me to say that the evening is golden? It really is lovely. Spring is finally on its way!

The Hunger Games Casting Revealed

2011-04-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Lawrence

So... Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorn! What are your thoughts on the castings for the Hunger Games? I know I'm excited but I'm only partially excited. Most of all I'm trying not to judge the actors and actress before I actually see them in action; starring in The Hunger Games as I want to remain open minded and not get all negative about a film that I'm so, so excited for.

For those of you who don't know; The Hunger Games is the first book in a fantastic, dystopian trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, which is in the process of being made in to a film to be released in 2012. The director is Gary Ross who has already set about casting the three main characters. The news is now focusing on the fans' reactions to these castings and possible castings for the other major characters.

Josh Hutcherson

OK, first I'm going to talk about Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. This piece of casting was made official a couple of weeks ago now and I confess that, when I first saw the article, I was surprised and disappointed. Jennifer Lawrence doesn't fit any of the criteria I had in mind for the perfect Katniss casting. Katniss is a character with very dark hair and olive skin and Jennifer Lawrence is freaking blonde with really pale skin! Of course they can work wonders with makeup, hair dye and such but her facial features doesn't say Katniss to me either. Jennifer Lawrence is also a lot older than Katniss, who is sixteen (as well as being described as young looking for her age). At the age of twenty, this makes Jennifer four years older than The Hunger Games protagonist. I suppose this isn't really a problem though as Katniss is a complex character and it may require a great deal of maturity to play her and, as I said earlier, they can work wonders with makeup. Maybe once they are done with her Jennifer Lawrence will be the perfect Katniss. The main thing, however, that made me change my mind about her was all the news articles reporting on Jennifer Lawrence's acting ability and the fact that Gary Ross said that casting Lawrence was the easiest casting choice he has ever made. Also, the fact that she doesn't look much like Katniss, shows that she was chosen purely for her acting ability...which is surely a good thing?

Liam Hemsworth

Now, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. I was incredibly concerned about the casting of Peeta as I had a very clear image of what he should look like and I also think he's a very complicated, almost misunderstood character whose image could have been destroyed by some pretty-boy actor with soft, flowing blond hair playing him in the film. But, I have to say, at this stage I am very happy with Josh Hutcherson as Peeta; I really see Peeta in his face and some of the expressions he makes so, provided his performance is up to scratch, I think he has the potential to be a fantastic Peeta!

I confess I'm not entirely sure what's up with Liam Hemsworth as Gale. He isn't how I imagined Gale at all...I mean Gale's meant to be good looking. Of course, again, you can never tell until you see them in action so maybe he'll look right in the film- we shall see. I've never been particularly fond of Gale as a character though so this slightly dodgey casting doesn't really upset me much. Not at this stage of the process anyway...

Thoughts on Poetry

2011-04-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

You may or may not know this but I am part of a collaborative YouTube project called Writers on the Wall and I make a video every Tuesday, usually on a topic relating to writing or literature. This week's theme is poetry and I've been sitting at my computer for a while now thinking about what I'm going to say in this video. It's hard to decide because there's so much to be said on the subject of poetry. The thing is with poetry is that it is an art of many aspects and poetry can mean many different things, depending on the person and how they view it. This got me thinking; is there actually any dictionary definition of the word poetry? I searched in to Google the term "poetry definiton" and this is the first one I found:

Poetry is an imaginative awareness expressed through meaning, sound and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. Poetry has been known to employ meter and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define.

For the purposes of this blog post I am going to ignore the fact that the above definition is rather wordy, fairly muddled and hardly a definition at all and focus on the last sentence. The very nature of poetry as an authentic mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define. This sentence, for me, sums up my thoughts on poetry almost perfectly. it is not something you can out you finger on easily and it relies so much on personal taste that poetry has become something that only exists in the eyes of the beholder.

For me personally; I think poetry is it's most beautiful when accompanied by something else. I've never been a great fan of poetry books with individual poems that stand alone, that type of poetry has never really appealed to me; but poetry alongside music, art or as part of a novel has often taken my breathe away. Some people say that music says what words cannot and some say art does this too, but I disagree with this to an extent. I think that if you combine art or music with poetry you create something that speaks louder than anything else in the world. Of course I think a novel is capable of doing this too, especially when containing certain aspects of poetry but this is because novels are long and can contain so many words. Songs usually contain very few words but the music alongside these words allows the song to express just as much as an entire novel does. I find this amazing.

I don't know what I'm going to say in this video but maybe it's a bad idea to delve in to the true essence of poetry in the way I have just done in this blog post. It is slightly dry and probably boring. Instead, in my video, I will demonstrate the true essence of poetry.

Now I just need a poem to use...

Sunrises

2011-04-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I decided that, instead of writing, today I would share with you some of my "photography" of sunrises.

I have quite a few more but these are some of my favorites. Enjoy :)

BEDA (minus day one)

2011-04-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

This year I have decided, a little late, to do BEDA. In case you don't already know what BEDA is; it stands for Blog Every Day in April, although it can also be called Blog Every Day in August. It works for both months. Unfortunately, due to the craziness of being in my school drama production and all sorts of other things, I failed to notice it was April 1st yesterday so I'm starting BEDA a day late. I'm mainly doing this impulsively but I also think it will be a nice way to get me writing, getting more comfortable with the style of blog writing and I think it will be a really cool month to look back on in the form of blog posts.

Hmm...now I need some content for this post...

List of things that come to my mind

1. I just checked the comments on my latest writersonthewall video (a youtube collaboration project) and saw that the video, which took the least effort out of all my WOTW videos, got one of the best responses out of all of my videos on that channel. Weird huh? Apparently people like to watch disorganised teenage girls struggle for words whilst fiddling with ties and lone shoes on their bedroom floor.

2. I went in to town earlier with a couple of friends to find mother's day gifts for tomorrow and, more than anything, the trip made me appreciate how nice the weather is currently and how much I hate card shops. I'm not going to go in to it but you know what I mean...Commercialised, overpriced crap.

3. I think I mentioned on my blog that I've given up chocolate for lent. Last night I ACCIDENTALLY ate three chocolate fingers. Don't judge me, it wasn't my fault. It was at the after show party at my school and it was late, I was tired, I was excited and I was offered some freaking chocolate fingers. I only realised three hours later what I'd done and I was pretty peed off. But I'm going to continue not eating chocolate anyway because I'm NOT a quitter. Awkward pause. Anyway, I'm proud to say I haven't intentionally eaten any chocolate this lent so far so it's all good.

Bookmarked, My New Blog

2011-03-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

When I'm looking for a new, interesting book to read I often search for recommendations for young adults online. However I must confess i've become increasingly disappointed with the results that these searches produce. I'm usually directed towards amazon lists entitled "books for teens" or something of that sort which list the most predictable young adult books I've already read which include with half hearted descriptions which either tell you nothing of any use or make the book sound dull. I think you'll agree that one faceless stranger on the internet telling you that "This Book's AMAZINGGG!!!" isn't going to convince you to read a book, especially when the blurb hasn't even been included in the description.

So, that, ladies and gentlemen, is how my new blog, Bookmarked, was born. As this blog is currently a new born baby, the structure and content will probably change over time but I'm going to kick start it off by regularly posting non-spoiling book reviews/recommendations of any good book that I think is worth sharing. I also hope to involve visitors to submit their own recommendations in the form of comments. The first post went up today introducing the blog and providing a few recommendations just to get the ball rolling. Click the follow button on "Bookmarked" if you're interested in the subject matter but don't worry; I'll still be updating this blog regularly just probably not for book talk. So, if you read this blog purely for my book reviews then switch to Bookmarked but I will probably post things on here relating to creativity and literary discussion because that's what interests me.

Thanks for reading!

The Bookmarked Mission: Decrease usage of the following phrase "I have nothing to read!".

Two Film Reviews: "P.S I Love You" and "Pride and Prejudice" (Keira Knightly version)

2011-02-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I will, from this point on, update my blog every Sunday. I may post extra if I get an urge to but I will make sure I post something every week because I'd hate to be the owner of an inactive blog...or something.

The point of this post is going to films. I'm not a big "film watcher" usually as I find my attention span can't usually stretch to a two hour film. My thoughts either stray to things I'd rather be doing or I feel guilty loosing a large portion of my day when I should be working but in the last month or so I've sat down (in the evening) and watched two DVDs; one which I liked and one which I did not like. Here are two mini- reviews to inform you without spoiling you:

P.S I Love You

"Based on the best-selling novel from Cecelia Ahern, P.S. I Love You is far more than the standard chick flick that it may first appear to be. Relocating the novel from Ireland to America, multiple Oscar-winner Hilary Swank stars as the young woman who has recently lost her husband. And yet amidst her grief, she discovers a series of letters that he’s written to help. These letters give her certain things she has to do, to help her move on with her life." amazon product description

My mum actually bought this DVD for herself and she sat down on a friday night to watch it. She warned me that I probably wouldn't like it as it was "very soppy" and I'm not in to films like that. So, initially, I wasn't going to watch it but I didn't feel like sleeping that night and my parents were eating crisps in front of the TV so I decided to watch the film (mostly so I could eat crisps)...

I loved it. It was a funny, quirky, emotional and life affirming film. Despite the fact that the title makes it sounds clique, it really isn't what you may expect. It was very moving and I am currently trying to get hold of the novel it was based on to compare the two. It's a very sad film but incredibly entertaining and really real. I recommend it to anyone.

Non-spoiling film highlight: The Irish countryside which was beautiful and inspiring.

Rating: *****

Pride and Prejudice

"One of the greatest love stories of all time, Pride & Prejudice, comes to the screen in a glorious new adaptation starring Keira Knightley. When Elizabeth Bennett (Knightley) meets the handsome Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), she believes he is the last man on earth she could ever marry. But as their lives become intertwined in an unexpected adventure, she finds herself captivated by the very person she swore to loathe for all eternity. Based on the beloved masterpiece by Jane Austen, it is the classic tale of love and misunderstanding that sparkles with romance, wit and emotional force. Critics are calling it "Exhilarating. A joy from start to finish" (Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times)." amazon product description

One of the greatest love stories of all time? Yes. But I really don't feel like this adaption is true enough to the classic novel by Jane Austen. Keira Knightley (Elizabeth)spoke too fast and too quietly so we couldn't hear her, Matthew MacFadyen (Mr Darcy) had no stage presence whatsoever and, overall, it seemed that the film focused more on flashy nature shots, "attractive" visages and trying to rush some of the best scenes in the book to make room for these unnecessary additions. I didn't hate the film but after recently seeing, on DVD, the Pride and Prejudice TV series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle I was very disappointed with the Keira Knightely version. Of course, I'm speaking from the point of view of a huge fan of the original book and also a firm believer that film interpretations should remain as close to a good book as possible so I'm based towards the TV series. But, seriously, as it was much longer (as it came in episodes)and as a result lot more true to the book and ..the ...acting ...was...soooo much better! Hopefully, I'm going to be posting a separate review on the TV series but for now let me conclude by saying if you are a loyal fan of Pride and Prejudice, the novel then... don't expect to enjoy the Keira Knightely film.

Non-spoiling film highlight: Mr Bingley, who was hilarious but in all the wrong ways (plus he's funnier in the TV series).

Rating: **

So...I've just realised this post is actually very seasonal as both the films I just reviewed are romances and 'm posting this in the week of Valentine's Day!

Bye everyone, I'll update soon.