One Day, Bridget Jones, I don't know how she does it. These are just some chick flicks (some are film adaptations of books).
There seems to be quite a big stigma surrounding romance films and books. Here is my take on it.
I love romance films and novels. I am a sucker for a good chick flick or love story. Books and films are a form of escapism which is why most books/films have a happy ending because you want to escape real life not read all about it. That is what people have to remember, you may not know it but when you go to watch a film or read a book, you are escaping from your own life.
However, not all stories and films end with a happy ending, there are some very upsetting endings (*coughs* One Day, I am still recovering). There is a quote from Stephen Fry which annoyingly, I cannot trace. He says in other words that fiction tends to have/need some truth in it. I agree with what he says in that fiction does need aspects of truth in it for ease of relating to characters and situations.
I wish that this prejudice towards romance novels would dissipate but I don't think it's going to be that simple.
Romance novels are more than often considered 'cliché' which is quite odd to me personally. I find it odd because it's romance, people fall in love, it happens, how are you going to make that any different. Granted, different things tend to happen and people fall in love in different ways but we are only human at the end of the day. We are humans, we are not some omniscient beings, we are human. Love does not always go how we want it.
I have come to a realisation that people use the term 'cliché' to describe most romance films/novels because we want to escape, to have a change from 'real' love. As humans, we like to dream, at least I do. People dream of falling in love in a revolutionary way but love is love and it's not going to change. Love comes in a different form, shape and size to each individual but it can only be what it is.
This is generally my take on the whole situation but maybe if people really thought about why they don't like romance films/novels, they might discover something. The light bulb might switch on.
Romance novels/films are moving and awkward like real life is. We tend to speak the words 'Oh I wish it was like the films' a lot but it is. Most of the time, films paint an 80% accurate picture of human love. As humans, we don't want to admit this, we like to be different and unpredictable. We also like everything we see, hear, watch and read to be unpredictable but there are only so many things you can do.
Wednesday 31 December 2014
Monday 22 December 2014
Chaos Under The Clockwork Tower And Further...
Delicane looked up at the clock tower as the clock struck twelve. It was midnight. It was quiet that night, very quiet. There were a few people walking around but they were just the usual wanderer's.
There was a sudden chill to the air. Delicane looked to her left and then to her right, all seemed normal. Something wasn't quite right, there was a quirkiness to the air. She looked again, and there he was, the strange man.
Delicane is not normally one to judge but this man had a certain aura about him. Delicane started slowly walking over to him as a compulsion to do so was planted within her. She stopped. To people passing she would almost look as if frozen in time alike the strange gentleman who seemed out of his time. At a closer glance, she noticed she seemed to be the only person who could see this man.
His eyes bore in to her with ferocity. He tilted his head.
Delicane was now far more interested and simply had to go over to him.
'I can answer your question for you now, yes you are the only person that can see me' he spoke coldly.
'Why'? she asked.
'All of that is to come for you but for now, you must remain in the dark' he muttered.
Delicane was about to speak when she heard a commotion. She and the strange man looked over to the scene of a crime. A woman was screaming and wailing whilst embracing this man lying on the floor. One can only assume the man is her husband. One can also assume that the man is dead. Delicane was understandably shocked by the scene and terribly confused.
'How could this happen? I was standing here, in this area, how could somebody be killed right under my nose!' she exclaimed.
'As I said before, you are best left in the dark at this moment'
'Well, I don't want to be left in the dark! I want to know what is going on. This only happened when you arrived so it must be you.' she said
'You are eager aren't you' he said
Delicane was beginning to get increasingly distressed by the sounds of the woman's heart breaking because her husband has just died.
'Okay, I keep calling you strange man in my head and I can't do it anymore so please tell me your name'
'Strange man, well that's interesting. My name is Valdus'
She exhaled, content with now knowing the man has a name. Valdus grabs Delicane by the wrist and starts to pull her along with him. She protests.
'Hey! Get off me! Where are you taking me?' she gasped
'Your protests are futile, not a soul but I can hear you or see you for that matter'
Her head told her to run from Valdus now but her heart told her to go with him. Delicane was always bored and was looking for some excitement and now she had some.
Along the way, he had stopped dragging her along as she was now willingly following him.
Suddenly, there was a big loud bang and fire shot in to the air. Delicane turned and stood in shock. In the place where they had both been stood, something had exploded and had now left the place in ruins.
'Valdus, stop. Please explain to me what is going on. Bad things are happening in places I have been. Am I a chaos walking?'
'Delicane, I'm going to switch the light on now' he said
Delicane was momentarily confused and then she realised what he meant.
Valdus took the suggestive look from Delicane as the signal to carry on.
'This may be hard for you to believe but I am here to save you-'
'Save me? From what?' she asked
'Please, let me finish. This will save a lot less time if you just let me finish'
Delicane inhaled as though she was about to speak but thought better of it.
'I am here to save you because people are after you. I am Valdus, a crime fighter of time. I am not from your time, in fact I don't have a place in time anymore. I have been travelling between time periods for five years, I am a crime stopper of time. I stop crimes happening to the time people by the crime creators of time. Delicane, you aren't just a normal girl, you are one of us. You won't remember this because we had to send you back here to your time, and that resulted in your memory being wiped.'
Valdus stopped speaking as he noticed the look of utter internal combustion going on within Delicane. Valdus knew this was a lot to take in.
'Valdus, I'm running. We must get back to the marble. Valdus, Valdus'
Valdus' face dropped.
'You're remembering'
There was a sudden chill to the air. Delicane looked to her left and then to her right, all seemed normal. Something wasn't quite right, there was a quirkiness to the air. She looked again, and there he was, the strange man.
Delicane is not normally one to judge but this man had a certain aura about him. Delicane started slowly walking over to him as a compulsion to do so was planted within her. She stopped. To people passing she would almost look as if frozen in time alike the strange gentleman who seemed out of his time. At a closer glance, she noticed she seemed to be the only person who could see this man.
His eyes bore in to her with ferocity. He tilted his head.
Delicane was now far more interested and simply had to go over to him.
'I can answer your question for you now, yes you are the only person that can see me' he spoke coldly.
'Why'? she asked.
'All of that is to come for you but for now, you must remain in the dark' he muttered.
Delicane was about to speak when she heard a commotion. She and the strange man looked over to the scene of a crime. A woman was screaming and wailing whilst embracing this man lying on the floor. One can only assume the man is her husband. One can also assume that the man is dead. Delicane was understandably shocked by the scene and terribly confused.
'How could this happen? I was standing here, in this area, how could somebody be killed right under my nose!' she exclaimed.
'As I said before, you are best left in the dark at this moment'
'Well, I don't want to be left in the dark! I want to know what is going on. This only happened when you arrived so it must be you.' she said
'You are eager aren't you' he said
Delicane was beginning to get increasingly distressed by the sounds of the woman's heart breaking because her husband has just died.
'Okay, I keep calling you strange man in my head and I can't do it anymore so please tell me your name'
'Strange man, well that's interesting. My name is Valdus'
She exhaled, content with now knowing the man has a name. Valdus grabs Delicane by the wrist and starts to pull her along with him. She protests.
'Hey! Get off me! Where are you taking me?' she gasped
'Your protests are futile, not a soul but I can hear you or see you for that matter'
Her head told her to run from Valdus now but her heart told her to go with him. Delicane was always bored and was looking for some excitement and now she had some.
Along the way, he had stopped dragging her along as she was now willingly following him.
Suddenly, there was a big loud bang and fire shot in to the air. Delicane turned and stood in shock. In the place where they had both been stood, something had exploded and had now left the place in ruins.
'Valdus, stop. Please explain to me what is going on. Bad things are happening in places I have been. Am I a chaos walking?'
'Delicane, I'm going to switch the light on now' he said
Delicane was momentarily confused and then she realised what he meant.
Valdus took the suggestive look from Delicane as the signal to carry on.
'This may be hard for you to believe but I am here to save you-'
'Save me? From what?' she asked
'Please, let me finish. This will save a lot less time if you just let me finish'
Delicane inhaled as though she was about to speak but thought better of it.
'I am here to save you because people are after you. I am Valdus, a crime fighter of time. I am not from your time, in fact I don't have a place in time anymore. I have been travelling between time periods for five years, I am a crime stopper of time. I stop crimes happening to the time people by the crime creators of time. Delicane, you aren't just a normal girl, you are one of us. You won't remember this because we had to send you back here to your time, and that resulted in your memory being wiped.'
Valdus stopped speaking as he noticed the look of utter internal combustion going on within Delicane. Valdus knew this was a lot to take in.
'Valdus, I'm running. We must get back to the marble. Valdus, Valdus'
Valdus' face dropped.
'You're remembering'
Tuesday 16 December 2014
On going weight loss and current results
At the start of this year, I weighed 13 stone 1 which I found out recently made me obese. In February, I went down to 12 stone 12. Just before Summer, I went down to 12 stone 6. In September, I went down to 11 stone 11. Last week, I went down to 11 stone 5. I still have another stone and a bit to lose before I am at my desired weight. The photo of myself in the black dress was from late June last year.
Saturday 13 December 2014
The Stranger At The 4:00pm Bench
Victorian London. It's an odd place, very pleasing to the eye. The thick fog conceals the identity of each passerby. This then creates a sea of enigma.
I sit on a bench, my bench. It's my bench because I sit here at 4:00pm every single day. As I am a regular visitor of this bench, I begin to become fairly well known amongst the locals. There is Marty, the sweet older gentleman who never fails to tip his hat towards me. I never fail to return the gesture.
It's Winter at the moment. It gets considerably quieter during the winter. The cold is too much for many people. Personally, I love the cold, especially for this season.
There is a beautiful building opposite I. It stands tall and proud. Solid iron gates embrace the building like a warm hug. The building is white with black rectangular panels going down and across. I still, in all the times I sit here do not have the faintest idea of what goes on there. I should find out someday.
'Oh that's odd very odd' I mumble to myself
A peculiar man walks towards my bench. He dons a smart suit, top hat and cane. I assume he must be fairly wealthy.
'May I take a seat on your bench'? The stranger asks
'Why sir, how could you possibly know this is my bench'? I enquire
The mysterious stranger smirks and proceeds to sit down next to me.
'I see you, always watching, I know how you wonder'
This man has a very icy tone to his voice.
Where do you watch myself watching from'?
The stranger's grey eyes pierce my soul like a dagger. After what feels like a good minute, the strangers mouth finally starts to drip a syllable.
'The beautiful building that is white with black rectangular panels going down and across' he sings
My face drops.
'How, how do you-' I stammer
'Ah, that's for me to know and for you to never find out'
'Tell me!' Tell me how you know! Who are you?'
This may seem like an over reaction to this very peculiar stranger but I tell you now, I got a very, very nasty feeling running through my veins.
'Now now Victor, calm yourself, so many questions'
'How do you know my name'? I ask sternly
The stranger rose from my bench.
'You'll never know, it's going to drive you insane' he whispers
The stranger turns so his back is facing myself and silently glides away humming an eerie melody. The stranger completely fades away.
This bench, is my bench no longer.
I sit on a bench, my bench. It's my bench because I sit here at 4:00pm every single day. As I am a regular visitor of this bench, I begin to become fairly well known amongst the locals. There is Marty, the sweet older gentleman who never fails to tip his hat towards me. I never fail to return the gesture.
It's Winter at the moment. It gets considerably quieter during the winter. The cold is too much for many people. Personally, I love the cold, especially for this season.
There is a beautiful building opposite I. It stands tall and proud. Solid iron gates embrace the building like a warm hug. The building is white with black rectangular panels going down and across. I still, in all the times I sit here do not have the faintest idea of what goes on there. I should find out someday.
'Oh that's odd very odd' I mumble to myself
A peculiar man walks towards my bench. He dons a smart suit, top hat and cane. I assume he must be fairly wealthy.
'May I take a seat on your bench'? The stranger asks
'Why sir, how could you possibly know this is my bench'? I enquire
The mysterious stranger smirks and proceeds to sit down next to me.
'I see you, always watching, I know how you wonder'
This man has a very icy tone to his voice.
Where do you watch myself watching from'?
The stranger's grey eyes pierce my soul like a dagger. After what feels like a good minute, the strangers mouth finally starts to drip a syllable.
'The beautiful building that is white with black rectangular panels going down and across' he sings
My face drops.
'How, how do you-' I stammer
'Ah, that's for me to know and for you to never find out'
'Tell me!' Tell me how you know! Who are you?'
This may seem like an over reaction to this very peculiar stranger but I tell you now, I got a very, very nasty feeling running through my veins.
'Now now Victor, calm yourself, so many questions'
'How do you know my name'? I ask sternly
The stranger rose from my bench.
'You'll never know, it's going to drive you insane' he whispers
The stranger turns so his back is facing myself and silently glides away humming an eerie melody. The stranger completely fades away.
This bench, is my bench no longer.
^I wrote this short story as a spontaneous moment appeared with an interesting thought and this is what came out of that thought
Tuesday 9 December 2014
Soundtrack To My Life
I recently watched a Youtube tag video by Lily Melrose. In the video, she collaborated with Zoe London. They created a tag called 'The Soundtrack To My life'.
This video fuelled my thoughts about how I have certain artists who narrate my life in a way. The artists being; Lana Del Rey, Paloma Faith, Fun. and Florence and The Machine.
I listen to these artists the most because they all have a similar style but also because I relate to the stories they are telling through their lyrics.
I have also found, I listen to this one particular band the most during the winter time. The band is 'Fun'.
My favourite songs by Fun are: Stars, We are young, Carry On, Some Nights and Some Nights Intro.
It is a well known fact that when you are in a particularly sad mood, you take notice of the lyrics to song and generally then have a better understanding of what the artist is trying to say.
I love music, it's a real mood lifter.
I will do the tag in blog form which contain the same questions Zoe London and Lily Melrose penned.
Song you listen to when you're happy? Hey There Delilah by The Plain White T's
Song you listen to when you're sad? Born To Die by Lana Del Rey
What song will you have at your wedding? Cosmic Love by Florence And The Machine
What song do you dance around the house to? Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd (The Pulse version)
What song do you play in your headphones when you are out and about? Some Nights by Fun
Song you listen to when you are angry? Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paloma Faith
Song you'd have at your funeral? Songbird by Eva Cassidy
Song that makes you lose your shit at a party? Sex on fire by Kings Of Leon
The Last Song you listened to? Cosmic Love
Your karaoke song? Dancing Queen by Abba
What song do you work out/exercise to? Everybody's on the run by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Song with the most memories attached? Born To Die by Lana Del Rey
Song that makes you cry? Flying Without Wings by Westlife
Song you hate the most? What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction
Your favourite song of all time? Born To Die by Lana Del Rey
Monday 20 October 2014
Is Fanfiction Literature?
The other day, I came across Ariel Bissette's video 'Is Fanfiction Literature?'. You can view her video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtw7CSAxs1A
In her video, she posed a good argument and expressed her opinions on the question which you can see in her video. The comments are also worth the read.
Now, I am going to answer the question.
Personally, I do see Fanfiction as literature. Why you ask? Well, I class fanfiction as literature because if we talk about the basic meaning of the word, regardless of whether it's the same world or the same characters, it is still a written story. A lot of fanfiction writers put a lot of time and creativity in to their work so it would be an insult to say it isn't literature.
I both read and write fanfiction and also I write what a lot of people would say 'true literature' which varies from poetry to short stories.
There is a big controversy with fanfiction because of the writers taking characters out of the world they were put in and putting them in to situations that the character would not ever be in. An example would be Johnlock. However, there have been fanfics which have ultimately become TV Shows or soon to be films, i.e. BBC Sherlock and Fifty Shades Of Grey.
I personally don't see why it is a problem for people to put their own spin on characters. Whether they put them in likely situations or not, I still view it as Literature.
Yes, you may be using the same characters but you aren't re writing the story in the way of copying, you are being creative and coming up with your own plots. That to I, is worthy of the title 'Literature'.
Fanfiction deserves as much credit as any short story or novel because the creative process is still the same.
In her video, she posed a good argument and expressed her opinions on the question which you can see in her video. The comments are also worth the read.
Now, I am going to answer the question.
Personally, I do see Fanfiction as literature. Why you ask? Well, I class fanfiction as literature because if we talk about the basic meaning of the word, regardless of whether it's the same world or the same characters, it is still a written story. A lot of fanfiction writers put a lot of time and creativity in to their work so it would be an insult to say it isn't literature.
I both read and write fanfiction and also I write what a lot of people would say 'true literature' which varies from poetry to short stories.
There is a big controversy with fanfiction because of the writers taking characters out of the world they were put in and putting them in to situations that the character would not ever be in. An example would be Johnlock. However, there have been fanfics which have ultimately become TV Shows or soon to be films, i.e. BBC Sherlock and Fifty Shades Of Grey.
I personally don't see why it is a problem for people to put their own spin on characters. Whether they put them in likely situations or not, I still view it as Literature.
Yes, you may be using the same characters but you aren't re writing the story in the way of copying, you are being creative and coming up with your own plots. That to I, is worthy of the title 'Literature'.
Fanfiction deserves as much credit as any short story or novel because the creative process is still the same.
Monday 13 October 2014
Female Characters in Classic Literature
Literature has changed drastically over the years.
Now, we see a lot of strong and dominant female characters such as Katniss Everdeen.
Somebody said to me a couple of days ago how they were working on a piece of writing which had a strong female character because of how female characters are often portrayed as submissive, specifically in classic literature.
Take A Scandal In Bohemia for example by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Irene Adler was possibly not your every female of that time but she still was far from being dominant over Sherlock Holmes. She still had that air of submission to a man.
Irene Adler is supposed to be as intelligent as Sherlock therefore posing a challenge for him but the way she is portrayed is still not as dominant as her potential shows.
Other novels with characters similar are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and quite the majority of classic literature.
Elements of Literature such as this don't bother me as much as they do a lot of other people but I can see why. It can be very frustrating when a female character isn't as developed as they could be because they have to be somewhat inferior to their male counterparts.
I do think it's nice and refreshing to see strong dominant characters but that can't happen in every book because some people just aren't like that at all.
What do you think?
Now, we see a lot of strong and dominant female characters such as Katniss Everdeen.
Somebody said to me a couple of days ago how they were working on a piece of writing which had a strong female character because of how female characters are often portrayed as submissive, specifically in classic literature.
Take A Scandal In Bohemia for example by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Irene Adler was possibly not your every female of that time but she still was far from being dominant over Sherlock Holmes. She still had that air of submission to a man.
Irene Adler is supposed to be as intelligent as Sherlock therefore posing a challenge for him but the way she is portrayed is still not as dominant as her potential shows.
Other novels with characters similar are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and quite the majority of classic literature.
Elements of Literature such as this don't bother me as much as they do a lot of other people but I can see why. It can be very frustrating when a female character isn't as developed as they could be because they have to be somewhat inferior to their male counterparts.
I do think it's nice and refreshing to see strong dominant characters but that can't happen in every book because some people just aren't like that at all.
What do you think?
Sunday 28 September 2014
Mirrors- A Slam Poem by I
It’s I that’s broken
Not the mirror
If it was
I wouldn’t hate myself so
But when I sit and delve in to the tunnels of my soul
I find that piece of rubbish that is my self esteem
All it needs is a polish to make it gleam
No.
It needs more than that,
It needs
Something or someone
To morph it back
To it’s original monotonous shape
Climbing out of the tunnels
My self esteem dissolves yet again
Too many mirrors
Too many cracks
I can see everything
Everything that is wrong with the casing
My heart
My heart is as full as I am after a fillet steak
My self esteem continues to shatter
And crack until the end of the time
And I am afraid
Afraid that it will never be able to reshape itself
It will be forever
Broken
How broken is broken?
I’m all smiles but inside
Inside I am pale faced and tired
Tired of feeling unhappy
Unhappiness is an enemy, one that you never want to face
Want to know why?
You should never face unhappiness because when you do, you become unhappiness and nothing else
This is the first time words don’t hurt
Words don’t hurt because you already hate yourself enough that any words with negative connotations pass you by
Or are merely accepted in the trainwreck that is your mind
Your mind has so many openings yet so many closed doors
What’s behind those doors
Is it the key to stitching your self esteem?
That’s the problem
It’s too deep
No easy access to the thing that gets you through the day
How can you step out in to the daylight if you’re surrounded by darkness?
Mirrors are everywhere, my reflection is everywhere, I need to get that lipstick off of my teeth but I can’t bare to look
I’m as scared as a child watching their first horror film from behind a pillow
Scared of what I will see
Me
The putred me
Not the mirror
If it was
I wouldn’t hate myself so
But when I sit and delve in to the tunnels of my soul
I find that piece of rubbish that is my self esteem
All it needs is a polish to make it gleam
No.
It needs more than that,
It needs
Something or someone
To morph it back
To it’s original monotonous shape
Climbing out of the tunnels
My self esteem dissolves yet again
Too many mirrors
Too many cracks
I can see everything
Everything that is wrong with the casing
My heart
My heart is as full as I am after a fillet steak
My self esteem continues to shatter
And crack until the end of the time
And I am afraid
Afraid that it will never be able to reshape itself
It will be forever
Broken
How broken is broken?
I’m all smiles but inside
Inside I am pale faced and tired
Tired of feeling unhappy
Unhappiness is an enemy, one that you never want to face
Want to know why?
You should never face unhappiness because when you do, you become unhappiness and nothing else
This is the first time words don’t hurt
Words don’t hurt because you already hate yourself enough that any words with negative connotations pass you by
Or are merely accepted in the trainwreck that is your mind
Your mind has so many openings yet so many closed doors
What’s behind those doors
Is it the key to stitching your self esteem?
That’s the problem
It’s too deep
No easy access to the thing that gets you through the day
How can you step out in to the daylight if you’re surrounded by darkness?
Mirrors are everywhere, my reflection is everywhere, I need to get that lipstick off of my teeth but I can’t bare to look
I’m as scared as a child watching their first horror film from behind a pillow
Scared of what I will see
Me
The putred me
Thursday 21 August 2014
One Day Book Review
Last year, my friend recommended I watch the film One Day. I took her up on that suggestion and watched it. The film and the book because they are both very similar as the scriptwriter is actually the author of the book. Don't let that put you off though because I adore the film as much as I adore the book.
One Day surrounds two university students, Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. It begins on the day of their graduation, the night they officially meet. In both the book and the film, it follows their lives the same date every year to see what has happened and is currently happening.
I absolutely adore the concept of this story and I adore the characters. Emma is a very easy character to relate to. She is geeky, shy and level headed.
Dexter on the other hand is her polar opposite, he's a bit of a tearaway, has no ambition, constantly trying to pick up girls. He's your typical jack the lad.
Emma and Dexter complete each other, quite like Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Emma needs that bit of life and soul of the party element that Dexter brings and Dexter needs the grounding that Emma brings.
The book has a tiny bit of extra detail than the film but other than that, the film does a great job. The cast is perfect. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess build an excellent rapport and really connect with shines through in the film.
Bringing us back to the book. Every word has you hanging on and not wanting to let go. David Nicholls writes so poetically and there are many quotes which you will want to take away with you from this. One that I love that won't spoil things for you is 'Whatever happens tomorrow, we have today, I'll always remember it'.
This book is funny, thrilling, satisfying and emotional. I recommend you all watch the film and read the book. I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.
One Day surrounds two university students, Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. It begins on the day of their graduation, the night they officially meet. In both the book and the film, it follows their lives the same date every year to see what has happened and is currently happening.
I absolutely adore the concept of this story and I adore the characters. Emma is a very easy character to relate to. She is geeky, shy and level headed.
Dexter on the other hand is her polar opposite, he's a bit of a tearaway, has no ambition, constantly trying to pick up girls. He's your typical jack the lad.
Emma and Dexter complete each other, quite like Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Emma needs that bit of life and soul of the party element that Dexter brings and Dexter needs the grounding that Emma brings.
The book has a tiny bit of extra detail than the film but other than that, the film does a great job. The cast is perfect. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess build an excellent rapport and really connect with shines through in the film.
Bringing us back to the book. Every word has you hanging on and not wanting to let go. David Nicholls writes so poetically and there are many quotes which you will want to take away with you from this. One that I love that won't spoil things for you is 'Whatever happens tomorrow, we have today, I'll always remember it'.
This book is funny, thrilling, satisfying and emotional. I recommend you all watch the film and read the book. I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Saturday 31 May 2014
Coco Mademoiselle Review
I kept trying it in stores and I still wasn't sure if I should buy it or not and then finally the day came when I bought it, on my college break as a lot of the time, that is when I buy them.
This perfume is fronted by Keira Knightley whom I spotted on my travels to New York. From the advert, it seems that the perfume is supposed to make the woman who wears it feel whimsical and elegant and make the man feel attracted to the woman or immediately follow her scent.
In my opinion, I feel that this perfume does make you feel whimsical and elegant and makes you think of flowing dresses and diamonds. This perfume is very beautiful, as I still smell it on the back of my hand now as I just repurchased it today at Harrods in London.
The notes in this perfume are as follows:
Top: Orange, Mandarin Orange, Orange Blossom, Bergamot
Middle: Mimose, Jasmine, Turkish Rose, Ylang-Ylang
Base: Tonka Bean, Patchouli, Opoponax, Vanilla, Vetiver, White Musk
If you want to add that special touch to your outfit then this is the perfume for you, it will enhance your look and just generally give you more confidence. As reiterated in the notes, when you first spray this perfume, it definitely smells fresh and citric. However, along the journey of the mellowing of this fragrance, the perfume softens to a lovely Rose and Jasmine scent and finally at the destination of the dry down, the white musk and patchouli stand out the most.
You can't go wrong with Chanel, I also wore this perfume when I met my idol Benedict Cumberbatch. So, go out and smell this for yourself and decide what you want to do but remember, this perfume screams beauty and elegance
Thursday 8 May 2014
That Time I Met Benedict Cumberbatch
I was so so happy to find out that Benedict Cumberbatch, my idol, would be coming to the north. I got my dad to book tickets straight away. Not long after that, there was a problem and that he would not be going. I was so upset, I felt like crying.
One Friday, as I was coming back from college, I was sat in the back of a taxi on my phone and saw a tweet confirming that Benedict would be there, my whole face lit up and I just wanted to jump up and down. I got home, paid the driver and then ran inside the house, scaring my mum and started screaming 'BENEDICT WILL BE AT THE CONVENTION'.
When the day finally arrived, the 2nd of February, I and my dad got up at 5:30 AM to get ready to drive to Birmingham which is only an hour away from me, however, we wanted to make sure we were there. So, we both got ready and headed out the door and made our way there, I couldn't believe that this was actually happening to me.
We got there and I and my dad have never been to a convention before but because I am a part of the Fandom world, I knew what to expect, and so did my dad really because well, it's common knowledge that cosplayers are at conventions.
I saw soo many great cosplayer's, two people even cosplayed Sherlock and John at the wedding, that had to be my favourite one. I saw so many great T Shirts and Sherlock stuff.
We all signed in and got our things that came with the tickets.
Now came the queueing, the queues were very, very long. We were all in a giant room, and then Internet life became real life as people just randomly started talking to me, I was used to this and just found it great but I think my dad was confused as to why people I didn't know started talking to us. This lovely girl started talking the Fandom language and I knew exactly what she was talking about, I wish the same could be said for my dad who whispered in my ear 'what is she talking about?'.
As I was stood around with my dad near the lifts, the lift doors open and Jonathan Aris walks out, the man who plays Anderson walks out. My eyes lit up and he looked directly at me, except he seemed to not want to be noticed and I didn't want to point him out anyway so he would get mobbed. I sort of whispered excitedly to my dad who it was and because at the time he had never watched an episode of Sherlock (he has now), he didn't know who I meant. This happened about five times and on the fifth time, another girl's eyes lit up and she smiled at him and I recall her saying 'you lower the IQ of the entire street'.
Now, came the exciting time of different numbers of tickets being called up to queue up to meet the man himself, Benedict Cumberbatch.
2 hours later, I and my dad were in the queue for the photo with The Batch, I told my dad to go before me so he wouldn't watch me. We got in to the room and there he was, at the very bottom of the room. I had never been so elated in my life. I started slapping my dad's arm saying 'oh my god he's here, he's here'.
My dad went before me and I just watched in awe as my dad had a photo with Benedict. Next, came my turn, Benedict smiled at me, put his arm around me and asked me 'Are you okay?' and I sort of forced myself to say 'yeah'. I didn't know where to put my hand as there was a sign outside that said 'any groping will lead to police involvement' so I just went for round his waist, which felt nice but muscular. The flash went off and I started to walk away and he put his arm around me and whilst smiling and half laughing, looking at me with those lovely oceanic eyes, said 'Have a lovely day alright'. I then embarrassingly did some sort of weird curtsy and said 'Thank You'.
Now, as I had an exam in the morning, I decided to go home and not stay for the autographs, I still to this day do not know why I didn't stay. Anyway, so then what just happened seemed to catch up with me and my eyes started to tear up. I walked out of the room, eyes wide, my hand covering my mouth, and saying 'Oh my god' to myself.
Everyone was just looking at me on my way out, some saying 'aww bless her'. This girl then came up to me and said 'Have you just met Ben' and I nodded and she said 'I can tell because everyone who has looks just like you, they said they could see the universe in his eyes'.
I got out of the building and started jumping to the car. When my dad went to go and find where to pay for the parking ticket, I rang up one of my best friends and sort of said garble to her like this 'ahdhbhbhv I shfhhf just shrhrhfhhf met shdhrhrh him'. She couldn't understand and asked me to repeat myself and so I screamed 'I JUST MET BENEDICT' and she started saying how happy she was for me.
Then my dad came back to the car and I rang my mum and at this point, I had lost all ability to form sentences or even words. I tried to but to no avail, so I handed the phone to my dad who said 'Courtenay can't speak right now'. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
So, that is the story of the day I met my idol. To this day, I still can't believe it happened. Also, I have never seen so many people redoing their make up and touching up their hair. Before I leave this now, here is the picture of I and Benedict.
P.S- At prom last year, we got a bracelet that you make a wish on and when it comes true, your bracelet will snap, I never took mine off, not even for shower's and it snapped a day before I met Benedict
One Friday, as I was coming back from college, I was sat in the back of a taxi on my phone and saw a tweet confirming that Benedict would be there, my whole face lit up and I just wanted to jump up and down. I got home, paid the driver and then ran inside the house, scaring my mum and started screaming 'BENEDICT WILL BE AT THE CONVENTION'.
When the day finally arrived, the 2nd of February, I and my dad got up at 5:30 AM to get ready to drive to Birmingham which is only an hour away from me, however, we wanted to make sure we were there. So, we both got ready and headed out the door and made our way there, I couldn't believe that this was actually happening to me.
We got there and I and my dad have never been to a convention before but because I am a part of the Fandom world, I knew what to expect, and so did my dad really because well, it's common knowledge that cosplayers are at conventions.
I saw soo many great cosplayer's, two people even cosplayed Sherlock and John at the wedding, that had to be my favourite one. I saw so many great T Shirts and Sherlock stuff.
We all signed in and got our things that came with the tickets.
Now came the queueing, the queues were very, very long. We were all in a giant room, and then Internet life became real life as people just randomly started talking to me, I was used to this and just found it great but I think my dad was confused as to why people I didn't know started talking to us. This lovely girl started talking the Fandom language and I knew exactly what she was talking about, I wish the same could be said for my dad who whispered in my ear 'what is she talking about?'.
As I was stood around with my dad near the lifts, the lift doors open and Jonathan Aris walks out, the man who plays Anderson walks out. My eyes lit up and he looked directly at me, except he seemed to not want to be noticed and I didn't want to point him out anyway so he would get mobbed. I sort of whispered excitedly to my dad who it was and because at the time he had never watched an episode of Sherlock (he has now), he didn't know who I meant. This happened about five times and on the fifth time, another girl's eyes lit up and she smiled at him and I recall her saying 'you lower the IQ of the entire street'.
Now, came the exciting time of different numbers of tickets being called up to queue up to meet the man himself, Benedict Cumberbatch.
2 hours later, I and my dad were in the queue for the photo with The Batch, I told my dad to go before me so he wouldn't watch me. We got in to the room and there he was, at the very bottom of the room. I had never been so elated in my life. I started slapping my dad's arm saying 'oh my god he's here, he's here'.
My dad went before me and I just watched in awe as my dad had a photo with Benedict. Next, came my turn, Benedict smiled at me, put his arm around me and asked me 'Are you okay?' and I sort of forced myself to say 'yeah'. I didn't know where to put my hand as there was a sign outside that said 'any groping will lead to police involvement' so I just went for round his waist, which felt nice but muscular. The flash went off and I started to walk away and he put his arm around me and whilst smiling and half laughing, looking at me with those lovely oceanic eyes, said 'Have a lovely day alright'. I then embarrassingly did some sort of weird curtsy and said 'Thank You'.
Now, as I had an exam in the morning, I decided to go home and not stay for the autographs, I still to this day do not know why I didn't stay. Anyway, so then what just happened seemed to catch up with me and my eyes started to tear up. I walked out of the room, eyes wide, my hand covering my mouth, and saying 'Oh my god' to myself.
Everyone was just looking at me on my way out, some saying 'aww bless her'. This girl then came up to me and said 'Have you just met Ben' and I nodded and she said 'I can tell because everyone who has looks just like you, they said they could see the universe in his eyes'.
I got out of the building and started jumping to the car. When my dad went to go and find where to pay for the parking ticket, I rang up one of my best friends and sort of said garble to her like this 'ahdhbhbhv I shfhhf just shrhrhfhhf met shdhrhrh him'. She couldn't understand and asked me to repeat myself and so I screamed 'I JUST MET BENEDICT' and she started saying how happy she was for me.
Then my dad came back to the car and I rang my mum and at this point, I had lost all ability to form sentences or even words. I tried to but to no avail, so I handed the phone to my dad who said 'Courtenay can't speak right now'. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
So, that is the story of the day I met my idol. To this day, I still can't believe it happened. Also, I have never seen so many people redoing their make up and touching up their hair. Before I leave this now, here is the picture of I and Benedict.
P.S- At prom last year, we got a bracelet that you make a wish on and when it comes true, your bracelet will snap, I never took mine off, not even for shower's and it snapped a day before I met Benedict
Perfume Review: La Petite Robe Noire Eau De Parfum
First of all, wow, when I first purchased this perfume, I was blown away. This perfume is very unique, nothing like I have ever smelt before.
Do not be alarmed by this story so far because this perfume is still exquisite. I decided I would still use it because I still was very fond of the fragrance. I sprayed it in school and everyone on the corridor could smell it and all my friends said it was really strong. I still don't know why I listened to their complaints but I gave the perfume away after that. I did not even smell that perfume again up until this year.
This year, I have the most perfumes I have ever collected. The day I am writing this, as I counted them last night, my collection stands at 93 Perfumes. That is quite a lot for a 16 year old to have. My Mother seems to think I have a genuine disorder, however, I love my perfumes. I am known for perfume amongst my friends. If somebody comes up to us or is near us and says 'something smells nice', they all point at me.
Around February, I strolled in to House Of Fraser and went to purchase this perfume again after watching many perfume collection videos and reading many reviews on this fragrance. I walked up to the Guerlain counter and saw that there was a new version, that had replaced the sour cherry note with raspberry so it wasn't as powerful. I was sold so I paid for my purchase and happily went home.
After using up my small bottle of this new 'couture' version of the fragrance, I realised that the raspberry note in it, actually made it too sickly for me so I decided that I would get the original again soon.
So, last week, I went on to http://www.allbeauty.com/ and made my purchase of Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire 100 ML Eau De Parfum.
I am wearing this fragrance as I type. This perfume is absolutely incredible. When you first spray it, you can definitely pick up that sour cherry and Anise note. Throughout the dry down, the scent mellows to a lovely sweet cherry rose scent which can be detected by everyone. If you're that type of girl that loves to feel glamorous and sexy, then this is the scent for you. I can assure you that you will not regret it.
Happy Sniffing :)
Before I get started in to the story of when I purchased this perfume, I shall share with you the notes of this perfume.
TOP NOTES: Bergamot, Almond, Sour Cherry, Red Berries
MIDDLE NOTES: Rose, Tea, Taif Rose, Licorice
BASE NOTES: Anise, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Patchouli, Iris
I first purchased this perfume last year, round about the time of my GCSE Exams. I remember on one Saturday, I went in to Boots and I smelt this and instantly fell in love with it. Since last year, I have had this image in my head of the woman I want to be, the very glamorous and elegant woman. I want to be that woman who can turn heads when she walks in to a room. That woman would also be a city girl. I still want to be that woman. This perfume makes me feel like that woman.
That day in boots, I did not purchase this perfume, however I remembered it.
Not long after that Saturday, I persuaded my Father to purchase it for me. I took it home and sprayed it on and suddenly I panicked because I realised in that moment, that the perfume I had fallen in love with turned out to be the Eau De Toilette not the Eau De Parfum which my Father had just bought for me.
Do not be alarmed by this story so far because this perfume is still exquisite. I decided I would still use it because I still was very fond of the fragrance. I sprayed it in school and everyone on the corridor could smell it and all my friends said it was really strong. I still don't know why I listened to their complaints but I gave the perfume away after that. I did not even smell that perfume again up until this year.
This year, I have the most perfumes I have ever collected. The day I am writing this, as I counted them last night, my collection stands at 93 Perfumes. That is quite a lot for a 16 year old to have. My Mother seems to think I have a genuine disorder, however, I love my perfumes. I am known for perfume amongst my friends. If somebody comes up to us or is near us and says 'something smells nice', they all point at me.
Around February, I strolled in to House Of Fraser and went to purchase this perfume again after watching many perfume collection videos and reading many reviews on this fragrance. I walked up to the Guerlain counter and saw that there was a new version, that had replaced the sour cherry note with raspberry so it wasn't as powerful. I was sold so I paid for my purchase and happily went home.
After using up my small bottle of this new 'couture' version of the fragrance, I realised that the raspberry note in it, actually made it too sickly for me so I decided that I would get the original again soon.
So, last week, I went on to http://www.allbeauty.com/ and made my purchase of Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire 100 ML Eau De Parfum.
I am wearing this fragrance as I type. This perfume is absolutely incredible. When you first spray it, you can definitely pick up that sour cherry and Anise note. Throughout the dry down, the scent mellows to a lovely sweet cherry rose scent which can be detected by everyone. If you're that type of girl that loves to feel glamorous and sexy, then this is the scent for you. I can assure you that you will not regret it.
Happy Sniffing :)
Wednesday 23 April 2014
Female Etiquette
As you may have noticed, I am a female. Now, in my years of living as a female, which is all my life, I have come to notice that Women are injected shall we say with this preconception of our gender subjective etiquette.
Women are generally told that they have to sit with their back straight and legs firmly squeezed together, even whilst wearing trousers, where as the male species can display their legs in whatever direction or position they so desire. Females are frowned upon if they were to do the same as the male.
The term we are told is to act 'lady like'. I don't know about you but I have never really thought that the definition of being a female is we have to act in a certain way and do not do all these things which we have a list for but men can do them as well. Before I go any further, I am in no ways a dedicated feminist but I do have some problems with the way Women are treated and dictated in their behaviour choices.
There is obviously such a thing as social etiquette, which is standard for a human, for example, to treat everyone with respect and not to just hurl abuse at every stranger that crosses your path, however, the female etiquette is taking things a bit too far for my liking and perhaps some of you ladies out there agree.
Males and Females are indeed two different species but they are also still part of the human species, therefore for each gender to have it's own etiquette other than the standard one is simply illogical and unfair.
So, do you disagree with my opinion completely or do you feel the same ?
Women are generally told that they have to sit with their back straight and legs firmly squeezed together, even whilst wearing trousers, where as the male species can display their legs in whatever direction or position they so desire. Females are frowned upon if they were to do the same as the male.
The term we are told is to act 'lady like'. I don't know about you but I have never really thought that the definition of being a female is we have to act in a certain way and do not do all these things which we have a list for but men can do them as well. Before I go any further, I am in no ways a dedicated feminist but I do have some problems with the way Women are treated and dictated in their behaviour choices.
There is obviously such a thing as social etiquette, which is standard for a human, for example, to treat everyone with respect and not to just hurl abuse at every stranger that crosses your path, however, the female etiquette is taking things a bit too far for my liking and perhaps some of you ladies out there agree.
Males and Females are indeed two different species but they are also still part of the human species, therefore for each gender to have it's own etiquette other than the standard one is simply illogical and unfair.
So, do you disagree with my opinion completely or do you feel the same ?
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