I wrongly assumed that I would be able to keep posting regularly on here while I was studying at university. I was evidently wrong :) Work and Uni have been non stop and add to that being ill and starting driving lessons (I'm beginning to think that the whole thing is unnatural, God gave us legs after all) it seemed unlikely that I would get online of make any head way with my writing .

It aso looks like it would be futile to even contemplate taking part in Nano this year whoch has really upset me, I had several ideas and was eager to get going. I'll make a start but it seems unlikely that I will make the 50,000 word target. It doesn't help that the first week of Nano clashes with Task week and I have two essays, two written assignments, two library tasks and a short film to finish. *Dies*

It may be some time before I update again but the good news is that it's not that long now until christmas which means a month of no work!

Wow, I have been inactive for quite a while, university and other such things have been taking up a lot of my time and the remaining hours are usually spent panicking or sleeping. Not much film viewing and even less writing but I did manage to catch District 9 the Saturday before I started uni.


( District 9 Review )

I saw the trailer for the film Gamer today, courtesy of the MSN movies page (which I secretly love). I'd heard about it through the grapevine but this was the first I'd actually seen of it. It looks like your typical action fare but the premise behind the story is quite interesting.

( Films, Films, Films )

Argh! The F word! everybody run! The word Feminism tends to make most people uncomfortable and while there are arguably strong female role models in films, books and TV shows I had never realised before how they are often shown to be solitary/only seeking the company of male friends or have their appearance capitalised upon.

I stumbled acrossstormseyejournal and read a fascinating post (which I suggest you all read) called Princess Power and all that.
How many books/films/tv shows that meet that criteria? One of the reasons I enjoyed Meg Cabot and Jaqueline Wilson books when I was younger was that a big theme in them was friendships, that longing for a best friend to share everything with and girlieschats about boys, troubles and families. When your young, before you reach that age when sex and relationships becomes important, your friends are your groundwork for any later relationships. Why should that change in fiction aimed at older readers? Take Twilight for example, there are no female friends for the protagonist. Yes, there are girls that want to be Bella's friend and there are girls who help her out but Stephanie Meyer (on a side note I can not stand these books and this is just one reason why) makes it clear than none of these girls are good enough for her heroine and it's the romantic relationship which has the most importance, surpassing those of Bella's  "friends" and family.

sistermagpiegives some interesting exampless of TV shows that do tick all three boxes for the Bechdel test including The House of Eliot which is essential viewing for anyone who aores costume dramas or anything 1920s related.

So in honor of today's topic I have compiled my Top Three On Friday, Feminist websites:

1. Feministing.com

The mummy of all these websites, it's packed with info and always has links to tonnes of interesting sites.

2.rosalarian

While not strictly a feminist blog, she does touch frequently on gender and sexuality in the world of comics. Plus it's packed with uber cool drawings!

3. Imagine Today (Formerly known as I'll follow the sun)

I love her ideas on feminism and she write in such an engaging way.

There won't be any posts now until Monday as I'm heading to the coast for a relaxing weekend avec the family. See you guys later!

I found a link on MSN UK to the trailer for the new Tim Burton Film that isn't Alice and Wonderland...

9 Trailer

It's produced by Mr Burton as well as Timur Bekmambetov who I must admit I hadn't heard of before looking the film up on the IMDB. I then found out he was the director of numerous Russian films and his only english language film was Wanted. which I personally didn't enjoy. On a side note a sequel is planned, a friggin' sequel?! However, the trailer for 9 was visually very impressive. The director, Shane Acker worked as a visual effects artist on one of my all time most favourite films in the universe (and one of the reasons I became personally interested in becoming a film maker), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. interestingly, Frodo himself is playing the title character.

I never tire of films set in post apocalyptic worlds. I find it exciting to watch people (or in this case the sack-creature creations of a mad scientist) struggle in a world where everything they've known has been taken away. These sort of films always make me feel like I should hone my survival skills. When the world had been destroyed by global warming, swine flu, the war on terror and the invasion of the lobster people, I'd like to be doing something more interesting than making gruel at the campfire (post apocalyptic neo ninja maybe?).

The last animated feature set in a similar situation was Wall-E which was huge but from the trailer it seems as if 9 has a much darker tone which makes sense since Tim Burton is involved. Acker's original short film on which the longer movie ( which, according to IMDB, is due out 30th October in the UK) was nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar in 2006 but didn't win. Fingers crossed that this longer outing is as good as the trailer looks.

In less than a month (25 days to be precise) I make my way to university. the week that follows will be freshers week and then come 9.00 on the morning of Monday 5th October I will settle down for my first lecture of many.

as it draws closer I'm appreciating certain things more and more: the things that make me laugh (see the photo above - the look on that baby's face KILLS me), my personal space, the multitude of ornament, stuffed toys, picture and books I have dotted around my room for "inspiring me", the fact that if I need stuff like plastered, sewing needles, empty jam jars, a scewdriver or any one of the multitude of random objects that people acquire over a life time, I won't have it to hand anymore. I'll need to come home for that stuff. it's only thirty minutes but even that distance makes me uneasy.

it's an uneasiness mxed with excitement however and the fact that if all else fails, if I don't make any friends and I suck at all my moduals, it's Nano in November so I have an excuse to lock myself insode my room for a month :)

...and yet I don't feel any different. No grey hairs or sudden wisdom. Hmmm.




I also saw GI Joe: The rise of Cobra. I'm quite a fan of action films but this one ran like a porn film, bursts of exciting action cemented together with ham acting and a weak plot :)

Summer BBQ tomorrow so no time to finish the last few scenes of my Screnzy. Ah well...

Finished earlier today when taking a break from "The Eternal City" (My Screnzy Entry)

Last week I was going to post about the newesp Harry Potter film (slick SFX but no plot line) but never got round to it and then on Sunday I was going to come home and post about John Hughes films which I also never got round to. It was either that or share with you the images from our Blackberry picking expedition.
I am also pleased to report that Screnzy 2009 and reached 108 pages and I'm in the midst of the climax. The ehroes have stormed the palace and everything is being revealed.

It seems that real life had other plans about my ambitions for JulNo. While I'm happy that I'm not unemployed, there is a part of me that resents the disruption the whole work fiasco caused and another teeny tiny part that thinks "look what you could have done with all that free time!"

I haven't signed up for AugNo this month, purely because my PC is chock full of half finished writing projects with potential and all they require is some willpower on my part. I am at heart and ideas person, I have brain waves and bursts of creativity left right and centre but what I lack is the ability to follow through with my ideas which I find is a huge boundary that I need to over come. August will be my month for doing this. Creativity abounds!

My to-do list!

1. A twisted wire necklace I've been angling to make for a month now
2. At least finish my Screnzy entry, I'm at just over 100 pages and I'm a short way off finishing. After I've finished I can happily set it aside and give myself a few months before I try and tackle the editing process.
3. Finish JulNo. Not a high priority but it would be nice. The story feels a tad uneven so as with my Screnzy, if I can just get it finished then I can set it aside before editing it. If I don't finish it that will be my NaNo goal for 2009.
4. I've come up with an idea for a novel and a short story.
The short story is from the point of view of a ghost as she is tied to the house by the sea where she died and she watches the people living there for the next fifty years. The novel is a bit sketchy but at the moment is about a group of survivors in teh future living in the desert. I haven't got an actual storyline beyond that.
5. My shrink plastic necklace. I bough some sheets of plastic and some sharpie markers so all I need now is some jump rings and some chain to put it on! So excited.
6. Cross stitch necklace and T-shirt.

I am dead excited about August and not just because of my list! It's also coming up for my EIGHTEENTH! A milestone birthday indeed. It's Thursday 13th (Which means it's on a Friday next year - AWESOME!) and I'm psyched!

Best get to work...

Now with added film trailers! There seems to be a cinematic theme this week.

( Top Five on Friday )
 </div>

1. Facebook is taking over my life.



First, let me say that I 100% DESPISED Facebook when it first came out an now I do even more - because it's so damn addictive. This is not limited to trawling through photos or obessesivelty checking my friend's pages - I don't actually do much of that. It's the games and quizzes. I spend ages planning what to grow in my Farmville Farm so i can make sure I will be there to log on and harvest  it and send my friends tonnes of gifts (that they don't even want) and I impatiently what for my energy bar to fill up on Vampire wars so that I can collect enough favor points to get those nifty steampunk boots for my avatar. all of these things are unbelievably inane and in the summer before uni I really ought to be finding a more constructive use for my time, especially during JulNo (which I'm so far behind I might stretch the challenge over two months *guilty face*) but I can't help myself!

2. Doing Nothing except hanging with friends!
An extension of the first one, my days have been pleasantly filled with very little apart from the past week where I've been staying at a friend's house and eating onderful amounts of junk food.

3. Photobucket.

An incredibly useful tool especially if you want a quick way to present photos on the internet, be it websites, blogs or forums sigs/avs

I was in a bit of a rush today so it's only a top 3 on Friday but c'est la vie! Hopefully I should be able to make some headway with JulNo over the weekend so I'll be publishing updates!

Okay, my internet was down yesterday *weeps uncontrollably* so it's top 5 of Saturday!

1. Reaching 13,052 words for JulNo!

It's my current obsession and I'm close to writing twice the amount I wrote last year which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I know I'm behind and I rarely have the patience to sit for more than half and hour and write straight. this means I may not make 50,000 words but i'm going to try and get as close as possible...

2. This Blog post
Watch the video to go with it - it is actually amazing. I can say that I've never witnessed anything like that when I've been on the tube in London...

3. Femenisting Blog


This is a good one to read even if you don't consider yourself a "femenist". The articles are both informative and witty, getting to the heart of the matter without being patronising or extremist.

4. These mouthwateringly GORGEOUS necklaces from Clutterfly Jewellery. I want the Trash necklace so badly it hurts.




5. Torchwood : Children of Earth

I watched the last three episodes in one go yesterday. Oh. My. God. It was absolutely Mind blowing.
I've written more but I will warn you, there are MASSIVE spoilers under the cut...


( There be spoilers ahead! )

That's all for tonight. I don't think I;ve ever types that much. It's work tomorrow (Argh!) so prehaps no post or at the very least it may only be an update on how JulNo is going but work is getting me down at the moment. I had a training session slap bang in the middle of the day on Wednesday which turned out to be as boring as expected with the added bonus that if our shop doesn't do well enough in a company wide competition than their firing people. Ummm, Recession anybody? I dn't know if they've heard of it but there seems to be a bit of a hullabaloo over it with very few people making money...

But c'est la vie! I will trudge on :)

	1014
32
lab.drwicked.com

A piece of advice I most commonly hear on the forums is to pace yourself. However, I'm sure it helps not to miss whole days of writing. Still, Torchwood started again last night so can you blame me? It's running every night this week (I'm fan gorging!) so I will have to write my 1600 words in the morning :) Did anyone else who watched it think that those kids must have had tonnes of fun chanting in unison? Hour long episodes are so much better than Fifty minute ones but I think I could handle them if there was more episodes. Five just isn't enough :(. However, on the other hand one big story makes a nice change to the alien-of-the-week format which isn't bad necessarily but it's good to keep things fresh. It just seems a shame they had to do it in the same year that Doctor Who is taking break. Where are our dramas BBC?

Anyway, all that aside, what am I doing watching TV when I should be straining my eyes and giving myself back ache huddled over my computer writing. I think tomorrow I might post an extract to get reactions...

Sorry it's two days late! JulNo has overtaken my entire life!

1.

	1055
31
lab.drwicked.com

Hitting those word counts! It's so exhilerating and I am much more into this story than I was with NaNo last year so I feel like I might actually make a decent go of it. the word count currently stands at 8508. I have gone over what was needed for today, Yay!

2. My new beads! They are blue and gold with gorgeous flowers on! I bought them in hobby craft today along with head pins (To add stones to the Chain Maille bracelet) and shrink plastic for a nother jewellery project. That one might have to take place after JulNo.


Sorry about the picture.

3. Barry M nail varnish.  There is nothing more relaxing than idly painting my nails and Barry M is my favourite brand. Their webpage is here. 

4. Looking at gorgeous Prom Photos of me and my girls! 

That was one of the best nights ever. I actually cried at the end! Photos soon!

5. The Summer Sun!  


Photo from here. Yes we complain about the heat. Yes it's nearly impossible to sleep at night and yes it's too hot to be practical but who cares?

	623
24
lab.drwicked.com

 Hooray! I didn't writre at all yesterday which concerned me a bit and I had an eight hour shift at work today but I managed to bump up my word count to...

	1028
34
lab.drwicked.com

Word count now stands at 3098.

I find the heat (The south east of the UK is in the grip of a heat wave at the moment) can either set my creativity on fire or just melt my brains. I never managed to write those extra 500 words last night - I ate cookies and watched Ugly Betty with my sister instead mostly because I was exhausted from work and it was too damn hot.

It got me thinking, however, about the subject of inspiration

*Shamed* Blatant Author indulgence there but alas, it comes with the territory. I've also been idly searching for images of castles to get a feel of the setting.

This website has a lot of great images of medieval castles that look dark and imposing. I found it through google images when I should have been writing (Bad Sarah!).

Anyway, it's time to stop skiving off and go do some writing....

 

And the word count is: