Plath

Today started abruptly, as I jolted awake and was immediately aware that I was to meet my friend in a short couple of hours and I was, indeed, a mess. I don't think I could congratulate coffee enough for being such a lifesaver. I can't imagine the places I'd be without it.

Anyway, yes, I made yet another trip with my friend Sophie to the library today. On the rota, the task was "Get Work Done For Personal Statement". I was confident I'd get a fair bit down, but instead my time was spent reading Time magazine, inspecting pieces of Russian art and reading Sylvia Plath's biography. I decided to take it home. "Take" as in borrow it of course.

Well, here she is! I really enjoy her pieces of work, especially Ariel and I thought The Bell Jar was truly captivating. There are times whilst reading the novel, I feel like I can relate to how the protagonist feels, and it makes me worry, considering people reckoned The Bell Jar was a semi-autobiographical novel, and if you were not aware, Sylvia Plath was mentally ill and had committed suicide at the age of 30.

But then again, not everything is the same for everyone. Situations are dealt with differently by each person. In all honesty, "we are all unique" pretty much sums it up. So far I have reached the point of reading about Plath's maternal side of the family. As I read the story of her maternal grandparents, I feel as if I am reading a novel and then I realise that this is actually somebody's life. This is why I find biographies difficult to take seriously; I mistake reality for fiction and forget that these words depict the accounts of real events in history. Not quite sure why I am so fascinated by this.....

Sylvia Plath led a very colourful life. A life which could be considered almost "normal" to society's judging eyes, almost fulfilled. A life that could be mistaken for any person with a healthy mind, so I am looking forward to reading about the shadowed events in her life which could explain the reason for her angry and ambitious poetry.

    

I'm going to leave you here in the midst of Plath and dive into some work if my wireless keyboard decides to live.

Goodbye!

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Charity shops and stationary

I haven't really posted in a while, so I might just document a "book haul" I had experienced yesterday. I went out to the local shops with my friend Sophie, and the original plan was to buy lots of stationary for school again.
The only things I managed to buy in relation to that was a considerably cheap notebook and a considerably cheap pack of pens. That's it.

The rest of the time was spent traipsing around from one charity shop to the other, hunting for books like no tomorrow. This was a good idea. I came home with six.

The bottom one is The Godfather, which I was very pleased about because it was in excellent condition and I got it for only £1!

It is fancy, no? I really love it!

I finished reading Cat's Eye last night. I thought it was a great book, the ending was slightly wishy-washy in my opinion but it was the content itself that was great. Some bits didn't exactly have my eyes glued to the page, but obviously it would be difficult to be able to be interested in every aspect of Elaine Risley's life. Or perhaps that simply wasn't the case. I think I reached a point where overlapping description got too much for me. But the symbolism in this book was brilliant. I love the descriptions of her paintings and how time was integrated so seamlessly into the novel. Took me a while to read it, which is rare, I tend to finish books quite quickly, but the book basically documented the protagonist's life from around 6 or 7 to her late forties.

Now I have started reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I'm up to chapter 83. Oh, yes, of course. The chapters are in prime numbers so I'm actually on chapter 22. I have high hopes for this book, I've heard a lot of praise about it. I love how simplistic the book is, yet it's captivating that way. The mind of someone with Asperger's Syndrome is so interesting. Yet it is strange considering that I think in a completely different way than him: Christopher, the protagonist, thinks in numbers and science. I think with words and feelings. But in some weird parallel, I understand everything he means, how he feels or doesn't feel. He makes so much sense and makes me feel quite pretentious with my words and feelings.

Funny the emotions a book can bring out of you. 

I supposed I should go make coffee now, I'm literally slumping at my desk from tiredness. Ciao for now.

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The end of another chapter

Half accomplished something. I've been planning to collage the cover of my scrapbook for a long time and today I finally decided to do it!

From the angle of the picture, it looks like I've finished it. I've still got the binding and back to do.

I'm pretty pleased with it to be honest. I always have an image in my head of how I want things to turn out, and it usually doesn't end up anything like what I had imagined. But this exceeds my expectations a little. Alright, alright. It's just a scrapbook and it's something worth getting emotional over - but it looks nice, and that's an accomplishment for me.

And in other news, I'm seeing Deathly Hallows Part 2 today! There will be a lot of crying and soggy tissues, and drenched popcorn tonight. It's crazy to think that 10 years has passed so quickly. 

You really don't notice the time, and I'm trying to weigh out how much things I had done wrong and right in the past decade. The thought of "a decade" makes me feel a lot older than I am.

Back to Potter; it's insane. I would like to commend JK Rowling for creating such an inspirational and intricate book series that has taught this generation some amazing life values. It's wonderful how literature can affect the way people behave, and ultimately, it can change their lives.

I do feel slightly sorry for the people who don't understand the hype - whether you like it or not, it's obvious of the influence Harry Potter has caused. It's encouraged many people to read more, stand up for their rights, and perhaps even re-evaluate their moral values.

Tonight will be fantastic, I'm sure of it! Plus, I'll be seeing it again tomorrow with my little sister. It'll certainly be a great weekend.

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A new week, and a free week at that

So whilst all my friends are away on "work experience" and I'm sat here feeling extremely pubescent, I should probably be doing something significantly contributive to the world or my future.

Now, four or five posts in, you need to learn that I am one of the biggest procrastinators you will ever meet. Before the clock strikes 12 next week for Monday, there will be very few things I would have done (apart from copious amounts of tears from Harry Potter on Friday). I think that perhaps if I spent more time creating bullet points, I might actually achieve these goals? Lets see:

• Watch Harry Potter films 2-7. I've already seen the first one. Does this mean I'm ahead? Anyway, this is in no shape or form contributive to society or my future. Next.
• Complete my personal statement for university. Oh, the joy! There is nothing worse than writing about yourself when opening a new user in the world of social networking. Surely, from those few or many words, people are supposed to judge you. In this case, it's university officials. Lots of them. Nah kidding, just four or five. But it's still daunting. I might take some time on that personal statement, it must radiate pure excellence.
• Get a head-start on sketching for my technology project. It's on "signage at festivals". I'm pretty sure I had a dream of a brilliant concept, it's a shame I can't remember it now. Tough, we can't all be Stephenie Meyer. (and I say that with all the sarcasm in the world.)
• Purchase my "summer reading list". I might post it on here later. I need to be plenty well-read for A2 English Literature next year. I'm going to try to avoid sounding cocky, and go for "slightly cocky" - I need to get an A. I will breathe frustration if I don't get an A. So that means, plenty of novels, plenty of poetry, plenty of coffee. I will be working like a steam train this summer in order to get my vocabulary at it's optimum best for A2.
• Hmm, you see, now I don't have any "huge" things to bullet point. These are just smaller tasks like contacting musicians for my music video next year (it's a project, don't worry. And yes, perhaps that is a big task). Also tasks such as apply for my provisional license and complete working on my scrapbook. I have some rather nice pictures of my scrapbook collage on my Flickr if you would like to see it...

I can't be bothered to printscreen and save it, so what I'll do is just "share" it from Flickr as a separate post. That way, you'll get a direct link to my photos. I can't say they're very good, unfortunately.

RIGHTY-OH, just realised I haven't had this morning's dose of coffee.

Toodle pip, cheerio.

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