The Blog That Was: 2011 edition

So the blog has been running for over a year now and I’ve been reviewing for Vulpes Libris for over two years. As I’m planning stop blogging in 2012, I thought it might be nice to revisit some of the posts I’m most proud of as well as blogs from other people that have had a particular effect on me.

Dear London: In which I write a love letter to my city in the aftermath of the London riots.

Lessons to be Learned: In which I address the sneaking incipience of casual racism.

Define Thyself: In which I define myself. Obvs.

Ten years ago today: In which I give my personal memories of 11th September 2001.

Over to Vulpes Libris, where I say Goodbye to Harry Potter and friends and look at Arthurian Legend.

Now for other blogs:

This is porn to an organisation junkie like me: A Filofax love affair!

Inspiration for gloomy days: The Radical Self Love Manifesto and The Sad Trombone List.

Whenever procrastination hits, this is where I go: The Wild Donkey Guide To Getting Things Done

For happy days read My Top 50 Awesome Happy Things List and for giggles, watch Bangs Goes Rap.

And, last but not least, you should check out The Pursuit of Life. She’s a great friend of mine and she’s doing something pretty amazing!

The Weekend That Was

I once said that I’d grow up when Harry Potter did. And guess what, people? According to the films, he’s barely 18! (Epilogue? What is this Epilogue of which you speak?)

This weekend, I saw the final film. I loved it. I told myself I was going to enjoy it and not pick it to pieces like I normally did. And I did enjoy it. There were two things that I really think they should not have changed (Neville’s hero moment and the final Harry vs. Voldemort showdown – won’t say how they were changed for fear of spoiling people). But then they included something that made me squeal (again – won’t say what because of spoilers). Thank you to Janice for putting up with my continued crazy.

And actually, thanks to J.K. Rowling and everyone – actors, crew, production, special effects – who created these films. I seriously think Rowling needs to be my home girl. I know that when I start shouting Expecto Patronum at shizzle, she’d be down with it.

But enough of Harry Potter! I have a life outside of Hogwarts, you know. (Oh the ways you can interpret that sentence).

In other news:

I have given up on Camelot – nothing on earth should be that big a disappointment.

I like writing like a demon.

I am yoga-ing to my heart’s content. Hello, abs!

I already know my week off is going to be fab. It’s going to start with a dye job, which may or may not be utterly ruined by Bikram Yoga. We shall see.

And next weekend I’m seeing my first midnight matinee at the Globe. Can’t wait! Swiftly followed by a vintage fair. What more could a girl want?

So you know those moments where you think “Well, Bradley James has yet to declare his undying love, but apart from that life is pretty sweet”? I’m having a lot of those moments lately.

P.S. For some reason I can’t comment. Who knows why! So – DOT, just to say I agree with the comment you left. Humbug indeed!

So that’s that…

You may or may not know that I often do reviews at Vulpes Libris, the book review blog. I’ve done a couple of long pieces, including The Death of Arthurian Legend, a review of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and a piece on Why I Love Shakespeare.

Today I posted this piece – my farewell to the Harry Potter series. With the final book published and the credits rolling on the final film, I just wanted to say – a somewhat tearful – goodbye to a series that I have adored.

Thought I’d share the link to that. I know there are lots of people out there that just don’t get the Harry Potter thing, but I was one of those girls that always wanted to be a witch. Combine that with the age I started reading the books (I was about 11, Chamber of Secrets had yet to come out) and you can see why it coming to an end is a bit of a big deal for me. And if you don’t, well, read that piece if you’re interesting in finding out why!

Does anyone remember the ”Previously…” trailer before the Buffy s.5 finale? It encompassed everything from s.1 onwards. HP7.5 should have that.

A date to remember…

I’ll have a proper post soon, I promise. But I’ve been a tad busy with writing. Yes, that’s right – bye bye, writer’s block. Hellooooo juicy words!

I’ve also been getting a wee bit excited about the 16th July. The final Harry Potter will be out, Part Two of The Deathly Hallows. I’ll be there. I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when I was 11, so the books are part of my childhood. I have my issues with the films – some casting I love, some I loathe, some stuff should not have been cut! – but I always go and watch them. It would have all ended back in 2007, but we’ve eeked another four years out of it thanks to the films and I CANNOT WAIT to see the last one. I’m going to LOVE it.

Here’s the trailer:

(Nowhere near enough Neville in this trailer)

16th July 2011. Put it in your diaries. The day you’ll all discover that I was right all these years. Neville Longbottom is a B.A.M.F.

24 before 25.

Today is my 24th birthday. I’ve got the day off work so I’m off for a facial and massage with Mum and Nan (thank you, Groupon, for the dead cheap voucher) and then perhaps to Camden. The day is to be rounded off with some yummy food and some cake.

But I’ve been thinking recently that a birthday should be more than just an excuse to pamper yourself and get presents. It’s your own personal New Year!

I was inspired by this post last year and decided that I would do my own list. Reading over my list, there’s an awful lot of craft and learning based goals. Trying something new or rediscovering something I used to love. Here’s hoping these goals will really enrich my year! Some of these goals are ones that will have a result at the end of it, some of them are a little more fluid.

1. Actively pursue looking for an agent. I need to focus on it, rather than just browsing sites when I have a minute and then forgetting to do anything about it.

2. Get faster, go further. Seriously want to improve my running. I already have a regular monthly running date with a friend, so I  really want to focus on upping my personal best each time. And then totally smash it.

3. Finish up Novel Number 2, The Daddy. Slightly more of a challenge than I thought it would be as I’m still finishing up the edits on Novel Number 1.

4. Buy (at least) 3 vintage/second-hand/charity shop dresses. Better for the environment and I’ll have something no one else has. Already planning a trip to a vintage fair on Sunday!

5. Sew a new item of clothing for myself, I haven’t since I made a skirt when I was 15. I might even treat myself to this kit.

6. Knit a jumper. I can knit a scarf, but I want to make clothing. And this also means learning to read a pattern. Which may as well be in Hindi for all the sense I can currently make of them.

7. Give up bread! This isn’t some bizarre diet attempt. I absolutely adore bread, but it makes me lazy. If I can’t be bothered to cook, I know I can fill up on a couple of slices of toast. If I vow to eat less bread, then it will encourage me to cook more. Expand my culinary repertoire!

8. Visit an outdoor adventure place. I don’t think this needs more explanation really does it?

9. Look into a course about web design. I know precisely nothing about anything technical, but I’d love to know more. I can’t think of a better way to learn than by going back to school.

10. Finish up that epic poem and make it up into a book, complete with illustrations! I started it in 2009 and I’m very fond of it so I want to see it finished to see how the story ends. When I did GCSE I particularly loved the drawing stage, I found it really relaxing, even if some of the designs were beyond my sewing capabilities! But now I put it off because I’m not that good at it so I think it’s about time I rediscovered the fun and perhaps with practice I’ll get better!

11. Listen to more radio programmes. I kept hearing about someone in The Archers falling off a roof and realised that radio can get you talking just as much as TV. Also, I need to get out of this habit of getting into watching something just because it’s on in the room I happen to be in.

12. Knit a sock. Yes, just the one. Two if I can manage it, but I hear tell that socks are fiendishly difficult so one would make me very proud indeed!

13. See the very last Harry Potter film and really enjoy it. All too often I think – not as good as the book and terribly cast. But this series has been part of my life since I was 11 years old and thanks to the films I didn’t have to say goodbye when the last book was published in 2007. So I’m going to enjoy this!

14. Do the splits! Yes, this is a dream of mine.

15. See three new plays. I love the theatre, but I find it expensive and booking tickets always seems to be such a hassle (is it just me? But I can never find three seats together on the same night that aren’t the price of a champion racehorse!)

16. Make a real go of some freelancing work.

17. Join a club. I haven’t really thought this one through because I don’t know what club! But I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for something interesting and hope I can meet some inspiring new people. A London writers club would be wonderful. Any ideas, let me know!

18. Go to a big sewing/knitting/vintage/craft event. I love craft, do-it-yourself and vintage and all the blogs seem to find these events a lot of fun. So I’d like to join in on that fun and maybe learn something new.

19. Visit an antiques fair. I blame Kirsty Allsopp for this.

20. Visit Wales. I hear they have great trails there. And a howies shop…

21. Go horse-riding. I think the last time I rode I was about 14 when I was working in a stable. Then came the GSCEs, the A-levels and university. Time to get back in the saddle I reckon!

22. Join a pottery class or at least make a coil pot at home. Again – enough with the “Ooo, that looks good, I’d like to try that.” I’m going to do it!

23. Do a poetry open mic night. It’s one thing reading out your work to a seminar group, it’s quite another to get up on stage and do it. So I’ll admit that I’ll probably visit somewhere that does this a few times before I actually try it. There's no reason to sacrifice myself unawares to a baying mob! Any recommendations of places/events to check out, let me know please!

24. Take up tennis. I get addicted to Wimbledon every year and I’ve got a tennis court about a 45 minute walk away from me. There’s no reason not to have a go myself!

So here’s to my own personal New Year. Let’s see how many goals I can fulfil. I may do another post about my birthday weekend of fun next week, we shall see!

Happy Birthday to any fellow Pisceans and Happy Un-birthday to everyone else!

About! TURN!

So, you know that new novel I’ve been kicking about for a while now? Well, let’s put that to one side for a moment, shall we?

There I was, chilling out in the bath last night, minding my own business and then bang – it hit me. Novel Number 1 is not finished. If I’m honest, when I saved it for the last time under the defiant title “FINAL DRAFT!” I sort of had a niggling feeling that it wasn’t finished. But I’d had enough of it by that point. I was sick to death of editing. And I honestly couldn’t think what it was that was niggling at me, what needed to be changed.

But it hit me last night and I wanted to leap out of the bath and get editing. I wanted to stay up all night to sketch in this big change. But I didn’t, mainly because the fire was off and we have no heating. And I was really tired. So while I got dressed, brushed my hair, washed my face, brushed my teeth, it was all going mad in my head.

So today I sat down and I sketched in that big change. I adapted the scenes that needed adapting, changed the names that now needed changing. It’s basically all there now (and 2,500 words shorter! Wimper) but I do need to get on with the fine detail editing. That could take two week’s hard work.

I’m not looking forward to it. I quite enjoy editing short stories because you can lay the whole thing out before you and it’s so easy to find things, check things. A novel is not quite so manageable. But I know it’s going to be worth it.

I’m going to be able to put the niggling feeling to bed and I’m finally going to feel like it’s finished and I can stop playing with it. And I’ll finally feel free to work on my next novel.

So I’m psyched up for this. I really am. Can’t wait to get started on it.

But first I’m going out to see Harry Potter. Byee!!