This New Year

I am staying in because New Year is probably the worst event/celebration on the social calendar. Although in the paper someone likened new years eve/day to 'shaking the etch-a-sketch of life' and I liked that a lot. But really, New Years Eve is just always awful. At best it is ok but inevitably a let down. And at worst you have an awful night and an even worse hangover to begin the new year with.

The main issues I have with NYE are as follows:

Problem 1. You are supposed to be having funnest night ever and everyone always wants it to be a good night and typically over does it. Many a NYE have I found myself passed out/being sick/being the worlds biggest twat all before the stroke of midnight.

Problem 2. There is nothing to really celebrate. You can stay up till midnight any day you like and the date changes. It's really not exciting. The countdown to the new year is the most anti-climatic countdown in history. Nothing changes, there are no gifts or chocolate eggs to unwrap. No exciting meal to look forward to, just a hangover if you are drinking or if you are sober the desperate hope that this year will be better than the last. Or I suppose a kiss off a stranger you'll regret in the morning, gross.

Problem 3. Everything is about 3 times the normal price

Problem 4. Everywhere is about 3 times as busy

Problem 5. It encourages boasting about who had the best time/went to the best place etc...

OK rant over. I'm going to pretend it's a normal Thursday night and enjoy watching Jon and Edward 'cos apparently they are on telly tonight.

In keeping with the ranty tone of this post I feel it appropriate to draw peoples attention to the brilliant review of 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' by Dr Mark Kermode as I couldn't possibly agree with him more.



I'm also happy he loves The Great Gatsby :D

Because I'm really cool

I was watching Penguin Adventure with Nigel Marven. Anyway, he went to go see some sooty albatrosses and I wasn't very interested as I only watching it for the penguin and seals really. But, the albatrosses were actually pretty cool. They do this really cool synchronised flying in the air with the albatross they spend their life with. The longer they have been together the better they are at the synchronised flying, it's really cute and looks a bit like when Wall.E and Eve are flying in space. Anyway I don't know why, but it made me really happy :)

Wishful thinking

I want to move out and live in a cottage by the sea. Maybe with a nice dog, I would go to work in a cute library and come home to my nice little house and read books and listen to my favourite music and go for walks on the beach with the nice dog.

ROAR!

:D:D:D:D:D

Also I decided I was going to make a Laura sized fleece playsuit thing to wear when it is cold, obviously I knew I would be 100% adding ears to the hood. So I figured I might as well turn it into the costume Max wears in where the wild things are. Yeah! I'm excited and off to buy some creamy fleece material and go out for a cup of tea with Carly :D



If you are poor and have no money or morals you can download the where the wild things are soundtrack here I'm listening to it loads at the moment, Karen O rules so much :)

Christmas!

Was absolutely wonderful and looked a little bit like this:

Hels, Joe and Ben opening gifts in the morn



Hel and Ben



Shortstuff



Ben and Joe



Roast aftermath




Cards, scrabble and magnetic fishing



Overall absolute winner :)

All I want for Christmas is

YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOHOOOH BAAAAAAAABY

The only Mariah Carey song that doesn't make me want to die, and also probably my 2nd favourite Christmas song ever, Driving Home for Christmas is clearly number 1, luckily radio 2 seem to love it as they play it all the time :D

What I do want for Christmas is to pass my driving test please and for this stupid squint to be gone, I hate my right eye, whyyyyyy whenever I stay awake for more than 24 hours do I get a stupid squint?! Not fair :( I'd say the fun I had on Friday does outweigh the grossness of the return of the squint though, so I guess on balance it's not too bad.

Tempting

Whenever it's the end of the year newspapers, radio shows, magazines, tv programmes and anyone who hasn't been in a coma start making 'top 10 "insert interest" of "insert year" lists'. As it is 2009 people also have the added bonus of, not only having a top ten of 2009, but, they can also have top 10 of the noughties (cringe) or top 100 or whatever. Very exciting. Making this kind of list sounds exactly like the kind of the thing I would love to do. However, I really couldn't tell you if something came out last week or last year, so if I was to make a list of my favourite films, for example, of 2009 I would 100% fail, as I have zero concept of when anything was released and if I saw it in 2009 or 2001. So while I'm very tempted to rank my favourite films/albums/places/whatever of 2009 I think I'll abstain and instead make a 'top ten things I am looking forward to in 2010.

1. Not living at home any more, I'm assuming by December 2010 I'll have moved out.

2. Going to SCANDINAVIA!

3. New years resolutions. Ironically I think they're super lame, but for some reason it's easier to decide to change ones sinful ways in the new year.

4. Cinema: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1/Wolfman/Toy Story 3/Shutter Island/The crazies (looks absurdly stupid but maybe pretty good)/The Lovely Bones/Red Riding.

5. Skiing(?) if Mum doesn't give into Clares selfish demands I am well looking forward to practising jumps and getting on some black runs.

6. Potentially having some sort of career?

7. 2010 will be a year of finishing TV series, The Wire and Deadwood mostly.

8. 2010 will also be a year of reading lots of good books, mostly classics that I ignorantly wrote off as boring in my youth.

9. Visiting Hels in Thailand

10. Festivals! I don't know where I am going to go (apart from the Big Chill because I get money off) but I didn't go to any festivals this year and I miss it lots :(

I am also looking forward to, staying in touch with all my lovely far away friends, the recession improving (well hopefully...) seeing Grizzly Bear, driving - fingers crossed at some point in 2010, if not before, I'll have managed to pass my stupid test.

8

I'm pretty sure this is the best thing I've seen/read all day. Amazing

Festive Penguins!

7

Allison Harvard should 150% have won antm, I'm so in love with her.





beautiful.

4

I am up super early today, I've already been up for 2 hours and it's only quarter past 10. I would like to say that I am up at this early hour because I'm excited about seeing Louise, Claire, Tara and Jess later, but in reality I am hungover. Which is stupidly unfair because all I drank last night was 1 pint of Stowfords, half a can of Old English and a sip of Brothers strawberry cider. Oh and Jon Walls creamy mouthful, but I didn't choose to buy that it was brought for me and therefore doesn't really count. Anyway, being hungover is rubbish, so is waiting for everyone else to wake up, my massive lazy bones sister still isn't up and Libby is sleeping so I have no one to talk to :(

Today I did not know my advent calendar question, I showered and dressed, finished reading Murakami's After Dark, packed all my things for Reading, started reading 9 stories, put on the Bright Eyes Christmas album, ate my breakfast, played with Libby and tidied the kitchen. Quite a productive morning so far.

I am well looking forward to dancing tonight and seeing friends from afar, I know I always say I wish that all my favourite people all lived near me, but I really really do wish this was the case. If Harry Potter was real the number 1 best thing (apart from Sirius) would 150% be apparating. Actually now I quite want to make a list, so

the top 6 best things:

1. Apparition!

2. Dumbledore/Siruis/Gilderoy Lockhart/Snape/Kreacher/Lupin

3. Ravenclaw house

4. Felix Felicis

5. being able to make potions/cast spells

6. Nifflers

And the top 6 worst:

1. Voldermort

2. The Cruciatus curse. Actually, just the unforgivable curses in general.

3. Deatheaters

4. Dementors

5. Umbridge

6. Harry Potter in a bad mood

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Todays advent calendar question was 'What year was Nelson Mandela released from prison?' I haven't got a clue :(

Heart of Glass

Finished:
Jane Eyre: I liked Jane Eyre a lot. It was unconventional and I thought it was going to have a tragic ending but it was actaully a nice happy ending without being cheesy or clichéd or unlikely. Mr Rochester was a brilliant 'hero' of the story and Jane is easy to relate to, and not an annoying girl (well, except for when she inexplicably leaves Mr Rochester and is a homeless person for a bit). I liked the constant references to Wuthering Heights and the differences between the Jane/Rochester relationship and the the Cathy/Heathcliff one. Overall, it was super, thank you Louise for buying me such a beautiful edition :D

The Reader: I read the Reader in two sittings. It's not a very happy book but it didn't make me depressed either. I liked that it didn't give any definitive right or wrong answers to the philosophical and moral issues raised. Because it's told from Michaels perspective it allows you to feel sympathy for Hanna, Michael and the victims of the Holocaust. Michael is a fair narrator, but sometimes a little inhuman, which he admits. However his 'numbness' towards the Holocaust allows for a greater understanding, if it can be called that, of the actions of the Auschwitz guards.

My costume for Louises. It's not especially 80s but it is inspired by Debbie Harry, who is well hot and totally cool.



Helping Ma Select new furniture for the living room. This was ultra fun, we got to sit on a million sofas and pick out throws and cushions and choose fun colour schemes, yeah! We also got to go out for lunch in Cheltenham so I got the best tomato and basil soup ever, yum

Not finished:
Guitar Hero on medium: Helen and I had a massive session today and I can't play any of the face-melters section for love nor money. I suck :(

My 'to do list' I made forever ago, wahhh

retrieving my phone/contents of my bag from the Marrs bar :(

My Advent Calendar. Mum made us fabric Christmas trees for our doors years ago because we were not allowed a proper advent calendar. The 25 pockets on the tree have a question and a treat inside. But you can only get the treat if you get your question right. However, because Mum is nice, we usually get the treat anyway or Mum lets it roll over to tomorrow. Anyway back in the day the treats used to be raisins or dried fruit or something. But since Clares been around Mum is nicer so now we get a lindt ball, yesssssss :D Anyway Todays question was: Which county supplies Trafalgar Square with its annual Christmas tree? The answer is obviously Norway and I got my lindt ball, yeah!

My roll of film in my holga, I want to get it developed but I still have about 10 more shots, jeeeze.

My birthday chocolate, I'm nowhere near finished and I still have peanut-butter M&Ms leftover from Canada.