Five Fictional Friends

Whilst reading I often decide I either want to be or want to befriend characters. Were they real, of course!

Here are just a few on my list: 

Elizabeth Bennet - Pride and Prejudice: We could go for walks, talk books and she could introduce me to Mr Darcy's rich friends. Perfection.

Emma Morley - One Day: In spite of her many flaws, Emma Morley is one of my favourite characters of all time. There are certain similarities between myself and her: both aspiring writers, share a love of literature, Scrabble and France. My real-life best friend even joked on seeing the film that they could have based the character on me. However, the same is likely to be said by millions of women around the world. For these reasons, were she a real person I would happily attempt to befriend her. Perhaps ever so slightly narcissistic of me.

Bernard - Not Now Bernard: Nobody has any time for little Bernard. Not only does he deserve a friend but also a protector from monsters.

Marty - The Woodlanders: In true Hardy style, life is tough for poor Marty. During the course of the novel she loses a tree, her hair, her father, her home, her job and the love of her life. I reckon she could do with a friend.

Neville Longbottom - Harry Potter: By the final book Neville had gone from geeky classmate to unlikely hero. Definitely someone worth having around, even if just to kill Basalisks.

Lis(z)tomania

I love books. I also love lists. So, in an attempt to revive my blog I’m going to combine the two. Beware, there may be some spoilers.

The Hit List

Over the past few years I’ve been compiling a mental list of literary characters I believe are deserving of a slap. Perhaps a sign that I get too emotionally involved in things that aren’t actually real… From friendly ‘knock some sense into’ them slaps to a full on punch in the face, some characters have an ability to get under your skin. Here are just a few of the characters that have topped my list:

Briony Tallis - Atonement: If little 13 year old Briony had told the truth, things could have been very different. Granted it wouldn’t have made for one of my favourite novels of all time but it would have saved a LOT of tears.

Pip – Great Expectations: Don’t get me wrong, I love Pip so this slap would be a friendly, ‘sort your life out, mate’ one. Hopefully he’d then stop being so mean to Joe and realise that Biddy is so much better than Estella.

Catherine – Petite Anglaise: She buys her affair underwear from Monoprix. Need I say more?!

Edward and Florence – On Chesil Beach: It might have been a good idea for Ed and Flo to talk about their sexual preferences before getting married. Apparently this hadn’t occurred to either of them and so ensues a wedding night from hell. Someone should have definitely banged their heads together. 

Daisy Buchanan – The Great Gatsby: Yeah, she might be beautiful and Gatsby might love her but seriously, make a decision: Gatsby or your cheating husband? And if you’re going to run people over you should really take responsibility for it! Poor old Gatsby.

Books, Glorious Books

As an English graduate actually being able to choose what I read is still somewhat of a novelty. So, now I can theoretically create my own reading lists, I thought I'd take a few minutes to influence yours!

I've just finished reading Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman and think it might be one of the best books I've read in a long time. I found it honest, funny and moving and it left me wanting to shout 'I am a Feminist' at the top of my voice whilst dancing around the house to Independent Woman by Destiny's Child, because I did indeed buy the shoes on my feet! Always a sign of a good book. In a slight shift, the next book I've moved onto is 50 Shades of Grey... I'm blaming a combination of hype and peer-pressure. Next, I'm tackling Anna Karenina. Eek!

In other book related news, I recently went on a mini tour of some of London's independent book shops. This perhaps doesn't sound like the most exciting way to spend a Saturday but I enjoyed myself, at least. Plus, we saw a contestant from The Voice! What more could a girl want?!

Persephone, Dickens and my purchases

Me again!

Hello Readers, most of whom probably stumble upon my blog by accident! I've been talking about starting up my blog again for a while now and as my friend Jess has recently updated hers I thought it time I bit the bullet. As many of my friends will know I do actually write all the time, however much of it I deem unblogworthy and so it never leaves the pages of my notebook. Yep, I still do writing with a pen and paper! 

Anyway, since my last post I have started a 'be a grown-up' initiative which has seen me get a new job and move away from home. All very exciting! But that's enough about me. The main reason I came on here is that it's Father's Day next weekend and I've suddenly come over all sentimental and wanted to write about my dad. Aww/puke. Fortunately, he doesn't know I've got a blog so probably won't ever see this.

So, here we go...

Yesterday, I finally got round to going to the Museum of London for the penultimate day of the Dickens and London exhibition with one of my sisters. Our love of Dickens unquestionably stems from our dad who even on my lastest visit home got me to read an extract from his tattered copy of 'Sketches by Boz' for no apparent reason.

Just to prove I went.

Growing up I often heard my mum say 'you're just like your father', mostly after having said something sarcastic and to be honest at the time this really annoyed me. But now I'm able to see the truth in it and am actually quite proud of it, as my dad is one of the only men, if not the only man, I've ever really been able to rely on and look up to. (At the age of 23 I don't think this is really something I should be too worried about, however, if I am still saying this in twenty years time I think it might be cause for concern!) Of course, he has faults (again, many of which I might have inherited) but overall he really is the most decent of men: caring, funny, generous and intelligent.

Me and my parents at Graduation.

As children we tend to think our parents know everything and although over time we find out this isn't strictly true, there isn't much my dad doesn't know. Because of him I know lots of useless facts which have come in handy in pub quizzes from time to time. I think our parents shape the people we become and I know that for better or for worse my dad has hugely influenced the person I am today. Because now, as a semi-grown up, I see in myself snippets of him and (maybe let's not tell him this) it's not too bad! 

Right, that's probably enough sentimentality for a while. Hopefully, it won't be another 6 months before I next write. 

Magic and Macaroons

On the phone to my friend last night I was told to update my blog. So Janine, this is for you.

I blame the latest lapse in posts to the fact that after spending an entire day staring at a computer screen I don't tend to want to do the same when I get home. Lately I can go 2-3 days without turning my laptop on, which is actually quite refreshing! Today though, I had the day off work, which was pretty exciting. The only thing about having a day off in the week is that everyone else still has to go to work, so I needed to find things to occupy myself. I decided that I would spend the first part of the day watching a bit of daytime tv whilst I thought about what to do with the rest of my day. Naturally, as it was the morning, I watched This Morning. On the programme today was a woman you could deem as ‘morbidly obese’ telling Eamonn and Ruth how she spends her evenings sitting on her bed eating cakes whilst on webcam. Not only that, but men can watch her doing this as the way she eats cakes is so ‘sexy’ that some men see it as a kind of porn... All very strange and just the kind of thing I watch This Morning for.

After all the excitement of This Morning I decided I would do some baking. Only after I had watched Neighbours, of course. I was distraught upon watching Neighbours to discover that Susan and Karl have split up, again. I’m hoping they’ll be back together by the next time I watch it because if Susan and Karl can’t make it then what hope is there for the rest of us?!

Anyway, I ended up baking some macaroons whilst listening to Magic. (Will anyone ever find out who the third Magic's Mystery Voice belongs to?!) As the photos show my macaroons aren't quite as pretty and delicate as the ones that can be found pretty much any where else, (even France) but I'm pretty proud of my first attempt. Though I don't think I'll be signing up for The Great British Bake Off any time soon...

I wonder if the This Morning cake eating woman also enjoys macaroons...

I was also baking until 11.30 last night trying to make a 'congratulations' cake for my sister. However, it went a bit wrong and all I ended up with was an apricot sponge and icing all over my arms. I’m beginning to think that when I have a house of my own I will be one of those people who always has something baking on the off-chance that someone will pop in. By 'one of those people' I mean a grandma. 

Icing sugar on my skirt, just to prove I made them myself. 

I'll post again soon and hopefully about something a little less bake-y and a little more interesting! 

Autumn

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons (second only to Spring). It might be the season of perpetual drizzle, grey mornings and the 'do I need to wear a coat?' dilemma, but it is also the season of knitted jumper wearing, good television programmes and the excuse to stay in and watch said programmes! 

Without wanting to sound like Pollyanna, here are some of the things that are currently bringing a smile to my face this Autumn:

• Having a newly qualified hairdresser sister – hello, free haircuts for life;
• Finally seeing a genuine famous person on the tube – it doesn’t matter if he’s now in Holby City, he was once in Harry Potter, Lost in Austen AND Spooks!;
• Long phone calls with faraway friends;
• Photographing everything, you can never have enough photos of Tower Bridge;
• Writing - I’m not very good at sleeping so instead I write, doesn't really solve the being tired problem though...;
• Typewriters;
• Being greeted most mornings with ‘hello baby’ from a drunken old Irish man in Stockwell;
• ‘One Day’, ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘The Help’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ all being turned into films;
• Making grand travelling plans that will most likely never happen;
•           Detecting - I like to think of myself as filling the void between Nancy Drew and Miss Marple. I am yet to unearth any major crimes but just give it time...;
• The ‘Instagram’ app - good for making photos look pretty and cheaper than buying film for Polaroid cameras;
• And, this poem by Kitkat Pecson:  "I think of you in the in-between spaces. In the pause before the next heartbeat. In the clench of my chest before I exhale. In the swell of courage before I say hello. And perhaps one day, our lives will occupy one space. Touched shoulders. Clasped hands. Shared secrets."

'Instagram' magic.

Trains and Tribulations

Yet another lapse in posts. No excuse other than that I've not had much to write about. Even this is scraping the barrel. 

I've recently started an internship in London, which involves around 3 hours of commuting a day. This is probably a lot less than many people but having spent my 3 years in Reading having to walk for no more than 15 minutes to get to lectures it has come as quite a shock to the system! I seem to spend much of these three hours thinking about how tired I am, reading the Metro, avoiding awkward eye-contact with other passengers, watching as they scramble for seats and marvelling at how much of a rush they all seem to be in. These suited and booted, briefcase wielding fellow commuters walk faster than I can run, and yet it seems so effortless. I have yet to master this art, with my morning power walk to the station tending to leave me looking far less cool and with a massive stitch. It's my aim, in time, to get from the train to the tube in 4 minutes flat, with not a hair out of place and still possessing the ability to breathe.

One of the sights to be seen on public transport.

The downsides of using public transport are well documented but it is excellent for people watching, a luxury you don't get if you're driving. So far in the past week I've seen various lookalikes, including Matthew Kelly, my dissertation supervisor and Don Gilet. Another of my favourite activities is guessing people's professions: today I saw a Youth Worker (grown man wearing a back to front baseball cap) and Mancini's right-hand man (a fairly large man wearing a MCFC jacket). Both of which I feel are almost certainly correct. I'm hoping one day I see an actual celebrity or at least something interesting but in the meantime I'll stick to entertaining myself with these pointless activities. Or, maybe I'll actually remember my book in future!

Probably recommended by Richard and/or Judy.