Flipping holidays can't come soon enough! Holiday time means writing time (and friend time, but that's not what this post is about...).
Having one of those moments where the story idea in my brain is positively bursting with AWESOME and I just want to write it. As you've probably heard I'm revisiting my superpowers story, and revamping the characters that have been with me since 2008. It still shocks me that they've been around that long. Finally, I think I've figured out what their story is supposed to be. And who doesn't belong in the story. Many a character has been scrapped. Also many have died. But that's a different novel, to be written one day when I'm famous and my readers are begging for the backstory....
Totally pumped for the epicness that will be this book! I'm using NaNoWriMo to bust out 50k for it, which is kind of cheating since I've already started the story, but seeing as NaNoWriMo is made for personal gain, I guess I can use it for the best benefits possible. Right? Heh. We're all NaNo rebels sometime or other (or every time if you're me...).
I was talking to Keira yesterday about the authory things that I wish I could do but don't yet have the skill. Number One is better foreshadowing. I wish I could master foreshadowing for a huge series like Harry Potter. JK Rowling is a genius. Don't believe me? Go read The Prisoner of Azkaban again.
The second thing is pushing my characters one step further in the way of er ... torture. I don't know how else to put it. Basically, when you write a story your character has to get past many bad obstacles, and each time they escalate, pushing the character to their limits. I can never seem to get my characters to the step that breaks them, or nearly breaks them, depending on your character. A perfect example of this is Amy in The Doctor's Wife. While she and Rory are lost inside the TARDIS (I still don't know if I'm supposed to capitalise all the letters or not!), Rory gets shut behind and door and Amy finds him only seconds later, or so she thinks. Turns out for him it's been hours. That's step one. Step two is when she's tricked into thinking Rory has waited his whole lifetime for her, and to her horror she finds an old Rory still sitting behind the door. Now, if I had written this episode, that's as far as I would have taken it. The genius bit comes in step three, the moment that breaks Amy. The moment that pushes her over the edge, and gives us a real insight to her character, and makes us care. Because we knew that the old Rory was just a fake one put there by the badguy, so now that the scene is over we don't care anymore. The writers need to scare us. To make us feel what Amy feels. So when Amy next turns the corner she sees DIE AMY DIE graffitied all over the walls and the dead skeleton of her husband Rory, and she just breaks down. Now don't lie, your stomach twisted when you watched that didn't it? You felt it that time. Now the writers have got you to care. And when the real Rory comes around the corner, perfectly fine, confirming that what Amy saw was just a hallucination, the relief that you feel is the WIN for the writer. Yeah that's right, they've got you to love their characters. And THAT is what I want to master. Not everyone realises how important step three is in pushing your character to the limits. It's the final hurdle. Right when you think everything is going okay, something ten times worse gets in the way and you groan at the TV or shake your book in frustration because you just want the character to get through and be all right! You care now. I want to make my readers care like that.
Anyways, the post just sort of became a rant and ended up twice as long as I thought it would. So I'm going to go now. Off to continue this stupid plastering. Have a lovely Sunday!
P.S Had a ridiculously long conversation with Keira last night about names. We came to the realisation that Karen Gillan is a really, really terrible name (especially when you add that her middle name is Sheila! What is wrong with her parents?) and that Amelia Pond is a beautiful, wonderful, roll-off-the-tongue name. I love writers and how much thought they put in to names. :)
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
September 18, 2011
June 27, 2011
I'm on a mission!
Well hello there! It's been almost a month since I last blogged, but in that time I have come to a decision.
As most of you know, I really, really want to be a writer. One that gets things published. And I have come to the conclusion that this will not happen unless I (at least attempt to) stick to one project. Ever since I finished my one book back in 2008, I've been working on numerous projects. Fat Beagles Are Unattractive, Veridical, and Eloquence are and have been some of my biggest works, but I haven't completed any of them.
Yet.
When I wrote my fantasy novel it was the only book I worked on. I wrote it from start to finish, and then continued with a good nine or ten chapters of the second book, intending for it to be a four-book series. That is, until I discovered that my writing was actually not as good as I thought it was and I would need to work hard to make it better, and the best way to do that was to start a new project.
That's when Veridical was started. It too was a bit of a failure and though I wrote over 40,000 words with my ensemble of six characters I struggled with the chronology of the story and after a couple of years, ended up with a huge pile of inconsistent plot and three or four Mary-Sues. Some of the scenes I wrote in that time are still in my mental list of Best-Scenes-I've-Ever-Written, so once again I'm happy with what I did but not nearly satisfied.
And so we come to the now. I have an amazing novel in my mind. A murder mystery set in a mild-steampunk world based off 19th century England, with a huge dollop of political drama and class/status epic thrown in. It's the story I've been dreaming I could write since I penned my first six pages of fiction at age seven.
I adore my characters.
I love the mood and the genre.
I'm still excited about the plot two years after I began to develop it.
Yet I'm struggling to get this story on paper.
Why?
I get the feeling it's because I have not disciplined myself enough when it comes to my writing. This is because of two things. One is that I do not have a proper schedule, and so I can go days without writing and then hate myself for it later on. This will be fixed. I plan to come up with a proper schedule in the holidays. The other reason my story is not getting written is because when I do write, I distract myself from my main story with other ideas, like super powers and rewriting Fat Beagles and numerous other things that come into my head. When I get a good idea I get the urge to write about it immediately. I've decided that this is not the way to do things anymore. Now, when I get a good idea I will write it down and store it away in my filing cabinet for later, and knuckle down and solely writing Eloquence until the first draft is complete.
Ha, easier said than done.
Wish me luck. I really, really, want to do this. I hope I can manage it sooner than I think.
As most of you know, I really, really want to be a writer. One that gets things published. And I have come to the conclusion that this will not happen unless I (at least attempt to) stick to one project. Ever since I finished my one book back in 2008, I've been working on numerous projects. Fat Beagles Are Unattractive, Veridical, and Eloquence are and have been some of my biggest works, but I haven't completed any of them.
Yet.
When I wrote my fantasy novel it was the only book I worked on. I wrote it from start to finish, and then continued with a good nine or ten chapters of the second book, intending for it to be a four-book series. That is, until I discovered that my writing was actually not as good as I thought it was and I would need to work hard to make it better, and the best way to do that was to start a new project.
That's when Veridical was started. It too was a bit of a failure and though I wrote over 40,000 words with my ensemble of six characters I struggled with the chronology of the story and after a couple of years, ended up with a huge pile of inconsistent plot and three or four Mary-Sues. Some of the scenes I wrote in that time are still in my mental list of Best-Scenes-I've-Ever-Written, so once again I'm happy with what I did but not nearly satisfied.
And so we come to the now. I have an amazing novel in my mind. A murder mystery set in a mild-steampunk world based off 19th century England, with a huge dollop of political drama and class/status epic thrown in. It's the story I've been dreaming I could write since I penned my first six pages of fiction at age seven.
I adore my characters.
I love the mood and the genre.
I'm still excited about the plot two years after I began to develop it.
Yet I'm struggling to get this story on paper.
Why?
I get the feeling it's because I have not disciplined myself enough when it comes to my writing. This is because of two things. One is that I do not have a proper schedule, and so I can go days without writing and then hate myself for it later on. This will be fixed. I plan to come up with a proper schedule in the holidays. The other reason my story is not getting written is because when I do write, I distract myself from my main story with other ideas, like super powers and rewriting Fat Beagles and numerous other things that come into my head. When I get a good idea I get the urge to write about it immediately. I've decided that this is not the way to do things anymore. Now, when I get a good idea I will write it down and store it away in my filing cabinet for later, and knuckle down and solely writing Eloquence until the first draft is complete.
Ha, easier said than done.
Wish me luck. I really, really, want to do this. I hope I can manage it sooner than I think.
April 18, 2011
This is a story....
Good morning. I've done a shamefully small amount of blogging this month. And last month. And the month before that ... you get the idea - I've been a bit hopeless about this blog ever since I got back from America. It was hard to blog while I was away and so I've found it difficult to get back into it now that I'm home. I suppose I need to get better at it again, because blogging is such a nice outlet for writing things that aren't about characters or TAFE.
Speaking of TAFE, I'm here now, even though it's the holidays. I decided I'd spend the entire day in the library, because they keep it open for students to come and get their work done before term starts again. It's quite nice here right now, with just the hum of the electric tube lights and the murmur of a couple of interior design girls in the corner to keep me company while I write. No one is using the computers, which is quite amazing. Usually you get here in the term time to get something printed and every single computer is being used up by event management students and the graphic design kiddos all trying to finish off their stuff between classes. Grr. When it comes to computers, the set design students aren't nearly as annoying as anyone else, because if they're in the library it's so they can sit in the corner and fiddle with toothpicks and PVA glue. I think they have the most fun out of anyone here.
So, I came up with a new story idea the other night. Rather, I got slammed in the face with something epic, and in the middle of a CoD game I dropped the controller and scrambled for a pen and I wrote something down. I'll share it with you. This is what I wrote:
This is a story about a tiny town in which nothing had ever happened.
It's about Lucy and the day the circus came to Chesterfield, and how the rain hadn't kept her and Noah away.
It's about a lost boy called Marcus, who wasn't really a boy anymore.
It's about a girl with too many secrets, a magic box, a firebreather, and a code of cards.
It's about a magician whose magic is real.
It's about a dangerous plan, a locked door, and Lucy's search for the key.
And it's about finding love in the darkest of places.
Well, I don't really know where all that came from because as far as a true plot ... I have next to nothing. But these characters and these images and feelings have come bursting into my head and I must write about them. I'm excited. I think this story is going to be one of discovery. I won't plan any more than what I have just written. I will just write, and see where it takes me. Off to go do that now. Be back soon :)
Speaking of TAFE, I'm here now, even though it's the holidays. I decided I'd spend the entire day in the library, because they keep it open for students to come and get their work done before term starts again. It's quite nice here right now, with just the hum of the electric tube lights and the murmur of a couple of interior design girls in the corner to keep me company while I write. No one is using the computers, which is quite amazing. Usually you get here in the term time to get something printed and every single computer is being used up by event management students and the graphic design kiddos all trying to finish off their stuff between classes. Grr. When it comes to computers, the set design students aren't nearly as annoying as anyone else, because if they're in the library it's so they can sit in the corner and fiddle with toothpicks and PVA glue. I think they have the most fun out of anyone here.
So, I came up with a new story idea the other night. Rather, I got slammed in the face with something epic, and in the middle of a CoD game I dropped the controller and scrambled for a pen and I wrote something down. I'll share it with you. This is what I wrote:
This is a story about a tiny town in which nothing had ever happened.
It's about Lucy and the day the circus came to Chesterfield, and how the rain hadn't kept her and Noah away.
It's about a lost boy called Marcus, who wasn't really a boy anymore.
It's about a girl with too many secrets, a magic box, a firebreather, and a code of cards.
It's about a magician whose magic is real.
It's about a dangerous plan, a locked door, and Lucy's search for the key.
And it's about finding love in the darkest of places.
Well, I don't really know where all that came from because as far as a true plot ... I have next to nothing. But these characters and these images and feelings have come bursting into my head and I must write about them. I'm excited. I think this story is going to be one of discovery. I won't plan any more than what I have just written. I will just write, and see where it takes me. Off to go do that now. Be back soon :)
December 3, 2010
staring hard at the mess will not make it go away....
First off, a hippity happity birthday to Keira, because I know she'll read this at some point :)
Rah. I have thus far spent the morning cleaning various things and being overwhelmed by other untidy parts of the house, packing my bag for two sleepovers and hopping across the great fluffy carpet in the living room in an attempt to keep the nail polish on my toes unblemished. Also attempted to clean the snake cage but Alastor is (as his namesake) rahter Moody this morning and refuses to let my hand be inside his cage unless he can give it a good nip. Not nice, in my opinion.
I'm so excited for this weekend. Off to Katherine's place to roast s'mores with her and Beth tonight, then heading to Patrick's for his 18th, staying the night there and then coming home after church on Sunday and having two nights in the house with Keira, whilst the family is away camping. Shall be fun.
Hmmm. Felt like blogging but I quite obviously don't have that much interesting to say. Well, in other news I got my hair cut (yes, I did it - the Emma Watson/Mia Wasikowska cut), and I'll put pictures up in my next blog once I have photos.
Tata for now loves.
Rah. I have thus far spent the morning cleaning various things and being overwhelmed by other untidy parts of the house, packing my bag for two sleepovers and hopping across the great fluffy carpet in the living room in an attempt to keep the nail polish on my toes unblemished. Also attempted to clean the snake cage but Alastor is (as his namesake) rahter Moody this morning and refuses to let my hand be inside his cage unless he can give it a good nip. Not nice, in my opinion.
I'm so excited for this weekend. Off to Katherine's place to roast s'mores with her and Beth tonight, then heading to Patrick's for his 18th, staying the night there and then coming home after church on Sunday and having two nights in the house with Keira, whilst the family is away camping. Shall be fun.
Hmmm. Felt like blogging but I quite obviously don't have that much interesting to say. Well, in other news I got my hair cut (yes, I did it - the Emma Watson/Mia Wasikowska cut), and I'll put pictures up in my next blog once I have photos.
Tata for now loves.
August 23, 2010
No I won't be the last to love you ♥
Hi.
It's our last night in Maui. My step-aunt and her beautiful, beautiful kiddies came by, so our little ol' house in Haiku was packed with my Grandpa, Grandma Linda, Aunty JJ, Mom, Dad, Justin, Annie, Val, Josie, Jeremy, myself and of course Lily, the crazy dog.
The first thing Jeremy did was give Aunty JJ a blanket because she was leaving on the plane tonight, and you need a blanket on the plane to sleep, he says. What a darling.
It was such a beautiful night. Grandma Linda gave me a pair of beautiful little earrings she has been wanting to pass down to me since I was 8. We took a family photo on the couch. We danced around each other in Grandpa's tiny kitchen, frying eggs and bacon and slapping them on bread for dinner. We laughed about the broken microwave, and Jeremy stirring up the dog, and Josie spitting egg into Annie's lap right when she least suspected it. We talked about a house, two school shirts, a magnifying glass, spilled milk, missing paper towels, the road to Hana, clothes shopping, and a million other things that big families talk about. And it was so perfect, and it felt so right, and I'm going to miss it so much it hurts. I'm scared I won't see them for another five years. I hope it's sooner. Somehow, I think it will be.
See you next week.
It's our last night in Maui. My step-aunt and her beautiful, beautiful kiddies came by, so our little ol' house in Haiku was packed with my Grandpa, Grandma Linda, Aunty JJ, Mom, Dad, Justin, Annie, Val, Josie, Jeremy, myself and of course Lily, the crazy dog.
The first thing Jeremy did was give Aunty JJ a blanket because she was leaving on the plane tonight, and you need a blanket on the plane to sleep, he says. What a darling.
It was such a beautiful night. Grandma Linda gave me a pair of beautiful little earrings she has been wanting to pass down to me since I was 8. We took a family photo on the couch. We danced around each other in Grandpa's tiny kitchen, frying eggs and bacon and slapping them on bread for dinner. We laughed about the broken microwave, and Jeremy stirring up the dog, and Josie spitting egg into Annie's lap right when she least suspected it. We talked about a house, two school shirts, a magnifying glass, spilled milk, missing paper towels, the road to Hana, clothes shopping, and a million other things that big families talk about. And it was so perfect, and it felt so right, and I'm going to miss it so much it hurts. I'm scared I won't see them for another five years. I hope it's sooner. Somehow, I think it will be.
See you next week.
August 20, 2010
Hey little girl, look what you've done - you've gone and stolen my heart.
This is my cousin Jeremy. He's five. He's adorable. And he thinks I'm totally awesome. Love him. I also love his middle name - Kulani. Annie says it means "Stands for Heaven" in Hawaiian. :)
And this is Josie. She's seven. She's gorgeous. She doesn't talk, but she has the cutest laugh ever. Love her.
Chilled on the beach today with my Aunt and cousins. Total bliss. I'm sorry, but I have to say that while I was lying on the beach taking pictures of my cousins, watching them surf, and talking about Hawaiian and stuff with my aunt, I didn't miss you at all.
Back in ten days :)
And this is Josie. She's seven. She's gorgeous. She doesn't talk, but she has the cutest laugh ever. Love her.
Chilled on the beach today with my Aunt and cousins. Total bliss. I'm sorry, but I have to say that while I was lying on the beach taking pictures of my cousins, watching them surf, and talking about Hawaiian and stuff with my aunt, I didn't miss you at all.
Back in ten days :)
July 16, 2010
Fiji!
Hello!
It’s day one here in Fiji … well, technically we arrived last night but if we’re counting it as five days this is day one. The flight here was fine; only three and a half hours so not much to report. I listened to my ipod and did the crossword in the back of the magazine that was among the flight safety pamphlets. The most exciting part was probably on descent (and I’m not talking about the moment when I yelled as my ear popped). Each seat had a little screen on the back of the seat in front of them, and the main channel had the flight map, and info on how fast the plane was going, how high up in the air we were, and how cold it was outside. As the plane went down from 39,000 feet to just 90, the temperature dropped from -48 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees! Yes that’s right, highs of 75F as we stepped into Fiji! You can imagine my excitement, considering it was about 7pm at night. Another ‘yes, that’s right’ moment – it was 7pm by the time we arrived. We travelled faster than time itself!!!! Haha.
Got to our hotel via shuttle bus, had a late dinner (nearly 9pm by then), and crashed into bed. Mum thought the island was on fire when she looked out our hotel window but Dad wasn’t phased by the orange light we could see in the distance ... it smelled like bushfire when we woke up this morning and I grabbed my camera to see if damage had been done overnight, but no…. Other than the smell there was no sign of any fire, and the view was just gorgeous. Here’s a picture for you lovely people.
Yeah, the background in my pic is boring cuz I was sitting in front of the hotel wall…. Haha. Went exploring briefly after eating.
We kicked back in our hotel room for a bit (did I mention it’s really hot?!?!? Love it!), and now we’re about to check outta here … heading back to the airport to find out about our next hotel. More soon! Unfortunately we weren’t able to get in contact with Kristy, so we won’t see her today but we’re hoping to find out what church she’ll be attending on Sunday so that we can join the service. Prayers for that working out are more than welcome.
So, after the first hotel adventure we caught a taxi to the Sovitel resort (think I spelled that right…), and as you can see Justin was very excited about our room. We have our own and Mum and Dad have theirs right next to us.
Ate food and chilled by the pool all afternoon, and now I’m sitting in the lobby posting this post! Going for dinner tonight at the resort restaurant called “Salt”, which is where we had the wedges and those veggies that had a funny name….
Ta ta for now loves. Missing you already.
July 14, 2010
And I have to go before they eat all the cookies.
So, I know I haven't blogged properly in a while, and I'm sorry... but that's because there's been nothing to write about! Or at least, no time to write. I'm hitting the airport tomorrow morning and flying off to Fiji. So, fun things to blog about will happen, and hopefully I'll have time to write!!
Will miss you all. Thank you for the lovely well-wishes. Photos will be up as soon as possible, cross my heart.
Will miss you all. Thank you for the lovely well-wishes. Photos will be up as soon as possible, cross my heart.
July 9, 2010
six days.
the packing the luggage episode has begun. slow going, but I'm a listy type person so you know me... I've already listed everything I need, down to naming each shirt and singlet and pair of socks I want ;) ok, maybe not the socks but you get the idea!
June 28, 2010
"We do a lot of improv here. Just stay loose, have fun - you'll be fine!"
So I've just had an amazingly huge weekend, which is finally slowing down....
On holidays now after TAFE finished on Friday. Headed off to the cinema that night to see TOY STORY 3!
Seriously Amazing movie. A perfect way to close the Toy Story epic. It was so beautiful, and it couldn't have been better. It had everything I wanted and was everything I had hoped it to be. And, I admit, I cried at the end... They're my favorite movies okay???
Saturday was the most insane... it was a 17-hour day and I went from one thing to the next! Got up at 7 for work, took Juliette to basketball, who played mind games with me all morning; raced from her place to Officeworks to print Katherine's gift, ducked home for some lunch (which I didn't end up having), jumped in the car with mum to get it laminated, then went to Katherine's place to wish her happy birthday and give her the picture. After that I managed to squeeze in time for a haircut, then got back home to hurriedly get ready for the performance that night. Made it to the hall at 5, started the performance at 7:30, finished at 8:30 with no dramas, and then bolted back over to Petersham for the FEVA Black Tie dinner. Helped out there, still wearing my costume (it was Medieval themed too, thankfully!). Got a ride home and in bed asleep by midnight. Pretty awesome day.
This morning Beth and I took Katherine out breakfast at Cafe C. Lovely time, and way too much food! Amazing pineapple and orange juice too. And good company. Love those girls.
Then there was church, band practice and youth group, then I watched Masterchef and hung more stuff of my walls, and crashed whilst reading Exodus last night. Lovely weekend.
On holidays now after TAFE finished on Friday. Headed off to the cinema that night to see TOY STORY 3!
Seriously Amazing movie. A perfect way to close the Toy Story epic. It was so beautiful, and it couldn't have been better. It had everything I wanted and was everything I had hoped it to be. And, I admit, I cried at the end... They're my favorite movies okay???
Saturday was the most insane... it was a 17-hour day and I went from one thing to the next! Got up at 7 for work, took Juliette to basketball, who played mind games with me all morning; raced from her place to Officeworks to print Katherine's gift, ducked home for some lunch (which I didn't end up having), jumped in the car with mum to get it laminated, then went to Katherine's place to wish her happy birthday and give her the picture. After that I managed to squeeze in time for a haircut, then got back home to hurriedly get ready for the performance that night. Made it to the hall at 5, started the performance at 7:30, finished at 8:30 with no dramas, and then bolted back over to Petersham for the FEVA Black Tie dinner. Helped out there, still wearing my costume (it was Medieval themed too, thankfully!). Got a ride home and in bed asleep by midnight. Pretty awesome day.
This morning Beth and I took Katherine out breakfast at Cafe C. Lovely time, and way too much food! Amazing pineapple and orange juice too. And good company. Love those girls.
Then there was church, band practice and youth group, then I watched Masterchef and hung more stuff of my walls, and crashed whilst reading Exodus last night. Lovely weekend.
June 25, 2010
June 18, 2010
few things awaken my soul quite the way travelling does...
Celebration! This post is number 22 for June, meaning it's the most posts I've EVER had in one month! Which is quite an achievements considering there are still twelve days left for posting...!
So anyway, I'm sitting in my fourth-last TAFE class for the year. It's a good feeling. Just a couple of assignments left and then I'm free!
Very much looking forward to the trip, and the couple weeks before it of busyness and nothingness together. I'm going to go shoe shopping, and write my books and screenplays and prepare the bible study; I'm going to play guitar and go out to breakfast with my friends, buy pretty nail polish, get new sunglasses, have a sleepover, play a duet (or two), get some birthday gifts, read the bible, send a package, pack my bags and get on the plane.
27 days to go. :)
So anyway, I'm sitting in my fourth-last TAFE class for the year. It's a good feeling. Just a couple of assignments left and then I'm free!
Very much looking forward to the trip, and the couple weeks before it of busyness and nothingness together. I'm going to go shoe shopping, and write my books and screenplays and prepare the bible study; I'm going to play guitar and go out to breakfast with my friends, buy pretty nail polish, get new sunglasses, have a sleepover, play a duet (or two), get some birthday gifts, read the bible, send a package, pack my bags and get on the plane.
27 days to go. :)
June 16, 2010
June 14, 2010
oh we don't notice any time pass ... we don't notice anything....
La la la, long weekend.
So we helped the Deligiorgakis's move on Saturday. It all happened amazingly fast and neat! Well done everyone.
Sunday and Monday were awesome. 25 hours of The Katherine and Justin Show, 4 movies, 3 milkshakes, 2 a.m bedtime, 1 tricycle, and way too much food. Good weekend? I think so.
I'll start with moving day.
Got the Deli's at about 8, and the truck arrived right after. Spent a good portion of the morning sorting out all Karen's books with Beth and trying to figure out a solution to the books-to-shelf-space ratio problem we appeared to be having.
Oh, and enjoying their new living room rug:
These three promptly dove upon it the second it got laid down, to make sure they got to test it before they coffee table was put in place. I think the new rug has their approval.
I can't remember why Justin put his hand over Beth's mouth ... might've been trying to stop her talking while I took the picture....
Anyway. While Beth and I sorted the books on one shelf Justin and Katherine busied themselves attempting to put all the DVD's onto the other shelf. They didn't think it out very logically. Ended up putting ALL of them on the shelf and then took them ALL off again to sort them alphabetically. Silly kiddies.
And yeah. Arrived home that evening and watched Old Dogs with the family. Low expectations = hilariously funny film. That's how it's done.
Moving onto Sunday and Monday, I shall begin with a detailed account of the food us three persons (Justin, Katherine, and myself) consumed over the space of the 25 hours we were together. It was quite epic.
At 5pm on Sunday Katherine and her parents arrived at our house for dinner. Dinner consisted of:
Dinner was followed afterward by:
At 10 a.m that morning I made French toast with maple syrup, and for lunch we had hot chips with ketchup. Yes that's right, Heinz tomato ketchup. Not tomato sauce. Munched on some apples during more Little Big Planet. Thoroughly enjoyed the array of vegetation and cheese mother produced later that afternoon when Katherine and I were snuggled on my bed watching Julie and Julia. Not that great a film, really.
Speaking of films, we watched 4 in the 25 hours and I wanted to give a short review on each, in the order we watched them.
9 was the first film we watched. 80 minutes wasted, in my opinion. I had hoped it would be better. Had wanted to see it for a long while; it seemed kind of interesting but the plot was lame and rather pointless. Long story short (or should I say, short story in a nutshell), the little sack creature 9 wakes up in a post apocalyptic, clockpunk world and goes searching for others. He meets 2, and 2 gets captured by a mechanical beast. 9 is discovered by 5, who takes him to meet all the others. 1 is the leader of the group and leads in fear, so he basically sucks at being a leader. 9 and 5 defy him and go to try and rescue 2. Upon rescuing him with the help of 7 who kills the beast, 2 is killed by a second, larger beast that 9 awakens. Got all that?
*SPOILER FOLLOWS*
The entire rest of the film involves most of the characters being killed off by this beast. 1 and 7 eventually destroy it and free all the souls of their dead friends from the belly of the monster. I had expected their friends to come back to life but instead their souls float up to heaven. The film ends with 7 saying, 'They're free now.' Fade out. Bor-ing. Don't watch it.
The second film was The Island. I quite liked this one. Appreciated the cinematography and the general mood of the movie. I can't say much about the plot because it gives away the movie, but it's essentially a sci-fi thriller starring Ewan McGregor (LOVE) and Scarlett Johansson (HATE).
Basically in this movie Ewan McGregor, named Lincoln 6-Echo, questions his safe, enclosed environment to the point of annoying the antagonist enough that he wants to kill him. That sounds dumb but you have to see the movie, okay?!
Scarlett Johansson plays the best friend turned love interest ... yeah I know, I don't like her either.
BUT Ewan McGregor saves the world, so that's why you should see it.
Third film of the night was Psycho. Do I need to explain this one? It's Alfred Hitchcock! Very famous, very clever, and very creepy. Grab some friends and go watch it.
Final film was Julie and Julia. Meh. I mean, it was a film about food. So I wanted a bit more 'wow' factor when it came to the dishes that were incorporated into the actual plot. I also felt a bit like Julie Powell's mother concerning Julie's blog - 'No one cares!' It was a bit boring. I think Katherine fell asleep at one point. It wasn't a bad movie, just not my kind of film. Especially after watching movies such as The Island and Psycho, it was a bit bland. But Meryl Streep was good, if you like Meryl Streep.
Anyway, back to Monday. After lunch we had an epic time doing the kind of stuff we Stanmore kids do on a regular basis, of course, such as...
Taking the Ford Anglia for a spin
Driving a bus
And doing crazy stunts
As you do. Yep, just a typical day in the life of me. :)
So we helped the Deligiorgakis's move on Saturday. It all happened amazingly fast and neat! Well done everyone.
Sunday and Monday were awesome. 25 hours of The Katherine and Justin Show, 4 movies, 3 milkshakes, 2 a.m bedtime, 1 tricycle, and way too much food. Good weekend? I think so.
I'll start with moving day.
Got the Deli's at about 8, and the truck arrived right after. Spent a good portion of the morning sorting out all Karen's books with Beth and trying to figure out a solution to the books-to-shelf-space ratio problem we appeared to be having.
Oh, and enjoying their new living room rug:
These three promptly dove upon it the second it got laid down, to make sure they got to test it before they coffee table was put in place. I think the new rug has their approval.
Anyway. While Beth and I sorted the books on one shelf Justin and Katherine busied themselves attempting to put all the DVD's onto the other shelf. They didn't think it out very logically. Ended up putting ALL of them on the shelf and then took them ALL off again to sort them alphabetically. Silly kiddies.
And yeah. Arrived home that evening and watched Old Dogs with the family. Low expectations = hilariously funny film. That's how it's done.
Moving onto Sunday and Monday, I shall begin with a detailed account of the food us three persons (Justin, Katherine, and myself) consumed over the space of the 25 hours we were together. It was quite epic.
At 5pm on Sunday Katherine and her parents arrived at our house for dinner. Dinner consisted of:
- A huge salad of lettuce, cucumber, capsicum, carrots, tomatoes and feta cheese
- A choice of both beef and lamb (we all had both, of course)
- Cooked veggies - potatoes, pumpkin, eggplant and capsicum
Dinner was followed afterward by:
- Milk and chocolate chip cookies from Aldi, eaten in the duration of the movie 9
- Popcorn - popped sometime in the middle of The Island
- Strawberry and chocolate milkshakes, made by me halfway through The Island
- Sour lollipops - given to us by Jackie, and sucked on whilst playing Little Big Planet
- Peanut butter slathered heavily on thick-cut bread - consumed at about 1am during Psycho - apparently too thickly for Katherine's liking!
At 10 a.m that morning I made French toast with maple syrup, and for lunch we had hot chips with ketchup. Yes that's right, Heinz tomato ketchup. Not tomato sauce. Munched on some apples during more Little Big Planet. Thoroughly enjoyed the array of vegetation and cheese mother produced later that afternoon when Katherine and I were snuggled on my bed watching Julie and Julia. Not that great a film, really.
Speaking of films, we watched 4 in the 25 hours and I wanted to give a short review on each, in the order we watched them.
*SPOILER FOLLOWS*
The entire rest of the film involves most of the characters being killed off by this beast. 1 and 7 eventually destroy it and free all the souls of their dead friends from the belly of the monster. I had expected their friends to come back to life but instead their souls float up to heaven. The film ends with 7 saying, 'They're free now.' Fade out. Bor-ing. Don't watch it.
Basically in this movie Ewan McGregor, named Lincoln 6-Echo, questions his safe, enclosed environment to the point of annoying the antagonist enough that he wants to kill him. That sounds dumb but you have to see the movie, okay?!
Scarlett Johansson plays the best friend turned love interest ... yeah I know, I don't like her either.
BUT Ewan McGregor saves the world, so that's why you should see it. Third film of the night was Psycho. Do I need to explain this one? It's Alfred Hitchcock! Very famous, very clever, and very creepy. Grab some friends and go watch it.
Final film was Julie and Julia. Meh. I mean, it was a film about food. So I wanted a bit more 'wow' factor when it came to the dishes that were incorporated into the actual plot. I also felt a bit like Julie Powell's mother concerning Julie's blog - 'No one cares!' It was a bit boring. I think Katherine fell asleep at one point. It wasn't a bad movie, just not my kind of film. Especially after watching movies such as The Island and Psycho, it was a bit bland. But Meryl Streep was good, if you like Meryl Streep.
Anyway, back to Monday. After lunch we had an epic time doing the kind of stuff we Stanmore kids do on a regular basis, of course, such as...
Taking the Ford Anglia for a spin
Driving a bus
Stealing a tricycle
As you do. Yep, just a typical day in the life of me. :)
May 7, 2010
And yeah, I think we won.
Here it is. Probably the most spectacular video you will ever see. Made by me, starring my wonderful friends. Enjoy!
April 26, 2010
Are you ready, are you ready for this? Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
You know you had an epic sleepover when:
Oh these two... they're crazy, but that's why I love them. Thanks for an awesome night kiddies.
- The person you invited to sleepover brings homemade brownies that her sister made (I love you Beth)
- You eat the brownies, but then dinner is too far away so you cook a whole pack of wedges and frequently pause the PS3 to eat them.. fighting over the last ones
- You play COD til the screaming gets so loud your parents kick you outside...
- ...so you go to get Slurpees
- You play crazy games of spinning around in circles in the park in the dark... AFTER drinking Slurpees and eating brownies and wedges
- Walking home you pretend that the group of people walking down the street in front of you are actually a group of drooling zombies going to kill you
- You decide not to go home but to keep walking up the hill and rent Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from Network Video
- You dance up the hill singing Another One Bites the Dust
- You run home and are so psyched you can't eat dinner ... even though it's already 8:30pm
- You videotape yourselves on with nightvision, being idiots in the backyard, playing that crazy spinning game again til one of you nearly falls off the patio onto the carport
- You get so dizzy you stack it and almost put your hand on the mint your brother spat out on the wet grass in the previous round...
- You take cold showers in quick succession, then snuggle on the couch in pjs to watch the movie
- You finally decide you're all hungry at 10pm, so reheat dinner and eat during the movie
- After the movie you play COD til midnight
- You fall asleep in the middle of a conversation....
April 2, 2010
The longest walk, earth’s darkest day, the pressing crowd, his mounting pain. A heavy load of grief and shame.... Breathless that we should breathe again! ♫
What an awesome two days. On Wednesday I finished TAFE at 10am, got back and made a huge pot of chili for dinner later that evening, went to drama and hung out with friends, then came home to find that mum had made scones - epic win - and later ripped up Nazi Zombies with Justin, Katherine, Oliver, Daniel and Jamie. Took photos on the mac in our mad new SALT hoodies, which are giant on all of us! Snuggled up with Katherine and Justin on the couch after the boys left, watching Lost and The Big Bang Theory. Mum and Dad had been out with Katherine's parents so when they all got back to the house, we stood outside for a moment and looked at the stars.
What better way could there be than to start the Easter holidays standing outside in the cold night air with people you loved and admiring God's beautiful universe?
The next morning we headed off by train to the Royal Easter Show. Meh. When you don't have hundreds of dollars to splurge on it's a bit pointless. But I got some cool photos! As you can see. And had a wonderful time chilling and eating free samples with Keira and Jayden. :)
Today is Good Friday. The day we remember the death of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon him God's wrath for our sin by dying on the cross. How amazing, and so unfair. But by grace we are now cleansed of our sin and in a relationship with God once more. And that is why we praise Him today!
Today is also Mum's birthday. So this afternoon we're going to Max Brenner with some friends to celebrate. A birthday + friends + chocolate = good times. :)
What better way could there be than to start the Easter holidays standing outside in the cold night air with people you loved and admiring God's beautiful universe?
The next morning we headed off by train to the Royal Easter Show. Meh. When you don't have hundreds of dollars to splurge on it's a bit pointless. But I got some cool photos! As you can see. And had a wonderful time chilling and eating free samples with Keira and Jayden. :)
Today is Good Friday. The day we remember the death of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon him God's wrath for our sin by dying on the cross. How amazing, and so unfair. But by grace we are now cleansed of our sin and in a relationship with God once more. And that is why we praise Him today!
Today is also Mum's birthday. So this afternoon we're going to Max Brenner with some friends to celebrate. A birthday + friends + chocolate = good times. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)