New Year, New Post..

Hi there,

I'm pretty sure nobody will read this, but I thought I'd give it a bash anyway. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in myself for not updating this site for SO long. I am a terrible person! I'd partly blame my lack of time though, due to a crazy busy few years at work as well as making the most of my free time in the Big Smoke when I'm not working.

For those who have read this from the beginning, you'll know I wanted to give myself things to complete outside of the workplace, as it was all consuming and making me generally miserable. While my current job can sometimes overshadow my personal life, I'm making a conscious decision to ensure I make the most of the times it doesnt.

With that said, I thought I'd update on my completed list items since I last posted..

2) Visit Iceland / Look for the Northern Lights - Complete!

Since the last time I wrote here, I met a nice young man who also had the idea of heading to see the lights. So much so, that when his friend returned to live there having had enough of London, he made the vow to visit for New Years Eve. Turns out that nice young man kind of likes me, so invited me to join him and a group of current/new friends to head to Reykjavik... and we found the lights!

The Northern Lights!

Me and the man at the National Park

7) Watch all 50 Movies on Film4's List - getting there!
Since my last update, I've watched the following films from the list:
15) Pulp Fiction
27) The Breakfast Club

This leaves me with 18 films left to see, I may have to rope in the boy to help cover my eyes on the gory ones...

17) Read 50 books - almost done!
I've now completed the following books (I've included the ones from last update also)..

26) 50 Shades of Grey trilogy (counting as one as they are so badly written!)
27) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
28) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
29) Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
30) The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
31) One Day - David Nichols
32) The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
33) Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
34) Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
35) Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
36) Horns - Joe Hill
37) Into the Darkest Corner - Elizabeth Haynes
38) Is it Just Me? - Miranda Hart
39) Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist
40) Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
41) This Book Will Save Your Life - A.M Homes
42) This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper
43) This One is Mine - Maria Semple
44) Where'd You Go, Bernadette? - Maria Semple
45) The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
46) Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman


4 books to go... easy peasy! I already have a few lined up, so watch this space...

Long time no see..

Missed me?

I have again been absolutely useless at updating this blog.. it's been a while! In my defence, I have been up to quite a lot.. including:

• Going to Venice Film Festival
• Properly learnt to ride a bike (in Venice.. oh yes!)
• Turning 26
• Going on various online dates (again, I know.. nothing good to report, other than I have caused no 'spark' with anyone yet)
• Going to the Dark Knight Rises premiere
• Going to see Ed Sheeran live (don't judge, he was really good)
• Seeing some pretty cool exhibits at museums in London
• Seeing Shakespeare at the Globe again (see Number 26)

Following my last book post, I've also read the following books:

• 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy - Badly written porn, basically.
• The Hunger Games Trilogy - Actually brilliant, would highly recommend.
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower - As above, such a good book.
• One Day - Ruined by people telling me how it was going to end, but otherwise brilliant.

I have also started reading 'Money' by Martin Amos, and have ticked a couple more things off my list..

8) Work at a live entertainment show / 22) Take part in a charity event

On Friday I managed to kill two birds with one stone, so to say.. 

I took part in a charity event, at the same time as working at a live entertainment show, by spending the day working with the team at Stand Up To Cancer for Channel 4... and what a day/evening it was!

My day involved helping with the studio rehearsals and standing in on Alan Carr's Chatty Man and then helping look after the contributors / celebrities whilst the show ran live on Channel 4. It was a great event, and for an extremely important cause, so I'm really glad I had the chance to be part of it.

So far the total raised is over £6million, but if you haven't donated you really should at: http://www.standuptocancer.org.uk/donate

Coming up on my list I'm hoping to do the following:

• 4) Attend a convention (Comic Con)
• 24) Help in a soup/charity kitchen

I also know how dull this entry is, so I promise that my next one will be a bit more exciting.. !! 

 

Book Update (Again!)

So far I've read the following 25 books from the WH Smith '50 Books to read before you die...'

1) The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien

2) 1984 - George Orwell

3) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

4) Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

5) Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

6) Hamlet - William Shakespeare

7) The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

8) The Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank

9) The Bible

10) The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer

11) Ulysses - James Joyce

12) Harry Potter Series - J. K Rowling

13) Moby Dick - Herman Melville

14) The Wind in The Willows - Kenneth Grahame

15) Alices Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Caroll

16) On the Road - Jack Kerouac

17) The Colour Purple - Alice Walker

18) Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

19) Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift

20) A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

21) Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe

22) Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

23) Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

24) The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

25) The Lord of the Flies - William Goulding

But as I've reached the halfway point, I've decided that I'm no longer doing this list because I want to.. it feels like more of a chore. Plus I do not intend to die at 30 (or anytime before mind you!) ..

So here's the new update.. I will still read 50 books before I'm 30 (4 years to go..) but the final 25 will be books of my choice.. I may count trilogies as one if they're easy readers.

So watch this space for my next titles...

Lucy does Latitude 2012 (Number 14)

 

It's only taken me 25 years (Ok, I wouldn't have attended a festival as a baby, but you get my drift!) but it was most definitely worth the wait..

Three days of mud, music and fabulous company (in the form of the lovely Roly) .. did I mention the mud?

Highlights of the weekend included:

* Late night Musical Bingo in the woods... 90s music blaring out, glowsticks a plenty.. amazing!

* Seeing Bon Iver / Ben Howard and melting into a ball of musical joy.

* Seeing the multicoloured sheep.. some say cruel, I say adorable.

* Laughing in the comedy tent / in the arena / in our tent / in the mud (pretty much everywhere)

* Meeting Percy Pig and Colin the Caterpillar (ha, yes I am 25!)

* Having our hair done at the Evo Salon ... so good.

* Early morning tent eavesdropping:

Guy A: Mate, I've just done something stupid.
Guy B: What mate?
Guy A: Just had unprotected sex with some girl, do you think I've got HIV?
Guy B: Nah mate, probably just Chlamydia or something.
Guy A: Shit, half way through she told me she'd had a threesome with two Australian blokes.
Guy B: You should probably get checked out, mate.

* Making pretty bunting in the woods

* The sun finally rearing it's lovely head after two days of downpour..

Basically, I had a fabulous time and fully intend to attend again another year.. when it's hopefully slightly brighter and less damp!

23) Get back on a bike - check!

They say that learning to ride a bike is as easy as learning to ride a bike.. or at least you’d hope so.

Thirteen years ago tragedy struck when a four-eyed freckly faced teenager hurtled down a concrete hill on a mountain bike, only to be told half way down said hill that the brakes no longer worked. The result? A pair of shredded birthday trainers and a broken wrist. The cyclist? Me.

Thousands of Londoners cycle to work on a daily basis in order to beat the sardine commute on the tubes and buses. I am not one of them. I would rather rest in the armpit of a sweaty commuter than be squashed by a bus. However, having been told by my new boss that I will have to cycle to work on one of our trips later this year, I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and get back on a bike!

Thankfully, the lovely people at Cycle Confident have been my knights in shining armour (or bike helmets!) with a subsidised scheme in the Westminster* area, for people who have never ridden/fallen off/forgotten how to ride a bike. The aim of the scheme is to make sure that cyclists are safe on the roads of London and to try and reduce the number of injuries on the roads.

There are three levels of classes:
Level 1A: Complete Beginner – Balance, confidence, simple off road cycling (2 hours)
Level 1B: Signalling, breaks, gears and advance off road training (2 hours)
Level 2: On Road Training  (Half Day Course)

I started with Level One and I’m proud to say that I only fell off once! The instructor, Nick, was extremely supportive and good at building confidence in both myself and the other beginners. One girl in my class had never been on a bike and by the end of the two hours she was whizzing past me. Needless to say, I was impressed! Not having a bike is no excuse, as they are happy to provide you with a bike and helmet during the class.

So if the thought of getting on a bike sends shivers down your spine, take the plunge and sign up for a class. If I can do it, you can!

Oh, hello there..

Hello It has been a crazy few months, but I'm back again..

Thankfully, I am now no longer unemployed, having started a new job in April at a Film PR company... so far, so good. You may be pleased (or not bothered) to know that I've also been continuing with my list

14) Go to a music festival
Tickets almost booked.. hoping to go to Latitude in a few weeks time.. we shall see.

17) Book Update
I've finished Hamlet, and currently halfway through The Canterbury Tales.. reviews to follow.


21) Go to the Olympics

Tickets booked! I will be going to the Olympics on the 11th August.. I did, however go to the London Prepares Series just in case..

Date: Saturday 5th May 2012
Venue: Riverbank Arena, Olympic Park
Fixture: Men’s Hockey, Germany VS India
Days til the Olympics: 82 days

I had the exciting experience of visiting the Olympic Park for the first time. What a day! I won’t lie and tell you I’m a huge sports fanatic, but as the Olympics will be taking place an hour from my house in a few months time it would be rude not to pay the park a visit.

Anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I have serious navigational issues.Thankfully the people of 2012 were warned in advance and had lined the roads from the tube station with a bountiful supply of volunteers wearing pink foam fingers pointing in the right direction.

A warning for anyone who doesn’t like exercise… the park is HUGE. I think it’s a good ploy to get us all fit on our way to see the various events. After our epic walk to the Riverbank Arena, I purchased a rather large hotdog and made myself comfortable in my slightly damp seat (alas, there was no roof!).

What a game! I found myself rooting for the Germans (mainly due to the fact that I had found a picture of the star player in my programme and he was rather beautiful) but it was well played by both teams. Great atmosphere, great views of the pitch (even sat up in the Gods) and GREAT bottoms (forgive me, I can’t resist a man in Hockey shorts!).

Alas I did not score.. but the Germans did and won 2-1, bravo! If you haven’t got tickets, then it looks like they’ll be opening the park to show events on big screens and whatnot. I would highly recommend the experience not only for the eye candy, but because it’s not every day the Olympics turns up on your doorstep, is it?

23) Get back on a Bike
Lessons booked! In two hours from now, I will be getting back on a bike for the first time.. so watch this space. Hopefully I won't be typing one handed when I get back.. eek!

So there you have it.. I'm back in the game (so to say) .. and will update again soon x

I want to ride my bicycle..

Aloha,

As I'm still very much unemployed, I've had the chance to finish my book and watch a few more films on my list..

Wuthering Heights****

Sometimes you can't beat a classic. Having seen the various televised versions of Wuthering Heights, I was rather looking forward to reading the actual novel and I was far from disappointed.

The novel is full of romance, feuds, innocence, emotion and, dare I say, incest. There's a birth, a death or two and some cracking northern accents!

I really enjoy how Emily Bronte captures the raw emotion in her characters, and makes them real to the reader, unlike some modern day chick-flick stories which all seem to smile and make everything OK again.. not in this story.

A true classic, which I will no doubt read again one day. 4/5.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)**

"An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their member announces he has a terminal illness" - Imdb

I was a little disappointed with this film. It has a really great cast, but it was a bit to 'indie' for me to really get into.

I should probably have enjoyed the fact that it's about a largely dysfunctional family, but I felt that it was a bit too forced upon the audience. We're even privy to some more potential incest!

Don't have much more to say, it's a measly 2/5 from me.

All About Eve (1950)****

"An ingenue insinuates herself in to the company of an established by aging stage actress and her circle of theatre friends" - Imdb

I loved this film. It's a brilliant example of how something simple can be something great. Following the story of Eve, who wants to someday take to the stage, we step into the glamorous world of theatre.

With beautiful costume, hair and make up for the lead actresses, I was transported into a time before film overtook the world of theatre. It is a simple story of a girl trying to fulfill her dream, no matter what it takes. 4/5.

In other news..

I've been told to change one of the items on my list.. and as more than one person has told me to do so, I feel that I must oblige. The number is question is 23) Write something. Several people have told me that as I'm already writing this blog along with bits and bobs elsewhere that it's not really a big challenge to do before I'm 30. So instead, my new challenge is to get back on a bike!

To bring you up to speed with my lack of bike skills, this is how the story goes..

At 12, I finally learnt to ride a bike. Not just any bike, mind you. It was a beautiful little purple bike with stabilisers. Yes, I was a twelve year old with stabilisers! I was far from popular with the local kids in the area, so was over the moon when the most popular girl on my street said I could have a go on her bike, which ended in disaster.

Her bike was a much bigger version of mine, minus the stabilisers, and it wasn't until I was half way down the hill (a concrete one, at that) that she decided to inform me that the brakes did not work... This ended with shredded trainers and a broken wrist.

Did I also mention that this took place on my thirteenth birthday? Which happened to fall the week before term started.. meaning I spent most of it scrawling with my left hand. Talk about unlucky for some!

However, at 25 I now think I need to grow some non-literal balls and get back on a bike.. so watch this space!