An update you say?x

Hi-di-hi campers!

I thought it was time for another update for those people who are gripping the edge of their seats to know what has been happening in the world of 'The List'!

Anyone who owns a television (I hear they're quite popular these days), a radio, or even a window in their room, will know that this week has seen horrendous downpours across the country. I can't say I know how the people in Cumbria feel, but my thoughts go out to them as they start to rebuild their lives after the floods. It's scary to know that the weather really is a force we cannot contend with! Thankfully, for me and the rest of London, it seems that we have survived the stormy conditions, bar a few strong winds and some monster puddles!

So, having looked out of my window to see the clouds moving in and passers by dripping wet through, I have spent most of the week curled up on my bed working on my list whilst drinking tea and longing for biscuits that I cannot afford at the moment.. God bless the recession.

So here is what I've been up to:

1) Write for a paper/magazine

Stage one for this task was to set up this blog.. which you are reading this very second, so I can't say that's new!

Stage two is now in the works ... to build up a portfolio of any writing I've done to date and to add to it as I go along. Having been home last weekend I sifted through my old University junk to find my old articles from Bluebeard Magazine and Unsigned Magazine (although one of my interviews with a band I loved has gone astray, gutted.).

Stage three has also begun .. I want to build up some extra credits by writing for online magazines and any local papers etc I can for free, to add to my other work.

http://insidegossip.co.uk/?p=2023

Tada! My first online article has been published (if you've read my blog below, you'll notice this is a slightly edited version of that.. but published nonetheless!).

This means I've completed number one on my list of things to do... however, I'll keep writing in the hope to be put in a mainstream paper / magazine...

2) Visit Santa in Lapland

With a month til Christmas, I will not be attempting to do this task in 2009! I have, however, looked into prices.. and it seems that going all that way to visit St Nick is going to burn a hole in my non-existent pocket! With prices starting from about £400 per day.. this is going to have to be a budgeted and planned out event... but I can't wait!! Ok, so I'll be surrounded by six year olds and grumpy parents, but isn't that magical? I wonder if they'll let me sit on his knee..

17) Read all 100 of The Times Top 100 Novels

Goodbye spare time... hello books! It has begun..

When a window of dry weather opened on Monday, I dragged myself to my car and bumbled along to the joy that is Acton to visit and join the local library. DEAR GOD. Seriously, I have never met people quite like it! Don't get me wrong, having worked in a library for six years, I've met some crazy librarians in my time... but these ones? Different planet! I half wanted to jump over the counter and do the job myself, in fear that I reach 30 without completing my list - as I'd still be stood there waiting for something to happen.

Having finally managed to become a member of this glorious place, I went upon my search for some titles from my list. A simple task? Far from it.. It seems that most of the titles I need have been a) stolen, b) defaced, c) been sucked into oblivion or d) run scared from the crazy women that work there. By this point I was getting a tad irate, so took matters into my own hands and borrowed the library catalogue.

They weren't lying about the majority of the books, apparently Acton has a lot of book thieves? I find this strange, as I was under the impression that keying cars and terrorising old people was the 'in thing' for Actonians? Apparently not.. they also like to steal classic literature to try and stop me completing my list.

I did, after several sighs and urges to rip out my own hair, find five of the books I needed.. so they should keep me busy until I can find a library that stocks the rest..

Book number one on said list is 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison.. which I will talk about soon..


So there we go... some lovely updates for you all. No doubt there will be more to come over the next few days / weeks.

Much love,

Lucy xx

16) Be a Bridesmaid

Bonjour,

I thought I'd do a mini update on my past week as it involved another item on my list.. Number 16 to be precise.

Did you ever have a friend at school that you knew would be the perfect bride? I did... her name was (and still is) Jennifer Hanson. An incredibly intelligent and beautiful lady who I knew would succeed in life.. and she's not yet proved me wrong!

I've known Jen since she was 11. I can't say we got off to a great start, as she was dating Joseph C ... who at the time was a bit of a God, and I was rather jealous. We must also bear in mind that I was a bit of a tragedy until the age of about 18... so was often jealous of anyone who managed to get a boy to go near them. However, once that fizzled out we became rather good friends. Jen lived on one side of Halifax, and I on the other.. and we would often show up unannounced at one of the two houses and stay the night, much to our parents' bemusement. I can safely say I had as many good times in the Hanson household as I did in my own growing up, what a lovely bunch..

We parted ways for University as Jen learnt how to teach, and I learnt how to use Babelfish to translate English to French! This involves a few blurry years of ups and downs and ins and outs.. boys, stress, and giggles.. with the occasional reunion oop North.

Having finished uni Jen went on to put a deposit on a lovely little house and is doing an amazing job as a Primary School Teacher. I often wish I could revert back to my youth so I could go and be taught by Miss Hanson (especially having seen the mini crisp packets she's turned into keyrings, genius!).

Along the way she met Alex... tall? Check. Dark? Check. Handsome? Check... she's got them all ticked off the list, and what a lovely man he is indeed. So much so that he's taken his life into his own hands and asked Miss Hanson to be his Mrs Mutch.. brave man! (I jest, of course, he is very lucky indeed!).

FYI - Where did he make such a proposal? Only in bloody Egypt, *swoon*.

So who was delightfully surprised to receive a phonecall informing me of thus engagement and asking me to be a bridesmaid? Oh hello .. me!! In July 2010 I will officially be walking down the aisle.. at Jen's wedding as one of three Bridesmaids, I cannot wait!

So much so that I had my first fitting this weekend oop north with the Hanson clan.. which proved great fun as the dress I tried was a thousand times too big.. but having stuck in a few pins - hey presto, I'm a princess!

Absolutely GORGEOUS dresses, I finally get to look like a grown up, shocking eh? Was a tad disappointed that I didn't get to see Jen's dress.. but it's all a bit top secret til the day... dum dum dum..

So there we have it.. stage one towards crossing off Number 16... and I couldn't think of a lovelier couple to do it for.

More updates to follow.. xxx

The List xx

So here is the official list of '30 things to do before I'm 30' .. I just have a few notes (as I've had some confused comments from readers..) x

• 1) Write for a paper/magazine
  
• 2) Visit Santa in Lapland (and see Northern Lights)
• 3) Learn how to swim
  
• 4) Attend a convention (Star Trek has been suggested!)
• 5) Print all of my online photos and make real albums
• 6) Get my Canadian Citizenship
• 7) Watch all 50 Movies on Film4's List
• 8) Work on a live entertainment show
• 9) Visit every stop on the Bakerloo line and take pictures
• 10) Watch a match at Wimbledon
  
• 11) Visit Australia
• 12) Go to Ireland
• 13) Take poledancing lessons
• 14) Go to a music festival
  
• 15) Go speed dating
• 16) Be a Bridesmaid (I was when I was 4, but yet to be a grown up bridesmaid)
  
• 17) Read 50 Books to read before you die
• 18) Go to a Michelin star restaurant (need to pick one)
• 19) Do a trip round America
• 20) Attend a Film Premiere
  
• 21) Go to the Olympics
• 22) Take part in a charity event - to be decided
• 23) Write a script of some sort
• 24) Help in a soup kitchen/charity kitchen
• 25) Attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• 26) See Shakespeare at the Globe
• 27) Go Cheese Rolling in Gloucester
• 28) Have my own flat/house
• 29) Go in a hot air balloon (inspired by Grandma M)
• 30) Get a tattoo

I'm going to start my research into costs and practicality of the things on my list as my next step.. will blog with updates soon..xx

17) The Times - 100 Best English Language Novels

Here are the 100 Best English Language Novels according to The Times... a list I intend to complete.. eek!! (Some I've read already so have marked them off..!!) xx

A
The Adventures of Augie March (Saul Bellow)
All the King's Men (Robert Penn Warren)
American Pastoral (Philip Roth)
An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser)
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Appointment in Samarra (John O'Hara)
Are you there God? It's me, Margaret (Judy Blume)
The Assistant (Bernard Malamud)
At Swim-Two-Birds (Flann O'Brien)
Atonement (Ian McEwan)

B
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
The Berlin Stories (Christopher Isherwood)
The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandier)
The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood)
Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)
Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
The Bride of San Luis Rey (Thornton Wilder)

C-D
Call It Sleep (Henry Roth)
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D Salinger)
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
The Confessions of Nat Turner (William Styron)
The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen)
The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon)
A Dance to the Music of Time (Anthony Powell)
The Day of the Locust (Nathaneal West)
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather)
A Death in the Family (James Agee)
The Death of the Heart (Elizabeth Bowen)
Deliverance (James Dickey)
Dog Soldiers (Robert Stone)

F-G
Falconer (John Cheever)
The French Lieutenant's Woman (John Fowles)
The Golden Notebook (Doris Lessing)
Go Tell it on the Mountain (James Baldwin)
Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinback)
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald)

H-I
A Handful of Dust (Evelyn Waugh)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene)
Herzog (Saul Bellow)
Housekeeping (Marilynne Robinson)
A House for Mr. Biswas (V.S Naipaul)
I, Claudius (Robert Graves)
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)

L-N
Light in August (William Faulkner)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S Lewis)
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkien)
Loving (Henry Green)
Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis)
The Man Who Loved Children (Christina Stead)
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
Money (Martin Amis)
The Moviegoer (Walker Percy)
Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
Naked Lunch (William Burroughs)
Native Son (Richard Wright)
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)
1984 (George Orwell)

O-R
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey)
The Painted Bird (Jerzy Kosinski)
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
A Passage to India (E M Forster)
Play It As It Lays (Joan Didion)
Portnoy's Complaint (Philip Roth)
Posession (A S Byatt)
The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Muriel Spark)
Rabbit, Run (John Updike)
Ragtime (E L Doctorow)
The Recognitions (William Gaddis)
Red Harvest (Dashiell Hammett)
Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates)

S-T
The Sheltering Sky (Paul Bowles)
Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson)
The Sot-Weed Factor (John Barth)
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Sportswriter (Richard Ford)
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (John le Carre)
The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
Tropic of Cancer (Henry Miller)

U-W
Ubik (Philip K.Dick)
Under the Net (Iris Murdoch)
Under the Volcano (Malcolm Lowry)
Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons)
White Noise (Don DeLillo)
White Teeth (Zadie Smith)
Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys)

If anyone owns these books, please may I borrow them?

xxx

7) Film4's 50 Films To See Before You Die

As I couldn't squeeze all of these into the list on the left of my blog, I wanted to type out the list of films I'll follow, as per Film4's 50 Films to see before you die... I'll cross them off as I watch them.. and let you know what I think of them as I go along...

1) Apocalypse now**
2) The Apartment****
3) City of God*****
4) Chinatown***
5) Sexy Beast***
6) 2001: A Space Odyssey***
7) North By Northwest***
8) A Bout De Souffle*****
9) Donnie Darko
10) Back To The Future *****
11) Alien***
12) Lost in Translation***
13) The Shawshank Redemption *****
14) Lagaan
15) Pulp Fiction
16) Touch of Evil
17) Walkabout>**
18) Black Narcissus
19) Boyz N The Hood
20) The Player***
21) Come and See
22) Heavenly Creatures
23) A Night At The Opera*****
24) Erin Brockovich ****
25) Trainspotting*
26) Hero
27) The Breakfast Club
28) Fanny and Alexander
29) Pink Flamingo
30) All About Eve****
31) Scarface***
32) Terminator 2: Judgment Day ***
33) Three Colours: Blue****
34) The Royal Tenenbaums**
35) The Ladykillers*****
36) Fight Club ***
37) The Searchers
38) Mulholland Drive
39) The Ipcress File****
40) The King of Comedy
41) Manhunter**
42) Dawn of the Dead (Director's Cut)**
43) Princeess Monoke***
44) Raising Arizona
45) Cabaret*****
46) This Sporting Life
47) Brazil
48) Aguirre, The Wrath of God*
49) Secrets and Lies
50) Badlands

I've seen some already but will try and re-watch them as part of this challenge... xx

20) Attend a Film Premiere

Hello again,

I forget how difficult it is to be disciplined with blogs.. hence my absence for a few days. However, in my defense, I have been a busy bee.. partly linked to my 30 things to do post.

For my list, I had 'attend a premiere of a film I've worked on' .. so was suprised when I got hold of tickets for one so quickly ...

Tuesday evening was the World Premiere of Harry Brown, the first film to be released with my name on the credits (even though it wasn't the first I've worked on.. just the way it goes..!).
Myself and Beth dressed up in our glad rags and headed to Leicester Square for the big event, but were a tad disappointed that the paps didn't find us worthy of a picture.. maybe one day.

The evening began with speeches from the Producers, Directors and of course Sir Michael Caine, who spoke about his love for the project. I'm really glad that they invited the whole cast on stage rather than Sir Micheal flying solo. Sir Michael commented that he had wanted to be part of the film as he felt passionate about the project and believes that we have left the youth of today to lose their way. He blames our society for the deterioration of estates and the younger generation who have turned to crime and violence. He went on to say that the rest of the cast are amazing in the film and make it what it is.. (rightly so!). He also congratulated our new boxing champion who was in the audience.

So for the film...

It's been hailed as the 'British Film of the Year', and I can now see why. It's incredibly hard to watch as you realise that these things actually happen every day. The film manages not to 'glamourise' violence as many films seem to, rather it shows the harsh reality of gang violence in the UK.

Sir Michael's performance as Harry upholds his status as one of the greatest British actors to date. He shows raw emotion as events unfold throughout the film, and it is heartbreaking to see him break down on several occasions. It is impossible not to connect with him in the film, and the audience feels his pain as he loses those dearest to him. He also plays his vigilante role superbly, having experienced time in the marines when he was young. Again, he doesn't 'glamorise' violence, but makes us realise that emotion can really push people to the limit.

The use of the subway entrance throughout the film is well thought through... we often see Harry consider walking through it, but then change his mind because of the kids that might be in there.. including the beginning of the film when he is rushing to see his dying wife. If he'd taken the subway would he have been able to say his final goodbyes? However, I can't say I'd want to walk under the subway knowing that the boys might be there to inflict some pain on me..

The gang members are scarily real in the film, with amazing performances from Ben Drew and Jack O'Connell. I have to also credit Jamal for his performance.. having never acted before, he was street-cast for the film and he does a great job.

Daniel Barber has really done himself proud. From a commercial and short film background, his first feature is a credit to his work. Hats off to Joe Walker, the editor of the film, for making the film so powerful. His seamless cuts and after effects really help make the film what it is, a great success.

All in all, I am so proud to say that I was part of the project, and so pleased that I was there at the Premiere to see it alongside the cast for the first time. I was also lucky enough to go to the after party to congratulate them all in person. They are an incredibly humble bunch, perhaps influenced by Sir Michael. Even David Bradley commented that he was honoured to work alongside Sir Michael.. which made me smile, as they have both had incredible acting careers. I won't go into the rest of my party shenanigans, you never know who might read this blog!

So there we go.. number one on my list of 30 things to do before I'm 30 has happened a lot sooner than expected.. here's to the next 29 .. !

Lucy xxx

P.s .. Go and see Harry Brown if you can, it's out now.. just don't expect to come out of the cinema thinking happy thoughts!

30 things to do before I'm 30..?

Hello again..

.. today I decided that I am going to attempt to revert to my former spontaneous self, as it seems that as I get more obsessed with the world of work I seem to forget that I should be working to live - not vice versa.

So I am going to compile a list of 30 things to do before I get to 30 .. which is 6.5 years away, but that still averages at 4.62(ish) things a year.. which I think is enough, as I'm hoping they'll be worthwhile events...

Where did this idea spring from, I hear you cry?

Well a couple of weeks ago a lovely man in a white coat told me that by the time I'm 30 I'll have to be admitted...

.. wait a second, I'm not talking lunatic asylum or anything..!!

Basically, my feet and ankles have ridiculous amounts of issues.. so they lovely doctors want to crunch them, put them in casts and stick me in a wheelchair for six months before learning to walk again.. fun, eh?

So.. I figured I should do lots of fun things before that event occurs and I am plunged into a world I don't really understand. (Note to self - find out more info about wheelchair users.. seriously, I need to prepare!)

It will go something like this :

Stage one - send email to everyone I know to suggest things for my list.

Stage two - compile the best ideas and put them on a later post.

Stage three - work out how on earth to do them all and cross them off as I do them! I'll even throw in a nice blog to tell you all what happens.

Sound like a plan? I think so.. it's time this girl got back to her old self.. :o) bring it on.

I wanted to add one to the list - go to a premiere of a film I've worked on.. but it seems this may be around the corner already.. updates to follow..

I'll update the '30 things before I'm 30' blogs alongside my regular posts, just to spice it up a little!

But for now, I must get the train to Bedfordshire..

Night xxxxx

P.S ... any posts to do with my '30 things' will be in green... and my usual blog will run along side it in black.. xx

So here I am ..

Bonsoir..

It seems that anyone who is anyone these days must have a blog.. so I have given in and created a space for my thoughts, reviews.. and general ramblings!

If you've stumbled across this by accident then I guess you might wonder who I am?

I'm Lucy.. please to virtually meet you.

At present I'm 23 years old.. meaning I was born in 1986 (in case you wondered) ..

I was born in Canterbury... raised in Halifax... and now live in London .. what a mix, eh?


Today's conundrum involved the joyous world of work.. oh the jumbled mess that forms my career.. or lack thereof!

So far in life I've had the following jobs (from earliest to most recent)

- Waitress
- Silver cleaner
- Cleaner
- Boots shop assistant
- Tesco shop assistant
- Library assistant
- Radio broadcast assistant (In UK and France)
- Magazine journalist (uni)
- Radio station manager (uni)
- Community Liaison Officer (uni)
- River Island shop assistant
- Barmaid
- Floor runner (Film)
- Creature Effects runner
- Production Assistant (Film)
- Production Secretary (TV)
- PR assistant (Work Exp - current!)

... and I STILL don't know what to do with my life ... so for now I shall keep bumbling along and trying different things along the way.

Jobs I'd like to try out:

- Film PR
- Journalism (for a real paper/mag)
- Presenting
- Entertainment researcher (TV)
- Director's Assistant (Film)
- PA to somebody spectacular
- Charity work - Comic Relief or Make a Wish

So there you have it .. Lucy Locket .. 23, living in the Big Smoke and no idea what career she wants (can I also point out that we're in a recession, I am unemployed and currently have £3.74 to my name.. so not really the time to be picky!) ..

So any suggestions fine people of the interweb? What should I do? Do I really need to pick one? Can I just carry on jobhopping forever? Help needed!

On that barrage of questions ... I shall bid you adieu, as I have realised I have to go to bed so I actually get up for work experience tomorrow (oh dear, I sound fourteen again. shoot me.)

I'll post again if/when I find something worth talking about!

Night all,

Lucy xxx