Summer 2014 Book Challenge

Hello, old friends....

So maybe I don't blog as regularly as I'd like...silly MA getting in the way of my creative outlet. Whatever, dude. One thing about me that you can count on not changing is my love of reading. Serious book addict right here. I will always love some good YA fiction, sci fi/fantasy, mysteries and a few non-fiction comedy books thrown in for good measure.

Booknerd who likes wine and giggling. Well, not really giggling, more like hysterical snorting.

My main guilt in life is that I feel I don't read enough. I would rather read all the books I currently own and haven't yet read (over 250 at this point, split between my home with my parents and my flat here in London) than catch up on all the trendy shows this season.

I'm feeling excited about this Summer Reading Challenge being put on by Megan over at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. I'm a rule follower and I do love a good set of reading rules to follow (stop yelling 'nerd', Mom. I believe everyone is fully aware). Check out her page for the check-in rules, or you can just follow the point system if you want a good reading challenge for the summer. If anything, share with me what you're reading so I can add to my ever growing list of books to check out. I do love a good nerd chat over books.

So here's the points and here's what I'm, hopefully, going to be reading this summer:

Don't be judgy about my Blogging book. I never said I was good at this shit.

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that is at least 200 pages long.

--Take Your Shirt Off and Cry by Nancy Balbirer. Should be an easy read, an auto-biography about one woman's experiences as a struggling actor. Looks like a funny read and I'm trying to read more of those. Someday, I wanna write a comedic book. 

10 points: Read a book that was written before you were born.

--Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. No, I've never read it. *Hangs head in shame*

10 points: Finish reading a book you couldn't finish the first time around. (You must have at least 150 pages left in the book to use it for this category.)

--Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, it's what became my downfall for my Jane Austen Book Club reading challenge. I just couldn't get past Mansfield Park. Ugh.

10 points: Read a book from the children's section of the library or bookstore.

--The Giver by Lois Lowry. Always wanted to read it and my sister loved it. It was either this one or possibly The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which also comes highly recommended by my sis.

15 points: Read a book that is on The New York Times' Best Sellers List when you begin reading it.

--The Circle by Dave Eggers. Recommended by my other blogger friend, Taylor, who loved it. And hopefully it'll stay on that list until I can get to it!

15 points: Read a historical fiction book that does not take place in Europe.

--The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. My lovely friend Laura just gushed about it and lent me her copy.

15 points: Read a book another blogger has already read for the challenge. (So I'll be checking in June to see what other blogger's have read in order to get my next one...or I'll just take one from Amanda over at Rhyme and Ribbons as she's updating her post as she goes along. Win!) 

--The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester...I'm hoping Amanda reads that one soon, cause I've been dying to read it for years (I used to work at several bookshops, this title has always caught my eye).

20 points: Read a book with 'son(s),' 'daughter(s)' or 'child(ren)' in the title. No other words will count--including kids, offspring, etc. 

--Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

20 points: Read a book that was/will be adapted to film in 2014.

--Fault in Our Stars  by John Green. OKAY, OKAY, I will give in and read it. I've been avoiding it because everyone has cried over it and I hate crying. But alas, I must give in because I've heard too many good things. Damn you, John Green. I hope you're not going to be another Nicholas Sparks.
**Finished 19th of May....sobbing.**

25 points: Read a book written by a blogger.

--Straight Up and Dirty by Stephanie Klein. I had fun searching for this one. Nooooo, idea of what to chose other than cookbooks and any book by Jen Lancaster...oh wait, read all those. She's actually who I want to write like someday. Hopefully this Stephanie Klein author will be as funny and/or inspiring.

25 points: Read a biography, autobiography or memoir.

--The Disastrous Mrs. Weldon by Brian Thompson, and just for fun, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, because I must read this book. 

30 points: Read a pair of books with antonyms in the titles.

--Ummmm, I'll get back to you on that one.

BONUS ROUND...just cause I want some of my own personal challenges:

Read a book you said you would never, ever, ever read:

--50 Shades of Grey .... ugh. Maybe I can't do that challenge...

Read a book that you've borrowed off someone and you really have kept it too long and need to return it soon...like, really soon:

--The Art of Acting by Stella Adler, borrowed off my friend Olivia...and I just really have had it too long.

I have so many other good books waiting for attention on my bookshelf.

I'm sure this will all fit in nicely while I freak out about getting a job and whattheHELLamIdoingaftergraduationfuuuuuuuuck!

xx Lindsay

Jane Austen Book Club: Pride and Prejudice

Such a late review for my July book Pride & Prejudice for The Quintessentially English Jane Austen Book Club that Erin started at the beginning of the summer. It's been such a good idea and I've very much enjoyed reading through Jane Austen's novels.  Join anytime if it's something you'd like to do! Here's some other posts done for P&P from people participating in the book club: Selena @ Oh, the Places We Will Go! and Holly Nelson @ English Girl Canadian Man

I like to throw a bit of controversy into my discussions with friends sometimes. Just wait for a lull in conversation, coyly look up and say..."So...Colin Firth version or Keira Knightley version?" 90% of women will know what you're talking about.

For the record, I prefer the Keira Knightley version. When I first saw it (Pride & Prejudice of course), I thought it so well cast. I will always love Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, but there is something about Matthew Macfadyen that is just...smoldering.

After just finishing reading Pride & Prejudice for the first time ever, I might add, I found the Knightley version even more suitable. But I really need to get around to watching the Colin Firth one to conduct a truly fair trial. (In the name of research, I am taking the task on now. A Sunday for an all out Austen-binge. Lost in Austen was finished in the morning and now we're on to the Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice 6-hour glory.  I know how to do a lazy Sunday right.)

If you've never read the book before, I think you're quite missing out. Unlike Mansfield's Park, which I'm reading for August and have failed miserably at getting sucked into or finishing within the month, P&P is quick paced and absorbing.

Off the bat you hate the mother, love Lizzy and Jane, and can't wait for new characters to come into play. Mr. Collins is beautifully put into color before your eyes as absolutely annoying and dreadful. You get excited for the introduction of Mr. Bingley and his guests and, truth be told, you won't like Darcy upon meeting him. That's the way it's supposed to be. Just like Lizzy's character, Austen makes you wait to warm up to him.

When approaching the book, it may have helped that I've seen the story line and heard the characters names over and over again throughout many different re-imaginings of the story. There are many renditions of Pride & Prejudice so reading the book is approachable and I was not confused easily. (As opposed to Mansfield Park, where every time I put it down, then pick it back up, I forget who some of the smaller characters are and need to flip through already read pages to pick the familiar threads up again.)

I am so glad I've actually sat down and read through Pride & Prejudice finally. It is sure to be a book that I can use in the future to self-soothe with (step away from the wine bottle, Lindsay) and have already found myself being comforted by a recent viewing of the Keira Knightley movie (albeit, with wine). I've been mentally keeping a list of the books and movies I must take with me to London when I head over to grad school (*pending visa*) to help distract me from any lonely moments when I find myself with nothing to do but feel homesick. It was a great tactic to use when I first studied abroad. My main objects of comfort being the DVD's of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Bridget Jones's Diary, the Harry Potter books and a book called Postcards From France by Megan McNeill Libby.

If you're very much into chick lit, fiction that includes a world of manners and etiquette or consider yourself an Anglophile, you should definitely read this book.

So, which do you prefer, Firth or Knightley version? (And can we still be friends since you know I love the Knightley version? I have many other fine qualities!)

Cheers,
Lindsay

Jane Austen Book Club: Sense and Sensibility

One of the expat bloggers I read suggested a few months via Twitter to doing a blogger book club for Jane Austen. I was immediately invested as I have been meaning to read all of Jane Austen's novels. It's embarrassing to admit as an English Lit degree holder, I have only ever read one Jane Austen, Emma. I knew I'd be a big fan just from that one book, so I signed on to do the book club as well.

I present to you, The Quintessentially English Jane Austen Book Club. The reading schedule is as follows, in order of when published:

• June - Sense and Sensibility (1811)
• July - Pride and Prejudice (1813)
• August - Mansfield Park (1814)
• September - Emma (1815)
• October - Northanger Abbey (1818)
• November - Persuasion (1818)

I finished Sense and Sensibility at the end of June and have already finished Pride and Prejudice as well. I'll try to keep my little reviews of both separate, but know that'll be quite hard for me. I've got too much comparison going on in my head of both. I very much enjoyed Sense and Sensibility but than I read P&P and couldn't put it down. 

Now I'm not one for a recap, so check out SparkNotes or Google it if you haven't read it. Cheaters can just go straight to the phenomenal movie written by Emma Thompson, staring her and Kate Winslet. Going down as one of my favorite movies ever AND has just all the very best British actors in it. Couldn't believe it. It's the most well cast movie based on a book. Read the book first and you'll see. 

Sense and Sensibility definitely had the feel of a chick lit on the first go of it. I love the manners that instruct British society in this time period. There are rules of conduct and how one should behave. So of course I loved all the rule breakers. Marianne was the one I most identified with because of her grand emotion about everything, except I wish I was more like Elinor. This is one of those things that feel quite black and white to me when reading. There's a clear choice of who you should want to be like. That's how I feel when I watch Sex & The City. Everyone wants to be just like Carrie, or find a bit of themselves in her, but most of the time we're like one of the other girls who are put into a very extreme type cast. (I'm definitely Charlotte and a bit of Miranda...also, after watching that show back-to-back...I freaking hated Carrie. They try quite hard to make her like "every woman".)

I think that the book could be a bit over dramatic at times and just seemed...like her first novel, as if she was finding her feet in the genre. A lot of the smaller characters were quite one-dimensional, like the Palmers, Mrs. Dashwood, Fanny and John. I think the movie actually made everyone a lot more nuanced than the book. And I was never aware of Margaret Dashwood at all in the book, but she played a good part in the coming together of Elinor and Edward Ferrars in the movie.

Some of the choices in the movie I was on board with quite a lot. There was no Lady Middleton and I do believe her children in the book were replaced by dogs in the movie. LOVED that choice as I feel she was a nothing kind of character. What really was her purpose other than to show how completely different her husband was in comparison to her? I also enjoyed the fact that there was no forced hinting of emotion between Marianne and Colonel Brandon in the movie. A lot of movies like to create that emotion before it's time and in the book Marianne doesn't feel anything for Colonel Brandon till the end. 

I was disappointed that in the movie there was no Anne Steele. One of my favorite parts of the book (and the movie) was the relationship between the sisters, Elinor and Marianne. You feel that love and that trust. It reminded me a lot of my relationship with my sister. Though my younger sister is more rational and mature than I, much more the Elinor to my Marianne. I enjoyed, in the book, the great contrast of their relationship against that of Lucy Steele and Anne Steele's relationship. It just showed much more strength in Elinor and Marianne's. 

My last comment of note between the book and the movie is that in the movie I very much appreciated that it showed Elinor suffering in silence over Lucy's engagement to Edward. You feel her pain. In the book, it's still very much a time of politeness and I didn't get such an intense feeling from the book because you just see Elinor playing by society's rules. She is upset, but she reigns in her emotions, she is very controlled...unlike her sister Marianne, who is makes herself sick over lost love.

It was so lovely to read the book and then watch the movie. I think it really helped me to fall in love with Austen's story a bit more than if I had just read the book.

Of course, then I read Pride and Prejudice and how can you not love that story? I'm not sure we can be friends if you didn't like that book. But I want to wait until after I get back from my trip to California this weekend for my Napa half marathon before I write about July's book. 

Can I just say that I tried to go from Jane Austen to Stephen King and have been attempting to read Under the Dome, worst idea ever. Definitely not good for a delicate psyche, let me tell you. He is a really good writer and even the simplest scenes of a bird dying are completely devastating and horrific to me. Give me a world of manners and elegance any day. Can't wait to start on Mansfield Park!

Have you read any Jane Austen? I would love to hear favorites, and opinions on Sense and Sensibility!

Cheers,

Lindsay

Preparing for London

My plane flies off tonight to London, connects in Toronto (a first for me, never flew through Toronto airport before) and then I'll be landing in London at 10am Friday morning. This will be my first time flying with an airline that's not Virgin Atlantic or British Airways, so I'm more nervous than usual. Have already packed a small carry-on in case they lose my luggage somehow.

I'm quite jittery about my audition as well. I'm going over for an audition with a second grad school (oh I didn't tell you did I? On my last trip I auditioned with one grad school and got ACCEPTED. Baller. So no matter what, I will be heading over for grad school in the fall. But this second audition is still très important to me.) I've looked at this school for several years now and really respect the school and the course. Additionally, unlike a lot of US schools, this school does a full day audition. Six hours, or around that, of workshopping my two audition pieces. That right there is a beautiful thing. Something I really appreciate, considering my CV (resume) is not as varied as I'd like, for someone heading off to grad school for acting. It really gives me an even playing field with people who have a more extensive theatre history or even have their undergrad degree in it (I did love getting my BA in English but I really wish I could have tried harder at doing a double major with theatre as well.)

I think I'm most nervous about the fact that for this audition I have to do contrasting pieces. My modern piece I am unmoving on. It must be this one comedic piece I love. So that means my Shakespeare/Jacobean piece must be dramatic. I do have one from years ago that I did for Central, read about that absolute gem of a time here. But I just feel much more comfortable with any of my comedic pieces than I do with dramatic ones. I do love my speech from Measure for Measure (Isabella, scene 2, act 4 "To whom should I complain?") but I know there's a lot of work I need to do on it and how I approach it.

This audition will most certainly be a learning experience.

Anyways, in preparing for this trip, I wanted to share with you all that it takes for me to get out of the house and on to the flight over. I tend to obsess over what I pack and how to pack it. If you are heading over to London, it's as important how you pack, as what you pack. As soon as you're off that flight, unless you're rich, you need to haul all your stuff onto public transportation. I just discovered the Heathrow Express, which is the best thing ever and despite being more poor on this trip, I'll still be throwing down the $40 to shorten my trip into London. It's the height of luxury for those who can't really afford luxury.

So I have packed my very large purse with things I need to grab while in transit and on the plane. A large carry-on with a book, my journal, a few necessities for the overnight flight that I don't need immediately at hand, but somewhat accessible (face wipes and that such thing), a change of clothes and my running equipment because this is a carrier I've never flown on before and I'm always very paranoid about my luggage getting lost.  My large luggage bag has rotating wheels which are perfect for running with luggage, which one will always do when getting to and from the airport in London, and is only 2/3 full. I left it this way so that on the way back I can throw all my clothes in it and leave the carry-on to store some gifts for friends (or...ahem...chocolate and tea for myself...).

Here's a few crappy photos from my iPhone:

 This stuff is included in my carry-on and my luggage: luggage--mini shower supplies (can't resist, they're so cute!), seasonal allergy medicine (don't know what London's spring will be like, it's been 8 years since I've been there in the spring), makeup supplies and a massive container of the best body lotion ever. Carry-on: book I borrowed from British friend, Wolf Hall (having difficulty getting through it. Historical fiction hasn't ever been something I've really gotten into, but I'll be working my way through it on the plane I suppose, when not having panic attacks about my monologues), my journal, a folder full of all the important information customs may ask for (flight info, address of where I'm staying, audition letter from school, etc, etc) and my London A to Z guide. Even though everyone uses Google Maps nowadays, I find that using the guide is still more helpful as Google Maps has been known to be wrong and I've never been lead astray by London A to Z.

Mainly for my purse I have a baggie for all my liquids--contact solution, hand sanitizer, perfume in a small container with roller, waterproof liquid eyeliner (necessary for long flights), mascara, gum, deodorant, lotion, Q-Tips, hair comb, Tylenol, chap stick and Vaseline, tums and Prilosec (I am a Crohnie after all. I can handle my heartburn situation at home without drugs at the moment, as long as I'm really good with my food, but I can't really stop myself from OD'ing on tea and biscuits when in England, so drugs are necessary), Iron and other meds, my plays, sunglasses (one is for running, the other is just plain necessary for being anywhere outdoors), small notebooks I record food/money spent/running log, small purse with British pounds in it and my passport.

I absolutely will use every bit of what I've packed. My clothes have been reduced down dramatically from what I would normally take. But I'm trying not to be the usual over-packer that I am, and I never really wear all the clothes I bring. I'll spare you a photo of that.

What would you bring on a trip overseas? See anything missing that you absolutely have to have with you?

Cheers,
Lindsay Xxx

P.S. No headphones for this trip due to the fact that I threw my phone in a hot tub (oh yes I did) at my friend's Bachelorette party, needed to dry it out in a bag of rice and now have a piece of rice stuck in the plug hole for my headphones. I am awesome in every way.

Blogger Love and A Love of Randomness

Neat-o, I was given a blogger award thingy-mer-bob.

Really just something to help blogs recognize bloggers they like and get other readers to check out some blogs they may not already follow.  I actually go through my favorite blogs to find what they read. If I like reading your stuff, then in all likelihood I'll probably like the blogs you follow with a passion. (Exemption being when the blog is predominately about pushing products...often they'll just push other blogs that do the same. I do follow one or two run blogs that seems to have 10 sponsored posts for every 1 regular post from them. Good writing is why I still read the few blogs that follow that pattern.)

Anyways, I do love a good award that encourages random facts! I love reading other bloggers posts where they just list random stuff mainly because it's fun to get a little insight into their worlds without a whole lot of narrative. Some people are good at narrative, and some aren't. But I always love a good sharing session that doesn't make me feel nosy.

This LIEBSTER award was given to me by Taylor from Running Across the Pond, thanks Tay! I googled the award just to see what other explanations I could find for the origins of the award and the first blog that came up gave a great description: "The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. What is a Liebster? The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome." That's a paragraph taken straight from the blog We Loved Here. (The link takes you to the post where they got the award as well.)

I got hooked on Taylor's blog, Running Across the Pond, when I was doing a search for running blogs and just happened upon hers, which also is on my favorite subject ever, living in Britain as an expat. We also tweet back and forth furiously about certain YA books we're hooked on. Nice to have another book pusher friend who gets me hooked on more series...not that I need anymore books, but you seriously need to pick up two YA series: Divergent series and The Mortal Instruments. Really good reads.

So yes, check out her blog. She even has lots of tips about wedding planning in the UK, what it's like to marry a British guy, handling the job process in the UK and lots of other random topics outside of that stuff.

The Rules:
1. Thank and link back to the blogger who presented you with the award.
2. List 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions you were asked.
4. Write 11 questions for your nominees.
5. Present a Liebster blog award to 2-5 other bloggers.

11 Random facts about me:

1. I am not too keen on the idea of pregnancy and having the babies. HOWEVER, I do absolutely relate to pregnant women and can talk about anything health-wise with them and connect on that level. I am never bored talking about pregnancy. If anything my Crohn's Disease has a lot of freaky similarities to pregnancy issues, which I won't go into here. But I certainly have recommended a lot of remedies for pregnant friends in the past because of the issues I've dealt with having Crohn's.

2. Downward Dog is extremely difficult for me to do for longer than 30 seconds. I have twigs for arms.

3. When we were kids and moved into a new house in Minnesota, my parents let me and my sister decide what color we should paint our rooms. Up until that point, in my head, I always imagined that my favorite color was black or pink, but for some reason that day I said my favorite color was purple. This pissed my sister off because she said that was her favorite color and a big fight ensued. Well I got the purple room and she chose green. To this day, purple is my favorite color ever and if I didn't love wearing black so much, I'd probably be decked out in purple. My room here in NY is purple and so is a lot of my furniture, luggage, shoes, purses, and nail varnish. When I want to win a fight, I go all the f* out.

4. Taylor's random facts got me thinking about music...of which I can't honestly recommend anything to you. If you read Miranda Hart's book "Is It Just Me?" I think one of the chapters is all about knowing nothing about music, having a few favorite oldies and just in general loving one-hit wonders and pop music in general. That chapter perfectly describes me. I am not fashionable at all when it comes to music. My main things I listen to outside of general pop music is John Mayer (only artist who I've followed from the beginning...and I don't think that it's cool to admit to liking him, currently...cause let's be real, he's acting a bit wacky these days. Don't care. If you've ever seen him in concert he's MAGICAL.) I also admit to owning several compilations of Rat Pack music. Give me Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and Dean Martin any day of the week. That goes for modern musicians singing music from that era. Love me some Buble and Jamie Cullum.

5. I enjoy several kinds of moderately expensive whiskies, scotches, and cigars. I blame DC for these tastes.

6. I'm obsessed with pit bulls, the dog breed. We owned one for years, Hannah (or Hannah-Bear) and it wasn't till I moved to DC and worked with a dog walking company did I learn about breed stereotypes and how horrible pit bulls can be perceived. The first dog I'll get when I have the place and the money will be a rescued pit bull. I mean, how cute is this:

Such a princess.

In the winter, she legitimately liked wearing clothes because she was quite sensitive to cold weather. 

7. I currently oven somewhere around 250-300 books that I have not read yet. I used to use libraries all the time, but then I worked in book retail for 4 years (Barnes and Noble College, Barnes and Noble, Borders) and developed the habit of using my discount because "oh this looks good...and I know I want to read it at some point. Might as well buy it now." Or I just got a lot of mass market paperbacks for free.  Some day I will finish reading them all, damnit. Course that hasn't stopped me from buying more. On my recent trip to London, I brought back 6 new books and only a tiny bit of chocolate. Clearly, I have issues.

8. Doctor Who and Buffy will forever remain my favorite TV shows of all time. And Veronica Mars comes a close third.

9. I've had Crohn's since I was 14 and it wasn't until I was 28 (last October) that I actually met another person with the disease.

10. If you had just met me, you'd be shocked to know how many times I've been naked or half naked in front of people. Streaking was practically a requirement to graduate from my university...everyone had to do it at some point. And my roommates and I just happened to enjoy doing it often. Sometimes one was just drunk enough to have to walk, not run...and possibly need to sit down....at midnight in the science building. Then explain to the nice security campus officer that, yes, we are fine and on our way back to our clothes now thankyouverymuch. Additionally, while at university, I also acted in a play in my underwear. That my parents came to see. They were very proud. Why can't I put these things on my resume?

11. Between the ages of 12-16 I went through a very odd "goth" period. I tried to wear black all the time, was desperate to dye my hair black (thanks for not allowing that Mom!), and listened to metal and angry rock music. Sadly, I was too happy, smiley, bubbly to be accepted into the goth crowd. Yes, I actually smiled too much. At one point when I was 16, I was washing all my black clothes and bit of bleach accidentally got in (highly suspicious, Mother) and ruined ALL of my clothes. I just said f* it after that, and my mom has hardly contained her excitement anytime I wear something of color since then.

Questions from Taylor:
1. What character from a book/movie/TV show do you feel you are most like and why?
Jess (Zooey Deschanel) on New Girl. Mainly because I kind be an awkward human being that does weird things like sing my emotions and can't talk to boys like the adult I am.

2. If you were given the chance to live (safely) in outer space would you go? Why or why not?
Yes! Because that would definitely be an extreme kind of travel, which I love to do. Also it'd be fun to see all the ways to live up there in space. What's space food like? Where's the bathroom? Can I go exploring? I would totally be into that. Which is also why I'd like to take this opportunity to enter my name into the hat for the next Doctor Who companion.

3. What's your favorite kind of sandwich and what toppings do you add to it?
Kind of lame, but grilled chicken slices with avocado, red onion and a bit of salsa on top. Yum!...if I could eat any of that fibrous material right now, I totally would...stupid Crohn's.

4. What was your longest plane journey and where did you go?
9 hours and off to London. Never been farther and that flight was only 9 hours because we took a long route because of weather. Normally a trip to London from the east coast of the US is about 7 hours or just under.

5. Do you prefer spontaneity or plans and schedules?
When I travel or am on vacation I prefer spontaneity and don't like to plan anything...but that's because it my daily life I prefer LOTS of plans and scheduling...which usually doesn't end up going like I want.

6. What would you name the 8th Harry Potter book if you were writing it?
Harry Potter and the Aurora Years (but seriously...how awesome would that be?!)

7. Who taught you to ride a bicycle and do you remember learning?
I do not remember learning but most likely my Dad or my Mom...I definitely wouldn't have let my older brothers teach me something like that. They would have let me fall and left me for DEAD. Brothers are evil when you're a kid. Now they're okay.

8. What were the last items you purchased at the grocery store?
Basil, lemon, tomatoes, strawberries and shortcake. Made dinner and dessert for my Mom and sister last night.

9. If you made a time capsule for you to open in 10 years, what items (at least 5) would you put in it?
My journal, my favorite non-fiction book "The New Psycho-Cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz, my flip cam with some videos on it from me and my sister (rapid fire 20 question game), Twinkies to see if they last, a picture of me and my family to see how we've changed. It sounds kind of conceited to have a lot of focus on myself, but it encourages me to see how I grow and change over time.

10. Do you prefer firm pillows or squishy pillows?
I prefer a lot of squishy pillows piled up to make them almost-but-not-quite firm.

11. What's something you've done that was so completely out of your comfort zone?
I was in a play years ago where I had to make out with another actress on stage. It was extremely difficult, especially since I hadn't been in a serious relationship and the director telling me to "kiss her like you'd kiss your boyfriend" was of no help whatsoever.

For this award, I nominate:
Stephanie from Close Encounters of the Librarian Kind

Natacia from Treks and the City

Caraline from Dancing with Myself

**All bloggers I know in real life, love their blogs, and want to use this award to peer-pressure them into blogging more muwahahahaha!

Here's what I want to know about you:

1. Has there been a book that you've had intense feelings about either of intense rage or overwhelming happiness? If so, what book?
2. Where in the world do you want to go next on vacation and where would you never want to visit?
3. What would you make for dinner in order to seduce your celebrity crush?
4. What talent do you wish you had?
5. What's the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
6. Someone is hitting on you in a bar, what's your best shut-'em down line?
7. What was your first date like?
8. How did you find out about sex? Have you...found out about how babies are made...? Oh dear...
9. If you had to pick one place to live forever, where would that be?
10. What is something that you always keep in your purse or bag?
11. What's the most interesting food you've eaten in the world?

Hope they get swept up in the love of randomness!!

Cheers,
Lindsay Xxx

Dr. Who and Proper Fry Up

Nothing picks a girl up like a proper fry-up and some Saturday morning Dr. Who watching. Hey...everybody needs their version of Saturday morning cartoons and season 4 is one of my favorites, specifically the episode "Partners in Crime". Best introduction episode of a new companion. I love it. Makes me cry at the end, every time, the bit with Donna's granddad. Just. Can't. Stand. It.

This past week I found myself just a tad bit tipsy and at my favorite British goods shop in Clarendon, VA. Woke up the next day with a purse full of McVities Milk Chocolate Digestives, Cadbury Chocolate bars, a can of Heinze beans, a few cigars as well (hey it is a cigar shop as well, called Classic Cigars & British Goodies) and my bank account out $30.00. Worth it. Especially for the chocolate and the beans.

And now for my Saturday morning breakfast before heading off to a full day of work, I get the treat of beans and toast, poached eggs, and a few vegetarian sausages thrown in for good measure. Top it all off with a cup of tea. Just a little bit of heaven.

In other news, I might be going to an audition on Monday, Memorial Day. We'll see how it goes and if I'm able to make it out of the apartment. With all the time that I spend at work these days, it's difficult to pry myself away from the comfort of my bed at home.

I hear I'll have normal hours in the summer....gosh, whatever shall I do with myself? Re-read all the Harry Potter's before the last movie and start in on my massive Jane Austen and Shakespeare book fests I've decided to do? Good plan....

...such a nerd.

Ta!

Books to Keep the Blues Away

I haven't been feeling the greatest lately. Lots of internal, self-inflicted stress that I can't seem to shake. And let me tell you, my body will always physically react to any amount of stress, whether I'm aware I have any or not. Welcome to life with Crohn's.

I've been struggling a bit with the fact that I am a 'people-pleaser'. Yup, this is a bad thing. I've been told that word for word. "Lindsay you are a people-pleaser and that is a bad thing." See? Word for word. And as soon as that was spoken out loud I realized that's exactly what gives me a vast majority of my stress on a daily basis. I make a lot of decisions, even very important, life-changing decisions, based on the fact that it will make a lot of other people happy...totally disregarding my happiness. I get very upset when I think a decision I'm making will make someone unhappy.

I can't fully point the finger at others because this is something I created in myself and I'm not quite sure how I got here. But how I got here is really not what I need to focus on. I'm working towards being more positive and retraining myself to see whats best for me and how to get it with clear visualization.....

....and don't I just sound like a self-help book. Ummm, that's because I am totally reading a self-help book and it's AWESOME. Don't be a hater. Leave me to my happy place. I am a total closet-self-help junky. LOVE. Maybe it's because I'm very pessimistic a lot of the time, but it does go against my innate nature. I'm drawn to books with positive words that tell tales of having control over your own life and doing great things...this book has all that and it doesn't sound like a whole lot of crap you want to roll your eyes at. It's called The New Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. I've been getting up early and reading bits of it before I start my day, finding that it helps put a spring in my step and makes me feel like I can handle just about anything. Of course, usually by the end of the day I curl up in a ball and cry "uncle" to the headlock Life has me in...but baby steps...

Other books that I currently have at my bedside that I'm working my way through in the odd hour.... Respect For Acting by Uta Hagen. This practically reads like a self-help book, but it's one for actors. I've underlined a lot of fantastic stuff and I just go straight to my happy place when I read about technique and finding better ways to convey a message through acting. No matter what my day job is, I'll always be an acting nerd.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanne Clarke is one I've owned since it first appeared over here in the US. Having seen it over the pond in England, I bought it and then just never got around to reading it...the very same thing that happened with almost all 250 books I currently own and have not read...oops...Book Buyers Anonymous anyone?

I've picked it up this second time around because a friend of mine is reading it...she happens to have a blog over here. (She's really kind of awesome, so get on that) I was jealous she was reading it, what with me owning it and all and having never read it, so I decided it was time. So far it's pretty decent. It's very, very thick with very, very small type and extremely detailed with a whole history created for it. An impressive piece of work to be sure. I'll let you know how it goes.

But moral of the story, and there sooooo is one....cause I'm all about the educatin' the masses....books make me happy. These ones are keeping the blues away. They provide that little period of calmness, where I enter through a door and have to leave my shit behind because it just can't carry into the story. A nice little respite from life. You should try it.

And if you have books that keep your blues away...well holla at yo' girl.

xx

About Nothing In Particular

Currently I am holing myself up in The Igloo (aka my new apartment, which is an English basement and retains cold very well). This whole week I'm going to be very busy working every day from about 11am till 8pm with two different jobs. This somehow equals me not getting anything else done. Don't ask me to explain how it works, that's just how it goes. If I don't start off my day hyped up on caffeine, plan in hand, then I putz around in the morning, then fall into work for the day, running late for everything, ending up frazzled and feeling unaccomplished. It really is a vicious cycle that I don't have a plan to end anytime soon.

So today, I'm in my room with the heat turned on (oh the luxury! who knows how expensive this heat will end up costing me...if anyone has some good tips to heating a basement apartment without running the window heater all the time, feel free to pass on the information) and I'm planning to sit and read through all my blogs I follow. I haven't done it in ages and I feel I'm out of the loop in my blogsphere. It almost makes me miss being a receptionist, where I was on the computer all day and had the time to keep up with some of my more frequent posting blog friends. I've actually thought about trying to get a third job as an apartment concierge at night just so I can catch up on blog and book reading.

Don't think I'm joking.....

Some semi-exciting things I haven't blogged about:

-Friday night I worked at the National Cathedral, which was a.maz.ing. Seriously, if you live in D.C. or are visiting and you haven't been here yet, get yourself out there. Especially if you love architecture, like I do (in a I-Know-Nothing-About-It-But-It-Looks-So-Cool kinda way), then you will enjoy getting lost around this place. Well, I don't think normal tourists can go running amok like I was able to, so you may now commence being jealous. And not too many people can go running around here at night. I had visions of Gothic tales running through my head as I lost myself in dark, winding staircases that lead to the balconies and other such destinations I did not pursue.

-Friday night after work I met some friends out in the U St area at Cafe Saint-Ex, located on 14th st nw and T st nw. I really liked this bar a lot. Upstairs looked reasonably classy (as in, not a dive or an "Ohmygod, what did I just step in?!" kind of joint) and a great place to talk and drink. Then you head downstairs to a tiny room for dancing! The room is really not that big which means that you're not really busting out all your sexy dance moves. Instead you just kind of shift your weight back and forth on your feet to the beat. Which I kind of liked. I think it helped that it felt the Arctic outside and therefore the sweaty dance floor wasn't really sweaty, more like cozy warm with fantastic music.

-After St-Ex off we gallivanted to Grand Central in Adam's Morgan ("amorg" is how the locals call it apparently), which was fun and we met some great people (outside of a few creepy, 40-year old men grinding up behind us on the dance floor repetitively....hello relocation-on-the-dance-floor...it's my favorite dance move.)

-Around 2 a.m. we were required, by Amorg law, to go consume a jumbo slice (of pizza). It was delicious. From what I remember.

-Saturday was a trip to Ikea for a round of disappointment. We always expect so much and then find so little. Afterwards, I had my first experience with Dungeons and Dragons. I'll definitely have to post more about this later. I think I'm going to like it though. And don't be all shocked. It's a role-playing game and as an actress, that's what I do. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Okay this is turning into an excessively long post about nothing in particular (exactly as I intended for this blog). Just a wad of randomness for your viewing pleasure. You are welcome.

And now, here's a random photo of the books I should be reading, with a few plays slipped in there as well.

(From Left to Right: The English American by Alison Larkin (finished reading it in a day and it was awesome. I'm pretty sure there were direct quotes in that book that I've said or thought before when it comes to acting and creativity), Constance by Patricia Clapp (a kids book that my BFF really loved and lent to me to read. I love it when people do that. I want to read something that's meant a lot to people that mean a lot to me), The Christmas Books by Charles Dickens, 101 Wines by Gary Vaynerchuk (Christmas gift from my brother, yeah wine!), the plays: Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, Closer by Patrick Marber (already read a few years ago, but it's a favorite and now I own it!), The Three Sisters by Anton Checkhov, and The Women by Clare Boothe Luce (the one made into a movie. Never knew it was a play until my little sis clued me in, so of course I have to see if it's any good!). Then there's The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone (I like the idea of doing vegetarian and vegan foods some of the time but not full time and her book split it up very nicely in neat little categories. Don't judge me.), Dear Fatty by Dawn French (thanks to my Welsh friend, Louise, for sending this to me because I can't get it here and I luuuuvre Dawn French!), and finally, Sing to Me, Saigon by Kathryn Jensen (another lent one from the same BFF).

These are just some of the books I've been beating myself up over not reading yet. I still have about 200 hundred more, located elsewhere in this very room, that I need to read this year. Oh dear. I feel a new resolution coming on!!

xx

Holiday Spirit

Ways I've been getting into the holiday spirit:

--Currently I'm munching on slightly burnt popcorn (YUM!) and Hershey's Dark Cocoa with a candy cane as a stirring stick. It. Is. Amazing.

--Last night I had the dark chocolate cocoa mixed with a little over 1/4 cup of Mint Chocolate Bailey's and sipped on that while watching Fred Claus and decorated my mini tree in my apartment with my roomie.

(This is the before picture, officially, because my roommate will be taking down the decorations when he gets mini lights and other such decorations and then re-decorating the whole thing to appear more pleasing to the eye. I'm just excited about a tree. A Tree! A Tree!! Yeah Christmas!!!)

--I'm currently reading Charles Dickens' Christmas Books and I've completely forgotten how much I love reading Dickens. The Christmas Carol is fantastic! (Oh and for my viewing pleasure later this month, "The MUPPET Christmas Carol" is a Necessity. Full on holiday requirement. Along with "It's a Wonderful Life".)

--I've already re-read David Sedaris' Holidays On Ice, which is also a seasonal requirement. Read it for the inappropriate humor. It's beyond awesome.

--Last weekend I visited my brother in Philly and we hung out at a Borders there having a sugary mocha drink with caramel and peppermint pieces on top (well that was all me...he just stuck with coffee), all the while checking out numerous things I wanted to put on my Christmas list and laughing at photos he took on his phone from Thanksgiving. Example of the fun-ness:

Yup...this was a totally random post that I used as an excuse to put up random photos because I'm just random and have nothing interesting to say at the moment. Might be the intense sugar high I'm on right now, because it's the holiday season, I've been listening to waaaaay too much holiday music and sugar is my drug of choice right now. And caffeine of course. Does that even need to be stated?

LOVE you all,

Me.

The Lost Symbol

So I finally got my hands on a copy of one of the biggest, most anticipated books of the year, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol.

My impression......

Meh.

I would highly recommend it to people living in or from the D.C. area because he did so much research that it was like a fantastically written, fiction, tour guide book of D.C. I knew exactly where he was when he described certain locations and he used real buildings and streets. Which was great, loved that, bravo, well done. I've been meaning to write a book like that, that makes people want to visit the actual place because you describe it so well. I love the fact that The Da Vinci Code promoted tourism for certain sites in Europe and I hope that this book does the same for D.C.

That being said....

The book also seemed like one big, gigantic, wet kiss to the Freemasons. Granted I knew nothing about this organization at all before....and now that I've read this book....meh. I really don't care to learn anything new.

I got bored, then irritated, when Robert Langdon would go on page long tangents explaining things to the lesser beings around him. Now, I love learning something new as much as the next nerd, but sometimes it was just a bit dry and I was never sure if it was pertinent to the storyline.

On the other hand....I do want to say that even though I didn't super-duper love this book, I am still happy that it was highly anticipated. I'm all about the books that gets people excited to read. Just like with the Harry Potter books, just like with Twilight...if it gets people curious and draws in people who wouldn't normally ever voluntarily pick up a book, then bravo to you sir.

And that's all I say on that.

xxoo, Lindsay

Coffee: It's How I Get Shit Done.

So I am officially cracked out on coffee at this very moment. I don't drink coffee on a daily basis for the specific reason of I want to be able to use it to get my caffeine high exactly when I want it. And I wanted that special, overly hyper, I can save the world with my pinkie, feeling today (imagine giving a 5-year old 3 cups of espresso, lots of candy and let them loose in a toy store...welcome to me right now, and I'm just sitting in my apartment at my computer ). Today, I am going to Get Shit Done. Also, I need the positive vibes of a pick-me-up drug because I'm having job drama...and I don't even have a day job yet.

I've signed on to use a temp agency here in D.C. to find me work. I've used them before with pretty okay results and since I need money stat in order to help get my roommate and I a new 2 bedroom apartment, I figured it'd be a good idea. However...it's kind of turning into quite a nuisance actually. Well the temp agency may have a gig for me tomorrow. They'll be calling me today to let me know if it's a definite or not.

So what's the problem you ask in that oh-so-bored tone? I have an interview tomorrow morning with a big chain bookstore, a chain I've worked with before and enjoyed. It's for the only position in the store that's got set work hours of Tuesday through Saturday 7am-11am. The position is only minimum wage, but the reason I want it is because this chain is an amazing corporation and will give me health insurance, even at part time. I'm also 99% sure that I have this job in the bag. I've had one interview with them that went very well and I've worked this exact position before a few years ago. However I'm not sure how receptive they'll be to me rescheduling the second interview.

Aaaaand now that I'm all hyped up on chemically-induced good vibes this really doesn't seem as stressful as I thought it was yesterday.

Also, to add to this semi-job situation, I applied to an independent bookstore yesterday expecting them to tell me they're not hiring and turns out they are hiring. They're very interested in speaking to me about a full time position, though I'm thinking my part time theatre job might be a hindrance for me getting that position. But it would be fantastic to work at an independent bookstore. I've worked at both the major chains and would love to move out of that arena and into the smaller bookstore field to see what it's like.

Although this may not help my book buying addiction...

I hate having the stress of coming to the realization that I'm not at all interested in doing positions that will pay my bills, but instead are drawn to the weird/interesting/fun jobs that pay very little. I keep getting sucked back into the idea of working at a bookstore because it's totally my comfort zone. If only someone would pay me to act on stage! Well, I'll always keep looking for that opportunity....

Okay, I'm off to go do an impromptu dance performance in my living room to work off this caffeine buzz and hopefully Get Shit Done as well.

Blog ya later,

Lindsay xo

In Search Of A Monologue

I am determined to find around four monologues to learn for my grad school auditions by the end of this month. I've read through some of the plays already in my possession. Surprisingly, I found that I own quite a few plays that I haven't gotten around to reading...shame on me...and have piled them up on my night stand as a constant reminder to get on with it!

So, in review so far of what I've read are the following plays: Neil LaBute's Reasons to Be Pretty, two very good monologues in it but questionable as to whether I should choose anything from this when it's about to be put on in London, Wendy Wasserstein's Uncommon Women and Others, loved it and really relate well to the monologue I found in it as well, so it's a possibility. Ibsen's A Doll House (a re-read actually, read it first ages ago in college) and The Wild Duck. Neither have monologues in them I'd like to use, though I do enjoy reading Ibsen. Trying to figure out what lesson he wants his reader to learn is half the fun...the other half is constructing feminist arguments in my head against what I think he's trying to say. He'd be an excellent playwright to dissect in the classroom. And last, but so far my favorite, is Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband.

I've read The Picture of Dorian Gray and fell in love with the story line, the prose, the ideas he made surface in my head. For some reason it's quite visual to me when I'm reading his work. I can't believe I haven't read more of his plays or poetry. Just Dorian Gray...and I did that on my own initiative. How can have made it through multiple English and Theatre classes having never read Wilde?? Well that needs to change immediately.

Before the end of the month I've set lofty, unobtainable goals (aren't those just the best?) to read two more Ibsen plays, Hedda Gabler and The Master Builder, as well as multiple Shakespeare plays starting with Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, and Troilus and Cressida. I also have a book of eight tragedies that I need to crack open.

.....ahhh the optimism...so free flowing on a Sunday night after one has just consumed half a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and has moved on the Chamomile tea...things will probably be colored cranky first thing in the morning I predict....

At some point in between the plays and the blogging and the movie watching (Thanks Netflix!) I should probably secure myself a day job as well as find my roommate and I a new apartment. Easy-peasy I'm sure.....right? Right?!? Now where did I put that ice cream.....

xoLindsay

Book Reading...For The Unemployed...

So since I've been in a new city, with no cable mind you (AHHHHHHHH! The horror!!), my reading habits have picked up considerably. Which is good considering I own around 250 books that I've collected over the 5 years I've worked in the book industry and have yet to read. I actually see these books as my babies and have dragged just about all of them, or the amount my family allowed me to drag with me, here to D.C. I get pangs of guilt and pleasure when looking at them because a) I feel so bad about neglecting them and b) I'm still so excited to read them when the time comes.

And apparently the time is now. Welcome to my unemployed reading list!

First of all, I'm 3/4 the way through Bitter Is The New Black by Jen Lancaster. Best book to read if you're a girl and you're unemployed. LOVES IT. She's amazing and makes me feel better that someone as fabulous as her has been through what I'm going through. I can totally relate. It makes you feel better when you know you're not alone, am I right? (Blog world responds with a resounding 'Duh!')

Before Bitter I finished Cormac McCarthy's The Road that I borrowed off of a friend. It's not normally the type of fiction I'm drawn too (see above reading material) but I really wanted to be able to say I've read something that's won a Pulitzer...at least once. (As an English degree holder, I should be ashamed of myself.......am I? Not really....) My official review, it was....interesting. It is a great book to read when you feel all depressed about your life because then you can say "at least I'm not forced to live a life of desolation and loneliness, with only my young child at my side, trying to fend off cannibals from eating him." McCarthy's prose was also very well done. It was an easy read but still made you deal with big issues. Kind of like tricking you by getting you sucked into the story with his little words and easy text. The bastard. And so you can also tell, not really an upper. I think he was trying to leave the reader with a feeling of hopefulness at the thought that man will always survive, no matter the conditions, and the human heart will prevail, good over evil. But still....not an upper people.

Quickly, before I bore you to death, the other books I've recently finished are as follows: Alexander McCall Smith's The Careful Use Of Compliments, Emily Giffin's Love The One You're With, and Stephenie Meyer's The Host. McCall Smith, I love you and everything you write. I can't even adequately review his stuff for you because unless you've read through any of his massive collection of works, you won't understand the love. Truly like a warm bath and a glass of wine after a long, hard day.

Emily Giffin always pulls me in, even if it's on a topic I hate (like cheating spouses or people considering cheating) and she'll make me love it. Anything you write Giffin, I will submit to knowing I don't stand a chance of staying away.

And Stephenie Meyer is officially the Queen of Happy Endings and creating a world of perfect fantasy. Not fantasy like, hey there Star Wars and space jets, but fantasy like, "that is SO not going to happen in the real world, but I melt and hope for it anyways". She is that good, people. Cynics need not apply. This was her most science fiction-y book yet and still I was sucked in. ( I don't normally get excited about that genre...well, actually, I didn't so much Pre-Doctor Who obsession, but Post-Doctor Who obsession I'm beginning to try new things...and I like it!)

After I finish Bitter Is The New Black I will have to up the amount of plays I'll be reading and then shall hopefully write about them here. I'll try not to make the book/play posts too boring...I may even throw in a free glass of wine. Of course whether it be for you or for me is up for debate...

Warmly, DinsyDay

"..she experienced that curious feeling, that mixture of elation and dread, that comes from having done something very significant."

Just so you know, it is so like me to start this blog post with a quote from Alexander McCall Smith's book, The Careful Use of Compliments, which is an Isabel Dalhousie novel. I love that series, it's like getting into a warm bath with a class of wine and knowing some dark chocolate is on it's way.

And that is a feeling I desperately need to focus on right now. I'm about to the point of freaking out on my life. Yeah me. I've been here in D.C. for a month without having secured a job and therefore haven't been able to get around to doing the stuff I really want to do...like say, um, acting? It's fine though, one step at a freakin' time. I did have two interviews with the same place though, and if you follow my twitter feed to the right of your screen, you'd know what that place was ;) Haven't heard back yet, so I'm not really holding my breathe.

A few things that have kept me sane while I refine the art of unemployment:

I have crazy, amazing friends that will take me out for these gob smacking beauties. I don't even remember what they're called, but we got them at this quaint little Chinese food place near the Van Ness Metro stop. The middle part was filled with 151 and lit on fire, so you had to suck that part down quick to make sure the liquor didn't go to waste. Yum! (I was not one of the suckers, mind you)

Finding out my local Safeway does indeed have an international section and includes many of my favorite British food items was quite exciting. I really don't think I'd like to face a world without my PG Tips and my Weetabix. But even bigger news than this, after reading up on a place in The Washingtonian Magazine, I went out and discovered this little shop near the Courthouse Metro stop called "Cigars and British Goods" or something similar to that and they have even more amazing stuff! They've got chocolate covered digestives (not to be found in any grocery store that I've seen) and they carry actual imported Kinder and Cadbury bars.

Little side note for those not in the know...if you find that your local grocery store does indeed carry Cadbury bars, don't get too excited. If you look a little closer at the label, you'll see it's not imported but instead reproduced by Hershey's...and that means using American chocolate. Not to bash American chocolate or anything, but the chocolate in the U.K. is far superiour, my friends, except no imitation.

In addition to these things, I wouldn't have survived this month without help from my parents and my older brother...I really do not deserve them, they are beyond awesome, to a point that words fail to accurately describe. And of course my roommate, Mark, who is so cool to keep me up here and kick my butt out the door to go socialize when I get in one of my anti-social moods. Love him. So in the place of money, these people have kept me here this month. I'm really hoping I can go balls to the wall for them, get my ass in gear, and get a job that won't disappoint. Fingers crossed. (Why is this suddenly feeling like an acceptance speech? Where's my statue?)

Warmly,

L.

P.S. Sorry I haven't been posting...me being too overly dramatic about my life takes precedence over everything else apparently. After a recent conversation with my good friend from home, Rachel, who is also an actress, I've decided I need to try to post more and find ways to write something, somewhere, every day. She said is best when after I told her "I'm just depressed and moody and nothing is going right..." she responded with the antidote "have you written anything lately?" I love having creative friends!

"This film should be called 'The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola'."

Okay, I just needed to blog about this. Get ready for it...I have, for the first time ever, ventured into the work of Jean-Luc Godard...hell, I've jumped right into French New Wave Cinema...and let me tell you....WTF?

Well there may have been a few wtf moments, but overall...I really kind of liked a lot of aspects from this particular film, "Masculin Feminin". I mean, I don't entirely get the whole jarring sound bites he plays at random times, even over conversations the characters are having, or the silence moments, or the voice speaking over the black screen with messages...like he was trying to be super deep but it didn't really translate well...BUT...I loved how the camera stayed on certain actors, even when others were speaking to them. It gave you a chance to see the reaction of the actor to the words directed at them. In the extras on the DVD I learned that a lot of those particular moments where something the director did because he was really into making scenes as natural as possible. A lot of the time he'd focus the camera on the actor and using an ear piece that the actor had he would ask them really personal questions that the actors were suppose to respond to as themselves...not as their character. He then took those clips and found a way to blend the character he wanted with the actor's responses.

I love that.

Next will venture onto "Pierrot Le Fou" as suggested by Lea Maria. We shall see how that goes...

Post Script: I just love French movies. And this one was a great peek into French culture/society in the '60s. If you are into French films too then I'd highly recommend the following: L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) and it's sequel Les Poupees Russes (The Russian Dolls)...and of course can't leave out Amelie...fabulous. Any suggestions? Send them my way ;)

Have a fabulous night, I'm taking my glass of wine to bed with the book Julie & Julia by Julie Powell...because having loads in common with the main character always makes me feel better about myself.

xx Lindsay

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." -Emerson

Ohhhh changes are a-foot at the moment my friend. I haven't had much time to sit down and blog, though there is much I want to write about. Hopefully some time will clear up in the near future...probably because I'll be in a new city, with no job and not much to do.

I'm moving off to D.C. Quite excited about it. Jumping straight in without looking, of course. That's my usual M.O. Will be living with my old college roommate and having quite a few fun adventures round the city. I will, of course, be documenting all of it...just to keep my 2.5 readers enlightened on my going-ons.

I've already done quite a bit of traveling this month. Bit tired now actually, from it all. Just in the month of July I've been to Pittsburgh, Philly, and Ohio. Before the month is through I'll have been to Ohio again and finally D.C. And I'll be turning 25 next week as well....though let's not talk about that shall we? I plan on cuddling up to a nice Shiraz and crying underneath my bed for a bit that day while the quarter-life crisis is unleashed in me. So that'll be fun. May get my first tattoo just to show up the occasion with a nice memory. Though if I do, it'll be a nice, small, hidden one, cause I'm still into the whole acting thing. (I've been warned, numerous times, against any visible body modification by one of my London friends. Does this mean England may be more strict about that when it comes to choosing their actors for things? Will I have to get rid of my tragus piercing? Never!)

Ahh well. Shall not be thinking much about any of that just yet. Another of my stress tactics is to avoid thinking about anything that may stress me out...I know, I know...I am such an adult, aren't I?

And now I shall leave you with a quote from "Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I would love to sit down with him over a nice meal, maybe a glass of wine, for a nice chat about the creative being....cause I'm a nerd like that.

Enjoy.

"Every work of art is aggressive, Isabella. And every artist's life is a small war or a large one, beginning with oneself and one's limitations. To achieve anything you must first have ambition and then talent, knowledge, and finally opportunity."

Sometimes I Read.

So sometimes I do get around to reading the massive collection of books that I've obtained from working in bookstores for five years (somewhere in the ballpark of 250-260...ish). Sometimes. And it always sucks just a little to realize I've had, in my possesion, a really awesome book that's just been sitting around collecting dust.

This is not one of those books. Not one of those books in my collection I mean, it's borrowed actually (what can I say, I have a book obsession) and it is an awesome book. You should read it. Really.

As a bookseller, you'd think I'd be better at promoting books to people. I'm not. So don't go and think this will be some crazy, insightful, inspiring review or anything, cause you will be greatly disappointed.

If you haven't read Carlos Ruiz Zafon's other book, Shadow of the Wind, you should get on that one as well. Both books are a kind of Gothic fiction, I'd say, akin to maybe a Wilkie Collins novel. Great mystery, dark twists, lots of depth when it comes to characterization, and just generally a really, freaking good story line. Angel's Game is the prequel to Shadow of the Wind but I don't think it's necessary to read them in that order. Both have the dark story lines, both take place in Barcelona, and both have a book-lover theme entwined into the story line. Does that make sense? Well you don't have to be well read to get the story, anyways. I'm really wishing they had published more of his novels in English.

Well, seriously, go read this, come back, tell me what you think. Cause I need somebody to go all booknerd with me on this one.

Sometimes I am that cool.

Post Script-I will most definitely need to post up some quotes from this book soon. He has some awesome points on creativity that I need to share. And this would be a fantastic book from my bro in Philly. That right there says a lot about the quality of this book cause he hates fiction and will not read it voluntarily most of the time. He's all about needing to "learn something" when he reads. Pfff. Well The Angel's Game has a whole discussion in it about what makes a religion and why people believe in certain faiths. It's cool and sometimes beyond me. I like that occasionally. See, I'm kinda learning something. A bit of a step up from my usual Shopaholics style reading material. ;)