I'm writing my thank you notes to relatives and friends today. I had great intentions to be very creative and make my own, but unfortunately my time is somewhat limited at the moment - university vacations are flying by, and I realised this morning that I've got about a week and half to write 5,000 words (2 essays). Ah. Pre-made thank you notes it is, then... but I need pretty ones at least.
Hello Cath Kidston, my first, obvious choice (as I honestly believe that shop could have been made for me). Looking a bit further afield though, Paperchase and John Lewis do some great notecards. Or a personal, more local favourite is Brighton's Pen to Paper, a gorgeous little stationery shop tucked away in the winding Lanes, where, along with every kind of moleskine item you might ever want, you can buy things like this (I am in love with the Alice in Wonderland journal):
Ten things I want to accomplish/experience in 2010:
- To continue to have a very loving and very successful relationship with my wonderful boyfriend.
- To graduate with a good degree and get a job in PR or publishing.
- To finish writing my first novel, and to write it well.
- To start taking piano lessons.
- To rediscover ballet dancing; to practice it and perhaps even take classes.
- To travel somewhere interesting and feel like I'm exploring something new.
- To begin to master film photography.
- To get back into theatre, and to take part in (at least) some amateur dramatics.
- To learn a new language and to keep up with the ones I already know (Spanish, German).
- To continue with this blog, and to make it a good and interesting read.
10 things, 1 year. Let's see how it goes.
Oh hello Diana Mini!
My Christmas wish came true and Father Christmas bought me a Diana Mini, along with 8 rolls of 35mm film to experiment with. Very very exciting! I've nearly used my first roll of film already, and will soon be getting them developed and seeing if any have come out, or if they're all pretty awful (I'm fully expecting the latter option).
Very cool to have made that first step into film photography though, and Lomography at that.
On top of that, yesterday my dear Grandad gave me one of his old film cameras that he was about to get rid of. So say hello to my Zenit 3m, my new 35mm, 40 year-old, Russian-made SLR camera. Huge, heavy, most definitely vintage, and ever so cool.
Photos from both cameras (hopefully) to follow in the next few weeks.
I had a wonderful, successful, family-orientated Christmas period this year, in which I had two turkey dinners, six desserts, a lot of wine, champagne and malibu, and consumed at least half of my bodyweight in Lindt chocolate. Just as Christmas should be, then.
I was fortunate that everyone I gave presents to seemed to like them this year, and I was also lucky enough receive a lot of lovely presents in return. Aside from something camera-related and so exciting it deserves its own post, I unwrapped cosmetics, wooly socks, two adorable beret hats (one white, one black, both sequinned), two pairs of earrings and two necklaces, chocolate, a couple of gift vouchers... Oh yes, and a whole lot of books, including Spoken Here - Mark Abley; The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson; The Seeds of Speech - Jean Aitchison; Vanishing Voices - Romaine & Nettle and Through the Lens - a collection of some of the best-ever National Geographic photos.
And so with that, let me present you with my personalised definitive must-read list for (at least the first few months of) 2010:
- Dissolution - C. J. Samson
- The White Queen - Philippa Gregory
- The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson
- West of the Wall - Marcia Preston
- Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
- Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
- The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse
- The Call of the Weird - Louis Theroux
- Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
- Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
- Kommandant's Girl - Pam Jenoff
- Glamorous Powers - Susan Howatch
- Spoken Here - Mark Abley
Sunday Read for this week: The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite (Beatrice Colin).
This is an amazing book, and has recently seemed to gain a huge amount of accolade. I'd love to say that this is what drove me to read it, but in actual fact, I just picked this up in a bookshop on a whim. During the summer, I had a long commute to work of two hours each way, and I ended up reading every book I owned. I found myself with all of about five minutes in a bookshop before my train was due, so I quickly read the blurb, thought it sounded readable, and away I went with my shiny new copy of The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite.
Good thing I did! It turned out to be a fantastic read; one of those books that transported me away from my dull packed train to the seemingly wonderful yet depressing world of Berlin at the turn of the century.
The novel follows the ever-changing life of Lilly Aphrodite (such a wonderful name for a heroine), complexly juxtaposing desperation and poverty with glamour and fame. Although a work of fiction, the book is nonetheless historically realistic and offers the reader a highly plausible insight into the capital of Germany under the Weimar Republic. It was, by all accounts, a time of extreme hardship, which to the author's credit, Lilly's life reflects - she is raised in an orphanage, raped by wealthy employers, and spends much of the novel surviving on next to no food. While this admittedly could have made for a rather dreary read (indeed, at times it's hard not to feel quite depressed by the girl's desperate situation), the author offers the reader some light relief in its uplifting focus on Lilly's career, as she emerges as a glamorous and successful black and white film actress. Ultimately, it is with this increasing portrayal of her infamy in society that the novel begins to lose its sense of realism and probably its high level of impact upon the reader, but all in all this story offers a powerful message about growing up in a time and place which seems to be all too often overlooked in literature. Lilly grows up in desperately hard circumstances, and her story is predominantly one of extreme suffering, mixed with a passionate yet ultimately failing romance, and rather a lot of glitz and glamour. Beautifully written, this is really one of those books that you just need to read.
Top of my Christmas wish list this year: the Diani Mini. I really love Lomo photography and want to try my hand at it, but not having a Lomo camera is a bit of a problem. Hence this amazing little camera on my wish list.
Here's the spec:
- Square and rectangular half-frame formats at the flick of a switch
- Takes all types of 35mm film
- Shoots up to 72 shots per film on half-frame mode
- Shoots up to 36 shots per film on square mode
- Requires standard 35mm film development
- Ultra-compact and pocket-sized
- Multiple exposure functionality
- ‘B’ mode for long exposures
- Cable release attachment – a Diana first!
- Sunny and cloudy exposure settings
- Overlap frames across photos for endless abstract panorama
Let's just hope Father Christmas gets the hint and it turns up under the tree!
Um, or failing that, I wouldn't mind this:
I've become slightly addicted recently to a BBC3 programme called School of Saatchi. 6 young aspiring contemporary artists compete for Saatchi's attention and some incredible prizes. The series has got me hooked, despite my general dislike for contemporary art. I'd love to make out like I'm really cultured here, but unmade beds, a shark in a tank - I get it, but just don't like it.
That said, I adore Antony Gormley's work.
He's well known for the Angel of the North, but he's done so much more than that. I went to an exhibition of his at the Hayward gallery in London a couple of years ago with my ex, who was heavily into art. I was skeptical going, but of all the exhibitions I've seen, it's the one that probably sticks in my mind the most. What appeals to me is how a lot of his work is public - surely every London resident has seen one of his statues on a rooftop at least once.
My favourite part of his 2007 exhibition at the Hayward gallery was Blind Light, a large transparent glass box filled with what can only be described as cloud, and vivid, bright white light. Visitors were invited to venture into the box, through the one opening which functions as both an entrance and exit. Inside, it was immediately apparent why those with nervous dispositions or heart conditions are not allowed to experience it - it was incredibly disorientating, scary, bizarre - and quite wonderful. With visibility so poor that you could barely see your hands in front of you, people walked around blinded by bright white light, somewhat struggling to breath as the cool white cloud seemingly engulfed each person. I wandered around for ages in wonder - it felt like I was the only person in the world and as though I was literally walking inside a cloud - I can only describe it as euphoric.
Antony Gormley is one of 30 contemporary artists displaying work in an exhibition at the Royal Academy, which runs until the end of January. Is my wonder at Gormley enough to lure me to a whole contemporary art exhibition - me, a complete contemporary art skeptic? I'm beginning to think it might well be.
In my procrasination from third year university work, I've been daydreaming of holidaying in far-away places. Icelandair have a fantastic offer on at the moment for a 4 day, 3 night break to Reykjavik, staying in a 3 star hotel with a trip to the Blue Lagoon included. £269 - if only I didn't have over 5,000 words to write over Christmas and an empty bank account, I'd be on the next plane out there.
Lovely chicken escalope with a twist.
I've been trying to perfect my cooking skills lately, and am pleased to report that this is a dish I've managed to cook well on a few occasions now. Get chicken breast fillets, dust them with homemade breadcrumbs mixed with a dash of sage, and fry them gently on both sides until they start to brown. Separately, fry cherry tomatoes, garlic and sweet onions, and add some mixed herbs. Spoon the cherry tomatoes, garlic and sweet onion mixture onto the chicken and cook in the oven for fifteen minutes or so, adding slices of buffalo mozzarella on top of the chicken halfway through cooking, so it melts on top. Serve with sautéed potatoes and some green beans or spinach. Easy.
I'm writing my thank you notes to relatives and friends today. I had great intentions to be very creative and make my own, but unfortunately my time is somewhat limited at the moment - university vacations are flying by, and I realised this morning that I've got about a week and half to write 5,000 words (2 essays). Ah. Pre-made thank you notes it is, then... but I need pretty ones at least.
