Shona Sibary, I Have Someone You Should Meet...

Animal lovers across the internet are fuming over a Daily Mail news story about Shona Sibary, a woman who claims she buys puppies and gets rid of them when they are no longer 'cute' and easy to care for. Sibary claims that she spends huge amounts of money to splash out on pet accessories, veterinary operations and the dogs themselves. Some have offered compassion and understanding to this woman saying that the problem is probably rooted in some sort of emotional difficulty. Others have been less forgiving. Being dubbed the new Katie Hopkins/Samantha Brick, she has already faced a huge backlash on Twitter. Dog rescue groups and charities like Dog's Trust have written to her offering to show her the impact of abandonment on dogs... Let me introduce you to someone.

My future mother and father in law will be welcoming this beauty tomorrow and I'm so excited. Can't wait to meet you Bailie! #rescuedog #puppy #dogsofinstagram #beagle #spaniel

A photo posted by Gabrielle Leimon (@gabrielleleimon) on Aug 23, 2015 at 7:07am PDT

This is Bailie. My future mother and father in law just adopted him this week. Someone abandoned him too. He is a real sweetheart but he's got a lot of problems. The dog behaviourist who consulted us before Bailie came home says it's because his owner abandoned him when he was young. It's okay - we're working on it. In fact, he's not the first rescue dog my future in laws have rescued. Before Bailie they had taken in another rescue dog called Dylan. Dylan was an integral part of the family unit, always offering up a cuddle or escorting you around the house in the most gentlemanly fashion. Both dogs, having been abandoned by their previous owners, came with their own problems from having been abandoned. Dylan would howl sometimes, staring out the window as if waiting for someone. If he heard certain soap opera theme tunes he would wail out a sad cry. We never knew anything about his previous owners but we often think these things set him off because they reminded him of his past. My future mother and father in law noted that his ears pricked up and he looked around if anyone ever said the name 'Andrew'. His origins will forever remain a mystery to us as he was handed off to a shelter with no back-story. Bailie, it seems, is a lot happier. He's just a puppy but, as a Spaniel x Beagle cross he got a bit bigger and more boisterous than his previous owner had bargained for. Once he was 'too big' and harder to handle, he was given up. Being part spaniel, his owner found him too energetic and too much to handle. Rather than dealing with his behaviour with training and showing patience, it's just easier to get rid of him, right? He is now living with a lot of anxiety. When someone so much as speaks to him he pees himself unexpectedly and without warning. He can't help it. He also cannot be left alone. He becomes distressed and starts to chew on things and tear them apart. To some, this may not sound like the ideal dog. If Shona Sibary had a dog like this she would have rehomed him pretty quickly by the sound of it. It doesn't seem to have occured to her that dogs, like people, do well with a bit of subtle training. If she's so happy to fork out for her pooch-purchasing habit, why did she not throw some money on a canine behaviourist and dog training classes? Thankfully he came to owners that realised he is a living being, not just something there to be cute and entertain us. Like all living things he has a personality as complex as our own. He wants love and attention and a stable home. Dogs don't understand why they've been abandoned. No one can explain to them why they weren't good enough. Bailie has been adopted by a family that will see his behaviour and offer him patience. He has been taken in by a family that will put in the time to train him and help him work through his problems with as much love and affection as we can possibly give. Sometimes we have to form an orderly queue to do so. My point is that dogs are living things and not some hot commodity. They form an attachment to you and I have seen first hand the heartbreak they endure at being left behind. They cannot comprehend why you left them and it stays with them for life. Shona's dogs probably thought more of her than she did of them. Sure, Shona says that her dogs all have happy homes now (although details of her stories differ), but those dogs probably still wonder why their original family let them go so easily. Dogs, like wine, are good at any age. Last year my beloved pup, Hamish, passed away. I was a child when my parents brought him home and he lived with us until he was old. Two days before my birthday he passed away. I loved him just as much as an old mutt as I did when he was a puppy. Dogs, they say, are man's best friend and I've always found them to astound me with their depth of understanding. Hamish would always seem to sense when I was having a bad day and he would come and sit by my side as if to reassure me. In his old age he was very sick and had lots of health problems but I did not turn my back. I took care of him because that's what friends do. I miss him all the time. I would urge anyone with a heart big enough to adopt an animal from a shelter to give dogs like Shona's a second chance at a forever home with a good, loving family. Many shelters will often accept donations and volunteers to help socialise the dogs in their care. They will never, ever understand why you left them and why they weren't good enough. Now someone hand that woman a Tamagotchi and be done with it...

Who? Where? YOU? THERE?

I'm forever happy to see people all over the world stopping by to read my humble little blog that I started with no major plans for it. Here I am many months later and still raking in views from all over the world.

Here is a list of the countries that have stopped by my blog so far. Thank you for reading and making me feel awesome on a daily basis. Don't forget that you're awesome too:

United Kingdom
Isle of Man
Latvia
Côte d’Ivoire
Iraq
Jamaica
Ghana
Guyana
Luxembourg
Brunei
Guernsey
Bangladesh 
Lithuania
Nigeria
Bahrain
Mauritius
United Arab Emirates
Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe
Pakistan
Macedonia [FYROM]
Singapore
Israel
Colombia
Thailand
Qatar
Nepal
South Africa
Trinidad and Tobago
Georgia
Peru
Moldova
Taiwan
Mongolia
Estonia
Kuwait
Croatia
Slovenia
Saudi Arabia
Portugal
Hungary
Norway
Tunisia
Belarus
Morocco
Poland
Azerbaijan
United States
Germany
South Korea
Brazil
India
Indonesia
Finland
Argentina
Puerto Rico
Bulgaria
Greece
Cambodia
Sweden
Mexico
Turkey
Romania
Serbia
Philippines
Japan
Canada
Netherlands
Spain
Venezuela
Chile
Switzerland
Italy
Ireland
Egypt
France
Malta
China
Hong Kong (as special administrative region of the People's Republic of China)
Vietnam
Malaysia
Czech Republic
Russia
Ukraine
Australia
New Zealand
Belgium
Denmark
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Argentina

New Years Resolutions 2015: A Review

Hello!
Earlier this year I wrote up a few New Years Resolutions for 2015. I have decided to re-visit those resolutions to see how I've done so that I can endeavour to complete everything on the list for a successful year. Let's review....

Learn to say YES.

Everyone always seems to regret not taking risks. In hindsight we see they may have lead to something good. I feel that I need to learn to say yes and be more pro-active. I've lost out to many job opportunities because I forgot to respond to them by just thinking 'Eh, I will keep the window open in my browser and get to it later,' but when later comes, the position has been filled. Like in the film "Yes Man" I want to learn to say yes and grab opportunities when I see them. This could mean going on more nights out or taking up extra shifts or anything that could benefit me somehow.

How have I done with this?
I've tried to be a little bit more spontaneous. I go out more upon invitation, I've tried to pursue opportunities. I could be better though. Now we're in August so I have a few more months to say 'yes' a lot more.

Procrastinate less, do more.

This really follows on from the last one. I probably lost hundreds of hours to procrastination in 2014. All those times I went to sit down and write a novel and ended up on Tumblr or Pinterest or YouTube. I have so many things that I want to achieve and I will only do this if I kick my procrastinating ways. I need to focus on my work this year because I feel that this year could be a big one for me.

Well it's been tough. I work a lot. I mean a LOT. You'll see why when we get to the final point. I've not had much time to do anything so I have procrastinated less and have therefore become so much more organised with my time. I would say I've procrastinated a lot less and have really learned a lot about how to manage myself and to organise my time well.

Write a thing.

I want to write a thing. Any thing. A book thing. A script thing. An anthology thing. Anything. I want it done by the end of 2015.

Again, I have tried. I spectacularly missed out on NaNoWriMo even though I really wanted to take part. I work two jobs full time so there's not much time to write. I am about 27,000 words into a project and I'm hoping to have more time but it is hard when you work as much and as often as I do.

Travel

I want to at least go somewhere outside of England. Just once. I meant to last year but work and personal restraints held me back. Hopefully, this year will be the year...

I haven't left the UK so far this year. I do, however, have plans to make one or two trips later in the year when winter rolls around. I'm hoping to do a mini-break with my family in Berlin and hoping to do a trip with my partner to Italy or France. Again, work has been a priority this year

Make a career change

I have been in my current job for over a year now and I can safely say that, although I've enjoyed some aspects of my time here, it's not the job I was aiming for when I left university. Now it is time to find the job I want, the job I'm qualified to do. This may mean working at my current job as well as a new job and doing both simultaneously. This may be one big career move altogether. I've not decided yet but let's see what the New Year brings...

This is the one I have already succeeded in pretty hard. The job I mentioned in the previous paragraph is one I've been working at for a year and a half now, maybe more, and I am still there. I was up for a promotion there at my old job. A few days before the promotion interview I was offered a job elsewhere. This job offer was a salaried position. Obviously I took the job. I had my own desk, a good salary, won many of the incentives and competitions. However the job wasn't working for me so I resigned. It was scary - I'd never written a letter of resignation before. I was scared but I knew I had to resign. I was working an hour away from where I live and worked long hours - there was no way I was going to ever get enough time to make a job interview closer to home when I worked so far away. I resigned and applied to several jobs. I actually received quite a high level of positive response. Quite a few jobs wanted to arrange an interview or discuss the role further. I landed an interview a day or so after leaving my old office job and, within seven days of my resignation/leaving, I landed a new job. This new job is closer to home so no long commute! The new job is an area of interest to me with excellent career progression and I could not be happier.


Having reviewed everything I think I've done well. I'm on track. I just need a holiday and some time to write and it'll all be grand. Fingers crossed...

How To Cope With A Job You Hate

Unless you're extraordinarily lucky, you've probably had an awful job at some point. Maybe it was a fine job to start out with but things took a turn later. Maybe it was the only job going and you had to take it but hated every moment. Perhaps you're waiting on tables and scrubbing cutlery whilst applying for something better morning, noon and night. It's a truly tough thing to handle when you're trapped in a job that you cannot stand. Never fear! If you're heading to work, shoulders hunched, carrying your briefcase as you cast your weary gaze to the ground then read over some of these suggestions. As someone who previously got out of a job I hated, I'd been trying to do whatever I could to find something better and would advise anyone else to do the same.

• See what you can get out of your current job. Try to make the most of what you have in the moment. If you've got to be there, make it work for you. If you're working at the bottom of a large company, try to take on more responsibilities and make yourself useful. It could lead to a promotion which you could use when applying for other jobs. It could make you look more impressive when you go into interviews if you can show that you're up for taking on new tasks and making the most of your time in a job.
• See if you could be transferred to a different role, department or location/branch of the company. It offers some security whilst also changing your situation and surroundings. 
• If your job is dull, and you yourself are a creative person, find ways to make the day less dull. Perhaps this is to introduce office games to get people to be more competitive in their work environment. 
• Maybe you're in a job you hate not because you hate the work, but because you hate the people or the way you're treated. If you're being mistreated at work you do not have to accept it. Find out how to lodge complaints and don't be afraid to speak up about what you're experiencing. Join a union. Find the courage to speak up. Is your supervisor singling you out? Speak to a manager. Does your manager mess around the staff? Speak to the rest of your co-workers and, if they feel the same, make a plan of action because you' together are probably stronger than your manager. 
• Utilise your lunch break. Are you working a job to pay bills, but have secret dreams of becoming a writer or and artist or something you so rarely have time to pursue? Harness your break time and try to put it towards all the other stuff you want to achieve but neglect. Write your novel over your lunch time tune bagel. Look at improv classes you could attend and work on some material whilst you wait for the barista to bring over your coffee. Don't let those spare moments of the day go by and become utterly wasted. Finding balance is important. Work towards the thing you've always wanted to do in the scraps of spare time you're given. 
• NETWORK. Go out into the world and boast your skills and see if someone takes interest in your passions and skills. Often, in the world of work, it's about who you know. 
• Hate your job? Why not look into cutting your hours and working part time there and getting a different part time job elsewhere? If it's a possibility then it means you're halving your time spent in a negative space. Who knows? Something could come from that other part time job. It adds another place of employment to your CV and boosts future employability.
• Until recently, I myself was in a job that I loathed. My co-workers and I were all unhappy and we banded together in the knowledge that we all could do better and were wasting our time chasing pennies on a minimum wage job that treated us like dirt with management that actually bullied us and made us feel awful. Despite all we did to try to improve things there, nothing ever changed. What happened next was beautiful. We all rallied together to help each other find new jobs that suited our skills and interests and within two months a third of us had new, better jobs that actually made us happy. We're all still helping the others to get out into new jobs. Things then became interesting. The sudden 'abandon ship' movement made our management team see that, perhaps they were doing something wrong. They began trying to reach out and offer whatever they could to the members of staff that they still had left, but it was too late. Those that are still there are soon to be on the way out. Many have interviews and apprenticeships lined up. By next month, half of their staff will have gone and they are currently having to scrape around to find roughly seven new staff members. If you work somewhere in which it is universally loathed by the staff, realise that you are stronger as a team and your management team need you more than you need them. Think back on the protests of McDonalds workers who rallied together to ask for a raise of their minimum wage. You are always stronger when united as a team than as individuals. If you all hate your jobs, join together to see how you can all change to fix it.  Our management may not have cared too much about us, but thankfully we all cared enough about each other.
• Consider a full turn around. Work in your loathed job for as long as you can stick it and quit. Then go work abroad and completely change your surroundings. I know that this option isn't always affordable or possible for people, but changing your surroundings may be the therapeutic change that you need. 
• For every day you have to go to work at a job you dislike, apply for three jobs. If there aren't a lot of jobs in your area then try to do three things that could help you achieve any other goals or dreams that could lead to something more for you. Always wanted to write a novel? Write a chapter each day. Dream of recording a CD on the side? Each day, spend thirty minutes writing music. For every day you have to turn up for a job that doesn't satisfy you, try to seek out ways to pursue something that WILL satisfy you.

If you've read this because you're currently stuck in a job you hate then I wish, from the bottom of my heart, that you find a better career soon.

Book Review: The Dinner by Herman Koch

I recently read The Dinner by Herman Koch and though I'd write a quick review.

The premise of the book? Four adults meet over dinner to discuss a truly urgent matter. Their children have been caught on CCTV committing a horrifying act. At present, no one has linked the crime back to the children in question. The only ones who know are their parents. How far will the love of a parent go when it comes to their children? As parents, how forgiving can you be when your children have done something so appalling? It offers up some interesting questions and throws in some surprising turns. Without giving away too much, this is a truly interesting character piece as we slowly unfold the nature of the characters between courses at a painfully fancy restaurant. As far as thrillers go, it is a slow burner and more of a character piece but it is an intriguing read which, hopefully, will leave you with some strong opinions at the end.

Side note: Should this be made into a movie, I vote Carice Van Houten for the role of Claire.

As a meal, I found this book to be substantial enough that it hit the spot, but I found myself still craving the sweet and juicy details of a dessert. That is to say that the book was fine but at no point did I feel myself completely sinking my teeth into it and savouring it, looking to order another plate of it.

Life Update.

Hi blog-people,

Yes. It's me. I am here. I'm not asking for applause, that's fine, stop clapping. No, sir, put your pants on...

I haven't really been here in a long time. My life has been a weird whirlwind of good and bad and changes.... I fed the penguins at London Zoo I saw RuPaul's Battle of the Seasons, I got a new job! It's all change here. I'm going to try to get back into writing here if possible, but I shouldn't really make any promises. If you've been checking in, thank you. I am going to try. It's all I can promise.

BOOK REVIEW: The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer

I've been a fan of Amanda Palmer for some time. I first became aware of her when my friend played me some Dresden Dolls songs back in high school and I've been listening to her ever since.

This book was incredibly enjoyable and empowering. As a human being and an artist it really prompted me to think about myself and to reflect inwards. Why are we so afraid to ask for things? We can ask for little things
'Can you pass me that pen?'
'Do you want to come out with us tonight?'
'Could you hold this for me?'
Asking for something bigger is harder. This book made me think of a documentary I watched called Miss Representation which openly discussed how women approach roles of power. We are so often taught to expect less, to not ask for things, to be thankful for what we have and not seek out that which is better. Women are discouraged from pursuing roles of power. If you can, I would highly recommend watching that documentary. It's on Netflix. It makes a great companion to The Art of Asking. This book serves partly as an autobiographical work that follows Amanda's career over the years whilst also offering lashings of self help, advice and pearls of wisdom. This book is so candid which makes it easy to read. The whole thing feels informal, like talking to a friend and receiving words of advice. It comes with a real warmth that is almost conversational. This book has the potential to change your life.

I started to wonder: why do I always apply for jobs I feel are appropriate for me rather than aiming higher? Why don't I ask for a promotion? Why don't I ask the people around me to help and support me as an artist? Whether you're an artist or not this is a hugely important and empowering book to read. I want all of the people in my life to read this and to learn that it's not afraid to go out into the world and just ask. What's the worst that could happen? Click on the widget below to get your own copy:

 

REVIEW: Jupiter Ascending: What A Pretty Bunch of Space Bullshit

Oh boy....

I saw Jupiter Ascending with high hopes. It looked like a visually stunning film that follows an empowered female protagonist. I suppose that much is somewhat true. It is a beautifully presented movie and there is some argument that it's an empowering film about a female protagonist who won the genetic lottery and essentially owns the Earth. That said, this movie was a hot mess.

One cringe worthy moment was when Channing Tatum conveniently left his shirt behind.... ON ANOTHER PLANET.

One of my biggest pet peeves is how people conveniently fall in "love" very quickly in films. I feel it cheapens love. It makes it seem easy rather than a deep, romantic connection. Jupiter Jones quickly falls in love with Caine because, what? Because he's beefy and typically attractive? It's sloppy writing and unrealistic. They had absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. Similarly I was annoyed that they did the whole forced marriage cliché. Following Guardians of The Galaxy, a summer Blockbuster that was a successful space romp, this film falls so flat. I think that the delayed release of the film built a hype around it that the film could not live up to.

I have so many questions about this movie that were never answered.
What happened to Sean Bean's daughter? Did she come back from the store and realise her Dad had run off to another planet and left her behind? Is she even ok?
What was happening when Titus Abrasax was floating in the air with those women? Was it some sort of crazy, floating sex orgy?
So after aliens destroy and Earth city they can magically wipe all of our minds of the incident and fix damage and buildings? No, I'm not sold on that one. It feels like lazy writing.
Why did Balem sound like he had been punched in the throat? Who punched Eddie Redmayne in the throat?
Why on Earth would a woman sell her eggs so flippantly, just because her cousin asked her to?
When the wedding scene is happening are they suggesting that marriage exists beyond Earth? If so, are they lazy enough to suggest all vows and ceremonies are the same or is Titus following Earth wedding standards to please his human bride? Even in Space, marriage is a method of social security. Not very empowering....
What the heck was up with Nesh? His character wasnt explained and suddenly there's an elephant faced loon trumpeting at me and I freaking lost it in the cinema and started laughing obnoxiously because at that point I officially gave up with this movie.

My verdict on this film? It's just a bunch of space bullshit, but it's pretty space bullshit

Speak Your Mind

I've noticed that, even in my absence, this blog has drawn in some comments from new readers.

It's all very exciting. I certainly didn't expect it. I openly encourage people to leave comments and messages on my blog post and to begin discussion. Also please share any blog posts you like with friends and invite them to discuss. If you want to chat, click on the pencil icon beneath individual blog posts or tweet me.

Where Have I Been?

Hey, blog readers!
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
I've not been blogging much. In fact I've not been blogging at all, really. This is down to a few things. It has been a busy month. I'm working almost non stop having been running interviews and training sessions single handedly. I don't have a lot of free time and when I do, I find I rarely have the inspiration to write. I always say I'll be a better blogger soon but we can't bank on that. Also we recently got a puppy. I'll do a little write up on her soon. She takes up a lot of my energy and attention. In fact, as I write this, she is asleep on my lap. It was my birthday the other day, the 23rd of February, which has prompted a lot of thought. I'm currently contemplating some changes for my future. I'll be spending a lot of time over the next month pondering what that change will be....

Stigma and Glamourisation of Mental Illness.

This is something I've been thinking about on and off for a while. The other day my sister was excited about something (the album release of her favourite band) and, to express such excitement, kept saying things like:

"I'm so freaking excited. I'm actually mentally unstable right now."
"They've released a teaser for the new music video and I think I'm actually having a mental breakdown. I can't even handle it!"
"The album has been pre-ordered... I'm so mentally unstable right now!"

It's not the first time I've seen people jokingly suggesting that, because they're merely excited about something, that this equates a lack of mental stability. I've actually heard this kind of language a lot over the past year or so. People often joke that they are 'having a nervous breakdown' or joke about suicide over trivial things. If anything I think it a little offensive and disrespectful to those who do have mental impairments and psychological difficulties. Those who actually live with psychological difficulties aren't likely to go around flaunting it because we are the ones who have to live with such problems. They can vastly impact every corner of our lives. I've seen plenty of people online joke about being mentally unstable because they are excited about things. It doesn't feel appropriate to use language associated with mental illness as a verbal intensifier or to further your point. It seems to be a weird by-product of fangirl culture: the idea of hyping things up and becoming excited is seen as typical fangirl behaviour and yet it prompts me to wonder if such a response is truly healthy. I think, as a society, we need to just reconsider how we talk about mental health as it can add to stigma and trivialise very serious things that people have to deal with on a daily basis...

My Oscar Predictions! Who will win the Academy Awards 2015?

Alright, the Oscar buzz is rife this year

Although it's early, I was fortunate enough to have seen a majority of the films leading the Oscar nominations this year so I wanted to highlight the ones that I would choose from each category with a little summary on why I think this. I've sadly not seen all of them. I missed out on Boyhood and Foxcatcher but I shall do my best. My frontrunners are highlighted in bold and I discuss what I want to win and which films I think could take the award home. Here we go...

The Nominees for BEST PICTURE:
 
"American Sniper" (Clint Eastwood)
"Boyhood" (Richard Linklater)
"Birdman" (Alejandro González Iñárritu) 
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Wes Anderson)
"The Imitation Game" (Morten Tyldum)
"Selma" (Ava DuVernay)
"The Theory of Everything" (James Marsh)
"Whiplash" (Damien Chazelle)

My thoughts: I feel like American Sniper could be a real favourite this year. It feels like something that the Academy usually likes but as a film I wasn't too sure about it. I'd be much happier seeing either Selma, Boyhood or Birdman win. Although I want Selma to win it has been snubbed quite a bit. Either the snub-fest will continue and it won't win or maybe the Academy will, seeing the backlash they've had for not nominating David Oyelowo and other participants of the film, they may hand over the award to avoid criticism. I want the film to win I just don't think it will. Considering the other films I think Boyhood is clearly deserving of a win purely because of the pure time and effort they sank into making this film. It was a real commitment and a labour of love. I really enjoyed Birdman and I'd like to see Hollywood putting out more like this: films that serve style AND substance rather than cheap, regurgitated razzle dazzle. I really enjoyed The Grand Budapest Hotel but I feel like Selma has more heart and a whole heap of current cultural relevance. Although I enjoyed The Imitation Game it missed the mark for me as I feel it rushed through certain parts and was missing that emotive appeal. I had hoped to see Wild in this category. Or, you know, maybe a story with a female protagonist at all... That said I kinda would love to see Selma win. I don't think that it has been released in the UK so I've  not seen it but the trailer is promising and the buzz around it seems to suggest that this is a film people have highly appreciated. 

Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Micheal Keaton for Birdman
Steve Carell for Foxcatcher 
Eddie Redmayne for Theory of Everything
Bradley Cooper for American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game

Birdman is one of my favourite films of 2015 but I think that the real contenders here are Eddie Redmayne and Steve Carell. Redmayne has had so much positive praise for this performance so I think his odds are good. The Academy sure do love Bradley Cooper. I just don't feel that Cooper's performance rivals that of either Carell or Redmayne. I think that Eddie Redmayne will take it because, from what I've seen of the film, the boy did his research and gave a compelling and realistic performance. Benedict Cumberbatch was good but, apart from his accent, I don't feel his portrayal of Alan Turing was too far from his usual demeanour. 

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Julianne Moore for Still Alice
Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl
Felicity Jones for Theory of Everything
Reese Witherspoon for Wild
Marion Cotillard for Two Days One Night

I sadly have not seen Still Alice or Two Days One Night. I love Julianne Moore and Marion Cotillard so I'm sure they gave wonderful performances. Have you seen La Vie En Rose? Marion is wonderful. Julianne Moore's performance is said to be outstanding. Based on what I've seen I'd place my bet on Reese Witherspoon (with Felicity Jones coming in at a close second) because she really made me feel something with her performance and I think she explored a lot of things she hadn't before.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

I've actually only seen one of the films in this category so I'm going to take a risk and guess that it would be J.K Simmons for Whiplash.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Meryl Streep for Into The Woods
Keira Knightley for Imitation Game
Laura Dern for Wild 
Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Emma Stone for Birdman

I have seen all of these but Boyhood. I loved Meryl Streep in Into The Woods. I love Meryl Streep in anything and the woman has been nominated so many times. I'd really love to see her get another win. Laura Dern warmed my heart in Wild but I'm not sure if it would earn her a win. It's possible. It's a win I'd be happy with. Emma Stone was cool as a cucumber, just as expected. I'm thinking that Patricia Arquette could take this one. 

Best Original Screenplay

Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler
Although I think that Birdman could take this one, as it certainly deserves to, I think Nightcrawler could also have a shot at it. Nightcrawler was such a wonderful film. It landed in my top five films of 2014. It's so powerful and nerve-shredding and I wanted to see it get more love from the Academy. So Nightcrawler or Birdman for me...

Best Adapted Screenplay

Inherent Vice
Imitation Game
Whiplash
American Sniper
Theory of Everything

I've not seen Whiplash or Inherent Vice so I'm thinking the Academy would love Imitation Game and Theory of Everything. I've gone for the one with more heart...

Wild: Review + Response

This week I went to see Wild. This film has garnered Academy Award nominations for Reese Witherspoon in the Best Actress category and one for Laura Dern in the Best Actress in a Supporting role category. This film made me want to quit my job and go on a three month hike. Yes, really.

So what is it about?
After her marriage dissolves due to her infidelity and heroine addiction, Cheryl needs to change. She has been running from her grief for a long time: she accepts how deeply the death of her mother has impacted her. Her mother had been her best friend and, since her death, Cheryl feels she has lost herself. She decides to walk herself back to the woman her mother raised her to be. She walks to shake off her grief and the weight of her mistakes in order to find redemption. With no experience and limited funds she sets out on a hike that takes her three months to complete. Travelling alone, against the odds and tackling the weather and the wilderness, Cheryl is pushed to her limits and is forced to learn the true meaning of endurance. This is not your classic 'road trip' story: it's more about overcoming hardship whilst being set against the great American wilderness.

The film is tense. There are scenes that really address the  worries of being a lone female traveller in some very tense scenes. Witherspoon masterfully displays the joys and the horrors of such a journey. This could be a really good stepping stone in Reese Witherspoon's career. This film is a poignant masterpiece. I think it's a testament to the strength of the film if you go out and immediately buy the book...

2014 in Photos.

One of my resolutions for 2014 was to get into photography. I got an Instagram account and that actually made me start thinking more about how to capture the every day moments we experience more often. I played around with cameras and took lots of photos whilst out on walks. I think I'm going to make a real effort to continue trying to capture little snippets of my life. I want something to look back on throughout my life. I collected a bunch of my photos from 2014 and made a short video to try and encapsulate the spirit of  2014 and what it was like for me.

Here is my 2014 in pictures, all in under 3 minutes.
I've got to be honest, this is a highly cut down collection of images that I'd collected this year but I feel that it captures a lot of 2014 for me. Please watch and, if you're interested, subscribe to my YouTube channel as I aim to start putting up more stuff in the not too distant future...

2015 Reading Goals

I recently saw this great post on Buzzfeed called "2015 Reading Goals" which asked people what their reading goals were for this year and they asked people to tweet back their responses.

Some read:

"Read more non-white women writers"

"Explore Russian literature,"

"Read one book a week"

"Quit social media to read more"

"Read all of Shakespeare's sonnets"

What are your 2015 reading goals?
What books are you looking forward to reading in 2015?
Let me know in the comments section or tweet me your answer with the hashtag #2014ReadingGoals

Annie: Review + Response

So I recently went to see 'Annie' in the cinema and, although it has received mixed reviews, I really enjoyed it. Perhaps I enjoyed it because I didn't like the original. In our culture we often fear remakes: will it piss on the memory of the film we loved? Will it do the story justice? So many hated this film because they held the original so dear to their hearts. I, however, had no beloved film to hold onto and I entered with low expectations. This film is a very modern, trendy version that has been jazzed up for the audience of today.

Quvenzhané Wallis plays a precocious and instantly likeable Annie. She radiates charm so effortlessly and as a child actor I wish her all the best with her future career. Whether she stays in acting or moves onto something else at a later date I feel that she has a good path ahead of her. She is so poised and full of talent and charm. An obvious appeal to this film is the reverse white-washing and to be frank I want to see this sort of thing more. The world is ready for a black Bond. We want to see The Doctor played by an actor who isn't white. We want diversity. We need it. We crave it. I so desperately want this film to show the media how to do it I think we just need open auditions or casting calls where anyone can audition and anyone can be considered for the part. Cameron Diaz gives an awkward performance as Miss Hannigan, though this is probably down to the character herself. As far as musicals go I actually enjoyed this more than Into The Woods. I loved all of the unexpected cameos: Rihanna, Mila Kunis, Sia. Sia's work on the soundtrack was most welcome.  It had such a quirky, modern sense of humour and the bit that made me laugh hardest happened in the first twenty seconds of the film. If you've seen it, you know what I mean....

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!

One thing I'm trying this year is to cut down on the amount of fizzy drinks I consume. There are so many health risks with soda and fizzy drinks including heart disease, risk of Type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and even cancer. I am currently weaning myself off with tea and coffee. I've been drinking a lot of loose leaf teas and herbal teas. I try to keep my tea varied as different teas can offer different health benefits. Click here to read an article I wrote a while back on the health benefits of different kinds of tea. I'm drinking a lot of black coffee at the minute, sometimes with the occasional latte, but I've stopped drinking sugary Starbucks coffees like some of those chocolate cream frappuccino things. I'm trying to drink coffee as healthily as possible whilst also taking great care to ensure it's not staining my teeth. So far I'm doing a lot better than expected. Hopefully I'll be able to cut down my intake of fizzy drinks. There are far less calories in tea and coffee anyway.

30 Book Challenge 2015

Alrighty.

So this is a challenge that I tried to do last year and I failed. Miserably. I worked so much and so much of my time was taken up that I utterly ran out of time for reading. I'd get home, crack open a book and fall asleep within the first few pages. That said, I wish to read more in 2015. I truly do. I've decided to do the 30 Book challenge again and this year I aim to succeed. I shall then write a review of each book after reading it and give you my recommendations. I got so many wonderful books for Christmas and it'd be a great thing to read them all this year. I feel really positive about this. Fingers crossed! Watch this space...

New Years Resolutions.

Good morning, readers.

This is, I believe, my second year doing this. Having recently discussed the resolutions from 2014 that I had set out for myself, it's time for new resolutions for the year ahead.

Learn to say YES.

Everyone always seems to regret not taking risks. In hindsight we see they may have lead to something good. I feel that I need to learn to say yes and be more pro-active. I've lost out to many job opportunities because I forgot to respond to them by just thinking 'Eh, I will keep the window open in my browser and get to it later,' but when later comes, the position has been filled. Like in the film "Yes Man" I want to learn to say yes and grab opportunities when I see them. This could mean going on more nights out or taking up extra shifts or anything that could benefit me somehow.

Procrastinate less, do more.

This really follows on from the last one. I probably lost hundreds of hours to procrastination in 2014. All those times I went to sit down and write a novel and ended up on Tumblr or Pinterest or YouTube. I have so many things that I want to achieve and I will only do this if I kick my procrastinating ways. I need to focus on my work this year because I feel that this year could be a big one for me.

Write a thing.

I want to write a thing. Any thing. A book thing. A script thing. An anthology thing. Anything. I want it done by the end of 2015.

Travel

I want to at least go somewhere outside of England. Just once. I meant to last year but work and personal restraints held me back. Hopefully, this year will be the year...

Make a career change

I have been in my current job for over a year now and I can safely say that, although I've enjoyed some aspects of my time here, it's not the job I was aiming for when I left university. Now it is time to find the job I want, the job I'm qualified to do. This may mean working at my current job as well as a new job and doing both simultaneously. This may be one big career move altogether. I've not decided yet but let's see what the New Year brings...

Blogging Break

Hello bloglets!

I've decided to take a little time away from the blog to give myself a break. I am a true believer in the power of the New Year. I love all the vibes and positivity of a new year where people are really trying to better themselves. I am currently sitting down and having a good think about what I want from this year and am taking time to plan ahead. I need some time to just relax. Today is the first day I've had in about two weeks where I'm home and I have no other commitments. I've been rushing back between work and parties and different houses. I've just worked eight days in a row. I need a good day off to just relax. Well, as much as I can possibly relax as I'm using today to start a new job hunt. Tomorrow I shall post up my New Years Resolutions as I forgot to do so previously. Thank you for your patience and constant readership. You are appreciated.

Now to relax for a few days....

Happy New Year!

2015 is here!
I wish you all the warmth and goodness that the next year can bring.
I hope your resolutions are achieved and that the year provides much joy for you. I send out love to all of my readers, whether you've read once or if you're a daily reader, you're great.