Going in Circles

I don't know about other people, but I've always found that I find something and latch onto it.  I almost become obsessed as I consume whatever it is.  Usually it's a specific craft, or perhaps a tv show, or an actress.  I will spend hours online finding about it, reading interviews and looking at pictures.  But then the phrase is over and I move onto something else.  I do find that there are some things that I always seem to come back to though - writing and cross-stitch.  I have to say I think they are the true essence of me, but rarely at the same time.  I have spent the past few months stitching almost constantly.  And now suddenly I find myself not really in the mood for it.  Instead, I want to write

Yesterday I publicly declared on twitter that I am writing again.  I started a short story and am hoping to finish it.  If I do, it will be the first story I've ever finished without having to finish it.  You see, I'm a chronic non-finisher.  I'll start something but, usually around the middle, I lose interest and start something else.  I'm wondering if that's partly to do with my obsession circle.  The thing with crafts (especially cross-stitch) is that I'm unlikely to not finish, simply because when I start again I can just pick up from where I left off.  I guess I could do that with writing too, but I honestly don't know how.

I'm sure this ramble is beginning to either not make sense or just be going round in circles (apparently I do it in my writing as well as in life).  But basically, despite mostly being in a writing mode I'm going to try and continue stitching.  I doubt I'll stitch for hours as I've been known to do but I'm hoping that just by trying to continue practicing I will find I want to do it more and more.  And the same goes to my writing.  I'm determined to keep writing (even if it's just this blog) as often as possible in the hope that I can find the balance between the two rather than swinging between them like a pendulum.

Do you go through phases or obsessions?  Or have you find the perfect balance?  Let me know what for you in the comments (and any tips you can give on how you do it would be much appreciated).

Reading Instead of Writing

I don't know what to write.   I know I want to write (both here and fiction) but I just can't work out where to start.  So for now I'm just contenting myself with reading.  I'm planning on doing a lot of reading in the next few days - I have a large pile of books just waiting for my attention. (Images from Amazon)

Stephen King's On Writing has been on my to-read list for a very long time and I finally started reading it a few days ago.

I have been waiting for Supernaturally ever since I read Paranormalcy (read my review here).  I'm currently reading Paranormalcy again before turning to the sequel awaiting me on my kindle.

 I popped into the library yesterday to see if they had a certain dvd.  They didn't, but I ended up taking home 2 books I'm very excited about:

Yes, I am addicted to Sweet Valley - I totally wanted to be Elizabeth!

And finally, yesterday I received in the post my ARC of Monarch by Michelle Davidson Argyle which I will be reviewing in September.  (You can read my review of her previous book, Cinders, here.)  You can preorder it here.

 

What are you currently reading/planning on reading soon?

Graduated!

I realise that this post is late and I have no excuse.  But here are my graduation pics (mostly taken by my mum):

You can't really see it but this is me receiving my certificate:

After the ceremony I had to use my wheelchair but it was a small price to pay to be able to manage the rest of the day:

With Chris (who had to walk home to get the wheelchair in the rain):

And with my parents:

I've been relaxing and resting since getting back home and graduating - tomorrow I'm planning to (very slowly) start unpacking all the many, many boxes I brought back with me as well as writing some blog posts (that hopefully won't just be photos).

In The Last 3 Years...

Tomorrow I am graduating.  I don't actually know how I feel about this right now as I have been far too busy trying to cram all my stuff into a small number of boxes (okay, so not such a small number and I am leaving a bit behind to be brought along later but you get my drift).  I'm sure tomorrow will be an emotional day for me as I realise that I really am in the big, bad world now and don't have the title of 'student' to protect me any longer; but that's a post for another day.

Today I'm simply going to write a list of things that I have done in the past 3 years while at uni (in no particular order), just because I can.

• I stayed up all night and slept all day
• I ate an entire cheesecake by myself in one day (2 sittings - a quarter at dinner, 3/4 when I got the munchies after drinking
• I had a one night stand
• I lost my virginity (see above)
• I fell in love (nothing to do with above statements)
• I lived with many nightmare flatmates
• I went to class with a hangover
• I kissed a girl
• I was offered drugs and turned them down
• I acted drunk without drinking any alcohol
• I got very drunk (and probably acted it!)
• I made some incredible friends
• I held a dinner party for a very small group of friends
• I organised a surprise party
• I restarted the Creative Writing Society for my uni
• I wrote many stories I'm proud of (and a few that make me cringe)
• I fell in love with blogging
• I ordered and ate countless take-aways
• I read books I never would have considered
• I came on to a friend (and thankfully was turned down)
• I became addicted to How I Met Your Mother
• I started stitching a again and now can't stop
• I hemmed a pair of jeans for the first time
• I went to a uni football match and cheered for our team (as a cheerleader no less)

This is not a finite list of course, I just can't remember everything right now (it was the longest and shortest of three years!).  What have you done while a student?  Please share in the comments.

The Bug Is Back

As you know, I haven't really been doing a whole lot of writing recently.  In fact, this blog and my diary (kept very sporadically at the moment) have been my only writing outlets for a few months now.  But now I am once again feeling the urge to write.  I don't know what I will write yet.  I haven't actually written anything due to being entirely shattered and stressed over the tidying of my room but I know that in one week I won't have that to fret over.  So for now I am thinking, trying to find the story that grabs me, and the medium I will write in (I'm very tempted to try scriptwriting again).

By the way, this urge to write, it was brought on by something I wasn't expecting.  Earlier this week I went to see a musical performed at my old high school.  To say it was bad would be a compliment.  To clarify, it wasn't any of the students that made the performance bad (though I'd be lying if I said they all sparkled), it was the musical itself.  I don't know if you've heard of it, but 'The Dracula Rock Show' does not compliment the theatrical world and, in my opinion, is not a wise choice to be performed by anyone, anywhere.  But what it did do, was made me want to write.  I was filled with the urge either to write a musical myself (though as my ability to write music leaves much to be desired I doubt I'll be going that way) or write many best-sellers and become rich and famous so I can donate money to the theatre department of my ex-school.  Yes, it was that good!

When you've been in a writing slump what has given you the desire to write?  Was it reading a brilliant/terrible book or watching a 'fabulous' production like me?  Let me know in the comments.

Letting Go

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For the past week I have been slowly working my way through my childhood bedroom.  I have to be honest, it's been incredibly difficult simply because I have a lot of stuff.  I have always been a very materialistic person; I have a lot of random collections that started by having one or two things - some have gone out of control, others I grew bored of after a while.  Basically, this has left me with an incredible amount of stuff to sort as I move out.

Sorting it, for me, has been very draining.  Mostly because I see something and it reminds me of who I used to be, or something I loved when I was younger.  My gut reaction is to hold onto it so that I will always remember.  This has led me to the conclusion that I always used my stuff to define who I was.  And in a way it has been a relief to realise this.  Because I could hold on to everything that ever meant something to me, or I can let go of the stuff and just keep the memories, leaving me free to be who I am now.  Because the truth is I don't need any of this stuff.  And I don't even want much of it now. 

My life has been far too cluttered in the past, as I tried to cling to whatever went by.  But now I no longer need stuff to define who I am (okay, I need some stuff, but no where near as much as what I had).  I am still going to collect things, but only fairies (and anything fairy related) and windchimes.  This is a big step for me.  I feel that this decision to rid myself of the stuff pulling me down (and pulling up dust which is not doing my throat and nose a world of good) is a large weight off my shoulders.  I no longer have to worry about what I'll do with it, or where I'll keep it.  I will simply keep what I want or need and the most important memories and send the rest off into the universe (read: charity shop).  I see this as making space in my life for me.  I will define who I am from now on, not let my stuff do it for me.

And just because I know you're dying to know what collections I will be getting rid of, here goes: 2 large boxes of Enid Blyton books; Lord of the Rings figures; china doll collection; soft toy collection and many many books.  I'm sure I've missed out some (yeah, I had so many I can't even remember them all) but here's to a simpler, decluttered future.

Home

I wasn't sure what to write about today.  In fact I'm still not really sure.  But honestly, the new Blogger outlook has completely thrown me so I guess it's a good thing I didn't arrive here prepared - I'm sure I would have lost all thoughts at the sight of this confusing layout.

Right now I am at my parents' house.  The house I grew up in.  The house I called home.  I have come to pack up my stuff.  I am spending the majority of my time here putting things in boxes and trying to avoid the dust that's been disturbed and therefore wants to find a new home in my eyes and nose and throat.  It's strange being here; knowing that this is probably one of the last times I will be living here, if not the last.  This place will probably always be a home for me, it's where I've spent the majority of my life and, as long as my parents are here I know I can always come back.  But it no longer feels like my home.  I have changed a lot since I left to go to university.  I found a whole new me to design my life around.  I found love.  And I found the place that, for now, I will be calling home.

Neopets and Discoveries

I am a Neopets fan.  Yes, I realise that may sound strange, but every now and again (like now) I get back into it and can become a little obsessive for a few weeks.  Now, I've been playing for quite a few years so I pretty much thought I knew all the important things about the game - I know how to get free jelly and how to train my pets and how to make sure I'm pricing the items in my shop well.  But the other day (while I was *ahem* not researching different types of neggs) I discovered the Habitarium.  The Habitarium is sort of like a mini-game within neopets where you can keep petpetpets and effectively grow your own city for them. (And if you play Neopets add me but please message me first so I know where you found me via my blog)

I realise that most of you don't really care about the particulars of any part of Neopets so I'm not going to go into any more detail.  But what I realised was you may believe you know everything about something but if you keep looking, there will always be more to discover.  I believe this is true of everything in life.  No matter how much of an expert you may be, there will always be more to discover, new ideas to explore and new ways to think.  This, to me, assures me that I will never become bored or disinterested in my life because I know that, if I want to, I will always be able to discover more and explore something more in depth.  Of course it would be impossible to explore everything, but that makes the world even more exciting as I can be certain that I will never run out of things to discover.

Review: Mollie Makes

I've been hearing a lot about Mollie Makes crafting magazine online lately so I knew I had to check it out.  The other day I picked up a copy from my local WH Smiths, I was really excited as this was my treat for this month.  Each issue has a kit to make, this month's was a felt flower so I got to making it straight away.  I have to be honest and say that I wasn't that impressed with the magazine overall, nor the free gift.  Sure, it was fun to make but the instructions were shockingly lacking and as a stitching newbie I didn't really know what I was doing.  I think I did okay:

 Hanging on the door where it's made it's home.

 I couldn't resist a shot with piglet sporting it.

Okay, so I am really quite proud of it as it's the first crafty thing I've made in a while that doesn't involve cross-stitch or paper.  That takes me on to my main problem with the magazine - it seemed to assume that all the readers are advanced with every craft.  From felt, to embroidery, to crochet, there were patterns (and not that many if we're being honest) but not really many instructions. 

The one thing I did love about this magazine was the colours it used which provided me with plenty of inspiration.  But I think I will only be buying it once in a while if I need the inspiration or the free kit looks especially good.

While we're on the topic, what crafty magazines do you love?