A day in the non-life...

Yet another massively unproductive day. I ran a few errands, lost a loyalty card in the process, came home with the wrong thing and ended up reciting Shakespeare to myself in an attempt to "get my mind off things". This terrible black cloud needs to be exorcised. I'm so fed up of it all.
I did see something strange today though, while waiting for a bus. There was a swan in the street opposite the bus stop, clearly disorientated and lost. A single, solitary swan. And a man, trying to keep the swan from wandering into the main road and causing a collision. He was phoning the RSPCA, and trying to herd the swan on the pavement, away from the cars. My bus came so I don't know how this ended, or what was wrong with the swan, just another moment of randomness I suppose.
I still need to clean my room, properly, scrubbing things down and throwing out random clutter. It won't get done, I procrastinate too much and get distracted too easily. The bookshelves could do with a spring clean too. Well it's not as if I have anything else to do. And I really need to get some writing done and fill out some more applications, for jobs and my masters. I hate application forms. My boots need repairing and there's things to post, but they'll have to wait til I have some money spare. How am I ever going to get out of here?
I need to be more productive, more organised, and more efficient. Leopards can't change their spots, but maybe, just maybe I can change the habits of a lifetime and actually get a life!!

Books, glorious books!!

I'm a huge lit geek, my shelves have quite literally overflowed, now I'm stacking books on the floor. I try m best to donate books to charity shops, or put them on bookmooch, but still they seem to be breeding. Part of the problem is I like my hoard, some of them I'll never part with, and some I tell myself I'll re-read and never get around to it. Certain books have crept in quietly, left an impression and settled in somewhere on the shelves. I have favourite authors, and devour everything they write, and I have individual books I cannot be parted from, ones I've really fallen for and re-read all the time, familiar and well-worn though they may be. I even blog about them.
It's why I did English Lit at uni, why I've always wanted to be a writer, why I taught myself to read at 3, books consume me. I don't want a kindle or ireader or whatever, books possess a magic all their own. I love bookshops, and yes I use Amazon, but it doesn't compare to the joy of rummaging the stacks of an old secondhand bookshop, the touch and smell of old paper, the way it's yellowed with age and love. Finding words someone else once read and loved, learning anew, making a new friend, or reconnecting with an old one.
In an ideal world, I'd have my own library, and it wouldn't matter how many books I had, or what on earth I was planning to do with them all (obvious answer: read them!). But this world isn't ideal, and I don't have a library, so maybe it's time to sort through them and decide what I can bear to be parted with, or maybe I'll just let them sleep on til I take them down, open the cover and bring the characters back to life.

Heroes: Kate Bornstein

Kate Bornstein is one of my heroes because she isn't afraid to be herself, to stand up for her beliefs and to try to change the way things are. She also wrote this awesome book, there's a copy on my shelf right now. It's funny, intelligent and makes me feel that things might just be ok. Her blog is here. Basically she's just darn awesome. More people should know about her and read her books.

Things I Like (2)

Cheesy films, the ones that don't necessarily make a splash but have heart. Like Center Stage or Empire Records (one of my all time favourites). There are plenty of these cluttering up my room, and despite the lack of success, sometimes they're better than a big box office, some of them never made it to the big screen, and that's ok. Means it's more of a secret.

Secrets. I have quite a few things I keep to myself and that's the way it should be.

Terry Pratchett. His books are hysterical. Nation is amazing. He's a very nice man.

Amanda Palmer. She rocks, her blog is something I always read. Her music is awesome.

Neil Gaiman has written some of my favourite books. He's here

My lovely friends. I don't see them as often as I would like, but when I do, it's always good.

My ipod. It's got all my favourite songs on it. Something for any mood.

Taking photos. I want to do this more often. And not just of my friends at the pub or a party. But actual pictures. I could do with a better camera though.

Candy canes. Something that only seems to appear around this time of year, I like the peppermint ones best.

Life Lessons (1)

"Life will break you, nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with it's yearnings. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on Earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could."

                         ~ 'The Painted Drum' Louise Erdrich~

From tiny seeds...

So, new year, new you. Ha! Hardly. Same person as I was before the clock struck 12. I've never had a fairy godmother. But I'm starting to think you can be your own. Just bring a bit of glitter into your own life. And seek wisdom for yourself. I think this year I'm going to take more photos, try and actually write something worth reading, see a bit more of life and start over. Last year is done, and dead. Time to move on.

On one of the blogs I follow, there's a list of 10 Commandments that I think aren't just for this year, but useful for life.

So here we go. A new blog, a new experiment, some new experiences. A little more light.

Picture Perfect

I took this when it first snowed a few weeks ago. Looks like a Christmas card.