Things I Love Thursday

I'm currently camping out. Not literally, but to keep from the realisation that summer is drawing to a close and it's time I did something with my sorry self. But it's hard with distractions like these...

• Writing a list of month-to-month adventures and accomplishments for 2009 so far. It made me feel a lot better about where I stand, and I highly recommend you try it.

• Getting a haircut. I have a lot of hair, so watching all that weight fall away is liberating.

• Finally getting some personal space.

• Inglourious Basterds. I can't believe I waited so long! It was amazing. And I can finally read that Sight & Sound article about it from back in June(!)

• Good books that really make you think about how to write. (I am an absolute Hemingway convert.)
  

• Tons of fresh food... and animal fries from In-n-Out.

• DVRing Gilmore Girls again! It's my guilty pleasure.

• Anticipating a cold snap. The central valley is dropping to 92F this weekend! Break out the thermals.

• Becoming more like my mum each day.
  

More content on the way this week, I promise!

What have you been doing to battle the end-of-summer blues?


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Fiction versus Non-Fiction

Lately I've slowed down on my reading a lot, and I'm finding that fiction isn't doing it for me quite as much. Perhaps it's my choice of novels and short stories, or maybe it's because I was revelling in escapist tendencies to a greater degree earlier this year. I'm fairly sure that it has something to do with 1. my influences and 2. being out of full-time education.

Firstly, my boyfriend is very much a realist and tends to keep me on my toes in terms of critical thinking and having a healthy dose of scepticism. He also kicks my ass at Jeopardy on a daily basis, so trivia and general knowledge are climbing my agenda. While reading fiction is great for expanding one's vocabulary, the lure of technical language and juicy facts is a tempting me into the world of non-fiction.

Secondly, being a recent graduate has left me feeling more than a little bit desolate. I feel as though my thinking skills have deserted me. Twitter is consuming hours of my day, the TV is on far more than usual, and blogs never quite satiate my thirst for knowledge and a damn good discussion on something ridiculously serious.

Tip for non-readers of non-fiction:
If you find non-fiction too dry, try reading one in tandem with your latest fiction pick, so that when it gets too dry you can switch over without stopping reading altogether.

What type of reader are you? Do you have a preference for fiction or non-fiction, or do you read a bit of both? Was there a point where your tastes completely changed gears?

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Things I Love Thursday

It has been a bit of a mad week! I still can't get over the fact that it's mid-August already. Seems like the end of July was this past weekend. However there are lots of new things on the horizon and summer isn't over yet! All of these things made my week.

• New Apartment - We're officially moving out! The past few days have been chock full of signing things, shopping around, building furniture, and trying to work out what on earth we need. I love getting everything organised and watching the place take shape. Hopefully everything will be in place by this weekend.

• Internship - After sending in an application and sample article, I got an offer for the writing internship that I've been after for a few weeks now. It's for 12 weeks with a new travel guides website. I'm so stoked to get my first assignment and start building my portfolio.

• Meteor Showers - The annual Perseid meteor shower has been peaking recently, so my boy and I have sat out on the porch for the past couple of nights to watch it. Although we didn't catch the peak of several shooting stars per minute, we did see some of the bigger, more colourful displays. The weather is perfect here at night-time. Supplemented with beer, good conversation, and shooting stars: Perfect.

• &... a big old unexpected & unplanned party; Snickers ice-creams; lots and lots of iced tea; new flat excitement; a good shower after a long, hot day; lots of new movie anticipation; gin; fruit & nutella; Craig Ferguson, Murkus Zusak & lots of new books.

What brightened up your week?

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Things I Love Thursday

Hello blogosphere! How are you? The weeks are flying by this summer... Let's appreciate this one while we can!

• Moving out?! - My boyfriend and I have been planning on this for the longest time. Today, we finally went and applied for a new apartment, which we may be able to move into this weekend. I can't wait!

• Late summer - it gets HOT here, and now that we're into August it's finally beginning to cool down. The evenings are cool and the days are no longer exceeding 90F. Gorgeous. I can finally read outside on the patio!

• Getting published - My interviews and diary from Comic Con are now online here. I will also be posting my pieces on the CC panels on my portfolio blog asap.

• UK Lady Bloggers! - I came across this community yesterday and it's amazing! I've just set up my profile and am having a mosey around the site. If you are a UK lady blogger I urge you to join. It's fantastic.

• Being productive - Since graduation, I have been deathly afraid of stagnating. I have itchy feet; I'm applying for jobs left, right, and centre; there is never enough to be read in one day; I am incredibly restless. I need something to focus on until I find a job. So, last night I decided that I'm going to get my California Drivers Permit, and then start leraning to drive properly. Wish me luck!

• &... Iced lattés; baseball games; inordinate amounts of Jeopardy (& slowly improving!); earplugs; sunshine; my new uphill/downhill workout plan; Evelyn Waugh; blogs blogs blogs; midnight movies; Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon-Levitt; "getting Tanquerayed!"; buying more books than I can possibly read.
  

What things do you love this Thursday?

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Things I Love Thursday

California Dreamin'

What a week! The road trip down to San Diego and lack of internet connection scuppered my attempts at Tilt last week, but this past week has brought lots of Things to Love.

• Comic Con - But of course! It was my first time, and since I had a press pass I had all the more reason to go to the big events and have a nose around the press rooms. I had an amazing time, met some people in lines, met up with a UCSB friend, and hung out with a bunch of new people. It reinforces John Green's comments that the difference between nerds and everyone else is that nerds aren't afraid to get excited about "stuff". Although I'm not into comic books or video games, the film panels were amazing and I saw some incredibly awesome people, including John Lassater (you know how much I adore Pixar), Hiyayo Miyazaki, Tim Burton, Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, David Tennant... I could go on!

• The Press Experience - Yes, I do go on, but it was pretty exciting. I've done interviews for student films and things before, but this was a new experience. I had an awesome one on one with the creator of lonelygirl15 that was so amazing to me, and I definitely feel like I got into the swing of things.

• San Diaaaago - What a beautiful downtown you have! I'm always comparing cities to each other, but San Diego was, for me, a smooshing together of Glasgow and Vancouver, plus lots and lots of sunshine. It's a very modern city, the bar and restaurant culture is vibrant, and the weather is amazing. Who can argue against California's coastal cities? I loved it.

• Sunshine! - OMG I got a tan! I. Got. A. Tan! Well, okay, technically I'm mostly burnt, but lots of moisturiser is turning it brown. I know, I'm very proud too.

• Home Sweet Home - Even if it is 105F, sometimes the best thing a long trip can do is remind you how great it is to sleep in your own bed, grab food out of the fridge and sit in a comfy chair for hours with no regard as to the time. Brilliant.

• Tweeting away all week; phoning home; snickers ice-creams, animal-style fries; watching the guys play century; heaping bowls of fresh fruit; long walks; good food; "callammmayyy boyyy"; baseball tonight; midnight film releases; late-night; failing miserably at Jeopardy; feeling completely and utterly happy.

How about you?!

The Cutest Things

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Let me preface this by saying that I have never really liked kids. Occasionally they can be kind of cute, but the rest of the time, if I see a child throwing a tantrum, I laugh. It may sound sick and twisted, but that's just me.

So, today I was at In-n-Out with my boyfriend, and i noticed that one lady had had the staff cut her burger in half, with each side individually wrapped. I pointed it out, saying, "that is so cute... it reminds me of when you see old men at the park with their adorable wee cucumber sandwiches cut into 4 little squares."

Evan was highly amused at how cute I found this. I told him that when I see older men or dorky looking guys eating alone, I always get this overwhelming urge to give them a hug. There's something even more touching about this miniature foodstuff that I find so utterly charming that it makes my grin and want to cry simultaneously.

I guess I have that maternal instinct in me after all. If you're an old or lonely-looking man and need to cut up your food... I really, really want to take care of you. I do.

What strange instincts have you noticed about yourself lately?

Comic-Con!

Hello my pretties!

While I fully intended to post a Things I Love Thursday this past week, life took over and internet access was not as forthcoming as I had hoped. If you follow me on Twitter you will know that I was in attendance at the pandemonium of awesome that is San Diego Comic Con!

I was covering the event for Obsessed With Film - my stories are gradually going live, and you can find all of the links here.

Please do have a wee read, your thoughts/comments are appreciated!

The Formidable To-Read List

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Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
I recently purchased this one, having loved The Virgin Suicides when I read it aged 16. Side-tracked by an impatient re-read, I pushed Middlesex into the background for a while. Having returned to Middlesex, I have to say I miss his misty, nostalgic and vibrant prose: That sense of adolescent awe trapped in a perfume bottle and saved for decades. However, one has to commend Eugenides on his constant journey of self-improvement, as he discusses in this interview for the New York Times. It's my first Pulitzer-winner and I'm sure it will not fail to impress. I'm about a fifth of the way through and while I wasn't too enamoured with it at the beginning, it's growing on me more with every page.

Infinite Jest
I get the sense that Infinite Summer is going to be hard on the eyes and the arms. Its appearance is more like a manual with a friendly cover than a novel. You can read more about this and the Infinite Summer project in my previous blog post.

My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead: Great Love Stories from Chekov to Munro edited by Jeffrey Eugenides
A great chasm of knowledge appears when I attempt to discuss books and someone brings up all but a few books published prior to, say, 1990. I know, it's terrible. While I have read a few of the "important classics" (Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and The Great Gatsby, to name a few); I am more than a little bit embarrassed. So when I read about My Mistress's Sparrow from one of my favourite bloggers, Laura over at 52 Books I knew it was the book for me. That old rule that one never judge a book by its cover was made to be broken. If the contents of this book are anything like as beautiful as its cover art, I will fall deeply and appropriately in love with it.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
I may have mentioned this previously, but there is something about stuffy upper-class prose of the early/mid-20th century that I absolutely adore. The Bell Jar, Franny & Zooey, The Great Gatsby, The Picture of Dorian Grey, all of it! It completely inexplicable, and I don't seek it out too often. I have a feeling that eventually it would wear me out, but in small doses it's simply amazing. I've been meaning to read Brideshead Revisited for the longest time, and when I finally found it for a good price I snatched it up. While it seems to continue to be pushed down my to-read list, it will get there eventually. I can't wait!

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Another Pulitzer prize-winner, another recommendation from 52 Books (isn't it great when you find a fellow reader who's on the same wavelength, despite living 3000 miles apart and having next-to-no contact at all?!) While I know that it has something to do with comic books, I'm going into this one completely partially-sighted. Sometimes it's the only way!

What are you planning on reading? What books are you dying to read that you can't seem to get around to?

Infinite Summer

Well hello there, day that is not Thursday! How about a wee bit of blogging?

As some of you may be aware, Infinite Summer is an online reading project that has gained a fair amount of attention in recent months. The goal is to read or re-read the late David Foster Wallace's ground-breaking 1996 novel Infinite Jest between June 21st and September 22nd 2009. Weighing in at an astonishing 2.4lbs and a bold 1104 pages, it definitely proves itself to be quite an immediate challenge.

Thanks to my recent move and my local bookshops being out of stock, my gargantuan paperweight (get it?!) of a summer read didn't descend into my greedy little palms until Wednesday. This mishap immediately placed me an immodest 2 weeks and 4 days, or approximately 185 pages (excluding a plethora of endnotes) behind the curve. Not exactly fashionably late. But, no worries, I'm up for the challenge. While I'm not entirely convinced that I can make the September 22nd deadline, it's a book that I am keen to be challenged by and plan to persevere. You can find out more about the Infinite Summer project here.

Are any of you taking part in Infinite Summer, or have you read Infinite Jest?

If you're interested in becoming an Infinite Summer buddy, I'd love for you to leave a comment, email me, or even send me a tweet (@robotnic)!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Nicola x

Things I Love Thursday: The Return

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What the hell you guys! Sorry for the sudden departure and lack of updates, I've been very busy trying to sort out my little post-grad life. While I did honestly type a TiLT post last week, it was so lacking in enthusiasm that I gave up. BUT I'm back so HI and READ ON!

Nostalgia - Quick catch up of the past 2 weeks: Graduation! Grad ball! High praise from high people, seeing my friends, reading lots and lots, flying home-from-home with company!, getting back to California, palm trees & blue skies & delirium.

The Gym - Definitely in a respectable place on the list of Things I Thought I'd Never Say Thursday... it's actually great. I've taken yoga, pilates, and completed about 8 miles of cardio work-out in the past week. It feels good!

My Boyyyy - He's awesome, and life is pretty sweet with him around. But I shan't gloat.

New Stuff! - Moving over here has a cloud: lack of stuff, with a silver lining: new stuff! I tend to go a bit overboard, but I feel I've accumulated some good essentials. Gym gear, gym membership, desk & chair, shorts, Reef sandals (my faaavourite, complete with bottle-opener soles!) aaand yeah. Good stuff.

San Franciscooo - How I miss thee. We're departing tomorrow for a Giants game on Friday night and then Andrew Bird & Death Cab for Cutie on Saturday at the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley. I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun! Baseball + Andrew Bird = big time squees. For real.

Living like an Amurrican - 4th of July was pretty fun, we got some fireworks and barbecued and played some drinking games. As always, the food was the best part of the celebration. And that's why I looove Amurrica. Heh. Also, having FINALLY got my social security number in order, I've begun applying for some jobs. Evan calls it "temporary citizenship", hah. We'll see.

& more...
Returning to Chick-fil-A (my favourite fast-food ever!), finally being 21 in the US, Andrew Bird on Saturday!, late-night Scattergories, reading reading reading, Late Night shows, the Daily Show & Jeopardy.

What's making your week explode with awesomeness?!

Things I Love Thursday

(Image found via observando.)


Helloooo Thursday! It's been a bit of a dead week but I have some glorious things for which to be pleased - so let's get to it!

BEDA Buddies - These girls are awesome, I tell ya. Maureen set us up together to encourage each other throughout BEDA, but we Tweet together constantly, have an epic Facebook chat on the go, and have been gradually kindling our own little blogging circle. We've decided to make TiLTs a weekly commitment from now on, and I'm super excited to read all of their posts every week! Check them out via my blogroll! They are Autumn, Christina & Becky.

BOOKS - I ventured into Fopp today, which is always a dangerous game. I spent a total of £6 on books and came away with Russell Brand's biography (loooow-broooow! For some reason I suddenly realised-- I kind of like him. He's smart.), Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (respectable, for a change!), Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (why a Glaswegian hasn't read it while her Californian boyfriend managed it continues to allude me!), and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The last two were packaged together for £2 in total - I couldn't resist!

OMGah! - My boyfriend is coming to visit in order to attend my graduation, and then we're flying back to California together on the 29th to begin my Trans-Atlantic Adventure 2.0. He arrives on Tuesday, I can't wait!

Midday Catch-ups & Afternoon Drinks - I am a teensy bit tipsy after a couple of large glasses of wine this afternoon. I met up with my good friend from uni and we chewed the fat for a few hours. Always makes for a good time =)

Old Habits Die Hard - Lately I've been nurturing the old magazine junky inside me, and she is grateful. I just realised that this month's Empire has a quote on the spine:
"John Dillinger was killed behind that theatre in a hail of FBI gunfire. And do youk now who tipped them off? His f***king girlfriend."
Oh, Empire. You are too much. The Classic Scene is "There's no crying in baseball!" Brilliant.

Hard-Work Paying Off - Recently I've heard a couple of people describe post-graduation life as a series of accidents. I recently decided that I'm ready to put myself out there, and the results seem promising so far. Waiting to see what happens next is pretty damn awesome.

Honourable Mentions:
Also buying The Weather Man, the most hilariously dry film ever; cleaning out Gmail and seeing how many meaningful messages actually come through; BEDA Buddies, again!; lots & lots of awesome books (please please please go read Water for Elephants!); Skype chats, especially in the morning; Having lots to look forward to; compiling my personal hell (less scary when you don't believe that it will actually happen!); happy-dancing, and seeing the awesomeness in life.

What made you do your happy-dance this week? (Literally or metaphorically!)

Things I Love Thursday

(Image found here.)


I'm such a Holly Golightly; Thursdays keep creeping up on me. I need someone to keep tabs on the days for me and warn me on a Wednesday evening that Thursday is approaching fast. It would make life that teensy bit better! So what's up in my life this week?

FINALLY getting my grades! - I've been waiting with baited breath for almost a month now, and they were finally published online today. Turns out I got a 1A for my dissertation (highest grade possible!), which means I'll get first class honours overall. Seriously chuffed with myself, and I'm rapidly running out of people to tell! Nobody likes a gloat, but I simply do not care.

Celebratory dinners - The impromptu kind, in particular. Just had a lovely meal with the family and an epic waffle with caramelised banana and chocolate sauce to finish. Deeelish!

Productivity - I've been spending far too much time worrying and not enough time actually doing something about it. Since I found out last night that the grades were on their way, I managed to get focused, knuckle down, and get some writing done. More posts to come as a result, which I hope you are looking forward to as much as I am! I miss posting regularly but haven't been putting in the time or energy. I promise that's about to change! =)

Things to look forward to! - It's now 2 weeks until my boyfriend visits, 3 weeks until my graduation and grad ball, and 4 weeks until I go back to the States. I've bought everything I need (I think!) so now I can finally relax and look forward to it. I can't wait!

Honourable Mentions - How did I manage to forget this?! So much stuff!.. Hanging out with my former flatmate who has just moved to Glasgow; exercising my right as a citizen and voting in the European Parliamentary elections; sunny & warm weather - first properly warm weather we've had in a full year!; being all organised for grad ball; cheeky waiters; reading lots and lots and lots of books; cheap wine, bring a bottle, and ending up at a party with strangers; the final Britain's Got Talent shows (I can't help it!), and finally feeling freeeee!

What's filling your week with awesome?

Sunday YouTube Videos of the Week

Summer is coming to an end, and that can mean, well, any number of things. For me, however, it marks that grey area sandwiched between the end of the music festivals and... Okay, I concede. One will go to great lengths in continuing one's denial that the university season is right around the corner! This is my way of dealing with it.

In celebration of everything YouTube in this final holiday week, I bring you the following:

Julia Nunes - That Green Gentleman: This bright young thing is my absolute favourite YouTube musician. This is her latest video. To quote the girl herself, "Panic at the Disco... can you believe it?". What's more, it features melodica. I just can't get enough. Also check out Julia's YouTube Channel, and MySpace. Click the links to buy her album!

Lauren O'Connell - Okkervil River: LaurenOC12, as she is known on YouTube, has appeared in one or two of Julia Nunes' videos, and is an excellent musician herself. This cover of Okkervil River by Westfall is a dramatic escape from the self-written acoustic numbers recorded in her basement. The style complements her unique, haunting voice fantastically.

Gina Rae - I Thought They Were Your Legs: A new favourite YouTube musician of mine. What can I say? I'm hooked! I found this lovely girl through my subscription to Seeso's favourites. Think Regina Spektor meets, well, Gina Rae! She's posted a few more videos since, and there is nothing else to say but this: she is wonderful. Actually, I lied, there's one other thing. Watch her!

12 Astrology Songs: I found this through Gala Darling's Twitter feed a few days ago, and it's absolutely hilarious. It depicts myself and my fellow Piesceans as whimsical, wishful, mood-swinging, insecure, indecisive, daydreamers, gentle, & kind. Well I guess that about sums it up!

Sarah Silverman - Jews and Blacks: Sarah Silverman on The Tonight Show, discussing with Jay Leno the similarities she's found between old Jewish people and young black people. It's not music, but it's worth a watch.

Enjoy!

E-Voyeurism: A User's Guide

Many confuse the fine art of internet voyeurism for stalking. And there is a fine line to negotiate: at what point does e-voyeurism become e-stalking? It's simple: when the subject of your interest becomes inextricably linked with an individual. The beauty of material e-voyeurism is much like that of visiting an art gallery; given similar tools & rules of creation, what have the artists created?

Thus commences the user's guide to e-voyeurism.

+ Blogs, RSS and YouTube Subscriptions
RSS feeds and YouTube subscriptions are my anti-drugs. Bookmarks can be cumbersome and it is easy to lose interest in fumbling through lists of "favourite" websites. In this sense, RSS feeds, such as Google Reader (or, if you're unsure which suits you, read this), are fantastic as they keep everything together & accessible, track your updates, & save entries as read and unread.

By perusing updates in this manner you will quickly find yourself being linked to myriad new websites and blogs. You can easily discover new interests through recommendations, particularly through weekly updates such as Flickr Faves, Link Loves & Things I Love Thursdays by various bloggers.

Try out Google Reader's "Shared Items" feature to find out exactly what I'm talking about!

+ StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is simply mind-boggling. It is by far the best way to navigate yourself around the internet, as you can quite literally "stumble upon" absolutely anything. It's totally addictive and takes your interests & favourite finds into account in order to direct you towards websites that you will undoubtedly love and perhaps never would have found otherwise. Not only that, there is a certain friend-of-a-friend element about it: what you stumble upon may not be your cup of tea, but an external link from that website may turn out to be the best thing you've ever witnessed online.

Ever had to pester your friends to watch that online video that you found hilarious? Much like blog websites and Flickr, the friend system allows you to connect with peers and share your finds with them. If you click "I like it" on the search bar, the site will be catalogued into your favourites, and your friends can try them out at their leisure without you having to bombard them with links. What could be better than that?!

+ Online Communities
Online communities are an excellent way to connect with people who share your enthusiasm for... well, absolutely everything! The communities I have found, love & favour are primarily on Flickr and LiveJournal. I can't get enough of make-up communities, in my bag photo pools, journal & organizer communities, & so on. There is a deep community sensibility, where you get to know names, faces and styles all at one. Many involve the use of similar items (a bag and its contents, notebook, a bedroom) & through individual elements of style, create polar outcomes. It's fascinating. The only downside, perhaps, is its segue into at least two of the deadliest sins...

+ The motherload: Online Window Shopping
With e-voyeurism comes e-envy, and often e-coveting. Fads spread like wildfire online (especially, I find, from "in my bag" communities), and it's difficult to resist the temptation to whip out the plastic and make impulsive purchases. To curb your cravings, try an age-old tactic with a new-age twist: window shopping.

The French term for window shopping is "lèche-vitrine", literally translates to "window licking". Enough said! Peruse to your heart's content, make a wishlist, covet freely (think of it as vicarious ownership!), on one condition: no credit cards to hand! My favourite places to e-window shop:
-- Etsy.com: An online craft store with home-made content, my go-to for cute purses & storage pouches for all of my gadgets.
-- Play.com: if you live in the UK or Europe, you can't beat it! When in the US, I prefer Amazon.com. Their marketplaces are also a goldmine for finding cheap books & DVDs.
-- FredFlare.com: The cutest gadgets & trinkets in all the land.
-- MojoLondon: My favourite place to buy Moleskines and covet their expensive yet adorable trinkets.

What are your favourite e-voyeurism tactics?

Until next time... Enjoy, explore, e-voyeur to your heart's content!

Nicola x

Sunday YouTube Videos of the Week

I Can't Stand The Rain - Scottish Falsetto Socks in Edinburgh: Reminiscent of the Chewin' The Fat teuchter sock puppets, this tickled me. We've been suffering a ridiculous amount of rain for August, and this perfectly encapsulates the feeling for us Scots. (Although I must note, it is sunny today, but it's not going to last!)
ETA: Not 2 minutes after submitting this post, it started to rain again. Fandabbydosy!

Paladins and Kalgan, Wrath of the Lich King: You're probably thinking, "Wait, what?", but allow me to explain. The title of the video refers to the subtitles, which are based on World of Warcraft in-jokes. If you're not a fan of WoW, however, worry not, I implore you still watch, as you should still find it hilarious.

Seeso - The Song We Never Wrote: Narcisco Lobo, also known as his YouTube alias, Seeso, is one of my favourite YouTube musicians. This is by far his most sweet and enthralling original song. I, for one, can't get enough of it.

Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture: If you don't have a spare hour to watch this... make one! Randy Pausch was an academic at Carnegie Mellon and The University of Virginia, and it the absolutely exceptional story from an absolutely exceptional man. Pausch died aged 47, on July 25th, after battling with pancreatic cancer for almost a year. The lecture was recorded on September 18th 2007, at which point doctors had given him 2-5 months of good health left. "Inspirational" doesn't even begin to cover it.


Until next time... Enjoy!