A return to reading.

The title of this blog post does represent me a little bit. After trawling through text books and journal articles from anything about wh-movement to translations of Old English texts, it's nice to finally have graduated from university and have the leisure and pleasure to read anything I want.

Anyway, the title of this blog post actually represents this. I found this blog/picture collection the other day and immediately fell in love with it. It's such a tender moment capturing someone unawares reading a book, it seems like a little bit of their personality is hidden in each secretive shot. Also, since I've recently just returned from my holiday in New York, I feel like if I look hard enough, maybe I'll be in one of these shots!

Some of my recent reads:
Divergent - apparently it's the new teen book. It's set in a dystopian Chicago and has a Hunger Games style to it. Honestly, I didn't like it. Yes, I was hooked and read the whole thing so the pace was good, but I figured out the entire storyline before it happened (and trust me, I'm not usually one of those people!) and I just thought all the characters were undeveloped and so was the world in which they lived. The book frustrated me, it could have been so good, and I feel like if the writer had just redrafted it a few more times, it could have been amazing. I won't be reading the rest of the trilogy.

The Beautiful and the Damned - loved it! I love F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing style so much. It just oozes charm, sophistication and so much depth. The whole storyline is not too complicated yet the character relationships and situations are so true and poignant.

The Portrait of a Lady - to be honest, I'm trawling through this one. It's so slow. The writing is elegant and graceful, but dear me, the pace is slow. I think I've gotten used to faster-paced novels and have felt the gentle thud of this one as a bit of a shock. Never mind, I'll persevere.

Any book recommendations for me?

Musical memories.

I recently had my iTunes on shuffle, and my ears heard some definite blasts from the past! It got me thinking about music, and how certain music makes you think of certain occasions, whether it's the CD you received for Christmas or a song that you used to have on repeat all the time.
So here are my five musical memories:

1. The Call - Regina Spektor.
A song that played when a dear best friend moved far, far away.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY0QcSQf_mc

2. Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne
A song that me and my sister loved as teenagers.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvOrLLKSuzw

3.Me & You - Diana Vickers
A song that reminds me of a lazy summer.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpE1dLi915c

4. Sing For Me (Acoustic) - Yellowcard
A song played on my wedding day.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC0SavZptSo

5. Out Of My League - Stephen Speaks
A song that reminds me of girly sleepovers.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L15skJeT8bY

What are your musical memories?
Do any certain songs remind you of me?

Like sunbeams.

I want this to be me.
I want to have bright sunbeams shining from my face.
I want people to know that I am a good person inside and out.
I want to always look lovely.

Therefore,
I will compliment people more.
I will try to smile more. (I have the tendency to have a natural moody-pout expression going on when I'm walking).
I will listen to others.
I won't gossip. I will turn any negative gossip into positive gossip. (I think gossip can be positive if you are talking about lovely attributes of another person).
I will value other people's opinions.
I will be happy.

The thief of joy.

Let us love ourselves. For we are all we have got. Our life can only be lived by us and we choose in which direction it will go. Don't waste time comparing yourself to others. You are unique and special, just the way you are. Emulate good characteristics you see in others around you, but never be jealous of their life. As Dr Suess said, "today you are you, that's truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you".

Hardly comical.

I'm no science expert. My science-related expertise ends at A-level Biology, and most of my interests are now to do within the field of Linguistics.

Therefore, I appreciated the recent news story of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research who have just announced that they have discovered a new sub-atomic particle more for the font choice than for the scientific discovery (although I do appreciate that a little bit, and sometimes wish my brain could understand it all a bit better).

Comic Sans is now trending on twitter, with many users discussing their distaste at the Comic Sans font that was used to display and present such a important discovery, as it is a font that children aged between 6-12 years love. Is it professional? No. It's not even cool.

Why did they do this? When in doubt, you use Times New Roman, everyone knows this!
I doubt it was a clever way of drawing more attention to them from font-lovers!
But anyways, what is done is done. And may CERN remember next time to use a font that won't cause readers and writers to weep into their pillows at night, and text box fill colours that don't offend the eyeballs.

Really, this is all in jest. They've just discovered something they have been searching for since 1964. So I'll give them some slack.