Status: Unemployed

I went to the cinema yesterday. Horrible Bosses. Very funny. When buying my ticket, the woman behind the counter posed a simple one worded question: "Student?" My heart sank, my purse shriveled up and my head shook itself from side to side. A barely audible "no" followed, as did her highly unnecessary "ok, two adults." Thank you, but the reiteration really wasn't necessary. I am very aware that my student status has been revoked and has been replaced with the far less desirable, 'unemployed.' Aware because, for starters, my daily routine has altered slightly...

As a student you wake up whenever. Go to a couple of seminars or lectures here and there. Occasionally step foot into a library. Frequently step foot into a pub. Do an essay. Read a book. Sleep. Discuss everything from world politics to the possibility of sliding down the stairs on a mattress. Microwave something. Sleep some more.  Pretty simple, and very comfortable, living.

The life of the unemployed- still living at home I might add- isn't quite as enjoyable.

Still wake up whenever, but feel guilty for sleeping past nine when there's job hunting to be doing. Job hunt. Eat, but feel guilty for wasting time when there's job hunting to be doing. Job hunt. Do the dishes, but resent your single parent's expectation for you to do them when there's job hunting to be doing. Stop doing the dishes. Job hunt, but feel guilty for not finishing the dishes seeing as your single parent will be tired when they get home from work and won't want to do them. Finish the dishes. Job hunt some more, this time in front of Friends, Scrubs or CSI. Consider some form of exercise, but settle instead for facebook whilst of course feeling guilty for not job hunting. Welcome home parent with news of the days job hunting. Have dinner with parent. Watch parent's choice of TV whilst discussing job hunting and whether enough of it is being done. Go to bed. Watch a film/write in blog/read book/anything but job hunt. Go to sleep and dream of job hunting.

Of course, until this job hunting business becomes a bit more fruitful and I have a lovely income, I fear that all I'll be doing is mourning the loss of my student status. And then, naturally, once I do get a job and have no spare time, I'll be mourning the loss of my unemployed freedom.

Life is a bit of a circle. Or should I say bit-ch of a circle?

Moo-V Farm

www.moo-vfarm.com

So I've started to contribute to this very cute film website. Check it out for all the latest reviews, movie opinions, debates and conclusions. Definitely worth a visit. 

And keep an eye on the left side of this page. I'll be posting links under 'Moo-V Farm' to all the articles etc I write for them, and I'd love to know what you think :)

Twenty One

For some reason we have always had a fascination with numbers, and by 'we' I am of course referring to the entire human race. Numbers give order & significance to what would otherwise be a chaotic existence. How would we keep track of time without them? How would we know quantities, sizes, measurements etc? Most importantly, how could we get depressed about getting older when we couldn't attach a significant number to that foreboding feeling? Disaster.

So this year the number for me is Twenty One. It means I have officially 'come of age', can get into All Bar One, and can of course go and have a horrifically wonderful time in Vegas. Booya. In honour of this particular little number (because compared to most among the general population, it can still be considered 'little') I've decided to create a list of twenty one things to do this year. Bring it on.

One) Twenty One things to do this year:

1. Get a job
2. Have 'a horrifically wonderful time in Vegas'
3. Take some amazing photos
4. Meet a lot of new people
5. Complete a script
6. Fit into a pair of size 10 trousers (wishful thinking, I'm sure)
7. Learn to drive & get a car
8. Do some travelling
9. Get accepted onto a masters programme
10. Get some experience in Film production
11. Do something out of my comfort zone
12. Be able to jog for half an hour without stopping
13. Scuba dive
14. Visit a country I have never been to before
15. Win a chess game
16. Surprise someone

And unfortunately this is where my imagination ran out. I'm determined to get five more things on this list, and so am asking for lots of suggestions!! Someone's got to have a winning idea, right? Leave a comment in the box below- pretty pretty please!!

Ta very much :)

THE ROOM

To all who know me, I've been harping on about my new room for months. The paint, the carpet, the blinds, the fact that it could be an IKEA show room, the patterns, the covers, the pillows, the organisation of the books, the organisation of the shoes etc etc etc.

Moving into the attic I expected to feel like one of two people: A) Rapunzel, however what with a recent haircut and no prince charming in sight, this is unlikely. B) Jane Eyre. But life's just too comfortable, and although I can relate to the 'plain Jane' concept, Mr Rochester is too nowhere to be seen. So with no heroine to truly model myself after in my rooftop abode, I'm having to settle on just being me in an attic room. As someone whose just completed a degree which involved a lot of 'pretending,' this reality seems a little on the dull side.

Luckily however, I'm far too in love with my new dwelling to find it dull. Here for your viewing pleasure, some before & after shots to see why I'm enjoying my high in the sky lifestyle:

BEFORE

AFTER

(Cat not from IKEA)

There's still plenty to be done of course. Just like a girl's wardrobe is never complete, her room is never finished. In the next week curtains will be hung, pictures will be put up and mess will probably be accumulated. Home sweet home.

Bye bye 10% off

So graduation is just over a month away. However today is the day when the University year comes to its official end, and so I allowed myself the indulgence of deleting 'soon to be' from my blog title. Unless a horrible shock comes at 5pm in the form of a 'fail' (UPDATE: I passed with a 2:1. Phew), and unless Mr Harold Camping's timing was only a little off and the world goes up in flames in the next month, I think I'm safe in assuming I will graduate.

Today life as a student ends. Tomorrow life as a real human being begins.

The worst part? No more student discount. 

Not sure how life is meant to go on really.

The day I didn't take a professional headshot to an audition

Rookie mistake.

In my defense, I wasn't aware how professional an atmosphere it would be. When you're auditioning to be a drama teacher for 4-8 year olds, you expect the teaching aspect to me more important than the professional actor side to it. But when everyone was talking about their time at drama schools, touring with companies, asking about time off for auditions, and handing over glossy A4 black and white headshots that had clearly been taken in a studio with some fabulously serious photographer called Sven, you start to re-think what you'd originally 'thunk.' And then when they tell you to stand up and sing four lines from your 'audition song' when you'd never prepared an audition song in your life, and you quickly have to remember your spotify playlist and which of the songs you can actually remember the tune to (almost impossible when put on the spot), you start to realise that there are people in the same room who are far more prepared...

I still have my fingers crossed for the job though. Even if I did hand over a 75p Asda Print of a picture I'd taken this morning with less than perfect makeup...

Eep.

'New York, I love you', I love you.

Every moment another story begins

I didn't know what to expect when I bought New York, I Love You for £3.99 on Filmflex (Virgin Media's answer to Sky Box Office.) If I had any preconceptions, I assumed it would be similar to 'Valentine's Day'- big name stars, lots of interlinking love stories, one exciting city. And in a way, I was right. But in another, I was completely and utterly wrong. Main difference? New York I Love You is not your typical churned out of Hollywood, please the masses, adhere to social norms and conventions kind of film.

What I didn't know before watching is that New York, I Love You is the second episode in the 'Cities of Love' franchise, proceeded by Paris, je t'aime. Both films are made up of a number of short films/segments; New York, I Love You has 11 running at 1 hour 43 minutes, and Paris, je t'aime has 18 running at 2 hours. If this wasn't interesting enough, each segment in both films has its own writer and director, therefore making each individual story truly original and unique.

So, having had no prior knowledge of the film and very few expectations, I was blown away; I sat with a smile on my face throughout. Each story was acutely crafted, beautifully executed with some lovely cinematography showing off New York, and cleverly told in a number of different tones that ranged from funny to surprising, to cute, to sad and everything in between. 

By far the most impressive feat achieved however, was that no one story was conventional. Each was quirky, and yet still frighteningly realistic. I could go through each individually and praise them all ridiculously, but that would ruin it. I will just say that whether you're observing an old couple's stroll or an artist's longing, you're drawn hook line and sinker into the emotion of each story, and that's saying a lot when none of the segments exceed 15 minutes. 

For lack of articulating any more of my appreciation, I'll leave you with a comment from one critic:

New York, I Love You continues the Cities of Love series that began with Paris, je t'aime far surpassing it. (...) The vignettes are tied together into a single feature through a recurrent character, a videographer who interacts with the other characters. And transitional elements -- choreographed by 11th director Randy Balsmeyer -- move the viewer from one world to another, uniting all these intimate stories into a single shimmering fabric

Film fans, hopeless romantics, people sick of rom-coms and anyone else, I strongly recommend you watch this film. Maybe you won't love it as much as I do, but I still think you'll find it hard not to enjoy at least bits of it.

P.S If anyone can explain Shia LaBeouf's character to me that'd be great, because something about that whole segment made my heart break and I can't figure out what it was.

P.P.S Who else having seen it now wants to go to New York to find love?