Daily Shenanigans, 13/06/2014: Doing things differently!

Today ended up being quite different to my usual day since finishing Uni. I made a decision to give myself a break from being sat at my computer today, purely because I had a pretty terrible headache and I really wanted to get on with other things. This of course meant that I didn't do much in terms of my blog. I did however get much further into 'A Game Of Thrones', which I'm really enjoying. I definitely feel like watching the TV series has made me appreciate this book even more! Anyhow, I did a lot of tidying this morning as a sort of surprise for my Dad because I'm generally a pretty unproductive person when it comes to household chores. I really recognise this as a flaw within myself which I'm determined to address.

This afternoon, I continued to have an interesting day when my friend, Imogen, came to visit! We drank tea, caught up with each other's antics and she bought me a cute Totoro pillow which served as part of a very late birthday present (she'd accidentally had it delivered to her Uni address while living at home). I've included a picture because it's so soft and awesome and really wanted to show you guys! This was the same friend who bought me chocolates and a set of Lewis Carroll books a few weeks ago and it made me feel really grateful to have friends in my life who know me this well. Thank you Imogen! After dinner, Bev (my sister) had her photography exhibition which we went to have a look at. Going back to my old school was very surreal but it was nice to revisit everything and see how it has changed! The exhibition was great, there are a lot of talented photographers and artists about.

And so ends my day of doing things a bit differently. Tomorrow I'm seeing Mat and we may go to the cinema in the evening depending on timings and what is on. He'll be round in the afternoon so I'll be using the morning to hopefully really get into 'A Game Of Thrones' and finish some tasks that really need finishing!

Daily Shenanigans, 25/05/2014: London ComicCon!

Wow! What a day! My first ever ComicCon and I had such a good time. It's all I've done all day basically so this post will be totally dedicated to what I picked up while I was there! A sort of ComicCon haul if you like! So the picture above shows my stash! Quite a variety, a Kimono (which I hope to get better pictures of), art, a Quill, a bowl, a book and jewelry! I did also order a Tee Shirt but can't picture it here, as obviously it hasn't actually arrived yet.


Ok so I'll start with my first purchase. If you read my earlier Wishlist that I posted, I mentioned Coucou Heart had a little stall. I had never heard of this small Jewelry business before but their pieces were adorable! I bought from them a small locket in the shape of a book because I think it is most fitting in all honesty! I am after all, a huge fan of books! I did see some other pieces, such as a Wishbone shaped necklace that made me think of Karou from Daughter Of Smoke & Bone, and a couple of Alice In Wonderland styled pendants. I left those behind however in favour of the locket! Check out their website, they have some beautiful pieces on there! sorry about the terrible pictures, as usual. I really do try!

Next on the list was probably very naughty of me, but I think it might be my favourite purchase. I went to ComicCon expecting Cosplay, Anime, Comics, Japanese madness, art, and plenty of merchandise. What I did not expect was books! And there were actually a few book stalls set up by publishers which I did have a nose at. I'm on a book buying ban as you know but I'm afraid I broke it today (it won't happen again readers I swear...). I met a very lovely chap by the name of Kit Cox (or Major Jack Union) who's written a really interesting looking book, 'How To Bag A Jabberwock'. It instantly grabbed my attention and he was very lovely, both of us agreeing that ComicCon would be so much fun if more literature was involved! He signed my book and in case you were wondering, he has another book on the way called 'The Monster Hunter: The Adventures Of Benjamin Gaul' which looks to be a promising Steampunk adventure that I'll certainly be looking out for! For now though, I can't wait to have a read of my new purchase (now Uni is over, I will have so much time on my hands) and hopefully post a review, so look out for that in the not-too-distant-future!



Now what's next? A bowl? Why not! Japanese culture has always fascinated me and in particular, their Tea ceremonies. I was transfixed by the Doki store, their crockery, ornaments and ceramics were gorgeous. And they had tea sets! In the end however, I went with a beautiful bowl (my current breakfast bowl has a massive crack down the side and I feel it's end draws ever closer) that has a cute little cat on it! I'm quite fond of cats! It's a bit big but will serve it's purpose, and was a really good price! A tea set next time perhaps, when I'm a little less overwhelmed and indecisive.

Next, I'll put the pictures of the Art Prints I nabbed from Comic Village. They were absolutely beautiful and I really couldn't say no! I've put the pictures below and I'll go through in order. The first two prints are drawn by a really talented lady who can be found at Lalas Dreambox. I fell in love with all of her prints but these were two of my favourites and I couldn't leave without them! The second picture was really fulfilling a personal love for a certain film/comic character! I'm a little Loki obsessed and most stalls had run out of merchandise associated with him (clearly I'm not the only Loki fan about)! But this print caught my eye, and the artist can be found here. All of her drawings were really cool, I wish I could have bought more! The third and final art was drawn by a lovely lady found at this link. Such a talented artist, I really struggled to choose between pieces but this one with the tiger really caught my eye! what a beautiful piece!

Whew! Almost done! I'll talk briefly on the other bits and bobs I bought. These included; a gorgeous green quill (I plan to get ink and learn to do calligraphy properly, I've always admired it!), a beautiful black Kimono that came with a traditional belt (I really need to get a decent picture), and a Tee Shirt mentioned earlier in my Weekly Wishlist (I ordered it so it has yet to arrive, but I'm very excited! It has a Studio Ghibli theme!)

Well that about sums up my day at the Expo! I hope everyone really enjoyed their Sundays and managed to have a nice lazy one, unlike me. I got up at quarter past six this morning and my feet are killing me after walking around for six hours! It was definitely worth it though.

Daily Shenanigans, 22/05/2014: Prop-Making.

A good majority of my day was spent being creative! To start with though, I had a bath and posted my Life Of A Blogger post, which was actually pretty difficult to write! I then continued making a prop for my show tomorrow. Next, my sister and I had stir fry for lunch which is something I have not had for ages. It was gorgeous! Then we headed into town to buy some more props and card/paper to make things with. My entire afternoon has been filled with cutting tings out, sticking things down, writing things out. I did enjoy myself though it got a bit boring after a while. As evening drew in, I quickly took the car out and picked Mat up from the station. He came home with me and spent the evening helping me get some more bits and pieces done ready for tomorrow. Strangely, I don't feel overly unnerved about my assessment, though I'm desperate for it to go right! Once it's over I will be very happy indeed! Right now I think it's a good idea I sleep. I'll be up early tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Daily Shenanigans, 03/03/2014: Really. Slow. Internet.

I am so tired, and my internet is being ridiculously slow tonight so I won't make this long. I got up early this morning. I woke up feeling a bit apprehensive actually, though I can't really explain why. I drove to Uni and had a pretty productive Multimedia lecture. Firstly, the lovely girl in my class playing the 'Narrator' in my piece got to read through my finished script and really liked it. The guy playing my 'Wolf' showed me the voice that he planned to use for the recorded dialogue, and my goodness, it is perfect. If you want an idea of how it sounds, think Shere Khan from Disney's 'The Jungle Book' and you basically have it. It is exactly what I was after and I'm really pleased.

I finally got round to doing some programming too and working out exactly how I'm going to make everything work. I'll sort it out properly next week but it's nice to make some actual progress there as it was starting to stress me out a bit. I got a bit more art from Imogen which was good, and it looks like she's going to be able to do a bit of animation for me! Wahoo! I still have a lot to sort, but I've been given a show date now and so I know when it's happening and what time. It still feels very far away but I know this is going to creep up on me so fast. I'll be so glad when the next moth or so is out of the way.

After Uni, I had work and my shift went quite quickly which I was pretty glad about. I drove back home again, blasting the 'Frozen' soundtrack out at high volume and almost fell asleep as soon as I sat down in my living room. Oh, I also had the hairdresser come over tonight and she put a few layers in my hair, shortened it and it feels very swishy. I would like to do something a bit more exciting with it once all my Uni stresses are over but I'm not sure what yet. Not long ago I ordered 'Finding Sky' by Joss Stirling and 'Cinder' by Marissa Meyer (I'm splitting the cost of that one with Bev). A couple more reads to add to the ever-growing list!

No reading was done today (again). I did say it was going to have to take the backseat this month, I hope to complete all of my challenges for this month at least but can't promise anything at this stage. I'll do some tomorrow morning along with some more work and a bit of audition preparation (I'm almost 100% sure I'm doing it this time)!

Daily Shenanigans, 02/03/2014: Making progress!

Sundays are not normally known for being exciting. But this one was. Firstly, I won another Goodreads book. I'm getting quite good at this now, it's called 'The Ruby Slippers' by Keir Alexander. It really caught my eye when I entered for it and I'm really glad that I won it! I cannot wait till it arrives! I'm not making very good progress with 'Wolves' as it stands, but that's because I've been so busy today doing other things that I haven't had time to do any reading at all. Firstly, I wrote a January/February Wrap-Up Post for the 2014 'Real Book Challenge I've entered. I'm annoyed at myself for not doing it sooner but there you go, next time I will! Straight after, I wrote my 'Weekly Wishlist' (number 2). I do really enjoy doing these, they're something a bit different to do!

Right, so time for the really exciting stuff. I have finally finished my script for my Multimedia project. I feel like singing from the top of a mountain right now, I'm that excited and happy that it's done! It is my first script that is going to be performed to an actual audience and I just hope that everything will work out the way that I would like it to! As well as my own progress, I had a chat with my Music man and he's got some great ideas which I'm excited to hear, and my Art lady has sent me some more pictures. I won't share them all, but here are more complete versions of the environment shots I posted in an earlier post to give you an idea. What a talented lady!

I wish I could draw like this. All in all, a nice productive day. I've been spending a lot of time with my sister who helped me sort out the script properly and we even went on an 'Emergency' road trip to the petrol station for fuel (which I needed) and chocolate rations (to get us through the evening). I don't even mind that I have Uni followed by work tomorrow, or that it's tipping down with rain. Today has been so good that I feel a lot better and much less stressed than I did before. I think I will audition for the Musical on Tuesday, I feel like fate is trying to tell me something by offering the second open auditions. 

Daily Shenanigans, 10/02/2014: Multimedia Piece sneak peek!

I have had such a good day. Mere minutes after I blogged yesterday's nightly post, I got a message from my lovely friend (deviantART here) who is doing the art for my Multimedia piece. She has drawn some character concepts for it and was in the process of doing some sketches for the environments I'm after. She posted them on Facebook for me and I am going to put them here because I am just so excited about them! The piece will be based on the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood', to give you some context, and will basically be a fully immersive performance which involves a live narrator telling the story, and the audience choosing the path that this particular Red Riding Hood should take. It therefore involves a lot of research, a lot of scripting and a lot of art which as you can see I'm receiving some good help with. I had a lecture today on the topic and I am so happy about how it is progressing so that certainly started off my day well. I was completely taken aback just by how much she had understood exactly what I wanted and, despite claims that she isn't psychic, managed to draw the environment art exactly how I imagined it in my head! The character concept too was beautiful and has given me so many ideas for my Poster/Programme design that I have been planning like a trooper in my notepad all day!

Next up in my day was work. As knackering as it was, I actually had a really good shift today! It went pretty fast, despite a quiet afternoon customer wise, and that meant that this evening's activities came quickly. As it was one of my friend's birthdays, she invited me and a couple of others out for dinner. I had a lovely time! The food was delicious and it was so nice to be able to relax after a busy day and have a laugh! Three cheers for a good night out! Despite having to wait 45 whole minutes for the train afterwards in the cold (that will teach me not to check the timetable properly) I still went home in good spirits, as a 15 minute train journey means? Yes! You guessed it! Time to read some more of my book in an effort not to fall asleep and end up goodness knows where! I'm about a sixth of the way through Andrew Miller's 'Pure' and I am pretty intrigued to see where everything that has happened so far is leading up to. 

Time now for bed, I have another day off tomorrow though a lot to do in terms of work and going out (so not really a day off then).