Daily Shenanigans, 05/03/2014: Story Writing.

Well today has felt pretty long and busy, despite the fact that really, it hasn't been. I got into Uni for my lecture at 10 o'clock, and found out that all Tech Slots have been cancelled meaning that programming will have to be done during Tech Week. This is very annoying, but nothing can be done so I guess I'll just have to cope with it. I don't think my mood has been helped by the fact that yesterday's headache never really went away. Also, we discussed our portfolios and I feel a lot better now that I understand what they involve. I was really stressed about this one because I didn't understand what I was supposed to do, but I'm feeling a lot better about it now!

The weather was absolutely beautiful today, and I'm really glad I chose to take the train. I got a lot of reading done in the process. Walking back to the station to go home, I walked through town and couldn't get over the lovely weather that has suddenly hit. It was a little nippy, but the sun was out and I had forgotten what that even looked like! I walked into a couple of charity shops and Waterstones, and I'm very proud of myself because I didn't buy anything! Go me! I wanted to though, the temptation was very great. I did buy another pancake though, the kind that you find in the UK (so Crêpes). Mine was smothered in Nutella, and needless to say, was delicious. I have been eyeing up that food stall for weeks and I finally took the opportunity today.

When I got home, I chose to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening writing. I have now completed the first draft for a Prologue/First Chapter of that idea that's been running through my head over and over. It isn't perfect but I feel like I have written what I need to, now I just need to tidy it up. I'm very excited so far about it, and I'm considering, when it has been developed a bit, putting an excerpt on here for you guys to read. I would certainly appreciate the feedback! I don't have a title for it yet, it's in really early stages of development and I really need to flesh out the concept and plot-line I'm going for here. But nonetheless, I'm pleased so far.

Not an awful lot else happened, I'm going to bed a bit earlier tonight (not much) so I can do a bit of reading and then catch up on some sleep. I need to do some Portfolio work tomorrow for Multimedia, but hopefully I can also finish and write a review for 'Wolves'. The pace of the story is really picking up now and I finally seem to be catching up with it a bit. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the finished thing.

Daily Shenanigans, 14/02/2014: Happy Valentines day!

Well, it is finally here! Happy Valentines day everyone, I hope you have all had a wonderful day. Mine started off a bit slow, Mat wasn't getting back from Uni until mid-afternoon so I had a lot of waiting around to do. As today's lecture was cancelled, it meant a nice lay in this morning, followed by a whole lot of nothing. I took my Dad back to the garage so that he could pick up the car, and then when I was back home, I made an attempt to go through my Goodreads account and give small reviews to the books I've read. I entered a few more giveaways but that was about it! Nothing exciting really to report this morning, other than the horrendous weather.

Finally, the time to pick Mat up came and my Valentines day actually begun. Firstly, he gave me the presents that he had bought and I have to say that I was blown back by how thoughtful they were. They comprised of the two things I love most in the world: (other than him, I can get away with soppy words like that today, right?) chocolate and books! I got a lovely gift package from Hotel Chocolat which I am very much looking forward to tucking into! As for the books, they are such a sweet thoughtful choice and I almost cried when I saw them! They are 'Get started In Creative Writing' by Stephen May, which has received good reviews for being packed full of all sorts of useful advice for an aspiring author (like myself). In all honesty I needed something like this so that I can read up on the sort of processes involved in this profession. On a similar thread, he also got me 'The Elements Of Eloquence: How To Turn The Perfect English Phrase' by Mark Forsyth. This book is so beautiful. It is a gorgeous green hardback (my favourite colour) and I cannot wait to read it through, most likely over and over!

So what did I get him? I couldn't post about it before because obviously he reads my blog posts and the surprise would be ruined, but my presents for him were as follows: McFly's 'Greatest Hits' CD (as a reminder that we are going to watch McBusted in April), 'The Phantom Of The Opera' by Gaston Leroux (we watched it together recently), 'Les Misérables' by Victor Hugo (we are going to watch that in March), a Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck (oh yes I did) and a box of Lindt (an unhealthy tradition). He seemed to really like them and I'm glad that the organisation and thought that went into those presents was appreciated (I am so proud that I managed to get my act together that much in advance)! We went out for a lovely meal in a local Indian restaurant that we always go to on Valentines day. I had a chicken korma, peas pilau rice and honey naan bread! Don't knock it until you have tried it, it's absolutely delicious!

After our meal we snuggled up for the evening at mine and watched Disney's Hercules! A perfect end to a wonderful day, I have all of the songs stuck in my head now! That about sums up my day really, Mat remembered to bring 'If On A Winter's Night A Traveller' with him so that at the moment is my priority read as I have a week to finish it. Also, I found out that this year's Musical will be 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at Uni. I am seriously so excited about this news and I think I am going to audition, just to see how far I get! In other news, Elizabeth Yarnold won the gold in the ladies Skeleton at the Olympics! The weather is just getting worse and worse, and the lights have flickered ominously a couple of times tonight so I think I had better quit while I'm ahead.