So it's been a while...

I'm terrible. I really am. I promised you TMR pictures and I didn't deliver, and I've been to see them again since then. I am sorry, I am.

I have sorely neglected you, my dearest blog, and for what? Well, I have actually been writing and doing [most] of my work. More authorial adventures of mine can be found here, here, here, here, and here.

This week, I have been to not one but TWO concerts.

On Tuesday, a friend got us free tickets from The Fly to see Pulled Apart by Horses. Support was played by Wet Nuns (who were sweet and hilarious) and Eagles - the singer of which was incredibly and hilarious wasted. The show was pretty fun, although my eardrums were shredded. The venue was London Borderline off Charing Cross Road by Tottenham Court Road station, which was pretty decent if not a little too dark- I could barely see, but that's not exactly unusual. Pulled Apart by Horses were a lot of fun, although not my usual thing (I'm an Indie Folk Alt Funk girl at heart). I enjoyed it, even that bit of it when I got spat at...

On Wednesday, we saw Elvis Jackson. They were awesome. Seriously awesome. They're a Slovenian band who play energetic ska punk. They were supported by We Used to Make Things (who we saw back in October at the TMR gig), and who were on fine form, and by Dropbear.

So Dropbear. Awful name, right? But amazing band. They should be checked out by all. Finally, Elvis Jackson came on and it all exploded. They were all over the place, and the atmosphere was electric. The drummer was the happiest drummer I have ever had the good fortune to come across. He was just so smiley! They all were! A definite must see- book tickets now :D

They played at The Purple Turtle in Camden, just round from Mornington Crescent Station. Again, fairly dark- but very comfortable and with interesting décor.

So, that's about all for now. I'll be seeing the Composite Production of Master and Margarita at the Barbican on Monday, so maybe I'll have some things to say about that when it happens.

Until then,

Happy Reading and Happier Blogging

Lots of Love

Little Newman

xxx

Preview of things to come!

One of my pictures from the Miserable Rich gig last month :D more to come.

And thirteen days till the next gig- ooh, I can't wait!

Happy Blogging,

Lots of Love

Little Newman

xxx

Good morning!

I don't know if I said this last post, but I'll say it again. I am, of course, engaging in NaNo this year. I know a lot of people think it's crazy to do that at my age, when I'm in my first year of Uni, and part of me thinks that too. But another part of me thinks: when will it not be crazy to do NaNo? November is always going to be a busy month. I'll always be at school in November, and I'm past the age when things aren't so important by about four years. I'll always have important examinations coming up. And even when I'm out of school I'll (hopefully) be at work. And that will be important too, and it will be tiring.

NaNo is something fun, and even if it's a little crazy it's something I love, and that I really want to do. I am not giving up the hope that I will win NaNo, and that I'll win it with something worthy, something that I can take further than November.

NaNo is also the closest I've ever gotten to finishing anything. Which is actually worrying in a writer hopeful. But it's also inspiring. It's also encouraging.

So even if it's a little crazy, a bit foolhardy, I will continue to do it!

I was actually gearing up to post the pictures from the TMR gig but I think it would sully the message of this post, so I'll do that later.

To those of you thinking about doing NaNo this year, I say do it!

And good luck to you all, you crazy, brave people!

Happy Blogging, and happier writing!

Lots of Love,

Little Newman

xxx

Okay, I've been neglecting you again, haven't I?
And with really no cause either; lots has being going on, and I keep thinking 'I should blog this!' but I never do.

Sorry.

So I'll give you a speedy little update.

I saw The Miserable Rich again early last month, I believe it was the fourteenth. As always, they were wonderful. Because it was only a few days after one of my closest friend's birthdays, I tweeted the lead singer with a request that he dedicate a song to her, and he did :D So a lovely night on that count (with pictures that may follow)

We also saw another very awesome band at their gig, We Used To Make Things. They were amazing, very energetic and very entertaining. Plus, the bassist (was he the bassist? I never am sure) let me wear his hat.

The venue was The Old Queen's Head in Angel, where it is impossibly indie. There were V-necks and nerd glasses galore, and it was ridiculously packed for a Wednesday, but it was otherwise very nice. We were sat right next to the stage, which, while awkward, was actually very fun, especially when it came to watching TMR.

Also, I've started Uni.

Woo. Woo.

Okay, so really I'm enjoying it immensely. All of my lectures are really fun, and everyone is very friendly, but the work is hard and I have no actual friends :( even though I've been there a month already. Oh well.

And now I'll sign off because I'm still in my dressing gown, and I told Angeline to come round any time from four.

But! Before I go.

I've started reading two really awesome internet fics, Guts and Sass by M. E. Traylor and The City of Roses by Kip Manly, and I decided, 'why don't I do this?' 'This', being dedicate a site to a story.

I then realised because my dedication levels are generally sporadic and I skip from story to story, but I already have a blogspot intended for writing, which can be found here, and also made a wordpress for chronicling my NaNo adventures (a little prematurely, but something interesting will happen soon, I'm sure.)

So please, check them out :)

Anyway, that's all from me for now.

Happy Blogging

Happy reading/writing/planning

Lots of Love

Little Newman

xxx

Ironic

"Sometimes it is better to let your thoughts out before they consume you."

Scrolled like a lover's message on the bark of a tree, the girl stood an stared at the message.
She tilted her head in deep thought. Ironic it was, considering what the message was trying to convey

No room for thought

Sunburn: An excerpt.

All things considered though, the new school wasn’t really bad. The students were more welcoming than the students at my old school would have been, something that surprised me. It was almost like they were competing with each other as to who could be the nicest; who could win me for their group of friends. It was a little disconcerting, I’ll own, but it was better than being ignored, or teased, or hated and alone.

My form class were especially nice- something that I would later learn was specific to that form. They got a lot of new students in that class, at least one every year, a boy proudly told me. For all that, they were close knit.

On the first day, I got told by six different people from six different groups that I was welcome to join them at break or at lunch if I wanted. I ended up going with whoever asked me just before class finished- it was easier than trying to search through the crowds for the face of someone I barely remembered the name of.

***

To those wishing to read of the wondrous well of Sunburn, just comment and I shall get it to you, one way or another.

Sunburn

Recently, I've been re-writing a story I started an age ago in an exam. I've shifted the perspective from that of the main character to another (almost as important) character as when I first wrote the story I found myself having him as a narrator more than my protagonist.

The story, which used to be called Jesse, is now called Sunburn, after the song by Muse.

It follows Matthew Hilton who is moved from Kent to London in his last year of school after his father gets a new job.

The story focuses mainly on Matt trying to understand the real protagonist, Jessica Priestly, with his bad relations with his father as a sub-plot and a small possible romance on the way.

An excerpt can be found here.

Tatty bye!

Happy Blogging

Lots of Love

Little Newman

xxx

Lit Corner

I've finished American Gods and The Importance of Being Earnest this week. Both are wonderful books, although quite different, and not just in terms of form. Neil Gaiman weaves a deliciously intricate plot about gods and mystery and love that is just stunning. It's a large book for a large subject, but the length doesn't detract or spoil the book in any way. In fact, one rather finds oneself wishing that it would never end because the world he creates is just so completely fantastic.

The Importance of Being Earnest is as ridiculous as American Gods is fantastic. Its frivolous and silly, and it makes fun of its characters in a manner that is beautiful to behold. It is very Wilde; I'm sure there is no one else in the world whose pen it could have come from.

That was impressively pompous. Learning French has made me view the use of 'one' as a pronoun (personal or otherwise) in a far more favourable light.

So, the rest of the books I have been reading this week

On Saturday, I started reading The Republic by Plato. I'm still at the intro, but I'm enjoying it. The translation I have is easy to read, with clear footnotes that ensure the meaning of the original text is not lost.

I have also restarted reading The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan. I adore her writing style. It reminds me, in the way that it alternates between our world and a dream world that seems to be the past, of The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Tan's writing style is humorous yet slightly heavy. You feel the weight of the issues and emotions of Olivia, who narrates, but you can get past her mortification enough to chuckle at Kwan, who makes the best of every situation.

I'm pushing my way through chapter thirteen of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Pushing is very necessary, it is without contest the dullest and most needless chapter of the book, for the most part, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm using the hope it gives to guide me through. I've already read the end, a while back, when I despaired of ever being able to get past chapter thirteen. I'm looking forward to reading the entire book in the order it appears, with the middle, middle and the last, last.

I'm rereading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, along with a collection of her Juvenilia. It is incredible to see the similarities and differences between her earlier writings and her later- the way her subjects are treated (she always satires, but her mockery is more subtle in her later works and therefore less ridiculous). It's quite nice to watch her grow- I feel almost like a proud mother, or her mentor :')

I have also started reading In Rememberance of Times Past (A la Recherche du Temps Perdu/In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust. Well, when I say started, I mean I know what the title of the first part is, and it's very possible I have started reading the first sentence. I mean, it's Proust. I'm pretty sure carrying it your bag counts as starting it. Opening it marks you as literary elite. (Those who have actually read it are the ruling classes. Those who have read all of it -past Volume I!- are priceless gems who should be sought out and cut as such.)

I intend to finish at least another two of these this week, as well as to start Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert- in both French and English.

In other news, I am trying to teach myself Russian.

I'm doing this, for now, through poetry.

225 by Osip Mandelshtam and that poem by Boris Pasternak that appears nameless but begins 'February. Get ink shed tears...'

Soviet Russia. Cheerful as ever.

I'm learning the alphabet first, pronunciation etc. I think it's be easier that way.

So.

Happy blogging and happier reading!

This has been a literary post

Lots of love (and admiration for those who've made it through- for a while I wasn't even sure if I would make it!)

Little Newman

xxx

Miscellanea

#225 - Osip Mandelstam

After midnight the heart picks the locked silence
right out of your hands. Then it may remain
quiet, or it may raise the roof.
Like it or not, it's the only one of its kind.

Like it or not, you may know it but you'll never catch it,
so why shiver, now, like a thrown-out child?
After midnight the heart has its banquet,
gnawing on a silvery mouse.
Moscow. March 1931

Currently I'm reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It's a hefty book- because this is the full, unabridged text- but I'm enjoying it immensely so far (although so far is a pitiful chapter three... ) it's intriguingly and intricately written (just what I would expect), and I can't wait to get deeper in.

So, that's all I really have to say... over and out! :D

Happy Blogging,

Lots of Love

Little Newman

xxx