Saturday, September 25, 2010

I heart Harry Potter

When I was 11 I fell madly in love with the Harry Potter series, and soon after Harry Potter fever began to descend on the world. Young and naive as I was I truly believed I had discovered this fantastic series with a couple of my friends and the popularity was due to the three of us telling everyone that They Had To Read This Series RIGHT NOW! Just before the new book came out I'd re-read the books already released and would hyperventilate while I waited in line at the bookstore to claim my copy. My family would buy one copy that would have to be passed between myself and my two sisters and my mum, as the first and most obsessed I would always claim dibs, but for several months after its release that copy would grow older and more tattered as we each read and re-read it.
When I finished the seventh book I was so depressed and not just because of that horrible 21 years later final chapter. I had grown up with that series, just as I had grown more complex and angsty so had my beloved magical world and all its inhabitants. I had cried over their losses, laughed and cried out when they were victorious, obsessively flipped over the pages at 4am because I Just Could Not Put It Down. There was a void in my life after the series concluded and I'm still as yet to find something to fill it.
I've never been the film series number one supporter, I they've done more wrong than they've done right, but my adoration for the novels has meant that regardless of that I rush to the cinema as soon as the movie comes out and sit there gazing up at the screen, falling back into the magical world I love so much.
After watching the trailers that have been released for part one of HP and the Deathly Hollows I think that this may be the one to succeed where the others have failed me. I was on the edge of my seat, or I would of if I wasn't sitting on my bed, hands to face the whole 2 minutes and 27 seconds. It is dark and moody, action packed and it doesn't seem like there are any major additions to the plot (like the burning down of the Weasley home in the last film- what the heck was with that?), so my fingers and toes are crossed extra tightly, hoping against hope!
I wasn't sure I wanted this book to be split into two films but now that it looks like they've done it right I'm glad they did. It extends the series just the little bit longer for me, it keeps that love that was ignited with the book burning just a tad longer. And who knows, perhaps they'll make a graphic novel edition next, or maybe a TV show, extend the series out for me just a little longer--either way I'll be happy because I love nothing more than Harry Potter, and never will.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Countdown

It is my birthday in three days and I have no idea what I'm getting from my family and friends, although I think I can say with complete confidence that I will not receive any books. For some reason I very rarely unwrap a gift and find a book within the wrappings, even though this is the obvious choice for anyone shopping for me, and I think i've narrowed it down to three reasons.

1. I am a book slut, i'm not ashamed to admit it. I will read absolutely anything set down in front of me. Well, I will start any book set down in front of me, but I can't guarantee i'll finish it (for the record the only books i've ever started and not finished are Atonement- Ian McEwan, The Eastern Slope Chronicle-Ouyang Yu and Crime and Punishment-Fyodor Dostoyevsky-although that was because I picked it up in a library while I was passing time...I will read it in full one day). So my bookcase is filled with  the most random collection of texts around, from classic to beat to jazz era to sci-fi to graphic novel to crime to  biography to Harry Potter (yes it deserves its own genre) to gothic horror to slasher horror to romance (but not the mills and boons type) to Australian history to recollections told through a drug haze. Anyone who comes to my house can find a book they'd be interested in, at least everyone has so far and i'd be suprised if that changes in the near future, but I digress. Reason number one is because of my varied taste and my continual purchasing of books and the fact that my room is one large bookcase no one is quite sure what I actually have, and so they don't buy anything for fear that it is already sitting on my bookshelf.

2. Linked to number one, the second reason no one buys me books is because I make it hard for them. I like so many genres and styles and eras of writing that when someone asks me 'What do you like to read' or 'what book would you like for a present' I stare at them blankly ummming and ahhhing, shifting from one foot to another before finally brushing off the question with a shrug and a mumbled 'I dunno'. I don't make it easy for them and no one likes to give a gift voucher (although I am a huge fan of receiving them) because it seems too easy and no one wants to openly admit how much they spend on someone else's present (does anyone else always put more on a voucher than they would spend if they were actually buying something- or is that just me?) or that they don't know the person well enough to know exactly what book (or cd or dvd or hat or shoes) the birthday girl/boy is dying to own. Or perhaps they think that I'm making the whole thing up and really I hate reading and that is why I can't name what kind of books I like... 

3. I don't get presents from a lot of people nor do I give presents to a lot of people, but when I do they're pretty special. I put alot of thought into picking out the perfect gift for someone, and then I go to a great deal of effort to wrap it in a way that proves I care for that person as well as know the colour combinations that best exemplify their personality. My friends and families think the same, they aren't going to run into Angus and Robertsons and buy something from the best sellers list just because my birthday is around the corner, they're going to hunt down a beautiful leather bound copy of Dickens, or find some underground graphic novel that fits my personality to a tee. Books are an extension of my self, and luckily my family and good friends know that. I think i'd actually be pretty devestated if I unwrapped a present and found a Matthew Reilley novel on my lap and a card attached saying Love Mum. So if they can't find that unique purchase they'll hold out and buy something else instead, rather than disappoint me with something standard.

Whatever the reason I don't really care, I love buying myself books, whether it is online or hunting through dusty secondhand stores so perhaps that is another reason I so rarely receive them, who knows.

I'm not sure how this long blog entry came about, I'd intended to simply attach this youtube clip of Kerouac reading from On The Road and mention how much I love the Beat writers and how I detest that this novel is being turned into a film (and a film with Kristen Stewart no less!! Is there no sense of decency left in the world?)  but I guess I'll save that discussion for another day and another blog. But i'll leave the clip here because it is wonderful to listen to Kerouac read, and maybe it'll inspire any friends and families who visit my blog in finding a last minute present!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Just because it's in your head doesn't mean it isn't real


Nothing relieves stress better than forceably shoving a character's head into a toilet and then pistol whipping them until they tell you what you want.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Australia has a Government!

About time!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Sleepyhead


 I've just finished five days working at the Brisbane Writer's Festival on top of creating a graphic novel for my pop fiction class, and i'm truly not exaggerating when I say this is the most exhausted i've ever been in my life.

Wednesday:
6am- wake up (went to bed at 2am the previous night)
8am-3pm- Usher at Writer's fest, herding children up and down venue areas and missing out on a bite to eat all day.
3pm-4pm- train ride home, read Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang
4pm-2am- illustrate, illustrate, illustrate
2am- SLEEP!

Thursday
 6am- wake up
7.30am-7.30pm - Worked up in the Writer's Green Room, terrified to approach the authors of my childhood and presenthood, but basking in the amazing awesomeness when I finally did. Made 4000 pots of coffee and 16000 sandwiches, washed 200000 cups, saucers, cutlery and food platters and walked around the main table at least 300 times.
7.30pm- take a taxi home.
8pm-5.45am -illustrate, colour, organise graphic novel

Friday
8.30am- wake up
8.30am-10.30am- add finishing touches to assignment and print out assignment sheets and rationale
10.30am- head to uni to hand in the work that has caused me so much drama
11.30am- Head to Southbank to start my Writer's fest shift
12.30pm-7.30pm- worked in the Green Room again, stared in awe once again, ran up and down flights of stairs, missed out on lunch again. Washed more dishes (never, ever again shall I hold both a sponge and a plate/cup/cutlery item in my hands again)
7.30-8.30- Dinner with my boyfriend, spontaneous decision to go see Piranha 3D
9.10pm- Pirahna starts- HILARIOUS! I highly recomend, but the 3D is disgustingly bad, the opening credits made my everything ache
11pm- Pirahna finishes, drive home. Come to the realisation that I have to be up at 6am again and that I should have been to be at 8pm to try and catch up on my sleep
11.30pm- Sleep, glorious sleep.

Saturday
6am-wake up
7.30am-8pm - Worked again in the Green Room, met Tim Ferguson, Robert Forster, Ahn Do, and a gazillion other aesome-o people.
8pm-9.30pm- Manage to catch a session, Tim Ferguson interviewed Richard Fidler, Benjamin Law, Ahn Do and Susan Maushart
9.30pm-9.45pm- struggle through the crowd of drunken 14 year olds breakdancing in the streets of South Bank,
9.45pm-10.20pm- suck down a tasty cocktail to forget the gruesome sights I met along the way to the bar
10.20pm-11.35pm- wait for the bus, bus station is packed, head to the next bus stop, even busier, call a cab, wait for ages, doesn't show, call them back, they're sending another taxi but again it doesn't show. We try the bus again, STILL packed, head to a different taxi rank, pay $2 to hail a cab, again doesn't show up. Manage to hail a cab on the street (yay) but the driver is completely psychotic (gahhh), luckily manage to arrive home without any significant damage.
12am- Fall into bed cursing Riverfire and their stupid celebrations for delaying an early bed time.

Sunday
6am- wake up (oh god no)
7.30am-6pm- worked in the green room again, so sad to be finishing up, but huzzah for sleep soon!
6pm-now- catching up on blogs, emails and facebook stuff.
next- Have to write an article for the new Brisbane online magazine Charlie, I really, really hope it doesn't keep me up all night, since I have to work tomorrow and don't get a chance to sleep in!

Phew! I love my sleep and I am so, so tired without a solid 8 hours. My sleep in on Tuesday is going to be Ah-May-Zing, it may truly become the best day of my life. On the plus side, my time at the BWF was fantastic, I met so many interesting and incredible authors, artists and creative types, not to mention the kooky volunteers that filled the staff. Loved it!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...