Eat, Pray, Love

The book was brilliant..... I hope the film is too!

'Eat, Pray, Love'



Anyone else read the book and loved it? Makes me want to go travelling all over again :)

p.s you may have noticed I've recently figured out how to post videos! Apologies for the aparent video overload!

The Wolf

Have to share a quick piece of music with you... It's called 'The Wolf' and is one of the songs from this fantastic movie...



Probably my favourite movie of all time, Into the Wild is about a college graduate who leaves society behind in pursuit of wild horizons. Based on a true story the film is simply stunning- performances, cinematography, (ooh good word, see, knew media A-level would come in handy one day), the lot!

The song is sung by Peal Jam singer Eddie Vedder, it's a very short piece of music, but really powerful in context. Brilliant soundtrack. Here it is accompanied by an odd video...



I'll stop gushing now....

Chasing Paper and Ruling Empires...

So much I want to post about at the moment, but so little time! I've given myself a day off today as I can't do 14 days without a day off, I'm not hardcore enough. So I'm taking a day to rest and rejuvenate :)

Work is such a funny thing isn't it? Some people see it as a means to an ends, punch in, work, punch out- then live for the weekends. Others see it as a way of life, something that defines who you are and all that you are. I would like to think I'm somewhere in the middle. Yes, I have big ambitions for myself, but the crux of it ends here- I want to do something I enjoy. But at the same time, I don't ever want it to take over my life and define who I am.

Here's what I do for work at the moment. First and foremost I'm doing some freelance writing for this company:




They're a fashion shopping website with ridiculously clever search engine techniques- try it out. What I've been doing there is writing about brands and designers. Originally I was an intern writing the blog, but now I'm focused much more on the brand pages. Here's an example of one I wrote for Giambattista Valli....

"The Collection - High impact pieces with feminine detailing and luxe embellishment paves the way for Giambattista Valli and his eponymous collection. A skill with altering perspectives, volumes and proportions has served Valli well, as his catwalk shows continue to receive admiration season after season. Expect critical attention to detail with slashed necklines, ruching, bell sleeves, fringing and cinched waists. A careful use of print and colour invites drama while sharp lines retain a sense of sophistication.

More info
With artistic tendencies running through his veins from a young age, Giambattista Valli wasted no time enrolling in art school. From here the designer went on to the European Design Institute and eventually the Saint Martin school of Art. Loaded up with a substantial education weighing heavily on his back, Valli began to get work with high-end fashion houses including Roberto Capucci, Fendi and Emanuel Ungaro. It was here that Valli honed his skills and learnt lessons in colour and volume, ready to transfer to his own work.

In 2005 Giambattista Valli revealed his first collection to the world, a show full of polka dots and bubble skirts attracted the industry like a moth to a flame. In the few years since his début, Valli has continued to draw a fashionable crowd of stylists and celebrities with dramatic pieces and subtle experimentation. With additions of bags, footwear and denim to the line and the first stand-alone store recently launched in Paris, it looks as if Giambattista Valli's label is well on its way to a future full of success and worldwide recognition."

This is really fun for me, and something I would love to be involved with in the future.

Whilst doing this I'm also working part-time here:



For a little extra money. Having fun there so far, but lusting over their pretty products isn't going to help enormously with saving money...





So there you have it, my work life at present. Not bad as far as work goes, however I am very excited to see where it all leads so I can leave this limbo and find a new one to call home.

(Crisis averted...)

So you know in my last post I said I would probably get a rave review about my writing when I least expected it and be back on top of the world again? Well yeah, that happened. About four times to be exact, (in their own unique ways)over the last two days for this blog (limbo), this blog (Cellardoor) and for this album review :) So I'm back on top and ready to continue on with the climb! Still a little shaky, but I'll get my stride back...

Thanks to all those that brought me back from the brink without even realising.

Crisis of Confidence

Ooops, have been a tad neglectful of my little blog this week haven't I! The truth is I've been working my lil' tush off in an attempt to see if sheer hard work and determination can make up for a naturally sparkling talent. Just having one of those weeks where you wonder whether or not what you have to say or do....matters? I'm working two jobs at the moment, one writing for a fashion website (which I love) and one working at my local Paperchase (which will pay the bills). Both are great, and although the 6/7 working day weeks are hard to get used to, I know it'll be worth it in the long run, when hopefully I can just do the one I love.

At least I hope it will be. Having a proper crisis of confidence at the moment. Some people are just born with natural talent and seem to slide through life easily and happily, doing what they love and getting praised for it. Then there are the other lot, the group of people that seem to be constantly working against the tide, clawing their way to the top, only to look around breathlessly and wonder why everyone else is higher. It's a frustrating and wobbly climb, let me tell you. What I want to do is within such a competitive market, I just don't know if I truly have what it takes.

This is a very defeatist post, I know, and unusual for me, (usually optimistic to the point of lunacy), so I do apologise. I know in a couple of weeks I'll get a rave review from someone when I least expect it and be on top of the world again. But right now I barely have time to sleep let alone dream, and who are we without dreams? Cripes, got a bit deep there. Thank god for writing. One of my lecturers at university said something that really stuck with me,

"There are three types of writers in this world, one who wants to get rich, one who wants the pretentious title and the other that has no choice but to write. It isn't forced or lusted after, it flows from them and becomes an emotional tool. These are the one's that will make a living from writing."

(Source)

I'm para-phrasing, but that was the general gist. I've always been the one with no choice but to write. It got me through Anorexia, depression and general terrible teenage years. And as I've grown up it's become a friend to rely on when everyone else hides behind protective shields. So in theory, one day I should be making a living from this. We'll see eh? something to hold on to anyway.

In other news, my family love me, my boyfriend is amazing, my friends rock my world and I've had a short story (pg 84-85) and a blog published at Cellardoor. So life is good, and I need to stop wallowing. NOW.

New Love Interests....

This week has been oddly great for discovering new music! So good infact that I feel the need to share my discoveries with the world...

First up we have Local Natives, discovered these guys via twitter (god I love that thing), a reccomended tweet about the band called out to me and I found a new crush. Here's one of my favourite songs from the album, 'Warning Sign' (Apologies for lack of video...)



Next up is Ben Howard, someone I rather randomly dicovered through Quicksilver's website (was researching for work) and promptly fell head over heels. This is 'Move Like You Want To'



And finally, this isn't a new find at all- but I re-kindled my love with this song today so am gonna post a sneaky video. The song is called 'When Your Mind's made up' and is from the brilliant movie 'Once'. The singer is Glen Hansard and I think I may love him just a little bit. You MUST listen to it the whole way through, get's amazing towards the end...TRUST. Here's the scene from the movie...



So there's some musical treats for you. I feel this may become a regular occurance on here, hope that's OK :D

Busy busy busy....

Have been so busy this week working two jobs and trying to fit in some sort of social life, so have been neglecting my poor lil blogs. Next week should be a little less manic, so will update them all then, promise! Today however I am off to enjoy my one day off with a nice picnic in the sun with my man :)

Have a great weekend x

(Source)

"As winds of change become casual storms, they undo your hair and
chill your bones. Embrace this hurricane and lend a thought to a past
when stagnant air strangulated every future wielding dream. Hold onto the
steady rocks below and dance with new impulsive airs."

Poetry

I wish I was a good enough writer to write poems! Sadly the rules fly straight over my head. Instead I tend to write streams of consciousness that sound pretty but have no formal structure. Maybe I'll read up on it and give it a go one day though.

I came across an article in Elle about a poet called Adam O'Riordan and was intrigued at what his poems were like. I looked it up and really like his style. Here's two I like....

Small Adult Skull

The dome I hold is an empty cathedralin the minim rest at an organist's rehearsal.
No clues here to a lifehowever the shadow-play of my anglepoise might attempt to aggregate a face,feign grief, surprise, delight. It waits like a glass boxin a bankrupt jeweller's.
This monotony of boneis a snapshot of the moon.I turn it through its cycle, feel its pull: from swaddling-cloth to specimen case.
I contemplate it for hours on end.Still it gives up not the briefest song.

Trawling

The tiniest stress fracturecould stop the satellite as it travels like a Trappistin silence through the vacuum's detritus; carbon-carbon, a C116-A solar panel. But it goes on. We bounce ideas off it, it spreads the word
of a cloud bank sixty leagues outfrom a small African republicstruggling with insurgency and pandemic,a Captain announces they'll fly above it.A grandmother presses her cold noseto the porthole but cannot make outthe rocking horse of the lonely trawler below;
the smell of spilt diesel, fish guts, blood and brine, gravity in flux, a coffee cup slides along the galley,its thick dregs are J M W Turner's Snowstorm: Steamboat off a Harbour's Mouth.

I like it :)

and here's The Poem- Limelight's bio of Adam

"Adam O'Riordan was born in Manchester in 1982 and read English at Oxford
University. He studied poetry under Andrew Motion at the University of
London and was awarded the inaugural Peters, Fraser and Dunlop poetry prize.
He currently works part-time for the publisher Enitharmon and as a tutor. In
2006, he was awarded an ACE writer's bursary."

Clever Cat no? It's fun to play with words.