Film Club | October

October felt like the longest month, probably because of all the changes swirling around but I still managed to squeeze in a few films with this month being a bit more related to my choosing and films Moon wouldn't watch with me since we spent a bit more time apart than usual.

It has felt a bit like my selections have been getting smaller and smaller but I'm quite pleased to see that I might at least make it to the 100-mark before the year is out. ♥

85. Obvious Child
86. Maps to the Stars
87. What If
88. The ABCs of Death

89. Boyhood
90. Lilting
91. Lucy

Most Favourite: Obvious Child — It's strange that such a thing as an 'abortion comedy' can exist but Obvious Child really pulled it off. At it's heart it's a sweet story about a girl who has pretty much every aspect of her life go wrong at the same time on top of finding out that she's pregnant. I found it a pretty honest portrayal of the emotional situation the main character, played by the adorable Jenny Slate, found herself in and with abortion not being something that's affected me, I can definitely relate to having 'one of those weeks'. As well as being cute, fresh and funny, the leading man is, without meaning to sound lame, hella cute like omg, I could smoosh his face!

Least Favourite: The ABCs of Death — For some reason or another this popped under my radar and a fan of the ever-so-similar VHS franchise, I figured it might be worth a watch. The premise of the film is to assign 26 film makers a letter where they pick a theme surrounding death and go with it. Some of them are funny, some of them are vile but the whole film is pretty darn awful. I don't think it came together that well at all and with some of the films getting more screen time than others there was often too little time to explain what you'd actually just witnessed (there's one with furries, urgh). I hear their making a sequel, but I think that sounds like something to avoid.

Honourable Mention: Boyhood – Boyhood has been the most hyped film I've watch pretty much all year post-awards season, and actually I think that's what ruined it for me. The best part was seeing Richard Linklater really honour his craft and put love into this project, it's so evident in almost every shot but the story just didn't get there for me. I love that due to the time span of 10 years, we're treated to pop-culture references throughout but the actual 'boy' kind of emerges to be a bit lame and I found myself really not caring what happened to him, maybe it's just me though. It's a pretty hefty watch at almost 3 hours long and I'm glad I stuck it out to find out what the fuss was about but it just is what it is and I can't find myself getting excited by it.

Look Back –
Film Club | January
Film Club | February
Film Club | March
Film Club | April
Film Club | May
Film Club | June
Film Club | July
Film Club | August
Film Club | September

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Best Christmas Ever!

I love Christmas, okay? I really do, the clocks go back this weekend, Halloween is next weekend and I can finally actually start to talk about it.

I must admit, I was a bit reluctant to enter this competition because hey, it does seem that Christmas comes earlier every year, but there's a trip to Lapland at stake and I think I can do this.


This is what you could call a bit of a late entry, despite knowing about it for a little while but better late than never... So, the wonderful (Oxford-based!), Transun are offering an exciting trip to Lapland for Christmas in return for talking about 'your best Christmas'.

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to spend Christmas in Florida, we've been a few times before but I think this was the best and the first time I've really been able to appreciate it. With everything being so American and exaggerated given that you don't quite get the Winter Wonderland feel in that part of the world, there were still lots of times that I felt both lucky and super-Christmassy.


My absolute top Christmas moment was visiting the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at MGM/Disney Hollywood Studios, I hadn't seen the light show before and it was just perfect and despite the fact that it probably happens 200 times an evening, it felt really special.




Our Christmas meals when visiting Florida have been far from traditional, from eating at a pirate dinner show to sampling Asian fusion at Emeril's Tchoup Tchoup, I think that's the perk of having a Christmas away from home, making the most of what's around you and really giving your holiday the best you can.

Goals for October.

[source]
September feels like it passed in a blur, it's the first time in ages that I've managed to get so many posts 'out there' though and I'm really pleased with that side of things.

Starting a new job has completely messed with my routine in the last couple of weeks though so the start of a new month, feels like as good a time as any to take stock and plan ahead.
After all, when you're staying home because you're as skint as a mint, all you can really do is make lists and plan... and do housework, too much housework.

• Be a better friend – Take more time catch up and 'be there'
• Manage time better – Spend less time vegetating on the sofa and more time doing things
• Make more me-time – It's not to push Moon away, but I think it's important we pursue our own interests from time to time
• Play with Doll more – We've noticed that Doll actually loves it if we take a few minutes out to properly play with her, with real toys as opposed to just winding her up. When we do this, she'll then sit with us and I mean with us, not near us and generally is much nicer. I know it's a silly cat-owner thing to notice, particularly after almost three years but I want a happy cat and it's such a small thing for her to ask for among the other things she needs
• Embrace the new routine – I don't like change but I didn't like where I was before everything changed so this change can only be good. It will only work if I try to slot it in around things I really want to be doing, did I say change enough?

I'm hoping to not stress myself out quite as much this month and take it all in my stride. Having realised that since my birthday I've been caught in some really unnecessary drama that doesn't concern me, what I've really been needing to do is concentrate on myself and I think sometimes that's how it needs to be.

Hope you have a relaxing, chilled out Sunday.

Indian Summer Breeze.

Because we'd had such an action-packed first day and because Moon had a long drive back to Newbury in the mid-afternoon (but also because Kirstin and I stayed up until 3am yapping), we opted for rounding our little Norfolk weekender off with a relaxed walk along Old Hunstanton beach. Just a short walk from Dan's parent's home, it was pretty ideal and even though we weren't quite prepared for the blustery sandstorm that awaited us, it was so nice to see the sun shine and breathe in the sea air.





Not quite sure how this photo came to be but I definitely commend Moon's photography skills pretty highly for it.









I think this was my favourite photo-spot of the weekend - after the seals of course - I always find that the weather makes such a difference and the bright blue sky made for such great lines and layers.




My best Steve Zissou impression.



I guess the wind and the wonderful sun were signs of the supposed storm, but it was hard to tell as Norfolk is apparently usually windy thanks to it's flatness. I got sand in my eyes and embedded into my tights but watching the sand floating across the beach was pretty mesmerising and it was very easy to get some shelter just by climbing over the dunes.

In other sand-related news, I accidentally filled one of my pockets with sand due to overenthusiastic shell-collecting.

Norfolk has certainly done the job with motivating me a bit more, I'm not sure if it's down to the place or just getting away generally but I feel like I'm full of ideas at the moment(!!!)

Autumnal Cut.

It's quite typical that on the day I plan to take photos of the hundreds of squirrels that live down The Cut, I only see about three and they are all hiding. I'm very happy that it's finally Autumn and the colours are telling me so. Today was the perfect weather.

How great are these socks? I didn't even know I had them. ♥

I've got a full week and a half until I start a picture desk internship, that's quite weird. It's only for a couple of weeks (at the moment), but I will be so pleased to finally have something productive to do; much better than moaning about the Job Centre and graduate fairs anyway.