4.40 am

We all like to write stories for ourselves. A dream in which we’re somebody else. One and the same; A Marilyn, a songbird with a mellifluous voice, the pen that inspired a generation of actors; I have been them all. Now, I peer around my heavy curtain to realise I have stayed awake until just before sunrise. But all of the world, apart from the rabbits in their dewy labyrinth, are asleep. It wasn’t my goal to stay up until tomorrow, but as I brush back the curtain, it feels as though it should have been – like this was the best idea I’ve had for months. To not fall asleep, unexpectedly, and immerse myself in a bed of stories…

 I look over the rim of my decadent glass; I see myself in the mirror. And as Eva sings of sunburnt hands I feel like I’m the heart-breaker. I am the girl shaped like a vase in a sequined dress, with a lunar complexion; the ‘most famous woman in the world’. But the vision disperses like confetti at an ill-timed wedding, and yet, most of me still wants the dream to be true. And a part of me believes it. 

On returning to my ruffled bed, wearing my striped duvet like a cape, I hope that I will dream of sweet nothings in my sleep, and I begin a silent argument to decide whether I remain awake until the sun soaks my irises, or not.

London Things

Whilst I may attend a 'University of London', it's not as close as you would think, so there are still many facets of the capital that I am yet to explore. Last weekend I expanded my knowledge of the city that little bit further. Close to my favorite place, the south bank, lies the London Aquarium, and so Prince Charming and I went on an underwater adventure.

With priority tickets at £21.33 you get a lot for your money if you consider the amount of maintenance required to look after the various fish and other creatures (oh yes - there's more than just fish!). If you're going to the aquarium I would definitely recommend buying online and going for the priority/ queue jump option, as the queues can get pretty huge; I still have nightmares of queuing up to go on the London eye, and let's face it, 'ain't nobody got time fo' dat'.

So once you've whizzed through the entrance and waved at all of the unfortunates who chose the wrong time to be spontaneous, you walk over a 'bottom-less' floor. For (not) the first time I got to pretend I was one of those millionaires with a glass-bottom boat in the Caribbean. This wouldn't have been quite so special if the first thing I'd seen wasn't a FLIPPIN' HAMMER-HEAD SHARK! I was a little excited...

So what kind of things do they have in this fascinating place other than SHARKS?
I was expecting something short of a large fish bowl with a few clown fish and tropical breeds that you'd see in pets at home. But I was pleasantly surprised, as you may have already gathered... 
They have rays, terrapins, huge amazonian fish, poison dart frogs and penguins. I'm a big fan of ugly fish - strange, I know - so the huge jungle fish were pretty cool (about 3 1/2 ft tall!), but for me the rays were one of the best bits. On entering the ray room you're presented with a large tank full of rays that wave their bellies at you through the glass.

 Please forgive the crappy quality - windows phones can only do so much (if you're thinking of getting one, don't).


And as if you need more reasons to go gawk at sealife and wonder how ugly they think we look, London aquarium has a whole section dedicated to Finding Nemo - what's not to love?

Is Gatsby a gaffe? (Part 1)

One of my favourite books is The Great Gatsby - it's decadent, it's set in the 20s and it focuses on a moody character who we spend the entire book trying to decode.

As I'm sure most of you are aware Baz Luhrman (director of Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge) has decided to sprinkle his magic over the book and make it into a film; and with a release date of only two days away (after being pushed back from December), I can honestly say I have been excited about it for MONTHS!


Christy Lemire criticises the film as 'all sparkle, no soul' - but is that really a bad thing? When I read the book I took from it that the reason Jay Gatsby isn't happy is because of the artificial and ostentatious nature it has adopted. Lemire writes that the presentation of Gatsby's parties is 'repetitive and ultimately numbing'. Isn't that the point?

As my soon to be owned t-shirt suggests, 'there aint no party like a Gatsby party'.

My interpretation suggests that Fitzgerald wants the reader to be disgusted by the lavish lifestyle that everybody in his city craves. The vougue-esque wardrobe of the film is the only wardrobe that would satisfy such a materialistic society as that which surrounds Gatsby and his profundity. Lemire claims that the book is symbolic of the American Dream and the film doesn't deliver. But what if it does? Fitzgerald attempts to reveal that when you finally drag that dream out from the mind's eye, you realise that in fact it was a nightmare. Like Daisy, like the expensive cars, like the luxury that swamps the pages, it is all just a hungry illusion; as Disney keeps trying to tell us, you can make yourself a beautiful world, but without your world, what is it worth?

Jay Gatsby has come from nothing and gained everything; or that's what we are led to believe. The 'deep' moments in the book inform the reader that in fact that is a load of bollocks. Like a lot of rich heroes he has lost the love of his life, and has very few genuine friends; ones that aren't in it for the champagne and to gain material for gossip. For no matter how much money Gatsby has, it's not enough to stuff the hole in his heart. So Luhrman's portrayal of a spinning world of parties, glitter and expensive dresses is meant to make us sick; so that the audience adopts an analytic view that sympathises with Gatsby, and not his garish guests.

But Lemire raises some good points; Daisy is an idealised character; that's what makes her so fascinating to her admirer. If Gatsby wants something, as previously mentioned, he gets it; but in the case of Daisy Buchannon he can't. Whether it be a straight answer or a complete revelation of her mind, Daisy holds it all back and Fitzgerald makes her a hypnotising mystery; tantalising and tempting.

As for the rest of Lemire's review, I can't comment on as I am yet to see the film. Let's hope it's as good as Rom and Jules, and not as heart-dashing as this particular reviewer claims...

You can see Christy Lemire's review here.

Drinking Games!

Last night reminded me that, despite Chaucer's best efforts, Medieval Literature is pretty cool - do you know why? Because it gave rise to the writers of Marvel to create Thor.
As you can probably tell, last night I watched Thor for the first time - I too am unable to escape the charms of Chris Hemsworth's mouth-watering body. Both this and the comic-book-sci-fi appeases the geeky and teenage girl side of me - so this new discovery is a winner.

Today, thanks to my equally weird boyfriend, I made an equally brilliant discovery:

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/thatstudentlife?ref=ts&fref=ts


I happened upon a Top Gun drinking game. This is amazing for two reasons a) I adore Top Gun -both the film and the fact that this is one of the only films when Tom Cruise can be considered attractive [interesting fact- in the erotic scene, he  had to stand on a box] and b) I am a fan of both drinking and games.

As I'm sure many of the pros out there have guessed, the above game is played whilst watching the movie. There are similar games for The Lord of the Rings - one which you won't finish - or if you do, your drinks aren't strong enough!

This gave me an idea - how about a Thor drinking game? And with the sequel coming out in a few weeks this seems like an ideal time to blog on this subject.

After much procrastination from essay writing, Dan (boyfriend) and I came up with the following rules:

Thor Drinking Game

Drink every time:

• Thor uses his hammer
• Thor roars
• he struts
• he makes a ridiculous request
• he says 'Asgard' or 'my friends'
• the sword enters the bifrost 
• Natalie Portman's assistant does something relating to her taser
• Loki is being 'a little bitch' as phrased by Dan.