Today, we will.

I've been neglecting you blog. My sincere apologies for this. Every time I've attempted to get my fingers onto you, something or someone distracts me. So far as excuses go, this is an atrocious one. *hangs head in shame*

Today I will most certainly:
Catch up on reviews
Spend time with J planning the European Extravaganza (no, no name has been decided upon yet)
And head over to your sister to add a Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara post (fully intend to subject unsuspecting friends to this film. We must make a pact!)

Right, so as I await J's arrival, these are my promises, all of which will be kept!

Hopefully.

Middle of Nowhere

This song plays on repeat on my ipod, Sunshine, not by choice, entirely by fluke.

Where am I? Nowhere, everywhere and somewhere in between. Currently reading The Name of the Wind nightly before sleep, it has me hooked enough to forgo a little sleep and a lot of energy for its words so that is a good sign, I suppose.

There are three pieces of assessment with my name on them - a feature article due tomorrow worth 30%, an essay due Wednesday worth 50% and another essay due 16 June, but which I would like to submit this Friday. That last hope is largely crazy, considering I haven't yet started working on it.

Apart from knowing I'm basing it around Ed Murrow's (in)famous speech. And perhaps comparing it to the state of broadcast journalism today. Perhaps, mayhap, maybe.

For now this is all I have.

Cleverness of Capeside

There is so much happening it's hard to follow all of it and comprehend it and then respond to it.

I think the bad weather just makes us all that much less enthusiastic, happy, gladvillers, keen and more likely to want to do things. It's sad really, I've always liked a good storm but certainly not when my boats floundering around on the choppy seas.

Yep, you're right I've been watching far too much Dawson's Creek. If you have no idea what I'm on about check out this here, and perhaps things will come home.

I loved this episode, apart from J&P being together, Dawson and P finally have a chat. It's only been three seasons (weather ones) coming but tis something. And Dawson jumps on board the True Love to bring P home, so to speak. Though note, it is J shrieking at him that gets P that jump.

What I'm trying to say is, I love this show and I could probably survive life if I used this as a guide. But then the same could be said of Supernatural (hmm Dean), Buffy (ahh, Buffy) and Veronica Mars (ohh, Logan) and probably Sabrina. Lol, Sabrina.

So here is my good thought of the day and I hope ya'll find something to smile about.

"I am so clever, that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."

The Crossing, BM Radburn

This is a great debut novel. The characters are believable, the cliches are absent and to some extent inverted and the location is eerie enough to host a missing young girl and a small sliver of hope.

Meet Taylor Bridges, a park ranger whose 8 year old daughter goes missing. As a consequence his otherwise happy marriage, begins to crack and chip prompting him to take a break and move an island away to Tasmania, to the small town of Glory's Crossing.

Being under the attentions of a mining group is never fun, being the recipient of a local government dam project is even less so. Glory's Crossing is literally, slowly sinking as the local river is flooded and the dam being built. To this town of old friends and foes arrives Taylor.

Here he is on the outskirts of a community tragedy until another little girl goes missing. This little girl had enchanted Taylor with her cheeky behaviour one day prior. A chronic sleepwalker since the disappearance of his daughter, Taylor begins to worry he is the cause of these disappearances.

Needlessly, might I add. The group of characters gathered to tell this story are the novel's forte. Believable, funny at times and with the potential to be someone you know, these characters allowed me to acknowledge the many ways in which humans, as a species are really quite fragile.

It's a great mystery with enough elements of surprise to make for a engaging read. I'm looking forward to reading more from this new author.

3stars

You can find out more or download the first chapter here!

She's So Dead to Us, K. Scott

Ally had it all. The rich and loving father, the beautiful and charismatic social mother, the perfect friends, the perfect school and the perfect life.

Then she lost it all because a mistake her father made. The family was forced to leave their idyllic lifestyle and move far away to escape the hatred in her friends eyes and the coldness of their words.



The cover that I own.



If it sounds like Mean Girls in a literary form, perhaps it is. There are other things which speak for this book. In large part the kind of characters you know you've met somewhere - in high school, at the job after school or during a holiday in a country not your own.

The cruel girls, the boys who see all but do little. The mothers with concerns stemming from makeup and ending on latest fashions. It's heart breakingly true, isn't it?



A cover that is perhaps more apt for the story.



I loved the attitude Ally had, she was sad that her friends had forgotten her, were treating her like an infectious disease yet she held out hope that eventually they would see past her financial status and remember the good times they had shared.

Unfortunately, at 16 no one has that kind of mind set. But with a cute (albeit annoying) boy thrown in, some familial drama of the patriarchal order, this book has a lot to recommend itself with.

I vote, we all read it and then have a pyjama party!

4stars.

NB: part 1 of a trilogy, I only realized this when I got to the end, mighty annoying but good for people who like a little more depth to their stories without the bulky brick sized one book tales.

The Emerald Atlas, J.Stephens

Four-year old Kate, one year-old Michael and baby Emma are taken from their beds and left at an orphanage in the care of an alcoholic nun. We leap some years and meet the children when Emma is 11 years-old and a brat, Michael is 12 and most concerned with dwarfs and their ways and 15 year-old Kate is holding onto the promise she made to her mother as she was being taken, she would always look after her siblings, she would hold on until the family could be reunited.

It's a story worthy of being considered in the ranks of Harry Potter and His Dark Materials by Rowling and Pullman, respectively. There is more realist elements than perhaps in Harry Potter, the children and readers are not shielded from the harm, they thrown in and expected to deal with it.

Perhaps fans of the popular series' may not appreciate the diversion from mystery found in The Emerald Atlas, but it's a welcome change for anyone looking for something fantastical with a twist.

There are witches and dwarfs, riddle-telling wizards (no, not like Dumbledore) and evil characters who make your skin crawl. The true heroes are the children themselves and although the trilogy has been / is being written with a book for each child (Emerald Atlas is Kate's book) the other siblings get ample footage and growing room. The book introduces not just the obvious heroes but some who will surprise by the end.

Good reading for anyone aged 12 and above, or younger readers who enjoy devouring books.

5stars

Check out the official website (excerpt, trailet etc) here.
Footnote: The author was one of the writers' on popular tv show, Gossip Girl, although you wouldn't be able to tell from reading this book.

The Unwelcome Guests

I've been neglecting you, blog. Apologies.

An inexplicable thing had happened, I've fallen ill three times this year. First, over the Christmas long weekend, the usual culprits of nose blockage, coughing were joined by headaches, lethargy and severe vomiting. This last guest was particularly unwelcome, I must say. The others were somewhat more tolerable, though lethargy was pushing it a little with it's persistence.

Second, approximately two weeks past, I was visited by all the above bar the coughing; he chose to arrive post the others departure.

Third, currently, I'm entertaining all my earlier guests, minus vomit who has thankfully stayed away. I really do appreciate it, love. All other ailments please follow suit and leave.

Particularly headache, you dear, have overstayed your welcome by far.

I've been doing a lot of bus reading these past few weeks. Funnily enough, I have this feeling I haven't been updating what I've read at the speed in which they are read. Sigh. Must correct this.

Binks and I are going away, well we hope to, at the end of the year. Money is an issue. Probably The Issue, we face currently. In my hours of plotting, I've been thinking a joint blog might be a good idea, if we can get this joint blog hosted by someone like, oh, say the folks at Lonely Planet, that would be gold. Or someone who would pay us something.

If not, we revert back to Plan C, selling pieces of our kidneys.

You Against Me, Jenny Downham

Meet Mikey, whose sister has just been raped. She claims by Ellie's older brother. If Mikey's any kind of brother he'll avenge the wrong done to his sister and use any means necessary to punish those involved, right?

Except he's met Ellie and somehow, through all the problems and the anger, they begin to see each other as something more. Something more than a boy from the poor end of town or the girl who has everything going for her. There is more to both of them and that makes all the difference.

As Mikey comes to know Ellie he begins to question his sister's statement. He re-thinks events and people as he realizes she may have lied. For Ellie, Mikey becomes a sounding board who she can talk to on a level that she hasn't been able to with anyone else. She also begins to re-examine what happened that night, what she saw and what she knows.

As a reader, don't expect anything to be black and white - that's not to say that one side isn't telling the truth. But which side is something that only comes to the fore after several tension filled pages. As the characters re-think their opinions and what they know - so to will you as a reader.

You Against Me is a very powerful novel. The novel spans only a handful of months, but the impact of events that occur within this period is strong and substantial. For characters in the novel, Ellie and Mikey's story has consequences attached for how they view one another and the difference between wrong, right and in-between.

A brilliant read - highly recommended for everyone who likes their literary characters to be as 3D as possible.

5*s

You think it's 'cause we're so awesome? I think it's 'cause it's we're so awesome.

Right so - where are we? Everywhere in several bits and pieces with blood splattered in between. Gross, but largely true where this crazy week is concerned.

I've got about three point four things due this week. I've completed about the .4 and the three? Well, you know - when in doubt update the blog! I remember laughing when I read these kinds of avoidance posts from dear old Binks here. But now, I totally see why you would as opposed to doing all the things you should be doing. Sigh and all that all you want, but it's akin to when I choose to plug in my i-pod, Sunshine and dance to my heart's content as opposed to doing assignments, writing or any of the fifty other things I should be doing.

Last night there were two parties to attend, the first was a lovely 14 year olds birthday party. Which we didn't stay for but we did help cook and get the lovely lass all dolled up - not to mention my now favourite cousin R get all prettied up.

The second do was a little more weird. It was supposed to be a kitchen tea party in preparation for the bride's upcoming wedding on 16/4 later on - but it was more a hen's night. The theme was bling so I brought out that olde golden coloured dress that Miss Mon bought me for a birthday some years ago and that was later worn for Miss Em's birthday in the sky somewhere.

The weirdness of this kitchen-party-that-wasn't was that all the older women there automatically begin analysing you for a potential bride-to-be. Its kooky but oh so Indian of them - I could just feel myself being evaluated by six different pairs of eyes as I got up to help the bride's mum with food and chairs. The mental clocks clicked over as they took in the outfit (not bad, not too much skin, relatively well shaped), the posture (could stand straighter, but that can be fixed), the makeup (not enough, really should wear more on that nose) and the helping out it self (good girl! Has potentially as a house wife).

I kid you not, if we were to do a quick survey of these women they would reveal similar if not exact comments to those above. How do I know this? I could hear some of them and in earlier years before I was of Age, I was party to sitting with them and eavesdropping as these comments were made about girls who now have 2 or 3 years old running around. Or buns in the oven as the case may be.

Lol. Ahh family friends how you amuse me.

Now friends.. Miss Em and I had a 12 minute coffee catch up this past Thursday which was nice. Lovely coffee that the barista finally got right! I could swear there was a marching band playing in my mind the minute she called my order our correctly! Binks has embraced the beauty of Supernatural. As much as I love having one more convert over to my side (this makes 3 in the last 3 months, K, Lore and Binks!) it's that weird feeling that I know many of us get - you want your love to be shared but it also invokes fears of trepidation that your love is becoming popular. Wouldn't it be nice if we could somehow program people to love our loves only when it suited us? *selfish streak rears its head*

Haha, that aside, it's going to be fun having Supernatural nights where everyone has glee spread over their faces!

I've fallen in love my tailor (totally non-sexually) as after several years of searching I've found someone who can make clothes to my taste! I have all these dress ideas that I'd love to make and wear, but can't because I can't accomplish the 'making' part. It shall all change now! Mwahaha!

Work is going well - it's busy and I'm more or less flat out - which I guess is how the Magazine world operates. There are so many things that go wrong and some days it's like a never ending cycle of woe, but other days things go well and it seems almost worth it. Read a few good books, freaked myself out a little with the dark subject matter of them all... but all in well good reads!

Now, I really must go and accomplish at least the 2.4 of those assignments. (After I review a few books)

I'll be snuggling on this very soon!

If you're as cold as I am - snuggle up, drink a chai latte and think warm thoughts!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

Hello all!

Last week was the first week of uni - UTS - yesterday we had guests for a small kitchen party, it was fun but boy was the preparation hard work! I cleaned all day, with dance breaks in between because that's how I roll..move it to the left.. and we shake it to the right.. *wink*

Posts have been scarce and few in between, I'll try and find a rhythm between work, uni and blogging *hmm* on the blog front I've started Neptune Masala as a means of sharing all my Indian related thoughts - including posts about Abhay & Piya, the film industry and all that stuff I generally throw in here. There is nothing there at the moment, but by Saturday midnight I'm going to aim to have four things on there.

High hopes, I assure you!

All the best to everyone who has started uni this month, gone back to work, borne children, suffered earthquakes and survived another ripper of a week!