Sarah Kay

I thought it was about time that I should write about the person who inspired me to put pen to paper and begin to write. Her name is Sarah Kay, and she is a spoken word poet from America- and she is absolutely incredible!

As soon as a teacher mentions poetry in an English class, almost everyone either groans or whispers "not again!" and wish that they were somewhere else, but I'm a nerd and have always loved poetry. I remember in junior school, I used to borrow the same Oxford book of poems over and over again, because I loved reading them so much. I also saw from the borrowing stamp, that I was the first person in twenty years to borrow that book. Once again, I repeat: I am a nerd, but proud of it! But I had never thought of writing my own poetry until one lesson in high school, a few years ago, we were shown a Ted Talk video and it was featuring Sarah Kay. And it was in that hour that I truly appreciated poetry as an art form and started writing, and haven't stopped writing since. And because of her, I, along with many other people I'm sure, aspire to become great writers or poets just like her and that is why I really wanted to share this with you, in the hope that she could make a difference to your life in some small way. You know when you look back on your past and you can pinpoint some life-changing experiences? Well, that introduction to Sarah Kay was a life-changing experience for me, and now I can divide my life into two sections: life before that Ted Talk, and life after that Ted Talk.

Here is the very same clip that my teacher showed our class, it's a bit long, but I think it is worth watching:

Going too far

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, ‘Going too far’ by Jennifer Echols. The tension and dynamics between the main character, Meg and the (in my mind) utterly gorgeous John, is superbly written, to feel the ups and downs of their unsteady and unique relationship. Meg is a seventeen year old girl who gets caught by the police for underage drinking and found trespassing on a train bridge. And as her punishment, she has to spend her spring break accompanying the police officer who arrested her, on his nightshift patrol. And he is the professional, charismatic nineteen year old, John After.

“Criminal” meets straight laced police officer; it is a perfect concept for a perfect teen novel. The writing is through the point of view of Meg, and the reader is entertained with her thought process- the witty and sarcastic comments that are said and unsaid- as we discover why both she and John behave in their particular way. Meg has claustrophobia, whilst John has an obsession with the bridge where Meg was caught, and it is explained to us at the end of the novel, but throughout the story, Echols has provided prompts to keep the reader occupied in guessing what the whole truth is. It is just an entertaining light read.

Like many of the books I read, it is a teen novel that isn’t that well known. It just happened to be something I picked up on the shelf at the library at random, read the blurb thinking it sounded good, so thought I should give it a go.  And I’m glad that I did, because I didn’t want to put it down and finished it within a day.

8/10

(Note: I also just finished reading 'Spirit Bound' from the Vampire Academy series- 9/10) 

Wake me up when September ends

It is the first day of spring and typically, it is pouring down with rain. It is the month where essays have to be written and countless assignments are due and when you realise just how much of a procrastinator you really are when your to do list just gets bigger and bigger and yet you. It is the month where no other song is more perfect than

"Wake me up when September ends".

This is one of my favourite Green Day songs (I have many favourites though), where "here comes the rain again" is literally so true. However, my shallowness at the moment should be abandoned, because this song is actually really meaningful, about the death of Billie Joe Armstrong's (lead singer of Green Day) father, who passed away when he was a child. The song addresses the idea of  the pain of losing the ones you love and how time sometimes is irrelevant in terms of moving on. It speaks of the loss of innocence, implying how it is a fragile state that will inevitably vanish one day.

Okay, this is starting to sound so morbid, especially as I'm in a good mood, so I'm just going to proceed to the song. It is such a beautiful song.

Queen- A night at the concert

I have said it before, and I will say it again: in my opinion, Queen is the greatest band of all time. THE GREATEST! I absolutely love them, and I don't do this with other bands or singers, but with Queen, I actually worship them. Freddie Mercury is my voice idol, who is immortalised in my mind with one of his famous quotes: "I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend," ringing so true. And even though he is sadly deceased, he will forever be with us, which was demonstrated last night. Last night was the best night of my life and I doubt that anything will ever compare, because: I SAW QUEEN LAST NIGHT!!!!! I am still living in a bit of disbelief, because it truly was the most incredible experience ever! Words can't properly describe or recapture how epic this concert was.

The concert was to start at 8pm and my friend and I went inside the arena as soon as the doors opened at 7pm and I swear that we were the two most excited people out of the whole audience. Once those doors opened, it was like the gateways of heaven had opened to us and we couldn't contain our excitement, that we had to jump up and down and shake out some of the energy that was building up otherwise, I swear I would have burst. I don't understand how no one else was like that: everyone else were just sitting as if they were waiting for a train, whereas, that hour we sat waiting for the concert to start was one of the most excruciating hours of my life. We were both counting down the minutes and my nails were digging into my palm because I was clenching my fists so hard. This is when the Rocky Horror Picture Show's line "quivering in anticipation" was so true; I couldn't sit still and I couldn't wait for the band to come on stage.

Only two of the original band members were there, (Brian May and Roger Taylor, with John Deacon no longer performing) and featuring Adam Lambert. Now, I have to be honest that when I first heard that someone was going to be singing Freddie Mercury's part, I was like "no one can replace him!" and I was really skeptical about Adam Lambert, but then I watched him in concert and I do stand by with my belief that no one can replace Freddie, however, I can think of no one better to perform with Queen than Adam Lambert. He didn't try to replace my voice idol, he remained himself and he was incredible- so I loved him for being genuine and complementing Queen to perfection.

The night's set list was faultless- oh my gosh! I really can't describe the amazingness of the performance. I wish I could go into detail about every single piece, but no matter what I say, it just can't do it justice, but I will mention one of the songs that stood out most for me, and that was 'Love of my life.' Back in Queen's golden age, 'Love of my life' was sung by Freddie Mercury and Brian May, piano and guitar, and now it has become the song that is sung in memory of Freddie. Brian was strumming on the guitar, while the audience sang the first verse, then him joining in during the second verse. The final verse, a projection of Freddie came up with him singing, joining in with the entire arena; it was so emotional, and I was not the only one to tear up during this beautiful song, for not only were we singing for Freddie and showing that he is forever in our hearts, but because it actually dawned on me that I was actually singing with Queen and that is the most amazing thing ever! Queen is much loved and I am really so lucky to have had the opportunity to be there and I don't hesitate in saying that this was the best moment of my life.

And the concert finished with an explosive encore of "We will rock you" and "We are the champions"- by this stage, everyone was standing up and singing at the top of their lungs and clapping along. Truly amazing! 

Fire in my Heart

Simple Plan is one of my favourite bands, not because their songs are brilliant musically- in fact, their pop/punk sound is (not exactly simplistic), but it certainly isn't anything compared to any of the great bands like Queen or The Beatles- however, their songs are upbeat and are able to make the listener feel something inside when they are listening. Their angry songs/ fed up songs are perfect to listen to when you are angry/ fed up, and in their more pop-y songs your mood all of a sudden is lifted. And as they are one of my favourite bands, it is always upsetting when I mention them and most of my friends' reaction are "who?" Don't they remember hearing Simple Plan playing all the time when they were younger? Or was that just me?

Anyhow, last year they released a new album, and I was ecstatic and bought it the day it was released. This album wasn't as superior as some of their previous albums, however they have matured in sound and topic, moving a bit further away from their original punk sound that was in their first album 'No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls,' and complaining about not being taken seriously or fighting with parents. This new album, 'Get Your Heart On- The Second Coming!' still has the wonderful pop sound of the early 2000's that they adopted early on in their career and it is so nice to be able to hear that sound again eleven years after they first made their appearance in 2003.

'Fire in my Heart' is certainly pop-y and it makes you want to get up and jump around and smile and sing with friends. A lot of the songs on this album have that feel to it. So if you are feeling down, or tired, or need some motivation to do your homework (like me), then this song is a perfect choice in bringing back your energy. It is such a cute song!

The Inbetweeners

I am a massive procrastinator,  and over the past couple of days I have discovered and finished the entire series of 'The Inbetweeners.' This is a British sitcom that is filled with crude humour (and sometimes that is the best humour, especially when you are avoiding doing homework) featuring a group of guys in high school who would be considered the "losers." Each episode goes for around 25 minutes, so it is easy to just watch an episode one after the other and not notice that a few hours has gone past and your homework is still left untouched, but by that stage, you are too tired to do it and are ready just to go to bed.

'The Inbetweeners' is narrated by one of the primary characters, Will, who is the straight-laced, mature and to be honest, really weird boy who was forced to go to a normal state school after having gone to a private school. He is a snob and appears to be intelligent, and immediately is classified as a loser at his new school, but luckily makes friends with three other guys who are equally unique and an "inbetweener." There is Simon, who is hopelessly in love with Carli (one of his family friends and fellow class mate) and is probably the most caring and somewhat cynical of the group. Then there's the extremely immature and most crude, Jay. He and Simon are the most believable characters, as their motivations and comments seem to be the most sincere in terms of what some teenagers talk about. Jay in particular is an interesting character as he constantly tells outlandish lies about his love life all because he is insecure and teased constantly by his father. Then there is Neil, the slow and easy going, gullible character, who believes everything Jay says, and is probably too trusting for his own good. So these four guys are completely different, however the chemistry between them is so natural and great fun to watch.

Even though the actors are in their late twenties, they take on the role of teenagers with ease, and as a result, the series is successful and has been made into two movies (which I haven't seen yet, but will soon). The storylines' are about their simple day to day lives, showing their incredible bad luck with girls, with teachers and with other peers at school, but the bad luck they encounter is 100% believable, unlike so many other tv shows. It is so often that a tv show would make something happen and it is so outrageous that you know it wouldn't happen in real life, but in this sitcom, the things that occur to the four friends could really happen to anyone.

From page to screen: "The Spectacular Now"

At the beginning of the year I went to the cinema and saw 'The Spectacular Now,' which I thoroughly enjoyed watching, as it was realistic, not glamourised and was a cute story that depicted a short chapter of someone's life. I didn't know it was based on a book until a was browsing through a book store and saw it on the shelf. I was pleasantly surprised by this and decided to buy it, as I knew how much I liked the movie and was interested to read what the book was like.

'The Spectacular Now' is written by Tim Tharp, who has written other books, which I'm interested in reading as well, because I really thought this a delightful read. It isn't a long novel, and is easy reading; it is short and sweet, which sometimes is the best sort of books. The protagonist, Sutter Keely is a charming and loveable character, who you wouldn't mind to have as a friend. He is the "master of the party" but also "a midnight philosopher," who meets this girl, Aimee, who finds him passed out on someone's front lawn. She is the "social disaster" who allows everyone to walk over her, and Sutter sees it as his mission to help her get confidence to stand up for what she wants, meanwhile, a sweet relationship forms. However, the story isn't exclusively about that, but also about Sutter's outlook of the world, of living in the "spectacular now"and seeing the beauty in everything. I loved reading about what he thought, because it was so honest and refreshing; he allowed for things to seem magical in a place where many imperfections were found- living with the "miraculous."

 I do recommend this book, as it is a light read, that does cover domestic problems, yet is able make you smile and acknowledge a way of looking at life- making you think about how to look at life, for better and for worse. And the ending of the novel, which differed from the movie, is that the novel was left open, as if to show that the story does still continue even after the book has ended, which sometimes annoys me, but for this case, I thought Tim Tharp's ending was appropriate. Meanwhile, I think the ending of the film suited the story too, leaving it more rounded, which I think is better when it comes to movies.

Miles Teller played an excellent Sutter, managing to take on the beguiling role with ease, with Shailene Woodley as a believable Aimee. One of my favourite aspects of the film was how realistic and genuine everything seemed. For example, there was no evidence of makeup, which allowed the audience to see all the imperfections of an actor, which contributed to the vulnerability of each character and the rawness of emotions expressed.

Also, even though in a summary, it sounds like a stereotypical storyline, 'The Spectacular Now' is anything but. When watching the movie, I had no idea where the story was heading, and I remember distinctly at one point I gasped in surprise and  having to cover my mouth with my hand to suppress my shock. When reading the book, I already knew what was happening, however, I enjoyed reading it without thinking "that's not how they did it in the movie" or picturing the actors in my head, which can sometimes happen when you watch the film before reading the book. Instead, it was a separate experience that I loved so much and accepted as the book in it's own right.