Presenting Stress

So, i've been stressing out about doing my dissertation presentation, which contributes to 20% of my overall dissertation. We have to do a 15 minute presentation and then 5 minutes of question and answers. To say that i'm PETRIFIED is a complete understatement! Every single time I practice, I forget absolutely everything that i'm talking about, literally- I just want to burst into tears. How am I going to get over this? Picture everyone naked? I'm sure that will give me the giggles..

So for now.. I guess practice will make perfect? Right? RIGHT?

My next post will reveal all......

Life of Pi: Film Review

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is such a beautifully written book. My mum gave it to me to read when I was about 12, she often would encourage me to read 'more challenging' books as I was actually quite uninterested in reading at one point. But the book took me to such a wonderful place, it was exciting and allowed my imagination to run wild! So.. when the film came out- it obviously had a LOT to live up to.

Life of Pi (2012)

It didn't disappoint at all. Me and Joe went to see it, and purchased our 3D glasses (I always buy a new pair- note to self, make sure I ALWAYS take this pair when seeing a 3D film!) bought some sweets and settled in.

If you're unfamiliar with the story, its about a family that own a zoo in india. Its protagonist is Pi, a young boy who is incredibly in touch with his spiritual side and can't pick just one religion, as he is 'just trying to find god'. I love what Martel is saying here, that we need to have a much more open mind to religion and become much more mindful and. Unfortunately they need to move the zoo to Canada so embark on an 'adventure' and load the animals onto a ship. The ship then comes into trouble as a storm hits, and the ship eventually sinks. Pi's family sadly don't make it through the storm and he is left stranded on a lifeboat.

When he wakes up he realises that his travelling buddies include a lovely orangutan, zebra and a horrible hyena! There is a deeply unsettling part at this point which had me in tears when I read the book and watched the film (joe was pretty devastated too!), but I don't want to give TOO much away! But, you'll be familiar with good old Richard Parker by the end. The way he acquires his name is also rather funny.

So, basically its a beautiful story which is exquisitely shot, the 3D animations are IN-CRED-IB-LE! Thee are some gorgeous coloured scenes! If possible, the book is a brilliant read. But if you don't get round to reading the book, the film speaks for itself. A MUST see, for all ages and all moods! It made me feel very spiritual and very 'at peace' - if that's even a feeling?

IMDb- 8.2/10
I give it - 8.2/10 - I'll have to agree with IMDb this time!

Big ratings to the acting by Suraj Sharma (who played Pi)- Loved it!

Silver Linings Playbook: Film Review

Jennifer Lawrence is one of my absolute idols. She's gorgeous, curvy and funny. Check out the link below of her at the oscars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ACQpZW-eTg
She was brilliant in the Hunger Games also- which I will definitely blog about in the future!

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

Anyway. Enough about my girl crush- the film. The film's main character is Pat (played by Bradley Cooper) who is released from a mental institution after lashing out about his wife having an affair. Once out, he moves back with his parents and attempts to rekindle a relationship with the ex wife, but meanwhile meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who has some mental problems of her own!

This film is very sweet. Bradley Cooper performs well, especially as its a type of character that he hasn't really played before. Its funny and dark all at the same time. For me, it put some things in perspective, the way I think about bipolar and depression. It makes you think in a very real way, about real problems. How sometimes we can be nuts and totally loopy, and its kind of okay. The title in itself stuck with me for ages and what it actually meant. Like yeah, sometimes things can be hopelessly shit, but always look for the silver lining- if you look hard enough, it'll be there. This links in with fate, and the whole 'one door closes, another opens' kind of thing..

Its a lovely film, it made me weepy because it really spoke to me. I don't think it's for everyone- it would be way to soppy for my mum... But it was perfect for someone that sometimes feels alone- and completely bonkers.

It will bring you back to the world a bit and shine a new perspective.

IMDb - 8/10
I give it a 9, maybe, on a very reflective day, i might go higher.

This film, and the way you see it, WILL be personal. I can tell you what happens, who's in it etc etc etc... But the way you connect and feel about the film will be the deciding factor...

Moral: There's always a silver lining :)

'Living in a World of Digital –Past, Present or Future’

Living in an age when it's impossible to be 'digitally disconnected' is a strange old place. Seeing as i'm off to London next year to study Digital Sociology at Goldsmiths I thought this post would be completely relevant. Last night I had two friends over for dinner and we discussed how much our lives have changed over the past 10 years.

The Past: We were discussing when we used to go 'on nights out' to the park, trying to remember who went out with who, and our fashion sense- or not as the case actually was, some epic disasters there! We wished that taking pictures on our phones and uploading them to twitter, instagram and facebook was just as easy as it is now. To look through these would be lovely, to relive some memories that we shared together when we were growing up - also horrific, embarrassing and hilarious.

The Present: Nowadays, i can't get away from knowing everything about everyone and what my best mates cousin is doing in australia. The way that the digital age has progressed means that we are constantly connected. Which of course, is great- in a way. I love seeing pictures of my friends and knowing what they're up too, but is it going to become a little too much?

My mum is currently in Thailand, and she has been emailing me from facebook. She emailed me a VERY long email, which at that current time I was entertaining friends so didn't actually have time to read it- but I had opened the email (maybe that was my mistake!). About twenty minutes later I received another email from her saying, 'isn't it weird that i can see that you've read my message?'. ARGH.
This is also a new feature of the iPhone! So now you know if someone is purposely ignoring you, or worse- someone knows if you're ignoring them! Admittedly you can turn this feature off- but you see where i'm going?

The Future: annoyingly when i think of the 'future' the logo: 'The future's bright, the future's orange' pops into my head- which is definitely digital and technology overload! But the future of living in a digital world is exciting to see what the next advancement will be, but also massively scary. It won't be long until face to face communication won't actually even be necessary- all communication will have gone digital. Of course, I know this sounds pessimistic as I love all the digital things that I own- I love going through my university photos with my friends, remembering all the fun times we had and communicating with my friends and family (yes mum, i mean you) when they're travelling. So its fascinating to think, and see, what happens next!

Flight: Film Review

I LOVE films, and I have watched absolutely loads. It often annoys my boyfriend as we'll try and choose a film to watch on DVD and i've usually seen most of them. I also absolutely love the cinema. Makes such a great night out, I love the big screen and nibbles and getting lost in the moment. So, whilst the credits rolled whilst finishing watching Flight I thought- I should definitely write about this. Something I'm genuinely really interested in.. So.. bare with me, i've never reviewed a film. But.. i'm going to give it a good go!

Flight (2012) With Denzel Washington

An american film about a pilot Whip (Denzel) who dramatically saves the day by landing a crashing plane, which would have definitely killed them all had he not managed to land it. So he's a hero right? Well, not quite, it seems that he has a slight battle with the whole recreational drug and alcohol use, and allegations and investigations are made into the crash. Was it all his fault in the first place? There's also an undertone of romance throughout the film, Nicole who is played by Kelly Reilly and Whip endure a complex relationship.

The film is brilliant, it's probably the best acting from Denzel that I've ever seen. You feel an immense amount of pain for him-, even when he takes the wrong track. He portrays the 'addict' in a very real way- showing us the hard truth that when someone is an addict, lying and hiding what is actually going on isn't actually that hard for them. It had me thinking about it for days afterwards- In fact I think it was about two weeks since i've seen it and it's still very vivid.

IMDb give it 7.3/10.
I give it an 8/10.

Its not a 'happy' film, so if you're up for a light hearted film, avoid.

What did you think?

Generic Q & A

I've seen these posts done time and time again and thought i'd jump on the bandwagon! So here's a few more facts about me :) 

Me: Dorothy Mae Baker Hassan

Nicknames: Dotty, Dorry, Midge, Monkey

Birthday: 6th January 1991

Place of Birth: Bristol

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Male or Female: Female

Occupation: Student

Residence: Currently Cardiff

Appearance:

Hair Colour: Brown- light, sometimes an auburn colour in the sun

Hair Length: Long- naturally wavy

Eye colour: Greeny Brown

Piercing: Ears, Nose and Belly Button

Tattoos: None- I want one though

Righty or Lefty: Righty

Your 'Firsts':

First best friend: Rachel Ashley- she's such a sweetheart!

First Award: Probably Ballet or Gymnastic related

First Sport You Joined: Ballet.. when i was 3!

First Real Vacation: India- i'm lucky enough to have revisited, such a beautiful place

First Concert: S Club 7- bloomin brilliant

Favourites:

Movie: I love so many, top 3- Shawshank (classic), Notebook (generic), The Good Life (comfort)

TV Show: Silent Witness (such a beast), New Girl, Green Wing, Neighbours (I know- its quite embarrasing, but i'm hooked!)

Colours: Blue

Song: Thats a toughy, I think it's very mood dependent

Restaurant: Wagamamas- hands down the best places EVER

Shop: Primark, Topshop and my favourite.. EBAY

School: I loved my secondary school, Nailsea

Book: How I live now- Meg Rosoff. Such a beautiful, sad story. 

Magazine: Cosmo & Glamour

Shoes: My amazing boots that my lovely boyfriend bought me. They're literally amazing.

Currently:

Single or Taken: Taken

Thinking About: My future- very exciting!

Wanting: Happiness- from love, career and travel

Future:

Want Children?: Yes

Want to be Married: Yes 

Careers in Mind: Something to do with the digital world...

Where do you want to live?: London for a bit, New Zealand for a bit, India, Bristol... I'm pretty open to where  I live in the future

Do You Believe In:

God: Undecided to be honest.

Fate: Yeah

Love At First sight: Yes, personally it hasn't happened to me. But I definitely think it can!

Ghosts: Not sure

Aliens: No

Soul Mates: Yes

Heaven: Maybe

Hell: Maybe

Kissing on The First Date: Yeah

Yourself: Mostly, I'm trying to become more self believing. But it's hard to be all of the time!

Hopefully that's a little bit of an insight!

Good News!

This is my penultimate term at Cardiff University (ahhhhhh) but it seems to be blessing me and my friends with great news for the future. I have struggled throughout uni to discover what it is I really want to do. I have toyed with teaching, events management and even running a tea shop ( I still want to do this at some point...)! It wasn't until my boyfriend applied to do a masters at LSE (and got in..!) that I thought more seriously about the future and whether a masters might be a good option for me too. Browsing the internet led me to what I think is 'the perfect course ever', Digital Sociology at Goldsmiths University in London. It's a course that will teach me computer skills along with ways of analysing technology from a sociological perspective. So I went ahead and applied, not thinking I would get in as sometimes I have this annoying habit when I think I definitely CAN'T do it.. BUT... 8 days later, the beautiful email arrived in my inbox offering me a place!
EXCITED!

hello london!

Some more of the success's that my friends have managed to bag is graduate schemes with the civil service, Microsoft, placements in opticians and PGCES. Most of these friends didn't actually think THEY would get it.. All goes to show that we need to have a little bit of faith in ourselves, and we may go far!

Swinging Sixties

This weekend has been a celebration of my boyfriends 22nd birthday. He decided to set a theme for the party that was held on saturday night, ( I love a good theme!) and he decided to do the 60s!

Me and Joe back in the 60s!

Trying to find an outfit was near to impossible, google didn't help me at all. So rather than paying for an outfit from a costume shop I decided to hit the charity shops!

You can find some absolute gems in charity shops, and once i'd spotted this dress I knew it was meant to be! It was a long sleeved dress and went down just below the knee. You can see the pattern in the picture!

Doing the classic 'behive' was quite difficult also as I have quite thin hair with not much volume at all. After searching through youtube we found the best thing to do was backcomb only towards the root and do a small bun underneath, so that the hair can be brushed over!

All in all, a great success! What themes have you guys done before?

Valentines Day

Valentines day is a tough one for some people, they dwell on being single and wimper at the sight of loved up couples. I'd like to talk about one of my lovely friends who completely embraces being single. She doesn't see being single as a negative thing at all, she goes out when she wants, wears what she wants, hangs out with who she wants and never has to justify herself to anyone. However, this doesn't mean she's anti men at all. She's happy to go on dates and meet men but is such a gentle and laid back girl, that if the spark isn't there, she's just happy to remain friends.

Although i'm in a relationship and love my boyfriend very much, i wish people that were single would embrace it, and take a leaf out of my friends book! See it as a choice rather than a problem! I believe there is someone out there for everyone, you may just not have found them yet! I also think that you can't depend on someone else making you happy. It is important to be happy within yourself before diving into relationships.

So if you're single this valentines day, do something thats completely for you, something that will make YOU happy!

Love yourself.

Lent

Lent is like a New Years Resolution, you think about everything you eat thats bad for you in your life and attempt to give it up for a whole 40 DAYS! That is a LONG time! A lot of the time we don't actually manage to stick to these high expectations, and manage to crumble and then feel awful about ourselves.  

This year, rather than deciding that nothing bad for me is allowed to pass my lips, i've decided to look at it from a new angle... A kickstart to a healthier lifestyle if you will...(after the pancakes on shrove tuesday though....)

I have signed up for a 10km run in May and have done hardly any training AT ALL so far! So for Lent i will give up 'putting it off' and get my butt outside and run!

What will you be giving up this year?

About Me

I'm a 21 year old 3rd year student studying sociology and hoping to develop a career in the digital arts world once I leave! Over the past few months I have been using other people's blogs to help myself procrastinate. Sometimes anything is better than doing essays and revision, right?

I've looked at so many beauty and fashion blogs, and think they're absolutely great... but at the moment I don't think I will be soley going down that route! So right now, I don't know what this blog is about.. Hopefully it'll develop into something magical! 

x