Reading...amongst other things

Hello viewers

I had my second day of University, which turned out to be worse than the first in terms of being valueless and frustrating. Once again i spent the day with Edd, which softened the blow somewhat, especially as we decided to go bowling after the induction. I now know less about what's going on than I did before!! I don't know which subjects I'll be studying or why and I'm not even sure when I go in next!! I think I'm doing Prose and Screenplay like last year, and I think I'm going to do what's been called the "Samurai Module" and get involved in a writing project for children with learning disabilities... if they said it right!

Right- onto reading, I once posted up a reading log on this 'ere blog o' mine and I believe I will continue as it is the kind of thing we are encouraged to do at University and you never know you may find it interesting. I've recently finished a collection of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe ( as in 10 minutes ago) so this has prompted me to post up a list of my chosen literature of late. I'll post up what I've read recently, what I'm reading currently and what I hope to read soon- not that 'recently' will encompass anything I've read over the past few months that I can remember well enough to write about.

But first, a little on my methods. I'm quite methodical when it comes to reading in a number of ways, for example if I read I will read a chapter, a whole chapter and unless I've got plenty of time for more I won't read on- I hate leaving a chapter or short story unfinished and if I have to do this because of inconvenient things like eating then I will rush straight back to my book so I can finish it. I also tend to read set books at set times, I usually have a Train Book which I read, surprisingly enough, on the train- to and from Uni. This tends to be a classic novel so i can fill my brain with good literature before entering the lecture room and it also means that since I have nothing better to do I'm more likely to read it and get through it, rather than at home where I'm more likely to find something else to do. Lastly if a book is in a series I absolutely MUST read that series in order- I consider it my highest literary crime to read book 3 before 1 and 2, and will only do it if I have to or don't know- and then I'll rush out and buy the preceeding books! As you can see I'm quite fastidious (ooh- that'll be my word thingy!) when it comes to absorbing literature.

Right, on with the list shal we?

Stuff I read recently

Oliver Twist: Charles Dickens - Undeniably an excellent novel, though Dickens doesn't half know how to ramble on about things!! Despite this I found the story a gripping and very entertaining one. I don't need to tell you what it was about, but it was interesting to note differences between the novel and the musical and film adaptations, as well as seeing the patterns in the "installments" when it was originally published in newspapers before being bound up in book form.

Starship Troopers: Robert Heinlein - I've yet to see the film, but the book is excellent. It describes a future, military based, society and is an interesting look at how humanity might be if spread out across the stars. Set against the backdrop of the war against the bugs, this book goes deep inside the mind of a soldier from boyhood to leading an elite platoon into battle. It had a clear, understandable style clear of unnnecessary technobabble yet also in a clear futuristic setting.

High Rhulain: Brian Jaques - The Redwall series, should not be mistaken for just being children's literature about talking mice and squirells. These books take the genre and take it seriously, creating stories about wars and heroes in a world much smaller than our own.

Ex Machina, volumes 1 and 2: Brian K Vaughan - I actually commited crime number 1 and read the second volume first, but I coped since this is an excellent series, possibly the greatest superhero series ever written since the classic days of Superman and co. It centers on Mitchell Hundred aka The Great Machine, bestowed with the ability to command any machine to do his bidding. But he decides that he'd do more good as Mayor of New york instead, and so the story centers on his political life while revealing his superhero background in the process. Fantastically written, excellently illustrated- recommended to anyone who can cope with a fair amount of swearing and the odd gory bit.

Selected Tales: Edgar Alan Poe - this falls into my 'train book' category, even though I haven't used the train in a while. A master of words, though also fond of using them rather liberally he also helped create and establish several genres, for example his character Dupin was one of the first detective characters in fiction, and Poe wrote very elaborate mysteries for him to solve, one of which was based on an unsolved murder in Americe, Poe turned out to be right in his assumptions as to who did it and how it was done!! He also wrote some terrible nonsense, such as the Imp of the Perverse, which is about the most boring thing I have ever read, it was an essay on the blatantly obvious fact that human beings like to do things even though they know it's wrong (it's called sin genius!!) and then described the actualy story in about two paragraphs!! But on the whole very readable.

The big four: Agatha Christie - Poirot takes on international super-criminals in this excellent book. I bought it on audio for my dad and then quickly borrowed it as soon as he'd finished with it- I quite like hearing books though I'm more prone to drifting off, then i have to wander across the room to rewind the tape!!

Stuff I'm reading now

With Poe out of the way, a substantial amount of my reading is done, but there are a few things still on the go and I'm certain I shall soon start others.

Cat Amongst the pidgeons - A lot less action than the previous book, yet somehow just as gripping- I think the fact that I have no idea what's going on, and neither do anyt of the characters, makes me enjoy it more- but that may change when Poirot shows up!! Again I'm listening to this one- it's good for when I'm resting my eyes from books and computering

Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines : Karen Traviss - The second in the Legacy of the Force series (don't worry I have read the first, I just forgot to mention it!!) and quite entertaining. The galaxy is falling apart (again) but as once friendly planets attack each other it's hard to to tell who are the good guys and the bad guys, and this makes it much more interesting than alien invasions or superweapons- plus Boba Fett's back!!

The Book of Psalms: God et al - Besides being the infallible word of the Lord Most High this is quite a readable book, it is interesting to see the Psalms that don't always get quoted and how king David and others trusted God not just when they were 'in the valley of the shadow of death' but in quite specific places, battles and situations too.

Stuff I'm going to read

Well, I'm quite tired now so you'll have to find out in my next post on reading

Goodbye on and all

Me

Word: Fastidious

First day back

Well I'm officially back in that schooltime extension that is university. I travelled in with my good friend Edd to enroll, and my what a waste of time that was! An hours worth of travelling, £2.60's worth of tolls, about the same in bus fares around the city, a walk up the biggest piece of hill in Liverpool all for something I could have done over the phone. I recieved my results....again! Then I got back a load of paperwork I'd already filled in myself which now bore an LJMU stamp, then I went up to enroll, which took all of a minute, since I don't have a student roll- if you don't have one of those glorified beer tabs the office people don't want to know you, and before I knew it I was back out the door, managing to compare results with a few of my compadres on the way.

But it wasn't too bad as I had Edd with me and we spent a fairly pleasant day in the city wandering around our usual haunts. Our first stop was Forbidden Planet a shop for all things Sci-Fi or comic book, I checked out a few items to compare in price with it's chief rival World's Apart on the way back up. Then we stopped off at Eddie Rockets, the city's authentic 50s diner- where I got probably the biggest hotdog I've ever eaten (and good too, considering the price!) and also discovered that I don't like Kraut, whatever it is! I also had one of their ultra big, ultra creamy vanilla milkshakes- it waswell worth going just for that!! Having filled ourselves we left to find that Save the Children were on lunchbreak and made a quick getaway down the street.

We wandered through the shops and I analysed the contents of each and mulled over what would be worth getting and where it would be best to get it from- HMV's student discounts usually put it in first place, but you never know where you might find half price CDs. We made our way through the shops- Edd purchased and has now joined me in Matrix Online . Through these we proceeded to the Liverpool docks to make another museum trip- this time to the Maritime Museum, a haunt of my childhood, still fresh in my memory- and checking which parcels have drugs in, and sitting on the firing ends of cannons never lose their charm. There were also very informative sections such as a recreation of the interior of a slave ship, being in such a cramped dank and uncomfortable space showed how warped you can get when you think of human beings as 'cargo'

But we returned into the sunlight and made our way back into the centre of commerce- I made my purchases- the chief of which is the new Scissor Sisters album Ta-Dah. An excellent piece of work in my opinion- I loved their debut album and was glad to see the return of this quirky, talented and unbelievably catchy band. I'd heard "I don't feel like dancing" on the radio, but wasn't too sure what the rest of the album would be like, but then I saw a live concert on TV the night before and was totally conviced that the band were as strong as ever. With the second albums of many groups being released this year, we will see who is destined to 'make it' - I sincerely hope the sisters are among those that do. My favourite songs are I don't feel like dancing, She's my Man, Kiss you off and Everybody wants the same thing- but in terms of lyrics, track 3 "I can't decide" takes the cake- imagine one of the chirpiest songs you've ever heard- then put these words to it

"I could throw you in the lake
Or feed you poisoned birthday cake
I won't deny I'm gonna miss you when you're gone
I could bury you alive,
but you might crawl out with a knife
And kill me when I'm sleeping that's why..

I can't decide whether you should live or die
Oh you'll probably go to heaven please don't hang your head and cry
..."

Right- Lost is on, so here's some quick C 'n P content for you all

"

Me me me

Hello everyone

I thought I'd stop moaning for a while (fat chance!) and tell you all a little bit about myself- this is what you're s'posed to with one of these things right? Don't worry i'm not going to give you my life story or go all serious on you- that's just not my style kids! For now at least I'm just going to skim over the little factoids I've given you over the past entries and expand on them a little.

I think I've mentioned my being a student and also being something of a writer a couple of times, and for those of you who don't know- the two go together. I'm nearly done with my second year at John Moores University in Liverpool (a very scary thought!) where i study Imaginative Writing- is it all making sense now? Now just to clear up what imaginative writing is, as some people get confused, especially when I use the shorter title 'creative writing'- thinking it's a course on caligraphy or something! No- IW is about using your imagination to create a short story poem, film script or something else like that!

Personally I'm in it for the prose or stories side of things, though I have enjoyed things such as Screenwriting and some of the more conventional academic modules. First year we got a taster of all different kinds of things, short story writing, poetry, writing for stage, studying the arts in general and observation and discovery which taught us to take inspiration from the world around us through some fun excersizes. There were also some optional choices such as Writing from Myth which was very enjoyable as we got a story time at the end of each lecture!

Now we've narrowed it down a bit (I've dropped poetry) and we tend to do more workshops, which I've already described, pretty much constantly. These are beneficial, especially if they're looking at your story, but can also get a bit tiresome and can leave you feeling like you haven't learnt anything. But the point of them is to prepare us for a potential career as pro writers, and workshop groups are a very helpful tool for any writer.

I may have also mentioned trains sometime recently- this is because i am what is known as a day student- that is to say I travel from home to Uni each day. When I say each day, that is each day I'm inUni, which isn't very often because the course requires you to do a lot of work by yourself, my total currently amounts to 2 days a week lecture time and it will probably be about the same next year when we run our own workshops and do portfolios.

This makes me reliant on trains, which of late has not been a good thing, but I've said enough on that I think! You may wonder why I chose to be a day student and miss out on all that fun, i will attempt to explain here. Firstly I couldn't care less about the staying up all night, avoiding eye contact with the girl in the next room, ordering pizza because my toast burnt again lifestyle. I've never really dug parties per se, I prefer a quiet one or doing something that is actually fun with mates, and somehow i survive.

The second major reason, and the one i use most, is the student debt issue, as a day student I will leave Uni with a debt totalling up to £0.00 or thereabouts! Not needing to pay for accomodation, electricity, food, copious amounts of alcohol etc. means I won't have the student debt that hangs over most graduates heads. I have a job with the Playschemes in Flintshire, providing safe, free places for children to play accross the county, and this funds my occasional CD purchases etc. I'm not loaded, but I'm not in the red either.So far it's working well and i hope it continues to next year. The only drawback is not being able to spend as much time with people in l'pool but I've still see them relatively often and I've still got mates at home.

Right, that'll do for now- Dr Who's back soon, woohoo!

Word- Rambunctious"

Goodbye

The big reveal

Well I seem to be keeping up with this e're blog, but it may disspoint some of you that I haven't posted any images of myself. To be fair I would imagine all of my readers know who I am- but there may be one or two of you dropping by wondering who could come up with the material on this 'ere weblog, well I am, shal we say, cybershy... or something like that, seems like you can stick "cyber" in front of pretty much any word to make a new meaning- but I digress. Anyway, I may not know you, you might be the maniac next door who can't take the far out nature of my blogging and have an axe hanging above your bed, waiting for the Figleaf to reveal himself...or maybe not- but anyhow, I generally keep myself to myself when it comes to this online business, but I'm going to trust you all to put your axes down and accept my vision for the time being. And in the spirit of MSN and (spit on it, spit on it, spit on it till it drowns!!!!) MySpace display pictures, featuring three or more people so you have no idea who you're talking to, I'm going to post up a few pictures of people who aren't me, all images courtesy of Wikipedia and other such sites.

















George W Bush, 43rd President of the United States... just in case you got us mixed up
















Philip K Dick - I want to be like him, in terms of writing amazing Science Fiction at least.












Thomas Mittlewerk of the Hanso Foundation














Gil-Galad, high King of the Noldor elves



















Donatello, of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles













Darth Krayt, leader of the new Sith Order

















The terrorist/hero known as V








Tank, former Operator of the Nebuchadnezzar











Blinky, the three eyed fish

Well I hope that cleared up some things for you, and perhaps subtly revealed some of the things I'm interested in. But I think you've waited long enough- here it is, finally a picture of the real me exclusively for you, the people who were so bored they kept clicking next so they could browse through everyone's blog.

Here I am!!
























Hope that was enough to satisfy y'all of my true identity- 'cause that's all you're getting!! OK, now some more copied content from my old blog! A list of the world's largest snuffleducks- essential readin i assure you.

Largest snuffleducks

Enter the information for the item you want to add, and then click Save to add it to your list. * Required information * Name: Web address: Description: Item Description Lesser striped snuffleduck (2m) A striped snuffleduck that is snaller than another type of snuffleduck Medium striped snuffleduck (2.5m) A striped snuffleduck that is large, but not the largest Large striped snuffleduck (3m) A striped snuffleduck that is large XL striped snuffleduck (4m) The largest striped snuffleduck Meduim to Large striped snuffleduck (?m) No one knows is this exists, but legends tell of a striped snuffleduck that is larger than a medium striped snuffleduckm but not as large as a larger striped snuffleduck Tartan snuffleduck (50m) A huge snuffleduck that makes the rest of the list pointless There are no items in this list. To add an item, click Add an item.

Thank you for reading

The Figleaf

Word of the post - Superfluous

Pressing on

Well I said I would so I will- I'm going to bring you more and more content from my officially deceased MSN space along with various comments from myself interspersed with out of date content. As for now, I recently attended Contagious aka Bible Bootcamp! Quite easily one of the best weeks of my year, loads of fun with great friends studying the greatest book ever written by the most wonderful author in the universe. This year we studied the cross, the central event of all history- it was a priviledge to learn so much about this incredible act of mercy and love, and a huge encouragement to me personally- the website (HERE) has some info on the week, as for the rest go into any bookshop and ask for a Bible, they'll have one somewhere.

OK, now here's what you're really after- some ancient article i dug up from behind the sofa, well here it is my pretties, here it is...

"A teen no more!

Greetings Address book people!

I am now 20 years of age, having had a birthday recently- I have left teenagerdom behind and am now a typical single twentysomething. Fortunately I am still a student so I don't have to be counted as a mature adult yet, but as I'm no longer a teen I have to drop the mood swings and the ASBO! On the whole, being 20 is a lot like being nineteen, though we'll wait and see how the year develops. I'm still at the stage where i think I'm 19 (well actually 18!) .and keep forgetting to tell people that I'm 20, but that always wears off eventually. I won't tell you what I got- we wouldn't want burglars to get wind of it would we! With this jolly birthdaying going on I'm in something less of a grumpy mood, so I might even talk about something more ordinary/positive.

I've officially finished lectures for the year (I'm shocked too!) I was suddenly informed that we would not be returning after the easter holidays untill May, when we hand in assignments, which kind of defeats the object of having an easter holiday as I see it, though I'm not complaining!! We finished the year by having an exam- how nice of the lecturers!!! You see, us writers don't have it easy all the time! However, it was nice to have pretty much all the students in one room together as we've largely been scattered around due to timetable changes this year.

I guess i should probably say something writerly, what with the post where I said I would and all that. I'm at the point where I've got to edit all my work ready for submission in May. I find this extremely tedious and sometimes painful, and I usually end up with some sort of disease at the end of it!! A lot of writers find it hard to cut into their precious creations and I still find it hard, but I don't have to much of a problem with it at the moment. This is helped by the workshop, when a roomful readers point out a problem to you, it's easier to see the need to cut that section out, change that paragraph around, or start again if necessary.

A recent workshop showed me that my screenplay isn't as great as I thought it was and the tone is changing very much in the next one into what will be a darker and hopefully much better story by May. I don't have to be as drastic as that with my short story as I got the verdict I got last time which is essentially good... for a first draft. Last year I was quite cautious, but this year I've gone all out to create the best, original mind-blowing science-fiction there is, and while i don't quite achieve that mark (yet!) aiming high seems to let me succeed without the fall being to far.

But now I'm on my own, just me and the computer screen, my eyes tired after an hour of gaming, ready to improve my work word by word untill I can bear to look no more at the bright lights and changing words and collapse into bed yet again. So I don't mind cutting my work to pieces and building it into something better as long as I can play master sowdsman and then ace sculpter, but while I'm clipping word after word off a bonsai tree, which looks almost perfect, but is missing something I can't quite see- that's what I hate!!

Well I guess I had start complaining at some point- but this is more about life, and giving advice to anyone else who might like to be a writer- not that I'm an expert or anything! You might think what you've written is great and your idea probably is, but in reality the chances are that your first draft needs some work on it. Don't despair, go to it- throw out the garbage and bring in the good stuff- treat it as though you are creating a new story, not destroying and old one, get some advice, keep the essential elements of your story, but shape them into a better creation. I imagine you have a computer- use copy and paste, keep a copy of your story, then take the new copy and fiddle around with that one, and make another copy if that one doesn't work. Computers can be handy- use them!

Hope that was useful and, if possible, interesting

The Figleaf

WotW- Heinous (A heinous crime) sounds great dunnit!"

See you soon everyone- try not to die or anything yeah?