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Showing posts with label university. Show all posts
Showing posts with label university. Show all posts

Friday, 30 March 2012

That 'So... what now?' Feeling

March has been a pretty busy month for me, I'm not going to lie. There was a lot that I had to get done for Uni and as a result, blogging and writing took a back seat. As they should, I think, given that I am supposed to be a student first and blogger/writer second.

But now it's March 30th, I've just handed in the last of my essays before the three weeks of the Easter holidays begin and it's sort of left me feeling a bit... strange. Do you know what I mean? When you're whole life is focused in around one thing and when that one thing happens, in the aftermath you feel kind of... dead? That pause and then 'What now?' thing? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's happened me a few times recently.

The first was right now when I handed in my essay. I had two of them, both 2000 words long. English and students of the arts will laugh at me right now for complaining about 4000 words because, let's face it, that's their lives! However, as a science student, I'm really not used to writing essays at all. Most of our work is based on practicals and lab reports of very limited wording. So essays were a bit of a shock to the system! For the past 3 weeks all my house mates and friends have got has been: "Nah, I don't think I've time. I have these essays for next week." I kinda looked like this for a while:


But  I've been so focused on getting these essays done that now they're finally handed in, I kind of don't know what to do with myself! (I should probably start working for my exams in May, but I can't begin to even think about those right now!)

The second was in reference to this movie that was kind of a big deal recently. You might have heard about it. Something about Hunger Games? Yeah. That one. As you may or may not know, I read these book a long time ago. I think Catching Fire (book 2) had just been released when I read them, so in terms of the fandom, everyone's been jumping on my bandwagon. I saw it for the first time on the night before it was released in the UK. (It was an advanced screening!) And it was amazing. There were some few subtle changes from the book, but they were so well done that I didn't mind. The majority of it was so damn faithful to the books, it was like watching what had been happening in my head while I was reading the book. I think I may have a girl crush on Jennifer Lawrence. She's amazing.
But again, that same thing happened when it was over. I felt kind of... empty inside. I had been waiting for years for this movie to come out, and I got so into all the hype in the run up, that when it was all finished, I had no clue what to do.

They're all so beautiful. Damn you Hollywood.

The third and final type of this feeling will be the one probably most familiar to my readership. I have never had the fortune of finishing my own original piece of fiction, but I have finished a fair few fan fictions in my earlier days. And it was always the same with them. As I typed, or penned, that last sentence the first feeling was, "Oh my gosh, I've finished!" followed soon after by that crash of "my life no longer has a purpose." Yes, very melodramatic, but for a short period of time after finishing something that has taken over your life, it does kind of feel like that?

Or am I on my own? Perhaps it's my obsessive personality that leads to me feeling empty after finishing goals that I've set myself.

Do you ever feel like this? Or if you don't, how do you feel when you finish something big?

Sarah x

p.s. this post is nearly 700 words and has taken me a little over 30 minutes. Why on earth cant this be my speed of output when I'm doing school work? Life would be so much easier...

Monday, 30 January 2012

Semester 2, Year 2 - Half way...

So as it stands, I am officially less than an hour away from starting my 2nd semester of my 2nd year of university. Provided I don't get held back for failing (Unlikely, but I thought I'd mention it) I am now officially half way through my degree. SCARY. I'm only 19, yet I'm only 18 months away from possibly taking the first steps onto the career ladder. I'm not even sure that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I originally decided to do Biomedical science at University because I was under the impression that I was more likely to get a job this way, and now that's not even true because there are hardly any jobs in this sector any more due to the economic climate. Lovely.

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to this semester. I just would have preferred a bigger gap after my exams to cool down! (And that the course wasn't going by so ridiculously fast!)

So that's just a little rant.

Writing is unfortunately my Plan B. It's a Plan B that I really want to be a Plan A, but I need to be realistic.

On a happier note, the blogfests that I'm taking part in are coming up soon, and I'm really looking forward to them! Make sure you check them out, the buttons are over on the right hand side of the blog!

Sarah x

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Prince Of Persia - Movie review and One shot

So, although I'm up to my neck in University exams, I still manage to find the time to write. I don't know how this is possible, but apparently it is!

It always happens around exam time, I don't know why, but the writing part of my brain just goes into overdrive and I can't concentrate on anything because these characters in my head just come alive. I'm always daydreaming, but it gets ridiculous around exams. My current daydreams of choice are that of the recent (2010) Disney action film Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.


This was originally a game, which I've played numerous times on numerous platforms and I loved the game, so I couldn't wait until the movie came out! Unfortunately I never got to see it in the cinema, because of a mix up with dates and the fact that it didn't do quite as well as Disney had hoped. I managed to catch it online, but have since bought the DVD because I thought it was completely epic!

Although some people don't like this because, well, because they're hard to impress. Disney have a habit of turning out their live actions in much the same way they do their cartoons. Think Pirates of The Caribbean, with someone else playing Jack Sparrow, because let's be honest, Jonny Depp brought that franchise to a whole new meaning of Epic.

So, if you don't mind being picky about highly unrealistic story lines, then check it out! For the girls you get to gawp at a majorly buff Jake Gyllenhaal. Lads, you can check out Gemma Arterton who's just flawless, and I love everything she's in. There's also the small matter of Ben Kingsley, who does a great baddie. Personally, I think it's worth a look!

BUT - let's go onto the story. Although I'm making my way through a full length story, I did happen to write a little short story. The film starts off with Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Dastan, being adopted from the streets of a Persian city by the King after rescuing his best friend. The film then jumps to 15 years later, where the friend he rescued is his right hand soldier. However, I got an itching to write what happened immediately after the adoption and here it is:

Friends Forever

Silently, the little boy wept.

He was cold, he was hungry, but most of all he was alone.

The noises of the night were so much more frightening when there was no one else beside you. Every little scratch and scrabble of a mouse, or a bat, sounded like some evil being lurking in the darkness, waiting to devour him. He huddled up even tighter and clamped his eyes shut.

This used to be their den. It used to be their palace, where they sat and talked about all the marvellous things that they would do when they were grown. It was built with love and friendship, from a patchwork of cloth.

Now, in the cold and dark, he could see it for what it really was; a shabby tent of rags stolen from unguarded washing lines.

Blinking back tears, Bis heard another sound, and winced automatically. He wanted the noises to stop, so that he wouldn't be frightened any more.

"Bis!"

The boy's heart began to pound thunderously. It was the shadow demons, he was sure of it. They'd come to take him away to the place where all street boys who disappeared went to.

"Bis, are you there?" the voice hissed again. With recognition, Bis looked up, to the voice that was calling from above.

Leaning over the roof of the building beside him he could see a shadow against the inky black sky. Although the voice may have sounded ghostly, it was certainly no spirit calling him.

"Dastan!" he cried for joy as he saw the outline of his dearest friend.

The boy on the roof swung himself over the edge with no fear, and landed with a comfortable flump onto the pile of rags.

Bis flung his arms around his friend.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he cried in elation, "I thought the King had taken you as a slave, or to be hanged, or… or…"

"No!" Dastan laughed, "Bis you'll never believe what happened! I don't even believe it."

"Tell me!"

"Well… I think the king has… I think he's adopted me."

Bis was stunned. When you see the King's brother taking your friend off on his horse, this was the last thing that you would expect.
"What?"

Dastan heaved a long sigh, before beginning his explanation.
"The King has told me to call him father. He's also told the Princes, Tus and Garsiv, to call me brother. Tus, he's older than me, but he's been very friendly to me, showing me where everything is. I don't think Garsiv likes me very much though, he keeps hitting me when he thinks no-one's looking, but someone always is, and he gets into trouble. Oh and I have a room, all to myself, with a big bed, and lots of new clothes and…"

He trailed off. Bis wasn't looking at him anymore, instead, he stared off into the distance, with an ugly scowl on his face.

"What's wrong?" Dastan asked gently.

Bis sniffed back more tears, but instead of sorrow, they were tears of anger.

"I thought you were dead and I was all alone. But you're not dead, instead you're now a Prince."

He spat out the word 'Prince' like it was a foul taste on his tongue.

"I… I thought you'd be happy for me…" Dastan said in a disappointed voice.

"You come here to gloat, and you want me to be happy for you?" he demanded.

"I'm not gloating!" protested the adopted prince, "Bis don't you know what this means?"

"That you're going to leave me, all by myself on the streets?" the boy muttered bitterly, "We used to be a team. You and me against the world, right? You promised me we'd be friends forever."

"What are you talking about? Bis, I'm not going to stop being your friend just because King Sharaman took pity on me. Tus told me that when I'm older I get to have soldiers and I get to fight in wars like all the knights in the stories!"

"I still don't get it," Bis sulked.

"You can be one of my soldiers! You'll get train with swords, and fight wars!"

"Really?"

His eyes began to sparkle as all the jealousy and anger melted away.

"Really! You'll be my best soldier, and then you'll become really important and have soldiers of your own, and live in the palace too!"

The grin on Bis' face stretched from one ear to another as he thought about it.

Suddenly, Dastan stood up.
"Come on!" he said, "Let's go to the palace now."

"Are you mad?" Bis asked disbelievingly, "I can't go in there!"

"Sure you can. I'll just tell them you're with me. I can go anywhere I like in the palace and I can bring whoever I like."

"I don't know…"

"They let me eat whenever I want. I just call for someone and they bring me food."

The deal was sold on the single mention of food.
"Let's go," Bis said eagerly.

In the palace, Dastan was still a novelty. Sharaman's wives fussed over him, pulling his hair and wiping dirt from his face. Except one, who looked at him like a bug that had crawled out from under the carpet.

The guards, though they laughed at their new prince, let him and Bis through the gates. They didn't even stop to question why the little prince had been out so late, and how, in fact, he had managed to get out.

In the kitchens, Bis' eyes were as wide as great clay plates as he stared at all the food. He stuffed his face with as much bread as he could, a hunk of cheese, a slice of meat and some fruit that, although he'd never seen before, tasted heavenly. He finished it all off with a glass of watered wine which still made his head feel a little funny.

When they'd finished eating, Dastan wanted to show Bis all the rooms in the palace, including his room. They were walking down the great corridor, when around a corner, they practically bumped into King Sharaman and Nizam who were talking about whatever it is adults talk about. Bis made a little noise that sounded like a mouse that'd been stepped on.

"Dastan," Sharaman spoke, with an air of a parent that's caught their child making mischief, "Who is this?"

"His name's Bis, sir," Dastan replied politely.

"It's nice to meet you Bis," the King replied, then he turned and looked very seriously at his new son.
"Now Dastan, I know you think you're doing a favour, but we can't have you brining in every urchin you find."

"But Bis is my best friend!" the prince protested.

Sharaman looked at the two boys.
"Alright, we'll make an exception for tonight, but just this once."

"Actually," Nizam interjected, a knowing look on his face, "I believe the stable boy took fever and died only a few days ago. I don't think they've found a replacement yet. Should I go and have a word with the Horse Master?"

Sharaman looked at Bis thoughtfully, with a corner of his mouth turned up in a smile.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea, Nizam."

The two boys looked at each other and beamed.

If you want to see some more of my stories, only about Prince of Persia at the moment, but I plan to get some other's up when I have the time to write them: go to, http://www.fanfiction.net/~woffles92

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

I've started writing again...

So, let it be said that I've started to write again.

I've always written. Ever since I was five and wrote my first ever story when I was on holidays about a bubble and everything it saw.

Then in my younger teens I discovered fanfiction. Oh what an era that was. May I add at this point that I never delved into the Slash aspect of fanfiction, but it nonetheless has scarred me for life.

I get so inspired by things I see and read and hear. I'm a huge music fan and I'm always getting ideas from films and TV and songs. I sometimes even get idea's from dreams!

I'm good at ideas. I've always got idea's springing up into my head, some bother me endlessly, while others are gone nearly as soon as I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard in this day and age...).

So I've started a blog to see if I can use this to push myself forward to getting stuff done.

I'm an awful procrastinator and tend to have 'phases'. Along with this I'm juggling being a University Student of Biomedical Science (1st year!) and a jewellery making hobby/small online business. There might be a part time job in there too if I can get one. Yes, I like to keep myself busy. And still I find time to waste away watching far too much TV, films and facebooking.

The joys of me. So I'll be updating this page with some of my idea's, bits of my writing, my favourite films, books I'm reading and whatever else I can think of!

So for now, turrah.