Diamond Encrusted Dreams

Cool inspiration

2012-01-29T15:52:00.000+02:00

Pictures from whereisthecool.com

Rom-Commodification

2012-01-20T17:13:00.004+02:00

I’m a film maker now! Check out the short film we made for our Screenwriting module:

Most of the others seemed to have gone for a deep indie feel while our girly group just decided to take the piss out of rom-coms. But that’s not to say we didn’t take the assignment seriously – in fact, we may have taken it a bit too seriously. We planned for the filming to take a day and a half, but in the end it took nearly three. Because fortunately(?) everyone else in my alphabetically arranged group was a perfectionist too. We held an audition for the lead, and got friends to do hair and makeup, write original music (because we obviously weren't able to use songs like "Moon River" like we planned at first), and design the logo of our ‘production company’.
The assignment was to make a 5-minute film and ours was well over 9 minutes even after leaving big chunks of material on the cutting room floor...
But the Brothers McLeod who came to the screening called it ‘excellent’ (that’ll go on the DVD, haha), as did our seminar tutor, and even if they hadn’t, the experience was so worth it.

Random inspiration of the day

2012-01-04T18:15:00.006+02:00

Pictures from limecrime.tumblr.com, audrey.buzznet.com

Theme party inspiration: Daisy Buchanan

2012-01-03T19:48:00.002+02:00

Happy New Year, darlings!

For NYE, I was invited to a party at a friend's house. The theme was Filthy Rich, and being the literature nerd I am, I chose to dress up as Daisy from The Great Gatsby. By the way, how excited are you for the Baz Luhrmann film that's meant to come out next year?! With none other than the lovely Carey Mulligan in Daisy's role. I for one can't wait.

Here's where I got my inspiration. Plus a load of articles and YouTube videos on '20s makeup. (So far there are no photos of what I myself looked like, sorry.)

Pictures from weheartit.com, harkavagrant.com

Two other theme parties that I'm going to in the next two weeks are the classic "James Bond" and the far more original "Come as the object/person/animal you suspect will cause your death". I have absolutely no idea what to wear for either.

Theme party inspiration: Bellatrix Lestrange

2011-12-29T01:30:00.007+02:00

This one was for another coursemate's birthday party.
Thinking about it, this was actually my second Harry Potter themed party. The first was when I convinced my brother to have it as the theme for his 12th (I think) b-day. It was sometime between the 4th and 5th book came out. I was Rita Skeeter.
Following the trend of choosing strong, powerful and nasty female characters with an original look, I went as Bellatrix. And fortunately I have a flatmate with a ton of sexy goth clothes, so I had no problem finding a costume. (The other guests were Harry, Draco, Dumbledore, Luna, Mrs Norris and (Sexy) Dobby. Good times.)

Pictures from weheartit.com

Theme party inspiration: Edie Sedgwick

2011-12-27T23:51:00.001+02:00

I thought I'd dedicate a few posts to what I've worn to recent costume parties, and what inspired me.
First up, Halloween. One of my coursemates held a Famous Untimely Deaths house party. I went as the glamorous Edie Sedgwick (other guests included John Lennon, Cleopatra, Lord Kitchener, Marilyn Monroe, Steve Irwin etc).

Here's some of my inspiration:

Pictures from weheartit.com

I also watched The Factory Girl. The storyline was a bit of a mess, but I was surprised at how good Sienna Miller was in it. Plus, the wardrobe and make up were to die for.

And here's my look on the night:

The Perfect Shoes

2011-11-11T17:22:00.003+02:00

One of the best things that's happened to me recently was finding these shoes - in Primark of all places, and costing a lot less than you'd imagine. But looking at them, you wouldn't be able to tell, because they look absolutely perfect.
The only problem is that I can't foresee a situation where I'd be able to wear them. Firstly, because I'd probably die if I had these kinds of heels on for more than half an hour. (Yes, I'm weak.) And secondly, no place I frequent seems worthy of them.

Someone want to invite me to a glamorous film première? Because I swear to God I'd wear them then, even if it broke my legs.

Uptown Girl

2011-11-11T02:01:00.002+02:00

Not gonna lie, my version of heaven would look a lot like Dalton Academy. Now they even have a sexy villainous new guy there. Perfect. (Who admittedly wouldn’t be gay in my heaven. (Well, maybe a little.))
Also, well done Glee writers. First almost-not-at-all-ridiculous episode since I can’t remember when. Didn’t think you had it in you.

This is making me want to nod a lot, argue a bit, but mostly just hang my head in shame

2011-09-30T11:01:00.002+03:00

Random inspiration of the day

2011-09-16T22:53:00.011+03:00

Pictures from weheartit.com

A good part of my summer

2011-09-14T23:56:00.004+03:00

I was warned about that website, and about how it would ruin my life and my ability to enjoy any TV series, film, book etc for what it is, but of course I had to find out for myself. Because when am I ever going to turn down an opportunity to gain more nerdy knowledge which is also guaranteed to make me more cynical and more difficult to surprise or impress? Never.
And I have to say I absolutely love the site, but I'd rather not think about how many hours I've already spent there. Because it is addictive.

Picture from xkcd.com

Her style: Paloma Faith

2011-09-12T19:08:00.006+03:00

I want to move into her wardrobe and spend my days playing dress-up.

Pictures from palomafaithfans.tumblr.com

When it rains, it pours

2011-09-09T16:37:00.005+03:00

Blog posts. There’s been a real drought around here, but no more. The floodgates are open.
Today I’d like to very briefly talk to you about my new TV faves.
Firstly, Sherlock. It’s brilliant. Truly a masterpiece of a show. I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.Secondly, Grandma’s House. This one I’m reluctant to recommend, because I have a feeling that many people would find it too boring and pretentious. But I’m exactly the right amount of boring and pretentious so I love it.
It took a few episodes to really get into it, but it’s a lovely little show that’s at least as painful as it is funny. But that’s life, isn’t it? I can definitely relate to it, because I too want to have a meaningful life and write plays and go out with very talented and skinny indie guys.
Or at least write a show like that one day – because it’s quite clear Simon Amstell has basically written the show about his own hopes, flaws, insecurities and family – and is playing himself in it. Which breaks my heart just as it amuses and inspires me.

Pictures from weheartit.com

Looks like I’m prepared for my screenwriting module

2011-09-07T20:05:00.001+03:00

And for writing an Oscar-winning screenplay. Love this!

The list continues

2011-09-07T19:22:00.006+03:00

4. Stephen Fry. We were having this discussion in one of the first weeks of term 1: Who in their right mind wouldn’t want him to be their dad, or at least uncle?
5. David Mitchell.

6. And while we’re at it: British comedy in general. Or even the whole British way of life: the less you know someone, the politer you are – and the other way around. So you’re extremely courteous to people on the bus, but once you get to the pub with your best mates, you start ripping the absolute piss out of them. There is a certain ‘cool to be cruel’ aspect to the humour, but it doesn’t worry me because, let’s face it, it is kind of cool to be able to do it in an eloquent and hilarious way. And the best defence is obviously a good comeback.
7. Jonathan Groff

8. Here’s a bit of an exception though: Glee. My friends are divided: there are the ones who love it and those who don’t watch it. And I don’t fall into either category. I watch it, but every episode makes me hate it more. It started off biting and funny, but now it’s just a ridiculously unrealistic show stocked full of ‘very important life lessons’.

I can’t wait to get back! To course mates who are all crazy, arty and extremely talented. It’s actually quite intimidating. Not only can they write so much better than me, they can also draw, act, sing, dance and do pretty much any creative activity possible. A true wake up call, I’ll tell you that.

And the tutors who are funny and weird and brilliant. Who have Wikipedia pages and who end emails to us with text kisses.

And the course itself! I don’t think there are many where you’re able to end an essay with a sentence like ‘Because otherwise, I’m fucked.’ and get a good mark for it. (I should add that it wasn’t the most academic essay we had to write that year. It was an end of the year super essay about our own writing and how it has changed since last October.)

Well, not long to go now. Back to good old England on the 21st.

What we like

2011-09-05T21:02:00.006+03:00

Finally, here's my attempt at a bit of a summary of my first year at Warwick University, UK.

I’ve met all kinds of people from hyperhipsters to cheery goths, from transsexual to asexual to pansexual to cured gay (read: drowned himself in hardcore Christianity. And let me tell you what a normal person he turned out to be. Here are some of his beliefs: girls are not allowed to wear trousers or have short hair. Decorating yourself in any way (make-up, hair dye, nail varnish etc) is wrong, as is creating or indeed consuming anything fictional. So I’m going so deep in hell it isn’t even funny (it is a bit). Oh, and the world is definitely going to end in our lifetime).

I thought I’d do a list of things I like about my life there, or rather, a list of things that, surprisingly, are also liked by other people I’ve met this year. Quite honestly, I didn't really expect to meet other people interested in them.

I suppose it goes without saying, but brightly coloured hair. I’d wanted pink hair for years, but I doubt I’d have ever got round to dyeing mine if I hadn’t gone to a place where it is completely acceptable, even encouraged. In fact, on my course alone (I say alone, but really, our course has the craziest people. What else would you expect from creative writing students?) we’ve already had pink, purple, blue, yellow, orange and bright red hair. And I’m proud to say I was one of the first ones to take the leap.
The Midnight Beast

Harry Potter

In Estonia when you’re old enough to drink (at least old enough in your mind), it generally means you’re too old to be a Harry Potter fan. I've seen it happen to nearly all my friends. Sure, you’ll probably go see the films, but you’re too cool to get excited about them. That might actually be the best adjective to describe us as a nation: we’re cool. And we don’t generally lose our cool. Yeah, me might hear a great joke, see a famous person or win the lottery, but we’re not going to lose control over our emotions just because of that.

But in the UK, not only is Harry Potter cool (in a slightly different sense of the word), but it’s just so incredibly widespread. Of course everyone’s read and seen them, and they’re among the most common pop culture references. Picture from weheartit.com

We’ve had a drinking game around the names of Harry Potter characters and divided UK’s top universities into Hogwarts houses (Oxford – Gryffindor, Cambridge – Ravenclaw, St Andrew’s – Slytherin and finally Warwick – Hufflepuff. At least we’re being realistic). Every young person fancies Emma Watson (who’s doing a ‘year abroad’ at Oxford now by the way (proving our sorting skills)). Although, Matt Lewis might be taking her place now... (I still can’t believe how fit he suddenly is!)

But funnily enough, the only people to compare my ever-changing neon hair colour to the character Tonks were my brother and his flatmate. (And by the way, yes, that would be my power of choice: the ability to change my appearance to whatever I wanted. I’d be saving a fortune on hair dye alone!)

[to be continued]

Um, speaking of painting the world rainbow by dyeing our hair...

2011-08-16T20:19:00.005+03:00

Charlotte Free looking insanely cool:

Also, check out my current hairspiration:
Kerli herself described it on Twitter like this: "My hair is about to look like the powerpuff girls had sex with the smurfs all over it." Ha! I would fucking love to give a hairdresser these instructions one day. I'd also love my hair be long again, so I could do stuff like that to it... (Grow, God damn it!)

Pictures from audrey.buzznet.com/user, elu24.ee

What's with the hair?

2011-08-12T17:37:00.006+03:00

Jessie J, Katy Perry and Dianna Agron show that brightly coloured hair really is the new brightly coloured nails. And here's a surprise: I love it. Let's paint the world rainbow!

Pictures from celebuzz.com

People I would

2011-08-12T15:24:00.011+03:00

This awesome video by the brilliant Jenna Mourey has inspired me to compile an incomplete list of my own. (And I hope it'll inspire someone else to actually create PeopleIWouldFuckBook.com)
Here goes, these are the ones that came to mind today:

Iwan Rheon
Darren Criss
Matt Lewis
Daniel Radcliffe
Emma Watson
Tom Felton
Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan
The History Boys
Nicholas Hoult
Kaya Scodelario
James the Sinnerman

The Inbetweeners
And Patrice, bien sûr
Stefan and Ash from The Midnight Beast
Russell Howard
Noel Fielding and Russell Brand
Snufkin
Jeremy from Peep Show

Audrey Kitching
Severus Snape
Ricky Gervais when he was in his twenties
Kathy Beth Terry
Roger the Alien
The Superficial Writer

The Botwins from Weeds
And Zooey Deschanel
Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass
Groundskeeper Willie
Chandler Bing
Ahh, that was quite fun actually. And possibly therapeutic. I do recommend it.

Pictures from weheartit.com

Look back

2011-08-09T23:21:00.013+03:00

I'm starting my review of the year with a bunch of photos, most from my iPhone. Here's a slice of my life since last October:

Classic library times writing essays:This is literally what our kitchen looked like when we left for Christmas holidays. The cleaners actually took photos of it too. And yes, the ones responsible got a hefty fine the following term.
Ah yes, that was the year of packing. And unpacking. I moved six times!

Birthday girl!

Watching the Royal Wedding at the Students' Union:
With themed cocktails (and some random wine):
Essay research:
And that point somewhere in the night where writing on yourself seems so much more important than continuing work on the essay: (At least it was a motivational message.)
We had at least half a dozen fire alarms - and one genuine (well, kind of...) fire (not in our kitchen though):
It's a jungle out there. Literally outside our windows:

Choosing next year's optional modules:
Eighties night:
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do quite enjoy internet shopping:

And buying rather pointless women's magazines. Especially if they lure me in with free eyeliners and lip glosses:
Spain:

And when I got back in the middle of the night and stepped into the common room then, well, then it felt like home:
The epicness that was our Summer Party:

My final evening on campus. With some of my crazy uni mates:
At my cousin's wedding with my brother:
Laulupidu:

The birthday party of my favourite Estonian chica's:

The Liar

2011-08-08T01:59:00.005+03:00

My expectations tend to be notoriously high, and when I picked up Stephen Fry’s debut novel The Liar that had praising reviews from everything starting with The Literary Review and ending with Cosmopolitan on its cover, I was quite sure I was holding my new favourite novel in my hands. So yeah, imagine my surprise when I started reading it and realised that it was... so much better than I thought possible.

While reading, I wrote out some sentences I liked the best, at times turned back to reread some lines, then went, “Ohh” in understanding, and when I’d finished about a third of the book, went back and reread all the preceding chapters, and then finally thought I understood. Except the fuck I did really, and so I kept turning back as I was getting further, each time making slightly more sense of the whole, and being increasingly intrigued by it.

I love a work of art that can confuse you, that requires you to work, to think. Just like a person who is smarter than you, it brings you a few steps higher on the endless stairs of knowledge instead of being a weight pulling you down. It is just the kind of wonderful novel that is not insulting your intelligence, the kind where you can tell the author is both clever and wise, and on its pages he has sprinkled references from literature and other fields, some of which you feel proud to get, and others that serve as a reminder of how much more you still have to learn.

In fact, while reading, I compiled a list of important literary works that were known by the characters, but not by me: a mistake in need of prompt correction.

The Naked Lunch

The Lost Weekend

Catch-22

The Loom of Youth

The Hill

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Madame Bovary

Lucky Jim

Howards End

Sredni Vashtar

So in conclusion, the book made me blush, smirk and laugh out loud, it blew my mind, broke my heart, and more than anything, it impressed me. It was an exquisite puzzle, coated with numerous differently delicious flavours hiding a satisfying core.

I was hoping for a twist ending, but instead I got at least five or six twists in the last 50 pages, so through most of them I was just grinning and shaking my head at being outwitted by the author again, and again.

But seriously, what else would you expect from a modern day Oscar Wilde, British national treasure and pretty much my favourite person alive?

Pictures from weheartit.com

You're so indie rock it's almost an art

2011-08-06T21:56:00.002+03:00

Yes, I’ve been gone for a long time. And no, this isn’t a proper post; really not worth the wait. But I just wanted to share with you this realisation I just came to. (Also, I do have about four half-written posts that I will eventually publish, honest.)
The first single by Katy Perry (who’s dyed her hair pink now, by the way. Which is obviously awesome for her, but makes it difficult for me to go back to pink because it would look like copying her), well anyway, as I was saying, her first single was ‘Ur So Gay’ back in 2007. I listened to it once and then avoided it for years because the casual homophobia of the message really bothered me. But for some reason I listened to it again today and realised two things. One: she was pretty much describing the man who would later become her husband, which is quite funny. And two: she’s also almost describing my type, which on the other hand isn’t very funny.
Here’s the song:

Still in a HP state of mind

2011-07-20T19:35:00.006+03:00

*SPOILERS for those who haven’t read or seen the last one, I guess*

(I love Jenna Mourey.)

Pictures from weheartit.com

Punk Maire Antoinette

2011-07-18T22:45:00.005+03:00

This is one of my favourite recent stylings. Rococo plus punk equals amazingness in my book. And Audrey Kitching and Kerli obviously look very pretty. I basically want all the clothes and accessories from that shoot. Oh, and the hair; man, the hair... Either one of the two would be absolutely perfect, kthnxbye.
Pictures from audrey.buzznet.com/user

HARREH POTTER

2011-07-13T22:26:00.011+03:00

The last Harry Potter film and the first time I’ve gone to the cinema alone. It makes sense really, as none of my Estonian friends are as mental fans as I am. And for years I’ve heard people saying that going to the cinema alone is one of their favourite things ever, so I decided that it was time to try it myself.
The experience was alright, but I don’t think I’ll turn it into a habit. I’m not a huge fan of going to the cinema anyway, and being alone only accentuated the negative sides of it: the woman next to me explaining the plot to her friend loudly enough that I could hear every word, and the smell and sound of popcorn which is pretty distracting and even nauseating if you’re not having any yourself.
And then the trailers. I used to love them, but either my taste has become too snobby for Hollywood movies or the latest ones really are mostly shite, because Jesus, I just sat there, feeling my life slipping away, and my brain cells as well. I do want to see Bridesmaids and Bad Teacher (although with all the dirty words cut out, the trailer for the latter was quite pathetic), but the rest was just rubbish action and sci-fi galore.
Well, then we got to the film. I’m having a hard time deciding what I exactly thought of it on the whole. The first hour was pretty fucking epic, but the end bit that was no doubt meant to be climatic was just a bit meh for me. I feel the scenes of preparation and anticipation were better than the Battle of Hogwarts itself. But obviously this is classic me, always having expectations so high that nothing can live up to them. And already knowing the plot and thinking, ‘This is going to be epic, this is going to be epic’ isn’t the most helpful place to start. But it’s not like I didn’t love it, or get quite emotional several times. It actually felt like my school and my friends – because they pretty much were characters in my own story of growing up as well. That itself is already pretty amazing.

Now, I think we need to recognise something important about the films: how bloody attractive the cast have grown up to become! Phoar.
Like, have you seen Matthew Lewis (better known as Neville Longbottom) lately? He looks like he should be playing a freaking Austen hero! Didn’t see that coming…

Pictures from weheartit.com

Internet shopping

2011-07-11T20:37:00.010+03:00

It's one of the many possibly detrimental habits that I picked up in England this year. Others include the use of liquid eyeliner (often put on in an inebriated state with less than perfect results) and generally being the kind of girl the teachers who adored me at school would not (want to) recognise. Oh well, I had to break out of my prim and proper shell sometime.
Here are a few of my latest (favourite) purchases:

At the moment I'm utterly loving The Book of the Dead. Here are some of my initial notes on it from the airport from about two weeks ago.
I haven't even finished the first chapter yet, but my mind has already been blown dozens of times. I can't believe how much I'm learning - and how much there still is that I don't know. So far I've found out that Leonardo and Newton were gay, and the latter was also a practicing alchemist who died a virgin. Byron kept a bear in his room at Cambridge and drank from a human skull (and I thought the aspiring writers on my course were wild). His daughter basically produced the first computer program, and imagined how in the future such an engine could be used to create music and graphics. And she had an affair with Dickens. Dalí and H. C. Andersen were addicted to masturbation, and Freud to cocaine. Wow!

In case you were wondering, this is the current situation:

Pictures from amazon.co.uk, manicpanic.com

Mark Demsteader - 'Emma'

2011-07-06T18:25:00.008+03:00

I recently found this series of paintings of Emma Watson by Manchester-based artist Mark Demsteader. They're absolutely stunning.
If I had £3,000-8,000 lying around, I would definitely buy one, but sadly it's not quite the case at the moment (last week I had to go through all my purses, drawers and bank accounts to find money to pay the rent for the flat I'm moving into this autumn).
But fortunately I - and you - can admire the pictures on the computer screen for free.
Enjoy!
And by the way, I found myself listening to this as background music (heh):

Pictures from panterandhall.com

Bye England

2011-07-04T14:32:00.007+03:00

I'm back from Spain now, and back from the UK. And I have a lot to tell you guys, but it'll have to wait a bit. My computer's crashed and I've lost access to all my pictures and half-written blog posts. It looks like they can be salvaged though, thank God.
So I'll see you later, hopefully very soon.

Right now I'm listening to this and feeling a bit melancholy:

¡Hola chicos!

2011-06-09T23:36:00.008+03:00

Greetings from Málaga!
After I’d finished my exams I had a whole month before the end of term, so I thought, as there’s nothing to do on campus with most people still revising, why not go to Spain? I’d got a 3-week language course from my parents for my birthday, so here I am.
I arrived on Sunday. Here's bit about what’s happened so far, partly in pictures.
Packing my hand luggage:
Airport boredom:

Figures that as soon as I've left uni, I'm reminded of my least favourite book of the year:

First impressions of Málaga:
My host family’s home (every wall and door and cupboard is a different colour, and all the walls are covered with pictures and mirrors. In short, my kind of house):

My way to/from school:

Inspiration from the shops (I really love the different buttons, but there’s no way I’d pay that kind of money for a little summer dress. Methinks a DIY project might be in order):
Gazpacho evening at the school (icy tomato soup sounds disgusting, but it was actually pretty amazing! Might try making it myself this summer):
My Spanish really is improving, and I keep discovering how much I’m actually able to understand. Expressing myself is a bit more difficult, but I’ve moved on from one word answers now. Today in class we were talking about books and I managed to explain the plots of The Perfume and The Master and Margarita (albeit with saying ‘hay un garçon’ at one point – well, I was talking about France).
Yesterday we visited the Picasso museum (he was born here, as was Antonio Banderas, and we also saw his favourite bar in town). I liked the guide, hell, I even fancied him a bit, and I appreciated him trying to make it more than the average tour by asking our opinion on the works, but (and I know I sound twattish here) I wasn’t really enjoying having to listen to people who I didn’t know or care about, and who were clearly no experts, witter on in broken Spanish about what they saw in the pictures and sculptures. Not what I paid to hear. Apart from that, though, the museum was interesting and I learned a lot, even though Picasso is still not among my favourite artists.
At the language school everyone else seems to be either German or Dutch, but there should be an Estonian boy coming in the next couple of weeks. But before you think anything, he’s 13, so don't count on us hanging out much.
When one of the older Dutch guys in my class introduced the other one as his husband, I melted into the sweet and sticky little girl that apparently still exists somewhere deep inside me, and went all awww. Thankfully not out loud though.
Today we were doing an oral exercise that I already knew would be revealed as one of those pseudo psychological tests. You know the kind, it’s all like, imagine you’re on a road. What is it like? Now you see a branch/house/body of water etc. What is it like? What do you do? But I decided to use it as a creativity exercise like we used to do at uni, and let my sick imagination run wild. So I had a dead bear on the road, piano music in a forest, and a castle owned by a hot man with a dark secret. And then came the results. The most noteworthy one was that the bear I had killed had described my attitude towards love – which was fair enough. It would have been even better if I’d described it as a hallucination of a desperate mind, or why not a pervert in a bear suit.
Anyway, in short, I’m having a great time. The school is really lovely and intimate; everyone is super friendly, and there’s only four/five people per class. Oh, and did I mention it has a pool?!
Because I didn’t pay much attention to grammar when I was doing Spanish at uni this year, I’ve had to learn the four past tenses, as well as futuro, condicional, and their uses, all in one week. And I'm still alive and well.
I haven’t had any real Spanish sangria yet (can’t wait!), but we had wine and tapas at a bar, and towards the end the waiter brought us shots of caramel vodka for free. And it was delicioso.

Hasta la vista.

Shopping

2011-05-22T22:37:00.015+03:00

I am on a roll today!
But don't expect any posts next week; I shall be cramming for my worst (but last, woo!) exam then.
Anyway, I went shopping yesterday, and here's what I bought. The umbrella and the eyeshadow kit are from H&M, the rest is from Primark. I was only going to town to accompany a friend, and just planning to get concealer and cosmetic pads from Boots, but I shockingly came back with bags full of flowers and bows and the colour pink.
Which seems to prove that, sadly, I'll never be able to fully embrace androgynous style. I just can't function without my girly fix. Because, look how cute!

Antibiotics + alcohol, here I come

2011-05-22T22:10:00.003+03:00

Because QI is my gospel, I can't wait to be prescribed antibiotics for something. And then drink alcohol.

Androgynous inspiration of the day

2011-05-22T19:34:00.009+03:00

'One thousand years from now there'll be no guys and no girls, just wankers. Sounds great to me.'
D'you know what, Rent Boy, I must agree with you on that one.

Pictures from fyandrogyny.tumblr.com, -androgyny.tumblr.com

Welcome to my crib

2011-05-20T01:49:00.009+03:00

Now that the first year is nearly over, I thought I'd show you the room that's become my home in the last seven months.
Warning: it's small. And ugly. And I couldn't exactly bring a whole lot of things with me to brighten it up.
Still, I like it, and I honestly think I lucked out and got the best place to live this year. Firstly, it's on campus. Secondly, it's in Cryfield 1 which is the party building, and thirdly, my room is situated the furthest away from the common room and kitchen, so when do I need to work or sleep, it's actually quite possible.
Have a look around:

Why I still watch Glee

2011-05-13T23:04:00.018+03:00

After each episode of Glee I always end up asking myself that. Why do I put myself through all those clichés and morals and ridiculous storylines every week?
I’ve come up with three reasons.
1) I have mentioned him before, but still and again, Darren Criss. His character Blaine is so sweet and charming and understanding that he makes me cringe, but the guy can perform.

And write music.

Seriously, to me songwriting is like a superpower. I can’t even write poetry in meter without planning the content for ages, using rhyming dictionaries and counting syllables on my fingers. And even then the result is, well, you guessed it, shit.

But having all that come naturally, and the melody as well, that is just magic. Oh, and if you add musical theatre and Harry Potter to the mix then… I may well lose my ability to express myself in anything else than drooling…

Anyway, moving on,
2) and 3) Brittany and Santana. Love them.

Pictures from weheartit.com

NOTE: I wrote that last week, but couldn't upload it. Now, after having seen this week's episode, I have to add my favourite guest star Jonathan Groff with his role Jesse St. James (my favourite male Glee character) to the list. Talented, ambitious, cruel and hot - I approve.

Inspiration collection: 'Killer Queen'

2011-05-09T18:23:00.008+03:00

Pictures from weheartit.com

I feel inspired: Sid & Nancy

2011-05-04T13:20:00.006+03:00

Pictures from weheartit.com

30 day TV challenge: Day 30

2011-05-03T21:30:00.004+03:00

Day 30 – Saddest character death
I. Don't. Know.
I haven't slept for 34 hours.
Brain. Doesn't function.
Ummm, I guess it has to be the death in Dexter. You know who I mean, and if you don't then I'm not gonna spoil it for you.
Whoa, full sentences.
Anyway. That's it.
I've done it. 30 days are over.
And it's way past my bedtime.

Good night.

30 day TV challenge: Day 29

2011-05-02T22:33:00.003+03:00

Day 29 – Current TV-show obsession
Currently I have no time to even think about TV. But during the holidays I watched quite a bit of Russell Howard's Good News and Would I Lie to You? (which might possibly have a tiny bit to do with the fact that I'm currently drowning in essays...).

30 day TV challenge: Day 28

2011-05-01T22:27:00.001+03:00

Day 28 – First TV-show obsession
Prison Break. My first and worst one.

30 day TV challenge: Day 27

2011-04-30T19:54:00.003+03:00

Day 27 – Best pilot episode
Glee

It’s obvious you can’t keep that high a level up for several long series (or at least their writers most certainly can't), but Jesus, the ‘Born This Way’ episode was a disaster. Enough with the life lessons already! Glee will not stop bullying, what’s more likely is that people get bullied for watching Glee.
Fortunately there were three good things about the otherwise awful episode: Kurt’s back and looks awesome, Santana is awesome, and this is one of the most beautiful duets I’ve ever heard (I’ve been listening to it for about three days in a row now):

30 day TV challenge: Day 26

2011-04-29T19:40:00.001+03:00

Day 26 – OMG WTF? season finale
Dexter series 4 finale. Most. Shocking. Ending. Ever.

30 day TV challenge: Day 25

2011-04-28T20:08:00.003+03:00

Day 25 – A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Oh, loads. As soon as I'm done with my exams, essays and super portfolio (OMG!).
Boardwalk Empire, Being Human, Riigimehed, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, That Mitchell and Webb Look, The Mighty Boosh, Campus, Life's Too Short... (yes, I know the last one hasn't even been filmed yet, but man, I'm excited. The latest Gervais & Merchant project is done in the mockumentary style of The Office and features stars like Johnny Depp playing exaggerated versions of themselves (à la Extras) with Warwick Davies in the lead role. Needless to say, I can't wait.)

30 day TV challenge: Day 24

2011-04-27T00:05:00.003+03:00

Day 24 – Best quote
Andy’s speech towards the end of Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale. It makes me cry every single time. (And I don't normally cry when I'm watching telly. Or when I'm on YouTube. Honest.)

30 day TV challenge: Day 23

2011-04-26T11:27:00.002+03:00

Day 23 – Most annoying character
I was gonna say Horatio Caine from CSI: Miami but then I remembered the announcer on TV6. He’s not technically a character but he is on TV and his talking actually makes me want to cut people. (Ma ei suuda uskuda, et ta kirjeldas Simpsoneid kui kõige kollasemat perekonda väljaspool Aasiat. See on pärast Kreisiraadio “Sinu jaoks karnevalile” sketši kõige rassistlikum asi, mida ma kunagi telekast näinud olen.)
Still, I’ll post a clip of Horatio because with his oneliners, you are at least able to laugh at him and at the absurdity of it all whereas my feelings towards the TV6 guy can be summed up with the following Smiths lyrics: his jokes are ‘enough to make a shy, bald Buddhist reflect and plan a mass-murder’.

30 day TV challenge: Day 22

2011-04-25T21:31:00.005+03:00

Day 22 – Favorite series finale
The Office Christmas Specials. No competition. It manages to make me laugh, cry, cringe and think. All the things that make a great episode. And it has the most satisfying ending ever (The 'Why don't you fuck off' moment was perfection).

30 day TV challenge: Day 21

2011-04-24T23:28:00.008+03:00

I missed Day 20 because it was 'favourite kiss' and I honestly couldn't decide. I even googled 'top tv kisses', but all the ones listed on numerous different sites were far too cheesy for me to digest. It might have had to do with the couples included, as well. I'm so over Ross/Rachel, Ryan/Marissa, Kate/Sawyer et al. And I couldn't think of one that was absolutely brilliant myself, so I just skipped it. Sorry.

Day 21 – Favorite ship
I actually have got one for that! Chuck and Blair on Gossip Girl – until they got together and the show lost all its appeal and I stopped watching.

30 day TV challenge: Day 19

2011-04-22T23:09:00.002+03:00

Day 19 – Best TV-show cast

It would have to be Six Feet Under again. (I’m only now realising how excellent that show was. I should really watch it again, because I haven’t even seen all the episodes. I seem to remember that it was shown on Kanal2 late on Wednesday evenings, and as a teenager I would sneak downstairs to watch it, relishing how different it seemed to be to everything else that was on telly, and thinking that this must be what quality television is.)

30 day TV challenge: Day 18

2011-04-21T01:50:00.000+03:00

Day 18 – Favorite title sequence
Six Feet Under. This is a haunting piece of art:

The same people also made the title sequences for Dexter and True Blood which make up my TOP 3 hands down. And since I’ve apparently started a list, number four is the cookie cutter suburbia of the early seasons of Weeds. And number five… probably Freaks and Geeks. Or the classic Sex and the City.

30 day TV challenge: Day 17

2011-04-20T23:36:00.003+03:00

Day 17 – Favorite mini-series

I can't say that I've seen many, but The Forsyte Saga was very good.

30 day TV challenge: Day 16

2011-04-19T22:28:00.000+03:00

Day 16 – Your guilty pleasure show

Dirt

30 day TV challenge: Day 15

2011-04-18T23:45:00.002+03:00

Day 15 – Favorite female character

Kat (Zooey Deschanel) from Weeds

part 1 - part 2

30 day TV challenge: Day 14

2011-04-17T01:33:00.002+03:00

Day 14 – Favorite male character

Tony Stonem from Skins. The first thing Tony says in this video is just about the most twisted and fucked up and amazing thing ever, and it describes his sick worldview perfectly. Oh, and in case it isn’t clear, I absolutely love him. Pretty much the best character ever.

30 day TV challenge: Day 13

2011-04-16T22:13:00.001+03:00

Day 13 – Favorite childhood show

Saved by the Bell

30 day TV challenge: Day 12

2011-04-15T22:13:00.002+03:00

Day 12 – An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times

I’m afraid there are far too many. But the one that springs to mind is ‘Maxxie and Anwar’ (Skins S1E6). Embedding isn’t allowed, so here’s the preview.

30 day TV challenge: Day 11

2011-04-14T23:36:00.003+03:00

Day 11 – A show that disappointed you

The IT Crowd– how can so many people like it when it’s so shit??

30 day TV challenge: Day 10

2011-04-13T23:52:00.001+03:00

Day 10 – A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

Prison Break (the first two series were like heroin to me).

Colour me CRAZY

2011-04-12T16:39:00.007+03:00

Pictures from weheartit.com

30 day TV challenge: Day 9

2011-04-12T00:43:00.001+03:00

Day 09 – Best scene ever:

30 day TV challenge: Day 8

2011-04-11T01:40:00.005+03:00

Day 08 – A show everyone should watch

QI!

30 day TV challenge: Day 7

2011-04-10T21:41:00.004+03:00

Day 07 – Least favorite episode of your favorite TV-show

If I had to choose, then probably series 1 episode 5. But only up until the ending; the last seven or so minutes are epic. MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD:

30 day TV challenge: Day 6

2011-04-09T02:39:00.003+03:00

Day 06 – Favorite episode of your favorite TV-show

Misfits series 2 episode 3

30 day TV challenge: Day 5

2011-04-08T00:27:00.001+03:00

Day 05 – A show you hate

Two and a Half Men. I’m not going to add a clip, because I can’t even stand to watch a minute of that shite.

30 day TV challenge: Day 4

2011-04-07T00:20:00.005+03:00

Day 04 – Your favorite show ever

Aaargh, too hard. No, wait, not really. Misfits. It has everything I could possibly want from a TV-show.

Everything is average nowadays

2011-04-06T23:14:00.003+03:00

Julia Nobis by Kai Z Feng for Vogue Australia (May 2011)

Pictures from

fashiongonerogue.com

How wonderful it would be if (normal) people started dyeing their hair in candy colours now! But also slightly annoying, because when the alternative becomes the norm then there’s no more originality in it. That would be the pixie cut on women all over again. (Just a reminder: I had it before Emma Watson and everyone and their mother got it.)

30 day TV challenge: Day 3

2011-04-06T00:17:00.003+03:00

Day 03 – Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)

The only new show I’ve seen this year was two episodes of Episodes and I found it simply not funny. But an old show I only just recently saw and really loved was I’m Alan Partridge.

30 day TV challenge: Day 2

2011-04-05T00:02:00.005+03:00

Day 02 – A show that you wish more people were watching: Peep Show

Embedding is not enabled on any of the videos, but here’s a typical clip from the show.

That sort of humour is not for everyone, but I think it beats broad American sitcoms any day.

30 day TV challenge: Day 1

2011-04-04T00:18:00.006+03:00

30 day song challenge is this thing a large portion of my uni friends are taking part in on Facebook. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check it out. An interesting idea, but quite annoying in reality, because they’re all constantly posting videos of different songs, and as everyone’s started it at a different time, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

But I’m giving its alternative, 30 day TV challenge a go. Because I love TV, and choosing shows seems easier than choosing songs. Well, we’ll see. And I’m posting the answers here so as not to clog my friends’ Facebook feeds.

Day 01 - A show that should have never been cancelled: Freaks and Geeks

At least not halfway through the first series. It was wicked! This McKinley High School is so much better than the one on Glee, and Emma Pillsbury has nothing on this guidance counselor:

If...

2011-04-03T18:35:00.005+03:00

Picture from weheartit.com

I read Estonian singer Kerli’s answers to a bunch of 'if' questions on Buzznet and decided to try to answer them myself. These kinds of questions are very abstract and can be kind of infuriating, but they’re a great imagination exercise.

If I were a kind of weather, I’d be a rainbow in drizzle.

If I were a colour, I’d be glittering pink.

If I were an emotion, I’d be glee.

If I were a fruit, I’d be a watermelon (although it’s technically a berry – imagine that!): Hard on the outside, sweet and pink on the inside. But full of dark seeds.

If I were a sound, I’d be heels clicking on the pavement.

If I were a food, I’d be strawberry and basil sorbet.

If I were a place, I’d be an eclectic and slightly messy attic apartment in the middle of the city.

If I were a taste, I’d taste like sour candy. The intensity may make your eyes water, but it’s totally addictive!

If I were a scent, I’d be the smell of a new book.

If I were an object, I’d be an inspiration board.

Random inspiration of the day

2011-03-30T15:24:00.009+03:00

[Oh my God, I just found out that this cool-looking girl is the daughter of one of my writing seminar tutors! It is a strange and small world that we live in. And no wonder he wasn't thrown by my pink hair.] Pictures from weheartit.com

Inspired by Audrey Kitching

2011-03-28T21:22:00.010+03:00

Introducing my new favourite fashion blogger: Audrey Kitching. Just her hair itself is enough to make me get a total girl crush. I love my own pink quiff, but her long hair is just about the prettiest thing in the world. In addition to that, she's all about DIY which to me is super inspiring. And how perfect is it that she has a boyfriend with blue hair! (I love guys with blue hair. And yes, I've met several.)Oh, look! Manic Panic Cotton Candy Pink hair dye - that's what I'm using! And a Lime Crime lipstick. I'm so tempted to start using false lashes. I know they're a pain, but they make eyes so very pretty. And it seems like in the UK they're nearly a must on a night out. It's like half the girls are wearing them! Pictures from audrey.buzznet.com/user/journal

Still loving the soundtrack of Spring Awakening

2011-03-12T23:59:00.001+02:00

Random inspiration of the day

2011-03-06T20:35:00.008+02:00

Pictures from weheartit.com

'It tastes like pink!'

2011-02-27T19:54:00.005+02:00

I wouldn't be surprised if you'd heard about Lime Crime make-up before. I’ve read about it on at least four blogs, I think, and now that I’ve been lured into the delicious addiction of internet shopping, I ordered myself some of their crazy-coloured lipsticks (Great Pink Planet and Countessa Fluorescent).
Let me tell you, they are truly awesome.
You can either dab on a bit to add some colour or apply a full layer to go proper Barbie. Yum!
I almost ordered the bright orange lipstick My Beautiful Rocket as well, but unfortunately it was out of stock at the time. Or should I say fortunately, because I don’t think it would go that well with my pink hair.
Oh, have I not mentioned it here?
Yeah, my hair is pink now and I love it so much I’ll definitely keep it that way for a while.

TV misfits

2011-02-27T03:25:00.009+02:00

Just when I’d pretty much given up on Glee (the Justin Bieber episode was the final nail in the coffin), they gave us ‘Blame It on the Alcohol’ which proved that a drunken Glee Club is a whole lot of fun. Even clingy annoying bore Rachel (‘Your face. Tastes. Awesome.’). Of course the episode turned into a PSA towards the end, because you can’t have the biggest show in the world glorifying underage drinking.
Darren Criss’ character Blaine is still too boringly perfect for me, but when he starts to sing – anything –, I melt. Talk about charisma! Case in point: ‘Teenage Dream’ (and I truly hate that song. At least I used to). Also, for those of you not nerdy enough to have seen the Youtube phenomenon that is University of Michigan’s ‘A Very Potter Musical’, I assure you, he makes for a fantastic Harry Potter. And songwriter.
All that considered, I’d sure like to get him drunk.
But enough of that show.

Because, seriously, shut up, you over-hyped Glee kids.
Misfits is what it’s all about. When seemingly everyone in my halls of residence, as well as on my Twitter and Facebook had claimed it was the best thing on TV, I decided to give it a go.
And they were right! I know I’ve been praising far too many programmes that turned out to be average at best, but this is the real deal. Ignore the ridiculous-sounding premise (five young offenders doing their community service develop super powers as a result of a freak storm) – or try to, at least, because honestly, it is brilliant. Those characters are not as inexperienced and pathetic as The Inbetweeners, but neither are they as damaged and serious as the ones on Skins. Which makes them the by far the most relatable young people on TV. It’s hilarious and touching and exciting and addictive. The soundtrack is sick. And the cinematography – wow! I can’t think of any other show with such aesthetically pleasing camera work, shots that you’d want to frame and put on your walls. I can't even explain it, it's something you have to see.

Top points from me.

Pictures from weheartit.com

How this writing lark is going

2011-02-23T15:13:00.004+02:00

I’ve just come from my creative writing class which always pumps me full of inspiration: texts to read, techniques to use, things to blog about. But then life happens with its speed and excitement, and I forget about all that.
But not today!
The first half of the term we were doing poetry (first term it was fiction and creative nonfiction). Now, poetry is quite an uncharted territory to me. At least it was six weeks ago. I’ve grown to understand and like it a lot more during that time. Still, the first things we learned about poetry are the ones I remember best:
1. Most poetry you’ll write is bad.
2. Most poetry ever written is bad.
3. There is no money to be made in poetry.
Considering all that, and the fact that I’ve never felt the need to release the poems trapped inside me, I’d say that poet is not a career path I’m considering.
My favourite class activity concerning poetry writing was cut-up technique. As you’ve possibly gathered from my blog, I love cutting out inspiring pictures and creating collages. I was surprised to find out I really enjoy doing the same with words. Print out a poem, cut it into pieces, and rearrange them into another one – easy.

I also tried it with the written warning I’d received from the University Accommodation from not having cleaned the kitchen one morning, but sadly I couldn’t make it work.
Anyway, this week we started a new section: performing writing. Again, something I had no real interest in (radio, stand-up, poetry slams, rituals and all that), but again, unbelievable how thrilling the seminar was! What I’ve heard of the tutor is that he will tell you if your work is shit and he does make people cry, which I’m not particularly looking forward to, but I suppose it’s something you need to get used to in this business. Or in any business.
The activity we did was something I’d heard of before, and feared: having to write non-stop (whatever comes in your head, just don’t let the pen leave the page) – while counting backwards from 100. It makes your two brain sides work in opposition, bringing you close to writing in trance, and thus coming up with ideas that you never knew you had in you. Theoretically. And it worked for some people. They had chaos on their pages, sentences that might as well have been written in a drug haze, words they simply didn’t understand. I, on the other hand put all my effort in blocking out the numbers we were saying out loud together. And it worked, resulting in a simple normal text. Talk about boring!
That is so typical of me. It’s the notion of losing control that is just never an option in my case. Even with drinking, I have only had one experience when the situation was out of my hands and my always-in-place public image had been dropped somewhere on the icy streets of Tallinn. And even then, with chunks of the night missing from my memory, I do remember thanking and apologising to whoever those people were who were looking after me. And I remember the embarrassment I was feeling. Which has pretty much disappeared now, because why else would I keep telling people about that. I suppose a part of me is proud that I finally have a proper drunken story to tell. Everyone has something concerning getting into fights, throwing up on bouncers, being arrested or the like. Mine measures up alright, I think, because it includes being called an ambulance and ending up getting stitches.
With the exception of that one infamous time, I am virtually unable to let go of control. Just ask my friends. Most of them will probably think they’ve never seen me drunk.
And I can't decide if it's a gift or a personality flaw I should be trying to overcome.
Good song (not really relatable, though).

Spring Awakening

2011-02-04T01:15:00.003+02:00

I went to see the musical Spring Awakening with some coursemates tonight. I liked the bravery with which it tackled so many delicate issues and how it got quite disturbing at times while still having enough hilarious bits, but the storyline itself wasn’t strong enough for me. Oh well, still a great night out. Music Theatre Warwick did an amazing job, but I can’t help but feel sad I didn’t get to see it on Broadway starring Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff (from Glee), or in London starring Iwan Rheon (from Misfits! Also, *swoon*).
'Totally Fucked' is the best song, by the way (performed here by the Broadway cast).

Picture from warwickartscentre.co.uk

First term over. Thoughts?

2010-12-29T22:53:00.006+02:00

The academic side has been challenging. In a good way. Not too easy, not too boring. I was a bit scared at first, because at the English department’s induction meeting they warned us that it would nothing like school. That all of us must surely have been top of the class to get in, but now everyone here is top of their class, and it’s going to get a lot more difficult. And I thought, shit, I was in no way top of my class even at school. Well, largely because I was (and often still am) too lazy to put any more work in than absolutely necessary, and instead choose to abuse on my great memory and good girl image.
But as I said, it’s not too bad here. Although the writing class is still a bit intimidating because of how talented everyone else is. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, as there were over 30 people to a place, but I still am. They’ve got stories. And not just stories, true ones. We once had to write a couple of vignettes on important moments in our lives and strong emotions they created, and mine just paled in comparison to others. Every story they read out made my jaw drop, because whoa. They’ve had some seriously fucked up things happen to them. I’ve always known I’m lucky and have had an easy life, but I had no idea that there are so many things I should be grateful for not having experienced. Really dark stuff which makes me embarrassed about the childish disappointments and petty fights that I’ve considered traumatic experiences. In a sick way I’m almost slightly jealous, because these are the kinds of things that inform your writing. How can I compete with them if I have no idea how these emotions feel?
Anyway, moving on to something lighter. The other side of uni. The fun, stupid, irresponsible things caused by nothing but hedonism. The kind of behaviour my Estonian friends would quite possibly judge, because a large portion of them seems to have suddenly become serious adults who work in offices and have proper homes and serious relationships. And real problems, not whether it would be alright to pull a guy from your own corridor, or taking a girl back to your room only to have her reveal herself to be a devout Christian who won’t even kiss.
Which is actually one of the reasons I’m glad I left. The idea of the ‘grown-up’ lives of my friends frankly gives me a bit of a panic attack. I’m still young, for God’s sake.
I feel like I’ve blabbed about my social life quite a lot, both here and on Twitter, so now I’ll just let pictures do the talking. Oh, and since I’ve been posting songs here for a while now, then what would be a better soundtrack to the kind of university experience I’m talking about than this:

Happy Christmas

2010-12-24T00:56:00.004+02:00

I've almost finished my post, but I'm not publishing it until after Christmas, because you obviously have better things to do this weekend than read long personal ramblings.

Instead, I'm just wishing you very happy holidays and leaving you with this wonderful performance from Glee which is actually really apt, because honestly, baby, it's fucking freezing outside.

Better book titles

2010-12-21T17:28:00.008+02:00

Long time, no see. If it makes you feel any better then I’m feeling really guilty for not posting anything lately – and have been feeling guilty for weeks now.
Because I have stuff to tell you. And I will! In the next couple of days. Really.
But right now I’ve got to share with you some of the coolest things I’ve seen lately. So much better, funnier and more truthful titles for classic books.

A Christmas Carol:
Between a Rock and a Hard Place :The Elements of Style:
Paradise Lost:
Gulliver's Travels:

The God Delusion:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Catcher in the Rye:

1984:

Franny and Zooey:Thesaurus:

Odyssey:

The Master and Margarita:

Lolita:

The Devil Wears Prada:

Pictures from betterbooktitles.com

A few thoughts and songs

2010-11-27T18:54:00.003+02:00

Okay, time has seemingly flown by and in two weeks I’ll already be home again.
After over two months here I can boldly say that as far as I’m concerned, culture shock is a myth. And so is home sickness.
And that coming here was probably the best decision of my life. Classes are interesting and challenging and even fun, and everything else is just pure awesome.
One of the things that I love is how almost everyone here listens to the same kind of music I do (The Fratellis, The Virgins, Vampire Weekend etc). But also, when we’re going out then the DJ had better play bad/amazing mainstream songs that everybody knows. Which he fortunately did last night when we went to Kasbah in Coventry (first night spent out of campus for me!). He even played 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'! But the thing with this song is that whenever I hear it, the words that come to my head straight away are not the official ones:

(This version is much better anyway.)
And right after that they played 'California Gurls' to which I was also tempted to sing along with the wrong words.
Anyway, before going to town we attended Cryfield Circles. Circling is a Warwick tradition. Every week sports clubs have a night of sitting in a circle and playing drinking games. Some weeks they have a dress code, and they always have strict rules.
Because we’re that great, we’ve started the first and only block circle (well, Luc has). I’m not going to list all the numerous rules, but they are hardcore (no crossing any limbs (that’s by far the worst one. Not even fingers!), no touching your face, no mobiles etc etc). Which equals the best night in quite a while!
You’ve got to admit there is something brilliant about the British way of partying – start drinking around seven, go out at about ten, get back from the club well before three. Saves time at least.
A weird thing is how I’m now taking it as a compliment when people say I don’t seem as old as I really am. (Should I start lying about my age already?) Basically, I fit right in, and my fears that all 18-year-olds would be majorly immature have not come true in the slightest.
Or maybe it’s just that I’m as immature as they are. In any case, good times.

I’m gonna leave you with a song that I’m currently in love with. Amazing lyrics (and awesome accent! Sucks that I haven’t met any Scottish people here).

Panic on the streets of London

2010-11-11T00:14:00.006+02:00

So the first half of the term is over, and now us Arts students have Reading Week which is really just an opportunity to go home or muck about on campus. I’m not sure there’s much reading going on. Not that I’m complaining!
The Middle English translation classes have ended now that we’ve finished Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Everyone else seems really relieved, but I actually didn’t mind them. Sure, the homework was time-consuming, but it was so rewarding if you heard that the seminar tutor had translated a line exactly like you had. Maybe it’s because I’m foreign and used to other languages, but I never found translating all that daunting.
Today I went to the Stop Education Cuts protest in London, because the plans of the government are actually mental. Raising fees to £6,000-9,000 a year?! I for one couldn’t afford it.
On the bus the people from Students Union explained our rights and what to do when arrested and questioned. Serious stuff. But it got fun when we were stuck in traffic in London and passed coaches from other universities. We were quite certain that CU meant Cambridge, but when we held a sheet saying ‘Which uni are you from?’ on the window, it turned out they were from Coventry instead. To which we briefly discussed writing ‘Unlucky’ – because we’re mean. But then someone reminded us that they are on our side – it’s not like that was the government’s bus! We engaged in some more ‘bus MSN’ with them and other coaches, which was loads of fun.
And then we went and chanted ‘9K – no way!’, ‘No if’s, no but’s, no education cuts!’ and ‘Nick Clegg, shame on you! Shame on you for turning blue!’ etc.

After the march I had a walk around town and then we had a few organised activities at LSE and King’s College. Sorry, no exciting vandalism from me.

And now some general things about living here that have provoked strong emotions in yours truly.

Love
How this conversation has to be had at least once every night (because we’re so mature):
- [Someone, usually a celebrity or a mutual friend] is a whore.
- You’re a whore!
- Your mum’s a whore.
And Tom’s answer is the best:
- She is. She’s had five children.
When people’s friends come over which happens almost weekly. Fresh blood! On the other hand, when girlfriends/boyfriends come to visit it just means we don’t see either of them because they never leave the room, and we’re instead left to wonder why on Earth anyone would choose to start uni in a relationship. (No offence.)
How active our nights out – and in – are. In Estonia, we used to go ‘istuma’ or ‘jooma’ and that would literally be it: we’d sit around talking and drinking. But here we’ve got pub games like darts and pool which I absolutely love now that I’ve realised I’m not too bad at them. And when we stay in our halls, we just have to get a bit creative. Corridor football, corridor baseball, corridor bowling, rubbish bin basketball, drinking darts

(there are no winners in this. Everyone just gets completely wankered. Or should I say there are no losers?), hide and seek etc. Never a dull moment!
Drinking games in general (except the ones which include mixing drinks). And adding gentlemen’s rules to every game. They’re the following:

No swearing.
You can only drink with your left hand.
You can’t cross your arms or legs.
You can’t call anyone by their name.
You can’t use the word drink or its cognates.
You can’t point.

How Lotti created us all on Sims and apparently everything they do on there is absolutely true. It makes for a whole lot of intrigue. Finding out about ‘our’ antics is like a mix between watching an addictive soap and getting Gossip Girl’s updates.

Hate
Having two taps. Fucking ridiculous. Everywhere: in our rooms, in clubs, pubs, malls… And in some places they have a sign warning people that the water in the hot one is really hot. That doesn’t solve the problem though, does it? Don’t put up a sign, fix it! I’ve got used to it now and I don’t mind when I’m quickly rinsing my hands, but washing up is quite terrible.
I don’t really hate this, it’s just sad. Apparently in Rootes (which has the reputation of being the party halls) while playing drinking games some people have juice in their glass. What is the point of that?! Pathetic. Why even play then? Cryfield is so the new Rootes.

It’s complicated
The way Brits apologise for everything. Really, everything. Even buses have signs saying ‘sorry I’m not in service’. I am quite a polite person, if I do say so myself, but that’s getting ridiculous. Sometimes I just want to go ‘ooh, sorry, sorry, sorry. Sorry I’m alive’ à la Inbetweeners, because seriously, what are you apologising for?
Kopparberg Cider. Especially the pear one! Literally the best cider in the world, and I don’t even like pears. But also ridiculously expensive which is why I really need to stop buying it at the pub (one of these days).

What UCAS forgot to tell you about university

2010-10-31T20:17:00.004+02:00

Picture from weheartit.com

I wrote down some of the especially truthful statements from the What UCAS Forgot To Tell You About University... Facebook group (UCAS is of course the website that manages applications to British universities).
Pound coins are priceless. – They’re definitely worth more then just one pound. For example when you need to take a bus or do laundry.
You live for post. – Post really is great. And I’ve never before got so much of it. You get everything in the post here, including your debit card, bank codes, SIM etc.
Going to bed at 2am is an early night.
You won't survive without the internet. – That isn’t really limited to uni, is it?
Food is more expensive than you think.
The halls were only clean on the open day. – And during Orientation week, when there were only two of us living here.
You won't miss TV.
I-player is God. – No, 4oD is.
You'll eventually become immune to alcohol. – I can see that happening, yes.
You have no idea what is going on in the world outside uni. – Well, you might do. If it’s a trending topic on Twitter.
You will be Faceraped many times. – Not me, because I always lock my door and turn off my laptop, but yes, it happens every day.
You will worship Tesco. – Wouldn’t have guessed that, but yes, Tesco is awesome. Pretty much everything we use is Tesco’s: from bread and juice to the sandwich grill and kitchen radio. I might even switch to Tesco’s vodka soon because it’s so much cheaper. And everyone who’s drunk it is still alive.
Your calculator will become your soul mate. – Mwaahahaha, not for me. Not this time.
You will go out until 4 am before an important lecture.
You will start thinking and talking like your friends around you, and will pick up a mixture of silly accents. – 'I know, right.' (with an American accent. Or 'aah, for fook's sake' with a Northern accent. So basically, yes.)
You'll eat cereal for dinner. – You’ll eat anything you have anytime you’re hungry. Meal times are so overrated.
You will find yourself browsing Youtube for hours.
You will destroy your corridor in halls after a good night out. – Destroy is perhaps too strong a term, but covering doors with Post-It notes is something we do quite often.
You'll join everything in Freshers' week, but then go to none of the meetings. – Embarrassingly, that seems to be the case, yes.
You will sit in front of your computer refreshing Facebook every minute. – It’s really quite sad, when you think about it.
Your room will never look as good as somebody else’s. – So true. But I didn’t have the opportunity to bring a carload of stuff here, did I?
You will find yourself phoning your mum more often than you thought. – I was surprised. (Although she still thinks I don't do it often enough.)
You can never afford food, but always a night out!

Writing

2010-10-26T02:18:00.003+03:00

Picture from weheartit.com

Here are some writing assignment from a few weeks ago, in case you're interested.

1.
We had to write microfiction of exactly 50 words. (I added an explanatory comment at the end for those people who absolutely hate stories like that. Well, calling it a story is stretching the meaning quite a bit. It’s a non-story, really.)

She was strolling down the street, a smile threatening to creep on her face if she let her guard down. At that moment, life was quite perfect. She would have laughed and danced and sung, if she hadn’t been terrified of what people might think.
And then it hit her.

It might have been the realisation that what other people think is the single most important factor in her life. That it controls all her actions and emotions. That even when she has reached the top of the happiness scale, she’s still worried about others.
It might have been a bus.

2.
We had to write a couple of boring sentences in class about something that had happened to us in the last 24 hours.

I stepped out of the door and put my headphones on. It was cold and grey outside. I was feeling tired. I walked through the campus listening to music and trying to get used to cars driving on the wrong side of the road.

And then at home we had to rewrite it in two styles that we hate.

Unfinished Story
Hi! Quick, come here, I need to tell you something. Oh my God, you’ll never guess what happened this morning! I still can’t believe it. I was walking to class and it was cold and I was tired and, you know, still trying to get used to left-hand traffic, but then I… um… uh, d’you know what, it’s not really that good. Uh, forget it. Nothing.

Infomercial
Do you find walking to class every morning boring and routine?
Does the cold and grey weather suck the life out of you?
Are you feeling tired in the mornings?
Introducing:
Trying to get used to cars driving on the wrong side of the road.
Designed to add a spark of excitement to those mundane mornings.
Which way to look when you cross the street?
Left? Right? You sure?
Whenever you least expect it, Trying to get used to cars driving on the wrong side of the road offers you a fun puzzle that gets your brain going for the day.
Over and over again!
The best part is that when you’re sure you’ve remembered it, you can go back to your home country and start all over again.
‘Mornings were the worst part of the day for me. I would have done anything to stay in bed until noon. But since discovering Trying to get used to cars driving on the wrong side of the road I can’t wait to jump out of bed and start the day.’
But that’s not all! If you call right now we’ll add a brand new mp3 player for free to listen to the music you choose. That’s a whole extra distraction to make surviving in traffic even more of an adventure.
It’s not available in stores so you’ve got to call now!

I can relate...

2010-10-24T20:19:00.001+03:00

Week 2

2010-10-18T01:47:00.011+03:00

I can hardly believe it, but I actually enjoy all my lectures, seminars and even the Middle English translation classes. To be fair, it’s still early days, and I only have four modules (which in here means four subjects):
Modes of Reading (basically literary criticism, with quite brilliant texts discussed (The Magic Toyshop, The Buddha of Suburbia, Howl etc)
Modes of Writing (very exciting and challenging creative writing assignments every week)
Medieval to Renaissance English Literature (the same thing that we studied in 10th grade British Literature classes in my school, but more in-depth. Loved it then, really enjoy it now as well)
Spanish Beginners Accelerated (we were allowed to choose a language for our optional module and I’m really chuffed I did)

On Saturday we went to Coventry (the closest town). The first stop was Primark and even though I hadn’t been planning to go shopping, I simply couldn’t resist. It was my first time in Primark and, wow, I can’t believe I managed to live so long without it. Spent only 35 minutes and £32 in there. And got all that:
Firstly, a plain T-shirt and vest (£1.50 each!)
But also

In classic British fashion, the class system constantly crops up in conversation. Namely posh people. How because of their sheltered upbringing they can’t deal with negative emotions or how because posh people only marry people who are of the same social class, they’re all slightly inbred.
There are a couple of kind of posh people in our accommodation, but as ours is the cheapest, they’re the exceptions. And they're very nice, if I may add.
It got me thinking of myself. We don’t have a class system in Estonia and not even a term for ‘posh’. But if you tried hard to find the equivalent, then considering the school I went to, I’m about as posh as you can get. Funny, that.

When I first saw the kitchen that I was meant to share with eight other people, I thought, shit, it’s going to be crowded. And now we have 17 people using it. Some people were supposed to use the big one in the other corridor, but chose not to because ours is obviously so much better (or closer). Plus, one girl from upstairs is using ours, because she’s dating / not dating (she even has a boyfriend), just spending every minute together with one guy from our corridor.
We’re all also sharing three toilet cubicles (of which one is blocked and one’s lock is broken) and two showers (one lock is also broken there). But so far, I’ve never had to stand in queue for anything, so there’s no reason to complain.
They fixed our microwave, but there’s something wrong with the sink. And now our fridge is most likely broken too. It’s making a really loud noise. Even with the door closed. I’m grateful my room isn’t close to the kitchen, because it’s literally keeping people up at night. A likely reason is that it’s overstocked. You can barely fit any food in, and trying to find your stuff in it is always a bit of an adventure. Things will surely change in a few months when most people’s student loans run out.

While the story that Cryfield buildings were modelled after a Swedish women’s prison (and that the corridors are the width of a riot shield) may well be urban myths, the origin of the name is no word of a lie. Ages ago the area was used for public hangings and the name Cryfield comes from the place where the families of the executed criminals came to cry. Now isn’t that just lovely.
But I’m actually glad I’m living in these conditions. It’s teaching me to appreciate luxury when I have it and focus on what really matters in life. And I’m not even whinging; honestly, it’s not bad at all. This is what student life is like! We just laugh about those things.

At the end of the day, the people are lovely and that makes every day a good one.

Week 1

2010-10-11T01:25:00.007+03:00

One of my biggest fears – feeling like the old lady of my course, hall, uni… – has not realised at all. The others don’t look and act all that childish, really.
But there was this one moment… We were having a ‘getting to know everyone in your house’ party in the common room organised by the wardens. Yes, wardens. Rumour has it that Cryfield (our hall of residence) was modelled after a Swedish women’s prison, so it would make sense that we have wardens as well. But they’re cool; they even provided drinks and nibbles (which for some reason is still the funniest word) for the party. And games. In one of those we had to form a queue according to our birthday. I found a guy who had the same birthday as me.
‘The 13th? Friday the 13th, right?’ he eagerly asked.
Uh, no. Because turns out he was born three years later than me. Holy fuck. Definitely felt old then.

Quite surprisingly, I’m getting loads of compliments on my (too short) hair. The strangest one was definitely ‘it looks really soft’. And she wasn’t even drunk. But the truly strange part is the idea of liking the appearance of a stranger, and just telling them. With no ulterior motive. That doesn’t usually happen in Estonia, does it?

It’s basically impossible to attempt to establish yourself as Nordic, when you have Lithuanian and Polish people on your corridor telling you, ‘Eastern Europe, yeah!’ Oh, well. What I really want, though, is for my Estonian friends to come visit. Mostly because now this one Lithuanian guy is considered to be God on all the floors of our building because of his drinking abilities, which are, to be frank, painfully average. Honestly, I wonder if even I could drink him under the table, if I wasn’t worried about the kind of reputation it would get me. I wouldn’t want to be the crazy Eastern European person who seems immune to alcohol. The Brits even wondered if the Lithuanian bloke could be a ghost of a former student who died of alcohol poisoning, roaming the corridors, continuing his drinking days. FFS. That's nothing.

Around 16 rather messy people to a normal-sized kitchen means that every morning it looks like a battle zone. No joke. Except for the mornings when the cleaners come and it has to be cleaned (because how could the cleaners possibly clean of the room isn’t clean enough?). If it isn’t, they could punish us by locking the kitchen – so we’d all starve to death, presumably.
Not that we’d starve, though. The kitchen’s mostly used to make grilled cheese sandwiches and heating up ready-meals anyway. Plus, there are the 2 in 1 blessings and curses of Domino’s delivering pizza until 5 am, and the burger and kebab van parked between Cryfield and the Students Union at night.

Everyone seems to be having one quiet night a week when they catch up on their TV shows (Dexter, Weeds, Glee, The Inbetweeners and An Idiot Abroad in my case). And all the other nights we’re sitting in the common room playing Ring of Fire. Or Arrogance, but I’ve personally never felt the desire to play that particular game.
Pour some of your drink in the pint glass in the middle of the table and guess if the next card is higher or lower than the one on top. If you’re right, it’s the next person’s turn. If you’re wrong, you have to drink the contents of the glass. Which might be anything: beer + cider + alcopops + wine + vodka + whiskey… As far as I’ve seen, the one who has to drink the whole glass, gets totally fucked up, and then is sick (sometimes on themselves). I honestly don’t see the appeal. But Ring of Fire is fun. We actually took the ‘never have I ever’ part out of the game, because after a couple of nights it just got boring.

Yeah, pretty much everything has been revealed, including all sorts of fantasies and fetishes. One in particular led to the guys making a pact that none of them would ever get off with any of the others. And so the girls had to make that as well as a way of retaliation.

I really love how we’ve already given out loads of nicknames (and that I don’t have any):
LitMike (short for Lithuanian Mike (short for Mindaugas))
Balderdash (because Povilas was far too difficult to remember at first)
Irish Luke (see, it’s funny because Luc’s actually Swiss. He just sounds Irish)
The One Who Threw Up First
The One Who Threw Up Second
etc.

But there’s more to uni life than parties – apparently. I only have about 10 hours of lectures and seminars a week, but I’m expected to do 40-50 hours of independent work. Which means sitting in my room or the library and reading. And writing. And translating verses in Middle English into Modern English. Ouch. Should actually get back to that.

Bye, darlings! Hope you're enjoying life as much as I am.

Here goes...

2010-10-03T18:58:00.006+03:00

Okay, a few words about what’s happened this week.
International Orientation started on Tuesday and ended on Friday.
The campus is a lot bigger and nicer than I thought. It’s like a proper little town. A town made for students. And if that’s not awesome enough, we have ducks and geese and swans and bunnies hanging around the campus!
The room I’m staying in is definitely the smallest and ugliest that I’ve ever lived in, and the walls are paper thin, but so what. This is the real student life and I'm loving it. I can actually see myself seeing it as home very soon.
On Wednesday we went on a trip to Oxford. It was really beautiful, but most old university towns are.
I’ll admit that Oxford has it’s advantages. Our uni might have never been out of the top 10 in the league tables since its opening in the sixties, but you just can’t make up history and traditions. We can’t go, ‘That’s the college Oscar Wilde went to’ or ‘This is the pub that Tolkien and Lewis Carroll spent their days in, oh, and these are the landscapes that inspired their works’. But whatever, they don't have a campus.
Throughout the week I’ve been meeting people from all around the world, most of whom seem to be studying Economics-related subjects. Nice to see that the world will have more than enough economists and businesspeople without me.
It’s crazy how I’m only now realising just how tall and beautiful Estonian women are. Here I’m suddenly far from being the short dumpy one.
I have learned a lot about other countries and cultures. The differences in family life, partying and relationships are huge. One girl from Ghana said she dated a guy for a year before they kissed! But she didn’t have a problem with him cheating, as long as she knew that she was the one he cared about the most.
The weather changes quite often. When the sun is out, it’s warm and lovely, but the next minute it’s rainy and windy and I’m praying for the survival of my flimsy pink ruffled umbrella.
The amount of time I’ve spent queuing is a bit mental. For getting a bank account I stood in line for over five hours in total. But then the guy who interviewed me was so friendly that after having a nice chat with him I’d forgotten all about the time I wasted. In Estonia most people working in customer service are professional, but cold. Also, let's face it, more efficient.

I read it somewhere that Orientation is a week you spend with people that you’ll never talk to again during the three years of uni. That seems a bit harsh, but it might have some truth in it. Now that most people have moved in the halls, we mainly hang out with the people we live with.
Last night was the first time we sat down together in our kitchen. Then we found out that there’s a bigger kitchen with more people and alcohol down the other corridor, so we joined them.
It was pretty much what you’d expect from a British uni party.
Empty beer bottles everywhere.
People making fun of everyone’s home towns: either the regional accents or reputation (‘Brighton – gay central!’), except London, because apparently you can’t do London.
We made plans to all watch the next episode of The Inbetweeners together – they’re going on a trip to Warwick in it!
Established that Chaucer and Shakespeare were total pervs.
Throughout the night we had a Lithuanian guy emerging from his room with a stronger and deadlier spirit every time, handling out shots and always ending up drinking the most. At first I thought that the stories of Brits not being able to handle their drink have been exaggerated, because most seemed to be able to down shots without grimacing. But then one by one they started disappearing. But to be fair, so did the Lithuanian guy at some point during the night…
The really weird thing: when we’d been dancing at the Welcome party for a while and I was getting a vodka and Red Bull at the bar, I checked the time, wondering if it was around 1 or maybe already 3; it was actually 10 o’clock in the evening. It was surreal, but then I remembered that our kitchen party had started at 6 and we live 2 minutes away from the SU. And that it doesn’t take long to get Brits inebriated, especially if there are drinking games involved.

Got back just before 2.
Today I met up with a few people from my course. Ordered pizza and had a chat about books, films, uni etc. It’s funny how every one of them had either met someone from Harry Potter (including Robert Pattinson; back when he was Cedric) or went for auditions for a part in the films.
Then we went to the second day of Freshers Fair and took free books and the Royal Shakespeare Company postcards and pins. You’d never guess we're English Lit students, right?

My Freshers T-shirt that I’m supposed to wear again tonight to get into the second party has beer, Bed Bull and God knows what on it and my new white Adidas trainers look absolutely disgusting. But who cares, I’m really happy!

Words to live by: 'If you can't do it at uni, when can you do it?'

It's my problem if I wanna pack up and run away

2010-09-18T20:46:00.005+03:00

My suitcase is almost packed. The only problem is that about 70% of it is filled, but I haven’t really put any clothes in yet. Trouble brewing, I’ll tell you… But there’s still over a week left. To pretend everything is A-ok.
When I’m not running around, trying to get everything done before I need to leave, I’m listening to Marina and the Diamonds. Yes, I already kind of wrote about her, but now that I’ve been listening to more of her songs, I can see that not just one, but almost all of them seem to be describing me. It’s actually a bit creepy. Has she somehow managed to break into my head and steal my thoughts and hopes and fears? Or rather, how is it that her autobiographical songs are so completely relatable to me? I’ve never had that with any artist before.
In any case, she’s basically the only pop star that I’d really want to meet and talk to. She seems to have substance – which just happens to be nearly identical to mine. I’m intrigued.

Swish it up a bit!

2010-09-11T14:36:00.002+03:00