Friday Fun: Life Lately (what’s happening right now) and responses to two award nominations

Hello! Happy Friday! Have we all dealt with the fact that we are half way through the year (I did a mid-year review here if you want to go check!). I know I’ve only semi accepted that half of this year is gone. Sigh. But anyhow, here is a rundown of everything going down in my life right now as well as responses for two awards I was nominated for.

Life:

It is slightly better and I’ve learnt to deal with my father’s not so great health. Mostly. It is still particularly hard, but I’ve kind of desensitized and that has helped me so much.

Planning to do a 10km walk in August for Women’s month. FYI – I’m not fit enough to do a 10km walk so I better get my ass into exercise mode.

I am obsessed with crocheting. It started out mildly – my older sister, mom and my sister’s mom-in-law started crocheting and I joined because it gets rather boring when everyone crochets and you are just sitting there twiddling your thumbs. Then I got obsessed and now I can’t stop. It is insanity. I crocheted a skull on Zoë’s request (pic below). I was so damn chuffed! I’m busy with a blanket and should finish up this scarf I am nearly done with. So.much.fun.

Books:

Nothing worth mentioning on here actually. I am reading all my favorite Nora Roberts books for the umpteenth time and I love it. I still need to read most of the books I listed here. Zoë loved the Rosie Project and recommended it to me, so that is my next avenue to explore.

Movies and Series:

I got to go to the cinema twice recently, and enjoyed both Jurassic World and Inside Out. I finally chose a movie to review for my Sugar Pappy’s Shitfest. Hopefully by next week you will have it, Sugar Pappy Giuseppe!

I tried watching Pretty Little Liars Season 5… Let’s just say NOPE. It’s cheesy and lame and every time I think the season is improving it slips again.

Have you seen the new Sherlock posters doing the rounds? I am so excited. Right now I will take any morsel they throw my way. I want to do a complete run of the show before they start again. #cantwait #sherlocked

Also – the new Hunger Games posters! ERMAGHERD If you haven’t read the book, or know what happens in the last section of the books, good luck. That is all I’m going to say.

Some moral questions:

Can we for a second ponder the incredulous world we live in? Where ratbags like Ariana Grande and Donald Trump gets more attention than Greece defaulting on its debt – or the war in Syria – or the AIDS pandemic?

Really world, get your priorities in order. FFS

1^st Award Answers

Thanks to Christina from My Tiny Obsessions for nominating me for the Sisterhood of the World blogger’s Award.

The Rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.

Put the award logo on your blog.

Answer the questions the tagger has given you.

Nominate ten other bloggers

Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.

Questions (lets go with a theme, shall we?! Quick and easy!):

1. Favorite book?

It changes from time to time – I fall in love with good books the way a teenage girl falls in love with boys – all the time. My most recent favorite book was Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. The Classics – Emma by Jane Austen. Epic Fantasy – Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince – JK Rowling.

 

2. Favorite TV show?

Downton Abbey

 

3. Favorite Movie?

Crazy, Stupid Love

4. Favorite Book-Movie/TV adaptation?

The Lord of The Rings – JRR Tolkien

 

5. Favorite Actor?

On looks – Chris Hemsworth

On talent – James McAvoy (and his looks are gorgeous too!)

 

6. Favorite Actress?

Emma Stone

7. Favorite Author?

Nora Roberts

8. Favorite Book ship?

Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter – Harry Potter

Eleanor and Park – Eleanor and Park

Gus and Hazel –The Fault in Our Stars

 

9. Favorite TV Show ship?

Michael and Mary Crawley

10. Favorite Movie ship?

Alley and Noah – The Notebook

As for nominating, I’m just listing some awesome blogs – go check them out (the blogs are listed below the last nomination)(. If you want to answer these extremely random questions I chose as a separate post or just in the comment section of my blog, feel free 😀

Questions:

Favorite Superhero

Most Hated Actor

Most Hated Actress

Favorite Animation

If you had to be stuck with Joffrey Baratheon or Justin Bieber, who would you choose?

What is your favorite car make?

Do you like chocolate?

Would you wear Crocs?

When you are in traffic and people are being dumbasses, are you the person who gives the death stare or are you the person looking like you are going to explode, get out of the car and go Hulk Smash on them all?

If you had to change your nationality, to which country would you move?

Then Drew from Drew’s movie reviews nominated me for a Liebster award. Thanks Drew!

The Rules:

Thank the blog who nominated you and link back to them.

Nominate up to 11 other bloggers to receive the coveted award.

Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.

Tell your readers 11 random facts about yourself.

Give the nominees 11 questions to answer on their blog when they post their nomination.

Can you wiggle your ears?

No haha. I really admire people who do!

Do you watch any web series? If so, what’s your favorite one?

I have no idea what that is. So I guess not 🙂 or I probably do, I’m just not aware of it haha.

What is the first movie you remember watching in the theaters?

Liar Liar.

Do you prefer 3D or 2D movies or are you indifferent?

2D. I think 3D is a waste of money and it is often not even that effective.

Do/Did you play any sports? Which ones?

I used to play Hockey. It is the best game ever

What is your favorite card game?

I am a master in Rummy

What is your favorite board game?

30 Seconds, teamed up with my sisters

What is your favorite video game?

If I play, Super Mario.

If you had a time machine and could go back in time without consequence of messing up the future, where and when would you visit and why?

I would love to travel back to see the discovery of major things – Fire, the wheel, electricity, etc. I would like to see the wonder and triumph on the faces of people who couldn’t even begin to realize that they had changed humanity for always.

Do you have a motto or mantra?

Everything becomes nothing. Depressing, I know, but it is the truest thing.

What is your favorite thing about blogging or being a blogger?

The first would be getting my opinion on things out there – it doesn’t feel that I’m just shouting my opinions into a void. The second would be is coming into contact with people I would never have met in my life without the blogging platform.

11 Random facts about myself?

Sheesh. I am not that random. I will try though.

I have a “Keep Calm and Carry On” mug in my office. I always look at it before I answer stupid questions. I think the mug has saved many lives as well as my job.

I love stationery. Papers, pens, books, sticky notes. I get so excited about it.

I want the word “insultment” to be added to the dictionary. It is beyond me that it hasn’t been added yet!

I’m a pretty aggressive driver.

I’m very open to people’s choices in life. I really don’t care what you prefer, as long as it brings no harm to other people. I can’t stand people who think they can tell other people who to love or what to believe.

I have a very bad habit of hiding someone’s feed on Facebook and then going back to their page and still looking at the annoying things they say. I don’t even know what is wrong with me.

I work in the third largest hospital in the world. It is… interesting to say the least.

If I only visit one other country in my life, I would choose France. I desperately want to see the Eiffel Tower. After that, I would head to Germany to go visit my ancestral homeland.

I used to really hate ginger cookies but now I love them.

I try to visit a new place in South-Africa each year. I live in this really picturesque country with such vastly different scenery. It is gorgeous and breathtaking here.

I am ridiculously amped to finish my pretty blanket

Tranquil Dreams

The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger

Emmakwall (Explains it all)

Film Grimoire 

Cinema Parrot Disco

Justine’s Movie Reviews

Movie Rob

The IPC

Alex Raphael

July 17, 2015July 12, 2015 by Natasha Categories: UncategorizedTags: Chris Hemsworth, Crazy Stupid Love, Downton Abbey, Eleanor and Park, Emma Stone, Friday, fun, Harry Potter, James McAvoy, Liebster Award, Nora Roberts, The Fault in Our Stars 5 Comments

HAPPY MIDDLE OF THE YEAR – MID YEAR IN REVIEW

Hello everyone! Today is the 2^nd of July, a.k.a. the EXACT MIDDLE OF THE YEAR. In exactly 183 days we will be partying in 2016. It also means that we only have another 183 days left where things can go totally wrong for us. Not bad, eh?!

To celebrate this joyous occasion, I have compiled a list of things that I’ve done in this year that seems noteworthy… or not. It at least proves the amount of time I spend on movies, books and series! Enjoy!!

2015 Movies watched so far:

The movie year didn’t start off so well for me. I mean, I watched Seventh Son. I gave it a 6/10, and I still think that is a very fair assessment. It is really not great and it could have been much more with the cast they had available.

The next was Best of Me, a movie adaption from Nicholas Sparks. It was unoriginal and cheesy, typical Sparks. I gave it a 6/10 as well, and counted my losses, and looked with hope to the next movie.

The next movie is still one of my favorites of the year, Ballade vir ‘n enkeling. It is a South-African film and I thought it would be okay at best. It was so well done. I was and am so proud of the quality they produced here and super chuffed that it is a local film, that I got to see it in cinema and that one of the lead actors, Armand Aucamp, was nice enough to read the post, comment on it and favorite it on Twitter #hellyeah #famousness. I gave it a well-deserved 8/10.

I went to see Disney’s latest live adaption, Cinderella, in cinema. It wasn’t close to the entertainment that Maleficent brought us last year. The story was exactly as it has been since Cinderella the animation was released a million years ago, the characters were perfectly cast (but was that even necessary?). I think that if Disney wants to keep on doing these and make them a success they need to make it unique or at least change perspectives of the film. I gave it a 6.5/10, because it was quite enchanting even though it wasn’t excellent.

I chose watching Kingsman: A Secret Service, instead of Fifty Shades in Cinema, and let me tell you, it was an excellent decision. The movie is

Avengers: Age of Ultron has easily been my most anticipated movie of 2015. I am a massive fan of the first Avengers, and think Marvel excelled there. This time around everything was bigger – the villain, the explosions, the fights, the character development. It worked really well although I don’t see the point of the love story. But anyway. It was good, and I rated it an 8/10

#cannotBeUnseen

Fifty Shades of Grey.LOLS. I know so many people who were really looking forward to this. I wasn’t, and even refused to go watch it in cinema because that would mean helping it edge closer to the billion dollar mark at the cinema (which it didn’t, and I’m very sure it is because I stood my ground!). It is bad. Like really, really bad. The source material is nothing to work from, because it is sex, sex and more sex and then more sex on top of that. You can’t put all that sexy time into a movie in the graphic detail the readers seems to have wanted into a film and show it to large audiences. The acting was awful – the best was Dakota Johnson, and she’s not any Meryl Streep if you know what I mean. The chemistry lacked, the lines were painfully cheesy and the sexy time wasn’t sexy. Just go read my review and see what I said haha. I gave it a 6/10, received some flak for it, but I stand firm – it wasn’t THAT bad and Johnson worked really hard at this.

Pitch Perfect  2 was my most apprehensive venture into cinema yet this year. I hated the first one (disclaimer:  I need to watch it again because I was hanging when I saw the first one and it might not be that bad). The second one was really a lot of fun and had elements of girl power, and you all know I cheer madly when that happens. I love Fat Amy, she’s hilar, and I think the execution of the movie was really well done. I gave it an 8/10 again.

I just watched Jurassic World and thought it was great fun and a very good sequel. I don’t really know if I support more movies coming into this franchise, but after the massive box office hit I am sure they won’t let this in peace. Chris Pratt the adventurer is also a lovely thing to behold 😉

Books

I’ve read an astonishingly small amount of new books this year, instead rereading all my favorite ones. The best book I’ve read for the first time this year is definitely Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I campaigned to everyone I knew to read that book and still do – it is such a cute book man.

I recently read the first four books in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. It is not such an amazing achievement though, as the books are never more than a 150 pages long each. They are really fun though, and excellent entertainment when your brain needs some easy fun.

The Liar by Nora Roberts proved to be a very nice read. The quality of her last couple of books hasn’t been excellent, so naturally I was relieved when this book had some entertainment value.

The Brightest Star in the Sky has been the oddest book I’ve ever read from Marian Keyes, and she is well known for her odd books. The book is way too long and often a bit drawn out, but I had a good time.

I am currently busy reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. I’ve been interested in this book after seeing the heart wrenching movie, and although I am only a few pages in I find that the book is really well written.

Further on I would like to get to The Woman who Stole my Life (Marian Keyes), Looking for Alaska (John Green), Indelible (Karin Slaughter) and Ruby Circle (Richelle Mead).

Series

The Dawn of Downton Abbey

Have you guessed I would talk about this series on here? Because I’ve reviewed Seasons 1, 2 and 3 already, and guess what? Season four is scheduled for scheduled for tomorrow 😀 :D. I blew through all the seasons of this. It is simply impossible to stop watching something so well done. It is very likely my favorite series of all time.  Season three made me rather angry – some deaths were SO uncalled for. Season four was good but not up to the standards of the previous three and season five was as good as the first three. Have I mentioned that I can’t wait for the sixth season?

Game of Thrones

Meh. I hoped season five would be like the glorious first two seasons. But we can’t always have what we want, right? I reviewed the first four episodes and still need to get to the rest, but really, I am so disinterested in Westeros at the moment. The story is badly developed at the moment and I think they are incapable of dealing with the expanding territories at the moment.

Gilmore Girls

I spent a lot of time running through this series this year. It is the best throwback EVER. I still need to finish Season 7, but as we know it is not the best ever. There are increasing talks to get a movie out, but we will still see, won’t we?

I am currently busy with Pretty Little Liars Season 5. It is okay, but I think I’ve seen so many other series that are really good at this point that I am slightly bored with this right now. It makes for senseless viewing, which isn’t a bad thing at all. I would like to get into Vikings – I saw the first few minutes of the first episode and it hasn’t gripped me yet. Daredevil and Agent Carter are the two Marvel series I am looking forward at watching as well. YAY for Superheroes!!

How has your year been so far?

July 2, 2015July 2, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Books, Fun, Movies, Reviews, SeriesTags: Age of Ultron, Anna Kendrick, Atonement, Ballade vir 'n enkeling, Best of Me, Books, Cinderella, Colin Firth, Dakota Johnson, Downton Abbey, Eleanor and Park, Fifty Shades of Grey, fun, Game of Thrones, Gilmore girls, Ian McEwan, James Marsden, Jurassic World, Kingsman, Lilly James, Marian Keyes, Meg Cabot, Middle of The Year, Movies, Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, Pitch Perfect 2, Princess Diaries, Rainbow Rowell, Rebel Wilson, Reviews, Richard Madden, Series, Seventh Son, The Brightest Star in the Sky, the Liar 13 Comments

The Iconic Book Scene: Eleanor and Park (Rainbow Rowell)

Happy Wednesday, lovely readers!

Today’s IBS is a snippet of a book I recently read and adored silly, Eleanor and Park. Check out the hyperlink for my review of the novel!

April 15, 2015April 14, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Books, Quotes, The Iconic Book SceneTags: Books, Eleanor and Park, Quotes, Rainbow Rowell, The Iconic Book Scene 7 Comments

Book Review: Eleanor and Park (Rainbow Rowell)

 

Plot: (via Goodreads)

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor… Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough…Eleanor.

Park… He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises…Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Rating: 9/10

I’m trying to get to the point where I can accurately say how much I love this book but it involves a lot of hand gesturing and incoherent noises. I will do my best, but know this: I LOVE this book way more than I can express in words!

I’ve read books in the past where I’ve thought that it was great material, just not great writing. Eleanor and Park is not such a book. It is fast paced and switches between the two main characters in a way so that you can track the rising levels of adoration and love in both characters. It is easy reading and the story doesn’t slow down in places. It is written in a way that slows you down, you start reading slower because it is so unbelievably sweet and poignant and heart rendering and you just want to pay more attention to these two because what goes on between them is so beautiful.

The story is simultaneously unbearably beautiful and sad. Think The Fault in Our Stars, but without all the terminal characters. There are times where you will want to weep at the beauty of the human heart and times where you will want to scream at the horrific nature some people possess so easily.

Ah man. The main characters. They are the teens you see on the street, trying to figure out this human existence and what to do with it. Eleanor and Park are two people I haven’t found in other books – their uniqueness shines through the pages. Park is popular and accepted in his town but he always has that knowledge that he is “different”. He is half-Korean and half-American, and he has constant referencing to the fact that he is biracial. Eleanor has so much on her poor teenage plate and it comes across that Park is the only light in her life. She has her normal teenage girl body part issues and then her mother and house situation. They have their differences and their relationship is sometimes laced with frustration because their upbringings are so radically different but they are so inlove and manage to stick it out together.

I saw this quote once and loved it only to find out that it is in this book:

Favorite scene: By far their first handholding. I nearly went comatose of sweet heartache and pain on the friggin spot.

I would definitely recommend a lot of people to give this book a try – it is such a beautiful read!

April 1, 2015March 28, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Books, ReviewsTags: Book, Books, Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell, Review, This book is amazing 12 Comments