Thursday 31 December 2015

The Year That Was 2015

2015 will be memorable for at least a couple of reasons: 

1. I started writing erotic romance, followed by a category that I swore not to touch.

https://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=2484683&page=submissions 


2. Got a new job, followed by a realistic look at finances.

3. A whole new determination to have fun in my last year of the 30s LOL

So what was your 2015 like?

And what's life without music? The music list that reflects my 2015!

And the videos that didn't quite make it:



And 


Dancing my way into 2016!





Saturday 26 December 2015

Sunday 20 December 2015

Pendulum Swinging

Yes, the swinging is making me dizzy: some good some weird bad.

Bad: Was klutzy again. managed to offend a friend with an e-gift (ok, only I could do something like that and it wasn't even intentional), didn't do any writing!

Good: Had some ideas, avoided an awkward meeting with all 3 of my ex-fiances (well, it became 3 separate lunches instead) and caught Star Wars!

My take on Star Wars: The Force Awakens :

Great plot. Lots of parallels and self-referential allusions. The patricide in the case of killing off ___ ___ (I do have some self-preservation instincts you know) by ____ ___.

Is the new heroine Rey going to be part of another replay of Leia/Luke? The movie was fast paced as would be expected of an Abrams production and the Kasdan/Abrams collaboration seems to ensure a tight storyline. Very in the spirit of Return of the Jedi and the original series. Brave destruction of the Republic which creates expectation of the next part of the trilogy. Best of all, seems to suggest sweeping away the relics of the past without losing the mythic arc.


Friday 18 December 2015

A Letter to Readers

It's that time of year again when many celebrate and some reflect on the year that's been. It's been quite a year for me. Started writing and publishing in the second quarter of the year. Made a few new friends online. Started a more active  social media presence. And started on genres that I never thought I'd ever dare to touch.

Themes of betrayal have always fascinated me and I guess it shows through the work. I've always liked Alexandre Dumas' work. That was a major driving force behind the effort to learn French, which is still a work in progress, stalled by lack of time and resources. I miss French classes and French cinema! Even the declensions, which drive me up the walls!

Revenge for the betrayal suffered has been a unchanging principle for me perhaps because I've seen betrayal early in life. Some have jokingly attributed that to the horoscope ^^ LOL

Yet I prefer to think of it as an Old Testament thing, you know the part of the bible that provides all the drama and brimstone (plus fodder for Hollywood blockbusters!). Mind you, I like a happily ever after like most but I can't accept one that occurs because one party was hoodwinked or unfairly dealt with. If this offends you, please do not read my recent work. Those not offended by some brimstone, please read on! 

Real life: started a new job earlier this year, contemplating moving as the wanderlust beckons and I'm ready to start looking earnestly.

If circumstances allow, I'll return to the Continent soon and may even go back to school, I know, I know, I'm addicted to the freedom of student life, but hopefully, I'll be in less claustrophobic surroundings, another experience of dreaming spires madness is not quite for me!

Hopefully, there'll be time to breathe in the new year and I'm looking forward to a little break so don't miss me too much!

Hope to post one last story before the year ends - I'm unusually hesitant about the story because it has my guts roiling and I'm afraid what that might cause in my dark/twisted imagination LOL read and find out!


Lastly, here's wishing a really wonderful holiday season to all readers and keep reading and giving feedback! I've donated most of my holiday budget to charity and no cards going out this season I'm afraid but I'm sure you won't mind since a vulnerable individual or family out there will be eating and warmer this season!

Apparently, my Christmas story is out : Have fun! From the comments, the knives are drawn LOL! Maybe I should bring out the turkey hurhurhur!



Thursday 17 December 2015

Sneak Preview of Christmas Special

Hope everyone's having a good lead up to the holidays!  My new story should be up soon, but for those who can't wait, here's the link to a sneak preview:

http://goo.gl/1a9bTO

Enjoy!

Sunday 13 December 2015

Wishing Upon A Star

It's been a weird week.Almost swore I was going to de-stress this week but embarked instead on another project that had my guts all twisted. Actually it was probably practice run for the next project which just thinking about it already has me all in knots - visceral reaction.

Been slowly feeling ill and had to try to get some rest - pretty sure I'm gonna have to take sick leave soon but gonna hold off as long as I can.

Watched Justin Kurzel's Macbeth. Liked some, didn't quite like other parts. The opening sequence, though  different from Shakespeare's Act 1 Scene 1, probably explained why Lady Macbeth turned so bloodthirsty and certainly  the speech regarding the babe. Of course, it provides a reverse psychology explanation for the infamous lines she utters in Act 1 Scene 7. An utter repudiation of social expectations regarding the roles and emotions of woman and mother. In this play as with the other Shakespearean tragedies, a woman who oversteps boundaries becomes a monster. Anyone else thinks patriarchal misogyny? In some ways, the ending, with the ominous juxtaposition of Fleance and Malcolm points ironically to greater historical accuracy than Shakespeare himself intended in his attempt to pay tribute to his patron James I.

Ok now that the boring stuff is over, have a laugh (hey I did and laughter is something I'm happy to share with readers) at one of the latest short films from the Ice Age franchise, funny though probably inaccurate description of the evolution of the solar system LOL.



Yikes just realised that was the German version, please enjoy the English version here!


And move your body like Snoopy and Charlie Brown – still miss those holiday videos featuring the Charlie Brown gang though I don't quite miss the cousin who introduced me to them! Have fun!

And now why the title for this post?

Well, I can't wish myself 20 years younger or change history so I'm simply going to go ahead and wish I can live the life I want real soon!


Sunday 6 December 2015

Timeout, profiles and intentions

It was great taking some time off this weekend. Went for a movie, yes, it was Mockingjay (not that there was that much of a choice). Caught myself thinking it was really predictable with all the tropes and archetypes. Ok, I'm not a fan of the series but I thought with the hype and all, well, maybe something different would emerge. The love triangle, especially the scene where both guys are talking and Katniss is pretending to be asleep nearby, was so formulaic that it reminded me of the Simpsons' dig. Half the cinema was rocking with laughter at the half-hearted chemistry onscreen. Kinda reminded me of the last installment of Twilight, again I'm not a fan and it was the result of a masochistic dare between me and my ex-fiance that I ended up watching the last film of the series. I'm not sure why we made that deal, guess we were both in a masochistic mood then, why else would we want to watch stuff we hated? Irony was we'd already broken up by then but both of us still stoically fulfilled the deal. Anyway, Katniss choosing Peeta was quite predictable, after all what says bad boy and true love than one who tried to kill you at least twice. Of course, it's all utopia restored in a dystopian world when Peeta and Katniss are pictured with their cute progeny in some country paradise at the end of the movie. Seriously?

So I had to redeem myself with some popular culture that was not so erm formulaic : Cirque du Soleil's Totem. Yikes, it poured on the day I went, it was so heavy that we could hear it through the tent. Started thinking we might need an ark if it continued raining. Fortunately, it stopped at some point. Ok, so it was best summarised as a bunch of body beautiful people in acrobatic moves. Surprisingly, the one sight that kinda stunned me was the skater who played the native American princess. She was wearing only a G-string for her bottom and hopefully it was a bodysuit she had on, if not, I'm sure the guys in front might have been blinded by the sight of her pubic area as she skated round that tiny platform. And the ladies weren't left out, there were more than a few woah built bods there, mainly upper body strength though, the legs were quite normal, always made me wonder just how balanced they could be or not LOL. I generally prefer my men solid hurhurhur. So I'm dirty-minded, bite me. Anyway, it was entertaining but lacked the grace that their performances are often known for. The scientist/professor was probably the most balanced in terms of his performance. Well, think he was the only guy who wasn't stripped down to his skivvies! Here's a clip from the Vancouver perfomance : https://youtu.be/RjeIzO6LORM?t=5m9s


And it's been a weird week, first the invite to go "hunting" with another friend on account of our irresistible Scorpio natures, then the profiling. Another friend apparently created a profile for me using her account details on OkCupid, apparently, it was for my own good. She apparently didn't think it a great idea to go hunting, so despite my freaking out, I ended up answering more than 130 questions and having a heat map generated for me (I kid you not, the term was heat map) that showed my best chances were in Eastern Europe and oddly enough, the US - LOL - never dated anyone Eastern European. Guess I'd better tone down the German and brush up my French, can't do the Slavic languages so I wouldn't even try. Then I decided not to go for a cruise though invited. Sorry, we all know what a cruise entails both for couples and singles and I'd rather not piss people off on a floating island so to speak. And also in the course of the week got amused by a Facebook "friend's" attempt to make me a female submissive - apparently, no one knows me well enough to know I don't have the right DNA to be submissive. Sighs, guess that puts paid to the possibility of me being some Anastasia huh? Hurhurhur. Darn and I had my Christian too.

 And just in case anyone was wondering, here's my heat map for the US - go figure!


So I'm thanking all friends who have made efforts to help me find love in its myriad forms. But frankly, I'm not sure I'm ready to indulge. While I'd prefer not to step into my next decade alone, I'd rather not do something stupid. Plus, I promise, if I win the big lottery, I'll quit my job, return to the UK, finish my grand tour and have my year of romance complete with life plan. Guess I better start buying the lottery tickets huh?


Things are also a lot less hairy since my ex returned my funds to, guess the message finally got through to him after 3 years that there's no way back. Still, we've been friends for almost 20 years so it isn't ever going to be easy. Note to self: do not ever share investments with your fiance, especially if he earns more than 10x what you earn and therefore owns a lion share of your investments, thereby giving him the power to claim that he can't pull the investment yet...over 3 years! Well, you live and you learn I guess :p

Thursday 3 December 2015

Taking A Breath

It's been a crazy few weeks and I'm stopping to take stock of everything that's happening.

On the writing side of things, I'm gonna have to ask for some patience as there's a line of stuff to be done and it'll be some time before normal programming returns LOL! I'll still post, just less frequently so keep checking my other blog and outofshadows on Literotica!


On the personal side, think my ex has finally gotten the message after 3 years and I'm getting the last of my part of the investments back. And I just heard from someone I haven't talked to in 5 years and had an invite along the lines of "let's go out hunting since we're irresistible - at least according to our horoscope" So I'm having heels and skirts at the top of my shopping list though I'm still unsure if I wanna go hunting with Ms Self-Destructive. I still remember her as I dragged her into rehab 5 years ago and I remember thinking I was closing an important chapter in our friendship 5 years ago. And though hunting alone sounds daunting, it's gotta be better than getting hit on in real life by a very weird bunch as I'm already hit on in cyber space by nutters such as the one below:



Bear in mind, that was the first conversation I had with the guy and nope, I didn't say anything that could have made him think whatever he thought. My friends saw my replies and laughed loudly asking why I was unfailingly polite with these weirdos. As I've said, I attract the nutters. Had another message from a different person just this evening -sighz, why can't I just attract the nice ones?!