tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54570141258323121062024-03-05T10:26:41.490+00:00A Scatter of ThoughtsThoughts on everything from foundation to feminismAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-17610181954310015932016-08-20T17:39:00.001+01:002016-08-20T17:39:28.600+01:00I've Moved!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">I've moved!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You can now find me:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.wordpress.com/">http://ascatterofthoughts.wordpress.com</a></span></div>
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& in London!</div>
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<br />Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-1300340177079112092016-07-10T09:00:00.000+01:002016-07-10T09:00:00.394+01:00The Holiday Diaries: Moraira, Spain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This past week since I came back from holiday has been <i>long</i> and looking at these photos has me itching to jump on the next plane to Alicante and go back to the warm and chilled shores of Moraira.</div>
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Moraira is a marina town on the Costa Blanca, about 45 minutes away from Alicante. Despite its closeness to the fairly built-up tourist spots of Benidorm and Calpe, it's incredibly unspoilt and a really peaceful place to spend a week away from the turmoil that was the week of Brexit in the UK. It's a place my family and I have visited fairly regularly since I was about 8, so it feels like a really true home away from home for us.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our 'home from home', the villa we stayed in; the view down to El Portet; coffee at El Cafeti de la Mar; fountains in Moraira</span></div>
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<b>What We Did</b></div>
When we weren't just chilling out by the pool, we headed to...<br />
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<b>Moraira Beach: </b>A really sandy, quite popular beach. You can hire sun loungers & umbrellas if you don't fancy dragging your own down to the beach with you; if you like water activities you can do anything from hiring a pedalo to playing on the weird inflatable activity thing. There's also a nice cafe on the beach itself, which sells my <i>fave</i> frozen lemon drinks which I'm kind of addicted to.<br />
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<b>El Portet Beach: </b>My personal favourite. Not as big as Moraira, but the sea is almost still. You have to walk for ages before it gets deep enough to swim in, and you can spot fish and all sorts in the sea too. It's served by two cafes, the one further down is the better one if you fancy a quick toastie or sandwich and drink whilst you're there (they've also got a lovely cat). </div>
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<b>Altea: </b>On a day that was supposed to be overcast and then turned out to be pretty scorchio, we visited the nearby town of Altea. It has a really beautiful old church at the centre of its raised old town and a really nice seafront packed with bars and restaurants. It's also got great shopping and markets (where you can get 10 churros for about 2euros).</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The view down to El Portet beach; the view across to Calpe from El Portet; Moriara beach; that lemon drink <3</i></span></div>
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<b>Where We Ate/Drank</b></div>
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<b>Del Pescador, Calle Mar 33: </b>This place has bizarrely sniffy reviews on TripAdvisor which I find totally confusing. We liked it here so much we went twice (and we've been loads before). A really traditional Spanish restaurant, we first had the Menu of the Day (which was amazing value) and second time around we had a paella. The service has never not been great when we've been; a lot of the reviews seem to suggest that the staff don't understand English which is just plain wrong (though it obviously helps if you can at least speak a touch of Spanish) I really recommend it for actual authentic food.</div>
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<b>Pulcinella, Avda de la Paz 14: </b>It feels a bit weird to be including an Italian restaurant on a list of restaurants in Spain but this is so. good. Amazingly fresh pasta, pizzas that look great and some amazing anti-pasti (the beef tartare with tuna is incredible). Plus their deserts are great, as is the service.</div>
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<b>Vista Ifach, Castillo 11: </b>This is a long-time family favourite. A traditionally Spanish restuarant (though it's diversifying into pizza & pasta now) with really great sea-food. Plus it has the best pan y aioli anywhere.</div>
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<b>Gelateria Venezia, Calle de Mar: </b>Another place we've been going forever. Amazingly tasty and good value ice-cream in a million different flavours or sundaes. The coffee is good if you are wrong and don't enjoy ice-cream.</div>
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<b>Xambel Bar, Calle Castillo 16: </b>This is a great place for a pre-dinner drink where you can watch the world go by. They also do great tapas if you fancy that.</div>
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<b>El Cafeti de la Mar, Calle Castillo 30: </b>We popped into this cafe for a breakfast treat on our first day. You can't go wrong with a toasted croissant or sandwich AND the coffee here comes complete with a shot of Advocaat and cream. At 11am. Wonderful.</div>
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<b>Fishy Fishy, Kristalmar 30F: </b>I do feel a tiny bit bad for including a Fish & Chips restaurant, but this was pretty much better than a lot of chippies back home. I had a Thai-style fishcake which was delicious and super fresh too. The portions are quite generous as a warning.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Altea church; me on our last night rocking some freckles; Vista Ifach dinner; Geleteria Venetia ice-cream</i></span></div>
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If someone could throw me a couple hundred Euros so I can head back I would be there again in a heartbeat.</div>
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Amy<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Extra Notes</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We flew from East Midlands Airport to Alicante, with Ryanair and returned with Jet2. Most British airports fly into Alicante which is about a 45 minute drive. Valencia is another option but a tad further away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We hired a care from Goldcar (Moraira isn't brilliantly served by public transport), which was great aside from the two back passenger seats mysteriously missing seatbelts (?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our villa is owned by a couple who are selling up this year (sobsobsob), you can find plenty in the area and there are a couple of hotels in Moraira town itself too.</span></div>
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<br />Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-12409284814038203862016-07-06T09:00:00.000+01:002016-07-19T16:10:54.403+01:00A Month in Books: June<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Having spent many months moaning about feeling pretty underwhelmed by my reading experiences; this month, perhaps aided by the fact that I was on holiday and just wanting to avoid the disaster of the ~real world~ I am finally back on track with my Goodreads goal and really ploughed through the following (and really enjoyed most of them).<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide (trans. Eric Selland, 2014, Picador)</span></b><br />
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<i>The Guest Cat </i>is a
quiet novella which explores the lives of a middle-aged couple living in a
quiet corner of a Japanese town. They live next door to a young family and
their ageing landlords, and one day the family’s cat enters their garden and
soon their home. The presence of the cat brings a new routine to the couple’s
lives, bringing them closer together and closer to their neighbours.</div>
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This isn’t a book in which anything particularly happens. At all. Hiraide’s
descriptions, as translated by Eric Selland, are lovely and the sense of place
throughout the novel was really great. As a cat lover, I did also obviously
like the way in which the relationship between the characters and the cat was
written. However, I wouldn’t say it was anything particularly revelatory and
unless you are a real cat lover (or really enjoy Japanese fiction), I wouldn’t necessarily
rush out and read it.</div>
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<b>David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits & the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell (2011, Penguin)</b></span><br />
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I really enjoy Malcolm Gladwell’s writing, and his new
podcast is just as good. He is great at bringing to life case studies and
teasing out an overall message. If <i>Outliers</i>
(my personal favourite by him) was slightly depressing in its acknowledgement of
how many people succeed due to a very unique set of experiences, then <i>David & Goliath </i>explores how normal,
‘little’ people can really stick up to power.</div>
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Gladwell’s writing is as good as always, but I will admit that <i>David & Goliath </i>hasn’t really stuck
with me as much as his previous works. Without a quick Google, the only studies
that I really remembered were the well-known historical ones (the civil rights
movement in Birmingham, Alabama; the popular movement against the curfew in Northern
Ireland during The Troubles). However, a brief Google did remind of the amazing
story of Emil J. Freireich and his incredible work on attempting to find a cure
for leukaemia, and whether that was linked to childhood trauma. </div>
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I did find the theme links in this work a little less effective as they have
been in previous books, but it’s definitely worth a read if you’re new to
Gladwell or an existing fan.</div>
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<b>My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier (1951, Virago)</b></span><br />
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Daphne du Maurier is one of my all-time favourite writers,
but the last book I read by her (Hungry Hill) was not in any way a favourite of
mine so I was definitely slightly apprehensive going into this. However, I needn’t
have worried as <i>My Cousin Rachel</i> is
really good. </div>
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Philip has lived in rural Cornwall with his committed bachelor uncle Ambrose
since the death of his parents. One winter, Ambrose travels to Italy for his
health and suddenly appears to fall in love and marries his distant cousin
Rachel. Philip is overcome with jealousy, which is compounded when Ambrose
suddenly dies and Rachel has disappeared. However, when she appears in
Cornwall, all of Philip’s previous ideas of her are thrown upside down.</div>
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The novel is told from Philip’s perspective, who is a tough character to really
like, and who is an incredibly unreliable narrator as he ignores advice from
practically everyone else in his life. </div>
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Du Maurier’s writing is excellent, with the opening sentence just setting the scene
almost as well as the famous one from <i>Rebecca</i>.
Her sense of place is, as always, excellent. Du Maurier is always wonderful at
evoking her beloved Cornwall, but the parts of the novel set in Italy also felt
excellently stifling.</div>
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<i style="font-style: italic;">My Cousin Rachel</i> is almost like a 20<sup>th</sup>
century <i>Gone Girl</i>, where you’re constantly
torn between seeing Rachel as a grief-stricken woman desperate to win over the
beloved relative of her dead husband, or as a manipulative gold-digger who may
well have had a hand in Ambrose’s death. I really recommend this. </div>
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<b>A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (2015, Chatto & Windus)</b></span><br />
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Despite Anne Tyler being quite a prolific author, and this
being one of her last books (apparently), I’d never actually heard of her until
this novel was nominated for the Man Booker last year. <i>A Spool of Blue Thread </i>is the sprawling story of the Whiteshanks
over many different generations (which is basically one of my favourite things
to read).</div>
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It’s summer and Red & Abby Whiteshank, the current patriarch
and matriarch of the family, are aging and their family is trying to get them
to accept more help than they perhaps think they need. This means that their
children; brusque Amanda, often-overlooked Jeanie, prodigal son Stem and somewhat
flaky Denny, all descend on the house and the family’s history is unpicked.</div>
<i style="text-align: justify;">A Spool of Blue Thread
</i><span style="text-align: justify;">is at times moving, at times funny and at certain points pretty shocking.
The overall feel is like a lovely meander through a family history on a hot
summer’s day and if you’re looking for a book to compliment your summer this is
a really great one. I’m definitely going to be checking Anne Tyler’s backlist. </span><br />
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<b>The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild (2015, Bloomsbury)</b></span><br />
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I really, really enjoyed this. <i>The Improbability of Love</i> came to my attention as a fairly
improbable (lol) inclusion on the Bailey’s Prize shortlist. </div>
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The title comes from the name of a painting which is at the centre of the
story, which opens with its auction to a variety of wealthy and ridiculous
people. However, the narrative really kicks off some six months earlier when
the broke and heart-broken Annie finds it in a junk shop as a gift for a
potential love interest. This sends her suddenly into the art world as it
begins to appear that this painting may well have a rich and dark history.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rothschild just brilliantly draws sympathetic, and not so
sympathetic characters, from Annie and her alcoholic mother, to the truly
ridiculous movers and shakers in the art world. The plot also moves really well
between crazy goings-on in London to exploring some of the truly dark periods
of history, and the lengths that people can go to protect themselves. A particularly
great technique that Rothschild uses is having the painting itself narrate
certain passages, giving a really great insight into the historical importance
of art.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>The Improbability of
Love </i>is a really fun read, which has made me want to visit an art gallery
like tomorrow, and I’m so hoping it gets some kind of BBC mini-series adaptation
because the novel is just crying out for it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Sweet Caress by William Boyd (2015, Bloomsbury)</b></span><br />
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I picked up<i> Sweet Caress </i>after running out of things to read on holiday and my Brexit-blues making me not too keen to read Owen Jones'<i> The Establishment. </i>It's the fictional autobiography of Amory Clay, a woman who becomes a photographer against the backdrop of the major events of the 20th century. Her work, and her love affairs, take her through London, Germany & New York in the 1930s & 1940s; Paris in the post-war years, back to England and (in my favourite part of the novel) to Vietnam. </div>
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Boyd is excellent at weaving history into his novels, and I really liked the insights into the seedy world of pre-Nazi Germany, the Blackshirt riots in the UK and as mentioned previously, the madness of the Vietnam War.</div>
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Against this, Amory deals with more 'normal' life events; strife with family and lovers. Whilst I did find her relationships with her parents, uncle and siblings really interesting and nuanced, I never really found myself caring too much about her romantic relationships. This may well be the point, as Amory's life really shines outside of her private world, but as much of the novel is devoted to her feelings towards various men it did detract a tad from this. I did also find a couple of the plot points a tad convenient or unnecessary; but Boyd is a really solid writer and this is a really interesting insight into being a news photographer (and sent me down a wormhole of looking up the photographers mentioned in the novel who are real).</div>
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Amy</div>
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<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4237127-amy">Goodreads</a></div>
<b><br /></b>Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-44901934486041728872016-07-04T09:00:00.000+01:002016-07-04T09:00:09.730+01:00(Belated) Thoughts On: Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shakespeare Triple Bill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple of weeks ago, I made my likely final visit to Birmingham Hippodrome for a while (more on this soon) to see the final show in Birmingham Royal Ballet's season in Brum until October. As part of Shakespeare's 400th year, BRB presented their <i>Shakespeare Triple Bill, </i>made up of <i>Wink, 'he Moor's Pavane </i>and <i>The Shakespeare Suite.</i></div>
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The evening began with a new piece choreographed by Jessica Lang called <i>Wink</i>. This is a dance piece inspired by Shakespeare's many sonnets and set to music by Jakub Ciupinski. Whilst I wasn't entirely sold on the dancers moving the set pieces (designed by Mimi Lien), which felt a tad random, this was an otherwise really great new piece. The sonnets were really sensitively chosen and fitted the score beautifully and Peter Tiegen's lighting really added to the overall impact. The dancing throughout was incredibly strong, and featured some really great male partnering between Brandon Lawrence and Lewis Turner. Lawrence was really the star of this piece, doing some great solo dancing to almost music-less sonnets and is definitely someone to watch.</div>
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The next part of the evening was a mounting of Jose Limon's <i>The Moor's Pavane. </i>This is what really attracted me to the evening as <i>Othello</i> is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays and this piece is based on the central plot of that piece. Stripped back to just four performers, Limon uses the pavane style of dance and ballet style steps to tell the story. All four dancers were great; Tyrone Singleton coolly imposing as The Moor, Delia Mathews seems to just glide across the stage as his wife and then Iain Mackay & Elisha Willis (dancing some of her final performances with the company) as the scheming and more sexual couple really added the edge to the piece. </div>
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The highlight of the evening was David Bintley's <i>Shakespeare Suite</i> based on the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. This presents the numerous dysfunctional relationships that various Shakespearean characters have with each other (or in the case of Hamlet, with himself). Really, the entire company is fantastic in this. Angela Paul and Lachlan Monaghan as the duelling Katherine & Petruchio on their wedding day; the darkly sexy Celine Gittens as Lady Macbeth manipulating Iain Mackay's Macbeth into committing murder and Laura Purkiss and Kit Holder as the drunk/giddy Titiana and Bottom were all just fantastic. As Hamlet, Mathias Dingman bought a really acrobatic swagger to the piece, but literally everyone was brilliant in this at times dark (especially the presentation of Othello) but also laugh-out-loud funny piece.<br />
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My delay in getting this up means that the run at the Hippodrome has ended. However, you can catch Wink & The Moors Pavane alongside Frederick Ashton's adaptation of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> in Salford & Plymouth (info <a href="https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/event/shakespeare-triple-bill-the-dream">here</a>) from September and this Triple Bill again in London from October (info <a href="https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/event/shakespeare-triple-bill">here</a>).<br />
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Thought I'm going to be sad not be a walk away from their home, I'm definitely going to be trying to get to see the new Bintley-choreographed production of <i><a href="https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-tempest">The Tempest,</a> </i>at my new home in London.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-27140279891199303732016-06-19T09:00:00.000+01:002016-06-19T09:00:24.909+01:00Clicklist #17<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This week has been really exhausting and, if you hadn't pick up on it in my last post, I haven't been feeling my most fabulous either.<br />
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However, powering through the 90-odd YouTube videos that I've missed out on is making me feel a bit perkier, so if the past week has you down & the weather's doing a very poor impression of June, then here's a bunch of stuff that should hopefully perk you up a little.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">From the Blogosphere </span></b></div>
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Bryony's guide to spending <a href="http://agirlastyle.com/2016/04/city-guide-36-hours-in-the-netherlands/">36 Hours in the Netherlands</a></div>
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<a href="http://thefinancialdiet.com/9-ways-succeed-youre-introvert-extroverts-job/"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://thefinancialdiet.com/9-ways-succeed-youre-introvert-extroverts-job/">9 Ways to Succeed When You're an Introvert in an Extrovert's Job</a> So. Useful</div>
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Emma Gannon's <a href="http://girllostinthecity.com/2016/05/60-smallish-things-that-make-me-happier/">60 Small(ish) Things That Make Me Happy</a>. Also her awesome <a href="http://girllostinthecity.com/category/podcast/">podcast</a>.</div>
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Ally's <a href="http://www.allyinblunderland.co.uk/2016/05/ideas-on-being-unapologetically.html">Ideas on Being Unapologetically Vulnerable </a></div>
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<a href="http://hannahgale.co.uk/2016/06/13/19-of-the-biggest-shocks-about-being-a-grown-up/">19 of the Biggest Shocks About Growing Up</a>. Hannah's blog is always just so good.</div>
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I really liked <a href="http://cocosteaparty.com/2016/06/laura-robson-interview-my-9-5.html">this interview with British tennis player Laura Robson</a></div>
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Joy on <a href="http://joythebaker.com/2016/06/what-inspires-you-about-your-best-friends/">what inspires her about her best friends</a> just made me feel really warm inside.</div>
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I loved Meg's photos of <a href="http://www.megfee.com/megfee/2016/6/9/barcelona">her trip to Barcelona</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://www.thelondoner.me/2016/06/ferrero-rocher-no-bake-cheesecake.html">Rose's no-bake Ferrero Rocher cheesecake</a> just looks heavenly. </div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;"><br />From Around the Internet</span></b></div>
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If you're not already subscribed to <a href="http://tinyletter.com/thedollymail">Dolly Alderton's newsletter,</a> you really should be</div>
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The same goes for the <a href="http://tinyletter.com/TwoBossyDames">Two Bossy Dames</a> newsletter</div>
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<a href="http://callyourgirlfriend.com/post/146061606814/episode-54-im-every-woman">The latest episode of the Call Your Girlfriend podcast</a> from the United State of Women Summit</div>
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<a href="http://guiltyfeminist.com/12-knowing-your-worth-with-sarah-millican">The Guilty Feminist podcast on Worth</a> with Sarah Millican, I love this. (Also thank you Julia for the reccomendation)</div>
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This Tony Award special Carpool Karaoke, just makes me beam<br /></div>
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See also the opening of the Tony Awards (am a bit gutted that all the other performances seem to have been taken off YouTube though, if you can find <i>The Color Purple</i> that's worth a watch too)<br />
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I feel like I include Jess' vlogs every time YouTube does their standard 'vlogging months' but I do just love her videos.<br /></div>
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I've also been really enjoying Amelia Liana's vlogs this month, her editing is super crisp (and I'd kill for her wardrobe)<br /></div>
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Then, if you like a tongue-in-cheek approach, Adrian Bliss is back, this time he's travelling to Vidcon.<br /></div>
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And that's it! </div>
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Let's all be a little kinder than we have to be over the next week.</div>
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And please, <i>please</i> vote on the 23rd June if you're in the UK.</div>
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Amy<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
<br />Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-1083412152125067392016-06-17T11:28:00.000+01:002016-06-17T11:28:15.145+01:00Hope(less)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back in 2008, like many (many) people I was totally absorbed by the US Presidential election. </div>
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The Democratic candidate spoke about change like it was a thing that could really happen, and seeing stadiums full of people totally absorbed in this idea that there was real hope for the future.</div>
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Some years later, I'm sat with an International Relations & Politics degree in an office of local councillors because it seemed like the way that I could help make a really positive change on people's lives.</div>
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Despite three years of learning about an awful lot of grim politics and international events, I stuck by the idea that fundamentally, people are inherently good. That we can work together we can tackle issues that are far too complex for one person to deal with alone. That the ideologies that drive us apart can be defeated.</div>
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Yet over the past few weeks my faith in people being generally good has been tested.</div>
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When the current Republican candidate for president, who once insisted that the current president must actually be African because he's black, wants to keep people of different races (Mexicans) & religions (Muslims) out of the US. </div>
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And these ideas are not met with condemnation, but stadiums full of cheering people who are filled with hate towards people they barely know.</div>
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When a London Mayoral campaign is run on the idea that all Muslims must vaguely know some kind of extremist.</div>
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When a Mayor of a capital city claims that the President is anti-Brexit because he has natural 'anti-English sentiment' due to his Kenyan heritage.</div>
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When a former Mayor claims that Hitler was a Zionist. </div>
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When a man can shoot dead 49 people because of who they love & despite this loss of life there are politicians in the US who refuse to see the logic in tightening gun laws.</div>
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When a campaign can literally borrow from Nazi propaganda in order to win an election.</div>
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When Jox Cox MP can be shot in the street for doing her job.</div>
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It's really hard to keep believing that there is any light in any of this. I'm tired of politics and I'm tired of a referendum that has done nothing but bring out the complete worst in people. </div>
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I hope that if anything comes from the senseless murder of a politician who seemed to genuinely care about her constituents, the wider community and vulnerable people across the world is that it gives us time to consider where we're headed. And what happens when we allow hate & fear to dominate our discourse, rather than hope & change.</div>
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<b>Far more eloquent people:</b></div>
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<a href="http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/06/a-day-of-infamy/">A Day of Infamy, Alex Massie</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/16/mood-ugly-mp-dead-jo-cox">The Mood is Ugly & An MP is Dead, Polly Toynbee</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/17/jo-cox-was-brave-so-are-most-mps-lets-show-them-more-respect/">Jo Cox was brave. So are most MPs. Let's show them more respect, Michael Deacon</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36549985">A day was always improved if you bumped into Jo Cox, Laura Kuenssberg</a> </div>
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Amy<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
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Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-24866415560341094222016-06-06T09:37:00.000+01:002016-06-06T09:37:07.825+01:00Two Months in Books: April-May<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a bit of a bumper post; whilst I spent a lot of April still struggling through a reading slump, by the end of May I found myself very much back in the reading zone. Whilst I'm still a little bit behind on my reading challenge, I'm very much hoping that June will get me back on track.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (2012, Allison & Busby)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Bitter
Greens </i>starts with the story of Charlotte Rose de la Force, a real woman in
the court of the Sun King at Versailles, who is not a beauty but is known for
being massively witty. An unfortunate circumstance sees her abandoned to a
nunnery where she comes across the story of Margherita, a young girl in a world
that sounds an awful lot like that of Rapunzel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I really <i>loved </i>the
parts of the book that focused on the retelling of Rapunzel, both from the
perspective of Margherita and the witch herself. The world of Renaissance
Venice and Italy came so brilliantly to life in these passages, and the way the
narrative is tweaked is really interesting. The emphasis on staying young and beautiful
and powerful; and the destructive impact of love on some women, was brilliant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I wasn't so into the story of Charlotte Rose, a lot of that
part of the novel felt like a bit of an info-dump. Whilst the stories of the Huguenots
and the poor position of women in French society at the time were really
interesting; Charlotte certainly, I couldn’t help but feel that this could have almost been a
biography by itself as it did just tend to feel like an entirely separate story.</span></div>
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<b>Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (trans. Lucia Graves, 2013, Weidenfeld & Nicolson) </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was really looking forward to reading this, as Zafon is one of my favourite authors and I thought this could be the book to break me out of my reading slump. However, I think it just made me very aware that me and Zafon's young adult novels just do not get on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The novel is set in post-war Barcelona, where one day 15-year-old Oscar stumbles upon a stunning house and meets Marina, who lives there with her reclusive father. They witness an intriguing ritual together, which leads them to discovering a dark mystery from years before.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I felt like the tone of <i>Marina </i>was a tad all over the place; the main mystery plot was really dark and felt like something that could be found in his adult novels but as it was told from Oscar's perspective there was a weird humour there that frequently felt out of place. Also similarly to his previous young adult works, I had real problems around how Marina's entire existence was just to look sexually appealing to Oscar (he is literally described as liking his lips over her). I'm hoping that I'll get on better with his next adult novel.</span><br />
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<b>Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis (2014, Penguin)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I picked up <i>Flash Boys </i>ages ago, I think from Smiths when I was looking for another book for a deal and it sounded vaguely interesting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a look at the increasing popularity of something called high-frequency trading within investment banks, where banks essentially make a bunch of money at the expense of the actual investors who trust them to make the right decisions for them. It follows a bit of an eccentric mix of Wall Street staff, led by Brad Katsuyama who decide to set up a morally fair stock exchange.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Michael Lewis' writing style is really engaging, even when the topic isn't necessarily action-packed and the 'characters' if you can call real people that were completely fascinating. From Brad, who fell into Wall Street with Royal Bank of Canada and hated the attitude found on trading floors elsewhere; to one of his colleague's who considers it something of a weakness that he was emotionally impacted by 9/11.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The only downside for me was that I felt that Lewis expected a level of understanding of the financial system that I just didn't have, which meant that there were numerous mentions of jargon that I just didn't understand, and there were minimal notes. This is a shame, because I think with that additional layer of understanding I would have gotten a lot more out of this.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><b>The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003, Bloomsbury)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I think I've come to </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The Kite Runner</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"> in a bit of a roundabout way compared to most readers, in that this is the last of Hosseini's novels that I've got to read; despite its massive success.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The novel is the story of Amir, who as a 12-year-old witnesses a horrific attack on his best friend Hassan; an event which tears the two apart and sends ripples down the years of Amir's life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">As with all of Hosseini's novels, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The Kite Runner</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"> is great at shedding light on historical events in Afghanistan; I was particularly interested in the parts of the novel about the Hazara people. Amir and his father's flight from Afghanistan was also a really interesting, if pretty horrendous, read-especially in light of the ongoing refugee crisis.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">However, I was a bit disappointed with some aspects of the novel. I missed the multi perspectives that Hosseini frequently uses, and I felt that the characters just weren't as developed and interesting as the characters in his more recent works (especially </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16115612.And_the_Mountains_Echoed" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" title="And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini">And the Mountains Echoed</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">). It felt like a lot of Amir's problems just sort of fell into that ~son seeking father's approval~ trope, which is one that I am just a little tired of. I also found that some of the plot 'twists' could be seen a mile off </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"> which was a shame.</span><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: purple;"><b>The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (2014, Hodder & Stoughton) </b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I was a little dubious of </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"> at first, because the type of sci fi I enjoy tends to fall into 'speculative' or 'dystopian' brackets, not spaceships and aliens. However, after loads of hype online, a couple of award nominations and being stuck in a reading slump-I figured that this would be a good book to pick up.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The novel follows the crew of the spaceship Wayfarer, who are a tunnelling ship, meaning they punch holes in the galaxy to travel through. The novel's action really kicks off with them being given the mission to travel to a planet which the galaxy has an uneasy alliance with in a galactic war. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Chambers divides her attention between all the members of the crew. From Ashby, the captain who loves his crew; to Corbin, in charge of the fuel and who definitely doesn't seem that friendly and Rosemary, a new arrival as a ship's clerk who appears to be running away from a mysterious past. This means every member of the crew is fascinatingly drawn and feels very real; even if they have scales.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I am just seriously in awe of the sheer imagination that must be contained within Chambers' mind. There are numerous different species and planets that the characters visit, all of whom have their own characteristics, specialisms and ways of life. As a bit of a 'hard' sci fi newb I did occasionally find it difficult to remember which species was which, but I can't help but just be dazzled by the amount of thought that must have gone into this. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The plot was a fairly typical action-adventure, which would make a hugely entertaining film, but it kept me reading and definitely bust me out of the reading slump that I'd been languishing in.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b>Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (2013, Doubleday)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">This book is just a whole load of fun. Nick decides to take his new girlfriend Rachel to his best friend from his childhood's wedding in Singapore; but what Rachel doesn't know is that this is The wedding of Chinese society, and Nick actually comes from the Young family, a hugely famous and admired dynasty ruled over by Eleanor, a pretty terrifying matriarch.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Think </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Gossip Girl</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"> but set in China; super over-the-top and trashy, but a lot of fun.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b>Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik (2015, Twenty7)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I really surprised myself by how much I really enjoyed this book. The novel opens with Sofia being newly single after breaking of an engagement with a man who wanted to live in a house with a 'hole in the wall' into his parents home. Whilst working in book marketing, she finds herself accidentally pitching and writing a book on Muslim dating; forcing her to through herself into the world of online dating. All this is happening against the backdrop of her nosy family, younger sister getting married and her friends also all struggling with their own romantic entanglements.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">This has been described as a Muslim </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">Bridget Jones's Diary</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"> which is pretty accurate. Sofia is funny and doesn't always make the best decisions but you do ultimately root for her to succeed. Indeed, all the characters are really well drawn; Sofia's main love interests are all pretty unique, as are her friends and family. None of the characters felt like cardboard cutouts, which is really refreshing in this genre.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">The element of this novel which obviously gains attention is the fact the majority of the characters are Muslim. What I really liked about this is that whilst their faith is really important to them, Malik doesn't treat the book like a lesson in Islam. Where she does touch on the issues facing Muslims in our society she does it either through humour (Sofia's response to being called a terrorist on the tube) or in a gently touching way (there's a moment outside a gay nightclub which made me a tiny bit emotional).</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;">I stormed through this book in about one sitting on the train; and I'm very excited to see that Malik is working on sequels.</span><b><br /></b></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4237127-amy">Goodreads</a></span></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-83978358372250455442016-06-02T17:05:00.002+01:002016-06-02T17:05:57.335+01:00My Absence in Photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1pBpxA1CRE-0Eg18h7DdEmjv4njWbpzdxDxFqvmvPgmByJODYLt8xq_xMNgibuvrGGaivUzy67GsINOC4RPM_wrlBfPYWXTr727G9f0bSwgyRzXSzVoDxImM8FPV2ObcVOqyja-xbyU/s1600/April1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1pBpxA1CRE-0Eg18h7DdEmjv4njWbpzdxDxFqvmvPgmByJODYLt8xq_xMNgibuvrGGaivUzy67GsINOC4RPM_wrlBfPYWXTr727G9f0bSwgyRzXSzVoDxImM8FPV2ObcVOqyja-xbyU/s640/April1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Spring Starbucks cups. Spring blooms. Heatwave lunchtimes in the fountains at Millennium Point. Returning to uni with work.<br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">2 for 1 cocktails at Gas Street Social. Churros at Cau. Breakfast at Tiffany's. Hotel du Vin Sunday lunch.<br /></span></i></div>
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<i style="font-size: small;">Tiny profiteroles at Hotel du Vin. Camden Lock market. Cocktails in teacups at Simmons Bar Soho. First time Chipotle.<br /></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Wall art and amazing (and massively filling) pancakes at Blighty Coffee in Finsbury Park.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Being dragged to a James concert with my parents & discovering Jack Savoretti. The Palace of Westminster from the River Thames for my brother 21st. Cocktails at Cau.</i></span></div>
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It feels like forever since I've written anything here, so apologies. Sometimes life is just too busy to even stop and reflect on what is going on. I can't quite believe we're in June already (six months into 2016 already-what is happening?) and the next weeks could bring some pretty exciting/scary news so maybe cross your fingers for me.</div>
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Amy</div>
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<a href="http://twitter.com/amyvictorialong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-60806309988888276392016-04-28T09:00:00.000+01:002016-04-28T09:00:12.584+01:00Why You Should Vote in the Local Elections <div class="MsoNormal">
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If you’ve
picked up a paper or watched the news or just spent some time on social media
you’ll be very aware that this year is an election year. </div>
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Whilst much of the
coverage has focused on either the US Primaries, the London mayoral election or
the EU referendum; May 5<sup>th</sup> is the day of local elections across the
country. Here’s a few reasons why voting on the 5<sup>th</sup> is a good idea:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /><span style="color: purple;">Councils are more
than bins & potholes</span><br />
</b>I promise! Councils look after a lot more than you might expect; this
includes care services for the elderly, services that people struggling with
addiction, sexual health services, how where you live approaches environmental
issues, libraries…the list goes on. If you have <i>any </i>opinions about any of those
things, you should vote on May 5<sup>th</sup><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /><span style="color: purple;">Councils are going to
get more power</span><br />
</b>The government is really keen on devolution, or giving local areas the
chance to design their own solutions to problems. This means it’s super
important that you get your voice heard so that your local council looks the
way you want it to.<br />
<span style="color: purple;"><br /><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Local elections are
used to measure how well the government is doing</span><br />
</b>Local elections are generally used as a yard stick to see how well people
think the government and opposition parties are doing in terms of selling their
policies to the general public. Therefore if you have a message that you want
to send the main political parties, this is a great way to do it.<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /><span style="color: purple;">Councillors are a lot
more hands-on than MPs</span><br />
</b>Generally speaking, local councillors have a lot more contact with their
constituents than MPs as they don’t have to spend lots of time in London. This
means it’s a lot easier to raise issues with them, and your answers will be
tailored to your local area, as opposed to national policies.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Voting <i>is</i> just important</span> </b><br />
Every election cycle there is normally some high-profile person that feels
the need to bang the drum about how the entire political system is flawed and
that people just shouldn’t vote (looking at you Russell Brand). But by not
voting you send a signal to your politicians that you don’t care and therefore
they shouldn’t attempt to design policy with you in mind. By turning up to vote, even if you spoil your ballot, you're showing that you are here and care and want your voice to be heard.</div>
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I was totally supposed to publish this post before the registration deadline (#deadlaptopproblems) so hopefully you're all registered, if not you can still register for the EU referendum <a href="https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote">here</a>. You can check your local council's website to find out about local councillors in your area. </div>
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Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-16912886500057138812016-04-25T19:15:00.002+01:002016-04-25T19:15:27.560+01:00Thoughts On: Breakfast at Tiffany's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvz4BY6IZPS2Qg54pYfcPQY_bv5GDrTyXIsV9C9xbhQV6GNKmgiJCg4DEqC25Bqdon2eCJYTu-_DOY3DK43MCZBL-4X3cpfXf-sP3zpSZm144W5FC-BA7GoNpeerHBZcrTWq-C5dDKVBg/s1600/pixie+lott+breakfast+at+tiffanys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvz4BY6IZPS2Qg54pYfcPQY_bv5GDrTyXIsV9C9xbhQV6GNKmgiJCg4DEqC25Bqdon2eCJYTu-_DOY3DK43MCZBL-4X3cpfXf-sP3zpSZm144W5FC-BA7GoNpeerHBZcrTWq-C5dDKVBg/s640/pixie+lott+breakfast+at+tiffanys.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<i>Breakfast at Tiffany's </i>is one of my all-time favourite films. It's just one of those films that is just such a relaxing, easy, aesthetically-pleasing watch and obviously iconically stars Audery Hepburn; who is one of my absolute favourites. So getting tickets to see the play adaptation starring Pixie Lott for Christmas had me fairly excited.<br />
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Richard Greenberg's adaptation follows more from the Truman Capote novella rather than the film, meaning that the ending and certain other plot points vary quite dramatically from the much-loved film. For those who have no idea what the story is, the play follows Fred (Matt Barber), an aspiring writer who moves to New York and ends up residing in the same apartment block as the mysterious and charming Holly Golightly (Pixie Lott) and becomes entirely enraptured with her life.<br />
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Holly is at once charming and manipulative, funny and cruel and Lott handles all aspects of her character wonderfully; especially considering this is her stage acting debut. You also get to hear snippets of her lovely singing voice, although the songs included in the play are kept pretty short.<br />
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I didn't love how heavily Greenberg learned on narration as a device (it really slowed the pace down) but Barber's ability to monologue was pretty amazing. There were also scene stealing appearances from Naomi Cranston as Holly's frenemy Mag and Bob the Cat (seriously adorable). Nikolai Foster's direction also requires a lot of doubling by the ensemble, and there was a particularly impressive turn by Tim Frances as Holly's rich intended Rusty Trawler and an Editor that Fred desperately wants to impress.<br />
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It's a really just nice, light night out at the theatre and Matthew Wright's costume designs are lovely too. Just, like the film, it's nothing especially ground-breaking.<br />
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Amy<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Breakfast at Tiffany's is </i>on tour across the country starring Pixie Lott, Emily Atack or Georgia May Foote until November; and on in London starring Lott from June. Details <a href="http://breakfastattiffanys.co.uk/">here</a>.</span><br />
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<br />Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-69494880397264840552016-04-14T13:08:00.000+01:002016-04-14T13:08:47.108+01:00Clicklist #16<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some more things that I've read recently that I enjoy. Perhaps save these until the weekend if, like me, you're looking at a forecast of SNOW on Saturday.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">From the Blogosphere</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.vixmeldrew.com/vixmeldrew/2016/3/16/10-things-the-one-wouldnt-do">10 Things The One Wouldn't Do</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.thelondoner.me/2016/03/nutella-martinis.html">Rose's Nutella Martinis</a>. Nutella. Martinis.</div>
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Amy's style is constantly en pointe, here's <a href="http://www.thelittlemagpie.com/2016/03/the-maldives-week-in-outfits.html">her week in outfits from her holiday in the Maldives</a> which is definitely on my list of places to visit. Also I'd like summer to hurry up and get here.</div>
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<a href="http://cocosteaparty.com/2016/04/my-9-to-5-izzy-dabiri.html"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://cocosteaparty.com/2016/04/my-9-to-5-izzy-dabiri.html">I really liked this insight into the life of a costume apprentice at the Royal Opera House.</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.teawashere.com/3249/london-alternacheap-the-path-less-costly/"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.teawashere.com/3249/london-alternacheap-the-path-less-costly/">How to visit London and not spend tons of money.</a></div>
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<a href="http://thefinancialdiet.com/1225-how-to-start-your-post-grad-life-when-it-feels-like-youre-already-behind/">How to start your post-grad life when you already feel behind</a>. This is the article I wish I'd had when I first graduated.</div>
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Smitten Kitchen's <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2016/03/eggs-in-purgatory-puttanesca-style/#more-17576">Eggs in Purgatory</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://joythebaker.com/2016/04/carrot-cake-cinnamon-rolls/">Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls.</a></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Around the Internet</span></b></div>
<i>"To engender empathy and create a world using only words is the closet thing we have to magic"</i><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/books/review/lin-manuel-miranda-by-the-book.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0">Lin-Manuel Miranda's By the Book profile is wonderful.</a> My version is a lot less eloquent.<br />
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The Panama Papers is one of the biggest international news stories of the week and is totally fascinating. <a href="https://panamapapers.icij.org/">The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists coverage</a> is really interactive and a very interesting insight into the lives of the crazy rich and powerful.<br />
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<a href="http://the-toast.net/2016/04/05/women-leaving-art/">Women Slipping Out of Embraces in Western Art History</a><br />
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I found <a href="http://www.theestablishment.co/2016/04/06/we-always-knew-you-werent-plus-size-amy-schumer-but-did-you/">this response</a> to Amy Schumer calling out <i>Glamour </i>magazine for calling her plus-sized an interesting perspective.<br />
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<a href="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/making-food-feel-safe-again-with-an-eating-disorder-cookbook">An eating disorder recovery cookbook </a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/30/ugg-the-look-that-refused-to-die"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/30/ugg-the-look-that-refused-to-die">This really cool long-read on Uggs, and how they refuse to die</a> (My Ugg slippers are the best things I've ever owned. They're hot water bottles for your feet <3)<br />
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Tavi Gevinson and my boyf Ben Whishaw are co-starring in the Broadway production of <i>The Crucible, </i>and <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/tavi-gevinson-ben-whishaw/">you can hear Tavi interview Ben here.</a><br />
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Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/amyvictorialong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-12598985985506671762016-04-09T09:44:00.000+01:002016-04-09T09:44:02.491+01:00On My Mind: The Grand Budapest Hotel<div style="text-align: center;">
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I know I'm so behind the times but <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel </i>is now on UK Netflix and I watched and fell in love.</div>
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The visually fun scenes and costumes.</div>
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The slightly bonkers story.</div>
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I just sat there for the film's entire running time with a massive smile on my face and wondering why it took me quite so long to get on board with Wes Anderson.</div>
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Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong%60">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-64940101870778354512016-04-07T10:12:00.000+01:002016-04-09T18:49:43.673+01:00Top 5: More Podcasts To Listen To<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/podcast-recommendations.html"><br /></a></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/podcast-recommendations.html" style="font-family: inherit;">I've done a podcast recommendation post before,</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> but I listen to so many, and their popularity just seems to keep increasing; so I figured it was a good time to chat about some more of my favourites.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://callyourgirlfriend.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Call Your Girlfriend</span></a></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">If you're female and on the internet you've probably already heard of CYG; but if you haven't its essentially a chat between best friends Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow. They chat about everything from the Kardashians and US politics to periods; and are pretty amazing career ladies in their own right (Ann's newsletter is really worth subscribing too </span><a href="http://www.annfriedman.com/weekly/" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">here</a><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">). They also interview awesome ladies like Tavi Gevinson, Melinda Gates and Hillary Clinton's campaign head Huma Abedin. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/podcast"><span style="color: purple;">The New Statesman Podcast</span></a></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><i>The New Statesman </i>is one of my favourite places for political journalism; it tends to be left-leaning but covers both national and international issues with opinion pieces across the political spectrum. The podcast is led by Helen Lewis, Stephen Bush and George Eaton, and they discuss current goings-on in UK politics and beyond. It's a really great way of staying updated with current affairs and getting a bit of interesting analysis on them too.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://newstatesman.com/srsly">SRSLY</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also produced by <i>The New Statesman,</i> this is a show fronted by Caroline Crampton and Anna Leszkiewicz that focuses on all things pop culture. From television shows to music and books, Caroline and Anna just discuss current popular items and the things that they enjoy without any kind of guilt. </span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://buzzfeed.com/anotherround"><span style="color: purple;">Another Round</span></a></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">Another Round is a Buzzfeed-produced podcast presented by Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu. They discuss a range of issues around race (which is really insightful for someone who has not experienced any kind of race stereotypes), and also interview a range of really interesting people including Hamilton composer, star & the internet's current crush Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Bahraini human rights campaigner Maryam Al-Khawaja and current Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. Despite the depth of the issues covered, this is also laugh out loud funny.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://thewestwingweekly.com/">The West Wing Weekly</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a new podcast, but I'm including it because it just makes me so happy. I love </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">The West Wing </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">for all its flaws; it's such an engaging and smart show and I wish that politics was half as optimistic as the way its portrayed by Sorkin. This new podcast is basically a commentary on each episode of the show and is presented by journalist/megafan Hrishikesh Hirway and Joshua Malina, who starred on the show. I just love an excuse to revisit my love for this show; and I'm just hoping that UK Netflix will start streaming it again soon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amy<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Apologies for the formatting nightmare on this post, who knows what Blogger is up to at the minute!</i></span></div>
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Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-49320717004086300212016-04-05T08:30:00.000+01:002016-04-07T09:28:02.752+01:00The New York Times By the Book Tag<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
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This tag has been circulating on the BookTube having been started by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRpxSlKNndo">Marie Berg</a> and the questions were just pretty interesting, and I hunted down the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/column/by-the-book">New York Times columns</a> which were really interesting so I figured I'd share my answers here.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">1) What book is on your
nightstand right now?</span><br />
</b>At the minute, I have <i>Why Nations Fail</i> by James Robinson &
Daron Acemoglu which I’m currently on pause in my reading as whilst the
contents are really interesting, the writing is a tad unengaging and I'm finding that I need to be reading something engaging after work. Then there's <i>Bitter Greens </i>by Kate Forsyth which is kind of a retelling of the Rapunzel story, so far it's okay; still mostly scene setting. Then I've also got a couple of magazines, <i>Glamour </i>as its one of the only 'women's magazine's' that I can read without feeling rubbish and then <i>The New Statesman.</i><br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">2) What was the last truly
great book that you read?</span><br />
</b>‘Great’ is such a massive
word! I would say that the last ‘five star’ book I read was <i>So You’ve Been Publically Shamed </i>by Jon
Ronson which I thought was just brilliant, and prior to that was probably <i>Animal Farm</i> by George Orwell which is
such a skilled satire. Or maybe even <i>Quiet
</i>by Susan Cain which was so important in terms of helping me feel good about
my personality but is maybe not the best-written book? Who knows-all three are
definitely worth a read!<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">3) If you could meet any
author, dead or alive, who would it be? And what would you want to know?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Argh I don’t know, I tend to avoid meeting
authors because I literally don’t know what I would say to them. I’d love to
just get all the biting gossip on the Bloomsbury set from Virginia Woolf or
talk to Daphne du Maurier about Cornwall or even just meet Harper Lee to find
out what was going on about the <i>Go Set a
Watchman </i>drama.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">4) What books might we be
surprised to find on your shelves?</span><br />
</b>Whilst this might not be
such a surprise now, I have a lot of musical theatre related books floating
around. Including both of Stephen Sondheim’s lyric collections/memoirs and a
Broadway yearbook. It’s a real love.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">5) How do you organise your
personal library?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I don’t! Sorry internet.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">6) What book have you always meant to
read but haven't? Anything you feel embarrassed to have never read?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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There are a lot of books languishing on my
TBR shelf, some of which I’ve literally had for about five years which I’m
definitely embarrassed not to have read them.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">7) Disappointing, overrated & just
not good: what book did you feel like you were supposed to like but didn't? Do
you remember the last book you put down without finishing?</span><br />
</b>I’d say the last book I was really disappointed not to like was probably <i>The Book of Strange New Things </i>by Michel
Faber, because I so wanted to like it. Aside from <i>Why Nations Fail</i>, the last book I gave up on was <i>Nobody Belongs Here More Than You </i>by
Miranda July, which was just a little too quirky for me.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">8) What kinds of stories are
you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?</span><br />
</b>I read all sorts of
things, anything that just has an interesting premise really sucks me in. I do
like multiple narratives and a sprawling time period. And stories with a bit of
a gothic vibe. <br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">9) If you could require the
president/prime minister to read one book, what would it be?</span>
</b>I don’t feel like I’ve
read enough important, message books that I feel like political leaders could
really learn from, but perhaps <i>We Should
All Be Feminists </i>by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie because I am tired of male
politicians just not getting it at all.<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">10) What do you plan to read
next?</span><br />
</b>I think <i>Marina </i>by Carlos
Ruiz Zafon is up next, he’s a favourite author of mine so I’m excited.<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4237127-amy">Goodreads</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-46345630581553313662016-04-03T14:05:00.001+01:002016-04-03T14:05:59.991+01:00Top 5: Musicals I MissedI recently discovered that on the Spotify app you can get yourself a one week free trial of Premium, without having to input any card details, which is the best kind of free trial. Whilst I have been using some of it to catch up on the ~current chart trends~, during the <i>Hamilton </i>hype I realised that I've gotten woefully behind the times on an art form that I normally was very on-top of.<br />
Here's a selection of cast recordings that I recommend you check out; they're all on Spotify or iTunes.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Evita (2012 Broadway Revival)</span></b><br />
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<b><br />Music & Lyrics: </b>Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice<br />
<b>Starring: </b>Elena Roger, Ricky Martin, Michael Cerveris, Max von Essen & Rachel Potter<br />
<i>Evita </i>is one of my favourite musicals, so really this is a bit of a cheat entry. I've loved the show for ages, since watching the Madonna/Antonio Banderas film version. It's the story of Eva Peron, who rose from being a nobody to being the wife of Juan Peron, who was the 'President' (in as much as you can be in a <i>pretty</i> authoritarian regime) of Argentina, and who died relatively young (not a spoiler as the show opens with her funeral).<br />
This cast recording does have a special place in my heart as Elena Roger starred in the stage version of the show which I saw for my 13th birthday back in 2006. This is a really full recording of the show, and whilst Roger's vocals are maybe an acquired taste (she's actually Argentinian which does add an air of authenticity); Lloyd Webber & Rice are both on such great form in this show with really great Latin-inflected songs and some incredibly biting lyrics. Michael Cerveris is really good as Peron (especially in Dice are Rolling) and Ricky Martin (yes, that Ricky Martin) is actually surprisingly good too.<br />
<b>Must Listen Tracks: </b>THE WHOLE SCORE (and then watch the Madonna/Antonio Banderas/Jonathan Pryce film and join me in hoping for a revival because it's been TEN YEARS GUYS PLEASE). "Oh What a Circus" for scene setting, "The Money Kept Rolling Out (And In)"/"The Art of the Possible" for the political angle, "You Must Love Me" for just being a really beautiful song<br />
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<b>Hands on a Hardbody (2013 Broadway Production)</b></span><br />
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<b><br />Music & Lyrics: </b>Trey Anastasio & Amanda Green<br />
<b>Starring: </b>Hunter Foster, Dale Soules, William Youmans, Jacob Ming-Trent, Keith Carradine, Mary Gordan Murray, Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, Jim Newman, Allison Case, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Keala Settle, David Larsen, Scott Wakefield, Connie Ray & Jon Rua<br />
<i>Hands on a Hardbody </i>was a pretty definitive flop when it opened on Broadway, running for just 28 performances. However, Anastasio & Green's country-infused score is really good, so I'm not entirely sure why this couldn't find an audience. It's based on a documentary that tells the real story of poor people in Texas who compete to win a truck by literally having to stand outside with their hand on it, and the last person standing wins. It's definitely one of those way too strange to be made-up premises!<br />
All the cast get their own moments to really shine vocally, and it's just something a little different (also for<i> Hamilton</i> fans, Jon Rua aka Charles Lee pops up here).<br />
<b>Must Listen Tracks: </b>"My Problem Right There", "Stronger", "Joy of the Lord"<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">American Psycho (Original London Production)</span></b><br />
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<b>Music & Lyrics: </b>Duncan Sheik<br />
<b>Starring: </b>Matt Smith, Susannah Fielding, Jonathan Bailey, Ben Aldridge, Cassandra Compton, Hugh Skinner, Katie Brayben, Charlie Anson & Eugene McCoy<br />
Yes, <i>American Psycho-The Musical</i>. Starring a former Doctor Who. I was definitely sceptical going into this album but was surprised by how much I actually liked it. It's score is very much based in the electronica pop from the 80s, and even features covers of In the Air Tonight and Don't You Want Me. It really hammers home the shallowness of the world that Patrick Bateman and his contemporaries live in. Matt Smith can really sing, and his spoken passages in this just sound so completely devoid of emotion it's definitely a little unsettling; as are some of the lyrics towards the end of the show as Bateman really descends into serial killer madness. <br />
<b>Must Listen Tracks: </b>'You are What You Wear', 'Not a Common Man', 'This is Not an Exit'<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Pippin (2014 Broadway Revival)</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span>Music & Lyrics: </b>Stephen Schwartz<br />
<b>Starring: </b>Matthew James Scott, Patina Miller, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d'Amboise, Rachel Bay Jones & Andrea Martin<br />
Despite loving <i>Wicked</i> and Schwartz's work for Disney, weirdly I'd never really decided to look at his other musical works. I'm not entirely sure what <i>Pippin </i>is actually about-I'm presuming there's a lot more going on off the record-but the songs are great. From the traditional 'I Want' songs (Matthew James Scott really knocking 'Corner of the Sky Out'), to a fab patter-song delivered by Terrence Mann and an ensemble that sounds incredible throughout. In a role traditionally played by a man, Patina Miller sounds great all the way through too. This was a production that was really lauded for its staging so it's great when this can transfer to a recording too.<br />
This is probably more traditional musical sounding than the previous two shows but it's definitely still worth a listen.<br />
<b>Must Listen Tracks: </b>"Corner of the Sky", "Simple Joys", "I Guess I'll Miss the Man"<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Fun Home (2015 Broadway Production)</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span>Music & Lyrics: </b>Lisa Kron & Jeanine Tesori<br />
<b>Starring: </b>Beth Malone, Michael Cerveris, Judy Kuhn, Emily Skeggs, Sydney Lucas, Oscar Williams, Zell Morrow, Roberta Colindrez & Joel Perez<br />
If <i>Hamilton </i>is this year's successful musical about an unlikely topic, <i>Fun Home </i>was last year's. Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel which explores her own coming out against the backdrop of her father's suicide and discovering that he too was gay.<br />
Kron and Tesori were the first female duo to win a Tony Award for Best Score, and emotional heart of this story just punches all the way through the score; if that's emotional highs ('Ring of Keys' or 'Changing My Major) or lows (Judy Kuhn's heartbreaking 'Days and Days' and Michael Cerveris' [again-he's just really good] 'Edges of the World'). It's really worth a listen, and its message of self-acceptance is just really important.<br />
<b>Must Listen Tracks: </b>"Ring of Keys", "Changing My Major", "Telephone Wire"<br />
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I'm definitely just scratching the surface of my musical theatre nerdery here, so there is definitely going to be more posts in this vein soon!</div>
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Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-1407605911972805642016-03-31T12:30:00.000+01:002016-04-01T22:16:59.466+01:00In Review: March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If February was a month full of stuff happening outside of work, March was definitely a month that was pretty heavy in terms of work things, so I will admit to be fairly happy that this March is almost over; basically because (at least for now) April looks a tad bit lighter.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Nepalese dumplings at <a href="http://www.gurkhasquaregrantham.co.uk/pages/about-us/">Gurkha Square</a>; Bread & Butter pudding at The Olive Branch)</span></div>
However, March wasn't all work and no play. At the beginning of the month, on Mother's Day to be precise, I turned 23 (eek). I headed home for the weekend and it was super relaxing. I got to have baths (seriously, I never released how much I missed baths until I lived somewhere without one) and we went to basically my favourite restaurant back home: <a href="http://www.theolivebranchpub.com/">The Olive Branch</a>. It's fairly fancy; but the cocktails are delicious and so is the food. We were also literally there for about three hours, if not longer, at at no point did the staff try and throw us out, so that was lovely.<br />
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As for the rest of the month; I did a training course that literally required me to do homework and exams again which felt completely weird (and I'm experiencing the nerves of waiting for results again which is <b>not fun</b>), and also enjoying the first signs of Spring. Getting to break out my trenchcoat and summery handbag felt great too. I also spent Easter solo, it kind of crept up on me as I was so busy at work but I did appreciate some lovely little gifts from my family-including that Easter Egg from Hotel Chocolat which was filled with more of their chocolates-amazing.<br />
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I'll admit that I have been a tad mopey this month for some reason; I think we can all just get a bit down when the weather has been unremittingly grim for <i>months</i> and we still have the central heating on in March. However, I think the events in Belgium, Turkey, Iraq and I'm sure many other places this month have really put things into perspective.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Birmingham Peace Gardens)</span></div>
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Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
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Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-57427511748188661132016-03-29T15:35:00.001+01:002016-03-30T15:55:27.968+01:00A Month in Books: March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I feel a little like a stuck record saying this, but I'm just feeling pretty slumpy when it comes to reading at the minute. If you can recommend any books that have sucked you in, please let me know in the comments! I really miss being really sucked into the books I'm reading, so please do share anything you've enjoyed reading lately.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">A Sport & A Pastime by James Salter (1967, Picador)</span></b><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">I've heard James Salter completely raved about on </span><a href="http://www.bookriot.com/" style="text-align: justify;">Book Riot,</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> and especially this novel which is widely considered something of a masterpiece. It's the story of a young American Philip Dean and his relationship with a young French woman Anne-Marie; narrated by an unnamed male narrator who is also living in France. </span><br />
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I did just adore the sense of place in this novel, France itself just leaps from the pages and Salter just creates this very <i>real </i>world and the characters that inhabit also feel very vivid too. I just couldn't escape the fact that I just felt like I was missing something; I didn't find it particular new or revelatory and I also wasn't crazy about the way the sex scenes were written (despite numerous reviews calling them 'erotic'...so it might just be me). </div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Forty Acres by Dwayne Alexander Smith (2014, Faber & Faber)</span></b><br />
This thriller has one of the most interesting premises that I've really heard of. Martin Gray is a young civil rights lawyer, who beats the high-profile and hugely famous Damon Darrell in a case and is invited by the latter into his inner circle of powerful black men. Taken away on a weekend with them without wives or communication, Martin discovers that they share the desire to reinstate slavery-with white people performing the tasks their ancestors had to as a kind of retribution.<br />
This is a really fascinating premise, and the sections of the book that deal with black American history and the real anger present in the characters were great. However, a lot of the characters weren't particularly nuanced and the writing wasn't...<i>great</i>, the flaws of having read thrillers by people like Gillian Flynn, means that perhaps my expectations in that respect are a bit high. However, Smith is a screenwriter by trade and I could definitely see <i>Forty Acres</i> making a very successful transfer to the screen.<br />
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<b style="background-color: purple;"><span style="background-color: white; color: purple;">Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran (2016, Ebury)</span></b></span><br />
Caitlin is one of my all-time favourite writers, I don't necessarily always agree with her, but I think she's a fabulous person to have writing right now. <i>Moranifesto </i>is a collection of her columns from <i>The Times</i> and new writing under the umbrella of fighting for some kind of political change. She's frequently laugh-out-loud funny, but this collection is also really touching; her writing about the welfare state is massively important, as is her talking about abortion, <a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/on-my-mind-heather-havrilesky-caitlin.html">her letter to girls during the Bad Days</a> and her brilliant posthumous letter to her daughter. It's a tad repetitive, just due to the fact that a lot of pieces are directly lifted from the paper, but I would really recommend this.<br />
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Amy</div>
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<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-19080347453199436762016-03-25T09:30:00.000+00:002016-04-01T22:17:13.274+01:00On My Mind: Heather Havrilesky & Caitlin Moran<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I lived in a cave because at some point I decided it was wrong to be BIG and loud and arrogant and alive. I lived in a cave because I took my cues from the people who were ambivalent about me instead of taking my cues from the people who loved me like crazy. I lived in a cave because I handed out scoring sheets and asked everyone to score me and paid special attention to the NOT VERY SATISFIED CUSTOMERS and ignored the people who said 'We love the fuck out of you, five stars, keep up the good work!'<br /><br />That is what I see in you, Too Many Questions. You have chosen the life of the cave dweller. Stop reading the tea leaves of indifferent male faces and get the fuck on with your life. I know you want love. Love will find you, eventually, some time after you stop asking questions and start answering them. Stop asking indifferent strangers about the brilliant sparks emanating from your big head. Indifferent strangers were born to tell you that those sparks are something scary; a house on fire, a burning bush, powers beyond their control, fearsome and loathsome and wrong."</i></div>
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<b>Heather Havrilesky, <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/03/ask-polly-what-am-i-doing-wrong-with-men.html">Ask Polly: What Am I Doing Wrong with Men?</a></b></div>
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"<i>Buy flowers or if you are poor, steal one from someone's garden; the world owes you that much at least: blossom-and put them at the end of the bed. When you wake, look at them, and tell yourself you are the kind of person who wakes up and sees flowers...Thinking about blossom before you think about terror is what girls must always do, in the Bad Years"</i></div>
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On this Good Friday, here's to new starts.</div>
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Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-30879229620505900742016-03-22T12:00:00.000+00:002016-03-22T12:00:28.556+00:00Current Favourites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So it's been a good few months since I last wrote on of these posts and due to me having a bit of a stressful couple of weeks (I'm very much looking forward to the long weekend!), I figured it was high time to talk about some things that I've been really enjoying.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.superdrug.com/B-/B-Pure-Micellar-Water-150ml/p/548853">B. Pure Micellar Water</a></span></b><br />
I've been a little wary of the micellar water hype that has swept the entire internet, but as I'm running out of my favourite make-up cleanser <a href="http://www.boots.com/en/PEACHES-AND-CLEAN%C2%99-Deep-Cleansing-Milk-350ml_1683520/">(Soap & Glory's Peaches & Clean</a>) I was looking out for a slightly cheaper product to do the job. This was reduced in Superdrug to just £2.45, so it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer to pick up. And it is truly fab. Just a few drops on a cotton pad got rid of all my face make-up. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on the B. range at Superdrug which is pretty reasonably priced and all entirely Cruelty Free which is nice.<br />
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<b><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/township/id638689075?mt=8"><span style="color: purple;">Township App</span></a></b><br />
So this is possibly the first app I've been properly addicted to since the heady early days of Candy Crush. I first heard about this in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcFy9MRJWIE">Emma Pickles' February Favourites</a>, downloaded it, and have been contently harvesting wheat and wool ever since. It's essentially a kind of town-building game, where you begin with a farming community & essentially work on growing into more of a thriving city. There's even a zoo that you unlock at some point, making it kind of a blend of <i>SimCity </i>and <i>Zoo Tycoon</i> (two of my favourite games growing up).<br /><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(I'm now on about level 20...)<br /></span></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KAKUN3E/ref=gw_mont_197083627_1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-hero-kindle-A&pf_rd_r=06DX8NG7EP1VWFP9JPGV&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=851001887&pf_rd_i=desktop"><b><span style="color: purple;">Amazon Fire TV Stick</span></b></a><br />
This was actually a birthday present from my brother (the first present he's bought me a) out of his own money & b) without any prodding from my Mum) and it's great. For those of you who don't know, it essentially turns your TV into a smart TV, meaning you can watch all the on-demand channels, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video through your TV. It's been great for me to finally finish off watching series I've started on Netflix when I'm eating dinner rather than watching an episode of<i> Come Dine with Me </i>for the hundredth time.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><a href="http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10701_10001_154614104999_-1">Too Faced Born This Way Foundation</a></b></span><br />
I've had my eye on this foundation since it came out, and I believe it was <a href="http://www.hellogemma.com/2015/08/25/too-faced-born-this-way-foundation/">Gemma's review</a> that really cemented it as something that I wanted to buy. I tend to be a high street girl for all things make-up, but asked for a Debenhams gift card for my birthday so I could finally pick this up. It's really natural looking on the skin and feels really light too despite giving good coverage and being really blendable with my concealers. The only downside is that it doesn't really wear as well as my usual work day foundation (<a href="http://www.boots.com/en/Rimmel-Lasting-Finish-25hour-Foundation-with-comfort-serum_1150829/">Rimmel's Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation</a>) even when 'set' with powder, so I am on a mission to find a decent (and not crazy expensive) primer-so if you have any recommendations please let me know!<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b>Clipper Lemon & Green Tea</b></span><br />
I'd completely forgotten how much I enjoyed green tea. Whilst I do quite like the subtle taste of standard green tea, this with a hint of lemon is even more tasty and is really refreshing. While I do, of course, love standard English Breakfast tea there's something just weirdly calming about having some green tea in the evening.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b>Marks & Spencer Lemon Curd & Almond Shortbread</b></span><br />
Another birthday present which I have made me way through was this tin of shortbread. These are so good. I'm not sure if they're still available in store (my birthday was Mother's Day so they may have been a limited gift purchase) but if they are I recommend grabbing a pack. Lemon curd and almond didn't sound like a 'normal' combination, but the tangy lemon and almond texture just works. Trust me.<br />
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What have you been loving recently?</div>
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Amy<br />Twitter | Instagram</div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-56642075819197618922016-03-20T10:00:00.000+00:002016-03-20T10:00:11.763+00:00Clicklist #15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: purple;">From the Blogosphere </span></b><br />
<a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2016/03/chocolate-peanut-butter-tart/">Chocolate. Peanut. Butter. Tart.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.thelondoner.me/2016/03/swimming-pig-island.html">Rose went swimming with pigs</a>. Really. Totally bizarre and brilliant at the same time.<br />
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More great-sounding food: <a href="http://casualllyawkward.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/pull-apart-pizza-muffins.html">pull-apart pizza muffins</a>; <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2016/03/churros/">churros</a>; <a href="http://joythebaker.com/2016/03/raspberry-brulee-rice-pudding/">raspberry brulee rice pudding</a><br />
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I really liked <a href="http://thoroughlymodernmillennial.com/2016/03/top-5-favourite-female-directors/">Ria's post on her favourite female film directors</a>, which has given me the wonderful excuse of adding a bunch of films to my 'to watch' list.<br />
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Jane's posts on her trip to Egypt all have brilliant photography in them (as always), start <a href="http://deluminators.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/egyptian-museum.html">here</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.daisybutter.com/2016/03/solo-travelling-planning-like-pro.html"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.daisybutter.com/2016/03/solo-travelling-planning-like-pro.html">Michelle's tips on travelling alone are great</a>; I'm fine with doing so many things solo but for some reason being a tourist alone has always scared me. Maybe that should change.<br />
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Maya from The Financial Diet on <a href="http://thefinancialdiet.com/21-things-can-better-s-o-dont-cost-thing/">21 things you can do to be a better Significant Other (or person in general) that don't cost a thing</a>.<br />
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Vix in outraged brilliance on <a href="http://www.vixmeldrew.com/vixmeldrew/2016/3/7/5-things-society-tells-women-they-shouldnt-do">5 things society tells women they shouldn't do.</a><br />
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Josie (who I just find completely amazing)<a href="http://www.sickchickchic.com/2016/03/sowill-you-still-have-cf-after.html"> giving a really honest insight into the impact of organ transplants on cystic fibrosis</a> (and people who have them in general).<br />
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Lauren from TFD on <a href="http://thefinancialdiet.com/learned-girl-cried-work/">what she learned from being the girl who cried at work</a> (lots of interesting stuff about emotional intelligence which I found super interesting).<br />
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Katy really <a href="http://www.littlewinter.net/2016/03/friendship-breakups.html">knocking it out of the park in this piece about friendship break-ups</a><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Around the Internet</span></b><br />
<i>"I'm not interested in the inevitable beef over "who is the real feminist". I'm not interested in making sure all celebrity women embrace the label or live their beliefs in a specific way. I love that it's cool for celebs to speak up in defence of women. And I agree...that certain stars like Taylor Swift are brand ambassadors who provide soft introductions to feminism, not the movement itself. But at what point is the mainstream feminist conversation sophisticated enough that we start expecting more from people who embrace the label? And what does 'more' look like?"</i><br />
<a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/02/kesha-demi-lovato-celebrity-feminist-brand.html?mid=twitter_nymag">So You're a Feminist Celebrity, Now What?</a><br />
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<i>"At first I was really trying to say I'm not like Hermione. I'm into fashion and I'm cooler than she is, and then I came to a place of acceptance." </i><br />
<a href="http://www.papermag.com/emma-watson-bell-hooks-conversation-1609893784.html">Emma Watson and bell hooks in conversation</a><br />
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<i>"While the ship looped from San Pedro to Cabo San Lucas and back, some 100 of its passengers and I would be focused on uncharted waters, where nothing is as it seems. Before we dock again, two of them would end up following me around the ship, convinced I was a CIA plant."</i><br />
<a href="http://jezebel.com/sail-far-away-at-sea-with-americas-largest-floating-1760900554">A conspiracy theorist cruise, seriously.</a><br />
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<i>"Women are sexually liberated, we're astronauts, CEOs, politicians. So shouldn't we be over the the idea that only men should make the first move? In our day-to-day lives, we're outspoken, ambitious, won't-stand-for-that women, yet throw a Tinder match on the cards and things begin to blur. Stereotypes coyly masked as traditions mean my friends & I regularly shrivel into dating-handbook-bots: we refuse to text twice in a row (lest we worry for days about being unfairly labelled needy); we won't call first during the first six months, we definitely won't text first. We accept (despite how much it might jar with, you know, our right to make decisions about our own lives) that it is normal for women to wait four years for the one day they're 'allowed' to propose." </i><br />
<a href="http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/why-do-we-still-allow-dating-to-be-so-sexist-rules-rituals-myths-misogyny-women-men-love-romance-relationships-fairy-tale">Why is dating still so sexist?</a><br />
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<i>"They're being politically correct the way they take them out...protesters, they realise there's no consequences to protesting anymore. There used to be consequences...Our country needs to toughen up. These people are bringing us down."</i><br />
<a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/3/12/11211898/donald-trumps-ideology-of-violence">The leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President complaining about how protesting is entirely legal</a>. Literally nothing about him is funny any more.<br /><br />
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Amy<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
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<br />Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-18411631560934576782016-03-13T10:00:00.000+00:002016-03-13T10:00:04.427+00:0023.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So when you're reading this I'll have been 23 for a whole week, which is a little surreal. For someone who is still convinced that they're actually 19, every birthday beyond 20 has felt like a bit of a rude addition. I did have a really lovely day, sharing it with Mother's Day meant that I was home for the weekend and we went to one of my favourite restaurants (look out for my month in review post which will chat about this more!). </div>
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I also thought my birthday would be a good point to do a bit more of ~get to know~ me style post-so here we go with 23 things about me.</div>
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1. I'm a <b style="color: #0b5394;">Pisces </b>and read my horoscope each morning, even though I'm not 100% sure I truly believe in it!</div>
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2. I'm a <span style="color: yellow;">Hufflepuff </span> and totally proud</div>
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3. My Myers Briggs type is INFJ, and in case you hadn't guessed, I'm totally obsessed with personality quizzes</div>
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4. I literally cannot use eyebrow pencils, so my eyebrows are <i>never </i>on fleek.</div>
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5. I am one of the clumsiest people I know; I once threw five trays of drinks <i>down myself </i>when I was working a dinner party</div>
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6. I could eat Italian food every day for the rest of my life</div>
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7. The first concert I ever went to was S Club 7, where I worked flares and butterfly clips </div>
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8. The first 'grown-up' concert I went to was Foals at the Engine Shed in Lincoln, where I rocked Tammy Girl red jeans & spent most of the night dodging flying pints</div>
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9. I was born six weeks early and have been annoyingly early to everything ever since</div>
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10. I had train-track braces for almost two years and then promptly lost my retainers; don't be like me</div>
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11. I ditched Gymnastic classes as a child because I got upset that I couldn't do a forward roll</div>
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12. I rode horses for 10 years, and I miss it a lot</div>
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13. I've been dying my hair on-and-off since I was 14, I've been a 'lovely' shade of copper (blonde that went wrong), plummy brown, light brown, reddish brown, straight-up red and then my current dark brown</div>
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14. I can't imagine ever wearing anything other than skinny jeans when it comes to jeans</div>
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15. My first celebrity crush was Orlando Bloom, specifically in the Pirates of the Caribbean films</div>
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16. I saw <i>The Princess Diaries</i> film in the cinema four times</div>
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17. My favourite restaurant in Birmingham (of the ones I've visited) is The Lost & Found</div>
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18. Snapchat makes me feel like an old woman as I just <span style="font-size: x-small;">don't get it</span></div>
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19. If I had to shop in one shop forever it would be Zara, which I just <i>adore</i></div>
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20. I cry at most films (including <i>Ice Age</i>...don't ask)</div>
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21. My middle name is Victoria</div>
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22. I have a younger brother who is two years younger than me</div>
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23. There is nothing that drives me more crazy than people who are never on time</div>
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Amy</div>
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<a href="http://twitter.com/amyvictorialong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-45273273735581551012016-03-11T12:00:00.000+00:002016-04-01T22:17:29.626+01:00In Review: February <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo Credit: Oh Deere)</span><br />
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So this is a pretty belated February wrap-up, but that might just say something about how surprisingly busy February was for me, despite it only being the shortest month-even in its leap year guise.<br />
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<b>Staying In</b><br />
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The most fun home-based thing that happened over the past month when my friend from school came up to Birmingham from London and made a really delicious vegan meal of roasted veg, chickpeas and crushed potatoes which I'm definitely underselling but was super delicious. We also enjoyed some prosecco & limoncello cocktails and just had a proper catch-up which was lovely.<br />
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This month also saw me become a Dementia Friend with the Alzheimer's Society, you can find out about local sessions or become a friend online by clicking <a href="https://www.dementiafriends.org.uk/">here</a>. It's a really interesting and eye-opening experience and I recommend getting involved (especially if you do any kind of customer-facing role).<br />
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I've also got properly into two television series this month which are both on the BBC over here. The first is <i>American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson. </i>This is essentially a dramatisation of the OJ Simpson trial which I am vaguely familiar with, but took place the same year I was born so I'm definitely not aware of all the details! The performances are all great, especially those by Cuba Gooding Jr as OJ and Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, a civil rights lawyer, and it's just a really insightful look at the court case and all the racism issues that were present in the States in the early 90s (and how little has changed).<br />
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The second programme is <i>The Night Manager</i> which replaced the fabulous <i>War & Peace. </i>This stars Tom Hiddleston, in a performance that has made me understand why everyone finds him so attractive, as a hotel manager who becomes tangled up in the life of arms-dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). Based on a novel by John le Carre, it is filmed beautifully with incredible locations and is packed with solid performances (Olivia Colman & David Harewood as a trans-atlantic intelligence partnership; Tom Hollander as one of Roper's crew; Natasha Little as a mistreated wife and Tobias Menzies as a slippery intelligence agent are all great). Plus Elizabeth Debicki (who plays Roper's wife) has a seriously enviable wardrobe in this too.<br />
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<b>Going Out</b><br />
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The obvious highlight of this month was getting to go to the theatre twice in one month, which was such a treat. Seeing a really modern Matthew Bourne production in <i><a href="http://new-adventures.net/sleeping-beauty">Sleeping Beauty</a> </i>and a really classic ballet in <i><a href="https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/event/romeo-and-juliet">Romeo & Juliet</a></i> within a couple of weeks was a lot of fun, and the casts of both were great. You can find my full thoughts on both pieces at the end of this entry.<br />
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In terms of eating out, I had three first-time visits this month. First up was <a href="http://by1847.com/">1847</a>, which is an entirely vegetarian and vegan restaurant based in the Great Western Arcade in Birmingham. This was such a fun experience for someone who is a bit of a hardened meat eater, and I really enjoyed the halloumi 'fish' and chips-especially as the cheese was really melty rather than grilled as it is usually.<br />
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There was then <a href="http://www.caffeconcerto.co.uk/">Caffe Concerto</a>, which is found in Grand Central above New Street Station. This is one of those places that has the sort of cakes that cause people to slow-walk past the counter and my mille-fieulle (chosen after seeing it made on GBBO-obviously) was packed with delicious vanilla-cream. Finally, was <a href="http://www.thaiedge.co.uk/">Thai Edge</a> based in Brindleyplace. Whilst the service is a little on the slow side, the coconut rice is truly amazing and my stir-fried mussels were really tasty too.<br />
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I also had my first 'out out' experience for ages, which was a fun experience and also the first time I'd used Uber which I was super happy with-especially with it only costing £3.50 to get across town, even after midnight.<br />
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Finally, I finished the month going to Birmingham Town Hall (one of the venue's I worked at when I was at university) with my parents to see British Sea Power, a band that my Dad loves. This was a bit of a different date as they were accompanied by a brass band, so it was a lot more instrumental than their usual sound. I really liked it; the musicianship on display by everyone was really impressive. Plus Town Hall is a really gorgeous venue too (not that I'm biased obviously).<br />
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<b>Posts this month:</b><br />
<a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/in-review-january.html">January in review</a><br />
<a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/clicklist-13.html">Clicklist #13</a><br />
<a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/thoughts-on-matthew-bournes-sleeping.html">My thoughts on Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty</a><br />
<a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/a-rookie-recruiters-guide-to-getting-job.html">A Rookie Recruiter's Guide to Getting a Job</a><br />
<a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/thoughts-on-birmingham-royal-ballets.html">My thoughts on Birmingham Royal Ballet's Romeo & Juliet</a><br />
<a href="http://ascatterofthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/clicklist-14.html">Clicklist #14</a><br />
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February was surprisingly busy, and March is already shaping up to be pretty busy too! 2016 is really hurtling along.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-28460338275281527052016-03-08T20:14:00.001+00:002016-03-08T20:14:07.967+00:00A Month in Books: February <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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February was a bit of a *Kanye shrug* month for reading really, I think perhaps I've been feeling a bit slumpy and just not engaged with the books I read this past month. Maybe this is the downside to trying to read books that I've had for a while, rather than books I'm necessarily really excited to be reading.<br />
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<b>The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson (2011, Scribner)</b><br />
I've probably said this here before, but I find Jon Ronson to be a hugely compelling writer and he has pretty much become an author who I want to read more of. <i>The Psychopath Test</i> generally deals with the idea that maybe everyone is just a little bit mad, and the ways in which we can define 'madness' or mental illness. Ronson tells numerous stories of different really interesting people; including a man who has apparently faked madness to get out of a jail term and has now found himself in Broadmoor alongside serial killers, a businessman who views psychopathy as key to business and even Ronson himself as he becomes obsessed with defining those around him. Like <i>Them </i>and <i>So You've Been Publically Shamed, </i>this was just a super engaging read and leaves you plenty of facts to <strike>annoy </strike>intrigue your friends with.<br />
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<b>The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (2013, Simon & Schuster)</b><br />
This has been on my shelf for an embarrassing amount of time and so I'm glad to have finally read it, although it didn't engage me as well as I think it may have done a few years ago. It tells the story of Julia, an 11-year-old girl who at the start of the novel is just dealing with growing-up. However, it's soon found that the Earth's rotation is slowing, throwing normal life out of context. The writing in this is lovely, as it's told by an older Julia looking back, it feels wonderfully nostalgic and there's a great sense of place; almost reminiscent of <i>To Kill a Mockingbird. </i>However, I just found the plot progressions to be mostly pretty predictable, despite an original premise, and I just didn't find myself really reaching to read it. I will say that this would be a great 'cross-over' novel, if you enjoy Young Adult science fiction novels and fancy something a little more 'adult' (but not by much).<br />
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<b>An Untamed State by Roxane Gay (2014, Corsair)</b><br />
I've been itching to read this for ages, having heard only good things and really liking Gay's essay collection <i>Bad Feminist. </i>This is the story of Miri, a successful lawyer from a wealthy Haitian family who is kidnapped when visiting her parents in the country with her husband and young son. The novel then tells the story of what happens to her during her captivity, and then what happens after. Gay doesn't flinch from describing the things that happen to a woman in this situation, so it's frequently not an easy read but I really loved the insight into Haiti as a country and culture. Gay also handles the issue of trauma fantastically too. The only thing that distracted from really loving it was some pretty clunky dialogue (especially in the romantic scenes) and some plot choices that just seemed a tad convienet. However, I would really recommend this if you're looking for a fast-paced, thought-provoking read.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/amyvictorialong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4237127-amy">Goodreads</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-89475421886869498422016-02-28T10:30:00.000+00:002016-02-28T10:30:19.072+00:00Clicklist #14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As if it's the last weekend of February already! 2016 seems to hurtling ahead, so here's a list of some things that I've enjoyed on the internet this month.<br />
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So February is known as the month of love, and this is the 14th clicklist, so to start some rather cute posts that people wrote about their significant others because secretly I'm a complete piece of mush. <a href="http://blog.wonderful--you.com/2016/02/swipe-right-how-i-met-jamie.html">Megs on Jamie</a>, Audery on <a href="http://www.befrassy.net/2016/02/42-days-to-fall-in-love.html">42 days to fall in love</a>, and my favourite Charlotte's <a href="http://foxsocks.co.uk/my-boyfriend-is-a-pasta-dish-a-pro-valentines-post/">My boyfriend is a pasta dish</a>.<br />
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I loved this by Jen on <a href="http://www.jforjen.com/why-i-dont-live-in-london/">why she doesn't live in London</a>.<br />
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I really love Jane's blog for her amazing photographs of the places she visits, lately I've liked this post of <a href="http://deluminators.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/by-river.html">London</a> and this of <a href="http://deluminators.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/bath.html">Bath</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://hannahgale.co.uk/2016/02/15/a-long-weekend-in-scotland/">Hannah's trip to Scotland looks so pretty</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.megfee.com/megfee/2016/2/15/jnkvuiugku6hfxw6cq9m8e85k8meoe">Meg talking about the process of recovery</a>.<br />
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I always love to here about what other young people have discovered by living alone; <a href="http://www.sophierosie.com/2016/02/having-to-adult-2-years-on.html">this is what Sophie has to say</a><br />
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<a href="http://thefinancialdiet.com/how-to-use-sunday-night-to-set-yourself-up-for-a-successful-week/">How to use Sunday to set yourself up for a successful week. </a><br />
<a href="http://cookingonabootstrap.com/2016/02/22/peanut-butter-and-honey-granola-10p/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://cookingonabootstrap.com/2016/02/22/peanut-butter-and-honey-granola-10p/">This peanut butter granola sounds like such a great breakfast</a><br />
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If you're a really creative baker, <a href="http://www.topwithcinnamon.com/2016/02/hazelnut-pecan-chocolate-babka-rolls.html">these hazelnut, pecan & chocolate babka rolls </a>sound amazing. If, on the other hand, like me sometimes you just want a quick cakey fix; <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/chocolate-cake-in-a-mug/">chocolate cake in a mug.</a><br />
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<a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2016/02/white-russian/">White Russians</a>. Or how to combine vodka & coffee in the best way.<br />
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As a Tumblr user, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/129002/secret-lives-tumblr-teens">this longform piece</a> on the young people who are making a *ton* of money from the site was so compelling. Even if it did make me feel very grateful to only really had MySpace when I was growing up.<br />
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<a href="http://www.thelondoner.me/2016/02/goats-cheese-caper-scramble.html">Rosie's Goats Cheese & Capers scrambled egg</a> sounds amazing. I've become rather addicted to a tomato scrambled egg recipie from Nigella's latest book, so this would be a good addition to my repertoire.<br />
<a href="http://www.annabash.com/blog/introvert"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.annabash.com/blog/introvert">How Extroverted Introverts interact with the world</a> <i>or </i>INFJ problems.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/27/stressful-job-chef-football-manager-tv-star-track-heart-rates">This Guardian story</a>, tracking the heart rates of people with stressful jobs was really interesting.<br />
<a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a34158/meet-the-whistleblower-pediatrician-who-exposed-the-flint-water-crisis/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a34158/meet-the-whistleblower-pediatrician-who-exposed-the-flint-water-crisis/">This interview with Dr Mona Hanna-Attisha</a>, the woman who exposed the insane water crisis in Flint, Michigan in the US, is really interesting & inspiring too.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Amy<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/amyvictorialong">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5457014125832312106.post-1184464099805430422016-02-26T11:06:00.000+00:002016-02-26T11:06:57.800+00:00Thoughts On: Birmingham Royal Ballet's Romeo & Juliet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Romeo & Juliet </i>is probably my favourite ballet that I've seen so far; obviously the story is wonderful, the score by Prokofiev is fantastic (and features <i>that</i> piece of music from <i>The Apprentice</i>) and Kenneth MacMillan's choreography is just brilliant at combining classical dance with actual storytelling.<br />
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I took my Mum to see English National Ballet's production at the Royal Albert Hall which starred Carlos Acosta and Tamara Rojo for Mother's Day a year or so ago, and so for her birthday this year I thought I'd treat her to the Birmingham Royal Ballet production.<br />
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The cast we saw starred Chi Cao and Nao Sakuma as the title characters, and their dancing in the famous balcony scene was beautiful as was their individual performances at the very end of the ballet (which is always completely heartbreaking). Sakuma in particular is a stunning dancer, especially when she was en pointe when she just seemed impossibly light on her feet.<br />
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Other great performances came from Tzu-Chao Chou as Mercutio who bought humour to every scene, and his final scene was just fantastic; Valentin Oloyannikov as Tybalt was icily commanding in his scenes and Marion Tait was very fun as Juliet's Nurse. <i>Romeo & Juliet </i>is also a ballet that really gives the corps de ballet excellent chances to stand-out too, with really vivid crowd scenes and characterisation throughout. Special mention should go to the wonderfully costumed Mandolin dancers, led by Mathias Dingman and the harlots danced by Celine Gittens, Jade Heusen and Maureya Lebowitz.<br />
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I'd really recommend you try and see this; it's in Birmingham until tomorrow and then goes out on tour, the details of which you can find <a href="https://www.brb.org.uk/whats-on/event/romeo-and-juliet">here</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Amy<br /><a href="http://twitter.com/AmyVictoriaLong">Twitter </a>| <a href="http://instagram.com/amylong1">Instagram</a></div>
<br />Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768626352669218214noreply@blogger.com2