In which there are some life snapshots

This is where I'm sitting right now. Drinking that exact glass of wine.

I've always meant to do one of those 'life snapshot posts', but I often tend to do posts with one focus. However, that's not what my life is like. As this is a particularly hectic week, today seemed like the time to share all the many things I'm juggling at the moment. This is because I just got back from my Japanese lessons where we were learning about conjugating adjectives. It was so hard. Or perhaps:

むずかしい　です
I thought it would be nice to let you know what is competing with my blogging time.

So at the moment there's a lot of this:

Yes, some of this is wrong. I'm studying! This is me trying to work it out. But negative adjective forms are stumping me.

 Which is leading onto this:

 This is a view of just some of the Japanese tourism bits we have floating about. At the weekend we started going through them and mapping out a route. Yes, it is finally time to pick some dates, make a plan and go go go. We even got new passport photos at the weekend to get our married-name passports done.

Then, there is also my reading list:

The above are the books in my 'to-read' pile. This makes me very happy! Ooh look at all these interesting things. Getting back into Mike Carey's Unwritten graphic novel series. It's no Locke and Key, but it is really intriguing. I love the detail that goes into the art work.

Oh and then as well as Japanese, I am going to life drawing classes. This is where it may get a little NSFW. I'm drawing naked people after all...
 I've never actually shared any of my work on here, so now you can judge my skills! I feel my work is getting better all the time and I love having this place to sit and draw. The classes are very meditative, really focusing on art for its own sake and taking joy in your own work. I actually have a stack of paper that's getting towards novel thickness of all the drawings I've done in the last 6 months since taking up the classes. These are from the last 2 weeks:

We do these 1-3 minute warm up sketches which I really find get you into the right mind set. 

Finally I'm drinking lots of hot chocolate. For research purposes. Absolutely. Now that I've started a hot chocolate Tumblr I need some content. However, now you've seen what I'm up to, perhaps you'll forgive the current slow posting cycle!

 

 And of course, I'm still playing Neverwinter a little bit ever day. There's always time for gaming!

What are you up to? Do you like this kind of post? Anyone got any tips for learning a new language in your spare time? At the moment I've trying to learn 2 new words a day and cram it into my commute, but it's not enough. 

In which I finally have a beautiful camera bag

 

I got a very late Christmas present through the post today. Back in January I ordered a camera bag to replace the old one I had, a second hand bulky thing that never even made it outfit posts and had an uncomfortable strap. I had spent a lot of time reading Dainty Squid's posts on her entire collection of camera bags. Beautiful as they were, and as much as I enjoyed pining they're all well out of my price range. However, she did alert me to the very concept of pretty looking bags for my DSLR. Then I saw a bag like this on Pinterest one day linking me to Etsy and I was sorted. This bag came from RockCowStudio for about £30, and if you are looking for a camera bag they have a lot of different ones available. I will say that it is shipping from China so took a month to arrive in Britain. There a lot of resellers and fake goods on Etsy so I do hope that this is a genuine item as it were, but it seems nice and mostly matches the description. It is definitely 100 times better than my old one!

 

 

As you can see the bag has plenty of space. I can keep the lense and body separate, plus there's currently space for my purse and make-up too. Obviously when I get a second lense it will be a bit more squashed. I like that currently it fits all the things I need for a day out in. Could probably fit a Kindle in too in the back pocket!

I haven't worn this dress in a long time because it is very tight and makes me feel kind of fat as it shows every curve and line in my body. I do confess to hiding most of myself away under the baggy jumper and scarf, but I'm showing off my legs instead so it's all good.

I am also still totally loving the short hair. The last few photos show me having fun with it. I'm thinking of doing a post soon on all the different ways I can style my new hair! 

In the mean time Andy and I have started a hot chocolate Tumblr! It is logically called fuck yeah hot chocolates. We're going to be reviewing hot chocolates, sharing recipes and talking about the best ways to make a hot chocolate! Please follow if this sounds like your kind of thing. We're looking forward to dedicating ourselves to the liquid cocoa.

In which the Lego Movie is coming

Where all you would expect from a toy company film was straight to DVD and a lot of extra toys the Lego Movie is going all out with a full cinema release. With Marvel characters featuring, actual female gendered minifigures acting, and an over the top ridiculous utterly silly plot aimed at 7 year olds, I am still legit excited about seeing The Lego Movie. Please do enjoy the trailer:


And do you know what is an obvious extra to this film? Tie-in toys. I already collect the Lego minifigure sets which have been going for years now, and you have seen me blog about many times. Therefore as associated merchandise Lego have released a special figure series with characters from the film. Each one comes in a sealed packet with a potential 16 to collect, including the two main characters. On hearing this I had to go in search of this new series immediately.
I found them only released at WHSmith and stuck behind the counter like cigarettes and whisky so I felt like a guilty teenager asking the woman at the till for "Two minifigure packets please".

Then something beautifully lucky happened. My two figures were the main characters from the film: Wyldstyle and Emmet.



I think it's quite interesting that Emmet has very simple two-dot eyes, like early minifigures had, which emphasise his simplicity but also his link to the essential nature of Lego: building. However, watching the trailer the main thing that annoys me is that clearly WyldStyle should be the hero of the film, it just seems like she's not because they had to have a male lead who can be 'the Special' to save the universe. And she has to fall in love with him because that is what happens to interesting female characters. You see I am quite prepared for it to be awful, but hey, I will give you my full review with all the criticism or the joy when I have seen it.

What is exciting about this film?
-This is not a DC universe film, but it has Batman.
-Main female character is dating Batman.
-She is obviously too cool for him
-Abraham Lincoln has a flying space chair
-Morgan Freeman will be doing voice acting for it
-It also has Wonder Woman in it. Despite really loud demands for a Woman Woman film, the first time we are seeing her in Cinema in over a decade will be in Lego form. You take what you can get...
-There are Wild West robots

The other reason I am so happy with getting Wyldstyle in my first packet is that she clearly fits in with my Monster Fighter sets. So in fact do the Wild West robots, I really want them next.

I have a steampunk story with an all female monster fighter team that I've built and continue to collect over a couple of years now. Wyldstyle so obviously belongs with them, here she is taking down Mr Hyde:

In other news I am thinking of setting up a Tumblr to do hot chocolate reviews with my husband. We're just stuck for a witty name for it first, but I hope to have it going by the end of the week. Here is me enjoying planning such a thing:

In which there are seasons and stories

I've been feeling very introspective this afternoon as I sit down to blog and browse, and wasn't sure which bits to share. In the end I thought I'd give a list of a few of the things going on in my life at the moment:

1. Really loving a new board game called Seasons. I've played it two weeks in a row at my board gaming club and it's next on my list to go in my collection. The game has some Magic: The Gathering elements, but adds in some beautiful dice and cute animal characters. It's strangely addictive and relatively short, whilst also being very strategic. When we get it I promise you some lovely pictures of all the interesting pieces.

2. Having ideas for writing a short story. I used to write all the time, always making up little stories as I lie in bed failing to get to sleep. Lately I've been making up a new tale in those quiet moments and I'm happy that there are still some stories in me after a long time of not feeling very creative in that direction.

3. Thinking about the concepts behind the justice system. I read a blog post and many articles following on that pointed out that the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty' harms the victim a lot of the time, especially in rape or child abuse cases. Assuming the accused to be innocent, means the victim is often assumed to be lying. That in the court it is the accused who ends up in a position of power when a rape victim is the one who is cross-examined over their traumatic experience. I could go into a lot more detail about many incidents I'm reading about, but I don't feel this is the space for that. Enough to say, I'm thinking about this a lot.

4. Planning a trip to see The Light Princess, a musical play by Tori Amos that's on in London at the moment. Got some theatre vouchers for Christmas and we're planning a special night out, perhaps with time to visit the Hagen Das restaurant again. 

5. Watching lots of Star Trek: Next Generation at the moment. Honestly not much better than Patrick Stewart to warm you up in winter evenings!

In which there is a dramatic change

This is me. This short haired girl, me.

I have spent the day swooshing this little short hair cut around and feeling so proud of myself, for this small act of bravery. I not only got it all chopped off, but all cut from incredibly long for the first time ever. I have not even had a fringe since I was a wee kid, and this was the first time I've ever had a cut like this. I sat calmly through the whole haircut watching it fall down all around me with every snip.

This post a little gratuitous celebration of this completely new look and pride. I always believed my face was a little too round for a short hair cut, but it seems to work. 

In truth I intend to dye it red again as well, but these were my quick post-hair cut pictures. So, it might not be the finished deal yet!

Also, I finally got a new coat! You may remember my coat-pining post. As I said, I've been sick of my existing coat for ages, but I couldn't really afford a new one. I stuck at it with searching charity shops for the right one. I finally go this one for about £12 in a cancer research shop. Feeling very happy with it. It is missing one of the buttons, but I'm not too fussed about that.

All chopped off!

I just happened to have this little brooch with the silk in the middle that goes perfectly with the dress.

What do you think? I hope you like it!