Some things that are making me smile

[altogetherisi]

~ This feeling of absolute happiness, serenity, completeness, satisfaction that comes from finishing a (really rather good) book. I can get it from other things too sometimes, but really, it's book feeling. It's perfection. The book I just read is "Dreaming of Amelia" by Jaclyn Moriarty, which is the last in the series of "Feeling Sorry for Celia", "Finding Cassie Crazy" and "Being Bindy Mackenzie". Finding Cassie Crazy is one of my favourite things ever in the world ever ever ever. And this one was pretty damn awesome, though at points it made me rage, and feel sick, and feel heartbroken, as well as thoroughly delight and amuse me.

~ Radio 1's Longest Show Ever With Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave For Comic Relief lasted 52 hours - they started at 6.30am on Wednesday, and didn't stop, didn't sleep, kept broadcasting straight through until 10.30am today, Friday - was amazing, funny, entertaining, compulsive, and raised over £2.4 million pounds for Comic Relief. Today is Red Nose Day, so telethon tonight!

~ That it seems like spring is here. I don't have to wear my coat and scarf everywhere all the time. The tree in our front garden, which spends most of the year kinda purple, is covered in beautiful white blossom. There are daffodils on the lawn.

~ The excellency of the latest episode of Glee, which I expect I will write a separate post on, but first I want to rewatch it because it was really rather awesome and I watched the first time in between blow drying my hair and having breakfast and doing makeup before going into the office on Wednesday because I was not willing to wait until I got home. And I'm glad I didn't, because it put me in such a good mood for the rest of the day.

 

~ Also, thinking about the very interesting shipping potential in Skins, which is really coming into its own now, as this current series ends. Oh gen 3, you are so much better than gen 2. I love you, Skins. 

 

~ Making plans. For Easter time, and also, now, I am going to a festival for a weekend in July in France which will be totally fun! 

 

~ Awesome fic. I saw this on crack_van and I just have to add to it's praise and pass it on, because it's really, really, REALLY good fic. It's The Strange Disappearance of Sally-Anne Perks by Paimpont, and it's very well written Harry Potter gen that takes the name of a character that is sorted in Philosopher's Stone just after Harry and then never heard of again in the series and spins it into a brilliant, beautiful, canon compliant and complimentary story. Seriously, GO READ IT. 

 

~ And finally, I don't watch Supernatural and don't care much about Misha Collins, but I was browsing Fandom Wank and heard about this rhino puzzle scavenger hunt thing, and I laughed so hard my dad kept asking me what was so funny and THERE WERE NO WORDS that could explain the insanity and bizarreness of Misha trolling his fandom with such careless hilarity.
 

How is everyone?

Comments

[elixer-of-life.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, I love Jaclyn Moriarty! Finding Cassie Crazy was one of my favourite books all through high school. I didn't realise she'd written a new one, I am defs checking that out :) Have you read The Spell Book of Listen Taylor?

And I am so behind in Skins, and I've missed an episode of Glee, which is so annoying. I need a massive TV catch up!

[jasmine-rosalee.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you on Skins! I love this new cast, they're such a breath of fresh air compared to the last lot... And I love all the ships that can happen too, I was actually thinking about it yesterday and how there were all these different ones I could come up with that could actually work :)

Yay for being happy :)

[altogetherisi.livejournal.com]

She is just amazing. Her writing is brilliant, sensitive, unique, serious, deep, heartbreaking and hilarious. Her style and general representation of teenage and young adulthood is just perfect. I simply can't praise it highly enough. Finding Cassie Crazy particularly is one of my favourite books of all time (OF. ALL. TIME!) - I think I was about thirteen when I first read it, and I've read it countless times since then, and it can still make me shriek and cry with laughter. I love FSFC and BBM lots and lots as well, but FCC has a very special place in my heart.

Dreaming of Amelia is similar - slightly more heartrending and slightly more often I found, but with the same moments of hysteria and wonderful reveals. Definitely go read it! Then come back here to discuss! Pretty sure it's the last Ashbury book, because the students are in their final year. Sob.

I have read The Spell Book of Listen Taylor, yes. I liked it, but tbh think I judged it a bit harshly for not being about Emily, Lydia and Cassie and Ashbury, and for not being what I hoped it would be, so I decided I didn't like it nearly as much as the others and didn't give it much of a chance. I remember liking how it ended though :) I'd read it again right now, but I think I left it in another country :P So I'll give it another chance when I see it next.

Big TV catchups are what weekends are for! Where are you up to with each? Glee continues to be frustratingly inconsistent - sometimes awesome and sometimes awful - and Skins is really developing nicely.

[altogetherisi.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Gen 2 kinda lost me a bit along the way, but there's something very vulnerable and innocent about this lot, even when they're taking drugs and stealing stuff etc. There's something very poignant, and you can really see how they fit together as a group (or are starting to, at any rate.) And particular eps are just amazing - I thought Minnie's and Nick's were phenomenal. In a show that's so well known for being racy and outrageous, there's a lot of subtly and depth.

I am shipping Minnie/Franky so hard right now. And Nick/Liv. But I'm sure I'd be happy with whatever as long as they keep writing it like this!

[elixer-of-life.livejournal.com]

Ugh, everything you said is so true! She is definitely one of the best teen writers in the world, and her books are so different - I love the format of the letters and diary entries and all the perspectives we get. Especially in Finding Cassie Crazy (which is my favourite in the series - I think Cassie might be one of my favourite fictional characters) - we get the perspectives of the girls, and their perspectives of each other. It's so layered.

I agree with you about The Spell Book - it was really good, and it's actually based on a book she wrote for adults which has the essentially the same story but is told from a different point of view - but I missed the Ashbury characters.

I am so so behind with Skins - the last episode I saw was Mini's. I never found a good link for Liv, and then I got behind, and then I lost internet...I'm going to wait for the DVDs, I think, and then marathon it. And Glee...I missed the alcohol episode, saw the one about sex, but I'm going to miss the next one. So it's all over the place, really!

[jasmine-rosalee.livejournal.com]

Omg, me too. Minnie/Franky is utterly glorious! For a while there I was shipping Minnie/Alo and Franky/Nick but Minnie/Franky trumps all :D And I love the Nick/Alo!friendship going on, it is so adorable.

[altogetherisi.livejournal.com]

Oh, Mini's ep devastated me! It's weird, because I expected to despise her but now she's certainly one of my favourites. You should definitely try to watch the rest when you can.

I didn't know that about Spell Book! That's really interesting - especially since one of things I love so much about the Ashbury books are that you get several different perspectives and insights on the same events (a couple of times in DoA, this actually made me gasp as well as giggle. )What is the adult version called? Maybe I should get that to read alongside rereading Listen Taylor.

Emily, Lydia and Cassie have such an excellent friendship. I think if I had to pick a favourite, for me it would be Lydia, but really I love them together as a unit. And the rest of the Ashbury characters too really complement each other and ring true as individuals. Which is one reason she's such a fabulous writer.

DEFINITELY catch up with the next episode of Glee, "Original Songs" because that's the regionals ep and there's a lot of plot advancement. Also, it's totally good.

[elixer-of-life.livejournal.com]

Mini's ep was extremely good. I felt such a mix of emotions when it finished. I really, really want to watch it! Alas, I'm really bad at catching up with TV shows.

The other book is I Have A Bed Made Of Buttermilk Pancakes (phew! I had to google that, lol. I knew it had something to do with pancakes...). I think I read it too soon after Spell Book because I found it a bit...not boring, but like I'd read it before. Which I sort of had. But I'd recommend it because it's definitely written from an adult perspective. Also, I think some of the names and events are a bit different.

I definitely love the friendship of those three. I've noticed that sometimes it's rare to see more than two people in a friendship group. There are obvious exceptions, but quite often you get the best friends scenario and it's the two of them against the world, and it's all so much more interesting when there's more people. Obviously, as I typed that I thought of a billion books with friendship groups, not just pairs, but whatever. My point is that those three are an excellent example of why more than two in a friendship can be awesome. And I love that they're all very different girls and the reason why they're friends is because they are. They love each other and they're friends and that's sometimes the best kind of friendship.

I now really want to re-read the series.

[altogetherisi.livejournal.com]

I saw that look between Minnie and Alo too! But then I decided that a) that pairing would be waaay too pale, lol, and also b) Minnie really really needs more friends. And I think Alo, for all his grossness, would actually make a pretty decent friend for Minnie without coming with much baggage or manipulating her or whatever. Plus, I can't really ship Alo romantically or sexually with anyone at this point. Just no. And yeah, Nick too really needs some proper mates, ones that aren't dicks and ones that he can be himself around, which is totally more of a dork and a sweetheart than he was letting people know before. So. I approve of the healing powers of Alo's friendship.

MINNIE/FRANKY IS WHERE IT'S AT, OK. OK. Also, Dakota Blue Richards is just so beautiful.

I just realised that probably one of the reasons I love Minnie so much is that her character has really developed, while most of the others have just kinda been revealed, but not yet changed. Hmmmm. Plus I was practically wailing at the TV about how she shouldn't be having rubbish sex that she doesn't even want with Nick, so if she gets to experience actually arousal and sexual enjoyment and goodness, even perhaps an orgasm :O with Franky or a female then that would be really rather excellent IMO.

Franky/Matty is just too much crazy and confusion in one place. Also, those beautiful cheekbones need to be shared with the world, not just with each other in some kind of elitist cheekbone appreciation society.

To conclude: Minnie/Franky because they both deserve someone better. Or something.