Rock of Ages - Movie

So apparently Tom Cruise can sing...

I first heard of this movie while on a date. I immediately wanted to see it. I had no idea what it was about or who was in it, but 'Rock of Ages' by Def Leopard is one of my all time favourite songs.
Unfortunately the guy didn't work out, but seeing the movie did.

Last week my family and I managed to rent this movie from the DVD store. Watching it on a rainy day while eating junk food and singing along to every song.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I won't give away the plot, but I'd say it would be worth a watch for anyone who enjoys eighties music. I loved it and it set me in high spirits for days. 

Point of View

Recently I've noticed something. My point of view on life can be dependent on the weather, and so can my writing. I tend not to write when I'm in a bad mood because it comes across in the story. The tone of my writing changes. It's something I've been attempting to change, but have not yet had the success I require. A good day translates to decent writing, where a bad day does the opposite.
So I do my best to avoid bad days for my writing's sake, but this isn't really a way to continue. I need to find a way to detach my feelings from what I'm writing. The story requires an emotion of its own, and forcing myself to feel that emotion can be unhealthy, and waiting until I feel that way makes my writing process slow.
I'll let you all know if I make any progress on this front, but for now, I'll continue working how I always have. So far its worked for me, hopefully I'll be able to find another way which works too.
Peace out y'all.

Dedicated

Just a few hours ago I started up a new twitter account dedicated to all my writing. If you're interested for a little more information, check me out at https://twitter.com/AlyssaHillWrite 

Keep being amazing everyone.

Three More Days

Including today, it's only a mere three days until I go on study leave and be done with lectures for the rest of the year. I can't tell you how insane that feels, but it does make me wonder what life will be like next year. I'm changing my course completely, even moving faculties  as I'm finding the art history here far too basic. I'm loosing my passion for it and I can't let that happen.
Wednesdays are my days which I use to tie up any loose ends. For most of the day I'm alone, so I have a lot of time to do nothing much. It's my day to finish any study I should have already done, write blog posts if I feel I have anything to say, and just generally organize things. Sitting downstairs in the business building drinking coffee is pretty much what my day looks like, if you throw the laptop into the mix anyway.
For some reason, today has inspired me to have a look at the year just been and the one that could be coming up. Very soon it will be my little sisters seventeenth birthday and that's made me realize that I don't actually have that much time up my sleeve. Time has passed so quickly.
Maybe it was seeing an ex who I haven't seen in a long time, or noticing the difference in my own attitude which has sparked my inspiration, but whatever it is, I've decided one thing.
I don't want to waste another moment stressing about what others think of me or being too hard on myself. I want to be my own person. I want to live my life the way I deserve to and not feel bad for that. I also want to spread a little advise. It has helped me this year, although I haven't always been good at practicing it.

Take every moment as it comes and live life the way you want to live it, not how someone else convinces you should. 

Of course this advise is relative, I mean, don't go out hurting people because I worded it wrong, but be who you actually are, not who you tell other people you are. 

Sick of Being Slow

With the start of University this year I bought a laptop with some of my loan. It's taken me a while, but I've finally gotten around to getting rid of Internet Explorer and moved onto using Google Chrome. So far, even though it's only been a few days, I like the change. It is mostly because Chrome somewhat resembles the apple browser Safari, which I love. I've tried Safari for windows but didn't enjoy it at all. There's something about the compatibility with the windows operating system which simply isn't as nice when it's on a mac computer. 

Anyway, I've been finding a lot more user friendly browser than explorer. Technically I knew it was going to be better, but I'd never used it before. It's nice and simple to use and everything seems to be in a logical place. I have spoken to a couple of people who prefer explorer, but the majority I've talked to about that topic prefer Chrome. I'm quickly finding that I should have changed sooner. 

To anyone still stuck using Explorer who might be finding it annoying, like I was, and want an easy alternative, I'd recommend giving Chrome a thought. 

Progress

My book I'm currently working on that I've titled 'The Vatican' is coming along nicely. Currently I'm sitting at my desk searching for some inspiration to finish writing chapter 13. So far, even in the planning, it has to be one of my favourites so I want it to be perfect. I've got the word document open on my laptop and am blogging on my desktop.

I am pleased to say that I've reached about a third of the way through story line wise. it's coming together nicely but I'm doing my best not to rush the process. I don't want to ruin the story because I was too eager to get it down.

I'll put a snippet up from this chapter soon. I'm more than excited to be getting to this point. 

It's My Life

Recently I've realised something. No matter how hectic or busy my life becomes, I always make room for music and writing. I've attempted a couple of times to join both interests into lyrics, but I've found I don't have that skill at the moment. Even when my daily life if far from predictable, I will always make at least five minutes to right something and to listen to my music.
Skipping through my ipod selections can sometimes be interesting. Just now it jumped from Avenged Sevenfold to Van Halen then Adele. Many people seem to have more specific tastes, but mine jump around. For example, I can go from listening to Disturbed to Sir Mix-A-Lot. It can be confusing sometimes.
Anyway, I think my rant concerning my music is over. Hope y'all enjoy the rest of your day. I'm off to do something productive.

Road Tripping

Last week, while I was off uni for my mid semester break, my sister, dad and I went road tripping around some of our area. We saw some of the sights that the top of the north island has to offer and I was reminded how beautiful the country I live in is. Along the way I took many pictures t remember the trip by and spent a couple of nights in different motels. seeing sights ranging falling down churches in the middle of nowhere, the oldest church in the country and a tree thought to have been a seedling around the time of christ.

It really is amazing to see what New Zealand has to offer. Although I'd been to most places before, visiting your own backyard is always interesting. I really enjoyed the trip even though it meant spending hours sitting in a car over three days. 

Change of Network

So a little while ago I did a post pretty much ranting about the cellphone networks in New Zealand. I'd used the services of the two main contenders and hadn't been satisfied with either. I was having money go missing when with Vodafone and coverage issues with Telecom, although I'd been with Telecom years earlier (their coverage is better now). However, both, I feel, have very poor customer service and are far too expensive. For a long time, it was like choosing your lesser evil.
Recently I had a little extra money to play with for the week and saw a deal on a new phone and sim package from 2Degrees. For a while I'd been wanting to try them out, so when this came up I pounced. It didn't help Vodafones case with having had five dollars from my account with them go missing about two weeks earlier. I will admit that the young lady I spoke with on the phone was very friendly and happy to help, but I didn't get all my money back. That event was the straw that broke the camels back.
Anyway, I've been with 2Degrees for almost two months now and so far I'm more than happy. I haven't had one issue that was very noticeable for long. I can't say they're perfect though. For about four hours a couple of weeks back I wasn't receiving any txt messages (and yes, I do know that people were txting me and it wasn't just a lack of that). In all reality this didn't really bother me. My best friend is on Telecom and she gets that regularly, but it's for a number of days, not simply a few hours.
But I couldn't sing 2Degrees praises louder. They're cheaper, nicer to deal with, more reliable and it's easier to monitor your account with them. I would  any advise any other kiwi's still putting up with the other two to ditch them. Support New Zealand business and back the little man I say. Anyhow, peace out.

Bouncy, bouncy

Well do I have a story for you guys. Today, while coming home from Uni, the car started to swerve across the road. I was in the back seat sitting next to my little sister and mum said we had a flat tire. My immediate thought was that it'd be okay.
It took me a moment to realise, where we were was a particularly dangerous stretch of road and has no cell phone reception. Next thing we know, the back right hand side of the car drops down and all control is lost.
The wheel appeared bouncing ahead of us, bouncing down the road. Slowly we came to a stop and assessed the situation. My step dad walked up the road to call for a tow truck and we managed to find a tiny spot of cell reception. We managed to get a hold of my sister and she came and got us.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, an hour later than normal, we're home, all safe, but with an amazing story to tell our mates. One lesson here (and we've to a tire guy), tighten your wheel nuts properly, cause if you don't, you could be seeming it bouncing off ahead of you.