A Familiar Difference

As my second semester begins I'm faced with a new timetable, new textbooks and a different schedule that I'm going to have to adjust to. On one hand my timetable is amazing, because I don't start most days till one, meaning I can sleep in, and I've also got Fridays off, but on the other hand, I don't finish until two hours later than last semester, and the lectures I have are all one after another each day, leaving pretty well no time to get from one end of the campus to the other between my lectures.

Anyway, none of this is really important, what actually is, is the activities that the new semester brings. Today they're setting up skiing by shipping in snow to the quad area of the university. There are also events which solely people who have a university ID card can enter, such as a concert by a couple of local musicians.

What seems to be the most surprising for me, however, is that coming back from a substantial break, I feel as if I haven't had a break at all. Not exactly in the sense that I'm tired, but that everything is so familiar. I know where I can go to have a quiet place, or sit down and do some work on my laptop, like writing this post for example. I also know how long it takes to get places. At the start of last semester, everything took twice as long because I had no idea where anything was. Now, I can walk down the street knowing exactly where I'm going, and if need be, what buses will get me where.

With my daily routine consisting of lectures, study and hanging out with friends, it makes me wonder how this would change. I know there was a huge difference between university and high school, so does that mean, there's going to be a huge change between university and full time work?

Anyway, what I wanted to do with this post was to get people to think about their own lives, their routines, schedules and daily rituals. Are you happy in your life? If your not, what can you do to change it? If you are, how can you make it even better for you and those who love you? I hope everyone can find their little piece of happiness, and know that wherever you are, someone loves and cares about you.

Anita Blake

This series by Laurell K. Hamilton has got to be one of the few that I am devoted to, although less as the series progresses. This lot of books has been a huge inspiration to me in my own writing, mainly as I often make fan fictions of series I enjoy, and this one is no exception.

I'll try not to give away any of the story in this post as I hate it when others do. I do have to say that the seventh in the series would have to be my favorite, then the first follows closely behind. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a read about the preternatural and supernatural. However, I'd place these books R16 and after about the 8th book, I'd place them as R18. They're raunchy, although I've been told that they don't compare to Fifty Shades Of Grey, but don't quote me, as I haven't read that series.

The main thing I like about this is the power of the main character, who the books get their titles from. She strong, mentally and physically, but she's realistic. For example, she has a great phobia of flying. For me this show of character helps to make the righting more believable, even with it being set in an alternate reality. 

An Amazing Woman

A video on YouTube which was uploaded recently has gone viral and I find appalling. It's a group of boys who bullied a school bus monitor. Using hundreds of insults ranging from her weight to threats to stab her, this amazing woman just sits there and takes it all, with only a small number of retorts, all of which are nothing compared to the boys insults.

This woman, Karen Klein, 68, went through something that she never should have.

This may not be your typical case of bullying, but it's bullying all the same. This sort of thing has to stop. This video is ten minutes of horrid language and cruelty towards this woman. Parents need to stand up and take responsibility for the parenting of their children. Denial can no longer stand by and watch this culture of bullying within society. Please do something to stop these bullying situations.

On a last word, I want to say to Karen that she is a truly amazing woman. All across the world we're supporting you, and you'll never be without a shoulder.

Examinations

Hi all, I'm not sure if many of you will have realised how little I've been posting recently, as I'm not certain how many of you are repeat visitors (if you are, thanks heaps). My absolute lack of consistent posting is mostly due to how busy university life has kept me. When assignments and tests are piled on I tend to neglect my blogging duties (sorry about that). Currently, as I'm sitting in my favourite campus coffee shop I'm procrastinating, and blogging is an amazing way to do this.

Exams have appeared in my life again and I'm dreading the amount of study I still have to go. I've sat three out of four exams but my hardest one is the one that I have left. Somehow I just can't bring myself to study for it, and that makes me wonder if many people are masters of procrastination like myself. I do, however, have a small excuse, I have only half an hour ago, walked out of my only exam for this week.

I do think I need to somehow thank the people responsible for my exam timetable though. It's been great. I've had almost a week between each exam, and although that means the whole thing is drawn out more, it also means that I can undertake more focused study between my exams and it's helped minimise my stress level.

Anyway, enough of the irrelevant, I wanted to ask you all, how many of you are repeat watches and if you've only just found me, how did you do so? Please help me make my posting more interesting by leaving comments bellow and help me to know what sort of people this blog appeals to, if any.

Operation Beautiful

Self esteem. A hard topic for many young people today. Operation beautiful is all about helping others get the confidence that every person should have within life. A good friend of mine writes 'PostIt' notes and places them around our university and the surrounding city. It's just one way which can make others feel good about themselves. I know that her words have helped me while in darker places.
Consider others for a day, it's all I wish. Help someone else realise their potential, after all, a friendly smile can go a lot further than most people realise.

http://operationbeautiful.com/

Dragon Age

Being usually unable to play many of the new games which come on the market due to my lack of the latest consoles I'm often stuck playing old games which have been around for years with out of date graphics and overused story lines. Thanks to my older brother, this changed for a night. He came to stay and brought his PlayStation 3 with him, along with an assortment of games. He pointed it out as soon as I got home and very quickly got into trying to convince me to give the games a go. He also knows full well that out of anyone in the family, I'm probably the biggest gamer, except for maybe him.

My reluctance to be pulled into a game was somewhat founded, as I have assignments due within the next few days, but he still managed to convince me, which, if I'm honest, didn't really take that long. Thankfully (sort of) I'd all but finished one of the assignments and had finished the other. So my night was wasted on a role playing game which I had read about, heard people talk about, but never had the opportunity to play. Dragon Age.

As soon as I started playing, it became very apparent that this was my sort of game, the sort I get hooked on all too easily. I couldn't get far into the game but I still enjoyed it immensely. It wasn't so simple that I was simply on auto-pilot, like many of a game is. I actually had to think a few times, using common sense and a little bit of initiative. It always bugs me when you get a game that looks good but turns out to be so simple it's not worth playing.

Being able to create your own character, starting with a simple background and skills to being either human, elven or a dwarf, it made the game more personal. Your character wasn't entirely generic so this helped add a vested interest. You wanted your character to do well because you created them, or that's partly how I felt anyway.

With a comprehensive background story it made the game more entertaining, you got to learn about the world you've been thrown into with the gaming experience and you got to make your own choices along the way. How you reacted to other characters and situations would partly determine how the game went. Schmooze the right people and they'd help you on your quest. Annoy someone and it could make your quest more difficult, it all depended what type of person you wanted your character to be. If you wanted to be an ass then you could be, and the same could be said in reverse.

Anyhow, I enjoyed the game, what little I got to play of it and am really hoping I get to try the computer version of it soon. If you're a person who enjoys a fantasy role play game, then I'd recommend Dragon Age. It's not just a game where you sit back and shoot, it's one where what you do counts for the rest of the game. Happy gaming everyone.

The Avengers

A movie that I had been looking forward to ever since I heard about it was the Avengers. Slightly more than a week ago I managed to go see it in the theatres and I was not disappointed, even if at times I found it a little predictable.

The action scenes were well done and were what pretty much the whole movie consisted of. Although at times I love to be able to sit down and really think about a movie and be guessing until the end, I was happy that I wasn't in that mood.

It is important, however, to make sure that you've seen all the other movies that this one revolves around before you see the Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor). I hadn't seen Captain America until after I saw the Avengers, so I found it slightly boring. That was simply because the Avengers gave a brief background of most of the hero's. It meant that I knew how Captain America ended before I'd even seen the first second.

If you're looking for a love story or a movie you could fall asleep in, then this would not be your movie, but if you want a fun, enjoyable watch, then I would say the Avengers would be good for you.
I also have the feeling that there could be a movie coming up revolving around Scarlett Johansson's character, The Black Widow, but I could be wrong there.

Beginning A New Chapter

Recently I made decision which, I think, has already changed my life. Within today's world it's more than easy to become very insecure and shy away from anything that you fear. I have been one of those people who let fear rule every action I made, and that had greater consequences than one might think.

Being controlled by my fear not only made me miss out on many experiences and situations because I'd avoid the unknown, but I also started to become very angry and bitter. The inner fight with myself would make me feel so lost that whenever someone else would question me I'd get extremely offended, no matter how small the issue was. I started to realise I was turning into the type of person I really never wanted to be. I knew I had to make a change, but the hardest part was actually following through with that change.

I made I conscious choice to overcome my fear, literally. At first my goal was to do something at least once a week that I was afraid of. However, I found this was too easy to avoid. The week was too long and I'd end up developing excuses to why I couldn't do it that week. So I changed my tactic somewhat. My new goal became to face fear in the face whenever the situation arose. I had to keep a level head and follow through with the action, whatever that might be.

Anyway, my point here isn't to monologue but to share a piece of advice that I truly wish I'd followed sooner. Feel the fear and do it anyway, or do something everyday which frightens you. I can't explain how liberated I now feel. I am learning my own power and am developing ways to use it. I can actually do things that make me feel sick to the stomach when thinking about them. But I think at the same time you need to be sensible about the way your approach things. If you fear something because it's dangerous, then think it through. If the risk is high, perhaps move to the next thing. The last thing I want to do is encourage people to put themselves in jeopardy.

Use common sense, but never let worry or self doubt get in your way. We're all capable of great things, the way we get there is through courage and faith. Keep the Faith.

As a good friend of mine recently told me, there can be no courage without first there being fear.

Hype

I'm sure most, if not all of you would have heard about 'The Hunger Games'. A couple of weeks ago I saw it in the theaters. I wont deny that I enjoyed it. But I'm not sure I'd by into all the hype surrounding it. I had it worked out from about twenty minuets in and was just having my suspicions confirmed throughout the rest of it. I did, however, love the idea of a female heroine. We're surrounding with so many ideas that women are soft and weak and couldn't beat a man without cheating somehow. It makes growing up as a young woman very difficult at times. The introduction of a strong and unique female character, I hope, will make being a girl that little bit nicer.

Whether or not others enjoy this movie is entirely down to personal choice, but if it means anything at all into your choice to see it, then I would watch this movie again. I thought that the undertaking of this film was well done and I didn't pick up anything that I could identify as poorly executed. I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's the next 'Harry Potter', but I do think that 'The Hunger Games', could be one of the defining films of an era. 

An Acceptance and Expression of Gratitude

My younger sister is in a matter of months is due to be published. It will be her first works to be published and it is a series titled 'Genetics'. I am extreemly proud of her and wish her all the best for her book. I would also love to thank her for her touching words on her blog earlier today. You can find her at:
http://reeganhill.blogspot.co.nz/

I would ask that you give her some of your time. She really is a lovely person and her writing seems to be rather skilled. She's only alowed me to read snippets of this fist book, so I will be as interested as any of her perspective readers. I've seen the many hours of hard work she's put into her writing and how that's effected her. She's even managed to get RSI from writing too much.

Check out her blog for more details about plots, release dates etc.