And the Sorting Hat says...

Ah yes, the expected and very repeated Pottermore update. I know Pottermore opened last week but I hadn't had a chance to write until now - well, actually, I kept forgetting but you forgive me, right?

So, yeah, Pottermore. I really did not know what to expect, but I dived right in, although it did take me a few chapters to realise I could double click and zoom in to pick up more stuff.

I flew through the early chapters, loving J.K's notes (because I love her and extra background knowledge) but eager to get my wand and to get sorted. Diagon Alley was amazing - I adore the drawings for each chapter and the shops are brilliant! I picked up my books, wishing I could actually go to Florish and Blotts, bought a black cat, a cauldron and then finally, to Ollivanders. Childishly, I was actually jumping up and down a little on the bed, I was so excited. Average height, blue eyes, even birthday, right to the castle and whatever other questions there were and then... 10 3/4 Laurel with unicorn hair, surprisingly swishy. Cool! I looked up wand cores and woods, because I'm a nerd, and it says that laurel is suited for quests for glory and cannot tolerate laziness and unicorn hair is the most consistent and faithful. While my wand might get fed up with my laziness, I like it!

Then it was off to platform 9 and 3/4, where my increasingly sticky fingers picked up a Prefect's badge and then onto the train to Hogwarts! This is the point where I literally could not stop bouncing with excitement. I was going to get sorted!

Of course, it was a week ago so I can't remember all the questions I answered but I do remember picking wisdom out of power, glory or love and my biggest fear of heights. Then the moment of truth. Would I get put into Slytherin, the one I associate myself with? Or Gryffindor, the one I should be in? But, suddenly - Ravenclaw! YES! I get to be a major book-worm and know-it-all and don't have to put up with bitches and selfless heroes! Whoo-hoo!

I finished the first book in that one day, because even though I had work to do, this was obviously much more important! Most of my friends are on there too - I had to help one through Diagon Alley (she is not the most computer literate) and now she is stuck in Potions!

If you guys want to add me, my username is SwordScarlet26375. But comment me your username, otherwise I won't know who you are!

Until the Chamber of Secrets!

DFTBA Nerds!

As The Boyfriend was buying me my Easter present in the form of Looking For Alaska, the young woman behind the counter said it was a good choice, asked if we had read any of his other works, suggested Will Grayson, Will Grayson - it was her favourite. This, by itself, was awesome mostly because outside my friendship group, I haven't met anyone who knows who John Green is, let alone likes his books. But no. She did us one better. She showed us the bracelet she was wearing that says DFTBA.

This may not seem like much. I mean, apart from making me instantly want one, the bracelet did nothing. Nothing but show that there is still hope for the world, the awesome increased and my faith in humanity was restored! Yeah, pretend to read that last sentence like a Winston Churchill speech and you'll want to smack me on the head like I just did.

Anyway, my point was that it made me really, randomly happy to meet another nerdfighter behind the counter of Waterstones - although now that I think about it, where else are you going to find nerds other than book shops? You know, apart from gamer nerds in Game or in the corner of HMV.

In other news, my book review blog is going ok - I don't know what I expected but I've been stuck on 5 followers for the last few months. I've been devouring books lately, as it's the Easter holidays and I have work to do that I'd rather not so I read instead. I read Divergent in two days! If you are interested, or do me a huge favour and pass the word on, here is a link to it.

In other, reality related news, I have a lot of work to do over the next few weeks. I have a 2000 word essay, 2500 word essay, 3000 word essay and 3 more 600 journal entries to write. That is a lot of words! Oh and my CV and PDP (personal development plan) whose only purpose, as far as I can tell, is to depress us with our horrible prospects of the future after university. Yeah, we have to hand in our CV's to be marked. Weird, right?

I think I will leave you with some book-nerd news in the form of the new Jeaniene Frost book coming out in June:

Isn't it pretty? I want it to be June so much! Also because the next Morganville Vampire book will be out, Black Dawn. Already pre-ordered! Whoo, book nerds!

The Hunger Games

Dear readers and fans of the book,
       This review is likely to contain things that you would recognise from the book and therefore may not be considered spoilers but you have been warned! I will mostly be looking at how the movie compares to the book and their interpretations of the parts I love. It will also come to you mostly in bullet points as I cannot be bothered with full sentences.

- District 12 and the Hob were just as I imagined them - they were perfectly depressing, if you know what I mean!
- The Reaping was somewhat grander than I imagined. It was impressive how they all dressed up and Effie looked incredible - I cried a little at Prim and Katniss' obvious love for each other
- The Capitol was incredible - the costumes and the make-up really highlighted the Capitol's need for fashion and colour. Not to mention the extremeness of some of the Capitol's citizens!
- The tribute's entrance was amazing, so much more than I anticipated. And their costumes were just... wow! I have to admit, I really did not get all the other District's "thing", as it were, from their costumes - but I can't remember most of them anyway!
- Oh, the interviews. Cinna really bought out the confidence in Katniss and their relationship was presented really well, especially her searching for his face in the audience. And Peeta was even better than I thought! I don't know if it was the acting or what, but Josh Hutcherson hit the nail on the head all the way through.
- I loved the occasional interruptions by Casaer and Claudius' commentary of the Games - it reinforced that the Games are for the Capitol's enjoyment and it is just reality TV gone wrong - plus it helped to replace some of Katniss' narrative, like explaining the tracker jackers
- Rue was just incredible. She was lovely and small, and her hiding in training was really funny. Her alliance with Katniss was adorable - you can tell Katniss was reminded on Prim, especially when she curled up asleep next to her. I cried at her death and Katniss' reaction was just perfect, not to mention the flowers.
- The cave by the river scene was brilliant and adorable - and Peeta's camouflage was awesome!
- Haymitch - especially loved the little notes he sent Katniss - 'You call that a kiss?' - and seeing him getting them sponsers showed his dedication to them both, which you didn't really get in the beginning
- Oh, the nightlock. I have no words for how amazing Katniss and Peeta was in that scene

Small nitpicks:
- I have no idea why the Capitol pricked the kids fingers at the reaping
- The mutts didn't have the tributes eyes
- Really wanted Katniss to call out Peeta's name at the rule change but that's just me

Ok, I'm running out of adjectives so I'm gonna leave you with my final opinion: film adaptation of the Hunger Games = incredible!

Were versus Vamp

Yes, this is another "versus" post, and for that I apologise for the bad timing but this story? Completely true and worth it.

Last week, my boyfriend and I were watching Van Helsing, and I was interrupting with comments on its similarities (or not) with the books, and his little brother came in and watched parts of it with us. At some point, little brother asked me whether I'd rather be a werewolf or a vampire. Without even thinking, I answered vampire. He groaned, knowing I have a slight obsession with the mythological creatures of the night and we argued for and against vampires.

I said that, being a woman, I would be the ultimate seductress - I love that about vampires - but The Boyfriend had to ruin it by saying that male vampires are like that too. I am aware of this, but I don't care so much because I want to be the vampire, not just meet and be seduced by one.

I also argued that being a werewolf, you would have to transform painfully into another creature. The Little Brother said that being a girl, I would have two painful experiences a month. I had not thought of this - who would? - but it actually made me cringe and laugh because it is very true and another reason why, given the choice, I would never be a werewolf!

This leads me onto another quick story about vampires. One of my modules this year is on the Gothic genre and we have just started studying Dracula. You can see where this is going can't you? The few of my friends who read my blog can attest to this: my teacher is weird. Like really, genuinely insane. But in a good way. He is slightly obsessed with the Gothic, with vampires and blood, sexuality and innuendos. So our seminars are always good fun! Anyway, it Tuesday morning. 9 o'clock start, I hadn't woken up properly yet, and we were discussing the meaning and symbolism of blood in Dracula. Always a fun topic, especially when we go off on one and argue about the route of the phrase 'blue blood' and bring Trueblood and Harry Potter into this - you know, vampires and pure bloods? Keep up!

We talk about the greatest things with Bill in Gothic but seriously? We discussed Arthur's double meaning of Lucy's blood transfusions - he wanted to be the first one inside her, dammit! - and repeated "That's so" so much it was beginning to sound weird. It was fun and slightly gross but at least it woke me up!

Next time: I'm going to see The Hunger Games on Sunday so hopefully a review of some kind will follow in the next few days.

Slytherin vs Gryffindor

According to Wikipedia, Slytherin's are typically 'ambitious, shrewd, cunning, strong leaders, and achievement-oriented'. They also apparently think before acting. Albus Dumbledore thought that Salazar chose students that showed cleverness, resourcefulness, determination and 'a certain disregard for the rules'.

While I might think I show most of these traits, truth is I am a good and nice person (usually) and have more of a conscience than the typical Slytherin student and therefore could not sell out another student for my own safety. Saying that, I am incredibly selfish and jealous so... does that make up for it?

On the other hand, you have Gryffindor. Gryffindor traits include bravery, chivalry and daring. And even though Gryffindor's are into pointless heroics and Slytherin's actually think with their heads, the two houses are quite similar. They are both passionate in what they believe in, willing to bend the rules, clever and determined. Thus, when Pottermore finally opens to the public, I think I will be sorted into Gryffindor.

I think this is because while I know what the right thing to do is, I will not do it, for whatever reason. Usually this is because I am not stupid enough to sacrifice myself, however heartless that may sound. So while I think of myself as a good person, I am not reckless like certain Gryffindor's. And I am of course drawn to Slytherin, not just to be different, but because when I want something I fight for it, and while I am not career-driven or back-stabbing, I am jealous and bitchy and have a sick sense of humour.

Anyway, I've already a Slytherin tie - I'm not backing out now!

Now that I've said all that, I'm not sure what the point was of this! Until next time, what house are you in on Pottermore and do you think it's right?

Employability, or Depress Us With Adulthood

Yesterday, we had an Employability seminar. We have had a few of these this year and they mainly serve to teach us to plan for the future. Content ranges from CV's to networking. In fact, yesterday was our second lecture on networking.

This never fails to depress me. I am a naturally shy person - I feel better typing than talking, unless I genuinely know the person - so when we are forced to practice our 'Elevator Pitch', I die a little inside. For those of you who do not know, an Elevator Pitch is a hypothetical situation when you have roughly 30 seconds to sell yourself to your ideal employer. And I mean "sell yourself" in the most innocent sense!

Anyway, networking. This means using social or professional contacts to further your career. I want to go into publishing. The best contacts, I've got is my dad who works in roofing and my uncle who's a postman! my current network sucks!

And so, I am not above asking random strangers, anyone got any idea how to get into publishing/ editing? Considering I am a complete newbie?

In other news, I dyed my hair purple over the weekend. My hair is so dark, you can only really tell in direct sunlight!

Wow, this turned out a lot shorter than I thought it would - oh well, I've said all I wanted to. Until next time (when hopefully I'll have a better story to tell)!

Ultimate Classmates

My friend Sarah and I were feeling lonely yesterday in our seminar class. On a table of six, we were the only one's sat there. So, while we were waiting for our tutor to turn up, Sarah turned to me and said 'We don't need people to sit there, we can make some up!' And, pointing to the seat opposite her, she asked 'Who should sit there?' Without a moment's hesitation, I said 'Alan Rickman'. I have no idea what he could contribute to our seminar on 'The Woman in White' but I wanted him to sit with us.

This went on for a few minutes, getting funnier and more pathetic by the second, until we had a full table. Going anti-clockwise, starting with Sarah and then me, we had:
- Mary Shelley - we thought, as we were discussing the Gothic novel, we needed a Gothic author. Plus, we didn't want Horace Walpole, who kind of creeps me out
- Alan Rickman - for no other immediate reason then because I like him. Plus, we believe he would have something intelligent to say (more intelligent than us at least)
- Benedict Cumberbatch - I think he came up because we are currently obsessed with Sherlock and also because he has the most amazing voice. We both fantasised of him reading passages aloud from the novel
- Stephen King had to replace John Barrowman, as we felt John would not get on with Mary Shelley, due to his "extreme" personality. I originally wanted him to join us because with our tutor, we end up talking about sex or grave-diggers or other random topics that he thinks are relevant... anyway, I think John would find our talks hilarious.

And that's it. As the late-comers arrived, we actually found ourselves not wanting anyone to sit with us, as thy would take one of our imaginary guests away. During the hour's class, we did occasionally whisper to each other things like 'Imagine Benedict reading this out loud' or 'I don't think Mary Shelley would agree with that'.

Yeah, that is how sad and pathetic we are. Have any ideas who you would want to sit with you in class?

Anyway, I am spending this extra day of the year at university. I am currently in between classes and trying to write an essay on Joseph Andrews but failing miserably. Maybe that's because it's lunchtime? Hmm. Until next time!