Let's play cards!

I can't stop thinking about how my friends, instead of going out clubbing, drinking, doing drugs, hooking up and having sex with randoms, are cool with just going to someone's house and playing cards, for HOURS, completely sober.
That's not to say we don't ever go out and drink, we do, it's just evenly balanced with nights of cards.

We're quite happy to take turns hosting either spur-of-the-moment or planned-in-advance card nights and spend hours playing games we already know or learning new ones.

Maybe it's old fashioned, something grandparents do and not young people-ish but I love it.

Tolkein

It's been so long since I've read The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings that I'd complete forgotten how different Tolkein's style of writing is.
I've been reading modern novels so long I forgot the style that used to be prevalent back when books were the main source of entertainment.
Tolkein's style is so completely different from anything I can remember reading before yet still fundamentally the same.
It does remind me of Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge though, they have the same split-narrative style where the story teller is half just telling the story and half talking directly to you, the reader.
At first it's a big confronting, no one really writes like that anymore and I think if anyone even did now it wouldn't be taken well. But then, like anything, you get used to it, this dialogue between long-dead author and reader makes the whole experience a little more intimate, a little more real, the story a little more real. Tolkien talks to you like you know these places they travel through, like you know about the existences of Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Wizards and accept it as fact.

Dear, dear Harry, we've reached the end again

I have read Harry Potter so many times I've lost count, I distinctly remember getting to the end of the Order of the Phoenix, flipping over and starting again straight away. No matter how many times I read each of them, or in what order, nothing compares to the indescribable feeling I get when I finish the Deathly Hallow. Despite the perfect ending ("all was well") I am always inexplicably sad. 7 long books and a substantial chunk of my life so far, and of my childhood always, is finished again and while I come back to Harry again and again I can't help but remember the excitement I felt when I picked this book up for the first time on its release date in 2007, nor the sense of finality when I reached that last page for the first time and knew Harry Potter was over forever.

As the wonderful woman, J.K. Rowling said: "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home" and she was right. Whether I be 10, 19, 25, 53, 67, 84 or any ages beyond or between Harry Potter will always be my default when I'm looking for amazing characters and intricate plot.
Harry Potter will never be a great work of literature, it has sporadic (mostly spoken by Albus Dumbeldore) moments of exquisite phrasing but it's the characters and the world J.K. created that keep you coming back.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, thank you J.K. Rowling, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing this world with us.

I'm a Winter

Part of me longs to live in a place where you take your jacket off when you go inside and put it back on when you go outside. While the rational part of my brain goes "Zo, the novelty would wear off REAL fast" and "You LOVE Australia, you know you're never going to leave!" the irrational side goes "EUROPEAN FASHION!! ENGLAND!! (because I know the only other place i'd live would be Europe and, most likely, somewhere the UK)" and, as we all know, the irrational side is a lot louder. Probably helps that it's waving a multitude of hot British and Irish personalities with their sexy-as-all-hell accents in front of my face (because, you know, my brain has arms).

Don't get me wrong, I am well aware that in the winter months even Australia can get that cold so maybe what I mean is that part of me longs for the lifestyle where "light layers" isn't the way to go, where thick jackets and coats are necessary to keep you warm when you're wearing nice, but thin, clothing underneath. A lifestyle that, for a short time at least during the Australian winter, I hope to one day achieve.

It also may just be a case of "grass is always greener" (though I like my grass a good heat and drought faded yellow thank you very much) and my ever present xenophilia.

I think, I have to admit that though I always say I can't decide between Summer and Winter which is my favourite season, that it's got to be Winter. Despite the sun and the outdoors of the Summer months, I love scarves and hats and beanies and coats and boots and hot chocolate (which always tastes better when it's cold) and sitting inside and watching the rain.

NEWS HEADLINE: ZOE IS AMAZING

I went to Zoe's the other night. We stayed up late watching game of thrones, eating ice cream, talking and drinking sour monkey. We ate party pies and sausage rolls for lunch. Then a couple of nights later she came over and we cooked tacos, finished game of thrones and headed off to the drive ins to see ruby sparks. She gave me shuttlecocks that light up so now we can play badminton in the dark! If that is not a thoughtful gift than what is? She doesn't get angry with me for talking through movies and she will even join in. We have similar interests. We enjoy reading, watching perhaps slightly trashy TV, and gossiping. Zoe is a fun person to spend time with and I enjoy spending time with her. Next week she has organised a girls night and I'm so psyched! One of the best things about Zoe is that she meets you halfway. I don't feel I have to put in a whole lot of effort because it just works. Zoe is a-mazing!

I just think you should check this out...

http://fozmeadows.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/why-ya-sex-scenes-matter/

Above is a link to a blog/article that I was introduced to via the wonderful 'happy-place' that is Tumblr.

Essentially (if you don't want to read the whole, admittedly long-winded, thing) it says that society, pop-culture, etc promotes a male-dominant image of sex for young teenage girls (and boys for that matter) who are just starting to explore the whole "sex thing." An image where it's "okay" if she says no and he doesn't listen. 
It says that Young Adult novels that involve sex scenes and the topic of sex in general are good because they're teaching young girls (as their target demographic) about how you should be treated, about contraception, about their own sexuality and bodies rather than the fucking we see on screen and in porn. 
And YA novels are teaching this to young girls in a positive and accepted way in that it's not prohibited. They're not like "dirty magazines" you have to hide or sex scenes on TV you have to change the channel on incase your parents walk in, it's in books you can read anywhere and it's acceptable which makes the themes and lessons it teaches acceptable and good and positive which they should be.

This blog post just kind of struck me a little because it got me thinking, YA books are how we learnt about sex, sure we did sex-ed and biology but these books are where we learnt how it feels or how it should feel and yes, I think that for the most part it's too much sunshine, daisies and fireworks but it's far better than the alternative society has produced.