Will Grayson Will Grayson

Book #1 Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
I love good young adult (YA) fiction and this book is one such example. Co-authored by two of YA's finest authors it is a triumph of wit, grit and substance. The story is about two boys, from different areas, who both happen to be in the same place for long enough to meet. They are both called Will Grayson. One Will Grayson is authored by John Green (Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska) and the other by David Levithan (Nick and Norah's infinite playlist) and the narrative is told chapter about. The novel explores being gay, being in love, getting through high school and the difficulties associated with the aforementioned things. It's pretty hilarious and I laughed out loud on more than one occasion.

Will Grayson (whose name is always capitalised) is trying to live his life without being noticed, which is hard when your best friend is a 6ft 6" American Football player called Tiny, who is also the gayest boy in school and writing a musical about his life!
will grayson, who is never capitalised (in fact there is no capitalisation in his chapters) is on medication for depression and the only person he has found who understands him is a boy he's friends with online named issac.

I flew through this one, the narrative was witty, the characters completely three dimensional and there were some cracker quotes. My favourite character was a smart indie girl called Jane who makes every scene she is in utterly brilliant. Will Grayson says of her;

"Sometimes I think, like, God, she's superhot and smart and kind of pretentious but the pretentiousness just makes me kind of want her, and then other times I think it's an amazingly bad idea, that dating you would be like a series of unnecessary root canals interspersed with occasional makeout sessions."

and she says of herself;
"'There are probably some girls who don't want guys to show up at their house randomly on a Tuesday night with questions about Edward Schrödinger. I am sure such girls exist. But they don't live at my house.'"

She almost made the book for me! But my favourite quote came near the end;

"This is why we call people exes, i guess -- because the paths that cross in the middle end up separating at the end. it's too easy to see an X as a cross-out. it's not, because there's no way to cross out something like that. the X is a diagram of two paths."

I really loved that, because I've always hated the term ex to describe someone who's been a part of your life. Just because they aren't in your life in the role they once were doesn't mean they aren't important in the story of the person you have become. It's a very sad two letters, like you've lost a part of yourself when the relationship ends. But actually I don't think that's true. I love the image of a relationship being a diagram of two paths, which meet in the middle for a while and then journey on. I found it pretty beautiful if i'm honest. It's not a cross out, it's not a mistake or a failure, it's just a reference point on the path of your life, a map that shows who you've become and how you got to that place.
That's nice.


N.B. I always love reading the acknowledgements page at the end of a book, and hidden in here was one that said; 'we acknowledge that being the person God made you cannot separate you from God's love'
There was no mention of anything like this in the novel itself and I really liked it hidden in here amongst all the others (which are pretty funny).

Of shorelines, ambles and good friends

I had a wonderful New Years Day.
Sundays are always 'friend' day, I usually end up spending around 8 hours with friends on a Sunday and it always sets me up nicely for the week. I can go into Monday knowing that whatever happens that week I have amazing people around who will be there for me! Today began with an amble around Helens Bay and lunch in the Crawfordsburn Inn, which is beautiful. Then a trip to see the 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' which didn't disappoint, followed by a delicious dinner of lamb with dauphenois (sp?) potatoes and red cabbage cooked by the glorious hand of our friend Matt.

I was never a really big one for resolutions, but i've been looking forward to 2012 for a long time... from the 6th July 2005 to be exact. I was 16, doing a summer mission, sitting in a church hall, eating lunch on the Cregagh Road (little knowing i'd be living there in 5 years) when I heard the news that London had won the 2012 Olympic bid. To say I was excited was an understatement. Some people like trains, some people like birds or chess or pressing flowers... I like the Olympics! I think I ran around the room a few times and jumped up and down, I was planning my summer 2012 way back in 2005.
I can't quite believe the year is here, back when I was 16 being 23 seemed ancient, and here I am, still feeling some days that I am still 16! So what do I hope for 2012, the year I've been waiting for?

There's so much I can't really even begin to blog it! Maybe i'll make a list, because that’s what you do at the end of years, and then you make a list for what’s going to happen in the next one. I like lists. I find myself making them quite often. Top 5 films, books, songs, foods... I could make a list of lists I like to make! Because I don't really like resolutions here's a reflection list


what i’ve learnt about myself in 2011

1. People actually like me and I shouldn't be afraid to be myself.
2. I can play the violin, badly
3. It's true when they say Latin is very hard to learn!
4. I don't really like Barrys in Portrush (I went for the first time)
5. I found a group of people in church who really 'get me'
6. I am getting better at writing- I had a piece of my work published
7. Joining a gym isn't hard, going as often as you should is!
8. Nothing can ever prepare you for the death of a child, and there is nothing that can be said to make anything better.
9. God is eternally faithful and even though I don’t always understand, or even know exactly what I believe, he is a good God.
10. Radio 4 kicks ass!
11. That end of term feeling is even better as a teacher than a pupil
12. Life isn’t always simple, but it’s much too short to live in bitterness or regret.
13. Love is complicated
14. I really like chilli cheese fries from Bens Chilli Bowl on U Street in Washington DC
15. Nothing makes a school more than a friendly staffroom!
16. Say no sometimes- otherwise you will be standing by the side of a swimming pool in Ballymena on a Saturday morning with a stop watch at a gala!
17. A whole bottle of wine will give you a headache the next morning!


The thing with lists is ending them, this one could go on for a while. So I will finish on 17.

My hope for 2012 is that I would be happy, that I would be employed and the one challenge I am setting myself (it's a tall one) is to read 100 books this year. Hopefully this will give me some blogging ammunition

Reflections at the foot of Slieve Donard

This week I spent a heavenly day relaxing in the Spa at the Slieve Donard in Newcastle. It’s been a long time since I stayed in the hotel, and as a child I remember loving going there because everything was so big and grand. I was looking forward to a distraction free day, but I shocked myself by how much I craved sharing what I was doing digitally!

So i got to thinking, how reliant am I on technology? I always was a pretty serious texter but I must admit, since I got a smartphone (something I swore I would never do) I am a Facebook addict. Not only that but I tweet, I check-in and I hashtag my #thoughts and #actions. As I lay in the darkened relaxation room after my treatment (an excellent facial) I was reading my new Kindle (which, by the way I am in love with) I had to resist the urge to check Facebook (because apparently you can do that on the new Kindle 3G, who knew?!) Why am I so obsessed with being connected? I was perfectly content in that room, reading my book, relaxing music in my ears. Why was I being tempted by Facebook? Why was I not content to live my life in real time? I wanted to live it online too- to share it with cyberspace

I think it lies in some of my own insecurities. I feel like I need others to give myself worth, but I have often felt like I am not seen. Not the funniest, not the prettiest, not the most intelligent. I think it’s the curse of being a woman, we all have our little insecurities that we know are completely unreasonable, but we indulge them anyway! It’s not as if i’m afraid of my own company. I don’t mind being on my own, in fact I actually quite enjoy solitude and space to be alone with my thoughts, however if life is not shared with others what joy is there in it? It’s like playing an award winning one man show to an empty theatre. Having an audience there doesn’t make the content of the show better or worse, but sharing it with others is what makes the performance worthwhile. The things that I do in my life aren’t going to be more spectacular just because there’s someone there to tell about them, but it does make life a bit more fun. And lets face it, a play of my life would be award winning!!

When I was in Ibiza with 24/7 prayer this summer I got to meet a lot of new and interesting people. As a way to get to know each other we each got to ask a question every time we were at the dinner table (mainly because that was the easiest place to get everyone together at once!) The questions ranged from silly things like your favourite colour, to the deep stuff like your greatest fear. My favourite question, which I still don’t really have an answer to was;
‘If you were a stick of rock, what words would be written in your core’
You see there are a lot of things I like; cricket, Holby City, cheese, violin, my friends, literature, skiing, chutneys, shooting, excellent food. All good things and all part of who I am, but I don’t think any of these things are what makes me ME at the core of my being.
Two things that make me tick are community and conversation. I love people, especially interesting people and save my old history teacher I have yet to meet an uninteresting person. I love hearing peoples stories and I love just being with people, it lifts my spirits and makes me feel like I belong somewhere, which I think is important.

I find nursing homes the most wonderful and depressing places on the planet. Wonderful because of all that life experience, all that knowlege, all those stories in one place and depressing because they are just sitting on wipe down armchairs with birds in cages waiting for the end. Whenever I think about how I would like my life to turn out, I never see the perfect house, the dream wedding, the wonderful husband and the 2.3 children and a dog. Instead I think about the places i'd like to go, the people I would like to meet and the things I'd like to discover. When I'm old and I look back at my life and the person i've become I want to think 'yea, I had a great time on this wonderful, awe-inspiring and diverse planet.'

Spiced Parsnip Soup

My house smells divine! I have just made the most delicious spiced parsnip soup... If I do say so myself

from

to...

RECEPIE
300g of chopped Parsnips
150g chopped Potato
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
50g butter
1 Tablespoon Curry powder
1.2 Litres of vegetable stock
1 block creamed coconut

Method
1. Melt butter in a saucepan and add chopped garlic and onions. Cook for 5 minutes without browning
2. Add the stock, chopped potatoes, parsnips, creamed coconut and curry powder
3. Simmer for 20-25 minutes or until parsnips are tender
4. Blend the soup until smooth

I garnished mine with a little double cream and some tobacco onions (fry a thinly chopped onion coated in flour and paprika)

It was YUMMY! A real winter warmer treat!

Christmas Shopping

I like Christmas shopping- don't get me wrong. But sometimes It just feels oh so very monotonous!

I have had a ridiculously unproductive week this week. It's been awesome! I've been to some great local gigs, drunk mulled wine with good friends and had new adventures. I'm pretty happy right now sitting in bed, typing this! However, i'm simply delaying the inevitable. At some stage in the next hour I will get out of bed, brave the cold and the crazy shoppers and make my way into the city centre to do my last bits of shopping.

Wish me luck

The Global Coffee Establishment

On days when everything I love about this city vanishes, when grey skies erase Harland and Wolf, when Napoleon and his nose appear to never have existed, I like to go somewhere that feels safe. Somewhere that never changes, a place that appears in countries the world over. Indeed it is only when claustrophobic skies erase the identity of my city that I am happy to pay a visit to the global coffee shop.
Coming from the rain into the embrace of a myriad of roasting aromas is heaven. The finest Columbian and Ethiopian blends hang in the air, the familiarity of them like walking into a full bodied hug.

An unexpected but pleasant chat with friends reminds me of the warmth of the heart of this city, even on the very cruelest of days. When you consider it, this is really quite a homely establishment, once, of course, you see past the furniture and decor that is recreated in 17,000 stores in 55 countries. I am unsure if my rudimentary google on my smartphone has produced figures that would stand up in a court, but I am reasonably sure that they are more transparent than George Galloway’s quest to reinstate capital punishment. (A topic of conversation from earlier spontaneity.)
The music transports me to a Speakeasy in Chicago surrounded by a jazz band, friends sipping rum cocktails and ladies with pearls, possibly diamonds hanging from their necks. A burst of cold air from the opening door reminds me that I am not.
Behind the coffee bar Stu works his magic. The hiss and steam and froth transform solid and liquid into little drops of heaven poured from his hand. The green apron worn by thousands of employees the world over tries to hide his closet ghetto obsession, but it can’t quite erase the green in his eyes as he considers the feelings his girlfriend Emma holds toward Rihanna. Nor his conviction that all this country needs to kick start the economy are a few more R&B superstars annoying local farmers and filming in our ‘ghettos’.

As the minutes tick by people trickle in and out, a near constant stream of customers all escaping the driving rain. My coffee, now as cold as the rain outside, declares that it is time to move on. And as I step outside into my city again I leave the bustling coffee shop to it’s global work.

On my journey home I spy Sampson and Goliath peeking through a tiny patch of blue.

A welcome return

Over the past few years I have neglected any kind of regular blog. I've put things up on blogs here and there, and used 'notes' on Facebook a lot, but I'm going to try and make a return to regular blogging. Stay tuned for an assortment of oddities