Saturday, 30 June 2012
Disneyland report: New parade + evening show with pictures!
Dear reader,
Yes, I once
again went to Disneyland Paris.... And it was awesome! Because Disneyland celebrates
its 20th anniversary they have a new parade and a new evening show when the
park closes. Especially the latter is freaking awesome! :D They also have a new Park show: the Adventures of Tarzan.
As I have
already written so many Disneyland reports this blog post will be a bit
different. :) I have chosen to describe the new parade (with pictures) and
write a bit about the new evening show rather than tell you what we did, when
we did it and where we ate haha. Of course I will also write a short paragraph about
the things which I have bought ;).
Sunday, 24 June 2012
My super pretty bag! :D
Dear readers,
Just a
small blog post this time about my truly awesome (and super expensive!) bag. As
those who have been following my blogs regularly know by now; I really love to
have a unique bag. Whenever I need a new bag I really spend my time searching
for one that not everyone one has. Well this bag definitely ticked all the
boxes.
As I will
be going to conferences and will be starting a PHD next semester I thought I
was in need of a bag that was a lot more formal than the backpack or messenger
back that I usually use... Or well that's the reason I used to convince myself (yes
I had to convince myself because of the price hahah).
The bag is
from a Japanese brand which specializes in Gothic Lolita clothing and
accessories. I have ordered it through a Dutch Gothic Lolita store called
Mfashion (www.mfashion.eu). The bag is handmade, faux leather (no animals have
been hurt :D). Because of the ruffles it looks formal and yet cute! Aaannnddd.... you can use it both as a shoulder bag and as a backpack! :D
Pictures:
I really
really really love the bag! Let me know what you think about the bag guys! :D
Love,
Blacky
Monday, 18 June 2012
PHD position! :D
Dear readers,
Yesterday I received an e-mail which stated that I was
admitted into the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis as an externally funded
PHD student! :D I am just over the moon! (And super hyper for that matter).
As an externally funded student I will not receive any
funding from the University itself, but I will not have to pay any tuition fees
either! Moreover, I will be able to make use of all the facilities which the
University offers to funded PHD students as well. Amongst others, I will
receive a desk at one of the offices which have been made available for the
ASCA PHD students (insert a squeal here) and I will be allowed to follow the
courses which provided by ASCA and the Graduate School of Humanities. They even
have a teacher training course, which I hope I will be allowed to attend.
So, I will be doing research for at least 3 to 4 years
(if not longer) into the denial of death in British Victorian Novels. If that
is not happiness then I do not know what is (I am sure my fellow Victorians
will understand exactly what I am saying :D).
As it is not a funded position, I will be looking for
funding outside University so I will be able to generate an additional income.
As things are now I will have to continue to work for two days a week, which I
do not mind doing at all. However, ideally I would like to spend 5 days a week
on my research. I am definitely planning on applying for a funded position with
ASCA for next year. Who knows: if I work really hard, they might decide to fund
me :D (Not like I would not have worked hard otherwise… lol I believe my system
does not have a setting other than ‘working hard’ hahah).
Honestly, part of me did not dare to hope that I would
actually get accepted, as it seemed like such a long shot. I know that for the
funded positions there were about 400 applications (and only 5 positions!). I
am not sure how many applications they had for a non-funded position, but I am
sure that I should be lucky to get in.
I honestly cannot wait for the start of next year… and
this year is not even over! I am currently still waiting for my supervisor’s
feedback on my Master thesis. The prospect of a PHD really does give me a huge
motivational boost.
Well that’s it for my hyperactive rambling about
getting the PHD position.
Love,
Blacky (prospective PHD student *squeal*).
Friday, 15 June 2012
All kinds of things to write about
It has been a while (again!) since my last update. My life has been rather hectic lately. Well
let’s get to it, cause I have a LOT of catching up to do lol ;). I wrote this blog post a week ago, but forgot it at work... So here it FINALLY is. :) Expect a couple of blog posts more during the coming couple of days!
I have been suffering from a severe back ache for about a month now. In the beginning it was
so bad that I could hardly sit behind my computer, but fortunately, it is hurting a lot less. I
will be going to the doctor again this week, just to make sure (since it is still hurting >.<).
About two weeks ago I started the process of writing my Master thesis after having read a
loooottt of books. I have pretty much finished the writing of the thesis, so now I am waiting for my supervisor to get back to me with feedback. Currently, my thesis is about 13500 words.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Another busy bee update
Dear
readers,
I am truly
sorry for the lack of updates really, but as usual I have been idiotically
busy... So I guess this will be another of those apologetic updates in which I
explain what I am doing and why I don't update hahah. Please bare with me.
First of
all, school really is getting to me right now. At the moment I am working hard
to finish a book of 558 pages (e-reader format) before the end of this week (I
set myself the task to finish this book in one week... >.> what am I
putting myself through?!). The book that I am reading is called The Doctor's Wife and is written by Mary
Elisabeth Braddon. It is without a doubt the most boring Victorian novel I have
ever read (there is no action in it what so ever!) and the heroine definitely
deserves the Oscar for most annoying wretch ever. But thankfully I only have
about 140 pages left hahha. Some of you might wonder: why bother to read it
then? Well, because I have no choice. I have to read this book for the course
Sensation and Gothic Fiction, I will be doing a presentation on it for that
course and I will be using the book for my Master thesis. Honestly, the book is
boring as hell, but it's a damn good example to support my argument with
^__^".
Monday, 2 April 2012
Women and Death review
Dear readers,
Well I thought it high time for another review. This review is on Women and Death: Linkages in Western Thought and Literature by Beth Ann Bassein. I hope you will enjoy it.
Review:
I have to
admit that I was less taken with this book than I expected to be. In this book Ann Beth Bassein tries to portray the ways in
which women are linked to death in Western culture. What I found the most
problematic of this studies is that Bassein's idea of Western culture seems to
be limited to the English speaking parts of America, France and England. With
this her study necessarily generalizes quite a bit and the reader cannot help
but think it best if she had restricted her work to either American or English
literature (or perhaps both).
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Once Upon A Time
Dear readers,
I wanted to
write a blog post on a series that I am completely addicted to. I usually am
not one of those people who steadily follows series (no, not even those Disney
cartoon series like the Rescue Rangers etc.), but this series has definitely grabbed
my full attention. The series that I am referring to is called Once Upon A
Time.
It is a new
series which is currently still being aired in America. The series centers
around a town called Storybrook. All the people who live in that town are
characters from fairytale land who have been sent to the real world through a
curse, cast by Snow White's evil queen. In the town time has stopped and no one
is able to leave the town... If they try 'terrible things happen'. None of the
characters (well... perhaps with a few exceptions) have any memories of their past
lives in fairytale land; no memories of true loves kiss or even of a faithful
bite in an apple. The evil queen has done everything in her power to prevent a
happy ending for any of our favorite fairytale hero's and heroines. There is
only one person that can break the curse; the only one that got away... The
daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.
After
reading my summary some of you might think that the story must be filled with
clichés. The opposite is true. Many of the stories have been reworked and
although I am a huge fan of the originals, some of them have become just a tad
more interesting. Due to the many plot twists the story is completely
unpredictable, causing you to be pleasantly surprised during almost every
episode.
The cast
(the names will lead you straight to their IMDB pages) has some outstanding
actors such as Jennifer Morrison (who plays role of Emma, the daughter of Snow
White and Prince charming), Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White) and Lana Parrilla (the, very, very convincing evil queen). Though the most superb actor, who really makes the show, is
Robert Carlyle who plays the role of Rumplestiltskin.
I can hear some of you
think: Rumplestiltskin? That cannot possibly be all that special.... Well you
would be surprised! As I said before, they reworked some of the stories
completely and the story with perhaps the most impressive makeover is that of Rumplestiltskin.
He has been turned into the ultimate bad guy; the puppet master who carefully
manages the entire charade. He almost takes on the role of Satan: if you want
your wish to be granted, you will have to give him something in return. For, 'all
magic comes with a price, dearies'. This price can be a variety of things: your
first born or maybe just your coat. Upon first seeing Rumplestiltskin you will
find yourself thinking: OMG this guy just freaks me out. O.o He is evil and
completely mad! But the more you see of this character, the more you find
yourself mysteriously attracted to him, even to the point that you can actually
imagine why the other characters accept a deal with him. Throughout the series
you will find out how Rumplestiltskin became the evil man he is now (for 'evil
is not born, it is made') and you will gradually actually start to understand
him, which makes him even more compelling as a character. (Urgh! It is so hard
not to insert any spoilers, cause he is just so freaking awesome!).
The first
season will have 22 episodes in total and tonight they will be airing episode
17 'Hat Trick', which will center around the Matter Hatter from Alice in
Wonderland. I just can't wait to download the episode tomorrow morning! :D
Well I hope
that this review will have induced some of you to actually go and watch the
series, because I really do believe that this show deserves a very wide fan base.
If you wish to know where you can download the episodes, let me know in a
comment and I will give you the link ;).
Love,
Blacky.
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