The End (before the beginning) of Summer

"I had a dirty McDonalds," I said.  It was the end of my break and the cinema going public hadn't shown up for our attractions.

"What did you have?" asked Enya.

"A Spicy Veggie sandwich.  Large fries.  A Twix McFlurry and a Tropicana."

"What do you mean 'a dirty McDonalds'?  You're a vegetarian.  You can't even do 'a dirty McDonalds' without still being healthy."

Enya's probably right.  I spend a lot of time worrying about my diet.  Whether or not I'm taking in enough fibre or Vitamin C.  Maybe not looking at the salt content on packages of food that I don't expect to be much of.  Or generally treating each day as a Saturday and therefore it's fine to have that large Salted Popcorn, Large Pepsi Max and that bag of White Chocolate Buttons*.

Right now there are noodles cooking.  Noodles that I will sprinkle Soy Sauce into.  

Memories of being a student and dealing with whatever tidbits you had left in your cupboard.  

I miss those days.

I've been busy.  And because of this my grocery shopping has not occurred.  

And it is with this excuse I also make claim of why my blogging hasn't managed to be seen for too long.

So it is now, on the longest day, that I make my return.

As a child I would be taught that after the 21st June, each day would have less hours of daylight.  That already we were heading into winter.  Which is a trifle unfair.  Imagine getting your summer holidays from school but being told that it's no longer summer.  As a child who over thought, this was depressing.

Similar, a few years ago was the late Linda Smith's view of summer being ruined for children with a similar idea.  It can be seen on this episode of Room 101 (if you have a spare half an hour, do watch).  

You could argue that living in Northern Ireland with a wet weather system, it doesn't particularly matter about longer days and the placing of seasons.  But surely we all have memories of days where time isn't applicable, sunny days are grasped, cartoons are viewed in heaps, salads become the main meal and movies at the cinema are full of heroes.

And if we're honest, every year, no matter where we are in our lives, we probably imagine this summer to be the same.

*Which I usually mix in with the popcorn once I get bored of it.  We buy bulks of it, yet manage to drop more than we eat.

What the Dickens...

Each night, for the past weekend, I climb into bed with a copy of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. And I only get a few pages ahead.

It's not Dickens' fault. It's no one's really. The tasks I carry out during the day make me a doe eyed and wavy headed guy.

Today was my day off.

I had lunch with a writer / friend / coffee drinker*.

Then off to 2, 500 words for some money.

And some dinner which was wholesome but stuffing.

Life isn't bad. It's busy however.

Am starting to see why my parents watched television when they returned home from work. Maybe there's a chance to catch one Great Expectation adaptation on one channel. After all, if I can't get to Dickens, I'll rely on someone who can.

*I'll let Matt delete where applicable

'I will wander 'til the end of time' - Evanescence

I'll return.

I have to.

Yesterday I should have been coloured. Literally.

Instead I watched others. And now I should have to wait a year to do so.

Let's see what I can do in the meantime.

Something from Southall

Opened the door of the house. Once it was closed I saw the letter box had a purple tongue.

I snapped it up and recognised the writing.

Carefully ripped up the seal.

The microscopic gold stars stuck to my hands. Whatever was sent to me allowed me to lock the door.

Then I forgot the real world. There are horrible people there.

Much prefer thinking of her.

Life After Harry

At three thirty am this morning I reached my home.

It only took me around twenty minutes to write my review for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It can be found at http://misspentyouthfilms.blogspot.com.

Despite the greater part of my time, dreams, influences, conversations and style being connected to Harry Potter - I've always been aware that JK Rowling isn't the only writer of fantasy.

Leading up to the final film's release, there was an explosion on Twitter of how people were going to miss the stories, the regular films and that a part of their childhood was ending.

To me this is silly.

My childhood is still ongoing. Mainly because of the books and cartoons I have.

To all those out there who thought the stories have ended. They haven't.

Think of all those book that influenced JK Rowling. Then all the books that have been influenced by her. Then all those books in the same genre. Followed by those that are aimed at the same market.

I for one am looking forward to the load of books and films out there.

If you're looking for a Gothic castle, head for Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast. Only recently did I find out that Peake's fourth manuscript Titus Awakes was completed posthumously. Pages and pages of gorgeous descriptions, detailing the castle's labyrinths and bizarre characters.

A school for wizards isn't anything new. Ursula Le Guin had one for her Earthsea creation - a mythical world that's probably more user friendly that Tolkien's Middle-Earth.

The late Diana Wynne Jones has stories of magic well before Rowling ruled the fantasy realm. Her Chrestomanci series spanned over a number of novels - but she's also responsible for Howl's Moving Castle.

Think Harry Potter was dark? One of the finest novels of the past fifteen years is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Not overly explicit on the magic, but much more chilling - the story of two magicians in early 19th century England. Beautiful, English, creepy and exceptionally long.

And if all else fails, there's Terry Pratchett.

There is so much more. T.H. White's retelling of the Arthurian legend The Once and Future King, . The Shinigami present Death Note. The one I'm looking forward to is Clare Cassandra's Mortal Instruments series.

Already I've said the same thing to many folk.

The magic didn't start with Potter, and I certainly won't let it end with him