Thursday, May 30, 2013

10 Day Photo Challenge Day 3 – Food

Back to the 10 Day Photo Challenge today, but I'm going to have to make it quick. So quick in fact, that I've decided to leave some lengthy writing posts for the weekend or tomorrow, when I have a bit more time. I'll keep the topics secret, but I'm at least giving you guys something to look forward to :).

Anyway, sorry to say that I don't really have much excuse for a late in the evening, quickly written post, other than watching The Apprentice AND its after-show (taking up a total of an hour and a half) and before that reading the last 50 or so pages of Noughts & Crosses (as good as the critics say. How I haven't read it in the last three years while everyone in primary school was raving about it, I honestly don't know). But this long preamble is sort of contradictory to the quick posting agenda for today, so I'll get on with the photography...


The Paint Palette Of The Food World





This is a spectacular representation of my favourite food: sushi. Apart from the obvious reason of the conflicting flavours of the sweet rice, sumptuous fish and delicious seaweed (or nori if you want to be authentic), I love the rainbow of reds, oranges, greens, purples and whites that make up sushi. I know that sounds like such a clichéd, made-up-for-the-sake-of-sounding-pretentious kind of reason, but I think a lot of sushi's growing appeal is down to the aesthetics. It's a good seller, looking better in the window that a lot of its competitors. The reddy pink of the tuna maguro and the neon orange of the salmon sake, make us, the ridiculously shallow general public, leap straight at them. Bright colours mean good taste, right? In this case, definitely.

This specific platter is the product of Tsuru, a small but lovely little London sushi chain of about three joints (their name means "crane" in Japanese, so they have little origami cranes hanging in the windows, which I like to imagine the chefs made themselves). Tsuru is small and not very famous, but it has some of the best sushi I've ever tasted, a step above big chains like Yo! Sushi, Wasabi and Itsu. Here you've got the usual favourites like maguro, sake and salmon California roll, but also twists like tuna California rolls and several variants of prawn maki (the Japanese word for rolled up sushi). But the best thing has to be 50% off all sushi after 5:30, which is perfect for dinner after school! (Although I'm often there late, so all that's left are boxes of tasteless tuna rolls)

And if you're wondering, the platter was not bought just for the picture, my mum and I did eat it afterwards. Sorry to make you envious :p.
-DP :)

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

I Am Back, With The Results You've All Been Waiting For...

Hello everyone, I now can grace the blogosphere again, after a weekend off when you were probably screaming at your screens "Why Can't She Post At Scout Camp?????". Well, while you were screaming that, I was probably doing one of the following:

1) Hanging out in the sunny communal field with Rihanna belting from a speaker (whoever owns that iPod has impeccable music taste).

2) Running around in a forest playing a wide game I don't understand but still find fun.

3) Waiting in an impossibly long queue for a climbing wall that I eventually gave up waiting in.

4) Hearing birdsong at 5am and believing that it was breakfast time and I had to wake up.

Or, most unfortunately:

5) Having to miss my favourite part of camping, the campfire, to help wash up. All because some annoying boy in my Troop was swearing. GRRR.

But on to the bit you've all been waiting for...

The Results!!!

Anyway, lately I've been having some comments asking where the results are for my swan-themed quiz competition (I'm touched by this, because it shows I'm choosing the right prizes :D). Well, I have them, and I'm proud to announce that the winner of The Dramatis Persona Quiz Competition 2013 is...

(drum roll please, bom bom bom bom)

The Human Guide!

Yep, the pseudonymous blogger and aspiring writer behind The Human Guidebook is our winner this time, with 8/10 questions right! Thank you to everyone who entered, and commiserations to those who missed out on the prize. Here are the correct answers:


  1. The word "swan" is derived from what ancient language, a) Latin, b) Ancient Greek or c) Old English? c)
  2. True or False? Swans are always omnivorous. False
  3. Which of the following is a real swan, a) Arctic Swan b) Tundra Swan or c) Alaskan Swan? b)
  4. An old legend tells the story of a stepmother turning her stepchildren into swans, but what nation is it from? Ireland
  5. Mute swans can reach what weight? a) 23 pounds, b) 33 pounds or c) 43 pounds? b)
  6. The Swan ____; complete the title of this 2010 novel by Elizabeth Kostova? Thieves
  7. What North American city gave Queen Elizabeth II the original six pairs of Royal Swans? Ottawa
  8. Which of the following swan breeds are migratory, a) Tundra Swan b) Mute Swan or c) Black-necked Swan? a)
  9. Name the 2010 movie, successful at the 2011 Oscars, with a swan in its name. Black Swan
  10. How long on average do mute swans live, a) 1-10 years b) 10-20 years or c) 20-30 years? b)

So, I talked to HG about the prize she would like earlier this week, and she seems certain on selecting an interview with me on her blog. Therefore, if you want to see my interview (which I'm sure HG will conduct and post soon), pop over to the aforementioned link. HG also writes other posts apart from fellow-blogger interviews, mainly personal ones about her life, and it's really worth having a look around there if the interview hasn't been posted when you look/you have time to kill online once you've read the interview/you don't like interviews. 

To conclude, thanks to everyone who entered, and well done again to The Human Guide. This competition has been successful and fun, so you can expect more contests and perhaps some giveaways in the future!
-DP :)
PS If you're wondering why I'm posting again when I said the blog was shutting down last post, then you evidently didn't read that post's PS.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

"Now It's Time To Go, Curtain's Finally Closing"

How fitting to end this blog with the title lyric from Rihanna's Take A Bow.

I'm sorry, I know I promised more posts during half term, but it's just too much. I'll have to end The Dramatis Persona here.

Thank you to everyone who has taken time to read my posts, and all my followers, friends and family who have inspired me to keep on with my blog. 

I'm sorry everyone, but the end is here, and I'll sign off my post for the last time.
-DP :)

PS Only until Monday when I get home from Scout camp! Haha! Did I fool you?!

Monday, May 20, 2013

10 Day Photo Challenge Day 2 – Book

Hello my people, I am a bringer of good news. You can expect a lot of posts from me soon! Firstly, we have a school Independent Learning Projecty-thing (don't know yet what we're learning independently about, but it's sure to be fun) all this week, and that means no lessons, and Dramatis Holmes (or Sherlock Persona) deduces that no lessons obviously means no homework! And that means more posts! Yay! Sorry, reckless and unnecessary exaggeration, because what's even greater is that next week is half term! Eleven (well, seven, as the first four are my Scout camp so I obviously won't post) days of posting, cool stuff I can post about and a host of other totally random stuff! Woohoo!!!!

OK, enough gushing, I'll get to the point. This is my second Photo Challenge picy-pu (definition: an affectionate abbreviation of picture):

A Literary Shadow Cast Over My Life


You know how some bookwormey bloggers (and Jessie Cave in her Bookworm United show, now I think about it) say that certain books have cast a shadow of obsession over their lives? I used to have that over The Hunger Games, and others before it. Well, this is the literal interpretation of the phrase.

When I heard the Book theme, I automatically thought of photographing something that wasn't a conventional, literary book, something like a school textbook or maybe even a notebook. So I was looking at the untidy shelf that is my notebook collection, and I saw the bookend that holds them up. And I thought its shadow would look epic on a lighter coloured floor, like my bedroom floor, and the rest was history. I think the design of this is very cute, the stacked-up letters are almost like a stack of books, and I love its simplicity: it doesn't have a fancy font or annoying patterns everywhere, it just describes the thing it supports. It's a million times better than the bookend I made in DT earlier this year; that was just a random factory next to a tree (don't even ask what I was thinking there).

Oh, and the two Os kind of do look like my lucky number, 8 :D.
-DP :)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Tales Of A Bookworm (And The Bookworm Isn't Me)

It's an unusual time to post, at 8 o'clock in the morning, in my world anyway. And I guess Eurovision isn't really a good enough excuse to justify not blogging last night and having to finish it off in the morning. Really not, especially when the Dutch girl singing about birds not flying was dull enough to move anyone away from the telly and make them blog.

But this post's sole purpose in life is not to broadcast conventional opinions about Eurovision. Oh no. Then, my blog's slogan would not be "mentally reframing the commonplace". I steer away from posting about things the whole of Europe have seen (and if I do, I form unique, not repetitive opinions about them). Instead, I post about hidden theatrical gems like this.

*this image isn't mine
A real Potterhead would recognise this as the actress behind Lavender Brown in the final three movies. But now Jessie Cave's taken a step away from the Divination-loving Hogwarts student, and reincarnated herself as a slightly obsessive bookworm in her debut comedy act, Bookworms United. The title refers to a new book club our enthusiastic host has created, that apparently "could spend a whole meeting discussing the use of colons". Thankfully the show, structured around the group's "first meeting", is themed around books rather than the aforementioned punctuation mark, and is a plethora of Jessie's literary inspirations and memories, described with the passion and slight goofiness of a real bookworm.

It's the simple, non-professional style staging that really reinforces the book club theme. We see easy-to-handle props that might be used in a real group if the leader was feeling theatrical: simple shadow puppet shows depicting stories (including a literal interpretation of the metaphor "a bear following a star"), handmade posters decorating the set and blankets covering figures, the figures revealed to be Jessie's favourite book heroines (Celeste from the Babar books, Mrs Beaver from Narnia and Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). There was nothing particularly technical about the set and props, which made you really believe Jessie when she asked for requests to be the "future host of our group!", and that this was a regularly meeting book group.

Another aspect of the show that really made it personal was the use of Jessie's family in the supporting roles. Her (real life) younger sister Bebe was her shy assistant (and her brother Boris an erratic sound and lighting technician), with only "it was adequate" as a compliment for her puppet show and constant refusal from Jessie to perform her Hunger Games routine (Bebe was always seen with a bow and arrow slung around her shoulder), making for a genuine sister-sister relationship that unfortunately may have been not too separated from real life. This made Jessie less an actress and more a real person with real passion for books, as did the truthful, if a little exaggerated anecdotes about her childhood, chiefly her national youth tennis successes: "I was groomed to be the next Venus Williams, but an injury made me come back to books". These reminiscences, or what she called "my back-of-the-book blurb" made Jessie an actual person, a friend to the audience, not just someone standing up there and telling jokes about books. 

However, it was Jessie's delivery and the general atmosphere of the show that actually made us laugh, not the actual content. While the jokes obviously were present, it was more Jessie's references to her personal and family life, her awkward-in-a-good-way delivery, her interaction with Bebe and her exaggerated enthusiasm and book obsession (all the bits that weren't the main focus of the show) that made it into a comedy act, not her anecdotes about Babar and Narnia. While there were decent one-liners like "Celeste giving birth to three elephants in 11 minutes wasn't fun", they were few and far between, and were usually preceded by self-indulgent tangents about her mother reading them to her as a child or her remembering all seven Narnia books. These just seemed a bit more for her than the audience, like when a friend talks about their old friends or weird habits they had when they were five: they know you won't be interested, so they talk for purely their own enjoyment. Everyone knows the plot of Narnia, so cut down on the irrevelant tangents and get on to the bit people will actually find funny.

The first thing my Dad said when we got out of the show was "it's a bit like Dramatis Persona doing a comedy show". I'm not sure whether to be flattered by that or not.
-DP :)
PS I've not forgotten about the 10 Day Photo Challenge, I have photographed for the Book theme, and can't wait to do a post about it!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

10 Day Photo Challenge: Day 1 – Outside

Hi everyone, the next 10 or so posts will be very exciting, I'm proud to announce! I'm feeling enthusiastic right now because I am happy to have signed up for the 10 Day Photo Challenge, where you photograph something under a certain theme every day for 10 days (well, you can have breaks in between the photos, but that's what you do in theory). I found this on Neevie's cute, funny and generally awesome blog Totally Neevie, and I can't wait to see hers and others' interpretations of such diverse themes!

So the themes are as follows. I'll put this image – not mine – on my sidebar soon so anyone can copy and paste it onto their blogs to attempt the challenge, and also so you can see what themes I'll be photographing soon!


So the first theme was Outside, so this is what I came up with:

The Plants Awake


This a close-up of very defined morning dew on daffodil leaves, taken at about 8:30am in our country house garden. The surreal name comes from my imaginings of dew being the plant equivalent of humans yawning as they wake up in the morning, and also of human sweat (I'm sorry, that was a disgusting metaphor, but it's true). I also love the light in this picture, and how the drops of dew are different shades of green and yellow, depending on whether they're in the shade or sun. This photo is also an emblem of spring and summer with the bright greens and sun, a sign that the warm seasons are throttling winter and rising again, in the form of dew drops.


I've really enjoyed taking and writing about my first photo for the challenge, and I can't wait to do more!
-DP :)
PS This is not an annoyingly selective tag, it's an inclusive photo challenge. Anyone can take on the challenge, if they dare! Joking, it's not that hard, it's fun!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

If Social Networks Were Countries...

Have you ever wondered about the future? Maybe you've imagined world peace eventually being achieved, or lanes in motorways specifically for personal hoverboards, or mobile phones from the 2000s sewn into "new vintage" fashion. Or perhaps that cliché of future predictions: flying cars.

Well, I'm sorry to say that my personal prediction for the next century is a lot more cynical. But also unfortunately more realistic: social networks have become a bigger part of communication than physical talking, created major distractions and frankly taken over our world quicker than you can say "can I have your BBM pin?". Perhaps, in some weird dystopian world that best belongs in a teenage novel (or e-book), all the land borders will be erased and social networks will become the new countries, all with their own laws and governments. And in this post, I speculate on what these new countries woud be like, and write a few social media spoofs in the process...

Note: To get full value from the spoofs, you might need to know a little about their subjects.

Nation #1: BBMalia

BBMalia's flag

BBMalia is a prosperous nation, small but expanding. In fact, "expanding" is too light a word. BBMalia is invading all the continents, or smartphone brands. It has a powerful army that recently outnumbered that of Textiania and WhatsAppany, but that doesn't mean they like the invasions. Oh no. The BBMalians see the adventurous new invasions of the iPhone Continent as taking away the BlackBerry Continent's unique style! They thought the name BBMalia was patriotic! It has BlackBerry in it, for heaven's sake! The invasions are just a plea for fame and money from the other Smartphone Continents. Soon all that will be left of the BlackBerry Continent that stands out will be its iconic full-keyboard beaches.

Perhaps another reason for the abuse of BBMalia's patriotism is the frequent broadcasted speeches on the BBMalia Live! TV channel. They destroy the nation's point, in having a friendly and sociable world. I mean, no other nation needs speeches like "Broadcast this speech and the full-keyboard beaches will shine orange!". The other countries just have people going about on their daily business, chatting and sharing pictures. But no, BBMalia needs people bribing others to send stupid speeches that supposedly will make the full-keyboard beaches light up orange. The most corrupted nation on the Social Media Earth of the future.


Nation #2: Instagrammia


Instagrammia's flag

Ah, the supposedly blissful world of Instagrammia. Where talking, reading and writing are kept to a minimum, and feelings are conveyed by fake images heavily altered by filters that make you look like you're in an old movie. This avant-garde little gem of a nation was supposedly a Paradise to live in three years ago, but that was before the dreaded Computer Continents invasion. The Instagrammian government imposed terrible restrictions on the Computer citizens, making it a long, fiddly struggle for them to reach the Sea of Internet Images, with the Copy&Paste Cliff and the URL Undergrowth in the way, and they still had to pluck out an image and take it back home. But the Smartphone Continents have just the simple exercise of the Camera Roll Hills to descend, and an image is theirs. Instagrammia needs to stop this unfair totalitarianism!


Nation #3 United Tweets of Twitter


UTT's flag

The worst offender when it comes to total dictatorship on the Social Media Earth is UTT, the United Tweets of Twitter. Citizens are limited to 140-character greetings, which proves tough when you're meeting that old friend you haven't seen since you were five. And the UTT government spits back your words at you if you overshoot the character limit, and if they're in a mean mood, they'll leave you to it thinking you've got away with it, and when you're done they'll send you a warning text saying "Greetings must be 140 characters or less" and you'll have to say "hi, how you doin'?" all over again. 

But even worse is the name change laws. UTT has seen many immigrants, with its invasion of nearly every continent on the Social Media Earth, but its violent legislation allows no immigrant without a text-speak, uncapitalized name starting with @! And that brings me to the harshest language law in UTT: all greetings must be summed up in hashtags! Anyone want to put a hashtag on "hey, lovin' your blog"? And yes, the UTT government do count that in their 140-character limit. Someone needs to start a revolution in favour of deep, meaningful speeches! And don't get me started on those unrealistic bluetits: perhaps the birds of prey need a rebellion too.


What are your opinions of social networking? What do you think other sites will be using as their national laws?

-DP :)
PS 11 days 'til D-Day for the swan quiz competition!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Just A Quick Note...

Hi there followers, I just wanted to post a very short notice about an amazing giveaway on Emma-lee's blog In Real Life! It's to celebrate her first blogaversary, and personally I can't resist! They are amazing prizes up for grabs, such as ad space, your very own blog button and a custom portrait drawing of yourself! I can't wait!

It's really simple to enter, all you have to do is follow Emma-lee's fantastic blog!  And like all blog giveaways, you can win other entries by following her other blogs and social media accounts, and also blogging about the giveaway (like I've done!). But I won't bore you with the rules, I'll just give you the thumblink!


-DP :)



Tuesday, May 7, 2013

My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Movie Review

*this image isn't mine

I promised a movie review, and a movie review is what you are getting, dear followers. And the post title and the image (and indeed the last post) should tell you what movie I'm reviewing. Nothing particularly meaningful, although unique as you'll find out in this review, My Big Fat Greek Wedding follows a simple plotline following Toula, an Orthodox Greek girl convincing her family to allow her to controversially marry a non-Greek, and subsequently plan a wedding that will please everyone. A plot you would assume would either be an absolute flop, intensely stereotyped or one of those movies you'd watch, laugh at and then forget about. But I'm determined to prove you wrong.

When I saw this in the car boot sale, I was thinking the following: nothing much of a masterpiece, probably not even going to be particularly funny, but okay for a laugh, as one of the films that are so bad they're funny. However, this film is a prime example of the phrase "Don't judge a book (or rather a movie) by its cover", and this turned out as a pleasant surprise. While I was expecting the typical characteristics of recent, cynically funny rom-coms, instead it packed traditional exaggerated characters that are usually replaced by simpering, overly emotional people who remind everyone, of every age and background, slightly too much of them or someone they know. And the plot devices and sources of humour bore the same ideas: humour was mainly built on exaggerating certain personality traits or recurring situations (my favourite moments in the movie were when the protagonist's dad attempted to convince everyone that every word had a Greek root, including "kimono". A situation that can seem funny without seeming stereotypical), and the plotline was basic, revolving around two main characters getting married and their families, unlike those annoying rom-coms that keep cutting between sub-stories until you've forgotten everyone's name.

I don't know whether it was the linear plotline, the funny-but-not-over-the top humour or the distinct characterisation, but My Big Fat Greek Wedding often felt like it could be just as good a film if it was animated. Obviously not because of the story itself (I don't see a little kid enjoying a yarn about accepting the unfamiliar, or at least in this context), but the way the story progresses is so simple and easy to understand, that it's not all that different from the beginning-middle-end structures of Disney movies. And it's not only that; the verbal humour (including the dad's word root obsession and another timeless quote in the Greek aunt's reply to Toula's fiance being a vegetarian: "That's OK. I make lamb.") is never engineered to illustrate a deeper meaning, and although the reactions are quite exaggerated, you can really imagine some of the situations happening in a funny and definitely not cynical real life. Also, unlike some films where, apart from a lucky few, every character seems the same as the rest, each member of the two families seemed unique, with their own defining traits. Toula's aunt, with her outrageous comments ("Toula! You're engaged! You're engaged-We never think this would happen for you, never!"), her dad, a overly-patriotic Greek ("Toula, there's two kinds of people: Greeks and everybody else who wish they were Greeks.") and her fiance's parents, a conventional American couple who provide a stark contrast to the raucousness of Toula's own family (they particularly reminded me of a couple in a cartoon). And it's all these distinct, memorable characters that shape both the movie and the animation comparison; they provide much of the humour that makes it into a comedy and a possible animation; without them, it would just be a corny tale about the pressures of marriage.

After my initial surprise at my enjoyment of the film, I found this surprise in some ways justified when I looked up the film on Wikipedia, like I always do when I watch them. It is the USA's highest grossing rom-com! There I was thinking it was just another obscure flick I've never heard of, but it's actually broken an iconic record!

Anyway, that was just a little fact to share with you. In my opinion, a consistently funny movie that outshone all of my negative predictions. Worth a watch!
-DP :)

Monday, May 6, 2013

Pigs, Peanuts And Pretty Pointless Movies: What You Can Find At A Car Boot Sale

It's May Day bank holiday everyone! Well, to be honest, I'm not as excited as I sound, because my bank holidays are less holidays than extensions to the weekend, which basically means slightly more time to finish homework projects/mess around on my iPad. So nothing particularly special. The only thing that really set this one apart was the sudden increase in temperature (it was significantly sunnier than when I posted about spring a few weeks ago), which I guess gave me some opportunity to sit or walk around in the garden, even if it was doing homework.

However, perhaps it's a reckless exaggeration that all I did was work and do everyday things this May Day. Because we did just go to a car boot sale yesterday! Yay! I never used to treat car boot sales with so much enthusiasm, thinking they were just another pointless thing my mum likes, but lately – I don't know if it's the new pig collection, more excitement in searching for new books and movies, a stronger interest in shopping or just a broadening of horizons since I started secondary school last September – I've sort of enjoyed searching around for little gems there a whole lot more, with their non-brand-new look and cheap prices.

So the one we went to was in a town near the country house, but I'll quit talking (only for a bit, though) and show you the haul, starting with the new inductees of my pig collection...


I was taken aback at the amount of pigs on sale, as I was only expecting one or two, or maybe none at all.  But car boot sales have surprised me again, and I came home with this load! The pink and brown pair at the front have a delightful homemade look, with their pathetic expressions, dot eyes and imperfect paint, and they're great as a combination together. The two plastic pigs next to them are a bit conventional pale-pink-pig, but I probably wouldn't have bought them if they hadn't been such a cute mother and piglet pair.

And then we get to the back row and the piggy banks. I don't intend to use these to store money, because I don't really get pocket money, I just ask my parents if I can have money to buy something or I get money from the bank on debit card. When I was younger, I used to use a red piggy bank (this will soon be in my collection, along with another wooden pig I found in my bedroom) and then a cute Japanese waving cat bank, but those days are far behind us.

But anyway, more about these piggy banks. While the turquoise one on the left has a cute unhappy face and interesting colouring, it's the one on the left I really love. Its cheeky expression, especially when viewed from the side, is a masterpiece of paintwork and the purple fish on the side is a unique touch (the pig is from Malta, if you were wondering). All in all, a great pig haul (Haha, that rhymes)!


 Note: If you've never read Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes, you probably won't get any of the references in this passage. Just to warn you.

I'd never really read much Peanuts before now, although I am a huge and slightly obsessive fan of Calvin & Hobbes, the cartoonist of which cites Peanuts as a major influence, which is what drew me to them. When I first picked one of these up at the sale table, I thought "No. This isn't like any of Calvin & Hobbes, this is way too babyish. There's no hidden meaning behind these strips." But then I realised, that's sort of the point. The simplicity of the drawings provides immense charisma with just a circle and two dots, and the simple speech and jokes of Charlie Brown and the others are in some ways a lot more readable and charming than the philosophical points and often pretentiousness of Calvin's discussions with Hobbes, his parents and his teacher.

Also, I guess they're both very synonymous with other cartoons of their times: Peanuts has the innocent humour I've seen in books of 60s comics, and Calvin & Hobbes has the same cultural references and artistic criticism of other 80s and 90s cartoons and kids shows. Overall, I probably prefer the cynical yet amusing rants of Calvin, but that doesn't make Peanuts not enjoyable for a lighter read. And it definitely didn't stop me reading one and a half of the five books we bought (for £1!) on the car ride home and later placing it on my toilet reading pile :) (which used to include Calvin & Hobbes, but I've read and reread them too many times, apparently :()


Ah, now the movies. We bought many more than this, but these are the ones that really interested me: A Handful Of Dust, a historicy-romancey thingy; Along Came Polly, which is quite a famous rom-com, which I've heard lots about but somehow avoided seeing; and a totally random film I know nothing about, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The only one I've seen so far is the latter, but I think the review will need a post for itself, as will the other movie reviews. I guess that's why I've just described it as "totally random" – I don't want to give so much away that I can't write the review! Anyway, reviews of all three coming soon!





And, finally, the bench on which I photographed them all! This will probably be used for drinks, food, outdoor decorations, maybe a seat and, of course, a photography pedestal on our country house patio, which is where all the photos are taken. I think it's quite a unique turquoisey-blue on here, sort of teal blue, it reminds me a bit of my Scout shirt :). But I think it's a nice blue that goes tastefully with the sparse red decoration. Also the star cut-out with the red inside is an interesting touch: it's not as brash as having a painted red star would be, but it's still a unique, eyecatching addition and sets the bench apart from all the rustic-style furniture that's popular right now.

What do you think of my haul? Do you ever go to car boot sales? If so, what do you buy? Don't hesitate to comment!


-DP :)

Saturday, May 4, 2013

What Has Inspired Me This Week? – Writing Prompt

Hello everyone who happens to be reading. You are all amazing people, because I am now glad to have finally reached 30 followers! Bring on 40 little minions! Just kidding, you are not my slaves as the term "minion" might suggest, you are free to do what you want with your lives.

Which brings me neatly on to my second point, a much more negative one, because the 30-follower-landmark was nearly a week ago. I'm very sorry to have not posted in a whole week, which is definitely not typical of the new "prolific DP", but I think I have a good excuse in the fact that I had something after school every day this week from gym club, watching a school concert and climbing club (you have not known real fear unless you've climbed a wall blindfolded), to a joint school social and my brilliant-if-slightly-odd friend Laura's (if you're reading this, hi there!) jewellery making party, which was awesome but tiring. I was so tired by the end I slept through The Hobbit, a movie that usually keeps me gripped.

Anyway, as you've probably guessed, I have used a helpful writing prompt (basically another name for a blog tag) for this post! It's from the lovely Hilda, who writes fantastically, so I highly recommend you pop over to her blog sometime. But I'll cut to the chase and get on with the prompt, shall I?

What Has Inspired Me This Week?

When I thought about an answer to this question, one of the many things I did after school this week popped into my head. The theatre adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, at a small theatre in that ridiculous but somehow fashionable part of London known as Dalston, called the Arcola Theatre. And right now you think that means I'm inspired to take up whaling. And you're saying "You do realise that's illegal, DP?" or you're writing a scathing comment about how offensive my posts are becoming nowadays. Well, don't. Because that's not really the point.

What I was really getting at by saying that Moby-Dick was inspiring was the general way this particular theatre company depicted the feel of the sea. Their clever levelled staging to depict the main part of the boat where Captain Ahab delivered his speeches as a lot higher and more elaborate than the lower part where the sailors slept, the sound effects to imitate a whale approaching, and Moby-Dick himself's framed outline carried around the stage by the actors, creating a real feeling of graceful movement (although I'm disappointed there weren't actors playing the whales)...they all created an authentic effect that WE WERE REALLY AT SEA! And this whole nautical effect inspired me to go see (or sail on) a rocky sea that might just be full of whales. A bit like the "I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky" poem, really. Except, unlike John Masefield poetry, in this modern age such imaginings are always thwarted by a cynical control-freak who was created to ruin us fun people's lives. However, all it takes is one of the frequent sea-shanties in Moby-Dick to stir me back into Fantasy World and to imagining leaving my life, school and home to travel the seas like Ishmael did.

And the character and story of Ishmael is another inspiring part of Moby-Dick. There are some many tales from that era, both true and literary, about people like that who had this little inkling, usually when they had already started a successful career, that they wanted to have a big adventure and do something totally different with their lives, as Ishmael left his teaching job to go whaling. You don't get that too much today in real life or in literature (RIP), but I'm going off topic. I think the whole concept of going off on a total whim and starting off your life again is pretty amazing. It's rebellious, brave and impressive all in one. I'd sure like to be friends with anyone who would actually have the nerve to go on an adventure like that, because I probably wouldn't myself, or at least not now. My life is quite a busy one, and it's not really the kind of life you can decide to quit on a whim. I'd have to shut down this blog for starters, and that would be almost impossible :D. But I still think it's a very courageous and inspiring thing to attempt to do.

My final reason why I found Moby-Dick so inspiring is a lot less deep and meaningful. It's simply: I was inspired to finally read the book. Before I watched the play, I thought it was just an overly professional-sounding book about whaling that I couldn't be bothered to read. But now I see that it's exciting, moving, in some places amusing and of course inspiring. So you might see Moby-Dick on the What I'm Turning The Page Of gadget soon!


Thanks for reading my answer to this prompt. As I said, the prompt works like a tag, but I'm not going to be one of those annoying taggers who say only certain people can use their tag (honestly, it's not an award!). Anyone who wants to use this writing prompt on their blog may!
-DP :)
PS Just under three weeks left to enter my swan competition to win a chance to interview me for your blog, among other prize options! Happy entering!