I dream sometimes

I wish I had a heart full of love.

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Camping

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1

If the 15 year-old me would have seen me watching the seventh Harry Potter movie ONE month after the actual premiere, she might have strangled me or at least fainted.

Having been an utterly crazed Harry Potter fan in my early teenage, the first movies have always been fantabulous in my eyes. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 1 (couldn't sound any worse) is the first Potter movie I've seen through unfangirl-eyes. It became clearer than ever that the movies survives purely because of the HP hype itself and the fans of the book.

In this first part of the grande finale, the world is darker and more dangerous than ever before (isn't it always?) with muggle lovers getting murdered, death eater attack in Piccadilly Circus, people being obducted from left to right. Harry, Ron and Hermione have now abandoned Hogwarts to embark on their great journey to search and destroy the horcruxes (items containing pieces of Lord Voldemort's soul). Flung out of their safety zone, they are not only exposed to evil appearing-disappearing kidnappers but also the madness that only comes when people camp together for 4 months straight.

Failing to convince me of the actual danger of the situation, the movie could neither attain my interest for 2 and a half hour. Why they thought it was necessary to have Harry and Hermione dance utterly awkwardly, was and still is beyond my comprehension. The movies doesn't throughly explain why the trio had to camp and wait around, without which it simply looks like our heroic group think they're able to  randomly stumble upon a horcrux by camping around.

Although most of the movie was spent on showing how the trio get on each other nerves while camping, the movie is actually fairly exciting.


Mischief Managed,
Tiffany

Happy Holidays folks!

So the family and I celebrated Christmas yesterday and it was great. I got loads of presents like: Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (YYEEEESSS), new headphones, electric duvet, Inception and a new bag. It was once again an expensive Christmas at the Phan's ïncluding stereos, mobilephone, armani watch, external harddrive so on. 7 years ago we would get Barbies and that was fine. XD

The celebration part was as any Swedish Christmas with watching Kalle Anka (annual Disney program), taking loads of family photos, having a big dinner and opening presents. In the evening we also watched Toy Story 3 and Inception. To be honest Inception the 2nd time was more confusing, how is that possible? But Joseph Gordon-Levitt is still a stud muffin.

I have some blog entries in the making (including review of Harry Potter 7.1 and Narnia 3) which I hope to post as soon as possible, but right now I'm going to watch Les Mis the movie (with Liam Neeson).

Lots of Love,
Tiffany

I'm embarrassingly naive

So I'm currently watching the "War You Don't See" (ITV1) (when I was first writing this), a documentary about the aspects of wars that is never shown in media and therefore completely ignored by the public, mostly because my journalism teacher told us to (well not really but you know when they say "well I'm going to watch it anyway" what they really mean is "watch it or else!"). It really complements Fahrenheit 9/11 which I finally (no comment..) saw last weekend.

It's really remarkable of how embarrassed I feel for not being fully aware of the background for the Iraqi war and how the greatest powers in the world was able to fool the people of the world. How is it that a Government can fabricate reasons for invading a country? How is it even possible to even think that you can get away with something like this?

I've always thought people that claimed the US invaded Iraq for profits and so on were simply biased. Obviously they were anti-US or had personal reasons for being against the US. I just thought they were flaunting with their conspiracy theories, because why would something like that be true? It couldn't, it shouldn't.

As I'm watching the documentary, a feeling of hoplessness and embarrassment rushed over me.
There is absolutely nothing I can do to prevent governments hiding information or lie to me. Nothing, and it makes me feel useless.

I am outright embarrassed to find all of this surprising. Why is it that it's so hard for me to comprehend the massive amount of information that is held from the public about wars? What is wrong with me? Where does my view that there ought to be good in everyone come from? Where does the view that the world is fair or at least strive to be fair come from? I'm being extremly naive aren't I, or is the world just really screwed up?

Yours truly,
Tiffany

He lives out in the sticks

Oh man, I really need to start a dream diary. I had the weirdest dream night and woke up smiling. Though I hate how dreams messes with your head. It's not real. Tiffany. It's not real.

It's less than a week before I'll go back home to Sweden! Feels too good to be true. So this last week I'm going to cram in as much as possible, like going to several exhibitions, the Winter Wonderland, shop a bit more and study.

I'm glad I've actually bought most of my Christmas presents now, only missing my brother's present. Plus another one that I ordered online that still hasn't come yet! Grr.

Wow, absolutely the most interesting post in history. But I'm too lazy to delete the whole entry, so here you go. :P

Please keep checking my news twitter!

Cheers,
Tiffany

the Narnia bunch

Wow, I think I'm alright. I've got one more report to write, which is a group report even, and then it's christmas break. I'm so close I can almost taste it.

Today I had my first day completely free from school work since probably early October. Feels freaking great. Me and my friend went out for coffee (Starbucks Ginger bread latte is heaven) and strolled around in West End. I didn't for once thought about any schoolwork, it was almost magical. :')

On Tuesday me and my friend were crazy enough to go to the Narnia:The Voyage of the Dawn treader premiere in Leicester sq. I mean I'm 20 freakin' years old and I shouldn't wait out in the cold and SNOW (yes SNOW) for 2 hours just to see some actors and actresses. It's pathetic really but it was oh so fun. :)

Apart from the snow and a slight hypothermia (totally over-using this word) it was actually fun. We had pretty decent spots, saw all the stars, got interviewed by Russian TV and even befriended a handsome photojournalist student (well, I did). Let me just say, Ben Barnes is really short but probably hotter in real life. Skandar Keynes is a studd muffin. Georgie Henley flew off as a bit of a bitch but is gorgeous in her long red hair. Anna Popplewell was as short-spoken as in Charlie St Cloud and had a rather unflattering dress. William Moseley looking like a skater in long hair while getting most screams.

Off course the X-factor bunch had to come as well and they got all the buzz. I was seriously about to scream at One Direction to move the heck over, they were obscuring Skandar!

Anyway, I think that was the last time I go uninvited to a movie premiere in freezing temperature and snow.

Cheers,

Tiffany

My take on everything newsy

A journalism slash fashion student's take on anything newsy.

So I'm back from my breakdown. Relatively stable and content.

Last week when I was feeling lower than lowest I made myself create this Twitter account where I post news and what I think about it. Just to show I'm in there and have opinions. It doesn't hurt and it's acutally surprisingly satisfying. I know no one follows it but at least it's out there for anyone to see.

So why don't you check it out. :)

Cheerio,
Tiffany

The C word

Is it just me,or do you suddenly become solemn, slightly depressed and freakishly pressured whenever someone even mention words like "work experience", "internship", "future" or simply "it'll-look-good-on-your-CV"?

For a while there I was so happy because I thought I had overcome all of that. Obviously I haven't since I'm almost shaking my leg off in distress just by the fact that I'm writing about it.

It feels like I'm jeopordaizing my own employability by focusing on my school work. Because the real world demands a student that can balance: school, a part-time job, a social life, down time and a freaking internship. We all need to be super students or else you're doomed the second you step out of university with ONLY your degree in your rucksack.

I'm just not good enough. I can pretend that I don't do schoolwork 90% of my waking hours, but actually I am. I'm sorry, I'm SORRY that I need all of that time to study. I'm f*cking SORRY ok! The other 9% I cook, eat, go to the bathroom, get to school and get back from school. The remaining 1% is my downtime when I do stuff like Tumblr, talk to my parents, Tweet and read news. I've gotten so pressured that I feel like I need to contribute SOMETHING to my future even in my downtime, like freshen up my covering letter, blog, tweet, learn adobe indesign, look for internships etc.

It's like your whole life has to revolve around preparing for your future and being good at school is just not good enough.

I'm tired. I'm f*cking tired but it never ends.

Goodnight for now,
Tiffany

Caution, zombie passing.

So if you haven't noticed it's coursework period, and I've got a sh*t load of things to do. This week has been the most stressful so far and it's not even over!

Thursday was the worst. While my essay was due Friday I didn't realize until late Thursday that my essay was crap. So I spend the whole evening and night to rewrite it. Which resulted in only 4 hrs of sleep. I just want to say: I don't recommend it!

Anyway,  the next couple of weeks will be less intense (I hope) and I might even have time to blog.

I ahve to sort my life out now and it's stressful. How is it possible that so much pressure is put on students these days huh?!

Until we meet again,
Tiffany

Hey,

I just wanted to stop by and say: You don't want to be me right now.

Yours sincerely,
Tiffany

A heart full of Les Misérables

It's not Lei Mise-raw-ble. Actually pronounced Le Mize-rah-ble, this 25 year running musical truly lives up to every spat of expectations I had. And believe me they were yey high.

For you who haven't read Victor Hugo's 900 page novel (if it was 700 page less I would), here's a recap; it's the early 19th century and the French people are mad at the state (seriously when are they not?). It goes so far that a group of youngsters prepare revolution. The story centers Jean Valjean, a troubled man struggling to put his past as a convict behind him, but it's not easy when your arrester is still hunting you like hounddog after all these years. However as the story evolves there are more substories with various characters, such as an orphan girl who Valjean raises as a promise to her mother, a young revolutionarian torn between battle and love and a greedy innkeeper.

The story seriously pushes the boundaries of being illegally sad (Mr Hugo must have been thorugh some serious shit in his life). The characters' misery is so emminent and overwhelming, your overly-stressed-demanding life appears as a charmed. Folks with hearts of stone might even shed a tear to Fantine's "Come To Me".

How depressing the story may be, the fantastic music (despite the depressing lyrics) keeps us from falling into deep depression. My Last.fm is an great example how the music captivates and makes you sing out loud whenever and wherever. In the interval my sister remarked that they never speak, not a word, they sing all their lines. For me the singing and conveying the lines at the same time felt so natural I didn't even noticed.

Not your typical happy-go-laughing musical, Les Misérables has a wonderful moral and mindblowing music. I strongly recommend.

Cheers,

Tiffany

Court bonding

Going to court this Monday really made me think about why people commit crime.

It was my first time at court, ever, and I went there with my Media Law and Ethics class to practice court reporting (I know, fancy stuff). We had a short briefing about the court system by the Clark (and his assistant-person who was completely powerpoint illiterate). He went on and on about how drug offences were the most common crime among youngsters and other sorts of crime he had judged.

Of course it's horrible that 10 to 17 year olds shoplifts stuff at Marks & Spencer's and sell them to buy drugs, but that's just another story for me.

The first trial we went into was in the end of some guy's sentence. He was this typical, large, shaved, sweatpants kind of guy, you know. After he was done, this girl comes into the defendant's stand. She was about my age and well dressed. When the Judge (person) asked her to stand up and state her full name, her voice was trembling. She was crying.

It took a while before we realized what crime she had actually commited (because they were hearing a breach in bail condition, sry I speak law not). She was earlier found guilty of taking a car without consent (almost stealing a car).

I kept wondering to myself "why did she steal a car?". What was going on in her head at that moment? For a moment I could imagine her and 2 of her friends giggling while she took the car. All excited and didn't think she'd get caught. That's totally imaginable, almost usual.

But in court there's a whole different story. The Judge (person) sitting behind his high desk, the lawyers, the security guards, the papers... all of it is not a joke. They are serious about punishing you for whatever you've done.

It's all scary stuff.

Sincerely,
Tiffany

No one laughs at God in a war

No one laughs at God
When their airplane start to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they’re mistaken

No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine or fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke

What's wrong with you?

There are a lot of things that are wrong with me. Tons actually.

I'm not social. I have enormous thighs. I'm not an enthusiastic (aspiring) journalist. I cry too easily. I'm cheap. I'm boring. The list goes on forever. And this have become very apparent while job-hunting.

I'm inexperienced. I'm not time flexible. I have no network. I'm a foreigner. Why would anyone pick me over someone else. Sometimes I feel like a hopeless case.

We all are experts in finding faults in ourselves, aren't we? Whether it's looks or capabilities, there's always something we wish we were or had. But believe it or not there are actually tons of good points as well. They might be harder to realize, well of course, but those are the things that you should embrace and strengthen. Because in the end that's who you are.

I have to believe someday, someone is going to recognize my good sides and give me a chance.

Goodnight,
Tiffany

Why Tiffany, why?



In the end...

Today was one of those days I ponder why I ever put myself in this crazy situation. Why Tiffany, why?!

It's only the end of the 2nd week of school (ain't it crazy, it's just the freakin 2nd week!) and I can feel the coursework related stress-anxiety-panic creeping up on me already. I've got loads of work and no existing time to do them.

It messes your mind up. I'm serious, it's psycholocigal exhausting, good enough to make anyone insane.

Isn't it funny how I literally fight for survival to manage all my school work while I got friends who I don't know....chills out as au-pair in New York or work 5 days a week in a cinema. Isn't it comical how deep in (shit) loans I'm in already when I got friends who work and...what? GET money. Isn't it comical how I pay a rent that's basically higher than my parent's while I got friends who....I don't know LIVE FOR FREE?! Why do I sit in all those Fridays and Saturdays evening to study when there are people who actually live?

Do you see what I mean? It's like people can take the highway while I was determined to take the crocked, small, stinky backstreet.

Funny is it not?

But the important question is: Why do I let it happen to me?

You know sometimes, just sometimes I look out my window and see people minding their own business and imagen how it would be if I just let everything go.

Yours sincerely,
Tiffany.

Oh, Zachary

So me and my friend saw The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud, using Orange Wednesday and all (the ticket was £2.80, freakin' £2.80!).

For me it felt as if I knew everything about this movie already, having gone to the premiere and watched the trailer 9576 times on repeat on the big screen there. But as a steadfast Efron supporter (note support-er!) I wouldn't think for one second of not seeing the movie.
All in all we see Efron in a deeper and mature role as Charlie St Cloud, the golden sailor boy with his whole future planned out (hello Stanford yo!). However, his whole world falls over board when he gets into a car accident killing his younger brother, Sam. As a sign of his incapability of forgiving himself he sees Sam (in spirit-memory shape). Charlie makes a promise to see him every day at sunset.

I knew this was a major bawl movie (I cried just seeing the trailer for the 1st time, ok?!) so I was warned and prepared..or so I thought. Although Zac does the happy, dancing teen role so well I must say he almost does the broken, remorseful brother even better. It was heartbreaking really.

But I have to say other than the gripping beginning there wasn't much to the movie. It was bland and fairly predictable. The only thing that kept the movie somehow interesting was the guessing game of whether Charlie really was seeing his brother or if he was a complete nutjob.
Apart from Zac I also thought Augustus Prew did a really good job as Charlie's wacky British slash Australian friend.

Cheers,
Tiffany Phan

One Day More

Click for more ;)

Daaang. but I'm allowed to look at you right.?

The Tube story

"Please stand back as train is approaching"
She boards the train with no expectations.
He is sitting there, him too with no expecations.
A quarter of a second both of their glances meet. A quarter of a second is all it takes.
The air becomes electric.
"The next stop is Baker Street, change here for...."
All the wishful thinking in the world can't change the fact.
Only the faint reminiscence of that boy on the train is the evidence of what have been.
As they will fade, nobody will ever know what could have been.

Have you ever thought of that?

In Mizery

Nick is too dreamy.

I don't know if it was the Yoga class earlier today (I took Yoga!) that made me this happy and calm or if it's the Les Miz songs I keep having on repeat.

My first school week is basically over and I'm stressed out to my toes already. I have a zillion of coursework all basically due at the same time. It's all so badly planned I could cry. But anyway it's the 2nd year right, I have to step up my game (although I really was at the top of my game last year).

So in order not to get stress rashes again I think I'll continue with the yoga. It's £40 a year, it's not that bad right?

Cheers,
Tiffany

the Journalism boys

The first day back in school is always a big deal. Even though you try to be all casual and pretend not to care, you do. You're wearing that new outfit, nice but not too nice, you carefully do your hair, chooses shoes with great considerartion, you know the whole bibbitybobityboo. And so it was for me today, I daresay I was even a little bit more jumped up since my first lesson was Fashion forecasting.

People outdressing each other and glaring at each other rather than focusing in class. That's my everyday, guys, how sad it may be. And I could see all of their familiar glances, not familiar on the other hand was the teacher. At first was insanely happy to not have our teacher from last year (and I quote, who was the devil who wished he was in Prada) but as the lecture when on I started to have mixed feelings about the new teacher. He was as far from fashion as you could come. I mean he spelled Chanel with 2 n's for god sake. But I will not complain, at least he's good at teaching.

But after all the silly giggling from the back row and judging glares I was actually relieved to go to my Media Law and Ethics class. I had stepped one foot into the room and I hear "Hello Tiffany!", well well well isn'tmy journalism teacher from my 1st semester. I was like, how the hell do you remember me? XD Another pleasant surprise, who's not sitting there in a black cardigan but.... the Jesse McCartney guy. I had a weird feeling that this module was going to nice already. ;) But jokes aside, when I'm in my journalism classes it's like I'm in a different world. Here people are actually.......intelligent. They know stuff that makes me feel stupid and they contribute to the class. This is why I could never change my course to only fashion marketing. Although I'm not too keen on journalism in general, I need these real classes, not to mention there are actually boys there. XD

The journey back didn't went well at all. As a punishment for the easy journey in the morning, the Overground trains decided not to run. What. The. Hell. So I had to take the bus, which were already packed as it was and since there are not buses going anywhere near where I live, I had to change like a zillion times. So after not an hour, but TWO hours I was home. It was after 6pm. Tube strikes fml.

Otherwise I still haven't been able to get the Les Miserables songs out of my head (I woke up to Drink With Me) and I'm not planning to do it either. :P (currently listening to A Little Fall Of Rain)

Ciao,
Tiffany

Enlightened at last

I'm Miserablesized, I'm sitting in my Les Mis t-shirt and singing along to On My Own. I'm serious.

Let me just firstly say, the O2 arena is ENORMOUS! I mean I thought Wembley Arena was big but this was like thrice the size. So my seat was basically at the very top just at the side of the scene. So basically I was sitting above the scene, so I saw the whole scene, the orchestra (I did feel jealous), the choir and so on.

So beside me I got these 2 young girls both wearing a Les Mis t-shirt, the more I heard talk talking the more I felt as a fraud. Why? They were talking about the actors and who they thought were a better Valjean/Cosette etc and how they loved this song and that song. While I knew NONE of the actors and have basically only listened to the songs which Marius is in. I felt like the biggest fraud, because I was there for one purpose and one purpose only, Nicholas Jerry Jonas.

I've never seen the musical and that says a lot, I could bet £1000 that there were people in there that had seen it 5 times or more. So even if I wanted to socialize with the girls beside me I couldn't, one word and my cover would have been blown.

The concert started (not on time which they were very strict about) and it very much like the 10th anniversary with the micstands and the actors coming and going singing the songs. These people are really something else, they're on a whole different level of singing. They are 10 times better than any artist with an album, their voices are truly amazing. Not mentioning the kids, they are just mindblowing. Especially the boy playing Gavroche, he was just sick.

After the excitement attack during the first 2 minutes Nick appeared I could honestly sthought he was really good. But obviously he's not as strong as a singer as the others, but he do have a really nice voice and it was wonderful to watch how into his character he was (makes me even angrier that I couldn't see him in the musical).

What I find refreshing is the really powerful songs to the dark and heavy story. It's gripping and beautiful to watch. The Eponine-Marius relationship is so sad I can actually start cry right here right now. It's official I'm enlightened at last.

(PS. I strongly recommend Red & Black and Empty Chairs At Empty Tables)

Sincerely yours,
Tiffany

10 lessons of today

Have you ever thought of how much you actually learn in one day? Why don't you type down 10 things you've learnt today as well and we'll make this a tag thing. ;)

Today I've learnt that

1. Cricklewood rail is on zone 3 (therefore I can't take the train from there)
2. Morrisons' Pure set Honey cost as much as the Sainsbury one (£1.73 fyi)
3. Parts of the new Pirates of the Carribbean will be filmed in Greenwhich
4. Getting a seat on the Overground is a survival of the fittest
5. Burberry might get a new suitor
6. The Good Wife runs at 10am at Channel4
7. I know the lyrics to many of the Les Miserables songs (Better than I thought!)
8. Lloyds TSB Highbury corner branch closes 5pm on Thursdays
9. It's most likely going to rain tomorrow in London
10. Listing random things I've learnt today was not as interesting as I initally thought (duh?)

Wish I could make it up by uploading this.

Ciao,
Tiffany

Facetime, good or bad?

I just saw this commerical for iPhone 4's facetime feature. Is it just me or doesn't it sort of have the opposite effect?
In the commericals (there are a dozen of them) the facetime feature is supposed to be a very useful thing and keep people connected, since they can see each other basically whenever and wherever. I on the other hand find the commercials really sad.

Rather than thinking they are lucky to have an iPhone 4 I think it's almost tragic that the father is not with them (the mother and son) on his sons's school play or whatever. Why isn't he there? He should be there, but no he's stuck at work and then the Apple people got the nerve to make them still look like a happy family smiling and making faces.

And have you guys seen the one with a woman talking to her mother while trying on her wedding dress?That one is almost even worse. Why isn't the mother able to meet her daughter in real life to see her in the wedding dress?! Why? It's horrible!

Am I the only one who think it's sad?

Whatever,
Tiffany

I refuse to be sick

So I've been in bed, in my pyjamas, watching tv series on my computer the whole day. I have a runny nose, headache and sore throat. I seriously seriously wish I'm not getting sick. I'm drinking loads of tea and honey and just trying to keep warm in my freezing room.

Please don't make me sick.

Thank you,
Tiffany

I do my best thinking offline

Guys, you have to believe that I really try my best to be a good blogger. I'm really pushing myself not only to update as often as possible but also to write about real stuff (not just whatever crap that comes into my mind)

I always take years to finish a blog post and even then it's not even a good one. It's always afterwards when I go brush my teeth or take the bus when I come up with something interesting to write about. But thne when I finally get in front of the computer I either realize it was actually kinda pathetic or I have forgotten about it. Epic win, right.

Anyway, I've been jobhunting the past week (as my twitter states) and I must tell you it's a total bitch. Where do you find one, huh? Well, then again it might have something with me not being 100% into it. Because to be honest I don't really really want to have a low paid part-time job where people boss you around like the dirt on the floor. And to be really honest I don't really really need the money (of course I could use a few more quids but I survive).

But I looked for jobs anyway, because it was the right thing to do. All of my flatmates work, right, so during these days, as my lessons haven't started yet, I've just been sitting around like a giant baby doing nothing in an empty flat wheras real people have been out there making money and getting experiences.

So far I've applied for two jobs (took some real effort I'll tell ya) and I have absolutely no hope whatsoever. Partly because I know my CV is completely shit because I basically have no experience in anything, but also because I don't really mind if I get it or not, you know, my life will go on just as well as before, and weirdly it feels really good. Why? Because I've always been this jump up person who frets over ever-y-thing! When I buy concert tickets (worried my head off), when I started uni (worried my head off), taking loans (worried my head off), buying stuff online (still worrying my head off), you need more examples? I always worry because I make them into such big deals, that if something goes wrong whether it's undelivered tickets, scams or whatever I can't imagen how I'll handle it.

I always make myself worry too much and that's why for once I feel really good (with other words, I feel kinda mature). Life would be so much easier this way, it's too much pressure to get your hopes too high or put yourself out there with nothing to fall back on.

Sincerely,
Tiffany

Not so miserable anymore

Hey, it's been a while.
As I've been recovering from the horrible fact that the Sweden Democrats made parliament, other stuff have been happening as well.

Firstly, I'd like to announce that I'm going to see Nick Jonas sing Empty Chairs in. real. freaking. life. Yup, I've got tickets to the Les Misérables Concert at the O2 arena next Sunday. I'm beyond excited! You know (you do?) I've been trying to get tickets to the concert since the tickets were released but with no luck (unless I wanted to pay £110) on top of that I was terribly depressed that I couldn't see Nick in the musical.

By some weird force I clicked into Ticketmaster last Friday and just like Harry can fly a broom I found tickets (i.e ones I could afford)! Mixed with overjoy and nervousness I bought the tickets, resulting with me both selecting the wrong delivery method and buying a freakin' insurance I didn't want. Epic win, I know. After an hour of outrage I realized I just had to live with it and learn from my mistakes how stupid they might be.

A friend of mine from Malmö has came to London to start her studies at my Uni. She's living with me for a couple of days until she can move into her student halls. We've been out and about in London as much as we could while the weather has been so great. For example this afternoon was spent in the lovely Hyde Park.


Otherwise I've been trying to go through the huge pile of course books I've borrowed last week. I will not make that mistake to come completely unprepared to a new course again. No siree.

Cheers,
Tiffany

Swedish Election 2010

(photo via hd.se)
It's the Polling day people! Go out and VOTE! Honestly I'm really excited for the election, I'm definitely gonna stay up and watch the counting.

VOTE!

..and then I saw Zac Efron

Me: I saw Zac today.
Sis: WAS HE WONDERFUL?!

There goes my movie premiere virginity to Charlie St. Cloud. I went to Leicester square around 3 o'clock (the actual thing starts around 6) and full preparation for the premiere were at large. As I walked around to figure out the best places I was really surpised to see so many old people (26 plus) , people who have camped (yup, sleeping bag and everything) and so many....men.

Since there were still some good places on the other side I decided to take a turn around Chinatown. I returned with some snacks and were ready to wait those 2 hours for Mr Efron. I chose a place vertically overlooking the red (but blue) carpet.


I sat down against the barricades and started reading a book I'd brought. People started to fill up as the clock drew nearer to 6. I was half frozen when the "celebrities" finally arrived. Lucky me, we stood right were their car pulled up, so we were the first ones to see who it was in the cars. A few kids who apparently were really famous British TV stars were the first to come. After a few nobodies Anna freaking Popplewell came out of a cab a half meter from where I stood. It was my Narnia period all voer again, my heart was pounding so fast.

Not long there after comes Mr Efron himself and the crowd goes nuts. They were all "Zaaaa--aaahhhhh--ac!!!!"
Rather than screaming "We want Zac!" (Yup, he's a piece of meat alright) every other minute I was really jealous of the random people that were invited to the premiere. And I decided that one day, one day I'm going to be one of those having a ticket and walk down the red carpet. You know, you gotta have dreams. ;)

Toodles,
Tiffany

Dear Sweden,

I'm sitting in my room and literally warming my hands on this blueberry scented candle I bought today. British houses are not to play with. Really looking forward to next month when the landlord's turning on the radiators.

I've been settling in and wandering around the neighbourhood, which is a lot livelier than Holloway. They have a lot of small shops, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, banks and whatnot. It's nice. I'm trying to keep myself busy with news reading, keeing up the NY fashion week and such in order to not feel completely guilty for having this much free time (school starts in 3 weeks).

So I know everyone is talking about the election, which is just 5 days away. Although I've already voted, I've been trying to keep myself updated with the debates and so on. There are still a lot of buzz about the possibilities that small parties, well actually one particular, might get into parliament. I think it's scary that a party like that could even be that big. I would be hugely disappointed if the party gets voted in. Sweden for me has always been a really tolerant country, with open and nonjudgemental people.

I want to still believe that, so people of Sweden please don't forget to vote on Sunday. Thank you.

Lots of love,
Tiffany

Nine eleven

Was it worth it?

I mean, was the great mission accomplished? Did they feel proud, killing all of these people? Were they happy? Did they show the capitalists now?

Post Script. About the building a mosque on ground zero. This is the doing of journalism, folks. It's a culture centre 2 blocks from the ground zero. Get your facts right before ranting!

Yours Truly,
Tiffany

Mourning and Moving on [edited]

I would never believed if you told me 3 years ago that in on the 10th September 2010 21:08 I would be laying in a double bed with a brand freakin' new laptop while watching Brittish TV in my own room in LONDON. I would seriously laughed my head off, yeah right. But I am actually and I it feels a little bit unreal. It's a little bit too good.

So let's recap the last 2 days I've been away. Wednesday morning I started with the moving. Packed as much as I could and started my lord-of-the-rings-long journey to the new house, a journey which I would do not less than 4 times that day. Luckily one of my friends could help me. It was absolutely exhausting, dragging and lifitng the suitcase and bags. By the end of the day I had moved practically all of my stuff except the guitar and a few things.

It felt absolutely great to move into the house, into the huge room, into a place with people I knew. The world was a happy place until in the evening I wanted to talk to my family to tell them everything was fine and stuff. I plug in the laptop push the start button. Nothing. Pushes it again. Nothing. WHAAT?!

As I've mourned and moved on (herk, even bought a new laptop), the circumstances are still too weird not to think about them. The night before I was using the computer as normal (for example watching the first episode of Sherlock, which is awesome btw) and I turned it off. The next day I moved it here to the house. What is wrong?! My friend and I brainstormed numerous theories from different electricity to broken adapter. The next thing I was all over Argos website and reserved a new laptop.

I bought a new freaking laptop today and I feel so freaking guilty. I feel like that slutty widow who hooks up with her late husband's best friend at his funeral, you know.

My new lover.

Yours sincerely,
Tiffany

Attention, moving out!

So I'm back in London and I'm doing my best to move all of my things to the new house as soon as possible (my UNITE contract runs out on Friday).

As I've have whined about on my Twitter (I'm completely against it, I'm like DUDE give the workers more money, you cheap basterds!), there was a tube strike today with minimal trains running (my station, caledonian rd, was even closed) and buses jammed with people. I stayed on the safe side and didn't take any kind of transportation today. Instead I packed all of my things, went ot the bank and etc.

Don't be fooled by my relaxed behaviour though, I was freakishly stressed out two days before coming here , dead afraid I wouldn't make it fromt he airport into the city. And I thank the heavens the strike was today and not yesterday. The tube didn't go to heathrow today, not a single train. I can't even begin to explain what kind of disaster it would have been for me to come back during a tube strike.

Anyway, so I'm going to start moving my things tomorrow. It's not going to be pretty, 2 tube changes, a bus ride and hell a lot of stairs. Though I can't be more excited to move the heck out of here.

Cheers,
Tiffany

Bye bye Malmö

I'm going back to London today, going to the airport in an hour now. All fingers crossed the strike tonight won't affect me.

Toodles,
Tiffany

Crap times two

A movie title ending with a "2" is uttermost seldom a good idea and Camp Rock 2 is an excellent example of that.

When the last movie left us wondering if Disney could possibly churn out more shallow, brain-dead movies, Camp Rock 2 takes shallow brain-dead movies to an whole new level, shallow brain-dead movies times two. with a shallower story, even weaker characters (if that even was possible) and worse acting.

Our teenybop stars return to Camp Rock all jumped up on joy, hopes of romance and all of the usual PG rated things. However the smiles quickly fades as they learn that a new camp, Camp Star (I know they really killed themselves with innovation) across the lake wants to compete with them. On top of it they even convince Camp Rock staff and campers to come over to their camp.

Major pressure is put on Camp Rock to stay open and not least the sing off with Camp Star in the end of the summer.

Different from the first movie the sequel hoped to become a "real" musical movie with the characters unaturalisticly breaking out in song every other minute. With the 90 minute movie crammed with songs, it has left almost nonexistent space for a story, character personalities or even dialogue for that matter. I don't think any character spoke for more than 3 minutes at a time. Seriously.

When the first movie failed to convince us that Shane (Joe Jonas) and Mitchie (Demi Lovato) were actually romantically interested in each other. Apparently when the real world see friendship the Disney world see boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship. The sequel also failed to show their romance until the very last ten minutes of the movie givng us all a "Oh, they are not siblings"-moment.

Although I personally thought the Nate (Nick Jonas) and Dana (Chloe Bridges) were super cute, this relationship also lacked affection and any kind of reality anchoring.

To be honest if a movie could possibly be any more shallow than Camp Rock 2, it shouldn't be classifed as a movie.

Truly yours,

Tiffany

In and out of town

It is time. I'll be going back to London in not less than 5 days.

As usual I have mixed feelings about it, that's the thing with Londonland :P. But this time I think I'm more genuinly looking forward to go back. I'm moving to another place so that's kind of exciting, though the moving in part will be everything BUT exciting. The thing is taking the tube from my old place is extremely inconvenient, i.e I have to change twice and then walk for 10-12 minutes to the house. Pwaah, I can feel the sweat coming already.

It's gonna be nice settling in though because I have another month until school starts. Woooh. I forsee a lot of shopping. Ho ho ho.

So the last few days I'm going to meet some of friends, hopefully buy a pair of new jeans, pack and take some farewell photos of Malmö. :P

Puss och kram vi ses på stan (trans: kisses and hugs, see you in town. Not as funny in English),
Tiffany

Questions people never ask me 3.0

What's your favourite book?
To be honest I don't read that much. I could be all pretentious and say it's because I don't have time but I don't really enjoy reading books, it takes so long time. I'm like I'd rather wait for the movie. XD But I HAVE read some good books (when I want to feel snobbish) like "A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby and of course the Harry Potter series.

Where do you shop?
In London, New Look, Primark, Uniqlo. In Sweden, H&M, Monki, Gina Tricot, Zara.

Are you going to watch Camp Rock 2?
Short version answer: Yes. Long version answer: As you might know I really dislike the forst movie and I was entirely against the making of the sequel. I knew it was going to be total turkey and I still know it's a turkey. As I've start to admit that my JB fandom's starting cool off I have pondered whether it's worth to watch it just for the boys, and my answer is yes (at least once). Why? Because I want to see Nick's (Nates) forbidden romancing with Chloe Bridges (whatever her name is in the movie).

What's worst with living by yourself?
I think it's the social bit, there aren't as many to talk to whenever I feel like it. Otherwise I'm managing the cooking and laundry.

What did you wanted to be when you were a kid?
An actress or before that an astronaut.

Which song did you most recently listen to?
Mr. Curiosity - Lena

Eller or Vogue?
Definitely Elle. I don't like Vogue's layouts.

Epic epicness

I can't believe I haven't seen the trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World before today. I know, SHAME right. Anyway I'm glad I finally did. It looks freakin' epic.

I've literally seen every trailer there is. This is my fave.

Enjoy,
Tiffany

The toys are back in town

I finally got to see Toy Story 3 the other day (in 3D English version). Verdict? Awe.....wait for it...some! (Couldn't help myself)

As I've said I literally grew up with an overplayed Toy Story VHS on Cantonese. (I had a great childhood, you see). And 15 years after I never thought I'd still be quite so excited about a triquel.

One thinks after 2 movies there can't possibly be another sane good story living up the high expectations (unless it's book based movie, but that's another story). The plot is familiar, the toys are afraid of being replaced or abandoned (some cases both). But the screen writers amazes us once again with an wonderfully unpredictable, innovative and funny story.

Appropriately, this movie tells us about the kid, Andy, being grown up and is about to start college. The idea of being thrown in the trash was imminent and the toys decide it was better to be donated to the kindergarden nearby. It's all sugar and rainbows until they realized they had being placed in the small children's department, where toys are being brutally played with.

Gosh, I laughed and I cried, it just kicked some major ass. XD I strongly recommend.

Btw, anyone know why Totoro was there?

Ciao,

Tiffany

Scrapbook 1.0

Some of many photos I've taken this summer.

Enjoy :P,

Tiffany

Rant of the rant

I read this opinion piece some guy had sent to the newspaper and it really intrigued me.The guy was ranting about Animal rights activists.

Wait what? How does it come about that you get so angry with people who dedicate their life as selflessly to protect defenseless, innocent animals, that you openly criticize them in the newspaper. Well, apparently some Animal activists are so fanatic about fighting for animal rights that it resemblances sect activities. As there are so many humans in the world who don't even have the rights that animals have, like people flooded in Pakistan, animal activists really should sort out their priorities.

In a way I can agree with the dude about that fighting for people is more important than animals. But just because there are more important things you can devote yourself to doesn't mean that you have to do that. I mean it's like why does apple engineers research new iPhone features when it's more important to research the cure for cancer?

All I'm saying is, this guy just want to rant for the sake of ranting. For all I know this guy just sits around all day and doesn't do a shit (excuse my French) for the Pakistanians or whoever. How dare someone criticise people who actually does something. I mean people rant about everything; the economy, crowdy places, Justin Bieber and whatever but I draw the line on animal activists.

Goodnight,
Tiffany

As dorky as it gets

Sometimes my nerdiness even surprises me.

First surprise: I see a mother with a 4 year old holding fabricbag with the Camp Rock2 logo, I almost hyperventilated (You must believe me when I say I actually don't like Camp Rock, so I don't know where this behaviour comes from either) I (almost) storm up to her and ask her where she got the bag. Second surprise: I actually track down the place the mother told me she'd gotten the bag. Third surprise: Although there were only 8 and 9 year olds taking pictureswith these giant paper Jonas-and-Demi cutouts I just had to take a picture too (I mean they gave you the bag and printed the picture out for you and)

And on top f that, I went to the Rix FM concert to watch all of these teenyboppy artists, and on top of THAT I even waited until Eric Saade to perform before I went away.

Wow, Tiffany this time you really outnerd yourself.

Sincerely Yours,

Tiffany

My superpower

Rant #1 of 1000s.

So, the other day I was going to drive with my dad (which is going pretty well btw), but before we did, my dad just had to the grocery store nearby. It was a Wednesday afternoon alright, so why were there so many people? I don't even...whatever. (Which movie?!) So you got the situation: only 2 cashiers are open and the lines are too long. You go and queue at the seemingly shortest line (you even did some investigation to see which one is the shortest) and it magically turns into the slowest.

Actually the lines were not that long in this case, I was just really eager on driving. I did a quick check on the both lines, ok we were not going to stand behind that lady with the trolley overloaded with catfood, dirt and god knows what. So it was the other line then. You probably don't know this but I'm the THE master of choosing the wrong queue. It's like my superpower or something.

What was wrong this time? Newbie at the cashier. I'm usually very understanding of new staff (when I'm in a good mood) but this girl was extremely.....................new. I know it's difficult in the beginning (I've been there myself) and everything's new but this girl was something exra alright. She had to ask the other guy like every other second: Oh what does this mean? I did this but it's not right. Oh I pushed the wrong button. The scanner doesn't work. Bladdiblabladdibla!

I started to wonder how on earth they could hire someone so (obviously) unqualified. There must be 1000s of unemployed teenagers in Malmö. I mean I am freaking one of them! It's really hard to get a part-time job here and you basically have to have trillion years of experience in whatever if they are even gonna consider you for the job. I'm not personally attacking this girl, for all I know she might be the best cashier today, but it's intriguing. How does employment processes really work?

Peace out,
Tiffany

Wonderfully egocentric

So you might be wondering (probably not), who is this person (..she talks loads of shit)? Sometimes I wonder the same thing. As wonderfully egocentric I am, I will try to answer that question in this entry.

My name's Tiffany. I have one of those Chinese surnames you've probably never heard before. So yes, I'm originally Chinese but live in Sweden, until last year but more of that later. I lived a shockingly normal still, on the verge of boring, life in Sweden's 3rd biggest city with my family. I went to school. I studied a lot of English because I wanted to be in a Harry Potter movie (true story). I was a person with practically no free time because I studied and when I didn't I took both acting and violin lessons.

Last summer I graduated high school/upper secondary school (or whatever you call it) and moved on to study fashion marketing and journalism (yes that's my course) in London. Although I spent about 7 months in London the previous year I still consider Sweden as my home. In September I'll start my 2nd year and it more than sometimes freaks me out. I don't think of myself as a journalist, I neither think of myself as a fashion person and that also freaks me out.

I'm a highly classified no-life person. Most of the time I don't do anything interesting. I take a lot of pictures and I think photography is interesting as hell...and stuff. I edit and post most of my photos on my tumblr blog, on which I spend more time on than I would like to admit. I also teach myself to play, mostly Jonas Brothers, songs on the guitar. I regularly follow TV series and watch insanely many movies. If I could live anywhere it would be in a cinema auditorium.

And finally. I tweet. I recently rediscovered a Taiwanese boy band. I've had my heart broken once and never loved since. I rarely text or use my cellphone for that matter. I got Facebook purely from peer pressure. I would love to direct one day and I'm really into elections.

Peace out,
Tiffany

Hello world!

I decided to make a fresh start. Turn over a new leaf. Enter a new era, yeah you get it. As I've been implying the past 2 years is that I've become a really lousy blogger and abandoned it almost entirely. For a while I actually gave up blogging, because I didn't have time but mostly because I was lazy. I became sick of it so I gave myself a slap in the face (hypothetically) and toughen(ed?) up. I'm gonna blog! (Well for a start but I'm gonna try really hard to keep it up)

I figured that one of the reasons I stopped blogging was because I never let myself be personal enough. Well, I did try it in the end and it felt kinda good. And as a journalist student I'm a fail if I can't have a functioning blog. It would be SHAME!

So here I've tried to make a new start. The layout is also new.I've changed the blog URL for something I feel more appropriate and..sensible. It didn't really want to create a whole new blog because I didn't want to lose all of my old entries (some of which I actually think are pretty clever).

Happy New Blog,
Tiffany

...

Gutentag

Hey,
I haven't written for ages now. The fact is I've been away for a week and a half. Me and my family (inlc. grandpa) went to Paris and Pfäffikon (in Switzerland) to visit relatives. It's always nice being jammed in a 4 room apt with 15 other people. XD No but it was actually really nice, I love meeting all my cousins again.

During the 2 days in Paris, it was mostly sightseeing, some shopping and weirdly a lot of How I Met Your Mother watching. :P Me and my siblings then took the train to Switzerland. Goood, I'd forgotten how stunningly beautiful Switzerland is. My camera worked overtime. :P For me it has also been a lot of fashion talk with my cousin and we even did a photoshoot (keep checking my tumblr!).

I've also been thinking about how lazy I've become, I mean with tumblr and twitter I hardly write anything anymore. I used to blog loads, then I used to tweet loads now I basically don't write anything, I only tumblr loads. I really want to have a blog I'm really passioned about. I have to figure something out.

Do you wanna share a dream?

Finally saw Inception today. T'was.....good. Weak character personalities but some wicked special effects. Joseph Gordon-Lewitt fighting in weightlessness is HOT!

And fyi, I got it.

Just added on iPod

Hey You - Jonas Brothers



Bold As Love - John Mayer



Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds



Airplanes - B.o.b feat. Hayley Williams

Hello Fancy

(Click on photo for blog)

I've started my own street style blog! It's something I've wanted to do for a really long time and I'm glad I actually made it happen. It's still in the beginners phase of course, I have some pictures lining up but I'm gonna go out and shoot some more, so if I happen to ask you for a picture don't say no. ;)

Cheers!

http://www.hellofancy.tumblr.com/

The brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess and the criminal

I finally got to see The Breakfast club (borrowed it from a friend), and I blooming love it! I've seen twice in 3 days now.

The biggest mistake to be made is to think this is a typical high school movie, or even a high school movie at all. It's about teenagers, the dynamics between each other and to adults. I've never seen a movie that captures the thoughts and problems of teenagers so well.

The dialogues are fantastic, the things these teenagers blurt out are truly captivating. They're sharp, smart, funny and spot on. The actors are quite amazing except Molly Ringwald (Claire) at some scenes and really, who's hotter than Emilio Estevez at 20? XD. The music is great (gosh, I think I like 80's music XD).

What I really love about this movie though, is that it's so honest, raw and real. That's what makes it different from teenage/high school movies today, they always sugercoat things and makes it silly.

Man, if you haven't seen this movie, you are missing out on something.

Dear Mr. Vernon,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain and an athlete and a basket case a princess and a criminal. Does that answer your question?

Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

I'm melting

Hey,

I'm sitting here and trying to watch the game. I remember I was really into the World cup like 8 years ago. Now it's like I coulnd't bother less. The other day I thought I would watch the quarter finals (I mean it was after all the quarter finals) but when I turned on the TV, Debate (Almedalen) was on and I watched that instead. XD No but it's actually really interesting especially that one because they were talking about youth unemployment and they had some really good panel debaters.

To switch to something completely different, the weather has been crazy lately. Especially today, it was 30 degrees and god I think I'm melting. It was already quite warm when I took the bike to work (around 10 in the morning) but when I went home from work?! I took one step outside the kiosk (with ac) and I thought I would faint. It was actually difficult to breath for a bit. And it's suppossed to be even warmer tomorrow, OMG.

I've also been seeing a childhoodfriend of mine who's visiting from the US. I thought it would be weird since we basically haven't meet since we were 6, but it's actually really nice. For some weird reason I can really talk to her.

Anyway, I'm gonna go and take a shower before I melt. See ya!

Hit play

I'm converting to new music, episode I. :P

I'd Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin

Nothing But A Miracle by Diane Birch

Cherry Bomb [from the Runaways] by Dakota Fanning

Chasing Pavements by Adele

So spotted

Click for tttuuummbbllrrr. :)

Give me a break.

GGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Sometimes, actually more than sometimes (actually almost all the time) I just feel I'm going nowhere! I used to think I was good at certain things and that I was interested in certain things and that made me stick out of the crowd. But now, I'm not even good at that? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD AT HUH?! Tell me!

It's like everyone is advancing into their bright future while I'm too lazy to make it bright or just too unlucky to have those bright prospects. WHAT THE HELL IS WORNG WITH ME?!

I'm so used to ignore the fact that I question whether I'm doing the right thing, that I finally have stopped thinking about it but every now and then it comes up again. And in the end of the day I actually don't know if it's right for me or not, but I still keep pushing and make myself believe it's right.

I said I would watch movies

Zuupp,
Since I came home last Monday I've seen:

Bride Wars (not as horrible as people said but horribly predictive)
She's The Man (Cracks me up everytime!)
The Brothers Bloom (Weird and weird again, but alright I guess)
About A Boy (Finally watched the whole thing. A really really good movie, I strongly recommend!)
Easy Virtue (Ben Barnes' really hot but it doesn't really cover up the bland movie)
All Of The President's Men (Been wanting to see it for long. recognize alot from my journalist classes)
Mrs Doubtfire (I watch old moves now?! Yes I do. I was a bit disappointed with this movie, but Robin Williams is brilliant)
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Well, I saw most of it. Just awful!)
Patrick 1,5 (Really the first Swedish movie I've seen without being forced to. Interesting, but could be better)
The Lion King (Had to rewatch it after I saw the musical of course, the music is great!)

So miserable

The picture speaks for itself doesn't it? And for the kiss everyone was talking about, it's real.

I need a Nick Jonas in my life

Just finished watching the cambio live chat with Nick (note: IN LONDON!!!). Actually I didn't want to watch it because I knew it would make me even more depresed about the whole Nick/London/Les Mis thing but he said he might play his new song (London foolishly) so I basically HAD to watch.

And he did play it. Gosh it's so good. I mean this 17 year old guy comes up with these songs that are absolutely amazing! And he sings them and plays them?! How could this be?! How much talent can really fit into one person?

He also played some Administration songs, 7.05 and I Am What I Am. Me and my sister were just talking about how insane it is he still remember how to play those songs (the latter ones) and the lyrics. I mean Joe basically can't remember any song lyrics that they're not playing on tour. :P Nick is crazy.

I need a Nick Jonas in my life. full stop. the end.