Darlene Zschech - Call Upon His Name

My favourite fictional book of all time is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

I was first introduced to the book after I became a fan of Romola Garai, absolutely loving her performance in Amazing Grace. The unusual title (you don't understand it until you read the book) prompted me to watch the trailer on Youtube. The trailer presented a storyline so quaint and interesting that I resolved to find the movie and watch it.

Then, a few weeks' later, I was at a Jessica C's house for a sleepover. Jess has an impressive bookcase; it's my favourite part about going over to her house. I saw I Capture the Castle among the titles and cried out, "Can I borrow it please?" However, the book was given to her by a beloved grandmother, and she wasn't willing to lend it out. I'm a sentimental person myself; I don't blame her.

I found the book at the library when I returned to Singapore for a visit. Because the book was too long for me to read within two weeks' (I had three other thick books to finish), I flipped through it very briefly, although I could tell how rich and textured the story was, and how beautiful the language used.

Then, I bought the book. It's been no turning back since then - I'm a die hard fan.

The story is the diary of Cassandra Mortmain, a seventeen-year-old girl living in a derelict castle with her father Mortmain - a former bestselling author who is suffering from a financially-crippling writer's block -, her stepmother Topaz - an eccentric beauty who was a former model -, her beautiful older sister Rose, her younger brother Thomas and their help/friend Stephen. Their lives are turned upside down by the arrival of the grandsons of their late landlord. Simon and Neil Cotton are American, rich and good looking, although Simon has a beard which Cassandra dislikes.

Eventually, through her flirtatiousness and beauty, Rose becomes engaged to Simon, the older of the two brothers. However, Cassandra finds herself falling for Simon as well. Someone once said something to the effect of, "Cassandra was poised between childhood and adultery."

Dodie Smith wrote this story while she was living in America during a fit of homesickness. She took two years to finish the story, constantly rewriting every word of it and even making a model of the castle. She was so determined to make it work. I have to say that her efforts did not go wasted.

This story is for people who love intelligent romances with average-looking heroes and heroines, quirky characters and a somewhat realistic ending. I've read the book over five times and I've never wanted the story to end. And yet, if someone were to write the ending of the book (as Alexandra Ripley did with Gone with the Wind), it would ruin the whole bittersweetness of the story.

I would recommend this story to anyone. (So far, I have one successful convert.) Read this book - you won't regret it.

James Blunt - You're Beautiful

It's about eleven days to NaNoWriMo and I haven't really decided what I'm going to write... I mean, I have all these ideas buzzing through my head but I haven't had the time (or the patience) to sit down and actually plan my thoughts out. I tried to do it yesterday, during a very boring lecture, but it didn't amount to much...

Anyway, here are my ideas. Since I am pretty much an aspiring historian, my topics are pretty much immersed in history. I love historical fiction... (May I just make a pitch for my favourite historical fiction writer of all time - Rosemary Sutcliff. She is the undethronable, unusurpable [those are probably synonyms, but they sound impressive. Especially the latter] Queen of Historical Fiction.)

a) The life of a Polish Jewish teenager after being liberated from Auschwitz;

b) A German teenager, now a liason for American forces in her village, is forced to face what her people - and even the own members of her family - have done during the war;

c) Anita lives with her father in a remote location in the north of England. When two outsiders come to their house, secrets are revealed and things start to change;

d) Charlotte, or Charlie, finds a letter from 1940 in which a girl confesses that she's in love with someone else. Charlie sets herself on a quest to find out if the two realised their happily-ever-after, and if "love is only true in fairytales".

So that's where I've gotten so far... I think it's pretty okay. I think I'll send my ideas to a friend to ask for her opinion. She's a writer as well, but I don't think she's doing NaNoWriMo.

Kate Rusby - Planets

I wish...

I was a better Christian.
I were more artistic.
I could take better photographs.
I could fit in more easily with people.
I didn't like being alone so much.
I would never be afraid to be me.
I could love better.
I would learn to let myself go.
I would learn to take risks.
I would know how to have fun in every situation.

all these could come true.

Coldplay - X&Y

I used to get annoyed during Sunday School, during arts and crafts, when they'd hand us little stickers that said "Jesus Loves ______." I used to think that it was insensitive, that it looked incomplete and crude if I penciled in my name next to the orderly printed words, that it feels as if the teachers didn't take the time to put my name down, that it could be any old Tom, Dick or Harry putting their name in there. If my name was printed there, it was meant to be there.

But now, I realise that it doesn't matter whose name you put in there, printed or not. Jesus does love (insert name here) . You can be Tom, Dick, Harry, Greg, Bob, Larry, Miki... whatever. He does love you no matter who you are or what you've done.

Jesus loves you

*g*

Coldplay - Don't Panic

We (Pepe, Pepe's niece Pepe, Gracie, Charlotte V and I) went to see Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida last night at the Shanghai Majestic Theatre (66 Jiang Ning Road, Shanghai; 上海市江宁路66号）. It was quite interesting... I'm going to give a brief review of it here.

The singing was excellent, although their articulation was either very poor or the music was turned up too loud. It took me a while to like Marja Harmon's (Aida) voice, but once the musical got into full gear, it really began to impress. Leah Allers's (Amneris) voice was extremely powerful, and she definitely showed the change in her character very clearly. Although in the plot, Casey Elliot's (Radames) character was caught between these two women, he supported himself very well. However, Vincent D'Elia (Zoser) annoyed me... Not only could I not hear what he was singing, but his voice was really nasal and almost whiney.

The music was a bit predictable, though... Let's just say it was very "pop" and screamed of Elton John's influence. You could just hear him bleeding through the melodies and piano riffs. Anyway, I daresay they could've used a big more strings... But what can I say? - I'm a violinist. (Or at least, I try to be.) Also, there's this one part where the slaves are singing, "Aida, Aida, Aida." It sounded suspiciously similar to the part in Evita where the Argentinean masses are singing, "Evita, Evita, Evita."

Of course, not that I'm accusing anyone of anything...

But there were some really good songs like The Gods Love Nubia (I nearly cried) and Elaborate Lives. So, yeah.

The orchestration was excellent. We later met the Musical Director and Conductor, Daniel Bailey. He was a really nice guy. He signed my program for me. (I'll admit that I'm a bit of an autograph hunter, but not in the obsessive sort of way... More of a sentimental thing.) Anyway, Charlotte got really happy because he said he used to play piano in church. (We weren't talking religion... He just asked if we wanted to come for the matinee today, which is the last performance, but we said we had church. That's how it came up. We're not freaky Jehovah Witness-esque Christians.) Anyway, he was awesome.

(Mr. Bailey, if you're reading this - you're awesome and the musicians in the pit are underappreciated.)

Now, the plot.

Personally, I didn't dislike the plot; it just wasn't the one for me. I prefer plots with lots of depth. (Think Les Miserables and Wicked.) Maybe because I couldn't hear the music, but I thought the plot was pretty... Predictable? But on the bright side, I did like the way Amneris's character transitioned from spoilt brat to next leader of Egypt. And the dialogue was quite clever. Overall, it wasn't a fluffy Mamma Mia! plot.

I bought the soundtrack, but it turns out that it wasn't the Original Broadway Cast or anything... At least it's got people like Tina Turner and Sting singing on it. But then I can't play it on my computer because my sound isn't working... I've been listening to my iPod nonstop.

Does anyone know what the heck an SPDIF interface is?

Todd Agnew - Grace Like Rain

I used to think that the world got worse as I grew older. In a way, that is true. However, I've slowly learnt that the world hasn't grown worse; I've just become more aware of its fallen and twisted state.

I won't say that I was and am a sheltered child. I've always known to some extent that the world is full of sin. Perhaps this is due to my Christian upbringing... My parents did not hide subjects like adultery, murder, rape or the Holocaust from me when I was growing up. When I had a question about a touchy subject, they always answered truthfully and honestly.

But when I was on Wikipedia today, I came across this picture from the Bosnian War. And then I realised - this happened the year I was born. There were girls who were my age then who were suffering the day I was born. While I was living my miserable, depressed, self-centred existence, they were truly miserable and suffering.

It's as if they had a right to be depressed.

Jonathan Rhys Myers - This Time

I didn't really know what to write about for the past few days until I received an e-mail today from my subscription of Daily Writing Tips... It gave a few "creative generator" things, and I decided to use the Imagination Prompt Generator. Anyway, the prompt I like the best is

How old would you be if you didn't know your real age?

I've just turned fifteen a couple of weeks ago... Sometimes - sometimes - I feel a lot older than my age... Maybe it's because of my friends. I mean, they're lovely people, but they're always asking me for things like tissue paper, water, and lip balm. I seem to be the only one who carries a bag... Better yet, I seem to be like the Dora the Explorer of my group, the one whose backpack contains everything. Also, my friends are always falling into problems which I don't seem to encounter very much... I find it easier to talk to people a lot older than me sometimes, although they probably mostly think of me as a little kid (although I am fifteen)...

It's a bit like Cassandra Mortmain in I Capture the Castle (I love that book; everyone should read it at least once in their lifetime). She was seventeen when the book begins, but you feel that she's a lot older. Then, enter Simon Cotton, who keeps thinking of her as a little kid (maybe because she's Rose's younger sister), when we the readers really know that she's mentally older than that.

Age is just a number to me. I don't know why the world gets so hyped about "Acting your age." I know for some people, it means "grow up! Get a life!". For me, it seems to condemn mentally mature people into the stereotype of brainless teenagers who joke about sex and condoms and girls and all that crap.

Anyway, I would age myself at about eighteen - the age where you're old enough to understand and to talk and function almost like an adult, and yet you have the random bursts of hyperactiveness and randomnity. But I'm short for my age, so maybe I will end up aging myself at fifteen anyway...

Gah.