For what we are about to receive.....

Heya, here's a short story I wrote for English on the theme of Dystopia. Hope you enjoy :)


For what we are about to receive.....

The knife plunges down in a series of precise slashes, rending the frail skin and spilling the deep red innards across the wooden block. Her elegantly tailored suit emphasises her statuesque silhouette; deliberately tasteful jewellery frames her carefully applied facade which melts slowly into a salty echo of a Willem de Kooning with each slice of her blade. The acidic taint of the tomato’s juices catches in the bourgeois goddess’s throat and she chokes with the understanding of the damned. The immaculate temple of dark granite work surfaces carefully accented by the contrasting high gloss tiling and the most fashionably branded appliances stands as a gleaming testament to capitalist success and impeccable taste. Of course should the enamel casing be ripped apart to reveal the bare wooden skeleton the stamps would be there, just as they were in the newly built tenement slums and the faux historical mansions, the carmine formal ink here would of course read “Government Issue- Bourgeoisie Grade.”

She reverently lays the tomato into the stylish bamboo salad bowl already laden with cucumber and spring onion with the knowledge acquired from her work as horticultural statistician for the country’s resources smouldering in her skull, numbers and statistics flashing through her mind like embers, images of poverty and famine rendered in binary. A sudden fall in the prison population accompanied with an equally sudden rise in the availability of food, the swift rejuvenation of the country’s agriculture and an end to the problem of increasing population. She caresses the smooth grain of the wood beneath her fingertips as she remembers buying the bowl. It was one of the highest graded shops she was permitted to frequent; the shelves stocked with luxurious commodities, the shop’s name synonymous with dinner parties and shallow prattle about books, ideas and wine. It was best to ignore that this like all shops was now supplied by the governmental supply vans that toured the country bedecked with tinted windows and averted glances. Not much had changed there since the reformation; there were of course no books on the shelves now... more wine though; the woman hums a nursery rhyme, half forgotten as if shrouded in deep green glass.

Her childhood; how distant that seemed, had it really been any better than this? Her memories confusing and vague, words and feelings drowned in nonsense songs and clapping games. Lost in sound and colour, the only constant her continuous melancholic leitmotif. That familiar sense of uncontrollable disaster that had walked hand in hand with her from infancy and embraced her with arms of flesh in recent years. Then she remembered that rare slice of epiphany carcass, the pulpy meat stark crimson against the dazzling porcelain. Her one moment of true freedom in defiance, her personal victory in refusal to consume flesh; her whole identity crystallised as if in amber, comforting and warm.

Slowly, deliberately she places the blade to her lips and tastes the residue on the knife’s edge hoping against hope that the truth would change or she would cease to detect what she knew to be true. An instant on the tongue and she unsheathes the blade from her sickened mouth, the elemental flavours linger mockingly. Phosphorous and iron on stainless steel, metallic yet organic in its truest sense...Lettuce next.

She thrusts her knife angrily into the lettuce leaves, imagining her knife as a sword of Damocles as she drives it into the leafy heart. The leaves would hold the same whispered truths of the tomato so there was no need to taste the blade again; the tang of betrayal still burning on her lips. Into the bamboo bowl go the emerald sheets of icebergs. Toss the leaves delicately, drizzle vinaigrette liberally; there was nothing in her countless recipe books about grief or culpability. Generously sprinkle with sorrow, season with guilt. Her gaze shifts to her own emaciated wrists and a lugubrious keening sigh escapes into the air and is dragged into the air conditioning. She will eat what she can, possibly two tablespoons of salad if she can bite her lip and pretend the taste of death is her own coursing blood.

Tall white Candles are lit, conspicuously antiquated among the solar powered fluorescents which cast no shadow at the hushed table. The woman sits opposite her assigned partner at the long glass table, the salad divided in equal measures. The woman breaths a muffled prayer for forgiveness to her plate, reading last rites to spring greens washed with tears.

It's been a while!

A long long while at that! For any Family Guy fans feel free to emphasise the H in while.

My last post was in an entirely different year so I guess I should wish you all a belated Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Valentine's Day etc. etc. but please don't think It was sheer laziness, I've been having a couple of computer crises. My laptop and old desktop are now suitable only as avante garde and ridiculously oversized paperweights but my new dream machine looks so unbelievable shiny I have the utmost confidence that it will survive for many a decade to come.

Though I really should inform you all of the exciting events of the black hole between December and February I have neither the dedication nor memory to and thus this area of forgotten time shall be precisely that; as far as I'm concerned there isn't and never has been a month called "January."

Anyway lets look to the future and one thing that will be featuring heavily in the follwing year's blog is the wondrous "Guerrilla Gardening" which I'm so taken with I've even set up a facebook group- "Guerrilla Gardening Wales." The first hit on my agenda will be the hideous new cinema in Cwmbran town centre, I'll try my best to get some pictures of the exploits.

Ergh I'm just beginning to remember how annoying it is to get back into a blog after a long absence. Here's a picture to keep your (and my) attention.



There, wasn't that nice!

Right back to the point...............this could take a while, probably best you go make a cup of tea or something...................................................

Oh! Me and my friends James and Laura had an audition for National Youth Theatre and that was good fun, I performed a monologue cobbled together from the screenplay and musical adaptation of "A Clockwork Orange." I can't rightly say why there is a musical version, i can't think of many people who would sit through a dystopian musical sung in NADSAC, but then again that's proved by the fact that no one has heard of it.

Ooh I got into Welsh National Youth Opera and it's so much fun, the people there are really lovely and I can't wait to be in the chorus for Sweeney Todd in July. A big thanks too to Rob, for providing excellent accomodation and cuisine :D

School is as school always is, though performing arts festival might be fun, I'm going to sing a solo and a duet methinks. We've started doing our play for drama, "100" it has the capabilities to be good, we'll have to see though. Right well I've got to do coursework, write a dystopian fiction short story and sleep, hopefully in that order but I'll probably just go watch Spirited Away.

Good night people, I'm off under the sea to an Octopus's Garden :)

The Theatre of Cruelty :)

Ahoy hoy readers (I use the "S" loosely) well the show is over, no more Guys and Dolls for ever and ever and ever! It came off wonderfully and plenty of people came to see it, well, the first night was a bit sparse but it was sold out by the end :) clappy clappy clappy clap!

The after show was good, chinese food was eaten, drink was drunk, I fell over to everyone's amusement and Sophie and Tready tried to steal some poor family's Christmas Tree and by extension steal their Christmas spirit (under my instruction, eat your heart out Grinch!) it was unfortunately firmly planted in the Earth so as bold as our attempts were, they were in vain. Probably for the best really; no place to put it.

Since Friday I've had the joy of Flu and it's HORRID!! It could be years before I fully recover from the ordeal, I've taken the liberty of prescribing myself bountiful amounts of laudanum to stimulate the healing process, only good can come of that methinks. Seriously though, I'm still ill and I don't have any energy, just enough for blogging and dusting off my gaming hands and going Jean Grey on everyone's ass on my X-Men game.

-----We interrupt this blog to bring you a political broadcast on behalf of the Tory Party*------

* Well a pretty picture anyway to keep your attention



Hope you enjoyed that, I can guarantee that a large percentage of my blog readers loved it, which is actually quite sad if you know the maths.

Well that's pretty much all this updated, I've got a lot to do, presents to buy- which I can't do because I'm ill, and school work- which I'm too tired to do. So I've got to rush off to do nothing. TAH RAH!

Oh before I forget, in my previous post I spoke about the restaurant Wagamama which some people mistakenly believe is a chain, this is an elaborate sham to make their business appear established in these uncertain economic times, Wagamama HQ is actually run by one very arthritic Asian man named Oshi in a toolbox in Shanghai. I accept your apologies in advance for your misconceptions.

Here's Love cats by The Cure by a string quartet! The original has embedding disabled :( still pretty nifty though :D... if a teensy bit sounding like an alternative theme tune for university challenge!

In with the old, out with the new :)

I'm back to the usual format for this post, no more of that crazy literature for a while, it's habit forming and is shown to affect your brain!
Right so I went to see Evita in Cardiff on Saturday and got some Christmas Prezzies such as these Mondrian inspired Vans for me!

Evita was fantastic, especially the actress playing the title role and the dancing was incredible, it really is a show worth seeing, and I had a lovely meal beforehand at the new city centre Wagamama which as always does lovely food but does seem a bit clinical, maybe it will be nicer when business picks up however it seems like a great place for a nice lunch.

Rehearsals have been FRANTIC for Guys and Dolls and I think we're finally going to be ready to perform on Tuesday, but this show has been sooo stressful and we've been more behind in rehearsals than we ever have in the past, I just hope enough people turn up to see it as ticket sales have been awful.... FINGERS CROSSED!

Me and my friend Harriet have been writing sketches for our comedy project with our friend Amy and we're really excited about that, hopefully if we stick to it we'll have something solid to put online and hopefully perform round Cardiff in the near future!
We also went to the AMAZING Cardiff Vintage Fashion Fair with our friend Stephen and had a smashing time and we each picked up some gems! And we had a right spiffing time on the Winter Wonderland Carousel as you can see! ahahaha



Well I'm off now, gonna have Chinese tonight for my Bro's Birthday which was actually yesterday. Oooh and if you wondering what the lookbook thing is on the right of the screen then it's a wiget for this really amazing fashion site Lookbook Byeeeee!

Susan

Here's a short story I've written about Susan from The Chronicles of Narnia and how she is left out of "Narnia" (which is in essence a metaphor for heaven) at the culmination of "The Last Battle" and left alone with the news that her entire family have been killed in a railway accident. Exactly why she is excluded remains a topic of fierce debate, many consider her exclusion to be the result of her sexual awakening and Lewis' naive and skewed view of female sexuality while others argue that her exclusion is merely because she has chosen to forget Narnia and Aslan and no longer cares for what she sees as a childhood fantasy.

""Sir," said Tirian, when he had greeted all these. "If I have read the chronicle aright, there should be another. Has not your Majesty two sisters? Where is Queen Susan?"

"My sister Susan," answered Peter shortly and gravely, "is no longer a friend of Narnia."

"Yes," said Eustace, "and whenever you've tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says, `What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.'"

"Oh Susan!" said Jill. "She's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up."

"Grown-up, indeed," said the Lady Polly. "I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can."

"Well, don't let's talk about that now," said Peter. "Look! Here are lovely fruit-trees. Let us taste them."

-From "The Last Battle" by C S Lewis


Susan

The peal of blithe laughter and shrill goodbyes as she left acquaintances at the entrance could be heard from the lounge and the door made of apple wood closed with a snap as she entered the house. The confident echo of her stiletto heels entered the room before she did; her cloven hoofed stride certain and sure. The man in the dark blue suit, uneasy in that debutante address, the lodging as unknown to him as she was. The quivering sheets of paper within his hands one of which bore her name, he’d never had to tell someone so young. How could he face this stranger, this girl this…Susan?

“Hello can I help you Mr…” She queried calmly in her flawless RP; if she was surprised in the least it didn’t show beneath her calm smile.

“Detective Inspector James. I think perhaps Miss Pevensie you ought to sit down.”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d rather stand.” And with that declaration she took her place by the hearth, the unlit fireplace bereft of fuel the sight of which suddenly made the inspector realise the bitter cold which gripped the room; the dark room of antique mahogany and modest light. In the gloom it was harder to see the peeling wallpaper and chipped tiles, the moth eaten curtains and the chair arms worn away to wood. She could feel the detective’s gaze wandering around the room, concern lining his face.

“Oh how remiss of me, would you care for some tea inspector?”

“Well actually Miss Pevensie the reason for my visit is of some urge-”

“Nonsense! I’ll just get the service.” Her voice cracking with hidden emotion under her mellifluous tones, like honey over splintered glass. The silver service she brought into the room gleamed, its pristine sparkle dazzling even in the dim light, yet when she brought it closer it was clear that it must have been polished hundreds of times gradually stripping away its silvery radiance.

“This is a rose pouchong a friend bought me from China,” the words flowing as she poured the golden liquid into dainty china cups. The floral scent drifted around the room like an incense, its drowsy fragrance taking hold.

“Roses…” whispered the inspector, “roses. Like Turkish delight.” Susan’s cup shattered in her clenched hand, her formal gloves torn but her skin intact the colour drained from her face.

“Weak…cups.” The only scrap of language she could manage. As the inspector bent towards the floor, scrambling for shards of broken china he looked at her properly for the first time. Her tresses of russet hair fell about her shoulders framing a face that while beautiful appeared drained for someone so young; exhausted by looking elegant, her vivid green gown captivating but frayed from too much wear.

“Miss Pevensie I really must tell you why I am here. I’m afraid I have some terrible news. There has been a… catastrophe, a freak rail disaster on the same train which your family were taki-”

“What hospital are they in? Can I see them straight away?”

“I’m sorry miss, there were… no survivors. I have a list…” His words trailed off, useless as they were as he stretched out his hand holding the sheet of paper that had weighed so heavy in his heart. She became as still and cold as a statue, her hazel eyes glazed and listless and her skin as white as the paper she now clutched and there was no bell to ring to rouse her from her grief. There in the parchment were the names of a world that so suddenly had ceased to exist, but a world she had left long ago. The first two old and frail the witnesses of her world’s inception, her fellow adventurers brothers and sister through so much who had lived in her world’s golden age and those two who had journeyed after her, keeping the land alive; the final names her parents such accidental victims to a cruel and proud spirit. Within the names of that sheet of paper her heart had been made and died, the golden train carriage with its engine roar and mane of steam had claimed her world and family and her reason to live. Were their deaths incidental or integral, how could she know?

Will they think of me as the girl who abandoned them, will they know I’ve been toiling for them? Every night I put on my debutante smile and clutch my lipstick and invitations to try to secure our future, I was never allowed to live in fantasy with them when I could see our money was so short. To secure a future for all of us. But it seems someone has left someone behind. After so many hard hard years circumstance was a cruel beast.

Susan shed silent icy tears and snow began to fall outside the window, snow as white as a shroud, or nine shrouds as Susan thought; signalling the start of a winter that would never cease for her.

Updates Updates Updates!!

Yeesh it's been a long while since updating this blog but since I have miraculously found myself with no homework and some spare time this evening: here goes!

Ok well Sweeney Todd is cast and I got the part of Judge Turpin!!! EEEEEE I'm chuffed it's gonna be an awesome character to get into and he's got some ace singing parts which sit really comfortably in my voice :) Not like my part in school who is a really good part but should really be played by a proper tenor as his song "sit down you're rocking the boat" is killing my voice! Speaking of which my throat is awful and I've had barely any time to recover it, I'm going through honey and lemon at an alarming rate! the school show is coming together though........SLOWLY!

I saw the spectacular Hot Chip play an amazing set in Cardiff with my friend Fran and they were on superb form and the hilarious yet oddly catchy tunes of Max Tundra were an unexpected bonus!

NEW YORK WAS AMAZING!!!!!! We had such a good time and some absolutely hilarious experiences!! America is such a bizarre country! I definitely want to visit again but from what I've seen I don't think I could live there happily for longer than a year....

Here's a pic of Me, Chloe, Laura and Sian in good ol' NY!



Continuing with the New York theme, me and my friend Hari went to see the band Electric Tickle Machine at Tafod in Cardiff and had a lovely time and they are really lovely people! Halloween was rubbish this year I did nothing but watch Psycho and The Birds! (the Hitchcock classic, not the animals). However the Halloween sixth form Partay was lots of fun and my steampunk inspired costume was I think you'll agree- more than a bit awesome!

Well that's you essentially all updated, now I'm off to fill in my application forms for Welsh National Youth Opera and chillax with a nice hot mug of honey and lemon :D

A Very Merry (un)Birthday!

Oh my I have a lot to tell you blog readers! And I'm now convinced that someone must be reading this so don't be frightened leave a comment :) Anyway I shall relate my news in a chronological fashion ergo I shall,
"start at the beginning and when I come to then end; stop."

On Friday I went on a wonderful trip to a classical music concert with the school music department, although we were going for Beethoven's fifth (one of our study pieces) it was The Hebrides Overture which stood out as a highlight. The BBC Wales orchestra were highly skilled despite the first violinist breaking a string mid performance! Oh and it should be noted that our music teacher failed to turn up! The ever absent minded David Hale had apparently "forgotten" and he had spent his evening in his local....
Oooh I nearly forgot, the meal before the concert was lovely and Megan, James, Dani and I dined like Latin Kings in "Las Iguanas" and had a thoroughly lovely time when we met up with Loz and Beth.

On Wednesday had my audition for "Guys and Dolls" which I'll tell you about later and me and Laura went into town to find an outfit to wear to the sixth form partay on Thursday. Needless to say while my burgundy and white checked shirt, black braces and grey plaid trousers looked lovely (honestly it did.... well I think it did) the effort was lost on the less fashion rebellious in the obligatory jeans and smart/casual shirt ensemble. The party was quite good however it would have probably been better had I not heard the EXACT same songs in the EXACT same venue for the Rougemont sixth form partay. Lazy DJs lead to lazy dancers people!

However. My weekend was AMAZING!! My sister Rhiannon arranged a trip to London for our Mum's 50th birthday and she did a fantastic job. Les Miserables was fantastic, Madame Tussuad's, a lovely meal and Cream Tea at The ""Tea Palace"" (definitely definitely worth a trip) made for a brilliant weekend.

I've got to be honest readers I have been ill with a cold since Wednesday and it's only just beginning to fade, I honestly think if you cut me I would bleed lemsip right now! so that in combination with school on Monday did not leave me with a jaunty attitude. However the good news is I have the part of "Nicely Nicely Johnson" in Guys and Dolls!!!! Oooh it's going to be soo much fun, he has some really good songs :D AND They are casting Sweeney Todd at Congress in 2 weeks time!!!! VERY exciting but the competition is daunting to say the least, I shall need to do some Sweeney method acting methinks ;)

Anyway it's my Mum's actual birthday today so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! (I made a cake, it looked bad, tasted loverly)
also happy birthday to Laura, Ryan and some German teacher who someone said was her birthday.... ooh and Marc Bolan... sort of.... IT'S A REGULAR BIRTHDAY BONANZA!
As for the rest of you I wish you a very merry unbirthday and leave you with the delightful Dresden Dolls.

Sweet Dreams xxxx