Update

Hello!
Recently, my laptops decided to pack in on me and get a virus, and since my dad lacks enthusiasm to get it repaired, I may be unable to edit blogs for a while.
Fear not! For when I return (totally feel like a knight of the Round Table), I will have birthday hauls all ready to post for you.
Until then, I strongly recommend you watch Watch We Did On Our Holiday. It's got an all star cast, big laughs and such a light and homely tone with simultaneously dealing with very real issues. It's on UK Netflix and I'm sure the DVD is cheap online and is worth every penny just to witness Norman the Breeze block confront his lack of arms.
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5 Reasons to Survive the First Week Back

Hello!

Since this week holds the first week back to school for most people, I thought I'd try and prevent you from hanging yourself with a rope from a ceiling fan by giving you a handful of reasons why you should survive the gruelling first week.

1. Gogglebox

Brits, the nations favourite and weirdest telly program is back on to our screens Friday night, and I for one couldn't be more excited. Months have passed since we last watched people watch TV, and I've actually felt heartache from the absence of Steph and Dom and their dancing. With an abundance of new and old shows for them to sit and review from the comfort of their living rooms, it will undoubtedly  be another series of top notch comedy.

2. Bake Off

As with the past five weeks, Wednesday night has been full of bakes, ranging from the falling apart to GBBO history, and this week is no different. The remaining Bakers are being challenged with an array of pastry tasks, and I'm positive it's one to catch. 

3. Christmas

As of this week, there's only 15 of them left until Christmas! Surely that's enough of a reason on its' own, right?

4. Stationary

If you're anything like me, the idea of a new set of pens and pencils makes me feel like Christmas has come early! With that said, it's kind of obvious that one of the many highlights of September for me is the new stationary. Just don't let anyone else near those WHSmith fineliners and you'll be fine.

5. Netflix and Chill

And if all else fails, at least you know that that you can go home at the end of the day, get into bed with a share bag of Malteasers, and watch whatever you fancy on Netflix for as long as it takes to repress the memory of the sweat marks under your Maths teachers' arms. 

And with those five reasons in your mind, I hope you all have a satisfactory first week (because lets face it, it won't be much better than that, unless Johnny Depp turned up to school to ask you on a date), and that you all get good grades and don't have a metal breakdown over the seven life processes or anything like that. 

Welcome to My Paper Life.

Monsters Inc. Merchindise

Hello!
Whilst trying to busy myself in order to forget that school is starting again on Wednesday, I ended up binge watching the Super Carlin Brothers, where their newest video series is Pixar Fast Facts, caught my attention. I've watched all of them to date, but one fact in particular that was new to me was that before Monsters University was decided, it was going to be called Lost in Scareadise, and it entailed Mike and Sully getting lost in the Human world in search of Boo.
I'm not going to lie; I cried. Ever since seeing the last scene of Monsters Inc., I've waited - rather impatiently - to see what became of Boo and after watching the Fast Facts video, I think I've came up with a worthy headcanon.

So it's years after the events of Monsters Inc., and Mike and Sully are still making people laugh to collect energy, and one day a purple, blue and green door is locked in for Mike to enter. Inside, although the lights are out, Mike manages to spot that the room is full of weirdly familiar stuffed toys. Later on, when the floor is empty, both Mike and Sully go to check out the room again. On closer inspection, the room is a little kids bedroom, and it's full of stuffed toys of monsters! Most of which, are actually the two of them! Sully accidentally walks back into a dresser, causing the items on top to come crashing to the floor. Having heard the noise, lights come on in the hallway and a parent walks in and turns on the light. She's got long, black hair tied up in a top knot, and a fringe. Turns out, Boo was isolated for believing in monsters for far longer than she should have. As a result, she created a line of stuffed toys that resembled all the monsters she remembers meeting but was told she had imagined, all for kids that were being told the same thing. As her company became more popular, she advanced her merchandise. Randall lamps that change colour and pattern, a comic book series where the antagonist is Mr Waternoose, a George Sanderson laundry basket, a replica of her monster costume and many, many more Sully and Mike Toys. Boo takes great joy in finally being able to show her only true friends what they inspired her to do. And the entire time, she never corrects them when they call her Boo, because it was the one thing that she missed the most when she was growing up alone.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts and comment a question for a possible Q&A.

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I Love Movies Tag

Hello!
Being a bit of a movie geek, I'm one of those people who has lots of favourite films but physically can't order them into a Top 10. Consequently, when I found the I Love Movies Tag, I couldn't resist doing it instead of going through the lengthy process of finding my handful of favourites. Without further ado, I'll begin!

1. Favourite movie of all time?
It changes from time to time, but I'd currently have to say Saving Mr Banks. Not only is it hauntingly beautiful to the extent that I spent several days trying to fathom the fact that it actually happened, but it's a fitting backstory for those who grew up with the tale of Mary Poppins. Of course, what makes the film this way was mostly down to the incredible cast. Obviously, Emma Thompson was brilliant and perfected the role in order to make her sour enough for the audience to both hate and sympathise with her as the story progressed. Obviously, Tom Hanks' performance added all the Disney magic to the film, with a flawless performance as Walt Disney himself. Colin Farrell also made the story with his powerful act as Travers Groff, however my favourite character is B. J. Novak's Robert Sherman. Clearly, the Sherman brothers were a massive part of the entire process of the adaptation of P. L. Travers' novel, but I feel that Robert's refusal to accept Travers was really a massive underlying part of the story.

2. Favourite scene from that movie?
Although nothing happens in this scene, my favourite part has to be the end, where Ginty is sitting on the ground, the same as the prologue. For some reason, I personally thought this helped wrap up the film, showing it was the end of the story behind the story and the final end. It also cleverly displayed Travers' reluctance to change and desperation to hold onto the past.

3. Favourite actors/ actresses?
Being a massive Tim Burton fan, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp are up there as some of my favourite actors of all time, mostly due to their way to adapt and change to individual roles so well, but also because they're pure badasses. Another pair I love are Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, who I strongly believe they're British treasures. Who can argue when the managed to make a pub crawl 

in a robot town so hilarious? 

4. Most annoying actors/ actresses? 

Obviously, Adam Sandler is up there, with his incapability to entertain an audience beyond the ages of 5, Toby McGuire annoys me purely because want to know what part of him thought his acting in the Spiderman trilogy was worthy of a superhero, but overall I have to say that no one in particular stands out.

5. Best director? 

Tim Burton, hands down. He's just such a fresh change of pace in comparison to all the other directors, and he's truely unafraid to tell storied his way. 

6. Favourite guilty pleasure film? 

Honestly no idea, I'm quite open with which movies I watch, so I wouldn't count any as a guilty pleasure as such. 

7. Favourite tear jerker? 

Anyone who knows me at all will be able to tell you that I cry at pretty much anything and everything, so picking just one movie is practically impossible. But recently I was listening to music on a coach and Marley and Me (which I hadn't seen previously) was playing on one of those three screened DVD players, and even though I couldn't hear it, I still cried, making it a pretty big tear jerker. 

8. Character from a movie that scared you the most? 

The Other Mother from Coraline was utterly terrifying. I still don't see how that film got such a low rating! 

9. Movie you love that everyone hates? 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is that the Johnny Depp one? I think so. Anyway, I guess I just feel like it gets a lot of criticism for trying to remake the original, which was flawless, but I feel like if it wasn't for such high expectations, it would have succeeded as much as the first. Of course, trying to explain this to my grandad isn't the easiest of tasks. 

10. Movie you hate that everyone loves? 

Smurfs 2 was such a let down, it aimed too much towards its younger audience and forgot that the Smurfs themselves were beloved by literal generations and they should be the target audience. But bless Mad Eye Moody for taking the fall about Barney Stinson's parrot. 

11. Favourite movie duo? 

Effie and Hamitch, they work so hard to ensure Katniss and Peeta are okay, they care about them do much. 

12. Favorite animated movie? 

Does Enchanted count? I'm making it count. 

13. Actor/actress crush? 

Colin O'Donoghue for sure. Even though it's not a movie, Once Upon A Time changed my life when he swanned in, all dashing rapscallion-y and cocky. And then, after a little bit of internet stalking, I find out he's Irish AND he can sing?!

14. Favorite movie villian? 

Oogie Boogie from the Nightmare Before Christmas, for his song alone. Then there's his kickass attitude, the fact that he can dance better than me and his surprising resemblance to the Shadowman in Princess and the Frog, but more on that theory another time. 

15. A film that surprised you?
I recently got around to watching Kingsmen, the Secret Service and I think that the alternative routes the film took really surprised me, but in a positive way. For the rest of the movie after Harry died, I was totally expecting him to not actually be dead, due to the abruptness of his shooting and the fact that not everything henceforth was done 'for Harry'. But, in the end, I really appreciated how the characters were aware that they were kinda too busy to sit and mope and the writers realized that bullets kill people, a concept many seem unable to grasp.

16. If you could only keep one movie what would it be? 

Since I've watched it twice in a row and then watched the entire auto commentary and then everyday after for two weeks , I'm guessing that Love Actually is a safe option.

17. Movie recommendation and for whom?
Both Kickass films and for my brother, who still hasn't seen them when I know full well that he will love them.

18. If you could go back in time and marry actor/actress from back when (now old) who would it be?
I would still marry him now if I'm honest, but Hugh Grant was in his prime in the 1990s.

19. One remake  you wish had never been made?
I haven't actually watched many remakes, and even less that I didn't like. Nonetheless, even the notion of a second Fame confuses me. The first version was so great that that there wasn't a need for another.

20. About to die but could only watch one movie, what would it be?
Since I'm about to head to the Land of the Dead myself, the Corpse Bride would be the perfect option. It's been one of my all time favourites since I was five, so it'd be the perfect movie to wrap up my life.

21. Favourite movie genre/favourite movie from that genre?
I honestly don't have a preference, I enjoy lots of different types of films.

22. What's the first movie you remember seeing in theatres?
I know I had been going to the cinema for a long time before this, but the furthest back cinema trip I can remember is Arthur and the Invisibles. I guess the reason it sticks out is because my brother entered a contest and won free tickets for my family to see it. I even remember what I was wearing, because I'm weird like that.

So that's the I Love Movies Tag! I'm tagging Oh My Daily Struggles because her answers will be bizarre and hilarious, The Girl With The Winged Eyeliner because she's an adorable fluff ball, LoveBeatriceX because her passion for photography may well influence her movie choices and I'm nosey so I wanna see if it does, and finally A Changing Life, because both of us share a love for Marvel and DC.
Welcome to My Paper Life

Happy 1st September!

Hello!
I know I keep making excuses for not posting, but right now I'm trying my hardest not to catch a stomach bug. Ugh. I know.
But! Since I'll be spending most of this time in my room, I'll try my very best to get a few posts out for you before I go back to school on the 9th.
In the mean time, happy 1st September! Yet again, another year has gone past and I'm still not on board the Hogwarts train. Speaking of which, James Sirius starts school this year! Which means that next year will officially be the end of Harry Potter, since it'll be 19 years later, and if that doesn't make you feel old then I don't know what will.
Welcome to My Paper Life.

The Help

Hello!
Recently, I finished watching a little film called The Help with my sister after my second attempt at doing so, and even though I was sceptical about it the first time (where I lost interest halfway through), when I actually finished the film I couldn't help being in awe of the story.

The 1960s based film follows a 23 year old aspiring journalist called Skeeter (played wonderfully by Emma Stone), who lands herself a job writing a cleaning advice column for the local newspaper of Missisipi, her hometown she has returned to from college. When seeking help with answering the questions, she turns to one of her high society friends' black maid, Abilene. Whilst this goes on, Skeeter begins to expand her questions past how to wash out stains and more around the subject of being the minority in such a racist community. With Skeeters' writing skills and promise of a book deal and Abilenes' tire for hiding behind her uniform, they set out to write an illegal book about black working people anonymously. More and more people eventually get involved, but I find the ending the most striking part of the film, not the rebellion itself.

After being fired from her job by one of the women disgraced in the book, Abilene sets out to write her very own story, an addition to Skeeters' book about what it's really like to be her, claiming discussing that lightly made her feel free. She decides to write this book for no other reason than to tell it, even if no one is listening. She wanted an outlet to release the years of racial abuse she had received and had to accept with her head held high, and she found one.

I guess, in a manner of speaking, that's like me and this blog. I may only get a handful of views per post, but I carry on typing anyway. Not because I want to build up regular readers who worship my every word (dictatorship isn't really my forte anyway), but because I enjoy doing it. I get to talk about things no one else I know is willing to listen to for as long as I wish, I get to capture moments of my life - however insignificant - and I get to be me. Although I am normally a very open person, it's physically impossible to display all areas of my personality to everyone all at once, but I can do it piece by piece here. Word by word, I'm documenting as much or as little of my life as I'm willing to, and I'm loving every second.
Welcome to My Paper Life.

Game Over?

Hello!
I know I'm a little late jumping on the bandwagon, but as I mentioned in my everyday makeup routine, I went on holiday, so I actually missed Game Over, ChArles and had to watch it this morning. So, even if its belated, here's my thoughts on the Summer Finale.

First off, when I saw how the Liars were promising to help and forgive Charles, I honestly didn't buy it. Either they were purposely supposed to be acting as if they were empty promises because they wanted him to get his just desserts instead of dying and getting off Scott free, or Shay, Lucy, Ashley, Sasha and Troian felt they shouldn't care as much and played it down. Whatever the answer is, I was utterly disappointed that Hanna didn't freak out and beat the living daylights out of -A herself, since it seems she's the only one that had a firm grasp on how badly this A Game has ruined what should have been the best years of their life.

Obviously the next main piece of the episodes plot was Big A's reveal. Out of all the characters, CeCe? CeCe being -A was the second most popular theory, especially her being transgender. Even I got the transgender part, as mentioned in my Paige is Big A theory, and I'm not really that good plotlines or theories! Although CeCe being A made sense, I never really felt her choice to be -A was justified. She did all these inhumane things because they were glad they weren't "the missing girls' best friends" anymore? And even after they greeted Ali back, she carried on torturing them because 'she was good at it'? I know that was mostly because, by this point, she'd gone insane, but I don't feel the original reason was good enough.

Although, I did feel the same about Mona's reason until the finale. She thought she had hit Ali, so when she needed help she assisted her on escaping because she felt guilty about the fact that she had to run away on such a state. In helping Ali, she cleared her conscience, and by making Hanna an It Girl with her, she was replacing Ali with Hanna. By this point, she was obviously a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and must have thought of Ali as a concept, like how all high schools have labelled groups, they all had an Ali, too. Mona was justified for me, while Charlotte is still in need of a real reason.

Another reason why the finale isn't the answer I wanted is the large amount of plot holes. How did Ali meet up with Marion if she died when CeCe was around 12? Are the PLL Moms still in the basement? How did Mona somehow know that she would need an ice pick so fashioned her heel into one? Why did so many students see the Liars at prom and not freak out? Who was the mime in Series 4 if A is CeCe? WHY THE HELL DID SARA HARVEY WANT TO TORTURE GIRLS SHE'D NEVER EVEN MET? How did Jessica manage to bribe Wilden that many times? Did she have a 'in case Charlotte messes up' fund? Or was Wilden just really easy to pay off? If Charlotte hadn't have killed Wilden, would he still be faffing about in an office, pretending he was solving a mystery when really he knew it already? Or would he get bored and step down from the case? What college is Aria going to? Did they ever thank Clark? Did he know that Aria was stealing his photos because -A was in them or not? Will Emily's dad be allowed to come home now because apparently having your daughter kidnapped and tortured for a month isn't a good enough reason? And my final and most important question, where the hell is Grandma Marin? I'd pay good money to see her return after the time jump.

I'm not even gonna bother talking about Sara Harvey, because we all know that I am incredibly depressed by the notion that someone that isn't brave enough to have less than one shower a day could be part of the A Team.

Overall, I feel like I. Marlene King didn't pick CeCe and Sara because she thought it was the best conclusion to the -A Game, but because it was the obvious option, so no one would suspect it. She thought we'd all be surprised, but in reality I was annoyed.

Anyway, that's my thoughts, if you agree, disagree or even have some answers for my many questions, feel free to comment and discuss.

In other parts of my life, my blogging friend, Just Another Girl Online, started planning Blogmas, and even though I thought it would be impossible, I have began to plan my own. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you, not to mention baking plenty of cakes and cookies. Obviously, my first thought for blog post ideas was food.

Welcome to My Paper Life.