What do you mean my first job is to call someone in Perth?

I read somewhere that you shouldn't blog about your job because of the risks involved but I figured that 1) since this isn't actually a job (in the sense that they're paying me), 2) I'm not talking about company policies/whatnot and 3) I'm not going to badmouth them at all, it should be okay? I REALLY JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS AND I NEED TO DO IT HERE. What if I made a vague list? Would that be acceptable? Okay, so here goes:

• Internship
• 2 days a week
• Corporate company
• Got me own phone, desk, computer and swivelly chair
• Everything is so clean, nice and modern looking
• Handshake, handshake, I hope I remember all these names
• Tour time! Meeting rooms, offices, reception and cafeteria ("Don't buy food there"). Okay, noted.
• Oooh look, a room full of stationary! It's free? No way!
• Nice people everywhere
• I am an awkward person
• Why does everyone here look like a German supermodel??
• I need more professional looking clothes
• I get my own card? Epic! Now I can use the lifts, open doors, print stuff and go to the toilet. Yes!!!
• This is intimidating. Everyone looks so professional and accomplished
• Ahhh, so this is what you do
• Lunch? You guys are inviting me to lunch? *cue tears of happiness at not having to eat alone at my desk*
• Okay changed my mind, everything is too expensive
• Back to office
• Awkward lift moments are awkward
• My first task is to call up a guy in Perth and interview him? Oh yeah sure, nah, I got this.
• (inwardly) AAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGHHH PANIC!!!!!!
• Frantically Whatsapp the girlies for help even though I shouldn't be using my phone.
• Google is my best friend: 'how to make interstate calls', ' how to use an excel spreadsheet', 'what is neo gloss paper?', 'how to stop being such an awkward person' 
• Calls up tech desk to get Chrome installed on my computer
• Waits for someone to turn up
• Mouse on my computer starts to move without me touching it
• Omg I am watching someone install programs onto the computer remotely. Can they see all the retarded shit I've been googling??
• Nothing for me to do, pretty sure everyone's forgotten about the intern
• Swivel, swivel, spin!
• Whoops, I think that guy saw me. Sorry, I'll behave.
• Let's try looking busy and accomplished
• Scribble in my FREE notebook with my FREE pen hehehehe
• Busy people everywhere, making calls and doing important things
• Do I want to see the merchandise basement? Of course I want to see the merchandise basement!
• Stocktake time!
• Complimentary stuff everywhere
• Wait, you're chucking those mugs out?? But there's like, 300 of them.
• Oh? You'll give some to me? Wow, okay. And those notebooks too? And the plastic poncho?
• BEST JOB EVER GUYS.
• Back to ze desk.
• I wish someone would give me stuff to do.
• Continues wasting space for an hour - yep, they've definitely forgotten about me
• Hello! Why of course, I'll draw up the table of contents for you
• Finally, something I feel comfortable doing - I knows how to use ze Microsoft Word very well
• Admin tasks for the intern. I don't even care. I LOVE MINDLESS JOBS.
• Somewhat glad that no one has asked me to make coffee (yet) because...I don't know how. I think I need to learn when I get home.
• Tries to figure out how to structure the email webinar invite
• Pretty sure I screwed something up. Oh god, I'm so sorry, I'll get better I swear
• More phone calls to make. Okay, you can do this. Just be normal.
• Everyone's going home. Office is quiet. This is getting creepy.
• Been sitting in the same spot for like, 8 and half hours
• Yes! Dad's here. Finally time to go home.
• I'm so pooped.

That was actually my first two days mashed up into one but you get the gist of it. I've never been in an environment like that before so it was definitely a big learning experience. I just wish there were people my age I could talk to. Everyone's really nice but they chat about things like, buying apartments, starting families, travelling to Perth, etc. And they're obviously really close-knit. I kind of feel like the lost puppy getting underfoot.

The other problem is that I'm obviously there for quite long hours cause I can't go home until my dad does. That's almost 18 hours at the office over the two days. One week in and I'm already lagging behind in terms of university work. My week schedule now goes something like 2 days interning, 2 days going to uni and 1.5 days working at my real job. That leaves me 1.5 days to get serious work done...

First look at 'The Book Thief' Trailer

 

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Once upon a time, I read a book. And that book reduced me to a blubbering, incoherent mess of a human being. And by blubbering, incoherent mess, I meant that it caused my eyes to tear up a bit at the end (because like Ron Weasley, I have the emotional range of a teaspoon). Now that book has a trailer - and once again I am a blubbering, incoherent mess of a human being. See look, I definitely just blinked a  few extra times.

 

 

List of Random #2

List of Random #2
 

 1.

 

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Mash-up of Primadonna Girl by Marina & The Diamonds and Viva La Vida by Coldplay.

 

2. Don't you just hate it when, after painting your nails, you're unable to touch anything for like an  hour but then at the 45 minute mark, you decide it'll be okay to grab a cookie from the jar and when you do so, the tip of your pinky brushes against the side and you're like, "Shit!" and while you're trying to fix it, you accidentally botch up another finger so you're like, whatever, I'll just put another layer on it but then the same thing happens again so you just give up and decide to start all over again tomorrow?

 

3. Saw this on buzzfeed and apparently it's all one image?

 

 

4. I've been on an awesome reading streak recently. After I read Angelfall, I moved on to Anna and the French Kiss (which, despite the cheesy title and horrible horrible chick-lit cover, was actually quite a decent book) and 2 days ago, I finished reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

 

 

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It was amazeballs. It hit all the right spots for me. If I went back in time to interview my 15 year old self about what I would have included in a fantasy novel, I would basically have recited this book from front page to end cover. Seriously. Magic, seraphim, chimaera, an art school in Prague, Morocco, mystery, secrets, hidden worlds, necromancy, portals, whimsy, adventure, star-crossed-lovers, monsters - it had everything and more. And also, did I mention: blue-haired protagonist? Blue!

 

5. I really want to go to Prague

 

 

 

Image sources: here, here and here.

 

And for the 178th time, I kick myself for putting down China as my international studies elective when I could have picked a nice, European city to exile myself for one year in. Urrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh. Just when I've managed to convince myself that it won't be so bad and I might actually have made a good decision, I read or watch something that reminds me that EUROPE IS WHERE I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DAGNABBIT.

 

6. I wish the power outages at UTS were still unresolved. I really don't want to go to university this week.

 

7. I wish everyday was a party and we didn't have to pursue tertiary education in order to get a job.

 

8. I wish my hair was blue.

 

9. I wish my wishes came true.

 

10. RAMEN BURGER!

 



 

See here: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/ramen-burger-latest-food-mash-up-draw-crowd-article-1.1422911

 



Never Again

So apparently, I'm an affectionate drunk who likes to stroke people's hands when wasted.

I also talk really slow and repeat myself over and over and over again. (Apparently when I came home, I told my sister that I was drunk and then instructed her to ignore everything I said.... at least 8 times).

I pinkie promised Kenny that I would get even more drunk the next time. To which I say,

(And it was only due to Juliana's helpful reminder that I remembered this.)

And while we're laying it all out there, my phone record tells me that I'm also guilty of drunk texting.

I half remember being watched over by Steph and Juliana and given water. Thanks guys, y'all the best. What would I do without you girls?

I remember there being cards, barbecue sauce and Southern Comfort. That part of the night is actually very clear now that I think about it.

I remember smiling at Nancy because her face was so red. Then people started giving me more shots and asking me if I wanted a chaser?

I remember feeling happy though and thinking that it was the best party ever and why couldn't uni and real life be this fun??

And I know I did some other really cringeworthy things but my brain is putting those thoughts in lockdown as an effort of self-preservation.

I am so embarrassed I could die.

So the moral of this story is: I am never drinking alcohol ever again. Never.

I have read Angelfall, and I will never be the same again

It was your average, sucky, weekday morning. I woke up at 6:20am, brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes and walked to the station with Nancy. We waited a bit for Kenny, got on the train and I wedged myself into the window seat in preparation for the not-at-all-depressing 45 min ride to university. I took out my kindle, thinking that I would just do a bit of casual reading. Forty minutes later, as the train slowly pulled into Redfern and I waved goodbye to Kennancy, it dawned on me that I might have found my favourite book of the year.

The book was called Angelfall. *insert dramatic music here*

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Is that not the most  simple but gorgeous cover that has ever been photoshopped in the history of Photoshop? Why can't all books look this nice? Why are things like this allowed to exist?

I have not had good experiences with books about angels. They are like the Regina George of the YA book world - lovely and sweet on the outside but claw-your-eyes-out nasty on the inside. This may or may not have something to do this and this.

Adding to this is the fact that Angelfall, according to some goodreads reviewers, is a self-published novel. What does self-published mean to you? Because to me, it means twilight fan fiction with a healthy dose of whips, chains and ooh Mr Grey, you bring out my inner sex goddess(!!!)

And finally, the last YA novel I attempted to read was Divergent and that was, to be honest, mediocre and wholly unsatisfying. (You could argue though that at times, Angelfall reads more like adult than young adult).

I gave Angelfall a try though because of its stellar rating on goodreads and the fact that, get this, EVERY SINGLE REPUTABLE REVIEWER THAT I FOLLOW ON GOODREADS (who has read this book) GAVE IT A 4 STAR RATING OR HIGHER. The only other book where that has happened was The Hunger Games back in, I don't even know - 2009?

Hello, if you are new to this blog, just know that I have a lot of feelings about stuff I like and when that happens, my posts become 98% gushing and 2% informational. Soz.

 

So Cynthia, when are you going to tell us what the fucking book is about??

 

I am really bad at explaining the plot of things. I will still try but you could also save yourself time and read the goodreads description.

Angelfall starts dives right into the apocalyptic setting. We've got Penryn, a 17 year old who's trying to get her crippled sister and schizophrenic mother to safety. As a character, Penryn ranks all the way up there with Katniss in the kickass department. She has martial arts training, she's smart and she's got an immense will to live.

"I'm Penryn. I'm named after an exit off Interstate 80."

"Nice." They nod as if to say they understand what it's like to have parents like that.

The world she lives in has been overrun by angels and humanity has lost control of everything. The whole survival aspect of it is very much like The Walking Dead. In fact, the gore factor is all the way up there with the TV show because dude, this shit (especially near the end) is FUCKED UP.

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"The streets have turned desolate and empty of people. We are out of the aerie district and in the demolished zone. Miles of burnt-out car husks and wrecked buildings flow by. The wind whips my hair around my face as we drive through the charred and broken skeleton of our world." - Penryn

While she's trying to get her family to safety, Penryn witnesses an angel falling from the sky. This angel is being attacked by group of his own people and Penryn watches as they brutally hack his wings off. By accident, she attracts the attention of the group and in the process of running for their lives, Penryn's sister is kidnapped. She is left with a missing family, a destroyed, dysfunctional society and a wingless angel by the name of Raffe. So shit basically hits the fan.

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“Why were the other angels attacking you?"

"It's impolite to ask the victim of violence what they did to be attacked.”



It does sound rather corny when I try to summarise it but Angelfall really is one of the most gripping novels I've read in a while. (I did finish it in a day.) All credit goes to Susan Ee's writing. You know how you can always tell from their writing, the intelligence level of a person? Well, ten pages into the book and I could already tell that Susan Ee wasn't gonna give me the typical wimpy, over-recycled, insta-love recipe that a lot of paranormal, young adult writers tend to do. So yay, high five Ms Ee! You are awesome and I like you (but please write faster).

I loved that the quest for Penryn was a worthwhile and believable one, I loved Penryn, and I loved Raffe in all his intense angel glory, and I loved that the book refused to be pinned down to one genre (it had everything: fantasy, horror, action, science fiction, romance, etc.) There was that aspect of unpredictability that The Hunger Games had and that kept me flipping me pages even though I knew I should've stopped. See, I went into The Hunger Games thinking, oh, this will be just another survivalist story but then all that stuff happened with the tribute's TV appearances and Peeta's confession and all of a sudden it was a book with a strong romance element to it and I was like, I don't even know what genre this is and in what direction everything is heading but I like it.

I never thought about it before, but I'm proud to be human. We're ever so flawed. We're frail, confused, violent, and we struggle with so many issues. But all in all, I'm proud to be a Daughter of Man. - Penryn

And the ending. Oh my god, I can't even absorb what happened it the last portion of the book since I spent most of it doing this:

I believe this book does not yet have the attention it deserves. Self-publishing does have its downfalls and it would seem a limited outreach is it. However, I think due to its success, it was eventually picked up by a major publisher and was only released to countries like the UK and Australia a few months ago. I have no doubt that it will soon blow up though (you can actually start to see it happen now) so hold on fandoms, cause the ride is just about to begin. Oh, and the film rights have been sold as well.

The Verdict

So in conclusion:

This is a good book, and I think y'all should read it.

 

P.S. Even though this book has restored my faith in young adult (if you could call it that) novels, I don't think I'll be continuing on with the category. Mainly because, I think I've reached the pinnacle with Angelfall, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc. so trying to find something else from the genre would feel like regressing.

 

P.P.S. This is the first 5 star read I've had in six months (according to goodreads). It looks like the streak was finally broken. 

FIrst Stills from Vampire Academy

The first three stills from the upcoming movie production of Vampire Academy have just been released, as you can see below:

 

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Yesterday, I mentioned that the guy at the helm of this film directed Mr Popper's Penguins. Today I found out that he also directed Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. So I guess my expectations for this movie have risen just a little bit more. I also appreciate that they're going for a 'sisters before misters' type of vibe with this film (the full title is Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters). Based on appearances alone, I like their casting choices. The guy for Dimitri is played by Russian actor Danila Kozlovsky. The still above doesn't do him justice so you can google him if you want. Or better yet, let me supply you with a picture (consider it my public service for the day).

 

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You're welcome.

This Job Makes Me Feel Powerful

Forgot to mention this in my previous post but I recently had a talk with my students that went something along the lines of "If I still do not receive homework this term, I will personally call up your parents and have a nice chat to them about your progress in class."

Nek minnit:

This job makes me feel powerful. 

How many trees have I killed?

I think my university course overcompensates for its lack of contact hours by giving students 1,472,574 pages of readings to do each week. Besides killing off a couple of my highlighters and turning me into a tree murderer, it hasn't really accomplished much.

I look at these papers and all I see is material for making kusudama flowers.

 

It suppose it isn't 100% a waste of my time. After all, I do occasionally come across phrases such as this, and then my inner 15 year old gets an amusing chuckle out of it.

 

 

In other news, after about three years of procrastination, I've finally gotten around to reading Divergent.

 

 

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I know, I never thought this day would come either. I think I should get an award or something.

 

I finally got around to reading it and . . . I'm not feeling the luuuurve. I guess I was expecting something on par with The Hunger Games (since everyone on Goodreads seems to recommend it on that basis) but I feel neither the excitement nor interest that'd gripped me when I was reading that series. The characters feel a bit bland and the writing is mediocre and rather formulaic. Of course, I'm only 42% of the way through and for all I know, the latter half of the book may be where shit gets real yo. We'll see. This is my first young adult book in about two years so maybe I just need more time to ease back in.

 

There are some images floating around on the net of the upcoming movie. Here they are, if anyone's interested:

 

And yes, that is Kate Winslet (I don't even know). 

 

Sources: here , here, here, here and here.

 

I recently got a new Kindle from Officeworks and I guess that's motivated me to read more. It's a little bit lighter than my Kobo e-reader but it doesn't respond to touch. Instead, it's got these little tabby things on the edges for turning pages. I don't mind it. The touch function on the Kobo annoyed the hell out of me anyway.

 

 

Look how sleek and sexy it is y'all!

 

All this talk of books has just reminded me that a new teaser trailer for the movie adaption of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy is premiering soon (sometime this week I believe). I didn't even know they were making a movie! I read somewhere that the director is the guy who made Mr Popper's Penguins which . . . well okay. That should be interesting.

 

To end this post, I just want to say that I found a new favourite vlogger on YouTube. His name is Troye Sivan, he's Australian and he had a role in one of the X-men movies. Like a lot of other people, it was his coming out video last week that caught my attention and even though I can't really relate to an experience like that, I still admire his bravery in doing such a thing. Plus, his videos are funny. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoL-MnXvK80

 

Okay that is all. Cynthia out!







Blogging Angst

I don't understand why the language used in academic articles has to be so alienating. It's like they don't want us to understand what they're saying at all. Take this, for example:

The forming of publics, as a process of collectivization, could only take place against the background of a new form of privatization, however, that of self and subjectivity. Public spheres mediate between the state and private individuals, for Habermas, and as such they presuppose a private sphere and private subjectivity...

- From Nick Crossley's and Jon Michael Roberts' 'After Habermas: New Perspectives of the Public Sphere' (2004) 

Now you're just being mean.

 

I just love the fact that I'm paying more than 6k per year just to get my brain put through a blender.

 

To update you guys on my life, university is going okay. Public Relations is much better than Journalism, I will tentatively say. That still doesn't mean I like tertiary education though. I've made a promise to myself this semester to get involved in more things. I've been applying for a couple of internships/work experience opportunities and here's hoping that something will turn up.

 

I've put on my resume that I have "experience with blogging" but now I'm a little bit worried that the employers will ask for proof. Blogging for me has always been just a hobby. I don't do it with any work-related goals in mind. If I did, the content would be much more censored, there would be less gifs and I would be actively working the blogging community trying to follow more people. Pragmatic Cynthia is pushing me to be a bit more professional though. I'm just wondering whether professionalism = less honesty in my posts.

 

Speaking of social media, I finally caved and got a tumblr account (csreverie.tumblr.com). If you follow me, I'll definitely follow you back! I hope I use it though. I still have a very inactive twitter account, although that's probably attributed to the fact that twitter reminds me of journalism and journalism makes me want to crawl up into the fetal position and die.

 

Anyhow, hope everything's going well for you guys and that you're enjoying your second semester. But let's not kid ourselves. After all, it's uni.  

I Love Me Some Youtube

 

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Guy in the bottom right plays a mean banana!

 

 

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Like everyone else, I never understood Daria when I was younger. But now that I'm older, it all makes sense and I'm pretty sure if Daria and I met in real life, we would be best buds.

Back to Uni(versal Depression)

So uni started again today and it was fine.

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JUST KIDDING!

There was a bit of this:

A lot of this:

 

(Exactly how I feel about icebreakers)

And let's not even talk about this:

Slight exaggeration but you get the gist of it. On the bright side, I started my first public communications lecture today and unlike journalism (which made me want to hurl myself off the side of a cliff after the first day), I didn't hate it. That's good right? Hooray for progress!