What's My Age Again?

Those who know me will know about my 'interesting' taste in movies, tv series and music, most would see them as incredibly girly and sad at my age (26 in less than a month) The truth is I've never seemed to grow out of being a teenager. I like to think I'm quite mature but chick flicks and high school dramas are extremely appealing to me.

I suppose my dabblings in this genre started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer when it began on the BBC. I was at secondary school, the American high school seemed a far cry from my school days with its mix of sunny days, sarcastic wit, brooding vampires and dark clubs. I bought everything I could related to the series: posters, soundtracks, novels and trading cards. I don't feel guilty about my Buffy obsession, Joss Whedon is still an absolute legend to me and many. The market for show-related merchandise is still as thriving as ever and still compels me (I still need to get my hands on a True Blood Merlotte's Bar and Grill outfit).

During my school days the other big show was Dawson's Creek though it was something I only dipped into, the soundtrack not bought only borrowed and copied from a friend. Movies like Clueless and She's All That offered me ideals of transformation from ugly, lonely geek into a cool, pretty popular girl. These themes still show up time after time in movies and tv shows like Ugly Betty.

Science-fiction or fantasy combined with teen drama has always worked for me. I found my way to Smallville which amused me for a number of seasons before I got tired of the Lana/Lex storylines. (However the episodes I've caught lately look like it has become exciting again with the Green Arrow and members of the Justice League showing up). Roswell satisfied my need for teen romance with it's heartbreaking relationship between Max (an alien in human form) and Liz (a journal writing, sneaker wearing waitress). Although I own all three series boxsets I rarely watch them anymore and mostly find my heartstrings played upon in film format instead. Quite often these are Katherine Heigl movies;, she's come a long way since Roswell.

Once again, those who know me will know how much and how easily I will cry when watching something (it could be anything, even Eastenders or DIY SOS). To be honest, a film that doesn't make me cry clearly hasn't moved me enough, I perversely enjoy a good sob through something like the Notebook if there is a tasty man for me to watch. In my house teen 'dark' fantasy books have become something of a phenomenon. Denise and I consume all sorts of vampire/faery/werewolf series for teens and adults due to their compelling nature and interesting subject matter. The Twilight saga has captured many girls across the world and sadly I have to count myself amongst them. Despite my loathing for Breaking Dawn the rest of the books played on things I love in a book or a film, and have been portrayed pretty accurately in the movies. I am geek enough to say I'm team Jacob (Edward is far too much of a drip for me

Knowing what a weirdo I am, Denise recently passed onto me 'My So Called Life', a nineties high school drama that I had missed. Starring Claire Danes, and 30 Seconds To Mars rockstars Jared and Shannon Leto. I was captivated by the characters and their relationships and then shocked to find only one series was ever made.

Glee gives me a weekly fix of high school musical fun, and True Blood provides my adult vampire fantasy fix with lots of men to oggle. Combining the two, a boxset was lent to me by a friend, something that I hadn't managed to catch on tv and I was a bit hesitant about checking out... The Vampire Diaries however, has me hooked. A disappointment to some that I love it so much, I expected it to be very teeny and tacky and perhaps it is in places, but there are elements like the vampire's thrall that lead me to like it. Along with a character called Katherine and two very hot men, one brooding, one cheeky, I was doomed to like it. I am highly anticipating series 2 when it is released.

I'm not sure I'm ever going to grow out of my fasincation for high-school dramas and attraction to Darcy-esque men. Maybe I just need to find myself a good man, though sometimes I feel I'd rather have a good predictable book or boxset to enjoy. One day I might possibly be able to share my collections with a teen of my own guilt-free. Well there we have it, I've confessed, I'm a 14 year-old in a 25 year-old's body.

Tonight I look forward to kicking back and watching The Vampire Diaries all over again for the second time in a couple of weeks. Before reading the lastest Wicked Lovely book whilst listening to the Twilight Soundtrack, wearing my Sunnydale High School t-shirt. ;)

Coming Soon....

Two months without a blog post, I'm soo lazy!

And this post is really just cheating.

NEW BLOG COMING SOON!

Possible subjects include:

• John Cusack
• My new year's resolution failure
• Sunshine
• Mother's Day/Come Dine With Me recipe ideas
• Something you choose for me to write about?!!

Comments would be appreciated.

Squiggles and Skittles,

Kat.

A quiet desperation building higher

Good afternoon one and all.

The baking seems to getting worse!
I made some of Nigella's everyday brownies which were far too gooey, not sure if this was my own doing through a difference in sugar or just a weird issue. There was also some awful icing this weekend when attempting to create Being Human inspired cupcakes. The bloody buttercream centres worked great but the wolf chocolate icing topping didn't work due to my bad icing and lack of edible facial features!


In other news: I'm currently reading Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' for our book group. It's my first Stephen King read and it's incredibly good. From others who've read more King apparently its a little like many of his other books all thrown into one, but as a newcomer it is extremely compelling and interesting. Only 200 pages to go (its 880 long). As much as I'm enjoying it I am keen to get on and read other things. Still keen to compete with Little Miss Bookseller who is the world's fastest reader! It's not like I even take it all in; I will have forgotten everything about this book within a month most probably. My memory is dreadful these days, maybe I need more Omega3?

One thing currently distracting me from reading is a boxset of 'My So Called Life'. This 90s American tv series passed me by and has been very kindly lent to me. It stars Claire Danes and a very young and beautiful Jared Leto. It makes me feel like a teenage girl again (not that I have changed much and am still a 14 year old at heart). It is a very moving drama revolving around the character of Angela and her struggle through high school, her home life and her love life. A precursor to Dawson's Creek, Roswell, Buffy and I suppose the OC; although My So Called Life only survived one series.

February is to be another month where I'm strapped for cash so there will be lots of time spent at home reading, though perhaps not being able to afford any extravagant baking or cooking. I'll see what I can do with what I have in order to keep that new years resolution ticking over!

Toodles.

Copy Kat

Well it seems I have no initiative of my own and am a bit of a copy cat. Where my housemate leads I follow, she has written a new blog post and I realised I hadn’t written one in forever and might now have something to write about!
And so here I am (starting a sentence with and: tut tut) 6 months later with a new blog post.

My new year’s resolution has been to make one new recipe a week and its going alright so far… but it has only been one week!
I have attempted Nigella’s fajita recipe which was so simple and delicious, I will definitely be making that again. I need to try and make the salsa which goes along with it next time.
Last night I tried a web based recipe from www.bbc.co.uk/food, it was one of the Hairy Bikers’ dishes. It may sound silly but I have never made my own ragu for spaghetti Bolognese so I thought it was about time I did! It came out well, though next time I’ll add some carrots as my housemate suggests.
The next one on my list is a sweet recipe: Nigella’s sweet and salty rocky road type thing.

Let’s hope I can keep this going on a budget and that they all go as well as they have this week!

Happy New Year everyone x

Even When Your Hope is Gone, Move Along

Be prepared for waffle from all angles!!
I can see this blog being a blur of random information you probably aren't interested in hearing but I'm going to tell you anyway!

Firstly I'm going to start with tv shows, I'm a bit of a telly addict. I have many shows on the go, which my beloved Sky Plus records for me each week. I've just watched the last Flash Forward which was a terrific series in my opinion, however apparently there shall be no more! I was pretty happy with the way it ended I suppose, not a closed conclusion, left at a place where you can draw your own futures for the characters. I'm writing this whilst 24's most current episode is showing, perhaps I should be giving it my full attention however its just not that captivating. This series started well but I seem to have lost interest, until now ooooohhh something's happening!! The last two episodes air tonight so we'll see where that leaves our Jack.
The other shows I have on the go are: Glee which has some great episodes and songs. The Prisoner - I have one outstanding episode to watch, I've enjoyed it, not as much as the original but its still intriguing. Stargate Universe which for some reason I am still watching even though I'm not sure I like it. Lie to Me restarts this week which I am very much looking forward to, though I will miss Bones.

I'm slowly reading more books, there is no way I can contend with Little Miss Bookseller who is upto about 45 books so far this year :s I may have read 5. Just finished Stephanie Meyer's Breaking Dawn which was very disappointing and enraging. I've been debating my next book; I ought to finish two books I have already started, Assassin's Creed and The Lies of Locke Lamora. However I am rather fancying The Apple, or perhaps Black Powder War.
My reading is mostly delayed by my tv watching, sport playing, the occasional warcraft session and general laziness. Haven't done too much baking recently. Made a few simple cakes for birthdays, and some very yummy brownies. All the baking equipment will have to get packed up soon as me and my friend are supposed to me moving house if we ever find somewhere!

Keep waffling x

Our ancient heroes, they are turning to dust

Today's title is from Muse's fabulous song United States of Eurasia which I would like you to listen to if you have not, plus it also seems to fit well with the main subject of this blog... my trip to Egypt.

I'm sure most of the people who are reading this have heard me go on about my holiday quite a lot, I thought I would make you all suffer some more waffle from me about all the temples I visited :P

I would like to begin by saying I did not see the pyramids or visit Cairo; I've been asked about this a lot in the past week, but believe it or not there was plenty else to see, and it was quite a journey from upper Egypt where I was to Cairo in the North. I was on a Nile River Cruise (a rather different holiday to those who think a trip to Egypt is lazing at Sharm El Sheikh). I went with my parents and brother and I had a fantastic time; cruising was lovely I can't wait to do it again, the historical sites were phenomenal and the country beautiful.

Perhaps I should talk about the food on board ship, it was mostly tasty, varied and there was always plenty. Usually chicken or beef with rice, towards the end of the week there were potatoes and pasta dishes. Everything was very sweet, the bread rolls especially and all the cakes looked pretty enough though I didn't really sample them.

I drew a lot of attention as a young blonde woman in Egypt, leading to much embarrassment when I was pulled up 4 separate times to dance in front of the entire ship, from once in the restaurant to a belly dancing competition. Moustafa the tour leader was my most devoted admirer, though I gave him only disappointment. However I survived my trip intact and am keen to return in order to visit all that I missed in Cairo and the Red Sea. It wasn't what you would call a relaxing holiday, though fortunately not exhausting either. I never slept in past 7.30am, with the earliest start leaving at 3.30am on two mornings; once for Abu Simbel as part at of a coach convoy which took 3 hours each way and the other time for a hot air balloon trip. Both early mornings were utterly worth it, spectacular scenes in both places from the grand Rameses statues hewn into the rock at Abu Simbel (and moved in the 1960s to preserve them) and a beautiful finish to the holiday floating above Luxor in the hot air balloon.
I visited 8 temples over the 7 days along with the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the Aswan High Dam, the Colossi of Memnon, a Perfume shop and a Papyrus shop. I have always been interested in Ancient Egypt since I learnt about in primary school and it rekindled a lot, although I doubt I will become the Egyotologist I always dreamed.

I would utterly recommend cruising down the Nile and can offer travel tips if anyone plans to go :)
Now i'm back and its a lot less sunny even though we're into April, hopefully the springtime will arrive soon. I've not been feeling very inspired to bake, I did make a very nice pineapple upside down cake last week and am debating making some cakes for Easter and all the upcoming birthdays.

Defying Gravity

I don't imagine many of my blog readers are Glee followers and I'm sure you hear enough about the show in the media without me harping on about it, however in the current episode they're having a bake sale and it got me thinking I haven't made cakes in a while. Plus I got a very thoughtful silicone bakeware set today from a friend :)
I always bake less during lent as I give up chocolate which is a huge factor in most of my cakes, but next week I have a few occasions which will get me making a mess of the kitchen again. For my friend Aaron's birthday I may attempt a shuttlecock themed cake (we play badminton together) and for work friends off to an engagement party just some simple pretty cupcakes.
Then I'm taking a break whilst I jet off to Egypt for an exciting family holiday, giving me a rest before gearing up for the Easter extravaganza.
I still need to employ someone to do all the washing up, any volunteers?