beaten

genericdreams

more photos, because they're gorgeous

if I knew where photos were from, they are linked. others were uncredited when I found them. if they're yours, let me know. x

Third Time's the Charm

The task is simple. Tell me what career’s you would like to have if you lived three lives. It does not matter if you possess the skill or talent for your desired career, follow your heart and tell me what you would like to do. Here are my three lives….

Ever since I was a child, I wanted to do everything. I was never satisfied with one sport or one place or one future career. I cannot explain how often I would change what I wanted to be from a hairdresser to a Major League Baseball team manager; I clearly remember interviewing a flight attendant about her job when I was eight during one of my flights to California. However, there have been a few professions that have always been in the back of my mind. Those careers are a film director, a travel or fashion journalist and the Doctor’s companion from Doctor Who.

Directing film has been an ambition of mine ever since I was a young child and my brother use to use his clunky camcorder to pretend he was Steven Spielberg. I adore watching films and pulling them apart with friends and family. The films that really struck a cord with my desire to direct were Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. This series is incredible for so many reasons, but notable ones include the wonderful acting, beautiful cinematography and lasting quality; it is evident that this trilogy will be watched for many years to come. I am so inspired by movies and to be able to control how I want a story to be told on screen would be a dream come true. My passion for film and history of directing one act plays at my high school has given me a security when it comes to direction and being a leader. Passion, I believe, is the most important aspect of film; if the director doesn’t love what he or she is doing, it will reflect in their film.

In addition to the dream aspect of direction, I love the options for meeting new people and seeing new places. I love meeting new types of people. Living in the same town for my entire life really makes me feel culturally limited. I do a lot of travelling and seeing different types of people is always one of the best parts. Finally, one of the most exciting aspects of directing would be shooting on location. In fact, all of my dream careers tend to involve travelling in come aspect. But taking a story across the world is so thrilling to me and that along with every other aspect of film that I enjoy puts this as a career in one of my three lives.

Journalism is something that I’ve wanted to go into ever since I was a young girl. One of my close friends had a mother who was a travel journalist for a job. Two or three times a year, they would journey all over the world so that her mother could writer articles and stories; to say that I was jealous would have been an understatement. This has certainly been a contributing factor to my decision to study journalism when I go off to university in the fall. Another instance of travelling influencing my love for writing is an early memory is one of my first times using the Internet. I clearly recall googling pictures of London and wishing that I could fall into my favourite fiction world: the world of Harry Potter written by Jo Rowling. To me, it took years to figure out that London was actually not just a fictional world, but a place that existed far away from my home. I dreamed of going there and being inspired to write stories of all different kinds. Travelling really fuels me creatively; it always has and I’m hoping it always will.

It was not until I was about fifteen that I really became interested in fashion. Every time my edition of Teen Vogue or Nylon would come, I would be sure to dive in as soon as possible. There is something so fascinating about how such a brief grouping of pages can tell you so much about what people are interested in during the time of it’s publication. These magazines are a part of our culture and will be looked upon for years to come to see old styles and reinvent new ones. I love discussing clothing and mixing and matching things to make an outfit. Having never been talented in drawing or painting, I depended on my style as a form of expression. I love watching films such as The Devil Wears Prada or The September Issue because, although some people may see them and thank their lucky stars they do not have to be stuck in that mess of drama, it looks like so much fun to me. I would love to be a journalist in one of those busy fashion buildings in Soho or Greenwich Village. Travelling would be an option in this career, as well, to go to different country fashion weeks or to scope out different styles and stories across the world. I have been fortunate (or in some cases, unfortunate) to gain thick skin through making videos on the Internet, which get a pretty strong audience, so I can take criticism and have a pretty strong sense of self. I think that going into any sort of writing profession, you have to be confident in who you are and what you want to get across in whatever you are writing. Should I fall into journalism, whether it be in travel or fashion, I am certain that I would wake up everyday excited to go to work.

My final life consists of something that is very, forgive the pun, out of this world. Doctor Who is a British science fiction show that involves an eccentric alien, a Time Lord, who can travel through space and time. While the show was on for about twenty-five years beginning back in the 60s, the show returned in 2005 and has been going strong ever since. The Doctor loves taking on companions to travel the stars with him. These people are always very important to him and they have helped him save the universe from enemies time and time again. While this is not a steady job because there is no pay, I would consider it a career because they have the responsibility of the universe on their shoulders and they work tirelessly to earn their place in the TARDIS (his spaceship). Being a companion is a lifestyle.

My desire to be a companion is drawn from not only the ability to travel all of space and time, but to travel with the Doctor, who is the most fascinating fiction creature in existence to me. It requires a lot of energy and thick skin because companions have seen the fall of species, the deaths of thousands and even the end of the Earth. A companion must also trust the Doctor, no matter what. While yes, they need to be bold enough to take charge; they cannot disobey the Doctor because a simple move such as crossing timelines could destroy the Earth. Time travel is a very complicated process and should never be tampered with unprofessionally. While this may seem to be a silly career choice, it is a career where I would treasure every moment.

While I would also love to be an Auror from Harry Potter, or a young adult book author, my ultimate career matches would be a film director, a journalist and the Doctor’s companion. Although one of the three is a fantasy career and the other two are very tough careers to get into, my dream is that I will not need three lives for all of these to be a reality in my life.

Fringe Season 2 Finale Reaction

SPOILERS WITHIN. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Before last summer, I hardly watched television. I watched Doctor Who religiously and before that, the only show I watched consistently was Gilmore Girls, which, while high on energy, wasn't much of a thriller. So I had never before experienced that feeling where I *must* know what happens next. I'd never been forced to wait long amounts of time to see characters again after terrible cliffhangers. That being said, I love Fringe. It has a wonderful science fiction to drama balance. The characters are believable and the actors are so honest in their portrayals. I am so emotionally attached to everyone in the show that I honestly think that waiting till season three in the fall will be unbearable not only because of the INCREDIBLE CLIFFHANGER, but because I'll miss these people.
Oh my, the finale. I've seen a lot of finales in my life to many fantastic shows, but few have left me in such a state of "WHAT THE EFF NO I NEED MORE NONONONO" as this has. I've been waiting *very* patiently since about the third episode of the first season for the moment where Peter and Olivia FINALLY DID/SAID SOMETHING. (Remember this? That killed me.) I am obsessed with their chemistry and really think that they need one another. Never has that been more evident than in this finale. The way Peter looks at Alt!Olivia (by the way, like how he said that he preferred her hair and then later Real!Olivia dyed hers the same, lolz), Olivia's desperation to find him, the look in her eyes when she talks about him *swoon.* I hold so much love for the two of them. The kiss, that moment, SO GOOD. AH. I am so happy that we got that before such a long gap in seasons.
Alright, outside of my undying love for Peter/Olivia, this episode was incredible. Anna Torv was fantastic at both Olivia's and seeing Charlie, even if he is not the real one, truly breaks my heart. That voice, oh how I miss it...I think that he is going to be the one to help Real!Olivia back home. Which, by the way, I noticed right away. Guess my obsession with looking at clothing really does come in handy, since it was Alt!Olivia's red shirt (as opposed to Real!Olivia's blue one) that tipped me off. In addition to just the general awkwardness that she displayed among the others when they ran inside. I doubt it will take long for the others to notice it is not really her, though. It took Peter mere seconds to recognise his Olivia from the fake one when she entered. Even before she started acting strange, you could tell he knew. I think once he has a moment alone with her, it will hit them all. If it does take longer, I will be rather upset. I cannot imagine these people, Walter, Peter, Astrid, who have spent so much time with Olivia, not noticing. Let alone her sister and niece. Come to think of it, I think Elle may be one of the first to notice. Alt!Olivia (Denis just said Altivia, haha) does not have a niece. She will probably be noticeably different to Elle.
What else, what else...oh! William Bell! He may have been badass as Spock, but did you see that gun? One shot blew up a whole street! That was incredible. I am not sure what the budget of this show is, but seeing as Fox can be bitches, I doubt it is much and if that is so, the visual effects are great. The buildings in the alternate universe when Peter is flying around were awesome and I really want some of their tech. The papers that were like computers? Awesome. Even if they are basically the future of iPads...
In addition to being an avid Peter/Olivia lover, I am also a sucker for Walter/Peter moments. I find Walter so adorable and his love with Peter warms my heart. Their relationship reversal is lovely; Peter is going to be an amazing dad. Just sayin'. Anyway, the line at the end of the episode about Walter crossing universes to save his life twice? Brilliant. Also, he had a sweet moment with Astrid, who doesn't get enough screen time even though she is fabulous, about her stress baking. Very cute.
I know I left things out, but this is a reaction blog, so I do not need to talk about everything, right? Just my favourite bits, haha. If you have Fringe questions for me, leave them in the comments and I may answer them in another blog. Other than that, sorry this is a week late and I'd love to hear your reactions/theories! Leave them in the comments and I'll talk to you guys later.

DOWN WITH WALTERNATE! WALTER'S ARMY!

Why Blogger?

I keep getting questions about why I don't blog all of this random stuff on a tumblr. The thing is, however, that I *do* have a tumblr. I just find it so hard to keep up with other posts and found myself wanting to catch up from where I left off every single time and saw it as a task. I don't want my blog to get lost in the tens of thousands of posts on a dashboard. I find this much more manageable for me :)
Besides, I can't really go on tumblr anymore because I am trying to avoid all HP film spoilers and always get caught off guard because I follow lots of people who I enjoy posts from who also love HP or things like fuckyeahharrypotter tumblrs/tags and such. I know, it's a silly reason, but still. I only go on there to check my tags (Which are, in case for some odd reason you are curious: makeup, MAC cosmetics, Carey Mulligan, Evanna Lynch, Keira Knightley, fashiontoast, Saoirse Ronan, Doctor Who, David Tennant and Karen Gillan. I am a creeper xD). I miss Harry Potter publicity in my life, but I am re-listening to all of the books to make up for my lack of time spent reading film news and things of that kind.
Alright this is already longer than anticipated, goodnight all!

fashiontoast

Cage ring, knuckle ring, studded bracelet, turquoise nail polish...and that's just on her hands.
I have such fashiontoast envy. I want everything Rumi owns.

Letters to Juliet (spoiler review)

This weekend, my mom decided that she really wanted to take me to see Letters to Juliet. She had seen to before and could not believe how much the main character, Sophie Hall, reminded her of me. Letters to Juliet, directed by Gary Winick, is a story about her journey and Verona the how it changes her life in every possible way. Let me start off by saying, I am not a chick flick kind of girl. My favourite type of romance usually takes place on a spaceship or in the middle of a wizarding war. I generally do not like stories that are entirely based around love, but this was an unconventional love story that I found myself really falling in love with.

Sophie is such a lovable character. She is humble, yet confident, charming but with a sharp tongue. She is clever, kind and let’s face it, she is gorgeous. I really do like Amanda Seyfried, but I just think she has horrible taste in scripts. I’d love to see her in roles with a little more meat to them. She is fun and bubbly and I would love being friends with her. But actor aside, the character is lovely. You can tell right away though her friends’ comments that her relationship with Victor is lacking in affection from one side and that he tends to get very carried away with work. As they venture over to Verona, right away he gets caught up in work and quickly forgets that this trip was suppose to be a honeymoon. The story carries on in his absence as Sophie learns about the lost romance of Claire Smith through a hidden note in the wall beneath Juliet Capulet’s famous balcony. Flash-forward a week to when Claire receives the letter Sophie wrote as one of Juliet’s secretaries and has come to Verona in search of her long lost love, Lorenzo Bartolini. A journey follows where Sophie, Claire and Claire’s grandson Charlie get to know and love one (though silently, since Sophie is engaged) another while searching for Lorenzo. Claire, as played by one of my favourite actors Vanessa Redgrave, is an adventurous, youthful woman that anyone would want as their grandmother. Redgrave was beautiful and gave a wonderful performance.

The story is touching and has wonderful character moments. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the writing and was prepared to leave the film happy until the point when Sophie makes her decision to go to Claire’s wedding alone and leave Victor and Taylor Swift started playing. Now, I’m not against Taylor Swift. I’m not a fan of her music, but I have nothing against her. I just could not help but find the music awkwardly placed and over the top. As an audience member, I felt like they were trying to make sure I understood the Romeo and Juliet reference – as if that was not obvious. It was just out of place, unnecessary and completely took me out of the film. I thought after the first bit of the song, that’d be it, but nope. She leaves her fiancé and then it plays again in Italy! From then on, I found the story less believable and too corny. Claire and Lorenzo were adorable, but the ending with the kiss between Charlie and Sophie with everyone coming over to them…not a fan.

Over all, I would say that this is a film worth seeing. It is not the normal corny chick-flick (till the end) and the characters are really interesting and lovely. Loved the writing theme of the film and how it was carried through the story. Seyfield and Redgrave were my favourites and I think they both played their characters incredibly well. The location of the film has me longing for a Italian adventure and craving some authentic pasta. Could have done with a better ending, but I would watch it again and I’m sure my mother with be buying it on DVD so I can do just that. :)

Have you seen it? What do you think?

summer desires

so maybe this last one isn't summery, but the colours of the models nails certainly are! basically I want to spend my summer writing, relaxing, taking photographs and doing wonderfully girly things like my hair (perfecting that braid if my hair is long enough), make-up and nails. I just want to let the end of high school set in and bask in it before heading off to another educational experience.

C-c-changes

Forgive me for my absence. As my high school education dwindles down, I find myself less motivated to spend time on the internet and have taken more pleasure in daydreaming about going to Italy, planning all of the wonderful outfits I wish to own and spending money that I shouldn't spend on make-up. Oh you know, practical things. I've decided that since my current failure in blogging has put this page into a bit of a rut, I'd use it for other forms of creativity. I've always taken pleasure in collecting things, pictures in particular. I have books filled with inspiration in one form or another. This, in part, is why I began taking photographs. But I digress, what I am trying to say is that this blog is no longer reserved for the written word, but meant to give me a place to collect inspiration for myself and, who knows, maybe you will benefit as well. I've started this in the previous two posts; going through all of my old tumblr "likes," old links I've saved, favourite blogs, et cetera. I will give credit if I can, but if you know the original source, than let me know! I'm always happy to give credit where credit is due. Hope you're all having good days, weeks or lives. Here's to the future, my friends!
xx Kayley

picture spam/summer inspiration

those linked are the only ones I could find credit for. if one is yours, let me know. xx

summer inspiration

various sources: here / here / here / here