Last Day of Briars Wood and Last Time Ever I'll Be In Hatfield

The view from my window:

So my last night ever in Briars Wood I spent helping Casper match his and Chris's socks. It was actually quite relaxing and very amusing. After that I was packing my stuff until 3 in the morning and I still haven't quite finished. I ran out of boxes and I can't put things in bags (my Dad doesn't like that when hes packing the car) so I stopped. I also need to clean the room, which I will do once the room is empty.

Reflecting on the past three years I realised that I have done things I never thought I'd do.
- Buy a teapot because now I drink tea, but only vanilla and strawberry tea
-I stopped biting my nails and they've grown (I did this for my cousin's wedding)
-I've never eaten so much pizza in my life! Dominoes is now my weekness
-I really got into comics while at Uni. I read them while at College but at Uni I discovered even more
-I wrote my last essay, a 6,000 word dissertation, which I'll never have to do again
-I've been introduced to films and tv shows I didn't think I'd watch

In conclusion, I'm so glad I went to Uni and now I'm really sad I'm leaving. I'm going to miss my awesome housemates and I'm going to miss getting up whenever I feel like it and I'll miss my free time which I could use to randomly go to the cinema. But I am happy to leave Hatfield as it is . . . well this sums it up:

This basically sums up Hatfield. Farewell my lovely, in some ways I shall miss you! And thank you UH!

Three Interesting Walks and One Hell Of An Exhibition

On Thursday afternoon I planned to go see a photography exhibition which was near Brick Lane, which I did, but I also discovered (for myself) an awesome part of London.

I got off the tube at Old Street and immediately got myself lost. I was looking for a particular exit and I literally walked down every turning before i found the right road, at least I found a Starbucks on the way. Then I followed my map to an almost alley called Rivington Street. It was awesome! Pubs and unusual cafes and shops and galleries galore. It was my kind of place. I was actually looking for a particular bookshop called Artwords because I knew it stocked a certain magazine. It was amazing, it had every kind of art/photography/fashion/some film magazines, I wanted to buy them all! After I bought Popshot (a really awesome poetry and illustration magazine) I continued on my journey to find the exhibition. I walked through Shoreditch and a few other places and passed some really awesome looking pubs/bars/taverns that I really need to try out at some point. I eventually found my way, thanks to my trusty map, and passed an Urban Outfitters, this location was complete. I think I have to live there.

I finally reached the Photography exhibition and it was incredible. The work was amazing, I was seriously impressed. There were quite a few University and Colleges there, all with their work displayed in unique ways. Each school was complete with an open bar but I only took wine from Farnham's bar. I went there to admire Rachel's work and was awesome. (Rachel's website link is at the bottom of this page)

If you get a free afternoon go and see the work. The exhibition is on until 27th June at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. In true Katie fashion I did go round to all the school's work and picked up postcards of various work because I do like picking things up. The journey back was a tad harder as I had injured my ankle but I was a little tipsy so the pain didn't set in until I got on the train. I had a really good time. The whole exhibition was amazing and can't stop saying it.

Things To Do In Hatfield When You're Dead

I should say now that this is not a crime blog and this entry should not be compared to the 1995 film Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead.

There is a difference in lists when talking about things you should do at University and things you must do in Hatfield. The main difference is that the latter is really short.

1. Visit Hatfield House - I did this only recently, after three years I went to the only famous place in Hatfield.
2. Go to St Albans - I have been to St Albans quite frequently, especially after the discovery of the amazing olives and bread at the weekend market.
3. Go to Watford - Went there once in first year. This is because my friends wanted to go shopping and they offered me a lift, otherwise I don't think I would have gone and after seeing it, I won't go again.
4. The Forum - This is also a Uni thing to do but its a Hatfield thing now because anyone can go to it. The nights out there were better last year, mostly because The Forum was new and interesting, now everyone is poor and going out is a luxury.
5. Various places/shops in the Galleria - most importantly the Chinese buffet and the milkshake place, must try a milkshake place.
6. House parties and BBQ - As there isn't much to do around Hatfield have a party or BBQ once in a while is vital, plus you don't have to spend too much as you can buy all the beer and other delightful drinks as much as you like.

But I have added a few more of my own . . .
- Ride the awesome Tiger Bus to St Albans. Its an amazing orange bus that just appears when you most need to get the bus. Its the cheapest bus (80p) for a ride anywhere!
- Try a Hatfieild's Best Kebab
- Late night run to McDonald's but only after a night out at The Forum
- Only nighter in the Library then . . .
- An early morning (5am) run to Asda for a snack
- Take a taxi to and from Uni because you're too lazy/tired to walk
- Visit the props cupboard in TKMax, so many pointless random objects
- At a house party, burn a few unwanted items that you find around the house
- Sleep in your clothes you wore the night before
- Have an argument with a Jehovah's witness on your doorstep
- Watch Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (many times)
- Have a True Blood marathon or any other TV show marathon
- Make a meal from scratch or make some cupcakes

That's all I can think of at the moment, but these were some highlights and a few things that I have yet to do but I have a week left in Hatfield so I could actually complete the list!

The Scandalous Affairs of Barbara & Boris Hoganstein: Part 5

Jonathan and Kitty Empire were considered the young couple of the neighbourhood, not because they were the youngest, (Jonathan is 26 and Kitty is 25) but they seemed young. They acted naive at every neighbourhood watch meeting. They always tried to be cute whenever they wanted something from people and at every ball or event, they only danced with each other.

They had been married for three years, as far as the other residents knew. They seemed like the perfect couple. But behind closed curtains, Jonathan and Kitty were far from perfect. Mr and Mrs Empire had a shared bad habit of keeping secrets from each other. Kitty drank a glass of whisky every time she came home and never told her husband. Jonathan used to stay late at the office some nights to play card games with a few colleagues. These lies were harmless but they both had secrets they would rather keep quiet. For example, Kitty was having an affair with her school friend, Devon Cain and Jonathan knew about it. That was another bad habit they both shared, neither were good at covering up their lies. This is why Jonathan had hired a Private Investigator, a tall blonde Private Investigator, to spy in his wife. He couldn't understand why Kitty had done this and wanted to find out. Unfortunately for Jonathan, his P.I began following the wrong people, the Hogansteins.

This is how the blonde man ended up in the Hogansteins house, but the confusing talk of money and blackmail, just more unanswered questions . . .

First Wedding By The Sea and More Film Festival News

Last week was the first wedding I had been to and it was definitely a day to remember. It was my cousin Claire and (her now husband) Jeff's wedding. Set by the sea in the forgotten area of Cornwall, it was picturesque to say the least. The ceremony took place in a church on a hill and the bride arrived in a horse drawn carriage, apart from the really mean and angry vicar, the ceremony went well. It was quite amusing during the hymns, as next to no one was singing. In my defense I cannot sing hymns anymore, I sang quietly to the hymns I had the words to though. After the ceremony we all waved the bride and groom off as the rode away in their carriage and we all made our way to what I can only describe as a film set because it looked too amazing to be real. Polhawn Fort, an amazing place, with a breathtaking view of the sea and its own private beach path (middle photo is the view from the garden of the fort). We all enjoyed some peach belinis, I had four then we all had a really good meal, delicious desert, extremely delicious cupcakes instead of cake (good choice) and plenty of rose wine, which I did share and later stash away behind the bar with my drinking pal for the evening. But of course all that wine did cause me to fall down, actually more like disappear, I even have photographic evidence of this event. The evening got better when the dancing began and even better when the silent disco started. Yes there was an awesome silent disco at my cousin's wedding. The entire wedding was great fun and I'm definitely looking forward to my cousin's (Claire's sister, Jeanette) wedding next month.

In other news, the Cinematique student film festival is becoming bigger than I thought. The festival featured in a new film related  New Empress Magazine, here is the link:

http://newempressmagazine.com/2011/06/13/rub-shoulders-with-rising-film-stars/

Ah Man, I Was a Cupcake

So I have difficulty spelling especially when typing. I keep making this mistake on twitter and not everyone understands what I mean, for example, the title of the post.

The real news is this, on Tuesday at the Visions Festival, all the shortlisted films were shown after a few talks in the morning. I was quite nervous when I had to introduce my film. I didn't really say much just 'this is Space Detective and its about a young writer with writer's block and actually was written when I was trying to write something else. I would also like to thank my cast and crew, they were awesome' and then I ran off stage.

Later were the awards. I'll hurry this along, basically, as I sat there while Jan Harlan (the late Stanely Kubrick's producer on many of his films) gave a little speech about good scripts, I began to get even more nervous. I didn't think I would win but then he said 'I'm going to give the award to the Space Detective' and everybody started clapping, I wasn't sure whether to get up or not. When I finally moved from my seat and got up on stage, I was really shaken and didn't know how long I could smile for. Jan gave me the award and Howard handed me some yellow flowers, then I ran off stage, after saying thank you about a thousand times. I really didn't think I would win, I honestly didn't think I would. But I'm couldn't be happier that a drag cameo, some crazy genres, a spoon covered in blood and a pair of over sized glasses won the prize.

So there you have it, Space Detective won The Kubrick Prize for Fiction at Visions Festival. Thank you again to me awesome crew and amazing cast!