my top ten fictional heroines.

• Number One - Lisa Simpson - an eloquent, sarcastic Buddhist vegetarian Democrat nerd who campaigns tirelessly for social justice and - and is eight years old. 

"Dad, as intelligence goes up, happiness often goes down. In fact I made a graph... I make a lot of graphs."

• Number two - Juno MacGuff - an eloquent, sarcastic Democrat nerd who happens to be with child. The fact that she can be silly enough to get pregnant at sixteen and remain brilliant really says something, I think...

"I could like, have this baby and give it to someone who like totally needs it."

• Number three - Summer Finn - As in Summer. From 500 Days of Summer. Her name was even in the title, and I'm not sure there's a young girl alive who can watch this film without wanting to just be her. And the difference with Summer (unlike most of the females on this list) is that boys like her too. So you can always cajole one of them into watching it with you. This also works with films starring Keira Knightley and Jessica Alba, but unfortunately not really with Julie Delpy or Kristin Scott Thomas. 

"So, what if I'd gone to the movies? What if I had gone somewhere else for lunch? What if I'd gotten there 10 minutes later? It was - it was meant to be. And... I just kept thinking... Tom was right."

• Number four - Grandmother Willow - The only member of this list who is a tree. A tree who can kick arse and scowl and advise. She is so very wise, and talks sense to Pochontas when everyone around her fails to see past the fact that she has fallen in love with the enemy. The fact that John Smith happens to be hopelessly dull seems irrelevant to all.

 

"It's enough to make your sap boil!"

• Number five - Clementine Kruczynski- From Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Kate Winslet just seems to improve tenfold when she dyes her hair orange and hooks up with Jim Carrey. Then erases him. Then hooks up with him again. She's a little bit crazy, but who isn't? All in all, a brilliant lady to admire.

"Drink up, young man. It'll make the whole seduction part less repugnant."

• Number six - Lyra Belacqua- From the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy. I wish these books had been around when I was little, because I would have been able to have a fictional role model who wasn't Milly Molly Mandy (who incidentally was not even shortlisted for this little chart.) She's just so cool and fearless and gutsy. She is impulsive and unafraid to speak her mind or take a risk. I also sort of wish we could all a little animal daemon like Pantalaimon to keep us company and give advise and suchlike things.

"'I wish…' she said, and stopped. There was nothing that could be gained by wishing for it. A final, deep shaky breath, and she was ready to go on."

• Number seven - Hermione Granger - Yes alright, she whinges a hell of a lot, and she can be a bit full of herself, but she also punches the insufferable Draco Malfoy and is the cleverest witch of her age. Everyone says so. And she's muggle born, therefore disproving all the right-wing, closed minded pure-blood fanatics that threaten the wellbeing of the wizarding world.

"Wingardium Leviosa', not 'Leviosaaa!"

• Number eight - Kat "I'm not hostile, I'm annoyed" Stratford - From '10 Things I Hate About You', which despite my best efforts remains one of my favourite films. She reads 'The Bell Jar' and 'The Feminine Mystique' and refuses to mingle with her peers and their "meaningless, consumer-driven lives". Amazing.

"I still maintain that he kicked himself in the balls."

• Number nine - Meg - From Hercules. She's such a mahoosive feminist and has a really cool voice. What more could you want?

"Well, you know how men are. They think "No" means "Yes" and "Get lost" means "Take me, I'm yours."

• Number ten - Jo March - From 'Little Women'

"I find it poor logic to say that because women are good, women should vote. Men do not vote because they are good; they vote because they are male, and women should vote, not because we are angels and men are animals, but because we are human beings and citizens of this country." (I think this says it all)

pursuit of happiness...

So, I don't really understand what's going on in the Ashes. I don't really understand cricket. I think you may be disappointed if you thought I was going to comment on bowling technique and wickets and suchlike things. One good thing about this quite dull competition, however is that some cricketers are quite pretty.

Firstly (and most importantly) is young Mr Alastair Cook. He has a nice face, and as far as I can tell is pretty damn good. This is his face. Mmhmm, yes.




Then there's Stuart Broad. Injured, but still hot. In my mind, he is the Draco Malfoy of cricket. They look quite similar, no?


I don't think we need another example (mostly because that would involve looking up more cricketers and frankly, who can be arsed?).

I'm back home now, and missing campus life dreadfully. I also miss the oddballs of flat 33, amongst whom I never lose my temper or raise my voice. I miss my highly uncomfortable bed and stash of seasonal alcohol. I miss watching grainy Jonathan Creek on Youtube with my flatmates before staying up in the oppressively small corridors all night pretending to be appalled while the boys talk about poo.

Home sucks. Home really, really sucks. In the past hour, the words "Stop that fucking coughing" and "What the fuck have you bastards done with the paracetamol" have been screamed by my mum who is in a particularly pleasant mood. I'm not sleeping either because of this "fucking cough", so I'm in a bit of a grump.

No matter, have some pretty music:

Goodnight everyone, may you sleep well and dream sweet dreams. Of Cricketers...

well, the bells out in the church tower chime, burning clues into this heart of mine...

I'm a little bit emotional. Tonight (as you probably know by now) was prizegiving, and not only did I see my best friends in the entire world, but beloved teachers and my excellent school with which I have a bit of a love/hate relationship. My old French teacher made me cry, my old English teacher roped me into organising a Christmas reunion and my (very) old maths teacher helped me find my mother's coat when she was being inept.

We're all going to see Harry Potter tomorrow and I'm disproportionately excited. The books, while a little lacking in stylistic narrative are brilliant. The films are obviously less good, but still offer a better cinematic experience than most other films around at the moment. I'm sure many will disagree...

I am getting on oddly well with my usually tempestuous mother at the moment. This is probably because we haven't spent more than a couple days together since I started at university. The thing is, despite what I say, Mum and I were always going to work things out eventually. We are simultaneously the same and completely different. I'm quite a practical person: I can change light bulbs and fix the electrics and get dead mice out of traps. None of these things are particularly tricky, but my mum is a woman and is therefore incapable of completing these menial tasks. It's partly a generational thing, I think. We're also quite different in our attitudes to men, music and friendship. But I begrudgingly admit that we are SO similar: we're both pretty left wing, we did the same A-levels, neither of us are stupid and we both really like food. I think we both really needed a break. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I certainly resent her a little less.

I've taken up drinking coffee which I used to really hate. Tea doesn't quite cut it when you need to stay up because you've left it a bit late to do that essay, so I've upped the caffeine stakes. I'm also very much aware of my looming year in coffee-mad Italy. I don't want to seem like a complete tourist. I'm sure I'll be gulping down espresso in no time...

In the past couple of years, my music taste has definitely become a bit more abstract. I like quite obscure bands and melancholy melodies, but I've tried my hardest not to become too pretentious or take my music too seriously. There's nothing worse than a pop snob. Often pop music is popular in the first place because it is genuinely good. An example of someone who has lived up to the hype in my opinion is Ellie Goulding. I really liked her album, and now this gorgeous cover has emerged which I can't get enough of:



And this is the thing that converted me in the first place:

Anna Mary: an outsider's view...

Hello everyone. It's reading week and it's really really cold and boredom has set in, so I agreed to let my lovely flatmate Tom write a post. I feel I should write a short disclaimer, but that would betray the trust inherent in this very act. So here it is, this one off guest blog. Enjoy!

Well we have been at Warwick for just over one month now, and although i live in the same flat as Anna i have only known her for 3 weeks. I Feel i must take full responsibility for the two weeks of awkward hellos and silences in the kitchen, this is because of my built in defence mechanism when getting to know new people which is to be over confident and loud which, understandably Anna did not take to. However after two weeks I felt comfortable enough to grow up and talk to the girls in our flat and not just the boys. So for all you regular readers of this rather fine blog, I'm going to give you a brief glimpse of what life is like in our flat and an outsiders opinion on what Anna is really like.

So, life in our flat, well its normally fairly harmonious, the kitchen is always messy and disgusting, bathrooms are fairly well kept and everyone seems to get on with each other. So I guess we really are lucky to live where we do...

Now here's what i have learnt about Anna from 3 weeks of getting to know her and reading her blog.

. She likes tea.
. Shes fairly feminist.
. Shes political.
. Shes driven.
. She like harry Potter
. She doesn't like home very much
. She writes very well

In essence she is everything i am not (apart from the tea and Harry Potter) however if you don't know Anna personally its easy to get the wrong idea of what she is actually like. From her blog you may think she is a bit emo slightly lesbian and not that great to be around. I too thought this for the first two weeks of being at Warwick, but in the last three weeks I've realised she is actually very pleasant to be around and very easy to talk to, and if every so often she has a grumpy day, who can blame her?

So in true "mindbop" style i will leave you with a song...

ode to the man with the red shining hair...

There are many things I hope to achieve in my lifetime. Some of these things such as my desire to suddenly morph into Marion Cotillard may never happen. Others, such as some day leaving Kidderminster are (slightly) less ridiculous. Somewhere on the spectrum falls the desperate hope of some day marrying Rupert Grint.

Now I don't think this is that ridiculous. I stand more chance with the Grint than I do with say... Barack Obama and following this logic, I conclude that our wedding is imminent. You see, I've always liked lovely, lovely Rupert and can probably trace him as the cause of my fondness for ginger boys through my teenage years. So in a tribute to my thirteen year old self and the red-heads who filled my daydreams, here it is - the ultimate list of ginger celebrity men! Are you excited? You should be...

1. The original and the best, Mr Rupert Grint - Look at him, just look! Without him, the Harry Potter films would be atrocious, with him they are just bad. He rocks various types of knitwear and is considerably hotter than all of his lanky brothers put together. He seems refreshingly normal, too. Perhaps this is just in comparison with Daniel Radcliffe who seems more and more bizarre every time he is interviewed...
   
   
2. Glen Hansard - 'Once' is a bit lame but I really like his band, The Frames and he seems positively lovely. Irish accents are possibly the one thing that can turn an average ginger man into an absolute Adonis. Anyone fancy a trip to Dublin?
   
   
3. Damian Lewis - There is something so oddly attractive about this slightly arrogant, freckly man, especially when he is playing a rogue, morally ambiguous Russian spy in Stormbreaker. Blimey.
   
   
4. Ewan McGregor - definitely a little bit ginge, definitely a little bit dreamy. Again, the accent is a bonus, along with his ability to serenade with the best of them and ride a motorbike with Charlie Boorman (who I also quite fancy but who, unfortunately did not make the ginger cut). Though I love 'Trainspotting', the horrific toilet scene definitely saw Ewan slip a few places, but then I remembered 'Brassed Off' and he soared back up again. Anyone who can play a brass instrument...
   
   
5. Mac from Green Wing - I believe I mentioned him last time, so I shall not drone on. Suffice to say that he is definitely an awesome ginge who can save lives and woo women while being generally lovely, funny and unattainable. Swoon...
   
   
6. Damien Rice - The man who got me out of my little greebo rut and taught me how to feel falls into a special sub-category of ginger men - the sort of man who doesn't seem to be ginger at all until he grows a beard and BAM! There it is, like a shining red beacon of hope on an otherwise cloudy day. And no, he's not that good looking but he has such a wonderfully lovely voice and a wonderfully lovely accent and a ginger beard. I don't think I need another reason...
   
   
7. The guy from Eastenders - which I have never watched, but I like his voice on the Orange adverts and he reminds me of this man I served once in Morrisons with whom I fell a bit in love when he defended me when his father was being a knob. Alas, he never came in again and I suspect he is living it up in Hawaii or Cuba. Not quite a modern Romeo and Juliet but you have no idea the things that keep you going when you spend three days a week performing menial, degrading tasks in an orange and green checked shirt.
   
   
8. Mr Bingley - actually, both of the recent portrayals of Darcy's less stroppy friend have been more than a little bit ginger. I love this character, and I am glad other people envisaged him to have red hair and it wasn't just me. Phwoar.
   
   
9. Martin Freeman - Not that ginger but this is my blog so I make up the rules. I was always a bit dubious of The Office and not all that fond of Mr Gervais, but I just didn't get it. I bought it all for about a tenner and watched it in a matter of days last summer and became an instant convert. Tim, played by Freeman is the epitome of the boy your mum would like if you brought him home and master of the longing stare. I am fairly sure I was not alone in my jubilation when he and Dawn finally got together in the final episode. I probably was the only person to be jealous...
   
   
10. Stephen Merchant - Another pioneer of the ginger beard clan who I just love. With my new-found appreciation for all things Gervais came regular viewing of 'The Ricky Gervais Show' and with that came a fondness for this very tall man. He has an accent which on others would be annoying but which renders him even more amiable. And he went to Warwick. That's me sold...
    
    
11. Robert Webb - I didn't like him at all. I assumed he was barely acting when he played the insufferable Jeremy in Peepshow. Then I watched his 'My Life In Verse' and I came around to the idea. Again, he's not that ginger, but it's there if you look hard enough...
    
    
12. Jake from One Tree Hill - More auburn than proper ginger but have you seen him?
    
    
13. And finally, because no 'best of' list of mine is complete without this adorable man, James McAvoy. He is it as far as I'm concerned, the most fanciable man on the planet. The obsession began with Mr Tumnus then escalated when I saw Starter for 1o and reached a peak when I began to watch Shameless from the beginning. He is Scottish and intelligent, and I know he has brown hair, but has occasionally been spotted sporting a beard which is decidedly ginger. This is good enough for me...

So there you have it. It was supposed to be a 'top ten' but my enthusiasm took over and it grew a little bit. Besides, thirteen is a lovely rounded number...

So I'm pretty sure I love fictional men...

I joined this group on Facebook a while back. No truer words have ever been spoken. So here is my definitive list:

1) Remus Lupin - scruffy, intelligent, messed up, modest, but with a definite sting in the tail. Is he the perfect man? I think he might be...

2) Mr Darcy - I know it's a massive cliché. I know that I am earning no points for imagination here. Yet I know that Mr Darcy's charms are vast and I am yet to meet a girl, no matter how principled, who has not finished that book completely in love. I think it's the moody thing. When a moody man is nice, it makes it all worthwhile...

3) Seth Cohen - Okay, hardly literary, I know. The OC isn't one of my favourite programs, but Seth, played by Adam Brody is just loveliness personified. He has a thing for superheroes. And glasses. And he's Jewish. That's it really...

4) Spiderman - A nerd who can kick ass. Need I say more?

5) Mr Bingley - in the film he is ginger...

6) Josh from Clueless - Okay, in this one I am combining Mr Knightley with his modern day equivalent. Mr Knightley has that lovely, older man quality. He loves Emma despite her meddling naivity and he's suitably sarcastic and cynical. Plus Paul Rudd is HOT. He really has that sarcastic eyebrow raise down to a tee...

7) Ron Weasley - Plus all of his brothers. I know that Sarah Dixon is with me on this one. Why would anyone ever go out with boring, weird Harry when they could have his ginger, bumbling best friend? I'll let Ginny off though. I will not be seen to condone incest...

8) The Doctor. (played by Mr Tennant of course.) - So I didn't watch Dr Who when it came back with a bang. All my friends were completely obsessed, even when Christopher Eccleston played the lead. After a couple of years, I watched all of series two on Youtube. It was astonishing. David Tennant has an awesome nervous energy which makes him perfect for the role. Seeing him in Hamlet didn't harm his appeal either. It might be the Scottish thing. Accents are always a bonus (Ewan McGregor, James McAvoy, anyone Irish...). Though he was a bit weird in the Goblet of Fire...

9) Father Amadi - from Purple Hibiscus. I love this book, and if a Nigerian Catholic priest doesn't do it for you, I'm not sure what will...

10) Sirius Black - "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."... Phwoar.

11) Dave the Laugh - Right, I'm sure most book-type people would recoil in horror at the mention of the Georgia Nicholson books, but I am fairly sure that anyone who mocks them hasn't read them. They are funny, light-hearted and full of awesome comic timing. Dave the laugh is one of the greatest characters ever written. And as everyone knows, "the bigger the PANTS, the harder they fall..."

12) Holden Caufield - The best narrator ever. He's clever and iconic and just a big dose of awesome. I read once that the people who like Catcher in the Rye are more likely to go crazy in later life. I embrace Holden Crazy with open arms... I think I say 'embrace' too much...

13) Jake from One Tree Hill - Maybe it's the single dad thing. Maybe it's the fact that he's a little bit ginger. Whatever it is, he is infinitely better than Lucas and Nathan. What are those girls thinking?

14) Romeo played by Leo - I think the actual character is a bit dull, but Romeo is the original hearthrob, and I feel unable to leave him out. In the film he is pretty and the fishtank scene is epic...

15) Jess Mariano from Gilmore Girls - No OF COURSE I don't watch Gilmore Girls (!)