Book vs. Movie: ANNA KARENINA (2012)

OK... so I don't profess to be a professional critic at all, this is just my very brief interpretation of the book, the movie, and how they relate :) 

THE BOOK:

Background/General Info: 

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, 738 pages (officially the longest book I've ever read, well besides my textbooks that is >_<)

My favourite Characters:

- LEVIN: I really identified with him for some strange reason. I felt so sorry for him when Kitty shot him down but in the end I was relieved he found the happiness he was searching for.

- ANNA: She was definitely suffering from some kind of morphine side effects right? Or paranoia? Or maybe both cause this child was acting a fool. I liked her introduction into the story but I quickly tired of her and her antics. At the end of the day, she horned cheated on her husband and neglected her child, plain and simple. And when things didn't seem to be working out with the horner outside man, she proceeded to kill herself -_- Sigh, annoying. I felt like this book should have been called Constantine Dmitrich Levin instead as his story captivated me much more than hers... but I guess Anna Karenina has a certain assonant ring to it...

General Impression:

- GREAT book, wayyy too long. I love Levin and all, but the scenes in the book about his farming and interaction with the labourers were too long and too numerous. I really did not need all that depth. As a matter of fact, I skipped half of those scenes in the book, I really wasn't there for it :/

THE MOVIE

Background/General Info: 

Anna Karenina (2012) with Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and other random and not-so-random actors and actresses

My favourite Characters:

- OBLONSKY: The actor who played Oblonsky acted in some other film I know, but I'm feeling too lazy to Google him now, but in any case, he was HILARIOUS in this movie. Loved his presence every time he came  on the screen

- ANNA: Well I am a Keira Knightley die hard fan, so I loved her in it. She played the paranoia well, much better than her role in Dangerous Minds, but that's another story for another day.

- EVERYBODY ELSE: The acting was generally well done, the lady who played Kitty actually got me to like Kitty so yay for that. The only disappointing thing for me was that I thought Jude Law would play Levin, but he was cast as Anna's husband, which worked I guess but I more pictured him as Levin while reading the novel.

General Impression:

Great movie, the layout of the film as a moving play/musical was really unexpected and turned out to be really awesome. Give me a fun, flowing movie with great characters any day!

SUMMARY: BOOK vs. MOVIE

Liked the book, loved the movie!

Blogger's Note:

Well that's it for now, I had no ideas for a post this week because the past week has been lacking in creativity, no time to do anything fun :( So since I recently finished this book and watched the movie, I decided hey, why not. Thanks for stopping by :)

DIY: Make a Cute Dress out of a vest and skirt

Let's Make a SIMPLE CUTE DRESS 

(using a vest and a skirt) 

OK... So like most females, I have some issues with clothes hoarding, I always think I'm going to want to wear that pants some day, or I might like to use the pattern on that one top another day so it's incredibly hard for me to part with clothes I like. BUT, seeing that I no longer have any space in my wardrobe for anything extra, I need to clear the clutter. I was going through some of the clothes I had not worn for a while and decided that it might be fun to just combine two beloved pieces of clothing and make a dress :)

Here's what you'll need:

• A vest
• A skirt that's too big (that can fit easily over your ribcage with room to spare)
• Scissors
• Needle and thread (for hand-stitching)
• Sewing machine
• A belt (I used some ribbon that I had left over from some other craft projects)
• An active imagination and an open mind (just in case things don't quite turn out well)

Here's what you'll need to do:

(1) First you'll want to cut and fit your separates. Try on the vest and mark (with a pin, chalk, or by eye-balling it) where you want the top part of your dress to end. Leave 1" allowance from this point and cut vest here.

(2) Then, take your too large skirt and using needle and thread (or pins), make four 1" (one inch) darts to the back of it, two darts on either side of a 3" gap is what I used. This gives the dress some volume and a nice shape at the back.

(3) Then with needle and thread, hand stitch the vest to the skirt with the skirt overlapping, then try it on to make sure that it achieves the look you want. Alternately you can pin them and try it on but I always prefer just making a loose hand stitch.

(4) Does it fit well? Great! Once you're satisfied, crank out your sewing machine and straight sew the skirt and the vest. At this point you can leave it as is, or add a belt to the middle. I used a piece of ribbon and just secured it with a few pieces of fashion tape to the middle piece and tied it in a bow at the back, since I want the belt to be temporary.

Voila, there you go, a simple cute dress out of a vest and skirt, and made with minimal effort.

Variations for a belt:

You can also stitch a cloth over the joining part, I used a ribbon because it's cheap and shiny enough for the look I was going for. Alternatively you can always wear it with an actual belt.

Random thoughts:

I really enjoyed this project due to its simplicity, since you're literally just sewing two separates together. Took foreverrr and a day to upload because I just wasn't getting any time to get the pictures looking fit for uploading.

Next project: make a cute dress from scratch! (Just need to get some money to buy the material :/ Read and enjoy :)

Back To School Musings - 5 Ways I Cope With Challenging Semesters

SCHOOL MUSINGS - Coping with Challenging Semesters

OK... Sighhhhhh. Here we go again. It's that time again to say goodbye to sleeping 14 hours straight, being able to wake up 3pm in the afternoon, being able to do whatever you wanted more or less, the masses are back to school. So I've only been back to two full days now and I am already counting down the days until my next vacation >_< The work just doesn't stop. How ridiculous it seems to me sometimes that I willingly and quite anxiously (with bated breath and all), signed up for this oh-so-lovely degree back in 2010. Don't get me wrong, I love the field and all (wouldn't be going through this torture privilege if I didn't love it), but I just wish sometimes the work made more sense :/

But anyhow, we're all back to school, back to the grind. After enjoying three weeks vacay, I really really really wish I could have had two more weeks :/ Thoroughly enjoyed the holiday season, relaxing and doing whatever my little contented heart desired, so I shouldn't really want more than that.... but then again I'm only human so there you go. No matter how I try to shake the feeling though, I have a feeling this semester is going to be a pain in the derriere so I've decided to develop a few coping mechanisms, here is a five (5) things from my list of things:

1) Prayer:

Admittedly I'm not the most 'religious' of people (hardly attend Church, don't read the Bible everyday)... but after a good, honest prayer session I feel most enlightened and refreshed, it really does wonders yall.

2) Scheduling school tasks and hobbies:

This really helps keep me organized, I get more stuff done if I put them on a list because I like crossing out stuff, makes me feel all accomplished and whatnot ^_^ Even made myself a little timetable of activities from now until the end of this short semester, posted it on my workspace wall (using pretty post-its of course, because pretty colours = absolutely awesome).

3) Being present and punctual in class: 

Sighhh, no words on this, if you know me personally, you know being present and on time has always been quite a task for me so we'll just wait and see how long I can keep this up >_< But it's also important to be actively present in the class because zoning out half the lecture just defeats the purpose of waking up early and going to class in the first place :/

4) Drinking more coffee:

Yes, I am an advocate for coffee. It's not like I drink it everyday and night, but I do appreciate the benefits of being able to stay awake longer than I would otherwise be able to do naturally. This way, it just might be easier to stay awake and alert in class. I usually use it on those days that NEVERRRR seem to end >_<

5) Have regular dance parties:

If you are not aware of what dance parties are, that's quite okay young grasshopper, you can easily catch up. I have been having dance parties since forever (yes, even before Meredith and Christina) and it's basically putting your radio/favourite Youtube mix on max volume and dancing like you have not a care in the world for 10-15 minutes or until you get dizzy, whichever comes first. This has added benefits of keeping you active and in shape, plus it's loads of fun too.

So yeah, those are some oldies I've been doing since Year 1 and some new stuff that I'll be trying to adhere to. In the end, I only want to finish Year 3 with my sanity in tact. That is all. That is my only wish. Everything else is secondary and is sure to fall in place. A challenging semester is ahead so I'm going to do myself a favour and use all the help I can get.

NB: I was supposed to put some pics in this blog, but I've got PBL to do... so another time for that I guess.

DIY: Make Simple Necklace Jewelry

Simple needle and thread necklaces :)

Let's Make Some SIMPLE NECKLACE COSTUME JEWELRY

OK... So I was going through my clothes to clear the clutter again and I found a blouse (that I never got around to wearing) with some really pretty beads hanging off the edge, so I got the idea to make a nice necklace out of those beads, but I didn't want to spend any money on material. So, I just grabbed some needle and thread, and this what I came up with :)

Material: beads, needle, thread

Here's what you'll need:

•   Beads, lots of them (any colour, shape, size that you desire)
•   Needle
•   Thread

Here's what you'll need to do:

Make a layout of your piece...
Yes, this is intended to be a rough draft
>_>

 

• Gather needle and thread, organize the beads you have, and make a general layout of what you want your piece to look like.

• IMPORTANT: Seeing that you will be using thread alone without a proper closure, ensure to measure the length of thread you are using so that it can pass over your head without any problems >_<

• Thread your needle twice so that you have four stable strands, make sure to knot the end of the thread.

• Start passing your beads along your needle and when you're done tie the ends together.

• Voila, simple needle and thread costume jewelry necklaces :)

Finished pieces ^_^

Alternately, you can always buy beads from an art/craft supply store (for e.g. Samaroos in Trinidad) and purchase the proper elastic threading or the hard plastic threading with proper closures to string along your beads. When I do get some extra cash to get these material, I'll do another post and backlink it. In the meantime, these needle and thread necklaces will surely work ^_^

Festive Potato Salad

Mmmmmhmmmn, doesn't that look deliciousssss? ^_^

Let's Make Some POTATO SALAD...

Ok... this being my first 'cuisine' post, I'm just gonna go by the old saying 'Keep it Simple Stupid' :) Salad is one of my specialties at home, due in no small way to the fact that it's so quick and easy to make, and goes well alongside many other dishes. This is what I contributed to Christmas lunch, a Festive Potato Salad, so please read and enjoy :) 

Here's what you'll need:

• 4 cups of cubed Potatoes (usually about 6-8 potatoes) 
• 1 cup Mayonnaise (approximately 1 cup, depending on warmth of potato and personal preferences, it may require more) 
• 2 tbsp Sugar (or more for taste) 
• 1/2 small Onion (finely grated) 
• 1/2 cup Corn 
• 1/2 cup Peas and Carrot (either from the tin, or freshly cooked) 
• some chopped Parsley 
• 1 small Beetroot (chopped) 

Here's what you'll need to do: 

1. There are two sets of boiling to do for this dish. The potatoes are washed, peeled, cut into small cubes and boiled. The beetroot is washed, the top cut off, and also boiled. 
2. When the potato is ready (they should be tender but not mushy), strain and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes. It needs to be just warm for the salad, not too hot that it melts the mayonnaise and not too cold that the sugar does not dissolve properly. 
3. In the meantime, prepare the beetroot when it is ready (a knife should easily pass through it). Peel and finely chop the beetroot. 
4. When potato cools to a warm temperature, start mixing. Add mayonnaise, sugar and grate your onion and mix. 
5. Add remaining ingredients (beetroot, peas and carrot, corn and chopped parsley) and mix. Add more ingredients if desired. I also added some beetroot and parsley on the top after mixing to give it a table-ready festive look. 
6. Voila, there you have a Festive Potato Salad. Enjoy! 

Serving sizes and Notes

• This recipe makes: 
• 4 cups of potato salad. 
• Suggested serving size: 
• As much as your salad-loving heart desires, my family goes nuts for my salads so they usually take a heap-ful, but for me just a little at the side of my plate is sufficient :) 
• Storage: 
• Definitely refrigerate this dish, we don't want to have a moldy mayonnaise mishap... totally NOT speaking from experience here >_> 
• Other Stuff 
• The Holy Trinity of salads is definitely mayonnaise, sugar and onion, once you get these right, everything else is just icing on the cake 
• The potential for variation is great with salads, my mum likes to slice hard boiled eggs and mix them in when she makes it. What do you put in your salad?

New Year, New Beginning?

Cheers to the freaking New Years!

The good stuff ^_^

OK... so we have officially entered the year of 2013 :) Don't you just LOVE celebrating a new year? Well I certainly do, I get this feeling in my stomach, kind of like when you're in line at the movies in Trincity Mall trying to conceal some Burger King fries or KFC Spicy chicken in your sweater, hoping they don't catch you... feeling something mixed with fear, anxiety, excitement, mischief... Yeah, that's the exact feeling I get when the clock strikes 12 midnight on the dawn of a new year and I toast my loved ones ^_^ 

This was the first year in a while that I wasn't entirely intoxicated to bring in the new year. Not by choice though, I just waited too long to get my 'feel good, get drunk' drink of choice (Smirnoff Red, the only beer I drink...) and by the time I tried to purchase them they only had the Black ones :/ So I just had some Ponche de Creme and chilled out. Maybe that means it will be a sober year for me, 2012 was like a Michael Bay action movie so 2013 could prove to be the intermission. 

Last year was awesome, all the different experiences I had, the people I met, the relationships I cultivated, the places I went, the events I took part in... just such an awesome time altogether. I also grew a lot on a personal level, relationships-wise, and also professionally (rediscovering my love for medicine and nurturing my passion for Pathology was one of the biggest things for me last year). I know this year is gonna be an interesting, if not great year for me. 

My only resolution for the year is to try to be a better person than I was the year before. This has been my sole resolution for a couple years now and its simplicity has allowed it to be kept religiously. At the end of the day, we can only try to be the best us that we can be, and everything else will just fall in place...

Anyhooo, cheers to the freaking New Years :)

To Blog or Not to Blog

WELCOME TO MY BLOG: TAMUMU CREATIONS

"To blog or not to blog,
hmmmmmnnn..."

OK... so apparently 'blogging' is harder than it seems :/ After toying around with the idea for a long while, I had decided to make my own blog about a year ago. Every time I put my mind to make an entry, something distracts me. Or if I don't get distracted, I write the post, but I'm never satisfied with how it looks/flows so I don't post it. 

My ideas for this blog started from being a journal sort of entry a la 'Life of a Medical Student', then it turned into a baking/cooking blog, then I had the idea to do a crafts/everything cooking-related blog, since that's what I'm most interested in these days anyway. All of this hesitation highlights my greatest flaws: procrastination and perfectionism. Oh well, it is what it is. In an effort to just get on with it, I think this will be an anything goes just for fun kinda blog, so don't be surprised to find a few random posts about absolutely nothing in particular :)

A little about myself:

I honestly grew up with little to no interest in cooking/baking. Mummy always cooked delicious stuff for me but I never had an interest in learning from her. She's always been the kind of cook who just 'knows' how much of anything should go into a pot, but I have always been the kind of pragmatic learner that does best with specific instructions. Fast forward a couple years, I'm at university studying medicine and I've found that I function best when I balance my school-work with some fun hobbies, my favourite of which are crafts, reading and making meals. 

• Cooking/baking takes my mind completely off of academics for a while and also produces some great tasty snacks for when I'm studying, a win-win in my book! 
• Crafts help develop my dexterity which will surely come in handy if I intend to be a great surgeon in the not too distant future. Plus I like being all artsy and crafty :)
• And well reading sharpens my mind like nothing else, and without a doubt has made me a more confident writer, if not better writer, over the years.

Anyhow, so in the end I decided hey, why not start a blog?!? So yeah, this is my blog. Read and enjoy :)