Saturday 20 April 2013

Book Look: New Upcoming Segment!


As I mentioned earlier in my first post I really enjoy reading. I am a lover of stories! It doesn't matter if it's in spoken form, written form, pictures, movies, video games, true, false; I enjoy savouring all forms of story. Sometimes I get into stages where I read so much that I feel like I'm this giant-all-consuming-book-monster. There are also other times where I don't read stories or novels at all because I've had to read so many academic journal articles for uni. I must confess that some of those articles leave me absolutely exhausted after reading them. Linguistics papers can be very interesting and informative but sometimes the topics are so boring and the writing style so academic, that I have to read them multiple times to understand what they're referring to, that each time you read it it feels like part of your soul is being sucked out and drained into the paper. My reading material is usually comics during these times.


My favourite types of books to read would have to be children's fiction and young adult novels. I can recall a time in high school where a friend caught me in the children's fiction area and was he was like: "Get out of there you don't belong there, you're too old to be reading that sort of stuff!". To that I say NO! You are wrong! Just like movies targeted at a younger age group can be enjoyed by adults so can books. If reading these types of books is your secret guilty pleasure then it is time to stop the guilt and join the embrace train and treasure your uniqueness!


~Sorry rant officially over.~

I haven't been able to post as regularly lately due to a lot going on this week, (my apologies), I have a new assignment so will be focusing most of my time and energy into that for the next week. (Unless I magically become super organised and my brain flips its' 'smart'switch back on and finish my work early.)

So I thought it would be nice to just leave a little note, for you my dear readers, to talk a little about the behind workings of an idea I have for some future-themed posts.
When I was younger I had really close friends who liked to read about as much as I do and we had similar, (yet different at the same time if you know what I mean), tastes in stories and books. Due to this we used to share books and even when I moved to the top of the country would post books as presents to my friends for birthdays, as well as receiving for mine. One of my all time favourite authors that I have now was originally introduced to me as a present posted to me from my best friend.
It was great, and then Life happened! Over time, distance, careers and education we all grew apart, still keep in touch every now and then but it's never the same as before, which is okay as well, that's just how life works sometimes. The thing is, now I don't have anyone to talk to about books and discuss characters and story-lines anymore. Which is why I thought why not talk about what I read on my blog to all my lovely readers! Also it'll be a great way to record what I read during the year....hehehe how many will it be this year?

The segments will pretty much just be what I've finished reading lately, what I thought of the book and maybe a bit about the author if I feel like it. It will be a bit like a book review that is not quite a book review, since I don't claim and am not even going to try to pretend to possess the knowledge or skills of a literary critic. That's just not me! I like stories and to me they are just stories.Whilst some of them may contain good messages or point out issues that are prevalent in society I'm really not one to obsess over those types of things. I think you can see it especially with the burst of popularity some books have received over the past years and the crazy fandom that seems to trail behind them. It's like some people don't know how to enjoy a work of fiction without making it become their whole life or believing that it's an earth shattering revelation just because an author tied a few random facts together and then wove it into their story. I personally know people who have had their marriage destroyed by their partners obsession with a novel which I will keep nameless.


Sorry just got carried away and it seems I ended this post all serious.

Books are great fun, they are good exercise for the imagination. I just want to share with you what I'm reading and my thoughts on them, whether I enjoyed it and whether I think you might too!

I hope that you'll all be looking forward to this segment and that you'll find it enjoyable!


As always feel free to leave any suggestions, comments or feedback, I would love love love to hear from you!


Maybe you have suggestions or recommendations of books for me to read? Or maybe you'd like me to read a book and then tell you if I think it's worthwhile reading? Either way let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do. :D




Maisy xxx

Sunday 14 April 2013

Has Anyone Ever Heard of IU?


Well, have you?

If you come from an Asian region of the world then there is a chance that you may be familiar with IU. However, if you hail from the Western regions of the globe, (or Southern in my case), it's more likely that you don't know who that is.

IU is the name of a young female singer who hails from South Korea. IU would have to be my personal favourite artist from Korea, there is just so much about her to like on so many different levels. Despite being small she is a natural beauty with an adorable, cute, cheeky yet introverted, clumsy, humble and honest personality.


If you have the chance to watch a subbed clip of her tv appearances and interviews you will be wonderfully surprised by her musicality: IU is quite skilled at the guitar and often performs acoustic covers of songs that display her unique voice and haunting melodies. She also has a blunt honesty, is clumsy and doesn't hold back in sharing her insecurities or talking about being shy, which I find to be absolutely refreshing in an industry where artists are always trying to be perfectly flawless angels. Overall there is something genuinely likable in IU that makes her seem like the type of person you would want to be best friends with...well at least I know I would. ^_^


Currently I'm listening to IU's latest album- Can You Hear Me?





This album is her second Japanese EP which I am just loving at the moment! I'm glad that there are new fresh songs in this album, (and not just Japanese versions of past Korean songs), but most of all I'm loving that it's in Japanese and secondly that it's actually available in my country! Yay for me! See most of the time I have found that when a Korean artist makes a Japanese release, for some reason the songs are, frustratingly, not available in my region. (I know it has something to do with the Japanese Record labels because has anyone else found that Kpop is just more accessible than Jpop recently or is it just me???) 
It's an added bonus to be since the Japanese used in the songs is actually at a level where I have some understanding without having to whip out a Dictionary. The lyrics are set to a good pace too, (not like some songs where it's so fast that it's almost like a rap being sung), so it makes listening not only enjoyable but educational as well!

There is definately a lot more of an electronic feel to the music compared to the theatrical orchestral feeling in her previous albums but the music still has a sense of drama and that sweet upliftment that is usually found in an IU song.


Whilst I love all the songs on the album, I'm a sucker for a driving beat, so 'Fairytale' is my absolute favourite song. Other songs worth mentioning are 'New World' - upbeat with hopeful lyrics, 'Beautiful Dancer' - it has a very pure sweet sound and a cute video clip. Also I feel I should mention  'Voice Mail' as it doesn't seem to be as popular on iTunes at the moment but I really think it is a great track. It has the sweet, laidback yet very thoughtful and questioning emotion that we first heard from songs on 'The Spring of Twenty' short fan appreciation album.


If you love foreign pop music or hauntingly high beautiful melodies I would definately recommend checking out IU.


If you would like to find out more about IU you can check out the official site here:

http://iu.iloen.com/
And if you would like to purchase her music you can do that on iTunes here:
http://search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZContentLink.woa/wa/link?path=iu

Leave a comment if you have any questions, suggestions or if you love IU too!





Maisy xxx

Friday 12 April 2013

And so it begins...

Hiya and Hello!


 Pull up a chair and take a seat.


Welcome to my "Anything" blog!


A little bit about me: I like shopping, reading, eating, taking photos, books and movies. I love art, most forms of music, fashion and Asian dramas.

I'm a Language and Linguistics student with an interest in all things foreign and culture related.
Up until a few months ago I was living in the magical city of Kyoto, Japan, so hopefully we will be able to have some fun with that sometime in the near distant future, we shall see.

I've been described by some people as eclectic and random, (hence the "Anything" feeling), I don't know how much I agree with that or not though... Hazy Maisy is kinda a nickname but my friends usually call me Maise as it's shorter. Please feel free to use either. :)

Anyway I hope that you are able come relax and breathe here and enjoy embarking on this journey with me!
Please feel free to leave a comment and enjoy!



Maisy xxx