My love for the cinema

It is no big secret by now that I am quite the introvert. I do not jump for joy when someone asks me to go out to the SU nor can I crack a smile when invited to pre-drinks at someone's house. It's not that I am a recluse and it's not that I am anti-social. I genuinely feel uncomfortable and anxious in situations where there are lots of (drunk) people and where there is immense pressure to drink. Don't get me wrong, I like to go and have a drink in the pub with friends where I can chat to them and have a nice catch up, I just hate situations where people expect you to drink and get drunk even though you really don't want to. That is not my idea of the perfect evening.


What I do like to do though is to go meet people for coffee, go over to people's houses and chat and one of my favourites is trips with friends to the cinema. Since the start of term (a week and a half ago) I have been to the cinema four times. I have seen the story of Steven Hawkins' life in the amazing The Theory of Everything; I watched a little boy grow into a man in the stunning Boyhood; Watched in awe as Cheryl Strayed walked a thousand miles across California and almost cried during Vera Brittain's harrowing war memoirs in The Testament of Youth. 

There are very few things I find as enjoyable and peaceful in life than walking into a theatre, making myself comfortable and investing myself in someone else's story for two hours. Two hours where no one can bother you. Two hours where its just you and the screen. Two hours where there is nothing else for you to do but to sit and watch.

It's the little things in life

If you're a seasoned reader of Lisi Loo or if you know me at all then you'll know that I love Bruce Springsteen. Whenever a Springsteen song comes on the radio I literally jump for joy, It doesn't mater where  I am. It happened once in the library, I had some weird looks but I didn't care because Bruce was serenading my ears with one of his hundreds of utterly amazing songs. 

Lisa, why this sudden urge to declare your love for the Boss on your blog once more? Well, the answer is that yesterday while having my lunch break and a desperately needed hour away from my desk and dissertation reading I scrolled through my Sky+ planner to find the recording of Springsteen's 2013 MusiCares concert. Two and a half hours of musicians honouring Bruce by singing their own renditions of the Boss' hits. 

Stop worrying, live your life & be happy

Today I want to share with you something that really annoys me. Something that sometimes keeps me up at night and something that I AM going to get over in 2015. That something is intense worrying. Worrying about going somewhere, doing something or meeting someone. On many occasions I find myself not going somewhere or getting really stressed before doing something because the thought of it is just too much. The thought of going for a night out where I won't be back before 2 am or going to a meeting filled with strangers or, at its worse, I found it hard to go to the gym - a place where I knew almost everyone and where I spent almost every single day last year.

However, once I'm there I'm fine. I don't feel nervous or shy, I feel utterly comfortable and even confident and I am so happy that I pushed myself to go out and do it. It's just those hours or even days before I actually have to go and do something new that are the worst. My stomach flips, I get incredibly stressed and I begin to panic. It's a hell of a lot of unwanted pressure and unhappiness that I do not need and most certainly do not want in my life.

MY LOVE FOR BBC 4'S DESERT ISLAND DISCS

Since the middle of December I have found myself at every opportunity either downloading or listening to BBC 4's Desert Island Discs podcast. Whereas before I'd put on a YouTube video, Netflix or some music on Spotify, I now find myself listening to either Roy Plomley, Michael Parkinson, Sue Lawley or Kirsty Young interviewing some of my favourite people in the whole world. I think a reason why I love this programme so much is that by making a person choose only 8 songs, 8 songs out of all the hundreds of millions of songs in the world, it allows you to learn a lot about a person - sometimes more that words could ever say.

Over the past few weeks, whether I've been cooking, reading, working or dozing I've been enjoying learning more about my favourite actors, writer, politicians and musicians while also discovering a whole host of new names and voices that I am now big fans of as a result of their story and personality but let's be honest, if they pick a great tune then I don't really care who they are, I am instantly in love with them!