Erin Brockovich (2000) (**Spoiler free**)

 

Directed by: Steven Soderberg

Starring: Julia Roberts, Aaron Eckhart, Albert Finney

IMBD synopsis: ''Erin Brockovich is an unemployed single mother, desperate to find a job, but is having no luck. This losing streak even extends to a failed lawsuit against a doctor in a car accident she was in. With no alternative, she successfully browbeats her lawyer to give her a job in compensation for the loss. While no one takes her seriously, with her trashy clothes and earthy manners, that soon changes when she begins to investigate a suspicious real estate case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. What she discovers is that the company is trying quietly to buy land that was contaminated by hexavalent chromium, a deadly toxic waste that the company is improperly and illegally dumping and, in turn, poisoning the residents in the area. As she digs deeper, Erin finds herself leading point in a series of events that would involve her law firm in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation.''

My rating: 9/10

My comment: When I think about which actress I admire the most, Julia Roberts always comes to mind. She always plays powerful women in her roles. In this role she plays a smart woman with three kids and little money to raise them. This movie is based on a true story, and even though I don't know much about the real Erin Brockovich, I think that Julia Roberts was a great casting choice.

Different Types of Yoga

Yoga is so good for every body. No matter how flexible you are or how old you are, it is a workout that will stretch and tone your muscles. I do it at least 4 times a week to relax, as I am a naturally stressed out person. Here is a list of the different types of yoga that I've gathered. If you would like mor information, click here.

1. Ananda Yoga
2. Anusara Yoga
3. Ashtanga Yoga / Power Yoga
4. Bikram Yoga
5. Hatha Yoga
6. Integral Yoga
7. ISHTA Yoga
8. Iyengar Yoga
9. Jivamukti Yoga
10. Kali Ray TriYoga
11. Kripalu Yoga
12. Kundalini Yoga
13. Restorative Yoga
14. Sivananda Yoga
15. Savroopa Yoga
16. Viniyoga
17. Vinyasa
18. White lotus yoga

I usually alternate my yoga days with Power Yoga, Hatha, Kundalini and Vinyasa.

At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks (***Spoiler Free***)

"Jeremy Marsh had always vowed he'd never do certain things: leave New York City, give his heart away agaain after barely surviving one failed marriage and, most of all, become a parent."

"Now, Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the birth of their daughter. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, an unsettling and mysterious messages reopens old wounds and sets off a chain of events that will for ever change the course of this young couple's marriage."

My rating: 9/10
My comment: This book was everything that a chick-lit should be. There was dose of comedy, a pinch of romance and a dash of drama. The perfect cocktail for every single girl. Although it was a little bit different from the first novel in the duo (True Believer). I finished True Believer in one day and loved every sentence of it. If the day is dreary and cold, pull out this book and you feel warm and cozy in no time. :)

- Heather McIntosh

Invisible

So you are at a party which is unusual for an introverted socially awkward person like you. It’s not that you don’t like people, it’s just a night-in cuddled up in front of your laptop watching Pretty Little Liars sounds appealing too!

 So even though you are no longer that socially awkward little kid who would hide behind a thick 400-page novel in order to avoid sounding like an idiot because even saying “hi” made you wish you had a paper bag over your head.

The paper bag would be a better option in order to be invisible, but the book is good enough. Even though now you hide behind your Blackberry.

So you are standing next to your gorgeous friend, who is not as socially awkward as you are. In fact she is the complete opposite! As they say, opposites do attract.

She’s beautiful.

Out-going...

Smart.

You are all of those things, except the whole world knows who she is.

And funny: a stark contrast to you.

It is not that you are ugly. But if you were to compare you and her, she would be your brand new Blackberry phone

And you would be, well, the spare brick phone that you use when the other one is broken. It is good enough when the other one is broken.

Back to the party: a group of friends walk past, while you’re stuffing your face with potato chips. They approach you and your friend, and you smile in your attempt to being friendly.

“ Hey there!” they say, and come near to you and greet your friend and you stand there looking awkward. And they ignore.

Its like : hello??? You were clearly standing there trying to look approachable. Did they not see you there? You were standing right there!

 Or maybe you are wearing a sign that says: Don’t talk to me. So you return to stuffing your face with the potato chips.

Maybe after putting on a few kilograms, then they will notice you and you will be hard to miss.

Dial "M" for murder (1954) (**Spoiler Free**)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller

IMBD Synopsis: An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B.

My rating: 8.5/10

My Comment: Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favourite directors of all time and this film reminded me why. Grace Kelly is a beautiful actress and she played this role so gracefully, even though she was the victim. brilliantly casted and filmed. Not for people that don't enjoy classic thrillers.

Across the universe by Beth Revis

"Amy has left the life she loves for a world 300 years away. Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But fifty years before she is due to arrive, she is violently woke, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy's lost on board and nothing makes sense-she's never felt so alone. Yet someone is waiting for her. He wants to protect her; and more if she will let him. But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies? A killer is out there- and Amy has nowhere to hide..."

My Rating: 6/10

My Comment: After watching many reviews of this book on YouTube. I finally hopped on the bandwagon, which now I'm really regretting. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm not a sci-fi fan but I really didn't enjoy this book. It started off great but somewhere in the middle I got lost and somehow the story didn't make any sense. One thing that I did enjoy about it was how Beth Revis added so much emotion in the beginning. Maybe I just wasn't really in the mood to read a book like this, but i do know that a lot of other people will enjoy it.

We put the “Pro” in Procrastination

"Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today" [Lord Chesterfield letter to his son].

It’s Tuesday evening and you’ve got mountains of studying to get through for tomorrow’s cycle test. But that is manageable right?

It’s not so bad you reassuringly say to yourself as you arrange your books. It’s only a few chapters...Until at 10pm it suddenly hits you that you’ve got an assignment due tomorrow too!

How on earth did this happen? You check your homework diary to see if you are not just imagining things. Yep, it’s true. Where did the time go? Time just seemed to slip away...

It all happens to the best of us. No matter how organised we are (or try to be), no student can resist committing this crime. Even though it can be

The Oxford Dictionary defines procrastination as “to put off doing something”.

Whatever that something is, you might be under the illusion that you have got an abundance of time.  You continually tell yourself that you do it tomorrow. Well of course you can do it tomorrow... just with a whole amount of pressure added to it and countless cups of coffee.

Seth Baker from Pick The Brain says: Procrastination is usually a symptom of some other problem: poor preparation, perfectionism, a fear of failure or rejection, or just a simple lack of motivation and interest.

And you think back to all the times you could have done your said-assignment... in between constantly updating your tweet, and catching up your missed series( because those things are things that you never seem to procrastinate or hesitate doing).

So how can you fix this problem?

·         Eliminate as many distractions as possible (this means turning off the BBM, closing yourself in a room for a couple hours etc) As Seth Baker states: Each distraction  pulls your focus away from the task at hand

·         Force yourself to do it. Start telling yourself that if you don’t get it done, you will get nowhere. Seth Baker states: The perfect time is now. Not tomorrow, not next week. Today.

·         You don’t have to be perfect.

·         Set your own deadlines.

·         Stay organised

 

 

As Seth Baker states: Procrastination is like leaving the headlights on in a parked car: it’s a slow drain on your mental battery. The longer the lights are on, the harder it is to get the engine started. By continually avoiding to do something you know you need to do, procrastination sucks the energy out of you.

 

The perfect time is now. Not tomorrow, not next week. Today

 

A true procrastinator doesn’t shovel the snow; a true procrastinator knows that the snow will melt...eventually!

Imani Dlamini