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I’ve always wanted to know how academics come to a decision about their research topic? I can only presume their topic has to be something that interests them enough to want to dedicate several months, or even years, to working on. So, what interested me? What would keep me entertained for the next year when undertaking my own 10,000 word creative thesis? My topic had to revolve around any form of literature (to align with my postgraduate writing and literature degree) so I scanned the book spines on my shelf and pulled out a few that I had remembered intrigued me upon reading them. After umming and ahing between a selection of five texts, I cut them down to two final novels, Goethe’s Faust (1829) and Ellis’s Less Than Zero (1985). Feeling up for a wild challenge, I decided to stick with Ellis’s text and delve into drugs, sex, and violence – theoretically that is.  Writer, Tama Janowitz and Andy Warhol at the Slaves of New York Book Party at Petaluma, 1986. PHOTO: ©PATRICK McMULLAN.
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Book Review The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle At the beginning of 2019 I wanted to put an end to using the same new years resolutions that I had been so naive to set in the past, you know the ones: getting fit, eating healthy, staying positive, etc. This year I would opt for a resolution that would come a little more naturally to me but of course still allow me to eat cake.
My 2019 mantra was to go with the flow. Now you may say that that is just a lazy excuse for someone who can't commit, but being the overbearing organiser and life planner that I am, I knew 'going with the flow' would pose a challenge. It didn’t mean I'd let each day pass by without achieving any of my set goals, instead it was more about letting go of the negativity, rejection or hardships associated with something I had set my mind too, essentially pushing me to move on quicker. When I was unsuccessful at a job interview, I accepted it then and there and moved on to the next job application. When a relationship ended and nothing more could be done, I moved on knowing that the unpredicted flow of life would probably see me forming new bonds with others and creating new friendships, which it did. Instead of dwelling on the outcome of a situation I knocked down my perfectionist barriers and succumbed to the universe’s uncertain flow. And it was the best thing I did!  CREDIT: COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT Considered to be one of the 20th century's finest novels, Silence, is the story of two Jesuit priests who travel to Japan during the kakure kirishitan period to investigate the whereabouts of their previous mentor. Acclaimed director, Martin Scorsese adapted the novel to film in 2016.
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