Today we decided to face mask ourselves ('we' being me & the housemate)which was all well and good as we both seem to have skin breakouts at more or less the same time, something to do with body clocks synchronising when you live closely with people so I've heard. Anyway, I digress.
I was upstairs about to rinse off the face mask when i heard a shrill 'ahhhhhh come down here!' half way down the stairs my housemates says it's a spider which i spotted in the corner of her doorway. Not one of those normal ones with legs and bodies in proportion, this one happened to be my worst nightmare.
A small body with long spindly legs which make it so much easier to sneak under door frames and into my mouth as i sleep, which terrifies me more than anything in the world. Give me a Tarantula over a spindly blighter any day, thanks. I managed to destroy it with my flip flop, but there is a blood smear on the ceiling which may well stain. oooops. my work is done!
Luckily the other housemate is back tomorrow & her boyfriend is moving her in,
so we may be asking him very nicely :)
Saturday 31 July 2010
Friday 30 July 2010
keep dreaming...
The last few evenings I have been eating dinner later than usual (containing cheese, of course) and found that my dreams have become insane.
To the point that i dreamt of our round the world trip resulting in a job offer & relocation package to publish my lifestyle magazine in Hawaii (crazy, i know). It's always been a dream of mine, but actually seeing it -in my head- made me realise how hard i actually need to work to get there. I know that the chance of me getting a 5 bed villa on the beach with my own jetty, boat & scuba kit is a tad unrealistic but I'd like to look back on my life and know that I'd done my very best to get there, even if i end up in an apartment overlooking Blackpool pier.
To the point that i dreamt of our round the world trip resulting in a job offer & relocation package to publish my lifestyle magazine in Hawaii (crazy, i know). It's always been a dream of mine, but actually seeing it -in my head- made me realise how hard i actually need to work to get there. I know that the chance of me getting a 5 bed villa on the beach with my own jetty, boat & scuba kit is a tad unrealistic but I'd like to look back on my life and know that I'd done my very best to get there, even if i end up in an apartment overlooking Blackpool pier.
Thursday 29 July 2010
A learning curve.
In preparation for my Round-the-world jaunt in 2012 i have taken to learning new languages.
The original plan involved getting a Ferry to France, buying a second-hand car for about £1,000- £1,500 and making my way to Singapore in it before flying out to Australia, then on to Brazil, and buying another car & travelling up to Canada, then flying back to London. I thought that planning 18 months in advance would give us plenty of time to plan & save, but technicalities, as always, get in the way.
Russia, a country I'd been hoping to visit since i first learned about the revolution aged 10, would add on an extra £1000 with visa fees and regulations which dictate you can't make your own way through the country without being invited by a political figure. As it happens I don't yet know Mr Putin well enough to ask him for a free pass so Russia is temporarily off the list.
When Russia was still in the equation I was keen to learn the language as we'd have been spending about 2 months in the country. I managed to get as far as YouTube lessons but realised if i was looking at a road sign i wouldn't have the faintest idea of what it said. I've postponed the Russian, and I'm now learning Spanish & Italian through audio books from my local library and weekly classes at University from September.
I don't aim to become fluent in two languages in a year, but a basic grasp of each would be a realistic target. If anyone knows of any BSL courses around the Southampton area, let me know!
The original plan involved getting a Ferry to France, buying a second-hand car for about £1,000- £1,500 and making my way to Singapore in it before flying out to Australia, then on to Brazil, and buying another car & travelling up to Canada, then flying back to London. I thought that planning 18 months in advance would give us plenty of time to plan & save, but technicalities, as always, get in the way.
Russia, a country I'd been hoping to visit since i first learned about the revolution aged 10, would add on an extra £1000 with visa fees and regulations which dictate you can't make your own way through the country without being invited by a political figure. As it happens I don't yet know Mr Putin well enough to ask him for a free pass so Russia is temporarily off the list.
When Russia was still in the equation I was keen to learn the language as we'd have been spending about 2 months in the country. I managed to get as far as YouTube lessons but realised if i was looking at a road sign i wouldn't have the faintest idea of what it said. I've postponed the Russian, and I'm now learning Spanish & Italian through audio books from my local library and weekly classes at University from September.
I don't aim to become fluent in two languages in a year, but a basic grasp of each would be a realistic target. If anyone knows of any BSL courses around the Southampton area, let me know!
Wednesday 28 July 2010
11 years of anticipation
The last 11 years of my life have been building up to June 2010. I wasn't waiting for my wedding day, or the birth of a child (all of which I've been told are supposedly the best days of a woman's life) but the release of Toy Story 3.
At the ripe old age of 21 i should probably be 'too old' for the kids film franchise, but i was 6 when the first Toy Story was released & 10 for the sequel. I have fond memories of the adventures of Buzz, Woody & the gang and collected all of the merchandise which is probably still in the attic somewhere. My favourite characters are the somewhat overlooked Mr Potato Head and Rex with his boundless enthusiasm and innocent passion for life.
I went for a day out in Toys'R'us with my friend who is known for being quieter than myself. The Toy Story merchandise was fully stocked and I made a beeline for a giant Rex toy. As well as aisle upon aisle of Toy Story stock, reminders of my childhood such as Sylvanian families, Playmobile & Polly pocket lined the shelves sending me into a nostalgic frenzy, leaping from one shelf to another looking for new models of old favourites. I realised there is a huge difference between the toys of my childhood and the toys of 2010's children. About a quarter of the shop floor was dedicated to games consoles, plasma TVs and laptops which I couldn't imagine having in my childhood.
Being around the toys made me appreciate what I had, even though my toys were simple and probably cost a fraction of today's hi-tech gadgets, but when my little sisters would destroy my dolls it was easily fixed by some glue and some new clothes (for the doll) but now, when your child's most prized possession is a 40inch plasma TV, what do you do when it all goes wrong? throw money at the situation? replace it with a new one? Children should learn that throwing money at a problem won't make it go away, and there is more to life than what you see on a giant screen.
Children should be encouraged to interact with others, learn life skills such as socialisation and building relationships, which they won't learn from watching Hannah Montana in her Push-up bra & face full of make up. REAL kids don't have stylists, voice coaches and a secret life broadcast on their own TV show. REAL kids like playing in mud & climbing trees with the neighbours and barbies or transformers.
I know how I'd prefer to raise my kids.
At the ripe old age of 21 i should probably be 'too old' for the kids film franchise, but i was 6 when the first Toy Story was released & 10 for the sequel. I have fond memories of the adventures of Buzz, Woody & the gang and collected all of the merchandise which is probably still in the attic somewhere. My favourite characters are the somewhat overlooked Mr Potato Head and Rex with his boundless enthusiasm and innocent passion for life.
I went for a day out in Toys'R'us with my friend who is known for being quieter than myself. The Toy Story merchandise was fully stocked and I made a beeline for a giant Rex toy. As well as aisle upon aisle of Toy Story stock, reminders of my childhood such as Sylvanian families, Playmobile & Polly pocket lined the shelves sending me into a nostalgic frenzy, leaping from one shelf to another looking for new models of old favourites. I realised there is a huge difference between the toys of my childhood and the toys of 2010's children. About a quarter of the shop floor was dedicated to games consoles, plasma TVs and laptops which I couldn't imagine having in my childhood.
Being around the toys made me appreciate what I had, even though my toys were simple and probably cost a fraction of today's hi-tech gadgets, but when my little sisters would destroy my dolls it was easily fixed by some glue and some new clothes (for the doll) but now, when your child's most prized possession is a 40inch plasma TV, what do you do when it all goes wrong? throw money at the situation? replace it with a new one? Children should learn that throwing money at a problem won't make it go away, and there is more to life than what you see on a giant screen.
Children should be encouraged to interact with others, learn life skills such as socialisation and building relationships, which they won't learn from watching Hannah Montana in her Push-up bra & face full of make up. REAL kids don't have stylists, voice coaches and a secret life broadcast on their own TV show. REAL kids like playing in mud & climbing trees with the neighbours and barbies or transformers.
I know how I'd prefer to raise my kids.
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