Emergency Prep - Floods

''Fail to prepare, prepare to fail"

With me being, well…me, it would be unusual to think I’d be prepared for anything. Just the other day my manager gave me a funny look when I said ‘I’m not that last minute’. So it’s interesting to know I have a little ‘emergency bag’ all packed and at the bottom of one of my wardrobes – just in case. I don’t know why it seemed to be high on my priority list seen as: I’m not in a flood risk zone, the earthquakes we experience where I’m from don’t manage to wake me up and there’s never been a storm bad enough to cause that much destruction in my area. But I just wanted to make sure that I was prepared in case something happened and I had to leave in a hurry – like a fire, a fire seems plausible.

                I have a small hold-all (small enough to carry on to a plane)which is BRIGHT pink and contains the following: Some jeans, some vest tops in case it’s the summer, but some layered items (a jumper and a huddy) if it’s a chillier season.  A mac – no not the computer, but a little rain mac - like the ones you get in a theme park when you go on the log-floom  or some other water ride (am I making sense here?) then to finish off the clothing I have the usual essentials – underwear, socks..yada yada. Extra things I have in there for those  ‘just in case’ moments would be: hand sanitizer – you never know when you’ll be able to use soap and such again and it’s easy and compact enough to use on the go. A spare toothbrush and travel toothpaste.  An empty water bottle. Sanitary products – unless you’re a female, you wouldn’t realise how vital these are.  I have photocopies of my ID (birth certificate, passport and driving licence) and a few loose photos of my family. Maybe this might give someone out there some ideas on what they might want to put into a little emergency pack?

Now, it only makes sense for me to write about what I know.  That just so happens to be floods. I work for a water company so I’m basically first in line to hear about flood warnings, flood disasters and so on. It’s only expected. So I thought I’d use my own little space to put some things out there that just might help someone someday (I hope anyways) seen as its coming round about flooding season now.

These are going to be a few hints and tips instead of facts and figures cause not all of that would be relevant to some people that read this. So first things first:

1.       If you know you’re in a flood risk zone, keep  important things high up - on a higher floor maybe, or a higher shelf. I know it’s a little bit of common sense and probably doesn’t need saying but it’s best to put it front of mind. You don’t want lose important possessions.

2.       Remember your pets. If a flood hits your home, make sure you move your family AND pets to higher/safer ground. We sometimes forget about our fury companions but chances are they’re going to be just as terrified as us, if not more.

3.       Put the plug in – this goes for baths and sinks alike (then weigh these down with something heavy). On a similar level, plug water inlet pipes with towels if you don’t have non-return valves in your home. This will help stop water coming in through the pipes under your sink/bath and any other water pipes connected to your home.

4.       Avoid walking or driving through water – as little as 6 inches of water can knock an adult down,  and 2ft of water can easily move a car.

5.       As soon as water enters your home, turn off water, gas and electricity off at the mains, but do remember to not try turn off the electricity if you have to step into the water to do so…you don’t want to put yourself at even more risk.

I think they’re the most helpful ones that I can think of. You can find more, as well as creating a flood plan at :Prepare For A Flood

One last thing, I would like to draw your attention to a video I came across on TED about a project that some young people put together to touch up photos and save memories after the tsunami hit, enjoy: 

Fortress Tour 2013 - 22/10/13

I think it was obvious to anyone who saw me in person or that had some visibility of my online presence that I was over the top excited for the Fortress Tour 2013. I don’t see how you couldn’t be excited: first off there was Halestorm – I have the biggest girl crush on Lzzy Hale, I think she is pure perfection and I would give anything for a day with her. Second – Alter Bridge were headlining, this meant amazing people, amazing music and let’s be honest, Mark Tremonti’s guitar skills are enough to do strange things to a girls ovaries. But the best thing for me, the thing that really did make my heart flutter was that I was finally going to see my all-time favourite band – Shinedown.

I didn’t want to miss out on anything so I took a few days off work, and myself and a friend travelled to Manchester on Monday night and stopped in the Holiday Inn Express until early Wednesday morning – the first mistake was letting me be in control of the map, I’m not very good at navigating around Manchester in the dark. But after a 15 minute walk we made it. The hotel was super lovely and the people that worked there were amazing, they really couldn’t have been more helpful and the rooms were gorgeous. I was in love with my walk in shower, the shower was awesome. But anyway, let’s not get into too much detail about my hotel room – not the time (though I do recommend The Holiday Inn Express in Manchester Centre if you ever want a cheap little get away / somewhere to stop over)

            After a day wondering around shops and being reunited with my beloved bobo tea, it finally hit the time to go and get to the arena. Being lazy and looking at the weather forecast, I suggested a taxi (even the guy behind the front desk was a little taken aback when I asked for a taxi number, he replied with ‘oh…it’s…um…really not that far’). Though it was a good call because it absolutely chucked it down just after we left. We bumped into a couple in the lobby who were wearing Tremonti/Alter Bridge merch, so offered them a taxi share after over hearing their talk on walking. It’s such a nice thing to experience people that have such close interests and have similar tastes, so much so that getting into a taxi with complete strangers didn’t feel awkward at all. The female even offered to pay the £3 taxi fare for our kind offer for the lift – see this is one of the reasons I’m into the music that I am, it’s a weird connection between fans that you just don’t get with mainstream music.

            When we got into the arena, I went absolutely crazy on the merch stalls. I bought myself an Alter Bride long sleeve sweater, a Shinedown shirt, guitar picks, a shirt for my friend – gig’s all in all put you ridiculously out of pocket! But I don’t care, I treasure them completely.

            A family (mum, dad and son) were in front of us and we instantly got chatting. They asked if we knew anything about the supporting bands – they had obviously come just for Alter Bridge. After expressing my love for Shinedown, we waited for the verdict after each set. After Halestorm played, they turned to us and gave an appreciative head nod and a ‘not bad, not bad’ kind of response. But after Shinedown: ‘THEY WERE FUCKING AWESOME. I DON’T KNOW HOW I’VE NOT LISTENED TO THEM BEFORE. YOU WERE RIGHT, I CAN SEE WHY THEY’RE YOUR FAVOURITE. THAT FRONT MAN IS A PROPPER SHOWMAN ISN’T HE’. It was like a sense of pride just washed over me. Its so lively when people appreciate your favourite things. And yes, Mr Smith is one heck of a Showman and one hell of an inspirational speaker.

            Jumping back a little here, but to Halestorm’s set, they started off with ‘love bites-so do I’ which was fantastic. I’d been singing it all day around the shopping centres so it was such an unreal experience to go from mumbling it to myself then to having Lzzy Hale screaming it back at me. As amazing as Halestorm was, with an incredible drum solo mid performance, nothing made me more excited that when they started the set up for Shinedown to come on. I was practically buzzing and I couldn’t stay still.

couldn't get over the amount of people
who share the same passion

            Then it happened. On they came. My heart could have imploded there and then. The best thing is that they sound the exact same live as they do on a recording. One of my unfeasible wishes is to have Brent Smith sing me to sleep every night, because golly gosh is that man’s voice a thing of the gods, but after hear him speak…it’s now a dream to have him just talk to me…all day. I felt so inspired. Everything he said had so much meaning and heart…I found part of his speech on tumblr, he changed it a little from venue to venue but here’s the gist:

So, why are we all here tonight? For the music, for the songs. See, the way we look at it is there are so many different genres of music all over the world, so many different styles. But, you see, it’s never gonna stray too far from drums, bass, guitar, badass vocals and a killer song, am I right? You see, what I’m talking about is the beauty of rock and roll.

Think about how many times rock and roll has been there for you when you needed it most; when the world and everything in it, and everyone in it, didn’t just quite understand who you were and where you were coming from. What were those songs that lifted you up? That made you feel alive again? What were those songs that made you want to fight?

Now, you see, when someone tells you that rock and roll is just a genre of music, you say, ‘No, my friend, no. Rock and roll is a way of life.’ ”

I remember him adding: there’s something in the room right now. You can’t touch it, see it, you can’t smell it or even hear it. But it’s there, and it’s in each one of us. Its love my friends. It’s pride. It’s strength, it’s hope, IT’S HONOR! IT’S ROCK AND ROLL. AND IT’S A WAY OF LIFE. Every one of us has this, you are never alone.’ And it was so god damn passionate that you couldn’t do anything but cheer and I swear to god I almost cried. It’s that kind of emotion that I’m talking about right there.

                I was incredibly jealous of the girls at the barriers for when Brent decided to hand out roses. With special little comments like ‘oh I do love a red head, here you go sweet heart’ and ‘you, don’t be shy, come closer. Has anyone told you that you look beautiful tonight? I think you look absolutely stunning. Would you like a rose?’. His way with words is phenomenal. It’s gotten to the point where I think I should stop because I’ve rambled on so much about complete nonsense because I just can’t articulate the way I felt that night.

                Oh, one other thing was it inspired me to start making music again. My guitar has finally come of its corner and started to be played again. I’m even looking into getting myself a Custom PRS Tremonti - which if everything goes to plan, I will be able to order on the 15^th. 

Books Vs Films - Warm Bodies

As a first thought, these posts may be quite biased because I know in my head that a book will always be the victor. Nothing will ever beat or even come close to the picture you’ve painted in your head through the description from a writer, so either way you’re going to be somewhat disappointed by someone else’s idea of what it may look like. Saying that, there is some films that have come pretty close to what I excepted it to be visually; The Amazing Spiderman for example – the character portrayal in the comics and the character brought to life on screen by actor Andrew Garfield came pretty close in my mind.

                I’m going to continue this post by talking about a specific book/film. Warm Bodies. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the misfortune of seeing the film first (don’t know how I didn’t realise it was a book beforehand, must have been living under a rock). So I purchased the book and started to read.

The basic story line is similar: there’s a plague that has turned the human race into ‘corpses/zombies’ apart from small herds of people that are surviving on very little, and there’s a zombie names ‘R’ that falls in love with a human and turns back again. Yea, that’s the same plot, right? But reading into it, it’s so different. So much so that I was a tad bit disappointed.

I wasn’t disappointed in the film, I absolutely LOVE the film, think it’s brilliant. I was just disappointed about how there was so many things in the book of which I would have loved to have seen come to life. For example, the ‘bonies’ have such a bigger role in the book. I would have loved to have seen their ‘meeting room’ where they went around taking polaroid pictures of the remaining civilisation and plastering them all over the walls (the camera of which in the book: Julie steals. In the film: Julie finds in an abandoned house); or how they all congregate to a ‘church’ type area within the airport and have a distinct noise/groan and gathering. These things I would have loved to see, just to see how a director would have translated them to the screen.

The casting for R, in my opinion, was perfect. Nicholas Hoult makes the perfect zombie teen and I can definitely picture him while I’m reading. He’s a fantastic actor and portrayed the role incredibly well and I think matched the description of the character almost spot on. But ‘R’ as a character in the book is so much deeper (personality wise)…he’s not just interested in the girl; he’s battling inner demons, mulling life over, having constant battles with himself over hurting those around him. You don’t get that kind of depth in the film. In the film he just simply kills Perry off and feels a bit bad about it later on when he realised he was Julie’s boyfriend…but in the book, Perry becomes a big part of R’s subconscious – Perry is actually kind of vital to the story which I didn’t think he would be after watching the film.

Moving onto the next character, Julie. Bloody hell! How deep is she ?! She has such an interesting and hard-done-by past that you never get into on screen. You find out about her mom, about her run in’s with drugs, about charging for sex…all sorts. I really do have a strong and empathetic bond with her character in the book, where as I thought she was just a bit whiney in the film. The character development in this book is fantastic – even Nora has a great background story. I really feel like a lot was cut out and lost about Julie in the film which is a huge shame.

Don’t even get me started on the ending. Now if the ending in the book was done in film that that would have been award winning right there. The ending chapters are where things change. The story line isn’t the same in the slightest (well it is vaguely in that R becomes human again) but I never would have guessed that the kiss between Julie and R has an effect on both of their beings, and that Julie’s father breaks down entirely. I can honestly say that the last half of the book had me gripped and I found myself reading it whenever I could because there was always new surprises and twists.

So if I had to choose my favourite between book and film, in this case I couldn’t really. I like both for different merits, and I really couldn’t compare due to the amount of differences between the two. All I can say is that I love the movie and recommend it to anyone wanting to watch an easy going, heartfelt teen. In contrary wise, if you’re wanting an emotional, deep and physiological story then I would HIGHLY recommend the book – I think it’s one of my new favourites.

(after having a non-working laptop for a few weeks, this post is far later than I planned but I know exactly what I’m writing about next – Alter Bridge, Shinedown and Halestorm!) 

Deaf Havana - live in Manc, CD signing

Today I met the heroes of which make up Deaf Havana. Had a brilliant time so thought, hey…what not blog.
 

                So the day started out getting up later than planned (having the day off work= instant refusal to get out of bed before 9:30am) and catching the train into Manchester Victoria. I’ve been looking forward to this day for some time but it never even registered in my head that ‘hey Carys, you don’t know Manchester at all, why not look up the address’… but luckily the extremely chatty man in Starbucks gave me wonderful directions (I don’t do directions well at all – or maps – so well done Starbucks man!)

            After getting to HMV way too early, the time between then and the acoustic set was spent buying headphones, drinking bobo tea and meeting up with people who are going to Uni in the city – all in all pretty productive, but let’s move on. We returned back to HVM at half past four to try miss the flow of traffic that would be turning up at five and queued for a half hour. One of the greatest things I found about people who listen to Deaf Havana is that they’re so friendly. I didn’t meet one rotten person in the que/inside. Everyone was lovely and helped each other out (a big thank you to Aiden who let me stand in front of him so I could see). Going in alone was the most terrifying thought but I met two other people on their own and we stuck together and chatted as though we had met before. Lovely!

                To get in, you basically used Deaf Havana’s new CD (Old Souls) sort of like a ticket, you showed that you had it on the door and went into the little staging area. It was such a cute little space so the acoustic set really did feel pretty intermit. I absolutely fell in love with James Veck-Gilodi’s stage presence just by the way he talked between songs.

                Happy to say I have a few half decent pictures and videoed a few songs. You can really tell when my arm starts to go dead in all the video’s I recorded, but the achey arm was definitely worth it to get a little memento – especially seen as they played one of my favourites (Hunstanton Pier).

                The signing was great, my cd case now looks all decorated. And talking to the guys while getting it signed was wonderful. I love when bands really interact with their fans and they really did seem so humbled by the amount of people who actually came to buy their album. It’s always refreshing to see that people still care about the music they produce and about those that listen to it.

I’m glad I didn’t say anything too awkward, though. I’ve met guys from bands before and blurted out the uttermost bollocks that has just pooped into my head. The most I said was ‘I really don’t know how to talk to you, little awkward’, in which James responded ‘HEY ME TOO! Hence my ramblings between song just now’. I politely asked to take pictures and BOOM, the day was over.

           The Ringmaster Festival of which I was going to for my birthday got cancelled this week so I’m really glad I managed to get to see Deaf Havana today (seen as they were in the line-up for next Friday). All in all, pretty happy.

18th Excitement

I’ve never been one for birthday celebrations. I don’t know why exactly, it just never appealed to me. So much so that I used to say ‘I don’t like my birthday, it’s too much fuss over what is essentially just another ordinary day’. I think I really did have a hatred for my birthday at one point. I’ve never wanted to grow up – much like the female peter pan. I want to be as young as I am for as long as I can – impossible, though I can always dream.

But this time it’s the ‘big one’. My 18^th. I don’t think that it’s much of a big deal over in America with the drinking age being at 21 and all, but over in England it’s definitely the biggy. I don’t know though, so if I’m wrong and it is a big thing, I’d love to hear about it.

So as expected, I have everyone at work, all my family members and my few friends asking the question: ‘SO WHAT HAVE YOU GOT PLANNED?!’. Until now, nothing. It’s seriously not really even crossed my mind that I might actually do something. At one point, I kind of gave in to the guys at work and just let them plan a night out and I’ll just tag along and we’ll all say it’s for my birthday. That’s how all my nights out go – I’m not much of a planner.

Though lucky me, I managed to come across a website for the Ringmaster Festival which just so happens to be the day after my birthday and include a line-up which I’m in love with (featuring bands such as Deaf Havana, The Blackout, Hadouken and We Are The Ocean). I managed to coax a friend into coming with me and camping and I have to say I’m dead excited. I really can’t wait for my birthday to come around and it’s a wonderful feeling.

I really had forgotten what it felt like to be genuinely excited for something. And it seems as though all the things that make me happy are coming in leaps and bounds. I’m in love with music so my next few months are packed with bands, gigs, and appearances which I’ll be sure to blog about and document because hey…it’s so much easier to write about something you’re passionate about/enjoy.

I’ll leave some links bellow to some of the things I’m going to just in case anyone out there wants to tag along too.
·        Thursday 19th September – Deaf Havanaacoustic set and cd signing
·        Friday 27th September – The RingmasterFestival
·        Tuesday 22nd – Shinedown, Alter Bridgeand Halestorm (Manchester)
·        Saturday 15th – A Day To Remember(Manchester) 

Those Nights

'I remember when We used to laugh About nothing at all, It was better than going mad. From trying to solve all the problems we're going through, Forget 'em all. Cause on those nights we would stand and never fall. Together we faced it all. Remember when we'd;
[Chorus:]
Stay up late and we'd talk all night, In a dark room lit by the TV light, Through all the hard times in my life, Those nights kept me alive'

These lyrics are by Skillet – Those nights. Coincidently, this is a song that I sang when I was in year 10 (15 years old) on stage in front of my friends and family along with a school band for my Music Diploma. I could relate to it then and I can relate to it now.  I’ve not listened to this song since I performed it, until tonight. And it’s started to make me think back to the nights that have really kept me strong. Just thinking about ‘those nights’ really does make me feel blessed.

I wanted to take this opportunity to write about some seen as I no longer keep a written journal/diary for numerous reasons.

My first memory will be one of my most recent. Trampoline-ing at 3am in the pouring down rain. Given that I was slightly drunk, I’ve never really experienced something like it. I was with the people I’ve only met once before - That in it’s self is enough to make me smile ; that people I had never met before would talk to me and make me feel involved and comfortable…and I could then hang out with the same people again and feel as though we've gone back years. (I don’t know, I don’t make friends often so everything excites me I guess.) But the night grew later and I was feeling like a little social butterfly as I fluttered between crowd to crowd and talked about life. It got until 3am where I found myself out side in the middle of a thunderstorm with a cigarette, looking up into the sky and getting truly drenched. That was lovely. I was gathering my thoughts and sobering up to the sound of raindrops hitting the glass table top – bliss. But out came a guy that I get on incredibly well with, let’s call him ‘Dylan’. ‘Dylan’ grabbed me by the hand and pulled me across the wet lawn (I wasn’t wearing shoes mind, so my socks clung to my feet like mad) and up onto the trampoline. And we bounced. I don’t know how long for, it felt like forever, but it also felt like it was over too soon. But, hand in hand, we bounced. And bounded. And bounced. We laughed like hell and got soaked through under the early morning rain clouds. Right then is when I could say I felt truly happy. There’s something just so exhilarating about being out in the rain. We fell at one point and just laid there, flat on hour backs, laughing like we had lost all sanity as the rain began to fall on our faces. Yea, I like that memory.

My second will be another late night story with, let’s call him ‘Zack’. We ate curry with my family and sat and talked until it was time for him to get the last bus to the next town along. Long story short, we missed it. Lucky enough, my mother actually likes ‘Zack’ so offered him our spare room for the night. Though instead of going to bed, we stayed up in my downstairs living room with the TV on, talking until 5am. I got excited cause I found that I actually had SkyDisney so all I remember is being sat side by side, completely engrossed in Cinderella. How cute. After that, I fell asleep on his shoulder, and he was too much of a gentleman to wake me up or shove me away. But when I did wake, it was to The Descent where we sat and laughed and made ridiculous running commentaries. The best thing about that night was staying up and talking about anything, everything until the early hours - Just being completely comfortable in someone else’s company.

 A third will be something that’s hard to explain why it was so brilliant. It’s nothing out of the ordinary but it meant the world to me anyway. My parents recently went away for two weeks and left the house and cats for me to look after. I absolutely hate being alone. I don’t know what it is but it just makes me panic-ey and emotional. And my wonderful friend knows this all too well. I love him to bits – let’s call him Alex. He came over numerous days and cooked for me after work…chicken…brisket…you name it. Such a good little cook he is. But some nights, practically for a whole week I think, he stopped over and just kept me company. Being a couple of introverts, it was up our street to sit in with a Chinese, watch films and do nothing all night. One night we sat up and made Cookie Dough Pizza while we watched the amazing Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I will cherish my lazy nights with him for always.

Writing these stories has really brought to light the amazing people in my life. I could never thank my friends enough for being there when I need them. I always make myself think that I have to stand by myself and go through things alone, but when I think back on all my amazing memories and past experiences, it’s really not the case. I’m so blessed and so thankful that I’ve met the people I have and have experienced all these events to date. It’s nights like this that make me take a step back and slap myself for being so closed minded about my problems and issues, because I know I’ve got it a lot better than some people. So if anyone I know does actually read this, I just want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart and that I cherish you beyond belief. 

Mid-Year Fave's

The new ‘Maybelline FITme! Anti-shine stick’

I’ve been testing out different brands of foundation and going from creams, to mousses, to liquids but came across the TV advert for the anti-shine stick at 3am one day. Don’t know what caught my eye about it but I was interested and found myself buying it at Boots a week or so later. I’m incredibly impressed to be honest. It’s small and compact so I can throw it into any of my bags that I take out, because it’s in stick form (much like the consistency of a tube concealer) it’s non-mess and it’s super easy to blend. The colour, surprisingly, blends into my transparent skin tone incredibly well so any of you pale ladies (or gentlemen, I don’t judge), I would really recommend this product to use as a daily foundation.

Got2b powder’ful

For anyone with short layers/short hair especially, this styling product is fab! It’s definitely made hair styling in a morning before work quicker and simpler. Just a little sprinkle, rub it together in your palms and tussle…or sprinkle it straight to your hair and ruffle and walaah! So now my layers are shorter, it’s a great quick fix for my hair, though I did use it when I had longer hair too. You know when you have freshly washed hair and it’s too clean to do anything with? This is great for that. Sprinkle some powder near the routs and backcomb away, brilliant for those flyaway days.

Primark Home scented candle

For £2, I bought a decent sized scented candle from my local Primark. I love candles, I love scented items and I love reasonable prices. So this was great in all senses. I’ve been burning my purple ‘juicy blueberry and blossom’ candle every night before bed for the past couple weeks and my room smells gorgeous and I’ve still got two weeks of use left of use in it at least. I’m a sucker for falling asleep to candlelight (unsafe, I know) and it seems to make sleep come easier and more soothing when it’s to such a lovely smell and a dim glow of a flame.

Lush

I’ve recently become a Lush lover. i went in with a friend one day and sat there with one of the shop assistants for two hours just trying things out and her giving me a hand massage with all the different products that she would recommend for my skin type. It was such a lovely experience. You would think a complete stranger rubbing your hands/arms for hours would be uncomfortable, not at all. Lush is such a friendly place. But I do have some products that I’m in love with so far and

these are:
Angels On Bear Skin – this is a facial cleanser that acts as an exfoliator also. It has a strong smell of lavender, with obvious lavender pieces and it just smells refreshing as heck. It’s not like any kind of cleanser I’ve used before. You have to get a small amount of it in your hand and mix it with water until you get it to a paste like consistency before applying to your face. The promises on the lid are that it will ‘evens out skin tone, reduce redness and improves health and appearance of your skin, giving it a natural healthy glow’ and I totally agree. Does everything it says it will, and more – my skin got so soft after using it
Rehab – this is a shampoo which is definitely called rehab for a reason. It’s done wonders for my chemically damaged hair and it’s given my head a lot of life back. It’s a god send and I’m so glad I got recommended it. It’s got a minty type smell and it leaves your hair feeling healthy and shiny.  A definite re-buy and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s got dead or damaged hair – it’s a miracle shampoo.

Retread – ‘a heavier weight conditioner that is there for you in times of trouble’ ; ‘drive your hair in for some serious breakdown recovery. This conditioner is a pit stop for your hair’. Again, I completely agree with the labelling, everything in Lush seems to be described perfectly on the tubs. This conditioner (used alongside my Rehab shampoo) is bloody wonderful and makes my hair feel like silk

Skeleton Hair Clips

I kept seeing these around tumblr constantly and I loved them. So I bought some from a seller on ebay and they’re wonderful. And I love them to pieces. I think look fantastic and they just add something to your hair. I really enjoyed wearing them around work.

Life Is Short

It appears that everything always comes together. Once I hear one thing, then I keep hearing it. Just like when I got my job in the Innovation Team, I kept hearing the word innovation constantly – that example is quite similar to the topic I chose to write about.

                Just recently it’s really coming to light that life really is short. It’s been a year and a half since I left education, a year into my full time job and less than a month until I’m 18. This is a big shock for me as every day seemed to drag and time would move so slowly for me. I used to count down the time until I could get back into bed again and even that felt more like five days, not five hours. Now I complain more about there not being enough hours in the day and everything is passing me by so quickly. That in its self was enough to give me a kick up the arse to start making the most of the time I have on this earth.

                Though there was a few other things that made me change my mind set. I’m making the most of things, keeping myself happy and making sure the things I do are for my own benefit, no one else’s. And these changes were made from the words of a few people. First of being my mum. She’s in the south of France currently, and if you knew her well enough then you’d know that this isn’t out of the ordinary. I make a joke to her that England is more like a holiday seen as she’s never in her home country. She enjoys her holidays and so she should with the stressful job that she has. When she told me she was leaving for two weeks, we got into conversation and one thing she said stuck with me most

                ‘You don’t live long and you only live once, it’s best to make the most of it because you’ll never know when your chances are up’

                Hearing this on a Tuesday morning at 8am set me going through the whole day.  What IF I was to be put on my deathbed tomorrow, would I be happy to have the ‘life flashing before my eyes’ moment? Would I be happy with what I saw? And it got me thinking, I have spent a lot of my time doing things that I thought other people wanted me to do or doing things purposely to make other people smile. It’s all well and good wanting to do the right thing for others, but I then realised how little time I actually spent putting myself first and doing things that made me happy. That had to change.

                The next person that spoke within the same week (two days later in fact) on the same subject was one of the Board of Directors to the company I work for. We’ve just taken on a group of 17 apprentices and they had a one to one session with this guy to ask him questions, learn about the company and to learn how he had climbed the ranks as he started in the same position as the apprentices all those years ago. The last question that someone asked was

‘Would you change anything?’

And I have to tell you that his response was the most inspiring thing I’ve heard in those four walls.

                ‘Well son, there’s three parts to that answer. The first, I’m a man of no regrets. I don’t believe in them. Everything I’ve done has made me the man I am and got me here today. The second, if I HAD to change anything it would be to make more time for the things I loved. I wanted to be a pilot…and it took me until a few years ago to finally put my foot forward and take lessons and now I can fly solo. I wish I would have done that sooner, but I still ended up doing it anyway. And the last, I’ve only ever done the things that made me happy. Life is too short to be miserable, and that’s where your regrets come from – being miserable. The best advice I can give you, if anything, is to make sure you’re happy. If you’re happy then you’ve succeeded’.

Ridiculous Life Observations

1.       A.) Explaining Why You’re Dressed Up

When I was in full cosplay the other week for Comicon, the amount of people who gave me and my friends that ‘look’. I don’t even have to describe it, you’ll all know what kind of look I mean when I say that I was walking through busy streets in a brightly coloured Sailor Scout Uniform with a tall boy with a giant rainbow hammer. See what I mean? But really, did it NEED explaining that we were doing this for a reason and didn’t just wonder round like this on an everyday basis? I wasn’t so bothered about the people who were lovely and approached us with a smile and asked what event we were going to, at least those people understood that we were going somewhere. But the disapproving looks on people’s faces at us as a group for looking different. Which brings me to…so what? What if I did walk around as an anime super hero every day of the week? I don’t see how anyone should disapprove seen as A)it’s nothing to do with them. B)I’m not hurting anyone. C)it’s just clothing. There’s nothing wrong with looking or being differed than the norm.

1         B.) Being Judged On Clothing

I think a big reason on why we have uniforms in the majority of schools here in England is for this big worry of bullying. If someone doesn’t have the best clothes, or the best shoes, or a new bag then we’ll all instantly turn on each other and beat the crap out of people for the clothes we wear. One thing there is WE DO THAT ANYWAYS. Bullying can happen for all sorts of reasons, and isn’t escalated purely on the way someone looks. People can be targeted for their sexuality, their learning abilities, their family, their beliefs…our society picks things out whether you’re in a uniform or not. My actual point on this one, though, is how material objects such as clothing seems to be so important in the 21^st century. We judge people on how they dress, what labels they’re wearing, where they bought their clothes. Why? How can you make an accurate judge of character by just looking at someone? You can’t. I don’t give a crap what I wear as long as I’m comfortable. Yes, sometimes I want to look nice but that’s for myself and not because I want to ‘fit in’ or be thought more highly of. I care more about what’s in a person’s mind than what covers their skin.

 1         C.) Dresses Are For Girls

Come to think of it, why do we have items of clothing that are only suitable for one gender? In essence, all pieces of clothing are made to do the same job, but just because they look different, they are deemed socially unacceptable. Why can’t a guy wear a skirt or a dress?(other than in Scotland where they’ve adapted them in to a Kilt, but even then they have to be a certain way to be acceptable) I would have thought a dress or skirt would be very practical for a guy in summer so he can get a bit of fresh air to his…areas. I thought we could have got past this type of mind-set as a race by now and had an even higher sense of equality among women and men. Apparently not. 

 2         Boobs
It seems as though everyone has an issue with boobs (okay, maybe not everyone). But they’re everywhere. You can’t go a day without seeing them, and I’m not meaning ‘it doesn’t count if you don’t see nipple’ rule…as in you can tell a woman has boobs even if she’s in a turtle neck sweater. Let’s face it, most women in this world have them. Big, Small, Pert, Droopy…it’s a fact of life, we’re born to be like that. Yet they’re such a taboo. If it’s a hot day, it’s perfectly fine for a guy to whip his shirt off, yet if a woman was to do the same to cool off then that would be deemed as inappropriate. Bit of a double standard guys. These natural features of a woman that are there to serve a purpose in child care have been over sexualised to heck. I have a photo in which I’m  in a summer dress, given I have a little bit of cleavage (well who would want to wear something up to the neck in a heat wave), but I’ve had one mindless arse  say ‘put your boobs away’ in the comments. For one, they are away as I’m wearing a dress, for two…I can’t help that you can see the top of my bosom, I’m a woman, I have boobs, I can’t take them off – this goes for all other women too.
              I just wanted to put my views out there about breast feeding in public as well. I don’t see why not. A baby needs feeding, and as mother, you have his/her meal ready to go where ever you are. To me that’s pretty cool, it’s basically like having a walking ready meal for a child, how fabulous are women for being able to do this! It shouldn’t offend anyone as the human form is the most natural thing in this world, as well as considering the fact that SHE IS FEEDING A BABY! A baby needs to be fed to live, so people who have a problem with a woman breast feeding on a park bench, for example, are basically having a problem with a baby receiving vital nutrients. We have boobs, stop being immature and deal with it.

3         A.)Seeing Animated Films Over The Age Of 12
There’s always a somewhat uncomfortable eye contact between you, the 17 and 19 year old that has just walked into the cinema, and the parent(s) there with their children under the age of 10. This happened to me and a friend last night as we went to watch Despicable Me 2 (awesome film I may add). Even though I will happily sit and watch animated films/cartoons in the comfort of my own home all day long…doing this in public while not accompanied with a child under the age of 12 automatically makes it a little awkward. Is this just me? I mean, if I did the exact same thing but brought along my 7 year old sister then it would have just seemed normal and no one probably would have looked up. But me (especially having forgotten to take off my work ID so couldn’t be mistaken as a child) and my friend from Uni walking into this screening was the strangest experience. I would like to keep hold of my youth as long as possible, thanks. I have a love for cartoons and I don’t think that’s going away any time soon. I like being young, and Disney/Pixar films are something I will cling onto with an iron grip because they remind me of my childhood.

 3.       B.)Going To The Cinema Alone
It’s not illegal to go to the cinema alone, so why does no one do it? even I’m thinking that the idea of sitting in a movie theatre all on my tod would be un-nerving. It just not the done thing. I’ll walk round the park on my own, I’ll go shopping on my own, but I won’t go watch a film on my own. And sometimes I miss seeing a film because no one will come with me. So why did I never just go see it anyway? I’ve not got much more to say on this one. Was just curious. Maybe I should set this as a task for myself to do and experience what it’s like to go to a film alone. Rebel.

If anyone has any opposing views to anything I’ve said, please…challenge me. I would love to understand the way another mid works about the things I’ve picked out. Equally, if you agree, tell me that too.

Comic-con!

Seen as I’ve been a little bit slack on the posting front just lately, I thought I’d ease my way back in with something that’s a tad bit more visual (I TOOK LOTS OF PHOTOSSSSS). On Saturday the 20^th , I went to MCM Expo - Manchester Comic-con.  So yea, that means picture, upon picture, upon picture. I’ll have a wonder through my favourites and post them up here.

                This would be a good opportunity to do ‘a day in the life of’ so here’s how my day went. It started off with a 4:30am start in a friend’s apartment in Leeds  - I was stupid enough to go out the night before, forget my key, miss my train and have to end up sleeping over. Clever Carys! In order to get home in time to get showered, grab my stuff and get in my cosplay…I’d have to reach home by seven, latest. I didn’t fancy showering where I was seen as sleeping beauty (aka: friend) hadn’t been sleeping well so I didn’t want to keep him up longer than I had to.

                The journey to the train station was an interesting one. It’s a 10-15 minute walk away from the apartment building so I set off in good time to have a nice leisurely wonder through the cool early morning (it’s been roasting in England just lately, so the cool morning was much appreciated). On my way I met a few people, obviously still up from the night before with the girls in short dresses and the guys all suited and booted. I remember one set of people carrying a large bakers tray and offering me fresh bread… and another dancing in the street just outside the train station, insisting on high fiving every person that walked past. Only in Leeds, eh?

                The train ride home was un-eventful other than meeting a guy, who I think said his name was Callum from Pudsey, who gave me a red fabric flower and talked to me about tattoos all the way home. What a nice guy. I hopped in a taxi once reaching the train station and got home, only to be locked out for a further hour. I expected someone to be up and about for work at 7 but no such luck. So I sat on the doorstep, staring at my open bedroom window and fantasised about how nice it would be to be able to scale the side of buildings, or be agile enough to climb the drainpipe that was a meter or so away from my room. After contemplation, I decided to take the leap and do something that I knew would only infuriate my mother...I rang the house phone *dramatic music*

                After a passing the thunderous expression of my tired mother, I got a quick shower, gathered my stuff and shoved on my onsie – it was far too late to get my cosplay sorted out now, I’ll get ready with Axis (who I was going to comicon with). Bless the guy, he had straighteners and a mirror all set out for me, ready for me to do a quick change and sort out my make-up. And after the dash to get us both somewhat ready, off back to the trainstation where I had been a few hours earlier, to get the train to Manchester.

                Arriving at the Comic-con location was unreal. I remember sitting in Starbucks as we waited for Chibbi to get her joker cosplay together and just having all my childhood hero’s wonder in and grab a latte. First came The Doctor – doctor who, then in came Cloud  -  FFVii and past the window were ridiculous amounts of games characters that I used to play as from the ages of  5 – 17. It was fantastic! I basically spent the whole day pointing and squeaking excitedly every now and again. That’s enough writing I think, the rest of my day included a two hour queuing session to get into the hall, jumping on well-made cosplayers, and  snapping away with my camera.

Start Saying Yes.

I’m going to start making a conscious effort to do stuff. Bear with me, it’s not as broad and vague as it sounds. It’s best to give a little bit of background. When I was younger I would talk to anybody and would get involved with anything and everything that there was going. But for a reason I’m not too sure of, that began to change. Now I’m at a stage in life where the idea of talking to new people or doing something different terrifies me to whole new level and I’ll avoid it where possible. Until now at least.

                Circumstances have recently changed for me, making it apparent that I need to start becoming a heck of a lot more social. So I need to get over this irrational fear that I have created when being faced with something new. At first, even the thought of changing my ways terrified me. But then I started to think about the small things I’ve done lately that perhaps I wouldn’t have done before, by just saying yes. For example, I went for a night out with some guys from work that I don’t know too well, in a different town, by myself. And you know what, I had a blast! I really enjoyed myself, and even though before setting off I was thinking to myself ‘I really don’t want to do this, I should stay home. I’ll say I’m sick. I want to be at home on my own’, pushing myself through that and actually going out was the best thing I could have done. Giving in to this anxiety was really depriving me of all the memories and experiences I should have as a teen.

                I don’t want to give in to something my mind has set its self to do. I want to go out, I want to have friends and I want to progress within my work too. Not doing these things because of some ‘fear’ that has grown and taken over has really started to piss me off. Yes, sometime I will feel so low that the best thing for me to do is to stay in and give my self time, but that doesn’t mean I have to spend every day of my life hidden away if I have a few doubts in my head. So that’s why I think I need some new rules to live by.

1.Start saying yes.
The countless times I have passed up an opportunity just because it seems a little out of my comfort zone is ridiculous. Say yes to the things being offered and you never know, you might just enjoy it

2.Understand your limits (in regards to rule 1 especially)
It’s all good saying yes to everything, but not everything is right for you. Understand what is slightly out of your comfort zone but possible, and what is just outrageous and unrealistic.

3.Reflect the good times
spending too much time concentrating on the bad things that have happened the last time you did something will only make you panic more – I have to admit to this, I do this far too much. Try remember how much of a blast you had and remember you’re doing this to get past the anxiety and the only way you’ll do that is by pushing yourself that little bit.

I found the most perfect post on Tumblr which I thought was fab (the one I’ve uploaded here) and I think the ‘advice’ in this picture is brilliant and I will be definitely be printing this out and sticking it somewhere where I will see it – the inside of my notebook maybe? I think it would be a great reminder.

 Some people might see this post as petty and crap, I know that. There’s some people out there that might not really understand this feeling, but I also know there’s people out there that will. And I don’t know if this will help you if you’re reading this and feel the same, but I hope it does. You’re not alone, as I’ve found out lately. There’s people who can relate and talking to each other about it really does help. Another thing is that I know this is written rather poorly and where I’ve put in the words ‘I don’t want to do this’….that’s the way my mind works to make myself feel as though I’m in control of a situation and making a choice not to involve my self…but in reality…it’s more like ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘my mind will not allow myself to do this’ for my self and so many others. So please keep that in mind. It’s not a ‘habit that needs breaking’…it’s a lifestyle and a way of being that needs a lot of time to change.

Rule #32 - Books.

I want to do a series of posts based on a quote from a favourite film of mine: Zombieland – ‘Rule #32 enjoy the little things’. I plan on labelling all the post’s that relate to this with ‘Rule#32’ so you can use that if you want to read them all together. It’s become apparent to me lately that when you start to focus on all the positive small parts of life, it makes your outlook all the more brighter. So this is what this series of posts will be, an appreciation of the small things in life that I think are wonderful. I hope it inspires someone out there to begin looking at the little things, or to even take a step back and think ‘oh yea, that is quite nice’.

                The first thing I wanted to write about was books. Not kindles, or smartphone aps that you can read on…but actual physical books. Before you even start to read the story between the covers, have you noticed the way it feels to hold a book in your hand? I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about the feel of holding a brand new book that just feels awesome. The way it’s perfect – no creases on the cover from turning the page, no fingerprints or marks, just a perfect front cover.

                Then there’s the smell. I know there’s a few people in my office that adore the smell of new shoes (I brought in brad new trainers…that was an experience) but there’s also people like me who can tell the smell of a new book a mile away. It just one of those smells that kind of hit you. And you can’t describe it either – you can’t say it just smells like paper…and you can’t say it just smells like ink. It’s a very distinguished smell that if you know it, you’ll be able to envision it right now as you’re reading this. It’s something you just know – like the taste of hot food, what does ‘hot’ taste like?

                I love the way books look on a book shelf, there’s something quite ornamental about them. You can’t really deny it that a good looking bookshelf is a good feature (well I guess you could have your opinions against it) as I see post after post after post of bookshelves on tumblr on a daily basis. When I finally get my own place, that’s what I want. A floor to ceiling bookcase – at least. I would love to have my own library, that would be the dream. My own little quaint library with a big old comfy, high backed chair with a log fire – heaven! This is where my personality kind of comes through, my perfect escape would be a library and not some paradise island with sandy beaches.

                So all that’s before you even turn the first page. This is where the real magic is. Have you ever lost yourself in a book? Gotten so involved with the story line, you can feel the characters emotions? Not being able to put the book down so reading until the early hours? I definitely have. It’s an escape, after all. You get the chance to forget about your life, and live someone else’s. As you turn the pages, you get further into the plot – and the further you get into the plot, the more you want to carry on.  I’ve never understood how my brother could never get into a book. He didn’t like to read and the only time he ever did was if he had to for education…or if it was a comic to do with his video-games. To not read, to me, means you’re missing out on whole new worlds and adventures. In films, you can easily be put off by the casting, but with a book you can imagine it to be whoever you want it to be (this is probably why I think a lot of films are crap…cause I’ve created this ideal picture of the book in my mind that no physical creation can ever live up to)

                To a few people, this will sound really creepy, talking about the feel and smell of an inanimate object like the way I have. It’s just that I’m very passionate about reading…it definitely is my escape. And even though I do have a reading app on my Samsung, I love to have the hardcopy. The app’s convenient for when I’m travelling and can’t exactly fit five/six books in my bag, or if I’m not carrying a bag but want something to do on a long train ride…but just because an app is simpler or more convenient, I wouldn’t give up my books for the world.