A Bit About My Friends!

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.
Robert Brault

Many a person has held close, throughout their entire lives, two friends that always remained strange to one another, because one of them attracted by virtue of similarity, the other by difference.
Emil Ludwig

So I keep getting asked by certain friends to write a post about them, I thought the best way to start writing about them is to first introduce them. I’m going to write a small paragraph about 3 of my friends, of course though real names will not be used, some have devised their own alter-ego’s for the purpose of this blog

Fanny

I first met my friend Fanny when I was 14 and she was passed onto me by someone who was showing her around my school. She was a new pupil who managed to annoy most people but I instantly liked her. (I’m attracted to strange people, most of my friends are weird). Some of my favourite memories involving school and Fanny was the water balloon fights with the evil year 8′s whilst walking home, following a German exchange student home when Fanny took a fancy to him and writing funny stories such as the adventures of ‘Sir Avidalot’. As time has gone on she’s become crazier and crazier, but that’s what we all love about her. She’s very recently gotten

married to someone who you can tell loves her a lot and they have added to their little family of 3, Fanny, her husband and Oscar the Cat, with Randy (Not his real name) the cocker spaniel puppy. I’m afraid of most animals especially dogs, but little Randy is as cute as a button and luckily I can be around him without having to resist the urge to run a mile.

Stacey

Stacey and I first met on the same day that I met Fanny, my little friendship group of 2 expanded that day . Transferring from a school in the next town over Stacey arrived to school with another friend from her old school. Stacey is perhaps one of the most creative people I know, often making costumes for themed parties in which she goes all out and always looks fabulous, she’s also great at making cakes, pretty much anything creative and she can do it. It was spending time with Stacey when I first discovered my love of the band Audioslave. After 3 years training to become a primary school teacher, Stacey has now moved back to the area and is living with he fiance, whom I have known for about 19 years, and is getting married in August 2012

Indiana

Indiana, what can I say about our friendship? …… Well we’ve been close friends for around 10 years now although we’ve known each other for about 17 years I would argue. After school we both went to the same local college to study our A-levels when then went to the same university although studying different subjects we still had some classes together. I don’t really know what to put on here in regards of our friendship and history. I can tell you however that a lack of understanding of how sarcasm works, can often lead to confusion between us as I can be very sarcastic. She’s also creative and is currently writing her first novel and short stories whilst living with her finance. She also has a blog if you feel like checking it out here’s the address

writinglifeandeverythinginbetween.wordpress.com

So that’s a little bit about 3 of my friends, they may end up making regular appearances on here.

Your Loyal Friend,

April xxx

 

Films I Want To See At The Cinema

I love the cinema, I find it a relaxing way to spend my time, it can act as a way to disappear away from your ordinary life and immerse yourself in someone else’s world. There are a few good films coming out in the next month or two so I thought I would post a list of the films I want to see on the big screen

1) Ghostbusters

Who doesn’t love the classic film ‘Ghostbusters’, it’s become a recent trend to re-release old films at the cinema, for some films I think it’s just a way to get people through the door and to make as much money as possible. However, this film was a childhood favourite of mine so I don’t mind paying to see a film that I’ve been watching for years. If you haven’t seen it or just feel like a refresher I recommend you check it out whilst it’s still in cinema’s. Here’s the trailer. 

2) The Adventure of Tin Tin 3D

I’m not a massive fan of the 3D fad that has currently taken over our screens, I’d much prefer to see a film in 2D unless I think the film would gain something extra through the effect of 3D. The Adventure of Tin Tin I think this type of technology was designed for, being able to immerse yourself in the world of animation can be enhanced with 3D and I for one am looking forward to seeing the new film from greats such as Spielberg, Stephan Moffat and Simon Pegg .

3) In Time

 Justin Timberlake and well Justin Timberlake, what more can you ask for in a movie? Having just become a fan of the lovely Justin Timberlake I am quiet looking forward to seeing him in his newest film ‘In Time’. Also starring Amanda Seyfried and Olivia Wilde, ‘In Time’ is set in a future where no one ages past 25, instead gaining pieces of time through things such as work, each piece of time gets added on to your life, the more money you have, the more access to time you get. Once your time runs out so does your life. From the looks of the trailer, Justin Timberlake goes on an action packed adventure to steal time from the rich and give to those poorer people who don’t stand much of a chance of living past their first 25 years! Here’s the trailer.

4) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Finally the film I’ve been waiting for all year, being released into UK cinema’s on December 16, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow’s brings us another adventure in the Holme’s, Watson saga. I am a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr. and loved the first film. I know that when it’s time for this to come out at the cinema I’ll be there on the first day like all the other weirdo’s ;-p but who care’s if people think your strange when Robert Downey Jr. is waiting!

Again here’s the trailer for the film I’ve been waiting soooo long to see.

See you later,

Your Loyal Friend,

April xxx

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Assertiveness Training for Women: Learning How to be More Assertive From Marge Simpson | Suite101.com

Assertiveness Training for Women: Learning How to be More Assertive From Marge Simpson | Suite101.com.

 

Taking a Stand!

Never apologize for showing feeling.  When you do so, you apologize for the truth.  ~Benjamin Disraeli

Never be bullied into silence.  Never allow yourself to be made a victim.  Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.  ~Harvey Fierstein

Taking a stand for what you want or believe in can often be difficult, some people are very good at it and others (like myself) let things pass. Recently I’ve started to realise that because I won’t stand up for myself in various places, such as at work, and even with certain friends, people think that I’m a push-over. Maybe they are right, if someone ask’s me to do something I’ll probably do it.  I spend half of my monthly wage’s on other people with little gifts. I end up feeling guilty for something that I want for myself if it means someone else doesn’t get it.

Making A Choice

One of the biggest thing’s that I need to learn how to take a stand against is being forced to make a choice between my friends. My group of friends isn’t really like the normal set of friends the average person has. Instead it’s split into three groups, those I went to school with are split into two groups with half not liking the people in the other group and then I have my uni friends. Being unable to invite certain people to things when others from the different group have been invited can get quiet frustrating. Surely I should be allowed to invite whomever I like, if my friends can’t get over some of their very old issues then that’s up to them. Making me choose who I invite to things because they can’t be in the same room with each other constantly makes me feel like I’m having to choose which one of them I like the most. I like them equally! Sometimes splitting my social activities make’s me feel like I’m splitting myself, there is one April for one set of friends and then there is this whole other April for the other set.

Not Being Pushed Around In The Workplace!

When at work, if people ask me to do something I usually end up doing it, most of the time I don’t mind because it helps someone else out. However, sometimes people ask me to do something because they can’t be bothered and obviously know that I will do it for them. If you ask me politely and are willing to help me at times then I really don’t mind doing things for people at work and away from it, yesterday I finally hit my limit of what I’m willing to do for people. Leaving me work (not a massive amount I admit, but more than should have been) because they couldn’t be bothered to do anything all day really really annoyed at me. Normally I let things slide, get slightly annoyed and then moan a little to other people the next day, but I still do the work. Yesterday when hitting my limit I decided to take a little stand and not help those who left me their work get set-up for this morning, instead I chose to do work that helped someone else out instead. This may seem like a little stand but I have decided that I’m going to moan to the people involved today rather than about them to others. I’m going to make sure that they know I’m not going to take it anymore, I’m not going to let them walk all over me because they think I’m easy to manipulate!

One Step At A Time

Becoming a more assertive person who gets treated with more respect by certain people isn’t going to happen overnight, but by taking it one step at a time, standing up for myself like I would stand up for others  whenever needed will start to show people a change. Getting people at work to realise that I’m not willing to do things for them if I don’t want to or if I’m busy with other things will be easier than taking a stand against the friends that are constantly putting me down, are not very supportive yet expect me to do everything for them.

Watch this space people, If you’re on my list of people to take a stand against and you’re reading this then be prepared to start doing things for yourself from now on! If you’re one of my friends whose not on the list then sit back and watch me finally take a STAND!

Your Loyal Friend,

April xxx

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My Bucket List!

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Watching Karl Pilkington on ‘An Idiot Abroad 2’ attempt various activities that are popular choice’s on someone’s Bucket List, I was inspired to write my own list. A Bucket List, is a list of experience’s people want to have before they die, usually consisting of around 100 activities. My current Bucket List is only going to be ten items long for this post. As I approach my 24^th Birthday I have recently started setting goals for myself for completion before I’m 25 and 30 respectively. This list goes 1 step further but does include some of the items of my age goals list. Have you ever thought about the things you want to do before you die? Do you want to take up an extreme sport or maybe travel the world? Here’s my Top 10 Things I want to do before I die.

1)      Travel across America

I want to travel across all 50 U.S. States and experience the ‘real’ America. I especially want to spend some time in the ‘Deep South’. This also ties in with goal 7. Some of the things I would love to do in America ; Roadtrip on Route 66, Spend time in a Navajo community, Visit New Orleans and learn to cook Southern Food like Gumbo. Go to Disneyland Visit Washington and the White House. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge and ride the San Francisco Trams.

2)      Skydive

3)      Drive a supercar

Preferably a Lamborghini that I’ve bought after winning the Euro-Million’s Lottery but I’ll settle for taking part in one of those track experience days you can buy on the internet :-p

4)      Fly First-class

Who wouldn’t want to experience the ultimate luxury you gain from flying first-class, champagne, free food and luxury seating, sounds like a little piece of heaven to me!

5)      Take an Acting Class

I’ve always been interested in films but have never had the confidence to try acting. I will always prefer to be behind the scenes. This goal would take me out of my comfort zone and force me to not only interact with strangers but also to overcome my confidence issues by pretending to be someone else for an hour or two.

6)      Learn a New Dance

7)      Live Abroad

8)      Go to Australia

Quiet a popular Bucket List option, Australia appears to be such a beautiful country that I would love to see a little bit of it before I die. The first place I would go to in Australia would have to be the ‘Neighbour’s’ Ramsey street set. J

9)      Sing Karaoke

This may seem like something that many people do on an ordinary night out, so why put it on my list? The answer is simple, finding the confidence and nerves to sing in front of an audience is something that I don’t currently have. Maybe a lot of drink will be needed, the only place that I allow myself to sing out loud is my home when I have my music blasting out at high volumes or in the car when other people can’t hear my voice. I am not a good singer but for one night I aim to sing at least one song in front of other drunk people. My song choice I hear you asking, REO Speedwagon’s ‘Keep On Loving You’ :-p 

10)   Surprise People

I’m often quiet predictable as a person so one of my things to achieve before I die is to surprise people. Do something unpredictable that when suggested other’s doubt that I would ever take part.

So that’s it, my current Top 10 items on my Bucketlist. Some of these I aim to achieve before I turn 25 in a year and a little bit. What are the things/goals currently on your Bucketlists?

As Always,

Your Loyal Friend,

April xxx

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Vampires, Zombies and Ghosts… Oh My!

Image by atomicjeep via Flickr

As October starts to draw to a close and the nights get longer it’s perhaps also time to start getting excited for the upcoming festivals and events, the first one on my list….Halloween!

Halloween falls on the 31st October every year and was originally intended as a pagan celebration  called Samhain. Samhain is supposedly the night, in which the veil between life and death is at its weakest, allowing the ghostly apparitions to pass over into the living world. Today Halloween is more about the opportunity to dress up in various costumes, go to parties and pig out on sweets. Even though Halloween seems to be aimed more towards children I still can’t help loving this time of year! This year I plan on dressing up and attending a friends party, if I have the option I will make my Halloween plans last several days. One of these day’s I plan on devoting to all the old fashion ‘scary’ movies such as John Carpenter‘s ‘Halloween’ as well as some of the more modern and cheesy franchises such as ‘Scream‘. What are everyone else’s plans? Do you enjoy Halloween as much as me and my friends?

Your Loyal Friend,

April xxx

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Top 5 ….. T.V. Recommendations

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As we move into the colder months people may be wanting to spend more time indoors. Here are my Top 5 T.V. Recommendations for November.

Misfits Series 3 

If you haven’t already seen this show, you should check it out. Based around a group of teenagers serving community service, Misfits follows 5 characters Nathan, Simon, Curtis, Kelly and Alisha as they start to realise they all have super-powers. Series 3 picks up after the events of the Christmas Special wherein each character was able to choose a new power. Even though the arguably funniest character in the show Nathan, played by Robert Sheehan, is leaving the show still looks very promising this time around.  Starting on 30th October E4. Here’s a clip.  

The Big Bang Theory Series 5 

This has got to be one of my favourite shows at the moment, with the wonderful Jim Parsons playing Sheldon, most people will know and love the geeky group of scientists and the relationships they have with people such as their next door neighbour Penny. Pretty much any scene with Sheldon is I’m guaranteed to like but here are a couple of clips showing some of the other characters.  

The new series of The Big Bang Theory starts Nov 3rd on E4.

Derren Brown : The Experiments  

I don’t know much about this new show from Derren but if it’s anything like his other shows it’s sure to be great watching.

“A four-part series featuring an inventive and jaw-dropping mixture of stunts, magic, illusion, suggestion and thought-provoking entertainment, combined with psychological insight” - http://www.channel4.com/programmes/derren-brown-the-experiments

New Girl  

Again I don’t really know too much about this new show but if the US ratings are anything to go by its going to cook up a storm over here in the UK. Airing on E4 in November New Girl, centers around Jessica Day, a teacher in her late 20′s who after having a messy breakup needs to find somewhere new to live. Enter Craigslist and an apartment with 3 single guys. Staring singer and actress Zooey Deschanel New Girl has impressed American audiences and it’s network alike.

Shipwrecked : The Island 

Finally my last recommendation of the month is Shipwrecked: The Island. Returning to our screens on October 30th, Shipwrecked is one of those shows that is a guilty pleasure to watch. Set on a desert Island, Shipwrecked pits strangers against each other in a bid for their island to be the winning team. Back to basic’s this Shipwrecked aims to go back to its original roots whether this is going to work or not I know I’ll be tuning in to see how the revival of this show goes. Here’s the Shipwrecked finale from its last series in 2009.

Your Loyal Friend,

April xxx

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Taking the Plunge… and Facing Your Fears!

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 Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.Dr. David M. Burns 

My Fears

Fears… we all have them, I have plenty of them. Ranging from the ‘norm’ to the slightly bizarre to the downright weird! Some of my more normal phobias are things like a fear of spiders, flying, extreme heights (not normal sized ones), Roller-coasters and large crowds. Some of the slightly odder fears I have are that of clowns, Ventriloquist dummies and little ghost girls (like in ‘The Shining’ by Stephen King), perhaps my most bizarre fear is a fear of the actor Jack Nicholson…… I think it’s something to do with the eyebrows!

Confronting My Fears

Recently I was given the chance to face one of my biggest fears on the above list and that was Roller-coasters. My annual trip to the English theme park Alton Towers last week and the influence of a friend allowed me to confront my fear of roller-coasters by diving right in the deep end with the coaster that had previously given me nightmares…… Air. In case you were wondering, this wasn’t my  first roller-coaster. My first ever roller-coaster was Oblivion, with a large vertical drop Oblivion is often described as one of the scariest rides within the park.

Taking The Plunge…. or in Other Words How I Learnt to Fly!

After going on various fun rides like ‘The Mini Mine Train’ and ‘The Water Rapids’ it was time to confront the Coasters! I clearly didn’t need that much convincing to attempt the ride that had given me so many nightmares, all it took was for one of my friends lets call her Stacey to tell me I was going on the ride before I was standing in the relatively short Que for the ride. Where I proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes moaning about how scared I was. As I got closer and closer to the front of the line my heart started to beat faster and louder, adrenaline starting to rush around my body. I finally strapped myself into the seat before being swung 90 Degrees so that I was facing the floor, this happened 3 times in all (not a great way to ease fears). Eventually the ride started and we started to upwards towards the first curve. After about 2 seconds I decided that not only was my fears unfounded but that they were also stopping me from doing so much within my  life. By the end of the ride I was willing to go again .

Fear Overcome And Lesson Learnt

After confronting my fears face on with a little help from a friend I was able to try some of the other roller coasters in the park that I would have previously avoided. Not only did I go on them but my fear seemed to disappear and was instead replaced with excitement . What I took away from this day is not to judge something based on how it looks or any of my preconceived ideas, and instead to embrace the unknown and if something scares me to believe that I have the ability to overcome anything. From now on I’m going to attempt to face a new fear at least once a month starting with something small and moving onto the bigger things like the London Underground.

Next Month’s Mission: Attempting to overcome my fear of Jack Nicholson!

Your Loyal Friend, 

Image via Wikipedia

April xxx

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Accidental Secrets!

 “All families have their secrets, most  people would never know them, but  they know there are spaces, gaps  where the answers should be, where  someone should have sat, where  someone used to be. A name that is  never uttered, or uttered just once and  never again. We all have our secrets.”  ― Cecelia Ahern, The Book of  Tomorrow  

“The thing is, I used to like that:  feeling special because I knew  something no one else did. It’s a kind  of power, isn’t it, knowing a secret?  But lately I don’t like it so much, knowing this. It’s not really mine to know, is it?” ― Kim Edwards, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter 

The discovery of an accidental secret!

Working in a supermarket can be at times a rather interesting place to work, all the snippets of conversations you hear. The half-told truths that people tell when they don’t realise anyone is listening, the arguments couples have over what food to buy, whether they need white bread or wholemeal, one cream cake or three?  It can also be described as a place where there are no secrets. No matter how hard you try to keep things to yourself secrets have a habit of being found out. I recently accidentally stumbled across several secrets some in the workplace and some in the outside world, the question I ask is how are we supposed to keep a secret if the thing being kept quiet is soooo big that to keep it would be detrimental to your health? do you tell someone else therein sparing yourself the burden and passing it on to someone else or do force the original keeper to come clean and reveal all they know?

Learning from your mistakes

One of the secrets I recently discovered, I discovered purely by accident, not knowing what to do with the information I had been given I decided to share with one other person, or at least that’s how it started, one person soon turns into two people, followed by a third being told  by one of your trusted compatriots. Once a secret has been let slip it appears to gain the momentum of a cheese rolling event or a soapbox derby. Three people turn into six people and so forth, it soon becomes a well-known truth rather than a well-kept secret. I soon realised that some secrets are worth sharing and some are not. Deciding on what is worthy of your silence can be quiet hard and if the pressure appears to be too much to bear then you should probably take part of the burden away and invest in letting someone else into the secret.

What I have learnt however, is to be very careful with the choices you make as to who the secret should be told to, are they going to give the game away or are they going to guard the secret as well as they would their own? My piece of advise for the night? If your going to share a secret, remember folks that a secret is only as strong as its bearers weakest link, if its worth it’s weight in gold bury it deep with only your closest people having a map,  if it’s not worth it then let the world know… providing it isn’t going to get you into trouble ;-p

Your Loyal Friend April xxx

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Hello world!

After being told at least 3 times this week alone that I need a ‘hobby’, I’ve finally decided that the hobby in which I should take up is writing blog.

Why a blog? Some people write a blog as a way to connect to the world, to gain readers across the web and sometimes just as a way to contribute the increasingly isolated world. Me?…. well I just want a way to get my thoughts onto a page. Spending about 14 years in education you would quiet adapt to placing thoughts down on to a page, this however is my problem. The one thing that I really see myself doing 10 years from now is watching my creations on the TV. I want to be a script-writer! Unfortunately I am also a procrastinator. So in order to get used to putting thoughts on to a paper I’m attempting to put my thoughts onto virtual paper.

I’m a storyteller, I don’t tell people stories about myself that often, I much prefer telling people (strangers, co-workers and even friends) about other people I know. I tell them all about the events that happen to other people sometimes funny, sometimes sad but mostly odd. I used to believe that everyone has a group of friends that can be described as weird but it’s only been recently that I realised that this isn’t always the case and that I appear to be attracted to anything weird or odd in any way.

So that’s what my blog is going to be about, the weird happenings that occur around me, please bear with me as my writing goes through various stages and forms. I will attempt to write something down at least once a week.

I’ve got a black woolen hat and it’s got PERVERT written across the front of it. It’s the name of the clothing label. And I was with my wife and my baby at the supermarket and I didn’t think. I just put my hat on Clara’s head, because it was cold. And the looks. I couldn’t figure out why I was getting death looks. And then I realized my 10-month old baby’s wearing a hat with the word pervert written on it and these people were like, ‘There’s Satan! There’s Satan out with his kid!’ And then I made a point of her wearing it every time we went there. Ewan McGregor

Here goes the first rambling of a supermarket graduate in this bizarre world.

Your loyal friend,

April xxx