A to Z: Zombies

It's the very last day of the A to Z April challenge, and therefore also the last day of April. Hopefully some warmer weather is to come during May.

I know, I know, everyone and their dog is doing Zombies for the last of this challenge, but hell, I couldn't pass up on a Zombie Apocalypse now could I?

So today I'm doing a how to post, and hopefully you'll find it interesting, amusing, and in the case of a real zombie apocalypse, useful.

Cute Zombie, from Shutterstock.com

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse in 5 Easy Steps.

1. All good brits know how to scimp and hoarde, so the first way of surviving is to make sure you have plenty of cans and food that won't go off for a while, as well as biscuits and portable snacks. If there's only cans, for god's sake don't forget your trusty can opener ( preferably not an electric one, in case that's disturbed).

2. Keep heavy artillery in the larder/basement/attic/cellar/laundry room. You never know when a zombie could try to break in. Also keep things you could use as weapons (like bread knives, rounders bats - they're fatter and shorter than baseball bats, so you'll be able to knock them down easier- paint guns, a scalpel and so on) around the house, just in case. Or spend some time thinking of things you could use as a weapon. Perhaps that strimmer in your garage might work to keep them back?

3. Hang out with someone who doesn't stand a chance against zombies, or who runs slower than you. They could be the difference between life and death. Make sure it's someone you don't actually like, otherwise you'll spend all your time going back for them or fighting off zombies and no time doing important things, like escaping.

4. Make sure you have a good escape plan. If it's rubbish you will die. Maybe try to escape to the outer hebrides or something.

5. Bring a large dog. Along similar lines to a person who runs slower, but a dog will go for an attack and could actually keep the zombies busy for a long time. Unless they're lazy.

Last but not least, don't get killed or run out of food, or you're a goner.

I hope that brightens up your day with the thought of an impending zombie apocalypse, it sure did mine.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this blog challenge as much as I did.

A to Z: Year (time)

A year, a day, a century, a minute. Time.

Time is one of those abstract things in life that we think about all the time, and yet not at all. We always need to know a certain time to be somewhere, when we should leave, how much time we have left. Days are measured in time, life is measured in time and our daily lives revolve around time. Yet do we really think about it properly?

Not very often. Even when we do it's more like, do I have enough time to be able to do all the things I want to in life? Is my biological clock ticking away? Am I too late?

Sundial, image from Google

When really we should be thinking about the sheer amount of time we do have, noting that there's not really that much of it, and making the most of it now, rather than later. That's why I try to make every minute count in my life. I have plans of things I want to do, but I'll still do them even when I get really old, because time sure as hell won't stop me.

Time, really, doesn't matter. Because although it's useful to know how many hours you have left in your day, and how long you should be sleeping for, our time could stop at any moment, and then what would have been the point in worrying about it? But then, if you're late for a job interview because you don't believe in time, well, that would be your own fault.

It is a shame that the world is ruled by time, but if we didn't have it (we assume) the world would just be a mess. Though personally I think our body clocks would work it out for us.

This year, I'm going to make a promise not to worry too much about time, and to enjoy life as I live it. As it's coming up to my birthday (another marker of time, I'll be 22 in case you're wondering) I think it should be like my mantra for my next year.

What would you do with your life if you had the time?

A to Z: Xena

Xena warrior princess was a show i liked quite a lot as a kid.
It was just about these two friends having an adventure together whilst looking like a couple of Amazonian warrior women.

Personally i always preferred Gabrielle. She might have been quieter but she was kick as when she had to be, or rather, when it mattered. Xena, however, was always a bit more aloof and proud.

It is and was nice to see some proper strong women on TV. It's much better than the masses of weak ones you see.

I always hated the older princesses in Disney,  they were so much more pathetic. Especially snow white. Sure, she was pure, but she was also completely thick. If someone who cares about you tells you not to open the door to complete strangers, you don't. You'd think she wouldn't anyway after one bad experience. But no, she's dumb about it. She also flounces around like an idiot and expects everyone to protect her.

Whereas the modern ones, let's take Megara from Hercules, not only have common sense and can take care of themselves perfectly fine, or at least try to, but they also have sass and attitude. So they actually have personalities instead of just being pure and simple.

Rant over. Weekday address your thoughts on strong women?

A to Z: Water

Sorry for the ridiculously small post, but its late and I'm tired.

Water. I like water. It's pretty, and very useful.
H2O.

Good stuff.

Err, Neptune was the Roman god of the sea, Poseidon is the Greek equivalent. There are many other water gods and goddesses, as well as monsters and dryads and so on that lived under the sea and in rivers and lakes in mythology. They're pretty interesting so do look them up.

Sometimes water carries disease.

So to end on that positive factual note, thanks for reading this. Again, I'm very sorry for this poor post.

A to Z: Vader

Back to the Future 2 movie poster,
from Google.

Darth Vader to be precise.
He's pretty cool really.

So this post is all about my inner geek. I believe we should all embrace our inner geek.
More recently it is more acceptable socially to have geekish tendencies, with the huge popularity of Big Bang Theory (which follows a group of geeky men, and a fairly normal girl, in their daily lives) and it's endorsement of Star Wars, Star Trek, Action Figures, Super Heroes, Advanced Science and all sorts of geekery.
Also loads of people love Star Wars and Star Trek, Comic books and other supposedly geeky things.

So I thought I would show all of you my inner geek.

First and foremost I shall tell you my favourite film. It is Back to the Future 2. I'm a massive sucker for time travel, especially futuristic time travel. I love films set in the future too, just so I can take note of all the awesome things that people have thought of in these made up worlds and see if any of them happen in real life. It has to be back to the Future 2 because of the time paradox and the future, and it being the first thing that made me think about how your actions change everything in your life. Even the smallest thing has a consequence (which I was later to find out about in The Butterfly Effect, admittedly).

Doctor Who is yet another time travel show I absolutely love. I am currently hankering after a Tardis cookie jar (complete with noises), and possibly something with the sonic screwdriver. The Doctors personality (especially the last two) is just awesome, and to be honest, who wouldn't hop in the Tardis and travel with the doctor, and come back in time to watch your favourite TV show? There are a few places I'd definitely want to go to, like 1920s America, maybe LA or new York, and definitely to the future.

Big Bang Theory is awesome, and I'm very proud of myself for understanding geeky Star Trek jokes and some scientific theories.

Is being really frugal a bit geeky? Possibly. I think this counts. I'm ridiculously frugal, but I do love it. It means you get to be creative.

I also really like comic book films. This has been getting increasingly more popular with the success of the newer Marvel films. Though I will say that the Hulk one wasn't that great and.. I know this could be controversial.. I prefer Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk.

I probably have a lot more geeky qualities, but these will do for now.

A to Z: Ultraviolet

This is the only subject that i could come up with that was interesting. I did think of being lazy and doing Ulna, and just a picture with an arrow pointing at the Ulna (which, in case you were wondering, is a bone in your forearm, the one closest to the torso).

So Ultraviolet light. I think the first thing we all think of is the purple light you see in clubs.
But do we know where it comes from and what it is?

Well, I think it may be best explained by a scientific diagram, done by the experts. So here's one for you.

This diagram shows the wavelengths of light. Visible light has a longer wavelength than UV light. UV light is found in sunlight and causes the melanin in our skin to darken when exposed to it, resulting in a tan, or sunburn depending how long you stay under the sunlight. It's also used in sunbeds for the same purpose.

UV has a lot of uses. Off the top of my head I can think of cosmetically, with ultraviolet nail polishes that glow (or fluoresce) under UV light. There is also a type of tattoo ink that does the same thing. There are pains that also do this.
You can also put a banknote under UV light and if it's british you'll be able the see the queen. There are other UV watermarks on things like driving liscences and passports.
Then theres imaging of things in space, forensic uses in crime scenes, air and water purification.
It's also used in reptile tanks.

Wikipedia has a page on it if you'd like more information and many many more uses. It may not be any good, but it's worth a try.

Ultraviolet is also a film starring Milla Jokovich. I have absolutely no idea what it's about.

A to Z: Type

I'm talking body type today. Sorry boys, but as I'm a woman I'll be talking more about women body type and body issues, although I do acknowledge that men can also have just as many body woes as women, and are affected by the same debilitating illnesses and embarrassments too.

To start, every person has a body. We're stuck with that body. It is ours. Long or short, large or small, wrinkly or smooth. And each and every one is different. That's what makes us unique (as well as our awe-inspiring personalities and sparkling wit).
But with women we all have body types, be that pear, apple, hourglass, rectangular, triangle, athletic and so on, you will fit into a category. That category is god in the clothes department.
Channel 4 has a wonderful and in depth beauty area that can tell you what your body type is, and what clothes to wear. I would fully recommend it. We also owe it to icons such as Gok Wan and Trinny and Susannah for showing us the way in these areas. Here's the Link. 
(Also, if you haven't seen Gok Wan in anything I suggest you go watch How to Look Good Naked right now)

The thing about our bodies though, is that there's so much to them that people end us disliking parts - or even all - of it.Everyone has things that they're not overly keen on. For me, it's my thighs. they're wobbly and riddled with cellulite and stretch marks. But, it's no big deal. So what if they are? There are plenty of women out there with legs just like mine. Perhaps the only difference between them and me is they know how to flaunt it. Over the years I have become much less conscious of my body, I'm very glad to say. I think teenage angst has a lot to say for itself in the body image department. But once you move away from your teenage fears and get a reality check, that's when your body can be something you start to love and flaunt.

Dove has a great advert that shows what real women look like instead of those ridiculously proportioned models. It's very inspirational. The picture is on the top right. Dove also has a very interesting advert about how you see yourself that I also thought was very moving. Here's the advert.
Dove really does have a wonderful message about real beauty.
Saying this, there are some that disagree with the advert Like This One. But I think that it's true that we are our own worst critics and that if we saw us as the world, or someone we love sees us, we wouldn't be so afraid.

I would love for us all to love our bodies no matter what, but as that's a pretty big ask I'll just ask you to focus on something you really love about yourself. Two things actually. One is a body part or facial feature, the other is a personality trait. Select two things you love about yourself.
Now be proud of them.

I'll share mine of you share yours.


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Mine: My eyes and my weird sense of humour.

A to Z: Stories

I can barely begin to tell you how relieved i was that I didn't have to write a blog yesterday. The boyfriend usually does his blogs beforehand and I leave them to the day, and then to the last minute, and yesterday I was pretty exhausted. I was in need of a good break. So I did some reading and some thinking.

As you may know my sister and I are writing a book, were still working our way through the second draft, but I'm stuck. I have writers block. I was hoping this challenge would help and inspire me, but no such luck so far.

But instead I decided I would read more, and look at how other writers have done it and use that to help improve my own writing. I also thought about doing some short stories about different topics (say, fairy tales or Arthurian tales or something), and though I've had a few ideas, there's nothing concrete at the moment.

So today instead of sharing with you something new that I've written, I'll share with you something older.
It's a short story based on the tale of 'The boy who cried Wolf'. It's short, but I think if I copied and pasted it on here it would take up a lot more of this blog than I would like, so here's a link:

The Wolf-Boy.

Please give it a read and tell me what you think. You would be doing me a huge favour.
Or even better, give me some suggestions for other short stories you'd like to see me write.