Question Time

I could go all deep on you, and ask what the question of the universe is. Or question about life, gods and death. Or perhaps question why people are cruel.

But instead I'm going to not think depressing thoughts and answer some more jovial questions, and maybe some big ones at the end. This is basically, an opinion piece.

These questions were set by Kyra of Beautyetc and Raves, Rants and Random Ramblings, and I'm pretty sure some are put in there just to embarrass me.


Image from google

1. What's your favourite TV show? I have many. It's probably going to be Doctor Who. But then there's Misfits, and Heroes, and Andrew Lloyd Webbers talent shows, once Upon a Time, Criminal Minds, Being Human and so on.
2. Do you have any really annoying habits? Um.. being messy? I don't take much notice of my annoying habits to be honest.
3. How many colours have you dyed your hair? Ohhh, a lot. if we went for shades. As it is there's been brown, blue-black, red, ginger, I tried blonde once (it didn't work), purpley-red. So that's...6?
4. Do/ did your parents/friends have any embarrassing nicknames for you? Oh yes. Many. I think the worst was Pidgeon. It sounds cute. It wasn't. I get called Ace by my dad, which i like. And get called many names by my boyfriend.
5. If you could keep one object (that is currently in your room) for the rest of your life, what would it be? I'm not sure, because there are so many things I would love to keep - gifts from friends, family and my boyfriend, paintings, holiday trinkets, some gorgeous clothes, my camera. But It might have to be a gift from someone. Not sure if I can decide which one though.
6. Do you have any collections, if so, what are they? I have a lot of Disney films. And buttons. But I don't really collect any more. Unless you count my nail polishes. Thats a pretty big collection. I used to collect both coins and pots.
7. Which meal would you say you are a pro at cooking? Pasta bake. I'm pretty good at it.
8. Whats the coolest thing you've been for Halloween? I haven't really been very cool at Halloween. I guess the best thing was last year being the Queen of Broken hearts with an outfit my sister's boyfriend's mum made for me. (The Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland).
9. If you worked for yourself and money was no object, what would you be doing? If talent were no object I'd be singing. Unfortunately, I'm not blessed in that department.
10. Who is your favourite author and why? I have a few favourite authors. My favourite books are the Inkworld trilogy by Cornelia Funke. So I guess it should be her. The reason being because when I read one of those books the world just jumps right into my head.
11. What specialist subject would you choose on Mastermind? It might have to be Disney Animated Classics. Quite Seriously.

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Now for some kind of serious ones.

What is the meaning of life? I don't know. If I had to guess.. to learn to be the best we can possibly be. Personally, I have reason to believe the some of us aren't doing our best. But only because were bogged down with things like money and jobs.

Do you believe in God, Spirits or Voodoo? No, but I'd like to. Yes. And no.

Are we alone in the universe? The chances are.. no. Probably not. We are probably like bacteria to the other beings out there. Either that or we're like gods. I know which one I prefer.

The 10 Day You Challenge : 9 Loves

There are so many things to love in the world. To pick just a selct few is hard. So, there are probably far more than this, but heres my (probably) top 9:

1. Family, Friends and my Boyfriend. It has to be top of the list. The rest are in no particular order.

2. Stories and Reading. Anything. I just soak it up, take it all in and think about my view on the subject.

3. The Smell of the Night. you know when it's about 12/1 in the morning and you go to shut your window, but instead you lean out of it an just breathe in the night air. i love that. it's my absolute favourite smell.
I have a thing with smells. I often come out with "It smells like a good night". And it really does. I know what I mean.

4. Interesting Jewellery.  I have a penchant for weird jewellery. One of my favourites is one I bought from a stall at a craft market. It's a vintage-look necklace with an old American stamp inside it (picture of it, left). I'm holding out for some battenburg earrings still.

5.  Marzipan. Everything marzipan. I will get a whole block and sit there eating it as a treat. So fattening, but sooo good. Unfortunately you don't see many marzipan fruits around England these days, but I WILL have some soon.

6. Tea. Glorious tea. I'm drinking some now in fact. No wonder us British love it.

7. Films. Films are a passion. If I've seen one I'll usually know who's in it, and what else they've been in. It's a talent that has very little use.

8. Shopping. Don't most girls? Pretty dresses, gorgeous nail polishes, delicious food treats, killer shoes : heaven.

9. Nature. Because what's more beautiful than nature? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My particular favourite item in natture are forests. Big, English, woody, mushroomy, bluebell-filled dappled sunshine forests. With cute baby rabbits and deer.

Yay!

Royal Weddings and a Brief, Biased and Odd History of Love.

So, the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will soon be underway, so I thought it only right to have a look at the great history of love and romance and so on, seeing as it's not long til the big day, and we in England get a day off for it.

As much as it's nice to watch a wedding, especially one as fancy and no doubt beautiful as this one (plus I want to see the dress) I'm not sure I will be able to as I have a distinct lack of a television in my flat. Saying this, I may wheedle my way into spending the day at home or with my sister. Both places have a TV, and other creature comforts that my room sorely lacks.

So, the history of love, in my eyes, goes a little like this:

Prince William and Kate Middleton
From Mirror.co.uk

-St Valentine. I have absolutely no idea what happened there, so a Wikipedia page will be linked to, right HERE. But Valentine's day nowadays is a celebration of all things sufficiently cuddly and love-inducing. It's a couples day. And when you're not one of a couple it's a completely miserable day, considering it's supposed to be about love and happiness.

-Sir Lancelot and Guienevere. Yes, I know it's a legend, and I know that Guienevere was with King Arthur, but honestly, who can say no to a big rugged knight who just wants to whisk you away?

-Shakespeare. Well, he didn't half know how to write about love. Romeo and Juliet, Shall I Compare Thee? (one of his sonnets) and so on. Plus being a poet and playwright that everybody does love seems romantic enough for me. And also I'd say Jane Austen definitely does her bit for old fashioned English romance.

-Love in general. It may sound completely soppy, but as Wet Wet Wet concluded ' Love Is All Around'. And It's true. A million types of love. And isn't that very, very nice?

Images from google

- (carrying on) Love songs. My favourites being old rocky classics such as Aerosmiths' 'Don't Wanna Miss A Thing', Bon Jovi's 'Always' and 'Bed of Roses' and Bryan Adams' 'Everything I do'. But love songs are just generally there to make us all feel very, very soppy and adored. And for the most part I would say they do.

So that's my idea of what the L word is all about. Along with a few weird ideas about literature.
So yes, don't forget on the Royal Wedding day to remember this is all about Love. Not who may be running the country and definitely not about how expensive the dress is. Or how grand the guests are. Although these are definitely points to notice.

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Some Links you may find interesting:

BBCs History of Royal Weddings

The Official Royal Wedding Website

List of Love Songs (for weddings apparently)

Last But not Least, the WIKIPEDIA PAGE. (Oh Wikipedia, you are a saviour)

The Beginners Guide to Identity.

Upon doing a oddly interesting lecture and seminar on adolescent identity, I decided that Identity would be a great blog idea.

So this is what I came up with:
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Identity, like so many other concepts (Intelligence, Personality) is rather vague. What makes up a persons identity?
There's the official definition, and my definition. I'll tell you mine, its far more interesting.

Identity is anything that you think about yourself: Whether you're a student, mother, Hindu, albino, goth, posh person, yearly income less than £5000. You name it, that's what its about.

But the main things are Politics, Religion, Social Status, Orientation, Gender, Occupation and Nationality. Anything in which you can group yourself in.

To give a bit more of a clue, I'll tell you I'm British, Young Adult, Organ Donor, Criminologist, Loves Books, Clothes and Marzipan, Agnostic, Female, Tattooed, Student, Light Drinker, Dislikes Cats and Cities. Lives in a City.
... But to tell you the truth that just sounds like something you'd find on a dating site.

So yes. Identity is pretty important. It makes you, well, you.
And during adolescence is when you branch out and try out what identity suits you best.

I tried goth, bright coloured, christian, atheist, geologist, teacher and experimented in what I thought about marriage, drinking, the meaning of life, stem cell research. Everything.

It's always good to have a clear idea of what kinds of things you have to offer, what you want to do with your life and what your own thoughts are on hot topics. It's just human nature I guess.

So yes. This was your short guide to identity. Hope you enjoyed reading about what you already basically knew. :)

Christmas Time: Mistletoe and Wine.

It's almost Christmas.
And I love it.

I'm a bit of a Chrismas lover. Every Christmas, as soon as I hear the first Christmas song, I start to get excited. (Which is usually sometime in November.. so I start early).
I just love everything to do with Christmas.

First there's the songs and decorations around the shops. Christmas trees , cards and tinsel filling shop windows. There's always a need to go out and buy things. Some tinsel there, a bauble here, a small Christmas tree for my room..

Then there's the Christmas Markets. The German Markets. Always a favourite. Stand outside, possibly in the snow cradling a Kinderwein and a Bratwurst, wearing a big scarf, woolly gloves and a silly hat: my idea of heaven. (Although better when it's indoors next to a log fire I'd assume).

The snow. Can't get enough of it. It just looks so beautiful lying out there untouched, highlighting branches on the trees, an icicle hanging down. A blanket of white on a thatched roof. Snowflakes melting on your nose. Not to mention going out there and crunching through it, scooping up a snowball or two, or three.

Reading a book by a log fire, heating up your toes on the radiator (or by the fire, but we don't have a fireplace anymore). Then going up in the attic and hauling down the tree, the lights, the baubles, the tinsel. And tree decorating. There's always that feeling of joy and satisfaction when you put the star/angel on top.

Then it gets closer to Christmas, cards and presents are being given and received. Put under the tree or around the house for everyone to see. Picturesque landscapes scattered on the windowsill.

It gets even more festive once the local panto/nativity has been talked about or done. The Royal variety show is on TV. you're dancing around the house/shops to your favourite Christmas songs.
Then the days are upon you. Christmas Eve. There's always something delicious cooking. The presents are as yet untouched, but you really want to open one. Maybe a sneak peek, or a subtle shake of one. Sounds like chocolate. Looks like a book.
Everyone watches London burst into fireworks and the day is finally here. With any luck, it's snowing. But this is England after all, so most likely rain. You then proceed to drink the night away.
The next morning someone jumps on you/you jump on someone (Yes, that may be me this year) and excitedly yell 'PRESENTS!'. So everyone groggily gets up, someone complains of a banging headache, and everyone tears into their presents.

Then its usually time to visit the family. For me, this involves a lot of drinking, food and board games. And much fun ensues. Usually someone gets a little too tiddly. Although other families can be scrooges (and we deeply resent that people can be scrooges). More chatter, more alcohol. Perfect.

By boxing day you've got a full belly, a dodgy voice box and a small headache.
And usually more family to visit.
But there's always the added benefit that you can still catch someone under the mistletoe. ;)

Wedded Bliss, or Wedded Blitz?

(Just to note, I have had inspiration from another Blog, thank you again Ed :D )
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 Every time there's a wedding show on TV. Whether it be Wedding House, Four Weddings or Don't Tell The Bride. It stirs up a few ideas with me.

One of the first few things I think of is: 'how the heck did they gather that amount of money for a wedding?', and another is wondering why people are so obsessed with having a completely perfect day.
Because the odds are that something will go wrong.
And usually, it does.
And mostly, the bride makes a massive fuss about it. Could be the cake, the dress, the flowers- it doesn't matter. It may be small or large but a huge uproar will be caused because of it.

I quite abhor fairytale weddings.
A huge fluffy meringue dress? No thanks.
Pink bows, flowers, bridesmaids? Definitely not.
I think maybe the fact that pink isn't my colour, combined with the fact that you won't be able to walk down the aisle, much less dance with your groom, even less than that, go for a pee, really puts me off.

To be honest, I was never really one of those girls that dreams about her wedding. Sure, there's been a bit of thought here and there, especially after watching some ghastly weddings on television. But hasn't practically everybody?

I'd be more concerned with the act of commitment and showing that you love this person. You're going to have to live with them and have children with them after all. (Another thing I'm not entirely fond of at the moment). And maybe the dress. I'd have to choose it. I'd have to feel satisfied that it's right for me.

But instead of taking over the whole wedding and being the typical 'bridezilla', I think I'd much rather talk everything through with the husband-to-be. It is his wedding too after all.
(Then perhaps if it did turn out to be a complete catastrophe, the blame would be equally shared.)

(All images from Google)

Saying this, I may also have to choose the cake. My passion for cakes (eating them, not making them) is an awe-inspiring thing.

I've always found it hard to think about the future, especially in relationships. I'm just one of those people who leaves things like decisions and revision (among other things) more to the last minute. So I assume I'd be scared as hell to actually get married. And stricken if or when someone popped the question.

It's all a bit final.

Although I've always thought that if I did happen to get married, then it would be to someone who I truly loved, when the time was right, and if I felt 100% sure that that was what I wanted.
But absolute perfection, unlike so many other brides (especially on television), would be the last thing I would want on my wedding day.

I guess despite everything I may be a bit of a romantic at heart.