Friday Nights & Sunday Dinners

Doing things regularly. It's the perfect plot device, ensuring drama on a weekly basis and making sure there's always something to talk about. From the Gilmore Girls (MY MOST FAVOURITE THING EVER), having "Friday night dinners" at their grandparents' house every week - honestly barely an episode of that show goes by without one - to Olivia Pope's Sunday catch-ups with her dad (not all that much more scary than a meal with Emily Gilmore if you ask me...) many shows rely on the regularity and familiarity of ritual, of entrenched expectations to allow the pace to continue.

But in real life? Not so much. Apart from religious, borderline obsessive watching of my favourite TV shows, there is very little I'm capable of doing routinely. I marvel at Youtubers who are able to promise they "post new videos every Wednesday," or, god knows how, even daily. I can't stomach the idea of a nine-to-five job, a boring career, the thought of commitment to a life lived in one place. As cute as Tom and Giovanna Fletcher's lives are, from the wedding speech and now the pumpkin baby announcement video, the idea following the pattern of job, marriage, family, etc. etc. literally makes me feel ill. I can't really picture how I want my life to look in the future, especially as I barely even have a handle on what I'm supposed to be doing next week.

Sometimes its all I can do to remember to eat meals at the "normal" time of day. Is there anything really wrong with eating cereal for dinner or ice cream for breakfast? - not on my planet. I don't know whether its that I get bored easily or just that my daily life is really uninteresting, but when days go by, each one incredibly similar to the last, I start feeling trapped. And then I feel the need to go and do something crazy, like get something else pierced, run off to Reading Festival with a weeks notice, quit my job or get seriously behind with my school work only to panic, sit up until two am doing an essay and get to my 8.30 am history lesson just to realise I answered the wrong question.

I don't handle boredom well and I do admit to having a very low threshold for enduring things I don't want to do. An allergy, an intolerance, or just a severe distaste. I'll sit there, roll my eyes, force myself to get through another Thursday that will be exactly the same as the one before, and exactly the same as the one in another seven days time. My worst nightmare is predictability and the only thing I like less than knowing I'm going to be living right where I am now for the next year, sleeping in the same bed I've had since I was a child, is that I still don't know where I'm moving to. All I want to do right now is escape off round the world, without any idea when I'll be back.

Many of my friends are experiencing this same feeling as I am - probably they're capable of handling it slightly better than I am. To be honest, I think its perfectly common around age 17 to 18 to suddenly realise your whole life is ahead of you and the pressure to know what to do with it can feel completely overwhelming. Its like staring out into uncharted water, or off the edge of a cliff into a massive abyss ominously labelled: Your Future. "What happens now?" we all think. Since when do we make the decisions, decide the course of our own lives. I didn't sign up for this - no one asked me if I wanted to be born and now there's potentially eighty more years of this bulls*** that I have to plan out? (You can see why I feel other people are dealing with this collective emotional crisis a bit more maturely...)

So once I'm done with my ironically timed toddler-style tantrum about the fact I exist, I had better get on and start making some choices. Smart, useful ones that might actually get me somewhere. Not something I'm famous for being great at, but its probably time to start giving it a go. To do some preparation for the entrance exam I have to take, to sit down and deal with the mountains of work I need to do, to stop helplessly refreshing the UCAS track page in the hope it will tell me what to do with my life. If you feel yourself getting into this state (no judgement here, if you've made it this far you can tell that I am clearly losing the plot anyway...) I have one piece of advice for you. Watch Danisnotonfire's videos on this topic, and have a cup of tea. If this doesn't make you feel even slightly better you are probably in need of professional help that I am in no way qualified to give.

Hugs. We'll all get through this eventually xoxo

Who am I?

It is crazy really, this pressure put on everyone to define exactly who they are. What you makes you unique, special, different from the hundreds of other people with the same age or hair colour or even who share your name?

Is it the bands you listen to and the albums you buy? The concerts you attend and the posters you display on your bedroom walls - telling anyone who comes in: This is me, this is what I like, therefore this is who I am.

Is it the books you read, films you watch or TV you like? Is it the characters you care about or the movie adaptations you slate for being "nowhere near as good as the book!"

Is it the social media you use - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, the list soon to be never ending? The photos you share, the things you retweet, the blog you write too infrequently?

Is it your friends, the memories you share and the things you have in common? Is it your family, your interests, pets, favourite colours and smells, way you drink your tea or coffee or whether you drink it at all? Or whether you drink or smoke, whether you love going out or prefer staying in, whether you are one of the loud, chatty ones, or the one they always say "needs to speak up a bit more?"

Is it whether you like science and numbers or would rather be reading and writing? Is it if you want to go to university, or get a job or start a family or have no idea at all?

Is it all of these things? All of them and the many millions more that go into making up a person: a completely unique individual. Exactly like everyone else - with skin and lungs and legs and eyes - but at the same time a total original, never again to be repeated genetic fluke.

What is about society that insists we have to know the answers to all of these questions. What if the choices you make change, the stuff you used to love no longer makes you happy? Have you changed who you are? Why do I have to define who I am right now, when I and everyone I know are all still trying to work it out?

Reality TV

We all love it. It seems that they're more and more of our favourite TV shows, from the ones we curl up on the sofa to watch in the evening, to the ones we make the effort to catch up with online or even have on over breakfast in the mornings, while we're drinking coffee or doing our hair.

"Reality TV is morphine, give me that now, let me ease the pain."

From the glamorous lifestyles of The Real Housewives and the Kardashians to the more down-to-earth British reality shows such as Jeremy Kyle, The Only Way Is Essex and even the most recent one to appear on our screens: Educating Yorkshire, it seems that on every channel there are "real" people and "real" events for our entertainment. I don't know anyone who doesn't watch some form of reality show and I'm willing to bet you don't either. But just how "real" are these shows we seem to love so much? Are they actually nothing more than harmless entertainment, something funny to laugh over with friends or maybe just less depressing to have on in the background than the news?

I find it strange realising the window they give you onto someone's life - however many "scenes are created for your entertainment," essentially you are watching another person, just like you or me, living their day-to-day existence. And I don't know about you, but I would seriously struggle having cameras following me around. The silly things that slip out of your mouth without thinking; the times you trip up, hoping no one notices; awkward moments, arguments, things you wish you could take back - all documented and then broadcast for the whole world to see? I think it would be enough to make me never want to leave my house again.

What about those things that are - and should probably stay - private? Relationships, family
problems, illnesses, addictions? The plots of most reality shows centre around events like these: after all we're all human and stories and drama are what bring us together. But the difference between relating to a fictional character in a book or identifying and empathising with a situation in a film or TV drama is something we shouldn't ignore. It's cathartic to cry or to feel the emotions of a situation - but when it's someone's real life we're talking about, should it really be unfolding in the public eye?

I've been watching Educating Yorkshire recently, and in between laughing at my own memories of being in Years 7 to 11 and enjoying the funny moments on the show - including the girl that shaved her eyebrows off - I was really surprised by one of the episodes that dealt with the subject of a boy whose brother had suddenly died. I've been in a situation not unlike this myself and it was hard enough coping with the emotions and stress caused by a family member passing away on top of the normal issues of being a teenager and being in school everyday, trying to study for exams, cope with problems with friends and so on. I can remember leaving school at the end of the day, just desperate to get home and not have to deal with other people, or think about anything, for literally months.

I still feel like this now sometimes, although its far more under control than it was, but I genuinely cannot imagine how hard it would have been to be in this situation knowing it was being used as material for TV, for other people to watch and see how much you were struggling. I felt so awful watching it, knowing exactly how hard it is to get through even one day sometimes, let alone thinking into the future, as it feels like we're constantly asked to do at school.

Sometimes I think this is the main problem in our society. We're obsessed with "fame" and "celebrities" and entire industries are formed around building people up into stars and success stories and then tearing them down the minute we realise they aren't perfect. No wonder people rely on drugs or drinking to cope with the pressure and, to be honest, probably just to be numb enough to it all to be able to function. And really, its one thing when its someone who has actually signed up for a career in the public eye, but it begins to get a whole lot more complicated when we all want our five minutes of fame; we all want hundreds of twitter and instagram followers, reading our every thought and seeing all the photos we share with the world.

Where do you draw the line over what stays personal?

I admit this may have gone into a bit of a random direction, especially as this really isn't the kind of thing I normally write about and honestly, my Real Housewives addiction probably isn't going to end any time soon but I do think is something important to talk about. What do you think? Leave me a comment to tell me your opinion, or am I the one only one worrying about this...?

I wear short skirts, I wear t-shirts.

 "Because she wears high heels, I wear sneakers. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers..."

Firstly, I love Taylor Swift. Her music makes me want to dance around my bedroom, singing into my hairbrush. It cheers me up after a bad day, a long shift at work or a fight with someone I care about. It makes me smile when I'm already in a good mood, and is the only thing I want playing on a long train journey. I have some tissue paper hearts that came out of the confetti cannon at her Summertime Ball performance on my wall of posters in my room and I own most, if not almost all, of the music she has released. Red is my running music, Speak Now gets me up in the morning and Fearless plays through my headphones while I fall asleep. Listening to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together got me through my GCSE revision last year as whenever I thought I was going to go mental doing chemistry questions, maths equations or history past papers I would get up and dance madly around my house, singing along and blasting it from my speakers. And I will be the most excited person in the country when she announces UK dates for the Red Tour.

However, listening to the lyrics of You Belong With Me the other day, I realised something. Although it may be my favourite Taylor Swift song, and definitely her best video, it kind of made me sad. Its safe to say its a pretty well known fact that Taylor is famous not only for her music but for her high profile relationships and break ups as well, so it probably isn't a surprise to anyone when she writes songs about heartbreak and girls stealing her boyfriends from her. But something that occurs almost as frequently in her songs as mentions of beautiful blue eyes and driving trucks through the rain, are lines where she sounds pretty harsh or judgemental about other girls. She is a star, so it is in the job description to be entertaining and make music that people will love and want to listen to over and over. You may think that it doesn't really matter whether Taylor Swift makes a bitchy comment in a song - whether its about what a girl "does on the mattress" or what a guy is doing "with a girl like that?" - and you would be right. With people dying in wars all over the world and losing their jobs and homes due to the economy, the lyrics in music could be seen is completely irrelevant. But you could also argue that it is important; that how we talk about people is what makes us who we are.

And, honestly, that line just really irritated me. Because we all (girls.. mostly) have days where we do want to get up in the morning and put on a really short skirt and a lot of eye make up. Perhaps you're not feeling very confident or there's someone you want to impress, maybe you just want to dress up for the day. And sometimes on Taylor Swift's planet it seems like that makes those girls into the "slutty" girls. But at the same time, maybe even the next day, you might wear jeans and trainers, or go bare-faced, not even bothering with mascara and does that then make you the "sweet and innocent" one? The one "listening to the kind of music she doesn't like?" Not really. The way you dress shouldn't influence what other people think of you, and even though the image you present to world can sometimes feel like the most important thing in the world, it's not. Who you are doesn't change because of how you dress or how your hair looks. And sometimes, I want to wear high heels and sneakers at the same time. That's why wedge trainers were invented, okay.

My little sister, her friends and many people their age and younger all love Taylor and I think a lot of parents would prefer their daughter to be singing along to her music rather than Rihanna or Ke$ha. Its a little more innocent and while they may not actually understand some of the lyrics, Taylor Swift's whole image is just that bit more classy, more appropriate for younger girls to look up to. However as much as this is a good thing to have role models, and to admire people who are talented or successful, I think its just as important, personally, to be a "good" person. The definition of this could vary depending on different people's values, or what they see as important, but overall I would say you should be kind about other people. We're all guilty of it, and people who know me might be laughing if they read this, as I have a really sarcastic sense of humour and can probably say some very harsh things. This isn't necessarily something I'm proud of though, and I hope that people know that when I laugh at them, its because we're friends, not in spite of it!

 

So Taylor, maybe you need to take the advice Tina Fey gave you at the Golden Globes. Maybe you do need some "me-time to learn about yourself." And even though I really, really, really loved when Ed Sheeran came on stage with you and sang Everything Has Changed, maybe don't date him just yet. I don't think the world can take another really good break up album with lots of acoustic guitars and it definitely isn't going to handle two. And, last thing - I promise, please don't make that face again, the next time Adele wins an award you wanted... because we all know what you're thinking. And it makes the lyrics to this song look really ironic.
xxx

An Open Letter To Sleep.

Dear Sleep,

Although we haven't ever been the best of friends - in fact we haven't been very close since I was old enough to refuse to be put to bed - I hope we can work this out between us. I'm sure I slept properly as a baby and even when I was little. Its just since then that we've struggled.

Because I do love you, sleep. I love having a long lazy lie in, when you know you have absolutely no reason to drag yourself out of bed before lunchtime. I love falling into bed - the rare nights when this happens - exhausted, drifting off as soon as my head hits the pillow, worn out from a busy day or a run. Its just all the other times that we don't get on - I'm too busy for you, too distracted, stressed or having too much fun to bother with you.

I don't know who's fault it is for our disagreements either. I spend too much time ignoring you and pay too much attention to other things - my laptop for one. My phone is another, Facebook, Twitter - all to blame for our relationship being slowly destroyed. And we definitely haven't spent as much time together since I started my A-levels. However, you haven't ever been that nice to me. I can lie in bed for hours on end and my eyelids won't so much as feel heavy, let alone close. You can keep me awake until 1 or 2 am when you know I have to get up early the next day.

But I'm sorry, sleep. Can you forgive me? If I promise to make the effort to spend more time with you and make you a priority in my life, not an afterthought, will we be able to get along again? Because I honestly need you: I function much better when we are friends, my eyes feel clearer, my brain is less foggy and I don't feel like I'm going to die when someone asks me a question about the French Revolution. I eat much healthier when I'm not deprived of you and I don't find myself craving chocolate to stop me being snappy or Red Bull and coffee simply to keep me awake all day. I'm a lot nicer to be around as well, after a good night's sleep I won't be moody, stroppy or grumpy to anyone - except if they're reeeaaalllyy annoying.

I think we should stop fighting each other now and try to get along. And for once, I am actually feeling sleepy before 1 am. So I'm going to make the most of this and put my PJs on now, turn off my laptop and curl up in my bed. Before getting up tomorrow morning at 5.30 am. I might cry.

Wish me luck.
x

In Defence of Beyonce...

You may or may not agree with me - and obviously would be entitled to do so - when I say that I believe Beyoncé is one of, if not the, most inspirational women in the public eye today. She is a singer, dancer, businesswoman, mother, director and producer of films, designer  (or at least collaborator - with H &M), married to one of the most famous artists in the music industry, as well as being one in her own right - releasing four best selling albums - and on top of all this recently had time to set up her own website and launch (another) sold-out world tour. This is the woman who sang the USA national anthem unaccompanied at a surprise press conference before delivering a show-stopping Super Bowl Halftime Show; the woman who produced not one but two documentaries about her life as an international star (Year of 4 and Life Is But A Dream); the woman who managed to fit in having a baby somewhere in between starring in the music video for H & M's swimwear collection and appearing in the Chime for Change concert with Givenchy. She is a philanthropist - the charity section on her website contains links to the websites of multiple good causes, some little known and some recognizable to most of us. She is a fashion icon, constantly photographed in the latest stunning designer outfits, models fragrances for Thierry Mugler and her own brand but at the same time also often seen make up free, with baby Blue Ivy in tow.

I don't know what she's eating for breakfast but I want some. We can probably all agree on the fact that managing half of what Beyoncé does would be a massive achievement. And the woman is only 31 - how on earth has she fitted it all in? Does she not need sleep? Maybe she gave up TV watching around the same time as becoming her own manager and record label boss? Whatever the reason, her success is certainly something to aspire to or be inspired by. I can't be the only one who asks themselves on a bad day: What would Beyoncé do? However, recently, for a number of reasons, Beyoncé, and to a certain extent Jay Z as well, have been getting a lot of negative attention from the media. While it's true that "celebrities," some people would argue, have to accept that they will lose some of their right to privacy, and even the right to not be slated on the internet and in newspapers, surely there is a line somewhere? And for me, and maybe for you too, Beyoncé is on the other side of that invisible line. I'm in no way arguing that we should not criticise, evaluate or discuss what she (or any other public figure) does or says or chooses to wear - as in fact entire industries rely on us debating these very things - and I accept that as a society we have chosen to value certain people as entertainers and cultural representatives and therefore we are responsible for holding them to accountable for what they do and how they "represent" us.

 

But I find some of the comments and things that are said about Beyoncé to be almost more offensive or hurtful than things that are said about a lot of other celebrities. Recently, for example, when rumours began to circulate on Twitter and E-online, that Beyoncé is supposedly pregnant with a second baby, some of the comments I read from viewing one webpage on the news story were, for a start, harsh, judgemental and, to be honest, really mean. Why do people feel the need to make comments along these lines? You would never take it upon yourself to make judgements on other people's lives, people you have never met, people you know nothing about, so why do it to someone simply because their career and talents have brought them into the spotlight. Why the hatred for someone so obviously talented? The easy answer would be jealousy, because let's face it, who can say they aren't even the tiniest bit envious of Beyoncé's life. However, I think it goes deeper than that. I think, despite the huge differences between countries such as England and the USA and places such as Saudi Arabia where a woman isn't even allowed to drive a car, we as a society still look at a smart, intelligent, beautiful and successful woman, and perceive her as a threat. Whether or not this is conscious, or perhaps we are unaware of it, it is still a problem. Would Beyoncé be judged in the same way, for simply doing her job as a global superstar by being rich, famous and reportedly spending $1 million dollars on her daughters bedroom, if she was a man? I'm sure many men spend $1 million dollars on a lot of things without being slammed in the global media for it. If you could, and wanted to spend that kind of money on your child - money you had earned and worked for - surely that's your choice alone and you shouldn't have to be judged for doing it.

There are obviously other examples of society judging Beyoncé's life when really its none of our business anyway - who cares if she wants to go on holiday to Cuba, its a beautiful country and her fans there probably really appreciated it. The main one though, that really winds me up, is the constant commentary on the way she (and every other female celebrity ever) looks. As if their bodies, and hair, and faces, and oh my god is she gaining weight/losing weight/gaining too much baby weight/not gaining enough/looking fat/looking too skinny is the only relevant thing about them. Forget talent, and brains, and being a generally good human being: we live in a world that teaches us that all that matters is how we look. And personally, it just drives me insane.

It all links with the comments I talked about previously. Whether or not Beyoncé is pregnant with a second child (and I think we can all agree now that that particular internet storm has died down that it probably isn't the case) does that automatically mean the public, and her "fans" have a right to know? Just because you, as I do, buy someone's albums and enjoy their music, your interest in their personal life doesn't win over their right to have privacy. And reacting to news about a celebrity - even if you have very good reasons to dislike them - by typing anonymous, hurtful comments on the internet just makes you pretty pathetic. And accusing someone of having used "surrogates" for her "fake" pregnancy is another one of these weird trends: Kim Kardashian being another example.

I think that what I'm trying to say is since when did we all stop knowing how to be nice to one another? I don't mean nice as in being a pushover, but in the sense of being kind. Allowing people to get away with being horrible about those in the public eye translates to children growing up in a culture that teaches them its okay to make nasty comments, okay to be a bully and okay to make other people feel small in order to make themselves feel better. I don't want to live in a world where we accept this behaviour. I want to live in a world where someone as inspirational as Beyoncé is given credit for all the good things she does, for helping girls to feel good about themselves and the way they look when they see a woman who resembles what they see in the mirror being so successful and influential. If Michelle Obama considers Beyoncé a good role model for her daughters, and therefore for young girls everywhere, I don't see any reason to disagree.

 

Have a look at this article, or, as it says, take it from Beyoncé herself: "I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything? I'm just a woman and I love being a woman..." (Vogue).

Any questions?

So... The Notebook

I JUMPED UP TO KISS YOU AND MISSED YOUR FACE.

Okay, someone needs to clear this up for me. Am I the only girl on the face of the planet who hates this movie? I can honestly say I had never seen it, not even the trailer, before yesterday so I started watching it with no expectations other than the fact that every one of my friends I had mentioned to that I had never seen it responded with basically the same sentence. Something along the lines of "Omg, you need to see it... you will love it... its amazing... Ryan Gosling is amazing...etc." Its safe to say I had pretty high expectations as in general I love anything that vaguely resembles a romantic comedy. Blame the XX chromosones, what can I say?

BUT (and here is where it gets kind of interesting) I HATED IT. I hated it so much that that sentence actually does need to be in capitals, and if there was something more emphatic than caps lock on a keyboard I would be using it. I'm sorry to everyone who loves this film and will probably now hate me for what I'm about to say. So if you're going to be offended by me criticising Ryan Gosling's facial hair then look away now.

The 5 Main Reasons I Hate "The Notebook."



JUST NO, OKAY? NO.

1) Lets start with my favourite: Ryan Gosling's facial hair. Actually I'm going to expand that to cover the rest of Ryan Gosling's face, as well as his body, personality and ability to act. Okay, its probably unfair to include personality - he might be a really great guy but the one word I would definitely not use to describe his performance in The Notebook is "great." Like in any sense of greatness. At all. At any point, throughout the 128 minute running time. I was actually counting down how long before it was over which is always a bad sign. But to return to the stupid beard: it looks like a small furry animal died on his chin. I have nothing else to say, except I really, really hope the first thing Allie did after they got married (if not long before) was to hand the poor guy a razor.



WHY DOES HE LOOK
SO CONFUSED?

2) The Time Travel. I know it wasn't really time travel, I was paying enough attention to realise that. But it reminded me a lot of The Time Traveller's Wife (which Rachel McAdams also annoyed me in) so I am going to refer to the annoying flashbacks as "Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams' Own Personal Form of Time Travel," in which they get to annoy people in other centuries too! Where people apparently went to carnivals, built houses, DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO SHAVE THEIR FACES, and, I don't know, wore weird hat things that kind of make them look like a Depression Era farm worker. I'm sorry but if I wanted to watch a movie about that, I could just watch Of Mice And Men or something and at least I could get to stare at Gary Sinise's face that has no dead furry animals attached to it.



AWW I SMUSHED AN ICE-CREAM ON YOUR FACE,
AREN'T WE JUST SO CUTE?

3) Rachel McAdams. In general but particuarly in this movie. Allie was probably one of the more a) stupid, b) selfish and c) permenantly-stuck-at-age-17 characters that has actually been written and then acted out and put on a screen and then people made to pay actual money to go and watch be stupid and selfish and crazy and faint and cry over some guy with a dead hamster on his face for over 2 hours. I will never get those two hours back. And if you've seen The Notebook, neither will you. And if you are one of those girls who insist on watching it maybe every Valentine's Day or every time of the month, then you are looking at losing entire days of your life to this movie. One day you will probably regret this when you think  of all the things you could have done instead with this time. For example, if you see it more than ten times then that is probably long enough to fly to LA and personally hand-deliver a razor to Ryan Gosling. And on the flight, you could watch movies starring other non-crazy people, preferrably Aston Kutcher. Or Jake Gyllenhaal or Johnny Depp or basically just anyone else.




WHY IS HE WEARING A HAT IN THE SEA?

4) This is possibly the thing people most love to say in defence of The Notebook: "But they luuuuurve each other." Okay, yes I admit they certainly seem to love each other. And that's great and very cute and if they were a couple in real life I would (try to pretend to) be happy for them. But they are not, this is a movie and this movie is creepy, okay. He wrote to her every day for a year. That's 365 days of just being a stalker. How was he supposed to know that her mother (one of the actual sane human beings in the entire film) was intercepting the letters? He probably just assumed she, I don't know, was reading them and not replying. So what did he do? He kept on writing - take a hint already, she really doesn't want to talk to you. Maybe he should have just moved on and found someone else to marry and build a crazy dream house for. Someone who wasn't perhaps engaged to someone else. That's one of my biggest objections, I think, the fact that claiming this is so "romantic" means saying that cheating on the man you promised to marry with your high-school boyfriend and his beard face is this huge romantic moment. Its not: its a horrible thing to do. Allie, you are a horrible person.

BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY SHE PREFERS BEARD-FACE
TO JAMES MARSDEN, WHO WOULDN'T?!

5)  My final problem with The Notebook (and its a big one) is that this movie gives people - generally people who are girls - really really ridiculously high, completely-unlikely-to-ever-be-fulfilled expectations of relationships. How many times have you seen on a TV show or in a film or maybe even in real life, a woman who complains that her partner doesn't know how to show how much he loves her. BLAME THE NOTEBOOK. It has basically become the go-to movie for anyone wanting to reference a film that guys - again, in general - hate, and girls go gooey-eyed at the very mention of. For example anyone who watches Rules of Engagement (the US series) will remember the episode where all Jen wants for her "Birthday Deal" are blueberry pancakes - I think - and to watch The Notebook. Really? I can honestly think of ten thousand other things I would rather do on my birthday and forcing my fiancee to watch The Notebook would so not make the list. (Unless we were making fun of it the entire way through which might be kind of fun...)

LOOK HE WEARS A TIE; HE KNOWS HOW TO SHAVE!
PICK THIS GUY!

Finally, the kind of "true love" that Allie and Noah (I just remembered his name!) share is not realistic AT ALL. He stalks her and she leaves - but only after cheating on - a guy who's only apparent flaw seems to be not being the guy she had a summer fling with at 17. This is so ridiculous it needs a whole paragraph to itself. Poor Lon. I actually feel so bad for him. He is sweet, patient, kind to Allie and his clearly mad about her but in a normal, adult-with-responsibilities way. Like "I will show you how much I love you by building us a life together and holding down a job, but even when you randomly turn up and interrupt an important meeting I will not get mad at you." That is love. The whole "I will build this house you mentioned one time and be depressed over you for seven years," is not. In fact, its defined as creepy and if Allie was a rational human being instead of essentially impulsive and naive she would realise this and run a mile.

Because what are she and Noah going to do in their house of love, besides stare into each others eyes all day? Its clear at the beginning of the film that Allie is intelligent and could do really well in her life, which is why her parents send her off to college - to which she reacts like a 4 year old being told it can't have another cookie. Not like an adult making a major life decision. Basically the choice she makes means being poor and stuck in a house in the middle of a forest somewhere and they will probably just have lots of children because, I don't know, its the 1950s and there wasn't a lot else to do. Oh wait, they do - and then she can't even remember who they are and then they all just die. What a wonderful, life-affirming experience that was. Seriously, the only recent to cry at this film is either with boredom or with the pain of scratching your own eyes out.

Okay, that concludes this "I Hate The Notebook" post, please leave any comments you may have - I would love to know what you think, whether or not you completely disagree, think I''m insane or now hate me for ruining your favourite film! What movies do you love to hate?

xoxo



Sick Days

Anyone who knows me will know that I like to be busy. I'm not one of those people who enjoys doing nothing - in fact I prefer to have lots of things on the go and often find myself taking on too much. Which is why I was looking forward to heading back to school, or rather, sixth form. I bought myself some shiny new folders, ordered some battered and extremely heavy textbooks from Amazon, and got a nice strong bag to carry it all around in. Suddenly, I now have loads of work to do, and as stupid as this may sound - I didn't expect it to be like this.

To be honest, I didn't imagine the jump from Year 11 to A-levels would be so big and have surprised myself by finding things really difficult. That probably sounds really arrogant but, although compared to some students my results weren't outstanding, I'm not someone who has ever particuarly struggled with schoolwork - I tend to find other things hard, mostly things that don't bother anyone else - and I've been feeling really snowed under.

Probably, as usual, I've taken on way too much! I'm working at my part-time job on weekends, and as well as an almost full week of classes I'm currently involved with the peer mentoring scheme at my school, taking my Grade 5 ballet exam in less than a month, auditioning for the Rock Challenge Dance Team and training to be an English tutor. So its no surprise really that after spending about a week and a half pretending to myself that I wasn't ill, I woke up this morning and could not get out of bed.

The prospect of running round tomorrow trying to catch up with everything I didn't do today just wasn't enough to force me to get myself up and drag my achy head to school and spend all day trying not to drop off to sleep in class. So today, so far, has consisted of sleep, followed by paracetamol, more sleep, lots of tea and some Gilmore Girls. I'm feeling a little better and I've promised myself not to let this happen again for a while. As my mum pointed out this morning: if I'd taken the time to slow down earlier on I'd probably be feeling a lot better by now. I'll try and keep this in mind in future!

What do you do on a sick day? What makes you feel better?

xoxo