Song of the Week!

This week there have been a few contenders for my song of the week. I bought Lisa Lavie’s album on iTunes towards the end of last week, so I’ve been listening to that for a lot of this week. For those of you that are unaware, Lisa Lavie is an amazing singer who has worked independently in order to promote her work, mostly through her Youtube page, which can be found here. She really is an amazing talent, and she @replied me on Twitter, which was exciting! Go have a listen to some of her videos, and if you like them go onto iTunes and buy her album! It’s great.

As I already mentioned, one of the tracks on the album was a contender for this week’s Song of the Week. That track is I See You Staring. It’s a really great track, which you can listen to here. I love it.

Another contender was by Kina Grannis, who is again from Youtube. In fact, all of this week’s songs are by artists who are famous primarily on Youtube. Kina Grannis has an amazing voice, and she’s a wonderful song writer. The song which has caught my attention this week is called Valentine. It’s a really sweet song, and the music video is really well done as well. You can view it here.

However, both tracks have been beaten to this week’s title by a male singer called Gabe Bondoc. Again, he has a real talent for songwriting and a beautifully smooth voice. The song itself has some really nice lyrics and it’s one that I like to sing along to, which always makes me like a song more.

Song of the Week; When You Say (Nine) – Gabe Bondoc

So, my question for you! What’s been your favourite track of the week? And, do you have any musicians on Youtube that you’re a big fan of?

“Beat this Zac!”

Sometimes I get bored…

So what do you make of my drumming skills? I think paramore’s drummer should start looking for a new job, because clearly I have the moves!

Tell me, what songs make you jump around like a crazy person? Answer in the comments below! You should clearly film yourself and post it on your own blog! Do it. I dare you!

Stuff I Hate; On The Road

And here begins a display of my sunny disposition, optimism, and general positive outlook. I thought that seeing as I write some of my most successful stuff when I’m complaining, or having a rant that I would create a little blog series called ‘Stuff I Hate‘. The first thing that I decided to write about was driving. I wrote this little list before Christmas and at the time it seemed quite funny, and light-hearted, but reading it back it just comes across as if I’m completely going off on one. As such, I’m not sure that the premise of ‘Stuff I Hate’ quite conforms with my usual light-hearted format, and therefore it may well be a very short-lived blog series comprised of… well, this entry.

Anyway, here is a list of the many things that annoy me when I’m on the road! Enjoy! …or make as best an attempt as you can to enjoy it under the ranty circumstances.

- people that don’t signal at roundabouts – I think this is one of the things that I get the most angry with when I’m driving. There’s nothing more annoying that waiting to pull out thinking someone is coming round the roundabout, and they pull off without indicating. It’s not fucking difficult to flick your indicator you moron. The only time I get really angry in the car is when I’m on my own, and have no-one to stay calm for. When I’m on my own and people don’t indicate I swear a lot, and invent my own swearwords by combining pre-existing ones. A good example is shit-fucker. Thinking about it, that’s not a very nice image.

- people that cut in – When two lanes have to merge into one, I hate the people that drive right up to the very end of the two lane section and then try to use their car to barge into the line. It’s actually making me angry thinking about it. If I let someone in it’s because I’ve decided to be nice, and not because they’ve forced me to. If you are the type of prick that thinks they have the right to skip the whole queue you should, in my opinion, be shot in the head.

- people in the wrong lane on roundabouts – There are two situations when this makes me angry. The first is when you’re in the right lane going right, and someone going straight on decides not to stay in the left/middle lane, but to cut across your lane to take a short cut, thus nearly hitting you. The other is when you’re in the left lane going straight on and the fool in the right lane wants to go straight on as well, and so cuts you up to go straight on. Wankers.

- people who drive really slowly and brake whenever another vehicle comes towards them – Where I live there are lots of country roads, and I must say that I have no problem with people driving slowly down single track roads because I know how dangerous it can be. Where I live you’re never sure if a combine harvester is going to come the other way. What I do resent, however, is when the road is clearly wide enough for 2 vehicles to comfortably pass, and yet the silly bitch in front of you in her Nissan Micra thinks that her vehicle is the size of a tank and brakes every time something comes past. Also annoying is when people go really slow down a road near me which has a twisty 60 miles an hour section, and then speed up when they go down the 40 miles an hour straight section. Twat. That makes absolutely no sense at all. If the speed limit goes from 60 to 40… don’t speed up. It seems a fairly obvious concept to me.

A view I have become all too used to

- people that drive really close to your bumper on the motorway – I’ve had it on many occasions where I’ve been in the outside line overtaking some people, and some absolute arsehole has driven up behind me flashing their lights to tell me to get out of the way. I’m sorry, but fuck off. I’m overtaking people… that’s what the overtaking lane is fucking for. If I was sitting there doing 50 whilst the people inside me were doing 70 then by all means flash at me, but if I’m doing 80 (by 80 I of course mean 70… for legal reasons) and overtaking people, then you can wait the 5 seconds it takes me to overtake before you go tearing past me like a prick. If you flash me, or gesticulate in my direction then it’ll only make me slow down and take longer to pull over. I may even give you a friendly happy-go-lucky wave, just to annoy you more.

- people that turn their headlights on when it’s still bright – I hate it when it’s still light outside, and yet for some reason people turn their headlights on because it’s the evening. I don’t understand why, if it’s still bright, that they need to have their lights on! They can see perfectly. I can see them. There’s no need! The most annoying bit though, is when you’re driving along, and then someone with their lights on flashes you to tell you to put yours on! NO! Piss off you blind old cow!

- all van drivers – Invariably van drivers are all absolute wankers. They carry out nearly all of the offences mentioned above whilst having shaven heads and tattoos, thus making them the absolute scum of the Earth. I understand that’s a bit of a generalisation. I’m sure there are nice van drivers. I’ve just never seen one. With regards to people that drive close to your bumper on the motorway, the worst time this happened involved a van driver. I was in a queue in the outside lane, with the traffic moving at about 50. I couldn’t go any faster as there was a queue, and yet this twat came right up behind me calling me a wanker and flashing his lights like I was going slowly for the hell of it and not because there were 50 cars in front of me doing the exact same speed. The traffic dispersed, and I sped up, but obviously not quick enough for the dick in the van who decided to undertake both myself and the vehicle I was overtaking, all the while looking at me and swearing. He then moved into my lane and braked in front of me. Rather than get angry, I smiled and gave him a little wave. Lovely.

A White-Van Man... a.k.a. twat

- Essex drivers – Essex drivers fall into a similar category as van drivers. I, of course, don’t mean that all people from Essex drive like dicks. Rather, it’s the type of people who introduce themselves as “Mike From Essex” like it’s part of their name. Get over it. You live in an area notoriously full of bleach-blonde slags and people who are under the false impression that they’re somehow cooler than the rest of the population. You’re not. The rest of the country laughs at you. People such as this drive live idiots, in their horrifically modified, shit cars. If you think that a car looks better when affixed with neon lights, 22 inch allows, an exhaust pipe the size of the Dartford tunnel, and plastic bumpers that look like they’ve been injected with steroids then you are officially a fucking idiot. Underneath, your car is still a Ford Escort from 1993.

It's still an Escort, idiot.

I think that sums up the majority of things that annoy me on the road! I hope that wasn’t too ranty for you and that I somehow managed to make it at least slightly light hearted, and not like I was simply typing in a rage!

For Your Entertainment

Oh dearest reader, I have something new to rave about! We’ve been through American Idol/Adam Lambert, Twilight, and paramore, and I’m afraid that I’m now taking a bit of a backwards step and I’ll be raving about Adam Lambert once again! Those dedicated readers that have been with me from the start will remember that last year I was rather addicted to American Idol, and specifically Adam Lambert. I wrote a series of blogs about how he was amazing, and even came up with my own conspiracy theories as to why he didn’t win, which I believe were proven to be correct!

I really did love his performances on the show, and couldn’t wait for him to release an album. I am, therefore, predictably elated with the fact that I now have said album in my possession! It arrived yesterday, and I must admit that I may have emitted a slightly gay scream when I saw two CD shaped parcels at the front door. I say two, because I also got You Me At Six’s new album Hold Me Down as well. I think it speaks volumes that I chose to listen to Adam Lambert first, because You Me At Six are one of my favourite bands. They, however, have not got a look in!

I started playing For Your Entertainment as soon as I got it out of the packaging, and I’ve barely stopped! At the moment that isn’t particularly wise due to the fact that I have an essay on war poetry due in two days time, and another in next Tuesday. Never. Flipping. Mind! This album is so good that I don’t really care.

I’ve said this countless times before, but I’ll repeat myself anyway. Normally it takes me at least three or four listens to an album before I can really get into it, but as soon as the first track, Music Again began I knew that it would be one of my favourite songs. There’s such drama around the album. It has such a massive presence and the songs are so deep and have so much volume (not in the sense of sound, but more… a large capacity? That makes sense in my head. Sorry if it doesn’t translate), that you feel as if you’re listening to them from within the song itself.

The album has tracks written by P!nk, Lady GaGa, Matthew Bellamy of Muse, Justin Hawkins formally of The Darkness, and Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, and although they have their own distinctive styles, Adam’s vocals pulls them all together amazingly. The album combines powerful rock tunes such as Whataya Want From Me, penned by P!nk, and Aftermath, with tracks that have a disco vibe such as If I Had You.

There are four tracks on the album which vie for the title of my favourite. My initial favourite was Music Again, which was written by Justin Hawkins. Parts of it reminded me a bit of Mika, only less annoying, and obviously The Darkness as well. My favourite part of the song is the line ‘Look into my eyes, baby eyes.’ SO GOOD! Another favourite is Whataya Want From Me. It’s a typical P!nk track, which is probably why I like it so much. I also love If I had You because it’s so energetic and the chorus is amazing, and just makes me want to dance… like a filthy ho. However, I think my favourite track has to be Aftermath. The chorus is absolutely stunning, and I can’t help but sing along. If only I could sing like Adam Lambert! Oh, the dream. The song is absolutely brilliant, and the lyrics are really good as well. I’ve had it on repeat for ages now. For that reason I have to give it the following honour…

Song of the Week; Aftermath – Adam Lambert

It’s not all a rave review though. There are a few negative points. The first is that the album artwork is weird. Personally, although not attracted to Adam, he is good looking. In the album artwork, and especially on the front cover I think he just looks like an ugly woman. I’m not really a fan of the 1980s look. I like the more modern pictures on the inside of the booklet though.

As well as this, there are a few songs I’m not really that wild about. I find Broken Open and A Loaded Smile to be a bit boring. They’re slower tracks, and although, as we know from his American Idol performances, Adam has the ability to deliver a beautiful slow ballad, I don’t think the songs capture that ability. Maybe it would be a different story if they were performed live. Shockingly, I’m also not a big fan of the Gaga track, Fever. It certainly doesn’t have the same crazy style as her usual tracks. Maybe only Gaga should sing Gaga? I think on some of the tracks I’m reminded a bit too much of The Scissor Sisters. Don’t get me wrong, I loved their first album, but I’m reminded more of the second, which I wasn’t the biggest fan of. (Where are they now, by the way?)

Despite that, the great tracks on the album more than make up for the others, and this is already a massive contender for Album of the Year 2010!

Popstar To Operastar; Week 2

Last week, having watched Popstar To Operastar and reading a rather brilliant blog my good friend Dan, I decided that this week I would write a blog in real time as I watched the show. Unfortunately I was watching a film with my flatmates at the time, so I’ll do it now whilst watching it on the internet. This is a massive procrastination attempt as I have an essay in for Thursday… but it’s only 1,500 words so I’m not too worried. Anyway, here goes!

First of all, a little complaint about ITV Player… adverts! 4OD has about 2 adverts at the start of the programme and that’s it. ITV Player has them throughout! It’s so annoying. Second complaint, and this is a general one about most commercial television; I don’t need a recap on what happened last week. I know what happened! I’m not an idiot. I have a memory. Worst is the American programmes where they tell you what happened before the break. How short a memory do Americans have?

Mylene’s dress is hideous. Somehow the top part manages to make her look fat and flat chested at the same time. Her hair is scraped back awfully, and her belt looks like it’s been made out of prosthetic limbs. Katherine’s hair looks like a wig.

Darius is first up, who I thought was a bit boring last week. I don’t know why they gave him Nessun Dorma, because it’s not suited to someone with a baritone/bass voice. It’s for Tenors. A poor start for the singing. He sounds a bit shaky, and the end of the note keeps dropping off. He does have a nice voice, but I don’t think the note changes are crisp enough. Overall it’s not really something I’m going to remember at the end of the show. The judges are so boring.

(Oh My God. Adverts. One of them has Scouting For Girls as the backing song. I almost just slit my wrist.)

Kym. I really thought she was good last week! That gay Coronation Street guy makes me want to vomit, and there was no need for Kym to raise her arm when she hadn;t shaved her armpit. Grim. Why does she have parcel tape on her dress? How horrid! I don’t think she concentrates her voice enough. It was still quite good though, and I’m glad that the crowd doesn’t seem to be clapping halfway through the songs now, because that really pissed me off last week. I actually hate Meat Loaf. “I give you Marshy, Kym Marsh!” Don’t pretend you’re friends Mylene.

Danny. I thought he was a bit average last week. Dougie and Tom on the VT. Erm… do me. Katherine: “I just wish he hadn’t grabbed his crotch at the end.” On your own there love! Caruso is one of my favourite Opera songs. I have Pavarotti’s version on my iPod. The bit in the Italian restaurant where he asks the waiter how to pronounce something is possibly the cringiest thing ever. He looks fit for the performance, let’s not lie. The vibrato isn’t there for the start and he’s a bit sharp on one part. This is actually quite good, although he still doesn’t sound very operatic. There’s a gravelly tone to his voice, and it’s slightly breathy. A good performance though. Dougie pretending to sob… I want him. …moving on!

Marcella. Marcella who now? No idea who she is, but last week I thought she was amazing. Her hair looks like a wig though, and the hat she’s wearing in the VT looks like a tea cosy, and I don’t think bandannas should be worn by anyone but bikers, and people going through chemotherapy. It’s not a good look. Katherine: “I want to cry now!” You can’t cry. You’re a mannequin. She actually looks really pretty for the performance, although I think they forgot to take the rollers out of her hair. Her whole head shakes when she sings, which is a bit annoying, and right at the beginning of the more challenging notes she takes a small moment to grasp them fully, but she really has a very convincing opera voice and vibrato, and the high notes are stunning. Alan: “Katherine, your eyes are a little bit glassy too!” There’s an obvious reason for that… they’re made of glass. Robot.

Vanessa. Last week I thought her high notes were the best of the night, but she was too breathy on the lower notes. Didn’t deserve to be in the bottom two! I think it’s bad that the VT seems to be focussed on her being busy. It really isn’t her fault that Darius’s career is in the shitter, that the Osmonds were popular four decades ago, that no-one knows who Marcella is, or that Bernie doesn’t have to be singing on a cruise ship at the moment. Having said that, I think it’s bad that she cancelled a tutorial with my BF Rollando. I would never cancel on his fine ass!  How glary does Jenkins want to be? I thought it was obvious in the first week that she wasn’t a big fan of Vanessa from some of the looks she was giving her. I know that the Saturdays dress a bit… slutty sometimes, but Katherine can hardly hold the moral high ground when she was caught snorting coke last year. However, her reason for being frustrated was because she knows that Vanessa has an amazing voice, and just wanted a chance to work on it more. I don’t really see this song as very operatic to begin with, so I think that’s a disadvantage. She’s sliding slightly sharp at the end of a couple of the notes, and her breathing is a little off, but her voice is beautiful. I do think that it was an easy song to sing comparatively, but I don’t think that’s relevant because the judges are the ones that chose it for her! I think I preferred last week’s performance though.

Bernie. I was pleasantly surprised last week, but drop the mum stuff. Bernie is really lovely! I’m a Coleen boy though, despite the Iceland adverts. Rollando: “Where was the shit?” Made me laugh. Her performance is really convincing, and the last note was absolutely AMAZING! I loved it! I think my favourite performance so far. In fact, I’m going to watch it again! Actually got shivers! There was one part where her voice went a bit gravelly, but the rest was stunning! I think that of the girls she is my favourite now. Oh Alan, TITmarsh. Stop crying you gay. “This daffodil is beautiful…sobsob.”

(Advert for Amanda Holden’s Fantasy Lives. Fuck off Amanda Holden.)

Jimmy. I hate the Osmonds. Jimmy was on Come Dine With Me, and he’s been in the jungle. How desperate do you need to be? I thought he was terrible in the first week. Oh he’s doing a Pav classic. The old boy will be spinning in his grave. I am a massive Pavarotti fan. I grew up listening to him (I know… what a wonderful, cultured upbringing I had! haha). Katherine: “We need Jimmy to inject some passion.” Actual vomit. Jimmy’s wife is fat. Shocker. His voice isn’t strong enough for opera. I don’t particularly like this song anyway, and he’s making it sound kind of Sinatra. He rolls the note on “Volare” too much, and that last note was a shocker. For me, Jimmy should go home.

The bottom two are Vanessa and Jimmy. Jimmy certainly deserves to be there, and I think Darius should have been there with him. I wasn’t overly impressed with Vanessa this week, but I don’t think she should have gone. Although her performance wasn’t the best I think it’s obvious that she has far more potential than Jimmy. I think that a member of The Saturdays is always going to have difficulty winning votes. I think a lot of girls dislike them, probably out of jealousy, and a lot of boys don’t really watch these type of programmes. I think that a lot of The Saturdays female fans are also McFly fans, and will be more likely to vote for Danny based on the fact that he looks good.

In all, I don’t think that Vanessa should have gone, because she had far greater potential than Jimmy.  My favourite to win is either Bernie, or Marcella. I think the show ran more smoothly than last week, and I’m looking forward to tuning in next week! I won’t, however, be writing a blog in real-time again, as it’s way too stressful!

Stephen Fry; My Belated Apology

You may remember back at the end of October there was a Twitter scandal when a user called BrumPlum tweeted saying that he found Stephen Fry’s tweets a little boring. As a result, Stephen left Twitter for a while, upset at the remarks. About half an hour ago I typed “JimJamming” into Google to see if any of my blog entries would come up. The first two results were for my Twitter, and for this blog. The third result was from a website called mixx.com. I clicked on it and it took me to a page showing an @reply to my twitter from BrumPlum. This was what the user tweeted.

BrumPlum @JimJamming I underdstand @stephenfry’s tweets but, much as I admire and adore the chap, they are a bit… boring…. (sorry Stephen)

At that time, I was using Tweetdeck, and so I never checked my @replies. I read about the story, and saw what had happened. I felt so sorry for Stephen at the time, and had absolutely no idea that the whole thing was in fact triggered by my own tweet! I had written that sometimes I didn’t understand Stephen’s tweets. Occasionally he uses a lot of links in his tweets, which I sometimes found a little confusing. BrumPlum @replied me, which Stephen obviously saw, causing him to want to stop Twitter.

I have just read through my @replies from back then, and I’m in so much shock about the whole thing! Around that time I had someone come onto this blog and write a comment about me hating Stephen Fry, which I thought was totally random and weird. I now understand! I feel completely stupid, and absolutely dreadful about the whole thing, despite the fact that it was months and months ago. I absolutely adore Stephen Fry. He is one of my favourite television personalities, and one of my favourite authors, and I would like to take this belated opportunity to apologise profusely for any role that I had in the situation.

Did You Hear About The Efrons?

Yesterday I went to see the film ‘Did You Hear About The Morgans?‘ I have to say that when I saw trailers for the film back in early December I was actually really excited to see it! The sections that they showed back then seemed quite funny, and the fact that it had a good cast including Sarah-Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant meant that I was fairly confident that I’d like it.

Oh. Hell. No.

I have absolutely no idea whatsoever as to why either of them would have agreed to be in this film, because it really is absolutely dreadful! I like the basic idea of the film. A couple that are about to separate get put into witness protection, and re-ignite their bond. However, the script is absolutely dreadful! Granted, there are some funny moments in the film, and I did laugh out loud a couple of times, but for the most part a lot of the jokes felt so forced, and it was so easy to tell when they were trying to set up a joke, because the script was so unnatural that it made it obvious. It was really clumsy in places, and although in this type of film it’s normally obvious what the final outcome will be, this film is so heavy-handed in its suggestion that by the halfway point you know almost exactly what’s going to happen in the last fifteen minutes.

I think it’s very possibly the worst film that I have ever been to see in the cinema. The hardest laugh came at the end when we all looked at each other and simultaneously said “that was shit!” My favourite part of the film was the trailers that came before it, as Taylor Lautner happened to be in one of them! I can’t remember what it was called, but he was looking mighty fine. However, he did have his shirt on, which puzzled me a great deal! I thought he never wore a shirt because he’s allergic? Maybe I dreamt that. Oh wow…

As well as this, there was also a poster for ‘Me And Orson Welles’ starring the equally gorgeous Zac Efron. Again, he had a shirt on which was very upsetting. I am yet to see that film, but I wouldn’t really care what it was like, as long as there were plenty of close-up shots of his face… and/or naked flesh. Maybe that’s what could have rescued ‘Did You Hear About The Morgans?‘ They should have made it a gay relationship on the rocks, with the characters played by Taylor and Zac! If they were semi-naked (or fully, I’m not fussed) the whole time then I wouldn’t even have noticed that the film was shit!

…they really should have thought of that.

Did You Hear About The Efrons? I would pay so much money...

Song of the Week

This week, my Song of the Week is a very spontaneous one. I have been downloading a lot of music over the past couple of days. Normally it takes me a while to get into music, and to become attached to songs, but there’s one song which I’ve been listening to on repeat for the past half an hour which grabbed me right from the off. It truly is beautiful.

The lyrics of the song are absolutely beautiful. Here are a few of them;

Oh what can I say,
To change your perception;
Want me by your side?
The fact that you’ve moved on,
Makes me want to cry.
If you open your door,
I’ll be there with arms wide,
Just begging and praying,
For one more goodbye.
So I’ll wait for you,
Even though you don’t want me to.

As well as this it has one of my favourite forms for a song, as it begins acoustic, and gradually builds over the course of the song into a big crescendo, with the vocalist going up an octave and blasting it out, a bit like All Time Low’s Remembering Sunday. The first time I listened to it (about 20 minutes ago) I swear I almost cried. My eyes started prickling and I got goosebumps. It’s absolutely beautiful, and despite the fact that I’ve only just started listening to it I can tell it’s going to be one of my favourites.

Song Of The Week; I Promise – Set It Off

Go and listen to it. Seriously. Stay all the way through. If you don’t like it then… I don’t understand you.

Help Me, Please.

Good morning! I say good morning as it is currently ten minutes to two. It’s at this time, when it’s dark outside, and there’s nobody awake, other than my father (who I suspect is sneaking food in the kitchen) that I tend to be the most productive at writing. It’s when most of my ideas come to me. It is also when I look at myself most often and think “Yuck! When did you get so fat!?” Don’t be fooled by the heavily edited pictures I post, taken from nice angles as they really don’t portray what I look like very accurately.

Anyway, as I said, it’s at this point in the night where I think back to the days when I had extraordinary will power, and was able to lose a great deal of weight. When I was around 15 years of old I was 12 stone and 3 pounds. That’s 171 pounds. I was also about 5 foot 5, all of which resulted in me looking like a football. However, when I got to the age of 16 I decided that enough was enough and one Christmas I changed the way I ate and the way I acted. For 6 months of my life I didn’t eat a single snack. Not one packet of crisps passed my lips, not one chip, not one burger, not one steak. By the end of that time the thought of unhealthy food, which had previously tempted me, held no interest for me at all, which I loved. Whenever I used to go out with my friends I’d have something healthy, and not feel tempted to have something else. I had an exercise regime that I stuck to religiously night after night, and at the end of the six months I had lost about 25 pounds. I’ll display that in picture form…

Before... although this isn't the worst picture

After... taken in 2007

As I suggest in the first caption, that was not me at my largest. There is one photo, which I don’t have in the house because it’s truly horrific. My Granddad still has it in his house displayed in his living room, which is most distressing. The second picture is probably me at my slimmest. I would guess that I was about 10 stone and 5 pounds then. Kindly ignore my terrible hair in both pictures. It wasn’t until university that I developed an actual style. Getting back on track, I was so pleased with the way I looked. My confidence was sky-high, and I’d never felt better about myself. I used to like just looking at myself in a mirror. I know that sounds incredibly arrogant, but unless you have had a drastic change in the way you look I don’t think you can really understand how good it feels to see the person you wanted to be looking back at you. Not to be too graphic about it, but I had quite a nice body, and was even getting a bit of definition… I was blatantly Zac Efron. (Yehright).

Then university happened.

For the first time in my life it was up to me to decide what I ate, and when I ate. All of my willpower, and my strictness with myself disappeared, and I started putting on weight again. Every term I would tell myself it was going to be different, but it never was, and there was also a great lack of exercise as well. All of this has resulted in the fact that over my time at university I no longer like what I see in the mirror. Having been fat, and then lost a lot of weight it is heartbreaking to find yourself in nearly the same situation that you were in previously. I have no idea what I weigh. I have no desire to find out, as I’d probably cry. Going back to what I said earlier about nice angles, and pleasant editing, here’s a picture taken recently which benefitted from neither of these things…

Obviously, I’m not claiming I was as large as I was, but there’s a clear difference between this picture and the one taken in 2007, and that’s upsetting to me. There’s some double-chin going on, which I certainly didn’t have before, and I look fat (although I think that’s partly due to an unflattering shirt).

Therefore, in 2010 I will lose weight again. I will eat better. I will exercise. I will stick to my aim. I’ve said this before over the past few years, but this time I want you to help me. I would like you to ask me how it’s going every so often. This will remind me to get off of my bum. I have such fond memories from those days, and I truly would like nothing better than to have the body that I did back then.

This changes right now, and this blog entry is my witness.

One Word

Hello, and welcome to the teens! How weird is it to think that we’re already into the second decade of the 21st century!? I have now been alive in 4 decades. That makes me feel bloody old! I had a truly wonderful New Year’s Eve down by the sea with my best friends, whom I love very much. As always, however, having spent a glorious time with them I have the inevitable post-event low. Although I would like to use this blog to really express the way I feel, I have no way of telling who reads it, so I can’t really pour my heart out in the way I really want to. What I will say is that it becomes so much more difficult when I’ve had a love-filled time. It’s so much easier when I’m away at university and can put it at the back of my mind and halfway get over it, but as soon as I come back and am reunited it all comes flooding back and I’m stuck back at square one.

I know some (possibly only one actually) will know what I’m talking about, and I’m sorry for anyone else if that sounds rather vague.

Anyway, it’s not really like me to post a heavy entry, so I’ll try and lighten it up a bit, with a mini-questionnaire that I’ve stolen from my friend Ida.

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk.
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend? Imagination.
3. Your hair? Brown.
4. Work? None.
5. Your father? Grump.
6. Your favorite thing? Friends.
7. Your dream last night? Him.
8. Your favorite drink? Tea.
9. Your dream car? Maserati.
10. The room you’re in? Bedroom.
11. Your pet? Died.
12. Your fears? Alone.
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Rich?
14. Where did you hang out last night? Home
15. What you’re not good at? Letting-go (cheating with the hyphen)
16. Eyebrow rings on the opposite sex? Grim.
17. One of your wish list items? Video-Camera.
18. Where you grew up? NewBarn.
19. The last thing you did? Typed.
20. What are you wearing? Pyjamas.
21. What aren’t you wearing? Diamonte-encrusted-strap-on.
22. The website GoofyAuctions.com (filled with eBay spoofs)? Eh?
23. Your computer? Sexy.
24. Your life? Circles.
25. Your mood? Down.
26. Missing? Him.
27. What are you thinking about right now? Drink.
28. Your car? Aygo <3
29. Your work? Essays.
30. Your summer? Alright.
31. Your relationship status? Single
32. Your favorite colour? Blue.
33. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday.
34. Last time you cried? Dunno.
35. School? Missed.

…if you hadn’t guessed you have to answer it in one word. I’m not simply mentally deficient.