I'm totally pooped!

Dear splodgies!

Today I have been EXTREMELY busy and have not had time to do anything really today. I have been shopping, I have had a workshop followed by a meeting followed by an appointment followed by another meeting followed by a rehearsal. And THEN I had to come home and eat my dinner. All through the day I'm supposed to have been practising/preparing for tomorrow as well and as soon as I've finished writing this I'm going to go strait to sleep, so I hope you can forgive me for this is all I am going to post today. I did warn at the beginning of the week though, so don't say you weren't prepared for this!! 

Tonight this is me, finally on my way home: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Connected/Disconnected

Hey splodgies-


A lot of people say to me various versions of "How is it you know everyone?!"


....and I think "I don't know everyone!". But I think I can understand where this illusion comes from. I have this...perhaps strange attitude towards the people around me. Once I've met someone and I'm told their name, so long as I remember, I will always say hello to them whenever I see them again. Which leads to the impression amongst my friends that I know these people as well as I know my friends.

Let's just clarify- I do not. I am simply continuing a previous acquaintance. They would be my friends, if I spent any time with them they might become my friends. I feel like I'm taking a step from polite acknowledgement of a casual acquaintance, to the friendly greeting of a friend of a friend, without actually being a friend of my own. If that makes sense.I love being able to walk into town, from my house or my uni flat (when I still lived there) and be able to stop and chat for a little bit with all sorts of people. It just makes my life a little more pleasant and interesting. Sometimes I even smile and say hello to strangers.  Usually they smile and say hello back!

....Conversely however, I feel like I am so far away from a lot of people; a lot of people that I care about. And its really difficult to maintain a friendship to the same level as it had been/would be in person. And it makes me sad to think that perhaps I'm loosing those connections. I feel like I can't keep up with everyone that's so important to me as much as I want to. And that's not to say that I don't love these people anymore, or they're not as important as they used to be- it just means that I can't maintain something without... well, more input from the other side. But that means that we don't even have acquaintance status anymore, and they move dangerously close to the "used to know" or "knew back when (insert period of my life here"). But just because a part of my life is over, that doesn't mean that I want my friendships from that part to be over too. Because I value the people I love more than anything.

Sorry, I don't really have much more to say about this. I'm going to go and think about this for a while.

I'm not sure I've articulated this very well, but if you know what I mean or have had a similar experience, let me know i the comment section.

Tonight, this is me in the train station, rather aptly:

See you tomorrow

-Rosa

x

On Setting An Example

Hey Splodgies!!

Quick announcement before I get started on today's post- I will be very  busy this week with various things (I'll keep you updated!) so although I will still post something every day, its not likely to be very much until the weekend. 

So! Onwards! 

I consider myself a long long way from a perfect person. But that is not to say that I have an overall dislike for myself, there are definitely things that I really like about myself. Like my positivity and patience and sense of humour. So I think, in some ways that I make quite a good role model as far as life attitude is concerned. 

It got me thinking though, that it is really really important for young people, particularly teenagers to have good role models and I think that the people around them have a responsibility to be a good role model to their young family members/friends. Because who's going to show them how to be good people if not the family around them? And when I use family in this context, I mean both the people you live with and the family you chose- your friends! Growing up is hard enough without moral ambiguity as the default setting, so if there's someone young in your life, step up and set a good example! 

I know there are lots of people in the public eye, such as politicians, actors, athletes, musicians, artists; who could also be considered role models, but I think really they fall into a grey area unless you know them personally. Or perhaps, its important to distinguish them between role model and aspiring to be like someone. If that makes sense. There are lots of potentially great role models out there, but first and foremost it starts with the people around you. Family, friends, neighbours, teachers and so on. People are shaped by a community that they build around themselves.

So people gotta take it seriously the way treat other people in front of young, impressionables. E.g. Don't yell at your waiter, its not pleasant, and it teaches young folk that its OK to yell at people who are working for you. I mean unless the waiter has really really fucked up, tolerance is the best attitude. And then there's always not tipping if you really didn't like the service. Little things like that, y'know?

What do you think? are young people more influenced by their family/friends/community role models or the role models in the wider world, visible to all? Let me know in the comments

Today, this is me and some of my birds. I'm getting quite a flock now!:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Hi. I'm a twin.

G'day there, splodgies!

As many of you know, I am a twin. So I only know what its like for ME to be a twin, with my twin. I asked another pair of twins I know about how they feel about being twins-

Here were the things that Lauren and Maxine had in common with Amber and I. Upon meeting you for the first time (or finding out you're a twin) people almost always say one or more of these:

• "Oh my god! Are you identical?" this happens even if you are standing next to your twin, and its obvious either way if you're identical or non-identical.
• "...so are you two psychic then? Can you hear each others thoughts/feelings?" The answer is no. However, we get asked it so often that sometimes we say yes, along with something like "but she's out of range at the moment- it doesn't work over long distance"
• "Wow! what's it like?" ....what's it like? People ask you questions. Usually I reply with "What's it like not being a twin?" which usually is responded with a confused face and a splutter.
• Who's the evil one?
• Who was born first? 

These questions are super predictable and happen almost every time. The only other thing I hear is "Really? Me too!" which is always interesting! 

As we went on, we drew up a list of pros and cons of being a twin (My mum chipped in with some of her own points about carrying twins etc). So here we go with the pros! :

• Having an almost guarunteed ally
• Not having to wait alone somewhere when meeting up with a group of friends
• Having the relatability of growing up in the same family at the same age
• its a conversation starter!! 
• People tell you you're special. Which is always nice!

There were also cons though- some of these were contributed by my mother:

• People compare you to each other ALL THE TIME. They can't help themselves, but its still extremely annoying.
• people call you "double trouble" 
• People are shockingly ignorant of how twins come to be... its basically the same as a single baby pregnancy... but with two babies. The science is NOT complicated. 
• You miss each other. I've not seen my twinny since March! we do talk fairly frequently though so its not like we're not on good terms or anything!
• When you're young, parents sometimes dress you the same (particularly for identical twins) and this means finding your own identity can be more of a struggle than it needs to be. 

Lauren and Maxine are a very different pair of twins to myself and Amber, but they say that this is probably due to the fact that, personality-wise at least, they are much more similar people than me and Amber are. I have found that Amber and I get on a lot better when we're not living together and that way, I guess we make more of an effort to be nice to each other when we do visit. During school and teenhood etc, we were often at each others throats a lot, but this got better after we stopped sharing a room. Now she has her room, and I have mine. It has helped a lot to have my own space! 

***DISCLAIMER***

There are some twins that give twins a REALLY bad name- case in point, Jedward and the Olsen twins. There are probably more but I can't think of any famous ones right now. 

What do you think about twins? Are you a twin? Are you one of those people that says to twins "I wish I had a twin..."? Let me know in the comments- I don't often get comments, but this time I'm more interested than usual as to what you all think! 

Today, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Its time to get serious...

....SERIOUS ABOUT CAKE! Because today I made an AWESOME blackcurrant drizzle cake. It was so delicious, it blew my mind. 

Basically, I made an ordinary cake mix (but with golden caster sugar and a lot more vanilla) and then layered it up with blackcurrants like this:

It needed a lot longer in the oven than it said, even though I had it on a fan-assisted mode and had it at the correct temperature. But it was delish. Anyway, then I made the drizzle bit, but I forgot to fill it with holes before I poured the drizzle-berryness on top. When its all cooked and set and everything, it should look a little something like this:

Serve with cream or ice cream... or both! Or none!!

Try out the recipe here:

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/black-currant-drizzle-cake.html

Full credit for this recipe goes to whoever wrote that blog. Give it a go, its delish! Although I put 2oz extra blackcurrants in than the recipe said.

Today, this is me en route to pick up guests for tomorrow's post:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Marmite

Hey splodgies. 

So. Marmite. I LOVE IT.

....but some people hate it. That's kinda the thing about marmite- its love it or hate it. Or at least that's a slogan they use. Here's an entertaining ad campaign that Marmite ran a few years ago: 

However, despite the "Love it/Hate it" slogan, there seems to be some sort of... middle ground people. Some people who are indifferent to its sticky brown deliciousness. ...Who are these bizarre people? Marmite is BINARY!!! One or the other! No grey area!! what is this rise in the indifference? Clearly these people have never had scrambled egg on marmite on toast. Or gone downstairs for breakfast on a cold cold morning and had a slice of toast topped with marmitey goodness. 

These people confuse me a great deal.

And also, those who HATE marmite, I have this to say to you- You're wrong. Marmite is the best. its so intensely delicious that you simply can't handle it. I bet you can't handle other delicious things too, like olives or sun dried tomatoes or chili chocolate.  You're missing out. Its great to put in soups and stews and things too!! Marmite is great. Infact its so great I might have to go for a marmitey snack round about now. 

To the marmite lovers of this world, KEEP AT IT! Buy all the marmite merchandise you can, eat marmite every day. In my house we go through a giant 500g jar every two weeks! And that's when we're not eating much. 

There are several limited edition versions of marmite, including extra strong, marmite with guiness, marmite with champagne and golden marmite. I have tried all of these and still have some of the golden marmite. 

DON'T YOU DARE MENTION VEGEMITE. EEW. SUBSTANDARD. INFERIOR. DISGUSTING. PASTEY. NO. NO. NO. 

What do you think? Are you a marmite lover? Are you a marmite hater? (If so, go away, I can't even look at you) Are you a marmite indifferent-er? Let me know in the comments

Today, this is me and my mum just after having had an ice cream in the sunshine: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Its hot.

Like....like too hot to do anything. I'm so sleepy and too hot. I did have another post for today and I got a little way through by my brain is just too fried to deal right now. Tomorrow I will write my post in the early day time instead to avoid this problem...

Sorry this is so short splodgies... I don't cope well with the heat, what with being from the rainy rainy north west. To make up for it, I'll but a funny video in here: 

Maybe its just me, but this video always makes me feel less awkward because I know other people are super awkward too.

Today, this is me, post-watering plants, post chicken wing-clipping, and post singing a lullaby to a chicken:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Eyes are amazing

Dear Splodgies

Apologies for the lateness of the post, but I've been having a very stressful couple of hours. Needless to say, here I am! And I'm here to talk about eyes.

Can we just take a moment to consider how amazing eyes are? How eyes have evolved from something as simple as a patch of light sensitive cells on some tiny little creatures floating around in the sea? That these two little spherical organs on the front of our heads tell us so much about the world; and the vast majority of us take them for granted every day. And they tell our brain what all these pictures mean, so we can read and understand and learn. I think it's truly and in the proper sense of the word, awesome.

I think something else that is amazing about eyes is that every single person, even identical twins have unique irises that can be used to identify them. Both genetics and environment have a bearing on how your iris is coloured, so this is why identical twins will, at a distance, appear to have identical eyes, but upon close inspection will have minute differences.

I have something called heterochromia, which basically means that my eyes are two colours instead of one. Aside from being my lazy, rubbish at seeing eye, its the pretty one, so here's some pictures I took. Sorry they're a bit rubbish but it's hard to do on yourself when all you have is an iphone! 

Green and brown. Half and half. Split almost right down the middle. The other eye, the one that does most of my seeing for me, is considerably less interesting looking, and is a sort of murky brown colour, like someone had switched on the centrifuge in my right eye, but forgotten to do it in my left. And as it is less interesting, I didn't bother taking a picture of it. If you want one...just ask. Even if its weird. 

Anyone who finds this sort of thing interesting, but also enjoys a certain amount of fantasy fiction might enjoy this film- I've only watched the trailer, but I think its quite cool.

What about you? Are you, like me, fascinated by eyes and the process of vision? 

Tonight, this is me:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Feelers

So today, I'm blogging much earlier in the day because this topic has just come to me.

Feelers.

No! Not that sort of feelers, Rosa! You dolt!

I'm talking about...findy outy feelers. As you can probably tell from the fact that I even have a daily blog, I'm...not employed (although somehow I find myself incredibly busy). But I feel like I constantly moan in my head about not having the job I want. But I've been thinking more recently than that that I really ought to be trying harder to find the sort of job I want. I was shocked to find that it'd been over a month since I'd looked on the IdeasTap website for jobs; which is really great for creative types- its kind of like LinkedIn but for creative people and its actually helpful because they have an online magazine and everything! Its full of great articles about getting yourself out of a rut with regards to a creative career and even if you're not interested in that, it makes for a good read. I'd heartily recommend signing up for it.

And even though it'd been a while since I'd been on there, there were still only two jobs that I felt I was eligible for with my experience and qualifications, one of which I was apprehensive about because I'd not done that sort of job before- so I sent out an email to the people advertising the vacancy to ask if I could shadow the person they choose for the job so as to gain experience and further my eligibility on jobs that I actually apply for myself. I also applied for some cool-looking internships!! Ah... Why don't I do more of this?

...Pure laziness. I have to stop doing that. I am sure that if I was more proactive, I'd get further, faster. But there just sees to be something in my brain... what is it? The procrastination bug. But I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, because these jobs I'm going for never pay very well and on top of that I want to be able to afford to move out of my parents' house. So its more like "will this job pay me enough to get out and be independent" rather than "am I eligible for this position?" even though really I think both should be co-driving the vehicle of my life.

If I were to put my life into a car metaphor, I'd want it to be something like this:

...Vintage. Quirky. A little bit fun. Something you could throw rotting fruit from at pedestrians that had done you a personal wrong and then drive off cackling in and still look amazing.

However, my current metaphorical vehicle of my life is more like this: 

Red. Desperate. Rushing to a hospital for a career emergency.  And even then, it'd probably not be as exciting looking as this- more like a grey ambulance, if they exist. Ah well, at least it'd be taking my career to a hospital! And who knows, perhaps if I get this internship, it'll be exactly the medicine my career needs! 

What about you? Is your metaphorical career vehicle the way you want it to be? Do you put out feelers for those sorts of jobs that you really really want? Or do you need a bit more motivation? Let me know in the comments :)

Today, this is me:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Seasonal Troubles: Summer Phase

Hello splodgies!

This evening I am a little late getting started on my post, so apologies for that first off. 

So I wanted to talk about something that might be affecting some of you at the moment. HAYFEVER. Now I've been seeing the same consultant for over 10 years and in that time I've been on a number of different hayfever treatments, none of which have worked especially well. However, my doctor has told me I can take up to four times the average person's recommended daily dose of Loratadine if I need to. My brother finds loratadine ineffective and prefers citirizine hydrochlroide. A friend of mine likes to take one of each every day during high pollen season. 

I've tried nasal sprays, tablets, staying indoors out of the pollen. Nothing seems to work. Have you ever had a sneeze so massive that it blew a hole in your tissue? Have you ever sneezed so many times in a row that you've made yourself so dizzy you're unable to stand up and you simply flop to the floor? Have you ever attempted to use nasal spray and found yourself unable to do so because you are already so bunged up that it simply just falls out of your face? Ever found that the correct use of a nasal spray makes all your food taste strange? Ever spent ridiculous amounts of money on local honey in the hope that eating it would get your body used to the local pollen? All these things have happened to me. The only one that is even remotely pleasant is the strange head rush that you can get from sneezing too many times in succession.

Anybody got any hayfever tips?! I could really do with some- I get headaches from being bunged up for so long and as its quite a common ailment, I was thinking perhaps some of you splodgies would be able to help me. Let me know in the comments!! 

Today, this is me chilling out with Bernadette:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Nostalgic Pleasures: Episode 1

One morning recently, I found myself clearing out the bread bin in my kitchen with Bernadette. Most of this was old, stale bread that wasn't fit for human consumption, even for toasting. So we took a considerable amount of bread and went to feed the ducks!!

This is something I'd not done for several years. It got me thinking that perhaps this is something I could do as a series on this blog- the nostalgic pleasures. There are lots of things that most people would associate with childhood, like feeding the ducks or baking with your mum or drawing just for the fun of it. Here are some pictures of the ducks/ swans/cygnets: 

I think there were some ducklings too, but we didn't manage to get any pictures of those because we were too busy trying to make sure that all the waterfowl got some bread! We also met a nice old lady who was out for a walk and stopped to join in the whole duck feeding event. I think really as children, we lived in the moment a lot more- so I've taken it upon myself to try and live in the moment a little more- cringe worthy though it sounds- and just enjoy things as much as I can. Do things just for the pure fun of it. 

What about you? Do you do childish things for the sake of a joyous nostalgia? Let me know in the comments :) 

Today, this is me and my good friend/ukulele pupil Sarah, with a tea cosy that had until moments before this picture was taken was upon my own head:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

A Letter To Myself of The Past

Hey Splodgies- today I'm writing to myself from my present, to my past, as my future. If that makes sense. So... take from that what you will.


"Dear Past Rosa

Hello. I hope this isn't too strange, hearing from your future self, but if nothing else it can assure you that you will make it to at the very least, your twenty second birthday. You've not been horribly ill or hit by a car or anything. So well done!!

Next thing you have to understand is that right now, life isn't as great as you want it to be. That's present you and present me. But by the time you're near enough 23 you're MUCH better at dealing with this. You're still trying. Just remember that if your future self has not given up, then you shouldn't either. I know its easy to see how one little fuck up can feel like a massive deal, but try looking at the bigger picture- in the grand scheme of things, forgetting to do your geography homework really isn't that big of a deal, even if you get detention. There is much bigger shit to come, so enjoy the younger years where you weren't aware of most of the world. I'm sure that present me has more shit to come, of perhaps the same, perhaps of a different kind. But right now, we... or is it I? I am enjoying myself as much as I can. So....just loosen up, yeah?

Next thing, depending on what age you're reading this, you're gonna have some reeeeally big decisions to make, so for the love of all that is good in this world, take your time to decide!! You really can't rush these things, and they could affect you for the rest of your life! But remember too that its ok to change your mind if you want to, so long as you're not hurting anybody. And even if you are, sometimes that's ok too- if you are justified.

Next thing- be more selfish. Stop trying so hard to please other people, because it means you're forgetting to enjoy yourself! Find stuff you like doing by yourself because other people might not necessarily be around to entertain you in whatever way, shape or form you currently enjoy. But at the same time as being selfish, you have to remember to be appreciative, because right now, younger self, you're not realising how much the people around you are doing for you, your family in particular.

Lastly, there are a few things that you really need to keep persevering at because if past me, that is to say, you can improve on these things, it would make life a lot easier for me in the future, that is to say, my present. Keep practising at piano otherwise you're going to forget how to do it. Keep up with the ukulele too because you're still gonna be awesome at it. And languages- try and get at least a B at German GCSE. I know you quit French because the teacher was a nightmare, and the whole story with Spanish is something else entirely- but it'll help you a whole lot if you can get to A Level German, I promise. And if you can find the time during your first year of uni, try and learn at least a little bit of Welsh. The last thing you need to do is get into some regular exercise routine, because present you hates exercising.

Other than that, there is little else for me to say other than, keep on being a cheerful little thing! Because really, sometimes people just need someone to smile or give them a hug, and people DO appreciate you- so stop feeling so hard done by. People love you, even if you can't see it

Lots of love

Future Rosa
xxx"


Well that was odd. What would you say to your past self? Any words of encouragement? Preparation? Advice? Let me know in the comments :)


Today, this is me:

Birthdays! Posters! What's on my walls? Monologue Successes!

Good evening, splodgies!!

First up, an announcement! Today, its my dad's birthday! He's 57! So here's me and him on the way home from his birthday dinner: 

OK! On to the actual post....topic! 

On the list of topics I have for blog posts, today's post said "Posters". And I knew full well what I had intended by that when I wrote that bit of the list- but now I am choosing a different angle- because I have changed my mind, and I'm allowed to do that because this is my blog and nobody can stop me! 

It was just going to be a post full of pictures of the posters I have on my walls- but I think that I can do better than that. On my walls, I currently have:

• A Dalek poster, from that WW2 episode of Doctor Who
• A poster of Exmoor, where I spent many a summer of my childhood
• A poster of Lisa Simpson proclaiming "Its my room and I can do what I want!"
• A rather majestic looking poster of a panther
• A poster of three of those green frogs with red eyes, blue legs and orange feet sat in a row
• Two different Adventure Time  posters
• A Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit poster
• A poster of Gustav Klimt's The Tree of Life 
• a souvenir poster from the jazz festival I went to
• I also have a photograph of my graduating class at university, but its not exactly a poster. I wanted to put it on this list anyway because its very special to me as lots of my friends are in the picture. 
• Various other postcards/tickets/photos left that survived the purge of stuff on my walls.

I feel like all of these things say something about me in one way or another. Until recently most of two of my four walls were taken up by postcards I had got from my school library between the ages of something like 13 (when I first moved into my bedroom after having shared with my sister since we moved into this house) and about 17, when I finished school. I was surprised by the phenomenal amount of crap that I didn't care about was on the wall. And how difficult it was to get dried up blutac off the wall without ripping the wallpaper. In fact, I did rip the wallpaper several times. Now instead of a nice clean red wall, there appear to be lots of little white spots on there. 

 

I also have a number of other posters that I chose to take off the wall, 2 Wicked posters, from the London show and the tour (where I worked for a short time), and a poster from the old children's TV series The Trap Door (which is hilarious, you should really look it up if you have time) and a cinema size poster from the film Never Let Me Go. But what I find interesting about what used to be on my wall (And I'm probably the only one who finds it interesting, because its my room and I see it everyday) is that I didn't really feel like the decor in my room was keeping up with the changes in my personality- of course I've not changed into a completely different person, hence why there are still some of the old things on the wall. Now the walls look a lot ...well, tidier; less frantic. Which I feel like my brain is these days- even though I still think and over think A LOT, I do this considerably less than I did as a teenager. But perhaps that is normal, who knows. 

I really really like my room. I'll be sad to leave it again when the time comes. Sometimes I wish that I could just take my whole room to wherever I'm going to live next. Because I love all the things in here, I've definitely made it my own, with my origami birds, and my books, and my juggling balls, and my cupcake stand (which has only ever been used for mince pies), and my bed, and my mirror, and my cable car, and my globe, and my collection of small glass animals, and my tiger photos, and my collection of little owls, and my many ukuleles, and my mini drawers with jewellery in, and my lava lamp and my ΘΑΦ glass and candle, and my box of nostalgia, and my notebooks, and my CDs, and my hedgehog game, and my chest of drawers that I built myself when I was 17, and my lamp.  and my lampshade, and my desk, and my old feta cube outfit from a Eurovision party, and of course, my posters. All these things make my room my own. I love it here. This is my haven, my inner sanctum. But I know I'm going to have to leave sooner or later- I can't stay here forever. I feel like a restless wanderer. 

What about you? What makes your room your own? Maybe you collect something? Or you share your room with someone else? Let me know in the comments.

In other news, I successfully performed my monologue today, so here's a picture of me not long afterwards on my way home, holding the most expensive prop I ever bought:

Who would've thought a magazine that doesn't have one of those collectible model kit thingies would be almost a fiver?! Ridic.

See you tomorrow,

-Rosa

x

Sensory Memory (As experienced by me)

Dear Splodgies

I've had a wonderful evening this evening- and on my walk home it got me to thinking "how do we remember things like this? Because its not like a film playing in my head, or at least it isn't for me. Its a lot more than just the things you see and the things you hear- its also the things you smell and taste and feel and think. I'm not an expert on memory or recall or anything, but isn't it true that a certain type of stimulus can trigger another type of memory? e.g. an audio stimulus triggering a visual memory? 

I dunno- maybe it is just me! Who knows? But for tonight, I will remember this evening with the smell of grass, the sound of swifts, the sight of the sunset and the feeling of good company.

 Let me know if you experience the same thing in the comments section

Today, this is me and an old friend :) :

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Preparation - can you ever be prepared for ANYTHING??

And when I say "Prepared for anything???" I don't mean its impossible to prepare for something, I mean is it possible to be prepared for any eventuality.

I often feel like I should be prepared... not in a :

 sort of a way...

More of a : 

  sort of a way, y'know? 

I often feel like the phrase "Always be prepared" is unhelpful though. Because it is possible to OVER prepare for something like an audition or an interview, or something were you feel like the guidelines are very set and those are the guidelines you need to prepare for. And then there are other situations like if you are planning for a picnic and you're not prepared for the rain to come because the weather app told you it'd be fine weather until 4pm. 

There is a REASONABLE amount of perparation can be done for most things though- but sometimes I take this to silly extremes. I am the sort of person who carries an emergency kazoo incase I find myself in a situation where I'm likely to need a silly buzzing sound. To be fair though I get myself into such strange and ridiculous situations that I think I'm more likely to need an emergency kazoo than most people. 

Anyway, back to reasonable preparation- I have to have a big enough bag to fit in all the follwing things that I need to perpare me for almost anything:

- inhalers antihistamines, painkillers and an epipen

- a notebook and pen

- keys

- wallet

- phone- always with a little bit of charge and enough credit/minutes to make a call

- emergency extra cash (which I usually end up spending on chocolate in trainstations whilst waiting for a delayed train)

- a compact umbrella (though I've currently misplaced mine) 

- an emergency kazoo

- various bits of paper with appointments on them

- training epipen 

- lip balm and eyeliner

- sometimes a copy of my cv

- sometimes a script or 3. 

....this way I feel like I can be prepared for...most things. Though perhaps the kazoo is taking things too far.

What do you think? how do you stay prepared for anything? any tips or tricks? Do you carry anything ridiculous?

Let me know in the comments :)

Today, this is me:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

The Frantic Thoughts of a Restless Mind

Dear Splodgies

I'm afraid its going to be another rather quick post, as given the title, I'm sure you'll understand. Today is more of a question posed to you than it is about my life. My question is: What do you do when your brain is trying to keep track of so many things, and is equally invested in them all, but cannot give enough to anything because it feels so stretched out? The thing is, even as an unemployed person, I'm feeling extremely busy. I'm not sure how to cope. I'm trying really hard to keep all the things I'm doing together, and to be honest I think I'm doing quite well. But I know I could do better. So I'm going to try :) 

What about you? Got any tips on how to keep your life on track as if it's a multi-arced TV show with lots and lots of cool, equally central characters that you get greatly invested in and don't want to cut anything out? Let me know, because if you know you should probably write a book and earn millions! ...or just tell me in the comments and I'll steal the idea ;) 

Tonight, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

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What I do when your plans don't go to plan

Hello there splodgearoos! 

Today I experienced something rather disappointing- my plans... did not go to plan. 

I had arranged to see my two friends, Persephone and Bernadette (pseudonyms ;) ) to have a picnic this afternoon and we were going to have a jolly time. But when I got to the place we were meeting up.... it was raining. Even though I had checked the weather and it had told me that it wasn't supposed to rain until later in the day. The following picture is pretty much unrelated, but it came up when I googled "raining on a picnic" and I thought it was hilarious so I thought I'd put it up as an illustration of how I felt about it raining on our picnic plans: 

I went to have a look at the plays section of the city library (which was shockingly understocked, there were less than 50 plays there, and they were crammed into the poetry section, which I found odd). My friend Persephone found me in there and suggested we surprise our friend Bernadette, who was on a delayed train, by meeting her at the station instead of in town. 

When we got to the train station, there were some students from the university there wearing university t-shirts that said "student helper" on the back. I found this a little strange considering that term time was over, so I asked one of them "are you here for the open day?" expecting to hear some instruction on how to get to the university, but she replied "well... no. We're here for the summer school. Do you need some help?" to which I blurted out "No thanks, we're natives." And turned back to my friend. It took a couple of seconds for the mortified look to appear on my face, but it did come. After a mildly embarrassing explanation of what we were actually doing there, planning to spring a surprise on a friend, they let us hide behind a row of them as the train we suspected had Bernadette on it pulled into the platform. And it worked! She was on the train and she was surprised!

We then decided to go stationary shopping. Not as in we bought the train station. Stationary as in pencils and files and pens and things. But we couldn't find anything we were looking for... so we just went and had some coffee and cake! Which was supatasty. Omnomnom. And after that I needed some sunglasses, because even though I own a pair, they are far too big for my head and kept falling off. Shortly after this we spent a VERY long time in a bookshop, but had an extremely enjoyable time :)

Then we went to my house, and had some tea. And I made a cake.

So I guess there are lots of alternatives when your plans go awry, but I can heartily recommend this kind of whimsical living on the fly as it is most enjoyable, particularly when spent with some very good friends :) 

Today, this is me between Persephone and Bernadette: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

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The Sky At Night

I, like I suspect many of you have also, have grown up in a city. This means that there is a considerable amount of light pollution where I live. 

However I'm fortunate enough to be able to live not that far from the countryside where there is a lot less light pollution, which means on a clear night (preferably in the summer when its still warm!) I can do a little stargazing. Last summer whilst on holiday with my family, we lay in the back garden of the cottage we were staying in and watched a meteorshower. It was both very peaceful and very exciting. We got cold quite quickly though because we were being very still in the dark outside, so I'd advise anyone doing it to take something warm to wear, and if you're not using a telescope, to lie on the ground so as not to strain your neck. 

When I was somewhere below the age of 12, my parents for my birthday gave me a book called "Zoo in The Sky" And this is what first got me interested in looking at the stars. The pictures inside were so colourful and the stars on the page were made of something shiny- and I really loved that book! I've still got it! Though I must admit I did for a while have a lingering wariness of looking for the Draco constellation because in the book it said "Be careful! He breathes fire!" and I took this a little more literally than I think the author and illustrator. My favourite part of the book was that the pictures of the animals were studded with these stars in the same arrangement as they would be in the sky. And yet even then, I struggled to find where each constellation should be in the sky because I didn't know how I should orientate the book to line them up with the sky, even though on the inside cover of the book there was a sky chart of the Northern Sky and another of the Southern Sky. So my "favourite constellation" became the one that had the fewest number of stars. Which was the constellation Vulpes- the fox. Because it consisted of only three stars, in a roughly isosceles triangle shape; and it meant I could point at any bit of the sky with three clearly visible stars in it and say excitedly "Look! its the fox constellation!" and genuinely believed that I was an expert stargazer, though in truth I was just an excited child pointing at the sky. However, when looking for the image above, I found that Mitton and Balit also did another book of constellations called "Once Upon A Starry Night" which I may or may not purchase sometime next week. 

I never got the telescope I asked for that following Christmas, but I did get some kick-ass binoculars that for a short time I put to bird-watching use. When I eventually lost interest in our avian friends (not forever though as you'll know if you've read a previous post about birds in the garden at my house!) I did go back to stars again when I started studying them again at school.

It seemed so fascinating to me, that the sun was a star and yet it was big enough and bright enough to light up the whole planet and make daytime and stuff- but that there were so many stars in the sky at night and they didn't even make half as much light as the sun did! And corny though it is, I really quite like the idea that the phrase "we are all made of stardust" is, technically true. And maybe one day, all our atoms will become stars again, after some great solar apocalypse and the whole planet burns up and becomes dust that drifts for billions of lightyears before gravitating towards itself again and building pressure and heat until it becomes another star. I'd like to think that might happen.

What do you think? Do you have a fondness for staring at the stars? Do you live somewhere with a lot of light pollution? Perhaps you get to see lots of shooting stars! Let me know in the comments :)

Today, this is me- getting ready for a glamorous evening of crime fighting:

See you tomorrow, splodgekins!

-Rosa

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Conversation Rehearsal And Witty Comebacks.

Good evening splodgies!!

So I'm the sort of person who feels like they never have a witty comeback when I need one. Hence why I have what I like to call "The conversation rehearsal"

That's right. I admit it. I talk to myself, out loud, and frequently. But I think everyone does this. But nobody admits to it. So I'm breaking the trend! Particularly if its a serious conversation I will often attempt to rehearse it a lot of times. Despite the picture above (which was the best one I could find for what I'm trying to explain- coz seriously I tried several searches on google images and couldn't find one that actually looked like a conversation) - I rarely use a mirror for this sort of rehearsal. Usually I do it just before I go to sleep. 

Sometimes its for a particular conversation with a particular person, but more often than not I rehearse what I would've liked to have said in a conversation in the past- because its then that you come up with the best comebacks; retrospectively. Especially if, at the time, you were dumbfounded and couldn't think of anything to say at all. 

I also like to have speculative comebacks, and attempt to store them up in my memory for when I really need them, like during a sarcastic bitching match with a friend, or a metaphorical slap in the face from a member of the public. Of course though, it is as sods law dictates that I forget all these in the moment I need them most. Most of the time. I like to fight sarcastic fire with sarcastic fire. My comebacks, on the rare occasions when I get to use them are EXQUISTELY timed and witty and sharp. And I have no qualms boasting about this because it is so seldom that I get to use them. My friends can give testament to this, as it is usually in the presence of them, or directed to them that the comebacks are aimed... so... just ask someone who spends a lot of time with me. 

...or don't. I'm not gonna force you!

Today, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

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p.s. A great big congratulations to Barrie and Claire who got married today! CONGRATULATIONS! Much love to you both :) <3

Making a spectacle of myself

Hello friends! This is what I look like normally, when I'm wearing my glasses. 

And this is what I look like without my glasses on:

Now, it might just be me, but I feel like I look completely different without my glasses on. Most of the people I knew before I started wearing glasses are either my family or my life-long friends. All the others have since ebbed away or lost touch with. I first started wearing glasses when I was just about to turn 12 years old as far as I can remember, I had some what I would now consider utterly hideous blue metal oval glasses. Then some not much better grey ovals. THEN came the transition into rectangular glasses- which I am certain was the right choice. Even though they were a metallic, brown small frame. And that's also the point at which I started having braces on my teeth (they worked, but I didn't wear my retainer, so my overlap came back, but my lower teeth are all nice now!) 

Where was I? I'm losing my train of thought. Anyway! My point is, I feel like my glasses do actually alter my face quite dramatically. The downside of this however is that when you are choosing glasses you have to pick some that will go with whatever you are wearing (unless you have multiple pairs of glasses, which I used to have but its to expensive to keep doing!). I chose these fancy black FCUK glasses, because I really like them and I figured that if I have to wear them every day I should really like wearing them. So I do now!

But I think the big question is- Do glasses really make you look smarter/more intelligent/cleverer/(insert your preferred synonym here)? well you can judge for yourself in my case from the pictures above. What really bugs me are people who wear glasses to look smarter- because that's just stupid. For some unfathomable reason, these people feel the need to tell you that their glasses are non-prescription and thus revealing themselves as an idiot. I don't mind other people trying my glasses on, so long as they are careful, and don't have a massive head that would bend them out of shape. In fact, sometimes I even offer if I think my glasses would suit them.

What do you think? Do glasses drastically change a person's face? What about people that wear glasses that don't need them? Let me know in the comments.

Today, this is me:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

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