Sunday, 16 December 2012
Last Christmas...
Now I'm not talking about the popular Wham! Christmas song, but the fact that this could potentially be my last Christmas ever. I'm not going against the idea of Christmas, I haven't lost my spirit, and I'm not moving to another planet that doesn't celebrate it, I just fear that with the number of social occasions throughout December in which i 'have' to drink alcohol I may not last the month.
This week has been a particular struggle. After a few drinks on Sunday turned into a messy 3am finish, this resulted in sleeping through my alarm and being late on a Monday. Not a great start to the week... After recovering that Tuesday was then our international Christmas party. Masquerade ball themed we all dressed up and donned our masks and a fun time was had. I even won a small bottle of champers for being best dressed male. Score. However this also turned into a 3am soho finish and a sore head the following morning. Another day of recovery and we reach Thursday, the big Arcadia Christmas party. This time a Wild West theme, so on with the cowboy outfit and resuming the alcohol consumption. Guess what time this one finished? Yep, 3am or maybe a little later, who's counting? Needless to say Friday at work was horrendous, by this point I am on the edge, clinging onto life by the fingertips. And now we reach Saturday, once again I've more or less recovered but I'm off out for Ruth's birthday drinks. I had decided that no alcohol would be drunk, however Alice already has a bottle of Prosecco waiting for me at hers....
I guess I could do that whole 'go out but don't drink' thing I've heard apparently happens with some people but that's just not my style. Who would people laugh at when I do ridiculous drunken things and look like death the next day in the office? And I certainly don't want to be partly responsible for bars going out of business. There's an economic crisis going on and I'm determined to do my bit to help the spending.
So if this is my last post then I guess I didn't make it. Alcohol won and I'm lying in a gin fuelled coma somewhere. Hopefully I will be posting again in the new year. Hopefully. Watch this space.
That is all.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Tell someone who cares.
I'm known from time to time to have a little public moan. Not just randomly in the middle of the street or while I'm shopping for bread at Sainsbury's, but on one of the many social media sites that are taking over everyone's life. "Work was sooooo long today". "Pedestrians in London are sooooo annoying". "I can't stand all this rain". And numerous other random and quite frankly a bit boring tweets and Facebook statuses. Generally I'll (attempt to) add some kind of humorous spin on them because I'm cool or something, but however much you tart it up it's still moaning all the same. This moaning is not the problem, but when it gets a bit more personal, I start to have issues.
Basically some people seem to have misunderstood the boundaries of sharing. It's almost like that moment when someone oversteps that personal space line, it's awkward, uncomfortable, and just not needed. "Who does he think he is? Well he's nothing, and I'm so much happier without him". Not an exact quote, but an example of some of the drivel you find on Facebook. Usually the 'him' will be a friend on Facebook and so able to read it, but this is intentional so that the author of the statement can have a good old bitch about the person knowing they can see, knowing that they are having some sort of point made towards them. It's ever so subtle and smooth. Ha. And for the rest of us looking in? Well no one really cares do they? No one wants other people's personal problems shoved in their face, especially when the majority of people on social media sites are simply acquaintances from decades ago, or some random types you met once whilst severely intoxicated in a bar somewhere.
It gets worse however. Petty arguments and relationship quarrels aside, I once had a joyous Facebook status pop up that simply read "Labour is going well, currently 6cm dilated!". I kid you not. I guess the only saving grace is that it wasn't accompanied by an instagram photo of the subject. Where does it go from here? Detailed descriptions of their latest bowel movements? Yum.
Come on people, yeah it's good to share, it's fun to read some of the hilarious things people do, the random nonsense that's in some people's heads, the online equivalent of small talk. But don't go sharing your insignificant personal crap, because no one really cares.
That is all.
Basically some people seem to have misunderstood the boundaries of sharing. It's almost like that moment when someone oversteps that personal space line, it's awkward, uncomfortable, and just not needed. "Who does he think he is? Well he's nothing, and I'm so much happier without him". Not an exact quote, but an example of some of the drivel you find on Facebook. Usually the 'him' will be a friend on Facebook and so able to read it, but this is intentional so that the author of the statement can have a good old bitch about the person knowing they can see, knowing that they are having some sort of point made towards them. It's ever so subtle and smooth. Ha. And for the rest of us looking in? Well no one really cares do they? No one wants other people's personal problems shoved in their face, especially when the majority of people on social media sites are simply acquaintances from decades ago, or some random types you met once whilst severely intoxicated in a bar somewhere.
It gets worse however. Petty arguments and relationship quarrels aside, I once had a joyous Facebook status pop up that simply read "Labour is going well, currently 6cm dilated!". I kid you not. I guess the only saving grace is that it wasn't accompanied by an instagram photo of the subject. Where does it go from here? Detailed descriptions of their latest bowel movements? Yum.
Come on people, yeah it's good to share, it's fun to read some of the hilarious things people do, the random nonsense that's in some people's heads, the online equivalent of small talk. But don't go sharing your insignificant personal crap, because no one really cares.
That is all.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Friends. Family. Strangers.
How many people do you still know from your school days? Those very first friends you made back when you were just a tiny person. And even those friends you made along the journey of growing into a teenager, into a college/uni student, and then into adulthood. How many lovers, partners, or old work colleagues are you still in touch with? Hell, even family members, especially those more distant ones that you only ever see at weddings or funerals.
People are constantly entering and exiting your life. Now I've got a handful of people that I feel will remain in my life forever. My best friend from college. My best friend from uni. My best friends from Topshop. My best friend in London. Aside from those few people everyone else will come and go. Some silently, due to a job change, a relocation, a simple drifting apart. Some with a bang after something (usually overly) dramatic. In the next 5 years I may no longer know a lot of the people in my life. In 10 years even more so. And in 40 years? Who knows.
We are changing all the time, evolving, learning more about ourselves, picking up new traits and hobbies, getting rid of others. We lose connections with people, and while getting to know someone more and more can lead to getting closer with that person, sometimes knowing a person even better only makes you realise you have very little in common at all. And although every person that comes into your life makes some sort of impact on you, however strong, it is only those really important people that really leave a mark. It's those who you have to hang on to.
I'm not really sure what the overall moral of this was. I guess I'm saying that people come, people go, but what's important is that you enjoy your time with whoever is in your life right now, because tomorrow they just might not be there.
That it all.
People are constantly entering and exiting your life. Now I've got a handful of people that I feel will remain in my life forever. My best friend from college. My best friend from uni. My best friends from Topshop. My best friend in London. Aside from those few people everyone else will come and go. Some silently, due to a job change, a relocation, a simple drifting apart. Some with a bang after something (usually overly) dramatic. In the next 5 years I may no longer know a lot of the people in my life. In 10 years even more so. And in 40 years? Who knows.
We are changing all the time, evolving, learning more about ourselves, picking up new traits and hobbies, getting rid of others. We lose connections with people, and while getting to know someone more and more can lead to getting closer with that person, sometimes knowing a person even better only makes you realise you have very little in common at all. And although every person that comes into your life makes some sort of impact on you, however strong, it is only those really important people that really leave a mark. It's those who you have to hang on to.
I'm not really sure what the overall moral of this was. I guess I'm saying that people come, people go, but what's important is that you enjoy your time with whoever is in your life right now, because tomorrow they just might not be there.
That it all.
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Let's get physical...
Fads. I'm well known for them, and also known for my incredibly fickle nature where I become obsessed with something, commit to it taking over my whole life until I get bored or simply forget about it and move onto the next 'big thing' that I happen to stumble upon. Some examples? Taking AS level law in college because Ally Mcbeal and Legally Blonde made the law look so much fun and then dropping it after the first year when I realised it wasn't the slightest bit fun. Joining the gymnastics group at uni until I realised the sessions clashed with my favourite student drinking night. Wanting to become an Olympian during the height of London 2012 mania. And more recently deciding I want to move to New York after my visit over there. I'm surprised I've even managed to continue writing this blog after a year and a half, I would have thought I'd have long ago got bored of it. Well, I'm about to change everything and actually go through with and then stick with a fad. No, really. And the fad in question? I'm going to become an Olympian.
OK, so maybe that's being a bit optimistic and a bit of a long shot, but the unexpected desire to get into sport is still with me, despite the Olympics, and Paralympics ending some weeks ago. And furthermore I've finally done some research online and have found some organisations that I'm going to get in touch with to me kick started into my new sporting lifestyle. First up is volleyball and I've found a club that has teams of various levels including the complete beginners that are pretty much clueless. That's where I'll be starting. I'm sure in no time I'll be working my way up into the more skilled teams of course, however I'm happy to start with the basics and see where it takes me. And who knows in 4 years time you could be seeing me volleyballing my way to Olympic gold victory in Rio 2016. Either that or volleyball will be a distant memory and I'll be learning how to be a stuntman, breaking into political science, deep sea diving, or some other fad that I've discovered after watching a film or TV show. I have faith though, and I'm sure in updates in the future I'll be explaining how well I'm doing in my volleyball team, or still going to the team socials at least...
That is all.
OK, so maybe that's being a bit optimistic and a bit of a long shot, but the unexpected desire to get into sport is still with me, despite the Olympics, and Paralympics ending some weeks ago. And furthermore I've finally done some research online and have found some organisations that I'm going to get in touch with to me kick started into my new sporting lifestyle. First up is volleyball and I've found a club that has teams of various levels including the complete beginners that are pretty much clueless. That's where I'll be starting. I'm sure in no time I'll be working my way up into the more skilled teams of course, however I'm happy to start with the basics and see where it takes me. And who knows in 4 years time you could be seeing me volleyballing my way to Olympic gold victory in Rio 2016. Either that or volleyball will be a distant memory and I'll be learning how to be a stuntman, breaking into political science, deep sea diving, or some other fad that I've discovered after watching a film or TV show. I have faith though, and I'm sure in updates in the future I'll be explaining how well I'm doing in my volleyball team, or still going to the team socials at least...
That is all.
Friday, 7 September 2012
True love? Just found it, thanks.
Wow it's been a long time since I last wrote anything, well, I've been busy ain't I? But I'll get to all that later, once I've addressed the most important thing right: I've found true love.
People say you can wait for years and years to find it, others say you'll never find it, some even say it doesn't even exist. But I've gone and done it, against all odds and quite unexpectedly, I've found my one true love: New York.
OK, sure it's not a person, and technically it can't love me back, but now I've made it to the city that never sleeps I'm a changed person, I've fallen in love big style and I want to spend the rest of my time together with my new found love. Since moving to London I knew straight away I am definite a city dweller, craving the hustle and bustle of city life, the drama, the big lights, the out-all-night crazy times and the grand scale of everything. Except now London doesn't seem so grand. Yes, I do still love the place, it has some amazing sights, places to go, and I love living here, but everything now feels so small, not dramatic enough, not enough lights.
New York to me is the ultimate city, a vast city filled with amazing buildings that touch the sky, an atmosphere buzzing like nowhere else, some of the most impressive sights, fantastic shopping, a million exciting places to eat and drink, and places and people so diverse and full of life. It's like every other big city out there, only much bigger, and much better. Much, much, better.
OK, so enough swooning over New York, the reason I finally made it to the city was for myself and La Pats 10 year friendship anniversary, and after years of saying we'll go to New York but never doing it, we decided to just go full speed ahead and do it. Possibly the best decision ever made. We were there for just 5 days and crammed so much in, although we barely scratched the surface. Wandering down the busy Manhattan streets taking in the everyday life whooshing past us, chilling in central park on the lake, drinking vodka on the roof of a 21 floor building with the Empire State Building overlooking us, seeing the sights so familiar in many TV programmes and films. It was amazing from beginning to end. And literally EVERYTHING amazed us. A steaming manhole cover in the road? Riding the Subway? Asking for the 'check' rather than the bill? Hailing a New York yellow cab? Whatever it was we loved it, and soaked up every last moment of New York life. And the 700 odd photos I took were proof that I loved everything I saw. There's 200 or so on my facebook page should you want to check them out... OH MY GOD, how could I not mention? I finally went to Serendipity, 10 years I after seeing the film in the cinema, I made it to the little cafe/restaurant. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
So obviously now my latest obsession is to move over there and live the New York dream. I'm not sure yet how this will happen, although I have already looked at merchandising jobs over there to see what's about (Assistant Merchandiser at Saks on Fifth Ave anyone...?) although for now it's just a distance dream. For now.
So what else in my life? Well obviously last time I posted I was ridiculous obsessed with the Olympics. That didn't change until the very end. I watched more TV, and more sport, in those 2 weeks than I think I had done in my life. AND I GOT TICKETS TO VOLLEYBALL!! The obsessive click-click-clicking on the ticket website finally paid off. Get in. And now the Paralympics are in full flow and guess what? I GOT TICKETS TO THE ATHLETICS IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUM!! Double get in. Not only that but we were 3 rows from the front, right near where they start the 100m sprints, AND I was on TV behind one of the South African men as he prepared fro his race. Amazing night, and some amazing athletes. Truly inspirational. I've decided I want to be IN the Rio 2016 Olympics. I'm thinking rowing, swimming, volleyball and potentially some form of jumping and running. The training starts soon. Seriously, I'm looking into joining clubs and everything.
Anyway, can't spend all day typing random nonsense, I've got to put an action plan together to get a US green card, a job in Manhattan, and a cool New York apartment. Don't try and stop me, New York will be mine.
That is all.
People say you can wait for years and years to find it, others say you'll never find it, some even say it doesn't even exist. But I've gone and done it, against all odds and quite unexpectedly, I've found my one true love: New York.
OK, sure it's not a person, and technically it can't love me back, but now I've made it to the city that never sleeps I'm a changed person, I've fallen in love big style and I want to spend the rest of my time together with my new found love. Since moving to London I knew straight away I am definite a city dweller, craving the hustle and bustle of city life, the drama, the big lights, the out-all-night crazy times and the grand scale of everything. Except now London doesn't seem so grand. Yes, I do still love the place, it has some amazing sights, places to go, and I love living here, but everything now feels so small, not dramatic enough, not enough lights.
New York to me is the ultimate city, a vast city filled with amazing buildings that touch the sky, an atmosphere buzzing like nowhere else, some of the most impressive sights, fantastic shopping, a million exciting places to eat and drink, and places and people so diverse and full of life. It's like every other big city out there, only much bigger, and much better. Much, much, better.
OK, so enough swooning over New York, the reason I finally made it to the city was for myself and La Pats 10 year friendship anniversary, and after years of saying we'll go to New York but never doing it, we decided to just go full speed ahead and do it. Possibly the best decision ever made. We were there for just 5 days and crammed so much in, although we barely scratched the surface. Wandering down the busy Manhattan streets taking in the everyday life whooshing past us, chilling in central park on the lake, drinking vodka on the roof of a 21 floor building with the Empire State Building overlooking us, seeing the sights so familiar in many TV programmes and films. It was amazing from beginning to end. And literally EVERYTHING amazed us. A steaming manhole cover in the road? Riding the Subway? Asking for the 'check' rather than the bill? Hailing a New York yellow cab? Whatever it was we loved it, and soaked up every last moment of New York life. And the 700 odd photos I took were proof that I loved everything I saw. There's 200 or so on my facebook page should you want to check them out... OH MY GOD, how could I not mention? I finally went to Serendipity, 10 years I after seeing the film in the cinema, I made it to the little cafe/restaurant. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
So obviously now my latest obsession is to move over there and live the New York dream. I'm not sure yet how this will happen, although I have already looked at merchandising jobs over there to see what's about (Assistant Merchandiser at Saks on Fifth Ave anyone...?) although for now it's just a distance dream. For now.
So what else in my life? Well obviously last time I posted I was ridiculous obsessed with the Olympics. That didn't change until the very end. I watched more TV, and more sport, in those 2 weeks than I think I had done in my life. AND I GOT TICKETS TO VOLLEYBALL!! The obsessive click-click-clicking on the ticket website finally paid off. Get in. And now the Paralympics are in full flow and guess what? I GOT TICKETS TO THE ATHLETICS IN THE OLYMPIC STADIUM!! Double get in. Not only that but we were 3 rows from the front, right near where they start the 100m sprints, AND I was on TV behind one of the South African men as he prepared fro his race. Amazing night, and some amazing athletes. Truly inspirational. I've decided I want to be IN the Rio 2016 Olympics. I'm thinking rowing, swimming, volleyball and potentially some form of jumping and running. The training starts soon. Seriously, I'm looking into joining clubs and everything.
Anyway, can't spend all day typing random nonsense, I've got to put an action plan together to get a US green card, a job in Manhattan, and a cool New York apartment. Don't try and stop me, New York will be mine.
That is all.
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