Rant

I haven't blogged in ages. And this isn't going to be a particularly interesting one.

A few weeks ago I decided to try and reduce my medication (anti-depressants) so went to the doctor to discuss it, reduced the dose and felt like rubbish for a few weeks. So I've gone back up onto the full dose. It hasn't kicked in yet.

So, here's a rant, because I'm feeling like ranting.

Grammar and punctuation:

Parentheses are to indicate a side note, you don't need to put a space between the bracket and the next word... ( e.g. ) that makes you look stupid. Would you put a space between your last word and a full stop? No, because you would look like an idiot.

Should've is 'should have' not 'should of' so don't say it as two separate words when you mean should've.
Off of isn't interchangeable with from.

When you use Word and right click for a synonym please understand that not all synonyms actually mean the same thing as the original word. For example: according to Word, Familiar is synonymous with recognisable, well-known, common, known, memorable, household, proverbial. These words don't all mean the same thing. If you don't know what a word means, you look stupid by inserting into an essay to make you look more intelligent than you are. "I am familiar with the sonnets of Shakespeare" is not the same as "I am memorable with the sonnets of Shakespeare." You'd be better off using a common word and looking unimaginative than using a word which doesn't make sense and looking like a complete idiot.

Etc stands for et cetera which is Latin for 'and so on', therefore it doesn't shorten to ECT.
Word and other computer software is very clever at flagging up spelling errors. Don't assume that it is always right: if you write colour and are from Britain... it's right, but Word may flag it up because Americans don't use a u in colour. Don't just accept everything that Word suggests as a correction. Think about it. And don't assume that if Word doesn't flag up a word it is automatically correct. If you write form but meant from, it won't flag it up, because form and from are both real words! If you write 'a letter arrived form London' instead of 'a letter from London arrived', you look silly. Proofreading doesn't take long and will stop you looking like a fool. If you are a teacher you need to make sure there aren't silly errors in your presentations. If you are teaching and your handouts include spelling mistakes like partnets instead of parents and chidlern instead of children, these should have been flagged up by your word processor... and you should have corrected them. If they weren't flagged up you should update your word processor, if they were and you ignored it or (worse still) checked it and thought you were right... should you be teaching?

An and a. 'A apple' isn't right in writing or in spoken word. 'An hotel' is. 'An historical context' is right. 'An hospital' is right. This is because historically 'h' wasn't pronounced, just like the k in knight, and so needed an an before it. It is generally accepted that h is a pronounced consonant now so you can use a or an.

Ellipses come in threes. Ellipses are dots used for emphasis, pauses etc. They only come in threes. You can use more than one set of them...... but they have to be in threes. So don't use four, or five, or seven.

Parenthesis, Ellipsis, Hypothesis are singular. An hypothesis is one educated guess. A parenthesis is one bracket. Parentheses, ellipses and hypotheses are plural. You cannot make an hypotheses. That is like saying you are making a guesses.

A verb is a doing word: running, jumping, flying, spelling.
A noun is a thing or an object: Paris, table, book, word, letter.
An adjective is a word which describes a noun: big table, thick book, long word, lovely letter.
An adverb is a word which describes a verb: quickly running, badly jumping, swiftly flying, competently spelling.
And these are what we have been learning with Year 2 at school. These children are 6 and 7 years old and seem to have a better grasp of the concept than many adults.

I know that we don't have to use most of these things every day and that, actually, if we get it wrong no one is really going to pick us up on it, but wouldn't it be nice to try to use our language properly?

Thank you, and yes, thank you is two separate words. Not one.

Still going...

On the 6th I went on a mini lunchtime roadtrip to KFC with the girls from college. I was well behaved and had one of the lowest calorie things on the menu!

7th: Slept till 4pm, (which ok, isn't that unusual...) but it's the first time this year I've done it! Then I went over and watched Limitless for the first time, which is an awesome film!

8th: Today I cooked a really nice recipe: Sausage and Apple Toad in the Hole. Doesn't look like the nicest thing ever, because I overfilled the pudding tray, but trust me, it was lovely!

I'm alive!

So, I said I was going to try new things. We'll treat this as a New Year's resolution for 2012.

1st January - paid the £6 (£6!!!!) toll for the Severn Bridge, that in itself is not a new thing, but going through a manned booth is. I don't like face to face contact with strangers so tend to opt for using self-service checkouts and automated machines, hence the coin bins on the toll bridge. Today I went through a manned booth and the lady was nice and I wished her a happy new year.
2nd January - Planned my meals for the week and went shopping (obviously I'm no stranger to shopping but I don't generally plan what I'm eating or buying, tend to just go with the flow. Today, however, I had a list and (another first) bought raw beetroot and a bag of red lentils. oooh, get me! Also did the first day of my new diet.
3rd January - First day back in my nursery placement after Christmas holidays! We had a new starter who was a bit upset when his mum left, but I comforted him and he settled quickly. So maybe that was a first too!
4th January - I ate a lovely meal which I cooked today for the first time. I had grilled aubergine slices with ratatuoille. Sticking to my diet.
5th January - Tried two new recipes today. Aromatic Lamb Flatbreads:
Doesn't look exactly like it did in the recipe book, but it tasted delicious. It was also supposed to have pine nuts on top but I couldn't get any! Will definitely try this recipe again!
The second recipe I've tried today is Squash, Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Roast. I haven't eaten it yet, as it's my tea, but so far it looks delicious!

And we're up to date. Over the next few days I am planning to join a class at the gym (for the first time at this gym and the first time in a loooooong time), try some crafts from my new book: Kirsty Allsop Craft, and make a totally natural facemask! Will try to remember to take and upload pictures!

x

Plan/Scheme

So... I've been a boring, repetitive, dull person for the last few... years probably.

This is going to change.

I have figured out (it has dawned on me) that when I am bored, I am tired. When I am tired, I do nothing. When I do nothing I get bored... so you see a viscous (not sure of the spelling between the word that means nasty and the word that means goo-ey, so I hope that's right.) anyway... a viscous circle occurs.

Basically, I reckon if I'm not bored then the rest will not happen. We shall see.

My plan is to do new things and keep busy. So... I am going to attempt to do something new every day.

Not always big things, might be something like:
try a new recipe
listen to a band I've not heard before
Start reading a new book

Or, it might be bigger things, like:
Try a new restaurant,
Do a new sport
Join a class or workshop

I don't know... suggestions would be gratefully received.

In doing this, I'm pretty sure I'll make mistakes and do things wrong and probably make a tit out of myself. But what's the point in doing nothing just to avoid doing stuff wrong?!

I've been miserable and pathetic, I'm getting divorced and have mental health problems. I doubt that watching a film on my own, trying avocado or trying out Kickboxing is really going to do me that much harm. In fact, it might just do me good. Unless I'm allergic to avocado.

Positivity is nice.

Exciting Purchases

I went to the Blindlemon Vintage Fair today to pedal my wares. Sold a few bits and bobs and my new resin and line drawing pendants went down well! 

I bought some exciting things! 

 A book of 1812 fashions, it's lovely! Some nice handkerchiefs and embroidery patches and three pretty jars with vintage buttons in!

 Purple Buttons

 Blue and black buttons

 White buttons!

Jars of buttons!

So much fun! I'll enjoy using these in future creations!

xx

Happy Stuff!

So, life might pile shit on you from time to time, but then (every so often) it reimburses you with good stuff! The balance of the universe etc.

So...

1. DLA payment came through, which takes the pressure off financially for a while!
2. Student finance have agreed that I'm entitled to the full Adult Learner's Grant, which means I'll be able to afford my course books and travel to college and placement!
3. I won third prize in a local competition for one of my photographs and for a card. Which makes me feel very proud of myself.
4. The gallery where I sell some of my jewellery have requested more items! Yay!
5. My idiot of a husband has agreed to sign the divorce papers.

There are lots of other marvellous things, but those are just the big ones at the moment! Sometimes it feels very good to come through difficult things and reap the rewards. We just have to keep plodding on, because eventually good stuff will happen.

Plans for today: eat my curry for breakfast/lunch, go to college with my passport so they can sort my CRB, get leaves and stuff for Brownies later on. Sorted!

It's looking up!

So, hello! 

I'm feeling very awesome, virtuous, accomplished and wise today. I shall explain: 

Awesome - I'm happy, and generally feeling pretty good about life.

Virtuous - I've done all the things I was meant to do today.

Accomplished - I dealt with a blocked drain (turns out grass is not so good for drains... and that rubber gloves are the key!) 

Wise - I'm watching Horizon which is about Nuclear Power and I am apparently not as stupid as I think I am... this is good. 

Can you be very awesome? Or is awesome already so good that you can't be any better than it? 

Things I have learnt today: 

Having a little giggle with someone who is trying to do a very boring job makes both of you feel a bit better about things (the lady on the phone from the Business Decisions Centre department from JobCentre who has to ask boring questions to frustrated people all day long was amused that I can't read my own handwriting and that I blamed it on the fact that my dad is a G.P.) 

Big things are much easier when done in small doses, for example tidying up the piles of rubbish all over my house. Thanks to my mother encouraging me on the phone I now have a clear(ish) living room floor and a clear staircase so I'm much less likely to break my neck in the night. 

Turn off the goddamn oven!!!!! This is the third time I've done it and it is NOT good enough to think 'oh the kitchen is very hot... oh... the oven is on.' Next time it may well set the house alight, and we do not want this! Post-it note on the fridge methinks. (on the plus side, I'm clearly not paranoid... in that I obviously don't check whether my oven is turned off and nor do I panic about it when I'm out. Although, I may start....)

A fact I learnt today:

Elephants cry saltwater tears just like humans. I think this is really sad. I don't like thinking of animals experiencing the sad parts of life in the same way we do, like losing a family member... elephants grieve. I think it's distressing. But also, they experience the positive emotions, like love and joy, which they demonstrate when family members meet again after time apart, they touch tusks and they wrap their trunks around one another, like giving each other a hug. It's good to know that animals experience love in this way. 

There you go! 

xx