Challenge within a challenge: Strong women replace strong films

It’s awards season and the big name, critically acclaimed films are out in force. This means that there are a fair few films that I want to see but can’t thanks to 2016 being the year of no cinema.

My friends Coops and Fran wanted me to see The Hateful 8, which I didn’t and instead I read #Girl Boss by Sophia Amoruso. It’s about Sophia Amoruso who went from high school dropout to founder of one of the fastest growing online retailers in the world, which is Nasty Gal.

Alongside Me Before You, this is another new favourite book. My friend Linsey bought it me for Christmas and I loved it. It was brilliantly written and the style it was written it felt like a best friend was telling you about her life and not a founder of a very successful company.

I could wax lyrical and quote from the book all day long, but I've picked two parts which stood out for me. The first part was all about sigils which I’d never heard of before. They are abstract words or symbols that you create which embed your wishes. It sounds kind of whimsical, but a fun thing to do.

Sophia also said this, which I found very useful: ‘Don’t get so focused on one particular opportunity that you’re blind to other ones that come up. If you think about one thing, and talk about it all the time, you’re being too obsessive. You might ruin it. If you let yourself meander a bit, then the right things and the right people fall into place.’

I also wanted to see The Big Short starring Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling, and I heard great things about it. I read Patsy Kensit’s autobiography and I picked it at random from the library. Before reading it I didn't really know much about her apart from that she was married to Liam Gallagher at one point. So it was an interesting to read that she had been a child star who still had an acting career today, and had been married 3 times, and her dad was friends with the Kray brothers. She had a varied life full of highs and lows and it good to read how she bounced back from the lows life gave her.

I don’t think the films and books connect in anyway, maybe that’s something I should try and do in the future and make some sort of connection.

Challenge within a challenge: It’s only words

My friend Alice and I managed to complete the 30 day challenge where we sent each other 30 words. In the next few weeks I’ll put on the blog what Alice thought of the challenge, but for now here are our first 10 words for the challenge.

My first ten words were:
Kinesics
Annus mirabilis
Alacrity
Uxorial
Bogart
Reticulate
Fealty
Shhibboleth
Rugose
Ignominious

Alice’s first ten words
First-foot
Annuannus horribilis
Pernicious
Cornucopia
Benthos
Soirée
Rambunctious
Accoutrements
Cinephile
Flapdoodle

My favourite words out of this selection are flapdoodle which means foolish talk and cinephile. Cinephile means a film enthusiast, which is what I am!

Now an explanation about the picture above. Several years ago my sister Lucy got me a credit on one of my most visited sites IMDB. She did this through buying me a producing role on 'The 1 second film.' The 1 second film was created and what followed would be 90 minutes of credits of everyone who contributed. The money raised from being a producer or other credits went to the Global Fund for Women.

They've since taken down my credit on IMDB (boo!) But at least I have the print out Lucy did for me.

Challenge within a challenge: Keeping a track on laughing

As simple as it sounds, there’s nothing better than laughing, or seeing other people laugh. And laughter can be found anywhere, even in the most unlikely of places.

For five years during my gap year, uni holidays and a year after uni I worked at an old people’s home in the dementia unit, ironically called Forget Me Not. I served breakfasts, which with people who have dementia isn't the easiest thing to do as they like to walk around a lot. Whenever I tell people about my time at the old people’s home, I get asked whether it was depressing to work there, and the truth is it wasn't. Each resident had their own character, their own sayings and catchphrases and half the time it felt like being in a sitcom.

It’s always a good thing to surround yourself with people that can make you laugh. These pictures below are of my friend Jas and I at my 21st birthday. I can’t remember what she said, but it made me laugh hard.

And with YouTube it’s even easier to find things to make you laugh in a second. For my second challenge for 30 days is to keep a laughter journal. You have to write down one thing everyday that makes you laugh hard.

5 days (well I'm on my 6th day now) in and there is a variety of things that make me laugh. So here are some of my highlights from the first five days. Unfortunately I can’t film conversations that I have with work colleagues, but most other things can be found on Youtube.
Chris Martin and James Corden’s carpool karaoke 
Dennis Quaid saying Saoirse Ronan’s name
Chris Kamara’s football commentary
Nick in New Girl saying; ‘CeCe your mouth was writing a cheque your body can’t find’ ‘Hair blocks sound.’ ‘You better not be fake drinking on my Valentines Day bar crawl!’ Yes those statements aren’t funny just reading them, I guess it was all in the delivery. I couldn't find a clip of those parts of the episode, but here’s another clip.

I’m looking forward to finding out what else I find funny in February.

Challenge within a challenge: The final 9 songs of the 30 day song challenge

The weekend is here, a chance to chill out, and listen to some new music perhaps? If that's your sort of thing, then check out the last of the song choices my friend Linsey and I made in the 30 day song challenge.

Day 22: A song that you would be the theme song to a TV show about your life
Linsey- Good Riddance (Time of your life), Green Day
Me- This Year, Cooper
I heard this song on an advert for a new series of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Now don’t judge the song based on that association, it’s a great summertime song that’s subtly uplifting at the same time.

Day 23: A song by your favourite band
Linsey- You're my Waterloo, The Libertines
Me- Hello World, Lady Antebellum
My two favourite bands are Lady Antebellum and Mcfly. I didn’t want to torture Linsey’s ears with McFly. So I went with Lady A instead. My all time favourite album is Need You Now, and Hello World is one of the songs off that album. (Thanks Lisa for the photo)

Day 24: A cover song
Linsey- Wonderwall, Ryan Adams
Me- Fix You, Naturally 7
I first heard about Naturally 7 on Hamish and Andy as I think they’re more popular in Australia then in the UK. They were recently on and were set a challenge of singing a chart song and then it seamlessly blending into the original version. The results were pretty amazing. This cover is brilliant and is definitely a band I’d want to see in concert.

Day 25: A song that makes you angry
Linsey- Hole, Violet
Me- Scream, Michael and Janet Jackson
During uni and about a year after if I got angry then I would dance, and this was known as angry dancing by my friends. I remember one time at uni I was so angry after cooking dessert for a guy that in the end didn't eat it, that I asked my room mate Vicky to leave the bedroom for 15 minutes (which was the time it took for me to calm down) while I angry danced. My dancing wasn't anything special, it was just me busting a move.
The last time I angry danced was back in 2009, I've mellowed a bit since then. It was when I was going to Australia with my family to visit our family friends which included my friend Tom. Tom had known about the trip for nearly a year and he made a mistake and booked a holiday for most of the time we were going to be there. I was so angry that he made that mistake that even after angry dancing for 40 minutes, I was still angry. But a lot fitter afterwards. This was one of the main songs I danced to.

Day 26: An acoustic song you love
Linsey- Suck it and see, Arctic Monkeys
Me- Always be my baby, David Cook
My sister Lisa was obsessed with season 7 of American Idol. She didn't watch any of the other seasons as it was a big commitment. I think our whole family during that season knew the names and musical style of most of the contestants. Brooke White, Michael Johns, Jason Castro, Carly Smithson anyone? The winner and Lisa’s favourite contestant was David Cook and he really was great. He really made each song his own. And when it was Mariah Carey week he covered her song Always Be My Baby. It’s different from the original and sounds like it should be on the end credits of a film.

Day 27: A song you make fun of
Linsey- Hopeless Wonderer, Mumford and Son
Me- Score Tonight, Grease 2
I’m going to say this out loud, I like Grease 2. There’s a small amount of people who prefer Grease 2 over the original. My sisters and one of my managers in my first job out of uni are the only people I know that like Grease 2. Yes the original is good, the songs are memorable, but the songs on Grease 2 are something else. Where else would you find a song about bowling, reproduction, being a cool rider and the seasons? Special mention to the song Turn Back Time, I really think it’s some of Michelle Pfeiffer's finest work. Score Tonight is a song that could be mocked but having a dance routine involving bowling is quite impressive and needs to be seen to be believed.

Day 28: A song that is your workout song
Linsey- A Forest, The Cure
Me- Far From Over, Frank Stallone
This is another song that I discovered on Hamish and Andy. A few years ago one of the listeners made the discovery of Frank Stallone and how he was the more talented Stallone brother. What started was a campaign by Hamish and Andy to get Frank over to Oz so they could meet him and furthermore put on a concert. It was a big success and this was the main song he is known for. At the time there was a phone in about how listening to this song first thing in the morning, improved productivity. And this song does make me row, run or cycle faster when I'm at the gym.

Day 29: A song currently stuck in your head
Linsey- Can't Feel my Face, The Weekend
Me- Sweeter, Gavin DeGraw
Guess what…it’s another song I heard in a trailer. The trailer was for the film Christmas with the Coopers which was quite a good Christmas film.

Day 30: A song that you haven't listened to in a while
Linsey: I heard love was blind, Amy Winehouse
Me: Lessons Learned, Carrie Underwoodhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mSm19ETQvg
I've got quite a bit of country music thanks to my sister Lisa, and this is from one of the albums she had. This song appeared on shuffle and I forgot how good it was.

Challenge within a challenge: Letter writing

It maybe old fashioned but I love letters. I love writing letters and I love receiving letters, because in the age of technology, to receive a letter in the post that isn't a bill is quite a rare thing. The other week I wrote a letter to my friend Michelle to arrange a baking session, rather than text because she said she didn't receive letters that often. And she loved receiving the letter as it was a nice surprise.

Talking about my letter writing challenge today is perfect timing as I received a letter, well postcard in the post today, completely by surprise. For any supporters of my 29 challenge I did last year, you would know that one of my key achievements was writing a film in a week. A couple of weeks prior to me writing I met the author David Nicholls at the Radio Times festival, and I asked him for some advice on writers block. He gave great advice and a couple of months after finishing my screenplay I sent him a letter thanking him for his advice and saying what I had achieved as a result.

Today I received this in the post.

So one of my challenges for the next 30 days (which I started at the start of the month) is to write a letter a day. It’s that simple. I've got a rough idea of who I want to write some of the letters to, and a few friends have given me ideas of different people to write to as well. Getting replies isn't important at all, I just like the thought that somebody is going to get some post that isn't junk mail. Something old fashioned that can brighten up their day.

Challenge within a challenge: A positive quote a day part 1

One of my challenges I set myself in January was to write a positive quote a day. I thought January was a great month to do this in as it’s usually quite a dull, cold month. So some warm, bright positivity wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Originally I was supposed to do the challenge with Humaira but I think she was too busy, so I just went ahead and did the challenge anyway.

With February still being a bit cold and dull, I thought I’d give you the first 10 quotes of the challenge. Most of them didn’t have who they were said by. For some reason Instagram isn't a big fan of putting this little detail on pictures.

Day 1- The expert in anything was once a beginner

Day 2- Tough times don’t last, tough people do
Day 3- You have the same amount of hours in the day as Beyonce!
Day 4- Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life. Robin Slarma
Day 5- Early on I learnt not to take things personally. Karren Brady
Day 6- I've realised that cutting people from my life doesn't mean I hate them. It simply means I respect them.
Day 7- If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it
Day 8- Say yes and you’ll figure it out afterwards. Tina Fey
Day 9- Your value doesn't decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.
Day 10- Forget all the reasons why it won’t work and believe the one reason why it will!

Minimalism challenge update: Gratitude

One of the parts of the minimalism challenge I did was to practice gratitude. And to do this I had to write a long list of everything (and everyone) you are grateful for in life. 

I hope I haven’t missed anyone of, and if I have my apologies. Here goes!

My parents who provided a stable upbringing and being supportive of my blog and crazy ideas

My sisters, even though I may annoy them sometimes it's good to know they are always there

My Grandad for being my cheerleader

My flat, even though it's single glazed, it's a roof over my head

The location of my flat, it's very convenient.

Electric whisk, a real timesaver

My TV

My Ipod

I have a job that pays

A running car called Jimmy

Charlotte for putting up with me

The friendships I made at school and how they have continued

A gym that is opposite my office

The ability to learn new things

Countryside on my doorstep

How mine and Humaira's friendship continues after overcoming a big hurdle

My continued friendship with Rock and how it's grown

Staying in contact with my shorthand teacher Jo

My friendship with baking buddy Michelle even though it came through a breakup

My continued friendship with Faith even though we don't live together anymore

My friendship with Linsey, what started off being pole sisters, we now are each others support in 

career and the decisions we make

Whatsapp for improving friendships and relationships with sisters

My friendship with Mel who I met on the National Trust holiday

My friendships with uni friends in general for lasting so long after uni; they don't just magically survive.

My friendship with Laura who even though I've known since 2009, it's in the past year our friendship has strengthened.

My friendship with Zoe for always providing me with encouragement.

Anyone who reads my blog

My friendship with Coops and Fran which came from a friendship Coops originally had with my sister.

My health, touch wood no aches or pains yet

My ability to have a good time without drinking.

Being able to talk to all my relatives