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 |   Originally efforts for the 30 Day Blogging Challenge in July... now just a blog |
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The 30 Day Blogging Challenge ..... lets see how far I get... Pretty far it seems! Winner (1st place) for the July 2013 "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  Second place for the September 2014 "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" |
| September 30 DBC. Day Four: On this day in 1888, George Eastman registered the name "Kodak" and patented his roll-film camera. The camera took 100 exposures per roll. Are you the designated picture-taker in your family? How have the technological advances in digital photography changed the way you look at taking pictures? In the days of roll-film cameras?? Noooo! There was no way on Earth that I would be the one trusted/relied on to take photos!  Not a chance.Why? Because I wobble innit  Cerebral Palsy and old style cameras that take photos you can't see or, more importantly, delete, are not a good mix. Trust me.Now, however, the world of photography is much more CP friendly. I really cannot use view finders, so having a digital screen on a camera makes life so much easier. As in, I can actually see what I'm doing, rather than guessing and hoping  I tend to hit delete a lot on cameras. But, that's okay! I remember when you'd pay a ton of money to get photos developed and not one would be even slightly worth it - oh the pain!  But now, I guess technology has made it so, apart from the cost of the camera, taking photos doesn't have to cost you anything at all! That's pretty cool if you think about it!  I now have a reasonably good camera that I love. It's not as good as I wanted to get, but it was £300 cheaper so... you know!  I ought to use it more really, but it's bulky so I use it as often as I can at the moment. I really bought it to take high quality photos of my creative projects... hopefully it should start getting more use very soon.But, yes, technology has dramatically changed the way I take pictures!  Quote for the Post: One of the best ways to make yourself happy in the present is to recall happy times from the past. Photos are a great memory-prompt, and because we tend to take photos of happy occasions, they weight our memories to the good. ~~ Gretchen Rubin |
| September 30 DBC. Day Three: What do you remember about being 15? Share with us the awkward, hilarious moments. Ahhh, fifteen years old! I am so glad I am not 15, or, in fact, anywhere near that age!  Now that I work with teenagers on a (kinda) daily basis, I get to see the other side. Good god, teenagers are hard work! Actually, if I'm honest, 15 year olds are not the hardest to work with. 13-14 year olds, however! Wow!  the only possible way to describe a day with 13-14 year olds is by using that excellent new emoticon. AKA: I don't recommend it! Not if you don't want to come home feeling like all the life has been zapped out of you Note: I love my job  Who was I when I was 15? Hmm I think that's a tricky one - I was a crazy mix of weird things. I was:  A successful world record holder A failing school girl A scared rebel - in the pub round the corner most nights A spikey haired non-conformist conformist - work that out if you will Sleeping with my best friend Seriously... put that altogether and you have me: the odd, skinny, spiky haired, wobbly, swimmer who gets in trouble a lot but doesn't like it!Thinking about it, I wonder if I'm the right role model for teenagers to have. Maybe I am? I've changed it around a lot I guess the last point is still true  but the relationship is not completely ridiculous!I was once chased out of the cinema because me and my friend took it in turns to practice doing wheelies in my wheelchair up & down the aisle during a film. We ran the entire length of a shopping centre (twice) and JUST got away by diving into my mum's car. It was the only time she was ever on time to pick us up - we were very grateful. I used to bunk off school by hiding in our garage, waiting for my mum to go to work!  I'm so well behaved now!Quote for the Post: At Pixar, we do a million versions of the movie, and every one of them goes through their awkward teenage phase where it's terrible and doesn't make sense, and we just keep working on it ~~ Dan Scanlon |
September 30 DBC. Day Two: Shoot some flowers out of your cannon. What does "peace" mean to you?  Right, lets be brutally honest: there will never be world peace. Ever. There you go... I shot. Not exactly flowers, but I shot. No, seriously, it will be impossible for humanity to agree on absolutely everything. I ain't going to go into the politics of war and the like, that isn't my style. But think about it... when was the last time you agreed with every word someone else said? Never? Right, so put that on to a much much much larger scale, i.e. every person in the entire world. Ain't gonna happen! For example: I don't agree with the concept of tea (yes, the drink). I think it is utterly pointless. But, if I put my arguments forward to a room full of 100 British builders, I would have a full on fight on my hands! See... world peace... never gonna happen! Humanity can't even agree on hot drinks. So many people look for/to external factors to help them find peace. At the risk of sounding all preachy and stuff, people just need to learn to be content. As I said to my friend the other day, money and nice cars does not equal peace and happiness. Everyone's happiness is different... or is it? I just think peace comes from accepting your real self and stopping trying to be someone you *think* you should be. I used to hide the real me, tried to be what I thought others wanted. I used to hide my creativity: my writing, my arty stuff, everything, because people laughed. Chris doesn't laugh - I no longer need to hide anything at all. Therefore, my peace & happiness has increase 100 fold. Just be you and the world will click. Quote for the Post: Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one ~~ John Lennon |
| September 30 DBC. Day one: Today's prompt is simple...Take a look at everyone who is taking part in this month's challenge. Pick one member, go into their portfolio, and review one of their items in your entry. Then, suggest an item of your own you'd like to see reviewed. Right, hi! I signed up for 30DBC, then went on holiday to Vegas - as you do. I got back on Thursday, but half forgot about/half avoided getting up to date with the prompts. Which, to be honest, is fucking dumb. On Thursday, I only had three entries to catch up on, now I have six! In the world of Fran, this makes me less likely to catch up (ever) and more likely to feel unnecessarily overwhelmed But, I've decided that I refuse to be beaten... for now anyway.I will talk about Vegas over the next 24 days, or so. But it's 5:30am and I've been up for about two hours. Therefore, you're lucky I'm even constructing sentences, let alone remembering stuff (see "Note: *Whistle* How do you do that thing? You know..." for a perfect example). I would love to blame being up and awake at this time on the fact that I'm jet lagged  That'd be a nice, normal reason, wouldn't it! Shame! I ain't normal! I'm just awake because I take medication that, if I was normal, would knock me out into a nice, relaxing snooze  ... Yeah, as I said, I ain't normal I signed up for 30DBC this month for a few reasons. 1) I said, somewhere, that one of my goals for 2015 was to do 30DBC two (or was it three?) times... this will be my second of the year. Given that I don't think I've achieved any of my other 2015 goals, I really ought to try with this one!  2) I seriously, seriously need to start writing again. I've had tons of creative ideas recently, but not one of these has been transformed into written work - in any way, shape or form. I try and journal most days at the moment. But that tends to be mindless scribbles that haven't turned into anything (hey, don't worry, I have nothing against mindless scribbles!) I've also been making stuff/coming up with artsy ideas, and creating activities on here. All of this is great... and it's fun too... but I do miss words binding together in my head to make poetry or stories! I just figured that, writing every day, like this, might help!  However, and it is interesting the challenge should start with this prompt, I will be sticking to my ye oldie stance that: The 30DBC prompts are there to inspire a blog post, not to dictate what is written. No, no, this is not a criticism towards ANY of the prompts. I just feel blog posts should reflect you, what's on your mind, and your personality. For me, posting links to a review doesn't do this. However, the prompt CAN (and will, in a sec) inspire me to write stuff about reviewing ... I've been thinking about reviewing a lot recently actually. In fact, I woke up thinking about it one night, while we were in Vegas. I honestly cannot remember the last time I did a decent review. Maybe some time earlier this year? Last year even? Reviewing is good. I need to do it more! I think it really helps with a person's own writing skills. While you review, you get a chance to read. As I'm always saying, reading is important for any writer since it can inspire you AND you are able to reflect on what you do or do not like to see or read. Therefore, establishing what it is you do or do not want to write. Further, the mere process of writing a review hones your skills as a writer as you attempt to clearly point out the great and awful to others, in a way that is encouraging and concise... without fluff and guff! So, I've been thinking. I reckon reviewing would help me on my path to writing recovery. More so than anything else I can think of (apart from 30DBC, of course). If you know me, you'll know I'm all about challenges. I've been thinking of setting myself a big ol' reviewing challenge. However, for once, I'm going to be sensible... I need to go into training first! I have lots to catch up on. But, by the end of the week, I will have reviewed at least one thing! I will! Quote of the Day: A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it ~~ Danielle Steel |
| I am willing to bet my right foot that adding and subtracting points with the use of GPs has little to no affect on the final standings in "Invalid Item" |
| Fucking kidding me? *polite warning* about a year ago, I gave this blog a very high rating – purely for days like today. So if you don’t like the words fuck or shit – or variations there of – shield your eyes. I’ve been meaning to blog for a while. But I’ve been waiting until I’m in an exceptionally funny mood so I wouldn’t depress you all. Well, that’s kinda gone to shit… I apologise. So lets start with the cliff notes: A year ago I broke my foot. How? I needed a piss and in my rush to get into my house I tripped over just outside my front door. In case you’re wondering…no, I didn’t get to the toilet – not for another 4 hours anyway. So, broken foot. They couldn’t cast it straight, so the geniuses cast it turned in. clever! Cast comes off in October and my foot is wonky as fuck so I need to learn to walk again. I am given a crap physio who doesn’t have a clue so I do it myself. About a month later, my foot starts to scream bloody murder. I spend the next two/three months trying to convince Drs that I’m in agony and its something to do with tendons. I told them I thought I’d undone the surgery I’d had done in 2005. In February, I’m finally believed and eventually I am referred to the guy who did said surgery in 2005. Fast forward six months, a cocktail of different drugs that never work and not a lot of sleep, aaand we get to today… The day I get to see the surgeon! Woahhh… don’t get too fucking excited dudes! I should point out that I actually went to see this surgeon guy privately at some point because I knew that I wanted his advice. He said he needed to get an MRI done to know for sure what the score was. I don’t have private health care so the MRI would have been £1500. But he said “get referred to me on the NHS and we’ll sort it out. I fought tooth and nail to get that referral. Tooth and fucking nail. Today, I’m waiting for this guy, with Chris, in a tiny room aaaaand in walks his junior!!! Now, Chris has never met the guy I wanted to see (Mr Robinson) before so didn’t know what he’d look like. The junior didn’t introduce himself because I’d met him at the private clinic. BUT I knew that as soon as Chris worked out that this wasn’t the guy I’d fought for, he’d go ballistic. I was raging inside but I’m calm compared to Chris! Sooo, I just chatted to this guy… he looked at my foot and said “oh it looks like you’ve already had surgery around the area you’re concerned with!” Aaggggghhhh you think!? In fact there are no words to describe what went through my head at that point. Fucking fuck. Politely, I said, “yes, Mr Robinson did the surgery.” *Queue Chris going rigid in his seat and going redder in the face* Anyway, the guy was clueless. Outcome? “you need a MRI scan and it’ll be a 12 week wait… bye!” Whh… FUUUUUUUCK  |
| Okay, so since I seem to have come back to WDC with a BANG and given myself mammouth tasks, I need to keep track... Challenges: 30-day image prompts:   Give it 100 images: ... (I'm not ssure, to be updatedActivities: "Merit Badge Projects" -- to be updated on 20th July "CLOSED!The Monthly Reading Challenge" -- Update NOW Give out prizes for June Write my 5 reviews for June - I'm late but I run the show Note down July targets "Invalid Item" -- update ALWAYS! Update score board Come up with new challenges Announce Baristas & put to work Come up with cunning plans Spoil full members a bit  MBs to go out: New MB number 1: ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy  r.a.garcia Andy~hating university  ohsoquiet Spacecat Choconut ~ House Targaryen  Tiger Cub 🔱 ENB x 2 Tiggy  Cubby  ~ Aqua ~ Marci Missing Everyone x2 ~ IVELTAC ~ Elle - on hiatus  Antonia Ryder Jellyfish-Vote Green on May 2!  New MB number 2: ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy for donation and awesomeness r.a.garcia for donation Andy~hating university for donation and awesomeness ohsoquiet for awesomeness Elle - on hiatus for awesomeness x 2 Cinn for awesomeness Gaby ~ Keeper Of The Realm  for donation and awesomeness Word Warrior beating cancer!! for donation 🌑 Darleen - QoD for donation aegreenfield for awesomeness ruwth  for awesomeness MRC MB: Apondia  Amay 💙 Carly  Other: Blog - but make it funny otherwise you'll depress people! |
  As is obvious to my blog readers, I have been in lurking mode for sometime now. I am currently trying to awaken myself from a period of slightly selfish invisibility. When I say selfish, I don’t necessarily mean this in a negative way – we all have to focus on our self at one time or another! Anyway, I felt it was time for me to, at least, try and return to my online life. Emotions are funny things. Mostly, we tend to think we feel only one thing or another at any one time: Sadness or happiness, anger or excitement. I, however, have been experiencing a wide range of emotions all at the same time. And, believe me when I say, this can be extremely overwhelming, tiring and stressful: Even more so when it is coupled with insomnia and physical pain. Thus, I’ve been trying to keep myself to myself. I think, in reality, I am doing reasonably well. I’ve not taken to my bed to lie around moping 24/7. Nor am I sat sobbing every time I feel overwhelmed. It would probably be easy to do so. However, there is very little point to this and it takes much more than this crap to break me down completely!  The thing is I am not miserable. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. Although if I don’t start sleeping properly soon, I might change my mind. Nope! No misery for me! You see, I like to equate happiness with gratefulness and the truth is, I have a hell of a lot to be grateful for!I have a great, flexible, well-paid job. I have a lovely house. I have an awesome best friend with whom I have become even closer to as together we both battle our own demons. And Chris, my husband, is being so incredibly wonderful that with him my side nothing is a problem.  Yes, I’m not going to lie, I’m angry too: Angry that I’m even having to explain this, angry that I am still in pain after eight months. I’m angry that this pain has made me lose my grip on my mental health – especially after I worked so hard at getting that back on track a few years ago. I’m also angry that my oldest friend, who I supported for 18 years, gave up on me and moved away without saying goodbye. That was harsh!Nevertheless, there is little to no point in allowing anger to be the emotion to fuel your life – unless you use it in a positive way, which is actually pretty tough to do. So, I’m trying to pry out this particular emotion and chuck it to the side. In my time away, I’ve gone through quite a few obsessions to try and focus my mind. It is in this area of my life that makes me consider if I have Bipolar. I definitely have the traits. However, this is taken from my own personal knowledge, rather than anything professional. So, I won’t go into this too much. Indeed, I have always had plans and get obsessed with particular things then give up after a while. Unfortunately, this has not been writing lately. Shame! Instead, it has been painting, buying notebooks and magazines. I’m hoping that, one-day, I may be able to level things out and enjoy doing things in a more stable and less obsessive/full on way.  I have just bought a new camera, which I’ve wanted for a long time. I have also finally gotten round to teaching myself how to use Photoshop (can you tell?). I am really enjoying using both these things - the possibilities excite me. But, this time, I do not want to use them for two weeks and then give up!I have quite a few awesome ideas, which I definitely want to work to develop. Ideas are great; I have multitudes of them. However, they never go anywhere because I constantly give up. If I want more excitement, I need to keep going with things I enjoy. I love challenges. Therefore, to build up to my project ideas, I am considering setting myself a mini challenge… to be confirmed! |
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