Why being a student is hard...

• Coursework and exams. Enough said.
•  Housing. Where are you gonna live, whooo are you gonna live with?? Added stress for no reason.
• Internet. Don't even get me started on this. Six weeks in and we still have no internet in the flat. Yeah.
•  Bills. Why do they exist. Really.
• Rent. Student loan comes in, rent goes out. Yay.
• Job prospects. Thousands of pounds in debt and no hint of a job at the end of it all. Did someone say recession?
•  Finding a computer on campus during exam time. It's near impossible.
• Boys. Yeah, they like to complicate your life even more.
•  Concentrating on work when it's oh so easy to just go out for the 5th night in a row. So what if you have a 9am? Pffft.
•  Friendship. Picking out the ones who are always there from the ones who are just always around.
•  Time management. In every sense.
•  Dancing. And how not to dance like an idiot.
•  Keeping fit. You live near a takeaway and have them on speed dial. Your diet is clearly going out the window. It's ok, you will start properly next week.
•  TV licence. Or should I say trying to avoiiiid TV licence.
•  The hard decision between walking and saving money or taking the bus and saving effort. Most probably the latter.
•  Realising that your childhood dream of becoming the next Beyonce is never going to happen. Sucks, I know.

That is my indefinite list as to why being a student is hard. I'm sure you can all think of reasons I've missed off the list. I hate how students get stereotyped as dossers because, seriously, being a student is stressful!! There are so many things to think/worry/stress/ponder about... At first it's all fun and games then you get to third year and it hits you like sunshine in the morning that you have to act like an adult now. Notice the word act. It's ok if the sound of the ice cream van still makes you run outside like a giddy four year old or if Toy Story is still your all time favourite film. As long as you act like an adult in public, no one would ever guess you're just a big kid at heart...

I feel like I need to apologise for the lack of posts, I have had such a hectic couple of weeks being back at uni but I've been involved in some really exciting things I can't wait to tell you all about in due time so watch this space!

I just finally want to say a mahoooosive thank you to those who voted for me in the Battlefront Competition I previously posted about. I managed to get up to about 500 votes but people did manage to get their votes way up into the 4000 figure. I have NO idea how that is possible! But thank you guys anyway for your support!

Peace and love.

Feet Up Friday

This past week has been hectic as it could have been! I've been back up to Liverpool for re-sits of exams I missed and all over the city on search of a place to live for third year which starts in errrrm about 20 days!! I never knew looking for a house could cause so much stress. The stressful part of it though is because we thought we already had somewhere sorted until the Landlord turned round and decided to give it to someone he knew personally. Lovely! You can't trust anyone these days!


Anyway, I just wanna say thank you to all the positive comments on my previous post, I really do appreciate it and makes me feel like my writing style is improving and that people actually want to read the things I decide to write about! Every time I read back on what I've written in the past though I sort of cringe, like when you look back on old photo's and think 'Did I actually wear this??!' haha..

I am a bit slow on this Feet Up Friday but here it is: Ed Sheeran, 'You need me, I don't need you' I absolutely love this guy at the moment. I love how this second single from him is so different to his first 'Class A Team'. Talented, versatile - I must see him live one day.

'Call yourself a singer-songwriter you are just bluffing; names on the credits and you didn't write nothing...'

This is another song from his album that I am currently loving...

'And we're both so high, we could fly to Berlin, Tokyo or Jamaica. We can go where you want, say the word and I'll take ya. But i'd rather stay on the sofa, on the sofa with you.'

I do love his songs. His lyrics are so real and recall images that you can seriously imagine happening to you or someone you know. I do love big over the top love songs, but sometimes it's nice to listen to songs that actually reflect life.

'She buys me chips and cheese so I tell her that I love her and she is all I need... She turns my cheeks the colour of my hair...' 

And so one day, I decided to give up on Love...

Now I don't claim to know anything about members of the opposite sex, but I do know one thing - They sure know how to mess with your head! I wonder if it's like a secret sport for them and they get points on how badly they can actually mess with you. That would explain a lot...


When they do get involved in your life it's just stress after stress after stress. And they literally come out of no where. You're just walking along the Path of Life then BAM, Mr X crosses your path and you become besotted by him.  You think he is amazing. You want to tell him how stunning you think he is. Scratch that. You have convinced yourself that you need to tell him. Does no one understand this?? Why does no one see what you see?? He may even be - dare you say it - The One? You have found him! Well, that was easy...

Then BAM, Mr Y walks across your Path of Life. He seems nice, but who wants nice while you have Mr X (or you will have once he realises you two are perfect together..) It is hard though, to keep your sights on Mr X whilst warding off Mr Y at the same time - why will he not get the message?! 'You're beautiful' he tells you, 'I think we would be great together' he insists. You don't want to be rude so keep the laughter to yourself. Now you are in a real pickle. You want Mr X to hurry up and realise that he should be with you while Mr Y still will not leave you alone. It would be sweet, if you actually felt the same way.. Maybe you could introduce him to one of your girlfriends? She would love him...

As you contemplate this however, things start to worsen. BAM, you suddenly start to notice Mr Z. He's always been in your life of course. You know, the guy you turned to for advice on  how to get Mr X to notice you and how to get rid of Mr Y. But, for some bizarre reason, you can't help but notice him in a different light. How did you not notice before? Maybe it's time to forget about Mr X, I mean after all when you really think about it, Mr Z is just what you are looking for but never realised. Maybe you should - oh. Mr X now wants to be part of your life? Well this is great... isn't it? Mr X, The One, wants to be with you! You have to admit, you thought you would be more excited upon hearing this news. Maybe you were misguided. Misguided by his good looks, his charm and beautiful brown eyes. Maybe Mr Z , in front of you all along, should have been the one worthy of your attention. But you panic. What if he doesn't reciprocate your feelings...

Gah! This exact same thing has actually happened to one of my friends and what a load of unnecessary stress it was! It's hard as you get older to kind of sift through to the guys who are actually genuine and worth your time. I's nice to hear 'You're beautiful.. stunning'  but not if the guy is so practiced at saying these lines they become mere words rehearsed from a script...Though maybe half the confusion comes not from the guys themselves but from our own over imaginative minds. 'He likes me, he likes me not' enough to drive a girl crazy. 


Have you guys experienced or witnessed similar things?

Sometimes you must cry, and sometimes you must laugh.

Sometimes you must cry.
Cry until you run out of tears.
Cry until your head hurts, your nose runs and you have forgotten what you are even crying about.
Cry until the sun goes down, until the moon comes up and people are not concerned by your tears anymore.
Cry until everything is forgotten, every sad thought, memory and feeling.
Cry until you have no more tears to cry.


But you must also laugh. Everyday.
Laugh until your belly hurts, you fall off your chair and proceed to roll around.
Throw your head back and laugh joyfully.
Laugh until you have forgotten what you are even laughing about.
Laugh until your voice pierces the silence of the night.
Until it can be heard from all corners of the world.
Infect people with your laughter. Make them laugh too. Let them feel the joy also.
But, most importantly, laugh until you have forgotten what it is like to cry.

 

Wall of Dreams

I recently came across the Candy Chang Projects here and just think the 'Before I die...' project is truly inspiring, reminding me a bit of PostSecret.

Candy Chang is a public instillation artist, designer and urban planner. She works at 'making Cities more comfortable for people' by turning public places into thought provoking, vibrant, communication tools and ultimately  improving neighbourhoods.


Her 'Before I die...' project started in New Orleans where she turned an abandoned house into a 'wall of dreams' allowing people living in the neighbourhood to write down what they would like to do before they died. You can imagine the many different types of responses given, some funny, some emotional, some silly and some inspiring.  Either way, people were able to learn of the hopes and dreams of those that they lived with.

This is what the wall looked like after just three days:

With the huge amount of response, Candy is having to wipe off the board so that more entries can come in, however, she is compiling all the comments into a book that will be available soon!

I think this such a great idea, I wish I had one in my town! It makes you think about your life and the one thing, or couple of things, you would truly love to do.

I have thought long and hard about what I would write on this wall and I think (after changing my mind about 50 times!) I would put 'Before I die I want to learn how to be strong, live with no regrets, travel the world and see things that truly inspire me'. Maybe these are slightly unrealistic but I don't really mind, for me it's just about letting your mind dream and reach far beyond your everyday routines to think about what it is you really want to do, and what it is that may be holding you back.

So I ask you guys, if you had a wall like this in your town, what would you write down??

You can check out more of Candy's projects on her website, I also love the 'Career Path' project which asks the question - 'When I was little I wanted to be... Today I want to be...' My favourite answer that had been written was 'When I was little I wanted to be grown up. Today I want to be a kid.'

'You are my childhood'

Yesterday was the World Premiere of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

I can't believe the Harry Potter franchise, series, entiiiire thing is actually coming to an end!
It's been a long 14 years. I still remember when the first book, Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone first came out in 1997 and me and my brother would literally stay up aaaall night just to read it. And then the last book, Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows was published in 2007. I remember the hype, and I remember how I managed to bargain the price down to like half price! The last book was probably my favourite, it was so full of surprises I did not see them coming at all, especially the one concerning Severus Snape - who knew???!!!

It's so sad that it's coming to an end. Harry Potter has literally been mine and my brothers childhood. From when I was seven to seventeen the books have literally been the best books I have read. I don't think there has ever been or ever will be anything like this phenomenon again. You can't even compare Twilight to it. I used to get into reading it so much I'd actually be scared to mention Voldemorts name sometimes, seriously, as if he was real and if I just mentioned him he would turn up unannounced.

I know Harry Potter is not for every one, like there are still loads of people who have never read the books or seen the film but you can not argue with me that there is probably no-one on the face of this earth who has not heard of Harry Potter; The Boy who Lived.

AHH, I can not wait for the film to finally come out, I've always thought the film has not really lived up to the books but I'm still mega excited to see the final instalment on the big screen.

'There was a girl who came-up to me the other day in the street, sort of ballooned out of the pavement in front of me like she’d Apparated. She must have been early twenties and she said to me “You are my childhood”. About the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.' - JK ROWLING

This is so true.

It's kind of incredible how Harry Potter was formed, JK Rowling, she was just sat in coffee shop one day and the idea was formed. I'd hate to be some of the publishers that turned her story of the boy Wizard down. Can you imagiiiiiiiine? They'll be kicking themselves for the rest of their lives. 

It's crazy but Harry Potter has be immense. You may love him or you may hate him but you can't escape him, especially living in England. 

For me, it covers Courage, the ultimate fight of Good vs Evil, Friendship, Wisdom, Daring and Bravery. Oh and magic. Can not forget about the magic.

Anywaaay, the premiere last night was mega, everyone was looking fiiiiine.

I loved Emma Watson's £8,000 Oscar De La Renta gold and grey dress.

I Feel like I've grown up with Emma Watson also. She used to be like my favourites actress haha, but yeah she's stunning, she kinda just oozes classiness.

 

SHE REALLY SHOULD!! 

Check out my latest YouTube video HERE

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Feet up Friday

- Stick the kettle on, 

- Grap a packet of biscuits

- And put your feet up

I love this song, it was origionaly sung by Micheal Jackson but I love Boyce Avenu's cover just as much.

But They Told Me
A Man Should Be Faithful
And Walk When Not Able
And Fight Till The End
But I'm Only Human

Everyone's Taking Control Of Me
Seems That The World's
Got A Role For Me
I'm So Confused
Will You Show To Me
You'll Be There For Me
And Care Enough To Bear Me

I named a star for you.

I have had this song on replay all friggin day. 

It's beautiful. It reminds me of hazy summer days where you don't really have  much to do but daydream.

And what a great name also, Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

I named a star for you,
I named a star after you,
But that wasn't bright enough for you.

I climbed a hill for you,
I climbed a hill just for you,
But you said "That's nothing new, what does that prove?"

I know if I find what you hide in your mind, I'll get lost in it,
I'll wait for the day when I find a way to make you mine.

Carpe Diem

.Whatever you do, don’t waste your youth.

Nothing makes you appreciate your youth more than 5 nights stay in hospital. 5 nights stuck in a hospital bed with no entertainment other than a stack of magazines and an old TV with only channels 1 to 5 to get me through the day. By the end of the first day I had thoroughly run bored of the TV and read the magazine’s cover to cover. What now. What to do now..

I guess the interesting thing about this particular hospital stay was my neighbour, a 76 year old Dora Porter. She seemed awfully cheery for a woman who had been confined to her hospital bed for a number of weeks, and I soon found out why, she had a load of interesting stories to share to anyone, and I mean anyone, who would stop to listen. Stories about her life, what she did, were she went and what she saw. Who needs a TV when you have a life full of memories?  It got me to thinking, maybe it’s about time to take my mum seriously whenever she would go on about ‘Carpe Diem’. Carpe Diem, yeah, yeah, ‘seize the day’ and all that, I would always think whilst sat watching the latest episode of Gossip Girls. Now I think about it though, why not? Why not seize the day?  I’m not about to suggest we all blow the rest of our overdrafts on flights around the world and go backpacking in remote areas of Thailand (although that does sound quite appealing!) I’m talking about the simple things that can happen. I have a friend who, every summer, manages to mention how he could have been the next Roger Federer if he had continued with his tennis lessons. Well, you don’t have to be Roger Federer or Andy Murray to play tennis, you don't have to be Picasso to paint and you certainly don’t have to be Beyonce to sing and dance.

It sounds oh so cliché but there is a whole world out there, sometimes; you just need to open your mind. If you can travel, go travelling, if you can dance, go dancing, if you can swim, go swimming, if you can draw, go and draw, if you can run, go running. Do things, instead of wanting to do things. It always seems harder to live with the regret of not doing something than the effort of actually doing it.  I think the best things to spend your money on are memories not things, or 'stuff'. ‘Things’ can break, become old or out of fashion, but memories, well that stuff stays with you for life.

University really is a great place to do this. Where else can you experiment with who you are and no-one will give a blind bit of notice because everyone else is doing the exact same thing aswell?

‘Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing... And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.'

I want to travel

I am currently sat in my living room 23:55 on a Sunday evening. I should probably be in bed but I can't help thinking about my first day at work tomorrow and my exam re-sits I have to revise for over this summer.
But most of all I keep thinking about travelling. I love travelling. And people. Put both of them together and I will Implode, I kid, I kid. I'm just huge on travelling, I think that this world is so big and v  a  s  t and just amazing that I have to see it. Even if it is just a slice.
Just a town in France, 

or a city in Northern America,

or some golden beach on the coast of Sidney, Australia.

I want to go everywhere. I hate going on holiday and just laying on the beach all day. It just gets kinda boring after a while for me. I mean, I didn't travel all this way to just lay here. Go and see the sights. But don't be a tourist, interact with the locals, pretend you live there, get to know people, though that can be hard if your speaking two different languages! - I remember going to Bulgaria in the summer of 2009 and we were sooo happy to bump into some English speaking people!

One of my uni friends is currently in America taking part in 'Camp America' (any of you guys heard of it?) and oh my gosh I am so jealous right now! His whole summer consists of working in a camp close to New York City and then the rest he's gonna take a road trip round the place. I want to do something like that. I don't want to stay in some hotel resort in a little bubble. I want a proper adventure / exploring holiday. I want to take my map, put on my walking shoes and hit the towns, the roads, the restaurants, get to know the city for myself.

Oh I cant wait to just travel. And even If I get bored it wouldn't matter because I would be in a different city, a different country, a different continent.

I kinda feel sorry for my future boyfriend/husband. I'm that annoying friend that will drag you to all the museums,  the art galleries, the best places to eat, the best beaches. 

Oh yes, that is me. And I love it.

Dubai

Mexico

Barcelona

Rome

Greece

'Expectation is the root of all heartache'

 - William Shakespeare

I think this is the truest thing I have heard in a long time. Our expectations and our realities never really do match up. Not always. Not completely. Well mine don't anyway.

When you seem to expect something, you tend to get disappointed by the outcome. Take an exam for example, you may expect to get an A but once you get your results you see that you've actually gotten a C. What happened? Are you just going through life just distorting reality?  And maybe you would have even been able to cope with the C grade if you hadn't been expecting to see an A grade on your results sheet. It hurts the most when you apply this theory to people. You expect them to be there for you. Or you expect them to just accompany you through life. Through it's ups and downs etc etc. But then the reality can be so different.
Expectations are daydreams to an extent. Do you ever sit in class or on the bus or wherever and just let your mind wander for a while? Maybe you're picturing yourself going up to that guy or girl you are a little bit in love with and finally asking them out. And in your head you expect them to vocalise that they have the same feelings for you too. But in reality you end up looking like an idiot in front of them or they laugh in your face (Yesss, people can be mean). How did you manage to distort things this time?

So then what do you do in life when you realise that expectation really is the root of heartache? Do you stop expecting to see the kindness in people? Do you stop expecting that you could really achieve your dreams? Do you stop expecting things?

'Hope for the best, expect the worst. Life is a play, we're unrehearsed.' - Mel Brooks

Maybe you just learn to realise that your expectations are just that. Expectation. They have no link whatsoever to reality. Just because you expect to get an A grade does not mean this will happen. Just because you expect your crush to like you back does not mean this will happen. You just have to learn to remain optimistic but realise that what is going on in your head and what will happen in reality can be two very different things indeed.  
So maybe it is best to just expect that C but hope your damned hardest for that A.

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Life is the greatest teacher

I was going to wait until after my exams before posting this but I just gotta get it out now. 

I'm in my second year of Uniiii-verrrr-sityyyy!!! I'll be finished in two weeks and before I know it I'll be starting third and final year. How friggin' scary?? All you people going through uni will know what I'm on about! But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about what I've learnt. Second year has been very different to First year. First year was fun. Fun fun fun, as Rebecca Black would say. If I had to sum it up in three words:

- Freshers

-Parties

- Only 40%

And then second year comes along. Different. It has been different. I didn't realise it at the time but my gosh I have learnt a thing or two about life. Life, you know?

- People change. Some for the better. Some, unfortunately, for the worst.

- Friendships can be transient.

- People really are not what they first seem. Even your 'friends'.

-Despite that, you will find good friends in the places you never thought you would.

- People are not as strong as they make out to be.

- Do not, I repeat DO NOT, rush into things if it doesn't feel right.

- Say what you think and stand your ground (I'm still working on this one!)

- Everything happens according to God's plan, not yours.

I'm a pretty laid back person and I tend to see the good in people. Even when everyone else sees the 'real' them, I'm the one to stand there and say 'ahh, come on guys, you're being too harsh.' They weren't. They were right. But life is a great teacher. Never again will I trust someone so easily. Never again will I allow myself to be 'used', 'walked on', whatever. Even if it is to avoid drama. You have to know yourself and if a friendship just seems 'tiring' then it really isn't a friendship (in the truest sense of the word) after all.


Saying that, treat everyone with respect. You really can find friends in the places you thought you wouldn't. You may think you're all set with your friends but what about that girl, or that guy you say 'hi' to everyday but don't really know. 

Everybody struggles in life. I struggle. You struggle. The guy on TV struggles. I guess what we don't realise is that we could be standing next to someone, or even be friends with someone who may be completely broken on the inside. But we just wouldn't know. And vice-versa. Although sad, I think it's amazing. It shows that we have history, a past, that we are real, not just living and passing through life. Don't you hate it when you're getting to know someone new and you realise that all they have to them is what they show to the world. That there is nothing else there, that they are a bit one dimensional? I can't stand that. It may be that you just don't connect but you can always tell when meeting someone that they have something special about them, they have character.

Say what you think and stand your ground. If you're like me this will be hard. My thoughts seem to get stuck halfway through my brain and my mouth. I get flustered, I don't know what it is I'm exactly trying to say. Conversations happen so fast, everybody's in a hurry. In a rush. People don't have time to listen if you're not quick enough. But that isn't an excuse really. I need to learn to get my words out.


And finally, you could plan to be the next big thing while God plans for you to work the average 9-5. Who do you think is choosing, really? God has his plans, we just gotta follow them. And they happen, whether we like them or not I guess.


I feel like I'm growing up, finally. Growing up is hard but man, life is the best teacher. Someone could tell you all you need to know about life and love and everything in between but until you experience it, you wont fully understand. 

'Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards'  Albert Einstein

Feet up Friday

Go and make a cup of tea, put your feet up and just listen to this song:

"And our minds were meant to sail
Take a rest from our thoughts
Take a break from this world
And we'll feel miles away
From the places that we used to be."

Doesn't it make you just wanna live on the beach? Live on the beach with your guy called Maverick and possibly a pet dog called Freeda.  And it wouldn't matter if you didn't have load of money or that you didn't live in the best house because life isn't all about that. And because there is so much more out there.  You would spend your mornings watching the sun rise. Your afternoons, you'd spend learning to surf and thinking that if you got really good, you could open up your own surfing school right there on the beach in the future. And your evenings would be spent laying on the sand, staring at the sky, watching the sun go down and the stars slowly appear in the night sky. And maybe tomorrow you'll do something different or maybe you wont. And maybe you'll go travel somewhere for the day, week or month, or maybe you wont. And maybe you'll plan to have kids in the future, or maybe you wont. And maybe you'll go for a road trip to the next city and make friends with the other beach goers, or maybe you wont. It would be up to you and Maverick. You could decide, without the constraints of society.

 Image sourced from tumblr, credit to owners

'What did you learn today? I learnt nothing...'

Well actually, I did learn four very important things today as I was reading away at my textbooks:

1. Stand up and stretch once in a while. Like proper stretch till all you bones click and you can literaly touch the ceiling.
2. Sunday = Crap Food Day as all your food has run out and you cba to walk to Tesco before it shuts at 4pm. So beans on toast for you.
3. Becoming a social recluse in the name of revision is the worst thing ever.
4. But then your love for Skype is re-ignited and you realise its the best thing since sliced bread.

Cool story bro... tell it again...

Images from tumblr, credit to owners.

My new love interest...

In my bid to make revision more interesting I decided to listen to Radio1's Big Weekend this afternoon.
It was pretty amazing, loved just listening to the live acts from the comfort of my student flat. It sure made Tort revision a bit more bearable anyway!

The line-up for the main stage was pretty immense with the Arctic Monkeys, Ellie Goulding, Chase and Status, Plan B, Nicole Scherzinger, Black Eyed Peas, Foo Fighters, Jessie J and Tinie Tempah all performing. My fave acts were probably Chase and Status, Plan B, Jessie J, Tinie Tempah and Black Eyed Peas. They had incredible energy, especially Chase and Status. How awesome would it be to be a performer and just have the whole crowd sing your lyrics back at you?

I think I fell in love just that little bit more with Mr Tinie Tempah too! Sure, he's been around for a  while now but I've never really paid that much attention to him to be honest. I think it was his performance at this years Brit Awards that did it for me though. Pretttttyyyyyy imenseeeeee:



So much energy I love it.
And today's performances were just as great:




Defo a little bit in love with him right now! And his Album is pretty siiiiiiiiiiick too. My fave track has got to be Unstoppable and Written in the stars. Oh and Pass Out, the track that made him of couuuuurse.

For more videos, check out www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/bigweekend

UPDATE:



He looks amazing live, I gotta go see one of these days! I love it when artists get the audience to participate and shake up their song a bit instead of just standing their and sing from start to finish.

One wednesday afternoon...

One Wednesday afternoon, the sun was shining, children were playing outside and the Ice cream van was set to appear on the street any minute now.
On paper, it was the perfect summers day with just a slight breeze for comfort. Bliss.

And then it happened.

My mum got the phone call. The phone call which, after all the surprise and the 'hello, how are you doing?' comes the 'I've got some bad news...' sentence.
What do you say after that sentence? What do you say, what do you think, what do you even feel? This isn't supposed to happen, and if it does, its only meant to be in movies, in novels, in the newspaper, not on the other end of the phone.
So, what do you do when, what seems to be the perfect Wednesday afternoon, is shattered by that phone call?
Everything is happening so fast. Everyone is growing up, growing old, growing apart. But there are still only a few things in life that has the power to re-connect people after what seems like centuries. And one of them is that phone call. People come together, people reminisce and people offer their condolences in a small attempt to show that they care.

It's hard not to put things off for another time. Another day, week, month, year... but only God knows how our lives are going to pan out, so putting off a plan to go and visit someone may just be the wrong thing to do.

I didn't see it coming, one Wednesday afternoon in mid-April.

"Is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me."

JK Rowling

'To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all'

'Well June told me its her wedding party today but I haven't even been invited!'
'Yeah you got invited but I didnt! Should I still come anyway...?'
'How long will you be then? Tell me what to do, so I'm not hanging round lenton for half an hour like a lost sheep!'

Don't you just love it when you're on the bus and you can hear people on the phone. Naturally you find yourself eavesdropping and listening in on conversations you probably shouldn't be listening to. I think it's interesting though. I mean these people you sit with on the bus, you have no idea who they are or what their stories are.  All you know is that they need to get from A to B, just like you do. 

You don't even pay attention to half of them, apart from the really weird ones, you know the ones that stand out... The old woman that insists on starting a conversation with you. That old man sat at the back of the bus talking to himself. The mother with the screaming child in the pram. The cool kids on the bus who seem to rule the back seat.  Only those ones stand out.The ones that play up to the stereotypes.  But what about the woman sat behind you with weary eyes, the man on his way home from work to be greeted by an empty home, or even the lady planning to gatecrash 'June' and her wedding party.

Ok, I can't believe I'm just rambling on about people on buses... But do you ever not think what someone else s life is like? I mean, we must interact with thousands of people all the time, over the phone, in the shops, at the gym, on nights out, at uni, at work etc. I'm just fascinated by people and different lifestyles I guess, some times I see people and I find myself wanting to know more about them. Not in a weird creepy stalker-ish kind of way though. Just in a I wonder what happens in other peoples lives kind of way. Like how we ore obsessed with the lives of celebrities...
I guess I should stop fascinating over other peoples lives and just concentrate on my own.

The story of the Tortoise and how he cracked his shell.

My mum used to tell me this children's story she heard in Nigeria all the time when I was a younger and thought I would share it :)

One day, there was a meeting in the sky where all the Birds would gather and discuss. Discuss ideas. Discuss life. Discuss.
The Tortoise, although slow and steady as he was, wanted to join in on this meeting in the sky. He was intrigued. And so, he gained the help of a friend he trusted to fly him to this elusive meeting in the sky.
The meeting commenced.
And what an amazing sight it was for the Tortoise to behold. All these different birds, all different shapes, sizes and colours.
Greens, blues, whites, yellows, reds, blacks, oh it was a beautiful sight indeed.
The meeting in the sky, it was beautiful.
Now, the Birds where not mean creatures, they did not seclude him, or kick him out, or taunt him for being different. In fact, they welcomed him, they greeted him, and asked for his name.
Now, the Tortoise, although slow and steady, was not a foolish character, 'my name is All Of You' the Tortoise stated proudly. All Of You? What an unusual name. However, the Birds, did not have much time to linger on how unusual it was as the food had arrived.
The head Bird, a beautiful, striking, colourful Peacock, with what seemed to be all the colours of the world in his feathers, stood and declared, 'all of you, eat the food'. And so he did. Oh, he ate. All Of You ate the food until he could eat no more, he ate until there was none left.
Anger had began to brew amongst the birds, 'how can he eat all our food?!' 'That is not fair!' 'Let's kick him out! they cried indignantly.
The Tortoise looked around, 'what?! He said, 'All Of You eat the food', my name is All Of You and I am eating! Now leave me alone!' And he continued eating. The birds, tired of this game he was playing, lifted the Tortoise out of his seat, took him to the edge of the cloud they were in and dropped him out of the sky.
All Of You fell through the sky and landed hard on his shell, causing it to crack in several places all over. But he did not mind at all, for he had eaten.