Author: Sue

I have been writing in various forms since I was a child. I write about what is going on in my life, what I enjoy, and the struggles of dealing with chronic illness and mental health issues. I love live music, football (Scotland and Dunfermline Athletic), reading, Formula 1, Stock Cars, and eating lots of vegan crap.

HAPPY ST ANDREWS DAY

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

So Google spoke to me today, and it said…

This made me so happy. I am really proud of being Scottish, and this is a day to share that pride.

“About the middle of the tenth century, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. Several legends state that the relics of Andrew were brought under supernatural guidance from Constantinople to the place where the modern town of St Andrews stands today”

-Wikipedia

St. Andrew is seen as being the individual who lead Scotland to become a Christian country.

To be honest, I know a lot of people view this as a day to celebrate being part of Scotland. We have a rich history and are known for being a friendly country. The government dubbed it ‘The Best Small Country in The World’, others dub it ‘God’s Country’. I call it home, and I  feel that every Scot should wave a Saltire in pride and celebrate, for we have a lot to be grateful for.

So Happy St Andrews day to everyone from Scotland, where ever you are.

The Right To Protest

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Are things really that bad, that people are turning on protesters? People who are fighting against cuts, job losses and university fee hikes. Why are these people, who are standing up for what they believe in, and they get degraded by the rest of the working class. Is it because the non-strikers are jealous that these people have the bravery to go and try to make a statement. People are too scared to do something and take responsibility.

The think that annoys me, is that the average MP in the UK has 15 aides. That is 15 office staff and publicists. Why does a man who doesn’t even bother to go to parliament and fight for who he is representing, get the chance to staff a whole office? That is not required. You can fire teachers and nurses, but the people in charge of the country can employ as many people as they want. That is not equality, that is the upper classes getting everything again.

For years, we were told that we ‘needed an education’ to be successful, during which the countries industries all left to fairer climates, where the labour was cheaper. But that’s ok, we were told ‘everyone can go to University and we will still thrive’. Now, in the year 2010, 9/10 school leavers plan to go on to some kind of further education, whereas 30 years ago 3/10 school leavers went to study more. Whilst I am all for learning, and am someone who went to college, I am a person who is sitting after spending a life in education thinking ‘now what’. There is still no industry in this country, so you find that people get their qualifications, and then can’t get a job with them.

This has led to a generation of University graduates working at McDonald’s or getting benefits, with school kids being pushed to university. So you have a person early 20s, with sometimes NO work experience, trying to get a job with a piece of paper which has done nothing but get them in debt. Now they are trying to scale back on Universities and Colleges, but there is no alternative for kids who don’t go to college. Work in a shop or work in a call centre. That’s it, there are no more factories for people to work in, all the production for things have gone to countries like India. This has all been done in the last 20 years, and nothing was done. People sat back and watched as factories closed and people were made unemployed.

Sounds familiar? Yes because this is something that has intensified again over the last few years, with companies using ‘the recession’ as an excuse to axe whole workforces. But this time people are getting angry, and they should be. People should feel the need to support their striking brothers and sisters. If you don’t support the fellow working man, then what happens is the businesses and the government continue to run the country with your money.

And the funny thing? This whole job issue started with the Conservative party banning Trade Unions, destroying the working persons’ right to protest any change in the workplace. The Conservatives then blame Labour for the mess, and seem to forget that they set the ball rolling. Social housing is another big thing, as we have a shortage in the UK of affordable rental properties. Good ol’ Maggie Thatcher and her cronies allowed people to buy their Council Houses, a practice which was only stopped in the last year or so. This helped people get on the property ladder, and made it a necessity that everyone had to own their home. The catalyst for this was the money it would bring into the ecconomy. Now we have no Council houses as they are all owned by private tenants. And the people who struggle have to rent privately, which cost more.

It’s always the same people who seem to suffer, and to stop that, those who can, should protest.

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS, BECAUSE NOONE ELSE WILL!!

So its that time of year again.

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Its fast approaching the end of November. The time of the month I was supposed to have a certain novel finished. In truth, I am in no way going to complete it in time. Though I am still going to write it. Just on my own time scale. The reasoning behind that is because I was forcing myself to write, and it was just turning to shit, and I felt like crying over it. So I left it.

So instead I have found myself focusing on CHRISTMAS. Yes, it is that time of year again.

This is something that I really shouldn’t be thinking of, as I end up just getting really moody about the whole thing. Why? Because the event which is supposed to be about family and togetherness, is about trying to buy presents that everyone will like. *le sigh*

It’s the time of year where people worsen their financial situation, just so that they can buy others gifts. People are too scared to say ‘no’. If you can’t afford to do Christmas, don’t do it, or make hand-made things. I mean one of the best presents I ever received, was a letter from a friend, and it was an account of some of his best memories of us. It meant so much to me and it’s still one of my most prized possessions. It cost him nothing to make that gift, and it means so much.

Over the years it seems that people have substituted effort with money when it comes to giving gifts to others. Why spend days making something, when you can go into a shop a few days before the BIG DAY. Uch, its relentless, and we are guilt tripped in to being this way. As if, it makes you a bad person if you don’t buy something for a decent amount of money. It doesn’t make you a bad person, and if people did stop buying each other massive presents, then it would mean that someone would be making less money, and in the current economy, no-one wants to increase someone’s suffering.

It would be a lot better, if the whole money thing was taken out of Christmas. If you want to get someone something for the holidays, you would have to make it with your own hands. And to know that someone cared about you enough to actually spend time making you something? That would make everyone feel good, and it would be something unique and special.

If only it was that easy. I gave bookmarks to some people last year, they were thrown to the side as if they were rubbish. People are way too spoiled and should appreciate all they get.

*Thinks* Rant over.

A big ball of what?

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ENERGY.

As you can see from the drawing here, I am feel all creative right now. And as much as I wish it had something to do with NaNoWriMo, it is all to do with me doodling at work. It has been quiet, so I have been doing small drawings, which are (supposed to be) little cartoon versions of me.

 

I have been trying to look for something to add onto my blogs and site and things, and it seems to me that doing a little cartoon of myself, would be perfecto.

I also managed to get a flash intro for my Vlogs, which is something I have been meaning to do for months. It is rather crap-tacular, but is something that I made, and it means I don’t have to use the stock intros on Windows Movie Maker. That is quite a point for celebration.

The Toon-Sue (as I have dubbed) is still in planning mode, but I hope she will appear on some more of my stuffs. Like my own little mascot. I like that idea.

I am away now, because I have to do mundaine thangs such as tidying up. *cough* I have put it off all day, I need to do something for it.

Review: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt 1

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****WARNING – CONTAINS SPOILERS****

So, I finally saw what has been a major event in my calendar, since it’s release was announced, and am writing a review about it. I did write a review about it on LoveFilm.com, but because there was so much I wanted to say, I decided to put EVERYTHING into a blog post instead.

As a reader of the books,The Deathly Hallows is an incredible read, and I was a bit sceptical of how it would carry into the film. I, personally, can’t see how anyone who has grown to love the characters, through either the films or the books, would find this film poor. Without the backdrop of Hogwarts you see the characters, and the young actors shine. You get to see them having to face up to the fact that they were truly alone, and that is, to me, what the book and the film both featured well.

My favourite scene, I think, was at Godric’s Hollow, where Harry saw the grave of his parents. It was one of two scenes where the audience in the screening I was in, were completely silent. It was tense, it was emotional, it was everything that scene deserved. My only disappointment with that part was the lack of notes when they came to the destroyed house, where Harry’s parents where killed. It was supposed to be vandalised with pieces of encouragement, which I felt helped Harry to see that not everyone was against them, which I’m sure that’s what he would have felt.

The other scene which silenced the noisy audience was when Dobby died. It was perfect, and exactly how I pictured the scene. It was Luna saying that if they ‘close his eyes, he’ll look like he’s sleeping’. It was just so powerful. The emotion in Harry’s voice when he announces they should bury Dobby, and not use magic. It was a good send-off, but so so sad.

I usually hate when they add ‘new things’ to the movies, but one change was good. Hedwig. In the book, her cage falls out of the side-car and plummets to earth, and that’s it. But in the movie, Hedwig is killed protecting Harry and is killed by a curse. So she gets a heroic send off, which is still sad, but it was so much better than her death in the books.

Also, the start of the movie, featured Hermione erasing her parents’ memories, and that was really well done, and so sad. I think it was one of the points, which helped the audience the seriousness about the whole situation she was going in to. It was role-reversal, that the child was protecting the parents, and I liked that. Speaking of the goodbyes, I wanted Dudley to say his piece to Harry. This was missed out, as was all the drama involved with the Dursleys leaving their home. It was just them packing things away, and they got under a minutes screen time. I can understand why it wasn’t there, in the grand scheme of things, but still, it was frustrating because I like the scene with Harry and Dudley, and would have loved to have seen it.

There wasn’t a lot of dialog between the trio, as most of it was either Ron and Harry, or Hermione and Harry. This worked well, as you could feel the emotion the characters, especially Daniel Radcliff. People have always questioned the casting of Daniel as Harry, but this movie was the most believable I’d seen Harry portrayed. He managed to capture Harry perfectly. Rupert Grint. Well, after being undecided on Rupert’s portrayal of Ron over the movie series, I didn’t expect him to improve so dramatically for the final movie. He was really good, and in fact, out of the trio, he has come the closest to my vision for him. Ron’s frustrations and fear as he left Hermione and Harry was really well done. And it’s where I feel Ron really came to life, just as I imagined him. Emma Watson, was the one person I felt never truly portrayed Hermione correctly. But, I do feel that she was really good in this movie. I think, having the scene with her parents at the start, made all the difference to how the audience perceived Hermione. I don’t know whether it was just because I felt for the movie version of Hermione, because she  had been through a lot, and the stress was portrayed well on the screen. But…she still isn’t the Hermione I imagined. Which is sad, because it seemed like Harry and Ron were becoming the vision I had of them.

And Draco. You felt his fear. I just wanted Harry to take Draco with them. I always liked Draco’s character, and always felt that he was never truly bad, and the movie gave that angle. He was hesitant in whatever his father ordered him to do, although he still fought with the Death Eaters. It makes me want to see when they all meet again at Hogwarts for the final battle.

The story about the three brothers was something I liked. I felt that it added a nice break from all the drama, although I can see why it was one of the scenes that pushed it towards its 12A rating. I liked the style of the animation, but I did feel that it was slightly nightmare-ish. And the Deathly Hallows was explained so well, even my mum knew Harry had the cloak and Voldemort was looking for the wand, which is great for someone who got bored reading The Philosopher’s Stone.

I could really go on forever about this movie, but I am just going to go and talk about the rest on MuggleNet.

Overall, I feel this movie is the closest adaptation to the book from the whole series, and was very pleased with it. Although I did pick on a few things that were missing, I understand why they were missed out. If you have never seen the movies or read the books, don’t bother, this movie is confusing and possibly boring to someone who has no interest in the series. I’d advise on watching one of the more straight-forward movies first, because if you don’t like the world of Harry Potter, this film will just frustrate you, not make you love it. If you read the books, even if you hated the other movies, I advise you to see it. It is the version that every fan of the books wanted.

It is spectacular.  4.5/5 (it loses half a point for missing out a few bits I wanted to see)

Come And Lose With Me.

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*Facepalm*

I am well aware that the title seems like a chat up line from some angsty teenager, but what can you do about those things.

After walking around my life in some kind of daze, I feel like the irksome fog is clearing, and I can, for once see the path that I should travel along. And do you know what? All that I seem to see is people indicating that I am a ‘loser’.

I am an apparent ‘loser’ because of numerous reasons. They include: reading books, making VIDEO BLOGS, keeping a multitude of other blogs updated, being a proof reader for an on-line music fanzine and populating various message boards on the web. To me, I am happy doing these things, so why should I be berated just because I find happiness in something other people do not?

I spend a lot of time online, because I find it a good way to communicate with like-minded people. People who actually give a shit about the same things I do. Whether its spending hours catching up on blog reading or watching subscriptions on youtube, they are things that make me happy. I like the idea of discussing something and finding out that some people may agree with you, or want to discuss something in further detail. And I like that I can be having a really indepth discussion about books, with someone on the other side of the world.

It sounds either really stupid or really poetic, depending on how you look at it. People are always telling me to get myself out in the ‘real world’ more, which is a bit of a stupid statement, to me. As this is the real world, I am communicating with people out side the little bubble we live in, where we can discuss other matters and I can find out what their home looks like and things. I find this really impowering, and it is learning about other cultures. So, am I really living such a closed existance, if I can talk to a wide range of people rather than choosing to go out and get ‘hammered’?

I dunno, people do things in life that make them happy. And as long as you are not harming anyone in doing so, I don’t that there is anything wrong with it.

But the truth is, everybody has something which makes them a little unusual, something that other people won’t understand. So in a way, everyone is the same, everyone is a loser. And every loser will be a winner at some point of their life.

An Ode to John Green

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I am half-way through John Green’s novel Paper Towns. Which is an amazing book, I recommend everyone to get it.

 

What I like about John’s novels as that there is always a female character in his work, who seems to be central to the storyline. He paints pictures of girls who are not only beautiful, but they are highly intelligent. And I don’t mean, in a Dawson’s Creek way where, the characters spouted long words, but didn’t really seem in their character to say such things.I mean, here are visualisations of teenage girls, and they speak using intelligence  as if they are extremely well-read individuals.

 

The thing is, in the media, woman are all too often written as being one-dimensional characters, who maybe long for a different life, but they don’t show any real intelligence. Even if you look at anything, which has popular High School girls, the girls are bitchy, stupid and only interested in sex and shopping. After spending my whole adolescence surrounded in horrifically stereotyped visions of women, I can only which that there alternatives available when I was younger. I mean very people I knew when I was younger had any interest in books. And although there was a lot of programmes aimed at someone my age, it was things like the afore-mentioned Dawson’s Creek or Sweet Valley High, all which left me with a rather dirty taste in my mouth.
I always have read a lot, I used to spend my summer going down to the library once a week rent new books. I loved it, which made me upset that there wasn’t anyreal  positive role models for teenage girls, that didn’t involve around boyfriends and becoming popular. So I would read horror stories,  and things, because the focus was on the situation more than the actual personality of the characters (which were still stereotyped).

I wish I had John Green’s books when I was a teenager, because, although the female characters are not perfect, and they never claim to be, they are clever and beautiful. They show women with their own mind, which is something that I believe that all women should be surrounded in.

I think my issue is, that most stories of ’empowerment’ come from stories which focus on sexual conquests. That isn’t empowering, that is degrading. To think that a woman is powerful because she has sex with some man, is not a positive image of a woman. A woman is powerful if she stands up on her own two feet, if she is not afraid to make decisions about her own live. No one should ever feel like they need to be in a relationship to be successful, and I think that the media is constantly telling us that’s what we are expected to do.

So thank you John Green, you may not be aware of it, but you have given girls positive role models with your characters. Thank you for showing that intelligence is beautiful.

What has the internet done for me?

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Actually, the internet has done quite a lot for me personally.

It all started back in 2005 when I started my LiveJournal account when I was at the Vet School in Glasgow. It was a part of my life where I spent a few months at a time living away from home, and thus felt quite lonely. So, I stumbled upon LiveJournal, and started writing angsty blogs. It was helpful, and something that helped de-stress me.

Using the internet there, was the first time that I ever had enjoyed any real type of access to the internet. So, as every other person did, I started up a Myspace and started going onto other websites just to waste time, I should have spent doing homework and studying.

For a few years, I used the internet by mostly visiting the local library, which was good enough. All I did back then was write a blog, where I complained about work or something as equally mundane.

It wasn’t until 2008 that my house got the internet. Why then? Well, I get free internet through my work, due to the fact that ‘work’ is a major broadcaster/phone provider. So… once I had round the clock access, I began joining more sites, and began to do more social networking. In particular, blogging and going onto various forums helped me find ways to express myself. Like I finally found a ‘voice’ to express myself.

This is something that I enjoy about the internet. I feel that I can say things online, without boring people, it means people can volunteer to converse about my topic of discussion. It means that I don’t feel that I am forcing myself onto people. Which I am aware sounds very strange. But what can I say, I am a very strange one.

People tell me I am ‘sad’, that I spend my time online, and that by doing things such as write this blog from my bed, I have ‘no life’. To these people I say ‘my life has become better thanks to the internet’. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it really helped me find a place to belong, and I know that I’m not the only person like this. The internet allows one to share opinions with like minded people, that you may not get the chance to meet in real life. And that is what has made my life better.

After spending most of my life feeling like the odd one out, I now no longer feel like that. And that has made me happier, which has effected my day-to-day life. I have made friends all over the world, I have made contacts with people who are designers and journalists. It has given me so many awesome opportunities and brought me closer to my heroes.

I feel like, I now know where I belong, and that place is on the internet.

My Path Is Less Straight & Direct And More Squigly.

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Tried to think of a more stupid blog title, and I couldn’t do it. So that means this one is pretty dumb.
As you will notice very little has been done in the land of NaNoWriMo. You WILL notice this beause I have done no updates, and so should correctly assume I am no further foward. But I’m not going to focus on what isn’t happening there, because I will just get depressed.

On other news…there is no other news really.  The most inspired I have been today is now. When I am painting my nails. *facepalm* This is becoming really so irritating. I haven’t done anything productive in anything I am supposed to be doing. Whether that be blog, write, vlogs, web design, portfolio building…well, I suck. As you probably know.

I sometimes thing I have something built-in to my personality where I will overwhelm people and do really fantastical at something, and then I just bomb. I completely lose interest. Its almost like over-kill, where I have done so much I can’t face it anymore. I think its just because I am lazy, but sometimes I do wonder. Do I act this way to keep my own self-esteem low and confidence battered. Because if you are already down, then noone can really say anything to bring you down any further.

My mind has obviously become warped over the years. I am off work tomorrow and hope actually get some progress on things. It would be nice.

Now Playing: Lamb Of God-One Gun

NaNoWriMo Wordcount: 13,787/50,000

Thought: Wonder how all my IRL pals will cope knowing I uberfangirl over things.

So, What Am I Doing?

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Answer: Not very much.

I am watching movies, playing UFC on the Xbox, talking to people online, and doing anything accept what I am actually supposed to do.

I’ll bare you the details, because you don’t need to read my blog for very long to realise this is something that happens very frequently.

 

And how did I cope with my frustrations, I hear you wearily ask. Well…

Make that video helped me de-stress, which I think was something I needed. So am going to watch Mean Girls, as I force myself to write more for NaNoWriMo. Yes, that’s write. I need to force this now as I am way behind schedule and. if I still want to complete this witin the month, then I need to make myself write.

The good news is, that I am really getting into the story. again.

Whoot

NaNoWriMo Wordcount: 11,136/50,000

Watching: Mean Girls