Okely dokely!

I'm back!  Everything in my life seems to be back on track now so it's time I start writing on here again! :)

As I was scrolling through my blogger feed, catching up on the world of blogging I happened across a post on my friend Amy's blog about friendship.  I can sympathise completely with the frustration portrayed in her writing.  I couldn't help but think about something I'd stumbled upon a while ago.


The Mayonnaise Jar...and the Coffee (source)

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar... and the coffee...
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.  When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The golf balls are the important things-your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.  The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.  The sand is everything else-the small stuff.""If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.  Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children.  Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your partner out to dinner.  Play another 18.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.  "I'm glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

30 Day Challenge - 3. What kind of person attracts you?

I'm going to take this in the sense of friend's rather than romantic interests.  Also I only have half an hour left for this post to count and for me to still be successful at this so I'm gonna try and make this quick.

I tend to gravitate towards people who have similar interests in myself.  At least a little bit.  However I can be quick to change my opinion of people once I get to know them.  If you're quiet then I'll be more likely to talk to you than if you're loud and brash.  But if I don't like you once I get to know you then I won't stick around.

The personalities of people I tend to like are the people who will be straight with you, they'll tell you when you screw up, they'll tell you when you do something they don't like and they'll expect you to treat them the same way.  I also tend to have more girl friends than boys, probably because I'm a really girly girl at heart and like to have people to share this with.  I also go for people who don't hide their feelings, I like my friends not to look at me like a loony when I spew out all my emotions all over them. (Nice image in your head there? Hehe).

The simplest way to put it I guess is if you're nice to me, then I'll be nice to you.

DFTBA
xxx

If you want to find out what the 30 day challenge is click here!

Oh Cumbria.

Why is your weather so bi-polar?  Today we've had torrential rain, beautiful sun and blue skies and then more torrential rain.

I do love it here though.  I love the fact that when I met up with a friend from school this summer we could walk for 10 minutes and be at a gorgeous cool river, which we proceeded to paddle in.  

I love that, if I have enough time, I can take a walk through a park/field to get to university (it's called a park but most of the time there are cows living there).  I love the fact that I feel safe, all the time!  I love the fact that I can live happily in the town centre and the only thing that wakes me up is deliveries to the shops, not drunk people and sirens.  Most of all I love the people that I've met here (this isn't including my boyfriend who, obviously, is pretty much the most important person in my life right now).  There's a special few who I know have changed my life forever and I hope that I can keep them in my life for many years to come.

(Love this girl.  Probably more than is healthy.)

I totally didn't mean this to turn into a sentimental post...  But I kinda like it.  If you ever get the chance to come to Cumbria please make sure to see more than the Lakes.  There are some beautiful towns and people up here.

"Some days, it seems to me like the purpose of life is to convert energy into beauty." - Hank Green

Hmm...

Only 2 days after I posted that another supposed friend made me feel like they just didn't care... again.

It doesn't upset me so much any more, it's just frustrating!  I really don't understand why people aren't conscientious and don't think about how their actions make others feel.

Anyway been listening to this song a lot and I just think it's so beautiful.

After all she's been through, and all of it in the public eye, to comeback like this I find really admirable.

Will post something less ranty/depressing later this week I promise!

It might involve cake. ;)
DFTBA x

So long fair-weather friends!

If you don't want to listen to me ranting and raving then I suggest you don't read any further than this.

I'm sick and tired of feeling like I care more about my friends than they do about me.  I'm tired of always being the one who makes the effort to keep in contact.  I'm tired of being messed around with people cancelling on me last minute with a lame excuse.  And I'm tired of people being nice to my face but bitchy behind my back for no good reason.

Right now I can only think of two people who I know I can always rely on and who are true friends to me.  The rest of them all seem to take turns in messing me around and generally making me feel crap.

Well no more!!!  I'm not going to let these people get me down any more.  I am a nice person and I deserve to have friends who aren't just my friends when it's convenient for them.  If I've done something you don't like then tell me, we might scream and shout at each other but if we make it out the other side then it'll only strengthen our friendship.  If you don't want to be my friend and don't really care about me or our friendship then by all means don't contact me, but don't expect me to come running to your aid anymore.

In keeping with this idea of having friends who are true friends I'm also going to contact a couple of people from my school who I've lost contact with.  I know that they're genuinely lovely people and I just wish we'd been closer so I'm going to try and rectify that!

Friendship

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.  ~Henry Ford


For me that should probably say the silly side of me rather than the best in me...  Oh well..  I love my friends and I wouldn't be who I am now without them.  They're the people who I would drop everything for, I'd travel all night to get to them if they asked me to.

However there's always that one person you consider to be your best friend (and I'm not including boyfriends or girlfriends in this).  That person for me is someone who I've known for almost 14 years now and her name is Amy.  We've not always been as close as we are right now but she was always there to cheer me up, even if she didn't know that she was doing it.  I will always be grateful for those school days when I'd be feeling down until I got into class and we'd write ridiculous notes about bent umbrellas and Spongehead und Senor Bose.  There's also a famous incident involving some stairs and a plastic sword which I will never forget, not to mention the many highlighter fights!!

Reminiscing about good times with Amy would be nothing without mentioning our almost unhealthy obsession with Pokemon.  I can still name all 150 original pokemon if you show me their picture.  The newer generations just aren't as good though, they're slowly getting more and more cutesy.  What happened to the epic pokemon like Ho oh, Lugia and Charizard?!

So why am I rambling about my best friend?  Well I just found out that she's also writing a blog!  Ok neither of our posts our going to win us Nobel Prizes or anything remotely prestigious but I hope we can give you some amusement.  Amy is also an amazing artist so I'm sure she'll be uploading pretty pictures from time to time!  You can check her blog out here Caterpillar is Very Hungry!

While I'm on the topic of talking about friends blogs you should check out ISLAND GIRL INSIGHTS.  I also know the author of this blog from school, though I've never been as close to her as I'd hoped.  She's a lovely girl and writes a very good blog! 

I hope you check out both of these blogs and you all appreciate your friends.  After all they're the ones who are going to be there when everything turns to shit and they'll say "Well at least we had some awesome times together!".


***EDIT*** Here's a freaky kawinky dink for you.  My last 2 posts have been about people who inspire me yes?  Well I just googled Gerard Way (because I'm just that cool) and he has the same birthday as Amy!!!  Clearly it's a sign from the universe/fate/God/whatever you want to believe in.

Bulletproof Heart

The big thing that's been happening in Carlisle this week was Radio 1's Big Weekend.  Unfortunately, because I didn't cheat and apply 20 times, I wasn't lucky enough to get tickets.  However I did enjoy watching my favourite acts live from the comfort of my own home.  I'm not going to lie though, I'm pretty bitter about not being able to go, and not because of Lady Gaga.

If you know me at all you should know that I love music, especially rock.  It just transports me into a whole other world and gives me a way of knowing that there are other people out there feeling exactly like me, that I'm not alone.  Music was my support system throughout some tough times in my teenage years and it continues to be the thing I always turn to in times of need.  Why am I telling you this?  Well one of the bands I listened to a lot during some tough times was My Chemical Romance.  Go ahead and call them emo or whatever, I don't care.  I love their music, so what?

They played in Carlisle last night.  I live in Carlisle, but did I get to see one of the bands who I've loved for years?  (And when I say years I mean about 7, which is a long time when you're almost 21.)  No I didn't get to see them.  Life isn't fair like that, but hey ho.  I settled for watching them on TV, dancing around my living room like a loony and singing along at the top of my voice.  Have to say I think I may have enjoyed it more than some of the people there!  Whenever they did shots of they crowd they always looked a bit glum..

There's always this stigma that follow My Chemical Romance.  It's called pretentious people wanting to put everything and everyone into nice neat little boxes.  My Chemical Romance happened to be thrown into the box labelled "Emo".  Which, apparently, gives everyone the right to take the piss out of them and anyone that likes their music.  I find it ridiculous in this day and age when everyone talks about equality and freedom that it's still so easy to feel like a complete outsider, simply for liking a band's music.  Why people still can't accept that everyone has different tastes I don't know, and I find it pathetic.

I know I take it more personally than I probably should.  Ever since I first saw the video for I'm Not Okay on the TV I've loved them.  I feel like I've grown up and evolved with their music and it holds a very dear place in my heart.  It was their music that helped me get over the death of my granddad.  Just being able to listen to their songs and know that there is someone out there feeling the same things I'm feeling when I felt like I had to be strong for the people around me.  I admire them so much, not just because of their music, but because there's these 4 guys who have stuck together through thick and thin for years and I hope they continue to do so no matter what people say about them in the press.

Yes I'll admit that their first 2 albums (I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge) do have emo tendencies.  Is showing extreme emotions through your music a bad thing though?  It's not just emo bands that do that so I don't understand what the problem is.

Their newest ventures however, they're something completely different, and at no point have they written typical emo songs about how their gf/bf has left them.  They always tackle the more important things in life.  Yet always keep that personal feeling to their music.  I challenge you all to truly listen to The Black Parade and Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.  By listen I mean to everything, the melodies, lyrics, just take in the whole experience and put out of your mind the fact that this is MCR and they're "emo".  If you don't like it, that's fine, but you have to admit it's some pretty damn awesome music they've created.

Be yourself, don't take anyone's shit, and never let them take you alive.  ~Gerard Way.