A Healthier Lifestyle

Hello woman and men of the world.

Yesterday I looked at myself, as a whole, not purely on a physical basis. Now, me? I like me a lot and think that everyone should love themselves. Even though we can all get lost in clouds of self pity and put downs, I am a believer in the mantra of self love; the body is a temple etc etc. However, one thing I have been neglectful of as of recent, is my health and fitness. 

I have a very random, unorganised approach to keeping healthy. I go through bouts of awesome motivated fitness where I'm feeling wonderful and putting all the good stuff in and bouts of terrible eating with no physical activity whatsoever where I might as well be a sleeping elephant. Both can last months and for the past month or so I've been a big, big pig (most likely due to cake, crisps, fast food and the enjoyment I get from sitting down...). All those things are great in moderation but apparently I've never heard of that word before. I weigh more than I have in over 3 years, which doesn't bother me, but I know I'll feel happier if I look after myself more than I have been doing. 

So, boys and girls, I woke up today and told myself to get back on looking after my body. It's MY body and I am the only one responsible for how HEALTHY it is. I am not bothered about looking slim, I just want to respect my body, give it muscle again and enhance my mental well-being by changing my lifestyle. This afternoon I bought some awesome, new Reebok running trainers which feel like marsh-mellows and went to the gym and I feel great.

The plan is to drop fat, gain muscle, drink more water and eat PROPERLY. Maybe I will do some health and fitness themed blog posts? I know anything posted on the internet regarding 'getting fit' can be super annoying/intimidating/disheartening to those who either aren't interested in health and fitness or who want to make a change but have yet to do so, but I think it'll be fun to share some tips and techniques that work for me, with you. 

So for now, I love you, and for later, I love you just as much, if more. Have a lovely weekend.

Collectormania

Welcome to Monday the 19^th of May. It was my birthday last week so sorry for not blogging; I was preoccupied eating cake. More specifically, this cake.

A lovely friend at work made me this cake and I've never been so moved by such a sentimental gesture. I did a blog post in April titled 'My Favourite Disney Characters' and she made me this rainbow layer cake with the exact characters I mentioned in that blog in edible icing paper - can you see Elsa?

I had a wonderful 22^nd, one which reinstated to me that I have SO many things to be thankful for…good health, a worthwhile job, beautiful family, the most amazing friends and a boyfriend who does genuinely treat me like a princess. Hip hoorah. There's nothing like a celebration to warm up your mood.

Now…prepare yourself for some nerd porn. Over the weekend I went to Collectormania, a comic-merchandise-celebrity convention at The Stadium: MK in Milton Keynes. This event is like a small celebration of people who enjoy comic books, Disney, Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones...the list goes on. It's just FUN and I was in my element (If the element is NERDIUM). Sarah Parkinson, making bad chemistry jokes because all the good ones Argon.

Now, I LOVE seeing people express who they are and if that means a middle aged man very seriously dressing up as wonder woman then I 100% back that shit. How awesome. One aspect of these kinds of events that I thrive off is the Cosplay. Seeing the effort people make to sew and paint a costume is slightly inspiring, the tweaks and personal touches blow my mind a bit. Walking around I couldn't help but awkwardly ask for a photo of some of the more impressive ones.

Alien from Alien vs Predator. This guy was so creepy, the tail even moved on its own. Let's just say I wasn't planning on being his best mate.

But somehow it happened anyway!

Darth Vader and Ezio.

Me and my pal Chewbacca, I tried to get Han's number but apparently he was really busy doing maintenance on the Millennium Falcon...

Captain Jack Sparrow. This photo was a bit of a buy one get one free cus there's a mini Elsa from Frozen in the background! ADORABLE.

My best friend Jordan met his all time hero Boba Fett! Been there, done that and note his t-shirt.

Wall-E props. The small one is so cute.

Chewie got tired of all the frantic human presence and took a break. I adore this photo so much.

"Do or do not, there is no try"

I was and still am amazed by this Tardis inspired hand-made dress; there's even detailing at the front of the dress of what's inside the police box. Very cool.

Me and Dan hanging out with Storm Troopers and looking far too happy about it.

Black Cat and The Phoenix!

BANE!!! This chap was HUGE."That's a lovely, lovely voice"

SARAH vs BANE

My favourite Doctor Who cosplay of the event.

Some awesome Doctor Who costumes.

Kenny Baker, the guy who played R2-D2 was at the event, and so were the droids!

Slightly overweight but fantastic Deadpool.

So yes, if you haven't been I recommend it a LOT. They always manage to pick up some magical guests and this time they had Pippin from Lord of The Rings, some Game of Thrones characters and Gus from Breaking Bad. Woo! Although some of the people who go are socially unacceptable, very weird and musty smelling, the loot you can get your hands on is seriously cool. Please see below what I have been enjoying my tea and coffee in since the weekend. I am now of the house Targaryen.

I LOVE YOU. REMEMBER TO BREATHE AND LET GO OF YOUR WORRIES.

'Noah'

The wind was fierce and icy and as it hit his face he felt grateful for the scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. It was winter, and it was silent. Noah finished work and had been waiting at the bus stop for over an hour. Frustration built as his phone had died and contact with his personal world had been cut off; this didn't both him as he'd never been fond of technology.

                He was alone, planted on a plastic seat. His shoes scratched the shiny ground, laced with glitter specks of ice. Noah had a twitch which affected him in social situations that brought out his anxiety. He thought it most strange that his foot was tapping so excessively upon the floor in such a lonely scene. The street remained still with no human presence. The only human element was Noah himself, and a cigarette butt, lipstick-stained and soggy, that lay next to his feet. Since the last time he'd checked his watch, time had elapsed a mere five minutes. Where was his bus?

                When he could take no more he began to walk. To walk from the bus stop down the fairly straight main road meant a long, albeit familiar journey to his apartment, wherein he'd planned to sink into an evening of fine cheeses and World of Warcraft. Noah had been waiting at the same bus stop for years and to date it remained his required platform; except now he was 30 and had the pleasure of resenting a grown up job. His father had dropped him there as a boy of 11, with a packed lunch in a tousled, brown bag and a kiss on the forehead, and picked him up with the same warmth and care. To get home from the stop his father would repeat two simple steps to Noah - 'Follow your nose and take a left by the owl'. Many miles from the bus stop, there was a small house on the corner of the stretched road, and a pleasant lady who lived there had crafted a beautiful, oak owl, whose talons were still fixed to the highest tree branch outside of her home. Noah lived further down the road of the owl and so upon its sighting, even with his fathers comforting presence beside him, he knew he was on track.

                Take a left by the owl. Noah had been travelling straight for half an hour and finally began to make out the silhouette of his tree bound friend. He smiled. His hands were tucked in his pockets as he reached the bend in the road and turned. Noah did not expect to see what he saw, sprawled on the ground at foot height, on that silent, winter evening. He was no longer alone.

This was just a bit of fun guys. I was a bit bored so decided to start typing and see where it got me. Scared myself with the concepts of what this Noah chap might have seen. I love you all!

Projects

Good evening world (or on the contrary, the few people who read what I write). It's verging on 11pm on a cold, windy Sunday in May and my mind is fired with electrifying ideas that more than anything, I want to kick into force. In this present moment I linger between a state of anxiety and excitement; anxious about my job and excited about a conversation I've had with my boyfriend about side projects I want to start. I hope that your minds are in relative harmony tonight. If they aren't, let’s decide to cling onto the more positive thoughts that are wandering around the caves of our minds shall we? Leave the painful, negative ones to fester alone without our company. If you can't do that, then read on and feel comforted that you aren't the only person who holds hands with their demons.

Stress is something I am trying to reduce in my life at the moment. For me it's heightened because of many things, those of which won't simply vanish through a regurgitation of their life histories. So I'm not going to do that. I'll just say that I'm looking for ways to handle pressure and negativity better. I was given techniques to cope with anxiety which I've mentioned in a previous post 'Relax' back in March. These do work but were 'clinically prescribed' and are very general to stress. They don't target individual stresses but work well to calm down physical symptoms. I'm trying to whittle down the anxiety I feel into a smooth spear that I can then use to wound the part of me that enjoys worrying. If I find out anything ground breaking along the way, any tips or techniques, then I'll let you know and we can both take part in a boot camp for people who worry excessively.

The emphasis of this blog is going to be the importance of having variety in life. Variety in daily doings and goings on. That's why I'm trying out new things. Blogging is still new for me. I'm still finding my feet and still tripping over rocks. I've developed this theory that having multiple projects in life can reduce the stress and anxiety that someone feels over a negative aspect of their life. E.g. writing a book and training for a marathon can help reduce the pain that a mind-numbing 9-5 job can cause. I think by splitting your efforts and attention into different shapes and sizes, you can feed off the enjoyment of certain projects and shrug off the shit from the less enjoyable projects. Imagine your job that grinds you down and stresses you out is a heavy, brown growling hound with spit dripping from its enlarged canines and red glowing in its eyes. It's howling at you and prowling around you with menace and anger. THEN let's take your favourite pasttime, so mine could be blogging. My blog is a spirit bear (Google it), standing tall but very still, with kind eyes and a serene demeanor. Which one do you feed? Which one do you neglect? We should not face only the hound, because it runs the risk of becoming the only thing that we focus on and something that causes us only regular pain.

It's the keeping of a busy mind that's the key. New things are also FUN. My weapons of choice here I won't fully disclose, because I want to keep them as my own little projects, but if they become, shall we say, hobbies, then I might tell you.

I hope you are becoming comfortable with the way in which I write and the things that I write about. I want this to be like visiting a friend who you will likely never meet, but who can help you and hopefully make you laugh (sometimes). Take time to focus on the great things you are blessed with in life and don't panic or be sad. Try new things that enrich your existence because life's not permanent.

Helpful Life Hacks

1. Don't make eye contact with anyone that's male, over 40, really muscly, big, or scruffy looking because they WILL attack you

2. Don't let anyone know any details about you, don't tell your doctor, your friends, change your name and move country

3. Don't buy a drink for anyone because you will be imprisoned for attempting to drink spike

4. Never eat anything that has any fat or carbohydrate in it because you'll gain too much weight and everyone will tell you that you look like an elephant

5. Quitting signifies laziness and irresponsibility 

6. Don't get enthusiastic about diet or exercise because you'll become obsessive and develop anorexia

7. Don't follow your dreams as they're pointless and you'll get absolutely nowhere

8. Don't buy candles because you'll develop a sleep disorder and set your house on fire

9. Any friendship with someone of the opposite gender will result in marriage

10. Worry all the time because any bad outcome that you haven't properly played out in your mind will happen in real life

11. Become a vegan and slowly starve to death

12. If you don't travel regularly and let people know about it on social networks then you have a boring, empty personality

13. If you see someone young with kids then the pregnancy wasn't planned and they will be on benefits

14. Save all money you earn as in the future you'll need it to fund emergency medical care and a new house because yours will burn down

15. If you live with your parents past the age of 20 you are overly attached to everything and likely inbred

16. Always believe everything you're told and never have an open mind

Happy Star Wars Day!

Dinosaurs

You open your eyes to tall trees, vines and streams that lead deep into a rich, wild green world. You hear the high pitched wail of unknown creatures. You are now entering the Jurassic period. 231 million years ago dinosaurs roamed over all continents and now they're in the classrooms of the school I work at (SO awesome). The past 3 days I've been helping to recreate some of these extinct beasts.

When I found out that dinosaurs were the topic we'd be covering I was so happy because well, what a compelling thing for children to learn about. I'd have painted my enthusiasm all over the topic back in my primary school years. To mark the occasion, I've been wearing my silver Velociraptor earrings; what better opportunity to have miniature dinosaurs hanging from your ears.The best thing about talking to children about dinosaurs is that they can't quite grasp that humans and dinosaurs didn't coexist and that any pictures of dinosaurs in books are not real photographs and I find that adorable. That and they just make up names of dinosaurs by adding absolutely anything to 'aurus'. I've had an absolutely brilliant 3 days working with the children and an enormously talented sculptor Philip Cox who has helped us to sculpt three, amazing beasts out of cardboard. Credit where credit's due, Philip's work is just incredible. He's got so much character, took time to get to know everyone and was so co-operative and friendly, with some funny stories from his career in cardboard. A really lovely chap. See his work here: http://www.philipcox.info/.

We made three dinosaurs of the genera Stegosaurus, Diplodocus and Triceratops. It was just fun and great to be able to do something practical. It has inspired me to get in touch with my creative side far more and I hope it does the same to you.

Stegosaurus

Diplodocus

Triceratops