Don't be put off by the title, this isn't a melodramatic post about the lack of happiness in my life (let's save that for another day yeah?), but in true intellectual form, a post about the lack of comedy TV in my life. Or more specifically, Happy Endings.
Happy Endings was brutally axed after it finished it's third season in May this year. It had so much more to give us, but instead it was cut down in it's prime. At the time of it's cancellation, there were rumours flying about that another network might pick it up, but I have not heard anything since. Happy Endings, where are you? There are so many things I miss about you:
Penny's brilliant grasp on the English language:
Jane and Brad's relationship quirks:
Penny's mum:
Alex's intelligence:
Max's honesty:
Dave's sandwiches:
I think overall my favourite character is Penny. I feel like she get's us, all of us, even those of us that aren't like her.
Happy Endings was funny and quick witted. It was modern and more importantly different. ABC you are life ruiners (totally real word). ABC you are on drugs, you be seriously trippin'. You know how I know? Look what you allowed to survive the very same cull that Happy Endings fell victim to:
I have been a very busy lady over the weekend and these past few days. Makes a nice change! On Saturday, me and my dad took the long trip up to Scotland and back all in one day to get the rest of my belongings. It was painful! More so because within the first 20 minutes of setting off, Orange decided to cut my phone off. Nothing to do with me not paying my bill of course... I didn't think I would survive the journey without the use of the internet. It is true that we're all a little too reliant on it these days but it does have its uses, like entertaining me when I'm bored in the car. I had to come up with some more creative and unusual ways to keep myself occupied and I would like to share some of these in case anyone finds themselves in this situation too!
○ Say each town name you pass in a Scottish accent. Or really any accent of your choice. On the way back from Ayr, we passed a town called 'Ae' and had lots of fun trying out all the ways it could be pronounced. I still have no clue...
○ Give each sheep a different name and back story. Barbara and Ken from Dumfries were my personal favourites.
○ SLEEP. This can go either way really. Sometimes you can sleep through a good chunk of the journey and it's awesome. Most of the time I fall asleep, think I've been out for ages then wake up and realise we've only covered about 20 miles and now I've just got a sore neck.
○ Play Candy Crush. I am officially an addict. The creators are very sneaky allowing the game to be played without the use of the internet. Now there's nowhere to hide; no excuses!! Arrrghhhhh!
○ DO NOT take the long route. Advice that my dad doesn't seem to ever listen to. For a reason still unknown, he decided to take the 'tourist route' back from Ayr which added a good half an hour on to the journey and ensured that we were stuck behind all the slow tractors/cars/lorries/general divs on the road.
○ Complain about the slow tractors/cars/lorries/general divs on the road. This takes up a good portion of any journey. Strangely enough, when I'm driving I get really bad road rage but when I'm the passenger it tends to really annoy me when the driver gets angry at other vehicles. I can see where I get it from being in the car with my dad!
○ The carrot game! Allow me to explain... my brother and sister used to play this game when they were younger and now it has been passed down to me and anyone who is in the car with us. The rules are simple: every time you see a windsock (aka 'a carrot') you have to pretend to eat it so you win a point. The person with the most points at the end of the journey wins, of course. Yes, we are all insane.
○ Eat. Pretty much my favourite pass time anyway. Travelling is a great excuse to eat lots of junk food. You can't beat a good greasy burger or fry up from a truck stop!
○ Cringe over my dad's strange comments. "Aww look at those cute little calves..... They'll be steak in a couple of months mmmm!"
○ Read. I unfortunately can't do this because I get travel sick really easily. It is devastating! Such a great way to pass the time, which is why I have to think of all these silly other ways instead.
○ Sing along to the radio/CDs. Loud. CDs work better because you're more likely to know all the words and can really belt some tunes out. Radio has the bonus of allowing you to moan about some of the trash that's considered music nowadays though.
○ Constantly work out how far you've come and how long you have left to go. The adult version of, "Are we there yet?"
These are just a few ideas you can entertain yourself with. Alternatively, pay your phone bill and you can spend the whole trip on Facebook. Problem solved!
Things I wish I had done while he was still alive:
Lost weight - I was always meaning to but never did, I feel like a failure.
Taken him to Cadwell Park- I went to see the racing once with my friend, and promised dad I would take him on his birthday but never did because I was skint/lazy.
Learnt more from him- I learnt so much from him, but I could have learned so much more if I wasn't so ignorant and self absorbed, but hey teenagers. You don't expect your parents to be gone by 23.
Got to know him - I have a pretty good idea of the person my dad was, but now he is gone I wish I knew everything. What was he like at school? Who were his friends? Jesus, I only learnt the story of how mum and him got together when it was read at his funeral.
Succeeded- In my mind I had much longer to do this, I had planned to become successful and happy in whatever I wanted to do because this would in turn make him happy, and I would have shared my unlimited wealth with him as a thank you for being him.
Found a miracle cure - this one is really clutching at straws, but basically what cured my dad of leukemia when I was younger, is what caused his fatal heart attack in March, I wish there was a way he could have been cured and then not punished for being cured later in life.
Okay, so for those that don't know.... My dad died unexpectedly in March. He had cancer when I was younger, but was cured through radiation and chemotherapy treatment. He had a huge heart attack, and died of organ failure within 4 or so days. He was my hero, and role model, I really do see him as the greatest. I'll never be okay, but I'm getting to the point where I want to talk about him. A couple of days after he passed, I had run back to Manchester because I couldn't take being around family, below is something I wrote because I couldn't talk with him. I've never shared it with anyone but I need to learn that problems aren't things to keep all to myself. So;
29th March 29, 2013 Friday
Dad,
It has been just over 48 hours since you
left, and today is your birthday.You
told me to make the most of each day, and it felt wrong to be moping on your
birthday, so M and I went to the cinema. We saw Oz the Great and Powerful, I
enjoyed it, and realised that normally I would tell you about it in our next
phone call, but I’ll never speak to you again. We then popped to the shops to
buy a vase for my flowers. When I got back to Manchester yesterday, M had
bought me some ‘cheerful’ flowers, I appreciated the thought, and they do make
our flat look better.
We got the bus back home, and I started to
feel sad again, the movie and the nice weather had lifted my spirits slightly,
but public transport is depressing whether you are grieving or not. The people
on the bus are always grim, people might call me snobbish for thinking that,
and perhaps you wouldn’t be best impressed either, but just because you are not
blessed with money doesn’t mean you need to forget about manners and composure.
Anyway, two people got into a fight before we had even left Piccadilly and M
stepped in to break them up. I found myself angry that these two people, who
couldn’t even sit next to each other for 5 minutes, were allowed life yet you,
who had never done anything even remotely aggressive to anyone, had lost your
life. It didn’t seem fair. I felt that people everywhere weren’t deserving of
their lives, and that they were wasting so much when you would have made the
most of it. I guess this is the anger part of my grief. I think that instead of
experiencing the seven stages consecutively, I seem to be experiencing a bit of
all of them and flitting back and forth.
At times I feel okay, I remember something
about you and smile. Other times I realize I’m not going to have any more
memories of you than the ones that already exist and my heart falls from my
chest. I’m scared that my terrible memory will let me down and I’ll forget some
of our moments. I don’t want to forget a single thing about you.I want to dream of you to keep my memories
alive, even if it means that I wake up in the morning realizing you are gone
all over again.
I keep picturing the moment you went. I
held your hand, I’m not sure if you could see me by that time, but I kept my
eyes on your face, and the ECG monitor. I could see your heart rate dropping
even before the nurse said that it wasn’t looking good. I watched it drop lower
and lower and I knew what was coming. I wanted so badly for a sudden rise in
that number and for you to come back but I could see you slipping. When the
number hit 30, and then 0, I couldn’t believe that it had actually happened. I
guess a part of me still doesn’t. The nurse lowered your bed and turned off the
machines and that is when I left the room. I couldn’t feel you there anymore ,
it was like staring at an empty body.
I walked away crying, I wanted to be alone. I
found a bench in the corridor and sat there for I don’t know how long. I was
just staring at the snow outside, and crying. I realized that my worst
nightmare had actually happened. This whole week since your heart attack, I had
never believed that you’d actually die. That’s why I’d managed to hold it
together for mum and L when they had been crying. Something was different that
morning though, when I walked into the ward I had an overwhelming need to cry,
something was different and on some level I knew what was going to happen. I
made some excuse about a runny nose and left mum with you. Whilst I was sat in
the reception area the doctor came and told you that you had now got pneumonia,
and that there was nothing more they could do for you.I found it so hard to be around you because
we knew what would happen in the next few hours, my worst fear would come true,
but at the same time I didn’t want to not be with you. After all, even though
this is indescribably hard for us, you were going to the unknown, and had to
leave all of us behind, through no choice of your own. I was scared for you
more than for me. You seemed to take it all in your stride, you really are the
strongest person, I didn’t see you shed a single tear.
So now you are gone, I’m sorry that I’ve
not stuck around with mum, but she has L and L to look after her, and
they will do a better job then me, you know I’m not good with emotions, I’d
much rather be alone. I always thought that you were my link to the rest of the
family anyway, I’m different to them, but it was always okay when you were
there. Now that you’ve gone, I feel a bit estranged, through no fault of
theirs, they have been nothing but supportive but it kind of only reminds me of
the differences between us.
Anyway, I wanted to write this down,
because I don’t want to forget you or my memories of you, even the painful
ones. I’m sure I will have more to write yet.
I love you forever.
Laura.
I hope this relates to other people grieving, that's the aim of this, but at the very least I hope it helps people appreciate what they have. Sorry for the rather grim post but I assure you the next S&C will be back to the usual! I'll leave you with the song that dad used to listen to when he was receiving cancer treatment (and that he also requested for his funeral).
Extended blog post title: Oz the Great and Powerful - A review by someone who knows nothing about films but watches a lot of them!
'The land you know. The story you don't.' Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Family Director: Sam Raimi Producer: Joe Roth Written by: David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner Released: March 2013 Yay for Disney! This movie is a little old now but I've only just recently been made aware of its existence. This is surprising since I am a huge Wizard of Oz fan and I am rather partial to the lovely James Franco. These are also two reasons why I was a little bit sceptical of watching this film. The Wizard of Oz is such a classic; I watched it over and over when I was a youngster. I used to take it as far as dressing up as Glinda the good witch as much as possible. Me, rooting for the good guy? How things have changed! Imagine me in this costume though...
Oz the Great and Powerful gives the (wonderful) Wizard of Oz a back story and enlightens us to how he came to be in the merry old land of Oz. I must admit to being a little too excited when I heard the hauntingly familiar sounds of a Danny Elfman score as the film started. I enjoy all things Tim Burton so I am a great fan of his work. I also loved the nod to the original film in that this one also started in black and white then reverted to colour when entering Oz. Visually, this film is absolutely stunning. I can't fault the spectacular scenery and magical lands we are subjected to here. The china town was a particular favourite of mine. Although we are introduced to it as a wasteland after being destroyed by the witch's minions, I thought it was breathtaking.
The general story was okay; I think kids will appreciate it. Oscar (Oz) is a fake magician and has to escape from the circus in a hot air balloon due to some bad behaviour with the ladies (oh, you). He finds himself transported to the magical land of Oz, where its inhabitants are eagerly awaiting the arrival of an all powerful magician who can become king and rule over their land. Oz greedily accepts all the riches and perks that come with his new title, but soon meets the three witches and must eventually decide who is good and who is evil before it is too late. There's lots of drama, visual effects, good vs evil and even some light comedy relief provided by the wonderful Zach Braff. The highlight of the film for me was getting to see how Oz created his huge head illusion and see it put to a greater effect here when he is attempting to fight off the evil witches.
I have to be frankly honest (excuse my pun) and admit that I thought Franco was disappointing. Sorry, James. I probably couldn't admire him any more but I just didn't think he was right for this role. He played the cheeky chappy womanizer extremely well at the beginning (of course) but fell a little short when it came to the more serious scenes. Apparently Robert Downey Jr was originally intended to play the wizard and I can't help but think he would have done a better job. Luckily, Franco's smile was gorgeous enough to distract me from his performance. The three witches were played well, nothing too special in my opinion. Michelle Williams as Glinda was mesmerising to look at, as ever. Not a bad choice for one of my childhood heroes. I thought Mila Kunis was predictably good as Theodora and I particularly loved her transformation into the green, hooked nose wicked witch of the West that we know from the original. I was completely distracted by her HUGE hat for the whole first half of the movie though. Rachel Weisz (Evanora) would have been fantastic if her forehead had moved even just an inch throughout the film. Seriously, even the CGI china doll had a greater range of facial expressions.
Told you it was big.
Overall, I didn't find this 'prequel' too bad. An interesting film for the whole family to enjoy and a nice tribute to the classic film.
When you buy a Colgate Max White One toothpaste (boots.com) you get a 10ml Nails Inc varnish absolutely free. There are two to choose from, both are a red, but one is matte ( I think it actually looks quite glossy) and one is metallic.
I chose the metallic, for no other reason then I already have other red glosses. The pictures below show how it turns out (pictures are taken with flash or in artificial light, there is no such thing as daylight in Manchester post 1st September)
Note I have also used a collection 2000 gloss topcoat here (which upon research has been discontinued so I cannot link you to it).
Too far away! Sort your life out.
What's this? 5 tiny coke cans? No guys, those are my nails.
I no longer drink coke, but someone at work had a can, and my nails match exactly. I tested it, it was a slightly weird moment for everyone involved.
Anyway, so colour wise I'm not sure I'm happy, but who knows when I will need coke can red? Wear wise, pretty pleased. These photos were taken 2 days after painting, and there is very minimal chipping. Normally, other nail varnishes don't last a day at work. I always use the same cheap topcoat so it has nothing to do with that, it must be the coke cans they have melted down to make this nail varnish.
If you like this colour, this is an excellent freebie, get on it!
As payday draws closer, the list of things I would quite (very much) like is growing longer and longer. Here's what I've been eying up in the world of beauty products:
I'm not even sure what shade I want. I often think my complexion could do with a lift and these look like they could manage the job. I have swatched them in the shop, and on their own they look crazy glittery, like you could use them to do a Twilight role play. However, once you add a foundation over the top, they just leave a dewy, illuminated look, that is much more preferable. Unless Twilight really is your thing.
My skin has been pretty terrible of late. I've stripped all my products back to just Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, but feel I need to introduce some form of moisture back in to the routine. My usual Clinique Dramatically Different is too heavy for my skin in it's current oily state, and this was recommended to me instead.
I seem to be a bit obsessed with illumination this month. This may work out as a better option for me than the Revlon Skinlights, the powder may be kinder to my oily skin. Also, I am a sucker for Bourjois, all of their products, and this lovely, lovely packaging.
Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Apocaliptic
How I haven't got one of these yet I don't know (actually it's because I have no money, oohhh yeahhhh). Anyway I like the look of the apocaliptic shade because it's a pinky-red, indecisive, just like me.What I hate is how all this gimmicky apocaliptic spelling is setting off the spell check lines on my Mac (and in my head, grrr).
This is real dream territory now, because until I earn much more money, I will not be dropping £38 on 4 eyeshadows. However, that bottom right shadow looks like it would be my favourite one ever. I think all four of these would set off my awkwardly inbetween colour eyes, and one day they will (I'm just not sure how yet).
These are the main ones, I'm sure I'll think of more before the end of the month, but it doesn't matter anyway, I can't have them all. Just in case, let me know of the latest and greatest things you are coveting. I don't want to miss out on something awesome, just because I'm doing something silly like paying the bills, and saving money up. Eurgh.
I loooove protein! I've been trying to up my intake recently as I've increased my exercise and I get very sore very easily! You can get protein from lots of different foods: meat, fish, eggs, beans, nuts and seeds. So, I get to eat more chicken? Cool! My protein obsession of the month is hard boiled eggs. I make a batch at the beginning of the week and they make great snacks throughout the day or after a workout. Also extremely tasty with a salad or a few slices of toast. Yay for eggs! I would also get nowhere without my protein powder! Although I love chicken, I don't actually eat a lot of meat so this acts as a great substitute and has so many different uses. At the moment, I have Holland and Barrett's banana flavoured whey protein. It has 83 calories per scoop and 16.6g of protein. I think it's great because it tastes really good and Holland and Barrett always have offers on. Perfect if you're on a budget like me! There are so many great ways to incorporate protein powder into your diet. My favourite so far is protein 'pancakes'. I've always had a very unhealthy obsession with pancakes and although these aren't quite the same as the classic pancake, they are a great substitute and are very filling! The recipe I use is here (thanks for the referral Cassius!) I usually have the rest of the banana, some blueberries and maple syrup over the top. I'd be interested to try them with different flavoured protein powders, like chocolate or cookies and cream! Another great protein fix is, of course, the smoothie!! I cannot get enough of smoothies. They are so delicious and there are so many flavour options! My favourite would have to be banana and peanut butter, even better when you add some protein powder. You can pretty much mix anything in a blender with milk and it tastes delicious! Great for breakfast or pre/post workout too.
Another protein recipe that I recently discovered is mixing the powder with fat free greek yogurt, bananas and berries. You've probably noticed that I have a slight penchant for bananas... I'm trying to keep it to no more than one a day! With the greek yogurt, I add a bit of honey or maple syrup just to make it slightly sweeter and I find the ingredients gel together better. You can buy greek yogurt with honey already added too. I wouldn't use a whole scoop of powder unless you're using A LOT of greek yogurt because it starts to go really powdery and not very nice if you do. I love having this for breakfast because it's low calorie but it fills me up all morning. I'm always on the look out for new recipes to make use of my powder and my next step is to buy more flavour options to mix things up a little. If you haven't tried it yet, I would highly recommend buying some!
I've been compared to Daria a few* times, but I don't think I'm anywhere near as wise. Each episode of Daria is full of life insights, and I highly recommend that you watch them. Here are some vital messages to take on board.
1) People may not always understand what you are trying to say:
2) Life doesn't always go to plan, sometimes the journey to your goals is a winding one.
3) Life can be a constant, endless battle
4) Sometimes (Often) you won't understand where other people are coming from
5) Perspective is vital
6) Don't be greedy
7) Things will often sort themselves out
8) Question everything
9) There's always an opportunity to learn
10) And finally, the internet could provide an opportunity to make something of your life. Kinda.
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