Are we becoming a generation of Social Zombies?

(image - http://pplware.sapo.pt/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1386353562_w670_h377.jpg)

Are we becoming less social?

I understand that this might be a strange question to ask in a time when almost everyone spends their days constantly refreshing their twitter, instagram, snapchat, facebook (I could go on) feeds. 

A recent article by The Times noted that we spend an average of 2-4 hours on our phones each day. When you see the numbers written in front of you it’s INSANE. Of course my initial reaction was denial “NO WAY do I spend 2 hours on my phone everyday!” but once I actually thought about it, it (scarily) made sense.

I wake up and like the majority of the people I know I immediately check Instagram to see what the Americans have been doing whilst I’ve been asleep. Twitter is the next stop where I read the ‘In case you missed it’ tweets and then I head straight to see what’s trending (usually something to do with Trump or Brexit) to gather the information I need for the day before even putting my feet on the cold bedroom floor.

Randomly throughout the day I will refresh my instagram and twitter feeds and in the evening I purge through both apps to devour everything that has been posted whilst I was at work.

Scrolling through one of the apps a few days ago I realised that I wasn’t really taking in anything that I was seeing. It has become a habit, muscle memory. If I’m waiting for something to load on the computer I’ll automatically reach for my phone to fill the time, if there are adverts on the TV I’ll tap onto Snapchat. It is as if we cannot let our brains be still.

“This generation is more connected than ever”. I’ve heard this line muttered umpteen times over the years. In terms of having access to millions of people worldwide this sentence is undoubtedly true but when it comes to people’s actual real lives I disagree.

When at a pub or in a restaurant I see tables of people with their heads buried into the bright blue lights of their phone screens. Silence. People are connecting but not with the flesh and blood beside them.

The need to be constantly connected, for our brains to be forever active and the need to be validated at all times is unarguably chipping away at our mental health. 

It seems like the only time we are switched off is when we are asleep and even then we sometimes pick up our phones in the middle of the night.

More young people than every are suffering from mental health problems and of course this could be down to a variety of different reasons but it is hard not to see the amount of time spent on social media as one of the main culprits.

Somebody (I can’t remember who) stated that if we as people were to consume crappy, fatty, sugary foods 24/7 then we would expect our bodies to begin to rot inside and that we should also think about this in relation to our minds. If we constantly consume crap, trashy ‘news’ (Hiya Daily Mail) then our minds will begin to suffer. 

Don’t get me wrong I like social media, it’s handy for my job and to keep up with what’s going on in the world but we need a break from our screens to stop this ever threatening journey to becoming a society of social zombies. Maybe in 20 years time when the Walking Dead will be on its 30^th season it will be a load of living people walking around with their eyes glued to their devices. Ok, maybe not, but it is food for thought.

Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones | Saatchi Gallery, London

Music is more than just a few songs; It's more than a person or band performing on stage. It's a whole movement, an identity, a way of life, a way of dressing - an attitude. No band encapsulates this more so than the Rolling Stones.

The Stones have been around for well over half a century and they are still (in my opinion) rocking it. You only have to look at the incredible crowds that turned up to watch them in Hyde Park back in 2013 to see that they are still as popular as ever - the 65,000 tickets were sold out in three minutes. Very few (probably none) bands would be able to attract that big of an audience today let alone sell out over 60,000 tickets that quickly.

I have been a fan of the Stones for years. Their music is iconic and I'm sure their greatest hits album could be at least 5 CD's long. They have produced hit after hit with the likes of Brown Sugar, Jumpin Jack Flash, Don't Stop....... the list goes on.

Since April the Saatchi Gallery on the King's Road in Chelsea - one of my favourite places in London and the Rolling Stones' old haunt - has been home to the Rolling Stones' exhibition Exhibitionism. The exhibition takes you through all five decades of the Stones' careers showing everything from the clothes they wore (my favourite), to the recording process, live performances, they have even recreated the Stones' 1960s Kings Rd flat.

The day after Bruce Springsteen rocked Wembley we headed over to the Saatchi gallery to see this much talked about exhibition (after amazing brunch at Ca'puccino on the King's Road) and it did not disappoint. Technology was used in a really cool and interesting way in the exhibition with ipads allowing you to remix Stones songs along with a 3D screening of the Rolling Stones performing at Hyde Park in 2013. There was an amazing collection of tour posters and art work on display along with the coolest guitars and the most FANTASTIC clothes. Keith Richards has been a style inspiration for me for years so to get to see his, along with the rest of the band's clothes up close and personal was a real highlight for me.

Walking through the exhibition just emphasises the MASSIVE contribution the Stones have made to culture, not only in Britain, but across the world. I would go again and again and again. A must see for Stones fans but also for fans of music, fashion and culture.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN | WEMBLEY STADIUM 5.6.2016

The last week or so has been crazy in terms of concerts with the Manic Street Preachers and the Super Furry Animals in Swansea one weekend and Stereophonics and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN the next. I will eventually get around to discussing all of these gigs but first I am going to start by, I mean I basically have no choice but to start by, discussing The Boss' gig at Wembley Stadium last Sunday.

If you're a seasoned reader of this blog or if you know me at all then you know that I have now been in love with Bruce Springsteen for around ten years - since I was around 12 - thanks to my mam constantly playing his records at home. Although I don't think I quite love him as much as my mam, I mean she cried three times during last Sunday's gig - once when Bruce came within spitting distance of us, once when he sang Because the Night and once right at the end with the solo acoustic version of Thunder Road. This is a testament to Springsteen's music and live performances that even though my mother has been following him for the best part of 30 something years his music and gigs still connect with his audience.

We left Cardiff on the infamous Megabus for London (cheap as chips but not the most comfortable but for £5 return for both of us you can't go wrong) at 7am after something ridiculous like 4 or 5 hours sleep thanks to the Stereophonics concert we went to the previous night. After some delicious breakfast in Victoria and a short walk to Westminster we made our way to Wembley. Mam had booked the Premiere Inn which is situated around 2 minutes from Wembley once the dates for The River Tour were announced which means we got the hotel for a heck of a lot cheaper than if we had booked it once the tickets had gone on sale! Forward thinking at its best. It also meant that we didn't have to fight our way onto a tube or race to catch the last train home - yaaaaay.

Before we spent the rest of the day queuing in the baking sunshine with other bruce buds we popped into Lidl to grab some snacks, a few beverages and magazines. Seeing as we only made it to the stadium by like 1pm we were pretty close to the front of the queue (not the golden circle queue but the just outside the golden circle queue). In the 5 hours that we were queuing and waiting for Bruce to come onstage we made some new friends (because Springsteen fans are the nicest), drank beer, bough t-shirts, ate grapes and saw people pass out (it was CRAZY hot). Although we were mere mortals when it came to queuing - some people had been queuing since Thursday! I love that dedication and if I could have done it then I most probably would have!

Obviously seeing as the tour was The River Tour, Bruce and the E-Street Band played numerous songs from The River including The Ties That Bind, Sherry Darling, Hungry Heart and of course, The River. If you want to see the whole 33 song setlist from Sunday night - yes, you read that correctly THIRTY-THREE SONGS!!!!! - then click here. Lets just stop for a minute to appreciate that Springsteen and the band were onstage for around 3 hours and 45 minutes with NO INTERVAL- THE MAN IS 66 YEARS OLD!

Some of my favourite moments/songs of the night were Badlands, Dancing in the Dark, The Rising, Out In the Street, Because the Night and my favourite way to end a show, Shout. The whole gig was one big party, the crowd were bouncing and in full voice. I know I've said it before but nothing, nothing comes close to the feeling you get from being at  a Springsteen gig. You get this kind of euphoria which is like nothing else. Gosh, Bruce makes me so happy! Also, Little Steven's look makes me equally happy!

What a night!

LET'S GET COOKING

Finally I am back in the swing of things when it comes to cooking. For a while I'd throw a sweet potato and some peppers or an avocado in my bag for lunch and on more than one occasion I would place a bowl of porridge in the microwave for dinner. I guess that what happens when you're busy! However, since starting to regain my mojo (see previous post) I've really started to enjoy cooking and searching for new recipes. Over the last year or so I have bought a few new cookbooks and some of them have been ones that I have very rarely looked at due mostly to the complexity of the recipes and when a recipe has a million ingredients including stuff like bee pollen or some expensive, impossible to find ingredient that are only sold in that one health food shop a hundred miles away then it makes things hard!

However, two recipe books that I've been really enjoying recently are Ready Steady Glow by Madeline Shaw & The Art of Eating Well by Hemsley and Hemsley. Granted both of these books sometimes ask for difficult ingredients, the majority of the recipes however are made using ingredients that you most probably already have in your cupboard.

Over the last few weeks I have slowly been making my way through both of these recipe books making everything from big meals fit for a feast to delicious cakes and biscuits (I have't got pictures of all of these meals as basically I ate them too fast and I forgot to take pictures!). From the Hemsley and Hemsley book I have made dishes such as baked broccoli fritters and avocado dip, courgette fries, lentil stew, ginger & cinnamon cookies, banana bread (favourite), lamb meatballs and cauliflower tabbouleh & black bean brownies.  From Madeline Shaw's Ready Steady Glow I have made delicious meals such as the chickpea curry and the most delicious curry I have ever tasted the lamb and spinach curry (although I made it with beef but will definitely be making it with lamb next time).  I also recently made a Jamie Oliver chocolate and beetroot cake which was actually delicious.

I know that wellness and these types of books have been gaining a bad rep recently with articles such as this one from Vice questioning how actually healthy this type of clean eating is, but I can honestly say that these meals are delicious and filling and I feel much more energetic having eaten them in comparison to just eating porridge and sweet potatoes!

I have also been looking for new cook books and have a few waiting to be bought in my amazon basket including Fearne Cotton's Cook Happy, Cook Healthy and Sirocco: Fabulous Flavours From the East. 

April / Ebrill - Favourites | Music

I listened to a lot of music in April. I mean I listen to a lot of music every month but in April however, I listened to a lot of new* (and old) music(*new for me). So I thought why not compile them all together in one playlist to share with all of you. I discovered a lot of music in April through random spotify playlists, THIS New York Times video and general radio listening. Also, I turned 22 in April so of course T-Swizzle has been played a lot (but alas she is not on spotify). Thrown in here are some awesome Welsh language stuff that I think everyone should listen to - if you speak Welsh or not, as well as some old French songs, classic Rolling Stones stuff, Springsteen (of course),  as well as some classic Indie and pop. A bit of everything for everyone. May/June are also going to be superb music months with Manic Street Preacher, Super Furry Animals and Bruce Springsteen gigs lined up... YAAAAY!

Finding My Mojo

It's been a long time no posts here on Lisiloo. There is no one particular reason as to why, it was simply that I didn't think I had anything much to say. Or possibly rather, I didn't really want to say anything. Although I did. I did want to write, write, write - I just couldn't for some reason. But I guess that's stress for you. I kind of turn in on myself when I'm stressed with even the simplest task such as emptying my suitcase feeling like the biggest mountain to climb. When I'm anxious I tend to exercise a lot, eat a lot of porridge, not get much sleep and I start to doubt my decisions. Lets just say that over the last few months I lost my mojo. However, over the last few days I have had one or two tasters of my ol' mojo and it has been enough for me to start trying to reclaim it once more.

Yesterday afternoon I actually sat down for around two hours with no worries in the world, listened to good music, read some awesome blogs, looked at some pretty cool photographs and watched some great documentaries. This is something that I have not done in a very long time. I had no guilt and I could actually physically feel my muscles relax. Of course about an hour later my body was back as tense as anything but for those two hours on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon - life was bliss.

I'm not going to set out goals for the next few weeks because I don't want to place extra pressure on myself but here are a few things I want to concentrate on in the near future - listen to some more cool and morale boosting podcasts such as Emma Gannon's Ctrl; Alt; Delete, read more, listen to more music, practise more yoga (not all exercise has to leave you collapsed on the floor at the end), have more interesting conversations, worry less to clear room to think more, listen to my body and get back to writing regularly.

Other things that have been going on in my life recently: I took a trip back down to Richmond for the weekend and had the best time with friends; had my 22nd Birthday; ran a half marathon; drunk quite a lot of prossecco; climbed a mountain; started a new project at work; went to an Eurovision party; started gardening (rock n roll life); I've eaten a lot of mexican food; attended a few comedy shows; walked many miles; ran hundreds of miles; became obsessed with peanut butter (again); spent many hours on the phone; driven many hundreds of miles; danced until the early hours of the morning; realised that being in yours 20s is weird as everyone is at a very different stage of their lives be that still at uni, working, travelling etc; I've also learnt that having fun is allowed and encouraged.

I will undoubtably be writing more in-depth posts about one or two things mentioned in the paragraph above but until then I'll speak to you soon.  Here's to slowly but surely getting my mojo back!

Cardiff - Four months in

Time flies. I know I sound like a broken record or an old lady but 2016 has flown by. I have now been living in Cardiff for around 4 months. That's crazy. Although it does sometimes feel that I've lived here for much longer. For the last 5 months of 2015 I was clocking up to 500 miles a week on the road going to and from work. The milage itself wasn't the worst part of it, rather it was the time spent on the road. Living where I lived in West Wales the motorway is over an hour away thus if you get stuck behind a tractor/lorry/terrible driver then you're stuck behind them for at least 45 minutes. On a good day I'd be in the car for minimum 3 hours. BUT ALLAS, it's now motorway all the way. A cool 45 minutes and I'm sat at my desk at work ready for the day ahead. It's glorious.

It's not just the decline in hours spent on the road that makes living in Cardiff great - it's also the food, the people, the parks, the pubs, the cinema, the theatre, the CIVILIZATION! Now when I get home from work I actually have time and the means to go meet friends for a drink; I can decide at the last minute to go and watch a play in the local arts centre or a comedy show down in the Bay and I can choose from one of the umpteen restaurants on my street to go out for food.  On the weekends I don't need a huge plan to sort out lifts home from places I can either jump in a taxi or walk home. For the first time in a very long time I feel as if I am truly enjoying life.

So here are my top three favourite places in Cardiff right now -

Chapter Arts Centre

I love chapter not just because of everything that goes on there but also because it is literally a two minute walk from my front door. I can pop over there after work, have a drink, watch a film or a play and be home in a heart beat. For someone who grew up 45 minutes from the nearest cinema this is amazing. On Thursday night my housemate and I went over there after work to watch a play The Harri-Parris (which was great) and to have a glass of prosecco. I regularly set up camp there on a rainy Sunday afternoon with my laptop or a book and crack on with work or just to read for hours with a cup of coffee. It is always busy and without fail there will be tables and tables of people having food, sipping a drink, having meetings or just relaxing.


Yr Hen Lyfyrgell

Recently opened in the heart of the city , Yr Hen Lyfyrgell (The Old Library) houses a few shops inclusing Bodlon and Lampeter's finest Lan Llofft as well as a  large upstairs area where you can have a drink and some delicious food. A few weeks ago myself and a few friends headed there to have lunch and it was sooooo nice and when Wales were playing one of their Euro 2016 warm up games we watched it on their massive screen which makes it a perfect place to watch major sporting events.


Llandaff/Pontcanna Fields






























I usually end up venturing into Llandaff and Pontcanna fields everyday. Be that on my daily
run or for a walk in the evening. Having green space so close to my house has become very important to my life in Cardiff. Running/walking around these parks gives me time to think or not to think. Sunny Sunday afternoons are the best here - running past families on their post-lunch walk, witnessing dogs galloping around in the grass or simply grabbing a cup of coffee from Cafe Catsan and sitting watching the world go by. I think I've spent more time here than anywhere else in Cardiff over the last 4 months. Oh and in the last two weeks I've run passed THE James Dean Bradfield from the Manic Street Preachers and Gruff Rhys (aka the Coolest man in the world) from the Super Furry Animals in Llandaff fields. So yeah.

Women In Business: the internet is awesome

The internet gets a lot of bad rap.

Regularly we seem to forget how it has truly revolutionised the way we consume; the way we work; how we spend our leisure time; how we communicate; how we live. Yes, a lot of the negativity surrounding the internet is truly just. The internet has given way to another medium to bully, umpteen new ways to commit crime, and another way to steel our time. I mean, how many of you have been in the middle of a conversation with someone and suddenly they take out their phone and start to read a Facebook message or reply to a tweet - that's just rude and makes my blood boil. To some, the internet has become corrosive. However, to most the internet is awesome and has undoubtably been a revolutionary tool - especially for women.

Many of us have heard the fact that there are currently fewer large companies run by women than by men named John. This is crazy and a fact that obviously needs to change but it's still incredibly difficult for women to be taken seriously in the higher ranks of big business. However, the internet is beginning to change this. Well, maybe not in the realms of big business as much but rather in the business in general.

Through blogs and video blogs (vlogs) and Etsy and Ebay women have an enormous platform to create their own businesses. Only a few years ago blogs and vlogs were almost non-existent or they were dismissed as something unimportant, just another internet fad. But my gosh how have blogs and vlogs exploded into our daily culture. They are now a staple of everyday life for many internet users across the globe. What shall I cook for dinner this evening? What shall I wear today? What book should I buy next? I need some new make-up, what should I get? I need some financial advice, where can I get a few tips on saving? I'm thinking of starting a new business but don't know where to start? I want to get fit, where can I find some information about health and fitness? All of these questions can be answered by reading or watching one blog or another. It is amazing. It's like having millions of magazines at your fingertips but they are all FREE. I mean, you don't get anything for free these days!

Many of the women writing and producing these blogs have created extremely successful businesses out of what started as a hobby they enjoyed in their spare time at home. Now, people like fashion, beauty and cultural blogger Leandra Medine of Man Repeller has turned what was once simply a blog into a fashion business with numerous employees, clothing collaborations and recognition from some of the businesses most respected figures. Also, she is frickin' funny. Ella Gregory of Coco's Tea Party blogs full time and works with brands such as Boden and Ralph Lauren to name just a few.

Vloggers like Tanya Burr and Zoe Sugg have transformed what was simply them just making a few videos in their bedrooms to now running multi million pound businesses including multiple book deals, beauty ranges, brand deals with some of the biggest companies in the world, national fashion magazine covers ... the list goes on and on.

Writers like the wonderful Emma Gannon of Girl Lost In The City and Laura Jane Williams of Superlatively Rude have landed book deals after people recognising their writing ability and the stories they have to tell through reading their incredible blogs. Not only has the internet allowed for the women in front of the camera to create successful careers but women have been rocking it behind the camera too. The likes of Charly Cox of Style The Natives is a writer, producer, blogger and digital consultant who has worked with the likes of Burberry, Russell Brand and Youtubers such as Jack's Gap and Casper Lee. The internet has created these opportunities for women to excel on their own terms; it is allowing women to create; is is allowing women to achieve; it is allowing women to rule.

There is such a wealth of talented women in the world (obviously, duh.) and blogs provide many with a platform that they might not otherwise have. Through blogs, twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook people's work can reach thousands if not millions in a matter of minutes. Businesses can be created with little initial monetary investment but with a hell of a lot of hard-work. Women are creating so many new and successful businesses from the comfort of their own home where they might not have had the chance to do without blogs and vlogs and online selling platforms like eBay and etsy.

The internet is awesome.

It's CHRISTMAAAAAS playlist time

It's christmas again and I for one could not be happier.

I love christmas. I love the lights, the films, the biblical stories etc . . . But most of all I love the music. Like photographs or smells, music brings back vivid memories for me. Hearing one song on the radio can take me back to the time I first heard that song. But not only does it transport me back to that time it also makes me feel what I was feeling at that time and reminds me of my interests and worries and dreams and friends and general life. Music is awesome.

Christmas music, obviously, reminds me of winters past. Driving in the car, in the dark with rain/snow slashing down on the windscreen as Bublé and Shakin' Stevens and Paul McCartney and Cliff Richard and Bruce Springsteen and Otis Redding and Mud and Wizzard blast seasonal tunes from inside the radio. Decorating the house with umpteen fairy lights and glittery baubles with the melody of silent night whispering in the background. Slade soundtracking a night of friends, family, champagne and pigs in blankets. Simply - christmas would not be christmas without the music be that carols, gospel, rock n roll, folk, blues or pop.

Last year I made a little alternative christmas playlist and these are still some of my favourite seasonal covers but I thought I'd make an extended version this year. Just click on the song and enjoy.  Alternatively you can click here for the whole playlist on YouTube.

Also, if you are looking for more christmas playlists head on over to Spotify they have some crackin' ones.

•  Merry Christmas Baby - Bruce Springsteen (the B.B. King version is also insanely good)
•  The Christmas Waltz - She & Him 
•  Do You Hear What I Hear - Bob Dylan 
•  Christmas Time's a-Comin' - Johnny Cash
•  Christmas in Harlem - Kanye West 
•  Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
•  Don't Shoot Me Santa - The Killers
•  Baby, It's Cold Outside - Rufus Wainwright & Sharon Van Etten 
•  I Want an Alien For Christmas - Fountains of Wayne
•  Frosty the Snowman - Fiona Apple 
•  The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) - Paul McCartney
•  Someday at Christmas - Stevie Wonder
•  Home - Blake Shelton, Michael Bublé
•  This Christmas - Lady Antebellum 
•  Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton 
•  Christmas in Hollis - Run-DMC
•  Sleigh Ride - TLC
•  What Christmas Means - Hanson 
•  The Spirit of Christmas - LeAnn Rimes, Aloe Black
•  Back Door Santa - BB King
•  The Snow Is Falling - Ray Charles 
•  Silent Night - The Staple Singers
•  Children Go Where I Send Thee - Kenny Rogers 
•  Silent Night, Holy Night - Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Hobbies.

Throughout school and university hobbies were what took over most of my life. When 3:30pm came and the school bell rang I would grab my bags and head to hockey, rugby, net-ball, running club or piano lessons. This has been the routine for most of my life thus far. However, now working full time and travelling three hours a day means that I don’t really have that much spare time to do anything other than exercise, eat dinner and sleep. This routine has been making me a little bit (read: hugely) frustrated over the last few months.

I’m the sort of person who likes to achieve things. Be that getting good grades in my work, finish a half marathon, read a certain amount of books in a specific time frame etc. Due to regularly working weekends and not arriving home until late on weekdays I have been feeling as though I have not been achieving much at all recently which has not been good.

I often feel my blood start to boil and my body begins to shake with frustration and anger almost that I’m not out there constantly achieving and working so hard that I am truly exhausted. It’s like we want to be stressed and tired just so we can tell people that we’re stressed and tired so that they will think, “oh waw, she works hard.” 

But that’s just stupid.

I do have my hobbies – exercising, reading, playing the piano, listening to music, writing and so on. And I do really want to do more of every single one of them but that’s not too realistic right now. Instead of getting frustrated that maybe I don’t have time right now to dedicate to them all simultaneously I am going to just pick one or two a week that I will concentrate on; making everything seem less daunting.

I don’t know about you but I often find myself wasting time thinking of all the things that I need/want to be doing instead of actually doing them. Once you actively start to get the ball rolling things don’t seem so impossible. By prioritising one or two hobbies a week instead of constantly thinking of all the things I want to be doing but not having time for, I hope this will allow me to feel more accomplished and less like a failure.

I’ve only been in full time work for 6 months so I’m still learning on how to time manage everything but breaking issues up into smaller more manageable pieces just makes life seem more achievable.

MINDY KALING - WHY NOT ME & HOW IT CHANGED MY WAY OF THINKING

If you're a member of my immediate family then you know that I can sometimes be a little dramatic (but isn't everyone)! 

Example A: two or three weekends ago, ( I can't remember, weeks all mold into one these days) the morning after the Foo Fighters gig in Milton Keynes my mum and I woke up in a little Travelodge off the M4 ( we had booked it, it wasn't like a Hangover situation). Mum got up and made us coffees with the little kettle and the crap instant coffee they provide you with in hotels. I sat up, turned on Andrew Marr and sipped my coffee that my mum had brought to me in bed. 

IT WAS SOOOOO HOT! 

When the molten liquid touched my lips my skin instantly began to burn. As a result, I pulled the cup away from my mouth with such vigour that coffee spilt over my top and the bed sheets. Without missing a beat I turned to my mum and began shouting "YOU SHOULD NEVER SERVE COFFEE THAT HOT TO ANYONE. EVER!!" Like she was some sort of servant or waitress whos job it was to make me coffee, rather than a mother who was willing to make me a drink. Halfway through my shouting I couldn't keep it together, i 100% recognised how pathetic and dramatic I sounded! For the next 10 minutes I laughed so much that tears ran down my face.

So yeah, basically I can, on occasions, be dramatic but at least I am fully aware that I'm being a drama queen. Consequently I also recognise when I am not being dramatic and actually reacting reasonably.

Therefore when I write that Mindy Kaling's new book 'Why Not Me' was all things awesome and that one page has genuinely changed my life, it is no exaggeration

Annoyingly many interviewers have become incredibly lazy and boring when interviewing Mindy Kaling by asking the same few questions over and over and over again. What's it like to be a 'curvy' actress? What's it like being an Indian across in Hollywood? Fine ask that question maybe once but don't continuously ask the same, increasingly pointless question over 10 years on from when Kaling first appeared on our screens in The Office US. She is more than her size and her ethnicity and also before I go any further, she isn't even big. She is normal. If she wasn't acting on our screens in the shadow of Hollywood then nobody would bat an eyelid at her size. So just stop already. 

What Kaling writes in her new book is simple yet effective. When discussing diets, weight etc she simply states that she has no time to continuously think about losing weight. Of course, she writes, that on occasions she feels self-conscious but she doesn't let it take over her life. She is a successful woman who has her own hit TV show, of course she has more important things to think about. I mean, in this day and age if you have ample time to think about dieting and spend your days thinking about how you look then you have too much time on your hands. You should read a book, write, work out etc instead of constantly filling your head with time-consuming worries. 

There is no denying that all of us at one point or another worry about how we look to others and how our clothes fit on our bodies but gosh, it does take up a lot of our time. 

I still work out around five times a week but that's because it makes me feel good and not (well. sometimes) because I feel that I need to. Live a healthy, balanced life and everything will fall into place. And if you miss a day of exercise, don't panic. It is not the end of the world, just do it tomorrow. Chill. 

When I read Kaling's page or two on this topic and how she is too busy writing, producing, editing (the list goes on) her own frickin' TV show to worry about something that really does not need to be worried about (unless it's effecting your health) I felt a freeing feeling. I too have a gazillion other, much more important things, I should be focusing on rather than obsessing over food and exercise. Think of what you could achieve if you placed all that thinking energy onto something else. I bet you could achieve awesome things. 

Mindy, thanks. 

AC/DC - WEMBLEY STADIUM - 4/7/2015

8:59am, my curser is hovering over the refresh button on the Ticketmaster website. Bang. 9am – refresh. Nooooo, I’m in a queue with the never ending circle of death going round and round and round. Finally – 9:04am and the tickets are bought.

We would be heading to Wembley on the 4^th of July to watch Rock legends AC/DC – one of our family’s favourite bands. When I told my mam on the phone that I managed to get tickets she apparently almost cried. A bit extreme, but we do love some Rock or Bust.

After some margaritas in Covent Garden and a belly full of Chinese food in Chinatown we jumped on the tube and made our way over to the stadium. We caught the last few songs from Los Angeles blues band Vintage Trouble, a band that I’ve loved for a few years, before taking our place in the middle of the floor ready to hear some guitar solos from the uniform-wearing Angus Young.

As people returned from the bar with trays of booze, Brian Johnson’s unmistakable voice could be heard echoing across Northwest London.  The band transitioned from Rock or Bust into Shoot to Thrill and classics rock anthem, Back to Black, and the crowd were bouncing – both young and old – and that’s how they remained for the next two hours.

Middle aged men were dancing as if they were 21 again with their now non-existent hair swishing around as they head banged to classics such as Whole Lotta Rosie and T.N.T. I think that’s one of the reasons I love going to gigs – people forget about their day-to-day struggles, let loose and enjoy.

As You Shook Me All Night Long and Hells Bells were played I experienced a moment of genuine joy that I hadn’t felt in a long while. My brother, his friend and I were jumping up and down to the beat as if our lives depended on it, singing ‘till our lungs felt on fire. Amazing.

After Young finished his mammoth guitar solo during Let There Be Rock, the band finished the evening with the cannon’s of For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) sounding around the stadium.

Magical.

Witnessing what could possible be AC/DC’s last concert on British soil was pretty cool (understatement) and watching the tens of thousands of fans walking towards Wembley Park tube-station, red horns flashing and voices still belting, was an experience I will never forget.

Sprinting through Waterloo station to catch the last train however, is an experience I would really like to forget.

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES, PLEASE

Can you actually see what’s around you? I mean, can you truly see what resides in your surroundings?

Can you see the little ladybird in the grass? Can you hear the bird tweeting in the tree? Did you see that cloud that looked like a dinosaur?

It’s 2015 and we all lead extremely busy lives. Or so it seems. We rush to work/school/college – we wake up, exercise, get changed quickly, have a quick look at the news and we’re out the door. We get to work and are heads are down for the majority of the next eight hours before we jump in the car once more to head home/to a meeting/to the gym. When we get through the door and kick our shoes off, we make some food, watch some TV, read and head to bed before doing the same thing the next day.

The hours turn into days and the days quickly turn into weeks and months before we even have a moment to sit down and contemplate what we’ve been doing, what we’ve accomplished and where we are in our lives right now. Everything turns into a blur of travel, work and sleep.

This has really come to fruition in my life recently.

University does go by quickly but at least you kind of feel as if you have some sort of control over your life. You get to organise your own days – your work schedule, your social life and you also don’t really have to travel far. Your friends surround you, so planning to meet with them isn’t a struggle as you’re all basically living on the same time – there are no rigid work hours that you all have to negotiate.  You have some time to breathe, even if it doesn’t seem that way when you have essay, dissertation and presentation deadlines.

After finishing my exams I went straight into full-time work doing a job that I love and right now wouldn’t change for the world. However, months of travelling a 100 miles a day (three hours on the road) occasionally catches up on me. Come Friday I am exhausted. It’s not like “oh I feel a bit tired”, I mean to the point where my body hurts. But that’s a part of life – a part of a working life.

What travelling so far each day, working and exercising does is that it doesn’t give you much time to appreciate life – the little things in life. It’s easy to lose perspective. All of a sudden being stuck in traffic for ten minutes on the motorway becomes the worst thing in the world. When in reality, it doesn’t matter one bit. Yes, maybe you’ll be home later than usual or you might be late to the gym, but really, who cares?

Your heart is still beating and you are breathing – everything else is a bonus.

I have been watching LadieDottie on YouTube for a few years and Datev and her boyfriend Kevin seem to centre me as a human being once more. Their appreciation for the little things in life is inspiring. They see beauty in all that surrounds them – the mountains, the wildlife, the sea. They take time to stop, get out of the car and appreciate how cool a building looks or how beautiful a view is – they take time to appreciate life.

This is something I feel that we regularly forget to do and even how to do it.

Personally I am going to make a conscious effort to appreciate everything beautiful and positive that surrounds me. That cute little sheep in the field, the red-orange colour of the sky as the sun sets, the sound of that bird flapping its wings as it flies over head – these are all things that make up our surroundings and are things that have the ability to improve us as people and help relax us.

They maybe small things but they have the ability to change our perspective on life immensely.

FOO FIGHTERS - MILTON KEYNES NATIONAL BOWL - 5/9/15

Dave Grohl  - the nicest guy in rock they say – and after Saturday evening I can categorically agree.

On Saturday night at the Milton Keynes National Bowl, Grohl apologised numerous times for something that he couldn’t really help (although, did he really have to jump of that flippin' stage?!). Eleven weeks ago Grohl shattered his leg after jumping off the stage at a Foo Fighters gig in Sweden. An injury that meant the band had to cancel their upcoming dates including a headlining gig at Glastonbury festival and two nights at the cathedral of rock – Wembley Stadium. The news rippled through Europe and once it arrived in the UK thousands of hearts could be heard breaking and breaths became bated as fans awaited news of possible new dates.

As Grohl was resting in the luxury Grosevnor House in London after metal plates and pins were settling into their new home in the rock-star’s leg, new dates were announced. Not Wembley this time but rather the National Bowl in Milton Keynes; a familiar place for Grohl and the band who first played the coliseum-like venue back in 2011.

Having left home at 11:30am and traveled the length of Wales and half of England throughout the day, by 6:15pm, as we parked the car, we were more than ready to listen to some good music. Unfortunately, we missed Royal Blood but we did get to listen to their set while sitting in traffic outside the National Bowl. I have been lucky enough to see them live twice before so it wasn’t all that bad. After buying a ‘Brake a Leg Tour’ t-shirt (which are apparently selling on ebay now for over a £100  – crazy seeing as I bought it for £22!) we headed into the bowl just in time to watch the mad mystery that is Iggy Pop.

Iggy Pop entertained us with hits such as The Passenger, Real Wild Child and Lust for Life in between sweary but funny ramblings about how happy he was to perform for us that evening. Also, is Pop seriously double jointed? If not, I think he needs to visit a doctor!

With the shirtless Iggy Pop off the stage it was only a matter of time before the Foos graced us with their presence. As quarter past eight approached, the center of the bowl began filling up with kids, parents, teenagers and grandparents alike. Rock has no age barrier it seems.

Before the crowd could take in the fact that Grohl and the boys were on stage, in the flesh, right in front of their eyes, the band immediately bombarded their fans with hit after glorious hit that gave a strong indication that the evening was going to be special. 

Starting with Everlong, straight into Monkey Wrench and to the Foo’s classic Learn to Fly the crowd couldn’t believe their luck - after the disappointment of the cancellation of the Wembley gigs to this amazing evening - it had been an emotional journey!

 It started superbly and it continued like that until the very last song 2 hours and 15 minutes later. A mammoth set that even Bruce Springsteen himself would be proud of.

The Pretender along with Sonic Highway anthems, Congregation and Something From Nothing kept the crowd bouncing late into the evening. However, one of my personal favorites, Big Me, was somewhat overshadowed by the impromptu light show that Grohl asked the audience to create with their phones; although taking away from the beauty of the song, the lights were pretty cool!

A few lengthy instrumentals arguably slowed down the Foos momentum but nothing could truly bring the crowd down from the euphoria they felt after witnessing a piece of musical history half way through the set.

Having watched the YouTube clip of Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page joining the Foos on stage in Wembley stadium during their last world tour to sing the Led Zep classic Rock and Roll, I was hoping that they would arrange something similar for us this time around. Unfortunately they hadn’t planned anything. Fortunately, however, the stars aligned and the universe was on our side as Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Queen’s Roger Taylor happened to turn up to watch the gig and agreed to join the Foos onstage to form a “Superduper Group” and perform the Queen classic, Under Pressure!

As the crowd finished dueting with Grohl on Best of You, Grohl grabbed his crutches and walked to the front of the stage with the rest of the band to thank the thousands of fans who had traveled to Milton Keynes to watch them perform on that memorable September evening. The fact that Grohl’s leg was still in plaster and that he was sat down for the whole performance in his fantastic throne, barring the little dance he had during Monkey Wrench, was irrelevant as the front-man still owned the stage and held the audience in the palm of his hand more so than any band, able-bodied or not, that I've ever seen. Now that’s a sign of a great front-man and a great band.

For me, it was a dream-come-true to see Foo Fighter live – a band that I have loved for the majority of my life; a band that I was brought up on. Having been to countless number of gigs over the last 21 years, Saturday’s gig was definitely in my top 3. Foo Fighters are up there keeping company with Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC in my estimation. 

They were worth the wait.

I'M PERFECTLY HAPPY, THANKS: THE NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING.

"It's because you think you're too cool isn't it."

This is what some people think/say when I announce to them the seemingly shocking news that I do not use Facebook.

"But, like, everyone uses Facebook!"

Its not that I don't have a Facebook profile, I do. It's just that I don't care enough to log on. This might make me seem selfish, rude even, but I really do not care what other people whom I do not regularly speak to are doing.

The people that I adore the most and the people I count as my closest friends are in my phone. I text them, phone them and FaceTime them. I follow them on twitter and instagram and regularly meet up for coffee and a chat. These are the people that I care about. I don't really care about that girl five years younger than me that recently went out on an "awesome night out" and felt like posting a gazillion pictures of her and her "mates" drinking in a pub.

Social media is a wonderful, revolutionary and amazing thing. It has changed the way in which we live our lives, how we communicate and how we see the world. News is instantly available to us through twitter and push notifications from our preferred news app. Friends are but a click away and thousands if not millions of amazing people are influencing the world one blog post at a time. I am in no way berating social media or Facebook.

Facebook is certainly a great site. I mean, if it wasn't then it would not have become the mecca that it is, or arguably was, before Twitter and Instagram came on to the scene. Families and friends can stay in contact when they live thousands of miles apart and pictures can be stored in albums to look back on in years to come.

It is certainly not Facebook that is the problem. Rather, it's the fact that people want to constantly know what you are doing and where you are going - that's the problem.

I overhear conversations where people discuss certain events - who was there, what happened etc. - as if they themselves were a part of the celebrations, only later finding out that they deciphered all of this information from a few photos posted on social media.

It might just be me (it most probably is just me) but unless my friends are there or unless I am there I don't feel the need to learn every detail about THAT party.

Having been away at university for three years and recently returning home to live I am totally out of the loop and have no clue what is happening locally. I mean, I know what my friends are doing but I don't know the ins and outs of the lives of people that I barely remember from school and I don't feel that I need to know either.

I live at home but work an hour and a half away thus meaning that I spend most of my day either in work or on the road and my weekends are taken up with me attempting to catch up on sleep, attempting to relax or visiting friends and family in all corners of Britain.

I am certainly aware that people might think of me as 'strange' for not wanting to know every detail of everyone's life but I am perfectly happy just being involved in the lives of people that I genuinely care about.

Conversely, I regularly fangirl over writers, comedians and bloggers on twitter and instagram - people that I only know through the screen of my laptop. These are people that I admire. They produce incredibly witty, intelligent, beautiful and important work that I feel everyone should witness. The difference here is that I'm not prying to see what they got up to on the weekend, who they're hanging out with or what they wore to that party last weekend. Instead, I am updating their twitter feed to see if they have posted a new article, a new stand up show, some important news. These people are providing content that makes a difference - well, to me anyway.

I am an avid social media user and would dread to think what I would do if twitter, instagram or blogger were taken away from me, but when did everyone get so involved in other people's lives? I understand that we as a people have always been nosy, inquisitive, interested - whatever you want to call it - in other people's lives but when did it become an obsession?

Please don't think of me as weird or 'a bit up herself' for not wanting to know every detail of everyone's life. I care what my friends and family are doing and I care about the work the people I admire are producing and that's enough to keep me occupied for now. This might well  change in the future but for now I am quite happy.

FEAR: A TERRIBLE AND WONDERFUL THING.

 

So, there I was, tears flowing down my face, sat in a random pub car park with no signal and what felt like no hope. No, this is not how my Saturday night ended but rather it was a Monday afternoon. Last Monday in fact.

After work I had an appointment with a homeopath who lived on the complete other side of the city. Google maps said that it should take 20 minutes to reach my destination. I left with 30 minutes in my time bank. Fine, right? Wrong. Not only was the traffic utterly relentless but my phone and my only hope of finding my destination had decided that it could not be bothered to pick up any signal today. He was just a bit tired.

I thought, that's fine, I'll just print the directions off at work before I leave; You know, like the olden days when you actually had to read directions. However, attempting to navigate city traffic at rush hour while also attempting to read direction does not really work too well. Therefore, I quickly abandoned the directions and went with my gut.

Eventually, after many three point turns and numerous full circles around countless roundabouts, I reached the little village. But, could I find the man? No. Obviously not. That would have been way to easy.

I drove up and down the thin and too long village so many times that I was worried that I would be pulled over for curb crawling. My appointment was at half five. It was not ten past six.

Did I mention that the majority of my nightmares are not of monsters chasing me down a dark forest but rather they are of me turning up very late to something. That feeling of knowing that you're late, like REALLY late, and not being able to do anything about it makes me feel physically ill.

I gave up. Well, almost. I did think about turning back and heading home but I thought no, I'll give it another five minutes. I walked in to a pub, voice breaking from trying not to cry and borrowed the lovely waitress' phone.

Ring. Nope, my mam didn't feel like picking up either. I left the pub with some directions but not much of a clue of how to follow them. Once more I travelled the length of the village, shaking now.

Wait. I found it. I FOUND IT. Forty-five minutes late but I actually found the stupid place.

I was in with the homeopath for all of five minutes before his next patient arrived. And those five minutes were mostly taken up with me trying not to completely break down in front of him.

On the way home I cried but just a bit. One of my biggest fears had actually come true. But do you know what, I am still alive. My heart is still pumping, my brain is still working and my lungs continue to feel the freshness of crisp Welsh air.

Fear is an interesting thing. It is both horrible and wonderful. It makes you cry but also laugh. It is what can stop us in our tracks but equally it is what can drive us to accomplish magnificent things - if we let it.

Without fear we would probably still be living in a cave somewhere taking turn to nap while preparing to go out and hunt for our next meal. Without fear people wouldn't create, wouldn't make and wouldn't succeed.

Fear shows that you care. You care about respecting someone's time, you care about your future, you care about your loved ones and you care about your career. However, giving in to that fear means that you are preventing yourself from achieving what you want from life. Fear is there to test us. Do you want it enough to break through the dark and unknown wall? The answer is and should always be, yes.

I was terrified turning up on my first day of university but I stuck at it and had the best time and met my best friends. I was terrified turning up to my first day of work but I turned up and I love my job.

Fear is something that we should see as something wonderful; something that propels us into a brighter future. Fear is something that we need to take control of and show who's boss.