Killing time...

Two blog entries in the space of two days? I know, it's been a while...but everything was a bit put on hold yesterday (suffering greatly with a headache, wooziness and generally feeling sorry for myself after my dual with a steel shutter) and today I thought hey...why not write a little of my adventures recently, being that this is called "Adventures with Bex" after all?

Well, recently my adventures have mostly revolved around my Xbox. I wouldn't class myself as a big gamer, but every now and then there is a game that sucks away at my personal time until I get bored of it, and it pretty much takes over my entire mind. The last game was specifically the multiplayer aspect of Assassins Creed Brotherhood, and before that it was any number of The Sims games and variations thereof. Inbetween it all has been Oblivion, which popped up in my life from time to time and sucked me up before I got bored of playing it over for the ten millionth time (and I've still not played it all).

Mammoths in Skyrim, they are awesome because
they are big and shaggy, like me, {via}

Well, now it's Skyrim, Oblivions younger but oh so much more talented little brother (or sister, they aren't sexist in Tamriel) that has me sucked in, so much of the radio blog silence from me here has been at the hands of this game. I'll be fair, it only came out a week ago, but the weeks before that I've been enjoying my social life, and actually have plans coming up, ranging from coffee tonight to a trip to Birmingham for the Christmas market. I'm very much looking forward to this trip as it's with old friends I don't really see very often at all (most of them I haven't seen in at least a year) but of course I have to tear myself away from the Xbox to do that.

I'm sure I'll survive the shock though :)

I'm also look forward in the next few weeks to Twilight (you may judge, I care not :p) and the ChildLine Christmas do (Ben can finally see all these crazy people I've been pouring my deepest, darkest secrets to during training). All in all, aside from the unsuprising "I LOVE SKYRIM" line I've been pulling around with me this past week, not a lot to report on, but an awful lot coming up to enjoy :)

{via}

Oh, you may also notice that I've not said anything about writing, which considering I announced with some excitement that I was partaking in NaNoWriMo again this year (in order to strike a task from my day zero list) may strike as suspicious. Well suspect away dear friends for I jacked it all in a week into the frivolities. I'm just not feeling the creative juices flowing this November, which is ok because they very much were last year and so the chances are that they will be next year, or the year after...but after that I've failed day zero, so they'd better not be waiting till the November after that to resume the flow...you get my point anyhow. This year is a NaNo fail.

As for the weight loss, this is actually coming along quite nicely this November. As is usual with me so it seems, as soon as I stopped pressurising myself with challenges and immediate urgent goals I've started losing again. As of today my weight is 315 lb...still much too high and way too unhealthy, but if I'd been hanging around on FUFF I would have surpassed my weight loss goal! What's even sweeter about this number is that I've only got one stone and a pound to lose before I'm out of the 300 lb's, and since I've already lost more than this in total you can imagine  that I'm feeling pretty darn positive about seeing a 2 flash up on the scale. The really important thing is though that this is a significant loss after a pretty stagnant period where I was losing at best a half a pound a week. It just goes to show that in this particularly tough world of scales and gyms and portion sizes and vegetables, the fruits of your labour aren't always instantaneous.

Anyhow, just thought I'd drop in a line. Can't wait to bring you news of all the wonderful things that are taking place over the CHRISTMAS IS NEARLY HERE *ahem* season and err...I hope you are all enjoying yourselves too ^_^

It's (almost) that time of year again!

Only thirteen days to go till the beginning of National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo as it is known...and the inspiration behind NaBloPoMo) and I'm in a bit of a pickle...this time last year I had my concept, my schedule, each chapter planned out in relatively awesome detail and had even drawn a map (albeit on photoshop, but it was an awesome map!) of the make believe world in which the story would be taking place. I was chomping at the bit to get going.

Welcome to my marriage right now...

This time round...I still can't wait to start...but I've not done a single bit of prep and I'm worried I won't have the time or energy or impeutus as I did last year (when I was unemployed and thus had all the time in the world but still struggled some days to even look at it). Ben has been encouraging me to do it but not as a NaNo because he is of the opinion that my idea is too good for a NaNo. I am of a differing opinion, but the differing levels of confidence in my abilities and originality that my husband and I have aside...I have no real desire to write as anything but a hobby, a challenge, a bit of time out...and if I didn't write this for NaNo then not only would it never have a chance in hell of being completed at all, but also I wouldn't have a clue what else to write....and I LOVE participating in NaNo, it really is so much fun!

But I haven't the foggiest of where I'm going to start. I know the beginning, I know the end, I know some of the little twists and scandals that are going to happen along the way, I know there's actually going to be character development, shattering realisations and revelations about the characters. But I don't know what's going to actually happen to bring these things about. I need to sit down and write out a chapter by chapter plan in order to get a better picture, then fill in the blanks.

I'm probably going to be very quiet over the month of November, and when I do post my posts will probably all revolve around the fact that I'm frustrated/struggling/ready to hack my computer into pieces/about to give up but can't because I have to finish the damn story as well as hit the winning word count in order to complete one of my day zero list challenges.

It's going to be a fun month...and even if you haven't the tiniest interest in banging out an entire novel throughout the month of November, I hope you have fun following me in my journey to do so :)

Murphy's Law

It's Murphy's Law. Pure and simple. You spend the entirity of the weekend, plus Friday before and Monday after, worrying...stressing...getting wound up and a little upset...head full of the what if's and the how come's and why did's...

But as soon as you just accept it is how it is and there's no point chewing the cud and you may as well get on with things as if nothing happened in the first place, as I did last night when I said to Ben that I wasn't waiting on that job call anymore and I'm just going to continue on with the job hunt as per normal and put it all to the back of my mind.

Then today, having not even thought about it, at almost 12 o clock sharp I got the phonecall saying "You've got the job, you start on Monday!"


On a practical level of course I'm bloody well over the moon! On a more philosophical level I have to grin and say yeah...this always happens to me...the minute I stop caring, the minute I just let things go...it comes to me again. Just stop worrying on, Bex, you'll be fine!


Now I get to cross off another day zero item and I think I can consider my "keep up with the job hunt" goal for Beat the Heat pretty much complete!

Sunday weekly roundup number 2

It's been a pretty busy week!

• Had a phone interview which led to a face to face interview in which I was told "hey, I'm pretty sure you're getting this job!" but then didn't hear any more...so fingers crossed for tomorrow!
• The living room is half finished in my continuing mission to blitz the flat. It's already looking fantastic and it's only the corner of shame and bookshelves to be sorted now. Oh how I fear the corner of shame...
• I managed to cross off another quest from my day zero list! Taking vitamins is now hardwired into my soul.
• I managed to break my plateau! But this little victory was short lived as I put it back on before weigh in day. I'm starting to doubt whether I'll be able to loose 10lb's by the end of BTH.
• Although I've had a week full of little personal victories, the world at large has had a pretty traumatic week whether it be from a massacre in Norway or individual tragedy. Prayers for all who have suffered this week.

Fanfic, and the horrors that await the uninitiated.

In my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days one of the tasks is to write a short story.

I like writing, I find it to be soothing. When I write, I can see the events take place in my head like the ultimate fantasy movie of mine. But because it's my fantasy, no one else gets the little nuances (because they can't read my mind...also because I don't let people read it but hey, I imagine that if someone were to read it they wouldn't understand why x is x and y is y) and I end up getting quite long winded trying to explain everything. When it comes to story telling, I'm not so good at condensing things down. I feel the need to explore the world at large and it just refuses to be squeezed down into the space available.

But then I thought hmm...why don't I just do what thousands of people already do? I don't need to create a world or a situation that needs explaining. I can just rip someone elses hard work off with the knowlege that the reader, in theory, already knows as much as I do about the setting. I can write a FANFIC *shock horror*

The thought of using that in order to achieve my goal only occured to me after having read Ben's blog post from last night in which he mentions his own torrid past in fanfic (ok so it's not completely in the past but it's mostly in the past) and also one of possibly the most disturbing and poorly written yet somehow if you can take the joke hilarious pieces of fiction in general that has to exist in which Jesus gets err...down and dirty with Hitler.

I've never looked into fanfic before, and I'm pretty sure that Hitler Jesus slash fic is no doubt the very extreme lower end of the spectrum in both taste and writing quality. But you know, I always said that before you dive into something new, research is required. So I went off to dig up some of the more serious fan fiction specimens to determine how I should go about doing my own little piece so I can tick off one more goal on my list. For anyone else new to the world of fan fiction or having never really looked into it before now, here are my findings.

1. People will fanfic just about anything. I was worried that I'd end up doing something that no one actually would get. I sure as hell do not feel the need to write a Twilight fanfic (God knows there are already 180386 too many Twilight fanfics, and that's just from first glance at fanfiction.net - I shudder to think how many are floating around unnoticed on the wider internet) or a Harry Potter fic (I was put off when I read a Hermione/Rita Skeeter sex scene...ugh...). But looking at all the categories at FanFiction.net it turns out people really will rip anything off. Including the Bible. I kid you not. There are at least 2921 Bible fanfics. Granted, the Hitler Jesus Romance is one, and one that I've seen is a big rant by someone for whome English is clearly not their first language as to why athiesm should be illegalized (really folks, what else is Blogspot for if not for rants? Why is this on fanfic.net?) but there are some honest to God (if you'll pardon the pun) biblical fanfics there. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a moral outrage or anything like that, it just seems odd...but I suppose that's just me being closed minded...or something.
2. A good portion of fanfics are porno fantasies. Let's just go back to those Bible fan fics. If you set the filter to "M" (that is, I assume, for mature) it comes up with 127. Ok that's only a fraction of all the bible fics out there but when you consider how prudish a book the bible is, it's gotta take some pushing to make an M rated bible fic. Admittedly a lot of them will be trolls and spoofs. So lets go take a look at something which draws a more dedicated fan base. Twilight pops out 54,624 rated M. Harry Potter holds 94,639 (of 503,704). It's not all of them. It's not even most of them. And this is just the out and out stuff...as opposed to that which is only implied or alluded to.
3. Nothing is sacred. That should be obvious from the Bible fics. But there is gay rated M fan fics based on To Kill a Mockingbird. How do you even come up with something like that?
4. You'd be suprised at what passes for "fan fiction". Some kid wrote a story about some random Unicorn he meets in a forest infested by killer wasps (which are lime green) called "My Pet Unicorn, Steve" and posted it up as Greek Mythology fanfic.
5. Honestly, I thought most active fanfic-ers were teenagers. My hubby updated his last on fanfic.net some 12 days ago. Apparently it's much more widespread amongst more mature audiences (is in age mature as opposed to "look we can write Harry Potter Porn" mature) than I first thought.

Am I scared? Hells yeah. Am I still going to do it? Yes. But first I need to figure out who I'm going rip off. Will I hide with my shame? Most probably, yes. What have I learned from my reconnaisance mission? I need not worry about content, correct grammar or spelling, substance or common decency. It's all pretty damn good in the world of fan fiction.

A lovely birthday weekend!

So I got back from the  very much unfrozen north last night feeling very happy and bouncy after a lovely weekend away. I'll admit I'm feeling a little under the weather today but that's because I woke up at 3am this morning with an almost completely numb left hand..or at least, my fingers at any rate. At first I thought oh dear, I'm coming on with a migraine, but since it failed to materialize and the numbness remains I'm assuming it's some sort of repetitive strain type thing (because, you know, I have a medical degree and know all about these things, obviously...haah). At the minute the numbness has reduced down to my index finger and thumb and kind of down the edge of my middle finger but it's still odd. So I'm feeling quite as bubbly or bouncy right now because I've got my hand all strapped up and it's just freaky, but in general everything is good and Ben and I both agree that weekend away was just what the doctor ordered!

We didn't do too much because the folks had pre arranged appointments (must have been pre arranged a loooong time ago....) but we had a lovely time with my Granny, who seemed more than happy to have us there. My birthday was lovely and I got lovely gifts. From Ben I got a lovely heart shaped locket, I got a beautiful new shirt from my Gran. From the kids I got a recipe journal and from mum and dad I got a kindle, which were all wonderful and means I've been able to cross them off my 101 in 1001 list ;)

Whilst I was up I decided to finally get a start on the task of taking 1001 photos in 1001 days, which I added to the list because I never take pictures and I really wish I did more! Sadly I forgot to pack my camera but I used my phone instead. It doesn't really have a good zoom function or anything and I don't think it has a flash but for taking pictures outside in the sunshine I think it's generally much better quality than my camera (being that said camera is now 6 years old). I managed to take the first 58 piccies, but of course I'm not going to put them all up here ^_^. I've been uploading them to a select few friends and family only album on facebook for the purpose of verifiying that I actually did it and because I know my dad isn't exactly enamoured with the thought of being plastered all over the net. But for the sake of sharing my challenges with you guys, here are some of the nicest photo's from the weekend ^_^

We also built a sandcastle with a moat which I was also able to cross off my list :) It's more like a space age fortress though hehe

Haha, Spice is such a camera whore!

Day Zero

So, a number of bloggers that I follow have a list of 101 things that they want to do in 1001 days. I always thought it was pretty twee and cutesy...I'm a cynic and a pessimist and think that writing lists of lifetime goals that include things like "visit x country" are nothing more than pipe dreams for show. The truth of the matter is that in my life time I may never see enough money to buy a plane ticket to Thailand, let alone in the next 1001 days.

I found the site from which the 101 in 1001 originated and saw the "rules" so to speak and the reasoning behind it, it seemed much more grounded than the list of pipe dreams I'd read elsewhere. You can read the rules and reasoning Here. Anyhow, being that I told myself at the beginning of this year that I was going to make an effort to improve upon many aspects of my life, including health, time management, getting some good habits under my belt etc...I saw this and thought well, why not start doing it now cause I sure as hell haven't done much towards it so far, and we're a quarter of the way in ^_^

So here is my 101 things I shall work to achieve over the next two and three quarter years.

Start Date: 8^th April 2011

End Date: 3^rd January 2014

Personal Goals

1. Get a job
2. Buy myself some lovely new clothes just because
3. Move out of the flat
4. Put £20 into a savings account every month for a year (0/12 months saved)
5. Read 30 new books (0/30)
6. Get back to college for some course or another
7. Participate in and win NaNoWriMo (not just the word count as I did last year, but finish off the story too!)
8. Write a love letter for Ben and send it in the post (Although he will now be expecting it…I shall have to be super sneaky!)
9. Write down my worst memories and burn them
10. Write a short story
11. Join a campaign group for something I’m passionate about
12. Write a letter/email to my MP about something I feel passionate about
13. Obtain and watch last two seasons of Battlestar Galactica
14. Hang up fresh mistletoe at Christmas
15. Say yes to everything for a whole day (and make it a day that counts!)

Spiritual Goals

16. Successfully give something up for lent
17. Go to confession
18. Pray the entire rosary
19. Finish reading the RC Bible (5/73 books read)
20. Attend some kind of religious study class
21. Learn to meditate, and do so for at least 20 minutes a day for at least twenty eight days (0/28)

Health and Fitness Goals

22. Loose 137 pounds from my heaviest weight (132 to go)
23. Sign up for the gym
24. Work out for at least 30 minutes every day for twenty eight days (0/28)
25. Attend a fitness class (eg Zumba, Yoga, Pilates etc)
26. Take my vitamins every day for at least twenty eight days (0/28)
27. Find out my blood type
28. Drink only water for at least 28 days (0/28)
29. Eat fruit every day for at least 28 days (0/28)

Shopping List Goals

30. Sofa
31. Brand new computer
32. Kindle
33. An actual bed (as opposed to a mattress on the floor!)
34. Buy seven new items of clothing – one in each colour of the rainbow (0/7)
35. Nativity scene for Christmas
36. Heeled shoes that are comfortable

Arts and Crafts Goals

37. Make those new cushion covers I bought all the gear for
38. Make wedding album
39. Complete spiral bracelet
40. Make weight loss tracker bracelet
41. Go to Laila’s for a crafty day
42. Start a scrapbook
43. Complete bathroom embroidery sampler
44. Make matching friendship bracelets for me and my closest friends
45. Complete Unicorn cross stitch
46. Draw a self portrait (and make it good enough to put it on the blog!)
47. Make my own cosmetics
48. Use my bead loom to create a beautiful wall hanging
49. Take 1001 photographs (0/1001)

Good Deeds

50. Volunteer regularly somewhere (for the sake of definitive goals, say at least 3 months) (0/3)
51. Donate Blood
52. Donate £5 to charity for each item on this list that I do not complete (£505 currently to be donated)

Fun times to be had

53. Go to a concert
54. Go to see an opera
55. Go to see a ballet
56. Go to see a musical
57. Go on a weekend break to an as of yet unvisited city on the continent
58. Take Ben to Holy Island
59. See a movie in The Gallery
60. Take Ben to Blackpool for the weekend
61. Host a Murder Mystery Party
62. Build a big fancy sandcastle with a moat
63. Have someone else read my tarot cards for me (you know, just for a change!)
64. Attend a BTCC race day
65. Go camping
66. Visit five new museums (0/5)
67. Host an afternoon tea party
68. Visit a new art gallery
69. Go to the movies with my family
70. Listen to 26 bands I’ve never listened to before, starting with each letter of the alphabet (0/26)
71. Complete the Assassins Creed games (this only counts for the first three…I’m pretty sure they’re bringing more out but I’ve never played more than two games in a series before, let alone completed them!!) (0/3)

Food and Drink

72. Try six new cocktails (0/6)
73. Cook ten new recipe’s (0/10)
74. Take Ben’s sisters to the Jamie Oliver Italian
75. Try some French Cheese that I haven’t tried yet
76. Learn to make Granny’s corned beef and potato pie from scratch
77. Try 5 different tea’s that I haven’t before (0/5)
78. Go on that picnic I’ve been meaning to with Dee and Becky!
79. Make a birthday cake for someone like the ones I used to for my baby brother and sister
80. Get a blank journal and turn it into a personal recipe book to be handed down and added to through the generations

Classics that I haven’t read but wish to read

81. Dracula
82. Frankenstein
83. Pride and Prejudice
84. Animal Farm
85. Brave New World
86. Wuthering Heights

Movies I still need to get around to seeing

87. The Godfather series (0/3)
88. Fight Club
89. Gone with the wind
90. The Breakfast Club
91. Das Boot
92. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
93. Fiddler on the Roof (or better yet, see it on stage?)
94. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Blogging Goals

95. Reach 100 followers
96. Host a giveaway
97. Host a blog swap event
98. Make a Vlog
99. Write 30 reviews (0/30)
100. Complete “50 questions that will free your mind”
101. Write 350 new blog posts (1/350)

You may or may not have guessed but when I got to number 81 I kinda ran out of things to do (and even then I'd been filching ideas off of other people's lists haha) that I thought I actually stood a chance of doing (though I have included some things that may be a little bit more difficult thanks to financial constraints, gives me something to work at!) and started writing down books and movies I haven't read or watched yet, and things I might like to do on the blog!

If anyone fancies helping me out getting a head start with the list, give me a buzz you know where I am! I know at least two people who read this who can read tarot cards, at least three who I can think of who would be willing to go camping and at least one who will happily and without reservation go to see an opera with me. I will do favours in return for helping hands!