If Music Be

Archive for March, 2008

And so it goes! Back to work with me after nearly 2 weeks off and it already feels like I’ve never been away. That, coupled with the tricky problem I’m having hassle solving means a headache and it’s only 1100!

Didn’t sleep well last night, actually that’s not strictly true, I slept fine but took over 2 hours to get to sleep which left me less than 5 actually sleeping. I know full well I need 7.5 to function effectively so it’s not looking good for a productive day.

Went back to the gym this morning, had to sit down for 10 minutes after wimping out of the second half of my programme, because it was so hard. My Mum tells me the moral of that story is never have 2 weeks off when your programme has just been changed to make it more difficult. Still, lots of calories burned anyway, and back on healthy food again so it’s not too bad. I’m studiously ignoring the 2 Easter eggs in my cupboard at home, haven’t even cracked the boxes open yet (how good am I) but I can see it’s only going to be a matter of time before I succumb.

Cereal bar for breakfast this morning with my usual cup of black coffee, was lovely but I’m hungry now. I did bring 2 Clementine’s to work so I might have one of those in a minute to stop myself eating my ham roll too early.

Had lots of blogs to catch up on today so no references to other peoples at the moment, I’ll get back to that when I’m back in the blogging swing tomorrow I expect.

I’m finding myself with some unexpected free time today. The GOH (that’s gorgeous other half for those of you who care) came up for a flying visit last night but had to go to work this morning so has toddled off again now…via Ikea, ostensibly to get a catalogue but I’m not sure!

So what shall I do with myself I wonder? The house is tidy, the cupboards are full, there’s no good football on until tomorrow and it’s raining. I’ve been playing with pictures on one of my fave sites this morning but that won’t keep me occupied all afternoon.

I could have a spring clean of my clothes I suppose…it’s about time, since I’m determined to not ever wear my fat girl clothes again. Ooh speaking of that, I’m hoping that come Monday the weight loss will start again in earnest. I’ve not been to the gym for 2 weeks because I was sick and then on holidays so I think that when I go back and start eating healthily again at the same time it might kick start a new era of loss for me. I’ll keep you posted though.

I can only imagine how difficult it is going to be going back though, if you remember I had just got a new and much more difficult program from my trainer to start, so not only am I doing that after 2 weeks off, but because it’s longer I am going to be getting up earlier to go and do it so will be more tired than a really tired thing. Hopefully it won’t take me too long to get back into it though and the results will be worth it. I’m coming up on 6 months of going now and have changed shape completely in that time so harder work can only be good.

Tomorrow I’m having lunch with my Dad. I haven’t seen him for about a year, he lives down south and I don’t often go down there so consequently don’t spend much time with him. He’s up visiting other people and can fit me in for a lunch tomorrow in Southport. Hopefully it’ll be ok, I’m sure I can get through it! I had better be home in time for the football tomorrow afternoon though, kick-off’s at 1600 and I live about 2 miles from the ground so I need to get to my preferred place of watching before it starts!

It’s from the BBC website: Article

To be consistently verbally abused about the way you choose to dress seems inconceivable to most people. Blending in and staying anonymous in an age where gang mentality is increasingly commonplace seems the safer option.

Ade Varney, a Goth since the age of 17, says that the reality is that the abuse aimed at Goths is alarmingly regular. Following Sophie Lancaster’s killing in a Lancashire park, he is campaigning to have the definition of hate crime to include offences against people based on their appearance or subcultural interests. A regular at the Whitby Goth weekend, which Miss Lancaster and her boyfriend Rob Maltby also attended, Mr Varney has also been among those who have helped put a memorial bench in place for Miss Lancaster.

He said: “We decided it only fitting that she had a memorial not only in the place where she and Rob had once enjoyed but also a place where Goths frequent, so they can pay their respects when there.”

You have to search hard to find a Goth who is violent in nature and even harder still to find one who has not been targeted in some way

Mr Varney said: “Among a bunch of young kids, who shouldn’t even have been out at night, were some teenagers, who operated with an ‘us and them’ gang mentality. We get verbal assaults every day, and not just from young people. But now younger teenagers have the mentality of hardened criminals and I definitely sense this violent aspect getting worse. It’s often exacerbated by misconceptions about what Goths are. Goth teenagers can tend to be bookish, quiet and thoughtful. As a result they can sometimes become distanced from the majority and become targeted. In my experience of over 20 years, as a general rule, you have to search hard to find a Goth who is violent in nature and even harder still to find one who has not been targeted in some way. These packs so often see a slightly built guy on his own, wearing make-up and to them, he is fair game, an easy target to bully. It is happening to girls now, more than ever. Sophie and Rob were young and happy together and at that age, you sometimes think nothing bad can ever happen to you. I’ve been there myself. They may not have been able to conceive that anyone could be so cruel. I’m sure they had no idea what hit them at first. It appears they had virtually no chance to react or defend themselves.”

The attack happened only moments after the pair had a “good-natured” conversation with other youngsters in the park.

Mr Varney started a petition to expand the definition of hate crime and has gathered more than 4,000 signatures.

“I would say I get some sort of abuse most days, whether alone or with friends. Some might be light-hearted, but it’s never fully good-natured. People think that we dress like this just to stand out. We might stand out, but it’s not to shock. It’s a choice and we like it – it’s more about what we want to be for ourselves, than anything else. Sophie’s death has made people think and I have heard of teenagers, especially girls, modifying the way they dress when they walk though certain areas.”

Martin ‘Oldgoth’ Coles, a prominent music DJ on the Whitby Gothic scene instigated the memorial project and organised the fund-raising for Sophie’s bench, which is marked with the words: “An angel too soon.”

Mr Varney will speak at its official unveiling in Whitby on 26 April. “Sophie’s body is not there, but we like to think her spirit is,” he said. “Whatever you believe in, her memory will always last in this place.”

I think it’s important that people have tolerance and understanding so that this kind of hatred will not occur again!

Social networking, I know everyone knows all about it and we probably are all fed up with the hype, but actually more and more I’m liking it.
I have a better relationship with a couple of people by being facebook friends and playing scrabulous against them, and myspace has really widened the number of bands I have got into.
I don’t have any other ones though, it seems that a lot of the people I know are the same. I started with a myspace account which I had for an age before I signed up to facebook. I mistakenly thought they were trying to do the same thing and didn’t see the point of being on both…how wrong I was.
I still don’t understand facebook though, I mean why would you steal super-powers from someone and make them a vampire?? Then again you can ignore those things (and I do) so it’s not too bad.

Funny isn’t it that we embrace technological advances in such different ways…i wonder if I hadn’t got a profile on those sites whether I would have ever started blogging?

What do you think? Fans or not?

What to do with my time off, that is the question.

Whether it is nobler in the house cleaning and sorting the piles of rubbish that accumulate

Or to take arms against a sea of people and do some shopping

Actually what I should be doing is working, I have an assignment due again next week and I haven’t looked at the question again yet. I did really badly on my last ones but for the same reasons, that I wasn’t specific to the texts enough and didn’t reference. So that’s my new mission as far as they are concerned, to try and reference everything back to the course work and the novels.

Other than that though the rest of the week is stretching out on front of me like, well, a stretchy thing I suppose. I’d like to do things but I don’t get paid until Friday so I have that last week of the month feeling to deal with…and it’s raining!

I do need to sell some books, but I don’t want to do it on e-bay or anything like that. I’ve probably got about 3 boxes worth I could get rid of, all chick lit, all read a few times, and all won’t make me hardly any money…but will get me oodles of space on my groaning bookshelves and that’s what I need. So I might get those together and find a second hand book store to sell them to.

This nice warm cat I seem to have acquired on my lap isn’t helping me get motivated though…but then I am on holiday, motivation was always going to be in short supply!