A fun Saturday activity

I had to go to Specsavers for a sight test today, because apparently I'm long overdue and they won't be able to give me more contacts unless I'm up to date. I hate getting my eyes tested, not because I'm one of those people who has a weird eye phobia or anything, but because the people who work at the opticians always try to sell you things but in a crafty way so you don't quite realise - they trick you into thinking it'll be good for you. Take today, for example. I went in for my £20 sight test and was told by the optician that the prescription in my glasses was different to the one that my contact lenses had (a fact which I was well aware of). She suggested I get new glasses with the correct prescription because it would encourage me to wear my contacts less and would be better for my eyes in the long run, which I was planning on doing anyway. She also suggested that I get the lenses of the glasses thinned out because it would make them lighter and more comfortable, which I thought sounded like a good idea. Anyway, I went to look at glasses to see what frames I might like but quickly realised that, because I had come to Specsavers with my glasses and not my contacts on, I wouldn't be able to see what any of the stupid frames looked like. After a quick phone-call to Daf, who luckily was only up the road, I got him to come and act as my mirror. There wasn't much choice in my price range so I quickly picked some that I liked enough, as I wouldn't be wearing them all the time anyway, and then I went with one of the members of staff to sort out payment, etc. He mentioned the thinning of the lenses and I said that I thought that would be a good idea, so he showed me the three different thickness levels that they could shave the lenses down to. The cheapest option was £40, the most expensive was £90. I laughed without humour and said, "On second thoughts I think they'll be alright as they are". I'm a student, there are so many things I'd rather spend £40 on. I thought it would have been a tenner or something, but no. He then went on to ask if I wanted some other kind of treatment on my glasses to protect them from I don't know what. I smiled and shook my head - I think he got the point and just sorted out my next appointment. Whatever, I'm still out 45 quid.

The other night I asked Daf if he was ever going to get around to booking a sight test, as he sometimes has to focus a bit harder on words, but he said he didn't really want to because he didn't want to pay for glasses. Because god forbid he be able to see clearly. I asked him again today when we left Specsavers and he replied with this little gem:

"No I think I'm alright for now, I mean it's not like I'm bumping into anything."

I despair.

In other news, I took this photo a few days ago and thought it was pretty cool.


I think that's it for now. Happy Weekend!

Today I'm loving: the band One Night Only, awesome.

Today I'm hatin': this, which was on the msn homepage. Noooo!

Song of the day: (Still A) Weirdo by KT Tunstall.  
Pay my lip service/Keep it eloquent/Optimistic but/Never quite elegant/Still a weirdo/Still a weirdo, after all these years

Some enjoyable content...hopefully

I have literally just got back from my last semester one exam, a 3 hour exam on European Society in the Cold War. My brain is now completely fried but I promised Joe I'd write a post today so I'll see what I can do. There probably won't be a whole lot of substance to this by the way.

Yesterday I discovered that Creme Egg has its own YouTube channel, and it's called CremeEggGooTube, brilliant. On it they have a bunch of Creme Egg adverts from the past couple of years with all the different ways the Creme Egg can splat itself. This one is my personal favourite:
You know how I said in my post a few days ago about there being no Facebook in China? Well, Ben's managed to get around that somehow because he replied to my Facebook post, and I was treated to this:

Awesome.
My iTunes recommended that I listen to an EP called Realities by a band I'd never heard of before called The Spill Canvas. I had a listen and liked it enough so I bought it, and ever since I haven't been able to get the song Crash Course out of my head. It's so catchy and upbeat and I can't stop listening to it. I've had a look on YouTube but can't find it, but it is on iTunes so have a listen. It probably won't be everyone's cup of tea but I love it. It's my song of the month, let alone the day.

All the exams finish tomorrow so it's business as usual from Monday onwards. I'll only have one seminar a week, but unfortunately it's a 3 hour seminar. On Margaret Thatcher. So before 9am Tuesday I've got to watch 5 or 6 videos on Margaret Thatcher and make a note of how she's being portrayed in each one, joy of joys. I can see me leaving that until Monday.

For tonight I'm going to celebrate in true style by putting on my pjs, curling up on the sofa and watching a movie or something on the telly. Lost, probably.

Today I'm loving: that my exams are over!

Today I'm hating: that despite me having a three hour exam, I got back to the flat to find Daf not here and not a scrap of washing up has been done. Thanks a bunch.

Song of the Day: Crash Course by The Spill Canvas.  
Collision's unavoidable/So don't tell me it's all coincidence/'Cause it makes sense to me

Sexism

Firstly, I need to readdress what I said in my previous post about the "lacklustre" season finale of Lost. Turns out what I thought was the finale wasn't actually the finale at all, but the penultimate episode. We suspected something was amiss when we put on the first episode of season two and realised that none of the clips showed at the beginning during the "Previously on Lost..." bit were familiar. Anyway, we put in the last disc of the first series (which I had thought was bonus features) and found the missing episode. It wasn't lack-lustre at all; in fact it was full of lustre. Apologies, Lost, I take it all back.

So there's been some drama over the weekend about Sky Sports News presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys making off-air sexist comments about female officials not knowing the offside rule during the Wolves v. Liverpool match where there was a female official working. The Mail on Sunday managed to obtain the tape and it caused a very embarrassing situation for Sky Sports. Oh, and my favourite part is when Keys says, referring to West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady's piece about sexism in a Saturday newspaper: "See charming Karren Brady this morning complaining about sexism? Yeah. Do me a favour, love." Brilliant. Especially when you consider the irony that he's now been caught up in a sexism row.

Apparently, no one can see the funny side here; the whole world's lost its sense of humour. Now I'm not condoning sexism here, but I really don't see what the big deal is. I wonder how many blokes made the exact same comment whilst watching the match in the pub? The official in question, Sian Massey, went on to make a crucial correct borderline decision (or so I read, I can't say I watched the match myself), so she's evidently a perfectly capable lines-woman. Plus, undoubtedly, she's heard it all before and has probably learned to take it on the chin.

Gray and Keys have now been disciplined by Sky Sports News and were dropped from covering yesterday's Bolton v. Chelsea match, and Keys has also telephoned Massey to personally apologise for the remarks (which she has apparently accepted). Hopefully that'll be the end of it. [Update: Andy Gray has been sacked!] They were obviously very silly to make such comments whilst wearing microphones, but the whole incident just highlights the fact that you really can't say anything these days. Look how much trouble a bit of banter has got Gray and Keys into. Anyway, I think that if people were completely honest with themselves, they'd realise that everyone is at least a tiny bit sexist, whether or not they're particularly vocal about it. It's unavoidable. Men think women are bad drivers and women think that no man will ever stop to ask for directions. Men think that women can't go to the toilet by themselves on a night out and women think men can't multi-task. It's an on-going saga. I, personally, do not know what the offside rule is. My boyfriend has explained it to me on several occasions but I never seem to retain this knowledge. I think the simple reason is that I just don't care.

Today I'm loving: this video that I just found on my laptop. I think it was from Lauren's camera, so thanks Lauren!


Today I'm hatin': ahh I can't think of anything...um, the rain I guess.

Song of the day: Shooting Star by Air Traffic.  
Pretty if the sun won't shine/I'll be coming out to meet you/I'll be there to make you mine

Arghhhh

Sigh.

Anyone who has been keeping up to date with this blog, new though it is, will notice that the layout keeps changing. I'm trying to get it just how I want it but Blogger seems to be really good at over-complicating matters. I want to move the title (Useless Ramblings) to the centre and I want to change the font, but apparently that's impossible. I'm sure I'll get it just right eventually but right now it's all new and it's frustrating the hell out of me.

At the moment I'm reveling* in the fact that I've succeeded in getting Dafydd to watch Lost with me. I started watching Lost when it first came out on Channel 4, but missed a couple of episodes and, ironically, got completely lost when I next managed to watch it. I'd been wanting to start watching it again for a while because I never really got past the first season before but I did enjoy it when I actually knew what was going on. So Daf bought me the first two seasons on DVD for Christmas. I thought I was going to have to watch them on my own, as Daf has said on several occasions: "Lost, it's just the worst show ever", despite never having actually seen it. Typical. Anyway, he saw bits and pieces when I was watching it and eventually his curiosity peaked and he started properly watching it with me, and even suggested putting it on a couple of times. Today we finished the first season, and I'm so glad we already have the second because to be honest I'd have been disappointed if I had to wait for new episodes after the somewhat lacklustre season one finale.

In other news, I know it seems like I'm blogging a lot (I do have a life, honest), but I don't have any lectures at the minute because it's exam time. I've just got revision to do for my last semester one exam, which is on Friday. But other than that I've got a bags of free time, and I'm really enjoying this at the moment. It gives me a chance to vent when Daf doesn't want to listen to me anymore.

Also, I have a £25 gift card for Amazon that I got for Christmas but no idea what to spend it on. Any ideas? I have a feeling I may end up getting some sort of Spongebob Squarepants boxset...

Hope everyone's had good weekends, or fun at work for those of you reading in Saudi (I know mum's told you about this!)

Emma

*I wanted to spell this with two l's, but apparently that's not right. But reveling looks wrong. Oh well, you know what I'm trying to say.

Today I'm loving: this

Today I'm hatin: how lazy I've been. Ah well, it is Sunday after all.

Song of the day: War Sweater by Wakey!Wakey!  
I'm in the mood where I come all untied/I'm in the mood to say shit that will change people's minds

China and Facebook

Before coming back to university, Dafydd and I held a mini leaving do at my house for our friend Ben, who has just gone to China for a year to teach English. He was supposed to be leaving on or around the 15th, as far as I know, and so all being well, he should now be safely in China. Yesterday Joe and Soph popped over for a bit and I asked if either of them had heard from Ben yet, as I had written on his Facebook wall and not heard back yet. To which Joe replied:

"Yeah, but he won't be able to read that because Facebook's banned in China."

What?

Facebook is everywhere these days, where someone's more likely to 'add' you on Facebook than ask you for your number. The concept of you not being able to access it in a whole country absolutely blows my mind. So much so that at first I wasn't even sure I believed it was true, and I googled it. I typed in Why is Facebook blocked in China? and the internet told me this:


"Because in China when people start to question the Government the government cracks down. Opponents are called terrorists, traitors and unpatriotic.

The state controlled media that supports the government 100% then begins to feed the masses with all sorts of stories about how the government is good and only wants to help. That the dissidents, are a danger to the country because they question the wisdom of the government.

To make this stick they have to block outside sources of information because they fear that the people will not just accept the media stories and instead decide to find out the truth for themselves." - Yahoo Answers

So that clears that up then. Thanks, internet!

Speaking of Facebook, I have a daily internal debate with myself every single time I log into my account over whether or not to delete it. Because to tell you the truth, Facebook infuriates me. I have it because it's a convenient way of sharing photos, catching up with friends, sorting out events, and things like that. But there are so many people on there who TyPe LyK diS in a manner that obviously takes much more effort than just typing properly. Text speak seems to have taken over in such a way that some people shorten words that simply don't need to be shortened. Also, you get those copy and paste statuses some people put up that say something along the lines of:


"Copy and Paste this as your status if you know anyone who has cancer. 93% of people won't paste this as their status, but will you be part of the 7% that does?"

I know they're supposed to raise awareness for a good cause, and believe me, I am a full supporter of cancer charities and awareness is obviously a good thing. However, I certainly don't need a patronising status update to remind me that cancer exists. I feel like it's trying to make people feel guilty, that those of us in the 93% are terrible people or something. Actually, I give money to cancer charities on a fairly regular basis. Maybe you in the 7% should get off Facebook and do the same. I don't know, perhaps I'm being unfair, I just think it comes across as really self-righteous and it really grinds my gears (haha, I love Family Guy references).

The stupid pointless groups are another Facebook annoyance of mine. A lot of them are supposed to be petitions for this, that and the other. Whilst some of these petitions are actually legit and for something serious, a lot of them are like, 'If one million people sign this petition then they'll do another series of Gavin & Stacey'. No they won't. Deal with it.

The worst thing about Facebook is the people who go on there just to insult everyone else. On so many group walls where people have simply written down their opinion on something, there are sometimes hundreds of comments full of the vilest language towards this unsuspecting person simply because they disagree, and it just becomes a slanging match. It's the whole internet society where you can sit at your computer and say things you'd (most likely) never dream of saying to someone's face.

All that being said, I probably won't delete my Facebook account, at least not for the foreseeable future. After everything I've just written, it does seem a tad hypocritical, but to be honest I think I'd just worry I was missing out on something if I did get rid of it. It's a sad, sad world. I do have a phone, after all.


Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net


Bit gross, I know. Funny though.

Have a good one,

Emma

Today I'm loving: the beautiful new boots I got from Brantano, the text from my mum saying she liked the photos in my last blog, and that when I searched for why Facebook was banned in China, the fact that Miley Cyrus is also banned in China was brought to my attention. I didn't look into why, it probably would have been a let down.

Today I'm hatin': that there were no Apple Turnovers in Morrisons, when secretly they were the whole reason we went in the first place.

Song of the day: Looking for Love by Michelle Featherstone. It's beautiful, check it out.  
I'm looking for love/And love, love, love/I  thought it was you

The best of 2010

2010 was a pretty good year. I passed the second year of my degree with some pretty good results; I got to see Feeder perform at my university's May Ball; I turned 21 and got a really awesome camera from my parents; finally passed my driving test (third time lucky and all that); went to Sandown Racing Course where I got to watch the races AND see Westlife perform (a birthday present from my brother and his girlfriend); I went to my good friend Lydia's wedding; went to Liverpool to see one of my best friends, Lauren, who I hadn't seen in about two years. And everything else in between. I wasn't sure quite what to do with this post, but I thought I'd share my favourite photos from 2010. You can click on them to see them bigger.

This is my friend Joe doing a bungee jump at the May Ball my university holds every year:


This is me and my bestest, Soph. I think this photo pretty much sums up our entire friendship:



I took this with my new camera in my Nan's garden, it's one of my favourite photos I've taken with my camera so far. I dunno, I really like bees I guess:


I took this in the summer and completely forgot about it until I found it yesterday. I have so many photos of spider webs, they're just so cool:


This was taken at my 21st birthday shindig:


Pretty cool spider, right? Right. But it should definitely not have been in my garden in ENGLAND of all places. Whatever, as long as it stays the hell away from my house:


Taken at Harlech Castle in the summer:


It's not a bad view to have out of your window, is it?:


This is when me and Alice went to visit Lauren in Liverpool. It was epic:


And this is me with the lovely Lauren herself:


Snow!:


So yeah, 2010 was good. Let's hope 2011 is better.

Next time I'll write a post with more substance, but I thought I might include something that I'm loving about my day at the end of each post. So for now I'll leave you with this:

Today I'm loving that Daf is making my tea for me as we speak.

Laters!

This is new

So I've never written a blog before. I used to have a diary that I wrote utter nonsense in, the sort of teenage 'my life sucks, no one understands me, blah blah blah' rubbish. I found it buried in my room not too long ago and it was so embarrassing that I just had to throw it away so that if anyone found it in a hundred years or something it couldn't be associated with me anymore. But anyway, I love writing. I've always loved writing. I used to spend hours writing stories because I was convinced I was going to be a famous author some day. Who knows, maybe I will be. I have been writing less and less as I've gotten older though, which is a shame, and I'm not really sure why. I think maybe I felt like I didn't really have anything to say. I'm still not sure about that. But I do know that I want to improve my writing, and so to do that I actually need to write, and that's where this blog comes in.

After that long-winded introduction, I should probably say something about myself. I'm Emma, I'm 21 and I'm in my last year of a History degree. In a few short months, I graduate (hopefully), and then real life begins and I have to figure out what to do with myself. Of course, in the meantime I have to write a dissertation and pass my exams and write a few other essays and assignments. So starting a blog is clearly a wonderfully productive use of my time - I am a world class procrastinator. I live with my boyfriend, Dafydd* during term time (I know, very grown up), but in the holidays I'm usually at home with my family, if they're around. I used to live in Saudi Arabia because my parents teach there, but that's perhaps another story for a separate post. I have an older brother, James, whose currently living in Ireland with his girlfriend. The photo I've put of me in my profile is actually pretty old now, it was taken around Christmas time 2008, but I don't have any pictures of me recently on my own without a serious case of double chin going on. So instead I picked a photo that I thought showed my natural charm and charisma...um, yeah.

These blogs will be a mixture of things. Anecdotes that I find particularly funny or interesting, probably a lot of venting about things that irritate me (and believe me, that's a long list), photos that I've taken on my awesome camera, and anything else I fancy. I wonder if anyone will even read this. I hope so.

I think that'll do for my first post. I'll leave you with a photo of Dafydd's dog, Bruno:

Isn't he adorable?

Laters,
Emma

*I love that how when I wrote this, it got underlined as a spelling mistake and wanted me to change it to Daffy, Daffodil, or Daffie.
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