Oh! Hello there! How've you been? It's been a ridiculous amount of time since I've blogged about anything, even though I think about it fairly often. I've been wanting to do this one for a while now, so here goes!
I think I first heard this advert on Capital FM. It's the ad about stopping smoking for 28 days, and how you were more likely to quit for good if you were able to stop for 28 days. This got me thinking...does this work the other way? If you picked up a good habit and continued it for 28 days, are you more likely to keep it up?
I've decided to give it a go. I'm going to try to be more active for the next 28 days. But, I'm not going to promise to go to the gym every day (a- I can't afford it, and b- we all know that by this time next week, I would have probably given up!). To be honest, I'm not even going to specify what I need to do, just as long as I'm being more active than I have been recently. So that could mean taking my dog out for walks, or maybe going for a run in the evenings. Anything really. Oh, and this definitely includes nights outs; dancing in heels for the night? Definitely counts as being active.
It doesn't have to be a massive change, it has to be something that you can incorporate into your life without too much trouble, because then the chances are that you will keep at it :) So for the next 28 days, this is the challenge I'm setting myself, and maybe to blog more often. Does anyone want to do this 28 day challenge with me? Let me know what habit you're trying to pick up :)
Bye for now xx
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Look who I met :)
There's someone here that wants to say something to you people....
See, isn't that so much nicer than me saying hi?!
So, yeh, as you can see, I met Joey Graceffa and a whole load of other Youtubers :) Joey Graceffa, Luke Conard and Ingrid (Miss Glamorazzi) came over to London from the States so they did a little (ok, not very little at all, there were atleast a couple hundred people!) meet up with some of their fans. They were joined by Jim Chapman, Tanya Burr and Fleur De Force (they're all youtubers too!)
I have to confess that I watch so many youtubers that it takes up a good chunk of my day to watch all their vlogs and videos. So when I heard that some of my absolute favourite vloggers were doing a meet up in London, I just had to go!
I was a bit worried though, I thought I might be the oldest person there at 20, but I need not have worried. First of all, there were so many people that I kind of just blended into the crowd, but also the fact that there were some parents there (ok, fine, they were accompanying their young children to the meet up, but they were still there, ok?) I was really anxious about going on my own though, so I asked my cousin to go with me, and she said yes! But on the day, my brother decided he'd rather encourage her to go to the cinema with him instead :( I didn't let that put me off though, I got on the tube and was making my way over to Soho Square, when I heard an almighty cheer! Holy crap, I had not expected that many people to be there. I know that they have a combined total of over a million subscribers but I didn't expect so many people to show up in London at such short notice! It was incredible!
I obviously wanted to see Joey G, because as you can see, he's a beautiful man and I think I love him, just a little bit. You know, in that "it's never going to happen, but you love them anyway" kind of way! And from the looks of things, I wasn't the only one that felt that way! There was a huge crowd around him, and I had to queue up to see him. I didn't mind though, he was really sweet with all of his fans and it was funny to watch everything that was happening :) Loads of people were getting him to sign copies of the Hunger Games or the Uglies series (Both amazing book series- go and read it now) but I don't buy books anymore because I have my beloved kindle :) So I had an idea, when it was my turn to talk to him, I asked him if he could sign my Kindle cover instead. That way, it's kind of like he signed all my books, right? yes, that's definitely what it is :p By the way, the reason why people were getting him to sign the Hunger Games books is because Joey G is Finnick...or should've been! He's Finnick in my mind :)
(I really wanted those pictures to be side by side, but I just couldn't work out how, so you can have a bigger picture of Joey and I- You're welcome)
And then I went and took pictures with all of the other youtubers! They were all so nice. Jim is so lovely in person, and he makes the English accent sound way better than usual :p Luke was super sweet too, he was making conversation with all the people there, and he asked me where I was from. Ok, is it just me, or do people get confused by this question. Because to me, that question could have 3 different answers: SriLanka, Norway and London.. So I never know what to say to that....so I said all three! Luke may have been a little confused, but he still signed by Kindle case. Luke, Joey and Meghan have a little band called The Tributes, and they have original songs based on the books. I think it's pretty damn cool, and therefore I thought Luke should also sign, as he's kind of book related too!
Whilst at this meet up, I met two lovely people. They'd come on their own as well, so we stuck together after we first met. I met a gorgeous girl called Chawi, who wanted to borrow my pen, and then we bonded over our love for the youtubers. She's taking some exams to get into medical school in Switzerland, so Chawi, good luck to you! I hope it all goes well. The other person I met was a guy called Felipe, he was really nice, and he took my pictures for me! Thank you! He has a youtube channel - go check it out :)
I loved this meet up, it made me soooo happy to meet some of the people that I watch pretty much every day. It was a bit creepy because I felt like I knew quite a lot about them, but they obviously don't know anything about me, I felt a bit like a stalker :/ I know that some people think that I'm a loser for getting so excited about this. But I disagree. Just because it's not an interest that you share with me, it doesn't make it any less exciting for me. So I'm proud of my little trip to go and see some of these youtubers :)
Here's a little collage of me with all of them :)
So yeh, that was a fun day :) Also, just to make you all jealous, I got to hug Joey :) and Luke and Jim :) I think Joey may have been a little bit wary of the number of times I went up to him, but he was lovely each time :)
That's it for now..I still haven't finished a blog that I started a couple of weeks ago, its about the olympics and stuff, so I shall try and finish that tomorrow or something, so that I'm up to date. Also, I just miss writing. I don't know how many people actually read everything I write, but I like knowing that I'm writing something, however random it may be :)
So bye for now xx
PS: I have an extended version of the clip that I put at the beginning. I have a friend who loves Joey too, so I thought it would be nice to get her a shoutout from him. I'll add that here, because it's just fun to watch him talk :)
See, isn't that so much nicer than me saying hi?!
So, yeh, as you can see, I met Joey Graceffa and a whole load of other Youtubers :) Joey Graceffa, Luke Conard and Ingrid (Miss Glamorazzi) came over to London from the States so they did a little (ok, not very little at all, there were atleast a couple hundred people!) meet up with some of their fans. They were joined by Jim Chapman, Tanya Burr and Fleur De Force (they're all youtubers too!)
I have to confess that I watch so many youtubers that it takes up a good chunk of my day to watch all their vlogs and videos. So when I heard that some of my absolute favourite vloggers were doing a meet up in London, I just had to go!
I was a bit worried though, I thought I might be the oldest person there at 20, but I need not have worried. First of all, there were so many people that I kind of just blended into the crowd, but also the fact that there were some parents there (ok, fine, they were accompanying their young children to the meet up, but they were still there, ok?) I was really anxious about going on my own though, so I asked my cousin to go with me, and she said yes! But on the day, my brother decided he'd rather encourage her to go to the cinema with him instead :( I didn't let that put me off though, I got on the tube and was making my way over to Soho Square, when I heard an almighty cheer! Holy crap, I had not expected that many people to be there. I know that they have a combined total of over a million subscribers but I didn't expect so many people to show up in London at such short notice! It was incredible!
I obviously wanted to see Joey G, because as you can see, he's a beautiful man and I think I love him, just a little bit. You know, in that "it's never going to happen, but you love them anyway" kind of way! And from the looks of things, I wasn't the only one that felt that way! There was a huge crowd around him, and I had to queue up to see him. I didn't mind though, he was really sweet with all of his fans and it was funny to watch everything that was happening :) Loads of people were getting him to sign copies of the Hunger Games or the Uglies series (Both amazing book series- go and read it now) but I don't buy books anymore because I have my beloved kindle :) So I had an idea, when it was my turn to talk to him, I asked him if he could sign my Kindle cover instead. That way, it's kind of like he signed all my books, right? yes, that's definitely what it is :p By the way, the reason why people were getting him to sign the Hunger Games books is because Joey G is Finnick...or should've been! He's Finnick in my mind :)
.JPG) |
| Yes, it says Amy, he couldn't hear me over all the people, I don't mind though :) |
.JPG) |
| Oh, and I got a picture with him :) |
And then I went and took pictures with all of the other youtubers! They were all so nice. Jim is so lovely in person, and he makes the English accent sound way better than usual :p Luke was super sweet too, he was making conversation with all the people there, and he asked me where I was from. Ok, is it just me, or do people get confused by this question. Because to me, that question could have 3 different answers: SriLanka, Norway and London.. So I never know what to say to that....so I said all three! Luke may have been a little confused, but he still signed by Kindle case. Luke, Joey and Meghan have a little band called The Tributes, and they have original songs based on the books. I think it's pretty damn cool, and therefore I thought Luke should also sign, as he's kind of book related too!
Whilst at this meet up, I met two lovely people. They'd come on their own as well, so we stuck together after we first met. I met a gorgeous girl called Chawi, who wanted to borrow my pen, and then we bonded over our love for the youtubers. She's taking some exams to get into medical school in Switzerland, so Chawi, good luck to you! I hope it all goes well. The other person I met was a guy called Felipe, he was really nice, and he took my pictures for me! Thank you! He has a youtube channel - go check it out :)
I loved this meet up, it made me soooo happy to meet some of the people that I watch pretty much every day. It was a bit creepy because I felt like I knew quite a lot about them, but they obviously don't know anything about me, I felt a bit like a stalker :/ I know that some people think that I'm a loser for getting so excited about this. But I disagree. Just because it's not an interest that you share with me, it doesn't make it any less exciting for me. So I'm proud of my little trip to go and see some of these youtubers :)
Here's a little collage of me with all of them :)
.JPG) |
| Clockwise from top left: Luke Conard, Ingrid, Fleur De Force, Tanya Burr and Jim Chapman :) |
That's it for now..I still haven't finished a blog that I started a couple of weeks ago, its about the olympics and stuff, so I shall try and finish that tomorrow or something, so that I'm up to date. Also, I just miss writing. I don't know how many people actually read everything I write, but I like knowing that I'm writing something, however random it may be :)
So bye for now xx
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Happy Anniversary to us :)
Hey everyone! Hope everyone's been having a good day, and to all those in America, I'd like to wish you a happy 4th of July.
I've been celebrating today too, but for a different reason...It's my 4th anniversary today of being with my wonderful boyfriend :)It really doesn't feel like it's been 4 years!! If our relationship was a child, the child would be going to school in a year! That's a weird way to think about it...But 4 years is a pretty long time, isn't it? Whenever I tell anyone that I've been with him for 4 years, the typical response is "Oh, so you're pretty much married then!" I never know what to say to that one :/
What I love the most about my relationship is that he's not just my boyfriend, he's also my best friend (Note to boyfriend: you're not my only best friend, so don't even think about bragging to the other one that you are now my best friend. Child!) When I'm with him, I don't have to use the filter in my head, I just say whatever I'm thinking, regardless of how stupid it may be, which is normally very stupid. We also have some of the most random, and frankly quite pointless, conversations, but I love them! We also act like complete and utter retards around each other, well I'm like that all the time, around everyone, but for those of you that don't know him, most people think he's really quiet and sensible. Boy are you wrong! He's as bad as I am. If not worse. For example, last night, we were pretending that our left arms didn't work and that we had to use our right hand to control the arm...What? Why? No reason, but it was hilarious, and I loved it. It's random mental moments like that which just me giggle when I think about him!
So to celebrate our anniversary, we decided to bake a cake today. I love baking cakes with him. I make pretty good cakes, and he makes the best icing, so we're a good team I'd say :) The other day, my cousin brought me some red velvet cake, so I thought it'd be nice to try to make that. Here's a picture of our attempt:
I used this recipe, if anyone wants to have a go: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/7053/red-velvet-cake.aspx.
Although, if I were to make the cake again, which I probably will, I wouldn't use their icing recipe, I'd just make a normal buttercream icing, as I feel that would've tasted better!
Also, while I'm here recommending websites, for people interested in nail art, check out www.nailable.blogspot.co.uk This is my best friend Jeni's blog, and she does some amazing nail art :)
So yeh, that's pretty much it for this post. I just wanted to share with the world (or you guys anyway) about our nearly-at-school-age relationship!
Bye for now xx
I've been celebrating today too, but for a different reason...It's my 4th anniversary today of being with my wonderful boyfriend :)It really doesn't feel like it's been 4 years!! If our relationship was a child, the child would be going to school in a year! That's a weird way to think about it...But 4 years is a pretty long time, isn't it? Whenever I tell anyone that I've been with him for 4 years, the typical response is "Oh, so you're pretty much married then!" I never know what to say to that one :/
What I love the most about my relationship is that he's not just my boyfriend, he's also my best friend (Note to boyfriend: you're not my only best friend, so don't even think about bragging to the other one that you are now my best friend. Child!) When I'm with him, I don't have to use the filter in my head, I just say whatever I'm thinking, regardless of how stupid it may be, which is normally very stupid. We also have some of the most random, and frankly quite pointless, conversations, but I love them! We also act like complete and utter retards around each other, well I'm like that all the time, around everyone, but for those of you that don't know him, most people think he's really quiet and sensible. Boy are you wrong! He's as bad as I am. If not worse. For example, last night, we were pretending that our left arms didn't work and that we had to use our right hand to control the arm...What? Why? No reason, but it was hilarious, and I loved it. It's random mental moments like that which just me giggle when I think about him!
So to celebrate our anniversary, we decided to bake a cake today. I love baking cakes with him. I make pretty good cakes, and he makes the best icing, so we're a good team I'd say :) The other day, my cousin brought me some red velvet cake, so I thought it'd be nice to try to make that. Here's a picture of our attempt:
 |
| Yummmmmmmmmmmm |
I used this recipe, if anyone wants to have a go: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/7053/red-velvet-cake.aspx.
Although, if I were to make the cake again, which I probably will, I wouldn't use their icing recipe, I'd just make a normal buttercream icing, as I feel that would've tasted better!
Also, while I'm here recommending websites, for people interested in nail art, check out www.nailable.blogspot.co.uk This is my best friend Jeni's blog, and she does some amazing nail art :)
So yeh, that's pretty much it for this post. I just wanted to share with the world (or you guys anyway) about our nearly-at-school-age relationship!
Bye for now xx
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Arggghhh!!!
So I'm majorly angry, upset and just plain frustrated right now. This is going to be ranty and personal, so bear with me people.
I will admit one thing. I'm not your average skinny girl, I'm not even an average girl. I'm large. There I've said it. So anyone that wants to make fat jokes and laugh at me. Go ahead. I've probably heard it all before anyway.
I've had problems with my weight for a very long time now and only recently have I been diagnosed with a condition that actually makes it difficult for me to lose weight, which sucks majorly. It's a pretty common condition in women and it comes with a whole host of nasty problems, including weight gain and the difficulty in losing it. Brill. But worse than this is the fact that I may not be able to have kids. So from my point of view, not being able to have kids greatly outweighs the whole "oh gosh, I'm a little overweight" problem. Even so, I do want to lose weight and I have tried pretty much everything under the sun.
I lost a considerable amount of weight about 5 years ago. To achieve this, it took me not eating very much at all and a very abusive ex who told me to keep not eating. This made me very ill and I wasn't happy and I was just generally in a very bad place in my life.
So what happened when I lost loads of weight? Was everyone happy for me? Did they leave me alone? Fuck no. I was apparently too skinny then. And apparently I looked gaunt and I looked better when I was fatter. Fucking brilliant. Everyone went mental about what I ate (or didn't) and about how much I exercised (a lot). I didn't realise how bad it was until I was taking to my best friend recently and she told me how she used to have to cry to get me to eat. I didn't remember that until she mentioned it- I guess I must've just blocked it out.
But anyway, I'm not thin anymore. Not remotely. But I was happy. Not anymore. It probably boils down to the fact that I got rid of the controlling psycho, met my lovely, loving boyfriend and just stopped being so obsessed with what I eat. I admit though, I've probably relaxed a little too much because as soon as I started eating, I put on all the weight and then some. But because I was in a better place in my life, it didn't bother me as much as it used to. So why am I so upset today?
I don't know. I don't know why I let it get to me so much today. Basically it's my cousin's birthday tomorrow and they're all wearing saris. So they asked me to as well. I don't particularly like looking like a freshie, but if everyone else is, then it'll be fun. Right? So I told my mum this. And bloody hell. She launches into a massive lecture on how I shouldn't wear a sari because I'm too fat and ugly. About how I shouldn't listen to my cousins because they can say anything because they'll look pretty in a sari, but I'll look ugly so why would I do that. She said a lot more, but I can't recall it all without crying again. I do love my mum, but boy can she be harsh! I don't think I've been this upset in a very long time. All the optimism I talked about in the last post has deserted me tonight :( I sent a text to my cousin about how I'm feeling and some of the things I said scares me. I feel like I'm slipping back down into the dark place. And I don't want to. Not again. I'm hoping that writing down my feelings will help and maybe let other people know they're not alone if they're dealing with something similar.
I'm sick and fucking tired of people telling me I have to look a certain way. Especially Tamils. Go get a bloody life. I'm not your fucking concern. Don't worry, you're not going to have to find me a husband, I've done that myself. And seeing as that what most of them are worried about, I've solved that. So fuck off. If my boyfriend can look at me, and not throw up in my face, then I'm doing well.
If anyone feels as crap as I do right now, feel free to talk to me. Apparently I'm a good listener xx
I will admit one thing. I'm not your average skinny girl, I'm not even an average girl. I'm large. There I've said it. So anyone that wants to make fat jokes and laugh at me. Go ahead. I've probably heard it all before anyway.
I've had problems with my weight for a very long time now and only recently have I been diagnosed with a condition that actually makes it difficult for me to lose weight, which sucks majorly. It's a pretty common condition in women and it comes with a whole host of nasty problems, including weight gain and the difficulty in losing it. Brill. But worse than this is the fact that I may not be able to have kids. So from my point of view, not being able to have kids greatly outweighs the whole "oh gosh, I'm a little overweight" problem. Even so, I do want to lose weight and I have tried pretty much everything under the sun.
I lost a considerable amount of weight about 5 years ago. To achieve this, it took me not eating very much at all and a very abusive ex who told me to keep not eating. This made me very ill and I wasn't happy and I was just generally in a very bad place in my life.
So what happened when I lost loads of weight? Was everyone happy for me? Did they leave me alone? Fuck no. I was apparently too skinny then. And apparently I looked gaunt and I looked better when I was fatter. Fucking brilliant. Everyone went mental about what I ate (or didn't) and about how much I exercised (a lot). I didn't realise how bad it was until I was taking to my best friend recently and she told me how she used to have to cry to get me to eat. I didn't remember that until she mentioned it- I guess I must've just blocked it out.
But anyway, I'm not thin anymore. Not remotely. But I was happy. Not anymore. It probably boils down to the fact that I got rid of the controlling psycho, met my lovely, loving boyfriend and just stopped being so obsessed with what I eat. I admit though, I've probably relaxed a little too much because as soon as I started eating, I put on all the weight and then some. But because I was in a better place in my life, it didn't bother me as much as it used to. So why am I so upset today?
I don't know. I don't know why I let it get to me so much today. Basically it's my cousin's birthday tomorrow and they're all wearing saris. So they asked me to as well. I don't particularly like looking like a freshie, but if everyone else is, then it'll be fun. Right? So I told my mum this. And bloody hell. She launches into a massive lecture on how I shouldn't wear a sari because I'm too fat and ugly. About how I shouldn't listen to my cousins because they can say anything because they'll look pretty in a sari, but I'll look ugly so why would I do that. She said a lot more, but I can't recall it all without crying again. I do love my mum, but boy can she be harsh! I don't think I've been this upset in a very long time. All the optimism I talked about in the last post has deserted me tonight :( I sent a text to my cousin about how I'm feeling and some of the things I said scares me. I feel like I'm slipping back down into the dark place. And I don't want to. Not again. I'm hoping that writing down my feelings will help and maybe let other people know they're not alone if they're dealing with something similar.
I'm sick and fucking tired of people telling me I have to look a certain way. Especially Tamils. Go get a bloody life. I'm not your fucking concern. Don't worry, you're not going to have to find me a husband, I've done that myself. And seeing as that what most of them are worried about, I've solved that. So fuck off. If my boyfriend can look at me, and not throw up in my face, then I'm doing well.
If anyone feels as crap as I do right now, feel free to talk to me. Apparently I'm a good listener xx
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
So what would you toast to?
Yesterday, I was out with some friends from high school, and I don't quite remember how this came about (woops!) but someone asked us what we were grateful for, and what we'd toast to at that moment... I was stumped, I didn't know what to say... It's not that there wasn't anything that I was grateful for, I just couldn't pick, especially without sounding clichéd and corny.
Jeni, my best friend, said "friendship". She promptly followed that up with "cliché, I know". She's right. Both about being grateful for it as well as about it being a cliché. But I think friendship (and family) is one of the things I'm most grateful for. Without my friends and family (boyfriend counts as both family and friend), I don't think I'd be the person I am today. They're the ones that laugh at my jokes (or maybe at me...I never know), support me when I'm down, allow me to be there for them, and just generally make me feel like I belong. These are the people that I bounce ideas off of, the people I go to to have a laugh with, but these are also the people that I have little arguments with. But hey, if you can't express your views with those you love, who are you going to go to? I love how most of the people in my close circle are absolutely bonkers, but I wouldn't have them any other way! I am so grateful for their craziness, maybe because it makes me seem like I'm normal when I'm with them!
I know that I've complained and ranted about family before, but I am grateful for them. Well I may not like you as a person, but I am still grateful for what you've taught me, be it just to never turn out like a certain someone. When I was in my early teens, I had such issues with my parents, I thought they were against everything I did. But now I realise that I was an idiot (Yes..was, I'm all grown up and mature now!) Agreed, my parents, like most Sri Lankan parents, are stuck in their ways, and don't, and probably won't, see eye-to-eye on most issues. But I realise now that, in their own way, they do the things they do because they want the best for us. They push us to work 24/7 because they want us to have a better life than they did. They don't give us the same freedom that our non-brown friends may have because they're worried that we'll go off the rails and ruin our lives (Ok, that was a pretty big leap, and I'm not one to say you shouldn't do things, because I've probably done it myself...unless it's bad, then I haven't!) I think the way to get around this is to be the model child when you're at home. I wouldn't even say that I'm lying to myself and faking it; everyone has different sides to them, and being a good tamil daughter is just one of them! Getting back on track, I'm grateful for such lovely, kind parents, who I hope to learn a lot from, especially their patience and resilience.
I guess another thing I'm pretty grateful for is my optimism. For the most part, I'm a pretty optimistic, glass half full kinda person, and I love it. It makes everything seem a lot better, and you feel like you can get through anything. Mind you, I wasn't always like this, I've had phases where everything's been miserable and doomed. That was not a fun time. Negative thoughts are like maggots just writhing around and multiplying and just making everything icky and gross! But you have to learn to get out of it; find something that makes you happy and do it as often as you can. And I can guarantee that this will lift your spirits in no time! (If however, you think you may be suffering from clinical depression, see someone, don't be ashamed of it. I know some people can be dismissive of depression as an illness, but don't be one of them!) Positivity definitely leads to positive actions and consequences :D
Oh, and obviously I'm grateful for the internet. It provides me with hours of entertainment, allows me to stalk people without them knowing, and sometimes provides pretty good essay material in the dark hours before a deadline. So I am very thankful for that!
So there we go. A long rambling post prompted by a very simple question. What are you guys grateful for? I'd love to know :)
PS: Obviously also very grateful for Jazz. She's just hilariously crazy and reminds me of me...is that weird?
Jeni, my best friend, said "friendship". She promptly followed that up with "cliché, I know". She's right. Both about being grateful for it as well as about it being a cliché. But I think friendship (and family) is one of the things I'm most grateful for. Without my friends and family (boyfriend counts as both family and friend), I don't think I'd be the person I am today. They're the ones that laugh at my jokes (or maybe at me...I never know), support me when I'm down, allow me to be there for them, and just generally make me feel like I belong. These are the people that I bounce ideas off of, the people I go to to have a laugh with, but these are also the people that I have little arguments with. But hey, if you can't express your views with those you love, who are you going to go to? I love how most of the people in my close circle are absolutely bonkers, but I wouldn't have them any other way! I am so grateful for their craziness, maybe because it makes me seem like I'm normal when I'm with them!
I know that I've complained and ranted about family before, but I am grateful for them. Well I may not like you as a person, but I am still grateful for what you've taught me, be it just to never turn out like a certain someone. When I was in my early teens, I had such issues with my parents, I thought they were against everything I did. But now I realise that I was an idiot (Yes..was, I'm all grown up and mature now!) Agreed, my parents, like most Sri Lankan parents, are stuck in their ways, and don't, and probably won't, see eye-to-eye on most issues. But I realise now that, in their own way, they do the things they do because they want the best for us. They push us to work 24/7 because they want us to have a better life than they did. They don't give us the same freedom that our non-brown friends may have because they're worried that we'll go off the rails and ruin our lives (Ok, that was a pretty big leap, and I'm not one to say you shouldn't do things, because I've probably done it myself...unless it's bad, then I haven't!) I think the way to get around this is to be the model child when you're at home. I wouldn't even say that I'm lying to myself and faking it; everyone has different sides to them, and being a good tamil daughter is just one of them! Getting back on track, I'm grateful for such lovely, kind parents, who I hope to learn a lot from, especially their patience and resilience.
I guess another thing I'm pretty grateful for is my optimism. For the most part, I'm a pretty optimistic, glass half full kinda person, and I love it. It makes everything seem a lot better, and you feel like you can get through anything. Mind you, I wasn't always like this, I've had phases where everything's been miserable and doomed. That was not a fun time. Negative thoughts are like maggots just writhing around and multiplying and just making everything icky and gross! But you have to learn to get out of it; find something that makes you happy and do it as often as you can. And I can guarantee that this will lift your spirits in no time! (If however, you think you may be suffering from clinical depression, see someone, don't be ashamed of it. I know some people can be dismissive of depression as an illness, but don't be one of them!) Positivity definitely leads to positive actions and consequences :D
Oh, and obviously I'm grateful for the internet. It provides me with hours of entertainment, allows me to stalk people without them knowing, and sometimes provides pretty good essay material in the dark hours before a deadline. So I am very thankful for that!
So there we go. A long rambling post prompted by a very simple question. What are you guys grateful for? I'd love to know :)
PS: Obviously also very grateful for Jazz. She's just hilariously crazy and reminds me of me...is that weird?
Bye for now xx
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Let's have a Party! Wait..what?!?
Hello again to all you lovely people :)
So....some of you might find this awkward to read. "Oh, why would it be awkward?" you may ask. Well, because I'm going to be talking about the infamous "Puberty Ceremony" (Saamathiya veedu/Poopunitha Neeratu Vizha, or some other long-ass tamil name for it!)
So those of you that aren't Tamil or familiar with this concept, it's basically when you have a party to celebrate a girl getting her first period...it makes me cringe just writing that! WHY!?! Who thought this would be a good idea?!
From what I understand, back in the olden days, this was done as a way of saying "Hey, my daughter's healthy and fertile, and she's ready to be married." Correct me if I'm wrong, but living in London in this day and age, I feel that this is unnecessary, and dare I say, a bit inappropriate, especially considering the fact that most girls are like 13 when they start nowadays!
I don't even know where to begin...
There are different scales that you can do these ceremonies: there are the simple ones where it's just at your house, or there are the over the top ones with like 300 people, where you hire out a venue, just for the occasion. (Yup 300 people, sometimes there are more tamil people celebrating a girl's first period, than the total amount of guests at a non-tamil wedding). It's become customary to give the guests a little present, kind of like a party favour, to say thanks for coming. Which I think is pretty sweet. But some of the people with the OTT ceremonies, feel like they have to compete with these gifts, I've heard stories of golden traditional lamps (kutthuvizhaku for all you tamils) being given out to each and every guest. Do you seriously have that much cash to blow...if so, just let me know, and I'll happily hand over my bank details to you.
So, what does the poor girl herself have to endure on this day? Well, she gets dressed in a saree, usually for the first time in her life. The perfect time really to be walking around in a saree and tripping to fall on your face; in front of a few hundred people. Oh and the moment will be caught on camera, because we record every single second of this shit. Oh just a question by the way, does anyone know why the camera man feels the need to record you eating? It's not like he's fucking filming a documentary to show the future generations a "how to eat" video, I really don't see the need for this. There's a picture in my puberty ceremony album (yey!) (not) where I'm eating, and I'm just glaring at whoever was behind the camera...If I wanted to publicly humiliate myself, I'd put that picture here, but I'm not that brave, so I'm going to put up a tamil meme I found on facebook instead:
So....some of you might find this awkward to read. "Oh, why would it be awkward?" you may ask. Well, because I'm going to be talking about the infamous "Puberty Ceremony" (Saamathiya veedu/Poopunitha Neeratu Vizha, or some other long-ass tamil name for it!)
So those of you that aren't Tamil or familiar with this concept, it's basically when you have a party to celebrate a girl getting her first period...it makes me cringe just writing that! WHY!?! Who thought this would be a good idea?!
From what I understand, back in the olden days, this was done as a way of saying "Hey, my daughter's healthy and fertile, and she's ready to be married." Correct me if I'm wrong, but living in London in this day and age, I feel that this is unnecessary, and dare I say, a bit inappropriate, especially considering the fact that most girls are like 13 when they start nowadays!
I don't even know where to begin...
There are different scales that you can do these ceremonies: there are the simple ones where it's just at your house, or there are the over the top ones with like 300 people, where you hire out a venue, just for the occasion. (Yup 300 people, sometimes there are more tamil people celebrating a girl's first period, than the total amount of guests at a non-tamil wedding). It's become customary to give the guests a little present, kind of like a party favour, to say thanks for coming. Which I think is pretty sweet. But some of the people with the OTT ceremonies, feel like they have to compete with these gifts, I've heard stories of golden traditional lamps (kutthuvizhaku for all you tamils) being given out to each and every guest. Do you seriously have that much cash to blow...if so, just let me know, and I'll happily hand over my bank details to you.
So, what does the poor girl herself have to endure on this day? Well, she gets dressed in a saree, usually for the first time in her life. The perfect time really to be walking around in a saree and tripping to fall on your face; in front of a few hundred people. Oh and the moment will be caught on camera, because we record every single second of this shit. Oh just a question by the way, does anyone know why the camera man feels the need to record you eating? It's not like he's fucking filming a documentary to show the future generations a "how to eat" video, I really don't see the need for this. There's a picture in my puberty ceremony album (yey!) (not) where I'm eating, and I'm just glaring at whoever was behind the camera...If I wanted to publicly humiliate myself, I'd put that picture here, but I'm not that brave, so I'm going to put up a tamil meme I found on facebook instead:
 |
| Before someone comes at me with a wooden spoon, I don't own this picture, the amazing people at tamil memes on facebook do. Go check them out, they have me laughing for hours with all the randomness that comes with being a tamil. So leading on nicely from the above meme, we're made to ridiculous poses such as the above, but also others including sitting on the floor with the saree fanned out around us in a circle, and if you're unfortunate enough to go to India and have a ceremony there, the infamous peeking out from behind a tree. Coz that's fucking normal. I don't know why our families spend so much money on these photos and videos, because I personally ensure that these pictures never see the light of day. They are embarrassing, and thank god I had mine back in the days when DVDs were too expensive to burn onto, so I had 2 Video tapes and one burnt onto DVD I think, so seeing as no one really owns a VCR anymore, I'm hoping someone's lost the remaining DVD and I'm safe from ever having to see it again. I can only hope. What else? Oh yeh, people congratulate you for getting your first period. Like you worked hard for it, and you should be proud of it. What the heck? You're pissed off and want these people to leave and they're like "well done"...thanks?! It's not even just close family, I had a family friend from Norway call, and they're like "gratulerer" (congratulations)..I don't feel like being congratulated right now..I want to go to bed and stay there until all these people leave, but no, I have to deal with all these randomers telling me how happy they are and here you are fucking congratulating me. Trust me, if you went up to a white girl you didn't know very well and said "congratulations, I'm so glad you started your period", you'd be locked up...either in an asylum or prison. And this isn't the only thing you have to put up with. There's the part where everyone that comes to this "party" comes into the bathroom, where you're sitting in the bath fully clothed, and they all dump some water, with rose petals and other things, on your head, one by one. They record this too. Coz I mean everyone looks super attractive fully clothed and soaking wet. Right? nope, not unless you're these guys... TMBOjgrSYlHQ~~60_35.JPG)  *ahem* Anyway, moving on from these pictures. Nowadays, a bath just doesn't cut it, so you put a frigging paddling pool with rose petals and shit in the middle of the living room instead. If on a random day, I decided I wanted to put a paddling pool in the middle of the house, and sat in it for hours, my mum would go ballistic! But when there's dozens (or hundreds- depending on which scale you're doing this) of people around the house with cameras, that's perfectly acceptable. There's just so much wrong with these puberty ceremonies that I'm certain I've missed out some things. If any of you can think of anything, comment below, or drop me an email, I'd love to hear from you guys. Also, I recently got twitter, so follow me @amisiva. I'm still getting the hang of it, but I'm slowly but surely becoming addicted to it! Well before I go, seeing as this was quite a "tamil" post, I'd like to suggest 3 tamil related twitterers (I was going to say twits, but I don't see how anyone would want to be described as a twit :/) you should follow: @tamilmemes, @101_TamilDating and @PeoplesTamil. I like reading their tweets, and if you enjoyed this post, I hope you enjoy them too :) (See..I'm a bit like the bit on twitter that suggests people to follow based on who you already follow....no? wow I need to go to sleep) So before I say anything else that doesn't make sense, I'm off. Hope you all have a wonderful, puberty ceremony free day. Bye xx |
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Exams are over tomorrow....Oh wait.....
Do you remember how in my last post, I was saying how I had exams in less than a week and that I was looking forward to them being over in 3 weeks? Well it's been nearly 3 weeks since that post, and I haven't done a single exam. How comes, you may be thinking? Did she just bunk and not go to them?
Nope. My appendix decided it was the right time to become inflamed and be on the verge of exploding. And so they had to remove my appendix 3 days before my first exam. Not the best timing in the world. To make things worse, the pain killers they gave me were so strong, that I was awake for like 4 hours a day, long enough to eat a meal, take the medication (it was tramadol for those of you wondering) and then sleep til the next meal time. Not exactly in the right frame of mind to be doing any work at all, especially since I could barely sit upright without being in pain :( I don't know if I have a ridiculously low pain threshold (I don't think so!) or if it's just taking ages to heal, but it's been exactly 2 weeks since I've been out of hospital, and I still feel pretty rough.
I went to the GP last week and they gave me another painkiller, that doesn't really help with the pain and still makes me drowsy, so I don't see the point in taking them.
I'm so fed up that I haven't done my exams. I know that there are soo many people that say "but you're so lucky, you have longer to revise". No, because now I have to spend the whole summer waiting for the exams, whereas you can just have fun. And that's if the university lets me retake them in the summer, uncapped. I'm still waiting to hear back from them, and I'm pretty nervous, even though considering the fact that I was in hospital for 4 days before the first exam and had to have surgery, I feel like I definitely qualify for mitigating circumstances. I mean, in the letter it says they'll normally accept medical problems that could not be foreseen and requires hospitalisation. So I should qualify right? The appendix is the most useless thing in our body and can just decide to go pop whenever it wants. It's hardly my fault. Argh, this waiting is driving me insane.
There's a Facebook group for our course and I actually read a post where someone was asking another student to run them over/beat them up so that they could qualify for mitigating circumstances. I am certain they were joking, but I'd just like to point out that it doesn't seem that easy to get them to accept the cases.
Well my last exam would've been tomorrow and I would've had a huge drink up to celebrate and gone out and had fun, but instead I'm back at my parent's house, sleeping most of the day and waiting to hear back from my university.
I'm drafting the post about the trip away. That should be up in the next few days hopefully :) I'm also planning to do a couple posts about Tamil things that are just fucking weird. Two words: puberty ceremonies. "huh, what?" you're obviously not Tamil if you've not come across this phenomenon. All shall be explained very soon!
I hope you all are having betters days than I am, and for those of you doing exams, hope it went well :)
Bye for now xx
Nope. My appendix decided it was the right time to become inflamed and be on the verge of exploding. And so they had to remove my appendix 3 days before my first exam. Not the best timing in the world. To make things worse, the pain killers they gave me were so strong, that I was awake for like 4 hours a day, long enough to eat a meal, take the medication (it was tramadol for those of you wondering) and then sleep til the next meal time. Not exactly in the right frame of mind to be doing any work at all, especially since I could barely sit upright without being in pain :( I don't know if I have a ridiculously low pain threshold (I don't think so!) or if it's just taking ages to heal, but it's been exactly 2 weeks since I've been out of hospital, and I still feel pretty rough.
I went to the GP last week and they gave me another painkiller, that doesn't really help with the pain and still makes me drowsy, so I don't see the point in taking them.
I'm so fed up that I haven't done my exams. I know that there are soo many people that say "but you're so lucky, you have longer to revise". No, because now I have to spend the whole summer waiting for the exams, whereas you can just have fun. And that's if the university lets me retake them in the summer, uncapped. I'm still waiting to hear back from them, and I'm pretty nervous, even though considering the fact that I was in hospital for 4 days before the first exam and had to have surgery, I feel like I definitely qualify for mitigating circumstances. I mean, in the letter it says they'll normally accept medical problems that could not be foreseen and requires hospitalisation. So I should qualify right? The appendix is the most useless thing in our body and can just decide to go pop whenever it wants. It's hardly my fault. Argh, this waiting is driving me insane.
There's a Facebook group for our course and I actually read a post where someone was asking another student to run them over/beat them up so that they could qualify for mitigating circumstances. I am certain they were joking, but I'd just like to point out that it doesn't seem that easy to get them to accept the cases.
Well my last exam would've been tomorrow and I would've had a huge drink up to celebrate and gone out and had fun, but instead I'm back at my parent's house, sleeping most of the day and waiting to hear back from my university.
I'm drafting the post about the trip away. That should be up in the next few days hopefully :) I'm also planning to do a couple posts about Tamil things that are just fucking weird. Two words: puberty ceremonies. "huh, what?" you're obviously not Tamil if you've not come across this phenomenon. All shall be explained very soon!
I hope you all are having betters days than I am, and for those of you doing exams, hope it went well :)
Bye for now xx
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