*edit* I didn’t name my post :S dear oh dear thats VERY poor Xangermanship.

Day 01 – A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
Day 02 – A picture of you and the person you have been close with the longest
Day 03 – A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
Day 04 – A picture of a habit you wish you didn’t have……….
Day 05 – A picture of your favourite memory.
Day 06 – A picture of a person you’d love to trade places with for a day.
Day 07 – A picture of your most treasured item.
Day 08 – A picture that makes you laugh.
Day 09 – A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.
Day 10 – A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with.
Day 11 – A picture of something you hate.
Day 12 – A picture of something you love.
Day 13 – A picture of your favorite band or artist.
Day 14 – A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.
Day 15 – A picture of something you want to do before you die.
Day 16 – A picture of someone who inspires you.
Day 17 – A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.
Day 18 – A picture of your biggest insecurity.
Day 19 – A picture of you when you were little.
Day 20 – A picture of somewhere you’d love to travel.
Day 21 – A picture of something you wish you could forget.
Day 22 – A picture of something you wish you were better at.
Day 23 – A picture of your favorite book.
Day 24 – A picture of something you wish you could change.
Day 25 – A picture of your day.
Day 26 – A picture of something that means a lot to you.
Day 27 – A picture of yourself and a family member.
Day 28 – A picture of something you’re afraid of.
Day 29 – A picture that can always make you smile.
Day 30 – A picture of someone you miss

I’m supposed to come up with 15 facts on this one…but to be honest I’m facted out about myself…so i’ll just do random stuff

1. I don’t really like it when I hear a girl saying the word ‘Dude’ not sure why, but it just sounds wrong to me :S
2. There’s a plan to use genetically modified coral type creatures to sure up Venice.
3. A Quantum computer can be both on and off simultaneously.
4. My Favourite Nintendo Character is Wario.
5. All that glitters is not gold.
6. I collect bottle caps…just incase the Fallout games turn out to be true and they become the new currency.
7. I used to imagine different types of Sci-fi/fantasy weapons while going to sleep.
8. There’s a picture of me when young sitting on a hillside wearing nothing but wellies and a daisy chain around my neck
9. My favourite sense is my hearing.
10. There are Japanese AI toys that are connected to the internet and learn during their life time.
11. I’ve run out of dental floss.
12. I’ve played Airsoft games with friends, I am ALWAYS the first to die and usually enjoy doing the pretend death more than the game.
13. I have never yet met a dog I couldn’t get on with.
14. Toads and Frogs are pretty much exactly the same creature, it’s just one is better at dry environments than the other.
15. I spent a few years of my young childhood living in a 40 foot caravan.

Taken from @justabrokenwing LINK

So here’s the question: If you had to survive what skills or abilities do you think you would have or be able to use to up your odds?

Personally recent events…and common sense has proven to me that I’m not really built to survive strength based physical combat, but I am pretty confident that if needs must I could push myself beyond quite high levels of pain and damage to get to safety, so if I was forced into combat I’d fight like an SOB before i went down

Also I have spent all my life in a very wild natural place, often going for long walks and even camping with and without a tent. My herbs and food know-how is limited but there is a base there that could be built on.

I can swim and have experiance of cold water temp…though my skinny build makes me more susceptible to the cold.

I’ve not fully learnt any…but I have looked at several martial arts that don’t demand power or strength, so if needs must perhaps I could figure out enough to give myself a minor skill advantage.

Although not tested I am confident that I could make hard choices and do what must be done to survive. I doubt I’d be weak to panic or shock and although I would do as much as possible for self preservation I am also aware that cooperation is the real power of small groups of humans so i’d endeavour to support a solid team, and my tolerance and adaptability of mind would aid that.

And I think thats about all the major skills I can come up with for now…so whats your survival list?

Looking at my own if I were making a team I’d really be looking for someone physically strong, a decisive leader, a mechanic and most of all a medic.

Let me know in the comments or tag me in a post

That lieing Clow @fabolousclown tagged me in her recent post so I’m going to give it a go and join in.

See if you can spot the three lies in however many truths I manage to come up with to throw you off

1. I never went to School.
2. I don’t drink alcohol.
3. I’ve only been out of the UK twice.
4. I can’t drive.
5. I drink at least 4 or 5 full cups of black coffee a day.
6. I spent a couple years meditating for at least an hour a day.
7. I never use the computer when it’s sunny.
8. I’ve never fired a real gun.
9. I once tried to learn Japanese just to watch Animes easier.
10. Sometimes I pick up a big rock on the shore and see how far I can walk out to sea.
11. I’ve dived for treasure in the Caribbean.
12. I refuse to play Xbox games because I think PC’s are best.
13. I’ve only broken one bone in my body so far.
14. I’m taller than my older brother.
15. Power tools scare me.
16. I mostly count on my fingers if I have to calculate something.
17. Me and my brother sometimes play with a dog toy even though we no longer have a dog.
18. I sometimes try to use telekinesis…so far nothing
19. Thinking about a computer game once kept me awake all night.
20. I weigh 11 stone

Well as always this took me ages to think up so many things lol not sure why it’s so hard for me to come up with random stuff like this.

But anyway give it a go and see if you can find the three lies.

May aswell tag some folks too: @xdeelynnx @vrndm @hdyhadon @LKJslain @I_Love_Burma (though she’ll almost certainly never do it

So about a week and a bit ago I was at a Kick Boxing club thing thats held in the local town…and no I wasn’t quite at Tony Jaa’s level infact this was the second time ever that i’d gone…and I was planning on giving it up after three times anyway.

But the first time I was just delivering blows and that was sore but fine, then this time I got to be a pad man (someone who holds a pad and lets others punch and kick him) and this happened to be on a day when the Instructor was teaching everyone the Push Kick…which involves putting a foot on the opponents chest and kicking them backwards.

So I was wearing my pads and receiving these kicks from a rather fit chap for a few mins. Now I’ve never been great with chest impacts and much as I expected it took me quite a while to get used to the pain and push back even with pads, and eventually I was even given a bigger pad to carry aswell (thank god because the wearable one was not thick enough) but during this whole thing I got kicked a fair number of times in the chest and at one point my fist and carry pad handle got rammed into my sternum area quite hard.

After the training I was sore but fine and as usualy gave it a week to recover before even thinking about doing it again…but this time rather than my aches and pains fading the pain in my chest persisted and is now still there even a couple days after the usual weeks recovery time.

The pain is like a sharp burning tearing type sensation just off to the right of the upper midle part of my sternum, it get’s worse if I twist my body or head and sometimes makes my shoulder blades and upper arms ache slightly.

The sharp pain is localized in one very small area about the size of a finger tip but there is also a dull ache that goes out around it sometimes and spreads to the shoulders and arms in varying degrees.

I am going to go to the doctors for a previous chest issue (two cases of Pneumonia in two years) soon but for now I’m not bothering getting this checked out since if it’s somekind of bruise, fracture or tear there’s really nothing they can do for me anyway…but I am curious as to what it might be do if anyone has had something similar or knows anything about the body and it’s workings please help me shed some light

And the moral of the story…don’t let someond kick you in the chest lol

A mini review of Oil in the Wok by Yumin Ye ( @wyrdkismet )

Given that I generally don’t read hardly any books and those that do tempt me are predominantly Sci-fi or Fantasy the chances of me picking a story about the hopes, dreams and dramas of a teenage girl are pretty slim, but luckily for me the author of Oil in the Wok also writes on Xanga so despite my preconceptions I got hold of a copy and was happy to be pleasantly surprised.

Having spent quite sometime reading and enjoying Yumins blog I knew (no matter the content) that the writing style and mind behind it would be entertaining and intriguing but I didn’t expect this book to hold my attention quite as much as it did nor be as effective on my emotions, but by the time I got to the end of Oil in the Wok I was not only quite moved but also completely hooked on the life and dreams of its protagonist Amber Yang.

The story follows Amber through a short period of her young life during which her house becomes the hide away of teen pop diva Brooke Fulton, who for personal reasons wants nothing more than to turn off the lime light and become just another girl. But as if Brookes sudden appearance in Amber’s life wasn’t enough she’s also dealing with the collapse of her parents marriage, her own social meltdown with school friends and her desperate desire to somehow figure out not only who she is but also how to reach her dream goal of becoming a singer.

As a story it is well constructed and keeps you reading, despite nothing major happening it has a real life feel to it that makes it very easy to care for the characters and get wrapped up in the events.

The writing reminded me of a diary, but one written from the first perspective or perhaps even from within the thoughts of Amber. At times this can be frustrating because you find yourself just wanting to grab her and yell ‘STOP over analysing’ but this only adds to the sense of realism, especially when you realise just how much your own mind and thought processes mirror those of Ambers, always caught on the horns of some decision or other never knowing if you’ve made the right choice or even sometimes if a choice should be made at all.

For me this book really had nothing going for it other than me knowing the author’s blog but despite that it totally won me over and I think that’s pretty impressive. By the time you reach the final page I defy anyone not to be wishing Amber Yang the best of luck

As you can see I’ve been really busy of late

I also made a Meme

And I then found this Gif:

Please feel free to suggest some captions

‘Sadly although the new super hero Transgenderman had many powers, as soon as he discovered he could swap genders he became distracted’ 

This Gif I made myself

Sometimes life gives you lemons and the wise make lemonade…

But sometimes Donnie Yen kicks you hard in the groin, and then it’s best just to stay down for a bit.

Hope everyone has/had a fun weekend.

It was perhaps the hardest one to do so far…try and come up with a Villain alter ego for one of the nicest people on Xanga

But I think I might have done it…well I know i’d be scared of her O.O

@xXxlovelylollipop

Lollipop

Born a natural empath Lollipop’s life was marked with highs and lows of passion and intense emotion, for years she simply did not know she was different from everyone else until one day she found herself alone at an ancient site of natural power while on a tour of local ruins in her native south America.

Here her sensitivity allowed a long forgotten avatar created by the energetic emotional imprints of the regions people to reform in her presence. This avatar was unfortunately an embodiment of the imprint of war and loss that had shattered the country during the western invasion centuries before.

Meeting this embodiment of dark emotional intensity opened the doors to ever greater powers within her, soon she discovered she could not only now see and feel the emotional energetic waves that emanate from others…but also she could consume them, draining the charge and feeding it into her own body.

At first she merely experimented by tasting different emotions and different intensities, but it wasn’t long before she found the stronger the emotion, the stronger the boost…and while any intense emotion was powerful few delivered as much raw burning power better than those of rage, fear, envy and lust.   

Addicted to the ever growing intensity she quickly moved on from being a passive spectator into actually inciting emotions and then draining her victims leaving them dazed, mad or even dead.

Set loose in a crowd and free to spread panic or incite riot and she becomes deadly, over brimming in fiery power that makes her strong, regenerative and can even be released as searing bolts of energy. Further more she (once charged) can emanate various concoctions of emotions spreading panic and madness in her wake.   

For a long time I couldn’t even imagine myself enjoying Jazz it just sounded way too random and a bit smug.

But then I gave early Jazz a shot such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman…mainly because everyone kept going on about how ‘great’ it was and how ‘unique’ and ‘amazing’ and all the usual stuff you get about the so called classics…and as with most of that stuff I just thought, well yea if you like it i’m sure thats true but I can’t really stand the stuff.

But I don’t like to judge without experience so I gave it a shot…and long story short OMG it is AMAZING music

It’s entirely possible that it’s just my new found love of it that does it…but when I put on a few CD’s of really good early Jazz it just puts me in a good mood it’s joyful, it’s relaxing, it’s entertaining and so delightfully complex while also being able to merge into the background…turns out all the annoying music people who go on about it were totally right lol and to be honest they were kind of holding back

So there’s really no point to this post other than to say…go find some early Jazz. Louis, Duke, Benny…oh and Clifford Brown someone I only recently found out about but also a damn fine Jazz player.

What (if any) music have you discovered that you previously written off before you actually listened to it?

And also what type of music can you listen to and just feel good no matter what mood you were in before?

Funny thing is I only noticed that I had it when I began to lose it.

A while ago I met someone new online and as is the way I started to get to know her better sharing stuff and hearing about her life. But as is sometimes the case hers was not the most happy story and the more I heard and tried to help (in the only way one can at distance, with support and advice) I began to realise that there was just no point, there was nothing I could say or do to effect any real change…and further more it just wasn’t fair.

I’m not perfect nor is my life…but it is pretty blessed compaired to some, i’ve never really suffered anything even close to some of the events in others lives. And this person, this decent, kind, funny friendly person who like everyone else deserves just as much freedom, kindness and love as we all do has had to endure not one but several crule and unpleasant torments both physically and mentally.

I do not believe in a God as somekind of other being that is out beyond us. I have not been exposed to any form of organized religion, but I am spiritual and do think there is something more to this reality something that can be neatly encapsulated as ‘god’ and further more I also credit some validity to the extra abilities that are described in the sort of new age (and ancient) type stuff like distance healing and the effect of our energy bodies on others and our reality.

But during discussion with this person and taking into account other recent situations where my belief in these more ‘magical’ things in life have been shaken it began to dawn on me that all I really have is my belief, I have no proof that I can trust 100% the only thing I have is the feeling in my heart that some things are right or more important to focus on than others.

But faced with such glaring inequalities and random cruleness I was left spiritually wounded and lost.

Luckily I am also blessed with a very wise father who has spent far more time with these issues than me and when I finally brought the subject up he pointed out that it is that reaction of loss and pain that is part of the problem. For example if you read in the news about some terrible crime commited on the innocent you (or certainly I) are filled with a desire for justice, either lawful or even vigilante…and I have to admit there are certain crimes that leave me musing for several minuets on the often brutal justice I would bring down on those responsible.

But if you look at that situation from another perspective what is it you are doing?…you cannot help directly either way, so in truth you are given a choice 1:you can bring more violence and anger into your mind as a result of something of the same nature…or 2: you can somehow try to find a path for love or forgiveness and with that transmute darkness to light.

And perhaps this won’t help anything beyond you I cannot proove that, but I know it will help you…it’ll help me, rather than being defeated within myself by the unfairness and pain I can take it and use it to temper my own spirit and proove the power of forgiveness and love within myself.

After this conversation and being once again reminded that despite all appearances we are not powerless, this is when it suddenly crystalized and I realized I truly don’t know a damn thing, but I do have faith, and we are better with it than without it…no matter what you have faith in as long as you have a connection to that inner sense you are given strength and support.

No miracles for me though…so far

But since becoming aware of this I have been more solid and comfortable within myself, which is miracle enough for now

Sadly no…not this type of Amazon.

Rather it’s the awesome online retailer type Amazon

I went to town today…for it turns out, absolutely no reason x_x since the person who asked me to come (a week ago) wasn’t prepaired for my visit…so I walked out…in the slightly rainy looking sunshine, and ended up bumping into a friend who invited me back for a coffee…so I walked back had the coffee and eventually got free to walk back out…in the rain.

Got to the edge of town ready to hitch, stood there in the rain getting damp for 15 mins…and then got picked up by a car full of young french girls ^_^ they took me half way and the rest of the journey was dull but thankfully short.

But when I got in several lovely packages where waiting for me from Amazon

The Pokemon and book I intend on keeping but the other 3DS games are all going straight on Ebay to hopefully get me a nice profit (TBH the 3DS games were from Ebay originally sold in bulk but the others were from Amazon)

Anyway that is all…just some minor ‘look what i’ve got’ gloating