This Is Halloween

Welcome to Danielle Friday Saturday! No, I'm not a guest blogger on Kate's blog. This is actually a collab and I'm a part of it. Surprise!

I've always loved Halloween. It was one of the perks of moving in Ireland because we don't really celebrate Halloween like this in the Philippines. At least not when I was there. We celebrate more of All-Saints/All-Souls Day in there. I have a lot of childhood memories of commuting for 2 hours with my mom to her homeplace and spending a full day in the cemetery. It's never rainy when we go to the cemetery. It's always hot as hell, made hotter by the hundreds if not thousands of candles lit, but we'd be there nevertheless. The only way I could describe the tombs of the cemetery is like if you stacked one sarcophagi after another, and you just have, like, an 8 foot tall container of where the remains of the dead are. Me and my cousins would climb up to the very top of the tomb and we'd play cards or eat or something. I will never see those tombs anymore cause they've been removed when my grandmother died so now we just have a little mausoleum for the seven people who died in our extended family. But they were a very important part of my childhood. One year I wore fishnet stockings to the cemetery. When I removed it I had fishnet tan lines.

I miss that. But Halloween in Ireland is cool too. The first year I dressed up was when I was twelve. I was a vampire because I was hang up on the Twilight series. I'd like to think I've improved four years later. This year I dressed up as a fortune teller, and I thought it was very believable. Halloween is an excuse for dressing up without anybody looking at you weird, and I love it.

I hope everyone had a brilliant Halloween as well!

Love,
Danielle.

P.S. That was a very Nightvale post the other day, Kate. I like it.

Mission 014: Dress up and Demand sweets

Dress up and Demand sweets, also known as my favourite time of the year. Should I introduce myself? I'm sure you've guessed. It's Kate.

Halloween: when it's socially acceptable for girls to lack clothes, kids to take sweets from strangers and adults to wear silly costumes. I don't understand why everyone doesn't love Halloween. 

I originally had decided to be a skeleton this year but I still haven't organised a costume and Halloween is tomorrow. So now I'm between a goth and a widow. Because I have quite a bit of black clothing and make-up. Bit of a down-fall from last year.

I tried to make biscuits today. I burned them. One would think after studying home economics for three and a half years I would be past the point of over cooking food. Nope. Still can't cook sufficiently. O! woe upon my life! how shall I ever woo a wealthy, well respected husband with these despicable culinary skills! O wretched faith thou art the cursed soul of a fallen angel.

I am the fallen angel.
I am the fallen angel.
I am the fallen angel.

Mission 013: Pick the Theme

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DANIEEEEEEELLLLLLE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Has to be the most unadventurous song that is universally known and sung every single day year in year out by people all over the world. So here is a more adventurous alternative.
Also this kind of creepy video.
Happy Birthday Danielle I hope you're enjoying it.

This week's theme is Danielle. Or birthdays. Or something. Whatever, it's not like anyone is going to write anything anyway. I think everyone is aware of the inaccuracies of the word birthday, seeing as we are not all reborn once a year. I think that would be pretty frustrating. You'd have like a year to achieve everything you want in your life before you go back to being a mindless new-born again. Wow. I'm surprisingly grateful that doesn't happen.

I've never liked my birthdays. I know, I know, I've failed at childhood. I think I always expected my birthday to be this incredibly perfect day where everything was amazing. And that doesn't happen. I set my expectations too high and now I have a scarred notion of birthdays in general.

Way to be a downer. I'll do some maths now. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN-I-ELLE! YOUR AWESOMENESS IS ROCKETING SKY HIGH. MAYBE ONE DAY IF YOU'RE LUCKY YOUR AWESOMENESS WILL COME CATCH UP TO MINE!

Gods And Godesses

Hello bosomed bloggers! It is Danielle Friday with your host, Danielle! Awaiting for punishment. As usual. I feel like we should give Reliable Kate (which is what we are all calling you from now on) for being the person who hasn't ever EVER missed a post. Also for yelling down at us when we haven't written our posts or are in the way to forgetting to write a post. We love you really, Kate. You're the greatest, as my brother would say.

So while the girls decide on a punishment for me for missing last week again we will talk about Roman/Greek gods and goddesses. I don't know what it is about them that just draws me, but ever since I learned in Social Studies class when I was in the Philippines that there were people who believe/d that different gods ruled different things, I was obsessed. Being brought up in a relatively strict Catholic household, I had never heard of polytheism. I always thought everyone had the same religion, all over the world. I don't know why I wasn't encouraged to learn more about other people's religions because when I finally did got educated on the hundreds if not thousands of different religions out there, I was so interested. Learning about people's different faiths opened my mind and expanded my horizon in a way that nothing had ever really done before, so that led to me finding out that different people have different opinions, and that's okay! SHOCKER!!! 

But anyway, back to the theme. I want to talk to you guys about my favorite goddess. Her name is Ananke, and she is the goddess of "destiny, necessity, and fate." Basically, she decided everything that will ever happen ever which is why all of mortals as wells as all of the gods pay respect to her. How badass is that? The person dictating the life of all gods and mortals, even Zeus, is a woman! I think that's really cool.

Another cool person who is sort of related to Greek gods/goddesses and who I found out while researching this topic is this guy called Pausanias, which wikipedia calls a geographer but to me he's more of a traveller who kept a travelling journal. Basically this guy went to places like Egypt and Greece and Italy and wrote notes on the lives of people in those areas. He wrote about the places he saw and the practices of the people he met and today he's an important figure in archaeology and history. I wish I was him, I really do.

Anyway that is it from yours truly. I'll see you again on Tuesday!

...or will I?

Yes I will.

-Danielle.

Mission 012: Choose your God

Guess who? That's right Kate of Wednesday come around again to update the blog. My sincerest thanks to Aoife for writing her post last week. At least now I won't have to change the blog name to 'cool kate of every and any nationality' or something equally terrifying.

This week's theme is Greek and Roman gods. After doing a small bit of research I discovered that there are still people today who worship Greek and Roman gods. I'd never given much thought to it before but I presumed they were dead religions. It's not the kind of thing you hear about.

There was this one God apparently worshipped by the Greeks known as Agnostos Theos or the Unknown God. Basically they were covering their backs in case it turned out they were worshipping the wrong Gods when judgement day came. They had a special temple dedicated to this Unknown deity. It seems their reasoning was that since they believed there was a god for everything from the sunset to love then chances were they hadn't discovered them all yet. So it's best not to piss off a God you don't even know exists, right?

Allegedly this Agnostos Theos originated at a time when Athens was suffering from a plague. In a desperate attempt to satisfy the Gods a flock of sheep was set loose and wherever they stopped to rest a sacrifice was made to the God of that place. However as it turned out one or more sheep stopped where there was no designated God. So the Greeks erected a temple without any God's name on it and made a sacrifice to any God willing to accept.

Greek Mythology 101 completed. Come back Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this week when there will definitely be three more posts published on the topic.

MISSION...........................................................................COMPLETED

Treading Water

Aoife back again with Saturday's post.

I am renown for always being late so I apologise for missing the last few deadlines.

So I don't know what this week's theme is so I wanted to share with you a story( don't if you can call it a story but anyway) about dealing with the journey and trial that life can be.

Treading Water

All we ever really need to do is keep our heads above water. No matter how hard it may be or how heavy you feel, if you could keep your head up you will live. 

Struggle onwards, stumbling and faltering, weak and confused though you are because if you keep going you will grow stronger, faster, wiser and you, my friend will rise. 
Leave behind the darkened water and move forward. 
Look back occasionally to see how far you have come and all you have accomplished but don't linger there, look forward so you can see the path. 
Wonder and weave, explore the side roads and vallys all around you as you journey on because it is not the destination that matters as much as the journey itself.

The path you take may not be the wisest or best nor the one you would have liked to take- but travel on and learn from it. Chose wiser next time and laugh over rash judgements with people you meet along the way. Because all path cross at some point and if you do not take the chances you are given then life will pass you by.


Sometimes I think I get so caught up in the everyday monotony of working for the future that I neglect the life I'm living right now. It's so easy to focus solely on the goal and forget that what you learn along the road is equally important.

You life and time are your's so remember to cherish them because time once lost does not come again.

That's all for this week.
See you next Saturday (hopefully),
Aoife

Mission 011: Tell us the Day

Che Guevara was a Marxist social revolutionary from Argentina. His father was part Irish and his mother Basque.In 1948 he started studying medicine in college but two years later he decided to take a break from his studies to travel. He went on a 4,500 km solo trip through the rural areas of north Argentina on a bicycle that he installed an engine into. If that's not badass enough for you, the following year he went on an 8,000 km motorcycle trek but this time he brought along a friend who is relatively unimportant to this tale.

In Chile Guevara was horrified by the working conditions of copper miners and the poverty experienced by peasant farmers. He wrote an account of his journey entitled The Motorcycle Diaries which became a New York Times best seller and was made into a film in 2004. I now really want to both read and watch it.

Guevara was later a main player into the rise of Fidel Castro to power in Cuba. He became close friends with Castro and was the minister for industry during his rule. He joined Castro's revolutionary group and worked for equality among American classes. In 1965 Guevara travelled to Africa to share his knowledge of Guerilla warfare to the ongoing conflict in Congo.

On this day, October 9th, in 1967 while in Bolivia he was captured by the CIA and executed. His hands were cut off as proof of his death and he was buried in an unmarked grave. This was an attempt to suppress communism and socialism and to maintain a social hierarchy of class and race.

He's not a figure of perfection though. It's thought that as supreme prosecutor during Castro's reign he orchestrated the show trials and ordered the execution of hundreds of military leaders and civilians associated with the previous leader.

This has been history week and I have been you're educator Kate of Wednesday, known to some as Kate the Reliable but more commonly known as O Mighty Kate of the Mysterious and Far Off Land.
Remember you can trust me, I'm the reliable one.

MISSION............................................................COMPLETED

Mission 010: Fill the Gap

My Dearest Bosomed Bloggers,

This is simply getting embarrassing. You can all rag on me for never doing my homework but at least I haven't missed a blog post. Sort out your priorities guys.

It has been an entire week since I've put up a post and yet mine is still the most recent. I hope you all realise that now that I finally have something to brag about I won't be letting it go easily. I'll be ninety years old and my grandchildren will be obnoxious little shits telling me I'm boring and have never done anything with my life. I'll tell them that when I was sixteen years old I had a collab blog and I was the only member who never missed a single day. I overcame the greatest struggles known to a teenager and became a hero of my time.

I'm currently constructing a Halloween themed playlist. I can't decide whether I want it creepy or sort of fun halloween-y songs. I'll probably end up doing two separate ones because I mean, I only have four A4 pages of Irish to learn along with 11 units of spanish vocabulary. I've got all the time in the world to kill.

Yours in faithful patience,
Kate of Wednesday

Mission 009: Write a blog in 5 minutes

Not only do we have a lack of themes today but also a lack of introductions. I haven't the time for it.

On a better day i might take advantage of not having a theme and do something cool. Today is not a better day. As y'all know this week is energise week in school which basically means we get to miss classes for a day and do an adult's definition of 'educational fun'

It was actually alright though to be fair. Hip-hop, a lecture on my the irish language is important, hip-hop for a second hour, hair styling, 'the sheep and the followers' (peer pressure lecture) and self defense.

Hip-hop = 4/5 stars
Irish = 5/5 stars (just because Mr. O' Caoimh. What can I say he's adorbs.)
Hair-styling = 1/5 stars (it only got the one for not having to have anyone touch my hair)
The sheep and the followers = 1/5 (because it posed a couple of interesting questions. well maybe one.)
Self-defense = 4/5 really good but it's a bit silly that they're teaching us how to defend ourselves without letting us have practical experience. They just talked to us.

After 2 hours of study I went to my graduation of the No Name club (don't even ask about the name) which only served to remind me why I hated it so much last year. The aim of the club is to show young people that they can have a good social life without alcohol. For me it only convinced me I'll never be able to socialise unless I'm so wasted that I forget to filter any of my thoughts and everything just floods out my mouth.
That's what you call ironically counterproductive if you ask me.

MISSION...........................................................COMPLETED

The I-Totally-Almost-Forgot-To-Write-A-Post-For-Today Post

BUT I DIDN'T! AND I'M HERE! DANIELLE TUESDAY EVERYONE! *APPLAUSE*

So I don't think we have a theme for today. We did talk about having a theme that is meaty, and you know, with depth, but we failed to do the actual deciding-on-a-theme part, so now I don't have a direction to go to and I'm kinda just winging it as I go along. Sounds like my life, amirite?

Here's a thing that is happening soon: I'm turning seventeen. SEVENTEEN. You guys. I'm turning se.ven. teen. It sounds like such a grown-up age to me. When I was younger all of my cousins were in college by seventeen and some were already living on their own. This is probably where the grown-uppy vibes that I get from the age of seventeen comes from. The thing is I do not myself give off grown-uppy vibes. I give off twelve-year-old-who-is-high-on-medication-vibes (dashes are a thing today, apparently). And yes, I am worried about the life beyond the realm of secondary school. But we don't talk about that. Everything the light touches is ours, bosomed bloggers, but you see that shadowy place with all the college students? That's beyond our borders, and you must never go there.

But yeah. Growing up is happening too fast and I do not in any way feel prepared for it. But time's not going to wait for me is it.

In other news, I have done my challenge this week, and you were all a witness to it. I managed to eat about 5 marshmallows in a minute (I know, for shame) but our friend Ciara managed to eat TEN. Ten marshmallows a minute. Very effing impressive. I wish I had that talent.

Okay that's going to be it for me for today. Because as much as I'm missing blogging and the sound and feel of the keyboard beneath my fingers, it is nearly time for me to give up this machine with which I am communicating with you. So goodnight, my dear bosomed bloggers. Goodnight.

-Danielle

Cats - Mammals of the Feline Persuasion

Cats

I have a cat. Her name is Pepper. She is somewhat of a malcontent. She doesn't eat the cat food we leave out for her anymore. We can only presume that she has found another source of nourishment. j

I quite like cats. Fluffy and all.

Apparantly, declawing cats is a thing. Taking their claws out via surgery. The human equivalent would be chopping off the last joint of all your fingers and toes. And then walking around on them. 
There is another option. You can get these little rubber things and put them on your cat's claws so they won't scratch up your couch or whatever. Makes it look like you've painted their little claws.

...

Cats is a terrible theme.

Cats. That's a musical, right? Yeah...

C A T S  ~  You can make SAT and AT and AS and SAC and CAT and CAST and A

Catdog. That's a super hilarious cartoon about a double ended animal. One end is a cat and the other is a dog. Kate laughed so much when she saw it first that it looked like she was aphysiating. It's pretty funny but not death-worthy. Would recommend.
Horrible Quality Episode of Catdog

Right. Well. Cats.

Yeah. I'm done.

- Orla

The Biggest Cat I Had Never Hear Of

Good evening to all our rabid readers.

 Aoife here with Saturdays post.

This weeks topic is "Cats" so my post is about a cat that I didn't know existed until last week.

Ladies and Gentlemen meet the liger:

Ligers are the offspring of male lion with a tigress. Ligers are the world's biggest cats, larger than either of their parents, with the strength of a lion and speed of a tiger combined. An average male liger stands almost 12ft tall on its hind legs and weighs up to 450 kgs, twice the weight of a wild lion or tiger.As the liger cub is so much larger than a tiger cub the tigress normally requires a C-section to give birth.

Liger do not exist in the wild as lions and tigers are not found in the same areas. The only ligers known to be in existence have been bred in captivity. Ligers are infertile and can not reproduce. Ligers are prone to genetic diseases and generally die young.

Here's one of the articles I found on ligers:

Ligers Make a “Dynamite” Leap Into the Limelight

by: Maryann Mott August 5, 2005

It’s half lion, half tiger, and completely real. Now thanks to a cameo in the 2004 cult movie Napoleon Dynamite, the liger has leaped into the limelight, prompting fans to ask, What are they really like?

The faintly striped, shaggy-maned creatures are the offspring of male lions and female tigers, which gives them the ability to both roar like lions and chuff like tigers-a supposedly affectionate sound that falls somewhere between a purr and a raspberry.

Weighing in at about a thousand pounds (450 kilograms) each, they typically devour 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of raw meat in a meal.

“For the most part they’re really laid back,” said Jason Hutcherson, vice president of Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain , Georgia . “They like to swim and play in the water.”

The drive-through wildlife park is believed to have the country’s largest concentration of ligers, housing ten of the massive cats.

Since 1999 the park has bred its male lion and female tiger many times, producing about 24 cubs.

Not all of them have been healthy, though.

“We’ve had 3 out of 24 that, for all practical purposes, were normal but developed as they grew older some kind of neurological disorder,” Hutcherson said.

Autopsies didn’t reveal what caused the cubs to develop “head shakes,” so park staff “chalked it up to a genetic defect,” Hutcherson said.

Accredited zoos frown on the practice of mixing two different species and have never bred ligers, says Jane Ballentine, a spokesperson for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, based in Silver Spring , Maryland.

“Keeping the two species separate has always been standard procedure,” she said.

See you next week,
Aoife

Mission 008: Become Youtube

After Danielle's fabulous post there doesn't seem to be much left for me to say about cats. Except maybe I apologise for this theme.

When I was younger I had...a maximum of 22 cats I think at one time. Now that I write that down it sounds far too big though. I definitely had 15 at one point, I'm sure of that. My brother would often referred to them as my army of cats. He consistently accused me of attempting world domination with my small army of malnourished felines.

To be clear I didn't decide to build some obscene collection of cats, it just sort of happened.

It started off with a couple of stray, unfriendly cats that would hang around our farm. My Dad encouraged their presence because they were an extremely effective method of pest control. When I took to feeding them leftover food I began the slow process of gaining their trust. Felix, the first cat I named, was quite old as cats go and had clearly been through a lot of hardship in her life at the hands of humans. It took nearly an entire summer before she'd even let me close enough to touch her. She was an awfully wary individual, with watchful eyes and some of the sharpest claws that I've ever felt pierce my skin. But slowly, so painfully slowly she learned to regard me as a neighbour that you are not particularly close to but you know you can always go to them for help if anything were to happen.

Felix had kittens at the end of that first summer and like Danielle has described they are just a bundle of cuteness and fur. Not to mention so adorably trusting. The appearance of Macavity, Midnight and Cuddles (don't judge me I was, like, nine) was a major stepping stone to becoming the loyal and trusted comrade of Felix, their mother.

Looking back I understand why my brother viewed my past-times with such disdain. It's hardly usual for a kid to have a dozen cats come running to her full belt after whistling the first note of The Irish Washerwoman. Still I loved them and I think in some weird animal, dependent way they loved me too.

One of my best memories was one Halloween when I was eleven I think. There was a costume competition being held at my local library and myself and my friend decided to enter. Originally I was going to dress up as a witch, the Roald Dahl kind, with fake claws, bald head, blue saliva, the whole lot. Then my friend announced that she was going to go as that as well. Obviously we couldn't both turn up like that - worst case scenario we'd have to share the prize. Unthinkable for eleven year old Kate. So I changed my costume to the traditional witch, hat and broomstick type. With one vital detail that would make me stand out from all the other young witches. I also had a black cat.

As I humoured my friend telling her she was bound to win I was secretly confident that with this original twist of mine I had the game in the bag.

Chubby (a clear indicator of my developing irony), was a scrawny, runt of a kitten if ever I've seen one. As light as a drumstick and as fluffy as a split pillow, he was my golden ticket. I presented myself to the judges with a wide-eyed, terrified kitten sitting in my witches hat. I was just as terrified as him.

Needless to say I won. The judges were amazed, my friend was inconsolably jealous (served her right stealing my idea and not even doing it well) and all the other kids were enthralled by my pet. (FYI that brief hour of fame was unbearable. I mean people actually wanted to talk to me.)

Okay this has gone on long enough.

Kate

MISSION................................................................COMPLETED

p.s. chubbie pooped in my hat.

On Cats

Hello everyone. I welcome you all to this solemn Danielle Tuesday. I am charged as guilty of not putting up a post this day last week, and I am terribly, deeply sorry. I apologise to those I have wronged, and to those I have disappointed. My country, my family, Asia, my cow, and more importantly, myself. The punishment is coming up this week, and I am going to eat as many large marshmallows I can in one minute. If I don't make it through this, please tell my family that I tolerate love them.

In other news, CAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is our theme for today, which I think is a sign that we've finally hit the lowest point so far in our attempt to comittedly blog every week during fifth year. Not the lowest point we would ever reach though, I would guess, you just hold on to your seats and watch as it all goes downhill from here. I am sure watching these events unfold would be very riveting indeed.

I jest, I jest. We are all extremely fantastic writers and it's a wonder we haven't landed a book deal yet. For real. My history teacher said so. She said I write "fabulously."

ONTO THE TOPIC. Cats. I like cats. Cats are cool. They're very... cool. Cats are of the cool kind. I'm a fabulous writer.

No but seriously, I really don't see any other word that would describe cats. They're cool in, like, the 90s sense. They're very apathetic, expects the best services to be laid out in front of them, and gives absolutely nothing in return. This is why it's so satisfying seeing them actually reacting to something, because it's kinda like hearing the wall talk back to you. Also. KITTENS. ARE. THE. FLIPPING. CUTEST. They're so tiny, and heartwarming, and awwww-inspiring, and I'm tearing up right now just thinking about them. I would really like to have my own kitten when I finally acquire my own house. For the reasons I just listed, yes, but also because they're not overwhelming like dogs and puppies are. They're not of the jumping-in-your-face-and-licking-you-to-tell-you-that-they-appreciate-you kind. They probably don't even appreciate you and would only notice you've gone away because there is no food on their plate. It's heartbreaking. What was I talking about again? Ah yes. They're the perfect stepping stone from a goldfish to a puppy, is what I'm trying to say here. Cats or CatDogs. But yeah, kittens are nice. Acquire one.

Kate: This post is for you. You missed school because of me, obviously. Gawd, Kate.
Aoife: You're inspirational, as always. Sorry I couldn't be there! But I'm sure you had a fantastic time.
Orla: I love you, and we love you, and as my brother would say: You're the greatest! No but seriously you really are an awesome person for realzies and I'm bordering on uncomfortably cheesy here but we are all incredibly lucky to be your friend.

That's it from me guys. My long awaited and eagerly anticipated punishment is due this week, so you can expect that. Also, I'm not proof reading this, because. Why.

Love,
Danielle.

Inecurities, Securities

Alright. My lateness got to the point that I figured it'd be wiser to just do these together, rather than stealing the thunder of one of the other girls. AKA I am very lazy.

Insecurities

I think my insecurities are pretty uninterestingly usual. I've got the insecurities about my body and all, but that's so universal it almost doesn't require mentioning.
I am strangely insecure about the impression I give to strangers. I am one of those people who feels the imaginary stares of other shoppers when I'm trying what sort of chocolate I want to buy. I always feel terribly rude when I accidentally walk into someone, and then painfully stiff and strange when I beg their pardon. I don't like having to make quick decision in public. Or making quick decisions in general, to be honest.
I'll be honest, I don't have a huge number of insecurities, I think.
See, now I'm feeling insecure about my apparant lack of insecurities. Maybe I'm just really bad at introspection?
I suppose, as I said in my last post. I'm kind of insecure about my capacity to manage school and stress in general at the moment. Getting better though.

Securities

As for securities, I'm not sure I am going to find this any easier to talk about.
I am quite secure in the genuine affection of my friends, which seems to be unusual in girls my age. I am very confidant that they do actually like me, and I find this gives me a large amount of security, both in reality and hypothetically. It means I don't need to worry about falling out with other people in my year, because I can rely on my friends. It also means that, were I to start receiving anonymous texts or annoying messages on facebook or whatever, I don't think it would bother me overly. I would be very secure in the belief that none of my friends had done it, and, really, I don't care terribly much what the rest of them do.
I guess I'm pretty sure of my intelligence. I don't feel it lends me a whole lots of security of thought or life though. It's not a particularly helpful security to have.

I feel like I didn't really know how to answer these questions.
I suppose I tried.

Feeling a failure,

- Orla
 

TED-Tastic

Hi to all,
Aoife here with Saturday's post on.............what? 


I have no idea what this week's theme is so I guess I'll just have to tell all about the AMAZING event that was on in Dublin this Saturday.

This weekend Dublin played host to it's seventh TEDx talk. With inspirational speakers on a vast array of topics from surfing, to writing, to five story robots, to how to prepare for a zombie invasion (I'm not joking).

Some talks were funny, others innovative but each of them share one common element: Change. Whether on a grand scale or in smaller ways, each speaker had helped change the lives of those around them. A surfer who is changing the lives of Iranian women, an Australian woman who developed an app to make it easier for Autistic people to communicate with others and a man helping inspire the next generation of great Irish writers.It was truly humbling to hear the stories that they had to tell.

Listening to the talks and looking around the crowed theatre, it was easy to see how single ideas can spread and inspire people from all around the world.

For me, the most significant thing about attending the TED talks was looking around and seeing two thousand other people who were as interested in changing the world for the better as I am. The theme of TEDxDublin 2013 was "Big Change" and that is certainly what it caused in me.

For change to happen we have to actively move towards our goals, helping each other along the way. In way that is what TED is about, it's about looking to a better future.
So here's to the future, may it be filled with promise and inspiration.
Hope you find a way to change your world, be it big or small.

See you next week,
Aoife

Mission 007: Crack the Code

Welcome to another rendition of Kate Does Wednesday, here on the COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY blog. This week we continue to reveal to the internet and the entire world how they can manipulate and destroy us. Who's idea was this again?

I'm not completely clear on what this theme means but I'll just go with it because chances are everyone else will forget to put up a blog post. I joke, of course.

I find security in not caring. Which sometimes is a really bad thing. Like if I'm getting majorly stressed out over school work I'll just stop completely and quit studying. I'll do the bare minimum required and hope that it's enough. That's where I am right now but not for the same reason. I've given up because it doesn't make sense to me that I should spend two years killing myself studying when I don't have a primary goal and I can't see what I want to do in the future. I know people say that's why you should work your hardest because maybe next year you'll decide you really want to do medicine and it'll be too late to catch up on the work. That just sounds like bullshit to me.

At the beginning of the year I was all set to spend my every last minute study for the next two years. I had no problem giving up the rest of my life but I hadn't anticipated how exhausting it would be. There is no reason for me to be so tired all the time. I don't need a trillion points because if I'm honest the only reason I was bothered trying to do well was to have bragging rights over my brother. And I know I could do better if I worked hard the next two years but....that would mean working hard the next two years. You see my dilemma? I need to figure out what I want to spend my life doing and until I do that there is no way I will be able to motivate myself to care.

My back to school enthusiasm has faded too quickly and I'm left with the reminder of how cripplingly boring the old school routine is. Early morning, hurried breakfast, locker jams, homework correction, note-taking, lecturing teachers, lunchtime cramming, class, class, class, study, homework, revision and the boredom starts again. Remind me, why did I miss this?

MISSION................................................COMPLETED? at least I wrote something I guess, even if it's barely topical.

And The Wall's Come Tumbling Down & Punishment

Hi, Aoife here.
Welcome to Saturday's post - Insecurities.

I would love to say that I don't have any and that I am strong enough to not care what others think of me but alas that is not the case. I am sure that plenty of people out there share some of my fears because after all beneath everything, we all have things that we are to afraid to show.


My biggest insecurity is that people won't accept me for who I am and that in being myself I lose the ones that I care about. I know that people would say that if someone can't accept you for who you are then they aren't real friends and I do accept that. But that does change the fact that it still hurts to lose someone who you consider a friend. I spent a lot of time when I was younger inside my own head and inside the worlds I found in books not because I was afraid of people but because I was afraid of what the thought of me. I have changed a lot since those days and gained confidence that wasn't there before. This change was mainly due to finding people who accepted me as I was and helping draw me out of myself.
School, I find tends to send me back into myself, not completely but enough to change how I view myself. Outside of school, I feel more free to be myself and act myself but in school I don't talk as much or act as impulsively.

Insecurity Number 2: Appearance
When I am talking about appearance, I don't just mean your weight, height and facial features. I mean how you conduct yourself and what you wear also. I mean we live in a consumer world where almost everything we see is influenced by the media, from the way we talk to the clothes we wear. I always feel like there is this invisible pressure to be like everyone else, to go with all the latest trends and buy branded clothes just because everyone else has. I think there is also a lot of emphasis on looking a certain way-skinny, gorgeous and more often than not, tall. I'm not very tall which doesn't bother me that much except when I am surrounded a group of much taller people, which does make me feel like they are looking down on me. I'm not very insecure but looking at rake thin models makes me so frustrated towards the influence that drove them to look like walking skeletons.

I know that I have plenty more to say about insecurities but unfortunately I am exhausted so I'm going to keep it short and sweet.
There are always things that we wish we could change, either in the world or in ourselves. However things don't just fix themselves because you want them to, you have to work for change or learn acceptance of how things are. But you should be proud of who you are because no one else in the 7 billion people on the planet in the same as you. So maybe it's in accepting ourselves as the crazy, misfits that we are that we find the strength to become something more then we were before.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.” 
― Bernard M. Baruch
(Easy to say but hard to do)

See you next week,
Aoife

P.S: Happy Birthday to our wonderful Orla! :)

P.P.S: Punishment
My punishment for not posting last saturday was to eat a Blenderised Salad and post the pictures of my next post so here they are:

And voila: the Blenderised Salad.
Ingredients:
Half a head of lettuce,
4 tomatoes,
Sweet and Sour Sauce,
Milk (optional)
1 cooked egg

I used sweet and sour sauce because we didn't have any salad dressing and the milk is to tone down the saltiness of the sauce.

Overall Verdict:
Not terrible but I certainly don't want to drink it again.

Mission 006: For once in you life, be honest

Kate. Wednesday. Insecurities.

Danielle, I know I give you a hard time over your height sometimes but if I'm completely honest it has never felt like a big deal to me. When I think I you I don't think 'that small Asian girl'. I think of all the great things about you and of the fun we've had together. Obviously like you said, this is because I've had time to get to know you and your international-basketballer-sized personality. And I don't think I'm being overly optimistic about human kind when I say that I don't think anyone judges people based on their size. Sure, it counts for a first impression but they don't last very long, almost as soon as you learn something of the person's personality you forget their appearance. Or maybe that's just me?
Also I've totally felt the seriousness in classes this year and it's worries me a bit that I won't keep up too. It's so weird how much people have changed their views on school work.

Orla I don't know what to say to you because I can only imagine what that feels like. It think I speak for everyone here however when I say that if you ever need anything you only have to ask. Let Orla hear it guys. And then we all, in a monotone, said, "We're here for you Isaac *cough* I mean Orla."

At the moment I don't think I've ever been in a better place in my life. I have an amazing bunch of friends, I have academic goals that I can see myself achieving and I'm happier than I ever remember myself. I'm also feeling pretty confident in myself for a change, though I don't expect that will last. But this is how I've felt for most of my life:

I grew up living on the edge of things, never feeling a part of anything. I never fitted in with my 'friends' and we never had the real kind of connection that defines friendship. But never having an experience of anything else I didn't know that at the time. I didn't even realise I was unhappy with my situation until I got out of it and found something better. I tried so hard to fit in because I thought if I became like everyone else life would be much better. But it scared me. It scared me so much that I might never improve and never become 'better', that life would never become desirable and one day it would all be too much for me to bear.

This all arose from my biggest insecurity and it made me so strongly aware that there was something wrong with me that I needed to change. I've always had trouble speaking to people especially those I don't know. And yes no-one finds this easy but most people don't spend the best part of their life stressing over how they will end up alone because they are unable to talk to a single human being. Even now it terrifies me more than I can convey. I wish so badly I could find it easy to hold a conversation, even to get one sentence out with a stranger. It freaks me out so badly. It's as though there is a part of my brain that never developed and prevents me from living a normal life.

I'm not even a clingy person. I like being alone a good amount of the time and I don't need to be constantly surrounded by people. But at the mere idea of complete lonesomeness I feel sick in the pit of my stomach and my mind starts to stress out drastically.
It's more than basic shyness, it's a physical sick feeling whenever faced with social interaction of any kind. My palms get sweaty and my heart beats alarmingly. It has taken me years to gather together enough courage to even answer a teacher's question or ask my own. No matter how much I might want to talk to you sometimes my mind just can't function that way and all possible conversation freezes over in my brain.

I constantly worry that I will leave school and never make another friend. That I'll be forced to seclude myself from society to avoid a mental breakdown anytime someone speaks to me. It makes it worse when I try to understand how I made the friends I have today. You guys are the funniest, most interesting and intelligent group of people I know but I don't honestly know what I did to get you as friends. I don't suppose that there is a set method to making friends but it would be a help to at least know how it happened the first time round.

Even people in my year who I've known for the past four years of my life and seen them every school day of that time, it still takes an inhuman amount of effort to get a short conversation out. But I've lived my whole life like this so I've gotten ever so slightly better at it. I find that it's easier to talk to other people when I have friends around me and I don't know if this is because they give me more confidence which would suggest it's a psychological problem which was my opinion anyway. I don't know where it has stemmed from however because it has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It's definitely improving though which gives me hope for the future. 

I surround myself with an air of indifference to try and convince myself that every moment of my life is not a struggle of anxiety behind my mask. To a certain extent it works, I've managed to successfully believe that I don't care about a lot of things but talking to people is not one of them. I'm constantly trying to analyse peoples actions, deciding what they think of me, do they like me, are they real or are they fake. I think I need to know how a person really sees me to feel comfortable talking to them. Which would be another factor to why it takes me a painfully long time before I can consider someone my friend. I have a lot of problems.

If the world was a wish granting factory the first and possibly only thing I would wish for myself would be to have the ability to talk freely to people. To have the liberty to decide who I want to talk to without the fear of looking like an imbecile who can't say more than two words.

MISSION...........................................................COMPLETED

Insecurities

Hello everyone it's Danielle Tuesday with your host Danielle frantic because it's 9pm and she hasn't done the rest of her homework yet because she got distracted by the internet once again. Thank feck for Study. *cheesy 90s opening sequence*

Housekeeping

Aoife and Orla, your punishments by the end of this week, yes? Failure to comply will result to another punishment. :D Try your best to document it! It should be super interesting.

I hope you're all doing okay in the first week of school. It has been quite draining for me but it totally pays off because I'm currently on top with both learning and homework and it feels good not to be panicking when there's a surpise test or when the teacher decides to ask questions around in class. Well, until tonight anyway. I gotta hurry up!

So I pretty much agree with everything that was said about last week's theme, but I totally resonated the most with Orla's post, but maybe in a different way than she inteneded? I get what you mean with worrying that you'll miss school and are going to have like 3835 years' worth of work to catch up to. I mentioned this in one of my posts in my personal blog but I really felt like something changed this year. Maybe it's just myself, that I'm more focused with my work because I have something that I want to achieve in the end of sixth year. But I also feel it in the atmosphere in the classes I'm in, and in the seriousness of people when they're inside the classroom. Is it just me? Maybe. But I think that's what's causing me to become anxious and worried in the mornings before I go to school. It's the thought of everyone upping their game and I feel like I will get left behind.

And that is a great segué for this week's theme.

Theme of the Week: Insecurities

I'm short. This isn't a secret. I've spent most of my life so far literally looking up to people to be able to hold a conversation with them. But the thing about being insecure about your height is that you can't do anything about it, which gives you equal amounts of frustration and acceptance in most days. In some days,which happens quite a lot recently I've noticed, you see and exagerrate the bad things about being short more.

So I've mentioned feeling anxious and worried because everyone is a lot more serious this year, and part of the reason why I feel sick in the mornings before I go to school is the fact that I worry that I will lose the immediate start-of-school adrenaline (the idealism stage) that I'm feeling in this first week and then totally screw everything up after like two months and then I'll have nothing to show for myself and no job and no education and a disappointment. This feeling I think gives me a taste of what college is going to be like, when everyone would probably be too smart for me too handle and no one would notice me because I'm short and insignificant and I would just, like, disappear.

It's not that I see my classmates as competition. It's not that at all. I've analysed myself and I've come to the conclusion that the reason why I have a "big" personality and I try and maintain good grades (apart from the fact that my parents would murder me if I don't) is because I'm trying to compensate for my height.

Hahahahahahaha. That sounds ridiculous, I know.

But it makes sense in my head. That maybe if I'm good at what I do no one would notice that I'm half a feet shorter than they are. It's a great motivation, actually. But it's also sad, especially when meeting people for the first time. You may have noticed that I'm a lot quieter around people I don't know and I think that's because I'm a lot more aware of how short I am and they don't know me yet so they can't look over the height and see the loud mouth yet. You know? Probably not.

And that's why I'm scared of college.

I guess all of this boils down to "not being good enough." I have a problem with wanting to be the good if not the best at everything and I guess that's what made me a Slytherin, but I have standards set for myself, and whenever I fail to reach those standards, I take the blow so hard that I feel a sick feeling in my stomach and I curl myself into a ball and cry because in my mind, without the things that I'm good at, I'm nothing. I realise that this is mentality is wrong. I know that. But that doesn't stop me from thinking it. Because when I'm in that hole of insecurity, no quotes or words from other people or compliments would get me out of it. I just gotta stay there until I'm not there anymore. 

You guys my father is now knocking at my there and I don't have time to proofread or change this anymore so some things may come across as not what I meant, but I'll try and correct it all next week.

-Danielle

Back to School - A Three Stage Process

There are generally three stages to my back to school experience:

1. Idealism
2. Loathing
3. Realism

Idealism is the stage immediately before school starts that continues for the first week or so (it's over for me now). The end of the first weekend usually brings it to a close. This stage is characterised by ambitious goals and resolutions, general optimism and a miss-placed belief that "School isn't so Bad". It is. School is Bad.

Loathing is where I crash too after the high of idealism. The realities of school hit me, perhaps a little too hard and I gain a deep seated belief that "I hate School". Interestingly enough, my standard of work never really drops perceptibly between these stages, which may tell you something about where my motivation comes from. This stage is characterised by complaints and bad-humour, general despair and a miss-placed belief that "School is Bad from Top to Bottom, Devoid of Good." It isn't. It had good points.

Realism is the stage I have not yet reached this year, the stage I spend most of most school years in (4th year was a bad year. I reverted back to Loathing pretty quickly and stayed there. Not fun). In this stage, I am aware of the good and bad points of school and am able to look at them more or less objectively and reach a conclusion that "School is Manageable". Which it is. This stage is characterised by complaints and realistic goals, a level enough mind-set and the realistic (I think) belief that "School is Manageable" and it's going to be fine.

Anyway, on a less joke-y note, (WARNING: this gets kind of dark and serious) the thing that's worrying me most about this year isn't the school work. I generally find that easy enough, if time consuming. It isn't the people. I've got enough friends to be able to not care about everyone else. It isn't the exams. I find those easy too, and they're ages away.
No. What's worrying me is myself. I used to have a whole awful lot of faith in myself and in my ability to deal with the everyday grind of life, and school, and silly teachers and homework and all the rest. Sure, why wouldn't I? I'm a Good Student. I get good grades. Of course I can manage everything about school. All the time.
Then 4th year happened. And shit hit the fan. And all sorts of Not Fun things were going on and I couldn't deal.
And how I'm worried. It worries me every morning.
You can miss days and miss work and space out in class in TY and no one really notices or cares, especially if you're a Good Student who can bluff pretty well. But not in 5th year. If I miss a day this year, I'm going to know all about it. Not just from my parents, but it'd be a lot of work catching up. I can't afford to let it happen again.
But knowing what I know, I know it's not a choice. People don't choose to quietly fall apart inside their heads, completely ignorant of how to put themselves back together. That's not a choice. And I don't know what choices would lead to that happening again.
So here I am, trying to avoid something bad happening. But I don't know what causes it, except in broad strokes. And I sure as hell don't know how to avoid it happening again.
It's like living your life bare-foot. Having a bare-foot mind. You have to step carefully and slowly all the time in case you step on something sharp and awful and Not Good. I have to step carefully in my mind when I'm trying to get something done. I have to think about it enough that it'll get done, but not so much that it'll stress me about and make me feel sick and won't get done.
It's a tricky business. 

So, yeah, school. I'm really hoping this year is going to be okay. I'm hoping Loathing won't last too long, because I'm not sure I'll be able to stick it for much longer.

School Blues

Good afternoon,my dear readers.
It's Aoife here again for my first blog of the school year.

Back to School;
This weeks theme is back to school, which I'm sure everyone has something to say about, so here's my piece.
I love learning and being challenged to approach things for different perspectives but that doesn't mean I love school. In fact, sometimes I thinks it exactly the opposite. In school we learn to beat the exam and how to pass tests by cramming as much knowledge into our heads in the five minutes before the exam as possible. But that is not what school should be about, school should be a place where learning is encouraged and curiosity is rewarded rather than a place where you are punished for not having the correct jacket or forgetting to bring in a piece of homework which you did complete. In my opinion schools are too focused on results and so actually learning for learning's sake gets pushed to the wayside.
Exams and test all focus on accessing your ability to parrot what others have said without actually accessing your understanding and ability to apply that knowledge to the world around you. The exam system teaches us not to think for ourselves but to simple reiterate the same old spiel of why we think that Romeo is our favourite character in Romeo and Juliet, when really we think Romeo is a self-obsessed fool who wouldn't know what sense is if it smacked him in the face with his own story.

Sorry but sometimes school just feels like a cage meant to strangle all creativity and imagination until all that's left is a hollow husk of half understood theories and phrases. Sometimes I wonder what it is that the Education System is trying to teach us but as far I can see, it certainly isn't independent thought and the dive to gain a better understanding of the world.

Also I think the whole idea of school is too set in it's way of teaching and accessing potential. There are so many gifted people in this world who struggle with school simple because they see things in a different light. Some people struggle with all the learning involved in school and feel foolish for it but it is just that they excel in area's that aren't measured by tests. For instance, a kid who is totally gifted with technology of any kind, who could explain the mechanics of a V8 engine by the time he was eight gets letters home because his grades in English, Spanish and Irish are terrible. It doesn't mean that he is a fool or that he doesn't work hard, it's just that he can't parrot back what the teacher tells him. For me, this is one of the biggest failings of the Education system- in that it can't understand or except those who can not follow it's rules.

I could go on all day about this but I'm pretty busy doing all this pointless homework so I better wrap this up.

For all it's faults and failings, there are some things I like about school. I love to learn and understand new things, I love meeting with my friends, I love the teachers that love to teach and are very good at it and lastly I love the fact that I have access to education and the possibilities that it brings.

I think that about wraps things up.
I'll see you next week unless I die of Education overdose before then,
See ya,
Aoife

P.S: I'll go the punishment tonight once I buy some eggs. I tell you how it goes in next weeks post.
It should be......interesting( definitely), memorable (probably) and tasty (hopefully)

Mission 005: Return to the Cage

Punishments: So Aoife is eating blenderized salad and egg (cooked) and I guess it's fair that she doesn't have to eat a whole glass or whatever of it, so maybe a spoonful? By the end of the week. What does everyone else think?

Orla still needs a punishment. How about she has to speak in an Australian accent for a day? Or any accent?

Today was our first full day back in school and it was weird. It reminded me of when I was back in first year and I'd walk by a senior class with the door open and no matter what they were doing it would look really difficult. I presumed that by the time I got to that age I'd be well prepared for that work, but everything still feels really advanced. It's like I missed a step in the education ladder somewhere and I've gotten too high too quickly.
I'm really excited for 5th year, all the same. I'm excited to learn things and do subjects I've only touched on before.

Danielle is right about the education system and the work ethic it enforces in students. It teaches learning how to answer questions and gain points rather than teaching knowledge. That's why I think it's really important that students decide themselves what they want out of the system. If they simply want the points to get into their course it's easy enough to fall in with the system and follow it religiously. However if they want to learn their topics the best they can this is still possible. It isn't necessary to obey the system the way it's made, it may take more time and effort but one can still learn knowledge rather than manipulation. It just means ignoring some of what your teacher will tell you about the exams and focusing on the facts of the course instead.

I try to focus more on actually learning than on the grades I get in tests but it is hard when you're constantly surrounded by people who care only for their grades. It's a contagious attitude and one that is hard to resist in our society.

But yeah, on that note, I should probably go do some homework

Until next week, your Wednesday correspondent,
Kate.

MISSION...............................................................COMPLETE

Too Cool For School

Hello dearest bosomed bloggers! I hope you and your bosoms are happy today, and welcome to Danielle Tuesday! *cheesy 90s opening sequence*

Housekeeping
Punishments! I think we have decided that Aoife would eat blenderized salad with (not raw) egg. Aoife if you could do the punishment this week and then document it before Saturday, that would be A+, but I guess we could tone your punishment down a bit since it wasn't really your fault, so maybe we won't set a deadline for you? I don't know, is this okay with everyone? We could also let you drink just a tiiiiiiiiiiiny bit of blenderized salad and (not raw) egg, but still keep the deadline. What do other people think?

Orla, of course, does not get this privilege. Does anybody have any ideas for punishments? John Green once said that punishments are usually of these categories: eating something, embarassment, and pain. I propose that Orla would do an embarassing kind of punishment, but I'm not sure what.

Aoife: I'm sorry about the punishment! It would be super interesting though, so I'm not counting it out, but I guess we could give you a bit of a leeway, as I mentioned earlier? Anyway, what you and Kate said about the vlogbrothers made me think of just how many lives they've actually affected, in a good way. I wonder how it makes them feel, to know that so many people's lives have changed because of them and that so many people look up to them, who likes them because of their personality. Must be a bit strange.

Orla: I. LOVE. YOUR. MOM. She's so motherly she reminds me of Mrs. Weasley. I don't tell you that often enough, but yeah, your mom's pretty awesome.

Kate: Hi, I'm glad you didn't burn your hair.

Theme for the week: Back to School!!!!1

I have a love-hate relationship with school. I love learning about new things, and acquiring new skills, and getting high grades and SCHOOL SUPPLIES (seriously why are school supplies so shmexy.), but at the same time I have a couple of issues with the school system. Like, for, example, homework. I mean I get that it is designed to reinforce what the child has just learned from school, but at the same time, the teachers often give too much of it that is so overwhelming, and turns a person off actually learning, which is what a school is designed to do. It's like the love for knowledge has been replaced by the love for paperwork.

Also, the exam system. More often than not, people pass an exam not because of how much they know about the subject, but because of how well they can manipulate the system. This particularly irritated me when we were preparing for our Geography Junior Cert. Our teacher gave us this formula for answering questions: SEE. Statement, Explanation, Example. She said that the reason we weren't getting as much points as we could be getting was because we were not following this formula, although we were actually answering the questions correctly. The teachers know this, the correctors know this, the students know this. It all struck me as a bit of a joke. They weren't teaching us Geography. They were teaching us how to pass an exam.

There are so many flaws with not just our school system, but the school system of nearly the entire world, that it would take me about 76 years typing them all out in here. But it is not enough for me to loathe school completely. Sitting on a desk and learning new things give me such a rush, and, believe it or not, I am looking forward for another year of it.

-Danielle

Role Models and Apologies

As I'm sure everyone present is aware, I have committed a heinous crime. I have failed to produce a post at the allotted time and for this I will have to pay the price.

I'd like to say I have as good a reason as Aoife (who maybe sorts kinda didn't deserve a punishment...?), but I don't. I just forgot. I was so happy thinking about meeting some friends of mine today that I forgot all about it. It's not like I didn't have it planned in my head or anything. Terrible business.

So anyway, my apologies to all our myriad fans, and mine in particular, who were doubtless distraught when my post failed to appear yesterday. I will try, in repentance, to make this a particularly good one.

Role Models

I don't think I've ever been terribly into role models. I've had rivalry with my sister. I've had ambition. I've wanted to achieve something because I saw someone do it and wanted to do it too. But for most of my life, I don't think I've ever looked at someone and thought "I want to be like them," not even in a small way. For most of my fairly short life people have told me I'm just grand the way I am and it's only recently, I think, that I've started to see my shortcomings clearly.

For starters, I am not a very nice person. Many people would tell you that it's not very important to be nice. I don't mean I'm not generous or giving or selfless, I like to think I can be all of those at times, I mean I am not nice. It does not come easily to me. People exasperate me, even when I feel sympathy for them, even when I am helping them at cost to myself. I am particularly unkind to my friends.
In niceness, I have a role model. My mother. She is unfailingly nice. She is a pleasant person almost all the time. Only once or twice have I seen her be anything less that extremely nice, the most recent of which was when she was gearing up for working four night shifts in a row (which she hates because she never sleeps) and she was taking me to buy school books and I made a weary sigh. She told me in no uncertain terms to cop on to myself, and she was right. She is a nurse. She spends every day helping people and enjoys it.
She is a better person than me and I try to be more like her in this regard.

I worry too much. I stress about little things, and it's not good.
In this, I have a wonderful role model. My brother is spectacularly laid back. When I say he's my role model in laid-backety, I don't mean to say I'd like to be exactly like him, more that I'd like to be more like him.  I don't think his degree of laid-backety is completely wise or helpful. Still, a bit more would probably be good for me.

I'm not sure either of these are strictly role models though.

I think, perhaps, that the idea of role models appeals particularly to children. A person to look up to, a goal to be reached, someone to whom you do not currently stand up.

Little snot that I was, full of my own importance and ability, I don't think that idea ever appealed to me particularly. I was too sure of my own worth and abilities.
And now, now that I can see my flaws, I don't think I need the goal of another person to know how I want to improve myself. I feel like the window of role models has passed for me.

By this I don't mean to say any of the other girls are childish. I think what they're talking about is an admiration for a person and a trait that that person has, but maybe not, strictly, role models in the sense I am thinking of them.

Role models have never really been a thing for me, and it doesn't look like they ever will be.

Yours in apology,
                           Orla.

Mirror Models

Hi all,

It's Aoife, who is seriously depressed to find out that she has to do a punishment :( *sigh*
Anyway, my laptop decided to say "sayonara" to the land of the living, which means I have had to resort to stealing my brother's in order to post this blog.
Hopeful it can be resurrected but we'll just have to see.

Anyway, this week theme is" Role Models" which for me is a toughie.
To be honest I've never really thought about who I would consider my role models.
But since people mirror in other what they wish to see in themselves, I suppose I do have quite a few.
For me as a kid while I looked up to plenty of people, I never really wanted to be like them. I thought that my older cousins were some of the wisest coolest people on planet but I didn't want to be them.My friend had a new doll but you could never part five year old me from the battered Barbie I had. I think I just wanted to be me, only problem was that I didn't know who "me" was yet and I'm still working on it.

The people who most drastically changed the way I view life and others has to be the Vlogbrothers, John and Hank Green. Those two made me really look at what I had and value it. They made be feel like it was okay to be different, to chose a path other than the one most well worn. They made me realise that you must imagine people complexly and that empathy is a gift that is too often neglected. They changed my world view and I can never thank them enough for that. It seems incredible that they have managed to touch so many people's lives especially those they have never met but it seems that they have become the role models for many people who just want to be themselves. I won't go on about them for too long seeing as Danielle already explained about them so well.

My second group of role models are my basketball club members. They taught me that dedication and hard work lead to their own rewards and have shown me such kindness over the years. I think that I have always looked up to them and admired the way they treat new people as family. If I can ever achieve that level of kindness and openness with people I don't know then I consider myself content. Plus I always admired the fact that they are actually on time for things which is a skill I REALLY need to learn.

In the end, I think that we all model ourselves off everyone we see, after all that's how we learn as kid's. We take a little bit everyone we meet and add it to the jumbled mix of thoughts, emotions and experiences that make us who we are. In turn we become role models for others whether we realise it or not. So there's something to think about for the weekend!

'Til next time,
Aoife

Mission 004: Choose Your God

My Dearest Bosomed Bloggers,
I hope you are all faring well on this disgusting day. I, myself, feel like kicking a child. Also burning my hair maybe? Yeah. Here's fair warning that I might be a dick in this post. Sorry not sorry.

Orla, in response to your question what is a bad book I completely agree that it is a subjective idea. But is the whole idea of good and bad not that they are subjective adjectives? I clearly depends on your point of view. For this reason it doesn't bother me that their are good and bad books. It's the same as there being good and bad haircuts, good and bad lives. To two different people the same haircut is both bad and good. In the words of Abraham Lincoln,
“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”

I read some of the Artemis Fowl books a long time ago but I never fully got into them. I hardly remember the story anymore. I have to agree with what you described in your post though about the way the story panned out. (I would call it a bad storyline/plot rather than the writing itself, because I reserve the term 'writing' to the actually organisation and creation of sentences and word placements but that is beside the point and I'm just being annoying now I know. Sorry for realz this time)

I think I want Aoife to eat something with egg in it. How about blending egg and ice-cream? That sounds interesting enough that I might try it myself. And course whatever we decide, yes, she has to document it as best she can. We don't actually know where Aoife is so should there be any exceptions for reasons that someone has not published a post?

I've  had a complicated relationship with role models all my life. I've never liked the idea of them because in my experience most people take them to far. Like Danielle was saying they try to become that person and that's simply unhealthy behaviour. We are individual people and I accept that we sometimes need to take inspiration and guidance from others but becoming that person is something that I don't think should happen. Ever. But who am I to judge, right? That's just my opinion.

I have got role models though. I think at some point in our lives we all need them. At the moment I hate pretty much everything in existence. This happens from time to time, don't ask me what caused it. Just a build up of little things. Role-models help me to find purpose and remind me that there are always new challenges ready to be overcome.

When I was younger my role-models were mainly fictional characters and authors. I took inspiration from everyone I read about and each and every one of them helped to shape the person I am today.
In a way everyone I like and admire becomes a sort of role-model to me. I take on parts of their virtues and personalities and convert them into my own life, applying them to my own situations where I choose them to be appropriate. But we are also more than a collection of virtues borrowed from other people. After trying out various traits we decide within ourselves which of these we find most effective in different situations.

I'm going off topic as usual.
Alex Day has been a major role-model to me through his carefree attitude, minimalism, his fashion sense, his outspokenness and most of all, dedication to his dream. John and Hank Green taught me to stop giving a fuck because the little stuff just doesn't matter enough to get anxious over in the wider view of things. Luna Lovegood taught me that sometimes it's okay to live in your own world and forget everything else exists around you. Billie Joe Armstrong taught me not to judge people, to accept myself no matter what and to not suppress my opinion. Violet Baudelaire taught me that even in the most hopeless of cases, a solution is always possible. Atticus Finch taught me the importance of always, always trying. Charlie McDonnell taught me that being an introveert is not synonymous with being friendless. Linsey Williams taught me how to speak my mind and still make a joke. Aragorn son of Arathorn taught me the importance of loyalty. J.K. Rowling taught me, among many things, that without love there can never be happiness. Minerva McGonagall taught me that being an austere figure of authority does not mean being joyless and without a sense of humour.

Lex Croucher has taught me to find myself. To keep searching, to keep working towards a better me and to not give up until I'm fully satisfied with what I see in the mirror. But that doesn't mean loathing myself until I reach perfection. It means acceptance of my imperfections as the are within and realisation that they will always remain a part of me, if only in memory. It means belief that I can and will improve and continue to strive towards fierceness.

With all due respect,

Kate of Wednesday

MISSION...............................................COMPLETED

Role Models

Hello bosomed bloggers, and welcome to Danielle Tuesday! *cue cheesy 90s opening sequence*

Housekeeping
First of all, the subject of Aoife. As we all know she didn't post a blog on Saturday, her day, and, according to our rules this results to a punishment! Any suggestions on what the punishment should be? Personally I want to see Aoife eat a blenderized something. Blenderized salad? I don't know, what do you guys think? Punishments of her getting embarassed our good too, and of course she has to take pictures/a video and blog about it in here.

Okay so we're keeping COOL PEOPLE OF EVERY AND ANY NATIONALITY for the time being! I don't have any problem with this and everyone seems happy with that, so that's settled for now. Also, as you guys can tell, I'm loving bosomed bloggers quite a lot.

Kate: For me it depends a lot on how big the romance part of the novel is. I prefer books with less romantic elements than non-romantic elements, and I found I can stomach books where the romance part is a maximum of about 40% of the book, if that makes sense. Of course that's not saying that there is absolutely no good completely romantic novels out there, I probably just haven't found it yet. Also I didn't really have the same problems with Divergent as you did. I mean I (still) haven't finished the book but, it was going pretty well for me. I suggest you reread it, I'll give you your copy back.

Orla: I never got into Artemis Fowl. I read the first book when we were in first year and Artemis Fowl annoyed the hell out of me, so it was really hard to enjoy the book. Like, he annoyed me the way Sasuke from Naruto annoyed me. Like I-will-strangle-the-living-hell-out-of-you-if-you-weren't-fictional kind of annoyance. Seriously. So I finished that first book and never looked back. I also really like that you're sharing bits of writing knowledge to us! It's so cool to learn about it and maybe it could be a thing where you present a writing tip that you learned from the Royal Irish Academy School of Awesome every week in your posts?

Theme for the week: Role Models

I don't remember not looking up to anybody. When I was way younger it was my older cousins who served as the cool older sister for me, and then it became teachers and friends and of course, celebrities. I've always loved the idea of Role Models, although some people I know completely copies the person they admire, from the way that person talks, to their attitude, to the way they dress. Sometimes a part of themselves kind of disappears and is replaced by an imitation of an idea of a person, and that's not really what role modeling is for me. I think Role Models are there to help you better yourself, for motivation, to provide a challenge and to be an inspiration. They're not there to be copied.

But anyway, I will tell you guys about the people who I look up to. These people have all contributed a lot to the person that I am now and the person that I'm trying to be.

One of my role models are the Vlogbrothers. I discovered them in 2010 through the fiveawesomegirls, and it basically changed my life. It was through them that I discovered the many, many, many benefits of being a nerd, how awesome it is to be a part of a community, and also how putting stuff on your head helps you when suck levels are high. What I admire the most about the vlogbrothers is how enthusiastic they are about life. They do all sorts of different projects and they never really seem to be not doing anything. John Green is my favorite author and he wrote my favorite book ever, Paper Towns. His eloquence never fails to amaze me, and his ability to put the thoughts and feelings that you feel into words, when you yourself can't, is just marvelous. Hank Green's productivity is also incredibly impressive. Seriously, that man does so many things. Ecogeek, DFTBA Records, Vidcon, and lots of other cool stuff that I can't think of right now. They inspire me to participate in life.

Another role model of mine is Rosianna Rojas, or missxrojas on youtube. She's incredibly smart, funny and always seems to be motivated. She is one of the people who introduced me to feminism, which has rapidly become a huge part of my life over the past few of months. Her videos on the subject never fail to make me think and she motivates me to do even the littlest things to make the world a better place for women. She taught me to think a lot more critically about the things I read or see or hear. She's actually the one who inspired me to cut my hair off for the hair for hazel campaign. Gah just I look up to her so much and she seems like such an amazing person and I would really love to meet her someday.

So yeah, those are my role models. I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say about this topic, and I'll talk to you guys next week!

-Danielle.

What is a Bad Book?

Okay, I have a number of things to address.

1. In answer the the question Danielle was actually asking:
I'm not sure about Dear Beatrice? I think I agree with Kate, I like Dear Bitches better, but I think I like our present name better than both of them. As for The Fellowship of the Blog, it's pretty okay. I think we should stick with Cool People of Every and Any Nationality unless something cooler and more relevant to us specifically comes to mind.


2. Apparently we're responding to each other's posts now? Well, I sure got the short straw didn't I?
     Subsection A: I agree with Kate largely on the subject of romance, though, I'll admit, sometimes I just   
                           want to read a stupid teenage romance, regardless of literary value. I haven't read The
                           Time Traveller's Wife, so I can't really give an opinion on that.
     Subsection B: Dude, Kate, Divergent isn't that bad. I didn't find it overly predictable either. Maybe your
                           illness temporarily granted you super-human powers of deduction? To be honest though, I
                           mostly enjoyed the world-building in it, not so much the characters or story. Maybe I'm
                           of a DM than an author.

3. The main part, Bad Books.

Now, aspiring author and rampant reader that I am, the idea of a book that is "bad" is sort of unpleasant. I've actually had a discussion on this subject. If books are art, and art is subjective, is there such a thing as a "bad book"? Surely the goodness and badness of books is just as subjective as the goodness and badness of paintings and music?

Well, I'm not sure I can subscribe to the completely-subjective-art way of thinking about books. There is such a thing as bad writing, definitely.

Anyway, I'm going to talk about the decline of a series of books that I enjoyed when I was younger.
Artemis Fowl.

The premise of the Artemis Fowl books was, I think, really good. The idea of the child genius and the fairies and all. It was good. And the story was good. Artemis had something concrete he wanted to achieve and you followed him on that journey. But in the latter books that premise and that concise story structure sort of disappeared. Suddenly Artemis and co. were saving the world all over the shop and he had much less defined motivations.
That's not the worst of it though. Eoin Colfer became awfully fond of his deus ex machina (for those who don't know: god from the machine, or basically just any improbable plot point where a problem is solved by a previously unknown device, character, mechanism or skill).
In the earlier books the magic had very defined parameters and didn't go outside them. In the last book there's suddenly Black Magic. Woooooh, scary. Now Eoin can do whatever the hell he wants and just say, cuz Black Magic.
And that, boys and girls, is bad writing.
You can use basically any means to get your character into a tricky spot and your readers won't mind, chance, incompetence, the efforts of other characters, whatever, but as soon as you use anything other than the character's own skill or intelligence to get out of the situation, your readers will be annoyed.