I don't know if it's true but...

...whether it was children who said it or not, somebody still had these thoughts, and had the sense to share them with the world.

So now I shall share them with you, so you can cry and smile too.


What Love means to a 4-8 year old: A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, ’What does love mean?’ The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined 

See what you think:

‘When my grandmother got arthritis , she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore.. So my grandfather does it for her all the time , even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.’ – Rebecca, age 8

‘When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.’ – Billy, age 4

‘Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.’ – Karl, age 5

‘Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.’ –Chrissy, age 6

‘Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.’ -Terri, age 4

‘Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him , to make sure the taste is OK.’ – Danny, age 7

‘Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing , you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.
They look gross when they kiss’ – Emily, age 8

‘Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents
and listen.’ –Bobby, age 7

‘If you want to learn to love better , you should start with a friend who you hate” –Nikka, age 6

‘Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt , then he wears it everyday..’ –Noelle, age 7

‘Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.’ –Tommy, age 6

‘During my piano recital , I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.’ – Cindy, age 8

‘My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.’ –Clare, age 6

‘Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.’ –Elaine, age 5

‘Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.’ –Chris, age 7

‘Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.’ -Mary Ann, age 4

‘I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.’ –Lauren, age 4

‘When you love somebody , your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.’ - Karen, age 7

‘Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross..’ –Mark, age 6

‘You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.’ –Jessica, age 8

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, ‘Nothing , I just helped him cry

A Poem.

Fuck me my hands are freezing and I feel a bit sick.

I like the quiet reservedness of early morning. 

The birds tweet,

but its sweet, not overbearing. 

It's cold, but it's fresh

and it holds 

all the promise of adventure 

and new starts, broken hearts, 

tears of sadness, tears of joy,

just a girl, just a boy,

see what happens: if it soars, or if it falls.

Who can tell

what the future will bring.

But the birds still sing in the quiet reservedness of early morning.

GIRLS

Reasons why I love “Girls” and have so much respect for Lena Dunham:

1)  She has written 2 and half seasons of brilliant television show. That’s 27 episodes, 27 stories, various characters, situations, events…

2)  She puts profound words into their mouths that make us think about our lives

3)  She makes jokes that made us all laugh

4)  She takes us into situations where we cringe but only because we can somehow relate

5)  When she cries and says she realises that she wants what everybody wants – just to be happy – it makes me cry too. I just want to be happy.

6)  She can write a whole episode just about her character and it’s not selfish, it’s perfect, it’s beautiful, it’s contained – like a that jigsaw piece with the interesting pattern that works on its own, but of course fits so perfectly with the whole thing.

7)  She has the power to carry on despite critics and people who put GIRLS down. And because she keeps getting her body out and we love it because it makes us feel better to see someone who looks normal, who’s happy with the way they are. It’s inspiring and reassuring.

8)  GIRLS IS SO ENJOYABLE.

9)  The soundtrack is fucking incredible.

10) Every week we get so excited that a new episode is out. And this week PATRICK WILSON IS IN IT! (He plays Nite Owl/Dan Dreiberg in Watchmen, amongst other things <3)

11) Lena Dunham, you are an incredible writer, director, producer, creater, thinker and person.
And you are beautiful.

Thank you for everything you have given us. Everyone needs to watch GIRLS – it’s funny, true to life, completely relatable to and its just first class entertainment. It is definitely, definitely worth watching.

Currently mid-way through season 3, it’s on Sky Atlantic every Monday at 10 pm.

(In America it airs on a Sunday, 9pm)

http://www.hbo.com/girls/index.html

Float.

The past is slipping away and I can't get grasp the flailing strands of days fading into memories, and I can't fall into the arms of a welcoming future because I'm thrashing around in a shattered limbo of uncertainty, with no sense of feet on the ground or hands in the air.

It's times like this that I feel like i could just float forever.

Let me die without it hurting anyone else, and I'll just let go.

I promise.

Food: deliciousness I never want to give up.

I have this thing, where I really enjoy eating food. Like, food just tastes so amazing sometimes. Do you get that?

So this weekend I went to visit my friend in Manchester and their German market was just beginning on Friday (officially opened on Saturday, but if there were traders ready when they tested it on Friday they could trade from then!). Not only was it the biggest Christmas market I've seen in England (not much of a statement though, I haven't seen many!) - excluding London's Winter Wonderland, because that is in a league of its own - it was also beautiful and smelled freaking amazing.

Naturally we went around and tried every free sample we could haha, especially the cheese. This year they were selling pesto cheese. YES, THAT IS RIGHT, PESTO CHEESE. 

If you like pesto, I highly reccomend getting some. It tasted amazing.

We also had hot Vimto - another thing that tasted wonderful. I think I am going to try and make mulled/hot Cheeky Vimto's when I get the chance/get some Port!

These are the mugs we got it in: the theme of this years market?

Kissing Christmas!
How cute :)

But yeah, if you can go check it out:

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1588380_manchester-christmas-markets-2012-a-guide-to-the-citys-festive-stalls

Also saw this bike next to this tree in Manchester. I know it's not black and white, but the colour kind of makes this so...! I guess not everything is better in b&w.

Like this: its Sheffields Dam House out of focus. I think it makes a ..nice... (if not a bit standard) background for a phone or something.

But yeah! Conclusion? PESTO CHEESE is the way forward, as is pizza pancakes (make a pancake, put tomato puree on, cheese, toppings of your choice and whack it in a pre-heated oven for 5 or so minutes and there you have it!) and bacon with everything, of course.

Lest We Forget

So it's Remembrance Sunday. I am writing this an hour after we held a 2 minute silence to respect, honour and remember those who have died to save our country.

I have strong objections to our military operations in other countries, to the idea of the military, and to the Governments use and control of other people to fight their battles, to make them look like they have power.

It is entirely an individuals choice whether to join the military or not, and you can't always hate the individual for making that choice - sometimes it is right for them. But the idea of going into another country to kill the people there to stop them...doing what? Having power in their own country? Having control? It is ridiculous. If we all only had armies to defend our country that would work...if only it was that easy, and I am not that naive. It would never happen. But attacking another country before they attack you? Or because you think that they have already attacked you - well, don't rise to it. You still have power, you just don't need to flaunt it by sending thousands of young troops to their death in a war that has won you nothing, only lost you lives on both sides.

I am forever grateful for the men and women who fought in the World Wars to save our country so we can have the lives we have now, but I just can't support the troops who have killed for our government, who went to war wrongly, and wasted so much life, and caused so much hurt. It is not the people individually, but the establishment, and the Government. I also really wish the military would properly and fully rehabilitate soldiers into living in normal society after they have left the army, etc. It is the least they can do after these people have risked their lives for you.

I have met a number of soldiers and some have said that being in the army was the best thing that happened to them, but they have still killed people they didn't even know. I don't know if I could ever feel right doing that, or join an establishment whose purpose is to train you to kill, and take you somewhere to do that.

A few years back, when the fighting was the worse in Helmand Province, a friend and I met young guy on a bus (his dad's friend had been talking to us, and had been a bit drunk, so the young guy apologised   and we got talking to him). It turned out that he was on his way to the army barracks because the day after he was being sent out to fight, in Helmand Province. When he said that, my friend and I just looked at each other, and both instantly knew that the odds of this guy surviving were not high. The poor guy seemed so positive, and I felt so disheartened at the fact that the being in the army was giving him such a sense of purpose and he was just being sent to his death. We wished him luck as he got off the bus. It still makes me cry whenever I think about that moment. He had no idea where Helmand Province was, or that it was the worst place at that time. And we knew that he might die.

I hope he survived.

So today we remember those who died, and probably wish they never had to in the first place. Why have we not learnt that you can't win a war, because no victory brings back all those who lost their lives in gaining it.

A thought about radical feminists.

Radical feminists – the kind of feminists who think that the way women can achieve liberation and be emancipated is by having more power than men, and matriarchy being the new patriarchy. But it’s when one group of people think they deserve more power, or that they are better than other groups of people…that’s when you get sexism, racism, dictators, people like Hitler, genocide. We just don’t seem to progress as a race very well when we have people competing for power like this. When politicians and military leaders compete for power we get war, where unnecessary amounts of people die on both sides. When two political parties compete for power we get fighting and rioting. When two people compete for power in a relationship you get abuse, hurt and it doesn’t work. When it works there is a level of equality. Treat people how you want them to treat you. Respect them, their opinions and their right to think and be different to you. Celebrate your differences: differences in race, gender, sexuality, political preference, and find peace and equality within those differences.