Holidays...

I don't know about you, but my holiday is the busiest time of the year.

I've got a job, which I am currently meant to be working on. But I'm going to blog instead because if I look at one more bank statement I will vomit.

I'm spending most evenings this week at a Christmas Fantasy, where kids get to come and see their favourite characters. In order for this to happen, someone needs to be these characters - I'm one of them.
The first night I was a clown and I think I was pretty scary.
The second night I had to wear a really really uncomfortable SpongeBob Squarepants costume and then last night I was Tinkerbell.

I'm also a director of the DYC which is really cool, so I've been planning projects and stuff for that.

I've been staying with friends and stuff and it's just been one of those hectic weeks!

TMI tag...Sarah's request......

1: What are you wearing? 

A shirt I won from a cycling competition and some shorts.

2: Ever been in love? 

I don't think that one can define love until one gets to a certain age, so no...

3: Ever had a terrible breakup? 

Kinda. My ex and I broke up the day of one of my exams...

4: How tall are you? 

165 cm

5: How much do you weigh? 

I don't know. I don't weigh myself because it makes me sad.

6: Any tattoos? 

Nope...

7: Any piercings? 

2 holes at the bottom of each ear, a cartilage piercing and a belly ring.

8: OTP? 

Me and Troye Sivan. It's irrelevant that he's gay.


9: Favourite show? 
Revenge


10: Favourite bands? 
An abundance of them. I listen to everything from Debussy to Nirvana to Jack Johnson.


11: Something you miss? .
Free time - exams suck


12: Favourite song?
I don't have one because then I kill it.


13: How old are you? 
16


14: Zodiac sign? 
Aries


15: Quality you look for in a partner? 
Kindness.


16: Favourite Quote? 
"It's not who you are that holds you back - it's who you think you're not"


17: Favourite actor? 
Hmmmm....Troye Sivan or Zach Galifianakis


18: Favourite color? 
Black or blue


19: Loud music or soft? 
It depends on the mood, usually loud


20: Where do you go when you're sad? 
My room and iPod


21: How long does it take you to shower? 
About 5 mins unless I'm washing my hair. I like to contemplate life in the shower.


22: How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 
For school about half an hour, and otherwise around 45 mins


23: Ever been in a physical fight? 
Not really


24: Turn on?
Guys who sing/play an instrument. And passion, I love guys who are passionate about things.


25: Turn off? 
Guys with long hair that wear it in a ponytail. Just no.


26: The reason I joined Youtube? 
To comment on stuff.


27: Fears? 
Snakes, spiders, creepy-crawlies


28: Last thing that made you cry? 
I'm not sure, I can't remember, I hardly ever cry.


29: Last time you said you loved someone? 
When I called my mom and she said she loved me...


30: Meaning behind your Youtube Name? 
Its my name...


31: Last book you read? 
My history textbook....


32: The book you're currently reading?
The Y. It's for book club.


33: Last show you watched?

Uhmmm some show on youtube about how to differentiate because I'm failing calc. 

34: Last person you talked to? 
In person....my stepmom.


35: The relationship between you and the person you last texted? 
Saskia - a friend of mine


36: Favourite food? 
Ice cream :D


37: Place you want to visit?
Anywhere where I can see the northern lights.


38: Last place you were? 
My house. I'm still here.


39: Do you have a crush?
I am the crush.


40: Last time you kissed someone? 

Yesterday.

41: Last time you were insulted? 
Today - my friends and I are very joke-y with one another


42: Favourite flavour of sweet? 
Green anything. Preferably jelly sweets.


43: What instruments do you play?? 
Guitar and violin.


44: Favourite piece of jewellery?
Uhm i wear a necklace with my birthstone (jasper) on it most of the time.


45: Last sport you played? 
The fool. I play the fool often.


46: Last song you sang? 
7 nation army while watching Freddie van Dango sing it :D


47: Favourite chat up line?
I don't know but i think really cheesy pick up lines are funny.


48: Have you ever used it?
Not in earnest


49: Last time you hung out with anyone?  
I'm on house arrest because of exams....


50: Who should answer these questions next?

Marc, I challenge you.

Dear parents....

To all the parents who argue in front of your kids

This is one of the most selfish acts you can do. Your kids will more than likely either accept this as relationship norm, or think that his/her family is weirdly different from those around them.

If your child does the former, then this will be the basis on which his/her relationships will one day be formed. Think how hurt you feel when you fight with your partner. Would you like your child to feel the same? Then stop giving him/her the example of that sort of their relationship.

If his/her view is the former, he/she will find it difficult to relate to people of a similar age. He/she will distance him/herself from her friends and find it difficult to connect. He/she will also question why his/her family are different.

I understand that situations can occur and they need to be talked about. But for as far as possible, don't do it in front of the kids! Put the TV on for them and then go yell at your spouse privately. Wait till your kids go to bed. Do something. Please.

teachers' roles

I think that teachers play such an imperative role in shaping an individual, almost as much as parents.
I also think that teachers can make or break one.

If a teacher is bullying one, one could be more affected than if it was by another pupil. If one is constantly being told that they can't do something by the person whose supposed to be teaching them how to, one will start to believe it.

This is such an honour for teachers, to be able to say that they've played such a big role. But I think that some teachers fail to realise the responsibility that comes with it.

I also think that students are affected by when teachers have obvious favourites. I know that it's human nature to get along better with some people than others, but I don't think that teachers should advertise it.

Well that's my rant for the day.

"Snap out of it!"

“Mental imbalance is about as acceptable as herpes. It’s never going to be accepted. But really, it’s a disease just like cancer. It just happens, and eats away all the good parts of your brain, like judgment and happiness and perception and memory and life. And you can die from depression just like any other disease. And it’s not as if people choose it. So why is it still a joke? “She died of cancer” is a lot more socially acceptable to people than “She committed suicide.” Why?” –Sarahbeth Purcell.

Depression is described in the Oxford Dictionary as “severe, typically prolonged, feelings of despondency and dejection; a mental condition characterized by severe feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy, typically accompanied by a lack of energy and interest in life.”

 

I am exasperated by the way in which depression is viewed, particularly that of a teenager. Depression is not something you can snap out of. Depression is a medical illness, the same as diabetes. But there is a lot more controversy about antidepressants than about insulin. Why?

 

I feel that people are wary of mental illness, and that the acceptance thereof is long overdue. While the status quo is better than it has been in the past, it still needs massive improvement. In the Victorian times, a person with a mental illness was treated as a freak of nature and caged like an animal. Nowadays, people will still talk in hushed whispers about someone being bipolar. Teenage depression is problematic because parents are quick to blame their child’s behaviour on teenage mood swings, because they feel that if their child is depressed, it is their own fault. Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot stress enough that depression is customarily a chemical imbalance.

 

Children as young as four years old are being diagnosed with depression. How does a child who has only lived 48 months on this earth feel so despondent? Moreover, how does a child of this age deal with these feelings? Especially when parents refuse to accept that the child in question has a medical illness.

 

There is such a stigma about being diagnosed with a mental illness, and I think that this is due to people being afraid of what they don’t understand. People need to realise that one does not choose to be ill. It impacts upon everything that one does. Depression is so difficult to get out of once one has been diagnosed with it.

 

Also, I think that it is more correct to say “died by suicide” not “committed suicide”. To say someone has ‘committed’ suicide makes it sound as though they’ve done something wrong. One can’t call suicide a choice on any level. When one’s mind is not functioning properly one does not see alternatives. I didn’t choose to be sick, whether it be flu, cancer or malaria…I do not choose the way the hormones in my mind make me feel. Mental illness is not a choice. Suicide is not a choice. They are not signs of weakness nor selfishness. Living with a mental illness is hard enough without all the shame, guilt and isolation that come with it because of lack of education.

 

I was first diagnosed with depression in 2010. I played around with this label for a while, and decided that I couldn’t possibly be depressed. Depressed people didn’t have friends and just blubbered all the time. I had friends and I never ever cried. Yes, maybe I got sad sometimes, but so did everyone else. My depression manifested itself in the form of anxiety and anger, and when I thought about it, I guess I did feel helpless a lot. I had trouble getting more than two hours sleep a night. I didn’t withdraw from my friends in terms of seeing them, but I couldn’t connect with any of them on an emotional level because what if I told them about how I felt and they thought I was weird? I already felt so worthless, so inadequate; I didn’t need those around me to confirm my self-doubts.

 After a while, I decided that I did show symptoms of depression, but that obviously meant that I had created a problem. And antidepressants were most definitely not necessary. I didn’t need pills for something my mind had created.

Now, I understand that I am not responsible for my depression. Depression is caused chemically, by problems in the transportation of serotonin, or “happy hormones”.

I understand now that my brain isn’t the problem, society’s view is. There’s nothing wrong with me. Would you blame someone for having a genetic predisposition to having something like cancer? Why depression? Yes, a positive outlook helps, but by the very definition of depression, there is a lack of positivity.

I think that if there was more awareness of depression, society will move forward into accepting and handling it. There is such ignorance and this can be rectified by media coverage, magazine articles, support groups, even just discussion.

Over the last few years, I learned to accept myself and not worry about everyone else’s judgement. I have found that depression will never up and vanish, and while it is chemical, antidepressants won’t make it all better. I've developed a mind-set that has allowed me to accept that happiness is a constant pursuit, and that I need to embrace the life that I’ve been given with all the obstacles in my path. 

Soup for the soul....

Okay, so this isn't quite a post like those books that are "Chicken soup for the  *insert category of people*'s soul."

This is a post to inform you that music is literally my antidepressant. Music does for me what the sun does for photosynthesis.
I wake up in the morning, and have plugged in my earphones before I've dressed.
After school, the earphones go back in and don't come out much until bedtime. And if I'm in a situation where I can't listen to music for whatever reason for an extended period of time, I will get grumpy.

I love playing music too. I love to sing (even though I can't) and to play guitar and violin.

I think that whatever I happen to be going through, music is there and there's always a song to explain how I feel, and there's a sort of double-edged comfort in knowing that someone knows what you're going through but you don't have to talk to anyone at all.

English

I received this as an email and found it rather amusing, so I thought that I should share it with you.

How To Write Good...

1. Avoid alliteration, always.

2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

3. Avoid cliches like the plague.

4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.

5. One should never generalise.

6. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.

7. Be more or less specific.

8. No sentence fragments.

9. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

10. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.

11. Always be sure to finish what