Tag: Blogging

Posted in Some thoughts about my journey

More lessons

Posted on by WeeGee

I feel that I should write something. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to write, but if I don’t write something soon I’ll get out of the habit of writing and that’d probably spell The End for How do you eat an elephant? Which would be a bit of a shame…..

I suppose I should start by filling you in on the last couple of days which have felt like something approaching good. Yes, you did read that right – I said something approaching good! Okay, so I had a minor melt down at the start of the week but it had been a long time coming I suppose and I’ve just about forgiven myself  because I feel like I’ve learned some important lessons along the way. Which is no bad thing…..

Important lesson of the week # 1: If you can’t keep going you have to stop keeping going until you’re ready to get going again.

I’ve also been busy taking care of myself and making a plan. It feels like ages since I’ve a) properly taken care of myself or b) had a plan. It feels so much better to have something to aim for other than Eastenders* I’m not talking about any kind of grand ‘sort your life out in four weeks’ plan, more of a ‘let’s get from a to b and worry about c later’ type plan.

Important lesson of the week # 2: You don’t have to do EVERYTHING right now because there’s plenty of time for everything.

I’ve had a few words with ‘the brain’. It’s a ridiculous state of affairs – we can’t hate one another for ever because we’re pretty much stuck with each other** and whether we like it or not we’re going to have to find a way to rub along together. The deal goes something like this: I will nourish rest and generally take good care of the brain if the brain promises to make a concerted effort to stop with all that over thinking it nonsense. In the fullness of time I’d like the brain to give up on all that up/down/backwards/forwards/shake it all about stuff, but hey! At least we’ve got a start.

Important lesson of the week #3: If you take good care of your brain it will be remarkably compliant when it comes to doing deals.

One week. One meltdown. Three lessons. Could be worse eh?

In conclusion I think things are looking okay. That’s as far as my ‘state of the nation’ update goes: WeeGee is okay. Which is pretty much okay.

Never fear – I’ll be back later with some of the more usual rambling idiocy

Love WeeGee xxx

*Yes. I watch Eastenders. What of it?!

**What with the frontal lobotomy being out of fashion and all….

Posted in Little things that made me smile

See this post?

Posted on by WeeGee

See this post here? The one you’re reading at this very moment? Well it’s a special post because it’s post number ONE HUNDRED on How do you eat an elephant. What a momentous occasion……

To understand quite how momentous an occasion this is you have to know something about me: I’m rubbish at seeing things through. For a start the slightest little thing can defeat me and if I get defeated I give up completely. I also have a habit of just losing interest. Something can be the best thing ever one day and then completely forgotten the next. Finally, I’m just a bit rubbish when it comes to finishing things – I’ve got no staying power! Here’s an example. I’ve been knitting a cardigan (the same cardigan) since Christmas 2009. I’ve got a back and a side and a half so far. I expect to finish it in time for winter 2015. I hope it’s a cold one because it’s a super cosy cardigan.

But I digress. You don’t want to hear about my cosy cardigan.

I bet you’re wondering what I’m going to do with post ONE HUNDRED aren’t you?*

I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.

I’m going to accept this lovely award:

And then tell you about seven things that WeeGee loves.

The rules of the Seven things about me are thus:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
  2. Share seven things about yourself.
  3. Nominate other bloggers you think deserve the award, and post on their blog to let them know they’ve been nominated.

Angel Fractured at the Mirth of Despair nominated me for this one a while back. Thank you Angel Fractured for a) the lovely nomination, b) the lovely comments you leave on my blog and c) your own lovely blog and other lovely blog.

Here are seven things that WeeGee loves

1. I love my cat

Gryff is the best cat in the world. That, by the way, is a simple matter of fact.

He’s an odd little fellow but that just makes me love him all the more. He’s frightened of so many weird and wonderful things that never a day goes by that I don’t find something else he’s afraid of. Today for example I discovered he’s afraid on me emptying the coins out of my purse.

Although he’s nervous he’s also a happy little soul – full of chit chat, and purrs and those funny little gremlin noises cats make when they’re interested in something. He’s a brave boy when it comes to hunting insects down and he has a special talent for getting himself stuck on top of the wardrobe moments before I need to leave the flat.

Gryff has been in my life for six years – which is to say he’s been there through thick and through thin. I honestly don’t know how I would have coped with the last year and a half if it hadn’t been for Gryff.

Here is Gryff looking grumpy because he has been disturbed from his slumber for an impromptu photo opportunity:

Here he is again wondering when the impromptu photo opportunity is going to end  and thinking I’m an idiot:

Finally, here he is in a variation of croissant cat position**:

Dear Gryff. I love you. From WeeGee xx

2. I love Monk

I don’t just love Monk – I’m obsessed with Monk – which is quite apt really. I’ve watched every single episode AT LEAST three times. That’s how obsessed I am.

I love Monk because I love the central character, Adrian Monk. I love that he is so sad and broken but also so kind and funny at the same time. I love the way that he almost gets to where he needs to be but then his brain gets in the way and he ends up back at square one.

Maybe Adrian Monk reminds me of myself? Maybe Monk just makes me laugh? Maybe I just love Monk for its own sake. Whichever it is – I love Monk.

3. I love my blogging buddies

Before WordPress came to WeeGee land, I was dubious about online friendships.

I’m not anymore.

I’ve ‘met’ a lot of people here in the World of Blog and (as we’ve already established) I’ve come to care about them all a great deal. Here’s the other thing though…. meeting people, and getting to know them, and forming relationships with them – even if it is online – has really helped me to prove something to myself.

My life is better for the people I’ve met on WordPress. I love all the courage and humour and strength that I find in the blogs I read. It almost makes me think that I don’t want to be normal because normal people have none of the awesomeness and wonderfulness that the mentals do.

At this point I want to give a special ‘shout out’ to my brain twin and fellow alien – Carrie at Hello Sailor. Who’d ever have thunk that there would be two of us eh? I reckon we could be a force to be reckoned with xx

4. I love balsamic vinegar

I don’t know when I ‘discovered’ balsamic vinegar, or what my taste buds did before that momentous day. All I can say is…. what is life without balsamic vinegar? It’s an amazing foodstuff. I love it. Love it, love it, love it. Yum yum (for my tum)

Here, by the way, is the best balsamic that money can buy***:

5. I love the Olympics

Where do I start?!

I had no idea that I was going to love the Olympics being in London until the Olympics were in London and I can’t imagine a day coming along that is better than my day out at the Olympics, I really can’t. Ever. As long as I live. It was way too amazing for words…..

Fortuitously, I’ve been on annual leave for Olympic fortnight and I was going to write a post about all the fun I’ve had watching all kinds of weird, bizarre and wonderful sports – like rowing, and cycling, and pole vaulting, and the modern pentathalon, and HORSES. DANCING. TO MUSIC. But instead I’ve got two words for you:

Mo Farrah.

That is all.

6. I love Frank Turner

Okay, so I know I go on about this all the time, but I love Frank Turner. I truly do. Frank Turner’s music makes me feel like I belong even though I live in a world that I don’t belong in.

Frank Turner’s music has brought me through some pretty awful and dark days – it’s been like a faithful companion to me and has provided something solid to hold on to when everything else was turning into nothing.

I love Frank Turner. I love his music.

Here is Frank Turner doing some music:

7. I love this guy

This is Morgan Parra (the little French kicker) he’s quite handsome, no?

There you go then. Now you know seven things that I love and you have experienced my 100th post.

As for nominations – I thought I’d pass this one on to:

The Depressed Moose

Just a thought

Dorothy

Buckwheatrisk

Madness42

Meandanxiety

Dramajunkiee

If indeed they want it!

Hundreds and hundreds of love from WeeGee xx

*Okay, you’re probably not – it’s just me that’s a bit over excited isn’t it?!

**It took approximately one week’s worth of stalking him to get this photo!

***If you don’t have much money!

Posted in Poetry

Poetry incoming

Posted on by WeeGee

 

I’m about to post some poems. I’m posting them more for the sake of posterity than for your reading enjoyment. I say that because they are mostly rubbish 🙂

Your Chair

I sit in your chair now – the one in the corner.

The one where you last sat

Every sullen loveless inch of you

Remains in your chair, now vacated.

I sit in your chair sending years

To an empty end

And I dedicate it all to you:

To your ruins

And your shabby comfort

And to your bloody chair.

©WeeGee 2012. All rights reserved.

 

Posted in Some thoughts about my journey

The real damage

Posted on by WeeGee

Today didn’t get off to a good start: some idiot turned up outside my flat at 7:30am and started digging a massive hole in the road with a MASSIVE drill type thing. It woke me up (on my second to last day of annual leave) and Gryff didn’t like it so he went bat shit crazy and jumped on my head causing a small blood injury. It was tremendous fun.

I understand that the guy had a job to do. But why did he have to do it outside my window at SEVEN THIRTY IN THE MORNING on the second to last day of my annual leave. Plus what’s he digging a hole for anyway? In my experience these people tend to come along and dig a massive hole in the road. Then they come back a few days later and fill the massive hole back up again. It’s a stroke of genius if you think about it. I mean, you’re never going to be out of a job are you…..?

I’m still grumpy almost twelve hours later. Can you tell? Anyway, let’s move swiftly on.

I’ve had a busy little head today. There’s been the usual nonsense to contend with, because that stuff never really goes away and there’s been some pretty big stuff like time, and existence, and identity, and religion. That’s some pretty big stuff there, isn’t it? I don’t think I’m ready to write that post just yet!

The other thing that’s been on my mind is friendship.

And that’s what I’m going to write about today.

Here’s the thing. I don’t have many friends. I don’t say that in a boo hoo please feel all sorry for me kinda way. I say it as a simple fact. It doesn’t bother me because I think the few friends I have are as many as I can cope with without me going PROPER mental. And also because the few friends I have are special. They mean something to me.

Here are some of the reasons that I have a small circle of friends…. I’m shy. I’m quiet. I don’t trust people. It takes me ages to get used to people, but sometimes it doesn’t matter because on occasion I decide that I hate someone as soon as I meet them. There isn’t a reason for hating them, not really but that’s the way I feel. I’m told this is wrong. I call it a gut feeling. Who says gut feelings are bad?

Here are some more reasons: I don’t understand people. I don’t understand people’s feelings. I find it baffling when people don’t feel the same way as I do, or like the same things that I do. I don’t lack empathy (no need to panic!) I just don’t quite get it when it comes to other people.

Here is the final reason: I get attached to people. In fact, I get too attached to people. In my experience getting too attached to people is a sure fire way to get yourself hurt. There have been a number of times in my life when I’ve just let somebody disappear altogether because I sensed they were disappearing a little bit. Generally speaking, it’s all or nothing with me and all or nothing is a difficult thing to be friends with – it seems needy and clingy and selfish. Maybe it is. But in my defence it’s also incredibly loyal.

Still, ‘all or nothing’ hurts me because I let people go when I don’t need to let them go. If I could understand the middle ground I would have millions of friends. I don’t think I really want to have millions of friends because that would be a bit overwhelming but I do wish I could learn not to let people go in order to protect myself because once I get to a certain distance from it I realise that the real damage is in letting go completely, not losing a little bit. Does that make any sense what so ever?

Let’s have a Frank Turner song called ‘The real damage’ while we have a little think about it:

I’ve had a little think….. It makes sense, but then I would think that because I wrote it!

In some way ‘friendship’ is on my mind because of my birthday. My friends are busy people, not shitty people and that’s why it was such a quiet day. Plus I don’t care about my birthday and my friends were all aware of that fact. I know that. But then I went and got all worried that I was more attached to everyone I know that they were to me and I decided I was going to get hurt very badly and that I was ‘setting myself up for a fall’. I decided I shouldn’t care at all and that I didn’t need any friends EVER AGAIN. Everyone was excommunicated. WeeGee against the world….

But then I decided that was broken brain speaking and told myself over and over that it was going to be okay. It’s going to be okay, isn’t it?

My friends care about me – of course they do. Mr Friendly and Mr Hilarious and Mrs Sparkle all came through in the end. Mum and dad came through too and even my brother got his act together and sent a little text. You need to know my brother to understand what a big deal that is!

So it was all okay.

But then I thought about some of the people I’ve met on WordPress and how much I care about them. I mean genuinely care about. I thought wanted to meet everybody in real life because that would make it all better and then everything would be fine. And then I thought uh oh! You’re doing it again. You’re getting all attached and involved with people THAT YOU’VE NEVER EVEN MET and that is going to end in disaster one way or another. You’re going to get yourself hurt. So I decided that there was only one thing for it. I had to stop blogging IMMEDIATELY and forget about everyone I’d come across.

But then I decided that was broken brain speaking and told myself over and over that it was going to be okay. It’s going to be okay, isn’t it?

Starting my blog is one of the best things I’ve ever done in terms of managing my mental health. I thought blogging would give me an outlet, but what it actually brought was more support, reassurance and friendship than I could ever imagine. And it’s okay to care about people, isn’t it?

Since I started blogging I’ve met people that I genuinely care about: Sailors, and Bourbons, and lovely Brandics, and Mooses (is that the plural of Moose?) and Roxys and Potters and so, so many more – everyone, actually. And it’s okay to care. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing and you don’t need to meet the people you care about to make it all better. You just need to find comfort in the fact that they are out there, and that they ‘get’ you and they will support you and that you ‘get’ them and will support them right back. And that’s what it’s all about.

So it was all okay.

It turned into an Oscars speech in the end didn’t it? But it was a revelation to me….

Lots and LOTS of love from WeeGee (who has realised that it’s okay to care and that it’s probably going to be okay) xx

Posted in Copyright

Copyright: WeeGee’s top tips for bloggers

Posted on by WeeGee

I was all set to post another one of those ‘boo hoo, woe is me’ posts but I realised that would make three in a row and I didn’t want to inflict that on you. I wondered about picking up an outstanding award but having a brain full of the flat and empties makes it difficult to extract seven interesting things about yourself….

And then I thought ‘I know! I’ll make myself useful and write some top copyright tips for bloggers!’ Looking after copyright is quite a big part of my day job and I thought I may as well spread some of my otherwise useless knowledge around. I’ll probably bore you all to death because that’s what I do when it comes to copyright.

By the way, I only cover UK/EU copyright – having said that, if you live elsewhere the broad principles will be the same so this might still give you a useful starting point.

The really boring bit I have to say

This is just some friendly advice about copyright written for my fellow bloggers: it isn’t legal advice. Please don’t act in reliance of it and if you do, be aware that – to the full extent permitted by law – I accept no liability in respect of the information provided. If you need legal advice you should contact a solicitor*.

I should say that my job is what is referred to in the trade as para legal** and I therefore have no professional indemnity insurance. Oh, and I’m skint. I mention this so that you know it really isn’t worth suing me even if you think you’ve spotted a loop hole.

The boring bit about copyright in general

In short copyright provides legal protection for the products of human skill, creativity and intelligence. Ideas alone do not enjoy copyright protection; in the UK it is the original expression of an idea or information that is protected.

Copyright protects the following types of work:

  • Literary works (this includes the written word as well as the spoken word)
  • Dramatic works (a work capable of being performed before an audience such as a film script)
  • Musical works
  • Sound recordings
  • Artistic works
  • Films
  • Broadcasts

Provided that the work is:

  • Original – in other words, not copied. There must also have been some skill, labour or judgement used in the creation of the work
  • Fixed – recorded in a permanent, material form
  • Created by a qualifying person – a UK national or another person covered by international treaty

Copyright protection applies automatically upon creation: there is no need to register or claim copyright. The © is not a legal requirement but its use is customary in published works.

If you own copyright you have two sets of rights:

1. Economic rights give copyright owners the exclusive right to exploit their work for financial gain by:

  • Making copies of the work
  • Issuing (and lending) copies of the work to the public
  • Publishing the work
  • Adapting the work

2. Moral rights relate to the intellectual integrity of the work and help to ensure that:

  • The author or creator is recognised as such
  • An author or creator does not have works falsely attributed to them
  • A work is not subjected to derogatory treatment

You can assign and transfer (including by gift or by sale) economic rights but moral rights are non-transferrable.

That there is copyright in a little nutshell for you!

The boring bit about your copyright

How to get copyright protection for you blog

You don’t need to do a thing! Copyright is automatic, which means as soon as you write, draw or record something  the copyright subsisting*** in that work is yours. That’s the law. If you have a blog you own copyright. Congratulations!

Now you own copyright you get to decide what you want to do with it although the law does provide some scope for other people to use your work if their use of your work is considered to be ‘fair’. This means other people may copy insubstantial parts of your work for the purposes of:

  • Non commercial private study or research
  • Criticism or review of the work
  • Reporting current affairs

Insubstantial is generally understood to be five percent of an entire work – or five percent of your blog.

Also you can’t stop someone from copying any portion of your work if they are doing so to set or answer exam questions. You never know eh? An exam question on ‘how do you eat an elephant?’! You heard it here first!

Protecting your copyright

There a number of rather dubious organisations out there claiming that they can help you protect your copyright. Take it from me – they can’t. They’ll take your money and run.

For the most part, you can probably take care of your rights without paying anybody. Make it clear that you own copyright somewhere on your blog and ask people to contact you if they are unsure. If you spot someone taking the Michael write to them and ask if they wouldn’t mind stopping taking the Michael!

You need to keep it in perspective but if you think you’ve got a War and Peace on your hands it might be worth instructing a reputable solicitor (you can find one of those here)

How to make your readers aware of copyright

Sometimes people forget about copyright when it comes to the Internet – what with it being free and lawless and all – so it’s worth including the © symbol if you are worried about it. It might also be worth considering licensing your work via Creative Commons.

Licensing your blog

Creative Commons licensing is a good way to make sure that your readers are absolutely clear where you stand on the copyright subsisting in your blog. You can choose various options with three broad themes:

  • Lock down – no use, no adaptation, no nothing
  • Middle ground – use and adaptation with acknowledgement provided
    • the same terms are imposed on the copy/adaptation
    • You are accredited as the author
    • The copy/adaptation does not result in financial gain
    • Free for all – As the middle ground but allowing financial gain

When you’re choosing which licence to go with you need to maintain perspective. It’s tempting to go for the full lock down, but bear in mind there is likely to be a lot of traffic/publicity if you allow others to use your work if accredited. As with most things I think the middle ground is the best ground here!

Publishing material from your blog

Here’s a word of caution for you. If you are hoping to publish material from your blog with a commercial publisher, or entering it in to a competition you need to think long and hard about whether you want to include it on your blog at all.

Publishers and competition organisers often stipulate that submitted work has not been published elsewhere before and putting something on your blog counts as ‘published’.

The bit about other people’s copyright

If you want other people to respect your copyright a good place to start is by making sure you respect theirs. It’s that universal rule isn’t it? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…..

Text

If you write a blog, I’m guessing you consider yourself to be a writer and will therefore know in your heart that it’s bad form to pinch another writers writing.

It’s best to avoid copying and pasting large chunks of websites, or other blogs into your posts – even if you give full accreditation to the source. From a legal viewpoint it’s far safer to include a link to the content that you want to highlight. That way, nobody is in any doubt as to where the content came from and you can avoid receiving nasty ‘take down and desist’ notices which will probably stress you out.

If you really have to repeat another person’s work verbatim you need to think about how risky it really is. For example, JD Salinger is known to protect his work very closely so it’s probably not a risk worth taking. Whatever you decide it is absolutely essential that you indicate the source of the work you are using.

Images

Again, it’s best to avoid including images unless you can be sure that the content is copyright free, or licensed under a creative commons licence that allows re-use. Using stock images is the safest way to achieve this.

Once again you have a risk assessment on your hands if you want to use a ‘random picture you found on the interweb’ – only you can decide. An acknowledgement won’t get you off the hook if it comes to it, but it won’t do any harm.

Music

Here’s my take on it. If you can find it on YouTube, it’s okay to include an embedded link. If it all goes wrong it’ll be YouTube that gets in trouble and all that will happen to you is that your link will stop working. But that’s just my take.

I wouldn’t advise using any content you got via a filesharing service on your blog (just using them is a bit dodgy by the way, you know that?) because that’s a sure fire way to get in trouble.

By the way, if you want to be super careful don’t include any music on your blog.

Films

My take on films (and television for that matter) is exactly the same as my take on music.

What if you get it wrong?

You’re on your own – I deny all knowledge!!

On a more serious note, if you do get it wrong you need to keep calm. If you receive a cease and desist notice about content on your blog just TAKE IT DOWN. Don’t argue or query it, just take it down. 9 times out of ten a copyright owner will be content with that. If they aren’t, you’re going to need a reputable solicitor.

The thing about copyright infringement is much the same as the thing about your own copyright. It’s all about perspective.

On the one hand copyright is a civil matter in the UK – provided you’re not involved with wholesale piracy (which is why file sharing content is a fairly rubbish idea by the way) the outcome of any legal cases will come down to the actual damage suffered by the copyright owner as offset by your financial worth. There’s not a lot of point in suing a skint person. It’s the golden rule of being a solicitor!

If, on the other hand, your actions are deemed to be piracy (or in any other way criminal in scope) you could be looking at a hefty fine and even a jail term. Piracy and crime is bad.

The only other point of note is that you need to be especially careful with other people’s copyright if your blog is in anyway commercial. It doesn’t matter whether you make any money or not – if you have adverts or any other form of revenue generation on your site the damages awarded against you would be inflated by this fact whether you could pay or not and your actions would be far more likely to be viewed as criminal.

That’s my two penneth worth. Hope it wasn’t as boring as all that!

Lots of love, WeeGee xx

*And pay a pretty penny for it

** The only difference between a para legal and a prper legal is the pay. But don’t feel sorry for the para legals because it’s the legals that get the blame when it all hits the fan

***Copyright always subsists rather that exists because it’s real but not tangible

Posted in Reasons to be cheerful

I feel like playing tag!

Posted on by WeeGee

I felt like playing a game today so here are my answers to Madness42’s tag questions. Why not head over to her blog and give her a follow. She’s got a lovely little blog 🙂

1. What made you decide to blog?

I started writing after a particularly bad patch. I was looking for a focus – a project I could organise and manage, a way of keeping myself in the here and now and a change of emphasis in my thinking. I also wanted to share my story, if anyone was interested, and perhaps get some support along the way.

2. What have you done lately that made you go “YES!”

I’m doing the 10,000 steps challenge in aid of Mind at the moment which means I have to take at least 10,000 steps every day for six weeks. I’ve managed it every day so far (even on the proper mental days) so there has been a little ‘yes’ every day from the start of July in WeeGee land!

3. What’s your favourite social network, if you have one?

Well…. I suppose Twitter. It lends itself to pithy humour which I like. I can’t bear Facebook anymore. It really does make me despair of the human race most of the time. I can’t bring myself to delete my profile though!

4. What would you choose to have out of a) a cook b) a cleaner c) a nanny (for those with children!) You can choose more than one!

I’d have a cook. I’m a neat freak and the thought of anyone else tidying up my stuff makes me feel a bit sick! And I don’t have children so a nanny would be redundant unless it was to look after me!

5. If you could make a living doing something you love, what would it be?

Definitely writing. If I ever win the lottery I’m going to disappear to live on a Scottish Island and write to my heart’s content. (And with a few million in the bank I wouldn’t have to worry about actually making a living!)

6. Do you agree with the quote, “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”?

I’m not sure that I do. I see the point and it’s a nice sentiment but I’m not very good at dealing with loss so it’s too painful for me to agree with.

7. What do you think about the “50 Shades” books? Doesn’t matter if you’ve read them or not!

The existence of the 50 shades books makes me feel disappointed and dismayed. I haven’t read any of them and never will. Life is too short to spend your time reading drivel and nonsense, especially when you think of all the brilliant books you could be reading instead. That’s just my view but I’m an English graduate and a self confessed literary snob!

8. Is having a clean & tidy house important to you?

VERY. If my flat is untidy (which it never really is – sometimes it’s just untidy by my standards and I’d probably still get away with having the vicar round for a brew) I get anxious and can’t concentrate. I need tidy surroundings to keep a tidy mind.

9. Spontaneity or planning?

Planning every time. My life is about lists, lists and more lists. There are lists of the lists!

10. Is there a cause close to your heart? For example, I support the National Autistic Society and their campaigns to make life better for people on the autistic spectrum and to raise awareness of autism.

Justice is something that I believe in above all other things which puts civil liberties fairly high up my list of causes. I’m a member of both Liberty and Amnesty and I write a lot of letters and generally make a pest of myself….

11. What newspaper do you read, if any?

It’s a long time since I bought a hard copy newspaper – I read the Independent, Guardian and Times online. I have never read the Sun and only ever buy it if I’m moving house and needs something to wrap my valuables in (page three goes in the bin!). Told you I was a snob!

Lots of love from WeeGee xx

Posted in Little things that made me smile

I don’t geddit

Posted on by WeeGee

I had one of those long, meandering and slightly strange conversations that you can only really have with Mr Hilarious with Mr Hilarious last night. We started with sweaty backsides* and moved through ping-pong**, fish and chip shops***, Routemaster buses and Monk**** before arriving at the conclusion that WeeGee is probably an alien*****

So there’s this episode of Monk – Mr Monk and the UFO. It’s funny. You should watch it. There are aliens (kinda) and undertones that Mr Monk might actually be an alien because he is such an oddity of a human being. As you know, I’m a bit of an oddity of a human being too, which led Mr Hilarious to wonder if I might actually be an alien disguised as a human….. It made sense at the time, but I’m a little less convinced now.

Anyway – there are lots of things that I just don’t understand about being a human person. Feelings for example, or why people carry on being alive when there isn’t much of a point to it, or why they eat mushrooms . I seem to spend a lot of my time trying to work out how to understand things that I don’t understand and I’m telling you this because I am about to accept an award and tell you seven things that I don’t understand. I agree that I’ve gone about it in a rather convoluted way but hey ho, there you go. We got there in the end.

The award is the ‘Sisterhood of the world of bloggers’ Sounds a bit grand doesn’t it?

Here are the rules:

  1. Thank the giver.
  2. Post seven things about yourself.
  3. Pass the award on to seven other bloggers and let them know they’ve been nominated.
  4. Include the logo of the award in a post or on your blog

So without further ado here is my acceptance…..

The very incredibly wonderful Sailor nominated me for this award. Do read her acceptance post – it’s very incredibly wonderful and hilarious and it has left me with a rather irritating ear worm. Thanking you muchly lovely Sailor (not for the earworm part though). I like that you nominated me for this one in particular because sometimes when I read your posts I wonder how you managed to get into my head and say everything that is in there. You’re a bit like a blogging sister to me – a super cool big sister with tattoos and everything. Ahhh. (Touching moment over. Sorry about that.)

Oh. I nearly forgot the logo. Ta da:

And here, for your reading enjoyment, are seven things that WeeGee doesn’t understand.

1. I don’t understand cricket. It’s not so much the rules that bother me although I don’t really understand them either. NO, the thing that I don’t get about cricket is the fact that you can play this game for days and days and days at a time and then still end up calling it a draw. How is that a game? I suggest that it is an exercise in futility and folly and vote we abolish it in favour of something more interesting (but not kicky ball. I understand kicky ball and I still think it’s stupid)

2. I don’t understand morning people. Why. Would. You. Get. Up. Earlier. Than. You. Have. To. Well – why??

3. I don’t understand time zones. Actually I’ll change that slightly. I don’t understand time in general. Time is something that you can’t spend too long thinking about unless you want your brain to explode which is why watching Dr Who is such a dangerous pastime in WeeGee land. I know that humans invented ‘time’, but I just don’t think we have the mental capacity to actually understand it, unless you are Brian Cox and even he probably doesn’t understand time, not really.

You’ll notice I didn’t really explain why I don’t understand time. That’s because I don’t want my brain to explode.  Especially not today when it’s being so well behaved.

4. I don’t understand feelings. Feelings are even more complicated than time. And that’s all I’m willing to say about that one.

5. I don’t understand Gryff. Gryff is my cat. He’s an odd little creature who is completely inexplicable most of the time. Why will he drink water from any vessel that isn’t a water dish? Why is he afraid of carrier bags? Why won’t he go into the kitchen when the mat isn’t there? Why does he love playing with dried spaghetti? How does he know I’ve got spaghetti even if I get it out of the packet silently? Why does he trust me and no-one else? These are just some of the mysteries of Gryff. I discover new ones almost every day.

6. I don’t understand my brain. Obvoiusly.

7. Finally, I don’t understand the weather at the moment. What’s going on? It’s all apocalyptic again. Seriously – it’s summer….. I think we might have broken the weather you know.

Okay so now I have to nominate some people. I’m assuming from the title of the award that it has to be female lady people… The people I’ve picked are people who, after reading their blogs, I have concluded are of the female persuasion. There’s an outside chance I’ve jumped to conclusions and got it horribly wrong. If I nominated you and you are in fact a male boy person instead of a female lady person: I am mortified. I hope no offence was caused!

Here are the brilliant blogs I would like to nominate (in no order whatsoever, well actually they are in an order, it’s a random one):

1. The Mirth of Despair

2. Make-up and Mirtazapine

3. Thoughlifebeaday

4. Nothinginmynoggin

5. AdverseUniverse

6. Minutiae

7. Crazy in the coconut

Lots of love from WeeGee xx

*Which wasn’t quite as bad as it sounds because we were talking about the cycle road race

**Which apparently you have to call table tennis not ping-pong

***We couldn’t think of one in Kingston which is remarkable really

****I can always turn a conversation to Monk

*****Don’t worry – I’m just getting the asterisks in early today

Posted in Little things that made me smile

Tagged by a moose

Posted on by WeeGee

I’ve been tagged by Garry, the depressed moose…..

Here are my answers.

What is your proudest moment from your blogging career?

Do you know what? I’m just proud of my blog full-stop.

I started writing it when I was on the way back up after a pretty major crash and I’m still amazed that I’ve managed to keep it up.

Starting a blog about my journey is one of the best things I’ve ever done in terms of managing my mental health. It gives me something to focus on and helps me to challenge my thinking because instead of getting lost in it I have to work out how I’m going to write about it when I get home.

What is your proudest moment in your life?

Hmm. I think finishing my first degree. I was still in early days recovery from an eating disorder, and all things considered my brain really wasn’t well. At the beginning of my third year at University it all got too much and I tried to take my life. I didn’t succeed and I’m very proud that when I was strong enough, I took myself back to University and tried again and finished up with a rather respectable 2:1.

What is your biggest achievement?

I know it sounds daft, but getting to today is a pretty big achievement in my book. I’ve had some pretty dark times and it really is big news and a huge achievement that I made it this far.

What makes you feel happy when you’re down?

Sometimes, nothing helps – that’s the nature of the beast I suppose. When I get bleak like that I just have to hold on tight and wait for a different feeling to come along. The only good thing about feelings is that there is always another one on the way if you don’t like the one you’ve got.

If I’m just a bit sad as opposed to suicidal and bleak I crack open the Monk box sets. Rather aptly, I am obsessed with Monk and it never fails to make me smile*

Is there a particular song that makes you happy?

Loads probably, but sometimes even songs that make me happy end up making me sad because I think about listening to them when I was happy! If I have to pick just one I’ll go for this one:

Is there a film to make you happy?

Wow! I’m not sure there is. I’ve been racking my brains and all of my favourite films are sad! Could I pick a book instead? If so I’ll go with Jane Eyre because despite all the misery and heartache everything turns out okay in the end. Kinda.

If you’re happy and you know and you really want to show it do you clap your hands? Or what do you do?

If I’m happy and I know it and I really want to show it I laugh. Laughing is good for you and it’s nice to share it around if you can.

What is your favourite inspirational quote?

Oh I’ve got loads. I love a good quote! How about this one: ‘Great things are done by a series of small things brought together’?

Do you have a “happy place” where you like to go and hide from the world?

Apart from my bed which is the place I usually go to hide, I like to wander down by the River and empty my head a little.

If you was happy and I was sad how would you cheer me up?

You can’t always cheer people up. Sometimes you just have to be there for them whilst they wait for sad to pass. So if I was happy and you were sad, I’d head round to your gaff with a couple of tea bags, some lotto tickets and this:

And I’d keep you company till the sad had passed.

If happy was a person who would he look like in the real world?

Like this:

Or this:

Or maybe this:

Or perhaps even this (if it was a sentient being rather than a person):

Love from WeeGee xx

*Apart from Mr Monk and the kid, which never fails to make me cry!

Posted in Reasons to be cheerful

Take that, broken brain (Hold on: the sequel)

Posted on by WeeGee

I was really touched by the comments my lovely WordPress friends left on my last post, Hold On. As always, you proved yourselves to be a thoughtful, kind and very wise bunch and the comments certainly gave me a little lift when I read them at lunchtime during ‘one of those days’.

What really struck me was how, no matter what goes on in our heads, we always seem to find something to hold on to. I think it’s amazing that we find different ways of just keeping on doing it day after day, especially when you consider all of the horror we face.

Anyway, I got to thinking about all the brilliant people I’ve met on WordPress all of the brilliant things they do – raise families, hold down jobs, study, write blogs and so much more. Most of it must seem pretty ordinary to a ‘normal’ person who can do all kinds of ordinary things without having to do battle with themselves first. In my book, that makes the fact that mental people do ordinary things in spite of being mental pretty extraordinary and, for that, I wanted to give anybody who wanted one a big friendly pat on the back:

As for me and what I’m holding on to? I think I’ve worked it out. I’m holding on to the fact that one day all of this will be better and I’m very determined that I’m going to be around to enjoy it when it is. So: take that, broken brain.

Ta ta for now, WeeGee xxx