Monthly Archives: January 2012

Jan 31 2012
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Travellin' Tuesdays

Travellin’ Tuesdays:Tramping in a Kiwi wonderland

So my brilliant new direction has had one major flaw: me. This weekend has been exceedingly busy so I haven’t had a chance to update my blog until today. But anyway, back to Travellin’ Tuesdays. I have to start with New Zealand, as this was the first place that I truly experienced as a backpacker, and ever since day one I have been head over heels in love with the place.

One of the many art installations that are dotted around Wellington

From The Southern Alps to Coromandel, there’s a whole planet’s worth of ecosystems contained on the two small islands, and in pretty much every encounter with one of the 4million Kiwis you will find out just how small the world can be. On one such occasion, when our rental car had broken down right by Mt. Ngauruhoe (or Mt. Doom to my  fellow LOTR enthusiasts), it turned out that the only AA service person within reach was a neighbour of the park ranger who was helping us out. The only downside was that our only hope of salvation was also the Fire Chief for the area, and if he had an emergency call then we’d have to wait. Luckily it was a perpetually soggy day and we were on our way in a matter of hours, onto the next town where our car broke down again – but not before attempting to impersonate Darth Vader after a particularly lengthy jog.

It seems that everything I experienced during my year in the Land of the Long White Cloud was a mixture of character building and sheer beauty, I pushed myself beyond what I thought were my limits and came out the other side with a completely different outlook. I’d like to think that the same would have happened if I’d spent the year somewhere like California, but the truth is that in travelling halfway around the world into the unknown, I think that I unwittingly found my home.

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Jan 26 2012
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Brainwave

Since I started this blog, I’ve been trying to find a way to write about all the things that interest me while keeping the entire thing a coherent series. Well, I’ve finally come up with something: I have 7 kinds of mind, one for each day. So every week I will log about something different every day, keeping with a theme.

So this is going to be my new format:
Sundays are for a cook off, whether it’s a new recipe I’ve discovered or my own personal little experiment, it’ll be on here.

Mondays are when you need a pick me up, I’ll post whatever has been amusing me to help get you through your case of the Mondays.

Tuesdays are when I get to escape on a travelling adventure, whether I’ve actually moved from my computer screen or not.

Wednesdays are when it gets serious, I’ll write about that week’s big issue/story in the news. If I’m honest, it’ll probably be a rant of some sort.

Thursdays are all about me, a little update of what’s been going on in my highly exciting life that week. It’ll be gripping I’m sure.

Fridays are for the best celebrity gossip or media news that I can find. From a review of the latest Sherlock (just how exactly did he survive?!) or the most titillating story of the pitfalls of fame.

Saturdays are potluck. Whatever I’ve wanted to write about that doesn’t fit into one of the above categories, it could be anything. How exciting!

So hopefully I’ll be able to stick to the new format, and I look forward to flexing my typing muscles as I try to keep up with the pace of blogging every day. Enjoy!

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Jan 02 2012
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The Jobseekers’ Slump

After months of serious jobseeking, during which I have been sustained by one thoroughly brilliant (but sadly unpaid) internship, and one Waterstones Christmas job (paid, lovely, temporary), I have entered a slump. After trawling through countless job sites, endlessly repeating my info on application forms, formatting and reformatting my CV and cover letter, I have heard bugger all. Zip. Nada. Not a bloody dickie bird. And, frankly, I’m demoralised.

Convinced that I’m unemployable, I have been steadfast in my quest for the perfect CV template, and have rehashed my cover letter to within an inch of its life. But let’s face it, there are only so many ways to say “hire me please, I’ll be excellent” before you start to sound desperate yet strangely egomaniacal.

The point is that all job applications sound the same, it would be strange if a group of CVs applying for a specific position weren’t at least slightly similar. So I have come to the conclusion that it is pure luck whether you are successful or not. Whether your application happens to be in the first fifty (or five) that the employer has read, before they decide that to go any further through the pile would be about as much fun as using a cheese grater to exfoliate.

So I will try my best to be lucky, because all I want is an interview. If I have that, I don’t even need to get the job. Just knowing that I was good enough to make it into the short list would be enough to spur me on towards a fresh pile of application forms, ready to fill in my A Levels for the 10765th time.

So, attention potential employers: give me an interview, and I’ll be happy.

Did I mention that I am exceptionally good at being interviewed? I’m even better at being employed.

Try me.

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Jan 01 2012
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Happy new year to one and all

2011 was a year of death, destruction and unemployment. But it was also the year that those without a voice fought to be heard. Let’s hope that changes continue to be made for the better throughout 2012.

From the looks of social media pages this morning, everyone had a pretty good night from what they can remember, and I imagine that there may be something of a bacon shortage as people try to correct their delicate state.

My New Year’s Eve probably sounds like a PSA about the benefits of online dating – I was alone (with my dogs), eating Ben & Jerrys and watching Alan Carr et al getting steadily more trollied on Channel 4. To some that might sound like a cry for help, but it has become my personal NYE tradition to avoid generally everyone, take control of the TV remote and shamelessly eat/drink myself into a stupor while dancing around the living room with a bewildered Springer Spaniel. Bridget Jones I may be, but lonely I am not.

From my experiences of previous years, NYE is impossible to enjoy if you’re with other people in a social setting. I have sat in a busy Sydney park for 13 hours waiting for a few pretty lights, I have attended house parties full of people I’ve never met, and I’ve ventured into the festering, overcrowded meat markets known as “NYE club nights”. Believe me, I have tried to be normal and decided against it.

So this time next year, I would like all of the usual: less weight, more money, a job and somewhere new to live. So not much. There’s nothing like being an unemployed 23 year old, forced to move back into the family home after graduation, to bring home just how much of a failure you have become. So in the next year a new flat please. Oh, and a job in TV would be nice. And maybe someone with whom I could share my end of year ritual, there’s more than enough Ben & Jerrys for two.

Happy New Year all x

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