red strobe lights with different symbols (? $ arrow skull # swirl %) representing anger against a black background

It’s only a joke!!

This past week, public figures have been fighting back at the media for constantly making a mockery of them. The media and popular culture mocking is hardly anything new but thanks to social media, celebrities are calling out offensive jokes, rather than silently allowing it.

In the foreground a large book is open, in the background someone is holding a mug and the book is placed on their legs. they have a white, fluffy blanket over their legs and the book is placed on top. They are holding one of the pages, as if about to turn the page.

The joy of learning

Leaving the constraints of the education system is when you learn that learning is not linear. It wasn’t until I left school that I actually started to enjoy learning, because I was suddenly afforded more choice in what I could learn and how I learned.

persons hands forming heart, outside with blurred tree and lamp post in background

Thoughts: Valentines

Why do we confine love to one day of the year? When love is so much bigger than one day or one person.

Side, long, slightly angled view of a library book shelf. Light bulbs are hanging from the ceiling in front of the shelf, attached with rope.

Goodreads Dilemma

I find out that Goodreads is owned by the evil, corporate giant, Amazon. I should delete Goodreads immediately. But. I can’t.

clouds form at the bottom of the image with an orange glow above indicating it's sunset. the clouds clear, and above the orange glow is clear, blue sky which gets darker blue at the top of the image. in the middle are silhouettes of a flock of birds flying away, towards the horizon. There are nine birds in total at different distances to each other.

Time to put the phone away

I recently wrote about how always being connected to my phone is affecting my mental health. How always being switched on to current affairs is putting me at an all time low. As this is an issue that keeps on reoccurring, rather than just write about it, I decided it was time to do something about it.

Birds eye view of a close up of a table with a cup of tea in a white mug on a white coaster in the middle. In the foreground our two books open - the book to the right has hands on it, holding it open. There is a sheer table cloth underneath and an arrangement of flowers in the top right hand and left hand corner

Tale of two books

It was Ryan’s idea – lets try out reading a book that the other person loved in the last year. Honestly, I wasn’t keen on the idea. Our reading tastes are so different.

outline of tops of forest trees being submerged in fog. The picture is in black and white and you are only able to see a few trees in the foreground before they are submerged in fog

Thoughts: Ghosting

Reading Ghosts by Dolly Alderton bought back the memories of my own experiences of being ghosted. An experience that has only come about in the last couple of decades with more communication moving from human interactions to the screen on our phones.

Compilation of vintage polaroids, the ones on the top row, bottom row and sides are cut off to give the illusion of endless polaroids. Most are white framed but there are a few with bright red, a couple of blue, purple, orange and yellow. Some have scribbles on them, depicting a certain memory. The images are a mixture of nature, views, cities, homes, groups of people.

Reminiscing on 00s teenage angst

Don’t know about anyone else, but the last year has been bringing out the angsty teenager in me. On the phone to a friend the other night, we discussed how the pandemic has left us in a constant state of feeling overwhelmed by our emotions – much like when we were teenagers.

On a brick wall with wooden shelves on either side is a lighted neon sign that says "you are (music note then new line) What you listen to". There are only a few books on the shelves, some with the covers facing, others on their sides stacked on top of each other.

Relating to lyrics: Florence + The Machine

Music has the power to influence and evoke emotions. There are artists who seem to manage to delve into your darkest inner thoughts. In 2009 Florence & The Machine, later changing to Florence + The Machine broke onto the airwaves. Here was an artist who felt as intensely as I do.

Person is holding their phone upside down. The photo has been flipped round to show the phone the right way up. The person wears black trousers and a black t-shirt. You don't see the whole of their body but just part of their arm and hand holding the phone. The background is blurred our but it looks like they are on a beach with people in the background. We see the phone from the back with the camera showing. It is a sliver phone with a clear protective case. on the case there are words with a black border and white background which say: "Social Media seriously harms your mental health".

Thoughts: When is it OK to switch off?

We are overwhelmed with bad news every second of every day; making it hard to know what to focus on.