My Knight in Shining Armour (or something...)

Hello! A belated Merry Christmas to all! Hope you've had a lovely time (even to any of you who don't celebrate Christmas - it's always nice to be happy! - see last post!) and are now overfed on turkey and mince pies and Quality Street tins that keep on appearing from nowhere.

I know I am.

I don't know why I'm showing you a picture of my Christmas dinner, but, hey, here's a picture of my Christmas dinner. Enjoy.

Anyway, my dearest apologies for being away for so long.  But I have no school for another 9 days, so hopefully I'll be able to blog a bit more! (But just in case, here's a long 'un to keep you occupied. Maybe. Probably not.)

Right, to the "My knight in shining armour" bit.
I feel quite embarrassed, but I really feel that I must get this off my chest, and even if no-one else actually reads this post I'll have got it out in the open.
Anyway. I'm not really the kind of girl boys flock to. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with that, but sometimes when I'm sat with my friend and some guy starts flirting with her I end up sitting there like a third wheel, because I'm that geeky girl who they only talk to when they need help with coursework or have nothing better to do.

Ok, so I do have friends that are male. One of my best friends is a guy. But it's not the same having friends that are guys and actually feeling comfortable around a guy.  But I always thought that I was better around guys than girls. I tend to find it easier talking to the male species. Probably because they don't constantly bicker about one another and because I'm really good at ranting. Oh, and I like rugby. And cricket. So screaming at a bunch of guys on a rugby field apparently doesn't count as normal female behaviour. Nor does understanding how to score in a cricket match. Even if you do think that Alastair Cook is almost too gorgeous for words.

Alastair Cook
Photo courtesy of circketalert.blogspot.com
 

So, a few months ago I was chosen to represent my school as part of a team in this Science-y/ Engineer-y project where you have to come up with an idea (in our case, we're considering methods of generating electricity) and at the end of it all hopefully get a Crest Gold Award.  And me being me, I ended up in a team made up of three others - all AS Physics and Maths students. So they're the really smart ones and I'm the little one (literally) in the corner taking English Lit. and Psychology who got chosen because she said "I really like equations" (which, to be fair, is true) to her old GCSE Physics teacher in the interview.

As part of the project we have to do field work, and though I go camping every summer and walking with my dad and really like the outdoors, for some unknown reason, on that one day my brain decided that, oh no it wouldn't behave like it regularly does, but instead make me incredibly clumsy and lack more common sense than I normally lack (which, if you want to know, is a lot)

So, long-story-short, I almost fell into a river. Actually make that two rivers. And a waterfall.

Yep.

And long-story-even-shorter, he saved me from falling into two rivers. And a waterfall.

Which, normally - had I known the guy - would've been fine. Well, even if I didn't know the guy I would've thanked him for saving me from falling into a waterfall. And stuff...
But, oh no, my brain decided that normal just wasn't happening. Even when he - let's call him 'M' - even when M literally swept me off my feet to stop me falling into the first river. Then literally almost fell into the second river trying to stop me falling into it.
It was almost like a fairy tale, apart from the fact that I was more like Dumbo than Belle.
And even though I thanked him profusely for the next four hours or so, and he seemed fine about the fact that some girl that he hardly knew had landed in his arms twice and held his hand about four times, the fact that I hardly even knew him just made me not know how to react. And to make matters even more awkward, before that day I'd only ever spoken to him once.

Needless to say, that's one successful mode of team bonding...

On another note, my Sixth Form ball was on the 17th, which was quite exciting. We were in a Marriott hotel, with a three-course meal and professional photographer and a photo booth, and - contrary to my expectations - I actually really enjoyed myself.

To end this post (and I'm really sorry that it dragged!) I will leave you with this quote by one Martha Graham and say goodnight:

"You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost"

FGB x

Reasons to be happy

“If you're reading this...
Congratulations, you're alive.
If that's not something to smile about,
then I don't know what is.”
― Chad Sugg

I don't know why I decided to make this post, but I know that happiness is a mixed emotion in life. For some, it comes naturally. For others, not so much.
But I hope that maybe this post can show you that happiness is possible. It's there, somewhere, ready for you to discover...

Five Reasons to be Happy!
1. You are alive - I know this seems like a small thing, but it's not. You're alive. You're important. You're loved. Hold onto that.
2. You can dream - Don't be afraid to dream. Don't be limited - let your imagination roam free.
3. “Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” -Unknown  - Life isn't perfect. It never will be. But it doesn't mean that we can't try to be happy.
4. The little things in life - a smile from a stranger, a book on a train, a photograph, a compliment... Strive on these little things, and they may lead to greater things.
5. You have impacted someone's life - You matter. Someone out there somewhere has benefitted from you; from your company.

So just smile. However hard it is. However much it hurts.
Smile, and I guarantee that you'll brighten someone's life.
And it may be naïve of me to say this, but one smile can do a world of good.
And maybe, just maybe, it'll brighten up your own life too.

FGB x

 

A sticky note 'left to its own fate' by incredible optimist thingsweforget.blogspot.com

How British am I?

Good evening!

I don't quite know how to feel about this, but I managed to score 29.17% in a 'How British are you?' online quiz today. 29.17%!!!
That's not even 30%! I'm apparently not even 30% British.
(Note that I even started with a typically British salutation. Then used the word 'salutation'. But, nope, still not British.)

Ok, so being the (pretty rubbishly) anonymous blogger that I am, I don't think I've specified that yes, dear reader, I am a British citizen. More so, I always have been a British citizen, and my family - back to about a trillion years ago - are all British. So, maybe, if I was American, or Canadian, or Australian, or from another country that isn't Britain, then I wouldn't be boring you all with this rant about how I'm apparently not British. But I am. And for that I profusely apologise.

That's the problem with all the hype over Britain. Ok, I admit that I'm proud to be British, and all that malarkey, but sometimes it just gets to the point where I just want to scream in the faces of anyone who tells me that I'm not British. Or gets excited that I am British.

I don't know what it is. It's as if Britain has this magnetic field that draws all these countries towards it. And then slathers them in tea and scones and afternoon strolls through Autumnal forests.
Which is fine, because I admit that I do drink tea and occasionally eat scones and the Autumn is my favourite time of year, but I don't think that these factors should define whether or not I am British.

And another thing: Britain isn't England. (Just to be clear, I don't live in England. Just to be clearer, I don't have anything against England. Well, only when it comes to rugby, but that's a different matter...) Like, if someone mentions a "British" accent, people tend to think of a middle-class London accent.
Someone on holiday spent three days genuinely thinking that my brother was Russian.
I rest my case.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that. I think I've wasted enough of your time tonight. But just a note before you go: "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts" - Eleanor Roosevelt

Cheerio!
FGB x

Who Am I?

"Anonymity is the truest expression of altruism." - Eric Gibson

I like being anonymous.
To anyone reading this blog - in passing, or just generally - I can't really express myself aloud. I always say the wrong things, or say the right things that get perceived in the wrong way, or just don't say anything at all.

And I know it sounds clichéd, but my greatest form of expression is through writing. It's a sort of escapism - if I get the balance right, I can just let myself go, and not feel afraid to be who I want to be, and not who I feel that I need to be.

It's like writing this blog. Ok, so maybe I'm not the best blog-writer in the universe. And I may not be able to post incredibly witty remarks or interesting talents or anything like that, but what I can do is express myself. And, Ok, maybe it's boring. Maybe I'm not destined to write a blog, but hey, if fate persuaded me to start this thing, then I hope that I can do it justice.

And, yes, I enjoy being anonymous. I enjoy the fact that I can write these things and not feel like I'll fail someone by posting them. This blog is an outlet, and anonymity keeps it this way.

So who am I?
I'm whoever you want me to be.
See me as a blank canvas, a half-empty page, a character in an unfinished book... I don't mind.
I have so much to learn, and so much more to tell.

x