Typecast

I will lose weight.  Yes, I will! I will plan my study time better, therefore... I will not have a major wibble over every single assignment I have to write for the Open University I will start that novel, or at least start the planning for it I will find a magazine template for this blog that I can fit my header into - * I will expand my social media network even further I will attempt to find a magazine or newspaper that wants me to write for them - ** I will give up smoking properly and not pretend I have given up like now I will complete the application form for Deal or No Deal I will not buy another Filofax - *** I will attend the Cybermummy '11 conference - **** I may add to this over the next few days. * NOT POSSIBLE - I cried yesterday trying to find a magazine template that would work with Blogger and their gadgets (mainly pages) and there isn't one.  This is the best you're going to get! ** As well as Flying Start Magazine *** hahahahahahaha **** ...

How do you round up this year on a blog where so much has changed?  This year has been a defining time for the me as a writer.  I started out still finding my feet, addressed the community spirit, grew in confidence and wrote a lot of posts.  I have picked one post from each month of 2010 for you to revisit.  It definitely isn't the most popular post of the month or even the one with the most comments, but the one that you had maybe forgotten about and might enjoy again.  I'd love to know if there is one that you would have recommended for inclusion in the round-up too.

Editors note : A short while ago a post was published on this blog within the ethos of  Blognonymous .  It was entitled " The Appointment ".  Following the comments and advice left at the end of the post the author felt that an update and a Thank You was needed, so here is their post. oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Are you ordering anything from Filofax in the near future? (they have a sale on at the moment, don't you know) Please click on the logo below or the one in the sidebar to visit the site. The team over at the Philofaxy blog have an affiliation with Filofax UK  and, for period of 16th December 2010 through to 31st January 2011, have agreed to donate all their commission to the very deserving Breast Cancer Campaign.

This year, Boxing Day was dedicated to 1985 - or so it seemed. It was shaping up to be a fairly boring Boxing Day.  We had no plans to do anything during the day as we were determined not to move the cars and lose our parking spaces - living near a Premiership Football Stadium has its drawbacks.  The morning film, Spy Kids, was coming to an end and the terrestrial channels looked a bit boring.  I had a quick flick through the millions of boring Sky channels and found a repeat of the 1985 World Strongest Man on Bravo.  We watched fat men strongmen lifting cars, hauling wheelbarrows full of heavy sacks, winching boats up from the harbour and generally oozing testosterone.  We cheered on our hero from back in the day, Geoff Capes, and he won... HOORAY! A little later I sat and watched Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat - not quite a 1985 version (it was the Donny Osmond made-for-video/TV production fom 1999) but it did bring back me...

It was Christmas Eve 1990 and, for the first time, I wasn't sleeping in my own bed.  My boyfriend and I had decided to share ourselves out between our family like the children of divorced parents; Christmas Eve and half of Christmas Day at my parents' house then the other half of Christmas Day and the whole of Boxing Day at his parents' house. I had left home earlier in the year, an angry eighteen year old who knew it all.  I returned a more subdued, pregnant eighteen year old who now lived with her boyfriend.  My mum had stated quite clearly that my boyfriend was welcome to stay over at the house but we would not be sleeping together.  My argument? "Why not? He can't exactly get me pregnant again, can he?"

Please hear the 12 Days Of Christmas in your head whilst Andrew Lincoln helps me out here... (click the picture to enlarge in a new tab/window) ( An original idea created after seeing this photo )

I'm off work now and trying to get into the Christmas booze spirit. Here is a selection of my favourite Christmas songs through the decades (Number 1's from the 70's, 80's and 90's but a Number 2 from the 00's)

I've just been for a walk with the dog and almost every other window has a blue light display or flashing "icicles" hanging from the gutter.  None of the twinkling is coordinated with the house nearby and it's giving me a headache.  Some flash so fast that I feel dizzy and almost epileptic. Multi-coloured lights look pretty and white lights look frosty and magical.  Decorated houses are a bit OTT but provide much amusement and entertainment for everyone else.  A couple of years ago, the odd blue light display here and there looked unusual and engaging but that bandwagon has rolled on by and everyone has jumped on it.   Agree or disagree?  Are you one of the blue light brigade? Picture Credit

You know when your loved ones are being little shits at any time between October and December?  Do you roll out the old  " Father Christmas is watching.  He's making sure who is being good and who is being bad "?  Well in our house we used to say " If you carry on with that, Father Christmas will only bring you socks and underpants! " One year, Michael (now age 17 - oh, he's going to love me for telling this story) had been a complete bugger for ages so we rolled out our usual threat. He was about eight or nine at the time.  His behaviour improved slightly towards Christmas but he was still a handful.   On Christmas Eve we arranged the presents as usual but we put his actual present of socks and underpants (What? It's tradition!) right at the top of the pile so that he would open it first.

On 2nd December I joined in a little Twitter Party during my lunch break.   Max Factor were working in conjunction with British Mummy Bloggers to gather together some "get ready quick" tips for busy mums everywhere. I tweeted a few of my favourite tips ( eyebrow threading is amazing, mascara and eyeliner is a must, Schwarzkopf Osis Dust-it powder is brilliant for short hair ) and asked for some tips for myself.  It was a hectic hour on Twitter but there were some fabulous ideas flying around.  All tweets that included the special promotional hashtag (#5minmax) were entered into a prize draw for some fabulous goodies from Max Factor. The following day this tweet arrived in my timeline...

Click to enlarge in new window/tab original page: http://xfactor.itv.com/_uploads/userassets/files/vote2010.pdf Well, this makes for interesting reading, doesn't it?  Shall we analyse it a bit?

this picture does the Chameleon no justice whatsoever Be still my beating heart.  I am now the proud owner of a Chameleon Filofax in Spring Green .  You may remember seeing it on my wishlist a short time ago.  I couldn't wait until Christmas so ended up buying it anyway. Because the Filofax is so customisable, I have already decided on a theme for my Chameleon (although the name suggests that it may change over time, yes?).  I am going to use cream dividers and green notepaper.  I also want one of the new 2011 diaries that are a-week-per-page-with-notes  - a theme which I tried to mimic myself earlier this year but ended up with too much bulk.  I am also going to purchase this style diary/note pack for each of my other two Filos - work/home and writing.  Also, I think my next Filofax blog post is going to have to be " Are my Filofaxes streamlining my life or am I streamlining my life around my Filofaxes? "

* big sigh * Recently a number of celebrities have been caught up in public spats on Twitter and it's all getting rather boring now.  Can someone make it stop please? The latest few appear to have featured Sir Alan Lord Sugar and whoever has narked him today.  His most recent 'victims' are  Kirstie Allsopp , Chris Evans and Piers Morgan .  Having said that though, the latter has embroiled himself in a battle with Sugar for the highest number of followers.  The 'loser' pays out a few thousand pounds to charity.  I'd yawn but there's a nasty taste in my mouth and I need to get rid of it. I did initially consider the fact that the Sugar and Morgan accounts were not real.  The people behind the @sy_cowell and @walshlife accounts could have concocted this little saga too as part of their marketing profile - showing the power of Twitter and how it can be used for promotion purposes.  The only spanner in the works of that little theory is t...

Last week an envelope dropped onto the doormat addressed to Michael ( son #1 ).  The envelope was embelished with the NHS logo and my first thought was " junk mail ".  He is 17 now, at college, has his own bank account and pays his own mobile phone contract.  He is just about the right age to start getting his own crap in envelopes. How wrong was I?

I was reading a couple of posts written by new blogger, Becki (at Pelvis, Interrupted ) yesterday.  She wrote about how she wasn't feeling true to herself with her writing and then her "epiphany", for want of a better word.  I think she had been trying too hard as a new blogger to please her audience rather than writing within her comfort zone and letting her audience find her. Blogging is becoming much more of a social concept.  I wrote an article for the winter edition of Flying Start Magazine (page 36) aimed at new Parent Bloggers, although the advice is the same for everyone.  One observation I made was that blogs used to sit in their little corner of the internet, waiting to be discovered or they were read when you happened to mention to a friend that you wrote a blog.  Very often, blogs were considered a dirty little secret.

The charity Marie Curie Cancer Care have contacted me and asked if I could give their online shop a bit of a shout out to the readers here at Typecast. (click the logo to go direct to the Marie Curie Cancer Care shop)

Last Wednesday evening I crashed unceremoniously from the table top I was dancing climbing on*.  I was in tears and the dog thought it was a game so leapt all over me.  Son #1 tried to help me up and shoo the dog away at the same time, then got a bit arsey when I cried big, dolloping tears in his face and yelled at him that I couldn't move because my leg hurt.  Kev came in from the other lounge to see what all the noise and then walked out again thinking I was over-reacting. I limped to bed, in tears.  No-one cared.  My left foot hurt like hell and my right leg was just as bad.

Recently I have regained contact with one of my primary school friends, Stephanie.  We were having a bit of a catch up and I directed her to my " Old Photos " album on Facebook, where she featured in a couple of the pictures. She responded by immediately uploading some pictures of her tenth birthday party. Don't we look just lovely?

(click to enlarge) The other week we were moving crap from the top of one cupboard to the top of another having a clear-out in the kitchen and we rediscovered two carrier bags full of our old cassette tapes.  At some time in the past four years I had made Kev promise that he wouldn't throw them out. They are priceless, yet worthless.  I am loathe to throw them out because I'm far too sentimental.  Plus they would have to go to landfill so I'm really fulfilling my role as eco-warrior...  * whistles nonchalantly whilst clinging to the past * Jukebox Classics,Robert Miles, Alison Moyet, Janet Jackson, Holly Johnson, Duran Duran, The Bee Gees (not mine), Hot Chocolate (I don't remember buying that one either), Paul Simon, Phil Collins, Sam Brown, East 17, all sorts of different compilation albums and almost every ' Now That's What I Call Music! ' up to number 21 - but sadly missing what used to be my pride and joy - the original N...

Back in the olden days when the world was black and white I was taught by the most amazing man - "Sir" was someone whose teaching was inspirational, ahead of his time and who wasn't afraid to try new teaching methods.  I have mentioned him before . When I wrote yesterday's post I was reminded about my high school English teacher.  A man who stayed sat behind his desk for the majority of the time, slumped.  A man who appeared to be ambivalent about teaching in general and about the majority of the students who passed through his classroom door.  A man who completely and utterly disliked me - or so I felt at the time.  I don't remember a single compliment passing his lips or a mark that merited mentioning.  I failed English Language and English Literature spectacularly because he marked my work so low that it was unsuitable to be sent to the examination board.

I was listening to BBC Breakfast News this morning and heard snippets of an article discussing the new Government White Paper and the proposed return to exam-based study.  The White Paper suggests that secondary schools will be considered to be failing if less than 35% of their students attain less than 5 Grade C's at GCSE level. Whoever originally decided that it was a good idea to make 15- and 16-year old kids, raging with hormones, study for two years then judge them for the rest of their lives on a series of 2-hour windows was mad.  Modular learning gives better results all round.  Yes, we should still have exams but they they should be relevant to progression.

It was 9.45pm.  I was just watching Nigel Havers air-kissing everyone goodbye as he made moves to leave the "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here" jungle and... *click* ... we lost all our electricity.  Not just a power surge flicker but the whole house plunged into darkness and silence. "Told you something was up today,"  shouted Kev smugly from the other room ( we have separate lounges - it's brilliant! ).  He'd also rung me at work earlier in the day to ask if I knew why the electricity had gone off for a couple of minutes.  I tried to use my ESP, I really did, but my recent flu must have knocked my senses out...

Editors note : This post was submitted to me within the ethos of  Blognonymous .  The writer needs somewhere to consider her options and request other people viewpoints.  Please feel free to offer her your advice and thoughts in the comments section. oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Earlier this year I took part in an online creative writing course run by Tim over at Bringing Up Charlie .  The e-course was a great learning experience, even for people who had been writing for a while.  We were split up into focus/support groups (I was lucky enough to be placed with Sandy and Emily ), given fantastic guidance and it really built up my confidence to expand on my creative writing. When the e-course had finished, we were asked to submit some of our favourite pieces to be considered for publication.  Tim has collated and edited the book and it is full of fantastic pieces of writing INCLUDING SOME FROM ME! You can buy a paperback version of the book direct from Dotterel Press  for £8.99 +£1.00 P&P or you can download a version from Lulu  for £2.99 (you can also place orders outside of the UK via the Lulu link too) and all profits are being donated to Children In Need .

There are a number of threads on the  Blogger.Ed and British Mummy Bloggers  forums asking about how to engage with readers when blogging; how to write, how often to post and how and when to comment.  It's all about social engagement  at the end of the day.  After all, why do you write a blog if it's not to offer an opinion or keep in touch with people?

Fame.  The reputation that I had recently acqui red was a force to be reckoned with.  I had officially gone public to dispel the rumours but now so many people were determined to make a few quid from their brief acquaintance with me.  If the truth be told, I was sure I didn't know all of them but they were convinced they knew me.  Stories about places I'd never been and events that had never happened, but the media lapped it up and printed it anyway.  It created column inches and sold papers.

Here come the girls... L-R: Me, Rachel, Amie-Leigh three generations The Gallery prompt this week was "Before and After" You can see all the other entries >>> here <<< Don't be afraid to join in and link up too - just follow the instructions on the link above. Related Links : http://www.iamtypecast.com/search/label/gallery

This time for Musical Monday, Emily from Babyrambles has asked me to nominate the song that makes me get up and dance.  She's already picked a Michael Jackson number for herself, which I think is inspired, but I can get round that by buying the Wii game when it's released in the UK.

I don't feel 38 years old.  I imagine myself to be much younger, even though all the evidence points in the opposite direction.  During my routine contact lens check-up today my optician noticed a few extra vessels in my eyes, partly due to continuous wear but also because of "my age" * runs away, screaming *.  Oh, I also had to walk round town after the appointment looking a right twat with yellow-rimmed eyes because I'd had to have some weird dye inserted into my eyes.  And they'd ended up stinging.  And watering.  A lot!  So maybe some of the sympathetic glances aren't to do with my age, after all.

(click to enlarge) Just something I thought about whilst "in a queue" on the phone. I don't really look like that - I just can't draw very well.

An Autumn Evening The prompt for The Gallery this week was "Seasons" and  this is my most recent photo whilst out walking the dog.  Taken using the camera on my phone. You can see all the other Gallery entries >>> here <<< Related Links : http://www.iamtypecast.com/search/label/gallery

On Sunday night my throat feet dry and scratchy.  I knew I was probably coming down with something when Kev walked in and told me I looked tired.  I'm hardly ever ill but just felt a bit rubbish, you know?  So yesterday morning (Monday) I dragged myself into work but got sent home at lunch time on the grounds of "possibly having a contagious disease" (my boss being sarcastic but she knows that I'd fight my way though to the end of the day if she didn't manhandle me out of the door).

Do you ever wish you had a talent?  Nothing spectacular - just something that everyone remembers you for.  Henry Mancini & His Orchestra - The Pink Panther Theme .mp3 Found at bee mp3 search engine I can play the piano and I can read music but I've always wanted to just sit down at the piano at a party and start playing a song that everyone knows, with everyone gathering around the piano, singing along and calling out for the next song.  Old-time party style.  My speciality piece is " The Pink Panther Theme " but that doesn't have any lyrics and when people say, " Great! What else can you play? " I tend to mumble something and wander away from the keyboard.

Aaaahhhh! The Music Quiz that made you bash your head on the nearest hard surface!  Here are the answers as promised, with an extended version of each clip.  There were fifteen songs altogether.  Yes... really!  And if it helps, no-one got all fifteen.

There's a little bit of oneupmanship a craze going on in Blogland at the moment.  You have Paula with her visual music quizzes ( #1 and #2 , with #3 to follow on Friday ) and Garry with his headbashing  soundbites quiz ( we don't talk about his first attempt as it was a bit of a flop! ) so I've decided to jump on the bandwagon.  This is something I wanted to do with the #FridayTwiz but it moves a bit too fast on a Friday and not everyone has their speakers switched on.

This week, The Gallery prompt is "Show Me The Funny" .  Here are a few things that I've snapped over the past few months that have made me snigger:

Today's media reports that a pilot scheme on the Isle of Wight will allow girls as young as 13 years old to obtain a month's worth contraceptive pills from selected chemists on the island. What do you think of this?  Do you believe this is the right way to educate our teenagers; by offering them the opportunity to protect themselves against unwanted teenage pregnancies or should we be encouraging them to adhere to the  UK law  and refrain from sexual activity until they are age 16?

I was asked by Kate over at The Five F's to choose my Desert Island Discs - just eight pieces of music that I would be prepared to to listen to over and over again.  This sounds easy but it isn't.  Music affects people in many different ways, especially according to what mood they are in when they listen to it.  I spend more time hitting ' NEXT ' on my mp3 player than I do actually listening to the tracks. Anyway, here are a few that are stock favourites.  Songs or tunes that make me catch my breath and stop for a few minutes to sink into the arrangement of sounds and words.

My final Pink Friday post is from T-J (mentioned fleetingly in Pink Friday 4 ).  T-J runs her own specialist bra fitting service which offers advice for women, specifically for mastectomy/post surgery patients and plus-size ladies.  You can find lots more information about T-J on her ' About Me ' page on her Bra-Blog . * * *

Editors note : This post was submitted to me within the ethos of Blognonymous .  The writer will explain who she is and her reasons for requesting that she post this here, semi-anonymously.  Please feel free to offer her your advice and thoughts in the comments section. oOoOoOoOoOoOo

I read this tweet from Mr Paparazzi this morning and had to laugh. Songs don't 'storm up the charts' any more.  They go straight in at number one or they are considered a 'flop'.  I had a quick check to see who she is up against this week and according to eli.com  the competition is in the form of Judy Collins and Tim Buckley ( can you hear that owl too?  Who? Who? ) so I think old Chezza is safe.

I'll never forget finding my dad, hiding out in the garage, respraying my old bike to give to my sister for her Christmas present.  I was about 8 years old.  I felt a mixture of emotions; sadness because I realised that she wouldn't have a 'new' bike and excitement because I was now 'grown up' and knew what my sister was getting for Christmas.

I was pointed in the direction of the practice version of the UK Citizenship Test online last night ( yes, I was bored and it was mentioned in one of the questions on Channel 4's "Million Pound Drop" ).  This test covers aspects of British history, society and culture and is a requirement when applying for settlement in the UK or full British citizenship.  The test took me just over 7 minutes but you have a full 45 minutes if you need it.

Typecast TV 1

Hello readers and welcome to the new look Typecast blog.  If you're reading this post in an RSS reader, please click through and have a look.  It has been the culmination of a throw-away comment on Twitter on Saturday night, kind-hearted help from a few fellow bloggers and tweeters and the donation of a free domain name.  Oh, yes... did you notice the new web address for the blog?  You are now reading " I Am Typecast " - how's that for fancy?  Also, you will possibly be wondering how on earth you ended up reading one of your favourite blogs on a new web address, without actually navigating to it.  That's because all of the hard work has been done for you.  Everything is automatically redirected so just carry on doing what you're doing as the old "typecast2000.blogspot.com" address sends you to here.  You can, of course, change your bookmarks if you really want to.

I don't know whether this is just Blackburn or if it's happening all over the country but I am DISTRAUGHT that there are no traditional chip shops open on a Saturday lunch time.  Kev wanted a portion of chips to go with some left-over curry, Michael and myself wanted a meat and potato pie (possibly with some peas on top) and Jake wanted a dab butty.

Everyone is always looking for something a little different to raise awareness and donations for charity and let's face it - sitting in a bath of cold baked beans is so 'last year'.  So when I found out that my fellow #FridayTwiz -er, the lovely Jane Fox of   Fired4U , had organised an evening of ' Painting By Nipples ' I was intrigued.  She tells me that is going to be very much like children's hand and foot printing but using * ahem * alternative body parts...

Fellow blogger Pippa (from over at "A Mother's Ramblings") asked me if I'd ever thought about my life as if it was a film .  Strangely, she wasn't the first person who had asked me this question so I have decided to elaborate on my original answer somewhat.  My life story HAS to be conducted in the style of a musical with a cast of thousands - each trial and tribulation fought through the medium of song.  And just like I mentioned in the original interview, I'd tap dance at some point too.

... as Mary Poppins once said. Today marks the day that I am exactly half way through my degree with the Open University.  I began well and steadily got better at lone study.  Today, I have sat my first official exam in 22 years ( apart from the Health & Safety course I did earlier this year ) and have spent the last few weeks worrying about it all .

Surely you should have known that I couldn't let a PINK FRIDAY during Breast Cancer awareness month go by without a mention of the beloved Filofax?  Here is a fantastic chance to make a donation to a worthwhile cause and pick up on the return of the retro organiser.

You see the theme this week?  "My Favourite Photo (and why)".  Do you think that is an easy or difficult prompt?  I don't mind admitting that it has left me pondering a-while.  Should I choose a picture of my family , my extended family , scenery ...?  But then I remembered a precious keepsake that I have...

Look what greeted me when I got home from work today.   Interflora had delivered a surprise* bunch of flowers with the attached note:

I am dreading this week.  Friday is exam day.  The first exam I have taken in 22 years.  I am crap at revising and retaining information so it is also an exam that I am convinced I am going to fail. Before I continue, I have to say that, in two years of lone study with the OU, this is my first negative experience.  Up until now I have championed the system and I have enjoyed studying for my degree.  This is my fourth module.  It is also the last presentation of this particular module.  The course has been updated and rewritten.  That doesn't excuse the lackadaisical attitude of my tutor.

When I took Jake out of school back in July for our family holiday , he missed his last week ever of primary school - and his presentation day.  A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from his old headmaster inviting him into a Friday assembly to receive his awards.  He had already cleared it with the Year 7 (high school) Head of Year and thought it would be a great opportunity for Jake.  I agreed.

Editors note :  This is Suzie's story and is the twelfth in the series.  Suzie contacted me and offered me her story after reading a previous " Cancer - Your Story " piece.   Her story is very appropriate  for this  Pink Friday  series and Breast Cancer Awareness month, as you will see.  You can read Suzie's blog over at No Wriggling Out Of Writing and she's on twitter as @keatsbabe . Suzie's story has also recently been featured on a six-web-page spread over at So Feminine so please take a look over there for more of her story. Related Links : Cancer Research UK All " Cancer - Your Story " posts BreastCancerCare.org.uk * * * Please note that this blog post contains graphic images All article images are  © Suzie Grogan and reproduced with kind permission

I have a massive image complex at the moment.  I used to be a stick-thin size 8-10 and now I am a " you carry your weight well " size 14-16.  Finding a diet to suit is a constant battle but I've found that the dog likes brisk walks at about 7pm so we go power-walking together. Anyway, there *is* a point to all this.  I just don't get it when a well-known national newspaper has decided that "fat" lies somewhere between Katy Perry and Beth Ditto using these images as examples:

Editors note :  This post was submitted to me to within the ethos of  Blognonymous .  The writer would like to remain completely anonymous and is grateful for this "get it all off your chest" opportunity.  Please feel free to comment on this post and offer your advice or thoughts. oOoOoOoOoOoOo

We're having a meme-tastic time on the blog at the moment but this is one that I knew I was going to enjoy  It gives me an opportunity to talk about my favourite subjects: Me and Twitter.  This is a fairly new meme, started by Kate at The Five F's  and, as usual, there are a few questions to answer but I think I've probably gone off at a bit of a tangent...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month in the United Kingdom .  Every year almost 46,000 people are given the devastating news that they have breast cancer - that's one person every 11 minutes. Over the next month I will be using my blog space on a Friday to coincide with Pink Friday from BreastCancerCare.org.uk  I will be posting some links that I hope you will find useful and some reader experiences in line with the Cancer - Your Story series.   PLEASE share these blog posts (there will be five in total) within your network.  You never know... someone may need this information. * * *

Originally published on 30th September 2010. Updated on 11th March 2014. Naughty child?  Must be ADHD or bad parenting. Child won't sleep at night?  Must be ADHD or bad parenting. Issues with food? Must be ADHD or bad parenting. Except that I have never used ADHD as an excuse for my son's behaviour. Here is an article about a group of scientists from Cardiff who have now discovered that there is a genetic link to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that the disorder is a brain problem.  Oh * yawn *. Tell me something I don't know. We were given that snippet of 'useful' information about seven years ago. I have never considered my son's ADHD to be part of 'bad parenting' and I get really annoyed when so-called experts decide that the chemical imbalance in my son's brain is down to me not being bothered to raise him correctly. I have written before about how my son explained his ADHD .  Here is an excerpt from th...

These "sharing is sexy" social media buttons are great and allow your readers to share your blog posts with their social media network. They are traditionally a Wordpress plugin but after googling "sharing is sexy" I found a couple of tutorials which I have managed to break down into plain English for HTML numpties like myself.  I have also experimented a little a put together this HTML tutorial for you so that you can install these buttons too.  These instructions work perfectly on a Blogger/Blogspot blog.  If installing them on another platform or website then you will  have to insert them directly into the HTML section of your template.

When I participate in the Secret Post Club, it means that I get post for me... proper post that doesn't involve brown window envelopes that mean I have to fork out money or brochures that always end up in the bucket next to the log burner.

During the summer holidays free entertainment was paramount.  Here in Blackburn there is plenty of opportunity for us to spend as little money as possible if we looked carefully enough.  We took lots of walks along the Leeds-Liverpool canal, watching all the barges sailing through the lock gates and spent many a happy few hours taking advantage of free swim sessions at the local leisure centre, Waves.

Earlier this week, I became quite annoyed with the fact that a blogger* failed to display a comment that I had made on her blog.  She had asked for readers to share similar experiences and I thought I could offer a slightly different view point.  I took my time with the reply. I wrote about three paragraphs, so it wasn't a quick visit - it was a measured, balanced comment.  I filled in the captcha code (don't EVEN get me started on that) and was greeted with the " your comment will be displayed after approval " messsage.  Four days later, that comment still hasn't been published on the blog.  And, yes, she has been active around the blogging and social media community since. Now I am acutely aware that a blog is a personal space and you have every right to display what you want on your corner of the internet, but why invite comments if you're not going to display them?  Even if you don't agree with what I have written then publish it and flame me. ...

September the 22nd will always be  The day I want to ignore  But I can't.  It is a day I should celebrate  The birth of my second born.  The celebration of the life of  A sensitive, clever young man,  Yet it is a day that is burnt  Into my heart   For other reasons that involve grief.  I cannot change this. I cannot alter the past.  I never want my grief to overshadow A day of celebration,  But I can see it in his eyes. He doesn't want to mention that he knows I am thinking of other times;  Of another person.  I want to cry but I need to be strong.  Mum, I miss you more and more And I know you understand * * *

A mate recently asked me, "Which famous people would you bunk up with if you could?" ( based on an episode of Friends ) So I'm going offer you a plethora of Gorgeous Guys that I think make me go * shwing * (but in a very feminine way, holding the edges of my skirt).  I think I am pretty safe in the fact that it will only be me who has even considered this section of the male population, especially after my Plastic Fantastic post a while back.  I was going to write a bit about each bloke but thought it would be funnier to see your reactions first.  Feel free to take the piss or scream "JUST WHY?" in the comments section. In no particular order: Howard Donald Mark Salling  Eminem    Robert Lindsay Simon le Bon    James McAvoy  Nick Knowles Simon Gregson Jon Bon Jovi