Typecast

Today I am pleased to host Ruth's Soundtrack To My Life .  Ruth and I are both members of the 'parent blogger' network that has boomed over the past couple of years and if the internet had existed in it's present availability when my children were younger, I think I might have had her tagline... " Googling my way through motherhood ". Ruth is a "Geek Mummy" in the true sense of the word with a love for all things tech, also running a YouTube channel and an audio blog with her husband alongside her regular blog.  But, for now, it's over to Ruth for her music choices which I've really enjoyed pulling together as these are all fantastic tunes and I've discovered a song that I never heard before (Ruth's #4 choice). ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Bonnie Tyler: Total Eclipse of the Heart This was the first proper single I bought. I've just worked out that I was 12 when it was number 1 in the charts. I remember saving up my pocket money, heading ...

I'm over at  Gransnet today, talking about having five generations in our family.   You can find the article here (or click the image) and I'd love to know what you think about it.

If you haven't heard this version of  Gangnam Style  yet, you have to listen.  Tony Hawks giving it large on BBC Radio 4's " I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue ". listen to ‘Tony Hawks sings Gangnam Style on BBC Radio 4’ on Audioboo But seriously, for my younger readers, you whippersnappers, you - Radio 4 isn't all Shipping Forecasts, The Archers and Women's Hour.  Have a scroll through their schedule and tune into great shows such as The News Quiz (gotta love a bit of Sandy Toksvig), Just A Minute and The Now Show.  I'm sure you can even set up your BBC iPlayer with reminders or downloads.  Enjoy! In other news, I've just been told it's my TwBirthday.  FOUR YEARS ON TWITTER! And apparently my Godfather is Stephen Fry (hit the image to see my TwBirthday page).  Which means that I can regale this 'conversation' again... probably  ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ PS... If you're not used to reading Twitter conversatio...

It's like the Invasion of the Cuddly Toys here... and they've all crowded into a photo booth for some mash-your-heads-together-and-grin-like-mad shots!  Maybe I should have used one of these images for a "caption this" type post. They look a bit creepy in these photos but they are cute really. The hedgehog squeaks, the hare is really soft and cuddly and the horse is a glove puppet!  So cool! Ikea sent me these furry friends to shove in the grandchildren's stockings on Christmas Eve in return for telling you about their new soft toy range  which has plenty of choice, including loads at £5 and below.  For every toy bought in this range, 1 € will be donated to their soft toy campaign .   I  have decided that I now want ALL the finger puppets and may have to go and visit Ikea for the very first time to pick some up along with some of the famous Ikea meatballs.  Yes, you read that right.  I must be the only person in the UK that...

Firstly, if you've got an idea and you want to market it maybe run it by a targeted focus group first.  Not your mates and your mum who are going to pat you on the hand and tell you that you've done a good job.  OK, I'm an aged grandmother.  What the fuck do I know?  Oh yeah, I've actually raised three children and they're all still alive.  They may not have been though if I'd have used one of these: screenshot from the website Don't even expect me to link to this shit because I ain't.  The name is there and I'm sure you're brilliant at Googling.  Anyway, this contraption - a "bottle bib" - is designed to allow babies to have their bottle unaided so that you can get on with the ironing and cleaning because (and I quote) " holding a bottle for up to an hour [..] for months on end [..] is so frustrating ".  It is aimed at babies of three months and over and, in my opinion, is exactly the same as laying a baby up on t...

I am featuring Steve on  Soundtrack To My Life this week.  Our paths crossed a few years back through some Filofax chat but we later on we both discovered that we have been involved in amateur radio.  It's a small world! Steve opens with an explanation that his musical taste is rooted in the early to mid 1970's when he was still at secondary school but he listens to music from all eras.  He has asked if he can do another Soundtrack To My Life in the future and he is very welcome, as is everyone else (the link to the form is at the bottom of this post).  As most of Steve's chosen tracks are guitar-heavy, I've tried to find live versions of the songs. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years This track takes me back to when I was still at school in about 1974-75, I was supposed to be revising for my O levels, instead I was trying to perfect the lead guitar solos on this track.. I got quite close but not note perfect!  I love all of Steely Dan...

As the cold winds begin to blow and the dark nights draw in, it’s easy to feel inclined to seek shelter and draw the curtains on the rest of the world. But the winter months are a truly beautiful time of year and there are plenty of unique events and happenings to take advantage of. As such, button up your coat; pull on a warm hat and the hit the road with our guide to surviving the winter months.  Get into the Christmas spirit  The first half of winter is the most enjoyable for many people for the simple reason that it’s got a huge silver lining – Christmas is coming. No matter how much of a Scrooge you are, you’ll inevitably find there is something to love about the festive season.  Don’t grumble and make things hard on yourself, throw yourself into the Christmas spirit. Shop for gifts early to avoid last minute stress, make plans with friends and family that involve plenty of good food and merriment, and install plenty of decorations to really get into the...

Not so long ago I watched a video which was a compilation of mums shouting loud and proud about their achievements and what they were good at.  About two-thirds of the way the video   thorough ( this link starts at the right place ) one of my favourite bloggers and tweeters popped up and said something along the lines of: "IF IT'S NOT IN THE BOOK, IT'S NOT HAPPENING" and told us all how fabulous she was at organising.  As she thumped that book, we believed her!  People wanting to know how The Book worked but Tanya kept her mouth shut and didn't share. Until now. I'm dead proud when a mate of mine launches something that I believe in and Tanya's done just that.  She's taken her Book idea and gone public and called it  Dotty Diary ! The system is so simple yet I know it works well as I've been using a similar diary/notebook idea at work for the last seven years with my BOAT ( Book Of All Things ).  Tanya sent me the full system (A...

There's something enormously special about reading a book; being led into a world that you didn't know existed.  Tempted by the words someone else has written and becoming completely and utterly enveloped in where the story is going to take you next. When my favourite books are developed into films, I become twitchy.  I have already created my own image of the characters in my head and there is usually no way that all the details can be encaptured in the recommended length of a film.  It can happen in reverse too.   One of the best films ever  is based on  a book  which I hunted down and was very disappointed in.  But that is the nature of storytelling, isn't it?  We all have different ways of presenting our ideas to our audience.   None of my children have ever really read for pleasure.  Not in the way I do, anyway.  They learnt to read and write as normal, books were always made available to them along with library mem...

Here's a cute little home-made Filofax marker that I found whilst using StumbleUpon ages and ages ago. Get a friend to donate some coloured paperclips (thanks Mel!) Bend them in half  (practice with some boring silver ones as it may take a couple of  attempts to work out which way to bend them) Attach to Filofax and use as a page marker or to clip papers to a page in your diary Oh and for anyone asking the quote on the front page of my Filofax is: "However the world treats you, don't let it change the way you treat the world" Sarah Brown PS.  Would you like a tour of my Filofaxes?  I'm thinking of filming a walkthrough of my personal organisations systems on YouTube.  If it's a popular idea, I'll pull something together.  Let me know! Related post:   How to use StumbleUpon - on Geekalicious

Kate warned me that there would be another Listography along soon.  When I read it and saw she'd cheated slightly I realised that I had to incorporate it into a Soundtrack To My Life entry for many reasons.  She has stolen the idea from a Guardian music section feature called Six Songs Of Me so it breaks the Rule Of Five that we both have for our features but as one is an 'encore' I'll let it go this time.  Feel free to join in at Kate's  or here in the comments.  Normal Soundtrack To My Life service will resume next week. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ What was the first song you ever bought? The first song that I bought was Planet Earth by Duran Duran .  I remember saving up my pocket money and going to Woolworths with my dad and my sister (she chose Shakin' Stevens, This Ole' House).  It was 1981 and it was the start of a beautiful love affair that continues until today. [popout: http://youtu.be/8NF6Qa84mno ] What song always gets you dancing? Wow,...

Blognonymous started out as a place for bloggers to let off steam away from their own blog.  It has evolved since then and we've had almost every subject matter you can think of, including some posts from non-bloggers too.  This post is a definite "WWYD?" question and the author would love your input.   When commenting, if you prefer to remain anonymous when commenting please sign out of Disqus (if you have used it before), write your comment, click "Post as..." and you will see "guest" appear as an option. If you would like to contact any of the Blognonymous team please click on the Blognonymous image  for more details. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Sigh. I am feeling really down tonight. The reason? Family. I feel like I'm getting to the point where I need to either let out a very loud scream, start stirring things up and opening eyes, or just cutting some contact. I'm getting tired of trying to keep the peace. On top of my oth...

It seems like such a long time since I posted any pictures up for The Gallery but seeing as though this week's theme is The 80's I would have been a FOOL not to join in. Firstly, I thought I'd deliberately misunderstand the theme and post this picture of my great-Grandfather celebrating his 82nd birthday.  It was actually the 1980's (just) but I knew that Tara would be HUGELY disappointed if I didn't post some rather more embarrassing pictures. What I find really fascinating about looking through old photographs is the choice of content for the images.  I don't know what your parent's photo albums are like but mine are all of family parties, holidays, scenery, very special occasions and people holding babies.  Cameras and film were expensive and you had to choose your moment carefully.  Twenty-four chances at a memory (with a four or ten slot-on flashbulb) wasn't to be wasted. I know that a number of people are expecting hideous photographs of ...

I am from a certain era where hearing a very special theme tune meant that I could watch crazy people trying to be the shortest, the tallest the strongest, the fastest... anything to appear in the book that everyone wanted for Christmas - The Guinness World Records book.  So imagine my delight when I was invited to attend a special event to introduce the 2013 Guinness World Records book (and some of its new and unique features) down in London. The day started with two excited 13 year old boys, a cancelled train, a mercy dash in the car to Preston station, a first class journey to London, the introduction of the London Underground to the two excited 13 year olds, a day of trying to become a record breaker and then some sightseeing around London. The promotions team for Guinness World Records were introducing their augmented reality feature in the new book which you can see in action here (filmed live on the day - video provided by Guinness World Records ): ...

I have added another Filofax to the ever-growing collection .  This time I am trialing a  Filofax Classic Botanics personal organiser  (in Sage) .  It's a "compact" Filofax which means that the rings are only 15mm in diameter instead of (what now feels a very generous) 23mm in my other organisers.  However it's a timely trial as I'm currently carrying two diaries around (personal and work) and my attempt to merge the two didn't work effectively.   I am going to start using a slimmed down diary section (maximum three months as suggested by Steve from Philofaxy ), a few personal sections with information I need from day to day and a 'scribbling' section instead of carrying a small notebook around with me.   However, even though I am a traditionalist, I hardly ever use the A-Z tabbed inserts that are provided with every Filofax.  I have all my telephone numbers stored in my phone and the amount of addresses that I need to remember can be...

This week, Soundtrack To My Life comes from Dean.  Dean is the first professional male Antenatal Educator in the UK and has built up an amazing concept which empowers men and gives them the tools to become supportive and interactive birth coaches, dads and partners.  Here are Dean's musical choices. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes Steph and myself met at the Leadership Trust on residential management course. We got on well but by the end of week I had already fallen in love with her. We didn't live far from each other so agreed to drive back following each other and stop for lunch on the way. I got her to pull over about 10 minutes in to the journey and gave her an album, told her which track to play and then got back in to my car. The rest is history, we moved in with each other six weeks later and our little boy was born a year and two weeks after we first met. We got married a couple of weeks ago; Steph walked up the aisle to this song and it was our firs...