Typecast

I try to balance the content of this blog with content that is worth reading. Any article that I have been paid to produce or publish is clearly disclosed and is only commissioned if relevant to the theme of this blog. I would say that approximately only 1 in 20 posts have any type of promotional material in them.  A huge bone of contention with bloggers is having the placement of  'sponsored content' undervalued after we have worked hard to build an audience and continuously engage with them *whispers* s ome of us have been at this for years. Therefore, if an agent is approaching any blogger they must believe that they are going to add value to the reach of the proposed article/embedded links. So... *deep breath* if someone emails me to ask if they can place their client's article on my website and it's been established that I they have budget to pay for this, I am completely within my right to be totally fucked off if they offer me 10% of my quoted rat...

Things That Are Wrong With The World #1 : Bodyshaming.  And even moreso, bodyshaming the singer, Pink!. I'd fucking LOVE a body (and hair) like hers - and I'm sure my husband would too!  Is there a perfect body size and shape? If so, can someone please tell me what it is and then I can sort myself out and make sure I'm harming anyone's eyesight as I walk down the street. Anyway... if anyone could give a lesson in shutting down the body-shamers, it's Pink. ( original Facebook picture | original tweet ) Things That Are Wrong With The World #2 : Death threats after a made-up news story that lead to people having to take time away from Twitter. ESPECIALLY when it's over fucking Top Gear. Speculation last Friday saw Sue Perkins as "one of the favourites" to take over the main presenting role on a programme that probably isn't even going to continue in it's original guise - this has since lead to Twitter Trolls wishing her dead for some str...

Whenever I see Michael Parkinson on *that* life insurance advert he makes me want to ram the Parker pen right up his arse. He mentions that people ask him what his most favourite interview is and he's very reluctant to answer however, if you ask him who his 'worst interviewee' was then he doesn't hold back in saying "Meg Ryan". And we all remember The Worse Ever Interview In The History Of Interviews With Meg Ryan, don't we? Or do we? Why don't you rewatch it ? You back?  Ok then... Everything seems hunky dory until about 2 minutes in.  I don't see much awkwardness apart from a little bit of closed body language which indicates nervousness.  Ryan seems amiable, is engaged in the conversation and quite humorous.  Then Lord Michael of Parkinson attempts to engage her in a conversation that would see her discrediting journalists (for which he is one and we find out that she trained as one, but never graduated)...

Nothing funny/unusual/dangerous/exciting/interesting ( delete as appropriate ) is happening so there's not much blog fodder about at the moment.  There's plenty going on with the "Usual Subjects" [sic] :  Grandchildren, Allotment, Shit Happens, Rants... so here's a quick run-down. We went down to the allotment and took the puppy down for the first time at the weekend.  I also picked up Amie-Leigh and took her for the first time.  Yes, on a number of occasions I did think I was mad too. There's not a lot going at the allotment at the moment - lots of building fences and sheds but not a lot of planting preparation.  It's a bit cold at the moment so we haven't put the new planting beds in yet. Oh, and we lost the greenhouse in the bad winds earlier in the year.  Still there was a great stage shed base for Amie to jump around on, some chickens to discover and lots of muddy puddles for her to jump in.  Yes, her mummy loved me when I took her hom...

If you're not keen on reading another rant from me then click that little red cross in the right hand corner of the screen.  Maybe I'm over-reacting again but if anyone wants to make judgment on my children then they have me to answer to.

Time for a mini-rant. I can't seem to read a British newspaper without being faced with stories about glorified prostitutes shagging very famous married blokes.  In turn, these very famous blokes then get a bit scared about their fame and fortune being threatened so slap a gagging order on the prostitute to stop her selling her story.  Said prostitute manages to employ the services of one very renown PR consultant who encourages the sale of "teasers" to the papers.

Words are powerful tools.  I've discovered that since I started blogging.  I also have discovered how difficult it is to order them correctly since I started experimenting with different styles of writing.  Your words could have a massive influence on someone's life - whether that be positive or negative. Similarly, in every day life, when speaking to other people why shouldn't you think before you speak?  Yes, there are ways of being witty, sarcastic, clever, thoughtful... but what about using expressions that will stay with someone for the rest of their lives? When I found out that my daughter had cancer , an aunt of mine said that " it was God's way of testing her ".   Huh?!  Say what?  Jesus wept!!!  ( yes, I realise the irony there ) To this day I have no idea why she said that (other than being a devout Catholic and an unquestioning believer in her faith, for which I have some respect).  And because of her age and position...