Keeping the Apostrophe

So will this blog last if SOPA gets through?

Or ACTA?

Tomorrow at midday, Ireland and the UK will be signing a bill called ACTA in Tokyo. It's basically like SOPA, but even worse. Like everyone else on the internet, especially those my age, I'm freaking out. I usually download all my music from iTunes (yes, with money and everything) but, regarding here, I'm not really sure what is copyright and what isn't. What if I've accidentally done something on Apostrophe and I didn't know? And then all of a sudden, it's gone? The whole blog?

That would be really annoying.

I've signed all the petitions! At the bottom of this blog, it says 'Copyright 2009 - 2012 Eleanor Roscuro (unless otherwise stated). All rights reserved.' Maybe that's illegal! I have no idea! OK, so maybe as a person on the internet, I should be more savvy about these things, but it was always so hard to believe I was doing anything wrong. I'm so small. And I've been running this blog for more than two years.

I don't know. And this will affect the rest of the European Union too, it's their bill.

Eeek.

Eleanor Roscuro

P.S. I'M FREAKING OUT YOU GUYS

WTF - Tumblr Cliches

So I was drifting around on Tumblr and as you find things, I came across this GIF. GIFs don't usually make me uncomfortable, but this does.

The blonde on the left is supposed to be the type of girl who makes brunette over here on the right's life a misery, with her shallow obsession with beauty, fashion, make-up and whatever these girls are obsessed with, and who alienates brunette who is obsessed with such sensible things as Harry Potter, Pokemon, Converse, pizza and Tumblr.

Since most of my posts lately have consisted of lists, I will try to articulate my opinion of this GIF in a list.

Reasons Why I Think Brunette On The Right Is Just As Shallow As She Is Trying To Make Out That Blonde On The Left Is:


~ Brunette believes that just because she likes things that are much different to what Blonde likes, or to put it another way, inhabits a subculture a little different to her peers, that she is better than them. She'll never come out and say that she is better, but instead spout out cliched statements like 'I'd rather be sitting at home on a Friday night reading Harry Potter than get drunk and drop the paw' regularly. She believes that the qualities and characteristics she possesses are rare, rather than being just a less common cliche. She also gives the impression that she is under tremendous pressure (usually from school) to become a 'normal' girl - see Blonde on the left - but she doesn't realise that there aren't any normal girls, and Brunette's image is just as fake as Blonde's. Everyone's got stuff. Brunette shouldn't look down on Blonde, because perhaps if they sat down and talked for a little while they might find that they've got a lot in common.

~ Also, one of the things in the Brunette's thought bubble is Nutella. What? If Brunette just sits around and thinks about Nutella all day, then maybe she is as vapid as she believes Blonde is.

Oh, I didn't need a full list after all. That's good.

Now, to those who read and comment on Apostrophe, I know you are all articulate, intelligent, astonishingly attractive and very nice people.

Sorry, I've forgotten my point. Oh, I know! You're all nice! Just saying.

Eleanor Roscuro

WTF - Finding A Safety Net

A few days in school, we were doing Safety on the Internet. The class was shown a video on the topic by a British company called Athena Entertainment, if I remember correctly, titled 'Safety Net'. At the start they introduced a number of teenage and college age characters who all explained the different ways they used the internet. The last character to be introduced was a young man named 'Will'. He was bespectacled, but not in a God Wan way. He was dressed from the waist up in a beige jacket zipped almost up to the chin. The very first line he uttered was 'I have four computers at home - that makes me a bit of a geek I suppose.' And my mouth dropped open.

FOUR computers? Unattractive glasses? Unfashionable clothing? The name 'Will'? The term 'geek'?

'That makes me a bit of a geek I suppose' Will says! Will, a fictitious character, a caricature of nerddom and geekhood by Athena Entertainment.

How dare they! How very dare they lie to young impressionable teenagers and say that ALL geeks are male, ALL geeks a genius at computers, ALL geeks are visually impaired, ALL geeks don't dress fashionably? Through this unfortunate character and informative video, Athena Entertainment have further cemented hat stereotype and given us a bad name. I say 'us' because I too consider - Actually, I don't, because no one uses  the word 'geek' outside of America. Rookie mistake Athena Entertainment! Anyway, I say 'us' becauI se I too identify myself as a nerd, I suppose I'll call it that. But how can I? I'm a girl! I have good vision! I know how to dress! (Well, kind of. I mean... never mind.) I don't even know how to write code! Yet! Well, I'm so, so, SORRY that I'm not geek or nerd or whatever enough for the executives in pinstripe suits of Athena Entertainment!

Rant over.

Eleanor Roscuro

Busting Easter Boredom

So. It's the Easter Holidays, you've already eaten all your Easter eggs and been to Mass, and you're bored out of your brains. Well, let me tell you something - PATHETIC! If you're bored, you're not trying hard enough. I could just keep on insulting you, but hey, I like you. I'm going to help you get out of your slump, and not waste these valuable weeks out of school. Yes, I know. You're welcome.

Make Food

More specifically, Fruits of the Forest Crumble. It's incredibly easy.

Ingredients - Porridge oats, butter, brown sugar, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.
1: Melt butter. Mix with porridge oats and sugar.
2: Put chopped strawberries and not chopped raspberries and blueberries into two rammakin dishes. You know, the small ones. Good for sharing.
3: Put the porridge oats mixture on top. Bake for twenty, twenty-five minutes.

There you have it. Even I could do it! And I do!

Watch Something On The Internet That's Actually Good (Instead Of Rubbish)

Back in November, I wrote a terrible, terrible poem about an internet sitcom called Vultures. Five months on, the poem is still really bad, but Vultures is still as awesome (to me, anyway). It's about three private detectives who try to run a business in a small Irish town. Please watch it so you can tell me how much you like it and then we can just babble about how great it is together like HJKSDHFGKSFDHDKJHKJHF. It'll be fun.

Stop Staring At Art On The Internet And Make Some Of Your Own

Everyone is good at something. Everyone can be creative. Some people's talents may overlap different art forms, and some people may find it hard to find their niche, but it's there. Go find it. Create something. Then stand back and take it all in, that once, you were able to make this thing, and you did. You won't regret it.

Go On Holidays Where You Live

Wherever you live, in your city or town or village or rock, your family settled there for a reason. Turn into a tourist (annoying the locals is optional, although they may know you in real life) and visit all those beautiful places that you ignore on a daily basis because you think it's embarrassing or you've just never thought about doing it before. You'll see your habitual abode in a different light.

Write Letters

I could say to you that in this high-tech world full of technological hurdy-gurdies no one takes the time to write a simple letter before, but you've probably already heard that a thousand times. But seriously. Write a letter to a celebrity or someone else you admire, to your local representative in parliament to stick up for something, to an old friend or a relative you haven't seen in a while. Emails are good too, but nothing beats that moment when you hear a letter flop onto the mat and you pick it up and run your fingers over your name on the front...

So there you have it. Five absolutely brilliant ways of having a great Easter break. There's no need to thank me, but I will accept your thanks anyway. Be sure to report back to me when you do any of these and tell me how they went. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and write a letter to some friends. I'll see you soon.

Eleanor Roscuro

P.S. Did I write this just to kill time?

Maybe.

STUFF I BE DOIN WI ME LIFE WOT

Yeah... I'm hungry.

Hello.

You may not have realised this yet, but I don't spend all my time on the internet with you. This is what I've been doing with myself this past while. Don't worry, it's all terribly interesting.

1. Being Nostalgic And Kicking Myself: A few weeks ago, I re-read the Roald Dahl books, all of them. I used to read them all the time when I was younger - Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox... But as I was re-reading them recently, I started to notice... things. Things like all the alliteration Dahl used. All the time, with every single character in every single book, everyone is crying 'Great galumphing galizzers!' and it gets very repetitive. And the heroes and heroines, the children, THEY'RE ALL THE SAME. Seriously, there's nothing to distinguish them from each other, which is annoying. And I was reading and noticing these things, and other things too, but I didn't want to notice them. I am older now, and I ruined the Roald Dahl books for me, and it's all my fault. And after realising this I went off and sulked, like the baby I am.

2. Addiction #56: So Tom Milsom joined Tumblr. Yes, you read me correctly. Tom Milsom is now on Tumblr. Amazing, isn't it? Go and join him on his odyssey! (Yes. I did just make a terrible pun, or whatever that was. You're welcome.)

3. Becoming Trendy - Part #375: So a few days ago I came across a new post by Miss Vintage Vixen who I secretly but not very secretly adore, and it was a post about this band. This wonderful band. Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars. It's just...



You know? And the song is relatively simple, almost the same thing over and over again, but when that thing is so good, it doesn't really matter.

4. J'adore l'animation! This film probably won't be screening in my local omniplex, but it will stand the test of time better than whatever CGI 2011 is going to give us. It's called Le Vie un Chat. It's so pretty, and it's a shame that people here aren't buzzing about it. But still. Plus, I want to know more about the life of the cat.




5. Embracing the Force: So yesterday I was drinking some tea and I was shown this ad. There's not really much I can say that hasn't already been said (but still, that could be applied to almost everything, couldn't it? Why am I saying it?) Anyway, this is one of the best examples of child acting I've ever seen. Whatever he does again, his face should not be shown. It just makes it that much better.



Also - what's the Superbowl?

Eleanor Roscuro

Vulture Private/Personal/Professional Investigations

In the fair Irish city Kilkenny,
Three gentlemen detectives reside
Who use their wits and cunning
To solve, and thwart bad guys.

James Vultour, raising Cain,
With socks and sandals too
And Dan McGrain (the man's a saint)
Who's always pointing at Andrew

And we can't forget Niall Tennyson,
Who makes a lovely brew
The sanest guy in V.P.I.
(And he smells lovely too!)

Vulture Private Investigations
Solve mysteries, but these days
They're battling the evil Pinkertons
Led by an elusive Ms Blaise

But never fear, for V.P.I.
Are made of sterner stuff
(Like Tennyson's tea and cigarettes
And maybe Dan's got snuff),

So come and join their motley crew
Of teenage chavs and stoners
Taxi drivers, litter wardens,
But no moaners and groaners!

Vultour, Tennyson and McGrain
The best detectives you'll ever know
 Log on vulturespi.com
And let's enjoy the show!

Whenever I try to write a poem with a rhyming scheme, I fail miserably. So I'm quite proud of that. Yep.

Vultures is a Kilkenny based sitcom about three private detectives, or dicks, running their own agency. Is it any good? Oh yes. Oh yes indeedy. (Well, it's actually bloody brilliant, if you really want to know.) Vultures is the brainchild of two locals, John Morton and Paddy Dunne. (During my escapades with the Red Square Kibosh during the summer - if you don't remember, click here - I ran into John a few times, because he was one of the official Kilkenny Arts Festival bloggers with Ken McGuire. They're both very nice.) It burst onto the internet in late 2007, early 2008, with their first episode entitled The Kris Kringle Konundrum, about the struggles V.P.I. have as they try to buy each other the perfect present for Christmas. Since then, it has grown from strength to strength. There are seven mind-blowingly awesome episodes in this first season (and hopefully not the last...), and the amount of professionalism that's been put in is incredible. The actors are amazing, the characters are unforgettable, and they make little trailers for each episode! And character profiles on their website! And some characters even have their own little websites! And it's just so damn good!

And another reason why I love it is because it's based entirely around Kilkenny, and I recognize streets and places all the time, and it's just so selfishly great to be able to say 'Oh, I was chased there too!' And it's so Irish, and most of my readers are from America (with Ireland coming in a close second) and Americans love Irish things, don't you? Like me! So watch the first episode, The Kris Kringle Konundrum, and if you like it, go to their website and watch the rest! If you don't like it, go to their website and watch the rest!

 (Note - I've only started watching Vultures in the past few months, and so am relatively new to it compared to other viewers. Please excuse any inaccuracies I make. It's my birthday this weekend you know.)

Eleanor Roscuro

The Thing With Twitter

So this is the thing with Twitter.

I joined Twitter in October 2009, around a year ago. I joined because up until then, I didn't do anything on the internet. I just looked up stuff about books. I wasn't on Facebook. I didn't know what a blog was. I was not savvy. I was not savvy. But then I joined Twitter, and, slowly but surely, I learned what a blog was. I made a blog. And you know what happens next, of course.

But lately, I've been trying to live a more minimalist life. Of course, I can't apply that to all aspects of my life, but I'm trying to apply it to my life on the internet. All the time, I'm unfollowing people on Twitter that I don't feel I need to follow. I'm unsubscribing people on YouTube that don't keep my attention, I'm deleting blogs from my reading lists that I don't find interesting, I'm revising my Favourites lists. I do this almost all the time, and the only reason I keep some stuff is because of sentimentality, or because I don't want to upset people I know. (I know this may sound a little silly, but there are some people I would rather avoid confrontation with.) But I was reading the blog of Alex Day a few days ago, a post about the new MacBook Air he's bought himself, and he said:

If it wasn’t for YouTube – and this will be a controversial statement for the people who read this – I really wouldn’t need a computer. I could still use my iPad to check email once a week, but that’s about all. (On the note of that; since I got back from Zambia I’ve been testing only checking/replying to my emails on Mondays and living the rest of my week mail-free, and it’s been wonderful and liberating. Without Twitter, Facebook or anything similar that I have to keep maintained, the only things I need to do online are write blog posts and upload videos, both things I love too much to stop. What I’ve found with the emails is that if something’s important, someone will ring or text me about it within a half hour of sending an email anyway, and if it does take up to a week for me to reply, it really doesn’t matter. I can then spend the rest of the week reading, writing and going out and seeing the world and generally enjoying life. Give it a try :D)


I’m a firm believer in physical surroundings having a massive effect on your mental surroundings. Your mind will be busy and distracted and unfocused if you have a room full of stuff to distract you. I don’t really own much; I have an iPad, a laptop, a phone, a few books, a few DFTBA CDs, my camera and tripod, a guitar, a bass, a uke, six t-shirts, two hoodies, three pairs of jeans, a coat, a pair of slippers, eight pairs of boxers and eight pairs of socks, and that suits me fine. A computer perfectly suited to travel and minimalism is fine for me, since that’s what I want to do with my life. Travel, write, document, enjoy the simple things and have fun :)

I don't have an iPad, but I really don't have a lot of time anymore. And, slowly but surely, I've come to realize that I don't really need Twitter and Facebook. My Twitter is linked up to Facebook, so I don't really post on Facebook anyway. Twitter makes me feel like I'm part of this exclusive club, and I love being in exclusive clubs. If I let go of Twitter and Facebook, I'll have more time. More time for me, and more time for all of you. Besides, if anyone wants me to know something, they can email me. Just for good measure, let's see why Alex deleted his Twitter...

I think that Twitter stifles ambition, because I see people like Tom and Ed who are intensely creative, but spend hours in a row on Twitter. People talk about what a good platform it is for making your voice heard, but I worry that so many people are saying things when they could be busy DOING things. And I haven’t found a way to use Twitter casually without feeling like I’m doing a disservice to the people who follow me. I don’t like doing something unless I’m willing to give it my all.


Hark indeedy. Hark indeedy do.

But another thing is, it takes me weeks to write one post. This means that I had time to think about all that, and time to go on Twitter. And I love Twitter! I want Twitter! Without Twitter, how could I have known that Ken McGuire's set up a new food blog, or that John Green wants some more Swedish hip hop in his music collection? But the thing is... I can be very outspoken. You all know that by now. Like I said, it now takes me weeks to write one single post on Musings. This gives me time to think about what I'm saying more. With Twitter, that is taken away. I know it may seem like I don't really care what I say, and that I don't really care about offending people, but I'm not a robot. I do (sometimes) care about other people's feelings. I do have people in my life that I don't want to hurt, and I'd like to minimise this risk as much as possible, because like I said before, I'm very outspoken. And because of my ability to speak my mind, my parents have said to me that they would very much like it if I stopped going on Twitter and Facebook. I mean, the only reason I'm on Facebook is because of it's Chat feature. I like proper conversations. That's why I don't really like huge social gatherings, because you can't have a proper conversation with somebody. Anyway, is there any other website that is good for chatting to people? What is MSN like?

But about Twitter... I don't want to disobey my parents. They're brilliant people, and I love them very much. And I don't want to go all 'teenage rebellion' on them. But since Twitter is, if I think about it, the key to half of my happiness (the other half is my friends and family and everything that happens to me in real life. The life where I eat. This half is the stuff on the internet.), it's very hard to get rid of that so quickly. And my family don't really know what Twitter is, and I can't really explain it to them in words. Besides they've already made their minds up.

In the last thirty seconds or so I was thinking about this, and I decided that I would leave Twitter alone for a week or so, and see what happens. But since I spend most of my waking hours at school, that really won't make any difference. Then I had the idea of waiting until Lent came around, on Wednesday 9th March 2011, and giving Twitter up for forty days and forty nights, and seeing what happened. It would make much more of an impact then, but of course, I would still be disobeying my parents.

This is another reason why I don't like loving people - because you try to make them happy, at your own cost.

I know this is idiotic. I should be able to just drop Twitter like that. But it's shown me so many things about humanity. (Which of course can be a good and bad thing.) Um...

FINE!!! I'm quitting Twitter! I'll keep you posted on my non Twitter minutes. Go Alex.

Eleanor Roscuro

P.S. SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT! I got my own DFTBA link! This is it - http://dft.ba/-musings
Amazing - after the thousands upon thousands of DFT.BA URLs that have been created, nobody has used musings. But I got there first. Oh yeah.

Do I Deserve These? (Shush Eleanor, Or You'll Have To Return Them!) Ah. Thanks Eleanor. (I Shouldn't Have To Think For You!) You're My Brain. (Oh.)

OK, supermegabumper post coming up! You're welcome. I've been spending days writing this post, so sorry for any delays!

I have won two awards from Ace-Of-Aoife and Ailish, and I have been tagged by Ailish again! Hooray! Thank you very much girls! Now, on to business!

Right, this is the first award...

Nice, isn't it? Anyway, here's some requirements to fulfill... Dum de dum...

Get really excited that you got the coolest award ever!

*cough*Look up!*cough*

Choose one of the following options of accepting the Oh My Blog! award:
(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
(c) Write a “soundtrack of your childhood” post.
(d) Make your next blog a ‘vlog’/video blog where you’re basically talking to the camera about whatever.
(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc) and post it.

Hmm... I think I'll choose (e), although you'll have to wait for tomorrow for a photo!

Pass the award onto at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers and let them know.

Okey-dokey then. Award number two is the Honest Blog Award. Thanks Ailish! Seems I have to answer these questions and then award six other honest bloggers. Alrighty.

Share one thing no one knows about you.

Hmm... I know! I don't tell anybody anything. I keep my cards very, very close to my chest. So there are lots of things no one knows about me, and that thing I just said is one thing. But now you know it. So it isn't valid. Why am I dissecting this question so much?

What is your biggest regret in life? (Hello, everyone has regrets!)

My biggest regret... is not stepping up to the plate when I should have, and putting away my pride, in order to help someone. It still haunts me.

Have you ever been jealous of someone else's blog page and why?

Oh, plenty of times! Most of the time it's just because they have such good relationships with their readers. I hope I get some of those relationships someday...

What would you do for $1000?

Take it.

What secretly makes you happy? (Money? Kids? Porn? Sunshine?)

What secretly makes me happy... If I told you that, then I would be openly enjoying it, and that wouldn't be fair, would it? (I know I'm not being quite frank answering these questions, I just don't want to be so truthful on the Internet, when it can upset a lot of people. Plus, a girl needs secrets.)

If you could go back in time, would you still pick the person you are with right now? And why?

Well, I'm not with anyone right now, except in my dreams... But I never planned to pick them, ever. And even if I could go back in time, I wouldn't pick them, but I would still fall in love with them, because I'd still be me, and I can't change that. Space-time continuum and stuff.

What do you like or dislike most about my blog page?

...I dislike how much I like your blog, Ailish, because I want to answer this question properly. Oh well. Let's try the next one!

If you could take a trip anywhere, who would you take with you?

I'd go to New York, and I'd take EVERYONE in Kilkenny Youth Theatre .(Inside joke time!) Including Anna, Keith and Ronan. (End of inside joke time.)

And now, the tag! This will be fun! OK, here are the rules...

1. Set your iPod or MP3 on shuffle.
2. Hit the next song button, and whatever it "lands" on is the answer to the question you were asked.
3. Laugh out loud at the answers.
4. Tag six people.

Are you male or female?

Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy - Glen Hansard (:D)

What do people feel when they're around you?

Careful - Paramore (They should be! I'm very clumsy. I slipped three times yesterdayday!)

Describe your current relationship.

I'm Not Calling You A Liar - Florence & The Machine (So, in denial? Or in defense?)

Where would you like to be right now?

Kiss And Tell - Alexander Rybak

How do you feel about love?

I Gave You All - Mumford & Sons (Hmm... Feeling resentful today?)

What's your life like?

Viva la Vida - Coldplay

What would you wish for if you only had one wish?

Tremble For My Beloved - Mutemath (So, a beloved to tremble for?)

Say something wise.

If You Want Me - Marketa Irglova

How would you describe yourself?

Hot and Cold - Katy Perry

What is your life's purpose?

Alone - Glee cast feat. Kristen Chenoweth (Celine Dion cover. And how depressing is that prediction!)

What is your motto?

Brendan & The Secret Of Kells - Bruno Coulais and Kila (OK...)

What do your friends think of you?

Cops and Robbers - The Hoosiers (I never knew I was such a bad influence!)

What do you think of your parents?

Seven Nation Army - Vyvienne Long (Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover)

What do you think of very often?

Mad About The Boy - Ava

What is 2 + 2?

The Monks - Bruno Coulais and Kila

What do you think of your best friend?

MK Ultra - Muse (...Right then.)

What is your life story?

Heavy Cross - The Gossip (It's a cruel, cruel world...)

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Howl - Florence & The Machine

What will you dance to at your wedding?

Hurricane Drunk - Florence & The Machine

What will they play at your funeral?

Gold Digger - Glee cast (Kanye West cover)

What is your hobby/interest?

Girl With One Eye - Florence & The Machine (Wow, there's a lot of Flo here, isn't it?)

What is your biggest fear?

Let The Flames Begin - Paramore (Yeah, arson isn't really on my Happy List...)

What is your biggest secret?

Just Dance - Maximo Park (Lady Gaga cover)

What do you think of your friends?

Hello, Brooklyn - All Time Low

What will you repost this as?

Candy - Paolo Nutini

Wow. How random. And now I have to award/tag six people!

.{Miss Vintage Vixen.}

The Soap Opera Experiment

A Wallflower's Words

Not Another Love Song

Dirty Kisses + Filthy Lies

Daydream Believer

Ladies, you can accept either award, and the tag if you wish. I love sowing seeds of confusion!

High-Fives,

EleanorLight

Dum Dum Dum... Oh? What's This?

I am quite contented this minute. It's the sort of state book characters are in before their life changes unexpectedly. Perhaps their parents will die, or they will win the lottery, or they will move house, or a mysterious man will post them a mysterious letter... OK, it's the next minute now, and nothing's happened yet, so I'm going to get on with this post. The ice-cream deserving Snaily has given me an award! Hooray! (Ice-cream deserving... I have created a new term of praise. I am now a literary GOD!)

Aha! There are requirements I must fulfill! Onwards, keyboard!

*Display this award in some way on your blog.

'cough' 'Look up!' 'cough'

*Name seventeen of your favourite random things.

1. Being right.
2. Winning arguments.
3. Making pancakes.
4. Getting blog awards.
5. Hammocks.
6. My Sergeant Pepper/Kasabian's Empire video jacket.
7. Horrible Histories.
8. Tea (milk and two sugars please!).
9. Being sarcastic.
10. Discovering a new band, and loving it.
11. Movie soundtracks.
12. Eargasms! (A term invented - I think... - by a writer from PTS. Apparently they are 'ORGASMS in your EARS!' It's part of his music reviews.)
13. Being right and winning arguments.
14. Swimming in the sea.
15. My iPod, with it's Paperchase cover.
16. My blue and yellow Bershka headphones.
17. Headbanging.

*Award four of your favourite random bloggers.

I think I'm sensing a pattern here, with this randomness thing... Anyway, these are four of my favourite random bloggers, so picked because they don't seem to fit into a genre all the time, such as fashion blogging or music blogging. Like mine!

.{Miss Vintage Vixen}.

Lauri Angel on the condition that she accepts that she IS good enough to accept my awards, because that's two now. And you are good enough. OK? And post something about your Irish Student Press article, (Yes, you are right people, that is a national newspaper!) because that was cool.

Annalee McGarry

Ace-of-Aoife

High-Fives,

EleanorLight

Just Enjoy The Show...

So there I was, drafting a post, when I decide to go on to Musings, to check for comments and see if anything needs to be fixed, when I found a comment from Ariella, saying that she had made her own blog award, and I was one of the first recipients! After whooping and running around a bit, I sat down and started fulfilling the requirements. Which is what I'm doing now. OK, I have to post 'the weirdest picture that you've ever seen or taken' and since I don't really take photos that are weird (I never get the opportunity...) here's the weirdest photo I have ever seen...

I didn't take this, but I was still present when this was taken. But that doesn't matter. Look at that arm! Oh, and SGuitar is there too, in the middle. He's quite new to blogging, so give him a read! Yep, this is what Kilkenny Youth Theatre do in their spare time... Told you we were awesome.

And now I have to answer questions.

*Have you ever used Photoshop?

No, but I have used Picasa. I can't make photos the size I want them to for PTS posts though, which is really annoying! (PTS is for another post, dearies...)

*Have you ever wanted to kill your camera because you couldn't get the perfect picture?

Many, many times. But I dropped it in the snow a few months ago, and now parts of it don't work right, and it makes me sad. And it's really frustrating.

*Have you ever taken a picture from the top of a very steep hill or a cliff?

I try not to go near the tops of very steep hills and cliffs.

And now I have to give the award to eight other people...

Lauri Angel

Thunder + Threads

Music and Life

Style Rookie

.{Miss Vintage Vixen}.

MessyCarla: A Fashion Blog In A Size Sixteen

Annalee McGarry

Dirty Kisses + Filthy Lies

High-Fives,

EleanorLight

Three Blogs You Really Must Follow - Apart From Mine, Of Course.

Like the new look? The people behind Blogger have done an excellent job with the new Template Designer. You can even get three columns! I used to spend hours looking for the PERFECT TEMPLATE, and messing around with HTML, and then it wouldn't work and I'd be sad. So I'm glad they've introduced this.

Oh yeah! The point of this post! Well, here they are, after long and careful consideration from my Dashboard... (Please note that this is in NO PARTICULAR ORDER. OK? Good.)

*.{Miss Vintage Vixen}.

This was one of the first blogs I ever read, and my first one to love. Miss Vintage Vixen is spunky, witty, and completely fabulous! Twas also from her that I found my love for photography. I even interviewed her back in March as an Inspiro-Girl!

*Messy Carla: A Fashion Blog In A Size Sixteen

I found Messy Carla from her interview with Lisa Clark, and she seemed so happy and bubbly that I logged on to her blog immediately, and it didn't disappoint. Her blog is just so much fun to read, and the looks she puts together rock!

*Thunder + Threads

I found Leanne's blog, Thunder + Threads from a feature in Kiss magazine. It's just so... cosmopolitan? And she's just seventeen! Well, it's older than I am anyway... But this is one of the best fashion blogs I have ever come across!

Now, I want your recommendations! If you think there's any blog I'd enjoy reading, put it in the comments!

High-Fives,

EleanorLight

Now Then, My Dears...

I've been blogging for eight months now (EIGHT MONTHS! I feel so old...) and one thing that really bugs me is something that I'm going to tell you not to do, because I care about you, and I don't want you to be annoying other people. Like me. Not that you would of course, no way. You must be nice people, you read Musings. Oh God, I'm babbling again.

Don't follow someone's blog just to get followers.

What happens with me is, people start following Musings, and then I check out their blogs, and I say 'Oh, I like this!' So I start following them. But after a few posts, I realise I don't really like their voice after all, because it takes me a while to figure out if I like a blog or not, and I am EXTREMELY picky. So I then unfollow a blog, and then they unfollow me, for the mere reason that I'm not following them anymore. I know that you may think I'm being fickle, by changing my mind when I'm already following them, but they should be reading this blog because they like it, not just because they want to get more readers for their own blog. It's really annoying, and unfair. Gah! It's nice to know that I have some nice readers here. Plus three people who I know IN ACTUAL REAL LIFE. Yes, REAL life. The one that I eat in. So... thanks then. Oh, I should make that better.

Thank You Everyone, For Reading My Blog, And Commenting, And Tagging Me, And Giving Me Awards, And For Being Really, Really NICE! I Now Award You All With This Emoticon From Me:

:)

So... thanks then.

High-Fives,

EleanorLight

Sigh.

Wow. That sigh is depressing. Like me. Until... I won a blog award! I'm so happy! It's from XxLadyBugxX who you should check out. Yippee! Anyway, you have to nominate around six other blogs, so the Blogongs go to...

Amii-Louise from Hello Fascination

Indigo from Indigo

Leanne from Thunder + Threads

Snaily from Hello, I've Missed You Quite Terribly

Ariella from My Life Between The Lockers

Cherry Diva from Cherry Diva Hideout

High-Fives,

EleanorLight

Tag! You're It!

I've been tagged by Indigo and Amii-Louise! For Indigo, I have to say seven things about myself, and tag seven people, and for Amii-Louise, I have to say one hundred things I love and tag three people! ...OK, here goes!

About Me:

• When I was ten, my brother married our neighbour. I was the priest.
  
• A year later, I was the divorce lawyer for my brother's wife.
  
• When I read The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne when I was ten, I couldn't work out if Bruno and Shumuel had died or not until my older and wiser cousin told me.
  
• My lifelong ambition is to climb a tree, like in The Secret Garden or Tom Sawyer.
  
• I have attended two special schools.
  
• I MET DEREK LANDY!!!!
  
• AND DARREN SHAN!!!!
  

And now, things I love:

1. Derek Landy.


2. Darren Shan.


3. The Book Centre.


4. My iPod.


5. My Bershka headphones.


6. Dairy Milk chocolate.


7. Tea, with milk and sugar.


8. Harry Potter.


9. Stationary.


10. Blogging.


11. Reading other people's blogs.


12. Being tagged. (!)


13. Paramore.


14. Severus Snape.


15. Gossip Girl.


16. Killinaskully.


17. Books.


18. Audrey Hepburn.


19. Acting.


20. Hammocks.


21. Sunny days.


22. Gel pens.


23. Jeans.


24. Converse.


25. Facebook.


26. Paolo Nutini.


27. Being a kid.


28. Funny shaped clouds.


29. Blackadder The Third.


30. Father Ted.


31. Originality.


32. Musings of an Undiscovered Genius. (!)


33. Blogger.


34. Lindt Easter Bunnies.


35. Hockey.


36. Magic...


37. Broomsticks.


38. Ireland.


39. London.


40. Paris.


41. New York.


42. Brown Thomas.


43. HMV.


44. My laptop.


45. Hugs!


46. Teen Vogue.


47. Kiss Magazine.


48. Paperchase


49. JASPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Inside joke...)


50. Miss Vintage Vixen.


51. Saturdays.


52. Twitter.


53. Lady Gaga.


54. Florence & The Machine.


55. iTunes.


56. Guitar Hero: World Tour.


57. Prom dresses.


58. Dying my hair.


59. Being in love. (!)


60. Ice-skating.


61. The Simpsons.


62. Singing.


63. Singing tunelessly.


64. Coca-Cola.


65. The Internet.


66. GossipGirl.net.


67. All Time Low.


68. Zumo's.


69. Kilkenny.


70. Youtube.


71. Wikipedia.


72. Blowing bubbles.


73. Pink Lady apples.


74. Haribo's.


75. Red.


76. Friends.


77. Music.


78. Black.


79. Blue.


80. Potter Puppet Pals.


81. Movies.


82. Milk.


83. America.


84. Love.


85. Life.


86. My phone.


87. Flowers.


88. Saoirse Ronan.


89. Alice Cullen.


90. Guitars.


91. Popcorn.


92. Funfairs.


93. Candyfloss.


94. The sea.


95. Swimming.


96. Sand between your toes!


97. My hair.


98. Glass.


99. Hats.


100. Me!
     

Phew! And now I hereby tag:

Aoife from Ace-Of-Aoife

LadyBug from fascination of all things random

SGuitar from Music and Life

Effy from Razzler Dazzler

Cherry Diva from Cherry Diva Hideout

Roxie Sweetheart from Roxie Sweetheart Girls Love

Annalee McGarry from Annalee McGarry

KittyPinkStars from KiTTYPiNKSTaRS

Ariella from My Life Between The Lockers

Natasha-Rose from Je Ne Sais Quoi

High-Fives,

EleanorLight

Inspiro-Girls - Miss Vintage Vixen

Miss Vintage Vixen is my favourite blogger ever. Fact.

Miss Vintage Vixen is witty, glamorous, kooky, fun, and gosh-darn fabulous! Plus, she calls everyone cupcakes. That officially seals the deal for me.

Come say hi, you'll fall in love, I promise!

*Describe yourself in five words.

Comeback-clever, SHORT, nerdy, naive and spunky. {Here, watch me cheat, I'll add another one: I'm famous for being emotional.}

*Your blog is fabulous! What's it about and what inspired you to set it up?

Well, the truth sets you free {apparently}, so I'll be truthful: I was so incredibly mad when I was on vacation with my family. It was two in the morning, and everyone in the cramped hotel room was asleep, but I was awake, my laptop was on, and I was watching old reruns of The Nanny on TV. I was mad at my family because I felt they didn't understand me, or didn't respect what I wanted to do with my life, so I decided to write about it in a blog post of a blog I already had. But I knew that many people I knew already read that blog, so I made up a new one. I talked about how I was a great debater, how I never dropped a subject, and I was mad at the world, and my parents. Slowly, it became a place where I ranted and discovered new addictions, like my love for vintage, photography, and apparently now, music.

{Not that I'm a musician or anything. Just listen to me sing - I sound like a dying orca whale.}

*If you could return to a specific era, what would it be and why?

If I could return to 6th grade, the era when I was first in love, I would, but this time, I would most definitely change up my attitude. Ever hear the phrase 'Play hard to get'? I took that advice to the extreme... almost to the point where I denied to even speak to the guy. Only when he spoke to me was I nice. I felt like if I laughed louder, danced in the halls, and was not afraid to do what I felt like doing, I could have maybe, just maybe, impressed everyone else. I wanted everyone to know that there WAS a person in the planet who was intelligent, and crazy, and klutzy, and studious, and rhythmic, and that was me.

*What do you love most about being a girl in the world?

The thing that I love most about being a girl... well, I love a lot of things about being a girl over a boy, but the thing that I love most about being a girl over a boy is that I can cry whenever I want without being called 'gay' or sissy. I like to cry... a lot. I like to watch movies to cry, I cry because of a depressing song I heard on the radio, I cry because I hear people yelling at each other, I cry because someone who was probably a huge idiot on the Hollywood scene died, I cry because I won an award, I cry because the world is going to end someday, I cry, and nobody seems to mind. Girls understand.

*What five songs would be essential to a Miss VV soundtrack?

Yes, what an excellent question? Okay, if there were a soundtrack to my life, I want it to be upbeat... even though there are many other songs that I love that are slow and depressing, like Coldplay. But the top five songs that I would most definitely pick for a soundtrack of me, they would be:

• Crazy In Love - Beyonce {Why? Oh, that song has been my song since it first came out in 2003!}
• The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson {Why? Sweetest song ever written, and it's so true, as well!}
• Flashing Lights - Kanye West {The one song in Miss Vintage Vixen history that was SO GOOD, that I replayed it 30 times on my iPod, and danced to it while driving in the car, on my way up to Big Bear}
• Nothing On You - B.O.B.
• Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson {The one song on the planet that I will never ever ever ever ever ever ever get tired of.}

*What's your motto for life?

You know, it's kind of creepy how coincidental this is... I was *just* talking with my best friend over Facebook, and she asked me what my motto in life was, and I told her I didn't have one. And right after that I got a post-it note and wrote on it: "Find a motto for life". And it's hanging right on my computer screen, as I write this.

*Quick-fire round! Your favourite... Book/Food/Movie/Shop/Website/City/Activity?

• BOOK! Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban {or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}
• FOOD! Lasagna {I figured chocolate didn't count as a solid food}
• MOVIE! The Perfect Man
• SHOP! Charlotte Russe
• WEBSITE! Tumblr.com
• CITY! Chula Vista, baberz. Haven't been to New York City yet, so I can't differ!
• ACTIVITY! Reading... most definitely. And I'm not even being cliche.

*The colour pink, discuss.

Oh, the colour pink. What a controversial colour. Well, the colour pink for me is not something I count as symbolic {you know, for girls}, but mostly, just a style preference. My cousin {hmm, you just gave me the idea to write a post about her} is six years-old, and pink is her life. I think it's just because she's a girl, and she thinks she needs pink to prove the point she's a girl, and girls have to be girly. Pink for me is not what I need... only when the outfit calls for it!

*Who or what makes you jump-in-the-air happy?

WHO: Rupert Grint! {And David Tennant... *blushes*}

WHAT: People telling me they like something about me. Yeah, really...

You can find Miss Vintage Vixen here: http://www.missvintagevixen.blogspot.com/

Why You NEED To Join Twitter

You may have noticed that I'm on Twitter. Well, I have a button advertising my Twitter account under my 'Nice People I Know' widget, and in 'Once Upon A Time, There Was A Girl Named...' widget (is that what you call it? A widget? Never mind!) it says 'Follow me on Twitter!'. If you haven't noticed, then you need to go to Specsavers. Here are five reasons why you should join:


1. Almost all your favourite celebrities are on Twitter. You can stalk them, and they won't mind! You can ask them a question, and they will probably answer!


2. I actually get my world news from Twitter's Trending Topics. I don't like watching RTE News because it is extremely depressing. Trending Topics are what lots of people are Tweeting about, for example Haiti.


3. You get to tell people what you are doing without sounding crazy.


4. If people are interested in you, they will stalk you! But it's Twitter. Stalking is good.


5. I'M ON IT!!!

I know that Anna McGarry (www.annamcgarry.blogspot.com) and Miss Vintage Vixen(http://www.missvintagevixen.blogspot.com/) are on Twitter, but I want to know if any of my other followers are on it? I'll follow you!


High-Fives,


EleanorLight

Web Wonders: BookArmy

Hello! I want to tell you about a great website for any readers out there! This is...BookArmy!

What is it?

BookArmy is a website dedicated solely to books! You can let people know what you’ve read recently, what you loved and what you hated, plus you can get in contact with your favourite author-types! How awesome is that?!

How does it work?
Basically, you enter the name of a book you love, and BookArmy will search thousands of recommendations to suggest what book you might like to read next. The most awesome thing about it, is that with every review written and every recommendation made, BookArmy becomes more intelligent - Cool, huh?!

Right now, BookArmy are running a kick-ass competition - they’re giving away a stack of of books to their most helpful and enthusiastic members, so if you love books and want to shout about your favourites, what are you waiting for?! Get writing girls!

Take a look at my personal page! My username is Trishelle. (They wouldn't let me change it after I transformed into my alter-ego EleanorLight.)

WOOHOO! Let’s get this discussion started! http://www.bookarmy.com/