"It's just a bad day, not a bad life" -Love Maya♡

Heya guys!

Well, first things first, where has this last week gone?! Honestly, it feels like it was only yesterday I was writing a blog post for you guys. This week has gone pretty quick, with starting school back on a full timetable, catching up with old friends etc. So it's safe to say it's been a prettyhectic but okay week for me. 

Today I thought I would just (try) to inspire some of you. I'm not the most inspirational of people, and sometimes I don't really know what to say in situations to help people, but I like to try.

I'm the sort of person that loves quotes of all kinds. I swear and live by quotes, whether it's to remind me to be happy and love myself, guide me in tough situations (personally or for helping others) or just because I find them so accurate and true. Like Augustus Waters' Mum (from the fault in our stars) calls them, "encouragements".  I feel like there are some quotes that do give me a little bit of encouragement when I'm having a bad day. So I thought I'd share with you my 5 top quotes to brighten your day!

1. Nothing is impossible, even the word it's self says "I'm possible" ~Audrey Hepburn

2. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean your going to fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in your self, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie. ~Marilyn Monroe 

3. Success usually comes to those who are to busy to be looking for it. ~Henry David Thoreau

4. For what it's worth: it's never too late, or in my case, too early to be whoever you want. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same,there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope that you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life your proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. ~unknown 

5. Beauty is what you feel about yourself, not about what you see in the mirror. ~unknown 

Well, I could go on forever, but I think these are definitely some of my favourites, even though there are plenty more I have stored. But that's all for this week, and remember -smile, because happiness looks gorgeous on you!

Love, Maya♡

Let's Get Mad About... (Bi Erasure) (And First WCW) - Wednesday's Child

GREETINGS Y'ALL!

Aaaaand welcome to my first Woman Crush Wednesay. Today's crush is the beautiful Olivia Wilde, who plays Dr Remy 'Thirteen' Hadley on House MD. Like isn't she completely gorgeous?

Part of the reason I love her is the character she plays so well on House; Thirteen is a bisexual doctor who is suffering with (and as a result dying of) Huntington's Disease, a genetic disease that affects the central nervous system. Now this brings me very neatly onto my first Let's Get Mad About...

Let's Get Mad About... Bi Erasure

Now y'all probably think this is going to be incredibly sophisticated and a pristine argument. It's not. I'm going to rant, because I'm pissed off. 

Let's conduct a small social experiment. You have your answers, and I'll write mine. 

List five canonically straight characters. 

List five canonically gay or lesbian characters.

List five bisexual characters. 

Five straight characters

1. C.J Creigg, The West Wing

2. Gregory House, House, MD

3. Steve Rogers, Marvel Cinematic Universe

4. Jim Kirk, Star Trek

5. Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

Five gay or lesbian characters

1. Charlie Bradbury, Supernatural

2. Connor Walsh, How To Get Away With Murder

3. T.J Hammond, Political Animals

4.Blaine Anderson, Glee

5. Charlie Kelmeckis, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Five bisexual characters

1. Remy Hadley, House, MD

2. Frank Underwood, House of Cards

3. Piper Chapman, Orange is the New Black

4. Jack Del Mar, Brokeback Mountain

5. James Bond(?), Skyfall

How easy was it for you to complete each list? I got the straight characters down straight away, had a little trouble with the gay characters and had to google the bisexual ones. 

Even in the points where characters are openly bisexual, very few shows or films actually use the word bisexual to label the characters. It's something that happens regularly in everyday life as well, honestly. 

In House the representation of Hadley is excellent. Although she becomes the butt of some of House's jokes, every character is joked about in a similar fashion, due to House's misanthropic view of the world. The word 'bisexual' is frequently used to describe her sexuality, and she is shown to have relationships with both men and women. 

However, in Orange is the New Black, Piper is referred to as a 'past lesbian' despite having both straight and gay relationships - most think this is the definition of bisexuality. This is something that happens a lot for bisexuals - they're seen as 'too gay' to be straight, and 'too straight' to be gay. 

And in all fairness, bisexuals don't fit into the straight spectrum or the gay spectrum, they are a sexuality all of their own. They aren't gay one day and straight the next. Depending on the partner they have their sexuality doesn't change. 

Bisexuality is a fluid sexuality - you can fall in love with and be attracted to both men and women. It doesn't mean that if you're a woman in a relationship with a man you're straight and then when you get into a relationship with a woman you're a lesbian. If a person falls in love with or is attracted to both men and women it's a fluid sexuality, not rigid like heterosexuality or homosexuality. People fail to understand that point, and thus bisexuals are often overlooked or mislabeled as straight or gay. 

It's a sad fact, but it happens. 

So, that's my first Let's Get Mad About. It's been an interesting week, so I'm signing off now. Happy Wednesday, and as always, 

I'm with you 'till the end of the line, folks ♥ 

Book Series' Reviews! (#1) - Tuesdays with Ash

Hey guys! =D

Can't believe that it's Tuesday once again! I swear these weeks are getting shorter and shorter as they go by! Anywho, this week's blog is going to be reviews on 3 different book series that I love! However, I shall refrain myself from writing a review about the Harry Potter franchise as I will go on forever and, basically, it's amazing and you should all go and read it. Now.

The series I've chosen are all quite different in their own way so I really hope that you'll see one that you'll enjoy reading! =)

1. H.I.V.E - By Mark Walden

This series is by a very talented author and I read through the entire series in under a week!

There are 6 books in this series:

1. Higher Institute of Villainous Education (H.I.V.E)
2. The Overlord Protocol
3. Escape Velocity, Dreadnought
4. Rogue
5. Zero Hour
6. Aftershock

As you can tell from the title of the first book, this series is based around a school in which teenagers are sent too a secret school *cough* kidnapped *cough* and here they learn all sorts of different spy tricks such as martial arts and building cool technology. It's basically a school to train kids into becoming the next James Bond, but as a villain instead.

Confused? Well, the fact is that there are even more villainous people in these books which these kids have to try and defeat. Even though it may sound a bit strange it shouldn't stop you from reading these amazing books! They are full of action with extremely clever plots as well as the occasional dash of humour here and there. The story focuses around a 13 year old boy called Otto Malpense and his group of friends and I just absolutely adore him as he is just believes he's an ordinary boy, but really he has such a tragic backstory. A bit like Harry Potter actually.

Anyway here's the blurb from the first book:

Thirteen-year-old master criminal Otto Malpense has been chosen to attend H.I.V.E, the top-secret school of villainy. But there is one small catch - he cannot leave until his training is complete. There's no way Otoo is going to spend six years studying something he has such a natural talent for. He is left with one option. Escape. He just needs to figure out how...

2. Chronicles of Ancient Darkness - By Michelle Paver

This next series is an old favourite of mine and I read these books way before I read the H.I.V.E series. This story is based in the time before the ice age and it focuses around a boy named Torak who has to survive on his own after the passing of his father. Luckily though, he finds comradeship in a lone wolf and you get to read about all the adventures they have together. This series is simply wonderful and is so different to any other story that I've read.

The author has clearly done her research into this as there are many different medicines and tribal traditions that take place throughout the book. Also, the point of view change from Torak to Wolf (yes, that is what he ends up naming the wolf) every so often and you get to see the world through Wolf's eyes which I find adorable as he has different names for objects and people. For example, he calls Torak 'Tall Tailless' from which you can guess why he does. At the beginning and end of each book there's a map of their world and they are all beautifully illustrated.

There are 6 books in this series:

1. Wolf Brother
2. Spirit Walker
3. Soul Eater
4. Outcast
5. Oath Breaker
6. Ghost Hunter

Here is the blurb of the first book:

Torak is alone... wounded, terrified and on the run. An outcast like his father, he has avoided all contact with the clans. But now his father lies dead: slaughtered by a demon in the form of a great bear. Somehow, Torak must keep going. His only ally is an orphaned wolf cub...

This book also has a great review from the actor Ian McKellen:

'Like other great children's books which also entrance adults. Wolf Brother conjures up an utterly believable yet original world.'

3. Inheritance Cycle - By Christopher Paolini

This next series is just stunningly beautiful as it creates a whole new world full of magic and most importantly: DRAGONS! This series got recommended to me by a friend of mine and we have a very similar taste in books so I gave it a go and I am so glad I did! The writing style is breathtaking and you seriously will just lose yourself in these books! The author was only 15 when he wrote the first draft of Eragon!

There are 4 books in this series:

1. Eragon
2. Eldest
3. Brisingr
4. Inheritance

They are quite chunky books, with the first one being just shy of 500 pages and the author even included a map of the world in the first couple of pages, just like in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. There are also languages called the Ancient Language,  the Dwarf language and the Urgual language and Paolini (no idea how you pronounce his surname by the way) has added in a pronunciation guide at the end of each book! This series focuses on a boy called Eragon who finds a egg in the woods which hatches into a dragon, but someone else is also searching for this dragon and will stop at nothing to find it...

Here's the blurb of the first book:

One boy... One dragon... A world of adventure

When Eragon finds a polishes blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realises he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic and power. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands...

Right, I think that's it from me this week. I could write down quite a few more book series but I'm afraid that it would go on forever!

Hope you guys enjoyed this week's book series' reviews!

Ash xx

My beauty routine

Hey guys

So today I don't know what to do today for my blog but I decided to talk about my makeup and skin care routine.

Firstly I start off by adding eye cream to my eyes and using a daily shine control moisturiser to make a matt make up base. 

I then use one of two foundations either a liquid or a mouse and I use either a flat foundation brush or a pointed foundation brush- when you start applying your foundation you should start at your nose and then move outwards, after I finished my foundation I add a concealer to help cover areas that need more attention. After I do this I add a blusher using a Conour brush before using a buffing brush to put on my powder. 

I add a eyeshadow over a layer of concealer and then add eyeliner before adding my mascara.

In the evenings after I take of my makeup I like to apply another coat of eye cream and use a simple fragrant free moisturiser beiges using a night cream moisturiser ontop, every so often I will also use a gel/foam face cleanser. 

I hope this is a little insight into my life 

See you next week x

Belle x

Hi from your Sunday blogger.
This week I am going to talk about different new films that have/ are out in cinemas.


A great film to get yourself watching is Paddington. This is a fantastic film on a timeless classic, Paddington Bear. As a young child I used to get read the Paddington books and watch the TV programs.


Another extraordinary film that has only just come out is Taken 3. A brilliant plot and story line, alike to Taken 1 and 2, although different in many ways to the others it still shares the same sort of plot.


To add to these films also just in cinemas is the new Night in the Museum, the secret of the tomb. This is the third film to come out in the museum and is yet again to become a great seller, a like to the other two movies.



A few other films in a list that have come out are:

-Unbroken
-Big Hero 6 (coming out end of January)
-The Penguins of Madagascar
-Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast
-The Hobbit, the battle of the five armies
-Exodus gods and kings
-The Theory of Everything
-Foxcatcher
-Annie
-The Woman in Black 2, Angel of Death



A few movies coming out soon are:

-Marigold hotel 2
-Into the woods
-Kingsman
-American Sniper
-Wild
-Whiplash
-Testament of Youth
-The Gambler
-A most violent year


So, get yourself out and watch some of these films and enjoy yourself and if you cannot afford a ticket all of the time, then dont forget that there are teen tickets at some cinemas and that college, uni and 6th form passes are sometimes allowed to be taken as a discount or just go on Orange Wednesday if you have access to this (including EE customers!)

That's all from me,
See you next Sunday

Summer xoxo

Sia's Elastic Heart and Broadchurch - Saturday's with Payton

Hey!

It's Payton again which means that it is another Saturday, woohoo the weekend! I am going to admit this now and say that usually I am stuck for blog post ideas however this week I have been inspired by a couple of different things which you can probably guess from the title of this post.

First though, let me give you a quick summary of my week, so it has been a week of mixed emotions and feelings really - don't worry its nothing too bad! So we started school back on Monday which was stressful as there was exams this week, luckily I only had exams on Tuesday so the stress was only short-lived for the duration of those exams! The rest of the week I was off timetable - which was amazing! However I thought that I should take advantage of the week so on Thursday I went into school with Maya and I finished some coursework which felt good as I had a big weight lifted off my shoulders as I was organised! Wednesday and Friday I generally procrastinated however I got myself into a new TV series - Broadchurch! (Don't worry I will give you a review of it once I have caught up on all the episodes!) 

Yes I've jumped on the Broadchurch bandwagon, but who can blame me this show is amazing! For me watching this is a big thing as I am into watching reality shows however this is a crime drama show. As most of you know series 2 has just started and I have only just started watching it, so to understand it properly I am going to watch series 1, which means you will get a review of it from me too!

I feel like now I have rambled on about my daily life, but do you know what I feel that posting on this blog kind of like a diary for me so yeah and now lets get into my review of the Elastic Heart music video by Sia!

So Sia's back with one of her different style of music videos than what the world is used to, also the amazing dancer Maddie Ziegler is back too (I am in love with this fact as she started out and is still on my favorite TV show Dance Moms) Elastic Hearts also stars Shia LaBeouf from Transformers and one of my favorite childhood shows Even Stevens. Now this music video has had a lot of media attention and controversy and very diverse opinions on it so much so that Sia has apologized for the suggested pedophilia which some say can be suggested from the video. I feel that was a safe move by Sia and I'm glad that was done so that people can actually enjoy the video because it is so artistically different from what people expect to see.

My personal opinion on the music video is that it is brilliant, it is such wonderfully choreographed, both Maddie and Shia work together to create something different and unusual yet something so captivating! I feel that I get past what everyone is worrying about as I am used to watching Dance Moms and everyone in leotards, but what I don't get is their outfits are nothing unusual that you wont see any different from what you see in a swimming pool where everyone accepts it - a guy in shorts and a girl in a leotard-like full swimming costume. Back onto the topic of how amazingly captivating this video is that it is only just that the song and the lyrics fit perfectly with the video but the last 45 seconds of the video is silent with Maddie and Shia still on the screen where Maddie's character  is trying to get Shia's character out of the cage that they were trapped dancing in. This part of the video is so moving and intriguing that I just love it!  

Many people interpret this video in many different ways, to many it looks like a father-daughter relationship of playing around - included with the strange funny faces that everyone makes, I have the same sort of interpretation as that, watch the video and you'll see why! I don't have much else to say on this review of the Elastic Heart music video by Sia as it left me speechless!

Anyway, I feel that this post has been extremely long but I feel that I needed to fill you in on my life this week along with my small review of the music video! Don't worry I have many more ideas for posts in the future!

See you next week!

Payton <3 

Media mis-leading our generation - Lollie

Hey guys, Lollie here. So, I was going through my laptop and I found a blog post I wrote for another blog that I had along time ago and I thought I would share it with you all.

The fabulous Marilyn Monroe, providing a wonderful quote.

Everyone makes mistakes and has flaws and if the people around you can't handle your worst, they definitely don't  deserve to have you at your best. Don't give your best to the people who can't appreciate that you make mistakes and sometimes things hurt you more than they should. Don't give your best to people who can't appreciate that you have imperfections.

We all have flaws and things that make us different to everyone else, but if we didn't have them, we wouldn't be us. These little things make us who we are and define us from everyone else.

So stop desperately trying to copy everyone else. 

It may sound harsh but, there is no true image of perfection. The perfect human being does not exist. Although, we may think some people look 'perfect', this is just the media playing on teenagers in advertisements and TV shows portraying a negative image of 'perfection' and the qualities you need to have to be 'perfect'.

What I'm trying to say is - the medias portrayal of 'perfection' is false. There are many girls and guys out their who are beautiful and perfect in their own respect. One of the sweethearts, Bri, actually, did a speech in English in year 9 about the media's portrayal of the correct dress size and how many teenage girls who are in fact very skinny, still see themselves as fat because they don't fit the 'normal' girls they see on TV adverts and in magazines. It's the sad truth and I feel like it isn't addressed as often as it should be. Media focus so much on obesity and how that is a wide spreading problem but what about the amount of people that starve themselves just to be accepted, surely that's not right? Surely, it shouldn't be ignored.

The truth is, each one of you has individual qualities and features that allow you to be yourself - your're perfect the way you are.

You are your own version of perfect and you should accept who you are and the way you look. Confidence is one of the first steps to 'feeling perfect'. 

I feel like you can never have an image of perfection. Perfection, to me, is a feeling. If you feel perfect the way you are then nothing else matters - if you don't feel perfect the way you are, don't look at others and compare yourself to them. Look at yourself. Look at all your flaws that make you, your own version of perfect.

So a summary of today's blog post:

- don't give people your best if they can't expect that you have flaws - you are human

- expect the flaws you have 

- don't waste your time trying to be perfect - you're perfect all ready

- if you don't feel it, try and be more confident, make a list of everything you like about yourself, body and personality. Look at each one and write why you like this particular thing about you

- Bri gives incredibly speeches but probably shouldn't look at people when saying 'you're fat' as part of getting across what model agencies say to everyone (Inside joke guys)

- your imperfections make you who you are

- be more confident in who you are and stop trying to copy others

- The media's 'perfection' will never be as good as yours.

I hope you enjoyed reading today's post! I will be back again next Friday, with another. I'm sure time will fly past incredibly quickly, just like this last week has, I have no idea where it has gone. I'm looking forward to watching Waterloo Road and Broadchurch on Monday if I totally honest with you - Highlights of my week!

Until next time, Allons-y! 

Lollie