Today, fantasy series are the ever-popular favourite among readers, allowing them to dive head first into an unknown land with curious possibilities. What many don’t realise is that the world in actuality is just as strange a place with the most absurd of happenings.
It is still difficult to imagine how a single man rising to power could devastate a population and in turn, the world. Hitler has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons and today we still remember them.
Do you know why? It is because Holocaust literature is written so that we may never forget the tragedies of this historic period with its Heil Hitlers, gas chambers and inhuman massacres. As Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel said, “To forget the Holocaust is to kill twice.”
If you want to read more and discover some amazing holocaust books then read my whole article here.
“Parents are the bone on which children sharpen their teeth.”
I grew up in Ottawa, Canada and there was a milk carton contest where if the carton moos you win some pretty cool prizes, I don’t know how many of you guys know about this.(If you’re curious you can find out more here.)
Anyway, I finally won after buying a milk carton at a local Wendy’s; a very exciting time for an eight year old. I won three free song downloads, not the coolest prize but hey it was still something I won right? And this was also the time when I didn’t really appreciate music the way I do today so I just asked my dad if he wanted to use the free downloads. So he did.
The only song I remember that he downloaded was Dido’s White Flag. I’m personally not much of a fan of the song but it’s the first one that pops into my head when I think of my dad.
As for exes there will always be that one that does not understand personal space or your need for privacy. I think some of you know what I’m talking about. The ones who call incessantly through out the day, leaving you with 15 missed calls to the point where you have to carefully screen your calls because he uses different numbers. Or when he posts on your facebook page telling you to call him or even when he messages all your friends to tell them to get you to call him and then they do.
For those who are frustrated like me, here’s a song that reflects this state of mind. Enjoy 🙂
To this day I still love Toy Story and I remember how special it was to watch it for the first time when I was a kid, running around shouting, “To infinity and beyond!” even though I loved Woody over Buzz.
More importantly, the theme song ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ is fantastic, a real feel-good tune reassuring one and all that there’s a great life to be lived as long as you’ve got the right company along for the ride.
In the age where everyone I know seems to value relationships and the notion of love, I think friendships are more special. Your friends will certainly be around longer than a crush and sometimes the best relationships start out as friendships.
I’ve got some great and especially weird friends who I wouldn’t trade in for anything. It took me a while but I’m glad I found them.
And if anyone needs it, I’ll be the Woody to your Buzz 🙂
When you say guilty pleasures I can think of quite a few…
Lately I’ve been eating my feelings, seeking comfort food to fix everything that’s wrong. And man, does it feel amazing.
I don’t know why it’s stigmatized as a terrible habit because as far as I can tell you, it sure helps when you’re bummed out about work or down about the tedium of college classes which I’m prone to experience now and again.
This summer, I had an internship which was quite stressful and discouraging some of the time. Occasionally, the highlight of my day was dreaming about what I was going to eat after work. It was usually an order at Pizza Hut or McDonald’s, sometimes at Taco Bell. I’ve honestly never eaten so much junk food in the span of a month. I guess I became quite the stress eater.
There’s a little psych theory that explains this occurrence. When children are upset, their parents seek to appease them with ice cream or other forms of comfort food-essentially junk. When they later become adults, the same pattern of eating is followed because through a process called classical conditioning, they associate feelings of comfort and contentment with food.
I’m one of those people!
While I should be worrying about fat content and calorie counts, I honestly don’t care about nutrition facts at this point (not that I’m a terribly unhealthy eater, in fact I’m as skinny as a stick so some would say I need to eat like this all the time).
I’m saddened to hear that Shailene Woodley, a young and upcoming Hollywood actress, doesn’t want to be considered a feminist. Why? Because she loves men and does not believe that women overtaking men’s power would benefit the world in any way.
Adding to the thought, she said in her TIME magazine interview, “We have to have a fine balance.” How sad that she is describing the very core of feminism but doesn’t even know it i.e gender equality. However, she is not the only female role model who has made this mistake, joining in with likes of Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry.
Granted that the media and society itself propagate the concept with a negative connotation, many are unfortunately misinformed and uneducated as to what feminism or being a feminist really is.
Being a feminist does not mean burning your bras to prove a point (first of all, bras are very expensive) and it most certainly does not mean hating men or anything remotely masculine. In fact, men are feminists too. If you’re wondering how that is, then you really need to understand the movement and what it aims to establish.
I believe that author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie defined the term best saying, “Feminist: A person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.”
For those who may be confused which side of the coin they fall on
I don’t want to point the finger at men for in reality, women are just as responsible to rectify gender inequality. If you esteem to sit and complain about male hegemony, then it accomplishes nothing. Young girls need to be taught to have their own opinions, not further anyone else’s, man or woman. It is wrong for men to assume that women are vessels to bear children and meant to do household work. There is no shame in managing a household, it is in fact a full-time job, one that is without pay or vacation days I’m afraid. It’s upsetting how women can be taken for granted so easily.
On the other hand, while discussing fairness to both genders, I feel it is important that we acknowledge that men are not monsters harbouring ill intentions. Not all, anyway. Women should not insinuate that all men are insensitive pigs or sexual sharks because the matter of the fact is that that is simply not true. It is unfair to generalise in the case of both men and women. While women are subjected to unfair stereotypes, men are too. Men are victims of rape as well and their trauma is no less than that of a woman’s.
I think the more we point out differences among men and women, the worse it is. After all, we are human beings. In fact, psychologist Carl Jung, the male psyche consists of a female component called the anima while the female psyche consists of a male component called the animus. So in truth, we all have our masculine and feminine sides. So why can’t we just embrace them?
I’m so sick and tired of being told to do something simply because I’m a girl or hearing a boy being told to ‘man up’. I would just like everyone to be. Till then though…
I’ve been listening to this album for a while now and it’s the best thing to listen to when writing, blogging or reading so I thought I’d write a review!
First off, The 1975 is a Manchester-based alternative/indie-rock band consisting of Matthew Healy (vocals, guitar), Adam Hann (guitar), George Daniel (drums), and Ross MacDonald (bass).
The band is extremely talented, with Matt Healy’s unique vocals adding to their fantastic sound. In an era where pop culture dominates the Top 40 and iPods across the world, The 1975 prove a point of their own: undiscovered gems or underrated musicians are the ones you ought to listen to, although at the rate they’re rising, they won’t be underrated any longer.
Massively popular in the UK, they are now touring with The Neighbourhood as their opening act. I’ve heard that The 1975 put on a great live show, blowing away the minds of the audience in the span of a few hours, not many complaining. All that without dancing half naked or choreographed dancing, how about that. No wonder because their eponymous, debut album is unwavering in musical quality, letting their music do all the talking.
Having a 1980’s sound, I particularly enjoyed listening to these songs off the album:
Chocolate
Their catchiest song by far, Chocolate is the notorious single that stole its fair share of attention from many listeners. A radio favourite, it is an upbeat tune with a dark undertone of a meaning beneath it. Chocolate is in fact, not chocolate at all and the euphemism-ridden lyrics about guns hidden under petticoats, a car smelling of chocolate and running away from the boys in the blue make for lyrical and hidden entertainment. Really listen to the lyrics and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
The City
Unlike everyone else who fell in love with this band over Chocolate, I discovered them by listening to The City. This one is more of drum based track, inspiring listeners to take some chances which will relate to those of us who are still trying to figure everything and ourselves out.
Healy explained, “It’s a love song I suppose – a love letter to the baffling cacophony that is teenage self exploration in places loud and inspiring.”
Just like the song’s lyric ‘If you want to find love, then you where the city is’ the same applies to the album. If you want to find good music, then you know where the album link is.
She Way Out
Although music critics have pegged this song down on account of its repetitiveness, I find it enjoyable for that very reason. This tune is a clear daylight example of what music in the 80’s would sound if it were infused with modernity. She Way Out is an up beat track like Chocolate; a pop injection about a girl with ‘a two-tone everything’ and ‘a face from a movie scene’.
Settle Down is another of my favourites, written based on Healy’s obsession with Michael Jackson, ultimately about the nonsensical dynamics of relationships, addictive and possessing.
Girls is a colourful song discrediting the significance of infatuation claiming, “They’re just girls.” On the other hand, Robbers is an eerie and haunting tone, unique when compared to the rest of the tracks off the album.
The Tea-Infused Typewriter 