Alright, I don’t really like to stand on my soapbox here, but unfortunately being compared to Al Quaeda is just too insulting - and ridiculous - to ignore. So skim on if you’re not with me, or click below to join in.

Let’s face it, this isn’t the first or the last time Bill O’Reilly has used his "fair and balanced" platform to shout derogatory insults at everyone who isn’t him or a clone of him, and people listen, because people listen to those who scream loudest.

So, I’d like to bsuggest that actually the people who matter are those who respond quietly and calmly, which is what this is - we’re asking Fox and BO to apologise, and Fox to try and stop this form happening - because it’s not just about me, or the gay community, it’s about everyone who this man hurls abuse at. It has to stop.

 

 

OK, I’m a person who loves my little toys, gotta admit it - and they’re not always so little (or very cheap, come to that).

But here’s one that is both little and cheap - and the coolest idea I’ve seen in ages and ages, especially as it was just the other week when I was wishing for some way to carry stuff without having pockets…

 Ever do that? Wear something then realise you need a way to carry stuff but you don’t have useable pockets?

You’re gonna love me for this, in that case - Hip Klips 

Now bear with me, cos i don’t usually plug like this. But honestly, check them out, they’re cool - the little clip and the pocket to put stuff in, such a good idea.

And the inventor, that’s kinda how I know about them is I put one a cd I’ve not listened to in a long time, it was one of those where I put it on and remembered how awesome it is, so I popped to the old website of the band - they split a few years but the site is still there - to see what the lead singer had been up to, if anything. Turns out, she invented these things, which are so cool.

That’s the story, heh, I just think it’s such a great idea, I wanted to share

Toodles x 

Oh yeah, I am in geek heaven at the moment - got myself a Blackberry Curve 8900 a few days ago. Been playing with it very happily indeed. Had some trouble with MMS at first, and unfortunately the techie people at Orange weren’t able to help, but I’m more of a nerd than the entire department apparnetly cos I managed it myself. Also hooked up to my home wifi, connected to my pc via bluetooth, calendar and contacts auto-synced with my gmail account, and I will never get lost again thanks to the inbuilt GPS - well, you get the picture, I am very happy. Once one or two programs get updated to be compatible, I’ll be so tricked out. I can definitely see myself turning into a Blackberry gal. They’re not business phones any more, not just business phones anyway - the scope of these things is massive and they’re not restricted like, for example, Windows smartphones are by their Microsoft stamp. It’s good.

In other news, I have my first Nephew The wonderful Jude had baby #2 on Tuesday night. As with the Sapling this one got nicknamed in the womb - as the little Dove. Woohoo! *happy dance*

Ok, I know this took me forever - but first I got distracted by the Cady & Morna novella, then I got back into it, but then I fell off a motorbike and was only really able to do shorts for a bit.

However, I have finished writing the second Shadow Walkers novel. I’m now into editing mode.

I have to say though, it is my least favourite bit of the process. Generally, if there’s a story being told, I either wanna be reading it or I wanna be writing it - I’m not so much for making it look pretty. However, it shall be done, and I have my fingers crossed for the independent publisher I will be sending it to.

 

On a totally different topic, I’ve been accepted to a University! Officially I’m still waiting on two other replies, but the main point is that whatever happens, I am going to Uni this year! I will be the least convincing mature student in my Foundation year. But, as I’ll be 31 by the time I finish the 4 years of philosophy that will follow, I might have grown up a bit by then. Heh.

 Nah, I’m only half-joking. It’s been 8 years since I left home. And some stuff I had to learn the hard way. Most notably, financial stuff. They really should teach basic budgeting at school - seriously, it’s ridiculous. Unless you have an innate grasp of financial stuff, somebody needs to teach it to you before you get dumped in the middle of it! School, parents, social worker, uncles, I don’t care who - but schools would at least be a way of ensuring that our kids don’t toddle out into the world and suddenly realise it’s a lot more complicated than it looked from the other side! Is it any wonder we’re stuck in a financial crisis - all over the world? The only thing we ever get taught is that to buy stuff is good and will make us happy - whether we can afford it or not, we must consume, on credit if necessary. And now we’re in a credit crunch, which is a nice way of saying the finances of most of the planet (instead of only two thirds of it which is more normal) is now, financially, completely screwed. And it’s thanks in part to the banks who don’t pay attention to what they’re actually doing to their customers, in part to the companies that don’t care and only wanna make money, and in part to us for letting them - and in part to a whole lot of other things, all of which come down us not being educated on what we really need to do with the money that we get, and how to do it wisely and sensibly, and being taken advantage of because of it.

I can tell you now, that if 8 years I had the tiny spreadsheet I have on my computer now, in  where at the bottom of each sheet is a single red box in which a single number updates automatically, thanks to some very simple formulae, every time I enter a number into any of the linked boxes - and tells me, down to the exact penny, how much is available in my account at any moment in time. I would have been a lot happier, a lot sooner.

Between that little spreadsheet, and Moneyway, who take 1 single payment out of my account every week and use it to pay all my bills, I am so much better off.

My online banking is always at least 3 days behind my real-time total. The problem is that, because I have a mild-ish form of dyscalculia - basically, number dyslexia - I sometimes miscount something, so sometimes I wound wind up with a pound or two less in my account than I thought I had. Because I’m not exactly rolling in it, that is enough to make one small charge that I think is able to go through bounce back and get me in trouble.

 And because my so-called "ethical" bank is only ethical when it comes to big businesses, and would rather shoo it’s small personal customers away at their first mistake, this has involved numerous humiliating phone calls from me where I have to try and explain my number problem and so on.

 But now I have Moneyway and a funky spreadsheet, I’m all good - I can’t miscount, cos I don’t need to count at all!

 

Sorry, got a bit off-track there - University, yeah, so I’ll be moving in September and so on. It’s all very exciting and very, scary. Not something I ever expected to be taking myself off to do - I still can’t quite believe it, to be honest. But I know that…God knows exactly where we need to be. And sometimes, that’s exactly where we are least expected to be - and that’s definitely the case with me & Uni, it’s exactly the last place you would expect to find me! I think it’s amazing, and I’m gonna love it.

Anyhow, I hope that you, yourself, are well. xx

I finally got round to finishing off my little page on Facebook. So if you’re a Facebooker, come on over and say hi!