I know I said that this last 2 weeks in October were going to be dedicated to Zombies, but since I'm going through a tough time at the moment - I thought I would just share information which may assist some readers in Australia.
Also it was Mental Health Week last week - so better late than never!
Good mental health is a sense of wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem. It enables us to fully enjoy and appreciate other people, day-to-day life and our environment. When we are mentally healthy we can:
form positive relationships
use our abilities to reach our potential
deal with life’s challenges
What is mental illness?
anxiety
schizophrenia
bipolar mood disorder
personality disorders
eating disorders
depression
What causes mental illness?
long-term and acute stress
biological factors such as genetics, chemistry and hormones
use of alcohol, drugs and other substances
cognitive patterns such as constant negative thoughts and low self esteem
social factors such as isolation, financial problems, family breakdown or violence
A mental illness is a health problem that significantly affects how a person thinks, behaves and interacts with other people. It is diagnosed according to standardised criteria.
One in 5 Australians will suffer from a mental illness at some point in their lives.
A mental health problem also affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves, but to a lesser extent than a mental illness.
Mental illnesses are of different types and degrees of severity. Some of the major types are:
These illnesses may also be referred to as a mental disorder, mental impairment or psychiatric disability.
Mental illness results from complex interactions between the mind, body and environment. Factors which can contribute to mental illness are:
These factors can be minimised by a strong and supportive community environment.
The following information was taken from the Beyond Blue website:
Depression is more than just feeling sad or low during tough times. People with depression can have intense negative feelings for weeks, months or even years, sometimes for no good reason.
Depression is relatively common, affecting more than one million Australians each year.
Unfortunately, many people with depression don’t recognise it or get help. But, it is treatable and most people with depression go on to lead happy, productive lives with the right treatment for them.
I know this is information overload, but I think it's important to have the information at hand all in the one place, especially when you really need it. By the way, if any readers have any further information they would like to add, please feel free to post it on this blog.
The following organisations are available to assist with people with mental illness and their families:
I've made a decision. In order to honour the commencement of Season 3 of The Walking Dead (TWD) I will be dedicating this Blog to anything and everything Zombie until the end of October. This will also be fitting considering it is Halloween on October 31.
So if you have any interesting facts, trivia, knowledge or insider information about zombies you would like to share please leave a comment. Any such appropriate material is allowed to be posted on this Blog.
Don't forget this dedication is only until 31 October - after which time the Blog will revert back to its usual diversified self.
I've run out of time - it's 12.44am Qld time - so I'll start by adding some information tomorrow. There'll be heaps of groovy stuff - I'll make sure of it. I'll put in here links, events, reviews of zombie books and movies as well as lots and lots of pictures!
OOOHHHHH SCARY!!!!!
I'll leave you all with this parting picture. GOOD NIGHT!
I'll be back later to bring more interesting information about Zombies!
Firstly, final weeks of Uni and this week saw me finishing not 1 or 2 assessment items BUT 3 assessment items! And received marks for an earlier assessment piece - which was very disappointing.
Two more to go and then another semester is over.
To be honest...not doing so well this semester. The semester started out very slow and somewhat disorganised (aussie spelling lol). This is reflected in the results. The best I can hope for is a pass, which is still achievable - after a lot of cramming! :-)
I'm no brainiac - obviously, but at least when I put my mind to something I can still do OK. Nothing wrong with average! Some knowledge still leaks in and stays in sometimes.
So after my epic post I got very busy and hardly even had any time to scratch myself let alone study much. The weekend after my epic blog I basically just buckled down and researched for my debate topic. Team meeting and more research. The debate was on Friday at 4:30pm - who does that to people? Obviously law lecturers don't have a sense of humour or a very cruel one!
Anyway, day off work to do more research and then a team meeting before facing the firing squad. My team was lucky because we got there early enough and the lecturer asked if we wanted to sit through the debate before ours and listen to the adjudicators comments. Did we ever? Lucky we did because I think the comments were an enormous help. Needless to say we won the debate, even though I felt that I stuffed up my 5 mins of fame :-). I'm just not good with having to think on my feet and prepare a rebuttal then and there. I didn't do too well at that! Regardless of my performance the team won anyway and that was mostly due to my insistence that we link the topic to the course materials. THANK GOODNESS I INSISTED!!!! This is what won us the topic.
Oh yeah, our topic was "Traffic speeding laws are legitimate and effective". My team was selected to argue from the negative side. I enjoyed the research for the topic, not so much the delivery. On top of preparing my argument, I also had to prepare a 2000 word argument, due a week later, representing the affirmative side. This wasn't too hard because basically most of the material I used I had come across when researching the negative side; however it still took me around 5 days to put it all together and especially making sure that it tied in with the course materials and was properly referenced. That was lodged on Wednesday and unfortunately, the results will not be known until almost the end of the semester.
The 3rd and final assessment item due this week was a 40 question multiple choice exam on Contracts. Oh what fun! I'm not doing so well in Contracts because the other subject is taking up all my time with research and this reflected in the multi-choice test. I scored, drum roll please!?, 22 out of 40! SHOCKING!!!! So in total with the other assessment pieces, I have 24 out of 40 points, which is still a passing grade, but it just means that I have to really cram from now until the end of semester exam to actually maintain the pass. I CAN DO IT!
With all this frantic studying and research I haven't had much time for anything else, including sleep. I think probably over the last week I may have had around 10-12 hours in total. On top of all the study/research I also work full-time and have an 11 year old child who has a life too! Cricket season has started so we had our first training night on Wednesday and the first game is on this Saturday - 8.30am start. Why?
Between my travels in the library and trawling through internet sites for research materials I did manage to snag a few hours for some personal 'interesting' reading. A girl gotta have her priorities straights!
Not much, just some good entertainment and some very thorough education on BDSM. It certainly is an eye-opener and made me wonder if there are really people out there who are into this kind of sexual kinkiness?
But if I'm honest, I have to admit that some of it sounded kind of exciting and had me questioning myself if I would ever try anything like it if given the opportunity?
Let me run through the characters:
We have the very predictable main male character "Mr Christian Grey", who is needless to say tall, somewhat dark and extremely handsome. But, of course, the positive attributes don't just stop there! He also happens to be filthy rich, a considerate and very skilled lover, who no doubt is very well endowed. To top it all off he is also very talented, good at everything, philanthropic and very generous with his money. Now we know that this is a fairy-tale, because in reality such a man does not exist! But in fantasy land he is every woman's dream come true :-)
then we have:
The very beautiful, naive, skinny, virginal, main female character "Ms Ana Steele". This charming leading lady is not only all of the above, but she is also smart, intelligent and has a will of iron. She won't let any man - regardless of his character or bank balance - boss her around. I think deep down though she is just a little too stubborn and also not possessed of a lot of common sense. A lot of the story-line could have been avoided if only she wasn't soooo lacking in common-sense. Nevertheless the character on the whole is endearing and had me rooting for her all the way to the end. (but that's only because I myself am a closet feminist)
E. L. James then thought up a few extra characters to pad out the story in order to fill 3 whole books of around 500+ pages each. There was no real purpose in the additional characters as there were no real stories involving them, except in the last book...but I won't discuss details for those who haven't read them!
I found it most admirable that this author could take a very popular, extremely well written and entertaining series of books which were later converted to movies - change the qualities, names and attributes of the main characters - and then come up with a whole story of her own. I realise that this trilogy saw its beginnings as fan-fiction, but to be able to develop a story such as this with such humble beginnings is admirable. It got me thinking, if she could do it why can't I? But I think the answer to that is that the story to pseudo copy has to be something that is very popular and has sold a lot of copies with a potential movie deal in the wings. If the right story could be nabbed, there is a winner!
Here comes the million dollar question. Who do you think should play the leading characters of this movie?
My pick for Christian Grey is definitely Matt Bomer. Check out his fan site! Unfortunately, some disturbing news is that he may be "too busy". I don't believe it! Who would say no to a role like this? In other news, Ian Somerhalder, is playing it cool, but is willing to step up for the auditions. Does anyone think he would make a good Christian Grey? I'm undecided on him as my heart is set on Matt Bomer!
Matt Bomer
I'm uncertain about the actor for Ana Steele. Some suggestions refer to either Ashley Greene or Alexis Bledel. I personally am leaning towards Alexis Bledel. Sorry Ashley, but as much as I love you in Twilight - I just don't think the role of Ana is for you. I think I'm skewed by Twilight, but I can only imagine you as Christian's sister Mia. I think, in order to distance itself from Twilight, actors should be picked who had nothing to do with the original Twilight series. This would make the movie feel a little bit more independent and not just a spin-off from the Twilight series.
Alexis Bledel
So what does everyone think? And now I've added an unofficial trailer starring both my favourite picks - Matt Bomer and Alexis Bledel.
And finally, here is something for the not so faint hearted! This one is with the delectable Henry Cavill - who, by the way, is also a good choice for Christian Grey. Enjoy!
Your next flight is to Auckland and departs in.....
37 Days
10 Hours
5 Minutes
We are off to New Zealand. I have been wanting to go to New Zealand for a very long time and now, after a very impulsive - not at all like me, moment, we're off. We can't wait. It is only for 5 days but, hopefully, it will be a very good introduction to what the 'long white cloud' has to offer!
Some of the attractions we're hoping to see include:
- this one is a maybe, depending on availability of time.
Sunday, July 01, 2012
Well so much for cleaning the oven and baking the below mentioned goodies!
Instead I spent an awesome day with my friend Nicola. We went for a lovely walk through Mt Cootha National Park followed by Sushi and a movie. Ted was a very funny but very crude movie. Mark Wahlberg plays a very lovable looser and he plays it sooooo well! Seth McFarlane, the creator of the Family Guy franchise, has once again brought his audiences crudeness, lewdness and lots and lots of laughter. Not recommended for children or people without a sense of humour, but definitely recommended for everybody else. It's an excellent choice for when you don't want too much to think about. It's a very light, easy to watch movie.
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