The wonderings, ponderings and other 'ings' of me. Lifestyle, review, news and opinion posts. Chic with a hint of sarcasm... hopefully!

Friday 26 February 2016

Don't be such a bitch!

It’s time to talk about an affliction that has been sweeping the nation. There is no known cure and many of those affected won’t even know that they've got it.  I know because I am one, and I only truly realised when I saw a photograph of myself that was not a selfie.   A picture I hadn't taken showed me that I too, am a sufferer of RBF.  

Resting Bitch Face.

I first had an inkling that my face didn’t react the same way as others as a teenager.  Several times whilst I was staring out into space, wondering what I would do if Corey Haim ever came to the UK, or what colour scrunchy to wear (yes it was the 80’s) I was accosted by people I had no memory of upsetting.  On these occasions they would get fairly annoyed and enquire as to what ‘my problem’ was.   It took a while for me to figure out they felt I had been staring at them with a bitchy look… apparently. 

I have been reminded I have this tendency by my ever lovin' hubby but its not something I spend too much time thinking about.   However I felt inclined to write about this after reading an article on Stylist about ladies that put on their make up on the train (quite an art!) I agreed with many of the sentiments the writer mentioned until she wrote this:

"On any given day, the reactions to my train make-up routine run the gamut from captive fascination, bemusement, huffiness, snarls, eye rolls, bitchy-resting-faces, scowls and my favourite, a flurry of tuts from middle-aged gentlemen with briefcases”.

Now hang on a second!  Bitchy-resting-faced people are not the same as plain old bitches. They're mostly likely not even really looking at you.  If they are its through a sleepy haze mildly wondering 'how is she going to get her winged eyeliner the same on both eyes when the train banks right in a minute?'

RBF gets a bad wrap and is constantly confused with No Expression At All Face (NEAAF). NEAAF affects the face as well but means the poor soul has the same expression whether they are happy, sad or angry etc. 

People assume those with RBF would be good at poker however I, and my family, can vouch that is most definitely not the case.  It is the upside for NEAAF sufferers however (if this is you I suggest you learn the rules and get yourself down to Las Vegas pronto!)  See it's resting bitch face, not engaged bitch face so when I am excited and interested my face is too.  It's only when I'm not doing or really thinking about anything that I look like a complete cow. 


So next time you see me or anyone with a face like a cat's backside please try to remember, they’re not necessarily pissed off at the world.  They may just be resting their face. 

Have you had any similar experiences?   
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Friday 19 February 2016

Fashion Show review

So its been a while since I attended a fashion show and as its not clear if I'll be invited to Cambs Style Week this year, I was proper chuffed when Clashing Time let me be her plus1 to the Robinson Mercedes-Benz  style event last Wednesday. 



We got there a little later than planned but settled into the best spot we could find for taking images at the end of the runway. It soon became obvious that the show itself was a somewhat veiled excuse to entice us to purchase a spanky new car, which was fair enough as it is a car show room.  

Unfortunately, when it came to the images the photographers section - such as it was - didn't really lend itself to getting the full length of the tall beautiful ones in shot.  Which is why none of my subjects have any feet.  Also quite oddly, there wasn't any announcement of where the clothes were from either.  I was told afterwards that apparently it was whispered over the music but from where we were standing this couldn't be made out. 


This was a particular pain as there were a few looks I was interested in.  Luckily I got chatting with the lovely girls of Dizen Clothing after the show and it turned out most of the pieces I liked were from their range.  These two super entrepreneurial chicks stock some affordable yet chic designs, they even have accessories and a Home and Gifts section.  I highly suggest you take a nose at their website, off you pop I'll wait here til your done...

So anyway, whilst I took a gazillion shots only a few came close to making the grade.  I came to favour one particular model as not only did she remind me of a cross between Lily Cole and the more fun one out of Frozen but she was the only one that didn't need a feck load of red eye reduction.


Its Anna, with only one plait!
Being newish to photography this is my main bugbear at the moment as I've yet to master the art without making my subject look like an Anime character.

When it was over, the compare really got stuck into his 'you know you want a new car' spiel, unveiling one I've forgotten the name of but which they were sure would piss all over whatever car we had at the moment.  Apparently it's lighter and more luxurious then the previous awesomeness Mercedez-Benz offered though I'm guessing from the sound of the engine it's not more environmentally friendly.  We'll gloss over that and instead I'll show you a toddlers-eye-view of the beast in question. 


Ta-frickin-dah - It doesn't get any better than that now does it! 
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Friday 12 February 2016

Restorative Rejection

I wasn't going to write this for you lot, for fear of being tainted with the stench of desperation. But then I thought screw it, blogging is about being real so here goes.

Last week I had 3 interviews for part time work.  Since taking on this freelance malarkey, cash flow has been somewhat lacking and, in truth, I was a bit panicked about being a burden on da man and wanted a little financial security.  I went along and felt quietly confident about all three, I knew I could do the jobs well and would be good for those companies.  So I was fairly gob-smacked when I didn't get a single offer... Yep that's right, I'm a triple loser!  Faced with three rejections in the space of two days it's safe to say I was a little bummed out. I mean how could all those companies be so short-sighted as to not want to hire me?!

Now before you think "erm up yourself much?" know that I'm well aware of my faults, which are numerous by the way. I also know that rejection isn't always a reflection of the rejectee. There are so many aspects to consider when you are job hunting, to get bogged down with the ones you don't get completely misses the point.  

You said it Edna!

This could be to put you back on a road you had strayed from, or possibly a little lesson in patience and being humble - both things I may or may not have struggled with.   

Or it could be this wasn't your job to begin with.  The people interviewing me had many other candidates.  Some of which will have been more pliable than I, or better qualified or more enthusiastic.  

The point is to be secure in yourself and your ability. Just because someone doesn't hire you doesn't mean you don't have those qualities, it means they didn't see them. And that's OK. 

In the time since I've secured other work in a sector I'm much more interested in, have new opportunities that I'm really excited about and started an on-line course I'm enjoying immensely with Future Learn*. Not to get all hippie on you but its called self worth and if you have it, guard that stuff with your life.   That way it won't matter the next time someone thinks you haven't got what it takes, cos you'll already know you're a baller.

*Future Learn is a completely free, completely addictive set of courses on all manner of subjects.  Run for around 2-6 weeks you get to watch videos, read articles and interact with mentors, lecturers and students via chats and quizzes.  I highly recommend it!
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Thursday 4 February 2016

Book Review: Six Lies by Ben Adams


So according to a twitter poll my next blog needs to be about something other than fashion or music, luckily I have just the thing.  An email landed in my inbox a while ago about a book, Six Lies it was called.  The author, Ben Adams contacted me and offered to send me a copy.  As he seemed like a thoroughly nice chap I agreed, promptly followed him on twitter and got one of those God awful auto DM’s.  These make me want to down a large bottle of wine or dunk my head in a bucket of mud… or both.   I honestly find them very annoying but I rolled my eyes, opened it and I was met with this wonderful sentence:

“In my opinion auto DM’s are worse than a mild case of flu”

God love him.  Our shared hatred of these messages meant I felt we could now be on first name terms and I found myself looking forward to checking out Ben’s book.

Six Lies is about this normal bloke called Dave who has a not-going-anywhere-fast band, a wife that buggered off with a dork and around the time of his mum’s funeral finds out that she wasn’t actually his biological mum anyway.  In trying to sort things out he causes himself and others untold woes and comes to discover several other bombshells which rock the relationship he has with his father. 

Ben’s writing is smooth and authentic, it reads like a man’s diary if men kept diaries, which I doubt.  I liked the way he made abnormal family situations seem completely believable and carves out his characters with a Nick Hornby-esq ease.  Sidebar: I was quite pleased with that comparison until I saw that someone else had already mentioned Hornby on the front cover. No points for observation then.

He doesn’t shy away from showing us that Dave, is a bit of a berk either.  Like when he sleeps with a mate’s ex (SER.I.OUS.LY?) and the totally crap but lovable way he goes about trying to get his girl back.  He’s the sort of guy that if you met him in real life you’d doubtless go for a drink with but would probably end of slapping him for something he said or did as well.

The story flows almost too easily as you find out more about Dave’s family, friends and his hapless love life.  If I’m being a pedant, an awful habit which I’ve picked up from my husband, a couple of things did annoy me a tad.  Like when the narrator who is normally Dave, switches to his dad or another character, but just the once.  It’s mostly Dave we hear from and if this is to happen at all I’d prefer it switched back and forth several times to get a real feel for both characters mind-set. 

Another slight irritation is when in a few sentences one word is used several times i.e. “After looking after Dad returning to work after Christmas was a blessed relief.  But I’m being really picky here and am acutely aware this is a pot-kettle-black situation as I’m more than guilty of a few badly laid out sentences myself.

That a few sections made me laugh out loud, and one of those was in the acknowledgements, gives you an idea of Ben’s style.  My husband wants to read it as well which shows the range as we are rarely interested in the same books.  I would have finished Six Lies ages ago had I not been off ski-ing last week.  Now that I have I’m rather annoyed that I don’t get to find out what happens to Dave, or Lou, or Boring Bren.  Unless… there’s a sequel in the works!


Have you read any Ben Adams’ books?
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