late night moan...model making...

 ok so what is it with model making, why does it take so long! I have literally been continuing with this model since after tea, so say about 7, it is now 10 to 1 and it feels like I have accomplished nothing all night! All it is is cutting out bits of mounting board and sticking them down, but oh no, the sizes aren't right, the walls need to be the correct widths, the windows need cut out and pieces need cut to connect the two walls where the spaces for windows and doors are....it could be made slightly faster if I were to do things the easy way, but in case you hasn't realised already, doing things the simple way is not my nature! So I shall continue and endeavour to get this done, perhaps even sleep tonight, who knows! I will say one thing though, I will be proud of myself when this gets done, because I know how much hard work has gone into it, a lot of thinking and planning and patience. And even if it does show that it has taken many late nights to complete, it'll still be worth it, I hope...! I should get back, my model awaits...

So far (sorta) so good...depending on how it does turn out, I'll post final pictures later!

Having a plan vs just going with it

I plan everything. I over think, I over stress, I over organise and I over plan.
But that's just who I am. Some think there is something wrong with this, where is the spontaneity? Well, to be honest, I'm one of those people, (also the kind of person that talks to themselves!) 
The truth of the matter is, surprises worry me, I am a huge worrier, I get it from my mum and I don't think growing up babysitting 4 younger brothers and sisters helped matters. I also tend to go off on tangents a bit as well so my apologies for that. It isn't that I don't enjoy living life and being random and doing     un-planned things, but I prefer knowing, this is ridiculous I hear you say, I can't possibly 'know' what is going to happen, I know this, but it doesn't stop me worrying about it. 


So in terms of why I plan, I think I covered that, I don't like surprises or things going wrong. It's not like I wake up every day and write the itinerary for the day, but if I have a lot on my mind, I'll write it down, a 'to-do list' a 'pro's and con's' list, a 'plan of action', it helps to actually see what the options are. In my opinion that is.


I know many people don't agree. In fact a few of my closest friends can just do things as they need done, or make a decision without figuring it all out. These people, I admire. I am making my self sound crazy but in all seriousness, sometimes I wish I didn't worry so much, that I didn't consider the consequences of each action prior to deciding, but then I'd be changing the essence of who i am. Getting a bit deep now, I apologise! 


Not planning has its benefits, you're not disappointed when you don't achieve everything you wanted to, it leaves time to 'slot in' other activities, and you are not restricted. Believe it or not, I do 'wing it' sometimes, while giving presentations for example, this stems from years of debating at school, I started in first year by relying on notes, numerous senior university competitions later, I can stand in front of however many people, and speak about something for 10 minutes based on a few words of notes. Don't get me wrong, I will know what I'm going to say more or less, I will have headings and take it from there. I started debating to help my confidence levels at school, I didn't win a single competition but I feel that it helped me learn to think on my feet and not know word for word how each moment of my life is going to unfold. 

Left handed vs right handed

Question: why do right handed people always assume everyone else is right handed?! (As you can probably tell, I'm a lefter!) But seriously, what is wrong with being left handed, its not like we -yes, I am speaking for every single left handed person in the world- chose to write with our left hand, although to be honest that is probably getting into a bit of a nature/nurture debate! But anyway, my point being, I don't think we should be judged based on how our brains developed....ok before I start ranting (ok, before I continue ranting...) let us look at the science of it all!


So studies suggest that 70%-90% of the worlds population is right handed, surely that makes left handed people more unique, that is a good thing right? So while researching possible reasons for the development of left handedness, so many theories were presented. For example, a slightly scary -in my opinion- theory is the of the 'vanishing-twin'. The thought that there was the left handed person was originally part of an identical twin pair but the right handed fetus failed to develop. Although this theory was 'disbunked' by scientists, it makes me feel a little uneasy! Perhaps more scientifically accurate research discovered specific alleles of at 'least one of the three single-nucleotide polymorphisms ....' was linked to left handedness. Although I didn't understood part of this -the end part to be exact- it shows that there are biological reasons for someone's preferred orientation! 


Like it or not though, left handed people are severely discriminated against in society, perhaps not on purpose but still! Think of all the products designed that  pose problems for left handed people to overcome: a computer mouse, a kitchen knife, a watch, a smudgy pen (when writing a left handed person will more than likely smudge the word they have just written as their hand moves across the page), cameras, then there are sports like baseball, pool, the list goes on and on. 


In a book entitled 'Right hand-Left Hand' by Chris Mcmanus of the University College London, it is explained that the number of left handed people is increasing and also that left handers as a group produce an above average level of high achievers. McManus explains that the brain of a left handed person is structured differently in a way that increases the range of abilities possible.  Along these lines, in 2006 a U.S study by Lafayette College and John Hopkins University concluded that for college educated people, left handers earned 10-15% more than their right handed counterparts. (A result in my opinion!).


So they say 1 in 10  people is left handed, should we penalise this 1 person for being different? Personally since I occasionally am that person, I think not. In my immediate family, it is 1 in 2 people that are left handed, sure it is strange odds, but why is that a bad thing? So many amazing people in history have been left handed: Albert Einstein, Bruce Willis, Leonardo Da Vinci, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama...the list goes on and on.  Sure it wasn't being left handed that made these people what they are today, but you have to ask yourself, does it really have that much of an impact considering how big a deal some people make of it?

reading the book vs watching the film...

If it’s a choice between watching a movie or reading a book, most of my friends would choose the movie, no question. In fact, they literally scoff at the idea of reading for pleasure. I’m the opposite.  As a past time or to round off a busy day, I find it relaxing and I love the feeling of losing myself in the story, of not knowing what time it is and not thinking about what else I have to do. Some things can be said in a book that in real life just seems cringey or soppy to a ridiculous degree, in a book it is ok! As I said though, in a technology obsessed day and age, I seem to be in a minority.

More often than people realise, movies are developed and based upon books. Obviously there are the more famous book series that lead to film series; Harry Potter is one example, the Da Vinci Code/Angels and Demons another. I find it really interesting seeing the movie, but only after I have read the book. In my opinion, the quality of the book depends on the writer’s ability to make the reader imagine, by describing the characters and the story. The reader then has their own opinions and own perceptions of each character and the whole situation. By seeing the film afterwards you can then compare your preconceived thoughts to that of the screen writer/costume designer/director/actors and all the other people whose own perceptions of the book had a hand in creating the movie. The problem with seeing the movie before reading the book is you know have someone else’s perception of how the characters should look, how they should talk, how the story should progress, as opposed to your own. In the past few years it has felt like Hollywood has been making movies from my bookshelf; ‘My sister’s Keeper’ , ‘The Time travellers Wife’ and ‘The lovely Bones’, I read before the movies were released, it had been years since reading the former so in order to familiarise myself with my thoughts on the story again, I re-read it. A waste of time some may say, I completely couldn’t disagree more!

My issue with just seeing the movie/watching the tv series is the leniency the screen writer can have in terms with sticking with the book(s). For example, the tv series ‘True Blood’ doesn’t truly reflect the book series by Charlaine Harris upon which it is based.  My only issue with this is people judging the books based on the tv series, this may be extremely pedantic of me, it wasn’t me that wrote it, why should I care? I’m not going to lie, I don’t have an answer to that. It’s just one of those little pet hates I have regarding books/tv.

While we’re on the subject of frustrating things tv does regarding books, advertising for books. What I mean isn’t the WHSmith advert saying what books are on sale etc etc, it is the adverts that have characters and a deep voice reading snippets of the blurb. Again, I hear you ask what on earth my problem is? As stated, reading is all about the imagination, I don’t want to be reading a book and instead of my voice, I hear a booming deep middle aged American man voice. I also don’t want any inkling of what the setting is supposed to look like or the characters, I want to picture it myself, based on what the writer tells me. James Paterson and Andrew Gross are major culprits of this!

Ok, so I think my thoughts on this are quite clear, I like to read and I like to see the movie, I know that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, sometimes I just wish they’d understand where I am coming from as well!  

Automatic doors vs non-automatic doors

From supermarkets to small shops, universities to hospitals, from bus stations to airports, the list of establishments with automated doors goes on and on ...and on! But why? Is it pure laziness on the part of the human race, or was there a point? 
  

Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt, co founders of company Horton Automatics developed the first automatic door in 1954, when they noticed existing doors had difficulty operating in wind and harsh weather. Thus a genuine reason. But have we gone a little automatic crazy?
Imagine you’re walking to your destination, it’s a cold day and your hands are tightly positioned in your pockets, the last thing you want is to have to remove your hands form the warmth and touch a probably cold, germ-ridden (I’m not a germ-aphobe, its realistic, think how many people have touch that door!) door! Automatic door to the rescue, fingers stay nice and toasty until it is safe to remove them, and no unnecessary germs.

Automatic doors are all fine and well, until they don't open.  Then how do you get out? And no doubt by the time you figure out a solution you have walked back and forth a few times, waved your hands a little, tried to catch the sensor by surprise, all these actions starting subtle but getting more and more desperate as the situation deteriorates. Then you're left standing looking ridiculous and feeling awkward, like you're not special enough for the door to open. And you can guarantee people are watching! Where are the benefits then?!

Normal doors, (although less hygienic) are much less fussy about who gets through, occasionally there will be one that sticks a bit when you try to open it, but a little heave and its person-1, door-nil. Not to mention the warmth kept in by hinge doors that is callously thrown away by automatic doors. There are no ‘accidental’ openings of hinge doors when someone happens to pass, they are only opened when needed and thus any draft can't really be avoided! (You can tell that it is a cold day today from all this talk about cold!).

From the cleanliness point of view, automatic doors are acceptable in hospitals and airports, places the have a constant flow of people but what if we had them everywhere? What would happen to the traditional door? It would just be tossed aside because the human race was just too lazy to push a door open. And when automatic doors break, it’s more difficult to open than a normal hinge door, because automatic doors slide, would we be expected to slide it open? I predict mass hysteria and confusion!

 Conclusion: There is a time and a place for automatic doors, the status quo is fine but lets not go over the top. Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt suggested that one day, everyone would have automatic doors in their homes, this is, in my opinion, a little far. Not to mention the draft it would create, it would be less safe for families to live, and the noise of the constant opening and closing would just get irritating!

Orange Juice vs Apple juice...

Ok so I was thinking, depending on what mood I am I don't really have an apple juice/orange juice preference but I know my brothers do! So this post I plan on comparing the two and finding out what other people think!

Price
After researching, I have discover that Tesco and Asda both sell their own branded 'value' and 'smartprice' apple juice for £0.62 and Sainsburys sell their 'basics' apple juice at £0.56. Asda 'smartprice' orange is also £0.62. Sainsburys and Tesco however sell their value/Basics orange juice slightly cheaper at £0.56 also.


Packaging
Tesco 'value' and Asda 'smartprice' juices are in cartons whereas Sainsburys 'basics' are plastic bottles -as can be seen below. 

As on customer described Tesco 'Value' apple juice;

‘Indeed I like the design and the layout of this product, I would describe it as simple but eye catching'.

Decision time...
So a facebook status resulted in a response of 8 votes (not as much as I was hoping but to be fair it was a silly time of night and people were a littel confused as to why I was asking!). 3 votes to apple juice and 5 to orange. 

Why?
Reasons for the votes included; 'apple because orange is too concentrated' and 'orange since it is full of vitamin C'.


Personally, apple juice at night time, orange in the morning when I need woken up! I prefer orange juice 'with bits' but I know that isn't for everyone, eg my brother!


So there we go, apple juice vs orange juice, a little bit of random pointless information to waste time in your reading -and my creating! :)

The Irish Countryside...

While on holiday in Ireland in the Summer I stayed in a small cottage belonging to a relative. The cottage was literally situated in the middle of nowhere so it was fantastic breathing in the country air - apart from when that involved walks past fields of animals, the air wasn't as 'fresh' there! Driving through the country it was amazing to see all the houses, every one different and every one personal to the occupants. So, here are some photo's of some of the properties, the photo quality isn't great as they were taken while driving past, but I will try and explain why I liked each home. 

What attracted me to this
house was the windows of the
room at the side. There are
floor to ceiling windows on each
of the 3 outer walls. I like how
this would allow a huge amount
of a light into the house.

I liked this one because it is simple
yet large. It is personal and the
functionality of the bungalow will
suit the occupants needs.

The house is interesting because of the sweeping
driveway. It secludes the house from the road and
makes it appear more grand. From the road side you
 can see that the house is large and the sweeping
driveway gives the residence privacy that it otherwise
may not have.

This house caught my eye because of the huge
 front room. The large bay window gives an idea as
to how big the room is and I like how it is the most
 noticeable aspect of the house at first.

This house is probably my favourite out of all of the pictures I have, because of the 'jaggy' roof. There are many different apex's and roof lies due to bay windows in both front rooms and the upstairs, as well as the front porch. It gives the feeling of busy-ness but at the same time order. It makes the house feel larger and as thought there are many different dimensions and functions within.