Experimenting with photography! (badly)

Location: Whitby, North Yorkshire, England

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S3

Date: 27/02/2015

Yes, I have used filters and effects. It was a rather dull day, so the environmental coloring seemed drained. 

So enhancing colors to recreate the mythical feel that I associate with Whitby only seemed, well, natural! I'm fond of the cake pictures (actually it's fancy-looking soap, so do not eat lol) because it reminds me of the pop-art print style and I experimented with a light/dark theme with a couple of the other photos. 

I do wish I had a proper camera though, the overall clarity of the photo's are pretty bad. Hopefully my application form for a bar job at the uni will fall though!

A ginger cat visits the market. I tried to say hi but it completely ignored me. A man laughed at my feline-rejection.

Mysterious alleyway, lovely porcelain door signs.

Let them eat soap! Deceptively tasty-looking.

Light/dark alleyway, sneaky view of the houses and sea beyond.

Finally a great view of Whitby town, light/dark theme here again.

TV | Brief review of Bobs Burgers!

Google Images: "You're my children and I love you, but you're all terrible at what you do...here."

I'd like to start off by saying I watch this damn show nearly everyday. 
One day I heard about it from my friends at uni. I didn't think much of it and at first I'll admit I wasn't too keen, since I was kinda late getting into the show. 
I find that season one and two definitely had it's weaknesses. 
Though I do feel that Bob's Burgers wanted to be more than just another gross-out comedy with a generous side helping of callousness, it did sometimes dip into the cliched, Family Guy-esque territory of depicting bodily functions and evil genius level maliciousness. 
However, as the series progressed the show greatly improved, with the fart-jokes being replaced with dialogue based, dry humor and the plot also becoming more creative and unpredictable. 
It does indulge in flaring, out-of-control emotions, but these outbursts are conveyed with a level of personable comprehension. 
I also love the unique charm and quirkiness of the characters. 
Tina's awkward, pubescent-driven obsession with butts, horses and cute boys kinda steals the show for me, but Bob's sardonic sense of humor is also very endearing. The devotion the family has for each other is obvious, despite them not being a "perfect sitcom family". Bob and Linda certainly are not a perfect couple. Linda loses her temper often and Bob can be pretty spineless at times. 
But they do really care about each other, so they're pretty relateable and human. 

Go see what I mean and watch the show for yourselves...

Google Images

BOB'S BURGERS

RATING: 7.8/10

Relationships♥ | Communication is key!

Google images: 

I'm an extremely lucky gal. No really. 
I have great parents, a privileged lifestyle and a good education. 
Oh, and a fantastic boyfriend, with whom I enjoyed an equally fantastic Valentines day in York this year, eating sushi as well as watching Big Hero 6 at the cinema! It was a great movie by the way, so go see it!
I really don't mean to brag, but three years of togetherness has definitely taught me about what makes people connect. 
Sure, there have been low's in my relationship. 
We have both experienced our fair share of sadness, grief and loss already. 
But we've always valued each other and in the end I've come away with these essential relationship tips.


❤Don't be afraid to be vulnerable! Intimacy and closeness are the most important boxes one needs to tick off on the successful relationship list. 
Rapport building creates a strong partnership, where thoughts and feelings can be confidently and honestly shared. 
Interpersonal awareness and an appreciation for personal boundaries are also important, as it demonstrates a level of maturity, self control and respectfulness. 


❤ Stay interested and involve yourself with each other! 
Sometimes relationships can quieten down and even become a bit dull from time to time. 
That's cool, but remember to pick yourselves back up by doing activities together. 
Gaming, reading, bike riding, jogging, picnicking, film-watching, you name it. Find what you both like doing and do it! 
Team building hobbies are usually the best, since it will strengthen your existing bond.

❤ Arguing is a part of any normal relationship. Embrace the fact and always remember to act appropriately when you do disagree with each other. 
Do not try to humiliate the other person and reduce the disagreement to a screaming match. 
Take a deep breather, remain calm and focus on NOT raising your voice above normal talking level. Listen to each others issues and try to come to a mutual understanding. 
If you were wrong about something, own up to it and apologize. 
Also, DO NOT BRING UP OLD ARGUMENTS! The past is in the past! 

❤ Remember to express gratitude! 
Vocalize your appreciation for any help your partner gives you and try not to take them for granted.  

❤ And finally, surprise each other! 
Organize a cinema trip, buy a cute bracelet, or some new cologne, write a romantic poem, sing a song, make dinner yourself...do something that reignites your love for each other. 
It's usually the small acts of kindness that carry the most sentiment. 

Serious | Victim Blaming, what's up with that?

Google Images: Blaming a rape victim is a fallacy. 

In the true spirit of things, I'll like to get started by discussing a topic very close to my heart...

Blaming the victim of a serious crime-such as rape, physical assault or burglary-may seem incredibly problematic to a lot of us. But today many people still think that the victim of a crime is partially or sometimes even entirely to blame for the transgression perpetrated against them.

But why does this victim blaming happen?

Why do so many of us say things like "she was asking for it" or "it's his fault really?"

Though the scope of victim blaming is sadly vast and has varying applications, I'll be focusing on the social phenomenon of slut shaming, specifically towards women. In today's world, it is often suggested by socialists that we as a society commonly view sexuality and sex in general as taboo. Some would even go so far as to say that it was a highly stigmatized, yet exotic subject to talk about. 

So with that covered...

Historically women have been expected to adhere to traditional gender normative behaviors. In the past, women were depicted culturally as platonic, virginal, loyal, "pure" beings that did all the domestic work, got married, popped out children and lived as house+husband-orientated a life as possible. That meant absolutely no casual sex for the ladies. Standing in a room alone within the company of a man was considered scandalous, let alone having a one night stand with him! So girls were condemned to the domestic sphere.

Over time, these entrenched and reinforced stereotypes about the "ideal woman" pigeon-holed the female population into an expected role. If a lady deviated from this restrictive category, they were almost always regarded as disgraceful and were condemned, both privately and publicly.

So how does this relate to slut-shaming today? Well, as you can imagine, Victorian ideas about appropriate female behavior didn't exactly disappear overnight. Stereotypes stick around, do not easily get washed away and they affect us all.

The idea is that by engaging is certain behaviors traditionally considered "unfeminine", women "ask" for bad things to happen to them. Societal offenses commonly attributed to women include (but are not limited to);

1.) drinking alcohol until drunk
2.) walking around at night
3.) wearing "sexy" clothes
4.) taking nude photos for a partner or purely for sexual kicks and getting said pictures shared without consent (because god forbid women actually enjoy sex, right?)
5.) hugging, talking to and playfully flirting with male friends and acquaintances.

But when one takes a look at this scandalous list, it becomes very apparent that these supposed offenses are actually just rights and freedoms that every person is entitled to. And I am proposing we include women in the people category. 

Just imagine telling a man that the tailored suit he wore to work that day provoked the brutal robbery against him? 
Or that his cargo shorts encouraged his coworkers to sexual assault him? Or his tank top? Sound's ridiculous right?

And yet if a women is shamed for her completely human choices, then that's somehow justifiable?

No. For all the people who believe that a woman could have avoided rape or slut-shaming by following some magical rule list thing, then I can only stress that there is only one, sure, absolute way that a girl can avoid horrible things such as rape or slut-shaming. And that is if the person who is thinking about committing the transgression chooses not to.

Starting my blog folks!

Hello everyone, my name is Laura and as you can see, I'm aspiring to be some form of writer in the future. Though my path is not altogether clear, I am hoping to gain some kind of understanding of the writing world. I'm currently a Student at Teesside University. I am currently doing an English Studies and Creative Writing course and I am enjoying it thoroughly, thus far at least! I also did a Film and Television course for two years but decided to switch, due to a combination of mitigating circumstances and a drastic change in life plans. I have a boyfriend who lives in York, a sister who is also at Teesside doing a degree in Gaming Animation (or something like that) and a pair of parents who mean the world to me. I've attempted to start a blog before, but I deleted those ones for classified reasons...(they were rubbish).

As of now I'm at a very strange point in my life, in a sort of student Limbo/Purgatory I suppose. I'm investing most of my time in my university work (going to the Library, reading or sitting glued to my laptop at home) and I've found that blogging is both a relief and a hobby for me. The bf I mentioned earlier has finished his degree and is currently on the hunt for jobs, so fingers crossed he gets one soon! 

But in all honesty, I'm beginning to feel like a bit of a deadbeat. I have never had a long-lasting job in my life, due to a combination of circumstance and because I've honestly never felt any pressure to get one until very recently so basically I feel a bit worthless at the moment, due to the MANY times I've been turned down from potential job opportunities in the past...*sigh*. 


ANYWAY, ENOUGH OF THAT! I'm very, VERY interested in the LGBT community and love discussing issues surrounding racism, sexism, trans-phobia and other inequalities that plague us today. But it's not all doom and gloom! I also love to discuss relationships, life in general, music, TV and books! 

Fitness and health also interest me greatly and I enjoy my Pole fitness classes (that's me and my uni buds down below) and have recently taken up jogging on the new family running machine. No sweat. Talk to you all later!

Loving the pole!