Thursday 30 May 2013

Top 10 Veggies.


I am a great advocate of the vegetable. Salad? Roasted veg? I’d have either any day over a pack of fries. Pathetic? Possibly. Yummy? Yah. 

  • Asparagus – Sadly only limited to May and June, asparagus is a firm favourite of mine. Yes it does make your wee smell, but I am an adult now, I can handle this. (It still freaks me out) 
  • Broccoli – no words describe my love for broccoli. In a stir fry, in a salad, in a sauce. 
  • Mushrooms – as a child, these were my worst nightmare. On a plate. How could I have been so naïve?! Mushrooms of the world, I apologise for misjudging you. Fried, baked, roasted or steamed, you’re delish and are even a suitable solo snack. 
  • Brussel sprouts – ah another classic childhood ‘ew’. But thanks to Jamie O, I have learned that together with some bacon and walnuts, these little bad boys are frightfully yummy. 
  • Cucumber – dipped in salsa. All day and everyday. 
  • Tomato – this is a fruit my bottom. A vegetable as great as they come, there’s always space for a tomato in my salad. Gives the green some colour! 
  • Kale – while I’m not going to follow the trend and blitz some kale into a super smoothie, I do very much advocate kale crisps. Lessons learned from many a wasted batch? (Burned to a crisp.. ha) Timing is crucial! 
  • Spinach – Is there actually any proof that spinach gives you Popeye worthy Pecks? Obviously this is a third childhood hate. But if mother dishes this up now I gladly oblige. 
  • Aubergine – Purple gentle giants that are ideal when roasted. 
  • Beetroot – makes an utter mess if spilled down a white top. The father, the sister and I still giggle about the time it happened to a very unlucky nun wearing a white habit.

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Over the hills & far away, Teletubbies come to play..


The Metro (London) on Tuesday May 14th: “Without a doubt, the UK is leading the world in pre-school programming with shows from Teletubbies to Peppa Pig.”


Pardon?

Now I have yet to experience the delights of Peppa Pig for myself, but I have indeed seen the Teletubbies. And world leading they are not… “eh-oh”

I think I was about 6 or 7 when they first appeared on the small screen and yes, I did have a brief but deep love for them. I even saved up my pocket money for a couple of weeks in order to be able to buy my very own version of Lala. Sadly my mama dear was not a big fan of the Teletubbies and was far from keen on my delight in their antics. She simply explained that such a program would lead to “verblödung” (like ‘schadenfreude’, this is one of those amazing words, which captures an entire English expression in one word. It simply means that ‘watching this program will make you dumb’)

So why is the Metro implying that programs like the Teletubbies are world leading? Perhaps because otherwise, we’d have to admit to ourselves that if our kiddiwinks weren’t watching the Teletubbies, then they would probably be playing on Dad’s/Mum’s/Granny’s/(god forbid) their own iPads.

Go and play in the dirt girls and boys!

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Childhood v Adulthood


In continuing with yesterday's little post, I thought I'd compare the pro's of childhood with those of adulthood...
The pros of being a child:

  1. You can do the most random and outrageous things and it’s (mostly) socially acceptable, sometimes even cute! If you want to have a little scream in Tescos and throw some apples on the floor then go right ahead.
  2. Role playing is insane. Any career is a possibility. One day I was a mother, with an army of BabyBorn children that all needed my love and devotion. The next day I was a significantly successful musical super star in the West End. And the next I was Titania, Queen of the Fairies...and naturally ma petite soeur was my elfin slave.
  3. Not only do I think that children’s imaginations are amazing, but also their approach on things. It’s usually so straight forward and direct. Things that us ‘adults’ simply overlook. (Brutal simplicity of thought Mr Saatchi? Employ some children.) For example: I was listening to a literary podcast where children around the ages of 5-7 years old were asked whether they would like to be Harry Potter and why. While most boys my age would probably have said yes and waved some pretend magic wand through the air shouting EXPECTO PATRONUM, the little boy on the podcast simply said “No. Because Harry is always having to do something or be something. He is never just normal Harry and hangs out with his friends.” I had never even considered that. (I would still want to be Ginny.)
  4. Dating and interacting with the other sex. Oh my gosh, why did I never take advantage of how simple this is as a child?? “Hello, my name’s Lisa. Would you like to share my Smarties?” Nowadays an awkward lock of the eyes in a crowded bar could lead to an awkward “Would you like a drink?” followed by an awkward “So what do you do?”
  5. The biggest worry I had was probably along the lines of whether Hattie had more Beanie Babies than me. Phone bill? Que?
The pros of being an adult:

  1. I’ve spent 16 years in education to date. I’d like to say I have learnt a lot. Obviously I can’t remember exactly what I learnt in Year 4 in the Summer Term, (I think we did a pond project and I caught some tadpoles) but I’m confident that having overcome childhood I certainly have both more general and expertise knowledge than I did as a child.
  2. Although I no longer have the liberty of choosing a new ‘career’ on a daily basis, I do have the opportunity to actually practice a career. QUOTE: if you find a job you like you’ll never work a day in your life and all that jazz. Having said that, if Titania offered a grad scheme I’d be on it like a shot.
  3. Decisions. Yes I can still consult the parents on various matters, but at the end of the day it’s down to me to decide. Right from what time I go to bed, to where and when I’m going on holiday this summer. (Am I invited on the family holiday?!)
  4. I am a lot less restricted in daily life! I can go on theme park rides for those over 1.4 meters, I can take out films labelled 18 and I can drive, drink and buy lottery tickets. 
  5. I can do the most random and outrageous things. Ok so I may not be able to have a little scream in Tescos and throw some apples on the floor without being sent to a psychologist, but I could literally right this second get on a tube, go to Heathrow and get on a flight to Cuba. Why Cuba? Not sure.

Monday 13 May 2013

Twenty Something

I’m 21 (so I can legally drink everywhere. Yes, everywhere in the whole entire world. But I still can’t hire a mini-van), I have a degree and I have moved out. I’ve done various internships which have all been eye opening, interesting and beneficial in completely different ways. I think I’m ready to admit to myself that yes, Lisa, I am now in the real world. Work, salary, bills and post-work drinks are all a reality.

Wham slam bam thank you ma’am. I guess you could say that I’ve been given free reign on life.

But I still see myself in a somewhat sense of quasi-adulthood / quasi-childhood, a kind of halfway house... Rather than photos in gilded frames I have fairy lights on my wall (dorm room chic), some of my clothes are currently on the floor and this weekend I’m going ‘home’ to visit the fam where I still have my bedroom. I like that. Hell I neeeeed that! If the ceiling were to fall on my head, I could potentially scramble home, tail between my legs and hide under the duvet. Although not literally advisable, it’s nice to know that the option is theoretically still there.


Currently, blogs, TV programmes and the general media are full of the term ‘twenty somethings’ to describe my age and generation; sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. Although I am a wee bit sick of it, it is quite nice. It seems socially acceptable to be in this self-labelled limbo.

The ‘twenty something’ blanket gives me a bit of time to sloooowly ease myself into being an adult. It psychologically gives me a bit of time to fully grow into my adult persona. Ideal. If someone were to say to me today: “you are now 100% an adult” I think I’d be pretty scared. In my books, ‘adults’ don’t make mistakes on tax forms, let the bins overflow or forget to pay bills. Obviously one should avoid these things at any stage, but perhaps a ‘twenty something’ is expected to still make a few mistakes. I like to call it learning by doing.


So despite the fact that I am ready to face the big, bad world and throw myself into the deep end of the rat-race, I think I’ll happily hold onto that ‘twenty something’ label for a bit. A little psychological teddy bear for the road.