The Ghosts of un-Christmas past

So today I finally received my much anticipated reimbursement letter from a certain Irish airline. I can honestly say it was quite the let down. I don't even know why I was even surprised by this as this was not the first time, or the worst thing, that they had failed to deliver as promised. Two words: Last Christmas.

Just about sums me up last year...

I nearly shudder at the thought of what an utter let down and disappointment it was. There I was unbelievably excited, actually excited couldn't even cover it, at the thought of coming home from New York to Cork for Christmas. And before you even think it: No, I am not being sarcastic. I was genuinely ecstatic to see my loved ones...and do Christmassy things with everyone- like making mince pies, eating tins of roses while sharing stories on Christmas eve about our hilarious tall tales made up when we were children about spotting Santa and of course naturally go to the pub. So anyway, on the 23rd of December I packed my bags, gave back my dorm room key and set off ridiculously early to JFK Airport. Like six hours early.

Away I went!

So I arrive up to the check in desk only to be referred to another queue. That's when they tell me our flight was cancelled due to "unfavourable" conditions. Stunned, I rang my friend due to fly on the same flight to deliver the news. After hanging around for what seemed like forever we were all packed off to an airport hotel with the promise that we would be flying out the same time the next day and arrive in Christmas morning. I held onto that hope that we would make it home in time.

The thought of Christmas at home made even this view seem almost redundant by the 23rd!

So the next day we hauled our bedraggled selves to the airport once more and queued  for a good hour with the only agreed acceptable reason for leaving it again was by getting on a plane. The staff were about as useful as a chocolate teapot with regards any sort of updates or basic information on our flight. Some were downright rude and ridiculous to us, one member of staff even claimed to the more hotheaded of our group that he didn't care, could take them all on. Not exactly the Christmas cheer or empathy we were looking for in an airport on Christmas Eve. Among-st all the confusion and raised voices the screen above us flashed: Flight Cancelled.That was it. Game over. The Grinch stole Christmas.

No Christmas for Sandra last year!

 I'd like to add before anyone thinks I'm being unreasonable and a complete brat, as there was a lot of snow in Ireland at that time, that two of my friends flew out from New York on the 23rd into Ireland without much hassle. It's safe to say I handled the disappointment extremely well. I bought myself a bottle of rum as a miserable consolation present and headed to the hotel bar with a large motley crew of Irish expats.

Stranded...but not even in the wonderful city!

So that's the story of last Christmas, the non-event that still haunts me the Christmas enthusiast or nut if you will. This year, it's safe to say that I am making up for it. I made the family traipse around after me for five  freezing hours to look for the perfect tree. I, almost to a point of obsession, make sure that Christmas songs and movies are played at least once throughout the days on the lead up. I think at this stage I may know all the words to both Home Alone movies...I even let my boyfriend convince me to go ice skating to get as much Christmas Cheer as I could . (Along with spiders it is one of the few things that truly instills fear into me, ice skating that is!)

Pretty much perfect portrayal of my ice skating ability.

Even better, on top of this there are plenty more batches of Christmas cookies to devour; a chocolate Rice Krispie Tree to build; 12 pubs of Christmas; lots of mulled wine sessions; and Christmas eve still to come.

This year is full of Christmas cheer!

Anyway, have a great Christmas everybody! I know I will! :)

Weighing up the issues

The reoccurring trends in the debate of using "real models" have always sparked much controversy throughout the fashion world and has also become a repeat theme for women's magazines when they grow weary of taunting famous people for any imperfections they may have. The magazines sudden ethical argument are that models are not "realistic" and normal women cannot relate to them seems to become more and more prevalent. I agree that unhealthily underweight models are certainly not good role models to girls and are completely unrealistic. However, I also found their sudden concern over accepting people for who they are to be disgustingly ironic due to the fact that these are the same  magazines that pad their dull as dishwater Jeremy Kyle reject stories with "scandalous" pictures of stars that they have either deemed too fat or too thin and sometimes to shake things up add in the cellulite factor. On top of this they add smug and catty slogans to these expose pictures. Sure they probably argue that they are reassuring women that even stars are human, but in reality are they not just creating new problems to worry about?

So called fighters for real women

How can the fashion world be expected to show what is dubbed real women when all these women's magazines do is critique and almost take glee in pointing out any little imperfection those in the lime light have?My issue is that  these magazines have been developing unhealthy obsessions with weight within the masses. Their quotes such as "real women have curves" are putting down women who have naturally boyish or athletic figures. So if they don't have what is deemed the right feminine form are they not real women? what are they then, Unicorns? Sometimes even in the same magazine they will push the newest super effective diet techniques that promise to "shed that ugly flab". Again, if a woman is over a certain weight are they ugly? Why can't they be attractive? These magazines are not selling stories anymore but fear. Fear that if one does not fit into what the media deem perfect at that point in time that they are just not good enough. It truly disgusts me. They cannot even seem to make up their mind as to what in their opinion  is the epitome of perfection, they constantly change it just like fashion trends. It seems the ideal body form correlates with which ever new female star is the darling of the press at that moment. This puts us plebs under too much pressure.

Peddlers of fear. 

In my opinion a real woman is not a certain size or shape. She is happy and confident in her own body. She does not bend to conformity or pressure. She is sure of who she is and does not care of what anyone thinks of her. That is the difference between being a woman and a girl, of being a real woman and not just a fad.

But what if I forget my house keys??

To use the famous and vastly used quote "When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did." As of late I have been taking this completely on board in many aspects of my life that I have previously been too scared to even attempt. Certain things like even trying out modelling which I used to scoff at when people suggested it to me and not because I thought it stupid or a vapid activity to take part in but because I guess I didn't take myself seriously and was really too much of a chicken to take a risk and be judged.



Now before anyone thinks I'm about to go on a big long ramble about how great I am now that I'm taking chances on myself I will tackle the main issue at hand: While I'm certainly trying more things than ever before and woo hoo for that - this year has got me slightly petrified. It's not the final year workload, which is almost a full time job in itself, but the fact that not only do I have to do that but I also have to plan the rest of my life (well next year at the very least) while I'm at it!

More and more Curious as to what lies ahead 

Which is ridiculous as I have been looking forward to independence and freedom for as long as I can remember. Nothing excited me more than the prospect that in a short few years I could be working and living in one of the many exciting and vibrant cities in the world! I spent hours day dreaming about all the new things I would experience. However, now that I have mountains of lots of little yet significant decisions pending and applications to fill in I find myself suddenly appreciating how jammy I have it living at home as a college student.



Before anyone thinks I am some sort of spoiled over-mothered brat, I am extremely self sufficient and have dreamed about my own place since I was little: Call it middle child syndrome if you will! However, more and more as of late irrational fears about moving away are randomly creeping into my mind. Over dramatic thoughts such as what if I forget my keys and end up being locked out of my house forever?? What if the neighbours cat sneaks into my place and smothers me??

My hypothetical neighbour's cat is clearly out to get me

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I've drawn the conclusion that this part of my brain must be a close cousin to the one that like to play tricks on me when I'm either home alone or after watching a scary movie, and about as much good to myself and my big plans as a chocolate tea pot: Very amusing but in no way helps me achieve my goal.

A Kick in the Faith.

After many weeks of the Occupy Cork group sitting at the periphery of our lives I think it is time to address something. However, it is not to do with whether or not I think it is an effective form of protest or whether they are lacking in a clear outcome they are suppose to strive for. To be honest I'm still in shock that a group of our own not only are trying to make a point and educate the masses on why we are in trouble economically but also and what is more heartwarming have stuck at it. Sure they do not seam to be making a dramatic difference and are surely not disrupting our daily lives in any way but they care enough, they have some bit of passion inside of themselves that has driven them to stop and ask our so called "democratic" country and elected government, why? Why are we still bailing out and covering up for these banks? We are still spiraling into further debt and unemployment even more so than when the recession was first announced! Somebody has finally turned around and say "Hey, wait a second..." Even though they still need to make their demands clear and possibly even educate some of the people speaking on their behalf it's still something. Frankly I found it refreshing, a bit of humanity was to be to be found among-st our so called society. That we were not all just robots working without question trying to thread water and keep ourselves out of debt. (That is a very strange metaphor I know but then again these are very strange times.)

Occupy Cork

Now onto my point, while I watched in awe at these people camping by the lee thinking isn't it great  there is finally something of substance happening, a little ripple against the tide, my thoughts were interrupted by a passerby who scorned "Typical crusty's have nothing better to do. They clearly are unemployed!" and then my delusional self came crashing back to earth. Trust us Irish to try drag down such a peaceful protest, to try avoid having to get involved in a conflict by making such excuses as:" Well I'm much to busy working. Wouldn't it be grand if I had such leisure time to spend it camping by Electric!"
 Should we not all stop what we are doing and demand that our government DO their job and attempt to try fix this mess?Maybe actually have the people who are responsible for this mess pay for what they have done? Fraud is a prison worthy crime the last time I checked, maybe I just didn't read the fine print that stated only if one does not have a large wallet and friends in high places. I mean we are a democratic country are we not? So why aren't we voicing our concerns? After all the government is suppose to only be the voice of the people. Sadly the evidence is pilling up that they're only the voice of the already rich and certainly not of the young or elderly.

Enjoy some Banksy instead of graphic protest images

However, I have slightly veered off point with my rambling. It is not just about the government it is about our attitude as a nation. No one can doubt that the french certainly have ways of standing up for themselves en mass, especially the students, and while I'm in no way condoning any sort of violence they actually come together and make themselves heard. Not only do we need to find our voice once again but also find pride in ourselves. We need to stop making excuses and dodging our responsibility as citizens. I'm not saying that we should rebel by any means but really I guess what I am trying to say is that if we don't have the bravery to take a public stand and risk any financial stability of our own by taking the time to prostest against what we all have been bitching about on Joe Duffy  then we should at least applaud those who do and not use what ever stereotype "they belong to" to to discredit them.

Is the Spooky Halloween spirit still alive?! Of corpse it is!

As a child nothing was quite as exciting as the anticipation of Halloween night. There is a certain point toward the end of September when the night time becomes more gloomy and the moon seems much more eerie. From the moment you spot that first pile of golden leaves get violently swooped up by the sharp wind and rattle through the air a foreboding thrill would be cast among the child version of ourselves as we were once again reminded it was that time of year again where ghosts and goblins lurked in every corner. Nothing could compete with that sort of exhilaration.

Even through that brief  point in my early teens where I thought I was too cool to dress up (I now cringe at what I deemed "cool" at this period.) I still had a little thrill in picking out the perfect pumpkin,gutting it and carving a ghastly face into it.While the fun of dressing up was always there the spine chilling magic of the night itself seemed to have waned a little as each year nothing brought back or came close to satisfying the fiendish thrills of  those Halloween nights long lost. That was until this year.

This years Pumpkins Fester N. Rot (Left) & Roger Spookyball (Right)

Nothing seems to bring terror to people (including myself) than the prospect of a zombie invasion. Sure many scorn (and yes this is also me) "that it could never happen" but there's always that tiny voice in the back of everyone's  mind that asks "what if?". This is the same part of the brain that turns a coat in the wardrobe into a murderous creature and any squeak into your immanent and undoubtedly violent death when alone in the house at night. Combing this with my unhealthy obsession with the series "The Walking Dead" the news that the Cork Zombie walk was to return this Halloween weekend made for a very excitable self!  I have to say the event lived up to every expectation I had of it, and believe me there was a lot!Not only did I recover the spookiness and wickedness of this time of year I feared was long gone but I also found a new tradition to add alongside pumpkin carving. There's a wicked glee to be found dressing up as the un-dead and wandering around in swarms through Cork city trying to and happily succeeding in terrorizing onlookers.

Getting our scare on at Cork Zombie Walk 2011

Even though Halloween has been put to rest for another year at least I can feel reassured that I will still be able to get my hair raising fix with my favourite zombie show,  for the next few weeks anyway, right up until the Christmas count down...Upon reading that last sentence I think I may have a slight obsession with celebrating certain public holidays...Oh dear.

So here goes...

So this is my first attempt at keeping a blog which I really do hope goes better than my twitter account. Between procrastination and pure laziness I never kept updating it regularly and unsurprisingly after months of half assed attempts I gave up. Naturally I consoled myself in the knowledge that maybe it was twitter and not me that was the issue as it's more for Celebrities and people who have stuff to promote, not little old me who was a broke college student and didn't have much  to update other than "Last night was great!" or "I'm so broke, somebody win the lotto for me!" Not exactly the most riveting of revelations to read online!

I had intended on my first post being an opinionated and thought provoking one on a topical issue that would really turn heads and believe me I have plenty of views on many things but strangely enough as soon as I sat down at my laptop with a cup of tea in hand ready to blow everyone's minds...I completely blanked. I had nothing, absolutely nothing, not even some witty remark that I could build a rant on! So I logged onto Facebook to seek advice off one of my friends and managed to kill about an hour staring at my home page refreshing my news feed not even reading it afterwards.My only conclusion is that Facebook is the enemy. Clearly it is not my fault I procrastinate, it is all Mark Zucherberg with his enticing blue and white social network site.

The man and the site responsible for hours of procrastination.

All in all a fantastic start to my blog don't you think?!