jayseven

Yeah Brighton suffers from being a seaside "town". The summers are ruined by all the foreign students, and all bank holidays see the place mobbed by londoners coming down. It may not be the best place to live for people who aren't interested in comedy, music, street entertainment, organic or quality food, theatre, nightlife, restaurants, parks or shit like that. :P I like brighton. I've only really seen bournemouth, brighton, sheffield and leeds but I prefer brighton because it has the culture sandwiched between the beach and the south downs. It has the good weather and it has the social openness. I'm typing in this line between being defensive, yet aware that I'm very biased! I disagree that brighton is 'grey' considering it's law to have the seafront buildings yellow.... but I'll admit that's not exactly better. I'd love to properly live in the country, away from the lights and in clear view of shooting stars and in earshot of horses and shit. But ultimately -- brighton's only competition for seaside-ness is blackpool. which finds the need to tart itself up.

@Eenuh bournemouth is shit. My sister lives there with her husband and kid. I hate it. Just such a bad town. I'm not saying you'll feel less homesick elsewhere, but I am saying that you may find other places more comfortable. It's a seaside town that is dead half the year.Flink has a connection to brighton already, and you could easily move sideways in your position - I know a company that I previously worked with that is looking for foreign speakers. I dont think you have to replace your home with a UK-based place, but don't give up on enjoying the different life that it offers!

HI BB! always love your face around here! There are a few oldies knocking about :P I wanted to come in here and brag - got a 'consultant' 'job' for £20 an hour... roughly twice a week I'll be rewriting reports for someone who works for one of the biggest supermarkets in teh country. It's small money but potentially easy-good money, and if it goes well I'll be able to work for more staff and demand more money. They asked for £15 an hour and I 'jumped' to £20 and they put up no fight so I probably could've done better. There's still scope for bartering as I stated the tally may need amending if the jobs cut into my free time too much --- which is guaranteed as I'm only to be notified about them after work hours. I should also have a minimum payment regardless of time spent... which is generally positive! Even if it's just £40 a week it'll be fantastic CV material. I also got my basic pay, comission and a bonus this month (again) so money is looking fairly sweet. Thinking about taking out a loan to pay off my overdraft and maybe have a holiday with.

A kitten, definitely less than a year old, maybe a few months? got stuck in our garden. The fences are quite high. Apparantly he's been there for a day and a half- my landlords refused to feed him as we already have a cat. I went out for a smoke about an hour ago and saw he was hiding... I tried to put him on a garage that nestles against our fence in the hope he'd run off home but 5 mins later he was back mewing and being all cute, so I took him to my room. I've set up a food bowl and a water bowl and left the window open. He's cute as fuck and I want to keep him but can't! Willl try the neighbours tomorrow. I can't leave him outside and he won't leave me alone so I guess I got a bed buddy tonight. I'm expecting to wake up by being scratched to fuck, and to find the cat has pooped somewhere stupid. He does this little fighty-bitey thing that tickles! Aww!

I think that there's one thing people should take from the thread; everyone has shit they don't like about their own body. Use that fact to alter your own perspective. If you feel negative about your own body but are doing something about it, then good, Feeling shit and doing fuck all is bad. If you feel happy, content or satisfied with where you are and who you are then good. But I wouldn't say that it's the rest of the world that is wrong, if you're feeling alone or sad or ugly. Sometimes it is something that you can do about yourself rather than just say that it's the rest of the world that is shallow. Which it is. But that shallowness, when it drives you to solve your problems then it's good, right?

Lent a friend Ghostwritten and she's just messaged me saying she can't get into it. Is it wrong that I have immediately and drastically reduced my perception of her ability to appreciate books?

I just love the fact that everyone forgets Affleck has won two oscars. Admittedly not for his acting, but still... He's not an idiot and superhero movies have come a long way from the clooney/kilmer days. The product as a whole has to work and I highly doubt that anyone (in this movie, especially) is being cast for reasons other than for cohesiveness. Nolan's batman is dead. It's a shame, but it's true. This is a different package -- that Affleck has allegedly signed on for 13 movies (including cameos and shit like that) as batman is more of a talking point (link here). What are the potential movies we're going to see down the line, and is there a danger of over-saturating this whole "ALL THE HEROES AT ONCE" mentality (Avengers/Justice League)?

Why is more money a 'con'?

I thought Villa would be playing better - for sure, they've had a hard set of fixtures so far and, to be fair, they've done better than the paper predictions would say, points-wise. A lot of teams are still seeming to find their footing -- Palace in particular seem to have over-reached in their attempt to upgrade to the premier level; a team of amalgamated players that don't know how to play together yet. Arsenal actually proved that they do have quality up-front in podolski, walcott and giroud playing well. Of course their defense wasn't tested thoroughly and I can see why fans are upset. Nothing shinging bright just yet... But the sides that will spend their season mid-table and relegation-battling didn't show anything scary. Essentially, no surprises just yet, but not many teams showing too much of a solid state.

(@Pancake Looks more like a hawk of sorts than an eagle. Which is still awesome. Not that I know much about birds)

Recently things have been going pretty well in most areas of life, but then I saw an episode of dexter s06 where laguerta says "make your life revolve around work and everything will seem better" (or something like that) and it made me think a little. I've been focused on work a lot recently - it's been really rewarding for the last 3 months and I look forward to it, and all that, but I've been a hell of a lot less organisational when it comes to socialising. When I returned from Oz I kinda put together a group of people, then started dating one of them, then broke up and distanced myself. I focused on work and didn't organise anything anymore. Now they exist as a cohesive group (that exists because of me) but I'm excluded (self-exiled to an extent)... but it is starting to bother me. Logically I can make sense of it, but emotionally I definitely feel hard done by. Part of me wants to act out and organise something just so I can not invite them... yet I know it's selfish. I'm trying to grasp at what the right thing to do is, whilst not doing anything overtly cynical or self-involved... So the conclusion is I continue to do nothing, as I have done, and just pretend like I'm still friends with the people the next time I see them, even though they didn't invite me out this time or that, or that they only communicate with me these days because they want to fish for gossip (so it seems) rather than share life. Sigh. I don't know. One of my oldest friends is moving away to NZ this week, and in brighton he's pretty much the last person I could fully trust. Maybe I'm just used to life in transit and I'm suddenly stationary again? I don't know. Work's going really well. Living situation needs rectifying and my love life is up in the air, so I guess it's all standard. Just doing the logic vs emotion battle.

Didn't ask.fm point out that a large proportion of the comments made were actually sourced from the same IP that Hannah posted on? I think that cyber bullying is very real and very harmful, but the individual needs to feel that they can leave, or approach an authority figure to resolve matters. With ask.fm the issue was that they didn't have a report function for the anonymous questions i.e. someone could 'anonymously' torture her with no reprimand. However, what compelled her to return time and time again?

I think a lot of it can be ascribed to another consequence of ageing; I've done it a billion times already. I mean when you get to drinking age you don't give a shit about how long it takes because, fuck, man, we're out DRINKING OMGNOADGNOADNG! When you're a teen (or tween or whatever) I guess a lot of what is 'cool' is because you feel like you're still a kid but you're allowed to do adult stuff. This makes the 'stuff' seem far more fun than it actually is. Then when you're older and you want to just do stuff you're pissed off by the novices getting over-excited about it all. Just picture that loud, non-stop talking 5 year old on the train who doesn't realise having a gameboy on full-volume is socially annoying. That kid grows out of it, and eventually realises trains aren't fun. They're just trains. Same thing applies to teens in pubs and cinemas. Though I do like that this thread is "growing up" not "growing old" because the emphasis is much more positive this way :P

I think the press are blowing it up massively because they are perceiving themselves as the victim here. 9 hours is not real news, nor real torment. Hundreds of people being killed in Egypt, hell even the dope-smuggling girls in peru are more of a story. We have no idea how often the anti-terrorism law is utilised and I respect one government official's view (I forget whether it was the home secretary or not) that it would be foolish not to exercise such laws, especially in instances where it's probably quite likely that someone does know some secrets. Of course, the idea that snowden's 'espionage' charges are so massive is the sort of anti-human-rights angle that we really should focus on. Sentenced to more-than-life for saying what the world's spy agencies already knew isn't really just. And, also, us brits are also focused on how we are once again seeming to act in the best interests of the US rather than ourselves makes us think that we aren't run by people who truly reflect the opinions of the majority of the public. But ultimately I think we are far more controlled by the media, and I think they are spinning this out of proportion.

Here's my ingredients for tonight's nosh (if I can be arsed to cook...) 600g chicken 150g chorizo one MASSIVE onion 2 bullhorn peppers 350g mushrooms boursin! .. not sure what else to throw into the mix. I'll either be making a (stodgy) wrap-filla, or force it to meld with some linguine. Anyone got any suggestions? I also have kidney beans, lentils, balsamic vinegar, cyder vinegar, cayenne, cumin, garam masala, bay leaves, oregano, basil, marjoram, parsley, coriander, pasatta, worcester sauce, veg-, beef-, chicken-stock... and vodka and ouzo. Anyone with suggestions before I enter the kitchen in 40 mins-ish? Well screw all of your suggestions :P Cooked up a CHICKEN SURPRISE and I have no idea how it tastes. I should've forsaken the boursin I think, and instead just stirred it in when it was all cold. Perhaps refocus and do a salad-based dish next time... I think I used too much cyder vinegar too, and in fact should've used balsamic vinegar instead (I opted to add the pasatta instead of any stock) BUT I fucking love bay leaves and that worked well. Fried chorizo is sooooo goooooood. I was full up after cooking just by the amount of buts I 'tasted' during cooking, but yeah will see how it tastes tomorrow. I'll chalk it up as another failure, but eat it for lunch all week anyway :P

@Charlie thanked your post because your mate is in good spirits and improving - sounds like he's got the support he needs with his friends and family.

Don't you owe me £60?

Sorry, my hobbies are all boring so I can't suggest them. Jigsaws, crosswords, shitty raps, drinking my own weight in alcohohol. That last one is tough because you can never remember whether you succeeded or not.

that puppies vs stairs video is seriously one of the cutest things I've ever fucking seen. Hearts be fucking melting left right and, mostly, centre of my chest yo.

Looks amazing as well!

Basically a week into my 'training' and because I've already been in the workplace for 3 months it's going very smoothly. It makes no sense to anyone else, but essentially the last person to join the team got an 'offer' after 2 weeks, and today I sent a LL FOS which is basically guaranteed to produce an 'offer', so if the bank replies ASAP then I'll break that record. The previous record before 2 weeks was 3 months, for comparison. So yeah work is (still) going well.. Went to colleagues for what I thought was drinks with folks but ultimately movie, dinner, tarot and scrabble. Good chillax. I'm on lates this week and it's fucked up my sleeping pattern a wee bit! Supposed to go to komedia tomorrow (with anna and andy, @nightwolf!) and finish off tidying the house before my landlords get back from hols... then friday will be messy as it's a night out for my late who is moving to NZ. I just wanna sleep.

Just to highlight the contradiction in your argument here. By positing that there could be a new energy source to be discovered that would sustain us, you are essentially gambling - which is something the boom-bust culture that you criticise is guilty of, no? Perhaps the point, in this instance, is that we as a society are kind of almost expecting these white-coated scientists to discover the energy source we need at some point. Is it not better to suppose it isn't going to happen, and instead instigate a long-term conservation plan? I think that's O_W's initial point. At the current rate of exponential expansion we do risk several things. I do agree that overpopulation is the major issue we face as a species going forwards. Currently climate change and recession are the main short- and long-term items that everyone is aware of, and while I'm not suggesting that china has it right when its denizens opt to throw babies in gutters, instead it makes more sense to accept the population incease has an impact on these other factors. Questioning why people have babies is a fantastic and very grand subject that demands we look at a lot of socio-economical factors, as well as cultural and inhereted practices. Life in itself is special and great and unique, right? If that's an argument for not producing multiple units of life then it's also an argument for producing as many human beings as possible - which doesn't happen because couples (or otherwise) factor in other elements to their own life choices -- money, space, time, etc. If these are limiations to their maximal number of children already then why is it so harsh to suggest these limitations are refocused with the entire species in mind? This is a severely complex issue and I have no idea where I stand on it.

I just wrote a big cheeky reply to zechs before I realised that he awsn't disagreeing with me. In teh spoiler tags you'll find my dickish response.

Well I just wanted to say that meat and tomatoes goes well. I mean... it's not the meat that contradicts sweetness or the herbs or spices... A bolognese is beef (and pork) with a tomato-based sauce. Jambalaya is typically a dish that any kind of meat can suit, but what I thought was most curious about it was that typically jambalaya doesn't even require tomatoes in order to function as a jambalaya -- the dish is about peppers onions and celery, not the meat choice.

The fact is the majority of people don't choose the job they are in. Most people have no choice in the matter at all -- the choice is either have no job or have a job, but be treated like shit on minimum wage where you're expected to turn up 10 mins early and finish only when the work's done and can never take your holiday because too many people have booked it already and you don't get paid the holiday in lieu and they don't care if you quit because tehre are three thousand people 'begging' for the job ready to take your place and they never train you up to be any more responsible because that would mean they'd find it harder to replace you and the middle management directly above you are never going to help you do better because they are bitter they're not doing better and even if you can do a better job than them it doesn't matter because you have to follow chain of command and targets exist not to reflect the abilities of the staff but to ensure they are working non-stop for the on-clock time and... Sorry but for the masses there is no choice, there is just a relentless stream of knockbacks and letdowns in the job-searching market. An army of employers who ignore your plea for work. For many, their desire to stay afloat and to get off the dole means they sacrifice their own sense of pride because, ultimately, they have bills to pay so fuck having a life, right? Fuck thinking you deserve anything but living to work? I would totally get up at 5am and get home at 11pm for a job that treated me with respect, that recognised my efforts, that didn't object me being 5 mins late even though it took 2 hours to get there and those factors were out of my control. @Zechs Merquise I get what you're saying, but I think you're not being empathetic here. Your advice of "find somewhere closer to you" isn't encapsulating the entire problem. Why aren't you considering the potential reasons for why he's not looked for somewhere closer before you suggest this? If such a common-sense answer seems so obvious to you, shouldn't that strike a cord and make you think "hold on, if I can think of such a genius answer then surely others have done too?" why not take a moment to pose the question to yourself and come up with potential counter-arguments? I mean, I get that it's not necessary to think about things to deeper levels because you can just wait for someone else to think them for you, but surely it'd be nice to challenge yourself once in a while, eh?