I had a hilarious conversation with some friends this evening. We sat in what was left of one of the most beautiful days this summer so far, and we talked about animals. Birds, lions and midgies to be precise. We marveled at a birds ability to conjure up a conversation with a friend sitting over on the neighbours chimney. We giggled at the mental image of a lion clinging on to an aeroplane wing. And we poked fun at the midgies who can never move from one spot and one particular midgie who put their short 24hr lifes energies into making as much noise as possible when he zoomed past us. Or she? We don't know. How do you tell the difference in midgies? At this point, we got cold and the boys walked me home and we reminisced about our holiday in France back in 2007, walking to and from each others tent in the evenings.

It's funny how little conversations like this one are remembered. One of the many books I write in the future will focus completely on these lighthearted and pointless conversations. Of which I have had many. Life doesn't always have to be serious and conversations don't always have to make sense. At some point, you got to let the worrying and the frustrations and all the things that constantly annoy you go, and talk about the midgies.

I don't watch Britain's got talent. You have X Factor for the budding popstars, and you have strictly come dancing for the budding fred & gingers; you have big bro for the weirdos with nothing better to do for an entire summer, and you have next top model for the beautiful people. So Britain's got talent is just an excuse for all the leftovers, right? WRONG! It pulled 15million viewers over the weekend so I checked it out; nothing ever happens on a Mondays anyway. And I found these wee gems!

Harry Potter. Dumbledore. Voldemort. I took a notion this week, while I was looking through the masses of part-time courses available to me for next year, to watch all the HP movies in eager anticipation of the half-blood prince this summer. Notions that are a direct repercussions of Apple trailers; yes, I am weak. I spent an unjustifiable amount of time watching said trailers last night and it only left me with a heavy head and feelings of dissatisfaction? Unsatisfaction?

You can say whatever you like about our Harry, but you cannot deny the unbelievable sense of imagination it must take to write these stories. And not just one story, 7 stories that get more and more exciting. I would give alot to have an imagination like that. I could completely escape my mondane schedule and live in a world of fiction. It's healthy to exercise you're imagination from time to time, and let your rational mind take a break. With a kit-kat. And Elvis Presley.

As a christian who see's no harm in the harry potter series, on the basis that it is complete fiction, it's interesting to me all the religious debates over the subject. I think it is silly, especially considering the endorsements on other magical stories including Narnia and Middle Earth. Set aside the darkness and the evil and you'll see recurring themes like good over evil, loyalty, love and resilience. We are taught to love above all else and here, Harry Potter is protected solely by the love of his mother who sacraficed her life to save him. Mmmmmmm.

In the same way the fictional Rita Skeeter uses her media influence to paint inaccurate and sometimes false pictures of Harry Potter and other 'goodies' in the books, our own media paints similarly inaccurate situations in an attempt to alter our perceptions and our enjoyment. Why let it happen?

Its 'cool' to have a cause. I recently recieved an email from ASOS or was reading some glossy mag or possibly both, but one or the other was giving out fashion advice for supporting your particular cause. I was confused because in my head, fashion doesn't go hand in hand with humanitarian support but this article was very nonchalent about the issue, like it was so natural to link the two, like there was barely any need to write an article about it except for idiots like myself.

Basically, the trick is to look super stylish but like you didn't put any effort into your style. It mean lots of mis matching, crazy hair colours, hippy-like elements and plenty of tshirts with bold, blunt and controversial messages. On facebook we join causes. Protests are social events. Overseas humanitarian work looks good on our resume's. Makes us look more well rounded. Appearing selfless has become utterly selfish.
There is a reason a cause has become a cause. And the reasons are getting lost in the hype and the style requirements and the lifestyles. Even google couldn't decide which cause to support without ruffling some feathers so they bunged 4 into 1!!

I just read an article talking about career women. It weighed up the pro's and con's of the cut-throat bitch career women vs the charming and subtly intelligent ladies of the business world. I'm guessing that the huge impact Michelle Obama instigated the entire debate.

I, for one, am glad that the more understated woman is getting some props. Lucky for me, my passion is for youth and I look forward to a life of jeans and bodywarmers and snotty teenagers with attitude problems, so I don't see an alpha-negative fauz-male career snobs who swear like truckers getting in my way. But, if my destiny changes in a similar fashion to that of Capt Kirk and Commander Spock, I would like to think that women can continue to be lady like, gentle and understated without being taken advantage of and still having an equal opportunity to move up that ladder everyone always talks about without turning to alcohol, narcotic drugs or over-priced therapy.

The underlying cause for my overtly feminine rant (which is far from over) this evening....last weekend I spent stranded in the middle of nowhere where teenagers drive tractors and have regular barn dances. You think I'm joking but I'm not...we attended one. Anyway, point is that alot of remarks, jokes, jests, whatevers were made regarding a women's role in life and it was often associated with cooking, cleaning, being seen and not heard blah blah blah. Being sexist is discriminating. It's just another form of prejudice. God didn't set the golden rule for neighbours of the same sex only so...FLPC boys...treat us the same way you expect us to treat you.

Rant over. For now.