2019: A Funny Old Year

So 2019 is very nearly over and I don't know what to make of it. I'd say 2018 was worse because it felt long whereas 2019 was pretty short but 2019 hasn't exactly been a picnic for me either.

It started off great when I won a competition from the Five Who Fans to devise an outline for a Classic Doctor Who Parody and to be fair, the first half was alright. I managed to finish my final year of uni mostly unscathed. It was stressful, yes but I remember it fondly, especially with new friends I made on the way. Easter was lovely too, as always. 

It was only when it was summer when things started to go pear-shaped. After graduating from uni, my plan was to find a job to raise money for a master's degree in scriptwriting. However, things took a sharp turn for the stressful when I was made to realise that such plans are impossible without taking a gap year. So I did exactly that and tears were shed. As you may know, I don't deal with change very well and it was a lot to take in. But once I had a think, I accepted it and to be fair, it came with pros. I was finally able to rejoin my old drama group in my hometown and now I'm rehearsing for a show with them. Then again, I am reconsidering my original plan to do my master's in Bournemouth after an attempt to get a refund that took longer than it should have.

As for my job hunting, it was and still is mostly unsuccessful but I managed to get a part-time job as a kitchen porter in a local pub (which is getting increasingly sparse) and after two years of attempting, I managed to volunteer at a charity shop. I also started writing up the memoirs of a family friend which I have yet to finish. If I had any New Year's resolution, it would definitely be to find a stable source of income and I'm working on that now. Luckily, I've been writing film reviews and my blogs more frequently to build up a portfolio which is always good and I cannot thank you guys enough for the feedback this year.

My annual traditions remained unscathed such as my annual holiday to Way-Hey-Mouth and my holiday timetable which is a relief and I managed to add some more traditions such as watching summer/beach episodes of my favourite shows in the week leading up to the holiday. And my social life has been mostly stable (save for the summer) with uni friends in the first half and my drama group in the second half which is always handy. Sadly, my mental health has been fluctuating from stress and loneliness to peace which is worrying. It doesn't help that after leaving Chroma Church upon leaving Leicester, I have struggled to find a replacement, especially after I started working on Sundays. And my love life has once again been non-existent but at least I finally realised that Tinder is not good for me and I've taken a more social approach to things. 

As for my thoughts on what the rest of the world is up to, I never thought I'd be more ashamed of my country than I was for Brexit but boy have I been proven wrong as the General Election earlier this month completely derailed it. It was the most I've been engaged in politics and as of now, I'm going back to being apolitical because the whole system is broken!

I was, however, pleased to see that my best friends are doing well with two of them getting engaged this year. I am glad that, despite my 2019 being half rubbish, at least my friends had a good year.

So, looking forward, I have no idea what's in store for me in 2020. I doubt it will be easy as my grandma's cancer has returned, I have no clear plan for the future and my country's falling to pieces but who knows? I thought 2019 would be my year and it wasn't so I don't know if 2020 will be the same. I do have resolutions that I intend to keep. Here they are:

1. Get a stable job
2. Progress my career as a film critic
3. Improve my social life, ideally by hanging out with people my own age for a change
4. Find someone who makes me happy (and is single) and gain the confidence I need to ask her out

Anyway, have a happy new year everyone! May your 2020 be prosperous and not the least bit stressful. Until the next time, fare thee well good people of the internet!

Meme of the Day:

CHRISTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS! (21/12/2019-27/12/2019)

No, I'm not covering up my large forehead... what are you on about?!

Okay... sorry for the lack of blogs lately! I've been so busy with Christmas lately that I only just now had the time to write one.

And boy has it been busy?! I might do a breakdown of all the stuff I've done over the holiday season! 

Christmas Build-Up/Star Wars (21-23rd December)

Most of it has been focussed on Star Wars. After finally booking the tickets for Monday 23rd December, I watched The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi over the weekend in preparation. They both held up though weirdly, The Force Awakens got worse yet The Last Jedi got better with the rewatch.

Onto the main event, I was excited but cautiously so for The Rise of Skywalker and I managed to watch it in an indie theatre. I went with my stepdad, as was tradition, and he definitely enjoyed it more than I did. My full review is here but suffices to say, the terribly rushed pacing killed it for me despite at least being somewhat entertained. I was cross at it for a while but then I was reminded that Star Wars is like sex and pizza, no matter how bad it is, it's fundamentally enjoyable. 

Christmas Eve (24th December)

We do Christmas Eve differently in our family. As it's on the same date as my stepdad's birthday, we celebrate that instead so he doesn't feel overshadowed. As such it was a good birthday and I managed to help out in any way I can. We had a buffet and my extended family (including my grandparents, one of my uncles and my aunt-of-honour who is no way related or married to any of our family but as my mum's best friend, she is basically that) came round. It was an overall nice time but I need to remind myself never to discuss trans rights again as that always creates a toxic environment, no matter who it's with and if they agree with you. It's a sad state but it's what it is. 

Fortunately, I was able to do some Christmas stuff including watching my two favourite Christmas Specials: Doctor Who: 'A Christmas Carol' and The Muppet Christmas Carol. Both give me the Christmas feels and prepare me for Christmas despite taking vastly different approaches to the story. I was also pleased to see that I finished The Muppet Christmas Carol on midnight, right when it was Christmas Day! Speaking of which...

Christmas Day (25th December)

Christmas Day ran very smoothly but there are many of you who don't know my annual traditions. We start off with seeing what 'Santa' gave us. Despite the fact that all of us know that Santa wasn't real, we still do it because it's fun and it's nice to believe in him regardless. I got a LOT of food myself plus some things to help me out with my stress including stress balls (with faces!) and a book on mindfulness that encourages me to be like Yoda. I also got a VHS copy of the original Cats stage musical... as well as a 4K/Blu-Ray copy of Alita: Battle Angel from my uncle... people know that I have neither of those right? 

Soon after that, my sister went to church so we waited for her so we can do presents. I know I should have gone myself as a Christian but none of the churches in my home town are any good. Note to self: find a good church. When she got back, we did presents. I got exactly what I needed with updates to my favourite superhero franchises, a copy of Doctor Who: 'The Tenth Planet' and a Star Wars long-sleeved top that not only has my favourite Star Wars movie on it, The Empire Strikes Back but is now my new official winter pyjama top! Everyone was also pleased with what I got them which is good! 

Soon, we went to my grandparents for Christmas Dinner (where the conversation was much nicer and less... political... and my older sister dropped some cauliflower cheesy in my drink. She's basically like Miranda Hart) and we did, even more, presents afterwards. I got new shoes (which feel like I'm walking on cushions), Doctor Who collectables and DVDs. A good haul this year. 

We later played some games such as charades and 'Neighbours'. Charades is a game that I'm sort of good at. I always pick difficult films (etc.) and perform them in odd ways that means they take forever to guess what I'm trying to do. Still, that's part of the fun! 

Finally, we went home and in lieu of a Doctor Who Christmas special (since Chris Chibnall is refusing to write any), we instead get one for Gavin & Stacey. I personally love the show for its charming characters, positive tone and relatable stories and this is no different. Despite being off-air for 11 years, it's like they never left and the writing is a strong as ever (though that cliffhanger certainly left me wanting more... and singing 'Fairytale of New York' uncensored wasn't a wise move considering that f****t is the LGBT equivalent of the N-word but I'll let it slide as it didn't feel malicious). 

Boxing Day and Beyond (26/12/2019-27/12/2019)

Boxing Day was a very lollopy day since we're all tired from Christmas. I broke into my new shoes and they worked a treat and I managed to watch X-Men: Dark Phoenix, an okay if crushingly underwhelming film. 

The biggest news that day was not very nice at all. It turns out some smeghead stole my older sister's Christmas presents from her car. We're doing what we can to a) replace it, b) find the items and c) make her feel better. I feel like my job is the latter since I feel that's all I really can do at the moment.

Which brings me to today. I had to get presents for my brothers and my older sister and I split for my Dad's side of the family for financial reasons (though this is the last time we're doing it as we're both adults). I managed to get t-shirts for the three of them and finally finish my Star Wars reviews by reviewing The Rise of Skywalker today. 

And that's really it. It's been a hectic week with many ups and downs so it's time to face the rest of 2019. With that in mind, the next blog will be a year-end retrospective. A rewind if you will! Until then, fare thee well good people of the internet!

Meme of the Day:

Star Wars Reviews, Road Trips and Battles with the Odeon Website (20/12/2019)

Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar Waaaaaaaaaaaaars! Nothing but Staaaaaaaaaaaaar Waaaaaaaaaaars!

Today has been pretty quiet but also productive. From the 1st December onwards, I have been reviewing a lot of things Star Wars in preparation for The Rise of Skywalker (which I am seeing on Monday but more on that). For the first 12 days, I looked at fan films and for the rest of the Christmas period, I have been reviewing every Star Wars movie on my Perfectly Honest Film Review page but because I suddenly have an active social life, I have been lagging behind. Well today, I had time on my hands so I was finally able to review the original trilogy of films (as I have been reviewing these in chronological order). They are all online now and ready to view. Don't worry, they're all positive!

Anyway, after that, I went on my usual walk. I tend to walk around my home town for fresh air and excercise and I have to say, it's much nicer in any other time of year than winter! I'd say spring all through summer is the best time. Why? It takes me around 75 minutes to perform my walk. It's that long. Anyway, during my walk, I was sent to deliver Christmas cards to family and neighbours, including my grandparents where it was finally confirmed that we would be spending Christmas there (it was up in the air before for personal reasons). It was certainly good news.

Afterwards, I went with my stepdad to pick up his kids. Along the way, we basically discussed Star Wars and films I have yet to see (including the Spaghetti Westerns, the Matrix sequels and the Die Hard sequels). Soon we had McDonald's after picking them up (which I'm not a fan of due to the small portions but I tolerate it because it's not awful) and we journeyed home. I also learned that I possibly talk in my sleep though I suspect they were teasing me.

Afterwards, my stepdad and I tried booking tickets for The Rise of Skywalker on the Odeon website (as I had a Limitless). However, the website was impossible to navigate as my Limitless wasn't registered to either of our accounts. After battling the website (which included setting up a new account), I conceded defeat. It was too broken for me to handle. Thankfully, I saw that an independent cinema was showing the film for a much cheaper price so we're going there instead.

Aside from that, I've been watching some Christmas songs by the acapella group Pentatonix (who are incredibly talented but their fashion sense keeps getting worse and worse with each passing year) and spoiler-free reviews of The Rise of Skywalker, all of which made me very nervous for the film's outcome. I do like the other sequels but if this is as messy as they say, I fear that they may not stick the landing

Anyway, that'll be all for now. Please share this around as all of this is to raise awareness for autism and I noticed that yesterday's post didn't do so well. Until then, fare thee well good people of the internet!

Meme of the Day:

Besties, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Avoiding Spoilers (19/12/2019)

I mean who doesn't?

Dear me have I been busy with my social life! Today I met with my best friend who I shall refer to as Sarah Jane Smith for anonymity's sake. And I did chose that name wisely because in Doctor Who, The Doctor and Sarah Jane weren't lovers but they were somehow such great friends, they transcended that. Plus she's happily engaged and I'd be a lunatic to mess that up.

Anywho, after a nice chat in Costas (well a chat with some awkward silences because we both have Autism/Asperger's), we decided to exchange gifts. I already had mine prepared by Sarah Jane left hers at home so we had to go there. It doesn't sound too bad if anything it was nice, but seeing as it's Britain, we had to battle the wind and the rain with our umbrellas. I am shocked I didn't go Mary Poppins that day.

After the presents were exchanged (which I am not planning to open until Christmas Day), I went home and undertook a special project: I was to cook Sweet and Sour Chicken for the first time. Me cooking by myself is nothing new as I survived a whole year at uni self-catered but this was a new challenge. After being told what to do, I took it on single-handedly (with the exception of making my rather disgruntled teenaged sister set the table) and I managed to do it. It was kind of stressful but I felt alive and in control of the kitchen. I was basically Gordon Ramsey without the swearing. The dinner was nice (if I say so myself) and so far, I'm not poisoned which is nice.

As for internet stuff, I have been very careful to avoid spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (which I am very nervous about judging by the critical reception) and with the exception of who Rey is, I have been successful (no, I won't say. I'm not a donkey). I was also pleased to see that Donald Trump got impeached by the Senate but I was dismayed to see that, like Emperor Palpatine, he is basically the Senate so he's likely to get back into office. Yay democracy! I was even more dismayed that one of my heroes, J.K. Rowling has revealed herself to be a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist for those of you who don't speak internet) as she sided with a transphobic journalist after the latter got fired for her toxic and false views. Suffice to say, my views on Harry Potter have somewhat soured. I still like the books but I no longer like the author who wrote them.

Speaking of Harry Potter, I neglected to mention that my Secret Santa gift was a Harry Potter pack of Trivial Pursuit cards and I cannot wait to challenge other Potterheads I know. No, I don't know who my Secret Santa is. As for my Star Wars reviews, I'm lagging behind. I managed to publish my review of Rogue One and I started my review of A New Hope but by that point, I was exhausted. I do have a free day tomorrow so I can basically review the Original Trilogy.

That's all for now. Fare thee well good people of the internet!

Meme of the Day:

Charities, Secret Santas and Social Lives (19/12/2019)

For no reason at all, here's me as a woman!

So there really wasn't much to report yesterday outside of cleaning the entire kitchen and applying for a few more jobs so I'll just skip to today.

Today was PACKED! So I'll start with what I do every Wednesday: I volunteer at a Charity Shop. The work environment is good as my co-workers are lovely but Wednesday afternoons are not good times for me to pick because they're usually so quiet. Once in a while, I get things to do like today I was dusting out the front but other than that, nada.

So when I went home, I focused on tonight and boy do I have a lot to explain. I have joined an amateur dramatics group I shall refer to as MMAD and I am currently doing a pantomime with them. It's based on Camelot and I'm playing the secondary villain Valerin the Vicious, King of the Tangled Wood. Anywho, tonight was a special night as we were doing Secret Santa. I got my gift weeks back and I wrapped it today. My worry was my Christmas cards. I tried to do enough but it turned out I didn't so I had to write them last minute. This wouldn't be so bad but I've gotten into the habit of adding weird and comedic touches to my cards so they took a while. It was worth it though, I saw that it managed to make a few people laugh.

Anyway, after a song and dance rehearsal, the Secret Santa began and me being me, I ended up experiencing two embarrassing moments. For starters, I confused a gift with someone else with a similar name as me. It didn't help as she (yes she) was sitting right next to me. As if that wasn't enough, it turns out the gift I was supposed to give didn't end up in the Secret Santa sack so I had to reveal myself. It turns out he figured it out anyway because I'm not great at being interrogated.

Afterwards, myself and a few of my friends from MMAD went out for drinks. This has become a weekly tradition at this point and I couldn't be happier. When I returned home from uni, I struggled with having a social life because I lived in a small town and most of my friends there were grown, adults. Now I actually have something to look forward to every week! I still haven't got a complete social life as I need to join another thing (preferably involving people my own age) but it's better than before!

I was also pleased to hear that this might get noticed as someone from MMAD who works with people with autism offered to share it around to raise awareness. Good! That's what this whole experiment is for!

Anyway, signing off now. Fare thee well good people of the internet!

Meme of the Day:

My Experience with a Job Coach (16/12/2019)

This happens... a lot!

Okay so here's some context: I have recently graduated from University (take that doctors who said I would be unable to walk or talk!) and I am currently facing what every person in their 20s face: job hunting... *shudder*. Yeah it hasn't been easy for me. The most I was able to get was a part-time job as a pub and I do mean part-time as my hours are limited to weekends. It soon started getting to me and tears followed as well as many a stressful night. Talking with my parents didn't help as I kept getting bombarded with suggestions which, while helpful, were overwhelming.

Thankfully, on the request of my employer and my Grandma (no they're not the same person), I signed up to a job coach. This turned out to be the best decision I made all year because now, this whole job-hunting malarkey is now making sense to me. Not only is my coach extremely helpful but they're encouraging too. In today's meeting, for example, they were able to fix my CV and help me apply for a job. Don't worry, I didn't end up lazy because of it. In fact, I applied for jobs on my own on the side... not that it helped since they do this annoying thing of not responding whatsoever... sometimes after interviews or trial shifts!

As for the rest of my day, not much to report other than getting Christmas cards to give to my theatre group on Wednesday. Because of my Christmas Timetable, my days are usually busy at night as I watched some more Christmas specials and reviewed Solo: A Star Wars Story on my film review site (which is the most pointless Star Wars film ever made). I'm also starting to get into Parks and Recreation which, while not the funniest show, is one of the most uplifting shows I've seen and it perks me up when the weight of loneliness crushes down on me.

And that's it. I dread to think what would happen if I ended up with a day of nothing but this experiment is working out well so far! Fare thee well good people of the internet!

Meme of the Day:

So About This Week... also Where the Heck Have I Been? (15/12/2019)

My new antlers got decorated... I am very pleased :D

Hello, good people of the internet! Long-time no see! I am aware of how popular this is but since my last post, I've been lost for ideas and I ended up forgetting about this as I tried to focus on my future. Naturally, this ended up being my best option so far so I thought I'd come back to it and this time, I'm going to try and do it daily. It's well and good learning about the broad strokes of autism but it's about time you saw how it affects our daily lives... well my daily life anyway.

Anywho, today has been very quiet. I try to keep myself productive both work-wise (I now have a part-time job) and socially (as that's lacking right now) but today was what I would describe as a 'lollopy' day. People like me are iPhones. We can survive activity but now and again, we need to recharge... this was my recharging period. Today I helped out my stepdad with food shopping for a roast dinner and my older sister visited (heck she and my mum gave me the idea to do this).

It felt needed this time though as my week has been rather tough. Socially, I've been more active than I've been for a while. I've gladly rejoined an amateur dramatics group and I've been partaking in social events with them including a night out at the pub and a Christmas Dinner yesterday. I also saw another panto starring my mum (It was Cinderella which I thought was really funny even if the plot kept getting in the way). If it was just them, I would have been exhausted but happy.

Then came the General Elections. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not a political person but after realising how much damage the Conservatives would cause to the NHS, the lower class, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities (yes including autism), I had to vote against them and I did... only to find out it was for nothing as the Tories got a majority vote. I'm not going to lie, I have never been more ashamed of my country and more scared for my future. I genuinely considered moving to Germany or Ireland (as I know good people in the former and I love the culture of the latter) but I managed to calm down.

I remembered the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis in the Bible (the one that got turned into an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical) and not only did my mind turn to said musical but also the VeggieTales' version which reimagined it as a western (don't ask). The message soon became clear to me and I'm finally able to ask the most annoying question a Christian can get asked: if God exists, why do bad things happen? Well now I have an answer: just because things are bad now, doesn't mean they'll stay bad and if we continue doing the right thing in the Lord's name, He will provide. This calmed me down and now I'm just about able to stay sane in these terrible times. But just in case, I'm not asking people who they voted for. I'm not losing any friends over something as petty as politics.

I also started reviewing every Star Wars film on my other site, Perfectly Honest Film Reviews and so far, I reviewed all the Prequels (only one of which I thought was good). Speaking of reviews, I tried getting into the habit of watching a new film every week but this week was so hectic (not to mention rainy) that I was unable to. My 'Frozen II' review will be delayed as a result but hopefully, the Star Wars reviews will tide you over.

I thought it would be a good time to mention my annual Holiday tradition. In 2016, I realised that I couldn't watch all of my favourite Christmas specials online, on TV and in film without organising it so I decided to create a time table. Year-by-year, not only did I perfect my Christmas schedule but I added ones for Halloween in 2017, November in 2018 (where I mixed things up by watching Bonfire Night Specials, things that mixed Halloween and Christmas, Doctor Who Anniversary specials and Christmas specials that didn't quite make the Christmas Timetable) and September in 2019 (simply because September got boring as a result). This year, I managed to balance my Holiday Schedules with my normal schedules and this year's Christmas timetable has been a success as I am feeling the Christmas mood, especially now that I have started the Doctor Who Christmas specials.

Anyway, that's all for today. I'll see if I can keep this up daily but hopefully, it can permanently bring this blog site back to life. Fare thee well good people of the internet!!!

Meme of the Day: