Do you believe in starsigns and horoscopes? Do you think it will bring you luck if you read them each day? Or are you the type of person that thinks that it's all a load of nonsense, that it's a waste of time, and anybody who has been taken in by it is a complete fool?
Well, you guessed it. I disagree. I really do think that there's some truth within these horoscopes, from the direct word of a fortune teller, to the 4 lines on page 65 in the Daily Star.
So curious, I looked up the personality traits of a Virgo (That's me, September born!)
According to the website I found, a Virgo woman is a perfectionist, but that doesn't mean that she herself is perfect. She has her negative traits, and they can be very trying. To begin with, Virgo females have this dogged belief that no one can do things as orderly and as efficiently as they can. EnglishWiz
Didn't I just admit to that in class a few weeks ago? I think I did.
Admit you're wrong and don't argue. It won't do you a bit of good, you can't win with a Virgo. The earth is her element, so she appreciates the creations of nature, and the posies will soften her irritation. As for the apologies, keep them brief and accurate. The Virginian is nobody's fool. Her clarity of vision will spot an elaborate lie by the smoothest talker, and the faintest smear of lipstick on the edge of a collar. She may be pure-minded, but she's certainly not naive.
A Virgo woman loves the theatre. Parades, too. The pomp and pageantry, the dramatic emotion, give her an outlet for her own tightly controlled emotions. Besides, she's one great critic. Her highly developed intellect and artistic taste combine to give her a keen perception. If you could make Broadway producers understand this, you'd be showered with free passes to out-of-town openings. A Virgo woman will call the critics' reviews in advance almost every time. Discrimination is one of her keywords. She loves plays, concerts and books, but she's severely critical of the content.
This really made sense to me. Granted, some of the article was nowhere near my personality (it said Virgos are punctual and hate chocolate! Oh, no!), but overall, it was kind of creepy how accurate some of it was. I am those things. I do those things. I think like that.
It is strange, I admit. How can the entire worlds population be divided into 12 different categories? And it be almost completely right?
But it is. At least I think so.
She had never quite forgotten that if you drink much from a bottle marked "poison," it is almost certain to disagree with you, soon or later. Sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes.
Everybody needs a holiday, right? Everybody needs to see their friends on a regular basis, yeah?
One of my friends, Glenn, is currently living in Valencia, Spain. He's over there with the Erasmus Programme that DkIT offers to its students who are studying a language.
And he's over there for five months. Grr.
So.... Me and two other of my friends have taken this upon us to abolish this ridiculous 'absentee friend' state, and go over to visit him!! YAY!
I'm going over to Valencia next Thursday (I'm missing an exam in college, but that's a different story altogether)and I can't wait!!
You can't really go wrong with Ryanair, where I got the flight for €26 return, including all charges. So I'm going on Thursday morning and I'll be back on Saturday Night. Flying visit..
Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I'm an absolute Pantomime fanatic. And it's definitely the time of year to be thinking about it! Once the Christmas lights go up around the town and the 'Coca-cola' ad arrives on the telly, you know that people will finally start listening to your strange ramblings about this post-holiday show.
I've been dancing in the Drogheda pantomime for over 5 consecutive years now, a few here and there when I was growing up. I'm the kind of person that always needs something to look forward to, and seeing as this show takes place at the end of January, it's a very beneficial method of making it from the last days of Christmas to the Easter break.
Panto practice, though some people do not realise, usually starts sometime in September. Too early? Not at all, as it's now November and we've been resorted to holding two classes a week (3 1/2 hours in total) to keep up with our dancing agenda. It can be tiring, and my God it can be bitchy, but there's nobody there who'd actually leave.
Last year, Drogheda Pantomime Society put on a production of 'Mother Goose'. I have to say, it was one of the most enjoyable pantomimes that I have been connected with. The producer finally got around to employing Jenny Fagan as the choreographer, and it's true that the dancing has NEVER been better!
Jenny's doing the dancing this year, and is jumping hurdles to make it as good as last year!
This year's production is 'Sinbad the Sailor', and we're doing some great routines like Canyman and Yankee Doodle Dandy from Lord of the Dance!
Even the pantomime hoodies have been ordered (thanks to yours truly, who everyone just EXPECTED to do it!) They are pretty cool, though. The Pantomime dancer logo (which I designed) stitched onto a jumper with your name on the back. Whoop!
Either way? it's gonna be good! Check out our PANTO BEBO PAGE around January for dates and times!! Show some support!
I was so excited last week. Not only was I going up to my friends in Belfast fot the first time in over a year, I was goin up to see Kanye West!
It was kind of an excuse, in a way. I could have gone to the Marquee in Phoenix Park. But that would have been outside. I wanted to stay indoors.
Turns out that didn't matter.
So the concert was on Saturday evening. Doors opened 6.30pm, show started at 8pm.
So it was a wee bit of a surprise to me when I found myself standing outside the Oddessy Arena at 1.30pm! It was cold, it was windy, and it was threatening to rain. I thought I was bad.. there was a group of girls there that had been waiting outside the venue since half past 6 that morning! Not a chance..
The girls were so eager to remain at the top of the queue, they devised a system to give all other arrivals a suitable place. I was quickly approached and asked if I would adhere. Sure. Why Not?
I was given the number '24'. Written on my hand in eyeliner. Right.
The barriers were put in place about 3 O' Clock. People queued up in a strangely orderly fashion. Everything was running smothly until.. yup- the heavens opened. It rained. And rained. And rained.
Soaked.
Three full hours of 'umbrella up', 'umbrella down' action. To make it worse, there was a group of girls huddled together at the very top of the queue, singing Spice Girls songs. They didn't know the words. Oh. My. God.
FINALLY, they opened the doors. It was like a stampede, everyone was running like their life depended on it. Running up the hall, through the bag check, through the barriers and up the hall to the very top. Somehow, despite the number '24' on my hand, I found myself in the front row. In the centre. WOW!
The concert was mayhem. People trying to push their way to the front. Ouch. People collapsing due to the excess of alcohol their little bodies consumed. Yuck. A girl screaming "I'm only 12! I'm pregnant! Let me up the front!" Whatever.
14 people were pulled over the barriers and taken away by the medical team. 14!! Why, oh why would you spend GBP£35 on a KANYE WEST ticket, just to drink too much and be sent home before he even sets foot on stage!??!?!?
And how they missed out.
The concert was amazing. The band looked like ghostbusters! Kanye was backed up by
TLC- a member of Three6Mafia
Consequence, and
Common
The show wasn't as spectacular as some of his other performances, but was still unbelievable. His latest rendition of 'Hey Mama', dedicated to his recently deceased mother, had an extra verse which sang
'Last Night You Were In My Dreams, Now I Can't Wait To Go To Sleep'
Heartbreaking. Beautiful, though.
I did find it kind of strange that one of the back up singers had the stage to herself while she sang the popular 1988 Journey hit, 'Don't Stop Believin'. Still can't get my head around that- it's cool to like Journey!
OK, so i has uncovered that I have a neurological condition. A harmless handicap, if that doesn't cause offence.
What is it?
Why, I'm glad you asked... Synesthesia, according to my well founded Internet research, is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.
Basically, from what I'm after getting out of that, it's when one sense overlaps another and causes you to think in a way that isn't what other people would find normal.
There are many different forms of synesthesia, the most common being:
Grapheme- where letters and numbers are perceived as colours.
Ordinal Linguistic Personification- where numbers, days of the week and/or months of the year evoke personalities.
In-Spatial Sequence, or Number form Synesthesia- where numbers, days of the week, months of the year, even time and years elect precise locations in space.
That's the one I have. In-Spatial Sequence. Don't believe me? Think I'm just being crazy??
Fine.
But I'm not. I swear, I only recently found out about this, and before then, I thought that it was normal to think like this. It's logical.
So when I'm thinking about days of the week, I see a circular diagram, with the days going left to right.
When I'm thinking of the months of the year, it's a circle again, but it moves from right to left.
I also see years in a diagram. The 1900's start at the bottom of a line, and it moves all the way up to 1989. Then, after that, The seem to turn a corner and carry on. The break of the millennium even made it into my mental diagram in the form of a red line. Hmm.
OK, it does seem quite difficult to grasp.
Other people with Synesthesia:
Pharrell Williams (Hip Hop Artist and producer)
Rollo Armstrong (Member of Faithless)
And here's some facts about Synesthesia:
Synesthesia is not a disease. If anything, it is a gift, for synesthetes tend to have higher IQs, better memories, and other positive effects.
Synesthesia is more common among females with a 6:1 ration when compared to males.
The majority of synesthetes may have subtle mathematical deficiencies, such as lexical-to-digit trans coding or right-left confusion. (I should tell my old maths teacher this- I wasn' t just stupid!)
Synesthesia is not the result of intense drug use. While those who take psychotropic drugs such as LSD or MDMA may experience synesthetic-like experiences, these experiences are extinguished by the discontinuation of the high and do not persist during sober periods.
Nearly 3/4 of the population of the town are absolute fanatics about the local football team
Drogheda United FC have recently won the title of Eircom League champions of Ireland
We won a great big cup
My dad is the club's P.R.O
Nobody really seems to notice the link. But yes, my dad is mainly the P.R.O to The Mighty Drogs, but has other jobs, such as marketing, advertising and event management. And recently, all the events that the club is involved with, this newest trophy is likely to make an appearance. So.... yeah. This €80,000 pure silver cup is in fact sitting in the corner of my kitchen. Every day. There's no point in trying to rob it, all you kleptomaniacs reading this, it's too well known!
But the hype about the arrival of the cup in the town has been enormous. And eventually, word got out that the new trophy was in fact sitting in my house. I'm used to it. Before this it was the Setanta cup. Before that it was the FAI cup. I just can't seem to get used to the fans.
I was sitting watching 'That 70's show' a few days ago, when there was a knock on the door. Ugh. Ignore it. I'm too comfortable (I do that a lot). The knocking persisted. Reluctantly, I got up off the sofa to answer the door. A man, and a child who I presumed to be his son, were standing on my doorstep. The man was clutching a camera.
"Eh, hello. Is, um.. your, say, dad here?" He wasn't. I told him this. But the man did not move. "Oh, right", he continued, "Well is, eh, the um, cup here?"
He obviously knew he was being somewhat rude. All I could do was stare at him. Not because of his audacity to come to my house to see the cup, but as I was straining my ears so I could still follow the conversations on the television.
Without a word, I stood aside and gestured him in. He and his son followed me into my kitchen, where the cup stood on the kitchen table, where other people would usually place an arrangement of flowers. Both the man and his son got very excited, and started snapping photos instantly. When the initial excitement wore off, the child turned to me. "You not excited it's in your house?"
Well no, actually. I'm not. The things a nuisance. Sure, it's great for the town that the team won this, and it was a great feat to become overall Ireland champions, but I'm used to it. Football's not really my thing. This is not the first time that this has happened. Streams of people always arrive at my house to view the various trophies that have been here in the past three years. I'm sick of this. I'm watching 'That 70's show'. I'm watching 'The Panel'. Granted, some are invited, and my friends are all very grateful that they, and their siblings, and their parents, and their parents siblings, can come to see the cups.
And I suppose I do like that I can fulfill the desires of my friends..
Drogheda United's website provides many photos of the 'Drogs on Tour', the sensibly named 'Drog Shop' stands in the middle of the town selling an assortment of hats, scarves, tracksuits, t-shirts, winter jackets- you name it, they sell it!
If you spent ten minutes walking through one of Drogheda's busy shopping centres, 20 quid says more than half of the locals will be wearing some sort of D.U.F.C attire! It's not some sort of money making scheme- people actually want, and love this merchandise.
So, I suppose I should be thankful to have these trophies in my house. It's something to tell the kids! But for now, nah, go away!
Finally! The eagerly anticipated arrival of the first solo album from the lead singer of both Tool and A Perfect Circle, Maynard James Keenan, has arrived! This has been one of the most exciting music releases I can remember, since I have only had a intense interest in MJK's music since earlier on this year.
I have been regularly checking Maynard's personal website, PUSCIFER, to make sure I was well informed on the release date, the artwork, and most importantly, the name of the album.
All my anticipation paid off, when I found that it was to be released on November 5th in Europe, and he had finally released the artwork, which, obviously, included the name! I found it hilarious- sure only MJK would both get away with something like this, and have the nerve to do it in the first place!
'V' is for Vagina- because [quote from Maynard James Keenan himself] 'C' for Chinese Democracy was taken!
Brilliant! Fantastic! This really put the cherry on top of the cake..
Now I can look forward to both a musically satisfying CD, with a hint of humour and hilarity!
But who would have expected that people would actually protest and fight against the release of this masterpiece (that's what it is in my eyes) because of the title of the album! OK, I can understand the cringe factor that some people may experience when merely mentioning the title of the album. But there has definately been more controversial album titles than this!
"Target pulled the record supposedly because of the artwork. Guess I pushed the right buttons. Most other places are carrying it for now. That is until someone's too much time on her hands granny complains. Then they'll fold like the cowards this New World Paranoid Order has turned them into. Wallmart didn't even bother taking the call, so don't look there. They won't stock stickered material."
So all that nonsense aside, I got the album. It been getting mixed reviews, but I have to admit that there are some spine tinglingly good tracks on the 10-track disc. The CD cover is nothing short of hilarious and the artwork on the CD itself (which can be found on PUSCIFER) has the same effect.
V... V...V...
I won't bother- you'd never know who'd give out about it!
OK, so its been roughly 17 months since the accident that has pretty much changed my life. Nah, that sounds too serious. Lets just say it's affected everything I've planned to do one way or another. Nothing crazy now, I still have all my limbs, but it has affected my sleep, my social life, my studies..
I suppose I'm gonna have to paint a pretty vivid picture of this- everyone who knows me knows about this so much they're sick of hearing it.
OK, May 20th, 2006 (I only know the date because I've had to write it on so many forms!), beer garden of the local nightclub (concrete ground!). My friend Claire spots me from the far corner, and makes a running jump to me. Sounds fine, does it? Well Claire is 5"11, and I'm 5"1!
ANYWAY, her legs are wrapped around me, and I'm TRYING to stay standing and keep my balance, but eventually we just fell like a pile of bricks.
So the next day, Claire rang me to 'give out' about the gash on her knee she got from falling, and I told her that I couldn't talk as I was waiting for a skull X-Ray. She completely freaked out, almost crying, saying it was all her fault. I was trying to explain that everything was fine and it was just as much my fault, I think she got the message eventually.
The doctor had told me to take a week off school, but after taking one day, I demanded that I return. The grad party was on Tuesday night, and I definitely didn't want to miss it! Halfway into the night, I received an accidental knock to the back of the head, and next thing I know, I'm sitting on a stool in the bathroom with my head in a sink full of water.
So bad idea, yeah? Well, that was it. For a long time. I rarely went out, and when I did, it was in complete sobriety. I couldn't risk having drink in my system if I needed to take painkillers.
UGH!
Halloween day 2006, I arrived at a clinic in Dublin, ready for my scheduled MRI scan. It went well- the people were very nice (apart from the receptionist). The actual scan was really scary, though. Being claustrophobic (as I've said in previous posts), it was very difficult to stay sane in a noisy tube for 30 minutes. When it was over, the doctor handed me a CD with the pictures from my scan in it- how cool. I sat at home for hours staring at these pictures. I thought they were just amazing!
Two months later, I rang my doctor. The scan results were clear. There was absolutely nothing wrong.
WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS! I'm sleeping 4 hours a night if I'm lucky, I can't sit in a whole class in school, I'm passing out with the pain- But I'm Fine??
As far as everyone else was concerned, the case was closed. Julie's fine. It must have all been in her head. So I stayed silent, for a while. Did a few homeopathic sessions. They helped, in the short term (like the effects wore off the same day).
I didn't say anything until the Leaving Cert was over, in case I was brushed off as just being stressed. Even then , it was just a constant dash for the painkillers, cradling my head in my hands, lying on my bedroom floor staring at the ceiling, wishing I could sleep.
Jesus, this girl is nuts! No way, I just don't care anymore.
So I'm at a dead end. What is there left? So last week, someone then recommended that I go see the Chinese Remedy doctor in town. Once the paycheck came in, I made an appointment, and I have to say, he really made a good first impression. He was able to tell me what the homeopath told me after a thorough examination, but he did this without even touching my head. I sat there as she scribbled notes down in Chinese, slightly nervous, slightly worried.
So as I lay on the bed (you know, the ones with the hole for your face) looking like a moulting hedgehog, I was unsure that this was suck a good idea. Acupuncture and massages on my neck and back for the next three months? That's fucking expensive! Student discount makes it €45 a session. I don't care, I suppose, if it works- hallelujah!
So I had to buy medicine as well.
Take 8 of these three times a day.
Take 1 bag (of about 50 pellets) three times a day.
Use 3 drops of this massage oil on your neck once a day.
My God! Is this worth it?
Well, that was yesterday. I'm just after waking up after a good nights sleep. I slept all night! AND I haven't had a headache in almost 24 hours. Some people don't actually believe that this procedure has any proof of success, that the diagnosis is completely by chance and that the recovery in all in the persons head. I'm not saying it's a miracle, but I do believe it's medicinal!
Right, so last night I was out working again! Night life journalism is definitely more difficult than it seems..
Three weeks ago, I was granted the opportunity to meet Big Brother's Ziggy. Honestly, I was pretty nervous about meeting him- I didn't watch one BB episode this year, and here I was, thrown into an interview with what I regarded as the average Joe soap! Those who were unlucky enough to be cornered by me and listening to my ramblings from that night heard that I actually didn't recognise him when I first met him, and felt like a bit of an eejit when I introduced myself at the beginning of the interview, and he revealed that we had already met and I just completely disregarded him!
But in reality, he turned out to be one of the nicest people I've ever met.. famous or not! He independently decided to turn what was supposed to be a five minute interview to a full-blown 45 minute chat! Look, I'm speechless.. He was just great, brilliant!
So now, three weeks on, and I arrive back into the foyer of one of the town's high class hotels. I was waiting around for nearly three hours for the arrival of more Big Brother celebs, and honestly, there was a slight hint of stubbornness on my part.. are these people really worth the wait? But I knew the show was about to start when the event managers rushed out the doors, and the screams grew louder. Fans? No! It was BB8's 1st runners-up, Samanda- Sam and Amanda Marchant. Now, as I already said, I didn't actually watch Big Brother, so learning my lesson from my encounter with Ziggy, I made sure to YouTube and Google these girls.
So I found some Big Brother footage, a fact sheet on their favourite things, and their new music video- a cover of Aqua's 1997 hit single 'Barbie Girl'. The impression I got from these was that the twins would be carbon copies of Reese Witherspoon's character in Legally Blond. Was I right? Well, before they even made it into the doors of the hotel, I turned to my photographer, betting him €20 that their suitcases would be pink. I'm 20 quid richer now!
So the girls had to go up to their room and get ready, so I'd have to wait and see if they were really the barbie princesses the media made them out to be. While pondering this, I was immediately approached by Ziggy, who arrived with the twins. 'Great to see you again. Thanks for the interview last time, it was great. Nicest interview that's been published about me'. ME? SERIOUSLY? wow.. I'm liking this job!
So it was about 1.20am when the twins arrived down, absolutely immaculate in matching dresses, hairstyles and make-up. It makes you wonder- do they use mirrors or is looking at each other enough? No, but really, they did look fabulous. And not that I'm-so-fake-and-made-of-plastic look, but real beauty. As it was so late, I only had time for a 10 minute interview, but seeing as the girls talk so rapidly, it was just as efficient as a half hour chat would have been! They were so nice and sweet, and everything they have experienced together since BB has been amazing, according to them! They did seem very giddy, happy, and admittedly, a little bit crazy! But the belief that they themselves are identical to 'Legally Blond' has been overruled. They're just two bubbly girls who love pink!
The nightclub was absolutely crazy, people throwing themselves over each other to gain entrance into the V.I.P bar to meet both the twins and Ziggy. There was screaming, shouting, even mauling to fight for the stars' attention. People I knew were shouting up to me from the main bar area, begging me to grant them admission, get them an autograph, or a personal meeting! What am I but a reporter.. there's nothing I can do!
By the early hours of the morning, I was growing tired, and my claustrophobia was definitely kicking in. But it wasn't my photographer, any of the bouncers or event managers that looked to me and ensure I was holding up, doing OK, and moved me over to a secluded corner of the bar where I could still work.. it was Ziggy! Not many people believed me when I tried to portray how nice he is, but there you go! As hard as I was working, and as many girls were hanging out of his shirt, he managed to shout a word or two across the bar to me, have a quick joke, make the experience more comfortable and relaxed.
This is definitely a job I could get used to, but the belief that it's all champagne and cushioned is completely ignorant. It's difficult, tiring, pressuring and suffering from claustrophobia is a big downfall. Would I give it up? No way! Keep it rollin'!
I'm 19, and apparantly a bit of a work addict. Deli Assistant, Waitress, Reporter.
Makes sense to me.. as you can see from my blogs, I have many expenses to keep up with.
