Texters, talkers and seat-kickers...

‘Why do I go to the cinema?’ I asked myself half way through the monotonous, overrated and utterly underwhelming 50 Shades of Grey.

I should have stayed at home, in the comfort of my own house, eating food that didn’t cost a small fortune and avoided the inevitable queue for the year’s most highly anticipated movie.

Before you roll your eyes at yet another critical review of 50 Shades, this blog post is actually not about the beautiful Jamie Dornan or the frustratingly annoying Dakota Johnson. It was, however, inspired by my visit to the cinema to see the movie last Wednesday night.

Now, I wasn’t expecting the movie itself to blow me out of the water but, all in all, I was looking forward to going to the cinema. Sometimes we go just for the experience more so than the actual film itself; for a night out with friends or for a date night with your other half.

Something very similar to this happened me last week...

But last week I questioned my own judgement as to why I bother going at all. To see a film I can probably illegally download on my laptop? To eat ridiculously over-priced popcorn? No.

Every now and again the cinema experience is not the relaxing night we had planned. Sometimes, like last Wednesday, it can actually be a living nightmare. Talkers, texters and people who find pleasure in kicking the back of your seat are all reasons your cinema experience can go oh-so-wrong. If you’re one of those people then maybe you should stop reading now…

 The Talkers

There’s always one, isn’t there? Someone who can’t quite seem to keep up with the plot and who proceeds to ask a hundred and one questions throughout the movie. Maybe if you stopped asking questions and focused on what was happening you might actually know. Just a thought. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, there are the people who feel it necessary to provide a running commentary on every single movement. Yes I’m here too. Watching the same movie as you. Yes, I can see what just happened. No, I do not need to hear your annoying, little voice repeating what I can already see!

The I’m-super-popular-can’t-leave-my-phone-down-people

Yes, I’m talking about you with your head bent scrolling through your Facebook news feed or frantically texting some other I’m-so-popular-can’t-leave-my-phone-down creature. There is no need to text in the cinema. Seriously, can you really not leave your phone out of your hands for an hour or two? And as for the cinema snapchatters out there. Please. None of your snapchat buddies really want to see a pitch dark snapchat from you declaring how much fun you’re having in the cinema. Put the phone away.

The Food that cost an arm and a leg

 

Despite how over-priced it can be, food at the cinema is a must. Preferably a medium sized popcorn and coke or even some sneaky supplies you bought in Tesco on the way to the cinema. Some people just don’t think about the rest of the people sitting around them who might want to enjoy the film in peace. Eating pistachio nuts, or any other extremely loud and annoying type of food, is not ok and it never will be.

The Late-comers

The late-comers are up there with the seat-kickers. It’s just so annoying. Granted there are those who come in late and have the decency to be embarrassed by it but this, I’m afraid, is not the norm. The people who waltz in, ten minutes into the start of the film, and loudly ponder where they will sit or how much of the movie they’ve missed are the worst kind of people. This is not ok. Please, think of the audience.

The I'm-so-in-love-I-can't-stop-shifting-couple
Ah, couples. Shifting the face off each other might have been ok ten years ago when you were 14-years-old but it’s not ok anymore. Just because it’s dark doesn’t mean we can’t see or hear you. Have some self-control. 

Photos c/o: Wordpress and the National Times.

If tomorrow never comes

Next week, next month, next year. We are always putting things off. ‘I’ll do it tomorrow,’ I say. But tomorrow never comes and suddenly, as the week slips out of my hands, I think, I’ll start next Monday.

Monday. It’s a little bit like Groundhog Day isn’t it? Not exactly the most inspiring day of the week. But you have to start somewhere so why not today? Why not Monday?

With Operation Transformation dominating our television screens and an unprecedented focus on health and fitness in the media; it’s hard not to be sucked into the world of treadmills, squats and lycra.

If you’ve never considered yourself a gym bunny before it might be time to reconsider. With the ever-increasing stresses of college assignments (yes, FYP I’m talking about you), work or whatever else might be going on in your head; sometimes the best thing to do is get out of the house, get out of your head, get lost in the music blaring out of your headphones and exercise. Take it out on a treadmill. Literally. Pounding the treadmill, or the roads as it may be, is a sure fire way to release any stress or anger you may be carrying. As well as keeping your heart healthy and pumping oxygen into your system, exercise also helps deplete stress hormones while also releasing mood-enhancing chemicals. It’s a win-win situation!

Just do it!

The all too common excuses such as ‘I’m tired’ or ‘I’m stressed’ should be seen as motivation and not a deterrent.  Too often we get caught in a vicious cycle of all work and no play. We become too tired, too lazy and totally overwhelmed at the thought of actually getting up and moving. In reality, it’s not as bad as you might think. While I’ve been gradually getting back to some sort of level of fitness over the past few weeks, it hasn’t been easy. More often than not I have a mental battle in my head over whether I’ll bother go to the gym today or give it a skip. Sometimes my willpower wins and I go and I feel better, happier, less stressed and more energetic. Sometimes the latter wins and I waste away my evening watching mindless TV programmes, feeling sorry for myself and wishing I got up off my ass and went.

Watching people run a charity 10k, or even a half-marathon, can often leave you wondering how you will ever get to that level of fitness. It can leave you a little envious and a little disheartened. However it’s important to remember that everyone has to start somewhere. Even the likes of Sonia O’Sullivan had to struggle, puffing and panting, before she ever got into the swing of things. The truth is, if you stick with it, running, swimming, football or whatever it may be, does get easier and you will get better. One day you’ll be exercising and you’ll suddenly realise that it’s not as painful or uncomfortable as you once thought it was. Pigs might fly and you might even start to enjoy it! 

Pictures c/o: Pinterest, Twicsy and Indulgy. 

Valentine's Day: A waste of money or a showcase of love?

In theory Valentine's Day can seem like a wonderful idea; a day specifically designed to appreciate your other half and show them how much you love them. In reality though, the day can turn out to be not so sweet.

If you’ve been brainwashed into celebrating Valentine’s Day with a romantic candle-lit dinner followed by a moonlit stroll on the beach after being showered with a bouquet of roses and a bottle of champagne in your hotel room where you’ve gone for a getaway romantic weekend then I’m guessing you won’t agree with what I’m about to say in this blog so maybe you should stop reading…

But maybe you’re a cynical anti-Valentine critic like me and you dismiss the notion of buying presents for your loved one on a random made up holiday. If so, keep reading. You might like what I have to say.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like to be appreciated and pampered as much as the next girl but I don’t need Valentine’s Day for that. Without any of us even realising it Valentine’s Day has turned into an exhibition of us proving our love for each other with over-the-top presents and cards that cost more than my right arm, rather than actually celebrating it. Like many cynics I cling to the notion that this inane, made-up holiday is sponsored by profit-seeking, commercial card companies and overpriced florists who will market anything remotely romantic in order to make some money and then laugh all the way to the bank with your hard earned dolla bills.

I’m not wrong in what I’m saying. Figures released last year from Visa Europe found that in the Irish market, holders of their cards spent almost €10 million in florist shops alone. They also found that 40% of Irish people bought flowers to mark the so-called special occasion on February 14^th. 

And it’s not just the florists who hit the jackpot in the run-up to Valentines. Renowned card company Hallmark, who first sold Valentine's cards in 1913, now offer a choice of over 1,400 different cards for the special occasion and An Post is expected to handle approximately 100,000 Valentine's Day cards this year! That’s a lot of cards, a lot of stamps and a lot of money.

So why do we feel such a need to splurge money a lot of us don’t have on a commercialised holiday that’s forgotten about soon after the clock strikes midnight? Are we worried about keeping up with what everyone else is doing and letting them know you’re in a happy relationship? Cue cutesy Facebook statuses from girls of ‘The boy did well’ when their boyfriends ‘surprised’ them with Michael Kors watches or Mi Moneda chains after dropping not so subtle hints. Chances are they’ll be broken up in a few weeks.

Ok so maybe that’s a bit harsh but you see where I’m going. There’s no need to tell the whole world or the virtual world you’ve created on Instagram or Twitter about what you got, or didn’t get, on Valentine’s Day. It’s annoying, it’s cheesy and most of us really don’t care.

Don’t get me wrong, a surprise bouquet of flowers or an expensive gift is undoubtedly flattering and I’d be the first to accept without hesitation. But is one day of the year really necessary to showcase how much your significant other means to you? Maybe, just maybe, we should be highlighting it all year round without the flashy presents and extravagant gifts.

Pictures courtesy of: http://happyvalentinesday2015z.com/anti-valentines-day-2015-cards/ and Pinterest. 

Redefining the fashion industry one plus-size model at a time

TESS MUNSTER (left) made fashion headlines around the world recently when she became the first plus-size model to land a major modelling contract. In an industry infatuated with ever shrinking waistlines and skeletal, unrealistic body frames, Tess Munster has defied the odds. At 5ft 5 and a UK size 24, the 29-year-old has made history after signing to London based modelling agency MiLK Model Management.

Despite being shot down by various different casting agencies and told she would never cut it as a professional model because of her height and her weight, Munster refused to give up and she was eventually scouted by Anna Shillinglaw. The director and owner of Milk Model Management and former model signed the plus-size beauty after coming across her Instagram account, which has a staggering 443,000 followers.

The American’s signing to a professional modelling agency comes over a year after she was named one of the world’s top plus-size models in 2013 by Vogue Italia.

As well as making fashion history Munster, who also goes under the surname Holliday, launched the #effyourbeautystandards campaign in 2013. The body-positive activist launched her idea in an effort to promote women of all shapes and sizes to be proud of their bodies.

So, what exactly does Munster's signing mean for the fashion industry?

Well, like anything, success comes with judgement and criticism and, unfortunately, Tess is no different. Far from applauding the Mississippi native for overturning traditional fashion standards, many people have been quick to slam her as a negative role model promoting obesity. This blatantly one-sided opinion reinforces the ideology of traditional fashion industries all around the world who promote overly skinny, unrealistic and simply unattainable body shapes and sizes.

We have been brainwashed by the fashion industry over the past few decades into believing that skinny is beautiful and anything else isn’t. This simplistic, black and white view is gradually being turned on its head with the likes of Tess Munster being signed. Her signing to a high-profile agency tells men, women, teenagers and children that there is more than just one desirable look. 

Unfortunately the fashion industry and its models aren’t the only ones to blame. We must also point the finger at the media; newspapers, magazines and, in recent years, social media for endorsing and promoting a certain body type. The increasing use of Photoshop and other editing apps has further alienated the stereotypical, skinny model to ordinary people like you and me.

While some people may take little notice or overlook Tess Munster’s ascension into professional modelling, others will view it as a monumental step for the ordinary people of this world.

Anorexia, bulimia and so much more negative attention has surrounded the fashion industry in recent years and it's time to look at some of the more positive attributes the runway has to offer. Yes some people will argue against me that a model of her height and weight should not be anywhere near a camera or a catwalk but I disagree. It’s high time we started looking past skinny and redefined what it means to be a model. 

The future is bright for Tess Munster and, with fingers crossed, I hope she paves the way for many more models like her.

Picture courtesy of Photographer: http://www.capturedbychelzea.com/

Snapping the FOMO away

Out with the old and in with the new, isn’t that what they say? But Snapchat users were sent into a frenzy and left feeling overly paranoid and annoyed about the popular app’s new updates. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were soon flooded with statuses complaining about the disappearance of the ‘top best friends’ feature on Snapchat. First world problems you might say, but when did we become so dependent on social media?

People questioned whether Snapchat was just temporarily broken and assured each other the ‘top friends’ would return. Others wondered aloud about the possibility of increased cheating in relationships now that no one can see who’s snapping who the most. Then there were those who complained about those complaining. The whole thing was a bit of an unwarranted, unnecessary fiasco.

Are we really so dependent on social media now? Are friends seriously falling out and relationships actually breaking up over apps like Snapchat? The answer simply is yes. I have heard too many stories about couples tearing the head off each other or, in some cases actually breaking up, over their other halves best friends on Snapchat.

For those of you out there who were genuinely worried about the new Snapchat update and the idea

of not being able to creep on your other halves best friends then it’s time to take a step back and remember the days before social media took over our lives. Snapchat best friends, Facebook ‘likes’, or Instagram’s ‘love’ button should not define or dictate a friendship or a relationship.

In this day and age it is almost impossible not to be sucked in to

the world of social media but unfortunately for us, like the best friends on Snapchat, a lot of other apps can also cause users a headache.

One of the most common things people experience when scrolling through their news feed is FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. For anyone not aware of the word, FOMO is the feeling you get when you see a status, Snapchat or video of people you know having a good time and you’re not there. You hover over said picture wondering why you weren’t invited, how they could possibly be having such a good time without you and, eventually, telling yourself you never wanted to go anyway.

As well as FOMO, so-called ‘life envy’ is another common problem people witness as a result of browsing through social media. Seeing someone you know with something that you want/need/aspire for is a basic definition of life envy and has been known to cause a green-eyed monster to appear via the keyboard.

Now that there is an unprecedented number of apps to keep track of it’s no wonder social media has turned perfectly sane, reasonable, sensible individuals into green-eyed, paranoid, creepy people.

Things can get really crazy really quick. My advice? Take a step back and move away from the keyboard.

Varadkar opens up

Boko Haram kidnapped 60 people in Cameroon, 35 people were killed in a Syrian plane crash, while Cherif Kouachi, one of the brothers involved in the terrorist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, was buried yesterday. Yet none of these made headline news. Instead, Leo Varadkar’s sexuality dominated the leading news headline on RTÉ’s 9 o’clock news last night and on front pages of Irish newspapers this morning.

Are there more blatantly obvious and serious issues in the world? Yes. Is the sexuality of a cabinet minister really worthy of front page news headlines all over the country? No. Yet, that’s what you’ll find if you happen to glance at any newspaper or online news website today.

If a politician is heterosexual the widely held view is that it is no one’s business except his or hers. So why do we, as a self-proclaimed liberal country, struggle so much to adopt the same attitude if a politician is homosexual?

The fact that the next potential leader of Fine Gael or indeed potential Taoiseach felt he even had to address his sexual orientation on national radio shows we are not as liberal a nation as we might like to think we are, nor have we progressed as much as we say we have.

It is not an ideal situation but, in a country like Ireland where homosexuality was deemed criminal less than a quarter of a century ago, Leo Varadkar coming out is not a small step but a giant leap for the Emerald Isle. The power of someone as high profile and well respected as the Health Minister openly coming out cannot be underestimated in a society where so many people feel they cannot come out and express who they really are.

Like Obama will always be known as the first African-American president of America, Varadkar will always be known as the first openly gay cabinet minister. However, speaking to Miriam O’Callaghan he said it will not define him, yet it may always be noted:

“It’s not something that defines me, I’m not a half-Indian politician or a doctor politician, I’m not a gay politician for that matter, it’s just part of who I am.”

To live in a society where coming out isn’t a momentous and difficult task for people is a society we can only hope for. Leo Varadkar must be commended for speaking out. His decision to freely discuss his sexuality will hopefully help pave the way for many people and can only be described as a positive and game-changing step for Ireland.

Leaving college for the real world

They say time flies when you’re having fun.

As my final semester as a third level student fast approaches I find myself increasingly worried about things I never even had to consider before; preparing CV’s, applying for jobs, my FYP and the gut-wrenching thought of my college life soon becoming nothing but a distant memory.

The dreaded question seemingly on the tip of everyone’s tongue ‘So, what exactly are you going to be doing after college?” instils the fear of God in me and the perplexed look on people’s faces when I tell them I’m not entirely sure is enough to almost send me over the edge.

 My ever-changing emotions about leaving the comfort zone of uni life and going out into the big bad world is giving me whiplash. One minute I’m excited about what the future holds and the opportunities and prospects it undoubtedly has in store for me, both personally and professionally. The next minute I’m genuinely wondering how I will function as a fully “growed up” human being in the real world with a real job. It’s all oh so confusing. I’m sad that I’m finishing. I’m happy that I’m finishing. How can one be so happy and yet so sad at the same time? That bittersweet emotion tastes so strange.

Here are the five things I’m feeling as the final semester edges closer:

1.   A burning desire to never have to complete a college assignment again

This all too common thought is repeated again and again throughout final year. Now that I’m half way there and one semester away from completing essays, final year projects, presentations and all nighters I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

2. The motivation to apply for every single job going

 

The sheer panic and fear that you might not get a job after four years of hard work is enough to make you apply for every single job you come across. Sure a degree in journalism might not be equivalent to a degree in engineering but what’s the harm in applying…

3.   The temptation to punch anyone who asks you about your future 

Jobs, masters, post-grad programmes…if one more person asks me what I’m planning on doing once I leave college I may not be held responsible for my actions.

4.     The idea of hiding under my duvet and never surfacing again seems more appealing every day

The thought of getting a real life proper job is overwhelming at the best of times and some days staying in bed in my own little bubble and never ever ever ever leaving it seems like a good plan.

5.    Shock that this is my life

Sometimes it's all a bit much to take in; I’m about to graduate, with an actual degree. Life is about to start happening. I’m just going to let that sink in.