Dribblings of the mind

Tabby Callaghan

Since people are bumming X Factor now, why not?

The last time I was interested in the X Factor was in whatever year Tabby was in it because I loved him. The only time I've ever voted for someone in a reality tv/talent show thing was for Tabby. I was probably very biased as he was a rock dude, had long hair and a cute Irish accent but like I cared, I liked him!

The night that I voted for him about 4 times was the night that he went out and I may or may not have cried, I actually can't remember. I was about 14 when Tabby was in I think, so I'm allowed to seem pathetic...because at 14, I was pathetic.

A black cat that lived in the house that was on a road that I passed every day from school was outside a lot of the time and since I was 4, I'd had a phobia of cats from a bad experience with one. I called this one 'Tabby' because of Tabby Callaghan and since then....I started loving cats! I wouldn't care if they tried to scratch me anymore and I wouldn't freak if someone put a cat on me.

I remember when I was about 12 and my friend had a cat, she knew I was scared of them but she put her cat on me and I got visibly uncomfortable and agitated; she told me to stop being pathetic and that it was only a cat. She wasn't being mean but it just reminded me how much I really used to dislike them, and now I really want one! That's kind of thanks to Tabby Callaghan.

Right, images like this make me sympathise and in turn, piss me off.

I don't know a fuck load about war but is it really needed?! Haven't we developed into more mature human beings where we don't have to shoot each other and hurt innocent people to settle something?! What the fuck happened to talking it out via. video broadcast or some shit? What in the world is sooooo important that we need to create a war because of it?

Think about it for a bit, imagine we had no war, imagine no-one had even heard of war then one day it's announced that we're gonna go into battle, risk our lives, terrorise whole nations, get shot in the head etc because our country needs something. THAT'S. FUCKED. UP. Like...what the fuck? "We're gonna go shoot some bombs and kill you guys because you guys are the enemy, k?" Oh my god...

Can't world leaders figure a more peaceful solution out?! We aren't fucking brainless apes that only know how to fight to get our way. I don't give a fuck if it's 'for our country' or some shit, it's still idiotic!! Fuck patriotism if it's supporting war. Yeah sure, I like my country but it isn't my world and people are way too country-proud these days, and this is one of the reasons why people go to war: for their country! We're all part of one planet, I don't give a shit!

Instead of killing each other, world leaders, why don't you work on giving money to third world countries YOU RICH FUCKING BASTARDS!! Some people NEED basic human rights like food and water and you have millions of pounds/dollors/euros, I don't give a shit what currency you use. God, but that's a whole other rant that I won't get into right now.

Hey, maybe I don't *get* something, maybe I'm missing out something important and maybe someone can give me a valid reason why the fuck war still exists? Why we need to kill people from countries that we don't like? If you can, then brilliant but if not, I rest my case.

I don't claim to be an expert on making characters in the slightest, I mean, I still find it very hard but step by step, it's easier than you think.

I plan to be an author though, right? So this is good for me.

Remember too: the less cliche and stereotypical, the more interesting that character will become.

Okay, let's make a totally random character:

Name: Felicity

Age: 18

Quote: Don't let the bad shit get to you, live for the moment, okay?

Personality: stands up for what she believes in, is easy to fall in love, doesn't have many close friends, smokes, withdrawn

Remember not to make personality traits that clash, i.e. she can't be outspoken and argumentative but also shy.

I've just made her up and I can already imagine what she'd be like in my head.

Appearance: long brown wavy hair, eyebrow piercing, braces, 5ft 4, size 10, a few freckles

And now I can imagine what she looks like. Pair that with the personality and that's all you really need to make a character, all the other stuff is just a bonus to develop her more.

Dress sense: 70s floral dresses, calf-high boots, thick belt, leather jackets, butterfly clips in hair, a few charm bracelets, autumn-coloured tights

Usually, you can tell what somebody's like by the way that they dress, and I could imagine the kind of things that she'd wear right away.

Okay now, from the descriptions that I've given of Felicity, you more than likely imagined a few things that differed from what I imagined and that's what makes it interesting; no one thinks exactly the same even when given the same description of a character, so make them your own!

You don't even need a particularly good imagination but it helps.

I'm very likely not gonna use this character in anything, it was just an example.

You feel a connection with characters that you’re already familiar with and you know how they’d react to pretty much any situation. I’m only saying this because I realised how much better my writing is in my story compared to little improvised bits I might think of. I can improvise anything with the characters I already have and it’d be a lot better because I know them.

If you’re a writer, you know how precious your characters are to you and I love mine to bits. I even like carrying around the pad I write in when I don’t write on the laptop because I feel closer to them, even when I don’t know for sure that I’m going to write in it.

Characters are like your children: you made them, you know them and you love them.

I’ve not really felt like this before because the only stories I’ve done in the past have been ones I’ve not been that dedicated to, ones that were shit or fanfics where the characters already existed. But when I wrote fanfiction, I altered their characteristics a bit to make them seem a bit more exaggerated (e.g. Russell Brand was pretty much like he was on stage ALL THE TIME when I wrote him) and so they felt like my own characters too, just not as much as the ones I have now do.

I love these guys.

I wish more than most things that are impossible that characters you invent could come to life and hang out with you, that would be amazing beyond belief.

Lexi, Julian, Niles, Sarah, Blakey, everyone else…you’re amazing.

…Is that weird seeing as I’m the one who invented them? Nah it’s fine.

Okay, this has been on my mind for forever: what's the difference between having a friend online and having a friend 'in real life'? You might be like 'wtf, isn't it obvious? you big silly'. Well...it isn't.

I've been thinking about it for a while and what makes someone your friend? How well you get along with them, things in common, shared interests, a feeling of closeness. Dude; you can get ALL of that from online interaction, I honestly can't comprehend how people still find it weird as hell to have internet friends and partners online included. Okay so internet relationships [lovers-wise] is seemed as a lot weirder because there's no physical contact, yeah? Since when did sexual things and tender hugs form the basis of a good healthy relationship??

It's important and very lovely, yeah, but it isn't needed! That isn't what love is about. That's like someone saying they can't be in a relationship if there's not much sex or no sex at all. I know what you're thinking: why have a relationship without sex at some point? I'm not in favour of that cause you know...sex is cool, but again, it isn't needed, just wanted.

What's the definition of a relationship? What forms the base of a relationship? What's the deeper meaning? For me, it's about a mental connection, a shared love for one another, whether you're properly in love or just adore them to bits. You can love someone online just like you can love someone in real life too, I really don't see what's so different about it.

Imagine the person you're seeing in real life, yeah? You don't seem them for ages but they're online with you, you're still communicating, connecting, interacting just like you would in real life. Unless your relationship relies heavily on sex, it isn't the end of the world.

This brings me to long-distance relationships as most online relationships tend to be with people hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles away. This is another reason why it's seemed 'weird' and 'ridiculous' to be with someone online if they don't even live close to you. I agree with the fact that the further away they are, the suckier it is and sometimes being with them all the time online really doesn't replace them being with you in person. However, I didn't say online relationships and long-distance relationships weren't hard, they're just not something to get worked up about as to me, it's different, yeah, but completely normal.

The internet has come a long way from the days where people were terrified of paedophiles and sex offenders to a place where you can connect with people from all over the world via. instant messaging, social networking sites and email.

In conclusion (wow, essay...), your online friends, they're people just like you, sitting at their respective laptops, desktops, mobile phones; people just like you, whether they're physically with you or not. They're not 'from the internet' because that sounds like they're some kind of 'things' that exist only inside the computer. They're people, people like your 'real life' friends! The fact that you haven't met them takes nothing away from your friendship. I really don't get how the two are majorly different.

Physical contact is fucking awesome seriously, you guys know that anyway, but you can be borderline ok without it. As we're very used to physical contact, it's upsetting if we don't get it with the people who we want it from the most but don't despair, they're still going to be there for you.

Online relationships aren't just for geeks who can't get any in real life and it pisses me off that some people think like this.

Okay so I realised people can't actually reply to the posts I do on tumblr, especially if they're not members... Kinda annoying as I like when I get comments, like on here.

Easiest way to reply to me would be to have an account and reblog it, adding your comment.

I love that thing.

sticksothy.tumblr.com

I'm vegan mainly because I don't wanna be involved in the process of slaughtering animals.

I think it's a good idea that things such as animals have other 'uses' to benefit us but the cost of such a thing is way too great for me, I wanna eat something that hasn't been put through torture for me.

I'm really proud to be vegan and it's still tough for me. I don't want people telling me to not make a fuss of it or that it's stupid; I changed a big part of my life for my own benefit so I can say whatever the fuck I like about being vegan.

"People don't make a big deal out of eating meat", know why? Cause it's very normal to eat meat. Being vegan or veggie...you sacrifice a lot so why shouldn't we be proud? I don't get people that say stuff like that.

Just like people who think gay people need to shut up about being gay when others don't go on about being straight... Do you know why gay people are so proud? Because it used to be fucking illegal to like the same sex, and look how far they've come. "It's gotten better now so why are you still proud about being gay?" because it's still a sensitive issue that a lot of people are still very against!

Why do we have black history month? The same basic fucking reason that we have gay pride. It's a celebration of acceptance, a chance to be proud of what you are.

If you say you're straight, people won't care because it's 'normal' and people are very used to it. If you say you're gay, that's different because, in my opinion, you either have to not care at all or be brave to tell someone you're gay, especially someone who could judge you harshly for it. Telling someone you're gay could potentially mean that you lose some respect or even someone you value.

Gay...vegan....they're both things that exist and that a lot of people are but it's still unusual, so just let us be proud.

I'm vegan and I'm also bisexual, but I'm most proud about being vegan cause it's something I've chosen to do at the expense of the life that I had been so used to living ever since I was born. I didn't choose to be bisexual but I chose to be vegan so it was a lot harder.

Okay so a couple of days ago I got a tumblr account and will be updating it a lot more than this blog because it's much easier to update quick things I wanna tell or show people.

I'll still be using this one but mainly when I want to do things that are more than just little updates on things I find funny or that I like.

The link is here so come follow me if you like =] http://sticksothy.tumblr.com  I've already posted a few things on there.

If you're not on it you can still comment me and things but it's the easiest way to join that I've ever seen: email address, password and make up your own url name and that's it!

Catch you guys soon, I'll do a post on here really soon.

x

Fastest time I got was 34 seconds.

Click on the image and it'll take you there.

I promise to post more too, I've been really slack, sorry. XD

I was in the middle of an anime and I felt I had to do something about this...

Note: for people not familiar with anime, characters 'lose their eyes' a lot if they're sad, mysterious, or someone important not yet introduced...something like that.

This first one is from the anime Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan which is by far the most hilarious anime I've ever seen! The sweat suit has 'pedo' at the front and 'phile' at the back.

A sweat suit for paedophiles, simples.

The next one is from Kamichu and I don't know if this is normal in Japan but if this is what I got for xmas, I'd be pretty pissed:

P.S. get looking at my Twitter story account to see how my story's going www.twitter.com/julexi

A guy I know - not important who - got out of London early this summer to escape demons that were encapsulating his life. He took a flight to somewhere hot where he could try and sort himself out and come back feeling a lot better.

He told me he was going to be there for three weeks, but he still hasn't come back and it's been three months since he left.

I started getting worried in July and planned to contact his mum to ask if everything was okay but decided maybe he just thought he'd spent more time there and he was fine, just enjoying the sun, the adventures, the company.

Then it was August and I literally thought something really bad had happened to him - like, you know...death - but still thought I'd give him time. What caused me to worry to such an extent was no contact from him even after texting him.

Then earlier on, I decided I'd contact his mum and visited her blog to look for her email address, but then I realised that he had been mentioned, so naturally, I read it. I read the archives from round about the time he left so I could keep track of how he was doing.

While he is still alive, he isn't in the best of shape and it's all a bit of a mess. All I want right now is for him to come back and for everything to be okay...

I'm just really glad that he's alive, you guys have no idea... Reading his mum's blogging about what he was up to and stuff made me very concerned and at times, rather tearful, but he isn't dead!

I would rather not detail why he's in a mess and things cause it's not really anyone's business, so I won't be telling you if you ask me.

I wish I could do something to help but I can't do anything, he's somewhere in east Asia and I'm here... Things are being taken care of anyway so even if I was there, I wouldn't be of very much help, I suspect.

I care about this person a lot, more than I thought I ever would. It's because the things he's been through touched me and the result of knowing made me care, almost maternally.

He's older than me but I feel like taking care of him and doing my best to help even if it's something small like letting him know I'm here for him.

When he was in London, he'd ring me a few times to let his frustrations out or just to talk to someone, I miss that.

It sucks that I don't even know when he'll be back....IF he'll be back. Or if he'll get out of it alive.

He's been through very similar situations before and he made it back so maybe it'll all be ok?

Sorry for being so vague, I just want to respect his privacy.

I wonder what he's doing right now... please be ok. x

Mainly from me...

"Imagine if one of us suddenly turned into a giant penis..."

"My armpit just farted."

"That is SICK!! Oh my god...that is sick!"

"...Is it weird that I just want to watch anime now?" -- Me minutes after the fest. ended

"Next time I want to join a circle pit and just totally lose my shit."

"Imagine if when we slept, we retracted ourselves into our bodies and had extra flaps of skin to close us up..."

"Aw sheesh, y'all."

"Reading Fest., I've returned!!" -- Me upon entering the fest. on the first day

"Know what I want right now? Some Ginger Nut biscuits, tea, anime on fullscreen, press play and sit back..."

"Imagine some people were just sleeping in a tent and some guy came in and started rolling around on the floor."

"Imagine some people were just sleeping in a tent and some guy just ran into it and half the tent came apart."

"My [infected] eye's tired...just the one, though."

"Would you rather kiss a sloppy monkey or swallow a goldfish?"

"And can I have four sugars?"
"That's disgusting." -- My mate's mum when I explained how I had my tea

"The more you speak Japanese at me, the more I wanna watch anime..."

"AW HELL YEAH!!!" -- Me on a fair ride

"Oh Dave Grohl" -- Hannah when pointing out Dave Grohl and Josh Homme's new band onstage
"Eh? Where's Dave Grohl?" -- Me
She points at the screen
"What? Where?!"
"Drumming!"
"Thats Dave Grohl?!"
"Yes!"
"Dave Grohl!!!"

"I can SEE other people's SHIT!" -- Me after using a toilet where all it was was a hole, a big hole.

Oh and P.S. I think I've given up on youtube vids of the week, I'll just post a good one when I favourite it, which is often anyway! I think I just dislike deadlines...