Hug? Kiss? Handshake? – How Do YOU Greet People?

As a young child it was easy. All I had to do was say “hello,” wave and give a friendly smile. Saying my name wasn’t always necessary because there was usually an adult giving the introductions. Over the years it’s got harder, though, increasingly awkward with each meeting or acquaintance I’ve made. I’m talking about greetings. Not the greetings themselves, but the customary procedures that go with them.

What is the correct way of introducing yourself to someone else? Some people believe it’s a kiss on each cheek, while I’ve noticed others prefer handshakes, or in some cases, just a hug. There are endless possibilities and combinations. In Malaysia people use a “Salaam,” and in France, depending on the region, up to four kisses are given. The whole thing is an unnecessary landmine of errors and awkward tripwires.

Most of the time I end up giving a hug instead of the expected two kisses, or I only give one kiss instead of two. There are endless ways one can go “wrong,” which usually results in a lot of cringing on my part. Simply put: I hate greeting people. I’ve recently got to the age where the cheek-kissing is expected of me. The most confusing part about this is not knowing which cheek to start on, and how many times to kiss. Here in Britain the number tends to be one or two, but you never know which. It’s all extremely hazardous.

Whether or not to kiss also depends on the gender of the two people greeting. If you’re female, it’s normal to kiss other women on the cheek, but when greeting a male, sometimes a handshake is more appropriate – it all depends on the individuals. I’ve met other females who (much to my relief) only expected a hug or, even better, a handshake. But then, I’ve also seen Italian men kiss other men on the cheek as a greeting. There are no set rules.

Another layer of awkwardness is added when a British person is greeting  someone French. When this happens, the Brit usually stops at the second kiss but the French person goes for a third. *Winces* Neither of them are wrong; their cultures are just different. Not to say that the misshapen cheek-kissing mix-up can’t be resolved by a large friendly smile, but… wouldn’t the whole ordeal be prevented by everyone stopping the kiss-upon-greeting custom? Is it honestly too much to ask?

Do you have any cringe-worthy greeting-themed anecdotes you want to share? I’d love to hear them, so comment below XD

Oh, and quickly before I go, here are some interesting blogs I’ve picked for you to check out:

http://ateenagepoetslife.wordpress.com/ http://fallenfuries.wordpress.com/  http://weethingsblog.wordpress.com/

Thanks for reading this. Comment if you liked it, but don’t kiss me on the cheek 🙂

11 Things I don’t Like About Myself

Firstly, I care too much about what other people think of me. I don’t necessarily change myself based on their opinions (Or really, what I think their opinions are), but I certainly care about what they think. It’s stupid and irrational. I’m always paranoid that people are judging me, even though there’s nothing wrong with anything I do. Obviously, you can’t try to please everyone, and I don’t see why anyone would want to, so the whole “please only think well of me” thing is pointless.

Secondly, I feel awkward a lot of the time. Sometimes it’s for no reason, and sometimes because I feel embarrassed about something I said.

Another thing I don’t like about myself is that I can’t sing. I know this one is more of a skill than a personality trait, but it’s still something I don’t like. I literally think that if a Bond-style villain was dangling me above a pit of lava, threatening to drop me in if I didn’t produce a couple of slightly harmonious vocals, that I couldn’t sing to save my life. Somehow my voice finds comfort in being ridiculously high-pitched and tuneless. Occasionally I can hit lower notes, but I can’t sing at talking level or volume… And I have yet to master those magnificent Behemoth-style growls.

As well as singing, I’m bad at arguing. I hate disagreeing with someone, and I always end up getting upset and not finding the words to express myself properly. I’m also terrible at lying

If my singing is awful, you should see my maths! It’s painful. I seem to be bad at anything “technical” or “left-brained.”

On top of all that, I procrastinate. Urgh *buries face in hands, sighing.* You may have read my post about it.

Procrastination probably contributes to my less-than-perfect guitar playing, which brings us to the fact that… I’m not very good at guitar. I find the frets and notes and chords SO confusing. The theory behind it all messes up my head. I feel particularly upset about this because I know that many people can teach themselves guitar and they find it easy, but I just find the whole thing totally baffling. I even struggle watching guitar tutorials for beginners on youtube! It makes me feel really stupid that something that most people find easy is this difficult for me. I have a guitar teacher and I wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere without him. But still, I feel like I may not be the best guitar-learner out there! I’ve been learning for about seven months, which is the amount of time it usually takes to get at least passable at guitar. Needless to say, my level is below that.

Another thing I don’t like – that’s another topic altogether – is my physical appearance and facial features. They aren’t AWFUL but they’re not the nicest ever.

And separately, I really wish I was a boy.

Something unrelated that I’d like to change about my life is the fact that I go to bed late and wake up late. It’s may sound like a small change but it’s a very unhealthy habit. Every day I think “I’ll go to bed earlier tomorrow” but there’s always a different task that gets in the way.

Waking up late in the morning means that there’s less time to get things done, which means I don’t do enough useful things, which leaves me with a sense of disappointment in myself.

Last of all, I’m not athletic or sporty. Swimming and running aren’t my strong points, and I know nothing about football. Or basketball. Or tennis. Or… ping-pong.

Sometimes I feel like the only thing I’m good at is listening to music.

Obviously there are a lot more things that I don’t like about myself. I’m just not going to tell you about them…

🙂

What don’t you like about yourself? What do you wish you could change about your life? And what are you proud of or happy about? I would LOVE to hear what you think!

And just to quickly lighten the mood a bit, here are some things that I’m HAPPY about:

– I’m not bad at writing. At least, I don’t think I’m bad at it. Feel free to contradict me if you feel the need :).

– I have a good music taste.

– My friend Caitlin.

– I have two adorable cats.

– You’re reading this. I feel really pleased when people read my blog, so thank you very much.

– Of course, there are more plenty more things I’m happy about. But this post is called “11 things I don’t like about myself” for a reason. I could do another post called “11 things I like about myself” but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun, would it?

Remember to leave a comment if you feel like it. Thanks for reading.

 

How To Procrastinate

Work Your Way To The Top By Successfully Procrastinating. Secret Tips That Your Government Doesn’t Want You To Know About.

Today you “have to” do maths, finish an essay and learn some Spanish. Or maybe you’ve already got a job and you need to get some invoices done… something along those lines.

Your challenge is to avoid the above.

First things first: Write a to-do list. This is a good way to put off doing your work for a precious five minutes, under the pretext that you are “preparing .” If done well, you can stretch the five minutes to ten. Remember to add lots of useless things to your list like, “Listen to music,” and “Eat chocolate chip cookies.” Adding useless things helps make the list longer, and gives you extra things to do that will put off your work.

After you’ve done your to-do list, just “quickly” go on WordPress. Get carried away reading other people’s blogs, and remember to comment. Your comment won’t come out right/will sound a bit rude/weird at first, so you’ll have to waste about ten minutes of your life re-wording it. Craft it correctly to make it is the perfect comment. Add emojis in the right places, and make sure you don’t use the word “Great” twice in a row. Google some synonyms so that your comment won’t sound strained and repetitive.

Realise that you’ve just wasted about 40 minutes on WordPress, when you could have been living your life a lot more productively. Justify it by telling yourself, “It’s an investment,” and “It’s good spread yourself around the blogosphere so that more people will know about your blog.” Also, maybe one day you’ll get so successful that you can make money out of blogging, right? Then all that commenting and liking will be worth it.

Remember that you haven’t yet had breakfast. You’ll just have to have a coffee, because you’ve wasted enough time already! Wrong! That’s not the spirit at all. Get caught up in making the ultimate breakfast with a proper fried egg. Take about twelve photos of it from different angles, and post on Instagram. Eat.

Wash up. Then, make a mug of tea to drink while you’re doing your work. Get your textbook out and open it. Oh yeah! You need to check your e-mail to see if that potential customer/guy from Amazon got back to you. Log in and see that your friends have sent you lots of e-mails. Take your time replying.

Look at your watch. Urgh. Stare depressed-ly into your cup of tea. Put on some music. Aaah, now that helps, doesn’t it? Wait, what does this song actually mean? You were going to look it up a few days ago but you never got round to it. “Quickly” Google it now. End up reading a whole thread on a forum about it. Out of the corner of your eye, see your to-do list. OMG. HOW MUCH TIME HAVE YOU JUST WASTED? See how many songs have just played, and add up the duration of each song to see how long you’ve just spent online. Drink your tea.

Start working on your first maths question/replying to a potential client. Oooh, this music’s really good. You haven’t listened to this song in  AGES have you? It’s actually better than you remember. You should listen to this band more often. Imagine being able to do a drum solo like that!

Tell yourself to focus. Finish five maths questions. Gosh, that took  ages. You really need to brush up on your maths. But right now, you need a break. Netflix exists…

You’ll only watch ONE episode on Netflix. You watch it. You turn back to your maths. “Next episode playing in 5… 4… 3…” You watch the next episode. And the next. And…

Twitter is open in another tab. You quickly click to it and start writing a Tweet. It takes a few attempts because you keep going over the allowed character limit. You finally settle with, “I’m meant to be doing my work – but Netflix is distracting me. Help!” And then you end up spending 30 minutes on Twitter.

You’re doing brilliantly. Keep going. Soon you’ll be hopeless with no real life, sucked into the alluring vortex of the online world. Celebrate with another Netflix episode.

I Still Can’t Play The F Chord

Hello Sweethearts (Do you object to that title? I thought it sounded quite lovely but do tell me if you disagree…)

I’m aware I haven’t posted in a while, and I’m sorry about that. I’m not being rude and ignoring you, I’ve just been busy.

Well, today is my Last Day Of Being Thirteen. I don’t see why it would have any significance in your life, so you can stop reading this. It wouldn’t harm you; I honestly won’t be offended. On the other hand, you always could continue… If you don’t read this post you will never know what it says. Ever. You will go to your grave without seeing these words. They could say anything. Imagine the uncertainty of not knowing… Your choice.

As I was saying, tomorrow is my 14th birthday. It’s not like I’m going to die or get enlightened or start university or master the F chord, so it’s not really a big deal. I just thought I’d let you know what I’ve been doing these past few days that I haven’t posted, and what (boring) things I’ve been thinking about.

Two days ago I started attending a radio presenting class, which was pretty cool. There was one of those control panels with all the buttons and knobs, like you see on TV. You know what I mean? But all the songs we put on in the class were from those, “Now 88” CDs. Oh god. Not a single track I liked. Luckily you’re allowed to bring in your own CDs, so next week my ears should be spared.

Oh, I haven’t yet asked you what you’ve been up to! Well, what have you been doing? I hope you’ve been alright. But I also hope that you haven’t been doing anything too fun, as I’ll have missed out!

Straight after radio class, I had drama. The kids there were ace. I also noticed that they seemed a lot more confident than the ones at radio. And something else – they seemed very, very close. Almost like a family… of teenagers. You get me? I asked whether they knew each other outside of drama group but the answer was no. Surprising.

I felt welcomed into the class, but one small problem: I can’t act. This is a drama class I’m going to – and it’s called drama for a reason. I seem to be the only person there who can’t act to save their life! You might argue that it’s because I’m new – but the only other new person was a very good actor. You see my problem? YOU HAVE TO HELP ME. I need tips! Please. I don’t care if the only acting you’ve done was two classes in high school, I need your advice. And I need it by next Saturday. Actually, I need it now, but I’m prepared to wait for your genius. Just one or two tips?? Please. Facial expressions are the the hardest for me to make convincing, body language too. Oh yeah, and keeping a straight face. So your advice or help regarding acting would be Very Much Appreciated. Comment down below? I might even add a link to your blog if I feel like it… Thanks.

Now I’d like to tell you what media I’ve been consuming! Though only if you share with me first? Oh… you want me to go first? I see where this is going! Ok, well, I will tell you what music I’ve been listening to etc. – and then you will leave a comment below telling me about what you’ve been listening to. Deal? Cool.

Well, I’ve been listening to Behemoth lately. They’re a Polish Black Metal band in case you didn’t know. I’ve also been listening to a little bit of Opeth, another metal band. By the way, my favourite track off [their album] Pale Communion so far is “River.” The song Cusp Of Eternity is also amazing, but I need to listen to the album more. Obviously I need to listen to the band more as well. You’re probably just sitting there like,”What the hell?” if you haven’t heard of these bands, haha. Sorry. I will shut up about them in a moment. I just want to quickly say that I think Behemoth (The Polish Black Metal one) did a really good cover of a song called, “Wish” which was originally by Nine Inch Nails. Oh yeah, and for some reason I’ve also been listening to Alice Cooper, which is totally different from the first two.

At the moment I’m reading “The Fault In Our Stars.” Have you read it? It seems like everyone except me has. I’ve been meaning to read it for ages, so I was delighted when my friend gave me a copy as an early birthday present. I’m also reading Barack Obama’s autobiography. I found it in a charity shop a few weeks ago and made my mum buy it for me. I don’t know if you find that stuff interesting but I’m enjoying it… my friend says that it’s the kind of book he’d put aside for reading till he’s 80. I don’t understand much of the politics but Obama’s childhood sounds interesting.

Right now my favourite TV series is Nowhere Boys. You’ll probably find it boring as it seems to be aimed at young teens like me. But I’m loving it 🙂 Honestly, it’s not too bad!

Weeeeell, that seems to be most of the media I’ve been consuming lately. I’ve also been practicing guitar, learning Spanish + French, struggling with maths and doing a liiiittle bit of drawing.

I want to properly write down my bucket list online where I can see it all, and tick things off properly. Right now I seem to have bits of my bucket list floating around in lots of different places. To be honest, it mostly consists of colours to dye my hair XD

My Last Day Of Being Thirteen came sooner than I expected. I’m worried that tomorrow will disappoint me. I’ve already decided NOT to invite anyone over for it. When you invite people, it goes quicker and you have to make an effort to be a host. I just want to chill (and receive presents) and maybe go out to Camden or something. My mum’s booked a Japanese dinner for us all, which I’m looking forward to. For the past two months I’ve been mostly half dreading my birthday and half looking forward to it. You feel me? I don’t want to become an adult and grow old. But also, I’ve had loads of things on my birthday list that I want to get given XD. My only worry is that now that the day is finally (Almost!) here I will no longer be able to look forward to it. Also, I might not enjoy the day as much as I anticipate. The trick is to dread it and imagine it as awful, so it can only get better. BTW I like the idea that if you double my current age, you get 27 – which is the age that everyone in The 27 Club died at. That means that if for some reason I’m going to join The Club (I’m not planning to so don’t worry) I have my age in years left to live. That means that (27 Club-wise) I’m in the middle of my life right now.

There ends your “quick” update on my vaguely interesting life. Oh, and remember your side of the deal? You were going to comment telling me what music, books, movies etc. you’ve been watching. What else have you been doing lately? Also, I would very much appreciate it if you could give me some acting tips. Even if they’re really stupid tiny ones. Comment!? It would be awesome if you could =D

What Is The Liebster Award?

I was absolutely delighted and surprised  when I saw that I had been nominated for the Liebster award! I had to read the notification a few times to make sure it was real. This is the first blogging award I’ve ever been nominated for, and it feels very special because I’d never imagined receiving one.

The Liebster award was designed for bloggers with fewer than 200 followers to promote each other and reward others for their awesome blog-writing 🙂 It’s also a way to find out more about other blog-writers. I’d like to thank http://imjustadreamur.wordpress.com/ (A lot) for nominating me. DEFINITELY go check out her posts, because I’m forcing you to and because they’re awesome and extremely well written. So click the link!  

Right, here are the rules for accepting The Liebster Award!

-Post the award on your blog.

– Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.

– Write 11 random facts about yourself.

– Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have less than 200 followers.

– Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions.

Here are my eleven random facts!
1. My favourite food is sushi. Sushi is a gift from the universe, bestowed upon us as a gift of deliciousness, in order to reward mankind for creating a) The Internet b) Rock Music and c) Unlimited Texting Offers.
2. I hate most Top 40 music.
3. I have one sister, who is three years younger than me.
4. My favourite author is Patrick Ness. He wrote “The Crane Wife” as well as the “Chaos Walking” series.
5. When I’m older, I’d love to be an author or a musician. I’m learning guitar, drum kit and djembe drums. Though now, I’m also wondering if I should become a psychologist. It sounds completely fascinating, and it would be epic to learn about how the mind works!
6. I have red highlights and two dreadlocks in my hair.
7.  I’ve been to about 17 countries.
8. I was born on 23/09/00.
9. I’m home-educated.
10. My father is South African.
11. My favourite band is Nirvana.

And now, answers to the 11 questions from http://imjustadreamur.wordpress.com/!

Do you have a middle name? My middle name is Jamila. I go by it because idiots can’t spell or pronounce my first name. Also, it’s sounds much nicer.

Favorite drink and why. Oh my! I’m glad you asked me that question because BUBBLE TEA is the most amazing drink on the Earth. I reckon it was put here by those floaty universey-dudes who gave us sushi. If you don’t try bubble tea at least once in your life, you’re very seriously missing out.

Coke or pepsi. Coke, but I do like Pepsi as well. And yes, they do taste different.

If you could change your name what would it be? Oh god, that’s a hard one. Something I wonder about a lot! Possibly Courtney… I used to like the name Calypso, but not so much anymore.

Favorite social media site. Twitter! https://twitter.com/JamilaJJ

 Least favourite day of the week. Tuesday. I dread it the whole week. It literally makes me physically unwell. That’s when I have swimming lessons, and, needless to say, I HATE swimming lessons.

Favorite tv show right now. I have three: Wolfblood, Miranda, Atlantis.

Favorite person in the world. Oh dear!! Myself, of course!

When you were a child did you leave Santa milk and cookies? Still do… and brandy…

Religious? Music is my religion XD

Honest opinion on dandelions.

Beautiful and ugly at the same time. They’re annoying, pretty weeds. I like how they transform from yellow flowers into fluffy bubbles. It’s cool when you see the pieces floating around. Final verdict: dandelions are pretty cool. But I prefer cannabis XD

That was a joke, that last sentence. Obviously. What, really? Is that you think of me? Seriously? Oh dear.

Now… People who I’m nominating for the award. Cue drum roll!
Duhn duhn duuuuuuuuuuhn…

http://davesrecordreview.wordpress.com/ He reviews awesome music! Really, really worth a read especially if you’re looking for something new to listen to.

http://ateenagepoetslife.wordpress.com/ Partly poems, partly posts! And a lovely layout ❤ ❤

http://murphydp.wordpress.com/ Check it out!

http://theawkwardteen.com/ Fun stories =)

http://shutterpresser.com/ Stunning photos!

http://missamyjackson.wordpress.com/ Tres entertaining. Hehe.

http://onceadayquotes.blogspot.co.uk/ Very cool quotes.

I will be nominating more bloggers shortly. Also, if I’ve nominated you and you don’t feel like accepting the award, that’s totally fine and I understand.

Here are my questions for my nominees. You don’t have to answer all of them if you don’t feel comfortable revealing too much on the internet:

-Which part of the world do you live in?
-Do you believe in ghosts, extra terrestrials, Nessie, fae, trolls, vampires, shape-shifters or any other supernatural creatures?
-Why did you start your blog?
-What are your favourite bands/ genres of music?
-How old are you? You don’t have to answer this question if you don’t want to. If you want you can just give a small clue…
-What are some items on your bucket list?
-What are your dream/s?
-Are your parents from the same country as you?
-How long does it usually take you to write a blog post?
-Would you rather have a) Free food for the rest of your life, or b) Free gig tickets for the rest of your life?
-What is your occupation, or are you still at school?

Well, I hope you have a good day (Or night!) See ya.

How To Lose Friends And Repel People

1. Say things like, “That’s so gay,” and, “I didn’t know being that gay was legal.”
2. Troll sites.
3. Ask people the same stupid questions that everybody asks them.
4. Have an atrocious taste in music.
5. Drop someone’s pick into the hole of their guitar.
6. Take the bookmark out of someone’s book.
7. Spread rumours about people.
8. Say yes when people offer you food but never offer them food.
9. De-tune someone’s guitar.
10. Never text someone first.
11. Tell people when you don’t like how they look.
12. Say to someone, who’s obviously from your country but has foreign parents, “Where are you from?”
13. Unfollow people on Twitter.
14. Think that if someone’s gay, that’s obviously the ONE and ONLY defining characteristic they have. Mention that they’re gay whenever you mention them.
15. Think that boys always wear colours like blue and black and girls always wear colours like pink and purple.
16. Assume that everyone who reads is boring
17. Think it’s cool not to appreciate literature or learning.
18. Ask kids, “How’s school?” instead of talking to them about something you’re both interested in.
19. Say rude thing’s about people’s music taste (Except when they only listen to top 40 artists.)
20. End up offending people, because you are confused by your sarcasm and you don’t know whether you’re being sarcastic or not anymore…
21. Always  wait for your friend to suggest meeting up – never make the effort to ask them first.
22. Dislike pizza.
23. Choose a friend. Now only ever ask that friend to hang out with you when your other friends can’t make it. That friend is your, “Last resort” friend.
24. Spam people on Twitter.
25. Tell someone they’re your best friend and that you hate the popular girls. Then, forget about your “best friend” and go off with the popular girls.
26. Never invite the lonely-looking kid to sit with you at lunch.
27. When someone shows you a picture on their phone, feel free to scroll to the other photos that they aren’t showing you.
28. Mix up the spellings of, “Your,” and “You’re.”
29. Say, “God doesn’t exist,” instead of, “I don’t believe in god.”
30. Talk about vomit at the dinner table.

How To Lose Friends And Repel People

1. Say things like, “That’s so gay,” and, “I didn’t know being that gay was legal.”
2. Troll sites.
3. Ask people the same stupid questions that everybody asks them.
4. Have an atrocious taste in music.
5. Drop someone’s pick into the hole of their guitar.
6. Take the bookmark out of someone’s book.
7. Spread rumours about people.
8. Say yes when people offer you food but never offer them food.
9. De-tune someone’s guitar.
10. Never text someone first.
11. Tell people when you don’t like how they look.
12. Say to someone, who’s obviously from your country but has foreign parents, “Where are you from?”
13. Unfollow people on Twitter.
14. Think that if someone’s gay, that’s obviously the ONE and ONLY defining characteristic they have. Mention that they’re gay whenever you mention them.
15. Think that boys always wear colours like blue and black and girls always wear colours like pink and purple.
16. Assume that everyone who reads is boring
17. Think it’s cool not to appreciate literature or learning.
18. Ask kids, “How’s school?” instead of talking to them about something you’re both interested in.
19. Say rude thing’s about people’s music taste (Except when they only listen to top 40 artists.)
20. End up offending people, because you are confused by your sarcasm and you don’t know whether you’re being sarcastic or not anymore…
21. Always  wait for your friend to suggest meeting up – never make the effort to ask them first.
22. Dislike pizza.
23. Choose a friend. Now only ever ask that friend to hang out with you when your other friends can’t make it. That friend is your, “Last resort” friend.
24. Spam people on Twitter.
25. Tell someone they’re your best friend and that you hate the popular girls. Then, forget about your “best friend” and go off with the popular girls.
26. Never invite the lonely-looking kid to sit with you at lunch.
27. When someone shows you a picture on their phone, feel free to scroll to the other photos that they aren’t showing you.
28. Mix up the spellings of, “Your,” and “You’re.”
29. Say, “God doesn’t exist,” instead of, “I don’t believe in god.”
30. Talk about vomit at the dinner table.

What’s It Like Being Female?

I can only answer this question with what being female means to ME because I don’t know for certain how other girls find it… These are my personal views. However, I do reckon a substantial amount of other girls must feel the same way about SOME of these things.

Here’s a question – How do females view males?

I think that girls look up to men more than boys look up to women. Obviously, not ALWAYS… but in most cases. Maybe part of the reason for this is that men seem confident, and in a way… content all the time. It sounds funny to say that, but they do seem happier. They seem more powerful as well… I don’t just mean that they have power over women, or even each other. I guess I mean that men seem in control of their emotions. And objectives. Also, it seems that men DO have more power than women. Not because they are better, but because people tend to view them as stronger.

Here’s something I’ve noticed in books, on TV AND in real life: Girls seem to care about getting a boyfriend more than boys care about getting a girlfriend? Seriously. For a lot of girls having a boyfriend is a BIG deal. It’s partly because it’s a status symbol; it shows that they are ‘good enough to be liked by the opposite sex.’ Also because they genuinely care about male attention. I mean, they SERIOUSLY care a lot about the other boys liking them, whereas to guys having a girlfriend doesn’t seem EXTRAORDINARY… But I’m not a guy, so I don’t know for SURE do I?

Sometimes I feel jealous of males. Really jealous. It’s mainly because they always seem confident and at ease, and because people appear to have more respect for them. I wish when I became famous, boys would up to me the same way that girls look up to guys. But it doesn’t work like that, does it? Like, when a guy is popular or famous he gets crowds of screaming girls declaring their love for him. Whereas if that happened to a girl she’d be at risk of people… crossing boundaries. And being female, you tend to worry a lot about guys molesting you

Something good about being female is that there’s no-one telling you to man up. You’re not expected to be strong all the time, or to be good at sports. And it’s okay to cry. The responsibility isn’t on you to ask a guy out or propose to him. It’s unfair towards males. I also think you shouldn’t tell a guy to man up, or to expect him to take the initiative. Basically, in an ideal world, both sexes would have equal responsibility.

Now if you’re talking about being female, mentioning periods at some point is inevitable. They are not pleasant. Stomach cramps are terrible. Many claim that chocolate is the cure.

Chocolate! For some reason lots of females seem to really like chocolate… which I didn’t get for a long time. It just seemed like an ordinary food. But I googled it and now I understand. I wrote a post about it: Why Do Women Crave Chocolate?

Moving on 🙂

I think interaction between females is very different from interaction between males. Girls have all these, “Secrets,” and fusses. Whereas when I see guys talking to each other they seem more chilled together. A funny thing is, I can’t talk to males the way they talk to each other. For example, they find it weird when I try to do the bro-hug thing. And they don’t treat me how they’d treat a male, you know what I mean? I kind of feel left out.

Obviously, girls are also expected to look good, dress well etc. But I won’t go into detail with that because most people have heard people talking about that already. However, I will say that I hate seeing tweets that say things like “This is how I want to look” or, “I want a thigh gap,” with a picture like this attached:

Or even worse (Warning):

 

 

 

I don’t need to say more about that.

Are you male or female? If you’re female, do you agree with what I said in this post or is it BS? Do you have more to add? And if you’re male, how do you see females? What is it like being male? Does everything I’ve just written sound inaccurate?
I want to hear from you! Comment?

What Was The Highlight Of Your Teenage Years?

This is going to be a very emotional post and I feel weird about it.

I’m turning 14 in less than a month. And I’m really sad about it.

It doesn’t sound scary. But It’s a pretty big deal.

Shut up.

I’m still getting used to the fact that I’m 13, to be honest. And now suddenly I’m about to become a year older. Great.

The thing is, being 13 feels like you have your WHOLE life ahead of you. Being 13 means you have all your teenage years stretching out in front of you, ready to be relished and treasured and lived. And those years are always there. Just ahead. Waiting to be enjoyed. You can plan for them and dream about them and look forward to them.

But now, they’re not just waiting there, it feels like they’re moving.

I know this sounds dumb to most people. You’re going to be 14! That’s a year closer to 18! How exciting! Or… it’s just a year. No big deal.

But really, it’s one year closer to old age as well. Which is pretty freaky. And all the, ‘Just a year’s add up to decades. It feels like I’ve run out of buffer time. When I was younger, I could do what I wanted, and it wouldn’t necessarily affect the future so much. Because there was always time, wasn’t there? I wasn’t yet a teenager. But now, I feel like whatever I do is going to affect the future. I’m very scared of time running out! I want to live a fully as possible, in the moment.

I really want to be young for as long as possible. What’s weird is that when I was younger, it seemed like it would be AGES till I turned ten. Ten was huge. Big girls were ten! And now I’m 13! It feels like only four seconds have passed since then. So I guess it could turn out like that with adulthood. You think that you have infinite youth and you waste your time… and in the blink (182?) of an eye, it’s gone. I know I only have this one life to live as me, and how vital it is to savour every moment of it.

I’m a bit scared.

If you think about it, birthdays seem quite arbitrary. Why celebrate your age? What’s the meaning of it? Why every 365 days? Why don’t we celebrate half-years? Imagine if we celebrated turning 14-and-a-half instead of turning 14! Well really… what difference would it make? I’ve met people who don’t know how old they are and they don’t really care. Because to be honest, knowing your exact age isn’t really important in day-to-day life.

Still, my birthday reminds me that I’m getting older. Slowly, sure, but it’s happening. It’s good to have a marking point to reflect on it. And it’s still scary.

What was the highlight of your teenage years? Any tips for me? 🙂 I love it when people reply. Please comment?