Money in the Boot

Car boot sales: a land of cowboy-hat wearing, banter loving traders of junk right? Wrong. 

This summer, cleverly missing all the seasonal job vacancies after my internship, I returned home, opened my wardrobe and decided I would make my millions like Del Boy; selling my childhood miscellany. I decided, sentimentally, that I couldn’t quite bring myself to part with my box of Barbie’s just yet, so I packed up the rest of my unwanted belongings and packed them snugly into Ralph, my little red Ka.

Yes I had to rise at an abominably early hour on the day, driving bleary eyed to the market. 

Okay I also had to sit in a queue for over an hour because, even at 6AM, it seems to be a universally known fact that no matter how early you arrive at a boot sale, there will always be a queue of cars waiting before you.

Nonetheless, I managed to grab a pretty decent spot next to a man who seemed to trade in hardware tools attending an impressive 3-4 markets a week! I’d like to think we became friends after he offered me some of the raspberries he’d just bought… Later a lady from the stall opposite rushed over, buying a pair of sunglasses from my display. She was so immensely grateful that I had these –on a hot day she’d tragically left hers at home. As I explained to my pitch neighbours that this was my money making scheme for the summer, they quipped that they expected to see me the following week. It seems my dear readers, that I have been welcomed into this dusty community… Trotter’s Independent Traders watch out!

Asides from breaking into this exclusive circle, I spied some other interesting characters. An elderly man wandered past my pitch with multi-coloured hair – I’m not even joking. If anyone does a remake of that McFly song about the girl with 5 colours in her hair, they should look to this guy for inspiration. Old and rocking it…

Or there was the little old lady who stopped by my table to rummage through her handbag looking for a small packet of Extra mints…once she finally found them, she kindly offered me one. Okay so she didn’t buy anything from me, but that’s rather sweet right? Or there was the kid, early teens, who flicked through every game I had repeating “got it…got it…got it”. Needless to say he didn’t find any he didn’t already own.

But some odd personalities did actually buy something. There was the father who bought his little girl a soft toy; a cuddly dog. This was her second choice though. She had originally reached for the fluffy purple unicorn provoking her Dad to say, “That’s a Unicorn – they’re not real.” Her face crumpled; I’m pretty sure her childhood dreams were crushed that day. She settled for the dog.

So asides from the people-watching that would make the likes of J.K.Rowling proud, did I actually make a cash profit, making the early morning worth it? Did I heck. £60 later and I found myself gleefully jingling my money bag home thinking to myself…I wonder how much I could get for those Barbies… 

An Ice-Rink, A Swimming Pool and Africa.

Although the title might suggest otherwise, I haven’t actually spent the last week travelling across the sahara on skates before jumping into the red sea. But I have been busy.

~ "Get your skates on..." ~
I conquered my fear and went ice-skating. Let me explain.
When I was about 12, I went ice-skating. I'd been before but I had never fallen over so I began confidently venturing nearer the middle of the rink. Then?
BAM!
A bulky ice hockey guy collided into me and i was knocked off my feet. Not in a romantic way either. I awkwardly got up, laughed nervously and attempted to skate off with a numb bum and a bright red face. I decided to get out of the middle of the rink (AKA the danger zone!) Then?
BAM!
Another guy, this time showing off, knocked me off my feet. I haven't quite mastered falling over gracefully, so I clumsily landed on my wrist....which fractured. (On the plus side, I got some pretty funky colours on that plaster cast...)

Since that, I’ve only been skating twice. Once was a fleeting experience with school - when I realised that my partner felt more fragile than me I decided this probably weren’t going to help my confidence levels much. The second time was somewhat better but I’m slightly hazy on the whole experience because it was back in high school and that seems like so long ago! Unless pure fear just blanked the memory out...

But last weekend I went ice-skating and I loved it. Genuinely. Even better? I’m still in one piece and avoided spending an afternoon in A&E! Happy face! :-) Perhaps it’s because this time I went with an ice hockey player rather than colliding with them. Yes I had a few wobbles, but I did it and it was fun! Maybe I will go again... or maybe that will be tempting fate..?


~ "No bombing..." ~ Either side of this skating adventure, I went swimming. My aim was to do this in replacement of the gym - gentle exercise considering I was ill last week and my stomach was angry. However, I have slowly become something of a fitness fanatic and I don’t think I can still term my swimming sessions as gentle, relaxing exercise. 40 lengths per swim resulted in some aching legs and a much needed rest-day - this gives me all the evidence I need for that statement. But what’s a bit of aching in the grand scheme of toning hey? No pain, no gain y’know...



~ "The pen is mightier..." ~

I have had an explosion of writing.
Someone told me once that if I wanted to get on in journalism I should use my student years to write for free, getting my name everywhere and anywhere. So, I’ve submitted another Huffington Post blog, finished my columnist application and managed to nab a news article for The National Student by responding to an email from the editor.  
Ok, I’ll admit, I didn’t know that much about Sudan when I replied. In fact, \all I really knew was that there was a humanitarian crisis in Darfur, courtesy of a volunteering stint at Oxfam. Now?
Now I know all there is to know about it. I know why the civil wars started, when South Sudan became independent, why so many refugees have fled and from where, and, crucially, who the president is. It looks like not only did i manage to grab another article to write which is now online (http://www.thenationalstudent.com/News/2012-07-18/the_situation_in_sudan.html) , but I also managed to get up to date with current affairs. Sometimes, I impress myself.



Now, I must love you and leave you as I'm staying up to do some more writing. I popped off to watch a play this evening, being the cultural critter that I am, and I have a very important review to write.
Watch this space.

Reflections From A Blogging Intern...

I know I've been a bit quiet on here recently, but I do have some excuses...

I got my results and, in high spirits, I scuppered off home for a week of R&R back home on the south coast; spending days with my Mum and our teddy-bear-like dog Bailey.
Except he'd had a haircut and looked more like a goat this time...

At the start of July, I returned to Nottingham and spent a lovely weekend with my Dad and his girlfriend. We checked in at a hotel in Eastwood & oh did I make full use of the leisure facilities! Think a gym, swimming pool, steam room, sauna...jealous yet?

Finally on Monday 3rd, I started my blogging internship at Skeleton Productions; a video production company in Nottingham. My main task was to contribute copy for their blog at Video Worth Sharing. But occasionally I managed to get some content on their official Skeleton Productions Website. Every blog had to be focused on video, acting as a marketing tool for the company.

It definitely opened up my eyes as to how writing can benefit businesses. I learnt about RSS feeds, how best to research content and I'm pretty sure I have now mastered GoogleDocs!

Now for the drama. My two weeks were rudely interrupted when, at the start of my second week, illness struck. I tried to plough on through but ended up going home early for two days before I agreed that a day off was needed. But fear not dear readers! I returned to full health for the remainder of my internship and I've travelled far down that road to recovery.

So my summary of the last two weeks? 

It's been incredibly beneficial. Skeleton Productions appear top on Google Search Results and I've gone and got my name all over their blog pages! I've done a bit of networking, gained some good contacts, learnt a lot and hopefully, after some team participation in a bar quiz, an office move and an office party, managed to gain some friends for life.

So what now?

My latest challenge is to apply for a columnist position at my University magazine...I won't say too much - I'm keeping my ideas tip-top-secret until I've applied...

But something has occured to me over the past few weeks. If I don't go into journalism, marketing most certainly is an option now. But being a columnist is still my dream.

However, I've always said I wanted to write something meaningful - something with a purpose. But doesn't all writing have a purpose? Isn't writing that makes you smile just as important as writing that informs you? Just because a piece is light-hearted doesn't make it irrelevant.
Sometimes people just want a break. 
A bit of a laugh. 
So why shouldn't I just try to focus on writing that shares the smiles?

Watch This Space. 

There's more to Cadbury's than chocolate...

I'm going to warn you in advance that if you currently don't have a cup of tea and a slab of Cadbury chocolate in your hand, at the end of this post you might well want one...

...because I'm going to write all about Cadbury World! 

Oh yes. I visited my best friend Hannah in Birmingham last weekend; we had a girly reunion with another friend, Clare from back home, mainly because our summers are all over the place and we'd started having break downs over how long we potentially wouldn't see each other for...

Anyway, on the last day following the all too quick departure of Clare the night before, Hannah & I decided to explore nearby Bournville & it's main attraction; Cadbury World.

To say we were excited is an understatement. We ended up following a few groups of school children & I'm pretty certain we looked more excited & giggly than they did...

Of course we got freebies, scoured the chocolate shop for some bargains & ate as much chocolate as we physically could...it truly was like something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They even had a ride! But, we also learnt something. It seems there's more to Cadbury's than mere chocolate.

The Cadbury story began in 1824 when John Cadbury began selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. Gradually over time, he experimented with chocolate manufacture until in the 1840s he managed to open a factory in Bridge Street. The success of his chocolate increased so that it became available to the masses, & in the 1860s when John retired, his sons took over, continuing his business success. With such demand & productivity, they were able to move out of their small factory & set up Bournville; named due to the nearby Bournbrook and replacing 'brook' for the in-trend French word ville. Their business expanded still, and today Cadbury is known by almost everyone whilst Bournville is a beautiful, quaint little village surrounding the chocolate factory.

Ok so that was a history of Cadbury in a nutshell; leaving out how they put a glass & a half of milk in their chocolate, merged with Fry's chocolate company etc... but you get the jist. What was most interesting though was the social consideration the Cadbury family had. Bournville was created to be an aesthetically pleasing, green village so that their workers could live in the houses it offered & enjoy their surroundings. They believed happy workers could be more productive workers. They created the Bournville Village Trust, printed lists about how to live a healthy and happy life, gave their workers benefits & bonuses that were well ahead of their time & ensured every worker was treated fairly; like one of the family. Perhaps it's through maintaining the feel of a family-run business that Cadbury have done so well. Perhaps they really do just seem like a genuine, friendly company. Plus, we found that Bournville really was a lovely little village; we both said we'd love to live there!

Not just taking Cadbury World's word for it, Hannah & I explored the local village & found the Visitor Centre.

Inside is a stone inscription claiming that the building was dedicated to one of the Cadbury sons when he married. It seems that the villagers & workers had a respect for the chocolatiers, which was returned by good working conditions & benefits.

The Village Trust still exists today, but is now just one of the many things Cadbury attempt to do to help their society; think of their recent involvement with Fairtrade...they even have a water project in less developed countries (unfortunately asides from a poster, this wasn't even mentioned during the exhibition...)

So there you have it. Asides from making mouth-watering, delicious, milky chocolate (I don't care what some of you say...it IS the best!) they also have a certain respect for their workers & society...

It's official. Chocolate really is amazing. Now where's my stash of freebies gone... 

http://www.cadburyworld.co.uk/CADBURYWORLD/Pages/Welcome.aspx

A very Royal Morning...

This morning was rather special.

This morning, the Queen came to Nottingham.

Being proud fans of the British monarchy, my housemates & I were in Market Square, forming part of the swarm of people gathered eagerly, awaiting the Queen's arrival. The clouds were looming overhead ominously but even the rain behaved whilst she was here. Flags were waving, cameras were rolling & kids were being held on their parents shoulders excitedly. It's safe to say the atmosphere was...for want of a better word...tingly. There was a buzz among the crowd - even more so after a few false alarms of a royal sighting. People were so keen to get a good view that three people were spotted on the roof of a rather tall building, hoping to get a better view!

Eventually, an hour & a quarter later she arrived, accompanied by Will & Kate. The crowds began manically cheering, flags were waving extremely fast &, all i can say is, thank GOD for the big screen next to the town hall, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see anything. 


The balcony wave was well worth it though. Unfortunately, from where we were standing, we couldn't quite see Prince William, courtesy of an unfortunately placed pillar. But this was what we could see...

Kate was respectfully singing along to God Save the Queen, as her Majesty herself occasionally waved and smiled to the crowd. What's more, is that she genuinely looked pleased to be there. There was no falseness in her expression whatsoever; perhaps that's why so many people like her. 

After the song, the screen once more became vitally important; this time we caught a glimpse of the trio... (excuse the camera poking up from the bottom!)

And that was it. 

After a few minutes, they turned back around & headed inside the town hall. 

And we left. 

Despite waiting over an hour, & despite the cold, & despite the threatening dark clouds, I still think it was worth going. How many times do you get to see the Queen in one lifetime...& how many times do you get to see not one but three members of the Royal family all at once?

Needless to say, everyone became rather supportive & patriotic this morning but the inevitable debate about the Royals arose as expected. I would like to settle this.

Whilst unlike some (I could mention Sara on Big Brother; ashamedly admitting that I now watch it) I wouldn't burst into tears if someone didn't like the Queen, I do think the Royal family is something we should keep and be proud of. It's a part of our heritage; it's tradition; it's England. Although the attention on more distant family members can seem slightly crazy to me, (it gets to a point where I'm not sure how they're related to her Majesty) I still believe they are a worthy figurehead for our nation. If it's old fashioned then fine, but I'd rather term it tradition!

Plus... just look at her smile - she looks friendly & caring & although I hate to use the adjective; genuine. Let's just face it, the Queen is rather quaint, isn't she? 

My vision for the Eurovision...

It's an exciting time in England at the moment; the Queen's Jubilee, the impending Olympics AND... we didn't come last in Eurovision. That's right folks. We were NOT left with 'nil points'. Mr Humperdink deserves an almighty round of applause.

Or does he?

With some of the world's greatest music acts shouldn't England perform slightly better in what is meant to be a music competition? Shouldn't we put our impressive up-and-coming young talent on the world stage, without the attempts at humour and without the stench of fame's has-beens? Shouldn't we bring the serious chance back to the game?

Sitting listening to my friend detailing to me the highlights of this year's show, I let my mind wander and came up with an ingenious idea (even if I do say so myself!) I suggest a brand new approach to the selection of our Eurovision representatives. Who actually decides who represents us anyway?!

What if the public had more of a say...
What if there was a pre-Eurovision talent competition...

Yes, I know, our TV's are inundated with reality shows; The X Factor, The Voice, Britain's Got Talent...It gets a bit tedious. But this, (like Britain's Got Talent) offers contestants the chance to represent their nation. Who knows what gem we might stumble across...to think we could have had someone like Olly Murs represent us...After all, Ireland had Jedward... (You can't help but feel a slight twang of pity really...)

Or, why not rummage through the talent on offer at our Brit school? If we raised the profile of Eurovision and actually made it something to be proud of, or to even care about, getting the English nation involved in picking an act then who knows...we could actually look at our singer in Eurovision without a sense of embarrassment...one day we might actually stand a chance of winning!

Until then, I suppose we can stretch out the pride we felt in Buck's Fizz for a few years longer...

Carpe Diem...

I’m so EXCITED!

I feel like filling this page with lots of nonsensical words that will amuse and annoy people, frustrating anyone trying to pronounce them and possibly giving others who have never read this before the image of myself as a complete and utter idiot. Instead, I’m going to fill a line like this:

Auhgpuawnhwvuyhguidmvhtrgpv urehtvhweikjvgt egruivfjh4uteos;idlkjhrgiwo 4wyurpughifujk !!!

Yes I realise they’re technically not words as I accidentally pressed some number and punctuation keys but it conveyed my excitement well did it not?!

I’ll explain why I’m so (for want of a better word) ‘buzzy’…

As you may have noticed, or guessed, my last blog was written in a slightly lower mood…maybe a new label needs to be invented like ‘pre-term blues’ or something…

But nonetheless, today everything seemed to brighten! The writing workshop I so briefly mentioned before emailed me: I have a confirmed place and the first workshop is next week! It’s titled ‘Writing Reviews for Publication’ and runs for 5 weeks at a professional studio in the city.
A studio, may I add, that is extremely difficult for two exploring students to find in the pouring rain…perhaps made harder because they overlooked the building name and focused instead on the number. Maybe I won’t be doing that again – I think my shoes are still drying out…

Anyway, this lovely-jubbly workshop will focus on theatre, book, film and product reviews with tips on approaching publishers and become a professional (!). Hopefully I’ll gain some useful skills, maybe possibly some contacts whilst giving me some good old fashioned writing experience.

Why reviews I hear you ask? Well, with the help of some lovely friends of mine, I’ve noticed that newspaper journalism, which I’ve been focusing on so strongly, doesn’t allow for much creative expression nor for an individual writing style to develop, both of which I enjoy experimenting with in my blogs… so perhaps the newspaper format isn’t quite for me. I also sometimes can be quite sporadic with my ‘news-curiosity’…some days I know EVERY headline, some days I don’t have the foggiest clue about who’s at war with whom…

Which led me to consider magazine journalism and, after various suggestions from friends and parents, I’m considering swaying towards those culture magazines that you sometimes get in the Sunday papers. (As a starting point) I’ve done reviews in the past for Impact at my university so why not start there? (Before slowly but surely progressing to a columnist position... *wishes*)  I’m aiming to review some plays over summer and try to get them printed by a local paper or something…

So, there you go – that’s the first exciting thing! Now for the next, which I am STILL beaming about! J

I, on a spare of the moment thing, applied for the (paid) job of campus tour video presenter for the University of Nottingham. This basically means presenting a video for prospective students highlighting our campus and why Uni. is JUST SO GOOD! To be perfectly honest, I thought nothing would come of it and actually forgot about it, until the email came through yesterday. I seriously thought about bailing. And then I had a rethink.

Today I had the actual casting session!! Yes yes, ‘casting’…

*pause for effect*

 I had to learn a short script and present it in front of a camera and three other official people – members of the project and marketing team I think. (In the excitement I think I’ve forgotten their names…) Anyway, after that I had to walk slowly across the room whilst being filmed explaining, off the top of my head and totally unprepared, why I’d recommend my university and explain a bit about my experience.

Well, I started with the English committee and being part of the netball team before I had a little brainwave. I mentioned writing reviews for Impact magazine, creating my own blog and managing to write for The Huffington Post. I finished in style with a cliché about University allowing you to chase your dreams and do what you’ve always wanted to do.

They seemed to like this. Mr Camera-guy smiled at me and said, and I quote, ‘That was brilliant’, whilst the boss of the ‘film-crew’ and part of the marketing team smiled and nodded to the lady sat next to him. Mr boss-man then questioned me a little about my blogs, especially Huffington Post and before I knew it he asked; "So, are you looking for writing opportunities?"

A little stunned I nodded eagerly.

"Great. Expect a separate email from me soon then."

I’m sorry, what? Run that by me again, I thought. Was this a writing opportunity landing at my feet? Could it be….?!

I thanked them all for their time and left the room feeling the happiest I’ve felt for ages. I got escorted downstairs by the nice young man who initially escorted me upstairs, and he asked me how it went. I genuinely got good vibes, I told him. I also thought to myself, and am still thinking now, how impressed I am that I didn’t clam up in front of the camera – I managed to actually look straight at it - I didn’t feel my heart getting overworked and beating a million times a minute AND I didn’t feel my face burning up. All in all, I’d say that’s pretty good right?!

I then decided to tell him about the writing thing. He looked at me, and it was as if something seemed to dawn on him. "Of course!" he said. Turns out, the marketing department, for whom he and Mr boss-man work for, are looking for a writer (originally full time but they realised students hadn’t finished yet) to work for them. It’s a paid position. A PAID WRITING POSITION.

OK, so I’m not sure the finite details; I don’t know what I’d be writing and I could very well be forgotten about by Mr boss-man. *sob! L *

But I really really hope he doesn’t forget.

I left with a wave from the nice young man as he called, "who knows you might end up with a nice little writing number, that is, if you don’t get the presenting job and end up getting scouted from YouTube!"

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Just IMAGINE!

So yes, my lovely readers. Not only could I gain a nice little writing job (pray for me that he emails), but I could be presenting a video for bright-eyed young potential Freshers. Maybe presenting is the way to go…

                                                                                ***

P.S – Did I also mention I got voted in on the Yoga Committee at University? I am now the new Communications officer and their website, email account, Twitter and Facebook account is MINE.

Oh, it’s been a good day…