My Cat Has Acne. And other stories.

In light of Morrissey’s recent interview with Der Spiegel where he pedals hate about “not very credible” sexual harassment claims and abhorrent views on multiculturalism, I’m finally going to write about #metoo and not just because of Morrissey’s dickish views but also because of the views of a male panel on Have I Got News For You where the female anchor (Queen Jo Brand) had to explain to them that multiple low level offences leave women feeling under siege, alongside many conversations I have heard recently, generally between men, where sexual harassment claims are dismissed as attention seeking behaviour and Lena Dunham’s recent dismissal of claims based on the alleged perpetrator being her mate. Imma stop you there, and here’s why. Morrissey says in his interview (which for clarification was google translated from the original German interview and so may not be grammatically correct) that, “Anyone who has ever said to someone else, I like you, is suddenly being charged with ...

kindness NOUN 1 The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. ‘he thanked them for their kindness and support’ 1.1   A kind act. ‘it would be a kindness on your part to invite her’ Kindness is as simple as being nice to one another, a selfless act that doesn’t take time or energy and is just a part of who you are. It is the easiest thing in the world to hold a door open, give a compliment or volunteer your skills; and research has shown that exhibiting kindness is a major contributor towards your own personal happiness. “How to Make Friends and Influence People,” has been used in business circles for self-development since its first edition in 1936. Yep, 1936. In the first Chapter, “If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive,” the first key point is to be kind and to avoid criticism, condemning and complaining. How many times have people criticised, condemned or complained to you this week? How many times have you done this to other peopl...

I am writing today to avoid updating my CV. I hate CVs. I love other people’s CVs, of which I also have a stack to get through today, but I hate updating mine. I guess it comes down to being easier to sell other people than it is to sell yourself. I could really do with the ability to be objective right now! So instead, I am procrastinating. I am procrastinating because somebody told me last week that they wished I used my education and stayed in a career. Direct quote. It became apparent that people have no concept of how the tertiary sector works these days and the fact that I have survived on fixed term one year contracts for the last ten years is ignored. It is practically impossible to get a mortgage on a fixed term contract, even when you’re earning 30k a year. It’s impossible to think about starting a family knowing that your contract will end either before you go on maternity leave or while you are on maternity leave and this is not a position that you can start a fami...

Facebook. What an age we live in where you can viciously troll somebody from the comfort of your own home. Or pretend to be somebody you aren’t to catfish innocent people. The more time I spend on Facebook (which, for the record, is a lot), the more I am convinced that everybody on there is pretending to be somebody that they aren’t. I waste hours every day, aimlessly scrolling through my newsfeed. Sometimes I will close the app on my phone and immediately re-open it again for no reason other than I had a fraction of a second when I wasn’t doing anything and my brain (and hands) couldn’t cope. In public spaces, it is my comfort blanket. I can always rely on my phone and Facebook to provide me with something to read to avoid feeling uncomfortable or anxious. Or purely to avoid eye-contact or talking with strangers. I recently discovered that Fear of Missing Out (or FoMO, what a phrase) is an actual psychological condition associated mainly with millennials (another term I l...