I Refuse to be Defined: Life, Advice and Rants

So after what seems forever, I felt a sudden urge to post this week. What better way to get things running again then by complaining...I don't think I have never felt more British. Its the beginning of the academic year which generally means new classes with people you may not necessarily know. This leads teachers to do the common go around the table and introduce ourselves. I have no problem with introductions, what I do have an issue with is the ice breaker that also comes up in most job interviews, 'define yourself in one word'. I'm going to be honest with you, I absolutely loathe the question. Now you have read this far you are going to find out why.

The idea that it is even possible to accumulate all your characteristics, personality and self into one single word ultimately can degrade ones worth. I'm a woman, white, twin, agnostic, enfj personality, slytherin, optimist, extrovert, rock music enthusiast, friend and many other things. How can it really be possible to combine all of these qualities into one word. I refuse to let one single word define me, peoples self worth is far more important then to be forced into reducing it down no basic nothingness. 

Even attempting to pick one single label brings about itself a whole load of stereotypes that come attached to it. These preconceived notions are different to everyone, so how could everyone understand what you mean even if you are able to chose a word. I could say I'm an extrovert, one person may say that makes me confident. I can be but I also have low self esteem. Another person could interpret that I am thick skinned, again I can be but I am also quite sensitive and openly emotional. Words can be taken in so many different ways, so associating one to a persons whole identity seems some what pointless. 

We can spend our whole lives finding ways to express who we are to the world around us. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can decide for ourselves, gathering experience and belief's to create a changeable but complex identity. We mean different things to different people, that can barely be covered by human language, let alone evaluated into one word. 

Now come to think of it, I can define myself in one word. Undefinable. Because no ones worth should be restrained.

5 YEARS OF ONE DIRECTION

Hello and welcome back to Friday's posts on the celeb culture world. I am very sorry for my slacking and there is no excuse now exams are over so I will be back! I promise.

I thought that the best thing to blog about would be about One Direction's 5th year anniversary of them being put together as a group on X Factor. We all know a love a it of 1D. From breaking records, winning awards, creating a movie, touring and releasing 'Four' albums it has all been very busy and a non stop roller coaster. 

Your Twitter timeline may have blown up yesterday (23rd July) at 8:22pm as that is the exact time they were put together. ahah is that sad? yes... But honestly they had had the best career in 5 years and I have loved every second. I wanted to share some of my favourite experiences and just kind of go a little bit into fan mode so please just allow it okay. It seems the most talked about thing about them at the moment is still Zayn leaving which is understandable but lets talk about 2011. An amazing year for the boys! I saw them for the very first time at the X Factor tour and the same year their very first single 'What Makes You Beautiful' was released. It is still such a fabulous tune ahah and after that their debut album Up All Night was released. An album which was just the beginning... 

Now I feel very lucky to say I have had tickets to go to every one of their tours and I have seen the boys in total 6 times! By far my favourite memory and probably one of the best days of my life was winning tickets through The Sun to see them live in Manchester (about 4 hours away from where I live) and having my Twitter question read out by the boys. omg I died. 

(skip to 2.09 for my question ahah @charlytommo )

So enough rambling, what have the boys got lined up? 

A fifth album is due and their On The Road Again tour is ongoing. It is rumoured they will take a break after this album and with rumours of a baby Tomlinson it may be for the best. However as always in this industry these are all just allegations and we will have to wait for confirmation. But for now here is to 5 years of One Direction!

Self Esteem: Life, Advice and Rants

I could take an educated guess that most of you reading this are most likely to be teenagers. As we all know, adolescence is quite a difficult time of exams, relationships and friends. More often than not, it is also the time where most of our self esteems plummet to basically no existent as we struggle to love what makes us, us.  Self esteem is defined as a person's overall subjective emotional evaluation of their own worth. It is a judgement of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self. 

But why talk about it? Over the course of ones lifetime, the self esteem experienced can alter form high to low due to external influences we come across throughout. Someone experiencing positive self esteem will generally approach things thinking they are a good person who deserves love and support and can succeed in life. Someone with a low/negative self esteem will generally think they are not good at things, don't deserve love or support and that situations will work out badly for them. 

Many different factors come into play with whether someone is experiencing low or high self esteem. Moving school, health problems, family difficulties, bereavement, being bullied etc can all change the type of self esteem someone is currently feeling. Dependent on the person, some bounce back after time whereas some struggle with loving who they are again. 

Teenagers often have lower self esteems because of coping with the pressure of peers, body image, grades and parents. Teenage years are difficult, we are socially expected to look and act in a desirable way which can be something that people find uncomfortable. It can make teens think that who they are, isn't good enough for everyone else and then begin to assume that means they aren't even good enough for themselves. Its quite sad, don't you think?

As most of us probably know, poor self esteem can lead to more serious mental illnesses such as eating disorders, depression and anxiety. Being lead to believe that the parts of you others adore, are worhtless is such a punch in the gut. No one should believe that what makes them the person they are isn't good enough for themselves.

When you think about yourself and parts of your personality, appearance etc many tend to focus on the one person who doesn't accept you compared to all those who do. You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserves your love and affection. The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.

Take a moment and think, do I love me? If yes, your heading in the right direction. If no, believe in the positives others around you say and focus your attention on the things you value as good qualities. In this world we should being by saying: 'I'm good at...' or 'I like this part of my personality' because it shows you value yourself and that if one person finds it obnoxious, another will find it brave. The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely but is worth it because of the happiness one will experience by acceptance. 

Self esteem is as important to our well being as legs are to a table. It is essential for physical and mental health but more importantly, it is essential for happiness. If anything take one thing from this 'don't base your self esteem on others opinions' and I am sure you will do just fine

  

The Round Up: England Women's World Cup Journey

On Wednesday night, our England Ladies team unfortunately lost out on their World Cup final dream in the most heartbreaking fashion when a last minute own goal from England's own Laura Bassett ended the lionesses history making journey meaning Japan will take on USA in the final today. 

Yet, there was still a chance to make some more history as the team prepared themselves for a 3rd place playoff against the mighty force Germany, ranked 1st in the world. Even more daunting is the fact the Lionesses had not beaten two-time World Cup winners Germany in 20 attempts, so nerves were running high. 

The game remained goalless for the full 90 minutes, although there was opportunity for Germany to score 3 times within the first 10 minutes. It took an impressive goal line clear by captain Steph Houghton to prevent the tournaments top goal scorer Celia Sasic from leading the European champions.  Houghton had the best opening of the first half but mistimed her shot from seven yards. There was also a strong penalty appeal as Kemme appeared to block Potter's shot with her hand. England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley made some superb saves, protected England from a Sara Daebritz's header. 

The game dragged on into extra time, then England were sent a blessing. In the second period of extra time, England were rewarded with a spot kick after substitute Lianne Sanderson was brought down by Tabea Kemme. Fara Williams, who is England's record cap holder, beat retiring German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer for her third penalty of the tournament and gave the lionesses the lead. 

When the whistle blew, England sunk to the turf and celebrated as they most certainly deserved to do after a phenomenal World Cup campaign in which the ladies created history with a performance that was the second best by an England senior team following the 1966 win by the men's side and eclipsed the 1990 men's team, who finished fourth in Italy.

Coach Mark Sampson regarded that he had always believed the girls to be legends and so they are. This World Cup journey has inspired a generation of girls to tie up their football boots and aspire to achieve what just half a century ago would not be possible. Former England international Rachel Yankey on BBC Three describe the campaign: "I don't think anyone believed they would go the full seven matches. They so nearly went to the final. It is amazing but these players believed. They created history."

This tournament has shed a new light on Women's football as a nation learnt of the new pride. I personally have been quite emotional seeing the women I admire do the unthinkable and make the game I love creditable to all those who doubted the female game. Kelly Simmons, the Football Association's director of women's football, summed up perfectly England's 2015 World Cup journey in saying that the tournament has led England to 'fall in love with the Lionesses'. 

Choosing a University: Life, Advice and Rants

As you know, all of us girls here on Almost1998 are at the scary university hunting stage which has placed fear into where to go for the next 3+ years of our life. Though daunting it can be the best years of your life and personally, I can't wait to dive straight into the university life of making friends, surviving on my own, parties and obviously the course itself. The most important thing is that you make sure where you go is somewhere you want to stay, so here are some tips when deciding where you want to carry on your further education.

- Pick a course you love

There is probably nothing worse then getting to so much student debt to just plod along a course you don't really love. Though it may not be directly related to your future career ideas or might not be a highly recognised, don't think you shouldn't do it. If you enjoy your learning then you will want to do well and work hard because it interests you so think about what you love and go for it!

- Visit Open Days

So far this summer I have visited Bath Spa, Birmingham and today City University London and I couldn't recommend visiting as many university you have an interest in. The opens days give you an opportunity to investigate further about the course you like, what university life will be like and accomidation offers. These can help pick out which university is best suited for you

- Location, location, location 

With universities all over the country and options to even go aboard, it is important to know what kind of area you are looking to study in. Outgoing people would probably look for the nightlife so would lean towards inner city universities whereas others may look for a quite university that is a bit closer to home. It is important to know how far away you are willing to go, whether you go half way across the country or the university even where you live.

So here are just some of the tips I gathered from my trips across country looking for my new home and study in hopefully a year. Just remember this is where you will most likely stay for the maybe more than 3 years of your life so take it seriously. This is one important decision but you don't have to take it alone, talk to others around you to help with your ideas and options. For more help look at https://www.ucas.com for more information. 

WATERMELON ICE CREAM POTS

WATERMELON ICE CREAM POTS

 

These watermelon ice-cream pots are perfect for summer! In this recipe I have made my own ice cream but you can also just by strawberry flavoured ice cream instead if you do not want to make the ice cream! 

What you will need:

• 400g strawberries
• 200ml double cream
• 75g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 bars white chocolate
• dark chocolate chips
• balloons

Method:

• Firstly, wash your strawberries and then cut the stalks off. Then cut them in half.
• Place these on a baking tray and cover with brown sugar.
• Place these in the oven at 170'c for 15-20 minutes.

 

• When these are done they will be all soft and caramelised and it smells delicious!
• Place these roasted strawberries into a blender and blend it all up! Once this is done leave aside for later.

 

• Now melt your white chocolate in the microwave.
• You will need to temper your chocolate as this will help the bowls stay together. Click here and scroll down for instructions on how to temper chocolate and why you should temper chocolate.
• Once this is all melted, colour your white chocolate a dark green. I have really bad food colourings so mine didn't go as dark as I wanted it to go but it was still green!

 

• Now for the fun part! Wash your balloons in cold water and then blow up as many or as little balloons as you would like to use, however tie them off when they reach the size of a tennis ball.
• Then dip the bottom of the balloons into the green chocolate and then place these onto a baking tray to set.

 

• I accidently made my balloons too big and so there wasn't enough ice cream to fill them up so I would advise you to make them smaller than I did!

 

 

• Now back to the ice cream! Whip up the double cream and then add the sugar and vanilla essence. Then pour in the strawberry purée over a sieve to get rid of all the seeds. Fold it all together.
• If you have an ice cream mixer you can add the mixture to that now for about 40 minutes to an hour. This will add air to the ice cream whilst it freezes to make the ice cream nice and fluffy in texture.
• Then you can go ahead and test to see if your chocolate pots have set. They should be firm and easily pull away from the baking paper. If so then pop the balloons.
•  

 

• Then pour the ice cream into each bowl and add chocolate chips to make the seeds of a watermelon. ( If you don't have an ice cream maker then just go straight to this step)
• Freeze for 2-6 hours and then enjoy!!!!!!!

 

 

 



PERFECT SUMMER PLAYLIST

Hello everyone! Being away on holiday in Crete has inspired me to share some of my favourite tunes which are great for summer so without further a do this is my perfect summer soundtrack!

1. Geronimo- Sheppard
2. Five More Hours- Deorro, Chris Brown
3. Riptide- Vance Joy
4. It's Time- Imagine Dragons
5. Pumped Up Kicks- Foster The People
6. Take a Walk- Passion Pit
7. Why Don't We Go There- One Direction 
8. Unpredictable- 5 Seconds of Summer
9. Worth It- Fifth Harmony
10. You- The 1975
11. She Came to Give It to You- Usher ft Nicki Minaj
12. Teenage Dream- Katy Perry
13. Run Away- Chase Atlantic
14. Sex- The 1975
15. Get Stupid- Aston Merrygold

So there you are... here are 15 amazing songs I have been loving to get you in the summer mood. I hope you enjoy them! 

RAINBOW CHEESECAKE- baking

RAINBOW CHEESECAKE

 

 

Ingredients:

• 900g of cream cheese (3 packets)
• 250g caster sugar
• 3tbsp plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 lemon zest and juice
• 3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 200ml soured cream
• 5 food colourings of your choice
• 300g digestive biscuits
• 150g butter (melted)

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 160'c
• Firstly crush the biscuits into breadcrumbs and then stir in the melted butter.
• Then press this into a cake tin that has tall sides as this recipe makes a lot of cheesecake!
• Bake this in the oven for 10 minutes and then leave this to cool down whilst you make your cheesecake mixture.

 

• Turn the heat on the oven up to 200'c
• Then with an electric whisk, beat the cream cheese in a bowl until creamy.
• Then gradually add the caster sugar on a slow speed, then add the flour and a pinch of salt.
• Then add the vanilla, lemon zest and juice

 

• Then whisk in the eggs and yolk, one at a time until all combined, then add the soured cream.

Split the filling into 5 different bowls and then colour them any colour you would like.

I did orange, yellow, pink, green and blue.

 

• Place some tinfoil under your cake tin and fold it up the sides to prevent mixture from spilling out and then put the cake tin inside a roasting tin.
• Then pour the colours one at a time over the baked biscuit base. Its okay if some merge together, just make sure you pour them gently into the tin.
• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 110'c and bake for another 25 minutes
• Once this this done the cheesecake may still have a slight wobble but don't worry that will set!
• Turn the oven off but leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 2 hours to set.
• Once this 2 hours is over, leave to set in the fridge for another 4-8hours or over night for a better taste!
• Then enjoy this colourful cheesecake that's bound to put a smile on anyone's face!

 



 



Best Shows to Binge: Life, Advice and Rants

Schools out for many and after the never ending stress of exams many are looking forward to all the free time upon them. Planning social times with friends, sunbathing and holidays on most people agenda's but sometimes, its good to spend alone time. Yes summer maybe the time to get out however its okay to curl up into a duvet burrito, grab all the food and watch seasons of a fab tv show. I have done this plenty of times and I will now recommend my go to tv binge.

1. Orange is the New Black
Looking for something that will make you laugh, think wtf and cry all at once? Look no further than Netflix original series OITNB. The main focus is on Piper Chapman, a bisexual woman who is sentence to a 15 month incarceration at a federal woman's prison for transporting drug money 10 years prior. You follow Piper as she struggles to fit into prison life, to carry on her relationship with her fiancee and deal with being in the same place as her ex-girlfriend Alex who got her sentenced. The series aired in July 2013 and currently has 2 seasons of 13 episodes each, with season 3 being released on June 12th. It is the perfect binge as the all the episodes come out at once meaning 13 hours of hilarious dialogue, extremely interesting sub-plots and an all female cast. Couldn't think of a better way to spend 26 hours of my life.

2. Pretty Little Liars
One of the largest American tv shows which just celebrated 5 years since the pilot aired is of course the teen drama PLL. I manged to watch 4 seasons in 3 weeks which sounds embarrassing but each episode will have you pining for the next. Following 4 best friends Aria, Emily, Spencer and Hanna as they seek to find the truth behind the 5th liar Alison's disappearance and what they perceived to be death. Obviously there are many twists along the way which makes the suspense almost addictive. 68 hours to binge with you constantly saying 'just one more episode.'

3. Friends
The ultimate binge and a timeless classic. With all 10 seasons on Netflix, imagine how much time you can waste reliving some of the most remembered tv scenes. Such as Rachel getting off the plane, Counting all of Ross's engagements, Joeys 'how you doin?', Monica's humidity hair, how Chandler couldn't BE anymore serious and of course Phoebe's...interesting running style. So tell your parents you love them because your in for a 98 hours and 20 minute ride. Sleep? Sleep is for the weak.

So get ready because binge watching takes commitment, concentration and hard work...and your mum saying it is a 'waste of your time', 'your room smells nearly as bad as you do' and 'you disgust me'. But don't listen to the haters, alone time is happy time and we all need a good binge every now and again.

Looking after yourself in bad times

Hello strangers!

I apologise for how unacceptably and rediculously long it has been since I last posted. Shoot me down, I'm a terrible human being. I'll spare you the details but things haven't been easy for me recently and I'm going through a rough patch. You know when all the little things add up and explode and everything is crap for a while? Yeah, that's what's happening in my life right now. I usually have some form of escape. Writing, reading, blogging, beauty. But recently I've lacked both the courage and motivation to do anything. I don't want to leave the house, don't want to talk about things because I'm not sure what to say and my self-esteem is non-existent. I know I will be fine, but everything takes time. I'm not looking for any sympathy, in fact I'd rather give advice from the comfort of my bed.

How to look after yourself when you're feeling everything a little too much:

Don't feel bad for having feelings -

The difficult thing, for anyone, when they're struggling is to accept it. I am (as everyone who knows me will strongly agree) a very emotional person. I am sensitive and think irrationally, but that's okay. You're allowed to be angry and upset and lost. It's all part of the process of picking yourself back up and trying again. ('That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt.')

Surround yourself with the people who care -

One of the most important things on the road to feeling better, is to feel supported. You don't have to talk to thousands of people about your problems. Some people are just out for the story and don't have good motives for listening to you. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty about your feelings. Talk to people you trust. My friends all help me in different ways. I have friends I call at 1am and all they hear is sniffling and sobbing. I have friends who analyse the situation completely and tell me the logical route to take. I ahve friends who are straight forward with advice because they've been there before. I have friends who make me feel important, beautiful and strong. I have friends who take me for coffee, buy me chocolate, write me cards. I have friends who send long paragraphs and others who send small texts. I have friends who make me laugh to make things better. Thank you to all of you. No matter how you are supported, make sure it's real. Make sure it's people who want the best for you and shut out the rest.

Take time -

Don't rush anything. If you're not ready then that's okay. If you need to be alone for a while do it. If you don't have the power to talk to someone then wait for it. Rushing things makes it messy. You need time to calm down and adjust.

Try something new -

It sounds completely lame. Trust me, I'm not the super clever type, I'm a pretty average student academically. However, over the past few weeks I have fallen head over heels in love with poetry. It's actually beautiful and helps me to deal with my feelings a lot more when it's not about historical topics or shoved in my face in English class. Finding something new you can get involved in can really bring you back to life and give you a little direction again. (Oh and I'm also binging 'Pretty Little Liars' too although I'm not sure if that's a good thing).

Understand what your body wants -

When I get stressed and am going through a rough patch, I forget to look after myself. I break out badly (binge eating and stress), put on weight and forget the basics. Make sure you eat properly and regularly. If you take medication, don't skip it. Keep good hygiene, look after your skin, get enough sleep and water. Your body doesn't have to suffer just because your mind is.

Pamper yourself -

(The only slightly beauty related part of the post, oops.) Relax. Have a bath with a LUSH bath bomb, light some candles, paint your nails, put on lipstick, use a face mask, shave your legs, moisturise. Anything that will make you feel prettier and instantly better.

Treat yourself -

Go on, you deserve it. If it's that pretty dress you've had in your online basket for months, an extra square of chocolate or a night out with the girls, it's gonna make you feel better and you need to start feeling better at some point.

Don't give up -

I'm starting to sound like a nagging Mum who lectures their child and makes them cringe but you can't just give up. Nothing is perfect first time. Everything takes experience, confidence and you have to keep going. Don't accept failure for something you really want.

GET BACK UP -

After all the silly crying and the sad music and emptiness, you will find the strength. It could be days, weeks, months but you're going to be just fine. You aren't alone. You aren't weak for feeling. You aren't a bad person. Go tell the people you love you love them right now, thank them for the help and get back up. You'll stumble and crash a few times on the way but that's natural. In the end, you'll be okay. And okay is wonderful. 

Bringing it back: Summer Fashion

Let's go Boho!

2005 was the highest point of the Bohemian style. Kate Moss being the instigator with it being the year of the height of her fame.

Last year the most popular summer trend was the kimono, worn as a casual, light cover for the arms and shoulders but still holding that effortless style. This was the point of the great comeback of the Boho Chicks.

This year Kendall Jenner and Vanessa Hudgens are but two examples of the most fashion inspiring women flaunting the look.

 The key aspects that can make it easy for it to find its way into your wardrobes:

• Obviously, bright, eye grabbing colours. This could be done by contrasting colours and tones, or even complementary colours with one piece as the main feature of colour.
• Bold, geometric patterns, Aztec patterns
• Drape, using the natural fall of the fabric to accentuate the bodily curves.
• Natural fibres, light weight natural fabrics. For example cotton, linen.
• Chunky jewellery. Beads, bangles, chains and pendants.

And my personal favourite, the Harem Trousers:

So, Boho is back. Which era of fashion will be next? The 1920s shift dresses? Curvaceous 1940s? 1970s Punk? Disco?

Next week I will do a tutorial either on tie dying, bleach painting using a tie dye method or silk steaming to link into the Boho summer ahead. 

Till next Monday.

The Round Up: Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup got under way on Saturday 6th June when the host nation Canada took on China in Edmonton. This year, the competition will feature 24 teams for the first time, for many this being their first major tournament as a women's side including Ivory Coast, Thailand and surprisingly Spain also. 

After a 90 minute battle between the host side and China, including China's Gu Yasha curling a free-kick against both posts and Josee Belanger hitting a drive for Canada which rattled back off the bar. It took an injury time penalty in which Canada's golden girl Christine Sinclair, who's scored 154 goals in 224 international games, to cause riot in the home crowd of a record breaking 53,000 with a coolly taken shot which sends Canada to the top of their group. 

Other scores include New Zealands defeat against the Netherlands on the opening day's other match with a curling strike by Lieke Martens from outside the area in the 33rd minute. Group B's results include a 4-0 victory for Norway against Thailand, leading with 3 goals before the half time whistle. Favorites Germany dominated against Ivory Coast with a 10-0 win with Celia Sasic scoring a hat-trick within the first 45 minutes, Germany only fell short by one goal of matching the record they set with an 11-0 win over Argentina in 2007. However, Ivory Coast's goalkeeper Dominique Thiamale showed some true talent and the side have her to thank for preventing a complete annihilation.

England will be starting their World Cup campaign on Tuesday against another favorite France who knocked out England at the quarter-final stage four years ago. The lionesses have never won a knockout fixture but new head coach Mark Sampson, taking charge for his first major tournament, has a great chance to change that record. Hopes are high for the side ranked sixth in the world to dominate after a 100% qualifying record and supporters hope for a long World Cup campaign for England ahead. 

Asexuality: The Serious Stuff

Out of all the sexualities, the one that seems to be the hardest to understand is asexual. In scientific terms, asexual beings are life forms that are able to reproduce with themselves, examples of this are plants, fungi and some forms of fish. However when referring to sexual orientation, the word takes up a new meaning.

In the LGBTQ community asexuality is a more of an umbrella term. Yes there are certainly people who identify as asexual, those without any sort of sexual attraction, though there are many different types.

There are variations of asexuality, in a spectrum. There is:

demisexual, - only feel sexual attraction after they've formed a strong emotional bond with someone

grey-asexual - very rarely experience sexual attraction though it still happens sometimes. An asexual can fall anywhere on the spectrum

lithsexual - feel sexual attraction towards others but do not want it reciprocated or lose interest when it is

cupiosexual - never or very rarely desires a relationship, even if attraction is felt

quoi-sexual - cannot differentiate between types of attraction (see below)

aro/ace-flux - fluctuates along the spectrum daily

Though it is important to note that sexual attraction isn't the only type, there are many reasons you may be attracted to someone.

platonic - the desire for friendship with a certain individual, also called a squish

aesthetic - finding someone's appearance attractive or pleasing to the eye, this type can occur on it’s own or with other attractions

romantic - desire for a romantic (but not sexual) relationship with someone, often coupled with sensual and/or sexual attraction

sensual - desire for sensual contact (hugging, cuddling, kissing, holding hands, etc) with someone, often coupled with romantic and/or sexual attraction

Asexual is not to be confused with aromantic, which is lack of romantic attraction. Aromantic is a type of romantic orientation, the romantic versions of sexualities. Similarly, there is also demiromantic, grey-aromantic, etc. 

The lack of sexual attraction doesn't mean that asexuals won’t engage in sexual activities. Yes, there are some asexuals that are completely repulsed by the idea of sex, but many aren't. Though their relationships are not built on sexual attraction, they will still have sex or other activities for their partner's sake. Also they may like having sex, cause it feels good, they just don’t base attraction on it.

A lot of the acephobia and general misconceptions asexuals have to put up with come from the media. So much of what we see is based around love or sex, focusing on the ideas that life without these things is worthless and sad, when for asexuals it is preferred. This means that a lot of asexuals who don't know who/what they are think that they are broken or that something is wrong with them. 

The TV show ‘Sirens’, which follows a team of Chicago EMTs, is one of the only shows I've seen that has an asexual character. It’s a big leap in asexual representation and I love it.

Asexuality is perfectly natural, and not feeling that sort of attraction is not wrong. Sex and relationships are pushed as such an imperative thing to life, especially when you're a teenager, but this simply isn't true. Relationships can be formed and sustained just as strongly without those desires, and the lack of sex does not invalidate them. Asexuality is completely valid, you are not broken. 

Sources:

http://www.asexuality.org/home/

http://www.asexuality.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gray-A_/_Grey-A

http://ace-with-grace.tumblr.com/post/64865371105/i-made-a-powerpoint-on-asexuality-as-ive-seen

Caitlyn Jenner

Hello all, I am currently on holiday in Crete but I have an interesting post this week on recent celeb news!

4 days ago the world was introduced to Caitlyn Jenner. A women the world has eagerly anticipated to meet since Bruce Jenner announced on an interview with Diane Sawyer that he has suffered with gender identity issues all his life. Although  Bruce has not undergone a full gender confirmation surgery he has had cosmetic surgery as part of the transition. 

Recently Jenner debuted his new name as Caitlyn and showed her appearance in her first photo shoot for Vanity Fair.  It is certain that she has made an impact with the name trending top worldwide on Twitter and encouraging people with the same issue that it is okay to be different. She is a huge inspiration to everyone and the process of his transition will be part of a documentary that will premiere in July.

Other exciting news for the Kardashian family came this week as Kim and Kanye announced that Kim was pregnant again and they would be expecting to welcome their second child in  December! Who knows what the name will be? Possibly South?

AMAZING BROWNIES- Baking

BROWNIES!

Welcome back to baking on Almost1998! I'm sorry its been a while, but now that exams have finished I have had more time to bake yay!

This week I made brownies which have got to be my favourite unhealthy snack to eat because they are so heavenly.

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 185g butter
• 185g chocolate (dark is best)
• 85g flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 100g chocolate chips/chunks
• 50g marshmallows (optional)
• 50g chopped cashew nuts (optional)
• 3 eggs
• 275g caster sugar

 

MEHTOD:

• Preheat the oven to 180'c
• Firstly, in a saucepan, heat 185g of butter and chocolate together until it is all melted. To make sure that the chocolate doesn't burn as is melts quicker than the butter, chop the butter up into cubes.

In a separate bowl add in the caster sugar and 3 eggs. With an electric whisk, mix these together for around 3 minutes so that the mixture has almost doubled in size and it looks like vanilla milkshake.

 

• 
• Then add the chocolate and butter mixture when it is slightly cooler as you do not want it to cook the eggs and have lumps in your mixture.

  
• Then you can whisk it all together until it is all combined

• Now you can add the chocolate chunks and the optional nuts and marshmallows. Fold these ingredients in with a spoon or a spatula if you have one.

• Now sift together the flour and cocoa powder in a separate bowl and then lightly fold that into the brownie mixture.

• Now pop that into a baking tray and then it can go into the oven for 25 minutes.
• When it is done it may still have a wobble in the middle of the brownie. This means that your brownies will have a squidgy centre but if you do not like this then put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this post! I forgot to take a picture of the end product and when I remembered everyone had already eaten them!

See you next week!

 

 

 

Women in FIFA 16: Life, Advice and Rants

In May, news came about of the FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping down from his position following the fraud and money laundering scandal which resulted in arrests of FIFA officials and FIFA committee members. But what was also revealed during these troubled times for the football association is that 12 international women teams have been introduced to the highly successful game franchise FIFA 16. The trailer announcing the news was released on the EA Sports FIFA youtube channel on the 28th May 2015.

Until now only men's teams have featured on one of the most popular EA sports games, which was first released back in 1993. Sadly this long time over due revelation for women's football came with some backlash. There where plenty of comments and tweets signaling their outrage of the idea of expanding the beloved game to an increasingly significant area of the sport. Reading some of these tweets and comments made me surprisingly upset, thinking why am I crying over tweets not directed at me personally.

I was upset with these angry entitled teenage boys who were spewing misogynistic nonsense about the sport I have been apart of for 11 years of my life. They degraded women's football, considering it to be less than men's football. The common sexist, unfunny jokes such as:

Women's football has battled through so many prejudices and misconceptions to get the amount of acceptance it has achieved. Seeing these comments makes it seem that it is taking a step back but if the rest of the women's footballing community feels the same as myself, we will power on through. The Football Association in 1921 introduced a ban which disallowed women's football games from grounds which wasn't removed until July 1971. In 2004, former president Sepp Blatter suggested that women footballers should 'wear tighter shorts and low cut shirts...to create a more female aesthetic and attract more male fans.' All of these attempts to discredit and remove women's football has only increased it further, the England Women vs Germany Women friendly match at Wembley was watched by a record 45,000+ fans in the first female matched played at the famous ground. 

To believe that football is a 'mans game' is in itself, ignorant. Millions of girls and women lace up their boots and take part in the beautiful game, including myself and Round Up blogger Shannon. The over reaction to something that should of happened years ago is, in my opinion, pathetic as women's football should be recognised equally to mens. Comments saying 'why would they put women in FIFA 16 when 95% of players are boys? It makes no sense' are just incorrect. Since FIFA was launched in 1993 the number of registered female players has had a 54% increase from 2000, to a total of 4.1 million players. Just because there are less professional opportunities for women, doesn't mean we don't play football or FIFA.

So for some, women in FIFA 16 is affecting their masculinity which to be honest, isn't really a big part if they are whining about the inclusion. Many need to come out of the sexist stigma of football and realise that women are a ever growing part of the game. After years of success, lets celebrate another one because finally we are in the game!