Joe was 21 yesterday, and amongst going bowling, going to two restaurants, shopping, playing games and the million other things we did over the weekend, we went to see Alice in Wonderland with a couple of friends.
I’d been looking forward to seeing it for quite a while – and my sister wants to go and see it for her 19th in a couple of weeks, so no doubt I’ll be seeing it again soon – but maybe I overhyped it too much in my head because it just wasn’t that great. Don’t get me wrong, the characters are fantastic, the 3D works really really well, it was just lacking that extra something. The plot was a bit weak and an odd mixture of new and rehashed. Even Tim Burton’s usual gothic-weird touch didn’t really shine through that much, although that may be the Disney element overshadowing it. Alice was great, I really liked her although the odd line was wooden rather than dramatic. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter was fab, and the Red Queen was awesome too. Anne Hathaway as the White Queen was rather annoying as she was sidelined to the extent where she was pretty much useless.
I grew up with the original Disney Alice in Wonderland animated film as one of my firm favourites, and I loved the way in which that really flowed from character to character and situation to situation – it was all very surreal and the songs were so catchy. The new Alice in Wonderland seems to be suffering a slight identity crisis (which fits Alice’s mental attitude and dilemma I suppose), and wasn’t really an adult’s film or a child’s film. I think this is quite cute, has good timing because the other one was so long ago, and pushes through with a great cast and amazing 3D. Oh, and a massive marketing budget and limited edition accessories. I think it’s okay, but I definitely wouldn’t pay £10 to see it again, and I might buy it on DVD when it’s about £5.
Work is really busy, my social life is pretty hectic, and I’m doing what I can to update Blossom. I’ve started another Twitter account so you can keep track of updates here if you want, or click the ‘Site Updates’ link just under the header on every page.
Next weekend it’s Mother’s Day here in the UK, it’s my friend’s birthday the weekend after, and then on the 26th I have my laser eye consultation appointment and it’s my sister’s birthday so there go all my weekends! As always it’s good to see people and do things though. I might be seeing Tabi tomorrow night as well so there goes the rest of my wages for this month!
This month I’ve decided to donate to Sport Relief, which promotes doing active things to raise money for Comic Relief, helping to alleviate poverty all over the world as well as in the UK. Sport Relief officially runs from 19th-21st March, but you can donate at any time. Activities include everything from running to diving to scuba cycling (?!), and supporting the fight against poverty whilst fighting against obesity at the same time sounds like a good plan to me!
The reason I’ve chosen this particular charity is because I wanted to support people in the UK this month (or at least give them a shot), and because my housemate’s fiancee, one of my uni friends, is currently working for Sport Relief in London and doing a great job in supporting it. Check out her official World of Difference blog to get a more personal insight. There are also various BBC involvements with both Sport Relief and Comic Relief, and whilst I’m against the ridiculous fees the presenters get paid (in that position I would offer to do it for free, I mean surely the publicity alone is worth something), it’s all about the promoting of events and ultimately raising money to help improve people’s lives. I personally, and I’m sure most people reading this, am lucky enough to be in the position where I barely even think about my basic needs. I don’t have to worry about where my next meal is coming from or have to stand by and watch my family struggle with day-to-day living. And that’s all it is, sheer luck of where you’re born and who you’re born to. And who can help that?
I realise that donating to a primarily UK charity isolates a lot of my blog readers, who come from all over the world, but giving to or volunteering at a national or local charity where you are can help too. We’re all ultimately working towards the same goal.
If you do live in the UK and you want to donate to Sport Relief or Comic Relief in general, you can donate via PayPal, your credit or debit card, or if you live in the UK you can go into Sainsbury’s and donate there. They have a scheme going where you can round up your bill e.g. if it comes to £29.31, you can round up to £30 and donate the rest to Sports Relief without even noticing the few pennies yourself.
And this is just a quick entry but I’ll be back very soon with a long and proper catch-up 
I haven’t blogged for a while because things have been pretty hectic. A few days ago I saw one of the cats obsessively licking his paw, and I noticed that he had a massive gash down the side of his leg, his fur had been completely pulled of it and it was bleeding 
We took him to the vets’ and he had anaesthetic and his leg shaved and stitched. Poor kitty. Since my housemate had to leave for a few days me and Joe have been looking after Halo, and now he won’t leave my side, bless him. He’s doing fine but has painkillers and antibiotics (don’t know what they put in them but Halo bites my hand off to get at them, so they’re clearly some form of kitty crack). We’ve been keeping the cats in the house because Halo can’t go out, and so I’ve been getting no sleep with them crashing around everywhere!
Everyone’s very restless, and whereas before the cats were like this:
They’re now like this:
Tense! Halo’s collar is actually pretty useless and doesn’t stop him scratching the stitches on his leg, which are now looking considerably looser. I’ve bandaged him, Rich and Joe have bandaged him…nothing stays on. Hopefully it will be okay though as they look fairly secure still.
So, what else is new? I finished the 30 day challenge on EA Workout, so now I’m going to start the 60 day challenge on EA More Workouts. That one tracks weightloss as well which is good.
I added more photos to my Flickr account but I’m feeling lonely, so if you have one feel free to add me 
The new style Photoshop tutorials are proving pretty popular. It took me forever, but they’ve been SEO’d and XHTML’d up to the eyeballs now. Just a couple left to rewrite, thank God.
Last night Rich came over and cooked dinner whilst I looked after Halo. Finally got a chance to chill out in front of the TV for a bit, and it was lovely being cooked for.
On Tuesday me and Joe had our Valentine’s Day, since unfortunately he’s at a funeral this weekend.
My other presents from him haven’t arrived yet, but I picked out some stuff from Love The Planet. I’ve been trying to find a paraben-free moisturiser for months and they sell them so that’s fab. I’m quite anti-Lush at the minute because they might be planet friendly and animal friendly but they aren’t people friendly with all the parabens, sodium laureth sulphate and other junk they put in their products and then claim they’re ‘natural’. Sigh.
This weekend I’m going home to visit my family. I’m so happy now that it’s beginning to get noticeably lighter in the evenings because this winter seems to have lasted forever and it’s been snowing a bit on and off. I’m also due some holiday at work so I’m thinking of having a bit of time off at the end of March, which will be a nice treat
