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!

Related posts:

1. The weekend
2. I love the holidays
3. Another day, another dollar

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

Related posts:

1. Haiti Earthquake
3. Manchester Rag Raid

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

Related posts:

1. Halloween, Mice and Money
2. Resolution update
3. Reason for not blogging #5945839483

1. No cereal other than muesli. Even supposedly healthy things like Special K and All Bran are packed full of sugar which will be converted into fat. Instead I have porridge (microwavable and filling), or fresh fruit with yoghurt. Yep, they have sugar, but not so much of the added kind.

2. Drinking lots of water. My body has become very in tune with feeling thirsty, which is something I’m not used to. Now I’ll get a dry throat and clearly think ‘I need some water’ rather than just ignoring it or thinking I’m hungry. I’m also drinking fruit juice, a mixture of my own blended fruits or shop-bought stuff not from concentrate. I’ll only have about one glass of juice a day though.

3. When I want chocolate or something warming, I have a hot chocolate or tomato soup. The soup is quite sweet, and I can barely ever finish a small mug of hot chocolate anyway so it’s not too bad.

4. Going by the sugar and salt content of food as well as fat, saturated fat and calories. Most of the packaged food I eat tends to be low-calorie anyway, but I’ve been watching out for the sugar and salt content of things more and it’s actually quite shocking.

5. Crisps (chips) are limited to about once a week instead of every day.

6. Lots more fresh veg, particularly salads and things like carrot sticks I can snack on at work.

7. Dividing plates up into ¼ protein, ¼ complex carbs and ½ veg/salad. I don’t tend to eat enough protein because I generally dislike it, so this helps ensure my meals are well-balanced overall.

8. Blended drinks – I love milkshakes, but instead I’m blending things like berries, banana and melon with some milk and a touch of milkshake powder. This also helps use up overripe fruit.

9. Being more veggie – this kind of links to my general dislike of protein, but I’ve been eating more veggie foods like meat-free sausages, Quorn balls etc., which are less fatty than meat and visually easier for me to cook.

10. Other food substitutes – roast potatoes instead of chips, bakes instead of cereal bars, homemade smoothies and milkshakes or fruit instead of dessert.

11. Waiting 20 minutes after eating – I’ve never really done this before but I’ve found it makes a big difference as to how much I actually eat, particularly as I eat bits and pieces when I’m feeling lazy.

12. The ‘No’s – I know a lot of people say not to cut things out completely because you’ll miss them, but these are the things I’ve avoiding: sweets, chocolate (except a kid’s sized bar every so often), red meat, fizzy drinks other than Apple Tiser, fried things, heavily processed non-veggie products, diet products with lots of bad ingredients and E numbers, foods with MSG, foods high in calories, fat, sugar and salt, white bread and pasta, coffee, tea, energy drinks.

13. Cooked veg is steamed in the microwave – quicker and healthier than boiling, roasting or frying.

14. Eating organic as much as possible – it just tastes nicer to me. And I’d prefer to give my body as little work as possible when it comes to toxins etc.

So what AM I eating? Well, here’s an example menu…

Breakfast: Fresh strawberries and melon

Mid-morning snack: Oatmeal and raisin bake

Lunch: Tuna sandwich with salad/peppers, fruit yoghurt, carrot sticks, small portion of soft cheese with crispy potato sticks

Mid-afternoon snack: Banana

Dinner: Fish with roast potatoes and at least three kinds of veg (usually a combination of the following: baby corn, peas, cabbage, green beans, sprouts, sugar snap peas, mange tout or broccoli).

I’m quite lucky in that I love almost every kind of veg. I’m not a massive fan of sweet potato, though I do like it cooked certain ways. The only vegetable I refuse to eat is ‘proper’ sweetcorn because I think it’s disgusting. My diet is still pretty heavy on the sugar, and I’m not sure what I else I can do about that really as I’ve always had a very sweet tooth. I have stopped eating desserts though and I have been generally careful whilst eating out as to what I’m choosing. I’ve also got fussier with picking what I eat rather than generally clearing my plate. For example, I ordered a chicken sandwich in a restaurant at the weekend and it came with orange plastic cheese and a burger bun, rather than the ciabatta I was expecting!! Needless to say I scraped the cheese and top part of the bun off and left them. I could see the grease on it, it was disgusting. Ick.

What are the healthy aspects of your diet? Do you find it hard to eat healthily or do you naturally like things that are good for you?

Related posts:

1. New year
2. Bang bang