Catching up on other peoples blogs

Why is it that half the blogs I used to read are now only open to invited readers?

On an unrelated note, I think Twitter has ruined my ability to blog...

Twitter

I've succumbed to the addictiveness of Twitter. If you'd like to see that I'm alive at the times when I forget to post on here then give me a quick email at lola@wikipole.org and I'll send you my username (which in fairness is pretty obvious...)

I'm not abandoning this place though! Don't worry, I just need to find the time and inspiration for a decent post!

I know, I know...

Yeah, I'm crap at posting nowadays. Apologies.

I got myself into a big project and that along with the Uni and work stuff conspired against my lack of time.

So what is this project, well if you feel curious you can check it out at www.wikipole.org. Yep, that's my baby, and it aims to bring together pole dancers everywhere. Nowhere else is there such a comprehensive pole moves catalogue, and it was doing that which sucked up all of my time, and it's still not what I'd consider finished.

Anyway, I hope my next post will be sooner, and I'll hopefully tell you all what I got up to on a week long conference in the lovely city of Liverpool.

Nearly There

Thanks all for the welcome back messages. I will hopefully be able to get in a longer post soon, my last two exams are imminent.

But for now, enjoy this pic, which kinda shows how short my hair is now (isn't it terrible when the only recent photos I seem to have are of me upside down?)

Exam Period has begun...

Anyone got any cramming tips?

Short Hair = Unsexy?

Firstly let me say, I apologise for my absence (if anyone is still out there reading this), I've been a lovely little ball of stress recently and nothing much has inspired me to write, though I have still been looking in on other peoples' blogs (even if I haven't been commenting).

Today I found this article and I must say I think this is pretty much the most outdated codswallop I've read in a long time.

Why is Lola so offended by this? Well by sheer coincidence, about 6 weeks ago, I had my hair lopped off and I love it.

Does it mean I'm not sexy? I think not, I keep looking in mirrors and loving my reflection staring back at me. Does it mean I'm uninterested in sex? Quite the opposite actually, several months back I finally got over the ex, spent some time on my own and now feel that I'd be more open to the idea of a relationship if the right guy came along.

Personally I think short hair = confidence. I'm not saying I have bags of the stuff, but I do feel more confident than me several months ago. The short hair is here to stay.

Hey

Apologies for the absence, I am alive, it's just been a very busy summer.

Will post again soon-ish with an update for anyone who's still out there.

Thanks

Spreadshirt.com

Hey all,

In gaps in my revision yesterday I came up with this.

Just like to know your opinion on it, I've only currently got one design pic as I'd done the silhouette from one of my pics earlier and it does take me a while to do. So after exams, or when they calm down a bit I shall do more.




Spreadshirt Market Place Design

Pole Dance 1

Where I am

Publius left a comment asking where I was, so I just thought I'd reply as a quick post.

I am alive. I'm severely stressing over exams and all the Uni work I have to do, so chances are that there will not be posts off me for the next few weeks.

Sorry guys :-(

Pole Kitten

Right, this is going to be a bit of a begging post, so please bear with me as I explain.

This Monday at 3.00 a great group of girlies from one of the pole dancing forums I belong to entered a big glass box in the middle of Bristol city centre to perform on BBC's Upstaged. They won that day, and the next, and the next. Yesterday they were in the box on their forth day (the max allowed) and they won yet again, so they have a pass through to the final.

Here's where the begging comes in, they will have some fairly stiff competition in the final as some of the other acts have massive online support so I'd just like to try and raise Polekitten's profile a little. Please, please go to the Upstaged website and register. Then go to the Polekitten page and click to become a fan.

I'll know more about when they are back in the box for the final in a little while. Once I know I'll let you all know. There's live streaming on the Upstaged website and voting buttons just below, voting can be done once every three minutes.

Please pass this on/post about it in your own blog, as the girls are doing an amazing job of promoting pole dancing and showing that it's fun, sexy, good exercise and can be hard work. The more people who find out about them and vote for them, the more chance they will have of winning.

If you want to see the girls in action, click on "Thursdays story" on the Upstaged homepage, or if you are reading this after friday then you can see highlights from their time in the box here click on episode 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Thanks guys.

Sick

Am I the only one who feels physically sick when I see people celebrating murders?


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23338044-663,00.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMxPUzEBWDU

Innocent people have been murdered. Their lives have been cut short because of some lowlife gobshite. How can ANYONE by happy because of that?

Six Quirks

Ahem. I was tagged aaaaaaaages ago by the lovely Kinda Blue, and I kept putting it off and putting it off. So I decided to get my rear end in gear and get it done. So here we are six quirks all about me.

1) I can be obscenely paranoid, not in a "people are stalking me" kind of way but more so in a "nobody likes me" way. I'm going through one of these spells at the moment at Uni.

2) I randomly skip/jump/hop/make weird noises for the hell of it. I blame my sister.

3) My elbows bend backwards, this is great for freaking people out.

4) I religiously check my email at least twice a day, more if I can.

5) Every exam I have sat since GCSE's I have taken in a small Piggin' figure for good luck (Piggin' Exams to be exact)

6) When I'm feeling blue I buy cake, not so good for the old waistline.

Now, I'd like to tag Karen, MB, The Thinker, Mosher and anyone else who fancies it. If there is actually anyone still out there that is...

Absolutely disgusted

Today I was horrified to hear this story on the radio. The mothers of the murderers of Gary Newlove are defending them. One says that her son "isn't as bad as he was made out to be". I'm sorry but her son attacked a man, kicking him in the head repeatedly in front of the mans young daughter, how the hell is that not bad?! This is typical of today's society, people make excuses, look out for themselves, don't give a shit about anyone else, and don't seem to know how to bloody well raise children. And when the shit hits the fan, instead of being righteously shamed and keeping their gobs shut they come out with crap like this, calling these murderers "decent" and saying that the murder made them "angry and bitter". I just can't get my head around how there are people with this mindset out there. You can say mother's love all you want, but if I had a child that did something like that, they'd be on their own. I feel sorry for Gary Newlove's family, having to grieve for him while these idiots spout out this shit.

Apologies for the rant but this story really got me pissed off

Reasons why I'm annoyed by my part time job

I've been a bad little blogger recently *slaps wrist* so much so that many of you won't even realise that I do have a part-time job. I started in late October, and haven't blogged about it yet as there wasn't much to blog about. But yesterday, after an 11 hour shift with me getting increasingly wound up I decided that had to change. So here it goes.

I have to work part time to fund my going out and getting pissed University education. This realisation caused me to do much applying for jobs but there was one in particular that I wanted, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't for the money, because it was. I had an interview and got offered the job of a store assistant at a well known discount supermarket which shall remain nameless. All was well at first, but over time little things have begun to niggle at me, about the job, about the customers, about everything. So in the name of blowing off steam, I give you the top five of things that annoy me at work.

1) Children. Now you may say come on Lola, that's not exactly fair. They're little and can't help what they do. All I know is that this job is encouraging me more and more to have my tubes tied. Try sitting on a till in a busy as hell store with a few parents in the queue with a screaming kid in tow. I can forgive babies for this moreso although the crying noise does still set my teeth on edge. It's the "old enough to know better" kids having tantrums because they can't have what they want that really winds me up. I'm going to generalise here but most parents I see with a kid in that situation are only feeding this kids tantrum (the kid is invariably called something like Charmayne or Reece). In a lot of cases as well, both parents are present, so why doesn't one take the kids outside while the other sorts out the paying and packing of the food? It's not rocket science and it will stop the nice cashier from suddenly snapping one day and going on a homicidal rampage. Seriously though, the last two saturdays I've worked 11 hour shifts, why should I have to spend the majority of it listening to crying kids?

2) People who are unobservant/ignorant. We have specials coming in on certain days of the week. Please do not ask us what day they are due in if it is in large bold font at the top of that page! Also we get people coming in looking for certain things, and have no idea when they came in, while this in itself is not a sin, getting snotty about it when the staff haven't a clue about what you mean, is. The only person who has been extremely rude to me was one of these people. She came in looking for a portable television with inbuilt dvd player. We had had small 7' portable dvd players in recently, so I assumed that was what she meant. When I showed her one she looked at me as if I was retarded.
"No," she repeated, "A portable television with inbuild dvd player."
I replied that we hadn't had anything of the sort in and asked where it had said that we had them, as I thought they may be due in, in the recent future. She told me that a friend of hers had gotten one from a store elsewhere. I again said that to my knowledge we hadn't had them in (at this point I had worked there for about a month and a half, and I knew we hadn't had anything in since then.
She then said, very snottily, "You don't sound sure, can you find me someone who is."
I was fuming, but another of my colleagues told her exactly the same thing and she disappeared in a huff. I'm sorry but rudeness is not acceptable. In general the staff know a lot more than the customer about what has been in and what hasn't, so be polite for gods sake. I later found out that a different discount supermarket had them instead. Moral of the story, if you're going to be rude to the staff then make sure you have the right shop first, idiots.

3) People who put things on the till but don't tell me that they are returning them and want a refund until after I've scanned it. I then have to void that transaction (with manager approval) then do a refund (with manager approval). Save us a lot of trouble by just telling me it's a refund before I scan it.

4) People who bag stuff at the till. Now I don't mind this when we're not busy, but when there's 4 cashiers on and we're still struggling to manage please don't bag up your shopping as I'm putting it through, whack it in the trolley and bag it in the designated bagging area, like everyone else!

5) The fact that we are worked extremely hard. Now I don't mind hard work, but when I'm running about, sweating, and picking up heavy things and it's only 7 am that's when I'm likely to get tetchy. I had a shift that started at 6 am on Xmas Eve. I wasn't awake, I probably wasn't safe to drive to work as one point I had to look down to see if I had my uniform on (I couldn't remember getting dressed). Then when I get into work I have the store manager following me around telling me to speed up, grrrrr. Then when the store opens, there is no chance of getting things done in peace, people constantly ask you things like, "where are the eggs?" when they are standing in front of them, or you are getting called to hop on the tills. And yet the day still goes slowly!

Ok, rant over until another time...

Firstly I'd just like to draw your attention to my tongue in cheek pole fund. The jist of it is that I want a pole at home, and I can't afford at pole at home due to being over a grand into my overdraft. Prevent my purchase from adversely affecting my ability to buy textbooks. Seriously though if you have nothing better to spend your money on and fancy a couple of pics posted later of my practicing on said pole then you know what to do ;-)

Thank you to everyone who donated for the world record attempt. We are still to hear back regarding that but I believe that the money raised was phenominal.

Lola turned 23 today at 6:18 pm. That is all.

Help!

I'm meant to be finishing off the rest of my mid-winter cleaning and starting my exam revision, instead I'm sitting here surfing through other people's blogs. Please someone give me a good (and well-deserved) kick up the arse!

Happy New Year

So it's now 2008. How long is it going to take for me to stop writing 2007 every time I pop the date down? I hope your journey into 2008 was a good one, whether it was quiet or not.

Last year I did a highlights of my year. For some reason this year doesn't seem as memorable, so instead I'll look towards the future. I've never been one for making New Years Resolutions but this year I've though long and hard about what I'm going to do. Here they are;

1) Become a kick-ass poledancer, or at least try to get a lot more time on the pole (if I get a pole for my birthday then this will work out quite well...)

2) Every time I get a new Olive/Good Food magazine then I must cook at least one thing from it. I'm a bugger for treating it like food porn, just drooling over the recipes and never doing anything about it.

3) Focus on my Uni work, in 2007 I've let far too many things affect it, so now I need to do things for me and perhaps be a little blinkered in terms of my goals for this course.

And three seems like the magic number so I shall stop there.

So what are your aims for 2008?

Belated Wishes to all

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

A late post

Sorry for my recent absence, but I wanted this to be my next post and I wanted to write it at a time when I could concentrate on the words and my memories without bursting into tears.

You see two weeks ago we had to have my beloved dog put to sleep. His name was Toto and he was one of the most good-natured dogs you'd ever come across. He was a lovely sandy colour with a white stripe down his nose, I had originally chosen him as a puppy due to this white stripe as it made him resemble my Grandad's dog Benji.

We'd first got him when I had just turned seven years old, I had begged, whined and moaned for a dog, and for my birthday I was allowed to pick out a puppy from the RSPCA. Toto and his siblings had been abandoned while they were very young. I remember that we took Toto home in an empty ice cream tub, that's how small he was. From that day on he settled into our family. And he grew, and grew.

The RSPCA had told my parents he wouldn't grow much because he had small paws, they were wrong. We ended up with a medium sized dog with tons of energy. I remember his tail constantly wagging, him running up and down our back garden and him chasing his tail. I remember being taken for a walk by him rather than him taking me and I remember thinking he'd be around forever.

But he'd aged an awful lot in the past two years and his back legs were stiffening up. It was time to let him go before he started seriously suffering.

I miss him. He was a brilliant dog.

Just a little tid-bit to show I'm still alive!

Click here if you'd like to see what I got up to at the weekend.

On a related note please see the little bit of info at the top right hand side of my page, please give whatever you can, because a) it's a good cause and b) have you ever tried doing a fast pole dancing routine for 10 mins straight? It's tiring!

Google search hilarity

As much as I dislike being referred to as "it" this last search nearly made me wee, I was laughing so hard.

Apologies for the short crappy posts, the stress monster has currently taken over Lola.

Pole Dance

I still can't believe that's actually me, I'm so pleased with myself.

On the flip side of the coin

Right now someone is hurting because of me, and it doesn't feel good. My ex has discovered the old situation of "you don't know what you've got until it's gone".

A couple of evenings ago we spoke like we'd never spoken before (communication has always been a problem where we are concerned). I have to admit I miss him, and miss spending time with him. He says he loves me, still wants to be with me and can't say sorry enough to me, but I'm not sure that when the going gets tough that he'd put in the work to make the relationship successful. Also I've had time away to distance myself from "me and him", I'm not entirely ready to close the door on us, but I'm on my way.

I need to give him an answer, but I'm scared about making the wrong decision. If I open myself back up for a relationship, I could be letting myself in for more hurt. But if I close the door completely then I may regret it, and to make the break successfully we'd have to spend a long time away from each other, and I would miss him a hell of a lot.

I guess it's time for me to do some soul-searching...

And now for the musicals

In my last post I promised the songs from musicals that make me cry. I apologise to the majority of the people who commented on my last post. Depressing songs actually make me happier as I can have a cry and get things out of my system, I know it's not the same for everyone.

I'll Cover You Reprise from Rent



Why does my favourite character always have to get killed off? The first time I saw Rent live, I sobbed though most of the second act. This song in particular set me off, perhaps it was the way Collins helplessly clutched the coat Angel bought him.

A Little Fall of Rain from Les Miserables



Is there anything sadder than dying in your unrequited lovers arms? It's the line "I'll sleep in your embrace at last" that gets me.

Goodbye Until Tomorrow from The Last Five Years



For those who don't know, The Last Five Years documents a five year long relationship. The female partner shows this from the end to the beginning, and the male partner shows this from the beginning to the end with them meeting at their wedding in the middle. This song is the finale where both of the partners are saying goodbye, the woman at the end of their very first date and the man at the end of their relationship.

My Brother Lived in San Francisco from Angels Punks and Raging Queens



This is a song about having a brother who died of AIDS.

They liked it so much more than anywhere they'd been and we thought they would be there, when we made it back again

And the Rain Keeps Falling Down from Angels Punks and Raging Queens



About losing someone.

In Whatever Time We Have from Children of Eden



Two lovers facing the prospect of being separated by The Great Flood as one is the son of Noah and the other is a daughter of the race of Cain.

Johnny Can't Decide from Tick Tick Boom



The video to this isn't particularly relevant but it's one of the only videos on youtube to include the part of the song that makes me cry. The song is beautiful anyway, but the reason why I cry is the man himself, the writer of this musicalJonathan Larson. He died from an aortic aneurism before his famous musical Rent's opening night. The part that makes me cry is the spoken part of the song when Johnny says "I want to write music, I want to sit down right now at my piano and write a song that people will listen to and remember and do the same thing each morning for the rest of my life."

Without You from Rent



I was never a fan of this song until I saw it live. It affects so many others than just those who are singing.

In His Eyes from Jekyll and Hyde



The best song in the show.

The songs we love to be sad to

I'm one of these people who loves to listen to sad songs, tearjerkers that they are. So as this morning I am in one of these moods I thought I'd share with you some of the songs I love, find beautiful and yes, sometimes cry to.

Winter - Tori Amos



This is a song I've only heard within the last few days and I love it. Some say it is about a girl losing her father, others say it is about the relationship between a girl and her father and how that relationship changes as the girl grows up. Either way I love listening to it. It is a very moving song.

I Will Love You - Fisher



This is one my sister had first heard, and ever since she played it, I have loved it too. It's such a heartfelt song that I think most people will be able to relate to at some level.

But I need to know will you stay for all time? Forever and a day. Then I'll give my heart 'til the end of all time, forever and a day

Nearer My God to Thee



I think most people can understand why I can cry at this one, just watch the video. A lot of people badmouth the film Titanic but this scene is utterly heartbreaking. People from all backgrounds and walks of life preparing to die, and fighting to live. This film shows the best and worst of human nature, so next time you feel like slagging the film off, watch it again but this time ignore the love story and watch whats going on in the background.

You Raise Me Up



For this song my ultimate version was in fact the one sung by the Conway Sisters in X-Factor a few years back. Purely because I think women in a group can make really goosebumpy harmonies that work so well with this song.

Forget Me Not - Lucie Silvas



Please excuse the video to this song, but it is the main reason why it is a tearjerker for me. It is an Angel music video that some talented soul has done by editing together various clip of the show. This one focuses on the episode Hole in the World, and the death of one of my favourite characters. If you're an Angel fan you'll definitely see why it makes me cry.

Goodbye My Lover - James Blunt



A similar one again except this video is a Dr Who one rather than an Angel one. Yes I'm a geek, you've only just noticed?

Everytime - Britney Spears



I can't help but feel I'm destroying any possible street cred I may have had... It's another Angel video in case you didn't notice.

Shine Your Light - Robbie Robertson



Last Angel video I promise. It's the end of the song that gets me in this one, very meaningful. It also made me cry when it was shown in the film Ladder 49.

Until the Last Moment - Yanni



A gorgeous instrumental piece. I'm still not quite certain why it has made me cry on occasion.

Full of Grace - Sarah McLauchlan



A beautiful song.

I could have had more but I've decided to leave it at ten. I'm always on the look out for more tearjerker songs so please feel free to add your own in the comments.

At some point within the next few months I'll be posting my favourite tearjerkers from the musicals. So stay tuned.

Sorry All

I know I haven't been a laugh a minute recently. So to avoid boring you and for a touch of light-heartedness I've decided to complete this meme, which the delightful Domestic Minx filled in earlier.

Five Things

What are five things you were doing ten years ago?

1) Going to High School
2) Started coaching gymnastics (young I know)
3) Dancing in pantomimes
4) Started to learn how to ski
5) Watched cartoons, nothing ever changes

What are five things you were doing this time last year?

1) In the middle of my contract in my first real job
2) Preparing a Halloween costume
3) Being annoyed that my student mates could go out until all hours while I had to be up at six every weekday to get to work
4) Blogging for about three months
5) Trying to make sense of my on and off relationship with my ex

What are five snacks that you enjoy?

1) Pizza
2) Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream
3) Nachos
4) Pringles and dip
5) A moderately healthy one now, mozzarella, parma ham and melon salad

What are five songs you know the lyrics to?

1) Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
2) Wannabe - Spice Girls
3) Everytime we touch - Cascada
4) Waterloo - ABBA
5) Mary's Prayer - Danny Wilson

What five things would you do if you were a millionaire?

1) Buy my own house.
2) Fork over money to my parents so they can buy a holiday home abroad for them to retire to, and some for my sister and good friends too.
3) Buy some things I've wanted for a while like an X-pole.
4) Donate some money to key charities.
5) Travel everywhere I want to go

What are your five bad habits?

1) Cracking my joints, in particular my fingers, back and toes
2) Biting the skin around my nails
3) Being like a dog with a bone at times/being incredibly stubborn
4) Procrastination
5) Being slightly neurotic and paranoid

What five things do you like to do?

1) Spend time with mates and family, there's nothing like a good old natter
2) Blog obviously
3) Travel
4) Listen and dance to music (with or without a pole)
5) Eat out when I can afford it

What are five things you will never wear again?

1) My hair one length and level with my jaw, it looked naff
2) My hair pillar box red, granted that was a misunderstanding between me and the hairdresser but still I look back on the photos and cringe
3) Matching outfits with my sister, the bane of my childhood, hehe
4) Whatever is fashionable if I don't like it, there's no point in following the trends if the trends look naff on you
5) A nail piercing... granted I was about 13

What are your five favorite toys?

1) My phone
2) My laptop.
3) My mp4 player.
4) My camera.
5) My molecular modelling kit (geek!)

What are five things you hate to do?

1) Physics, gawd I feel thick
2) Get my work done right away.
3) Certain aspects of housework, like ironing.
4) Lectures with the current bunch of rude people in our year.
5) Feel anything worse than ok.

I know some people don't like doing memes, so I'll just leave this one up for anyone who has a few minutes to waste and fancies doing it.

Where my beauty lies

Where Does Your Beauty Lie? ..::Original Pictures Are Back! Detailed Results::..

B:

Your Beauty lies in Plain Sight. Plain, simple and the girl next door. People tend overlook you as you are the "normal girl", but you're actually very beautiful. And you have plenty about you to set you apart, but more that lets you blend. People love the stability you have because as others may come and go, you will always be there and you may always be the same. You like simple things and that's what people like about you. You most likely enjoy things most consider normal, like movies, shopping, that sort of thing and are very friendly and probably have many friends. You are sweet and kind and that shows on you, but you're also strong and not very naive. You're a rather well-rounded individual. Even though some people pass you off as just another girl, shrug it off because they don't know what they're missing.

Some Things That Represent You:

Element:Earth, Light Animal: Cat Color: Pinks, Blues, Browns Song:Girl Next Door by Pilot Expression: Simple Smile

Gemstone:Alexandrite Mythological Creature: Fox Demon, Hobbit Planet: Jupiter Hair Color: Light Brown Eye Color:Brown

Quote:"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."

Take this quiz!








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Why does everything have to be so shite? Argh!

Getting better and getting brainier

First of all I'd like to thank you all for your support through this difficult time. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and I'm going to keep reaching for it. I'm feeling a lot better and I was actually singing along to songs in my car the other day (Don't Stop Me Now - Queen). So for now I shall take a deep breath and talk about something else, which you will all be glad to hear.

I had the first truly interesting lecture of my course yesterday. It was technically organic chemistry and enantiomers, but at the end of the session the lecturer gave us some real drug examples and the effect of each of the enantiomers. The pharmacologist in me was jumping for joy, and as it turned out so were the other pharmacologists seated not too far from me. We reminisced about the last degree and various CYP 450 enzymes. How geeky are we?