For a long time at school I heard about “getting high” and I thought it was just hype, then, one day when I was feeling down and vulnerable because I had just miserably failed a maths mock exam, someone said “want to get high?” and I said, “why not?” and they said, “precisely!” From that day on, though I won’t speak of what happened behind the bike sheds, I realized the crucial importance of getting high to the younger generation. But the thing is, I don’t know if you are aware of this, but there are LOADS of ways to get high without being illegal. And it costs nothing, too! Here are a few which can’t fail to work! 1) Inhale five packets of salt and vinegar flavor McCoy’s crisps. This is evil, yet fun! Pretty soon you’ll be buzzing and wishing that well…you hadn’t…but that’s what it’s all about! 2) Walk with a friend towards a rather enormous puddle and distract them when a large bus comes towards you…then use them as a human shield! Brilliant satisfaction and a completely legal high! 3) Get chased by a gang of vicious snarling dogs. Hard to do this one in a controlled situation, so at least make sure you wear body armour. I advise a box around the nether regions. 4) Taunt a swan. Don’t taunt a nice swan though, taunt one that’s a bit vicious and has a reputation for being unfairly so towards humans, and don’t ever taunt a swan to the point where it’s so angry it will try to kill you. Soon it’ll be up on its hind legs with its wings a flapping, and you’ll get a massive rush as you escape death! 5) Ask a friend to jump out and surprise you one day when you’re not expecting it, or get a laser hair removal treatment on your netheregions when you are not expecting it. For best results, be sure to tell your friend to do this on a day when you have awoken from a terrifying nightmare! 

I was recently feeling like nothing much was changing, that everything in life would stay the same forever. Just the normal thoughts of a bloke who is feeling pensive and deep in thought and wanting to be left alone to figure out his life. I know, aren’t I a bag of fun? Then, as if to read all this just from looking at my sorry face, an old man stopped and sat next to me. I was in town sitting near a hot-dog stand, wishing I could buy a hot-dog (but I couldn’t because I am supposed to be a vegetarian…) Sitting amongst hundreds of people was not a good idea when you wanted to be alone and deep in thought but too late for that.

The old man said, “so what’s the problem my friend?”

I said, “do I know you?”

He smiled and raised his eyebrows. “You do now.”

I told him that I needed to make a change…do something outlandish. He suggested base jumping but warned me of the 1 in 6 death rate (he had seen a programme on TV about it). I said I was looking for something with a much lower death rate. He said “go skinny dipping, oh, that’s a good one!”

I looked at him and tried to not imagine him naked and wrinkled and looking like one gigantic old prune as thoughts of much needed Cosmetic surgery ran through my mind.

It did not work.

“Have you ever?” he said.

I said ,“once by accident when my trunks came off. It was not good.”

He said, “seriously my friend, it does wonders for the soul,” and he then went on to tell me about the skinny dipping convention he went to every year, and asked if I fancied joining him and several hundred other naked old people. What an offer!

I said, “I think I’ll give it a miss but have a lovely time Alfred”. But still, the conversation was inspiring, and I don’t think I am likely to forget that old man any time soon.

Amazing how something so innocent as a few words can spark serious debate. I recently went to a writers group. It was my first time there and I was a bit nervous, mainly because the people didn’t look like the kind of people I would usually hang around with. By that I mean nobody was drinking anything alcoholic (I noticed the Pantone Mug set on the table - must’ve been tea), and everyone was sitting with very straight backs and taking it in turns to speak.

I sat down and introduced myself, wondering what kind of writers group it was. I had been in a hurry when I replied to the ad and had really no idea. Catherine, who was sort of the leader of the straight-backs, said, “so Adam, what manuscript are you presently working on?” I smiled.“Oh, you know Cath, one with a lot of swearing and stuff,” I said, “just the usual.” A terrific silence fell upon our group. I sat for a long time imagining that a portal had opened at the back of the room and slowly it would come towards me, and I would be able to jump in to it.

The portal is something that happens when I realize I have made a huge mistake. “You are joking, aren’t you?” said Catherine. I now noticed their badges: Christian Writers Group, since 2005. “And it’s not Cath, it’s Catherine.”“Oh, naturally!” I said, and Gareth, who was the one with the tank top and perfect horizontal Dumb and Dumber style fringe said, “well you’ll fit right in, that was risqué but hilarious!” And it was hilarious, as soon as I walked outside. When I had stopped sweating. See I have nothing against anyone who is religious, and I am sure that there are many very religious people who rarely sit upright, but come on now, where does it say in the Bible that you should never swear on paper?

When you have a home office it is important to keep it organized. It may be difficult to do so without the proper techniques. If you actually attempt to keep it orderly and tidy eventually it will become like second nature. The first thing you need to do is to get a workspace that is suitable to your needs. If you are not working from home very often then you do not need a huge workspace. You just need enough room for a computer, a notepad, a filing system or some self storage, and some pens.

If you are working from your home or running a business from your home you will need to have a larger workspace with more organization. You will need something to organize all of your files. A filing cabinet is great for organization because you can get hanging folders to put in it. You can organize all of your files in alphabetical order that way they are easy to find when you need them. Another great way to help get you organized is to use in and out bins. These bins can be used to hold mail or messages that may come in or mail or messages that need to be mailed out.

These can help to remove the clutter from your desk. Another great thing to have to keep you organized is a paper shredder. There are lots of documents that you do not need to keep for long periods of time but you do not just want to throw in the trash. With a shredder you can shred all of the not so important paperwork and not have to worry about it getting in the wrong hands. If you plan your office before you even set it up you will be able to keep it from ever getting cluttered and disorganized. If it does get a little messy, clean it up before it gets out of control.

This is not something that I just thought of now. Rather, it’s something that was inside my head for many years but just putting it down tonight. It is just a random musing on a topic that has a lot of us confused at some stage or the other in our life.

What is love? Good old fashioned question, but as one grows up in life, one realizes how deep and sane it is. It is above the whole matrix, above the layers of parallel universe. It’s not affected by these mundane and everyday factors. When you have someone next to you, a shoulder to put your head onto, a hand to hold on to, it grows above the world around you.

The thing is to find someone you can associate such a feeling with, a face that can make you believe in love every morning when you see it. The matrix, the world around, however does have its influences. Sometimes I wonder while being in school and college, how things were so lucid and clear. One had just about the perfect definition of love which was bound to come our way. Time changes everything and those fairytale notions are replaced with reality biting away into your dreams.

Those who find love are lucky. It gives one a feeling of completion, a boost to one’s self confidence like nothing else, gives one a reason to look good every day. It’s like adding a new variable to a somewhat passive equation, which changes with time and makes it active. It makes things like weddings, parties, dinners, and italy ski holidays much easier and more tolerable. You see the reactions happening. You can feel it.

But the question that bothers me is- can that ‘one’ be just anyone? If love is so universal a phenomenon, why can’t we fall in love with anyone? To be frank, some of us believe in such a theory, but the world around us doesn’t allow us to sustain this. Yes, there are exceptions and anomalies, which give rise to hope, and make the world a better place for the hopeless romantics.

Plays and movies are both interesting visual entertainment mediums as they allow you to become immersed into a different world. Sometimes this world is just like our own, as the stories told reveal the triumphs and tribulations of a character in a modern setting. Other times plays or movies transport us into completely different settings, whether they are another place in time or a fantasy realm we could never experience in real life.

Yet, when it comes to culture, is (more…)

Making money with growth stock investment is not the most exciting thing in the world. The research phase is extremely boring, as well as the overall investing process. However, there is a new concept that is making investing exciting to everyone, even if you originally had no interest in it and you don’t actually work for the fsa. Also, you do not even have to be that experienced with it to have fun with it. And the reason why (more…)

Since my move from England to America, the one thing I have been most disappointed by is the sport. I am a huge football fan, and I mean European football, which is a high pace, technical game with plenty going on at all times. It brings in huge crowds, is fantastic entertainment and the level of competition is very high.

Obviously, despite David Beckham’s move to Los Angeles, football, or soccer as it is called in the USA, does not (more…)

During the infamous video nasty era of the 1970s, when the door to film-making hell was flung wide open and directors the world over became possessed with the need to create the nastiest, most awful, politically-incorrect film abominations that they could muster from their grubby little low-budget minds, one film stood out as particularly savage: rape-revenge thriller I Spit On Your Grave. (Known by some under the alternative title of Day Of The Woman.)

What riled most people who witnessed (more…)