Two-Facebookers and Drama Queens

I am not a fan of drama queens.  On my recent trip to Bali, I bought the TV series 'Privileged' and if anyone hasn't watched it, the show is about a Yale graduate named Megan Smith who goes to work as a private tutor for a sickeningly wealthy Palm Beach family.  Megan has major family issues (father who is a drunk, mother who abandoned her as a child) and the show is basically just the 'woe is me' whinings of this girl who pulls everyone she comes into contact with into her family dramas and has not a thought for what's happening in the lives of the people around her.  Obviously, the show is fictitious and the scenarios acted out are scripted by very well-paid writers but the attitude of the main character rings so true to a few people I know that I can't help raising my hackles in distaste every time she goes off on a rampage about her latest dilemma.

Now, I loooove facebook.  It's almost unhealthy how much time I devote to commenting on all 120 pictures of a friend's wedding or sitting with my finger on the refresh button on my home page in case a new comment has been made on my profile (quite sad, I know).  But one thing I do not love is the amount of attention-seeking status updates that pop into my news feed on a regular basis.  Facebook statuses such as 'Daisy May can't believe it' or 'Martha Mutton doesn't know what to do'.  What can't you believe, Daisy May? Do about what, Martha Mutton? And why do you post these dramatic tantalising teasers that bring my misbehaved, nosy-parker self racing to the surface!

What is even worse about these drama queens is that rarely do they ever clarify what they were refering to, even when directly asked. 

'What do you mean, Kelly Katwell, that you want to crawl up in a ball and die?'

*no response*

'What can't you take anymore, Donna Day?'

*crickets chirping in the background*

              By the way, I don't actually have facebook friends named Kelly Katwell and Donna Day.    
              I'm not too sure why all the made-up names I came up with either have the same first letter
              or sound like they belong to a Southern hill-billy.  Maybe I've just been hearing too much
             about True Blood at work :-p

I'm not aiming this at anyone in particular or meaning to cause offense to anyone.  It's just really, really annoying when people post comments like these that are obviously going to make people wonder what's going on but then get upset when friends ask what's wrong. 

Another minor grievance that I have with this world of electronic communication we find ourselves in (now that I'm firmly sat on my high horse) is how easily misinterpretable information can be.  My sense of humour is questionable at the best of times and without facial expression and tone of voice, I somehow manage to land myself in a great, big pot of bother without having the faintest clue why. 

In the same way that it's easy to cause offense through electronic communication, it's also just as easy to take offense.  Faceless communication allows cowards to make their grievances known without the reprecussions of a verbal confrontation.  A face-to-face discussion demands a solution, a resolution to a problem.  Whether it's a heated debate, an agreement to recognise each other's differences or a tearful apology, it generally brings some sort of conclusion to the matter.  Social networks allow problems to go unresolved, simply by applying the 'Block friend' option.  Not very brave and definitely not cool.

And I'd just like to end this mini rant of mine by saying one small thing: I am not a mind reader.  If I have offended you or said something to hurt you but am still smiling and being nice to you, then most likely I am unaware that you are upset.  If you are upset, please tell me so that I can apologise.  But please don't be nice to my face and then call me every name under the sun behind my back.  Be a grown-up and give me the chance to tell my side of the story.  It might not be as bad as you think :-)

An Adventurous Train Ride on Travel Tuesday

I am so pleased to welcome my very first contributor to Travel Tuesdays!Canadian blogger The Adventurer has very generously agreed to sprinkle my blog with some of her writing charm and guest post for me about her travels in Europe.  Thanks so much for the post, Erin! If anyone else would like to guest post on Travel Tuesdays for The Misadventures of Miss Manship, please email me at mizzmanship@hotmail.com.

Lots of love!
xxx

Five Mother Hens & A Foreign Baby Chick

My first time getting on a train in Italy I was stuffed in a carriage for six, filled beyond capacity with angry Italian men who yelled...a lot. Oh, and that one shy little Italian girl. So in actuality we were OVER stuffed. Beyond belief. This story however...has no problems with seating. Or sweaty, angry Italian men.

 I was on my way to Genoa and happened to be in a train carriage made up entirely of women. Where I was by FAR the youngest.  Due to my last Italian train adventure...I was relieved to see this and quietly took my seat, smiling at the woman across from me.  As I sat there quietly, the women around me transformed until they were COMPLETELY like mother hens. So sweet and caring and clucking over me...especially once they figured out that I didn't speak Italian!

Now, you have to understand that none of them really SPOKE English, but they'd been trying to share some of the MOST delicious homemade treats with me...and trying to talk with me...and they were so cute that I think that I automatically fell a little bit in love with them. In the 'I had a really bad week and need someone to take care of me' kind of way.

Now, as we were sitting there and I was trying to be polite and not eat ALL of their WAY too delicious food..they started clucking amongst themselves about something. Being a foreigner, I was (mostly) oblivious...because well, the lack of understanding the Italian language thing sort of lets you tune out.

But then, I realized that they were directing their rapid Italian at ME...and I got a little concerned. Especially when they started yelling and pointing and acting a little too much like the Italian men I had encountered on the train the last time I was in Italy. I was worried - what had I done? Had I eaten too much? Too little? Something not intended for me? Oh jeeze - what had I got myself into. Why oh WHY didn't I listen mother about not taking food from strangers. Hadn't I got it through my thick skull that mothers know everything and are ALWAYS RIGHT?!

But then they used a word I could understand! SUCCESS! They were talking about my BILLETO! Peeeeeeeerfect! I hadn't upset them all! There were no problems of too much or too little. All was good...no worries here! - Except...wait. ...What about my ticket now?! And suddenly I got MORE concerned...the train was about to leave and they were having a very heated discussion about my ticket. Enter me starting to lose my cool a little as I became terrified that there was something wrong with my ticket.

So I was pretty confused...and on the brink of freaking out when the one who speaks the MOST English (aka...none --> very little) out of the group tried to translate...And no word of a lie...she just started yelling: "OBLITERATE! OBLITERATE!"   And the others...following her lead were like "SI! SI! OBLITERATE! OBLITERATE!" So of course...I'm all like WHAT THE?!?!? And I'm SO confused and have NO idea what they're talking about...except now I'm pretty sure that all Italians are NUTS and there is no way they're going to convince me to OBLITERATE my ticket. No matter HOW good their little balls of pastry heaven are.

The youngest of the Hens pulls out her ticket, points and goes “Obliterate...ticketo!" (because of COURSE, you must add an O or an A to the end of EVERY word...duh.) I take a deep breath. And breathe a sigh of relief.  Then I calmly pull out my ticket...and show my dear little hens that YES, I have indeed validated my ticket.  Happy now that all was taken care of - they continued on their merry way, clucking amongst themselves in their beautiful Italian all the while stuffing me full of the most delicious pastries I've ever encountered.

Perfect-O! 

Happy Hogmanay (or New Years, for the non-Scots...)

A very happy new year to all and welcome to the start of 2010!  I hope that everyone's NYE was filled with much madness, magic and mayhem.  It was after all the end of the noughties and should have been celebrated as such. Maybe not millenium style but still enough sparkle to put the Dorothy shoes to shame! I know that I'm ridiculously late in my new-year well-wishings but I think that there should be a small grace period to give people the chance to gather their writing wits after the fun and festivities of the Christmas season.  Besides, one of my resolutions is to start doing things in my own time and in light of this resolution, I think it's perfectly acceptable for me to be writing my new year post on the seventh of January! ;-)

I'm not normally a resolutions kinda person. I never do them and I rarely remember what I resolved to do anyways. I think that 'Learn French' has been on my New Year Resolutions list for about five years now and still the only French I know is 'Au Revoir' and 'Viola!'. I am however starting a blog resolution though. I've decided to start a travel feature on my blog, seeing as this originally started off being a travel blog. 'Travel Tuesdays' will start next week and am looking for some guest bloggers! I want stories about all your misadventures and all the mischief that you got up to along the way!

As this is a New Years post, it seems fitting that the first misadventurous travel tale should be about New Years Eve.  Last year, I celebrated Hogmanay in Edinburgh.  I spent Christmas week in Manchester with family and had to take a train back to Edinburgh on the day of New Years Eve as that was the only available train ride between Christmas and New Years.  I think that every single person in Britain decided to descend on Edinburgh that day because despite having paid for a seat, I had to stand in the hall by the stinking toilets for most of the three and a half hour journey.  Then when we finally arrived at Waverley train station after major delays, all the taxis had to be redirected away from the train station due to the street party on Princes street and so I had to walk all the way to the nearest taxi rank, carrying a bulging suitcase, two duffel bags and a backpack.

The plan was to have a relaxing afternoon before the madness of the night began.  Some holiday banter with my flatmate, unpack my stuff and take my time getting ready.  Maybe have a little nap.  Instead it was a sandwich on the run, throw on the cleanest dress in my wardrobe and leg it down to the local pub before my friends took a taxi to the street party we were going to.  Banging through the door of the pub in a great, big tangle of handbag straps and ankle boot laces, I practically fell into the arms of none other than The Rat.

Most girls are familiar with the behaviour of The Rat.  One guy who manages to make you feel like the most beautiful, attractive girl in the room by lavishing you with honeyed words and rapt attention.  He then manages to make you feel like a complete fool when you come back from the bathroom to find he's left without a word or doesn't call you when he says he will the next day. My Rat was a guy I met the first night I arrived in Edinburgh and is not someone I would wish to see the new year in with.  Unfortunately, he still had my number and this brief meeting at the pub sparked off an evening of one-sided phone calls and text messages.

On top of this, I managed to leave my coat at home and arrived at the street festival in a very thin, off-the-shoulder dress and stiletto ankle boots.  I think that the temperature by that time was in the negative degrees and my poor Southern-Hemisphere adapted body has never felt cold like it before.  I was freezing to death, almost crippled by my new stiletto boots and somehow managed to get separated from my group of friends within the first half hour.

By the time midnight struck, I was jammed in the middle of a mosh-pit, ignoring The Rat's constant phone calls and desperately dodging a New Years kiss from a Kiwi rugby player with cauliflower ears while masses of sweaty emo teenagers bounced on my toes.  I couldn't even be bothered to sing Auld blimin' Lang Syne and ended the evening crying my eyes out in my bathtub and pouring boiling hot water over my legs because my toes had turned blue and I couldn't feel them anymore. Happy Hogmanay everyone! I hear Paulo Nutini was playing at the street party but I honestly couldn't tell you. 

What are your most miserable NYE memories?

Lots of love!
xxx

There's a world outside your window

Christmas is my favourite time of year.  I grew up in a family that celebrated the season with gusto, belting out joyful carols from the beginning of December and leaving stockings hanging by fireplaces for as long as possible in January.  Christmas for me means noisy family get-togethers, far too many mince pies and giggling under duvets late on Christmas eve. 

With so much happiness during the festive season, it's easy to forget that not everyone is having such a happy holiday.  One person who is having a particularly trying Yuletide is Brandy from 20 something bloggers.  She didn't ask me to post this, or even send me this. I saw it on one of her reader's blogs sarah-bration and re-posted it here.  Brandy, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your 'hot awesome dude'.  I pray that a little Christmas miracle comes your way.

xxx
--

My name is Brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

The Year of Wonders

In light of the coming new year and the end of the noughties (but not my naughties...mwahaha!), here is a bit of a review of the past year.  Full of madness and mayhem, mischief and magic, this past year has been one of my most memorable yet and instead of doing a boring, dot-point recap of events, here instead is my year in facebook statuses...most definitely need to spend less time on the fbook! :-)

* Happy Hogmanay, Edinburgh!
* overwhelmed by the aftermath of a rip-roaring, didgeridooing Aussie day flat party!
* just had a peppermint crisp muffin and a rooibos latte at the Zulu lounge....yebo goggo!!!
* fighting to resist the charms of warm, Parisian nights, twinkling Eiffel Tower lights and the soft calling of the river Seine...
* "Some people think I'm bonkers. But I just think I'm free!"
* did some meeean gangsta rapping last night!
* had Jonathan Rhys Meyer appear in a dream last night - is there no end to his talents??
* can't stop dreaming about Henry VIII....but why am I always having my head chopped off???
* leaving Edinburgh on a wet, rainy summers day :-(
* makes all the Highland coos go 'moooooooo!'
* lost in Austen....please nobody try to find me! :-)
* reading 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'......hmm
* just heard someone refer to me as 'Rach, the sassy one'!! Is that a compliment???
* likes to dress to match her sister. Yay cowboy shirts and fluffy ugg booties! :-)
* has a renewed interest in Dubliners :-)
* running around like a clown on purpose
* did some fine Irish jigging at Paddy Hannahs last night...cos that's what peep-toe heels are made for! :-)
* wants to do something really memorable for graduation....like pulling out a magic wand after receiving my degree and shouting 'Expecto Patronus!!'
* wants to hold your hand in Strawberry Fields forever
* In quite a Shakespearean mood tonight...'The Tempest' to be precise
* ululating for the Bokkes!! Woo-hoo, got a feeling that tonights gonna be a good night :-)
* finally got my wish to dress up as a pirate. Many children were scared and lots of timbers were shivered! Yo-ho-ho, it's a pirate's life for me!
* trying to put together a beach volleyball team :-) Any takers??
* just bought the cutest pair of leopard-print swimming shorts for Bali.....despite what you may think...not tacky at all!! Hehe! :-)
* so much for the Bali diet...that home-made mango ice-cream was just CRYING to be eaten!! *eat me! eat me......*
* has a cracking headache from my caffeine detox....proof enough for me that coffee and chocolate ARE good for you!! :-)
* is so happy to have my boetie home from Malaysia...but not too impressed about the lack of presants, mister!!! :-)
* has a job interview on Friday...eek!!
* going to watch 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'. Yay, I love weird stuff! :-D
* needs a lock for her sock drawer after catching Rich with a pair of mine on his big feet trying to sneak out without me seeing. Oi!!
* writing the next Christmas Carol....move over, Dickens!! :-D
* I adore pepperoni passion kisses....why, they are my favourite kind, Miss Foxy Kurowski :-D
* wondering at the bittersweetness of having so many friends all over the world that, no matter where I am, I always miss someone...
* was just suggested 'Wonder Woman' by facebook as 'people you may know' based on common fields...sounds about right :-D
* 'For Sale: Baby Shoes: Never Used'. Bravo, Hemingway, master of the 6-word story 
* so, so pleased that my baby sis got baptised at Burns Beach yesterday.....not so pleased that on that same beach an hour later, a swimmers warning was issued due to a tiger shark feeding frenzy on a baby humpback whale :-s
* I really like the word 'lush'. I think that shall be included in my next piece of writing :-)
* leaving on a jetplane to Bali in six sleeps :-)
* back in the land of English-speaking tv, drinkable tap water and beachside livin'......hello, Perth! :-)
* only wants world peace for christmas....but some Irregular Choice heels would be very nice too, Santa ♥
* has had 'Endless Love' stuck in my head for a solid week...thanks a lot, Glee!!
* 'my first love...you're every breath that I take'...........over and over and over.....gah!
* building my own house today....my gingerbread house, that is :-) * had a customer at work who felt the need to explain to me who Nelson Mandela is.
* was asked yesterday if I knew if Roald Dahl would be bringing out a new book in time for Christmas *sigh*
*would like a non-alcoholic candy cane please :-)
* Since when is La Roux an 'electro goddess'?? I always thought she looked more like the white witch of Narnia myself...
* My Christmas blog! :-) Merry christmas week, everyone! http://rachmanship.blogspot.com/2009/12/dear-santa.html
*Guess they give Elvis Presleys as christmas presants in Texas. That's what it's got on my snazzy Christmas card anyways! Thanks, Amy! ♥
*Wants words with Santa about this set of drums he brought for Bex.....so long, silent nights!

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

I have been exceptionally good this year.  There may have been one or two unavoidable mishaps, particularly in the Edinburgh part of the year.  Granted, I probably shouldn't have thrown my shoe at Jackson when he called me awful names at work.  And I probably shouldn't have hit Evil Bob over the head with my handbag for teasing me about my red hair *I did receive payback for that one, by the way so I don't think that it should count, Santa.  I broke my drivers license in the process and had to carry my passport around with me for six months until I returned home to Perth*.  All in all though, I have been very, very good.  Here is a little list of things that would make my christmas:

1.  A plane ticket to somewhere exotic.  Anywhere will do really.  Somewhere tropical, like Fiji or the Maldives.  Or a European winter wonderland, maybe Switzerland or Russia.  I can't bear to be cooped up in one place for too long so pretty please Santa! With sugar and whipped cream on top!

2. A 'Wicked' dayplanner.  2008 and 2009 were a flurry of new experiences for me, from moving to Scotland, camping in Alpine climates and learning to didgeridoo (not very well, I might add).  I intend to make 2010 even better.  Plus, I am a social butterfly and with all of the parties, dates and events I have planned for the new year, I absolutely must have a day planner! Besides, I'm obsessed with stripey socks and who wears them better than the Wicked Witch? ;-)

3. A Nigella Lawson cookbook.  A domestic goddess, I am not.  Even after a year of living on my own, the best meal that I can come up with if I absolutely must cook is sausage and mash.  I despise cooking and I'm definitely not very good at it so if there is one person in the world who can inspire me to broaden my culinary horizons, it is Miss Lawson.  But be warned: I may begin using adjectives for my food like luscious, succulent and 'scrummy yummy'.

4.  Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  If you could possible arrange for him to be underneath my tree on Christmas morning or even just get him to deliver my presants, I would be very, very much obliged.  It's not that I don't love you, Santa.  I'm just a fool for an Irish accent ;-)

5. At the risk of sounding like a Miss Universe candidate, I really would like world peace for Christmas, Santa.  I realise that you probably can't manage this in one Christmas Eve but even if you were able to relieve just one person's suffering this Christmas, that would be very nice.  I feel mighty selfish sometimes enjoying all the merriments of the season when there are people in the world who are suffering and alone at Christmas. 
Lots of love and gingerbread kisses,
Rach xxx

P.S. If you happen to receive a letter from a Miss J. Kurowski from Philadelpia, I promise that there were no signs saying I couldn't climb that tree!

Reading is good for your brain

Ok, so that last post was really blergh and I am sooo tempted to delete.  But I'm not going to!

I am doing the NaNoWriMo thing this year!  For anyone who doesn't know what that is, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month.  The idea is to start and finish a novel in exactly one month.  Yikes!! 50, 000 words in one month! This is going to put my procrastinating to the test!! :-) I've thought through some ideas and I'm writing on this idea that I had when I was studying but never had the time *too lazy* to do anything with.  I'm not gonna say too much because I am EXTREMELY particular about people reading or knowing too much about what I'm writing until it's polished and finished.  Borderline pedantic, really.  All I'll say is that the title of it will be 'The Wind Chasers'. 

I have also just finished two books for my 50 Book Challenge and am half-way through another so that brings me to a total of three and a half books (one being Twilight, so I'm not really sure if that counts).  Book #2 was 'Remarkable Creatures' by one of my favourite writers, Tracy Chevalier.  The story is about the life of Mary Anning, the famous British fossil hunter.  Seeing as this is the woman who wrote 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', I was expecting greatness.  I was disappointed.  The book was bland, lifeless and really 'unremarkable'.  I have been waiting months for this book to come out and have been checking her website regularly to see if there were any updates.  While discussing the book on her website, she comments that her one challenge will be to 'make fossils sexy'.  Well, I hate to say this Ms Chevalier but it just wasn't achieved.  Two stars for this and only because it's obvious that there was an immense amount of research here.

Book #3 was 'A Voice in the Wind' by Francine Rivers.  I cheated a little bit on this one as I've read it before but I love it so much that I wanted it to be in my book challenge anyways! The book is part of a trilogy called 'The Mark of the Lion' series and it's about the persecution of the First-Century christians.  The story focuses on the life of a Jewish slave girl whose family are killed in the destruction of Rome in A.D. 70 (I think!).  It's absolutely brilliant and there are so many tidbits of information that I never knew about the era that are just so interesting! This is actually the book that got me interested in historical fiction and after reading it five times, I still never get sick of it. 

I'm so sorry that I have been so slack with updating this blog lately.  I don't even have the excuse of being too busy or anything like that as I've had nothing but time on my hands for a while now! I do, however, keep my dailybooth quite current so if anyone would like to check that out from time to time, the addy is:

http://dailybooth.com/rachmanship

Hope everyone is having a fantastic day! If anyone has any book recommendations for me for my 50 Book Challenge, please leave me a comment!

Toodles!
xxx