#97 Learn to Take Great Photos

I love photos. When I was a teenager I was always the one who took a camera on nights out and then a week later (when the film had been developed) we'd all have good giggle over the captured images. Of course, now everyone has a camera at the ready on a night on the town, provided you've taken your phone out....

With the advent of digital cameras came the dawn of many, many photos. Like hundreds. When someone wants to show you their holiday snaps now it's not a question of one film (24 or 36) or two, it's how many memory cards, and what size. It's a double edged sword. While it's nice that we're no longer constrained by film size and developing costs, and we can instantly see how good the shot is and take it again if needs be, we have created new issues. It can take weeks to see the memories of someone's holiday. When the husband and I came back from our Central American adventure we had literally 1000s of shots for people to trawl through. We knew it would take us hours to sort through them and pick out the best ones for printing and putting into albums, and a year later we still haven't got round to it. And yes, I know - printing? Old school huh?

However, digital cameras also make it really easy to take a good photo. As I mentioned, you can keep taking the shot until you get it right and they have handy settings to make sure the subject is in focus, reduce camera shake, automatic focus etc etc. I managed to take some really lovely shots when we were travelling without having the first idea about photography. So, for this thing to do I thought I'd draft in an expert and really learn something...

The husband's friend Duncan is a proper photographer (www.therollingimage.com). He takes photos using cameras that are bigger than me, almost. And has had lots of his shots published. So, I thought he might be the man for the job.

He kindly agreed to give me a lesson which I thought would involve lots of discussion about composition and arty stuff like that. Instead it was all about apertures and light levels and depth of field and using the crosshatch to get shots in focus, and things like that. I confess I felt a little thick as I tried to take it all in. He was patient though and explained everything thoroughly and then handed me one of his old school (yes, with film) slr cameras, and told me to use up the film. And that was it. I had a camera to use and photos to take. And these are the results:






I'm proud of all of these, but the one Dunc gave me a gold star for is this one:



There were other photos which haven't made the shortlist, for good reason, but overall I'm happy that I took in much of what Dunc taught me and put it to practice with pleasing effect. So that's a big fat tick and gray star for me!

# 87 Learn to Use Long Words (and Drop Them into Conversation)

I consider myself to have a reasonable vocabulary. I'm not one of those people who likes to throw unnecessarily long words into conversation to flummox people, but I do like to convey myself intelligently when the occasion warrants it.

I sometimes teach other people new words. I used to work with a lovely lady from Germany. I taught her the meaning of the word 'gumption'. I'm not even sure that many English speakers know what gumption is, but she was pleased when she heard a new colleague use it and she knew what they were talking about. I taught Mr Smith what 'obsequious' means today. I defined it as 'being sucky-uppy', which explained it adequately it seems. I taught my boss the word 'obstreperous', to describe my own behaviour it has to be said.

I hate it when people talk about someone being 'disinterested' when they mean 'uninterested'. Disinterested means being impartial, uninterested means being apathetic. It also annoys me when people say 'superfluous' instead of 'superlative', or simply, 'super'. Superfluous actually means unecessary, so if you use it with the intention of giving praise, you are, in fact, doing the opposite. Please, get it right.

I signed up for 'A Word A Day' email recently to help me with this thing to do, and so far most of the words have been ones I already use, which made me feel quite smug, supercilious even, and definitely worthy of a grey star.

#20 Stay Up All Night & #21 Sleep All Day

#20 - Stay Up All Night
The book suggests having a sleepover and inviting lots of friends round to help you stay awake. I used to love having sleepovers when I was a teenager but I don't remember ever staying awake the whole night.

You see, sleep is extremely important to me. I tend to be tucked up by 10.30pm these days and am truly murderous if I get less than 9 hours shuteye. I also need to start the day properly - e.g. with a cup of tea, gentle coaxing and someone else seeing to the alarm clock. So the idea of staying up all night is not appealing at all. There have been a couple of occasions recently where, due to factors outside my control, I have been wide eyed from dawn til dusk.

The first of these occasions was a particularly miserable night in hospital after major bowel surgery. Despite what I'd recently been through it wasn't pain that kept me awake that night but a combination of snoring by other patients, generally not being able to get comfortable due to the after effects of the op, the plastic mattress and pillow causing me to feel sweaty and grim and, probably, the cocktail of drugs I had consumed. I slept for precisely 15 minutes that night. I asked for sleeping pills the following night. They were good.

The second time I was denied my glorious zzzzzzz's was in Guatemala. Me and the husband visited this gorgeous country as part of a Central American tour and one of the top attractions is Tikal, the vast Mayan temple complex. We had been told that the sunrise tour is the best way to see the ruins so we decided to camp on site the night before. We had bought hammocks in Nicaragua and were keen to get some use out of them so slung them from the frameworks on the 'campsite' next to the site.



It gets dark quite early there and, being in the middle of nowhere, the electricity went off at 9pm, so we turned in quite early. Things started well and went downhill. The husband discovered he was slightly too long for his hammock. It was colder in the jungle than we had anticipated. And a lot scarier. We knew there were jaguars in and around Tikal. We didn't know if it was them that we could hear snuffling around beneath our, ever so slightly vulnerable, derrieres. We were paranoid about mosquitoes being on the wrong side of our mosquito nets. And so on. Every now and again one of us would hear a creature that was too close for comfort and we'd whisper 'Are you awake?' to the other. Invariably the answer would be a tremulous 'Yes...you?' 'Yes...did you hear that?' 'Yeah,...what was it?...' 'I don't know....I can't sleep...' 'No, me neither' 'What time is it?' 'Erm...about 1.20am...' 'Oh, is that all?...' It was a really long night. So I can safely say I have stayed up all night, but I didn't enjoy it and I won't be doing it again. No thanks.

#21 Sleep All Day

Now, this sounds more like it! I don't find sleeping difficult at all. And I've certainly spent many days more asleep than awake when I've been recovering from an operation. The book actually asks you to literally sleep all day by simulating night time and doing as many soporific things as you can. This sounds a bit much, and is another reminder that I might actually be too old and boring for many of these things. I'm not sure my husband, or my boss, would be much impressed if I failed to achieve anything in a day, except sleep. However, I sleep as much as I can and squeeze every last drop out of the night. I have been woken on the train by perfect strangers when my stop is approaching. I even fell asleep at my desk, with my eyes open, last week.

People underestimate the importance of sleep. Too little and you can, literally, go crazy. People who work night shifts for large parts of their life actually have a shorter life expectancy. And it never fails to amaze me how infrequently people seek medical advice when they are having trouble sleeping - it's important people! So, I have given full consideration to both being awake and being asleep and my conclusion is this: they both have their place, but, baby, I'm a sleeper!!!! You?

#39 Be a Genius

The book says 'Everyone has the potential to be a genius', which must include me!

The book includes 5 IQ test type questions and I'm pleased to say I answered them all correctly. However, as I've pointed out before, this is a kid's book, so I didn't think my success really indicated any kind of genius on my part. So I decided to get a 2nd opinion and contacted Mensa for a home test. Mensa are the high IQ society. The word Mensa means 'table' in Latin, I'm not really sure what that has to do with intelligence or anything else for that matter...maybe I'm not smart enough to understand?

Anyway, the home test came through and was a booklet of questions that covered language, maths and logic. I had a good go at it, all by myself I might add. The deal is, you pay them to mark your test and if you get a good result you are invited to take a monitored test. If you get the right result in that you can join Mensa. I'm not really bothered about belonging to an organisation that strikes me as vaguely smug and elitist, but as they are the experts in IQ so I sent the test off and got the results back this weekend.....

...cue drum roll....

My home test mark was - 155
Percentile score, top - 1%.

I think this means my score puts me in the top 1% of the population when it comes to intelligence! I'm not sure what the 155 means - perhaps an estimated IQ score?

Either way, I'm pretty impressed and certainly feel able to give myself blue/green coloured star for this one.

#67 Build the Ultimate Sandcastle and Have Fun in the Sun

This one would have been really easy when I was a kid, as I was brought up in St Ives, Cornwall, and our house practically overlooked the beach. Many a summers day was spent playing in the sand. These days however I live in Hampshire. And not in the coastal part. In the distinctly uncoastal suburban part of north Hampshire. Rubbish.

So, I had to wait for a weekend by the sea instead. Which I've done this weekend. I've come down to Weymouth with the husband and lots of chums for a celebration of the husband's (& his bessie mate's) birthday. So, we took a leisurely stroll down to beach and constructed a pretty mean sandcastle. Ed masterminded the architecture and I took direction....



The key to a good sandcastle, it seems, is to use damp sand and pack it down well.



And then to be gentle with the bucket removal so as not to damage the overall structure. One thing is for sure - sandcastles are fragile things. We had a few subsidence incidents and had to shore up the mound on more than one occasion.



I'm not sure it's necessarily the ultimate sandcastle, but I couldn't have made it even half as good without Ed's design insights and Emily's inspired additions so- kudos to you guys and a big fat tick for me!

#84 Lobby Your Local MP

I don't really know that much about politics. I always vote - even if I'm not sure I understand how it all works. The most confusing election I ever voted in was the Welsh Assembly elections where there was 2 or 3 ballot papers, numerous votes on each and countless candidates for parties I'd never even heard of. In the end I had to resort to voting for the names and logos I liked - it was as good a method as any...

So I consulted my sage old Pa for advice and he gave me a few pointers. I also researched my chosen topic on the interweb so that I would sound like I knew what I was blathering about, resulting in me sending the following letter to my MP, Conservative Gerald Howarth.

Dear Mr Howarth,

I am writing to you to establish your position on the Hunting Act 2004. I understand that David Cameron has promised a free vote if the Conservative party win the next General Election. I would like to know which way you would vote on this issue?

I am opposed to hunting with dogs as I believe it to be unnecessary and cruel. I consider the arguments put forward by pro-hunt supporters to be unfounded. Findings by the University of Bristol (2001) and The Veterinary Record (2000) show that hunting foxes with dogs does not significantly control fox numbers and furthermore that fox predation is not a significant cause of livestock or game mortality. I believe that in areas where foxes do present a risk to other wildlife, or the local environment, there are more effective methods of control.

The Burns Inquiry also accepted that hunting with dogs seriously compromises the welfare of deer and concluded that there is little, or no, need to control hare numbers and where they are hunted it is done for recreational purposes. I consider this practice to be immoral and unacceptable and would urge you to consider voting against a repeal of the ban.

The hunting ban has not always proved effective in halting the activity of hunting groups but I believe it is important to maintain the ban. Repealing the Act would send a message that hunting is acceptable and 75% of the British public do not agree with this. Please consider signing the EDM 79 which is opposed to any attempts to repeal the Hunting Act.

I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this and look forward to a response in due course.

Thank you very much.

Yours sincerely
Helen Farrell


I have yet to receive a response but I will be sure to update you when I do. I quite enjoyed the process of lobbying and would encourage others to do the same if there is an issue you feel strongly about. After all, our MPs work for us and are in Parliament on our behalf so let's put them to work!

Tick! Green star for Hellie!

#91 Send a Valentine Card

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, I know, Valentine's Day is just a big commercial exercise designed to make Tesco and Hallmark even richer, and if a few people fall in love or have their hearts broken in the process, well, so be it.

Except I don't actually think that. Many people also think Christmas is over-commercialised, and they're probably right. But you don't have to buy into it, if you don't want to. I love Christmas. I love buying presents and sending cards, and I don't think (although I could be wrong) but, I don't think I do those things because I've been brainwashed and am incapable of doing anything unless corporate giants have told me to. I think I do them because they are nice ways of letting people know you care about them. Yes, ok, you don't need Christmas or Valentine's Day to show people you care, but where's the harm?

Valentine's Day romantic celebrations started in the 15th century, and I'm pretty sure Hallmark weren't around then. Not much is really known about how or why it began but my money's on people just liking the idea of encouraging the spreading of a little love and happiness, and I'm with them.

Despite having been together for 11 years or more, me and the husband still exchange cards on Valentine's Day, so I can tick this one off the list too!

5 'things' I have decided not to do!

At the risk of sounding Old & Boring, I have decided not to do certain challenges laid out in the book....

#1 - Send a Message in a Bottle
The book suggests putting a written note in a bottle and then sending it on it's way out to sea, or a river. I really like the idea of sending a message and asking people to get in touch if they find it, but I'm not really cool with the idea of littering our waterways with unnecessary glass or plastic. I have thought, in vain, of an alternative way to achieve the same end, but as I'm yet to come up with one I am going to pass on this challenge.

#27 - Turn Back Time
The idea behind this one is to mischieviously wind all the clocks in the house (and workplace) back an hour to jigger up everyone's day. Sounds like a wheeze. Except, I'd get into lots of trouble. And not the sort of trouble you get into when you're a kid. I mean proper trouble. Imagine if I picked a day when my boss at work had an important funding meeting and missed it because I was playing silly buggers....or if the husband was an hour late for a cycle meet or race, god....that doesn't bear thinking about. No, I think I probably am too old and boring to be prepared to live with the consequences of this one.

#50 - Pretend to Be Ill Convincingly
I'm sure I actually did do this when I was a kid, plus I have really been ill convincingly - I mean legitimately ill, so will that do?! I'm just not happy about swindling a day off work for no good reason, am too darn honest!

#88 - Blame Someone Else
As above really - although I don't distinctly recall ever passing the buck, I'm sure I did. I remember not owning up when I broke my Mum's perfume bottle, thus spilling her perfume everywhere. That's kind of the same thing. As a grown-up I am, mostly, in the habit of accepting responsibility when I foul things up. And I don't think it's nice to blame others, except maybe in jest, when it's obvious it was me and it's not really a serious thing anyway.

#96 - Glue Coins to the Floor
I'd actually quite like to do this one, but I'm just not sure how to without irking someone big time. I asked the husband if I could do it outside the bike shop where he works, but apparently the owner has already banned the staff from doing it (which makes me wonder how many times they did it?!..). There would really be no point sticking money to the road by my office as I work in a very well-healed office complex (our office was donated to the charity by the lovely owner, John) and I'm sure no-one who works there would be seen dead picking money up off the floor. Besides, there never seems to be anyone around. Just lots of swanky cars....
When I lived in Cardiff as a student the mischevious boys next door used to enjoy dangling £5 notes on a fishing line out of the 1st floor window. Then just as a passer by would stop to grab it, they'd reel it in, much to our infinite merriment. If I could recreate this in some way I would - I will continue to ponder....

If anyone can think of a clever way I can actually do any of these things, without causing major ructions, please do leave a comment to let me know how! In the meantime I'm going to write them off as a bad lot and concentrate on some of the nicer ones!

#95 Make a Unique Milkshake

Since the advent of the truly awesome milkshake bars in places like Brighton and Bournemouth, where you can create your own milkshake from literally 100s of different ingredients, I think it's pretty hard to come up with anything unique. However, I thought about things that I like and that might work in a drink and devised this.....

Hellie's Peanut Butter and Bramble Jelly Milkshake!!!

I have loved peanut butter and my Mum's bramble jelly (made with apples and blackberries) on toast since I was a kid. Would it work in a glass though? And without the toast? And with milk instead? As I wasn't certain of success I bought some supermarket bramble jelly as I didn't want to risk wasting any of my precious Mummy Farrell supply.

So, I poured a glass of milk into a blender jug, added a desert spoon of peanut butter and slightly less bramble jelly and whizzed the lot together. And then tentatively tasted it....and it's yummy!!! Surprisingly so! And I can see it becoming a post-cycle ride pick-me-up too - carbs and sugar and liquid and tastiness all in one!



I'm sure it would work with different jams, I might even try it with honey (another toast classic) - let me know if you discover any other winning combinations!



Yessir - so lipsmackingly good I'm giving myself a blue star!