An ey to zed of Sarah Louise! (A)

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	A
Date:	26/04/03 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You get to 'listen' to me ramble on about myself!

Disadvantages: You get to 'listen' to me ramble on about myself....!

~ A is for Animals ~

Animals are my favourite things on this planet (and other planets come to think of it!). They’re just great. You can’t beat them. They don’t judge you, they don’t answer back with sarcastic comments, they never interrupt mid-conversation, they never (or rarely) object to you giving them a hug and quite frankly, they’re the cutest things to ever exist!

I simply couldn’t live without animals. I can’t bare the thought of living without animals I’ve had nightmares about living in the afterlife with no animals. If you follow Christianity you’d be led to believe animals don’t have souls. To me this is a terrible thought. Imagine living (ok, ok so technically you’d be dead….) but imagine existing with NO animals. Even non-animal lovers would have to admit life would be bland. You’d never hear the birds sing in the morning, never see butterflies fluttering around, never look into a field to see some rabbits hopping around. Nothing. Zippo. How bland. I was highly relieved when Colin Fry (the medium who has his own 6ixth Sense programme on Sky) told me animals do indeed have souls. I genuinely was relieved to hear this news. I don’t mind dieing now! (Although I’m not in any hurry….!)


~ B is for Butter ~

You know when you’re younger and you hold a buttercup under your chin to see if you like butter or not? Well I’m proof. I proved the theory wrong. Butter is horrid stuff! Its vile! I used to have margarine on sandwiches and things, now though I’ve gone off that too so I stick to dry bread, toast, crackers, in fact anything that is meant to have butter or margarine on I have dry!


~ C is for Christmas ~

Christmas, for children in particular, is one of the best times of the year. Of course its mainly all about the presents but it was never entirely focused on presents for me. I was al
ways given great presents, I can’t remember any Christmas when I didn’t receive something really special (or ‘cool’ as I’d have referred to it then!) Its not that I was spoilt or anything, I was just never deprived.

Its not all to do with the presents though is it? Of course its generally accepted that Christmas signifies Christ’s birth. It was never this aspect that I found fascinating. It was Father Christmas that did it for me. I mean how cool. A man than can travel right around the world and deliver pressies to all the children in the world in one night by travelling around with his flying reindeers. I always left out a mince pie, glass of sherry and a carrot for Rudolph too. It was so exciting to find they’d gone in the morning.


~ D is for Dangermouse ~

Wasn’t he cool!? I’ve recently had my interest re-installed in Dangermouse after meeting a guy who looks like Penfold (no, seriously, he does!) He reminded me of how good the show was!. It was a brilliant cartoon. They should show it again and make a new series. Although when they do make new series’ they’re never as good as the originals so they should just show the repeats instead!


~ E is for Exams ~

Exams have always played quite an important role in my life. School today isn’t like it used to be 30, 40 years ago. It is pretty much entirely focused on exams, exams and more exams. If you don’t pass with flying colours you are reassured but at the same time you’re made to feel put down at least a little bit. Some teachers pile on too much pressure. It is not unheard of pupils running out of exams in fits of tears right through to students committing suicide. Of course this happened years ago too but it happens a lot more in this day and age. I’ve seen quite a few pupils run out crying in the middle of exams. I’ve also seen quite a few who pass out on their way
to their exam desk and I’ve also seen a few have panic attacks prior to an exam. All of this was for GCSEs. Yes, they’re important but are they really THAT important. I must say, I guess I’ve been lucky. My primary school before we moved to Wales was extremely strict and academic in its nature. We were bombarded with tests and exams all the time. This stood me in good stead for high school when many of my fellow pupils struggled to keep up with the work.

I always get stressed about exams, especially for a few of my GCSEs. I was lucky again though because I had confidence in myself to get good grades in the majority of my exams. The only exams I stressed about were the one’s I weren’t too confident about (i.e. maths!) Stress makes it so much harder though. You don’t get enough sleep for a start and then when you do start the exam you’re hands are shaking. You can’t concentrate properly because you’re mind is a whirl of facts and figures. All in all exams place too much stress on students. I’m not saying they should be scrapped, they shouldn’t. But I do feel there should be fewer exams per year.


~ F is for Flying ~

I’ve never actually flown (hardly surprising really considering I’ve not been blessed with wings!). No, but seriously. I’ve never been in a plane. I’ve always wanted to go in a plane (and preferably take off and land in another country!) My mum isn’t keen on the thought of going abroad though so we never ventured past this country (although we made it to Jersey on a ferry once so I nearly touched foreign shores!)

One day I’m going to fly though. I want to visit so many different countries (going on Safari in Africa is well up on the top of my list, as is swimming with dolphins in the Great Barrier Reef).


~ G is for Ghosts ~

As many of you will know from reading the many paranormal book reviews
I’ve written and possibly from looking on my website, I’m deeply into the paranormal.

I’m particularly interested in ghosts. I think I saw my first ghost when I was about 10. I was staying at a friends house for a week. One particular night we decided to have a midnight feast (like you do at that age!). We crept downstairs, at the bottom of the stairs there was a cabinet with a mirror on top. In the mirror I could see the reflection of a young girl (about 7 or 8 years I’d put her at). I couldn’t see her sat on top of the cabinet though, I could just see the reflection. I wasn’t scared at all, it wasn’t a foreboding experience at all. I thought (quite rationally) there could perhaps be some sort of etched in marking on the mirror. In the morning I checked, the mirror was perfectly flat. It was too intricate a detail to have simply been caused by the bit of light filtering in from outside.

I guess I’ll never know for sure but since then I’ve been fascinated. Hence I set up a paranormal research society which is currently going from strength to strength.


~ H is for Horses ~

I love ‘em. I know I already did animals as part of the letter A but I thought I’d specialise a bit now. My favourite domestic animal is the horse. Of course they’re big and unpredictable and yes they do hurt you on occasion (whether that be intentional or not!) but they are lovely creatures. You’ve not lived until you’ve galloped across a field on horse back, the sun shining, the wind blowing in your hair. The buzz you get is quite something.


~ I is for Internet ~

I admit it. I’m an internet junkie! I never used to be. It was only when we were no longer paying for the internet per minute that I became hooked. After all, we (ok, so my dad!) was paying per month so we might as well make the most of it! :o)
And now, more precisely, I’m a
ddicted to ciao, dooyoo, other money-making websites and occult type websites!


~ J is for Jake, Joshua, Joanne, Jessica ~

Nope, I can’t say I know anyone with any of the above names. So, why did I choose these for my J category? Well you see I like names beginning with a J. If I ever had kids I’m sure they’d have names beginning with J’s. Just one problem though. I don’t want kids and I don’t like naming pets after human names so if anyone wants to call their kids one of the above names and have me as the god parent for thinking up the name that’d be great! :o)


~ K is for Kittens ~

Ok, ok. This is the last animal, honest! As some of you may recall. I had to have my cat put down in November. It was a terrible time for all involved as it came as such a shock (he was only 10 years old and seemed healthy enough, within a week he’d been put down).

I never thought I’d get over it at the time. The pain and emptiness I felt at the time, I thought, would stay with me for life. Of course time is a great healer, and, 4 months on I now feel ready to get another kitten. We’ve been going to the RSPCA centre practically every week for a while now. As yet there’s not been any kittens up for adoption though so I guess its just a case of waiting now. I’ll never replace Sooty and would never want to but I do really want a new kitten in the family now.


~ L is for Lakes ~

I love ‘em. I’m a country type gal myself. I couldn’t hack living in a large town or city. I’ve always loved the city. I love any aspect of the country but I particularly love lakes. I love mountains too but my M letter is already going to be taken so I’ll just have to stick to lakes for the time being! :o)

Lakes, to me, just spell tranquillity. Even when they’re busy with tourists (and water sport enthusiasts) they look tranqu
il. My current favourite lake is Llyn Crafnant (Llyn means lake in Welsh). Llyn Crafnant is found abover Trefriw in the Conwy Valley. Its gorgeous there. There’s a lovely derelict barn just in a field to the side of it too. I want to buy it, do it up and live there! If only I could find the person who owned it, persuade him to sell it and then get planning permission and then win the lottery to afford it all!


~ M is for Martin ~

Who’s he?? Right well he’s my best online friend! I’ve ‘known’ him for errrrrrr, let me think now. I first met him nearly 4 years ago in a chat room. Since then we’ve talked on MSN messenger nearly every night.

Of course its sad talking to people on the internet that you’ve never actually met in person before. Using chat rooms is even sadder really (I’ve grown past that point, I now think they’re c*ap but when I was younger they were great!)

I’ve ‘known’ Martin for so long though I don’t think its sad talking to him on the net. It’s passed the point of being sad now in my opinion! :o)

I’ve ‘known’ him for so long he was an obvious choice for my M letter!

And I recently met him in 'real life' for the first time!


~ N is for Nearly ~

As I had exams for the letter E I thought I’d slag off the grading systems for N. I’ve never had an N grade in any of my exams but I can imagine how annoying it must be.

Getting an N means you nearly passed the exam. This, to me, just rubs it in. Ok so its not bad enough that you failed the exam, the exam board have to highlight how close you were to passing by telling you in big bold letters NEARLY. They may as well just write a load of exclamation marks at the end of it too just to rub it in even further.

I know how annoying it is to get very close to the next grade up. For example.
When I got my A-level grades last summer I was one mark (yes, that’s just one mark!) off a grade C for physics. Out of the 60 marks required for a grade C I gained 59. Meaning I got a D but I was only a fraction off a grade C. To rub this in further my teacher informed me that in reality this one mark is actually less than one mark on the exam paper due to the way they grade exams (UMS scales and all that confusing stuff) so in reality if I’d just written one extra equation down or something to gain just 0.5 of a mark more I’d have a grade C. I’m re-sitting one unit this summer. Hopefully I’ll manage to get just one mark extra to gain the C grade.


~ O is for Occult ~

The Occult gets some stick in this day and age. There’s those on the scientific side of the fence who think those interested in it are just plain weird (NB. there are a few exceptions to this rule, after all, parapsychologists are on my side of the fence!).
Then there’s the religious people who are on the complete other side of the fence. They aren’t as sceptical, they just think we’re all mad for getting interested in it claiming it to be the devils work and all the rest of it. (NB. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, everyone is entitled to their own views).

The problem seems to arise that us occultists have no side of the fence to sit on. We’re generally not welcome with the scientists and we’re certainly not welcome with the religious people. So we have this rather uncomfortable seat on top of the rather spiky fence. (Taking it literally of course!)

The way I see it, everyone is entitled to their own views. Sure, we may seem like a load of loons to those who don’t believe in the occult but then aren’t we entitled to be loons?? Isn’t that a basic human right!? <clutching at straws now!>

I’ve been interested in it for years and probably always wi
ll be. Nothing is going to change that.


~ P is for Psychic ~

For many years now I’ve been trying to become more psychic. I believe everyone has the ability. We only use a fraction of our brain. That’s science fact. So, what does the other proportion do? It must serve a purpose. It is this logic that leads me to believe we can all master the psychic arts. As children we all have the ability but by the time our memories start to form the majority of us have lost these skills. A few lucky one’s who say they’ve always had it (of which they have) have simply kept the ability and have hence remembered always having it. The rest of us, unlucky ones, have lost out ability. Parents and school teach us to be logical, analytical and use just the part of the brain for these purposes. Its no wonder the majority of us lose the ability.

I’m trying to develop mine again though, I’m sure it’s working a bit. I wouldn’t claim to be a medium, far from it. However I am more psychically aware now and have had some strange experiences so….

One day I hope to be a lot more psychic than I currently am. Its such a slow process though. There aren’t any “How to be psychic in a week” type books (or there may be but you’d never be psychic in a week, sadly!)


~ Q is for Queen ~

Why did I choose the Queen? To be honest, the only reason I choose the Queen for my Q letter is because the only other word I could think of beginning with a q was that of queue and I really couldn’t think of anything interesting to write about them!


~ R is for Rat-race ~

This is something I intend on avoiding for as much of my life as possible. As you’ll know if you read the letter L I’m a country gal myself. Couldn’t cope with large towns and cities on a day to day basis. I intend on avoiding them like the plague most of the time and st
icking to at the most a small town. Ideally I’d live in the middle of nowhere but until I’ve passed my driving test I’m going to have to stick to places with public transport!


~ S is for Science ~

From reading so far you’d probably think I’m not really into logical things like science. You’d be wrong there though. I’ve always been fascinated by science (its always been my favourite subject at school). Choosing to do A-levels in physics, chemistry and biology last year wasn’t a hard decision for me to make at all. I really liked the subject content, particularly that of physics. I’ve got a deeper interest in astrophysics and quantum physics and would love to study these subjects further (hence I’m currently doing A-level maths (along with environmental science and geography so I can get away with not having to pay for my exams as I’m classed as full time!))


~ T is for Television ~

Don’t you just love it? Just think about what your life would be like with no TV. Some people may not be telly addicts but I bet everyone reading this opinion watches the TV at least twice a week. If the TV was banned from every household just imagine what your life would be like without it. If you’re anything like me your life would be bleak!

I don’t watch that much TV myself (generally about 1hr / day). I’m not really a soap addict either, I watch Eastenders, Neighbours and Hollyoaks. The latter of which I’m not really hooked too, I don’t mind missing some episodes. I tend to watch more factual programmes on Sky than other things. But still, without the TV life would be boring!

Life would be so different without the TV too. Everyone talks about TV programmes. This became evident to me when I was doing my GCSEs. One of my friends didn’t have a TV (not just her own TV, no one in her family had a TV either). People would b
e talking about a particular episode of a soap the day after when she couldn’t pitch in because she’d NEVER seen that soap before. She’s NEVER owned a TV and had only ever seen TV programmes at other peoples’ houses. She felt left out when she couldn’t join in on the conversations people were having. It stood her (and all her brothers and sisters) in good stead though. They all got straight A*s in their GCSEs in straight A’s in their A-levels so maybe that’s where I went wrong!?


~ U is for Underwater ~

And, why did I chose this? Well quite frankly I couldn’t think of anything else beginning with a U! I’ve never been scuba diving (yet) or snorking (yet) so I’m afraid my only experience of being underwater is that in the swimming pools!


~ V is for Vets ~

I’ve wanted to be a vet all my life so choosing vets for my V didn’t take long!

Ever since my first episode of All Creatures Great and Small I’ve wanted to be a vet. (Incidentally I saw an episode on UK Gold the other night, man it looks dated now!)

Sadly unless I win the lottery I fear I’ll never get to study veterinary medicine (didn’t get the straight A’s in my A-levels needed for this country)


~ W is for Wales ~

We used to live in Lancashire up until nearly 11 years ago. We moved to North Wales. I was really pleased we were moving (except for having to leave all my friends). I was under the impression (as you are at age 9) that it snowed loads in Wales, hence I couldn’t wait to move. Despite the distinct lack of snow most years I’m still pleased we moved. I love living in Wales and would never want to move back to England. I hope to reside in Wales all my life (or at a pinch I wouldn’t mind the Lake District either!)


~ X is for X-treme sports ~

Ok, so I cheated slightly! The only other thing
I could think of beginning with x was xylophone and I haven’t played one of those since primary school so I couldn’t really think of much to write about them!

As for extreme sports, I prefer to stick to horse riding myself but I have tried snowboarding and liked that. I wouldn’t mind taking a trip to somewhere nice and snowy and giving it a go on proper snow (must be better than the fake stuff that hurts when you fall down!)


~ Y is for Yawning ~

I didn’t chose yawning for my letter Y for any particular reason. Its just I yawned whilst trying to think of a word beginning with y and so the logical choice was to put yawning down!

If I say the word yawn enough time it might have you yawning too (not sure if you can catch yawns over the cyber waves but I’ll put it to the test). Let me know if it works in the comments page ok!

Yawn
Yawn
Yawn
Yawn
Yawn
Yawn
Yawn

That’ll do for now, before I get RSI!


~ Z is for Zoo’s ~

Having a love of animals I’ve visited plenty of zoo’s in my time. Every time we go on holiday I always drag my parents to the nearest zoo (like you do!) They never complain and dad gets his own back by dragging me around the nearest war museum and things so that’s a fair deal don’t you agree!?

I would prefer to see animals in the wild but most zoo’s do a good job in wildlife conservation so for that reason alone they are important.

I’ve never been to a zoo that I feel should be shut down. Of course there are some out there (sadly) but fortunately in this country our zoo’s tend to be at least half decent.

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