I’ve just watched an episode of this programme, in horror, wondering if it’s possible that such a programme can exist. All of the participants are women, which is still sending out the message that women have to be physically attractive otherwise they are somehow a failure.

Of course it follows in the wake of plenty of other programmes of a similar nature and is far from the only perpetrator of crimes against women.

The woman I saw in the programme looked okay to me. Maybe she could do with a good haircut, but instead she was subjected to hours of painful surgery, to “corrective”dental treatments and a appointment at tattoo removal London before finally being allowed to sit in the hairdresser’s chair and finally the make-up artists.

What really galls me about such programmes is the way that they carry the message that if we don’t like something about ourselves, we can fix it very quickly by going under the knife. Cosmetic surgery is a boom industry, yet we are not asking ourselves why we are so unhappy with our appearances. We are not asking ourselves what the psychological cause of our misery actually is.

There is an emphasis that youth is beautiful. It might be of course, but getting older can be too. There’s a lot to be said for the older person who is happy in their own skin, who gives off confidence and is at peace with themselves. That to me is attractive. Intelligence, experience and wisdom are also assets that should be celebrated.

Someone who is cut and stapled and frozen into an expressionless being does not say attractive to me. People who have surgery tend not to look younger, they tend to look like people who have had surgery, and that to me screams, “I’m not happy with myself.”This kind of thing encourages body dysmorphia and eating disorders and where are the attractions and self-acceptance in those conditions?

The thing which really annoys me, and the thing I so often see whenever I find myself on yet another business-only blog, is the whole ‘we are trying to help everyone, it isn’t only about our own business’ malarkey. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? It really is usually only about the business in question. What proof is there that power-hungry businesses want to love and support those around them? Usually none. Fortunately that isn’t the case at the following blog.

Yes, you read correctly: not everyone is like that; there are some people out there who are businesses and also strive to make other peoples lives easier as well.

As ever, Enigin continue to set a bench-mark that most businesses either fail to see, or if they do see, deliberately set fire to with their commerce-encompassing, couldn’t-care-less attitudes.

At the aforementioned post you’ll discover loads of ammunition which will make your boss wilt in his or her seat, and that you can pass on to your colleagues–good advice for making everyone work as well in a team as they do when there isn’t someone jumping on their back. The basic premise is that by offering assistance with things like social-networking, a company can benefit—by having happier workers—and the employee can also benefit just as much by having the right tools for doing the job right. The end result? Less a business and more a happy family—something that seems far-fetched but is the very ethos Enigin is built on.

Those magnificent Heroes, don’t you just love watching them pretend to be all boring and normal and every-day, when actually they make Superman look a bit pathetic and Spiderman, well, almost redundant? The world has gone Heroes crazy! But if that’s the case then how come nobody seems to know who plays any of these mysterious characters? Back in my day a fan knew all that and more! So much more!

So how come some modern fans can’t tell a so and so’s Jock-strap from a so and so’s special designer boxers? Good question. And not one I can answer. My assumption would be that these people are so excited about watching the next episode that they just can’t stand to sit still through the end credits. Which would be understandable: I have seen Heroes and been blown away on numerous occassions. Yes, Heroes might be one of my favourite shows on TV. Mainly because it isn’t about Vampires and to be honest I’ve had it to the back teeth with those things!

The internet, though, what a tool if you’re a fan? I can’t even begin to imagine what hardcore fans did before forums like this one existed; and maybe that is why they seem to have become less fanatical? That could be it; they’ve got lazy. Had the internet not come to fruition—and the fans been forced to do it the old fashioned proper way: as in climb trees, shuffle through miles of ventilation ducts and scale tall buildings with suction pads, as is well known—then I’m reasonably confident that all those Heroes would be watching their backs a lot more than they are.

One new and considerably useful word I came across whilst surfing the internet was the curious notion of ’mainsplaining’. What’s mainsplaning, you ask? Unfortunately, I can pretty much assure that it’s something that, as a woman, you’ve come across in your life time.
Mainsplaining refers to when a man explains something to a woman in a patronizing manner, as though she’s entirely ignorant about whatever it is that he’s talking about. Ah, is that a look of recognition I see on your face? Yes, I think that that’s indeed what it might be.
We’ve now entered the year 2010, a time by which time I would have imagined that equality between the sexes would have been pretty much worked out. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and mansplaining and all of its related problems still abound. You’ll find that mansplaining tends to take place most often around ’important’ subjects, ie, subjects that men like to consider their own personal domain. Of course, we, as just a motley assortment of educated and successful women, surely have no idea what they’re talking about. This is why issues around politics, history, technology, and anything remotely to do with an instruction manual is always mansplained to us in simple, basic language as though we’ve never encountered it before in our lives.
In order to combat this insidious practice on mansplaining, it’s essential that women speak out against it when it occurs. If you understand something, don’t let a man think that you don’t. Don’t let him talk over the top of you and pretend that your ideas are his. To wipe out mansplaining altogether, we need to show that we’re smart, articulate, and are determined to have our say. Speaking of amazing women, some thrilling news for you all, I was speaking to my friend last week and she has just got a great new post at an human resources software company. Well done Si!

I wonder if there really is such a thing as reincarnation. Well, I do know one something for certain, if there is then I am coming back as a man next time! I am sick and tired of being a girl; everything is just so hard and it really isn’t fair!

We are expected to be these pretty little creatures that flit around daintily merely for the pleasure of men. But men don’t know the half of it! We girls actually go to an enormous amount of effort to look so nice. Most boyfriends seem to think that women just wake-up complete with lipstick, foundation and mascara.

Think about going out for instance; obviously it is going to take longer for a girl to get ready than a man. We take an awful lot of pride in our appearances. They may be quite happy slobbing around in a T-shirt and jeans, but for us that just will not do. If we did get ready as quickly as they do then we would look a bit of a state…

Perhaps they believe we are super-human? They seem to think that we can juggle housework, kids, careers and a love-life without the slightest delay. Well, here is some news, guys; we can juggle housework, kids, careers and a love-life, but it sometimes takes a bit longer!

I’m pinning all of my hopes on this ‘coming back as a man’ idea. I’ve got it all planned out! I will be spending loads of time down at the pub and when I do come home I want to sit and watch the rugby without the slightest interruption! But I will make one concession; when I am going out with my girlfriend, I’ll let her get ready without complaining about how long she is taking…

I am about to leave but I totally need to inform you all about the incredably liberal art exhibition that I saw in Clapham this past weekend, it was basically a huge hall with loads of shutters in it. Very interesting!

I think that I may have inadvertently stumbled upon a conspiracy to do with global warming…

According to this news story we are actually preventing a mini ice age by releasing loads of Co2 emissions into the atmosphere! If this is true then it is no wonder why our government don’t want to do a lot to change anything.

You don’t know what I mean? Well, let me get to the point; at the moment, if you are claiming benefits or you are a pensioner, you get a ‘cold weather payment’ if it is below freezing for seven days running. If we have a mini ice age then it could end up costing the government quite a bit of dosh…

It seems to be really difficult to find out just how many people in Britain are claiming benefits. I have done some maths but have had to leave out people who are claiming such things as Income Support, Disability Living Allowance and Incapacity Benefit. If I knew how many people that involved then it would make a massive difference to the total figure!

In the UK there are –

· around 11.58 million pensioners.

· around 2.49 million people who are unemployed.

· A cold weather payment is £25 a week.

If we were living in an ice age then I would guess that it would probably be below freezing every day… If so, we are talking about anyone who is eligible for a cold weather payment to receive £1,300 per year.

That is a lot of firewood. Mind you, we would need it!

So, how much would it cost the government if they had to pay out this much to everyone on the dole or over pension age? Well, we are talking about a bill of around £18,291,000,000 per year (if my maths are correct…).

I am starting to understand why they are not doing more about climate change now! That would be a lot of giro’s to send out each week. OMG! I hadn’t even thought about their postage costs!

Finally, it is time for my incredible web link of the month. I have recently came across upon this article called Enigin PLC, not only is this company great at energy savings partnerships, but I am really loving this article as well. I think you guys would really like this one!

We might not all like it but posts such as, ‘Get out of Your Car and Get Green on Your Bike’ make an awful lot of sense. A lot of us travel ludicrously short distances in our cars just because it has become a habit. There are lots of places that are well within walking distance if we think about it.

The bottom line is that by spending more of our travelling times on foot or on a bike we are in a win-win situation. Not only are we helping the environment, but we are also getting healthy exercise at the same time. Which to be honest seems to make a lot more sense then going out and spending a load of money on something like Smartlipo.

Just because Michael Jackson was a household name it does not mean that his life had any more value than anyone else’s. What about the people who are dying every day? We do not read about them wherever we go.

Michael Jackson is gone. He’ll be missed but we’ll survive.

Following my thoughts about using your blog as a type of personal CV, I thought I would write about something that I really find interesting regarding online work!
More and more these days you see people getting paid for their writing abilities. What a concept? Who would have thought that you could write 250 or more word articles about things you are passionate about and actually get paid to do it.

These days, there are more opportunities online where you can get paid to write. You can write for yourself to promote a business or affiliate product, you can write for residual sites where you are paid a percentage of all revenue earned, or you can write for personal clients who pay you per article. Whichever you decide to do, you can make it a part time or full time job depending on your commitment and effort. Either way, it all can be done from the comfort of your home.