It's time to stop hating Mondays

None of us like Mondays - when it arrives, the working week stretches out ahead of us like a long straight highway across an arid, joyless desert of mundaneness, whilst the fun and frolicking of the weekend just gone is already fading into memory.
Mondays are the low-point, when our yin is at its zenith and our yang is languishing at the bottom of a mine-shaft (or is it the other way around?). We have about as much enthusiasm for the days ahead as a curry-house lavatory at opening time, and we really just want Monday to pass without anything really shitty happening.
But, my friends, it doesn't have to be this way!

Now I'm not for a moment suggesting that we can learn to love Mondays - that's just silly. Unless you're on holiday, Mondays are, and always will be, the crappiest day of the week.
But perhaps we can, with a little bit of effort, begin to not 'hate' Mondays, and instead start to grudgingly accept that Mondays are a necessity that we just have to deal with and, because we just have to deal with it, it's worth making the effort to make Mondays as tolerable as they can be.
That's why, in addition to the phenomenally successful #ShoutAboutItThursday, I'm going to introduce
#MakeMeSmileMonday.

So how will #MakeMeSmileMonday work?
Well, it's simple - I'm going to share something which made me smile and which, I hope, will make you smile as well…and in doing so, bring a little soupçon of light into what is too often a dark and miserable day.
So here goes - watch the video below (brought to my attention by Kayleigh and Joe - ta very muchly) and let the grin begin...

And if this didn't bring a smile to your face, then I'm afraid you're already beyond help!

#ShoutAboutItThursday - Farley's Rusks

Yes, folks, it's that time of the week again when I choose something to SHOUT ABOUT because I want to and because I can.
And this week it's...Farley's Rusks!!

Recent research suggests that there are over 10 million adults in the UK who secretly eat Farley's Rusks on a regular basis (and not just as a means of encouraging babies to eat them, either); that same research also claimed there were another 15 million adults who secretly crave Farley's Rusks but do not have the guts to indulge themselves for fear of ridicule from the prejudiced Kellogg/Nestle influenced masses who do not regard it as a 'real' breakfast (yeah, like Krave or Chocolate Caramel Shreddies are 'real' breakfasts!)
The final, and perhaps most shocking statistic of this research is, however, that there are only 34 adults in the UK who have 'come out' and proudly proclaimed their love for what Wikipedia describes somewhat disappointingly as 'a dry biscuit', but which I would describe as 'a sweet and gooey taste sensation.'

I 'came out' about my love of the food that dare not speak its name on the 25th May after years of merciless ridicule from my family:

and I would now encourage everyone else who loves Farley's to do the same - it is a truly liberating experience. It means I can now walk down the baby-food aisle at Sainsburys and take a couple of boxes of Farley's off the shelf without any sense of shame or embarrassment. In fact, I now give them pride of place at the front of the trolley as I walk down the tinned goods and the cereal aisles and if I get any disapproving looks from any other shoppers (who are probably envious of my freedom of expression and are themselves secretly craving a rusk or two but are too brow-beaten by convention to do anything about it), I just strut my stuff with an attitude which says: 'Yeah, bitch, I eat rusk - so what?'
And one more thing - look at the box - it says 'All Ages'.

So, come on - who out there has got the balls to shout to their love of Farley's to the world?
That's what the comment boxes below are for!

#ShoutAboutItThursday

Well, everyone seems to be doing it.
#pushTuesday, #chooseday, #ManicureMonday
Choose a day of the week and then decide that, on that day, you're going to do something special…or different.
So I've come up with #ShoutAboutItThursday, a day on which I will choose something that is interesting or important to me (don't worry, I'll not be banging on about my books - I'll be doing that on #OhForFucksSakeFriday!)…and today I've decided that, even though I run the risk of accusations of nepotism (it is about my youngest daughter after all), I'm going to shamelessly plug a small video production company called 'Spelt with a T Productions'.
Why 'Spelt with a T'?
When Emily got her first credit for a film she was involved in, her name was written as:
EMILY RICHIE - not RITCHIE.
The rest, as they say, is history!

On her YouTube Channel I'd strongly recommend taking a bit of time to look at the following videos:

'Better Life' - a video Emily made for the group 'Tactical Dance Maneuver'

'Dark Digital Space' - a disturbing experimental film on the subject of self-harm

I'd also recommend checking out:

Life in Hand - a documentary

And, to demonstrate her versatility, have a look at this award-winning stop-motion movie:

Transforming the Campus with Sally the Slug

And last, and certainly from my perspective, very much not least, Emily helped me put together the fabulous videoblurb from my book…yes, I know, I said I wasn't going to bang on about them, but I just can't help it because this video is really, really good - listen out for the subtle change in music about halfway through!!

So if you're somewhere in the Lancashire area (and even if you're not) and you're looking for someone to make a film or a video or a book trailer, drop Emily a note on either her Facebook page or Twitter feed; and don;t forget to follow and share and do all that other social media malarky!

Spelt with a T on Facebook

Spelt with a T on Twitter

ps - If you'd like me to feature you, your business, someone you know, something interesting (because if it's boring I'll just ignore it!), etc, etc, on #ShoutAboutItThursday, just drop me a comment - but please don't be offended if I refuse.