The sweet sensation of success

(Disclaimer: Feel free to not read the rest of this entry. I'm only going to be gloating all the way through)

I'm jumping about... so excited, so keyed up! Is there any feeling greater in the world than getting your story published? It's published online, on the neopets story competition. If there is anything needed to support my theory that neopets is one heck of a site, this is it.

For three days I sat in front of this computer, furiously writing, editing, and rewriting. I didn't get it the first time. I didn't get it the second time. But I did the third time. There must be some moral in this, but I'm not wasting my time looking for a moral when I can celebrate instead. Yes! Yes! Yes! *Head bang*

To celebrate, I'm going to watch a movie on TV and not work the rest of the evening. That's what success does to you.

Happy February

Happy first of February! It isn't New Year's, I know, but I've decided the only way I'm going to keep to any of my Resolutions (notice the capital R) is if I treat every month as a separate entity - for effective goal-setting.

Yes, I have been reading my (super-large) psychology textbook lately, plus a load of self-help books, leading to

1) A change in my hand-writing (Now, I can't understand it myself :))

2) Me identifying a lot of goals.

2a) Me striving valiantly to reach those goals.

3) Me analysing every person I meet for signs of personality disorder (so far, everyone I meet seems to be suffering from megalomania, low self-esteem or depression - I must be doing something wrong.)

4) A well-founded conviction that self-help books must be thrown out of the window at the first opportunity.

My first advice: STAY AWAY FROM SELF-HELP BOOKS! They're really addictive and they'll poison your life if you let them. Now, you can't even swear when something bad happens because you swore to curb your temper, didn't you? Or sleep properly at night because you suddenly remembered you didn't do your ten-minute meditation and introspection time (whatever that means).

People don't really like lifeless, ever-calm people who smile all the time, like zombies. Leave that to air-hostesses who are at least paid for that kind of stuff. People really like people who get mad and storm and rage for a while. It shows they're human. Just don't do it too often.

And trust me on the self-help books.

The Times of India is crazy

Today, I opened the paper and two leaflets fell out. 'Neenga chinna veedu vechirukkeengala?', they screamed at me.

There was nothing else. I laughed. What a very weird way to begin a day.

I had no idea priests actually had a sense of humour

Things you don't want to hear a Preacher say

We don't like the concept of "preaching" really, at Husborne Crawley. It puts the preacher in a power relationship with the preachees - implying that the preacher has access to knowledge and oratorical power that the preachees do not possess. Whereas the evidence round here is that the preacher, on the whole, has none of these things.

Still, since the other alternatives to preaching - "oratory", "rambling", "musing", "facilitating an ongoing thought-enhancement and spiritual development process in a theological context" are all equally weak, we'll stick with "preaching" for the purposes of this discussion.
In any case, here's some things that may help all members of the Community to improve their inspirational aspirations.

"But enough about God. Let's talk about how clever I am."

"So I've sketched out the socio-dynamics of the Essene fellowship, giving summary accounts of five or six of the most recent views of the archaeologists and theologians. Now let's move to point one of this six-point sermon..."

"I've learnt that people remember more of what they see, than of what they hear. So after that account of the sins of the Israelite men with the Moabite women, I'll be giving a demonstration of those sins with my wife. Just as soon as we've put our teeth somewhere safe - we wouldn't like them to fly out...."

"So I hope I've been very clear on the spiritual damage you can suffer from hidden sin. Now then - Hnaef has the roaming mic - who's the first to confess?"

"I am the god of hell fire!"

"I'm pleased to see that the use of the word "mercy" in that verse in Isaiah was the subject of my MA thesis. So I'd like to read it to you now. In full."

"You know, I'm really regretting that prawn curry last night. And the beer seemed a bit cloudy as well. Now, this pulpit is quite high so I'm quite pleased to see there's no-one in the front six rows."

"OK - I'm the one with the preaching gown. I'm the one up here with the big book. So everybody listen to me. I'm right."

"I'm pleased to say that God gave me a direct message last night. And oooh he had a lot to say."

"I'm afraid I'll have to preach the second half of this sermon extempore. Not because I've had a sudden burst of inspiration. No - the computer ran out of memory and crashed after printing off the first half."

"But I see it is time for the Evening Service to begin. So in conclusion..."

"I really wanted to focus on "giving" this morning. And it so happens that I have here the records of everyone's standing orders. So, let's see... Albert Aldwincle - £20 per month... Rhoda Benson - £15...."

"I've felt so inspired this morning that I'm going to issue an altar call. The doors are locked, and no-one's going home until we've had twenty new converts."

What I learnt from my aunt and uncle

1) How to love people

2) How really nice music can be

3) Embroidery(she's a wizard at this)

4) That eating chocolate at night before going to bed doesn't kill you

5) The secret to happiness is eating a lot of chocolate, and pudding, and sweets, and going out to play badminton for an hour in the open air

6) A movie a day keeps the blues away

7) How to make someone feel cared for without making them feel overwhelmed

8) Praying, amazingly, does help! It makes a heck of a difference in life

9) Simplicity is the key to success

10) That P.G. Wodehouse is the greatest writer in the world. Period.

Some proverbs I got off the net

"There is nothing noble in being superior to some other person. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self."

"Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it."

"A person consists of his faith. Whatever is his faith, even so is he."

"Do not vacillate or you will be left in between doing something, having something and being nothing."

"He who marries a real beauty is seeking trouble." :D

"One does not love if one does not accept from others."

"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors."

"We should talk while we are still alive."

"A wise man never knows all, only fools know everything."

"Whatever accomplishment you boast of in the world, there is someone better than you."

"Instruction in youth is like engraving in stones."

"That which is good is never finished."

"To be praised is to be lost."

A wannabe optimist

I follow a blog with that name. I don't know a real lot about the girl who's writing it, not even her name(!), but I know she loves Jane Eyre, which is my absolute favouritest book in the world as well.

I know she's really awesome, even though she doesn't think so herself. Or at least, if she does, she gets tormented by a lot of doubts about it. She has great writing talent, and mainly, she loves writng . I love reading what she's written, and, when she doesn't update in a long time, I go back and read her previous posts-because they're so cool.

I really like the design she's used for her blog, and her post titles. I'm not going to praise her too much, because I know she doesn't trust people who compliment her a lot.

If you're reading this post, let me tell you two things- Belated Happy Birthday, and Keep Writing!