Fifty Shades Read

Now, unless you've been living on the moon for the last couple of months you'll have heard of the books by E.L. James charting the story of Christian Grey...

I love reading, I'll read most things, although I do have a bit of an aversion to anything overtly popular. I didn't pick up a Harry Potter book until The Goblet Of Fire was released as it was hyped up, although I'll admit the hype was worth it for those. So, when these books literally exploded in popularity I was very wary. When I started hearing the books were like marmite, I was even more wary of bothering with them. Eventually I figured I was just that nosey that I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about....(spoilers ahead if you are one of the 3 people who haven't read them..)


Basically the books are about the relationship between the stunningly handsome billionaire Christian Grey and the virginal, innocent college student Anastasia Steele. They meet, he wants her to be his submissive, she umms and aaah's about signing the Dom/sub contract he offers her whilst they have a lot of sex. She also bites her lips, talks to her inner goddess and subconcious. A LOT. A lot has been said about the "BDSM" sex the book contains, now there are elements of Domination and bondage, and some of the language Christian uses is quite authentically controlling, it isn't really anything much more than most people might indulge in now and again.

As books, they are laughably badly written, the characters are mostly one dimensional, the language is annoyingly samey and the storylines are threadbare and barely make much sense. The relationship flies along at breakneck speed and all subtlety is lost.

As erotica, they are not sure where they want to be, there is enough "kinky fuckery" to turn off the more inherently vanilla readers, in fact some reviews I've seen have called Christian's behaviour abusive and misogynistic. There are certainly lots of sex scenes, but they become dreadfully repetitive and, again, I've seen plenty of reviewers saying they were skipping the sex scenes. If you ARE into kink, whilst some of the language Christian uses is more than familiar, the scenes themselves aren't quite as deep into kinky territory as the blurb would have you believe, add into the fact that being into BDSM is portrayed as something only the most damaged of individuals partake in, and I can't see the appeal from that angle either.

So what is it? Is it the thought of a man who wants nothing more than to look after you completely and utterly? Is it the idea of being the one woman who can heal this broken and damaged man? Is in the mothering instinct coming to the forefront, with those readers just wanting to love Mr Grey? Are women REALLY wanting this kind of sexual adventure, complete with spanking, cuffs, blindfolds and floggers?

For me, even after reading them, I have no idea of the appeal. I've read many, much more gripping reads. I've read erotica that genuinely has me squirming away, and I've read love stories with much more depth. Yes, they're fluff, yes they're throwaway beach reads, but these books have become a phenomenon and I, for one, would LOVE to know why, so if you've read them (and I know many of my friends have) please, please leave me a comment as to what the books did for you?

The LAST Time!

Yesterday I signed up for Slimming World for the last time. I'm heavier than I've ever been, and I'm determined to finally shift all the excess weight.

I've followed Slimming World before, so I know it works, and I know I lose weight on it. As I have recovered more and more from my depression, and as life starts to look a bit more normal, losing weight was always next on my list, as I know my size doesn't help with my moods.

So last week I decided that now is the time. Last night I joined my local group, and made sure it was a group that had different classes so that I can even attend during different shift weeks - no excuses! I'm reading the books through again, making sure I'm following the plan properly, looking at it with new eyes. I'm feeling totally fired up, and am looking forward to going to class each week, I know it's going to take a long time, after all it took me a fair while to put all the weight on, but I have support and I AM going to do this!

My target is my 40th birthday, which is 2 years,7 months and 27 days away. Plenty of time for a slow, steady weight loss to pay off. Go me :)

App Happy!

I always knew, even before I had an iPhone that the apps would be a problem. I knew I wouldn't be able to resist even the silliest of them, and currently have nearly 90 (yes I know) on my phone! Thank goodness for folders :)

Some of them I only use rarely, but find them useful, whereas some I use/play with every day. I'm always looking for recommendations for must haves, so I thought I'd chuck my twopenneth worth into the app review blogarama :)

Meon

Meon is my favourite app. I had it on my old HTC, and it was the first app I searched for on the iPhone. It's a simple puzzle game, you have to light up the little meons with the lights, but it can get fiendishly tricky!

You genuinely have to use the old grey matter too, you only get a couple of hints for each level and have to pay for solvers, so you're on your own!

It really is a fab little app. The lite version is free, so you can give it a go, and if you like it, the full version is only 69p. A bargain!

Flipboard

 I came across Flipboard by chance when I was just browsing though the App Store. I guess the easiest explanation is that it's like a personal internet magazine. You select the items you're interested in, such as FB, Technology, News or Sport and it delivers interesting articles and updates in each relevant category.

You can also link in your social network accounts, such as Twitter and Instagram and it will present a little digest for you.

It's a free app, and one that is fabulous for finding odds and sods you'd probably never search for, but are usually of interest. I always find something to read when I open it.

Data Usage Monitor

If you don't have unlimited data in your tariff, then something like this is SO useful. This is Data Usage Monitor, and basically you put in your billing date and your data allowance and it shows you how much you've used in the easy to read dials!

This one monitors wifi and 3G separately as well. It's unbelievably easy to use, and could save you having some nasty unexpected charges for using too much data!

It's also quite scary to see just how much data you use up whilst streaming!

I'm astounded by this app. I can't believe it's free! It's called My Fitness Pal and it's a calorie counter/fitness app. You input your details, tell it how much you want to lose and it tells you how many calories you can eat to lose the required amount of weight (maxiumum of 2lbs a week). You can scan the barcodes of your food to find the details easily, and just add things to your diary.

You can also add in excercise, and it charts your progress. It really is astonishingly in depth, and all for free. I used it for 2 weeks and lost 4lbs, so it does what it says on the tin! Absolutely excellent! Even if you just want to keep an eye on what you're eating it will help you out.

Asda

Not so exciting maybe, but this is the Asda app. I do use their home shopping quite often as it's a great way of budgeting, and this little app makes it easier than the website.
You can scan things onto your shopping list, so you can just wander round the kitchen, scan what you're getting low on and voila, it gets added to your list!

Even if you're searching for items, it's gloriously easy, so easy that I often use this instead of the website, as it's so very simple to use! A must have if you use Asda's home shopping.



I think that'll do for now, although I still have tons more that I love, most of them are more mainstream and well known. Please share your must have apps below, as you can never have too many ;)

Diamond Days!

As you *may* have noticed, this last weekend has been the Diamond Jubilee. I've been off all week and so was suitably excited by the time Friday rolled around. I loved the documentary on BBC One, with the Prince of Wales watching childhood home videos, a truly lovely show which showed another side to the Royal family.

Saturday, despite all the weather forecasts was gorgeously sunny! We went to the Jubilee Fete in a park in town and had a lovely time, eating cake, watching donkey rides and maypole dancing and mulling over the outrageous size of sheep testicles....

 The Park, in the wonderful sunshine.

 The cute donkeys :)

Check out the size of THOSE bad boys lol!

We finished off with a stroll along the seafront, arriving home just minutes before the heavens opened! How's that for timing?

Sunday was a Barnsley visit, and despite the weather Hague had a wonderful time with the boys whilst I tried to watch the outrageously bad coverage of the Thames Pageant on iPlayer....seriously, how hard is it to actually show the boats and hear the music?? Seriously bad work from Auntie Beeb :(

Monday had been decreed a lazy day (by me) so we had a few beers and relaxed until the evening when we headed out again for the lighting of the beacon and fireworks (boy, do I LOVE fireworks lol). It was packed  on the sea front, full of people out to celebrate and enjoy themselves!

 Fireworks (red, white and blue of course)

Jubilee Beacon

The fireworks were fantastic, all red, white or blue and it gave me a chance to practice firework photography too!

Tuesday heralded the 6th birthday of my youngest Niece Carys, a lovely way to end a lovely weekend, with family and a very excited little girl playing her new guitar and showing off her red, white and blue dress.

Shame every weekend can't be like this eh? Gawd Bless Ya, Your Maj :)