How Sez Sees It

The strangest thing has been happening lately. People have really taken an interest in how Dave and I got together. People also seem to think we are a lovely couple and this makes us both feel very happy and we would like to thank anyone who has said so. As a way of answering everyone at once I put together this YouTube video: If this is too long or you can't watch the video the brief story is this: We met in 2003 after starting work at a local supermarket and we became friends for the 5 years I was there. We both saw other people in that time but we were in contact all day every day. Then Dave set me up with one of his old college friends while he was with someone. Both those people tried their hardest to ruin our lives. Dave went through a break up and so did I. A few counselling sessions later on my part and with Dave's help I made it through my problems. Then I realised that Dave and I should be together all along. We had a chat on MSN Messenger (remember that?) an

Singer Rita Ora lately admitted to getting therapy for her fear of death. I know you all know I have death anxiety (as it is really known) too. I won't go into detail again. No need. I want to commend Ora for admitting and talking about something many of us fear and few admit to. We should talk about it. Death is the one guarantee of life. Some of us, like Ora and myself, do not turn to the comfort of religion. We are stuck with the knowledge of its finality. It is debilitating and scary beyond words. Read my previous blog for more information but thank you Rita Ora for being brave enough to talk about something many of us do not. I too have had the therapy and the long thoughts and discussions. I totally understand where she is coming from.

Normally I plan these blogs out (believe it or not) but this time I am writing as things pop into my head. This is not about voting in something like the General Election (my view is that if you are eligible to vote you should make your voice heard whatever your political view), but about the current Labour leadership election. We have had the personal attacks and the people worried that a vote for Corbyn will either not work or will work or whatever. The biggest issue is with who is allowed to vote. Basically, if you are a party member it is now one person one vote. Last time I had two votes as I was a party member and I was a member of Unison. That has all changed now and that is probably right. I was never comfortable with the idea of having two votes so one person one vote is fine by me. However, you don't have to be a member to get a vote. You also can be a supporter for £3.00 and get a vote that way. This has led to worries that people are paying their £3.00 and voting

Recently I have finished the surreal and brilliant '1Q84' by Haruki Murakami. This isn't really one book but rather one story told in a trilogy. It is based on George Orwell's '1984' but it is more complex than that. The story follows two main characters, Tengo and Aomame, as they navigate towards each other in a parallel world to 1984 called 1Q84. They have both made their way into this world which is a world ruled over by 'little people' who create the 'air chrysalis' and one with two moons in the sky. There are strange religious cults, mentions of philosophers, classical musicians and so much more. Tengo and Aomame haven't seen each other since they were 10 but in this world they are drawn to one another for the first time in 20 years. Tengo seems to be an ordinary cram school teacher and writer while Aomame has a secret second career behind her usual one of a fitness instructor. Both become privy to a secret from a religious cult, one t

To be honest, today was not the best day to try and piss me off. I will get the TMI moment out of the way quickly. I have the worst period cramps ever and that makes me more than a little irritable. Still, this is no excuse for the pathetic behaviour I experienced today. The back story is that my fiancé's friend told him about a wrestling show and asked if he wanted to go. I spoke to my fiancé and said we needed more notice as the tickets are a lot of money and, as we have just moved into our first house and the first month's mortgage is a little higher than usual, we were going to have to be tight with our money. The big mistake (and I hold my hands up to this) was that the entire exchange took place on Facebook. Never air your dirty washing in public they say, but my comment was off the cuff and my fiancé's response was just the same. He simply said he wasn't interested in seeing that show and he recognised that we didn't have the money for it at this time. It

I remember this debate from my days studying Psychology. There have always been theories that video games cause people to be more violent if they contain extreme violence. Whenever there is a horrific event such as a mass shooting then people try and look for a thing to blame. This has focused in the past on music ( Marilyn Manson has been blamed as his music was found on the playlist of one of the killers in the Columbine Massacre ) and violent films ( Natural Born Killers was apparently the influence for a lot of 'copycat' killings across America at the time of its release in 1994 and these included Columbine and Heath High shootings). Video games are also getting the blame for violent crimes and violent nature. Recently there has been a consensus that violent video games make people more violent. It is true that the graphics in games are getting more realistic. They are starting to look more like films than something cartoony like games used to. Take a game like Grand

Two of the biggest stories of the week in Britain have been the Labour leadership election and the leaking of personal data from the hacking of Ashley Madison, the dating website that encourages people to have affairs. Depending on who you believe, and what stance your paper of choice takes politically, Jeremy Corbyn will either be good for Labour or bad. If you have been living under a rock for the past few months since the disastrous UK election (I am a Labour Party member so you would expect me to have this view), and I don't blame you if you have been living under a rock since then, you will be unaware that this election is taking place. There are four candidates in the running: Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham (who stood in 2010 when Ed Milliband won), Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn. There has been 'Corbyn mania' in the press. The right wing press seem to think that Corbyn will make the party un-electable and the left wing press think he is the greatest thing ever. Corby

At the beginning of the year I made two resolutions. The first was that I would buy a house. That I did and I am living in it quite happily now. The other was that I would start learning Japanese. That I have also done. I will admit I am very much at the beginning of the process. I am using a lot of beginner online courses that are free at the moment but they are great for learning the very basics. I am really enjoying it but I have so much more work to do. In the vlog below I talk about my experiences and how I need to get my finger out and learn more.

When I was a kid I had a vivid imagination. I was one of those kids who had an invisible friend...or several. I also had an invisible horse called Flinders, which was fun. If I played a game it was always so vivid and real in my mind. Action figures and cuddly toys became real in my head and I believed they could come alive (think Toy Story, but I came up with it first). One of my favourite things was to play dress up. This wasn't just fancy dress or for Hallowe'en either. I would become Cinderella or Ariel or Jasmine. Mostly I was a Disney princess (in my mind I was also Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Belle and Maid Marion). I didn't know it back then, but this was my early route to cosplay. Back then I hadn't heard of cosplay, but looking back I realise that is what I was dabbling with. I admit that I didn't understand cosplay back then. I thought people went to sci-fi conventions and dressed as Klingons or Star Trek captains because they were weird nerds. Since t

I am a first time buyer and, like a lot of people, I knew that it would be stressful, but I believed that I would be able to do everything and researched it all thoroughly. There are some things that sort of come as standard and I am sure most people know about them. We decided to put the mortgage in place and have it agreed in principle before we found a property to buy and this will ensure that you don't have to pull out of a sale later if you are declined the money for some reason. That would be my first piece of advice. Most banks and building societies will do this over the phone with you and then you would go into a branch to confirm it a few weeks later with a mortgage advisor. That would be my advice because in those three weeks it is likely you will find a property. Also, knowing in principle how much you are allowed to borrow means you narrow your search to properties in that price range. Most banks and building societies have calculators on their websites to allow you