How Sez Sees It

When I take part in GISH I am often asked what it is. Even after explaining the acronym of ‘Greatest International Scavenger Hunt’ people still just state in confusion and this has led me to also question ‘what is GISH?’. For this I need to search deeply into my own thoughts on the matter. GISH is both a place and a state of mind. In terms of place it is a creative space where good deeds are done through a series of wild and whacky actions. State of mind varies from moment-to-moment between believing it is the greatest event to take part in ever to wondering what possessed me as it seemed like a good idea at the time to sign up. Hard work is both rewarding when playing GISH, but also leads to unreasonable pain and suffering as materials run out, sleep is lacking and sugar levels run low. GISH becomes a source of joy coupled with excruciating moments of frustration, embarrassment and self-loathing. Only a masacist would keep putting themselves through this process. Like childbirth...

On being a fan and the number of times it has saved me You hear this a lot (or read it a lot) if you go online and scroll through your twitter or tumblr timeline. Someone will be talking about how a particular song, band, tv show or film saved their life. You might not understand this way of thinking and I am genuinely happy for you because it means you have had the stability in your life to just enjoy things without them taking on a greater meaning for you. However, I am one of those people and I am going to explain how being a fan of different things at different times saved my life...in some cases literally! How Lord of the Rings saved me The year was 2001 and on 28 December I (just turned 15 years old) went to the cinema with my family to see the first in a trilogy of films adapted from the J.R.R. Tolkein series, The Lord of the Rings. This first instalment was called The Fellowship of the Ring and tells the story of a band of different peoples (Dwarfs, Elves, Men and Hobbits...