Would You Go On Holidays Alone?

I have been meaning to realize this personal mission for quite sometime now. You see when youre single, and in my case, female (really?! I could have fooled everyone!) and if most of your friends are married and have already made other plans for their holidays, or are not planning to go anywhere, or whatever reason they can come up with because they dont really want to include you in their holiday plans, then that’s it, your stuck and can’t go anywhere. Hang on, really, you can’t go anywhere as a single female person? Meaning you give up easily and just not go on holiday, anywhere, even if it’s just you, on your own? Let’s develop this more so you can see my point.

I have few single friends in my local congregation and the worst part is that their idea of a holiday is totally the exact opposite to mine. They are much younger than me so it’s all sandy beaches but I grew up close to the coast back home and had enough of it in my youth so that’s out of the question. And the thought of me prancing in a bikini is not going to happen until I lose another stone. (Right, you’re supposed to laugh there now) Like this year for example I want to revisit Edinburgh again after not having been there for the last two years and then again just to take in the sights, have another paella at Barioja, spend more time in the museums, galleries and maybe even catch a fringe production, then there’s the sightseeing of landmarks unique to this beautiful city. And also hopefully meet up again with my pal Richard of Filmstalker as our first meeting was just over a quick cup of coffee at the train station. Last but not the least, where else can you have a good ole haggis but here? Anywhere in Scotland counts too of course. Did I mention I havent been to a pub there too, so there, what other reasons do I want! So I am hoping to go there with my pal eddie to celebrate our 10 years in the UK but I can already see visions of it not happening due to her circumstances of now being a wife and a mother. But just for argument’s sake that she can’t make it, should I just go ahead and take this holiday on my own and accomplish my mission?

Would you go on holiday on your own? Discuss.

Filmstalker at the BAFTAs

My good friend Richard Brunton, owner of Filmstalker, whose excellent blog is the only film blog I visit, will be at the BAFTAs tonight to cover the event live.

So follow the BAFTAs on telly and then join us for the live blogging at Filmstalker.

Fearless forecast: Big winners for tonight will be Slumdog Millionaire and Kate Winslet.

Should I Get A Telly?

 

I have a confession to make. I have never owned or bought a telly.

There, it’s now out in the open. Well, what kind of confession were you expecting? I know my confession is not really going to make BBC or CNN headline, but in my own little world, it’s one of the things I can say I am proud of, that is, not having my own tv. I like the reaction it gets from friends especially when they start talking about some show they have seen, and I’d say, I wouldnt know any of that because I don’t have tv. The conversation then segues to why I don’t own one. I already got them distracted, clever huh?

Back home where there’s a telly in every room of the house, and we had cable, watching television (save for Seinfeld, X-Files & PBA/NBA) has never really been one of my favorite things to do if I want to relax. I would much prefer to curl up reading an engaging book, or play my fave music whilst I am puttering online, or if I am not watching DVD’s on my home PC.

Recently though, having spent a lot of sleepovers with friends, I find it rather exciting to play with the remote control and just surf through the channels especially if they have Freeview. I even got to enjoy looking over TV guides to see what’s on telly that particular weekend. I was able to see portions of Strictly Come Dancing (congrats Alesha!), I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! (Biggins won! Yey!), and BBC’s adaptation of E. Gaskell’s Cranford among others. I have also been quite taken by the now defunct The Vicar of Dibley and can not believe I had missed very good tv, thank God for DVD’s, I can still catch the whole series!

It’s also not helping that Filmstalker, for over a year now has been featuring the weekly Weekend Films to Stalk, (click this link for this week’s list: http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2007/12/weeks_films_to_stalk_21st_to_2.html) where what’s on tv for the coming weekend in the UK is recommended and given a comprehensive review. And although it encourages discussion on films already seen which is the only way I can participate, I have found that there are definitely still a LOT of films being shown on telly that I would love to see, which can save me from adding them to my LoveFilm/Amazon rental queue.

So why, you might ask, with all the seemingly good reasons I just gave you now that should behoove me to run to my nearest Dixon’s or Curry’s, why then, have I still not purchased a telly? For one thing, paying the TV license is very off-putting. If you live in the UK, you need to pay a tv license fee that will cost £135.50 per year, this is mainly to defray costs of running the BBC. To learn more about TV Licensing you can go here: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/index.jsp

Another reason is, I don’t seem to have enough time. I work fulltime and don’t usually get home until after 6 pm, and that’s not almost always mind you. I am also in the middle of finishing my degree which will require a lot of study and research. I spend 2 evenings to attend to spiritual activities during the week, and make it a point to go to the cinema one evening a week. I have the weekends free but it’s mostly spent on more spiritual commitments and having the occasional lie-in every now and then. Then there’s a lot of secular reading that needs to be done, and household chores to catch up on. Telly watching just doesn’t seem to fit anywhere.

I can ramble on and on but now I would really like to hear more from you my readers, with all the pros and cons I have just mentioned, do you think I should get telly? Is it worth it with all the other distractions life has thrown into our already busy lives? Discuss.

(Above photo courtesy of http://www.plasmawarehouseuk.com)