There seem to be far too many people in the world right now who aren't happy for some reason or another, and for once I'm not one of them! For me right now, everything is ticking along nicely (I'm pretending my exams are just weird dreams I have every so often). Of course, not focussing on my own gloom means I'm focussing on everyone else's... if I'm in a good mood, everybody else has to be! And if I'm in a bad mood, I prefer everyone else to be in a good mood too. Basically - cheer up all of you, I hate to see my friends depressed!
So I'm going to compile a little list of things that make me happy when I'm down. Try it. You might be surprised at what works.
The Cheat's Guide to Instant Smiles
1) Talk to your friends
Yes, I know it's been done to death, 'a problem shared is a problem halved', blablablablabla. But you know something, it really does work. If none of your own friends are available, borrow L, he's a FANTASTIC agony aunt. If it wasn't for him, I'd truly be at the bottom of a river by now.
2) Eat ice cream
It's a matter of preference, of course, but I personally find that Ben and Jerry's Half Baked can cure most ills. Phish Food makes me bounce off the walls and I forget whatever's been bothering me due to the head trauma of hitting said walls. Green and Blacks Vanilla is simple, but effective - if combined with a good chick flick it can do the world of good (add wine to the mix and you've got yourself heaven). Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough is an old favourite, though best enjoyed in a group or else you could end up vomiting up your troubles. A quick and simple cure is a good old Fab ice lolly.
3) Sleep
Largely underrated. If you have the ability to do it (not everybody does), for god's sake do it. When you're in a warm cocoon with a hot water bottle and a teddy bear, everything bad seems to lose all magnitude.
4) Make Misty's Famous Chilli Stirfry
The night I found out my stepfather would not be returning home, I wandered into the kitchen and created this in such a daze that my housemates were convinced I was on some kind of drug-induced high. However, after I'd eaten it (the whole wok full, yes, I'm a pig) the despair and worry seemed to be muffled by clouds of chilli-flavoured steam. Here is the recipe:
Roughly chop up a fairly large quantity of new potatoes (unpeeled). Boil them until they're quite mushy. Then heat up some olive oil in a wok with a dash of chilli powder. When the olive oil is nice and bubbly, throw in the potatoes and bash them about a bit with a wooden spatula that has holes in it. Sprinkle over half a tablespoon of chilli powder and bash them about some more. Then gently add some chopped up chicken, as much as you desire. Mix it up with the potatoes. Take some here's-some-I-prepared-earlier chopped up vegetables (can be almost anything, I tend to go for red pepper, red onion, and occasionally baby corn) and chuck them in too. Throw in another half a spoonful of chilli powder and keep whacking it all about with the spatula. When the chicken looks like it's cooked, scoop up a bit onto the spatula with a fork and slice it a bit to check. Then fling it back in again and add some salt, and a touch more chilli powder. By now, the potatoes should be squished into a mushy mess intespersed with bits of chicken and vegetables, and most things in the wok should be orange. Take the wok off the hob and dump the whole sorry-looking mixture onto plates (it looks rather disgusting, but persevere - it'll taste gorgeous). Note: if the kitchen hasn't filled up with such strong chilli-steam that your housemates have opened every door and window in the house and refuse to come near the kitchen because they fear asphyxiation, then you're not doing it right!!
5) Watch some Nightwish videos
I know, I know, I'm obsessed at the moment so of COURSE Nightwish will make me feel better. But you know what, I wish I'd discovered their live videos on YouTube a lot sooner, because they cannot fail to put a smile on my face. Everybody should try it - you just have to laugh at Emppu Vuorinen's facial expressions. Actually, scrap that: ALL their facial expressions. Marco Hietala is just a joy to watch, he's so wonderfully weird. And Tuomas Holopainen spends most of the time either going into a mind-boggling spin cycle or looking like he's in the middle of a particularly taxing orgasm. Here's a couple of links to get you started...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8cf-zaSiJg&feature=channel_page
That one is pretty good, you can actually hear ME screaming in the first second (it's from one of the nights I was in Paris) but for the full experience watch THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8wbKXUr9ng&feature=PlayList&p=B28B437456609AA0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=32
That's just the first song of the gig I think, but they're all on there on a playlist, I think. Anette's voice is not at its best (they'd just done a couple of other gigs I think, and they were all knackered) but the guys are still hilarious. For my own channel, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jess2308
Though there's not a great deal of good stuff there, it's basically just me bragging about how close I was in Paris.
6) Do some exercise
I know, *gasp*, ME, suggesting EXERCISE?! Am I ill?! Well, no. I have recently discovered the Joy of Hula-Hooping. You can do it standing in front of the TV, it burns calories, tones your stomach, and leaves you feeling remarkably relaxed and like you've actually achieved something. It takes a while to get into the swing of things and stop it from just falling to your feet every five minutes, but it's worth it in the end. Just close the curtains before you start... it doesn't look all that dignified and you may just get laughed at by passersby...
So yeah, that's my wonderful ways to keep your spirits up. Learning German vocabulary doesn't come into this at all, by the way. That's what I'm trying to do now, for an oral exam tomorrow. STRESS... though I have the Nightwish Lowlands 2008 playlist on the go, I did some serious hula-hooping before, and I'm going to bed early - everything's good.
Random exciting news of the day: I'm getting my hair done on Friday!! Very excited - and nervous. You see, I'm bored of normal hair. I'm getting it drastically altered... again... Only this time instead of going from short-side-of-long-and-natural to short-and-vaguely-more-reddish-than-it-was-previously I'm getting some kind of fringe put in, and having it dyed purple. Yes, purple. I'll let you know how it goes.
Of course, depending on what the hairdresser's opinion is, it might go bright crazy red. I'm about 70% purple-minded right now (because I have more clothes it'd match and my phone is also purple) but this could change before Friday. You never know.
Oh, and don't tell my housemates. V knows, but J and JH do not. I want to walk in on Friday with purple hair like nothing's different and see their faces. Hehehe.
I'm going to go learn some more German now. I've been spending most of my life in the office (aka Caffe Nero) working on revision, but it's still about half the amount of work of anybody else I know. I really should catch up... oh well. Whatever happens, happens. Life goes on. Live for the moment. Blablabla.
Hula-hooping could save the world, you know.
Misty x