It starts off as such a simple thing
And I can process things as they come at me, one by one by one.
Easy.
Then all of a sudden I’m spinning
Turning faster and faster until my vision is blurred
Smears of color fusing and fading into a paint-spatter rainbow clouding my eyes
That’s what you do to me
With you I am always in motion
Twisting and spinning and losing all sense of equilibrium
But I like it
You put my mind on a rollercoaster
Completely unpredictable, the loops and turns always catching me off guard
But the adrenaline rush
Fluttering in my stomach and in my throat
Causing my world to fly completely out of control so that I am losing grip on all reality
So that these colors,
Splashes of light and life are spiraling around me
And my whole existence has become a canvas to which you are adding your own signature

Conference Ice Breaker

Conference icebreakers are fun activities used, literally, to break the ice at the beginning of conferences and events. The activities are usually quick paced, lively and designed to maximise interaction between delegates. They are also used to energise groups.

Tangles is one example of an effective conference icebreaker. The group is divided into small teams of half a dozen or so people. These people are all linked together by way of a pair of rope handcuffs. The objective is to untangle your team without taking your hand out of the loops. The result ranges from acrobatics to the proverbial tangle, but always a lot of laughter.

The image on the right shows The Rollercoaster Challenge. In this exercise teams use tubes of recycled newspaper to build a rollercoaster, which always becomes an incredible Heath Robinson sort of invention.

According to TouringPlans on Twitter, Disney is testing a new queue-less waiting system in Walt Disney World. The testing is more specifically happening at Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As seen in the picture below, those participating will simply receive a card that puts you in a “group”.

Now instead of waiting in a long queue to board the ride, participants of this test will wait in a standby area. This area has merchandise, shade, Rock Band, and more. This allows guest to relax in an area rather than waiting in a long line. Guests watch this monitor and when their group is on the screen (or called), it’s time to head to the standby return line, where their wait is much shorter.

They are handing out surveys to guests participating to get feedback. There are obvious pros and cons for waiting in lines vs. waiting in standby areas. Currently my only concern is how professional these waiting areas are. In this picture, showing the Garage Band game, it seems to look sloppy (in my opinion) for a Disney park. Hopefully if they decide to use this permanently, I hope they spruce things up a bit more.

Overall, it looks like another good idea thought of by Disney, but of course we all will have to experience it ourselves to get the whole concept. What do you think? Is this smart of Disney or not? What are the pros and cons? Let me know in the comments!

ALL information and photos by TouringPlans.

I dont have any idea as to what their saying. But from the visual aspect it has an element of substance it a very inspiring song.

One Of My Favourite Ever Songs

Love This Guy

Tiger Woods’ ‘group sex’ with prostitutes: Golfer spent tens of thousands of escort girls, claims Hollywood madam

Tiger Woods was accused last night of spending tens of thousands of pounds on high-priced escort girls when he was away from home playing in golf tournaments.The shamed golfer reportedly sometimes bedded two at a time, according to a notorious Hollywood madam who claimed she knew he had paid around £37,000 for call girls.Michelle Braun told the New York Post she sent at least four escorts on pay-for-sex dates with the married father-of-two six times in 2006 and 2007.’He liked girl-on-girl. He had sex with them together,’ she said.

……………

The $15,000 woman? Michelle Braun claimed that Tiger Woods paid that amount for a date with Loredana Jolie, pictured above, one night in Manhattan – an allegation which, if true, would make her the 11th of Woods’ affairs

‘Broken-hearted’: Jamie Jungers reads an article about herself in the New York Post while talking about her affair with Tiger Woods on NBC yesterdayThe tawdry new twist in the cheating scandal came as a lingerie model named as one of Woods’s mistresses confirmed they had a twoyear affair, but insisted: ‘I got nothing out of this relationship but a broken heart.’Jamie Jungers, 26, said on America’s Today breakfast show that she had no misgivings about bedding Woods. ‘I had a lot of feelings towards him.’It wasn’t just a sexual situation. I loved him. I’m certainly not going to say it was wrong. I don’t believe I owe her an apology,’ she added, referring to Woods’s wife, Elin.She adamantly denied that Woods ever paid her for sex and insisted: ‘I have nothing to do with prostitution. There will always be a place in my heart for Tiger.’

Claims: Hollywood madam Michelle Braun, right, with hotel heiress Paris Hilton, left. Paris Hilton is not connected to any of the allegations regarding Tiger Woods or Michelle Braun and her businessShe said she met Woods at a Las Vegas club in 2005. ‘It kind of became clear to me that Tiger was interested.’The more we drank, the more flirtatious we got. I had a crush on him for a while. I was excited and honoured he wanted to meet me,’ she added.The Las Vegas bikini model claimed they had sex and she thought it would just be a one-night stand, but she said: ‘It became more and more of an actual relationship.’She claimed she spent a night at the Los Angeles home Woods owns with his wife. ‘He didn’t try to hide the relationship. People were taking our pictures in the nightclubs. We went together to restaurants.’

Refuge: Tiger Woods’ yacht ‘Privacy’ is seen being loaded with supplies while docked at Old Port Cove in North Palm Beach, Florida. Crew attempted to disguise the yacht by covering its name up

Speculation is mounting that the golfer is about to break cover in ‘Privacy’ in an attempt to flee the scandal and try to repair his marriageMistress number three: Jaimee Grubbs pictured in Los Angeles earlier this week

Another woman accused of a fling with the 33-year-old golfer, adult film star Holly Sampson, 36, said yesterday that she also had sex with Woods, but claimed it was on his stag night before his 2004 marriage.’I am not a home-wrecker. Although I enjoyed our time together, I never was and never will be one of Tiger’s mistresses,’ she told showbiz gossip website TMZ.Both Jungers and Sampson denied allegations by convicted madam Michelle Braun that they had worked as escorts in the past.Braun named a tenth woman whom she alleged had sex with the golfer as Loredana Jolie, a Sicilian-born New York prostitute she described as ‘one of his favourites’.

‘She’s a stunning girl. He went out with her four or five times. They met up in 2006 or early 2007. I’d say he paid £9,000 for her,’ Braun told the New York Daily News.Woods ‘had a pretty big appetite for women’, she said.’He was rarely with just one girl,’ she said. ‘He usually wanted more. He liked three-ways. He could go for days.’He’d pay a flat rate for an evening, but an evening would usually be extended. The girls would talk about his stamina.He’d shower them with gifts, he was very polite and he was amazing in bed, very sensual and well endowed,’ she added.She claimed Woods would spend as much as £25,000 a weekend for his illicit liaisons in cities where he was playing golf.’He would request the college-cutie, girl-next-door look. Most of the girls understood it was a business relationship.’Tiger made it clear this was a good time and his wife would always be in the picture,’ she told the Daily News.Loredana Jolie, the girl identified by Braun, told the New York Post that Woods gave her ‘a ring, a pair of diamond studs and a watch’.'He came off being a really nice person with me. He had manners. I have nothing bad to say about him,’ she said.

Braun was sentenced last month to three years probation and six months house detention after pleading guilty to money laundering and prostitution charges connected to the stable of women she supplied to wealthy clients, who would pay as much as £6,000 for a date.

………..

Left, George Clooney arrives at the UNICEF ball in Los Angeles last night. The actor said he has never met Jaimee Grubbs, although she claimed they did know each other. Right, Tiger Woods (file photo)A possible 11th mistress – an ‘extremely attractive’ woman in her 40s – was said last night to have hired celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred to represent her.The LA lawyer is already alleged to have negotiated a million-pound deal with Woods for one of his alleged lovers, 34-year-old Rachel Uchitel, in return for her silence.Woods has not been seen since crashing his car outside his Florida home more than a fortnight ago and, other than an apology for his ‘ transgressions’ posted on his website last week, has refused to respond to the increasingly lurid stories about his unravelling private life.

Tiger Woods and wife Elin (file photo)

There were suggestions last night that he may be planning to escape with his 29-year-old Swedish wife on a trip on his £13.5 million boat, ironically named Privacy, which is docked at a marina in North Palm Beach, Florida.Woods’s wife has told friends that she is prepared to give her straying husband a chance to save their marriage for the sake of their two children, Sam, two, and tenmonthold Charlie.It emerged yesterday that the golfer’s London lawyers took out a High Court injunction on Thursday to block any British newspapers from publishing any naked photographs of Woods.They insisted, however, that the order was not an admission that the pictures existed. Playgirl magazine in the U.S. claimed earlier this week that it was offered nude photos of the sportsman and were checking to see if they were authentic.

The baby who tested Bee Gee’s marriage to the limit

To the neighbours in an exclusive Home Counties enclave they are a familiar pair.The proud young mother and her little girl, whose first birthday was last month, live in a five-bedroom house worth £1.5million.With a new four-wheel drive BMW parked outside, there is clearly no shortage of funds.The reason for this can be found in the toddler’s extraordinary name: Snow Robin.This bright-eyed little girl is the daughter of Robin Gibb, younger of the two surviving Bee Gees.And her mother is Gibb’s former housekeeper, Claire Yang, with whom he had an eight-year affair under the nose of his second wife Dwina.Throughout that time, Claire lived with Robin and Dwina at their converted medieval monastery in Oxfordshire. Incredibly, the affair between Robin and Claire was sanctioned by Dwina, a bisexual former Druid priestess who has boasted for decades about their ‘open’ relationship.Yet even priestesses have her limits, it seems, and earlier this year Claire and Snow Robin were thrown out of the house after Dwina decided her husband had ‘gone too far’ in impregnating the hired help. At 34, Claire is a quarter of a century younger than Gibb, who will celebrate his 60th birthday three days before Christmas.Chris Hutchins, who for many years worked as Gibb’s personal PR representative, says: ‘Robin is a good man. Unusual but fundamentally decent.’This decency has been displayed in the way he has treated his youngest child (he also has three grown-up children from his two marriages).After their departure, Claire and Snow Robin were provided with a house five miles away, which Gibb visited regularly in his Jaguar coupe, before moving again to their current rented property.It is understood that Gibb plays an active role in his daughter’s upbringing. ‘New life is heaven-sent and a blessing,’ he said when asked about Snow Robin earlier this year.That’s what I can say about children and life in answer to your question.’

Having seen his first marriage collapse in the late 1970s, Gibb seemed to have found contentment with Dwina. Central to their relationship was their highly-unusual sex life, which centred around the fact that Dwina’s preference was to sleep with other women, while Gibb was allowed a free rein sexually with her partners.Almost as unusual are Gibb’s personal habits. ‘He’s a very odd man, with the worst wig you’ve ever seen and a very bizarre relationship with food,’ adds the friend. ‘Robin eats very little. He’s very proud of being thin and will fast for days on end.’He was having this relationship with Claire, which he didn’t really try to hide, but when the baby was born all hell broke loose. Dwina was absolutely livid  -  it was pandemonium. That was taking the open relationship too far.’Arrangements were made for Claire to give birth in the private Portland Hospital in London.At some point, however, Dwina is understood to have decided that enough was enough, turning in fury on her errant husband and insisting that his ’second family’ were not welcome to live with her any longer.Robin instructed his representatives to find rented accommodation and hired a nanny to help look after Snow Robin and provide some companionship for Claire.Nevertheless, it has remained a fraught subject at home, with a former colleague of the Bee Gee saying this week: ‘Robin and Dwina have weathered the storm, but things will never be the same again.’

Now, Claire and Snow Robin are on the move again, with their rented home being put back on the market this month. It is unclear where they are going next as the Bee Gee’s representatives declined to comment when approached, yet there has even been speculation that the duo might be welcomed back into the family fold in time for Christmas.Unlikely, perhaps. But in the context of Robin Gibb’s bizarre life, stranger things have happened.

Little Joe’s refuelling on Starbucks, Olly’s manically tidying his room and Stacey’s cuddling up to someone very strange in bed… final week nerves inside the X Factor madhouse

Never has an X factor final been so close. But while the three finalists – Stacey Solomon, Joe McElderry and Olly Murs – genuinely seem to get on, tomorrow the gloves are off: only one can be the winner. Here, we reveal what this week has been like for the final X Factor three…

Last Sunday

Just two hours after the results show ended, judges and producers had a meeting in Simon Cowell’s dressing room to discuss the final’s song choices. Everyone was still in shock that Danyl Johnson had been booted out.Olly, who’d been convinced he’d be on his way, couldn’t believe he was still in; Stacey, terrified to be the last contestant voted through, was still jittery. Everyone commiserated with Danyl, and even Louis Walsh was surprised at how upset Simon was to have lost his ‘outstanding’ singer.After meeting family in the canteen at the Wembley studios where the show is filmed (next to a McDonald’s), the finalists returned to the X Factor house.

Monday

After all this time sharing rooms, the trio each have an en-suite bedroom to themselves. It’s no wonder they feel like they’ve already made it.The house, which will be sold after they leave, has a 63in plasma screen, a gym, a triple-height atrium with glass roof, a suspended walkway from the kitchen to the garden and a reflecting pool in the lawn. But since The X Factor moved in on October 5, the mansion has been something of a student crash pad. Floor-to-ceiling windows have rolls of paper over them to keep out paparazzi lenses.The tidiness of some of the residents has been chaotic. Jamie Archer was said to have been the messiest. His socks were everywhere according to Danyl, who had a fetish about everything being tidy.Olly has a collection of woolly hats knitted by his nan. He also hates mess and has one of tidiest rooms. Stacey has a Chinese fan on her wall with a picture of her son Zac, while a Casper the friendly ghost cuddly toy is on her bed for hugging moments.

I’m so at home: Olly Murs texts fans in his underpants as he relaxes at the X Factor house (luckily he’d tidied his room)

Vocal coach Yvie Burnett spent the working out the song edits. She made a demo of how each song should sound and started rehearsals. ‘If things don’t work out we ring the judges, they change it and we go with the back-up plan,’ she says.Choreographer Brian Friedman has already worked out how he wants the performance to look.Once a song has been decided, stylist Faye Sawyer gets to work on outfits. She goes shopping, calls in clothes, and gets the contestants to choose their outfits.As it’s the final week, the schedule is being disrupted by home visits. Today it was the turn of Geordie duo Joe McElderry and his mentor Cheryl Cole to visit his home town of South Shields, before appearing at the Sage Centre in nearby Gateshead.

Tuesday

Brian met up with the dancers at 9am. Still not certain about some song choices, he’s had to choreograph a couple of routines randomly, in the hope it will all fit.’I choreograph the full show, every single number, and it all has to be done by the Tuesday,’ Brian says.’We do everything we can to be as ready as possible by the end of Tuesday so we’ve got the rest of the week to sing it in,’ adds Yvie.

Surprisingly, given Olly’s clear love of dancing, the easiest to teach dance moves to has been Joe, says Brian. ‘He’s good with rhythm, he’s co-ordinated. His style is a little bit musical theatre, but that’s not something that can’t be worked with.’After him is Olly. And Stacey last.’ Not surprising, considering the excitement when Stacey managed to walk as she sang.’She’s not terrible,’ Brian says kindly, ‘it’s just that the guys in the final have pretty good rhythm.’Stacey took mentor Dannii to meet her family in Dagenham and perform in nearby Barking.

Wednesday

Brian met with the finalists and worked through their numbers. Ballads don’t take as much time as dance numbers. ‘If they are doing a ballad and are standing still, they might do a bit more work with me,’ says voice coach Yvie. ‘If they are doing a big dance number, they’ll go and work with Brian.’The final still felt far enough off for the finalists to relax in the living room, where there is a fish tank which, according to a gossip magazine, had four fish named Dannii, Simon, Cheryl and Louis. Simon apparently died in mysterious circumstances.On the back of a wooden chair is written the creed: ‘Achieve your dreams. Anything is possible. Believe! All love.’

All three enjoy playing Guitar Hero with its mock electric guitar console – a birthday present to Stacey from Dannii – and working off tension in the gym while looking out at the reflecting pool.

Suddenly there was mayhem. The paparazzi leapt to attention as a people carrier arrived at the gates. It was Joe McElderry, who smiled and waved. He got out of the car and came over to pose for photographs and sign autographs.It was Olly Murs’s turn to return home to Witham, Essex, with mentor Simon before performing in Colchester.

Time to meet the nation’s Press, and it was standing room only at X Factor HQ as the three got a chance to speak about the final.Stacey giggled: ‘I’m less nervous than usual, because at least I know I’ll come either first, second or third’; while Joe said: ‘I’ll probably hyperventilate before I sing, but I am going to try to put my nerves into my performance.’Although in previous series Simon has signed the runners-up, he warned: ‘Winning is more important than ever before.’There was also a rehearsal at the studio doing soundchecks. Yvie watched them. Who has improved the most?

Pleased to meet you: Joe McElderry greets a fan outside the X Factor house in London this week

‘They’ve all improved in different ways,’ she says. ‘Vocally, Olly has done really well because he wasn’t so confident when he started. I think he’s done incredibly well with his ballads.’Stacey has improved in terms of the power of her voice. She has a beautiful voice, but we’ve worked hard on the breathing.’Joe has become polished as his confidence has grown.He did quite a lot of vibrato, but now I think he sounds much more like a pop star.’Brian spent 15 minutes with each candidate running through their dance routines.

Today

At the studio, the camera angles will be worked out. The finalists will do further sound checks and the judges will watch the performance. ‘Anything they don’t like we’ll have to change,’ Brian says.On the way home Stacey, Olly and Joe may stop off at the Nando’s branch nearest their home, West Hampstead. Or there’s the unprepossessing Gate Lodge pub, with its sports TV and flashing games machines. ‘A lot of them have come in here,’ the chef says, though she won’t reveal her name, or any of theirs. ‘They’re very friendly.’

Tomorrow

It’ll be an early start for rehearsals for all the contestants. Joe will probably be up first. He is a frequent visitor to Starbucks, where he likes a skinny latte.He often brings the order for the others, according to Thaynara Dos Santos, 21, who works there. ‘They have all been in. Stacey is very sweet. Danyl was nice. Olly is the best – he’s funny.’At the studios there will be final rehearsals and wardrobe fittings.

The finalists will rehearse with the celebrity chosen to duet with them. Robbie Williams will perform with Olly, George Michael will sing with Joe and Michael BublÈ with Stacey.’The pressure rises to a fever pitch by the time Saturday comes,’ Brian says.’Once it’s over, we’re straight on to Sunday.’ Not for one of the final three, however, who will be voted off tonight.

Sunday

The two remaining contestants and dancers will gather at the studios. They have an hour to rehearse the ensemble number, with all 12 live show final acts returning to perform together.And what a show it’s going to be, with legend Paul McCartney as the star performer.So smiley Joe, dippy Stacey or frog-legs Olly? Joe is the bookies’ favourite but from our straw poll outside the house, Olly might just walk it . . . albeit it in a haphazardly crablike way.

Alton Towers to launch ’scariest rollercoaster ride in the UK’ dubbed the “psychoaster”

Alton Towers Resort is to launch “the scariest ride in the UK” next year, it announced today.

Thirteen, built on the site of the old Corkscrew rollercoaster, aims to combine physical and psychological fear and will be dubbed a “psychoaster”.The £15 million ride will be restricted to 16 to 55-year-olds only and visitors limited to one ride per day “due to concerns about emotional maturity and physical health”, resort bosses said.

Visitors will also be required to sign a waiver which assures the resort of their physical and mental health “to avoid any resulting lawsuits”.Alton Towers’ latest secret weapon comes after the successes of Nemesis, Oblivion and Air and will be based on the discovery of an unearthed ancient burial site in an area of unexplored woodland known as the Dark Forest.A spokesman said: “Visitors will be invited to take a petrifying ride on Thirteen, venturing into the seemingly living and breathing Dark Forest.”There they will face an unknown horror that has been unleashed from the ancient crypt.”Built on a burial site that is part of the original Alton Abbey, one of the main features will take place inside the unearthed crypt.Morwenna Angove, Alton Towers’ sales and marketing director, said: “This new ride will be a shocking, never-experienced-before rollercoaster and we’re excited that once again the Alton Towers Resort is able to offer visitors the chance to experience something unavailable in any other part of the world.”However, just as we take physical health and safety very seriously, Thirteen demands that we also consider our visitors’ emotional health, and as such we’re not afraid of introducing necessary measures to ensure riders are fully prepared and healthy enough to brave Thirteen.”The new ride took a team of 35 people nine months to build and will be launched in March next year.

Penniless tramp brothers living in cave inherit £4bn

They were so poor their home for the past few years has been a cave and they struggled to get enough cash for a cuppa.But all that has suddenly changed for hermit brothers Zsolt and Gez Peladi after their gran left them an incredible £4billion inheritance.The pair were told of their new-found wealth by staff working for a homeless charity who were contacted by lawyers for the mega-rich grandmother.And if £4billion isn’t enough, Zsolt and Gez have been offered more cash by TV stations around the world to tell their rags to riches story.They’ve even hired an agent, Zoltan Hujder. Gez, 43, said: “Deals for the story have been done all over…ITN, NBC, CBS and other television stations.“It’s an old saying that money breeds money, but I never knew how true it was. We haven’t even had the inheritance yet and already people are lining up to give us more. So many people are being so nice to me everywhere I go.”

But he said Zsolt is not too pleased about the sudden attention.Gez added: “He hates crowds. But when we got back to our cave there were TV crews everywhere.”The brothers moved into their grotto on the outskirts of Budapest in Hungary when their family abandoned them.They learned of their windfall after their grandmother, who lawyers refuse to name fearing claims from bogus relatives, died in Germany.On Monday, Zsolt and Gez will travel to the town of Baden-Wurtenberg where she lived to pick up the inheritance.They are to share the money with their sister in America.Gez said: “In three days it will be confirmed that we are very rich.”Their agent Zoltan added: “The amount is more than an average Hungarian can imagine. More than all of the people they know put together will ever have.”Zsolt and Gez can now put their miserable skint days behind them and start cavern a nice time…

Chinese man gets remote control stuck in bottom after drunk prank

A Chinese student appears to have been the butt of a somewhat strange prank following a nasty incident with a remote control.

Nineteen-year-old Huang Chen mystified medics when he turned up drunk at Hunan Hangtian Hospital in Changsha, complaining of unexplained pain from his rear end.While being examined, the tipsy student turned over in bed, and inadvertently changed channel on the ward’s telly.Astonishing X-rays later revealed that the teenager had a TV remote control lodged up his backside.Police say it was a part of a prank played by flatmates on Chen when he collapsed after a boozy night out.”We didn’t know what it was to start with. There was a little bit of blood but he didn’t say anything about a remote control. We couldn’t quite believe it when we saw the X-ray,” said medic Dr Wei Lung Zhi.”He will be fine in time but the remote was a write off,” he added.

Todays WTF

Thank God For Large Wives

Fat people suck.

I’m American. You’re American. We’re all somewhat American. If you want to fit into that super-consumer fat ass with a jacked-up gas-guzzling white trash mobile wearing your BBQ stained wife beater tank top that you bought at Walmart for a buck oh’ five, then FINE. Good for you. You’re a piece of shit.

What is it with fat white trash and their love for theme parks? South Park recently aired a hilarious episode about this and I laughed my ass off. Okay, their plot was more geared towards minorities, but still. Fat people infest theme parks. The last time I went I saw two- count it- TWO giantly fat people get kicked off rides because their FUPA got in the way of the safetly bar and it wouldn’t close. If you are SO FAT that the safety bar on a rollercoaster won’t close then just shoot yourself right now. Thanks for almost endangering MY life because you couldn’t resist the late night dollar menu at Wendy’s.

If ten orders of 99cent chicken nuggest just isn’t cutting it and you happen to be in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World, then why don’t you just pick up a genetically altered giant turkey leg to munch on? 

NOM NOM TURKEY LEG!

Seriously? Giant turkey legs? Aren’t those reserved for obese Kings of Old England that probably have the gout and rule over peasants? As fat white trash, aren’t you technically a peasant? You don’t deserve a turkey leg. No wait, no turkey deserves to have his leg nom’d like that as it’s bitter end.

Call Jenny Craig, get on a treadmill, or just WALK around Disney instead of driving those stupid carts, and lose the weight of that whole other person you’ve been carrying around with you most your life.

Eat a carrot, you fat piece of shit.

YOU SUCK.

here is another snapshot from my new upcoming book…it should be out soon:

“When Jesus said that He was the truth He was inviting people into a curious kind of relationship of ongoing discovery. The ancient Jews believed that truth was unfolding rather than something to be violently conquered or colonialized. It’s this perpetual rollercoaster that might begin with the scripture but is not contained only in scripture, it invites us into the awareness that the ride doesn’t stop there. It involves a lot of wrestling and journeying through mountains and valleys and on rollercoasters. It’s a red carpet being rolled out, yet, the red carpet doesn’t have an end…it continues on and on.”

This is truth.

Just a mix of real and fake.
Who knows what to believe anymore.
Sometimes its grand, sometimes it’s not.
You just need to take a chance.

Today.
Brand new day
One full of smiles and laughter.
The most perfect.

Tomorrow.
Another new day.
Maybe full of tears and sadness.
The least perfect day.

Who knows anymore.
Up and down.
Up and down.

Lets hope it stays up.
Continuously up.

Oh. My. Gods.

A while ago I posted an entry were I explained that I wrote a letter to Rollercoaster TV show on the ABC.

ELLIOT READ IT OUT!!!! I’m still hyper from it and it happened fifteen minutes ago haha

He even gave me a

Cool
Smart
Real

That is so awesome!

When people visit Disneyland, I don’t think they do so in hope that they will learn a valuable life lesson. I know I didn’t anyway. I went for the rollercoasters and the man in the giant mouse costume. And to get my grandmother on the runaway train ride (“It’s a slow one, honestly). She still hasn’t forgiven me for that.

Satan's minions.

In return for my hilarious prank which resulted in a lot of British children becoming au-fait with a lot of swear words that only a seventy year-old Parisienne could be credited with knowing, I was forced onto the infamous ‘It’s A Small Word’ ride. Karma also had its say in the matter and saw to it that the ride broke down, and we were trapped in there for nearly an hour. I’m certain that this hilarious chain of events played an integral part in my debilitating phobia of dolls.

However, while we sat on the boat and awaited rescue, I had plenty of time to absorb the message that these awful dolls were repeating over and over again. It is a small world. It seems overwhelmingly huge sometimes, but it’s not really. I say this with a sense of authority because, for the third time this year, I have crossed paths with the girl I was best friends with at primary school. That’s an impressive feat. It seems decidedly unfair that I never bump into Brandon Flowers or Brendon Urie when I’m wandering around, and yet people I don’t care for won’t go away.

One of the worst thing about being on Facebook is that ghosts from your past will add you on there, and then pretty much ignore you. But there’s some kind of unspoken law that dictates if you meet, you must converse. Fran is one of those people who has gone through the register from primary school and added every single person. Don’t get me wrong, she was a nice enough girl when we were both 6 years old, but fifteen years has driven a wedge between us, and we don’t really have anything in common any more which makes for some awful awkward silences in our frequent meets. I first saw her about a year ago, when we walked past each other on a street in London. It was nice to see her then, and to have a quick chat, but we both had places to go to in a hurry; cue lots of empty promises about getting in touch.

I bumped into her again (literally) in Boots on a nearby street about six weeks later. That was even more uncomfortable than our last encounter as neither of us had got in touch. A few half arsed excuses about being busy cropped up. Thankfully I was already in the queue waiting to pay, so our riveting follow-up conversation about the shampoo I was buying had to end. There were no promises of going for a drink this time.

I was on a train this week when it happened again. I sat down, and was reading my newspaper, when I got that feeling that someone was staring at me. I waited until I felt the person’s gaze move away, then looked up quickly. Yes, it’s bloody her again. She’s sitting opposite me. What do I do? This train journey is going to take 40 minutes – we don’t have 40 minutes of conversation between us. I decide to carry on reading my paper as slowly as possible, and try to drag it out for the duration of the trip. If she had seen me and ignored me, I can only assume that her unwillingness to get dragged into another uncomfortable chat about nothing was as strong as my own.

The next 40 minutes turns into an elaborate tango between the two of us, both desperately trying to avoid making the fatal error of eye contact. I become engrossed with my iPod, and start work on a new playlist. But then catastrophe – my battery dies. We’ve still got 20 minutes to go. I try closing my eyes and pretending to be asleep, but I’m so tired that I have a very real fear that I will actually go to sleep and wake up in Manchester. There’s 15 minutes left. I pick up my BlackBerry and start frantically responding to every unanswered email that I have from the last month. I have a look on Twitter, read some headlines on the BBC and go on Facebook.

The best part of all of this is that the girl and I are friends on Facebook. So when I have a look on there, I see that she’s updated her status:

Fran is on the train home sitting next to someone I don’t want to talk to!! Help!!!

Charming! But thankfully as I’m about to say something to her, I reach my station. I pick up my bag, drop my concentration and make eye contact. I have to say something now, I can’t ignore her. It’s time to put my A* drama GCSE to the test.

“Oh my gosh, hi Fran, I didn’t see you there!” I overcompensate in an effort to feign surprise that she has been sitting opposite me for the last hour.
“Laura! Hi! No me neither,” she gushes.

Awkward pause.

“Well…this is my stop so I have to go. It was nice seeing you,” I lie, as the doors close. Fran waves goodbye. By the time I get home, her Facebook status has been deleted. I find myself wishing that I had been as well.

Life – what a funny ride, really!

So today, I had work from 9am-2pm. Standard, nothing special about that. Straight afterwards, however, I was scheduled to go for a picnic for a friend’s birthday which was to be immediately followed by a nighttime endeavour for another friend’s day of days. Given I’ve also got work tomorrow morning, and not wanting to lug around all my clothes etc, I decided to just take my things for the evening with me at the start of the day.

2pm arrives, I’m in the changeroom – oh good lord! Embarrassment! Have I brought a pair of mismatched shoes? YES! Are they actually for the same foot, so I can’t wear them even if I wanted to? YES! Ah! Fail! Don’t get me wrong, had they been slightly appropriate, this wouldn’t have been an issue, but there was no way i could wear chunky black solid closed-in shoes with a tight and frilly dress. Not happening.

Alas, an emergency pit stop to Wittner, just across the road was required. Thankfully it was pay day today – not that I was intending on this purchase. Just as I stepped outside, however, new soles on the ground, CRASH! BAM! and pouurrrrrrrr….a thunderstorm! Crazy. And so, in brand new shoes, I ended up soaking wet anyway.

Eventually, I trampsed my way to the picnic (not the greatest break-in mind you) where I spent a lovely afternoon celebrating and eating with my posse, if you will.

And then! The day took another turn!

There is debate over whether facebook on one’s mobile is a good thing. Maybe it was a little antisocial, but come 4-5pm ish, I felt a quick check was in order. Well, wasn’t I glad I did?! Because, a congratulatory message had been posted on my wall, because of this:

http://www.mimco.com.au/Blog.aspx?CategoryId1=90&CategoryName1=Blog

Wahoooo!!! Oh man, what excitement! What joy! Brought a big smile to the face

Life is always unpredictable – today, it gave me a few giggles.

URL : http://www.flashgame-girl.com/Puzzle-board/Rollercoaster-Creator.html

Game description :

Are you a thrill seaker? Build a sensational roller coaster that will deeply impress your public. Collect all the coins and earn thrill coins by making your track more sensational!

Game controls :

- Select your drawing tool at the bottom of the screen.
- Use the mouse to draw the track.
- Press “PLAY” to test your track.

Disney's California Adventure

We had the wonderful opportunity to spend the day at Disneyland today and experience all the new attractions that Christmas time brings to Disneyland (as well as some completely BRAND NEW).  We began the day by going to California Adventure and walking around to enjoy the decorations, grab a coffee and hot coco at Boudin’s, and ride on California Screamin’! Great way to wake up in the morning.  We then trekked over to the main Disneyland park to catch one of the first shows from the *NEW* Disney Princess, Tiana on the showboat on the river.  The show was spectacular and got everyone excited for the upcoming ‘Princess and the Frog’ movie!

Princess Tiana and the Frog Prince

After watching that show, we hopped on the Haunted Mansion, which is always decorated completely holiday themed out and SPOOKTACULAR!! There were many shrill screams heard throughout the ride as well as an intense search for hidden Mickey’s. After being scared enough for a while, we headed on over to It’s a Small World which was completely redone to show the holiday spirit, and was enjoyed by all.  My favorite new part in the ride was the gorgeous different Christmas Trees in the different ‘countries’ throughout the ride.  The attention to detail was amazing, and we couldn’t help turning our head back and forth to try to catch all the details on each side of the slow boat ride!

It's a Small World Holiday

The night ended with the most fabulous display of fireworks I’ve ever seen (Disney seriously tops themselves every time I go) and a flurry of snow on Mainstreet!!!!  It was truly a magical night, absolutely perfect.  I CANNOT wait to go back and experience it all again!!!

Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle and Fireworks!

Husband and I are heading out to California tomorrow morning and we’ll be there until after the new year. I know Mom is certainly looking forward to our return and I’m happy to get out there to help her. Things have been very stressful for her lately. She definitely needs some respite and assistance as Dad has been quite the handful, especially today. He’s been incredibly difficult to manage with his raving hallucinations- he’s completely out of touch with reality. There’s no coaxing him back to the real world- he just lives in a world terrorized by his hallucinations. It’s crazy how this Lewy roller coaster works because yesterday he had such a good day and today you would think he needed to be in the hospital or something.

There’s a lot to be done while we’re out there and hopefully we can make some progress on getting things sorted.