An Apology (That thing about having a writers block…)

Dear Blog readers, dear everyone else,

I was basically non-existent on this blog for at least a month, maybe two and I wanted to say sorry for that. I’ve been really stressed out living in a new place, making friends, catching up with university and that made me kind of have a writers block.
I still have a writers block but I wanted to make sure you knew about it! I also owe the girls and apology for really letting them down.
Right now I’m at a stage where I cannot find time to really do anything apart from uni work. I am constantly in the library and it really stresses me out. Thing is, I just don’t have time thinking about topics that I think would interest you.
BUT! I am trying to make you a promise. I’ll work hard on my uni stuff but I will also try and commit to this blog, to my youtube channel and to my Instagram account again. These things are fun to me and I WANT to do it, but I also want to make my mental health a priority and my heads been a bit crazy during the past month. I just prescribed myself a 2 week holiday and I am back and better than ever. Sometimes it’s important to listen to your body and your mind and just take a break and hopefully it will help me out of my writers block.
I didn’t want to leave this blogpost without any advice or content so here are 7 things that lead to a writers blog and how to get out of it…so it’s more like what you can do to avoid getting stressed about essays and that kinda stuff but it doesn’t sound as important…:D ENJOY!

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The wondrous, extraordinary, mind-blowing stages of writers block:

1.Your head is empty

So when the writers block starts kicking in, your head just stays as empty as the word file you’re working on. It starts off by thinking you just need a break so you’ll make yourself a cup of tea, if that doesn’t help, you’ll tell yourself you just need a nap or watch an episode of Downton Abbey to then realize you finished 2 seasons and are full on hysterically crying cause someone died (I won’t tell you who died, in case you haven’t watched it yet…it’s such a good show!). All of a sudden the day is already over, you ate a whole jar of Nutella and look like Cruella DeVille in her menopause.

2. The pressure starts

Stage two will probably start a couple of days after your failure to complete an assignment, an essay or a blogpost. You will wake up early, be really determined to start and so you do. You write about 500 words until you realize that what you’ve written doesn’t make any sense whatsoever so you’ll delete it all, promising yourself that better research will make the situation better. Therefore, you set off on an adventure to the library. WOOHOO! You conquer your way through millions of bookshelves to then be so proud of yourself for finding that one book that has everything you need and then…never finishing it. If you’re lucky you’ll half heartedly flip through it, only look for quotes that look like you’ve read the book when in reality you didn’t.

3. Denial

At this stage there is no turning back. You abandoned your social life – actually your life in general – you stopped caring, you started googling “farms for sale“, informed yourself about how to breed huskies and how to build sleighs to then check on the next flight to Canada – Not talking about my own experience in any way. You will deny you ever took any seminar, or that you have a blog at all and you will tell yourself there are more important things after all…your blog doesn’t really exist. It is some numbers somewhere inside the system of technology. It is not even real, because if you cannot see it, how can you be sure it is there? What even is there? Is it real? Are you real? Who knows, as far as I’m concerned I could be some laboratory experiment and they implanted everything I know about my world into my head… maybe I live in a matrix, maybe I’m part of a dream and it’s all about inception.

4. Accept you failed at life

Basically the end of everything. You accept your failure, you surrender.

(I have a thing for cheesy gifs, so let me have some fun..taken from tumblr)

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*Insert drum roll and dramatic X-factor announcement voice* Now you wanna know how to turn your life back around? Then read on!

5. Allow yourself an actual actual break! Not a procrastination break

Seriously, sometimes you just need to get away from everything and breathe some fresh air. Whether you just take a walk through the forest or by the ocean or get away for a couple of days. It will clear your head and give you a new perspective on things. Who knows, maybe inspiration will come to you when you’re enjoying a nice cup of tea in one of the cute cafes in your town you never got a chance to go to.

6. Take away the pressure

This is the hardest part if you ask me. How are you supposed to not put yourself under pressure when you have to hand in an assignment in 2 days. But creativity cannot flow if you’re under pressure, it just won’t work. Try getting a new perspective on things. Maybe change your approach on the topic you’re writing on – make it more interesting for you.
You’ll be fine but not if you keep telling yourself how dumb you are for not being able to write an essay.

7. If it’s not helping ask someone for help

There’s nothing wrong with admitting to people that you need help. In fact, it will give you an excuse to meet a friend and discuss what you want to write about. It seriously helps to get your topic sorted out and if you can explain your essay to others you’ll be able to understand it. They might help you by recommending sources or just be there as mental support! Don’t let them write for you though…would be kinda mean.

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There you go! Writers block isn’t all that bad after all. It gave me an excuse to write about it so that’s something. Let’s hope genius strikes me and my head lets me write something for next Friday. If you have any suggestions please don’t hesitate to message me on our social media!

Lili xx

Instgram: @castawayminds
Twitter: @castway_minds

PS.: To cheer you up, here’s this super cute gif of Charmander eating a Marshmallow and if that doesn’t count as and Apology I don’t know what does

Someone on tumblr made this! But I forgot who…

Types of friends you might have at Uni

Hey guys ,

New Semester has started this week for me, so I thought I’d write something about one of the most important aspects of Uni life : friends . Because yeah friends are the best thing ever and without them life would be sad. So here are some different types of friendships you might find yourself having when you go to a University or College or whatever.

1. The Uni Bestie

Your other half at Uni. You might have another friend you’ve known before and are forever best friends, or your Uni bestie is actually your very best friend over all, but at Uni nobody will top them.You two stick together whereever you go, hang out after Uni, go to Sports Clubs or Societies together and try to get into the same courses, so you can also study together. You can talk to them about everything from love trouble to what your old friends from School did to problems with your coursework. They’re just the best and you couldn’t be without them. Most likely your friendship will last long after you’ve done your degree.

2. The drinking Buddy

You’ll probably hardly ever stay sober with this friend. All you do is go out drinking and even if you just want to go for a quick drink things will escalate quickly and you’ll probably end up going home at 5am completely wasted. Nights out are always good fun with this friend, you have experienced the most legendary stuff together and they’re the one who set you up with all the people you met while partying. There are many times you lead deep drunken conversation from how much you hate your life right now to if they think your boobs are weirdly shaped. You can always rely on them to help you get home when you’re to drunk and hold your hair back if you need to throw up. Of course the can be an amazing friend during the daytime as well.

3. The course neighbour

Sometimes it’s just fate and you get along really well with the Person you sit next to in a certain course so you end up sitting together every time. You’ll start keeping them a seat and you have their number. You probably wont text them unless you Need the notes from the last lesson or something but still. They make boring courses super funny and you probably don’t really know what the prof is talking about most of the time because you’re too busy chatting. Of course real friendships can develop this way, but lots of times it just lasts as long as the course you had together. You’ll still say hi when you see each other on Campus but ultimately it will fade away.

4. The flatmate

Yep if you’re sharing a flat, it’s always better if you get along with your flatmates. The can be everything from the People you go out with, to the People you just occasionally make dinner and Play boardgames with , to your very best friends. Of course there will be lots of trouble, like disagreements over household duties or just being pissed off by each other because you see them all the time. Good flatmates can sort that Kind of stuff out though and become really good friends.

5. The Society/ Sports Club friends

It’s really easy to find friends in a Club, as People there will have the same interests as you . It’s probably more than one friend, because you always see each other as a group and you most likely will end up doing things as a group all the time. Sometimes these Groups only hang out together at the Club they’re in together or after, sometimes real squads develop who also meet outside Uni. I’d definitely suggest joining a Club or soc if you want to meet new people.

6. The first Semester friend

The friend you make in the first few days at Uni on the Basis that you’re both new and friendless. Of course it won’t always be a perfect match  ( unlike me, the first person I talked to became my bestie). You probably hang out together a few times, but you might be pretty different characters and you both make friends in other courses who fit better, so you Kind of grow apart after the first few months. You might still meet up later because you don’t really want to let it fade away as you still like them and they were a huge help getting through those first weeks, but it probably wont last that Long.

Yeah of course there are mixtures and waaaaayyyy more different kinds of friendships but that’s it for  now

Have a great day

Alli xx

 

Quote of the Week

“What if life could be this way? Only the happy parts, none of the terrible, not even the mildly unpleasant. What if we could just cut out the bad and keep the good? – Jennifer Niven; All The Bright Places

 

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October favourites

1. Wrapping up

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As weird as it sounds one if my favourite things to do in this season is to wrap up in warm clothes. Don’t get me wrong I totally hate winter and cold temperatures but I love that I’m able to layer up. Top, Jumper, Jacket, a scarf which is basically a blanket, a bubble head, cloves and all these things. I just love them. So despite me hating cold temperatures and especially snow this is a thing I have been loving since it got colder. Okay it also could be that I’m always cold and now I have an excuse to dress up like it’s -40 degrees. 🙂 Although I also have to say that the week I have been at Katie’s this month it wasn’t fun to walk around oninon-style because everybody took the mickey out of me and asked if I’m alright for walking around dressed like this.

 

2. Friends

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I know this sounds odd but this month it really showed me how important your friends are in life. To be honest with you guys I haven’t had the best summer because of personal reasons and basically the only reason I actually stood up in the morning, and not stayed in bed, were my friends. They always made sure to write me lovely message and tried to cheer me up. You always know that friends are important and you never should take them for granted but this summer life showed me what it really means with this phrase. And I know that these people who I mean in particular usually read my blog posts (and in case the other 3 girls aren’t reading this I’m mad at you for not reading my blog posts! :D), so thank you my love you’re awesome and I love you! Thank you for keeping up with my shit! ❤

 

3. Driving

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Damn, this month is a weird concoction of things I have loved and I can assure you it won’t get better. So yeah I loved driving this month. I had my driver license for almost 5 years but because my family always only had like big family cars I always was scared to drive. Like come on, you can’t sit a 5’3 ft girl in a massive family car, of course I won’t see a single thing! But apparently my father never understood that and pushed me into driving which, obviously, made me hate driving even more. But when I came home for my summer holidays my mum got her own little car which is exactly to the size of my liking. Its small and you easily can see everything of it even when you’re a miniature like I am. Since I had to drive to work basically everyday I start enjoying it. I used every opportunity to be able to drive somewhere. I even took the last chance to drive myself to the train station when I went back to Uni so I can make the most of it.

So you can see, sometimes you’re scared of something but once you tried it or you got around something it isn’t even as bad as you thought it is. I, now bloody love driving and if I could I would steal my mums car and drive around with it everyday!

 

4. Scotland

As I have already mentioned I went to see Katie for a week at the end of September and I loved it there, I basically didn’t want to leave any more. I already have been to Edinburgh once, everybody who has been there – what a god them beautiful city right?, but this time I went to Katie’s University with her and for a concert we went to Glasgow. First of all the scenery in Scotland is just breathtaking. Like how can a country be sooo unbelievably beautiful? I also, obviously, met friends of Katie and my oh my why are they sooo much nice then Germans – sorry no offence but it’s the truth… Like everybody was extremely welcoming and made me feel home right away. As you could have known from my blog post on Monday I’m quite a shy person so it isn’t easy to meet new people and feel comfortable around people, but I immediately did with them. It felt good to be somewhere where you aren’t judged for everything you do, or how you look, or what you wear, it was nice to just be me for a change without needing to worry what the others might think of me. I met people who play a sport for which you would be laughed at in my Uni and they took it as a normal thing to do. They tried to incorporate me in everything they did, which I know for a fact this wouldn’t happen where I’m from. And nobody looked weirdly at Katie or me for fangirling over Marianas Trench, whom we saw. They were happy and excited for us.

A lot of times I just wished it would be everywhere like this. A place where you don’t have to worry about who you want to be and what you do. People just accept you for who you are.

This took a dark turn, I’m sorry, but these are just my thought… I loved Scotland and I’m sure that as soon as I have the money for the flight together, Katie I’m coming for you again! 😛

 

5. Electronic free time

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This might sound weird, especially from someone who studies media, but lately I have loved to put aside my laptop, turn my phone on flight mode and just have some me-time. It doesn’t matter if this means I had a right pamper season or I just sat down and watched a chick-flick film or read a teeny book (and yes, I’m almost 22 and it’s still cool to watch/read this kind of things! Nothing against a good old High School Musical, Camp Rock, Mean Girls, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls or whatever season!). Don’t get me wrong I did these things before as well but lately I consciously put away my phone and I’m not checking on it every other minute. I find it very relaxing to know that I don’t have to care about the world or others for like 2 hours for a change. You definitely should try it yourself. Don’t look at your phone for the whole film or set yourself a timer to read for a certain time without checking on your new messages, Intagram pictures, Snapchat stories and new Tweets.

 

I guess 5 absolute weird and random facts for this month should be enough. Sorry if it isn’t you usual box standard favourites but that’s what I have been loving this past month and I hope you don’t think I’m a total weirdo for liking weird things like this.

I hope you have an awesome week and we will catch you hopefully very soon.

P.S. Here are also the links to other places where you can find us:

Twitter: @castaway_minds

Instagram: @castawayminds

 

Lots of love,

Jenny xxx

Best new punk albums

Hey guys,

GREEN DAY IS BACK and this is not a drill !! Their new album Revolution Radio has been out for a week and it’s not the only band who’s been gone for a while to release an album. I’m gonna tell you about the other ones in this blogpost.THE EXCITEMENT IS REAL, PEOPLE !!

Green Day- Revolution Radio

So after releasing the three albums Uno, Dos and Tres 4 years ago it became kind of quiet around the punk band from California. Revolution Radio came out on the 7th of October this year and the sound is in my opinion similar to the three albums before. I still really like it, it’s more pop and mainstream than their earlier music but still sort of punk and edgy. Billie Joe Armstrong’s significant voice still sounds as awesome as always. There are some rockier Songs (Bang Bang, Revolution Radio) and some quieter songs ( Ordinary World). It’s a really good mix and you should definitely check it out. Drummer Tre Cool, Bassist Mike Dirnt and Guitarist and Singer Billie Joe Armstrong still got it.

Sum 41 – 13 Voices

This great album came out on the same day as Revolution Radio and is equally awesome !! There are 10 songs of pure punk greatness on it. 5 years since their last album Screaming Bloody Murder was definitely a long wait, but now the five piece from Ajax (Canada ) is back and they sound better than ever !! Very high energy and very punk rock. My personal favourite on the album is War which is more on the emotional side.  Derrycks Voice is still equally great and gives every song this Special Sum 41 touch. You’re missing something if you don’t listen to it.

Good Charlotte – Youth Authority

This one has been out for a bit longer the 15th of July to be exact. It had been 6 years without any new releases of the band from Maryland ,so us fans were in desperate need for more.And we weren’t disappointed. There are 12 new amazing songs on the album. They sound fresh but still have the familiar Good Charlotte tune. In my opinion they sound more positive, but still punk with some electronic touches. They have songs featuring other artists, Kellin Quinn and Simon Neil and Sound great with them. My personal favourite is The Outfield, Life Changes  and 40 oz.dream. But listen to it and form your own opinion.

Yellowcard – Yellowcard

It hasn’t been that long since we heard from them “only” two years , but they released an other great album on the 30th of September. They sound as awesome as before. There are 10 great pop punk songs on it, which tend to be a bit towards alternative rock. Anyway if you like their other stuff you’ll definitely love it. My favourite from the album is Empty Street.

anywayyy we have lots of good music again so check it out and enjoy.

Lots of love

Allixx

Pics: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/green-day-are-back-revolution-radio-share-single

http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2016/10/07/sum-41-13-voices-new-album-listen-stream-best-new-music-review-deryck-whibley/ http://goodcharlotte.shop.musictoday.com/dept/new-album-pre-order?cp=81288_81289

Farewell

Meeting new people as a shy person

Hello you beautiful people,

I’m very sorry that I haven’t posted anything in like forever. So I went back to my flat because I had to write an exam, studied for another one but the night before I decided not to write it because there would have been no point in it because I barely know anything about it, then I had to clean the whole flat massively (I tell you there is a lot of dust if you and you flatmate aren’t there for over 1 month!), I met up with some of my friends that I haven’t seen since we all went home to enjoy our holidays (well sort of enjoying them when you have to work the whole time) and lastly I had to pack because then I went on holidays in Scotland i.e. I’m annoying the shit out of Katie ;). And finally I’m back at Uni and today started the first week of the new Semester, so I have a regular days again.

But here it is finally:

Meeting new people as a shy person. As you might could have guess from this long into, I met new people when I was at Katies and as you also might could have guessed, I’m a shy person around new people. So I thought I’m going to share my tips and tricks when meeting new people and make everything a bit less awkward in trying to give you and myself a bit of a prep talk.

So, meeting new people is always awkward for everybody. One of my main issues is always that I feel that I’m making a fool out of myself when I meet people. Start with the introduction, how on earth are you greet them? Like with just a ‘Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Jenny.’, just hello, a wave and hello, handshakes, hugs, kisses on the cheeks, nothing at all????????? Like what on earth is appropriate???? You can see I always feel very secure right from the start.

If you finally got over the awkward introduction of 2 people try two different things from the above and kinda meet in the middle, which looks even weirder that you can imagine, what’s next? If its a group of people you meet do you just join in the conversation and pretend your friends friends are automatically your friends? Do you sit quietly in the corner and join in with some laughters and approval nods? Or do you sit there completely quite, trying to get as little attention as possible? What on earth is the right thing to do?

How much do you tell them about yourself? Just the things that are necessary? As much as you would tell any other friend? Sit in the corner and pretend you didn’t hear them ask you a question? A selected amount of facts and things about yourself? Sit in the corner, cry and ignore everybody?

And when you leave your friends friends again how do you say goodbye? Do you hug them as well as your friend does? Do you just stand there say bye? Wave again and say bye? Run away and never come back?

As time has told me, there is no need in questioning all these things. Everybody you will meet is different and you never can use a certain schema on everybody. It always depends on the situation and people you with and around. Like I met new people were it was totally fine that I hugged them when I met them and for some odd reasons we behaved like we have known each other for years. And then there have been situations where my only thought was ‘when I can leave again?’. I think in the end there is no difference if you are a shy person or not, meeting new people is always scary for everybody because you never know how well you get along with the other person and what it will be like talking to them.

Of course extroverted people usually struggle a little less with meeting new people because they are out-going and, most of the time, like to talk to new people. But who says that they don’t get a bit scared either?

I think the only real advise I can give to shy people, like myself, is not to try to hide behind your shyness. When I moved to England and University, I basically knew nobody there so somehow I had to make new friends and if you want to make friends you have to talk to people first. Yes, it was scary and definitely not easy but it showed me that even though I’m shy, I can meet new people and I can go up to others and talk to them as well as every other person can on this earth. Your shyness is a part of your personality but isn’t something that should determined who you are. You can go up to the employee in the supermarket and ask how much the avocados cost. I’m more than sure they will give you an answer. You want to talk to that girl on the other table because she looks nice? Go for it, introduce yourself and start some small talk or ask her if she would like to work with you on this group-work. You see somebody with the same fan-merch, go to this person and ask if they like them and for how long and what other musician, people or whatever in this area the person likes. I bet with you 99% of the time the person will start talking to you and talk to you about it and who knows maybe this is even the start of a great friendship?

Sometimes we just have to straighten our back, hold our head held high and tell ourselves that we can do that. We can go this new person and ask them the question we want to ask them. We can do more than we actual think!!! You can do more than you actual think!!!

So next time you meet new people, don’t be shy and hide yourself, try to be confident (or at least fake to be confident) and talk to them. If you achieved to do so once, I can guarantee you that next time it will be easier and after a while you won’t even think about it any more.

Go out there and conquer the world, lovely people!!!!

Lots of love,

Jenny xxx

 

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Quote of the week

“I will never, ever regret the things I’ve done. Because most days, all you have are places in your memory that you can go to.”

– Me Before You

Our heteronormative society

Hey guys,

I just got a call from a lady doing a survey about society, families etc. The focus of the survey seemed to be on the representation and perceptions of the LGBT+ community. She gave me different Statements and I had to tell her if I agree, mostly agree or disagree. I had the phone on loudspeaker as my mum was interested as well. At the end of the survey the lady asked me about my sexual orientation. I was astonished and wondered if she was even allowed to ask that question, so I didn’t answer right away. That’s when my mum jumped in and whispered: ” It’s hetero, honey”. I looked at her surprised.

After that phone call ended I was upset and I didn’t know why. Then it occurred to me. My mum automatically assumed I’m straight. I mean I talk to her about boys every now and then and I say things like “this actor is handsome”. But is this reason enough to aotometically assume I’m hetero ? I mean what if I wasn’t ? I never officially dated a boy but even if I had, I could still be bisexual or pansexual and haven’t told her.It just made me think that if I was queer, I’d have to tell her and it wouldn’t meet her expectation. And here we have the problem of a heteronormative society. If people didn’t  automatically assume everyone is straight, queer people wouldn’t have to specifically tell us they’re not. By expecting everyone to be straight, society pushes people in a closet and forces them to come out, whereas if we just considered anyone could be LGBT+, telling others about it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

I’m not saying I’m better. How many times have I told my brother I’d make sure to be friends with his future wife one day, without considering he might marry a man ? How many times have I asked a girl I got friendly with if she has a boyfriend without thinking about how she might have a girlfriend ? Countless times. We’re so used to this heteronormativity, we have been raised to think like that. Or to not think at all. The lady asked me how often LGBT+ couples were featured in my schoolbooks. That’s when I realized there were none. Not a single one. It doesn’t look that much better in the media. While she was asking my opinion to different statements I started thinking about how even though I thought the LGBT+ community was treated rather well in our country, they’re still discriminated against by even the little things. From jokes about homosexuals, using gay as an insult to thinking children have disadvantages when they’re raised by same sex parents. Even though it seems society is getting more and more tolerant, it’s still a heteronormative one, that sees queer people as something strange. When I told a friend about the whole interview and my mum’s comment she was like : ” haha at least you’re mum still thinks you’re straight after getting so emotional about the topic” At least ? And if she thought I was lesbian ? Who cares ? Ifshe though I was lesbian or bi would that be a bad thing ? I would have to clarify that I don’t have the sexuality she just assigned me. Oh how terrible, telling someone you don’t have the sexuality they assume, we don’t want that, do we ? That’s exactly what we force queer people to do. She didn’t mean it that way, I know that, but still this comment had kind of a negative connotation. Same for when the lady asked me how I would feel if I had a child who had a lesbian or gay teacher. My answer: “Honestly ? I couldn’t care less.” To me it doesn’t make a difference, but to so many people in our society it apparently still does. I think if there was just an equal representation in schools and the media people wouldn’t be so scared of LGBT+ and see it as the normal thing it is. Until then lets just use words like partner instead of wife/husband or as “are you dating someone ?” Let’s not push people into closets anymore, Harry Potter proved it years ago : Nobody should live in a closet (That’s not my joke I read it somewhere)

Sorry just had to get that off my plate it really bothered me. If you want to share your opinion about it tweet us on @castaway_minds.

Have a great day

Alli xx

Pics: http://cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/quench/lgbt/lgbt-progress/

http://www.yourtango.com/2013188239/top-fifteen-gay-marriage-memes

 

Quote of the Week

“When you fight for what you believe in, you come across a lot of obstacles. People who don’t agree with you, people who agree with you but only some bits, people who delight in ripping you down, people who are threatened by the strength of your belief.
But I was beginning to realise, the biggest hurdle to overcome was the hurdle of yourself.”

― Holly Bourne, What’s a Girl Gotta Do?

 

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