So this is what it's like out here

Well here I am after months of searching (and was in fact getting fairly despondent at the staggering number of rejections) finally in full time employment as a Journalist with an award winning, respected regional paper- the Essex Chronicle.

I'll never forget the day I got the e-mail with the job offer. How can I? It was the day,George Osbourne, Chancellor of the Exchequer stood in Parliament outlining the biggest cuts Britain has seen in decades. I am very humbled and grateful to my lucky stars, guardian angles, family and friends for this momentous opportunity to start building my career.

My new colleagues are ever so nice and helpful, because it is that kind of office where there is so much to be done among so few of us that we chip and help each other out. As a trainee, I'm still getting grips with the computer system, writing styles and various details. It's all coming together nicely.

It is nice to see the finished pages and know that your work is going to be read by the many thousands of readers across the region. Exhilarating!

Absolutely love my job and I'm working hard at it and always trying my very best. :)

I have moved to the town of Chelmsford, which is only an hour a way from my home, so it is pretty handy to get back at the weekends or whenever I feel like it and is a reassurance that no one is too far away just in case of an emergency (I've run out clothes to wear or money or something like that, nothing serious *touch wood*) I'm glad I've got my independence back and have fine tuned my budgeting skills. Ahh all I now need to do is to find another hobby besides shopping, reading and watching TV. Gym or an exercise class of some sort to keep fit- sort it out when I feel a bit more settled in my new environment.

Now for some healthy pasta salad... I need to find more recipes, can't keep eating green leaves for every meal!

Work has never been this much fun....!!

There are those people who pick a career because their parents are from the same line of profession, so it's what they know. There are those who go for certain jobs because of the money they could earn before they reach 35 and retire by 36. And then there are there are those who do what they do because they absolutely bloody love the job but earn peanuts or even less.

I belong to the last group of people. A newly qualified journalist, I take what ever media or writing opportunity comes along. I'm grateful to have such lovely friends who help me along the way. This time it was no different, thanks to a sweet friend of mine, I got contact details to help out at a music festival down in Dorset- Camp Bestival.

A family friendly festival, packed full of fun stuff to do and to top it all of you have superb musicians playing live music. "Cheer! Hands in the air!", swarms of people dancing, screaming, jumping up and down, the music coming through the speakers are so loud they make the ground vibrate.

80's Pop Band, Madness

Lulworth  Castle was a great setting for this festival. Not very many cater for children to enjoy camping, this was perfect. It was a great excuse for adults to act like kids and all at times after a few pints no doubt. There's nothing like cramming into a tiny tent with two fab mates, zipped up in sleeping bags so as not to freeze in the night air drifting and laying on solid, at times slushy wet muddy ground in a middle of no where.

No amount of money could buy that experience, unless of course if you had to pay for being at a festival. We lived on rations of bread, home-made sandwiches, some fruit, biscuits and water for three or so days, hadn't had much of a wash, true campers we were, baby wipes and deo for B-O.

With our all access passes we were roaming around the site after our shifts at the box offices, meeting and seeing new people. Most were dressed up in fancy costumes, there were many tents showcasing different shows and exhibits. From Skateboarding to Zippos Circus, book readings to dancing to DJ mixes. The walk around the site itself hurt every muscle in body, such a trek across each attraction and the longest route was always at the end of all the fun and dancing back to our tent, on the other side of the plot of land, in the dark.

I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people, I had a good time chatting to a couple of fellow journalists, working along side very funny, witty folks from Manchester and just random people at the event. The meeting of random people started from the moment I got to the Wareham train station.

A shuttle bus was meant to pick festival-goers and take us to the main gate of the event. There were several of us at the station waiting, no sign of a bus. A lady, don't know her name, asked a cab driver standing outside, he was no help but offered to take all 6 of us for the same price as the bus would have cost us. A fair deal, we piled into the taxi and off we went. 

For the next three days, there was not only work, but a hell of alot of dancing, feeling hungry, thirsty and tired. But oh-so much fun.

England are out and the world just rolls forward..

If you have been hiding in a hole for the past few weeks and or have not an ounce of interest for football, then England crashing out will not be a major issue for you.

I do not want to re-iterate the painful scoreline on these pages, but surely now the age old joke- 'don't mention '66 world cup' has been completely and absolutely ripped from our tongues. It'll be now the German's who'll be saying 'don't mention 2010 world cup to the English' for the next 4 or 40 years!? Well I think the footballers should do the decent thing and cut their paychecks by...say.. 90% and give the money to good use like the employment of graduates and TALENTED young people (even though I say so my self!)

Ahh well enough of the football for now, I've been scouring the Internet to find something interesting to write about.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/drunk-writers-were-better-sober-says-psychiatrist-2010053.html

Came across this article on the Independent website. Geez that means I have to start writing sober-damn, not so fun any more this writing malarkey (haha, kidding really I'm not much of a drinker and have never touched the evil drugs.

Surely no one could have believed that creative writing was indeed induced by the consumption of alcohol and drugs. One simply just has to look at the state a person becomes, generally after taking these substances on a recreational level. The individual most certainly becomes incoherent, unable to remember their names, let alone spell them. So therefore, they could not have been capable of writing incredible literary works, whilst intoxicated.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/minor-british-institutions-the-british-giant-rabbit-2008443.html

Hahaha, aww this is a sweet article. Giant Rabbits as pets, that's 50 quid well spent I think. I wonder if they an move about as freely as normal sized rabbits? what's not to say they are actually normal sized and the smaller ones are actually dwarfs of their kind?? Now I'm just being silly I know.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/28/ambassadorial-crime-sprees-foreign-embassy-staff-exempt-charges

I think this needs to be looked asap. Diplomatic immunity is being abused so much in this country, Why cant it be like in the TV series CSI, they seemed to almost always nail the sodding characters. They are clearly not abiding by the laws of the land, and don't seem to care about their behaviour at all. If the shoe were on the other foot, our embassy staff abroad would be done up like kippers, if found to have done something ridiculously stupid, like j-walking!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jan/12/guardian-50-television-dramas

Do you agree with this list? What would keep and add something else?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/oct/12/features.fiction

Great reads these lot, personally I've still got a fair few more to add to my reading list.

I feel I have to end this piece with a funny satire video, a cartoon parody of the worst song ever to have been aired to the public, the horror they must have felt coming over them when it started- ugh unbearable to think about it.

This link about William Shatnar, I'd most certainly never would have admitted in hind-in side- if I were this person.  The most cringe worthy of tracks released by this actor in the 70's was quite frankly horrid.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2009/may/22/television-television1

I'll finish by letting stewie from 'Family Guy' sing it in his squeaky voice. TTFN

Being at the right place at the right time...

How I have heard that line from my dad time and time again. Bless him he does try his best to console me when I get another soul crushing rejection letter/ Email from the 'lovely' people who are in a position to pick and choose and play 'Eany, meany miney mo' with our job application forms.

But it does make one think though. The quote I mean, what has a person got to do to be at the right place at the right time? I can spend three quarters of my life hanging around the cafes, restaurants and bars where high flying editors, media executives frequent. Would that constitute to being at the right place? I wish I had the disposable income to find out, but sadly no. I suppose I have to take comfort in the fact the people I have met while doing endless amounts of work experience have provided me with the knowledge to help in 'breaking' down the solid door that is the Media industry.

Being the media 'junkie' I am, I have.. well signed up on various social networking sites, twitter being one of them. I was trying to find some inspiration to write something and well, low and behold, the media guardian elf's posted this article link http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/26/media-workers-start-unpaid

With the current job market, in any field, in tatters no thanks to the economic slump, I figure the only way to get anybody's attention is to ask to work for nothing. And like the article points out, the 'who you know' attitude is still very much the ace card to be played during any interview. Name dropping; Self: 'Oh didn't I mention I know Piers Morgan?!' Editor: 'oh well welcome to our paper, can you start immediately??'