Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test

I am an ENFJ. More commonly known as a Teacher. I love the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test. My sister (who is like 0.5% of the population a Mastermind) introduced me too it a few years back. As a salesperson it gives me a large insight in to what makes me tick. I've a rather wordy description of my type below. There are 16 types in total. Which are you?

ENFJs/Teachers are the benevolent 'pedagogues' of humanity. They have tremendous charisma by which many are drawn into their nurturant tutelage and/or grand schemes. Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it's usually not meant as manipulation -- ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.

ENFJs/Teachers are global learners. They see the big picture. The ENFJs focus is expansive. Some can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously. Many ENFJs have tremendous entrepreneurial ability.

ENFJs/ Teachers are, by definition, Js, with whom we associate organization and decisiveness. But they don't resemble the SJs or even the NTJs in organization of the environment nor occasional recalcitrance. ENFJs are organized in the arena of interpersonal affairs. Their offices may or may not be cluttered, but their conclusions (reached through feelings) about people and motives are drawn much more quickly and are more resilient than those of their NFP counterparts.

ENFJs/Teachers consider people their highest priority, and they instinctively communicate personal concern and a willingness to become involved. Warmly outgoing, and perhaps the most expressive of all the types, Teachers are remarkably good with language, especially when communicating in speech, face to face.

Face to face relationships are intense, personable and warm, though they may be so infrequently achieved that intimate friendships are rare. They do not hesitate to speak out and let their feelings be known. Bubbling with enthusiasm, Teachers will voice their passions with dramatic flourish, and can, with practice, become charismatic public speakers. This verbal ability gives Teachers a good deal of influence in groups, and they are often asked to take a leadership role.

Like their INFJ cousins, ENFJs are blessed through introverted intuition with clarity of perception in the inner, unconscious world. Dominant Feeling prefers to find the silver lining in even the most beggarly perceptions of those in their expanding circle of friends and, of course, in themselves. In less balanced individuals, such mitigation of the unseemly eventually undermines the ENFJ's integrity and frequently their good name. In healthier individuals, deft use of this awareness of the inner needs and desires of others enables this astute type to win friends, influence people, and avoid compromising entanglements.

ENFJs/Teachers know and appreciate people. Like most NFs, (and Feelers in general), they are apt to neglect themselves and their own needs for the needs of others. They have thinner psychological boundaries than most, and are at risk for being hurt or even abused by less sensitive people. ENFJs often take on more of the burdens of others than they can bear.

ENFJs/Teachers like things settled and organized, and will schedule their work hours and social engagements well ahead of time-and they are absolutely trustworthy in honoring these commitments. Valuing as they do interpersonal cooperation and harmonious relations, Teachers are extraordinarily tolerant of others, are easy to get along with, and are usually popular wherever they are.

ENFJs/Teachers are highly sensitive to others, which is to say their intuition tends to be well developed. Certainly their insight into themselves and others is unparalleled. Without a doubt, they know what is going on inside themselves, and they can read other people with uncanny accuracy. Teachers also identify with others quite easily, and will actually find themselves picking up the characteristics, emotions, and beliefs of those around them. Because they slip almost unconsciously into other people's skin in this way, Teachers feel closely connected with those around them, and thus show a sincere interest in the joys and problems of their employees, colleagues, students, clients, and loved ones.

100 things that make me happy...

I’m currently reading Dream It. List It. Do! Number 43 on their list is 100 things that make you happy (besides money). I’ve decided to list my 100 things.

1. My daily lunch time phone call to my Mother
2. Getting a lift from Dublin to Limerick on my own with my sister Caroline.
3. Going down the big hill near my house on my bike without braking.
4. Walking dogs at the pound.
5. Seeing Chris at the 37x bus stop.
6. Co-writing a project with Rebecca.
7. Reading Eoghan Harris’s article on a Sunday.
8. Talking politics with Dad.
9. Meeting up with Montse and her son Dylan at the playground.
10. Grooming the cat and getting out a knot.
11. Hearing Chris playing piano from outside the house as I‘m walking up to the house.
12. Getting photos developed.
13. Receiving handwritten letters.
14. When a big group of people sign a Birthday or “Sorry your leaving” card and the notes are personal
15. Listening to Roger Greene on the radio.
16. Happy and polite bus drivers.
17. Fleece PJ’s and big fluffy comfy socks.
18. Watching a great speaker at a debate.
19. Calling Graham “old man“.
20. Reading.
21. Days Chris doesn’t have to get up at 6am.
22. The way Mom/ Dad/ Chris takes care (aka puts up with) me when I’m ill.
23. When I see people running for the bus and they make it.
24. American tourists.
25. When my smallest clients get a big return.
26. When the underdog wins at the Oscars.
27. Drinking wine and watching anything from my sister Evelyn’s massive DVD collection.
28. When the really annoying neighbours kids call to the house to pet the pets!
29. Finding something I thought I’d lost.
30. Rambling.
31. New bed sheets.
32. Really good and really bad buskers.
33. Spending a day in the park.
34. When my cat Luna rubs her pointy little face in mine.
35. Watching Formula 1.
36. Fostering and re-homing an animal.
37. Watching old Boyzone video tapes.
38. Swimming on holidays (the gym is nice but not the same!)
39. Being let go early from work on a Friday.
40. Getting rained on (I have danced in the rain and I’ve no doubt I will again) whilst in good form.
41. Solving a problem.
42. The feeling I get after giving someone something they appreciate or need.
43. A warm scone with jam in the morning.
44. The kind of hang over that makes me jump out of bed at 7am and ring loads of people.
45. Red pandas in the Zoo.
46. Writing/ receiving a long email.
47. Never missing my favourite TV show.
48. Finding someone I thought I lost contact with years ago.
49. Guinness my step-cat’s truffle shuffle.
50. When Captain Jack my rabbit yawns, goes for a stretch or climbs on something way too tall.
51. Giving myself a french polish on the train.
52. Going to press screening of every Harry Potter.
53. Looking around Forbidden Planet.
54. Going to the cinema and saying “I interviewed him…” at least once… (other people hate this!)
55. Proving people wrong.
56. Having nicely shaped eyebrows. (Very rare)
57. Looking at Cars with Dad.
58. Good conversations with Taxi people.
59. Sleeping in general .
60. People leaving comments on my blog.
61. A new Argos/ Llittlewood’s catalogue
62. When Chris says seven.
63. Having Snoopy on my lap watching TV.
64. Listening to Stephen Gately Shooting Star on dubbing speed.
65. Live Music.
66. Comfy clothes.
67. Guinea Pigs chirping
68. Christmas.
69. My daily night time phone call to my Mother.
70. Watching football in the pub with my Bus Buddies. (haven’t done in a very long time)
71. Casey the dog being excited to see me.
73. Watching airplanes take off.
74. Colourful flowers.
75. Colourful anything.
76. Exaggerating.
77. Social networking.
78. John Barrowman.
79. Custody of the ipod.
80. Autumn.
81. Musicals
82. Bed sits and roof gardens.
83. Going to Mass.
84. 80’s cartoon’s
85. Romantic Comedies (when the guy gets the girl moments).
86. Science Fiction.
87. Suitcases with wheels.
88. When Michael from Boyzone gets to do stuff.
89. Hot Showers.
90.Limerick.
91. Being written on and posted places (Chris sticks stamps on me)
91. When people like my pets (impressed by Wigglesworth - his very impressive_
92. Seeing wildlife in the park.
93. Newborn anything.
94. Weddings.
95. Having tea in Navan.
96. Glitter.
97. Trick or treaters.
98. Entire family in an enclosed space like a car. Etc for long periods.
99. CENSORED
100 Making lists.

Lisbon - It's Simple.

It amazes me how both Yes & No camps have danced around the real issue of the Lisbon Treaty. Each adding to confusion. I simply don't understand why someone doesn't get up on a soap box and say "it's all about power - isn't it though?"

Why would we vote NO? Not because we are afraid our youngest sons will be sent to a non existent war or that our daughters will corrupted by the evils of abortion (all you need is a cheap seat on ryanair for that?) but because when in a position of power why would you choose to dilute it? If given a choice between having more or less control any genius would hold on dear to their all powerful position?

This is where the Yes camp is failing. The Lisbon Treaty is essentially about equality - sharing the power in a fairer way than lets say eurovision . The EU is bigger and better than what we first called the EEC - as the game changes we must adapt (a bit like introducing video refereeing). The EU has always tried to be fair and all members (including us) shared in the benefits of it's membership but no doubt in certain incidents we lost out. We've compromised on the smaller issues to gain in the bigger picture. If we vote Yes this will still be the case. There will always be risk and compromise - how successful can you be in anything without either of those controversial ingredients?

Now for a classy metaphor! All around the country children are starting back at school. Due to the recession a few students won't have all their books. Your child luckily though has been kited out with new books and a pencil case full of pens and pencils. Would you feel ashamed if your child who is in a better position than the child next to him/her refuses to share their textbook or lend a pen? They'll be right though? I mean that other child could take that pencil and never return it? Or smudge or write on their schoolbook? We all teach all children (as our parents taught us) to be fair, and share but do we practice what we preach?

Soon we'll go to vote again and I hope Yes passes because not only it is the right thing to do but the clever one as well. However if No passes I hope we're big and bold enough to stand behind it say yes we know we're being spoilt brats but thanks very much we don't want to lose our head start (we know that if your people voted they'd think the same). I don't think I could stomach another "Oh really? Oh I didn't understand it! I know it was explained three times over every day for months on end on TV and radio and I do have access to the internet as well and people calling to my house to explain it as well as leaflets but I just don't get it."

I prefer the rest of Europe think of us as ungrateful rather than plain ignorant.

Confessions of a Bad Girlfriend...

I'm presently reading Liz Jone's Diary ... how one single girl got married. Liz used to be Editor of Glamor and Marie Claire but is now the Fashion Editor of Daily Mail. I used to work in the Daily Mail and I used to sell adverts off the back of Liz Jones - "I love her - she's great blah blah blah" I'd lie. Of course I hadn't a clue who she was really. I'd a sheet with names I was expected to drop into conversation (I always raved about our Gardening columnist "his the best" I later found out he is a she. Lesson learnt - "know your product").

I only read one of her articles - it was bearable only because it mentioned her pets. I never read "You" Magazine on a Saturday (it does boost the papers sales though) because it only had English adverts (I only read newspapers and magazine for leads not enjoyment) now however "plug plug" it does have Irish adverts...

I picked up the book in the library last week only because they literally had nothing on my list of classics (yes I wrote a list) and I needed something to show for my trip (or to stop me spending money in Easons or worst Forbidden Planet on the way back home) so I went home with dating books, some chick lit, and a Dr. Phil book (see why I needed the list). To start off with I thought she's a bit like my perfect older sister who's rather fab, fashionable and has wallpaper encrusted with Swarovski crystals in her living room.

As I read on and on it dawned on me "Liz Jones ... how one single girl got married" is not a celebration of finally being part of a smug married couple after years of single living it's about how women sabotage themselves and their relationships with their needy behavior, unrealistic expectations and mind games. By Chapter 10 it was me mirrored in the pages. At first it was fun, cute similarities - she works in The Mail, owns 4 cats - one is even called Snoopy, likes guinea pigs, her boyfriend is younger and doesn't eat meat, football widow, complains at goldfish in round bowls in shops (it's distressing for them you know) and her pet hate is standing up eating without a plate (I once nearly broke up with Chris in our early years because he expected me to eat a bag of chips on a street corner in Navan - I told him it was common.)

Then I started to notice the less nice similarities - the word "negative" comes to mind and the phrase "nothing is ever good enough" or" high maintenance". We have a high divorce rate because of the Liz Jones of the world. Whilst confidence and successful her self esteem is dangerously low and therefore she should not date never mind marry. I'm only on Chapter 46 but I know she's not married anymore so it can't end well. Bridget Jones can be as dim as she likes... she's fictional...

It got me thinking about my own many bad habits. I've always viewed myself as not a saint of a girlfriend but a good solid keeper all the same! I'm starting to think I'm not that much of a keeper at all. Chris however is annoyingly a saint (except every now and then he accidently locks me in the bedroom) - he puts up with my expensive "pet rescue" complexion (I once maxed a credit card on two sick rabbits - they didn't even live...), I'll eat all the Rice Krispies and leave the box in the cupboard, I refer to him as "well trained" and say "the key is to get them young" when I boast about how he cooks and cleans dispite his daily 4 hour commute, I openly wonder if I'd prefer living alone in a bed sit furnished by Ikea, I've told him which pets and other items I'm keeping when we spilt (because no one stays with the fella they've been dating since they were 17 but yet I've pinned him down on an exact wedding date), I guess all his surprizes, I open Christmas presents early, I put Boyzone on his ipod, I'm doing something else this year for his Birthday (I'm going to Simply Red with my Dad), in general I throw a fit when I don't get "exactly" what I want (I steal all my ideas for movies) all the time (example the time he brought back Kimberly biscuits instead of Jaffa Cakes), I wake him in the middle of the night to get me a drink of water (I can't go downstairs in case there are zombies or ghosts) then complain I don't like the glass the water is in and perhaps worst of all when I'm home sick I blame him as the reason I'm in evil Dublin instead of Limerick where my friends and family and a career in radio is even though I love my job, I've plenty of friends in Dublin and seeing my Family would probably ruin our great relationship.



Chris protested all this - having read the last paragraph he says I'm being very hard on myself. I am lovely in other ways even if I'm very demanding it's worth it. Chris likes me because I'm focused, motivated, generous, intelligent and funny. That sounds more like a reason to hire me then date me. I figure I must be great in bed? I wish it was New Years so I could promise to be better behaved - I'll promise anyway.

Reading!

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? 

I've a little x beside the ones I've read - most before the age of 17? Have I lost my love of reading? Or just steered away from the classics? At least it's more than 6? Joining the libraby tonight! 

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen -         x

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - X

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte -         x

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling-X

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - X

6 The Bible - There are lots of bibles... x

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte -X

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell –

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman - X

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - x

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - x

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy –

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller –

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare-

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier - x

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - X

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk -

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger -X

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger-

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot -

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell-

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald -

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens -

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy -

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - x

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky -

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck -

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll- x

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame- x

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy -

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens - x

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis -X

34 Emma-Jane Austen - x

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen - x

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis -X (

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini -

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres -

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden -

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne -

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell - X

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown -

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving-

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery-X

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood -

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding -

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan-

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel-

52 Dune - Frank Herbert -

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons-

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen – x

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon -

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - X

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley -

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddonx -

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck -

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov-

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt -

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold -

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas -

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac -

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding- x

69 Midnight’s Children -

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville -

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens- x

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker - x

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - X

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -

75 Ulysses - James Joyce – x hated it though?

76 The Inferno – Dante -

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola -

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray-

80 Possession - AS Byatt –

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - x

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell -

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker-

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro -

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert -

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - X

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom -

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton- x

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - x

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks -

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams- x

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole -

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute -

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas - X

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare- x

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl -X

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo- x

 

Dribble really...

Haven’t blogged in awhile – have been busy in my own not getting nothing much done way. Quick recap on me:

 

• Went to Limerick last week to visit my sister’s lickle dog Sophie’s new puppies (very cute). Heading home again tonight til next Wednesday for another weekend of being treated like a Princess by my parents (all part of their “lure Sharon home” from Dublin plot) whilst “my friends” slag my Dublin accent shame.
• Been having really bad nightmares all the month of July and now have terrible bags under my eyes but have discovered the Cooling Eye Balm from One Cosmetics “8 hours sleep in a bottle”. It actually works!
• Back to WW’s – lost like 9 pounds. Figure I’ll gain a bit over long weekend but hi ho…
• Got started on the Buffy Season 8 comics, finished Sculduggery (kids book but I like it!) and am enjoyed TW’s Bay of the Dead.
• I got an iffy’s haircut – kinda lopsided but I don’t hate it so much now. Next time I get my hair cut I’ll just have to have an actually idea in my head of what I want.
• Really upset about Borders closing – my whole Sunday routine is up in the air now. No more strolling to blanch to spend too much time and money in Pet Stop, then Borders then Starbucks – perhaps a good thing…
• SNAILS – bleedin’ everywhere. I’m like a ninja these days avoiding them walking home – our garden has a really nice snail bush as well.
• I do love TodayFM… can’t decide if I like Facebook though.
• I officially hate RTD – argh his so rude (I hate rude people) I may well watch Supernatural as well as go to THE HUB 3 in October (yes well I hate RTD not Torchwood and I’ll never get a chance to embrace Torchwood of old again!) as GDL has been announced. This might set back my Cardiff at Christmas plan however…
• And finally do `I want one of Eve’s pup’s? Not really into small white fluffy things but aw a puppy is a puppy!

 Ps I love my new glasses?

RIP Ianto Jones

You should have seen me the last few weeks counting away the days (literally) until the 5 part series 3 of Torchwood - my one surviving and beloved TV show. I'm not one for soaps or reality TV - it's re-runs of Star Trex, Buffy, X Files and Angel or the odd box set of now defunct series like Battlestar or Firefly that I would have missed. Bit if a theme? Yes I'm a geek - I wouldn't achieve a high level of geekdom perhaps if tested but a geek all the same.

 Early last year the John Barrowman biography was given too me by someone in work. I like bio's but I didn't know who John Barrowman was. I didn't expect to get past the first chapter but strangely I intrigued. Not only was this man involved in Musical Theatre (I do love Jazz hands), on some Sci-Fi programme called Doctor Who (I do love Sci-Fi) but he was a force of nature so focused, positive and driven how could I not like him.

 Off I went to investigate Doctor Who and Captain Jack Harness. I might seem odd I didn't know too much about Doctor Who at this stage but in Ireland Doctor Who hasn't the same status as it does in the UK. In Ireland we have The Late Late Show or Bosco - only people living on the East Coast of Ireland could pick up the BBC (illegally). 

Pretty soon I was up to date on both Doctor Who and Torchwood. Torchwood in particular tipped my interest. I love Doctor Who but it's easy viewing mainly like enjoying a good Disney movie. I trust it's going to deliver. I know that they might kill Bambi's Mom but in the end that heartache will be forgotten and I'll have a nice warm fuzzy feeling. On the other hand I want the under dog Torchwood to deliver but I don't trust it will (and that’s somehow more exciting). I've thrown my hands up in disgust as much as I've punched the air with joy.

Character development in my humble opinion was always Torchwood's downfall not dodgy storylines about alien necklaces. Everyone was introduced but never explored. It was always a rush job - quickly tell loads of stories before we get cancelled. Gwen the heart of the Hub? She's the viewer's point of view? (No that’s Rose in Doctor Who?) She's caring and connected to the outside world - blah blah blah. Gwen was never the Hub's heart in fact the big mistake they made in Series 1 that made her so instantly unlikable was her affair with Owen whilst making puppy eyes at Jack. Ianto's character was more confused than complicated. He managed to catch a dinosaur on his first day yet Jack gives him a job making coffee? Cyberwoman (some people love it some people hate it) had no set up and no follow up. Jack is going to shoot Ianto for keeping his Cyberwoman girlfriend in the basement - the next time we see Ianto on screen Jack gives him a pat on the back for checking weather patterns. One minute Ianto is telling Jack his going to get revenge when he least expects it and the next his dangling a stopwatch. There simply isn't enough pieces of the puzzle for the viewer to get a clear idea of who these people are or what the want. All the relationships are strained or forced or simply misunderunderstood. In Fragments we take a step back and see how Jack recruited Tosh, Owen and Ianto. It was a show all fans loved. A simple bit of back-story can make the world of difference. Of course Tosh and Owen die the next day but it wasn't a waste. Now you cared when they died because you knew a little bit more. Killing them was harsh but fair. The show was sluggish - weighted down by too many people and subplots needing airtime. At least they went out with a bang and two amazing performances.

Watching Torchwood COE I thought WOW they've actually got the balance right. They have carefully backtracked. Gwen is better suited and better written as a kick ass action hero who’s happily married with the slight complication of a baby on the way. Bringing in Rhys for a bit of light comic relief was a stroke of genius. PC Andy though is still sadly under used. Jack is a lot darker which is great because being buried alive for a few hundred years isn't something you should take lightly. Ianto's puppy love for Jack feels genuine. (However Ianto's speech in the radio play "The Dead Line" was far superior to the "Bloody Beans" scene) The introduction of Rihanna and Alice brings a new depth to Ianto/Jack but are both pretty great characters in their own right. Ianto's Brother-in-law in fact stole the show for a brief few moments. Torchwood 3 has three members, that we are finally getting to explore, who are finally stable with great chemistry. The storyline is epic - creepy alien wants 10% of the kiddies while Torchwood is down but not out thanks too the dodgy government (the Doctor should of let Harriet Jones stay in charge we wouldn't of had a recession or 4 dead PM's and the year that never was). 

Another reason I was looking forward to this week was because I was going to see the new Harry Potter film (will post review after Irish Premier on Monday or link from my Film Blog) but that actually left me cold. I'll explain why in a tick but I'll say Torchwood cheered me up considerably after my disappointment. Then last night in my opinion RTD threw it away - he killed off Ianto. This not only made me cry buckets but also got me highly annoyed. His death was bloody useless. It hadn’t a scratch on Tosh or Owens’s death last year in terms of emotion. Jack didn’t even say I love you back? That’s so rude? Buffy was polite enough to tell Spike she loved him when he was dying to save the world?

Now we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You can’t bring Ianto back to life – it’ll be silly? But how is a S4 possible with just Gwen (who people were coming around to but now will just resent her and blame her for RTD killing off Ianto) and an even darker Jack with some tag along minor characters from Children of Earth or Who rejects like Martha. It’s like your in the middle painting something and it’s going to be your best work and then someone comes in and pours black paint over it. Why start again? It’s ruined.

The one good thing was at least it affected me and everyone I know who liked the show – the last minutes of the latest Harry Potter I should of being crying like my new puppy got run down but it fell short. It was limp. Torchwood was able to deliver that heart-wrecking blow that has me talking and thinking of Torchwood the next day. It’ll go down in popular TV History with powerful scenes such as Buffy stabbing Angel and sending him to hell or Jen dying in Dawson’s Creek not because the scene was particularly good but for the love of a character.

However killing off everyone’s favorite character whilst shocking and even interesting isn’t either clever or brave. Like Ianto accompanying Jack to visit the Alien to tell them “not one single child” without a back up plan or counter threat or the common sense to run for a suit or even to open the air lock to shot it might well prove to be a fatal move. 

RIP King of Pop

I love tv and film. I've mentioned before Music is not so much my thing. My first ever memory is my Dad bringing home The Smurfs. I don't know what age I was but I remember hugging his leg and I came in just about under his knee. I thought for the majority of my very early years that my Dad knew about a secret channel on the TV that made my favourite cartoons come on (I loved the bady muppets) and I remember being gutted when I got my head around the idea of a video recorder. My Dad wasn't magic after all he was the only one who knew how to set up the video recorder. My parents owned a chain of video stores when I was a kid so I always got to see the latest films first. I started helping out there at 11 my parents couldn't stop me from going in there and soon I was nearly full time - it was my own personal play ground. When I was 6?7?8? I came across Moonwalker the first video I liked that wasn't a cartoon- no one ever rented it. I watched it over and over and over and over with my legs crossed and nose touching the screen (no wonder I now need glassse). The thing had no plot I could follow but all the dance routines had me spellbound. Moonwalker being a film got me interested in music - if it'd been a tape or on the radio I'd of paid no attention. My first CD bought a few years later was Thriller, my first concert was Michael in the RDS in 97? I even had a poster with lip gloss marks? Ugh I think my sister kissed it to be honest. I'd completely forgotten all this until I turned on Sky News to find out Michael Jackson had a heart attack and TMZ were reporting he'd died. It was a different kind of saddness then when Heath Ledger died - then I'd been in completely shock and immediately gutted but with Michael it wasn't really shock. I wasn't been the only one to predict Michael wouldn't complete the upcoming tour. Then after a few days that fact that at some point I was actually fan hit me. I listened to Thriller when my first boyfriend dumped me, my sister could moonwalk (kinda) on the fireplace, and my Dad let me think my confirmation money was enough to buy us all tickets to go see him in concert - it wasn't! my Dad got them but pretended to me I'd bought them - I probably hadn't enough to buy my own but I remember waiting in line in Empire Records in Limerick with my Dad to get them. 

Michael Jackson was really dodgy and I don't know how history will judge him but I'll just remember I was a fan lucky enough to see him live. I might buy Moonwalker if I see it.

Who were you...

Do people change much after school. I had an old school mate around for Tea at the weekend and we dragged out the old school yearbooks to try and remember some faces.

Out of 90 girls in our year about 10 girls to my horror I couldn't remember at all. The rest of faces came flooding back with juicy gossip and some long forgotten rivilary. Once we had the faces we then needed to combine who was in what group. It's amazing how much like a bad American kids tv show we had "the quiet, nerdy girls", "the beautiful, popular girls", "the edgy, gothy girls", and then you had stand out individuals "the attention seeker" and "the annoying know it all".

Those beautiful, popular girls are still that - whenever I'm out in Limerick I see them - all still one big intimating group somehow taller, slimmer and better dressed than everyone else. They were the girls who had stepped out of a sweet valley high novel with straight A's, a gorgeous boyfriend in college and who's shirt collars were always chrisp, white and prefect. The gothy girls still haven't lost their edge I see them only on facebook living their bohemia lifestyle. The rest I don't see so can only presume or imagine what they are like.

What was I? A floater I think. I could wear pink floaty tops with light coloured jeans and then pottered off to Doc's but also could wear a velvet purple corset dress with too much black eyeliner and potter off to Termites. I was more a geek than nerd and managed to get detention a lot dispite being a good student and getting on quite well with the teachers. People still describe me with the same words "cuddly","nice" or "mad?". All these descriptions I hate but most people hate tags on their personality.

I find it interesting to think of people I work with as "who were they in school" - you can spot the ringleader, the follower, the loner, the nerd, very quickly.