Happy 2010

Frozen Britain

This week has been beautiful for a lot of people but treacherous for some, before I go on about how much I enjoyed plowing through the snow in my snow boots, let’s have a minute of silence for those who lost their lives due to icy roads.

The snow created frenzy on the news with weather reports every 10-15 minutes saying “Snow is 15 inches deep in Basingstoke with the temperature dipping below freezing at -5°C”. At work only about 30 people made it into the office and even then, I had to close early so as to make it back home before sunset. In all this, I took a minute to observe the weather conditions elsewhere in the world, in Toronto, Canada it had been snowing for over two weeks with temperatures below -15°C in some areas. In Lagos, the temperature was an alarming 34°C any attempt to venture outside would leave you dripping with sweat.

I suddenly realized most times our personal battles seem so big but when we talk to others about it, they shrug it off because probably at that time they are experiencing worse. It is difficult to look outside the box when going through difficulties, imagine telling a mother whose son was trapped under ice for over 20 minutes that her problem is not as big as the wife who lost her husband in a car accident. It is easy to tell a friend of someone else who is going through worse times, but who decides whose case is serious or not.

As we go into the second week of 2010, there is still time for a new beginning. Take a minute to show love to those around you who are going through tough times. You may not be able to solve the problem but you can listen and give encouragement, do not shrug it off as being inconsequential. The message to take into this year is ‘Do not give up, I can do it, Now is the time to ACTUALIZE all my dreams’. Put your thoughts into actions, build networks that are profitable and abandon those that drag you behind. In all, remember every journey starts with one step, followed by another and then another…

Personally, In 2009 one of my goals was to loose weight and I tried doing something about it but didn’t see it through. I realized that diets just do not work for me what I need to do is burst my fat through cardio and other multi-vascular exercises. So putting aside the countless times I started and stopped working out last year, my road to a more healthy Jamie starts now. I will chart my course here for you all to see and hopefully inspire others to do the same. I’m starting again on a fresh slate and at the end of the year I will not be shopping for a size 16 Christmas dress!

Now onto lighter issues, 2009 was a great year for entertainment and being a HUGE buff of all things interesting, take a look at my top 10 Movies, Series and Music albums.

Movies

10.Ingloriuos Basterds: Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt

9.  Moon: Duncan Jones, Sam Rockwell

8.  Star Trek: J. J Abrams, Zachary Quinto

7.  Up: Pete Docter, Edward Asher

6.  An Education: Lone Scherfig, Carey Mulligan

5.  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: David Fincher, Brad Pitt

4.  Slumdog Millionaire: Danny Boyle, Dev Patel

3. Time Traveler’s Wife: Robert Schwentke, Eric Bana

2. Avatar: James Cameron, Sam Worthington

1.  This is It: Kenny Ortega, Michael Jackson

Music

Susan Boyle: I Dreamed a Dream

Jazmine Sullivan: Fearless

Alexandra Burke: Overcome

Whitney Houston: I Look To You

Glee: The Music Volume 1

Alicia Keys: The Element of Freedom

Leona Lewis: Echo

Paolo Nutini: Sunny Side Up

Asa: Asa

Beyonce: I Am… Sasha Fierce

TV Series

10.FlashForward

9.  Private Practice

8.  24

7.  Waterloo Road

6.  House

5.  Glee

4.  Grey’s Anatomy

3.  Fringe

2.  Desperate Housewives

1.  True Blood

I’m sure most of you agree with my choices, back in 2008 Heroes would have been No.1 on my list of TV Series but surprisingly, if I was to go on to list my top 20 it would make the cut. I think the writers got carried away with the hype and fanfare that surrounded the first two seasons. The plot has become very dreary that I no longer have sleepless nights thinking of what Sylar is going to get up to next, a word of advice just get on with it, your viewers are bright intellectuals!

Well, that’s me done, time for me to put on my trainers and go for a brisk walk in the snow…Yay!

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