Okay, so I know this post is going to seem so random (my blog is called “random thoughts” for good reason), but I discovered the most amazing toilet cleaner and I have to share!

We live in an area where hard water stains are the norm. For the past ten months, I have been trying to clean off the build-up in my toilet bowls. The hard water stains looked like an ugly brown coating the inside of my toilet bowl. It was just where the water line was, so above that was nice and white. It made for a very nasty look. Whenever someone was visiting and asked to use my bathroom, I emphasized to them that I really do clean my toilet. I cannot stress enough on how bad my toilets looked.

Anyway, I tried using name brand products that were designed specifically to remove stains from toilets. I would let those products soak into the toilet for hours, then work up a sweat scrubbing the crap out of it. The result? Maybe it would be less brown than before, but nowhere close to that perfect white I desired. Then I moved on to other methods people had told me about. I tried Coke, vinegar, and denture tablets. None of those helped. The closest I got to having a white toilet bowl was using CLR. This was a lot of work, though. I had to remove all the water from the toilet bowl first, then soak the CLR on the stain, and then scrub so hard that my toilet brush lost half of its bristles. The result? Almost totally white, but not quite there. Plus, the stains were quick to return.

So one day, as I lamented the nastiness of my toilets to a friend, she told me to go to Walmart and buy The Works. It was the cheapest toilet cleaner on the shelf, and I was feeling pretty skeptical. However, my friend had never led me astray before (plus I figured I was only wasting a dollar and change), so I got it. I poured the cleanser into my toilet bowl, let it sit for five hours, then scrubbed. The result? Gleaming white porcelain shining at me! I hardly even had to scrub, too. It was amazing!

So now, I’m on a mission to let everyone know about this cheaply fabulous product. I know this is kind of a silly thing to blog about, but you have no idea how much time, money, and effort I’ve spent on scrubbing my toilets. Now that I’ve found something that does all the work for me and is totally affordable, I can’t keep my mouth shut about it. They have other products (glass cleaner, shower cleaner, fabric refresher) that I now want to try.

So for any of you who have problems in those areas of your house, especially toilets, I’d suggest trying this product. See if it works for you as well as it did for me.

(Yes, I do realize I’m falling into the stay at home mom cliche right now, but what can I say? I am a stay at home mom, after all!)

I just finished reading Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James. If you haven’t heard of this book yet, I don’t know where you’ve been! 🙂

It’s been a top selling book since it came out a few months ago and is the number one book for book clubs across America. Part of it’s popularity is sprung from the scandalous content. A young woman, just graduating from college meets a slightly older man who is the epitome of success with his business. He introduces her to his secret of BSDM. That’s pretty much the entire plot right there.

This is not a book I would usually read – just not my typical genre. However, as I am in the writing industry, I make it a point to read the top sellers. Plus, I was intrigued. What about this book is driving the consumers into a frenzy? So I got a copy and read it.

My first impression was not too flattering. I am not impressed with lead female characters who are clumsy, and think they’re not pretty while every male they happen to come into contact with seems to lust after them. It’s a very unrealistic personality, in my opinion. Plus, even the most beautiful women don’t have every man they meet fawning all over them. I can’t explain why, but that little detail is such a pet peeve of mine. (Maybe because that personality was glorified after Twilight came out…)

Moving on. The more I read the book, the more I felt like I was reading a different version of Twilight. Girl meets guy that she is almost obsessively drawn to, he seems equally drawn to her. He reveals his big secret and she can’t tell anyone while their relationship hits all kinds of highs and lows. Just replace the big secret of vampires with BSDM, and there you have it.

While saying this, I must admit that Anastasia’s character came out more as I read the book. In Twilight, I felt Bella’s character was pretty much the same throughout, and I could see Anastasia growing and standing up for herself as the story progressed.

As I’m sure you can tell, I wasn’t keenly impressed with this book. But I have to admit that there was something about it that pulled me in. (And no, it wasn’t just the sex!) The author wrote Christian Grey’s character quite well. I felt he was dynamic and mysterious. EL James did a wonderful job of only giving out little snippets here and there about his past. It was just enough to have me speculating while wishing for more. It’s what kept me flipping the pages, and it helped me understand how Anastasia’s character wanted to be with him.

One respect about this book that is so different from Twilight was that the content is definitely rated R. I’ll admit that I was a little nervous to read it because of the BSDM, but I felt that it was tastefully done and didn’t push the limits. I think the most eyebrow raising aspect of the book was reading through the contract that Christian wanted Anastasia to sign. I learned all kinds of things I didn’t really need to know, but was glad to find that the characters didn’t actually do half of what was listed in the contract.

Of course, this is book one of a trilogy and the ending was definitely a cliff-hanger. I am invested enough in this story to want to finish book two and three.

So quick recap: Overall, I’d say the writing was good, and that I just wish there had been a bit more of a plot with a more original character. I gave it three out of five stars. While it’s not my favorite book, it was worth reading.

Knowledge is power, and even if you aren’t a power monger, knowledge is a good thing to have anyway. Knowing things can help us in our day to day lives and learning can give us satisfaction as something that interests us. In the past, the knowledgeable were considered very valuable people as much of the population has little or no education at all and educated people found themselves at the very top of society.

Nowadays, however, most of us in the modern world have received at least a basic education that would make us appear to be academics in comparison with our past generations. Just the ability to read and write alone is something that was revered in days gone by, although it is now something that we take for granted. Because we are so fortunate to have such a valuable ability, we really should try and make the most of it by learning as much as we possibly can.

Books

Books are fantastic. Books can teach us about whatever we want to know, or they could simply entertain us. Even when reading a good novel we are likely you glean knowledge from what is in the story. Even if it is a casual way of learning it is still very effective and the more books we read, the more we learn. Of course, reading is also great for our minds as it exercises our mind by making it think instead of having the thinking one for us. Many books, such as text books, are of course more of a collection of information rather than a story and are intended to teach more than entertain. Although some people may enjoy getting deep into a text book, those that don’t enjoy it so much can still benefit for the knowledge they gain. Without books, the world we live in would be a very different place today.

Broaden your Horizons

One of the best ways to learn is through personal experience and finding yourself in different situations. Because we live on such a massively varied planet there are almost a limitless number of things to learn and anybody will always find something that they did not yet know.

Get Out!

Try to travel as much as you can and as far as you can. Try to avoid package holidays where you will spend your time associating only with people from your own country, eating food from your own country and surrounded by culture from your own country. Try instead to holiday off the beaten track where you get to meet the locals and experience how other people live their lives. You could learn new things that you would not have learned anywhere else, and things that can be of use to you even once you have returned back home. People that have travelled far and wide are often wiser than those that stay closer to home, and have a great deal of information and experience to share with others. If you are somebody that likes to learn, travelling to another country could be just what you need.

Go Web Surfing – Solve a Problem, Play a Game

If it is information you are looking for, the best place to find it is probably on the internet. The internet holds a vast amount of information on any topic you could imagine, with contributions made from countless people from across the planet. With such a vast wealth of information at our fingertips there is now no excuse for not learning new things even if it means only spending a few minutes to learn one new thing at a time.

You could use the internet to solve a problem at home. You could use it to help somebody you know or to learn something that will help you professionally. You could even use the internet to learn just because you have some spare time and have nothing else to do.

Generations ago people would have jumped at the opportunity to be able to learn as well as we can today. It would be a shame to waste the learning opportunities we have now and we should learn at any given opportunity.

If you have the time, you could also learn to play poker and then try to win some money by playing others at www.pokerstars.co.uk

Selecting the right props is an important stage in the creation of a good television show. They are used by the actors to interact with each other and play a significant role in forming the style and feel of the programme.  The sofa has long been used as an item to bring characters together in a naturalistic setting, and is a piece of furniture which has become synonymous with some of the nation’s best loved shows. Here are a few of them.

Friends

The American TV programme that made a New York coffee house part of popular culture – as the show became a ratings hit, imitations of the show’s Central Perk cafe started to spring up all over the world. The sofa in the cafe played a central role in the programme as the place where Ross, Rachel et al would meet to discuss their latest trials and tribulations. This long running series was loved by fans from all around the world and this humble piece of furniture became an iconic part of the show.

The Royle Family

This great British comedy played with the idea of an audience sitting down to watch TV. The Royle Family invited us to sit on our own sofas in our own homes to watch a TV programme about a family sitting on theirs whilst watching their TV. Perhaps only the British have the sense of humour to see Jim as a role model!

Neighbours

Whilst sofas are seen in most of the houses of Ramsey Street, perhaps it is the one which stood for years in Toadie’s living room which is the most iconic. This battered old piece of furniture served Toadie well and, despite its condition and the fact that he is a highly paid lawyer, he refused to part with it until it fell apart. His attachment to it demonstrated the sentimental value an everyday object can have in our lives.

The Big Bang Theory

This popular US sitcom about four science nerds and an attractive female neighbour largely takes place in the apartment of Sheldon, who, it has to be said, is highly eccentric even by ‘nerd’ standards. One of his many quirks is an insistence that he must always have the same seating position in the apartment, claiming that it has the best acoustics, avoids the draft and allows him to watch TV whilst still talking to guests. He refuses to reconsider his position on the sofa, and this is where most of the dialogue in the programme takes place.

The Graham Norton Show

This popular TV show sees host Graham Norton inviting his guests to sit on the studio sofa to discuss their latest films, records or TV programmes, often in an irreverent manner. Unusually for this type of show, his guests are all seated together, side by side, instead of separately. By doing this, the programme cleverly generates the feeling of a relaxing chat taking place in your very own living room.

This article is brought to you by Sofa.com – providers of quality leather sofas.

[IMAGE ATTRIBUTION]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alebonvini/ – courtesy of AleBonvini

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollywoodbranded/ – courtesy of Hollywood_PR

So I love watching the news. I just like to be aware of my current events and, of course, it can always inspire a new idea for a book. But it seems to me that having babies has made me more sensitive to material that is shown on the news. For instance, on the “Today” show, they had a video clip of some parents at a laundromat. The father had been playing with his toddler and put the boy in the washer to play “peek-a-boo”. When the door shut on the child, the washing machine turned and wouldn’t stop until it had completed its cycle. Luckily, an employee rushed in, unplugged the machine and pried the door open. The boy had been in there for just over a minute. They took him to the hospital and he was fine.

And how was I as I watched these parents scream for help while watching their baby through the windowed door? Totally crying! Now, that doesn’t mean I was an emotional wreck or anything, but tears were slipping down my cheeks. The thing is, they reported the boy was fine before they even showed the video clip. So I knew everything ended happily, but I still cried. I know that’s not something I would have done before I had any kids. (Not to say I wouldn’t have been shocked or concerned by the story, just that I would have had my emotions in check and under control.)

But that little story is just one instance when I get emotionally impacted by a story. It doesn’t even have to be the news. I watched a show called “What Would You Do?” that had a similar effect on me. (Great show, by the way – I totally recommend it!) In one particular episode, it talked about a person several years back that had been beaten and left in the road. (This actually did happen.) Pedestrians didn’t even call for help. They all walked around the man as he lay bleeding to death. One person even stepped over him to load his groceries in the car and didn’t glance at the guy. The poor victim died. He could have survived if someone would have stopped to call the paramedics.

(If you don’t know what the show is about, they brought that story up so that they could do a more mild reenactment and see what people would do.)

Again, I cried when I saw that story. It was just too heartbreaking to me.

So I’ve come into a question as I’ve been watching shows and feeling terrible over the things I’ve seen in recent years: Am I simply more sensitive because I’ve had kids, or are people just getting worse? Who knows, it could be both.

So I guess the point of writing is blog is that I want to get your opinions about our society and what’s happening in the world today. Have things always been this bad and I’m simply having a more difficult time accepting it, or are we slowly deteriorating as people? Have our standards just gotten so low that it’s no big deal to see a man, broken and bloody, die in the street? Am I the only one to get upset over seeing that boy get stuck in a washer? I want to know what you guys think!

Note: By mentioning the story of the little boy, I’m not making any judgments on the parents. I think they’re traumatized enough by it to never do something like that again.