This weekend was comedy weekend. And it was brilliant. I’ve been looking forward to it for ages. Friday was John Bishop, followed by Dave Gorman last night. It’s been nine or ten months since I first saw John Bishop on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and I immediately decided I had to see him on tour. Then back in January I phoned the Theatre Royal in the off chance there might be some Dave Gorman seats left. Fate must have been smiling on me that day as I got returned seats …

I warn you this is a LONG blog so I won’t be offended if you decide not to read it. If you decide to give it a go can I suggest you get yourself a cuppa before you begin!

As I start to look at what I want to do in my career next there’s a few themes emerging…
I live to learn. Learning as much as I can about a lot of things in a short space of time. I absorb information at an alarming rate. For someone who talks a …

Today I return from London again. It’s been a brilliant weekend. Apart from a slight concussion – I misjudged a low ceiling and have a bruised and painful head to prove it! 
The weekend has reinforced my thoughts about considering moving back to London eventually. Seeing so many friends has made me realise just how much I miss them. I also survived a weekend of more socialising than I’ve done in a long time without feeling shattered this morning. Though a weekend away from the gym has left me craving exercise …

If you’d told me 12 months ago I would be writing this blog I would have laughed in disbelief. But times change and it does heal too. Not to disregard all the hard work I’ve put into reversing the effects of being bullied and recovering from depression. The past few weeks I have really come into my own and the past fortnight I have not only felt like I’m back to being “Helen” but that I may even be finding confidence in some areas of my life I didn’t have …

Apologies for the recent lack of blogging. It’s not like me to be this quiet! Life and technology has stood in my way the past few weeks.
It seemed quite a few of you enjoyed my BT blog and as I was rather angry (understatement) about the whole situation, I am pleased to say we got there in the end and it has been resolved. However I dare say this is the power of social networking. For those of you that aren’t aware, BT has a Twitter account @BTcare and it …

I’ve just had another episode of dealing with BT and have written a letter of complaint to post tomorrow that I’m sure will end up with a reply of “we’re sorry but there is nothing we can do.” I’m fed up of run ins with BT so I decided to pen the letter I wish I could send them instead…
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BT,
You screwed up again. After our hours on the phone, back in 2008, I thought I’d finished with you. It was messy and tiring. You couldn’t accept that you had faults …

While my faith in bus services may be at an all time low, today a little bit of faith was restored in our trains. Or at least Virgin Trains.
Returning from a work trip to Warwick University (whose campus is deceptively nearer Coventry than it’s namesake) we had seats booked on a specific train. I’m not a fan of advanced tickets, as soon as I purchase one I know the gods are plotting a well timed disruption to ensure I miss the one and only service it is valid on. Lo …

From the over enthusiastic loud honk by the bus driver on a Durham roundabout this evening I can only conclude I had a near death experience. His subsequent over enthusiasm in hitting the breaks in non-life-threatening situations can only suggest I was lucky to survive.Yet I am grateful at this time of year for any bus turning up within a 30 minute window. Once the ice is gone and the evenings get lighter I can walk to and from Durham (aside from the event of the odd torrential downpour). But …

I have to admit that I am quite disappointed with my attitude these past few days. I’ve been all doom and gloom about the snow and missed out on really appreciating it for the relatively short time it is here. I can pinpoint the time I got fed up to when I waited almost an hour and a half for a bus that never came. This was last Thursday, the coldest day of the year. It wasn’t even the fault of the snow. It was the temperature. But that was …

Unless the predictions are wildly off, this Thursday will see three weeks of snow in Durham. Although I’ve been away for half that time I have been assured (moaned at) by plenty of people that the snow hasn’t disappeared from the ground throughout this time. When I returned on New Years Eve it did look like it might be making an attempt to thaw, but I woke on Sunday morning to a new thick blanket of soft snow. And it is proper powdery snow. The small amounts of snow I’ve …

Today’s ‘Five…‘ is photography. At the end of 2008 I bought a DSLR off one of my very best friends, @pirateboots, who decided I would make better use of it than she would. I added a Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens to my kit earlier this year and with the help of @GraemeWatson have developed (excuse the pun!) my skill and love of photography.
Narrowing it down to my five favourite images has been tough. It’s nice to have so many images that I’m proud of. Those that didn’t make it can …

I am an excitable person but tonight has been almost too exciting! And I thought I would share my buzz as I’m too excited to go to sleep.
It was always going to be a fantastic night as it’s the Strictly Come Dancing final. I’m just a bit obsessed with Strictly! In week one I wanted Chris to be out as early as possible, I wouldn’t have believed it if you would have told me I’d be voting for him multiple times in the final. Chris went from novice to being …

It is a beautiful snowy day and as I finished work yesterday I decided to go on a wander with my camera this morning. I love snow! Snow at Christmas is even better!!!

I’m feeling festive. I’m still very tired after the flu, but at least I’m out of the flat and able to appreciate the wonders of December. I’m still gutted I missed our Christmas party and the Durham Christmas weekend, but I’m making the most of enjoying all the everyday little bits of Christmas.
It seems like I have so much more time to take in the season this year. Of course when I was in Royal Mail it was the busiest time of year and until the final delivery on Christmas …

On Sunday I went along to see David Nicholls and Nick Hornby talk about their work and more specifically their latest novels. It was part of the Durham Book Festival. I can’t off the top of my head remember most of what they said, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and felt more confident about my own writing endeavors as a result.
Something clicked on Sunday night which made me understand why I’m so adverse to joining a writing group, or share my work with other writers in general. I can’t put …