Happy Halloween!

I would like to wish each and everyone if my readers a Happy Halloween! Have a great day :)

 

 

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My Monthly Reflections - October

 

The main theme this month was The Online World. As someone who spends around 6 hours a day online, this was something I thought I would enjoy writing about. I did enjoy it a lot. Originally, I wanted the whole topic to be non blog related, but this proved difficult as blogging has become a huge part of my online activity, so I think there may have been a bit of a cross over.

I also introduced a mini theme for the last two weeks in October. This was of course Halloween. I love Halloween, so naturally I enjoyed this theme very much!

I did get behind on my reading this month (both books and blogs!) so I have decided not to publish a reading list next month so I can catch up on this month's first!

Here's this month's round-up!

My most viewed posts (excluding linkys):

1. Everything You Need To Know About Internet Trolls - A Rather Sarcastic Guide

2. The Dangers of Online Bullying

3. The Dangers of Children on Social Media

My least viewed posts:

1. Blogging Bucket List

2. Facebook Review

3. Thought of the Day - Week 24

If you have a minute (and a cuppa!), why not check out my most popular posts, or show some of the less popular ones a little love!

What were your best and worst posts this month?

 

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!
 

 

Book Review: Little Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes

Time for the review of the second of October's reading list (have a look here if you missed it!).

My review of Little Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes

 

 

Blurb from the back cover

 

In a room above a bizarre German museum, and far from the prying eyes of strangers, lives the Old Man. Caretaker by day, by night he enjoys the sound of silence, broken only by the occasional crunch of a spider between his teeth.

Little Hands Clapping bring the Old Man together with the respectable Doctor Ernst Frohlicher, his dog Hans and a cast of grotesque and hilarious townsfolk who find themselves involved in a crime so outrageous it will shock the world.

From its sinister opening to its explosive denouement, Little Hands Clapping blends lavishly entertaining story telling with Rhodes's macabre imagination, entrancing originality and magical touch.

 

My thoughts on the book

 

I said, in my October reading list post, that I chose this book simply because the cover looked Halloweeny so it would be perfect for October. I had no idea what genre it was or what it was really about. I have now finished the book and I feel exactly the same.

I'm not sure if I have missed something, but the book centres around a man with no name and a Doctor. The man with no name delivers bodies of suicide victims to the Doctor who then eats them. The man with no name lives in a museum (I am yet to work out if h is supposed to live, is living there in secret or is in fact some sort of ghost) and somehow the exhibition makes people want to kill themselves. Again I am not sure if this is some sort of super natural power or if the exhibition is supposed to be that depressing.

 

Conclusion and rating

 

I think this book falls short of the mark. It could be truly terrifying. A museum exhibition wit supernatural powers that bring on suicide, an ambiguous man who lives there and a cannibalistic Doctor. However, it isn't scary. It doesn't even try to be. It lacks tension building and the descriptions of the death scene and the cannibalism are rather lacking.

I'm not sure if its supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek and satirical but it's not funny either. Maybe I have missed the point, but I really don't get this book. This is why people say don't judge a book by its cover. 1/5

 

Have you read this book? Did I miss the point? What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

 

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi! 

 

Halloween Party Playlist

No Halloween party is complete without some themed music! Here is my Halloween playlist!

1. Thriller by Micheal Jackson
2. The Time Warp by The Rocky Horror Picture Show
3. Black Heart by Stooshe
4. Monster Mash by Bobby Picket
5. Ghost by Ella Henderson
6. Lithium by Evanescence
7. Bat Out Of Hell by Meatloaf
8. Ghostbuster's Theme Song
9. Highway To Hell by AC/DC
10. The 6th Gate (Dance With The Devil) by D-Devils

I've tried not to be too cheesy but it's not easy with Halloween songs! I hope Evanescence and AC/DC redeem the cheese factor a bit!

What are your favourite songs for Halloween? Let me know in the comments :)

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

Stumble Upon Review

Ever since reading a post about Stumble Upon over at Domesticated Momster, I have been wanting to try it.

It sounds fun. It selects articles it thinks you might like and you can give them thumbs up if you like them. You an also add your own feed to the database so other people get to have your posts to rate.

Joining it has been sat on my to-do list ever since I read Trista's post, so when I decided to make this month's theme The Online World, it seemed like the perfect excuse to actually go ahead and join.

So off I went. And it doesn't support blogger! I find this quite strange because it's one of the longest running free platforms, but it could be a Google thing. So I will have to wait until after I move!

The problem is I promised to review a site I can't use. So what to do?

I thought instead of attempting to talk about a site I had never used, I would instead refer you to the original post that piqued my interest in Stumble Upon:

Using Stumble Upon from Trista at Domesticated Momster!

I will see you all there mid November!

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

An Interview With Georgina From She Might Be Loved

I have a very special treat for you all today - an interview with the fab Georgina from She Might Be Loved

Georgina is an amazing blogger writing about fashion, beauty and a little bit of everything in between!

She isn't afraid to give her real opinions on products etc which I love about her - if she says it's good, you know it's good!

She also models and is currently the face of Scarlett and Jo BBW Couture's Vintage Range!

Enough from me, I'll hand you over to Georgina!

Tell us a little about yourself
I'm Georgina and I'm a Plus Size Fashion and Beauty Blogger/Social Media Manager from Sheffield!

Why did you start blogging?
It's not a happy start to the story but I basically hated every aspect of my life and was bored out of my mind, so I started a blog and gained happiness and friends as cheesy as it sounds. Hence being called 'She MIGHT be Loved' as I was a pessimist, sure I could change it, but now I do feel loved so it's nice to look back on and remember my own journey.

What is your blog about?
A little bit of everything, but mainly focussed on fashion and beauty, I do travel, lifestyle and food posts as well though.

What are the long term goals for your blog?
Well it's already allowed me to get some amazing opportunities and a great career in Social Media Management, so I guess I'd love even more of them so I can do more and more blogging.

Any tips for bloggers?
Always have fun with it, the minute it stops being fun, take a break. If I hadn't taken breaks, and time off when I was overwhelmed, I wouldn't still be blogging.

Describe yourself in three words
Sarcastic, dramatic, funny.

What are your top three blogging essentials?
Notepad, paper, keyboard. I don't need much but a plan and inspiration to write a post! I guess now I'd say my camera as it makes life so much easier, but I could and do want to just write for days.

What would be your dream blogging assignment and why?
Probably reviewing Disney Land as I'm a HUGE fan.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
Ha, Disneyland, but probably Disney World as it's meant to be bigger and better.

Where can we find you?
My blog, She Might Be Loved, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!

Now show Georgina some love! Check out her fab blog, follow her on her social media and leave her some nice comments below :)

Thanks Georgina, you are fab!

Easy To Make Halloween Cocktails

I love a good excuse for cocktails! Halloween is the time you can go a bit mad with them! Here are a few of my favourite jugs, single serve cocktails and shooters for Halloween! Sorry there are no pictures of the actual drinks!

Jugs

Each jug makes approx. 1L (warning: these are pretty strong!)

 

1. Red Devil

175ml medium dry white wine

50ml Malibu

50ml Peach Schnapps

1 bottle of Old Mout Pomegranate and Strawberry cider

150ml lemonade (you can add more or less of this depending on how strong you want the drink to be!)

 

Mix all of the drinks together and use red berries (strawberries, raspberries, red currants etc) to decorate.

 

2. Green Goblin

50ml Blue Curacao

50ml Goldschlager

3 bottles of blue WKD

250ml fresh orange juice

50ml tonic water

 

Mix all of the drinks together, and add slices of green apple. Decorate with kiwi slices.

 

Single serve cocktails

 

1. Swamp water

50ml blackcurrant flavour Sourz

25ml vodka

1 can Red Bull (or other energy drink)

Coloured sherbert

 

Mix the vodka and Sourz. Very slightly dampen the rim of the glass you wish to serve the drink in and firmly press it into the sherbert. Carefully pour in the vodka and Sourz mix and top up with half a can of Red Bull

 

2. Black Heart

100ml cranberry juice

25ml Cointreau

50ml Black vodka

 

Pour the Cointreau and cranberry juice into your serving glass. Pour the black vodka into a smaller glass. Take a spoon and hold it against the side of your serving glass upside down. Very slowly and carefully pour the black vodka down the side of the glass and onto the spoon. If you do this correctly, the black vodka will float.

 

Shooters

 

1. Brain Haemorrhage

25ml cherry Sourz

10ml Baileys

 

Pour the Sourz into a 35ml shot glass. Fill a separate shot glass with Baileys. Place a straw straight up in the Baileys making sure it's not pressed to the bottom of the glass. Place your thumb over the top, and keeping the thumb in place, lift the straw out. Still with your thumb on the straw, place the other end into the centre of your Sourz. Slowly life your thumb until the Baileys starts to trickle out and form a ball in the centre. Make a ball roughly the size of a Malteaser.

 

2. Satan's Piss

This one is not for the faint hearted!

15ml Jagermeister

10ml chilli vodka

Tabasco sauce

 

Mix the Jagermeister and chilli vodka in a shot glass. Add a tiny splash of Tabasco sauce!

 

Happy Cocktailing!



 

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The Dangers Of Children On Social Media

Presumably, if a child is old enough to have a social media profile, they are old enough to understand the dangers of potentially being groomed.

If your daughter has a Facebook profile, you've talked to her about it. Warned her not to engage in conversation with people she doesn't know. That the 14 year old boy she is talking too could actually be anyone. So had these parents:

And its not just girls. Boys can be groomed too. Actually, I think it needs to instilled even more in boys. After all, they aren't going to feel very threatened talking to a girl. It is important to make them understand it might not be a girl. These parents thought they had done that:

Please ensure your children fully understand this. Even if it scares them. Being scared is better than the alternative here.  Show them these videos. They will probably think it won't happen to them. I'm sure these kids thought the same. They were the lucky ones!

Have you talked to your child about the dangers of grooming? Are you 100% confident they have taken it on board? Let me know in the comments :)

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

Anything Goes Linky Week 20

 

Welcome to the Anything Goes linky, week 20!

This linky is for any type of posts on any subject. Literally Anything Goes! It will run from 12.05am Monday to 11.55pm the following Sunday, so there is plenty time to link up. And if you link up early, feel free to pop back and check out some of the later link ups - you never know when you will find your new favourite blog!

I will be adding pinnable images to my #AnythingGoes Pinterest board, check it out here. I will also be tweeting out your links!

If you are new to linkys, Becky at Cuddle Fairy has written a fantastic guide on how to link your posts, which you can read here.

There seems to be some confusion about the "name" part of the linking up process. This is the name of the post (or the name you want displaying) rather than your name.

I would just like to say a big thank you to each and every one of you who link up. Whether you have been here from the beginning, linking up each week, or if this is your first time here (and everything in between), thank you for helping make this linky a success!

Featured post:

 

The winners (there was a tie this week!) of this week's #AnythingGoes People's Choice award are...

 

Motherhood: The Real Deal with Twitter Bitch: 10 Annoying Things You Hate About Twitter When You Are A Blogger. Read it here.

 

And:

 

Domesticated Momster with Bad Mommy! Read it here. 

 

Congratulations ladies :) Don't forget to grab your badge!
 

<div class="anythinggoes-peoples-choice-winner-badge-button" style="width: 318px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_9.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzlK-T9o0oo2UjtZHuHqqOjtYb1Wqho5OMW9fBPmbhi5_n-g-yPBNnwKyUPQXASsScLsUfG8jNczvQQUrnSXd11ohuo_-edlNSgw9ptUrnFqA3xXSxEJcrVDItLbTWVFtk5bscSdbGGY/s1600/AnythingGoes+winner.jpg" alt="#AnythingGoes People's Choice Winner Badge" width="318" height="240" /> </a> </div>

Now, onto this week's link up!

How it works

 

1. Link up to 3 posts, old or new, per week

 

2. Please add the badge below to any linked up posts - copy and paste the code below into the HTML section of your post.

3 Please read and comment on at least 2 other posts, but feel free to do as many as you want to! The more you share the love, the more love you will get back!

4. To keep up to date with what's happening when, feel free to follow me on Twitter @randommusings29

 5. Share your post's URL on Twitter using #AnythingGoes and tag me @randommusings29 and I will retweet (as many times as you want to!).

I look forward to reading all your posts! Everyone welcome :)

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_9.html" title="My Random Musings"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrP1K8WQ-TeV6jEYE3LinjjiafF89jOv40MseLzysG51MwWIt4iJyuCOI4TTm3J5zuEhdQK3dH1E5heF9NpnDv0iNHlpyYDJDzZPG5R1phIPT0FbhXEgssXfReigWzUbWyd5xuYhjEnSw/s1600/Anything+Goes+linky+badge.jpg" alt="My Random Musings" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

 

 

How To Spot An Email Scam

How email scams have changed!

Remember when all you had to worry about was an email from the Crown Prince of Nigeria? I mean come on, who would fall for that!? Even if for some bizarre reason he didn't have a bank account, surely he has contacts who have. Why would he trawl the internet looking for a random email address?

Anyway, generally speaking the scams of today are a little more believable. They are often made to look like they have come from genuine companies, banks, even HMRC!

And some of the links take you to a website that is a clone of the real one, so it looks real.


How do you avoid getting caught out? Here are my tips:

How to spot a scam

1. Check spelling and punctuation.
It never fails to amaze me that scammers go to all the effort of cloning websites etc then don't spell check their emails. The number of them that have bad spelling, lack of punctuation and bad grammar is shocking. If the email sounds like it was written by a 7 year old, but claims to be from your bank, it's a scam!

2. Don't panic.
Often these emails (especially the PayPal ones) tell you there is a time limit or they will freeze your account. Breathe! Ask yourself how likely it is that a company will freeze your account permanently because you didn't change your password, or enter your bank details quickly enough. It is not going to happen. If a company genuinely need you to amend details because they fear you have been hacked, they will have already frozen your account for your safety. Once you prove you are you and amend the password, the account will be unfrozen.

3. Look at what they are asking you to do.
No reputable company will EVER ask for your bank details to be sent in an email, or for you to enter your password in an email.

4. Check the email address.
I remember getting an email about being owed money from HMRC. The spelling and grammar was good. It asked me to follow a link etc. I can't remember the exact email address, but it ended in @yahoo.co.uk. As if the HMRC aren't going to have their own email! Some small companies might genuinely not, so don't assume it is a scam just because of this (more on this later).

Further protection

 

What do you do if you have checked all the above points, the email seems genuine, but there is still something a bit off about it?

 

1. If it is for a website like Paypal, Amazon etc, login in to the website to see if there is any indication there is a problem on the account. DO NOT do this via any links in the email. Open a separate tab and manually type the web address in.

 

2. If it is something like your bank, HMRC etc, call them and ask them if there is any truth to the email. DO NOT call on the number in the email. Some scammers go to extreme lengths, including a phone line which they answer with the appropriate company name. Call them from the number you have for them, or Google it if you don't have it.

 

Golden rules

 

1. Trust your gut instinct. If it feels wrong, ignore it. If it is genuine, the company will contact you via a different method if they get no response.

 

2. The most important one: If it seems to good to be true, that's because it is! These scams are very good at presenting something that you will want, otherwise, no one would bite!

 

Have you ever been caught out by an email scam? Do you have any tips to add? Let me know in the comments :)

 

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!



Thought Of The Day - Week 24

Welcome to this week's thought of the day (please excuse the rubbish graphics, PicMonkey was having a meltdown!).

 

 

Monday

 

 

Think with your head, feel with you heart, make decisions with your instincts.

 

Tuesday

 

 

Don't try to be something you're not - you are great the way you are!

 

Wednesday

 

 

Dare to be different

 

Thursday

 

 

Whenever you feel like shaming someone for their decisions, ask yourself what is missing in your own life to feel that way and work on that!

 

Friday

 

 

Everything happens for a reason, you are destined for bigger and better things!

 

Saturday

 

 

Be helpful, but don't take on everyone else's problems, we've all got enough of our own!

 

Sunday

 

 

Speak to others how you would be happy for them to speak to your children

 

 

Which one is you favourite? Let me know in the comments :)

 

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

 

 



The Dangers Of Online Bullying

Remember when we were kids at school?

There was always that worry that you would say or do something stupid and end up being bullied. Or that someone just took a dislike to you because you were a bit different and again, you ended up bullied.

Now imagine living as a teenager in today's world, and that fear is multiplied times a thousand. Where it's not just at school, but online as well. You could literally be a target of bullies 24/7.

You don't even have to be online at the time, there is always the chance that someone leaves you a comment or message.

I really think it is hard to win as a teenager. There are all the usual things - you are too fat, too thin, not pretty enough, too pretty, too quiet, too loud, too studious - the list goes on.

Now there is also that you're not on the latest social network, you don't have enough followers or friends, someone starts because you didn't follow them back. Again, the possibilities are endless.

But it doesn't stop at one comment. It becomes a constant written assault. Sure you can block them, but they will just set up a new profile.

You could leave the network, but why the hell should you have to? Plus then the bully thinks they've won and they will be even more obnoxious.

The people who hide behind keyboards to bully someone are cowards. Simple as that.

The trouble is, these kids are usually the ones people seem to flock to in case they become the next victim. Also, they only need to make one insult a bit funny and every kid in school is talking about it, and commenting on it, many of them not even thinking they are bullying someone.

Can you imagine how horrible it would be if every time you went on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, your email, or checked your phone there was people making fun of you, and calling you names.

There is no where to go to get away from it and not a lot anyone can do to stop it. Generally, if a parent steps in and comments, the child gets hammered even more. Schools are pretty much powerless to deal with it.

Of course, parents need to step up here. I am not talking about the parents of the victim here.

I have read so many posts about how to monitor kids social media to make sure they aren't the victim of bullying. Of course this is a good thing, and can maybe help stop it, but ultimately, it is the parents of the bullies who need to take action.

No one wants to think their child is a bully, but the fact is, some kids are bullies and those kids have parents (or primary care givers, I use the term parents for simplicity sake, but please understand I mean whoever has a legal responsibility for that child).

Next time you are checking your child's social media for signs they are being bullied or just a general check, check their comments to others too. See what sort of message they are putting out there.

If your child is bullying someone, take responsibility and take action.

Take their computers and phones away if necessary.

Work with the school and the parents of their victims to get it stopped.

Find out the reason they do it (often it is through low self esteem) and try to help them deal with the underlying problem.

It could be that they have jumped on a bandwagon and don't even realise they are victimizing someone.

Not only are you saving your child from being an obnoxious child that no one likes (fear of someone is very different to liking them, even if they have a large social group, how many people really like bullies deep down?), you are saving them from the day they get pick on the wrong person and get a smack in the mouth.

There is a very real danger that the constant torment can lead to victims of bullying becoming withdrawn and depressed and even becoming suicidal.

As the parent of a bully, you don't want that on your conscience or your child's conscience, so if you think your child is a bully, please step in before it becomes too late!

I found this video on YouTube, I have no idea if the boy in it was really in this situation of if it's acted, but either way, it is harrowing to watch, and shows how one little thing can lead to the whole school jumping on the band wagon.

Has you child ever been bullied/been a bully? How did you deal with it? Let me know what you think in the comments :)

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

Fun And Simple Halloween Party Games

I thought I would share a few Halloween games for you to play at your party, or just for a bit of family fun with the kids.

 

We used to play these at our Halloween party at the pub, with a few tipsy adults playing, they can be a lot of fun!

1. Suck it!

 

You will need:
1 chocolate bar for each contestant
Someone to hold each bar up
Someone to time and judge the game

How to play:
Get each person who is to hold the chocolate to hold the bar up in the air (make sure to unwrap it first).
Each contestant must place their hands behind their back.
The aim is to eat as much as you can in two minutes. The winner is the one who eats the most of their bar.
The catch is no teeth allowed. Each contestant must only suck their chocolate bars. Any biting or using their hands will result in being disqualified!
This game is more suited to adults and older children as it could be a bit dangerous for young children.

2. Mummy me!

 

You will need:
3 loo rolls per team
Someone to judge the game

How to play:
Contestants will get into teams of 4.
They must nominate one person to become their mummy.
They then have to wrap their mummy up in toilet paper, to mummify them!
The winner is the first team with a fully wrapped mummy.

3. Unlucky dip!

 

You will need per person:
1 bucket
2L of cheap coke
4 tins semolina
4 tins custard
4 tins baked beans
50 plastic bugs (you can find these in the pound shop)
Plus one person to time it and count up at the end

How to play:
Mix all the ingredients together in the bucket. It will look and smell gross but that's sort of the point!
Contestants have one minute to fish out as many bugs as they can find. Put an old towel or sheet down as it will get messy.
The winner is the one with the most bugs at the end of the minute, or the first to get all 50 before the minute is up.
Sorry there is no picture of this one, but I don't have half the ingredients to hand!

4. Batty bingo

 

 

You will need:
1 bingo card per person
A bingo caller
Something to draw the numbers out of

How to play:
Each contestant gets one bingo card.
Everyone stands up.
The first number you get, you sit down.
Last one standing wins.

5. Halloween quiz

 

You will need:
A quiz
Someone to read out the questions and mark the answers
Pens and paper (one per pair)
Glass jar full of smarties or something similar

How to play:
Get into pairs and answer the questions. One with the most points wins!
In the case of a tie break, ask the teams to guess how many sweets are in the jar. Closest guess wins.

You could write your own quiz and have a bit of fun putting it together. If you want one that's pre done, I have wrote one for you here, 


You can either play just for fun, or you could give little prizes away to the winners.

What games do you play on Halloween? Let me know in the comments :)

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

My Top Five Websites

I love the being on the internet, as I think most of you know by now! I thought I would share with you all my top 5 most visited websites. I am not including social media, my blog or email, or other people's blogs, otherwise the list would just be links to all my social media accounts!

1. Bloglovin' - I spend a lot of time on here catching up on my blog reading, although it has been neglected this week. I definitely need a good catch up this weekend!

2. Netflix - Many a day or night has been wasted on here. It all starts with the phrase "just one episode" and goes downhill from there.

3. Tweetdeck - I spend way more time on here than I would like to. It's a fab tool, but I hate scheduling tweets. It's a necessary evil though, so it has to be done. I do find it useful when I'm taking part in Twitter chats as I can see the chat, my notifications and my main feed all in one place.

4. Google - Even aside from email (which I said I wasn't counting), I spend a lot of time on Google. Anything I want to know, I start here.

5. YouTube - This is another one I plan on popping on and watching one thing and end up there for hours. It's even worse at this time of year. I can't resist all the amazing sfx make up tutorials for Halloween!

What are your most visited/favourite websites? Let me know in the comments :)

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!