Taking it easy on the Zambezi

It’s not often that you can say you entered into a near-death experience voluntarily – that in fact, you read the disclaimer, thought to yourself, “This sounds highly unsafe”, and then proceeded to sign it anyway. The next thing you know, you’re perched casually in a pool at the edge of the largest waterfall in the world, deafened by the indomitable roar of the plummeting water, nothing but your desperate grip on a frayed rope preventing you from taking the 108 metre plunge that looms only a metre ahead. You’d think, in this situation, that your thoughts would be preoccupied with the immediate threat to your existence – if you had a hand on the magical Weasley clock from the Harry Potter series, it would most definitely be pointing at mortal peril at this moment. Instead, I found myself merely hoping that my bikini top would stay on long enough to get a decent photo. #priorities.

This is one of the more extreme ways to enjoy the wonder that is Victoria Falls. Spanning an impressive 1609 metres, the waterfall, known locally as Mosi oa-Tunya (“the smoke that thunders”), lies on the Zambezi River on its path between the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Another daredevilish sight-seeing option is the bungee jump off Victoria Falls Bridge, where thrill-seekers can hurl themselves 111m down into the gorge below. For those not willing to dangle precariously over the falls or toss themselves off a bridge, the National Park provides a safe, on-land opportunity to view the majestic, mist-making cascade. 

I have to say though – however foolish it may be – not much beats the adrenaline rush in the Angel’s Armchair. This experience is usually offered as a package of the Devil’s Pool and Livingstone Island Tour, but at the time of our visit the Devil’s Pool wasn’t safe for swimming, and so we went to the Angel’s Armchair instead. The tour of the island consisted mainly of squelching around in the mud, wearing some chic flattering green rain ponchos, half-listening to our guide and wondering how much longer it would be until we got into the water. Afterwards, we were rewarded for our reckless behaviour with a very tasty breakfast enjoyed on the island (they even had warm scones. And you know how I feel about scones). 

Ohh yes.

I visited Victoria Falls from the town of Livingstone on the Zambian side, named after the Scottish explorer who discovered the falls in 1855. Having spent the month prior to this working in an isolated hospital in rural Malawi, Livingstone was like NYC to my companions and I. There were shops! Bakeries! Nightclubs! Even a chippers - which, in true Irish style, we were to become well acquainted with on our search for curry cheese chips in the early hours of a Saturday morning..

The infamous Sunset Booze Cruise is a quintessential part of any backpacker’s trip to Livingstone. A boat trip up the Zambezi, a BBQ dinner and an open bar until the sun sets – what more could you want? There’s even the opportunity to spot a sneaky croc or two on the way, if the Zambezi Specials haven’t addled your eyesight too soon. A mixture of vodka, gin and whiskey with a dash of orange juice and some interesting illuminous green liquid, these cocktails focus on delivering the most alcohol possible, at the expense of taste and your stomach lining. Just what was needed to cater to the large amount of Irish students on board. One of our compatriots was on his second Booze Cruise of the week – an NUIG man, wouldn’t you know ;) – and he warned us that when the sun set and the boat turned around, the bar would close. We took note of this, and as we were chatting, we kept watch for the slightest change in the boat’s orientation.

The drinking games began. The gin continued to flow. The sun dipped down to the horizon. The boat began to turn. We flocked to bar en masse.

“Three Zambezi Specials please!” 

“I’m out of gin!”

“Ok, vodka Diet Coke so!”

“I’m out of vodka!”

“Ah, alright whiskey Diet Coke so!”

“…I’m out of Diet Coke!”

“AH JAYSUS GIVE ME ANY SPIRIT AND MIXER YOU’VE GOT!!”

Between 3 people. Oh dear..

A raucous rendition of Boyzone’s “Baby Can I Hold You Tonight” in the downstairs cabin is the last memory many of us have of that evening, before we came to hours later in the afore-mentioned chippers, on a mission to satisfy our carb cravings. My friend had ordered a box of chips, and was given a plastic bag to transport them home in. She took the bag, and, unwatched by the staff, toddled her way to the condiment counter, where, in her Zambezied state, she proceeded to pack the large bottles of ketchup and sweet chilli sauce from the counter into her bag. Nothing we could say could persuade her that this was unnecessary and that she should leave them for the use of other customers. She was adamant that she must bring these delicious relishes back to the hostel with her. Eventually, we came to the compromise that she would take one bottle only, and the sweet chilli sauce was reluctantly exhumed from the bag and left behind. She has since been diagnosed with alcohol-induced kleptomania. :P

We woke up the next morning, the aroma of gin imbuing the air, a lonely ketchup bottle lying on its side on the floor. Victims of the Booze Cruise, merciless at the hands of an open bar, we wallowed in self-pity and tried to piece together the night from looking at our photos. Some questions were answered, some memories recovered, while others – such as, “Whose foot is that?!” – remain a mystery to this day.

Alcohol and chips were not the only luxury our newly beloved metropolis had to offer, however. A slightly more gourmet experience was our Afternoon Tea at the Royal Livingstone Hotel. The Royal Livingstone is a five-star hotel situated on the Zambezi outside of the town, near the head of the Falls. With its marble foyer and rolling grounds casually populated by wild zebra and antelope, it’s not the usual type of establishment frequented by grubby backpackers, but we had heard good things from friends who had been in Livingstone before us. And so we scrubbed the dust from every crack and crevice and donned our finest gear (/only remaining clean clothes that weren’t Africa pants) and headed off to Afternoon Tea.

A traditional singing group serenaded us while we made our wary entrance to the hotel, feeling just a tad out of place as valets delivered BMWs to the door and suitcases larger than our bodies were lugged to and fro. Having subsisted on a diet of rice and beans for four weeks, our bellies were crying out for something a little extravagant – well, we were in the right place. As bountiful as a table at a Hogwarts feast, a lavish spread of cakes, quiches, sandwiches, tarts, petit-fours and scones was laid out before us in a buffet style banquet. 

Wait - buffet?! We panicked. Tea had started half an hour ago, and we assumed that once a certain tray of treats was empty, it would not be refilled. So we grabbed our plates and hastened to fill them with one of almost everything on the buffet, lest we miss out on a single delectable morsel. Some of the other patrons cast amused looks at our loaded plates as we lugged them back to our table. We merely laughed and congratulated ourselves on our impressive hauls. Those fools with only the one egg and watercress sandwich on their paltry platters! How sorry they would be when they realised they’d missed out on the last of the strawberry tartlets. And smugly, we sat back and scoffed down.

Moments later, the doors to the kitchen swung open, and a host of polished waiters appeared, pushing trolleys of food to refill the trays that had been so brutally ransacked by the invading Irish. The strawberry tartlets were replenished. The egg and watercress sandwiches were overflowing. We exchanged sheepish looks. And wondered if it would be acceptable to go and get one of those new chocolate pastries that had appeared..

A few hours later, when the pain in our stomachs had finally subsided, we sat by the river, sipping cocktails and watching the sun on its diminuendo colour the coursing waters coral. There is a quote by Ernest Hemingway written on a wall in the dining room of the Royal Livingstone; “I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke that I was not happy”. And we agreed that, even on the gin-scented mornings, even on the days that dawned on dozens of new mosquito bites, our time in Livingstone – and indeed, our trip as a whole – was the very same. 

Berlin in brief

Christmas 2014.
The first time since coming to university that I didn't have Christmas exams, meaning that I could enjoy the run up to the holidays properly for a change. My housemates and I were in full Christmas mode. Fairy lights bedecked our living room, Hark Hear the Bells became our apartment anthem and Christmas jumpers were daily attire. But despite the spirit of the holidays flourishing inside our flat, something was missing outside..
Let's face it - the Christmas markets in Ireland are rather disappointing. The Docklands Festival was the best offering in recent years, but it was overpriced and lacking in atmosphere. The arrival of a host of wooden huts at St Stephen's Green last Christmas got my hopes up - a much better location and stalls that were actually festively decorated. Four hotdog stands and a Wok 'n' Roll later, my hopes were quenched. My Yuletide yearnings remained unsatisfied. 

The solution to my problem was clear - to get that Christmas kick I so craved, I'd have to travel to the motherland of the Christmas market - Germany. Berlin was a city I'd long wanted to visit, ever since I'd missed it on my inter-railing trip around East Europe four years ago. My boyfriend - although attracted more by the prospect of well-stocked record stores than mulled wine - had a similar desire, and so in the first week of our Christmas holidays, off we went to Berlin.

The markets did not disappoint. They were fabulous, from the lights, the stalls, the produce and the sheer amount of them - we visited three different ones, each far beyond anything we've had here in Dublin, and still there were plenty we didn't make it to. 
We drank mulled wine. We ate roast chestnuts. We zoomed down an icy hill on a rubber tire. 

The Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt.

Delectable goodies on all sides..

 ..none more delectable than the Gluhwein, of course ;)

I'd have been satisfied by just visiting these markets and heading back to Ireland with a box of Vanillekipferl and my souvenir Gluhwein mug in tow. But Berlin has so much more to offer, and so we dragged ourselves away from the Christmas markets long enough to take in some of the other tourist attractions too.

I would highly recommend a visit to the Reichstag Dome. Set on the roof of the parlimentary buildings, you get a fantastic view across the city, and the Dome itself is spectacular. It requires booking in advance, but it's free (we love free things) and you get an audio guide to listen to as you walk in a spiral up the side of the Dome. The officials are a tad scary though. Eye contact discouraged.

We took in a 3 hour walking tour on our first day, which unfortunately also happened to be the coldest day of our trip (an emergency pit stop in H&M for wooly socks and gloves had to be made). There are all sorts of tours you can do, but we opted for the classic historical one with Sandeman's. This is also advertised as free, but really you're expected to give a donation of around €10, which is actually very reasonable given the length of the tour and the knowledge of the guides. The tour is not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it's extremely interesting and a great way to get an overview of the history of the city.

Pariser Platz, with Brandenburg Gate in the background

The Jewish Holocaust Memorial

Remnants of the Berlin Wall

We also visited the East Side Gallery, where the remains of the Wall are far more cheerful than those pictured above, and Museum Island, where a student ticket costs just €9 and gets you entry to four amazing museums. 

A section of the artwork at the East Side Gallery.

Renoir - Summertime at Alte Nationalgalerie

Sarcophagi at Neues Museum

Carved lions at the Pergamonmuseum

Of course, I couldn't do this post without talking about the food. Berlin is brimming with excellent restaurants and street food markets - but I think I'll let the photos do the talking here ;) There are some great Berlin food blogs you can consult if you need inspiration or want to find a particular type of cuisine - try Foodie Berlin and Berlin Food Stories.

Taiwanese bao and Berlin Balls at Street Food Thursday in Markthalle Neun, which boasts an impressive array of food stalls, each more delectable than the last. Decision-making at its most challenging.

Vietnamese pho at District Mot in Mitte

Baked pumpkin and potato with cranberry cream cheese at Neue Heimat 

Chocolate schnecke from Zeit Fur Brot

Brunch at Barcomi's Deli

No trip away would be complete without finding a scone and soy cappuccino..

I like to sample the local cuisine whenever I travel. But I'm going to be honest with you here - I'm not the biggest fan of sausage.

Now now, stop that, you dirty-minded divils. ;)
I'm not the type to wake up after a night on the Morgans and crave a dirty sausie sambo. Superquinn never won me over with their celebrated cylindrical sizzlers. 
But there's something about a juicy Berlin bratwurst that beggars belief..

Succulent, delicately spiced, served on fresh bread rolls to a pair of very cold, hungry Irish tourists.. It was sensational. It's not something that I would eat every day (certainly not now that I've gone vegetarian :P), but I couldn't go to Berlin and not sample this traditional cuisine.

In the same way, I felt I couldn't go to Berlin and not sample the traditional nightlife. Those of you who are into the dance scene will be aware that Berlin is revered as the current techno capital of the world. It's home to some world-famous clubs like Berghain and Tresor, where top techno DJs like Ben Klock and Marcel Dettman are residents and which are notorious for their strict door policy. Tips for getting in include: Don't speak in the line. Don't be too drunk. Don't go up in a group with more than 2 boys. Don't be a tourist. Not a lot to ask now, is it?
We were there mid-week, meaning most clubs were shut until the weekend, but Tale Of Us were playing in one of the large clubs, Watergate, on the Wednesday night. We decided to chance our arms at getting in. Sure, two pale, ginger(ish) Irish people, with a bottle of wine downed on the U-Bahn and not a word of German between them - what could go wrong?
We joined the queue around midnight, watching nervously as some people walked back down the line looking dejected. We made friends with the toothless homeless man wobbling up and down the queue in search of alcohol. We practised saying "Ich spreche kein Deutsch". We shared some vodka with the alt-looking Slovenian pair behind us in the queue (until the homeless man caught wind of it and that was the end of that). And finally, around 12.45, we were at the door. Lines prepared, IDs in hand, expecting but dreading rejection... 

Hours of stomping techno later, we emerged into the early-morning light, shells of our former selves. Inside, the music thumped on, the fists pumped on, but we weary travellers slumped on home. Watergate had defeated us, but what a glorious battle it had been..

So inconspicuous..

Berlin may not be as warm or welcoming as some other European cities in terms of its climate, its people and its architecture, but it more than makes up for it with its history, its diversity and its arts and culture (yes, techno counts under culture). Normally after I visit a new city, I don't intend to return in the near future - I'm on a world mission, you know. That Scratch Map ain't gonna scratch itself ;) - but Berlin is an exception to that rule. I'd gladly return at the next opportunity that arose - plus a few extra pairs of socks and minus any notions of vegetarianism ;)

cinnamon and chia seed pancakes :)

...also known as oatmeal banana pancakes. But cinnamon and chia sounds much more exotic ;)

These are really easy to whip up and they taste deeelicious. I honestly prefer them to normal pancakes. They are pretty healthy too - flourless and sugar-free - which means of course that you can eat twice as much as usual. That's my logic at least.. ;)

As Soulja Boy would say, stacks on stacks on stacks..   

Ingredients

Serves 2

 - 2 bananas
 - 2 eggs
 - 1/2 cup oats 
 - 1/2 tsp baking powder
 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
 - 1 tsp chia seeds (you can use 1 tsp ground linseed if you don't have chia)
 - pinch of salt

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients in a blender. 
2. Blend to combine. You can choose how smooth you want the mix to be - I like to keep a little bit of bite to the oats.
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Fold a piece of kitchen towel in half and moisten with oil (I use coconut). Carefully rub the pan with oiled towel.
4. Using a tablespoon, place 2-3 spoonfuls of the batter on the pan, depending on the size of your pan. Make sure to only put one spoonful per pancake.
5. Fry until golden-brown on both sides.
6. Serve with your choice of topping - maple syrup, fresh fruit, yogurt, coconut, almond butter.. The choices are endless! 
I like mine served with low fat vanilla yogurt, blueberries, banana, toasted coconut, a dollop of almond butter and a drizzle of honey. Mmmmm...
To make a really quick berry coulis (as seen in the picture below), place a handful of mixed berries in a bowl and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Heat in a microwave on high for two minutes, stirring after one minute. 

Top with some toasted almonds and low-fat greek yogurt. If you're not drooling yet, you need your taste buds checked. 

having a whale of a time

So, this is the first of those, ahem, weekly travel posts I loosely you promised a while ago :P apologies for the tardiness - I've been really busy the last while baking spelt scones, writing scenes for a panto and most recently, watching some of my classmates get half-naked on stage while wearing nipple tassles. But that's a story for another day ;)

Earlier in the blog I shared a picture of the moon that I took during my trip to Mexico in summer 2013. I spent four weeks in the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve, located just south of Tulum, monitoring coral as part of a marine conservation project. The Sian Ka'an reserve includes a section of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

I'm just HOOKED on diving...

All going well, we dived 8 or 9 times during the week, with weekends free to travel to local sites and cities. I could probably dedicate a whole blog to stories and photos from this trip - from diving with sting rays, barracudas, turtles and more, to guzzling tacos, to partying in Playa del Carmen (an excellent place to celebrate your 21st birthday, I'll have you know) - but for now, I'm just going to concentrate on one stand-out experience that remains to this day unlike anything else I've done.

Shark-diving was never something that had featured prominently on my extensive and ever-growing bucket-list. It wasn't that I found the idea daunting, or that I'd decided I wouldn't do it under any circumstances - the idea of being lowered into the sea in a confined space, unable to swim around, just didn't particularly appeal to me. So when fellow volunteers at Pez Maya (our camp in the Sian Ka'an) started recommending a trip to Cancun to dive with whale sharks, I was hesitant at first. However, they recounted a very different tale to what I had imagined. No cages, no barriers, but instead, the opportunity to actually dive in and swim freely alongside these amazing, colossal fish - I was sold. Jaws, here I come. 

The waters off Cancun play host to migrating whale sharks from mid-May to mid-September. Myself and another volunteer, Ali, went swimming with the sharks on our last weekend in Mexico. We booked with a company in Playa, and on the morning of the trip, travelled from there to the port in Cancun, where many tour companies convened to have breakfast, distribute life-jackets and rent out wetsuits. There were underwater disposable cameras for sale or Go Pros for rent, which usually I would dismiss as money-making gimmicks - however, this is one occasion when it's worth spending the money. You're deFINitely going to want pictures of this. Luckily, we were already equipped with a Go Pro, on loan from a fabulous Pez Maya buddy :)

It was a one and a half hour bumpy boat ride from the shore to where we would find the sharks, during which our anticipation and excitement continued to grow. The same could not be said for the grumpy German girl sitting across from us, whose face suggested that each bump drove the figurative stick further up her - ;) 

We were rEELly excited..

So it was to her relief and our delight that we arrived at the whale sharks' feeding area and joined the throng of boats already there. The 8 of us on our boat were divided up into 4 pairs, each pair having three opportunities to swim with the sharks. Our Mexican instructor fired off some rapid instructions - "Go when I say go swim ahead of de shark don't touch de shark don't get hit by de tail ees very painful" - wait, sorry; what was that last one?! "Ok, go go GO!"

I don't think I will ever forget that first moment when I stuck my head under the water and saw this 25-foot creature advancing towards me, its gargantuan mouth wide open and ready to swallow me up. The National Geographic profile on whale sharks comments on how "the beast.. passively filters everything in its path" - I still believe that if I hadn't gotten out of the way, that shark would have just gone on swimming and obliviously sucked me into its depths.

I'd ROD-ther not be eaten, thanks.

It was absolutely exhilarating. Our instructor would tell us where and when to look, and we would stick our heads under and fin furiously in an attempt to stay alongside these gentle giants. More than once I had to scramble to avoid being hit by a massive tail sailing serenely in my direction.. 

I'm not CODding you, I was struggling to keep up..

Ali and I couldn't resist swimming as close as possible to them, snapping away with the Go Pro at all times of course - here you can see the shark feeding on some small fish, and below you can see two remoras hitching a ride on his back!

If you need an idea of SCALE, there's me up in the corner - 

these guys are roughly the size of a bus!

We ended up getting to swim with them four times - grumpy German girl didn't want to take her last go, surprise surprise - and still it wasn't enough. It was surreal to be so close to such a huge creature, and for it to be completely unphased by our presence. If you ever need to be reminded of your insignificance in the world, I can assure you a whale shark is the creature to do it ;)

The boat ride back to the shore - and the rest of the day, for that matter - was spent reliving every second we'd spent in the water - they were "actually so big like" ;) It truely was an unforgettable affair and something I would recommend to anyone (bar maybe those with a fear of fish. I don't think any of you ichthyophobics out there would be too keen on it). The SOLE problem I had with it, much like a safari in Africa, was the potential disturbance casued to wild creatures by the sheer volume of tourists and the noise of the vehicles. It's hard to believe that this doesn't bother the sharks in some way - how great of a disturbance this is, I'm not sure. If you do ever find yourself in Cancun though, and you decide to swim with the whale sharks, make sure to do 3 things; 

1. Rent a Go Pro.

2. Get on the boat with the crabby European lady, in the hope that you can steal one of her turns later. And

3. Remember the phrase "passively filters". Ain't nobody want to end up like Jonah.  

(PS - I hope y'all noticed my none-too-subtle fish puns dotted throughout this post ;P )

it ain't gonna spank itself

I'm not usually the type of person to get riled up on social media about controversial topics or current affairs. I'm not the irate animal activist on your timeline angrily admonishing people for wearing fur coats. You won't see me sharing the latest article on the abortion debate and prefacing it with my views on the issue, or voicing my outrage at this week's Dáil debacle on Twitter. I don't have any problem with people who do like to do this, and it's not that I don't have opinions on these matters - I'm pretty passionate about the destruction of the coral reefs, if you get me going. I just don't generally feel the need to express these opinions on a public forum. 

But here I am now, on a dreary Tuesday morning, about to do that very thing. Forgive me.

Last week, my friend and I were wandering around Grafton St, celebrating finishing an exam by looking at things we can't afford to buy (the number one item on the wish-list is now a €50 Eeyore teddy in the Disney Store, followed by a Tom Ford handbag. #priorities). We ended up in BT2 at one stage, where, to my surprise, I found myself absolutely incensed by a t-shirt. 

nice, Religion, nice.

Now, I'm not an easily offended person, and I've never viewed myself as a fervent feminist. Certainly I never expected an inanimate object to be the heel that spurred me into blogging indignantly about gender bias and women's rights - and, to be honest, as an isolated event, seeing this t shirt probably would have inspired merely a look of disgust and a passing comment to my friend. But one week before this, whilst attending the One Young World summit, I had listened to a group of amazing women discussing gender equality, and after hearing them speak, even the most spank-inclined man would have to drop his poised palm in shame.

The One Young World summit, which took place this year in Dublin from the 15th-19th of October, celebrates talented young people who are dedicated to making positive change in the world. Over the five days, there were speeches, debates and panel discussions from these young people and also from world leaders such as Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson and Bob Geldof. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend for one day as a student observer (and any Trinity students out there reading this, you had the opportunity too - all you had to do was read that weekly SU email you're so quick to delete ;) ). 

The Convention Centre Dublin, where the Summit took place.

There were superb sessions taking place on the day that I attended. Kofi Annan spoke on Peace and Conflict. Micheal Moller, acting head of the UN in Geneva, spoke about the UN's ability to rise to the challenges of today. Six young delegates gave moving speeches about violations of human rights in their countries, which ranged from forced military conscription in Eritrea to homophobia in England. The session that I enjoyed the most, however, was the panel discussion on 'Bridging the Gender Gap'. There were six women on the panel; Sabine Chalmers from AB InBev, Beth Comstock from General Electric, Youtube sensation Michelle Phan, Meghan Markle who you may know as Rachel from Suits, film director Maya Sanbar and co-founder of One Young World, Kate Robertson. 

These women have achieved so much for gender equality, on both a small-scale and a global level; from small steps like Meghan Markle refusing to repeatedly appear on screen in Suits wearing nothing but a towel, to Beth Comstock's involvement in setting up a call centre in India that hires only women. I didn't come away from that discussion feeling enraged on behalf of my gender, or convinced that men are the devils holding us back in life. Instead, I felt inspired and empowered, and thoroughly in awe of those six women. They gave me a view of gender equality that I had not considered before; the positives, the advances that have been made and that are continuously being made around the world. When I saw this t-shirt, I immediately thought back to them and how aggravated they would be if they saw it. 

Maya Sanbar, seen holding the microphone in the above picture, recounted a conversation she had had with Reese Witherspoon about some of the actress's latest projects. Reese, who we all know as the sterotypical blonde-haired ditzy heroine, was telling Sanbar how glad she was that she was finally getting the opportunity to play roles that were more challenging and interesting - but the only reason that she is getting this opportunity is because she made a name for herself by playing the Elle Woods and Melanie Smooters of Hollywood demand. Sanbar criticised the way that women are very often forced to fit themselves into the mould just to be in a position to break out of it - and it is things like this Religion t-shirt that help to shape this mould and this stereotype. Yes, I know it's just a t shirt, it's a bit of a laugh, there's no need to take it seriously - but when we are surrounded on all sides by these derogatory thoughts and images, in advertising, in music videos, even on our clothing, unbeknownst to us it creates a societal norm and a belief that this is acceptable. How many of you ladies out there have walked across a nightclub and had your bum slapped by a drunken male who has gotten it into his head that he has the right to take that liberty? He might not have been wearing the t-shirt, but chances are he had the slogan tattooed unapologetically across his face.

I'm not yet at the level of vehement opinionist that I will sit here and rant about how women like Nicki Minaj are setting the female sex back 40 years - although to be fair, the lyrics and the video for her song Anaconda are offensive to pretty much everything and everyone in the world. Bar maybe Drake - and I know I'm not saying anything new in this post that hasn't been said before. But that t-shirt did ignite some new feelings in me - mainly because it tarnishes the efforts of these women above and insults the positive mindframe that their stories gave me. And those women above are proof of the benefits that come from turning these feelings into action, however big or small.

So it ain't gonna spank itself, no - but who said I was asking?