Community Care Magazine Photo Shoot

Yesterday, about 13:00 a photographer came to my home to take my photo for the interview I gave to Community Care Magazine on 3 September 2009.

I was expecting the same type of quick photo shoot from the photographer that came on Monday for the Ilford Recorder. However, he practically brought a whole photography studio with him including a Nikon D3, lots of lenses, external flashes, light umbrellas and more… It was so wicked!

After some tea and a chat, he took lots of photos of me: me using my new MacBook Pro 17", me in the dining room and me in the garden, et cetera. The guy seemed much more of a better professional, freelance photographer than the other guy who came on Monday; and this photographer was much more interesting and nicer too.

By the time he finished, it was about 16:00: Well over two hour of taking photos of me... I really enjoyed it and it was an amazing experience!

Stay tunes for the article soon…

First Week at Uni

On Monday (07-09-09) night me, dad and my two carers stuffed me and everything into my van and left to move into my accommodation at uni. Sadly, we left quite late from home at about 22:30 and arrived at 00:30, as we had some unforeseen troubles.

When we arrived, dad got out to find out where my room was going to be. Ten minutes later, he came back and said we had to drive around the other side of the uni where the porter’s lodge and my room was. As dad was taking some of my stuff into my room and I was getting out of the van w/ my carers, two fit girls looking like they’ve just come from a party walked up to me and asked if I’m moving in. How did they guess? Possibly, by the giant suitcase I had. I replied yes (trying not be sarcastic or say something stupid in front of them) and then walked off as they said, “Welcome to Surrey! We’ll see you tomorrow…” Indeed, I thought to myself. Nevertheless, by the time we put everything into my room and I finally got to bed it was like 02:30; and that night it was bloody freezing, but I couldn’t turn the heater on b/c it started smelling when I did, so I switched it off.

Promptly at 07:30 that morning (Tuesday, 8 September), an alarm started sounding very loudly and scared the hell out of me, as I suddenly woke up. It was the damn fire alarm! Brilliant. So, my dad and my carers quickly got me into my wheelchair, tossed the duvet on me and manually pushed me outside as I was so cold and in no state to drive myself. A few minutes later, the Estate Manager said it was just a fire drill and that I could back to my room, which after that it was really difficult to sleep anymore.

That being said, since I’m very tired I will just give you a quick breakdown of this week’s happenings:
Tuesday (8 September): In the morning, I met w/ the Disability Advisor and my new Learning Support Assistant (LSA) / note-taker, who is lovely and very experience as an LSA. Also, in the afternoon, my LSA and I met w/ my course tutor (the great guy who interviewed me and offered me a place) and course leader. After chatting for a bit, course tutor took us on a tour of where all my classes will be. It was fantastic!
Wednesday (9 September): Just took it easy. Dad and Sarah visited too, which was nice. Also, that night I watched England’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Croatia in the Student Union bar. Excellent game w/ a 5-1 win to England!
Thursday (10 September): From 11:00-15:00, I met w/ my LSA to show her how to use my computer and other DSA equipment. About 16:00, I then went for a walk into Farnham town centre, which is just breathtaking w/ every kind of shop you could ever need…
And Friday (10 September): Got up quite late and went for a walk around campus. Set off back for home around 15:30 and got home at 19:00 b/c all the motorways were completely blocked b/c there were so many accidents, but thankfully I got home okay.

Overall, I utterly love UCA Farnham and it’s such an amazing place! I cannot wait until freshers’ week next week and to get started on the course…

Muscular Dystrophy Campaign National Conference

As the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign National Conference on 5 September was in Bradford (about 4 hours away from London) this year, we decided to drive up the day before on Friday to rest overnight in a hotel to be ready for the conference the next morning. Everyone (mum, dad, Sana and Sufian) came w/ me to Bradford except Sarah b/c she needed to take of Granddad since he is not that strong enough to travel all that way. We stayed at the Hilton Bradford Hotel, where the conference was being held.

Upon arrival in Bradford at about 15:00, we all just went to our rooms and fell on our beds b/c we were all really knackered. My room was very nice; it was the Executive Suite and had its own lounge w/ a dining table. After Dad got some dinner around 20:00, we all had an early night.

The next day, we got up around 07:30 and got ready quickly, and then ate some breakfast in the restaurant. About 10:00, we then headed downstairs to the conference room where everyone was registering. Once we registered and mingled for a bit, we went into the main conference room for the start of the National Conference.

The beginning presentations of the conference were a follows:
1) Welcome from Philip Butcher, Chief Executive
2) Keynote address by Terry Rooney, Member of Parliament for Bradford North – who had a very strong northern accent and was very funny.
3) Research – Paving the way for treatments by Dr. Marita Pohlschmidt, Director of Research
4) Accessible support and information by Lyn Inman, Director of Care and Support, and Abby Mardon, Director of Marketing and Communications
5) Tesco Charity of the Year – Pulling together by Mark Horrocks, Director of Fundraising
6) Campaigning – Join us in the fight for special healthcare by Robert Meadowcroft, Director of Policy and Operations
7) President’s Awards and Prize Draw by Sue Barker MBE, Charity President. This was the best part of the day where I received my award from Sue herself!
And 8) Close of morning session by Professor Martin Bobrow, Chair, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign

Once the presentations were done, it was time for lunch, which was quite nice. Following lunch, I attended the Trailblazers workshop as I am their London Regional Ambassador and I decided not to attend the second workshop b/c I was getting quite tired and we needed to head home. However, before we left I had a quick chat w/ Joe’s (the wonderful volunteer who worked at HQ for a few months) mum (a Regional Care Advisor in Leeds for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) and said my goodbyes to everyone at the charity.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I cannot wait for next year’s conference!

Ilford Recorder Interview

When we made the trip to Bradford on Friday, 4 September to attend the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign National Conference, I received a phone call from the Ilford Recorder who interviewed me about receiving my President’s Award for 2009 Young Person of the Year. I discussed many things including my passion for volunteering.

After I was done, the guy said that he’d send a photographer on Monday to take my photo and when he came around on Monday morning (7-09-09) he just spent barely 10 minutes taking my photo in my garden in the rain; and that was that.

When I got that from uni tonight, I read the article in the Ilford Recorder from yesterday. It’s pretty good and a big thank you to Dave (my brilliant Connexions Advisor) for contacting them to call me. Though, they wrote the wrong uni that I’m attending; it’s actually University for the Creative Arts at Farnham not University of the Arts London. Well, that’s the media for you; they can’t ever get anything right…

Will try to upload it later.

Community Care Magazine Interview

On the evening of the 3 September after I got back from the office, I gave an interview to “Community Care” magazine about Social Care in the UK over the phone. I was talking to the reporter for over 30 minutes and I think it went quite well. She seemed somewhat impressed by what I said and asked if a photographer could visit me to take my photo as well. Will keep you posted of details.

Last Day at The Office

On Thursday last week (3 September), it was my last day at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ (Southwark, London) before I went off to uni…

I just wanted one final chance to say goodbye to all my friends at HQ before I got too busy at uni and needed to finish up a few things at the office. However, for a change Sarah drove me to the office and Sufian (who was my assistant for the day) came w/ me too.

Upon arrival, I helped Bobby (Trailblazers Project Manger) upload my videos of The Walton Report Launch on to Trailblazers website, which took most of the day. Thankfully, we finally got them to work and are now available to view on the “Video Blogs” part of our website.

Furthermore, I chatted everyone in the office and had a good time, as always – working hard of course.

Also, I was asked by the charity if I’d like to be interviewed about Social Care in the UK by “Community Care” magazine. I jumped at the opportunity because this is where my advertising empire starts!

Overall, I am sad that it was my last day at the office, but it’s not like I can’t work for them again. There hopefully is nothing that will stop me from continuing to work w/ the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign / Trailblazers for many years to come…

Uni Update

10 Days 17 Hours, 59 Minutes and Counting until I start freshers’ week at uni… HURRAH!

That being said, I’m getting my key to my accommodation on Sunday morning and will be moving in to my ground floor penthouse at uni on Monday night. Wish me luck…

DSA Equipment

I’m so excited b/c today I received delivery of my new DSA equipment for uni that's mine to keep forever including a brand new MacBook Pro 17”, multifunction printer, Final Cut Studio 3, Adobe CS4 Design Premium and so much more. I cannot wait to start really using it… FANTASTICO!

Snow Leopard Arrives!

Today, I received my Mac Box Set software, which includes iLife ’09, iWork ’09 and Apple’s new operating system Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard)… I can’t wait to install it in my new Mac that will arrive on Tuesday. HURRAH!

The Walton Report Launch

Yesterday, I went to the launch of the Walton Report at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) next to Regent’s Park in London. This is the final report from the inquiry of All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Muscular Dystrophy (chaired by Dave Anderson MP) that looks into specialist care for muscle disease and related neuromuscular diseases.

It was named after Lord John Walton of Detchant (Honourary Life President of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) who was a part of the APPG evidence inquiry sessions from December 2008 to July 2009, and is one of the three people that founded the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign 50 years ago.

Upon arrival at around 10:40, once I got into the building at the RCP I was dying to go wee having gotten up quite early and being stuck in London traffic, but the bathroom was one floor down about 8 steps below. So, I had to use the glass lift to go down about just 3 metres, but the bloody door wouldn’t close making the lift unusable. 10 minutes later, after many members of staff attempted to solve the problem w/ no resolve, my dad tried to tell the lady that my wheelchair was too big for the lift by having me in and out of the lift and showing her the magnetic lever, which she finally half-hearted agreed with. At that point, my dad held down the lever w/ his foot to see if I could drive over the lever with my wheelchair and see if the door would close. However, when I went over the lever the damn lever broke, so I had to reverse out of the lift quite precariously that was interesting to do. Then, the half-hearted lady said she’d show me where another bathroom was and Lord Walton took the lead and was very helpful, trying to get someone to tell me where the bathrooms were. We ended up going onto using a different lift and we left Lord Walton in the reception area. The lady really had no idea where she was going and we ended up going on the wrong floor before we actually found a bathroom in some backdoor corridor and I said to Dad, sarcastically, “Welcome to the Royal College of Physicians…” once we got to the bathroom, as he laughed. When we left the bathroom, the lady had suddenly vanished, so we had to find our way back, which we did. Yet when we went to a different floor, she said she was looking for us and told us to go down to the basement level, but that was the wrong floor; and we found ourselves being told by a brisk fellow this was the wrong floor, who was guarding what looked like a giant storeroom for champagne. At this, my dad said, “My goodness, physicians do drink a lot…” to which the guy pretended he didn’t hear and continued filling out paperwork on his clipboard. Thankfully, we finally found our way back to the reception area, though this scenario took over half an hour (and is often the story of my life). All before the actual event had even started – fun times!

Anyway, after I chatted to all of my friends from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign in the reception area, we went for a photo call in the gardens of the RCP around 11:30. Once that was done, we all went to the first floor into a beautiful, domed conference room. Dave Anderson MP, Chair of the APPG for Muscular Dystrophy, then gave the Welcome Address and then passed it onto Lord Walton, who gave a very moving and interesting speech. It was followed by a speech from the Director of Policy and Operations of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, Robert Meadowcroft, about the key facts of the Walton Report and what needs to be done now, as well as comments from Sir Michael Rawlins, the Chairman of NICE. That concluded the first half of the event because it was time for the best part of the day, Lunchtime…

During lunch, I met the Chief Executive of the Snowdon Award Scheme and we had a very insightful conversation about Higher Education and Trailblazers; hopefully Trailblazers and his organisation can team up to do some good work together. Dad and I left the reception area once we finished the conversation and quickly made our way to the lifts to head back to the conference room before the rush started.

The second half of the event was more interactive part of the day with a panel discussion, which I really thought was quite fascinating and surprisingly I found Lord Walton to be quite a witty person (and I was laughing in tears from all the humourous things he was saying throughout the day). Concluding remarks and the next steps to be taken, presented by Mr. Anderson concluded the event.

Finally, Phil (Chief Executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) gave a passionate speech and made the closing remarks. What an amazing event indeed!

Overall, I really enjoyed the day greatly and thought it was a brilliant experience; and it was a pleasure to represent Trailblazers at the launch too. I especially enjoyed meeting all my friends from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and meeting with Lord Walton of Detchant, Baroness Thomas of Winchester and Dave Anderson MP. On a side note, sad yesterday at the launch Joe, our wonderful intern at HQ, told me that he’d be leaving soon because he is only on a short-term contract; very sad news indeed, although I wish him all the success and happiness in his future endeavours. Anyhow, we just need to now get some clout among politicians to bring the Walton Report high up on the political agenda, which can make a real, positive change for the better for people w/ Muscular Dystrophy and related diseases right away…

Find out more about the Walton Report.

Uni Update

19 Days, 14 Hours, 42 Minutes and Counting until I start uni (to freshers week that is)… FAB NEWS!

UCA, All The Way!

Today, I officially enrolled as student at University for the Creative Arts (Farnham Campus; UCA Farnham) on their BA (Hons) Advertising & Brand Communication course beginning September 2009… HURRAH!

The Snow Leopard is Here…

Just ordered the Mac Box Set that includes Apple Inc.’s new operating system Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard, which will ship by 28th August. WICKED!

Uni Update

Just received an e-mail from my uni w/ my user name and password to enroll for my course via online registry on Monday (24/08/09)… HURRAH!

Day w/ Trailblazers

Today, I went to the office after a much long break due to my flu to help Bobby with the Hotline for students, as is part of our Education Campaign for Trailblazers.

Upon arrival at about 11:00, I just went to the Education Report for about a hour, while waiting for the other Trailblazers. Then around 11:50, once the other Trailblazers arrived, we went into the Conference Room where phones were set up for us to answer anyone who called on the Hotline between 12 and 3; and Bobby told the three other Trailblazers (Zoë, Kim and Matilda) and I what to say to the students calling our Hotline. Sadly, no one called our Hotline, but we still had a good time regardless.

So, we just started discussing some ideas about our next campaign on Leisure Facilities while Bobby went to get sandwiches for lunch. When he came back, we shared his ideas with him and then had some lunch, having a lot of fun too.

During lunch, I also had a quick chat w/ Phil (Chief Executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign) and discuss some thoughts w/ him. Always an interesting conversaition w/ Phil...

After lunch, Bobby told us about a new grant that would be available for Trailblazers to do a project that is worth about £10,000 or so. We, Trailblazers, decided that we should create a film, which we all thought would be very interesting. However, I am keeping the details under wraps until all lights are go.

In addition, as nobody called the Hotline, Bobby suggested that the Trailblazers use the Conference Call phone to all answer a call from a mock caller and Zoë’s brother was pushed into it after Bobby’s voice sounded too old or something over the speaker on the phone. This was all so we could take a video of all the Trailblazers looking like we were doing lots of work and to add to the Trailblazers website. LOL!

Before I knew it, it was already 3 pm and almost time to go home. Though, Bobby asked me to take a quick video why I wanted to be a Trailblazer or something like that and we went off to find a good location to record it in the office that had a decent backdrop. In the end, we ended up in the kitchen and I shot my video; although I don’t think it was very good since I was just pulling it out of the air, but hopefully it was okay.

Also, subsequent to the Trailblazers leaving, Bobby gave the Trailblazers a Flip Video Mino to use for uploading interesting videos onto the Trailblazers website, and I cannot wait to start using it…

Once I finished my video in the kitchen I said my goodbyes to everyone at the office and headed home before London rush hour started.

All in all, it was a great day w/ lots of laughter, interesting discussions and a bit of hard work too! I’m definitely going to continue to work w/ Trailblazers and the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign for many years to come…

DSA Equipment

On Monday, I found out that I will receive my DSA equipment for uni including my brand new MacBook Pro 17” on 1st September… HURRAH! It has taken a bit longer to arrive because it is a special order w/ fully loaded new Mac, but I can’t wait for it to arrive. Photos coming soon.

Sectumsempra!

This afternoon, we went to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (IMAX 3-D) at the BFI IMAX Cinema in London, which is directed by David Yates and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Tom Felton and Helena Bonham Carter.

It was a visually stunning, amazing film that I enjoyed! However, I just now think of the of the films as completely separate entity than the books and review these films as though they’re just film w/ nothing to do w/ the books, as there's no use comparing the fimls to the books…

Must see in IMAX 3-D! *** THREE 1/2 STARS ***

T Minus 30!

OMG! There are about 30 days left until I start uni… HURRAH!

Time Is Running Out

Time is going so fast and I bet this month is just gonna fly right by too…

Uni Update

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from my uni telling me that I can officially enroll for my course via online registry on the UCA website from 24th August… BRILLIANT!

Uni Update

I recently found out that I can officially collect my key and move into my accommodation at uni on 6th September… WICKED NEWS!

MDC Presidents Award

Yesterday, I found out that I have been chosen as the 2009 Young Person of the Year at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Presidents Award , jointly sharing the award w/ another Trailblazer.

As Bobby ( Trailblazers Project Manager) wrote, “You have been chosen because of your consistent and brilliant dedication to the Trailblazers network and for the leading roles both of you have taken in the research and online work of the network.

Therefore we’d like to invite you and your family to attend our ( National Conference on 5th September in Bradford to receive the award from our President Sue Barker .”

HURRAH! I wasn’t expecting that at all, but its really made my week…

What do you think?

PS: Congrats, to Jagz too!

I’m Back!

So sorry that I’ve not posted in a while, but I’ve been very sick w/ this bloody flu (no, not swine flu) for a couple weeks or so! Thankfully, I’m getting stronger and starting to feel much better…

I have lots to tell you, so stay tuned…

Uni Update

Good news. Just placed an order today for equipment for uni including a brand new MacBook Pro 17” via the equipment allowance part of my DSA .

It will take about three weeks or so to arrive and cannot wait… HURRAH!

Wembley Cup Weekend

On Friday and Sunday I attended the Wembley Cup w/ Sarah, an invitational football (soccer) tournament that took place between 24 and 26 July 2009 at Wembley Stadium, London. This was the inaugural year of the Wembley Cup, where each team played two matches, with three points awarded for a win and one point for a draw; and the four teams that played where Al-Ahly, Barcelona, Celtic, and Tottenham Hotspur.

In terms of accessibility it was very accessible w/ our seats on a platform w/ an excellent view of the field, and all the staff were so friendly and helpful. I was happy to see there was quite good services for disabled people at Wembley Stadium.

On Day 1 (24 July 2009) the first game was between Celtic and Al-Ahly (Celtic thrashed Al-Ahly by a final score of 5 – 0, but two of Celtic’s goals should have been offside) and the first game was between Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur (w/ a 1 – 1 draw). Day 2 (26 July 2009) was an interesting day w/ Barcelona beat Al-Ahly 4 – 1 and Celtic killed Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 0 (a great Anglo-Scot rivalry, indeed). Also, it was wicked to see Messi play for a bit on Day 2 during the 2nd Half of the first game, he’s amazing! Well, the final scores of the tournament where as follows:


Overall, I had a fab weekend at Wembley Stadium and hopefully I can attend next summer’s Wembley Cup too…

Work Experience

Today, I went to the office to continue my work experience at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign / Trailblazers HQ that I’m doing during the summer, as I was unable to go on Tuesday b/c I was unwell.

Anyway, it was a much more productive day than last week since Sana came w/ me to be my lovely personal secretary and I think I’ll get her to come w/ me on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I go to the office b/c she’s a big help. About 12:00PM or so, Bobby (Trailblazers Project Manager) kindly invited Sana and I to lunch with some of the people at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, so we both just walked up the road to a nice restaurant and had lunch w/ Bobby and the others, which was quite good and a fab time.

Once we got back to the office, we worked some more on next current Trailblazers campaign, access to and through education. Also, before I left the office me and two other Trailblazers recorded a video about our experiences w/ higher education that hopefully you’ll see on our website soon.

All in all, I had a brilliant day at the office (mainly thanks to Sana) and I cannot wait until next week!

Dirty Harry Lives

Just watched “Gran Torino” that was directed by Clint Eastwood, and stars Clint Eastwood and Bee Vang. It was one of the great DVDs with a wonderful card that Sharon & John (my amazing friends from America) sent me for my birthday.

This film is really quite good, which I enjoyed a lot. Clint Eastwood is such a brilliant director and actor, and his facial expressions in this film were just wicked… Highly recommended, but not for the kids. *** FOUR STARS ***

On Top of The World…

I stayed up until 3:00 AM this morning in elation after last night I watched my cousin, British boxer Amir Khan , claim his first world title – the WBA light welterweight belt to become the WBA light welterweight World Champion...

HURRAH: Congrats, Amir! :-)

T Minus Less Than 60 Days

Guess what? There are 57 Days, 17 Hours, 06 Minutes and Counting until the first day of uni! HURRAH! I cannot believe how quickly the time is going and I’m getting quite excited/anxious in anticipation…

Paprika

Yesterday, Sarah and I watched ‘Paprika’ directed by Satoshi Kon and starring Megumi Hayashibara and Akio Ohtsuka, which is a Japanese animated science-fiction film based on a book of the same name.

It’s basically a film about a psychologist dealing with dreams and how to treat people’s illnesses through their dreams using a device that goes over the head by interpretation of the dream that the person is having. Sorry, that’s not a very good description of the film, but it’s a difficult film to describe. That being said, I quite enjoyed the film and though the animation was really interesting, it is definitely one animated film for adults over 16. Recommended must see. *** THREE 1/2 STARS ***

First Day of Work Experience

Today, I went to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ where it was the first day of my work experience officially at office. I started my work experience since August 2008 w/ the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign / Trailblazers, but as I didn’t have a good wheelchair to go into the office I have had to do my work experience from home. Thankfully, now that I have a new wheelchair, I can hopefully start going into the office for my work experience one or two days a week during the summer before I start my University in September.

The day at the office today turned out okay, and when I got home I was feeling a bit down because I was unable to do any physical activity (type anything on their computer and administrative work) needed and Dad ended up helping me doing the majority of the work, which made me feel quite bad. Talking to the Trailblazers Project Manager before I left the office, he said that they might be able to find a volunteer willing to scribe for me at the office, so I will see what happens.

I have so many great ideas that I just need to find a way to express them to others without much or any physical activity on my part. It’s so inspiring and wonderful to go into the office that I just need to do it more often, becoming productive and efficient for myself. Stay tuned for more exciting news from the office…

Birthday Wishes

Today, is my big sister's 25th birthday... Happy Birthday, Sarah!

A Day at The Museum

Yesterday, I attended the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s 2009 Young Pavement Artists Competition (YPAC) Awards Ceremony at the Natural History Museum w/ Mum and Sarah.

Upon arrival, we went to a reception we mingled for a while and around 14:00 we into the theatre for actual awards ceremony to see the children who were the runner-ups and winners in each category received their prizes. It was so inspiring to see all the children’s amazing artwork!

Guess who was also awarding the children their prizes? Well, it was Chico of the “It’s Chico Time” fame! He is so funny and I met him afterwards as well when Mum was chatting him up…

About 40-45 minutes later, we went back to the reception area to have tea and cake and chat some more. Then at 16:30 the runner-ups and winners were given an exclusive tour of the museum, and I was offered to go on the tour too on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign; so Mum, Sarah and me followed the brilliant Matt (Learning Operations Manager at the Museum), who gave an excellent Museum Tour. The NHM was exclusively closed for us; he showed us all the cool parts of the Museum and he took us to a special room that not many know b/c it’s hidden where the had all kinds unique, interesting items that we could touch and explore – from fossils to bones and to butterflies to a taxidermy fox. The friendly Guido was our lovely museum guide; he showed me (and the me touch) all kinds cool items including a dried starfish, a head of a crocodile, a mold of a dinosaur’s teeth, Baleen from a Sperm Whale and so much more… It was just utterly amazing and I definitely plan to go back!

All in all, it was a wicked day that I really enjoyed. Plus, it was very nice to meet old and new friends from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign – Phil (Chief Executive), Adam (Designer), Abby (Director of Marketing and Communications), Sally (Marketing and Communications Manager), Eleanor (Web Manager), Laura (Volunteering Recruitment Manager) and twins Laura and Judith (Trailblazers National Ambassadors) – and others such as Jo (from the tictoc , the company that designed and manages our websites) and more interesting people at the ceremony. YPAC was a well dog’s bollocks of an experience that I’ll never forget…

Birthday Wishes

Happy 18th Birthday to my younger sister, Sana! I hope that today is great day for her and she has a wonderful year…

Funeral of the World

Just finished watch Michael Jackson’s funeral / memorial on telly live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Quite a varied extravaganza; May he rest in peace…

Meeting at The Department for Transport

This afternoon I went to the Department for Transport with Bobby ( Trailblazers Project Manager) and two other Trailblazers to meet the Minister of State for Transport, Mr. Sadiq Khan MP (no relation) to discuss accessibility on public transportation.

It was a very productive meeting and he's such a wonderfully, nice man.

Find out more about the meeting .

Wonderful Weekend

I had the most amazing weekend, chronicled as followed:

FRIDAY – Watched British No. 1 Seed (World No. 3 Seed) Andy Murray lose to Andy Roddick at the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles Semifinals on telly. What a killer serve Roddick has! Interesting game; Murray played rubbish and just gave up winning…

Also, on Friday night my younger brother, Sufian (SOOF*YAAN), had to go the A&E (ER) via ambulance b/c he was feeling very ill w/ severe right eye/chest pain. Thankfully, I was nothing serious and he was home early Saturday morning. I just pray that he stays well since he’s a very lively 13-year-old and always running in to a wall or something.

SATURDAY – First off, Happy Independence Day to all my friends in the USA!
On Saturday, I attended Beyond Boundaries Live in Farnborough, Hampshire and I represented the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign / Trailblazers (where I do work experience). It was quite an interesting event for disabled people with wicked activities such as scuba diving, rock climbing and "Pimp My Wheelchair"; and Bobby (Trailblazers Project Manager) and I gave a presentation about Trailblazers, which went pretty well. Overall, it was a brilliant experience! Check out more here .

SUNDAY – Yesterday, was my 24th birthday: HURRAH! For my birthday I went to the cinema to see “Ice Age 3 Dawn Of The Dinosaurs” w/ my siblings (Sarah, Sana and Sufian) and Vaios (my Greek carer who kindly drove us). It was quite a funny film and the only film we could watch w/ my younger siblings. *** THREE 1/2 STARS ***

Afterwards, we watched the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles Final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. A very exciting final, indeed! When the game was over, we had cake that was so yummy. About an hour later, my one of Mum best friends, Razia (Aunty Roz), with her son (Irfan) and his new wife (who got married last July) came to visit to wish me a happy birthday. It’s always nice to see Aunty Roz and was especially nice to see Irfan as I’ve not seen him since September. We just sat and laughed, enjoying each other’s company. Once they’d left, we had dinner at about 22.30; Mum made Chicken Tikka Masala w/ rice and baked fish with spices, which was amazing… An excellent birthday, indeed!

Overall, my weekend was very enjoyable. A well good entire weekend!

A Year Older

Happy Birthday to me! It’s my big 24th birthday today – HURRAH!

Sunshine

The weather has been so nice here in London for a change for past several days – being between 29 – 33 Degrees C (84 – 91 Degrees F). I hope we do have a nice summer like they’re predicted b/c I really miss the brilliant summers of America living there 10+ years and all!

So, as the weather was still fab today this evening I went for walk (well drive) to our local park about a mile away. Just a well good day out…

Control The World

Today, an engineer came from Possum to install an environmental control system for me. Now w/ one controller and switch I control my entire room – A/C, telly, lights, fan, phone, and a pager to beep the carers when needed… Amazing!

Dreams of Africa

Last night, I watched the FIFA Confederations Cup final between Brazil and USA in Johannesburg. What an interesting game! Though, thankfully Brazil won 3-2, but the USA should quite proud of what they achieved by coming 2nd just to Brazil in a major international competition…

Day with my Cousin

Yesterday, my cousin from Manchester came to visit w/ her two sons and her new husband. It is the first time that I’ve met her since she got married back in January, and it was really nice to see them all and catch up. We spent the whole day together, just having a wonderful time and eating mum’s amazing food…

Uni Update

Wow, time is just flying by… Just 77 Days, 19 Hours, 44 Minutes and counting until the first day of uni!

King of The World

Sadly, yesterday the legend that is Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest. Love him or hate him, you have to respect him for all he achieved: being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as well as his other achievements that include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career, and the sale of 750 million records worldwide.

He influenced so many bands more than anyone else I can think of (from rock to pop and everything in between), and what I find most interesting is the brand of Michael Jackson and how he had probably the biggest impact on global popular culture as a whole of a personal brand. This is quite fascinating, indeed.

May he R.I.P. and may his music live forever…

Day at The Office

This afternoon I went to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ (where I’m doing my work experience) in Southwark, London. I went there to meet w/ the Trailblazers Project Manager to get some guidance/support about troubles I’m having w/ my local authority (rather not go into it as it’s way too stressful and emotional to talk about right now) from the charity. Hopefully, we can get it sorted quickly as possible.

Anyway, it was just so nice to see everyone and chat to them all at the office today as well. I cannot tell how happy I was to meet them after quite a long time and hopefully I can start coming in to the office more to be helpful to the charity rather than stuck at home (and not being so useless to them) now I have my new wheelchair. They’re all such amazing people that every time I come into the office I'm so energised and inspired to keep fighting and campaigning for important issues relating to neuromuscular diseases / disability rights. So, keep up all the excellent work guys (and ladies)!

Stay tuned for more good times at the office…

BALLS AHOY!

Today was the first day of the Wimbledon 2009 tournament. And what a day it was! Cannot wait for the final now…

Saturday Family Night

After a much long unforeseen break, last night we watched “Push” directed by Paul McGuigan, which stars Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou and Ming-Na.

This was a really fascinating film that I really liked a lot. I especially loved the soundtrack and some of the visuals, though I thought the ending was a bit disappointing and the concept could’ve been worked on a bit more…

Quite an interesting film; must see. *** FOUR STARS ***

UCA Farnham Day

Yesterday, I spent the day my uni (University for the Creative Arts at Farnham) to get the final details sorted for me to start in September. It was a very exciting day, indeed; and I’m so glad Sarah came too.

Upon arrival, when I got out of the van I couldn’t believe how sunny it was compared to up north in London and how much pollen was in the air at uni like giant dandruff everywhere, which stick to everything; well, the campus is on about 16 acres with lovely trees all around. So, I quickly walked out of the parking lot and into the main reception.

Anyway, I first met my Learning Support Assistant (LSA) who is like a note-taker but will be helping me with everything I need for my course and she seems very nice. We then met the Senior Accommodation Officer to check out my accommodation at uni. My dormitory is quite a good size with an en suite and a separate room for my carers. Just needs some posters and it should look much better. Next, we went Student Services Office and met with the Disability Support Manager to discuss in detail what support I’ll need during my course duration.

Once we finished there, we went to the cafeteria to eat some snacks. It was a good opportunity to start to get to know my LSA and to just hang out.

Also, after everything we met with my Year 1 Head tutor of my course (the one who interviewed me and offered me a place back in January) in a conservatory type structure with chairs and a sofa, which next to the cafeteria. He also introduced me to the other course tutor, as well. Sadly, I didn’t get meet the Course Leader b/c he was in a meeting, though hopefully I’ll get meet him soon in the future. But, the two course tutors were great to talk to and we discussed the course in greater detail. It was quite interesting to hear all the wicked things I get to in my course, even Sarah thought it was really cool. So happy that I got accepted on this course!

The day was just a wonderful experience and I’m glad I got everything sorted for uni; all I need to do now is prepare my mind for September. Well brilliant…


FYI: For you reference the course in September that I’m starting is BA (Hons) Advertising and Brand Communication at UCA Farnham

Uni Update

OMG, less than three months left until I start university! 89 Days, 23 Hours, 44 Minutes and Counting to be precise…

A New Life, A New Me

Things feel like they’re starting to get better for the first time in my life. It totally is actually feeling as though I will be able to start achieving the goals for myself… Life’s good right now and I’m so thankful for everything!

Something has clicked and I’m ready to do what must be done with what I have to fulfill my dreams/goals. So world, stay tuned for greatness b/c it's a new life, a new me…

Uni Update

95 Days, 17 Hours, 19 Minutes and counting until my first day of uni… Oh man, time is just going so fast. HURRAH!

My Re-Awakening Begins…

Yes, my new wheelchair arrived yesterday for the final fitting and is officially now mine to keep: HURRAH! You all have no idea what this means to me, and how happy and alive I feel right now. Last night, I took for a spin outside just up the street and it drives like a BMW (well, it was made in Germany); it’s amazing, but I just need to get used to all the settings of my cool, new wheelchair. All in need to do now, is not rush anything and build up my tolerance of sitting in the wheelchair, as well as greatly taking advantage of the Power Tilt feature even more throughout the day than I used to b/c realistically I’m not ever again going to be able to sit completely vertically in my wheelchair for long periods due to the severity of my Scoliosis (and gravity being my worst enemy). It sucks, but I’m very thankful that at least I’m mobile at last.

It’s just so wicked and totally dog’s bollocks! Photos coming soon…

Wheelchair Update

I just found out that my new wheelchair will be coming on Tuesday for the final fitting! I cannot wait and hope everything works out…

Uni Assessment

This afternoon an Educational Assessor came to visit to assess my needs for uni study and for Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) . Once the Assessor does some calculations, she will type a report of what equipment/support I need for uni and then send it to the student finance people. I think it went pretty well, so let’s hope for the best…

Understanding My Condition

All day yesterday I attend the Living with MD Day London w/ Sarah, which was the pilot peer group program by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign to have adults dealing with muscle diseases to come together to discuss issues and find out where we can get the most appropriate needs.

All in all, there were 12 of us w/ Muscular Dystrophy in total who attended the peer group b/c the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign has to have a small group of attendees otherwise the charity can’t offer a free event, but I think it is much relaxed and intimate that way. That being said, I learned so much and made some great friends too. I had had a fab time and everyone was so wonderful, and I definitely plan to stay in touch w/ them all!

Think Beyond Your Boundaries

Today, I also booked tickets for the whole family and me to attend Beyond Boundaries Live 2009 on 4 July 2009, which looks like an awe day out and a brilliant experience…

Check this video to learn a bit more (below):

Football Days

Just booked tickets for the Wembley Cup taking place on 24 July 2009 and 26 July 2009 at Wembley Stadium. I’m going to be supporting Barcelona (and will be sitting in there side) and I cannot wait…

New Champions of Europe

Last night, I watched the UEFA Champions League Final on telly between Manchester United and Barcelona .

What an amazing game! Thankfully, Barça thrashed Man U by beating them 2 – 0. HURRAH! Hopefully, they can win the Champions League again next year, though it’s never been successfully defended twice, but Barça is the team that could probably do it if it was too happen…

Wheelchair Update

Yesterday, my new wheelchair finally arrived today! The seating people and wheelchair dealer guy come at 10:00 and were here until about 17:00 working on getting the seating to best work w/ me on the new wheelchair. Sadly, though they had to take the new wheelchair back b/c the severity of Scoliosis makes it quite complex to get the seating right since once I start sitting vertically gravity is my worst enemy (by me collapsing so much due to not being able to hold myself up), and work on it more to get a better chest harness and headrest. Hopefully, it won’t take too long to get it.

However, I’d rater wait a bit longer to get my new wheelchair in perfect order, than to get it right away and it doesn’t really fit my needs. Just feeling quite down today, as I’m so closer yet so far from getting my new wheelchair, but at least it’s in the same country and only a short while to wait now…

New Wheels, New Champions...

What a day today was! Lots to tell you, but am quite knackered right now. Will try to fill you in tomorrow or as soon as I'm able. Stay tuned... ;-]

111 Days, 5 Hours, 31 Minutes and Counting…

Until my first day of Uni… HURRAH!

I so just cannot wait and think that it’s going to be an utterly amazing experience…

3 Days, 10 Hours, 48 Minutes and Counting...

Until my wicked, new wheelchair arrives… It’s about time. HURRAH!

Day at Tesco

As I previously mentioned, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (where I am during my work experience, working with the Press and Communication Team and as Trailblazers' London Ambassador) has been named Tesco Charity of the Year 2009. As such, I also volunteered to be a ‘Tesco Buddy’ and this afternoon I went to my local Tesco to give my support because all the Tesco stores in the Southeast of the country were having a ‘Wild West Weekend’ event day of fundraising.

Sadly, my local Tesco completely did a horrible and shameful job of managing and running the event. Where do I start? Well, firstly when I called up my local Tesco store yesterday to talk to the manager just to introduce myself and find out the agenda of the event, but when I called she was not even there and I ended up talking to another lady who supposedly was knowledgeable of the event. Yet, she had no idea what was happening during the event and when I mentioned that a volunteer from Muscular Dystrophy Campaign is coming to assist, she had no idea who it would be, but when I told her my name she suddenly remembered that was the person’s name. I just took it with a pinch of salt and thought today would be better. However, I was greatly mistaken.

Upon arrival, I was quite surprised that there no sign showing that we were Tesco Charity of the Year 2009, only one small ceiling sign that you could barely read. As the lady on the phone said yesterday, I walked over to the Customer Service desk to let them know I had arrived as one of the staff behind the counter called the lady who was helping with the event, since the manager was not there. 15 minutes later, a lady (the one who I spoke to yesterday) came up to me and I introduced myself; she basically said she wanted me collect money from customers and told me to sit by the main entrance and ‘look pretty.’ So basically the whole time, all I did was collect money.

Furthermore, things I really hated about this event and thought should have happened are as follows:
1) The manager was not even there: First rule of good event management, the manager should always be there during an event

2) There was no signage or visuals in the store: Customers have no idea that we are the charity of the year or who we are

3) There were no special activities during the event for customers to enjoy: We as a charity provide Tesco stores with balloons, stickers, posters, materials etc. for events and as it was ‘Wild West Weekend’ I was expecting my local store to have all that as well as activities for all like country music and lime dancing, but there was none of that

4) Staff were completely oblivious: I was basically left by myself and after half n hour, the lady just came back to give me a box with presents in it for a lucky dip (20p per a gift) and staff didn’t really seem to know what they were doing; through some were wearing cowboy hats

5) There were no auditory PSAs: That’s public service announcements for all non-advertising people out there. There was only one announcement on the PA System 50 minutes after I arrived by this idiot guy who basically said, ‘Dear Customers and Staff…as you can see some of our staff are wearing cowboy hats and outfits today. This is for ‘Wild West Weekend’…’ and that was it, he failed to mention that it for Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and what it was about. What should of happened is that someone should have made a PSA every 15 minutes, since the average customer is only in the store for about that long

6) There was nowhere for customers to donate money when they wanted: Despite each checkout point having a collection box, it was quite hidden away from customers and cashiers never mentioned it. For example, as I was leaving to go home after I’d given the lady my collection box, one 80-something sweet little lady followed me back to my vehicle to give me a donation, but I told her that I’d already given back the box and my Dad added she could make her donation in the collection box at every cashier; she then said she didn’t know where it was, so my wonderful Dad stopped traffic to help walk her back to the store to make her valuable donation. What should happened is A) the collection box at each checkout should be more visible, B) each cashier should ask customers at the end of each purchase if they would like to make an donation for their charity of the year and have a coupon like notepad where they could just scan it to add £1 to their purchase as most people use credit not cash and C) they should be a large collection box with large signage in the main entrance for customers to donate what they like when they like

7) Some customers were quite obnoxious: One lady came up to me and was looking for change to put in my collection box and as she put coins into the box, I thanked her very much and she quite patronisingly said to me, ‘It’s okay, it must be quite hard for you…’ looking at me with pity; as I just bit my tongue and took her money, remembering I was representing our organisation, but swore internally when she was gone. Another scenario that happened was after I gave this guy’s grandkids some free stickers, they put a few coins in the collection box and got some presents from the lucky dip, the man goes, ‘Oh, you don’t get anything for nothing…’ and walked off while he smiled at me, as I smiled back and said thank you to him. Though some people were really nice, especially the kids and elderly who were so cute; one guy came up to me and said that he’d be right back from getting some coins from his car and when he came back, he gave me a whole jar of coins telling me he’d just found it under the stairs of the new house he’d just moved in to. So it pays to be nice

8) The event was utterly rubbish in the way it was organised and run: My local Tesco store did an absolute bad job of the event. I have a keen interest in event management too, and as an advertising student I think could have created a much better event. What should have happened at this event is Tesco should have A) had a marketing plan, B) advertise it in the local media, C) set up activities and visuals in the store for the event, D) invite local media to the event, E) have a manager on site during the actual event who can supervise everything, F) train staff to better participate in the event, G) have PSAs every 15 minutes during the event, H) incise customers to participate in activities during the event and to make a contribution, I) enjoy the event and J) get feedback from customers and staff how to better future events

And 9) This year is quite unlucky for us to be charity of the year: This year it really is a very bad time for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign to named Tesco Charity of the Year 2009 because of the credit crunch and all. People are losing their jobs and really don’t have much money to give away to charities, even if they do people are becoming quite stingy. Through, there are still lots of kind people out there who will always help others

That’s about it. There are just so many things I would have done better for this event instead of making it so bullocks! I just hope that future events at Tesco stores across the country can be fixed to produce a better outcome and keep our good reputation intact…

Uni Update

About an hour or so ago, I just received a phone call from the head of the first year of my course at university, who was the one that interviewed me and offered me a place on the course. He called in reply to my email as I had some queries about my course. We talked for quite a while, he told me more details about my course (including timings and first term courses I’d most likely be having) and gave me some very cool links to check out, such as the course website. It was just really great to talk to him and I cannot wait to begin my course!

Europe Rocks!

I don’t how I can tell you this, especially to my American friends, but I just utterly love living in Europe b/c there’s always so much to see and do – including the cuisine, sports, events, sights, museums, languages, creativity, and the music – it’s bloody amazing! It is like a giant, diverse mixing pot of society; well, that’s the ideals I hold the EU to, though it’s not perfect no thanks to likes of the BNP and Neo-Nazi wankers across Europe…

To that end, about the music: Last night, we watched the Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 that was really a spectacular feast for the eyes, which was in Moscow, Russia this year b/c there was voting block by Eastern European countries who voted for Russia to win at last year’s event.

So, this year they “Changes in the voting procedure were made with the re-introduction of a national jury alongside televoting…” for the Final. Here are the top five songs that won:
1) “Fairytale” by Alexander Rybak (Norway)
2) “Is It True?” by Yohanna (Iceland)
3) “Always” by AySel & Arash (Azerbaijan) (I really do NOT like this song b/c it’s so irritating!)
4) “Dum Tek Tek” by Hadise (Turkey)
5) “It’s My Time” by Jade Ewen (United Kingdom) (Don’t ask me why)

Here’s Norway’s final performance after he’d won (below):


And here’s the song from this years host country, Russia, “Mamo” (Mother) by Anastasia Prikhodko (below):


Additionally, here are some more songs from Eurovision that I thought were quite interesting too (in no particular order):
A) “Jan Jan” (My dear) by Inga & Anush (Armenia)
B) “La Noche Es Para Mí” (The Night Is For Me) by Soraya (Spain)
C) “Rändajad” (Nomads) by Urban Symphony (Estonia)
D) “What If We” by Chiara (Malta)
E) “Et s'il fallait le faire” (And if it had to be done) by Patricia Kaas (France)
F) “Todas as ruas do amor” (All the streets of love) by Flor-de-Lis (Portugal)
G) “Lose Control” by Waldo's People (Finland)
And H) “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang” by Alex Swings Oscar Sings! (Germany) (Check out his wild trousers…)

I also really loved the interval act of the show a lot as well. It was by Fuerzabruta (Argentinean dance/music/visual experience group) and was so amazing! Check it out (below):


How fab it was, the event was quite a creative piece of magnificence and was visually stunning to view! As an advertising student, having a keen interest in event management too, I’d love to create amazing events like this sometime in the future to like hobby on the side of my advertising career…

So, it was just a utterly brilliant show and I cannot wait for next year’s ESC in Oslo!

Transportation Report Launch

Yesterday, I attended the Trailblazers Transportation Report Launch at Parliament. I arrived in Westminster around 11:30 and walked over to Westminster Abbey where other Trailblazers were waiting. About 12:00, we had a press conference in front of Westminster Abbey where we took lots press photos and were interview by the media. I was interviewed by ITV and was on London Tonight later in the evening yesterday; it was very exciting since it was my first telly interview, but I forgot what I learned at the Media Training Days back in December at Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ by remembering that even before the camera starts rolling you ask the reporter what the first question and format will be, so you have a 20-30 second buffer period to brace yourself before the lights go on; although, I think I did pretty well considering I’ve never done this previously and hopefully I’ll be even better next time. Highly enjoyed indeed, but it was so windy in Westminster!

This all took over 1 1/2 hours to get done, and then around 14:00 we walked to House of Commons for a conference w/ Ministers and I got to the Committee Room I was the last one the b/c getting security always takes ages and I had go right through the back of Parliament to get to the Committee Room since there are stairs in the main entrance up to room. When I got to the room, everyone had already handed our report over to MPs and Peers, and were discussing the findings of the report and recommendations for “future courses of action to improve accessibility on public transport for disabled people.”

Sadly, during the discussions my rubbish current wheelchair started hurting really badly, so much so that I had severe breathing difficulties and had to get Dad to leave the room w/ me to lay me down in the hallway, reclining me flat in my wheelchair so I could breathe. After resting for a bit, I decided to go home early b/c I didn’t want to risk my health further. Despite this, everyone from Muscular Dystrophy Campaign were really understanding and lovely about it. Oh, how wonderful they all are at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and how much I love working there…

Anyway, it was just a brilliant experience and it was very nice to meet Trailblazer friends and other wonderful Trailblazers from across the UK. Also, we got the attention of the country’s press and were covered by 12 national and regional telly and radio broadcasts…

Day at The Market

Earlier today I went to Walthamstow Market w/ Dad, as it was such a beautiful day for a change and I just needed to get out of the house. Once we arrived, we walked to the market from a side road where we had parked and I couldn’t believe how bustling it was; it was just how I remembered it when I was younger. Walthamstow has the longest outdoor market in London, possibly even the UK, and is wonderful because there are so many different types of people that go there.

We first went to the main entrance of the outdoor market, where they had a merry-go-round and fun fair type activities for families and a giant screen showing the scores from to Match of the Day . After walking through the market for a bit, we went into the mall that right next door and looked around for a bit in a bookshop and BHS , exiting out into the outdoor market when finished. Exploring the market some more, I was just taking in all the amazing sights and sounds – from Reggae to Bhangra and from Fish ‘n’ Chips to Chicken Tikka Masala. Also, the market is the best local market in the country because there are people here from every part of the world and all connecting with the East London language, raw Cockney English; for example you have all the animated Cockney market-sellers shouting out “Pound ya bananah” and “Lovely jubly darling, tah!” at their stalls. The diversity of the market is really quite surprising, though the BNP or UKIP would really hate there.

Overall, it was a great day well spent in great weather…

Uni Update

I cannot believe that there’s only about four months left until I start university! I’ve just been so busy lately working on uni stuff (getting accommodation set up, applying for support and sadly applying for student finance, etc.) and all… Wish me luck!

Wheelchair Update

I recently found out that I have to wait until the end of May not the end of April to receive my new wheelchair b/c the manufacture didn’t actually put the order on their system until 31 March (NOT two weeks earlier like I was told)… Buggers! Oh well, at I’m definitely getting it, but I hope sooner rather than later…

100 Days and Counting…

Today is the day of President Barrack Obama’s first 100 days in office. Congrats! Keep up all the excellent work…

UEFA Champions League Semifinal

I just finished watching the UEFA Champions League semifinal round, first-leg game between Chelsea and FC Barcelona at Camp Nou in Spain on telly. What a brilliant game it was and the way Lionel Messi played was just utterly amazing! He’s only 21 too, no wonder he’s considered to be the best player in the world right now.

Though, frustratingly the score ended up 0-0 at full-time, no thanks to the bloody referee, but hopefully Barcelona can kick Chelsea’s arse on the return leg that will be played in London on Wednesday, 6 May…

Day at Parliament

This morning I went to Parliament to attend the next evidence session for the Inquiry of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Muscular Dystrophy (APPG). Today’s evidence session was about “Research, Treatment and International Perspective.” It was quite interesting and I cannot wait to attend the next one…

United We Stand…

Happy Earth Day everyone! My prayers and thoughts are with everyone in world who are alone and suffering, and I hope that we as society can better take care of our planet and all of its people in the next year more than we did in the previous year…


Love,
The Red Haired Londoner

XOXO





"Shalom" (in blue) and "Salaam" (in green) mean "peace" in Hebrew and Arabic respectively.






Peace flag, a series of seven rainbow colors (red on bottom) with the word PACE (Peace in Italian and Romanian, derived from the Latin word pax, pronounced pah-chay) boldly printed across the middle.

Eddie Arrives...

Guess what? Today, I just received my tickets to see Eddie Izzard on 3 December 09 at The O2 Arena. Hurrah! I was really wicked b/c it was the first time I booked tickets to an event by myself w/o Sarah’s help, though The O2 are generally quite good in helping people w/ disabilities. I cannot wait…

Why I Love UCA Farnham Already…

…

By Laurel Robinson - UCA Epsom

(Above is my future note-taker when I start uni at UCA Farnham … Well, a man can hope!)
;-]

---

Also, yesterday discovered that they’ve finally put the term dates for uni 2009/2010 and are as follows:


This made me so happy and excited! Stay tuned…

Wheelchair Update

My new wheelchair should arrive in about two/three weeks since wheelchair dealer said I’ll get it by late April / early May… Hurrah! I cannot tell you how much I’m looking forward getting it and wait until I can go out more, as I’ve been practically bed bound for two+ months… I’ll keep you posted.

Bunnies & Chocolate Eggs…

Happy Easter to everyone! Have a lovely and peaceful day all…

Love,
TRHL

Foreign Guests

Today, some guests arrived (Mum, son, and daughter) from Dubai, U.A.E. to stay with us until the 15 April. I think they’re dad’s friends or our relatives (extended distant, distant family) or something. Well, we’re all related somehow… :-]

Anyway, we’re going to be quite overcrowded, as we barely have enough space for ourselves being a family of six plus Granddad. Wish me luck!

Day w/ The Boss

Earlier today, I met with Phil Butcher, the Chief Executive of Muscular Dystrophy Campaign where I’m doing work experience/volunteering, after I wrote him a letter a few weeks ago and he kindly agreed to meet with me at my home. What nice and amazing man he is!

And the meeting couldn’t have gone any better. I gave a presentation using Keynote on my PowerBook G4 via the assistance of my younger sister extraordinaire, Sana, and my presentation was mainly about my ideas for bettering the organisation and what I would like to do to help further with my work experience. Afterwards, we chatted for quite some time; he telling me about his daughter who also has Muscular Dystrophy and told him more about my background. All in all, he seemed very positive indeed and said he’ll definitely get back with the answers to my queries after the Easter holiday next week.

I cannot wait until he gets back to me and when I’m able to go into the office more once I get my new wheelchair…

She’s Back!

My lovely big sis, Sarah, just came back from three week trip across the pond in the good ol’ US of A – NYC, Manchester (Connecticut), LA, and DC… HURRAH!

So glad to see her since I missed her lots, especially as she got me some really wicked gifts from America… Just kidding. ;-]

Welcome home Sarah!

Lunch w/ Friends

Earlier today, my friends from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ came over for lunch. There was Nila (who works there as a Marketing & Communications Coordinator), James (who is a final year English Lit. student and like me also does work experience at the office), and Bobby (who also works at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ as Project Manager of Trailblazers ).

It was really nice b/c Mum ordered pizza for us and we chatted away, laughing and having a brilliant time for a few hours! How great it was of them to visit me at home and I hope they can over more since currently I can’t get out much. I had a really fab time w/ my friends and I hope they enjoyed themselves too…

2009 RBS 6 Nations Results

The final Saturday of 2009 RBS 6 Nations is here! Three games were played today: Italy and France, England and Scotland, and then Wales and Ireland for the Grand Slam tile.

The first of the games between Italy and France I missed b/c my friends came for lunch (that I’ll tell you about later), but anyhow the score was: Italy 8 – 50 France. OMG, I can’t believe I missed this game, though I definitely plan to watch it later on BBC iPlayer!

In the next game I only caught the second half since I was hanging out w/ my friends; the score ended at 26 – 12 to England who strongly won against Scotland.

And finally for the Grand Slam tile game that was such a very awe-inspiring battle… Ireland had a thrilling Grand Slam victory over Wales clinching it in last ten minutes with a score of Italy 15 – 17 , which broke Ireland’s 61-year wait for a Grand Slam title!

Well, that’s it for Europe’s premier rugby tournament of 2009. What ups and downs there were, and I cannot wait until next year’s RBS 6 Nations and the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand…

Wheelchair Update

Two day ago I found out that my PCT (Primary Care Trust) sent all the paperwork to the wheelchair dealer, so it can finally be ordered; and I found today that it will arrive in about six weeks since it’s “bespoke wheelchair” that has to be completely custom build… Yay, just six more week until I can start get out of bed and finally start living life to the fullest: HURRAH!

Now, I just hope nothing goes wrong and I awing it eagerly…

2009 RBS 6 Nations Results

Today’s much anticipated game was between England and France, which was so infixing.

The score was shockingly 34 – 10 to England who absolutely annihilated France…

What a cracker it was! I now eagerly am awaiting the final weekend next Saturday…

Good Times, Sarah!

Sarah just left for the airport for a three-week trip to America… First, she goes to New York City w/ her uni, next she goes to Connecticut, LA, and then D.C.! And she gets back on 8 April: lucky cow… ;-]

Have a fab time Sarah and I’ll see you soon!

What A Kick Off!

Last night, my cousin Amir Khan, the boxer who won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, who turn pro had his toughest fight yet against seven time world champion Marco Antonio Barrera; this was for the WBA and WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title…

As the fight was on pay-per-view I didn’t watch live on Saturday night, as it is the credit crunch, and I watched earlier today on YouTube.

Thankfully, my cousin won the fight via a fifth-round technical decision. Congrats, Amir!

To read more about Amir’s fight .

Saturday Family Night

Last night, we mixed it up a bit for Saturday Family Night. We celebrated Mother’s Day (since Sarah’s not going to be here on the day) that is really on 22 March here in the UK.

Mum made this amazing homemade cod with rice that was so bloody good, and we surprised Mum with this 10X8 inch solid hallmarked sterling silver photograph frame that was fabulously pre-wrapped, which I actually bought but said us siblings chose together; though, not that I mind… I thought we could have a nice family photo with just the 6 of us, which we’ve never had and is not too formal. I hope she liked it!

And later we watched “Red Eye” b/c Sarah had to get up early the next day and it’s a relatively short film. Though not very realistic, it is still an enjoyable film of assured entertainment factor that we watch whenever we need good reliable interesting film we all like…

2009 RBS 6 Nations Results

Two weeks later another two great games between Italy and Wales and then Scotland and Ireland…

In the first game Italy lost Wales in the last ten minute of the game, 15 – 20 .

And in second game it was 15 – 22 to Ireland beating Scotland.

What games these were!

Au Revoir Nila

Today, I just found out that my friend Nila, who works at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ, sadly is going to be leaving the charity for another charity at the end of the month. :-[

This is quite sad to know, but Nila said that she would be doing more web-based marketing that she find really interesting, so I’m so happy for her. And I’ll still see her and be in touch b/c she local to East London…

CONGRATS, NILA!


Best wishes,
TRHL

Day w/ Nila

Yesterday, my friend Nila, who works at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign HQ with me, came over for lunch.

It was really nice because Mum ordered pizza and we just ate and chatted for ages… How brilliant it was!

Nila eventually left around 18:00 after an interesting afternoon together. I always enjoy the company of my friends from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, but sadly I don’t get to see them often b/c I cannot go the office since my current wheelchair is very painful to sit in and it has broken down since 19 February. However, I hope I will be getting my new wheelchair soon, so finally I’ll be able go out and about more…

Charity of Year

Today, I just found out that the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (where I’m doing work experience stuff) was named Tesco Charity of the Year 2009... HURRAH!!!

I cannot tell you enough how happy I am to hear this and I think it will really bring a greater awareness about Muscular Dystrophy throughout the UK too. So, a huge thank you to everyone at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, especially to you for everything, and do keep up all the excellent work!

Find out more information about the Tesco Charity of the Year 2009 .

He’s Back!

Great news… I just booked tickets to see the brilliant Eddie Izzard on his new comedy tour on 3 December at The O2 Arena for Sarah and me… HURRAH!!! IT IS GOING TO BE SO FAB!



Find out more information about the Eddie Izzard – STRIPPED Tour . (scroll down to read)

Saturday Family Night

For Saturday Family Night last night we watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off” that Sarah recently bought, which is directed by John Hughes, and stars Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey, and Edie McClurg.

I totally forgot how good this was, as I’ve not seen it in ages, and it was really nice to watch it again my younger sibling who’d never seen it before… A true classic favourite! *** FOUR 1/2 STARS ***