Miranda Rivers

It was very difficult not to make her exactly the same as Miranda Hart! Oh the power of a name. Anyway this is what I got:

Miranda is 33 years old, but people often think she's ten to fifteen years older because of the way she dresses, and the fact that her hair is naturally very curly so looks like a perm.
She is very short and has a soft body shape; not highly toned but not fat either. Her hair is dark blonde, almost brown, and her eyes are blue. She wears glasses with small square frames.
Miranda has very few friends as she is extremely shy and soft spoken.
She has a lot of money as both parents died when Miranda was 25 and left enough in their will that she doesn't need to work. She volunteers as a lollipop lady for her local primary school every week day, and is surprisingly fierce with drivers who refuse to slow down or stop.
Miranda has never once painted her nails. She keeps them short because if they get too long she ends up scratching herself accidentally.
She had a boyfriend in college, but they broke up when he moved away to university. Although liking the idea of a relationship, Miranda is too timid to speak to men so it's unlikely she will ever find one. Instead she owns a cocker spaniel and two cats to keep her company.
She lives in a two-bedroom house in which the second bedroom has been turned into a library, with mismatched bookshelves from her parents, grandparents, and Ikea. 
She drinks chamomile tea with a few drops of lemon or hot water, and eats mainly meat from the butchers and fresh veg. Her one indulgence is cinnamon pastries, which she eats secretly in her room even though there is nobody at home to see her.


She sounds very lonely doesn't she? But she's content enough when I imagine her. I don't think she has a sad personality.

Tomorrow's name: Brian Sparrow.

I'm a writer

Or so I keep telling people.

But if I'm completely honest I can't remember the last time I wrote something creative. 

It's not through lack of desire. I love writing and it's an enormous part of who I am. Or it was. 

I suspect it's a confidence issue because (if my memory is correct) I think I haven't written anything since the day I realised my partly finished novel was complete rubbish.

But I'm not ready to admit that my £30,000 student debt is all for nothing because my goal of being a writer is just a childish dream. I am a writer, so I'm going to write! Starting off small so I don't scare myself off.

First prompt: 
I collect names from film credits. Any name that stands out to me gets written in my notebook or saved in my phone 'just in case'. I've been doing it for years, ever since the name Zach Wolf jumped off the screen and presented itself as the name for the male character in my doomed novel.
But since Zach I've never actually used any of the names.

So for the next week I'm going to take one name every day and turn them into a character. As detailed as I can manage in one day with nothing but a name to build on.

I'm already quite excited about this! Usually I have very clear characters in my head and try to find a name that fits them. Working this way round will be a real challenge, which is just what I need.

Tomorrow's name: Miranda Rivers.

And up...

I got a promotion at work. now I have a permanent, full time job, with holidays and sick leave and everything. 
I also have a second flatmate; a woman from salsa so we're a complete salsa flat!
Things are still going good with Fred.
I've joined the choir at church and I've sung with them three times so far.
Today the sun is shining and my arms (and even partly my legs) are starting to go a nice brown.
Life is good : )


It's quite strange being in a proper job. I can't seem to get out of the mind-set of a poor student. The other day I bought a big pot of Onken mango and passion fruit yoghurt because I've wanted some for months, and it took me about an hour to stop feeling guilty about spending £1.20 on yoghurt. I just can't stop thinking of myself as poor. Hopefully I just need time and eventually I'll get used to it and stop feeling guilty about every penny I spend.
xXx

Updatage

I was right not to panic; now, instead of my friend, I have my favourite salsa teacher as a flatmate! It turns out he's also extremely good at hugs, which is a great advantage considering the state of things at the moment. 

Yeah I was going to write about everything that sucks right now, but I just don't want to. Anyway, I have a proof-reading enterprise to set up.

xXx

Looking up.

Finally I'm taking some steps in the right direction. i.e. back to Glasgow. On Thursday I'm starting a job, call centre again but not selling anything so hopefully I can suck it up and deal with the few cross people on the other end of the phone. Actually I have to, because the other news is that I'm moving back into a flat in the West End!  I can't wait to get back where I belong. 

 Although I'm a wee bit cross; my friend has been saying for months that I need to get a 2 bedroom flat so she can move in with me, and now that I've got one she's decided she's not that desperate to move after all. At the moment I can't afford this place on my own, but I've decided to trust that God wouldn't get me back to Glasgow just to be kicked out for lack of funds a month later. If this is a test of faith I'm going to pass with flying colours. 

I just can't wait to be back!

xXx

Things to sort list

1. Call tax office to get back the money they over-charged me.

2. Call insurers to get back the money they over-charged me.

3. Call agency to get the money they didn't pay me.

4. Call old insurance to get proof of no claims.

5. Find paper part of driving licence, otherwise points 2 and 4 won't work.

6. Print train ticket so I can go back to Scotland.

7. Fill in all pending 'why should we give you this job?' sections on job applications.

8. Attempt not to have some kind of breakdown.

Up to date?

It's a good thing these aren't real stepping stones; I'd need some kind of glider to go over everything I've missed. To cut a 3 month story short - my graduation was amazing, my aunt kicked me out on my graduation day, I loved working at the Post Office but they didn't keep me on, I'm now staying about 20 miles from Glasgow with a friend's parents, and I'm back on Jobseekers.

And on to the next step, which is that I have (despite a concrete belief that I never would again) found myself a new boyfriend. I met him at the PO, he offered me a lift home, I worked up the courage to give him my number, and it all went from there. He's a wee bit younger than me, but he's the oldest child of his family so more mature than the last younger guy I went for. Plus he has his own car, which helps :p

We've only been together a couple of weeks and already I've learned something about myself: I'm colour blind. Because when I describe him to people, it never occurs to me to mention that he's black.

The colour of someone's skin has never been a Thing to me, so the reaction from some of my friends has surprised me. I've had texts like,

'What do your Mum and Dad think about him being black? Not that I'm saying he is black. Not that there's anything wrong if he is'. 

I don't understand why people tie themselves in such knots about it. Mum and Dad have expressed no opinion on the matter, they're just happy that I'm happy.  

I'm not saying my friends are racist. I've had none of the 'stick to your own kind' type of messages. I just find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that some people can see it as such an issue. 

Although I guess it is kind of a surprise when you consider that I moved up here in the hope of grabbing myself a nice Scottish man!

xXx