Starbucks

Starbucks. What is it about Starbucks. I'm at my local one. There are at least ten cafes down this street. They all essentially sell the same product, with certain elements such as paninis and cakes probably being of a higher quality, with a more personalised service, yet Starbucks is able to stay open longer and is generally fuller than the others. I have a loyalty card here, it gives me cheap coffee and free wifi, but that can't be why everyone else is here, wifi is ubiquitous. The seats are comfortable, the drinks are nice, but generally overpriced.

It must be the clientele. They're all rich. Who else pays £3 for a mug of coffee with some sprinkles on top? Rich men tend to attract beautiful women, but I don't see too much pulling going on, a little bit of flirting but its not exactly a meat market here. I tend to come to cafes alone. However much I like company its a habit I developed in Paris, after work you go to the tabac have a cafe and mix with the locals. Id like to go back and see if they still recognise me! "sha va, mec?" said the Vietnamese tabac owner, i reckon my French was better than his. On that note, I never found many Starbucks in Paris, and obviously there was a cafe culture.

So has Starbucks created soemthing new? Is there a generation that doesn't go to the pub after work but goes for a coffee instead? Are we becoming more introvert and have started to look for features such as wifi rather than atmosphere? Im sat here alone as are many others, and everyone seems 'connected' in a nokia kind of way.

500 days of summer

I don't like romantic comedies much. I'm too much of a cynic. Doesn't mean you can't ignore the idea of love, and it often finds it's way into films. I liked Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally. Over the last couple of months I've seen 500 Days of Summer a few times. Its rung a few home truths too. There's something compelling about this film that makes me want to watch it over and over again, and I mean over and over again...

Don't really want to spoil it, but the main character Tom gets involved with a girl and gets obsessed with her. The non linear story line is great and makes you really get involved with the story, tracking all the changes. But forgetting the sappy stuff...

The main point I derived from the film is how the main characters post breakup depression leads him to some life altering changes, deep introspection makes you really think about what makes you happy. Every cloud and all that...

Virgin Active

Right, I've been looking for reviews for virgin active gyms on the Internet and haven't really been able to fond anything concrete. Anyone who writes anything about them tend to be rather negative. A business simply wouldn't be able to run if such negative reviews were the rule rather than the exception. I work all across London, everywhere except East London. I've been to many gyms in my tender years, including short stint working in one in Paris. I've been a member of Virgin Active since October 2010 and have tried a few clubs.

My 'home' club is technically Kingston. I tend to use Sunbury the most as my best mate goes there. I also use others such as Croydon where I've been working recently. I'm moving out my area to a more central location in London. This will give me more access to some of the other gyms across London. I signed up for my membership in Kingston I was told I couldn't use the 'classic' clubs. This included Twickenham, Kensington Canary Wharf and Broadgate. Fine, I dont tend to go to those places anyway.

I wasn't aware that there was a restriction on usage of other clubs too. Apparently, the inner london clubs have a restriction that as a member of an outer london club such as Kingston you can only use an inner london club four times a month, with the exception of a few. So basically, I'm moving to St. Johns Wood and i can go to thhe gym in Oxford Street or Regents Park as much as i want but not Marylebone or Mayfair (and a few others) Perhaps these clubs are of a particular standard? From where Ill be it is around 2.5 miles to these Central London clubs, which is also OK. Im lucky that Cricklewood is also 2.5 miles from St Johns Wood and is unrestricted with a significantly bigger complex to benefit from. My aim over the next few months within the limitations of my membership is to go to as many of these different Virgin Active gyms as is possible. I'll even try and go to some of the classics. Theres a fee to pay, but its only half of the guest fee, which can't be that much. Ill try and give an idea as to the pricing of each club too.

I'm not a gym fanatic by any means, but I did get an email saying i had been 25 times in 8 weeks. Consistently three times a week. As I'm moving into a small flat with an electric hot water heating system, I'd rather shower at the gym than anywhere else. It saves money and is much nicer. It also encourages me to use the gym more! Before I joined virgin I never swam, now I swim all the time!

Kingston: this is my home club. I pay £55 a month for the privelidge of using this gym and others across the country on a 12 month contract. I like this gym and the staff are friendly. The sales team were good and the personal trainers also help you in the gym even If you're not paying them. The clientele is youthful and ive made one friend there. He just came up and started chatting. The only downside of the gym is that it isn't open enough. The rooms are a little small and it feels a little like a school with studios instead of classrooms. However, it is on top of a shopping centre, so its understandable. On the subject, i was at the Bentall centre today and unfortunately a girl jumped from the top floor to her death. RIP. Parking is free after 6 in bentalls car park, car park B is always best.

Sunbury:I probably spend most of my time here. The same membership at this club is £58 per month from what I remember. Not a huge difference. The staff or generally good, but don't go on a Monday. I went today and its generally busy, but the staff at reception could be more accommodating. This is a nice club with very good facilities the place feels open and there always tends to be cleaning staff in the changing areas. Parking is good too.

Croydon: I've been here about five times, enough to get a good feel of the place. Price is similar to Kingston. The staff here are good, with female staff retaining an element of the south london flirty vibe. Facilites are better than Kingston but not as good as sunbury. The clientele is mixed, definitely older than Kingston. The place is in croydon town centre and they give a 15% discount on parking there, even if the car park is impossible to find. I'm still fairly new to croydon.


I'll add to the list in due course. I don't try classes much but would like to integrate it into a routine.

High intensity interval training

High intensity interval training (HIIT) As most bloggers do, I follow other blogs. One great fitness blog is www.fitnessblackbook.com it gives tips on how to get a better look whilst doing the right exercises. I've generally tended to have above average fitness. I lead an active lifestyle, hit the gym 3-4 times a week plus walk/cycle whenever I can. I've never had really low body fat levels though and I'm not sure I'll get there, although having great abs is the 'in' look, and has only really emerged as such over the last 20 years.

HIIT s basically what's relevant to most sports e.g. Football. Periods of intense high level exercise With intervals of rest. Supposedly it's the best calorie burner, with some suggesting a nine fold improvement on the calories burned. I first started an increased training schedule when I found out I was asthmatic a couple of years ago. I was living in Paris and started a training regime of running 5km every two days. Where I lived it was fairly hilly giving good conditions for periods of high intensity and low intensity. Once again when I moved to Nottingham I had the same conditions. London is flat so my running took on a different dimension. I found out I was gaining weight. I've now started doing some hiit and am feeling the benefits.

This usually involves two methods of exercise. Running on the treadmill sprinting for 60 seconds resting for 30, doing it ten times. The second is skipping. Both exercises are good, skipping is harder to keep going at higher pace simply due to the coordination of skipping really fast. Practice does improve the pace of skipping though.

I'm currently 75/76kg and my aim is 72kg. I'll keep that progress updated...

Benefits of depression

I've always been someone that's just been happy. As a child I was bouncy and round, and generally always stayed as such. A part of a way to get good conversation with girls would be to ask silly questions. A favourite one is: what are your three best qualities? Around 12 months ago my response was being loyal, being able to make everyone happy and caring/giving. I've never had any problems overall, just got along with things and everythings just generally worked out fine... till this summer. Depression hit me. I'm firmly out of depression now, but I'm trying to find the silver lining from it. If you google benefits of depression it comes up with a mixed bag. The most relevant article is this one in the new York times. Depression is a painful experience, there is nO doubting that, but the suggestion is that all of the worlds greatest thinkers from Churchill to Darwin to arisotle have all suffered from depression at some point. As the RAF might say from adversity to the stars. The main point about depression is the fact that you end up ruminating continuously thinking over a problem again and again till you're blue in the face. You think deeply about a problem with deep concentration, the sort of thought process that enables high level creative thinking. Not that it's saying much by I managed to achieve a Mark of 78 in my dissertation which I completed during my depression. So what were my personal benefits from depression? I opened up to people. I had been very insular before. Never needed anything from anyone. Had lots of good friends but never developed any sort of attachment just good bonds. I was never able to differentiate between convenience friends and real friends. You become acutely aware of the things that make you happy and you try and aim for those things alone. Hence, I've decided to apply for a masters. I'm moving out of home next week and I've generally set myself different goals. I wouldnt recommend anyone go through depression and experience allows yourself to create instincts that prevent the onset of depression. The argument proposed is that depression hasn't been rooted out of our systems through evolution but that it is an adaptation that allows one to refocus. All communities have had some sort of depression, cavemen went through it however it appears that depression is more prevalent than it used to be. I fought my way out of depression without the use of any form of medication. All I can recommend is finding the root cause of your unhappiness and change the circumstances to adapt them.

How much should university fees actually be?

As previously mentioned, I'm applying for a second masters. What I wasn't told was that if you complete a qualification at certain level, you cannot then go and complete another one at the same level and still receive government funding. You have to 'progress'. That's fine but I'm stuck. I can't progress in my field until I've completed a relevant masters i.e. in History.

Kings for Modern History part time:
£2450 + £1000 ELQ = £6900 total

UCL for European History:
£4,865

Queen Mary's for History:
£6,150 per year

Kings and Queen Mary both charge a premium, or penalty for doing a second masters.

It gives an indication as to what some of these courses actually cost. International students are charged highly inflated fees, because universities are simply allowed to...

Writing a personal statement

What does it take to write a good personal statement. Firstly, you have to look at the purpose and the audience for the statement. Mine is to be read most likely by a history professor who has plenty of marking to be done. The real things he'll take into account is whether the statement is well writen or not, whether it demonstrates that i have significant interest and passion to pursue the programme. Whether I worked in XYZ place is unlikely to interest him, other than placing my academic qualifications within the context of my professional life.

This is the second masters personal statement I'm submitting. Having reread the first one it seems waffly. I originally applied for this course at UCL. I ended up getting the place but rejected it to go to Kingston University as it was nearer my home and gave me more relevant professional skills.

This time round its back to academics. The layout I've used is:

1. My aims for applying for the masters
2. Relevant academic qualifications.
3. Interests related to the course.
4. Professional achievements.
5. Extracurricular activities.
6. Why the university.
7. Conclusion.

Throughout all of this the theme I've followed is how my past achievements lead onto the course.

When I know what's happening with my applications I'll post the statement..