14. Donate £40 a year to charities (Year 2)

It hasn't even been a whole year yet and I've given over double the amount of money to charity this year than I set out to.

My first donation since my 34th birthday was to Children in Need.  I do give a donation to them every year as I truly believe in the work they do for children in this country.  I sit and watch all the entertainment (winding it forward when they start to repeat them) but I also sit through the videos about the children who are helped by the donations that are made every year.  Some of them I do actually sit there and cry - so heart-warming.  I donated £10.

My next donation was to my friend, Paul.  He decided to take on Movember.  He probably shouldn't have done because a moustache really doesn't suit him but good on him for doing it for charity.  Movember promotes men's health.  I sometimes think men think they are invincible.  This charity aims to get the message out there that even men can get sick and they should look after themselves.  One of their key areas is prostate and testicular cancer. I sponsored him £5.

My friend Rachel (who is probably the biggest consumer of alcohol that I know) decided to raise money by having a Dry January.  She chose to raise money for The Alzheimer's Society as it was a charity close to her heart.  I sponsored her £5 at the beginning of the challenge and told her she'd get another £5 if she did it.  She found it incredibly hard to do it. It was like giving up an addiction almost.  But, being the person she is, she managed to get through the challenge.  At midnight on 1st February we celebrated by consuming a fairly large quantity of alcohol and ended up with hangovers when we woke up in the morning.  I don't know why she got me involved!  To be fair, we didn't drink as much as Rachel would have liked as her body couldn't actually take it.  Proud of her though.

In March there was a craze that swept the nation - the "no make-up selfie".  Women all over the country took photos of themselves with no make-up on and then donated £3 to Cancer Research UK.  Here's the photo I took for the no make-up selfie: 

I then sponsored my mum's cousin, Natalie, in her challenge - THE London Marathon (you'd never catch me running, let alone a marathon).  She was raising money for Children with Cancer - not a very well known charity but a very worthy cause.  I sponsored £10.

My friend Ben ran the BUPA London 10K for Diabetes UK.  He's a good friend of mine so obviously I was obligated to donate to support him as he promised to support me in my crowd-funding campaign for my EP (tit for tat as they say).  I sponsored him £10.

My friend Marion and her friend Emma decided to walk the length of a marathon around Maidenhead.  An incredible achievement.  I'd like to think I could potentially walk a marathon but I don't think I'd have the stamina or the willpower.  I sponsored £10 which went to Berkshire SANDS - Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity) and Family Friends in Windsor and Maidenhead.

Crohn's & Colitis UK - last year it was just another charity, now it's a charity that is incredibly close to my heart as I was recently diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.  When I found out my friend Stuart was raising money for CCUK again by cycling from London to Brighton I actually went searching for his fundraising page so I could donate.  I sponsored £10 in July and Stuart did the challenge in September.  

Another craze that swept the nation was raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support and it was Shave or Style.  One of the people who really takes care of his hair and doesn't like one hair out of place is Antonio Lulic (a fantastic singer/songwriter by the way).  He decided to get involved and get his head shaved - so brave.  I sponsored him £10.

It started off with celebrities nominating each other and then before we knew it, it was us regular common folk who were getting nominated.  It was the Ice Bucket Challenge!  In America it was for ALSA (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association) but the UK equivalent was MND (Motor Neurone Disease Association).  The more my friends were getting nominated, the closer it was getting to me.  I was getting incredibly busy leading up to my holiday and then a couple of days before I was due to go abroad, my friend Darren nominated me (I honestly thought a member of my family was going to get in there.  I made my donation of £5 within the 24 hour time-frame but seriously had no time to do the challenge until I went away.  The pool bar in the hotel looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for an ice bucket.  They didn't have any buckets at that bar so I filled up a couple of cups with iced water and gave a third cup to my mum for added effect.  Out of all of the people I nominated, only one person did the challenge - well done to my little brother, Paul. Check out the video below.

My last donation was actually made this evening but an error on JustGiving's site means it's not showing on the fundraising page although I got the PayPal receipt come through.  My friend Laura is running the London Marathon for Joint Action - the charity I work for.  What a trooper!!  I wanted to be the first donation on her page.  I hope they'll fix it tomorrow.  I sponsored her £10.

So, as you've read, I've donated more than double what I intended to donate - £93 in total. It resets again in October.

25. Finish the Cinderella cross-stitch I started in 1992

Back in the early nineties, cross-stitch was all the rage...well I'm not sure it was exactly but I enjoyed it and it was something to pass the time while my family watched football on TV at the weekend. 

Cross-stitch was something I could do whilst listening to music.  I used to do small patterns like bookmarks and little pictures (I did a really lovely one for my grandma about "grandma's house") but, when I went to Disneyworld in Florida I saw this pattern and HAD to have it.  I can't remember if I bought it in 1991 or 1992 but I'm sure it was on one of our America trips. 

Cinderella with her fairy godmother, mouse friends, pumpkin coach and horses and footmen - definitely a big challenge.  I made a really good start on it after I had figured out what all of the coloured threads were and separated them into different envelopes.  I used to sit on my bed or on my bedroom floor when I did it or I would take it with me when I went to do babysitting.

It got to 1995/1996, GCSE years, and homework + revision = no time for doing anymore (I note the 3 year length of time since I bought it but I had started high school in 1992 and homework always took precedence).

The more time passed, the more times I forgot about it.  It ended up in the back of my wardrobe behind my shoes.

This is why it made it onto my 40 list.  I need to make time for it and try to remember how to do it and remember the thread colour system I had in place. 

As you can see below I made a pretty good start at it.  It's always in the back of my mind.  It's also sitting at the back of my sofa which is a constant reminder that I need to do something about it when I have free time.

For want of a better phrase: I need to finish off that horse! 

6. Try Beef Steak Rare

Ever since I was a wee whippersnapper, my Mum always cooked steak "well done" because that's how Dad liked it.  I think Dad gets freaked out at the sight of blood.

Over the last few years I've worked my way down to "medium".  I did this because a few people said that you get more taste from a medium cooked steak and it's not as tough to cut.  I tried it once and thought "yeah, I think I'm going to have it like this from now on".

Working in restaurants when I was younger, I often wondered how people could eat steak rare.  It didn't make sense to me.  I thought that the taste of the rawness of it would overpower the flavour of the steak.

I didn't think I would ever order a rare steak in a restaurant so I added "Try Beek Steak Rare" to my list in the hope that someone I ate out with would let me have a mouthful!

That day came on 22nd July 2014 (last week) on a lovely summer's evening at The Battle Axes pub in Elstree.  I was joined by three lovely friends (Daniel, Rachel and Adam).  Rachel kept saying she was hungry so, after some gentle persuasion from the rest of us, she finally decided to get food.  She came back from ordering and said she'd ordered steak.  I just happened to ask "how do you have your steak cooked?", to which she replied "rare".  RESULT!  Obviously, I asked if she would mind if I had a little bit to try because it's on my 40 List.  She probably still thinks I'm insane!

The video below (thanks Dan) is evidence that this event did actually occur!

Apologies for speaking with my mouth full of steak but I didn't want Dan to just film me chewing - I needed to get across, in that moment, how it felt to try steak rare.  I have to say it's not as bad as I thought it would be but I still think I will stick to "medium".   However, if a steak ever arrives on a table in front of me slightly under, I probably won't make a big deal about it.

9. Learn To Ride A Bike

This is probably more embarrassing for me than anyone else featured in this video.

Why did I decide after all of this time that I wanted to learn to ride a bike?  I have zero balance.  I can just about stand on one leg.  Because...this might be the hardest challenge of all (yes, harder than trying on a corset - number 16 on the list)!  They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  I'm not saying I'm an old dog but it's easier for children to learn new things.  I'm also probably not the easiest student when it comes to exercise.

One cold day last year I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my 40 list with my work colleagues.  They were shocked to learn that I couldn't ride a bike...in fact, everyone is shocked to learn that piece of news when it comes up in conversation.  The last bike I had was fitted with stabilisers and then it went rusty.  My folks never got me another bike but I never drove them mad for one either.  Definitely wasn't my thing!

My colleague, Miranda, offered her services as a teacher, as she rode into work on a bike.  Below is the video evidence - filming and commentary is from my colleague, Sherrine.  You will see I was helped by Miranda and my former colleague, Craig and, being no help at all were Claire and Hayley (who manages to stay out of the video altogether).

Just for a laugh I thought it would be funny to put some music over the top of this video.

Before you view this footage I need to warn you, I clearly have very bad posture, the seat was too high, there are many views of my backside and these "teachers" are not professionals!

After viewing this, is anyone else up for teaching me?

23. Lose 40lbs (Part 1)

Wow!  It's been a year since I started my blog.  I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed documenting my 40 List.

I'm slowly getting through the list and this month I thought I'd write a short blog about the fact I decided to push myself to do a diet properly and lose weight.  I've tried so many fad diets so I decided to go back to a diet I tried a long time ago - Slimming World.  It's changed significantly since I used to do it.  It's so much easier now.

The reason I decided to go back to Slimming World was because so many people I know are doing it and have recommended it.  They've posted their weight losses every week and posted photos of the thinner "them" and it sparked something in me.

I've been doing the diet for seven weeks now and have lost 15 lbs (6.8 kg).  For every target you reach you get an award sticker.  As you can see below I got my half stone and my stone awards but in my fourth week I got Slimmer of the Week as I'd lost 5 lbs.

I'm mega happy with my achievement.  I usually stray off diets but the fact I'm losing weight and the fact that it's on my 40 List is making me more determined to carry on - I'm extremely motivated.  The best thing is I can eat what I want (within reason)!

So, onwards and downwards!

18. Do 40 cover versions and post online (Part 2)

Following on from my post in July last year, below are some more cover versions I have worked on since that date.

13. Need You Now (originally performed by Lady Antebellum)

When Zack was my guitarist we would have jams together and we soon found out we both shared a love of Country music.

I'd been working on this song as a cover for a while but thought it would sound really good if I actually had someone singing the male part - Zack was totally up for it.  Originally it was just Zack playing the guitar but he encouraged me to play as well.  We sat in my living room one morning after a gig the night before and recorded our version of this song.  We also performed it live on a number of occasions.

14. Rabbit (originally performed by Matt Duke)

I am almost 100% sure this was recorded another morning after a gig in my living room.  Zack knew the song and he was really keen that we record it.  I think I learned it on the same day we recorded it.  I'm sure Zack will correct me if I'm wrong.

15. Whiskey Lullaby (originally performed by Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss)

In finding out we had a love of Country music, Zack and I also found out that this extended to a specific Country music star - Brad Paisley.  I suggested we cover this and, I believe, we recorded it on the same day that we recorded "Rabbit".




16. I Wanna Be Free (originally performed by The Monkees)

After driving radio presenter, Iain Lee, mad over Twitter, I finally managed to get him to have me on his radio show on BBC Three Counties Radio by bribing him with a Monkees cover. 

I picked Zack up the night before to stay on my sofa as we would be having an early start with our journey to Luton to the studio.  We learned the song that night!

I was really nervous and Zack actually managed to calm me down (not an easy task)!

It was such a surreal experience and it was over way too quickly.  After performing the cover, Iain Lee actually said it was better than the original AND it brought a tear to his eye.  The proof is below!

It comes in at 6 minutes 23 seconds but feel free to listen to the whole interview.

BBC Three Counties Radio interview 27.9.13 by Lauren Rich on Mixcloud

17. Somewhere Only We Know (originally performed by Keane/Lily Allen)

This is the first cover version I performed with my whole band after a gig rehearsal with Zack, Anthony and (at the time our new bass player) Clare.  We entered a competition to have our version of this song dubbed over the top of the John Lewis Christmas Advert that had Lily Allen's version on it.  The winners would go into a studio to record their version and then it would be dubbed over the advert on Christmas Day.

Unfortunately, we didn't win but we still think we did a good job - 717 views later (at the time of writing) it can't be bad!



18. Jeremiah (originally performed by Starsailor)

This is the latest cover I've done.  As part of my pledge campaign to fund my next EP, one of the rewards was a YouTube Dedication.  The pledger could choose the song and it could be one of my original songs or it could be a cover version. 

One of my best friends, Esther, pledged for me to do this song because it was about her younger brother.  Her brother was killed in Germany and there's been a massive cover-up.  No one knows what exactly happened or who did it.  It's such a tragic story.  Read more about it here.

Esther thought the song would suit me and also the fact that the anniversary of his death was imminent, it was a fitting tribute.

I actually spent a week (a few weeks before the anniversary) trying to get in touch with James Walsh, the lead singer and songwriter of Starsailor, to see if he would perform the song with me but unfortunately I was unsuccessful.

I gave it a good attempt myself and Esther keeps telling me how amazing it is and she much prefers my ending!

I hope you enjoy this latest instalment.  As there are more pledges for YouTube dedications via my pledge campaign, you can almost guarantee another batch of these before the end of the year.

20. Take 40 photos of interesting tattoos (Part 1)

I'm never going to get a tattoo!  I have trypanophobia and I'm not a huge fan of prolonged pain.  I also think that the placement of a tattoo is very important as when people get old and wrinkly, so do their tattoos!

But, each to their own!  I thought, instead of subjecting myself to a permanently inky future, I would live vicariously through others and take photos of their tattoos and explain to you the reason I took the photo and if there's an interesting story behind it.

1. I'm going to start off with the tattoo of one of my very good friends from school, Vicky.  She got her wedding date tattooed on her wrist in Roman numerals.

This reads 25/9/2009 for those who can't read Roman!

2. This is one of the tattoos of my friend, Simone.  Her son passed away very young and, in his memory, she had this tattoo done for him.  The date reads 06-02-12 which is the date he passed away.

3 & 4.  The next two tattoos are of my colleague, Hayley.  The first is the tattoo on her back which is a tiger cub with a butterfly.  I thought it was really cute.

The second tattoo is her granddad's army number.

5. My friend Darren decided to have these on his wrist.  When I asked him why he chose these, he replied: "I have no idea.  I got them because I thought why not and I thought they were different.  I just wanted a tat".  He was sober...apparently.

6. I used to work at a pub called The Crown near where I live for extra dosh!  I saw this one particular customer and clocked his tattoo - I think he thought I was strange when I asked to take a photo of his tattoo.  The detail is very intricate.

7. The next tattoo strikes me as pretty old school.  My friend Charles decided to have "Chas" on his arm within a sword.  I have to say I've never heard anyone call him Chaz.  We call him Charlie at Radio Northwick Park.

8. So, I managed to corner another customer at The Crown.  It depicts the battle of good versus evil.

9. The next tattoo is from my talented musician friend, Ben Miller.  On his 21st birthday, he and four other friends got a tattoo of a puzzle piece.  After university, everyone went their separate ways and the puzzle pieces symbolise that they are all still connected wherever they are.

10. My friend Ricky, from karaoke (does a great rendition of Ziggy Stardust) has this fab tattoo on the back of his neck.  It's a treble clef with a Joe Meek microphone (his favourite microphone) and Ricky's eyes singing into it.  There are also a few stars within the tattoo which represents that he is a Pagan.  Ricky was in a band and they all got treble clefs on the backs of their necks but Ricky had the larger one as he was the front man!  Ricky, as you can see, is very much into music and a firm believer in his religion.

11. My lovely friend, Marion, has this very small and very pretty "Circle of Life" which has some blips in it as life never runs smoothly.

12. The next tattoo photo was taken when I went on the Gay Pride march last year.  It depicts a Star of David (representing Judaism) and the rainbow colours (depicting homosexuality) - it's OK to be Jewish AND Gay!

13. I went to an organised summer picnic on Primrose Hill last year.  When men take their tops off on a hot day, you tend to see unexpected tattoos.  This one is on the arm of my friend Suzie's brother.  I believe it's supposed to be a phoenix from the flames but unfortunately I can't remember the significance of it.

14. I went to the album launch of JonPaul Palombo in September.  I was drawn to the tattoo on his drummer, Danny Makwana's, arm.  It's of a snare drum with drumsticks piercing through it.

15. I did a gig on the same night as the lovely Andy Robbins.  He had this great tattoo of his youngest son's name - why aren't many people called Aubrey these days?  I thought that it was a pretty retro name!  Also the combination of the upside down treble clef and the bass clef in the shape of a heart was seriously classy!

16. I went to a karaoke night in Essex with a couple of mates of mine.  This is the tattoo of one of their mates, Phil.  It's of a Japanese Anime game called 'Devil May Cry'.  The character's name is Dante.  He is half demon and half human.  He fights for the good even though there is evil inside him.  Phil said, "I got him tattooed on my arm because it reminds me that no matter how much darkness I have inside me, I always have the strength to fight for the right side, plus, Devil May Cry is one of my all time favourite games".

17. The last one of this batch is from a guy called Damien who I met at my friend Selly's 30th birthday.  It may look like a circle around a triangle but, in fact, it's an 11 sided shape (hendecagon) which represents the 11 members of his family including himself - two parents, two step-parents, two grandparents, five kids including Damien (two brothers, a step-brother and step sister).  The triangle within the hendecagon represents the unity between Damien and his two brothers. 

If you have an interesting tattoo that I should be taking a photo of, please comment below.