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A Bit of Change...

After four years of working for myself, I’m now looking to make a change!

The Pop Hive has been on hiatus for the last month, and I’ve been enjoying freelancing at Emerald Street and Channel 4 in the meantime. It’s been interesting going from having a flat-out, full-on shooting schedule to going back working from my home office or the Shortlist Media offices. As with the pause or end of anything hectic, it takes some adjusting, and in this adjustment period, I’ve realized that as much as I enjoy the freedom and flexibility that being self-employed brings, I would love to work somewhere full-time, again.

This may not be expected, but I would really, really like to work with a team on a full-time basis. I’d love to be in an office again and experience being a part of a larger company.

I have a lot of ideas and plans that I want to make into a reality someday, and while BitchBuzz will still continue to flourish with the help of a soon to be implemented (no, really!) editorial team, I’ve realized that taking on a new role and working for someone else for a while is something I’d really like to do.

Obviously, I know some incredibly talented, creative and ambitious people (*waves* thanks for reading!), so I’m really excited to see what the next few months hold for me on my new quest to find the right team, and the right role for me.

Thanks to everyone who has watched or read my projects over the years, I kiss you! On the mouth!

Cate
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The last 5 months...

OH HEY.

Apparently it's damn near June and I've barely said two words here, on this poor blog that I birthed nearly six years ago (SIX) and has had to deal with months of abandonment. I'm a bad blog mom. 

However, this isn't through lack of doing things. 2012 has been a really, really odd year for me. Odd, as in amazing, but still rather odd. 

It started in a wine bar in London, where I stood drunk on Prosecco and cheese, weeping at the Fireworks and telling myself (along with everyone else) that this would be MY year. Two hours later I was chased out of the bar by a meowing staff member, but that's another story...

A few weeks later, I stood up in front of a group of Very Important Media and PR folks, and showed them this:

Pop Hive - Frequently Asked Questions from Pop Hive on Vimeo.

I also screened the first episode of Pop Hive for them, and the entire time I thought I was either going to choke or pee. Thankfully, they liked it.

In Defence of Male Geeks

Today in ES Magazine, a publication which I usually thoroughly enjoy, Richard Godwin asked the question, “Where have all the good men gone?”

In the print version, around the title of his piece are tiny images of men that we’re all familiar with - Matt Smith, Michael Cera, Simon Pegg, Mark Zuckerberg and even a grinning Ed Miliband.

What do all of these men have in common, aside from the fact that Godwin clearly hates them, you ask? Well, the majority of them are either in thick rimmed glasses, too-small polo shirts, Converse All Stars, if they still have the ability to grow a full head of hair, said hair is wildly unkempt, and for the most part they all have a slightly ridiculous smile.

Ah yes, they're all geeks and/or considered to be geeky.

Godwin says that he is sick and tired of these geeky men and anyone else like them. Mark Zuckerberg reigning supreme does not agree with him. Ed Miliband? Meh. Matt Smith’s portrayal of the Doctor is unacceptable, as is the geekified male fashion of the moment (“light, pale and limp at the wrist”) and the look of male musicians like Ed Sheeran and actors like Simon Pegg.

While Godwin correctly identifies that the “essence of a geek is his obsessive interest in one area” (as explained in this helpful infographic), Godwin is making one, vital mistake:

He’s confusing hipsters who dress like geeks with actual geeks.

Simon Pegg is a geek. He also dresses like one because it’s fashionable at the moment, and no doubt he probably has dressed like that for a while. Matt Smith is not a geek, Matt Smith, if you’ve ever seen him in person (which is actually quite disappointing) is a hipster in geek’s clothing with an emphasis on hipster. Zuckerberg and Miliband are definitely geeks, but I would argue that Zuckerberg simply dresses horribly (exibit A, aaaaaand I rest my case) and while he is most certainly a geek, I sincerely doubt Miliband knocks around town in Ray-Bans, Allstars and video game themed t-shirts on the weekends. (Obviously, that’s what Cameron does, whilst listening to Lana Del Rey on his iPad.)

There is a geek trend - this is why, as Godwin says, the rails of Topshop and Urban Outfitters are "completely geekified". 75%* of those wearing Geek Glasses are doing so without a prescription. 88% of those hunched over their Macbook Airs sucking up the free WiFi in public spaces are actually chatting to their friends on Facebook or making an “awesome” playlist on Spotify for when they “DJ” at the weekend ( plugging in their iPad to a PA system without actually mixing tracks), and 81.34% of those RTing Mashable articles on Twitter and pretending to care about all things digital and social and technology wouldn’t know how to write a string of code or basic HTML to save their lives.

Simple Tips for Being Happy

I never know how to start these "end of the year" style blog posts without sounding like a complete prat, but as there's approximately one billion other blog posts along the same lines being published right at this very moment, I'm just going to say it: 

2011 was a good year. 

And when I think about all of the places I've been and things I've done (and eaten), I would argue that it was a brilliant year. I did a lot of proper thinking, as well as a lot of proper action, this year, which has made all of the difference. 

From running, to personal training sessions, to singing lessons, to asking for help and putting my neck on the line in business meetings, I've physically done many things that have caused me to nearly do a number two in my pants. And I've learned that it's those moments, the fight or flight moments that make you feel like you're actually living, actually doing, actually growing. Human beings are not caterpillars who can sit in a warm cocoon doing fuck-all and then suddenly blossom into a mighty butterfly. We need to actually do things in order to fly.

But, in addition to existential conversations with myself, I've also learned quite a few things about looking after yourself. These are things you will have heard about before, or no doubt your mother or Oprah have said, but I'm starting to see the benefits in them. 

The little things that make a big difference

1) Buy yourself matching underwear

As someone who regularly purchased those multi-pack Hanes Her Way sets of undies that are flowered or covered in some hideous print, I've learned how wonderful it is to own multiple sets of matching underwear and bras. It's not cheap, but it also doesn't have to be extremely expensive. 

I'm a huge fan of both Freya and Bravissimo. From the slutty to the sensible, they both have underwear that fits, flatters, and will make you feel gorgeous. Yes, confidence should come from within, but I'm sure even the most confident women in the world would agree with me on this. As if Michelle Obama wears saggy-assed cotton knickers and mismatching, unwashed bras around the White House . Please.

2) Be as camp as you want to be

If you want to wear false eyelashes to the grocery store on a Tuesday, do it. Fancy wearing your favourite dress to a non-important business meeting? Do it. I've always spent way too much time worrying about looking "just right" for certain things. I'd rather be too much than not enough, so I've decided that if I want to wear my scrubby jeans and hiking boots to Starbucks with no-makeup on the weekend I will, and if I want to spend two hours getting ready just to go out to dinner with my in-laws, then I will. Wear what and look how you want to, not because of other people's supposed expectations or what you think everything is thinking about you. 

3) Get active in a way you enjoy

The term "go to the gym" or "go for a run" will strike fear into many a woman. This is mostly because both are misrepresented. I've made friends with both, and going to the gym does not have to be a pain in the ass. Neither does exercise. Being active is SO IMPORTANT and it's something that is so often overlooked or made to look like you need to run 5 miles every day in order to be fit. 

Before you Weight Watchers or diet or cut out carbs or go on a three week juice detox, have a think about the last time you did proper exercise. I'm talking 20 minutes of cardio, stretching, yoga, boxing, speed walking whatever. If you're not engaging your body with both cardio and other bits and pieces I don't think you're looking after yourself properly, no matter how many vegetables you eat. Your body is your vessel, do you really think it's going to do and look how you want it to if you starve it? If you feel fat, start eating better, cut back the takeaways and get some excercise. Stop whinging about it. Sweat for a bit, eat some damn veg and don't drink so much, mmmkay?

4) Greed is sexy

I'm not talking Wall Street greed, but food greed. The Nigella issue of Stylist struck such a chord with me, not only because threw me back in love with Nigella, but introduced me to Elizabeth Robins Pennell's A Guide for The Greedy By A Greedy Woman. While I do not have a copy of it myself, Jeanette Winterston's article about greed in Stylist has actually helped transform the way I think about food, the body, etc. Just read this:

"Greedy is not the same as self-stuffed, which is just as bad as self-starved. You have to love food in all its glory to be greedy. And that means some days you might not eat at all if what is on offer is horrible. I have travelled and preferred to go hungry for a day, knowing I could get home and sleep a short night in the certainty of a home-cooked breakfast of my own eggs, and bacon from a pig I used to know."

My husband knows I turn into a beast when I've not eaten, but nothing upsets me more than becoming full from a meal I did not enjoy. I become overwhelmed with sadness when I do not know what I fancy eating. I used to think I just had "food issues", but now I realize that I simply love food, and that my "issue" is that I'm greedy. 

5) Do not apologize

Sara Benincasa recently wrote a fantastic piece for Jezebel called "I Am So Not Sorry About My Vagina", which is a collection of all the ridiculous things women have apologized for. I apologize when I run into someone, but I also have found myself apologizing and feeling guilty for being ME. Too funny, too fat, too beautiful, too hungry, too ambitious, too emotional, too spotty, too professional - everything about me at one point I have found to be "too" something, and therefore wrong and in need of begging forgiveness for. I am sorry for having the nerve to exist as I do.

I've apologized and felt guilty for my body too long. My ambition for too long. For mistakes, for anger, for feeling, for sadness, for happiness, for luck, for hard work, for everything. I've apologized for being hungover. I mean, really?!

Of course it will take a long time to break the habit of apologizing unnecessarily, but I've stopped carrying around that huge amount GUILT that makes me feel like I need to apologize to begin with. It sneaks up on me sometimes. But I'm not going to apologize for other people being bad friends, un-supportive, or just plain rude. That's just ridiculous.

Gaga x Sugarland

As much as I love pop music, my heart will always belong to country music. I don't go to a lot of concerts (that shit is expensiiiiive) but two shows I have gone to since moving to England were Sugarland and Lady Gaga.

Whenever Iain and I go for a drive, we are listening to either Sugarland (his favourite) or Lady Gaga (my favourite). We had a Sugarland track in our wedding ceremony, and it was the first concert we ever went to together. So, yes, we love them.

Sugarland have collaborated with non-c0untry artists before, such as Beyoncé and Bon Jovi ("Who Says You Can't Go Home" is amazing!), and last night they performed with non other than Lady Gaga. 

My heart basically exploded when I heard this, and I would be lying if I didn't say it made me tear up. 

YES. On so many, many levels, YES.