Monday 13 May 2013

Come Together

Did you know that this blog is now a whole year old?  It feels like a bit of a landmark occasion to me and I had been scratching my head about how to mark it when I had a little brainwave.

The title of this blog is inspired blatantly lifted from Ian Dury and the Blockheads' Reasons to be Cheerful, Part Three.  It feels like this year has been my 'Part One' and so with that in mind I'm going to publish the best of the essays in an ebook and will follow it with a print format a bit later on.  My huge thanks go to the polymath that is Mr Tony Cocks of Binge Thinking.  You can check out his facebook page here or drop by and visit his incredible pics on flickr here 

And for those of you that know me, and that have followed this blog over the past year you will know that my life has been lit up by good, good people and the generosity of others so by way of acknowledging that I intend to donate at least 50% of the profits to be shared between Macmillan Cancer Support and Daisy's Dream.  Macmillan has directly supported my family and friends at one time or another and Daisy's Dream provides incredible services supporting bereaved children.

So where do you fit in to all of this?  I would love it if you would let me know what your favourite posts have been, the current 'most read' are listed down the right-hand side of this blog and I thought I'd give you the all time Top 10 below but do have a browse through and tell me if there's one that you'd particularly like to have included, I plan to include the name of everyone who lets me know their favourite in the book.

Now, if we could have some Top of the Pops music please......

1. IT's Different for Girls (a tribute to working in IT and avoiding cavemen)
2. Because You're Worth It (telling L'Oreal to stop patronising us)
3. Not Forgotten (on remembering those we've lost)
4. My Beautiful Friend (just read it)
5. What a Girl Wants (on caving in to practicality when all I want is an evening gown)
6. Paid in Full (on why corporate bonus schemes are impossible to understand)
7. Little Green (Dustbin) Bag (on the reason my shoulder aches so much)
8. The Future's Orange (a celebration of all persons ginger)
9. You Can Say What You Want (about not hiding your light under a corporate bushel)
10. You Want to Live Like Common People? (because Iain Duncan Smith annoyed me)

And here's some that didn't make that list but which I particularly enjoyed writing:

* Who You Gonna Call? (on the power of good friends when you're stuck on the A34)
* Wild Boys (on why small boys are powered by superhero thoughts)
* All You Good, Good People (for all those with generous hearts)
* Lost in Translation (since when did asking for batteries become so rude?)
* Oliver's Army (Jamie Oliver made me set fire to my kitchen) 

Leave a comment or drop me a line via the facebook page: www.facebook.com/cheerfulblog , to let me know your favourite!

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Soundtrack: Come Together by The Beatles