If You Look For It, I’ve Got A Sneaking Suspicion That Loo Roll Actually Is All Around…

April 28, 2020April 16, 2021 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 3 Comments

One month into quarantine and self-isolation is really starting to get to me.

I know this because this weekend I found myself watching classic Christmas romcom ‘Love Actually’ in April.

You know you have too much time on your hands when you find yourself watching a young Thomas Brody-Sangster legging it across an airport whilst crying into a bowl of Doritos because you’ve got bugger all chance of finding yourself in an airport departure lounge for the foreseeable future.

I’m finding romcoms quite difficult to watch in general at the moment because they really drive home the fact that my own love life has taken a massive nosedive since lockdown started.

Finding true love is hard enough in regular life, let alone when your search has been somewhat impeded by the fact that you’re confined to your house 24/7 and spend the majority of your time in sweatpants and your old school leaver’s hoody from 2012 – needless to say, I’m not exactly exuding irresistible goddess vibes at the moment.

Times just aren’t as exciting as they used to be but I suppose we all have to remain mindful and make sure that we’re still appreciating the small things in life.

For instance, we currently have an adequate supply of loo roll in the house, something that would have seemed inconceivable this time last month.

After all, in the words of Hugh Grant, if you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspiscion that loo roll actually is all around…

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How I Would Use Super Powers In Everyday Life.

June 14, 2018August 24, 2018 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 11 Comments

I have seen quite a few superhero films in the past couple of months and, as a result, I have decided that I would like to have superpowers.

This is not because I want to save the world from intergalactic villains or evil cyborgs – acting as the protector of humanity would probably be a little too much for me to handle, considering I can barely cope with the responsibility of keeping a house plant alive.

No, I want to be a superhero because I reckon that having superpowers would make my everyday life much more convenient – so here is a quick guide to how I would use certain powers in real life:

MOVING OBJECTS

If I have any trait that sets me apart from the rest of humanity, it is my epic laziness.

Therefore, I would find the ability to move objects with my mind very useful – after all, if you are able to move an object towards you then you are less likely to have to physically move towards it.

I cannot count the amount of times that I have sat down on the sofa and settled myself into the most comfortable position possible before realising that the remote is out of direct arms reach, which is frustrating because I then have to waste my time retrieving the remote when I could be wasting my time watching TV instead.

The ability to summon the remote to me without moving would therefore help to ensure that I am always wasting my time in the most efficient way possible.

SUPER STRENGTH

Glass jars have been the enemies of mankind for years – they are often sealed so ridiculously tightly that they are completely inaccessible to the majority of the human race.

Like many people, I have spent long periods of time struggling to remove stubbornly tight jar lids before eventually conceding defeat, becoming yet another victim of this household nemesis.

If I had super strength, I would use it to break down the jar’s defences with a quick twist of my wrist.

INVISIBILITY

If I had the power of invisibility, I would use it to avoid awkward social situations – for example, bumping into vague acquaintances in the street.

It would be great to simply disappear and bypass an awkward small talk session that I would otherwise feel obliged to participate in.

FORCE FIELDS

Using public transport can be stressful, especially at peak periods.

If you are brave enough to use a train or a bus during rush hour, it’s only a matter of time before you find yourself rammed up against a complete stranger with your face positioned uncomfortably close to their armpit.

If I was able to generate force fields, I think I would use them to construct a personal space bubble around myself whilst travelling on public transport.

TELEPORTATION

If you have ever walked along a crowded street, you will probably have encountered a dawdler (aka. a slow walker).

Getting stuck behind a dawdler is extremely frustrating as you are forced to adapt your pace to match their leisurely stroll until an opportunity to overtake and escape arises.

Imagine how amazing it would be to teleport yourself in front of a dawdler and continue on your way unimpeded – or even better, transport yourself directly to your destination and avoid walking in the first place.

ELECTRICITY

Like many people, I am quite dependant on my phone, partly because it enables me to communicate quickly and efficiently, but also because it provides me with instant access to memes and other forms of mindless online entertainment.

Possessing the power of electricity would enable me to recharge my phone the second it ran out of battery so that I could resume scrolling through social media, watching cat videos and suffering occasional minor existential breakdowns whenever someone I went to school with posts about being pregnant or getting married.

SUPER SPEED

I do not currently have clearly defined career goals so I always find it quite stressful whenever someone asks me about my plans for the future.

If I had super speed, I would use it to extract myself from such conversations with a quick burst of acceleration.

People say that you can’t run away from your responsibilities, and perhaps this is true, but I reckon you’d have a much better chance of escaping from the overwhelming pressure of adult life if you could run at super speed.

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Popcorn Is The Most Moreish Substance Known To Man.

November 12, 2017November 12, 2017 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 12 Comments

Whenever I go to the cinema, I buy popcorn in the assumption that I will eat it steadily over the course of the entire movie.

However, once the first piece of popcorn touches my lips, all semblance of self-control disintegrates and I start to make my way through the bucket as if it is the first food that I have had after being lost in the wilderness for an extended period of time.

Popcorn is quite consistent in its flavour and texture so around a quarter of the way down the bucket, I tend to get a bit bored.

After a while, I get to a stage where I’m not really enjoying the taste of the popcorn enough to justify the number of calories I am taking on by eating it.

However, by this point, it is too late.

My hand is set in an unbreakable, mechanical rhythm and I cannot stop it from shoving handfuls of popcorn into my mouth, against the wishes of the rest of my body.

Eventually, I reach the stage where I am no longer eating out of hunger or enjoyment.

Instead, my desire to consume the popcorn is fuelled purely by a guilty obligation to finish the entire bucket in order to justify the hole in my bank account that I carved out when I bought it.

By the time the film actually starts, I have completely exhausted my supply of popcorn and am left with nothing but regret and the knowledge that I have paid about £100000 to have kernels permanently engrained in my teeth.

popcorn

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The Thing That Bugs Me Most About Summer.

September 3, 2017October 15, 2017 ~ Joanne Sarginson ~ 30 Comments

I’m always secretly quite happy when summer comes to an end.

My dad is a redhead and although I did not inherit this trait, somewhere deep down inside of me there is a recessive ginger gene that protests whenever I venture out into the sun.

There also tends to be quite a lot of bugs around in summer and I don’t like bugs very much.

I understand that bugs are an important part of our ecosystems and that all life is beautiful and sacred and I am happy to appreciate their integral role in the circle of life… as long as they don’t come anywhere near me.

3_LI (2)

I am aware that bugs have a vital role in natural processes such as decomposition but when a bug is buzzing around my head the only thing breaking down my ability to tolerate its existence.

The number of bugs present is proportional to temperature.

So it makes sense that, as summer comes to an end and the temperature begins to decrease, so does the bug population.

In the past week or so, I have noticed that there are fewer bugs outdoors.

It is as if the bugs have sensed the impending drop in temperature and have migrated in search of a warmer climate.

Unfortunately, that warmer climate just happens to be inside my house.

The other day, my room was quite stuffy so I opened the window to allow some fresh air to enter.

Half an hour later, it was as if Pixar had decided to use my room as a filming location for the sequel to ‘A Bug’s Life’.

Having a load of bugs in my personal space made me feel all icky inside so I began to waft the bugs towards the window in the hope that they would go back out of it.

After a while, I was left with one stubborn insect who refused to leave.

I had an empty mug on my desk so I decided that the best way to deal with the bug would be to trap it under the mug and then transport it back outdoors myself. bugs_LI (2)

Once I had managed to catch the bug, I realised that I needed to slide a piece of paper underneath the mug in order to move it.

So I left the bug buzzing around inside the mug and went downstairs to get some.

When I came back upstairs, my room was silent.

I lifted up the cup and the bug was gone.

I looked at the empty space where the bug had been and almost immediately my imagination rushed to fill it.

Because I could no longer see the bug, my mind began to create scenarios to explain its disappearance.

I became convinced that there were only two ways in which the bug could have possibly escaped:
1) The bug had sent out an SOS signal to its bug friends who had performed a rescue mission in my absence.
2) The bug had somehow managed to teleport out of the mug.

I didn’t know what was worse:
1) Dealing with a legion of vengeful bugs seeking justice for the capture of their friend.
2) Dealing with some kind of cyborg technobug, probably sent back from the future with the sole purpose of brutally assassinating me.

Logically, I knew that a bug not have the cognitive capacity to form strategic plans to bring about my demise.

However, in my panic, the rational part of my brain ceased to function.

I ran into my brother’s room and told him of my concerns.

My brother’s complete disregard for my panic calmed me.

Maybe I was just being silly.

Maybe there was no reason to be worried after all.

For the next couple of hours, there was no sign of the bug and by the time I went to bed, I had forgotten all about it.

However, just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a faint buzzing arise from the darkness.

I got out of bed and turned the light on.

The buzzing stopped.

I frowned and thought that maybe I had imagined it. Maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me again.

I turned the light off and got back into bed.

Two seconds later, I heard the buzzing again.

I got out of bed and turned the light on.

Once again, the buzzing stopped.

At this point, I realised that I had evidentially misjudged the situation.

There was no army of cyborg technobugs.

There was just one bug and it was engaging me in a much more intimate form of physiological warfare.

The bug was playing mind games with me.

I couldn’t see the bug in the dark and I couldn’t hear it in the light, meaning that I was unable to pinpoint its position with any degree of accuracy.

As a result, I wasn’t able to locate the bug until the following morning.

When I finally found it, I felt like a heroic protagonist facing up to their arch nemesis.

spidert_LI

Except I looked a bit more like this…

spidert_LI

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check out some of my other posts. I often have profound thoughts on important, life-affirming subjects such as dogs, social awkwardness and scary animals that freak me out.

For more blog posts and drawings, you can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram.