MY FESTIVE COLUMN THIS WEEK... all about guilty pleasures

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/12/23/emma-woolf-on-the-year-in-guilty-pleasures.html

"The season of extreme self-indulgence is fully upon us. So, what is it about guilty pleasures that cause us pleasure and guilt? Why does swigging Bailey’s in my cashmere jogging pants feel so damn good—and  how do the rest of you get your kicks?"

HAPPY XMAS TO YOU ALL!

And here's hoping that 2014 brings peace and happiness to all humankind xx



 

“This is the island. This is where you will die.” These were the words which greeted Nelson Mandela on his first day of imprisonment on Robben Island.

I will never forget my first sight of Robben Island. It was 2012, exactly half a century after Mandela’s incarceration...

Seeing the prison (and standing in Mandela's cell) I began to appreciate the significance of what these men went through: the beatings, humiliations, and false charges; their thousands of days of imprisonment. I’m reminded of this again as we celebrate the life, and mourn the death, of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. The pre-eminent leader in the liberation struggle, Mandela showed the world how to choose forgiveness over bitterness, reconciliation over vengeance, and love over hate.

I wasn’t sorry to leave Robben Island behind; it isn’t a place for humans. It was a rough ferry ride back to Cape Town, and the guide’s final words stayed with me all the way: “Remember, freedom doesn’t fall from the sky.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/12/09/remembering-robben-island-nelson-mandela-s-prison.html

 

Busy week filming Supersize up north, down south & everywhere in between! Here's a few of the lovely contributors, Ally, Lexi & Stephanie...

 

 

 

A few out-takes from the Mind Media Awards :-)

 

Latest column: Mind Media Awards, celebrities and champagne - and why life is a gift.

"Even now that anorexia is behind me, I don’t take normality for granted. I hope I never will. Recovery was such a painful process that I feel protective of my new-found health. I’ll continue to talk about it and write about it—and to hell with those who call me a narcissist— because I know what it’s like to be trapped and terrified, dropping below 6 stone, unable to eat, unable to save yourself, your mind falling apart. When you’re at rock-bottom, it helps to know that others have been there too..."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/11/25/at-the-mind-media-awards-remembering-what-matters.html

Should I Stay or Should I Go? London: Love It or Leave It? My latest column for The Daily Beast

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/11/11/the-view-from-london-london-love-it-or-leave-it.html

"I stare at the November rain, the grimy London streets, and the look of sheer stress on the face of every passer-by. Is this what we mean by ‘quality of life’? I know I’d miss all this if I left it behind: I’d miss cycling along the Thames, running in Hyde Park; I’d miss seeing the Dome of St Paul’s on the cluttered skyline. But increasingly I long for space to think, air to breathe..."
 

Watch out, there's a Woolf in leopard-print about! A Halloween selfie, although I'm not going trick or treating, or any Halloween parties. Check out the dodgy hair though, that should scare off the ghouls and ghosties :-)