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Breathing Smog

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

So here’s some bonus information for Breathing Smog.

This was the first time I had taken the time to write, really write, sit down and type up something, it was the first time I had finished something. Complete follow through.

During this time I experienced and discovered a lot about myself I struggled honestly to write with clarity and understanding. It was a struggle to maintain an impartial narrative, at which point I must make it clear that the idea of being impartial failed. I used this as my first experience to experiment with the voice of an author.

It was a sincere struggle throughout to deliver the sensitivity of the subject with tact.

The characters however were hard to accomplish with integrity or lack of. The hidden unseen possibilities and motivations were a struggle to understand the complexity but it was the first true piece that I could be proud of.

My author page.

The truth of unemployment

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

Unemployment. So many youths face it. It is depressing and demoralizing. It appears that it is assumed that people who are unemployed are too lazy to look for work. For some that is clearly untrue, there are some (myself included) who have regularly applied for over 50 or more jobs each week, rarely do we hear back, get called to interview or even for a trial shift or two.

There are some who have explored avenues such as temp work and the falsely advertised apprenticeships which in reality are little more than a slave labor with such a low wage it is almost impossible to support living.  But for some, the unheard, they face tough choices between existing  responsibilities for caring for relatives or children and working, or a career. There is little support for those stuck in a loose loose situation, if they work full time to be able to support themselves and grow a career they carry the burden of guilt that they are unable to help loved ones. Yet if they do not work they feel the guilt and shame of being unemployed struggling to support themselves.

The government is raging a war here. It has become for them something the next person in power can deal with, no action just talk. However, voting has taken a nose dive. Voters and those soon to be eligible to vote have lost confidence in the system. Who can blame them?  Politicians, MPs and so on are voted as representatives and leaders but often it seems, they are unwilling to really make the difference and help the next generations of voters. Those leaving school, those in their homes or libraries applying for days on end to endless jobs, those that the government fails on a daily basis, it is concerning.

There is a widespread issue that covers across every board and every age group that requires incredible balancing, but it seems, that the rich are becoming richer while those that are suffering at their hands, their own ignorance and blind-shortsightedness are barely living.

There is a knock on effect of unemployment, depression, which takes many forms and behaviors.

I read…

Posted on by April-Rose Appleby

… The Daily Mail.

Wait wait wait wait! Before you dismiss me completely, or worse, let me explain.

I read it for amusement, the non-stories that seem to be plastered all over their index page.  The blindingly obvious sexism that plagues the site.  But most of all, I read the Daily Mail because it is shocking. Not for good reasons, the most obvious is the lack of editing and proofing articles receive before being posted, spelling mistakes, word errors and misuse and abominable grammar. Occasionally I scroll through the comments articles receive and wonder two things: one- do they care what they sound like as they often appear ignorant or at best lazy? Two- Some of those people should have been the ones to write those articles.

It makes me wonder why it has become acceptable for the Daily Mail to become the mouthpiece of non-celebrities trying to get 15 minutes of fame. Put it this way, no one cares about the boob-job girls latest stupid idea.

It amazes me that people such as Katie Whats-her-name and such the likes as her are given all the air time to cause a stir in a pot of little gratification. After all fat shaming should not be an encouraged behavior. That being said neither should  chauvinism, bigotry and racism.

Surely the Daily Mail has starved itself over time of credible, original stories and become the mouthpiece of the ignorant. Perhaps in order for the Daily Mail to gain readers who are not just interested in laughing at the so called quality stories it publishes it needs to find a creative and inclusive way to distribute honesty and fresh ideas without coming across as moronic.