If travelling on the Tube, always travel in a compartment with people in it. If they get off at a stop, leaving the carriage empty, get off with them and get into another carriage with people in.
If ever you are mugged for personal property, don’t fight. Hand over your phone, watch or purse, then leg it.
If ever a suspicious stranger approaches you on the bus, Tube or in the street and touches you or starts to engage, say loudly, ‘I don’t know you, please go away.’ This will alert people around to the fact that the person is a stranger and it’s not some private encounter.
Remember 999 is the emergency number for ambulances, police and fire stations.
It’s a good idea to do a self-defence class. It will build your confidence as you’ll know that you can defend yourself should arise. Your P. E. teacher will probably know where you could go to study.
If you are attacked, you could try these moves:
1. If approached from the front, kick the attacker in the shins or groin (straight up between the legs) or jab their eyes or throat.
2. If attacked from behind, stomp on the attacker’s foot with your heel, kick backward - aiming for the groin - knee or elbow the attacker in the head, throat or the area between the ribcage and stomach.
3. Use your voice (make as much noise as possible to scare the attacker and attract attention), hands and feet. If picked up, kick with your legs to resist.
4. Once you’re free, leg it as fast as you can and get help.
Things to Do if You Get Stranded With No Dosh
Call someone you know, if you have a mobile.
If you don’t have your mobile, call someone you know from a public phone and reverse the charges.
Get a cab to someone or somewhere you know. Get them to pay the cab fare at their end, then settle up with them later.
Ask a police officer for help.
Surviving Financially: Managing the Dosh
We thought this section was a bit of a joke as none of us really has a lot of finance to manage. However, Izzie’s mother, Mrs Foster, who works as an accountant, insists that there are a few things we ought to know, so over to her.
£££, $$$ – Or Lack of It
by Mrs Foster
Learning to manage your money early on will stand you in good stead as an adult. Lack or mismanagement of finances can be one of the major causes of stress when older and if handled badly, money is one of the major reasons for divorce. You’re never too young to learn some good habits!
Learn to budget. Make a list of the things that you want and what they cost, what expenses you have coming up, e.g. friends’ birthdays/Christmas presents, etc, and make a realistic spending and savings plan.
Be clear with your parents about exactly what your pocket money is supposed to cover and stick to what’s agreed.
Keep an account of how much money you have and what you’ve spent.
Save a little every week for an emergency fund. It soon adds up and it’s a good feeling to know that you have a stash put by for emergencies (such as a new must-have outfit, book or lipstick).
Pay off any debts before making new purchases.
Don’t expect your parents to fork out for everything as they don’t have an endless supply of money. If you want something badly and your parents can’t afford it, think about getting a part-time job or asking around to see if anyone wants a babysitter. It gives you a great feeling to earn your own money and, to a certain degree, to be financially independent.
I want cards for my birthday.
Visa, American Express, Mastercard …
PART FOUR
Relaxation and Fun Time
by all of us
Things to Do on a Rainy Day
(Or Sunny. Or Windy.)
We’ve all worked on this section and decided to start with a bit of redecorating! Your bedroom is your own personal chill-out space - somewhere where you can close the door on the rest of the world, so it’s good to make it a place that you really want to spend time in (and where your mates do too at sleepovers).
Redesign Your Bedroom
Step One: Research
Before you start, go to the library to get books on interior design or invest in a couple of magazines that specialise in bedrooms to give you ideas that you hadn’t thought about. Work out how much money you can afford to spend and who might be able to help you with the time and labour.
Step Two: Clear Out the Clutter
Take a big bin bag and get rid of old books, scraps of paper, magazines and clothes you haven’t worn for ages. See if anything is worth donating to a charity shop or can be recycled.
Step Three: Start Designing
Decide what look you are going for, then choose your colour scheme accordingly. Remember that light colours open a room up and give a feeling of space whereas dark colours can close it in and make it look smaller (but cosier). Most big DIY stores sell tiny sample pots now so that you can try colours out on your wall before your final choice. It’s worth trying a few, as colours rarely look the same on the wall as they do on WJ a colour chart. Watch how the colour changes at different times of day as the colour you liked at noon may look totally different in the evening. Once you’ve decided, have confidence in your style choice. Some effects are:
Cool colours: blue and green
Warm colours: red, orange, yellow
Minimal: white, shades of white or pale lilac
Bright: vivid pink, orange, turquoise, lime green or yellow
Fairy tale: pastel pink, pale blue, lilac, lavender or turquoise
Romantic: shades of pink and red
Exotic (Indian, Thai, Moroccan): honey gold, orange, yellow and reds
Stark: black and white
Once you’ve decided on your colours, invite mates over for a painting party and it will be done in no time. Cover everything that might get splashed with paint with old sheets or dust covers: i.e. the furniture, floor and yourselves!
Unless going for white all over, use a lighter shade of your wall colour for the ceiling (or if you’re going for something really bright and colourful, use contrasting colours). For doors, skirting boards and radiators, use a darker or lighter tone of the same colour as the walls or a contrasting one.
If you want to use bold colours, but feel uncertain, the general rule is that opposite colours (red/green, blue/orange, yellow/purple) look great together and shades of the same colour family look great together. Experiment on paper beforehand to see how different colour choices will look.
Step Four: Soft Furnishings
(e.g. curtains, blinds, bedspreads, cushions) It’s always a good idea to get fabric samples before your final choice. That way, you can see how the colour looks in the room. Most fabric stores will give you a small strip from the end of a roll.
Don’t mix too many contrasting patterns as they will all fight for space and give your room a confused look. When you add your pictures or posters, you want them to be the main focal point.
Here are some effects you might like to try:
For a simple, uncluttered look, blinds at the window look clean and unimposing and if you keep your soft furnishing colours within the same colour family as your walls, the whole effect will be easy on the eye, i.e. if you picked blue for the walls, choose soft furnishing in the same colour group (pale blue, turquoise, sky blue, navy). If you chose green, the cushions and curtains should be in shades of green.
For a bold bright look, go for contrasting soft furnishings.e.g. If you have blue walls, pick cushions in shades of yellow. If the walls are yellow, choose, cushions in shades of blue and purple.
For a soft look, choose pastels and use fine muslin draped at the window.
For an exotic look, choose spicy colours such as red, orange and yellow. Drape sari material on a curtain rod over the window and have cushions made out of similar material for the bed.
For a romantic look, have a canopy over your bed and use shades of pink and red.
Step Five: Lighting
Bedside and table lamps can make the room look soft and warm in the evening. Again, choose the colour of your light shade to complement your colour theme. Candles and night-lights can also be used to make the room look atmospheric in the evening, but be careful not to place them anywhere they can set fire to something!
Step Six: Pictures and Posters
These are completely a matter of individual taste, but think about what you want to look at morning and night for the coming months or years. Pick the frames to complement your general look.
Step Seven: Personal Touches
Personal touches around the room will finish your look. Boxes to hold your jewellery, your favourite books, magazines, photos of friends. Save up for one fabulous piece - whether it be a jewelled mirror, some sort of nick-nack or a beaded cushion - and display it somewhere that will draw the eye.
Step Eight: Scent
Don’t forget one of the most powerful senses, the sense of smell. Make your room smell wonderful with essential oils, room sprays or joss sticks.
Lucy’s Room
I redecorated my room over a year ago when I realised that I had outgrown my girlie pink phase. I’d been into it in a big way and everything was P-I-N-K. I wanted something a bit more sophisticated so chucked out all my fluffy toys (except for my favourite teddy bear, Mr Mackety - no way could I ever get rid of him. We’ve been through too much together). My room looks fab now. I spent ages trying out different colours and finally settled on lilac mist for the walls and a powdery, pale blue on the woodwork. Mum and I went down to Brick Lane in the East End of London and bought some gorgeous sky blue sari material with embroidered silver borders. We used it to make curtains and put a swathe of it over a curtain rail at the top of the window. That was the finishing touch and really brought the room together. The room looks soft and pretty now and I’ve started a craze for buying sari material for people’s windows.
Izzie’s Room
My bedroom has turquoise walls and I have deep-purple scatter cushions and curtains. I chose turquoise as it’s supposed to be a healing colour so I thought, what better choice for my personal space? I also like using scented candles so my room always smells lovely. At the moment, I have a mango one and it’s divine. If I had my way, I’d like to build some sort of pyramid shape on the ceiling (like a pyramid shaped mosquito net!) as it’s supposed to be a healing shape to lie to sit under, but Mum said no way, José. If I want to see the pyramids, she says I have to go to Egypt. Mum’s an accountant and not big on creativity, which is why the rest of our house is cream, safe and immaculate.
Nesta’s Room
Mum did my room. I trust her taste completely as she did a course in interior design and has a real flair for it. She chose a strong lavender for the walls and put pink muslin across the windows. My bed is like a princess’s as it has the pink muslin draped from the ceiling down to the head. It looks romantic with all the muslin floating round it, but not too little girlie. I also have some red velvet heart-shaped cushions on the bed which look fab and are a good focal point for the eye. Plus, like Izzie, I like my room to smell gorgeous so I use exotic room sprays, like rose or lily.
TJ’s Room
You have to be joking. My parents only know one paint colour and that’s magnolia. Boring and a half. My room looks really old-fashioned. It’s even got patterned wallpaper - cream with pale green leaves on it. I hate it. Hopefully, next birthday they’ll let me decorate and I’m going to go for all the Eastern colours. Deep orange, red and gold curtains and loads of exotic-coloured scatter cushions so that it looks like a sultan’s harem. Mum and Dad will probably have a heart attack.
Once you’ve got your bedroom sorted, here are a few fun things to do in there!
Find Your Pop Star and Your Romantic-Fiction Writer Name
For your pop star name, you take the name of your first female pet if you’re a girl, male pet if you’re a boy, then your mother’s maiden name:
Izzie’s: Zizi Malone
Lucy’s: Smokey Kinsler
Nesta’s: Sooty Costello
TJ’s: Bubbles Bailey
For your romantic-fiction writer name, you take your middle name and the name of the street where you first lived.
Izzie’s: Joanna Redington
Lucy’s: Charlotte Leister
Nesta’s: Suzanne Lindann
TJ’s: Joanne Laurier
Quiz: Find Out What You’re Really About!
Write down your three favourite animals. Say why you’ve chosen them, e.g. cats because they’re independent, penguins because they’re funny, owls because they’re wise.
Your first choice reveals how you see yourself.
Your second choice reveals how others see you.
Your third choice reveals how you really are.
It’s the adjectives chosen to say why the animal has been picked that are more revealing than the animal.
Make up Your Own Book Titles and Authors
Here are TJ’s favourites, for a start:
Pusscat’s Revenge by Claude Bottom
Poo On the Wall by Hoo Flung Dung
The Revelation of St. John by Armageddon Ottahere
Bubbles In the Bath by Ivor Windybottom
Entertaining
Sleepover Special Report
Five Main Ingredients:
1. Nosh for the munchies and drinks
2. Videos/DVDs
3. Music
4. Make-up
5. Mags
Izzie
Fave thing to do at sleepovers: Goss. Listen to music. Nosh.
Fave music for sleepover: World music, i.e. Arabic or Indian, so we can do a bit of exotic dancing.
Fave video: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Yeah, baby, yeah!
Top nosh: Chocolate. Chocolate. And … chocolate.
Top drink: Organic elderflower juice.
Nesta
Fave thing to do at sleepovers: Dance. Read problem page in mags and have a good laugh. Makeovers.
Fave music for sleepover: Latest chill-out compilation, nothing too loud.
Fave video: Any horror. I love a good laugh, particularly when my wimps of mates hide behind the sofa.
Top nosh: Nettuno pizza with extra cheese. Häagen Dazs.
Top drink: Coke.
Lucy
Fave thing to do at sleepovers: Talk about boys and snogging, tell jokes (see some of my faves below).
Fave music for sleepover: I like getting out all my dad’s old CDs from the late Sixties - then we can all do mad, hippie dancing. Something that Izzie particularly excels at.
Fave video: Any romantic comedy. I don’t like violent or horror movies.
Top nosh: Chinese takeaway. Yum. Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream.
Top drink: Hot chocolate made with milk and marshmallows.
TJ
Fave thing to do at sleepovers: Chill. Laugh my head off. Get the girls to make up titles for my mad book collection (see page 141).
Fave music for sleepover: Top of the Pops Summer CD or anything we can dance to.
Fave video: An old favourite like a South Park Christmas Special, starring Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo. Makes me laugh every time.
Top nosh: Burger and chips. Toffee popcorn.
Top drink: Banana milkshake with vanilla ice cream.
Sleepover Jokes
Lucy’s Favourite Jokes
Q: What do you call a man with a wooden head?
A: Edwood.
Q: What do you call a man with two wooden heads?
A: Edwood Woodwood.
Man goes to a doctor and says he thinks he’s a dog.
‘Have a seat on the couch,’ says the doctor.
‘I can’t,’ says the man, ‘I’m not allowed on the furniture’.
A man goes to a doctor and says he feels like a pair of curtains. ‘So pull yourself together,’ says the doctor.
TJ’s Favourite Joke
Mahatma Ghandi, as you know, walked barefoot most of
the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him … what? A super callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
Dinner Parties
If you’re planning something more sophisticated than a sleepover, like a dinner or lunch party, here are some tips from Nesta’s mum:
Mrs Williams’s Tips for Dinner Parties
1. Keep it simple. Your guests are coming for the company so don’t try and do something complicated to impress them or you’ll end up harassed and in the kitchen with no time to sit down and spend time with them.
2. Find out if anyone’s vegetarian or has special dietary needs (like being a chocoholic).
3. Spend a little time making your table look good. It needn’t cost a lot. If you’re going to put flowers on the table, keep them low so that guests can still see each other. Coloured napkins, candles, leaves, berries, ivy or flowers from the garden all can be used to make the table look special. (Check with your parents first, though, if using flowers from the garden, as you don’t want to land yourself in it when they realise that you’ve used your mother’s prize roses to impress some boy.)
Mates, Dates Guide to Life Page 10