Midnight

It's as warm at midnight as it was at noon. It's just as light too. The only difference is it smells better. I don't know why, but the warmth of the night (and it does feel warmer at night) brings with it the most amazing flowery smells.

Maybe it's the quiet, maybe it's the light at midnight, maybe it's just magic. I don't know. Somehow the world smells better at night.. and I'm sure there's someone way smarter than me out there who knows exactly why :)

The Scary Pill : Hormones and Pheromones

According to researchers, women tend to choose different men when we're on the pill than we otherwise would. The reason is that during ovulation, our hormones peak. When on the pill, we do not ovulate and the hormones which usually flow into our blood never get released.

This means the men we would usually pick at the time we are most likely to get pregnant, the typically masculine men, we no longer want. Instead, we go for the type of guys we would pick when we are not ovulating - caring, more feminine guys who resemble ourselves.

Although we'd like to think we're making an informed decision, whether or not we are on the pill (and the hormones that go with it) can actually influence our decision when it comes to picking a mate.

The influence of the pill does not stop there. When women do not ovulate, we no longer produce pheromones, which all over the animal kingdom, including for us human beings, is a scent or a stimulant for attracting those of the opposite sex.

It's what tells animals when the females are in heat, and humans also subconsciously react to it. Selling "pheromones" in little bottles has become an industry, advertising that this will make you irresistible (kind of like the Axe commercials for men). The pill removes this natural element completely.


So.. side effects of the pill are; you get attracted to feminine men, you get less attractive to all men, and you want less sex.

And we think the pill is so great.. why exactly?

Autumn - while waiting for spring

My favourite photo from October.

I loved how the flowers stood their ground for weeks, born from bud to flower when it should have been too cold, when reason said they should have frozen. They grew, sensing winter coming, not ready to give up their colours but holding their little heads high.. before finally succumbing to the frost, the cold and the darkness.

A tree

There's this gorgeous tree I walk past every day. It's pretty big and half of it has turned bright and shining yellow. It's in the university gardens and I'm gonna have to try and take a picture of it next time I walk past. Autumn has come people. Autumn has come...

Snowdrops

I saw snowdrops today. Lots of them in a garden. It's been a perfect winter day; clear blue sky, sunshine, cold. It's the middle of February - spring is coming in a month or two. Sometimes it's just good to be alive.