Over the next few months I would like to write a series of blog posts on values. The kind of values that I believe are important and what they really mean. So often in today’s society we bat around cute little phrases but when you challenge someone to define what they actually mean they’re lost for words.

Due to my Christian upbringing I know my way around a Bible, and I have come to respect the content of that book. There is a lot of wisdom contained in its pages if you take the time to open it up and have a read. However do not be lead to believe that my posts will praise the ethics of the church. On the contrary I will paint a picture of what Christian values should be, and hold them up against the current status quo of the religious institutions. Over the years I have found Christians to be somewhat lacking in morals and standards. The people who are challenged weekly to lift themselves above the common heathens and lead a life of example are often no better off, and on occasion have much lower standards than the unbelievers they look down upon.

I have chosen, at least for now, to leave religious institutions and what they stand for behind and to strive to work on my own character and my own faith in my own way. People I respected from my childhood have condemned me to hell for that choice, but since I don’t believe they have any say in those kinds of matters I am willing to take the chance and follow my heart.

Some of the values I aim to write about are:

• Respect
• Pride
• Humility
• Love
• Liberty / Freedom

My fiancé and I believe in a healthy sex life. We enjoy exploring our fantasies and spicing things up with little extras. For this purpose we on occasion visit such shops as Ann Summers. (For anyone reading this not from the UK, Ann Summers is a shop that stocks saucy lingerie, adult reading materials, sex toys and adult novelty gifts.)

Now this post is most definitely not an in-depth account of our sex life, rather a rant about irresponsible parenting!

Yesterday while we were in the aforementioned sex shop a woman came into the shop with a child in a pushchair. Now this is something that I have seen on many occasions. Typically it’s a very small baby and it’s asleep, so I have to concede that there is no harm in them taking the child into the shop. Even if the child should wake up they’re too young to understand anything or remember it.

However the child in the pushchair yesterday was a toddler - old enough to retain these memories and he was very wide awake! The child was all eyes, staring in wonder at the erotic items on display.

This made me feel physically sick. I mean surely that is some kind of child abuse?! Sure I firmly believe that responsible parents should broach the subject of sex and sexuality with their children and educate them on it in its entirety. However I think there’s a good way of doing that, and a very BAD way of doing that.

First of all, at that age they should be allowed to retain their innocence! Very young children should not be exposed to things of a sexual nature. There is a reason that television programs have a watershed and films have ratings. Exposing young children to that kind of material is a sure fire way of messing them up for life.

Secondly, even when a child is old enough to be told about the birds and the bees they don’t want to know about their parents doing it! I mean what child wants to see which dildo their mother uses? Much less watch her buy it! Now that I’m an adult I can happily have conversations with my father about sex, but I’d never want to actually have to see or hear any evidence of it!!!

I have no problems with parents having healthy sex lives, and I have no problems with mothers shopping in Ann Summers, but for the children’s sake, please don’t get them involved!!! Get a baby sitter for a few hours or order online, and lock your stuff away where they won’t/can’t find it!

Yesterday for the first time in a very long time I was able to honestly say that I was proud to be American. Ok, I’m only half American, but that half was damn proud.

Watching Obama’s speech last night online I was moved to tears. He’s intelligent, gracious, humble, a GREAT public speaker, passionate and compassionate. He’s a strong American who stands for American values, and yet having lived abroad and having such multi-national, multi-cultural links he is sensitive to the rest of the world.

Although I grew up in Scotland I have an American father who taught me a lot of the principles that America believes in. I understand the gun laws, I understand the Christian perspectives. I understand the American dream. I believe in the American ideals. I believe in liberty, justice and freedom of speech. I believe in the greatness of what the American people can achieve.

However I have also watched over the years as time and time again America has disregarded the cultures and opinions of the rest of the world. As they have acted in sheer arrogance and ignorance. I have cringed when George Bush has made a fool of himself, and a mockery of the United States of America. I understand the world’s view of America as being fat, stupid and loud. As a kid I used to fight it and argue against it, but over the years I had to admit they had a point. The image that America projected to the rest of the world was just that.

The problem with America is since it’s such a large country it has everything American’s need within their shores, so the majority have no reason to leave or look abroad. They’re cocooned in their little American world and are ignorant of other cultures. And ignorance breeds fear. This can be seen in the dirty campaigns used by the Republicans during this presidential campaign. They preyed upon the average’s joe’s fear of the unknown, the foreign, the alien. If you’ve never met a Muslim it’s easy to believe that they’re all terrorists. If you’ve never spoken to a black person it’s easy to believe that they’re out to get the white man. Especially when these fears are fed by group mentality, dirty leadership and even religious institutions.

Thankfully these factors have not held America back this time. This time, thankfully, America has proven her worth and voted right. However Obama will have a hard time convincing those who claim to be Christian yet spread hate and deceit. Their voice can be heard loud and clear, especially on the internet, where their racism and prejudice goes unchecked. Hopefully over time even their voices will fall silent and Martin Luther King’s dream will come true. But for now, the world can celebrate a return to greatness for the United States of America, which has started with the humility of one man.

People always rave on about how their student days were the best days of their life. I have a few problems with that concept.

The main issue is the simple fact that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been now that I’ve graduated. I have a real life again!!!

Student life to me consisted of busting my ass at a subject I found REALLY boring to study (thankfully it’s really interesting in practice), working part time at sometimes 3 different jobs to pay the rent/put food on the table, working during the holidays to pay my way, putting on weight, struggling with depression and a delicate mental state, lack of routine, lack of a social life, lack of money.

Since graduating life couldn’t be better. I have a gorgeous home - no more student digs for me! I can have a proper routine, a proper life. I have money to spend. I have a wonderful thing called spare time. Weekends and evenings are all mine. Any time off I take for holidays and the like is all mine. I don’t have to come home after a tough day and then go to a second job. I don’t have to work weekends. I actually find my job interesting and challenging. I have time to read books. To go for walks in the park. I can afford to go horse riding again!!! Sure I’m tired after a long day in the office, but I can come home and watch Friends or Frasier or Scrubs without feeling guilty that I should be studying.

In a sad way I’m even enjoying the whole never-ending routine of keeping a house (I live with my fiance who, bless him, is mostly incapable of doing housework, but I let him off since he earns so much money). But I’m house-proud. There was never any point in caring about how a room in student halls of residence looks because it’s TINY. Whereas now I have a gorgeous apartment and I want to show it off every chance I get! I just spent all day rearranging my closet and putting away paperwork in the new baby filing cabinet I just bought. It’s such a wonderful feeling to properly settle down after moving around for the last 5 years of studenthood.

First posts are always difficult to write. I mean you want to put something on the webpage so that there’s something to read, but at the same time it can be so hard to know where to start. I have quite a few topics that I want to write about, but at the same time my internet time is limited - working full time with an hour’s commute either side takes up a lot of my time. My aim will be to post at least once a week, lets see how that goes.