Tag Archives: inspirational

Skins Pt 2: Effy Stonem

Posted by caffeinedreams3 on

Now to the next installment of this strange Skins series I’m doing.
This is another one of my favorite characters from the series, Effy Stonem. She makes her debut appearance in the first episode called Tony. She continues to pop her head in and out of the show, until she gets her time to shine in the third season/second generation.

photo from: http://mwithe.wordpress.com/tag/skins-fire/ M.E. 11 October 2013

photo from:
http://mwithe.wordpress.com/tag/skins-fire/
M.E.
11 October 2013

Effy is a deeply complex character. In the beginning of the series we know her as Tony’s younger sister that likes to sneak out at night. She never speaks very much, even during the episodes centered around her.

She’s a misunderstood girl. No one understands her at all, no one truly knows who she is. She creates her own world to compensate for the world that has left her behind. However, this makes people see her as a b****, which she can be, everyone has their moments, but that’s not who she is. She is a very kind and loving person. And the only people who know this are her family and maybe two friends.

Effy is someone who is very strong and for the most part sure of who she is and where she stands in the world. Things don’t begin to turn for her until family troubles find their way to the Stonem household. She starts losing herself. When school starts she meets a group of friends, and ruins everything between them forever. Effy’s life revolves around drama, but she is able to stay strong throughout it. Until one day she went off the deep end. Her lover for her boyfriend drove her to madness.

Actress Kaya Scodelario gives Effy such a human side. She is able to make a character like Effy so lovable and beautiful. She is so dark and twisted, yet she always leaves you wanting more. Kaya was cast as Effy when she was just 14 years old, she grew up being this character. She has made Effy more than just a character. Effy and Kaya are role models to me, not for the crazy things she did throughout the show, but because of the composure through an unwinding of sanity that I admire.

This is something that Effy says a lot. It’s something that I can relate to. I always feel like I have so many things to say but there’s never anyone there to listen to me.
That’s why Effy is so quiet. She is smarter than everyone, and far more clever, and no one else understands her when she speaks her mind. I’m not saying I feel smarter than anyone, I just feel like no one listens.

Leave a comment below if you have ever felt alone and like no one listens. I would love to help if I can!

xo, B

Ellen Page is GAY!

Posted by caffeinedreams3 on

Just in case you haven’t heard the lovely Canadian actress, Ellen Page, came out as gay on Valentine’s Day at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
If you wanna see check out her speech here it is:


video from youtube.com ADNewsVideos 14 February 2014

If you closely listen to Ellen’s voice towards the end of the video clip, you can hear her trying to old back her tears. She is by far one of the strongest woman that I aspire to be. A lot of proof of her strength is in this video. Coming out is always a really hard thing to do, especially in an industry which conforms people. Yet Ellen wanted to stay true to who she is and she even said herself “I’m tired of hiding.”

Ellen Page is not only a strong woman for what she just accomplished on Valentine’s Day, but for the roles she has chosen to play over the years. When she was 18 she was in her first big movie, Hard Candy. She played one of the most disturbing, dark, beautifully twisted, and empowering. Hayley Stark a 14 year old completely tortures a sexual predator. In reality don’t we all wish we could teach sexual predators a thing or two? Sure the things she does are extremely out there, but at least she gets her point across.

photo from: http://starcrush.com/juno-quotes-gifs/ StarCrush Staff

photo from:
http://starcrush.com/juno-quotes-gifs/
StarCrush Staff

2007’s Juno is another great example of Ellen Page staying true to herself. Although I’m sure she didn’t get pregnant her junior year in high school, she took on the role with the grace and humor that only Ellen Page could. She brought a personality and life into Juno that no one else could. Page was just a total pregnant badass in this film, as you can probably tell from this gif set (it’s my favorite moment in the film.) Case closed.

Now onto my personal favorite film (probably of all time): Whip It. Ellen Page provides a true, personal perspective on being who you are. Page plays our heroine Bliss, an average Texas teenage girl. Her mother wants her to compete in those outrageous beauty pageants. However, that’s not what Bliss wants. It’s what her mom wants. Bliss finds out about roller derby, tries out and becomes a Hurl Scout. She kept this a secret from her parents, and do you blame her? I think we all keep things secret from out parents if we know they aren’t going to approve. But, her parents finally find out and they actually accept her for wanting to be true to herself.

Ellen Page is a huge inspiration to me. I really do aspire to be like her one day. She is brave and powerful and with the help of her voice hopefully the LGBTQ+ community will have a stronger voice in society and help make themselves heard.
“This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be LESS HORRIBLE to one another” – Ellen Page

xo puddins, B

I wanna know who inspires you! Leave a comment below.

65_redroses: Life With CF

Posted by caffeinedreams3 on

This is Eva Markvoort and she had to struggle with the fetal genetic disease of Cystic Fibrosis. 1 in 2,500 Caucasian babies in the U.S. are diagnosed with CF every year. Unfortunately, Eva was one of those babies, and so was my sister.

Like many with her disease Eva would become a regular at her local hospital, where she would stay for weeks at a time. CF is a disease that you will die from. It affects the mucus secretions in your body and it will collect in the lungs making it very hard to breathe. This mucus also makes the lungs susceptible to multiple infections.

photo from: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/2856.html Eva Markvoort 2006

photo from:
http://65redroses.livejournal.com/2856.html
Eva Markvoort 2006

People with CF aren’t able to gain weight, all the food they eat just goes straight through them. Like my sister, Eva had to get a tube that went in her stomach to directly get food into her. Even then it’s still really difficult for patients to gain enough weight to be “healthy”.

photo from: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/36644.html Annie Markvoort 2007

photo from: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/36644.html
Annie Markvoort 2007

The only way to help extend the life’s of people with CF is to get a lung transplant. It can take months even years to be able to get lung(s) with your blood type. A lot of people die while still waiting for their pager to go off saying that there are lungs for them. However, Eva was one of the lucky ones. Her call came on October 23, 2007, she finally got her lungs. Unfortunately, she was in the hospital an extra 12 days due to complications she had with her surgery. They were able to get her fixed up and she got better.

This is just a small glimpse into how many pills Eva, and others with CF have to take. After Eva got her double lung transplant, she had to take up to 65 pills A DAY, just so that her body wouldn’t reject her new lungs.

Eva started her journey on livejounal.com (you can find her journal here: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/). She chose the username 65redroses because young children with CF can’t say “Cystic Fibrosis” so they say “65 roses” and her favorite color was red. She wanted to share her story and stay in touch with the world even though she was stuck in a hospital. Eva was even able to make friends who had CF like she did. It’s almost impossible for patients to be around each other because they could pass super bugs around, but that didn’t stop Eva from making friends.

I wish I could have known her. She had such a positive outlook on life despite her fatal disease.She died 2 years after her double lung transplant because she want into chronic rejection. Even though she did everything right in terms of taking her pills this happened and she had to go back to the hospital. Unfortunately it was her last visit. Her story is so inspirational, it reminds me that even on my worse days that at least I can breathe and that I am healthy. I would highly recommend that you read her blog, or watch her documentary, 65_redroses, it will definitely make you rethink your life. She touched everyone’s heart and it really is too bad that she had to die so young, but that’s just how life with Cystic Fibrosis works.

Remember how lucky you are to be alive and think about becoming an organ donor, maybe you can help give someone a second chance at life.