Dog the Bounty Hunter

 So I'm really getting addicted to this show, I don't know why I never bothered watching it before. I flicked over to Sky one the other day and I was like OK, let's see what a bounty hunter does. But then the show ends up being so much more than that. You find out that Duane 'Dog' Chapman was once a criminal and turned his life around. Two of his children were born when he was quite young and he wasn't around in their lives for a while, they are now both bounty hunters like him. They operate mainly from Hawaii, in their business called Da Kine Bail Bonds. They basically go and capture people who skip court or jump bail. I don't know if I understood this properly, but I think if they don't get the fugitive, they are forced to pay the bail amount to court, so it's pretty important that they catch the hoodlums!

 I've decided I want to read his book, You Can Run But You Can't Hide, so I reserved it at the library. I love real life stories like this. There was another interesting book in the same vein that I read a few years ago, I very much recommend it! It's called Tough Guy and it's by an ex-mobster called Louis Ferrante. He tells of his life of crime, stealing lorries full of merchandise and selling them, to ending up in prison and changing his life for good.

Tough Guy by Louis Ferrante

 That's the cover of Ferrante's book if anyone fancies a read.

You Can Run But You Can't Hide by Duane 'Dog' Chapman

2012!

 So it's now 1st January 2012, last year kind of felt like it flew by, a lot was happening around the world, but nothing much happening for me. I always think back and reflect, and all the good things that happened were for other people. I can't help feeling down about it. Probably the best thing was Libya being liberated and the oppressor/dictator Gaddafi being rightfully killed. Say what you want about him, but he never hid his evil, so I am free to celebrate his death if I want to. Actually, the Libyan community here had a party exactly for that. It was pretty cool and the food was nice. (Thank you to the Libyan Embassy in London for funding our party!)

  Alton Towers was a good highlight of the year actually, thinking back. I went with my family on 29th October 2011, almost at the end of Scarefest. What an amazing time to visit, what with Terror of the Towers and the Zombie Scare Zone. Don't ask me why, but I really liked the Mutiny Bay area, it just seemed really fun and the guy operating Marauder's Mayhem was really cheerful. A lot of the staff there looked happy, but in Flamingo Land they all look like they'd rather be elsewhere and sometimes act pretty cocky and unhelpful.

 Recently I've been having tons of thoughts about being stuck in limbo. That's how I explain how I don't feel settled and how incomplete my life feels. I feel like I shouldn't be living with my parents, that I should be married and having children. I'm really not the type of person who will cope well with being single for a long time. The only way I would feel better would be to get my own place, but I just can't afford it right now, and my parents would take it as an insult to move out, even though that is not my intention.

 I guess one other good thing is that I am able to drive again. I am insured with my dad on his car. So I now drive a Vauxhall Zafira. Don't laugh! I'll take what I can right now, and I'm so grateful for that. Here's to 2012 being the year I can reflect on and actually be genuinely happy about, inshallah. We'll see how I feel in about a year!