It's not difficult

People should probably just get over the fact that I'm stubborn. And that's it. Sometimes my opinions might momentarily sway upon receiving new information, but ultimately I'm steadfast in certain views. There are many things in this world that I'm unsure of, but there are those things that I just know and it would take a tremendous effort to persuade me otherwise. Being agnostic is one of these occasions. However, I do seem to be edging towards atheism as time goes on.

Pertaining to my fixed opinions is the recent HPV vaccine supposedly preventing cervical cancer. I wrote a long post on why my mother and I refused the opportunity for me to receive the vaccine. In short, research has only been conducted on the vaccine for about 5 years. That's approximately as long as the production of The Sims 3. Long term effects are unknown. It's just worrying and I don't want something put in my body unless I can be completely sure that it will be beneficial and safe.

Yesterday a girl died soon after having the HPV vaccine. It's impossible to ascertain the cause of her death until the post-martem examination of Tuesday. However, if she did die as a result of the vaccine, she is not the only one. And for this to happen to even one girl is one to many.

I was debating for quite a while as to whether I should have had the vaccine and I've not ruled it out completely, even now, but this latest case does reassure me that I may have done the right thing for me at least.

Arsenic acceptance

Please note: I wrote this in September after the first course of injections for the HPV vaccine. I feel that it needed to be published, even though I wasn't daring enough to do so at the time.

The first course of HPV injections took place on Monday. It's supposed to prevent women contracting the two main types of the HPV virus that cause cervical cancer.

Let's review why I didn't have this vaccination:

• My mother and I are quite alternative (my dad less so). She's against quite a few vaccinations, so shortly after the initial courses of injections that every baby has, I stopped having them. I haven't had an injection (except anaesthetic in my gum) for probably about 14 years.
• This vaccination has only been tested for around five years. The Sims 3 was in devolpment for longer than that. If a game cannot be made perfect in five years and still has glitches, how can a vaccination?
• Most of the research and testing for this vaccination was paid for by the drug companies, so therefore could have been biased. Ultimately, those companies want to sell the drugs.
• Side-effects can be anything from mild flu-like symptoms to paralysis, incontinence, brain damage, seizures and death. And it's not a tiny minority either.
• 90% of HPV infections can be cleared by the body's own defences and most people will contract HPV at some point in their lifetime.
• Dr Christianne Northrup, a gynaecologist, supports the claim that a healthy, nutritious diet helping the immune system is a much better defence against HPV infections and cervical cancer than the vaccination.
• One in five women with cervical cancer tested negative for HPV infections. Surely this shows that there are other causes that also need to be investigated.
• I don't really want arsenic in my body. If I did, I'd ingest it myself.
• The vaccination is estimated to last around six to seven years. If I were to have it now, at age 15, it would last until I was around 22. Women can't have smear tests before the age of 25. If a woman was to get cervical cancer in the window where she was not protected, she wouldn't know. Then what happens when the vaccination runs out? Is the Government going to be able to provide booster injections for everyone.

So, those are my personal reasons. You may disagree, and that's absolutely fine. I just think everyone's accepted these injections far too easily. I'm the only person I know who did any independent research prior to deciding on whether to have the injection. It's like signing a contract before reading it, and in doing it you could be signing your life away.

Well, no one's died in my school which is very good. If anyone was going to die, they would have done by now so hopefully everyone's safe.

I'm not saying never. If conclusive evidence to show that this vaccination is absolutely safe and necessary is produced, go ahead and stick a needle in my arm. But if not, I remain resolute.

Oh, and no, I don't see myself having any sexual contact in the next year so if I change my mind about the injections by the time the next vaccinations come around, that's fine.

The Wolff Family

Warning - if you don't play the Sims 3 or have no interest in it, this blog post may not be very entertaining. For those of you that do and/or are, read on...

The Wolff family are a pre-made family on the Sims 3, living in a large, modern and beautifully decorated house with 25000 Simoleons as funds. The family consists of Morgana Wolff - an workaholic, family-orientated, artistic, good and charismatic young adult Sim working in the Medicine career - who's married to Thornton Wolff - an ambitious, perfectionist, frugal Sim who dislikes children, has commitment issues and works in the Business career. Both are young adults and have rather contrasting desires in life; Morgana loves children, Thornton doesn't. So, guess the first thing I did in this game?

Yes, I took Morgana's side and forced pro-creation on Thornton >:) Days later, they returned from the hospital with a daughter, Claryssa. Daughter Cleo and son Clement followed, so they ended up having quite a hectic lifestyle, having to balance demanding careers and even more demanding children. All children aged well throughout the life stages and in general they were quite a perfect family, despite Thornton's mood meter taking a dip whenever he spent time with his beloved children.

Though I don't exactly share this view in real life as of now, I love my Sims having children in the Sims 3. Okay, so babies are deadly boring, it takes a long time to teach toddlers everything and growing up is terribly slow, the clothes and hairstyles for children are vomit-worthy and I find it near-impossible to help a teen balance school and a part-time job, but I find children a very important part of this game. I can honestly admit that I don't remember a family on any Sims game where I haven't thought about them having children, even if I give up before getting to that stage. I love seeing how the generations progress, the features children inherit and how far my family's come since that first flirt that the parents shared.

More so, I adore the Wolff family. I've experimented with many other households, but all feel boring compared to my precious family which is nearing the third generation. I don't think I've ever been this committed to a game, and I must have played over thirty Sim days. A Sim day is 24 minutes, meaning that I've played over 720 minutes of this family. That's at least 12 hours. It doesn't feel nearly that fast during the play of the game, but it's only when I glance over at my clock that I realise how much of my day I've frittered away on the Sims 3. As long as I still have time for revision, homework, coursework, family, socialising, reading, drama, eating, sleeping, excreting, showering, tooth-brushing, music and everything else, that's fine with me :D

We must start somewhere...

...And that's here. And that's me a couple of years getting stuck in the mud. Or dancing - you choose. Hi, I'm Abby and I currently have green nails and pink hands, because:

1) I had to paint my nails green on a moving coach on the way to a Young Enterprise final. My friend Nattakan lent the green nail varnish to me because our company is eco-friendly therefore green seems like a logical colour. Young Enterprise aims to provide young would-be entrepreneurs an opportunity to start a business. My team (in which I'm the Human Resources director) had already beaten eight teams in various other competitions, all of which were older than us, but we didn't win this time. Oh well; it's a huge amount of pressure lifted off of us as we would have had to compete in London in the National Finals against the best schools in the country. So the Young Enterprise dream is over. However, we did win the award for best Health and Safety which I'm pleased about as that was one of my responsibilities.

2) I'm probably too hygienic and wash my hands very frequently especially before and during the use of my laptop. My hands are extremely sensitive to liquid soaps and flare up in a bright pink colour, so though I try to use bar soaps whenever possible the horrific pink school soap that smells of smoke and can't even neutralise food odours on hands is still present in my life on a daily base.

Oh... you wanted to know a little more about me, didn't you? I turned 15 nearly a month ago but I've postponed any birthday celebration or opening of most presents. I don't know when I will decide to hold my birthday, but I don't want to have it now because I'm not entirely happy with life at the moment and I'd like to let thing clear a little in my head before I attempt to celebrate a seemingly joyous occasion.

Regarding the nail varnish, fortunately green is my favourite colour so I don't mind it. But I do think it might be a bit too warm-toned for me. Normally I have a neutral skin tone (and always very pale - I don't allow myself to tan and I doubt I would significantly anyway being of typical Irish colouring) however the pink in my hands contrasts with the warmer green colour.

From birth to the age of 4, nearly 5, I lived in Islington, London. It was just me and my parents in a one-bedroom flat. I didn't even have my own bed, but it was amazing. I don't remember that much of my life there, but I recall enough to know that I don't fit in where I live now. My mother had acquired quite a Southern accent from living there for a few years and because she read to me in this accent I picked it up myself. I never lost that voice even though I've lived here for 10 years.

I've always wanted to move back to London but in recent weeks the desire has gotten much stronger and I'm almost beginning to despise where I live. I know it could be so much worse, but when you're the 'posh' girl who loves museums, art galleries, theatre, coffee shops, libraries, fine dining it can be difficult. Of course, I like all the more normal teenage activities too such as parties, shopping and sleepovers. And thankfully I have an amazing group of friends who never fail to amuse me. I love walking through school and just saying 'Hi' to everyone I know. Some people are truly lovely.

Sorry, I'll try and keep these blog posts much shorter. I'm off to play The Sims 3. It's oddly fulfilling.