*(See me at 1.34 min of this clip :) lol)
On the 24th January 2011, I made a promise to myself- as every year's resolution- to do justice to my body and be healthy. This feeling always hits me when I walk a distance and find myself surprisingly in agony whether out of breathe, joint pains or just general fatigue. I am only 26 for gods sake! Have I been too ignorant not to realise what I was doing to my body ? Well obviously YES! This has bothered me for a while now specially when I see a piece of clothing that I fall in love with and when I try on, it loses its beauty. And Yes, it is all my fault. So I decided to put a stop to my misery and try to free myself from the body that has been trapping me for so long. I joined Matt Ibb's Liverpool Fitness Boot Camp that takes place three times a week (Mon, Wed, and Sat) for 45 minutes in Sefton Park. Of course I needed some company because walking the walk of shame every other day was difficult, so I dragged along two of my neighbours.
First impression is "wow I am going to loose weight finally" I was confident that this is it, I am seriously going to make a change now. After a week of rigorous exercise and sweating like a pig, I noticed my figure looking slimmer. And because I took all measurements at the start, I found out by week three that I lost about 2 inches from stomach area (was 39 inch-now 37), bust (was 44-now 40), thighs (was 28-now 27), arms (was 13-now 11)...everywhere is just shrinking- and I lost some of my weight too. Great News! Following the diet plan which is basically eating vegetables- all sorts- and protein (fish/ red & white meat) was a challenge but I had to stick to it because I knew this is my last chance now to release the real me and I do not want to ruin it. I started inventing with the food list I was given- my favourite has to be Salmon salad (leaves, olive oil, tin of salmon...Viola! job done! Also now I like sweet potatoes mashed with some mushrooms on top (boil sweet potato, mash it, fry mushroom with olive oil for a min then serve on top of your mash- quick and easy!) Overall difference for me would be feeling healthier in general, specially that I sleep better now (probably from all this horrid routines by our trainer Dean Conner who knows no mercy) and I wake up without an alarm at 8am not feeling tired as before. So challenge two for me now that it is nearly week 6 is to carry on eating well- without skipping meals because I erm..."forget too feed myself"- and hopefully drop those pounds quicker by following more exercise and eating well. Funny I feel lighter on my feet now- Fingers crossed you will all see the new me soon! Who would have thought I found boot camp by chance! Many thanks...Link to Matt Ibbs' Boot Camp: http://liverpoolbootcamps.com/
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wrote 
- one of the most iconic novels in English language today. The talk by 
Curator of Shandy Hall Museum (3), was thought provoking in a time where education seems to be going through a 'silent crisis'. Students are victims of a materialistic time where making money is the ultimate goal rather than producing and communicating work that will benefit humanity as a whole. Wildgust, whilst promoting the works of Laurence Sterne, has gained vast experience in public engagement and interpreting Sterne's works and objects to a wider audience. He believes that "some objects give us the future and give us the past- visibly". Objects speak to us as a result of our imagination. They liberate us, intrigue us and open vast possibilities. But is the creation of our imagination what matters or can objects have significant context of their own?
- about 
and my research as a whole?" A fundamental question that I believe I will carry on exploring throughout the coming years of my work and study. The exercises give by Jenkins- to choose an object in groups to talk about it- was an excellent way to discuss objects significance in relation to research and stories that would be appealing to the general public. In my group, we choose an old music box and a collection of postcards. The tune from the music box automatically brought back good memories to 
with fairies and angles.This shows that there is no limits on one's imagination when it comes to choosing objects to communicate a certain message, image or have a specific effect on the audience, as mentioned during the training day "there is no one story, but vast possibilities and there are all in the hands of the researcher".
(4), scholar and story teller, started her talk in a fun and relaxed approach where she told a couple of stories from Greek Mythology that captured the audience imagination and reminded us all of our childhood. Harrop successfully bridged the gap through story telling between the academic world and public engagement. Her technique was an excellent example of conveying one's own research into a more accessible appealing way to the general public. And to reinforce Harrop's talk, we were given an hour session in groups to attempt to tell a brief tale to each other and present it in our groups. The response was impressive and Harrop gave feedback to everyone regardless of the time constraints. The message I believe from this talk was that researchers should tailor their stories- or research- to suit the audience, since talking to primary school children will require extra fun elements, mystery and engagement in contrary to talking to mature academics familiar with the subject. 
, from the Royal Armouries, (5) told us about the importance of allowing the public to get a hands on experience of objects. This not only help the public understand the object and information given, but also have ownership of their experience and attempt to explore more. This may sound daunting for those working on rare objects in the field of Archeology perhaps where handling objects may cause damage. Richardson suggested replicas as a solution as it is another way of allowing public engagement. Next example of communicating research to the public was 
from the University of Leeds (6). McCleery's research brought biomedical science, bio-archeology and medical history together. Her project "Your are what you Ate"(7) is in partnership with the Wellcome Trust which enabled her to reach a wider audience and get the financial support needed for such a project and the help/ expertise of many other professionals in the field. McCleery stressed that collaboration is important for research students because you gain so much working with people who may see things differently, which is something that the next speaker, Helen Weinstein, historian and media producer, encouraged us, researchers, to do (8). Weinstein told us about how research and 'Knowledge Transfer' projects are the way forward in research as they bring both academics and the general public together. The Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past (IPUP) internship programme (9) for instance gives graduate students the experience of translating the academic skills in to TV, radio, museum and heritage site products and exhibitions. And on the topic of copy right and intellectual property raised by one researchers among the audience, she said that getting our voice heard as researchers is vital but it is important not to give everything away. Being assertive and knowing how to suggest individual involvement in media projects means that ownership over the work is not lost and at the same time one shares such ownership with the public. Hence, Knowledge transfer is a two way process. And last but not least, we had the opportunity to watch a performance by Holly Clarkson and Kate Prosser, 
students, who performed a number of pieces based on one of the researcher's work on Post-War. One piece in particular struck me to be an embodiment of my work, and I could not stop myself from expressing how I was touched to see a glimpse of my work brought to life bye Clarkson and Prosser. I was truly touched. The fact the I did not realise that the performance is associated with Post-War helped my imagination to associate such movements and feelings expressed in Clarkson and Prosser's duet to my work on self consciousness, harmony and conflict between the one and the Other. It was truly beautiful to watch. The whole day has bridged the gap between visuals in any form, objects/performances and research and I think that on behalf of many, it has been such a successful one.
