Rule Britannia: 1, don't be a dick.

How patriotic should we be? Jubilee fever has hushed to less than a murmur, our beloved Olympians aren't nearly getting as much attention as they were in 2012 and the Royals are finally having some privacy. This lull has made us wander out and take up world-watching. Suddenly Obama's second term is interesting and global movements are more appealing to follow. But that's fine, it gives us a chance to ignore the 'mare that's replacing the year-long stream of good home news.

I recently got asked how patriotic we should be and where the line is drawn. The murky, overcast area, I reckon, is occupied by those who know the extra verses of God Save as far as the bits about Scotland, who have a collection of hand-held Union Flags just in case, who deny the importance of multi-culturalism but never challenge it due to a stiff upper-lip and refuse to consume anything other than cucumber sandwiches, tea and a Sunday roast. Ticking these boxes should be avoided in order to actually learn something about the world. 

Shouting obscenities during a tight international game/race/match in which we genuinely have a chance is okay, as long as we're gracious with the end result: there are things to be learnt in losing as well as winning. Being British is all about positive, inclusive progress. The equal marriage bill, equal rights for all, accessible education and rich legacies are what make our island great. The Empire was all well and good until we started enforcing our culture in places that just didn't fit. If my degree taught me anything, it's that identity is incredibly important but also as flexible as Beth Tweddle.

So perhaps it's good that we're having a bit of a breather from a very introspective year. We've shown the world we can put on a good show and waves flags for hours whilst singing Hey Jude. Let's find out what's going on across the pond and next door. At least until Eurovision.

Thank economics for holidays.

I've been hit by the fluffy, sparkly arrow of Cupid. Sorry, world. All week I've been looking forward to today because I knew I was receiving flowers from my 300-mile-away boyfriend. (Yes, I know, surprise spoiled - but that just changes the situation to anticipation and excitement rather than worry that nothing will come). The flowers came (a dozen roses - yeah, I feel loved) with a beautifully rude card one would expect still in the hideously incredible honeymoon phase. Am I making you feel sick yet? Though I can't be with him today to give him a squidgy hug and show him how special he's made me feel, I can do something with this warm and fuzzy feeling: I've decided to give back to my housemates.

Living with a couple is not easy, especially when you're in a long-distance relationship. Rather than grumble that they're in the fortunate position to be with each other whenever they like, I'm embracing it. I've cleaned the kitchen, sorted the recycling, tidied the hallway, loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the living room and set up a little romance. What I'd love to do is cook them a romantic dinner with an oozey chocolatey pudding and a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, I have no money to do that. Instead, they came home to this:

Whilst the cynics can happily (or grumpily) load Valentines Day off as a corporate holiday invented by card companies to make money between Christmas and Easter, I quite like it. You can really make it a good excuse to non-awkwardly show friends that they mean something and are appreciated. Of course, there's no reason we should limit this show of affection to February 14th but if you're the kind of person who finds it difficult to express feelings, today is a good shield.

A couple of days ago I was a bit grumbly because I hadn't eaten anything before work and was destined for a late finish. To cheer me up, one of the managers set up a plate with jaffa cakes, sweets and orange slices with an innocent smoothie. It was a small gesture that helped a vast amount. Little things like this should happen everywhere. You might embrace the good deed culture already and you will certainly have been the recipient, whether you know it or not. We're in lent now, so many of you might have given up chocolate, sweets or, like a genius once suggested, skateboarding and celery. How about taking up good deeds? One good deed a day is an excellent aim. Sometimes not possible, a more realistic goal would be three good deeds a week.

Holidays are a brilliant excuse to be wonderful to others and yourself. Send a card for Christmas. Give a hug for New Year. Say thankyou for Valentines. Clean the house for Spring. Cook dinner for Sunday. Make a cup of tea for, you know, 11.14am. Just because. May you all feel fluffy and squidgy today. And if you don't, at least hold someone's hair back while they're sick due to chocolate overconsumption.

Squeezing life into days off

Is it a Gemini thing to just be distracted so easily that I don't have anything I've done all my life or is that just a me thing?

Schools are so career focused now that we may as well be asking pet humans (small, young people), as soon as they can hold a conversation, what uniform to order them for when they're job-hunting. I was never really that decisive about careers - or anything, for that matter - but explored many options. I only took Drama at University because higher education was the natural path for anyone clever and I was particularly good at Drama-related things. I still don't exactly know what I want to do for the rest of my life but I'd quite like to try many things. That's the problem: employers don't want you to be adventurous, they want you to stay in the company forever. To move half your possessions in, train like a Labrador at Crufts and sign your life on the dotted line.

It doesn't help that most jobs require experience. The catch-22. I'm an unlikely employee of Mitchell and Butlers because, I'm told, in this 'economic climate' to get a bar/waiter job one has to have bar/waiter experience. It's because I'm likeable that I'm still there, apparently, and haven't been shunted out by someone with a one-track CV. Is it any wonder there's an ethos of being miserable in a loathsome job? Not mine, I actually quite like mine. But in general, I'm saying.

Life is much more interesting than a job. Granted, there are brilliant jobs out there for people who have enough training. For PhD students/graduates, for example. Yes, well done, you've spent a bazillion hours at University. Here, have an excellently paid job that you enjoy and in which you are treated like a God. Also welcome to half-way-up-the-career-ladder.

For those of us who aren't sure yet, there's the beauty of unpaid experience to be had. And even then, you have to have experience to get that. The catch-22. Sure, if you show enough enthusiasm and knowledge you can get most entry-level jobs. But that's on the off chance that you're not in competition with someone who has had that same job already in a different company or city.

So many of my working friends look forward to days off or holidays and cheer when there's a bank holiday. That's because life starts then. Some find life in a lay-in, a huge breakfast and lazing about with a film or a book. Some go off and get exhausted up mountains or on squillion mile walks. Either way, life doesn't include work. I'm moving to Essex in the summer and I'm spending most of my time researching running clubs and scanning the map of the area to spot good lengthy runs to complement my upcoming training. The snow is finally gone which meant that last night/this morning after work I ran home just to enjoy the non-slippy ground again. And I bounded out of bed to stride over to the corner shop in record time to get the Sunday paper before breakfast, grinning that I could finally do that rather than timidly balancing on the ice. The snow/ice was work. Now it's gone, I'm full of life.

The point I'm trying to make, in a very me way, is that employers should really loosen up and see transferable skills as an actual thing. I was taught that they are fantastic and mean that you can sell yourself to any company. Apparently that was just because I was so excited by all of the careers that it was my only get-out-of-jail card. Invest in people, good companies. People are good. People are interesting, happy and have life in them. Career drones are robots, programmed to be so single-minded that there's no room for adaptation. People are so much more fun.