...a little more action puh-lease. This year, I decided, is all about doing stuff. It sounds simple but it's not something I'm used to. I have a habit, partly learned from my wonderful parents, of talking about all the things I'd like to do. All the things that will happen in the future 'one day'. But then the future comes and I'm not sure why I haven't done them yet...

I tend to rely on other people to help me make things happen; I'd rather experience something with a friend than on my own, whether it's a holiday, or a film, or a walk or an evening class, so I try to arrange with them - but if it falls through I drop it rather than doing it by myself. And what happens? I wind up disappointed and missing out.

I'm not saying I'm not independent - among my friends I think I'm one of the most independent in that I'll go to places on my own, I don't need babysitting on a night bus to get somewhere and will happily trek across London alone at 4am (sorry mum, don't worry!) and I like to have plenty of my own company. But when it comes to the big stuff, I rarely achieve anything by myself that I can look back on and say woohoo, I did that. (And yes, I actually do say 'woohoo' in real life).

Last year I did a better job of this - I did Spanish by myself and met some great friends because of it; I put myself out there and did a bit of freelancing in the print world which, with the help of a kind and patient editor, I did without issues.

So this year I plan to do it even bigger and better. I'm planning holidays that suit me, not just everyone else. I'm working on the stuff I want to do and that I feel shapes my career, not just anything that comes my way. I'm getting fit slowly but surely, in a way that I enjoy and not how everyone else does. To be awfully cringe-inducingly cheesy, I'm making it happen... I just need to make a list of those 'its' to do...

When I decided to do media and journalism at uni, it was because I wanted to be a writer. I didn't feel comfortable with the word 'journalist' - somehow, it had become almost a dirty word at the time, associated with the sad stereotype of Lois Lane-esque newspaper reporters who would step over anyone to get a story.

I knew I didn't want to be that kind of journalist, and subconsciously, in my mind I was always going to be a 'writer' - less Lois Lane, more Carrie Bradshaw; maybe becoming an author later on, fingers crossed. Again, this is a stereotype, and a bit of a romanticised one, but one I felt far more at ease with. Thankfully, I was learning at a time when suddenly everything was online.

Web of writing 

Once out of uni, I could see that working in print for one of the glossies I'd grown up reading was unlikely (I couldn't just tweet the editor back then), and applying for remote online roles such as my freelance job reviewing for View London was less intimidating, more attainable, and the kind of thing I could enjoy. It was the equivalent of sending an email instead of making a phone call for me - I felt more confident about it. And so my online career began.

Online journalism has changed things, and blogging has changed them even more. There are so many blogs out there, brilliant blogs full of inspiration, great photos, niche topics, passions for anything from beauty to social media and everything in between. Anyone can set up a blog and  put their thoughts out there. Bloggers can even call themselves 'editors', because given that it's their site, they are. Anyone can be a writer, or as people tend to quip cheerfully while metaphorically stabbing you in the heart, 'everyone's a writer these days'. So where does that leave... writers?

Blogger, writer, journalist?

While it's in part a generational thing, I've found there still seems to be the general misconception that if you write online, you're a blogger, while if you write for print, you're a journalist. When I tell people I'm a journalist, they ask what paper or mag I write for; when I say I'm a writer, they look at me like I must be penniless, whiling away my time in a dark room with a typewriter and endless coffees to try and crack out a novel. If I say I'm an online journalist, I feel like I'm already putting down what I do as less important than traditional journalism - do I need to add the 'online'? Referring to 'my blog', I feel a bit like a spotty student who hasn't made it yet, but when I say 'my website', I think they must imagine a huge online magazine which isn't right either.

Labels don't matter, and I'm certainly not criticising any of the media here because I work online and offline and love it; but in an industry where it literally is not about what you know (qualifications seem to mean less and less) and so much about who you know (name a successful journalist/intern/writer who isn't on Twitter and busily networking) and what you're already doing (successful blog? You might be the next big thing), writing seems to be almost so common that it's not valued as 'journalism' anymore. The web has opened it up to everyone.

Now, there's a new generation - my generation - so full of bloggers and writers that it's hard to see who the next Charlie Brooker, Caitlin Moran or Hadley Freeman is. It's no bad thing that so many people are now writing; but I do worry that the journalism industry is getting a little lost somewhere - not helped by these 'celebrity columnists' who are actually, er, TV presenters and such and are probably taking a job that a trained journalist could do better. Are they journalists too now?

What am I? 

For me, it's not a question of fame, but of originality; my ultimate goal is for people to recognise my writing, to love my writing and to look out for it - how many people can you say that of? I follow hundreds of journalists, but only a couple spring to mind that have a real way with words that no one else has - and yes, I'm including bloggers in that. And no, I don't think I'm one of them!

Label-wise, I'm probably all of the above; I'm a journalist, which I feel more confident in saying thanks to my work in print (there I go again); I'm a blogger, because I'm here and elsewhere doing just that; I'm a writer, in that I write the odd little story (one day a novel, when real inspiration comes); and I'm a copywriter thanks to my main job because it's part editorial, part marketing.

So is there even a difference - are all online writers 'bloggers'? Are bloggers becoming journalists? Are journalists old news? What do you define them as or is a label just a label?

As further proof that a) I have awesome friends and b) the ones I've met on Twitter are extra awesome, I am very lucky to be joining the super-chic-geek Emma Cossey in my first ever trip to Cybher in a couple of weeks. 

Emma won the tickets through The High Tea Cast, and knowing that I too was a bit of an online addict, invited me along for the big day. It's basically an all-female, all-blogger geekfest where we get to listen to some talented speakers, learn something, network and say things like 'What's your Twitter handle?' and 'Ooh, nice iPad'. 

Cybher are just so obsessed with the web that they even suggest we do our little 'meet and greet' on our sites as an ice-breaker - so here's a little about me...

Name: Judy Johnson. Not Judy Jay, which I thought was a clever Twitter name which was created by spelling out the initial of my surname. Now people just think it's my actual name, but I'm happy with both. 

Blogs: Obviously I am here on my own site, which is part blog, part portfolio. I also blog every week for Dollymix, and for Wahanda as part of my day job as their Site Editor. Beauty and TV seem to be my favourite subjects but I cover anything that's lifestyle related.

Twitter ID: @judy_jay

Height: 5'10 last time I checked. I don't like to check. Probably 5'11 but that's a scary thought. 

Hair: Rubbish. Natural blonde. Should have been curly, so thank god for tongs. 

Five things you should know about me:

1. I'm 26 and it terrifies me. I'm one of those idiots who grew up thinking somehow I won't really get old, or that if I have to, The Plan will all work out and I'll be married with kids by the age of 30. Turns out I was wrong on both counts! I fully blame Disney, FYI.

2. The nineties rock my world. Boybands, Dreamphone, Clueless... what's not to love?

3. Ibiza is my second home, or so I like to think. I work hard but party hard too. 

4. I hate shoes. Which kind of kills my Carrie Bradshaw image, but hey, the money I'll save can go towards those Ibiza trips. 

5. I am quite well known for my headbands (see crap hair comment). I'm rarely seen without one and I don't think it's a phase I will ever grow out of, much like my love for green eyeshadow which has been going strong since 2002.

Thanks for e-meeting and e-greeting me and I hope to see you at Cybher!

I hate shoes. You know what shoes are? They're prisons for the feet, that's what they are. They're tight and uncomfortable and they dig into your ankles, rub your toes until they bleed and make walking painful. If I could live in slippers all day, I would. 

This isn't a new thing for me but after a recent event where I had to wear actual shoes instead of my preferred boots, as well as one shopping trip too many that made me miserable due to the lack of choice, I felt the need to rant. You've been warned...

Size matters

Most girls love shoes. Apparently this stems from the fact that your shoe size doesn't change no matter how much weight you put on over Christmas or how many Easter eggs you eat. But for me, size is part of the issue. Being tall, I am a size eight (in shoe, sadly not dress size) - have you ever tried to find shoes in the sale that are a size eight? The ones that are left are usually ugly, loafer-type shoes or huge wedges that I wouldn't be seen dead in. Screw you, size fives.

Heels are hell

Then there's the heel issue. I can't walk in heels. Hell, I can't even stand in them. Recently someone advised me not to go to a black tie event unless I was going to wear heels (I ignored them, and it was fine, apart from then having to wear flat shoes that cut my feet) which, had they been right, would have really made me angry - talk about discrimination! Of course, men also like women in heels, and therefore I feel less attractive than my stiletto-loving friends. How is it fair that pain-inducing accessories should make me feel like less of a woman? It isn't, is it?

Stilettos aren't everything

None of the above would really be a problem if only there was enough choice out there, but as every dreaded shoe shopping trip has taught me, it's near impossible to find feminine, non-bulky flat boots. In the summer it's fine - open toe gladiators and sandals are lifesavers, but for the rest of the year, and for clubbing (no idiot wears open toe shoes clubbing) I have to look like the odd one out. Is it so much to ask that the people who design these beautiful looking high heels spare a few hours to design a boot that's light and girly,  pretty and elegant, without a high heel? And don't even get me started on shoe boots...

So that's why I hate shoes. In fact, their only redeeming feature is that they cover my other hate: feet. More on that later...

P.S. Sorry Charley :)

Less than an hour ago I was saying how I could do with some more time to do all the little ideas racing around my head. Then I opened my Emerald Street email that I'd flagged in my inbox earlier and made my life a little more difficult by checking out Incredibox. Goodbye, productivity! Hello, new toy!

Incredibox is an app which, as far as I can see, has no real use other than to entertain. Just what I need - another site to get hooked on. But this is so much fun -  all you do is create your own little boyband (sadly no early Take That-style dance moves here) by dragging and dropping the various options in beats, melodies, effects and vocals onto the animated men and there you have it, you're creating your own music. You can record what you create, share it and play their bonus clips which so far I've found are songs that they've made themselves. 

Pointless? Yes. Entertaining? Double yes. No matter what you mix together, whether it's mostly beats or one of each of the categories, nothing sounds bad. I love the little touches such as the men's eyes following the mouse on both the homepage and the composing section, and the different hats and costumes each character is wearing. Definitely one to bookmark!

What sites do you use for a bit of time out?

I didn't write any New Year's resolutions this year - at least, not here - because the ones from 2011 pretty much still stand and were well worth keeping up. But, 2012 has been hectic so far and it doesn't look like it will slow down anytime soon, so I thought I'd share what I've been up to...

Ticking the 'Over 25' box

In January I turned 26, which is terrifying for obvious reasons. I'm closer to 30 than 20. I should probably start using eye cream. I still haven't accomplished any of what in my mind I would by the time I reached this age, and still feel 21 at heart. So naturally, I was dreading this birthday a little - but funnily enough, it was quite possibly my best ever. OK, so in all the Christmas rush I forgot to take the day off work for it (muppet), but I planned a night out at LVPO and invited pretty much everyone I know in the hope that maybe a handful would show up, and was overwhelmed by how many friends came along. I danced like a moron (see previous 21-at-heart comment), saw people I hadn't seen in 6 months or more and generally had a brilliant night. Yay!

Learning some moves

I've been moaning about getting fit for a while now, and while I wait for WaterCrew classes to return to London (or until someone buys me a WaterRower - those things are SO expensive!), I've been getting fit the fun way with Zumba. Now, I know that this word is everywhere, together with quite irritating pictures of people looking like they're laughing AND exercising (freaks) but it actually is brilliant. And you will laugh. As a lover of all things Shakira, the music is right up my street and even if I am wearing a sports bra and lame trainers, I love the moves and little shimmies that are involved. It's fun, energetic and not too expensive - fitness win. (Plus, Wahanda have offers on Zumba pretty often. And you can use JJ21 for 10% off anything. You're welcome.)

Blogging, blogging, blogging

I know I'm not the most dedicated of bloggers when it comes to this site - but the thing is, I'm writing for lots of other sites too! In February I was very happy to start writing for the brilliant folks at Aigua Media - they have such a great range of sites and I'm proud to be part of it. So, tune in to sites like Dollymix and Kiss and Makeup to see me writing about television, break-up songs and much much more. And of course check out their other sites such as Catwalk Queen, Shoewawa and The Bag Lady. You won't be disappointed!

Continuing to not understand men

Yep, I still don't get them. After countless chats with my ever-patient girlfriends about one guy who, despite me liking him (and him displaying signs of liking me but then disappearing again), I have had to put in the Never Going To Happen file, and very little else going on, I am still very single and a bit bored of it - last year I enjoyed it, but now it just seems so 2011. Add to that a very, very random bunch of flowers landing on my desk on Valentine's Day, with nothing but a weird quote from Keates (thanks Twitter for telling me), and I'm as baffled as ever. (Please, can someone own up? Thanks!)

Plotting and planning

This year, I promised myself I would see more and do more (yeah, maybe I did make a little resolution after all) - so I've been planning my getaways. Fingers crossed they happen; I've got my ticket secured for Hideout Festival in Croatia (aka the new Ibiza, although frankly, who needs a new Ibiza when you already have awesome original Ibiza?), plans to visit my friend in Dubai, tickets for Blood Brothers, and the lineup for Lovebox is looking pretty good too. This year is going to fly by, isn't it?

Did you start any New Year's resolutions this year? How are they going?

It's not like I needed a new social network to take up more of my time. Twitter is already a way of life for me now - I probably tweet even more than I text - and Facebook, despite my general dislike for it, is something I visit daily even if it is just to spy. So when my boss told me about Pinterest I wasn't in a rush to get involved - but then I pinned my first thing and it got a little out of control...

Pinterest is essentially an online scrapbook, or mood board, of the pictures, photos, illustrations, whatever, that you love. Whoever came up with it is an utter genius. It is so simple; all you need do is drag the 'Pin it' button into your browser and you can pin anything, wherever you are on the web. A little like Tumblr, I guess, but faster, simpler, easier.

What I can't get over (and the reason I was on it until 1am midweek) is that there is just no reason to stop. I can pin for hours. Unlike Twitter or Facebook where once everyone's in bed or starting to talk utter rubbish it's time to close the laptop and stop, Pinterest doesn't require other people. They just make it better. So there I was last week, Googling my favourite David Downton illustrations so I could have them in one place; finding screenshots of Friends scenes that make me cry with laughter; looking up inspirational quotes and my favourite artists. I could have kept going, but the impending shrill of my alarm clock made me stop.

Of course, it is about being social, and other people's pins just make it even more addictive. Your homepage will be filled with the images that your fellow pinners have been discovering, liking and commenting on - a wealth of inspiration all in one place, all on different subjects which you can search within if you're looking for more of a certain topic. Follow people, follow specific boards - use it however you want to.

As much as I love writing, and I love tweeting, the problem with having a Tumblr or a Twitter account is that so many of the great things you link to get lost, as newer posts knock them back down the timeline. With Pinterest, it's all images - brilliant for those photos that speak for themselves, and more effective, with more immediate an impact, than reading something; and you can keep going back to it, admiring all those dreamy pictures you've found with ease. Like I said, genius.

Spoken like a true addict, eh? See my pins over at http://pinterest.com/judy_jay/ - and feel free to leave your username in the comments so I can follow yours.

I have to say, I did not see this one coming. I admit, I obsess over things quite easily, whether it's a place (Ibiza), a person (Ryan Gosling, obvs) or a mascara (currently Max Factor's Masterpiece Max). But after the crackle nail craze, which I eventually grew bored of, I really wasn't sure the next gimmick would live up to the hype - magnetic nails.

I'm sure everyone who paints their nails has heard of this by now but in case you haven't, it was 2011's way of jazzing up nails at home. Gone are the days of French manicures and single colours - it's all about nail art made easy these days. The polishes have fine metal particles which, when you hover a magnet over the top of them (when still wet), create a shape or design.

One of my lovely besties bought me my first magnetic polish for part of my birthday gift earlier this month, and it wasn't one of the brands I've seen on any of the beauty blogs I follow. The polish is by FashionistA in collaboration with girl group The Saturdays, a range called Magnetism. The shade is perfect; I have the 'Ego Green' which in the bottle looks like a gorgeous dark jewel-like colour and I couldn't wait to give it a go. The magnet that you need is sold separately (which thankfully the bestie thought to buy, as I am told a regular fridge magnet doesn't work. Baffling.) but fits nicely on top of the lid of the varnish bottle so that you don't lose it. 

I painted my nails with one coat, and adored the colour - I'd happily wear it even without the magnetic pattern. Then, after applying a second coat, while it was still wet I hovered the magnet over the top. It has a useful ridge which you can use to keep it steady and close without touching the polish. After just 10 seconds, I took it away and hey presto - I had a really pretty 'wave' design on the nail. With no extra work!

Because of the way the polish moves with the magnet, it pushes that top coat into a shape, so the waves are a darker green than the first layer. I added a clear top coat to make it extra shiny and chip-proof and loved its almost tortoiseshell look - so much smoother and glossier than the shatter polishes, which despite looking cool always looked a little messy. Even better, it lasted a good four days which for me and my nails is not bad at all. Will definitely be buying some more colours and exhausting this trend... 

Have you tried magnetic polish? Any brands you'd recommend I try to satisfy my new-found obsession?

 

My mouth has got me into trouble quite a few times. From telling my sister when I was 8 that I saw a ghost in our room (sorry, not true) to saying a bit too much on what would otherwise have been the best date ever (still gutted, and pretty sure that’s the reason it ended there!), I tend to be a bit too honest for my own good. 

When I was little, I generally agreed with anything my sister said, even if it meant lying; but then I got older, realised I had an opinion and kind of lost sight of what was helpful and honest and what was just better left unsaid. I'm not talking just the little things, like whether or not you like the wooly jumper your nan got you for Christmas (a white lie never hurt anyone, as they say), but also the bigger things. Do you stand up for yourself if you think someone's done you wrong? Do you tell someone if you think they're wasting their time on someone or something? I seem to lack that filter of when to keep it buttoned and while I LOVE honesty in other people and see it as part of having a backbone, I'm not sure I should always spill the beans.

Recently I’ve either said too much to someone and regretted it (like round the dinner table this Christmas, telling my sister she’s blatantly the tougher, meaner one in her relationship – oops) or heard people moaning about in-laws or friends who just need to keep their thoughts to themselves, even if they do mean well. I’m glad it’s not just me that has honestitis, but at what point do you hold back? I seem to be surrounded by people with strong opinions, which I think is great (far better than an ignorant drip round the dinner table) but sometimes it seems no one wants to hear mine…

Whether it’s about babies (don’t do it like that), men (he’s clearly a prick), family (you’ve made the wrong decision), or work (that’s not how I’d do it), it’s really hard to get the balance right between getting your voice heard and giving good advice, and hurting someone’s feelings – or just making them plain angry.

When do you keep your lips sealed and when do you speak up?