What Would Maisy Do - Planning A Monday Shop

Dear Maisy,

I need your help! My mum says I can shop for three things every Monday, and I don't know how to organise it. My brain is so muddled up, I don't know one end of my writing desk from the other, and now I usually get the wrong things, or they stop selling them altogether. Can you help me organise the Monday shop so I can get all the things I want?

Love,

Gerald Giraffe

I think I know the simple answer to this question, Gerald. Just use eBay and Amazon for your first two purchases, and then choose another shop for your other purchases, be it Forbidden Planet, Tesco, Hobbycraft, The Works, Typo or anything else you can think of. You are a shopaholic, and that's okay - you can binge buy, but binge buy once a week.

Once you've chosen your three things, head onto Google Keep and write a list so you can remember them, then pin them up so you can remember what's coming next. You can add a picture if you want - I always spruce my notes up with pictures. It'll help you remember what you want to buy - if you're getting a Doctor Who spin off book from Forbidden Planet for instance, you can add a picture of K9. If you're getting something from the Gerry Anderson website, add a Thunderbirds related picture.

I hope this answers your question, Gerald. Happy buying!

Love,

Maisy

XXXOOO

What Would Maisy Do - MST3K & Gerry Anderson

Hey, Maisy,

I'm in need of your help because the first ever MST3K episodes mocked my love of Gerry Anderson, and I'm really upset. It's like...they hate it! And I hate them for doing it, and the show will lose more viewers if they found out Gerry Anderson's legacy would be ruined. How do you think I can balance this, Gerry Anderson, Doctor Who and you all at the same time?

Love,

Penny Flamingo.

I'm glad you asked, Penny Flamingo. Since I'm an expert at sorting out TV shows, the best way to balance all of this would be to use this method: the MSTGADW Method. What is that method and what's it got to do with balancing these shows, you ask? Let me explain in full detail:

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE - In order to prescribe your love for Mystery Science Theatre 3000 again, get out two notebooks. One would be for revenge on Tom and Crow for making fun of the puppets you love, and one would be for every single reference they made during each episode. For your 'Revenge File', try and list down three possible ways of getting revenge on the bots before the cows come home each day. For your 'Reference File 2563', list down every possible reference that they make and everything Crow, Tom and the host say in the voices of the monsters. I find it funny because it turns the monsters from fierce enemies to smoking, drinking adults who want nothing more to do with attacking people! Ha ha!

Gerry Anderson - Now this one is very easy. If you're a fan of both Barbara Ann Kipfer and Gerry Anderson, then this one's for you, and I heard how much you love making lists, Penny. All you need is a Google Docs file and a book. Use each letter from every word of the page to make things you are happy about, and as a bonus, try to make it themed around when Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray all aired together on YTV during its heyday in 1995. Or, you can use a notebook and decorate it with stickers.

Doctor Who - You already know the cuttings archive, it's the best site in Doctor Who history. You can use this and four exciting Doctor Who books to keep your love of the Time Lord - the joke book, the quote book, the Doctionary and Now We Are Six Hundred, plus videos of various continuity announcements and events based on the doctor from BBC Four, UK Gold, Forces TV, U&Eden or any other channel that hails the doctor like he's their son. Oh, and if you're asking, The Curse Of Fatal Death is one to look out for, because I like to believe that Father Time is always punishing The Master, and I find it very funny. And if you want to interact with the cuttings online even more, I think you should make collages of the cuttings on Pinterest Shuffle.

Anyway, I hope this answers your question, Penny! Enjoy your new activities!

Love,

Maisy

XXXXOOOO

What Would Maisy Do? - Beauty & Meaning

Tallulah wants to start a collection of pretty things she finds outside her house. One day, Maisy takes her for a beach holiday, and she goes around the beach collecting shells, but none of them she finds aren't pretty enough. In fact, one that was pretty before had brown holes in it.

Luckily, Tallulah knows she can turn to Maisy for advice. She runs up to her friend and asks if there's another way to find beauty and meaning inside the shells. Removing her sunglasses and taking a drink of her orange cocktail, Maisy reminds Tallulah: "You can find beauty and meaning in everything you see, just like me. When I was shipped off to India and Africa, I found beauty and meaning in the outside world, because I'm so glad to have Leopard and Dog as my teachers. And when you found me in India, I showed you, Lion and Dog that there's beauty to be found everywhere, even when you're far from home. Inside these shells you find, they're not as ugly as you'd expect - in fact, things you find in nature aren't supposed to be ugly as you thought they'd appear. Each little piece of nature that's considered horrendous to others, is actually beautiful to those who look deeper inside it. So, next time you see something you call 'ugly and slimy' in nature, try and look at it differently. Usually, I spot out three things that are beautiful about its weird appearance, like the brown spots on those shells for instance, and then put it in my bucket. You think you can do that for me?"

Tallulah shrieked with joy in her chickish ways at the thought of this idea, and thanked Maisy for her idea. She then ran around the beach collecting all the shells she thought were ugly, naming three beautiful things she found in each one, especially the shell with brown dots. She found:

1. A smooth yet bumpy texture
2. Brown dots making a beautiful pattern
3. How it smells of bonfire smoke

Every time she went back to the beach, Tallulah filled her bucket with shells, naming three things that are beautiful about each shell she found. And with every jar she filled with shells, she knew she found the beauty in them.

For ugly things can't be ugly when you look at them in a different way, including people you think are ugly. If you find the beauty inside them by listing down three things you find beautiful about them, then you've found the whole world hosts a range of beauty not seen in any chemist's store before.

And thanks to Maisy, Tallulah knew the world was full of beauty, all thanks to what Maisy called 'The Three Beautiful Things Technique'. You can try it at home too if you like - take a cue from Maisy.

Find the amazing.