There can be only one

"Oh here comes the only child. Be careful!"

Actually, we don't bite and we are everywhere. Families of a single child are increasingly more often but still only children are stigmatized as self-centered, selfish, self-obsessed and so on …of course, that might (and I've said "might"!) be true (rarely though!), things are not so black or white!

Speaking as a 'party of one' myself, I think that only children, when not negatively stimulated, turn out to be amazing. Although, there is a group of people that seem keen on making the life of the only children a living hell with comments like the ones listed bellow.

So here's what you do: back off, put down the shovel you’re about to use on the person and feel free to use any of my lines.

Only Child equals a Cool Child
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Classic comments an only child is tired of hearing: 

     1) “Sharing is difficult for you.” Share? Share like what? This is mine so it can’t be yours, simple math, see?

     2) “Only children are kind of, you know, weird”. So we are weird because we find that being home by ourselves is fine?  And no, it’s not boring.

     3) “Only children are not so well prepared to face life.” Oh no she didn’t! We had to deal with our stuff alone from a very early age, sister! Alleluia!

     4) “It must be really lonely”.  We’re not lonely, either. We are used to be alone, so we understand that is not the end of the world to stay in one weekend, watching movies and eating like a pig ( this is just me, right?).

   5) “So boring being just three at home, right?” Wrong. Actually, it’s not. Parents can be the greatest friends and playmates. Just don’t put your Mother as Ken or your Barbie might never get some action.

     6) “Only children are more matured”. Err, yeah right…Tell that to the space monkey pajamas I’m going to wear tonight.

     7) “You must have a great imagination!” Are you joking? Excuse me, while I go lend my phone to my Baby Born, he’s going to use Barbie's Jaguar tonight and needs to make a phone call to Ken, he has the keys.

     8) “Oh! You must love being the center of attention”. Yeah…so much that when all the people in the room look at me, I feel the urge to shove my face trough a wall.

     9) “You’re selfish and too into yourself”.  Yes I am. I am also extremely loyal and believe that my friends are the whole world.

Still, twins are weirder than us.

Your (only child yet so loyal) Top Crusher,
 Alex

It's Monday, be fierce!

We know it's Monday, and it's not easy to start the week! You're so close to your holidays that you can almost feel the sand on your toes and the sun on your skin! It's not an easy task to work with this hot sun outside and the pictures of beautiful people on Facebook! So, just be fierce and conquer this week like the badass we know you are! 

Rebel rebel
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Also, here's my soundtrack for the week, I hope you enjoy it!

Your TopCrusher,
Daniela

Beware of the Female Driver

Well… This is uncomfortable! 

Random Awesomeness
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First of all, I just want to clarify that women are awesome drivers! They just have more personality when it comes to steering a vehicle that reaches high speed. Also, we are not very good at following lots of rules at the same time, and traffic signs don’t help with that. Sorry guys… Less is more! 

With this in mind, there are some little things that are difficult for us to overcome. There are some challenges that women will conquer (to be independent, to study, to vote, to rule the world, etc.), and there are those that are impossible to win. These are my personal favorites: 

Space: For a girl, there is never enough space to park. You can drive a small car, you can drive a big car, you can even drive a bike, it just won’t do. When people are getting annoyed about the time I take to park my big car on a small space I just want to shout “get over it”. Actually, I do, and then they have to wait more time because I got off the “zone” and I have to do it all over again. Merci. 

Speed: Please Mr. Officer, don’t be mad. Women are always in a hurry to do something. It’s Monday morning and I’m going to work, I’m in a hurry. It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m going to the beach, I’m in a hurry. You get the point. We are just so productive that we can’t follow those non sense speed limits. 

Documents: Every time a police officer pulls me over I just want to give him those million papers with different colors that are on my glove compartment and tell him “well, you figure it out, since you’re so smart”. I’m just not very good with paper, sorry. My bad. That was rude. I’m stressed from work, can I pay you a bribe or something? 

Attitude: This is simple. A woman has the same attitude driving around in her car as she has in life: we are always right. So... Just don’t.

Admit it, we are awesome. 

Your TopCrusher, 

Daniela

Arctic Monkeys, what a band!

AM
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One of my huge crushes? Arctic Monkeys, as you may have noticed.  It was simple amazing their performance at NOS Alive’14 and when you have a band that speaks right through your heart and you know almost all the songs like you’re insane, you know that you’re going to love every second of the show.

It was the performance of the day, over 50,000 fans waiting for the opening moment with one of the most enthusiastic crowds ever.
From AM, their most recent album, they played 10 of the album's 12 tracks. The opening, with the crushing hit  ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and the final set with ‘R U Mine?’, were big moments that kept the crowd singing with strong emotion. And the classics? First album tracks like ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’, ‘Brainstorm’, ‘Dancing Shoes’, ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’, were there too to makes us happy.

Arctic Monkeys have been making music for more than a decade, and their latest album, AM, is a career defining moment, given a turn into their rock style in a mature and, we can say, more seductive way.

Beyond all this, they are unique in the way they carefully write their songs and how they gracefully play with the words at the same time.

About their live performances? The best! Check it out TopCrushers.

Your TopCrusher,

Dúnia

Orange is the new black, my new addiction

Alex Vause
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I recently started watching Orange is the New Black and it was a breath of fresh air to me when it comes to TV series. Knowing that I have to wait a million years before I have Game of Thrones to watch again, I was so depressed that I decided to give Orange is the New Black a chance and, honestly, I loved it and I highly recommend.

I watched the entire first season in a weekend, and now I’m watching the second, and I think this one is even better (I’m just missing Vause a little)!

The thing I like about this show is that they have really nailed it when they chose the different actresses and the characters are so interesting and different, they are such an awesome group of drama queens/ criminals/ sensitive, smart women, they actually represent all of us.

I also like the way that Piper is forgotten from time to time and the other characters come to the spotlight with flashbacks from their lives before prison. That involves us in their stories and makes us just want to know more and more about every inmate in Litchfield.

Finally, you can also count on some laughs in the middle of all the drama! The dialogues are hilarious and one hour will fly like it was a ten minute episode!

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela

Happy Birthday Alex!

Hi guys,

Today is Alex's birthday and we want to wish her an awesome day! 

Remember, you're like Port wine: the older, the better!

Your TopCrushers,
Daniela and Dúnia

When did he stop treating you like a princess?

This is not the first time Saint Hoax uses the Disney princesses to pass a certain message. First, it was about child abuse and now he’s using our most beloved Disney princesses to approach another subject: domestic violence.

Put an end to it
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I believe that this is a really powerful image and that he surely found a way to spread the message against this horrific problem that is still increasing in our society. In Portugal the numbers are still going up every year. This is something very daunting that people shamefully hide in their homes, and sadly pretend it’s not happening.

I won’t even mention the statistics of countries like India, where women are seen like objects and don’t even deserve to be treated like equals in the eyes of most men. It’s disgusting and makes me sick to think that cows are sacred there, but women are rapped, hanged and lead to death by fire, without anyone to protect them. That’s not culture, that’s not mentality, that’s not religion, that’s not politics, that is pure violence and evil.

I think that because I am a woman, this subject is particularly important to me and deeply moves me and that’s why I value all these ways to raise awareness to domestic  - and any other kind of - violence against women. 

Hopefully, campaigns like these will help people, I believe we can change our society for the better and I appreciate artists like Saint Hoax for creating new, clever and productive ways to do it!

Like the princesses we are, we should never stop demanding the treatment we deserve!

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela