Eurgh
Revision has to be started in earnest in preparation for the many weeks of toiling left to do. However instead, today was spent getting my hair cut. It's not too bad i suppose but it could have been better. Now i just have to figure out what colour i want it now. The general consensus seems to be black with an additional colour...
Hmmm maybe....
Honey I'm Home Pt 2
Well I'm finally home after the trek to Newcastle. Much fun was had there however I did not relish the fact that the journey there was far from simple. The C2C trains were held up for no apparent reason, the underground refused to actually take me where I wanted to go and then my tickets got messed up at Kings Cross.
Although I didn't get to see much of Newcastle itself, I did get to see V for Vendetta which although being a very good film, was also a bit hard to describe. It's slightly confusing towards the end but overall very very good. Although Natalie Portman's accent is hard to place. It's not quite English but it's not really anything to be honest, sometimes she is rather Cockney-esqe at the beginning but then it fades as she meets V. A film I'd highly recommend to all. Also it was good to enjoy a proper Ska night courtesy of Northumbria University, even though there was a high proportion of R'n'B played at the beginning of the night.
Thanks to Dav and his parents for letting me stay, the break was definitely appreciated. Now I just have to do the large amounts of work that have been piling up and waiting for me...:o(
Hello
Hello from Newcastle! I'm still alive despite Dav's best attempts to kill me. I might end up killing him first though...
After the football i shall be heading out to Skates, whether i make it back alive is another matter...
Speak to you all soon!
Ummm...
It's raining, does that mean I don't have to go? It's not that I don't want to go now, it's just that I can't be bothered with all the hassle of getting to London and then getting across it and finally standing around for ages. And since the trains are playing up round here, I have to leave at 9 in order to ensure that I won't miss my King's Cross connection. Goodbye all, I'm off to pack. See you in a few days!
"Making my escape..."
I've played the dutiful daughter all weekend (well it is mother's day after all) but it appears that it's not enough for some people. After a blazing row with parental unit XY this morning over the fact I wasn't up before 10am (it's a SUNDAY), he has been laying into me all day. I've offered to cook dinner, make lunch, do all the washing and ironing but unit XX has refused my help saying that I'm incapable of doing anything for myself. How does she think I manage to keep myself alive while at uni?
Therefore my escape couldn't come quickly enough. This till means that I will probably be hounded while away with a barrage of phonecalls at inappropriate times. Oh well, the joys of being the sole focus of parental worrying.
Apart from that I've been used as a source of knowledge this weekend. As the result of the 'Boro vs Charlton match was inconclusive, a replay must be undertaken in the (not so) wonderful city near my adopted home. This means that a certain Charlton fan who I no longer speak to, has been asking me what 'Boro is like for night life etc. And with one fell swoop I have told her to go to the most rubbish places on earth while she's there. I don't even feel bad about sending her out into the city which she thinks is amazing when it really isn't. Oh well it will give her even more of a reason to not talk to me (which makes me rather happy).
And so begins my adventure around the country for the next week or so. Look out for me, I may be coming to a town or city near you, those poor few that are still at University, I laugh at your 3 week holiday and instead present you with my 5 weeks of fun and revision....
Hmmm
Following an uneventful day, I've been catching up with The Apprentice online.
Bozz is obsessed with it, poor thing, not having access to a TV at uni, and I have to say it's starting to rub off on me. I enjoyed the last series immensely and was excited by the prospect of the new one. So when reading through the
B3ta newsletter this week, I was overjoyed to read about someone who's emailed all the contestants asking them:
Who would win in a fight: a gorilla or a bear?
You can read more about it
here.
Gracenote, how I love thee
For once in my life, Gracenote is actually working on my computer so I don't have to keep typing track listings out.
In my excitement of actually managing to get out of Essex for at least a few days, I forgot to mention that yesterday was spent in the pleasant company of Miss Quinn. We sojourned to Lakeside for coffee and cake and the odd bit of retail therapy (I now have a new hat!) It was great to catch up and gossip as women generally do, and since we're both going away next week, it wont be so bad.
Now I'm off to write an essay and do numerous mcq's online if I'm going to pass my course this year.
Booked
Well that's it, i have booked my tickets to Newcastle for Monday so you shall not hear from me for 3 days! What are you going to do to entertain yourselves while i'm gone? Well you can visit my links down the side. Or even do some work *shock horror*.
Trips
Easter was supposed to be a time of relaxing and also cramming for exams but it's looking ever more likely that i'll be travelling around the country. First stop Plymouth, then Newcastle, oh and Cardiff and then finally there is the chance of going to Peterborough. Great. Just what i wanted. Still, at least i get to see people and some more of the country. Anyone else feel like seeing me over easter,just provide a floor for me and i'll be there! Many people can vouch that i don't take up much space and i don't demand anything from my hosts. I even bring presents with me!
Numb
Please don't try and phone me now as I won't be able to talk to you. This is due to half my mouth being numb and consequently i have no control over my tongue whatsoever. I now have yet another filling in my mouth and can't eat for about 4 hours. I'm going off to try and grind the filling into place, i was in such a rush to get out that i didn't bite down hard enough.
And what kind of sadist do you have to be to want to show your patients exactly what you're doing? To be honest i do not want to see a massive hole being drilled into my tooth with all the blood and stuff...
OOhhh Shiny!
After a mammoth 18 hours sleep, I'm feeling fully refreshed and ready to face the day. Well evening now. Dinner is cooking away and I'm sitting here downloading music to my birthday present. That's right, I've finally entered the modern age and have a rather snazzy mp3 player. It's
this one and I would add a photo of it, but the home computer is being stupid as always and I can't connect my laptop to the internet here.
I am very very pleased with such a birthday present but I have to agree with other reviewers that the software is crap. Other than that I'm really pleased with it. Just have to find a case for it now before I can actually take it out with me! I'm currently ripping VHS or Beta to it and also ripping a large number of albums from my laptop to CD in order to load them up later.
Hopefully I'll be allowed to take it with me to the dentist tomorrow so I don't have to listen to the drill while I'm having my filling done...
"He's a Scumbag don't you know..."
After practically dying on Friday trying to get things sorted for the reflective journal, I headed off to Stats on Friday to discover that it was cancelled. Great, yet another 9 o'clock lecture cancelled just like that. So Nattyboo and I spent a large amount of time sitting at computer's surfing the net until Biological, which lasted an hour due to it being rushed. I'm not complaining. Met up with parental unit XY who took me for coffee in town. Showed him where we are living next year and he seemed mightily impressed by it all. Upon returning to the flat packing was completed bar my clothing and we headed to Joe Rigatoni's yet again for dinner. Feeling satiated we departed and I returned to college in time to help Kat's dad load all her stuff up.
After a few frantic text messages, Dav came to drag me to the Rocket, after all it was St. Patrick's Day. Fighting off Henry, we managed to get there eventually where I promptly found myself alone as Dav had gone to finish his Guinness. Heading for the bar I was on a mission to get a Guinness hat after drinking 4 pints of the stuff. My plan was thwarted by the absence of the Irish stout and I returned to the dancefloor with merely a bottle of lager. I randomly found Dr Dias and then found Dav standing behind him, who very nicely, swapped his Guinness for my random lager and everything was good in the world. After much dancing and singing, we headed back to Harewood avec Laura, Terran, Ant and Luke. Food was ordered, which I did not partake in, and a bottle of red wine was opened. This was perhaps the biggest mistake of the night, as Luke nearly downed a whole glass of it (after encouragement from Dav). This made him rather tipsy to say the least, which proved amusing until the red wine found itself on the kitchen floor, having decided that it didn't like being in Luke's stomach. Cue Laura and I running out after almost throwing up ourselves, and hiding behind Dav. Terran kindly cleaned up while Laura took Luke back to Stevo and Dav and I hid in the corridor. After things had been sorted and Laura had returned back to her own flat, Dav and I headed back to Fairbridge with it being about 6 am. We sat around for a few hours chatting before it was time for parental unit XY to come and pick me up. For those of you who have been keeping up with the story, you will remember that I have yet to pack my clothes by this point. After explaining who the guy with the Guinness hat was (Dav), we packed stuff into the car with some help from Mr Biggs, while I ran around furiously stuffing clothes into bags.
Soon we were heading homeward bound and after a very good few hours sleep I found myself in Grays. After an Indian feast, I am off to bed now, to recover from last night.
If you actually know me, I haven't got access to MSN at the moment, but will do soon. If you want to chat give me a ring or a text or drop me an email.
Oh and thanks to Dav for the title of this post, that song is stuck in my head now, grrr....
"She's still out to get me..."
I know that I should be writing a Reflective journal for Study Skills tomorrow but I just had to post this. I don't know if this is a wise idea but I'm in a "throw caution to the wind" mood today.
If you haven't heard of Howie Day, then I urge you to get hold of a copy of his album Stop All The World Now. When you do (and you will because you listen to my music recomendations because i have such a cool taste in music apparently) you will immediately listen to the song "Collide". I am about to re-print the lyrics here as this is the song that I have been searching for the past few months. It expresses exactly how I have felt and still feel.
Howie Day - Collide
The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you
Yeah
I'm open, you're closed
Where I follow, you'll go
I worry I won't see your face
Light up again
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide
I'm quiet you know
You make a first impression
I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back, you fall in time
I somehow find
You and I collide
Dont stop here
I lost my place
I'm close behind
Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to ryhme
Out of the doubt that fills your mind
You finally find
You and I collide
You finally find
You and I collide
You finally find
You and I collide
I still don't know if this is a good idea but it's such a beautiful song and I want someone to read/hear it. If anyone else wants a copy just let me know and I'll email it to you.
*Sniff*
Oh a high note my lctures today have been cancelled so yay for that, wish i'd have known before i actually got myself ready to go, then i could have just collapsed back into bed for the rest of the day.
Last night was one of the best nights i think i've had so far this term. It was off for chinese with the Rokeby massive: Jess, Emma, Danielle, Byron, Kwan and Ellie. After forgetting one of our party (I blame you Kwan!) we eventually had food and kind of made a little bit of a mess of the restuarant. Heading back to Rokeby, the girls beat the guys int he driving challenge, by a long shot. A centurian was attempted by Byron and Jess (with some of my help) but Byron dropped out and the girls won. Since Bells was still open, we headed over to get some wine and ice cream, which was proptly consumed. The next few hours are a bit hazy; food was ordered, my phone was used as a weapon and Jess was playing with everyone's drinks. I did get to meet Bailey though (all will be revealed) who is just the cutest thing ever! Ryan moved Byron's car and displyed why his such a bad driver with his awful parking. And i think that's about it, i can't remember much else apart from spilling some secrets which weren't so secret apparently and letting Mish and Kwan take my sleeping bag. I have no idea why.
Oh and Kwan, have a good Easter mate, thanks for arranging last night too!
"Red Light Blinking In The Twilight..."
Finally, after many months, I have managed to get Opera to work on the network. For those of you who don't know what Opera is, it's a browser, much like Firefox but I prefer it for some reason. Which is perfect since I won't be here for the next 5 weeks and then i'm only here for 4 weeks when I get back. I've also worked out how to get Firefox to work so I might interchange them both, but don't tell anyone otherwise i'll be forced to teach them all how to do it.
Another game of Piss artist and Who am I? was played last night in Rokeby, however this time there was a forfeit for the loser: having to drink a mug of vodkat. Now before you say anything, vodkat is not vodka, in any form whatsoever. It has more in common with lighter fluid than consumable alcohol. It was down to Mish and Scott for the privaledge of drinking the beverage and it was Mish's turn to ask a question. He was getting increasingly stressed, however Scott knew who he was and was getting impatient. Eventually after about 45 minutes Mish finally guessed who he was supposed to be (Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics) which meant that Scott had to drink the vodkat. Like a man he just picked up the mug and chugged it down while we all looked on in disbelief. Good on him I say.
Tonight we are heading for Chinese at the Peking Garden along with the Rokeby massive. Let's see how much we can stuff into Dr Dias this time...
Birthday Celebrations
I would like to thank EVERYONE who sent me a card, gave me a present or even wished me a
happy birthday! I had such a great day in all and thank you all for making it special! The day started by getting rudely awoken by Mr Biggs who informed Kat that she had overslept and Clare was waiting for her outside. After she left I opened my presents that had been sent to me by the parental units. Soon lectures had to be attended so I collected may cards on the way out. After ridding myself of the Developmental Essay I spent all weekend writing and attending the lecture to go with it, I headed on home making a quick stop at Bells to buy alcohol for the night's festivities. Kat helped me to get ready by curling my hair and Scott's present provided much hilarity and definitely brought out the assassin in me. Clare, Nat and Vicki arrived and it was time to make a rather impromptu version of Sex on the Beach with Archer's, Buck's Fizz and Cranberry as Mish drank all the vodka the night before. We headed out on the train to 'Boro and aimed for The Dicken's. After singing on Cannonball by Damien Rice (the modern God of music! I tell you it did feel like sacralidge, but what's a girl to do?) Ben took it upon himself to get the whole bar to sing Happy Birthday to me. Cue a really rather embarrassed Emma and a sharp exit to the Crown. On the way we stopped at the Bite Inn as everyone was starving by this point. Nat tried to kill me with a Chilli covered Kebab while people had sex in a box and a close contender for the title. A few posters were taken from the establishment as they were so pretty and Sarah had been wanting one for ages from there.
Soon we were in the Crown drinking shots from test tubes (many of which found there way somehow into my bag...) and dancing to the music. I was feeling rather tired and so left at 1:30 am with Nat and Vicki. When we reached halls, I collapsed into bed and only woke up at 12:30 pm today. I'm still in my pj's, think I should go and have a shower and get dressed just in time for dining later.
Once again thank you so very much for making it a great night, it was one of the best birthday's ever, it was just a shame that not more people could come out or up to see me, I did offer people, just remember that when you feel jealous of missing out on the fun. If you're on
Facebook then look at the photos from last night, there are some rather amusing ones there that you may want to see, but I can't be bothered to post here.
Happy Birthday to me!!
That is all.
Huh?
For some reason i'm not allowed to access the main page of my site on the uni network...
I wonder why?
"I am the ONE and ONLY"
I would like to say thank you to all, especially Kwan for getting this song dedicated to me last night in the Rocket. The Birthday clebrations started a bit early as not everyone can make tomorrow. The evening got off to a great start with Mish and Scott attempting to tie my corset after i had to explain that you just tie it in a bow at the bottom, but it seems that men cannot understand this concept. We headed off at about 9 along with the Rokeby people and started drinking. Byron showed us many magic tricks which certainly impressed me, but puzzled Jess, you could see the look of concentration on her face as she tried to work out how you can make one coin appear in a different hand to the one it started in.
Then it was time to head to the back room, where things started to go a bit wrong...
Due to a slight argument, a few of my friends who shall remain nameless, were not talking to each other. This caused a slight problem when i all of a sudden found myself standing on my own. Through the crowd i spotted one of the people involved in the split and said that i was annoyed at them for ruining the night. When they proved themselves to be quite stubborn on the issue, i decided that it was time to get properly wasted and go home. Heading to the bar, i started to cry which made a few people look. Regaining my composure, i ordered a drink and downed it. Then i ordered another and found myself feeling slightly better. I then headed back to the dancefloor to tell people that i was going home, but to my suprise, people were apologising to each other and everything was back to normal. Mish even got his groove back! I would like to thank that person for behaving like and adult and putting an end to the sillyness. It was one of the best birthday presents i could ask for.
So after the unpleasentness, we all danced on the stage and i was scared by the sight of Daggy running towards me as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was played. Kwan and i had a bonding moment over a few Queen tracks (i think you shouldn't drink any more Vodka and Shark Stimulation, or even Vodkat for that matter, it makes you really hyper) and everyone left on a high. Once again we headed for Rokeby and food was ordered due to lack of dinner earlier in the evening. After making Byron think he was drowning in his sleep and then in his drunken state, confusing him by waking up in Ryan's room rather than Emma's where he originally passed out, it was time to head home. Scott had already left but i am reliably informed that Mish and Ryan spent the night in Kwan's room. There are so many jokes i could make right about now, but i shall leave those for the privacy of the flat.
All that's left to do now is a creative journal, which has to be done in under an hour as books must be taken back to the library. Have a happy Sunday everybody!
"Am I Gay?"
Well if you don't that by now Scott, I don't think we can help you with that one.
For those of you who weren't present at Jess' birthday extravaganza on Friday, then allow me to explain. the evening started at Joe Rigatoni's in Stockton for a wonderful Italian meal, with many cocktails being sampled and delicious food eaten. Then after free lemon drops (the vodka kind), we headed back to Rokeby, with Byron stealing a pepper grinder (and a rather large one i might add, which was hidden down his jeans, and apparently he wasn't wearing any boxers either...) and Kwan stealing that student favorite: a traffic cone. Upon returning to Rock-er-by or Roke-bee (there is much debate as to the correct pronounciation) Scott made a dash to get Piss Artist from Fairbridge and we decided to play party games. For those of you who don't know, Piss Artist is a drunken and rather rude version of Pictionary. It was played twice, with my team losing both times (how do you draw carnivore?). Charades was attempted but we gave up in favour of "Who am i?", you know the game where you have the name of a famous (or not so famous) person on your head and you have to guess who you are by asking the other players questions about you. Kwan gave me Bjorn Borg and Roy Walker, neither of which i got, but the funniest was Scott who was given himself at one point and the first question he asked was the title of this post. Cue much hysterics from the group and a rather confused Mr Biggs. Aww bless.
3 days...
3 days people, time is running out...
Last night was spent perusing the emo scene at Club NME in association with Empire. The 2 bands were both equally as good but also quite different. We're still not quite sure which band was which but the first lot were definitely the better. They had a bit of a Radiohead vibe going on but with a bit more edge and less depressing lyrics. The second band were quite funny with their between song banter, but we're a bit too mad for my liking, although I did like their Waltz song. Photo's shall appear when I get home.
Anyway it was basically a bio-med social and me, which was kind of weird, sitting in Lizzie's kitchen and only knowing about 3 people out of the 20 or so that were there. We managed to get the train to 'Boro for free being the cheap students we are, which gave me a chance to bond with Chester over the wonders of growing up in such an amazing (Huh?) town.
The night was rather strange as I felt left out yet again upon reaching the empire as everyone (and I mean everyone) there was wearing black. So you're bound to get noticed in a bright pink top, denim skirt and fishnet tights... Everyone appeared to just stand around and do nothing, whereas I let the beat carry me throughout both the sets. It was quite sad to see 2 girls (probably underage) leaning against a wall at the back all night not even getting involved with the mass shouting that was occurring. You could tell that we were different to the rest of the people there, being from Stockton and all as upon entering the disco room upstairs, we were the only group of people actually dancing. The famous Bo Rap (Bohemian Rhapsody for those of you who remain uneducated) came on and we were singing along and doing the funny moves that only students can do, when I looked around and saw the emo kids just staring at us. We even got stared at when we started moshing. I was very disappointed.
The night ended with a minibus somehow being acquired (even though it was there to pick up people other than ourselves, who had taken the sensible route and booked one in advance) and a trip first to Stevo to drop all the bio-meds off and then onto Snow to take me and Clare (yet another bio-med) home. They're lucky they have the day off today. Instead I have a full day starting at 9, although my IT exam has just been cancelled...
I think sleep is called for before tonight's activities.
4 Days...
Recently I've been really sleepy and I'm not sure why... I hope that I can shake it off before Empire tonight and the great club NME for the wonders of Dead Dead Dead and SomaHigh. Sounds interesting definitely.
I have to say that I love parental unit XX, not only has she sent me birthday presents to open with the promise of more when I get home, she also sent a box of French Fancies (God's own confectionery and the best cake in the world) , a HUGE pack of kit kats and a mars egg for each of my flat mates. Don't you wish you lived in Fairbridge now? I also have a card from Maggie, my mum's best friend which I don't want to open yet, so it's sitting tempting me on the side of my bed. I wasn't really that excited about my birthday last week, but as it gets closer, I'm feeling it.
Jess, if you're reading this, I've ordered your birthday present and it won't get here till next week, so don't be disappointed tomorrow!
I'm also contmeplating buying a cheap phone from ebay for about £30 to tide me over till the end of my contract because i'm fed up of having to turn my phone off every time i get a text message, and the thought of using my old phone freaks me out when i consider that a good friend has exactly the same phone, it's just too creepy for words to me...
5 Days...
Only 5 days to go people...
I came back from lectures this afternoon to find a note from our cleaner (Linda) saying that we should take our own rubbish out at the weekends and not leave it for her to do on Monday morning. Well yes we would do this if it wasn't for the fact that both sets of oven gloves (including mine) have gone missing in addition to 3 of my 4 glasses being broken as well as Mish's and Scotts, and my measuring jusg being chipped and having a massive crack in it. The broken glassware is due to the cleaner throwing (believe me, i've heard her in the mornings) anything thats left near the sink into the washing up bowl without any consideration. Therefore we will not be considerate towards her.
The water out of the tap is pure chlorine apparently, so i've moved back to the cheap fruit juice from Bell's.
The heating on First floor of Ebsworth is broken so we all had to strip before SPSS this morning so that we could at least survive till the end of the lesson.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mish for snapping at him yesterday, it's not a good time at the moment, and whe you have 3 hours sleep one night and then can't get to sleep because of a certain person, you aren't in the best of moods. Sorry!
My social life has rocketed recently: I've been invited to Hush tonight but Desperate Housewives is luring me back, Thursday is good old Club NME, Friday is Jess' birthday/formal dinner/last Coc-Soc which will result in a trip to Klute/Planet of Sound, Saturday is the last but one Rocket (who's actually going to go to the last one on Friday?) then Sunday is Quiz Night and Monday is mybirthday and a trip to 'Boro. Then Wednesday is the last Hush and finally Thursday is club NME again. Somewhere we have to fit in film night, but I think my overdraft had better look out...
Hello
I'm Emma.
I'm disgusting.
I go on a girls night out with the intention of being the sensible one but drink just as much as everyone else (possibly more):
- 1 pint of Calsberg
- 1 shot of sour apple Corky's
- 1 bottle of Grolsch
- 1 pint of Strongbow and Blackcurrant
- 1 pint of Stella
- 4 Archer's and Lemonade
According to my nifty little calculating device, i've consumed 15.1 units of alcohol in that list alone, which doesn't take into account the 3 rather large mugs of sparkling wine that were consumed before we left Backhouse...
The reason why i'm so alcohol concious is because Liz has just got back from an alcohol course after she got caught drink driving, and so last night was filled with little bits of information for all you drivers out there, such as if you go out drinking and leave your car at a friend's house, when you drive home the next morning you may well still be over the limit. Bet you didn't think about that did you?
So as you might have guessed, last night was quite "involved" shall we say. Sarah, Liz, Vicki and I left for good old 'Boro at 8, heading for the Walkabout first (what night out in 'Boro doesn't start there?). Here, Sarah decided that she was going to be an angel for the night and went about constructing a halo from glow sticks. Did you know that you have to be 18 to buy glow sticks? This caused a guy from Wales and a guy from Leeds to comment on her being an angel and she then set about telling them that he first deed as one was to make me beautiful because i used to be damn ugly. Thanks for that Chape.
After afew swift-ish drinks and the amazement of how i can fit my jacket in my bag, we headed steadfast into the cold towards The Dicken's. I have to say i was mightily impressed by the place. It was a really nice bar with lots of seating and being open mic night, there was good acoustic music. I was even more impressed by one guy who sang "Billy Davy's Daughter" by the Stereophonics, which is such a moving song and one that you don't hear ever, not even at their gigs do they play it anymore. Yay for people liking obscure songs. Things now get a bit hazy but one thing i do remember is that someone took my phone and started calling people quite randomly. I now have no free minutes left, so if you got a call, you won't be getting a proper one for a while yet. Also if you text me, i apologise for not replying as my brain couldn't quite work out how to text back.
Anyway after the Dickens, we headed once again out into the freezing night air and walked to The Crown. This is going to be a new haunt for me. I mean come on, it's the only Indie disco for miles around and it plays really good music. The people there are really friendly and the drinks are also quite cheap.
Another discovery of the night was Sex in a Box which consists of Chips, Bolognase and Cheese, pure heaven after a night out! All these strange yet yummy concoctions the 'Boro people have gives more of a post alcoholic binge variety than just a kebab.
It's strike day today, and i had the day off anyway, so the psychologist's just aren't happy. I should be writing a developmental essay but somehow i don't think it's going to happen...
7 Days...
If you don't know what's happening in 7 days, then shame on you!
Weekend has been quite mixed, Saturday was spent in the Rocket as usual after finishing my SPSS assignment (finally!) However this time, Mish was being very generous and buying everyone a drink (or 5 shots in my case). Not quite sure why he chose this weekend to get smashed. I had to go and buy him vodka from the savior that is Bells since I was the only one with ID, however didn't get asked to show it. I don't know whether that's a good thing or not, as they only ask if you look under 21...do I look that old now? I always thought I looked younger than other people my age, obviously not anymore. Lots of dancing was undertaken and there are some questionable photos on facebook which I don't really remember. Around 1:30 am the power was cut and the fire alarm started going off. This freaked a few people out until Scott started telling everyone that it was a drill. Apparently he had told Kwan in advance who failed to pass on this valuable piece of information as he thought it was a joke on Mr Biggs' part. There were no bio-meds in sight for once due to copious amounts of work to be done. The psychologists also have copious amounts of work but alas we don't care and would rather party the night away with the business students. Upon returning back to the social hub that is Fairbridge, food was ordered from the Bite Centre, who have failed to get any order right. The theory was again tested on Sunday night, and there was a discrepancy over garlic bread this time.
Sunday brought with it a nice new day, crisp fresh air and ice, but no snow unlike Saturday morning. I've become a regular at the library these past few weeks on a Saturday but how depressing is it when you end up spending every available opportunity over the weekend in the house of books. It's even more depressing when you're listening to Radio 1 and you can count how many times you've heard the same songs in a day. Still the day was broken up with the viewing of The Matrix Reloaded in the said quiet place, and I'm extremely surprised that we didn't get caught. Apologies should go to Scott who let us use his laptop and then forced him to sit with his fingers in his ears for about 20 minutes.
All there is to do now is a social essay and creative/reflective journal...
Apologies if this is full of incoherent babble but I'm slightly delirious at the moment.
SNOW!!!!
Not only is it the name of possibly the greatest college at Queen's Campus at least (and you know it), it's also covering everything in sight. While watching The Matrix Reloaded for experimental purposes, I just happened to look out the window and see a large flurry of snow whirling around. Cue many people taking photos of the rare site and much waving to people in the other buildings. If you live on the second floor in Craggs, why did you not wave back to the 2 rather crazy girls hanging out the window on top floor Backhouse? It's still all there this morning, and now all the canal's have frozen over in Toy Town which I noticed on my way to campus this morning.
On a slightly related note, can anyone help me with motivation? I need to finish my SPSS assignment, but there are so many more interesting things happening like the snow, the rugby later (which I may sneak off and watch without Scott knowing).
Tonight it is planned to go to the Rocket once again but with a twist. Mish has decided that he will get wasted tonight. Don't ask me why or how but he shall be falling out of bed yet again tonight for only the second time in is life. Maybe he's trying to balance the cosmos as I have rather limited my drinking over the past few weeks.
Finally, before I go and have some lunch and eventually carry on with my work, it seems that people are getting jealous of the attention I lavished on Mish the other day. So it's now time to give Scott some attention:
He's one of my best mates at uni. We share the same interests and taste in music (apart from Smelly) and we can have a laugh about pretty much anything. He's another person I know that I can say anything to and I know that he won't tell anyone else. I look forward to our trips to home bargains on a Monday and our washing up sessions on a Wednesday. I'm going to miss not living with him next year, he makes things seem more bearable when I go stir crazy, and I think he's going to make an excellent teacher.
Right back to work...
The Trolls Are Back!!!
And they've brought with them a chavtastic friend! I could hardly believe my eyes when walking around town today. Firstly i was surprised at the mere thought that those weird little creatures had made a return to the world of the living (I'm sure you can all remember how crazy you went over trying to get a troll doll) and secondly upon closer inspection, that they now have a Chav Troll complete with burberry clothing, gold cap and rather large mobile phone.
After a fairly eventful college dining last night, it was decided to go swimming at Thornaby pool. It was supposed to be ladies night (well hour anyway) but i felt slightly creeped out by the fact that all the lifeguards there were male. Surely the idea of going for a ladies only session is so you don't have guys looking at you? Perhaps this idea seems to have escaped those that work at Active Life. Still a fun time was had by all and i felt so much fitter and healthier after it.
This good work was then negated by a trip to Dubliners which lasted all of 20 minutes due to the actions of some people who we'd rather not associate with anymore, and then upon returning to Rokeby, an innocent comment by myself led to the last minute mad dash to Teeside Park for food. It was orginally intended to get KFC but this plan was thwarted by said fast food outlet being closed, so off to McDonalds it was. It took 2 people to carry all of our order out to the car and i think that our group of hungry students on a mission for many more back at the flat, may have been their best customers all week! Some prank phonecalls were made (how i love the internal phone lines here) which resulted in some confused people exiting their buildings under the impression that the caretaker wanted to speak to them. This was however taken in good faith as we only phoned those that we are actually good friends with such as my own Fairbridge flat.
A trip into town today has provided Nat and I with many rich delights and films galore, so a night in is planned before the mad night planned for next friday. Forget double booking, try triple booking! Let's see how i can get out of that...
Happy World Book Day!
Also in addition to music, today should be devoted to books, what with it being World Book Day and all. So I've been asked what my favorite book ever is. This is a tough decision as my taste when I was a child (or younger at least) was much different to today. So rather than a favorite book period, I think that there are favorite books for different periods of my life.
One would be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Recently I seem to have seen the new film quite a bit, but that is nothing compared to the number of times that I've read the book. The first time was when I was in infant school and my teacher, Miss Harris, decided that I should probably push my reading ability and lead me into the staff room to take a look at the selection she had brought over from the junior school. Among them was Charlie boy, and I was immediately drawn by the fantastic yet mystical purple and green cover (covers of books have always appealed to me just as much as the contents, that's how I discover new authors, on the looks alone). I took it home ad read it in over the weekend, absorbed by the images that the words created in my head. For a 6 year old, this was a big book, and I may not have understood the hidden messages contained within the pages, but I did enjoy it. When I eventually arrived at the junior school, I sought out the book again, and when reaching home with it in my book bag, was greeted with groans from parental unit XX who once again had to listen to it all over again. This process was repeated about 5 times over the next 4 years, and it is still a book that I look for when I want to remember a more innocent time.
My time at Grays Convent is marked by 2 great literary discoveries. One of these can be attributed to a certain female English teacher who made a comment about stout to Elyse and I. We had this teacher in year 9 and she further instilled a great appreciation for literature in me. I can remember that we used to have reading periods in the library once a week, and they were one of the best bits about English, when I could read what I wanted to read. During one such period I forgot to bring my book from home (it was probably a Discworld novel of some kind) and so had to run to the nearest bookcase and grab something to make it look like I had previously finished my current read and was merely looking for something for the lesson. The nearest case to the door was the 'H' case and the first novel I found was 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' by that great man, Thomas Hardy. I was reading the first chapter and it wasn't really grabbing my interest, it was merely a stop-gap for that particular lesson. That was until I reached the end of the first chapter. If you've read it you'll know what I mean. Anyway that particular part is rather confusing when you first read it, and this must have been displayed on my face as the teacher in question came over and grabbed the book to see what I was reading. Presently she began to explain how Hardy is her favorite author ever and that she was glad I was reading such a book. To keep in her good books, I carried on reading it and greatly enjoyed it. Cue much hidden conversations between Elyse and myself between the stacks as she began reading the wonderful book as well, just to compare notes and make sure we did actually understand what was happening!
Another great Convent find, and probably my favorite book ever has to be 'Wild Swans' by Jung Chang. It was a random book find while on librarian duty (yes I was a librarian at school). It is a beautifully crafted book, but it isn't a story. It is in fact an autobiography of 3 generations of women growing up in China under the various regimes that have occupied it since the 19th Century. It is a book that I urge all women to read, it will teach you a lot about what it is to be part of the XX race.
At college my love for reading was hampered by the enormous workload I had (no where near as much as uni is though). But this didn't kill my love of literature and I started to read more for pure entertainment rather than pleasure. This is where I discovered Dave Gorman. The man is crazy, he decides to travel round the world to find people that have the same name as him for a bet that gives him nothing. This then inspires the great novel 'Are you Dave Gorman?' and other such adventures.
Now I'm at uni, my life revolves around textbooks and not much else. However I am attempting to work my way through the top 200 books, and already being about a quarter of the way through is kind of impressive without really trying. So everyone go out and try to read something today!
"Is it just me?" (11 days!)
Sorry I'm, listening to those modern rock gods, The Darkness while I
should be completing my SPSS assignment but hey, that's what the weekend is for.
To all those Welsh people out there: Happy St David's Day for yesterday. I would be writing it in welsh but it would screw up my system to enable the welsh language here, sorry!
A little warning to some people that actually know me: if I consider you special and I have your address, then you may be receiving a little gift soon. I'm in a generous mood at the moment, full of cheer (in addition to paranoia).
The great post monkey is back after some absence, and is bringing me music once again (see I do actually buy music rather than just downloading it.) I prefer to have the actual CD anyway, I'm rather pedantic with things like that. Anyway this weeks band of choice is Bright Eyes, who use guest artist's quite a bit, for example my name sake Emmy-Lou Harris. They produced two albums at the same time:
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and
I'm Wide Awake and It's Morning.
DADU is more electronic and modern and my personal favorite out of the two whereas
IWAIM is more mellow (hence the presence of Emmy-Lou). Now I'm on a collecting binge to get the back catalogue now in addition to so many other great albums that are coming out soon. My Amazon wish list can be distributed to anyone who requests it, I should warn you that it has over 250 items on it, most of which are musical items.
And before I forget, I've been ordered to inform the world (well those that read this) that Mish is a wonderful person. Not only am I saying this because he asked me to mention him, he is a really nice guy who I know will sit there and listen to me bitch, moan and cry and still be able to talk to me the next day without getting fed up with it. And he's so generous (thanks for the hat).
happy birthday! I had such a great day in all and thank you all for making it special! The day started by getting rudely awoken by Mr Biggs who informed Kat that she had overslept and Clare was waiting for her outside. After she left I opened my presents that had been sent to me by the parental units. Soon lectures had to be attended so I collected may cards on the way out. After ridding myself of the Developmental Essay I spent all weekend writing and attending the lecture to go with it, I headed on home making a quick stop at Bells to buy alcohol for the night's festivities. Kat helped me to get ready by curling my hair and Scott's present provided much hilarity and definitely brought out the assassin in me. Clare, Nat and Vicki arrived and it was time to make a rather impromptu version of Sex on the Beach with Archer's, Buck's Fizz and Cranberry as Mish drank all the vodka the night before. We headed out on the train to 'Boro and aimed for The Dicken's. After singing on Cannonball by Damien Rice (the modern God of music! I tell you it did feel like sacralidge, but what's a girl to do?) Ben took it upon himself to get the whole bar to sing Happy Birthday to me. Cue a really rather embarrassed Emma and a sharp exit to the Crown. On the way we stopped at the Bite Inn as everyone was starving by this point. Nat tried to kill me with a Chilli covered Kebab while people had sex in a box and a close contender for the title. A few posters were taken from the establishment as they were so pretty and Sarah had been wanting one for ages from there.
