Monday 30 January 2012

LOTR Virgin No More

That's right. For the first time I watched the whole of the Fellowship and all of the Two Towers (bar 5 minutes where I power napped). Plans for viewing the final film will be set in motion tomorrow.





http://www.picgifs.com/wallpapers/lord-of-the-rings/
I'm reading the books at the moment and it seems such a funny thing to get into, this late in life. They're the kind of books that children read in secondary school, before the age of 14, certainly not now. And the same goes for the films. My cohort have all grown up with Tolkien. His stories have been a part of their lives for many years now and, despite being a late starter, I can see what all the hype is about.

They are wonderful stories which capture the imagination. There is enough storyline to interest females and battles enough to satisfy the male appetite. And then there is the wonder. The stories are filled with places one can only dream of going, with people you'd give an arm to meet and you can so easily get lost in the fantasy. I'll admit, I was missing out having not had seen them until now.

Tuesdays screening is of Short Circuit, I do not have high hopes.

Sunday 29 January 2012

Disconnected

Mobile turned off
Watch left at home
Map, what map?

I went for a walk yesterday along the river and it was blissful. I had a quick research before leaving so I had a vague idea that I could follow the river to the next town and catch the train back from there, I knew it was about 5 miles and I knew that my feet could easily manage that in a couple of hours. So off I went.

The minute I left the flat I turned off my mobile. I'm sure that its slightly unsafe to do that seeing as it not only prevented people from contacting me but also meant that, in an emergency, I wouldn't be able to phone for help very quickly. Ah well, I really needed to have some thinking space without constantly expecting a text or feeling a time pressure. Instead I was able to forget the world, disregard the passage of time and just let my feet carry me.

So, not only did I have a wonderfully peaceful walk and got some good exercise but I was priviledged to see two canoeists capsize. I shalln't lie, I had a little laugh at them but I was a discreet distance away don't worry. It was so worth it.

Friday 27 January 2012

Fill in the Blanks Friday

Fill in the Blank Friday is brought to you today, 
by the lovely Erin of A Symphony of Grace.
Today, my plans to be productive will not be thwarted so despite freedom from my exams, I have gotten up at a reasonable time, am updating the blog and then heading out to the gym. I do this only becasue I anticipate losing a fair chunck of tomorrow when I sleep off tonights End of Exams Blowout!
*Update: I have been to the gym and fell off my bike only once so it's going well so far!)

1.   My favorite place i've ever traveled to is the south of France, near Montpellier. I went on 2010 with a couple of my closest friends and loved every minute of our time in the historic city and lazing on the beach.

2. Australia is somewhere I'd love to go someday.


3.  I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by   reading a really trashy book that otherwise I couldn't justify whilst listening to classical musical and inevitably falling asleep .

4.  My three must-haves when I travel are   some good, trashy chic-lit,   my iPod and   a pocket sized puzzle book.  

5.  My favorite travel companion is   my sister, especially when we coordinate outfits.

6.  The craziest thing that ever happened to me while travelling is  Gosh, this is a really hard one, I'm now feeling that all of my holidays have been rather unremarkable. Ending up in a portuguese hospital at 3am was unexpected. I will clarify, it wasn't due to drinking related illness that I was there, I had the worst migraine I've ever had and sunstroke. My freinds were absolute stars.

7.  The most exotic food I've ever tried while travelling is  some curious local cooking I had in Cyprus. As a vegetarian, I haven't tried lots of unusual animals and vegetables are all much of a muchness but the plate of unidentifiable, cooked to hell veggies I was presented with in Paphos was by far the most mind-boggling.


8.  If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in  in Northern Ireland. I have such a romantic dream of living on the hostile coast of N. Ire. in a wonderful, old house with a widows walk looking over the sea.

9.  I have been to three
 states in the U.S.
 
Have a good weekend everyone!

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Drunk cooking

The brownies are in the oven, well almost. For the past few hours, the flatmate and myself who are exam free of exams (!!!) have been urged and encouraged to drink, drink, drink and bake!
And *grudgingly* we have obliged.

Really, any excuse to down ones sorrows is taken up vociferously by my flat. Hence the people who dont live here (but we love regardless) are round and drinking despite protestations that they have exams in 2 days! Shame on you Nicole!

But when the brownies are cooked and *ready* I'm glad to say I shall not be the one trying them. Only the sober ones shall be visiting the hospital tonight!!!

On Today

The sun is... hiding
The sky is... overcast
The light is... dull
The time is... too early

And im off to the gym!

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Pre-Exam Nerves

Plan to go to bed before midnight = [FAILED]
Plan to have finished revising by now = [FAILED]
Plan to get up at 7am and work most of the day = [ACHEIVED]
Plan to update blog more regularly = [ON.HOLD]

Define.[ON.HOLD];
{
"after 5pm tomorrow when the final exam is over"
AND;
"Before 9pm when the drinking starts"
ALSO;
"Subject to [CONSIDERATIONS]"
}

Define.[CONSIDERATIONS];
{
"so much laundry to be done"
AND;
"must hand in form at doctors so to book appointment"
AND;
"find out about house viewing"
AND;
"shower when need==[GREAT]"
}

God I miss programming, it was coldly logical

Friday 20 January 2012

Caged

That is the title of the 2 minute, short film I have to participate in creating.

Let me set some things straight. I am not a film person. I know nothing about films. I dont understand the evolution of a story in 2 minutes- it has to resolve? I have never been behind a camera before. I've never been near a camera before! I've never been infront of a camera (unless the filming of a show which was onstage counts). I have never been in an editing studio before and I have never used editing software.

But I can safely say that, in 2 weeks time, I will have done most, if not all, of those things...
And that's because I joined FilmSoc
*cue applause for new experiences*

Admittedly, making a short was not what I signed up to FilmSoc for. It was presented to me as a society who would watch less mainstream films than the other film related society here, so the first film they're screening is the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I dragged along two friends to the inaugural meeting and it was not what we were expecting at all. We thought we would just be pitching ideas for the future of the society or suggesting films to watch but instead, we were thrown headfirst into a project- daunting. And not at all what I wanted to do.

However it does sound fun, the people are lovely and funny (even if my sarcasm is too advanced for them) and, well, I've never done anything like this before so I'll give it a try.

The best part of the evening by far was the apology round of drinks I bought for my friends after the meeting. We went to a bar that one of them had never been to before, despite it being on campus, had a few drinks and free cocktails (always choose bars where your friends work) and just chatted, taking a break from exam stress before getting right back to it when we got home.

Or, like me, falling asleep with your head in your flatmates lap.

Thursday 19 January 2012

2 down, 2 to go

This afternoon, I have my best exam. Then the next exam I sit will be my worst. I think I'm on the wrong degree.

I really enjoy my degree. I love going to all the different lectures and learing about the people and the studies they've conducted and the theories they've proposed- I find it fascinating. There are paradigms and hypotheses that I could never dream of coming up with and yet, when explained, they make so much sense you wonder why no-one realised it before.

And then exam season rolls around and you find yourself having to learn the pernikerty details of the theories, the precise ages at which abilities are displayed, the exact date that a scientist made his discovery, the 17 names refering to one tiny area of the brain and all the chemicals involved in the synapse transmission- do I really love this?

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Coffee with a friend

 
Today, for the first time in far too long, I had a skype call with my best friend. 

Oweing to the fact she lives over 100 miles away, we can't just arrange to meet up for a coffee, or go shopping, or pop round for dinner at very short notice, everything we do is planned well in advance. Not to mention that both of our schedules are wont to change at the last minute means that our chats are few and far between. It also means they're rather long as we have so much to catch up on and we absolutely treasure out time talking.

So I was thinking, if I were to go to coffee with someone for the first time, what would I tell them about me?
  1. I'm studying psychology at uni. I have no idea what I want to do with my future, all I know right now is that I really enjoy the biology side, good as that exam is on Thursday, and I can't stand writing essays. I'm not too fussed about the future right now, I guess I'll just see where I end up. But talk to me this time next year and I'll be out of my mind with stress trying to get a placement.
  2. My biggest fear is of wasps, I absolutely loath the skinny, noisy, sly creatures. They look so vengeful to me, my heart can't help but race when they're nearby.
  3. I love having matching sets of underwear. You know that no matter what happens to you, the day will be excallent so long as your knickers match your bra. Its a little luxury that makes a huge difference. It was my love of nice underwear that made me ok with my next piece.
  4. In the last drama production I did, I had to sing my song wearing only my underwear. I walked onstage wearing a robe, during the intro took it off and then sang, I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but on the second night it dawned on me- it wasn't only the audience who were seeing me like that! The audience were a sea of unfamiliar faces who I would never have contact with again. It was the cast, watching from the balcony who I would continue to see, week in, week out at rehearsals and socials and had all now seen me, lumps, bumps and all, under the illuminating spotlights.
Intriguing huh?
On a related note, I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop this week and my aprehension was much lower. Smells like success!

Monday 16 January 2012

Haiku

Dark, cold, frosty night
Tempting me with careless flight
Take me for an hour

Sunday 15 January 2012

Domestic Bliss

My flatmate has gained some 'festive fat' over the Christmas period. As a result, the button on his trousers popped off the other day. After begging every resident (and guest) in our flat that day to sew it back on for him he decided that if you want a job doing, do it yourself. So, for a whole hour, I sat and coached him through the arduous process of sewing.
It's a hard life when a man has to sew his own buttons
Apparently I have dropped points on the wife score. I can't say I'm too worried as this is what my freinds now think of him:
Status:

Sew a mans button and he'll wear trousers for a *while*, teach a man to sew and he'll never come to you for domestic advice again.
Comments: 
  • A man who cannot sew is not a real man.
  • Or he at least wasn't a Scout.
  • Sewing is a technique centred around an in-and-out motion. That's all I'm going to say on the matter.

Male housemate:

I wish I had ovaries so I could protect them

Friday 13 January 2012

Fill in the Blanks Friday

It's Friday!
...and that means that there are only 3 days until my next exam. I both want to curl up under the duvet and deny it or get on with revision.


1.   The last thing I ate was  a shot of pickle juice, rum and salt- it's a good game!

2.   The last song I listened to was *opens spotify* Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars

3.  Using the letters in my name I can spell areole, leaner, loaner, reloan, alone, enrol.. the list goes one. I have to admit I did cheat and use an online scrbble word finder site. Its far too late/early for anagrams!
 
4.  If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick   navy blue, and then stay out of the sun so I didn't look funny with a tan.

5.  If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find  chapstick, keys, small change, uni card, gym card, debit card, 2 pens, a pizza receipt and a bottle of water.

6.  When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to  sink into my pillow heaven, aka bed.


Happy weekend!

Procrastination for dummies #4

Go for a walk in
The middle of the night but
stay out of dark streets.

Thursday 12 January 2012

There were three in the bed

And the little one said 'roll over'

So, for the second out of the last few nights, I will not be sleeping in my own bed but in room 42, or possibly 32... Who knows? It's fun all the same!

42 passed out on 35s bed, 35 passed out on my bed, 32 is on 42s bed so I think that leaves me with 32s bed. Let's see how it goes- anyone up for a late night walk?

Tuesday 10 January 2012

My heart skips a beat

How long does it take before a new experience becomes old? How long before you become accustomed to an action, before a sequence of events become routine? How long until my heart stops racing every time I'm heading to society meetings?

It's not as if they are scary or intimidating or anything of the like- they are the exact opposite. A great group of people, meeting up to play games, run small activities, improvise and generally keep up on drama skills. Its a laugh. And finished nicely by a drink and dinner in one of the bars it's hard to understand why I always feel so nervous on my way in.

I know that once I'm there I'll love it but still I feel those flutters of nerves as 6pm hits. And love it I did, participate in the games, sit out of the improvisation and drink I did. As I will next week. It was fun, the games were entertaining and the banter was friendly.

I do think that the social parts of societies, meals, bar crawls, trips etc, are such an important part. It's one thing to go along to the workshops or rehersals but you make friends and interact with so many people you would never normally have the opportunity to when participating in the social aspects and just knowing the people and feeling confortable around them makes your society into something of a family.

That's one of the unique things about university societites. You are all part of the community of the university and live on the same campus and in the same town, see each other even when you're not out together and it adds another layer to the experience.

Maybe next week I won't be such a wimp!

Melancholia

What can I say? It's rather melancholic.
Watching it at 3am was probably not the best plan I've ever had.

Monday 9 January 2012

The deadline may be this afternoon

Realising that a 4 page word limit does not translate into a 2000 word limit but only 1000 words.

Your mentality towards the shifts from 'I can't do this, theres so much' to 'I can't do this, there's not enough space'.

Damned if you do, damned if you dont.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Classified, Baby goods

For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn
-Hemingway 

I dont know why but this is going round and round inside my head.

Mind Warped

A feeling of weightlessness, swifty followed by the ground.

I fell off the bed.
Twice.
My head hurts.

I was so confused this morning. I woke up fully dressed, lying on top of the covers on flatmate 42's bed with bruises on my shoulders. My first memory was of falling off the bed, then doing it again and only then did I wonder where flatmate 42 was sleeping and why she didnt kick me out of her bed. 

Padding down the corridor I peered into the gloom of room 40 and saw a prone figure under the covers. It didnt look like the evicted 42, more like my other flatmate, 32, the guy I now remembered falling asleep on. Curious. So where was 42? I assumed she was in 32s bed, but why was he in mine? What had happened?

I was far too tired for these thoughts. Bleary eyed, I retraced my steps and passed out for another few hours in unfamiliar surrounding.
 

Saturday 7 January 2012

Were going on a bear hunt

Not in the airing cupboard, not in the washing basket, not on the line and not in the machine.
Where are my clothes?

Im packing to go back to uni and already I've filled a suitcase and2 bags and I know I'm still missing stuff, this is getting silly.
This is how my room looked before I started packing, except you couldnt see the floor!
In less than 24 hours I and my copious amounts of luggage will be back on the road to uni and boy am I ready to be back. Home's great but there's nothing like the independence of living away from your parents. Not to mention, I miss my friends. We've known each other since October but it's such an intense experience, that first semester during which your whole life changes and you go through it all together. I consider myself very lucky because I've forged some friendships which I hope will endure but I know some people have not been that lucky.  

I'm so ready to go back.

Friday 6 January 2012

Procrastination for dummies #3

I have just one work for you:
Facebook

Procrastination for dummies #2

Open browser, type stumbleupon.com into your http bar.
Download, create an account and get the toolbar.
Stumble away.

Fill in the Blanks Friday

Today's blanks are all about free time.

And this psychology degree, especially the holidays but even during term time, affords lots of free time. It's just a shame about all the work I *should* be doing which would fill it and all the faffing about on the internet that I actually do to fill it. Oh, and the occasional trip to the gym- must make those more frequent.

Now, time for those blanks!
Thanks to Lauren at The little things we do


1.   One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is  read. Anything. Well, nothing educational but other than that, if its in English, I'll read it. Currently on the go I have: Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment; Chekov, The Lady with the Dog; Hemmingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls and next up is Heller, Catch 22. At the moment they are all rather high-brow but I've just finished 3 trashy, indulgent, teen-fiction books and thoroughly enjoyed them.

2.   When I have free time I tend to waste it, the internet is my vice. Its far too easy for me to spend hours looking up nail designs on pinterest or tumblr or laughing at0 memes or finding out what my freinds were up to in February 2008 (thank you timeline).


3.  If I had an entire day completely to myself I would get up fairly early (so as to maximise the day), eat pancakes with lemon and sugar, have the longest bath known to man- complete with unlimited hot water, a thick, new book and my spotify playlists. Then I'd blowdry my hair to oblivion, I absolutely love the ritual of brushing and drying my hair until its soft and silky and straight but it's a luxury my hair can only bear occasionally. Afterwards I'd put on a dress (+many, many layers) and head to the park with my iPod to sit on the awesome swing and sink into my headspace. I would sort out my thoughts and feelings and relax. Coming home I'd have a bowl of Kim-Chi noodles and savour the burning of the chili on my tongue. The afternoon I'd spend crafting- embroidery or crochet and playing with my cats before ordering a Vindaloo from my favourite curry house. I would watch whatever period or crime drama was on the BBC that night and then overload on quiz programs: Buzzcocks, Mastermind, University Challenge, Mock the Week, Have I got News- whatever's on iPlayer or OnDemand. Finally, I'd make myself sleepy watching a horror film before sprinting for bed and lying scared of the dark between the clean sheets.
I want this day to exist, so. badly. now.
Mmmmmmm delish, cheers Delia :)

4.  I would prefer to spend my free time (alone or with others...) with others. We dont have to do anything or say anything but I just prefer to be in the company of another person. Ideally there's a group of us, different individuals with mutual respect, maybe good food and preferably booze and a good atmosphere.

5.  Most of my free time happens  on Wednesdays when I have no lectures but the rest of my flat does so I can spend my time doing anything, uninterrupted.

6.  The best thing about free time is  knowing that it doesn't matter if you spend all of it doing nothing, it's yours to enjoy.

7.  The next time I have free time I should probably write this damned essay or revise but instead, I'll probably be on facebook, flirting on chat or teasing my flatmates on skype.


Now back to the books!

Procrastination for dummies #1

Take an orange, peel and segment.
Pick every little bit of pith off each segment.
Watch the hours fly by.

Thursday 5 January 2012

Where did the time go?

Don't you find yourself thinking this so many times each day?

My essay is due on Monday and I currently have 0 words on paper- where did the time go?
I sat down to quickly check my facebook and now its 2am- where did the time go?
Looking up from a good book and realising its pitch black outside- where did the time go?

(Admittedly the last one isn't that surprising given how it's dark here at 4pm which is incredibly depressing)


http://onceiamfree.tumblr.com/

I often reflect on how time has passed, how I'm a different person to the one I was back then, how my ideals, my morals, my expectations have changed. Through my psychology course I've learnt how, in your early teens your enitre identity changes as your body changes and the stages you go through developing and shaping your new self, the self that you will fundamentlly be for the rest of your life, Logically, in an academic and purely theoretic sense I understand it, but it just seems crazy that I've had so many life experiences in such a short time and all of them, even the ones I don't remember, have helped sculpt the person who sits here today. How can I have lived through so much already, it feels like no time at all.

I remember starting uni like it was last week. I can feel myself sitting, crying in the car because it was all too much. I'd just been released from hospital the day before, I had packed my entire life into a suitcase and a few boxes in under 2 hours, argued with my Dad not to make me go, to give me just one more day but to no avail. We were sitting in the car, my old life rushing away and a new one hurtling towards me at a pace I wasn't prepared for. Then, about 50 miles into the drive, I just decided to be ok with it all. And oddly enough, once I had made that decision, I was ok. Sure, I didn't have everything planned out but I'd cope, I always had. Its like I made that drive this morning, it's so vivid- where did the time go?

But I also remember all the experiences I've had at uni over the past 12 weeks. Freshers week (what I remember of it at least) and getting to know the people with whom I'd be living for the next year, meeting my coursemates, meeting the people who I'll be living with next year and hopefully will be good friends for years to come, attending lectures, writing essays, joining societies, meeting more wonderful people, being in a musical and having friends and in-jokes from that, flirtations, embarrasing romantic moments - being asked out by someone you hoped would never ask; the awkward lean; the bad kisses, parties, film nights, comdey nights, nights in with the girls, midnight walks, sunday roast at the pub, they all happened. Some I remember more vividly than others, some I only know because I was informed the next morning (laughed at by a jedi anyone?) and some I know I'll never forget but all have impacted my life in some way. Be it the people I've met, the challenges I've set myself, the activities I've completed, the experiences I've thrown myself into! I can't quite believe it's all happened, where did the time go?

Yes, this is a focus shot, I apologise. But it represents lots of lovely times and was taken in the kitchen at uni- see how clean it is!



Speaking of, look at the time! I've leart from experiences that no matter how long you leave them, essays, unlike food in the fridge, do not grow arms, legs and a conscience and write themselves. Sadly.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Nails nails nails

I'm in such a nails mood, I want to do every nail in a different colour and style.

And so ensued a massive tumblr scouring for inspiration, so much so that I had to pin then to my pinterest board to save for a rainy day and settled on these instead.
 But instead of having the base in pale pink, I have silver glitter, pink shimmer, pink glitter, plum and gold glitter- they are delectable! Even though the gems are slightly annoying and you have to be careful with every action not to pull them off but I just can't stop admiring them.

These are the next ones I have my eyes on.
I'm really into bows now and glitter and cute vintage stuff:





























But before that I HAVE to have Harry Potter nails!!
Awesomes!

Now dig yourself you of that mess

Overdramatic maybe but still, I dug myself into a bit of a hole

Ever done that?
I get myself in situations where we start out innocently enough and the conversation just escalates and before I know it, we're talking about bondage and new experiences! How does this happen?

Regardless, it's harmless, and I'm such a puss that when I feel I'm in too deep I say something entirely boring and unrelated and were back on solid ground, for me at least.

It does mean that my relationships oscillate somewhat but were making progress and I know in myself that I've come a long way in the past few months and I'm going to allow myself a few mistakes.

And its all fun and games, I'm finding myself and loving every minute.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Obligatory celebratory message

Happy New Year
I know it's a bit late but I spent the long weekend catching up with a couple of my friends. We went into the city and watched the fireworks and it was an incredible night. We went really early and walked around for a few hours before staking our place by the river at 5pm.

Sitting down at 5pm and realising you have a 7 hour wait was so demoralising but I taught my friends two brilliant card games- Irish snap and 3 card life. By the end our fingers were smarting but we were in hysterics and a few hours had passed. We spent the wait drinking out of plastic bottles and feeling rather cheap, singing along terribly to the music and getting more and more desperate for the toilet but not being able to go as the area had closed and we couldn't have gotten back in. It was dire! But regardless, we had a wonderful time and I'll never forget it.
I know it's not friday and its late but still, I'm filling in the blanks, retrospectively.


As ever, thanks to Lauren at The little things we do

1.   New Years is  the chance to spend hours with your closest friends and also getting to meet lots of new people

2.   One of my New Year's resolutions will be to stop over analysing my relationships with other people, stop wondering why they would talk or say what they do or act the way they do and just go with it and see what happens.

3.  A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to stop wearing jeans. If I'm not careful jeans become my uniform and i wear them day in day out so a few years ago I just stopped wearing jeans for about 2 years. I wore skirts and shorts and dresses and it was lovely. I've lasped again so I think I'll try again this year.

4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was... I don't think I've ever had one. Unless you count promising myself to lose weight and keep it off- ongoing

5.  This year I will be spending New Year's Eve in the city with my best friends having a wonderful time watching the fireworks

6.  If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be  for this year to be as good as the last


7.  2012 is going to be  a year when I try lots of new things without worrying about the consequences, I'm going to throw myself in and have a ball


Night