Friday, November 30, 2007

I'm soo sick of having to show people around the house. Now don't get me wrong I understand the reasoning behind having to do so, for example, these people need a place to stay next year after all. But the thing is, the sheer volume of people coming around! It's getting a tad annoying. I've missed a few showings due to being out and having locked my door, they've then wanted to come back around just to see my room as they needed to see ALL of the rooms. But the thing is, I never got to see all of the rooms when I went looking for a house. So what's the big deal, eh? I'm not sure. Maybe they just like to know the full score. I remember when we asked if we could go around and see the house in first year, the girls said no though- as they were determined to spend the last few weeks together in the house. Which I can completely understand now. Not that I want to sound mean or anything, but you do get quite attached.

Anyway. The good news is that I have finished much of Foster's workshop exercises, so all I pretty much need to do now is start writing up my patch stories which I want to do and get out of the way this weekend (including my feature story), so I know exactly what I have to work with. &then, I'm going to start getting even more (no doubt I will need them) and amongst other things, start writing them up and laying them out. It will be quite a big task actually, now I think about it. I think the main worry I have is not being able to get enough! as there will be loads of things needed to fill up all of those pages.

First things first though, I'm going to write a list of all the stories I do have and then start writing up the notes and working out their worth in terms of whether they're going to be a big story, picture story or just worth a couple of nibs. Either way, will have to start filling those pages soon! So best get down to it. I think I might from tomorrow.

I can't tonight as I'm going to be researching for my Stiletto article I'm writing for the second (Sex) issue on 'Do girls enjoy sex more than men?' which is about how girls have recently broke taboos about how they didn't talk about sex/didn't enjoy sex and now it seems that all girls talk about is guys and how many they've slept with.

Cosmo proudly showcases this image of a girl who likes sex as being adventurous, not sleazy or slutty. Sex and the City is another thing that springs to mind. I mean, people found that show refreshing and I know it really shocked some guys because some men believe it or not, think of women as naive and fragile creatures. Which clearly isn't the case a lot of the time (or is it?) hmmm. As Sex and the City (or so I have been told), had women openly discussing sex with each other, over lunch.

Anyhow,I can't believe how fast this week has gone already. I went home last weekend for my Dad's birthday and already- it's Thursday! Doesn't seem five seconds ago I was coming home this time last week. Oh how time flies. I mean in three weeks time I will be finishing for Christmas! Aaaarrggh. How scary is that?! Answer: Very. I have to write my dissertation proposal over Christmas, as well as revise for a 3 hour exam in Free Speech and Censorship, get all my newspaper pages produced in Quark and along with that, keep up with the news/current affairs so that I can at least (try) to pass the news writing exam in January. Oh the heavens! So much work.

Trying not to stress out...admittedly, it's kinda hard. But chill, chill. Everything's going to be alright :)

Today I had a seminar about postmodernism. That was pretty err...mindnumbing. Although I think I learnt a lot, I will have to go through the lecture notes a lot during revision to feel like I've actually got anywhere with it. I guess we'll see.

I'm listening to the new Darren Hayes album at present. I can't help but hear some Kate Bush influences in parts. It's cool! &a lot of the songs are definitely growing on me if I didn't like them so much before.

Anyhoo, I best be off. I've got a sutaki pie in the oven that needs my attention ;)

xo

Friday, November 23, 2007

IT'S DONE!!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

All I did today was work, work work on my editing for my radio package. Yes, my piece on 'The Respect Scheme' is done. I hope it'll be ok. I mean, I think it's about...98% done, if I have to be figurative. The thing is, I can get it put onto cd by tomorrow so hopefully with any luck, will be able to make a copy somehow and who knows, maybe put it up on here or the like. Maybe. Failing that, it will always be backed up on here at least. The deadline is for Friday, but since I'm going home on Thursday (probably highly likely), I thought it best to get the JNL314 Radio Package out of the way, as soon as possible. As for the JNL315 essay, I made sure to submit that in today, so thankfully that;s all over and done with! Woohoo.

I know that on Wednesday, Stiletto is coming out :) which is a bit exciting. I'm hoping to take a pic of it or scan it in to show what it's like. Apparently it looks absolutely amazing according to Holly. I sure hope so, I can't wait to get my hand on it.

This weekend I'm going home as I have a birthday meal to attend to :) My Dad is turning 60, so he's having a meal out at an Indian restaurant in Widnes. I can't wait to see him again, I miss both my parents so much as I haven't seen them in about- half a month!:(

I will get to see Gary again too, yayyyy which will obviously make my life.

Today has been tiring, I've been up all day. But tomorrow is another day, in which I can experiment with my radio project and hopefully get it finished off for good.

Night night
xx

Monday, November 19, 2007

I am going to see.... MY BLOODY VALENTINE.
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I've got tickets, to see them!!! It was a bit of a task and a half I must say (like the fact that thousands of people were probably trying to get tickets at the same time as I was). The fact that the first night sold out within five minutes of going on sale, is something to say the least... But I did it and I've got them, so me and Gary are going to be seeing them at the Manchester Apollo next June- which is a perfect leaving Uni present, in my opinion :)

I've had such an amazing weekend. Aside from getting MBV tickets, I spent it with Gary and we went to Corp on the Thursday night to see Jesu and we were gonna see Mono but due to tiredness/seeing them before we decided to get the vinyl version of 'Conqueror' signed by Broadrick and then we retied to the house. We seemed to indulge on a lot of cheesy chips over the weekend, which was nice. Lots of takeaway (pizza, chips, etc), Subway, Vegebangers :p (all yummy of course). We watched 'The Stand' (the TV mini-series) which by the way, is bloody ace and makes me wanna read the book now, lots and lots.

We went Corp on Friday night which was good fun. But the vodka drink/s were disgusting and the beer wasn't too much better to be honest (not entirely sure why but it just tasted really rank, in my opinion), but I started to have a good night after a while as the music played/I progressively let myself enjoy the night.

Yesterday and for much of Friday, was spent shopping around the city centre. I bought some cool stuff for people for Christmas. Lots of interesting things for my boyfriend and I'm going to be getting a lot of good stuff for my family/friends :) I got quite a few books and I know I got a lot in return (obviously not to be looked at until Christmas day).

Speaking of Christmas- it's only another 36 days?! Which isn't long now really. Oohh I'm so excited.

Shame I have to do a whole week's worth of editing for my radio package, starting from tomorrow. I need to get it done by Friday! eeep. At least my essay is done. The deadline for that is tomorrow, but yay that's done at least.

At least once that's all done, I will get to see my family again at the weekend. It's my Dad's birthday coming up too, so I need to really get back home for that. It's a very special age shall we say, coming up.

Anyhow, I need to write up/sort out some of my radio script so it makes it easier to record tomorrow...

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

I hate my degree. Soo much work at the moment, hardly a chance to update/enjoy life!!

I'm trying to think of anything new in my life...there isn't really anything I can think of straight off. Except that I had a busy day yesterday. I attended two inquests! Which wasn't exactly pleasant. Besides the fact I feel like I have no right to be there sometimes, it is upsetting/most horribilus. Hmm what else? I kept napping a lot yesterday afternoon when I got back, I'm not sure why, but I kept on falling asleep and then waking up again, only to fall back asleep...it was really strange. I must've been super tired.

The only thing that's keeping me going, is the thought that on Thursday I will see my love again. It hurts to be apart and it sucks with all this work :( but we're gonna have a lovely weekend I just know it. We're seeing Jesu and Mono on the Thursday night and then once more on Saturday, in Leeds! :D it should be awesome.

At least I've finished my essay so I don't have to worry about that. I finished very late Sunday night/early hours of Monday. It seems ok, but I want to double check and go over it so I know everything is alright and so forth. Tomorrow I get the whole day off, so I should be able to do it then I believe. Along with a lot of other things (really need to do some exercise v. v. soon). But I won't dwell on that. There are more important things to sort out after all (Foster's work from his workshops needs to be done, as do a lot of notes - from last week's feature piece I'm gonna write on Killer Coke, to numerous nibs I can create from what I've been given) hmmm.

I have a broadcast workshop in an hour. I have soo much stuff to do for that still. I've got most of my material and wrote most of my radio script, but it's the interview I still have to get this Friday from a police officer and the whole editing process I will have to do the week after before it's handed in and finished for the 23rd (next Friday). I reckon that'll take most of the week, in all fairness.
I also need to be thinking about sounds I can have in the background...I was thinking of maybe using The Bill theme tune, but I'm worried that's gonna look kinda cheesy...hmm, I will have to have a good think.

No stress then! :/

x

Monday, November 12, 2007

Got some great news. The Stiletto website is up and running!

Stiletto

Go check it out!

xx

I have a new poem.

'A Bitter Understanding'

Hard
Yet softly enticed by
the docile features
staring back from within

Framed
cartilage eyes
American
cauterised
I barely
feel your skin

Alone
inside
the inky waves
that fall
beneath the
shallow

I emerge
subsidised
left to
cauterise
within the
hollow

Blood
spouting
from
holes
I never
knew existed

hands tied
back reclined;
they’ll never find
you before dawn;

Wrapped in rags of yesterday
the body snakes into despair
Mouth sucking in air
like a new-born

Oceans of tar
reaching out to
suck you down
and destroy

Like satan himself
to lead you astray,
the devil’s minions
come out to play…

First light
gives a resonance
so blinding

But it’ll be too late
by murky water grey
when they realise
with some regret
they’ve missed their chance;

for a deeper understanding



11/11/07 – A.C.J

Saturday, November 10, 2007

I'm feeling mellow now, after a hard day of work :( I managed to get all my vox pops recorded in the afternoon because I figured I needed to get them out of the way, so all I have to worry about now is a)interviewing the police officer next week and b) editing it all the following week.

I feel somewhat better knowing it's the weekend now and I can just chill out and not feel so bad about relaxing for a bit tonight, as I've worked so hard all week.

The main news of the week, has been that my union is closed until Monday because there was a massive power cut at the Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Limited sub-station on Victoria Street last night. So nothing can happen until they get everything sorted out and fixed for good. Which means I will be staying in the house all weekend then, just to do my essay and not get distracted by the promise of Christmas shopping in town or at Meadowhall. I know if I went to the latter especially, I would end up spending loads! I can't see myself going there for a while though, at least until early December as I have something planned every weekend now until the end of November pretty much.

Yesterday was so utterly horrible though! I got caught in a hurricane and completely soaked through, upon travelling from a lecture about my dissertation to another about headline writing. Then I had to do a presentation along with two of my coursemates. I did mine on Liberalism which I think went well, but, afterwards the lecturer said he thought what I had mentioned on Hobbes was a bit dodgy :/ which I thought is fair enough, but since the chapter was so hard to read about, it was hard to separate it out into easy to read pieces.

Then I witnessed the power cut in the IC/Arts Tower and throughout the rest of the Union. I was attending a People and Planet meeting on 'Killer Cola' which is about how Coca-Cola is exploiting the communities in India by creating bottling plants there and then taking their water and leaving it all polluted. It was really interesting, but really hit it home I guess. I thought I'd report on it for a feature story I have to write as part of JNL 301 (Foster's module)as one of my news production piece/s.

Today I managed to get my vox pops done. Whether they are of any worth or not I'm not sure, as some people just said 'Yeah I think it's safe' and that was all...:/ I had to keep looking at them in the hope they'd give me more material to work with. &some of them did, thank goodness. I managed to speak to a PCO, but the vast majority of people I tried to talk to flat out rejected me, which was a bit deflating in all honesty. For some reason it actually upset me, so I decided to call it a day. I put them all onto the computer afterwards and some didn't turn out, but the ones that did do sound good. I guess if I ever need anymore, I should just go back out and get some. But to be honest, I think it all went ok. We'll see I guess.

I've bought a butternut squash! never used one of those before, haha. I'm not entirely sure what I have to do with it either, I'm guessing just peel it and bake it? I bought some other stuff like miso soup, thai curry paste and chillis and sweet potatoes, as well as a mango. I've been really worried of late that my diet isn't good enough, as even though I'm getting loads of fruit and vegetables, it's just the fact that I've been getting really tired and my nails have been snapping where the skin begins, which is er- painful to say the least. My left pinky feels so sore! So maybe a few additional vitamins to the diet is what's needed...

Anyway it looks like I'm in for a boring weekend. All of my housemates are going home again this weekend and I really need to work on and finish my essay, as this is the only time I can really do it in before the deadline is due. I would say oh leave it until next week, but there's so much to be done on it and plus, Gary is coming up next Thursday, so I want to have the weekend free to be able to spend it all with him :]
hehe.

Right, I'm just going to have a laid back evening. Chilling/listening to music/may do a little work. Nothing too strenuous as I have a heady-ache :(

xx

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I've had a nice weekend. I came home to Widnes as I didn't want to be stuck on my own in Shef all on my own :( (everyone had gone home for the weekend in the house) so thought it best for my mind and sanity that I follow suit. I did want to work on my essay, but I thought it best that I get away again as I find it difficult to focus sometimes when I feel down.

Now I have to get down to my work however, which seems to be harder said than done, all in all. I mean, I've arranged for my second radio interview next Friday (16th) which some might say is cutting it fine with the deadline being the week after, but it still will give me a whole week to edit my radio package and since I've started working on my radio cue and script today, I don't feel so bad :)

My loan is not in great condition however. Well, since £700 worth of rent came out on November 1st it has been pretty scary to think about especially with Christmas still around the corner...but I know that there's only around...six weeks before I break up I can manage ok. Although once I start buying Christmas presents, my funds will go down substantially, so might have to start transferring over which I don't want to do :( but, there you go. If it's hard times calling for desperate measures, I guess I will have no choice.

I'm just hoping that by the end of this degree, I'll be able to pay it all off/back to people I owe it to. From the sounds of it I may not fare so bad. Foster was saying of how one of the most successful graduates is now a merchant banker?! which when you think of the transferrable skills you can get from a journalism degree, is slightly...interesting :p but there you go then. Maybe things won't be so bad after all. Obviously I will have to work hard to get anywhere near a good grade (2.1,2.1,2.1) sure it's average but it's very very decent indeed. It's practically impossible to get a first anyway and looks a bit sad to potential employers who are probably thinking you had no social life to get such a good mark.

Anyway it's bonfire night and I'm doing nothing but work which is a bit sad, but I'll be ok. I have my music to listen to and I'm getting things done, so it's alright. Even though I was supposed to be going Corp tonight, it didn't happen. But I'm going there next Thursday (15th) to see Jesu and Mono and Gary is coming up too, so that's something for me to get excited about :)

xx

Friday, November 02, 2007