Sunday, December 31, 2006

I can't believe 2006 is nearly over. Haha, it doesn't feel like it's been that long of a year. All I know is that I can look back on this year and know that I have achieved a fair bit. It's been fun, it's been fair, if a little miserable at times. But most of all, I want to remember it for memories' sake.

. In January, I turned 19.
. In March I got with Gary :)
. In June I passed the shorthand exam at 100wpm!
. I went to London w/Gary and we explored more of London in 3 days than most people see in a lifetime
. We had our first 'proper' holiday together, even if it was in North Wales :p
. I started the second year of my Uni course
. I moved into my own house with six of my friends
. I got published in the Uni's 'Steel Press' newspaper and 'Stiletto' magazine
. Two of my cousins got married and I attended both weddings
. My new cousin - Rose Alona came into the world and I attended her Christening (the very first one I've ever been to)
. I went to see the following bands:

- Fear Factory - 9th April, 06
- Scarling. - 6th May, 06
- The Dresden Dolls - 9th May, 06
- Ministry - 2nd August, 06
- Final and Mono - 7th November, 06
- Ghenghis tron, Reth, Microsleeper and some other band - 16th November, 06

With many more to come next year I'm sure!
My excitements for next year include seeing my boyfriend's project 'Avent Guardian' play at a gig someplace, somewhere. I would love to see AG on the 16th of Jan 2007, but it's just whether I can go because I have work to hand in at Uni on that date. Eeeep :( :( :(

But back to today. It's New Years Eve. 2006. My plans for today are minimal compared to most people's celebrations I'm sure. But at least mine are cost effective.

Later on, I'll be going on a pub crawl around Widnes with some friends. It should be pretty cool, last year's one was ace with just me and Gary. We'll probably go to Wetherspoons, The Albion, the Appo, The Derby, etc etc. Basically all pubs if possible. Haha not that we'll probably be able to manage that. But something close.

I'm having veggie hot pot later. Mainly because I don't like eating beef/lamb. Not that I have turned vegetarian, but I do seem to be eating more quorn based these days, which can only be a good thing. I don't really consider myself under any foodie label though, as I'd only be a hypocrite if I said one thing and then ate a huge chicken. So, let's just not bother. My Mum always makes an annual hotpot on New Years' Eve, but all that meatiness will probably make me feel a bit :/ since lamb/beef and potatoes with ketchup tastes too tough and makes me feel lethargic afterwards.

I watched Rocky Balboa last night. The sixth and current Rocky. I was surprised by how good it was. So yes, I have now seen all the Rocky films. I think my favourite is Rocky II as it has the most drama whilst still containing plenty of action. They are all good though and I have been enjoying them all. I watched the film with Gary, Griff and Mike whilst downing cans of booze.

The other film I really want to see at the minute is Happy Feet. I've read the synopsis now, so I'm going to see it for more than just the cute penguins. Honest! hahaha.

Sooo...not much else to say at present. I'll update with more soon and tell you how tonight went.

Laters.

Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I've been really busy with all this Christmas malarky. Basically, I've had loads to do and practically no time to update. Oh well.

So yeah, Christmas. Was ace.
I didn't end up opening all of my presents until much later on, like 9 or 10pm, so the build-up was immense, to say the least. Here's what I got (from family):

+ Some new clothes - a pretty strappy floral evening dress, so BEAUTIFUL,a brown top with blue collar &cuffs, a brown polo neck outfit which goes into a burberry type skirt with buckle

+ Letter writing set, all floral and pretty
+ Schott's Almanac
+ A book on 'Modern British History'
+ A book 'Petals on the Wind'
+ A long mug with a girl on it
+ A fluffy cat organiser
+ A silver handbag with earrings and necklace
+ a jewellery box

Gary got me:

+ 8 Kate Bush albums on vinyl
+ A Kate Bush fan poetry/picture book
+ An ERTE calendar
+ 'Funk Fit' Corrie DVD
+ Coronation Street DVD game
+ 'A Life Less Lived' - Goth Boxset
+ Breakfast at Tiffany's on DVD
+ Green Kate Bush T-shirt
+ A book 'Five People You Meet in Heaven'
+ '25 Cromwell: The West Murders'

There may be more but these are the ones I can recall!

Over the past few days I've been shopping in the sales and have managed to pick up a few bargains. I got a royal blue pinstripe and silver skirt for £10 from Next (should've been £27). I also picked up a pair of zebra print pumps from Barratts for £12. Also, I got a very pretty blue top with silver flower print for £12.50 from Jane Norman. A few days beforehand, I also got a pinafore for £10 with white polo for underneath. Also a sweater top. So overall I feel I've done pretty well.

I picked out a dress yesterday for my birthday (as y'know, most people don't know what I like to wear so it's easier if I choose myself). Yeah it's just really pretty :) Yay.

I made cookies on Christmas Day for Gary's family and mine. I think it went down a success. They had demerara sugar, ginger, orange rind and syrup in them. So I think they went down a real treat. Christmas Dinner was really really nice. Soo sooo tasty.

On Boxing Day, I went with Gary and family for a meal. That was ok, but the service was appalling. The cutlery was all dirty and the dumb waitress completely got confused over our order. She seemed somewhat braindead.

Well yes, bad meals aside, the rest of the holiday has been ace.

I'll reveal all later.

xo

Friday, December 22, 2006

Not much has happened since I last updated. On Tuesday night, or was it Monday? I tried out some new make-up looks and had a good old route around my make-up stash. It's always cool to try out new looks, it's just finding the right ones. I've picked up some useful tips though, so I have a better idea of where I'm headed with some much needed restyling. I plucked my eyebrows. But I think that was Monday night.

Yesterday I got back from Gary's about midday, I had some lunch then got down to some serious revision (about 2 hours or so), worked out after that then showered and all that jazz. I stayed in last night as my dad had a chill and he didn't want me to go out walking alone, especially in the dark. It was grim though as I wanted to go out around Gary's, but both my parents wanted me to stay in and I was rather knacked. So a night in it was. I think I just watched random stuff on TV. I know I watched Gladiators, haha. &Corrie later on with my Mother. Hmmm. Wow, fascinating stuff.

The main worry that's been lifted off my shoulders today is that I've finally applied for my work placements next year! Woo. I've applied for a placement at 'Reveal' magazine and another one at 'The Sheffield Star', but we'll see where it gets me, eh? I might do another one later on, or most probably, by tomorrow. I'm just hoping I've done the right thing and not posted too much/too little. I really want to know If I've done ok with it- I don't want my application to fail, damnit! I need work experience! Yeahh.

I finished 'Flowers in the Attic' yesterday afternoon. It's sooo sad :( It nearly made me cry at one point. It broke my little heart to read. Excellent story though. I want to read the sequel now, which I believe is called 'Petals on the Wind'. Awwwhhh. I have other books to read though - like Irvine Welsh's 'Porno' and 'The Schnews at Ten' (for my case study).

So...pub tonight. I'm pretty excited about it. I need to get to Gary's for 7pm first though, as we're going to watch Rocky II. We're trying to get through them all (as I've never seen them before) so we can go watch Rocky VI next month! Woohoo :) Yay. I haven't been The Albion in ages, so tonight should be pretty interesting. I suspect a lot of people are going to be there, what with all the Universities having broken up now, etc etc. Yeah. So, will probably stay there for a couple of hours at least, before going home.

Right now I should be revising though. At least for a little while.

xoxoxo.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Ahh. A fairly decent day today, spent in Chester to do the inevitable Christmas shopping, avec ma mere. Yes. My task was to decide what clothes I would like so she could wrap them up as christmas presents, as for about the third year running, she has no idea what to get me. Mehh. I just got some nice clothes from Browns of Chester. They have delegated fashion departments which take up a whole floor. Awesome. I ended up getting some very pretty things. A evening/party dress, which is short and cute- no way to describe this really other than GORGEOUS, you just have to see it for yourself. I got a brown top w/blue design, which cost about £28. &I got a brown polo neck which runs into this cute little skirt (I can't remember the exact name of the material- think it's some kind of Burberry?) with a buckle. Fit. It will look so cosy and cute though with a pair of boots and some black tights.

I also got a stack load of new make-up/beauty care things. Well...I got some new foundation as I'd run out or will be soon (even though I've got some in Sheffield, I just forgot to take it back home with me, grrr!) and a lighting concealer which is supposed to work wonders. I also got a new shade of eyeshadow, which can apparently be used in replace of an eyeliner. Oh I also sorted out my hair dilemma and bought some hair dye. We figured that I can colour my own and it'll look good and just get it styled after Christmas or whatever. I'm going mahogany, which is a form of reddish brown, I do believe. I believe it'll look nice anyway. It's a nice change from what I'm usually used to - black black, dark brown, black. Haha. I'm not averse to lighting it up a little now though and I'm hoping to go a bit lighter in time. Nothing drastic obviously, but maybe as this colour is a semi-permanent...once I change it after that, I might go a more light brown'ish type colour. Probably hazel/roasted almond highlights would be cool come spring/summer time. I do believe.

So...I have something for Chris and Louise this Christmas at least. I got them a lampshade. It's a very nice one too. Haha, well obviously.

Anyway, not got much else to say except I'm going to Wetherspoons tonight for a proper meal and a half so I best be getting ready for that soon.It's gonna be great because I am soo damn hungry and eating out with Gary is the best. Really is.

Anyway, I'm going for a nap now.

I'll update soon.

xo

Monday, December 18, 2006

FINALLY.

I am in my brother's room. I'd go so far as saying, I have moved in. But a lot of my brother's things are still here. The PC, the chair, all of his clothes. You know, I still feel like a guest, or he's going to come in at any minute and say 'Get out'. But no...not anymore. I have rights now, to stay here. Haha. I have his double bed, and all that jazz though. However some things may be temporarily laid out here.

This is going to sound majorly lazy of me, but I've only just got dressed. Yes, at 2.30pm or so. Haha. My reason behind this being, it's now the holidays and people should be allowed to do what they want. Including lazing about until mid-afternoon in just their pyjamas. It sounds good to me.

The past two days since I came back to Widnes have been spent with Gary, by in large. Basically, I got to his for 4pm and then we had a great time catching up, (if that's what you want to call it ) ;) and eating up. Heh. I have ate a hell of a lot of what might be described as 'fatty' food this weekend. However I did not mind what-so-ever as being back with my loved one makes me want to eat whatever I want and say 'fuck any kind of diet/eating rules' I'm gonna eat whatever I want. Woohoo. Which is always a good feeling, á mon avis.

Ahhh it feels good to be back. We went to Liverpool yesterday with Gaz, which was cool. Gary bought a few christmas pressies for people, whilst I bought a vegetarian student cookbook, for when he comes up to visit, etc etc. Yay, should be fun to make some of those recipes! I do believe so. I love cooking, it's just great. I know it sounds so boring, some of what I describe...but honestly, I do make FANTASTIC meals sometimes, when the mood takes me.

Like last night, I made a veggie gravy (made from onions and mushrooms, milk, flour and vegetable stock), whilst we had mashed potatoes on the go and some vegetarian mince pies. Yum! It was very tasty actually. I hope we do something like that again.

Anyway, I helped Gary to wrap up most of the presents he'd got for his family (damn thin paper though) but it looked lovely once it had all been sorted out :D Yay yayy ayayya.

When I got back home, I simply rearranged my brother's bedroom a little bit and put most of my belongings on his cupboards, etc. My mum remade his bed and put my sheets on it, gave it a good spraying down, etc etc. Haha, that kind of thing. Then I finally got to bed about 1am (it was a task and a half I must tell thee). Other than that- I woke up at about a quarter to five this morning, heaven knows why :s but it wasn't a very pleasant feeling at all. I thought it was around about 7am, but no!!! Grrr. Anyhow, I went back to sleep and slept in until about 10.30am. Damn weird times!!

I finally got the 'net sorted in my house for my laptop, with the help of mon pere. I was struggling for a while, but finally managed to sort it out. It's always good when these things get sorted. As I hate having no access or communication to the outside world. It makes me feel...cut off. Hmmmm. So, for the rest of today? The plan is to get my workout on the go by about 3.30, shower etc. Then some revision until about 7.30. Then about 8, I believe Gary will be a-coming around. So that should be good. I'm really excited, his visits are always the highlight of my day :)

Might get something done as regards finising a song I'm working on too. It's spent ages in progress, but I'd really like to see it nearing completion by the end of the week. But, like a fine wine...patience is key and the fermentation process can not be rushed.

Yours truly.

xox

Saturday, December 16, 2006

It's raining and I can't be bothered.
That's how I feel at present anyhow...so much for going to the pub and seeing the guys in this weather! Pfffsshhh.

Last night I went to Gatecrasher. It was alright I suppose. I was just utterly shocked by how busy the place was and also, how extortionate the drinks prices were! For two drinks of rum and coke it was £9! For fucks sake, that's a rip off. Completely. Maybe it was just Christmas prices, I dunno, but it certainly wasn't no laughing matter.

The place got less busy towards the end as people moved/filtered out, so we ended up staying until closing time at 2.30am and by 3am I was back home and ready for bed. Yayyy. I was just glad to be shut of the place, as although I did enjoy it, being with my friends and all, it's not usually the kind of night I would go to, or decide on. If you get what I mean.

So yeah, today...I had to repay Kat some money I owed her from last night. &I had a fit lunch of Lloyd Grossman's tomato soup, garnished with red pepper and cheese. Was very tasty with a bit of bread. After that, I'd love to say I got down to doing all of my work...but, I didn't. I've just been in a relaxed mood and wanting to sleep/go home all day. But fairly soon I shall do both :D

Basically, I'm going home early tomorrow morning. My dad's coming to pick me up at 9am sharp. Wooo yeah :D So that's exciting. Very. &I should be back by midday.

I should warn you in advance, that I don't know what the internet situation at home is at the minute. As here in Sheffield I have wireless internet connection, but at home...I don't know...I think it's just AOL. &to be honest, it could take ages to set up/sort out again. Grrrr. So bare with me if I don't update for a good while, if at all over the Christmas season. That'll be why.

I've started the packing process anyhow. By enlarge, I've packed most of my clothes I need and the presents/books I have are getting sorted/scattered around the place as well. So there you go.

I had a fit brocolli and chicken pie for dinner tonight. My friends here keep on saying if I've given up cooking :p but nope, it's just that I don't want to fall into the trap of buying loads of fresh ingredients and then not having anything to use them up with. That would be the worst. So no, I've been having frozen ready made meals to tide me over these past two days. &damn nice they've been too.

I think two of the girls have gone home now. There's seven of us...so five of us still about. But it feels incredibly lonely here now. Or it's starting to. Tomorrow, I think another two or maybe three of us will be going. So that'll only leave two people in the house by Sunday, if that's the case. Awwwh bless!! I hope they don't feel too lonely.

This term has been good. It feels like I've achieved so much, in such a relatively short period of time. All my work for this term has been done (aside from the revision and case study which will be done over Crimbo), but yeah, I'm generally happy with how it's all turned out. I've had two articles published. My second article 'The A-Z of Body Parts' being published in the 'Body Issue' of the union women's magazine 'Stiletto'.All good.

Only 10 days until Christmas.

&Woooooo, I'm going home tomorrow, yaya yayayayayyayayay ^_____^


sweet.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Update:

I got to Minalloy House for 2pm. I wondered where everyone was...and then realised they were in the main tv/broadcast production room. So me, Holly and Chris gathered together and got our camera equipment; making sure that we had the camera, the stand, the microphone and the headphones, as well as the tape and batteries; the essentials.

We walked to my house and decided to set shoot in the kitchen. We had to move the table out of the way at one point though as we needed to move the camera back, etc. I being the model, had to do numerous shots of filling a kettle up with water, over and over again. Haha which got a bit repetitive and a tad annoying, but got done never the less. We did lots of wide shots of me filling the kettle. Then a close up of the kettle, before doing numerous face shots which could be used as cutaways in editing, if the editor got stuck and needed to fill any inconsistencies. Then it was time to press the kettle's switch :p haha, what fun. Over and over again, with different angles/close-ups. Then I took the cups down from the cupboard :p hahahah. Over and over again. Before I filled each cup with hot water, yes, over and over again. Haha. Repeat again with varying CU's for the making of the tea, the taking away of the teabag and the putting of milk in/stirring of said tea. Before we finished off with a nice five minute or so interview. I hope we did alright. I think we did enough anyway and we were finished by 4pm. So that's that over and done with- or so I hope! Heh.

He'll probably find something to call us back in for. Mehhh.

I managed to make a new friend anyway- in Chris, and me and Holly got his number incase we need to work with him again in any projects in the next few months or whatever, which we probably will do.

I've suddenly realised- I really need to get my work experience sorted before Christmas. So tomorrow, I'm going to rewrite my whole CV and send off for some relevant places. Yayy. I think there's a placement at Reveal I might try for, also The Sheffield Star and maybe a newspaper around here. I mean, you'll never know if you don't try, right? Right. So that'll be tomorrow's task.

Oh and you'll never believe it...after everything I've said. I've gone and rejoined Facebook. Those of you who have known me a long time may well remember that I joined in March this year, only to delete it a month later citing it as 'shite'. Well...I still hold that belief, but I'm using it to social network with people/stay in touch with friends/societies etc. So there's no harm in that, is there?
Even though I prefer myspace. But I seem to be in the minority with that one, hahaha.

Now to make dinner....yay?

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Pleasantly, I have now finished the majority of my Christmas shopping, I do believe, barr one or two things I have yet to buy. But all my presents for Gary are bought and I have a considerable amount for my Mum, one for my Dad (with more to come).
I did all of that yesterday.
It was a bloody sweaty shopping trip if ever I've had one.

Unbelievably, I have worked out every day this week so far! Go me. It happened when I was debating on Sunday evening how to make this week go faster (as I can't wait to go home for Christmas). &as it turned out, the way was to burn off some serious calories in the hope of getting trim and toned.

I started to notice a bit of a difference last night, I must admit. In the abdominals, I feel and look a lot stronger. Not toned or rippling or anything like that, haha. But definitely, stronger. It'd be awesome to have a flat stomach- it's just whether that's humanly possible! As the maintenance there would be rather steep I do believe. I'm working out not to lose weight, just to keep my current weight, and to look good. Obviously.

Anyway, today should be err...interesting. I have my camera assessment for JNL 214 this afternoon, so that has to be done- the filming is getting done in my kitchen! We were going to use Holly's but we figured it would be too far away- as Broomhill is a lot longer to get to than Crookesmoor from Minalloy House. I get to be filmed making a cup of tea, hahah. As long as that's the only thing I have to do. I'll let you know how it went anyway, in a later update.

Tonight I believe, is Gatecrasher night. All my friends here seem to want to go- so I thought, why not? Since it's gonna be the last house/friends night out before Christmas. Originally it was going to be Pop Tarts, but I think when everyone realised more people were gonna stay until at least the 15th/16th of December, I think that's when it was decided it would be good to go out. Even if the night is a bit- gash - it can be enjoyed once inebriated.

Reet, I'm off to shower.

La.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

A good'ish day, but it seems to have really dragged. Not entirely sure why. I was up by 8am, had the usual wash and breakfast etc before going to my 9am lecture. Holly was ill and vomitting from being hungover and going out to Kingdom last night, and asked for me to collect handouts for her and she'd buy my a chocolate bar if I did. So I did :p hehe. The lecture was on confidentiality law and breaches of confidence. I was bored by the end of it, but I listened. I think I just felt that way because I had to get up really early. I stayed out and didn't get back to the house until about half three. By that time I had gone into town, bought another of Gary's presents, ate my lunch in Starbucks and had a root about for one of my Mammy's presents.

I have some of the BIGGEST NEWS EVER. My brother is engaged! He told me in a phone call last night. So not only is he gonna get married soon'ish, he has moved out of the house at last and I get to have his room and double bed! :D Wahey. It's smiles all round then. Not because I want my brother out, haha, just that it's been ageeeesss coming. I mean, verging on two years or more. So, it's good to know things are finally coming together, even if the small things like the shower, getting a bed etc, still need to be fixed.

While I was in Starbucks this afternoon, I managed to lay down the arrangements for a song I kinda want to start. So I've got the basic idea down now, it'll be good to see how it gets developed.

Oh, I got my results back for my radio vox pop and interview I did for the JNL 214 Broadcast module. I got a 2.2, I believe. 55% and 56% accordingly. Which isn't bad, but not great. Oh well at least I have passed. Although, the tutor wasn't exactly sparing with the negative comments! Jeebus, no wonder the world is in the state it is.

I can take constructive criticism though, so that's alright. It's just when you get knobhead lecturers who seem tolike to prove how much better they are than you. Mehhhhh.

I managed to work out tonight though, which I'm really pleased about! I was in the mood for it, so thought, why the hell not? It was the more dance based workout with pilates cooldown that I did this evening. Tomorrow I get to do the ol' Nell Mc Andrew again :p haha ace. I bet I will wake up tomorrow morning and my muscles will all be stiff. It's a good feeling after exercise though. There's a sense of...liberation, about it??

Yes, I think that's what it is.

Right, I'm off to revise.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Had a fairly productive day. I woke up about 10am (yes, late by many standards, but I still got quite a bit done, haha in my eyes anyway...). Had breakfast of mini weetabix (yummy!) before deciding to work out. I did the whole hour and half workout today, which was great because I really needed to and probably will need to every day this week to burn off any excess of the past few days. Not that there's been tonnes of the stuff, just that I'll feel better if I put the effort in now, rather than leave it until later or worse, none at all.

Anyhow, other than that, I showered because otherwise I always feel dirty if I don't after I exercise. Then I made myself some lunch at about 2pm or so. Excellent. I had the most measly lunch ever! haha. Just one slice of toast and a bit of leftover baked beans. Hahah. But it's been enough so far to last me until later tonight, so by all standards it was ample.

Then at 3pm, I went to meet my friend Holly, so I could show her around my house and all that jazz. I showed her pretty much all the main rooms (lounge, kitchen,bathrooms, etc) and of course my room. She seemed impressed which is good and we decided there and then that on Thursday afternoon we will shoot our camera assessment in my kitchen. So I'm glad that's sorted. We had a good chat and we exchanged christmas presents!
I got some transparent soap with a duck motif on it. How awesome is that!! hehe. I also got a very stylish and modern picture frame so I can put a nice pic of me and Gary in it. Yayyy. So I'll have to get snap happy this Christmas!! Hehe. I bought Holly a little pretty jewellery/trinket box and a little duck that glows all kinds of colours! hahaha. Nice. I think she really liked it.

Holly stayed until about 4.20pm or something like that, just before it got too dark. &since leaving, I've come on here and have been deciding what to do with my time this evening. Obviously at 7.30 and 8.30 I am going to be watching Coronation Street. But before then, I guess I should get my dinner on at around, half six. Hmmm, I think I might go and clean the upstairs bathroom, as I should really get last week's cleaning duty out of the way, so I can clean the kitchen before Thursday:p haha nice.

Oohh and in other news, my housemate's bro's girlfriend has gone into labour and it must be soo exciting for her because I remember early last year when my niece was born, the anticipation was electric!! So I'm wishing the best for her bro's family because these next couple of days/hours are going to be majorly exciting for them. Good luck!

Today has been a nice day. Not in a boring kind of way either. I think that's because I have done something however. Unlike yesterday where I was just plain bored so decided to stay in bed/eat/be online. Haha. Another useful thing I have done is to renew my loan on my library book called 'Schnews at Ten'- as I still haven't done any reading and really should before term ends.

I can't believe it's the 11th of December already! Only 14 days until Christmas! and only 5 days until I'm back in Widnes. Yayy!!!

I will miss Sheffield people over the festive season, but I won't in another way. I'll miss them because obvs, they're good to be around. But I like it just as much as home, if not for the cosiness of the town (even if it is a shitehole), but mainly because of close knit friends and family.

Tight.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Soooooooooooo, quite a few important things have been a-happening. Firstly, yesterday, it was my house christmas dinner party (with us being students and all you'd expect us to do something cheap,but no, we had a proper GREAT christmas dinner). You should've seen it, just like a proper Christmas roast. We had parsnips, roast potatoes, turkey, pigs in blankets, brocolli,yorkshire puddings,stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, carrots, the whole works! It was quite spectacular and really lovely. Thank you Naomi and Catherine!

There's a vegetarian in our house as well, but she did her own thing and made her own dinner, which looked equally as delicious.

We had crackers and party poppers which were great fun opening and we had champagne and red and white wine to choose from, so it really was devine. Mmmmmm. After eating, we had our presents to open from our secret santa. Teehee. Catherine bought me a mini marzipan cake,some chocolates and a pestle and mortar in order to make food dishes with. Nice! Naomi liked her present- I got her a red handbag and a pair of silvery ball type earrings which I believed would suit her well. I think they did anyway. Other people got gifts of lingerie, a corset, socks, gloves, that type of thing generally! Always good.

After secret santa, we sat down for dessert. There was a choice of christmas pudding and brandy sauce (which we lit on the pud and looked amazing!), chocolate yule log with brandy sauce or iced mince pies with brandy butter. It really was fabulous. I had two iced mince pies and a piece of choc yule log with brandy sauce. Was delicious. Mmmm. Then we decided to go for a walk around the lake just outside our house and feed the ducks, which was ace. It was rather cold though. We knocked on the boys' house but no one was really there except for one. We didn't stay there long either- perhaps half an hour? I think that was about it. Anyway, after that I had a rest and chilled out upstairs, had a wee chat online. Before mints and X-Factor/games of pictionary. It was quite cool.

The X-Factor this year is strange. There's been no clear winner and yet, it's obvious. We were all shocked when Ben got voted out though, that seemed really odd because he was sooo damn good, much better than Ray anyway. So I'm not sure how Ray got through, apparently it was by a 3% margin. Mehhh. No one will remember them this time next year. Plus the format of the show is getting old, there's only so much they can do with the programme; think Gladiators.

We sat and drank alcohol and ate mints etc whilst watching 'The Sum of all Fears' (albeit casually and nothing more). But you get what I mean. It was more chatter than actually watching. Haha. &then, there was a programme on about Courtney Love and how she's a mess but everybody loves her. Or something. Someone in the room kept on saying she killed Kurt though which was annoying. Why do people believe all these wild conspiracy theories?? KURT KILLED HIMSELF. GET OVER IT. Bored already.

Haha later on at Pop Tarts they played Nirvana and I got really bored and left for the 60's room instead. It's because they get bummed and people don't realise that they're really quite bland. Ok if you're twelve. Not for when you have developed music taste. Nahh, all due respect, I did used to really dig Nirvana back in the day, but that was before I discovered better music. Hmmmm. Haha. Not arsed either way now.

I stayed in the sixties and seventies room for most of the night. It was great, I have to say I usually prefer the 80's and 90's room usually, but last night was an exception. They played loads of the old greats and it made me get my boogie on. Teehehee. I think we got there at about 11.45 or so, it was nearly midnight by the time we got to Pop Tarts anyway. I remember I was really up for it until about 2.30am and then I got really tired and wanted to leave because I was fed up/sobering up. A-heh. We left about 3am.

I got back and then went online, to stay up and chat to my love. Only I fall asleep because I'm knackered and can't keep my eyes open a second longer.

I woke up today about 9.30 or so, maybe slightly before and freaked out. I had no idea what happened last night. I knew I just fell asleep with my laptop still on. Oops.

I still feel in a sleepy/laid back mood today, possibly due to the effects of alcohol, possibly due to the sleep deprivation which has become apparent. So I might have another sleep.

Oh and I had dry cereal this morning as there was no milk left. How student am I??

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Here I am again.

I had a great weekend (aside from the revision). Gary came up and it was just, well just ace.

We did more christmas shopping. We even bought for each other. Cute. Had a bit of a corporate fest with two visits to Starbucks (on Saturday and Sunday respectively) and Subway on the Sunday. Heh. We watched 'The Fly'. It was cool, bit on the gruesome side though.

Having a three hour workshop on Monday afternoon really ate away our time together :( but wasn't too bad after that. We got to eat out. I had to say goodbye though and that's always the hardest part.

I had my last law assessment yesterday afternoon. I'm soooo glad it's over. I'm not entirely sure how I did, but it must be better than my first one because I did a lot more work for it. Work always pays off. Indeed.

I had my last alternative media seminar this afternoon. I really started to get into the whole subject of late, especially since contributing a project- The Voyager, which is an idea for an international newspaper which would appeal to travellers/migrants etc who come to Britain and wish to know about foreign news not covered within the mainstream papers. It seems to have met with some success. It'd be published weekly, say every Saturday or Sunday. Haha, me with my business head on ;)
hehehehe. Tomorrow I have to present my idea to the rest of the class (meaning both seminar groups). Yep. Holly's idea for an intellectual woman's magazine is ace too I reckon. I think the idea is, that the projects get eliminated one by one in terms of the support they'll get given. Hmmm. Then the winner will get some kind of prize. I'm not too bothered whether I win or not, it's just the sharing and contributing of ideas which counts.

I bought my Mum's christmas present this afternoon. I hope she'll like it. Although for obvious reasons, I'm not going to say what it is. I got it from Within Reason. I also bought a vanilla scented candle. Nice.Other than that, not much has happened.

I think I'll be going to Fuzz/Bleach tomorrow night because I'm in need of the ol' night out. Last time I went was about a month ago. I know I'm definitely at Pop Tarts on Saturday night (after the house christmas dinner/party/day). The christmas dinner should be ace- on the 9th of December. The same day me and Gary celebrate our nine months together, funnily enough. Acceeee.

Well that's all I can say really.

Over and out.
I'll update when something new/important happens.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

I've had ever such a productive day. Where to begin?
I woke up and with it being the 1st of December, of course I had to open the very first door on my advent calendar (which was just so damn exciting for some reason). I then wanted to stay in bed...but realised it would be better for me to get up and actually do something. Heh. So I did.

I hoovered the whole house, as that was my house task for the week. Then I tidied my desk, finished off and wrapped the last of the presents on my desk and hid them out of view. I even made myself a door sign with my name on it, covered in loads of silver and gold stars. It looks really good in the dark. If I can, I might try and do another one next year, except with glow in the dark ones. Haha, awesome. I had beans on toast for dinner. Then I did around 45 minutes worth of shorthand. Then I worked out for an hour and a half- which was great as I haven't done any exercise since Monday, haha. So it was nice to get back into the energetic spirit of it again, especially since I had a chippy dinner from the Broomhill friery last night. That place is great for fast food and is real cheap, which I guess is why it's so popular with students. But I hadn't been there so far this year as I'd been pre-occupied with eating properly and trying to avoid rubbish. I still am, but I don't see any harm in treating myself occasionally, even though a chippy dinner isn't my idea of a treat anymore. I work out loads anyway, so that helps to burn any off that I'm unhappy with.

I've just got out of the shower and dried my hair, etc and am now of course, writing this. Within the next half hour I will have to apply myself and get down to a serious bout of revision as I've done next to none today! Which isn't good. But at least I've got all the menial stuff like housework, working out, etc out of the way. Which I'm pleased about. My media law test is on Tuesday afternoon and I have around 22 handouts to get through before then. Plus, Gary is coming up tomorrow afternoon and I don't want to be spending the whole time while he's up here, revising. That would be truly awful.

I'm supposed to be going to a house party tonight at a house in the next block. A bunch of guys I/we knew from Ranmoor are having it there and they've invited us all along...although I doubt many of us will go because at least two of us have gone away for the weekend and the rest of us are preoccupied with various other stuff. But I'd still like to go, just to make my Friday night less boring than staying and revising.

Although talking to Gary always alleviates boredom :) Yayyyyyy I'm so excited he's coming up tomorrow. I just want to run screaming all up and down the house, haha. It feels like aggggeeeesss since we last saw one another...12 days I believe? Which may not sound like a long time, but it is when you really love someone and can't stand to be apart. *Sigh*.

I made a slideshow for my myspace page last night, with some pictures of me and him together on it :]

Wednesday, November 29, 2006





Nearly had a heart attack just now when I discovered that the NCTJ exam I have to sit in January is £72 (£36 for each part) and has to be handed in by cheque by Monday the 4th of December! Bloody hell. I have enough to do as it is. It all seems very strict and demanding of them. The only good thing I can see about this is that there's only one whole exam (albeit split into two parts), so I only have to revise for one subject. But still... it seems a bit of a pocketbleeder.

I've had a mildly productive day today. I had to get up early for the wonderful 9am lecture that is Media Law. Yet again on arriving, there was a barrage of handouts to pick up and go through. I don't think they will ever end! Every lecture I get another three or four handouts alone and I am left to wonder how many rainforests were destroyed in order to teach us to pass a single exam. Still, I know it's important stuff to learn and it could prevent me/the rest of us from getting into some serious trouble when we're out in the real world, doing whatever it is we want to do, concerning journalism and media etc.

After this, I went to the journalism office to pick up my test results from the third assessed test. I did considerably better than my first attempt- where I only scored a measly 13. I got 38 marks on my third test, which I'm really rather pleased about. You double the figure- so I got 76 marks so I'm guessing that counts as a first? I could be wrong, but I'm pleased that I did soo much better. That good news has even put me in the right frame of mind for revision later this evening. (As my next test is on Tuesday the 5th). So I'll have more fun topics to learn...such as the defamation law, absolute privilege, fair comment and qualfied privilege and all that shiz. Yay for me. Heh.

It was my dad's birthday yesterday, so I sent him a card in the post a few days beforehand hoping it would get to him on the right day. Nope...it arrives on the Saturday! Oh well, who says Royal Mail is in a state? That arrived very quickly. I'm getting him an extra present for Christmas which will make up for the lack of birthdayness presents received. So I'm hoping that will put a smile on his face.

I had another lecture at 2pm today. It was soo bloody boring. I tried to pay attention for half of it, but I kept on getting disinterested. Holly kept on trying to fall asleep. Hahaha. Once it was over, I made a beeline for the exit- but then realised- shit, more handouts to get! At least another two :/ Once I'd gone, I wanted to get some chocolate. The cravings are subsiding, but the addiction is still as strong as ever! hahaha. I ended up buying a flyte bar (sooo goood and like, half the calories!) and a bag of magic stars (both to suck on/chew whilst revising of course).

Although I ended up eating the chocolate whilst wrapping the christmas presents I've bought for people so far. I'm glad I've nearly finished my christmas shopping. It means I've got a hell of a lot less to worry about. I still have to buy for family though. Friends are sorted. So, I'm not all that organised as people may think :p

I got the Guardian newspaper for 25p today, with a free dvd of my choice and a packet of handmade crisps. I chose The Wicker Man. It's got something truly great about it.

Oh and http://www.myspace.com/unbornparallax - new song is up! yayyyy.

Monday, November 27, 2006

I woke up this morning with a pounding headache. Not as bad as that of a hangover...but it did leave me feeling somewhat confused. I haven't drunk since early November! The only reason for it I can think of is that, I had some fiendish nightmares last night, or I ate my dinner too late. Prrrt.

I'm not too sure why I'm writing in this today, I've had nothing of interest really happen.

I tried to wrap some presents but I ran out of cellotape. Euch. But then Kim said I could borrow hers if I wanted to. So yay, am glad I won't have to buy any now.

I'm going to work on a song I made the other week now. When it's done, I will of course post it up on my project's myspace page. Until then, watch this space.

Over and out.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

I've had the biggest Christmas shopping session ever today. It's been great. I've bought wrapping paper, christmas cards...and a couple of presents. I probably didn't buy as much as I thought I did- but it feels like it! I've bought a lot for my boyfriend :) so I hope he'll like them.

The good news is - I get to do it all over again tomorrow, when I go on the hunt for a few more elusive gifts for both my friends and Gary. I've decided I'm going to be doing a lot of baking too over the festive season, so as to cover for the fact that I didn't know what to buy for some people...so I'll just be making them cake and cookies and sticking a five pound note in their card, something like that. It's the thought that counts anyway, right??

Nevertheless, I have been soo tired this week. I don't know whether it's the weather or me, or a combination of both...but I do genuinely feel like a lazy crapbag most days now. I don't know how some of my housemates manage to go to the gym every day in the rain and cold weather. That sounds like hard work to me. Technically, I should be working out today- but the fact I feel like crap and completely dead may prevent me somewhat. Nevermind, I'll do it tomorrow.

My cravings for chocolate have been through the roof this week. Nothing but chocolate is good enough, it would seem...

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

It feels like ages since I last wrote in here.
Quite a bit has happened.
I finished the essay. Handed it in. 2,195 words- so just below the maximum word limit.
I sent my article off to the Stiletto press. Although judging by the copy out today (I couldn't find it anywhere), I'll be lucky to actually own a copy of it. As it's not quite in the same way as The Steel Press.

Last week, Gary came up, which was ace. We went to see Final and Mono, both of whom I loved. But I left, ears brutalised, and I swear...some perforated ear drums. Corporation (rock club here) where they played, was shaking the sound was that loud! But not in the traditional sense, if you get me. It was the bass in Final as there is just one member - Justin Broadrick. Gary got to talk to him for a wee bit, which really pleased him I think :) he seemed really nice. I bought some merch. All Mono though.

Mono were beyond brilliant- but halfway through their set I had to leave and sit somewhere quieter as my back was hurting like mad, just from standing up for too long! Grrrr.

What else? Ohh, we went to see Saw III at the cinema on Wednesday night. That is one sick little film. Yet entertaining at the same time. I felt sick afterwards though- think I'd had too many revels :( (I always get like this with chocolate- the cravings have been crazy of late, I've been getting them every day).

I got to go to court on Wednesday afternoon. It was pretty interesting...surreal at the same time. I saw a lot of the defendants leaving/entering (yes, it is THAT obvious)...

On Thursday afternoon I went bowling and won three games out of three! Yeah, I rule. I also got some very sweet underwear that day and a garter belt which wouldn't stay up! :( Grrr. So I didn't wear them in the end, but I did go out to Fuzz looking pretty delightful :)

It was a great week though...I had such mega fun :D

It's Laura's birthday today. I got her a pretty present, which she liked. It was a box of bathing stuff from Lush. Really nice. Pricy, but I wasn't sure what to get her, I just knew she really liked Lush stuff.

We're having 'party food' later which should be fun.

But onto the plans for the week...I'm going home this weekend. To see my mammy and daddy. Gary...and to go to this christening on Sunday afternoon, for my baby cousin, Rose Ilona. She looks a sweet baby, but we never even knew she existed until we got the invitation two weeks ago! Heh. Still, it should be a nice occasion.

I'm getting to see Ghenghis Tron on Thursday :D yyayyy.

I'm tired now, had a long day.
But at least it's good to know that I get the whole day off tomorrow.

:)

Monday, November 06, 2006

Hello.

This weekend has been nothing but work for me. I wrote up my article yesterday. At least.
I did a whole bunch of ironing which seemed never ending this afternoon.
&...I'm about 800 words or so into the essay. So I'm not doing too bad, no?

I think I need a cup of tea though.
x

Friday, November 03, 2006

Random and shameless plug that it is...

My project:http://www.myspace.com/unbornparallax needs some attention, people.

Yes, it's me.
Well, I created the sounds anyway...

Thursday, November 02, 2006

What could be the most scary thing to happen right now?
That very thought has just crossed my mind.
I reckon a giant black spider crawling up the wall to the left of where I'm lying now would freak me out. Especially if I carried on looking at my laptop and didn't realise until it was halfway up the wall. Eeep. I'm going to shut up now.

I'm hungover :( Well of slight. I got pissed pretty quickly last night and then it was off to Corp before I knew it. But bloody hell was it like the Marie Celeste. Normally, the place would be heaving with students clad in school uniform attire, sweat dripping from the walls as you struggle to make your way through the heaving masses to get to the bar. But not last night. It was empty when we got there and even when it did fill up, it was nothing like it was last year. Blame The Leadmill for opening a rival club night (another skool disco affair) and with it being Halloween the day before. I was ok for the first half of the night as I was still pretty drunk- so even when I realised I hadn't brought a tenner with me like I had previously thought, it gave me an excuse to sober up a bit and just dance. At least the drinks offers were fairly cheap - 70p for vodka and mixer. But then the night quickly turned pretty weird...

I got asked by some random guy some inaudible questions and it freaked me out, so I kept on moving about to try and avoid him. But he still kept on coming over :/ Then a friend got into some guy not once, not twice...I actually lost count of the number of times to be honest, as she just kept on getting off with him all evening. It was literally...dance dance dance...snog snog snog...dance dance dance....grind grind snog snog...all frickin' night. I gave up counting the number of times. Then I sobered up and got bored very quickly. I wanted to go home from about 1am onwards, but since all my friends were still enjoying themselves and such, I figured that I shouldn't spoil it for them. But school disco really isn't my forté.

The best bit was when some guy got his face smashed in with a bottle.
No, really.
There was drama and blood all over the dancefloor.
The blood went all over people's white shirts.
The ambulance were called.
The guy's face was covered in blood, running all the way down his face and chest.
I'd never seen anything like it before.
I'd of been scared if I hadn't of been so tired.

Unfortunately, the tit that my mate had pulled was still hanging around. Urgh. &he followed us home in a taxi. Then he had no idea where he was. Gutted.
I would've felt sorry for him, but he was one of those posh boarding school type sleazebags, if ever I saw one.
Fed up, I went to bed.

I slept well...and now...I have to face writing an essay, or at least starting it, maybe even doing some reading. If I don't I could get really behind, as I don't want to do it next week, that will ruin all my plans. It's supposed to be 'Reading Week' next week, but I don't really get one, just some time off from a certain module to write this essay...grrr :/

But in better news, I'm writing an article for 'Stiletto' (a women's magazine here at the Uni, that was previously called 'Wanda'). I have to write an A-Z of Body Parts for about a fortnight's time. I've laid down the basic bones of the alphabet, but now I have to flesh it out with relevant material, making it light hearted, etc. I think I can do it. I'm gonna do it this weekend, along with some of my essay and see how far I can get. Should be interesting.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Me and a friend were talking today about how wrong it is for a guy to wear a pink shirt.
It's not that we hate it, we just don't find it very attractive.
It screams that a guy isn't very masculine, we concluded and therefore, if we went out with a guy who liked to wear pink t-shirts a lot, we'd want him to leave us alone.
Just because.
A girl wants a guy to look after her, but a pink t-shirt has too many implications.
I don't actually know many girls who would be attracted to a guy wearing one. Infact, I think the whole idea of being attracted to ladyboys is on the wane.
I think women want real men now.
At last.
Hmmm.

Well, on to more important matters...I got back to Sheffield yesterday, just in time for my Media Law exam at midday. I think it went surprisingly well, considering. I'm glad it's over- but just when I thought I could rest easy, in comes another batch of handouts from today's two lectures, covering the law on family proceedings, divorce and open justice. But the good news is, there's no Monday lectures anymore. Relief.

Halloween has been almost non-existant this year for me. The most 'spooky' thing I did all day was make myself a burnt chicken breast for dinner and some cheese and sweetcorn mash. With a touch of raw broccolli. Oh and a toffee apple for dessert (I had been looking for one all day, first in Sainsburys, but to much disappointment and then later in Metro Tesco, where I had slightly more success). But no trick or treating for me. The last time I did that, it was about...1995. No seriously...

The weekend was good. Aside from revision, I took the opportunity to talk to my parents and tell them all my news and things going on, etc etc. I spent two of the four nights at my parents house, two at Gary's. I'd say the highlight, was going for a chinese meal on Saturday night, we'd been drinking in Wetherspoons first and then it was just nice to sit down and eat something a bit special, because I don't normally eat a lot for dinner. I guess I just don't have the appetite like I used to. Ever since I've been working out three times a week, my old habits seem to be on the wane and I can't say I'm missing them to be honest. I've cut out coke, tea and coffee and well, just loads of high fat foods. I don't have takeaways anymore, never really ate chips anyway, but now I don't have as many processed foods either, or if I want something a bit fancy, like a pizza for example, I'll try and make it myself. It's healthier that way. I've also cut right back on the amount of alcohol I drink- I find I don't miss much of it. I tend to just drink spirits as they don't put as much weight on. But I'd say without a doubt, the exercise has been the main benefit of my changing physique.

Not that I was overweight or anything like that to start with, but I did need to tone up and do some exercise to improve my strength and stamina. I can feel the benefits now. I can't imagine going back to the way I was before- only a month or so ago. This may sound perverse, but it's a great feeling when all your old clothes hang off you and you realise with a sense of pride, that you've made it happen.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

First blog, first moments on here. &all that.

I finished my coursework today. So that's somewhat of a relief.

In another module I'm studying, for homework, we had to check out http://www.undercurrents.org which I'm just beginning to discover, has some damn sight interesting reads/videos on there. I'm downloading a few now...

I also had to buy a book today- which cost £20! Now, I'm not tight, but I am a student living on an ever decreasing loan in the days of bludgeoning top-up fees (even though I wasn't affected by them when I applied for Uni), but still- what do they take us for?! That's a lot of money. Plus, I hadn't spent a penny all week up until today! So I wasn't too pleased about that.

At least I'm going home this weekend.