Nearly a month ago I posted this blog about the crossroads I've hit in my life. Just wanted to post a quick update with how I'm doing on all the counts.
Find a job - well literally just a few hours ago I finished my CV and applied for no less than 10 jobs. We'll see...
Moving out of Cathays - we can put a big fat tick next to this one. No, a TICK. Not a tic. I don't want a bloodsucking mite next to it. As of July 1st I will be living in Heath. So what if it's the next area on from Cathays and further from town and my boyfriend? It's still NOT CATHAYS. Ding!
Book club - still haven't started plans for my own yet, was going to wait until I'd settled in the new house to do that, but I have joined a BookTwub on twitter. First book is The Great Gatsby and we're meant to be discussing it this Sunday, although no one has mentioned it in a while, I'm still curious to see how that one goes.
Karate/choir/archery - no progress yet. Want to get cashmoney sorted before I can start being frivolous and paying for such things!
Writing - Ana has begun research on the artwork for my idea and I'm doing some sample writing work forSidekick, which is very exciting. It's unpaid but I don't mind that right now. It's all published.
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Becoming a Grown Up
I finish my undergraduate degree in 10 days (even though I don't technically graduate until July) and there are several things which I plan to do after I've finished.
In my three years living in Cardiff I've mainly (believe it or not) focussed on my degree. That and making friends, forming new relationships and 'finding myself'. Ha. So now that I'm finishing I feel like I should rejoin my former self and incongregate myself into the Cardiff community. I want to embrace my talents and actually achieve other things extra-curricular...ly now that I have my fancy 'BAAAA' (or just BA, I've been told) after my name.
The first is obvious, and probably the most upsetting and scary for me: find a job. Right now it's any job which will allow me to pay rent and live comfortably. I'm hoping for £12k upwards. Chance would be a fine thing.
The second is to move out of Cathays. There's a possibility this MAY not happen. We're house hunting on the 17th May and obviously it depends what/where/how much is best for the collective three of us. But moving out of Cathays, I feel, would definitely help me feel like much less of a student.
Thirdly, and strangely, I want to start a book club. I don't want to finish my degree in English Literature and then feel like I don't make time for reading any more. So once I've moved into the new house (hopefully not in Cathays) and settled in, once a month I'll hopefully be hosting a book club evening with wine and cheese and crackers and literature and other fancy grown-up things! I really don't want to lose my love of reading. I don't think I will seeing as all three of us in the house will be English Lit graduates with me doing a Master's in Scriptwriting, Lucy doing a Master's in Creative Writing and Katt doing a PGCE with hopes of teaching English Literature. Let's keep the love alive, people.
Fourthly: this was one I've been considering for a while. I've become all lazy and unfit and I hate going to the gym. So I want to start being active again. I obviously turned immediately to martial arts. I love the discipline and regimen of the arts and I really feel like it's something I would go to weekly or even twice a week. I was really excited about this one Taekwon Do club I found, even though the instructor looked like a bit of a self-righteous arse. However, when I came home the other day and told my mum about this she reminded me that my uncle (a Sensei in Tsuen-mo-Luen karate) had had one of his former pupils open a branch of the club in Cardiff. I used to train at Tsuen-mo-Luen and am already pretty high on the belt system so this was very exciting for me. Lo and behold, Glamorgan Karate branch have a website and I'm definitely starting this. Who knows? If I train enough I can become an instructor (if my Uncle trusts me enough. Which he won't. Ha). So there's that. Karate on a Monday and/or a Wednesday (7.30-9). AND AND AND they do the gradings in Yeovil, which is obviously nice for me. :D
WEBSITE
Fifthly (what a strange word): Singing. More specifically joining a choir/choral society. Oddly enough I was thinking about this during the Royal Wedding. I found myself singing along with the choral music and really properly missing it. I researched choral societies in Cardiff and a lot of the really good ones required an audition - which is fine - comprising a prepared solo piece - also fine, I have confidence in my ability - but also a sight reading audition - not so fine. I know that I can sight read, but not having been in a choir for three years means I'm less than fully confident with my sight reading, which is what I'd really like to be before auditioning. So what I think I'm going to do is join one of the (probably shitter) choirs which don't require an audition, just to get my sight reading and performance back up to scratch and then arrange an audition. WATCH THIS SPACE. Excited about this one too.
Sixthly (hoo boy): writing. Yeah, I'm doing the Master's in Scriptwriting but I feel like I should actually be doing some extra-curricular writing too. So, that. I've already given an artist friend of mine character descriptions for a comic book which I plan to script. It is very exciting. She's a phenomenal artist, loves my concept and I'm pretty sure she'll draw something close to what I picture, or failing that, 100x better than I ever could have imagined. This is also very exciting.
Seventh...ly (getting a bit absurd now, right?), continuing on from the fourthly, more sports. I quite like my obscure sports and a little known fact about me is that I *LOVE* archery. Like, properly LOVE IT. I used to have a bow and a straw target, but they got sold and the only places I could arch were at my ex's house or my friend Louise's castle. I haven't done it properly in absolutely ages and this makes me do a sad. With research I found a pretty awesome club. HERE'S THE CLUB. They offer a beginners course of six hour-long sessions in safety and basic technique. And it's only £30. Six lessons for £30 is rather damn good if I say so myself. After the course you can then join the club. The website doesn't specify what the membership fee is and I know that I'd have to buy my own equipment but I could actually finally participate in tournaments which would be FUCKING. EPIC. That is all.
No seriously, that is all. For now. I'll probably come up with more hairbrained schemes and add to this later.
In my three years living in Cardiff I've mainly (believe it or not) focussed on my degree. That and making friends, forming new relationships and 'finding myself'. Ha. So now that I'm finishing I feel like I should rejoin my former self and incongregate myself into the Cardiff community. I want to embrace my talents and actually achieve other things extra-curricular...ly now that I have my fancy 'BAAAA' (or just BA, I've been told) after my name.
The first is obvious, and probably the most upsetting and scary for me: find a job. Right now it's any job which will allow me to pay rent and live comfortably. I'm hoping for £12k upwards. Chance would be a fine thing.
The second is to move out of Cathays. There's a possibility this MAY not happen. We're house hunting on the 17th May and obviously it depends what/where/how much is best for the collective three of us. But moving out of Cathays, I feel, would definitely help me feel like much less of a student.
Thirdly, and strangely, I want to start a book club. I don't want to finish my degree in English Literature and then feel like I don't make time for reading any more. So once I've moved into the new house (hopefully not in Cathays) and settled in, once a month I'll hopefully be hosting a book club evening with wine and cheese and crackers and literature and other fancy grown-up things! I really don't want to lose my love of reading. I don't think I will seeing as all three of us in the house will be English Lit graduates with me doing a Master's in Scriptwriting, Lucy doing a Master's in Creative Writing and Katt doing a PGCE with hopes of teaching English Literature. Let's keep the love alive, people.
Fourthly: this was one I've been considering for a while. I've become all lazy and unfit and I hate going to the gym. So I want to start being active again. I obviously turned immediately to martial arts. I love the discipline and regimen of the arts and I really feel like it's something I would go to weekly or even twice a week. I was really excited about this one Taekwon Do club I found, even though the instructor looked like a bit of a self-righteous arse. However, when I came home the other day and told my mum about this she reminded me that my uncle (a Sensei in Tsuen-mo-Luen karate) had had one of his former pupils open a branch of the club in Cardiff. I used to train at Tsuen-mo-Luen and am already pretty high on the belt system so this was very exciting for me. Lo and behold, Glamorgan Karate branch have a website and I'm definitely starting this. Who knows? If I train enough I can become an instructor (if my Uncle trusts me enough. Which he won't. Ha). So there's that. Karate on a Monday and/or a Wednesday (7.30-9). AND AND AND they do the gradings in Yeovil, which is obviously nice for me. :D
WEBSITE
Fifthly (what a strange word): Singing. More specifically joining a choir/choral society. Oddly enough I was thinking about this during the Royal Wedding. I found myself singing along with the choral music and really properly missing it. I researched choral societies in Cardiff and a lot of the really good ones required an audition - which is fine - comprising a prepared solo piece - also fine, I have confidence in my ability - but also a sight reading audition - not so fine. I know that I can sight read, but not having been in a choir for three years means I'm less than fully confident with my sight reading, which is what I'd really like to be before auditioning. So what I think I'm going to do is join one of the (probably shitter) choirs which don't require an audition, just to get my sight reading and performance back up to scratch and then arrange an audition. WATCH THIS SPACE. Excited about this one too.
Sixthly (hoo boy): writing. Yeah, I'm doing the Master's in Scriptwriting but I feel like I should actually be doing some extra-curricular writing too. So, that. I've already given an artist friend of mine character descriptions for a comic book which I plan to script. It is very exciting. She's a phenomenal artist, loves my concept and I'm pretty sure she'll draw something close to what I picture, or failing that, 100x better than I ever could have imagined. This is also very exciting.
Seventh...ly (getting a bit absurd now, right?), continuing on from the fourthly, more sports. I quite like my obscure sports and a little known fact about me is that I *LOVE* archery. Like, properly LOVE IT. I used to have a bow and a straw target, but they got sold and the only places I could arch were at my ex's house or my friend Louise's castle. I haven't done it properly in absolutely ages and this makes me do a sad. With research I found a pretty awesome club. HERE'S THE CLUB. They offer a beginners course of six hour-long sessions in safety and basic technique. And it's only £30. Six lessons for £30 is rather damn good if I say so myself. After the course you can then join the club. The website doesn't specify what the membership fee is and I know that I'd have to buy my own equipment but I could actually finally participate in tournaments which would be FUCKING. EPIC. That is all.
No seriously, that is all. For now. I'll probably come up with more hairbrained schemes and add to this later.
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Emo Blog!
Hooray! I promise this will be the only one.
I just feel like I've lost everything and it's all my fault. So I just wanna get this out there, off my chest so I can start being the positive person that I know I am most of the time.
My uni work: My own fault because I barely went to lectures and I'm a whole other level of pragmatic when it comes to concentrating on an essay. I rely on my intelligence which, not meaning to brag, I have and am hopefully gonna come out of my degree with a 2:1. I know I could have got a First.
My health: I don't know that this is my fault so much but my mental and physical health has been spiralling for the last few years. I can feel it happening and I don't know what to do to stop it. I might get a tattoo which says MAN UP or CARPE DIEM or similar. It might help.
My love life: Yeah, you knew this was coming. This is completely my fault and it's all come crashing down around me. Surprisingly, our break up was incredibly genial and I know that after all the silly post-breakup awkwardness he and I will be good friends again. I can definitely do that. But right now I just wish I hadn't screwed it all up so badly.
Death of someone close: I was, by his own secret admission, my grandad's favourite grandchild. I act like him, my aptitude for academia is from 'his genes' according to him (another reason I feel so awful for not trying my best at university) and I didn't realise it until the funeral how much I miss him. I was meant to read the eulogy and thought I was going to be fine, but then SO MANY PEOPLE started turning up. My grandad had so many friends who all travelled so far to pay their respects I basically broke down and Mum had to take me outside to calm down. My Mum also ended up reading the eulogy and had a really hard time of it which made me feel so guilty and weak. I love you so much, Grandad. I miss you more than anything.
My organisational skills: are PISS POOR. I have NO money, NO idea what I'm doing next year. Not even sure if I can stay in Cardiff now, which I've no idea how I'm gonna break that to Katt. I have no job applications in, no post-grad applications in, nowhere to live.
I'm sat here crying while I type this and I just don't know which aspect of my life to turn to first. It's all a bit screwed up, and it's all my fault. HALP?
I just feel like I've lost everything and it's all my fault. So I just wanna get this out there, off my chest so I can start being the positive person that I know I am most of the time.
My uni work: My own fault because I barely went to lectures and I'm a whole other level of pragmatic when it comes to concentrating on an essay. I rely on my intelligence which, not meaning to brag, I have and am hopefully gonna come out of my degree with a 2:1. I know I could have got a First.
My health: I don't know that this is my fault so much but my mental and physical health has been spiralling for the last few years. I can feel it happening and I don't know what to do to stop it. I might get a tattoo which says MAN UP or CARPE DIEM or similar. It might help.
My love life: Yeah, you knew this was coming. This is completely my fault and it's all come crashing down around me. Surprisingly, our break up was incredibly genial and I know that after all the silly post-breakup awkwardness he and I will be good friends again. I can definitely do that. But right now I just wish I hadn't screwed it all up so badly.
Death of someone close: I was, by his own secret admission, my grandad's favourite grandchild. I act like him, my aptitude for academia is from 'his genes' according to him (another reason I feel so awful for not trying my best at university) and I didn't realise it until the funeral how much I miss him. I was meant to read the eulogy and thought I was going to be fine, but then SO MANY PEOPLE started turning up. My grandad had so many friends who all travelled so far to pay their respects I basically broke down and Mum had to take me outside to calm down. My Mum also ended up reading the eulogy and had a really hard time of it which made me feel so guilty and weak. I love you so much, Grandad. I miss you more than anything.
My organisational skills: are PISS POOR. I have NO money, NO idea what I'm doing next year. Not even sure if I can stay in Cardiff now, which I've no idea how I'm gonna break that to Katt. I have no job applications in, no post-grad applications in, nowhere to live.
I'm sat here crying while I type this and I just don't know which aspect of my life to turn to first. It's all a bit screwed up, and it's all my fault. HALP?
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Top 10 'Friends' Guest Stars
Over 10 seasons and 236 episodes, 'Friends' has seen many, many guest stars. Some not so famous for their time in America have gone on to become huge stars, others already huge in America. With over 50 guest appearances, here is my personal favourite top 10:
10. Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin appeared in Season 8 as Phoebe's overly-enthusiastic boyfriend, Parker. He accompanies the Friends to Jack and Judy's 35th wedding anniversary party and is my #10 because he reminds me of a couple of people I know. Here's a short compilation of Parker scenes for you to enjoy:
LOOK AT THIS BOUNCY PLATE THING!
9. Brad Pitt
Hilarity ensues as Jennifer Aniston's then-husband Brad Pitt guest stars in Season 8 as Rachel-hating Will. He's just so. Good. Looking. UNH.
I HATE HER. I JUST, I HATE HER, ROSS, I HATE HER.
8. Danny DeVito
He plays an aged male stripper at Phoebe's bachelorette party in Seaon 10. Need I say more?
UHHHHHH! YOUUUU MAKE ME FEEL
7. Charlie Sheen
Eh, with the current situation, how could I not put Charlie Sheen on this list? Another of Phoebe's boyfriends, this time Phoebe gives Ryan chicken pox and they have to cope on their date.
ITCHY SCRATCHY VIDEO
6. Winona Ryder
Old sorority make-out buddy of Rachel, Winona Ryder plays Melissa. Rachel and Melissa kissed in college but Winona's character swears blind they didn't. This video is the culmination:
A BIT OF GIRL ON GIRL
5. Hugh Laurie
Hardly anyone remembers this guest spot. Hugh Laurie was barely known in the USA at the time of this Season 4 episode. Now, thanks to 'House', he's one of the most well-known faces on TV in America. Of course, us Brits knew back then. This is wonderful.
HUGH LAURIE BEING FUCKING AWESOME
4. Denise Richards
This isn't because I particularly like Denise Richards that much, and her 'acting' isn't brilliant in this, but the reactions of the Friends and the editing is simply genius. It actually guffaw at it.
DANANANAAAA FEELS SO GOOD
3. Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis plays the father of Elizabeth, a *very* young woman whom Ross is dating in Season 6. This scene won Willis an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series and, to be honest, it's easy to see why.
I, TOO, AM A COOL GUY
2. Robin Williams & Billy Crystal
This is one of my favourite teasers for Friends. It makes me cry with laughter every time. It could be Robin Williams' accent, it could be Billy Crystal's apologetic smile at the end...
I DUNNO. MAYBE IS MY WOOOUND
and my favourite guest spot on Friends of all time is...
1. Jon Lovitz
Just watch it. It *SLAYS* me. (NB. Very pissed off at the quality but it's the only one on YouTube)
TARTLETS?
10. Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin appeared in Season 8 as Phoebe's overly-enthusiastic boyfriend, Parker. He accompanies the Friends to Jack and Judy's 35th wedding anniversary party and is my #10 because he reminds me of a couple of people I know. Here's a short compilation of Parker scenes for you to enjoy:
LOOK AT THIS BOUNCY PLATE THING!
9. Brad Pitt
Hilarity ensues as Jennifer Aniston's then-husband Brad Pitt guest stars in Season 8 as Rachel-hating Will. He's just so. Good. Looking. UNH.
I HATE HER. I JUST, I HATE HER, ROSS, I HATE HER.
8. Danny DeVito
He plays an aged male stripper at Phoebe's bachelorette party in Seaon 10. Need I say more?
UHHHHHH! YOUUUU MAKE ME FEEL
7. Charlie Sheen
Eh, with the current situation, how could I not put Charlie Sheen on this list? Another of Phoebe's boyfriends, this time Phoebe gives Ryan chicken pox and they have to cope on their date.
ITCHY SCRATCHY VIDEO
6. Winona Ryder
Old sorority make-out buddy of Rachel, Winona Ryder plays Melissa. Rachel and Melissa kissed in college but Winona's character swears blind they didn't. This video is the culmination:
A BIT OF GIRL ON GIRL
5. Hugh Laurie
Hardly anyone remembers this guest spot. Hugh Laurie was barely known in the USA at the time of this Season 4 episode. Now, thanks to 'House', he's one of the most well-known faces on TV in America. Of course, us Brits knew back then. This is wonderful.
HUGH LAURIE BEING FUCKING AWESOME
4. Denise Richards
This isn't because I particularly like Denise Richards that much, and her 'acting' isn't brilliant in this, but the reactions of the Friends and the editing is simply genius. It actually guffaw at it.
DANANANAAAA FEELS SO GOOD
3. Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis plays the father of Elizabeth, a *very* young woman whom Ross is dating in Season 6. This scene won Willis an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series and, to be honest, it's easy to see why.
I, TOO, AM A COOL GUY
2. Robin Williams & Billy Crystal
This is one of my favourite teasers for Friends. It makes me cry with laughter every time. It could be Robin Williams' accent, it could be Billy Crystal's apologetic smile at the end...
I DUNNO. MAYBE IS MY WOOOUND
and my favourite guest spot on Friends of all time is...
1. Jon Lovitz
Just watch it. It *SLAYS* me. (NB. Very pissed off at the quality but it's the only one on YouTube)
TARTLETS?
Sunday, 3 April 2011
'5,000 words... Is that *all*?'
My dissertation deadline is a week on Wednesday and to be quite frank I am sick to fucking death of people hearing that my dissertation 'only' has to be between five and six thousand words and responding with: "Oh, is that all?" or "Oooh, lucky you! Mine was/is/has to be 15,000 words" blah blah etc etc.
Look, I've asked other people about their dissertations and when they've told me stuff about it I've said things like "Oooh, that's an interesting topic" or "Good luck! I'm sure you're gonna rock it". I have NOT said "Wow, 7,000 words? Sounds like a piece of piss" or similar. It's just getting on my nerves. No offence but my dissertation is only worth 20 credits (1/6th of my final year; 1/12th of my degree in total), perhaps your longer dissertation is worth more credits - THAT'S WHY IT'S LONGER. And anyway you don't know what I have to do for it. It pretty much has to be completely original research (and on Lord of the Rings that's not exactly easy stuff) and well-written, coherent, well-organised and of practically publishable quality. Your 10,000 word dissertation might have to consist of an experiment, with a methodology.
I might be a bit of a bitch for saying this but I'd gladly accept that my dissertation was easier if I got to write 1/5th of it on how I conducted the research for it and my methodology. But I don't, so just shut the fuck up about it, okay? I'm not complaining that the word count is too much so I really don't see any fucking need to bring it up.
Recently this has been the only response to me talking about my dissertation. People don't even ask what I'm writing it on or how it's going: they simply want to know why it's so short. Anyway, just a ranty blog about that reaaaally hacking me off. I feel better now. :]
Look, I've asked other people about their dissertations and when they've told me stuff about it I've said things like "Oooh, that's an interesting topic" or "Good luck! I'm sure you're gonna rock it". I have NOT said "Wow, 7,000 words? Sounds like a piece of piss" or similar. It's just getting on my nerves. No offence but my dissertation is only worth 20 credits (1/6th of my final year; 1/12th of my degree in total), perhaps your longer dissertation is worth more credits - THAT'S WHY IT'S LONGER. And anyway you don't know what I have to do for it. It pretty much has to be completely original research (and on Lord of the Rings that's not exactly easy stuff) and well-written, coherent, well-organised and of practically publishable quality. Your 10,000 word dissertation might have to consist of an experiment, with a methodology.
I might be a bit of a bitch for saying this but I'd gladly accept that my dissertation was easier if I got to write 1/5th of it on how I conducted the research for it and my methodology. But I don't, so just shut the fuck up about it, okay? I'm not complaining that the word count is too much so I really don't see any fucking need to bring it up.
Recently this has been the only response to me talking about my dissertation. People don't even ask what I'm writing it on or how it's going: they simply want to know why it's so short. Anyway, just a ranty blog about that reaaaally hacking me off. I feel better now. :]
Friday, 23 July 2010
Can't sleep...
...time to knit!
Anyone else use knitting as an insomnia-buster?
- ^.^ sprinklelight's out.
Anyone else use knitting as an insomnia-buster?
- ^.^ sprinklelight's out.
52 Pair Plunge
Ok, so on Ravelry.com they do this thing called 52 pair plunge, during which knitters attempt to knit 52 pairs of socks in a year, i.e. one pair per week.
As usual I didnt realise a new one had started and joined nearly 2 months after it started, only having knitted one pair of socks, meaning im 7 pairs behind now. So I'm still going to try and catch up, so I'm currently compiling a list of patterns to knit on Ravelry and will give a knit report after each pair has been knitted.
Pair 1/52
Pattern Name: Kai-Mei
Designer: Cookie A. (from her book "Sock Innovation")
Yarn used: Regia multicoloured Kaffe Fassett variegated yarn
Time taken: Altogether around 5 days, but I actually began these in October '09!
Opinion: These were easy and a joy to knit. The yarn looks beautiful, and although I used the wrong size needles (2.75mm instead of 2.25) they still fit my mum so she'll have the joy of wearing them. The panel was really nice to knit and the pattern was easy to remember so I rarely had to look at it, so I managed to knit these up pretty quickly. All in all a lovely way to begin my plunge!
As usual I didnt realise a new one had started and joined nearly 2 months after it started, only having knitted one pair of socks, meaning im 7 pairs behind now. So I'm still going to try and catch up, so I'm currently compiling a list of patterns to knit on Ravelry and will give a knit report after each pair has been knitted.
Pair 1/52
Pattern Name: Kai-Mei
Designer: Cookie A. (from her book "Sock Innovation")
Yarn used: Regia multicoloured Kaffe Fassett variegated yarn
Time taken: Altogether around 5 days, but I actually began these in October '09!
Opinion: These were easy and a joy to knit. The yarn looks beautiful, and although I used the wrong size needles (2.75mm instead of 2.25) they still fit my mum so she'll have the joy of wearing them. The panel was really nice to knit and the pattern was easy to remember so I rarely had to look at it, so I managed to knit these up pretty quickly. All in all a lovely way to begin my plunge!
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