Let it snow :)

Hi all. I'm in a much better mood this week. Apologies about the rambling desperate last post. Felt low pretty much all of last week, out of guilt and all that, and because of eating rubbish and drinking which really does make me feel miserable. But I guess, as Mike said, once you've hit that low, the only way is up and thats the way I see it. And hey, it is a weight off my mind and we had some good times. I just hope in time we can be friends again.

There is another cloud on the horizon though. It appears at the moment as if my Auntie Jacquey has leukaemia. Found this out last night after Mum rang up to say our trip down to theirs at Christmas is cancelled. I hope to god its a less serious kind if it is leukaemia, one that they can treat fairly easily. She's only about 40. Very worrying.

Anyways that was a big comedown after a fantastic day yesterday, one that really put the life back into me after a week of mooching. It was time once again for a hike after missing the last 3. The trip was to Coniston in the Lake District. What can I say? I wish I had a camera! It really was stunning, theres no other word for it. The tops of the hill were all covered in snow and looked fantastic from the valley bottom. The party was headed for the top of the tallest mountain in the area, Old Man of Coniston.

The walk itself was tough. Climbing the first part nearly killed me, it has been so long since I last did some good exercise. But I eventually found my stride and reaching the tops made it all worth it. The snow had been blown by the wind into these amazing spike like crystals clinging to the rocks. And the views were fantastic, it was so clear. We could see the Isle of Man (I didn't know this was possible!), Scotland and Blackpool tower (at least thats what it looked like). And of course the rest of the hills which looked ghostly in the fading light.

Oh yeah, here's a photo to give you an idea:



Although there wasn't as much snow as on the pic.

Then things went a bit tits up. Ian, the navigator took us up the wrong peak, so we never got to climb the Old Man itself (oh well he's probably sick of being trampled on, it can't be much fun bein a mountain). And then with the sun going down we were on top of a snowy mountain several miles from the coach. We walked the last stretch in darkness, though there was still time for a pint or three :D

Met a nice guy called rob from Surrey. We chatted about supermarkets for ages. Yes I am rather sad. But he seemed canny. And got chatting to a third year whose mates are nearly all doing my course, os he knew my timetable off by heart. Scary.

And now the snow appears to have followed me back to Manchester. Well, to an extent. It strated snowing while I was riding the bike into uni (typical!) and by 12 noon it had formed a nice wholesome layer of wet brown slush the entire route back to Fallowfield. The backwheel of the bike flicked up slush so far it was flying over my head! You should see the state of my coat :(

So no snowball fights yet, but hey its only November. Hope it snows when I go home so that there is some hardcore sledging on Nelson Hill. Although they might try and ban it this year after the events in Feb. (someone was killed after crashing into a tree)

Bah, who cares, I love this city! Right time for a powernap. Good day :D

Well I'm sat here, calm in my own home again. I'm waiting for a doctors appointment in an hour, to have a mole under my hair removed. I'm not looking forward to it, it wasn't my idea, but better safe than sorry and all that.

I have learned a lot about myself over the weekend, and my opinion of myself has gone through the floor. Honestly Ian Huntley probably feels better about himself. Its been staring me in the face for ages now, but I guess the penny never dropped over how wrong I have been recently. I really hate myself at the moment, and its entirely my fault.

This is turning into a messy ramble. I am sorry, I really am but my head is a mess at the moment. I feel like withdrawing from the world for a while, becoming an island. It won't happen of course but it seems like a good idea.

I have calmed down since Sunday, and I hope she has as well. The row, which turned into an interrogation lasted all night. Not that I didn't deserve it. She said things which made me think about how my mind works. And it isn't pretty when I think about it. I am rotten essentially. And I don't want anyone saying otherwise, I need some time to think about my mistakes.

Maybe she did overdo it. Maybe some of it was just raw anger. I need to give it some thought. Maybe a week say. Yes. I'll post back then.

Apocalypse Soon

Why is it that ALL of the geography lecturers are hell bent on preaching that we are doomed from global warming. Ok so we are, but surely there are other things to learn about than what will happen to the world very soon.

First off there was Dr Robinson, my Geog tutor. He ranted on and on and on and on (and on and on and on and on and on) about the evidence for global warming. Actually when one looks at it, the evidence is pretty dammned scary, but after showing graph after graph of results which look exactly as apocalyptic as the last, it almost grates. It makes the possible end of civilisation seem annoying. How many sets of CO2 data from corals and ice cores can one take?

Anyway it is something that seriously bothers me about the world, especially after the material worlds lecture which also painted a pretty bleak picture of what is going on with world resources. Very depressing when I think about it. I'll try and stop sounding so depressed now.

There is a good/bad way to escape some troubling thoughts, and there have been a fair few of late, and that is our friend alcohol. Its for charity! The good people of Owens Park decided that the Bop theme tonight is a pyjama party. A pyjama party, YAY (that sounds so gay!) Sadly the weather outside is sub-zero and we have to queue outside to get in. This ain't gonna be fun, we will freeze solid in just our pyjamas. Which brings me to my favourite antifreeze- ALCOHOL!

Ok got to get ready now. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Double Cringe!

I'm not even going to say what happened last night! *shudders at thought* Nope I don't want my reputation being irrepairably damaged :-/

Anyways other than that, in a reasonable mood. Fixed my bike finally after getting a new bike pump and so yesterday was spent exploring the cycle tracks of Fallowfield. Its great because of all the old railways which are now nice flat routes. :) And I'd forgotten just how great bike riding is. It means I don't need to take the bus anymore (woopee!)

A little concerned with Stacey at the moment. We had an altercation over the phone last night. We are going to talk properly on Thursday, I hope we can set some things straight. I don't like the awkwardness at the moment.

Oooo yes I'm going back home again on Monday night, for a doctors appointment, which I put my name down for in JULY! I mean come on! Thats the NHS for you >;(

Pah at least I dont have to pay. Except the train fare. Thats something to be happy aboot. Oh well gtg time for some din dins.

Head Swims

This whole work business thing- I don't like it! I'm so unused to having proper hard work to do, having not done any since about June that this weekend has been a bummer. I have been working on an essay about the Cambrian Explosion, when there was suddenly (well in only 11 million years) a major increase in fossil records. Hmmmm yes right very nice. Only it has to reach at least 1,500 words. How to do this without plagiarising? Well it was tough and still needs some work, but thankfully I got there. Unlike at school where it seems I could merrily scribble away without researching, not bother with referencing and base it all on whatever came into my head, here it is a painstaking process. Or at least this one was, maybe I'm doing it wrong. I'll see what Dr Hodgetts has to say about it.

As if we haven't seen enough of fossils! The palaeontology practical on Friday was the toughest so far, who would have thought corals colud be so tricky. One question asked was how lethal each specimen could be in the wrong hands. Very, by the looks of some of the larger ones.

The cowboys and Indians Bop was great. Some of the costumes were really brilliant and put my hat and cardboard cut out sheriff's badge to shame. Special mention to Chris who made his entire hat out of beer boxes, and Jack who reinterpreted the word Cowboy. He stripped to his boxers and applied black and white body paint to make himself up like a dairy cow, and wore a bell pinched from a Christmas tree. And of course to get into the bop, you have to queue outside! The party was cheese as ever, with a set that sounded like my Mum's aerobics tape circa 1993 (No Limits, U Can't Touch This, Mr Vain- you get the gist).

And the rest of the weekend has been... pretty boring if I'm honest. Nothing special. Oh well gotta catch some zzzzs and then add the finishing touches to the essay tomorrow morning before mailing the sonofa....

Cringe

Oh dear, I am very embarrassed at the moment. I have just walked into my Geography tutor room and sat down because I thought I had a tutor session. Got a few stares and realised this wasn't my tutor group. I had forgotten the sessions are only fortnightly, and this week was the other group. Cue beetroot face and hasty exit. Ugh.

And the other annoying thing is I could have spent the time looking for a cowboy hat. Yehaw! The Owen's Park Bop on Friday is having a cowboys and Indians theme night, complete with bucking bronco (which should be hilarious after a few drinks). The first 200 in costume get 2 free drinks so I want to make an effort.

Its pretty much business as usual over here. Well, maybe the madness has gone up a gear this week, its hard to say. Take the Sunday when I arrived back. Some of the corridor had started a game of Centurion, where the task is to drink a shot of beer a minute up to 100 shots. Eventually "2 Pint Joe" and John got there, and then carried on. John reached 139 before throwing up. Joe got to 197 before giving in- more than 3 hours constant drinking! Needless to say, he is no longer called 2 pint.

Then there were the water fights. Someone threw Daves shoes out of the window and tryed to soak him form the 1st floor when he went ot retrieve them. Dave dodged this and so eventually the whole common room pursued Dave through Little Court and into green Court with pan, glasses of water and whatever else. It was so funny and rather an exciting game because of all the spying and backstabbing going on. Bizarrely we ended going for Joe and cornering him at the far end of Green Copurt where he barricaded himself on the fire exit balcony for an hour.

Welcome back indeed. And sloping back in the early hours of this morning, we found someone had smashed a window. The idiots, I hope someone owns up to it grrrrr!

Yeah last night was a pretty standard night out at the indie club- copious amounts of cheap beer, a set of rock and dance anthems, drunken dancing and shouting. Its really uplifting stuff, but today I am shattered and have just done a test in Earth materials by identifying rocks under a microscope. Only time will tell.

Ok time for another lecture. :0

Love will tear us apart...

Just gotta say, that session at 5th Avenue tonight was HISTORIC! The bestest indie night in the history of hist0ric indie nights. Woah ears ring but heck it was worth it big style. Anyways good to be back in the land of rain. Will update properly when sober. Cya guys. Woohoo!!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDDDD

Home Sweet Home

Things I really appreciate about home:
- The family (a bit)
- The dozy cat making squeak noises
- Proper cooked food
- Geordie water, its much nicer than Mancunian.
- Space to move around!
- The homely smell ( the halls whiff a bit)
- A shower that is warm :)

Yeah so home alone again. Have got a bit of a King complex this morning after wandering round Crammy yesterday and randomly bumping into people I knew, who seemed pleased to see me. Pretty sure it will wear off soon.

The lads are all fine and haven't changed one iota. :D Still purile and rather silly hehehe. Went along to the Phoenix which was deserted as usual and messed around with pool cues and the jukebox. OWA is still alive and apparently had a beard until very recently. Kris is getting along fine and waiting for his pension as of course he would. Crowe still has spikey hair. Yep business as usual.

Yes, well I'm sure there are other things to be doing now, like clean up or get on with an essay or something. Yeah. Stop procrastinating.