Well ok, things are looking up and down.
Submitted my Victorian essay, which I think came out pretty good despite the obvious stress. So that's an up.
Submitted my dissertation proposal, which again I think is pretty good and definitely something I can work on when the time comes (provided I get the research in over the summer - and this Easter holiday too just to be ready). So another up.
Had sushi with Megan and Jenna today and saved myself a little bit of money thanks to my student discount. A third up. Where am I going with this? I'm not sure.
Well I'm equipped for Cervinia with a new pair of gloves and a balaclava. I have a cute new beanie. I have nothing to do at the moment except relax and I'm fine with that.
But I think, despite not being in immediate financial difficulty, this is the first time in awhile that I am worried I will be. The Cervinia trip does often put me out in that sense, but it's an experience I want one last time while I can. Also the English department here at uni have put out an offer for a few English students to join a history trip to Budapest for only £200 which is money I do have but which will put me close to having to dip into my overdraft to pay for my rent. I think my main problem is that Jenna has convinced me to join her and now I probably won't get a reply from the school office until Monday. I want to make this a certainty because I really DO want to go. And I'll be home tomorrow so I'm not sure how that's going to affect my chances.
Ugh, I guess moaning about it here won't fix anything.
I'll make an effort to be cheery because I am looking forward to going home too. It's mine and Jackson's 2 year anniversary on Sunday and he has a (surprisingly well kept) secret for me so I am understandably excited for that. And of course Cervinia itself on Wednesday. Damn things come round fast, huh? Just look at this, my second year, in its final months now. I'll be writing my dissertation before too long (aheh oh boy) I'm going down again. Got to keep it happy. What else can I say?
I guess just that I will make the effort to write again before Cervinia and, if possible, while I'm away. I know Facebook may well find out what I'm up to. Better go now, though. I'm running out of stuff to talk about.
Friday, 31 March 2017
Friday, 24 March 2017
So Many Deadlines!
I have a small window of time this morning before my 11am Gothic seminar, which I could be using to edit the introduction for my Victorian essay (deadline, March 29th) but I don't like to pressure myself, so instead I'm here doing what I said I would do every day and have failed to.
Hello again. I believe I said I'd be back after my Gothic deadline (which I am) but maybe a bit further after it than expected. That essay was quite the nightmare, as you'd expect from the Gothic, and I'm still not sure it's going to live up to the pattern of its predecessors but we'll find out in a month. In the mean time, it's my final deadline this side of the Easter holiday coming up next week so I'm equal parts eager to get it out of the way and dreading having to get down to it in earnest (which should be today).
I also have my dissertation proposal to think about and get submitted by a week today! I went to a tutorial with one idea and came away with four in both creative and critical styles....which has complicated but also made interesting my options now. I think my goal for this final week is to try and get my essay completed asap so I can spend some time considering my options in good time. That's the plan but as you know, my plans don't always go, well....according to plan haha.
Anyway, 10 minutes to go before I need to leave for class. How shall I spend that time? Usually ends up being on Facebook or YouTube....
Well I shall probably be back in about a week, hopefully feeling more relieved than I am now.
Hello again. I believe I said I'd be back after my Gothic deadline (which I am) but maybe a bit further after it than expected. That essay was quite the nightmare, as you'd expect from the Gothic, and I'm still not sure it's going to live up to the pattern of its predecessors but we'll find out in a month. In the mean time, it's my final deadline this side of the Easter holiday coming up next week so I'm equal parts eager to get it out of the way and dreading having to get down to it in earnest (which should be today).
I also have my dissertation proposal to think about and get submitted by a week today! I went to a tutorial with one idea and came away with four in both creative and critical styles....which has complicated but also made interesting my options now. I think my goal for this final week is to try and get my essay completed asap so I can spend some time considering my options in good time. That's the plan but as you know, my plans don't always go, well....according to plan haha.
Anyway, 10 minutes to go before I need to leave for class. How shall I spend that time? Usually ends up being on Facebook or YouTube....
Well I shall probably be back in about a week, hopefully feeling more relieved than I am now.
Friday, 17 March 2017
Stratford-upon-Avon: Flutterbyes, Fake Blood, and Food
And just like that, the Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare trip is over! But it was a fun (and surprisingly sober) 2 days spent watching plays (with their respective levels of gore, nudity, violence, and incomprehensible plot), shopping, and puns (courtesy of Jenna the Butterfly Queen - more on than later).
First day was an easy enough one, though very much one of gluttony as I'd had a sizable breakfast, had alot with me for lunch, and by the time we'd arrived, some people were hungry again. So once Jenna and I had set our stuff down in our room, we joined Megan and Caitlin for a McDonalds before getting lost trying to find the theatre. A theatre which was visible from where we were standing at a pedestrian crossing, yet somehow we ended up walking around the houses (quite literally) and ending up back where we started, only to spot the red lights and massive screen ahead of us.
We were well placed for Antony and Cleopatra, close to the stage side so we saw the action comfortably - missing full frontal female nudity at the end though (shame). It felt so long, even by the interval after 90 mins but we had a laugh at the character of Antony groaning while trying to run himself through with his sword in the second half.
Thursday was a tasty continental/traditional breakfast and a trip down to Shakespeare's birthplace (with imitation fabric wallpaper and several beds - one traditionally for show). Spent about £8 in the gift shop, and then more in local shops (£9.99 on a little bunny from Guess How Much I Love You - childhood memories came back with that one) Ended up at the Butterfly Farm which was gorgeous, full of flutterbyes (I believe the Victorians called them) in all shapes and sizes and colours. Jenna, as I mentioned, ended up being rather a magnet for them due to her perfume, while Megan kept getting scared of injuring them if one landed on her, and Caitlin and I were lucky to hold cockroaches and a millipede (like moving Velcro!) More money spent on a necklace in the giftshop, then lunch in a little Italian shop - mmm chicken risotto - a £1 slice of pie from a street vendor (which I saved for later on), a black snake ring and badge with a Tempest quote on it from the theatre shop, and then back to the hotel for a short rest. Jenna and I got into the habit of browsing Instagram to see what sort of things would come up and we realised chinchillas were her most common item (surprise, surprise). Dinner came round and it was off to Pizza Hut which felt a bit rushed as service was slow and we had to be at the theatre 90 mins after we arrived. I ate my pie (cherry and vanilla crumble top) en-route to the theatre - which Megan and Caitlin bailed from out of exhaustion and a need to pee badly, leaving Jenna and I to enjoy the blood and conspiracy and shouting that was Julius Caesar. The clean-up team were onstage for a good while in the interval clearing away all the blood. I'd been bothered by a smear of it on the stage before but that was nothing in comparison! I did notice alot of 'gallant' suicides though which led me to wonder how sane men in those days really were.....still very well acted. But alas it was an early-ish night to be had after that as we were up by 7 this morning for a prompt departure at 8.30.
And I'm still wishing I was back in Stratford-upon-Avon now, such a picturesque little town - plus it keeps me away from the responsibility that is my Gothic essay - I'm only 293 words deep after about 4 hours work and still at least 1050 words from my goal on Monday afternoon.....I know I can do it, I just hope my argument comes out sound enough.
Anyway, must go now, will probably be back after this is over
First day was an easy enough one, though very much one of gluttony as I'd had a sizable breakfast, had alot with me for lunch, and by the time we'd arrived, some people were hungry again. So once Jenna and I had set our stuff down in our room, we joined Megan and Caitlin for a McDonalds before getting lost trying to find the theatre. A theatre which was visible from where we were standing at a pedestrian crossing, yet somehow we ended up walking around the houses (quite literally) and ending up back where we started, only to spot the red lights and massive screen ahead of us.
We were well placed for Antony and Cleopatra, close to the stage side so we saw the action comfortably - missing full frontal female nudity at the end though (shame). It felt so long, even by the interval after 90 mins but we had a laugh at the character of Antony groaning while trying to run himself through with his sword in the second half.
Thursday was a tasty continental/traditional breakfast and a trip down to Shakespeare's birthplace (with imitation fabric wallpaper and several beds - one traditionally for show). Spent about £8 in the gift shop, and then more in local shops (£9.99 on a little bunny from Guess How Much I Love You - childhood memories came back with that one) Ended up at the Butterfly Farm which was gorgeous, full of flutterbyes (I believe the Victorians called them) in all shapes and sizes and colours. Jenna, as I mentioned, ended up being rather a magnet for them due to her perfume, while Megan kept getting scared of injuring them if one landed on her, and Caitlin and I were lucky to hold cockroaches and a millipede (like moving Velcro!) More money spent on a necklace in the giftshop, then lunch in a little Italian shop - mmm chicken risotto - a £1 slice of pie from a street vendor (which I saved for later on), a black snake ring and badge with a Tempest quote on it from the theatre shop, and then back to the hotel for a short rest. Jenna and I got into the habit of browsing Instagram to see what sort of things would come up and we realised chinchillas were her most common item (surprise, surprise). Dinner came round and it was off to Pizza Hut which felt a bit rushed as service was slow and we had to be at the theatre 90 mins after we arrived. I ate my pie (cherry and vanilla crumble top) en-route to the theatre - which Megan and Caitlin bailed from out of exhaustion and a need to pee badly, leaving Jenna and I to enjoy the blood and conspiracy and shouting that was Julius Caesar. The clean-up team were onstage for a good while in the interval clearing away all the blood. I'd been bothered by a smear of it on the stage before but that was nothing in comparison! I did notice alot of 'gallant' suicides though which led me to wonder how sane men in those days really were.....still very well acted. But alas it was an early-ish night to be had after that as we were up by 7 this morning for a prompt departure at 8.30.
And I'm still wishing I was back in Stratford-upon-Avon now, such a picturesque little town - plus it keeps me away from the responsibility that is my Gothic essay - I'm only 293 words deep after about 4 hours work and still at least 1050 words from my goal on Monday afternoon.....I know I can do it, I just hope my argument comes out sound enough.
Anyway, must go now, will probably be back after this is over
Monday, 13 March 2017
Easter Showcase
So it's been over a week. How am I doing? Well, health-wise I'm a little unsure. I don't think I'm being bothered by my acid reflux anymore; I've stopped taking the pills so....we'll see it goes eh?
I have just submitted my creative non-fiction piece due today (just over an hour away from the deadline, no less) and am almost ready to move onto essay number 2: The Gothic trope of imprisonment. Just need to sort out a packing list for the Stratford-upon-Avon trip on Wednesday then I'll be good to start planning said essay.
Saturday 11th was the Easter Showcase and that went surprisingly well despite my small role. I was involved in some of the stage management and ended up being an extra in Summer and Star-Crossed as well (the mushy gay summer romance). Found the time to do some reading of Jekyll and Hyde in between (and finished it last night) which means I'm almost ready to go for Victorian tomorrow. But damn, the amount of frights and screaming in Fraser's play In Those Chthonic Depths was insane, but it made me glad I was being a stagehand as I got to be backstage for the whole thing. Poor Jenna, her screaming eventually got to her throat. By the end of the showcase, there were a lot of dead people (in both Chthonic and Wayward - I'm sensing a theme here).
I think that's all I need to relay for now. Oh, it was my dear late mother's birthday yesterday so I used her strength to get me through finishing my CNF essay - as well as the sunny weather, which is persisting even now (yay, Spring is coming!)
Will probably write again when I'm back from Stratford-upon-Avon.
I have just submitted my creative non-fiction piece due today (just over an hour away from the deadline, no less) and am almost ready to move onto essay number 2: The Gothic trope of imprisonment. Just need to sort out a packing list for the Stratford-upon-Avon trip on Wednesday then I'll be good to start planning said essay.
Saturday 11th was the Easter Showcase and that went surprisingly well despite my small role. I was involved in some of the stage management and ended up being an extra in Summer and Star-Crossed as well (the mushy gay summer romance). Found the time to do some reading of Jekyll and Hyde in between (and finished it last night) which means I'm almost ready to go for Victorian tomorrow. But damn, the amount of frights and screaming in Fraser's play In Those Chthonic Depths was insane, but it made me glad I was being a stagehand as I got to be backstage for the whole thing. Poor Jenna, her screaming eventually got to her throat. By the end of the showcase, there were a lot of dead people (in both Chthonic and Wayward - I'm sensing a theme here).
I think that's all I need to relay for now. Oh, it was my dear late mother's birthday yesterday so I used her strength to get me through finishing my CNF essay - as well as the sunny weather, which is persisting even now (yay, Spring is coming!)
Will probably write again when I'm back from Stratford-upon-Avon.
Monday, 6 March 2017
The [Farewell] Kiss of Dawn
I can see a future trend emerging here. I can't find the time to write a daily entry, even just a few lines about how the day went and then, when something bad happens, I suddenly find the time. Well today's installment of unhappiness comes courtesy of the early morning wake-up call in the form of the news that HIM (my beloved Finnish love-metallers) are breaking up after a 26 year career making the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I fell in love with them about 10 years ago and never looked back, my infatuation with the lead singer Ville Valo being a particularly memorable highlight in many of my friends' eyes (thank you Eloise for the card and the chanting all those years ago!)
I hope I can make it to their farewell tour in London on December 17th (whether I remember or can is another matter altogether though....)
In other news, my rehearsals for the Easter Showcase with UPAD are going alright, though a lack of time meant I wasn't able to perform my single part during the full run-through - which sucks because me and Lois are still having troubles getting our part right. In good news though, Jenna is doing better than she thinks in her play so I shall have to congratulate her when I see her next.
I went to the doctors last week and found the acidic taste in my throat was stress-induced acid reflux (so now I have pills.....which I genuinely hate taking) and I have to make sure I give myself suitable breaks from my work to stop the stress building up, but I know my main problem is I procrastinate before I work and then run out of time. Hmph.
However, I do feel I am getting a handle on the necessary things and I shouldn't be stressing excessively come deadlines - though it may be a little early to be saying that so I'll just leave it as an open-ended hope at the moment.
Cervinia is my light on the horizon - paid in full now and under a month to go before I'm back in the Italian Alps, enjoying pasta and snowy vistas and trying not to fall on my arse again.
I should probably end here as I have work to do and an ever decreasing time frame in which to do it in, so I shall say bye and hopefully be back sooner next time.
I hope I can make it to their farewell tour in London on December 17th (whether I remember or can is another matter altogether though....)
In other news, my rehearsals for the Easter Showcase with UPAD are going alright, though a lack of time meant I wasn't able to perform my single part during the full run-through - which sucks because me and Lois are still having troubles getting our part right. In good news though, Jenna is doing better than she thinks in her play so I shall have to congratulate her when I see her next.
I went to the doctors last week and found the acidic taste in my throat was stress-induced acid reflux (so now I have pills.....which I genuinely hate taking) and I have to make sure I give myself suitable breaks from my work to stop the stress building up, but I know my main problem is I procrastinate before I work and then run out of time. Hmph.
However, I do feel I am getting a handle on the necessary things and I shouldn't be stressing excessively come deadlines - though it may be a little early to be saying that so I'll just leave it as an open-ended hope at the moment.
Cervinia is my light on the horizon - paid in full now and under a month to go before I'm back in the Italian Alps, enjoying pasta and snowy vistas and trying not to fall on my arse again.
I should probably end here as I have work to do and an ever decreasing time frame in which to do it in, so I shall say bye and hopefully be back sooner next time.
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