Seventy Nine: :)

I am in a good mood. My family is coming to see me on Sunday and we're going out for lunch. It's the weekend at last, though this afternoon my lectures seem to drag on. Television Genre wasn't too bad, we did about reality television so that meant a lot of watching Big Brother. My boyfriend is wonderfully patient, for reasons I don't understand. He does want you all to know he's a sex magnet though...I bought a photo frame and Ludovico Einaudi cd yesterday from a charity shop for £3. Life is good. B xxx :)

Seventy Eight: University.

I meant to write a blog post before I left to come to University, but I found I didn't quite know what to say. It was fairly stressful in the couple of days before I left trying to make sure I had everything (which I've now discovered I didn't) and trying to put it all in the car, which amazingly, we managed. Once I was actually at university, I discovered my room was actually bigger than I thought it was going to be and there was- and still is- a lot of space for my books.
On the whole, I've settled in better than I expected. I was a bit homesick in the first week, which I didn't see coming but I think it was just feeling a bit out of my comfort zone and everything's a bit...here and there in the first week, what with induction stuff and registration and going out. The second night we were there it was the Beach Party, so Lydia and I went to town looking for stuff and I ended up buying black high heels instead...but they are very nice. The Beach Party itself was interesting, they had a surfboard like one of those horses that try to throw you off. Actually managed to stay on for more than a couple of seconds.
Actual degree is...interesting. Good interesting, if not busy. There's a lot to learn in English; my module for this semester's on Victorian Literature and we're doing Jane Eyre (which I actually need to finish reading at some point) which isn't as bad as I thought it would be, although there are some boring bits where no one does anything. Creative Writing is my favourite so far because basically all we do is exercises in which we have to write creatively (as you may have guessed) and I'm learning about things that are helping my writing and imagination. Media is the hardest; one of the modules is on James Bond and so I thought I'd be alright but it's just getting my head round it. My other module for Media is Television Genre, which although I've only had two lectures for so far, is the most interesting. All in all, it's not too stressful though I think that'll change as we get closer to Reading Week.
My housemates are nice. I don't have that much in common with them (they like Twilight, I like Harry Potter) but it works out well enough. There are only 12 of us- the boys are downstairs and the girls are upstairs. Our shower is cleaner than theirs but our kitchen is messier. I'm getting on better with some of the boys, in particular Rob, Alex and Mike (who I'll get on to in a minute) who are all nice (though I do think I should use a better word than nice. Mike suggested awesome, so I'm going to go with that). I don't know what it is, I just find easier to talk to boys than to girls, though there are a couple of girls in my English seminar group who are alright.
I suppose now I should talk about Mike, who when I asked to write something in this blog, only wrote this: "The weeks steadily grew better, mainly when I grew feelings for a housemate.  His name is Mike and he has dreamy blue eyes, soft red lips and hair to die for." Basically, he's my boyfriend.  He wrote a load of stuff about how we got together but it sounded stupid and you probably don't want to know anyway.
On that note, I'm going to go before he can type anything else...
B xxx :)

Seventy Seven: Forgetting Wednesday.

My Mum has been trying to keep me busy this week by doing things I don't really want to do but is a better alternative to moping around the house.

Monday my Mum was ill and I wasn't exactly a happy bunny (I don't understand why people call you that. Regardless of how I'm feeling, I'm still very much not a bunny. I think I'm human. I hope I am...) so we sat outside.
Tuesday we went to Hillier Gardens in Romsey because of my Mum's friend's sculpture thingies are there for a bit.
Wednesday we went to Mottisfont because they had a Beatrix Potter exhibition.
Thursday we went to some Lavender Gardens.
Friday I refused to get out of bed and when I did I sat on the sofa reading We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families ,played on the Wii with my brother, watched The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, fell asleep about 2am.
Today I haven't done anything except go to work, which was the usual.

Last week was lovely except I can't for the life of me remember what I did on Wednesday. I know it was something, but I can't remember what. Anyway, Thursday I went to town shopping and failed at buying anything useful and instead bought Mockingjay. The beginning was the better part of the book, and there were some truly horrific scenes later, but I just didn't feel it was as good as The Hunger Games or Catching Fire. Still a good book, though. Read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy after that, which was good, if a little confusing in places. Friday was bowling with both past and present leaders of the Brockenhurst College Christian Union which was good. Afterwards we went to the Starbucks which is upstairs in what used to be Borders and is now Next Home or something like that. They had lots of pretty things in there that were probably too expensive but I want to take university with me. Speaking of university, tomorrow it's two weeks to go. I'm more nervous now.

I'm going to go now, but before I do, here's a link to my tumblr. I've been posting more things that aren't blogs but are too short to be tweets or something else, such as this one and this one.

Night.

B xxx

Seventy Six: On a more serious note.

"'I wish I'd known you better.' 'I think sir, you know me at my best.'"

The Doctor and Father Octavian, Doctor Who Series 5, Episode 5 'Flesh and Stone'

I was waiting for Friends to come on E4 this morning and wasn't really paying attention to what was happening on the tv (it was Desperate Housewives), when two of the characters had this conversation (I've called them A and B for simplicity's sake):
A: Because it wasn't enough, not compared to what she did for me...she's this amazing woman and I never bothered to get to know her...it would have been nice to do something before she was ashes.
B: That's a lesson we've all got to learn over and over. Appreciate people while we've still got them.

This couldn't have been a more relevant conversation to hear at this moment in time, particularly in light of the untimely passing of Esther . I didn't know Esther personally, like many other Nerdfighters, but she was a very inspirational person, and one I'd wish I'd know better (hence the quote up the top).

At this moment in time I am reminded of the good the internet can do- people, such as my mother, will judge the interent as a bad place where strangers are all paedophiles (I have no idea if I've spelt that right). Yet, when something terrible happens, such as Esther's death, the internet provides a community such as Nerdfighters- full of people who are all kind and offer support and comfort, despite the fact I know none of them. In fact, the majority don't even live in the same country as me.

Inspired by John Green's video of Esther Day, I'm now going to tell people I love them. I know I've already mentioned my family and friends several times in past entries, but I really do need to let several people know how much I appreciate them. However, I think I've done enough of that in blog form, so if I hug you today randomly, don't be surprised.

DFTBA.

B xxx

EDIT: Esther's family have set up the This Star Won't Go Out Foundation, visit it here.

Seventy Five: Something.

So blogger reliably informs me that the last time I posted was on Friday 13th August, and as you have probably gathered by the fact that I haven't posted since then, I've given up on BEDA. It wasn't a conscious decision, as with JEDI July, it just sort of happened without me realising it.

I just typed an entire paragraph about what I've done since then and it sounds boring, though it was far from it. Thursday, though, was results day. My alarm didn't go off when it was supposed to but I woke up at half 6 anyway. CDD, in case you were wondering, the C being in English Literature and the D's being in English Language and Critical Thinking (it amuses me greatly that I can get the same grade for one subject that I worked stupidly hard in and another for which I didn't even revise for the exam). I won't lie to you, I was disappointed and although I've said I was fine about going to Greenwich, I'd secretly (possibly subconsciously) hoped for Chichester. I poked my mum awake, told her what I'd got and then crawled back to bed. Got up later when I felt slightly calmer and said I was fine about Greenwich (I may have not entirely been telling the whole truth...) and waited for UCAS to let me log in (which it didn't for several hours) while watching Doctor Who dvds (they are oddly comforting). When it did, I found out Chichester hadn't technically rejected me yet, so more waiting. Eventually I got fed up, and the people around me were getting fed up and more than one person had suggested calling the university itself, so I did that and spoke to a nice lady who asked me for my reference number, and said she'd have go and speak to someone with regards to my application. I waited for about two and a half minutes (the longest two and a half minutes of my life, I might add) before she told me I'd got a place. I thanked her, hung up the phone, let out an odd squeaking noise, hugged my mum and danced around the living room.

Anyway, since then I've been relatively happy, I've been talking to people who are doing the same course and are living in the same halls as me and they're all very nice so I'm excited about that and I checked on the Admissions Portal today and the Induction timetable's up, so I have a bit more of an idea of what I'll be doing for the first week at least. I'm not really nervous (not yet, anyway) though various things pop up in my head now and again about what could go wrong, but I try not to think about them.

I know I did a blog entry earlier this month thanking people, but I'd just like to do that again: thank you. You're such lovely, wonderful people and why you put up with me I'll never know, and I love you all.

Mushy part over, it's now time for bed. Sleep before midnight, what do you reckon?

B xxx :)

Seventy Four: The Box.

Today I've been starting to chuck stuff out of my room, and in the process of doing so, I've started putting things in a box that I want to keep but I'm not to sure what to do with. Some of it means something, some of it I just find interesting, so here's a list:

-A little musical box I bought in Austria in 2006.
-An article about David Tennant that my Nana cut out for me.
-A Christmas card from Lydia.
-A tag from a t-shirt that I bought in Mexico.
-A receipt that we all doodled on at one pub quiz.
-An 'I <3 Norway' keyring bought last summer.
-A birthday card from Lydia from 2007.
-More pages of doodles from various pub quizzes.
-A luggage tag given to me by an Australian relative.
-One of those coins that you can get if you put money and a penny into a machine.
-10 Canadian cents.
-A tag from a pass holder I bought.
-A receipt from an Icelandic bank.
-A Doctor Who birthday card given to me by Lydia on my 18th birthday.
-A cabin key.
-A Sound of Music ticket.
-A Leading Student card from secondary school.
-A medal for participating in Race for Life in 2006.
-A ticket to see Michael McIntyre.
-A badge I wore to Guides.
-A paper hat from last Christmas.
-A Oceana pocket guide.
-A ticket from going on the Metro in Paris.
-Badges like my Dad wears when he's working.
-A Les Miserables ticket.
-Cruise cards from 2005, 2006 and 2010.
-A Sapphire Princess pocket guide.
-A badge from when I went skiing.
-A couple of those labels they put on your suitcase from Mexico this year.
-A Poll card.
-Drawings of blob/stick people that I did.
-A badge I wore to Brownies.
-A tube ticket from when I went to see Michael Mcintyre.
-A certificate for writing a 50,000 word 'novel' as part of NaNoWriMo.
-A Yahtzee score sheet.
-Tickets from when I went to see Sally Taylor at BBC Radio Solent.
-A bookmark from Cork, Ireland, advertising Harold's Planet. At the bottom, it says that Harold is hiding inside your head.
-Half of a bus pass holder with a piece of paper that quotes Jeremiah 29:11.
-A postcard of my favourite Banksy piece.
-One of those light up badges I wore on my 18th birthday.
-An old passport photo.
-A tag from my 'I don't speak Icelandic' t-shirt.
-A ticket to go on Eurostar.
-A tag from a present my brother gave me.
-A pass from Soul Survivor 2008.
-A card sent to me by my Mum in Summer 2008.
-My old passport.
-A card with a tram on it that came out of my Moleskine notebook.
-A peg from Soul Survivor with Hebrews 11:1 written on it.
-A prayer taken out of an old prayer journal.
-A 'Happy mood patch' card given to me by my brother; based on the idea that you can sell emotions, taken from the Series 3 Doctor Who episode 'Gridlock'.
-A key ring from Ireland.
-A travel pass from first year at Brockenhurst.
-A cinema ticket for High School Musical 3.
-A tube ticket from when I went on a Sociology trip to London during my first year of college.
-A library card.
-Various photos of my friends and family over the years.
-A postcard from France.
-A guide to magnetic poetry.
-A 2007 tube map.
-A medal I got for piano in primary school.

Sorry if this has been slightly boring.

B xxx :)

Seventy Three: Senses and other things.

Today, I saw: One of my favourite episodes of How I Met Your Mother, called 'Girls Vs Suits'.
Today, I heard: various songs when I put my iPod on shuffle, including Love Lockdown by Kanye West, which I haven't heard in a while.
Today, I smelled: Something odd in my living room which won't go away despite hoovering and cleaning the floor.
Today, I touched: my Penguin. Well, I hugged him.
Today, I tasted: Party Rings which Lydia bought round when she came this morning.
Today, I felt: Tired but happy.
Today, I enjoyed: Lydia coming round and the pub quiz tonight, despite the fact we came last.
Today, I got: Quantum of Solace from LoveFilm in the post.
Today, I bought: Some chips at the pub.
Today, I read: A review of Sherlock by The Guardian.

B xxx :)