I’m melancholy and deep in thought at the best of times; but this time of year yields more opportunity for those idling thoughts lying deep in my brain to churn themselves over and over.
With the coming advent of 2009 looming my thoughts try to leap into the future. I’ve found over the past year that it has become increasingly hard to envisage what is to come; and even harder to imagine any good things to happen.
I take a strange and morbid delight in predicting the outcome and depressing fate of 2008 this time last year. Next year feels like it’s going to be pretty rubbish, but perhaps a little better than this year.
Even so I still ponder where I could be this time next Christmas. I could be anywhere in the world. I could be a millionaire! It could happen, but already I doubt my possible achievements.
I guess it’s just "that time of year again".
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Oh dear, oh my. The credit crunch has put the shivers down most banks’ spines. However, there is another unexpected victim.
The National Blood Service has been contacting me quite a lot lately to get me to donate. I’ve been unable to donate these past few months and hopefully I should be able to this time round… only the next session is Boxing Day. On finding that out it hit home that blood really is needed all the time, even though we would sooner wish our nurses and doctors a restful holiday over Christmas.
I went the NBS website a few minutes ago and saw this graph. It’s the stock of blood supply that’s been available over the last few months, and it’s a story familiar to the NBS that in the closing months of the year supplies dwindle. It seems this year however this glut is more serious.
So, if you can, do.
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On Tuesday I had a lecture. One of the students came in with a throat infection having just been prescribed antibiotics. To be honest, I can’t blame her. I only have two exams too, but it’s still going to be incredibly difficult. The only problem is that she sat next to me, and now I have a sore throat…
I haven’t helped myself to be honest. When alone, I sing a lot. The sole reason if nothing else is that by singing alone I don’t have to sing in front of other people. It is mostly for their benefit… Furthermore, I left two assignments over the Christmas holidays (having forgotten one completely, which was for Monday) until tonight, and will be due tomorrow. I’ve done one… sort of. I’ve left half of it — I don’t think that I could have done any better with it if I had done it earlier to be honest… it’s hard!
Anyway, I’m having a quick break watching QI on Dave before doing the other one. Hopefully it’ll be easier…
Lesson of the Day
By all means leave things to the last minute. Don’t expect it to be any easier, however.
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I awoke yesterday to a nosebleed. Nosebleeds are not unusual for me, I get them very infrequently but often enough to realise that I should carry a handkerchief or tissue with me. I am unsure as to whether there is some residual cause of these nosebleeds — are they caused by some hidden complaint? They often occur at frustratingly inconvenient times: a school fête, a birthday party, in bed, …
Yesterday we took down the Christmas decorations. It wasn’t quite the last day of Christmas, but by now the Christmas cheer wears off. I haven’t done any work for university over this holiday, and now I face the stark realisation that I will have to do some. I have two exams for which I haven’t revised for, an assignment to do (and though I am not currently aware as to the deadline, I am fairly sure upon checking it will be for tomorrow) and I should have researched more for my project. My motivation waned over the holiday.
The problem is that I usually have something to look forward to, like visiting friends in Kent. But I don’t have that luxury at the moment. Instead I have an impending rigorously scrutinised application process to undergo in the coming months, with I concede an unlikely chance to be offered a job at the end. It’s not really something I look forward to, yet I have to be confident to stand any chance of getting it.
Lesson of the day
Have something to look forward to. If you don’t have anything to look forward to, make something to look forward to.
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I’ve taken it upon myself to make the Christmas Dinner today. I assumed this role quite underhandedly, though not quite intentionally. I decided I wanted my Christmas Dinner to taste the way I wanted it to taste, and as such, I’m cooking it.
We had a Sainsbury’s turkey crown to play with. Sainsbury’s had this "wonderful" idea to insert this marker that popped out when the turkey was sufficiently hot in the middle. The package suggested it would take one hour and 35 minutes to cook at 190°C (in fact it should have been less since the oven is fan-assisted); yet this incredibly novel device refused to pop out. It was only after two hours and ten minutes of cooking that the turkey was sufficiently hot to be rendered "ready". Even after frantic basting throughout the cooking process, the turkey ended up rather unsurprisingly dry. Thanks Sainsbury’s. It was cooked after an hour and 35 minutes, so that’s the last time I’ll use your pathetic "time-savers".
Anyhow, the vegetables should be lovely, using my own personal method of "hope-it-works". And I hope you all have a great Christmas, just like everyone else does. In fact, to be different, I hope you all get Nintendo Wiis this Christmas, which amounts to the same thing!
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With reference to this article on BBC News, it’s an interesting argument over how Christian the United Kingdom is. In the grand scheme of things though, it seems to be one of those arguments that is almost pointless and irrelevant — does it really matter?
There is no getting away from the fact that the modern United Kingdom was built upon a Christian-valued basis. There are churches in just about every village, town and city; and our more traditional laws draw reference from the tenets of the Bible. But our country is changing, undoubtedly, away from the strict devotion to the word of the Bible as more interpretations of the scriptures lead to conflicting opinions on how we should live our lives. The acceptance of other religions and communities has also changed many aspects of the United Kingdom.
Once upon a time, converting to Christianity was enough to be spared the death penalty; and indeed supporting the ‘wrong’ denomination condemned you to a public killing. In my opinion, this what makes our country a much better place to live now than it was then: tolerance and understanding. The bad aspects of the United Kingdom now as we stand are purely down to a lack of understanding and tolerance.
But Christmas is an interesting argument. Should it be a solely religious occasion? Suppose it wasn’t (and perhaps there are arguments to support that being the case). Then is that a bad thing? Each Christian is able to celebrate Christmas in his or her own way and that is up to them. Meanwhile, Christmas only teaches good things to those that aren’t necessarily Christian. The gift of giving (and indeed receiving, graciously); the coming together of family and friends; and the almost carpe diem nature of the season spreads happiness towards all those that choose to acknowledge the day. Whether we understand the background of the day, is that such a bad thing?
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As I speak to you, I’m freezing my nuts off typing with rigid, icicle-bestowed fingers; suffering as a result of no-one knowing when to turn the air conditioning off.
In Merz Court, things were different. It was like a sauna! You could sit down with a bottle of water and after ten minutes you’d stir in your sugar, dip in a teabag, and bask in the heat. If it was wet outside, you could count on jungle-like conditions in that computer room. But here, you have to make do with trying to trap the heat from the case fan before the whirring gods get at it…
Anyway, I was in town today. Christmas decorations everywhere. If you were frozen for twenty years and saw everything on display, you wouldn’t know whether it was Christmas, Halloween or Bonfire Night. Fair enough: let us buy Christmas decorations and things, so we can be prepared for the big day. But there is absolutely no reason to set up Santa’s grotto, and festoon the complex with gaudy decorations.
So it got me thinking – as it does – what should I give up for Lent? Easter is early this year, and as such Lent begins on 8th February – so not very long at all! So I must prepare… what do you think I should give up for Lent?
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These last few weeks I have been driving my friends nuts talking about my liking for the hair and the t-shirt adorned by the kid in the BT advert. I am please to inform all that read this that I have managed to acquire my own copy of that t-shirt: it happens to be on sale at Topman. It wasn’t my original intention to get it, rather I expected that I would be unable to get one so I would settle for anything similar. The fact that it was the same was a bonus. It cost £12.60 (with student discount) from the Eldon Square branch, Newcastle.
My other purchase yesterday was a new electric shaver. My old one was a Christmas present from when I was 14, so being seven years old and cutting like a feather duster it was time for a new one. Boots are having a bit of a sale, so I obliged. I forked out £24.99 for a Remington R320. Tasty.
I also still do not have Dream Theater’s Systematic Chaos CD+DVD, largely down to the ineptitude of a certain company that won’t be named here.
I’ll name it here instead. If you want to purchase any solid music, don’t visit CD WOW.
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We (read I) at GeoffBrady wish to wish you a very Merry Christmas! I would also like to thank my regular visitors, my fellow bloggers and all those that comment for contributing to my site.
As you can see, I have been playing around (a lot) with my site’s design in recent weeks. At the moment, it resembles the Marks & Spencer in Northumberland Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, as it remains open while works are being carried out! I shall say the same as they say, and that is “Apologies for the work being carried out. We apologise for any inconvenience caused”.
Anyway, have a great day, and a lovely dinner!
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I have to get some things off my chest. The following things are annoying me:
- It took about eight hours to download a 1.3MB file today. Adobe have more money than knowledge. Bring back Macromedia.
- There is a certain someone blocking me on Messenger.
- My biggest excitement in the future is going to the MetroCentre tomorrow.
I’m not sure which annoys me most. I think perhaps the second point. This person was upset when he thought I had blocked him. I thought we had cleared the air, but apparently not. This is someone who I admired and considered a friend. My difficulty is that I don’t understand. Oh well, to the next gripe!
I know what you people are probably thinking: student; bright future; vast opportunities… But that’s all beyond a time I can imagine. I can only see three months into the future. And all I see are lectures, tutorials and exams. Oh, and Christmas. My sister has said she might come up and see us, but she has said that before… Phil has also talked about coming up, possibly with Colin and Anthony – again, plans have been made for that to happen before.
Story of my life – there is no point in planning for things, because they just never happen.
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