i've finished!

Finished my last exam yesterday so that's my degree done! Three years of hard work over and done with and hopefully a good degree to show for it. I think I did reasonably well and will find out sometime in June. Got the flat until the end of June and then the eurotrip end of june/beginning of July. Bring on the summer!

well well well

It's been a loooong time since I last posted but I hit the milestone of handing in my final year dissertation today so I thought I'd celebrate....by posting about it. Well, I would have celebrated but first of all I'm shattered, and secondly I still have the small matter of 3 exams to go...THIS month. But I'm still happy. Kind of want to get this whole university thing out of the way. It's been the best 4 years of my life but the course has dragged on it'll be good to get it over and done with. One thing I would say that if anyone is thinking about doing a degree in history, research research research. Make sure you know what areas of study your university covers and check the modules. Its a sad fact that in my final year, out of 18 modules, I have only truly enjoyed 2 of them but not point reminiscing! I've got google analytics set up on this account which is a great tool for anyone interested as it lets me know how many people check my blog, where there from and most importantly of all...what browser they are using! But anyway, when I start getting emails telling me I'm getting more than 10 hits a day I know this only means one thing; the baseball season is upon us. I've resubscribed to mlb.tv and I'm ready to go. My dissertation has forced me to neglect the season a bit but I am well aware the Mets are doing averagely as usual and even though to Red Sox are picking it up a bit, it looks like they are on the setting for another disappointing season. Go Sox! Hopefully after my exams I'm going to be able to watch more and more games because at the moment the time difference is a pain and I am looking forward to the prospect. Well, it's been a brief post but to be honest, not a huge amount has changed in my life since my last one. One thing that is going to be happening in July is something that I've always wanted to do is that I am going on a mini road trip around Europe for a couple of weeks but that's for another post. Hopefully I'll post again sooner rather than later. Wish me luck!

Song of the day: Now, I have been listening to music pretty much non stop for the last few days whilst doing my dissertation so I thought I'd post one of the songs I'd played the most. Nizlopi are most famous for their JCB song which whilst good, is nothing on their other music. Dwelling in relative obscurity after their one hit wonder, I think Nizlopi are a really underappreciated and underrated band and this is one of my favorite songs. They've recently announced that the band has split, but the music will always be good.

lots

Well, it’s been a very long time since I last posted; not just in time but with what has happened. To be honest, my life doesn’t move that fast and not that much usually gets done day to day but over the last one and a half months I can name at least a few big things that have happened. I finished my exams, I put together my computer, I got my exam results and I booked a holiday. Add to that the fact that I’ve moved out of my old house and into my new flat I’ve been fairly busy. The funny thing is, I haven’t really been busy. I’ve still been able to do what I want and not be rushed off my feet. I suppose it’s been the odd day that I’ve been busy, and the rest I have just been living how I like to – at my own pace. Beware; this is going to be a long post.

When I left you last time I was halfway through my exams anxiously waiting for them to be over firstly because summer was on its way, and secondly because there was a computer ready to be built. My exams went as I expected. I didn’t do amazingly well, but I didn’t work amazingly hard so coming away with a solid 2:1 wasn’t a surprise or a disappointment; it just was and I am happy with it. The day I finished my exams I went to task on all those boxes on my chest of drawers and put together my first ever computer with the help of a few instructional videos on YouTube but mostly with a bit of intuition that unsurprisingly led to the computer not booting up on my first try. After all the effort I had put in and all the cuts on my hands and sore knees from kneeling for hours, I was naturally disappointed so I left it a night and then the next day I took it all apart and rebuilt it from scratch and it worked! For a self-professed geek, it had taken a long time for me to do but I finally had a top notch computer all to myself and was proudly able to say I had researched, bought, and built it all myself. It’s just over a month later and it’s still working beautifully and I have encountered very few problems with it. It’s great! It’s an experience that I would recommend to anyone and would say that nobody should be daunted by putting together their own computer. It is cheaper, lasts longer, and overall better than anything you will buy and there is a great community online in forums that will be happy to answer any and all questions a budding n00b has to ask.

The day of my results was also the day I had been planning on booking my holiday. I was not going to book a holiday before to find out that I had failed an exam and would have to retake during my holiday and so waste loads of money, so I patiently waited all the while watching flight prices go up knowing that I would kick myself if I did have a retake but knowing deep down that there wasn’t really a chance. Doesn’t matter though because the holiday is booked, I am once again poor and I am off to Orlando once again this August looking forward to another great holiday.
The other main thing that has happened in this time is I have moved out of my old house, and moved into a nice new clean flat. It may be nice and clean, but it isn’t the other house and since that was the best place I have ever lived in, it does make me a bit sad to say goodbye to it (and pissed off at the effort it took to move out the mounds of stuff I have accumulated over the years) but all in all, I am excited for my next and last year of uni and I am looking forward to what the next year brings.

Long post over and done with. A fair bit has happened but it’s all still really the same. I just now have a new toy to play with, a new place to be lazy in, and a lot more time to kill. Same old.

I suppose I should pick the song I've listened to the most over the last few months so here it is:

exams, and waiting

I'm in the middle of exams at the moment, taking pretty much a full day off to compose myself even though I shouldn't. Need all the time to revise but I'll cram tomorrow. Halfway through; 2 down, 2 to go and i'm a bit more positive about it all this year which is strange considering everything counts and this year is worth 50% but I'm glad i'm laid back because I don't think I would suit the style that some other people take when going into exams - revising to death and looking drained and exhausted. I'd rather take it easy and let my potential to come to me, rather than forcing it. Hope it does me well!

On a side note, I am building myself a whole new computer and have bought all the parts to it, it just needs putting together. Getting really frustrated because I have promised to myself that I am not going to touch any pieces until my exams are over on Friday, but I just want to put it together. Argh. Well, the wait gives me time to look forward to it, and use it as a reward for finishing; but thats not really helping right now. Gonna document my putting it together next weekend on here with pictures and everything so here's hoping it goes well when it does happen. Wish me luck!

All the parts sitting on my chest of drawers:

A song I've been listening to a bit over the past few days:

with the PSN being down and all...

This last week I've had, and because I haven't really done anything meaningful, still have, a lot of work to do. Coincidentally, the Playstation Network has been down during this week giving me the opportunity to not be a slave to my PS3 and actually get some work done. Oh no, not only have I not done any work, I haven't really done anything. I really don't know what I've done with my week; at all. At least when the PSN is up and I'm playing on my PS3 I have something to show for it: be it progressing in Black Ops, winning in FIFA etc. This week, I have NOTHING to show for my procrastination. Zip. Kind of annoying. So really the solution is to do some work. But I know that's not going to happen. So please Sony, fix the PSN so I can actually have a reason to not do any work, rather than showing myself to be a lazy student who doesn't really care.

I haven't even really listened to music this week, listened to this a bit though.

home alone...not

I like being 'home alone'. Well, sort of. I like having a bit of time to myself so being in the house at uni when everyone else it at home is good. Of course I do get bored and at some point I'll start craving human attention and ring someone up. But, for a few days at least I can make do with the company of just myself, my laptop, and my ps3. So, that said, it's extra annoying when I'm here to be alone, and someone I live with has the audacity to stay in the house at the same time as me during the holidays, intruding on my me time. Nah, it's alright, but the thing is it doesn't change the way I act. I still stay in my room for hours on end, I still do all the same things I would do if I was completely alone, but I know someone is next door and it annoys me; don't know why...suppose it means I'm not 'home alone' anymore so I lose the freedom that gives me. Ah well, I guess I could be more sociable but to be honest, I don't really like people unless I'm in a mood where I have to, and right now, I don't have to, so here I am at my computer, effectively talking to myself. That's what I'm reduced to!

So for the time being I'll just act like I'm home alone, without the walking around the house naked part I suppose.

Haven't really listened to too much music in the past few days, apart from the background music to FIFA, so I suppose I'll post the song from FIFA that seems to have played the most (I made the playlist myself). It's long, but it's a gem so hang in there:



PS: I uploaded my first gameplay commentary to youtube the other day and at the moment nobody (apart from me apparently) has viewed it. No idea how to make people watch it, or how to advertise it but hey, at least I'm out there now I guess...

CunninLynguists

Small post because I forgot to mention it in my other post.

I went to a gig on Wednesday: CunninLynguists at Thekla in Bristol. I've never been to a proper Hip-Hop gig (I've seen Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliot at Wireless, Dizzee Rascal at Reading etc.) and it was fucking amazing. Didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I only started listening to them a couple of weeks ago but they've really grown on me and the gig was the cherry on top of the cake. Would definitely recommend them.

I try to go to as many gigs as possible but half the time I miss people I would really like to see by simply being oblivious to whats going on where I live. I would recommend using last.fm because it groups together links to most of the gigs going on around you, and if you regularly scrobble then it will recommend what gigs you should go to. I keep mine really well updated and it helps so much in finding new gigs and new music. My events list isn't completely accurate, but it has most of the gigs i've been to.

This song was sick:



Some pictures from the gig:

Wow, I said a short post. Ah well.