29th June 2010
Exams results are in and have been for quite some time... Instead of updating my Facebook status like every other person on the planet, I decided to update my Blog. In reality, I just wanted to say “have that” to someone and as I don’t have a friend called Tarquin to ring up and say “I’m literally going into second year, yah”, I thought I’d write a Blog. So yah, looks like I’m coming back for second year, which I’m very pleased about because,
A) I will get to see all my lovely friends on an almost daily basis.
B) I will get to learn about some really interesting stuff.
C) I will have the opportunity to further develop my analytical and writing skills, the latter will come in handy and will hopefully enable me to write infinity better Blogs with some sort of sentence structure and flow (unlike the one you’re currently reading)
D) The government will give me money and I can put off the job hunt for another year! In all honesty, this is probably the only reason I’m actually going to University at all...
I also wanted to write about my very good friend Jennifer Harkness, who in all her wisdom, saw my wisdom and quoted me on the social networking site Facebook. What ridiculously wise thing did I say? Obviously I’m full of great advice, but on this occasion it was “it’s not the heat of the day but the strength of the ray”. This is a statement that I truly believe in and as a seasoned sunbather, you can take my word for it - it might not be a scorching hot day but you can still get a tan. It’s all about ray strength and personal endurance. So the next time you think, “Oh, I live in Northern Ireland and am therefore doomed to live a life of pasty whiteness”, think again! Man up, fight through the subzero temperatures and you too can become a bronze goddess or god if you’re a bloke (I feel that it’s also worth mentioning that tanned men are not to be laughed at – if you don’t feel comfortable being known as “one of those guys who sunbathes” then just lie and say you got your all over tan while you were out wrestling sharks or painting the shed)
Over and out :)
xx
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Monday, 28 June 2010
Falling behind...
A fair few things have happened recently, but I’ve been too busy/lazy to write about them. I’ve decided that some sort of “record of events” may come in handy in the distant future, so I’m going to (very quickly) write about some of these moderately exciting adventures.
The first event of note was the Snow Patrol concert in Ward Park. Ward Park is a few minutes away from my house and I used to walk through it every day after school. It’s full of memories (some good like GCS tennis matches and some not so good like that time a horrible goose bit me) and I think it’s pretty swell that Snow Patrol chose to have their “homecoming” gigs in the park. How very festival-ish of Sunny Bangor!
There were a fair few support acts, General Fiasco from Londonderry, Band of Horses from the U.S of A and Lisa Hannigan from regular Ireland. I like a few Band of Horses songs but I was really surprised by Lisa Hannigan; I think she’s just lovely. If you like Damien Rice then you’ll have heard Lisa Hannigan - she’s the girl he was always singing with. Anyway, I’m posting my favourite Lisa Hannigan song for your listening pleasure. Snow Patrol themselves were quite excellent. They played all the goodies and really got the crowd going. It’s nice to see someone from your hometown succeed – one day I hope the Two Door Cinema Club boys will have a homecoming gig with over 40,000 people in attendance! After the gig I located some good friends from school and we headed to Donegans where I met a slightly intoxicated Rachael Crilly. All in all it was a very good night – when Bangor gets it right, they really get it right. And in other news, I would quite like to marry Gary Lightbody.
Item number two on the “try to cover everything” agenda is Darren’s Birthday Camp. My good friend Darren was born a wee while ago and to celebrate this special occasion he organised a little camping trip. It was a little Thursday to Saturday event and the campsite was close to the Bloody Bridge in Newcastle. It was a brilliant camp and I could go on and on about just how great it was, but I don’t want to bore you and this Blog is already longer than it should be! Basically, I was in my element - the weather was brilliant, the river was freezing and the people were excellent... Camping is my absolute favourite :)
Last but not least, I had a lovely friend from England come and stay for a few days. I met Laura through University and I she needed a place to stay when Elms closed for summer – she wasn’t here for very long and I’m sure she was very bored (all we did was watch the first few matches of the world cup) but we did manage to get out of the house and along Ballyholme Beach. When it’s sunny there’s no place I’d rather be and when we were out walking around Ballymacormick Point, it was beyond beautiful – here’s a little picture of what Ballyholme and the surrounding area has to offer you on a sunny day :)
Well, there you go (or there I go really as I’m the only one who reads these pointless entries) a brief summary of the past few weeks!
Xx
The first event of note was the Snow Patrol concert in Ward Park. Ward Park is a few minutes away from my house and I used to walk through it every day after school. It’s full of memories (some good like GCS tennis matches and some not so good like that time a horrible goose bit me) and I think it’s pretty swell that Snow Patrol chose to have their “homecoming” gigs in the park. How very festival-ish of Sunny Bangor!
There were a fair few support acts, General Fiasco from Londonderry, Band of Horses from the U.S of A and Lisa Hannigan from regular Ireland. I like a few Band of Horses songs but I was really surprised by Lisa Hannigan; I think she’s just lovely. If you like Damien Rice then you’ll have heard Lisa Hannigan - she’s the girl he was always singing with. Anyway, I’m posting my favourite Lisa Hannigan song for your listening pleasure. Snow Patrol themselves were quite excellent. They played all the goodies and really got the crowd going. It’s nice to see someone from your hometown succeed – one day I hope the Two Door Cinema Club boys will have a homecoming gig with over 40,000 people in attendance! After the gig I located some good friends from school and we headed to Donegans where I met a slightly intoxicated Rachael Crilly. All in all it was a very good night – when Bangor gets it right, they really get it right. And in other news, I would quite like to marry Gary Lightbody.
Item number two on the “try to cover everything” agenda is Darren’s Birthday Camp. My good friend Darren was born a wee while ago and to celebrate this special occasion he organised a little camping trip. It was a little Thursday to Saturday event and the campsite was close to the Bloody Bridge in Newcastle. It was a brilliant camp and I could go on and on about just how great it was, but I don’t want to bore you and this Blog is already longer than it should be! Basically, I was in my element - the weather was brilliant, the river was freezing and the people were excellent... Camping is my absolute favourite :)
Last but not least, I had a lovely friend from England come and stay for a few days. I met Laura through University and I she needed a place to stay when Elms closed for summer – she wasn’t here for very long and I’m sure she was very bored (all we did was watch the first few matches of the world cup) but we did manage to get out of the house and along Ballyholme Beach. When it’s sunny there’s no place I’d rather be and when we were out walking around Ballymacormick Point, it was beyond beautiful – here’s a little picture of what Ballyholme and the surrounding area has to offer you on a sunny day :)
Well, there you go (or there I go really as I’m the only one who reads these pointless entries) a brief summary of the past few weeks!
Xx
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Two things... Ok, maybe three things.
10th June 2010
The first of the three is a question... I’m wondering what we think of the Hunky Dory adverts? I know they’re old news and most of them have been replaced but I’ve been thinking about feminism and perceptions of beauty and all that jazz and it made me think about the adverts... I have such a bloke-ish sense of humour and I totally get them. However, I think that they are potentially damaging. I wouldn’t want my daughter to grow up thinking that she needs to look like that. I think these adverts promote an unrealistic, unattainable and unnatural idea of beauty. Yes they’re fun to look at. Yes I wouldn’t mind having a rocking bod like the girls in the adverts, but I think people need to understand that this kind of advertising (and we’re not just talking about a few crisp advert, I’m thinking magazines, movies, just about everything) promotes low self esteem and that’s so sad. As a pretend grown up I’m past all that sillyness. I can see the picture objectively, but maybe a few years ago I couldn’t. I’ve never been overly affected with appearance issues but some people are and it really worries me. Anyone have any thoughts on this sort of stuff?
On to the second thing... I’m going sound very hypocritical but I’ve just got to throw it out there, how unbelievable attractive is Chris Noth?! It took me a few years to come to this realisation as I don’t watch Sex and the City – I wanted to watch the DVD a few days ago and when I told Esther this she said, “Isn’t that a little bit old for you”... I’m twenty. I’m a real grownup and yet, I think she’s probably right. But anyway, Chris Noth. I’ve been watching The Good Wife (which is a very good show about, well, a good wife and a not so good husband) and Chris Noth plays the not so good husband. It seems like he’s in everything I watch these days – I watched some terrible Hillary Duff movie yesterday and guess who was in it? Chris Noth, obviously. He might not be pretty in the Hollister “you can’t even see how attractive I am because this shop is so dark” sense, but he is ridiculously handsome. Maybe it’s the suit. Maybe it’s the tall dark and handsome thing. Maybe it’s the accent. I’m not really sure, but I do know that he is divine and while I may not be the next Mrs Noth, I can certainly admire from a far. In the meantime I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a real life, suit wearing man, who may or may not be of Genevan descent.
The last thing I wanted to touch on was... another man. Stephen Ferris to be precise. I have heard the stories, but I finally saw it with my own eyes – Rain is where the hotties spend their spare time. It would appear that when the Rugby Men aren’t sporting short shorts and getting bloodied and bruised, they like to put on their finest attire and head to the nightclub formerly known as Milk. Niall O’Connor was there in all his PURE BEAUT glory as was Rory Best, who despite looking about 40 is only 27. Anyway, Crilly and I got some tickets to the S.F Gun Show and managed to fit in a sneaky picture before the camera died. Much thanks to my favourite Rugby player, Mr Rory Kelleher for taking such a beautiful picture... Sorry it died just as you and S.F got up close and personal... You can get one at our wedding :)
So there you go, the three things I wanted to talk about. Sorry for being such a hypocrite and for objectifying these poor men.
xx
P.S Babe :)
The first of the three is a question... I’m wondering what we think of the Hunky Dory adverts? I know they’re old news and most of them have been replaced but I’ve been thinking about feminism and perceptions of beauty and all that jazz and it made me think about the adverts... I have such a bloke-ish sense of humour and I totally get them. However, I think that they are potentially damaging. I wouldn’t want my daughter to grow up thinking that she needs to look like that. I think these adverts promote an unrealistic, unattainable and unnatural idea of beauty. Yes they’re fun to look at. Yes I wouldn’t mind having a rocking bod like the girls in the adverts, but I think people need to understand that this kind of advertising (and we’re not just talking about a few crisp advert, I’m thinking magazines, movies, just about everything) promotes low self esteem and that’s so sad. As a pretend grown up I’m past all that sillyness. I can see the picture objectively, but maybe a few years ago I couldn’t. I’ve never been overly affected with appearance issues but some people are and it really worries me. Anyone have any thoughts on this sort of stuff?
On to the second thing... I’m going sound very hypocritical but I’ve just got to throw it out there, how unbelievable attractive is Chris Noth?! It took me a few years to come to this realisation as I don’t watch Sex and the City – I wanted to watch the DVD a few days ago and when I told Esther this she said, “Isn’t that a little bit old for you”... I’m twenty. I’m a real grownup and yet, I think she’s probably right. But anyway, Chris Noth. I’ve been watching The Good Wife (which is a very good show about, well, a good wife and a not so good husband) and Chris Noth plays the not so good husband. It seems like he’s in everything I watch these days – I watched some terrible Hillary Duff movie yesterday and guess who was in it? Chris Noth, obviously. He might not be pretty in the Hollister “you can’t even see how attractive I am because this shop is so dark” sense, but he is ridiculously handsome. Maybe it’s the suit. Maybe it’s the tall dark and handsome thing. Maybe it’s the accent. I’m not really sure, but I do know that he is divine and while I may not be the next Mrs Noth, I can certainly admire from a far. In the meantime I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a real life, suit wearing man, who may or may not be of Genevan descent.
The last thing I wanted to touch on was... another man. Stephen Ferris to be precise. I have heard the stories, but I finally saw it with my own eyes – Rain is where the hotties spend their spare time. It would appear that when the Rugby Men aren’t sporting short shorts and getting bloodied and bruised, they like to put on their finest attire and head to the nightclub formerly known as Milk. Niall O’Connor was there in all his PURE BEAUT glory as was Rory Best, who despite looking about 40 is only 27. Anyway, Crilly and I got some tickets to the S.F Gun Show and managed to fit in a sneaky picture before the camera died. Much thanks to my favourite Rugby player, Mr Rory Kelleher for taking such a beautiful picture... Sorry it died just as you and S.F got up close and personal... You can get one at our wedding :)
So there you go, the three things I wanted to talk about. Sorry for being such a hypocrite and for objectifying these poor men.
xx
P.S Babe :)
Friday, 4 June 2010
In conclusion...
3rd June 2010
What can I say? My first year at Queen’s University Belfast has officially ended. Well, maybe not officially – I’m tempting fate and presuming that I have in fact passed. I hope I’ve got my 40%, if not then this Blog (and my current state of happiness/relief) will be null and void. But I digress, let’s get back to the important stuff – first year is over and I think I’ll sum it up by borrowing a few words from my main man Charles,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”
Ok, now just ignore the latter half of that sentence and you have my first year experience – it really was the best of times. Like the McCune’s before me I decided to live at home. This decision had its Pros and Cons but I’m glad that I stayed at home – I saved lots of money, enabling me to spend all the money I borrowed from the government on important things like Boojum and DVDs from Play.com. Yes it would have been nice to be living in Belfast, calling in to see the Anthropologists whenever I wanted, but free-ness trumps everything and my current living arrangement is pretty sweeeeeeet.
As for the course, Social Anthropology with Modern History, that was pretty sweet too. Italian History was hell on earth but this semester I studied American History and really enjoyed it – who knew Americans actually did stuff?! Anthropology is PURE BEAUT... We study a little bit of everything - Globalisation, Christmas Markets, Fertility Treatments, Gossip, Symbolism, Cults and thanks to the Expressive Cultures module, people who dance around, sing some songs and kill pigs. I feel full of wordly wisdom after just one year of Anthropological studies!
The people also deserve a little mention... I managed to befriend an excellent bunch of people. They're an eclectic bunch, some are from Norn Iron, some from England and Emma, well, she’s from Genovia (like in the Princess Diaries). Despite their varying (and in Emma's case, made up) geographical locations, I still like them. In fact, I really like them. I could tell you that I love them all, but I find declarations of love to be a strange thing. Anthropologists – you know who you are. I’d like to think that we’re tight and even if I don’t leave you hundreds of Facebook comments, know that I’m thinking of you and yes, missing you – but shh, don’t tell anyone how much I actually like you, I don’t want to ruin my reputation.
I also became involved in the QUB Surf Club and what an excellent decision that was! With JJ as the founding member and President I didn’t really have a choice, but it was definitely one of the best Queen’s related decisions I made. Surf Club is full of babes, both male and female. You don’t even have to surf to be in the Surf Club – you just need a good attitude and an appreciation for the art of spooning. The people in Surf Club are also worth mentioning – I’ve made a great little group of friends, The B Team are PURE BEAUT and the rest of them are full of great BANTAH. So yes, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Surf Club is my absolute favourite!
A great deal of other things happened throughout the year, but they would take far too long to write down. I just wanted to throw something together to document this momentous occasion and now that I have I will wrap it up...
Despite being rubbish at everything, QUB got first year spot on. I made lots of friends, got involved in extracurricular clubs, went to a few lectures, learnt some interesting things and in general, had a really good time. I don’t think there’s anything I would change... actually I would have gone to Josephides lectures... NAT!
Xx
What can I say? My first year at Queen’s University Belfast has officially ended. Well, maybe not officially – I’m tempting fate and presuming that I have in fact passed. I hope I’ve got my 40%, if not then this Blog (and my current state of happiness/relief) will be null and void. But I digress, let’s get back to the important stuff – first year is over and I think I’ll sum it up by borrowing a few words from my main man Charles,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”
Ok, now just ignore the latter half of that sentence and you have my first year experience – it really was the best of times. Like the McCune’s before me I decided to live at home. This decision had its Pros and Cons but I’m glad that I stayed at home – I saved lots of money, enabling me to spend all the money I borrowed from the government on important things like Boojum and DVDs from Play.com. Yes it would have been nice to be living in Belfast, calling in to see the Anthropologists whenever I wanted, but free-ness trumps everything and my current living arrangement is pretty sweeeeeeet.
As for the course, Social Anthropology with Modern History, that was pretty sweet too. Italian History was hell on earth but this semester I studied American History and really enjoyed it – who knew Americans actually did stuff?! Anthropology is PURE BEAUT... We study a little bit of everything - Globalisation, Christmas Markets, Fertility Treatments, Gossip, Symbolism, Cults and thanks to the Expressive Cultures module, people who dance around, sing some songs and kill pigs. I feel full of wordly wisdom after just one year of Anthropological studies!
The people also deserve a little mention... I managed to befriend an excellent bunch of people. They're an eclectic bunch, some are from Norn Iron, some from England and Emma, well, she’s from Genovia (like in the Princess Diaries). Despite their varying (and in Emma's case, made up) geographical locations, I still like them. In fact, I really like them. I could tell you that I love them all, but I find declarations of love to be a strange thing. Anthropologists – you know who you are. I’d like to think that we’re tight and even if I don’t leave you hundreds of Facebook comments, know that I’m thinking of you and yes, missing you – but shh, don’t tell anyone how much I actually like you, I don’t want to ruin my reputation.
I also became involved in the QUB Surf Club and what an excellent decision that was! With JJ as the founding member and President I didn’t really have a choice, but it was definitely one of the best Queen’s related decisions I made. Surf Club is full of babes, both male and female. You don’t even have to surf to be in the Surf Club – you just need a good attitude and an appreciation for the art of spooning. The people in Surf Club are also worth mentioning – I’ve made a great little group of friends, The B Team are PURE BEAUT and the rest of them are full of great BANTAH. So yes, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Surf Club is my absolute favourite!
A great deal of other things happened throughout the year, but they would take far too long to write down. I just wanted to throw something together to document this momentous occasion and now that I have I will wrap it up...
Despite being rubbish at everything, QUB got first year spot on. I made lots of friends, got involved in extracurricular clubs, went to a few lectures, learnt some interesting things and in general, had a really good time. I don’t think there’s anything I would change... actually I would have gone to Josephides lectures... NAT!
Xx
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