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2月27日 Casino RoyaleCan I have a moan? Actually, of course I can.. it's my blog and I'll do with it what I like. But just in case anybody isn't in the mood for the insignificant whingeings of a 19-yr-old student, you have been warned that this is an entry to skip :) Basically the situation is this - it's themed Formal on Thursday evening, and the theme is 'Casino Royale'. If we go, we are instructed to dress appropriately, which I am told means black tie for the men and slinky outfits for the women (- I am also told that bikinis are banned. Having never seen a James Bond film, this only makes me wonder.. although it might explain the male obsession with the whole 007 thing..). Needless to say, I am not in possession of a slinky outfit. I either have to do some serious lecture-skiving in the direction of Newcastle, which is not guaranteed to solve the problem, or skip the Formal, or just wear what I normally wear to Formal (skirt and top) and feel even more horrendously out-of-place than I do normally. Thing is, I'd like some Formal clothes. I'd like a slinky dress, if I could find one that suited me. While I would wholeheartedly agree that there are much more important things in life than clothes and shoes and make-up, wearing a nice outfit is a confidence booster, and makes an event feel a little more special. There are large numbers of reasons why I don't have large amounts of these things - ranging from the practical (haven't had enough money), to the ethical (should we be spending money on them anyway?), to the just damn awkward (my never-ending battle with the fashion and retail industry, not to mention the fact that my mum would probably guilt-trip me into taking back anything anyway), and these are all good reasons. But the fact remains that everyone else, and I very nearly do mean everyone else, has a different such outfit for each occasion with one left over. As a result, I don't enjoy myself nearly as much as I should do - well, that and the drinking aspect. It's easy for the guys. They can just stick on a suit and a white shirt. Bastards. Paul was trying to convince me to go. I asked him whether he'd like to come shopping with me. He declined. Ironically I'd be in a much better position, having-appropriate-stuff-to-wear-wise, if bikinis were allowed! 2月24日 Home CallingThe entry that I've just published was in fact typed a couple of days ago, but for some reason my computer wouldn't let me publish it. So there it is now, in all its glory..
In other news, I couldn't face Algebra yesterday (part of the five-hour run at Elvet Riverside), so I committed the cardinal student sin and went clothes shopping instead. It felt great! Durham's clothes shopping is fairly naff, actually, as I might have mentioned before.. well, fairly naff compared to Birmingham anyway, which isn't quite the same thing. It does have a reasonable selection of high street shops, they just tend to be of the more expensive variety, and they're quite small - the entire clothing section of Durham's M&S, for example, is about the same size as B'ham's lingerie secion! I think people go to Newcastle and the Metro Centre if they want serious shopping, but I still haven't quite made it that far yet.. (*makes note to self to get to Newcastle soon!*).
But if you'd asked me what I was going to miss on coming away to university, clothes shopping wouldn't have featured. Funny that I miss it so much!
The damage to the bank balance wasn't too huge, as I did only have a limited amount of time (and the really, really nice top in Per Una wasn't in my size, more's the pity..!). What I did buy was a white strap top, of the variety that I was searching for all last summer and couldn't find when I actually needed it. I will never understand the retail world!
A load of people have gone home this weekend - both from here and school friends returning to Brum. Does make you kinda wistful, especially when you are left alone with nothing but Probability homework for company.. Work"So essentially, it's an exercise in getting really bored." - our Algebra lecturer, on the Cartesian Product of groups
As second years start to talk of internships, and third/fourth years start to gear up for the big world of work, I am finding myself thinking more and more about what I want to do when I grow up and actually have to start earning some money. And each time, I get no further than the time before. The Careers Service do organise job-fairs and information sessions, it's true, but so far for me they have all clashed with lectures, and it seems rather a contradiction to get behind in my degree for the sake of finding a dream job. Here is where I start to mutter things about Arts students, and their stupid contact hours.
In the last two days alone, though, I have had emails advertising courses in 'Networking, Time Managment, and Team Working; an exciting one-day workshop to develop those skills and upgrade your CV' and 'Dress Ahead; why what you wear can determine your earning potential' (or similarly worded slogans, anyway). And here's the thing - the very concept of 'networking' makes my skin crawl. People should be employed on their suitability for a job, not how pally they can get with the CEO of a company, not how smarmy they can be in the presence of the right people. When I'm in a job, I want to be able to ask colleagues out for dinner because I like them, not because I think it will get me ahead in office politics. I want to be in a job that doesn't discriminate against me because my black trousers were £30 from M&S, not £130 from some boutique somewhere. I want to be in a job where I don't feel obliged to wash my hair at 5am each morning with a load of expensive products, and where I don't feel out of place for not wanting to wear lipstick, or having my hair tied back. I want to be in a culture where people are encouraged to spend time at home with family or whoever, not where you are passed over simply because you left the office before 10 at night. I want to be in job where I can look myself in the mirror, and say “I am doing a job that matters.”
I know there are a lot of professions out there where half those things don't apply, where people work and are happy, and earn a decent living without all the added pretentions of corporate business. I just don't know what half of them are, and the other half I can't face doing for other reasons - I sure wouldn't have to wear lipstick in academia, for example.. *shudders*
I really, really hope that those sorts of companies are representative of Durham's career service and not the world of work as a whole. 2月17日 Deal Done!We got it, we got it, we got it! To quote my current Facebook status, "Lucy is legally obliged to spend next year living in a huge, amazing house for low rent!!! Wooooo!"
 I'm so, so happy right at this minute..! 2月15日 Boiling PointAt 10am tomorrow morning, Royal Mail permitting, a contract for a house will arrive in my pigeonhole. We will need to sign it in the presence of witnesses, photocopy it along with the £500 deposit cheque, and take it into town to send 1st class Recorded Delivery. If it arrives on Saturday morning, before our competitors get their act together, the house is ours.
This is the most amazing student house I have ever seen. It's huge, in a fantastic location (Trevs end of Neville's Cross), fully furnished, with a large, modern, newly-kitted out kitchen. It is really nicely decorated, has four large bedrooms, and the fifth bedroom is only a bit smaller than your average Trevs room - considering it is advertised as a 'box-room', it's a pretty good size, and Paul is willing to have it.
The rent on this house is £54pppw. That's good for Durham (cheap houses in the £40s, average £60s, expensive £80s), and we have all agreed privately that we would pay £65pppw (the very top of our budget) without blinking. Of course, we won't tell the landlady that.
We have spoken to the current tenants - they have had no problems, and they say that the landlady is really nice and completely trustworthy.
We saw this house as a last-ditch attempt yesterday at 5.15pm, our first-choice having fallen through earlier that afternoon. Two minutes out of the door, and we were phoning, asking for the contract, before Pippa had even seen it (Pippa has since looked round, you'll be glad to hear, and fell in love with it immediately, as did we). This house kicks the ass of the one we had wanted by a very large distance.
The past 24 hours, and the next 24 will have been some of the tensest of my life. If we don't get this house, I will spend Saturday crying. If we do get this house, I am going to run around college like a headless chicken, screaming "I love you!" at people.
Please cross your fingers for us.
 2月13日 If I Had A Bernard's Watch....I would use it to freeze time for all but ten of us (and a bunch of landlords), then go and look around all the student houses in Durham, in loads of detail, and be sure that we were making good, unpressured decisions, and that nobody else was about to whisk contracts from under our noses; and we'd get fantastic deals in houses in Elvet or possibly the near end of Claypath, and we'd have all this mess sorted. Without having to miss lectures and stuff.
But I don't have a Bernard's Watch, so I guess the hunt must go on.
My family's coming up to visit tomorrow, staying 'til the end of the week :) 2月10日 Winter Weather: Part 4It's raining, cold, and miserable. :( We're in the North-East of England dammit, and yet at home..
Makes me think of that day in Y11 (January 30th? 31st?) when the rain washed away the road grit, then the temperature dropped several degrees in the course of about half an hour, and the whole of B'ham was gridlocked.. Ah, the memories..!
(OK, so it was the 28th. Not far off! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3439651.stm)
*sigh* 2月9日 Religious MattersWe've been having a lot of religious/ philosophical debate within our friendship group lately, brought to a head last night when Stephen, Rob, Paul and I went and had drinks and discussion with a lad who's come to talk at CU's Mission Week (the one who I danced with quite a bit at the ceilidh last week).
Stephen is a very active Christian. Paul is Christian; less evangelical than Stephen about it, but still definitely of those beliefs. Rob is agnostic, verging on atheist at times, and is very interested in the philosophical side of things. I, of course, am Quaker, non-Christian, and possibly what one could term 'spiritual', though one has to be careful about brandishing these labels about; I would say that I am spiritual without being Spiritual, if that makes sense.
We had a very interesting discussion (resulting, unfortunately, in another late night..). I didn't agree with everything that was being said - nor did anybody, I think - and there were certainly some opposing viewpoints. Tonks (the CU guy, don't know what his real name is!) was having problems trying to understand my definition of a God that doesn't fit the Christian concept; I was having problems processing his 'evidence' for the divinity and resurrection of Christ, and his belief that Christianity was right. But I'm very glad that I went along, because the more open-minded discussions you have on these matters, the more you think about your own individual faith (or lack thereof), the more open you become to others' beliefs.
An evening well-spent :) 2月8日 InterruptionsThe fire alarm went off again last night. At 1am.
Let's just say that the people living on F1 aren't that popular atm.. 2月7日 Tree-Hugging!A tree fell on me earlier today..!
It was only half a tree actually, and reasonably light wood so no lasting harm done - though still heavy enough that Ian needed to lift it up in order that I could get out! It was all Ian's fault for not warning me that the saw had finally got through, not directing its fall, and certainly not shouting "Timber!" or anything (and believe me, when Ian shouts something, you know about it!). I was quite impressed with my reflexes, actually.. one minute I was standing there looking for half a wine glass that I had just spotted (and subsequently lost sight of) on the floor. The next thing I knew, I was crouched down, knees bent, head tucked in, hands above my neck, and working out that I had quite a bit of wood on top of me. Instinct has its uses, eh.. Fortunately, I wasn't wearing my glasses at the time, so no scratched lenses to worry about.
As an explanation to what I was doing in the presence of falling timber in the first place, I have joined the soon-to-be-created Allotment Soc.! There's an old allotment right next to Trevs which had become so overgrown that none of us even knew it was there, and a guy from the Conservation Society has set up a working team to try and clear it so that we can grow vegetables again! Durham's working towards some sort of environmental status as a university, and the whole thing's modelled on the Yale Sustainable Food Project. (If you're interested, and indeed have Facebook, there's a better description at http://dur.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2229153773)
It's really, really cold!!! Winter Weather: Part 3Il a neigé, il a neigé, il a neigé! Ahh, memories of Mr Mack..
'Twas only a light scattering, but more is forecast, and what there is still hasn't melted! And it's really, really beautiful! However, clear skies + light snow + return of clear skies = COLD! Minimum temperature for today/tonight is listed by the BBC as -5°C!
I took my 500ml thermos (given to me by Rachel for a Christmas present) to tutorials this morning, 'cos I'm in the same room for two hours and it's chilly at the best of times. It was still chilly but remarkably satisfying to be sat there, sipping hot squash and observing the view over Claypath while learning about Probability :)
Yay! Snow! I really ought to charge my camera battery, so if/when it snows a bit more, I can make you all envious with pictures of the cathedral et al. under a white covering! 2月5日 CollectionsI've just had the last of my Collection results back.. (the short exams I took in January, for anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about). Actually, I still don't know exactly what I got in B2, but Brett (my college tutor and a PhD mathematician) couldn't keep his mouth shut so I sort of know!
Anyhows..
Analysis - 81%
Calculus - 87% (??!)
Geometry - 90%
Reasoning - 'something in the 60s'%
Programming - 67%
So I passed them all :)
As ever, there are niggles. If it wasn't for some stupid, stupid, basic arithmetical errors I would have done better in Geometry and considerably better in Analysis.. and I thought I might have done slightly better in Programming, given that it was multiple choice. But Reasoning I'm really happy with (that is a *hard* module!) and Calculus just takes the mick! Turns out that they only marked your best four questions (out of 7 or 8), so the fact that I only answered just over half the paper was irrelevant, I still got in the high 80s..! (what the..?!)
I sense the old Lucy coming back :) Note to SelfStaying up on MSN until midnight is not a good idea.
Staying up on MSN until midnight is not a good idea, especially if you're meant to be working.
Staying up on MSN until midnight is not a good idea, especially if you're meant to be working and the work is due in the next day. Staying up on MSN until midnight is not a good idea, especially if you're meant to be working and the work is due in the next day, and you have to get up to do it the next morning.
Staying up on MSN until midnight is not a good idea, especially if you're meant to be working and the work is due in the next day, and you have to get up to do it the next morning, and that was going to be your one lie-in of the week.
Even Andy had signed in by the time I left. It must have been late!
Not clever. 2月3日 What News..Last night was Burns' Night formal (albeit a week or so after Burns Night!), followed by a ceilidh! (YAY!) I was not drinking - in fact I haven't been this term, now I think about it - and so as ever, Formal was a mixed bag. There were blue and white balloons, Scottish flags about the place, a live bagpiper (who may or may not have been a Trevs student..), and ceremonial knifing of the haggis by one of the Scottish members of our SCR! There was also some Robbie Burns poetry, only i couldn't hear any of it because the table behind me had already started on the wine, and let's be honest, had no manners (I feel so middle-aged when I think/say things like that, but it's true..). It's such a shame that a good meal and a nice atmosphere is spoiled every fortnight by 250-odd students who feel the need to get off their face. *sigh*
Then we had a ceilidh! *squeaks!* With live band, needless to say! I love ceilidhs so much! And of course, anyone who was really trashed by that point was in the bar, deafening themselves with noise and more alcohol, while the rest of us went and kicked ass at making a fool of ourselves! Even though we'd had one in Freshers' Week, I was still dismayed to see/hear people there who didn't know what a ceilidh was, and had never been to one.. I suppose it's something I just take for granted, the knowledge thereof. But after the usual range of protestations from Helen's direction ("I can't dance! I hate dancing in front of people! I never enjoy these events!"), she was persuaded to try, and as ever, ended up loving it! I suggest that if you are reading this and have never been to a ceilidh, even if you can't dance and are socially awkward.. go for it! You will love it, seriously, especially if the band is good! (And for reference, 'ceilidh' is pronounced 'kay-lee', not 'collide', or any other strange variation that I have come across in the past..). Through a mixture of good luck and a well-timed introduction, I had the first three dances with a very nice graduate (age equivalent to a fourth yr, as he pointed out) who apparently has come to speak at CU's Mission Week. CU or no.. :)
Things are getting a little manic again! Within the last ten days or so, I've been to a play ('Oleanna'), the musical 'Sweeney Todd' (with full student cast and crew but quite honestly it could have been professional).. tonight I'm going to see a play that Rob's in ('The Happiest Days Of Your Life') and tomorrow it's Jazzfest at Van Mildert college, just over from Trevs. Add to this all the stuff that I could have gone to ('Schindler's List' while I was at Choral Soc. turned out to be a Jewish Society meeting, much to Rhiannon's amusement, and a couple of them went to see 'An Inconvenient Truth'; inconveniently, I'd already promised my attendance at a student Quaker group meeting), and the stuff which is going on in college every night - it's kinda busy!
I do need to do quite a bit of work today, but I seem to be keeping on top of it a bit better this term (a reasonably clear desk helps, it would seem, along with the fact that despite a sickness bug sweeping through college, I have not yet got ill! Woooooo!). The Maths is going.. well.. varied-ly. We've started Mechanics again, which I'm loving (eternal tribute to KDO there) - on the other hand, Algebra, for the most part, is not going so well. To be fair, I think it's the specific lecturer rather than the Algebra itself, but it hasn't been easy, exactly. He has massive, illegible handwriting for one thing, and for another he refuses to use a microphone, even though half the lecture theatre just can't hear what he's saying. And it's really, really boring. Those are meant to be 300-ppl lectures, and it's quite funny to monitor the steady increase of empty seats each time. The quote of the week has to come from on such lecture - some people near the top started talking loudly about I'm-not-quite-sure-what, and we were all thinking the same thing ('Shut the up') when someone said it for us: "Be quiet, there are people trying to sleep here, y'know!" I'm not sure whether the lecturer heard or not, but it was hilarious!
Over and out :) |
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