Gadget's Workshop
16
February 17:02
Fencing (the kind with swords, not posts) with Jill
Yesterday I went fencing.It's Andy's fault really.
Before I got ill I said, 'Fencing sounds interesting. I might like to try it some time.'
It's also Ian's fault. But to be fair he did go easy on me in my first week.
I learned how to shuffle (ok, it was meant to be how to go forwards and backwards, but I looked like a demented penguin) and how to lunge and parry and counter-parry (I haven't learned to countercounter-parry yet, but it's only a matter of time, I imagine.)
Mind you, any sport which gives me a weapon (albeit one with a rubber bit on the end) in the first week is just asking for trouble.
You also get to wear a natty outfit (including a plastic bra over your T-shirt which harks back to Madonna videos from the 80s) and get sore legs, arms, and...everything else.
Though honestly, I'm not particularly sore or stiff this week. But I stretched a lot, only fought once, and had to cycle home which tends to loosen your muscles.
I'm going to be very stiff tomorrow, and I have to give a presentation.
Oh dear...I'll hobble up to the front, maybe pity will be taken on an invalid.
Nah.
14
February 07:02
Important Facts about Valentine's Day
Wellllll...There are a few important things about Valentine's Day. People tend to forget them when they either:
a) rejoice in the opportunity to send soppy cards/cuddly teddy bears/overpriced flowers to their nearest and dearest (or those they wish to be nearer and/or dearer)
OR
b) Violently denounce the holiday as an exploitative capitalist exercise in extracting money from idiots (while secretly wishing that someone would send them a card)
Valentine's Day celebrates St. Valentine. Who was a Christian martyr, who by all accounts got rather a grisly death.
As to why this was...well, some people think he was martyred for refusing to give up his faith, a few think it was for refusing to stop marrying Christian couples, and a few others for defying a Roman emperor.
The marrying one is my favourite I think.
Ahem. I feel some artwork coming on:
This is Emperor Claudius, known (behind his back) as Claudius the Cruel:
He was upset because no one was joining the army cos they didn't want to leave their homes and families behind.
Claudius tries to prevent this by banning all marriages and engagements.
Valentine, however, carried on marrying Christian couples in secret.
But he got found out. And they beat him to death with clubs and then cut his head off.
This was not very friendly.
But, so the legend goes, while he was in jail people threw flowers and notes up to him to tell him they were thinking of him.
Hence the tradition.
Here's another.
14th of February was, in the Roman calendar, a celebration of the goddess of women and marriage Juno.
And part of the tradition was the pairing up of boys and girls of the same age (by drawing a name out of a hat (or Roman equivalent)) and making them spend the day together.
Aww...
Actually...that could get a bit violent.
With that cheerful thought, I leave you. God bless, and happy Valentine's Day, however you choose to spend it. Me? I'm going to Rev.
11
February 17:02
A Most Remarkable Day
All in all, it's been a pretty good day.Well, it has for me at any rate. I mean, for my friend Polly, for example, it hasn't been a very good day.
But I've...I've... (sorry, you may need to sit down. It's shocking it is)...
I've done some work.
(swallows)
Yeah, I was surprised and all. But having been so ill and preoccupied for a fortnight, on Friday I suddenly had the will to do some work. Bearing in mind it was 11 at night and I needed to sleep, I assumed it would pass.
But no, up I got this morning and proceeded to summarise all of my Energy and Environment notes (very interesting topic, but that's not the point).
I wait with interest to see if it's a minor blip, or if my enthusiasm for my degree has actually returned. That'd be nice.
I might even go to my lectures on Monday.
Now that would be a shock to the system. :)
9
February 17:02
Dressing dangerously
So I'm back. With an entry that I've had lurking about for ages, but never bothered to finish. Ah well, here goes...One of the things I like about blogs is that you can't see what people look like so easily. They probably have a picture of themselves there somewhere, but mostly you read what they write rather than listen to what they say. It's wonderfully democratic. You can be just who you like.
The downside, of course, being that people can't hear your inflection. And so find it more difficult to tell when you're being sarcastic or deliberately obtuse or just genuinely confused.
The thing being, in The Real WorldTM people actually look at you while you're talking. And so will (consciously or not) make some sort of judgement of your appearance. On the blogs all you have to go on is the colour of their background. (Ooh. Pretty flowers.Etc.)
I was paddling around (I don't surf the world wide web, I paddle in the shallow end away from the sharks) and I found this thing about something called Wholesome Wear.
I kid you not. I couldn't make this stuff up. It's nearly (not quite) as good as WaitWear which is just...indescribable.
It got me thinking though.
While I wouldn't be seen dead going to the swimming pool in one of those outfits (I don't wear dresses. Not even to swim in) I feel equally uncomfortable wandering about the place in a bikini. Which is the only swimwear I have, because one-pieces always without fail come in hideously awful flowery patterns (this one is the best of the bunch which says a lot really) and never fit. Going swimming always makes me feel like I'm toddling around in my underwear, and that everyone's looking at me.
The latter is patently ridiculous, of course: no one actually pays anyone else any attention when swimming; they're too concerned about either a) swimming or b) what they look like. But the former concerns me: despite my general protestations about shopping, I like clothes. Particularly I like to wear clothes, especially when out in public. Not doing so tends to get you arrested anyway, so it's just as well.
I also found a book. And by the by, I was looking for Star Wars stuff, so how on earth I ended up on the Catholic blogs is a mystery to me too...One of the things that annoys me about this book (apart from the cover obviously: lavender is A Granny Colour, and should not be used on the covers of books) is the way it would seem to advocate the wearing of dresses and skirts.
Let me be clear: I have nothing against dresses or skirts on other people. But the last time I wore a dress was to the Chaplaincy ball last June, and despite somehow ending up with five skirts (five! How?), they're strictly special occasion wear. Except for one, which is strictly wear nowhere because...never mind why.
You cannot cycle in a short skirt. You can't. You cannot cycle in a long skirt. The ends get oily and mucky and it's generally considered to be A Bad Thing. Plus it's murder on your washing machine. And if you do it wrong you look like Gypsy Rose Lee.
How you dress says a whole lot about you whether you wish it or not.
Take blogging for example. My blog was formerly lovely and fluffy and pink. Now it's black and red and looks like the inside of Fresh Garbage in Belfast. Without the smell of dubious substances, obviously, as my favourite dubious substance is chocolate, which is legal everywhere (I think).
Which possibly says that I have Disassociative Identity Disorder (or DID, formerly know as Multiple Personality Disorder – see, I learn things!) or just that I'm undergoing another attitude shift. They happen every now and again.
But your clothes say even more about you than that, particularly to those who don't really know you. That's why stuff like A Week of Dressing Dangerously is so entertaining. People who are dressed differently to how they normally dress act differently to how they normally act.
Personally, if I had to wear a hippy outfit for a day I'd be mortified. But I'm (honestly!) rather shy and retiring. And I prefer to wander through completely oblivious to what's going on around me (and having others oblivious to me). Or at least giving that impression...
Thing is, it's all tied up with body image again, isn't it? If you feel comfortable in your own skin then other people can go and take a running jump if they don't like it. They don't, of course, but if you're not quite the exact level of normalcy they're looking for then you're likely to ruffle some feathers anywhere other than uni. I remember causing a mild sensation among the first year girls at the age of 11 when I point blank refused to make my skirt any shorter. Not out of any particular religious-ness (I wasn't a Christian then) but just because I was too stubborn to do anything I didn't really fancy. Shows you how petty people can be (myself included: don't wanna, not gonna.)
Me of course being, er...mild as milk (hey, it happens...sometimes) most of the time suddenly transmogrified into being opinionated and difficult. I'm not entirely sure when it happened, but 'some point in the last decade' probably covers it. After all, I was the little shy kid at the back of the class. I'll rephrase that. I was the little shy kid with a bossy streak a mile wide at the back of the class who walks kind of strangely. This is more the result of chronic bad temper (walking very quickly is a wonderful way to reduce stress) and far too many books in my bag (many many textbooks) while I was in school. As a result I now march along at a frightening pace. It annoys people when they have to jog to keep up. But oh well.
If you should see me then, walking around campus (blink and you'll miss me) while wearing ridiculous outfits, don't worry: it'll wear off. My jeans are my refuge from the world. Worrying that.
Last thing, I promise. University is a brilliant place for being exactly who you wish to be. If that's an antisocial eejit, so be it, but you'll have no friends. If you're a person who likes rainbow Mohican haircuts and painting your face yellow, hey, there's probably at least one other person who thinks that's the greatest thing ever. If you consider jeans to be the very foundation on which your life is built, then you're likely to find many friends.
And if you have strange religious beliefs that seems to be ok too.
Or a combination of all of the above.
Nice being accepted for whoever it is you reckon you are, rather than who everyone else wants you to be.
Vive la difference.
7
February 13:02
I Aten't Dead
As per the title, I aten't dead.As a matter of fact, my blood test results would suggest I'm actually really very healthy.
While this is nice to know, I'm still rather knackered.
The Dr (not to be confused with The Doctor, who's on TV) thinks I probably have Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome. That is, I was ill, now I'm not, but my body is cream crackered from fighting off the infection and has thus decided to hibernate.
This is not so bad.
I'm going to labs at any rate, but I still sleep in the afternoons.
I aten't dead.
Hallelujah!
5
February 16:02
Run! RUUUUUUN!
Heed my warning.Run.
My mother is coming over to stay.
Oh dear.
See, I love her very much, and I know she only wants the best for me, but she panics and worries and fusses all at the same time.
Which is quite hard to deal with.
However, she may bring chocolate.
This will dull the sting somewhat.
Anyway. Doctor's appointment tomorrow, possibly blood test results too.
(prays in corner)
Here's hoping it turns out ok. :)
2
February 13:02
Solitude
Today I am most probably not going onto campus.I have spent most of today in bed already, and will probably go back and sleep very soon.
A couple of days ago, this would have been intolerable.
I'm naturally shy. And naturally something of a loner. Which means that if I'm seeking company then I'm afraid to be alone with all the voices in my head.
At the moment though, they don't bother me so much.
I was eternally grateful to Hannah and Mark, who've both come to visit in the last week (and both brought food). I'm also hugely grateful to Tom and Chris, who have both put me on a bus and sent me home when I was feeling icky.
But today being on my own doesn't seem so bad. More time to pray. Also more time to read, though, being ill, reading takes much longer.
Life is good. God is good. And so we carry on. :)
31
January 18:01
Me and the Nurse...
Today I had my first ever blood test.It was not particularly fun.
I mean, it wasn't the worst experience of my life, but not really one I'd care to repeat on a regular basis.
Either way, nurse + needle + vein = Jill – blood from arm
I have to wait a week for the results.
Oh joyous day.
Also, I'm bored. Really bored.
Hannah came around today, and brought chocolatey goodness with her, which was nice.
But for the times when I'm stuck in my house on my own, I want some books.
Preferably something not too heavy, with a plot, and from which I shall learn nothing.
I really want to borrow The Princess Bride if anyone has it.
Any takers?
30
January 12:01
Me and the Doc...
Well, I went to the doctor.Two days ahead of schedule, Matt and Mark please take note.
Anyways, Dr Parker (very nice man) said, 'Well, I have no idea what's wrong with you. Maybe you have a virus. But maybe not.'
My reply was, 'Oh.'
'But' he said, 'we can do a bio-somethingorother scan of your blood' and hence check I'm not actually dying or anything.
So tomorrow at ten to ten (why so early people?) I have to go have blood taken to make sure my thyroid, liver and kidneys are all working as they should, and also to check my blood count to make sure I'm not anaemic.
Meanwhile I have to email my tutor: "Dear Nigel Stocks. I am ill and missing classes. What do I do?" and also sleep, eat, possibly do a bit of revision (yes, I am that bored. Don't worry, I can only concentrate for 10 mins at a time) and try and persuade my mum that I'm not dying.
Easier said than done.
28
January 13:01
Meh. Ill again.
I flippin hate being ill. What happens to me is that I end up flat on my back, generally asleep, terminally bored, and impatient at all the work I'm not doing. For at least three days at a time.Now I am fully aware that it could be much worse. That having pretty good health all the rest of the year is well worth it for a couple of days where I'm too tired and sick to read or whatever.
And I'm feeling much better than I was.
But I'm still rather too ill to do anything. Except sleep. For 15 hours a day. And eat. And (since I'm feeling a bit better) blog on the crappiness of illness.
Either way, I've got books (for when I'm awake enough to read), I've got shiny things (to distract me when I'm too tired to read) and a warm bed (for...a large portion of the day).
It could definitely be worse.
But...
I have to miss Lovely Chris's birthday!!!!!
This completely and utterly sucks.
It really does.
So, to Lovely Chris: A very happy birthday party to you. And all God's blessings for the coming year.
And I'm really sorry I can't make it.
But I'm under strict orders to go back to bed.
Goodnight all.
23
January 08:01
Text A Pancake!
Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is: the start of the CU's Essential Week. Woo!And to commemorate this wonderful event, our 1025 group is doing something special for all those in Rootes J-L!
It is...(drum roll please) Text A Pancake!!!
Basically, here's the drill. You text us (clever, huh?) and tell us which room you are in and what you would like on your pancake (I think you can have sugar, lemon juice, ice cream, stuff like that) and we will make it on the spot and deliver it to you!
Great, isn't it?
And the best bit?
It's totally free! Yup, we're serving you completely without payment just cos we think it's a cool thing to do.
So. Rootes J-L...what do you want on your pancakes?