Quick update

Woah, it's been quite a while since I posted here.
I've obviously settled in quite well, it's been three months. There are a lot of people living in my apartment, though (16!) so it can be a little tough and intense at times, but most of the time, i don't mind it. Great place for hosting a party ;)

I've made some friends, and I am going to make more, it is my new goal haha. Michelle was the first friend I made and we just clicked. Which was really good, it's nice to have someone to talk to and hang out with. She's pretty great, most of the time. As with all friendships, though, there is a little bit of tension at the minute, but nothing I can't handle :)

The course I'm doing is wonderful, I really like it. This year isn't so stressful, I imagine next year will be a nightmare though haha. But, it's nice to relax, last year was pretty mental.
I haven't got a job here yet, which would be nice, but I will get one soon and all will be lovely.

It's almost Christmas time! I am planning on going home on the 20th, looking forward to it a lot. Definitely meeting up with all of my friends, and VERY excited for Christmas dinner! It'll be nice not to have it through a straw :P

In February, it is my 21st birthday. I have started planning it already, since I am asking most of my Irish friends to come to me, as I don't think it will be possible for me to go to them. It's a big ask, but most of them seem to be able to come, so that's amazing. I am looking forward to it a lot, I will most likely have a big snowfight or a citywide game of hide and seek, depending on the weather of course. Then back to my (massive) apartment for hot drinks and then a party afterwards :) Very excited.

I just put my music on shuffle, since I have 44gb of it, and I haven't sorted through most of it yet. It is interesting, I like listening to new music, but I need to be in a certain mood for me to want to. If that makes sense. So, I may update to include my favourites :)
Movies! I have been trying to broaden my movie knowledge recently, so I have watched films like Wristcutters, Rocket Science, Bambi (I didn't have a childhood :P), The Other Boleyn Girl (don't ask, I like historical things), Big Fish and Casanova, while also watching ones I've seen before, namely Sweeney Todd andIn Bruges. So, I'm going to continue in this vein and before long, I'll be a complete buff :D

I promise to try and update more often! I will leave you with this.

Amanda Palmer performing in Harvard Square - "Everybody's Gotta Live"


(yes, she's miming)

Some thinking

Sometimes I think that people kind of talk about what they want from life, rather than going out and getting it. I do that a lot. I always think about how lovely it would be to have loads of friends and be so busy that I don't have one free day to myself, but then that I'd be able to take a day off if I wanted, cos I also love alone time. But, when it comes down to it, I am too awkward to make heaps and heaps of friends (although when I do, I do it good)
But, as for everything else. Sometimes I feel that people should stop thinking about life, and just live it. It's not going to come to you if you're sitting in front of a computer and I do realise that I'm being slightly hypocritical here cos I do it all the time. But! It's all about choice. Everything is. I can decide to wallow in whatever I'm feeling that day, or go out and meet people. I can study or not study and therefore pass or fail a class. I can let myself like someone or not, I can open my mind or not. Everything is a choice.

I've decided that if I don't have a good excuse for not doing something, then I'm just going to do it. Cos it's so easy to just sit in my room and watch movies by myself, but I don't want to wake up in 20 years and wonder where my life has gone. I want to live, experience life and all it's joys and sadness. I want to love someone, I want to be successful in my future career. I have all these dreams, but none of them are going to come true if I don't act.

I think this may have been a bit of a epiphany.

Sorry for boring you all. tl;dr i'm going to get off my ass and LIVE

New starts

I've been in Dundee almost a week now, and I adore it. It feels like I've lived here for years, I already know my way around the main part of town, I live right in the centre in a beautiful apartment that I will gush about for ages. It's called Victoria Chambers (I'm even in love with the name), and each apartment takes up an entire floor of two buildings. As in, whatever dividing wall there was between numbers 12 and 14 is no longer there. There are 15 bedrooms, loads of bathrooms, two kitchens and a common room. My room is really big, and the window is just amazing. As is my view. This is basically my perfect apartment.

Anyway! Since coming over here, I've met 8 other Irish people, 3 from Dundalk, 3 from Dublin, a girl from Donegal/New York and a boy from Mayo. 2 of those 8 are in my course, starting in my year! So, we will be BFFs haha.

I was supposed to go to a concert tonight, Amanda Palmer, in London. I was really looking forward to going, but when I tried to book the train ticket, the ATM wouldn't let me take the full amount out of my account. So I took that as a sign that it's way too expensive. And here I am, looking out my beautiful window at my beautiful view and I am contented despite that.
With the money I would have spent, I bought myself plates and cups and teatowels and food and other such domestic things. I also bought myself a new phone, it's swanky and I love it.

I don't think there is much about this trip that I haven't just loved, and I hope it stays that way.
I've been writing letters also, to my mum and my sister and my mum's friend and some of my friends. Anyone else who wants one, send me an IM or something!

What else...I don't start classes until Monday week so I can't dish any gossip about the lecturers or anything like that, I'm sure they're all lovely anyway.

I think that's really it all. I've found this library that is super close to me, I will live there I think, whenever I can bear to be away from my bedroom.

I think I've just said everything that is important and quite a few things that aren't.
So, I hope you are all well! <3

My amazing window.


Gorgeous left side view

My sink, cos I love it and I'm crazy like that

Another view <3 This is what I see when I look straight outside

Moving away, leaving home, severing ties

As I mentioned in the previous journal, I am leaving for Dundee on the 7th of September. Which you may have noticed is 3 days from the date of this journal.
I am really excited, I can not even express my excitement. I am so excited that people looking at me would think I am completely indifferent to the whole thing. Whenever I think about it, my brain threatens to explode, but instead it just goes blank. Which is a little awkward when I'm supposed to be doing something. Like packing. You know.

Anyway. I keep getting the feeling that I'm missing something HUGE. But, realistically, there's nothing too massive that I can be missing. I have accommodation and a little bit of money to keep me going. There's nothing really else that I can't buy or have sent over, so I know I am worrying about nothing.

On a completely related note, I had to say goodbye to my two best friends today. They both came over for a chat and we had coffee and it was lovely. Until they had to leave. If I wasn't such a cold-hearted bitch (lol not really), I would have cried. As it was, I hugged both of them really hard, which was a bit weird, cos we don't do hugs but anyway. I think that was the down point of this whole thing.

To prevent my brain from completely frying, I've been reading. Harry Potter to be exact. I don't think I've ever enjoyed reading the books as much as I did this time around, but it was the first time I've read them all one after the other. Unfortunately, it took me very little time. (PS I don't like the ending of the last book. seriously, JK, wtf)

In other news, Big Brother 10 is FINALLY over, Sophie won, blah blah, I never watched it, but it happened to be on tonight. What a ditz. Also, I don't know what was up with Davina's outfit, a warning should have come with it.

Well, enough of my tired ramblings, next time I update I will most likely be the resident of another country! :D x

Music and a memory book

Real life didn't get in the way this time, I am just lazy and unimaginative.
At the minute, I am trying to make a memory book for my best friend Kevin. He is 21 on Thursday, the party is on Friday, and I wanted to make him something special. So, a memory book it is. In it, I am going to put photos of the gang of us from school, we are all still very much friends and I hope he likes it. So that’s that.

Other than that, I’ve really fallen in love with this song:
Another Heart Calls - All American Rejects


I have my friend Teresa to thank me for getting me interested in their music. I got their newest album (When the World Comes Down) not so long ago, and it’s so good. I have a weakness for strings and there are a lot on this album. The above song is my favourite, possibly of everything they’ve done (that I’ve heard).

I have also fallen in love with Florence and the Machine and her album “Lungs”. Her style is different to most of what you hear on the radio, which makes it all the more amazing. Although, my favourite song of hers isn’t actually hers, it’s a cover of Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds.


Until next time! <3

I know, I know, it’s been a while since I’ve updated but again, real life has gotten in the way. In the past week, I’ve had to coordinate a treasure hunt for children, abseil down the side of a 70ft castle, correct answers for a table quiz and attend a party that a good friend of mine threw. This is in between working and minding my cousins. Hectic week, you say.

The treasure hunt was very successful, I planned the whole thing myself, I was very proud of me for doing it; most times I’d be asked and then forget about it two days later. This was different, though. I planned a route, I made clues, and I arranged the time and did up the posters. On the day (last Monday), 32 families showed up to take part. It was way more successful than I dared hope for, it was wonderful. I was proud of myself that day.

The abseiling was for charity, down the side of a castle in our town. It was a bit sudden, I kind of just showed up without having seen anyone else do it, and thought I’d try my luck and see if I was allowed. Well, it paid off and 10 minutes later, I was hanging off the side of the castle. It was such an experience. I was trembling for ages after with adrenaline, but it was completely worth it.

Pictures (ignore the tag):

The table quiz was all for fun, there was a coordinated one for all the pubs in town and everyone in any given pub was a team. So, someone called out the questions, the pub would give answers and then vote on the most likely one. It was a lot of fun although the pub I was representing came last!

The party wasn’t in aid of anything, just a random gathering, we had a barbeque in the rain, we ate, we talked, we drank and we laughed (and even danced a little). It was amazing, as any time spent with my friends is.

Also, I was told that I definitely have accommodation for my imminent move to Scotland! So, I just have to pay for that and everything is in place for it. I am really excited, it’s such an amazing opportunity I’ve been given. There’s not really much else I can say about it!

I’ve been given an opportunity to see Amanda Palmer play live in London in a church on September 11^th (although hopefully I can change it to the 12^th). For those of you who haven’t heard of her, go here: Her YouTube

HP and Watchmen

I’ve been trying to update this as regularly as I can but for once, real life is getting in the way, but obviously I don’t mind very much.
I had a friend stay with me for a few days during the week, and needless to say, lots of films were watched. I took her to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in the cinema. I wasn’t disappointed except quite a lot of the story was changed from the book. But it was a very good movie, that aside. There was a lot of humour in this one, I loved how Lavender Brown was portrayed, and I think that was the main reason I liked the movie. Without it, I think it may have been a flop. I’m thinking maybe 7/10, cos I really liked the graphics too.
I also saw Watchmen with her, and it made me really excited to read the book. I told myself that I would read it long ago, but I got distracted and never actually got around to it. I know that the ending in the book is different from the movie; it was a very generic movie ending, although even that didn’t detract from its general awesomeness. Overall, it was a very good film and I liked it a lot. 7.5/10

I saw some more, but I think I will leave it at that for now. Until next time!

A Beautiful Mind

So, I just watched this film. I had every intention of pointing out everything I felt was wrong with it, until I saw the closing credits and I realised that it was a true story. However, I will still point out flaws as perceived by me.

The first thing that struck me was Russell Crowe’s quite obvious overacting. All the facial movements, his speech, everything was just a little overdone and nothing felt natural. His accent also annoyed me immensely. I am aware that the film must be somewhat accurate and that the accent was perhaps necessary, but have you ever heard an American trying to pull off an Irish or English accent? An Australian trying an American accent is equally as painful.
Before I continue, I should point out that the basic plot of the film was good, and I am very interested in biographical films. However, I felt that they embellished it a little too much, and I didn’t find it realistic at all.

I think I should also point out that I am by no means a film buff or anything remotely close to it, this is my own opinion, and if you feel it is wrong, well all I can say is tough.

Anyway, back to the film. Even with all those bad points, it is not an awful film. As I mentioned before, the basic plot is good and if you are willing to overlook obvious flaws, it could be considered a not-too-bad way of passing 2 hours (yes, it is also very long and drawn out).

I think overall score on this one: 6/10

First attempt

So, over the summer I was thinking of ways to occupy my time, and I somehow came to the conclusion that making a blog was the way to go. So, here it is. This is my first real attempt at any type of writing though, so bear with me.

I can’t tell you what to expect from it because I’m not entirely sure myself. I will most likely be making commentaries on everything from books and films to news articles and everyday observations. I hope to update it regularly, though!

With that said, I'm not entirely sure what else there is to add, so I will just say goodbye for now and update in a few days :)