This weekend, I was supposed to attend the Montrose Music Festival. I didn’t.

I’d been looking forward to it for months and months. Even on Friday, I was planning on what bands I wanted to see. I have no idea what happened, but by the time I got up and got ready on Saturday morning, I didn’t want to go any more and that was it. Maybe it was the thought of the crowds, or the general loudness? It’s completely out of character because I love live music (and music in general). The one thing I am gutted about is that subsequently, I didn’t get to see my friends

Instead, I packed a rucksack, got the dog and headed to the beach/reserve. I stayed there for at least 3 hours, taking pictures, enjoying the sunshine and walking barefoot along the shoreline, letting the cool North Sea lap over my feet. Very relaxing.

Mood : confused

Hello dear blog- long time no see!

I always promise that I’ll update more regularly, and recently, that simply hasn’t happened.  “Why not?”, you ask.  Well, I’ve been busy and lifehas sort of been a little hectic.  More than a little hectic actually but not completely chaotic.

Ok so an update covering the past few months-

I started my Masters course in Internet Computing and have now completed the first semester.  I’ve enjoyed it so far although I had to take a Networking module which I haven’t enjoyed so much.  Next semester I have the option to do the second half of that module but I won’t be studying that subject further.  Perhaps its wrong of me to admit this, being a computing person and all but it really doesn’t interest me.  As soon as I get the (bloody) coursework completed, that’s me done with the module.  Big thumbs up for the rest of the course though and all the new people I’ve met

In other news, I got a job.  I’m now a student demonstrator at the university which basically means I help teach some classes.  In semester one I worked with 4th years in XML class and 3rd years who were direct entrants, teaching them the basics of HTML, CSS, Coldfusion and Perl.  When I grow up (if that ever happens), I think I’d like to teach full-time.  This isn’t a new idea which has popped into my head: it’s something I’ve been thinking about since High School (and I recently came across my old report cards, talking about my ambitions).  Anyway, I’m continuing next semester if all goes to plan, helping out in a 1st year database class.

Also, I turned 22 at the end of November.  Not sure I have a whole lot to say about that other than I ate a lot of Chinese food on that particular day.  The next person who mentions “ooh it’s only 8 years ’til you’re 30″ gets a slap.  You have been warned.

The last few weeks haven’t been so good though ……

On my birthday, one of my Great Grans suffered a massive stroke.  It left her unable to do anything except lie in a bed- she couldn’t even swallow food.  After a week and a half of being in hospital, she passed away on the 2nd December aged 98 years old.  It’s a bit strange because she’s always been around and it’s weird knowing that I won’t see her again.  The funeral was a very simple, affair: outdoors, in the graveyard with family only.  I’m still really sad that she’s gone however it’s comforting to know that she lived such a long, fufilling life.  98 years is more than some people get: more than double the length of time which my dad got.

Right now I’m struggling through my coursework, in a little bit of a panick.  So much to do and so little time it seems.  I really just want to go away and have a proper break but I don’t know when I’ll get a proper holiday.  Summer maybe?  All I know is I don’t even get Easter off.  Sucks.

Hopefully I’ll have more time to blog next year (which is like 3 days away).  I’ve noticed various magazines/websites posting their reviews of the decade.  I’ve thought about it but the more I reflect on the past 10 years, the more jaded I feel.  At least that’s what I think the feeling is.

Mood : blah   Music : Star  by  Bryan Adams

It’s come to my attention that I haven’t properly updated this blog in a while, so here goes…

What have I been up to?

Well, over the past couple of months, I’ve been working as a freelance web designer.  Initially, I was working on 2 projects however, I was let go from one of them last week, which was a bit frustrating.  At least it’s taught me a few lessons and I’ll know how best to handle things in the future.  The other site I’m currently working on is a local business.  I still can’t give any details yet but you’ll get to see it when it’s all done.  Promise.

Aside from that, I returned to university a couple of weeks ago and I’m now studying a Masters in Internet Computing.  The course has been very interesting so far and I can’t wait to get a bit further into it.  I’ll let you know how that goes.

For the now, ciao!

Mood : busy   Music : Hit Me Natasha One More Time  by  The Juliet Dagger

On Thursday the 9th of July 2009, I graduated from university.

I got a ride to Dundee with my Mum and my Grandad- my guests attending the ceremony.  My sister was supposed to be there but she had a flight to Barcelona that afternoon and wasn’t able to make it.  On arriving in Dundee, I had to head straight for the Caird Hall to get my official photograph taken.  This involved going backstage at the hall, something I thought was pretty cool.  I got to see all the various committee rooms and also saw the “artists lounge”- where the stars hang out.

It took about 45 minutes for me to work my way through the photography process- there were different stages- check order, get a USB pen drive with order details on it, go to a photography room, wait, hoose your best image, get a cd with the image on it, find the frames area.  Quite tiring actually.

After all that, I got back to Caird Square where I met up with some of my friends.  We entered the hall at about 2.30pm and took our seats.  Mine was in the 5th row- seat E17 if you really wanted to know.  Graduation didn’t start ’til 3pm so much yapping was done until then.  Looking at the Graduation booklet we were given, it was so strange to note that only 6 of us were graduating with BSc (Hons) Computing- back when we were young, bright-eyed 1st years, there were 40 of us!

The ceremony began with crazy Phantom of the Opera music.  I have no idea what was being played.  In fact, I don’t even know if the organist was playing a distinct tune.  Perhaps they had a basket of cats which they emptied over the organ, and allowed them to step all over the keys?  It was loud, ominous and to be perfectly honest, would have been more fitting at a funeral.

The ceremony itself was pretty boring.  Throughout the first half, I felt quite nervous, because you know what I’m like before I have to go appear in front of people.  This is definitely the largest crowd I’ve been in front of- approximately 2000 people.  Before long it was time to go on stage.  I thought I’d be really nervous right before I walked on but interestingly, at the moment, I felt very calm and totally ok with it.  The dvd of the graduation ceremony I received afterwards tells a different story- I seem to be unable to smile.  In my defence, I was concentrating on not tripping over my own feet (I’m a bit clumsy).

After that, I just had the rest of the ceremony to sit through or, as it my case, I had the rest of the ceremony to talk (quietly) to the people sitting beside me.  What can I say?  I was bored.  We knew the hall was probably going to get very hot during the ceremony and thought we might be able to get some water, but no.  We ended up sharing a bottle of water that Kevin brought with him.  I’m fairly certain some of the academics gave us funny looks when they saw 4 of us sharing the same bottle.  Rest assured, we were not drinking alcohol- it really was just water.

At the end of the ceremony, we had to leave the hall, row by row and we were greeted in Caird Square by a Pipe Band which was quite nice .  Of course, my family noted that during the procession out into the Square, I still didn’t stop talking…oops.

I took some pictures in the square, talked to my friends then headed back to return my robe.  I had a message from my mum saying that she was at Starbucks with my Grandad so I made my way there to grab an Iced Chocolate.  After a long day (it was 7pm by this point) it was time to head home and relax.

When I got home, my family told me how proud of me they were and how proud my dad would be if he was still with us.  To be honest, I didn’t think I’d ever get this far.  Back in 2002, I was just a devastated 14 year old, coming to the end of her 3rd year in High School.  I didn’t ever want to go back to school after I lost my dad so it’s a testament to my friends, family and teachers/tutors for getting me this far.  Thanks guys

That’s it.  4 years, approximately 39200 miles travelled, 2 days where I was snowed in, that time I was up for 3 days straight, sleepless nights, days of stress, tears, laughter, good times in Whitespace, Ice Cream cake, the best Lentil Soup ever made, playing Hangman in lectures, rants about Scotrail, great friends, travel buddies, that time we got sent home because of the powercut, PC vs Mac, PC vs Linux, laptop wars, bring back the curly fries and a partridge in a pear tree.  Ok, the partridge thing didn’t happen.

The current economic climate isn’t exactly conducive to finding a job.  Even during the graduation ceremony, the principal pretty much said that it would be tough getting a job in our desired field.  After 4 years of really hard work, that’s a little disheartening to hear.  I know, I know- no one said it would be easy.

Here’s to new beginnings I guess, however they may turn out in these uncertain times.

Good luck everyone- I wish you all the best with whatever you choose to do

Mood : nostalgic   Music : Closing Time  by  Semisonic

In 1971, Don McLean wrote about “the day the music died” in his popular song American Pie.  Over the past few days, this phrase has been heavily used throughout websites, newspapers and television.

I first heard the news about Michael Jackson when I logged onto Twitter.  After reading a few tweets, I thought it was a wind-up.  The cynical part of me thought “oh yeah, it’s another publicity stunt relating to the gigs he’s playing at the o2 in London”.  After that, I started hearing rumours that he’d actually died.  At that point, I tuned into the BBC News live feed on my laptop.  Their breaking news bulletin said there was unconfirmed reports of his death.  I didn’t believe that it was true until 11.45pm when BBC finally received confirmation: the King of Pop was dead.

The death of Michael Jackson came as a shock to everyone, despite the fact he began to look extremely frail.  Sad times indeed.  I feel sorry for his family and wish the media would leave them the hell alone: they are human beings and they need time to grieve in peace.

Think whatever you like about the man, but the music, well, you can’t touch the music.  I’m sure almost everyone in the World knows at least one of his songs.

Was the 25th June 2009 the day the music died?  No, I don’t think it was.  The World has lost a legend however, the music of Michael Jackson will live on forever.  RIP.

Mood : blah   Music : Thriller  by  Michael Jackson

Whilst I was away on my American and Canadian adventures, I received my marks for for my dissertation and all the other work I completed in semester 2 at uni.  In total I received 4 B’s and 1 A.  Overall, for the whole of 4th year, I got 7 B’s.

This afternoon, my degree classification was confirmed.  At 3pm, on Thursday the 9th of July 2009, I will be graduating with a 2:1 as a Bachelor of Science with Honours in BSc (Hons) Computing.

Now, I’m off to have a celebratory cup of tea

Mood : accomplished   Music : Supernatural Superserious  by  R.E.M.

So now you have read (all) my blogs about the holiday, have I made you sufficiently jealous? Am I right in thinking that some of you now want to go on a similar trip? Ok, I’ll take you on an all-expenses paid tour. Kidding (c’mon- wise-up- I’m a student with no money ). You’ll have to save up and go yourselves.

The least I can do is tell you who we booked our holiday with. It was booked via the Thomson travel agency and the tour itself is run by a company called Jetsave. The one which we embarked on was called The Big 5 (as in you visit 5 major cities). We ended up seeing a lot of places…

2 countries (USA and Canada), 6 states (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware), 1 district (Washington DC), 1 province (Ontario), 1600 miles

A big thanks goes to *drumroll* British Airways (great flights- no turbulence), Adrian (JetSave tour director- very entertaining and knowledgeable), Diego (Escot driver- long days and fab driving), the staff at the Holiday Inn Manhattan 6th Av, the staff at The Oakes Overlooking The Falls, the staff at the Hilton: Crystal City, and to anyone else who helped us out along the way .

Admittedly, I’m still not entirely happy about being back in Britain. I want to see more of America and Canada and revisit the places I’ve been. I had the time of my life over there- so much fun. Waking up in a different place with something to explore every day. Never a boring moment.

Best holiday ever

Mood : awake   Music : Running Up That Hill  by  Placebo

Yes, the rumours are true- I’ve returned home again.  I left JFK airport at 6.20pm (NYC time) on Tuesday the 9th June and arrived at London Heathrow at 6am the following morning.  From there, we had to wait for our connection to Aberdeen, which left at 11.45am.

I have tales to tell and many (many) pictures to share.  I just need to get things organised.

One thing I will say (and I promise I’ll explain later) is “Oh my gawd honey!” .

Mood : accomplished

Lots of stuff happening this week!

This evening, I’m off to see Deacon Blue as part of Montrose Music Festival. They’re being supported by Descartes and the Fortunate Sons so it should be quite a good night. It’s nice to have a big local gig for a change so I won’t need to do a lot of travelling.

On Saturday, I’ll be attending day 3 of Montrose Music Festival hopefully watching the High Street show- there’s a ton of different acts on stage all day. I think one of my little cousins is even making an appearance in the afternoon.

Finally, on Sunday, I’ll be jetting off on my holidays. I’m flying from Aberdeen to London and then out to New York, before beginning a small tour of the USA and Canada.

While I’m still awake, I thought I’d post a picture of the little friend I’ve had beside all day.  Cute, huh?