You know when it's freezing cold outside? You know when it's freezing cold and there's about fifteen people waiting at the bus stop? You'd think people would have their money and passes ready for when the bus gets there, so that everyone can get on as quickly as possible. You know when the bus finally arrives, and people start lining up, how there's always someone who cuts in front of the queue? Fair enough, I'd assume they had their bus pass in their hand and be ready to just fly past the driver. But no, they always have to stop when they get on the bus, pull their gloves off - ever so slowly - and start digging around their bag for the correct change. When this happens, and they are effectively keeping about 14 people out in the cold, don't you just want to go past them, hold your bus pass up to the driver while the annoying person is digging out pennies, and go sit down? I do anyway. And I wouldn't cut the queue if there was a risk of anyone else getting held up, trust me, on the contrary I feel I am doing other poor people a favour as they won't have to wait as long.

Anyhoo.

This morning, the driver calls me back and has a go at me for not waiting in line. It's not like I was holding the queue up. It's not like I was hindering him from taking the fare off this woman I walked past. It's not like I did it for shits and giggles.

I know, silly thing to be annoyed about. But so what? Pet hate, and all that.

So, what is with bus drivers - or any public service employee - who can't even be civil to people? If you have to let your frustrations out on other people, get a new job where you can sit in a little office in the back of a building and stop trying to get power kicks from the innocent people you are there to work with. Or, get a blog. It works pretty well for getting aggressions out ;-)

Over and out,

Julia xx

This guy from the charity Shelter came up to me today. He obviously wanted me to give money. Now, he was very very convincing, and seemed like a very nice guy. The right mix between charming and persuasive. He told me three million people in the UK are living in either below standard housing or on the streets, and that one million of them are children. It makes me feel very guilty, the fact that I can't make a long term committment to donating money - I suppose I could this year but what happens next year? I don't know if I'll be struggling to find a job or strugling financially to get through a masters. Either way, after being guilt-tripped for a good ten minutes, I managed to say I'm unable to committ to putting up a direct debit but that I'll look into the charity.

I know I shouldn't feel guilty - I do do good things. I am volunteering for a local school, working with children with 'limited abilities'. Instead of throwing things and clothes I don't want away, I give them to charity. I know I don't do much, but I do do more than most people. And although it's not a competition, I'm just trying to calm my guilty conscience. If I could I would do more.

I should just use the excuse that I don't have an English bank account so can't set up a direct debit, would be so much easier to walk away... ;)


xx

So... writing isn't easy. I'd like to think I'm being challenged, but the truth is I'm just plain lazy. If it doesn't work straight away, I want to give up. But giving up now would just be silly, got a fair few months left of this. Haha.

Family coming this weekend! Can't wait:) And no, I'm not just saying that cos they're reading this. I am actually looking forward to having to clean my house top to bottom, having to beg my friends to behave, if only for a couple of days, and forcing Mickey to have a shave and make smalltalk... Haha, only joking, I love cleaning really.

Am currently sat in a computer lab on campus trying to decide whether I can be bothered staying til three to go to a SCAN meeting. The question is, do I WANT to write for the uni newspaper? Honest to God, I do not know. Joanna says I do, so maybe. Will see!

xx

Wow.

Family coming over next weekend, will be ACE to see them. Been a while... And what with me being in sunny England all Summer, I haven't spent more than a week with them since June. Odd! They're only coming for two nights, but it's still be tremendous. Going to good old manc on the Sunday for a cultured day with Teh Mickey :)

Got quite a lot to do at the moment, but I still want to do more. Will be ringing some schools tomorrow to see if I can do a volunteer teaching thing one day a week. Seeing as I have two full weekdays off uni a week I might as well fill one of them with something sensible. And unpaid.

Creative Writing is a bit mental. Not got LOADS to write but I think I need to pick it up a notch. Both in terms of words, and the quality... Decided I will do 2000 words a day. Every day. It doesn't all have to be publishable - or even submittable - so long as I get my ass into gear type thing. Have joined the nanowrimo (http://www.nanowrimo.org) so in November I will write 3000 a day - that's 2000 for the novel and at least 1000 for *other*... The thing is.. I need to do it. Maybe not for my degree, but just to prove to myself I can work when I need to, not just the night before a deadline. So far today I've written zilch - but there's still 3.5 hours to go! Haha.

Did I tell you bout Brum? Brum was ace. A minor disappointment involving a.. misunderstanding.. but I had a fab time with Tara, Karin, Lynne, David and Daz. And Brum is just amazing. I'm afraid I spent way too much money - on clothes and fabrics. Will make sure I post the results of my current sewing spree (which will probably end in about five minutes, but y'kno..).

Am planning on going to Bowland's Christmas ball - and I've even convinced Mike to come! Our first date.. hehe. Was surprised that he agreed, I think he secretly enjoys getting dressed up in a dark suit and dancing the night away with a pretty lady... (that's me, for those of you who didn't get that). And anyway, my point WAS that I'm making my dress for it. Although I bought three very nice, fancy, shiney fabrics, so it'll just depend on which one turns out nicer.. Have started a brown satin one, trying some boning for it which I've never done before, might well blow up in my face. Literally. Will ask opinions when they're all done.

Speaking of.. opinions. Why aren't you commenting? I KNOW people are reading this.. and I know I may not be the most interesting blogger ever but come ooooon... ;)

I'll try harder if you do. Haha.

xx

I'm pretty stressed right now. Yes, I've nearly finished the bloody thing. And I think I'm about as happy with it as I could possibly be. But y'kno. Still stressed. Finishing the last little bits and bobs, and it annoys me. I hate deadlines. But then again, I hate exams more. Well.. do I? I don't know.

Mike's coming tonight, thank God. Just need to relax for a night. All this stressing is making me ill, I think. My entire body is just aching, and I've had a headache for the last few days. Typical lurgy - fresher's flu? Haha. I'm gonna say it's the stress, cos paracetamol haven't been helping at all. Switching to beechams now...

Working yesterday went really well, the boss rang me up this morning saying I did SUCH a good job, I am PERFECT for the position, and I'm a great mixture of calm and relaxed, and efficient and intelligent. Haha, I'm wondering what's shes' basing that on - my ability to move chairs? To hand out papers? To be friendly to old ladies? Either way, I really enjoyed it. Could imagine a similar job in the future actually.. But yeah.

Had a good idea for my next dissertation last night - forensic phonetics. Cos let's face it, I'm good at it. And I'm interested in it. And my supervisor is as well. Sooo... I'm just waiting for him to reply to my email, see what he reckons. This time I swear I'm going to do everything right. Starting next week.

..anyone believe me?

Stef is cooking blue cheese pasta downstairs, it smells really nice.. But don't think I can eat anything right now. Had food not too long ago...

I just read something I haven't read in a long time. Well, two things. The first one is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 'the Yellow Wallpaper', which we read in English a few years back. It was amazing. Well, it's still amazing. More than a hundred years old but still quite modern. Read it, if you haven't already. Second thing I read, was the bottom of my lunch box. It's a Lenore lunch box, and there's a pig saying... 'Oh...um...Hello there. I am a hidden piggy. For some reason, I was put on the bottom of this really heavy box. Each time you put this box down, it hurts real bad. Please don't hurt me anymore. I was thinking that maybe you could fill it up with like marshmallows or something. You like marshmallows.'

I'll leave you to ponder the little piggy's words of wisdom now.

Until next time!

xx

So last night/this morning an old mate phoned me. Woke me up, but it was absolutely ace talking to him again... It got me thinking, I am so very very bad at staying in touch with people. Started writing letters, got to.. one. Lucky Karin! Heh. I keep meaning to. And it's not like I don't have the time to do it... As I have so few hours at uni, I can divide my time up as I want. But am thinking that maybe I need to get into the 'swing of things' (as Dave so eloquently put it) before I write letters? There will be enough writing this year as it is, but I just don't know where to start.

Well. The number one priority THIS week is finishing the LING232 dissertation. I don't know where I stand. I read it and re-read it and I go back through my notes and I think I've got it all down. Some minor things left to do, few more paragraphs on the lit review, as well as in the conclusion. Apart from that, just need the acknowledgements and the abstract, really.

And after this week is over... I'm taking a weekend off EVERYTHING. Lol. Cos that's unusual! After that, I need to think of a topic for my LING201 diss... Am wanting to do something on acoustics and phonetics, not sure what though. Any suggestions welcome.

And then... Creative writing. This term I'm doing both intermediate and non-fiction, next term intermediate and long fiction - all work due right before Easter. Soooo... planning ahead? Be a good student, Julia, work hard and you won't get stressed in the end. Buhullshit! Best get cracking fair soon anyhow.

Now to the fun parts... Karin is coming next week!!! YEY! Can't wait. We shall most definately be going to the Sugarhouse, so if you're a lancastrian (obv, someone I know...) you'd best be there and meet our Kalin! Bwahah.

Last Thurs in Sugar was pretty good, we managed to drag Gill along :-) Stef and Katy didn't enjoy it though - shocker. Haha.

I'd best be off before this turns into another very teenagey, uninteresting post... I read other blogs and feel guilty cos I don't put any effort into this, it's all me-me-me... I could at least TRY to amuse yous.

ttfn

xx

So I am officially self employed. How very grown up!

Went to Brum for Warren's birthday on Monday, was an ace night! And cool to meet Rose (and Chris, obviously!). Will def make more of an effort to go to Brum more, it's like.. the best place ever. Well, nearly. And Warren's family is lovely as well!

Andandand I would like to see the Johns, not been there in ages and feeling kinda bad.. Have pretty much lost touch with them:( Next time I'll go for longer! And see more people! And spend a lot more money in the ace market! Only bought a jacket this time... It's very glittery, not sure what to do with it. Will post a picture, if I can be bothered.

So yeah, self employed. Do taxes and NI and all that jazz... It's for the translation work. Now I'm just hoping I will get some more assignments from them so it will actually be worth the hassle.. lol.

Have a job interview Friday with some retail company thingy. Wish me luck! Problem is, the interview is in Preston. Well, that isn't the problem. The problem is a lady from uni wants me to do the international arrivals, and come up for an 'informal chat' at the end of this week... Which is all good and well, but will I be able to make it to uni before they go home Fri afternoon, if I'm in Preston at 3? Hope so... Emailed the retail lady to ask if I could do the interview a bit earlier, if she doesnt spot my email tomorrow I'll have to ring and ask... Ah, it will work out! If nothing else, I'll go to Lancs, meet with uni lady mid day, then go down to Preston... Lots of travelling, but hey... 'those who don't travel only read the first page' Haha.

Bored now, more writing later.

xx

So I am officially self employed. How very grown up!

Went to Brum for Warren's birthday on Monday, was an ace night! And cool to meet Rose (and Chris, obviously!). Will def make more of an effort to go to Brum more, it's like.. the best place ever. Well, nearly. And Warren's family is lovely as well!

Andandand I would like to see the Johns, not been there in ages and feeling kinda bad.. Have pretty much lost touch with them:( Next time I'll go for longer! And see more people! And spend a lot more money in the ace market! Only bought a jacket this time... It's very glittery, not sure what to do with it. Will post a picture, if I can be bothered.

So yeah, self employed. Do taxes and NI and all that jazz... It's for the translation work. Now I'm just hoping I will get some more assignments from them so it will actually be worth the hassle.. lol.

Have a job interview Friday with some retail company thingy. Wish me luck! Problem is, the interview is in Preston. Well, that isn't the problem. The problem is a lady from uni wants me to do the international arrivals, and come up for an 'informal chat' at the end of this week... Which is all good and well, but will I be able to make it to uni before they go home Fri afternoon, if I'm in Preston at 3? Hope so... Emailed the retail lady to ask if I could do the interview a bit earlier, if she doesnt spot my email tomorrow I'll have to ring and ask... Ah, it will work out! If nothing else, I'll go to Lancs, meet with uni lady mid day, then go down to Preston... Lots of travelling, but hey... 'those who don't travel only read the first page' Haha.

Bored now, more writing later.

xx

Mike's birthday was Saturday, was a great night out!! Mark came out, as did Rob, and Sarah... So happy they did, they're all ace! Hehe. Ended up staying in Lloyds for ags, not the best bar ever but it did me. Then we, for some inexplicable reason, went to a karaoke bar. I think we stayed there about 20 minutes before we buggered off. Interesting night after that, I love trying to convince two drunk lads they wanna walk home;) Heh, wasn't that bad really!

Sarah moved to Spain today... going to miss her so much! But I suppose it's an excuse to visit Madrid. Made her a card, hope she liked it...

Going up to Lancs tomorrow for a meeting with my dissertation tutor. I'm positively petrified! But I'm sure it will be fine... Just need to know what to say. And it's too late tonight to figure it out, maybe on the train tomorrow? Hehe.

Tried to get the storage company to deliver our things tomorrow, think I managed to pissed them off good and proper. It was good fun. In the end they said they needed at least a week's notice - "First we have to find the container, then we have to find the boxes..." What, do they not keep records of where they store things? Such tools - so I can't get my things tomorrow. There goes sorting my room out! Ah well, not like I'm in a hurry anyway.

I'm so hungry, and mouth is well dry. Bought some rubicon earlier, it's just heavenly. But so addictive. And not that cheap.. Ah well.

I'm off, take care lovelies.

It's getting to that time of night again. You know, when you're starting to feel it's too late to go to bed, and you're quite tired but at the same time you're not.

Uni has charged me for stuff they claim is wrong with my room - I don't agree with it all but there's no way I can complain really, won't ever get it back. It's only 15 quid anyway. Ha, there's the danger. How long do I have to work to get 15 quid? Three hours. Yes, I get minimum wage. And what could I do with 15 pound? Buy lots of food. Buy good books, keep me entertained for a few hours. Buy part of the bus pass I need to get to and from uni. Buy hats! Lol.

People have been telling me they read my blog... Well, why don't you comment? Am feeling very unappreciated here - no one reads, no one cares... No one appreciates all the time and effort I put into this glorious blog. I am, of course, joking. But comments, reactions (at least to my more serious posts) are appreciated!

Have been doing quite a bit of work on my dissertation lately. No silly amounts, but still. You know, the one on Family Guy? I think I could get it to be quite good actually... not to be bigheaded or anything;)

Am going to Lancaster next week, move some stuff in and meet with my dissertation tutor. Oh, and a night out for Dave's birthday type thing. Will be good to see the house where I'll be spending most of my time this year! I tell a lie, of course. I mean, my intentions for this year are good, but am I really going to keep them? They're only intentions, after all. I'd write them on here, but I'm afraid some of you lovely people will show me up when (sorry, if) I don't stick to them... Hehe.

So, should I bring my sewing machine to Lancs next week? That way I can't be tempted to use it for the next few weeks.. and can focus entirely on teh loveleh dissertation. But then there's charity shops that sell books, there's the internet where films can be downloaded and people can be chatted with, and there's a bed to sleep in... Where there's a will to be distracted, there's a way. So maybe I should keep it, at least that way some of my distraction time will be spent doing something vaguely useful.

Speaking of usefulness of distraction methods (or something?), I just read the Da Vinci Code. And liked it! Surprisingly enough... Have to read it for crewri anyway. Well, in the lent term. Lol. But it's good to be prepared! Next, the Magus or Catch 22.

Right, that time of the night is over... time to lean back with a cig and listen to the Doors. Joke!! I'm just well funny, aren't I? Sleepy..

TTFN